A Home in the Black

by FuzzyVeeVee

The Impenetrable Fortress

The doorbell rang out with a happy chime.

“Can someone get the door please?”

“I’m on it Mom!”

I had to be the first to get it! My hooves carried me through the living room and down the corridor until I slid on the tiles and slammed against the door with a soft ‘oof’. I reared up to reach the lock panel and the door slid open silently.

“Uncle Wavelength!” I jumped into his outstretched forelegs and felt him easily lift me up.

“Oh, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you!” His fluffy feathers tickled my back, making me giggle.

“That’s because I’m nine now! Remember?”

Uncle Wavelength smiled as he ruffled my mane just above my horn. “Oh of course, my little niece is not so little anymore!” He tickled my back again and added with a smile. “How could I forget?”

I batted my hoof on his chest, still giggling. “Y-you alway- always forget!” I let out another giggle. “It’s cool you came, but you just missed dinner!” I turned and yelled down towards the dining room. “Mom! Dad! It’s Uncle Wavelength!” 

Uncle Wavelength lowered me to the floor as Mom and Dad came over to say their hellos. Mom hugged him tightly as she always did, briefly rubbing their necks together. When it was his turn, Dad stopped and instead of shaking Uncle’s hoof like he always did, he laughed out loudly. “So my good-for-nothing brother-in-law finally made it to Colonel! Maybe I can find you a job as my secretary up in orbit!” Then Dad gave Uncle the biggest hug I ever saw him give. Well, except the ones he gave me.

Uncle flapped a wing dismissively and laughed back. “Just you wait General Bolt Action; give me a year and it’ll be me calling shots on that platform!”

“Stop it you two!” Mom giggled and started walking down towards the living room. “Come on Wave, I can at least offer you a coffee and some cake.”

I eagerly followed close behind them. Cake was the best.

Dad chuckled at Mom before asking Uncle. “How did you even get here from the starport? The highway is still closed for repairs and the traffic is a killer at this hour.”

“Oh, easy. Took the monorail to downtown, then a bus to the stadium and from there…” He shrugged and ruffled his feathered wings. “Just a fifteen minute flight to the suburbs.”

Dad rubbed his forehead and chuckled again. “Right, I should have guessed.” He looked at Mom and rolled his eyes. “You never told me your brother is so eager to get so physical for an officer.”

Mom laughed as we entered the living room. “Oh you should definitely watch out or they’ll really make him your boss and send you offworld.” 

Dad and Uncle sat on the couch, still talking boring soldier stuff, while Mom went to get the cake. I ran over to my Summer Sun Keep castle and grabbed the newest addition to my collection, then doubled back towards the couch.

“-and with things heating up in the core worlds I expect-”

“Uncle! Uncle! Look!” With my magic I pushed the plastic pink pony right between dad’s and uncle’s muzzles. “Look what I got for my birthday! I call her Princess Pinkerton!”

I grinned.

“She’s pink!”

Uncle Wavelength looked at Princess Pinkerton and smiled, then winked. “That she is! You want to play a bit after dessert?”

I threw my hoof in the air and shouted, “YEAH!”

Dad reached out a hoof and grabbed Princess Pinkerton from my magic. “Alright, Uncle promised to play with you but first we’d like to talk a little, okay?”

I nodded. “Sure Dad!”

“Sweetie, please take your toys off the table, otherwise we won’t have anywhere to place the dessert,” Mom called out as she entered from the kitchen holding a plate full of cake in her magic.

I scooped up Prince Perfect and Dark Lord Nightscream, then giggled as I pressed a small button on Princess’ Pinkerton’s butt and tossed her with the rest as I mimicked her voice, “Let’s fly to the castle!”

As soon as Princess Pinkerton and the others landed with loud clattering of plastic in Summer Sun Keep castle on the other end of the room near the door to the patio, I turned around and eyed the sliced pieces of cake Mom had brought. Of course I grabbed the biggest piece I saw and brought it straight into my open muzzle. The thick icing crunched as the poppy filling made its way between my teeth.

Delicious.

From her favourite wicker chair, Mom smiled at me as her magic floated a napkin to clean my cheek. She then picked up the remote and passed it to me. “Go watch cartoons for a bit, okay dear? Mom and Dad need to talk with Uncle.”

I nodded, then grabbed another piece of cake and stuffed it into my mouth before running to the other side of the room. I sat right in front of the huge TV and set it to the cartoons channel.

Commercials.

Nearly choking on the cake I groaned. “Ugh. Why?!”

My magic tapped the button again, switching channels.

‘She’s been in great form this seas-’

Tap.

‘-the nest secured, the male sets off-’

Tap.

‘I’ll take space exploration for five-’

Tap.

‘Secure yours only with Sidewinder private busi-’

Tap.

‘-group of violent dissidents opposing Princess-’

Ta-

I gasped. “Princess?”

That was no princess. The screen showed a huge herd of ponies yelling and shaking colourful signs. Not far from them, on the other side of the street were even more ponies, but they were wearing strange, bulky clothes and held super soakers. I knew they were super soakers because they sprayed water at the yelling ponies. I just didn’t know why the water was orange and made the yelling ponies try and dodge it.

There definitely was no princess, but I kept watching. The yelling ponies looked funny covered in orange. They yelled a lot too. The water must have been very cold. Just as the bulky ponies drove a huge, boxy truck with the strongest super soaker I ever saw the view changed. This time to even more yelling ponies. There were so many, probably more than a thousand! They walked closely together along an open street, passing by what looked like burning cars. At first I thought there must have been an accident, but the ponies weren’t scared; maybe it was some sort of theatre? The view got closer and I could hear the yelling ponies clearly.

‘Down with the sun!’
‘Down with the sun!’

They kept repeating it over and over. I made a face. Why would anyone want the sun to go down? Night was boring - there’s nothing to do but sleep.

‘Down with the sun!’
‘Down with the sun!’

That gave me an idea. I trotted over to the castle and picked up Dark Lord Nightscream, then went back to the TV.

‘Down with the sun!’

“Down with the sun!” I started chanting along with the ponies on the screen as I floated the Dark Lord up and down. “Down with the sun!” He was the bad guy; of course he’d want to down the sun! 

“Down with the sun!” I started moving my hooves in rhythm as Dark Lord Nightscream bobbed up and down.

Mom came over quickly and took Dark Lord Nightscream from my grasp.

“Mooooom!” I stomped my hooves on the floor and gave her a pout.

“You can’t go around doing that!” 

I couldn’t tell if Mom was angry or sad; I thought both. “Why? He’s Dark Lord Nightscream! He hates the sun!”

Mom sighed and knelt down. “No sweetie it’s…” She looked towards the TV behind me and blinked a few times. Now she looked very sad. She looked down at me again and smiled, then nodded. 

“Go to your room, and please never say anything like that again. Is that clear?”

I was confused. Mom never told me to stop playing in such a way before. And she never asked me to not play again either. I didn’t like that. “But Moooom! I don’t want toooo!”

Her magic grabbed Dark Lord Nightscream tighter and floated him out of my view. “No buts, young lady! Go to your room and stay there for now.” 

I raised my voice. “I don’t wanna!” I stomped my hooves again. “I want to play with Uncle Wavelength!” I stomped harder. “Now!”

“Mom, Dad and Uncle are very busy now. You’ll come out when I say so.” Her voice turned softer. “I’ll explain later, okay? Now please sweetie, go and let the adults talk.”

I hung my head and shuffled my hooves idly.

“Is that clear?”

I frowned. She couldn’t see it. “Yes Mom.” Her magic gently pushed me towards the stairs and my room. A moment later I was inside and closed the door behind me.

Stupid adults.

Stupid TV.

“Stupid sun!”

Mom had taken Dark Lord Nightscream prisoner. How was I supposed to play alicorns and wyrms now? I angrily kicked my hoofball and jumped onto the bed, then reached out my magic and grabbed a piece of paper and some crayons.

At least I could draw them.

I lit my horn and picked up yellow and orange, then started drawing. I made a big orange circle and filled it up with yellow. Then I began adding sunshines one by one.

Just when I got halfway there, something scary happened.

I heard a zap and felt a pinch at the base of my horn. The crayons dropped on the bed sheets.

I lit up my horn again to lift the crayons-

Zap and pinch. I gasped. It hurt.

I looked straight down at the paper. Right in the middle of the yellow sun was a dark red dot. I haven’t used red at all…

Another red dot appeared. Then another.

I noticed they fell from somewhere above, like raindrops.

I looked up to the ceiling but couldn’t see anything. Instead I felt something icky run down my lips and chin.

Then everything went dark.

I could hear the principal’s voice through the door as I sat waiting in front of his office.

“-started a fight, which ended up with another student in a hospital with a broken nose and a concussion.” There was a short pause. “Missus, mister. Due to the danger she poses to other students, I’m afraid your daughter will be suspended from school duties as a punitive action for the next fortnight.”

What? No! Mom will kill me!

“I’m sorry Mister Tome Catcher…” That was Dad. “...but I find it hard to believe our daughter would do such a thing.”

“She’s not some… delinquent!” Mom sounded angry; she wasn’t yelling yet, but she was getting there.

I looked around the empty hallway. Principal Tome Catcher had kept me waiting here for so long until my parents got to the school, the other kids had already gone home. The classes were quiet; even the janitors were gone by now.  I never thought school could feel so empty. It was creepy.

“Please, let me explain fully.” His chair scraped so loudly I winced. “During the midday recess, she approached one of the teachers in panic. She couldn’t speak coherently and instead dragged the teacher with her to the empty tennis court. There, the teacher found another student collapsed on the ground.”

I’m so sorry, Comet. You are my best friend. Please, please, please don’t hate me.

“After a quick checkup to determine her injuries, a school nurse was called.”

I didn’t know what else to do. It was so scary.

“When questioned on what happened, your daughter admitted she was the one that hit the other student unprovoked.”

“I don’t believe it!”

Mom, please don’t get mad…

“She said the same when I personally questioned her shortly before your arrival.”

What else was I to say?

“My daughter did no such thing!” Mom sounded scary.

“Honey, please, let the stallion finish.” Dad sounded sad.

“I’m sorry, but these are the facts we are faced with. It is my personal recommendation that your daughter should use the suspension time to attend a psychiatric evaluation.” Silence. Even Mom didn’t yell. “If this act was truly unprovoked, we might be dealing with some kind of anger management issues.”

I lied.

I had to lie. Even if both Mom and Dad hated lies. I hated them too.

But I had no choice.

I sniffed as slow tears started. Then reached down a hoof to lift the edge of my uniform’s skirt. It was still there.

My brand new cutie mark.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pleaded.

“I don’t want you…”

My whisper could have been heard on the other end of the corridor. I blinked the tears away and sniffed again. It was still there. As visible as it was right after when I…

When I hurt Comet with my…

Another sniff.

With my…

I closed my eyes, wrapped my forelegs around my chest and hugged tightly. The memory came back instantly.

We were watching funny stuff on her multiband. Just… things. Animal vids, people falling over. Stuff. We were laughing so hard that my head ached and Comet was crying. I wanted to show her that one vid with the keyboard cat. I grabbed her multiband in my magic and then…

Darkness.

When I woke up, Comet was lying on the ground. Her face was hurt.

There was blood. Most of it Comet’s.

I only noticed my nose was bleeding as I ran to get help.

I was so scared.

I couldn’t tell anyone.

“-elieve it! We raised her better than this!”

I let out a whimper and started crying again.

I watched the white hills roll by on the other side of the window. Every now and then a village could be seen in the distance; most of them were far away from the road, separated by open fields covered in yesterday’s snow.

Watching them was the only thing preventing me from giving Mom the stink eye as she continued her tirade.

“It’s been barely four weeks in the new school and I have already had calls from the teachers.”

Her concerned face reflected in the window I kept staring through.

“They told me you are late to class constantly, don’t do any homework and act rude when questioned about it.” Her gaze briefly shifted to the side mirror as she switched lanes. “And don’t think I’m unaware of that exam you failed.”

That was just before the winter break. How did she know about it already? That old hag must have ratted me out. I frowned, face still turned towards the window.

Mom’s voice softened. “Sweetie, we’ve been over this already. This is the third school in the span of two years, and that is on top of you already being a year behind.” 

“Mhmm.” I didn’t think I could have looked more disinterested even if I tried.

Apparently Mom wasn’t taking the hint.

“You know me and Dad try to provide the best for you, always.” She took one hoof off the wheel and ran it across her face. “But we can’t do it on our own! If you keep burning through every chance we give you, one day there will be no school left that will accept you! What then? Do you want to go to a public school?”

“I guess not.” My voice was void of any emotion.

“Sweetie, please. It’s time to take this seriously.” She sighed again. “It’s your future we’re talking about.”

Briefly I wondered if I could've crawled back to the backseat and just… fallen asleep or something. “Get off me, Mom.”

She gasped. “Get off you?! I’m trying to help!”

I whipped my head towards her and gave her a hard stare. “Well maybe I don’t want your help!” I slapped my hoof on the dashboard. “That school sucks anyway!”

Mom gripped the wheel tighter and gave me a stern look. “Don’t talk back to me young lady!” Her expression only hardened after I gave her a disinterested shrug and a roll of my eyes. 

“Whatever! Why should I even care if they’ll expel me soon anyway?!”

She blinked a couple times, then continued quietly. “Of course you should care. It’s your education, your adult life. You can’t just ignore it all.”

I seethed through clenched teeth. “What - ever!” My hoof slapped the dashboard again, this time stronger. “I have no friends!” My voice raised with each sentence. “I have no idea what the teachers are talking about! Somehow people found out I-” The memories came back in a flash. “T-that I put a colt into a hospital in my previous school!” Just like I did Comet before. “They call me names!” And just like with Comet, I lied. “They know I go to a doctor and take pills to not beat them up!” I lifted my hooves and pulled hard on my mane.  “I! DON’T! CARE!”

The pulse in my head was thumping wildly, I could feel another headache mounting.

Mom’s face turned sad; she hadn’t looked this sad even when she found out I got expelled the last time. “Oh sweetie… I will do anything to help you. Dad will-” She blinked and frowned briefly, then lit up her horn and levitated a pack of tissues towards me. “You’re bleeding again.”

I blinked as I felt a drop land on my foreleg.

Mom continued quietly as she returned to watching the road. “We’ll talk about it with clear heads once we get home, okay?”

“Okay.” I sniffed heavily and reached out with my magic to take the tissues.

Darkness.

I was shaking. The foil blanket they covered me with didn’t do much.

My head was still aching. I kept staring at the snowy field before me. Past the small crowd of firefighters.

Past what was left of our family car.

When I woke up I couldn’t move. Three large stallions had to carry me before sitting me down on the firetruck’s steps. 

Two of them stayed behind to see if I was hurt. One was asking questions while the other checked me for injuries. I couldn’t focus my eyes on him. Even when the other shone a small torch straight into them. I couldn’t make out his voice at all, but I heard something else. Something that I couldn’t have heard. Two ponies talking. One mare and one stallion.

“-careened off the road at high speed, flipped a few times and came to a stop in an irrigation ditch. No skid marks.” That was the stallion.

“You think it was a DUI?” The mare almost sounded bored.

“We already took a sample from the deceased. Nothing.” He let out a sigh. “Maybe something will show up after it gets through the lab properly.”

The mare clicked her tongue. “Well, there’s no ice on the road. Could be mechanical failure?”

“Maybe.”

“What about the passenger?”

“The boys are giving her a look over right now, but she appears to be fine. Physically at least. Just some bruises and scratches. Seems to be in deep shock though.”

“How old is she? Fourteen?”

“Thereabouts.”

“Shit.”

I lied.

I wasn’t in shock. I wasn’t hurt. I could have walked and talked if I wanted to. But I didn’t dare to move a muscle.

I was too scared.

I idly poked the takeaway salad with my fork. Pecans, escarole and a bit of chives.

Again.

I scrolled through my Chirper feed. It was the same as it had been yesterday and the day before. And the last two months.

“Princess, no devices at the table.”

I sighed and put the multiband away. “Sorry Dad. I’m just…” Instead of continuing, I forked a piece and put it in my mouth, then gave Dad a small shrug.

He looked at me with concern; I could clearly see the dark bags under his eyes. Dad had been working a lot since Mom left us, doubly so since the insurrection in the core worlds had started. With how often he had to stay long hours or work on weekends, I barely saw him these days. Even back when Mom was around the house had felt big. Nowadays, during the time I was left alone, it felt monumental.

“Hey, Princess,”  he started with a small smile.

I couldn’t even force a weak smile back.

“Why the long face?” His eyes were gentle as always, but I could see that he was worried.

I poked the salad again. “I dunno Dad…” I looked towards my multiband, then to the pictures of Mom and Uncle that were hanging on the nearby wall before sighing. “…all of that.” With a heavy sigh I put down my fork and pushed the half empty bowl away, then looked up past him across the granite table. “Is it really true? Is Princess Luna really trying to topple the Empress?”

Dad’s face hardened. I didn’t understand much about his job, but I knew that as one of the highest ranked officers on Nova’s Contrast - in the entire sector - there were things he couldn’t tell me even if he wanted to. He kept quiet for a moment, his face keeping that serious look. Finally, he spoke again. “I don’t know.” His features relaxed. “But don’t worry about it. We are far enough from Equestria that this disturbance won’t affect us.”

“Are you sure? I saw leaflets around the school and the shopping mall.” I rubbed my forehooves one over another. “And last week Rocky said that her older brother’s coltfriend joined some creepy thestral-only group.”

“Nothing to pay attention to; it’s just some anarchists trying to cause noise.” He took a deep breath and shifted in his seat. “So anyway, how is school?”

I looked down at my hooves and shrugged. “Everything’s the same, but also different.” I brushed my mane behind one of my ears as I looked up at him again, but never into his eyes. I could never again look into his eyes.

Not since Mom.

“I guess I’m not used yet to how they do it outside of private schools.” It felt strange; no one expected me to do my best any more. No one cared where I came from or who my parents- parent was. It felt as if I were invisible. No one paid any attention to me except the bare minimum. Even the teachers only gave me a slap on the fetlock if I did something I shouldn’t have.

I was alone. After all that happened in the past, maybe that was for the best. 

Teachers barely registered me as long as I took my notes. Classmates didn’t really talk with me. I had no friends at the school at all. Dad was away up on that stupid orbital platform, working all the time. Mom was gone.

I felt so very alone, but I was too afraid to get closer to anyone. Or it would happen again.

I was certain.

“Hey! Are you listening to me Princess?”

I blinked a few times and looked towards him. “Sorry Dad. I… I zoned out.”

He stood up and walked towards me, then extended a hoof and rested it on my shoulder with care. “Maybe it's those new pills? Do you think you’d be better with the ones you had before?”

I shook my head lightly. “No, I… I’m okay. I haven’t had a headache in a while.” I rested my hoof on his without looking up. “I feel fine, Dad.”

Lies.

A fortress of lies and loneliness; that was what my life amounted to. Something was very, very wrong with me, but there was no one who could have helped. There was no one to talk to. And even if there was, what would I have said? No one would believe me. I wouldn’t believe myself. There was no way out.

None.

Shortly after Mom died I thought I’d found one, but I was too weak to do it.

I was too scared.

I opened the door to my room and ushered the colt inside. We dropped on the couch by the window and breathed heavily for a moment. It had been a three block canter to get back home before the start of the curfew and even then we didn’t make it in time. I was glad I hadn’t brought my scooter. The riot suppression drones would have caught us instantly.

I let out a breath as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “Fuck, that was close.”

Bronze Band grinned as he unzipped his saddlebag and pulled out a six pack. He opened two bottles with the bottom of his hoof and passed one of them to me with a wink. “Don’t sweat it babe. I told you we’d make it just fine.”

I grinned back as I grabbed the bottle. “Well, thank your friend at the store for me.” Alcohol was hard to come by for a filly who was not exactly of the age to buy it yet.

Bronze nodded and clinked his bottle to mine with a smile. “Hey, anything for the birthday girl!”

We laughed as we took a swing of the beers. I then stood up, walked into the middle of the room and struck a pose. “Well… You’re two weeks late.” I pointed a hoof at the saddlebag filled with bottles and gave him a naughty look. “But seeing as you were away and are the only one to appreciate my sweet sixteen, you are excused.”

Bronze took another swing and wiggled his eyebrows. “And I’ll appreciate much more than that!” He then made a show of making himself comfortable on the couch and patting his own thigh.

I took another gulp of the bitter beer and spun around the room, then giggled and stepped over. Carefully I climbed up on his thighs and hooked one foreleg around his neck. “We got booze, we got the entire house to ourselves. What now, hmm?” I smiled as I felt his hoof rub on my flank.

He moved his face close to mine and whispered. “Oh I dunno, how about we find out?”

I flashed a grin, then closed my eyes and leaned in until our lips met. Our tongues soon followed. It wasn’t the first time. Bronze Band and I had been a thing for a long time now - since last semester. He was two years ahead of me. Of course Father didn’t know. He’d probably call in tanks or someshit on Bronze if he found out.

We separated after a few moments and I took another swing.

“Hey, I really like your new thing.” He shot me a sly smirk.

I blinked. “Huh?”

He reached out a hoof and touched it to the large ring hanging from my nose, prompting a chuckle.

“Oh yeah! I had to treat myself! Because if not me, then who?”

Bronze raised an eyebrow with a cheeky smile. “And your old stallion knows about it?”

I sputtered and laughed. “No way, he’d kill me if he saw it.” I lidded my eyes. “I put it on only for special occa-”

My ear flicked. There was a car pulling into the driveway. Instantly I bolted up from Bronze and towards the window. Even through the darkness I saw it clearly.

“Shit!”

Bronze Band walked over and put a foreleg around my flanks. “Babe what’s wrong?”

“It’s my father! Shit, he wasn’t supposed to be back! He can’t see you!” I looked around my room in panic. I could have tried stuffing Bronze into the dresser or under the bed. “Fuck. Hide that beer, quickly! Fuck-fuck-fuck! I’m so screwed!”

I could feel my heart thumping. This was bad. Very, very bad.

“Hey, hey, relax! Look.” Bronze Band pointed a hoof through the window. “I think he’s not coming.”

“Wha-?” I peered through the glass. Father was standing on the driveway, next to the still open door of his car. He was talking on his multiband - I couldn’t tell what about - but it was clear he was very agitated. He paced a few times, shouted something, then quickly returned to the car and started reversing out of the driveway. With a screech of tires he was gone.

Bronze let out an amused chuckle. “Looks like your pops forgot to order some poor fucks to the front lines.”

“Shut up! It’s not funny!” I hissed. Only after a minute did I breathe out. He was gone. I rubbed my temple, I could feel another headache mounting.

Bronze reached out and moved my hoof away, then grinned. “Come on, it’s okay. He’s gone back to his platform.” His other hoof rested at the base of my tail and pushed my flank towards the couch. “You need to relax. The night’s still young.”

I shuffled out from under his hoof and walked slowly across the room, then flopped down on the couch, dejected. “Shit, Bronze. I don’t know…” I winced and put my hooves up to hold my head as a wave of migraine struck. “H-he might be back; I don’t like this.”

Bronze Band sat beside me, hooked his forelegs around my waist and pulled me close to his body. “Come on, it was your idea. It’s your birthday party!”

“I guess...” Another wave of pain. “Argh!” I squeezed my eyes shut to make the ache less intense. Only after it mercifully receded did I speak again. “No. No Bronze, sorry.” I barely weaselled out from his firm grasp and stood up, then moved to the edge of my bed. “I-I don’t feel like it anymore.”

I heard him get up and rush over beside me. His tail brushed up against my thigh. I turned my head to tell him off, but his foreleg rose and grabbed my chin. He pulled me into a kiss - before his tongue could make its way inside I broke away and with a swift motion slapped him across the face.

Bronze Band recoiled in shock.

My eyes went wide as I noticed a thin smudge of red coming out of his busted lip. “I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to…”

He held my gaze for a second, but then his eyes lit up with anger. “You’ve done it now you slut!” He threw a hoof straight at my muzzle. I felt blood in my mouth. Before I had a chance to recover, he charged me, grabbed my throat and started choking.

The fear kicked in like a cold shower.

I quickly looked at the lamp on the nearby nightstand.

And grabbed it with my magic.

Darkness.

I woke up with a gasp to the sound of scalding blood pulsing through my head and the taste of iron in my mouth. Carefully, I opened my eyes and sat up.

My room looked like a bomb had exploded inside. The lights were out. Shredded curtains fluttered on the evening breeze where the windows used to be. Pieces of furniture and my things lay scattered all around. It took me a moment to come to my senses and remember what happened.

Then I saw Bronze Band. Or what was left of him.

I gasped and covered my muzzle at the sight, feeling wetness on my upper lip. If I didn’t know, it would have been hard to tell that it used to be a pony. His limbs, neck and back looked like they were twisted fully around. Many, many times. There was so much blood.

I gagged at the smell and looked away. My body was shaking with uncontrollable spasms of disgust and fear. My head spun like a cyclone and my breathing was accelerated so much I wasn’t able to grab enough air into my lungs.

It took a monumental effort to slow down my breathing; my brain started into full gallop even despite the aching migraine. 

I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t think of anything - it was too hard. I was too scared.

No.

I was terrified. The house was ruined, Father was away, Bronze was-

“Argh!” I winced as another spike of pain hammered into my frontal lobe.

I held my head in my hooves and massaged my skull. Slowly and with painful feedback the ache receded. It wasn’t gone fully, but thankfully, I could think again. After a few moments I gathered up enough courage to look up at the bloodied pile of meat by the wall, then back at the hole where my window used to be. I had to do something. Anything.

“Run.”

It was as if my mouth spoke for me.

So I ran.

Even with the curfew, someone must have seen the room explode. The only thing I could think of was getting as far away as possible. I grabbed my black hoodie and hurried down to the garage, nearly tripping on the stairs in the darkness - the power was out. Once there, I hurriedly unplugged my scooter from the now defunct charger and hopped on.

I didn’t think about where; I just drove. What had I done? What had happened? I was unable to even begin explaining it to myself. It all went by so quickly. I could feel the rushing air wrestling the tears out of my eyes. What would I do now? Would I go to prison? What would I tell Dad? My heart was racing so fast I felt like I was about to have a heart attack, yet, I couldn’t force myself to slow down for many minutes.

Or look back.

A sudden shudder that nearly made me fall brought me back to reality as the scooter hit a speedbump. I looked at the street ahead.

It was strangely empty. No cars, no people. As though I had been left stranded alone to fend for myself. It took me a few moments of driving to realise how alone I was. Even despite the ordeal I just had been through, a small part of my brain screamed at me to pay attention to how out of place it felt. Even the drones enforcing the curfew were gone, and they had been patrolling the streets ever since martial law was enforced eight months ago.

Maybe it was for the best. I dreaded to think what would have happened if I was found out, especially after what I left back home.

The mere thought threw me further into a sheer blind panic to not dare stop.

My scooter carried me eastwards. The large, two story family houses quickly gave way to industrial buildings as I approached the riverfront. I knew that if I wanted to be alone, this was the place to do it; no one lived here and at this hour the workers would be long gone. With a screech of tires I turned and drove the scooter over the curb at an empty bus stop, then started along the embankment along the wide river. After a minute of following it I reached a large pylon sticking upwards from the ground and stopped my scooter at the base. Still trembling, I jumped off, then took a step forward. Immediately my legs bent under me and I dropped down. I took a haggard breath and squeezed my eyes shut, then began evenly breathing in and out as I counted steadily in my head. After a minute of this I found enough strength to stand up and keep moving towards the ladder on the side of the pylon. The security lock on its gate was busted; I broke it myself weeks ago when I needed a place to be alone with my thoughts.

My hooves started climbing the ladder on their own. As they did, I tried to calm myself down, but no matter what, I couldn’t get the sight of Bronze Band’s mangled body out of my head. It haunted me.

Just like Mom’s wrecked car, or Comet’s busted face. Or the dark red dot in the middle of a bright crayon sun.

The pylon started shaking, and with a horrible racket a high speed monorail thundered on the track above. I groaned loudly as the noise made my headache flare up again. Less than a second later the cargo train passed and I could continue upwards. I carefully climbed onto the track, followed the rail to the middle of the bridge and grabbed a second ladder, then up again.

Soon I was at the very top, right above the river and the track. I looked around as the wind whipped my black mane around. The shining towers of downtown on the other bank glimmered in the distance. I had a perfect view of this side of the city. Only the dark red of the moon and the blinking lights of the orbital infrastructure graced the cloudless sky above.

I sat down on the strut, facing the river.

I covered my face with my hooves.

And then I cried.

I didn’t know how long I sat there staring at the Grand River and the surrounding city.

Finally, once the tears eased enough to allow me to look at my multiband, I noticed that it was nearly midnight. I took in a haggard breath and looked around. It was so quiet. Only the murmur of the river below and the distant clatter of the drone-operated cargo trains leaving the trainyard could be heard. The city felt strangely peaceful.

It wasn’t much of a reassurance.

I wracked my brain on what to do, but quickly I realised there wasn’t much. I had no idea why this kept happening to me. I had no idea where to go. What to do. Who to talk to.

I sniffed and rubbed the still seeping tears away, then looked up to the sky, past the dark red moon, towards a small grouping of faintly blinking lights high above. I brought up my multiband, frowned as I noticed the battery was in the red and swiped away the lock screen and its dozen notifications before tapping the contacts widget.

I sniffed again as the tone of the call sounded off.

“C-come on…”

The dull tone kept repeating.

“Come…” Another sniff. “Come on.”

More tone.

I begged. “P-pleas-”

A click, followed by a voice. He sounded relieved.

“Princess, I tried to call you but the lines were overloaded! How are you?”

I sputtered loudly. “Dad! Listen, I beg you!” My voice was breaking between words. “S-something’s wrong with me. I-I… I don’t know what to do!”

Immediately his tone turned into one of concern. “What? Are you safe?”

I sniffed hard to stop my nose from running. “Y-yes, I think so but-” I couldn’t bring myself to finish.

“Tell me what happened.”

“T-the house… a-and Bronze…” The words choked in my throat. “I just… I just want you to be with me Dad. Please c-come down.”

I could hear a regret-filled sigh on the other end. “Princess…”

The tears started flowing with renewed vigour; I knew what he'd say even before he finished.

“This is very important. I’m so sorry but I canno-”

I screamed, not into my device, but at the blinking lights high in the sky.

“What’s more important to you than your daughter calling for help?!” The accusatory scream morphed into a pitiful whimper. “Don’t leave m-me. Not you too.”

Dad’s voice lowered, he spoke with a soft whisper. “You’re my child. I would never…”

Suddenly, a loud wail of alarm made him pause, it was coming from his side of the call. Immediately Dad put on his military voice. “Listen to me, Princess. Whatever happens, I want you to keep away from the city!”

I spoke through tears with a shaky voice. “D-Dad? I don’t understand.”

“Do you hear me? Stay in the ev-” The connection cut.

I looked up towards the lights again. And then the night turned into day.

I let out a scream of pain as the mute flash burned my eyes and felt a brief panic overwhelm me as I realised I couldn't see, my sight replaced with a fierce, dancing afterimage. It stung, ached in my skull, until with relief I began to see shapes again. The respite was short lived. My hooves went up to my wide open mouth and my eyebrows shot up as I watched a miniature sun birth in the sky.

Right where Dad’s platform had been a moment before.

Despite the gargantuan detonation, there was no noise. Not even a murmur. I sat and stared into the brilliant light, heedless of my hurting eyeballs.

I couldn’t blink the view away.

I couldn’t even think.

The distant ball of pale light kept expanding rapidly until it gradually dimmed and changed into a strange, multi-coloured aura radiating from the epicentre. I couldn’t even begin to process it before the horrifying silence was interrupted by a howling scream that reverberated through my teeth. It started on the outskirts. A low pitched wail, so loud it was audible from kilometres away. Then the other, closer districts joined in, only intensifying the noise.

Civil defence sirens.

It was then that my brain started working again and I finally realised what just happened. 

The War of the Two Crowns had come to Nova’s Contrast at last.

I sat on the bridge, motionless, still watching the spot where the explosion had occurred.

Where Dad was.

The sky was still brightly lit, but it wasn’t fire. It glowed with every colour of the rainbow. Swirling streams of light moved and danced without rhyme or reason, sometimes nearly dwindling only to then glow boldly. I could have said it was beautiful, if not for one thing that made my heart stop: the gargantuan remains of the Sector Strategic Headquarters Platform breaking apart and burning in the atmosphere.

I knew he was still there. He wouldn’t abandon his post.

Even for his daughter.

I had no more tears to shed. I just stared in silence.

The only constant in this nightmarish vision of my world was the moon’s disc, dark red and high in the sky. It remained where it had been since forever, watching the planet and its inhabitants suffer below.

I couldn’t care less about any of it. I didn’t even care about what had happened back home. 

In an instant. Dad was gone.

Forever.

I was alone.

The sirens kept droning endlessly meanwhile, but then something louder drowned them out. An explosion somewhere off to my side. I didn’t register it at first, but my ear flicked when I heard another one and my head snapped towards it out of reflex.

Out in the distance, towards the stadium, I saw a plume of smoke rising steadily. Then something fell from the sky and another explosion appeared on my other side, much closer; a flash followed by the sound of glass shattering and car alarms going off. Then another, and another. I felt the shock waves wash over me, pounding on my chest with each distant hit. The bridge trembled as I tried to desperately hold and not slip into the water below. There wasn’t anything else I could have done.

A part of me still couldn’t believe what was happening, even though I knew exactly what was going on. The distant bangs of more explosions only confirmed the worst. At some point the sirens cut off suddenly, their wail replaced by a distant and distorted voice. 

“People of Nova’s Contrast III, the time has come to join our brothers and sisters in the core worlds and rise up to fight for the freedoms of equestrian citizens! As the symbol of Nightmare Star’s oppression burns in the sky, brave freedom fighters commence the fight for your right to a better tomorrow! A tomorrow free of tyrannical oppression! Free of forced subjugation! Free of unfair treatment and double standards! To every soldier of the deceitful regime, lay down your arms and join us! Overthrow the tyrant! To every patriot listening, join the fight for justice and equality! To restore Equestria to its harmonic values! To restore its rightful ruler to the throne! For the Night Princess! To victory!”

Then it went quiet, leaving only the rumbling echoes of explosions and firefights somewhere far away. Finally, I dared to look around fully.

The city was bathed in darkness, its normally shining towers now obsidian monoliths like daggers stabbing the heavens. Here and there among the buildings were smoke plumes reaching higher and higher, mushrooms of tar with angry orange underbellies. Every now and then, a shooting star would fall to the ground somewhere in the city and crash with another explosion. Some of them would go for the hills on the distant horizon. As if in retaliation, the hills would launch trios of long, golden lances; they dashed nearly vertically towards the sky and the stars beyond, then disappeared quickly or turned into tiny, orange puffs as they collided with one of the dark shapes therein.

A long time passed. Long enough for the few remains of Dad’s command to disintegrate on re-entry or crash behind the horizon. Long enough for the bombardment to cease. Long enough for the dancing lights in the sky to vanish. Long enough for spaceships painted with crude crescent moons to descend and unload troops all over the city.

Long enough that I stopped feeling anything.

I stood up and started walking. My body was numb, yet, something pushed my hooves one before another.

Anywhere but here.

The city was under siege. There was a war going on, yet I was still to see even a single living pony. I tried calling the emergency services, Dad’s adjutant, even the school’s counsellor, but all lines were offline or busy. I kept trying so long that my multiband's battery finally died. As I rode on my scooter, I could hear sporadic gunfire echoing through the empty streets around me. Sometimes it was just a block away, sometimes echoing from between the buildings from afar. Every now and then, engines would roar above only for the whoosh of a missile followed by an explosion to ring out somewhere else. It felt like no matter where I went, there were dozens of pocket battles all around, but never close enough for me to actually see them. Each of these tiny pieces conjoined into one, massive conflict consuming my city. Eventually the noises were left behind; instead I started seeing the damage. Bullet ridden walls, collapsed buildings and finally a burning wreckage of some kind of military vehicle. I stopped when I noticed one of the crew lying still in the middle of a pedestrian crossing. She was three or four years my senior at most.

I got off my scooter and looked down at her face, lit orange by the burning vehicle and frozen in an expression of disbelief. I wanted to feel sorry. To say or do something. To feel angry at Luna or Nightmare Star or whoever was responsible for all of this.

I felt no-

“Hey you! Get out of there, there’s live ammo inside. It can still cook off!”

I kept staring at the corpse, even when the voice approached me.

“You deaf or wounded kid? Come on! You should be long gone by now!”

A hoof grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back. Away from the fire and the dead mare. Only after we took a few steps away from the wreckage did I look at the stranger: a pegasus mare, clad in military uniform and carrying a rifle on her side. She ushered me past a blasted coffee shop and towards what used to be a police station. It wasn’t the first time I had visited, though this was the first time I wasn’t looking at it from the back of a police cruiser. The thick-walled building appeared damaged, with scorch marks and bullet holes visible on the facade. Here and there I could see large holes caused by some sort of explosions; many of them were covered with sandbags. The entire station looked more like a stronghold.

There was a gun in almost every windowless frame, and those that did not have one were blocked by sturdy shutters. Once another soldier frisked my hoodie thoroughly at the entrance, we passed the fortified lobby and entered the station proper. I realised the building sheltered at least three dozen people inside, mostly ponies, but also a couple griffins and deer. Quite a few of them were hurt, some severely. The majority of them wore police uniforms, but there were a few that were clearly soldiers like the mare who brought me in. Nearly all of them were busy with something, taking care of various weapons or frantically patching up the damaged building. On top of that there were a number of various drones hovering around, many of them the usual riot suppressors, but I also spotted a few beefier models, clearly military.

“Over there, sit down.” The mare nodded at a nearby office chair.

I did as instructed and looked more closely. The inside was nothing like I remembered it from after one of my stunts ended with the involvement of the police and my very, very disappointed Dad. I felt awful guilt grip me as I remembered his face when that had happened. Now it was too late to apologise. I took a shaky breath and swallowed hard, then attempted to push those terrible thoughts back as I glanced around the room. The station was in chaos; desks moved either to barricade some of the doors or pushed together as impromptu operating tables for the moaning wounded with drawer contents spilled on the tiled floor. I noticed there were a few filled body bags lying in one of the side rooms. All of the screens in the station were dark and the lights barely worked, dimmed from their usual brightness. 

The mare took off her helmet and knelt down next to me, then pulled out a bulky medical scanner and started to move it over my chest. “Are you hurt? Any pain or blood loss?”

I weakly shook my head, so she kept scanning in silence.

After a few moments I let out an elongated sigh and spoke quietly without looking at her. “I’m fine. Just hungry.”

The scanner beeped and the mare packed it in her satchel again. She rummaged in one of the pockets on her chest and passed me two protein bars, then spoke somewhere to the side before walking away. “Nothing to do for me here, Sir.”

Another voice picked up as someone else approached, this one older and more firm. It reminded me of Dad. “You shouldn’t be here; all civilians should be in an evacuation shelter or outside the city. What are you still doing here?”

I hung my head and stared at my own hooves. “I don’t know…”

“Come with me.”

I wearily stood up and looked at the source of the voice: a sturdy-looking earth pony in full combat gear. His brows briefly raised as my eyes were nearly level with his, then indicated with a nod to follow him. He led me through a corridor nearly filled with crates marked as medical supplies and ammunition. We passed a trio of soldiers crouching down around a bucket filled with bullets as they painstakingly pushed them into their empty magazines. Their hard faces gave me a curious glance as I chewed on the gifted protein bars. The old stallion led me up a short flight of stairs and opened a door to a small office. He motioned for me to enter and followed in before closing it behind us. It was a mess; whoever was occupying it before had left in a hurry.

“Sit down please. I need to ask you some questions.” He indicated the plush chair behind the desk while he himself sat on a defunct holo-table and rested his rifle against the side. He then let out a weary sigh and removed his helmet. 

I could clearly see grey streaks in his short, citrine mane and an ancient scar running down from the corner of his lip to the chipped ear on the left side. I watched him in silence; only then did it become clear that the stallion was exhausted. I knew very well what he was doing - he didn’t want to show any of it to his troops. Dad used to do it all the time.

I squeezed my eyes shut at the painful memory. Only after a few moments did I finally manage an elongated exhale and opened them again. Immediately I noticed the golden oak leaf on the collar of the stallion’s uniform.

I also spotted another pony waiting in the corner. Another stallion: a unicorn in his late twenties with a copper coat and a short platinum mane. He was the only person other than me in the entire place that didn’t wear a uniform, instead opting for a simple pair of jeans and a black turtleneck. He did however have a pistol holstered on his shoulder.

I looked between the two of them before taking a short breath and asking the older stallion quietly, “Are you going to lock me up for trespassing Major?”

His face softened. “No, no. Don’t worry. I could do that for breaking the curfew, but I believe we are past that point now.” He frowned and looked through the window at the main floor of the station and the work below. “You’re a civilian in a warzone. My duty to the Empress is that I make sure you’re extracted as soon as possible or provided safety and care if extraction is unavailable.” He took a long pause. “Regardless of your… allegiance, you are still a citizen of the Empire.”

My eyes squeezed shut as I heard him talk. “I take no sides, Sir. I don’t want to be a part of this… war. Never wanted to.” I looked up at the old stallion again. “But…” I took a deep, shaky breath. “My father, he…” Like a subtle melody, the emotions were coming back. Confusion. Guilt. Sorrow.

I sniffed and continued. “My father was on the SSHP when it…” I sniffed again and swallowed hard, then steeled myself and continued with a forceful voice. “He was part of the general staff in Sector Defence Headquarters.”

The greying stallion raised an eyebrow towards his companion before addressing me again. “You’re a general’s daughter? Whom?”

Despite my eyes getting wet again, I kept my voice level. “Brigadier General Bolt Action, Sir.”

His expression didn’t change; he just looked somewhere to the side and nodded lightly. “I knew him. Good officer, though it has been many months since we last saw each other.” He turned to me and stared straight into my tearful eyes. “I’m sorry.”

It took a lot of effort to keep myself composed. I dared not to blink to prevent the welling tears from flowing as I kept my head as still as possible. “Than-” Another sniff. “Thank you, Sir.”

The major stood up and moved to the window, turning away to allow me a moment to compose myself. Once the silence was becoming unbearable he started again. “For the sake of your father I won’t lie to you, girl. We have little idea of what’s happening; the rebels struck fast and disabled or jammed all comms.” He nodded to a large paper map of the city attached to the wall with duct tape. It was dominated by the two rivers - Deepwater to the east and Grand River to the west - splitting the city into three lanes. The map was filled with a legion of white and blue pins. The majority of the blue ones were visible on the west side, where my home was. I knew one of the white pins denoted the station I was in at the moment. Other white pins were scattered all around, often dangerously close to the blue ones. “Before everything went dark, we received reports of armed insurrectionists popping up everywhere. Some military and security units even defected to their side.” His tone became spiteful. “They must have planned this for months. It’s chaos.” The major took a brief pause and returned to his aloof, professional voice as he pointed a hoof at the eastern side of the map. “The closest evacuation shelter is on the other side of the Deepwater river. I cannot guarantee your safe extraction from the city, but it's something. The starport should still be operational, even despite the destruction of the SSHP. Unfortunately,  what was left of the garrison fleet had to break from orbit.” He let out a heavy sigh. “We have no idea if this is an isolated event or if it's happening on other inhabited planets in Nova’s Contrast.”

Finally I managed to get a hold of myself and turned to the stallion. “What should I do?”

Before the major could answer, an urgent voice from the main floor called out.

“TANK!”

The building shook as an explosion collapsed a wall near the main entrance and raised a massive cloud of dust and debris. I cowered as every gun pointing outwards began firing in return.

The major threw his helmet on and grabbed his rifle, then barked towards the silent stallion nearby. “Get her out of here - use the garage exit!”

Before I realised what was happening, the copper unicorn was already leading me by my hoof. We rushed through the narrow corridors of the station but had to pause to let more soldiers carrying various weapons let go the opposite way.

“Where ar-” Another explosion shook the building, making me stumble.

“Not now! Move it!” The pistol-armed pony kept leading me until we descended a set of stairs into the underground garage. There, he broke the glass on a wall mounted case holding tokens with digital keys and ushered me towards one of the parked police cruisers.

A minute later the cruiser broke through the gate and slid into the street, leaving explosions, gunfire and the desperate defenders behind.

I watched the dark, red moon in the cloudless sky as I emptied the small water bottle I had found in the cruiser and tried to ignore the distant sounds of war coming from all around us. The city was still dark; no lights worked anywhere. The red glare of the moon and the widespread fires were the only sources of illumination. I couldn’t make up my mind if I shivered from dread or the night breeze seeping through my hoodie. I forced myself not to dwell on it. Behind me I heard a curse and a slam of the hood closing.

“I guess it was in the garage and not on the streets for a reason.” The stallion - Prism Gleam - I had learned, passed me from behind and nodded towards the dark street ahead. “Come on Miss, we have to hoof it from now on.”

I idly played with the piercings in my ear before slowly standing up from the bench and following the older stallion. “Where are we going?”

The unicorn spoke without looking back as he began marching with confidence. “You heard the Major; I’m taking you across the downtown and over the river, then to the shelter near the starport. We’ll have to find a way to cross over somehow - the metro is disabled and I have no idea who holds the bridges.”

He led me along a sidewalk; we passed boarded up storefronts of all kinds. Abandoned cars clogged the street so tightly they were nearly piled on top of another. This part of the city looked barely touched by the fighting - there was no visible damage, but there were also no people anywhere.

It felt like a ghost town.

The quiet was making me uneasy. It was also causing me to think about my situation, and I didn’t want that right now. I needed a distraction.

“Prism Gleam, Sir?”

The stallion walking beside me half turned his face to look at me with one eye.

I bit my lip. I wasn’t sure if I should ask, but on the other hoof, this pony was probably the closest thing to a friend I had left in the entire city. I took a breath and tried again. “Why are you helping me? Who are you? ”

He turned back to look ahead towards the street. “I’m part of the Imperial military.” He shrugged. “It’s my duty.”

I habitually rolled my eyes. “Yeah, but so was everyone else in that station.” I chewed the inside of my cheek in thought briefly. “I don’t get it. I’m no one special. There are hundreds of thousands of others in this city that need help more.”

“I was given an order, I have to carry it out.” He looked at me again, his expression softened. “And you are a general’s daughter.”

I blinked, confused. “So? Dad is… gone.” I glanced up towards the moon and the empty spot near its disc where the geostationary orbit of the SSHP had kept it for the last twelve years. “And it’s not like I know any military secrets.”

Prism Gleam shook his head lightly. “It’s not about that, Miss. We take care of our own, and if they fall, we take care of their family.” He gave me a bittersweet smile. “Even though we never met, I’m sure he’d do the same for me if the roles were reversed.”

I furrowed my brow as I tried to recall Dad ever mentioning anything like that. I knew I’d never asked, even back when Uncle Wavelength died. I was too young to understand much of what was happening at the time.

We walked in silence for long minutes. The expansive shopfronts soon gave way to multilevel office buildings, bars and clubs as we entered the downtown proper. We had to take a few detours; the streets were blocked by rubble from damaged buildings or the hulks of wrecked vehicles. I couldn't tell which side they belonged to. Once we passed the bombed out and still burning ruins of the governor’s palace I spoke again. “You didn’t answer my other question.”

Prism shrugged as he stepped over a fallen streetlamp, then offered a hoof to help me. “Not much to it; I’m a navy officer. I shouldn’t even be here.” He nodded as I hopped over the obstacle on my own. “Got stranded here during my trip home when the loonies blockaded Spite last week. I’m supposed to be on a long term leave, you know?”

“Oh… well.” I brushed my mane aside as I tried to give him a smile. It didn’t work too well. “Sorry your vacation didn’t pan out.”

As Prism opened his muzzle to answer, a sudden pop sounded out ahead and a blinding white light rocketed straight at us. It skipped off the asphalt a few times, hissing, before stopping at our hooves and intensifying massively until we couldn’t see a thing. Before either of us could react, a gruff female voice called out.

“You two there! Stop and get on the ground! Slowly! Do anything other than that and you will be fired upon!”

Even despite covering my eyes with a foreleg I couldn’t see a thing; the flare was too strong.

“You have five seconds!”

I heard Prism hiss to my side. “Do as they say. Nothing else we can do now.”

Slowly we knelt down, then flattened ourselves on the ground. I could feel my heart thumping against the cold concrete as a few sets of hooves approached in a hurry and one of them kicked away the blinding light.

“Heads to the ground, don’t move!”

Someone was searching me, patting my sides and chest. I felt the fear edging in again. “I live here! We just want to-”

“Quiet!” the mare shouted.

Another voice called out from above me, this one a stallion’s. “She’s clear!”

“Check the other one!”

I kept my muzzle shut as I trembled on the street. It wasn’t from the cold.

“Got a weapon here!”

I heard one of the figures next to me shift as they took Prism’s gun. After a few moments the same voice barked out, “Clear!”

“Pick them up!” the mare ordered.

Someone forced me back to a standing position. Before me, I could see two ponies. There was one more behind, holding Prism Gleam. They all wore normal street clothes, none of them matching except for the military vests on their chests and black fabric masks exposing only their eyes. Each of them also held a laser rifle, the type I only saw in holovids and SimR games before. On top of all that, each of them had slit pupils and a pair of leathery wings on their sides.

The mare looked up and gave both of us a hostile stare. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Still shaking, I took a deep breath as I attempted to gather any semblance of courage. “I-I said I live here, we just wanted to get s-somewhere safe!”

She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. “The callout for evacuation was given long before the fighting started. Why didn’t you leave?”

I blinked. There was no call… 

I looked at Prism Gleam with confusion.

He gave me a regretful nod.

I looked back at the leader of the masked thestrals with mouth agape. After a moment I spoke with uncertainty. “W-what day is it today?”

Even despite the mask, I could see the annoyance mounting on her face. “Monday.”

That meant it had been Sunday when I was alone on the bridge just a few hours ago. Suddenly, Dad’s last words made sense. It had been Saturday when Bronze Band and I had thrown my birthday party.

My veins froze. I felt faint. My legs turned into putty as I felt my strength give.

“Miss!”

“Catch her!”

One of the bat ponies grabbed me before I hit the concrete. With their help I managed to somehow stay upright, but I was far from calm. I could already feel a fast-approaching headache. Outside I was like a puppet with its strings cut, but inside I was a boiling cauldron of emotions. How did this happen? I had been out cold in my devastated room for a whole day? How come no one noticed? Whatever I did to Bronze Band was not what happened ever before. It was all so hopelessly confusing. So suffocatingly harrowing. I couldn’t even begin to explain it to myself. A brief, awful thought pierced through my mind like a burning lance, only a trail of hurt and mangled flesh left behind. 

Was I going insane?

Was this how it felt to lose one’s mind?

I barely clung to consciousness as the thoughts raked my psyche. But as quickly as they appeared, they vanished, leaving a sub zero trail of horrifying realisation in their wake.

No, it wasn’t my mind.

There was a cold, black hole in my heart, it sucked in everything I held dear. Its frigid tendrils gripped my brain and my body, freezing it, immobilising it. The pale darkness overwhelmed every other colour of my life as it tyrannically injected its venomous influence into my being. Over the years, one by one, the joyful parts of me had dimmed. They didn’t die; I knew that. I knew that because sometimes, when I really paid attention, when I was quiet and alone, I could have heard their muffled, pleading cries carried on the still wind from the deep, darkest dungeons of this forlorn fortress.

I’d lost Comet, Mom, Dad…

Now I felt like I was losing the final person that truly mattered.

Myself.

Despite my stupor, the mare in front of me grimaced and stepped over. She pulled out a small device of some sort and barked at the pony supporting me. “We don’t have time for this. Hold her up!”

The stallion that held me grabbed my mane and brutishly pulled my head back until I was face to face with the mare. She reached a hoof and put it to my left eye, then pulled it wide open.

“Leave her alone!” Prism Gleam tried to protest from the side but someone gave him a violent shake. 

“Cooperate and you’ll be free to go!”

I was still too stunned to offer any resistance as the mare moved the device closer. There was a beep and a brief flash of green light as the laser mounted inside scanned over my exposed iris.

The mare lowered her tool and looked at the tiny display on the other side. “No match.” She turned and addressed Prism Gleam. “Your turn.”

“What are you-” His words were cut off by a painful groan as someone punched him in the gut.

The same mare continued from outside of my field of vision. “Your sketchy story tells me you two are not just some ordinary civvies. Keep still, unicorn!”

There was the same beep, only this time it was followed by another one.

“Well, well, well. Wouldn’t you know?” The smugness in the mare’s voice was only accentuated by the humm of laser rifles powering up. “Captain Prism Gleam, Second Flotilla of the Ivory Guard.” She whistled a happy tune briefly. “Current command: Battlecruiser Veneration.” Her leathery wings snapped open. “You’re far from your ship, Captain. But I’m afraid your journey ends here. You’re coming with us.”

The stallion holding me called. “What about the filly?”

“Leave her be. She’s no one important.”

I was let go and immediately dropped to my knees. Despite my numbed senses and the mounting headache, I could already hear a scuffle developing as the two of the bat ponies moved in to grab the captain.

Suddenly, one of them yelled in alarm. “Motherfu-”

I looked up from the ground to see Prism Gleam holding one of his assailants in a headlock, the captain’s own liberated pistol hovered in his magic beside their temple. The other bat pony stepped away and immediately raised his rifle to point at Prism’s head, as did the leader.

“Stay where you are and put the lasers away or he’s dead!” Prism took a few steps backwards, using the captive bat pony like a shield.

The other two thestrals held their ground, but did not lower their rifles. The leader yelled in return. “Don’t be stupid Captain! We have our orders; let go of my stallion and you will be treated fairly as a prisoner of war!”

Prism let out a mocking laugh. “War? This is a rebellion! You should be treated like the traitors you are! I said drop them!”

“You know I can’t do that!” she hissed. “But maybe this will change your mind.” A set of hooves approached me, then I heard the sparking humm of the business end of a laser rifle come closer to my head from the side.

Prism was livid, his voice echoed between the buildings. “You call this fighting tyranny?!”

“Drop. The gun.”

I whimpered and squeezed my eyes shut as the neon red glow illuminated the side of my face.

Suddenly, there was another yell. “LT! Now!” It was followed by an ugly sound of a kick hitting, and Prism Gleam groaning in pain. Half of a second later, a single gunshot filled the empty street and the groan turned into a gasp.

I opened my eyes wide in shock as I felt a drop of warm liquid land on my cheek.

My eyes shifted to the glowing laser emitter next to my head.

I reached out with my magic.

Darkness.

I woke up to someone shaking me. My head was pounding once again; the steady thump-thump thump-thump of blood pulsing in my skull only made it worse. I opened my eyes to see a face fill my entire vision.

It was Prism Gleam. He breathed out with relief. “Thank the stars.”

I blinked a few times as I squeezed a hoof to the base of my horn, then looked around.

It was carnage. The thestrals had dropped where they stood. Red pooled around them in large quantities. Their clothes were torn, their limbs, necks and backs twisted.

I stared with wide, unbelieving eyes at the sight. A moment later, I heard Prism’s voice.

“Hey, hey look at me!” His hoof gently cupped my chin and turned my head to face him and away from the corpses. “It’s okay, we’re okay. Don’t think about them.” Despite his encouraging words the older stallion looked like he had seen a ghost, but he managed a reassuring smile. “You saved us.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but my lip just shook uncontrollably. “I… I…”

Captain Prism Gleam leaned in and wrapped his forelegs around my back, then, with gentle force held me close to his chest. “It’s okay.”

I sat there, feeling numb. Only after a full minute did I manage to speak again, in the faintest of whispers. “I did this.”

Prism replied quietly as he still held me. “Yes, I saw it all.” He moved his head from my shoulder and looked deeply into my eyes. “This is not the first time, is it?”

I sniffed and shook my head weakly.

He held his gaze hard. “I know what you are. I’ve met unicorns like you before.” His expression softened again. “I know some people who could help.”

That took me by surprise. “Others like me? You mean there are more?”

He nodded as he continued, his tone carefully measured. “There is a place, far away from here. A place where unicorns wield magic just like you do. They could help you, teach you how to control it. You are not alone.”

I sniffed again and rubbed a stray tear away from my eye. “How do you know this?”

The captain broke off his hug and offered a brief chuckle. “Let’s just say I do some work with them from time to time.”

“Do you know what is happening to me? Can they…” I hesitated. “...cure me?”

He shook his head. “It is not my place to tell you, but I do know where we can find someone that can.”

I clasped my hooves in a pleading gesture. “Who?”

Captain Prism Gleam stood up; only then did I notice a bloodied piece of cloth bound around his left foreleg. His eyes shifted to the wound as he saw me looking. “Just a graze, I’ll be fine.” He reached out his other foreleg to help me up. “As for who? There was a unicorn visiting the city just before the attack. I know he is part of this group; he will help you if we reach him.” He added quietly, “And if he’s still alive.”

I grabbed the offered hoof and pulled myself up. “And where is that?”

The stallion grimaced as he picked up his pistol with his magic, secured it and holstered it down. “That is the issue. The local barracks or the HQ, but those are piles of rubble by now.”

I fell in after the older unicorn as we began walking away from the grisly scene. “What do we do then? I need to meet this pony!”

Prism nodded with conviction. “Don’t worry, Miss. We’ll figure it out.”

And so, we started walking. I didn’t know where Captain Prism Gleam was leading me. I only knew we were moving to the opposite side of downtown, towards the Deepwater river. I followed quietly behind as I pondered for a long time what the captain had told me. I had to in order to distract myself from thinking about Bronze and those thestrals.

Hopefully, somewhere out there in this city was a person who could help me. Someone who knew what was happening to me. Someone who could explain what was going on inside my head. I felt a sudden pang of guilt; if I’d only spoken with Dad, maybe he knew that someone too? Maybe if I told him back when I hurt Comet, they would have healed me by then.

Maybe…

Maybe Mom would still be alive.

I took a deep, shaky breath. I felt like all of my choices had led me here. To these empty streets and bombed out ruins. To this dark world of gunfire, suffering and death. Everything from before felt like it was a hundred lifetimes ago. 

I looked around as we made our way down Sunrise Avenue. Back in the day I used to come here after school - sometimes instead of school. The many cafes and restaurants here always offered a nice place to sit down and enjoy a little break from the monotony of the day, be it with a cup of overpriced coffee or a craft confectionery. It was always full of people; many of the city’s most popular hangouts were around here or closeby, no matter if it was day or night. Now it was nothing like it used to be. The shop fronts were smashed; the glass and articles on the display were strewn across the sidewalks. Many of the trees lining the sides of the street were burning or had been shattered to pieces by weapons fire or vehicles.
 
The surge of emotions was so overwhelming, my knees nearly bent in on themselves. I cast my eyes on the abandoned street - so many memories - yet I instantly realised it would never be the same. Both the city, and my memories of it. It finally dawned on me that whatever was going to happen next, my life would never be the same, and what I left behind would be just that. Memories.

We passed abandoned cars, burned out husks of military trucks and decapitated tanks. I even spotted the tail section of a dropship sticking out from one of the collapsed buildings.

And of course, bodies. I was worried that I wouldn't feel repulsed by looking at some of them. Half burned, crushed or otherwise mangled. 

I hadn’t done it. I hadn’t killed them. Unlike those bat ponies from before.

There was war all around me, yet the only war that mattered to me at the time was the one inside. The battle for the city between the Lunar rebels and the Empire was only an obstacle preventing me from achieving victory in my own fight.

And like with all wars, I knew that no matter the outcome, I would walk away from it a changed person - something I heard Uncle once say. Only now I realised how right he was. I was still scared, filled with regret and guilt from a dozen dashed hopes before, but that simple promise from Prism Gleam helped me hold on to the last piece of myself that I hadn’t lost.

I was not alone.

A crash of breaking glass shook me out of my musings. I expected another confrontation, but the source became obvious quickly. Up ahead I saw Prism Gleam smashing a vending machine with a levitated piece of concrete.

Once he was done he looked towards me with a shrug. “We’ve got to eat something.” He tossed his makeshift tool away and reached into the machine with his telekinesis. Momentarily, a few foil-wrapped bars floated out. He beckoned me over before passing me a couple of them with a disgusted grimace. “You take these, I’m allergic to nuts.”

We were surrounded by death and destruction, and yet I felt a single, weak chuckle emerge from me at his jovial tone, faltering and dying on the spot. I grabbed the offerings in my own grip. “Deal, but leave me some of the fruity ones. I... love strawberries.”

He smiled back as he sat down on what looked like the burned out wreck of a military drone lying next to the machine and readjusted his improvised wound dressing. “Sure thing Miss.”

I reached into the machine and grabbed myself a can of sweet soda, then joined the captain on the husk. We ate in silence. The crinkle of foil being torn open and the crunch of pressed granola between my teeth were a welcome distraction from the dangerous ambience of the city.

After four bars I finally had my fill; I hadn’t realised the extent of my hunger. I opened my can, only for the drink to hiss and spill out violently. “Oh for fuck’s sake!” I shook the sticky drink from my wet foreleg in annoyance and began drinking what was left of the can’s contents.

Prism Gleam munched on a chocolate bar for a moment before finally swallowing. He pointed a hoof at me. “Aren’t you a little too young to use language like that?”

I finished what was left of my soda and tossed the can away, then gave him an affronted stare. “Aren’t I a little too young to kill people like that?”

He opened his mouth but remained quiet, then blinked and looked away with remorse. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine.” I shrugged and levitated another can from the machine. This time I opened it carefully. “I’m not exactly a perfect daughter material.” My hoof brushed against the piercings in my ear and nose. “As shown in the picture.”

“Trouble in school?”

I sipped the sweet soda and shrugged. “Long story.”

“Right.“ Prism nodded awkwardly. He habitually checked his multiband only to lower it again as he was reminded of the communications blackout, then turned his gaze to the open sky above.

I drank quietly. As I finished I felt the corner of my mouth raise up slightly. “Let me guess. No kids?”

To my surprise, Prism Gleam laughed. “No, not yet.” His face turned to me, but his eyes were still glued to the sky. “Got one on the way though. A daughter. That is why I’m on leave. Expected delivery time’s next month.”

The empty can was crushed in my telekinesis as I shrugged. “Right, well. I hate kids. But grats I guess?”

He nodded to himself with a content smile before standing up. “Thank you Miss, but we should keep moving.” He pointed a hoof up the nearby street. “Up the hill, maybe we’ll be able to see something from there.”

I peered into the darkness ahead and followed.

“Radiant two one. Come in Radiant two one…”

“Radiant two one. This is Gravity. Please respond…”

With some effort, I climbed through the door of the huge military truck and took a seat on the passenger side, then yelled, “Captain! Over here!”

The radio in the overhead compartment squawked again - a young stallion’s voice from what I could gather. “Radiant two one. Come in.”

Prism Gleam entered on the driver’s side and reached for the hanging microphone, then depressed the side button. “Are you reading us, Gravity?”

There was a long pause before the same voice replied. “Unknown callsign, identify yourself.”

I gave the captain a concerned look, but he waved a hoof in a calming gesture before replying to the query. “I’m an officer of the Imperial military, mission priority gold. Is this channel secure?”

“Stand by.”

There was a long pause. Finally another voice replied over the radio, only this time it was female and with a tone betraying age and experience. “Unknown callsign, this is Gravity actual. Cockatrice.”

I raised my eyebrows; none of this made any sense to me, but from the speaker’s calm tone I judged we weren’t in trouble. Yet.

The captain replied without hesitation. “Statue, I repeat. Statue.”

Another pregnant pause. As Prism waited for a reply I looked around the inside of the truck. It was massive. I could have easily moved between the two front seats - indeed there was a platform to stand on and a circular hole in the roof that led to a semi-enclosed turret holding the biggest machine gun I had ever seen. Further down was a spacious compartment with a bunch of folding seats lining the sides of the vehicle. The entire floor was littered with bullet casings and empty ammunition boxes. I also saw traces of dried up blood and spent medical supplies. There were no other signs of the crew, probably because the entire engine section and the front wheels of the vehicle were mangled after a hit from some large weapon of an explosive variety.

“Unknown callsign, switch to three two five, reestablish contact and provide callsign. How copy, over?”

“Three two five. Wilco.”

I heard the captain reply in a calm manner and fiddle with the radio’s knobs as I climbed up through the hole in the roof and into the turret. 

“Gravity actual. This is Veneration, over.”

“Go ahead Veneration.”

“I have an HVA class gold with me, requesting assistance from any available unit, over.”

“Negative Veneration, all Imperial units were to RV on the eastern side of the Deepwater river and hold the line there. The loonies control both sides of the Grand River to the west and their assets are pushing eastwards through downtown as we speak. I can’t spare anything right now, over.”

I grabbed a set of electronic binoculars resting in a small compartment on the inside of the turret, then looked down towards the west, past downtown and the Grand River. The image enhancer in the device allowed me to see freely in the darkness. Even though I could not see past the higher buildings, somewhere out there was what used to be my house.

“If you can’t make it towards us, please advise on how to get to you. Our position is… standby.” I could have heard the captain scramble in search of a map or other navigational aid.

I called out without taking the binoculars off my eyes. “Tell them it's the Palm!”

“What?”

I looked down through the hole to see Prism’s confused face peeking up. “By the museum of fine arts! If they are from around here, they’ll know.”

Prism Gleam keyed the radio again. “Our position is the Palm.” He followed with a heavy sigh. “Over.”

The reply was nearly instantaneous. “Understood Veneration. Your best bet is to go directly east to the Deepwater river and find some sort of watercraft to reach the other bank. How copy, over.”

“What about the bridge?”

“Negative - we’ll be demoing it and all the others momentarily. You won’t reach it in time.”

That was bad.

“Damnit. Gravity, I’m a Captain of the Ivory Guard holding a priority gold asset. Do you realise the severity of the situation?”

The voice on the other side sounded dry. “I have my orders, Captain.”

Prism’s voice rose, not in volume but in intensity. “You know I can override them, correct?” Again I was reminded of Dad, but not the General Dad. Prism’s voice had the razor edge of a parent who was willing to do anything for their child, just like Dad’s from many years ago. Only then I realised I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get out of the city because they needed to see their new future.

After a long pause the voice on the radio replied, “Copy.”

Prism called out to me. “How long will it take to get there, Miss?”

From the small hill we were on I could see the Deepwater river and the Whitewoods Bridge. Like the voice on the radio had said, I spotted tiny figures moving around on the other bank, even some light vehicles slowly rolling by between the buildings. “From here? About fifteen minutes to the bridge itself. Less if we gallop!”

Prism Gleam picked up again. “Give us twenty minutes Gravity. If we won’t make it, blow it up.” He paused and added with a subdued voice. “We can’t carry the radio with us so you better not be trigger happy. Over.”

“Understood Veneration. Twenty minutes. Gravity out.”

Prism Gleam jumped out of the truck and started heading towards the bridge. “Come on, Miss. We gotta go.”

“Uhh… Sir?” I pointed my hoof down the street towards the west. Through the binoculars, I could easily see a number of hovering drones and soldiers moving through the streets a few blocks out. They were slowly heading towards us.

Prism Gleam looked where I was pointing, then turned back at me and hissed. “We gotta go, now!”

I quickly scrambled from the turret and jumped down from the passenger side door, only for Prism Gleam to catch me and grab my foreleg firmly before tugging me the opposite direction of the patrol.

We ran for the bridge, but the captain’s wound slowed our progress. Despite the delay, we breathed a sigh of relief when we reached the west bank and the passage over the river was still standing. It was a wide, four lane bridge held by long cables jutting out from the sides of the road and anchoring to the single, massive pylon in the shape of an inverted ‘Y’ in the middle of the river.

“It’s still up!” I gave the captain a hopeful smile.

“Then they better keep it that way until we cross. Come on!”

It was a far run ahead - the bridge was over a kilometre long. There were a number of abandoned vehicles littering it, but fortunately not enough to slow us down significantly. We ran past still idling cars with their doors open. Spilled bags and other baggage strewed their contents of clothes and other mundane items on the concrete. The closer to the middle of the bridge we got, the more there were. It took me a few moments to realise why. This street led directly out of the city and towards the starport.

I slowed down a bit to allow Prism Gleam to catch up. With a little effort I climbed on top of a nearby family sedan and looked towards the eastern side through the binoculars I still had with me.

Just as the bridge ended and touched the other bank I could have seen a hastily erected barricade. Civilian cars had been smashed together and reinforced with sandbags - here and there I could see barrels and helmets poking out. In the middle and behind the barricade stood a large, wheeled tank-like vehicle. On one of its long antennas a flag bearing the Imperial sun lazily fluttered on the night breeze.

I froze as the wide, stubby barrel quickly shifted to point straight at me with perfect precision. Thankfully, instead of spewing death, something else happened. A small hatch opened at the top of the turret and a pony poked out; they brought up their own set of binoculars and looked directly at me. The pony raised a hoof and started gesticulating but I had no clue what they were trying to say.

I looked down towards Prism Gleam. “C-captain? I think you should come and see this.”

With a grunt he climbed onto the hood, then carefully joined me on the roof. I passed the binoculars to the captain and watched as he observed the barricade. After a moment he shifted them from his magic into his hoof, and then his horn started flashing in irregular bursts. Some were just quick winks, some a bit longer. I couldn’t discern any patterns, but after a few seconds of this he spoke quietly without lowering the binoculars.

“Alright, we still have time to cross it. I told them it’s us; they’ll provide cover if needed. Once we’re acro- huh?”

I looked back towards the barricade, only to see the vehicle suddenly reversing. A fraction of a second later tiny explosions detonated in the air at its front and sides, obscuring it behind an impenetrable cloud of grey smoke. Another fraction passed and I heard a loud whoosh passing us from behind and racing towards the barricade. The missile swerved and hit short as it exploded in a fireball on the concrete divider in the middle of the bridge, close to the barricade. Then the air filled with bullets.

“Down!” Prism Gleam yelled, tackling me to the road.

I groaned painfully as the Captain rolled off me. “Ow…”

“You okay, Miss?”

I blinked and stared at the night sky and the red moon above, only nodding after a moment. “Y-yeah.”

He crouched above me and looked around. “The loonies are attacking the bridge from the west bank - right behind us. We need to move or we’ll get caught in the crossfire!”

I winced at the noise of bullets, rockets and who knows what else passing all around and along the bridge, then looked at the captain with fear. 

Prism Gleam looked down when no answer from me was forthcoming. He gave me a hard stare, but once he got a good look over me, his expression softened. “Miss, if we stay here there won’t be a happy ending.”

A bullet ricocheted off one of the nearby cars, causing me to recoil in fright and let out a brief shriek.

Captain Prism Gleam pursed his lips, then breathed in and out slowly. His brown eyes locked with mine. I couldn’t see a hint of fear, only steely determination. Despite being half his age, he yet again reminded me of Dad. He leaned even closer and offered me a hoof. “I promise I’ll get you out of here, but you have to trust me, Miss.”

I swallowed hard and gave him a tiny nod, then grabbed his hoof and pulled myself up. Once we were both standing, he beckoned me over to the divider and pointed towards the western bank. “They are trying to take the bridge with ground forces; that means they cannot use their aerospace assets.” Seeing my lost expression, he explained further. “Which means all is not lost. The starport could still be a viable route off-planet.”

I watched the fire exchange between the both sides of the river. It looked like most of the firepower of the two armies was around the banks and not the bridge itself. The night was bright thanks to the full moon, but I could still see bullets that looked like colourful beads streaking above the rushing water. Some of them would bounce off whatever they hit and eject into the sky at high speed or drop on the ground in weird arcs, only to disappear like dying embers. Every now and then something bigger whizzed by one way or another. I could only see the speeding plumes of fire as they hit buildings and exploded with loud thumps and raising clouds of dust. It was the strangest, most chaotic light show I have ever witnessed. 

“W-what do we do?”

“Let’s focus on getting across first. Follow me, keep your head low. We’ll use the vehicles for cover until we reach that barricade.” He gave my shoulder a pat. “Are you ready to go?”

The thoughts in my head screamed that I was absolutely not ready, but I forced myself to ignore them and gave the stallion a firm nod. “L-let’s go.”

Captain Prism Gleam drew his pistol and started running to the nearby vehicle. “Go!”

I followed as quickly as I could, trying to make myself as small as possible.

The gunfire on both banks was becoming more and more intense. I couldn’t tell if either side was winning. I couldn’t even see the soldiers. We ran, bounding from cover to cover as the chaos around us intensified. I kept my eyes firmly on Prism Gleam as he led me between the abandoned cars. We ran between them, sometimes having to cross the concrete divider in the middle of the bridge to avoid going through open space. One after another we were getting closer and closer to the east bank, but our progress was slow. More than once we had to stop and hunker down as bullets whizzed dangerously close from one end to the other.

Only a bit more than a hundred metres left.

It was in that moment as we ran towards the next piece of cover that the worst happened. Prism Gleam was running only a few metres ahead of me. Just as he was about to reach an upturned delivery truck, something exploded nearby with a deafening boom and a lung emptying shockwave. I was thrown off my hooves and tumbled on the concrete painfully; my ears were ringing and my side hurt from the fall. The bullet storm surrounding us intensified tenfold. In my dazed state I could see the tracers going both ways directly above us. They weren’t shooting around the bridge anymore - the fighting had moved directly onto it. Still hurting, and not daring to stand up, I rolled onto my belly.

And that was when I saw Captain Prism Gleam.

He was lying by the divider, not moving. A large spray of fresh blood was visible on the concrete, slowly running down it in red streaks. My heart sank as I instantly realised he was dead.

The war around me turned into silence. The whizz of bullets disappeared, rifles muted and rockets vanished. The only things I could hear were my still ringing ears and the blood furiously pulsing through my head.

I reached out a hoof towards the captain in desperation and yelled something, but my brain did not register what it was.

I felt like I did back when I saw Dad die. Like when I watched Mom’s coffin be put into the ground. Like when I read the text from Comet saying she wanted to never see me again. The cold void was back, calling with its haunting voice as it yet again struck and ripped away something from me with its freezing, razor sharp claws. It took over my heart and my body.

The walls rose yet again. The gates were shut. Once again I was proven what I already knew: everyone close to me got hurt.

An overwhelming feeling of heaviness washed over me, I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move. I didn’t get up. Instead, the Captain did.

The cacophony of the battle returned to focus with the force of a sledgehammer. My eyes bulged out as I watched the stallion drag himself along the divider and prop his back against a wrecked sports car. He looked around with a grimace of pain until he spotted me and yelled.

“Get up!”

I didn’t have to be told twice. Still stunned from the emotions, I crawled, then crouched and started with my head low towards the stallion, heedless of the bullets in the air between us. I didn’t know if they were aiming at me. I felt them skip on the concrete around my hooves, piercing the air so close my brain conjured images of them going through my mane and clothes. Loudly rattling against the vehicles around us. Yet, somehow I managed to get to the captain’s side. “Y-you’re alive!?”  

He held a foreleg to a small shrapnel wound at the base of his neck: a small wound that, despite the pressure, bled at an alarming rate. I immediately added my own to squeeze harder, but the blood was still flowing. It was all over his cheek and neck; it stained his clothes and hoof. His voice hissed through clenched teeth. “We need to get this dressed quickly!” Even though he still sounded confident, I could see it in his eyes. He knew he had only minutes left to live. I took off my hoodie and rolled it, then squeezed it on the wound, but we both knew it was only a temporary measure.

I looked to our left, towards the barricade. There  was less than a hundred metres of open ground towards it. I could see soldiers firing their weapons on the other side. A few of them were yelling something towards me, but the intense gunfire made it impossible to hear anything. It also made it impossible for them to run over and help. The wheeled tank from before was back again - it poked its turret above the barricade and a brilliant beam of jade light discharged over my head towards somewhere at the other end of the bridge. I turned to follow the beam to its target.

Near the middle of the bridge I could see the incoming force. A few dozen soldiers bearing leg bands with crescent moons and armed with rifles bounded from cover to cover as their comrades covered them with machine gun and rocket fire. They were moving with trained discipline and purpose. But the biggest threat was the metal beast slowly advancing in the middle of the group: a large tank, only this one didn’t have a single cannon sticking out of its turret. Instead it had three thinner barrels rapidly firing high explosive shells, as well as a quartet of missile tubes arranged around them. Red hot lines of melted armour were visible on its plating, but none seemed to faze the beast. It rolled over the abandoned cars, effortlessly pushing them aside with a large dozer blade on the front or crushing them under the weight of its mighty treads.

It was coming straight at us.

I looked down at the captain; he didn’t seem to register me anymore and was pale as a sheet of paper. I didn’t know what else I could’ve done - I had no medical training, and I could never have crossed the last stretch with the captain on my back under so much fire.

I grabbed his hoof in mine and squeezed. I shuddered at how weak his grip was.

He looked up at me with barely open eyes. His lip shook as he spoke weakly. “Don’t leave… me.”

I swallowed hard before I spoke with a fragile voice. “I-it’s gonna be okay, Captain.” I could feel the tears already forming in my eyes again. “J-just hold on.” Something exploded back near the barricade as the monstrous tank fired a missile. “Think of… think of your d-daughter.”

I didn’t know if I was trying to bring comfort to him, or myself, by holding his hoof like that. Probably both. Yet I didn’t think of what might happen to me. My eyes shifted up towards the sky. It was as it had been for almost the entire night - stark and cloudless. The dark red disc of the moon presided over the besieged city from high above.

It reminded me of the red dot in the middle of the orange sun drawn with crayons on a sheet of paper.

I blinked with realisation, then lowered my head down to the captain and lit my horn.

I removed the hoodie and reached out with my magic. At first I tried to hold the wound together with my telekinesis, but it didn’t seem to work. I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed harder. Thoughts swarmed my mind - of my first school, of home and my parents. I gritted my teeth as I purposefully thought of the hurt I had caused. I forced myself to remember despite the pain. Comet, Mom, even Bronze Band and the thestrals. The headache rolled in instantly. Groaning painfully I pushed myself harder and pumped more magic into the hold. I ignored the clatter of treads and the gunfire. My focus was on one thing and one thing only.

I felt the wound squeeze shut. My eyes shot open as I exclaimed with glee, “It’s working!”

Liquid dripped from my nose as another wave of headache hit. An avalanche of hurt at the front of my skull.

Darkness enveloped me.

Gone was the staccato of gunfire and the roars of explosions. Gone was the heavy noise of the armoured beast. Gone was the weak grip of Captain Prism Gleam, the smell of burning wrecks and the wetness on my lips.

But I could still feel something.

It felt like a lucid dream, a barely perceivable sense of self hanging in nothingness as a disembodied entity. It had no right to be here, no right to exist. And yet, It did. There was no bridge. No body, no senses, no thoughts. Not even time. But despite it, I felt myself. I was. Nothing but consciousness robbed of a material form. It felt strangely calming, yet alien. 

Did I really feel lost, or did this reality demand that I be?

Deep inside the void all around me existed a point. It felt weak, like a final ember of a mighty bonfire suffocated by a snowstorm. I reached out towards it but I couldn't find an entrance. I searched and searched, hoping to find a crack in its incorporeal shell. It felt like an eternity, but at the same moment in the nonexistent time, I was also aware that I have been inside already from the beginning - or maybe it was until the end? I couldn’t tell.

The point just was.

Suddenly I felt a surge, one that has been covering me already. It was a massive jumble of concepts I couldn’t truly decipher, but I already knew their meaning. It was ingrained in my subconsciousness. It was in my nature, like breathing or hunger.

I moved deeper.

Images, sounds, tastes, smells, touch, but not. They did not exist, but I was viscerally aware of them. I knew exactly what they bore. Another consciousness.

It was regretful, scared, full of guilt and confusion.

And it was dying.

A titanic wave of emotion hit me. But this one belonged to me.

Rage.

It hit like a monsoon, sweeping over the dying point, sweeping over myself. I felt like I had been shot from a cannon. In less than a blink of an eye everything came back. Time, thoughts, body, senses.

Bridge.

I opened my eyes. All I could see was red. That was when I finally understood. It was never darkness - it was blood.

It quickly drained from my vision, but my surroundings were still covered in red. The source became obvious after a few uncertain seconds: the aura of my horn. It shone brightly like an emergency flare, lighting up the immediate vicinity in its crimson glow. Tiny magical sparks sizzled off it and dispersed into the air around me.

My gaze moved down to the captain. He was still breathing; the telekinetic grab on his wound was still holding. The blood had stopped flowing.

But I knew the stallion that had risked everything for my sake was dying.

I looked towards the incoming beast of a tank. It was less than thirty metres away, its autocannons spewing shells towards the barricade behind me. I stood up from behind our cover and faced the beast. Heedless of the weapons fire all around, I reached with my magic.

I knew exactly where to go.

But this time the world did not vanish. I was simultaneously in two places: standing on the bridge among the firefight and diving into the void again. I ignored the bullets whizzing by just as I ignored the oppressive nothingness. I pushed myself further and further; the void felt only more and more alien. It actively pushed me back, but my magic was fueled by the white hot furnace of my boundless fury. The beast tank was drawing closer, flattening the cars before it. It felt like months and seconds at the same time, but finally I reached my destination.

Three points located close together. I didn’t waste time in sensing them properly. I didn’t intend to be gentle.

Once I was certain I could’ve reached all of them at the same time, I pushed outwards.

Rage.

Dad.
Prism Gleam.
My city.
My home.

Sorrow.

The senseless bloodshed.
Mom.
Comet.
Loneliness.

But both of these were like a drop of water in an ocean in comparison to the one emotion that dominated nearly my entire life.

The walls stood still. But the gates were blasted open, and out came a flood.

Fear.

The aura around my horn detonated in a flash and expanded outwards in a massive shockwave. Like a tidal wave it rushed along the bridge, taking the entire breadth of it and then some more. It surged over the abandoned cars and through the covering soldiers. The moment it reached the beast it stopped firing, but the wave kept going and going. 

I felt physical pain. Only after a moment did I realise I was screaming so intensely that my throat was hurting. My horn felt like a white hot steel rod was sadistically being screwed into my skull.

None of that stopped me. I had to let it all out.

The crimson wave of magical energy kept on rushing ahead. In less than three seconds it reached the halfway point of the bridge. In five it reached the other bank. I lost sight and sense of it by then.

I stood still in the middle of the road, my legs locked tight and wide to allow me a stable purchase. My breath was shallow and quick, my muscles were shivering from exertion. I felt like I had just run a marathon. My eyes were wide open and unmoving, blankly staring at an imaginary point somewhere at the other end of the bridge. I could feel an intense teste of iron in my mouth and wetness all over my lips and jaw.

Suddenly there was a dull clank. A hatch on the top of the beast opened; momentarily a pony scrambled out, attempting to claw out of the confined turret with sheer, animalistic panic in his movements. He was hungrily gasping for air as if he just surfaced from underwater. His fatigues were soiled. The soldier was quickly followed by two others, each of them clawing out in fright, heedless of one another. They scrambled down their machine; one of them even briefly fell down as he did and crawled for a few metres before finding the strength to get up and flee. I saw their faces.

They were filled with terror.

Only when the three crewponies frantically turned around and ran in blind panic did I realise the other lunar soldiers were gone too, their weapons dropped where they had stood. It took me a few moments to register what was happening further around me. The firefight was over. 

The bridge was nearly silent. I could hear the crackling of the burning wrecks around me and the soft murmur of the river below. The wounded city was silent, holding its breath in shock at what just happened. It wasn’t the only one.

I stood there for a while, attempting to gather my jumbled thoughts. I still couldn’t believe what had happened. Deep down in my heart I knew what I did, but that didn’t mean my brain had an easier time processing it. I needed time to even start wrapping my head around it all.

The clatter of many hooves approached from behind me, soon joined by shouted orders and the sounds of movement. Shapes shifted on the edge of my vision with practised urgency.

I flinched as someone grabbed my shoulder, as if I had suddenly been woken from an awful nightmare. A young, uniformed griffiness with an unfittingly soft face was looking at me. Her beak was moving as she addressed me, but only after she snapped her talons in front of my face and repeated with urgency did I catch her words.

“Come on! We’ve gotta get you to a safe distance!”

My unfocused eyes shifted to the griffiness as I worked my dry mouth to reply, but no words came.

She reaffirmed her grab and started dragging me away; the sense of motion finally sobered me up and I looked around as I followed the griffiness at a brisk pace. There were other soldiers around, most of them covering our retreat, but there were also a few that swarmed around a simple stretcher carried by a hovering drone. Even as we ran they were already treating Captain Prism Gleam. I briefly glanced at one of them working their hooves on properly securing his wound.

We ran towards the battered barricade; once we crossed its threshold I heard a shout and series of minor explosions behind us. Half a second later they were followed by a humongous crash as the bridge collapsed into the Deepwater river below.

The moment we were in the safety of the barricade, the medics began in earnest on the captain. I could only stand by and observe their backs as they huddled around their charge and committed to their grisly duty. Codewords I couldn’t hope to understand were firmly spoken with urgency, dressings were applied, emergency blood bags were hooked up.

“I’m not sure I want to even know what happened there. Are you alright?” It was the same griffiness from before. Despite the dirt and the obvious weariness on her face, I could see  the tiny smile on her features.

It was enough to finally grab my attention fully. “I-I’m okay. I think.” The moment I uttered those words I felt the tension in my body released. With a heavy sigh I flopped down to sit on the concrete as my muscles slackened.

The griffiness raised her wings in alarm. “Are you sure? Miss? Do you want me to get you a medic?”

A stallion’s voice spoke out closeby. “That won’t be necessary.” 

We both looked at the newcomer. He was the strangest pony I’d ever seen - definitely not a soldier. A unicorn in his mid thirties with a pristine white coat and short, swept back, neon pink mane. The sides of his square but welcoming face were covered by sideburns. Despite being a full head shorter than me, his body was built with the robustness I’d expect from a professional hoofball player. Most of it was covered by a simple grey cloak. But the most curious feature was the stallion’s long and curved horn.

He seized me with his azure eyes and calmly spoke again. “You performed an incredible feat out there. Please, I need to speak with you urgently.”

I looked between the unicorn and the griffiness. “B-but… the captain. Please!”

The soldier raised up her talons in a calming gesture. “It’s okay. I’ll keep an eye on him for you!”

The strange unicorn gave me a reassuring nod. “You can be certain he’ll be in good care. Now please, I’m sure you have many questions and only I can answer them.”

Just as we started walking, I heard a familiar voice from the side. I stopped to look down.

“Miss.”

It was the captain. He reached a weak hoof from the stretcher even as the medics were still working on his wound.

“Thank you… for saving my life.”

I trotted over and knelt down, then grabbed his hoof in mine and squeezed it close to my chest. Something about his words hit me to the core. After causing so much pain, I had finally used this strange power to help someone. My eyes started to water.

His hoof squeezed back and the captain gave me a weak smile in return. “I’ll be fine.” His voice was barely above a whisper and he still looked pale like a wall, but the shine in his eyes was more alive than I had ever seen it.

I tried to say something but I couldn’t; I was overwhelmed with emotion.

The captain only nodded with gratitude. “I told you we’d figure it out.”

Sniffing hard I finally managed to find words. “T-thank you C-captain.” I sniffed again as a single, fat tear rolled down my cheek. “For everything.”

He smirked weakly. “Just doing my duty.”

“Alright, he’s stable, get him to the evac point!”

We separated as the stretcher started moving again. I watched as the group of medics escorted the captain away and towards a nearby truck. Neither of us broke eye contact until he was loaded inside and the vehicle hastily drove away towards the starport.

“Miss, if you please.” The strange unicorn’s voice grabbed my attention again. “Come.”

I fell in with the stranger and we walked for a few moments, away from the barricade and the remaining soldiers. He led me towards a small side street and an unassuming building there, then down a short ramp and into a sparse basement. Once there, he lit up his horn in a purple glow to banish the darkness and indicated a crate covered with camouflage canvas.

“It’s no palace, but it will give us some privacy. Please, sit. You must be exhausted.”

I did as he asked, mostly because he was right. My limbs were sore and the last dregs of the headache still swirled inside my skull. Not to mention that my horn was still hurting.

Once I was sitting the stallion continued. His tone was calm and practised; he reminded me of some of the teachers from school. “I’m Tenebrous Fulgurate. I’m a magister of the Æther Corps, a covert organisation dedicated to the study of what little magic still exists in the galaxy. One of our primary missions is to find and assist unicorns that express untamed magical abilities.” He gave me a serious stare. “Unicorns like you.”

I listened quietly as the stallion commanded my whole attention. This was the pony Captain Prism Gleam had said could help me. This was the pony I had been searching for, for far longer than I had ever realised.

Tenebrous continued as he stepped closer. “Normally an investigation would have been called, then the Wilding event would have to be verified.” His expression softened. “But given our current situation on Nova’s Contrast, and the fact I have bore witness to what you did on that bridge, I can safely attest that you qualify for the assistance of the Æther Corps.” He reached out a foreleg and placed it gently on my shoulder. “You possess a gift that many could only dream of, young lady.”

I looked down at the hoof, then up and along until our eyes met. I had no idea what he was talking about, but it seemed like there were other unicorns with the same problems as I out there. “I-it’s not a gift. I hurt people.”

Tenebrous smiled softly. “That is because you lack control. Training. Knowledge.” His grip on my shoulder tightened. “You are older than most we find, but I can see that you hold considerable power. You just need to learn how to tame it.”

“H-how do I do that?”

“Is your family here in the city?”

My eyes drooped to the floor and I shook my head. 

“Somewhere outside? In the Empire or abroad?”

I shook again; the added sniff was enough to make it clear to the magister what I meant.

“I see.”

I sensed movement and the stallion’s face filled my vision as he sat down in front of me. “We can offer you a home - a place where you could learn how to utilise this magic and so, so much more.” He spoke with wonder reserved only for those who have seen actual miracles with their own two eyes. “A community with others like you and the tutors to help.” He took a short pause as his hoof wrapped around the edge of his cloak and showed me its lining. A glittering fabric of dark amber, embroidered in faintly glowing golden symbols I had never seen before along the entire inner layer. “We can offer you a purpose.”

I rubbed my nose with a hoof as I sniffed again. “W-what do I have to do?”

“You seem to be mature enough to make your own decision.” Tenebrous slowly stood up. “But I must warn you: if you decide to follow this path, there won’t be turning back from it.” He added with conviction in his voice, “You’ll become a part of the Æther Corps. You’ll become one of us.”

Even this brief overview was too much for me to process. I had my doubts. What exactly did becoming one of them entail? It all sounded like a huge decision not to be taken lightly. But then…

Mom and Dad were gone. I had no friends. My home was destroyed and my city was a warzone. But most importantly.

I never wanted to hurt someone I cared about ever again.

I took a sharp breath and looked up at Tenebrous, then steeled my voice. “I’ll do it.”

The magister softly nodded. His magic floated a horseshoe sized metal token somewhere from the folds of his cape before he pushed it into my hooves. “I have duties here, but I will use my magic to take you away from the city and somewhere safe where others will take care of you. Give them this once you arrive; they’ll know it was me who sent you.” He took a few steps backwards and took off the brooch holding his cape together: an opaque lime gemstone cut in the shape of a closed eye. The magic holding it intensified and suddenly a kaleidoscope beam of energy shot out of the brooch and hit a nearby wall. A swirling point appeared on the concrete and quickly expanded. After a few seconds it was big enough to allow me to fit through. On the other side I could see a swirling vortex of impossible colours.

My mouth slacked open in surprise as I gave the stallion a questioning look. 

He only smirked with a reassuring smile. “Every journey begins with a first step.”

My disbelieving eyes moved between the stallion and the hole in the wall, then again and again. Finally, I took a deep breath and stood up, then walked the last few steps to the swirling portal. “Tenebrous, sir. Can you please take care of Captain Prism Gleam for me?”

The unicorn nodded. “I promise, I will miss…” He blinked, as if he had just reminded himself of something important. “I’m sorry, I never caught your name.”

I looked over my shoulder at the magister.

“Blood Moon.”

And stepped through the portal.

Back when I took Tenebrous Fulgurate on his offer, I had no clue what life had in store for me. At the time, I didn’t know that after six weeks of siege the Empire would be pushed from Nova’s Contrast for the next two years. I didn’t know that the next time I would see Captain Prism Gleam would be at his daughter's inauguration ceremony to the Ivory Guard over two decades later. I didn’t know what secrets and mysteries would be laid bare before me. My mind was opened to a universe of possibilities available only to the privileged few across the entire galaxy. It’s been years of sweat and tears, of hard work and seemingly insurmountable challenges. But with the help of those around me, of those like me, I pushed through. One after another those obstacles were conquered, even mastered. 

It’s been many years since that day, but I found all that I needed and much more. Knowledge, and with it control. 

Family.

For the first time since I can remember, I’m happy.

I’m at peace.