Chapter 11: Migratory Weather
Headcrash had comforted River until the scarred pegasus succumbed to her injuries, slipping into unconsciousness. She was still holding her wings tightly as he gently set her on the floor. His horn glowed as he picked up her cloak and draped it over her body. “Please stay with her while I turn on the security,” he asked as he got up and headed towards the smashed door on the room’s back wall.
I nodded and moved next to the small mare. I understood what he was feeling. I could see it on his face. He felt the same about Riverbed as I did about Canter. He would give anything to protect her from more pain.
Fifteen minutes passed as I waited for Crash to finish his work on the security. I was about to call to him and ask how things were progressing when I heard a loud hum as the prison came to life. The monitors in the room snapped on, showing video feeds from various parts of the compound. In a few of the feeds I could see raiders moving through rooms and hallways searching for us. The outside of the building lit up as its floodlights flared into life, seeming to turn night into day.
A multitude of high-pitched whines signaled the prison defenses coming online. As I watched on the monitors the raiders were systematically butchered by turrets and security robots. Piles of ash and charred corpses were soon all that was left of them. An hour went by before Crash turned the security off again.
He walked out of the room and over to Riverbed. “It should be safe now,” he began, “could you go get the others?” He looked worried. “I think some of River’s ribs are broken and she might be internally bleeding. Bandaid needs to help her.”
I nodded and turned to leave, then thought of something. “Some of the raiders might still be alive. You should grab your gun.” He nodded as I closed the door behind me and left the control room.
“Night!” I heard a beautiful voice exclaim accompanied by pounding hooves. Seconds later Canter was wrapped around my neck. “We heard so much gunfire…I-I thought you might…be…” She trailed off as I stroked her mane, smiling.
“I’m fine,” I whispered into her ear. “I wasn’t going to die and leave you alone.”
“I take it things went well?” Red-tape asked as he trotted up to us, “any problems?”
“We were able to clear out the raiders.” My smile faded slightly, “Riverbed was hurt pretty badly. She needs Bandaid’s help.”
“Alright then, let’s move into the prison right now,” Red-tape decided before turning to face his group. “Alright everypony, thanks to Void, Headcrash, and Riverbed we can move into the prison now.” His announcement was met by cheering, but I cringed a little at his use of my old name.
I’ll never let myself be forgotten.
Red-tape quickly spoke to Bandaid and let her know that River would be needing her help once we got into the prison. He turned back to me. “Alright, can you lead us in? Just in case.”
I nodded and headed back down the valley side and towards the prison. Canter stumbled a few times due to the difficulty of traversing the rocky slope with her prosthetic leg. I made certain to catch and steady her each time.
We reached the control room about fifteen minutes later. Crash was still with River but he had propped her up against a desk so she could sit. She was conscious now, and with the adrenaline almost gone from her system the pain she was feeling was clearly evident on the few parts of her face that the hood did not conceal. Bandaid, Canter, and I moved quickly over to her as the rest of the ponies spread out in the control room. A few of them began to grab the raider bodies and throw them in a pile outside the door. It took four of them to move the corpse of the massive blood-stained raider.
“Alright, you’re hurt right? I need to see the wound,” the purple unicorn instructed.
Riverbed shook her head and turned to Crash. “Her ribs are busted, she just wants you to push them into place like you did for that other mare so she can drink a health potion,” Crash stated, taking River’s cue.
“There’s only so much my spell can do,” Bandaid explained. “I can’t detect and fix things through more than flesh,” She pointed to River’s cloak, “so that needs to come off.”
River motioned for Headcrash to hand her the board she had been using to write on. He held it in front of her as she wrote something, wincing at the movement, and then showed it to Crash.
“Alright, she says that if she has to she’ll do it, but not in front of all of them,” Crash said, motioning to the slaves milling about the room. He turned to me, “Help me carry her to the security room.”
I nodded and bent down, gently placing the small mare on my back with the help of Crash’s magic. Between the two of us we managed to get River into the room, but even though we were as gentle as we could be she had still passed out from the pain by the time we set her down. The security room was a small space thanks to a massive central processing unit taking up the back half. River’s wings were in a neat stack in one of the corners. Canter stood in the room’s broken doorway, blocking the view from outside.
“Alright, what is it that she didn’t want the other ponies to see?” Bandaid asked, curious.
Crash carefully untied and removed Riverbed’s cloak, eliciting a sympathetic gasp from both Canter and Bandaid. “Oh River…” Canter whispered sadly as she gazed at the pony’s broken and scarred body.
“Oh my…” Bandaid began, “She must be a very tough filly to have survived all that.” The purple pony bent closer to observe a strange scar on River’s flank. It resembled a cloud with a lightning bolt. “What’s this?” the medic muttered, “This was caused by a burn not a blade…”
I concentrated; the mark seemed familiar to me, like something I had dealt with before.
Enclave. Dashite. Enclave? Dashite? Why did it feel like I should know what they meant?
“Bandaid, her ribs,” Crash reminded as Bandaid continued to study River.
“Right, sorry,” she said. “Get a potion ready and hold her down”
I pulled a potion out of my saddlebags and held it out for Crash to pick up with his magic. He floated it above River as he put pressure on her forelegs, pinning her down. He nodded to signal his readiness to Bandaid. She focused on the crippled pegasus and a field of magic glowed around River’s chest. She moaned in pain as her ribs were shifted back into place.
“Alright, give her the potion,” Bandaid instructed. Crash nodded and slowly poured the liquid down the small pony’s throat. She seemed to relax as the magical draught healed her battered body.
Crash’s complexion brightened slightly in response to the mare’s recovery. He gently wrapped her back in the cloak and laid her down to rest. “Thank you Bandaid. Please don’t tell anypony what she is.”
The purple unicorn nodded and left, taking the cue to leave. Crash turned back to the mare sitting next to him and sighed, a mixed look of concern and content evident on his face. I turned to Canter as she put her hoof on my shoulder.
“Come with me she whispered,” leading me away from the rest of the group.
I went with her for a ways till we came to a relatively unspoiled room. I followed her inside and turned as she closed the door.
“We, um, passed it on the way in,” she said nervously, her cheeks flushed. She moved and sat down on the room’s sole furnishing, an ancient bed. She clumsily removed her armor and prosthetic and set them on the floor
I took off my barding and moved to sit next to her, my intuition telling me where this was leading. She took a couple deep breaths and placed her hoof on my thigh.
“I’ve…I’ve never…at least not willingly…,” she cringed and turned away. I reached over to her and pulled her close to me, trying to wash away her horrible memories with my love.
No matter what happens to you Luna, no matter what you do, I will always love and care for you. No! You are not going to take this moment from us! LEAVE ME ALONE! I waited in silence for a minute, holding my mare tightly, but the voice did not return.
I smiled in relief and began to rub Canter’s back. She sighed happily. “Night, I…I…”
“shhh,” I whispered quietly, “If it hurts too much to think about we can wait. I can wait as long as you need.” I would be willing to wait my entire life for Canter.
She turned to me, her eyes watering. “I…I want this. Maybe even more than you do.” She sniffed and buried her face in my chest, muffling her voice. “You’ve given me so much Night. I want to be with you. I never want to be alone again.”
My eyes started to water as well, my new soul touched by the beautiful moment. I gently laid her down on the bed and moved over her, kissing her passionately.
“I love you Canter.”