//------------------------------//
// Chapter 22: Lost Heart 
// Story: Fallout Equestria - The Code of Honor 
// by FireStorm2247 
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Chapter 22: Lost Heart



“Right or wrong… he just couldn’t see it anymore.”




“You can give up now, or we can keep doing this the hard way! It’s your choice, Nova!”

He had to kill me first…

“This is about you and about how important you are to General Vance now!”

I was a slave once… I wouldn’t be again…

“I swear to you, if you weren’t the key to Hayward’s survival against its enemies, I would’ve seen you and everypony in Hopeville dead long ago, and that beloved town of yours burned to the ground to put an end to all this!”

But he… he wouldn’t leave… he wouldn’t leave me alone…

“You can’t beat me, Nova! You’re no soldier!”

And that’s… that’s when he said…

“We’ll just have to see how much you can stand to lose before you finally accept your true role in this war!”

True role…

That was what I couldn’t get out of my head. Those two words… spoken with such force… with such fire… and he just wouldn’t back down.

“There are greater forces at work here than petty desires now, and you have become one of them!”

He claimed this… claimed me as a priority for his faction… claimed me as a ‘greater force’. And he didn’t even flinch, deviate from his thoughts, when I had told him just how crazy he actually was…

No…

“Vance was going to give you the power to guide the direction of this whole conflict because there is power in you!”

Power… he said there was power in me… power that he wanted… power that the whole Legion wanted… needed…

“And you used that power for the first time when you woke up the Guardian Project!”

The bunkers… I used it at the bunkers…

“Nova.” 

A nudge against the side of my neck drew me back, back from the fires of Buckley and to the fire burning just a couple yards directly ahead of me. Our campfire, the only light in the dark of the early nighttime. And surrounding it, Gyro, Sylvia, Boulter, Madeline, Mavis, Quinn, and Shore, all with their attention focused on their book of choice from the wagon that was parked just behind them. Joker and Daisy were there next to the wagon itself, the two of them sharing a larger book together. And there was also Ivy and Gunny, sitting by the wagon’s left rear wheel and likewise sharing some reading time together, holding a manual between them; Gunny was actually following his personal oath to read… heartwarming to see as he guided Ivy through whatever schematic was written on the current page.

Once we had finally left Stable 181 to its rest, Captain Saber put us right back on the trail. For a good four to five hours he pushed us northeast back towards the Equestrian southeast, with a steady determined drive that kept us moving well past nightfall. And when he finally let us set up camp, he did so with a reluctance that everypony had been able to take note of. I had seen it clear as day when he had finally given in to Madeline’s pressuring to stop the group for the night. He didn’t want to stop, even with the pace he’d set, even with the distance we already covered, and with the way he had resisted Madeline, it wasn’t hard for me to gather that the weight of our return visit to our beloved Stable was beginning to catch up to him. Before, inside One Eighty-one, he had never been seen as anything less than unfazed. Despite the blood and the bodies, despite the wreckage that the Black Blood had left behind, despite reliving our last day underground, he had set his focus on that one mission, and keeping the countless atrocities the raiders had conducted behind him, he had been able to walk through it all with barely a flinch. Only when we had found the contents of the Hall of Records, untouched by four weeks of the raiders’ occupation of the Stable, did he actually break away from his seemingly emotionless state and show the same level of shock that the rest of us had. 

But once that had come and gone, it was back to the old ways for the captain… and he had been trapped in that same frame of mind ever since. Even now, finally seeing the outside world again past the walls of my own thoughts, I found where Saber was walking along the north side of our camp’s perimeter, taking up part of the first watch for the night with Tiny, Raemor, and Sierra. His head was bowed, his eyes on the ground at his hooves as he moved along in his slow unchanging circular path around the campsite. He looked restless, deep in thought… I knew he was eager to move again. He had finished his mission after all, or at least part of it… now it was all about getting the books back to the rest of their owners… and that was going to be another long trip all on its own.

A second nudge against my neck… a hoof poking at me. And when my name was spoken again to accompany it, I looked to my left, finding a pair of young hazel eyes waiting for me. “Sorry, Blake.” I shook my head to put my wandering focus back in line. “What do you need?” I asked my baby brother. 

“You asked me to bring you these.” I blinked once, puzzled, until he looked down to the ground at his hooves. And when I followed him, I found two items waiting there. A tiara of black metal was one of them, surrounding a small crystal orb laying on the opened up cloth that had once been wrapped around it; the circlet and the orb within both glinted in the campfire, even at my distance from it. “You wanted me to get your recollector thing and one of those orbs from your saddlebags, remember?” 

Just past him, I could see where my saddlebags had been deposited, sitting in a heap along with Blue Fire’s Torch; I’d wholly forgotten that I’d taken them off for the night. “Um…” Looking back to my brother, I reached over and pulled the blackened metal circlet and the memory orb to me. “No, I actually forgot.” I replied to Blake, passing him a weak smile. “Sorry. I was just thinking to myself.” 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Blake asked curiously, stepping forward and drawing up beside me. “Ever since Buckley…” 

This was the second time today he had asked…

“I know, Blake.” I gently interrupted. “I know… and I know there’s no hiding that there’s just a lot on my mind.” And he nodded with me; at least we were both on the same page there. “But I’m afraid that a lot of it’s just stuff that you’re going to have to let me fight through on my own. And before you start,” I caught him right when he opened his mouth to object. “I want you to know that you are doing more than enough to help me. With you being here with me, sticking with me, helping both me and others the way you have, you’re doing a great deal to ease me through what I’m fighting with.”

“Yeah?” 

“Yes.” I answered with confidence, reaching over to bump his right cheek with my muzzle. “So don’t worry about that. Just understand that there are some things that I need to figure out on my own… and it’s going to take a little while for me to get past those things.”

And for a moment, he simply looked at me… uncertain… and definitely not fully convinced. “I… think I understand.” Blake said, his words sluggish with worry. “I just wish there was more that I could do.”

“You’re doing just fine.” I assured, raising a much more confident smile for him. “And I don’t want you to think otherwise.”

It was true, Blake’s concern, and he knew a great deal of what was going on for me. He knew about Buckley… and he knew that what happened there made the source of a great deal of my mental turmoil. Between the community there and the exile that I had faced, and before it, the National Guard Bunkers… my head had been plagued with a darkness that just wouldn’t break, couldn’t break. So much damage done, so much life taken, all to save my little brother, and with it, Blackhawk and his threats, the revelation of his new goals and the role that I had already played in working towards their completion…… the role that he swore I would continue to play. And though Blake didn’t know all of that, he had come to recognize some of the struggles I faced within myself, especially after we had left Stable 181 for good. Because it was after we had left that the joy I had felt in our recovering of the contents of the Hall of Records had faded away, not dying, but simply receding so that my past could make its grand return to the front of my thoughts. And so it was that Blackhawk had been the one to occupy my thoughts, all through the few hours we kept on the move. Only now did the griffin’s words finally yield, finally giving way to my own efforts at a distraction from the past… one that I sought to attain not with a book from our wagon like the others, but with my recollector and a memory orb of Blake’s choosing. 

Though taking some time to try and think of a way to press his argument, Blake eventually nodded at my assurances, and when he tapped my left wing, I fanned out the appendage and lifted it up to invite him to lay up against me. Gladly he laid himself down and snuggled up against my left side before I draped my wing back over him, then turning my attention to the recollector he’d brought me. The blackened metal tiara, one of Mother Shimmer’s gifts to me, was a very simple device, yet built for a very complex purpose. At first glance, it looked rather delicate, the metal thin and light. But it was actually rather sturdy, and really, in my opinion, it could have been taken for a more ornamental piece of jewelry. The metal was smooth, unblemished, and the way it reflected the light from the campfire was actually kind of eye-catching. It had been forged into an oval shape, following the curves of an equine skull, and while the back of the circlet was rounded, the front arced downward, the two sides joining together at a point that rested right between the wearer’s eyes. And there, tucked in just above where the point was formed, was a small circular slot welded into the design, a pedestal for a memory orb to sit so that it could be viewed. 

“So how does this thing work?” Blake asked, reaching over to pull the waiting memory orb towards him. 

“I had it explained to me once.” I replied after a pause, turning the recollector so that the orb slot was facing Blake. “Apparently, if an earth pony or pegasus puts this on when a memory orb is attached, it’ll let them see the memory inside.”

“How does it do that?” he inquired after. 

“Well, I was told that it establishes a magical link between the memory and the pony itself, so that way they can see it like unicorns can do naturally.” I answered him. “The way it was explained to me was that the wearer would relive the memory as if he or she were actually there. So they would feel and hear and see everything that occurred during the memory, but would not be aware of their actual surroundings. So… in a sense, it would be like sleeping in that I wouldn’t be aware of where I really am. But I would be aware of everything that was happening inside the memory.”

“Wow…” For a moment, we turned to each other; I couldn’t help but smile a little at my brother’s intrigued look. “That’s crazy.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely out there.” I agreed, turning back to the tiara, nudging it closer to Blake. “Here, go ahead and put the memory orb in the slot.” 

With a nod, Blake lowered his head down and reached out to delicately take hold of the glinting crystal sphere between his front teeth. And in his hold the orb made a smooth transition into its slot, falling into place with a gentle clink. “There you go.” 

“Thank you, Blake.” And nodding, I reached over and situated the recollector before me. “Let’s see how this thing works.” 

Hooking a foreleg underneath the back, I lowered my head down and hoisted it up, pulling it over me and setting it down over my head. And after a couple of quick adjustments, pushing up the front to set its point between my eyes and moving the right side past my ear, the rest of the recollector fell into place, sliding down just slightly until it settled snug atop my head. And… nothing happened…… a few seconds passed, only the crackling of the campfire came, the flipping of pages sounding with it… and Blake looked at me in confusion…

Until, right above my eyes, a light, pale white, dim, begun to flicker.

The last light I saw before the whole world faded away to black… only to be replaced by a whole new reality.


<-=======ooO Ooo=======->


Light – bright, clean white light washed over me, and cast a soothing glow over the whole of the room I was standing in… or rather, the pony… whose eyes I was seeing through and ears I was hearing through was standing in. 

Goddesses… this was just the most bizarre feeling. I felt like I had been paralyzed, because I couldn’t move myself, no matter what I tried. And at the same time, I no longer felt the cool breeze of the surface, or the dirt under my belly. I was literally frozen here, in this new place… and yet I could still see the light and the steel walls that they illuminated, and I could feel the comfortable temperature of the room.

For a few seconds longer I was looking ahead at the far wall of the room, a plain bland grey. And in view before it, a trio of medical beds made neatly and complete with smooth clean white sheets, all partnered up with a corresponding metal table. But before I could see anything else, I suddenly found myself being turned, my gaze, that of the pony I was seeing through, looking over to the left towards a closed door, a steel slab with a yellow stripe painted vertical down the middle… the number 181 stamped in black against the paint. 

Merciful Luna… I was in Stable 181… in the Stable’s clinic.

“I wonder what’s taking her so long.” Then, I was turned the opposite way, as the pony I was seeing and hearing through looked over to the right. I came face to face with a stallion garbed in Stable 181 security armor, an aging earth pony with a pure silver coat and a black mane that was greying at the edges. He was looking back to me… or… the pony I was seeing him through, and his face was wrought with puzzlement… even concern; so far as I gathered, we were the only two ponies in the room. “It’s been almost an hour.”

“This is a very difficult task for her, Magnum.” Finally, my host spoke; my host was definitely a mare. “We have to give her all the time she needs.” 

Magnum responded with a sigh, turning away with a look that slowly transformed into one of guilt. “It’s just such a strange request. It feels… wrong.” My host only continued to stare, catching the stallion’s eyes when they looked back to us. “What she’s about to do… I know what we promised, and I won’t back down on it… but it’s just something that’s far beyond anything I’d ever heard of or even read about.”

“I know how you feel, Magnum.” My host responded delicately, taking note of the tone of voice she was replying to; and pausing, we leaned over to bump his neck with our muzzle. “I admit, a part of me feels uncertain about her reasoning. But in the end I just can’t help but agree with her. We never had a tragedy like this in the Stable before… it’s new to everypony, loss like that. So for the sake of that poor colt… we need to go through with this.”

Suddenly, from the left, a hiss of air heralded the opening of the clinic door, and together my host and I turned back to the entrance as the door slid away into its slot in the wall with a steady whirring of the internal components. And soon as it stopped, a single pony stepped through. A young unicorn mare entered the clinic, with a grey coat paired to a short, clean white mane and long flowing tail. Her light blue eyes came to look upon me and my host as soon as she stepped past the door, looking between us and Magnum while she slowed herself to a full stop. But despite her array of bright colors, the young mare herself… looking to have only just crossed out of her childhood years… was absolutely exhausted. And it was a shocking state to see the mare in… because I recognized her colors… 

“Are you two ready to do this?” she asked us.

“Are you?” My host asked back, carefully, respectfully.

The young mare didn’t move… but I could just feel the jolt that went through her at those words. “I tucked him in for his nap time…… and then I gave him the sedative.” she replied with a resigned tone. “I’ve said my goodbyes.” she assured, then craning her head around to look over her shoulder… to the young colt that I now saw laid out atop her back…

The young grey colt with a black mane and short black tail… and tiny wings at his sides……

No… it couldn’t be…

“Then we’re ready, Crystal.” My host said… or rather whispered, speaking with a heavy heart.  

Crystal Sunset… the Overmare… and the pegasus child with her was…

“Good.” Crystal responded with a single nod, shutting the clinic door and then turning her attention to the nearest medical bed, her horn shimmering with dim light. “Once I do this, Damien won’t remember anything about the past couple of weeks… he won’t remember his parents, or me either… But at least he won’t remember this tragedy.” 

The pegasus with her was Damien…… 

Dad…

“What will he remember?” Magnum spoke up in question, my host and I watching the younger version of the Overmare I grew up with as she trotted up to the medical bed. “Will he remember anything?” 

“He’ll remember everything except his closest relationships.” Crystal explained, looking back to my dad… the young, sleeping form of who would later be my dad… and focusing; the light that surrounded her horn begun to envelope the sleeping child. “This is a very precise memory spell, and I can use it to capture certain memories in order to eliminate his ability to recognize me as a sibling and to eliminate his connections to his parents…” Slowly, the child was lifted off her back, and Crystal kept her eyes on him as she guided him over her head and onto the bed; he remained in his slumbering state without stirring even an inch. “And when he wakes up, you and Ginger are going to be his new parents.” Crystal asserted, strongly for being so drained. “That’s my first order as the Stable’s Overmare.”

“Like we said, we’ll uphold our promise…” Magnum replied confident as he could manage, my host and I turning to him to nod our agreement. “We both understand how difficult this has to be for you.” the older stallion added. “And… I can’t lie… a part of me does wish that you would let me argue for you to reconsider. But every time before now, you’ve stayed persistent…” 

But that drew a heavy sigh from Crystal, one that held a rather sudden color of frustration in it. And that’s when the gaze she had fixed us with before molded slowly into an ominous glare. “Magnum…” she huffed wearily. “You know… exactly what I’m going to say to that.” And though my host didn’t show it, I noted with alarm the rate that her fatigued voice grew in strength… a strength that was fueled by… by anger. “His father died because a fucking battery exploded in what we all thought to be a perfectly functional reactor mainframe…” Crystal was… beginning to shake. “And his mother abandoned the Stable and got tangled up with a fucking raider clan because she was so stricken with grief that she couldn’t think straight!!” she yelled, stomping a hoof down on the metal floor. “And on top of all of that, I went out there onto the surface for two weeks to find her and bring her back, only to find out that she had turned into a complete psychopath when I found her fucking some poor defenseless wastelander buck at gunpoint in the living room of an abandoned house in Marefax!!!” And with her voice raised to a frightening volume, she came around to face us full, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, “I KILLED MY OWN MOTHER FOR GODDESSES SAKE!!!” 

My father… the colt on the bed… he didn’t even flinch.

All of us, Magnum, my host Ginger… Crystal too… we were all plunged into silence… only the latter of us moving at all. And for several agonizing moments, all I saw was the young Crystal Sunset, breathing heavy, shoulders rising and falling as she glared. But finally, after what must’ve been a half a minute at least, that glare begun to fade, retreating back into the tired, distant stare it had been before… and one more time, she sighed, as Ginger turned me to Magnum, the both of us trading heartbroken glances. “Damien’s six years old, Magnum.” Crystal spoke up softly, my host turning me back to her. “His family is gone… his father’s dead, his mother’s dead, and… and I’m not the same pony I used to be.” And with a sad little sniff, Crystal looked back to the sedated young pegasus colt; I didn’t have to see it to know that she looked upon him with an incredible longing. “She was our mother… and it doesn’t matter that she became some psycho up there… her blood will be on my hooves forever.” she said with a wounded voice. “How would I be able to tell my baby brother that his own big sister killed his mother?......” She didn’t even look at us when she asked… only shaking her head; somehow, someway… she kept herself from breaking down. “I just wouldn’t be able to do that… and no amount of strength could get that to change…’ she concluded… devastated. “I can’t be his big sister anymore… because that mare died in the wasteland with her mother.” 

Goddesses… I just wanted to run up to her and give her a hug… no matter how utterly useless it would have been to do so. 

Crystal took in a breath and let it out slow. “This is the answer, Magnum.” she picked up. “And when this is all over with, he’ll have a second chance to live the normal life that was taken from him by a stupid freak accident.” And this time, when we turned back to him, Magnum was slowly nodding, giving in with a heavy heart and a saddened frown. “And I’ll be out of the way of that.” Crystal added decisively. “I’m trying to give my brother his life back… and I hope that you and Ginger will do the same.” 

Then, Ginger turned back to the young Overmare, and we said, “I do hate to keep delaying you, Crystal… but I have to ask one more thing before you proceed.”

“What, Ginger?”

Together we turned to Damien, raising a hoof to gesture to him. “Well, look at him.” we said. “He looks nothing like either myself or my husband.” Crystal looked with us, listening despite her fatigue. “His face is different, his eyes bear no resemblance to either of ours, and while his colors are similar to Magnum’s, both he and I are nearing an age where we would not be able to make our own children.” And when she looked back to us, we lowered our hoof away. “We’re getting old, Crystal.” Ginger and I stated. “Wouldn’t he take note of any of that?”

But Crystal shook her head. “You’re a pegasus, Ginger. That will be more than enough.” 

“I’m also a pegasus with a heart condition… one which will likely see to my passing within the next few years.” we responded tenderly; out of the corner of my host’s eye, I could see Magnum, shifting his hooves uncomfortably. “Damien would still be young when that time comes… and I’m just concerned.”

“I know. And I know that you are the only pegasus we have left except Damien. Apart from yours, Blackfire’s bloodline is the only one that’s lasted this long, call it luck, or genetics, or something else.” Crystal spoke after a short pause. “But with you he’ll at least be able to have a mother during his childhood. No child deserves to live without a mother, especially at his age.” And she spoke that with a steel-clad resoluteness, standing firm with her choice. “And if Damien grows up and actually learns his true origin again… that Blackfire was his many-greats grandmother… then I suppose that’ll be the punishment for what I’m about to do.” 

And my host was resigned to that answer; together we nodded, convinced. “Very well… That’s all I wanted to ask.” 

“Magnum?” At Crystal’s question, my host and I turned to Ginger’s husband, who only shook his head. And at that, Crystal gave us a single nod before she faced the young colt on the table, her horn beginning to spark with magical light. 

“Then let’s get this over with.”


<-=======ooO Ooo=======->


All at once, the Stable 181 clinic faded to black, before my own reality came rushing back to existence. And with a sharp jolt, I gasped as I returned from the memory, letting out a short breath as I bowed my head, steadying myself from the dizzying state that I was left in from the startling transition. 

But before I could even begin to recollect my wits, a blink put in my sight the hooves of a pony, which my transition back into the real world had hidden from me. A soft but sharp gasp escaped me at the surprising sight, and when I looked up, armored hooves and forelegs connected to a chestplate of black and blue padding, a yellow 192 painted on the front. And then I found the pony’s face. An amused smirk met me as the grey coated, orange-maned unicorn stallion I found myself facing looked down to me. 

“Did you have fun in there?” he asked.

“Nova!!” 

Blake…

My baby brother’s cry came from my left… sending a cold shock ripping through me before I snapped my eyes over to find him. He was sitting on his haunches beside Ivy, tucked up against her side, and the both of them were looking to me with frightened stares… 

An assault rifle hovered by their heads… and they weren’t the only ones. 

Off to their left, Gunny was there, glaring ahead and breathing slowly where he was being held at gunpoint by another blue and black armored pony. And past him… I found one more member of my team, and then another, and another, and another… and another… All of them were lined up past the flickering campfire and arced over to the wagon, the last pony in the line being the captain himself, who was held by an earth pony wearing a savage battle saddle made from twin light machineguns. They had all been taken hostage, with all of their weapons having been thrown away behind them…… the same with my own weapons… And now everypony was a prisoner to a whole squad of heavily armed ponies. They numbered over a half dozen… sixteen… one for each of my own squadmates… and one for me… the stallion who was still looking down at me with that same smirk… and all of them wore the same uniform – blue and black security armor, modified to varying degrees, all with black cloaks settling over their backs.

Each suit was painted with that same yellow number… 192… 

Stable 192…

Goddesses… no…

A deep painful pit formed in my gut as I recognized the stallion from days before. And slowly, I reached up to remove the recollector still atop my head; he let me as he took a step back. 

“Bolt…” 

Bolt from Buckley Air Force Base. 

“Hello, Nova.” he greeted with mock warmth. “I figured that you’d remember me.” The recollector fell with a light thud onto the dirt before I lowered my hoof back to the ground, staring up at him when he looked back over his shoulder at his assembled companions from Buckley. “And I’d wager that if you thought hard enough about it you’d recognize a few of the others I’ve brought with me.” he added, nodding to his friends while each of them, in turn, glared their own degree of hatred back at me; true enough… there was a couple other familiar faces. There was Brock… the wagon gunner from the Marefax expedition, wearing an assault rifle and a forty millimeter grenade launcher on a battle saddle at his place behind Tiny. I recognized Diego, one of the snipers from the same expedition force – his .308 sniper rifle hovered right by Sierra’s helmet; though she was wearing her full rig of steel armor, not even she was safe, not at point blank range. And there was Butch too, the big tan earth pony with a dark brown mane and tail – he wore his flamethrower saddle that he had used against the giant sand hornets in Buckley’s generator building, now aiming the lit weapon toward Shore. And finally, there was a familiar unicorn armed with a carbine rifle and a belt of four metal apples who was the stallion guarding Gunny, the weapon’s barrel pressed against the back of my friend’s neck; I recognized him from when I’d told Buckley of my involvement with the Talon Legion… he’d nearly killed me on the tarmac.

The rest were new faces… new angry faces…

“When you were in Buckley, I didn’t take you as the type of pony who would be forgetful.” Bolt continued conversationally, turning back to face me again. “I admire that, you know.” I stayed frozen in place, laying still on the ground. “It’s nice to know that you’re not one to simply let your… past mistakes… just… blow away in the wind.”

“Bolt…” Slowly, cautiously, I put a hoof under me to start pushing myself. 

“It’s been quite the journey trying to track you down, Nova.” he said, bypassing me wholesale as his horn begun to shimmer; his eyes were beginning to change… that false warmth had left him. “We’ve traveled a long road to find you again.” And that’s when I froze again, only partially standing, as the precision carbine rifle strapped across his back came floating up out of its holster. “And now that we have,” he growled, pulling back the cocking handle to chamber a round. “you, me, and the rest of us – we have a lot of catching up to do.” I barely kept myself from shaking as his rifle hovered in beside him, slowly turning to point for me. “Get on your hooves.” 

A light, shaky sigh escaped my lips. “Why didn’t you believe me, Bolt?” I asked, struggling with myself to remain calm as I hesitantly complied with his demand and rose back up to all fours. “You heard me at Buckley when I confessed. So why didn’t you believe me when I told you the truth? Why didn’t you believe what I said – that they gave me no choice, that I didn’t open that door on my own free will?” I slowly shook my head. “Why didn’t you believe me when you knew that I never wanted any of it?”

“I remember what you said. And I know that you think you’re innocent.” he replied, keeping his rifle trained on me. “But what I’d like to know now is what makes you think that your words justify what you did. And more importantly, I want to know what makes you think that one life is more valuable than two hundred and sixty.”

“There’s nothing to justify in this.” I said back carefully, standing my ground. “You know that I’d never aid the Talons willingly, and in any other circumstance I would’ve made them kill me before I would’ve done anything to help them.” Bolt’s glare only intensified as I tried to formulate my response through my fear; my eyes kept darting back to Blake. “I am not the villain here.” I pressed on, my mind scrambling for anything that might appease him. “The Talons made me! They took my brother and threatened to blow his head off with a Goddess-damned explosive collar, and that was the only reason that I helped them!”

“Two hundred and sixty, Nova!” he fired back darkly, pointing a hoof behind him, to the northeast. “Two hundred and sixty died in that attack! We have dozens of families back there in Buckley that are torn apart! We have orphans now, and widows, and brothers and sisters who will never see their siblings again… all because you gave in to the Talons’ demands and opened that door for them! And now your little brother lives at the sacrifice of over a fourth of our entire community!” Suddenly, I felt the cold touch of steel, and I flinched as the barrel of Bolt’s rifle pressed up against my throat. “That colt’s floating on a river of blood made from the friends and family we lost that day, Nova. You took all of them from us…”

“What would you have done, Bolt?” I asked, swallowing and nearly choking at the rifle’s touch. “What if you had been me and it was one of your family that was being threatened with execution? Would you have really just let your own family die, especially if that family member was the last one you had?” And after that… after that came silence. Bolt kept his rifle against my neck… and though I felt he didn’t intend it, I could see how that fiery glare of his had lessened, only slightly… but enough for me to see… enough for me to try and make a move. “Bolt…” And slowly, I dared to move against him… pressing myself a little tighter against the steel of the rifle muzzle. “I’m begging you… please, believe what I said at Buckley. Opening the door to those missiles… it’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life… because I know just what it cost.” Again, I glanced over to Blake; both he and Ivy were watching me with worry. “It cost me Buckley’s trust… it cost me my home entirely… and it’s all I can do to keep myself from crying every time I think about how many might’ve died altogether-”

“And how many ponies did you lose?” The stallion behind Gunny was the one who called out his question to me, one that made me flinch at the level of anger in his voice, the same anger he had spoken to me with back on that runway. And… I couldn’t answer him; I could only look away. “Exactly.” the stallion growled; his hatred had only grown stronger since our confrontation on the runway. 

Then I felt Bolt’s rifle pressing just a little harder against me, drawing a small start from me as my eyes darted back to his; his glare faltered… he was actually shaking. “Do you want to know why I didn’t believe you, Nova? Do you want to know why I still don’t believe you?” he asked. “Because once upon a time, I had a brother and sister in Buckley, both younger siblings. My brother was about two years my younger, my sister just over five. I raised them up since they were young, brought them up to serve in the guard. Even after our parents died when we were just kids they grew up courageous, learned quick, became well-respected. They had bright futures to look forward to, part of which was brought by you, Nova. Believe it or not you inspired those two to look forward to stepping outside, to put Buckley on the map and to make our home a part of something greater.” That pit that had stayed in me opened up even wider… his words hitting me like a bullet; I already knew what was coming… but it didn’t keep me from feeling all the worse. “When you opened that door, you killed the both of them… They died in Buckley’s defense that day…” And with a sad little shake of his head, “You took away the last of my blood family in order to save the last of yours…… You’ve given me nothing left to lose… same with a few of the ponies here with me.” I was devastated, even more so when his rifle fell away from my throat… and when he looked over his shoulder, back to his party, I barely swallowed back a sob that wanted to escape. “We could spend an hour going through everypony’s story, just so you feel the weight of what you’ve done to us.” he added, turning back to me one more time; sadness gave way… and I nearly shivered when I was greeted by his former glare. “But you see, Nova, we’re here for a different reason. We’re here to teach you just how much you have to lose.”

No… no, no, no…

“And we’ve got all your friends and your precious little brother here to do just that.”

“Bolt, please don’t…” But right when I tried to reach out to him again, the grey unicorn’s horn abruptly flashed with light, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his rifle just as it swung around with shocking speed. 

Then it connected right with the side of my head. 

Pain ripped through my skull, the staggering force of the hit knocking me off my hooves and sending me sprawling onto the dirt. I landed hard on my right side, my vision having gone dark only to return as a blur of its former self. But even through the tremendous sting lingering from the heavy hit, I heard a swell in voices from the others. Blake cried out for me, Ivy did too, and I heard growling from a couple of the others; Goddesses, there was even a pained grunt sounding in time with a thrown punch. A quick couple of seconds later, and I was able to look back up, and despite my daze, I saw Bolt as he stepped around to approach me, his rifle hovering in beside him.

And he raised it up to strike me again.

“BOLT!!” 

But he froze, startled into staying his wrath when his name was called out, and he snapped his head around, looking over his shoulder. Taken by surprise myself, I searched with him as my vision begun to return… but his comrades weren’t looking back to him. None of them had been the one to call him, because they were seeking the voice too, looking over the rest of the camp for a short few seconds, until one by one, they all looked up… up… And when Bolt turned skyward… that’s where his eyes stayed… 

That’s when I heard it – the beating of wings in the air… and when I looked to see for myself…… there, settling into a hover over the camp… a pegasus pony was illuminated by the dying fire. Unlike Bolt and his team, the flier was wearing no combat rig, only a pair of white saddlebags and a weapon saddle. But it was the pegasus pony’s weapons themselves – a dual rifle saddle made from two .308 scopeless rifles, and then one larger rifle secured over the flier’s back – they made a familiar sight, igniting memories. And it was when the pegasus begun to descend that I found myself gasping in shock. Because when the pegasus looked down, it… he… came to look at me with a pair of hazel eyes that I had, even after all this time, not forgotten. And when he was but a yard off the ground, the campfire illuminated his colors, revealing his steel-blue coat and slightly brightening his black mane, before he landed smoothly on all fours, tucking his wings back against his sides as he faced the stallion he’d called out. 

“Archer…” Bolt growled.

Goddesses… Archer… 

Buckley Air Force Base’s pegasus met Bolt’s glare with collected focus, completely unfazed by his fellow’s irritation. “I had a feeling Mother Shimmer would be sending somepony out to try and call us back once she knew we were missing… and I had a feeling it’d be you she’d be sending.” the grey unicorn continued, nodding to himself as he spoke. “Nopony else in Buckley could find us in all this wasteland… I figured it was just a matter of time before you caught up.” 

“Bolt…” Archer took a step forward; his eyes met mine briefly as he did so. “Hold on a second.” 

“Save it, Archer!” one of the stallions in Bolt’s crew called angrily. “Our business is with Nova, not you!” 

“Go back home!” a mare added with the same tone. “Stay out of this!”

But Archer only focused on the team’s leader, standing strong in the face of his glare. “We need to talk about this.” 

“Do we now?” Bolt asked lowly. 

“You need to think about what you’re doing.” Archer answered, calm. “Think about it… you’ve heard Mother Shimmer on this. You’ve heard the truth, and you’ve heard me too, my warning about what this mission of yours could cost you.” After a pause, Archer lightly stamped a forehoof on the dirt. “I know you want blood. I get it. But these are not the ponies to get it from, and you know it. You’ve got to let them go.”

“In the end, the Talons pulled the trigger… I understand that.” Bolt responded after a moment’s pause. “But Nova is still the one who gave them the bullet, Archer. And after everything that she explained to us about that technology that she accessed, about how she was the only pony who could open that door, there’s no way to ignore the simple fact that if she had said no, then the Talons would have never gotten those cruise missiles in the first place.” In that moment, I was glad that Bolt’s focus was on the pegasus stallion; I didn’t want him to see my ears pinning back. “She might have lost her brother because of it, but she would have been hailed a hero by all of Buckley, and even the rest of the southeast once they learned what was kept out of the Legion’s reach. But instead, she was willing to sacrifice everything for that colt, regardless of how it would have impacted others.”

“And would you have been able to sacrifice one of your family had you been in Nova’s situation?” Archer challenged, the volume in his voice climbing as he became just a little more aggressive. 

“Yes!” Bolt answered sharply. 

“Like hell you would have.” Archer replied back, a glare of his own beginning to take shape. 

“It would have been a tough choice, I know.” Bolt said. “But in the end, it would have saved more lives, along with our home.” And it was then that he turned back to me, looking over his shoulder. “Which is something that Nova obviously didn’t bother to think about.” 

I didn’t respond…

“We lost so many ponies, Archer, and all for one child.” Bolt continued, turning back away to Archer again. “And there’s no telling just how much more damage was done and how many more lives were claimed in the rest of the region.” He shook his head at that… all while I simply lay there… losing myself more and more in a deep pit of despair. “Mother Shimmer might have advocated for Nova’s innocence, but you saw everypony’s response after that big gathering in the concert hall.” Bolt continued. “There aren’t many who agree with her, and I think the only reason that the rest aren’t up in arms against her is simply because she’s been around for so long. But once we get rid of Nova, Archer, Shimmer’s going to understand that her death is going to bring stability back to Buckley far sooner than letting her live would have.” 

“No, Bolt!” Archer snapped in response. I nearly gasped when Bolt’s rifle flinched in the air where it hovered; Archer saw it, too. “This isn’t what Mother Shimmer would want!” 

“And what the hell do you know about what Mother Shimmer would want?!” Bolt challenged heatedly. “What do you know about Buckley, or any of us?”

“I know that you’re smarter than this.” Archer answered, refusing to yield. “This won’t end well for you unless you reconsider what you’re doing and back down.” 

“Is that a threat, Archer?” Bolt asked with a dangerous warning tone, taking a step back. “Because I know how you feel about these outsiders, and don’t think I don’t know about how you feel towards Nova in particular.” I looked back to Archer myself this time, watching as he followed Bolt’s move. But suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw as Bolt’s rifle came into view; it hovered down and turned in the air… pointing for me once again. “I’m doubting where your loyalties really lie, Archer.” 

“Buckley is my home, Bolt.” Archer replied… suddenly with a much calmer tone; his eyes flicked back to me. “I’m only trying to reason with you.” 

But Bolt only brought his rifle in closer to me. “Considering your history, Archer, I really doubt that.” he responded after a short pause. “You’re not one of us. You came from the sky, and it was only by Mother Shimmer’s grace that you weren’t executed after you were shot down over the base.” 

“Does my history even matter when I’ve lived in Buckley and served its citizens for as long as I have?” Archer sharply interrupted.

“Yeah, Archer, it does.” Bolt answered, raising a hoof to point at him. “It matters because you were a traitor once in your life already.” That time, Archer froze… and I was left staring. “And really, I don’t think I want to risk you crossing that line again, not when it might put my mission in jeopardy.” He looked back to his companions behind the pegasus. “In fact, I think it might just be better for all of us if we eliminate that risk entirely.”

And he gave a nod.

Archer spun around, catching Bolt’s gesture at the same time as Diego moved forward, his comrade next to him dragging Raemor up against Sierra to keep his eyes on the both of them. And I jerked at the same time that Diego’s rifle slammed hard into Archer’s side. “NO!!” I screamed with fright as Archer grunted heavily. But I only moved one step forward before Bolt’s rifle hovered up to face me again, the unicorn turning back to glare hateful fire. Past him, I saw Archer as he fought to steady himself. But another one of Bolt’s squadmates stepped into my view, a unicorn stallion with a missile launcher slung over his back, moving on an intercept course with the stunned pegasus as he tried to back away from Diego. But it was the weapon that was held in the second buck’s telekinesis that came into view from behind him as it was pulled back, and Archer didn’t even see it before the stallion’s sledgehammer came down on his back. He cried out as he was smashed to the ground, both the sledgehammer stallion and Diego surrounding him as yet a third pony from Bolt’s team approached, a big earth pony wearing a twin LMG saddle and his own leg sash of three frag grenades. And as Diego hooked his foreleg around Archer’s middle, hoisting him roughly back up to his hooves before he could recover, the newcomer swung himself around and kicked out with his hind hooves, bucking Archer square in the jaw to send the pegasus sprawling back onto the ground; all three chased the direction of his fall, not giving him even a second to recuperate. 

“Bolt stop!!” I shouted, finally looking back to the angry stallion and his rifle; Archer was thrown bodily across the dirt, landing closer to the wagon. 

“Max, go ahead!” Bolt shouted, ignoring me wholesale as he looked to one of his other teammates. “Here’s your chance for a little payback!” 

From the corner of my eye, I found the stallion behind Gunny as he nodded, all too eagerly pulling his rifle away from my friend’s neck. And before Gunny could even look back, the rifle came back around, and the stock smacked harshly into his jaw, sending him stumbling forward. And with shocking speed, Max righted his rifle and swung again, an alarming crack sounding when it connected with Gunny’s skull; that hit sent him to the ground, pumping raw fear into me. “Bolt listen to me!!” I cried again, the enemy leader finally looking back to me. “It was just me that helped the Talons! Nopony else was involved!!” 

“Oh I know.” he replied menacingly, turning around to face me fully. “You’re right, Nova. And that’s why I’m going to be fair about all this.” Shaking, I watched briefly as Bolt begun to walk off to my left side, giving me clear view of where Gunny and Archer were being savagely beaten. Archer was just laid out again from another punch. He only pulled himself forward a single step before he was grabbed again and thrown by the sledgehammer pony, his momentum carrying him all the way to the wagon where his head smashed against one of the wheels. And closer to me, Gunny was slammed with Max’s rifle again as he fought to recover; his horn flared as he tried to use his magic, to reach for anything, anything at all to help him. “First,” Bolt had drawn up along my left side, his rifle still hovering before me. “first you’re going to watch as your little coltfriend is beaten to death.” he said, another resounding smack sounding as Archer was hit again. “Then we’re going to kill all of your friends that were with you at Buckley when the Talons launched those missiles, starting with your bodyguard, Gunny. And after that we’re going to execute everypony else in your little team, one by one.” Then his rifle flicked in the air, gesturing over to the rest of my team, the captives who were only able to watch Gunny and Archer’s thrashing helplessly; together Bolt and I looked to where Blake and Ivy were being guarded by the assault rifle unicorn mare behind them. “And then I’m going to personally execute your little brother.” Bolt vowed with a threatening low tone, finally turning back to me. “Then I’m going to kill you, and that’ll make us as even as we could ever possibly be.” 

I trembled where I stood, my mind racing for a solution, any solution at all. Across the campfire, Archer was thrown bodily into the wagon’s armored side, keeping on his hooves only to be drilled in his right side by the stock of Diego’s sniper rifle before the LMG stallion grabbed him by his shoulder and threw him back down. And Gunny managed to catch Max’s rifle before it could come down on him again, only to be punched in the gut, breaking his concentration on his magic as he let out a pained grunt. 

BLAM!

I jumped at the report of a rifle. I feared the worst when my eyes snapped back to my imprisoned friends, only to see as Ivy was struck across the jaw by the unicorn mare behind her, sending her into Blake to carry them both to the ground before her assault rifle was leveled back at the both of them, quelling any more attempts by Ivy to rebel. Desperately, I looked out of my peripheral sight, seeing where Bolt watched the mare guarding Ivy and Blake, exchanging a quick nod with her to show that they were under control again. I would have tried the same, and I wished that I could. But my saddle had been removed when I’d been in that memory orb, same with my sidearm. All I had on me was my armor, the only weapon my hooves……

With a grunt I pulled back my left hind hoof and brought it down, catching Bolt’s leg in a solid kick. His rifle went off right in front of me, stabbing at my ears as a bullet slammed right into my armored chest. The plate barely absorbed it, and I staggered back at the impact of the high-caliber round. And as soon as I caught my balance, I lurched forward as I was struck on the back of the head, and I toppled face first back into the dirt. “I got her!” Bolt called past the ringing in my ears. Frantically I tried to push myself back up to all fours. But immediately, a weight pressed down on me, on all of me, as Bolt slammed me back down onto my belly, his hooves pressing down on the back of my neck to keep me pinned. “You want to play this fucking game, Nova?!” he demanded, his voice a raging storm. “Then we can play this game! And I’ll go ahead and start by clipping your wings!” 

And with a jolt of shock, I felt my left wing as it was forcefully pulled, magic splaying it out against my will before… before the familiar touch of Bolt’s rifle barrel came down on it, pressing right where the wing met my shoulder. 

“HEY!!” 

Suddenly, a cry… multiple cries, shouts of alarm. In front of me, I spotted Gunny just as he planted his hind hooves against Max’s underside. And with a great heave, he sent the Buckley unicorn flying off of him. He fell a couple yards away, landing on his back before quickly rolling onto his side, trying to push himself up-

BOOM!!!

A violent thunderclap, sending a pulse through the ground under me, and in a blink, Max exploded. One moment he was a solid pony, and the next, blood, flesh, and pieces of armor went flying in all directions. I jerked away, shutting my eyes when I felt blood splatter right across my forehead, a piece of him bouncing off my back while the rest of him showered the ground with light patters, like a sick and twisted rain shower. Behind me, I heard Bolt cry out his comrade’s name, along with two mares from his group whose voices reached me past the replenished ringing in my ears. But then came the report of a rifle, a single shot that was followed quickly by another. And then there was the sustaining of an automatic weapon, and then another… and a third… 

We were fighting back!

Within seconds a whole volley of automatic fire was sounding off around the camp as I thrashed. Catching Bolt off guard, I felt the stallion stumble as I kicked out, giving me enough room to roll aside to put some space between us. Quick as I could manage, I staggered back to all fours, moving myself to find Bolt, the closest to me. When I did, he was already bringing his rifle to bear, snapping it back to his side as he took aim for me. I leapt to the right, throwing myself back to the dirt just as he fired a single shot. I skidded a short ways before coming to a halt on my side, suddenly finding myself face to face with my confiscated weaponry. I scrambled to reach my sidearm as Bolt followed after me behind his iron sights. But just when he would’ve taken another shot, another cry reached me over the gunfire, and when I looked back, Blake leapt into view from seemingly out of nowhere, launching himself for Bolt and plowing right into his neck. I cried out for him, ignoring my weapons and racing to get back to my hooves as Blake latched onto his much larger opponent, hooking his forelegs around his throat and using his body weight to pull down and drag him away from me. But Bolt only stumbled, balancing himself quickly before he reached up. And hooking his foreleg over Blake’s back, he ripped the colt off him with ease, slamming my brother into the dirt. I was on my hooves, wheeling around and launching myself after him with a savage cry. And before he could do anything else to Blake, I drove into him myself, this time taking him to the ground. I tumbled over him when we landed, falling back onto my right side from the momentum of my lunge. Bolt however, was the quicker to recover, and before I could even roll back onto my stomach, he was on top of me, his rifle hovering in as he forced me onto my back. But I was quick to react, and I jammed my right hind hoof into his own gut when we stopped together, and with a shove I forced him the rest of the way over me, his hooves catching on my side and knocking him back down; I rolled back and away from him again, moving to go for my brother and make sure he was safe. 

I caught sight of Blake as I got back onto my stomach, the colt pulling himself up and shaking his head to clear himself of a momentary daze. “Blake!!” I shouted over the firefight, pulling myself to all fours and springing over to him. “Blake are you okay?!” 

“I’m okay!” he shouted, trembling as he raced to close the distance between us. But when he opened his mouth to speak again, he caught sight of something off to his right, my left, which drew an alarmed gasp from him. “NOVA!!” 

That’s when I heard the threatening cocking of a rifle. 

I snapped my eyes over, finding the mare that had formerly held my brother hostage as she snapped her assault rifle up, taking aim at us with a vengeful scowl. “RUN!” I wheeled to the right, seeing as Blake turned with me. And together we galloped as the mare opened fire. 

Three rounds, one right after the next, strafed my left side with a fourth striking my flank, the armor holding up against them all as I threw myself forward, putting the only available cover in my sights. Between us and the wagon, both Tiny and Boulter grappled with their former captors. We raced right by the both of them, the ground exploding all around me as the assault rifle mare pursued us, sustaining her lethal bullet storm. And at the impact of another round against my right flank plate, I launched myself forward in a desperate dive to close the remaining distance between myself and the wagon. I landed on my gut, skidding across the ground and falling just short of the right rear wheel. Dirt pelted my face as three more rounds strafed the ground just inches away from my right side, another two striking the wagon’s armored hull above me. And to my left, I saw as Blake threw himself bodily under the wagon, diving right between the two rear wheels before coming to a halt. And kicking and pulling, I hurried under the wagon to join him, pushing myself up against the wheel as the enemy’s barrage finally subsided, the last four rounds smashing against the wheel itself. 

To my right, another explosive thunderclap overtook the spaced gunfire and drilled into my already sensitive ears, dirt pattering against the wagon as I righted myself, looking for the mare who had chased us. Past a literal shower of uprooted soil, I reacquired her as she jammed another clip into her weapon, replacing the empty one with one swift practiced motion. And a split second later, the mare opened up again, forcing Blake and I to huddle up behind the wheel as it soaked up bullet after bullet of her controlled bursts of fire. I was forced to keep low, having no chance of moving from cover without getting hit. But the wagon wheel was falling apart rapidly, more and more bits of wood flying away with each hit. Again, an explosion ripped across the camp, raining dirt down on my attacker, none of it making her flinch from her target. 

But that was when I caught movement, left side… Bolt!!

The mare continued firing, pinning us down for Bolt to get the angle on us, and I found the enemy leader just as he leveled his rifle for us, crouched low to aim his shot. I scrambled away, farther under the wagon as he fired once, his shot plowing into the soil just inches from me. Then he fired again, his second round hitting the wagon’s armored hull as he tried to focus back on me. But suddenly, dirt kicked up right in front of his hooves, a stray round forcing him back a step. And soon as I saw him do so, I took the chance to move. I hoisted myself up and scurried even further back, nearly forced into a crawl because of the wagon’s low undercarriage. Four steps back and I found Blake again, unharmed, watching me with frightened eyes. Thankfully, even without telling him, he followed my move, crawling as fast as he could after me as I made my way to the back left corner. And just as Bolt lined up another shot I passed by the left wheels, finally coming out from under the wagon just as another round struck where I had just been. Blake was jolted back with a cry of alarm, the same shot barely missing him, and he pushed himself back, keeping himself under the wagon.

I couldn’t let us get separated!

A chain of explosions sounded on the other side of the wagon, bringing my focus on the fight as Bolt came around the wagon, leaping into view and bringing his carbine to bear. And before I could react, he fired. Pain exploded through my left shoulder, the round punching through a weaker part of the armoring and making its way through. I jerked away with an agonized yelp, and before I could catch myself, I lost my footing when my whole foreleg locked up, and I landed on my left side. Instinct drove me to move, guiding my focus back to the wagon as I pulled myself toward it. But then I thrashed again, feeling as a second round struck my side, stopping me with the sting of the impact. Bolt was locked onto me, and I didn’t even get a second of clarity before a third hit my shoulder again, the bullet burying itself into the armoring dangerously close to the wing joint. 

But suddenly, right after another rippling detonation, I heard a masculine cry of pain… from the same direction of the shots. 

I was free. A precious couple of seconds to breathe, and then I gathered up my strength and I rolled, stopping myself on my back to look. There was Bolt, down on one knee… his rifle on the ground at his side… as he looked with shocked eyes to the fire axe buried in his shoulder right where it met the neck… blood already seeping out around the blade.

BLAM!!

A single shot echoed, one that seemed to silence the whole battle. And I saw as it punched through his armor to find home in his chest… right in the heart. And without a sound he went down, toppling back… falling still…

That shot was the last one to sound…

“Nova, are you alright?” 

I gasped in alarm at the sounding of a calm but fatigued voice. And when I turned, another pony suddenly came to stand by my right side, promptly turning and bowing his head to look me in the eye. I was greeted by Raemor’s face, his .45 automatic pistol floating close by. The sight of a friendly figure was so welcoming to me that I rolled back over onto my stomach with barely a wince. “Raemor…” I managed to say between labored breaths, pushing myself raggedly back up onto my front hooves. “Raemor… is it…”

Even as I fought to get myself fully upright, I heard the old stallion when he let out a sigh. “It’s over.” he said, moving in close to me when I wobbled on my crippled limb. 

Silence… dead silence…

Just moments ago, grenades had been going off… missiles were flying, rifles and machineguns firing… But now there was just… nothing…… no voices… no shifting equipment… not even the crackling of the campfire…… Just like that… it had ended…

It sent a sharp, nearly painful chill through my aching body as I simply stood there, staring ahead. It was a chill that was nearly as painful as my freshest wound, which I hissed at when it pulsed to get my attention, overcoming the dwindling adrenaline still coursing through me. It demanded a glance, and I saw the fresh blood that had snaked down the left side of my chest plate in a slowly widening tendril, still lengthening as it proceeded to trail down my foreleg. But even through the terrible burn, that silence still spoke in the strongest voice by far, one that pushed through everything else to bring my mind back around, back to focus on what had just come and gone… and on what I’d find on the other side of the wagon…… 

I felt myself shaking… 

“Nova!” It was right when I began to scout the immediate vicinity that another pony called me, the pony that I searched for first. A tremendous wave of relief poured over me when I found Blake as he crawled out from under the wagon, hurrying to his hooves before racing over. He leapt right into me, knocking me back a whole step while consequently firing up my wounded shoulder as he hooked his forelegs around my neck to hug me. But much to my own discomfort, I found that the fear that had begun to well in me surpassed even my baby brother’s presence. The relief was genuine… but it was very short-lived. I didn’t even return his embrace, and through his hold, I only found myself looking past him to the far edge of the wagon, my eyes locked there… and my desire to move only increased twofold as the silence continued to lord over us.

Nopony else came around the wagon to find us…

With a gentle nudge I used my left forehoof to move Blake aside, the colt hesitantly releasing me and setting himself back down on all fours, stepping away to give me room. And with a pained huff I moved my first steps, my shoulder reminding me again of Bolt’s successful hit. Raemor and Blake stayed on either side of me as I moved, matching my slow pace and keeping close, watching me as I limped on my left foreleg. And together, the three of us passed the wagon, rounding the corner… seeing the outcome…

It was a scene of total carnage…

From a fight that had lasted mere minutes… I beheld a brutally heart-wrenching aftermath. The once peaceful campground we had established, only minutes ago serving as the sanctum in which we reunited with our long-lost archives, was now a blasted ruin. The ground had been carved into, smoldering blast craters left behind from where grenades and missiles fired from the Buckley assassin team’s launchers had detonated. Various rifles lay strewn across the whole of the camp, separated from their masters, and the ground was littered with empty bullet cases from the continuous fire from the multitude of automatic weapons. But worst of all – the bodies… seeing how our once peaceful camp had become the final resting place of over twenty motionless bodies. Buckley’s team… they were utterly eradicated in the fight. As I scanned the field, I found enemy casualties one after the next. Butch lay off to the right, his flamer saddle still primed for use; he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to use it. And after him I found Diego, laying farther back… one foreleg completely missing. Then, a few seconds later, and I found Brock, his back to me where he had fallen on his side; I could see the burns and the holes that had been carved into his armor… and a couple yards from him, I found Diego’s missing foreleg. They were spaced around the whole of the camp – the newest casualties for Buckley Air Force Base. Whether by explosive or skilled shot, each and every one of them had fallen in the fight… each and every one of them…… But in the mix… I found others… familiar faces lying amidst the bodies of the enemy…

We had taken losses.

Closest to me, I found Quinn. I could see the headshot that had claimed her. 

Past her, there was Sylvia – same thing. 

That pit I was all too familiar with begun to open back up in my gut when I saw Tiny. He faced me, eyes open in a lifeless gaze. His armor’s chest plate had been ravaged, blood trailing from what had to easily be a dozen wounds. 

Mavis had been killed too, his body having been blasted open by an explosive; Boulter stood next to him, his head bowed over the body of his fallen friend.

A soft but sharp exhale escaped me as I kept looking… and my shaking came back to me, stronger. 

There was one more unicorn from our pulling team that had been killed – Gyro. He was the farthest away, close to where I’d been resting at the other end of the now erased campfire. His back was to me… but I could see the dark color and the moist texture the soil around him had taken.

Then I scanned right and traced back in a circle, slow… and found a pink unicorn with a golden mane, two bullets having hit her, one punching through her front left leg, the second through her skull… Without warning, my lower lip trembled just slightly as I took in the sight of Daisy…… and……

“Goddesses…” I whimpered, my eyes beginning to water when I found a platinum colored white-maned unicorn not but a couple yards from her, shot over a half dozen times in his left side, the side that faced me.

They got Joker…

“I need help!!” 

With a start, my eyes snapped farther to the right. And almost immediately I found Gunny, the stallion turning around with a startling limp as light from his horn faded away, same as the light around the pony on his back did. Ivy – the grey unicorn squirmed in her place atop Gunny, her eyes closed tight and her teeth bared in pain. And underneath her, blood was already flowing free along Gunny’s right side, sliding between his armor and his holstered riot shotgun and quickly darkening his armor as red mixed with blue. “How bad?!” And farther to the right still came a frantic response; that was where the remaining survivors had clustered together. 

“Three hits – two torso, one leg!”

“I’ve got two potions left! Bring her over, quick!” Sergeant Madeline spoke the call, beckoning him over with a quick wave of her hoof before she focused back on her task – another pony laying on the ground before her. Beside the sergeant was Shore, sitting on one side of a pair of white saddlebags as he leaned over the same pony, whose face was concealed behind him. And lastly, Sierra was there too, standing farther back and watching behind her helmet visor as she tucked her armored wings back to her sides. “Here, take them!” Madeline ordered, levitating two healing potions from the saddlebags at her side and setting them at Gunny’s hooves as he joined the group; a half-empty healing potion bottle of her own came into view, floating just behind her. 

She didn’t wait for a reply from Gunny, only turning away as he set Ivy down, who groaned weakly as she was deposited beside the other wounded pony. “Hang in there, you’re going to be fine.” Madeline said, softer as she focused back on the pony she tended to. “The potions are already working, you’re going to be okay.” 

“Yes ma’am…” came a faint reply… Captain Saber’s voice. 

“Drink up, captain.” she urged gently, helping him gulp down the healing brew. “There we go.” 

“Ivy can you hear me?” As I watched on, my eyes fell on Gunny again, the stallion hobbling over by Ivy’s side with one of his two potions hovering beside him. After a short pause, “Good. Now you need to open up and drink this down for me, okay?” With a tug, his magic pulled the cap off the glass bottle. “There we go, good.” And he lowered the bottle down, tilting it forward for Ivy to drink. “This’ll help slow the bleeding, and then I can dig those bullets out of you before I give you the last one.”

“Are they going to be okay?” Finally, finally I got the strength to speak up in the wake of the fight, raising a foreleg to wipe away the two tears that had come to trail down my cheeks. “Are they going to be okay?” 

Only Gunny spared time to look back to me at my call. “They will, Nova.” he responded after a short pause. “Once these potions get moving in their systems, they’ll be alright.” 

“We’re going to have to get that fire going again though.” Madeline spoke up in reply to him, turning back to him as he helped Ivy drink her first potion. “Without medical supplies of our own, we’re going to have to cauterize any wound that these potions don’t fix, which means yours.” Gunny only nodded, passing a glance to the sergeant. “Okay, I need you both to help me out with Saber.” she added, looking between both Gunny and Shore. “He’s got four bullets that need to be removed, two in the right shoulder, two in the chest. From what I can tell though, it doesn’t look like any of them went in more than about an inch or so.” 

“Alright.” And I saw Gunny just as he unsheathed Honor, taking the combat blade in place of a now empty potion bottle. And turning the knife in the air, pointing the tip down, he stepped around Ivy and up to the captain. “You ready, sir?” he asked, looking down to his commander.

“Get ‘em out of me…” came Saber’s strained answer.

“Yes, sir.” 

It was then that I finally tore myself free from that sight, turning away and sagging down under the ever intensifying weight of the short but terrible fight’s aftermath. Captain Saber and Ivy, both severely wounded… but at least able to drink down some healing potions; I believed the answer Gunny had given me. Shore, Sierra, Madeline, and Boulter – they all looked unharmed, and Raemor and Blake were too. Gunny and I were the only two that were likewise wounded but were still able to remain upright all the same…… and that was it…

Ten of us remained… ten out of seventeen…

BLAM!!

With a yelp I jumped in place at the shocking report of a weapon behind me. Ears ringing, I spun about to find myself facing our wagon once again. Only this time, I was facing the vehicle’s right side, which I had crossed under to flee the mare that had chased my brother and I across the camp trying to put an end to us…… the same mare that now lay still at the hooves of another pony.

Archer… 

He’d survived the fight too. And now, he stood over the motionless body of my would-be killer, looking down at her behind the barrel of the .44 magnum revolver held in his jaws. But just as quick as he had pulled the trigger, he spit the weapon back out, only to stagger back a step, hissing with pain. I only watched on as he collected himself, gradually opening his eyes and relaxing his posture, breathing evenly to cope with his pain best he could. Even in the dark, I could see some of the marks that showed just how brutal his beating had been. Blood had flowed out of the left corner of his mouth and traveled down his cheek and under his chin in a thin trail. There were three spots on his left side that were already standing out against his natural coat color. And one of them was bleeding, the force of whatever hit him leaving a sickening gash as if he’d been cut by a knife; I had a feeling that the sledgehammer had made that mark… and with it being right over his ribcage, I had an even worse feeling that there was more damage that I wasn’t able to see.

Briefly I turned away to my left side to find Blake, he too focused toward Archer. When I looked right, I saw that Raemor was gone, and I instead found him with the others, both him and Boulter assisting Gunny and Madeline in the care of our two incapacitated survivors. Gunny was at work on Ivy with his knife now, pulling the blade back from her with a sharp tug as Ivy herself managed to let out a pained yelp. It seemed he was making a quick pace in extracting the bullets, and Saber was moving where he rested; he shifted only slightly as Madeline set aside a second empty potion bottle… but that was still an encouraging sign.

Then I faced front again, looking back to Buckley’s pegasus as he begun to move towards me, branching off to my right and making to pass me by. “Archer…” 

His name came out soft on my lips. But even that was enough to catch the stallion flier’s attention, and at the sound of my voice he slowed himself to a stop, his hazel eyes only reluctantly meeting mine. And after a short yet uncomfortable moment of silence, he grunted a single pained note in response, looking away slowly over the battlefield before limping closer. I watched after him as he moved, following him as he drew up alongside me… But it was as he did that he came to stop all on his own, only continuing to stare towards the lifeless fire pit of our camp. He took one more step as he did, setting a forehoof down ahead of him to keep going… but he didn’t move. He was just stuck there… as if trapped in some mental struggle… “I killed three of ‘em.” Then, in the lingering quiet, he finally spoke to me. “I killed three…” he repeated, softly, with struggle… struggle of more than one kind. And I only watched on as he raised a foreleg, gesturing out to the camp. “I killed that stallion there… Charger was his name.” With him having turned, putting his back to me, I could see the battlefield in full at my place behind him. And with his very voice as the trigger, I followed where he pointed, tracing it back to a dead unicorn from Bolt’s team; a missile launcher was still laying over his back… and a sledgehammer lay close by him. “As far as I know, he didn’t lose anypony in the Talons’ attack.” Archer said, lowering his foreleg back down. “But there were those he knew who lost somepony… friends who suffered… I guess that was enough to make him throw in his hammer for Bolt’s cause.” 

I stared at that dead stallion, my ears perking at the silence that fell back into place when Archer went quiet; Charger was his name. 

“Then I got Meg up in the air.” Archer spoke up again; I looked back to him, sidelong as gestured off to his right. “Your power armored friend saved me from Diego and Mel, gave me enough time to get airborne and try and fight back.” I had to move to follow him then, drawing up alongside him before I found the mare he’d pointed out; she had died lying beside a scoped energy weapon, a laser rifle that looked a lot like Shore’s own, the only main differences being the bulkier body and the dark green paintjob. “I recognize her from the church choir.” Archer explained, eliciting an unpleasant hitch from me. “She was one of the few who managed to pull off rehearsals and guard duty at the same time…… I think her involvement here was along the same as Charger’s.” 

She’d been from Buckley’s choir…… Goddesses… what if she’d been in the same concert that I’d been in?

“Then I killed Zera.” I began to sag as he spoke his third name, his third and final kill… against his own ponies… And that’s when his left foreleg rose up into my sight, pointing to our left… to the wagon.

To the mare who’d chased Blake and I across the camp trying to end us. 

“She was one of Bolt’s closest friends.” Archer explained lowly. “That was one reason why she joined his mission… that and she and her sister lost their younger sibling when the cruise missiles hit…” I sighed heavily, bowing my head, barely able to stand listening to the pegasus as he explained… more so to himself; I felt a hoof on my left foreleg… I didn’t look, but I knew it was Blake, trying his best to comfort me. “The both of them joined Bolt’s mission… probably were the first ones to sign on……Then the rest followed quick after that…”

And with that, Archer went quiet once again.

And me? I shook my head, sniffing once before I slowly looked back up. “I’m so sorry…” 

But out of the corner of my eye, I saw as Archer shook his head in return. “No…” He didn’t look at me, but he spoke the word with a firm voice. “No, I’m sorry.” he said, weary. “I’m sorry that they didn’t listen…… I’m sorry I couldn’t get them to stand down.” 

That was when he finally looked to me again, and I back to him; my ears begun to pin back just slightly… I could hear a note of guilt in his voice, one that was slowly growing with each word. “Archer…”

“I tried, Nova.” But he only continued ahead, lightly stamping a forehoof to the ground. “I really tried… And not just here, but back at Buckley too…… but no matter what I said… I just couldn’t get them to understand.” He stomped his hoof down again, harder. “And I warned them would could happen.” he said insistently. “I told them that they would be putting their lives at risk for nothing if they tried to find you. I told them you’d fight back, or if not you, then your friends would, and everypony saw that after the Talons’ attack……” Here, he calmed himself, just enough to turn away. “But Bolt’s call to action was just too strong and too relentless for my own voice to carry any weight with them.” Goddesses… he looked like he was fighting back his own tears; I could just barely see the frown on his face from where I stood nearby. “Bolt assembled his team in secret, disobeyed Shimmer’s order for everypony to stay inside the perimeter and snuck out in the dark with the help of night-watch guards sympathetic to their mission…… I tried to track them down… but they anticipated Shimmer sending somepony out that could actually have a chance to find them again…” He shook his head again, looking out past the camp to the blackened southern horizon beyond. “They just disappeared… whether in the Moonstone Peaks or near Plainwell territory I don’t know… but their trail went cold a couple miles past the highway… and I couldn’t find them fast enough to… to stop all this.” And at that, he huffed out another sigh… one of defeat… one that provoked quickly growing concern. “So despite everything I said, everything I did… they still managed to track you down…… And now Shimmer’s lost even more ponies… and you’ve lost seven friends…”

For a moment after I waited for the stallion flier to continue. Only this time, he kept quiet, standing still, lost in looking towards the southern landscape… leaving me staring as I tried to think of what to say. There were things that I wanted to say right then and there, yet couldn’t quite draw up the courage to speak them. I wanted to tell him that there was nothing that he needed to apologize for… because there really was nothing for him to apologize for. He’d been forced to turn on his own ponies, some of whom may have very well been his friends back on the base, and yet he was the one who was apologizing, for something that was my fault; he didn’t need to apologize… but he was so set in his words… I doubted saying so would get through. 

Along with that, I wanted to assure him that he had done his absolute best in trying to stop Bolt. Whether such a statement would’ve held any weight was debatable, but still, even though the Buckley unicorn had carried out his plans, Archer had still done everything in his power to try and get him to understand the risk of his choices. And the effort he had put in trying to help us… help me… that was something I wouldn’t forget.

But it was that that brought me to the third thing I wanted to tell him, perhaps the most important of all of them – I wanted to tell him that I was thankful for his return…… I wanted to say thank you. But that too… that was something that would not bid well here… not after what he’d just been put through… and the truth was… the meaning that would have normally been carried by those words would’ve been lost in my own trauma – at losing the ponies we’d lost in the fight. I wanted to say it… but the emotion that would’ve normally come with it would have been nonexistent.

Instead of any of those, there was instead one question that continued to linger in my thoughts, one simple question that took precedence over everything else – why? I wanted to know the why of Bolt’s choices, the real, full why of it. And to break the ever swelling silence between Archer, myself, and Blake, I set that question out onto the table we shared. “I just wish… I just wish I knew why.” I finally piped up. Archer turned to glance sidelong at me from his place nearby; on my opposite side, I felt Blake lightly graze his muzzle against my foreleg. “I wish I knew why Bolt wouldn’t… just wouldn’t fucking listen to me… why he wouldn’t listen to us?” 

And sidelong became full as Archer craned his head around to look me in the eye. “Zera told me why.” His eyes flicked past me, back to the mare by the wagon, just momentarily before they came back to me. “Like I said, she was one of Bolt’s closest friends in Buckley… most of the reason why she joined up with him and brought her sister Zia along too…” I had to close my eyes at the reminder, both that she had been Bolt’s good friend… and that she had brought her own sister along to be killed with her… “She said that when Bolt found out his brother and sister had been killed… he just lost his mind.” he explained. “She said that he just screamed and cried… that he just couldn’t think about anything else except revenge for what had happened. And that was all he set his sights on when the fires died.”

Goddesses… it was nearly chilling how closely that resembled someone else I knew…

“Right or wrong… Zera said Bolt just couldn’t see it anymore.” Archer said. “She said that when he lost his family… he lost his way. And that’s why he did what he did.” 

Through the whole explanation, I hadn’t let my eyes open. Not until he finished did I finally do so, finding the ground staring back up at me; now I knew why… now I had the truth… despite how bad it hurt. Bolt did it, “Because I took it from him…” Because I’d taken everything… because I had pushed that button… “And don’t pull the ‘none of this is on you’ speech again, Archer.” I spoke up sharply, quick to block any effort on his part to do just that. “We both know how that ended up last time.” 

“I… I know…” 

Hesitantly, he said that back, taken a little by surprise…… Good. Because right now, trying to take this in… I knew he wanted to say that it wasn’t on me. I knew he wanted to… or at least, I felt confident enough to believe that he did. But either way, I had no patience for any of that. I only let my thoughts fly on their current turbulent course… “But you know what might have to be the absolute worst part about it all…” I said, clearing my throat as Archer only stared on at me. “It’s having to go back to our group, having to come to them with our mission complete, with our wagon full of books and Stable-issued weapons… only for them to see that we lost nearly half our team out here…” Dejectedly I scuffed a hoof along the ground. “It’s nearly impossible to put what happened at Buckley behind me… but when I tried to by coming back to Stable 181, back to my home… this happens to remind me what I did. And it’s all the more painful knowing our mission was going so smoothly, when we found what we did and things started looking up. That’s the worst part about it… knowing that if just one thing had been different, if I hadn’t pushed that button… they’d all be alive to celebrate what we accomplished.” And with a final sigh, I turned away, putting my back to Archer and walking past Blake; I felt both their eyes on me. “My body count just keeps going up…” 

“I’m sorry, Nova.” 

That was all he said. After the very weighty pause that had come after I’d said my piece… that was all Archer said. But really… what could he say? What could anypony say? I didn’t hold it against him that he didn’t try to console me through it all. It wasn’t his place to, especially since he had gone through his own trials here, killing his own allies… choosing me and my friends over them… Instead, it only brought up one more question, one that I wanted to ask both out of curiosity… and out of concern. “What are you going to do now?” 

I looked back over my shoulder to find him looking northeast; that alone gave me the answer. “I need to go back to Buckley.” he eventually said, more than a little reluctant. “Mother Shimmer has to know what happened here.” 

But… “But what are you going to tell her?” I asked, making no effort to hide my own worry, which he picked up on quickly. “You’re not going to tell her that you… you know…” 

“I have to.” I came about then, taking a step forward to protest. But this time, he was the one to stop me when he raised a hoof up, shaking his head. “Mother Shimmer needs to know everything, and I’m not going to make any effort to hide anything that happened here tonight.” he said, resolute. “Shimmer at least will understand that I fought back out of self-defense, and that you all did too. But most important, she’ll know that despite the loss, Bolt was the one who willingly put himself and others at risk to try and kill you. I warned him, and so did she. She won’t blame me.”

“And what about everypony else in Buckley?” 

And for the second time tonight, the sympathy I’d felt for him came back when he looked off to the side. “I know…” he said lowly. “And I know the risk. If word got out that I killed ponies from Buckley, it might very well push some ponies back on the base over the edge, and things could get a lot worse over there than they already are.”

“Then think about this.” I warned nervously, coming up closer to him. “What if… what if they come after you? What if somepony else gets the same idea as Bolt and Mother Shimmer can’t stop him, except they come after you instead of me?” 

“I can’t just leave Mother Shimmer in the dark.” he fired back, calm but firm. “She loved Bolt, same as she loves everypony in Buckley.”

“Just tell her that you were too late to find Bolt and his team.” I spoke up louder, with an unintentional desperation beginning to form in my tone. “Tell her that you were the only one to get away from us… or that you just couldn’t find us and got ambushed by Talons… or something.”

“No.” But he persisted still, speaking just a little more sharply and pressing me into silence with a glare that forced me to take my words back. But as quick as it had come, his eyes eased up when he knew I’d stay in my place. “I can’t have this hanging over my head.” he replied. “If it comes to it, I’ll tell Mother Shimmer what happened, and then I’ll just disappear.”

Goddesses, Archer… “You shouldn’t have to do that.” I interjected, my anxiety adding silently, “Not when you ultimately chose to help me when you could’ve walked away and gone back home.”

But Archer didn’t even flinch. “I do this, then I’ll be safe, and Mother Shimmer can focus on keeping Buckley from wholly falling apart. So if leaving is what it’ll take to see that happen, then that’s what I’ll do.”

I shook my head again, bowing away. “You risked too much coming here, Archer.” I said back, nearly a whisper. “You should’ve either stayed away… or you should’ve just taken Bolt’s side. Any one would’ve kept you from this… but you chose to try and help us either way, and you had to kill three of your own ponies just to do that…… You did too much, Archer…”

“No, Nova.” With a light start I was jolted back to where Archer was now moving. And I met him eye to eye again as he limped past me. “I did what I thought was right.” As he moved on by, I turned to keep facing him, watching him until he came to a stop. And slowly, he let his wings come unfurled, giving them a careful test flap; they both looked unmarked. “Judging by the firepower Bolt’s team faced you with, I’d say they geared themselves up pretty good before they left Buckley.” he said, keeping his eyes to the northeast. “I imagine they should have some items tucked away in their pockets – food, water, maybe even a little extra medicine too. Those four potions were all I brought with me, I’m afraid.” Again, I was taken a little aback, to the point where I craned my head back around to the rest of my friends. Ivy looked to be stabilizing, laying on her side with both Raemor and Gunny next to her, staying quiet and letting the grey unicorn mare rest. And surprisingly, Captain Saber was rising back up to his hooves, being guided along by both Madeline and Boulter. Shore and Sierra were close by too, watching the captain as he fought to balance himself. And Blake was halfway between me and them, looking over his shoulder at me… waiting for me as I took in Archer’s reveal. “I suggest you grab whatever supplies you can and load it up in your wagon, or hell, even on the roof of it if you have to.” I faced front again as Archer called my attention back to him. “There’ll probably be enough food and water to last your team another day or two. And these weapons are some of Buckley’s best, so I’d bring along whatever ones you’ve got room for. Even the armor would come in handy for repairs. These ponies won’t be needing any of it anymore, so you and the others might as well have it.” 

And without a moment’s pause Archer pumped his wings, lifting himself into the air, then beating them again to gain some altitude before he let himself settle into a hover low over the ground. 

There was no more was to be said… and despite how desperately I wanted to convince him to rethink his next move, despite how worried I was that he might become a target just as I had become… there just wasn’t anything else I could do. But maybe, maybe it would be that Archer could actually convince Buckley that the loss of Bolt and those who had followed him into the wasteland was something to learn from. Maybe, as tragic as his death was… maybe it would be that his passing would teach a lesson, and not one that said that I and the rest of Hopeville’s survivors made some sort of unstoppable force. Rather, maybe it would serve as an example that would show to Buckley how somepony could lose one’s self, lose their sense of reason, of right and wrong. Because in its own way, Buckley Air Force Base knew what was right and wrong. In their own community, there was law and order, a system of government, community… family. It was reminiscent of the Old World in there, in its way of life. And so maybe, with help from Archer’s voice and Shimmer’s leadership, Bolt’s death could finally show to the rest of the community what the real truth was – that no matter what loss was suffered in Buckley, those who survived needed to understand that there was still in fact much more to lose. And though losing family and friends, two hundred and sixty of them, was a tragedy that no simple words and no small measure of time could fix, maybe the eyes of Buckley could be opened again, at least enough for its survivors to understand that they needed each other, and that Buckley needed them in order to keep what was built there and what was still protected there alive, so that it could teach and heal and inspire. 

In the simplest terms, maybe Bolt would teach Buckley not to forgive me, but to forget me, and to focus back on the true good that still lay within that place. At least, in that regards, the lost heart that had died here this night, the life I’d claimed through my history and the lives that were lost with him, could create something good from this whole, Goddess-damned mess.

Archer rose up one more wingbeat; I was glad to see him moving with smooth even strokes. “Archer!” And I was especially glad he hadn’t left just yet. Even if I couldn’t persuade him to rethink his options, I could at least tell him one thing. And when he turned himself in the air, looking back down to me, I spoke it. “You be careful out there, okay?” 

And even in the dark, I could see him give me a nod… “I’ll be fine.” came his reply. “You get on back to the others and make sure they’re okay…… and… and you be careful, too.” Such a small, simple wish… yet one that I felt grateful to take in, especially now. Just a little, it gave me heart, encouragement, and I gladly gave him a nod of promise to do what he said. 

He accepted that as an answer, and without another word he turned away. And with one more powerful beat of his wings, he pushed himself forward, picking up speed and fading away into the night as he flew northeast, back to Buckley and Mother Shimmer. 

“Be careful…” 

***				***				***

“There’s no way out of this for you, Nova!” 

No way out…

Pain… the pain was so intense… I just wanted to scream. Even from our distance apart, I could see the blood that coated Blackhawk’s claws… my blood, most of which I felt had come from the third wound he’d scored on me. My back, from the middle all the way to the base of my neck, had been carved wide open. One missed wingbeat had been all he needed to catch me, and now… now, with five different wounds all blazing with agony, I could barely keep my wings going at all. But Blackhawk’s mere presence still kept me from falling over the edge. It kept me angry, and that was enough for me to keep my eyes fixed on him, even despite my body’s cries for mercy, and the roar of the battle below… which I noticed was lessening… and lessening fast. But I didn’t dare take my eyes off my enemy as he hovered there before me, not but fifty yards away. “This fighting won’t stop until you finally accept your part in this war!” 

My part… 

“I know what you think of me!” he called, wearing that same fiery glare, intensified like the rest of him by the billowing smoke rising behind him. “I know you don’t believe what I’ve said about you, and I don’t expect you to! Because in any other circumstance, I would’ve done everything in my power to break you for taking my wife from me!” 

I only kept staring… I couldn’t take my eyes from his… and I couldn’t speak…

“But I don’t care whether you believe me or not!” He shook his head. “Because the Legion has discovered things about you that even you don’t understand yet!” he boldly declared. “There really is power in you, Nova! You showed us all that at Guardian!”

Guardian… where he claimed I used this ‘power’ for the first time…

“Just by being a pegasus you showed us that! And what you achieved there was proof enough!” But that’s when he raised a clawed forepaw, pointing one of those blood-coated talons right at me. “But the real power in you doesn’t come from being a pegasus – it’s all in that mark of yours!”

My mark… my flame…

“After Guardian was secured, we found that mark all over that project! And it wasn’t long after that that we found it elsewhere!” he said, strong, confident. “That mark is a part of something powerful, Nova! And through you it has the capacity to reawaken the Old World, a part of it that will turn the direction of this whole war!”

No… I didn’t believe him… not even after Guardian. I didn’t believe him!

“And that’s why the Legion won’t stop until you’re under its banner, whether you volunteer or not!” 

But still, he wouldn’t stop… he wouldn’t leave me… that he swore to me.

“So you listen to me, Nova, and you listen good.” He begun to move then, beating his wings in broader strokes to rise in the air as he faced out toward the east… disengaging from me; below, the battle had diminished even further… it was nearing its end. “Power like yours is rare in this world. And it can only go untapped for so long.” he called. “No matter how far you fly, no matter how hard you try to keep yourself hidden away, the time will come when your real strength is going to wake up and find its way back home, whether carried by you yourself or called upon by someone else.” Slowing himself, he halted his ascent, now looking down on me. “Eventually, there will come a day when you will finally discover what you’re really capable of. There will come a day when you will understand what your mark really is.”

There would come a day…

“And when that day comes, Nova,”

And when it came… 

“the Legion will be waiting. I’ll be waiting.” 

Blackhawk would be waiting for me…



Footnote: Level Up!!

New Perk: Moonlight on Still Water - Your ability to be swift and silent is to be admired by your allies and feared by your enemies. The noise you make when sneaking is now reduced, and you gain +25% to your overall sneak speed. 

Skill Notes:

Sneak (100)