//------------------------------//
// The Second Night - Part 3 
// Story: Pirene's Well: Three Nights in Manehattan 
// by Ether Echoes 
//------------------------------//


The Reluctant Pilgrim


My wings strain as I race across the city, pushed to the limits as I fly as fast as I can. City lights and stars above blur into a corridor of light. Rose and Talon fall behind, the latter carrying Luster as he is, and soon I’m all alone, struggling on just as I had been the day I came to this town.

I won’t be late. Not again.

When I get to the right neighborhood, I spiral down towards the earth, the wind whipping at my face and tail with the ferocity of my passage, and only stop to check directions again when I’ve almost landed. The map on my phone tells me I’m almost spot on, and I charge over the townhomes and dive. Ducking the branches of a tree in its planters, I land, panting, just as the family car pulls up in front of their warm brownstone. I’d managed to beat both traffic and my usual fate.

Wave Form’s wigs and props poke out of her saddlebags, leaving an unkempt hot pink mane with white streaks and a long matching tail to bounce in the breeze, just as they had in my vision of her. She stops, staring at me, as do her parents. The short, blunt-nosed stallion clears his throat. “Can I help you?” he asks with a sort of dubious politeness.

I actually have to take a moment to catch my breath, both from the hard flight and the shock of finding her at last. The parents are polite enough to wait, though Wave Form dashes inside, opening and shutting the door with a flash of her horn. I watch after for a moment, worried the building might get attacked while I wait, but I force myself to calm down and address them.

“I’m a Hippocrene Ranger,” I say, turning my coat out to show my badge. “Your daughter is in danger. If you come with me, we can discuss it on the way.”

“What?” he demands.

The mother, a tall unicorn with pink highlights the same hue as her daughter’s in her mane, shakes her head. “I think you’d better explain now, officer.”

An exhausted Rose drops to the street nearby. “He’s… right…” she pants and lifts her own badge. “Manehattan PD. Phew.”

They stare, and jump back when Talon lands with Luster on his back. For all that his eyes are lidded, Talon cuts an imposing figure when he’s serious. “I’m afraid they’re right, Pen, Ballast. There’s a dangerous stallion on the loose, and he’s looking for your daughter.”

“Talon!” the father says. “By Luna, what’s all this about? I don’t understand – Wave Form hasn’t done anything. You didn’t mention this back at the tournament.”

Rose glances towards the lit second story and nods at me, speaking in a low voice. “We’ll take care of the parents. Go on, Cowboy.”

“I’m coming, too,” Luster insists, hopping off his father’s back and leading the way. While the others move into the family room to explain the situation, the kid and I advance up the stairs and turn towards the partially-opened door there. I feel chills as I remember how I climbed up here in Daphne’s vision, only last time the hard wood of the stairs had been one of the only things to survive in the ashes. He knocks his pearly hoof on the door and pushes it the rest of the way open, spilling light and upbeat music into the hall. “Wave? It’s Luster.”

Her room is a study in organized chaos. Every available shelf space has been lined with action figures and memorabilia, running the gamut of science fiction, fantasy, and anime of both Earth and Equestria, most of whom I only have a passing familiarity with, though thanks to Copper Kettle I recognize a series of colorful alicorns from Emerald Star Princesses. There’s even a few pieces I tentatively recognize from Mag Mell’s entertainment industry. Plush animals pile on her bed over cloud sheets, and the filly herself is ensconced at a desk where on one screen, a recent Equestrian anime plays, and on another she studies a schematic. Over the desk, a block of plastic and gears twirls as she rapidly melts powder into a resin to coat its surfaces with her magic.

The show is bombastic, with a heroic young mare challenging a stadium of uniformed foes led by outrageously designed alicorns. Neoclassic movement, great.

Wave Form turns around, the toy in her magic slowing as she blushes. “Oh, hey. I wasn’t expecting you, Luster.” She rubs a hoof through the soft ash grey hairs on her cheek, as if checking her makeup. Now that she’s discarded her coat, I can make her mark out more clearly, too. Like Luster said, it’s two radiating circles of sound waves, but I can see where I made my error, too. Where they interact they fade in complicated patterns that blend and shift, which is what I’d seen in my visionary glimpse of her. Honestly, it can be interpreted both as a sound thing and as a science thing, but I’d only had pieces of the puzzle before.

It’s a funny thing. As I finally get a good look at her, I swear I can hear a faint ringing sound, like a clear bell.

“There’s someone in town who’s hunting for you, Wave Form,” I say; some people say you shouldn’t try to explain things like that to young kids, but she reminds me of Amelia far too much for me to dissemble. “I’m here to rescue you.”

She chews her lip uncertainly. Her attention shifts back to the block, and she starts pulling more resin from the hoppers by her desk. “I don’t know. Do I have to leave with you?”

“Probably. It’d be safer.” I consider telling her that there’s a small army of cops on their way right now, but instead I step closer as Luster does. “You have hella good control with your horn.”

“Especially for my age?” she shoots back. Yeah, definitely a little Amy in her.

“For a lot of people, honestly.” I look around at her shelves. “Did you make most of this stuff? I don’t think you can even order half of it.”

“I started with a 3D printer,” she says, “but that got too slow for me. Besides, no one at school wants to share.”

Luster shuffles his hooves and lowers his ears. “I do…”

“Except Luster,” she says, her face warming. “And I guess a few other people. Most everyone doesn’t care, though. That’s fine – more for me, right?”

Doesn’t sound fine at all, but I consider the shelf instead. “Let’s see – ah hah, now here’s the ones I know about. There’s Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop, with Ed and – that may be the cutest little Ein ever. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars. Ed and Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist. Nice Gurren Lagann Kamina. Oh, and of course…” I take down a figurine with my wing gently, examining him. “Gene Starwind. You know, he’s kind of a big deal to me. Outlaw Star is what really got me into anime, back in the mid-2000s when they started airing that stuff on TV in the States. Naomi would download a lot of them and we’d watch it together.”

“You watched Sailor Moon?” she asks skeptically, but the light in her eyes tells me I’m on the right track.

“Sure did.” I put the figure back gently, hoping they don’t get destroyed. I glance around, looking for the particular plush I’d seen in the vision. “I’ll admit, I don’t think it was a great show, but it was entertaining enough. Naomi’s eldest, Copper Kettle, was huge into that Emerald Star Princesses one – which, to be fair, her mother did produce. And write. Based on her own fiction. I don’t think Daphne approved, but Naomi sure did.

The part about her shattered hoof in the vision is something else I probably shouldn’t mention.

“What’s your name?” she asks, turning in her chair to look at me more fully.

“This is my Uncle Marcus!” Luster says, interjecting cheerfully. “He’s a hero!”

Her eyes widen. “Oh! I’ve heard about you! You were in that documentary about the Bridle.”

I wince. “I think I know the one you mean. It wasn’t all that favorable.”

“I’ve heard that you’re an adventurer, too! You’ve gone further into the Nine Worlds than anypony in centuries!”

“Well.” I buff a hoof against my coat. “I had a crew with me for most of that. Yes, though.”

Her ears fall and she looks around her room, rubbing a hoof along the cracks in the wood of her desk. “Why is someone bad looking for me, then? I don’t understand.”

With a considering glance, I decide that hedging or deception at this point would only turn her against me. I’m not here to win points, but somehow I get the feeling that doing this the right way is the only way to do it. Stepping forward, I sit on the corner of the bed and tug Luster over with a hoof. “Your friend here tells me that you’re a very gifted filly. I’d imagine that you’re good at pretty much anything you put your hoof to if you really try, aren’t you?”

She smiles and blushes at Luster a little, before glancing away. Her tail wags a little. “I mean… not everything. Kind of, I guess. Dad says I’m a quick learner.”

“I’d say you were probably among the first in your class to learn magic – and the only one who does it with any real skill. You probably have really intense dreams – dreams so strong they feel like they’re real. Maybe you’ve even visited a barge in a sea of stars.”

She rubs her hooves together nervously, staring at me with some alarm. “I’ve never told anyone that.”

“What’re you talking about, Uncle Marcus?” Luster asks, his bright blue eyes wide.

I rub his back. “I’ve suspected for a while. I just had to see her to know for certain. Hey?”

Wave meets my gaze, her attention rapt.

“In the new Age, there are people on every world who have been or will be born with certain special gifts. You are one of them.” I smile. “You’re an alicorn, Wave Form.”

She gasps, covering her mouth. “B-but I don’t have wings!”

“That comes later.” I wave it off. “It starts with a spark. Taking on the aspects of the other races comes with time and effort.”

“But. I mean…” She stares down at her hooves. “I’m a princess?” she asks in a small voice, almost terrified. “But I haven’t even done anything…”

“A princess has to be ratified by the Senate,” Luster supplies with a faintly irritated note. He definitely has opinions. His eyes shine with delight and he leaps over and hugs Wave Form. “Congratulations!”

“Some alicorns are made, others are born.” I rub a hoof through my coat thoughtfully. “I can kind of tell. I’ve been around a lot of them in my life. Pretty much all of the known ones are either close friends or acquaintances of mine, really.”

“What about you?” She wraps her hooves around Luster and looks at me over his shoulder.

“Me?” I laugh. “No. Besides, I’m probably more human than pony, appearances aside. I’m just a guy with a mission.”

“No way, you gotta be!” She brightens again. “Maybe you’re on your hero’s journey, so you’re going to become one eventually?”

I chuckle again, flicking her ear with a primary feather. “Let’s worry less about me and more about you, all right? Though if you’d like to hear some stories, I’d be more than happy to oblige when we’re somewhere secure.”

“Would I ever!” She beams and bounces off her chair. “Woohoo! I’m magic! And I’ve got a heroic knight to protect me! It’s just like a story!”

“Ranger,” Luster corrects.

“Different character class, same idea! He’s a warrior with a mysterious past who watches out for me.” She giggles, then dims a little as her ears lay back again. “Well. If my parents say so, I guess.”

I shuffle back to my hooves. “Let’s go take care of that right now.”

The three of us make our way downstairs and into the family room, where Consul Loam’s stern face has made her presence known on the big screen. Her parents look terrified as they meet their bounding filly, holding her close and nuzzling her. Outside, the flashing lights of what must be half the precinct are outside, along with its assault team.

“Sweetheart?” The mother tucks her under her legs protectively. “We’re going into protective custody with the police. In Canterlot.”

“Canterlot?” Wave Form’s eyes widen. “I can meet Princess Luna and Princess Celestia!”

“Well, I don’t know about that…” her father hedges.

Trace Prints clears her throat. She adjusts her hat and steps into the light so that it casts just the right level of dramatic shadowing. “I hate to hurry this along, folks, but we have a long way to go, and the sooner we start, the better.”

Consul Loam nods from the screen. “Indeed. I have authorized the usage of the Bright Blade’s VTOL coverage. May the stars watch over you.” She clicks off

The parents swallow in fear, but Wave Form is irrepressible. She bounds over to my side. “That is so cool! And I’m ready to go! Wait! No I’m not!” She scrambles into the next room and I go after to make sure nothing jumps out in surprise. She stops only long enough to pick up some saddlebags and stuff a laptop into its case. Then she turns to the couch there and picks up a plush dragon.

“Wait.” I say, frowning. “Could I see that quick?”

She blinks, then holds it out dutifully.

I take it between my hooves, half expecting to be sucked away in a vision. I do have an odd sense of foreboding, but the dragon itself feels innocent enough. I pass it back to her and nod. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Wave Form bounces out, grinning. “Mom? Dad? I have something amazing to tell you guys once we’re on the way!”

They nod in the distracted manner of parents who have heard all sorts of “amazing” things from their ambitious, excitable daughter. That’s a little depressing, actually – if she were my kid, I’d never get tired of her. They’re just going to blunt her enthusiasm.

Then again, she is a little demigoddess. Maybe she can handle it. Still, even for a god, parents are a part of you. I’ve seen that first hand.

Hand. I turn a hoof up to look at the frog. It’s such an alien body, and no matter how often I wear it, there’s always little slip-ups that serve to remind me that I’m not one of them, not exactly. I can love one, I can be one, but it isn’t the same. In some ways, I wonder how human I am now, either, when I can wander in and among them so effortlessly. If it weren’t for the mark that shined itself into being on my rear, I’d wonder if maybe I’d become a goblin somewhere along the line without quite noticing.

Wave’s question about whether or not I’m an alicorn stung more than I’d care to admit to her or anyone, even Leit Motif. Daphne, Amelia, Rarity, Twilight, Rainbow, Wave – all of them will endure for centuries, while I grow steadily more purposeless. When my reflexes slow to the point where I can’t get the jump in a gunfight, will I take a step back? Train my replacements? What about when I start forgetting my own arsenal, leaving them adrift in the void and unreachable?

When I retire to some nice house in the woods somewhere, maybe with Leit if I’m lucky, will they be able to visit me and smile without pity?

Prints is watching me, but then I’ve given up on hiding my moods from her. Way too sharp for her own good, but, then, it did get us here. I glance at Wave Form, who’s looking at me with all the trust and confidence owed a great, world-hopping hero. She’ll have to make do with the stallion she’s got, though.

Putting my hoof down, I face the door and take a breath. “Let’s go.” With that, we head outside to meet the waiting officers. As we make for the armored transport van, though, Prints stops, staring intently at the windows and rooftops along the street.

They should have been, and are, cleared by pegasi and griffons to make room for police snipers and jump teams, but, as I examine them myself, I notice that there’s quite a lot of them, even for this group – nearly half again as many as those on the ground, which, even in a society where a bit more than a third of the inhabitants can fly, seems a bit unbalanced.

“8 o’clock,” I say in a low voice. “Roof. Shifty group in uniform, don’t quite fit well. 4 o’clock, too. Probably others.”

“I see them,” Talon affirms, not looking up. “Take care of Luster.” He pulls a metal rod from his bags, holding it in the crook of his legs with a practiced walk. The level of dexterity we have with these things is insane, but that’s what being magic gets you.

Word quickly spreads through the assembled cops on the street, and they maintain radio silence, but it’s too late. The goblins posing as officers take up positions, breaking out mixed guns.

“On the roofs!” I shout, and bowl over Wave Form’s parents, knocking them to the ground and covering Wave Form just as the shooting starts.

With the forewarning, the cops have time to duck into cover, and to their credit the rooftop officers do the same just a hair later, but there’s shouts as a stallion and a mare go down, bleeding. Unicorns start to erect a theater shield and its bubble begins to rise to cover us all.

“You got left, I got right?” Talon asks, snapping his rod. It turns into a long shaft with a wicked blade at the end – not his proper spear, but it’ll do.

“Assuming I leave you that many,” I joke, and launch into the air, escaping the bubble before it closes.

As fast as I am, I’ve never seen anyone move through the air quite like Talon. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo are faster normally, but even as I leap, he’s cleared the bubble, flashing so high into the air that he’s a blur. With a snap of his wings he turns in midair like an Olympic high jumper and comes down with terrific force. He spares the building, but only just, as the bricks buckle and shake, knocking goblins loose and discarding their disguises as I panic.

Swooping high to begin, I make a motion as if I’m reaching into my jacket and yank a combat shotgun out of my arsenal.

Truly, there’s nothing I hate more than killing a fellow sapient, and even when I have to I’ll try for a wound. These guys, though – firing live rounds on my friends isn’t cool. Sometimes, you just need to put someone down to keep others from being hurt.

I come over the lid of the roof and blast a huge goblin wearing a ripped police uniform center mass. He falls back, and I keep moving, running along the rail as I sent scattered fire along the roof. I see a barrel turn my way in the hands of a fierce rodent, and leap – a couple pieces of buckshot pop off my enchanted jacket, and another punches into my side, but I can’t worry about that now. I barely feel it. I spin down and send him flying with a hoof and raise my gun.

For the most part, though, they’re fleeing, either taking off at full speed if they have wings or else leaping off the other side of the building. I get the distinct impression that they really don’t want to be here. Well, neither do I.

I fire once over their heads to speed them on their way and then charge back. Talon, continuing to take advantage of his lightning fast attacks, is sending the other rooftop assailants into a rout, and he flies after me as I return to land on top of a lamppost. I switch weapons, Vanishing the shotgun and producing a rifle. With a crack I put a round into the leg of a faux dragon, then pivot and drop a pair of alligators with shoulder shots. As I suspected, even minor casualties quickly convince them to break. As they return fire I swing down so that I’m hanging and put a shot right down a giant spider’s midsection – only to groan when it ripples a hidden shield.

The lamppost sways between my legs, and then the earth rumbles. The shooting slows and stops in surprise. “There’s no earthquakes in Manehattan,” I mutter, my heart pounding with the adrenaline. There’s only one thing that could be.

Dropping from the light, I spread my wings and dive back to join the others as the earth quakes again. The shooting starts again, but not very effectively. Someone wants to keep us busy.

“That was amazing!” Wave Form says, her eyes shining as she crouches between her cowering parents, her voice echoing from behind Trace’s shield.

“Let’s not celebrate yet.” I shoulder my rifle, looking around, trying to figure out where it’s going to come out. The last time I’d felt something like this was on the sands of Asgard, and then we were attacked by a wyrm.

The earth bulges below the armored car, and I kick the shield, bouncing them along like a hamster ball as the street erupts in a shower of asphalt and water. A shattered main sprays into the air as Redbud himself, glowing with a searing corona, emerges from the depths. His amulet glows like molten metal, and his scarred face is set in absolute determination as he fixes his gaze on the bouncing Wave Form.

There’s no way in hell my guns can touch him. Thankfully, that’s not all I keep.

“Nice meeting you. I’m Marcus.” I swap my rifle for a pair of grenades, yank the pins off each, and dive away.

The flashbang deafens me and everyone nearby, and the smoke grenade fills the air with stinging, concealing gas. “Talon!” I shout. “Get down here!”

Whether he can hear me or not – I sure can’t, not with my ears ringing – a flash of metal signals a descending spear as he punches through the smoke. Then he comes flying out again, thrown with incredible force, and bounces off a roof. His spear is broken, and when Redbud emerges with his eyes watering I can see the other half broken off into the stallion’s side. Good shot.

“Daddy!” Luster cries, and I grab him and turf him to Violet Rose like a little football.

“Get him and Wave Form the hell out of here!” I shout, before turning back.

Redbud stops as the thestral mare throws Luster on her back, then leaps over and collects the dazed Wave Form by the scruff and takes off. He gathers his legs to leap after them, but then Lieutenant Gerry and half the force is on him, screeching with an eagle’s cry as they try and take him down, beating him with truncheons. I don’t like their chances, but that’s our duty.

There’s only one loose end left.

Springing into the air after Rose, I Produce the harmonic rod and race up into the sky after her. Clouds scuttle across the stars, and I spy her as a shadow among shadows, twisting and dodging. Racing up after her, I channel the weapon and send out waves of force. The goblins harassing her have little to fear from it, but that’s something I know and they don’t, and they scatter and run rather than face it, a few limping in the air from being shot with her pistol. That, though, isn’t what I feared.

It begins as a flame. White, yellow, and red, it races down from the clouds, straight for Violet Rose.

“Dive!” I shout, and she tilts, the kids screaming on her back as they cling to her desperately. The fireball passes them by, and then turns with stunning acceleration as it reverses course and rises ahead of us, keeping pace.

“Give me the child,” it demands, its voice that of a woman heard as if through a long tunnel. It’s formed of spinning, interlocking rings of fire, and then resolves into a burning mare, her eyes white light.

I answer with bullets, as is my usual course.

A sword of solid light leaps between us, turning with no visible support to rapidly bounce the rounds off. So guns worry her, enough that she needs to block them, so I whip out my shotgun and fire a spread of buckshot. While she backs off, I charge, and brandish the rod.

I manage to get right up to her and slam it into almost into her face. Waves of rainbow light wash over her form, rippling and enveloping her in their power.

And do absolutely nothing.

“I am no spawn,” she says coolly, and her sword flashes at me so fast I lose the tip of an ear before I can drop fast enough. The rod is severed in two, sparkling as shards of gold atomize and glowing blue gas pops and sparks from it.

Then, with me gone, she wheels on Violet Rose and stabs her straight through the barrel.

“No!” I shout, desperately trying to control my fall as I see her cough up blood. She tries to struggle on, but the monster flings her away, grabbing the two foals in an aura of light, before shooting off.

I pull out of my dive and grab Violet Rose, but I only have eyes for the retreating fireball.

“Go,” she whimpers, spreading her wings and catching the air. “I’ll… glide…”

With a furious whimper, I do, leaving her to sink or swim as I charge. I’ve never flown so fast in my life. It’s like my tail is on fire, leaving a streak of sunset red in my wake.

It’s like the mountain all over again. It’s the god-damned Canterhorn. Amelia wasn’t even a mile away and I lost her.

I failed.

The fireball descends towards the center pylon of the main bridge heading out of town and I follow. A sun-like glow on top confirms Trace Prints’ suspicions – the only way Redbud could have made it there ahead of us is if he teleported. He’s been battered and the wound in his side still bleeds, but looks none the worse for wear as his pet creature lands beside him with the crying foals in tow.

I slam down ten paces away, so hard the stone cracks under my hooves, while cars flash by a hundred feet below. “Give me those kids!”

Tall, broad, and strong, Redbud stands staring at me, as if he can’t quite puzzle me out. He is, of course, entirely unfazed, and even I know in some part of my brain how insane and futile this is.

I can’t let it go, though. I didn’t even reach Amelia when I had the chance. I can’t give up on them.

“Uncle Marcus!” Luster wails, struggling hopelessly. Wave Form looks at me, her eyes wide with hope and red with tears.

“Marcus Flores,” Redbud says at last, his deep voice heavy. He isn’t gloating, or even pleased. “This isn’t your fight.”

“Like hell it isn’t, you sick bastard.” I catch my breath, spitting to the side. “What are you even trying to accomplish? What soldier kidnaps children?”

“Any soldier dedicated to his cause and to his people. I’m doing what I have to do to keep Equestria safe, even though it damns me.” He weighs me more seriously. “I’ve heard about you, Ranger. They say you don’t care about anything. I’m glad to see they were wrong.”

“Yeah? I’m happy for you.” I stomp up. “I’m either leaving with those kids or in pieces. If I have to, I’m walking over you to get to them.”

Redbud smiles tightly. “Good. Let’s go, then.”

“This is foolish.” The fiery being watches, her expression as flat and disinterested as ever, though she sure keeps a good grip on the foals.

“Sure it is.” He cracks his neck. Behind him, or perhaps overlaid on him, is the form of a powerfully-built alicorn stallion.

“So that’s it,” I say. “You’re not going insane because you’re in accord. He healed you, and now you’re fighting together.”

“Pretty much.” The soldier pulls off his coat and tosses it to the side, leaving him in a white undershirt that shows tightly against his muscles. “I could feel Helios in there when she brought it to me, calling to me. He felt every violation of the health and security of his kind. He lived and died trying to protect them in his day, and now, after millennia of safety, it’s happening again. You’re destroying us.”

“Yeah, you are totally sick.”

He grunts, considering me. “Well, perhaps not you. You aren’t like the goblins, or the rest of your kind. If everyone was like you, I wouldn’t need to do this. But they aren’t.” He grins. “So let’s have it. You and me, kid – no magic, just the two of us. That’s the only way Helios would settle this, and I’m in agreement.”

I look up at the sky, but can’t see anything for the clouds. “Done.”

“Done and done. Three times done.”

I take off my jacket, and he takes off the amulet, and then it begins.

Rather than leap at one another like idiots, we begin to circle slowly, weighing each other. My wings are spread as I crouch low, more or less recovered from my hard flight. He favors the side Talon wounded, though it’s already stopped bleeding of its own accord thanks to his alicorn magic. Thunder rolls over the bridge, lightning searing the sky where the clouds meet the far shore and dry air.

Luster starts crying, hiding his face behind his wings, and Wave Form shouts, “You can do it!”

Redbud takes a step, and I leap forward. He’s fast – not as fast as me, but fast enough – and I have to dodge as he swings a huge forehoof. Lightning crashes again, illuminating him in black and white as he swings a hoof down and I spin. The impact shatters the rock, and he’s already charging, trying to bear me down with his superior reach and height.

Before he can quite reach me, I leap into the air and turn, cracking him on the back of the head and sending him stumbling forward – sadly, not over the edge. I could grab the amulet at this range, but I don’t care to; even if it weren’t for the agreement, I don’t think it’d be a good idea to touch it.

“Damn!” he says, but with a pleased laugh. “I was right, kid. Not just a human after all.” He rips up a piece of masonry and flings it at me – I dodge to the side, but it clips me anyway, hitting near the spot where the buckshot winged me and eliciting a wince.

“The princesses don’t give a damn about that.” I test him, feinting. He doesn’t bait, protecting his weakened left as he circles back towards the center. I feint again, then again, and then throw a jab to try and get him off balance, but he meets my hoof with his own in a block and I move back.

“Yeah. They’re good mares, all of them. Too good to see what needs to be done.”

“Come on! The world’s changed, it’s changing!” I move faster, faster than I thought I could, zipping up and then slamming down like Talon. He growls with the pain as I hit near his own wound, but even as I get it in he strikes me with a forehoof and knocks me back.

“I don’t care that it’s changing! Luna’s tail, kid, do you think I’m mad about the fact that we can heal the sorts of injuries I had now?” He charges and I leap up again, but he rolls and I don’t get the cheap shot this time. I knew that wouldn’t work a second time, but it lets me keep behind him as I move with him, keeping him from wheeling on me. “They’re letting everyone in, no matter who they are! Do you want Equestria to look like Mag Mell in thirty years, or your Earth? How’s that going, huh? Climate change, markets collapsing? And you want us to come back?”

I watch out for his rear legs, remembering well what he did to those goblins, and sure enough he’s twitching them, ready to buck. I come in high, trying to get at his wound again, but he wards it too fast. “So, what, your solution is to kill everyone who doesn’t fit in? No humans, no goblins?”

“Hell no! But we’d do a damned sight better by starting there!” He throws another stone, and I shoot up, catch on, and spin, flinging it back at him. Now it’s his turn to dodge, bouncing away as it shatters into powder. “I’m going to make sure nothing can threaten us ever again! No more Discords, no more Sombras, no more Amelias, no more threat of nuclear weapons or the combined armies of your psychotic, bloodthirsty human kin!”

“You can’t abandon your principles! How the hell do you expect to maintain harmony like that? That’s the one thing keeping you safe! It’s what makes you what you are!”

I swoop in as he throws another stone, slamming hard into his wound. He cries out, but rather than strike, he reaches around and grabs hold of me. I hit him, craning up with a rear leg and slamming into him again and again with my hooves, cutting it open and spilling blood, but he doesn’t let go.

“You don’t understand sacrifice.”

He slams me into the roof. I keep hammering him, but his blood is up. Lightning strikes a nearby pole.

“Harmony is a paper shield. It works right up until it doesn’t. We need something stronger.”

He headbutts me and I reel, but somehow manage to slip free. I go around his other side, sliding between his legs, but he has my number. I’m faster than him, but now he just takes it. Everytime I punch or kick him, he gives back twice as much, until I’m staggering and bruised. He’s in a bad way, but not nearly as much as me.

I can’t give up, though.

Beating my wings, I send powdered stone up and into his face, making him snort and squeeze his eyes shut, then race forward and kick him in the head. I wail on him, beating him back to the edge, but as I prepare to buck him off he surges forward, grabs me, and hauls me with him over the side.

“You have to be willing to die for what you believe in, to damn your own soul, to promise yourself that you won’t see the sun rise if that’s what it takes to make a better world!”

And then stars fill my vision. We’ve landed, somewhere, somehow.

I try to move, but can barely twitch.

He gets to his feet, panting, half-dead, but the only one of us standing.

“You’re a hero, kid. But not every hero gets to win.”

The amulet falls to his side, and he picks it up, his eyes filling with burning zeal as its light washes over him, returning his strength. “I failed Equestria once. I never will again.”

Then there’s a flash of azure light, and Trace Prints and an upright tortoise appear above me. Redbud wheels and bucks, only to bounce back as the tortoise lifts a shield, repelling his force in a wave of crystalline energy. The magic of the Ring.

“We must go,” the tortoise says. “I cannot hold him.”

“Sure thing, sir Knight. Come on, Cowboy,” she says to me, more gently, and then we’re away in another flash of blue magic. The scenary around us has changed, to…

“…Paris…?” I rasp, my broken ribs biting into me with excruciating pain. I turn my head to look out the window at the city skyline. It’s like we’ve ported into a fancy hotel or something.

“Not quite.” She takes her hat off and her horn lights, popping a first aid kit next to her with a little blue flash. “Just… just relax, okay? I’m not a good teleporter. I could barely get to you even with the Knight’s help, but we’ll get you to a hospital as soon as we can. Hold on.”

“Just going to… take a nap…” My eyes find the green star, twinkling in the skyline.

“Marcus? Marcus!”

I don’t want to go away. I don’t want to fail. But I did. I failed again, just like always. Wave Form’s voice fades along with Trace Prints, and even the sting of a needle is like something happening to another man’s body.

The green star grows in my vision as I begin to fade, and soon, it’s all I see.


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