There wasn't anything especially noteworthy or dangerous about my cross-city trip to the shopping center. Just a lot of rain, wind, and lightning. The mall itself, on the other hand...

Maximum Millions is fully powered: all of the lights in the concourse are on. There are speakers built into the walls and some ceilings, playing music that I don't recognize. There's advertisements in a few places for celebrities and area businesses, including Mocha Tavern. All of the empty shops are shuttered and there are a few areas that haven't yet been painted, paneled or tiled, but otherwise the place looks just about ready to cater towards the public. There's even a carousel, a nifty little roller coaster, and...

Hmm. Depending on how long I'm stuck in Equestria, I may have to provide this place with some business once it opens. You know, just to make sure the pool is safe.

Of course, I can't take the time to enjoy my grand tour. There's drones flying or ambling in every which way, far more than I encountered during my runs against Trifecta and Glintlock combined. Either they've discovered automated manufacturing, or else they have teams of ponies working around the clock to put these together. I don't know which is more valid, or if both are applicable.

I'm looking forward to the day when we can demolish the production facilities for good.

There's plenty of those Mettaurs around, and they're behaving the same way I described them to Coffee-and-Cream: defense, offense, then back to defense. While most of them have the magic cannons I assumed they had, several of them are modified to shoot flame bullets instead. Happily they are all still easily dealt with, and extinguishing the few fires that come in contact with the floor is child's play.

Something's making me curious. Now that I have a way to deal with illusions, fire's easily my biggest weakness now. But there's no Torchounds present that my hardware can detect, and the flame-spitting Mettaurs aren't shooting at me if I'm in front of a wall, pillar, or plant at any point. It could be that they don't want to attract much attention if the building catches on fire, but if they truly wanted to kill me, wouldn't it be easy to just lure me into an enclosed area and transform it into an inferno?

Here's an example. There's an unstable barricade set up across this part of the concourse, requiring me to wall-jump up to the second floor to get past it. If the path was created in a way that I was required to pass through one of the shuttered stores, they could just have the fire breathers ambush me and try to light me up like they did at Diarchs. Instead, all that was accomplished here involved me wasting just a minuscule bit of energy.

Oh, well. Nopony ever said that the schemes of madmen were supposed to make sense.

That's my target. First item on the agenda: erasing the rest of these drones. Second item: giving the enemy a good-old Neo Arcadian greeting. We'll see what the itinerary looks like after that.

While waiting for the weather-named officer to fetch some extra towels, she'd been passing the time by examining an information board in the hallway. She could hear Leviathan discuss her work with somepony on the other side of the wall. She paid it no mind at first, lacking any interest in where Levi was going or what she was doing today.

Her ears pricked up when she heard a 'whoosh', some extra dialogue, and a letter being read. When she heard a familiar name at the end of the letter, a muscle near her eye twitched a millimeter. A few moments later, Leviathan exited the room and left the station in a hurry.

The officer returned with the towels, and Fiver gave them to Ebony back at the showers. She made a bit of noise about using the restroom, then grunted at Ebony's statement about meeting her at the break room.

Fiver did have to use the restroom, but she had no intention of going to the break room afterward. Instead she meandered in the opposite direction, walking towards the main lobby and retrieving her umbrella as she went. Not that it would do her any good in this weather, but it wouldn't hurt to bring it anyway.

As she was leaving, a stallion---himself completely soaked---entered the station to report something at the front desk. The door stayed open just long enough for Fiver to slip out into the storm undetected, saving her from having to answer any questions about where she was going.

She hailed a taxi. There was always at least a few of them on Manehattan's streets, even in weather like this. Total nutters, the whole lot of them. "...The Maximum Millions Center," she called out (sort of) as she climbed into the carriage. She dropped the few bits that she always kept stashed beneath her hairband into a coin box. "...I have to fix a malfunction at the idiot factory."

The driver had a few questions about priorities and what she was doing in this weather (as well as what an "idiot factory" was), but he kept them to himself when he heard the familiar clamor of coins over the rain. Obliging her request, he took off towards his destination as quickly as safety permitted.

In her haste to chase after Calico, Leviathan hadn't bothered with anything fancy on arrival: she'd just slashed through the locks keeping her from entering. Due to this, Fiver had no issues pushing her way into the mall's concourse, shaking water off of her on her way in. She left her umbrella near the door and started her journey.

The floor in all directions was littered with metal debris and lingering ice. Beneath the background music and the storm hitting the building she could still hear grunts and yells echoing back to her, and the shrill screech of metal slicing through metal.

Fiver wasn't in any hurry. She continued to walk along at her usual pace. Where obstacles blocked her way, she took a ramp leading up to the third floor. When she needed to return to ground level, she hitched a ride on an escalator. She quietly marveled at the novelty of it while wondering why it was even working at all.

...If I had to judge from how fancy this place looks, there's no way we'd be able to afford anything when it opens. Abandon all money, ye who enter here.

Fiver followed the combat ambience through the mall, side-stepping any debris she came across. On a whim, she grabbed a metal helmet that was lying loose and placed it on her head. It was too large to fit comfortably, but she inwardly shrugged and kept it where it was.

...Don't mind me, everypony. Child at work. Get too close, and I'll assert my non-existent authority. Maybe I'll dock the pay I'm not giving you. You're fired, so you can go outside and play now.

For a few minutes the noise died down---aside from an awful cacophony that turned her ears back---and she thought the fight was already over. The notion was quickly dispelled when the noise resumed in earnest, this time joined by an angry shout. ...Hard to mistake that high-pitched racket for anything other than Calico.

Past the area with the swimming pool was the mall's spacious food court-to-be. To her ears the combat was coming from that direction. Ascending to the second floor on another escalator, she sought out a good vantage point to see matters for herself. A particularly portly potted plant placed partially close to a railing gave her the perspective she'd pursued. As she was sheltered by the leaves, she gazed through the glass as Leviathan and Calico performed their deadly dance.

The last wave of drones meets a frozen end at my Javelin's blade. I pick up their leftover crystals and crush them in my grip, and I take a moment to enjoy the feeling of my systems being boosted back to near-peak performance.

That was one of the biggest workouts I've gotten since I came to the city, but it was very enjoyable. No serious harm was done to me that the drones' power sources couldn't fix, and the concourse is completely free of attackers as far as I can tell. All that's left is to catch myself a kirin.

Though now I'm thinking. Let's assume for a moment that the pattern I noticed during my first round of enemies holds true: fire (Trifecta), electricity (Metallium), ice (Statuette), and non-elemental (Glintlock). It's a stretch, but Illudere's suit was probably using electricity in some fashion to boost her magic. It would explain the constant crackling and thrumming I was hearing during that encounter. What of the others? If Calico, Bushwhacker and the two thieves are going to fit into this pattern, what kind of abilities are they going to bring to the table?

I've talked to Gray and her children about their experiences with the group. I'm already aware of what Bushwhacker and Calico's respective races are called. Unfortunately, Fiver wasn't able to tell me anything about what Calico was like beyond her unstable emotional state, plus her utilization of the same telekinesis possessed by unicorns.

I should clarify what I mean by "unstable". As far as Fiver could determine, Calico's not insane like Illudere was. She instead wears her heart on her sleeve. She doesn't bother to hide how she feels, whether she's happy, sad, relieved, hungry, or anything else. Her emotions are subject to change at a moment's notice, often without warning. Whenever that happens, her mood flares like---

I'm calling it now, then: she's going to have something to do with flames, and I'm going to be disappointed if she isn't.

Up ahead of me is what's going to be the Center's future food court. The tables and chairs have been set up, though for the latter most of them have been placed atop the tables for now. I say "most" because Calico's seated at one of them, devouring an entire table's worth of food almost as fast as she can get her hooves on them.

Calico's armor is an orange-white gradient. ...Or at least that's what I should be telling myself. Considering what I'm seeing of her appetite, I'm reminded of one of those ice cream treats I've seen Pure Energy eat. What's it called? ...Oh, right: a creamsicle. There's a set of boomerangs hitched to her back, and I'm wondering what bells and whistles they're equipped with.

I clear my throat. She ignores me in favor of a pizza. There's steam rising off of it, indicating that it's right out of the oven. Has she been using the kitchens without permission? ...And if the facility's not going to be open to the public for a while yet, where did she get the ingredients?

After a minute I tap the floor with the Javelin, the light ringing reverberating around us before fading. This finally gets her attention. "Anytime is fine," I announce.

"Good," she comments with annoyance. "Means that you can afford to wait while I finish eating. This is going to be my last meal in Manehattan, so stop interrupting me."

"That remains to be seen," I tell her. "I'm sure the nice officers at the station would be happy to feed you in the confines of your jail cell."

"I'm sure they would," Calico agrees, "but that's not the sort of love I'm looking for in my life." Her eyes turn to steel even as she guzzles down a chocolate milkshake. Her words are muffled, but still understandable. "If I want somepony to lay their hooves on me, I'll ask them to."

So I'm dealing with this type of criminal. Super. "I know the local authorities, and I can count on them to stay professional. I meant what I said in the sense that you're not going anywhere."

"You're not going to stop me from leaving the city," Calico warns me, finishing her pizza. What even is her appetite right now? Whether I win or lose this fight, I'm going home." She holds up a hoof before I can reply. "Now sit tight and let me eat, Leviathan. You are not, and I emphasize not, going to take the dignity of a last meal away from me."

Want to bet, little pony-dragon? I charge energy into the Javelin as I walk towards her. "Nopony should have to take in that many calories at once. You can afford to miss half a meal."

"You have no right to call me fat," she growls as she starts to reach behind her back.

Fat...! I stop where I am. Did I just hear her say that? "Are you seriously getting worked up over that now? Right when there's better things you could be doing? Like say, defending yourself?"

"That can wait. If you attack me now, you're going to freeze my meal." The spark in Calico's eyes brightens in intensity. She's definitely mad, but she's holding an immense amount of something back on top of that. "And I'm sure you've been warned about the consequences of wasting food. Now put your weapon away for the moment and sit down. It's not going to kill you to wait for five stinking minutes."

I grimace. As you can guess, I don't like having my enemies tell me what to do. I re-open the transmission to HQ. "Officer, have there been any changes with the drone movements?"

I listen carefully to Coffee's reply; my equipment's powerful enough to send clear signals past the weather, but their own isn't as advanced. From what I'm able to understand, those at the docks are maintaining their position while those at Sunrise Labs have the area surrounded. The Labs are safe for the time being, though that will change if any of our remaining enemies decide to get involved.

I huff as I confirm Coffee's statements and shut off the radio. The Javelin's energy fades away. Fine. I'll sit down and wait. But I'm going on record as saying that this is being done against my will.

Calico smirks at her miniscule victory and resumes her culinary rampage. ...Dear Celestia, is she singing now? That can't even remotely be construed as music! "~That's... what... grills do! They keep ya cookin' the whole day through! Hayburgers and pizza, veggie lasagnas, it's true...!~"

There's so many things wrong with her song that I don't know where to begin, and I'm not just talking about the fact that a nearby plant just spontaneously wilted. For bonus points, I think the plant was plastic. Someone or somepony, please end this torment right now...

Mercifully, Calico has finished her meal after a short time. I keep my eyes on her as she disposes of the trash and places the trays she used in an appropriate compartment. She smiles as she picks an open spot between tables to confront me. "Best food in Equestria," she sighs blissfully. "I'm going to miss it when I'm gone." She looks up at me curiously. "What's with that look?"

"How in the world do you eat that much and not feel sick?" I complain as I stand up, so appalled that my voice has dropped below thirty degrees Fahrenheit. "You've got a black hole for a stomach!"

She shrugs. "That just feels normal for me. Pacing is key. If you don't pace yourself, you're not going to last very long."

---"Shoptastic excellence". I've just about had it with this screwball. "You know what, Miss Driftwood? I've had enough. Let's just end this fantasy of utter ridiculousness right here, right now."

Calico shifts a little in preparation. "Couldn't agree more. I'm planning on leaving for good after I'm done with you, and I want to use the storm as cover. Don't wanna delay any more than I have to."

"That sort of statement implies that I'm not going to haul you by your tail to the police station," I admonish her, swinging into my battle stance. "I'm going to defeat you the same way I did your teammates. That's all there is to it."

Wow, that glare. I think I just pushed her into taking it seriously. "Have fun trying. I'm the straw that stirs the drink." Her armor glows with a grayish-blue aura to match her visible scales. "You won't beat me, you won't freeze me..." She rears up, one of her forelegs swinging behind her while the other one levels out in front of her. "...and you're sure as blazes not quick enough to catch me!"

With that, the battle's on. With an angry shout, she springs from her position and slings one of her boomerangs at me while in mid-leap. As it flies it splits apart into three smaller projectiles, each of them burning merrily on the wings.

I swerve around the projectiles, jump forward and slash at Calico on her way down. Predictably, she blocks the slash with her other weapon---

A warning blares on my HUD, and I jump sideways as the mini-rangs rip through the space I'd just occupied. Calico takes the opportunity to hurl her second boomerang at me and dash in the opposite direction. The boomerang lights on fire from wing to wing, becoming a whirling self-contained conflagration.

The court's stacked furniture is making it difficult for me to evade the way I want to, so that leaves me with little choice but to block the attack with the Javelin---

I can see Calico's diving form, but my reaction time isn't enough to counter her. One of her back hooves impacts my face like a meteor---!

---Well. No question as to what that suit's letting her do. She's fast and agile, extraordinarily so. And there's this searing pain right next to my mouth where I was struck, so there's probably emitters on her hooves like there were on Trifecta's armor.

All of that speed has a fatal flaw, though. Let's see if I can make her pay for it.

The mini-boomerangs are still zipping around through the air as I get back to my feet. I have to assume that they can stay in the air indefinitely until they run out of power. Step one in my plan is to destroy them.

Meanwhile, Calico's dashing and bounding around the court like Pure Energy on a sugar high (seriously, don't give him soda pop; you'll regret it). The flaming boomerang I'd blocked is back in her hooves for the moment as she seeks another attack avenue. I trigger the Gatling Harpoon and dispatch six spearheads. They're not going to catch her, but any time she spends evading them is time she's not going to spend attacking me.

For the next half minute, I'm focused entirely on surviving and waiting for the right moment. The time I spent training during the past week is put to the test as I sidestep, duck and weave around the projectiles. I'm inclined to think that focusing exclusively on land battles and training with that in mind since my arrival has helped me immensely: my clumsiness is gone. I don't stumble so much as once.

I still wonder when I'm going to get another aquatic battle, though. Are they going to throw that at me at all while I'm in Equestria, or is that beyond their capabilities?

One of the mini-rangs cuts through a chair leg in passing, leaving it warped from the flames---one second, just had to block a direct strike from Calico, and ooh, clever. She almost hit me with my own spearheads. Impressive dodging there, girl.

A jump away to get some space, and... excellent: the mini-rangs' flight pattern has them spinning straight down an aisle in-between tables. A "Hi-yah!" from somewhere above signals that Calico's thrown the larger boomerang at me again, even as she slips past two of my projectiles and kicks them into their component particles.

Perfect timing. I aim the Javelin at the mini-rangs and activate the Permafrost Squirrel, holding on tight to it as it becomes more drill-like in its motions. The technique pulls me out of the way of Calico's attack and towards the other. The mini-rangs fly towards the spinning drill... and split apart on contact, shattering into fragments that spill onto the floor. Three weapons down.

An irritated snarl: Calico clearly didn't like that. I get my feet back under me and whirl around in time to see her accelerate even faster, if that were possible. The entire court becomes a blur of orange, white and dark gray---

---...Excuse me. My processors need a moment to catch up. One moment I was standing upright, and now I'm pulling myself out of what used to be a table and four chairs. Calico's blisteringly fast, and that speed translates to power. There's no way my optics can keep up with her.

The flaming boomerang jets at me as I stand up, and I raise my Javelin in time to deflect it away. The boomerang disappears into the blur surrounding me, and as it does I direct a signal to my hardware to activate my Lock-On function.

Illusions are one way to interpret "changes in perception". Let's see if the same thing applies to super-speed. Scanning...

It does. My eyes are able to zero in on Calico's form in no time. I can see her now, the way she's all over the place. This will work wonderfully.

For half a second in real time, my CPU extrapolates Calico's attack pattern. One shot's all I need, but I can't just swing wildly: I need to plan ahead and aim for where she's going to be.

Leap off a table here, ricochet off a wall there. Trigger the Variable Weapons System and charge my fist with power.

The plant that had withered in the face of Calico's singing is ripped apart. Watch carefully, aim...

At the precise instant she rebounds off the far wall, my fist raises itself to meet her. She sees what's going to happen, and in that fraction of a second her eyes widen in surprise; but it's too late to evade as she has no way to stop in mid-air. My fist reaches the end of its swing right as Calico slams into it---

Her body bends around my fist for the most disturbing of instants before rocketing back the other way. Some of the construction work is immediately undone as Calico hits the wall like a missile, smashing through it and disappearing into the darkness beyond.

When what you have is the Fahrenheit Hammer, your enemies look like nails. Speed may translate into power, but that power and momentum can just as easily be turned against you. As fast as she was going when I connected, I have no doubt that she felt the blow clear past those dragon scales.

Calico dropped her boomerang when she was hit, and I rush to deal with it. A charged slash extinguishes its fire for good, and a regular slash reduces the boomerang to pieces. She doesn't have anything but her own self to attack me with now, and I know how to combat her. She's not winning this.

There's a brief delay before a door across the court opens. Calico returns, shaken. Her armor's chest pieces are gone, and most of the dragon scales beneath her neck are covered in ice. A quick check confirms that she's shivering, though whether it's from the cold or from the suddenness of what just happened I don't know (probably both). As I had guessed, her vitality's taken a big hit.

Calico sees her ruined weaponry and grimaces, but dismisses them in favor of a very loud and disbelieving question: "What in all the cheese on spaghetti was that? Since when in Tartarus are you that fast?"

She shakes her head in denial as she walks towards me. "You shouldn't have hit me. I should've been going too fast for you to see. I was going too fast for me to see."

"All I can tell you is that you'd best prep your bags for a stay at the police station," I 'advise' her, giving the Javelin an idle twirl. "Just accept that you've been bested and come along. Fighting a losing battle against a superior opponent isn't worth having a cow over."

Calico has halted completely. No movement, not even a twitch. Her head's tilted towards the floor, and her eyes are squeezed shut. Her breathing pattern is suggesting to me that she's struggling to keep herself under control. Even the background music has stopped playing.

I consider clonking her over the head with the Javelin's flat side and putting her under, but the moment ends when she finally talks. "...What did you just say?"

Uh-oh. That voice doesn't sound right. Cold curiosity is never a good sign. "Beg your pardon, Driftwood?"

Her suit's aura is sputtering. There are little sparks of magenta, purple, and electric blue coming from her hooves, tail and mane. Even her eyebrows aren't safe. "What did you just say?" she asks again a bit more slowly. "Your exact words?"

"I told you that fighting a losing battle against a superior opponent wasn't worth having a cow over," I repeat for her benefit. What's her problem? Is not being able to go home really a big deal to her?

"I see," she says completely calmly. The ice on her armor's rapidly melting. "That's what I thought you said."

The sparks are more rapid now. The suit's aura drops out of visibility completely. Something's wrong. Something's terribly, terribly wrong.

---howls to wake the dead. What had been sparking before is now completely ablaze in technicolor fire. Her horn and the coat beneath her suit are completely black, her visible scales have turned gray, and I swear that even the suit itself is darkening. And there's white in her eyes: no irises, no pupils, no sclerae, just white.

That message flashes on my HUD for a moment as I'm confronted with pure rage. The floor beneath her hooves is starting to buckle. Her speech is so spine-tingling that if this were a written story, all of her words would be italicized. "For the crime of insulting me, I'm going to return you to the fish you came from."

Her teeth are serrated too, but something's more important. "Since when did I insult---"

I jet to the right---and a blast of fire straight from her mouth fills the area. It misses me, but torches one of the tables and reduces it to ash and kindling before I can cut my dash short. That's not hyperbole: the table's there, then it's gone. Fire burns quickly, but it's not supposed to burn that quickly.

When I first read her profile, I mused that she looked part-dragon. I didn't think she would behave like one. I can't let that fire hit me!

I stay on the move, channeling energy as I go while I try to keep myself ahead of the first bursts. Once I've gathered enough power, I create a Spirit of the Ocean and jump onto its back. I direct it around the court's perimeter, sending Ice Slashers down towards my enemy.

"You are not getting away from me!" Calico screams as she takes off in pursuit, evading the Slashers. She's not as fast as she was earlier, instead being closer to what's expected of ponies, but it's fast enough. She jumps onto another table and from there onto the stacked chairs' legs (sheesh, that's good balance), then leaps and catches the Spirit's tail. She's at an angle where I can't hit her. Terrific.

Calico breathes a steady stream of flame into the Spirit's underside, forcing me to jump off as it loses cohesion. The moment we both hit the floor, she's tearing after me. "Forget the thirty minutes; I'm going to deliver these hooves to your face right now for free!"

I jump over her as she closes in; no fool, she does the same to meet me. I Double Jump over her, causing her to swing and miss. "Seriously! When did I insult you?"

"I heard what you said! Don't deny it!" As she yells, a chair gets thrown at me via her telekinesis. It strikes me in the back, and while it does no major damage it's distracting enough that it gives her time to get close. "You called me a cow!"

What is she--- ...Oh. "...isn't worth having a cow over." She heard that and thought I meant something else entirely. I turn and hold the Javelin close to parry Calico's hoof strikes. "That's not what I said, Driftwood!"

"I'm sick of ponies comparing me to them! It's completely baseless!" she rants, either not hearing me or not caring. "We look nothing alike! And I..." A strike slips past my guard---! "...AM..." And another---! "...NOT..." And one more for the road, shoving me back---! "...FAT!"

Calico's hooves are burning brightly, so I felt those hits. My coolant's not happy about it either: my levels are at 77%, and I'm starting to feel a little dizzy. I have to stay the course until she either calms down or burns herself out!

I hear a beeping from somewhere overhead, and feel the patter of water splashing off my helmet. I'm just now realizing that wherever she's running, firing and swinging, Calico's leaving evidence of her presence behind. The rising smoke from her fires has reached the ceiling, activating the automatic sprinklers built in. "Officer!" I shout urgently as I open a channel back to Coffee-and-Cream, dodging more fire breath as I run. "Get fireponies over here right now! Maximum Million's food court is burning, and Driftwood's not letting me get away long enough to put the fires out!"

I cut the transmission immediately after I hear Coffee's hasty -"Roger!"- and try to come up with a new battle plan. From what I've ascertained of Calico's attitude, she's too angry to listen to reason and she's not going to let me explain myself. I'm going to have to exhaust her, and that's going to have to depend on her flames not being endless.

My decision's made, so I'm focusing my energy. I'll start with a charged slash and work my way up from there.

Calico's galloping in again, aiming to get in close and pummel me. It's only fair that I meet her in kind, so I dash at her at full speed---

---and it hits Calico right between the eyes. She stops her charge and raises a hoof to the affected area, massaging it. "Who's there?! Who did that?!"

The disc clatters to the ground nearby as she complains, and it turns out not to be a disc at all. Turns out it's just a Mettaur helmet. Someone else is here. Scan my surroundings, I instruct my hardware.

I hear it before my scanners confirm it: soft hoofsteps leading away from a second-floor railing at an imperturbable pace. They continue in that direction for some meters, then turn right. Their source---

Maybe I should've had my Will written out, I consider with dread, because I have a hunch that Gray's going to kill me when she hears about this.

Their source is now perched on a downward escalator. Even from this distance, Five-of-a-Kind's coat and mane look fairly damp from the weather. She's staring straight at us with those same half-closed eyes, not caring for the damage around us or the fires around us. The automatic sprinklers installed overhead are doing their job, but their coverage isn't perfect and I don't want her to get too close.

I can't let this stand. "Stay there, Fiver," I call to her. "I'll come and get---"

That little word, quiet as it is, overrides the end of my sentence. I frown with impatience and just a hint of fear. "Look, Fiver. This isn't up for---"

I want to get Fiver away from here. I want to physically walk run there, pick her up, and carry her back to her mother. What I have to do is to stay on guard so that the living furnace over here doesn't boil through all of my coolant. I'm not being attacked for the moment, but that could change at any time. "Fiver, for the last time---"

She's at the bottom of the escalator now, continuing to approach. You know what? Fine. If she's going to try to get in close, then I'm just going to have to keep her away. I prepare the Javelin for the raising of an ice wall, reshaping its gathered energy accordingly. Even if the barricade's only temporary, it'll be enough to keep her away from the fires and fighting.

If there's one bright spot to this, it's that for once Calico and I are on the same wavelength. "Leave, Five-of-a-Kind," she orders. "This is between the two of us! It doesn't concern you!"

She's not going to stop, so I'm going to have to make her. The Javelin's tip touches the floor and swipes across from right to left, releasing a thick cloud of frozen particles. The barricade that takes shape over seven seconds is a foot thick, five feet high, and separates the food court from the concourse. She's not getting through that.

...And in my haste to stop her, I failed to account for a moderately large plant on that side of the barricade. Fiver angles herself towards the plant, tenses her muscles and jumps into its container, giving her enough height for another jump to the top of the ice wall. She skids off the top, but she keeps her hooves under her and lands on the ground with a 'plop'. "...Cold" is the only thing she has to say about it.

I huff anxiously, my grip on the Javelin tightening. "Fiver, listen to me for one minute!" I protest as I dissolve the now-useless barrier. "Do you have any idea what Gray's going to do to us when she finds out you're here? Get to safety, now!"

She's still not listening. All Calico's words accomplished was to earn her Fiver's full focus. I swing the Javelin down, positioning the blade to my left and blocking her path. "For the love of everything. Stay. Back."

She doesn't, instead walking through my legs. I start to stoop down to grab her---

Oogh, my vision's swimming. Dizzy right now. System's warning me that my coolant level's well below normal. I stagger, nearly falling but managing to catch myself and stay upright. Of all the times for it...!

Fiver continues walking unimpeded for several more steps, then stops. I turn around to see that she's sitting between me and Calico. She's looking up at her, staring and saying nothing. As calm and quiet as ever.

Calico didn't show any outward signs of it, but inside she was just as shocked as Leviathan was that Five-of-a-Kind had been present the entire time. When did she get here? How did she find out that we were fighting? And most importantly, why isn't she leaving?!

She made a few token attempts to encourage Fiver to leave, which the filly refused to take. She watched as Leviathan, the target of her anger, did the same only to be overcome. And now, she was confronted with Fiver sitting on the floor before her and treating her with the same I'm-so-done-with-everypony stare she always gave.

Calico crouched down a little to be on eye level with her. Worry started to make in-roads into the Nirik's state of mind. "Fiver. Get. OUT OF HERE!"

No response, as usual. Fiver tilted her head by a degree or two, but continued to stare.

"Fiver, don't get between me and Leviathan! Don't get involved in this! Leave here, NOW!"

Fiver's eyes slowly closed, then opened again. She shook her head just enough to get her point across: she wasn't going anywhere.

Calico slammed a hoof against the ground, a light burst of fire billowing upwards on contact. Her voice cracked slightly as her anxiety became more prevalent. "MOVE IT, FIVER! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Fiver opened her mouth. Calico thought she was finally going to say something, but it was a cough that exited instead of words. It started off light, but as the seconds passed it got worse instead of stopping. Did she come here with a cold?

But that thought erased itself with a vengeance when Fiver finally managed to get a few words out past her fit. "...Idiot," she rasped, gesturing around the court. Her eyes were starting to water in a way that had nothing to do with sadness. "Smoke."

While it wasn't all-consuming thanks to the sprinklers---yet---the food court was very much on fire. All around them was smoke and flames which had been brought into existence by Calico's attacks and her own movements. The table she'd been seated at less than twelve minutes ago was torched.

Calico looked at the flames, then back at Fiver. The worry that had gained a hoofhold transitioned to fear, and she took a step back as the memories of her departure from home returned to her.

"Autumn! ...Rain Shine! ...Waterfall?! ...Deciduous?! ...Please, say something! Anything! Why's there smoke everywhere? What happened to the village? What happened to my home?!"

No matter how much she hated to admit it, she'd known what had happened. While she was on one of her adventures to the outside world, her fellow villagers became angry enough to transform into Niriks. It was a backwards name, but it fit because their temperaments were complete 180 degree turns from their regular personalities. The village burned down because of their anger, and they willingly stifled themselves to keep it from happening again.

As she listened to Fiver's coughing, she took another step back as she remembered her past conversations with the child.

"...There are periods where I have trouble breathing for seemingly no reason at all. I'm told it was worse when I was a yearling. ...My parents and the doctor took the needed steps to make my condition more bearable over time. ...It's mostly better now. ...This is my 'normal'. ...And I still have days where my breath catches out of the blue, so I know it's not fully gone."

Calico's face contorted, but it wasn't with the rage she'd gotten stuck in since her transformation. It was the horror that came with realizing that she'd done something awful to somepony who never deserved it. Tears formed in her eyes, evaporating before they could leave.

She was still angry, but now that anger was directed at herself instead of Leviathan. She forgot that Fiver was partially at fault for willingly going into danger to talk her down. She watched as Leviathan was torn between attacking her and protecting the child, while said child was beginning to suffer from the effects of smoke inhalation. Smoke that Calico herself had brought into existence.

Wrath merged with fear, taking sadness with it. No... this... no. It's my fault. It's my fault! Calico, you over-emotional idiot!

While her thoughts and emotions were spiraling out of control, she didn't notice that her armor was turning an alarming shade of red.

No! I didn't ask for this! I don't want this! No, no, no, no no no no NO NO NO NO---!

Battle reflexes kick in as Calico's grief-stricken howl is echoed by my CPU's message. I snatch Fiver off the ground and dash in the opposite direction, not daring to look back, almost tripping as my dizziness effects me again---

I don't get far before a wave of force and fire picks me up off my feet, launching me on a spiraling course out of the food court.

MISSION COMPLETE

MISSION -- 100 -- 20p
CLEAR TIME -- 16'53 -- 12p
ENEMY -- 148 -- 20p
DAMAGE -- 45 -- 11p
RETRY -- 0 - 20p

TOTAL: 83p
AVERAGE: 82p

LEVEL: B
CODENAME: WARRIOR

Oh. I crashed through the fence around the swimming pool. Must've blacked out for a few moments.

I can hear Fiver's coughing. She must've crawled through the hole in the fence and reached into the pool to splash water on me. "Five-of-a-Kind?"

Fiver nods, tracing the letters "OK" in the air. Alright, so she's not physically hurt from our little flight, but she's still in danger from the smoke. I look back towards the food court.

Long summary short: it's gutted. The effects of our battle are still there, with the addition of a scorched crater where Calico had been standing. I shake my head: either she'd deliberately triggered that self-destruct herself or her emotions did it without her input, but either way doing so because she was afraid of Fiver is almost unfathomable.

I activate my hardware and scan the area for life signs. None in the court, but... somewhere beyond it? There's a single form fleeing through the building. It pauses for a few seconds, then takes off again---this time away from the shopping center.

If that's who I think it is, I can't afford to chase after her now. Finding Calico's Reddocite, if there is any in that mess, and getting Fiver to the hospital takes priority. Besides, I can hear the clanging of the fireponies outside. Best not to interfere with their work.

As you can guess, Gray blitzed through the air to the hospital when it was reported back that Fiver was taken there. I'd say she recovered from her catnip fit in epic fashion, but I don't know if chewing out a child for boneheaded stunts could reasonably be considered "epic" in this situation.

Gray didn't care one bit for somepony telling her that Fiver was resting and wasn't to be disturbed: she shoulder-checked the poor nurse out of her path and barged into the room anyway. I apologized on her behalf and followed her in, keeping track of what she was yelling.

I hope there aren't too many patients around today, because if this isn't a disturbance, nothing is.

"Five-of-a-Kind! Why in the world would you do something like that?! You got up and left in the middle of a storm, and you charged into a dangerous situation without thinking of the consequences! You could have gotten killed, and then the rest of us would've had to live without you! Do you have any idea what kind of pain that would've caused us? Do you?!

"We've made this clear! Made it clear time and time again! You do not get in the way of Leviathan's fights! You do not confront dangerous individuals on your own! You do not go out into dangerous weather on a lark! And above all else, you do not just decide to wander off without anypony knowing where you're going! We were all worried out of our wits when you disappeared! You could've gotten hurt, or killed, or who knows what else!

"Five-of-a-Kind, I swear to Celestia that the moment you get out of here, I'm putting you on probation! You hear me?! Probation! When it's done, you'll be thankful for the concept of grounding! None of us will be letting you out of our sight until you can be trusted to be left alone! I don't think I ever did something this foolish, and that's saying something! Why, for all of the fish in the world, did you decide to do something so risky? So stupid? So... so... jeopardizing?!

"I don't know what to do with you! I just don't know what to do with you! You had those health issues when you were a baby, and now you're deliberately trying to bring them back? I don't get it! I don't get it! I don't know what really went on between you and that strange pony, but it wasn't worth risking your life or borderline throwing it away! Tell me something, Fiver! I want to know why it was you thought jumping between Levi and that fire starter was a good idea!"

The whole time Gray's ranting, Fiver's just staring at her with her usual calmness. She's not giving any indication of how she's feeling, or interrupting her mother to set the record straight. Gray's one of the most intimidating beings I've ever met, but all of that's just being shrugged off. I guess if you spend long enough around somepony, you gain a good understanding of what they're like.

So it's right when Gray's catching a quick breath in-between statements that Fiver cuts in. Her voice is weaker than usual, but the timing's perfect and there's none of her usual hesitation:

And all of the fight leaves Gray just like that. Seven little words just did what more than three hundred could not.

I can see it in her eyes: she's remembering something. I don't know what she's remembering, but it's clear to me that Fiver's words have hit home. Both of her forelegs, which had been locked in the air mid-gesture, are lowering back down to the ground. Her lips quiver for a moment.

Curiosity overtaking her, Celestia posed a question to Gray. "You might recall this, you might not... When we first met ten years ago, you galloped up to my throne and gave me the brightest smile in the world. I wasn't in a good mood that day, but I felt I was doing an adequate job of hiding it from everypony. If you weren't aware of my feelings, what drove you to act that way?"

Gray's eyes met Celestia's. The smaller pony was smiling, but there was something sad behind it. "I don't know. It just seemed right."

When Gray finally speaks, it's with a bittersweet tone and a much calmer mood influencing her. "I guess you inherited something from me after all." She lets one of her hooves rest on the bed next to her child. "Fiver, you know I'm only upset because I care about you. Right?"

Fiver's hoof rests on that of her mother's. "...Love you too, Mom," she says, coughing a little at the end of it.

The nurse nudges me as we look on. "Every day this job teaches me that this world is full of weird ponies," she comments quietly. "I don't know why I find this heartening. I mean, she almost tackled me to get in here."

"The doctors were able to undo the effects of the smoke inhalation," the nurse informs me. "It was a good thing you got her here so quickly, or it would've been too late. I'll talk with the staff, but it looks like they're going to recommend that she rest her voice as much as she can."

I snort in amusement at her unfamiliarity with the patient. "Miss, I somehow doubt that's going to be a problem."

I leave the hospital a short time later to cool off the next hotspot. As I run, I listen to the slightly garbled reports from the Police regarding their findings at the shopping center.

The big thing is that the locals were able to extinguish the blaze before too long, aided by the emergency sprinklers and the structure's fire-resistant materials. However, there was no sign of my opponent. Outside of the blown apart dragon armor, the destroyed boomerangs, and the incinerated food court, not a trace remains of Calico Driftwood.

She hadn't killed herself with that fit of hers, I know that much. My hardware's not designed to lie to me: for whatever reason Fiver's stubbornness spooked her, and she fled while we were distracted by her explosion. I was able to figure that much out.

So the question is: "Are we going to see her again before this incident fully runs its course?" Call me crazy, but between the message that prompted her encounter and the freakout that ended it, I'm thinking 'no'.

She hadn't cared about the life she was leaving behind, or how she must've appeared to Leviathan and Fiver. Ignition was forgotten. Even Quarter's plans for the future were discarded. She was panicked and in a hurry, afraid of what she had caused and what she thought she had done. She believed in her heart that she had crossed the line, and that there was no forgiveness waiting for her in the event of Fiver's survival.

Calico hid her identity as she steadily made her way across Equestria. She took trains where it was feasible, hitched rides on wandering carriages where it wasn't, and straight-up hoofed it when even that wasn't an option. Eventually she reached her destination, one far from most population centers of any size.

It was the middle of the day as she entered the village. Several kirins were out and about minding their own business, and she recognized them all. They saw her, and while they barely reacted in any way beyond silent interest, she knew they recognized her in turn. One of them cantered off, returning a minute later with Rain Shine.

Calico stared at the ground off to the side, too ashamed to face the tall village leader directly. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing back here after the hissy fit I threw the last time." She continued speaking, not seeing Rain Shine nod. She struggled to keep her voice from breaking. "I... I did something terrible not long ago. In those, in those moments, I... I finally realized why you made the decisions that you did. I used to believe that you took the easy way out. Not... not anymore."

More of the residents showed up to look on, attracted by the sounds of speech in their normally quiet village. Calico didn't pay attention to them. Her composure left her as she continued speaking. "My lifestyle, it was... it was fun at first, but... now I can't stand to live like that anymore. Please, Rain Shine. If you want me to join the rest of you in silence, I'll do it! I just..." She was sobbing before she knew it, but she scarcely cared as she continued to stammer. "I just... I just don't want to be... this is where I want..."

All of those present traded concerned looks with each other as they considered whatever it was that had driven her to return home. Making her decision, Rain Shine reached out and gently tugged on Calico's foreleg. The crying wanderer didn't resist, letting herself be guided away. The rest of the village gathered around her as they went, welcoming their lost daughter home as only they could. They remained alongside her all the way to the Stream of Silence.

Before she fell asleep that night, Calico placed a keepsake next to her bed. Aside from her cloak, it was the only one of her belongings that she had been able to take with her when she fled the city. And since it served as a reminder of an unusual pony that she would probably never see again, it was her most treasured possession.

Manehattan's Lone Guardian

by Curtis Wildcat

Calico Driftwood