Silverlake

View Online

The day’s so hot. So hot an dry that all I can taste in my mouth is dust. The kinda white heat day when you can hear th’earth crack.
We ain’t had a drop of rain fer near six months now. Even the spring that feeds the lake’s startin to run dry. You gotta walk some ways out now to fill a bucket. Pretty soon, there won’t be no point in callin it by its name. Silverlake.

Every day Pa tries another one of his charms or spells. An every day, big bellied rainclouds gather on the horizon. Our hearts beat faster an our hopes rise as they creep our way. But, well before they reach us, they break apart, thin out an disappear. Every time. Pa never says naught. He jest stares at the sky, the clear cruel sky. Then he gathers up the stones or twigs or whatever he’s set out on the ground this time, an puts ’em away fer tomorrow. Today, he shoves his hat back. Tips his head up an studies the sky fer a long while.

"I do believe I’ll try a circle," he says. "Yuh, I reckon a circle might be jest the thing."

Sun’s bin sayin it fer a while now. Pa’s gittin worse. With every dry day that passes, a little bit more of Pa seems to … I guess disappear’s the best word fer it. Once we could count on pullin a fish from the lake an a beast from our traps. Fer everythin else, we planted some, foraged some, an, all in all, we made out okay. But fer the last year, whatever we do, however hard we try, it jest ain’t enough. Not without rain. We bin watchin the land die, bit by bit. An it’s the same with Pa. Day by day, what’s best in him withers away. Mind you, he ain’t bin right fer a long time. Not since Ma died. But what Sun says is true. Jest like the land, Pa’s gittin worse an his eyes look more’n more to the sky instead of what’s here in front of him.

I don’t think he even sees us no more. Not really.

Penny Rose runs wild these days, with a filthy red an pink mane an a runny nose. If it warn’t fer Sun, I don’t think she’d ever wash at all. Before Penny was born, when Ma was still alive an everythin was happy, Pa was different. Ma could always make him laugh. He’d chase me an Sun around, or throw us up over his head till we shrieked fer him to stop. An he’d warn us about the wickedness of the world beyond Silverlake. Back then, I didn’t think there could be anypony ever lived who was taller or stronger or smarter’n our pa.

I watch him outta the corner of my eye while me an Sun git on with repairs to the shanty roof. The walls is sturdy enough, bein that they’re made from old tires all piled one on top of th’other an packed full of dirt. But the wicked hotwinds that whip across the lake sneak their way into the smallest chink an lift whole parts of the roof at once. We’re always havin to mend the damn thing.

So, after last night’s hotwind, me an Sun was down at the landfill at first light scavengin. We dug around a part of it we ain’t never tried before an damn if we didn’t manage to score ourselves some primo Wrecker junk. A nice big sheet of metal, not too rusted, an a cookin pot that’s still got its handle. Sun works on the roof while I do what I always do, which is levitate up what he needs. He could fly down an get it hisself, but he cain’t fly too well since his wing didn’t heal proper after it broke when he was tryin to show off with a new flyin trick about eight years ago. Flyin lots hurts him and he don't wanna risk breakin it agin, so he never flies higher than the roof.

Nero does what he always does, which is perch on my head an caw real loud, right in my ear, to tell me what he’s thinkin. He’s always got a opinion does Nero, an he’s real smart too. I figger if only we could unnerstand crow talk, we’d find he was tellin us a thing or two about the best way to fix a roof. He’ll of thought about it, you can bet on that. He’s watched us fix it fer five year now. Ever since I found him fell outta the nest an his ma nowhere to be seen. Pa warn’t too happy to see me bring a crow babby home. He told me some folk consider crows bring death, but I was set on rearin him by hand an once I set my mind on somethin I stick with it. An then there’s Penny. She’s doin what she always does, which is pester me an Sun. She dogs my heels as I magic things from junk pile up to the roof an back.

"I wanna help," she says.

"Pick out what Sun needs then," I says.

"No! I mean really help! All you ever let me do is pick out things!"

"Well," I says, maybe that’s all yer fit fer. You ever think of that?"

She sits on her skinny little pale yellow flank an scowls at me, little wings folded. "Yer mean," she says.

"So you keep tellin me," I says.

I float another piece of scrap up to Sun when Penny suddenly jumps up on my back an whacks my horn, causing the scrap to nearly fall on my head. Nero squawks an flaps off in a flurry of feathers. I glare at Pen.

"Cut that out!" I says. "What’re you tryin to do, knock me out?"

Sun’s head pops over the side of the roof. "All right, Pen," he says, "that’s enough. Go help Pa."

Right away, she gets off. Penny always does what Sun tells her.

"But I wanna help you," she says with her sulky face.

"We don’t need yer help," I says. "We’re doin jest fine without you."

"Yer the meanest sister that ever lived! I hate you, Moon!"

"Good! Cuz I hate you too!"

"That’s enough!" Says Sun. "Both of yuz!"

Penny sticks her tongue out at me an stomps off. I climb up the nearby ladder onto the roof, crawl along an give him a hoof at nailin down some metal sheet.

"I swear I’m gonna kill her one of these days," I says.

"She’s only nine, Moon," says Sun. "You might try bein nice to her fer a change."

I grunt an hunker down nearby. Up here on the roof, I can see everythin. Penny playin with her little doll . Pa at his spell circle.

It ain’t nuthin more’n a bit of ground that he leveled of by stompin it down with his hoofs. We ain’t permitted nowhere near it, not without his say so. He’s always fussin around, sweepin clear any twigs or sand that blow onto it. He ain’t set out none of the sticks fer his rain circle on the ground yet. I watch as he lays down the broom. Then he takes three steps to the right an three steps to the left. Then he does it agin. An agin.

"You seen what Pa’s up to?" I says to Sun.

He don’t raise his head. Jest starts hammerin away at the sheet to straighten it.

"I seen," he says. "He did it yesterday too. An the day before."

"What’s all that about?" I says. "Goin right, then left, over an over."

"How should I know?" he says. His mouth is pressed together in a tight line. He’s got that look on his face agin. The blank look he gits when Pa says somethin or asks him to do somethin. I see it on him more an more these days.

"Sun!" Pa lifts his head, shadin his eyes. "I could use yer help here, son!"

"Foolish old stallion," Sun mutters. He gives the metal sheet a extra hard whack with the hammer.

"Don’t say that," I says. "Pa knows what he’s doin. He’s a star reader."

Sun looks at me. Shakes his head, like he cain’t believe I jest said what I did. "Ain’t you figgered it out yet? It’s all in his head. Made up. There ain’t nuthin written in the stars. There ain’t no great plan. The world goes on. Our lives jest go on an on in this gawdfersaken place. An that’s it. Till the day we die. I tell you what, Moon, I’ve took about all I can take."

I stare at him.

"Sun!" Pa yells.

"I’m busy!" Sun yells back.

"Right now, son!"

Sun swears unner his breath. He throws the hammer down, pushes past me an pratikally leaps off the roof, barely openin his wings. He trots over to Pa. He snatches the sticks from him an throws ’em to the ground. They scatter all over.

"There!" Sun shouts. "There you go! That should help! That should make the gawdam rain come!" He kicks Pa’s new-swept spell circle till the dust flies. He pokes his hoof hard into Pa’s chest. "Wake up, old stallion! Yer livin in a dream! The rain ain’t never gonna come! This hellhole is dyin an we’re gonna die too if we stay here. Well, guess what? I ain’t doin it no more! I’m outta here!"

"I knew this would come," says Pa. "The stars told me you was unhappy, son." He reaches out an puts a hoof on Sun’s shoulder. Sun shakes it of so fierce it makes Pa stagger backwards.

"Yer crazy, you know that?" Sun shouts it right in his face. "The stars told you! Why don’t you jest try listenin to what I say fer once?"

He gallops off. I hurry down the ladder. Pa’s starin at the ground, his shoulders slumped.

"I don’t unnerstand," he says. "I see the rain comin.… I read it in the stars but … it don’t come. Why don’t it come?"

"It’s okay, Pa," says Penny. "I’ll help you. I’ll put ’em where you want." She scrabbles about on her knees, collectin all the sticks. She looks at him with a anxious smile. "Sun didn’t mean it Pa," she says. "I know he didn’t."

I go right on past ’em.

I know where Sun’s headed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I find him at Ma’s rock garden.

He sits on the ground, in the middle of the swirlin patterns, the squares an circles an little paths made from all different stones, each their own shade an size. Every last tiny pebble set out by Ma with her own hoofs. She wouldn’t allow that anypony should help her.

She carefully laid the last stone in place. Sat back an smiled at me, rubbin at her big babby-swolled belly with a pale yellow wing. Her long golden mane in a braid over one shoulder.

"There! You see, Moon? There can be beauty anywhere. Even here. An if it ain’t there, you can make it yerself."

The day after that, she birthed Penny Rose. A month too early. Ma bled fer two days, then she died. We built her funeral pyre high an sent her spirit back to the stars. Once we’d scattered her ash to the winds, all we was left with was Pen.
A ugly little scrap with a heartbeat like a whisper. More like a newborn mouse than a pony. By rights, she shouldn’t of lasted longer’n a day or two. But somehow she hung on an she’s still here. Small fer her age though, an scrawny, an she can barely hover an she’s got no cutie mark yet.

Fer a long time, I couldn’t stand even lookin at her. When Sun says I shouldn’t be so hard on her, I says that if it warn’t fer Penny, Ma ’ud still be alive. He ain’t got no answer to that cuz he knows it’s true, but he always shakes his head an says something like, It’s time you got over it, Moon, an that kinda thing.
I put up with Penny these days, but that’s about as far as it goes.

Now I set myself down on the hard-packed earth so’s my back leans against Sun’s. I like it when we sit like this, even if we needa keep our front hoofs in the air so our backs are straight up against each other. I can feel his voice rumble inside my body when he talks. It must of bin like this when the two of us was inside Ma’s belly together. Esseptin that neether of us could talk then, of course.

We sit there fer a bit, silent. Then, "we should of left here a long time ago," he says. "There’s gotta be better places’n this. Pa should of took us away."

"You ain’t really leavin," I says.

"Ain’t I? There ain’t no reason to stay. I cain’t jest sit around waitin to die."

"Where would you go?"

"It don’t matter. Anywhere, so long as it ain’t Silverlake."

"But you cain’t. It’s too dangerous."

"We only got Pa’s word fer that. You do know that you an me ain’t ever bin more’n one day’s walk in any direction our whole lives. We never see nobody essept ourselves."

"That ain’t true, I says. What about that crazy medicine mare with her camel friend last year? An … we see Potbelly Pete. He’s always got a story or two about where he’s bin an who he’s seen."

"I ain’t talkin about some shyster pedlar stallion stoppin by every couple of months," he says. "By the way, I’m still sore about that cloak he tried to unload on me last time."

"It was hummin all right," I says. "Like a skunk wore it last. Hey wait, you fergot Dusty."

Our only neighbor’s four leagues north of here. He’s a lone stallion, name of Dusty Tune. He set up homestead jest around the time Sun an me got born. He drops by once a month or so. Not that he ever stops proper, mind. He jest idles by the hut. Then he says the same thing, every time.

"G’day, Comet. How’s the young ’uns? All right?"

"They’re fine, Dusty," says Pa. "You?"

"Well enough to last a bit longer."

Then he tips his hat an goes of an we don’t see him fer another month. Pa don’t like him. He never says so, but you can tell. You’d think he’d be glad of somepony to talk to besides us, but he never invites Dusty to stay an take a dram.

Sun says it’s on account of the chaal. We only know that’s what it’s called because one time I asked Pa what it is that Dusty’s always chewin an Pa’s face went all tight an it was like he didn’t wanna tell us. But then he said it’s called chaal an it’s poison to the mind an soul, an if anybody ever offers us any we’re to say no. But since we never see nopony, such a offer don’t seem too likely.

Now Sun shakes his head. "You cain’t count old Dusty Tune," he says. "Nero’s got more conversation than him. I swear, Moon, if I stay here, I’ll eether go crazy or I’ll end up killin Pa. I gotta go."

I scramble around, kneel in front of him. "I’m comin with you," I says.

"Of course," he says. "An we’ll take Penny Rose with us."

"I don’t think Pa ’ud let us," I says. "An she wouldn’t wanna go anyways. She’d rather stay with him."

"You mean you’d rather she stayed," he says. "We gotta take her with us, Moon. We cain’t leave her behind."

"What about … maybe if you was to talk to Pa, he might see sense," I says. "Then we could all go to a new place together."

"He won’t," Sun says. "He cain’t leave Ma."

"Whaddya mean?" I says. "Ma’s dead."

Sun says, "What I mean is … him an Ma made this place together an, in his mind, she’s still here. He cain’t leave her memory, that’s what I’m sayin."

"But we’re the ones still alive," I says. "You an me."

"An Penny," he says. "I know that. But you see how he is. It’s like we don’t exist." He don’t give two hoots fer us. Sun thinks fer a moment. Then he says, "love makes you weak. Carin fer somebody that much means you cain’t think straight. Look at Pa. Who’d wanna end up like him? I ain’t never gonna love nobody. It’s better that way."

I don’t say naught. Jest trace circles in the dirt with my hoof. My gut twists. Like mean magic reached right inside me an grabbed it. Then I says, "What about me?"

"Yer my sister," he says. "It ain’t the same."

"But what if I died? You’d miss me, wouldn’t you?"

"Huh," he says. "Fat chance of you dyin an leavin me in peace. Always followin me everywhere, drivin me nuts. Since the day we was born."

"It ain’t my fault yer the tallest thing around," I says. "You make a good sunshade."

"Hey!" He pushes me onto my back.

I push him with my hind hoof. "Hey yerself!" I prop myself up. "Well, I says, would you?"

"What?"

"Miss me."

"Don’t be stupid," he says.

I kneel in front of him. He looks at me. Sun’s got eyes as blue as the summer sky. Blue as the clearest water. Ma used to say his eyes was so blue, it made her want to sail away on ’em. "I’d miss you," I says. "If you died, I’d miss you so much I’d wanna kill myself."

"Don’t talk foolish, Moon."

"Promise me you won’t," I says.

"Won’t what?"

"Die."

"Everybody’s gotta die one day," he says.

I reach out an touch his birthmoon tattoo. High on his right cheekbone, jest like mine, it shows how the moon looked in the sky the night we was born. It was a full moon that midwinter. That’s a rare thing. But twins born unner a full moon at the turnin of the year, that’s even rarer. Pa did the tattoos hisself, to mark us out as special.
We was eighteen year our last birthday. That must be four month ago, near enough.

"When we die," I says, "d’you think we’ll end up stars together, side by side?"

"You gotta stop thinkin like that," he says. "I told you, that’s jest Pa’s nonsense."

"Go on then, if you know so much, tell me what happens when you die."

"I dunno." He sighs an flops back on the ground, squintin at the sky. "You jest … stop. Yer heart don’t beat no more, you don’t breathe an then yer jest … gone."

"An that’s it," I says.

"Yeah."

"Well that’s stupid," I says. "I mean, we spend our lives doin all this … sleepin an eatin an fixin roofs an then it all jest … ends. Hardly seems worth the trouble."

"Well, that’s the way it is," he says.

"You … hey Sun, you wouldn’t ever leave without me, would you?"

"Of course not," he says. "But even if I did, you’d only follow me."

"I will follow you … everywhere you go!" When I say it, I make crazy eyes an a crazy face because it creeps him out when I do that. "To the bottom of the lake, I says, … to the ends of the earth … to the moon … to the stars …!"

"Shut up!" He leaps to his hoofs. "Bet you don’t follow me to skip rocks," he says an gallops off.

"Hey!" I yell. "Wait fer me!"

We gallop a fair ways out onto the dry lakebed before we find water enough to skip stones. We pass the raft that Pa helped me an Sun build when we was little kids. Now it lies high an dry where the shoreline used to be. We walk till we’re outta sight of the shanty, outta sight of Pa an Penny. The fierce noon day sun beats down.
I find a pretty good stone right off. I rub my hoof over its flat smoothness. Feel its weight.

"I got a lucky one here," I says.

Sun hunts around to find one fer hisself. While he does it, I walk up an down on my front hoofs. It’s about th’only thing, apart from magic, I can do that he cain’t. He pretends he don’t care, but I know he does.

"You look funny upside down," I says.

Suns’s golden and red hair gleams in the sun. He wears it tied back in one long braid that reaches well past his shoulders, like Ma’s did. I wear mine the same, only my hair’s black as Nero’s feathers, with a bit of purple in it.
His necklace catches the light. I found the little ring of shiny green glass in the landfill an threaded it on a piece of thread. I gave it to him fer our eighteen year birthday an he ain’t took it off since.
What did he give me? Nuthin. Like always.

"Okay I got a good one," he calls.

I go runnin over to take a look. "Not as good as mine," I says.

"I’m gonna skip eight today," he says. "I feel it in my bones."

"In yer dreams," I says. "I’m callin a seven."

I whip the stone back with my magic, then forward an send the stone skimmin over the water. It skips once, twice, three times. Four, five, six …

"Seven!" I says. "Seven! Didya see that?" I cain’t hardly believe it. I ain’t never done more’n five before.

"Sorry," Sun says. "I warn’t lookin. Guess you’ll hafta do it agin."

"What! My best ever an you didn’t … you rat! You did see! Yer jest sick with jealousy." I sit an fold my hoofs over my chest. "Go on. Let’s see you do eight. Betcha cain’t."

He does seven. Then I do my usual five. He’s jest pullin his wing back fer another try when, outta nowhere, Nero comes swoopin down at us, cawin his head off.

"Damn bird," says Sun, "he made me drop my stone." He gits on his knees to look fer it.

"Go away!" I says, flappin my hoofs at Nero. "Shoo, you bad boy! Go find somepony else to—"
A dustcloud’s jest appeared on the horizon. A billowin orange mountain of dust. It’s so tall, it scrapes aginst the sun. It’s movin fast. Headed straight at us.

"Uh … Sun," I says.

There must be somethin in my voice. He looks up sharpish. Drops the stone in his wing. Gits slowly to his hoofs.

"Holy crap," he says.

We jest stand there. Stand an stare. We git all kinda weather here. Hotwinds, firestorms, tornadoes, an once or twice we even had snow in high summer. So I seen plenty of dust storms. But never one like this.

"That’s one bastard of a cloud," I says.

"We better git outta here," says Sun.

We start to back away slow, still starin. Then, "Run, Moon!" Sun yells.

He grabs my braid with his wing, yankin at me till my hoofs move, an then we’re gallopin. Gallopin fer home, fast as wolfdogs on the hunt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I look over my shoulder an git a shock. The dustcloud’s halfways across the lake. I never seen one move so fast. We got a minute, two at most, before it’s on us.

"We cain’t outrun it!" I yell at Sun. "It’s comin too fast!"

The shanty comes into view an we start to shout an holler. Penny’s now pullin her doll around in a little cart.

"Pa!" we scream. "Pa! Penny! Dust storm!"

Pa appears in the doorway. Shades his eyes with his hoof. Then he makes a dash fer Penny, snatches her up with magic an gallops full pelt fer the unnerground storm cellar. The cellar ain’t more’n fifty paces from the shanty. He hauls up the wooden door set into the ground an drops Penny inside. He waves his hoofs at us, frantic.
I look back. Gasp. The great mountain of orange dust races towards us with a roar. Like a ravenous beast, gobblin the ground as it goes.

"Faster, Moon!" Sun yells. He pulls at his braid an starts wrappin it around his face.

"Nero!" I says. I stop, look all around. "Where’s Nero?"

"No time!" Sun grabs my hoof, pulls at me.

Pa yells somethin I cain’t hear. He climbs into the storm cellar an pulls the door to.

"I cain’t leave him out here!" I pull myself free. "Nero!" I yell. "Nero!"

"It’s too late!" Sun says. "He’ll save hisself! C’mon!"

A fork of lightnin slashes down an lands with a almighty crack an hiss.

One elefant, two elefant, three—

There’s a sullen rumble of thunder.

"Less’n a league!" Sun says.

Everythin goes black. The cloud’s on us. I cain’t see a thing.

"Sun!" I scream.

"Hang on!" he yells. "Don’t let go!"

The next thing I know, a tingle runs across my skin. I gasp. Sun must feel it too because he lets go my hoof like he’s bin scalded.

"Lightnin’s comin!" he yells. "Git down!"

We hunker down, some ways apart. We crouch as low to the ground as we can git. My heart’s stuck in my throat.

"One more time, Moon. If lightnin catches you out in the open, whaddya do?"

"Crouch down, head down, hoofs together. Don’t let anytin other than my hoofs touch the ground. That’s right, ain’t it, Pa?"

"An never lie down. Don’t ferget that, Moon, never lie down."

I hear Pa’s voice loud an clear in my head. He got struck by lightnin as a colt. Nearly got killed from not knowin the right thing to do, so he’s made damn sure we all know what to—

Crack! The darkness splits open with a bright flash an a slam boom. It sends me flyin. I bang my head aginst the ground—hard. Try to pull myself up but fall back. Dizzy. My head spins round an round. I groan.

"Moon!" Sun shouts. "Are y’okay?"

Another flash an boom splits the darkness. I think it’s headed away from us, but I cain’t be sure, my head’s so muddled. My ears ring.

"Moon!" Sun yells. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" I call out, my voice all thin an shaky. "I’m here!"

An then Sun’s there, kneelin beside me an pullin me up to sit. "Are you hurt?" he says. "Are y’okay?" He slips his wing around me, helps me to stand. My legs feel all wobbly. "Did it hit you?"

"I … uh … it … knocked me offa my feet, is all," I says.

Then, as we stand there, the dark rolls away.

An the world’s turned red.

Bright red like the heart of a fire. Everythin. The ground, the sky, the shanty, me, Sun —all red. Fine red dust fills the air, touches every single thing. A red red world. I ain’t never seen nuthin like it before.
Me an Sun stare at each other.

"Looks like the end of the world," I says. My voice sounds muffled, like I’m talkin unner a blanket.

An then, outta that red dust haze, the ponies appear.

There’s five of ’em. Then we see a big bull pullin a cage on a cart behind them.
Even in normal times we don’t git folk passin by Silverlake, so it’s a shock to see strangers blowin in on the tail of the worst dust storm in years. The ponies stop near the shanty. We start over.

"Let me do the talkin," Sun says.

Four of the ponies is dressed in long black robes. They got on heavy leather vests strapped over top an hoods over their heads. They’re dusted head to foot with red earth. As we git closer, I can see the fifth pony’s our neighbor, Dusty Tune.
As we come in earshot, Sun calls out, "Strange kinda day fer a walk, ain’t it, Dusty Tune?"

Nobody says nuthin. Their hoods cover the strange ponies faces so’s we cain’t see their expressions, even now that we’re right up near ’em.

"Dusty," Sun nods. "Who’s yer friends?"

Dusty still says naught. Jest stares down at his hoofs.

"Look," I whisper to Sun. Blood trickles out from unner Dusty Tune’s hat, snakes down his brown face.

"What’s goin on here?" says Sun. "Dusty?" By the sound of his voice, I can tell he thinks somethin ain’t right about this. Me too. My heartbeat picks up.

"Is this him?" says one of the ponies to Dusty Tune. "Hammer an slingshot flanks here? Is he the one born at midwinter?"

Dusty Tune don’t look up. He nods. "That be him," he says in a low voice.

"How many years you got, colt?" the pony, seeming to be in charge, says to Sun.

"Eighteen," says Sun. "What’s it to you anyways?"

"An you was fer definite born at midwinter?"

"Yeah. Look, what’s all this about?"

"I told you he’s the right one," says Dusty Tune. "I should know. I bin keepin a eye on him all this time like you told me to. Can I go now?"

The pony nods.

"Sorry, Sun," says Dusty, still not lookin at us. "They didn’t give me no choice."

He makes to leave. The lead pony magically slides a bolt shooter from his robe. I know he must be movin fast, but it all seems to go so slow. He pulls the trigger an shoots Dusty, he falls in a heap on the ground. He don’t move.
A cold jolt runs through me. We’re in trouble. I grab Sun’s wing. The four ponies start movin towards us.

"Fetch Pa," Sun says. "Quick. I’ll draw ’em away from the house."

"No," I says. "It’s too dangerous."

"Move, gawdammit!"

He turns. Starts gallopin back towards the lake. The ponies turn an head after him, the bull pullin the cart follows so he’s not left behind. I gallop like stink fer the storm cellar, fast as my hoofs’ll carry me.

"Pa!" I yell. "Pa! Come quick!"

I look over my shoulder. Suns’s halfways to the lake. The four poniess is spreadin out to make a big circle. Sun keeps runnin, but he’s caught in the middle. They start to close in, tighten up. They’re trappin him. One unhooks a rope from his saddle bags under his cloak.

I pound my hoof on the door of the storm cellar. "Pa!" I scream. Pa! Open up!"

The door creaks open. Pa’s head appears. "Are they here? he says. Have they come?" You seen this comin. You read it in the stars.

"Four ponies an a cart!" I says. "Quick! We gotta stop ’em!"

"Penny, stay here!" Pa scrambles outta the cellar. "They cain’t be stopped, Moon. It’s begun." His eyes look flat. Dead.

"No," I says. "Don’t say that."

Now Suns’s trapped by the circlin ponies. He darts at a gap. They block it. He stumbles, falls, picks hisself back up agin. In the dusty red haze, it don’t look real.

"Don’t jest stand here!" I yell at Pa. "Help me!"

I dive into the shanty. Grab my crossbow, sling my quiver on my back. Grab Pa’s bolt shooter. Empty. I throw it down with a curse. Snatch up his crossbow an quiver.

I come runnin out. "Pa!" I yell. "They got Sun!" I grab his hoof, give him a hard shake. "This is real! You gotta fight!"

Then it’s like he comes to life. He pulls hisself tall, his eyes spark an the Pa I remember’s back. He hauls me to him, holds me so tight I cain’t hardly breathe.

"My time’s nearly up," he says quickly.

"No, Pa!"

"Listen. I dunno what happens after this. I could only see glimpses. But they’re gonna need you, Moon. Sun an Penny Rose. An there’ll be others too. Many others. Don’t give in to fear. Be strong, like I know you are. An never give up, d’you unnerstand, never. No matter what happens."

I stare at him. "I won’t," I says. "I ain’t no quitter, Pa."

"That’s my girl." He takes the crossbow in his magic. Slings the quiver on his back. "Ready?" he says.

"Ready," I says.

We start gallopin. Gallopin towards Sun an the ponies. One of the ponies is loopin his rope into a lasso.

"Load!" yells Pa. We each magically snatch a arrow. Load.

The roper twirls the lasso once, twice. Throws.

"Aim!" yells Pa.

The lasso grabs Sun’s hind leg. The roper yanks on it, brings him down.

"Fire!" yells Pa.

We let fly. The arrows land short
.
"Load!" Pa yells agin.

The roper an another pony approach Sun. They flip Sun onto his back. One sits on him. Th’other one yanks his hoofs over his head, ties his front hoofs together, then his back hoofs, an then his wings.

"Stop!" says Pa. "Let him go!"

We’re still gallopin. We take aim. One of the ponies turns. Sees us comin at’em. He raises his bolt shooter in his mouth. He fires. Pa cries out. His magic sputters an fails.

"Pa!" I scream.

He staggers. He falls.

Pa! I throw myself down beside him. The bolt’s gone right through his heart, blood leaking over his dark grey coat. I grab his shoulders, pull him up. His head flops forwards, red mane coverin his face.

"No!" I shake him. "No no no no no no no! Don’t do this, Pa! You cain’t die! Please don’t die!"

I give him another shake. His head lolls back.

"Pa," I whisper. I’m froze. I cain’t move. He’s dead. They’ve killed my pa.

A wild rage rises up in me. Red hot. Floodin me. Chokin me. I grab my crossbow magically.

Leap to my hoofs an start gallopin towards the men. As I run, I load my bow.

"Aaaaaah!" I scream. "Aaaaaaah!"

I take aim. I shoot. But the red hot’s makin my hands shake so much that I shoot wild.The arrow flies wide.

A shot comes whistlin at me. Sharp pain. Right foreleg. I cry out. My bow flies away from me as my magic field evaporates from the pain. I keep runnin.

I burst past the other ponies, throw myself at the pony tyin up Sun. We roll on the ground, over an over. I kick at him, punch at him, screamin. He pushes me off. He’s on his hoofs. Grabs my mane, hauls me up, slams me down. I land on my back. I gasp. Gasp. Cain’t breathe. Cain’t breathe. Cain’t git my breath.

Then. Then.

I pull myself to my feet an face ’em, swayin. The four ponies surround Sun. They don’t even look my way. It’s like I ain’t here.

Like I don’t exist.

I hold my bleedin leg offa the ground. "Let him go," I says.

They don’t pay me no heed.

Sun raises his head. Blue eyes wide. Face whiter than usual. Terrified. Like I ain’t never seen him before.

I step closer. "Take me with you," I says.

The one in charge jerks his head. They lift Sun shove him in the cage cart.

"Please," I says. "Please … take me with you. I won’t give you no trouble. Jest don’t leave me here without him."

They lock the cage. One pony jumps up on the seat behind the bull to steer it. They start to move out in a swirl of red dust.
"Sun!" I cry. I run alongside him in the cage. I gasp. Cain’t git a breath.

Sun lifts his head. Our eyes meet. Sun’s eyes. Blue as the summer sky. I touch his hoof through the bars.

"I’ll find you," I says. "Wherever they take you, I swear I’ll find you."

"No," he says. "It’s too dangerous. Keep yerself safe. You an Penny Rose. Promise me you will."

They break into a canter as they pass the shanty. I cain’t keep up. My hoof slides away from cage.

"Promise me, Moon," Sun says.

I keep runnin after ’em.

"I’ll find you!" I scream.

They disappear into the red haze.

"Sun!" I scream. "Sun! Come back!"

My legs go out from unner me. I fall to my knees.

Penny comes runnin outta the storm cellar. She stops. Stares at the hazy red world. At Dusty Tune, lyin next to the hut. Then she sees Pa.

"Pa!" she screams an goes runnin towards him.

I cain’t speak. Cain’t breathe.

Sun’s gone.

Gone.

My golden heart is gone.

I sit in the dust.

The tears roll down my face.

An a hard red rain starts to fall.

There’s a knife in my gut. It twists, rips me open. With every heartbeat, it slides in a bit further. I cain’t possibly feel such pain an live. I curl up in a tight ball. My mouth opens in a silent scream. I stay there a long time.

The rain don’t let up. Around me, the parched earth turns into a churnin sea of mud.

Look, Pa, it’s rainin.

Too late.

Nero flaps down an lands on my shoulder. Tugs at my mane. I straighten up. Move slow. I’m numb. I don’t feel nuthin.
Git up. You got things to do.

My leg. I look at it. Seems like it’s a long ways off. Like it belongs to somebody else. The shot scraped the skin off in a long strip. It must hurt.

I stand. Make my hoofs move. Right. Left. So heavy. I wade through the mud to the shanty. Nero flies off to huddle unner the eaves.

Leg. Clean yer Leg.

I pour water over it. Pack it with fireweed leaf an magically tie a cloth around it.

Pa’s dead. You gotta burn him. Set his spirit free so’s it can journey back to the stars where it come from. I look in the wood store. There ain’t enough to build a proper pyre. But I gotta burn him, I cain’t leave him.

Think. Think.

I find our little cart. Wheel it towards the lake. Shove it through the mud till I come to where Penny’s standin by Pa. She’s soaked to the skin. Her mane an tail hang in wet rat’s tails. They drip down her face, her neck, her legs.
She don’t move. Don’t look at me. She stares at nuthin.

I grab her shoulders, give her a shake.

"Pa’s dead," I says. "We gotta move him."

She leans over an retches into the mud. I wait till she’s finished. She looks at me sidewise, wipes a shaky hoof across her mouth. She’s cryin.

"All right?" I says. She nods. "Take his hind hoofs," I says.

Penny takes his hoofs an I wrap him in a magic field. Pa’s got skinnier the past six months. No rain fer so long meant food’s bin harder to find, pretty much impossible to grow.

"You ain’t finished yer supper, Pa. Ain’t you hungry?"

"Oh, I’ve et plenty, child. Here. Share the rest out between yuz."

He knew he warn’t foolin us, but we all played along anyways.

Skinny as Pa is, he’s a grown stallion. Too heavy to lift fer a scrappy little filly an me. We hafta heave him, inch by inch, my magic ain’t as good for liftin as his was. Pen slips an slides. She don’t stop cryin. Pretty soon she’s covered head to hoof in red mud.

At last we git him on the cart. Pa’s tall, so only the top half of him fits in. His hind legs trail out behind.

"Where’s Sun?" Penny sobs. "I want Sun."

"He ain’t here," I says.

"Wh-wh-where is he?"

"Gone," I says. "Some strange stallions took him."

"He’s dead," she says. "You jest don’t wanna tell me. He’s dead! Sun’s dead! He’s-dead-hes dead-hes-dead-hes-dead-he’s-dead-he’s-dead-he’s—"

"Shut up!" I says.

She starts to scream. She gasps an sobs an screams an screams an screams.

"Penny Rose!" I yell. "Stop it!"

But she cain’t. She’s gone. Outta control.

So I slap her.

An she stops.

She gasps with shock. Takes in great shudderin breaths till she calms down. She wipes her nose on her hoof. Looks at me. There’s a red mark on her cheek unner her filthy yellow coat. I shouldn’t of done that. I know I shouldn’t. Sun wouldn’t of. She’s too little to take a hit.

"I’m sorry," I says. "But you shouldn’t of said that. Sun ain’t dead. Don’t ever say he is. Now hold Pa’s hoofs outta the mud."

She does it. I turn an start pullin the cart behind me. It’s hard goin in the rain an mud. Water runs into my eyes, my mouth, my ears. Mud coats my hoofs an I slide.

Pen’s hopeless like always. She keeps fallin over, but every time she does I stop an help her up an we keep goin. At least she ain’t cryin no more. We reach the shanty. We shove an pull the cart with Pa on it inside.

The home Pa built with his own hands is gonna be his funeral pyre. I bet he didn’t ever think of that.
Penny helps me turn our big old wooden table upside down an we drag Pa offa the cart an lay him on the table.
I go to the chest where we keep what clothes we got, which ain’t much. When I lift the lid, the smell of dried sage rises up. I pull out Pa’s thick winter cloak an toss it to Penny.

"Tear it into strips," I says.

I lift out Sun’s winter cloak. I bury my face in it an breathe in deep. But we put it away clean. It smells of clean cloth an sage. It don’t smell of him. I git on with tearin it into strips. Once we’re done, there’s a good-size pile. I dig out the jug of rootmash whisky. Pa brewed it when times was better. We soak all the cloth strips in it. Then I set Pen to stuffn ’em into the walls, into the cracks between the tires. I put the rest around Pa’s body.

I start fillin my saddlebags with necessaries. Red gizmo knife, flint, medicine herbs, spare cloak.

"The same ponies that killed Pa took Sun," I says. "I’m goin after ’em. I dunno where they took him. It might be a long ways from here. It might take me a while to find him. But I will. I’m gonna bring him back."

I put in two waterskins, nettlecord rope, an enough sourberry seed jerky an dried rootcakes to last us five days at best. If we run out, I’ll jest hafta hunt. "They got a head start an they know where their goin," I says. "I’m gonna hafta travel fast."
I collect Penny’s waterskin, her hat an her dogskin cloak. I don’t look at her when I says, "I’m leavin you with Mercy by Crosscreek."

"No," says Penny.

I put her stuff in her smaller saddlebag. "Pa an Sun told me to keep you safe, I says, an you’ll be safe there. Mercy an Ma was friends. She helped when me an Sun was born. She came when you was born too."

"I know," says Pen.

What we both know but don’t say is that Mercy came too late. Penny came early, Ma died an Mercy might as well of spared herself the trouble of a three day walk.

"Mercy’s a good woman," I says. "Pa always said that if anythin was to ever happen to him, we should go to her. He told me an Sun the way to Crosscreek. She might even have a colt or filly fer you to play with."

"I don’t care," says Penny. "I’m comin with you."

"You cain’t," I says. "I dunno where I’m goin or how long it’ll take me. Besides, yer too little. You’ll only hold me back."

Penny Rose sits an crosses her arms an sets her chin in that stubborn way she’s got. "Sun’s my brother too!" she says. "I got a right to look fer him, jest the same as you."

"Don’t give me no trouble, Penny Rose." I pick up the little peg doll Pa made her an throw it in the bag. "It’s fer the best. Once I find Sun, I promise we’ll come back an git you."

"No you won’t," she says. "You hate me. You love Sun an you hate me. I wish they’d took you instead!"

"Well they didn’t," I says. "Pa an Sun left me in charge of you an I say yer goin to Mercy’s. Let that be a end to it." I shove Suns’s slingshot an hammer into my bag. Tuck Pa’s knife into a hidden sheath inside my cloak. Sling my quiver an pistol crossbow on my back.

Hazy red light trickles through the small window. It lands across Pa’s face.

I kneel beside him, take his hoof in mine. Penny kneels across from me an takes his other hoof. He’s still warm, she whispers. After a little bit she says, "You need to say the words now."

She’s right. You always say special words to send a dead person on their way. Pa said some fer Ma, before he lit her funeral pyre all them years ago, but I cain’t remember what they was. Guess I was too young to take proper notice. Now it’s his turn to have words said an I cain’t think of nuthin.

"Go on," says Penny.

Then, "Sorry, Pa," I says. I didn’t mean to say that, but my mouth moved an those’re the words that come out. But I realize I am sorry. Truly. "I’m sorry yer dead," I says. "I’m sorry you had it so hard here, specially the last while. Mostly I’m sorry you lost Ma when you loved her so much. I know you ain’t had no real joy since she went. Well … now you’ll be happy. You’ll be together agin. Two stars, side by side, together forever in the night sky. I’m goin after Sun, Pa," I says. "I’m gonna git him back, Pa. I won’t rest till I find him. I promise."

I look at Pen. "D’you wanna … kiss him g’bye?" I says.

She kisses him on the cheek, then I strike my flint an light the spills around his body.

"Comet, by Silverlake," I says, "I set yer spirit free to return to its home among the stars." The flames start to lick at the table.

"G’bye, Pa," Penny whispers. "I’m gonna miss you."

We stand. I give her the saddlebags. "Go on outside, Pen," I says. I light the spills set into the walls. I wait till the tires catch fire, till the flames start to run along the walls.

"G’bye, Pa," I says.

I close the door behind me as I go.

The rain stops. A hot southerly starts to blow. The afternoon sun blazes down.

Nero hangs in the air above us, ridin the thermals in lazy spirals. Jest like Sun said he would, he fled the storm an saved hisself. If only we could of done the same. It looks like any other day. It could be yesterday, last week, a month ago. But it ain’t.

This ain’t any other day.

I never knew. Didn’t know everythin could be fine one moment an then the next moment so bad that it ’ud be like the time before that moment was all a dream. Or maybe this is the dream. A long an terrible dream about a storm an some stallions in black who killed Pa an took Sun away. Maybe I’ll wake up soon. I’ll tell everybody about it an we’ll shake our heads about how strange dreams can be. I feel a dull throb in my right leg. I look at it. There’s a cloth wrapped around it, all filthy an torn. I prod it. A sharp pain shoots along my arm. Feels real enough.

Somepony’s sayin somethin.

"Moon?" Penny’s voice. "Moon?"

"Huh?"

"What about Dusty Tune?"

I look down. His body lies sprawled on the ground, his face twisted with pain. Guess he didn’t die right off.
'I told you he’s the right one. I should know. I bin keepin an eye on him all this time like you told me to.'

"Leave him fer the vultures," I says. "It's all he deserves,"

The smell of burnin tires on the wind. My scalp prickles. Smells real enough.

I heave my saddlebags over my back. I start walkin. I don’t look back. I ain’t ever comin back to this place agin.

Dead lake. Dead land. Dead life.

The Trackway

View Online

There's only one narrow track. It goes into an outta Silverlake. Otherwise, it’s all open country around here. Low scrub, boulders an the ruins of one or two Wrecker buildins. The trackway runs northeast. It also happens that Crosscreek, where I’m gonna leave Penny with Mercy, lies three days due northeast of here. Mind you, that’s three days by Pa’s reckonin. It won’t be three days fer Pen’s short legs. An she’s a fearful slow walker.

"C’mon, Penny," I says. "Let’s see you step lively."

I stride out. After ten steps or so, I check over my shoulder to make sure she’s keepin up. She’s stopped. She’s sittin in the middle of the trackway. She’s got her arms folded over her skinny chest. Her saddlebag’s dumped in the mud beside her.

"C’mon!" I yell. She shakes her head. I curse an turn back. I git to her an says, "What?"

"We shouldn’t go," she says. She lifts her stubborn little chin. I know that look. She’s set to cause ructions.

"Why not?" I says.

"We need to stay here," she says. "If Sun comes back an we ain’t here, he’ll be worried."

"He ain’t comin back," I says.

"He’ll git away from the ponies," she says, "I know he will. An he’ll come back an we won’t be here an he won’t know where to start to lookin fer us or anythin."

"Listen," I says, "you didn’t see ’em. I did. Four ponies took him. Tied him wing an hoof an put him in a cage. He ain’t gonna git away on his own. That’s why I’m goin after him. By myself. I promised him I’d find him an that’s what I’m gonna do."

"After you find him," she says, "we’ll come back here. Right?"

I can see by her face that she knows we ain’t ever comin back, but she’s gonna make me say it.

"This place ain’t fit to live in," I says. "You know that. We’ll find us a new place to live. A better one. Me an Sun an … you."

Her eyes fill with tears. "But this is where we live," she says. "It’s our home."

I shake my head. "Not no more, it ain’t. It cain’t be."

After a moment, she says, "Moon?"

"What?" I says.

"I got a bad feelin. I don’t think we should go. I … I’m afeared."

I open my mouth to tell her not to be so stupid, but stop myself before the words come out. I’m in charge of her now an I don’t want her diggin her hoofs in every time I ask her to do somethin. I try to think what Sun ’ud do if he was here. He’d probly tease her, coax her.

"Whaddya mean, afeared?" I put on a face like I’m surprised. "How can you be afeared with me in charge?"

She gives a little smile. "Ain’t you afeared, Moon?" She says it almost like she’s shy of me.

"Me?" I says. Naw. "I ain’t afeared of nuthin. I ain’t afeared of nopony."

"Really?" she says.

"Really," I says. I hesitate. Then I stick out my hoof. She puts hers in it. "C’mon, I says. Let’s go."

We ain’t gone more’n half a league before we come across hoofprints in the dried mud. Four ponies an a bull pulled cart. The strangers come this way with Sun. I kneel down an trace around the edges of a print. I feel dizzy from relief. I feared they might of headed straight across open country from Silverlake. If they had of, I’d of lost a lotta time takin Penny to Crosscreek an then comin back to Silverlake to try an pick up the trail. The hoofprints lead straight ahead. Northeast. Same direction we’re headed. Our first bit of luck. "C’mon," I says to Pen. "We gotta hurry." I don’t give her no quarter. I walk quick, my hoofsteps jerky. No time to lose.

She trots to keep up with me, her saddlebag thumpin aginst her side. Nero flies on ahead.

Sun was here. He passed this way. Sun goes first, always first, an I follow on behind. I’ll catch him up. I always do.

Always have.

'I’ll find you. Wherever they take you, I swear I’ll find you.'

I walk faster.

Mid-afternoon. Second day on the road.

I hafta stop myself from screamin. From walkin fast. Gallopin on ahead.

Penny Rose.

We couldn’t be goin much slower an it’s all her fault. I wanna leave her by the side of the track an ferget she ever got born. I wish she’d disappear offa the face of th’earth. But I cain’t wish that. I mustn’t wish that. It’s too wicked. She’s my own flesh an blood, the same as Sun.

Not the same as Sun.

Nopony’s the same as Sun.

Never the same as Sun.

We leave a thin stand of near-dead pine trees. The hoofprints leave the trackway here. They head off due north.
"Wait here," I says to Penny.

I follow the prints till the hard baked ground turns to scrubby grass. The prints disappear. I shade my eyes. Stare out. There’s a narrow belt of scrub grassland but after that I cain’t see nuthin but wideness. Flatness. Desert. I ain’t never bin here but I know what it is.

Sandsea.

A mean, death-dry place of winds an shiftin sand dunes. A hard land. A land of secrets.

Before Penny, when Ma was still alive an everythin was happy, Pa used to tell Sun an me stories about Wrecker times. Some of ’em was about Sandsea. He told us about whole settlements of ponies buried by wanderin dunes. Then, one day, the winds ’ud shift an the dune ’ud move on an all that ’ud be left was the shanties. No ponies. All gone. Not a trace of ’em left behind, not even bones. Only their dead souls, turned into sand spirits that wail in the night an cry fer their lost lives. Pa used to say he’d take us there an leave us if we warn’t good.

I pile up some rocks. A cairn to mark the spot so’s I can find it agin. I walk back to the trackway. Pen sits in the dust, her head bowed. She’s keepin her hoofs offa the ground.

"We gotta keep movin," I says.

I look down. At her short, fine red an pink mane that grows in tufts. With her thin little neck, scrawney wings, an wisps of mane, Penny Rose looks more like a babby bird than a pony.

It’s a wonder I didn’t break her neck when I slapped her. Jest thinkin about it makes me feel sick, so I try not to. I know fer a fact that Pen ain’t never in her life bin slapped before I raised my hand to her. Sun would never of done it, no matter what. Never. He’d be madder’n hell if he knew what I done.

I crouch down beside her. "What’s the matter?" I says.

Then I see the bottoms of her hoofs. They’re cut an bloody . She ain’t used to walkin so far, so her hoofs are soft'n tender, not tough like mine. They must hurt like nopony’s business, but she ain’t made a peep.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" I says.

"I didn’t want you to yell at me," she says.

I look at her, her face so small an thin. I hear Sun’s voice in my head. 'She’s only nine, Moon. You might try bein nice to her fer a change.'

"You should of said somethin," I says. I wash her cuts an wrap her hoofs in clean strips of cloth. "All right," I says, "climb on my back."

I help her upas best I can with magic . I carry her as much as I can fer the rest of the day, but even a scrawny nine year old filly gits heavy. I’m carryin our saddlebags too so I hafta put her down from time to time. She ends up havin to walk a fair bit.

She weeps quietly in the night. My heart pinches at the sound. I reach out an touch her shoulder but she flings my hoof off an turns away.

"I hate you!" she cries. "I wish they’d killed you instead of Pa!"

After that, I pull my cloak over my head so’s I cain’t hear her cryin.

We gotta keep on.

I gotta find Sun.

Third day. Dawn.

I clean Penny’s hoofs agin an we set off. She takes two tiny steps an falls to the ground. She won’t be doin no walkin today. I guess I ain’t surprised. I pick her up an lay her down on a grassy patch in some shade. I run my hoof through my mane. Glare at the sky. I wanna scream or run around or … anythin to git rid of all the tightness inside of me. I kick the ground so hard it hurts. I curse mightily.

"I’m sorry, Moon," Penny whispers.

I try to smile, make it look like I don’t care, but I cain’t manage it. I turn my head away from her. It ain’t yer fault, I says. I’ll sort somethin out. I spend the rest of the mornin makin a dragger. I cut two of the springiest, strongest tree branches I can find. I lay ’em out on the ground an brace ’em crosswise with smaller branches to make it good an sturdy fer Pen to lie on. I lash it all together with nettlecord rope. Then I make a yoke to go over my shoulders an pad it with a spare cloak.
It’s ready by the middle of th’afternoon. I tie Penny an our saddlebags onto it. I put on the yoke an then I start pullin. The dragger bumps an thumps over the ground, but Penny don’t complain or whimper or cry. She don’t make a sound. The sun beats down. It’s merciless. Cruel. It makes me think cruel thoughts. Like:

Why couldn’t they of killed Penny, instead of Pa?

Why couldn’t they of took Penny, instead of Sun?

Penny ain’t no use to nobody. Never was. Never will be.

She’s slowin me down. Makin me lose time.

My brain whispers. My heart whispers. My bones whisper.

Leave her … leave her … walk away an leave her. What … to die? Don’t even think about it … she don’t matter … what matters is Sun … go back to the cairn … head out about it … she don’t matter … what matters is Sun … go back to the cairn … head out across Sandsea … that’s the way they went … you could be there in a couple of hours or so if you walked fast ... go, go now …

I give myself a shake. Shut my ears to the whisperin. I cain’t leave Penny. I gotta take her to Crosscreek to stay with Mercy.
Sun said I had to keep her safe. When I find him, I gotta be able to tell him that she’s okay. That I looked after her as good as him. As I pull the dragger behind me, I wonder where he is. If he’s afeared. If he misses me like I miss him.
My missin him makes my whole body ache. It’s like … emptiness. Emptiness that’s beside me, inside me an around me, all the places where Sun used to be. I ain’t never bin without him. Not fer a single moment from the day we was born. From before we was born.
If they touch him, if they hurt him, I’ll kill ’em. Even if they don’t, I might kill ’em anyways, as punishment fer takin him.
My shoulders ache. My hurt leg throbs. The sun beats down. I grit my teeth an make myself go faster.

Why don’t Penny cry? Why don’t she whine?

I wish she would. Then I could yell at her.

Then I could hate her.

I push the mean thoughts away, deep inside to the darkest places of me, where
nobody can see.

An Penny don’t cry. Not even once.

Fifth day. Midnight.

We lie on the ground, in a hollow beside the trackway. We’re wrapped in our dogskin cloaks. Penny’s tucked herself into one side of me. Nero’s huddled on th’other side, fast to sleep, his head tucked unner his wing.
It’s a warm spring night. A soft breeze lifts the mane on my forehead. In the distance, a wolfdog howls an another answers. They’re a long ways off. Naught to worry about.
I stare up at the sky. At the thousands an millions of stars that crowd the night. I look fer the Great Bear. The Little Bear. The Dragon. The Manticore. The North Star.
I think about Pa. About what he told us. That our destiny, the story of our lives is written in the stars. An that he knew how to read ’em.
An then I think about what Sun said.

'Ain’t you figgered it out yet? It’s all in his head. There ain’t nuthin written in the stars. There ain’t no great plan. The world goes on. Our lives jest go on … in this gawdfersaken place. An that’s it. Till the day we die.'

I think of Pa layin out his stick circles an doin his spells an his chants, tryin to make the rain come. How he kept sayin he read it in the stars, that the stars said the rain was comin an how the rain never did come. Well, not till after Pa was dead. Not till it was too late. That means eether Pa was readin the stars wrong or the stars was tellin him lies.
Or maybe the truth is this. That Pa couldn’t read the stars because there ain’t nuthin there to read. An all his spells an chants was jest him bein so desperate fer rain that he’d try any old thing, no matter how crazy.

I used to like lookin at the night sky. Liked to think how one day Pa might teach me to read what the stars had to say. Now they jest look cold an far away.

I shiver.

I reckon Sun’s right. He always is.

There ain’t nuthin written in the stars.

They’re jest lights in the sky. To show you the way in the dark.

But...

Pa knew about the ponies. Knew they’d come fer Sun. Before I told him.

Are they here? Have they come? They cain’t be stopped, Moon. It’s begun.

An he knew he was gonna die. Knew his story was about to end.

My time’s nearly up. I dunno what happens after this.

If Pa couldn’t read the stars, if the stars ain’t got nuthin to say, how did he know all that?

How did he know?

Crosscreek

View Online

Sixth day. Late afternoon.

A breeze whispers by an, somewhere above my head, there’s a flurry of dry clicks. I stop. I look up. Three wolfdog-bones hung together, high in a tree. I hear Pa’s voice in my head.

"After three days, the trackway’ll take you through a deep pine forest. Keep yer eyes peeled. When you see the windchimes in the tree you know you reached Crosscreek."

Without the breeze, I would of missed ’em. I lick my parched lips. "Penny," I says. "The windchimes. We’re here."

I ain’t never bin so glad to be anywhere in my life. Since yesterday noon, every waterhole an every streamlet along the way’s eether bin dry or a deathwater covered in slimy yellow bloom. An we had our last meal yesterday mornin. We couldn’t of gone on much longer.

"Is this Crosscreek?" says Penny.

I set down the dragger fer the last time. I close my eyes, stand there fer a moment. My body’s so sore an stiff an bone-tired I
wish I never had to move it agin. I never thought I’d be haulin Penny Rose an the saddlebags fer three days straight. An Pen’s covered in bruises from head to hoof, so she ain’t ezzackly got off light. I unstrap her from the dragger an help her to stand.

I go to pick her up but she says, "No. I’m gonna walk."

"You sure?" I says. She nods. I carry our saddlebags. Shove the dragger deep into the bushes where it cain’t be seen. Leave the track. Follow the trail down the hill into the dell. It ain’t hardly what I call a trail. If you didn’t know it was here, you’d never know it was. We weave our way through the trees. Pine needles soften our way, give off their warm scent as we crush ’em unnerhoof. Nero flits from branch to branch over our heads. He caws, all excited, tellin us to hurry.
The ground starts to slope down. It gits steeper. Then steeper still. The goin gits harder with the pine needles makin it all slippy. I take hold of Penny’s wing so she don’t fall. We gotta slide on our rumps some times an other times go down sidewise. We go on an on.
Then. Cookin smells tickle my nose. Meat. My mouth waters.

"Is that stew?" says Penny.

"I sure hope so," I says.

At last we’re at the bottom of the hill. We step outta the forest into the open an we’re in another world.
We’re in the dell that Pa told us about, at the bottom of a small river valley. Straight ahead of us, the land rises in a gentle slope. Two streams trickle down from the top. Near the bottom, they join to make one narrow little stream. Crosscreek. It winds an sparkles its way along the valley floor.
There’s a flat bridge spans the creek an there, on the far bank, shaded by pine trees,
sits a small wooden shack. Mercy’s cabin. A red bench stands next to the open door. A cookin pot hangs over a fire.
There ain’t no sound but the soft murmur of shallow water over stones. It’s like the whole place is sleepin, quiet as a cat in the afternoon sun.
I ain’t never seen such a place. Never even imagined there could be somewhere like it on this earth. Tears spring to my eyes. Pa never said it was like this. He never told us. But he knew this place was here. He knew an he kept us by a dyin lake all these years, with food gittin scarcer an life gittin harder an all this only a few days’ walk. I don’t unnerstand. Why didn’t he bring us here? I guess Sun was right. Pa didn’t care about us, didn’t care about what happened to none of us.
I move like I’m in a dream, walkin slowly.
If Mercy ain’t there, sit on the red bench by the door an listen to the creek while you wait. She won’t be long. She ain’t never far away.
I cross the bridge, drop the saddlebags. I unfasten my cloak an let it drop to the ground. I walk into the creek. It’s ankle deep. I kneel an scoop up some water. Clean. Cool. Beautiful. I drink. I splash it over my face, my neck, my head.
Then I lie down. I lie on my back an let the water flow around me.
I close my eyes.

"It ain’t every day I find somebody asleep in my creek," the voice says.

I open my eyes. A face hangin above me. The wrong way around. I blink. I feel slow. Stupid. Must of fell to sleep fer a second or two.

"Are you upside down," I says, "or is it me?"

"I guess that depends on your point of view."

A hairy dog face lunges at me. A long pink tongue slops at my face.

"Hey!" I says.

"Tracker! Down, boy!" A strong hoof reaches out. I take it an it pulls me to my hoofs. As I stand, water pours offa my hair, my clothes.

It’s a earth pony mare. Standin in the stream. Tall. Lean. Moss green fur. Lined face with shrewd
brown eyes. Sharp cheekbones. White mane cropped close to her head. Longer white tail. Nine year ago, it was beutiful green an shiny an down to her knees. A blue-eyed wolfdog with one droopy ear leans aginst her side.

"I nearly missed the windchimes," I says. "You sure do make it hard to find you."

"I like to keep the riff raff away," she says. She touches a hoof to my birthmoon tattoo.

"Moon by Silverlake." Her mouth crooks up at one corner. "You’ve grown some since I last saw you. I’m Mercy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A bit more, Penny?" says Mercy.

"Mmuh huh!" Penny shovels a last spoonful into her mouth that’s already full. She holds her bowl out.

"Didn’t your pa ever teach you manners?" says Mercy.

"Penny," I frown at her. "Yer s’posed to say please."

Penny Rose chews, gulps, chews some more. "Oh," she mumbles. "Yes please. More please."

"She eats like a jackal," I says. "Pa let her run wild."

"Filly’s on the skinny side of scrawny," says Mercy. "An if you don’t mind my sayin, you could do with a bit more meat on you too. Times tough at Silverlake?"

I frown. "No," I says.

"You like a bit more to eat yourself?"

I shove my empty bowl at her. She looks at me with one raised eyebrow.

"Uh … yes please," I says.

We’re sat outside to eat. Me an Mercy on the red bench, Penny on the front step. Nero gobbled his lot down an now he’s perched on the cabin roof, havin a good preen.

"Bring your bowls," says Mercy. "I ain’t no servant."

She limps over to the cookin fire an Pen an me follow behind with our bowls. She gives the pot a stir an ladles out seconds of the rabbit an root stew. I follow her back to the bench, stuffin mine down as I go. We sit an I nod at her hind hood.

"What’d you do there?" I says, my mouth full.

"Broke my ankle, oh … over a year ago now. Had to set it myself of course an did a bugger of a job … well … as you can see."

"How d’you manage by yerself?"

She shrugs. "I just do. Ain’t got no choice."

"Must be hard," I says. "Yer pretty old."

She gives me a hard look. "An you’re pretty rude," she says. "Anypony ever tell you that?"

I feel myself flush red. Go all skin prickly.

"I tell her all the time," says Penny. "But she don’t pay no notice. Sun’s the nice one. You’d like him."

"Shut yer trap, Pen," I says. "Look. We came here … we didn’t jest come to tell you about Pa an Sun."

"I didn’t think you did," says Mercy.

There’s a basin of clean water between us. She pours in a tincture from a little brown glass bottle, dips a cloth in an starts cleanin my sore leg.

"I’m goin after Sun," I says. "I’m gonna git him back. I aim to set off in the mornin. I’m gonna leave Penny here with you."

"I see," she says. Looks at me. Like she’s waitin fer more.

"Pa always said if anythin ever happened to him, we should come to you," I says.

"Oh he did, did he?" Mercy shakes her head. "I don’t know about that.… Tracker an me’s set in our ways. We ain’t used to company."

"But you was Ma’s friend," I says. "Please, Mercy. Yer th’only one can help."

She don’t answer fer a long moment. Then she sighs. "She’ll have to work for her keep," she says.

"She’ll work," I says.

"An what does she have to say about it?" says Mercy. "Penny?"

Penny Rose don’t say naught. She crouches over her bowl, her head down, eatin slowly. I know she’s listenin.

"Stop playin deaf, Pen," I says. "Mercy says are you happy to stay here an help her out while I go find Sun?"

Penny lifts a blank face. Shrugs. She drops her head over her bowl agin.

I shake my head. "She’ll come round," I says.

"I hope so," says Mercy.

"She won’t give you no trouble," I says. "I promise."

"What was our ma like?" says Penny.

Tracker’s got his head laid in Mercy’s lap. She rubs behind his ears an his eyes close in bliss. Nero dozes, huddled on my shoulder.

"Of course," Mercy says, "you never knew her. But Moon must remember."

"Not so much," I says." Not no more. It’s like … she’s faded."

"She laughed more’n anyone I ever met," says Mercy. "There ain’t a lot to laugh about in this life, but Glimmer always found somethin. I think that’s why Comet, why your pa, loved her so."

"Sun’s like that," I says. "He takes after Ma. Pa never laughed after Ma died. Not that I can remember anyways."
"No," says Mercy. "I don’t suppose he did."

We’re quiet fer a bit. Then, "It’s my fault she’s dead," says Penny. She’s bin drawin in the dirt with a stick an now she pushes at it hard. It snaps in half.

Mercy looks at me with her keen eyes. I look away. "Well, foal birthin’s a dangerous thing," says Mercy. "An you arrived a month early. I’ll tell you somethin, sometimes I think it was my fault."

"Yer fault?" says Penny, lookin surprised.

"Yes," says Mercy. "I was all set to come an help. It was planned. I was gonna be there two weeks before you was due an help with the birthin, just like I did with Moon an Sun. Sometimes I think, if only I’d come earlier, if only I’d been there, maybe Glimmer would have lived. But you cain’t think like that. If you do, you’ll make yourself crazy. I did get there in time to help keep you alive, red little scrap that you were, an I comfort myself with that. With the thought that Glimmer might be gone, but her daughter lives. I see her in you."

"You do?" says Pen, her eyes wide.

"I most surely do. Except for the eyes an mane, you favor your pa there, but you’re like her here. An here." Mercy touches her heart, then her head. "I can see it. Would you like to know somethin else?"

"Yes," says Penny.

"Your ma wanted you so much," says Mercy. "She couldn't of been happier when she found out you was comin … her an your pa."
"I never knew that," whispers Pen.

"Well," says Mercy, "now you do. An I know she’d be proud that you turned out so fine."

Penny looks at me an then quickly looks down at the ground agin.

I always blamed Penny fer the fact that Ma’s dead. I never made no secret of it. Now, hearin what Mercy says, I start to think about the fact that nobody asks to be born into this world. An nobody can stop theirselves bein born. Not even Penny.

"Babies keep their own time," says Mercy. She takes Emmi’s hoof. "It ain’t no one’s fault your ma died. There ain’t no one to blame."

"Pa said it was writ in the stars," says Penny.

"Oh child," says Mercy, "there ain’t no plan written in the sky. Some ponies just die too soon."

"But Pa was a star reader," I says. "He always told us how everythin was set in the stars the moment the world began. The story of everybody’s life is right up there."

"That’s where Comet an me fell out," she says. "Why we didn’t all stick together when we left Hopetown. He looked to the sky for answers. I look at what’s in front of me, what’s around me, what’s inside of me."

"Sun thinks it’s all jest somethin Pa made up in his head," I says.

"An what do you think, Moon?" she says.

"Moon always thinks what Sun tells her to," says Penny.

"I do not!" I says.

"Yes you do," she says.

"Well," says Mercy, "maybe it’s time you started makin up your own mind about things. As far as I’m concerned, stars is just … stars." She tips her head back. She stares at the sky so long, it’s almost like she’s up there with the stars an the moon an the planets, like she’s fergot we’re here. I clear my throat. She gives a start. Smiles at us. "Of course," she says, "there’s always a chance I could be wrong."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took ages to git Penny to lie down inside on Mercy’s cot, even though she was pretty much to sleep on her feet. Mercy’s laid on the red bench. Tracker’s stretched out nearby. I sit by the fire. Poke at the embers with a stick.

"Why didn’t Pa bring us here?" I says. I keep my voice low, so’s Penny don’t wake.

Mercy says, "So things really was bad at Silverlake."

"Yeah," I says. "An gittin worse all the time."

"I asked him to come," she says. "After Glimmer died. I might not be the most sociable person, but I’d never turn away a friend in need. There would of been room here for all of you. We could of rubbed along all right. But he wouldn’t hear of it. Told me he didn’t want my help."

I says, "Sun thinks he wouldn’t leave Silverlake because of Ma."

Mercy sighs. "That’s partly true," she says. "But there was more to it than that. He thought you’d be safe there. They both did."

"Safe?" I says. "Safe from what?"

Mercy says naught fer a moment, thinkin. "You know nuthin of the world," she says at last. "It’s a hard place. A dangerous place. Your ma an pa knew somethin of it. Enough to make em settle so far out of the way at Silverlake. Not many passersby. No neighbors. Like here at Crosscreek."

I think about how hidden away Mercy is here. No trail from the trackway, no way of knowin where to turn off if you didn’t know about the windchimes high in the tree. "Are you … hidin from somepony, Mercy?" I says.

"I wouldn’t say hidin," she says. "More like … keepin out of the way."

I frown. "Outta the way of what? Is that why Pa kept us at Silverlake? To keep us outta the way?"

"He meant to," says Mercy. "It didn’t turn out that way, though, did it?"

Somethin in her voice, in the way she says it makes me go all still inside. I stand up, my ears back. "know somethin?" I says. "About who took Sun?"

"I don’t know," she says. "I …"

"Tell me!"

She glances at the cabin where Penny lies sleepin. "Let’s walk," she says. Tracker starts to git up. Mercy raises a hoof. "Stay boy," she says an he lays hisself back down with a sigh.
I follow her over the bridge an into the meadow. We keep to the creek bank an head on up the little valley. The moon lights us a silver path. The creek sparkles an murmurs over the stones. I breathe in the sharp, sweet air of the night.

"Tell me what happened that day," Mercy says. "Tell me everythin. Don’t leave anythin out, no matter if you think it’s important or not."

So I do. I tell her what happened that day. From Sun an me goin to the landfill at dawn to Sun shoutin at Pa an then the duststorm an the four strange stallions an the cart showin up with Dusty Tune.

"Four of ’em," she says. "Dressed how?"

"In long black robes," I says, "with … like, heavy leather vests over top, an leather bands on their legs."

"Body armor," she says. "It sounds like the Tonton."

"The … what?" I says.

"The Tonton," she says. "They’re … well … they’re all kinds of things—couriers, spies, informers, bodyguards. Sometimes even executioners."

"What?" I says. "I dunno what yer talkin about. How d’you know about these … Tonton?"

"Your ma an pa wasn’t always at Silverlake, Moon. An I wasn’t always here at Crosscreek. We came to know each other at a place called Hopetown."

"I ain’t never heard of it," I says.

"It’s a town," she says. "If you’re lucky, a week’s hard walkin’ll get you there. That’s if you’re lucky. You have to cross Sandsea an it don’t welcome nobody."

"Sandsea," I says. "Pa used to tell us stories about it. The ponies … the Tonton … headed across there with Sun. Their prints turned north off the trackway. D’you think they took him to Hopetown?"

"They might have done," she says. "Hopetown’s where the scum of the earth wash up. Every robber, every cheat, every lowlife who’d stab you for lookin at him the wrong way … they all find their way there eventually. It’s run by bad ponies for their own ends. An they got the Tonton to keep all the scum in check. They control the place with violence an somethin called chaal."

"That’s them leafs Dusty Tune used to chew," I says. "Pa told us never to touch it."

"He was right," she says. "Chaal slows you down. Makes you think you’re smart when you ain’t. Too much of it an you get all hopped up, go wild. Glimmer an Comet an me, we weren’t there for long. We saw what the place was like an got outta there before it could suck us under. We got as far away as we could. We never wanted to hear of chaal or Hopetown again."

"But why would the … Tonton take Sun?" I says.

"Tell me more about that day," she says.

"They came lookin fer him," I says. "One of ’em said to Dusty Tune, “Is this him? Is he the one born at midwinter?” Then they asked Sun the same thing an they checked that he was eighteen. Dusty Tune says to ’em, “I told you he was the right one.” So … they knew all about Sun. They came to find him."

Mercy don’t say naught. Jest stares up at the night sky.

"But how could they know about him?" I says. "An what’s so important about him bein midwinter born? We’re twins. Why didn’t they take me too?"

"I don’t know," she says. "But let’s think it through."

We’re both quiet fer a bit. Then she says, "Maybe they didn’t want a girl. Maybe they wanted a boy. A boy born at midwinter eighteen year ago."

"But why?" I says. "An how did they know where to find him? Like you said, Silverlake’s nowhere. Besides you an us, nopony’s ever bin there essept the rag stallion an Dusty Tune. Pa told us so."

"Your father lied," says Mercy.

"Pa lied?" I says.

"Maybe that ain’t fair," she says. "Maybe lied’s the wrong word. Maybe he just … didn’t remember."

"All right," I says. "So?"

"You know I was there when your ma birthed you an Sun."

"Uh huh," I says.

"Well … I wasn’t th’only one."

"Somepony else was there? Who?"

"A stallion," she says. "A stranger. He stopped at Silverlake, two days before you was born. Didn’t say much. Didn’t say where he was from or where he was headed. An he sure didn’t have nuthin. He was half-starved, with a ratty cloak on his back. Said his name was Trask, but who knows if that was true? Commet was wary of him, but he seemed harmless enough so they fed him an even gave him one of Comets’s old cloaks."

"An he was there when we was born," I says.

"Not you," she says. "He’d left by then. You was born two hours after Sun, remember. It was odd. There was Sun, yellin an kickin to let us know he’d arrived in the world, an right away, Trask got all excited. He kept sayin a colt born at midwinter’s a rare thing, a wonderful thing. An he went on repeatin it. Like it was important somehow. Then, when I looked for him a little while later, he was gone. Didn’t even say goodbye. Funny, but I’d forgot about him till now."

"Why didn’t Pa tell us?" I says.

"Maybe he forgot," she says, "like me. It didn’t seem terribly important. We thought he was just some crazy travelin stallion."

"So d’you think Trask’s one of the ponies who took Sun?" I says. "One of the Tonton?"

"Oh no, he’d be too old. The Tonton are ponies in their prime. Trask must of had at least forty year on him an that was eighteen year ago."

"He must of told somepony else about Sun," I says.

"It seems that way," she says. "What about your neighbor? Dusty Tune?"

I frown. I got somethin dancin at the edges of my mind, somethin I cain’t quite git hold of. Then, "Now I remember!" I says. "He said somethin strange … he said to the ponies, I should know how old he is, I bin keepin a eye on him all this time
like you told me to."

Mercy lets out a long breath. "A spy," she says. "The Tonton had him watchin over Sun. Probly kept him in line with chaal an threats."

"So Trask must of told the Tonton," I says. "But I don’t unnerstand why it had to be Sun they took. Why they waited till he was eighteen."

"I don’t understand it myself," she says. "But if you find that out, you may well find your brother."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawn’s breakin as I step outside the cabin.

"I wish you’d let me give you more," says Mercy. "A bit of jerky an dried yam ain’t gonna last you longer’n a few days."

"Yer stores ain’t ezzackly overflowin," I says. "An, thanks to us, you got two mouths to feed now."

"I’ll take care of the child just fine," she says.

"An I’ll take care of myself," I says. "I got plenty of water. As fer the rest—I pat my bow —I got this."

"If you’re sure," she says.

"Don’t worry."

Mercy puts her arm around Penny. "What say we walk Moon across the meadow? See her on her way?"

Penny Rose shrugs. Fiddles with her peg doll. "If you like," she says.

I know I ain’t Pen’s favorite person, leavin her here with Mercy, but at least she don’t seem so hostile today. Any road, she’ll git used to it soon enough. An she’ll be safe here with Mercy an Tracker. Might even have a bit of fun fer once, splashin
around in the creek an explorin the forest. A filly oughta have a bit of fun. They walk me across the bridge. Nero flies on ahead, chased by Tracker. The long meadow grass swishes aginst our legs. I stop. I turn back. Take a last look at this peaceful green valley with its clear water an sweet air. My chest’s gone all tight. Tears spring to my eyes. I cain’t do it. I won’t be able to find him. I cain’t do it alone.

"Moon?" Mercy touches me gently on the arm.

I suck in a couple of deep breaths. I curse my own weakness. Swipe at my eyes. Sun’s countin on me. Only me.

'They’re gonna need you, Moon. Sun an Penny Rose. An there’ll be others too. Many others. Don’t give in to fear. Be strong, like I know you are.'

'I ain’t no quitter, Pa.'

"What is it, Moon?" Penny says.

I turn around. "Nuthin," I says.

"I got somethin to give you," says Mercy. "Hold out your hoof."

I do. She puts somethin in it.

"What is it?" says Penny.

I look in my hoof. A rosy pink stone nestles there. Smooth, shaped almost like a heart, a bit smaller than Nero's head. It feels cool. Cold even. It’s threaded on a leather string to wear around the neck. I hold it up an the light gleams through it, milky an dull.

"It’s pretty," says Penny.

"It’s a heartstone," says Mercy. She lifts it over my head. "Your mother gave it to me, an now I’m givin it to you."

I touch it. A gift from my mother. I ain’t never had nuthin that belonged to her.

"What’s a heartstone?" says Penny.

"It lets you know when you’ve found your heart’s desire," says Mercy.

"How does it do that?" Penny frowns.

"D’you feel how cold it is now? Even though it’s next to Moon’s coat?"

"Uh huh," she says, touchin it.

"A normal stone ’ud warm up next to your body. Not this one. It stays cold until you get close to your heart’s desire. Then the stone becomes warm. The closer you get to your heart’s desire, the hotter the stone burns. An that’s how you know. It does it without no unicorn magic either."

I frown. "I didn’t think you’d believe in that kinda thing," I says.

"I don’t," says Mercy, "not really, but your mother did. She said it showed her the way to Comet, to your father. So she gave it to me. Said she hoped it would show me my own heart’s desire."

"An did it?" I says.

"Well," says Mercy, "I found this valley. I guess you could say it’s my heart’s desire."

"But did the heartstone turn warm?" I says.

Mercy don’t answer fer a moment. Then she says, "It’s a long time ago now. I don’t remember."

I look at her. I cain’t tell if she’s lyin or not.

"Why’re you givin it to Moon?" says Penny.

"Glimmer always said you don’t own a heartstone," says Mercy, "you just become its keeper for a time. Once you have your heart’s desire, you pass it on to someone else. Someone who needs its help."

"I don’t need no help," I says. "I already know what my heart’s desire is. It’s to find Sun an git him back."

"I’m sure you’re right," says Mercy. "Anyways, whether you believe it or not, it’s nice for you to have somethin that belonged to your mother. That meant somethin to her."

"Thanks," I says. "I mean, fer this an … well, everythin. I better git goin."

"When you get to Hopetown, don’t start askin questions," she says. "You’ll only draw attention to yourself an that means trouble. Be on your guard. Don’t trust anybody."

"I can take care of myself," I says.

"An Moon … take care crossin Sandsea. It’s one of the wild places. Listen to the winds." She hugs me fiercely. "I wish you’d take my advice an travel by night."

I look at Pen. She stares at the ground.

"We’ll be back before you know it," I says. "Me an Sun."

I reach out to mess her mane an she ducks away. "Well, I says. Best be on my way."

I put on my saddlebags an start walkin. I ain’t gone more’n ten paces before I hear, "Moon!"

Penny runs up an flings her arms around my neck, clings on tight. "Hurry back!" she says.

"You be a good filly fer Mercy," I says. "I’m countin on you."

I step away.

"Bye, Pen," I says.

"G’bye, Moon," she says.

When I reach the woods, the second I’m outta sight, I take the heartstone from around my neck an stuff it in my bag. I know what my heart’s desire is. I don’t need no stone to tell me when I’ve found it

Sandsea

View Online

Another dawn.

I bin travelin fast. Almost gallopin at times. Since I left Crosscreek yesterday mornin, I bin so anxious to make up fer lost time that I kept goin all day an all through last night, only stoppin to sleep fer a couple hours. I don’t feel tired. Not at all. I wish I never had to sleep agin. Not till I find Sun anyways. Here’s my cairn. The marker I left to remind me where the hoofprints end. My heart lifts. Deep down inside, I was afeared it wouldn’t be here. That I’d only dreamed I left it here to guide me.
The hoofprints is still here. The last trace of Sun. If no rain comes to wash ’em away, it’ll be a long time till the wind wears ’em down an they disappear. Maybe they’ll still be here when I come back with him.

I dump my stuff on the ground—saddlebags, crossbow, quiver. Nero’s bin flyin the last little while, swoopin an divin at me fer fun. Now he flaps down to have a rest on top of the gear. I ease my shoulders while I uncap my waterskin an take a long swig. I pour a little water in my eatin tin an put it on the ground fer Nero. I look out across the wide open desert. Sandsea. It stretches ahead as far as I can see. No trees, no hills, nuthin but flat dry land fer days. The moment I step past this pile of
rocks, I’m in a unknown world. Hopetown lies due north, at the foot of the Black Mountains accordin to Mercy. If I’m lucky, I’ll be there in a week. A week, she said. If I’m lucky.
Before I know what it’s up to, my hoof slides into my bag. It finds the heartstone an pulls it out. I place my other hoof over its coolness, rub its smoothness. My heart’s desire. As if a bit of rock could tell me that. I shake my head. If Sun was here, him an me ’ud laugh about it. I shove it deep in my my bag an swing my gear onto my back.

"Let’s go," I says to Nero. I step past the cairn. One step closer to Sun. I don’t look back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s a Wrecker settlement. Jest like the places in Pa’s scare stories. Settlements swallowed by wanderin sand dunes, great waves of sand that ’ud cover places in minutes. Then, months or sometimes years later, the sands ’ud move on, an the
place ’ud still be there. There’s twelve metal shanties still standin here. Also a couple of rusty cars an carts, a wind pointer an some other crappy lookin Wrecker junk piled up. A dry, mean, pinched kinda place. But it ain’t none of it bin scavenged. If it had of, there’d be no doors or walls or anythin left on the shanties an they’re all still here, jest bent an twisted, probly
by the weight of the sand. No scavengers means it ain’t bin free of the sands fer long. Strange to think that if I’d passed here last week or yesterday or even a couple of hours ago, this might all still be buried outta sight. I could of walked right over it an never known.
I walk through slowly, Nero ridin on my back. I keep a eye open. You always gotta keep a eye open. You never know when you’ll come across somethin you can use. But I ain’t inclined to take nuthin away from this place. It creeps me out.
There’s a well. Water’s probly bad, it mostly is in these old Wrecker wells, but in desertland you cain’t afford not to check it out. I start to lift the rusted cover with magic when I see the faint markins on it. A pony skull an crossbones. Deathwater. I drop the cover with a clatter.
It sounds so loud in the silence it makes me jump. Nero flaps off in a panic.
Then I see ’em. Three rows of crosses stuck in the sand. The wood bleached silver by the sun, worn away, some to little stumps. The crosspiece of one hangs down, ready to fall.
A wily wind sweeps through, bent on makin mischief. It swirls sand around my feet, tosses it in my eyes an makes ’em sting. It moans, deep inside the well. Rattles at the doors of the shanties. Like somepony might open up and invite it in.
The loose crosspiece lifts on the wind. Drops silently to the ground. Blows away.
Deathwater. Shiftin sands.
Poor bastards.
Livin here.
Dyin here.
As I’m leavin the settlement, Nero swoops down at somethin on the ground. Starts to make the most almighty racket, shriekin an squawkin an flappin all over the place. I hurry over to see what’s causin such a fuss.

"What is it now, you crazy bird?" I says.

He’s got a little ring of smooth green glass in his beak. My heart stops.

"Ohmigawd," I says. "I drop to my knees beside him. Hold out my hoof. He places the ring on it. Gently. It’s Sun’s. From the necklace I made him fer our birthday. It’s still threaded onto a short piece of the leather string, snapped at both ends. He must of yanked it from his neck when they warn’t lookin.

Nero croaks.

"I know," I says. "He’s leavin a trail fer us to follow."

'I’ll find you. Wherever they take you, I swear I’ll find you.'

'You cain’t, it’s too dangerous. You gotta keep yerself safe. You an Penny. Promise me
you will.'

He knows me. He knew I’d come after him.

"We’re on the right track," I says. I scoop Nero up with magic an kiss his head. He smells of dusty warm feathers. "Yer the smartest bird ever lived. You know that, don’t you?"

He gives the little chuck chuck chuck that means he’s pleased with hisself. Then he squirms fer me to let him go. Nero ain’t much of a one fer magic an such.
The wind starts howlin at me to move on, liftin up handfuls of desert an throwin it at my face.

"Time to move," I says.

When I’ve gone half a league or so, I turn an look back. The settlement’s gone. Vanished. Swallowed by the sands once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I see the tabletop plateau in the far distance around mid mornin. Dusty red rock, high an bare of trees. From the top of it, there should be a clear view in every direction. Maybe I’ll even be able to see Hopetown and the Black Mountains from there.
Nero Flies to the top of the plateau an down agin, tryin to hurry me along. He cain’t ever believe how slow I am, how long it takes me to git places. I think he feels sorry fer me with my four legs an no wings.
I reach the plateau as the day starts to wane. I start to make my way to the top, weavin my way around rocks an over scree. Nero goes on ahead, hoppin from rock to rock nice an easy, then comin back to croak an caw at me to hurry along.

"Show off," I says to him.

I pull myself the last bit an flop on my belly onto the top. I git my breath, then stand up. It’s narrower than I thought it ’ud be, no more’n fifty paces across at the widest point. I’m on th’other side in no time. I gasp.
As far as the eye can see, to the horizon an beyond, it’s sand. Great crests of it, great sweeps of golden sand carved into waves an hills an peaks an valleys. Smooth on one side, ridged on th’other side. Vast. Endless. No sign of any town. No sign of any mountains.
I cain’t believe it. I thought I’d bin crossin Sandsea fer two days. But what I jest done was nuthin. That was only the beginnin. Here. Now. This is where the crossin starts.
My heart sinks into my hoofs. My belly clenches. I lick my dry lips. Nero flutters down an lands on my head.

"It’s big, real big" I says. "Whaddya think Nero?"

He croaks an bobs up an down.

"No problem, eh? Easy fer you to say." I look out over Sandsea agin. "It’s too big," I says. "Too damn big."

'Don’t give in to fear, Saba. Be strong, like I know you are.'

'I ain’t no quitter, Pa.'

If I’m careful, what water an food I got should last me another three days. After that, I got my bow an my wits.
Nero launches hisself over the edge of the plateau. He soars above the desert floor an caws, impatient fer me to git movin.

"Okay," I says. "I’m comin. You better be right about this."

An I start down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dusk. I’ll need to stop soon to make camp fer the night. All of a sudden, the wind picks up. It comes outta nowhere, wailin an moanin. It plucks at the sand on the top of a nearby dune an flings it away. What was it Mercy said?

'Take care crossin Sandsea. It’s one of the wild places. Listen to the winds.'

I take another step up the dune I’m climbin. I stop. Look around me. All around, the dunes is startin to shift, change shape.

"Holy crap," I says. I get a scarf from my bag an wrap it good an tight around my nose an mouth. The wind’s growin stronger. Bolder. It tugs at me, tries to pull me over. It wants me. Sand flies in my eyes, stings ’em. My cloak whips around me an snaps in the wind.

"Nero!" I yell. "Nero! Where are you!" The words git torn from my lips. Nero swoops an dives, cawin frantically. I scream over the roar of the wind. "Git outta here! Go on! I’ll be okay!"

He disappears.

The world howls its rage around me. It’s too big. I’m too small. The sand unner my feet starts to slide, starts to shift—like it don’t want me on it no more. Panic claws at my throat. My eyes is gritty. The sand’s blindin me. It’ll make me blind.
Do somethin. Quick. I pull my sheema down over my eyes. Now I cain’t see a thing.

What should I do? What do I do?

Feel the way. Go down. An git buried alive?

Keep goin then, keep goin! An git swept away?

What should I do? What do I do?

The sand dune collapses unner me. An that’s it. No choice.

I’m swept away.

Dark.

Hot.

Cain't move.

Cain’t breathe. Oh gawd, I cain’t breathe.

Weight. On my chest.

I’m movin. Slidin. Cain’t stop. Cain’t stop.

Cain’t-breathe-must-breathe-must-breathe-cain’t-breathe-cain’t—

I’m out. I’m thrown outta the sand.

I fly through the air face first an thump down, land hard on the ground. I gasp. I breathe. I cough. I roll to my side an yank my scarf down. I cough an cough an take in great, deep gulps of air. I breathe it in, drink it in, I cain’t git enough.
Then I grab my waterskin, rinse my mouth, spit out the sand.
After a bit, I start to calm down. I lie there, starin up at the pink dusky sky. I cain’t believe I’m alive. Then I realize. I’m lookin at the sky. I can see the sky. The first faint twinkle of stars. I ain’t breathin in sand no more. The wind’s gone. It must of left as quick as it came.

Slowly I stand, pull myself to my hoofs. I brush myself down, make sure I still got all my gear. Then I look. I’m on a wide flat plain. The sand dunes is gone. Not a trace of ’em left. Like they was never there. Like I dreamed ’em.

An standin all around me is flyin machines.

Flyin machines. Flyers.

Hidden away. Sleepin unner the wanderin dunes of Sandsea fer who knows how long. Could of bin fer any amount of time—a day, a week, a year. Maybe even hunnerds of years. Maybe ever since they was left here by the Wreckers.
They’re all laid out in neat rows on the sand. Like somebody planted ’em, thinkin they might grow. They stretch out, on an on across the plain. So many rows, so many flyin machines that I couldn’t even begin to count.

I walk in between ’em.

They’re all sizes. Big, small an everythin in between. They stand quiet, patient, like they’re waitin fer somethin.
They’re all rusted, with their glass windows smashed an their tires slashed an their bodies cut up to be took away by salvagers. The holes in their sides gape open like wounds.
A flyin machine graveyard.

I know about flyers. I even seen parts of ’em before.
Once Pa brought home a curved metal sheet he picked outta the landfill that he said was most likely part of a flyer. He used it to mend our roof. But the funny thing was, not two days later a big hotwind blasted through Silverlake an that sheet jest lifted up an flew away. Like it couldn’t wait to git outta there. The rest of the roof stayed put, jest that one bit went. Pa said that proved fer sure it was from a flyer.
I stand in front of one of the biggest ones. I stretch myself to my full height an go up
on my hooftips, but I still cain’t reach the nose.
Nero appears in the darkenin sky above me. He lands on my head, flappin his wings.

"Hey Nero." I bring him down to sit on my hoof. I nuzzle his head as I walk among the sleepin metal giants. "D’you think Sun came this way? D’you think he seen these? He’d like to see a entire one close to, that’s fer sure."

I come to a small one, more pony-sized. I touch the metal with its faded paint. It feels cool. Buried in sand with no sun to warm its skin. I put my hoof on the door. If I’m respeckful, I cain’t see how it ’ud do no harm.

"Be good now," I says to Nero. "Don’t you go peckin at things."

The door creaks. Sand pours out as I pull it open an climb inside. I brush the seat clear, slide onto it an look out where the window used to be. I wonder what the world was like when this flyer was new made, so long ago. What it would of bin like to fly in one. When Sun an me was foals, Pa told us all about how the Wreckers used to go up in the sky in their flyers. They’d soar an swoop all over the place, pretendin to be birds. Sometimes, he said, there’d be hunnerds of Wreckers all piled into one big one an they’d fly around together.
Me an Sun thought that was the craziest thing we ever heard. We didn’t believe him. An when we asked Pa why they did it, he said he didn’t rightly know, they jest did, that’s all. We figgered fer definite he was tellin tall tales. But now I seen one fer
myself … well, I dunno. Maybe it could be true.

The night’s drawin in. There ain’t no wind at all now. Not even a whisper. I feel so weary. My eyelids is so heavy, I cain’t hardly keep ’em open. I slide down in the seat an curl up. Nero huddles on my chest an snugs hisself unner my chin. I might jest catch a little shut eye before I go on.

Not fer long.

Jest a few minutes.

Jest a—

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

A sound.

I’m awake. Right away. Muscles tense. Ready to move.

Nero opens one eye. I hold a hoof to my lips. He knows what that means. There it is agin. Somethin movin. Outside. Someponies out there. I set Nero down on the floor. Then I roll outta my seat an crawl towards the back end of the flyer where there’s a part of it missin. I slip outside. I land in a crouch on the ground, scramble to hide behind the back tires. It’s a bright clear night. The ponies gettin nearer, I can see their legs, or I would if they weren't obscured by a cloak. If their travlin, they must have food, an my stocks gettin pretty low. I slide Lugh’s slingshot outta my belt. Pull a good-sized stone from my bag. I move silent as a cat, slippin between the flyers. My knees is shakin. I tell myself I’m with Sun, trackin a prairie chicken.

I check there’s only one pony, that they’re headed away from me. Then I step out into the open, an magically take aim with the slingshot. I wanna stun an maybe knock him over, not kill him. I let fly. But my magic is shaky. I hit him in the leg. He yells out. I run at him. I leap at him, knock him to the ground. He goes without a fight. I git him in a headlock an he starts screamin in a high screechy voice an kickin at my legs.

An all the time I’m pullin an headlockin, I got all these thoughts runnin through my head. Like … what’s a puny weed of a fella like this doin out here on his own … what a thin little voice … sounds more like a filly than a stallion … wait a minute, who does that voice remind me of? An then his hood falls back an—

"Let go!" she shrieks. "Lemme go, you bastard!"

"Penny Rose?" I says. I don’t believe it. My heart jest about stops from shock. "Penny!" I says.

"What the—?"

I haul her up an grab her chin so’s I can see her better. It’s Emmi an no mistake. My blood boils over so fast I think the top of my head’s gonna blow right off. "What the hell're you doin here!?" I yell.

"Moon?" she says.

"Who the hell else would it be?"

"I thought you was a sand spirit, from Pa’s stories!" She points at my face. "Yer face is all white!"

I brush at my cheek. Sand. I must be all coated with sand.

"What’re you tryin to do, kill me? That hurt!" she says, rubbin at her leg where my shot hit her.

"When I git finished with you," I says, "you’ll wish I had killed you. What the hell’re you doin here?"

"I’m gonna help you find Sun!" She glares at me, with her stubborn chin. "He’s my brother too."

"Gawdsblood, Penny, I told you to—argh!" I grab my mane with a hoof. "What’ve you done? You got no idea what yer doin!"

"Neether do you!"

"Don’t you be pert with me! Did you run away from Mercy?"

"No"

"Oh, so you asked her if you could come after me an she let you?"

"No, I—oh, why don’t you jest go to hell!" She claps her hand over her mouth. Too late.

"Gawdammit, Penny, don’t you swear! Don’t you ever let me catch you swearin agin!"

"You swear all the time!"

"I do not!"

"You do too! Anyways, I’ll swear if I want!"

"Oh no you won’t! An you know what? If Mercy dies of worry about you missin, it’ll be yer fault."

"Don’t say that," she says.

"Why not? It’s the truth, she's old, she could jus keel over from the stress'n worry of you gone missin."

"Yer the meanest person I ever met! I hate you!"

"You cain’t hate me half as much as I hate you right now!"

She starts to cry. I watch her, feelin all cold inside. I’m so damn mad at her, she can cry herself to death fer all I care. Then she chokes out, "I was afeared you’d left me ferever. Jest like everybody else. Ma an Pa an Sun. I know you don’t love me, not like you love Sun, but … please don’t leave me, Moon. Please. Yer all I got."

My heart twists.

'They’re gonna need you, Moon. Sun an Penny Rose.'

I feel a heavy weight start to crush down on my chest. I try to push it off. "You cain’t come with me, I says. It’s too dangerous. You gotta go back to Crosscreek. But I ain’t got time to take you. You’ll hafta manage by yerself. You remember the way, don’t you?"

"No," she says, pouting.

"Got enough water?" I says.

She holds her waterskin upside down. "Empty."

"Food?" I says.

"I et it," she says.

"Fer pity’s sake, Pen … what did you bring?"

She pulls Fern from her bag. The little peg doll that Pa made her. I look at her. "A doll," I says. "You brought a doll."

"I left in a hurry," she says.

I close my eyes. The weight thumps down on me. "You," I says, "are completely useless."

"I am not! I found you, didn’t I?"

"Stay here," I says. "If you so much as move a ear, I’ll kill you. An wipe yer damn nose."

She wipes it on her cloak. "Are you takin me with you?" she says. "To find Sun?"

"What I’d like to do," I says, "is leave you here fer the vultures to pick over."

I collect everythin from inside the flyer—Nero, my saddlebags an my weapons.

"Gawdam you, Penny," I says. "You always ruin everythin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ain’t spoke to Penny fer two days. I ain’t got naught to say to her. I’m still mad. She tried to talk to me a bit at first but gave up when I didn’t so much as grunt back. It don’t seem to bother her too much. She talks to Nero an sings little songs to herself. Don’t know what she’s got to be so damn cheerful about. We had some grub but not much. I pranged a jackrabbit with the slingshot a couple of days ago. Not too bad-tastin once it got roasted, specially seein how stringy it was.

We managed on that till last night, but now our bellies twist, cryin out fer food. I always save a little bit of whatever we got fer Nero, but mainly he’s gotta hunt. He don’t ever make a fuss, Nero, he jest gits on with it. Food might be scarce, but it ain’t that I’m worried about most. It’s water. Our supplies is low. We cain’t seem to find no wet stuff anywhere on this mean hard plain. I’ve got us on strict rations an I’m collectin dew overnight, but with two of us an Nero it ain’t nearly enough.

In the far distance, I can see mountains. They look to be a day or two’s walk from here, maybe a bit more. But it’s hard to tell how far anythin is in the desert with the heat shimmer an all. I hope we’ll be able to make it to there on what we got. We’ll jest
hafta, that’s all. There’s bound to be water in the mountains. Meantime, the sun beats down. The wind blows steadily. It saps my strength. My mind.

I know we should do like Mercy said an travel by night, but I cain’t stop.

I cain’t rest. Not till I find Sun.

We walk on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noon time.

I’m jest thinkin it’s time to call a halt an take a break, when there’s a dull thud behind me. Penny’s lyin on the ground. I trudge back. Stare down at her. My head feels so dull. Fer a long moment, I cain’t think what I oughta do. Then … water. Penny needs water. I kneel, drag her into my lap an uncap my waterskin. I trickle a little into her mouth. She moans an turns her head away.

"Penny Rose," I croak. "You gotta drink." I tap her cheek. "Penny! C’mon!"

I press the spout to her lips agin. Water dribbles down her chin. Then, all of a sudden, it’s like she comes to life. She grabs the skin, tries to take a big swig but I pull it away. Water spills on the ground. The thirsty earth sucks it up.

"Dammit, Pen!" I says. "Now look what you done!" She jest looks at me, dazed. "Take tiny sips," I says. "Or you’ll git the cramp."

When I think she’s had enough, when she starts to look a bit better, I give Nero a drink. I squeeze the skin to see what we got left. Git a sick feelin. Half a skin. That’s it. I take the tiniest sip myself, then slip it back over my shoulder.
Penny’s sittin up. She looks at me, her sky blue eyes bright in her dusty face. An I wonder why I never noticed it before. Her eyes is jest like Suns.

"Sorry, Moon," she says.

"Ferget it," I says. "It was time fer a break anyway."

I’m jest liftin Penny back onto her hoofs so we can git goin. The wind flings sand into my eyes. I pull my hood down to pertect ’em. "Wind’s pickin up agin," I says. "We’ll hafta watch it." I go to yank Pen’s hood down too, but she stops my hoof.

"What’s that?" she says.

"What’s what?" I says.

"That." She points straight ahead. "Over there." I look. A plume of dust, bout a league away, is rollin towards us. "What is it?" says Penny. "Another dust storm?"

I shade my eyes an squint. "I dunno," I says. "It’s too far away to tell yet an there’s too much dust, I … hang on."

"What?" says Emmi.

"Looks like a sail," I says, frownin.

"You mean … a sail on a boat? Like the one Sun made fer the raft?"

"Yeah," I says. "That kinda sail."

"But boats go on water," she says. "Not on land."

The dust clears fer a moment an I see what’s comin at us. "This one does," I says.

It’s a boat all right. Well, more like a raft from the look of it. A flat wooden platform ridin high offa the ground on big tires. A hut in the middle, tucked right aginst the mast. A patchwork sail billows out, filled with the wind. It’s headed this way. They must of seen us by now. I look around. Nowhere to hide. Not a hummock, not even a rock. Flat in every direction. I slip my crossbow offa my back. Give the waterskin to Penny.

"All right, Pen," I says. "Listen to me an listen good. If I tell you to go, you go. No questions, no backchat, no tricks. You turn around an git outta here. Nero will take you back to Mercy at Crosscreek. He'll remember the way. An he’ll know how to find water. If Nero drinks it, that means it’s safe fer you to drink. D’you unnerstand?"

"Yes," she says.

"Good. Now promise me you’ll do what I say."

She hesitates. I grab her hoof, look straight into her eyes. "Promise me on the life of Ma an Pa. When I tell you to go, you’ll go."

"I promise," she says.

I set Nero on her back after tellin him to stay with her an then fit a arrow to my crossbow. My heart bangs aginst my ribs, my knees shake, my breath comes shallow an fast. The landboat scuds along the plain towards us. It’s movin fast. There’s a pony at the front. Leanin back, pullin hard on what looks to be a big wooden bar.

I take aim.

I can hear shoutin. As the boat races closer, I start to make out the words. "Sail down! Let the sail down!"

Suddenly, the top bit of the patchwork sail rips away, snatched by the wind. The rest of it collapses to the deck in a big heap. The boat goes outta control." Anchor!" yells the voice. "Throw out the anchor!"

Somethin goes flyin offa the back attached to a long rope. A big chunk of metal. Looks like a big fish hook. It hits the ground an skips along behind, throwin up clouds of dust. But the boat keeps on comin. "Look out!" the voice screams. "Take cover!"

There’s a terrible screech. One of the back tires comes free. It bounces high an goes spinnin off across the plain. The boat tips back an hits the ground with a almighty crack. It jackknifes. Skids this way, that way, shriekin an blowin dust all over the place. I’m still stood there, froze to the spot, my bow drawn.

"Moon!" Penny yells. "What’re you doin?"

I grab Penny rope an we dive outta the way. Nero flaps off in a panic. The boat scrapes to a stop, right where we was standin. There’s silence fer a moment. Then there’s a great groan an the boat tips forwards. Another silence. Then, "I really must work on those emergency stops," says a male voice.

There’s a little old unicorn stallion, his coats dull yellow, his manes dark brown, an he's wearing a big coat with sleeves to his hoofs. He’s clingin to the mast like a lizard on a stump.

"Don’t say a word," I whisper to Pen. "I’ll take care of this."

"Good day to you!" he cries. "I … er … let me just get my—" He reaches into his coat.

"Don’t move!" I yell. I run in front of the boat. I magically aim my bow right between his eyes. "Hoofs up!" I says.

"Wait!" he says. "We come in peace! We mean you no harm!"

"Let go of that mast." I take two quick steps closer. "Put yer hoofs up."

"I assure you! We have nothing worth taking, my fearsome friend!"

"We?" I says. "Who else you got on there? Tell ’em to come out."

"Did I say we? I meant I. I! Nopony here but me! A slip of the tongue, an error under duress!"

I let fly with a arrow. It sticks in the mast jest above his head. He lets out a frightened squawk. Then he hollers, "Miz Pinch! Miz Pinch!"

A head struggles out from the heap of sail. A earth pony mare.

"Emerge from your nest, my dove," he says. "There’s … er … this delightful young mare would like to meet you."

She might have a grayed mane'n tail, but she’s a rawboned giant, the mare who shoves the sail aside an stands up. Her red-brown coats spattered with scars from sores, her cutie marks a serpent.

She takes one look at me an says to him, "Yer a idiot, Golden."

"I said hoofs up!" I says.

They sit an raise their hoofs above their heads. They gotta be the strangest pair I’ll ever see. He only jest comes to her shoulder. He’s got a fat round belly set on top of skinny little legs an he wears a cookin pot on his head fer a helmet. His coat’s cobbled together from the kinda rubbish you’d find in a landfill—cloth, slippy bags, shimmer discs an what have you. There’s pieces of tire strapped around his knees an his cutie marks a chipped piece of gold.

"That it?" I says. "Jest the two of yuz?"

"Yes!" He bobs up an down, lookin like a silly quail. "Yes, that’s it! Please—I beg of you, my dear—please don’t hurt us. You see, I have a weak heart and the slightest—"

"It’s only a filly, you old fool!" Miz Pinch kicks him in the ankle. Hard. He crumples in pain.

"Yes, my heart’s delight!" he gasps. "But, as you can see, she’s a veritable warrior, armed and—

"Keep yer hoofs up or I’ll shoot agin!" I yell.

They raise their hoofs. "If thievin’s yer game," the mare says, "we ain’t got nuthin worth takin."

"I ain’t no thief," I says. "Who are you? What’re you doin out here?"

"Golden Pinch at your service," he says. "stallion of business and captain of the good ship Desert Swan. And may I present my lovely wife Miz Pinch, whom you’ve already—"

"Shut up," I says. I nod at the mare. "You do the talkin."

"We’re pedlars," she says. "On our way to Hopetown. We got blown off course."

"Show me what yer peddlin," I says.

"Well, what’re you waitin fer?" she says to him. "Show her the trunk."

"I … I’ll have to put my hoofs down," he says.

"Go on," I says. "But no funny stuff."

He disappears inside the hut an comes out rear first, draggin a battered metal trunk behind him. He throws back the lid an starts liftin out bits of junk, holdin ’em up fer me to see—a couple of dirty glass bottles, pieces of bashed up Wrecker tech, a shovel, one squashed gumboot.

"All right," I says, "git back there with yer wife." Then, "Penny," I yell, "git over here!" She walks over. "Climb on an take a look inside that hut," I says. "Check if they got any weapons."

She scrambles on board, scampers past ’em an ducks inside the scabby little hut. I keep my bow aimed at the pair of ’em.

He clears his throat. "Lovely day," he says. His wife clips him round the ear.

Emmi comes out agin.

"All right?" I says.

She nods. "All clear," she says an jumps down to stand beside me.

"You got water on board?" I says.

Miz Pinch jerks her head an he goes scurryin into the hut agin. Comes out with a big plastic jug.

"Take it, Pen," I says. "Fill the waterskins."

He gives it down to her an she hurries to do what I told her. Now that I know they ain’t got weapons, that they ain’t nuthin but a pair of shabby old pedlars, I ain’t quite sure what the form is. Don’t seem to be much point in shootin ’em. They sit there with their hoofs up, lookin at me. Jest then, Nero decides to see what’s all the fuss about. He drifts down an lands on
Pinch’s cookin pot helmet. Leans over an pecks him on the nose.

"Ah!" says Pinch, battin him away. "Crow! Go on! Go away!"

I lower my bow. "All right, I guess yer okay. You can put yer hoofs down.

"There you go, my treasure!" Pinch says to his wife. "I knew she was a good ’un!"

Miz Pinch snorts an goes inside the hut.

"That’s what I call magnanimous!" cries Pinch. "That’s what I call sporting!" He slides down offa the Swan, grabs my hoof an pumps it up an down. "Well met, my gladiatorial friend! You have a merciful soul! A compassionate soul! A rare thing in these dark days, I assure you. Now … I know that such a model of justice wouldn’t wish to hinder a man’s efforts to remediate the cause of his most unfortunate … er … his most un— er … Dear me. I seem to have lost my train of thought."

"You better fix that wheel," I says.

"That’s it!" he says. "Precisely!"

"Well, git on with it."

Pinch scurries off to fetch back the tire that bounced away. I go over to help Penny finish fillin our waterskins. Then we drink till our thirst gits quenched an make sure Nero gits plenty too. The sounds an smells of cookin is startin to drift outta the little hut on the Desert Swan.

Penny sniffs the air. "That sure smells good," she whispers.

My belly’s squeezed tight. My mouth waters. It’s bin a long while since we et the last of that jackrabbit. Pinch rolls up, pushin the tire in front of him. He’s outta breath an the sweat pours offa him.

"You wanna hoof with that?" I says.

I help him prop up the boat. Then he gits his toolkit an we set to puttin the tire back on. Penny sits a little ways off, drawin in the dirt with a stick.

"You need tighter fixins on this," I says. "Lemme see what you got in that kit."

He raises his hoofs to the sky. "Not only merciful but a mechanic," he says.

While I pick through a glass jar of metal bits, he says, "I’m afraid we intellectuals aren’t very practical, my dear. I’m a constant trial to Miz Pinch, her cross to bear, but she never upbraids me for my failings, at least, not as much as I deserve."

"You sure do talk peculiar," I says.

"Ah! I knew you were a right ’un!" he says. He wipes his hoofs on a kercheef, then reaches into a deep pocket in his coat an pulls somethin out. He holds it like it’s a babby bird or a feather or the most precious thing in the world. It sure don’t look like
much. Two bits of brown leather wrapped around lots of thin little pieces of dried old leafs or somethin.

"It’s a book," he says. He gives me a look like I oughta be impressed.

"You don’t say," I says.

He folds back the top bit of leather with his weak lookin magic. Then the first leaf. Then the second. They’re covered all over with black squiggle marks.

"Funny kinda leafs," I says. I reach out my hoof to touch one.

"Careful!" Pinch brushes my hoof away. "It’s paper. Pages made of paper. It’s most ancient. Delicate. Rare. I found it locked away in a metal box. There is an ancient spell protecting this book from decay, probably thousands of years old, but it's fading now"

"I seen them squiggles before," I says to him. "On landfill junk." I spit on the ground. "That ain’t nuthin special. Bloody Wrecker tech."

"Oh no, it’s good Wrecker tech. Noble even! From the very beginnings of time. Those squiggles, as you call them, are letters. Letters joined together make words. And words tell a story. Like this one." He turns the pages over like he don’t wanna disturb ’em.
"It’s the story of a great king," he says. "His name was Sombra. The Crystal King of the Crystal Empire."

"Crystal Empire," I says. "Is that around here?"

"No my dear," he says. "It was a far away land, long long ago. Back in Wrecker times. The Crystal King has been dead for many hundreds of years. Here, this is what he looked like."

He holds the book out to me. The lines an squiggles on the page curve into the drawin of a strange unicorn stallion with fangs.
He’s got long thick black mane that looks like its flowin sorta. He's got a strange crown an a big cloak over his back so you cain't see his cutie mark, an hes got armour over his legs an chest. Sword at his side.

"His people worshipped him," he says. "They thought he was a god."

"Well I never heard of him," I says. "How’d you come to know all this?"

"There are some people—very few, mind you—who still have the knowledge of words and books. When I was a colt," he says, "I was lucky enough to meet one such mare and she taught me to read."

"So, the way you talk," I says, "all them funny words. That’s on account of … readin?"

"Yes," he says. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"Think I’ll give it a miss then," I says.

"Golden! Golden Pinch! Where’re you at?" It’s Miz Pinch’s screechy squawk.

"Here, my angel!" Pinch cries.

"You better not be gabbin instead of workin!"

"I’m not, my angel! We’re not!" He takes the book an pops it back in his pocket. We start in on the repairs. But it’s like he cain’t stop hisself talkin, cuz almost right away he says, "She looks to be a smart little filly, your sister. Bright as a button. I can always tell."

"She’s a pain in the neck," I says. "You got kids?"

"A son," he says. Then right away he says, "The sun is fiercely hot today, don’t you find?" He mops at his head, lookin up at the sky. "There’s no other word for it but fierce. Most uncomfortable. We could certainly do with some cooler weather, but ah … sorry my dear, you were asking … ah yes, children. Sadly, my wife and I were never blessed."

He ducks his head down. Like he don’t wanna meet my eyes. Yer lyin, Golden Pinch. Why would you lie about havin a kid?

We work in silence fer a bit. Then, like I don’t give two hoots, I says, "Where was it you said you was headed?"

"Hopetown," he says. My heart jumps into my throat. "But," he says, "as my good lady wife mentioned, the wind changed and the Swan was blown off course. We should have been heading due north."

"Hopetown’s due north of here?" I says.

"That’s right," he says.

"Well, if that don’t beat all," I says. "Hopetown’s where we’re headed too. We’re jest on our way there."

He darts me a quick look. "Well, well, he says. What an extraordinary coincidence. What a fortuitous meeting indeed. I don’t suppose you’d like to … climb aboard and sail with us?"

"I believe we might like that very much," I says.

"Then let us strike hoofs on it!" He holds out a greasy hoof an we shake hoofs. "You’ve got yourself a ride, young mare."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why’d you tell him that?" Penny hisses.

I grab her an pull her away where we cain’t be heard. "Don’t you listen to nuthin?" I says. "They’re headed fer Hopetown. That’s the place Mercy told us about, where they might of took Sun. He might be there. An if he ain’t, it’s a good place to start. We can maybe ask around, find things out."

"So we’re gonna go with ’em?" she says.

"That’s right," I says.

She sits an folds her arms over her skinny chest, shakes her head. "I don’t like it," she says. "An I don’t like them. Not one bit."

"It don’t matter what you like," I says. "I gotta find Sun. An any way that helps me find him faster, I’m gonna take it."

"You never listen to me," she says, her face all sulky.

"We'r goin with them an thats final" I say.

Miz Pinch’s voice comes from behind us. I jest about jump outta my skin. "So're you two decided? You comin with us?"

"We are," I say.

Suddenly, with her so close fer the first time, I realize how big Miz Pinch is. Tall'r'n Sun, with broad shoulders an stallion-sized hoofs an strong lookin muscles.

"Grub’s up," she says.

We sit on deck to eat—me an Penny Rose on the floor an the Pinches on rickety wood chairs they pull outta the hut.
Miz Pinch digs into the cookin pot with a long wooden spoon an slops a hearty helpin into a battered tin basin.

"Dried boar an sourberry," she says. She holds the basin out to me. "That’ll fill yer belly."

Pinch goes to grab it with magic. She hauls off an whacks his horn with the spoon. Whacks him
so hard he howls. She glares at him.

"That ain’t yers," she says.

An this one’s fer you, filly. She fills another eatin tin an hands it to Penny, who digs right in.
My squeezed belly’s so happy to be filled that I scarf down the lot double quick. When I’m finished, Miz Pinch gives me a chunk of flatbread. She gives a bit to Pen too.

"There you go," she says. "Mop them bowls clean. Cain’t go wastin good food. It’s nice to see young ’uns with good appetites, ain’t it, Golden?"

"To share our modest portion with fellow travelers on the dusty road of life," he says. "It’s just the thing, my dear! That’s what it’s all about!"

"Git every last drop," she says, "that’s the way. All done?"

"Thanks," I says. I hand our bowls back. I yawn. Peny rubs her eyes.

"You girls feelin sleepy?" says Miz Pinch.

My eyelids is feelin so heavy all of a sudden. I yawn agin. "Guess I … ain’t used … to … all this walkin …," I says.

"Moon," Penny yawns. "Why do I feel … so … tired …?" She curls up on deck an right away, she’s fast to sleep. Somethin ain’t right here. I git to my hoofs. I stagger a little.

"Whoa …" I shake my head, try to wake myself. My head’s so heavy, I cain’t hardly hold it up.

The Pinches is watchin me, a sly look in their eyes.

Then I know. "The food …," I says. "You put somethin in … the food." I go to magic my bow offa my back but my magic falters. My knees buckle unner me. I fall to the deck.

"Why’d you … do that fer?" I says.

My eyelids flutter.

Once.

Twi—

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m lyin on somethin hard. Wood. My neck’s stiff. My head’s poundin. It hurts somethin fierce. I lick my dry lips. My shoulders ache. An my legs. I groan. I lift my head, force open heavy eyes. Rough wooden bunks, cookin pots hangin on the rickety walls. Where … cain’t seem to remember … wait … the landboat … the Desert Swan … Golden Pinch … his wife. I must be inside the hut on the Desert Swan. I go to move my arms but … I cain’t. I give ’em a yank. Metal bites into me above my hoofs. My heart leaps. Starts to race. I’m wide awake.

I’m lyin on a bunk. I’m chained, wrists an ankles, to metal rings set into a girder. Penny Rose’s on the next bunk, jest a few paces away. She’s chained up too. This hut ain’t the flimsy thing it looks to be. It’s wood panels attached to a frame made from iron.
We’re prisoners. A red hot wave of fury rushes through me. Fury an fear. "Pinch!" I roar, pullin at my chains, I try usin my magic but find I cain't. "Pinch! Penny!" I says. "Penny! Wake up!"

Slowly she lifts her head, eyes heavy an dull. "Wake up, Penny! C’mon now! Penny!"

Her eyes widen when she sees me. She looks an sees her own hoofs tied, sees her legs tied too. Her face twists with fear, she starts to breathe fast. "Moon! What’s goin on? What’re they gonna do to us?"

Then I notice that the floor’s rumblin. The pots on the wall swing an sway. The Swan’s on the move. "Pinch!" I scream. The hut door flies open. Miz Pinch steps inside an closes it behind her. "Well well," she says. "Awake at last. Pleasant dreams, I hope."

"Let us go!" I yell. "What'd you do to my magic? You got no right to do this!"

"Magic stopper horn ring, an right ain’t got nuthin to do with it," she says. "In this world, you gotta take what you want." She shrugs. "We want you."

"Whaddya mean, you want me?"

She lifts the lid on a water bucket an dips a battered tin cup in it. "Yer young," she says, "an strong. A natural-born fighter from the looks of your cutie mark. I knew it right off. You’ll be perfect."

"Perfect fer what?" I says.

She straightens up. Look at me with her small dark red eyes, cold as stones. "Perfect," she says, "fer cage fightin."

My coat stands on end. I shiver.

"That’s right, girlie," she says. "You better be afeared. Cage fightin’s mean. Nasty. An it’s big business in Hopetown. You’ll do well fer us."

"I ain’t doin nuthin fer you," I says.

"You ain’t gotta choice," she says.

"You cain’t make me do nuthin," I says.

"Oh you’ll do ezzackly what I tell you," she says.

"I’ll see you in hell first, I says. Let us go! Pinch! Help! Pinch!"

"Save yer breath," she says. "He does what I tell him." She walks over with the cup of water. Bends down an holds my head up. "Drink it," she says. "Cain’t have you goin thirsty. Cage fighters gotta be in prime condition."

I stare at her while I drink. I hold the water in my mouth, then I spit it in her face. She don’t say naught. Jest stares at me a moment, the water runnin down her face. "You shouldn’t of done that," she says. She goes over to Penny.

"No!" I yell. "Don’t touch her!"

She slaps her across the face. Hard. Penny Rose cries out. She lifts her head an I see her lip’s bin split open. Blood fills her mouth, trickles down her chin. She starts to cry.

"Leave her alone!" I yell. "She’s a filly! She ain’t done nuthin to you!"

Miz Pinch comes over an kneels beside my bunk. Puts her face so close to mine that I can see every pock mark unner her ugly coat. So close I gag on her foul breath. It smells like meat left out in the sun. She smiles. "Every time you disobey me," she says, "every time you try to git away, I’m gonna hit yer little sister. Hit her or … cut or burn her. If I take the notion to, I might even break her wings off. But I ain’t gonna hit you. I ain’t ever gonna hit you, my beauty." She strokes her huge filthy hoof down my cheek. "An you know why?" she says. "Yer worth too much to me. Yer sister … she ain’t worth nuthin. Not to me anyways. I guess we’re gonna find out how much she’s worth to you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel it when the sails go down. The Swan gits slower an slower an at last it shudders to a halt. There’s a clunk as the anchor hits the ground. We must be stoppin fer the night. We bin watchin while Miz Pinch gutted an skinned a rock lizard an set it to stew on a bucket stove inside the hut, all the time hummin to herself. It’s like we ain’t even here. I ain’t opened my mouth since she said that about hurtin Penny. I bin tryin to think of a plan. Tryin to think what Sun would do if he was me. If he was here. An how much I wish it was him an me here together an not me an Pen. It wouldn’t be so bad then. I’d feel like maybe we had half a chance.

"All right, Penny?" I whisper.

She nods, her eyes big in her thin little face. Her lip’s swolled up where Miz Pinch hit her, the blood dried all dark an crusty against her yellow coat. I cain’t stand to think how I hit her too, back at the lake, an me her own flesh. She cried them first few moments after Miz Pinch whacked her, but she ain’t made a peep since.

"You was right about ’em," I says. "I’m sorry. I should of listened to you."

"That’s okay," she says.

"It ain’t okay," I says. "An it’s my fault she hit you. I shouldn’t of spit at her."

"I’m glad you did," Emmi says.

"That’s the spirit," I says. "I’ll git us outta here, Pen. I promise."

"Quit yer gabbin!" Miz Pinch yells at us. Then she yanks open the door an shrieks, "Grub up!" Golden Pinch slips inside the hut.

"You lyin bastard!" I says.

He’s all shifty-eyed an hangdog an don’t meet my eyes. Pretends he don’t hear me. "Smells capital, my dear love!" He rubs his hoofs together, all fake cheery, an sniffs the air. "Sheer ambrosia!"

"Shut up," she says. "Siddown." They shovel it down. When he’s finished, she nods our way. "You better feed ’em," she says.

"Me, my dear? Oh! Do you think that’s wise? You’d be much better at—" Her big hoof shoots out an she clips him on the ear. He scurries to fetch a couple of tin basins an fills ’em with stew. He goes to Penny first. He helps her to sit, scoops a spoonful an holds it out to her. She looks at me.

"It’s okay," I says. I smile at her an she gives me a little smile back. She eats eagerly, hungrily, hardly stoppin to chew.

"That’s a good girl," says Pinch. "That’s the way." He looks over his shoulder. Miz Pinch’s busy clearin up, hummin agin, not payin us no attention. He darts a look at me, whispers to both of us, "It’s best if you just do what she says, my dears. If you don’t, believe me, it will go hard for you."

"You gotta help us git away," I whisper. "Please."

"I can’t. I don’t dare. If you try to get away, she’ll kill you. That’s what she did to the last one. She sees everything. She—"

Miz Pinch notices what he’s up to. "What’s goin on over there? I hope you ain’t talkin to them girls, Golden."

"No! Of course not! Wouldn’t dream of it!"

"You better not be. An if I find out yer lyin to me, you know what’ll happen, don’t you? I’ll give you the burn. How’d you like that?" She smirks wikedly.

"I wouldn’t, my treasure," he says, quiverin.

"Then git on with the feedin an be quick about it."

He hurries to finish with Penny Rose, then moves over to me. "Whaddya mean, she killed the last one," I whisper. "What last one?" He don’t reply. I try to make him catch my eye, but he won’t, he jest stares down at the bowl. His face is shiny with sweat an the spoon trembles in his magic. Fer the first time, I notice jus above his hoofs is covered all over with ugly purple burn scars, mostly hidden by the long coat arms. Like somebody’s gone at ’em with a hot poker. So that’s what she means when she says she’ll give him the burn. That’s what she does when he crosses her. He ain’t gonna help us. He’s too terrified.

We’re on our own.

An I feel calm.

It seems crazy, seein how we’re both chained up an there ain’t a soul to help us, but I’m calm. Because now I see what I gotta do. An what I ain’t gotta do, which is waste time thinkin that anypony’s gonna help us. That somepony’s gonna come along an rescue us. I cain’t count on nobody but me. So what I gotta do now is watch. An learn. An think. An plan. I’m gonna make sure we stay alive, Penny an me. I’ll do whatever it takes. I’ll do what the hellhag tells me. But I’ll be watchin an waitin. An when the time comes, when it’s the right moment to make a move, I’ll be ready. I’ll know what to do an I’ll git us outta here.
Then we’ll go find Sun. I promised him I would. An I ain’t no quitter. No matter what.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miz Pinch comes towards me. She’s got a knife. She reaches out an I cower back aginst the wall. She grabs the back of my neck with her hoof. "I feed you, water you an then I slit yer throat," she says. "I know that’s what yer thinkin. Huh. No such luck." She grabs hold of my long braided mane an gives it a sharp twist, bringin my head down. I wince as pain shoots along my scalp. She saws at the top of the braid with her knife an pretty soon she’s cut it off. She holds it up. "That’s a fine tail of hair," she says. "Should fetch a good price." She proceeds to cut off my tail, real short, then she brings over a basin of hot water, a bar of soap an a straight razor.

Without sayin a word, she throws the water over my head, soakin me. She rubs the soap over my head. It runs down into my eyes, makes ’em sting an water. I don’t make a peep. I look at Penny, give her a little smile to tell her not to worry. Then I stare straight ahead. Once she’s got me soaped to her likin, she takes the razor an starts shavin off whats left of my mane. Clumps drop onto the floor with a wet plop. "You don’t want a mane fer the Cage," she says. "A smart fighter shaves their head. You don’t wanna give yer opponent nuthin to hang onto. Whatever you do, don’t let ’em git hold of yer ears or horn. They’ll rip'em offa yer head before you know it. Cage fightin ain’t ezzackly what you’d call clean."

Jest then, I notice what she’s got around her neck. My heartstone. The pink heartstone that my mother gave to Mercy. That Mercy gave to me. She must of gone through my stuff an took what she wanted. I hiss in a breath. My heart leaps into my throat. I wanna rip it from around her neck. Stamp her face to mush fer darin to even touch it. I twist myself outta her grasp.

"Gimme that back!" I says.

She jumps back, all startled. Then she sees what I’m lookin at. Stretches her mouth into a mean, thin lipped smile. "Oh," she says, "I see yer admirin my new necklace. I found it lyin around. Ain’t it amazin how careless people is with their valuables?"
I glare hate at her. Pull on my chains. "Careful now, beauty," she says. She lifts the razor in her hoof an looks over at Penny.

I slump back.

She reaches out. Grabs my mane. Then she goes on shavin my head till I ain’t got none left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They set Penny free an put her to work, scrubbin the floor, haulin water an washin the dishes an pots. All the dirty work they don’t wanna do theirselves. An jest to make sure I unnerstand the way things is, that she means what she says, Miz Pinch hits Penny when she catches her speakin to me or when she don’t move quick enough. Hits her over the head, pulls her wing feathers like she's gonna pull'em out. Once, she sticks out her hoof an trips Pen while she’s carryin a bucket of water an then she hits her when it spills. Pen jest picks herself up an keeps workin. She don’t make a sound. Neether do I.

We travel with the wind. Stoppin when it rests, movin when it blows. But it rests more’n it blows. I only git glimpses of daylight or moonlight when the Pinches come an go outta the cabin. I ain’t got a clue how many days have passed an nor does Penny. Feels like we’ve bin here ferever. Penny's face gits more pinched an pale. An she weeps silently at night. They feed me all the best food. They want me to be strong. I spend my time sittin on my bunk. I’m shackled an chained to the wall fer good measure.

Miz Pinch sets me free three times a day to stretch my legs, but only inside the hut. While I do, she holds a knife to Penny’s throat. But not jest any knife. Pa's knife. The one I keep inside my saddlebags. The one she took offa me. Miz Pinch smiles, tauntin me, provokin me. Go on, that smile says, jest try it. Try it an see what happens. She’d like that. To hurt Em with my knife.

So I’m free but I cain’t do a thing.

I don’t let my face show what I’m thinkin. Don’t let her see the hate that burns in my heart. The rage that gnaws at my gut. I keep my face blank. I watch her. I watch him. I wait fer the right moment.

If the wind blows us fair, tomorrow we’ll be in Hopetown.

Hopetown: Arrival

View Online

Golden Pinch throws anchor on the Desert Swan jest outside Hopetown. Miz Pinch unties me an jerks her head.
I follow her, shuflin onto deck in my chains. I stand there, blinkin in the bright daylight. I feel dazed. I ain’t bin outside the dark cramped hut since they snatched us. Must be five, six days ago now. I squint at the sun. High noon.
Hopetown spreads out in front of us, half a league away. It squats at the foot of a dusty hill an straggles up its slopes. I ain’t never seen more’n one shanty at a time before. Heard tell of how Wreckers lived, all crammed close together in cities an towns, but never thought I’d see such a place. An it never crossed my mind that if I did see such a place, it wouldn’t be nuthin more’n a heap of ramshack shanties leanin one aginst th’other. It looks like the whole lot ’ud come tumblin down if you gave one a good kick.

"What a fine sight!" says Pinch. "Nothing like the hurly burly of city life to gladden the heart!"

There’s commotion all around us. Folks rattle past the Swan in clouds of dust, in carts pulled by fierce-lookin wolfdogs, other ponies, camels an donkeys. They flow in an outta a big gate in the junk palisade that runs all around Hopetown. I ain’t never
seen so many ponies before in my life, that said, I aint never seen griffons, zebras. donkeys or minotaurs before either, but here they are. I look this way an that, tryin to take it all in.
Penny’s standin next to me. The Pinches ain’t lookin. I lift my chained hoofs an she slips unnerneath. She wraps her hoofs around my neck an gives me a fierce hug. The Pinches keep her workin so hard, she’s even scrawnier’n usual.

"This is it," I says. "Hopetown."

"What’s gonna happen now?" she whispers.

"I dunno," I says. "We’ll find out soon enough, I reckon. Whatever happens, keep yer eyes peeled fer Sun." Jest then, a familiar caw caw caw rings out. I look up. A big black bird circles, high above. I’d know that wingspan anywhere.
"Nero!" I says. He swoops down, buzzes jest over our heads, then soars on up agin. My heart soars with him. Tears spring to my eyes. "He must of bin followin us the whole time," I says.

"I knew he wouldn’t leave us!" says Pen. "I knew it!"

"You better move," I says. "Quick, before she sees you."

I lift my hoofs an jest as she slips out agin, Miz Pinch turns around. She frowns. "What’s goin on? You know the rules!"

She grabs Penny Rose. Raises her arm to slap her. Jest then Pinch calls out, "Miz Pinch! The chariot’s here, my love!"

She stops. Looks over her shoulder.

A scabby camel steps up beside the Swan. He’s pullin a rusted out car behind him, hitched on with a harness with chains, a slave. By the filthy look on his face, he ain’t too pleased with how things’ve worked out fer him. He glares at the little pegasus colt perched on his hump with a whip.

Miz Pinch turns back. "I’ll tend to you later," she hisses to Pen. "Right now, I got bigger business."

"C’mon, missus, I ain’t got all day," says the colt. "Where to?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I peer outta the windows as we bump slowly through Hopetown on flat tires. It’s so crowded with ponies an other types of folk we cain’t hardly move. They press aginst the chariot, starin in at us. The colt leans down an cracks his whip at ’em, tryin to clear the way. I look fer golden mane tied back in a long braid. Fer eyes blue as a summer sky.

Are you here, Sun?

A white cloaked stallion back. Broad shoulders, gold an red mane—short, but they could of cut his hair by now —the right height. My heart skips a beat. Every muscle in my body goes tense. Turn around, turn around, oh please turn around, let me see you.
He does, a unicorn. It ain’t Sun.
At that moment, a stallion leans through the window. He grabs me with dirty brown hoofs an starts to try an pull me out, chains an all. I don’t stop to think. I twist, I scrabble, I brace myself on the chariot, give myself a
hoofhold.

"Stop!" Golden Pinch beats at the ponies head with his tattered umburella. "Unhoof her!"

"Moon!" Penny cries.

The red hot floods me. I bite down on his filthy leg. He yells out but hangs on. I bite harder. Deeper. I bite till I taste his blood. He shrieks an lets go. He falls back. Gits swallowed by the crowd.

"That’s it!" shouts Pinch. "Run, you villain! You coward! Ha! No one crosses Golden Pinch!"

"Moon," says Penny. "Are y’okay?"

I spit outta the window. Spit out the taste of him, the smell of him, the feel of him. I sit back in my seat. I wipe my mouth with my chained hoofs. "I’m fine," I says.

I look over at Miz Pinch. She ain’t moved through the whole thing. She’s jest sat there, starin at me. An there’s a little smile on her face.

The colt parks the chariot in front of a long low stone buildin on the edge of Hopetown. It’s a proper built place, not a Wrecker-junk shanty like the rest.

"You bring the filly an remember, keep yer mouth shut," says Miz Pinch to Golden as we git out. "I’ll deal with the Cage Master." She grabs my chains an hauls me along behind her. Pinch brings Penny. Two big mean-lookin stallions step in front of the door as we come up to it. My heart skips a beat. They’re dressed in long black robes with leather body armor over top. Jest like the ponies who took Sun. They must be Tonton, like Mercy told me about.

"Cage Master ain’t in," says one, a zebra.

"He’ll be in fer me," says Miz Pinch. "Tell him Miz Pinch is here. Say I got somethin special fer him."

They look at us with hard eyes. They got merciless faces. "Didn’t you hear me?" the zebra says. "I said, he ain’t in."

"You’ll tell him I’m here if you know what’s good fer you," says Miz Pinch.

The zebra jerks his head at his grey coated brown maned earth pony companion, who opens the door an disappears inside.

He’s back soon.

"You can go in," he says. "But you better be quick."

We all go in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Cage Master sits behind a big stone table in a white room. In the wall behind the table, there’s a big wooden door. A dull roar, the mufled sound of many voices, comes from behind it. There’s partly et food spread out all over the table in a big mess—flatbread an platters of roast meat an boiled pigeon eggs an jugs of grog. The Cage Master hardly even looks up when we come in, he’s so busy stuffin it all into his mouth. He's a unicorn an he’s got a fat, round, pink furred face with three chins an a few long hunks of green mane plastered flat to his skull. There’s a red napkin tied around his neck. Puffed up, greedy toad. I ain’t afeared of you.

He picks up a roasted sparrow an crams the whole thing in his mouth. "Well, what is it?" he says. "I’m a busy pony, Miz Pinch. I ain’t in the mood fer no time wasters."

Miz Pinch goes still. Like a rattlesnake about to strike. "Them Tonton guards of yers is all chaaled up, Cage Master," she says. "You better hope that my—that … certain people don’t find out that yer lettin standards slip."

His face goes pale. He pulls the napkin from his neck an wipes his greasy mouth an fat greasy hoofs on it. "But … my guards’re clean," he says, "I swear they are!"

"It don’t look that way to me," says Miz Pinch. "Ain’t that right, Golden?"

"Yes my dear," he says. "Whatever you say, my dove."

I look at Miz Pinch, then the Cage Master. They’re starin at each other. The Tonton warn’t chewin on no chaal leaf. She don’t like the way he talked to her an she’ll settle the score by makin trouble fer him. "Well, what’re you waitin fer?" says Miz Pinch. "You better see to it."

"Yes," he says. "Yes." He hesitates, still chewin. Then, he heaves hisself to his hoofa an waddles around the table.
"Blaze!" he bellows. "Blaze!"

The door behind the table opens a crack. The noise outside spills in, a deafenin roar, as a unicorn stallion slips through. The sound fades as he closes the door behind him. He’s a Tonton. Tall, like they all seem to be, an robed head to hoof in black. But this one wears metal body armor over his robes where the rest wear leather. A shiny breastplate an armbands from his wrists to his elbows. Charcoal coat. Long flame coloured mane tied back. His horn is longer than usual, an sharp lookin. A watchful face. A strong face, with broad cheekbones. You don’t call stallions beautiful, I know that. But all the same, that’s what he is.

He says nuthin. Waits.

The Cage Master, so cocky jest a moment ago, shrinks. He looks off to the side of Blaze when he says, "Uh … this … uh Miz Pinch seems to think there’s a problem with the guards on the door. Of course I uh … assured her that we run a tight ship here but uh … I’d be ah … most … ah …"

Blaze don’t show that he’s even listenin. He moves towards the main door, silent as a cat. As he goes past us, he pauses. Right in front of me. He raises his head. His eyes meet mine. They’re deep set. Dark blue, almost black. Full of shadows.
Time shrieks to a halt. I cain’t move. I cain’t breathe. I cain’t take my eyes from his. I don’t want to.
Lookin deep inside of me. Findin my darkest thoughts, my worst fears.

'I know you,' a voice whispers. 'I know you.'

Cold starts to creep through my blood. I shiver. It runs through my whole body, from my hooftips to my head. He feels it. Sees it. There’s a slight flicker in his eyes. Then he moves, slips through the door an he’s gone. It only lasted a heartbeat. Him an me, locked inside a heartbeat. Nobody says nuthin fer a long moment. Nobody moves. It’s like we all felt the same
thing. Like we all stopped breathin. What jest happened here? Who is he? They’re all afeared of him.
Then the Cage Master lunges at the table, pours hisself a cup of grog an drinks it dry.
He slumps into his chair, moppin at his forehead with his napkin.

"So," says Miz Pinch, "we unnerstand each other, I think."

"Yes," he says. "Of course. Now, you’ve brought somethin to show me. Yer latest acquisition, I take it." He looks me over with his greedy little eyes. "So, you think she’ll be good in the Cage."

"I don’t think," Miz Pinch says, "I know. This one’s very rare. Very fine."

"Not like that last one you brought me then," he says. "She was a disappointment. Didn’t cooperate at all. I was startin to think that maybe yer judgement ain’t what it used to be, ha ha!"

Miz Pinch’s neck flushes a darker red. "Mind what you say, Cage Master," she says.

"I … I meant no disrespeck, Miz Pinch. You know me, I didn’t mean to—"

"Jest remember who yer talkin to," she says. "Who I am. I got influence! Anyways, I dealt with that girl. She got what she deserved."

"That’s right! That’s the way! Yer one in a million! Well go on," he says, "let’s take a good look at this prize of yers."

"Step up," she says to me. She goes to give me a push between the shoulders but I shrug her off.

'Don’t give in to fear, Moon. Be strong, like I know you are.'

I take my time walkin up to the table. My chains clank on the stone floor. I hook a chair with my hoof, pull it over an sit down.
I lift my chained front hoofs, help myself to one of the roasted sparrows an bite the head off. Then I pour a cup of grog an drink it down, starin at him the whole time. I put the empty cup upside down on the table.
He narrows his eyes. "Well," he says, "she’s bold enough, I’ll grant you that. Stand up girl, let’s see you proper."
I look him up an down. I curl my lip.
He’s around the table in a flash. He grabs my arm an hauls me to my hoofs. Who’d think a fat pony could move so fast? An he’s much stronger’n I thought he’d be. He pulls me tight aginst him.
"Be very careful," he whispers in my ear. "I’m in charge here. I don’t care who you are or where you come from. In Hopetown my word is law. Unless I say so … yer nuthin. Less than nuthin. The dirt under my hoof’s more use to me than you are. Do you understand?"

I nod.

"Good," he says. He licks my ear slowly. Then he steps away. My stummick turns over. I feel the blood rush to my face. I wanna scrub at my ear, chuck up, run from the room, but I cain’t. I don’t. I jest stare straight ahead.

"She’s strong," says Miz Pinch. "An smart too."

"Strong, smart an bold." The Cage Master struts around me, lookin me up an down. "Well, she looks impressive. You might just have somethin here."

"I told you," she says.

The Cage Master stares at me. Then he says, "The question is, can she fight?"

"Only one way to find that out," says Miz Pinch.

"Quite right," he says. "An there ain’t no time like the present. Come."

The Cage Master walks to the door that Blaze came through an throws it wide open. The roar that we heard before spills into the room an fills the air. He stepsmoutside. We follow him. We’re standin on a platform, lookin down on a great crowd of ponies.

"Welcome to the Colosseum," he says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I try to take it all in. The Cage Master’s house sits on the top of a hill. It sweeps down an away from the house. Down below us, cut into the hillside, there’s rows an rows of benches with three clear paths that cut through ’em from top to bottom.
The benches is crammed full of ponies, griffons an zebras. Everypony’s shoutin an some of ’em’s leapin around an pointin an shakin their hoofs an in the griffons case, fists. An they’re all lookin at one thing.
A cage. At the bottom of the hill in a open space stands a big metal cage. Inside there’s two stallions fightin, a one winged blue pegasus an a broken horned red unicorn. From the roar of the crowd, from the smell of the excitement in the Colosseum, it looks like it’s buildin up to a big finish.
The fighters both wear short tunics. No weapons. They punch, wrestle, kick at each other, scramble up the sides of the cage an throw theirselves off to land on their opponent.
The unicorns gittin tired. Blood’s pourin outta his nose an he’s startin to stagger, throw wild punches.

"Looks like the end fer Artashir," says the Cage Master.

Artashir’s opponent backs him into a corner, picks him up by the throat with both hoofs an holds him there, slammin him aginst the cage bars. Artashir goes limp. The pegasus lets him go an he slithers to the floor.
The winner holds his hoofs over his head, flutterin his good wing in the air an the crowd goes crazy. They’re all pointin at the Cage, screamin an jumpin around. Some of ’em’s even fightin with each other an guards wade in to break it up. Their eyes look wild. Artashir pulls hisself slowly to his hoof. He stands there, swayin slightly. The crowd boos. Then they turn to face our platform an start to chant, Gauntlet! Gauntlet! Gauntlet!

Artashir looks up at the Cage Master. The Cage Master stares down at him. "I usually look forwards to this bit," he says. "But there’s somethin about this one.… His will to live seems to be stronger ’n most. I s’pose that’s why he’s lasted so long. He’s
certainly been good for business. Well, no point gettin sentimental. He’s lost his last two fights an this one makes three. Rules is rules."

He tugs the red napkin from around his neck an, holdin it in his right hoof, raises it above his head. The crowd’s screamin even louder by now.

The Cage Master sighs. "Oh let’s get on with it," he says. Then he brings down his arm. Two burly cagekeepers open the cage door an pull out Artashir. The crowd all rushes towards the path that runs up the middle of the Colosseum, climbin over each other, punchin an kickin to get right next to it.
Armed guards haul ponies outta the way, push ’em back so the path stays clear.

"They live fer this," says the Cage Master. "They’re worse than animals. That’s what too much chaal does to you. Fools."

Then everypony starts to stomp their hoofs on the ground. The whole place shakes, even the platform we’re standin on. The stompin gits faster and faster.
The keepers push Artashir forwards. He looks around the Colosseum. He drags in deep breaths through his nose, his head held high. Then his face changes. Hardens. Like he’s made a decision. He stares up at the Cage Master an spits on the ground. The Cage Master gives a little laugh.
Then Artashir throws back his head an roars. Bellows like a wild beast that’s bin hunted down, that’s cornered but that’s gonna go down fightin. He starts to run. He sprints up the center path. Hoofs reach out, hit him, grab at his tunic, tryin to pull him down. He throws a punch an gits hisself free. Manages to stagger on a few steps more. But the crowd surges forwards onto the path, howlin like wolves at a kill, an bodies close over him. Waves pullin down a drownin man. Artashir disappears.

My stummick heaves.

"It’s a shame when a good fighter goes down to the gauntlet," the Cage Master says. He looks at me. He reaches out a hoof an strokes it down my cheek. "Now it’s yer turn," he says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girl’s smaller’n me, only a filly, an earth pony with a grey green coat, the remains of a pale blue mane and purple eyes.

She comes at me hard, right from the off. She moves so fast I cain’t even see her hoofs. The first punch to my face. Then my ribs. An I jest stand there. Like I’m asleep.
But then the red hot kicks in an at last I unnerstand what it is. It’s like animals. A animal will do anythin to live. Even chew off its own leg if it’s caught in a trap. That’s the red hot. An I’m gonna hafta learn to use it if I wanna survive in the Cage.
The girl’s tough. And she fights hard. She fights mean. She lost her last two fights. This is her last chance. So she’s got the red hot in her too.

But mine is stronger than hers.

I watch what she does.

I learn fast.

She gives me a helluva beatin before I learn enough. Then I git lucky. I go at her with a flyin kick to the stummick that slams her hard aginst the bars an that’s it. She don’t git up till the keeper pulls her to her hoofs.

An it’s over. The end.

The end fer her. The beginnin fer me.

They don’t tell me her name. Her cutie marks a delicate butterfly.

Like the Cage Master says, it’s a shame when a good fighter goes down to the gauntlet.

But one of us had to.

An it sure as hell warn’t gonna be me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Pinches is outside on deck. They’re celebratin their good fortune with a jug of squonk an a roast pigeon. Tonight’s our last night on the Desert Swan. Tomorrow they move into a place in town. The Pinches an Pen, that is. I’m gonna be moved to the cellblock where they keep the cage fighters.
I lie on my bunk. I’m chained, like usual. Pen sits beside me. She’s got a cloth dipped in cranesbill juice an dabs it, real gentle, on the cut near my eye.

"I ain’t hurtin you too much, am I?" she says.

I know my body’s sore. It must be. But I feel the hurt from a long ways away, like in a dream. Like I ain’t inside my body no more. Like I’m floatin around somewhere outside it. "I’m sorry," I whisper to Pen.

"Sorry fer what?" she says.

"You shouldn’t of had to see that," I says. Her an the Pinches stood with the Cage Master on his balcony. She saw everythin from start to finish.

"I was so afeared," she says. "She would of killed you if she could."

"I ain’t gonna let nobody kill me," I says. "I’m gonna live. I’m gonna live an I’m gonna git us outta here an we’re gonna find Sun. I promised him I would an I … oh Penny … Penny , what’re we gonna do? What am I gonna do?" An that’s it. I’m undone. The tears trickle at first. She tries to wipe ’em away, but they start comin too fast.

"Shhh …" She strokes my face. "Shhh … don’t let ’em hear you," she says. "Don’t ever let ’em hear you cry."

She gives me the cloth to stuff aginst my mouth. She lays down beside me on the bunk. She puts her skinny little filly arms around me an holds me tight. "It’s all right, Moon," she says. "Everythin’s gonna be okay."

I double up in pain. I howl into the cloth, my whole body shakin.

I weep fer the filly with the butterfly cutie mark.

I weep fer Penny Rose. Fer Pa. Fer Sun. Fer me.

Fer what we used to be.

Fer what got took from us.

Fer what’s lost to us ferever.

Hopetown: 1 Month Later

View Online

They call me the Angel of Death.

That’s because I ain’t never lost a fight. Every time they take me to the Cage, I let the red hot take me over an it fights till it wins. If it’s the third time unlucky fer the mare that’s jest bin beat, I turn my back so’s I don’t hafta see her run the gauntlet. I cain’t help hearin, though. The bayin of the chaal-crazy crowd, like a pack closin in on their kill. I close my mind off. Don’t let myself think about it. I gotta stay alive. Gotta git outta here an find Sun. He’s still out there somewhere, waitin fer me to come. I know it. They could be keepin him right here in Hopetown.

Hopetown. It’s a cesspit, jest like Mercy said. Every scurfy villain that ever crawled outta a dunghill seems to find their way here. An the Tonton. They’re everywhere, also like Mercy told me, their mostly zebra's an earth ponies, all stallions. They’re personal bodyguards to the Cage Master, who watches the fights from the comfort of his balcony. They control the Gate, checkin who comes into an outta Hopetown. They’re in the watchtowers, one at each corner of the palisade surroundin the city. They’re in charge of the armed guards who control the Colosseum crowds an patrol the streets. They’re in charge of the scum who guard us here in the cellblocks— one block fer the stallion fighters an one fer the mares, another for griffons—an supervise us in the exercise yards.

An the Tonton in charge over all of ’em is Blaze. They say he answers to the Cage Master, but from what I seen that first day, Blaze don’t answer to nopony but hisself. From time to time, he stands on the Cage Master’s balcony while a fight’s on. I ain’t never seen him close up agin. An I hope I never do. But all the guards an the watchtowers an the locked cells an the chains that bind me … none of that’s stopped me tryin to git away, even without my magic to aid me.

The first time, I waited till it was night, then I picked the lock of my cell with a rusty nail I found in a corner of the exercise yard. I got caught tryin to lift the keys from the guard’s belt while he was forty winkin it.

The second time, I was on the way back from the Colosseum when I punched my guard in the face an made a run fer it. Both times, they shoved me into the Cooler to try an break my spirit. That’s what they always do with troublemakers. But a few hours locked in a metal box unnerground ain’t gonna stop me tryin to git outta this place an they know it. That’s why they started chainin me to my cot all the time I’m in my cell. That’s why they keep me in a locked transport cage on my way to an from the Colosseum to fight. An that’s why they search me before they lock me back in my cell. But they don’t ever hurt me. Don’t ever lay even a hoof on me. I don’t fight more’n twice a week. The Angel of Death’s a big draw fer the crowds. I’m the best thing that’s happened to Hopetown in a long time. They wanna make sure it lasts.

I dunno what kinda deal the Pinches made with the Cage Master, but whatever it is, they must be doin fine by it. Sometimes I see her, Miz Pinch, on the Cage Master’s balcony, watchin me fight, but other’n that, I ain’t had no more to do with any of ’em. I also ain’t seen Penny Rose. I hate not knowin if she’s okay or not, but I ain’t got no way of sendin a message to her. All I can do is hope that she’ll find a way of sendin one to me. An that she’s somehow keepin outta the way of Miz Pinch’s hoof.

I’m well fed. I got my own cell an a cot with a blanket. Th’other mare fighters is all kept in one big cell together an have to bunk down on the cold ground at night. They don’t git no special treatment. Even the griffon watch captain, Mad Dog, keeps his distance from me. He’s called Mad Dog on account of the times when he’s so hopped up on chaal there’s no tellin what he
might do. An he does plenty. To the guards, to th’other fighters. But not to me. He don’t dare touch me.
So I eat what they give me, fight when they make me, an look fer my chance to git away. I’ll take any chance at all. A guard lookin th’other way. A door left open at the right time. Anythin. They can slam me in the Cooler all they like. I only gotta git lucky once.

In the still of night, I sit or pace my cell. I don’t sleep more’n a hour or two at a time. An that’s because the moment I shut my eyes, the darkness comes fer me. It slithers outta its hidin place to wrap me in its cold cold arms. It slides into my blood, my bones, my soul. It squeezes out all hope. If I let it in, I’ll never git outta here. I’ll stay an fight in the Cage till I start to lose. I’ll
stay till I die in the gauntlet. I’m afeared that, in the end, the darkness will turn out to be stronger’n the red hot.

The moment I shut my eyes, it comes.

The darkness comes.

The darkness an the dreams.

I’m in the Colosseum.

It’s silent. Empty. Dark. The dead time of night.

I’m in the Cage, it's cold, my tunic in rags. I rattle at the door, but it’s locked.

I’m trapped inside.

I feel a pricklin at the back of my neck. Slowly I turn. They all stand there.

Every mare an filly I ever fought. Every pony I beat an sent to the gauntlet.

Locked into the Cage with me. They ain’t nuthin but shadows, their faces in darkness, but I know them. Each an every one. The color of her eyes an coat, her cutie mark, the shape of her nose, how the fear smells on her skin.

They start movin, glidin towards me on silent hoofs.

Fergive me. I whisper it, say it, scream it—fergive me fergive me fergive me—but no sound comes outta my throat.

They’re on top of me now. They surround me. They pull me down.

Thick darkness, like a blanket.

Voices. Whisperin. Mutterin. Sighin. But far away, so’s I cain’t make out the words.

Then, "Moon! Moon, help me!'

Sun's voice. But when he was small. Penny’s age.

"Sun!" I call. "I’m here! I’m tryin to find you! Where are you?"

"I dunno! Hurry, Moon! It’s so dark. I … I’m frightened." He starts to cry.

"It’s okay, Sun!" I call. "I’m gonna find you! Keep talkin so I can find you!"

"I cain’t! I cain’t! Moon! They’re comin!"

He screams.

"Sun!" I yell. "Sun!"

Silence.

Then the voices agin. Closer now so I can hear what they’re sayin.

"Too late … too late … too late…"

"No," I whimper. "No! Please! Sun! I’m here! I’m comin!"

I drag myself outta the dream. I’m soaked with sweat. I sit up, my heart poundin. I wait. It always takes a couple of minutes fer me to come to, to git my breath back. My blanket’s all twisted an tangled with the chain on my right hind leg.
Every night I dream of Sun. I never see him. Only hear him. Sometimes he’s frightened an callin fer me, like tonight. Other times he’s angry, shoutin.

"Gawdam you, Moon, where are you? What’s takin you so long?"

But the worst dream is the one where he says my own words back to me.

"I’ll find you. Wherever they take you, I swear I’ll find you."

Over an over, never endin until I wake up an it stops.

Some nights I fall back to sleep after the dreams, other nights I lie awake an wait fer the dawn to creep into the cellblock. I roll my blanket unner my head, lie back an wait to see what it’s gonna be tonight.

"Was it a bad ’un this time?" A whisper from the cell next to mine. The one where they keep all th’other female fighters locked up together.

I don’t say nuthin. I don’t like to talk to them I fight or them I’m gonna hafta fight. An none of ’em talk to the Angel of Death. They’re afraid of me. I reckon it’s better that way. I know most of their voices though an I don’t recognize this one, so she must be new. A low, soft voice. Nice.

"I heard you last night too," she says. "An the night before. Ever since I came."

Now I know. They brought in a earth pony mare three nights ago. Tall an thin. A bit sickly lookin. Powder purple coat, a strange purple flower for a cutie mark. A few years older’n me, maybe twenny. She lost her first fight today. If she hears me, that means the rest of ’em can hear me too. It’s dangerous to let yer enemy see weakness. Weakness can git you killed.

Then, it’s like she sees inside my head. She says, "It’s okay. Nopony else knows. Jest me. I don’t sleep much."

I hear her shufle closer to the bars. I cain’t see her, not even her shape in the dark. The cellblock ain’t got no windows. It’s lit by torches durin the day an when night comes, it’s black as black.

"You lost today," I says. "I heard ’em talkin. They say you didn’t even try."

"I ain’t no fighter," she says, "not like you. The sooner I lose, the sooner it’s all over."

"You wanna die?" I says.

"I wanna be free," she says. "I ain’t never bin free. Not my whole life." She’s quiet fer a moment or two. Then she says, "D’you mind that they call you the Angel of Death?"

"No."

"The other girls’re afeared of you. They know that if they fight you, it’s the end."

I don’t say nuthin.

"My name’s Wysteria," she says.

"I’m Moon," I says.

"Moon." That’s a nice name.

I pull my blanket around me an lie down.

"G’night, Moon," she says. "Sweet dreams."

"G’night, Wysteria," I says.

An I sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Penny’s figgered out how to git herself into the cellblock to see me. She’s started to come in with the water carriers. They’re the grubby young colts an fillys who turn up first thing every mornin jest before dawn. They come with their buckets of fresh water an empty ’em into the troughs that run along the edge of the cells. Penny slips out to see me an is back at work with her morning chores before the Pinches wake up.

It’s Penny who whispers to me what’s goin on in Hopetown, who tells me how the place works an where everythin is. She’s tougher’n she used to be, that’s fer sure. You wouldn’t know her to be the same filly as left Silverlake that day. A couple of times she’s come in with a cut lip or bruise on her that shocked me, but fer the most part she manages to stay outta Miz Pinch’s way.

Penny. On her own in a hellhole like this. Somehow managin to fend fer herself.

Who’d of thought it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s bin four nights since Wysteria first spoke to me. Her an me talk a little bit every night now. I ain’t never bin much of a talker essept with Sun, an since I bin in this place I’m outta the habit of it even more.
But I like Wysteria. She’s about th’only person I met fer a long time who ain’t crazy. An she ain’t afeared of me. Says she won’t live long enough to meet me in the Cage, so what’s the point, we might as well be friends.
We always wait till th’other girls fall to sleep an the cellblock guards do their last check. They sit outside till their relief comes on at daybreak, so we’re safe once we hear the door slam shut an the bar slot into place.
Then I slide offa my cot. My leg chain’s long enough fer me to sit next to her on the cold floor, with the cage bars between us. The warmth of her body puts me in mind of how Sun an me used to sit, back to back, an how I could feel his heartbeat in my body, feel his breathin.

Wysteria lost her second fight today. She ain’t told me herself but I heard th’others talkin. We both know she ain’t got much time left. Now she says to me, "tell me what happened to yer brother."

So I do. I tell her what happened the day the Tonton came an killed Pa an took Sun away. It’s such a relief to talk about him, after him jest bein inside my head fer so long. When I git to the bit where they asked about Sun bein born at midwinter, I feel her go still. "Wait a minute," she says. "Midwinter. D’you remember what they said? Their ezzack words, I mean."

I don’t even hafta think before I answer her. The words is burned into my brain. I says, "The leader says to Dusty Tune, is this him? Hammer an slingshot flanks here? Is he the one born at midwinter? An Dusty Tune says yes an then the Tonton, he asks Sun how old he is. Sun says eighteen an then he asks him agin, was you born at midwinter. Sun says yes, an that’s when they took him."

"It’s like they came lookin fer him," says Wysteria. "Like they knew they’d find him at Silverlake."

I’m surprised she says it, jest like that. "That’s it," I says. "That’s it ezzackly."

"Was there anythin else?" she says.

"No, that’s about it. Oh, of course. Mercy says there was a stranger there when Sun got born, a stallion."

"A stallion. Who was he? D’you know his name?"

"Yeah. Trask. Mercy said he called hisself Trask. Said he got all excited when Sun came, said how he went on an on about how a colt born at midwinter was a wonderful thing. He kept sayin it over an over an nobody knew why an then he jest … disappeared. They never seen him agin."

"No," says Wysteria. "I don’t s’pose they did."

My heart slams aginst my ribs. I grab at her through the cage bars. Find her hoof an hold it tight in both of mine. "Wysteria, what is it? You know somethin. Tell me."

"I don’t want to," she says.

"Just say it," I says. "Say it quick."

"All right," she says. "Moon, Earthy Trask was my father."

I wish I could see her face. Look in her eyes an know if she’s tellin the truth. I squeeze her hoof hard. "Don’t lie to me," I says.

"I wouldn’t," she says, "I swear it’s the truth. Moon, yer brother is in great danger. It was the Tonton who took him all right."

"Is he here in Hopetown?"

"I don’t think so," she says. "No. I think they took him to a place called Freedom Fields."

"Where is it?" I says.

"North of here," she says. "Deep in the Black Mountains. It’s hard to git to. Hidden away."

"Freedom Fields," I says. "Sun’s at Freedom Fields. What else d’you know?"

"Listen, Moon," she says, "if he’s at Freedom Fields, that means the King’s got him."

"The King?" I says. "I ain’t never heard of him."

"Hopetown belongs to him," she says. "Hopetown an all the land around, as far as you care to go. Blaze’s his stallion. His second in command."

"What about the Cage Master?"

"He does what they tell him," she says. "There’s the King, there’s Blaze an there’s the Tonton who’re like his … his personal army. That’s who you gotta be afraid of."

"What else?" I says. "I need to know everythin."

"The King ain’t right in the head. None of ’em are. They believe strange things. Mad things. My father believed ’em too."

"Yer father," I says. "Earthy Trask."

"Yes. He was one of ’em. A Tonton, a spy fer the King. He’s dead now, but he was definitely the one at Silverlake that day. I was only little but I remember him comin back to Freedom Fields an how excited they all got when he said he’d found the one, he’d found the colt."

"Found what colt?" I says.

She’s silent.

"Wysteria!" I says.

"I don’t wanna tell you," she whispers.

"You’ve got to," I says. "Please, Wysteria. Go on."

"He said he’d found the colt, she says. The colt born to be killed at midsummer. Killed so the King will live."

My stummick twists. My breath tightens. "I … I don’t … unnerstand," I says. "What d’you mean … kill him so the King will live? What’re you talkin about?"

She starts to talk fast. Low, so’s we don’t disturb nopony. "It’s allabout chaal, Moon. You seen this place. Everypony here’s chewin it or smokin it. Mad Dog, the cellblock guards, everypony who comes to see us fight. An one person controls the chaal. He grows it, harvests it, an supplies it."

"The King," I says.

"That’s because there’s only one place with the right conditions to grow it. You need the right kinda earth, the right light, the right amount of rain."

"Freedom Fields," I says. "In the Black Mountains."

"The Tonton round ponies up, take ’em to Freedom Fields as slaves an force ’em to work in the fields."

"An they control ’em with chaal," I says.

"Now yer gittin the idea," she says.

"So the stallion who controls the chaal, controls everythin an everypony. He’s all powerful," I says.

"That’s the King," she says.

"But … I still don’t unnerstand," I says. "What’s all this gotta do with Sun?"

"Every six years, on midsummer’s eve, they sacrifice a young stallion. They kill him. An that stallion cain’t jest be any stallion. He’s gotta be eighteen year old an born at midwinter."

My coat stands on end. "Sun," I says.

"The King believes that when the stallion dies, that stallion’s spirit, his strength moves into him, it moves into the King. An his power’s renewed fer another six years."

"But that’s … crazy," I says.

"I told you," she says, "the King’s wrong in the head. But he believes it. An because he believes it, the rest of ’em do. It’s the chaal, Moon. Jest enough of it makes ponies dullwitted an slow an easy to control. Too much of it an they’re outta control, like the crowds in the Colosseum when a fighter runs the gauntlet. Like Mad Dog. Once they start on it, they cain’t stop. They don’t wanna stop."

"But sacrifice," I says. "I don’t believe it."

"I know how it sounds, but it’s true. I seen it myself. This midsummer’s eve it’s six years since the last sacrifice. Yer brother’s eighteen. He was born at midwinter. It’s his turn."

"An they knew about Sun because of yer father," I says.

"Yes. Like I said, he told ’em about Sun. After that, they kept watch on him over the years to make sure he didn’t come to no harm."

"Our neighbor," I says. "Dusty Tune. That’s what he meant when he said, I bin keepin a eye on him all this time."

"Don’t blame him, Moon, they would of forced him to do it."

"But why didn’t they take Sun when he was born?" I says. "Or later on? Why wait till now?"

"Because they need the stallion to have a strong spirit. An lettin him live with his family, livin in freedom, keeps his spirit strong."

"Sun’s strong as they come, I whisper.

"The stronger he is when he dies, the stronger the King will be. Listen Moon," she says, "it’s less’n a month to midsummer’s eve. If you wanna save yer brother, you gotta find a way of gittin outta here soon. You gotta—"

The cellblock door flies open an Mad Dog, the watch captain, comes in. He’s twirlin a long thick stick in his yellow claws, his grey feathers are dirty, same as his brown grey fur. He’s outta his head on chaal, all jittery an bright-eyed, laughin to hisself, beak clickin. The guards light his way with torches.

"How’s my mares tonight?" says Mad Dog.

The fighters in the main cell wake up right away. They’re on their hoofs, scuttlin into the shadows so’s he cain’t see ’em to pick on. I was back on my cot the moment the door flew open. He runs the stick along the cell bars.

"Wake up," he says. "Daddy wants to play."

"Wysteria," I says, "move!"

She’s froze with fear, still crouched down by the cell bars where we was talkin.

Mad Dog spots her.

"What’re you doin there?" He pushes his stick through the bars an pokes at her. "Come on out, you pretty little rat!"

She shrinks away.

"Leave her alone," I says.

"Oooh," he says. "He moves along to my cell an leers at me. If it ain’t the Angel of Death."

I stare at him. Let him see how much I hate him.

"You think yer somethin, don’t you?" he says. "I tell you, if it was up to Mad Dog, you’d be outside right now gittin a beatin you’d never ferget. That day will come. An when it does, you’ll be beggin me fer mercy. But not now. Yer the star attraction in Hopetown these days an Mad Dog don’t wanna git into trouble. But I’m bored. I wanna bit of fun."

He points at Wysteria. "Bring out the purple rat," he says.

He jerks his head an the guards unlock the main cage, push their way in through the mares. They haul Wysteria out.

"Wysteria!" I says. "Wait! Leave her alone!"

Mad Dog drags one of the guard’s chairs into the middle of the cellblock an sits on it backwards. His eyes spark with excitement an he’s startin to twitch. His claws, his shoulders, his paws. That means trouble.

"Let’s see," he says. "How about you sing me a song?"

"I dunno no songs," says Wysteria in a low voice.

"She don’t know no songs." Mad Dog looks all around, like he’s surprised. "Well, can you dance? Do me a little dance … rat. Go on, what’re you waitin fer? Dance."

Wysteria don’t move.

"I said dance, flower butt!"

"Leave her alone!" I says.

"Shut up, jest shut up! Gawdammit," he yells, "do I hafta do everythin myself?" He throws his chair aginst the wall an it smashes into bits. Then Mad Dog starts dancin. He twirls his stick, throws it in the air, dances around it, wings flutterin, tail swishin about. "See?" he says. "Look how easy it is! I’m dancin! Let’s everypony dance! C’mon!"

Wysteria’s stood there, stiff as stone, starin at him.

Suddenly he stops. "What’re you starin at, rat? I said … what’re you starin at?" He screams it at the top of his voice, the veins in his neck poppin out unner his feathers. He grabs her by the scruff with razor sharp claws an starts draggin her towards the door. I see blood start slowly seepin through her coat. She cries out in pain.

"Wysteria!" I scream. "Let her go, you bastard!" I leap at the cell door, fergettin my magics stopped by that damned horn ring an I’m chained to the cot an the cot’s fixed to the floor. I land face down but scramble up right away.

Mad Dog shoves Wysteria at the two cellblock guards. "Take the pretty purple rat outside," he says. They take her an hustle her outta the door.

"Wysteria!" I says. "No! Wysteria!"

Mad Dog’s unlockin the door of my cell. I scrabble back onto my cot, into the corner, an kick at him as he unchains me from the cot. He grabs me with his filthy claws, yanks me to my hoofs an outta my cell. He pulls up the metal trapdoor in the floor of the cellblock an shoves me down inside. "Sweet dreams, Angel," he says. Then he spits on me. He slams the door shut an I’m in the Cooler.

In the darker than dark.

The blacker than black.

I know I’ll never see Wysteria agin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mares in the cellblock stay silent. They don’t do much talkin to each other an sure as hell they don’t talk to me. They blame me fer Wysteria bein dead. They ain’t wrong at that. I blame myself. If she hadn’t of bin talkin to me, if I hadn’t
needed to know about Sun so bad, we would of bin more careful. Not talked so long.

We would of heard the guards an Mad Dog comin. If we had, Wysteria might still be alive. But not fer long. That’s the truth of it. Wysteria’s time was runnin out. Everypony knew it. She knew it. She was only waitin to lose her third fight. She was only waitin to die in the gauntlet. I seen what’s left of a pony after they run the gauntlet. At least she got spared that.
She’s free now. Like she wanted to be. But she lies heavy on my heart.

When I ain’t thinkin about Wysteria, I’m thinkin of how I’m gonna find a way outta here. Midsummer eve, she told me. I gotta git to a place called Freedom Fields in the Black Mountains by midsummer eve. Jest over three weeks from now.

So I watch. An I wait.

My chance is gonna come soon. I know it will. It must come.

It must.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stand in the middle of the Cage. Stare out at the crowd. They jump to their feet an roar fer me. I’m the biggest draw they ever had in Hopetown. They pack in when I’m fightin.
I look up through the top bars. Nero’s there, like always. Perched on top of the light tower that stands right next to the Cage. It ain’t carried light since Wrecker days, of course. Now all it carries is the people who clamber up to watch the fights from there.

The light tower’s the cheapest seats there is.

Essept nobody sits there when I’m fightin. Not with Nero perched on top. Everybody’s skeered of him. They all believe that crows bring death. Defeat. Destruction. They believe I git my powers from him.

I like to look up an see him there. He always stays till I win an then he flies off. He’s done it since my first fight.

But my power ain’t down to Nero. It’s down to the red hot. That’s what keeps me winnin.

There’s a mare in the front row today. Tall, gold furred, wearin a cloak.

She ain’t like most what comes to the Colosseum. Other ponies might not take no notice, but the moment I see her, I know her right off fer a warrior. She’s got a look about her. She takes things in with her quick eyes, things that other people’d jest pass over without noticin.
An she don’t take leaf from the chaal pony when he offers it. Not like everybody else who comes to the fights. Neether do the three mares with her take any.

In fact, they jostle him so’s his basket tips out an then they scuff all the chaal leaf unner their hoofs so they git all crushed an filthy. When a armed guard comes over to see what’s goin on, they pretend it warn’t nuthin to do with ’em.
She sees me lookin at her, watchin what they’re doin. Raises one eyebrow as if to say, what’s it to you anyways?

The cage door opens an my opponent enters to boos an jeers. She’s a tough-lookin, dark brown-stripped zebra with some sorta strange symbol for a cutie mark, name of Epona. She only arrived a couple of days ago. I ain’t never fought her before but the word is she fights dirty. The Cage allows pretty much anythin —hits, kicks, stranglin, twistin legs an arms— but not bitin or gougin. I heard she’ll try both if the cagekeepers ain’t got a clear view an she gits the chance. I’ll hafta watch her.

I put the girl in the front row outta my mind. I put everythin outta my mind. I clear it so the red hot can take over. That’s the way it’s gotta be if I wanna survive.

The keeper sounds the gong an we’re off.

Epona gits me in a stranglehold on the ground. While I’m strugglin to git free, I look up an there she is, the mare in the front row, starin right at me. Our eyes meet.

She’s tryin to tell me somethin. But what? What is it?

My concentration slips. Epona’s got advantage. She shufles us around, outta sight of the keeper, an bites me on the leg.

I roar with anger. The red hot kicks in an I’m back in the fight, full strength. I throw Epona offa me. I git her on the ground in a leg an arm twist. She moans. I twist harder.

Then even harder.

"Quit!" she yells. "Quit!"

Epona’s first loss. She glares hate at me as they take her from the Cage.

I look at the front row. The mare an her friends is gone.

Damn her. She nearly made me lose my fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m in my transport cage on the back of the mulecart, bein driven back through Hopetown to the cellblock. Two armed guards sit up front an, like always, crowds surround the cart. Everyone wants to see the Angel of Death close up. The brave ones
reach in through the bars an try to touch me so’s they can brag to their friends later. I snap my teeth at ’em an they shrink away, shriekin with excitement.

The warrior mare pushes through till she’s close beside the cage. She’s about my height. She’s got a golden coat with tiny gold darker freckles sprinkled all over. She’s huddled inside her cloak, but I can see she’s got wings, an a curly mane the color of dark copper an eyes green as forest moss. She’s the most beautiful pony I ever seen.

"You nearly made me lose that fight," I says.

"I’m sorry you didn’t," she says. "That’s my girl you beat."

"Epona?" I says. "Whaddya mean, yer girl? Who are you?"

"I’m Gold Feather, but most call me Feath" she says, walkin alongside. "We’re the Free Hawks."

I look closer at who’s walkin beside the cart. Three tough-lookin mares, the ones who was sittin beside her in the Colosseum.

"Look around," says Feath.

I scan the crowd through the bars of my cage. Another mare in a robe. She moves it slightly so I can see the crossbow at her side. So they’re smart enough to smuggle weapons past the Gate guards of Hopetown. As I look over the crowd, another mare nods at me.

"So Epona’s a Free Hawk too," I says.

"She is," says Feath. "An we’re gonna git her outta here."

My heart skips a beat. "How?" I says.

"I’m workin on it," she says. "Security’s pretty tight here. But in the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t git my fighter killed."

"The Free Hawks is fighters," I says.

"Warriors," she says, "like you. An occasional highway robbers."

"An you don’t want Epona to lose," I says.

"That’s right," she says.

"Well I don’t wanna lose eether," I says. "Losers go down to the gauntlet."

"That’s true," says Feath.

"Maybe we can help each other," I says.

"My thoughts ezzackly," she says.

Our eyes meet. "How do I know I can trust you?" I says.

She gives the nod to two mares standin next to one of the armed street guards. They move in on him. Suddenly a surprised look crosses his face. He starts to slump to the ground. They catch him an drag him back into a dark doorway. They step out agin an disappear into the crowd.

"You better not try that too often," I says. "Where’re you stayin?"

"We’re holed up in the northeast sector," she says. "There’s a empty shanty in a place called Spangled Alley."

"I’ll git word to you," I says. "I’ll send my sister. Her name’s Penny Rose."

"I’ll be waitin," she says.

Then she’s gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ain’t seen Penny fer a good few days now. Not since Wysteria told me about Sun. Not since I spoke to Feath.

Every mornin, when the water carriers show up jest before dawn, I peer through the gloom of the cellblock to see if she’s with ’em. I started to ask one of ’em, a skinny little brown colt with scared red eyes, if he’d seen her, but he ran off the moment I opened my mouth to talk.

I’m startin to git worried. I need to see her. Make sure she’s all right. An I need to talk to her about Sun. About Feath an the Free Hawks. About my plan.

The cellblock door opens. The weak light of dawn trickles in. The guards light the wall torches as the water carriers shufle in an start emptyin their buckets into the troughs.

This time Penny’s with ’em. I let out my breath in relief as she makes her way over to my cell, carryin her heavy bucket carefully so’s it don’t slop too much. Nobody’s lookin our way. I go over to the trough, kneel down an start scoopin up
water, splashin it over my face, neck an hands while she pours it out slowly from her bucket.

"Where you bin all this time? I was gittin worried," I says.

"I couldn’t git away," says Penny Rose. "Miz Pinch had bad toothache the past few days. She warn’t sleepin like usual. It’s back to normal now."

"Are y’all right?"

"I’m fine. You look awful."

"I ain’t bin sleepin much eether," I says. "Listen, Pen, I found out where they took Lugh. It’s a place called Freedom Fields. An I met somebody who’s gonna help us git outta here."

Her eyes widen. "Really? Who?"

"Her name’s Gold Feather," I says. "I’m gonna need you to git a message to her."

"Okay," she says. "Where do I find her?"

"She’s stayin in a empty shanty in Spangled Alley," I says. "Northeast sector. D’you know it?"

"Yeah, I think so," she says.

"Good," I says. "All right, here’s what you need to—"

"Hey! Hey you! Filly!" A guard’s lookin our way, frownin.

"I better go," says Penny.

"Come back tomorrow fer the message," I says, "it’s important."

"I’ll be here. Oh!" she says. "I nearly fergot!"

She pulls somethin outta her cloak an gives it to me. A smooth pink stone. My heartstone that Miz Pinch stole from me.
She flashes me a big grin. "I took it when she warn’t lookin," she says.

"Thanks, Pen," I says. I shove it down inside my tunic, next to my heart.

"Filly! What’s takin so long over there?" The guard starts to head over to us.

"See you tomorrow, Moon." Penny picks up her bucket, ducks her head down an scuttles past the guard an outta the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cellblock guards lead me, chained at each hoof, into the female fighters’ exercise yard. Everypony’s here, they always are fer the evenin session.

I need to speak to Epona. Tell her about my plan. I take a quick look around. There she is, with a group of girls.

The Angel of Death don’t talk to nobody. That’s how I like it. So I cain’t jest walk over to her, it ’ud draw too much attention. I’ll hafta be careful about how I do this.

She looks my way an I catch her eye. Jerk my head a little bit, to tell her to come over, I wanna talk. Her eyes widen, but she gives me a nod. She’s smart. She’ll wait fer the right moment.

I stand while the guards unchain me so’s I can move about. The male fighters is in the exercise yard next to ours, Griffons in another. Now they start up like they always do when they see me.

They come crowdin up to the chainlink fence, makin kissin noises an callin out, "Help! It’s the Angel of Death! Save me!"

I used to glare at ’em, but it set ’em off even more. Now I jest ignore ’em.

There’s one, though, who don’t come to the fence. A unicorn, He leans in the corner of the stallion’s yard, chewin on a bit of twig like he ain’t got a care in the world.

I ain’t seen him before. He ain’t battered up like the rest of ’em, so he must be new. He ain’t even had his mane an tail shaved off yet.

Jest then, like he feels me watchin him, he stops what he’s doin. He lifts his head. Our eyes meet. He tosses the twig away, saunters up to the fence, leaning against it.

He don’t say a word. He jest runs his eyes slowly over my body, right down to my hoofs, then up agin. Th’other men whistle an jeer. I feel heat rushin through me. Feel it strain my chest, my neck, my cheeks. I know I must be bright red. Then he smiles. A lopsided, crook of a smile.

Cocky bastard. Who does he think he is?

So I do the same to him. I look him up an down.

Gold an brown mane to his shoulders an a long tail. Silver gray eyes with a hint of blue, an a tanned coat. High cheekbones. Lean but strong lookin. Like he knows how to take care of hisself. He's rather handsome. Our eyes meet agin.

"Like what you see, Angel?" he says.

I step to the fence. I lean in close. His cutie marks a bright blue star with a arrow through it. He smells of warm dust an sage.

"You ain’t my type," I says.

As I turn an walk away, one of the men calls out, "She sure told you, Arrow!"

I hear him laugh.

His name’s Arrow.

Heat burns into me. Crawls over my skin. A trickle of sweat runs down my chest. I pull out the heartstone tucked safe inside my tunic. It’s warm. No. Hot. That’s strange.

I look at the sky. The sun’s dyin in the west. The day should be coolin down.

But it feels like high noon. White hot.

Epona makes her way slowly in my direction. She does it so’s you wouldn’t notice unless you was lookin out fer it. At last she stops a little ways off from me. She sits down an starts tracin in the dirt with her hoof. I start with my usual exercises. Stretches first. Front an then hind legs.

"I talked to Feath," I says. I speak in a low voice, don’t look at her direct.

"I saw her at the fight today," she says.

"Looks like we’ll be workin together to git outta here," I says.

"Suits me," she says. "What’s the plan?"

"How many Hawks is there?" I says.

"Forty some odd, mostly zebras an Earth ponies" she says.

"Can Feath git ’em all here?" I says.

"Yeah," she says. "But they won’t all git through the Gate past the guards. That many mares an fillys ’ud make the Tonton suspicious, even if they came in smaller groups."

"Maybe they wouldn’t git suspicious if there was a lotta other people tryin to git in at the same time," I says.

"Go on," she says.

"I’m in the Cage agin in two days," I says. "I’m due to fight you. I plan to lose that fight. When ponies hear the Angel of Death’s on a losin streak, they’ll pack the place out. The Tonton won’t be able to keep track of who’s comin an who’s goin. They’ll pull most of the guards away from the cellblocks to help keep the crowds unner control."

She grins. A quick flash of white teeth, a dimple in her cheek. A completely different zebra. "I like the way you think," she says.

"I’m gonna lose aginst you three times," I says. "Then I’m gonna run the gauntlet."

She gives a low whistle.

"Oh, I got no intention of dyin," I says. "That’s where the Hawks come in. When I start to run that gauntlet, th’only ponies on eether side’s gonna be Free Hawks. They’ll pull me down all right, but only to help me disappear."

"I git it," says Epona. "It’ll take a little while fer everybody to figger out yer gone but when they do … all hell’s gonna break loose. That crowd ain’t gonna like bein cheated of the Angel’s blood."

"An while that’s goin on," I says, "you’ll be escapin from the Cage an …"

She looks around the yard, at the rest of the fighters.

"… the Hawks’ll be settin all of these free," she says. "Then we’ll burn Hopetown to the ground. You’ll help us, won’t you? You know this place an the guards better’n anypony."

"Of course I will," I says. I look her straight in the eye when I say it. Sun always says it’s the best thing to do when yer tellin a lie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Penny Rose manages to find Feath in Spangled Alley an tell her about my plan. Feath thinks it’ll work fine. She’s already sent fer the rest of the Hawks an, over the next few days, they’ll all be gittin ready.
She sent word back with Penny that once they smuggle me through the gauntlet, we’ll head straight fer the cellblocks where I’ll help ’em set all the fighters free. After we set fires goin all over town, we’ll make our way to the northeast corner, well away from the Gate. Everybody else’ll be leavin the burnin town that way. Not us. The Hawks is makin a hole in the palisade fer us to escape through. One of the Hawks’ll bring Penny Rose there.

So that’s it.

Well … not quite. I’m fine with everythin up to the point where the Hawks smuggle me through the gauntlet.

After that, I got other plans fer me an Pen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lose to Epona.

I make it look good.

Real good.

I let my right hind hoof slip an Epona’s on me like a jackal on a corpse. She gits me in a strong headlock. I push back the red hot that tells me to fight back. In the blue skies above the Colosseum, Nero swoops an screams with fear. I wish I
could tell him why I’m doin what I’m doin, but I cain’t.

At first, the crowd cain’t hardly believe it. You can see it in their faces. Not the Angel of Death.

She’s unbeaten. Unbroken. Unstoppable.

But then they git the whiff of blood, my blood, an they howl fer more. In the end, they don’t care whose blood it is.

Maev’s in the front row. As I lie on the ground, our eyes meet. She nods. That’s one fight down. Two more to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ain’t bin back in the cellblock more’n a few minutes when the door slams open.

There’s a shout. "Make way fer the King! Make way!"

My innards lurch. My mouth goes dry. I go over to the door of my cell. Press myself aginst the bars so’s I can see better.
Twelve Tonton with torches run in, pushin the cellblock guards outta the way. They line theirselves up along the length of the cellblock. They lift their torches to light a path.

A stallion steps through the door.

I don’t believe it. It’s the unicorn stallion from Golden Pinch’s book. He stands in the doorway with his sword at his side. Jest like the picture in the book. Dark greycoat. Long thick black mane that looks like its flowin sorta. Strange crown an a big red cloak edged with fluffy white fur over his back so you cain't see his cutie mark. Metal armour over his legs an chest. His horn stands out a mile since it's red as blood, and his eyes are green an red an smokin purple. What was it Golden called him? Sombra. The King of the Crystal Empire. Dead fer hunnerds of years, he said. So it cain’t really be him. It’s somepony who looks like him.

He starts to walk down the cellblock, head high. He’s magically holdin a white lace keercheef to his nose. A small hooded unicorn mare walks close behind the King, her horn glowing. She must be makin his eyes all glowy an smoky like that. Most unicorns can only levitate things with magic an to light up dark places, like me, but a few have taken the time to learn spells that lot's of unicorns knew back in Wrecker times.

The fighters in the big cage next to me, they’re all doin like I am, crowdin up to the bars of their cell to git a good look at him.
The Tonton bow their heads. "Your Majesty, King Sombra" each one murmurs as he goes past.

A pony follows a little ways behind him. It’s Blaze. My heart clutches. No. Please. Not him. Right away, my body goes all tight.

After Blaze, comes Miz Pinch. What the hell’s she doin here?

Suddenly I realize. They’re comin straight down the cellblock. Straight towards me. I scramble back onto my cot. Push myself into the corner. Feel the cold stone of the wall through my thin tunic.

The King’s here. The one who’s got Sun. Maybe he’s here to take me. Maybe they caught Maev. Somehow found out our plan.

Don’t say a word. Don’t give nuthin away. Don’t look at Blaze.

The King stops in front of my cell. Blaze stands jest behind him, in the shadows. My heart’s bangin in my chest so loud, they must be able to hear it.

Miz Pinch rushes past Blaze. She grabs hold of my cell bars with her hoofs an shakes ’em. I know she wishes she was shakin my neck.

"What was that?" she shrieks. "What d’you call that?"

I says naught. Keep my head down.

"You threw that fight!" she spits. "You might be able to fool them chaaled-up morons, but you don’t fool me. You threw it an I wanna know why."

"Calm yourself, woman." The King’s got a voice like a mouth full of damp earth.

A shudder ripples along my spine.

"But I know her, son," says Miz Pinch. "Ruby, I know this one! She’s the—"

His arm fly up. He smashes her in the face with his hoof.

She cries out. She stumbles, grabs onto the cell bars to keep from fallin. She crouches on the ground. Her lip’s split open. She looks old. Frightened. I cain’t hardly believe it. Miz Pinch, the mother of this stallion. The mother of the King. Ruby Pinch. But it all makes sense. The picture in Rooster’s book. The way Ruby Pinch looks. Why Golden Pinch lied when I asked him if he had any kids.

"How do you address your King?" says Ruby Pinch.

She don’t speak. Jest cowers there.

Then he screams it, spit flyin from his mouth. "How do you address your King?"

"Yer … Yer Majesty," she says. "I address my King as Yer Majesty, King Sombra."

"If you forget again," he says, "he will have you killed. Do you understand?"

She nods her head, grabs a corner of his cloak and kisses it. "Yes," she whispers. "All I wanna do is please … Yer Majesty, King Sombra. It’s all I ever wanted."

He kicks her hoof away. "Do not dare to touch your King!" he says. "Now. What were you saying about this mare?"

"Yer Majesty, King Sombra, I only said that … that I know her, Yer Majesty. She ain’t like the rest. Her spirit’s too strong to let her be beat. She lost today because she wanted to lose. She’s a sly one. She’s up to somethin. I know she must be." Miz Pinch glares hate at me.

"Enough!" He waves his keercheef an she scuttles off into a dark corner of the cellblock.

"The King will speak to her," says Ruby Pinch. "This … Angel of Death."

Blaze steps up to the cell. "Come here, girl," he says. "His Majesty, King Sombra wishes to speak to you."

It’s the first time I’ve heard his voice. It’s deep. Dark. Jest what I’d especk it to sound like.

"Come," he says.

I git to my hoofs, real slow. I take a couple of steps. Stop.

"Closer," he says.

I move. Then I’m right next to the cell bars. Right next to him. I don’t look up. But I feel him. The warmth of him. The cold of him.

"Moon," I think I hear him whisper.

A strange weakness grips me. I sway towards him. Grab at the bars to stop myself. Then he’s turnin away, he’s bowin to the King, he’s movin back into the shadows. Did he say my name? No … I must of imagined it.

Now Pinch steps up to my cell. His hoofs shoot out. Grab me through the bars. Grab me by the neck. His hoofs is strong. They press on my windpipe. Jest enough to make it hard to breathe.

"Is the old mare right?" he says. "Did you deliberately lose that fight?"

"No!" I says. "I didn’t! I wouldn’t!"

His grip tightens. I grab his wrists. Struggle to git free. He’s too strong. I drag in air through my nose, frantic. He stinks like nuthin I ever smelled before. Sour, sweet, rotten … all at the same time.

"Your King has made a long and arduous journey to see you fight," he says. "The miraculous warrior they’re all talking about, the Angel of Death. He would be vastly displeased to find that he was being deceived."

"I ain’t deceivin!"

"Last chance! Are you lying!"

"No!" I gasp. "Losin means death! Everypony knows that!"

"Indeed," he says. "Why would you lose on purpose? Why would anypony? It makes no sense."

Suddenly he lets go. I fall to the ground, gaspin, holdin my throat where he pressed on it.

"You’re imagining things, mare," he says to Miz Pinch. "You’ve had a good run. She’s made you a small fortune. You’ll just have to find yourself another fighter once this one’s run the gauntlet."

"I’m sure yer right, Yer Majesty, King Sombra," she says. "Yer always right, you always know best. I shouldn’t of bothered you. I’m sorry fer wastin yer time, Yer Majesty."

Miz Pinch, a cowed dog at her master’s heels.

Slowly I git to my hoofs.

"Wait!" Pinch grabs me. Hauls me aginst the cell bars. He presses a cold hoof on my cheekbone. Right on my birthmoon tattoo. He hisses in a breath. "What’s this?" he says.

"It’s a … tattoo," I says.

"The King can see that. Where did you get it?"

I think fast.

"Where I come from, everypony’s got ’em," I says.

"And where’s that?" he says.

"Out east," I says.

"East," he says. "I see."

He stares at me a long moment. He lets me go. He steps back an holds the kercheef to his nose agin.

"Blaze," he says, "the King will remove from this pestilent hole."

"Majesty," says Blaze an bows his head.

But not before I see it. The slight twitch of his lips. A flicker of somethin across his face.

He despises Ruby Pinch.

The Tonton bow the King out like they bowed him in. When they reach the cellblock door, Blaze lets Pinch an his mother go through first.

Then he turns back to look at me.

My breath catches in my throat. I drop my head. I mustn’t meet his eyes. I don’t dare.

Not even in the gloom of the cellblock.

I feel it when he leaves.

Somethin … lets go of me.

An I can breathe agin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The word’s out.

The Angel of Death’s goin down.

Hopetown’s packed. The scum crawl out from whatever rock they live unner to be there, to bet on the next two fights. The Cage Master’s only takin primo Wrecker junk as bets—coins, glass beads, gold rings, silver chains, things with old magic spells on em that can still be used … they bring what they got to him an he decides what it’s worth, if anythin.

Looks like the prospect of my death’s worth plenty. To him. To Miz Pinch. An to anypony in Hopetown with a flea-infested bed goin spare. Pen tells me they’re rentin beds out by the hour, not the night.

Right now the Cage Master’s givin even odds on me or Epona to win.

He ain’t bin to see me since that first day. When he told me he didn’t care if I lived or died. It’s true. We’re all the same to him. We’re all the same to all of ’em who come to see us fight.

While I’m waitin to go into the Cage, I look up to the Cage Master’s balcony. He’s there, along with Blaze an the King.

The King leans on the railin, starin down at me. He’s dressed all in a gold cloak today.

My birthmoon tatoo bothered him, that’s fer certain. It makes me believe that Wysteria was right, that he’s holdin Sun prisoner at Freedom Fields. He must of noticed Sun’s tattoo. I can only hope that he bought my story about how I came by mine.

I lose my fight, of course. That’s two fights down. One to go.

Tomorrow’s the day.

Escaping Hopetown

View Online

It’s him.

Arrow.

Leanin aginst a wall in a corner of the male fighters’ exercise yard, chewin on another twig. Starin at me. When he sees me lookin at him, he pushes of from the wall an wanders over to the fence. Without my tellin ’em to, my hoofs start movin an all of a sudden I’m standin in front of him. His mane’s gone now. Shaved off, like the rest of us.

"Angel, angel, angel," he says. He’s smilin an shakin his head. "What’re you up to?"

"I dunno what yer talkin about," I says.

"You don’t lose fights," he says. "Not unless you want to, that is."

His silvery blue eyes flick over to where Epona’s standin, talkin to some of th’other mares. "I saw you talkin to yer friend th’other day," he says. "Looked like a mighty innerestin conversation."

"I dunno what you mean," I says. Heat’s startin to crawl all over my chest. The heartstone feels warm aginst my coat. The same thing that happened the last time I talked to him. I frown.

He shrugs. "All right," he says. "Don’t tell me. I’ll find out eventually."

"You won’t find out nuthin," I says. "Cuz there ain’t nuthin to find out."

Suddenly he’s got hold of my hoof. I didn’t even see him move. A tingle shoots up my arm. Like when Sun an me was nearly hit by the lightnin that day. The smile’s gone. His face looks dead serious. "Looks to me like yer playin a dangerous game, angel," he says.

"Why should you care what I do?"

We stare at each other a long moment. Then, "No reason," he says. "Jest … be careful, Angel. That’s all." He lets go of my hoof slowly. Almost like he don’t want to.

As I move away from him, the heartstone starts to cool down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness. Hard to see. Smoke fills the air. Burns my throat, my nostrils, stings my eyes.

"Where are you?" I scream.

No answer. Hungry flames lick at wood. Embers pop an hiss.

I hafta find him. Cain’t leave him here.

The sound of a heartbeat. My heartbeat. Over an over. So loud. It fills my brain, my head. I flaten my ears. Panic grips me. I turn in circles, blind.

"Where are you?" I shout. "Where are you?"

Another voice now. Whisperin. Mercy’s voice.

"The heartstone lets you know … the heartstone … heartstone … hurry, Moon …"

Bright sun. Exercise yard. Epona smiles. "We’re gonna burn Hopetown to the ground," she says.

I gotta find him. Before it’s too late.

Too late … too late … too late …

I wake, mutterin to myself. I’m soaked with sweat, my blanket twisted around my legs, my heart poundin in my chest.

That was a new one. I ain’t dreamed of fire before. An it warn’t Sun I was searchin fer so frantic. I dunno who it was.
I do what I always do to chase the nightmares away. I sit on my cot, hug myself an close my eyes.

I think of water. Clean, clear water. A lake. I dive in. It washes over me, around me.

My tired body, my tattered soul, my heavy heart. As I swim, it washes me clean.

An so I make it through to another dawn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The keeper opens the door. I step into the Cage fer the last time. My hoofs feel far away, like they don’t belong to me. My stummick’s clenched into knots. My mouth’s dry.

I cain’t hear myself think fer the noise of the crowd. Them that couldn’t squeeze into the Colosseum fill the streets an sit on rooftops. Even if they cain’t see what’s goin on, they can hear the shouts an roars. One way or another, they all wanna be part of the Angel’s end. Of my end.

The chaal vendors is doin a roarin trade, strugglin through the crowds with big baskets of the dark green leaf balanced on their heads. They wanna git everybody hopped up fer the big finish.

The Cage Master’s on his balcony, all crammed with people dressed in their finest. I can see the Pinches there—Golden an Miz Pinch pushed into a corner. Ruby Pinch, the King, is the center of attention. He sits on a fancy golden chair an everybody dances around him, offerin him cups of this an plates of that. He waves ’em all away with his
lace kercheef an stares down at the Colosseum.

Blaze stands nearby.

I hope Penny Rose’s safe. The Free Hawks said they’d look after her, but I won’t be happy till I see her fer myself.
I stare at the center aisle. It runs from the bottom of the Colosseum right to the top in a straight line.

The gauntlet run.

Feath’s in the front row on the center aisle. Right next to the gauntlet run. She gives me the tiniest nod. She looks behind her an then looks back at me. Fer the first ten rows or so, there’s tough-lookin girls packed in at the ends of the
rows, also right next to the gauntlet run. I see a man try to push one of ’em outta the way. Tryin to steal her place along the
gauntlet, to git closer to where the action’s gonna be. The girl don’t even look as she chops him in the throat with her wing.

The Free Hawks is here. Jest like Feath promised.

Nero sits on the light tower that stands right next to the Cage. He cries out, over an over agin. He’s beside hisself with fear, I can tell. All of a sudden, he swoops down, lands on the Cage an slips in through the bars. He ain’t never done that the whole time I bin fightin.

He flutters down to sit on my raised hoof. The whole place goes quiet. Even though I’m on a losin streak, they still believe I git my powers from him. Even fer this, my last fight, they ain’t bin able to sell the cheap seats on the light tower because he’s there. I nuzzle his beak an his head. He purrs in that way crows have, jest like a cat. I didn’t know how much I bin missin him till right now.

"Okay," I whisper to him, "good boy Nero." He leans his head to one side. Looks straight at me with his bright black eyes. "It’s okay," I says. "I’m gonna be okay."

He gives a croak. He knows what okay means. He unnerstands.

I kiss his feathery head then lift my hoof an he flies outta the Cage. Lands on his usual perch on the light tower.

The crowd murmurs, mutters, shifts in their seats.

The Cage door creaks open agin an Epona walks in.

My heart’s bangin aginst my ribs. The blood pounds in my ears.

We face up. Eye to eye. Crouch down. The keeper sounds the gong.

My last fight begins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I let Epona set the pace. Let her chase me round the Cage, corner me, hurt me.

But then the red hot kicks in. I try to shove it down, push it away, but it rips through me. Takes me over. The red hot don’t know Feath. It don’t know she’s got a plan. It don’t trust her. Because the red hot don’t know plans or ponies or trust. It only knows one thing.

Survival.

An I cain’t keep it down. It’s wild. Cornered. It starts to fight Epona. It fights fer my life.

"W hat’re you doin?" she says, her eyes wide. Epona’s strong. She’s smart. She pushes me to the edge. But I push right back. I got more to lose than her, with the gauntlet in my sights.

We fight till we’re both bloodied, battered, exhausted.

At last she makes a mistake. I git her by the throat. I push her aginst the bars. The crowd goes crazy. They leap to their feet. Outta the corner of my eye, I see Feath. By her face, I know she cain’t believe what she’s seein. She waves her hoofs at me. Her mouth moves. Sayin somethin I cain’t hear.

But it’s the red hot that fills my ears now. Roars at me to squeeze Epona’s neck. My hoofs tighten. Wait! No! No! I grit my teeth, think of smotherin the red hot with blackness, holdin it down in deep black water till it cain’t breathe. There’s somethin … I know I gotta do somethin or … remember somethin but I … cain’t git hold of it, cain’t …

Sun. Sun. I nearly fergot him. How could I?

'I’ll find you. Wherever they take you, I’ll find you I swear.'

I raise my head. The roar of the red hot starts to fade. Then it’s gone an I come back to myself.

The need, deep inside me, fer my heart to keep on beatin, fer my lungs to keep on breathin, that powerful need nearly took me over.

Sun's waitin fer me. Countin on me. Feath. The plan. It’s my only hope of gittin outta here. What was I thinkin of?

I let go. Epona falls into my arms. I hold her as she gasps fer breath.

"I’m sorry," I says. "Sorry." Then I step back.

Epona lifts her head, holds her hand to her neck. She looks at me, her face confused.

I nod. "Go ahead," I says. "Do it."

Then she does. She takes me down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two cagekeepers haul me to my hoofs. Before I know it I’m walkin outta the Cage an standin in front of the crowd. They’re off their heads with rage. They know damn well I took a fall. They hate bein cheated. They boo an bay fer my blood like a pack of wolves. Them that stands near to the gauntlet run, climb an punch an push to git the best place. They all want their chance to be in on the kill.

The red hot’s gone. My stummick’s in knots. My knees is shakin. I drag in deep breaths, try to git air into my lungs. I thought I felt terror before, but never like this.

Never like this.

I look at Feath in the front row. At the Free Hawks, standin at the start of the gauntlet. They look confident. Strong. Hard. Feath’s eyes burn into mine. I’ve put my life in her hands. Sun’s life. Penny Rose’s. What was I thinkin of, trustin a stranger? Even if she can be trusted, what if she cain’t pull it off? What if the Free Hawks ain’t the warriors she says they are an she’s jest a girl who talks it up an acts tough?

I look over at the Cage Master’s balcony. Everybody in the Colosseum turns to face it.

The whole place falls quiet.

Ruby Pinch stands. Takes the red kercheef from the Cage Master. Raises his arm.

I don’t dare breathe. When his arm falls, I gotta run. My legs feel like water. Too weak to move.

At that moment, Pinch turns to the Cage Master. Leans in an whispers somethin in his ear. As the Cage Master listens, a little smile comes over his face. He moves to the edge of the balcony. Holds up both his hoofs.

"Ladies and gentlement!" he cries. "This ain’t no ordinary warrior! This ain’t no ordinary death! On such a historical occasion, his Majesty, King Sombra demands a clear view of proceedings. Therefore! He decrees that the gauntlet will be run … here!" An he throws open his arms. Opens ’em out to the aisle that runs from the Cage to right below his balcony.

Pinch has changed the gauntlet run. He’s moved it.

My whole body starts shakin. Sick rises in my throat.

The crowd busts out talkin, yellin, protestin. The gauntlet’s always run in the same place, always without fail. People bid more to stand by it an be in on the action. They start to face up to the Tonton an the guards, pushin an shovin at ’em.

"No!" shouts Epona from inside the Cage. She launches herself at the bars, screamin, "No, no, no!"

Ruby Pinch smiles.
I look at Feath. Her head moves this way an that—lookin at the Free Hawks, at me, at the new gauntlet run where ponies is already crowdin in. I can see from her face that she’s frantic, tryin to think what to do. But it’s too late fer a new plan, too late fer the Hawks to move to the new spot. Anyways, the guards an the Tonton’s already in place at the top an bottom of the run to stop people pushin in.The cagekeepers take me by the arms an drag me over to stand in front of the new run.

So.

After all I bin through, it comes down to this.

Me. Alone. No Feath. No Hawks. No plan.

If I don’t think of somethin quick, I’m gonna die in the gauntlet.

Nero calls. Over an over, urgent like I never heard him before.

He’s perched on top of the Cage. As soon as he sees me look up, he calls agin an flaps over to land on the light tower. Back to the Cage. Then back to the light tower.

Not so alone after all.

It’s a long jump. Maybe six foot.

But I ain’t got no choice.

Pinch raises his arm agin. The red kercheef goes down.

Suddenly, I make my legs collapse. I take the cagekeepers by surprise. They lose their grip. I slip free. I run. I spring at the Cage an grab the bars. I start to climb up the outside of it, fast as I can go.

One of the keepers leaps. Grabs my hoof. Pulls. I’m hangin on. I kick out. Hit him in the face with my other hoof. His nose crunches. Blood spurts. He cries out, lets go, falls to the ground. I keep goin. Don’t look back.

I pull myself onto the top of the Cage. Stand up, run across the top.

Careful! Careful don’t fall through!

Down below me, inside the Cage, Epona takes a runnin leap at the keeper who’s still
there with her. Outta the corner of my eye, I see him go flyin. Good girl.

I’m nearly at the edge closest to the light tower. I pause. Glance back. Tonton an guards is swarmin up the Cage now, after me. One’s jest about to pull hisself onto the top.

The few pegasi in the crowd try to fly at me, but their so hyped on Chaal that they crash back down into the crowd, or into the Tonton an guards chashin me.

I eye up the gap between the Cage an the light tower. I take two steps back. I run. I leap offa the Cage an launch myself into the air.

I throw my hoofs up. There! I grab warm metal. My body slams into the tower. A jolt through my arms, my shoulders. Jest made it. I pull myself up. Start to climb. Climb higher. Scramble through to th’other side of the tower. The Hopetown
side. Down below me, shanty roofs, all crammed in tight together. Ponies who’s on the rooftops to hear the fight better stare up at me, their mouths hangin open.

I jump offa the tower. Some ponies, a young griffon, a donkey, a couple goats an a minotaur dive outta the way as I land on the nearest shanty roof.

It’s crude, made of some flimsy wood.

I go right through the roof an land on a table inside.

It collapses unnerneath me.

I’m dazed fer a second. I look up through the hole in the roof. Surprised faces look down at me. I leap to my hoofs an head outta the door. I grab a cloak from a hook on my way out an throw it over me. Hidden inside the cloak, I quickly lose myself in the crowds fillin the streets. I keep to the edges, move in an outta doorways. I can hear the commotion back in the Colosseum. It’s startin to spread to the streets. My heart’s beatin like mad. An I’m jest noticin that my right foreleg an ribs hurt like nopony’s business. I must of banged myself up a bit when I landed on the table. Not to mention the poundin I took from Epona. Well, I sure gave Feath the diversion she wanted.

Now to steal some supplies an meet up with Penny Rose.

She knows the plan. While the Hawks is lettin out the fighters an settin Hopetown on fire, her an me’s gonna meet at the northeast corner. There’s probly gonna be a Hawk with Pen. I’ll hafta git her outta the way. But once that’s done, we should be free an clear. We’ll leave through the hole that the Hawks’ve made in the palisade wall an head north, deep into the Black Mountains where we’ll find Freedom Fields, jest like Wysteria said.

Where we’ll find Sun.

Jest then, somepony grabs me.

Strong hoofs yank me into a stinkin alley. I throw wild punches. I twist an turn, tryin to free myself.

"Wait! Stop, you idiot!" a voice yells. "I’m a Hawk!"

I stop fer a second, pantin. The pony pushes back their hood. It’s a mare I ain’t seen before. Tall earth pony, light brown mane an tail with blue streaks, grey coat, hard rose eyes. Strong lookin.

"I’m Ash," she says.

"Oh," I says. "Right."

"Didn’t have you down as the nervous type." She reaches unner her cloak an gives me a crossbow an a quiver. "Right. This way."

I hesitate.

"C’mon," she says.

I’m exhausted. Sore. In no shape to fight her. I’ll play along now. Ditch her the first chance I git. The alley’s short. It ends in a high metal wall, battered an bent.

"You go first," I says.

"No," she says. "You go."

I sling the bow an quiver on my back unner my cloak an launch myself at the wall. I grab the top an pull myself up. Nopony in sight. I drop down on th’other side an Ash is right there behind me.
We race along a narrow street with shanties crowded up close together, turn right, left, then right agin. White rays of light slice through the darkness. I got no idea where we are.
There’s the sound of runnin hoofs. Voices. Shoutin. To our left.

"Fan out!" somepony calls. "Cover all the streets!"

"This way!" Ash dives into a ramshackle stone buildin. I’m right behind. She runs to the corner an lifts a wooden hatch in the earth floor. "Follow me," she says. "Close the hatch behind you."

I wait fer a split second. Then I turn to run.

She grabs me. She’s strong. Real strong. "Oh no, you don’t," she says.

"Let me go," I says. "I gotta go find my brother." I try to twist outta her grasp, but she’s got me in a strong grip.

"I see," she says. "The Hawks help you out, risk our lives fer you an yer sister an you cheat us."

"You couldn’t of done nuthin without me." I glare at her. "I could of killed Epona, you know."

"The Hawks help you," she says, "you help the Hawks. Then yer free to go after yer brother. That’s the deal you made with Feath."

"You don’t need me," I says. "There’s enough of you."

"So you’ll leave all them fighters," she says, "the ones stole by slavers jest like you an yer sister was, you’ll leave ’em in this place. That’s the kinda pony you are. Somepony who don’t keep their word. Somepony who lets ponies down.

"No," I says. "No, I ain’t like that."

She waits.

"All right," I says. "All right, I’ll keep my word. I promise I will." She lets me go. I straighten up. "I’m sorry," I says.

We look at each other a moment. Then she smiles. Her eyes don’t look so hard after all. She lifts the wooden hatch. "After you," she says.

I swing myself down into the hole, set my hoofs on a rickety ladder I find there an start down it. Ash follows me an closes the hatch behind her. It’s black. I cain’t see a thing. The cool earth smell of bein unnerground fills my nose. I feel my way to the bottom, ten rungs. Ash jumps down beside me an lights a torch.

"Where’re we goin?" I says.

"You’ll see," she says. "This way."

We crouch over an head down a low tunnel. Pretty soon, we reach the end. The tunnel ends in a brick wall. There’s weapons piled up along with a crowbar an some glass bottles filled with what looks like water an rags stuffed in their tops.

"Lets get that magic stopping ring offa your horn shall we?" I nod and she gets a bolt cutter. Soon the ring is on the ground, I kick it to the shadows.

"Hold this." Ash holds out the lit torch. I take it in my magic, useing my magic feels so good after a month without it. "Keep it well away from them bottles." She picks up the crowbar, sticks it in between the bricks an starts workin one free.

"What is this?" I says. "Are we breakin in somewhere?"

"I sure hope so," she says. "Otherwise we’ve jest spent the last three days clearin out this tunnel for no good reason." We’re talkin in whispers. The first brick’s free. "Take it, will you?"

While I pull the brick free an put it on the ground, she starts on the next one. "So this was already here," I says. "How did you know about it? Where does it lead to?" The second brick’s loose. I take it away.

"There was a big escape from this place about ten year ago," she says. "The fighters dug theirselves out. One tunnel from the stallion’s cellblock an one tunnel from the mare’s cellblock, another from the griffons. They filled in the tunnels afterwards. If they’d bin smart, they would of collapsed ’em."

Third brick done. "So we’re breakin into the cellblock," I says. "My cellblock?"

"That’s the idea," she says.

"An yer gonna tell me that there’s a good reason why we ain’t jest takin out the guards an cuttin through the fence to let ’em out?" I says.

"There’s a full guard shift on duty," she says. "They must of bin nervous that the fighters ’ud try somethin unner cover of all the activity in town. You should always have a Plan B."

"I’ll remember that," I says.

"Shhh," says Ash as I take away the fourth brick. She blows out the torch. She nods at the hole an we look through.

We’re lookin straight into the female fighters’ cellblock. In fact, we’re lookin down into my cell. My cot’s directly below us. My cell door stands open. The girls in the big main cell’s all mainly sittin or lyin down on the floor. They ain’t got no cots, not even blankets. At the far end on eether side of the main door, there’s two cellblock guards sittin on chairs. We can work the last few bricks free with our hoofs. We’re silent, quick about it. When we got a hole big enough fer us to slip through, she takes a blowpipe outta the belt she wears an slides a dart into it.

Jest then, one of the girls in the main cell sees us. Her eyes go wide. I shake my head. She gives a little nod. Ash lifts the pipe to her lips. Takes in a big breath. Blows. It’s a hit. The guard to the left of the door cries out. He slaps a hoof to his neck an falls offa his chair. Th’other guard jumps to his hoofs, but Ash sends another dart flyin. He don’t make a sound. Jest crumples to the ground.

"Very neat," I says.

"Let’s go," she says.

She slides through the hole an jumps down. While she gits the key ring from the guard’s belt an unlocks the main cell to let the girls out, I toss the weapons down onto my cot. Bows, quivers full of arrows, slingshots, bolt shooters, a couple old swords.

"Help yerself to weapons, girls!" Ash says. "Then wait fer us by the door." They come runnin into my cell an in a minute or two they’ve scooped up all the ammo.

"Now," says Ash. "We’re gonna take four of the bottles an leave the rest there. Be careful."

I magically give the rag-stuffed bottles down to her an she sets ’em gentle on the ground. Then I jump down outta the hole. It feels strange to be back in my cell like this. Ash takes two of the bottles an I take two. "Th’others should be lettin the stallions out", she whispers. She cricks open the main door of the cellblock. She waits fer a moment, then she slips outside an starts up the outside steps, real slow an careful.

She comes runnin back down an throws the door wide open. "Git outta here!" she says.

The girls don’t wait to be told a second time. They go runnin past her an don’t look back. When they’re all gone, when the cellblock’s clear, Ash grabs a lit torch from a wall sconce an says, "Let’s git this party started!" I follow her out the door an up the stairs into the exercise yard. She holds up one of her bottles. She grins a wicked grin. "Wreckers called these beauties cocktails," she says. "Two should do the trick. Throw it, then run like hell."

I hold one of my bottles out.

"My pleasure," she says. She touches the torch to the rag an it catches light right away. Quickly she lights her bottle. We toss ’em down the stairs. Then we run like stink. Two seconds later, there’s a huge bang. The ground shakes unner our hoofs. We stop, turn an look behind us. Flames come shootin up the stairs, outta the cellblock.

"Wait’ll them flames hit the bottles in the tunnel," she says. "Then we’ll really see some real action."

The female fighters is jumpin up an down, shoutin an huggin each other an cheerin. They pound Ash an me on the back. We look around. There’s Free Hawks everywhere an dead guards lyin on the ground. The male fighters is all streamin outta their cellblock now.

There’s about six Hawks climbin all over the fence around the compound, snippin at it with wire cutters an rollin it back so’s everypony can git out. The few pegasi fighters would fly if they could, but their wings've bin clipped, ir they've lost a wing when fightin, same with the dozen or so griffon fighters. Cause so few griffon fighters, males would fight against females, and they had to lose six times to run the gauntlet. Other Hawks stand near a weapons pile an throw bows an spears an slingshots to whoever’s runnin past.

I can see flames shootin up all over Hopetown. Feath warn’t foolin when she said she was gonna wipe it offa the face of the earth. I’m lookin fer one pony but I cain’t see him nowhere. Silver blue gray eyes an a crooked smile.

I grab one of the stallions runnin past. "Where’s—?" He pushes me off.

I grab another. "I’m lookin fer Arrow," I says. "He’s a new fighter. They brought him in a few days ago. Gray blueish eyes, came in with a long brown mane, down to his shoulders."

"I know," he says. He jerks his head back to the stallion’s cellblock. "Try the Cooler. They threw him in there yesterday."

My heart leaps into my throat. The Cooler. Jest like in the female cellblock, the male’s block has a metal punishment box sunk into the floor. I grab the brown earth pony by the shoulders.

"He ain’t still in there?" I says.

"Well I didn’t let him out," he says an runs off.

"Ash!" I yell, lookin all around me to see where she is. "Ash! There’s somepony trapped in..."

Then I see her.

She’s lightin another cocktail.

Aimin it at the door of the males cellblock.

"Ash!" I scream. "No! Don’t!"

I start to run towards her. But I cain’t go fast enough.

It’s like the whole world slows down to a crawl.

Ash pulls her hoof back. She throws the lit bottle down the steps of the males cellblock. She turns, runs towards me. She holds up her arms in victory, a big grin on her face.

"Aaaaash!" I yell. The ground shakes, the flames come shootin up the stairs. I grab her arm. "There’s somepony in there!" I says. "He’s locked in the Cooler."

Her eyes go wide." It’s too late," she says.

"No," I says. "It cain’t be." I start to run, pullin her along behind me.

Jest then, there’s the most almighty blast. We’re sent flyin into the air. I land hard on the ground. I lift my head. A great plume of black smoke billows into the sky. Ash scrambles to her hoofs, helps me up.

"That must of bin the bottles in the tunnel!" she says. "The whole town’s burnin! You cain’t go in there, Moon! It ain’t safe!"

"I cain’t leave him there," I says. "Where’s the keys?"

"That was Ruby’s job." Ash looks around. She gives a sharp whistle. A short red earth pony mare with a brown mane by the weapons pile lifts her head.

"Ruby," Ash yells. "I need the keys!"

Ruby runs over an tosses ’em at us. I catch ’em in my magic an start to go. Ash grabs my arm. "It’s too dangerous," she says.

"Let go Ash," I says.

She swears. "Who is this guy? What’s he to you anyways?"

"Arrow," I says. "His name’s Arrow."

She lets go an I’m runnin towards the burnin cellblock.

"Moon!" Ash screams. "Come back!"

I don’t stop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Smoke pours outta the door of the stallions’s cellblock. I wrap my cloak around my head to cover my mouth an nose. Then I plunge inside.

Darkness. Hard to see. Smoke fills the air. Burns my throat, my nostrils, stings my eyes.

It’s ezzackly the way it was in my dream. The fire dream. I’m here. It’s happenin.

"Arrow!" I shout. "Arrow! Where are you?"

No answer. Hungry flames lick at the wood beams in the walls an ceilin. Embers pop an hiss.

He’s in the Cooler. The guy said so. But where is it? I know it’s sunk into the floor, but how far along the cellblock? Halfway? At the far end? It could be anywhere. He’ll be cooked to death in that metal box if I don’t git him out.

I move ahead real careful, feelin my way with my hoofs. I keep my eyes closed aginst the smoke. I ain’t never bin in here before, but I’m hopin the layout’s the same as in our cellblock. A ember lands on my cloak, hisses greedily as it burns a hole. I rub it out.

"Arrow!" I shout agin. "Arrow! Where are you?"

No reply. I go forwards. Call out agin. Take another couple of steps. Then another.

The sound of a heartbeat. My heartbeat. Over an over. So loud. It fills my brain, my head.

He must be in here. But what if he ain’t? What if that guy was wrong? What if somepony else told the Hawks he was in the Cooler an they found him an let him out?

If they did, he’ll be long gone. I curse myself fer not askin Ruby.

I cough. The smoke’s burnin my throat. It’s gittin hard to breathe. He ain’t here. If he was, he would of heard me an shouted out. I need to git outta here. I cough agin. My breath comes short an shallow.

Panic grips me. I turn in circles, blind.

Jest like in the dream.

I’m bathed in sweat. It’s so hot in here. I’m startin to feel funny, kinda dizzy. I need air. Gotta git outta here an find the door. I should go back to the door.

Another voice. Whisperin. Mercy’s voice.

"The heartstone lets you know … the heartstone … heartstone … hurry, Moon …"

Heartstone. My hoof fumbles unner my cloak. There it is. An it’s warm. Strange. It’s always cool. Even on the hottest day, next to my skin, it stays cool. It was only warm twice. An both times, I was standin in front of him. Warm heartstone means … it means somethin, Mercy said so but I cain’t … remember … cain’t … think …

The heartstone … lets you know …

One last time. I’ll shout fer him one … last time. I take a couple of steps forwards. I feel the heartstone git warmer.

"Arrow! Arrow! Where are you?" I call out.

I wait.

Nuthin.

I turn to go.

Then.

I hear it.

Poundin.

A faint voice.

He’s here.

Strength floods through me. I stumble ahead, my eyes streamin, squintin through them smoke. My hooftip hits the edge of somethin. The trapdoor to the Cooler? I fall to my knees.

Feel around. I touch hot metal. Yes! The door. I wrap my hoof in my cloak an pound on it to let him know I’m here. He pounds back.

"Arrow!" I yell. "Hang on! I’m gonna git you outta there!"

Keys. Quick. I feel the keys on the ring in my magic. My heart stops. There’s gotta be ten keys on here. All the same size.

"Arrow!" I yell. "I got the keys! I jest gotta find the right one!"

He thumps to let me know he heard. I run my hoof over the trapdoor. There it is. The keyhole. Try the first key. Gotta work fast. Faster. Too fast. Magics clumsy. The key slips an slides past the keyhole.

Fer each key I try, I hold my hoof aginst the keyhole to guide it in. Then I snatch it away as soon as I know the key ain’t the right one. I grit my teeth.

I'm covered with sweat. It’s runnin down my face, into my eyes. My heart’s poundin. Time’s runnin out. Once the roof timbers burn through, this ceilin’s gonna come down an that’ll be it.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," I mutter.

The second to last key slips in. I turn it. Leap to my hoofs. The second I touch the handle of the trapdoor to pull it up, I snatch my hoof away, cursin. The metal’s hot. I use my magic, grab the handle an haul the door open.
I reach down in the darkness. His hoof shoots up, grabs mine with a strong grip. I lean back an help him climb out. He’s coughin. I pull my cloak over both of us.

"This way!" I says. We head towards the door of the cellblock. To the outside an fresh air.The groan of creakin timbers splits the air. "The roof!" I says. "It’s gonna go!" Another groan an, then, at the door end of the cellblock, the roof collapses with the most almighty crash. Dust an dirt mix with the smoke an billow towards us.

"We’re trapped!" he says.

"Go back!" I says.

We turn around, head back the way we jest come. Think, Moon, think. You an Ash went in through the tunnel. How did Ruby git in here?

The same way?

"A tunnel!" I yell. :I think there’s a tunnel in the wall at the end!"

We feel our way to the back wall of the cellblock. Run our hoofs up an down an along the bricks, searchin fer a hole.

"There ain’t nuthin here!" he says.

"There’s gotta be!" I drop to my knees, my hoofs fumblin, feelin all along the bottom of the wall, down near the ground, then over to the corner an—

"Here!" I says. "C’mon!" I git down on my belly an start crawlin through it. He’s right behind me. The tunnel’s filled with smoke. I go as fast as I can go. There ain’t no sound but our shallow breathin, our gasps fer air. Then the tunnel starts to widen, the ceilin’s higher an we can crouch an run along. The smoke starts to thin out.

"I can see light ahead!" I says.

Then we’re at the end of the tunnel. A rusted metal ladder. A pale golden light beams down. I scramble up the ladder. He’s right behind me.

There’s sackin laid over the hole at the top. I push it up, real careful. Bits of straw drift down. I peer out. Straw all around. I lift the sackin a bit more.

The tunnel comes up into a fenced yard between two shanties. Straw on the ground, three pigs snufflin in the corner. Besides them, nopony in sight.

In the distance, screams an shouts fill the air. The smell of smoke’s strong.

"It’s safe," I says. "Let’s go."

We climb out, vault over the fence, run along a little alley an peer around the corner. Looks like Feath an the Hawks’ve done theirselves proud. Smoke’s billowin high into the air. A hotwind’s sprung up to help spread the fire through the town from the
direction of the cellblocks. It catches up sparks an bits of burnin wood an blows ’em onto rooftops an inside the flimsy buildins.

Ponies hurry through the streets, headed fer the main gate, all loaded down with what valuables they can carry. They’re pullin bulgin samsonites behind ’em, clutchin lumpy bundles to their chests an pushin an pullin carts loaded up so high they cain’t see over ’em.

"Follow me," says Arrow. He dives into the crowd an I follow him as he dodges in an out among all the ponies. There’s a little foal wailin with fright, red-faced unner his dirty white coat, as he’s hauled along by the hoof.

"The Angel of Death’s a bit too well-known here," says Arrow. His hoof shoots out an next thing I know, he’s nicked a hat offa some old stallion’s head an crammed it down on mine. "That’ll help," he says.

"I gotta find Ash," I says, scannin the crowd. "An the rest of the Hawks. They got my sister."

"I always wanted a sister," he says. "So this is the Hawks’ doin. Very nice."

"You know ’em?" I says, still lookin fer anypony I can recognize.

"I heard of ’em," he says. "I travel a fair bit in my line of work. C’mon, this way!" He grabs my hoof an heads down a alley to the right. At the end we turn left, then right agin. There ain’t nopony left in this part of town at all. It’s all quiet. Jest the faint sound of shoutin in the distance.

He checks inside a shanty. "Nopony home," he says an pulls me after him through the door.

He dumps a pile of stuff on the table.

"Where’d you git all that?" I says.

"Lesson number one," he says. "Best place to steal anythin is in a crowd. Specially a crowd in a hurry to be somewhere else." He pulls off his fighters tunic. When I see his bare chest I git a jolt, deep in my gut. Three long scars—pink, twisted, puckered—run from his right shoulder all the ways down unner his belly. Claw marks. I ain’t never seen the kinda beast that’ud leave marks like that.

He pulls the new tunic over his head.

"Lesson number two," he says. "Even if yer in a hurry, go fer the best cloak you can find. Don’t compromise on quality. Here, these should fit you." He tosses me a nice, clean tunic, an a rather fine cloak.

"Well go on," he says, "try ’em fer size."

I discard my fighters tunic an pull on the new one, an put the cloak over the top. "It fits perfect" I says. "That’s amazin."

"I got a good eye," he says.

I smile slightly an look at him. His face is streaked with soot an ash. His teeth flash white in the gloom. "You know my name," he says. "What’s yers? Yer real name, I mean."

"Moon," I says.

"Moon," he says. "I like it."

"I gotta git movin," I says. "My sister’ll be waitin with the Hawks an—"

Before I know what he’s up to, he grabs my hoof.

"Hey!" I try to pull it away but he holds it even tighter.

"Moon," he says, "I dunno what happy star sent you lookin fer me but I’m mighty thankful it did. If you hadn’t of turned up, I’d be dead by now."

Then he brings my hoof to his lips an kisses the back of it. While he’s doin it, he looks straight at me with his blueish silver moonlight eyes. I can smell the smoke on his skin. That an dried sweat an—faint, like a whisper—sage.

"Thank you," he says.

Heat washes over my chest an up my neck. Rushes into my face. I snatch my hoof away, shove it unner my armpit an glare at him. "What’d you do that fer?" I says.

"I was thankin you," he says. "I was bein polite."

"I ain’t never seen polite like that before," I scowl.

"Oh that ain’t nuthin," he says. "I can be a lot more polite than that." He grins. A cocky, jimswagger grin like he’s king of the world. Then he bends down to pick up a crossbow an quiver that he must of took at the same time as the clothes. He also has a bolt cutter, which he uses to get rid of the magic stoppin ring. "Ahh, much better."

"I need to find my sister," I says. "She should be with the Hawks."

"Always good to have a plan," says Arrow. "Where you meetin her?"

"At the gate in the northeast corner," I says.

"There ain’t no gate there," he says.

"There will be by the time I git there," I says. "Nice to meet you, Arrow." I turn to go.

"Wait!" he grabs my arm. "I ain’t in no particular hurry," he says. "I’ll tag along. Make sure you find ’em."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I duck down the side streets an alleyways, headed fer the northeast corner of Hopetown at top speed. Arrow’s right beside me. We swerve an leap as bits of burnin buildin crash to the ground. Roof timbers, a door. The metal shanties twist an buckle an groan in the heat.

"Ever heard of the rule of three?" he shouts as we run.

"No!"

"If you save somepony’s life three times, their life belongs to you. You saved my life today, that makes once. Save it twice more an I’m all yers."

"I’ll jest hafta make sure that don’t happen," I says.

We shoot out onto open ground an there they are. Penny Rose, Feath, Ash an a bunch more Free Hawks waitin fer us. They’ve cut out a big section of the tall palisade fence big enough fer us to git through. A back gate, jest like Feath said.

Arrow grabs both my arms. Turns me to face him. "It’ll happen if it’s meant to happen," he says. "It’s all written in the stars. It’s all fate."

"I don’t believe in the stars," I says. "Not no more."

"We’ll see about that. G’bye Angel." Before I know what he’s up to, he pulls me to him, gives me a quick hard kiss an then he’s off an gallopin back the way we jest come.

I hold my hoof to my tinglin lips an stare after him.

"Moon!" Penny runs to me an she throws her skinny little arms around my neck. I hug her back

"You all right?" I says. She nods. Buries her face in my neck an squeezes so tight she jest about chokes me.

"Where’s Nero?" I says.

"I dunno," she says. "I ain’t seen him fer ages."

"Moon!" yells Ash. "C’mon! We’re outta here!"

They’re all strappin on their saddlebags full of supplies. Feath gives me some an I strap mine on, then help Penny with hers.

"I see you found yer friend all right," says Feath. She gives me a pistol crossbow an a quiver. Leather legbands. Gives me a sly little smile.

"Yeah," I says. I feel my face flushin hot. I busy myself strappin on the armbands an slippin the bow over my head. "Sorry," I says, "I didn’t mean fer it to take so long. Listen Feath, thanks fer—"

"You can thank me later," she says, cuttin in. "Let’s git outta this hellhole first. Move out!"

"Better keep up, Pen," I says.

We stream through the gap in the palisade at a gallop an head north. Feaths on my right side. Somepony comes up on my left. It’s Epona. She shoots me a grin, her eyes sparkin.

"Glad to see you made it," I says.

"Likewise," she says. "That was a nasty moment. Who’d of thought they’d change the gauntlet run?"

Once we’re well away from Hopetown, we slow down an look back. Streams of ponies pour outta the burnin town through the Gate, the pegasi an griffons not too chaaled up to fly, fly away. They’re all headed south. Nopony’s comin this way, nopony’s followin us. The sky’s filled with great clouds of gray smoke. The Hawks break into cheers an pound each other on the back.

"We did it," I says. I reach over an grab Feath’s hoof. "You got us all out. I gotta tell you, I didn’t think you could do it."

"I know you didn’t," she says. "But yer gittin out alive warn’t nuthin to do with me in the end." She tilts her head back an looks above us. "You need to thank that crow of yers," she says.

Nero swoops down over our heads, cawin an callin out in his hoarse voice.

"I will," I says. I wave a arm at him.

He does one last swoop down then soars up high. He likes a good view.

"I ain’t never seen a creature like that before," she says. "He’s so smart, he’s—"

"More like a pony than a bird?" I says.

"Yeah," she says. "That’s it."

"Whatever you do," I says, "don’t tell him that. I’ll never hear the end of it."

We head due north, in the direction of the mountains that cut across the plain. They look to be a good five or six leagues off.

"Is that the Black Mountains?" I says to Feath.

"That’s jest the beginnin of ’em," she says. "Foothills, I guess you’d call ’em."

"My brother’s in a place called Freedom Fields," I says. "Deep in the Black Mountains. D’you know it?"

She shakes her head. "Never heard of it," she says.

My heart sinks.

"Come with us," she says. "To our summer camp at Darktrees. It’s half a day’s treck from here. Once we git there, you can rest up. We’ll git you kitted out, help you make plans to find yer brother."

"I ain’t got time to rest," I says. "I gotta git there before midsummer."

She looks at me. "That’s less than two weeks from now," she says.

"I know," I says. "I’d be glad of some supplies an food if you got any to spare."

"I think we can help with that," says Feath.

"An I’d like to leave Penny Rose with yuz," I says. Penny looks up at me. She’s bin runnin in front of me the whole time, not sayin a word. She looks away quick. "Jest till I git back with Sun," I says. "I got no idea what’s at Freedom Fields or what
I’m gonna hafta do to git there. I need to know Penny will be safe."

"We’ll take care of her," says Feath. "Whaddya say, Penny?"

"Okay," she says.

Ash gallops past. "Hey Feath!" she shouts, jerkin her head back towards Hopetown. "We got company!" She runs on ahead to catch up with th’other Free Hawks.

Feath an me turn to look over our shoulders.

"Holy hell on earth," says Feath. "What’s that?"

A cloud of dust’s comin at us from Hopetown way. It’s movin fast.

"That ain’t no bull pulled cart," says Feath. "Not travelin that fast. Let’s git the lead out."

In the pit of my stummick, I know what’s inside that cloud of dust. The wind’s picked up. Perfect conditions fer a landboat.

"Hurry up, Pen!" I shout. She nods an gallops as fast as she can, to try an catch the other Free Hawks. I gallop after, fast as my hoofs'll carry me.

I look behind. The dust cloud’s gainin on us.

"Whatever it is, it’s movin too fast!" shouts Feath. "We got no chance of outrunnin it!"

Up ahead, Ash has catched up with th’other Free Hawks. Told ’em what’s goin on. They all turn in a wide arc an start racin back to join us.

I look back agin. The dustcloud’s even closer. Now I can see what’s makin it. An it’s jest like I thought. It’s the Desert Swan. With this fierce wind behind it, the sails is billowin.

Feath whistles. "Friends of yers?" she says.

"No," I says. "Not friends. Not at all."

Penny looks back at me with big afeared eyes. "It’s the Pinches," she says.

"They’re after me," I says to Feath.

"Right," she says.

The Hawks thunder up.

"Keep Moon an Penny Rose in the middle!" yells Feath. They move to surround us, takin up positions to the front, the sides an the rear. Nero flies jest overhead. We’re still headin fer the mountains, at full gallop. Epona’s runnin right beside us.

"Don’t be frightened, Pen, I" says. "I ain’t gonna let ’em hurt you."

"I ain’t afeared of them!" she says. From her quavery little voice, I can tell she’s
terrified.

"They’ll hafta git through me first," Epona calls over, with a smile. "I don’t take kindly to ponies who try to do that."

Jest then, the Free Hawks at the back of the pack start yellin. We look back. The landboat’s comin at us, full speed.

"They’re gonna run us down!" I yell.

"Break out!" shouts Feath. "Break out!"

The herd breaks apart an behind us the Hawks scatter in all directions. I see Penny slowin, gettin tired.

"Epona!" I yell. "Take Penny!"

Right away, with the help of my magic, she pulls Penny Rose onto her back.

"Take her to Darktrees!" I says. "I’ll meet you there!"

Epona nods an they race off towards the mountains with a few of the Hawks.

I slow an stop. Feath stops too.

"This is my fight," I says to her. "You done enough already. Leave me to it."

"Not on yer life," she says. Then, "Ash!" she yells. "With me! The rest of yuz, go!"

The three of us wheel around, an head straight towards the Desert Swan at a full gallop.

"Keep in tight!" Feath says. We pull up close together, so’s our packs almost touch.

Feath on my right, Ash on my left.

"Bows!" Feath yells. We pull our crossbows round an load ’em up, me with my magic, Feath with her wings, and Ash somehow with her mouth.

Ruby Pinch clings to the mast. His robes billow behind him. Golden Pinch works the sails. The Cage Master steers. Miz Pinch is tied to the front railin, beside the Cage Master.

She’s aimin a crossbow at us. She shoots.

The arrow comes straight at Ash.

She’s lookin away, yellin somethin at Feath. I fling my arm in front of her head. She turns, startled. Th’arrow pierces my armband, sticks in the thick leather pad. I yank it out.

"That would of had me!" Ash says. "Thanks, I owe you."

"Ready, aim, fire!" yells Feath. We let fly with our arrows.

Miz Pinch ducks. But the Cage Master’s too slow. Two of our arrows catch him direct in the chest. He cries out, lets go the steerin bar an goes tumblin over the railin. He falls unnerneath the Swan. As the wheels hit him, the landboat fishtails wildly. The right back wheel snaps off. The one I helped Golden fix. I guess we didn’t fix it too good, a stroke of luck. It goes bouncin an rollin off. The Desert Swan’s outta control. Jackknifin all over the place.

"Look out!" shouts Maev.

Her, me an Ash scatter outta the way.

Golden works the sail ropes madly. The Swan tips. It rolls. Once, twice, three times, four. Real quick. Like a tumbleweed. Miz Pinch gits thrown out. She flies through the air an lands hard. She don’t move. The landboat skids across the ground, upside down, throwin up a great dustcloud. It comes to a stop an it’s all quiet.

Me, Feath an Ash walk over. Feath goes to git down, but I says, "No, let me do it."

I crouch to peer unnerneath the Swan.

Golden dangles head down. Trapped by the steel beams of the crushed hut. His eyes an mouth is wide open. He looks surprised. Ruby Pinch lies on the ground, his thick black mane in a heap beside him. He’s completely bald, with ugly lookin open sores all over his head. Blood covers his face. His right leg splays out at a strange angle.

I wait fer a moment, my heart bangin in my chest. Silence. Neether of ’em moves.

Neether of ’em’s breathin.

"They’re dead," I says. "The King’s dead! That means that Sun’s safe. They won’t have no reason to kill him now."

"Good," says Feath.

Then I walk over to Miz Pinch. Looks like her neck broke when she hit the ground.

She lies on her back. Her open eyes stare up at the sky. They’re full of fury, even in death.

I stare down at her. I fit a arrow to my bow. Take aim. "This is fer Penny" Rose, I says. Then I shoot her in the heart.

Nero flaps down an lands on her chest. He spreads his wings an caws. Plucks at her shirt with his beak. Pecks at her hoof.

"That’s enough, Nero," I says. "Let’s go." He flies onto my shoulder. I turn towards the mountains.

The mountains an Sun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We ain’t gone more’n a league.

We’re pickin our way over a big rocky outcrop when Ash glances over her shoulder.

"Here they come", she says. She wheels around an me an Feath follow her to the edge of the outcrop. From here, we can see over the plain back to the fires an smoke of Hopetown.

We can also see the Desert Swan. An the little group of Tonton, maybe ten in all, headed towards it.

"Better not hang around," says Feath.

"Not when you got a brother to find," Ash says to me.

Darktrees

View Online

Jest before midnight, we walk into the Free Hawks summer camp at Darktrees.

Nero flies on ahead to tell ’em we’re comin. Penny Rose runs up the moment we come into view an runs an skips along beside us.

"Moon! Yer here!"

"You should be asleep, Pen," I says.

"What took you so long?"

"We got here soon as we could," I says.

I stop. She leaps at me, wrappin her arms around my neck.

"Are they dead?" she whispers. "Did you kill ’em?"

"You don’t need to worry about ’em no more", I says. "How’m I s’posed to do anythin with you hangin on like a leech?"

I give her flank a swat an she lets. She chatters on, about Epona an how we’re gonna sleep in the same bunkhouse as
Feath, but all the time she sticks real close.

I turn an jest about trip over her. I kneel down an take her hoofs. They’re tremblin. "Hey, hey, Penny," I says. "It’s okay. I’m here."

"No you ain’t," she says. "Yer leavin to find Sun. An it could be dangerous. You said so yerself."

"I’ll be fine," I says. "I’ll be back before you know it. An I’ll be bringin Sun with me."

"Yer sure I cain’t come with you?"

"I’m sure," I says. "I promised Pa an Sun I’d keep you safe. I ain’t done a very good job so far."

"You done okay," she says.

"Hey," I says. "I dunno about you, but I’m startin to feel mighty tired. Why don’t you show me that bunkhouse you was talkin about?"

"Okay. Hey … Moon?"

"Uh huh?"

"Would it … would you give me a pickaback ride to the bunkhouse?" She says it shylike, not lookin at me but at the ground where her hoofs tracin a line in the dirt.

I ain’t never let Pen ride pickaback on me in our whole lives. Sun was the one who played with her like that. He’d grab her by the hoofs an swing her around till they both fell dizzy on the ground. Or she’d jump on his back an he’d gallop around an leap while she squealed with delight. I never used to like it when he spent time with her. Or anypony else fer that matter. I always wanted him all to myself. I look down at her. At the back of her neck, scrawny an grubby. She always was small fer her age.

'She’s only nine, Moon. You might try bein nice to her fer a change.'

"A pickaback?" I says. "I thought you’d never ask."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Pony sacrifice." Feath frowns. "That’s … crazy."

Her an me’s sittin on a log in the cool mornin shadows of the clearin where the Free Hawks camp is. I check to make sure Penny ain’t in earshot. She don’t know none of this an I don’t want her overhearin. But she’s over by the bunkhouse with Nero. They’re playin some countin game with twigs laid out on the ground. Nero loves to count things.

"I know," I says. "But that’s what Wysteria said."

"An you believe her," says Feath.

"I do," I says.

"An she says it was the Tonton took Sun to this place … Freedom Fields."

"Deep in the Black Mountains," I says. "That’s what she said."

"I wonder what goes on there," says Feath.

"Wysteria got killed before she could tell me everythin. But from what she said, it’s all to do with chaal."

"Everythin’s to do with chaal," she says. "An the Tonton’s right in the middle of it."

We’re silent fer a minute, then I says, "You know, Feath, when Ruby Pinch saw my birthmoon tattoo, he looked like he’d seen a ghost."

"Whaddya mean?"

"What I mean is, I don’t think it was the first time he seen it."

"Where’d you git it anyways?" says Feath. "I ain’t never seen one before."

"It was my pa," I says. "He tattooed me an Sun. Midwinter twins."

"You think that’s where he seen it? On Sun?"

"I’m certain of it. What else could it be?"

"Well, Pinch is dead now, so it don’t matter. They won’t be goin ahead with, you know … the sacrifice."

"We cain’t be sure of that. An when they find out what happened to their King, they might be so mad they do somethin to him anyways. He won’t be safe till he’s outta there. I gotta git goin."

I stand up.

"Oh no." She stands too, puts a wing on my shoulder. "You ain’t in a fit state. Look at you. You need to rest an eat. We need to see to them bruises. Epona worked you over good in the Cage."

"It don’t matter," I says.

"Yes it does. You don’t know what you got ahead of you. You gotta be strong."

"Leave me alone," I says. But I know she’s right. I’m dog-tired an I ache all over my body.

"C’mon, Moon," she says. "I ain’t yer enemy, I’m yer friend."

"My friend," I says.

"That’s right. Yer like me. Yer a survivor."

"I’m jest stubborn," I says.

"I’m sorry to hafta say this," she says, "but bein friends an all, it gives me the right to say … when was the last time you had a wash?"

I realize I cain’t remember. "I dunno," I says. "A while back, I guess."

"A long while back, I’d say," she says. She pushes past me, heads down the path further into the woods. "I got a surprise fer you," she says. "This way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We step outta the darkness of the forest into the shock of bright sunlight. We’re standin on a narrow shelf of bare rock that juts out into thin air. Straight across from us, water roars outta the side of a mountain. It rushes an tumbles down the rocks till it plunges into a deep pool below, where the sunlight dances an sparkles.
Feath disappears over the side of the rock.

I stare at the waterfall. It’s beautiful. Clean. Pure.

"Are you comin or not?" Feath hollers. Her voice echoes offa the canyon walls.

I follow behind as she picks her way over the rocks to the bottom. I ain’t bin swimmin fer such a long time. Me an Sun used to swim in Silverlake all the time when we was little. Back before the lake dried up an everythin went wrong. I’ll take one dive into that cool water. Jest one. It’ll help clear my head. Then I’ll be able to think.

Maev jumps down onto a big flat rock at the side of the pool. She shimmies outta her tunic an cloak so I can see her fully fer the first time. Golden coat specked with slightly darker specks, long strong legs, perfectly kept wings, a thick, tangled mane and tail of copper hair. Her cutie mark is sword. She takes a runnin leap, her wings stretched, an disappears unner the water. She breaks the surface, a big grin on her face.

"It’s fantastic!" she yells.

I realize I ain’t never seen Feath smile proper before. She looks young. Like a filly. Feath kitted me out this mornin, everythin from a new tunic to leather armour. At first, I didn’t wanna take their stuff, but she said the Free Hawks is by way of bein highway robbers an that’s where it all comes from. When she told me that, I should of said no thanks. I know that stealin things is bad. But my clothes was nuthin but dirty rags compared to their stuff an my ideas about what’s right an wrong ain’t so fine as they used to be. I take off my stolen clothes an fold ’em in a neat pile on the warm rock. Then I dive in.

The icy cold water shocks my eyes wide open, slams into my heart. I shoot to the surface, gaspin. Feath’s laughin her head off.

"You rat!" I yell. "It’s freezin cold!"

"It’ll do you good!"

I duck myself, over an over, in the sparklin cleanness till the filth of Hopetown’s washed from my body. I pull a hoofful of needles from a low hangin pine tree an rub ’em over my coat. Then Feath starts to chase me around an we splash an dunk each other.

After a bit, I realize I ain’t thought about Sun fer the past few minutes. Not even once. Right away, I turn an swim back to the rock. Feath follows. I pull myself out an gather my clothes.

"What’s the matter?" Feath climbs out.

"I ain’t got time fer this," I says. "I cain’t stop till I find Sun. I promised him."

"Oh, not this agin!" She grabs the clothes from me. "What, you promised him you wouldn’t wash? Or eat? Or sleep? Don’t be stupid."

"Gimme them clothes," I says.

She leaps into the air, hoverin as best she can with wet wings to hold ’em away. "No," she says. "It was a wash an a swim. It ain’t like you was dancin an singin. Now siddown an jest be quiet fer a few minutes while we dry off."

"No. Gimme my stuff, Feath."

"Gawdammit you stubborn mule … siddown!" She roars it at me. She lands, grabs me an pushes me down. I’m so surprised, I don’t even try to git up. She drops the clothes an sets herself down beside me, holdin tight to my hoof. "Now," she says, "we’ll jest sit here fer a bit an be quiet."

"Feath—"

"Shhh!"

"I jest—"

She holds a hoof to her mouth. She lays back, closes her eyes an raises her face to the sun. I lie beside her, starin at the sky. After a bit, I’m feelin warm, a little drowsy.

My eyelids is heavy. They start to close. "I don’t unnerstand it," I says.

"Unnerstand what?" she says.

"I cain’t believe you never heard of Freedom Fields. This is yer territory. You must of bin all over the Black Mountains."

"Not all over," she says. "Hawk Territory ends a day’s ride north of here. You don’t keep what you cain’t defend an there’s only forty of us."

"But you meet ponies," I says. "You must talk to ’em when yer … you know … robbin ’em."

"We don’t ezzackly stop to chat," she says.

"Even so," I says, "I cain’t believe you never heard anythin about it, ever, not even the slightest hint."

"Well believe it," she says. "Cuz I’m tellin you, I ain’t never heard of Freedom Fields."

A stallion’s voice comes from behind us. Deep. Husky. "That’s because they don’t want you to know about it," he says.

Neether of us stop to think. We don't have weapons, we caint leave without goin past him an riskin an attack. We roll offa the rock an into the water. Feath races away, but somethin stops me followin her. A familiar heat’s crawlin over my skin. Shudderin up my spine. It’s the heartstone. It’s hot an no matter that the water’s freezin. I bob to the surface.

"Arrow," I says.

He stands there lookin strange, leanin against a tree on jus his hind hoofs, his arms crossed over his chest, his hat down low over his eyes. He smiles his lopsided smile. My stupid stummick does a flip.

"Fancy meetin you here, Angel," he says.

Feath’s head pops up over by the waterfall. "What’re you doin Moon?" she yells at me. "Are you crazy?"

"It’s okay, Feath," I says. "This is Arrow."

"Arrow?" she calls. "Who’s … oh … Arrow!"

I flush red. Feath knows I went into the burnin cellblock to git him out. Ash told her about it.

"Are y’all right, Moon?" says Arrow. "You look kinda warm."

"Too much sun on my head," I mutter. I swim back to the rock. Feath joins me. We climb outta the water to dry off agin.

"What’re you doin here, Arrow?" I says.

"How’d you git past the Hawks?" says Feath, soundin annoyed as she shakes off her wings.

He shrugs. "I asked where I could find you. Ash said to try here."

"You got past Ash?" says Feath, suprised.

"Uh huh," he says. "She took a bit of … persuadin but in the end she came round. Nice young mare."

"Nice young mare?" says Feath. "Are you sure it was Ash you met?"

"Listen," he says, "I know it ain’t my business, but you might wanna have a word, tighten up yer security."

"Yer right," she snaps, "it ain’t yer business. See you back at camp, Moon," she says to me. She picks up her clothes an brushes past him an disappears into the forest.

He wathches her go than turns around as I’m startin to pull on my tumic. "She likes me," he says. "I can always tell."

"D’you rile somepony every time you open yer mouth?" I says.

"Pretty much," he says.

"You didn’t answer my question. What’re you doin here, Arrow?" I frown. "Are you followin me?"

"My my," he says, "you do have a high opinion of yer charms, don't you. No, I jest … happened to be passin by is all, an I remembered you sayin somethin about hookin up with the Free Hawks. I jest wanted to make sure you got here okay an … all that. So. Is … everythin okay?"

"Uh huh," I says.

"You found yer sister okay?"

"Yup."

"Good. That’s good. Did I mention I always wanted a sister?"

"Yup."

He smiles at me. I stare at him. Finally he says, "I know the way to Freedom Fields. I can take you there."

Every bit of my body tightens with excitement when he says it. But right away there’s somethin nigglin at me, so I says, "It’s mighty strange, Arrow, you jest happenin to turn up here an you jest happenin to know the way to Freedom Fields."

"I told you before," he says. "It’s fate."

"An I told you I don’t believe in fate," I says. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"You can trust me," he says.

"You would say that. How do I know you ain’t lyin?"

"You don’t. But I ain’t."

I feel the blood rush to my head. I throw up my hoofs an yell, "You are the most infuriatin pony I ever met in my whole life! Talkin to you’s like talkin to a eel!"

He gives me that crooked, cocky smile.

"An don’t look so pleased with yerself," I says. "It ain’t a compliment."

"So," he says, "d’you want a guide or not?"

"Tell me, Arrow," I says. "What’s in it fer you?"

Instead of answerin my question, he takes a step closer to me an says, "Why’d you come after me?"

"What?"

"Why’d you come after me?" he says. "Back at Hopetown. That cellblock was on fire. You’d hafta be crazy to go in there. But you did. You risked yer life to save mine an you didn’t even know me, jus my name really."

The heartstone’s almost burnin a hole right through my coat an skin. I sure ain’t gonna tell him that sorry yarn Mercy spun me, about it turnin warm when you stand in front of yer heart’s desire. You wouldn’t think a grown mare could be so silly.
I pray he cain't hear my poundin heart an stare down at my hoofs. "I dunno why," I says, "I jest did."

"An I dunno why I’m here," he says. "I jest am. I mean, it ain’t like I don’t have better things to do. I got people to see. I got … business interests."

"Then go," I says. "I didn’t ask you to come after me. I can manage perfectly fine on my own. I don’t need yer help. Go on, git outta here."

"Ain’t you bin listenin?" He stands normally now, an grabs my arm. "I cain’t!"

We glare at each other. The space between us feels heavy somehow. It presses aginst me, makes it hard to breathe. Finally I says, "So, are you gonna take me to Freedom Fields or not?"

He runs a hoof over his head. "I must be crazy to even think about it," he mutters. "Yes. I am. But first … I need to cool down."

He pulls off his cloak an yanks his tunic over his head.

I stare at his chest. I cain’t seem to make my eyes move away. When I seen him without his shirt before, back at Hopetown, all I noticed was the scars. But now all I can see is how lean an strong he is. With wide shoulders an strong lookin muscle. His coat looks soft. My hoofs itch to touch it. Find out if it feels as soft as it looks.

"Be careful, Angel," he says. "When you stare at a stallion like that, he’s likely to git any number of … innerestin ideas."

I don’t move.

"Well if you like what you see, keep on starin, I might even give ya a closer look" he says.

I turn an run.

I can still hear him laughin when I’m halfways back to camp.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feath sits on her cot in the bunkhouse, watchin me pack the gear she’s gived me. She tosses a pebble from one hoof to th’other. "Whaddya know about this Arrow character anyways?" she says. "It don’t feel right, him showin up outta the blue like this."

"I know as much about him as I know about you," I says. "So not much."

She chews on her bottom lip. "I don’t trust him," she says. "D’you?"

"He says he knows the way to Freedom Fields," I says. "If I’m gonna find Sun, I gotta trust him. Jest like I trusted you to help me git outta Hopetown. I didn’t know you but I …"

"Took a leap of faith?" says Feath.

"Yeah," I says, "that’s it. A leap of faith. An you turned out okay."

"Yeah, well …" Feath mutters. She don’t look at me when she says, "I’d send a couple of Hawks with you, but I got a territory dispute with some chancers on the western road to sort out."

I git the feelin she ain’t bein entirely truthful but I says, "You don’t owe me nuthin."

"There’s jest … somethin about him," she frowns. "He’s got secrets. An he’s, uh …"

"Arrogant?" I says.

"Oh yeah."

"Annoyin?"

"Definitely."

"Slippery?"

"As a snake," she says. She watches me fer a bit, then she seems to throw off whatever it is that’s botherin her. She gives me a sly little smile an says, "He’s pretty good lookin, I’ll say that much."

"Is he?" I feel my cheeks go hot. I shrug, don’t look at her." Cain’t say I noticed," I says.

"He’s got nice eyes."

"Too big."

"Nice smile."

"Too many teeth," I says. "Anyways, he ain’t my type."

She throws the pebble at me, laughin. "Yer type! Don’t you kid yerself, he’s jest yer type. The trouble type, that is."

"I already got enough trouble with findin Sun," I says. "I don’t need no more."

"You sure of that?" she says. "You look a bit … warm whenever he’s around."

"It’s ever since that damn fire," I mutter. "All that heat must of got in my blood or somethin."

"Or somethin," she says with a smirk.

I finish packin. I tighten the buckles on my saddlebags so nuthin falls out while I'm walking. "Thanks fer keepin Penny Rose," I says. "Sun an me’ll come back fer her soon as we can... Umm, Feath?"

"Uh huh?"

"If … if anythin was to happen … if fer some reason I don’t come back—"

"Oh no, Moon, don’t—"

"If anythin happens to me, promise you’ll take care of Penny. Raise her up proper. Please. I gotta know she’ll be okay."

Feath looks at me a long moment. Then, "All right," she says. "I promise."

"Thanks," I says. "She don’t like to wash. Make sure she does." I heave my saddlebags over my back. "I better go make sure Arrow's ready to leave," I says.

She touches my arm with her wing, stops me as I pass. "Listen," she says, "if you ever git the itch to join up with a bunch of thieves an no-goods, we’d be glad to see you back here any time. You’d make a damn fine Free Hawk."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrow slings his saddlebags over his back. On his way outta Hopetown, he managed to steal hisself some really good stuff to fill 'em. He looks over to where Penny’s drawin circles with a stick in the dirt. Her head droops down like a wilted wildflower.
"Are you really gonna leave her behind?" he says.

"Of course," I says. I'm eatin bread with some wildberrys. "She’s jest a child. It’s too dangerous. Anyways, she’d only slow us down."

Arrow knows why I gotta git to Freedom Fields before midsummer eve, how important it is. Last night I told him everythin I know, everythin that Wysteria told me before she died. He listened but didn’t say nuthin, jest grunted a couple of times.

"SUN ain’t jest yer brother, he’s Penny’s too," he says. "Don’t you think she’s got as much right to go as you?"

"No I don’t," I snap. "An mind yer own business. Feath said she’d look after her an that’s way it’s gonna be."

"If you say so."

"I do."

Arrow whistles. Peeny’s head shoots up. He motions her over an she comes runnin. "Yer sister don’t want you to come with us," he says. "She says you’ll slow us down."

"Arrow!" I says.

"I wouldn’t slow you down!" says Penny. "I’m a good fast walker now, an I can hover real fast too!" She jumps and starts to hover, then zips around us real fast. I didn't know she could do that, she must've learnt in Hopetown. "I walked all the way from Mercy’s all by myself an too! An then I walked all the way across the Sandsea desert to find Moon. I nearly skeered her to death."

"Is that right?" Arrow lifts a eyebrow at me.

"It ain’t jest that," I says to Penny. "Things could git dangerous. I don’t want nuthin to happen to you."

"I can take care of myself," says Penny. "I can fight."

"No you cain’t," I says.

"Can too!"

"Here." Arrow unhooks his slingshot from his bag. "See that shimmy?" He points at one of the shimmer discs the Hawks got hangin from a tree to keep the rooks from roostin. "Let’s see if you can hit it right in the middle."

"C’mon, Arrow," I says, "this is a complete waste of time. She ain’t never shot nuthin in her life."

"Ignore her," he says to Pen. He gives her his shooter. "You give it a try."

"It’s okay." Penny untucks a slingshot from a pocket in her tunic. "I got my own."

"Since when did you carry a shooter around?" I says. "Hey, wait a minute … that’s mine."

"No it ain’t," says Pen. "It belongs to Sun."

"All right. But I thought the Pinches bartered all our gear at Hopetown."

"They didn’t take this," says Pen. "I snuck it when they warn’t lookin an kept it in my secret hidin place. I’m keepin it fer Sun. I’m gonna give it to him when I see him."

"Well, if that ain’t a nice sisterly thing to do," says Arrow. "That’s real thoughtful of you, Penny Rose. Now, go on. Let’s see you try an hit that target."

She holds the slingshot in her mouth jus like Sun would, aims, an uses her wing to shoot it. She hits the shimmy dead center.

She beams.

I don’t believe it. Pen lined that shot up an took it like she’s bin shootin every day of her life.

"She’s got a good eye," Arrow says to me. "Close yer mouth, you’ll catch flies."

I frown at him, then look back at Penny Rose. "Where’d you learn to do that?" I says.

She shrugs. "I watched you an Sun. Then I practiced an practiced till I got it right."

"I didn’t know that," I says. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"You never liked it when I talked to you before," she says. "You always told me to shut up an go away."

"I never!" I says. But I feel my cheeks go all hot because we both know it’s true. It sounds so awful when she says it like that, that I never had no time fer her, but she’s right. I didn’t. Not when I had Sun. When we’re together he’s all I need. An that’s bin the way of it since the day we was born.

"So let’s see," says Arrow, "she can walk an hover, she can shoot an she’s got guts. Did I leave anythin out?"

"What you left out is, she’s just a filly an nine year old at that," I says. "She's too young."

"Sun’s my brother jest the same as he is yers," says Penny.

"Good point," says Arrow. "An she was sisterly enough to save his slingshot."

They look at me.

"No," I says, glarin at ’em. "No, no, no!"

They don’t say nuthin. Jest keep lookin at me.

"Don’t look at me like that!" I sigh. "Aw hell. All right, you can come. But you gotta do what I say when I say it an you better not gimme cause to regret this cuz if you do, Penny Rose, there’ll be trouble an no mistake."

I’m talkin to myself. The second she hears the word “come,” Penny starts whoopin an her an Arrow’s shakin hoofs an then she’s huggin me an lookin at me with shinin eyes. I ain’t never seen her so happy an excited.

"I won’t let you down!" She skips an jumps her way to the bunkhouse, callin as she goes, "Epona! Hey Epona! Guess what?"

I point at Arrow. "If anythin happens to her," I says, "I’ll know who to blame."

He grabs my hoof. His eyes is hard as stone, cold as a gray winter sky. His hoof’s warm. His skin’s rough. A tingle runs up my arm. "You don’t fool me," he says.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah," he says. "I see it in yer eyes. All you care about’s yer precious brother."

"That ain’t true," I says.

"If it’d bin Penny Rose they took," he says, "Penny Rose an not Sun … would you of gone after her?"

I take in a breath to say of course I would but the look on his face stops me. There ain’t no point in lyin when he already knows the truth. He leaves go of me an steps back. "I thought so," he says. "Yer sister’ll be safer with me than she could ever be with you. You jest ride along on yer high horse an leave her to me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Gimme yer hoof." Feath says it in a low voice, so’s nobody else can hear. She slips a small gold medal into it. "If you ever need me," she says, "if you need the Hawks, send Nero with this an we’ll come. Wherever, whenever … you send this
ring an we’ll be there."

She steps back.

My heart swells in my chest. I look at her. She smiles at me. "Feath... You got us outta Hopetown," I says. "Saved our lives. You gave us clothes an food an supplies … the chance to find Sun. I … we owe you so much, I don’t see how I can ever
repay you, but once we—"

"Friends don’t owe," she says. "Friends don’t repay. Go well. I hope you find yer brother."

"G’bye!" Penny reaches up an hugs Epona around the neck.

"You do what Moon an Arrow tell you," says Epona.

"Keep ’em safe, Arrow," says Feath. "An if you don’t, we’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth. An when we find you, we’ll rip out yer guts an feed ’em to the jackals while you watch."

"I’ll bear that in mind," says Arrow.

Nero circles above. He caws, impatient to git goin. I look up. "Time to go," I says.We start to move out. Arrow leadin the way, Penny Rose in the middle, an me bringin up the rear, with our packs an saddlebags an waterskins filled thanks to the Free Hawks. They’re all gathered to see us off. Now they start shoutin. "G’bye, good luck, don’t ferget about us, see you soon," an all that kinda thing.

I take one last look. At Ash, Epona an the rest, smilin an wavin.

But not Feath. Not smilin. Not wavin. Jest standin there.

Lookin like she don’t especk to ever see us agin.

The Black Mountains

View Online

We bin travelin all day. I hafta give it to Arrow, he sets a good pace. Fast enough fer my hoofs not to git itchy to move faster. but not so fast that Penny Rose cain’t keep up with us. Arrow says we’re still in the foothills of the Black Mountains. Says we won’t reach the mountains proper fer a couple of days yet. We climb steadily, windin our way through forests of evergreens an across dry open valleys covered with scrub. At times I find meself enjoyin the scenery, espeshally when I can see down into a small valley filled with greenery an flowers. We hardly ever got flowers back at Silverlake, only after lotsa rain.

Nero’s pleased to have me back after being apart fer so long while we was in Hopetown. I feel the same. Mainly he’s happy to jest ride on my saddlebags, makin conversation an remarkin on the scenery as we go along, he seems to like it too. From time to time he’ll disappear fer a bit on some crow business. He’s bin missin since mid-afternoon an I’m jest startin to wonder where he’s got to when he appears outta nowhere. But instead of comin to me, he flutters down to land on Arrow’s head. Then he leans over an starts to nibble lovinly on his ear.

I cain’t believe my eyes.

"Nero!" I yell. "Leave Arrow alone!"

He shoots over to me so fast he’s jest a blur. Lands on my saddlebags an hunches there, not lookin at me as I look back at him. I never knew a crow could look guilty, but he does all right.

Arrow looks back an smiles. "Don’t call him off on my account," he says.

Bloody Arrow. What is it with him? What is it about him that he seems to charm everypony, bird an everythin that crosses his path? Ash an pretty well every other Free Hawk, my sister an now my damn crow. I swear, if there was a rock in his path that he couldn’t be bothered steppin over, all he’d hafta do was give it one look an it’d roll outta the way. Not me though. I don’t roll outta the way fer nopony. Not even him. Especially not fer him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As dusk starts to fall, we sets up camp in a stand of pine beside a little trickle of a creek. The layers of dead needles feel soft an springy unner my hoofs. The sharp sweetness of warm pine fills the air, I breath deeply, enjoying the smell.

Arrow closes his eyes an takes in a deep breath too. "We’ll have sweet-smellin beds tonight, Penny," he says.

"I’m gonna make ’em real good, Arrow," she says. "You see if I don’t."

I collect wood an git a fire goin while Arrow sorts out our gear. Penny Rose bustles around, unloadin the bedrolls from the saddlebags an settin ’em out beside each other. She chats away to herself an I let it roll over me, like usual.

"I’ll sleep here," she says. "An Arrow’ll be … here … an then Moon can go … here. Right between me an Arrow."

My head shoots up. "What?" I says. "Oh no!" I go over an grab my bedroll magically. "You go in between Arrow an me. That ’ud be better, don’t you think? That way, uh … you can talk to both of us. How about that?"

"But Arrow put me in charge!" Penny pouts an sits on her rump. "He sorts our stuff, you do the fire an I set out the bedrolls! Ain’t that right, Arrow?"

"I thought it was," says Arrow. "But I guess yer sister don’t think yer up to the job, Penny."

They both look at me. Penny’s got her face all scrinched tight. She does that when she’s upset an tryin not to let her chin wobble. Arrow’s face is blank, like he don’t give a hoot one way or th’other. I don’t trust him fer a second. He knows I don’t wanna lie next to him, but I cain’t tell Pen that. As far as she’s concerned, I’m jest bein mean to herlike usual an not givin her a chance. He’s got me this time.

"That ain’t true," I says. I give my bedroll back to Pen. "Sorry, Pen. Of course it’s yer job. I’ll leave it to you."

While she’s busy puttin her arrangements to rights agin, I go over to where Arrow’s sortin food for dinner.

"I know what yer up to," I says. "An it ain’t gonna work."

"Is that right?" He don’t look at me, but keeps on pullin food outa the saddlebags an other gear. :"Fer future reference," he says, "I’d be grateful if you’d tell me what it is I’m supposed to be up to that ain’t gonna work. That way I won’t bother gittin up to it agin."

I frown. "There you go agin, doin that eel thing," I says. "What yer up to, Arrow, is … is tryin to make me look like a fool all the time!"

"Oh, is that what I’m up to?"

"You know damn well it is!"

"Then I apologize," he says. "Most sincerely." He smiles. A pleasant smile. Not cocky or arrogant. I dunno what to make of it.

"Well …," I says, "all right then. Jest mind you don’t do it agin."

"I promise," he says, "the next time you look like a fool, Moon, it’ll be all yer own doin." He winks at me as he picks up the food an gear with his magic. "Fire needs tendin," he says.

I stand there fer a moment. He jest got me agin, the bastard. But I feel a little smile sneak over my face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Night, Moon," says Penny. "Night, Arrow."

She rolls over onto her side, facin away from me, an soon she’s fast to sleep. Nero’s set on his roost in a tree nearby.
I stare at the night sky. It’s high an light an clouds scud across the face of the moon for which I was named. I clutch my blanket around me tight, lie still as a board. I’m so aware of Arrow lyin next to me. The warmth of him, the sound of his breathin, the slight rise an fall of his chest I can see outta the corner of my eye, the heartstones burning somethin fierce.
There’s a rustle as he moves. I look an he’s facin me, propped up on one elbow. The dyin fire catches on his cheekbones, shadows his eyes. My stummick jumps. Shivers. I look away.

He reaches out an touches the heartstone, lyin in the hollow of my neck. Draws his hoof away quick. "It’s hot," he says.

"I know," I says. I pull it over my head magically an shove it down in my bedroll. "Stupid thing," I says. "Dunno why I wear it."

After a bit he says, "Tell me about yer brother."

"We’re twins," I says.

"Ah," he says. "I figgered he must be somethin special fer you to go through so much to find him. What’s he like?"

I think. It’s always the same when somebody asks me about Sun. Mercy, Wysteria, Feath … even Penny. I wanna talk about him an at the same time I don’t. I feel like, if I do talk about him I’m givin away little bits of him that I wanna keep to myself.

"Our ma died birthin Penny Rose," I says. "An after that, Pa … well, he warn’t ever the same. He didn’t seem to care about nuthin no more. Not us or … not anythin … not really. If it hadn’t of bin fer Sun keepin food on the table an a roof over our heads, I believe we would of all died. Sun an me was only nine year when Ma died, same as Penny is now. We'd barely had our cutie marks two months. So he ain’t afeared of takin things on to survive. Never has bin."

"But what’s he like?" says Arrow.

"He’s … well, he’s funny," I says, "an kind an … he’s real smart. I guess he paid attention to what Pa told him. Not like me. He knows … everythin. He can fix anythin, he knows the land an creatures an … me. He’s th’only pony in the world who really knows me."

Blaze. Dark eyes, almost black, meet mine. Lookin deep inside of me. Findin my darkest thoughts, my worst fears. I shake the thought from my head, shiverin slightly.

"He sounds too good to be true," says Arrow. His voice seems to come from a long ways away.

"What’d you say?" I says.

"I said … that Sun sounds too good to be true in a land like this."

"You got no right to say that. You don’t know nuthin about him."

I says it real quick, to block out the thought of how Sun’s bin changin over the past year or so. How he was that last day. How he said he couldn’t wait to leave Silverlake an the look on his face when he called Pa a foolish old stallion livin in a dream world. I hate that Pa died with them bein the last words spoke between ’em.

"Hey," says Arrow, "I’m sorry, it was a stupid thing to say. I’m sorry. So, if yer twins he must look the same as you?"

I turn on my side to face him. "No," I says. "He’s beautiful. Like Ma was, also he's a pegasus like she was too. Gold mane like the sun after which he was named, with red in it, like fire. Long, in a braid right down near to his hoofs."

"Yer mane’s startin to grow back," he says. "It’s dark, but I can see some colour."

"Black, with purple" I says. "Like my pa’s. He was a unicorn. Pen takes after our grandma. My mane used to be real nice. Thick an long an … I must look real stupid."

"No," he says.

"When Ma was alive, she used to say, yer the night-time, Moon, Suns’s the day. I’m the one who always takes things too serious. Sun’s the one who smiles, makes you laugh. He’s a good pony, Sun. He’s everythin I ain’t."

"Is that what you believe? That you ain’t a good pony? That you ain’t beautiful?"

I don’t say nuthin.

"You must miss him," he says.

"I never knew that missin somepony could hurt," I says. "But it does. Deep inside. Like it’s in my bones. We ain’t never bin apart till now. Never. I dunno how to be without him. It’s like … I ain’t nuthin."

"Don’t say that," he says. "Don’t ever say that. You are somethin, Moon. Somethin good an strong an true. With him or without him."

He reaches over an brushes my tears away with his hoof. I didn’t even know I was cryin. A warm path trails behind his touch.
The clouds clear fer a moment an I dive into his strange silvery eyes.They’re like a moonlit lake. We lie there fer a good long time, jest starin at each other in the soft, piney night.

At last he says, "We’ll find him. I promise. Now try an git some sleep. I’ll take first watch."

"Wake me when it’s my turn," I says.

"I will," he says.

"G’night, Arrow."

"G’night, Moon."

He sits, his back aginst a tree.

"Arrow?" I whisper.

"What?"

"Thank you."

"Sweet dreams, Moon."

But I don’t sleep fer ages.

Somethin good an strong an true. That’s what he said. Nopony ever used such words about me before. I wonder if he really means ’em.

The Arrow I seen up till now, that Arrow’s all charm an quick words an easy smiles. But the way he is tonight, the way he was while we was talkin, I warn’t expectin that. It put me in mind of Mercy. I felt this … stillness, I guess you’d call it … at the heart of him. That’s the same feelin I got from her. Stillness, like calm water. I dunno what to make of it. It don’t seem to fit. An jest when I thought I had him all figgered out too.

But the thing is, I think I might be … startin to trust him. I know Feath thinks he’s hidin somethin, that he’s got secrets. An she could be right. She’s seen a lot more of the world than me, met a lot more ponies. Penny Rose seems to like him jest fine, but what does she know? She’s jest a little filly.

I dunno if I’m right to trust him.

I stare up. The gray clouds brush over the black of the night sky.

I wish Sun was here. He’d tell me. He’d know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s the middle of the day. We’re still in the foothills, dry an dusty, but the land’s gittin hillier, rockier, with more’n more tree cover as we go along. Arrow’s bin walkin a little ways ahead of us all mornin. I’m glad not to hafta say much to him. I’m wishin I hadn’t of said so much to him last night. I ain’t quite sure why I did. I shouldn’t of let him fool me into sleepin next to him.
Penny Rose’s walkin beside me an Nero’s hitchin a ride on her rump. Penny starts lookin behind us, over her shoulder.

"What is it?" I says.

She frowns. "Nuthin," she says. But as we go on, she keeps lookin back. I can tell she ain’t easy. That she’s got somethin on her mind. Finally, I cain’t take it no more. I reach over an grab her leg. Bring her to a halt.

"Yer drivin me crazy, Pen," I says. "Tell me what it is."

Arrow turns around an trots back to join us. "What’s goin on?" he says. "What is it, Penny?"

She chews on her bottom lip. Looks all uneasy, shifting her little wings a bit.

"Penny," I says. "Spit it out or I’ll shake it outta you."

"I … I think somepony’s followin us," she says at last.

"What?" I says.

"Where?" says Arrow. He reaches into his saddlebag with his magic an pulls somethin out.

"South," says Penny, pointin back the way we come from.

Arrow holds the thing to his eyes with his magic. It’s made of black plastic. He looks through the narrow end an now I see there’s two big circles of glass at th’other, wider, end. He twirls a little knob in the middle.

"What the hell’s that thing?" I says.

"It’s a long-looker," says Arrow. "Lets you see things far off in the distance."

"Wrecker tech!" I says. I don't like the wreckers, they wrecked the earth, made lotsa places dead with their magic wars an their tech an stuff.

"As a matter of fact, it’s mighty useful," he says. "Picked it up back in Hopetown. It’s amazin what ponies leave lyin around. You don’t come across these very often an when you do find one, it ain’t usually in one piece like this one is, but then theres some old spell protectin it from damage so I guess that's why." He takes a good long gander, sweepin it right across the horizon. "I cain’t see nuthin that way, Pen," he says. "Here, Moon, you wanna take a look?"

He hands it over an hesitantly, I hold it to my eyes. All of a sudden, the little copse that we passed through a half hour back rushes right up close to me. I can see every leaf on every branch on every tree. "Whoa!" I give Arrow a big smile. "That’s amazin, like some spell!"

He stares at me, a funny look on his face. "That’s the first time I ever seen you smile," he says.

I scowl at him. "Whaddya mean?" I says. "I smile all the time."

"No you don’t," Penny Rose pipes up. "You used to, when Sun was around, but ever since he went, you bin all mean an cross an horrible an—"

"All right," I says, "that’s enough."

"I was only sayin—"

"Well, don’t!"

I magically lift the long-looker to my eyes agin an make a good check of everywhere I can see. "Nuthin," I says at last. "There ain’t nopony followin us. Next time you imagine you see somethin, Penny, do us all a favor an keep it to yerself."

She pinches her lips together tight, wheels around an pushes past me, her chin in the air.

Arrow opens his mouth to say somethin, an I point my hoof at him. "Don’t even think of it," I says. "She’s my little sister an I’ll talk to her any way I want."

He turns an walks him past me. "She’s nine years old," he says. "Give her a break."

Nero caws at me. Like he’s repeatin what Arrow jest said. I stare at Arrow’s back. How strange. Almost the ezzack same words Sun said me, that last day when we was fixin the roof.

'She’s only nine, Saba. You might try bein nice to her fer a change.'

Sun. Arrow. Penny Rose. I frown. It’s makin my head hurt.

I’ll think about it later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrow’s hoof on my shoulder wakes me. It must be my turn on watch. He took the first half of the night an I’ll take us through till dawn. Right away, I’m wide awake, sittin up. His eyes gleam in the darkness.

"You let the fire go out," I whisper.

"No, I put it out," he whispers back.

"What’d you do that—"

"Penny was right," he says.

"What?"

"There’s a light on the ridge."

My heart starts thumpin. I slide outta my bedroll. "Show me," I says.

Tonight we’re camped on a hill at the foot of a light tower. There’s a line of ’em, marchin across a wide mountain plateau towards the ruins of a big Wrecker city, about three leagues due north of here. You can see the rusted iron skellentons of the tall buildins in the distance, Skyscrapers, they used to call ’em. There's also this massive partly collapsed stone building. When it wasn't collapsed you probly coulda seen it from Hopetown. Whatever pony had lived there must've been richer than rich.

Arrow scrambles up the leg of the light tower an I follow him. We go high enough to git a good view an then he gives me the long-looker. "There," he says. He points south, back the way we come from.

I look through it. Light. Faint. Flickerin on the ridge that we came over this mornin … no, yesterday mornin now. "A campfire," I says.

"They lit it jest after midnight," he says. "I bin watchin an it ain’t moved since."

"They must be camped fer the night," I says.

"Hmm, maybe," he says.

"We cain’t be th’only ponies travelin through here," I says. "It’s probly fine."

Jest then, the light goes out. Then another one appears. But this one’s movin. It bobs over the ridge an starts down. It’s headed this way.

"That don’t look fine to me," says Arrow.

"Let’s wake Penny an git outta here," I says.

"Good plan," he says.

We ride into the dead city jest as the sun’s startin to rise up. Sometimes Pa used to tell us about the big Wrecker cities that sprawled over leagues an leagues. Sun an me always thought he was tellin us tall tales, like the story of those two princess sisters that made the sun an moon move, but it looks like he was right about the cities. The remains of a vast city, spread out across this plateau in the mountains. A long straight trackway, a old road covered now in grass an low shrubs, lies ahead of us as far as the eye can see. The rusted iron skellentons of skyscrapers, the ones that we seen in the distance, line both sides of the road. Other roads lead off from the main one, like branches on a tree.

You can see where there was buildins, way back when. Now they’re nuthin but bumps an grass-covered hills. They fell down long ago, bit by bit, an ever since then the earth, the plants an the winds, they bin quietly movin an shiftin to cover what’s left. To hide it away. Bury the past.

There ain’t no sound but the wind. It moans around corners. Sighs as it brushes past us, whisperin the long-forgotten secrets of this place. Listen to the wind, Mercy told me. If only we could unnerstand what it’s sayin. Maybe it’s tellin us how many ponies lie buried unner our hoofs an how they came to die. Could of bin plague or hunger or thirst or wars. Or maybe all of ’em all at once. The Wreckers did it all.

Now there ain’t nuthin livin here but cats. The cats don’t give us a second glance as they slink along on their business. Nero dives at ’em fer fun, fallin silent outta the sky an sendin ’em racin off in a panic. We start to head off the main road down a smaller, fully dirt one. The second I get off the road, the ground, it shifts. I don’t even have time to shout out before my
right hindleg’s disappeared up the knee.

Penny giggles.

"I fergot to mention," says Arrow. "If the ground dips, go around it. In this kinda place, a dip usually means there’s a hole." He watches me as I pull myself out.

"Thanks," I says. "I’ll try to remember that."

"We better check where our friends are," he says. He hands the long-looker to Penny. "You wanna shin up an take a look?"

She nods. She ain’t said nuthin to me since we shook her awake to tell her about the lights an strike camp. I’ll take her aside later when Arrow ain’t nearby, tell her I’m sorry I didn’t believe her when she said we was bein followed. I guess even Penny can be right sometimes.

She scampers up a big hill nearby an climbs the metal tower stickin outta the top of it. She wraps one arm around a girder an holds the long-looker to her eyes. "I can see ’em!" she shouts, all excited.

"How far away?" calls Arrow.

"Uh …"

"She cain’t tell distance," I says.

"I can so! Two leagues," she says.

"How many are there?" says Arrow.

"Four! No, wait! Uh … I cain’t see very good!"

"Try twistin the knob in the middle," Arrow calls.

She lets go the girder an starts fiddlin with the knob.

"Penny!" I yell. "Are you crazy? Hang onto somethin!"

"Leave me alone!" she yells. "I know what I’m doin!" She twists to glare at me. She loses her balance.

"Emmi!" I yell. I start to sprint up the hill.

She throws her arms around the girder. She’s safe. But she lets go of the long-looker. It flies into the air. Fergetin my magic, I make a dive fer it. But I’m too far away. There’s a crack as it hits a rock jest ahead of me. I land with a thud on my stummick an lie there, lookin at the shattered bits of long-looker scattered all over the grass. Nero flaps down an lands on my head.

"Crap," says Arrow.

"Gawdammit, Penny" I says. "Look what you done now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay." Arrow slides over the top of the hill to where we’re huddled outta sight. "Looks like there’s jest two of ’em. D’you think we made the hole big enough?"

"I told you," I says, "I dug hunnerds of traps jest like this one. Me an Sun used ’em all the time when we was huntin wild boar."

Penny Rose frowns. She says, "But Moon, there warn’t no wi—"

Behind Arrow’s back, I slash my hoof across my throat an scowl at her somethin fierce.

She snaps her mouth shut.

My plan better work. I don’t want Arrow twiggin that I never actually made a pit-trap before. Sun an me used to talk all the time about diggin one, but at Silverlake there warn’t no huntin worth the time an trouble it would of took us. Arrow an me’s dug this one in the spot where my hoof went through the ground. Right in the middle of the main track through the city. Turns out there was a pretty big hole already there. All we had to do was make it a bit deeper.

"My bedroll’s gonna git all dirty," Penny grumbles.

We spread it over the hole, pegged down the edges an covered it all with grass. Now you’d never know there was a hole there.

"Too bad," I says. "It’s yer punishment fer bustin the long-looker."

"I said I’d try to fix it," says Arrow.

Emmi pokes her tongue at me.

I point at her. "Yer gettin way too fresh, Penny," I says. "You jest wait till we—"

"Shhh!" Arrow hushes us. We crouch there, silent, not lookin at each other. Jest waitin.

Then I hear voices. The soft snort of a laugh.

"They’re comin," Arrow whispers.

We flatten ourselves into the side of the hill. Arrow an me reach fer our crossbows an load up. Penny fits a stone into her slingshot. My heart’s poundin hard in my chest. The voices pass by our hidin place.

Then, "Aaah!" They yell out as they step into nuthin. As they tumble into our trap.

"Go!" yells Arrow.

We leap up an rush over the top of the hill. We thunder down th’other side.

"Hooves up!" I yell. "We got you covered, you bastards!"

Me, Arrow an Penny take up positions around the edge of the pit. Our weapons is drawn. We aim down at our captives.

"I don’t believe it," says Arrow.

"What the hell’re you two doin here!?" I says.

Ash an Epona stare at us from the bottom of the pit where they’re lyin in a tangled heap of arms an legs.

"Well it ain’t ezzackly the welcome we was expectin," says Ash. "But I’ve had worse."

They git to their hoofs. Epona holds up a hoof. "Wouldn’t mind a little help gittin outta here," she says.

"It’d serve you right if we left you there to rot," I says. But I give her my hoof an Arro gives his to Ash an we help ’em climb out. They start to brush theirselves down.

"Hell, Ash," says Arrow. "That was more’n stupid. We could of shot you. You could of broke a leg when you fell in. Why didn’t you let us know it was you followin us?"

"We wanted to surprise you," says Ash.

"Well you sure did that all right," says Arrow.

I frown. "I thought the Hawks had some trouble to take care of," I says. "Feath said somethin about a territory dispute on the western road."

They dart a look between ’em. A guilty look.

"She don’t know yer here," I says. "Don’t tell me … she left you two in charge of Darktrees an you snuck off."

"Okay," says Ash, "we won’t tell you."

"Go away," I says. "Turn right around an go back. An make sure you tell Feath this was all yer idea an nuthin to do with me."

The brown zebra frowned at me. "Hang on a minute," says Epona. "We happen to think Feath’s wrong. That she should of sent at least some of us with you to help."

"This is more important than who’s got control of the western road," says Ash. "From what you said—about Freedom Fields an the Tonton an the chaal—this could be about more than jest gittin yer brother back. It could affect all of us. Jest burnin down Hopetown ain’t enough. We cain’t stop there. We gotta stop the whole thing. Git rid of ’em all."

"Listen," I says. "I don’t care about nuthin besides gittin Sun back. D’you hear? That’s it. Nuthin else. An I don’t need yer help. I don’t want it. Go home."

"Why d’you always gotta be such a rudesby?" says Penny Rose. "They jest wanna help us find Sun."

"Button yer lip, Penny," I says. "I got a good mind to send you back to Darktrees with ’em."

She scowls an flares her little wings." Jest try an make me," she says.

"Don’t you sass me missy!"

"Now now," says Arrow, "let’s jest everybody calm down. I’m sure we can—"

"Shut up, Arrow," I says. I narrow my eyes. Give Ash a good hard look. "You sure there ain’t another reason why yer here?" I says. I glance at Jack, then look at Ash agin. She’s gone all red in the face unner her grey coat.

"Of course not," she says.

"C’mon, Moon," says Epona. "You know we’re good in a fight."

"I’ll say this one last time," I says. "If I wanted you to come with me, I would of asked you to come with me. But I didn’t. That means I don’t. You can be on yer way soon’s I fetch Penny's gear. Yer goin back with ’em to Darktrees," I says to Pen.

"No!" she says. "An you cain’t make me! I hate you, Moon!"

I turn an start walkin fast towards where we stashed our stuff while we found out who was followin us. We hid ’em well outta sight.

"Excuse us fer a moment," I hear Arrow say.

He trots after me an grabs my arm. "I wanna talk to you, Moon," he says.

I yank my arm away an keep walkin. "There ain’t nuthin to talk about, Arrow," I says. "They’re leavin an Penny Rose’s goin with ’em. End of story."

"They wanna help," he says. "They wanna do somethin. Maybe help make the world a better place. C’mon, Moon, what’s yer problem with that?"

I keep walkin.

He goes around in front of me. "What’s the matter with you?" he says. "Talk to me."

While he’s talkin, I try to dodge around him, right then left, but he blocks my way every time I move a hoof. My temper’s dancin. It’s itchin fer a fight. I clench my teeth.

"Git outta my way," I says.

"No."

"I’m goin to git Penny's gear. Git outta the way, Arrow."

"Not till you tell me why your bitin everyponies heads off," he says.

"Fine," I says. "You wanna know what’s wrong? It’s this … crowd of ponies trailin along behind me, slowin me down, an I’m sick of it, that’s what’s wrong! I don’t care about makin the world a better place. All I wanna do is git Sun back! But I keep gittin trapped. I leave Penny Rose somewhere safe an she follows me. The Pinches snatch us an I end up in Hopetown in the Cage. I finally ecscape an, thanks to you, I ain’t only lumbered with Penny agin, but here we are in the middle of nowhere an Ash an Epona’s pitched up. An why d’you think that is, Arrow?"

"You know why," he says. "They wanna help."

"Are you blind?" I says. "They only followed us here because … d’you like Ash?"

"What kinda question’s that? Of course I like her. What’s not to like?"

"No," I says, "that ain’t what I mean. I mean … do you like her? Because she likes you. A lot."

"What?" He laughs. "Don’t be stupid."

"You really cain’t see it?" I says.

He shakes his head. "Yer bein ridiculous," he says.

"Oh am I?" I says.

I push past him. Head to where the packs are. My skin’s pricklin. My belly clenches. I’m hot all over, head to hoof. I start to collect our stuff.

He strolls up, stands watchin me.

"If I didn’t know better," he says," I’d think you was jealous."

"Jealous!" I glare at him. "Whaddya mean?"

"I mean," he says, "that you want me fer yerself. You jest don’t wanna admit it."

I stare at him. Then, "Go to hell, Arrow," I says.

"C’mon," he says, "admit it."

"Leave me alone!"

I cain’t look at him, cain’t listen to him, cain’t think about things I don’t wanna think about. Feel things I don’t wanna feel. I can only think about Sun. Nuthin but Sun an gittin him back.

"All I want from you is the fastest way to Freedom Fields," I says. "I’m goin on from here by myself."

"By yerself," he says. "Are you sayin you don’t need me?"

"I don’t need you, Arrow."

"Yer wrong, Moon. You need all of us. You jest don’t know it yet. The Tonton won’t take kindly to their King bein killed. They’re gonna want somepony to pay the price. I’d almost put money on them goin ahead with their ceremony. If yer gonna save Sun, yer gonna need all the help you can git. An believe me, once we reach Freedom Fields, you’ll be damn glad we’re with you."

I lean my head aginst an old rock wall fer a moment an close my eyes. "You ain’t gonna let me go by myself," I says.

"Nnope," he says.

"You cain’t stop me. I could run, right now, an gallop away as fast as I can."

"We’d just follow you."

Trapped.

"You always know best, don’t you, Arrow?" I says.

"I like to think so," he says. "An that reminds me, you owe th’others a apology fer bein so rude an high-hoofed back there."

"What?" I says.

"Apologize," he says. "Fer bein so damn ungrateful."

I narrow my eyes. "I don’t learn manners from a thief," I says. "Cuz that’s what you are, ain’t it Arrow? That’s what you do to git by, ain't it?"

"I might be a thief," he says, "I might not be. One thing’s fer certain though. I ain’t the one folks call the Angel of Death."

He knows jest where to stab me.

"You bastard," I says.

"If it makes you feel better," he says.

He gives a little bow of his head, turns and walks away, floatin his and Penny's gear.

I kick the wall in frustration.

Some of it crumbles away, revealin a little old metal box.

I pull it out an open it. Inside is what Golden Pinch called paper. Theres a picture on it, an I can still make out the colours pretty well. There's some old old spell pertectin it.

The pictures of of three mares an a filly an a foal. One mare, the oldest, with a couple wrinkles startin to show, is a purple unicorn with a fading purple mane... no, wait, a pegasus... she had wings an a horn, how was that posible? Well she sat in chair in the middle, the blue baby foal in her hoofs. The two mares looked like sisters, each with a star sort of cutie mark, and their coats are similar to the old mares, posibly their mum. Their manes are blue with purple streaks. The unicorn filly is pale pink, her mane purple, no cutie mark yet.

I sigh. At least somepony was happy once. A nice, happy family like this was probably hard to find nowadays.

I close the box an put it back in the wall. Maybe it'll be found again, maybe it won't. Who knows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrow picks up the pace
.
He says he ain’t certain how long it’s gonna take us to git to Freedom Fields. Says it depends on whether we run into any trouble on the way but it might take us a week or it might take us ten days.

Ten days. With midsummer twelve days away.

The sun beats down on us, white hot an merciless. The air shimmers, heavy an thick. It’s hard to breathe. I float my coat above me to keep the sun off.

Ash walks at the front with Arrow an makes up to him like nopony’s business. Even he must notice it by now. She walks so close to him that her leg touches his. She looks at him all the time. She leans over an says things that make him throw his head back an laugh like he never heard nuthin so funny in his life.

It’s sick-makin.

Or it would be, if I cared.

Which I don’t.

Liar, whispers the voice inside my head. Liar, liar, liar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We finally pass through the Wrecker city an cover another four leagues before we stop fer the night. Arrow calls this real mountain country. The trail’s bin snakin around the edges of steep, heavily wooded slopes that all press in close together.

This land don’t please me. Too closed in. Too dark. Not enough sky.

We set up camp inside the ruins of a big stone buildin that stands beside a stream in a little rocky valley. Nero swoops in an out through the windows, cawin with glee as he scatters the roostin pigeons. Ash an Arrow bring down a couple of ’em fer supper. They all chatter away while they build a fire an git the water boilin fer a brew of sage tea. Epona plucks an guts the pigeons with Penny’s help. Then she shoves ’em on a spit an sets ’em to roast.

I sit on my own a little ways off, pullin at tufts of grass, chewin some grass slowly, mullin over what Arrow said to me. After a while Penny comes over.

"Mind if I sit down?" she says.

I shrug. "Suit yerself," I says.

She sits herself down beside me. We don’t say nuthin fer a bit, then, "I’m sorry fer sassin you," she says. An I shouldn’t of stuck out my tongue. Sun’d be mad if he knew."

"Don’t s’pose he’d be too impressed with me neether," I says. "Losin my head with you like that."

"Guess we’d both be in trouble. Epona’s nice. An Ash. Don’t you think?"

I grunt.

"Well I like ’em," she says.

I don’t say nuthin.

"They’d like to be yer friends, you know," she says.

"Huh," I says.

She kneels up an takes my hoof." We’re gonna find Sun. I know it. We’re all gonna help you. Me an Ash an Epona an Arrow."

"You would of bin safe with Mercy," I says, pullin my hoof away. "You should of stayed there, like I told you to."

"I know," she says. "But I’m stubborn. Like you."

We look at each other. Then we smile.

"Yeah," I says. "I guess you are at that. Listen, Pen, I … I’m sorry. I know I ain’t bin very nice to you. I don’t mean nuthin by it, you know that, don’t you? It’s jest … I’m worried about Sun. Worried that … that maybe we won’t—"

"I know," she says. "I worry about him too. Jest like I worry about you. I couldn’t hardly stand it back in Hopetown when you was fightin in the Cage. Every day I was so afeared that you’d die an leave me."

"I won’t leave you," I says." I promise." I sigh. "I’m gonna try to be a better sister to you, Penny."

"It’s okay," she says. "You don’t hafta. I’m kinda used to you the way you are."

She kisses me on the cheek, real quick. She goes back to the fire to join th’others. I sit there a minute or two, till the lump in my throat goes down. Then I walk over. The conversation stops. They all look at me. Essept Arrow. He stays crouched by the fire an makes hisself busy pokin at it with a stick.

"I got somethin to say," I says. "To all of you. I know I bin actin like I… Like I lost my head, bein ungrateful an cantankersome an … well … I’m sorry. An I jus wanna say … I jus wanna say thanks. Thanks fer comin with me. Fer tryin to help me find Sun. I do appreciate it. I’m grateful."

They look at me. Like they’re waitin fer more.

"That’s it," I says.

Ash shrugs. "We’re doin this fer everypony, she says. Not jest you an yer brother. It’s bigger’n that."

"We’ll find Sun, Moon," says Epona." We’ll help you git him back." She smiles an they go back to their cookin an chattin.

I done what Arrow said. What was right to do. Now I walk away from ’em quickly. But my heart feels lighter. More hopeful.

A hoof on my arm stops me. Arrow. "That was well done," he says.

An, like every other time Arrow’s touched me or come near me, heat washes over me, through me, around me.

"Don’t touch me," I says.

He steps back, puttin his hoof down. His mouth’s a tight line. "Sorry," he says. "My mistake. It won’t happen agin."

As he goes back to join th’others, I pull the heartstone outta my vest an hold it in my hoof. Hold it while it cools down.

I look up at the sky. The first stars is out. An the moon. Every night it creeps along in the sky, closer an closer to where it’ll be at midsummer. There ain’t nuthin gonna stop it.

We’re in a race, the moon an me. A race of two Moons. An it’s a race I cain’t afford to lose.

Maybe it ain’t such a bad idea to have some help. I’ll put up with anythin if it means I git Sun back safe. Anythin an anypony.

Even Arrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We stand on the edge of the escarpment. We look over a dry river gorge to the mountain on th’other side. It towers above us, dark an jagged an dangerous. Behind it, more mountains stretch as far’s the eye can see.

"Is this th’only way to Freedom Fields?" I says.

"No," says Arrow, "I brought you this way because I thought you’d enjoy the scenery."

He glares at me an I glare right back. We bin snappin an snipin at each other ever since the Wrecker city.

"Them mountains look awful big," says Penny Rose.

"They’re called Discord's Fangs, there's some mighty strange things in those mountains, like a valley filled with sweet pink clouds that rain chocolate milk, or there's the caves where everythin floats. An while there's a few places you might wanna go to see, theres many more dangerous places where you'll lose your mind, or die," says Arrow. "Anyhoo, look. About halfways up. D’you see it? That’s the One-Eyed Stallion. That’s where we’re headed. That’s the plan."

He points out a buildin that clings to the side of the mountain. I probly wouldn’t of noticed it otherwise. It’s made of the same dark stone as the mountain. It’s long an low, set well back into the rocks. A narrow white track zigzags to it from the gorge below.

Smoke trickles out from a crooked chimley.

"What’s the One-Eyed Stallion?" says Penny.

"A tavern," says Arrow.

Epona frowns. She says, "An we’re goin there because …"

"… you’d like a drink?" says Ash.

Arrow shakes his head. "The landlord’s a goodfriend of mine," he says. "Ike Appletrees. He’s a good pair of hoofs. Dependable. Jest the stallion fer this kinda thing."

I stare at him. "Oh no," I says, "no way. You ain’t askin him to come with us."

"Yer right," he says. "I ain’t gonna ask him, I’m gonna tell him."

"An you an this … this …"

"Ike," says Arrow.

"This Ike," I says, "the two of you’s such good friends that he’s gonna drop everythin an come with us jest because you tell him to."

"That’s right," he says. "You got a problem with that?" He gives me a fierce look, like it might put me off.

"Yeah," I says, "I do as a matter of fact. An I also got a problem with you tellin us this is th’only way to Freedom Fields. I think yer takin us this way because you jus wanna see yer friend Ike."

"This ain’t no social call, Moon," he says.

"Oh, so you ain’t denyin it!"

"Look, d’you wanna find yer brother or not?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then shut up an mind yer footin on this slope," he says." I’ll go first."

Arrow an Ash an Epona go first. They disappear over the edge of the escarpment they start to pick their way carefully down the slope.

"All right, Pen," I says. "You go now. Nice an slow. Be careful."

The earth’s dry, pebbly an loose under hoof. As I move down carefully, I see Pen’s havin trouble keepin upright.

I move over to help her when Ash calls out. "Wind’s changin direction!"

Epona points at the sky. Thunderheads! she shouts.

A great towerin bank of black clouds come rollin at us from the northeast. They’re movin hellish fast.

Lightnin forks down. I count. One elefant, two ele—thunder rumbles. It’ll be on top of us any moment.

"Those are rain clouds!" Arrow shouts. "Hurry up!"

I go to take Penny by the hoof but she’s gone. She’s already headed down the slope
on agin, her hoof’s slippin in the loose earth.

I start after her.

"Penny Rose!" I call. "Be careful!"

Jest as I say it, she slips and falls on a sharp rock or somthin, cause her flanks got a cut on it which is bleedin, slowly turnin her pale yellow hide dark red. She moans, it obviously hurts.

At that moment, the clouds crack open.

Rain pours down on top of us in sheets. In seconds, we’re drenched through to the skin.

"You idiot, Penny," I says. "I said to be careful! Why cain’t you jest do what I tell you fer once?"

"Moon!" Arrow’s voice, muffled by the rain. "Git offa that slope now!"

"Don’t tell me what to do!" I yell back.

I throw Pen onto my back an hurry down. The ground’s turnin to mud unner my hooves.

"You took yer sweet time," says Arrow when we git to the bottom an I set Penny down.

"Don’t start with me, Arrow," I says.

He jest frowns at me then he says, "the river’s started to run. If the rain keeps up like this, we could git a flash flood. We gotta git across before we’re trapped in the gorge."

We start towards the river’s edge, Penny an Arrow gettin ahead of me.

"I’ll take Penny across the river!" he calls to me.

"Okay!" I call back, then I trip, fallin flat on my face. Gettin back up, I'm headed fer the river when somethin makes me pause. I frown. I feel … I know there’s somethin not quite right, but … I shake my head. No time to stop an think now. I reach the riverbank, the thick reddish brown stream of muddy water’s flowin fast. It catches on a dead tree lyin on the riverbed, turns it this way then that way, slowly, like it’s makin up its mind what to do with it. Then it lifts the tree an
rushes it downstream.

The riverbed’s narrow here but deep. The banks ain’t wide. If the rain keeps fallin like this, it ain’t gonna take long fer it to overflow its banks an fill the gorge. We’ll be swept downstream if we’re caught in it. Epona an Ash is almost at th’other side.

"Be careful!" calls Epona. "The riverbed’s all churned up mud! It’s hard to keep yer footin!"

Arrow starts to wade into the water. Penny's sittin on his back, clingin to his neck. Suddenly I know what it is that ain’t right. My heartstone’s gone. I run back to where I tripped. There it is, lyin in the mud. I snatch it an shove it deep into my boot. Run back to the riverbank.

In time to see Arrow stumble.

In time to see Penny Rose lose her grip an fall into the river.

"Penny!" I cry
.
She cain’t swim. Without thinkin, I dive in to save her. I surface to see Arrow haulin her outta the water by the back of her tunic. He swings her back up on his back.

"Is she okay?" I call.

"She’s fine!" he says. "Jest git yerself across!"

The water’s reached my chest now. The wicked current wraps itself around me. I ain’t took more’n four steps when somethin bumps into me. I look down.

It’s a pony leg bone.

I gasp.

All around me, the dead are risin.

Another leg bone bobs to the muddy surface. Then a skull. A arm bone. They swing lazily. The current grabs ’em an carries ’em away. Wreckers must of used the dry riverbed as a mass grave an now the heavy rain’s churnin it all up. I lift my head high from the water,outta the way. Slowly I turn in a circle, blinkin the rain away from my eyes.

"Ohmigawd," I says. "Ohmigawd ohmigawd ohmigawd."

The river’s alive with dead pony’s bones. It’s thick with ’em. My breath’s comin shallow an fast. I feel somethin touch me. I make myself look down. A skellenton’s wrapped itself around mme. The skull grins up at me. I shove it away. But when I pull my hooves away, the whole top half of the skellenton comes with ’em. I’m standin in the ribcage. The skull comes off and floats in the now higher water, right in my face.

I scream. Shake myself loose. Scramble to git away. Lose my footin. I fall. I go unner. An the current sweeps me away.

I fight my way to the surface. Spit out a mouthful of filthy river. "Help!" I yell. "Help!"

I doubt if any of ’em can hear me over the poundin of the rain an the rush of the river. An I must be well outta earshot by now. I’m a ways downstream from where I fell, that’s all I know. An I got no idea where this river goes. I grab onto the trunk of a dead tree as it slides past me. I pull myself up so my head’s outta the water. I hang on tight as I go rushin along on the river of mud an
bones.

"Arrow!" I shout. "Arrow!"

The heavy rain means I cain’t see no further’n three arms-length in front of me. There ain’t no way of tellin how far I am from the riverbank, but I know it’s there somewhere. I gotta try to make my way over to it. I grit my teeth an kick hard, tryin to steer away from the middle of the river, but the current’s got other ideas. The moment I start to make headway, it snatches at my tree an
whirls us off. I keep on tryin, over an over agin. But the current’s too strong fer me to fight.
Then I start to hear another kinda roar. One that ain’t the rain, but somethin else. It reminds me of … I cain’t think what, but I know that whatever it is, I heard it not so long ago.

The river’s gittin narrower an narrower. I’m bein carried towards a group of jagged rocks that stick up outta the water. I’ll try to grab holda one. But I’m goin too fast. As I reach the rocks, the tree trunk I’m clingin to hits the first rock an cracks in two. I lose my grip. I’m dragged unner the water. My nose fills. My mouth fills. I’m chokin. My body smashes aginst stone. Once, twice, I hit the rocks, still unnerwater. I’m tumbled every which way.

I bob to the surface. Gasp fer air, spit out water. Grit in my mouth, on my tongue. I got nuthin to hang onto now. It’s all I can do to keep my head above water. The current races me downstream. That roarin I bin hearin … it’s gittin louder. Ever louder.
Now I remember where I heard that sound. It was at Darktrees. The day when Maev an me went bathin. An my heart stops in my chest. Because I know what that sound means.

There’s a waterfall ahead.

"Arrow!" I scream his name as loud as I can. "Arrooooow!"

The roar of the waterfall’s gittin louder. The river’s gittin wilder, throwin up filthy water in great sprays. A rock lies straight ahead. Right in the middle of the river. It’s wide an flat. Not too high. I could pull myself onto it. But it’s smooth. Nuthin to grab hold of.
I’m there. I reach out. No! I’m bein swept past the rock! I feel the rush of the falls. Draggin at my legs. I fling my hoof back. Over my head. Make a grab at the air. Grab fer anythin. There! My hoof holds somethin. My arm’s near yanked outta its socket.

I stop.

I’ve stopped.

I wait there fer a second, gaspin, as the river roars around me, tuggin at my legs, frantic to rip me from my hoofhold an throw me over the edge of the falls. I hang on. My arm’s pulled backwards over my head. Whatever I got hold of, it seems strong enough. A piece of metal stickin outta the rock. Cold. Rough. Sturdy. I flip myself over, git ahold of it with my other hoof too. Then slowly, fightin aginst the current with every bit of strength still in me, I manage to drag myself outta the water an onto the rock.

I lie there. Pantin fer breath. I can feel the rain pound down on me but I hardly notice it. After a bit, I lift my head to see what it is that’s saved me. A iron spike. Rough an rusted. What it’s doin in this rock in the middle of this river at the top of this waterfall an who put it here, I’ll never know. I’m jest damn glad it’s here. I pull myself up to sit, still hangin onto that spike. Then I cain’t help myself. I peer over the side to see how close I came.

An I start to shake.

Because my lucky rock is hangin over the edge of the waterfall. Below me, the waters roar as they plunge down. My bowels clench an I scrabble back from the edge.

I’m on a rock. On top of a waterfall. In the middle of a river. With no way off. I look down. The water’s still risin around me. If it keeps on, I’ll be swept over the falls. I got no idea how high they are. My teeth is chatterin from the cold, or maybe shock. I huddle in the middle of the rock. Hug my hind legs to my chest.

"Moon! Moon! Where are you?"

My heart leaps. A voice. Muffled by the rain, but—

I peer through the curtain of rain, try to see where it’s comin from. Then I see him. He’s in the river, swimmin an bein carried along by the current. There’s a rope looped unner his armpits, tied high around his chest.

"Arrow!" I shout. I sit an wave. "Arrow! Over here!"

He spots me.

The next thing I know, he’s comin up right below me. I hang onto the spike with one hoof an reach down with th’other. He grabs it. I give him a pull an he scrambles up beside me. He drags the slack of the rope outta the water an plops it onto the rock.

"That was close," he says. He sits there, pantin.

"Arrow!" I throw my arms around him. I’m shakin, head to foot. "I never bin so glad to see anypony in my life!" I says.

He shrugs me off. Looks at me with narrowed eyes. "What happened?"

"I lost my … my necklace," I says. "I had to go back fer it. Then I lost my footin an … well. Here I am."

He don’t say nuthin fer a moment. "Then, Did you find yer necklace?"

I can feel the heartstone burnin aginst my hoof, where I shoved it deep down inside my boot. "Yeah," I says.

"Good," he says. "I’d hate to think this was all fer nuthin. Well. Much as I’m enjoyin sittin here … talkin about … jewelry … I think we’ll continue this conversation somewhere safer."

He scoots around behind me so’s I’m sittin between his legs. He loosens the slipknot on the rope around his chest.

"At least we’re even now," he says.

"Even?" I says. "Whaddya mean?"

He lifts the rope from around him an starts makin the loop bigger. "The rule of three," he says. "You remember, I explained it to you. You save somebody’s life three times, their life belongs to you."

He slips his arm around my waist an pulls me in closer.

"What’re you doin Arrow! I—"

"Shut up or I’ll throw you in," he says. He lifts the rope over so it’s around both our waists. "As I was sayin," he says, "you saved me back at Hopetown. That was one to you. Jest now, I saved you from goin over the waterfall so that’s one to me."

"You did not! I saved myself!"

"You wanna quibble? I’m happy to leave you here."

"No!" I says. "No! Don’t do that!"

"Well then," he says. "I think we’re even."

"I don’t believe it," I says. "Rule of three. That’s about the stupidest thing I ever—" He yanks the slipknot tight. My back’s crushed aginst his chest. "—heard of," I says.

"Stupid, eh?" He whispers it in my ear so’s his breath tickles. I shiver.

"I hope you got somethin strong at th’other end of this rope," I says.

"Ash an Epona," he says. "All right?"

I nod. He gives the rope a sharp tug to let ’em know we’re ready. Then we slide down into the river.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ash an Epona give one last haul on the rope an Arrow an me’s dragged outta the water onto the muddy riverbank. We lie there, gaspin fer breath.

"Moon!" Penny throws herself on top of me. "Moon! I thought you was drowned! I thought I’d lost you!"

"C’mon, Penny Rose," says Ash. "Give Moon a chance to git her breath back."

"Thanks, Ash," I says.

She peels Pen away from me. Epona gives me a hoof up an wraps me in a fierce hug.

"Thanks," I says.

"Ash an me ain’t much good at swimmin," she says. "Yer lucky Arrow was here."

He grins his big jimswagger grin. "Would you mind repeatin that, Epona?" he says. "I don’t think Moon realizes ezzackly how lucky she is."

I’m startin to feel stupid that I threw my arms around him like I did. Like I couldn’t help myself. "I didn’t need savin," I says. "I was perfectly fine till you came along."

He stares at me. His mouth drops open. The rain runs down his face into it. "You," he says, "are insane. Truly insane. Five minutes ago, you was stranded on a rock in the middle of a river at the top of a waterfall with no way—I repeat, no way—of
gittin off. Any normal pony would not consider that to be fine. An—correct me if I’m wrong—but when I got there, I distinckly heard you say you was never so glad to see anypony in yer life."

"Did not," I says.

"Uh … I think we’ll jest start on up to the tavern," says Ash. Her, Epona an Penny disappear.

Arrow gives me a hard look. "You make my brain hurt," he says.

"An yer the most puffed-up, big-headed swagger boots I ever met," I says. "I got news fer you, Arrow. You ain’t so great. You ain’t great at all. Not even the slightest bit! If it warn’t fer you an yer stupid plan to go see yer stupid friend in some stupid tavern, I wouldn’t of ended up in the river in the first place!"

"Oh, I know what this is about," he says. "This is about Ash agin."

"It is not! Anyways, I couldn’t give two hoots about you an Ash or you an anypony else!"

"There ain’t nopony else!" he yells. "It’s all in yer tiny little mind! You know what you need?"

"Yeah! I need you to shove off an leave me alone!" I yell back.

"No! What you need is to lighten up! My gawd, if yer outta yer mind, I must be outta mine even more! An you know why? Fer even thinkin fer a moment that you an me could of—"

"Could of what?"

"Dammit, Moon, I thought we could have a good time together! You know … I’d help you find yer brother an you an me ’ud … you know."

"No! I don’t know, Arrow! What the hell’re you talkin about?"

"What I’m talkin about … is this!"

He hauls me to him, grabs my face an kisses me.

I hold myself still, stiff, hooves firm on the ground. At first, from shock. But now to keep ’em away from Arrow. My hoove's are itchin to touch him. All over. His arms, his face, his back, his chest. I cain’t let ’em. I give him a shove. He goes sprawlin backwards into the mud.

"What was that fer?" he yells.

"Fer kissin me!" I yell. "An don’t you dare do it agin!"

"Oh don’t you worry about that," he says, "I’d rather throw myself over that waterfall!"

He picks hisself up.

"I’d rather sleep in a nest of scorpions!" he says.

He stomps off up the hill.

I follow.

My lips is tinglin.

The One-Eyed Stallion

View Online

The faded sign creaks on its hinges. The painted head of a stallion glares down at us, a bloody hole where one of his eyes oughta be.

"Here we are," says Arrow. "Welcome to the One-Eyed Stallion."

The dark stone tavern hunches, low an mean-lookin, into the side of the mountain. Rain sheets down its saggin roof an pours over the edge. A pale thread of smoke trickles outta the chimley.

"It don’t look too welcomin to me," says Ash.

"I don’t like it," says Penny.

"Yer jest cold an tired," says Arrow. "Once you git a bowl of Pike’s rock squirrel stew inside you, things’ll look a lot brighter."

There’s a candle burnin in th’only window, a narrow slit set halfways along the wall. Arrow rings the bell beside the battered old wood door. Right away, the candle goes out.

"Looks like yer friend Pike don’t want company," I says.

"Probly heard you was comin," says Arrow, all sour faced.

He tries the rusty latch. It don’t move. He bangs on the door with his hoof. Thud thud thud. Thud thud thud.

"Pike!" he shouts. "Pike Appletree! It’s me! It’s Arrow! Let me in!"

Nuthin.

"Hey! Open up!" I yell an pound on the door. I go to try an shoulder it open, but Arrow holds me back.

"Hang on," he says. "There’s a knack to it." He leans back, lifts his leg an gives the door a almighty kick. It flies open. He goes in an we trail behind.

We see ’em right away.

I snatch my crossbow an take aim.

Beside me, Ash an Epona do the same.

"Hold fire!" says Arrow.

My heart pounds wildly. We keep our crossbows up, bowstrings drawn, arrows ready to fly. We stare at the stallions who face us, their weapons at the ready. There’s at least twelve of ’em. On their feet, with blades, bows an flintsticks pointed straight at us. They’re the most scurfy lookin pack of villains I ever seen in my life. A knife scar here, a eyepatch there, missin ears, a missin wing, a missin leg. They make the low-life scum of Hopetown look sweet as spring clover.

I do a quick sweep of the room. Take everythin in. It’s one long room with a low ceilin. The fireplace in the center’s got a blazin fire goin. In front of the fire, there’s a large table with a stewpot in the middle an stone drink kegs. Wooden benches lay on their sides. Kicked over when they all jumped up. There ain’t no sound but the cracklin fire an the rain poundin down on the roof.

"Hello boys," says Arrow. "Nice to see y’all."

Jest then, a earth pony stallion comes through a door in the corner that I didn’t notice before. He’s tall, at least a head an a half taller'n Arrow. He’s got a huge platter of roasted meat hefted onto his back. He don’t even look our way as he goes over to the table an dumps the platter down. Then he starts over to us.

"Pike!" says Arrow. He steps forwards, smilin a big smile an holdin out his hoof. "Hey man, long time no see!"

But Pike don’t smile back. An he don’t take Arrow’s hoof.

He walks straight up to him an punches him in the face.

Arrow goes sprawlin on the floor.

Arrow’s down. Hurt. The red hot rips through me. I ain’t felt it since Hopetown. I aim my bow at Pike an walk at him—fast—till he’s backed aginst the wall with his hooves on top of his head. I press the arrowhead into his throat. He gulps. There’s a quick rush of feet an the stallions surround my back. Without takin my eyes offa Pike, I can feel their weapons pointed at me. Hear their breathin.

"It’s all right, Moon," Arrow calls. "Don’t kill him. I deserved it."

"Tell these dogs to stand down," I says to Pike.

"Weapons down, boys, or supper’s off," he says. He don’t move his eyes from mine.

There’s a pause, then a clatter as bows an knives hit the floor behind me.

"Epona?" I says.

"Yer okay," she says. "It’s all clear."

I step back from Pike. Lower my bow. He feels his throat. Grins an shakes his head.

"Gawdammit," he says. "I bin waitin fer a mare like you my whole life. Arrow, I think I’m in love."

"Ferget it, Pike," says Arrow. "She’s far too dangerous fer the likes of you."

"Oh," says Pike, "it’s that way, is it?"

He goes over to Arrow, reaches out a hoof an gives him a tug up. Arrow rubs his jaw where Pike punched him.

"Don’t worry," says Pike, "I didn’t do yer pretty face no harm. I should of though. After what you done to me."

He glares at Arrow an Arrow actually looks shame-faced. Pike jabs him in the chest. "You left me, you sonofabitch," he says, "hangin upside down, with all them mares in their—"

Arrow grabs his hoof. "Not now, Pike," he says. "We’ll talk about it later."

"Not to mention the time you was supposed to meet me at Wood Whittler’s an I waited there like a stooky fer two months, with that little dog of his that’s always bitin at yer ankles, an all the time you was off with that—"

"Pike!" Arrow yells, pointin at the villains at the table. "Look! He’s takin seconds!"

"Oh no, he ain’t!" Pike rushes off.

Arrow grins at me. "Poor Pike," he says, tappin the side of his forehead. "Crazy as a coot."

"Somehow I don’t think so."

The stallins mutter among theirselves as they sit back down at the big table an git to work on their meal. Ash elbows through ’em an fills three trenchers fer her, Epona an Penny. The one with the eyepatch tries to slide his arm around her an she gives him a sharp
rap over the head with the stew ladle. Then they pull three chairs close to the Fire an tuck in. Both Ash an Epona keep their
crossbows close. Nero perches on the back of Penny’s chair an sets about dryin hisself an puttin his feathers into some kinda order. He hates gittin wet.

I roll the stffness outta my shoulders, let the warmth of the room soak into my cold bones.Arrow motions me over to join him an Pike at a table in a dim lit corner. It looks like the kinda spot where plots git hatched. I pull up a stool an sit down.

"No hard feelins?" I says to Pike.

"Naw," he says. "I like yer style."

Pike’s got a big head to match the rest of him. With a light blue coat an a big dark brown bushy beard an moustache with a blue streak an straight dark brown mane with a blue streak down to his shoulders and a short dark brown tail with a blue streak. His eyes is goldish an set deep. His cutiemark was a pike spearin an apple. His voice rumbles from somewhere down near his hooves.

"Pike, this is Moon," says Arrow.

I hold out my hoof fer Pike to shake but he grabs it, lifts it to his mouth an gives it a big wet smack of a kiss.

"Marry me," he says. "I got all my own teeth, I wash twice a year an I’ll cut you in fer half the business here."

My cheeks flame hot. "No thanks" I says. I try to pull my hoof away, but he clutches it tight to his chest.

"Maybe not right away," he says, "but once we git to know each other. A week or so. I don’t mind a little wait. Jest don’t keep me simmerin too long, sweetheart."

"I don’t really think I … uh …." I says.

I shoot Arrow a help-me-out-here-yer-friend’s-crazy kinda look but he don’t even look at me. He leans back in his chair with his hooves behind his head against the wall an his legs stretched out.

"Will wonders never cease?" he says. "Pie Appletree's finally caught in the net of love. I gotta hand it to you, Moon. Name the first boy after me, will you?"

"The first—!" I shove back my stool an jump up. "I ain’t marryin Pike! I ain’t marryin nopony! What the—?"

Then I catch the look that passes between ’em. Arrow’s mouth twitches an they bust out laughin. I glare as they hoot an slap each other on the back like a couple of idiots. Bloody Arrow. There he goes agin, makin me look like a fool.

"Very funny," I says. "Couple of hyenas. Go on, laugh it up."

I turn to leave but Pike’s long arm shoots out an grabs my hoof. "Aw, don’t," he says, wipin his eyes. "Stay. We don’t mean nuthin by it, do we Arrow? It’s jest us havin some fun. You don’t hafta marry me … not until yer ready to, that is."

"I guess that’ll be never then," I says.

He clutches his heart. "Wounded!" he says. He drags my stool back to the table. "Sit," he says. "Have a drink. Tell me what brings you to the One-Eyed Stallion."

He lifts a jug an pours a clear liquid into three chipped mugs. I stand there frowning.

"What’s the matter?" says Pike. "You got a face on you like a slapped polecat."

"I don’t like ponies makin fun of me," I says.

"Dangerous an prickly," says Pike. "You got yerself quite a handful here, Arrow."

"I ain’t his handful," I says.

"She sure as hell ain’t," agrees Arrow.

Pike raises one shaggy eyebrow. "You sure yer sure about that mate? C’mon," he says to me. "Siddown. Drink."

I sit. Jack lifts his mug. Me an Ike do the same.

"To Holly Vine," says Arrow.

Pike scowls at him. "Watch yer mouth," he says.

"Jeez, Pike," says Arrow. "All I’m sayin is … to Hooly Vine."

Pike looks sly. Leans in an waggles his eyebrows. "To Holly Vine," he says, "an her frilly red bloomers."

"One helluva mare," says Arrow.

"One helluva pair of undies," says Pike.

Then they throw their drinks down their necks. I take a sip. Fire races over my tongue, down my throat. Tears spring to my eyes. Arrow pounds the table with his hoof. Gasps like a landed fish.

"That’s smooth, Pike," he says. "What is it?"

"Apple tree sap vodka, my very own recipe" says Pike. "Down it in one," he says to me. "That way you cain’t taste it."

I take a deep breath. I down it in one, like he tells me to. The fire hits my belly an starts a slow burn.

"Now," says Pike, "let’s git down to business. I know you, Arrow. You only ever show up when you want somethin. What is it this time?"

"Freedom Fields," says Arrow.

"Well well. Innerestin," says Pike.

"What d’you know about it?" I says.

"No more’n anypony else in this part of the world," he says. "I heard about it."

He looks at Arrow before he says it. A quick flick of the eyes, that’s all it is. But it’s enough to make me think he might know more. I’m jest openin my mouth to ask him when a earth pony colt comes up an plonks three bowls of stew on the table. I’ll bide my time. This colt ain’t seen no more’n fourteen summers. He’s thin an peely-wally, like he don’t ever see the light of day, an he’s all elbows an ears an big clumsy hooves. His coat is pale green, his mane an tail is dark blue with a black streak. His cutie mark is a dagger in a swirly design. Pike reaches out to ruffle his hair.

"Thanks, son."

The colt gives Pike a shy smile, ducks his head an hurries away. We tuck in.

"I never knew you had a kid, Pike," says Arrow.

"Oh Blade ain’t my real son," says Pike. "He showed up a few winters back. Found him one mornin, huddled in the shed out front. Starvin … you could count every rib."

"Where’d he come from?" says Arrow.

"No idea," says Pike. "When I asked him, all he said was, “He told me to wait fer him. I waited an waited, but he never come back.” I found out later it was his pa told him to wait. I took him in. What else could I do? Follows me around like a dog. He cain’t hear,
but he watches yer lips while you talk, unnerstands most things that way. He cain't do magic no more cause his horn got smashed soon after he got is cutie mark. . He’s a good colt, Blade. A hard worker."

That shocks me, to loose his horn, well that'd be like... I dunno, I can't imagine it.

"Cain’t say I ever thought of you as the fatherly type," says Arrow.

Pike shrugs. "Life’s full of surprises," he says. He fills my glass. Gives me a shove with his elbow. "Go on," he says, "drink up."

"So," says Arrow, "Freedom Fields. Whaddya think?"

"I dunno," says Pike. "Business is good. I don’t really wanna—"

"Rule of three, Pike," says Arrow.

"Ah," says Pike. "Well … I cain’t deny that the rule of three applies here."

"What?" I says.

"I saved Pike’s life three times," says Arrow.

"That means my life belongs to Arrow an he can pretty much call the shots," says Pike. "I ain’t ever heard of anybody goin that far. Usually it’s more like … callin in a favor."

"But the rule of three’s a … a joke," I says.

"A joke?" says Pike, starin at me. "Where’d you git that idea?"

"Told you," says Arrow to me. "So, Pike. We could sure use yer help. Will you come with us?"

"Sounds like it’s up to you," Pike says to me. "He’s yer brother. D’you want my help?"

I look at him. Built like a mountain, with a steady, dark gaze. A good stallion. Dependable. Those was Arrows’s words. An he knows more’n he’s lettin on. So does Arrow, fer that matter. Feath was right. There’s secrets in them moonshine eyes of his. Arrow vexes me. He bothers me. I wish my heart didn’t beat faster every time he comes near me. But I trust him. Even when I cain’t bring myself to speak to him. As fer Pike, if Arrow says he’s okay, that should be good enough fer me.

Ike waves a hand in front of my face. "Moon," he says, "I said d’you want my help?"

"Yes," I says. "I believe I do."

He takes a big mouthful of stew an starts to chew. While he chews, you can see him thinkin. Arrow an me watch him fer what seems like a long time. Finally he swallows. Wipes the ends of his moustache. "Well then, we’ll head out in the mornin," he says. "Let’s drink on it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somethin tickles my nose. I swat at it without openin my eyes. There’s a giggle.

"Go ’way," I mutter. There’s a poundin inside my head. My mouth’s dry as a dust bowl. I groan.

Another giggle. Then somethin wet drips onto my forehead. I open one eye. Penny Rose’s head hangs above me, upside down. She’s holdin a drippin cloth over my head. I shove it away. Movin makes my head even worse. I groan agin.

"Rise an shine!" she says loudly.

"Leave me be," I croak.

"Time to git up!" she says, louder again.

"Shut up! I cain’t move," I says. "There’s somepony poundin on my brain with a hammer."

"That’s what you git from a heavy wet," she says, a little quieter.

"Whadda you know anyways," I mutter.

"I know that you drank too much of Pike’s hooch," she says. "Arrow says to give you this. It’ll help yer head."

I drag myself up to sit, moanin the whole time. Penny pushes a tumbler into my hoof. I sniff at it.

"What is it?"

"Jest drink it," she says. "Down in one."

"Where’ve I heard that before?" I says. But I do like she says an throw it down my neck in one. I gag. "Ohmigawd that’s disgustin! What is it?"

"Boar’s blood, wild mint an a raw pigeon egg," she says. "Arrow says it’s good fer a hangover."

"Arrow says," I mutter. I look around. There ain’t nobody in the tavern but me an Pen. "Where is everybody?"

"Lookin over their gear outside," she says. "An Pike sent all the no-good lowlife bastards packin jest after dawn."

"Hey!" I says. "Watch yer language!"

"But that’s what Ike called ’em."

"I don’t care. You ain’t Pike. Now gimme a hoof up."

With Penny’s help, I git slowly to my hooves. I ain’t never felt so vile in my entire life. Mouth like the bottom of a weasel nest, legs like soggy string an a head full of rocks. At least the poundin in my head’s startin to ease some. Maybe Arrows’s foul brew’s doin the trick. As we shufle over to the door, I can see it’s a bright sunny mornin. We step outside an the light stabs at my eyes. I lift a hoof to shield ’em. I squint to see what everybody’s up to.

"Good mornin," I croak.

Pike whistles. Ash laughs.

"Uh oh," says Epona. "Poor you." She stops sharpening a knife she has. "Come with me," she says. She takes my arm an leads me over to the water barrel. "Sorry about this," she says.

Then, without another word, she shoves my head unner the water. I rear up, gaspin, an she shoves me unner agin. The shock of the cold water’s like a slap in the face. When I come up the second time, I yell, "What the hell’d you do that fer?"

"Sorry," says Epona. "Guess I should of warned you."

Anypony else did this to me, I’d come to cuffs with ’em, but Epona’s a good-hearted soul. I know she only means to help.

"It’s all right," I says. "Thanks. I … I feel a lot better."

An, to my surprise, I do.

I dunk myself a couple more times, then rinse off my shoulders an mane. Jest as I’m finishin, Blade sidles up. He hands me a rough cloth an keeps his eyes on the ground while I dry myself with it. When I’m done, I touch his arm. He looks at me. He’s got the most beautiful eyes I ever seen—deep, brown, almost black, with specks of gold, with long dark eyelashes. Eyes like a deer. Too beautiful fer a colt really.

I smile at him. "Thanks," I says. His thin face flushes pink. He ducks his head an scurries away.

Arrow’s voice comes from behind me, makes me jump. "He ain’t got a chance when you smile at him like that."

I turn around. He’s closer’n I thought. My stupid heart skips a beat. He leans aginst the wall with his legs crossed. His eyes ain’t moonshine silver today. They’re darker, more like stone.

"Very funny," I says. I busy myself foldin the cloth.

"Blade’s a lonely colt with a soft heart," he says. "Find somebody else to practice yer smiles on."

"I dunno what yer talkin about," I says.

"Then let me make it clear," he says. "Pick on someone yer own size, Moon."

"What?" I says. "Like you, I s’pose?"

We stare at each other fer a long moment. An then I’m lookin at his lips an I cain’t seem to look away an I cain’t seem to think about nuthin but how they felt aginst mine.

Then he says, "No. Not like me. I don’t want yer smiles eether."

It’s like he’s slapped me in the face. I cain’t think of a thing to say.
He goes to finish checkin is stuff.

I stand there, starin at nuthin.

Like always when Arrow’s near, the heartstone floods my body with heat. But this time, I shiver too. From the coldness in his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I figgered Ike ’ud board up the tavern to keep it safe till him an Blade come back, but he says he ain’t got no intention of ever comin back. All he does is shut the battered old door to keep the weather out.

"So that’s it?" I says. "Yer leavin it, jest like that?"

"Oh it won’t stay empty fer long," he says. Somepony’ll come along an take it over. That’s what happened to me. On the road, lookin fer a place to sleep one night an came on this place. By the look of it, bin empty fer years. Next mornin, I had the notion to sweep the floor an before I knew it, I was runnin a tavern. No, I bin here long enough. Me an Arrow talked about it last night. After we find yer brother, him an me’s gonna hit the road agin. Take Blade with us.

He nudges me in the ribs. "To be honest," he says, "I got a lady waitin fer me. The most glorious creature that ever drew breath."

"Not … Holly Vine?" I says.

He presses his hooves together an raises his eyes to the sky. "Lips sweet like ripe berries an curves to make a stallion weep with joy. I want her to meet Blade. It’s time I settled down. An I got a notion I might turn out to be a good family stallion. Don’t say nuthin to Arrow though. He’ll make my life hell."

"But … what about him?" I says.

"Arrow? A family man?" Pike hoots. "That’s a good one!"

"No, I didn’t mean that, I—"

"Hey Arrow!" Pike calls. "What is it you always say?"

"Move fast, travel light an never tell ’em yer real name," Arrow says.

"That’s the boy!" Pike winks at me.

I got a funny feelin inside me. A flutter in my belly. Arrow gone. Not bein able to see him no more. I hadn’t really thought about it before now. What might happen after we find Sun.

"Pike!" calls Arrow. "Moon! Move it! We ain’t got time to stand around yappin."

I bin so busy listenin to Ike that I ain’t noticed that Arrow an Penny an Ash an Epona’s already on packed, ready to go. Blade’s got on saddlebags and holds Pike’s big bags. Nero caws impatiently from his perch on Arrow’s back. Traitor bird.

"We’re comin," I says.

Pike looks up at the head on the faded tavern sign. Gives it a shove an starts it swingin.

"So long, you one-eyed bastard," he says.

Then him an me put on our bags an we move out.

The Dragon's Teeth

View Online

Seven days to midsummer.

I cain’t stop thinkin about Sun. Worryin about how he is. Worryin that he might be hurt. I wonder if he thinks I ain’t comin. I wouldn’t blame him if he did. Sun knows I keep my promises, knows I’d grow wings an fly to the moon to git him back, but it’s bin so long he might think somethin’s happened to me. He might even think I’m dead. I’d hate it if he thought that. Pike an Arrow both swear that the quickest way to Freedom Fields lies through these mountains, the Dragon’s Teeth. There is another route, the one that’s most used, but it ’ud mean retracin our steps almost back to Darktrees. So here we are, an all because Arrow jest had to have Pike join us. He better turn out to be worth the trouble.

This may be the quickest way but it ain’t well traveled an no wonder. These ain’t mountains that deal kindly with people who try to cross ’em. They’re steep an jagged with no way of keepin to the high ground. They force us to climb up an then lose the height we jest gained by climbin down agin. It ain’t good country, that’s fer sure. The goin’s so hard that we mainly hafta walk an carefully pick our ways rather than trot. An it ain’t jest the mountains. There’s the fog. It come down on us the day after Pike closed the door of the One-Eyed Stallion an it ain’t showed no signs of liftin. It lies on the mountains night an day, heavy, dank an bonechillin. It swirls around our legs an strokes our faces with its clammy fog tendrils.

I hate it. I cain’t stand it if I cain’t see the sky. No matter how bad Silverlake was, at least you could count on big skies, always high an wide, comin right down to meet the earth. A pony could breathe there.

We go along without talkin fer the most part, huddled in our jackets an cloaks, heads down. When somebody does say somethin, they talk quiet. Even big Pike with his boomin voice talks soft. A normal voice sounds too loud, almost shockin, in this muffled fog world. There ain’t no birdsong. No rustle of animal feet. It’s like we’re th’only souls alive.

Penny's made friends with Blade. They walk along together. He talks to her in his strange hoarse voice thats hard to unnerstand. She seems to unnerstand what he means, jest like he’s talkin like normal folk do. Like it ain’t no different. It’s gittin so’s they’re almost brother an sister, Blade an Pen. I’m glad. It’s good fer her to have somepony near to her own age. An she’s lookin happier, not peaky like she’s bin fer so long. Ever since we left Silverlake really. But it’s all changed between Arrow an me.

It started at the Wrecker city an got worse after he pulled me outta the river. The last time we spoke to each other was when he told me not to smile at Blade. We’ll say one or two words if we hafta, but he don’t tease me an both of us make sure our eyes don’t meet. It’s like I only dreamed that he held me an kissed me till my spine melted.

Well, what did you especk? Every time he came near you, you pushed him away.

Oh, it’s a waste of time thinkin about Arrow. Soon I’m gonna be back with Sun. Then him an Penny an me’ll find ourselves somewhere good to settle. A place that’s green an kind, by runnin water. Maybe near to Mercy. An we’ll be a family agin. That’s all I care about.

I shiver an pull my jacket around me tighter. It’s so cold in the fog. Even colder without Arrow's smile.

It’s bin two whole days of fog but it’s finally startin to thin out some. It ain’t lifted entirely, but the wind’s picked up an it’s gone all wispy, like long gray feathers driftin lazily around us. The air’s still cold an dank. Hard to believe it’s the middle of a summer afternoon.

That’s when we come upon the hanged stallions.

Four of ’em. Danglin by their necks from nooses tied to the branches of a big, lightnin-black tree. They turn gentle in the breeze, their gray where they bin covered with wet ash that’s dried. The fog winds itself around their bodies. We pull up. Fer a long moment we sit there an look. Nopony says nuthin.

Then Arrow walks over to the tree an feels the hoof of the nearest stallion. He crouches down an checks the ground. He shoves his hat back an looks at Pike.

"It’s Skinny Joe," says Pike, "an uh …"

"McNutty," says Blade.

"That’s right," says Pike, "McNutty. An the two fellas who was with ’em. They was all at the One-Eyed Stallion the night before you showed up. Left together the next mornin."

"They bin dead fer at least a couple of days," says Arrow.

"They must of crossed somepony," says Ash.

"Yeah," says Pike, "that’ll be it. Poor bastards." He leads the way past the hangin tree. I hold back while th’others go on. Wait while Arrow checks the area a little more.

"You an Pike know who done it," I says.

"Yup," he says. A little nerve jumps at the corner of his mouth.

"Was it the Tonton?" I says.

"Looks like it," he says.

"Why’s there ash on them?" I says.

"Uninvited guest ain’t ezzackly welcome at Freedom Fields," he says. "Sometimes the Tonton hang you, other times they’ll cut yer head off an put it on a spike. But they always put ash on the face. It’s how you know yer in their territory. Wise pony sees that,
he turns around an gits the hell out as fast as he can."

"But we ain’t turnin," I says.

"No," he says. "Wisdom ain’t a virtue I ever aspired to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Ever since we come across the hanged stallions, I cain’t stop thinkin about Golden Pinch. About Blaze an the rest of the Tonton. With every step, we git closer to Freedom Fields. Until now, I ain’t gived much thought to what we’ll be up aginst. Who we’ll be up aginst.

But now I do.

The Tonton hang ponies in trees. Cut off their heads an stick ’em on spikes. Fer nuthin more’n wanderin into their King’s territory. Stallions like them wouldn’t think twice about killin Sun. All the things Wysteria told me run through my head. All the things I
know about Pinch an Blaze. But I need to know more. I gotta know my enemy. I need to know what Arrow an Pike know. An they know plenty, I’m sure of it. I’m gonna make ’em tell me. They owe it to me.

I wait till we’re settled into camp fer the night. Epona’s takin the first watch. Ash an Penny an Blade’s wrapped in their bedrolls, already asleep. Pike’s sittin aginst a log. His head lolls forwards onto his chest. Arrow an Nero sit by the fire playin dice. Once Arrow found out how good Nero was at countin, he carved a pair of dice an taught him how to play. Nero throws one at a time,
usin his beak. I go an stand over ’em. Nero throws two sixes.

"Damn," says Arrow. "You beat me agin. Never thought I’d find myself losin to a crow. I hink he might be cheatin."

Nero bobs up an down, squawks with glee.

"If he is," I say, "he learned it from you. I wanna word, Arrow. With you an Pike."

He sighs. Like he’s bin expectin this. But he stands up an gives Pike a nudge with his hoof. Pike wakes with a grunt.

"What?" he says, yawnin.

"C’mon," says Arrow. "Moon wants to talk."

As Pike heaves hisself to his hooves, Nero flaps up to sit on my head. Leanin down he rubs his head aginst my cheek. He always knows when I need somebody on my side. Like tonight.

I lead ’em away from the campsite. Climb uphill through the trees till I git to a rocky outcrop. I turn to face ’em. The fog’s completely gone an it’s a warm night with a high sky. A midsummer night sky. I can see Arrow an Pike clearly.

"All right," I says. "Tell me what you know about Freedom Fields. Tell me everythin."

They look at each other.

"I bin straight with you," I says. "I told you everythin. What Helen told me about the midsummer sacriffce an why they took Sun. Pinch might be dead but Sun ain’t safe, not till we git him outta there. Now you two gotta be straight with me. You need to tell
me everythin you know. That way, at least we got a chance of figgerin out what we might be up aginst."

"Well, you know more’n we do," says Pike. "We only heard things from travelin folk. You know, you meet somepony from time to time an you git talkin an—"

"Ferget it, Pike," says Arrow.

"What?"

"I said, ferget it."

"But I thought we said we’d—"

"Pike," he says. "Moon’s right. She needs to know what we’re up aginst."

"I knew it!" I says. "I knew you knew more’n you was lettin on. Gawdammit, Arrow, why didn’t you tell me before? Why didn’t you tell me right away, when you found out where I was headed?"

"I know I should of," he says. "But I didn’t want you to know till you had to."

"I ain’t a little filly," I says. "I don’t need you to pertect me."

"I know," he says, "I know, I’m sorry."

"Think I’ll … head on back to camp," says Pike.

"Coward," says Arrow.

"Go on, Pike," I says. "Arrow’s gonna tell me everythin I need to know."

"Right," he says. "Well … if I hear any screamin, I’ll send Penny." He disappears without a sound. Not a rustle or a hoofstep. Fer a big stallion, Pike moves real quiet. Nero must be startin to feel restless because he takes off after him.

Then it’s jest Arrow an me.

"All right, Arrow," I says. "Start talkin."

"Four years ago," he says, "I was in the wrong bar at the wrong time. Got picked up by the Tonton. They’re always on the lookout fer strong workers. Fer slaves. That’s how I ended up at Freedom Fields."

"You was there," I says.

"I was," he says. "Let’s sit down."

We sit facin each other, on a couple of rocks. A bit too close fer my likin. The heartstone’s hot aginst my coat.

"That’s where I met Pike," he says. "We got slaved there about the same time. As you can imagine, him an me didn’t take kindly to a slave life, workin in a chain gang in the fields. But everypony else … well, nuthin seemed to bother ’em. We figgered out why
pretty quick. A big waterwagon ’ud come around twice a day, once in the mornin an once in the afternoon, an fill everypony’s waterskins. There’s chaal in that water."

"Wysteria said it was all about chaal," I says.

"It slows yer brain down," he says. "Makes you stupid. A good thing if you wanna control people. But if you take too much, everythin speeds up. Yer heart races, you git all excited an aggressive, you don’t need sleep or food."

I think of Mad Dog, back at Hopetown, what he did to Wysteria. Of the crowds in the Colosseum, bayin fer blood in the gauntlet.

"I seen what it can do," I says.

"Me an Pike ’ud fill our waterskins with the rest," he says, "but we never touched it. We’d sneak water from the irrigation channels in the fields."

"How long was you there?" I says.

"A couple of months. Jest long enough to collect what we needed to pick the locks on our chains. Then we had to wait fer a stormy night. The dog patrols don’t go out when there’s lightnin or bad weather, it spooks ’em."

"So you got away," I says.

"An counted ourselves lucky," he says. "We hit the road, layin low, keepin outta trouble. Pike eventually settled at the One-Eyed Stallion. But I kept on goin."

"Till you ended up in the cells at Hopetown," I says.

"Yeah," he says. "Wrong bar, wrong time. Agin."

"You’d think you’d learn," I says.

"You’d think."

"Whaddya know about the King?" I says.

"He was crazy," says Arrow.

"I know," I says. "I seen him."

"He was crazy, he was smart, an he controlled everythin an everypony," he says. "Lived in a big white house up at Freedom Fields. The Palace. With the finest of food an drink. Everythin. Amazin stuff from Wrecker days. Soft chairs, big tables, lookin glasses,
pictures hangin on the walls. He had house slaves who’d crawl on their knees if they went into a room where he was. If you looked at him the wrong way, he’d run his sword through you. I only ever seen him from a distance. That was close enough."

"I know what you mean," I says.

"An over the last couple of years, he started expandin his empire. Everywhere I bin lately, I’m havin to dodge Tonton or I’m hearin about ’em. Any place where there’s good water or land fit fer growin food, they’re comin along an claimin it fer the King. If there’s somepony already on the land, they eether work it fer the Tonton or git killed. They got spies an informers all over the place."

"He don’t control everythin," I says. "Look at the Free Hawks."

"Maybe they won’t be free fer much longer," he says. "The King might be dead, but somepony'll step into his shoes. His empire’ll keep growin. You can bet on it."

"I cain’t believe Feath don’t know this," I says. "That she ain’t heard about it."

"I tried to tell her," he says. "She wouldn’t listen. I believe her ezzack words was, I dunno what yer game is, but as far as I’m concerned yer a lyin chancer. That desperate fool might trust you, but I sure as hell don’t."

My belly hollows out. A desperate fool. That’s what Feath thinks of me. Then the rest of what he said starts to sink in. I stand up slowly. Stare down at him.

"So that’s it," I says. "That’s why you came after me. Why you showed up at Darktrees. You wanted the Free Hawks to help you clear out Freedom Fields. You don’t care if I find Sun. You don’t care about me. All that … crap about how you couldn’t help it,
you had to follow me … that’s jest what it was … crap. Gawd, I am such a idiot."

"No," he says, "that was all true, I swear it was. It is!" He throws his head back an curses unner his breath. Stands up. "Whatever I say now," he says, "you ain’t gonna believe me."

"Probly not," I says.

"I did want the Hawks to help me," he says. "When me an Pike left Freedom Fields, I warn’t thinkin about nopony but myself. But I started to see what was goin on everywhere an I started thinkin about them poor bastards we’d left behind in the chaal fields. Then I ended up in Hopetown an saw what was goin on there, an I met you an the Hawks an suddenly there’s a chance I can do somethin decent in my life … so I took that chance. It all happened at once, Moon. You gotta believe me. It’s fate, like I said."

"Arrow," I says, "you cain’t possibly think that seven of us an a crow’s gonna bring down the Tonton an their operation."

"Why not?" he says. "Me an Pike know the layout. We can take ’em by surprise. They won’t expect trouble from outside."

"I’m here to git Sun back," I says, "not to change the world. I told you before. An by the way, yer outta yer mind."

"C’mon, Moon," he says, "if we come up with a good enough plan, we can all have what we want. D’you wanna git yer brother back an then hafta live in a world run by the Tonton? I don’t. Pike don’t. Ash and Epona don’t neether. An if you asked ’em, I bet Blade an Penny’ud say the same. You might of burned Hopetown to the ground, but they’ll be buildin on its ashes already. You can bet on it."

"So what’re you sayin, Arrow? That you ain’t gonna help me unless I fall in with yer plan?"

"No," he says. "No! What I’m sayin is, we think big. We git Sun back an take out their operation at the same time. The Tonton, the chaal fields … everythin. But we cain’t do it without you."

"You promise me that we’ll git Sun outta there," I says.

"I promise," he says. "I promise."

"All right," I says. "I’ll go along with yer plan. What is it?"

"To be honest," he says, "I never bin much fer what you’d call a plan. They’re more like … ideas."

"Arrow!"

"I said I promise!" he says.

"We’re gonna need more help," I says.

I whistle fer Nero. He comes in a flutter of wings an lands on my shoulder. I pull Feath’s little gold ring from my jacket pocket.

'If you ever need me, if you need the Hawks, send Nero with this an we’ll come. Wherever, whenever … you send this ring an we’ll be there.'

"It’s Feath’s," I says. "She said to send it if I needed her. D’you got somethin to tie it on with?"

He fumbles in his pocket an pulls out a good sized piece of string.

"Tie it to his leg," I says. "Make it good an tight, but don’t let it cut into him."

He works quick with his magic.

"Done," he says.

I stroke Nero’s feathers. Look into his clever black eyes. "Find Feath," I says. I touch the ring, then I touch him on his breast. "Nero find Feath. Find Feath."

He cocks his head to one side. Then he caws twice an takes off into the night.

"He ain’t never let me down yet," I says.

"I should of told you everythin sooner," Arrow says. "I should of…"

"What?" I says. "Trusted me?"

"Yeah, well…," he says. "I ain’t ezzackly bin in the habit of trustin ponies."

"Me neether," I says.

"We could try startin agin," he says.

He holds out his hoof.

I hesitate. Then I take it. Warm. Strong.

"I’m sorry I was such a ass back at Pike’s place," he says. "It was jest that … ah hell, Moon… I was jealous that you smiled at Blade an not me. You was hardly even talkin to me, let alone smilin, an it was like I couldn’t help myself."

"Jealous?" I says. "You? Jealous? Of Blade? He’s a colt."

"I’m jealous of anypony you smile at that ain’t me," he says. He takes a step closer. Reaches out. Runs the back of his hoof down my cheek. A hot shiver ripples through me. "You look at me with them eyes of yers," he says, "an I look at yer lips … an all I can
think about is what it ’ud be like to kiss you. You got no idea, do you? You got no idea how beautiful you are."

We stare at each other. The moon silvers his face. Shadows his eyes. Makes him look strange. Not quite real. I step back so’s his hoof falls. I block out what he jest said. Even though my heart’s bangin aginst my ribs. Even though I cain’t git my breath an the heartstone’s burnin into my coat.

"I think we’re gonna head back to Crosscreek," I says. "Me an Penny Rose an Sun. To start with, anyways. We got a friend there, Mercy. Did I ever tell you about her?"

"Moon," he says.

"She’s real nice," I says. "A old friend of my ma. Yeah, I got it all worked out. I had plenty of time to think about it."

"Moon," he says.

I know I’m babblin. I cain’t seem to stop myself. An I don’t dare look at him. If I do, I fear I’ll say somethin I shouldn’t or do somethin I don’t mean to. I dunno what ezzackly, but it’s … I feel like I’m walkin along a narrow ridge an my hooves could slip at any moment. I jest gotta think about Sun, think about why I’m here, an everythin’ll be okay.

"Well, I better git back," I says.

I go to slip past him an he grabs my hoof. Stops me. We’re standin close. Too close.

"Stay," he says.
Before I can stop myself, I look at him. A mistake. Hot silver eyes. Burnin fer me. My heart lurches.

He leans his head down. "Stay with me." He whispers it into my ear. "Jest fer a while."

"I … I gotta go," I says.

"Please," he says, a note of sad pleadin in his voice.

The brush of his breath aginst my coat. The warm Arrow smell of him. I feel myself weakenin. Dangerous. This … the way I feel whenever I’m near him … it’s dangerous. I pull my hoof from his.

"N-No," I says. "I … I caint. G’night, Arrow."

I slip past him. Gotta git away. I cain’t move fast enough.

He don’t reply.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mean white sun’s bin poundin down on our heads all day. The way turned steep an rocky around noon. We gotta pick our way carfully so nopony twists an ankle. We’re headed fer a pass high in the mountains that’s our last big crossin before we git to Freedom Fields. Arrow says he wants to reach it before nightfall, but it’s slow goin in this terrain. The higher we climb, the hotter it gits, even with the day closin down around us.

There ain’t bin no relief from the heat, none at all. Not even a single tree to shade us on our way. When we was stuck in the fog fer days on end, I never would of thought fer a secondthat I’d be longin fer its cold dank heaviness, but I am. Pen’s bin bit by bit fallin behind th’others an I bin holdin back to walk with her. But she’s gittin slower an slower. I look over my shoulder. She plods along on heavy hooves. She looks so pale an tired. I wait fer her. The sweat runs down my face, stingin my eyes. I mop myself off with the sleeve of my jacket.

"I’m so thirsty," she says when she reaches me.

"Waterskin empty?" I says. She nods. "Siddown," I says.

She sinks onto a rock. I unstop my skin an hold it to her lips. She sucks hard on it, gulpin the water. It runs down her chin an neck an I wipe it away with the tail of my sleeve. She looks a bit surprised. I don’t ever bother with her that way, worryin about when
she last had a wash or if her face is all grubby. Once Pa gave up carin, Sun looked after that kinda thing. I ain’t gived it a single thought till this moment. I stare down at her, frownin.

"When did you last have a wash?" I says.

She looks even more surprised. "I dunno," she says.

"You should wash more regular," I says. "You gotta be decent."

"Okay," she says.

I turn away an take a swig of water myself. I rub a drop into my dry lips.

The rest of ’em’s well ahead of us. Ash turns back, sees us, waves. "No time to stop!" she shouts. "Arrow says we gotta make the pass before dark!"

"Penny needs to rest!" I shout back.

"She can rest later!"

"She needs to rest now!"

I can see ’em talkin amongst theirselves. Then Pike makes his way back down to us. He crouches down beside Penny.

"Hey there, kid," he says. "Yer doin real good. How’s about a ride to the top?"

She nods, not lookin straight at him. She likes Pike, but she’s a bit shy of him. I think on account of him bein so big an her bein so small.

"C’mon then," he says, "hop on." She climbs onto his back.

"Thanks Pike," I says.

"We gotta reach the pass before dark," he says.

"I know," I says. "I heard it the first hunnerd times."

He checks the sky. The light’s startin to soften, turn to gold. "We’re gonna be pushed," he mutters.

Pike starts up the mountain, with Penny Rose clingin to his back like a spider. I cain’t believe how fast he moves, pickin his way around the rocks. Like she don’t weigh nuthin. I guess to a stallion his size, she don’t. I take a last swig of water then I follow behind Pike, fast as I can.

They’re all waitin fer me when I git to the top. Penny gives me a quick look, but nopony else looks my way. They’re starin at somethin in front of ’em.

"What is it?" I says.

Then I see what it is. What they’re all lookin at. We’re standin on the edge of what used to be a mountain lake. Back in Wrecker times it must of bin a stretch of cool clear water, a welcome relief fer the tired hooves of travelers. But it sure ain’t that no more.
Now it stretches away in front of us. Parched, scorched, criss crossed with great cracks an crevasses. Endless.

My heart drops into my hooves. I lick my lips.

"I cain’t see th’other side," I says.

"It’s there," says Arrow. "We should of had it in sight by now."

"We couldn’t of gone no faster in this heat," I says.

"I know," says Arrow, "I know. It’s my fault. We should of set of earlier or … He grabs at his mane, frustrated. "Gawdammit," he says, "I thought we’d have plenty of time." He looks at Pike. "Whaddya think?"

"We might make it across before nightfall," says Pike. But you can tell by his face, by his voice, that he don’t think no such thing.

"I don’t see what the problem is," says Epona with a frown. "We’ll jest gallop across. As fast as we can."

"Yeah," I says an Ash nods.

"We cain’t go fast," says Arrow. "There’s too many cracks, too many places we could stumble."

"Well all right," I says, "we’ll go slow an careful then. An if it turns dark before we finish crossin, we’ll jest set up camp on the lakebed."

"We cain’t," says Ike.

I look at Arrow. At Pike. They’re starin at each other, their faces grim.

"What is this?" I says. "We gotta cross before dark, we cain’t camp on the lakebed … I ain’t likin the sound of this."

"That makes two of us," says Ash.

"Try three," says Epona, the zebra flicks her tail.

"Fergawdsake, jest tell us," I says. "Why is it we gotta cross before dark?"

Pike spreads his hooves. "Tell ’em, Arrow," he says.

Arrow curses unner his breath. Looks at the ground fer a moment then pulls off his jacket. Then he reaches fer the edges of his tunic an pulls it off over his head. It's somethin he's worn this whole time an hasn't taken off.

Penny gasps. Beside me, I hear Ash’s breath hiss in. I already seen ’em, back at Hopetown, but my stummick still clenches.
Three long pink claw marks that slash across his body from his right shoulder down unner his belly. Arrow stands there fer a moment. Then he turns so we can see his back. A smaller set of claw scars slash across his right shoulder-blade. He turns around again an puts on his shirt.

"Does that answer yer question?" he says.

"What did that to yer back?" Penny whispers.

"It was dark," says Arrow. "I didn’t git a good look."

"They call ’em hellwurms," says Pike.

"Wurms with claws," says Epona. "An big wurms by the look of it. I ain’t heard of nuthin like that before."

"An you ain’t seen nuthin like ’em neether," says Pike.

"What are they?" says Ash.

"Story goes that they used to be called Tatzulwurms, an a long time ago, back in Wrecker times, they put some kinda poison
into the lake," says Pike. "It killed off everythin. Essept the wurms. They drank it an they grew."

"You said they," says Epona. "That means there’s more’n one. How many more?"

"A lot more," says Arrow.

"This jest gits better an better," I says.

There’s silence. "Then, that settles it," I says. "I’m goin on alone."

Well, everypony starts talkin all at once, even Blade, one over top of th’other, gittin louder an louder till at last I put my hooves over my ears an yell, "Shut up, will you! Jest … shut up!"

They do. They all look at me.

"He’s my brother," I says. "An I ain’t lettin none of you come with me if that’s—" I point at Arrow— "what we gotta deal with before we even git to Freedom Fields. Now, I cain’t afford to go back down the hill an wait to try agin tomorrow. We’re nearly at midsummer. If I start right away, I might reach th’other side of the lake before dark."

"She travels fastest who travels alone," says Ike, "is that it?"

"That’s it all right," I says. "Okay, Penny, you—Penny, what the hell’re you doin down there?"

While we bin talkin, Penny’s bin scrabblin around on the ground. Now she stands up an holds out her little wings. She’s got a pile of white pebbles on one an a pile of black pebbles on th’other.

"White means we go with you," she says. "Black means we don’t. Whatever we git the most of, that’s what we do."

"I ain’t got time fer this, Penny," I says, "I’m—"

"Shut up, Moon," she says.

An I’m so astonished that I do.

She sets the pebbles in two piles on the ground. She leaves a space in between. Everypony gits one vote," she says. "You choose yer pebble an then you put it in the middle. When we’re all done, I’ll count ’em up. Now, turn around so’s you cain’t watch what the other pony’s doin."

Nopony moves. We all jest stand there, starin at her.

"I said, turn around!" she says. "Blade, you go first."

The rest of us turn our backs. Pike’s next to me. "I see it runs in the family," he mutters.

Penny Rose directs the whole thing. I’m th’only one left.

"What about me?" I says.

"You don’t git a turn," she says. "Okay, turn around."

In the middle there’s six white pebbles. Not one black one. I crouch down. Pick up the pebbles an hold ’em in my hoof. They feel solid, warm. I look up into their faces one by one. An it’s like I’m lookin at ’em fer the first time. Arrow, Pike, Penny, Epona, Ash an Blade. Every one of ’em willin to walk with me across the lake. To go with me into the darkness an face what lives there.

My throat feels tight.

"You don’t hafta do this," I says.

Epona shrugs. "We’re yer friends, Moon," she says. "We wanna help."

"I wish you wouldn’t," I says.

"Too bad," she says. "We’re stickin with you."

"If this gits any more heart-warmin," says Ash, "I’m gonna start cryin. Now if we’re done here, I say we git movin."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrow gits us to mufle our hooves with cloth so’s the wurms don’t know we’re passin over the top of ’em. Then we move out onto the parched lakebed. We go as quick as we can, but like Arrow said, we gotta go careful past all the cracks an crevasses, big an small, that split the earth an slow us down. We don’t talk, try not to make no sound. Try to go faster.

An we don’t make it. We don’t make it across the lake before dark. Even though it’s the season of long days, we’re only about halfways across when we start to lose the light.

Arrow stops. Looks at the sky. He waits fer everybody to catch up. "When the light goes," he says in a low voice, "it’s gonna go fast. We gotta be ready well before then."

My stummick clenches. "Ready fer what?" I says.

"Hellwurms sleep in the day," he says, "deep inside the mountain. When night falls, they come up through the cracks in the lakebed. They’ll be lookin fer food. It could be we git lucky. If they already got full bellies from last night or even a couple of days ago, they might stay down there an sleep it off. But if we don’t git lucky..."

"...the minute it’s dark," says Pike, "wurms is gonna crawl outta them cracks an cover this lakebed faster’n you could ever imagine."

"You should of told us this before we started off," I says.

"I was hopin I wouldn’t hafta," says Arrow. "But would it of made any difference? Anypony?"

Everyone shakes their head.

"Hell no," says Penny.

I wanna blame somebody fer the mess we’re in, but yellin at Arrow or Pike or anypony else ain’t gonna change nuthin. We’re all in this together now.

I turn around.

"So, Arrow," I says, "what’s the plan?"

Hellwurms

View Online

We work fast. We ain’t got much time before the dark comes. My hooves move, my heart beats fast. I push down the fear that’s risin in me. There ain’t no room fer it, ain’t no time fer it. Arrow’s in charge. He says to do somethin, we all do whatever it is right away. We don’t ask no questions, don’t ask him what his plan is.

We’ll be findin out soon enough.

He gits us to gather as much wood as we can find. Branches, twigs an trunks of long dead trees blown here by the mountain winds. No matter how big or small, we find ’em an carry or drag ’em to Arrow an Pike. Then we bundle together all the small bits an tie ’em with nettlecord. We break up what bigger branches we can by hoof an them that’s too big, Pike chops with his hatchet. Then we start to lay ’em out in a big circle.

Arrow calls me over. "Count how many arrows we got, would you?" he says.

I empty my quiver. Lucky Feath sent me off with a full load. Then I go around an count what’s in Arrow’s an Epona’s an Ash’s quivers. Pike’s got a bolt shooter as well as a crossbow, but he’s only got a few bolts fer ammo so we’ll hold the shooter in reserve.
Penny an Blade both got slingshots. I do a quick arrow count. Then I count agin just to make sure.

"Two hunnerd an eighty eight," I tell Arrow.

He flashes me a tight grin. "That’s better’n I thought," he says. "Wrap the heads in bits of cloth, whatever you can find."

I reach fer the bottom of my tunic. It’s soaked through with sweat from the climb an the heat, but I should be able to rip a strip from it.

"No," he says. "Dry cloth. It’s gotta be dry. See how many bottles you can scare up. An ask Pike fer some of that pine sap vodka of his."

Now I know what his plan is.

Fire. We’re gonna fight ’em with fire.

The wood’s laid out how Arrow wants it. It’s heaped in a big circle ready to be lit the moment he tells us to. We’ve left a good-sized open space in the middle. That’s where we’ll stand an fight. Inside our fortress of fire. We’ve made torches with bundles of twigs tied to the ends of branches. Now, with one eye on the darkenin sky, we’re all workin fast to tie cloth strips around the arrowheads. We’ve torn up bits of our bedrolls, even our shirts an tunics. Whatever we’ve got that’s dry.

Pike’s poured some of his precious vodka into bottles, two fer each of us. As soon as we git a pile of arrows done, Penny an Blade take ’em away an stick ’em, head down, into the bottles. Ready to be pulled out, lit an shot. We only manage to fit a hoofful of arrows in each bottle, so once the action gits goin, it’ll be their job to keep ’em filled up. That an slingshot duty.

Pike’s workin next to me. "You crossed the lake that night with Arrow," I says. "Where’s yer scars?"

"Arrow took the hit instead of me," he says. "I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t of got between me an the wurm."

"Well, you was movin so slow I had to do somethin," says Arrow.

"You was away," says Pike. "You was clear. You should of left me to fend fer myself, not turned back an nearly got yerself killed."

"I’m still here, ain’t I?" he says. He goes over to help Blade an Penny.

"Damn wurm nearly killed him," says Pike.

"Arrow’s … different from what I thought when I first met him," says Epona.

"Yeah," says Pike. "There’s a lot more to Arrow than meets the eye."

Arrow hands his last bundle of arrows to Blade an pats him on the back.

"That’s it," he says. "We’re ready."

There’s a hot clench of fear, deep in my belly. I know it well. I used to git it all the time, jest before I went into the Cage. An I know how to use it. A slow smile spreads over my face. I look around at everybody.

"I dunno about you," I says, "but I’m feelin lucky tonight."

We wait.

We sit on the ground, spaced out evenly jest inside our circle of wood. We face across the lake. I got Arrow on one side of me an Epona on th’other. Pike an Ash cover the rest of the circle. Penny an Blade crouch in the center next to the piles of stones they
collected fer their slingshots. I clutch my flint in my hoof, ready to set my section alight. The night starts to drift in. The crimson fingers of the dyin sun bleed into dark gray. The first stars blink down at us. Not long to wait now.

"If I ask you somethin," says Arrow, "will you tell me the truth?"

"Maybe," I says. "Depends."

"What made you come after me?" he says. "Back at Hopetown, I mean. How’d you know where to find me?"

I’m about to give some kinda smart answer, somethin that’ll keep him at a distance, like always. But I don’t. The heartstone’s burnin aginst my skin. An I’m feelin brave.

Reckless.

"I had a dream," I says. "The night before the fire."

"You dreamed where to find me?"

We talk in low voices, so th’others cain’t hear us.

"In my dream, I was in the dark," I says. "I couldn’t see, couldn’t hardly breathe. There was smoke an fire an the heat was somethin fierce. An I was searchin fer somepony. I didn’t know who, I jest … knew I had to find him. But I couldn’t an it was … awful. Frightenin. Then I … woke up."

"You was … lookin fer me?" says Arrow.

"I think so," I says. "Yeah."

"But you did find me," says Arrow. "You found me even though I was locked inside the Cooler. How?"

I move over, kneel next to him. "Feel this," I says. I take Arrow’s hoof an bring it to the heartstone around my neck.

"It’s hot agin," he says.

I take a deep breath. "It’s a heartstone, I says. It only gits warm when I’m near you. The closer we are to each other, the hotter it gits. That’s how I knew where to find you."

He don’t say nuthin. It’s the first time I ever seen Arrow lost fer words. After a moment, he takes his hoof away.

"Must be kinda annoyin," he says.

"I’m used to it by now," I says. "Listen, Arrow. I jest wanna say I—"

"Shh!" He holds up his hoof.

We wait. Listen.

Silence.

Then. A faint rumble. Like thunder in the distance.

"They’re awake," he whispers.

"Light the fires!" Arrow says.

I scramble to my knees, hold my flint to the tinder at the base of the wood circle. I strike my flint. A spark arcs onto the dry tinder. It catches an I blow on it gently till I git a flame goin. It licks quickly up the twigs an branches. I check over my shoulder. Everypony else is doin the same with their own section. In no time, we got a strong fire goin an we’re standin inside our fortress of flame.

We’re lucky with the night. The sky’s high an clear. The moon hangs low over the mountain tops an throws a wide silver path across the lakebed. We got a clear view in all directions. I hold my bow in my magical grip. Two bottles of vodka-soaked arrows stand by my feet. My knife’s in my boot sheath. I ain’t gonna think about havin to use it. It’s my last defense an usin it ’ud mean everythin else had failed.

I feel calm. Clear-headed. Even though my heart’s bangin aginst my ribs.

"Penny," I says, "stay close to Blade."

"Okay," she says.

Silence. Silence. Silence. Essept fer the cracklin of the fire. I dart a look at Arrow. His head’s lifted, like a wolfdog onto a scent. Then a creakin noise. A slow, painful groan. The kinda noise a old rusted shut door makes when it’s forced open. But it ain’t a door.

It’s the ground.

From somewhere deep below us, from somewhere down down down in the dark heart of th’earth, the lakebed’s ancient body is slowly bein forced open. The hellwurms is awake. An they’re comin up to feed. The ground starts to tremble. It starts to shake. Then it shifts unner our feet. I stagger. Epona grabs my shoulder, stops me fallin over.

"Holy crap in a cup," says Ash, her eyes wide.

"Everypony git down!" yells Arrow.

Me an Epona throw ourselves to the ground. Throw our arms around our heads. The earth groans, deep in its belly, as it’s forced open. Over an over an over it moans its pain. Groanin an shriekin an shakin unner us, around us, it gits louder an louder. Till it takes me over, floodin my body, my breath, my brain till I think I’ll go mad.

Then it stops.

Silence.

Slowly, we all git to our hooves. My magic is glowin around my bow. I look over at Penny. She’s clutchin Blade’s hoof, her face almost white in the moonlight. Then, over the crackle of the fire, another sound. A rustle. The click of claws on dry earth. Somethin’s movin.

It stops. Hisses.

"It can smell us," Pike says in a low hoarse voice.

A high pitched shriek rips the night open. My heart leaps to my throat. My bowels clench.

"It’s callin th’others," Arrow says." Git ready! An remember what I told you. Aim fer the eyeholes. An don’t let ’em git close enough to use their claws."

Claws. No eyes, jest dents in the skin where they used to have eyes a long time ago.

"No point in havin eyes," Arrow says, "livin unnerground like they do, so they hunt by smell."

They sniff out their prey.

Their prey. Us.

Then, not more’n thirty foot away, straight in front of me an Epona, a crack appears in the ground. It splits open, starts to widen.

"Here we go!" Epona yells.

A claw appears.

The claw hooks itself onto the edge of the crack. It’s got three long scaly toes. Each toe ends in a hooked nail sharp enough to slash to the bone with one swipe. Then another claw hooks itself beside the first.

"Don’t be shy," I says. "Show me yer face, you scaly-toe sonofabitch."

An, almost like it heard me, a round head appears. Covered in really pale pink scales with a dip in each side where the eyes oughta be. A kind of ruffled dull red collar, then a long near-white purple scaled neck. The blunt head sways back an forth, the scales ripplin like tiny waves. It must be smellin us.

"That’s right," I says. "Over here. I’m real tasty."

I pull a arrow outta the vodka. Nock it to my bowstring. Dip the arrowhead into the fire at my hooves. It flames up right away. I take aim. The hellwurm slithers outta the crack. Gits up on its hind legs.

"Uh… Arrow," I says. "You didn’t say they could walk."

"Sorry," he says. "I fergot that bit."

The wurm’s three times my height. Two long arms with claws, an claws on its feet too. A wide slash of a yellow lined mouth with lots of sharp teeth, good fer tearin flesh. You can see right through its near white skin to its beatin heart an other innards. It gives off the most gawdawful stench. Like a three-day-old corpse in a small room on a humid day. I gag. So does Epona.

It throws its head back an shrieks.

I let fly with my arrow. Straight at the right eyehole. A hit. The wurm’s head bursts into flame. It screams an staggers backwards into the crack it jest come from.

"Nice shot," says Epona.

But there’s more comin. From all around us. Hunnerds of ’em by the look of it. The lakebed’s alive with their scuttlin stinkin bodies. We start pickin ’em off with our crossbows, as fast as we can. Epona an me, Arrow an Pike an Ash. Penny an Blade fire away with their slingshots, dartin in between us to git a closer shot.

"Hellfire, Arrow," I says. "You didn’t say there was this many."

"They must of bin busy breedin," he says. He shoots me a grin, but I can tell this is worse than he especkted.

The night rings with the screams of the hellwurms an our shouts. The air’s filled with the filthy smell of ’em an the crackle an smoke of the fire. I keep firin. Dip the arrow, nock, let fly, hit. Dip, nock, let fly, hit. Around me, everypony else is doin the same. Pen an Blade run around stufin arrows into our bottles but, no matter how many wurms we shoot, more keep comin.

"There’s too many," says Epona. "We ain’t gonna do it."

"I’m gittin low on arrows," I says.

"Me too," says Ash.

"More arrows here, Penny!" I yell.

"That’s it!" she cries. "There ain’t no more!"

Arrow grabs my arm as I’m about to fire, makin me drop my bow. By the silvery white light of the moon, I can see his face is all streaked with smoke from the fires. "Git outta here," he says. "Take Penny an Blade. Ash an Epona’ll cover you."

My heart stops. There’s a roarin in my ears. "You want us to go?" I says.

He nods. "Pike an me’ll stay," he says.

"No," I says.

I pull myself free. I grab twig bundles, shove ’em into the fire. They catch light an I launch ’em at the wurms. More screams as they burst into flame. Beside me, Arrow keeps on shootin his bow.

"If you leave now," he says, "at least you got a chance of findin yer brother."

"Ferget it," I says.

I snatch up my bow agin an start firin.

"Use the torches if they git too close!" yells Pike. "Don’t waste yer arrows!"

I look around. The hellwurms is closin in. Closer an closer they come. Some slither along the ground, some walk upright, their heads swayin. They won’t try to cross the fire ring, but once it starts to die down, that’ll be it.

Arrow pulls the bow outta my magic field. "If you don’t do this," he says, "everythin you bin through to find yer brother counts fer nuthin."

I stare at him. I feel like my throat’s closin up. Leave him. Leave Pike. But I gotta find Sun. I’m so close to findin him.

"You know I’m right," he says.

"Okay," I says. "We’ll go."

"Moon!" yells Ash. "Behind you!"

I whirl around.

One wurm, bigger’n the rest, darts forwards through a dyin section of the fire ring. Arrow grabs my arm an goes to yank me back but the wurm’s claw flashes out. A hot pain slashes through my right shoulder. I cry out. A blast rings out an the wurm’s head explodes in a million pieces. Putrid flesh an blood splatter down on me like rain. I look over my shoulder. Pike’s holdin his bolt shooter. He gives me a little salute.

"You all right?" says Arrow.

I close my mind to the pain. Like I used to do in Hopetown.

"I’m fine," I says.

"Time to go," he says. He grabs up two torches in his magic an lights ’em. "Ash!" he yells. "Epona! C’mere!"

They start to run over to us.

The ground rumbles. We all stagger an I grab onto Arrow to keep from fallin.

The wurms stop. They raise their heads. Then they scatter.

Jest like that. They scuttle an slither across the lakebed an disappear back down inside the cracks.

They’re gone. An all that’s left is the smolderin corpses of hunnerds of hellwurms.

We stand inside our circle of dyin fire an stare. There ain’t a sound but the hiss of the embers. Nopony moves. It’s like we’re all holdin our breath. Like we cain’t believe our own eyes.

Then, "Yee ha!" Ash yells. Her an Epona jump around in victory.

"Did you see that, Arrow? Hey Pike! Did you see them bastards go?" They grab Penny’s an Blade’s hooves an whirl them around in circles.

Somehow it don’t seem right, them celebratin an makin lots of noise. I dunno why, but it don’t.

I look at Arrow. His jaw’s set. A little nerve jumps in his cheek. "What is it?" I says.

"We didn’t scare ’em off," he says. "They was gittin the better of us."

"Well, if we didn’t scare ’em off," I says, "what did?"

ike moves over to stand beside us. Him an Arrow stare out over the lake. The earth shakes agin. This time louder an longer.

"Dammit, Arrow," I says, "tell me what yer thinkin."

Epona an Ash stop their celebrations. They come over, with Blade an Penny, an we all draw in close together.

"What’s goin on, Moon?" Penny asks.

"Some ponies say the hellwurms got a master," says Pike.

There’s another rumble.

"A master?" says Penny. "What does that mean?"

"What it means," says Arrow, "is there’s somethin down there so big an bad, even the hellwurms run when they hear it comin."

I let that little fact sink in. "Then, if runnin’s good enough fer hellwurms," I says, "it’s good enough fer me."

"An me," says Arrow.

We stare at each other a split second. Then, at the ezzack same time, we yell, "Run!"

We all scramble, grab whatever weapon’s closest, start to run fer it. Ash an Epona take off fast, with Penny an Blade. But before I can take more’n a couple of steps, there’s a almighty roar. The ground heaves. It lifts. It splits open at my hooves. I’m slidin down into a giant crack. I scrabble wildly. I cain’t stop myself. Arrow’s there in a flash. He grabs my hands an yanks me out. I lie on the ground, pantin. My heart’s goin like a hammer.

"Thanks," I says, "it jest about had me there. I—"

Suddenly a long tail whips up from the crack. It wraps around my ankles an pulls me in. Arrow dives. Grabs hold of my hooves agin. He’s laid on the ground on his belly, hangin on fer dear life. "Pike!" he yells. "I need you here!"

Pike throws hisself down beside Arrow. Now they each got one of my hooves. I feel like I’m bein slowly ripped in half. The tail pullin me down, Arrow an Pike pullin me up. I cry out. I stare into their faces. Their eyes is desperate, their faces strainin with the
effort. My hooves start to slip outta theirs.

Jest then, Ash an Epona appear above me at th’edge of the crack, their crossbows loaded. They aim down an fire past me. There’s a high pitched scream an the tail loosens. Jest a bit, jest fer a moment. Pike an Arrow heave me up an out.

"Go! Go! Go!" yells Pike. He pulls Penny onto his back an takes off at a fast gallop, headin north. Epona, Ash an Blade’s right behind him. I snatch my crossbow but only got time to scoop up one arrow. Then Arrow an me sprint after ’em. There’s a angry roar behind us. I glance back.

A giant hellwurm’s jest crawled outta the crack. It stands up on its hind legs. It’s twice the size of th’other ones, at least thirty foot high, with a long lizard tail. It's colours are much brighter.

"Ohmigawd," I says. I’m still runnin but I slow down a bit to look back.

The hellwurm’s catched our scent.

"It’s followin us!" I says.

Arrow grabs my jacket in his magic an pulls me along faster. I shoot another look over my shoulder.

"It’s gainin on us!" I says.

Arrow stops runnin. Stops dead. Without a word, he lets me go an turns around an starts walkin back towards the hellwurm. He’s headed fer it an it’s headed fer him. He now holds Pike’s shooter in his magic. He must of picked it up without me noticin. As he walks, he loads it with quick jerky movements.

"Arrow!" I shout. "What the hell d’you think yer doin?"

"I’m sick of this bastard!" he yells.

"Arrow! Don’t be so crazy!"

He keeps on walkin.

"Arrow!" I scream. "Don’t!"

He stops. Lifts the shooter. Takes aim. He waits till the hellwurm’s twenny paces away. Then he fires. The shot slashes the hellwurm’s arm. It roars, but keeps on comin. Arrow fumbles fer the pouch with the bolts while he keeps one eye on the hellwurm. I can see he ain’t got time to reload. An he ain’t got his crossbow. He must of dropped it earlier. I start runnin towards him. The hellwurm’s on top of him. It rears up to its full height. It lashes out, swipes at him. Arrow's thrown into the air, like Penny’s peg doll. He lands with a heavy thump on the ground. He don’t move.

The red hot races through my blood. I throw down my crossbow as I run. Hold my one last arrow in my magic. The hellwurm leans over Arrow. It lifts its claws, ready to swipe at him agin.

I don’t even slow down. I run around behind it an right up its back. I wrap my legs an arms around its stinkin neck an I squeeze with every bit of strength in my body. It roars with fury. Turns itself in circles, round an round, its great claws flailin at me, tryin to pick me off, shake me off. Somehow I hang on. I grab the arrow with a hoof. Raise the arrow up high an then, with all my strength, plunge it into the left eyehole. It goes in hard. Deep. I pull it out an jab it into the right eyehole.

The hellwurm bellows in pain. I leap from its back as it crashes to the ground. It pulls itself up agin. It near crushes Arrow unnerfoot as it struggles to stay upright. Its tail lashes out an sends Arrow skiddin. It staggers this way, then that. Then it’s gone. Disappeared down a big crack in the lakebed.

I watch it fall, roarin an clawin at the air, hittin the sides as it plunges down down, deep down into the earth to die.

"Arrow!" I yell. I run to where he’s lyin so still on the ground. I throw myself beside him, turn him over.

He ain’t breathin. He’s most awful pale. His eyes is closed. I run my hooves over his legs, his arms, his neck to check if anythin’s broke. They seem okay.

"Arrow!" I pat his face. "Arrow!" I tilt his head back, cover his nose an blow into his mouth. I check fer his chest risin. I blow agin.

His lips twitch. He’s smilin.

I jump to my hooves. "Gawdammit Arrow," I says, "what’re you playin at?"

He opens one eye. "Yer kissin technique could do with a bit of work," he says.

"I thought you was dead, you bastard! I was tryin to save yer life! Although why I should save a snake like you, I got no idea!"

"I was winded," he says, "not dyin. You should learn to tell the difference." He pulls hisself up to sit. Shakes his head an groans. "I sure hit that ground hard," he says.

"Not hard enough," I says.

"What happened to the wurm?"

"Dead," I says.

He grunts. Closes his eyes.

"Don’t thank me or nuthin," I says.

"Thanks," he says. "I make that two to you now. One fer the cellblock an one fer this. An it’s two to me. Pullin you outta the river an pullin you outta that crack jest now."

"I ain’t playin yer stupid game, Arrow," I says. "Git up."

He opens one eye. "In fairness," he says, "Pike did help to pull you out, so that should probly only count fer half." He holds out his hoof to me. "All right, help me up. But go easy on me."

I yank him as hard as I can. A hot pain shoots across my right shoulder. I gasp. It feels like it’s on fire. I bin so set on savin myself an savin Arrow, I ain’t even felt it till now.

"You got slashed," he says. "I fergot all about it. Let me take a look."

He reaches out. I slap his hoof away.

"Leave me be," I says, "I’m fine."

"Don’t be so damn stubborn," he says. "C’mere."

"Go to hell," I says. I head back across the lakebed in the direction th’others took, collectin my crossbow on the way. I walk fast an I don’t look back. I ain’t waitin fer him.

Behind me, he starts to sing.

"I’ve climbed the high mountains an sailed the wide seas,
Fair faces a-plenty I’ve gazed on,
But with one glance, her beauty sent me to my knees,
O hard-hearted Orchid I never shall please...
I’ve roved an I’ve rambled all o’er the wide world.
And kisses a-plenty I’ve tasted,
But it’s her wine-sweet lips that I’m still dreaming of,
O hard-hearted Orchid, cruel Orchid my love...
I’ve loved many mares an wooed many fillies,
And many soft arms have embraced me.
If only she’d lie with me one fleeting night,
With hard-hearted Orchid I’d die of delight.
Oh many fine beauties did beg me to stay,
But none until Orchid did snare me,
Though she hurts me an shuns me an makes my heart bleed,
My hard-hearted Orchid I never shall leave.

I don’t think most ponies ’ud feel like singin jest after they’d fought off hunnerds of hellwurms. But Arrow ain’t most ponies. I should know that by now. He’s got a strong voice. It carries over the lake, clear as if he’s walkin right beside me. The tune ain’t bad. An he’s a fair singer. But after he’s sung it through once he goes back to the beginnin an starts all over agin. Pretty soon I ain’t jest sick of the tune an his voice, I’m also sick of hearin about hard-hearted Orchid.

What a stupid song.

I mean, what kinda fool ’ud put up with a mare that troublesome?

I dare a look at my shoulder while I walk. I ease my shirt away, slow an careful. Dried blood sticks to the cloth, pulls at the wound. I bite my lip so’s I don’t cry out. Arrow’s still somewhere behind me. Don’t let him hear. Only one tear in the skin, but it looks deep
enough. It’s throbbin somethin fierce. But the pain ain’t no worse’n what I used to feel after a rough fight in the Cage. I tell myself that, over an over. That’s the way to keep it unner control. I jest need to do what I did then. Cut my brain off from what my body’s feelin.

Make myself believe it’s happenin to somepony else.

Think of somethin else.

Think of Sun. Think how he looked the last time I seen him. Thrown into a cage, hooves tied, like a beast.

They killed my father. They stole my brother.

It’s the anger that keeps me goin.

I feel its heat in my belly. All through me.

Heat.

So hot.

Soon’s I catch up with Penny Rose an th’others, I’ll bathe my shoulder an pack it with … with bark. That’s it, I’ll pack it with … what was it now?

My hoove’s so heavy. Like I got somethin tied to the end of my legs. Need to keep goin.

Gotta git to … where am I goin agin? Oh yeah. To Sun, that’s it. But I’m jest gonna hafta … sit. Jest fer a moment.

I sink down.

It’s night. It should be cool but I’m sweatin like billy-o. I go to wipe my forehead with my jacket sleeve but my arm … cain’t lift it.

Now I remember. My shoulder. Must be … infected.

Gotta find Sun.

I’m jest so … tired. Must … lie … down …

Freedom Fields

View Online

I’m five year old. It’s a sunny day. I’m on the shore at Silverlake. I’m by myself. A soft breeze lifts my mane an tail. The lake water laps softly. I’m crouched down, pilin up flat stones, all bright white, one on top of th’other. I count as I go.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven!”

A shadow falls over me. I look up. It’s Pa. Like he used to be when I was a kid. Before Ma died. Thick black mane, smilin eyes, strong, handsome.

“Seven, Pa! Look at that!”

He hunkers down beside me. Takes my hoof.

“They’re gonna need you, Moon,” he says. “Sun an Penny Rose. There’ll be others too, many others, who will look to you, an you’ll hafta stand alone. Don’t give in to fear. Be strong, like I know you are. An never give up, d’you unnerstand, never. No matter what happens.”

I smile at him. “I won’t,” I says. “I ain’t no quitter, Pa.”

“That’s my girl,” he says, smilin. Then he’s gone. Jest like that. Disappeared.

“Pa!” I jump to my hooves. “Where are you, Pa? Come back! Don’t leave me!”

His voice echoes, drifts away, gittin softer an softer. “That’s my girl, my girl, my girl.”

“Pa!” I look around, frantic to find him. But he’s gone. Silverlake is now dead an dry. The ground unner my hooves an as far as I can see is parched an cracked. Not even the hardy desert shrubs are alive, leafless and bleached white from the sun. I see my home, it’s burnt out an crumblin to rubble.

Darkness.

Voices. Angry. Shoutin.

I cain’t hear the words though. Then it all stops. A flash of white light. An Epona stands there. Alone. Darkness all around her. There’s only the sound of my heart. Beat, beat, beat. Epona looks over her shoulder, like she sees somethin behind her. She turns back agin. She sees me. She nods. An it all happens slowly. So slow, I can see the blink of her eyelids. I can see her lips move as she takes in a breath. Beat, beat, beat goes my heart. She starts to run towards me. She lifts forelegs high an lifts her face up.

She leaps.

A flash of white light.

An the world smashes into a million pieces.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Arrow! I think she’s awake!” Penny’s voice.

There’s a dull throb in my right shoulder. I hear the crackle of a fire. Somepony kneels beside me. Lays a hoof on my forehead. It’s hard but soft, cool. Nice on my warm coat. Slowly I open my eyes. I’m lookin up at rock. I frown.

“It’s a cave,” says Arrow.

I turn my head to look at him. In the flicker of the firelight, his silver moon eyes glitter. His coat gleams. He’s beautiful.

“Welcome back,” he says.

I lift my hoof an touch his cheek. It’s warm. Soft.

“Arrow,” I says.

He goes still. He puts my hoof back down on the blanket. “I’ll git you a drink,” he says an disappears.

“Penny?” I says.

“I’m here!” She grabs my hoof an kisses it, over an over.

“Hey Penny Rose,” I says. “C’mon now, I’m fine.”

“I was afeared you’d die,” she says. “You had a fever. You was shoutin out, callin fer Pa.”

“Was I? Pen … I was havin the strangest dreams.”

Arrow’s back. “Here you go,” he says. He puts his arm around my shoulders an raises me up. I wince.

“Sorry,” he says. He holds a cup to my mouth an I drink. It’s bitter an I make a face. “Willow bark,” he says. “It brings down the fever. I brewed it myself.”

He makes me drink the cup dry before he lets me stop.

My right shoulder’s wrapped tight in a strip of ripped shirt. “How bad is it?” I says.

“A lot better’n it was,” he says. “We cleaned you up an put a poultice on to draw out th’infection. That wurm slashed you deep. It needs stitchin, but we had to wait till it’s clean.”

“You bin out fer two days,” says Penny.

“Two days!” I says. I sit up like a shot an go to shove my blanket away, but Arrow stops me. Presses me back gently so’s I lie down agin. My shoulder throbs. “It cain’t be,” I says. “That means we only got … when’s midsummer eve?”

Him an Penny look at each other. “It’s tonight,” she says.

“No! What time is it now?” I try to sit up agin an this time Penny stops me. “I gotta git there!”

“It’s okay Moon,” saysPenny, “we got time.”

“We’re here,” says Arrow.

“What …?” I says. “Whaddya mean … we’re here?”

“Freedom Fields, “she says. “Moon, we’re at Freedom Fields.”
“It’s jest on th’other side of this hill,” says Arrow. He gits up an goes over to the fire. Starts doin somethin, takin pots offa the fire an movin things around, but I cain’t see what.

“I don’t unnerstand,” I says, sittin up slightly. “How’d I git here?”

“You passed out while you was still on the lake,” says Penny. “Arrow found you. He carried you on his back all the way till he caught up with us. You would of bin dead if it warn’t fer him. Ain’t that right, Arrow?”

He grunts.

“He wouldn’t let nopony else touch you,” she says. “An we jest kept goin till we got here.”
I lie back. “We made it in time,” I whisper. “We made it.”

“By the skin of our teeth,” says Arrow.

“Where’s everypony else?” I says.

“Outside,” he says. “They’re gittin a few things together that might be useful.”

“They’re makin arrows,” says Penny.

“I need to help,” I says.

“You can help in a minute,” says Arrow. “Soon’s I stitch that wound.”

“There ain’t time,” I says.

“You ain’t got a choice in the matter,” he says. He starts to thread fine catgut through a thin bone needle.

Penny Rose says, “You should of seen ’em all run when Arrow asked who was good at stitchin.”

“Cowards,” says Arrow. “Every one of ’em.”

“Pike said only a fool ’ud dare touch a prickly pear like you,” says Penny.

“ Is that what you are, Arrow?” I says. “A fool?”

“Seems that way,” he says. “Now, let’s take a look.” He pushes my tunic offa my shoulder an unwinds the bandage. I peer at it. The oak bark poultice done its work. The wound’s ugly but clean.

“Yer gonna have a big scar,” says Penny.

“You ain’t seen me sew yet,” says Arrow.” I do real neat work.” He holds out a bottle of Pike’s vodka. It’s half full. “Here you go,” he says, “drink it down. It’ll help dull the pain.”

“No,” I says. “I’m gonna need a clear head later on.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “You sure?” he says. “Go on.”

“No,” I says. “I don’t wanna drink.”

“Well I sure as hell do,” he says an he takes a long swig.

“Jest git on with it, Arrow,” I says.

He hands me a cloth. I shove it into my mouth. Penny sits on my legs to stop me kickin. She’s got a flamin torch in her hoof. “Don’t throw me off,” she says.

“I’ll work as fast as I can,” says Arrow, “but this is gonna hurt like the devil. You ready?”

My heart’s thumpin. I bite down on the cloth hard as I can. I nod quickly.

“Gimme a good light, Penny,” he says. “All right, here we go.”

Then he commences to stitch me up.

Luckily fer me, I pass out as soon as the needle pierces my skin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

I step outside into the early midday sun. I blink after the darkness of the cave an take in a deep breath to clear my foggy head. The air’s cooler’n I’m used to. It smells different. This air smells of fir, sharp an sweet at the same time. The longest day of the year. Midsummer. This is it.

“Yer awake,” says Arrow. He’s sittin on a big rock. It’s on the edge of a little clearin to the side of the cave. He finishes tyin the head onto a arrow with his magic an tosses it onto a growin pile. “How’s the shoulder doin?”

I roll it around. It’s a bit stiff, but theres no surprise there, an a bit sore where the stitches are, but no bad pain. I guess I got Arrow’s disgustin willow bark brew to thank fer that.

“It feels good,” I says. “Thanks.” I look up at the sky. “Any sign of Nero yet?”

He shakes his head. “No.” My stummick tightens. I look up at the sky agin, like he might of appeared in the last two seconds. “I had to tell everypony where he is,” says Arrow.” They kept askin.”

“He’ll find Feath,” I says. “I know he will. They should be here by now. C’mon, Nero.” I scan the sky.

“It’s outta our hooves. Let’s jest git on with it Moon.”

“Yeah… yeah. Where is everypony?”

“If you look around the corner, you’ll see ‘em,” he says.

I step around him, into the clearin, an there they all are. Ash an Epona sit side by side, strippin an smoothin down sticks into arrow shafts. They work fast. Pike an Blade are makin chips of slate into
arrowheads an Penny Rose bobs around, fetchin an carryin an generally makin herself useful. It looks like ain’t none of ’em had no sleep fer a while. They look up when they see me, throw a nod or a little smile, but don’t stop what they’re doin. Even Penny keeps at it instead of rushin over to me like she usually would. It’s so heavy in the air you can smell it, almost taste it. The tightness. The urgency. I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. Everypony must think I’m a real shirker, snorin away while they work.

“You all right?” says Epona.

“Yeah,” I says. “I’ll be okay to shoot.”

“Good,” Pike says. “I especk we might be seein a little action later on.”

“Gimme somethin to do,” I says.

“You can help me tie on arrowheads,” says Arrow. He shifts to make room fer me on his rock an I sit beside him. Right away, the heartstone starts to heat up. I shake my head.

“What?” he says.

“Nuthin,” I says. I take a length of nettlecord, a head an a shaft an git to work. My magic feels clumsy to start with, slow, but after I done a couple I git into the swing of it, makin one after another, while Arrow manages to tie two at a time.
Arrow holds up a finished arrow. Sights along it. “Whenever I make a arrow,” he says, “I see it in my mind’s ey … flyin outta the bo … singin through th’air, headin fer the target straight an true.”

“I see that too,” I says.

Our eyes meet fer a second. We smile. Then we bend our heads to our work an really set to.

“Did you know,” he says, “that every time you make somethin, any time you make anythin, a little bit of yer spirit goes into it?”

“No,” I says. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, it’s a fact. So … you wanna make sure it’s a good bit of you, not a bad bit.”

“I think I used up my last good bit a while back,” I says.

“Me too,” he says. He gives me his lopsided grin an my heart turns over.

“I’m sorry,” I says.

“Fer what?” he says.

“Fer always bein so… you know … so—“

“Ungrateful?” he says.

“Yeah,” I says.

“Ornery?”

“I guess so.”

“Rude? Pig-headed? Stubborn? Violent?”

“I ain’t violent!”

“Oh yes, you are. Very violent. But I like that in a mare.”

I laugh. “Yer real crazy,” I says.

“Well I was fine till I met you,” he says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the sun’s high in the midafternoon sky, we break camp an start to gather up our weapons. I soon realise that I don’t know where my bow is, so I ask Blade where it is.

“There,” Blade says with a jerk of his head. We’re all used to him by now an pretty much know what he means. Penny still seems to git more outta his one or two words than anypony else though.

“He means it’s at the mouth of the cave,” Penny says now.

Blade nods in agreement.

“I knew what you meant jest fine,” I says. “Thanks, Blade.”

He turns bright red an hurries off.

“The colt’s soft about you,” says Pike. “An he ain’t th’only one. I’m jest waitin fer you to give me the word, my darlin.”

“You know, Pike,” I says, “I think I might be comin round to the idea.”

He looks shocked. But only fer a moment. Then he grins. “You wouldn’t be flirtin with me now, would you?” he says.

“I dunno,” I says. “Yeah. I think I might be.”

“Be still my beatin heart!” he says.

“All right,” says Arrow, “break it up. Time to go. We need to git movin.”

“You scouted it out, right?” I says.

“Completely,” says Pike. “Me, Ash an Epona did it while you was gittin yer beauty sleep.”

“What does it look like?” I says.

Pike winks at me. “No problem. Piece of cake.”

“Piece of cake.” Ash shakes her head.

“Wait, what’s the plan?” I says.

“You know me,” says Arrow, “I don’t like to be hampered by too much plannin.”

“Arrow!”

“Keep yer shirt on. I got a couple of ideas to run by you. But we won’t know properly till we see what they’re up to. We might hafta … wing it a bit.”

“Wing it!” I says. “This is my brother’s life we’re talkin about, Arrow. I ain’t wingin nuthin. You said you had a plan.”

“Uh … I think we’ll head over,” says Pike.

“Good idea,” says Ash.

They all hurry past us an turn right, disappearin back into the cave.

“Why’re they goin back in?” I says. “You said Freedom Fields is on th’other side of the hill.”

“It is,” says Arrow. “But there’s a tunnel that cuts through from the back of the cave. A short cut.” He starts to follow ’em.

I grab his mane with my magic. “Hang on, Arrow, we ain’t finished here. We need a plan. A proper one. Right now.”

He sighs an turns back to me. “I promised you we’d git Sun outta there,” he says, “an I meant it. We will. That’s the main thing, no matter what. You said you trusted me. Do you? Here an now. Do you trust me?”

I stare into his eyes. Searchin fer… somethin. Then. I see it. I see him. Suddenly I see him. Not the Arrow of the jokes an the flirtin an the shyin away. The real Arrow. The… truth of him. The stillness at the heart of him. Like calm water. I saw it once before, that first night we lay unner the stars. When I told him about Sun an he promised me we’d find him. An this is the thing. The truth about Arrow’s bin right in front of me all along. I jest wouldn’t let myself believe what I saw. Till now.

I laugh. “Gawd help me,” I says, “but I do. I trust you, Arrow.”

“Then let’s go,” he says. We turn into the cave. Now I can see there’s a narrow crack at the back. The entrance to the tunnel that leads to th’other side. Arrow lights a torch in the dyin fire, then I help him break it up, spreadin the ash so’s it can cool.

“That’s it,” he says, turnin to go.

I touch his arm. “Arrow,” I says. “I…”

“What?”

“I didn’t really thank you fer … takin care of me. Fer fixin me up.”

“Don’t mention it.”

He starts to go, an I stop him agin. “Arrow!”

“Yeah?”

“I might not git another chance to say that I… to tell you… how much I appreciate everythin yer doin. Everythin you done. To help git Sun back an… well, everythin. You didn’t hafta but you did an… I am. Grateful, I mean. I always have bin, it’s jest… I guess I ain’t too good at showin it, is all.”

“Don’t keep thankin me,” he says. “I don’t deserve it. I ain’t some hero.”

He turns an I follow him to the back of the cave. We slip through the narrow crack an pretty much right away it opens into a tunnel that’s high enough to walk upright. My stummick’s all jittery an tight. We ain’t gone more’n a few steps when I says, “Arrow. Wait.”

He turns around, all impatient now. “Now what?”

“I wanna say somethin to you. I wanna say… I dunno… more. I could bust apart with all I’m feelin inside of me right now. What with fightin off the hellwurms an gittin my shoulder tore open, an how I felt when I woke up an seen you an, now, here I am, bein so close to findin Sun an I dunno what’s gonna happen an—“

Arrow’s lookin at me, frownin. “What’s the matter with you, Moon?” he says.

I grab his face an kiss him on the lips.Then I step back. We stare at each other. All the air gits sucked outta the tunnel. The heartstone burns into my skin. The blood pounds in my ears.

“Yer timin stinks,” he says.

He drops the torch from his magic. He pushes me aginst the wall. Then his mouth is on mine an he’s kissin me like he’s starvin or dyin of thirst or somethin. He kisses my lips, my face, my neck, then back to my lips agin. His lips is smooth an soft. Warm. The smell of him fills me. We’re pressed tight together, chest to chest. His heart thuds aginst mine. A shiver runs over me from the top of my head to the tips of my hooves. I’m hot an cold all at once. The hairs of my coat tingle. My skin’s stretched tight over my bones. A heavy heat settles low in my belly.

I never thought kissin ’ud feel like this. I kiss him back. I run my hooves through his mane. I feel the strength of him. I press myself closer. I cain’t seem to git close enough.

“Stop,” he says aginst my lips.

I don’t. I don’t want to. I cain’t.

He grabs both my hooves. “Moon,” he says. “Moon. Stop.”

We’re both breathin hard. I’m dizzy. Dazed.

“What?” I says. “What? Was I doin it wrong?”

“No,” he says, “no, don’t ever think that! That was … oh boy … that was … perfect. It’s jest … this ain’t the time or the place. An you bin through a lot. You ain’t thinkin straight.”

“I am,” I says. “I swear I am.”

“No… No you ain’t,” he says. “An I ain’t neether. But I bin wantin to kiss you like that from the first moment I seen you. You got no idea much.”

I start to say, me too, but he puts a hoof aginst my lips.

“Don’t say it,” he says. “It’ll only make things worse.”

He kisses me one last time. Quick. Hard. Then he pushes away from me an picks up the torch from the ground with magic. It’s still lit. “C’mon,” he says. “We gotta git movin.”

“Jest like that?” I says.

“Moon,” he says. “Yer twin brother. He’s waitin fer you.” He heads off. I jest stand there. My lips is tinglin. I can still taste him.

I’m glad he called a halt. He’s right, this ain’t the time or place. An him an me both know there never will be the right time an place. Once I’ve got Sun back, that’ll be it. I’ll head to Crosscreek with him an Penny, or maybe somewhere else entirely, and Arrow’ll go off with Pike an Blade an we’ll never see each other agin. We both said what our plans is an that’s what we’re gonna do. But I’m glad we did it. Kissed. It was our only chance. An I’m glad he stopped it when he did.

‘Liar. Liar, liar, liar.’

“Moon!” he yells. “C’mon! Hurry up!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It gits lower here,” says Arrow. “Mind yer head.”

The torch throws jagged fingers of light up the rough stone walls. We’re makin our way through the tunnel an I reach a hoof out, feelin where the top is. I gotta duck every now an agin so’s I don’t bang my head. It seems to go on an on an on. I’m gittin to the point of thinkin it ain’t never gonna end when I start to see light an it gits brighter an brighter, spillin into the darkness. Then the tunnel ends an we step outside, into the golden sky of a midsummer afternoon. Everypony’s waitin fer us. Penny Rose, Blade, Pike, Ash an Epona.

“What took you so long?” says Penny. “We bin here fer ages.”

Pke, Ash an Epona look at each other an grin. They look at me an Arrow.

“Pretty dark in there,” says Ash. “Did you git lost?”

I feel a hot flush crawl up my neck.

“It uh … took us longer’n we thought to put out the fire,” says Arrow.

“Moon!” says Penny. “Come an see!” She grabs my hoof an pulls me over to the edge of the ridge we’re standin on. The ridge runs all around the edge of the valley, like the rim of a bowl. It’s covered with thick stands of oak an tall pine trees. A wide flat valley lies spread out below us. It’s covered in rows an rows of low bushes covered with shiny dark green leafs. Lots of workers in white tunics move between the rows, bendin, pickin the leaf from the bushes an puttin ’em into sacks on their back.

Slaves. Wysteria was one of these once. An Arrow an Pike.

It’s a land of plenty. Lush an beautiful. Like Pa told us it used to be back in Wrecker times. Paradise, he called it. When the air was sweet an the earth was good. When they grew so much to eat that they heaped it in mountains an if they needed some they’d jest go with their bucket an fill it up. But this ain’t no Paradise.

“There it is,” says Pike. “Freedom Fields.”

Ash points. Across the valley, on the far side, a wall of rainbow light shimmers. “An that,” she says, “that’s the King’s Palace.”

Arrow pushes somethin into my hoof. “Here,” he says. It’s half of the long-looker that Penny broke back at the Wrecker city.

“Arrow fixed it!” she says. “Jest like he said he would!”

I put it to my eye.

“Be careful!” she says. “It’s awful bright!”

Directly opposite where we are, on the far side of the valley, a big house, the biggest I ever seen, sprawls out half-ways between the valley floor an the ridge above it. The walls is completely covered in shimmer discs. As the sun hits ’em, they shoot off rainbows of light. Red, blue, yellow, orange, pink, green, purple. The colors streak out, like shootin stars, sparkin an dancin so bright that black spots appear in front of my eyes.

“Ohmigawd, it’s amazin!” I says. “I never seen nuthin like it.”

“They’ll be keepin Sun there unner guard,” says Arrow. “Ain’t that right, Pike?”

“Yup,” says Pike.” An they’ll be takin good care of him, seein they went to all that trouble to git him.”

“D’you really think so?” I says.

“You can bet on it,” says Pike.

The Palace. I squint at it sidewise. Now I can see it’s got many windows. Tall posts runnin all along the front of it. Two massive front doors made of hammered copper an gold patterns of swirls an leaves an birds an two big cats. Wide steps lead down to a path made of crushed white rock. It winds through a garden to the fields below. I think of Ma with her garden of stones at Silverlake. She would never of dreamed that there might be a garden like this one.

There’s a great carved basin with jets of water sprayin from the mouths of sea ponies way up into the sky. There’s colourful flower an vegetable beds laid out in fancy swirling patterns, an a big grove of fruit trees. Lots of ponies movin about. Tonton mainly, in their long black robes and body armor, but some slaves dressed in their white tunics. I see a few Tonton pegasi, and even fewer Tonton unicorns, even a Tonton griffon, there’s mostly earth ponies, an all the slaves are earth ponies, with a scatterin of zebras an donkeys.

“See the storage sheds?” says Pike. “Off to the right?”

I focus the long-looker on the low storage sheds next to the house. “Got ’em,” I says.

“An the irrigation system?” he says.

Runnin all across the fields, raised above the bushes on long legs, there’s what looks like troughs with silvery streams of water runnin through ’em. They’re all joined up together.

“That’s what you call them troughs?” I says.

“Right,” says Arrow. “Keeps the bushes watered with a steady drip. Chaal bushes like it damp but you gotta be careful. Too much water kills ’em off real quick.’em off real quick.”

“You don’t say,” I says.

“I do say,” he says. “Now that plan you wanted? Gather round everypony. Me an Pike got a couple of ideas.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The afternoon drags on. Then it’s early evenin. The rainbow shine of the Palace slowly dims as the sun’s power fades. But it’ll be light fer hours still. The longest day of the year. The longest day of my life. There still ain’t no sign of Nero. No Feath. No Free Hawks. I never bin so twitchy. We all take turns watchin what’s goin on down below. But when it ain’t my turn, I cain’t settle. If I flop onto the ground, I jump right up agin. I drive everypony mad by askin ’em how long they think we bin there. I twang my bowstring till Ash barks at me to stop or she’ll strangle me with it.

“Nero should of bin back long before now,” I says to Penny.

“You said that a million times already,” she says.

“Somethin’s happened to him. I know it. It ain’t like him to be away this long.”

“You said that a million times too,” she says. “He’s fine. He’s on his way.”

“What if somethin happened to Feath and the others?” I says. “She said there was trouble on the western road. What if … I mean, she could of got herself killed? Happens all the time in the Dustlands.”

“Feath ain’t dead,” says Penny. “She’ll come, with the others, like she said she would. The Hawks’ll be here, Moon.”

“You don’t know that, how could you know that? What if they don’t come? I don’t think they’re even gonna come. We’re gonna hafta do this all on our own. Let’s jest do it right now. C’mon, let’s go and storm the place. Let’s move! What’re we waitin fer?”

“Gimme strength!” says Ash, as Pike groans, Blade sighs an Arrow lays back with his eyes closed an hums a little tune.

Epona’s on looker duty. “Moon,” she says, “we all agreed that we hafta wait till dark. Ain’t nuthin can happen till then.” Epona. Always calm, always patient. Nuthin like I first thought she was.

“Right,” I says, “yeah … wait till dark. I know, I know but … ohmigawd, Epona, I’m gonna go mad with all this waitin around. I just wanna see him. Make sure he’s all right.”

“I know you do,” she says. “Be patient, Moon. Wait till it’s dark.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness is gatherin. Purple an black streak the sky. Clouds drift over the midsummer moon. The moon we bin chasin fer so long.

“A cloudy night,” says Arrow. “That’s good.”

Then.

A high pitched noise wails across the valley, cuttin through the air. The workers lift their heads an start to move outta the fields. They all head towards what look like some long bunkhouses in the distance. Now I can see they’re chained together at the ankle, six of ’em all together.

“Quittin time fer the Foals of Light,” says Pike.

“Can you believe he calls ’em that?” says Arrow. “His Foals of Light. Fond memories, eh Pike?”

“No,” he says.

The slaves clear outta the fields an head fer bunkhouses o0 to the left. A group of Tonton head fer a big open space in the middle of the fields.

Arrow’s on long-looker watch. “Well well,” he says. “At last. This is startin to look innerestin.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arrow an me crouch on the edge of the ridge. We pass the looker back an forth. We got a clear view of the whole valley, but all the action’s goin on between the Palace an the open space in the middle of the chaal fields. Big wagons pulled by slaves is rollin between there an the Palace. First the Tonton build a big platform in the open space. Then they put together a higher platform at the back of it, with a long set of stairs goin up to it. They bring a massive chair from the Palace an use a pulley an ropes to winch it up to the higher platform. The chair’s golden. With fancy carvin an studded all over with shiny colourful stones.

Arrow says, “anypony sittin on that chair would have a fine view of proceedins below.”

“D’you think they’re gonna go ahead with the ceremony anyways?” I says. “Even though Pinch is dead?”

“It looks that way,” he says.

The Tonton wheel in two sets of stairs, one on each side of the big platform. Then they disappear back to the Palace an it all goes quiet fer a bit. Pike, Ash an Epona’s gone off with Penny Rose an Blade. They’re gittin the first bit of our plan unnerway. Me an Arrow got nuthin to do but wait. An wait. An wait some more. It’s that strange time on the longest day of the year when it’s late enough to be dark but there’s still some last streaks of light left in the sky. Dark clouds scud across the sky. The wind’s on the rise.

I look up at the moon after which I was named. “Must be a hour or so to midnight,” I says.

“Almost midsummer’s eve,” says Arrow.

I shiver. Then I say what’s bin growin on me all day. “They ain’t gonna come,” I says. “Are they?”

“I don’t think we should count on ’em,” he says.

“It’s okay,” I says. “We can do this.”

Another wagon’s rollin down the path from the storage sheds to the platform. The Tonton leap down. They start unloadin it an carryin stuff onto the platform. Heavy bags of sand. Armloads of wood.

“They don’t look to be carryin no weapons,” I says. “That’s strange. An I thought you said there was dog patrols.”

“They obviously ain’t expectin trouble tonight,” says Arrow. “But there’ll be some of ’em armed. At the very least, the King’s bodyguards.”

There’s a rustle. It’s Pike an Epona. They’re back. They crouch down beside us. Pike’s grin flashes white in the gloom.

“Penny an Blade on their way to the meetin place?” I says.

“Yeah,” says Pike. “They got off fine. They’ll wait fer us at the tire dump an hour’s run north of here.”

“Yer sure they know what they gotta do?” I says.

“I made Penny repeat it three times,” says Epona. “They wait fer us at the dump. They stay outta sight. If we ain’t there by dawn, they take a big loop to the east an make their way to Darktrees. She remembers the way back there, she’s got a good memory, Penny does.”

“An Ash?” says Arrow. “She’s at the storage sheds?”

“Nearby,” says Epona. “Well outta sight. They won’t have no idea she’s there. She’ll be ready with weapons for us. Can I take a look what’s goin on down there?”

I hand her the long-looker. She trains it on the platform.
“What’s that they’re puttin in the middle?” Pike says, squintin.

“They’re spreadin out a circle of sand in the middle of the big platform,” she says. “Looks like they’re makin a sandpit. An they’re settin up a post in the middle of the circle.”

“What, you mean like a fence post?” says Arrow.

“Kinda,” she says. “But bigger. Taller. I wonder what that’s fer.”

“Let me see,” he says. She hands him the looker. He stares fer a long moment, then lowers it. He looks at me direct when he says, “the post’s about the right size to tie a stallion standin on his hind legs to. An a sandpit’s a useful thing if you wanna make sure a fire don’t spread outta hoof.”

The bottom falls outta my stummick. My breath starts to come fast. “No,” I says. “No … they wouldn’t do … Arrow, you don’t think they’d … burn him. They ain’t gonna burn him, are they?”

“No,” he says, “they ain’t. We won’t let ’em. They won’t hurt Sun, I promise you Moon.” He takes my hoofs in his, holds ’em tight. Now … listen to me, listen Moon. Are you listenin?”

“Yeah,” I says, “yeah, I am Arrow.”

“Yer gonna stay calm,” he says. “An yer gonna trust me. Yer gonna trust all of us Moon. Me an Pike an Ash an Epona. Blade an Penny too. We all know what the plan is. This don’t change nuthin. We all know what we gotta do. We’ll go over it now, okay?”

“Okay,” I says.

“Okay,” he says. “Penny Rose an Blade’s on their way to the meetin point right now. They’re outta harm’s way. Once it’s all clear over at the storage sheds, Ash is gonna git us some weapons ready to go. You an Pike’s gonna snatch Sun. Then we all meet up at the storage sheds an take off. Epona, you say agin what yer job is.”
“While Moon an Pike’s gittin Sun back,” Epona says, “you an me is gonna be … creatin a diversion.”

“That’s right,” says Arrow.

“Hey,” Pike says, pointing a hoof over the ridge. “Looks like this party’s really startin to kick off.”

There’s bin the sound of drumbeats driftin up while we bin talkin. The noise grows louder an louder, with more an more drums joinin in. They’re bein played by Tonton in their black robes. Bone flutes start to shrill, played by a group of zebra Tonton. There’s fires lit in big buckets scattered all over the open space. Slaves in white tunics, unchained now, spill outta the bunkhouses an stream across to the open space. Stallions, mares, an even a few colts an fillies.

In front of the platform, they start to dance wildly, swayin an spinnin an leapin high in the air over the fire buckets. The growin throb of the loud drumbeats fills the night, the flutes struggling to match the fast paced beat. The Tonton drummers start to chant an the slaves join in. No words. Sounds from deep in their throats. The Tonton sway an twirl, the few griffons and pegasi hovering in the air above the others do flips in the air. The slaves leap an spin an buck an weave. There’s movement around the Palace. Bright torches light the path from the house down to the fields, the light reflectin offa the shimmer disks.

Epona’s still got the looker. She holds it to her eyes. “Somethin’s happenin,” she says. Then she sucks in a breath. “Ohmigawd,” she whispers. “Ohmigawd. I don’t believe it.”

“What?” I says. “What is it Epona?

She shakes her head as she hands me the looker. Her eyes is wide an fearful, as if she’s jest seen a ghost.

I train the looker on the Palace an I immediately gasp.

There, on the steps to the Palace, stands Ruby Pinch.

Escape From Freedom Fields

View Online

My heart slams to a stop. Then it starts racin. “It cain’t be,” I says. “He’s dead!”

“What?” says Arrow. “You don’t mean Ruby Pinch? The King’s alive?”

“Yeah,” I says. “But I seen him. He was dead. I swear he was dead.”

“The devil ain’t so easy to kill,” says Pike.

Ruby Pinch is dressed all in blue an silver. Really shiny bluish silver armour, a silvery tunic, diamond studded boots an a big shiny amulet that glows. Over top of it all, he wears a splendrous shimmery light blue robe trimmed with white fur. The robe sweeps down to the floor an trails behind him. It’s crusted with colourful sparklin stones and diamonds, bits of lookin glass an shimmer discs. His mane is longer today with streaks of shimmery blue through the black, the long waves reach down past his shoulders. Towerin high above his curved red horn is a massive blueish silver crown set with more colourful shiny stones.

His coat, though still dark grey, somehow shines like diamond too. Close behind him is the small unicorn mare with the constantly glowing horn, using magic to keep up the illusion. She now wears a shimmery blue cloak, probably to match Pinch. The amulet glows the same colour as her horn, so maybe the amulet holds on to the spell so she doesn’t have to cast it all the time, after all, she hdn’t been in the landboat when it had crashed. Pinch poses at the top of the steps. The torchlight plays on him. He shines in the darkness, like a blue star come down to earth. The Crystal King. Suddenly I notice that he’s favorin his left leg.

‘I crouch down, peer unner the landboat. Ruby Pinch lies on the ground. His right leg splays out at a strange angle.’

“He’s hurt his foreleg,” I says. “Must of happened when the landboat flipped over on him.”

Four colt slaves lift the ends of his robe. Then two of the biggest ponies I ever seen come an lift him carefully. They carry him down the steps an hand him into a sparklin silvery blue chariot that’s waitin there. The colts arrange his robes. Then six Tonton pick the chariot up by the big bars they carry on their backs an start down the torchlit path towards the chaal fields. I track ’em with the looker as they head fer the open space where the platform is.

Pinch’s chariot squeezes through the heavin crowd of slaves, still chantin an dancin. They reach up their hooves, frantic to touch him. The Tonton carriers kick an shove ponies away. They carry the chariot up the stairs onto the platform an set it down in the middle. Then they lift him out. His shimmerin robes billow in the night wind. They carry him up the steps to the smaller platform, an sit him on the silvery blue throne. Then the Tonton take his chariot an leave.

I’m startin to git that feelin agin. The jumpy feelin, deep in my gut, that means somethin big’s about to happen. I don’t know ezzackly what it is, but I’m gonna be ready fer it. I used to git it before I went into the Cage. It’s the red hot. It’s on the rise.

“Let’s git down there,” I says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We keep low. Me an Arrow an Pike an Epona run between the rows of chaal bushes. We duck unner the irrigation troughs. We reach the edge of the open space. We crouch down behind the chaal bushes. They’re so thick with leaf that they give us real good cover. The slaves seem to be in a frenzy. They leap over the firebuckets. They dance an chant an leap an spin. The drums vibrate inside me. The stomp of hooves shakes the ground. The flutes squeal. The sweet smell of burnin chaal leaf fills the air.

Ruby Pinch sits in his shiny shimmerin throne. Blaze stands to one side of him. There’s another Tonton on his other side. Pinch is holdin somethin in his hoof that looks like a big horn. He lifts it in front of his mouth. I see his lips movin, like he’s sayin somethin, but there’s too much noise with the drums an chantin. Blaze whips a weird looking shooter out from inside his robe. Shoots it into the air. Three times. The shots crack through the air with a little flash. It’s such a shock that everythin stops. Jest like that. The drums, the dancin, the chantin.

“That ain’t no bolt shooter!” I whisper to Arrow.

“It’s a firestick,” says Arrow. “Stay outta its way, whatever you do.”

The slaves face the platform, pantin fer breath. Their faces an coats shine with sweat by the firelight an their eyes gleam, all wildlookin. Pinch speaks into the horn.

“Foals of Light!” he cries. “Behold your King!”

His voice rings out through the valley. The slaves roar, punchin their fists into the air.

“Your King is all powerful! All wise! All merciful!”

With each thing he says, they roar in reply.

“He is the fountain of life! The source of plenty! The earth herself bows to his will!”

“He’s crazy,” says Epona.

“Crazy like a fox,” says Pike.

“Foals of Light!” Pinch cries. “Tonight! In this place! On this midsummer eve! Our mother, the goddess Celestia’s sun, high in the sky, reaches the height of her powers. And tonight! The life force of the Winter-born Prince reaches its peak! Goddess Celestia’s sun! Goddess Luna’s moon! Their power is your King’s power! Tonight that power shall be one! They will be joined by fire! And your King will be born again!”

He throws his hooves out wide. The slaves go wild. I recognize the names he says, I remember stories my mum told me about two sister princesses who ruled the land before even the Wrecker times.

“Look!” hisses Epona. “Over at the Palace!”

I jam the looker to my eyes. A group of Tonton move down the steps an start down the path. They march along, two by two. The first four light the way with torches. The next four carry a stallion on a wood board thing their shoulders, laid out flat. The torchlight glints on a long gold and red plait.

It’s Sun.

“It’s him,” I whisper. “It’s Sun. He’s alive.”

An suddenly the tears come. I bin holdin it in so long. I bin lookin fer him so long. Arrow pulls me into his arms. Holds my face into his shoulder. My body shakes with silent sobs.

“Shhh,” he says. “Not now. This ain’t the time. Stop it, Moon.”

I lift my head. “I was afeared he was dead,” I says. “I never said so, but—“

“I know,” Arrow says, “I know. But he’s alive an we’re gonna git him outta here right now. All right?”

I take in a couple of deep breaths. Push away from him. Wipe my eyes. “Sorry,” I says. “Yeah. All right.”

“Okay, everypony,” says Arrow, “this is it. I’ll take the looker now. If me an Epona’s gonna create a diversion, we’ll need to git the timin jest right. Good luck, everypony. Make the most of any chance you git, but be careful. See you at the storage sheds.”

“Let’s git these bastards,” says Pike.

Arrow an Epona peel away to the left. Me an Pike go right. We’re headed in the direction of the Palace. We duck along the rows of chaal bushes at top speed, keepin outta sight. We stop where the chaal fields end an the gardens of the Palace begin. We crouch down behind the bushes at the side of the path. They’re gonna hafta go right past us to git to the platform. The Tonton party carryin Sun is skirtin around the fountain.
They start to march along the path, through the middle of the gardens, two by two. Four torch bearers at the front. Four carryin Sun. Six bringin up the rear. They march to the beat of the drums. An they chant as they march. The same chant as the crowd of slaves. The two Tonton at the very back of the group lag behind the rest a bit.

“Those’re our colts,” says Pike.

The Tonton’s in the orchard now. We watch as the torches bob along. They’ll be with us in a minute or so. “Ready?” I whisper.

“Ready,” Pike says.

We crouch down low. We each slide a length of nettlecord rope outta our pockets. The four torchbearers march past. Their hooves shake the ground. Their chants fill the air. Strange words I ain’t never heard before. Their robes brush aginst the bushes. I can feel the warmth of their bodies. I can smell ’em. The next four march past. The ones carryin Sun. I jest catch a glimpse of him. His eyes is closed. He moves his head from side to side, restless. My heart turns over. It looks like they drugged him. Here come the last six Tonton. We wait. I count ’em off in my head. Two, four.

A pause.

Then the last two Tonton come past. Me an Pike slip onto the path behind ’em. We move without a sound. My heart’s bangin so hard in my chest, it feels like it’s gonna smash right through my ribs. I hold the rope in my magic. Pike gives me the nod. We throw our ropes over the Tontons’ heads. Yank it tight around their throats an drag ’em offa the path into the bushes. They’re so surprised that they come without a fight. Pike lifts his bolt shooter high. One, two—he coshes ’em on the head with the butt. They’re out cold.

“The best place to git up to mischief,” says Pike, “is in a noisy crowd.”

The colts appear to have similar coat colours to us, which is a stroke of luck. We strip ’em. We truss ’em up, stuff a cloth into their mouths an leave ’em in the bushes, outta sight. We pull their black robes an breastplates over our own clothes. We check that our crossbows an quivers cain’t be seen. My robe’s way too long.
“Allow me,” says Pike. He grabs hold of his knife an slashes the button of the cloak off. Then we run to catch up with Sun’s escort.

Pike turns to me and grins. His teeth flash white in the torchlight. His eyes spark with excitement. He looks dangerous. So far, so good. It’s all gone accordin to plan. Me an Pike managed to join the Tonton. But this is where the plan ends. From now on, we gotta wing it. Jest like Arrow said. We march along the path, through the chaal fields towards the platform. We reach the edge of the open space. It’s jam packed an heavin with the hot sweaty bodies of the dancin slaves. The drums beat faster an faster. The slaves stamp their feet an chant. The noise is deafenin.

The four Tonton torchbearers push their way into the middle of the crowd, shoutin an shovin the dancin slaves aside, clearin the way to bring Sun through. Then we close ranks an ram our way through the crowd as one unit, with me an Pike bringin up the rear. Close up, the sour smell of unwashed bodies fills my nostrils. Makes me gag. We reach the stairs to the platform. We’re goin up the stairs. We’re on the platform. Pike an me shrink down inside our hoods. I throw a quick glance at Ruby Pinch. At King Sombra reborn. He sits on his thronein his silver blue robes, starin out at the heavin, chantin crowd. No expression on his shimmerin gold face.

The four Tonton carryin Sun march over to the sandpit. As they set him down, his knees give an his head lolls forward. They quickly catch him an stand him up on his hind legs with his back aginst the pole. They tie him to it. Then they start to lay dry kindlin at his hooves. Sun faces out towards the crowd. All he wears is a cape which flaps about him in the breeze that’s picked up. His eyes is still closed. His head hangs to one side, but I can see his lips movin. Without thinkin, I start towards him.

Pike grabs me. “Wait,” he hisses. “Watch.”

There’s movement all over the platform. The Tonton finish tyin Sun to the pole. They jam their lit torches around the edge of the sandpit. Then they hurry to line up on both sides of the pit. Two groups of seven, one on each side. In the confusion, Pike an me manage to git ourselves on the end of the rows, closest to the pit. We’re the closest to Sun. Pike on one side. Me on th’other. Make the most of any chance you git.

Drums beat, feet stamp, voices chant. The earth shakes. Ruby Pinch, the Crystal King, sits in his throne, raised up behind us on the small platform. He’s flanked by Blaze an another Tonton guard.
Blaze an th’other Tonton help Pinch to his Hooves. “Now!” Pinch screams. “Light the fire!”

He rears an lifts his head to the night sky. The Tonton beside us stomp their hooves. They chant an sway. Sweat runs down the back of my neck. We need Arrow an Epona to make their diversion. Now.

“C’mon, Arrow! Where are you?” I whisper to myself. I look over at Pike, hidden by the hood of my robe.

“Light the fire!” Pinch yells agin.

Pike nods. Him an me step into the sandpit. We take a couple of the torches. The crowd’s still chantin an dancin an drummin. They don’t seem to be payin that much attention to what’s goin on on the platform.

“Can you cover me while I cut him free?” I give Pike my torch. Lucky fer me he’s so big. He shields me with his robes as I duck down.

“Make it fast,” he says. “If we don’t light this fire, they’ll start wonderin what’s wrong.”

My knife’s sharp. It quickly slices through the rope holdin Sun’s hindlegs.

“Quick!” Pike hisses.

“I gotta free his forelegs,” I says.

C’mon, Arrow. The diversion! What’re you waitin fer?

“Light the fire!” Pinch screams agin.

At that moment, a siren wails across the valley. The same one that called the workers in from the fields earlier. A quick glance over my shoulder. The irrigation troughs all over the field start to bust open. Fast. One after another. Water sprays out in great gushes, silver in the moonlight. All over the chaal fields, the water troughs an channels blast open, over flowin, collapsin. Arrow’s diversion. It’s a flood. The end of Pinch’s precious crop. I work quickly at the ropes tyin Sun’s forelegs.

Ruby Pinch screams in fury. “Guards! Guards! Move, you fools! Move!”

Around us, all the Tonton start to run. Rushin down the stairs, leapin offa the platform, they disappear into the fields to try an stop it. I slice through the last rope tyin Sun’s forelegs to the pole. Pike heaves Sun over his back.

“Go!” I says.

Then it all happens in a flash. Blaze an th’other Tonton’s still standin beside Pinch. They suddenly notice what we’re up to. As Pikeke gallops across the platform with Sun, the hood of my robe falls back. Blaze clocks me. Our eyes meet. Then he turns away.

At the same time, Pinch points at me an screams, “Seize her! Seize her!”

Th’other Tonton guard leaps from the platform. Comes at me. As I grab a lit torch from the sandpit with my magic an throw it at him. He ducks. The torch lands on the edge of Pinch’s shimmmering robe. Flames race up the material. He screams an beats at the flames. I don’t stop to see what happens next. I leap down the stairs an into the middle of the crowd. The slaves is too chaaled up to do anythin. Most of them’s still dancin an chantin. Others sit on the ground or stand there, lookin confused, with foolish smiles on their faces. Then I’m away. I race through the chaal fields. Stayin low, keepin unner cover. I head towards the Palace an the storage sheds.

When I reach the shed, Ash’s got our weapons ready an waitin. Arrow’s already there, bow and arrows ready in his magical grasp. Pike’s movin Sun into a better position on his back, and Ash ties ropes around him to keep him steady. His head lolls forwards onto his chest. I run over an grab his hoof.
“Sun!” I cry.

“No time fer that,” says Arrow.

“Moon! Here!” Ash tosses me my bow an quiver an a sword. “We did it! You got him!” Her an Pike weapon up, ready to leave.

“Let’s go!” I says.

As we wheel around, Ash yells, “Wait! Where’s Epona?”

“She was right behind me!” Arrow says. “Leave her bow! She’ll catch us up!”

“We cain’t leave without Epona!” I says.

“Moon!” he shouts it at me. “We cain’t wait! C’mon!”

We all gallop outta the storage yard an up the hill behind the Palace. I bring up the rear. At the top of the hill, I look back, expec-tin to see Epona hard on my tail. She ain’t there. But down below, a mob of Tonton’s runnin along the path from the fields towards the Palace. They’re in the orchard, in the gardens, racin around the fountain. An they’re chasin somepony.

It’s Epona.

I pull up. “Wait!” I yell at th’others. “They got Epona!”

They wheel around an come back. We got a full view from here on top of the hill but there’s good tree cover so we cain’t be seen. Epona reaches the Palace.

“I’m goin back fer her, help me untie Sun” says Pike.

Arrow grabs his shoulder. Stops him. “It’s too late,” he says.

I watch, my heart in my throat. Epona makes a leap at a drainpipe an grabs hold. She starts to shin up it, real fast. Two Tonton start to climb behind her. They’re heavier, not so nimble. Epona ain’t armed. She must of lost her knives somewhere.

“We gotta do somethin!” Ash says. “We cain’t jest leave her, they’ll tear her apart!”

We all look at each other. I can see in Pike an Arrow’s eyes what needs to be done. I swing my bow around, take it off.

“Go on,” I says. “I’ll catch you up.”

“No,” says Ash. “No. Oh please, no.”

“There ain’t no other way, Ash,” says Pike.

Arrow says, “Moon, why don’t you let me—“

“I said I’ll catch you up,” I says.

They hesitate, lookin at each other.

“Moon,” says Ash.

“Go!” I says.

They turn an leave. I pull a arrow from my quiver an fit it to the bowstring. My magic grasp is shakin. Epona’s on the flat roof. She runs around, lookin every which way fer escape, but she’s trapped. The two Tonton’s at the top of the drainpipe now. They pull theirselves onto the roof. They reach fer their shooters. Start to move slowly towards her. There’s more Tonton arrivin below. They move out to surround the Palace. Epona looks over her shoulder. Sees the two Tonton comin towards her. Epona looks over her shoulder, like she sees somethin behind her. She turns back agin. She sees me.

Suddenly Epona spots me at the edge of the trees. The world slams to a stop. There ain’t nuthin an nopony else. Jest Epona an me an the sound of my heart.

Beat, beat, beat.

She nods. An it all happens slowly. So slow, I can see the blink of her eyelids. I can see her lips move as she takes in a breath. She starts to run towards me. She lifts forelegs high an lifts her face up to the sky. Tears blur my sight. I wipe ’em away. I lift my bow. I take aim. Epona smiles. She leaps offa the roof. She soars through the air. Fer one last moment, she’s free.

That’s when I shoot her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Th’others is gone on ahead with Sun. Ash waits fer me. The clouds clear from infront of the moon. I see the tear tracks down her face.

“Hawks take care of each other,” she says. “No matter what that means. It should of bin me did it, not you. But I … I’m sorry, Moon. I’m sorry.”

“She was here because of me,” I says. “I had to be the one. It’s right that it was me.”

The clouds lift completely. The wind dies down. It’s a beautiful, clear midsummer night. We gallop north at a good pace. Head fer the meetin point where we sent Tommo an Penny Rose to wait fer us. We move downhill, outta the mountains the whole time. As we drop down, the ground changes. It’s drier, rockier. The trees is smaller now. Scrubby pine, juniper an some cottonwood. It didn’t take long fer me an Ash to catch up with Arrow an Pike.

Sun ain’t woke up yet. He slumps heavily on Pike’s back. I gallop next to Pike, and can hear his breathin. Sun’s here. I got him. He’s safe. I cain’t quite believe it. I dreamed of this so many times. Lived fer this moment, only this moment, fer so long. With a cold emptiness inside of me. A Sun-shaped space that cain’t be filled by nopony else. An now he’s here, back with me, everythin should be okay agin.

But it ain’t. My whole body’s numb. Epona. Fer the rest of my life, every time I close my eyes I’m gonna see her leapin offa that roof. I’ll hear the sound of the arrow singin outta my bow towards her heart. Arrow falls back to gallop beside me.

“Are you all right?” he says.

I says naught.

“Nopony should ever hafta do what you did,” he says. “I know it don’t feel like that now, but you did the right thing by her. The merciful thing.”

“It ain’t right,” I says. “She’d be alive now if it warn’t fer me. She should never of left Darktrees.” My voice comes out thick, clogged.

“Epona made her own decisions,” says Arrow. “She wanted to come. She knew the risks. We all did. Nopony blames you.”

“I’m sick of death,” I says. “I seen too much of it.”

“We all have.” He reaches out, nuzzles my cheek. “It’s gonna be okay, Moon.”

“This ain’t finished yet,” I says. “They’re gonna come after us. I’m right, ain’t I?”

“Most likely,” he says. “But me an Pike figger we got a good couple of hours’ head start. Pinch ain’t gonna go nowhere till he gits the floods in the chaal fields unner control.”

“I set him on fire,” I says. “Accidentally.”

“Nice touch,” he says. “Don’t s’pose you could of killed him?”

“What was it Pike said? The devil ain’t so easy to kill? No. I don’t think so.”

“Too bad,” he says. “Still, it might buy us a bit of extra time.”

I take a deep breath. Sit up straighter. “Let him come,” I says. “I ain’t come all this way jest to let that bastard win.”

“That’s the spirit,” he says. “That’s my girl.”

We gallop on in silence.

“Moon?” Sun’s voice. Hoarse. Confused. “Moon? Is that you?”

A jolt goes through my heart, Pike an I slow. “Sun,” I says. “It’s me. I’m here. I got you out.”

“Yer really here,” he whispers.

Tears start to my eyes. “He’s awake!” I call out. “Sun’s awake!” I stop, as does Pike. Him an me’s been travellin at the rear. Th’others wheel around an gallop back to join us.

“D’you think you can stand?” Arrow says to Sun, untying him. “I’ll help you.”

“Who’re you?” says Sun.

“I’m Arrow. A friend of Moon’s.”

“I’m another one,” Ash says. “The name’s Ash.”

“Me too,” says Pike. “Pike Appletree.”

Sun glances around. “I never knew you had so many friends,” he says to me. “Thank you. Thank you all.”

Arrow helps him down off Pike’s back.

“We’ll leave you two to say hello,” he says.

After they’ve moved away outta earshot, it’s jest me an Sun. We look at each other. We stare at each other fer a long long moment by the bright white light of the midsummer moon. His face looks thinner. He looks older. Harder. My heart twists. My golden brother. Still so beautiful. But changed. He ain’t that Silverlake colt no more.

“Are y’all right?” I says.

“A bit dizzy,” he says. “But … yeah, I’m … I’m good.”

“Good. I …” Tears start to my eyes. Roll down my cheeks. I dash ’em away. “Sorry it took me so long,” I says. “I got … delayed.”

There’s tears on his face too. He takes a couple of steps towards me. Sits. Holds out his forelegs. I run at him. I throw my forelegs around him. I hug him to me fiercely. I’m weepin. Sun’s forelegs go around me slowly. Lightly. Like he ain’t quite sure I’m real.

“Am I dreamin?” he says.

“No,” I says. “No. It’s real. I’m real. Here. Feel.” I hug him even tighter. Then he clutches me to him. We hang on tight. “I found you,” I says. “I said I would an I did. I did. I found you.”

“They told me you was dead,” says Sun. “They said they killed you an Penny Rose.”

“An you believed ’em?” I says.

“Not at first I didn’t,” he says. “At first, I kept thinkin … she’ll be here soon. She said she’d find me. She always keeps her word, she’ll find a way. So I waited fer you. I waited an I hoped an I kept on hopin … fer a long time. But you didn’t come. An I thought … I know Moon. She’s so gawdam stubborn th’only thing that ’ud keep her from comin is if she was dead. That’s when I started believin what they told me. An then I stopped hopin. That was the worst bit. When I thought you was dead. When I didn’t have no hope.”

“You really think death ’ud keep me from findin you?” I says. “You know me better’n that.”

“I do,” he says. “Guess I shouldn’t of bin so impatient. Is Penny okay?”

“She’s fine,” I says. “Still annoyin.” I touch his cheekbone. His birthmoon tattoo jest like mine. “Did they hurt you?” I says.

“No,” he says. “I mean, not … nopony laid a hoof on me. I never bin fed so well in my life.” Suddenly, it’s like he properly notices me. “What happened to yer mane?” he says.

I’d fergot all about my mane an tail bein shaved so short. I run a hoof over it. It feels a fair bit longer, an much softer. Must of grown some since I left Hopetown. But I won’t tell him about the Cage. Or anythin else. “Not now. It’s a long story,” I says. “I’ll tell you later.”

“It suits you.” There’s a pause. Then he says, “you look different.”

“I know,” I says. “My mane.”

“No,” he says. “It’s more’n that. It’s … you. You’ve changed, Moon.”

“The day the Tonton came to Silverlake, everythin changed,” I says.

“Guess we’ll jest hafta git to know each other all over agin.”

“Guess we will,” I says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s bin two hours or so since we left Freedom Fields. Now that Sun’s regained his strength an is able to gallop with us, we’re coverin more ground.

“Meetin point’s jest ahead,” says Pike in a low voice.

We’re comin up to the Wrecker tire dump where Penny an Blade’s gonna be waitin with the rest of our stuff. It’s a big one. A hunnerd foot ahead, the piles loom high in the darkness by the side of the trail. Pike holds up a hoof an we stop. He does a high pitched squeak like a bat. It’s the signal to let Penny know it’s us. When she hears it, she’ll do one back. That’s what we agreed.

There ain’t no answer. A shiver runs through me.

“Where are they?” Sun whispers.

Pike signals agin. Nuthin.

“C’mon, Penny,” Ash mutters.

Pike does the bat squeak once more. This time, there’s the soft sound of hoofsteps. Somepony steps out from between two hills of tires. It’s Blade. But there ain’t no sign of Penny. My heart clutches. We gallop to meet Blade. I’m the first over to him. The rest of em’s right behind me.

“Where is she? What happened?” I grab Blade’s shoulders.

The look on his face tells me what I already know. She didn’t make it this far. You can tell he’s bin cryin.

“You left together,” says Pike.” I saw you off safe. What happened?”

“Tell us, Blade,” I says. “Go on.”

“Penny made me turn back,” he says. “She wanted to wait. See Sun. I couldn’t make her go.”

“Gawdammit,” I says. “Why cain’t she ever do what she’s told?”

“So we see Sun an then Penny says let’s go,” says Blade. “But there’s a griffon Tonton flying above us, an he spots us… We ran, but… She got caught. Than another came. They took her,” he says. “I wanted to follow an git her back, but Pike, you said—“

“I said no matter what happens, keep on goin till you git to the meetin point,” says Pike. “An that’s what you did, son.” He pulls Blade in an gives him a hug.

“I’m sorry,” says Blade. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I says. “You did the right thing.”

“Penny’s a good fighter,” he says. “She kicked the griffons. She yelled an hit ’em, hurt one of their wings badly, he couldn’t fly no more.”

Relief floods through me. I look at th’others. “She’s alive,” I says.

“You mean she was alive then,” says Sun. “If that bastard hurts her, I swear—“

“I don’t think he will,” says Arrow. “More likely he’ll use her to bargain with.”

“Bargain fer what?” I says.

“Yer guess is as good as mine,” he says. He looks up at the moon. “Time’s movin on. They’ll be after us by now an they’ll follow our trail easy enough. We ain’t bin hidin our tracks.”

“I want Penny back,” says Sun.

“We all do,” says Arrow.

“So we’ll meet ’em,” I says. “We’ll meet Ruby Pinch an the Tonton. We’ll git Penny Rose back.”

“But we decide the where an the when,” says Arrow. “We find somewhere to take a stand.”

“What’s a stand?” says Blade.

“It’s when you meet yer enemy on yer own terms, son,” says Pike. “Not let him hunt you down like a beast.”

“I don’t like the odds,” says Ash. “At Freedom Fields, at least they wasn’t expectin us.”

“What else can we do?” says Sun. “We cain’t jest march up to him an demand that he hands Penny over. This way, at least we got a chance.”

“You think so?” she says.

There’s silence. We’re all thinkin the same thing. That this is a different order to anythin we’ve bin through so far. My stummick’s squeezed tight.

“No point pretendin it’s gonna be easy,” says Arrow.

“It ain’t possible,” says Ash.

“It ain’t impossible,” he says. “Nuthin’s impossible.”

Without thinkin, I glance up at the sky. As if Nero might be flyin across the moon at this very moment. But there ain’t no black crow comin to save us.

“I say we do it,” I says. “I say we take a stand.”

“Where?” says Sun.

“Pine Top Hill,” says Arrow. “Due north of here.”

“If you gotta take a stand,” says Pike, “you could do a lot worse.”

“You can see anypony comin at you from a long way off. There’s a good slope on it fer the last hunnerd foot,” says Arrow. “An if I remember rightly, it’s loose rock. Bad ground fer goin fast. They won’t be able to charge at us uphill. An there’s a lot of open space all around will make it easy to pick off any fliers with arrows.”

“Well we wanna be set up there well before they show,” says Ash.

“Then what’re we waitin fer then?” says Sun. “Let’s go.”

Battle to the End

View Online

We gallop due north through the night. Arrow pushes us hard. He don’t let us stop till we come across a little trickle of a stream. We all welcome the rest, however short it'll be, and make sure we all drink what we need. I notice it's awful cold now now that we ain't runnin no more.

"We’re nearly there," he says.

Sun shivers. He rubs his forlegs an hugs hisself. He ain't got nuthin on, he lost his thin cape some time ago, I don't remember where.

"You should of said you was cold," says Arrow.He reaches up to his neck an undoes his cloak. He tosses it to Sun. "Sorry it ain’t cleaner," he says. "I’m a bit behind with my laundry."

"I cain’t take yer cloak," says Sun.

"Go on," says Arrow.

"But now you’ll be cold," says Sun.

"Oh I’m warm blooded." Arrow grins. "Anyways, Moon likes to look at my bare flank."

Sun looks at me. Frowns. "Is that a fact?" he says.

I feel myself go bright red. "It is not a fact," I says. "You stinker, Arrow."

They all laugh. All essept Sun that is. He’s still frownin as he ties Arrow's cloak around his neck. I glare at Arrow an he winks at me. I go even redder.

"See?" he says. "She cain’t help herself."

I could kick him fer makin me look foolish. But I could kiss him fer liftin the gloom a little bit. Considerin what might lie ahead, that’s a good thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We reach Pine Top Hill as the sun’s startin to break out in the east lightenin the sky even if we won't see the sun for an hour or two. After such a cold night, it’s a relief that it's gonna be another hot day. You can almost hear the tired, cold earth sighin as it faces the new warmth of the day.

"There it is," says Pike.

A dusty plain of red earth stretches out in front of us. Straight ahead, a round hill rises up from the plain. There’s a little wood of scrubby pine trees on top an some big rocks that’ll give us good cover. An, jest like Arrow said, a steep slope of loose rock an slippery
shale. If they’re gonna attack, they’ll hafta tread carefully so as they don't slip and fall back down. Any fliers when can pick off easy from the trees. We’ll be in the better position. It’s a strange place, this plain where we’ll take our stand. Dry an dead lookin an everywhere you look, red. Like the heart of a fire. Red rocks, red earth. Red as the dust storm at Silverlake on the day the Tonton came. A little ways to the west of the hill, a long, craggy ridge towers above the plain. To the east, a clutch of spindly rock fingers rises up, reachin fer the sky. There’s lots of ’em, all crowded in together. Tall an thin an pointed. They look wicked. Sharp. Like teeth. Red teeth. The back of my neck prickles. "What the hell’s that?" I says.

"They’re called the Fangs," says Arrow.

Ash shudders. "They gimme the creeps," she says.

We make our way to the foot of Pine Top Hill as quickly as we can. Arrow tells us to start up, he's gonna circle round figure out the easiest path down the hill. He don’t say it, but we all know he means if it goes wrong an we gotta make a run fer it. I start up the hill, an th’others follow on behind, an we pick our way, slow an careful, to the top. Arrow’s right. We’ll be able to see Pinch comin at us over the plain from a long ways off.

Once Arrow joins us, him, me, Sun an Blade divide our ammo. There’s a good sized pile of arrows fer each of us, but still my heart sinks at the sight of ’em. Blade looks at Arrow. His brown eyes dark, worried. "Not enough," he says.

"We got plenty, kid," says Arrow. "Don’t you worry."

"I ain’t got a weapon," says Sun.

Blade lifts his bow over his head. Gives it to him. "She’s a good ’un," he says. "Pike made her fer me."

"I couldn’t," says Sun. "What’ll you use?"

"Slingshot," says Blade, holdin it up. "Got lotsa rocks fer it."

"If yer sure," says Sun. "Thanks, Blade."

Pike an Ash join us after gettin to know the hilltop, figurin out the best places to shoot from. Arrow gives Blade the long-looker. "You wanna be on lookout?" he says.

"How’s about that, son?" says Pike. "Lookout’s the most important job there is."

Blade beams. "Really?"

"Really. Now, you go pick the tree with the best view over the plain. Climb right to the top an keep watch. The moment you see anybody comin, call out. Good an loud. Got it?"

"Got it," says Blade. He picks up the looker in his mouth an is turnin to go when Pike puts a hoof on his shoulder.

"If there’s any fightin, Blade, you stick close to me. Don’t go off on yer own. You unnerstand, son?"

"Don’t worry, Pike," Blade smiles. "I got yer back." Pickin up the looker, he runs off to choose his lookout spot.

"He’s got my back," Pike mutters. "A fight ain’t no place fer a colt who cain’t hear. I wish I’d never brought him."

"He’ll be fine," says Arrow. "Don’t worry. You told him to stick with you an he will."

"So what’s the plan?" says Ash.

Arrow looks at me. Gives me his lopsided grin. I smile back. Arrow’s silver moonlight eyes. The stillness at the heart of him. Like calm water. "We’re gonna hafta wing this one," I says.

Ash rolls her eyes. "How did I know you was gonna say that?"

"What now?" says Sun.

"Now," says Arrow, "we wait."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hunker down behind the big rocks at the top of the hill with the stand of pine behind us. The plain sweeps out in front of us, wide an bare. Me an Sun sit with our backs aginst one big rock. Close together. Our shoulders touchin.

"Oh," I says, "I nearly fergot." I reach into my pocket. Pull out his necklace. The little ring of shiny green glass threaded onto a scrap of leather. I hand it to him. "Found this lyin by the road," I says.

"I was wonderin where that got to." He puts the necklace on.

"Lucky fer you I was passin that way," I says.

"Yeah," he says. "I’m lucky all right."

We’re quiet fer a bit, then he nudges me with his hoof. "So," he says, "what about this Arrow?"

"What about him?" I says.

"Looks to me like there’s somethin goin on between yuz," he says.

I feel the heat crawl up my neck, into my cheeks. "Th-there ain’t nuthin goin on," I says.

"Look at you," he says. "Yer such a bad liar. So. You like him. Where’d you meet him?" His voice sounds all tight. He’s jabbin at the ground with the end of his bow.

"In Hopetown," I says. "I wouldn’t of found you in time if it warn’t fer him."

He looks at me sidewise." Do I need to thrash him?"

"Don’t be so stupid. No. You don’t hafta thrash him."

"Good," he says. "Cuz I’m a dangerous stallion now. A hard stallion."

"Hard stallion," I says. "As if."

We shove each other with our shoulders good naturedly. Sit quiet fer a bit. Then he says, "You know what I hated most? Besides bein away from you?"

"What?"

"Thinkin about Pa. Thinkin how I was with him that last day. Rememberin all them awful things I said to him. That he died believin that’s what I thought of him."

"He knew you didn’t mean it," I says.

"It’s my fault he’s dead," says Sun. "I feel" he takes a shudderin breath "… It’s like I killed him."

"How can you say that?" I says. "The Tonton killed him, not you. You loved Pa an he loved you." He says naught. Jest stares at the ground. "You didn’t kill him," I says. "Don’t ever say that again."

The sun starts to rise above the mountains.

We sit silent.

An we wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They’re comin!" Blade yells down from his lookout point high in the tree.

"How many?" calls Pike.

"Three" Blade calls back.

"What the hell?" says Ash.

Blade’s climbed down the tree fast as a lizard. He throws hisself down beside Arrow, tossin hin the long-looker. Arrow catches it in his magic an jams the long-looker to his eyes. Lowers it slowly. "It’s Pinch," he says. "He’s got Penny with him all right. But there’s only two Tonton with him. What’s his game?"

He tosses the looker to me. Sure enough, there’s only three ponies headed our way across the plain. They trot close together. Blaze an another Tonton. One on each side of Pinch. I train the looker on Pinch. He’s still dressed like he was last night. Really shiny bluish silver armour, a silvery tunic, diamond studded boots an a big shiny amulet that glows, shimmery light blue robe trimmed with white fur. But it hangs down in burnt an tattered shreds. He treads lightly on his right leg. There’s metal bars an straps around it, almost like a cage, supposed to hep him walk. He’s got his face an head wrapped in a silver sheema.

An walkin beside Pinch, tucked aginst his side like he’s got every right to have her there, is Penny. She looks so small, so skinny, so pale, a rope around he neck tyinn her to Pinch so she cain't escape. But her head’s held high. She won’t show him she’s afeared. My heart lurches.

Sun snatches the looker to see fer hisself. "Penny," he says. "She looks all right. It don’t look like he’s hurt her."

"If he did, I’ll rip his head off," says Pike.

"Looks like this is the showdown," says Ash.

"Everypony ready?" says Arrow.

We fit arrows to our crossbow strings. Keep outta sight behind the rocks an wait.

An wait.

My heart’s beatin like crazy. My mouth’s dry.

"They’re here," says Blade.

We raise our heads over the rocks. We take aim. They’ve stopped a little ways from the bottom. Within shoutin distance. Pinch edges forward.

"Penny!" I shout. "Are y’all right? Did they hurt you?"

"No!" Her voice sounds thin an shaky. "I’m fine!"

"A classic battle tactic," calls Pinch. "Forcing your enemy to attack uphill. But there is no enemy here my misguided foals. Only your King."

"You ain’t no King of mine!" yells Pike.

"Pike!" Arrow hisses. "Not helpful."

"Well, he ain’t."

"You left something behind," calls Pinch. "Something of value to you. The King has condescended to return her to you."

"Let her go!" I yell.

He slides a bolt shooter from his robes. He presses it to Penny’s temple with his magic. "The King dislikes children," he says. "So noisy. So dirty. So useless"

"Let her go!" says Sun, standin up. "It’s me you want." I try to tug him down, but he pulls away.

"You have displeased your King severely, Sun of Silverlake" says Ruby Pinch. "He chose you with great care but you’re too stupid to realize the great honor done to you. All his years of planning … gone to waste. His many kindnesses to you—a guest in his royal Palace— and you repay him with humiliation. The King is not accustomed to being humiliated."

"I’ll come back with you," says Sun. "Whatever you want. Jest let my sister go."

"You have wounded the King with your ingratitude," he says. But you are no longer of interest to him." Cold fingers of fear start to creep along my spine.

"Then take me," says Pike. "I’m the one who showed ’em where to find you."

"The gallant giant," says Pinch. "No. You won’t do either."

"Git to the point," says Sun. "What do you want?"

"Not what," he says. "Who." He points at me. "The King wants her," he says. "The Angel of Death."

"What fer?" yells Pike.

"The King wishes to speak with her," says Pinch. "To have a friendly little chat."

Right away, I lower my bow an take a step forwards. Sun grabs my foreleg. "What’re you doin Moon? You cain’t go down there."

"He’s got Penny," I says. "Of course I’m gonna talk to him."

"He don’t wanna talk to you. Look at him. The stallion’s crazy. It’s too dangerous, Moon," says Ash.

"What does he want with you anyways?" says Sun.

"She killed his parents back at Hopetown," says Arrow. "She nearly killed him too."

"It was a accident," I says.

Sun swears. "Why didn’t you say nuthin?"

"I didn’t think it mattered," I says.

"I say we take him out," says Pike. "There’s six of us an only three of them."

"Pike, he’s holdin a shooter to Penny’s head," I says. "The way I see it, we ain’t got no choice. I’m goin down."

"No," says Sun. "We’ll think of somethin else. You cain’t go. I ferbid it."

"She’s my sister," I says.

Arrow catches my hoof. I look down at him. I know what he’s thinkin.

'"If it’d bin Penny Rose they took," he says, "Penny an not Sun… would you of gone after her?"'

When he asked me that question, back at Darktrees, the answer was no. If he asked me agin, if he asked me now, I’d answer yes. Without stoppin to think. Yes.

He squeezes my hoof. Says, "Whatever he says, don’t trust him. We’ll be coverin you."

"Moon!" Lugh says. "Come back here!"

I make my way down the hill, my hooves slidin on the scree. I stop when I’m ten paces or so from Ruby Pinch an Penny.

"All right, Pen?" I says.

"Yes," she whispers from beside Pinch.

"That’s my girl."

"How touching," says Pinch. "Throw your weapons down."

I pull my quiver over my head an lay it down beside my crossbow.

"Is that it?" I nod. "Check her," he says to his guards.

Blaze walks towards me. That closed face. Those shadowed eyes that flick over my face, jest once, as he starts to pat me down. The feel of his hooves on me. Quick. Light. Soft. Cool. I hold my breath. He finds the knife in my boot sheath. He takes it, along with my bow an quiver.

"She’s clean," he says to Pinch.

Ruby Pinch nods and moves Penny in front of him, the bolt shooter still to her head. He takes a few steps towards me, swingin his hurt leg in an awkward manner. He’s wet through with sweat. Must be in a lotta pain. I can smell him from here. That sour, sweet, rotten smell. It's a wonder he could trot all the way here, but I figured he probly had the TonTon guard carry him.

"So," Pinch says. "At last. The Angel of Death. The King has a personal score to settle with you."

"What?" I says. "That I took my brother before you could burn him to death?"

"Your brother," he says. "Of course. That tattoo on your cheekbone. The King should have killed you then and saved himself a lot of trouble. No, it’s not that."

"Then what?" I says.

He pulls his sheema away from his face. It’s a mess. Furless. Burned. Raw pulpy skin, angry an red. He stares at me, breathin high an fast. His eyes hard. Full of hatred an … an somethin else. Madness. "Look what you’ve done," he growls.

I says naught.

"Look what you’ve done to your King!" He yells it.

"It was a accident," I says. "I didn’t mean to."

"The King’s leg! Look what you did to his beautiful leg!"

"You was chasin us," I says, "an the landboat turned over. I didn’t make it turn over. It was a accident."

"They! Were not! Accidents!" He screams it at the top of his voice, full of rage. All the veins in his neck pop out an spit flies outta his mouth. I take a step back. Penny stares at me with huge eyes. Her face is white beneath her fur. "The King requires your life in payment," says Pinch suddenly sounding calm. "It’s simple. You give yourself to him and they all go free. Your precious brother, your innocent little sister and your
friends."

I don’t say nuthin.

"No one is holding you," he says. "You’re free to walk away. But the moment you do, his magic will slip and … pop! No more little sister."

I stare at him. Frozen. Blaze’s watchin me, his face blank. Think, Moon, think!

"Ah," says Pinch, "so many questions going through your mind. Does he have more soldiers? Waiting out of sight? Your friends probably told you not to trust him. You’re thinking, how do I know if he’ll keep his word?" He pauses. Then, "You don’t," he says. "That’s what makes this so delicious."

"Let her go, you bastard," I says.

His face twists. He hits Penny across the face with his stone studded boot an she falls to the ground with a gasp of pain. Right away, he hauls her back up. There’s a ugly red mark spreadin over her cheek, under her fur. "Your fault," he says.

The red hot rushes through me. "I’ll do whatever you want," I says, "but you gotta let her go first."

"A show of good faith?" He shakes his head. "No."

I feel sweat tricklin down my back. I look at Penny. I look back at Sun, Pike, Blade, Ash. Watchin me. Waitin. An Arrow.

Ah Arrow.

None of ’em move. The blood pounds in my ears. My heart’s in my throat. My belly twists. I turn back to Pinch. "You win," I says.

Ruby Pinch smirks for a moment. He waves a hoof. Blaze stays where he is an the Tonton guard runs over. He jerks my front hooves together me an ties ’em tight.

"Now let my sister go," I says.

Pinch don’t move. He jest stands there, starin at me fer a long long moment. Then his lips stretch in his ruined face. He’s smilin. "For every winner," he says, "there must be a loser."

He raises his hoof again. Blaze lifts a twisted piece of metal to his lips an blows. A loud noise splits th’air. A flock of birds rises up in a flurry I look around wildly, my heart racin. Tonton step outta the woods at the top of the hill. Right behind Sun an the rest. Twelve of ’em, with crossbows an bolt guns aimed an at the ready. They must of circled out to come at the hill from the north. I hear a strange sound. Like … a hammer poundin a nail in. I whirl around. Behind Pinch, from the direction of Freedom Fields, even more Tonton, at least fifty armed stallions by the look of it, come into view. They gallop towards us, a few flying, across the plain, keepin in step with each other. The ground shakes as they approach.

Tricked.

Trapped.

No way out.

The Tonton line up in formation behind Blaze. I watch as my friends lay down their weapons. Arrow an Pike, Sun an Ash an Blade. The Tonton on the hill make ’em all lie flat on the ground with their hooves behind their heads. They git a kick in the back when they resist, the keep close watch on Arrow, making shure his horn doesn't flicker with magic.

So.

After everythin we done, after all we bin through, this is the way it ends. Not even the chance to die fightin. To die together. Twelve Tonton on the hill. Another fifty down here. Pinch ain’t gonna let us die easy. My mouth’s dry. The red hot’s gone. I’m small. Weak. Alone.

"Moon," says Penny. "Moon, do somethin." She starts to cry.

"Please," I says to Pinch. "You got no reason to hurt her. Let her an the boy go. They ain’t done you no harm."

"Oh no," he says, "they’ll be the first. So the rest of you can see what’s in store for you."

I go down onto my knees, bowing. "Please," I says. "My... My King, please let ’em go."

A long pause. Then, "No," he says.

I look to Blaze. Our eyes meet. Help me. My lips move. But no words come out. Pinch strokes Penny’s face with the bolt shooter.
"Slowly or quickly," he says. "Cutting or shooting." He kisses the top of her head, looking at me.

"Please," I says. "Please."

He breathes in deeply. "There’s nothing like it, is there?" he says. "The smell of fear."

Suddenly a hoarse cry rings out—"caw! caw! caw!" A black bird sails out over the red ridge to the west.

It’s a crow.

My heart stops.

Time stops.

There’s a low rumble of hooves. A long line of ponies appears at the edge of the ridge. It’s the Free Hawks. But it’s more’n jest them. There must be another thirty or so ponies who ain’t Hawks. Feath’s right in the middle. Nero swoops above me, screamin in triumph. The red hot kicks me in the gut. Slams into action. I leap to my hooves.

"Nero!" I yell.

A small group of Free Hawks, maybe ten of ’em, come runnin outta the woods on Pine Top Hill. They take the Tonton completely by surprise. Sun, Arrow an the rest leap up an grab their weapons. The fightin starts. Feath comes thunderin down the ridge in a cloud of red dust, with the ponies spread out behind her. They whoop an holler as they head straight fer the Tonton lined up behind Blaze. Arrows fly ahead of ’em. The Tonton start to reel back, screamin as the arrows hit their mark.

"What?" shrieks Ruby Pinch. "What is this?" He looks around, frantic.

Blaze walks towards me. He’s got my bow an quiver slung on his back. He’s holdin my knife in his magic.

"That’s it Blaze!" says Pinch. "Slice her open!"

Blaze stands in front of me. He drops my bow and quiver at my hooves.

"What … what are you doing?" says Pinch.

Blaze puts leans down, yet holds my eyes with his midnight blue ones. With one slash, he cuts the ropes tyin my hooves together.

"Blaze!" Pinch yells.

"Until we meet again, Angel" Blaze says softly. He tosses the knife on top of my other weapons. He turns to go.

"Blaze!" Pinch screams. "Are you mad?"

Blaze pays no attention to his so called King and gallops off, away from the action, back in the direction of Freedom Fields. A few of the Tonton see him go an run after him, two flying, fleeing the fight.

"Blaze!" Ruby Pinch howls after him. "Blaze! Where the Hell are you going? Attack! Attack!" He circles like a mad dog, wavin his bolt shooter. His lips is drawn back over his teeth. Like a wild animal in a trap. He’s still holdin Penny to his chest. She looks terrified. I run at him, twistin to buck. I kick his horn an the shooter flies up in the air as his magic explodes, his red horn now havin a crack runnin up it. He yells in pain, spins away.

"Run, Penny!" I yell.

Pinch lunges at me. A arrow whistles through th’air. Hits him in the chest. He screams. He staggers an falls back. I look to see who’s saved me.
Feath flies up to me. She rears up, stoppin beside me.

"About time," I says. "Who’re yer friends?"

"The raiders from the western road," she says. "We called a truce. They’re a wild crowd. When they heard there might be a fight, I couldn’t keep ’em away. So, just outta interest, do you go lookin fer trouble, or does it jest find you?"

"I wish I knew," I says.

"See you later!: she says. She gallops off to join in the fight.

I grab Penny I point to the ridge that the Hawks jest ran down. "See that? Git yerself to the top. Stay outta the way till this is all over."

"But I wanna fight! she says. You gotta let me stay an fight!"

"No way! Not when we just got you back!" She stays a moment before deciding to listen to me, galloping away towards th' ridge.

Up on Pine Top Hill, the fight’s over. All quiet. Them twelve Tonton’s eether dead or fled. Lyin on the ground below, Pinch ain’t movin. A arrow sticks outta his chest. He won’t be gittin up no time soon. Nero calls. He swoops down an lands on the ground infront of me. I stroke his feathers, kiss his soft black head, breathe in his dusty bird smell. "Gawdammit, Nero," I says. "You sure took yer sweet time."

He’s a crow that likes excitement, Nero. If there’s somethin happenin, he ain’t gonna hang around with me if I ain't doin nuthin. He flaps his wings at me, caw-caws an flies off to watch the action from high above. I start runnin. Head fer the thick of the fight. Hawks, western road raiders an my friends aginst the Tonton. Excitement races through my body, speeds my hooves. I snatch a arrow from my quiver as I run. Load my crossbow. I start shootin the second I catch sight of a black robe. Pike’s slashin away on the edge of the action, a wicked lookin longsword in one hand an a studded chain in th’other. Blade’s at his back, busy with the slingshot.

Pike grins when he sees me. "Now this is what I call a fight!" he shouts.

I wade into the middle of the battle. At one point, me an Arrow’s fightin back to back. Then Sun an me. Then me an Ash.

"Look!" yells Ash. "Pinch! He’s gittin away!"

I spot him. He’s managed to pull the arrow outta his chest. He’s climbin onto his hooves. Slowly, painfully.

"Got him!" I says. I gallop towards him flat out. As he pulls hisself up and starts to move, I shoot my last arrow. It hits him in his bad leg an he cries out. He tries to wrench the arrow out as he stumbles an falls. I make a dive fer him. Grab at his caged leg. He kicks out an the cage catches me unner the chin. I go flyin back an slam onto the ground. Git the air knocked outta me. As I drag myself to to my hooves, I see he found the strength to gallop away. Towards the Hoodoos. I look around me, frantic. Not an arrow in sight fer me to fire. Then I see Ash gallopin towards me.

"Quick!" I yell as he disappears round a corner. "He’s gittin away! Give me an arrow!"

"Wait!" she says, holdin my shoulder. "We’re winnin, Moon. You got Sun back. Penny’s safe. Let him go. He won't live long anyway with his injuries, probly'll stumble off a cliff."

"No," I says.

"What does it matter?"

"It matters to me," I says. "Let go, Ash."

"Then I’ll come with you," she says.

"This is my fight," I says. "Don’t tell the rest of ’em where I’ve gone. Promise me, Ash."

"All right, if that’s what you want."

She lets go of me. Steps away. I wheel around.

"Moon! Here!" Ash tosses me her half-full quiver an I catch it. "Good luck!"

"I’ll be back." I tear across the plain towards the sharp red fingers of the Hoodoos. I can feel the red hot burnin in me. Nero flies above, a little bit ahead. He’ll scout the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Hoodoos rise in front of us. They look even stranger close up. Deep channels etched down their high sheer sides. Sharp points. Crammed tight together. I start to see crevasses. A few thin trees cling to the mean red dirt. I bin watchin Pinch. He disappeared through a gap in the rocks. I walk through the gap. I'm on a narrow path worn into the earth that snakes its way around the rocks. Right away, I see the prints of Pinch’s hooves, and drops of blood, darker than the already red earth. It’s gloomy here. Like bein in a deep canyon. An it’s silent. A heavy silence. Like the very rocks is holdin their breath. But there’s alway somethin to listen to, even in silence. Up ahead, a faint heavy breathing, a quiet grunt of pain. There’s alway somethin to smell. There it is. The faintest whiff. Sour, sweet, rotten. The smell of Pinch.

Then, a echo.

I halt . Wait while it dies away. It’s the sound of rocks fallin. An a faint, scrapin sound as Ruby Pinch drags his injured leg behind him. There’s a couple of Hoodoos rounder an smoother’n the rest. I can see a way up between ’em. I start to climb. The earth’s dry an loose unnerhoof. I move careful, tryin not to make any sound. Nero comes down to see what I’m doin. He hops an flaps from rock to rock, always stayin ahead of me. I hold my hoof to my muzzle so’s he knows not to squawk or caw. I reach the top. Check that Pinch ain’t in sight. Pull myself up. I’m on top of a flat Hoodoo. There’s drag marks in the dirt from his leg. He couldn’t of got far. He’ll be in a lotta pain. Again I'm surprised he even got this far.

I slide my bow offa my back. Fit a arrow to the strings. Then I start to follow the drag marks. They stop at the edge of my flat Hoodoo.
I send Nero up into the air. Almost right away, he starts circlin. He’s found Pinch. Looks like he’s on the next Hoodoo to this one. It goes straight up, like a jagged chimley. He must be on the far side of it. There’s a little gap between the Hoodoos. Maybe two foot. Only a small bit of flat rock to land on, then a narrow ledge goes off to the left an disappears around the corner.

He could be right around that corner. He’s got his bolt shooter. But he’s injured. He’s weak. Maybe even dyin. The devil ain’t so easy to kill.
I look at Nero, still circlin above. He seems calm enough. I jump over the gap an land lightly. I’m on the Hoodoo with Pinch. My breath’s tight in my throat. I flatten myself aginst the rock. Then I start to sidle along the ledge. To inch my way around the corner.

Be ready.

I move slowly. Keeping an eye on the ground in front of my hooves. I don’t make a sound. I only got a chance if I take him by surprise.

Be ready.

The ledge starts to widen out. Wider. Wider. I’m turnin the corner.

Now.

I move fast. My bow at the ready. I take it in at a glance. I’m on a wide ledge on the side of the Hoodoo. Pinch is sittin on a rock, restin his leg. He looks up, startled. He reaches fer his bolt shooter after his horn sparks yet fails to lift the shooter. I let fly with my arrow. It glances offa his hoof. He yells out but keeps goin fer the shooter. No time to reload my bow. I dive at him. Knock him offa the rock. Somehow he’s managed to git hold of his shooter. He tries to jam it unner my chin. We struggle an I knock it outta his mouth. He gits his hoof unner my chin. Pushes up into the soft bit. I cain’t breathe. He’s pressin on my windpipe. I grab his hoof with both of mine. Try to pull it away. I kick an squirm. But he’s stronger’n I ever imagined. The rank stink of his breath, his sweat, fills my nostrils.

"No escape this time," he hisses in my ear.

I beat at his robes. Then I hit his burnt face. He shrieks an rolls offa me. I dive at my bow. I dropped my quiver when I jumped Pinch an my arrows is scattered all over. I start to lift one with my magic. But Pinch is on his hooves. Holdin his bolt shooter in his mouth. Aimin it right at me. I scuttle as far away from him as I can. Press myself aginst the rock. Pinch comes towards me. His face bleedin where I hit him. He’s a terrible mess. Blood an burnt flesh. Somethin sharp’s cuttin into my hoof. I’m holdin somethin in my hoof. A little bit of mirror from Pinch’s robe. I must of ripped it off. Suddenly the sun catches it. It throws out a sharp shard of light. Pinch flings up his hoof. Covers his eyes. A chance. I got a chance.

I flash the mirror at him agin. Then I move. Quickly. Silently. He aims the shooter where he thinks I am. I move. Flash the mirror agin. Move. He waves the shooter around.

"Stay still!" he yells.

I flash the mirror. Move. He shoots. I duck. The shot goes wild. Ricochets offa the rock, sendin red dust flyin everywhere. As the echo dies down, as the dust clears, I see Pinch. He’s standin a few paces from the edge of the ledge. He looks surprised. There’s blood gushin outta his neck. The bolt’s ripped through it. He touches his neck. Looks at his wet red hoof like he cain’t believe what he sees. Then he presses his hoof to the wound.

"But... But I’m the King," he says.

"You ain’t no King," I says.

"They said you were the Angel of Death," he says. He takes a step towards me, blood gushin out from under his hoof. "I didn’t believe them."

Suddenly Nero dives at him, squawkin an flappin. Pinch’s forelegs fly up. He staggers. Steps back into thin air. Screams. I rush to the edge. He’s on his back. His forelegs an hind legs flung out. His eyes wide open. Speared on the sharp point of the Hoodoo below. He twitches, coughs up blood, then stops moving.

Nero flutters down to land on my back. By rights, I should feel somethin. Joy or relief or triumph or … somethin. But I don’t. I don’t feel nuthin. The wind moans among the red teeth of the Hoodoos. The sound of birds above me. I look up at the sky. The vultures is already startin to circle.

"Let’s git outta here," I says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I trot back to the battlefield, they’re clearin up. I spot Sun. He’s sittin on the ground a little ways off, lookin exhausted. When he sees me, he raises a hoof in greeting. Arrow an Ash is helpin out with a few injured Hawks. Luckily, it don’t look like nuthin too bad. But we lost two Hawks an one of the raiders. They’re bein placed in a cart somepony brought, to go back to Darktrees where they’ll be set on a funeral pyre.

Penny has just returned from the ridge, an goes runnin over to Sun an throws herself into his outstretched hooves. Everypony else is movin around, gatherin weapons an anythin else that might come in useful. Pike’s bendin over a dead Tonton, checkin to see what he’s got on him. Blade’s standin beside, watchin him. A movement catches my eye. A Tonton. Lyin on the ground not far from Pike an
Blade. He’s raised hisself up. He lifts his bolt shooter. Aims it.

"Pike!" I scream.

He straightens. He turns. I yank my crossbow around. Snatch a arrow. Load. Fire. It all happens at once. It all happens too fast. The Tonton shoots, jest as Blade throws hisself at Pike. They both go down. My arrow hits the Tonton.

"Pike!" I scream. "Blade!" I gallop over. I’m there the same time as Arrow. Blade’s lyin on top of Pike. I haul him into my forelegs. He lays there, limp. His eyes is closed. "No!" I sob, shakin him. "No, Blade!" With a shudder, he comes to. His beautiful brown eyes stare up at me, dazed. I hug him to me, hold him tight to my chest.

Arrow’s rolled Pike over. He kneels beside him, feelin his neck. "Dammit, Pike," he says softly. He looks at me an I know.

"Pike?" says Blade. "Where’s Pike? I want Pike!" I hold him even tighter as he tries to struggle free of me. I don’t want him to see. I don’t want him to know. I feel it the moment he spots Pike. His body stills. I let him go. He stands. He walks over to Pike, sits on the ground beside him an takes his hoof. "No," he says. "Don’t leave me, Pike. Not you too." Great tears start to roll down his face. He rocks back an forth, pressin Pike’s hoof to his heart. Sayin it over an over an over agin. "Don’t leave me, don’t leave me, don’t leave me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We build a pyre in the middle of the battlefield. A fine one, fit fer a warrior. We lay Pike on it. Arrow says a few words. Good words. About friendship. Other things too, but mainly friendship. Then him an me an Ash set the pyre alight. We stand in silence. All of us an all of the Free Hawks an all of the raiders from the western road. We watch while the flames lick up the wood, catch on his clothes an start
to burn. Blade’s by hisself, a little ways off. He won’t let nobody touch him. Won’t be comforted.

Sun puts his foreleg around Penny. She cries. Fearless, kind, funny Pike. With his big laugh an big heart. I think of Holly Vine, the most glorious creature that ever drew breath. She’ll still be waitin fer him. He wanted her to meet Blade. He had a notion he might turn out to be a good family man. An I cry too. As we send Ike back to the stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I shake his hoof. Creed. Skinny, wild-haired, tattooed. Barehoofed leader of the raiders from the western road. Feath’s new friends an allies.

"Thanks," I says. "We couldn’t of done it without you."

He sweeps me a deep bow an kisses my hoof. "It was fun," he says. He gives me a big, white-toothed grin. "Lemme know the next time you wanna rumble," he says. He then gives a holler an him an his raiders go tearin off across the plain.

"Sure you won’t come with us?" Feath says. "We always got room fer one more."

"I’m sure," I says.

"It’s good of you to take the kid", she says. She looks over to where Blade’s helpin Sun git ready to go.

"Arrow says Pike would of wanted it that way. An he’ll be good company fer Penny Rose. Listen Feath," I says, "I dunno how to thank you. None of us ’ud still be here if it warn’t fer you."

"I should of listened to Arrow," she says. "Come with you in the first place. But, like I said, better late than never." She jumps into the air, hoverin, an nods at Nero. He’s perched on Penny's outstretched wing, where she’s givin him a good beak rub. "You should thank that bird of yours," she says. :He’s quite somethin. If you ever git tired of him, I’d be happy to take him offa yer hooves."

"I don’t think I will," I says. I turn to Ash. She smiles. I feel tears prick at my eyes. "Ash," I says. I pull her into a hug an we hold each other tight. "Thank you," I says.

She don’t say nuthin. We stand there fer a moment. Then she steps away. "Stay outta trouble," she says.

"I’ll do my best."

Sun gives her a nod an a smile then looks up to Feath. He holds up his hoof. Feath takes it. "Thanks," he says. "Fer this an … fer helpin Moon
and Penny Rose. Maybe we’ll see you agin sometime."

"You never know", says Feath.

They look at each other. "My hoof," she says. He’s still got hold of it. He lets it go slowly an steps back.

"G’bye," says Ash.

"See you around," says Feath. She wheels about an flies away to join the Free Hawks waitin fer her on the ridge, Ash galloping after her. When they git to the top they pause to look down. Then Feath does a loop in farewell an they’re gone.

Sun’s still starin after them. "She’s quite the mare," I says. "Don’t you think? Sun?"

"Huh?"

"Feath," I says. "Quite the mare."

"Oh," he says. Y"eah. She seems nice." He sets about gittin the saddlebags and supplies the Hawks left us ready to go.

"Feath, nice?" I mutter. "Nice."

"So," says Sun, "where’re we headed?"

"What about Crosscreek?" I says. "It’s so beautiful, Sun, you wouldn’t believe it."

"No way." Sun shakes his head. "That’s goin backwards. Far’s I’m concerned, that’s in the past. We had enough of livin in the past with Pa. We gotta move on, right?"

"Right," I says with a nod.

"I say we head out west," he says. "To the Big Water. There’s rich land there. They say the air smells like honey."

"Who told you that?" I says.

He shrugs. "I cain’t remember."

"I jest want us to be together," I says. "Somewhere far away from here. Somewhere safe. The Big Water. I like the sound of that. Whaddya think, Pen?"

"Sounds good to me too," she says.

"Blade?" I says. He nods.

"Then west it is," says Sun. "No point in waitin. We got everythin we need. Let’s head out."

"Wait," I says, lookin around, "where’s Arrow got to? Anypony seen him?"

Blade points a hoof. "There!" he says.

Arrow’s canterin away. Across the plain, headed east. Anger rips through me. Panic. Heats my blood. "Oh no, you don’t," I says.
I take off like the wind, gallopin after him. Nero streaks along above me.

"Moon!" Penny shouts. "Tell him to come with us!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I catch up with him jest after the Hoodoos. He turns when he hears me comin. Stops. Jumps up on to a tall rock where he'll be out of my reach. He waits. I pull up in front of him, cuttin off his path. The blood’s rushin in my ears, my breath’s comin short. My heart pounds in my chest. "Git down," I says, glarin up at him.

"Not if yer gonna kill me," he says.

"I said … git down!"

"All right, all right," he says, jumpin down offa the rock. "There … I’m down." Nero caws as he settles on a nearby bush. "I see you brought backup," says Arrow.

"Whaddya think yer doin?" I says. "Runnin off like that. Sneakin off like a … like a … no g’bye, no see you later, no nuthin. Jest … gone."

He frowns." I’m comin back," he says.

I go still. I stare at him. "What?" I says.

"I’m comin back," he says. "But I got some business to take care of first."

"Business," I says. "What kinda business? I thought you was a thief."

"Oh! Charmin! I never said that. There’s … a couple of things I gotta do. An Pike’s got somebody waitin fer him. She’s bin waitin a long time. She needs to know what happened."

"You mean Holly," I says.

"You know about her."

"Pike told me."

"But after I see her, I’ll be comin back. That’s the plan."

"Because … because I saved yer life," I says. "Three … no, two times. From the fire an then from the hellwurm. An yer the one that said it, when you save somebody’s life two times—"

"It’s called the rule of three," he says, "not the rule of two. I should know, I made it up."

"I knew it!"

"Look," he says. Two times, three times … this ain’t about obligation. That ain’t why I’m comin back."

"It ain’t?"

"No. It’s about you. You." He takes a couple of steps towards me, we're jest a step apart now. "Yer in my blood, Moon," he says. "Yer in my head. Yer in my breath, yer in my bones … gawd help me, yer everywhere. You have bin since the first moment I set eyes on you."

My heart turns over. I don’t dare breathe. The heartstone’s burnin into my skin.

"I seem to remember," he says, "that first time we met, you said … what was it you said to me?"

"I said that … you ain’t my type," I says.

"Would that still be … yer opinion?"

I look at Arrow. At his strange silver eyes that go from moonlight to granite in a instant, at his light brown muzzle. An I says, "That would … not … still be my … opinion."

He gives me his lopsided smile. "C’mere," he says.

"No," I says. "You c’mere."

He steps in close. He smells of sage, summer skies an somethin that’s jest him. Jest Arrow. "Now what?" he says.

"Now," I says, "you kiss me."

He wraps his hooves around me an hauls me up tight aginst him. He kisses my lips, my eyes, my face, my lips. An I kiss him. I breathe him in like he’s air. Drink him in like he’s water. I don't want this moment to end.

At last he pulls away, but still holds me close. "I gotta go," he says.

"You could go later," I says." We could go together when—"

"No," he says. "I gotta go now." He starts to walk backwards while he talks. He’s lookin at me all the time.

"But how’ll you find me?" I says. "We won’t be here. You don’t even know where we’re goin."

"Yer headed out west," he says, "to the Big Water. They say the air smells like honey." He swings his saddlebags back over his back, tightening them with his magic. I hadn't even noticed that he'd taken them off.

"Wait. Take this". I run over to him, fumblin fer the heartstone. He leans down. I put it over his head, around his neck. "It … it’ll help you to find me," I says.

"I don’t need no stone to find you," he says. "I’d find you anywhere." He kisses me agin. Till I’m dizzy. Till my legs go weak. Then, "Until we meet again, my sweet Angel," he says.

He wheels around an trots away. As he goes, he starts to sing.

'Oh I’ve roved an I’ve rambled all o’er the wide world
And kisses a-plenty I’ve tasted
But it’s her wine-sweet lips that I’m still dreaming of
O hard-hearted Orchid, cruel Orchid my love.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Moon!" It’s Sun’s shout. Him an Penny and Blade trot to meet me. "Are y’okay?" says Sun.

I nod.

"Didn’t you ask him to stay?" says Penny.

"He had somewhere he needed to be," I says.

I take my saddlebags from Sun and strap them onto my back. Nero flaps over to ride on my them.

"Are we ever gonna see him agin?" says Penny.

"One day," I says.
"One day soon," says Blade.

"I hope so," I says.

We turn our heads to the west.

"Oh! I nearly fergot!" Penny pulls Sun’s slingshot from her pocket an gives it to him. "I bin keepin it fer you," she says.

He reaches over an ruffs her mane. "Thanks. I’ll teach you how to use it."

"You don’t need to," I says. "She’s a good shot."

"Well, whaddya know?" says Sun. "Guess I’ll hafta find somethin else to teach you, Pen."

"Or maybe I’ll teach you somethin," says Penny. "You dunno everythin. You jest think you do."

Sun shakes his head. "I definitely bin away too long," he says. "I can see you need takin in hoof, Penny. Talkin to yer elders an betters that way…"

I drop back a bit. I listen while they chatter on an Sun makes us laugh. He always does. We’re together agin. Sun goes first, always first, an I follow on behind. An that’s fine. That’s right. That’s how it’s meant to be. Sun turns around. Smiles.

"Hey," he says, "what’re you doin back there? I ain’t got a clue where we’re goin. Git on up here an lead the way."

So I do.

Blood Red Road

by Dawn-Designs-Art

Prologue

Silverlake

The Trackway

Crosscreek

Sandsea

Hopetown: Arrival

Hopetown: 1 Month Later

Escaping Hopetown

Darktrees

The Black Mountains

The One-Eyed Stallion

The Dragon's Teeth

Hellwurms

Freedom Fields

Escape From Freedom Fields

Battle to the End