Missing Magic

by Coda Singer

Chapter 7: Dust to Dust

“Hurry up splinter!” A voice called from Splinter’s right. She realized she had been staring back at Iron City. It was a beautiful sight against the horizon. The tall silhouettes of steel skyscrapers sparkled and casted shadows on the dry dirt which looked positively boring by comparison.

‘Well…’ Splinter thought to herself, ‘It is dirt.’

“We don’t have all day!” The voice shouted. Splinter begrudgingly turned away from her home and looked to her friend.

“Coming, Bart!” Splinter spoke in return. Bart just shook his head.

“Please stop calling me that,” He spoke as he turned and began to trot along the trail, pulling a small wagon attached to a harness around his chest. “My name is Barter.”

“Yeah well that’s a dumb name.” Splinter retorted, quickening her pace slightly in order to catch up to her red and brown friend. He gave her a sarcastic look.

“Is it dumber than Bart?” He asked, sounding as though he had tasted something sour. Splinter shook her head and nudged her friend playfully. “Well at least I’m not named after an injury.” Barter retorted causing Splinter to turn with a sour look.

“Well it’s better than Grumpy Pumpkin!” She retorted, pointing behind Barter who turned to see another pony who had been so quiet, he almost forgot he was there. The pony wore a steel helmet and chestplate with a bandana over his mouth. The helmet had a hole cut into the center of the forehead as to allow the horn to poke through. A high collared coat was worn over the chestplate and a sighted and scoped rifle was slung over his back. A heavy looking revolver was strapped to his left hind leg. The guard pony looked up lazily and rolled his eyes.

“I’ll have you know that’s not actually his name.” Barter reasoned, looking back to Splinter who was smiling at the expression on the guard ponies face.

“I know.” She replied happily. “But he acts like it, so that’s what I call him.” She turned and continued to trot up the trail. Barter turned to their guard who had turned his head back to the dirt.

“How ya holdin’ up Shield?” Barter asked, deciding arguing with Splinter was a lost cause. The armored stallion looked up and nodded curtly. “You excited for the trip?” Barter continued.
Shield shrugged sluggishly and looked back down at the dirt, signifying the end of the conversation. Barter sighed and moved back up to Splinter.

“Whaddup Bart!” She said a little too loud, her voice echoing across the flat plain. Barter immediately regretted his decision to talk to her, but stuck with it regardless.

“Shield’s a bit strange isn’t he?” Barter turned his head and watched their assigned guard kick rocks as he walked. “He doesn’t talk much.” Splinter stopped suddenly making Barter shift to the left slightly as to not run into her on accident.

“Didn’t they tell you?” She asked incredulously, turning her head to Barter and resuming her pace. Barter raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” He questioned.

“Ya know…” Splinter nudged him, egging him on as if he was lying. “The thing with Shield.” Barter noted that she said his real name.

“If I knew what you were talking about I wouldn’t be asking about it would I?” Splinter paused for a moment, thinking. After deciding he made a good point, she began to speak in a soft voice, making sure Shield couldn’t hear.

“He’s mute.” Barter shook his head slightly in surprise before looking back at Shield. “Well,” Splinter admitted, “He didn’t used to be.” Now Barter looked to Splinter, confused. “He had his tongue cut out.” Barter felt slightly sick, he suddenly realized there might be a reason for the bandanna over their guards mouth. “I don’t know the whole story but he had a run in with some raiders who tried to attack his outpost. They held him prisoner and tortured him, beat him, tortured him, and cut out his tongue. Eventually other soldiers found him and the others. He was rescued but he was never the same.”

“Poor guy.” Barter admitted, glancing back at Shield who was still staring down at the path beneath his hooves. Barter always prided himself on his ability to read people, make sense of their emotions and personality based on their body movement and what they say. When Barter looked into Shield’s eyes he could see there was something missing. Something taken away from the whole leaving him broken. And for some reason, Barter didn’t think Shield's look of sorrow was for his tongue.

The three of them walked for several hours, they had left early in the morning in order to arrive at their destination of Craterville by nightfall. The slowly moving sun made the shadows dance across the desert, Shield, Barter and Splinter shared the water they had brought and used it sparingly. Shield stuck the straw beneath his bandanna, not eager to show his mouth any time soon.

His high collared coat and low hanging bandanna also hid his neck so the only real details about him that Barter and Splinter could see were his flank, his fore-hooves and his eyes, which looked tired and worn out. A pale and gentle blue. The dirt and dust was slowly replaced by cracked and dry clay as they entered a dry riverbed. The river that once ran through here had vanished during the war, causing drought for a lot of ponies in need of a drink, on top of the whole apocalypse thing.

The creeps and cracks in the clay reminded Shield of skin that hadn’t seen water in decades. It reminded Barter of dry and overbaked bread, a sight he had seen often in his attempts to make food. The tan, bland clay reminded Splinter of an empty canvas she once found while exploring what was left of a small hamlet of four or five homes, all crumbled and charred. The canvas had withered and browned over time, the artist who had lived in the home previously, unbeknownst to Splinter, was going to paint a heroic picture of many of the diplomats and generals who had fought for the Pegasi and were then trying to finish off the last of the unicorns.

The group merchants and their guard crossed the riverbed and climbed up onto the same, dusty dirt they had left behind, squinting to shield their eyes as the wind picked up, causing dust to swirl through the air like angry hornets. The three travellers followed the riverbed and eventually came across a large crevice set in the ground next to the trail, Ghostly Gorge. It’s name was one of the few things to survive the war. Barter knew this meant they were getting close to the crossroads where they would be directed to Craterville, Splinter knew she needed to be more careful around the gorge lest she fall in, and Shield knew that a mint green stallion was approaching them from down the trail. Immediately, Shield began observing his surroundings, acting like he wasn’t interested or hadn’t yet noticed the pony and was just inspecting the rocks and dust.

“Well hello!” Said the mint stallion. He had an E.U.D on his hoof and a big smile on his face. He wore a dirty, stained and ripped white and blue striped jacket and had a twinkle in his eye as he spoke. Two saddlebags were slung over his flank. “And how are you doing on this fine evening?” His voice was higher pitched and smooth, he seemed genuinely happy and jaunty but there was something about his expression that wasn’t quite right.

“Good I guess.” Splinter replied, confused and slightly concerned but certainly amused. As a filly she had seen door to door salesponies and there was always the stereotype of the large mustached, cheapskate salespony but to see someone who matched this description nearly to the letter was amusing nonetheless.

“Well that’s terrific!” The mint stallion shouted a little too loudly. “I’m doing just fine myself, not that you cared to know!” He let out a loud, chortle, a guffaw of absolute joy as if his previous statement was a joke rather than an insult to Splinter’s manners. “Where are you folks headed if I may ask?”

Shield squinted slightly in the desert sun, all he could see were a few large rocks and some dead trees, large enough to hide a pony behind them. The guard pony walked to the gorge and looked down, nopony there, just a drop into blackness. Shield looked at the salespony curiously.

“Craterville.” Barter replied, eyeing the salsepony with curiosity. “Why?”

“Well it looks like you’re carrying merchandise and I was wondering if you would be interested in trading!” His smile widened which Splinter didn’t think was possible.

“Um, we were assigned to sell to Craterville only.” Barter explained.

“Ah I see, I see. But as long as you’re getting some spheres, who cares where it came from? Right!?” There was a pause in which nothing was said. Shield began moving around, shifting his perspective by walking forward and back, then in circles until finally, he caught the glimpse of a scope by the large rocks, reflecting the sunlight. Gotcha.

Shield pushed past Barter and Splinter and stood directly in front of the salsepony who was still smiling but now his eyes showed signs of confusion and slight worry.

“Here’s the part where you tell us you have an amazing deal, right?” If Splinter had not heard the voice coming from Shield’s mouth, or saw his bandanna moving when he spoke, she would’ve refused to believe it was him talking.

“Ummm…” Said the mint stallion.

“And that’s when you would start reaching into your bag and your friend by the rocks would fire at us as you grab your gun.” His voice was strange, slightly metallic and had an off putting electric quality to it. “Well I’m not gonna fall for it. This isn’t my first rodeo and I’m certainly not gonna be tricked by an ameture like you. You didn’t even get the bloodstains off of your coat.” Shield pointed to the salespony’s sleeve which had flecks of red stained into the fabric which Splinter and Barter hadn’t noticed before and apparently neither had the mint stallion.

“Shield?” Splinter asked, not knowing what else to say, she was too surprised. The salespony opened his mouth to speak but Shield interrupted.

“Before you call in the cavalry, I’ll give you three options. One, you walk away, you never saw us or heard of us, we never existed to you. Two, you miraculously manage to graze one of us with a bullet and proceed to be killed by the other two. Or Three, I give you six seconds to pick option number one before I splatter your brains all over the trail.” The salespony stopped smiling, sweat running down his face. “One,” His face lost some of it’s blood, growing pale and anxious. “Two,” He began to look between Shield and the glint of the rifle scope. “Three… Four.” The salespony slowly began to move his hoof toward his bag and Shield noticed instantly. “Five… Six.” There was a flash as two gunshots rang in the desert.

The salespony fell to the ground with two holes in his chest and more blood staining his jacket. Without hesitation, Shield whipped his revolver around to aim at the rocks and fired a single shot. Splinter and Barter saw a small spray of blood from by the rocks as Shield’s bullet flew through layers of glass in the scope, sending the bullet and shards of broken glass into the sniper’s skull.

There was a small pause of near silence, the gunshots echoing down the crevice. Splinter and Barter could only stare at Sheild. He stood, gun still aimed at the rocks he was absolutely still, not a twitch to be seen.

“Shield, that was-” Splinter started but their guard held up a hoof.

“There’s at least one more. Most likely in a flanking position. Don’t turn around.” Shield whispered, just as Splinter began to turn her head. “Remain still.”

What seemed like hours of silence passed, though it was only a few seconds. Shield’s ears swiveled on top of his head and faced behind him, past Splinter and Barter, like he knew somepony was there. There was a soft snap, Splinter gasped, a loud bang, Splinter shut her eyes as she felt something whizz past her, then a heavy thud. Splinter kept her eyes shut for a few moments more, breathing heavily.

“Woah.” Said Barter. There was some hoofsteps as Splinter began to open her eyes. She saw Shield standing there, gun still raised, aiming just past her head, she wouldn't've been surprised to find some missing fur on her cheek. But no, his aim was too good. The mysterious guard flipped his gun through the air and it soared into his holster, he turned quickly and began examining the corpse of the salespony; patting his jacket and looking into his saddlebag. From the saddlebag he drew a gun. It was crude, but it looked as if it could do some damage.
Shield pulled out his own gun and examined the two as Splinter watched. She didn’t know what he was doing, he couldn’t be thinking about taking the weapon, it was rusted, scratched and dirty while Shield’s pistol was shining, silver, not a spot to be seen. Shield removed the clip from both guns, slid the clip from the other pistol into his own gun, and his clip into his saddlebag.

He tossed the rusty gun to the ground and flipped his own back into his holster. He turned to Barter who was staring down at the other raider corpse who had a hole directly through his neck, and if Splinter remembered her health class correctly, the bullet flew directly through the jugular vein and then through the spinal cord for good measure.

“What does he have on him?” Shield asked, his strange sounding voice sending a chill down Splinter’s spine.

“Ummmm…” Said Barter, leaning down closer to the body. “Leather vest, sunglasses, choker necklace-”

“I’m mute, not blind, what’s in his pockets.” Shield said forcefully. Barter opened his mouth to point out that the so called ‘mute’ was speaking right now, but determined Shield would probably break all of his joints if he did. Barter began to go through the raider’s pockets.

“Couple 10mm rounds,” Barter listed. “An old revolver, what’s this?” Barter, along with the other items, drew out a folded piece of paper, which looked like it was torn out of a magazine.
He began trying to unfold it, but it seemed to be stuck. He began to slowly peel it open, trying not to tear it in case it was a map or a hitlist or something.

But when he finally got it open he didn’t find a map, or a hit-list, instead he found a picture of a mare. She was younger looking, Long red mane and soft pink colored coat. She sat in a rather provocative pose, soft violet eyes rolled back in pleasure, she was covered in a liquid which matched the color of the stains on the picture itself, the substance which had originally stuck this picture shut. Suddenly, something clicked in Barter’s mind and he shouted like he had just seen an irradiated scorpion.

“Can we burn this before I vomit please?” He asked, dropping the picture quickly.

“What is it?” Said Splinter, moving closer and tilting her head to get a better view.

“Splinter you don’t wanna-” But it was too late. She had picked it up and was looking at it a little too closely. Gradually, her cheeks grew redder and redder.

“What? She’s pretty hot, you don’t like mares Barter? Wow, didn’t expect that from you.”

“I like mares,” Said Barter calmly. “I just don’t like the picture itself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the stains.” Splinter squinted and moved the soiled picture closer to her face. Then she sniffed and her eyes went wide.

“This isn’t…” Barter nodded.

“It was stuck together before I opened it.”

“GAAH!” Splinter shouted, trying to drop it but it stuck to her hoof. She shook it back and forth until it finally detached and fell to the ground. She shook her entire body like she was trying to remove mud from her coat, then she stuck out her tongue and shut her eyes, as if she couldn’t believe it. “I’m starting to regret this trip.” She gagged.

“What’s on the other side?” Shield asked, he had removed the clip that came from the filthy gun. The clip itself was a bit rusted as well, rust which Shield was now scrubbing off.

“I’m not touching that thing again!” Splinter yelled incredulously. “I don’t care how hot she is!” Shield slid the now clean clip back into his gun with a click.

“Just flip it over.” He said calmly, looking Splinter in the eyes. Whether or not he was trying to threaten her, she was scared. She shook her head and let out a whimper before she gently blew on the picture, leaning in far closer than she would’ve liked to. After a few seconds of whimpering and Barter laughing, the picture flipped over. There was a large, black and grey blot which seemed like an ink stain at first, but then Splinter saw the red and white.

“It’s a crow’s head.” Shield, looked up suddenly.

“What did you say?” Splinter met the guard’s gaze, confused. “Be more specific.”

“It’s the head of a crow with a pool of blood beneath it, it has white eyes and-”

“A scarred X between it’s eyes?” Shield asked. Splinter merely nodded. Shield gave her a grave look.

“Why?”

“Barter, what else does he have?” Shield continued, ignoring Splinter’s question.

“I’m a little nervous to reach back in there.” Said Barter, eyeing the man’s vest.

“Just do it!” Shield shouted. When he raised his voice, it crackled and popped like a poorly made record playing on a poorly made record player. Barter jumped at the sound and reached into the corpse’s vest. He pulled out a small notebook. Shield rushed forward and began flipping through the pages. His eyes zoomed from page to page, reading them quicker than Splinter thought was possible. He eventually stopped on a page and began to read aloud.

“We’ve just received word that a trading caravan will be leaving Iron City to head toward Craterville, apparently they haven’t received any news in the past three months. It shouldn’t be too hard to take out, there's only one guard assigned to them.” He furrowed his brown in relief and worry, two emotions which were confusing when felt at the same time.

“What is it?” Splinter asked, stepping forward. Shield didn’t lift his gaze from the notebook as he spoke.

“Well they’re not from The Black Beak which is good for us. But this does mean they have somepony on the inside.” Shield listed. Splinter tilted her head like a dog who had just heard a new sound.

“The Black Beak?” She asked. Shield shook his head, eyes still perusing the pages of the notebook.

“Let’s just say that interception would’ve been constructed much better than it was if these men were from The Black Beak.” He answered, if you would call that an answer.

“Well where are they from?” Asked Barter as he nudged the deceased raider with his hoof. Shield flipped through the notebook until he found, on the first page, the symbol of a tree, drawn in a crimson red. He rolled his eyes.

“Bloodfield.” Barter rolled his eyes as well, but Splinter tilted her head slightly more. Shield noticed and sighed. “I don’t really like the whole talking thing in the first place, it kind of hurts. Barter, explain.” Shield said in a resigned tone as he turned back to making sure his gun was spick and span, as if it weren’t clean enough already. Barter shook his head and turned to Splinter.

“Bloodfield is a raider town just a few miles out of Craterville.” He explained. “They’re not very dangerous, until now they’ve only barely managed to survive being attacked. They would be a threat if they had more power but for now, if you’re not an idiot, you shouldn’t have to worry about them.”

“You might have some trouble then.” Said Splinter before stomping her hoof on the ground and laughing like she had just called Barter out on some great secret. The merchant merely shook his head and moved closer to Shield, the only other person who seemed to take things seriously.

“I’m wondering what happened to Craterville.” He continued, while Splinter still laughed and giggled behind them, snorting and wheezing and barely managing to get a few words in.

“Cuz-cuz-cuz, you’re an idiot!” She cried.

Shield shrugged, ignoring the laughing mare behind him, and his eyes seemed to say: “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” Shield holstered his gun one last time and stood, quickly examining the immediate surroundings and then glancing up at the bloodstain on the rocks where he had shot the sniper. Shield sighed… He really wanted that rifle. He began to trudge his way up the small hill toward the rock faces, making his way around the crevice.

“Where are you going?” Barter called after the wandering guard, who merely pointed up the hill with a hoof. Barter was not eager to let the obviously most skilled member of their trio, wander off alone, especially with the knowledge that there were raiders who had access to their trading routes. Shied found the carcass of the sniper he had shot, a gauged hole through the Pegasus’s left eye socket. A few shards of glass dotted the wound and went deep inside to the skull.

He examined the corpse with expertise. fitted motorcycle helmet had a bullet sized hole punched through the back which caused a large crack to form, completely useless. Black cloth robes stained with blood and dirt, not armored at all, least it could do was provide camouflage in the night, useless. A few orbs which Shield pocketed, a few spare pistol rounds which Shield pocketed and a tattoo on the Pegasus’s left forehoof beneath the black robes. Shield could not pocket this, nor did he want to, but he did examined it closely. A black and twisted cross with two, dark feathery wings.

“What’s up?” Splinter asked, making Shield draw his pistol in defense. That pony was silent as the night.

“This man is a Raven.” Said Shield through the pain, gesturing to the tattoo. "Either that or he was important enough to earn their brand." Splinter slowly squinted and tilted her head, something she did often when she didn’t know what ponies were talking about apparently. Shield sighed.

“Raven,” Shield began, “Is an acronym. R.A.V.E.N; Respectable And Viable Expert of Necromancy.”

“1, that’s a stupid acronym,” Replied Splinter. “2, necromancy? And 3, wow, that’s a stupid acronym. I mean really?” Shield chuckled softly. It was a strange noise to Splinter’s ears, but it was better than him shouting or threatening someone. She smiled softly. “So necromancy eh?”

“Yeah,” Shield turned back to the corpse. “They live in Steam City though there are a few in Pit. A group, or cult if you ask me, that specialize in dark magic.”

“I lived in Pit.” Said Splinter, moving to the body and wondering if he had come from there until she remembered Shield explaining that they had come from Bloodfield.

“I don’t think he came from Bloodfield.” Said Shield, almost like he could read her thoughts. “Or Pit for that matter. I think he was hired, for support and medical help if anything were to go wrong.”

“Too bad he can’t bring himself back from the dead.” Splinter nudged the corpse with her hoof. Shield looked around for the sniper rifle, it wasn’t in the Raven’s hooves like Shield had hoped.

Perhaps the force of his bullet made the sniper fall over and toss it aside. Shield looked for scrapes and chips in the rock and dirt, any sign of the rifle. Eventually he did find some scrapes on the rocks heading toward the crevice, a few shards of glass and a torn piece of military grade cloth which looked like it might’ve belonged to the rifle’s strap. Shield cursed to himself, he could imagine the rifle bouncing into the darkness, never to be seen again. He moved back to Splinter who was still nudging the corpse.

She looked up at him inquisitively. “Ya get it?” She asked. Shield merely waved her along as he began trotting back down the hill. “Sooooooo…” Said Splinter, preparing to touch on a most likely sensitive topic. “What’s wrong with your voice?” Shield kept trotting, no response. “Cuz i mean, I heard you lost your tongue but obviously that’s not true cuz you can do the whole… Talking… Thing.” Still no response. Splinter sighed. “Well i’m just gonna start spreading rumors about you until i find the truth so it’s your loss.”

“You start spreading rumors,” Said Shield forcefully, his voice popping and scratching like a blown out speaker. “And soon you’ll be the one without a tongue.” Splinter stared at the back of his head intensely and then decided he wouldn’t give her an answer, so she dropped it. The two made their way back down the hill where they found Barter looking nervous. He had detached his harness from the wagon of crates full of trading goods. Each of the crates were wrapped and stamped with the same symbol found on spheres and cubes; a star with wings, mid flight. The whole load of crates had a large tarp drawn over them, tied to hooks on the wagon.

“What were you to doing?” Barter asked after jumping at the sight of them, he was too focused on his surroundings, making sure no deadly assassins were creeping up on him.

“Becoming best friends!” Splinter giggled, raising her hoof to punch Shield on the shoulder, and then realized she probably wouldn’t have a hoof anymore if she did. “Right Shield?” She asked. Shield ignored her and moved to Barter’s side.

“I suggest we get moving,” He spoke, while re-attaching the harness to Barter. “They might have an outpost near here where they restocked or something. They might come looking and we can’t be here if they do. I suggest we continue down the trail for a few more hours and find some shelter to camp.” He gestured to the wagon with the lumpy, polygonal shaped tarp draped over the top. “We can’t leave this cargo out in the open.”

“So you know what it is?” Barter asked. Shield turned to him, slight confusion on his face.
“No… You don’t?”
“Nope.” Said Splinter. “They didn’t tell us a thing.” Barter reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of cardstock.

“We’re just supposed to show them this and they’ll do with the cargo what they need to. What they don’t take we take to these addresses.” Barter held the slip of cardstock to Shield, who took it, and reached to a small cavity in the side of the wagon containing a clipboard with several addresses and street names scribbled on the parchment. Shield looked at the cardstock, ignoring the clipboard. It was a subtle off-white color, with a single swirl inked into the center. He flipped the card over. Nothing.

“Yeah, weird right?” Said Barter, placing the clipboard back into its cavity. “It’s gotta be some kind of magic.”

“How?” Asked Splinter who had taken a seat on the ground and was flicking rocks with her front hoof. “All the unicorns are… Ya know… Eck!” She made a strangled noise and raised her hoof, pretending she was held at the neck by a noose. Barter shrugged.

“Yeah, but there’s still… A-Al-Alchem-ALCHEMY! Alchemy, that’s the one.” He stuttered. Splinter scratched her chin.

“How do you think it’s activated?” She asked, stepping forward to examine the card more closely.

“That’s not for us to know,” Said Barter dismissively, slipping the card back into his pocket. “It’s for us to deliver. Now let’s get moving. They pay less If you’re late.” And with that, the guard, the merchant and the apprentice began walking back along the trail to the destination which was no longer there.

They walked and walked until they tired and Barter’s E.U.D beeped, signaling them to set up camp, camouflage the cart and sleep until another alarm would wake them in the eternal afternoon. They walked several more miles, passing the occasional destroyed neighborhood or charred and broken down carriage until they finally arrived at the crossroads. Planks of rotting, blackened wood lined the dirt making a forced trail in the dirt caused by what once were railroad tracks leading from town to town.

The dried dirt and dead plants crunched beneath their hooves as they trekked down the trail. Every Once and awhile Shield would cough, or yawn, his vocal chords would produce a fizzy, popping sound. Barter and Splinter’s ears would swivel and they would examine Shield like an open sore, prone to infection. Their stomach writhed collectively, the sound seemed utterly wrong and out of place. No matter how she approached it, Splinter simply couldn’t get Shield to tell her why his voice was the way that it was. She began attempting to piece it together by asking vague questions, which didn’t work out too well seeing as all the questions she asked were either too obvious, or so vague they were completely off topic. For the next three hours of walking after packing up the camp it was just,

“So, Shield, what’s your favorite song? Wanna sing it for us?” or “So, Shield, are you allergic to anything?” or something along the lines of, “So, Shield…. Can you PLEASE just tell me already?” To which Shield would either reply with a two letter answer, or a slightly static sounding grunt as they kicked up dust marching across the trail, hours passing as they trotted, the wagon wheels scraping and rolling over rocks and a stray bone every once and awhile. There were animals living out in the wastes, they are mostly hunted down and eaten or to have their bodies used to make tools or clothes. Many skulls and skeletons of various animals dot the waste, pale bone contrasting the bland brown and tan. Splinter always hated seeing skeletons like that. She knew they weren’t as aware as ponies are, they didn’t truly understand what they were, they couldn’t comprehend life itself but still… To imagine the pain they must’ve gone through.

It sent shivers down her spine. They walked and walked, seeing skeleton after skeleton. Cows, birds, ones that resembled cats or dogs, household pets and… Oh sweet Celestia… A half buried skeleton that looked a bit like a pony, but she didn’t dare dig it up to find out. They appeared to be passing through some sort of graveyard, more and more skeletons were scattered across the ground, mostly broken, cracked and split bones revealing the marrow. Skulls of animals missing the teeth, chunks of metal, perhaps used as headstones… Okay that is definitely a pony skeleton… and another one… And another one. Splinter gasped as the group came upon a field of chunks of metal, blackened wood and ash, the landscape transitioning to burnt dirt and charred bone.

“W… W-what happened here?” Splinter stuttered. Barter and Shield examined their surroundings. Barter’s face showed shock and unparalleled worry while Whield only showed anger.

“What is this place?” Shield growled, his voice fizzing with anger like a radio that can’t quite seem to find the correct station.

“You mean… This isn’t craterville?” Splinter asked.

“You see any craters?” He responded, his voice calm, but a rage hid behind that bandanna. “That’s still at least two miles up, this is something different.” He spoke as he leaned down and began examining the skeletons, charred black from some unknown heat which was no longer present. Cracked and fractured bone, some with chunks of metal, previously thought to be headstones, crushing limbs and spines, pinning the bones to the dirt.

“Who were these ponies?” Asked Barter, detaching from the cart and rubbing his torso, sore from hours of pulling.

“They’ve been dead for quite a while.” Shield responded, setting down a skull he had picked up to examine. “A month at least.”

“Do you think there was a battle here or something?” Barter suggested.

“Between who?” Said Splinter, trying not to look at some of the smaller, younger looking skeletons. “Gangs?”

“What gang could do something like this?” At this the group looked around, fields of chunks of metal, splinters of wood and bone, charred dirt and skulls.

“They would need a powerful weapon.” Said Barter.

“Or a LOT of flamethrowers.” Said Splinter. Barter and Shield looked to her.

“I can’t tell if you’re actually that naive or just making a joke.” Said Shield.

“I think it’s a bit of both.” Barter said, shaking his head.

“Regardless,” Shield continued, standing and stepping away from the fallen ponies. “We should continue toward Craterville, see if they’re alright. These could’ve been raiders for all we know, and Craterville might’ve done this in self defense.” Barter nodded.

“Where did Craterville get a weapon like this?” Asked Splinter.

“The Masked Lords have a lot of things they don’t tell us, a massive weapon may be one of them.”

“Umm…” Said Splinter, sounding a bit nervous. “Who… Who are the Masked Lords again?” Shield had to keep himself from removing his bandana, purely so his jaw could drop, however that would be a rather disturbing sight. Barter however let his jaw drop as far as it could.

“I’m sorry…” He apologized in disbelief. “Do you not know who the Masked Lords are?” Splinter shrugged.

“I don’t know, I don’t really pay attention to things that aren’t directly in front of me.” Shield and Barter both shook their head.

“Explain it to her.” Said Shield, as he began trotting forward toward Craterville. And Barter did so as they marched their way through the char and soot. An incline met their hooves as they walked, a lumpy hill leading upward, leading to Craterville. It was a bit steeper than they remembered.

“You go ahead, find out where you need to go,” Said Shield just a few feet before the crest of the hill, which would, on the other side, drop into the city itself. “I’ll keep watch, Just in case whoever killed all those ponies is still around.” Barter nodded.

“Am I the only one who noticed that the ground is still black?” Asked Splinter.

“No, you’re not.” Said Shield, pulling out his revolver and looking down the hill. Barter and Splinter exchanged a worried look before walking up the incline. The edge of the main crater that comprised most of Craterville was a sheer drop, but luckily there was a metal bridge leading downward into the town… Or there was a bridge… And there WAS a town.