"Mareton? Can you hear me?"

Sebastius Mareton slowly came to. The pain made him groan. Not only did his neck ache, but so did most of his body. It was like he'd only just been worked over by a violent steel golem- and he did know what that felt like, unfortunately. And it didn't seem like things would get better.

"Are your legs okay?" Dell asked. "Two of them came off and they were all bent up and we weren't sure which-"

"You idiots!" Mareton shouted, stretching his left legs out. "You put them on backwards!"

"How can you tell?" Dell asked.

Sebastius pawed vaguely at Dell with his front leg, then grabbed Swinn's mane with his back leg.

"Oops," Swinn said. "Yeah, you're only supposed to be able to grab things with your front hooves, aren't you...?"

"See, this is why I don't trust doctors," Sebastius said.

"Still, smart thinking, cutting your tail like that," Dell said. "When we saw you never made it downstairs, we were worried you'd got electrocuted and then we wouldn't be able to revive you."

"Dell!" Swinn said.

Mareton blinked. "Wait, what do you mean, you wouldn't have been able to revive me?"

Dell just stumbled backwards and glanced at her sister.

"Oh, go ahead and tell him," Swinn said. "It's a moot point. We're out of potion."

Dell took a deep breath. "The potion doesn't work on burn wounds. Only on cuts."

Mareton stared at them with his one eye. "Thank you ever so much for telling this to me right up front, girls."

"S-sorry?" Dell whimpered.

"Sorry doesn't cover it." But on second thought, Sebastius couldn't afford to quarrel with the SwinnDell sisters. He was in agonizing pain, his limbs had been rearranged so that standing up was a challenge again, he had lost an eye, and all his wounds seemed ready to reopen if he so much as breathed on them funny. If anypony wanted him dead (and a lot of them did) they wouldn't have to scheme about it. They could just punch him hard, and it would be all over. Not to mention that his job as a treasure hunter would be completely impossible. How could he dodge traps and rival archeologists if he had trouble walking properly? He needed to find that doctor. And now that he'd given all his money away, his only hope that the doctor would actually help him was to keep Swinn and Dell in the dark about what happened to their horns.

"Forget it, okay? I just want to get moving." Sebastius carefully arranged all four hooves underneath his body, and pushed upward. He flopped to one side.

Swinn snickered.

"Here, need a hand?" Dell asked, extending one hoof.

Sebastius swiped his hoof past Dell's a number of times.

"Ooh, right, that hoof doesn't hold anymore…" Dell grabbed the other hoof and yanked Sebastius to his hooves, only for him to fall flat on his face.

"Oh my gosh- Sebastius!" Swinn gasped. "Your cutie mark!"

"What?" Sebastius said, lifting his head and twisting around frantically, trying to look at his flank without ripping his head off. "What happened to it?"

"It- it changed!" Dell said.

"To what?" Sebastius said.

"It's hard to say," Swinn said, staring at his flank. "But I think it means your destiny is now a…"

"…circus freak show!" Dell finished.

The girls collapsed in giggles.

"No, really, we should just give up searching for the doctor and tour you across the country!" Swinn said.

"Ponies will pay us tons of bits just to watch you try and walk!" Dell snickered.

Mareton's cutie mark hadn't changed. He hated himself for falling for such a juvenile prank.

"Wow, girls," he said. "I can't believe you managed to come up with that joke in complete unison. It's almost like you're psychic or something. But then, that's silly. Earth ponies aren't psychic." He threw as much acid into that last sentence as he knew how to add.

The SwinnDell sisters stopped laughing.

"Good girls," Sebastius said, satisfied that he was once more in control of the situation. "Now if you'll just help me to my hooves, with no more snickering this time, we can find this stupid surgeon and then we both can walk away from this confrontation in one whole healthy piece."


Learning to walk again was especially hard this time, as now Sebastius had to unlearn two methods of walking instead of just one. The girls had to help him get his cloak back on, and walked one on each side to try and stop him from falling down. But eventually they made it to the coach rental, and Mareton managed to get a coach to take them to the Dalquen district on credit.

Soon as they were inside the coach, hidden from prying eyes and ears, Mareton took his cloak off. It took him several minutes, a lot of squirming, and half the time was spent on the floor. Once Mareton even started choking himself and panicked a bit before he managed to untangle his neck.

"Now, girls," he said, throwing the instrument of torture on the floor and climbing awkwardly back into his seat, "I want you to tell me everything about the doctor we're looking for. Everything you know."

Swinn and Dell told him the whole story of their midnight adventure during the trip.

When they arrived at the Dalquen district, it took Mareton ten minutes to put his cloak back on and even then he needed Swinn and Dell's help. He was sure his neck was bleeding, but somehow he didn't feel an urgent need to get that treated. It didn't add very much to his already high level of pain.

Each step was agonizing. Each leg or neck movement strained old wounds. Forget treasure hunting like this; Mareton couldn't live like this.

Soon, he told himself. Soon it'll all be better.

And then, before they'd even left the carriage yard, Mareton saw somepony he didn't expect.

Bravado.

The gray earth pony was speaking to one of the carriage renters. The renter shook his head.

At first, Mareton panicked. Bravado hated him. Now that he knew how easily Mareton could be killed, he wouldn't hesitate to strike him down again. And that would be it. Swinn and Dell had no potions. And now he knew about the one hour deadline…

He snuck off towards a handy alley. He went all the way to the end and looked for a hiding place.

"Who's there?"

Mareton whipped around at the sound of Bravado's voice. The explorer had picked the same alley to enter. Just his luck.

Bravado stared at Sebastius in shock. "M-Mareton?" he said, his voice quavering slightly. His face grew pale, his eyes wide.

What's up with him? Sebastius wondered. He looks like he's seen a ghost.

And then he got a brilliant revelation. Bravado had no reason to believe that the SwinnDell sisters had a magical potion that they used to bring Sebastius back to life. As far as Bravado could tell, Sebastius was a ghost.

Ooh, this would be fun.

Sebastius spoke in breathy tones, doing his best to convey otherworldliness. "Bravado," he hissed.

Bravado backed off a few steps.

"Oh, don't be in such a hurry to leave," Sebastius Mareton said. "I wish you wouldn't. I really wish you wouldn't."

Mareton lifted his black hood off his head, lowering it slowly to reveal the bleeding cuts on his neck. Bravado gasped shakily.

"See what you did to me?" Sebastius asked, glaring at Bravado with his remaining eye. "Dying hurts, Bravado. It hurts more than anything you've ever experienced before. Not that I'd expect you to know that." He took a few steps closer. "But I'd be glad to teach you."

Bravado screamed and bolted out of the alley.

He smacked right into Dell and bowled her over. The two of them rolled a short way before coming to a stop at Swinn's hooves. Swinn narrowed her eyes at them.

"Next time you want to sneak off, Sebastius- tell us!" Dell snapped from the ground.

"Oh, come on!" Sebastius said. "How many other opportunities would I get to make Bravado scream like a tiny filly?"

Bravado was up in a flash, assuming a defensive position. He stared at Mareton for a while.

"He's not a ghost," Dell said.

"Correct," Mareton said. "Actually, I've recently become immune to death."

"Liar!" Swinn and Dell shouted.

"Okay, fine," Mareton said. "The truth is-"

"The truth is," Swinn said, "that if it weren't for us, who had the magic potion, you'd have been lying in the street with your head whacked off."

"No, the truth is," Mareton growled, "that if it hadn't been for your stupid magic potion, I'd never have died in the first place!"

Bravado just looked back and forth between Sebastius and the SwinnDell sisters. The look on his face was just pleading for an explanation.

"Girls?" he said. "You're not… with him, are you?"

"What?" Swinn said. "With this heinous horn-hostage-holding horse? Not on purpose."

"Well, ah, actually," Bravado said, shuffling in the pockets of his cargo vest, "I was looking for you, because, I have something that might fix this situation."

Oh no, Mareton thought. No way. Things couldn't go south that fast…

Bravado pulled Swinn and Dells horns from his pocket and held them out to the girls.

Swinn shrieked and seized her horn like a starving pony seizing a loaf of bread. Dell gasped and stared at her horn, happy tears flowing from her eyes. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" Dell cried, hugging Bravado tightly.

Bravado stroked her mane. "Ah, es de nada, senorita. Anypony would have done the same."

"Now we can go home!" Dell said, spinning in a happy circle.

"I miss Equestria," Swinn sighed. "And mostly I miss you, Dell."

The two sisters hugged.

Sebastius frantically tried to come up with a way to salvage the situation.

"How are you going to get your horns back on your heads?" he said. "Don't you need some kind of doctor for that? And how will you find the doctor without a guide who speaks Marabian?"

The sisters' hug came apart as the they pondered the question. Mareton allowed himself a smug smile.

"Hey, Bravado," Dell said. "Do you speak Marabian?"

Wait, no…!

"Of course, hermanas," Bravado said.

"Then you could take us to find the doctor we need!" Swinn said. "Pretty please?"

Bravado blinked a bit. "Eh, sorry, girls, but I have my own business to take care of."

"Aw," Dell said, giving him puppy eyes.

"Like what?" Swinn snapped.

The lack of psychic link was obvious, judging by how they immediately went for two different tactics, whereas before they would have been in perfect sync.

"I'm looking for an old friend of mine," Bravado said. "Azure Lightning. I don't suppose you've seen him?"

"What's he look like?" Dell asked.

"He has a blue mane and tail. His coat was yellow but I think he dyed it brown to hide from an old master of his. But it doesn't work too well because the most noticeable thing about him is his wings. He is a pegasus, but a birth defect left the wings too small to do him any good. Sound familiar?"

There was a pause.

"Nope," Swinn said.

Dell gasped. "Oh, Swinn, I remember him!"

Swinn blinked. "Where from?"

"Oh…" Dells enthusiasm suddenly plunged. "Oh, well, you know, we met him at the, uh, doctor's house…?"

"Oh!" Swinn said.

"Oh," Mareton said, to join the chorus. "Was that the pony that Doctor Zerato was hacking into pieces?"

There was an awkward silence. Sebastius relished Bravado's expression: a misture of dismay, horror, and confusion.

"He's still alive!" Dell said. "Well, probably. We know where he is! Sort of."

"But the upshot is," Swinn said, "we're all looking for the same pony. So why don't you come with us?"

"W-well," Sebastius said, "how about we get going?"

All three ponies turned on him.

"I'm sorry," Swinn said, a malicious smirk on her face, "did you say 'we'?"

"How do we know you won't just look for another opportunity to take control of us?" Dell said, narrowing her eyes.

Bravado stepped forward, grinning. "The world will be a better place without you, Señor Mareton." He raised his hoof for a punch.

There was no way forward. The three of them blocked the alley exit.

Sebastius ran a short way down the alley, straight into the dead end. What had possessed him to pick an alley with a dead end to hide in?

The three ponies came closer.

No- this couldn't be it- he was too young, and handsome, and successful, and, and, and, and of all the things that could've killed him, and of all the cool ways to die, he had to just be punched to death in an alley?

Sebastius screamed and pressed his hooves to his eyes.

A fluttering of wings answered him. Was that an angel about to escort him to hell?

"Hey, what's going on here?"

Sebastius opened his eyes. A winged zebra guard stood between him, Bravado and the SwinnDell sisters. All right, time for operation waterworks. When his life was on the line, Sebastius was not to proud for anything.

"Oh, thank you," he cried, clasping his hooves in front of him in a gesture of gratitude, "I'm so glad you heard me- I was- I was so scared-"

"No worries, kid," the guard said, patting Mareton patronizingly on the head. "So what started this? Some brotherly feud?"

Sebastius stared at the guard blankly. "Huh?"

"Oh, you don't think- we're not related!" Bravado shouted.

The guard grimaced. "Uh. Uh huh. Well, er, sorry, you two stallions just looked… real… similar…"

If he gives me that 'all earth ponies look alike to me' excuse, I'll make him eat his own wings, Mareton thought.

"Well, on your way, then," the zebra guard said, guiding Sebastius back to the safety of the crowds.

"Thanks again," Sebastius said, to avoid suspicion. The guard nodded and flew off.

Bravado and the SwinnDell sisters stalked out of the alley, annoyed that their prey had escaped.

"Well," Bravado said, "at least we're even. Now I've made you scream like a little filly."

Mareton's face curled up in a snarl.

"Oh, well," Swinn said. "It doesn't matter if we don't deal with you here and now. Somepony will."

"And even if you live," Dell said, "you won't be much of a threat to us anymore. Or to anypony else."

"Don't even think about following us," Bravado said. "Guards won't always be there to rescue you."

"And we'll tell Doctor Zerato what a scoundrel you are," Swinn said. "You can kiss any hope you had of getting help from him goodbye."

The three of them stalked off.

They were right, Mareton thought with a creeping feeling of doom. It was over. Just like that.

He'd better find a quiet place to mope for a bit.


Sebastius trailed his hoof in the water of the fountain. Since the Marabians were observing the festival of lightning, not the festival of water, the water shrines were completely deserted. It was useless to toss coins for good luck, the Marabians believed. The water god just plain didn't exist during this month.

The cool water felt good on his hooves, and it was nice to sit down and rest his head on the fountain's edge. His wounds still ached, but it was a bit more bearable now.

How had this happened to him? Where had he gone wrong? It just wasn't fair. Life had never been fair to him. He'd always had to fight for everything he got. Magic, social status, respect, abilities…

…parental affection…

Being a sociopath, Mareton had never actually needed his father to love him, unlike most Normies. His father was just another pony. And other ponies were always something Mareton had considered as tools at his disposal. But it was easier for him to convince ponies to do as he pleased when the ponies felt some degree of loyalty to him. And his father was the one who had been legally in charge of him, so it paid to stay under his good grace. Mareton had always given his father just enough heartwarming moments to allay any of his suspicions that something was not quite right about the way his son viewed the world.

It had worked, mostly…

A memory stirred in Mareton's mind. It had never occurred to him to wonder whether he or Bravado might be related until that zebra had compared them. But then, he didn't know anything about Bravado's past. And as for his own past…

Sebastius crouched on the cold linoleum, his ear pressed against the kitchen door, straining to hear his parents' voices. His bags were packed, he had a map of the transit system at the ready, and he knew where his mom kept spare change for a rainy day. Still, he knew it would be hard for a little colt like him to somehow make his way in the world without parents. And if he wanted to be an adventure archeologist, he would rather learn the necessary skills from his dad, who would surely teach him for free. So before he ran away, he wanted to be certain of his fate.

His dad, as always, was taking his side.

"For the last time," Rodolphus said, "there is nothing wrong with Sebastius. All kids are a little cruel at times. Especially when a new sibling enters the picture."

"You don't have to live with him all the time," his mom said. "You haven't seen him like I have."

"I'm not doubting your word," his dad lied, "but I'm not sending him away to an institute. He is our son."

"You have more than one son!" his mom cried. "And if you won't protect your youngest child, I will!"

Mareton lifted his head slightly, wincing at the pain in his neck. He leaned over the water and studied his reflection, trying to imagine himself with a gray coat and red mane like Bravado had. It wasn't a perfect match, of course, but then hairstyles weren't hereditary. And the resemblance was there…

Could it be…?