We couldn’t fight this thing, not head-on. Turning to the girls, I ordered them to retreat, but as all three of us tucked tail to escape, one of the giant tendrils snaked around us, blocking the doors and trapping us. Gritting my teeth, I looked around frantically for an escape and saw a hole over to the far left, leading back to an outer section of the sarcophagus, and ultimately, a way out of here.
“Over there!” I shouted, pointing to it with a finger.
The girls bolted, only for Elephant’s Foot to deny us further, sending another tentacle down to block our path. It landed heavily enough to crack the floor, and we almost lost our footing from the sheer force of the impact. With wild eyes, Twilight asked what we were to do, but without her magic, I genuinely didn’t know. Gulping, I figured my best bet was to get the creature’s attention at least, to give the girls ample time to escape. As the tentacle shifted closer to us, it dislodged some of the concrete wall that surrounded the reactor, sending it toppling onto the fleshy limb and crushing it. The beast emitted a roar of distress, retracting the tentacle from under the rubble.
“Go, now!” I bellowed, “Get to that break in the wall!”
They obeyed without question, while I ran forward into the light to confront the creature head-on. Finally getting a proper look at the damn thing, my mouth fell agape upon realising exactly what had happened to create such an abomination…
Although mainly composed of a dark opalescent slag, the titanic monstrosity was bound together with the unmistakable countenance of exposed flesh and sinew, warped in unholy matrimony, bringing together a being that was half organic, and half radioactive waste. The workers of this power plant hadn’t become zomrads like the others outside, but rather, they had been absorbed into Elephant’s Foot, where their biomass had been repurposed into this horrific organism. Across its body, I spotted the faint remnants of human remains embedded in its glistening body, a hand here, a leg there, all merged together… the more I looked, the more body parts I found. Then I spotted them, dotted around the upper section of the creature and heavily disfigured; they were human heads, and they were all staring at me.
“Oh…” I breathed, “That’s fucking terrifying.”
Glaring at me with burning malice, the heads began opening and closing their crooked mouths, as if they were trying to communicate with me. Were they still alive? Surely not…
I didn’t have the time to ask, as Elephant’s Foot launched its largest tentacle at me, aiming to squish me like an insect. Diving to the side, I narrowly avoided it, and was practically thrown into the air by the shockwave. Quickly scrambling to my feet, I hopped onto a collapsed pillar and then jumped over the mighty tendril as it curled inward and tried to sweep me towards its body.
{How the hell am I going to beat this thing?} I thought urgently, puffing heavily.
Looking up at the monster as it began to wind up another attack, I spotted the Orb fragment glimmering below its mouth, held in place by a web of tendons. Perhaps dislodging that might kill it? It was worth a shot, and with shots in mind, I pulled out Inigo’s pistol. With only five shots left, I had to make them count, and hitting a moving target was hardly going to be easy, especially when said moving target was also trying to kill me. The next attack came, and being a sideways lash, there was little to be done to avoid it. Like a meaty tree trunk, the tendril smacked into me, sending me a good metre into the air as I cried out in pain. I landed on my side and rolled to a halt, where I slowly tried to sit up.
“Mmnn, me no likey the big tentacle monster…” I moaned dizzily.
I shook my head to regain my senses, which was when I heard Rainbow Dash shouting my name. I looked over to see her and Twilight near the edge, close to the way out. They were almost safe, at least, they would have been, if Dashie wasn’t now trying to get back to me.
“What are you doing!?” I barked at her, getting to my feet, “Get away!”
Ignoring me, Rainbow leaped over the tentacle that swung at her, and slid beneath the next. In a display of flawless agility, the pegasus danced around the monster’s attacks as she tried to reach me. Twilight remained at a safe distance, watching helplessly as her friend rushed to my aid. I looked at the creature and realised that the human heads were now focused on Rainbow, except for one, which was keeping an eye on me. That was when it dawned on me, their eyes were still fully intact, and were serving as a way for Elephant’s Foot to see us. If I were to take out the heads, there was every chance it would blind the creature.
With Rainbow choosing to partake in the battle, I decided to utilise her at least, and as she reached me I told her the plan.
“I need you to piss it off so I can get a clear shot at those heads!”
“I think it’s already pissed off!” she yelped back, dodging another strike with me.
“Well piss it off even more then!”
Nodding, she sprang into action, running closer to the monster and getting its attention. It slammed its thickest tendril down to squash her, only for her to bounce away with ease, jumping at the moment of impact to maintain her balance. She then bucked it as hard as she could, hard enough to break off some of the metallic shell that protected the softer innards.
“Yeah! That hurt, didn’t it?” she growled with a determined smirk.
With a roar, Elephant’s Foot focused on her, with all thirteen heads now twisted around to look at her. I rushed forward and took aim, and after a moment to line up the shot, I fired two rounds. One missed, and the other struck true, bursting one side of the head like a pressurised blister. I took my last two shots before it could properly react, popping a second head and briefly disorienting the creature. Flailing its tendrils in the air, its mouth emerged further out from its body and emitted a booming shriek.
“I don’t think it liked that!” Rainbow hollered to me.
“No, no I don’t think it did!” I replied nervously, backing away.
One of the smaller tentacles swung towards me, catching me in the wrist and forcing Inigo’s pistol out of my hands.
“Yeah well, I was out of bullets anyway, so joke’s on you!” I taunted, clutching my now-bruised forearm.
Taking out Wrinkleboom, I continued without relent, dodging strikes while Rainbow reacquired its focus. Once it stopped going for me, I fired both barrels, and with the buckshot’s additional spread, it wasn’t too difficult to rupture a couple more heads. It seemed to be working, as the beast began lashing out with less and less accuracy. Choosing not to stand on ceremony, I reloaded, sticking two fresh shells into the chambers and clicking the double-barrel back into place. I fired, reloaded, and fired again, and over a handful of terrifying, exhausting minutes, I was able to destroy the creature’s sight. A single head remained, and just as I was about to take it out, the beast’s wild flails caught me off-guard, with a tentacle striking me in the hip and knocking me over. The shotgun leapt from my hands and clattered on the ground ahead of me. The final head fixed eyes on me, and Elephant’s Foot lurched forward, sending down its largest tentacle to crush me. I rolled away just in time, without a second to spare as the tree trunk of a limb hit the ground, obliterating the concrete, and Wrinkleboom with it. Getting to my feet, I glared at the weapon’s shattered remains as the tentacle raised up, and then glared at Elephant’s Foot with a look of absolute disdain.
“That was my favourite gun, you sack of cunt!”
As though offence had been taken, another lunge was made for me, and while it was distracted, Rainbow Dash made a valiant effort to clamber up to the final head and destroy it herself with a hoof. Moments from succeeding, the head twisted around and spotted her, to which a thinner tendril shot around and grabbed the pegasus, hoisting her into the air and dangling her above its mouth. She began to scream, as did Twilight from the far side.
“Oh no you don’t…” I hissed through my teeth, unsheathing Krocsbane.
Bursting into a sprint, I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, springing off a chunk of debris and launching myself up into the air. Landing directly where I needed to be, I slammed the blade into the final head, at last blinding the creature for good. Caught unaware and evidently enraged, Elephant’s Foot roared louder than ever, with every tentacle lashing out with unfathomable ferocity. I had hoped for the tendril holding Rainbow Dash to drop her, but to my absolute horror, it shook her violently like a rag doll, before flinging her across the sarcophagus. With her featherless wings bound tightly, all she could do was flail around in mid-air as she emitted a terrified wail. She landed with a crash, smacking into a pile of debris with enough force to loosen the unstable concrete behind it, which came toppling down on top of her.
“RAINBOW!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
A plume of dust was kicked up from the collapse, and Twilight shrieked Dashie’s name just as I had. Almost entirely forgetting the monster, we both bolted towards the pile with our hearts in our mouths, and our blood now ice cold.
Had Rainbow Dash… just been killed?
Before I could reach her, a flailing tentacle collided with me, knocking me backwards and down onto one knee. Sensing me from the impact, the tentacle doubled back for the killing blow without hesitation. With no time to evade, I clamped my eyes shut in a terrified reflex, only for nothing to happen. Opening my eyes, I was met by the slimy tendril, frozen in place just a few inches away from me. I then realised that it was encased in the all-too-familiar glow of a telekinetic hold. Forcing myself out of the shock, I rolled away and got to my feet just as the hold broke. The tentacle then smashed into where I had been no more than a second ago, shattering the stone foundation into scores of jagged pieces.
“Thanks…” I wheezed upon reaching Twilight.
“Th-That wasn’t…” she began with a stammer, “That wasn’t me.”
Looking back at Elephant’s Foot, I spotted a dancing shadow upon its body, cast from up above. My eyes then bulged with astonishment upon spotting its origin, and from my lips came a single word in the form of a croaky whisper.
“You…”
It was the stranger from my dream. Having entered from the ceiling, the armoured man looked down at us from the air, his wings beating and his hands shimmering brightly. He was the one who stopped the tentacle; he was capable of magic!
Swooping down, he joined the battle, firing a beam of energy from his right hand. It met the largest tentacle and broke off a section of its metallic casing. Then, withdrawing his longsword, he closed his wings and plummeted down, delivering a mighty slash into the exposed limb and severing it. Elephant’s Foot emitted an ear-splitting roar, and continued lashing out in all directions, almost catching me and Twilight. We backed away with haste, leaving our mysterious ally to contend with the beast. As phenomenal as he was to watch, bobbing and weaving betwixt the tendrils, we still urgently needed to find Rainbow Dash, and so the spectacle would have to wait. Finally reaching the pile of rubble, Twilight got to pulling away as much rock as she could, while I got to lifting the heavier slabs.
“Please, Rainbow… please don’t be dead.” Twilight begged, “Please, please don’t be dead!”
With tears in my eyes, I kept digging with her, and as I pulled away a large sheet of corrugated steel, I found her.
“Oh god, no…” I choked.
Not moving, Rainbow had been knocked out cold, most likely from the sheer force of the impact. The blue of her pelt could barely be seen as it was covered in soot and dust, and her mane wasn’t much better off either, she was almost entirely grey in colour. Her back half was still buried, and as I pulled at a metal rod that was jutting out, I realised that it was covered in blood. My heart skipped a beat, as I realised that the mare had been impaled, and depending on where, she could very well be dead already. Twilight saw the blood on my hand, followed by the rod, and realised what had happened. Gulping, she pressed her ear up against the pegasus’ nose to check that she was breathing. Sighing with relief, she confirmed that she was with a dip of her head. I exhaled heavily as well, but for as relieved as we were, there was no telling how grievous the injury was; Rainbow may have still been alive, but for how long?
Glancing over my shoulder, I watched as the stranger dismembered another tentacle, before getting smacked by a different one, spiralling out of control and smashing through a concrete pillar. Seemingly uninjured, he got to his feet and took to the air again, charging back into battle and continuing to valiantly subdue the beast, one severed limb at a time. He was too busy to help us, and so Twilight and I moved on the double, clearing away the rubble as fast as we could. We finally uncovered her in full, with just a single heavy metal beam keeping her trapped. The rod had gone through her lower thigh, almost at the knee joint. I could only imagine how much pain she would be in upon waking.
Moving to one end of the beam, I grabbed the end of it and tried to lift. It budged lightly, but it would take every ounce of my strength to actually move it. Tensing my muscles and taking three massive breaths, I readied myself to lift, only to be halted by one of Elephant’s Foot’s tendrils. Being the smallest of the monster’s many arms, it had stealthily kept low to the floor and had snaked around blindly in search of us, and through sheer dumb luck, it had been able to bump into my right leg. Coiling around my ankle, it yanked me back and I fell over, hitting the ground with a smack. Looking up to Twilight, I pulled a disgruntled expression, knowing exactly what was going to happen next.
“I hate this thing.”
Before she could reply, I was pulled away, sliding across the ground as it dragged me towards the middle of the room. I tried to get my fingers under it to pull it off me, only for the appendage to grip me even tighter.
“Ah shit, I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going…” I groaned as it hoisted me into the air.
Now hanging upside down, I dangled helplessly above the hulking mass as it prepared to consume me, just as it nearly had done with poor Rainbow Dash mere moments ago. The mouth emerged from its innards once more, prolapsing from the outer flesh and opening wide. Strings of thick mucus hung between the hard beaky opening, glistening in the light.
“Safe word!” I cried out, “Safe word! Safe word!”
I then began to scream as it lowered me down, which was when the tentacle was suddenly locked in place, just as before. Looking around, I spotted the mysterious stranger, reaching out to the tendril with his hands, which emitted a lilac purple shimmer. Flying over to me, he grabbed my wrist and planted something into my hand.
“Don’t miss.” he ordered.
“What!?” I yelped, “No-no, you can’t tell me something that fucking ambiguous right now!”
Flapping his wings, he zipped away to hold off another tentacle, releasing the one currently holding me. Quickly looking at the object he had given me, it appeared to be a smooth and silky black stone, pulsating brightly with strange patterns. I then looked back to the open mouth, quivering with anticipation as I was lowered towards it. Hoping for the best, I clenched my jaw and tossed the stone into its mouth, not knowing what else to do. It snapped shut, and for a split second, nothing happened. And then, from within its belly came a loud rumble, causing the monster to release me and start shaking erratically. I landed on the side of it and slid down the fleshy mass, with one whole side of me getting covered with dark slime in the process.
Jumping down, I quickly backed away and watched as dozens of patches all over its writhing body began to rupture from the inside, with intense white flames bursting out from them, all of which crackled with bolts of electricity. The beast roared and screeched as it was burned to a crisp from within, and just as I thought it was about to explode, the flames were snuffed out, and Elephant’s Foot came to a twitching halt. Smoke billowed out from the numerous holes across its body, which were now leaking with a luminescent green pus. Laying eyes on the Orb fragment, I noticed that it was beginning to glow dimmer and dimmer as the life force from its host ebbed away into non-existence.
We had done it, Elephant’s Foot was dead.
{With how violent that was, I’d be tempted to call that thing Elephant’s Tusk!} my conscience quipped.
Panting with exhaustion, I nodded my head in total agreement, before looking around in search of the others. I immediately spotted the white wings, and ran over to join the stranger, of whom had lifted the beam off Rainbow Dash and was now removing the metal rod from her leg. After how he had just saved our lives, I trusted that he knew what he was doing, and Twilight seemed to be of the same mind. Cautious all the same, she peered at him with narrow eyes, analysing every aspect of his being.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked, coming to stand alongside the unicorn.
Ignoring me, he used his magic to heat up the rod, cauterising the injury before withdrawing it from her thigh. There was a faint sizzle, and the scent of burned fur wafted into my nostrils, which was somehow on par with the deathly stench of the now-dead Elephant’s Tusk. The stranger then placed his hands over the wound, casting some sort of spell and flooding the area with magic particles. After summoning a clean white bandage to dress the leg, he stood up and turned to face me.
“She’ll live.”
Twilight and I sighed in unison, relieved to hear it. With a gulp, the unicorn took a step forward and asked who he was, to which he tilted his head down to look at her. After a silence that was almost uncomfortable, he finally spoke.
“To you, Twilight Sparkle, I am a friend. That, you can be assured of.”
He went on to say that Twilight and her company had become a matter of great importance to him, and that it was of mutual interest that her mission succeeded. Without even looking, he raised an arm towards the smouldering monster and opened his hand, dislodging the Orb shard with his telekinesis. The tendons holding it in place snapped, and the glowing fragment hurtled towards us at a barely perceptible speed. He caught it effortlessly, but before giving it to Twilight, he took the time to cup it with both hands and perform some sort of spell.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Twilight gasped, turning on him in an instant.
“Cleansing it.” he replied calmly, “The Defiler’s magic still dwells upon it.”
To this, Twilight shuddered, and I was left tilting my head with confusion. The Defiler? That must have been whoever the escapee from Tartarus was… The crystal shone brightly in his hands, and I watched on as the greenish hue faded away. Now a deep blue, the man returned the shard to Twilight, who took it with a hoof and studied it keenly. To my surprise, she allowed me to take it from her to have a look for myself. As it sat in my hands, I felt a bizarre sensation, as though something was forcing its way into my fingertips and through my arms. Gasping, I felt it flow through me and gather inside my chest. An intense tingling sensation then washed over me from head to toe, and I found myself feeling more aware of my surroundings, as though I had become infinitely more attuned to the world around me, and my own body.
“Uhh, what the hell just happened to me?” I bleated.
“I don’t know…” Twilight replied with a frown, “Give that back!”
She snatched the shard from me and put it into her bag, followed by the stranger offering a far more insightful answer than ‘I don’t know’.
“The Orb fragment was housing mana not originating from Equus.” he explained, “The broken-down souls belonging to those consumed by that creature, no doubt. Being a human of Earth, it would seem that you were the appropriate receptacle for it.”
Shocked by the explanation, Twilight and I both gasped in unison.
“Hang on, are you saying I just absorbed a bunch of dead guys?”
Before he could reply, another, more exciting query popped into my mind.
“Wait, does this mean I have magic now!?”
“No.” he uttered sharply.
In an emotionless, almost bored tone, he divulged to me how mana did not inherently translate to magic, but rather, it was the fuel for it. All living things possessed a soul, and souls were made up of mana. Continuing, he reiterated that the unfortunate souls here at the power plant had been entirely broken down, becoming raw mana once more. This had then flowed into me, where it had melded with my own soul, adding to its natural potency.
“I… err… w-wow…” I stammered, putting a hand to my chest, “What does that… mean, exactly?”
“You are now effectively a more powerful lifeform.” he told me, “Your physical merits have been enhanced. Your reflexes, heightened. Even your very willpower is stronger now. Not by much, you are to understand, but enough to make a difference. In short, you have been bestowed with a gift, Callum Horncastle, and with it, your odds of survival are a touch greater than they once were.”
“Damn…” I murmured, taking a deep breath, “Well uh… that’s awesome!”
“I thought only the Titans’ Champion could strengthen their soul?” said Twilight, frowning.
Adjusting his standing position and flexing his wings, the man bowed his head to the unicorn with respect.
“You know your history. Where did you learn of such a thing?”
“My mother used to tell me stories about it, back when I was just a filly.” she told him eagerly, “She told me all about the Titans, the Orb, the Calamities, and the Champions who would stop them!”
Practically bouncing with excitement, she explained that she had gone on to study the old legends even further after leaving home, inspired by her mother’s bedtime stories. For as scattered and incomplete as the ancient texts were, she had found plenty of books in the Canterlot Library covering the subject. From what she knew, an individual chosen by the Titans could wield some sort of holy blade, and could strengthen their soul by consuming mana, harvested from the souls of their foes.
“Consider yourself well-learned.” said the stranger, “This is indeed true.”
Turning to me, he went on to say that although such a power was normally reserved for these Champions, an exception had clearly been made in this case.
“When I purified the Orb fragment, the mana from those human souls needed a new home. You, Callum, have become that home.”
Gulping at such an incredible prospect, I clenched and unclenched my hands, trying to sense my newfound power. However, now that the tingling sensation had worn off, I admittedly felt no different. Shrugging, I turned my attention to a far more pressing matter. Squatting down beside Rainbow Dash’s limp body, I asked what the man had done to her, and if he could help take her out of the city. Shaking his head, he said that his time spent assisting us had run short, and that we had to make our own way back to the others, back through the city.
“As for what I did… I believe you are familiar with Bloom, are you not?”
“Yeah.” I replied with a nod, “Fluttershy injected me with some of it in Brazil.”
With a nod of his own, he clarified that he had given Rainbow something very similar, but much more powerful. Supposedly, even with the wound cauterised, it would be healed well enough for me to remove the dressing in just three to four days.
“She’ll wake soon.” he said to me, “When she does, make your way back to the city, and rest where you did before. Oh, and here…”
Outstretching his hands as they began to glow, he cast a spell onto me, followed by Twilight, and then Rainbow Dash. Feeling the same sensation from yesterday, I didn’t even need him to tell me what it was, and neither did Twilight. It was another dose of Blightward, most likely to replace Twilight’s as it was beginning to wear off.
“That’s the last I can do for you, for now.” he spoke, “I won’t be watching overhead this time, and so I wish you both luck, and bid you farewell.”
Standing up properly, I went over to him and extended my hand.
“Not that I know who you are, but I can’t thank you enough.”
Taking the hand and shaking it firmly, he assured me that we would meet again. He then dipped his head to Twilight, and began to walk away.
“Can you at least tell us your name?” I called after him.
Despite having definitely heard me, he ignored me, spreading his wings and taking to the air. He flew out from whence he came, through the broken ceiling of the sarcophagus. Turning to Twilight, I shrugged at her and pulled a face of confusion.
“I feel like that’s left us with more questions than answers.”
“Yeah, you can say that again…” she huffed.
Looking me up and down, the unicorn furrowed her brow and put her mouth to one side.
“That thing knocked you around quite a lot, are you hurt?”
“I’m sorry, is that you… caring about me?” I scoffed, smirking at her.
“Oh, my mistake, I don’t know what came over me.” she teased, “I hope you have internal bleeding or something.”
We looked at each other for a few seconds, before bursting into laughter. We laughed so much in fact, that we didn’t even notice Rainbow Dash waking up. Looking back and forth at the two of us as we cackled together, the pony’s eyes blinked out of sync as she tried to process what was going on.
“Huh, guess I died or something.” she groaned.
“Dashie!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing to her side.
I too came to join her, and we fussed over the pegasus while she properly regained consciousness. As she fully came to, the pain in her leg kicked in, to which she emitted a loud hiss, followed by a whimper that had me almost in tears. Biting her lip and forcing herself to remain strong, she propped herself up as Twilight explained what had actually happened to her, along with the mysterious armoured stranger who had saved her life, and all our lives for that matter. As expected, she was baffled and bewildered, and if not for the bandage around her leg, and the smouldering corpse of Elephant’s Tusk, she probably wouldn’t have believed us.
“So, who was the guy?” she asked, tilting her head.
“Still no idea.” I confessed, “But he certainly wasn’t fully human.”
“He wasn’t?”
Shaking my head, I pointed out that humans didn’t have wings, and considering his ability to use magic, and his knowledge of the Titans and their supposed Champions, it seemed more likely that he was from Equus, taking on a more human appearance to mask his true identity. Twilight was in agreement, and the mystery had all three of us irritated, pondering over just who this enigmatic character truly was.
Rainbow asked what we were to do now, to which I said we were heading back to the city with haste. Vaguely remembering where the building I had slept in was, I wanted to get there before it got dark. We may have bested Elephant’s Tusk, but that dark-dwelling mutant queen was still out there somewhere.
“Can you walk?” I asked.
Dashie tried putting weight on the leg, evoking a wince of agony. Forcing herself to push through the pain, she was able to hobble on three legs, occasionally putting down the fourth when she felt brave enough. With a pang of empathy, I would have offered to carry her, but the pegasus would have been far too proud to accept such a thing. Looking back at Elephant’s Tusk one last time, we took in the sheer size of the damn thing. It was insane to think we had survived such an encounter, and we wouldn’t have, if not for our very literal guardian angel.
“I’m not going to miss that thing.” Rainbow spat, sneering at the steaming remains.
“Nor I…” I sighed in reply.
Opening the doors which were now clear of obstruction, we left the sarcophagus and emerged from the power plant. Letting Twilight take the lead, I matched Rainbow’s pace, slowly plodding along with her as she limped beside me and out of Chernobyl, back to the infested city, now one Orb fragment richer.
The walk back had me finally experiencing the effects of a more powerful soul, for not once did I feel out of breath, and as we began encountering more zomrads again, I was able to deal with them effortlessly, without even breaking a sweat. I didn’t feel superhuman by any standard, but I definitely felt more capable of handling greater odds.
Reaching the apartment block just as the night arrived, I escorted the girls up to the room I had stayed in.
“You slept on that rotten old thing?” Rainbow gasped, pointing to the decomposed mattress.
“Nope.” I replied, barricading the door, “I slept on the floor, just in that corner.”
“Well that’s not happening.” Twilight snapped.
Dismantling the blockade I had just put up, the unicorn went back into the hallway and explored the other apartments in search of more suitable bedding. Rolling my eyes, I told Rainbow to stay put while I helped. Going from room to room, we eventually found a bed with a much nicer double mattress, and we relocated to that room instead. Although not keen on sharing a bed with me, Twilight was far too tired to argue. Rainbow helped quell the tension by sleeping in the middle, and still being in a great deal of pain, I chose to sleep facing her, so I could put my arms around her for comfort. It did the trick, and she fell asleep almost instantaneously. Her warm heavy breath against my chest became quite a comfort, and it wasn’t long before I began to feel drowsy.
“Goodnight Twilight.” I whispered, closing my eyes.
“Night.” she replied.
There was a moments’ hesitation, and then she followed up with something most unexpected.
She said my name.
“Callum…”
Choosing to say my name was a surprise to be sure, but a most welcome one. From her tone, it honestly felt like it had come from a genuine place of kindness, and with a warm smile, I held Rainbow Dash a little tighter, now feeling infinitely merrier.
And as the last of the day’s light faded away, so too did we fade with it…