May 23: 5:05 AM

Bring Materials from Starhall 72%

Of course, Wayfinder knew Hazel wasn’t going to turn her down. She was a kid, and Way was one of the few people in her whole world who had shown her kindness since she became infected. She would probably have done anything Way asked if she thought it would make her happy. That only meant an increased responsibility for Way when giving her a job.

Only the total certainty of starvation made her consider any of it, and the confidence she’d seen from the population of Starhall in their living arrangements. They trusted their charms to get them in and out of the city without difficulty, and there were children living there. The same technique could work for Hazel.

“That place I went without you—they’re a whole little town inside this one. I think they probably have supplies. Extra seeds, maybe farm implements. My plan… my plan needs earth ponies to be the ones in the dirt actually doing the farming. Their magic isn’t gonna work if they’re sitting in a GPS-guided tractor watching YouTube videos. That’s where you would come in. If you’re willing, I would send you to Starhall to ask for what we need. You could carry it back, or accept whatever help they’re willing to offer. Either way, you bring it to this spot by tomorrow morning.”

“Easy!” The bug hopped up off the ground, her wings buzzing with a sudden burst of energy. It held her there quite a bit longer than Way might’ve expected, before depositing her back on the soil. “Walk somewhere, ask for seeds, bring them back here. I’ve got really good night vision, I could even go in the dark. No one would see! You’re all so blind, except for the bat ones. But there aren’t very many of those.”

Way dropped down to one knee, resting her foreleg on Hazel’s shoulder. “I’m glad you wanna help, sweetie. But listen to me. Your safety matters a lot more to me than success. If you have to give up, turn around, leave things behind… if you’re too scared to go, or anyone in Starhall tells you not to go at a certain time, you listen. I’m glad you’re helping, but you matter more to me than anything else. Understand?”

Hazel sniffed, then leaned forward and touched her forehead to Wayfinder. “O-okay mo—Way.” She shook, wiping her face on her foreleg. “Yeah. I’ll be careful.”

There were specifics to work out after that of course. Wayfinder had to fill out a letter explaining the situation, something they could deliver to Sunburst. Then she had to map out the safe route, get Hazel the charm, and help her away from the barracks without being seen leaving.

That left her with a few more hours in the day to arrange recruits. Here was the most critical part of all, and one she expected to be the most difficult. Without Earth Ponies, using their magic to grow supplies for the Isolation Zone would obviously not get far.

Fortunately for her, she had an inadvertent ally in that endeavor: Captain Roberts.

Word of her impending embarrassment had already spread through the barracks and beyond, including the various contractors and laborers who contracted with them to perform lesser services in the zone. But instead of laughing her off, most responded to her the same way:

“You’re trying to grow crops in this?” asked Officer Kirk, one of the earth ponies she’d seen lingering near the back of her lessons during the first week or two. Of course he’d not walked away with any magic from those hours in the classroom. “Completely hopeless, kid. Soil’s rocky and basically dead. Pretty sure the Captain gave you the worst patch of dirt in the whole zone.”

She lowered her clipboard in her magic, letting the pen settle up against it. “I guess that means you’re not interested. Do you know anyone else—”

“Hey,” he moved closer, pushing against the board with one hoof. “I wasn’t finished. First: I want to know if it’s true what he said. You want to teach us our own magic to make this work? Like… no horns magic? For us poor souls who can’t float things like you.”

She nodded eagerly. “Yes. I’ve learned more about how our transformations work since I started giving lessons, including yours. I can’t do what you can. I’ll just be leading the exercises based on what I’ve seen working from others. I won’t be able to do any of it myself.”

“Okay. Second question: is it true helping you gets me out of morning PT?”

She had him signed up shortly thereafter. Another half-dozen or so officers followed. More than twice as many from the office staff and general laborers, whose ranks had swelled with former officers after they lost the use of their hands in the face of unicorns who could use their service weapons again. More came from the contractors and other laborers with no access to the barracks at all. She had to repeat to them that there would be no payment as yet, other than a reasonable share of the produce if they were successful.

But they didn’t seem to mind. The Isolation Zone didn’t just keep people trapped in a small area, it also took away what they did. Many were drowning in free time and itching for something productive to do with it.

But all the volunteers in the world would mean very little if Wayfinder could only bring them to a lifeless dirt field and promise the power of the earth would fill them, but not give them any practical outlet for their powers. She’d turn into another new-age cult leader in Sedona ranting about “vortexes.”

She woke up early that morning, so she could check on what they were working with before ponies arrived. That brought her to their lonely field right around the time the carts rolled in.

There were three in total, flat wooden beds attached to scavenged bicycle parts with a leather harness on the front for a pony to pull them. At first she only recognized one of those pulling: Ruby, looking more annoyed with Wayfinder than she had the time Way accidentally popped her soufflé. One of the other two was a bulky earth pony, one of the few Way had seen that was taller than she was. But instead of thin and graceful, her build had the muscle to lift up a house and drag it by the foundation.

It was the third creature who greeted Way first, shrinking down out of the harness and buzzing over with her glittering transparent wings. Mud smeared her hooves, and little bits of leaves clung to her black coat. She still grinned. “Wayfinder! I did it! They came! Are you proud of me?”

She embraced the bug. “Of course, sweetie. I was proud you even wanted to help. You did amazing.”

“Got some balls on you to ask so much,” said the stranger, unhitching herself from the cart and approaching them. “Not just from your daughter. She had the charm—I’ve seen worse parenting since the apocalypse started. I mean from Starhall. You’ve got the whole city as your playground, and you want to borrow some of our ploughs. Feels a little like we’re being robbed.”

She released Hazel, then straightened. “Getting the zone on its feet is what Sunburst sent me to do. If it starves, there will be a million refugees headed into the Overgrowth. This is the only way to stop it.”

The mare grunted. “Sunburst seems to think so. Too bad you’re so braindead about it. Might be a unicorn prodigy, but you can’t just teach what earth ponies do. Whatever book you read on it is sterile and lifeless. You need a mare who can actually feel the heartbeat of the planet in her hooves.” She pawed at the ground between them, looking up in the gloom of sunrise at their assigned field. “Is this what they gave you? Do they want to starve?”

“One of them wants me to fail,” she said. “I’m Wayfinder, by the way. Are you… here to help? We’d be really grateful.”

“Yes,” she said, exasperated. “I’m Silver Clover. Same as yours. You won’t ask what it used to be and neither will I, okay?”

She nodded. “Sure, that’s… fine, Silver Clover. Did you get your name from the cutie mark?” She glanced sideways to get a better view, where the shape of three little silver clovers spread across her coat. From what little Way knew about Cutie Marks, that one certainly encouraged her. Extra talent for growing was exactly what they needed.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, flicking her tail back towards the street. “If you want to unload all that, it’d be great. I need to bring our students from the barracks.”

“My students,” Clover corrected, tail flicking in annoyance. “I thought we just went over that.”

“Sure…” Way said, trailing off awkwardly. “Except for one thing: they’re expecting me to teach. I have to hand them off gracefully, so they don’t walk. I know we’re strangers, but you’ll have to act like you respect me. You can’t borrow the trust I’ve earned if you treat me with contempt.”

Clover froze near the cart, expression turning unreadable. Finally she nodded. “Sure, Wayfinder. We’re on the same page.”

Hardly the strongest reassurance she’d ever got—but given her limited options, Way couldn’t exactly refuse. Way approached the other cart, where an exhausted Ruby was still tangled in the harness. She levitated a clip off her back, then pushed the straps aside. “Didn’t think you would be back so soon.”

Ruby stepped out, shaking away the leaves and mud from her hooves as best she could. “I hadn’t planned on it. But the kid begged and pled and whined so loudly that someone had to go. Figured I still kinda owed her since she helped get me out of jail.”

Perhaps only technically. But Way wasn’t about to point that out. Instead, she touched one hoof briefly on her shoulder. “Thanks for the help. If you want a shower in the barracks before you—”

“Nah,” she retreated a step. “We’ve got those. I’ll just be heading back with the equipment when you’re done anyway. It’s on loan for now. As wasteful with our time as that implies. Obviously some of the seeds will be in the ground—”

“No they won’t!” Clover interrupted, after tossing the canvas covering off the other cart. “This ground is dead. We’ve got to break it, turn it over, teach it how to be alive. No planting anything today, just lots of sweat and hard work. Too hard for those delicate hooves, unicorn girls. But when we start, maybe you can bring refreshments. Or I wouldn’t mind watching you cheer for us, Wayfinder. You’ve got the build for it.”

Way didn’t stay to ask what ‘the right build’ meant, or let Clover fluster her more than she already had. She slipped away to return to the barracks while Hazel and the others unloaded the carts. She found a group of earth ponies gathered in front of the barracks, looking a little lost. Those faces soon turned to relief once they saw her.

So early in the morning, most had the usual exhaustion plastered on their faces, with tails and manes disheveled. While they waited for everyone to show up, the crowd soon swelled, joined by plenty of non-earth-ponies from in and out of the barracks. Anything happening was a subject of interest, even if what was happening didn’t promise to be terribly interesting to the non-earth-ponies.

Even Roberts made his appearance, somehow perfectly groomed and wearing a set of PT shorts that fit. Very few others there bothered with clothing at all. Getting their duty vests covered in dirt wouldn’t help anyone. “Don’t expect a terribly productive morning,” he said to no one in particular, when they set off. “But moving dirt around could work well for building strength, I suppose.”

He fell in with Way at the front of the group, meeting her eyes. “Command heard about your experiment. I know at least one of your students here will be reporting back on what happens. For your sake, I hope this isn’t bullshit. Good luck.” He smiled, then slipped back into the crowd. Wayfinder would have to lead them alone.

And pray Silver Clover was as good at this as she acted, or Denver would starve.