//------------------------------// // Journey (Pt 3) // Story: Revenant // by Zimprus Nalune //------------------------------// With the Royal Guards take care of, Trixie and I continued along the road to Manehattan, leaving the bodies where they laid in the dirt. Trixie had eyed them for a little too long, looking extremely off-put for a while before I grabbed her and dragged her along for a bit. We were currently walking side by side in silence. Trixie had opened her mouth a few times, looking like she was going to say something, but she always stopped as soon as she look at me. It was getting a little irritating, but I let it go. She had just helped me disintegrate another pony, stepping in as soon as the fight turned against me. Still, I was conflicted over how to feel towards Trixie. She suddenly didn’t seem so bad, having helped me when the more attractive option would have been much easier to take. But then, I knew she felt pity for me, which was absolutely disgusting. Being pitied made me angry, almost to the point where I wanted to beat Trixie senseless. I kept myself from doing so, only because she might be useful, if what had happened earlier was any indication. A loud rumbling came from next to me. I pushed Trixie behind me, taking her place and hissing lowly at the grassy field. I strained my ears to hear whatever animal was hiding, searching black and forth with my eyes for any rustling grass. “Uh, Revenant?” Trixie asked. “Quiet!” I hissed, still searching the grass. “That was...um... me...” she said meekly. I blinked, then sighed aggravatedly and rolled my eyes. “I take it you’re hungry?” I asked, getting a small nod. “There’s grass all around us. Don’t ponies eat that?” Trixie looked around at the high grass all around us. “Well, I guess... it’s kind of high, though.” I turned to her and gave her a glare. “Eat now, or not at all,” I said simply. “Either way, I’m going to give you a few minutes.” Trixie looked at the grass and sighed pitifully. She stepped forward and clamped her mouth around a few tall green stalks, pulling away suddenly to snap them away from the rest. She chewed slowly and went in for another bite. I let Trixie continue to eat her grass in peace, turning my thoughts back to just before we had run into the Royal Guards. Specifically, the mind battle we had had. Something seemed off about Trixie. I hadn’t really been paying attention to it in the heat of the fight, but now that I looked back it seemed a lot more obvious. The only other thing I had to compare her mental self to was Parasite, but even then there seemed to be something wrong with her. What really irritated me wasn’t that I didn’t know what it was, but that she didn’t know herself. As far as I knew her amnesia was still in place, which meant she couldn’t tell me unless it just came to her out of the blue. Another thing that had been off was how I simply knew Parasite’s shield spell. I had never seen or been taught how to cast it, yet it came to me as if the Voice had given it to me herself. It was extremely off-putting. I quickly shapeshifted back to my regular self, then summoned up my magic and tried to cast the spell again. Just as I thought, a green bubble blinked into existence just above my head, quickly falling down around me. Trixie, startled, jumped and turned to look behind her, a bit of grass hanging out of her mouth. I gave her a flat look. “Done eating then?” I asked. Trixie shook her head slowly. I jerked my head towards the grass, signalling for her to finish grazing. She didn’t move a muscle until I sighed and released the shield, the bubble popping and disappearing. Slightly freaked out, Trixie turned back to the tall grass and continued to eat. I changed back to Jade Feather with a flash. A shiver ran down my back, accompanied by a sinking feeling in my gut. “That’s it...” I muttered. “Come on Trixie, we’re moving on.” Trixie grabbed another mouthful of grass, having cleared out a good-sized path next to the road. She chewed the last bit as we continued towards Manehattan, letting out a short, relieved sigh when she was finished. “Thank you,” she said. “You earned it,” I shrugged. “You’ve got my respect, at least for now.” “Really?” she asked in wonder. “I never tho-” A sudden choking sound cut her off. I turned and gaped at the sight of Trixie being held in the air by a number of ropes. A dull amber glow enveloped the ropes. “I thought as such.” I turned back around to see the familiar long coat and fedora on the familiar Brass Visions. I growled lowly at her. “Let her go, now.” I said through clenched teeth. Brass Visions ignored me, looking up at Trixie, who was struggling against the ropes that quickly bound her legs and wrapped around her horn, tugging her head back. “I had considered that you would come back,” Brass spoke in her monotone voice. “However, I did not anticipate who, or what, you would bring with you.” “What, those other changelings?” I asked. “I never had anything to do with them. I trust them almost as much as I trust ponies.” “You are lying.” Brass focused on me. “Before, I could not see. But now, my eyes have been opened.” “What is that supposed to mean?” Visions looked at the ground, drawing some symbols in the dirt with her hoof. “Upon becoming a Watcher, I returned to Ponyville. The resonant magical energy was still strong. That massive changeling was powerful, almost too powerful for itself. It had a very distinct signature that was present long after it had left.” She looked back up at me. “There was also a void. A space where no signature existed at all. As I recall, it was located in the same spot as the portal your accomplice used to leave.” “For the last time, I didn’t-” “The signature your smaller accomplice left behind was fragmented by the void. It was difficult to recognize, but it was intensely similar to the behemoth.” “What are you getting at?” I asked impatiently. “Tell me before I rip you to pieces.” “This next piece of information is quite interesting,” Brass continued, completely unfazed. “Looking at you now, I see that your signature is quite similar to those other two changelings. The similarity was akin to that I have detected between siblings.” Her words shocked me out of my anger at seeing her again. Her gaze kept on me as I tried to find some sign she was lying. “That’s ridiculous,” I said, planting my hooves apart and preparing to charge her. “I have nothing to do with those other changelings.” “Whether you ordered them to attack Ponyville or not is irrelevant.” Brass released Trixie, who fell to the ground and started coughing. “The fact remains that the changelings have an interest in you. Killing you right now would only provoke them further. I am sworn to protect those left of Ponyville, and as such I will leave you to your devices.” Without anything else, Brass Visions vanished. I walked over to Trixie. She coughed a few more times and rubbed her neck before looking up at me. She nodded to signal she was okay, then stood up and rubbed her horn. “Revenant?” she asked. “Was she...” “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know any other changelings beside Parasite. And he’s dead.” Trixie flinched as I said that, then looked at the ground. “I don’t think he is...” she whispered. “Yes, he is.” I glared at her. “I know he is, I killed him with my mind. I felt his body stop and die. He’s gone.” I shook my head and turned back to the road. “I say he is, so he is. And be thankful, because he was the one who had you trapped in his lair. Now let’s go. The farther we are from Manehattan, the more we’re going to run into things we shouldn’t.” *** The rest of the trip to Manehattan was peaceful. Trixie and I kept to ourselves, but it was a comfortable silence, like we had nothing to say and didn’t need to. The grass thinned out before long, becoming short and well-kept. Off to either side I could see tall vegetable plants, signaling a number of farms. As we got closer and closer to Manehattan, the road... changed. It wasn’t dirt anymore. It was something... else... Asphalt... Asphalt. It was called asphalt. A black, hard surface that looked like thousands of pebbles stuck together. Small houses sat on the outskirts of the city, whose tall buildings loomed in the distance ahead. The houses were all boarded up and abandoned, something that set both of us on edge. We stuck to the road, which was far away enough from the houses that the tense atmosphere didn’t press down on us too much. “What happened here?” Trixie asked aloud. “Where is everypony?” “No idea. Looks like they all left.” “Well, yes, but where did they go?” I shrugged. “I’d guess Manehattan. Who knows?” “What do you think drove them away?” “Let’s hope it wasn’t more changelings. It’s bad enough we’re going to another pony-filled area. I don’t want to be looking for capable fighters among a weak and useless crowd. Especially considering they can look like anyling, at any time.” As we approached the entrance to Manehattan, I noticed that there was a makeshift wooden gate set up. About a dozen Royal Guards were either patrolling or standing at the gate with spears at the ready. "Just stay next to me," I told Trixie. "Don't say anything unless they talk to you specifically." Trixie stepped a little closer to me, and we approached the gate. The guards eyed as we got closer and closer, but otherwise did nothing. I thought that we were going to get in without any trouble, until a guard with no helmet stepped out in front of us. "Halt," he commanded, holding up a hoof. "What is your business here?" "Refugees," I answered, thinking up the best lie I could. "We’re from Ponyville.” “Ponyville?” The guard frowned. “What are you talking about? A patrol was sent there just yesterday, they would have reported anything back here.” I looked down at the ground and did my best to look depressed. “Ponyville... it’s gone. Just... gone...” “Impossible.” The guard turned back to the gate. “Needle Edge, front and center!” I jumped in surprise at a sudden muffled scraping on the asphalt. I looked up to see a grey mare clothed in a long coat and fedora standing next to the guard. “Reporting for duty, Captain,” the mare said in a flat voice. “Check Ponyville. See if what this mare is saying is true.” The mare nodded, then disappeared as the space around her folded over her. The captain kept us waiting a few moments before the grey mare returned. “Completely gone,” she reported. The captain’s eyes widened. He looked back to us, then to the mare, then back to us. “V... very well then...” he breathed. “You may enter. Stay out of trouble. Remember, there are eyes everywhere.” The guard signalled to the other on top of the gate. The doors creaked open, allowing us to head into the city. I nodded in thanks to the guard, but he had already turned his attention back to the mare and was conversing with her in hushed voices. For a moment, I was slightly afraid as Trixie and I passed under through the gate, and into Manehattan proper. I was waiting for someling to point me out, to say I wasn’t who I said I was. But thankfully, it never happened. The gate creaked closed behind us, sealing us inside the pony city. “Wow...” Trixie murmured. “I... I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this...” Manehattan was about as different from Ponyville as it was possible to be. Instead of wood and straw houses, these buildings were made of bricks of all reds, browns, and even greys. They stretched much higher than the buildings of Ponyville, almost to the point where they could block out the sky. Unlike the outskirts, these buildings were full of ponies, open windows allowing voices to spill out where they could be heard in the streets. The streets themselves were all asphalt. Ponies, in groups and alone, hustled and bustled back and forth. A few took notice of us before turning back to whatever had their attention before we did. There was an air of gloominess in Manehattan, one that seemed to float around the three-pony patrols of Royal Guards that stuck out among the crowds. “This is wrong...” Trixie said to me. “It’s not supposed to be like this...” “Don’t care,” I responded. “We need to find someplace to stay first.” We set off through the streets, sticking close to one another so we didn’t get split up by the crowds going to a fro. I kept looking around us, still amazed by how different Manehattan was from Ponyville. It was far more busy, and much less cheery, though that might have been because of all the guards patrolling the streets. All the while, Trixie muttered to herself next to me. Her amnesia seemed to be fading little by little the more we saw of Manehattan. Though as it seemed, even her memories wouldn’t be of much use right now, given how different she kept saying things were. “Where’s the candy shop?” “Oh no, what happened to the park?” “That wasn’t there before...” I grimaced. Trixie didn’t seem too happy with the changes, and since things were so different from her memories, that meant she couldn’t guide us around, or at least not very well. “This isn’t how I remember things at all...” Trixie said in a depressed tone. “I’m just remembering now, and I can’t even remember something useful.” “Relax,” I said, to my surprise. “It’s obvious you haven’t been here in a while. Just stop flipping out over it, I don’t need you collapsing in the street.” ‘There it is,’ I thought with a smirk. We strolled about aimlessly for a little while, until the sky began to darken and the day was almost over. “Hail, civilized ponies of Manehattan!” a loud female voice boomed throughout the city. “The sun hath finished its glorious display for you this day! And once more, we shall grace you with the serenity of the night!” Numerous groans came from all around us. “However, as you all know, curfew shall soon be in effect! We advise that all find shelter indoors, for tonight, the 29th Guard Platoon shall be performing inspections!” All the ponies around us froze, then began to bolt off in various directions, in varying states of panic. Trixie and I simply stood where we were as they ran, not understanding what they were panicking for. Suddenly, I felt a pony run straight into me, sending me crashing into Trixie. The three of us fell in a heap, completely confused. I was the first to get myself out of the pile, shaking my head and watching as Trixie and another mare pulled themselves to their hooves. The earth pony mare had a baby blue coat, coupled with a brown mane and tail, both of which were very well kept. She also wore a pink bowtie, and had a musical symbol on her flank. “Oh my...” she groaned, holding her head. “Terribly sorry about that. Do forgive me, I didn’t mean to...” The mare stopped and gaped at us. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she finally spoke. “T...trixie? Trixie Lulamoon?” she asked. “The Wondrous and Flashy?” Trixie blinked in surprise. She looked at me for a second, but I just shrugged. She turned back to the mare. “Yes... my name is Trixie. Who are you?” The mare deflated a bit at that, looking down at the ground. “Oh... well...” she said sadly. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect you to remember me... my name is Beauty Brass.” “Nice to, uh, meet you,” Trixie gave an unsure smile. “Have... have we met before?” “You could say that...” Beauty brightened up a little. “Do you remember? We were good friends in elementary school. Not the best of friends, you never got that close to anypony. But I helped you put on your first show.” Trixie winced and shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. I... don’t remember that.” “How could you not remember your first show?” Beauty asked incredulously. “With the fireworks, the illusions, and the huge crowd?” “She has amnesia.” I jumped into the conversation. “She doesn’t remember anything past a few days. Well, a few exceptions, but you understand.” Beauty Brass put a hoof to her mouth. She looked between us and gave Trixie a sympathetic look. “That’s just awful!” she exclaimed. “This must be fixed, immediately! Come with me!” Trixie and I looked at one another. I shrugged again, and we followed Beauty Brass through the still-panicking crowd. The ponies were all scrambling to get indoors, closing shops, locking doors, and turning the once lively, if gloomy, city into a ghost town. A few guards eyed us as we passed them, but otherwise left us alone. One or two nodded at us, small smiles on their faces. I managed to sip up a few inklings of more-than-fond feelings from them. They were trained well, I’d give them that. Beauty Brass stopped us outside of a rather small, boarded up building, at least by Manehattan standards. She turned to us and spoke lowly. “Now, first things first,” she said seriously. “Everything here is my treat. You don’t need to pay for anything. Simply mention me, and the staff will give you whatever you like, within reason of course. Second, this little after-hours place is very popular, so be sure not to tell any of the guardsponies about it, hmm?” “Wow, thanks,” Trixie said sincerely. “Jade Feather and I never thought anypony would be this nice.” “Think nothing of it,” Beauty waved a hoof dismissively. “All I ask is a chance to catch up with you, old friend.” “She’d be happy to,” I smile. “It’ll be good for her.” With that, Beauty opened the door for us, and we walked inside. Immediately, the heat hit us. Ponies were packed together inside, lights flashing, music booming. It was a wonder that none of the noise spilled out into the streets. Booths were all around the edge of the club, and a large bar tended to by two earth pony mares. A unicorn DJ stood at the far end of the room, running the music that always held a lively beat. “Jade Feather, was it?” Beauty Brass asked. “We’ll be in that booth, over in the corner. Feel free to have a good time.” I nodded and let the two of them go off. Unsure of what to do, I started by getting a feeling for the atmosphere in the club. The sheer joy everyling was giving off was enough to feed me a little bit, though some of it had a distorted and disgusting taste to it. Still, I soaked it all in without much thought. Before long, I felt myself begin to move in time with the music being played. It wasn’t like any instrument I had ever heard, but it felt... right. Like it was music without being music. The grating, the heavy beats, the eager and lively pulses, they made me feel alive. And they all sounded so wonderfully familiar... Eventually though, the music wound down as the DJ took a vinyl disc off its turntable and put it away. The unicorn’s horn lit up and allowed it to project its voice throughout the entire club. “Alright everypony, I can see we’re all loving the ‘Faith Plate’!” the DJ said enthusiastically, getting massive applause. “Now here’s a little special we’re doing tonight, and maybe a little more in the future! Can you say, ‘karaoke’?” The crowd went wild, ponies clamoring for a chance to sing and amaze the rest of the crowd.The DJ scanned the throng carefully, trying to pick out the right pony to either embarrass or give a huge opportunity to. I smirked as I imagined Pyrite making a fool of herself up onstage. “First time here?” An extremely tough-looking earth pony stallion slid up next to me. His entire body was a blood red, with a red and black mane and tail and brilliant blue eyes. I noticed for a moment that his flank had a solid black circle emblazoned with a golden ‘9’ on it. “Yeah,” I replied, the stallion making me a little uneasy. “Never been to a nightclub before.” “I see,” the stallion smirked. “You’ll enjoy yourself here, I promise.” “Jade Feather,” I said. “Nineball,” he replied. “Nineball Seraph. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss.” I smiled at him as earnestly as I could. He chuckled and looked to the DJ. “Wave Buzz!” he yelled, pointing to me. “Over here!” The DJ’s face lit up as he pointed to me as well. “You, miss! How would you like a chance to do the very first karaoke the Night Shift club has ever seen!?” I gaped at Nineball. “Oh go on,” he said. “I bet they’ll love you. Noling could resist a mare such as you.” I sighed and nodded. I would look like a complete fool if I backed out now. I spread my wings and glided over the crowd to land on the stage. I faced the crowd and waved meekly, getting a loud cheer in reply. “Alright miss, what’s your name?” Wave Buzz asked with an honest grin. “Jade Feather.” “You hear that everypony? Let’s hear it for Jade Feather!” More applause. “Now just do what comes naturally, eh?” Wave Buzz winked at me, before amplifying his voice again. “After all, we wouldn’t want her to remain a stranger!” Wave Buzz put a new disc on, then fiddled with a few knobs and switches before nodding to me. The music started, quickly building to a high pitch before dropping down low, then starting its thick beats in earnest. It sounded familiar, and before I knew it, the words were pouring from my mouth, amplified by Wave Buzz’s spell to reach the entire crowd. “I’ve come here from nowhere, across the unforgiving sea.” The crowd went wild. “Drifting further and further, it's all becoming clear to m The violent winds are upon us and I can't sleep... Internal temperatures rising, and all the voices won't recede...” Yes, this song... I knew it. I knew it from somewhere, and I would never forget it. I could feel the immense amount of excitement and adoration rolling off the crowd, and I consumed it all without a second thought. The huge energy boost made my heart beat faster and faster, and I felt just as excited as they did. “I've finally found what I was looking for! A place where I can be, without, remorse, Because I am a stranger who has found an even stranger war... I've finally found what I was looking for! Here I come, come, come, come...” Yes! I could feel it! I grinned as widely as I could, feeling the excitement within me. I felt so alive! I was practically bathed in magic as I continued to absorb all the affection the crowd had towards me. “La chaleur me dérange... Mais c'est le grincement du bateau qui m'a réveillé... I sharpen the knife, And look down upon the pale... For all of my life, a stranger I remain! A stranger I remain! A stranger I remain!” The song’s last heavy beats died out, but the cheering of the crowd continued. I smiled and waved, bringing forth even greater stomping of hooves and loud whistles of approval. I felt invincible. I felt like I could take on that massive changeling by myself, and win. “Thank you, Jade Feather!” Wave Buzz said. “That was some singing, eh everypony!? Now, who wants to have the next shot?” Just like that, the attention faded from me. But the love and adoration hadn’t, so I graciously made my way off the stage and over to Trixie and Beauty Brass feeling better than I ever thought possible. “That was something, Jade,” Beauty said with a smirk. “Never would have guessed you could pull that off.” “I’m full of surprises,” I smiled, sliding into the booth next to Trixie, whom I winked at. “Yes, she is...” the unicorn said with a half-hearted smile. “So, what are your plans?” Beauty asked. “Trixie here tells me you’re from Ponyville. Refugees, she says. Honestly, that’s the first I’ve heard of any trouble from that area.” “It’s true,” I say. “Huge changeling came and wrecked the whole town. We got out without a scratch, but other weren’t so lucky. Oh well.” “You seem awfully cheery about such a thing.” Beauty eyed me. “A little too cheery.” “Aw, it’s not so bad,” I waved her off. “We’re doing way better here than we ever did in Ponyville. Nopony really like me, though I can’t say for Trixie.” I looked over to see Trixie gritting her teeth and shaking with suppressed anger. I gave her a friendly nudge. “Hey Trixie, calm down,” I smiled. “We don’t need to worry about anypony besides us three, right here.” “She’s got a point,” Beauty said with a smile of her own. “Though I suppose I can’t expect you to be as cheery as she is. After all, you didn’t just bask in the love of an entire crowd.” My smile snaps away instantly. “Say again?” I ask politely. “What? Anypony would be in a good mood after having an entire club cheer for them.” “Oh,” I blink. “I see.” We sat in silence for a while, the air around our table becoming more solemn. I shifted uneasily and looked back to the crowd, wanting to be the center of attention again. But I knew that I shouldn’t show off again, at least not tonight. In order to keep their interest, I needed to not be a regular thing. Unable to bear the lack of conversation, I started to talk to Beauty Brass. We went back and forth, trading tales and facts about each other. I lied about almost everything, but Beauty believed every word I said. I learned that she was a professional musician, playing the sousaphone. She had been in Manehattan almost all her life, having only occasionally traveled to other places in Equestria. She did play in the Grand Galloping Gala, which I knew to be the biggest get-together in Equestria. She knew Trixie since they were fillies, and was very upset that Trixie couldn’t remember her. I also picked up a bit on what was happening around Manehattan. Apparently, changelings were being discovered all across Equestria. They had been replacing high-level ponies, but from what Beauty told me, a new force called the ‘Watchers’ had been rooting the changelings out wherever they found them. The Royal Guard was being set up in every city, town, and hamlet there was, defending their fellow ponies against more than a few changeling attacks. “The worst part?” Beauty grimaced. “Those monsters... nopony knows for a fact where they live. From what I heard, they show up, cause some mindless destruction and hurt any number of ponies, then vanish. The Guard has no idea how to defend against them.” “I don’t think they can...” I said. “Trixie can tell you the same thing. When we ran from Ponyville, there was a huge changeling, bigger than city hall. The entire place was gone before we knew it.” “Sound right.” Beauty nodded. “The Guard gave out pamphlets to everypony they could when they arrived. Said there wasn’t just one kind of changeling anymore. And to think, it’s been almost two years...” “Two years?” “Two years since the ‘Siege of Canterlot’, as they’re calling it.” Beauty shivered. “Honestly, sometimes I can’t sleep at night, knowing those monsters could be anywhere.” I shrugged. “Trust in the guard,” I assured her, nearly making myself sick with those words. “They’ll keep us safe.” “I hope so.” A silence fell between us. The crowd in the club had thinned out, ponies going home for the night at last. Beauty Brass soon left, wishing us well and saying she hoped to see us again. I continued to sit with Trixie, who stared at the table like she had been doing since Beauty and I started talking. I could tell there was something on her mind. “Something wrong?” I asked, for once genuinely concerned. “Everything...” Trixie murmured. “This isn’t... I can’t...” She closed her eyes and sighed shakily. “What I remember of Manehattan... all of it’s wrong.” She looked up at me. “You’re lucky... you don’t have anything to remember, nothing to forget.” I looked off to the side. “Honestly? I don’t know if that’s true or not. I... remember things, but I don’t know if I really have those memories or not. Almost everything I know, I’ve been told.” “I know.” I looked at Trixie. “Exactly how much do you know about me?” “Everything.” “And?” I narrowed my eyes. Trixie opened her mouth to respond, but closed it and looked past me. I turned to see a smirking Nineball standing at the end of our booth. “Club’s closing, ladies,” he said. “As much as I hate to say it, you’re going to have to wait until the next night to come back.” He looked at me and grinned wider. “Unless you’d be willing to share quarters, that is.” I smiled and tried not to vomit. “That’s quite alright,” I said. “We were just leaving. Come on Trixie.” I moved to leave the booth and the club, but Nineball trapped me. “Trixie Lulamoon?” he asked. “Really now? Well may I say, my parents will be happy to hear you’re in town. They’ve taken quite an interest in you.” “Oh really?” Trixie asked, forcing a small smile. “That’s... nice.” “Indeed it is,” Nineball agreed, suddenly turning and leaving us. He went to the far back of the club, disappearing behind a door I hadn’t noticed before. Trixie and I looked at one another, then made our way out of the club a little more quickly than we might have otherwise. Once outside, I realized we had a problem. “We have nowhere to stay,” I said grimly. “This is wonderful...” “What are we going to do?” Trixie asked. “Sleep in an alleyway until we find someplace to stay, I guess.” Trixie sighed dejectedly, but otherwise didn’t complain. I patted her on the head, and we set off through the streets once more. Luckily, we didn’t run into any more Royal Guards, which was a huge relief. Finding a good alleyway, however, was difficult. Now that we were paying attention to them, we found out that most of the alleys had trash everywhere. Other homeless ponies, dirty and messy, were in an alley here and there. Sometimes a few were clustered around a fire, but I had no intention of joining them. It took a while, but eventually we came to an alleyway that was mostly clear of trash and vacant in between some kind of magic shop and an abandoned building that looked ready to fall down. We quickly entered, plopping down with a mixture of relief and misery. “I guess this is where we’ll be staying for a while...” I said. “I guess...” Trixie replied. I curled up and closed my eyes, allowing sleep to wash over me even though I felt as energized as I had ever been. Trixie did the same across from me, though it was clear she was far more tired by the way she sprawled out. I was about to fall asleep when her voice grabbed my attention. “Revenant?” she said softly. I wasn’t sure whether to be upset at her for using my real name with ponies all around us, but I let it go. “Yes?” “I’m cold...” “Sorry to hear that.” Another moment of silence passed. “Could we...um... sleep together?” My eyes shot open. A bitter taste filled my mouth. “Will you sleep if we do?” I sighed, not believing I was agreeing to actually... cuddling up with Trixie. She didn’t respond with words, instead just nodding and looking at me. I sighed and scooched over to her. Trixie wrapped her hooves around my neck and buried her face in my chest. I rolled my eyes as hard as I could, but eventually I could hear Trixie’s breathing signal that she was asleep. So with a bitter taste in my mouth and Trixie cuddling up to me, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.