Chapter 4: Underworld

The place was a mess, from the 18 panels only two were reasonably intact. All windows of the main building were broken; there was even a few cracks in the walls and columns. Close to the entrance, we spotted some bones of long dead ponies, further evidence of some sort of disaster. There was also some wreckages of what appeared to be metal carriages and chariots; weird, considering none of them had engines.

Above the main doors was a sign. I did not know what was written, but what caught my attention was the symbol, a shield with a crescent moon. However, I decided to just shrug it off and head inside.

We stepped inside a large hall; to our sides were the remains of what once would have been cushions and sofas for people to wait, to our front was a big desk, probably the reception. It was clear this was a commercial or a public building of some sort.

"So, should we spread out?" I asked.

"We don’t know what the building is like, better avoid being far from each other, I check the left side, you go right" His previous anger was giving way to some curiosity.

There was not much to see in the first ten minutes. It appeared I was right about this being a commercial building (most likely in the field of energy or scientific research), as most rooms were offices and meeting rooms. The only interesting thing was some computers, they were big, heavy and lacked our kind of refinement, so I guessed this people have just gotten into the electronic era.

Another detail was the large quantity of… bottle caps I found, almost every desk or locker had a few, but no bottles. Maybe this was a cultural trait; I could only guess.

After I was done, I went to the back of the building, expecting to find the European. It was a kitchen, not much to say about it, I could see the Euro outside, looking at the tables. After acknowledging each other’s presence, I checked the place for food, we had plenty of MREs at the outpost, but it would be good to know we had other options.

There was some canned food stored, only a few traces of radiation. I picked about five cans of different types and put them in my backpack. Something else that got my attention was a bottle with something very similar to soda inside, luckily, the logo was pretty conserved, and it had a carrot right at the side. Well, that is not exactly a… common flavor, but again, this is a world filled with psychopath ponies.

We also saw a big metal door, likely leading to the underground levels, with a terminal on the side. The door was locked, and we didn’t know the language, so we could not understand what was written on the terminal, our only choice was to keep going upstairs.

It didn’t took long for us to get bored. The next two floors were pretty much the same, nothing but more bottle caps, terminals and bones. The fourth was a little better, it had some sort of jewelry exposed, but for some reason a few of them were glowing; we decided to stay away, for all we knew that shit was radioactive.

As we made our way to the final floor, my mind started drifting back to the outpost. I really want to get some sleep, but maybe I should check on Barin and Dima one more time, and perhaps some food would not be so bad too (except for the taste, it’s usually pretty awful). I wonder what we are going to do next, stranded on a hostile place with no clues of what brought us here, that doesn’t gives many options, but I suppose that will only matter after we find basic supplies. There was also the issue with the ponies, so far, they have only been a minor annoyance, but who knows, better safe than sorry.

My line of thought was cut short as we stepped into the fifth floor.

"What the… Are you seeing that?" The Euro asked, as we pointed our guns into the floating target.

"Hell yes I am! How the fuck… a robot? A freaking floating robot?" I almost shouted.

How did they create something like this? There is no way someone with the same technological level similar to those terminals downstairs would be able to create this… floating… octopus… robot… thing. It was made of metal, it had eight arms connected to its head, equipped with what I assume were sensors of some sort, oh, and it was floating by some propulsion mechanism under it. The metal freak kept saying something in an artificial voice as we pointed our weapons at it.

"All right, I say we do a quick search and get the hell out of here!" The Euro said quickly.

"I agree!"

We went our separate ways. I didn’t bother to open anything as I checked the area, especially after spotting more of those robots. I was not afraid of them, pretty sure a few well-placed rounds could do the job if needed. The real problem is what we didn’t know, if they have these robots, who knows what else we might find here?

It took us less than five minutes (the others took around 20 to 30 each). We wasted no time heading down, but as we made our way to the third floor, we heard something. It appeared to be shouting, coming from the lower levels. The sound sent chills down my spine. We were stuck in a building, far away from base and with no support available, a recipe for disaster...

"Shit! What now…" I commented. "It sounded downstairs."

Both of us took a combat stance, getting ready to face whatever might be down there. "You think it’s those ponies?" The European asked.

"It’s possible, we need to be careful, if you hear anything close, use your active camouflage."

"Good, just keep a low profile and try to sneak our way out."

And them everything went to hell.

Alarms started beeping, red lights began flashing, and there was the sound of shouting and gunshots coming from the lower floors. As a reflex we activated our devices and jumped into cover, each one went to a table in the opposite sides of the room.

A moment later, something else entered the room. It was big, fully encased in metal, moving with a pair of tracks at the bottom of its body, bearing two arms with a set of six… gems… each, arranged in a circular manner, not unlike a Gatling gun. The metal monster kept going down the hall, deeper into the building. Great, another problem to deal with…

"Fuck, no time to do this quietly, not with those robots here" I whispered into the radio.

"How did they even… ah, screw it, better go guns blazing?" He replied.

"I don’t like it, but we need to get out here fast. It appears they are also fighting; we can use that as a distraction."

Just as we moved out of cover, another one of those robots showed up. The thing turned to face me, the gems on its arms started spinning… exactly like a Gatling gun…

"Shit!" I shouted while jumping into the room closer to me.

Right behind me, a barrage of… lasers… struck the wall, setting alight any pieces of the original paint. They have combat robots with laser technology… we are so fucked. I shouted all curses I knew of as I sprinted down the corridors of the building, trying to lose the dammed thing. There wasn’t much of a point on shooting it, obviously the thing was made to withstand small arms fire.

Why didn’t I bring a E.M.P grenade?! No Alex, why bring a E.M.P grenade to a recon mission, it’s not like you'll have to fight your way out of a building filled with robots and psychopaths, right? Ah, fuck me… this place… planet… this fucking shithole I’m stuck in!

Suddenly another one showed up to the front, this one had a grenade launcher in on its left arm. With no way out I did the only thing I could, I jumped behind an overturned table. My mind was racing, trying to find a way out of this. I could use my normal grenades, but I only had two, maybe I could aim for anything that looks like a sensor?

Before I could think further, the new one opened fire. The grenade hit the furniture to my left, the shockwave throwing me off my feet. I landed quite heavily on my back, losing my breath and grunting in pain as dust rose around me. I quickly scrambled back into cover. Before I moved, However, there was a loud snap, not from weapons, but from the floor I was laying, the whole think went down with me at the top. Consequently, I crashed down into the second floor, my back exploding in pain as we made contact.

Slowly and carefully, I tried to stand up, the pain preventing me from doing any harsh moves, this had been quite a fall. I took a heavy breath, trying to stop the dizziness in my head. As I succeeded in my small task, my mind reminded me of the Euro, my eyes widening as I realized I had no idea of what had happened to him. I could barely hear anything from my radio, with all the sounds of battle around; in addition, the signal was not very good.

There was shouting outside of the room I had crashed. I took cover near the door and gave a quick peek outside, spotting two ponies, one looking exactly like all we had seen so far, orange coat and short brown mane wearing one of those saddle rifles. The other one got my attention, white coat and a long blonde mane with a horn; that one was a lot cleaner than the others, the armor and gear looked more like something from an actual army and were in an excellent state of preservation, I could not see any weapons. The orange one was shouting while pointing his rifles at the white one, who was backing away slowly.

Can’t these people kill each other out of my way? I don’t have the time for this shit.

I pointed my rifle at the one armed and pulled the trigger, letting out a small burst of rounds. Most of them hit the target, easily penetrating his armor and knocking him down. I didn’t even bothered checking if he was still alive as I took a step and turned my aim at the white one. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins as we locked eyes, taking heavy breaths as I considered what I should do. My opponent appeared to be stunned, refusing to move a muscle, eyes going wide.

Well, it is not armed and clearly afraid; good, I need to save ammo.

I left without hesitation, going as fast as I could to the stairs. I kept my weapon raised, praying that I did not come across another one of those robots, and cursing for not having any bullets for my under-barrel shotgun, they would be very useful right now. Maybe I could find some with the ponies…

Finally making my way to the first floor, I heard the sound of another metal monster approaching; lucky for me, however, my active camouflage device had recharged. After it was all clear, I continued my advance to the exit, but just as I walked into the hall, three ponies fighting off one of the robots greeted me. I went to the nearest cover and weighted my options. I could try to use the chaos as a distraction, but I could end up being shot; there was also the option to wait for my device to recharge, but I didn’t want to risk staying here any longer.

I decided to try end this fight more quickly. I took one of my grenades and threw it at the hostiles, but as I did so, one of them spotted me and opened fire, just as one of the ponies was turned into dust by the robot. The shot ripped through my left arm, right at the gap between my shoulder and upper arm plates. I cried in pain as I went back into cover, the resulting explosion hiding the sound. My left arm was broken.

Giving a quick look, I confirmed all enemies were down. This was my chance to escape; a quick sprint and I could link back to the Euro and get the hell out of here. I hoped he got out, I needed him alive, and I was in no condition to keep fighting.

However, just as I was about to go, another robot blocked my way. I went the opposite direction, deeper into the building, my heart pounding as I heard the thing chasing me. I was running out of options.

I was back in the restaurant area, now with the body of a pony. I stopped for a moment to figure my next move, taking notice of the now open door to the lower levels. Before I could think something, however… another robot burst in. This one was slightly larger, and was equipped with a fucking rocket launcher in the right arm.

I made a split decision and jumped into the recently open way. Because of my lack of focus (kind of hard when being chased by robots, with a broken arm) and the lack of illumination I did not realized the door led to a stairway, causing me trip and roll down the whole thing. As I tried to control my fall, I heard an explosion behind me, followed by the sound of the entrance collapsing.

After what felt like an eternity, I landed on a plain area. My whole body was in pain, and with the adrenaline losing its effect I was becoming tired. With a lot of effort, I got to my knees and looked around, my eyes adjusting to the slightly darker room as I did so.

This was no basement; this place looked more like a bunker or an underground facility. As I scanned the gray walls and ground, my eyes settled in a single figure that stood out. A white and blonde figure…

This time the pony was armed; a small double-barrel shotgun floating on its side. I am trapped underground with a broken arm and a pony carrying a shotgun... now I’m truly fucked.

Without hesitating, I took out my sidearm and pointed at it. I could barely aim, my hand was shaking and the rest of my body was even worse. My opponent flinched at my reaction, going into a combat stance. I didn’t dare to move my eyes, my mind racing. Should I just shoot it? And what should I do after, how am I going to get out of here? What about the European, did he made it? I do not know how long we stood there, maybe seconds or minutes.

My eyes took every little detail of this creature. I could see the green vest it was wearing, the brown bags at her side (saddle bags?) and the double-barrel shotgun floating besides it. The hair (mane?) looked dirty from dust and rubble and I could see a few cuts on the face and legs. Its breathing was heavy, probably from running to this place.

The pony reacted first (almost making me shoot, in the process), by… lowering its weapon? What? No, this is not possible, not after everything we had seen so far. We should be fighting, killing each other, just as they had done so far, against us… against each other. Just as they did… to that foal…

The pony took a step forward. Just one bullet, that’s all I need. Another step. Just pull the dammed trigger! It’s an enemy, a hostile, this is just a trick, to lower my guard, yes! All I have to do is end this, get out of here, and go back to the outpost, to my city, my home! Our distance is now only half. Images of recent events started flashing in my mind, the crash, the first fight, Ilya… It was their fault! If they hadn’t stood in the way, if we hadn’t crashed in this place, I could have saved him! It was my duty, I should had kept him alive, and because of these fuckers, he was dead!

It stopped, a few feet from me, looking right into my eyes with those big yellow orbs. Is it expecting me to do something? I could not tell much from its face, it didn’t show a lot of emotion, but I could spot some tension. What was it waiting for? Was it… was it expecting me to do the same? No, this isn’t possible… no fucking way. But then what else?

Maybe… this one is different. This one was a lot cleaner, better equipped and healthier (the others were always in various states of malnutrition). There was also the lack of scars, only recent wounds from the fight upstairs. Still… how can I know for sure? My arm is broken, and my body is not doing much better, the moment I lower my weapon the pony can do anything against me. The human body is excellent in combat, but I was in no state for such thing.

I wouldn’t mind just killing it. After everything I have seen, this would just be another body to add. Besides, what does it matter? It’s clear these people give little value to life and so far they have been nothing but a problem. All I want is to go home, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get there. I have already fought my way throughout Europe; I have done things that will haunt me for the rest of my days… I can’t let this all be for nothing, I can’t take any risks.

But then… where does it end? I keep telling myself that all of this is necessary, that this is the price for a better life. Is that really true or am I just trying to justify my actions, trying to give an excuse for my mistakes and the lives I have taken. Maybe it’s all a lie, something to keep me from dealing with the guilt. The past won’t change, but right now I do have a choice. There’s no way I can know for sure if it’s safe to stand down, but maybe… maybe I do need to take a risk. Right now, I’m the one with the weapon pointed, with the power to over life and death. If I want this to stop, I need to be strong enough to stand down and deal with whatever consequences might be.

Every part of me told me to shoot it, for I had little to no reason to do otherwise. All that I had was a strange behavior and a guess, hardly enough to put my life in line. Yet, I lowered my pistol.

Sweating was dripping down my face as I did so, but to my surprise, the pony relaxed (I was waiting for it to jump on my throat). Ok, what now? Is this… first contact? Crap, I don’t know shit about first contact…

"H-hi…?" Oh, look at that, great fucking way to introduce your race to the first sentient alien life form ever found…

The pony looked confused, its head tilted to the side. After a few moments it said something, probably its version of “hi” (the tone was neutral, did not sound like a question or an affirmation). It was a female, or at least it… she sounded like one, and the body was a lot more slander.

Thankfully, our awkward moment was interrupted by my radio. I unconscionably brought my good hand to it, hoping to get in contact with the Euro. I tried to listen for a few moments but all I could hear was static (further evidence of this place being a bunker of some sort). I sent a few calls, just in case, but I did not put a lot of hope into it.

I spent the next few minutes checking my wounds and gear. My arm was broken and I had a few burns and scratches in various places, most of which I treated with my small medical kit. I had five magazines for my rifle and four for my pistol; I also had my last grenade and my active camouflage device.

The pony was doing the same. There was still a lot of tension between us, and the language barrier didn’t help either. I suppose despite the lack of words we were both aware of our current situation, with the entrance blocked, our only choice would be to go deeper into the facility, and hope to find a second exit. Like it or not, we were stuck together… quite ironic, for the second time in less than 24 hours I was having a truce with a former enemy out of necessity.

I snapped out of my thoughts by the mare doing something with her horn. The thing was glowing quite intensely causing me to jump a little, before giving a small flash and stopping. Just above it, was now a small glowing orb, providing better illumination to the area. After that, the white mare looked to me and said something while pointing to one of the doors, at the other side of the room. This place only had three doors available, two of which were closed and looked more like elevator doors.

Since there was no point on waiting, I stood up, switched the small flashlight on my vest on, and made my way to her. I needed to find medical aid soon, for I could not use my assault rifle in this state. As I approached her, she slowly opened the door, the shotgun floating just above her head, and stepped inside. I decided to take my pistol in hand, she probably knew more about this land them me, so if she is being careful, so should I.

We were greeted with a set of stairs heading down, nothing but dust and a few bugs on our way (and big ones at that, some of them were as big as a rabbit or a cat). After making our way down those stairs, and into a long corridor, we found an entrance to a much wider room, filled with electronics (similar to the terminals I had seen earlier, but much bigger and complex) and furniture, reminding me a factory.

Something interesting to note were the motivational posters on the walls, they reminded me of those soviet-era posters back home. Just as I did my observations, the pony went to one of the few still working terminals and attempted to use it. The way she typed and went through the information displayed, proved she had knowledge on how these electronics operated, however, I could only wonder what she was looking for.

Leaving the mare to her work, as she listened to some sort of audio recording (bearing quite a bit of emotion in the speaker) I took a better look at the room. There was a total of four entrances, one on each side of the room, the only one open was the one we had come from; maybe this is what the pony was looking for, a way to open these doors.

After about five minutes, I was proven correct, the doors to our front and left opening, and the mare saying something in a cheerful tone, most likely a celebration. She turned to me saying something in a questioning tone while indicating to both ways, in other words, asking for my opinion on which we should take. I could not help but to be amused at the question and the small smile that had made its way to her lips; had she forgotten about our previous hostilities?

I didn’t really care which way we took, for I had no idea what the facility was like; I wished I had a way to indicate I was looking for the exit… hopefully the mare was also looking for a way out. I did my best to indicate my lack of opinion through body language, which the pony apparently understood. With a sigh and a nod, she made her way to the front way, also the largest.

We came out at an even bigger room, a warehouse, filled with two huge piles of wooden boxes at each side, leaving a small space for us to keep going. After taking a few steps, I noticed some weird things; the place had a large number of insects, many spider webs, some strange green goo laying around and something smelling in the air, something bad.

The mare stopped, her eyes locking in the goo ahead of us, her body instantly becoming tense. Slowly she moved backwards, her ears snapping around as if searching for noise, and her shotgun floating close to her, also pointing around. What the hell was going on? She whispered to me in a rushed tone while indicating with her hoof for us to fall back. Before I could comply, however, I heard something different, something similar to clicks, right above me. As expected, I turned my head up to see whatever was producing that sound.

What I spotted sent a chill down my spine and a new flux of adrenaline through my body. Giant… black… bug things… not like the others I had seen, no, this guys were just as big as a pony and looked a lot more deadly. Just as my reflexes started to kick in, several of them fell down around us. The mare was the first to react, firing two shots at the one closer to her; I wasted no time following by putting three bullets in the head of the one in front of me.

As I emptied my clip at a second target, another bug jumped on me from my right. I did not have time to react, the force of his body colliding sending me off my feet. I fell on my back, my pistol and assault rifle crashing away from me as I desperately tried to halt my opponent with my good arm, his bites slowly coming closer. I had no idea how to get out of this situation, my firearms were too far away, I had a knife on my belt, but my only good arm was busy holding off my attacker. I did not want to admit it, but I was afraid.

To my surprise, my opponent was hit by multiple shots just before he got me. Scrambling away from the body, I looked around, searching for my rescuer, who turned out to be the white mare, my assault rifle floating on her side. I should probably be worried that she got her… hooves on my weapon, but since she used it to save my life and we were still in the middle of a fight, I decided not to give a shit. I picked my pistol off the ground and followed the mare, now running away from this place.

I did not like the idea of being at the mercy of an alien, but liked or not, she was making a better use of my weapon and I didn’t want to get eaten by giant bugs. Hopefully I would be able to get my rifle back without problems… but if my current luck were anything to go by, this would be rather unlikely.

We made our way to the previous room, the bugs closing in on us. Our only way was the left door, and as we got close to it, I took out my final grenade. The door led to another corridor, and at its end, a set of stairs, partially hidden by a half-open metal door. Once we got close, the mare used her telekinesis to force the door open while I turned around and threw the grenade at the opposite side of the corridor, just as our hunters got there.

As I went inside the stairway, I heard the explosion, slightly muffed by the now closed door. I was exhausted, the white mare wasn’t much better, with a few cuts on her coat and some green goo on her blonde mane. We stood there for a few minutes trying to recover our breaths. I used the time to reload my pistol.

Slowly, we made our way down (also the only way). My mind was wondering what terrors we could find deeper inside this facility. Eventually we reached another corridor, similar to the one before, it appeared the layout of was the same for both levels.

Coming out, once again, in a wide room, we looked around and searched for targets, not finding any. This room was different, while the other was filled with machines and electronic equipment, this one had a variety of laboratory things, but for some reason, there was also a lot of… gems, of various types. Gems and electronics, it makes no sense, what was this place researching?

Maybe it had something to do with those weapons I saw upstairs. Indeed those robots had gems attached to their arms, but how would they use it as a weapon? I have absolute no idea on how they could be related, but well, I also have no idea on how this ponies could use telekinesis. Perhaps they are similar, somehow.

For some reason, the white mare became agitated, going to every table and piece of furniture and analyzing those gems, as if expecting some sort of reaction. As she proceeded with her search, I could not help but to be amazed at her telekinetic ability, she was able to lift multiple things at once at a quick speed, all of that while keeping my assault rifle pointed. Whether she had superior skill or if this was a natural ability amongst… unicorns, I do not know, for there was nothing like this back home, and right now we only had a limited knowledge on their abilities (mostly from reports of recent skirmishes).

Another thing worth noticing was the lack of options we had to keep going. From the three other ways this room had, one was blocked, and the other (heading the same way as the warehouse we had been earlier) had some weird yellow gas blocking our view, it didn’t take much to figure that thing was probably toxic (it smelled really bad), and I had no gasmask. We only had one way, at the opposite side of the room, hopefully a way out of this shithole.

After a few minutes the mare stopped, she was looking at a sign, right above the entrance to the gas filled room. I really hope she does not intend to go inside there, we have another way at our disposal, one that seems to be clear, and I might be wrong about the thing being toxic, but I’m not about to risk it.

She gave a quick glance to me, opened her… saddlebags… and from there she took out a gasmask. She pointed at the mask and then at me, as if asking if I had one, which I shook my head as an answer. Letting out a sigh, she pointed a hoof at me and then at the ground, indicating me to wait; I nodded.

"Wait" I said, just before she put her mask on, earning a frown from her.

I pointed at my rifle. Her frown turned into hesitation, but after a moment, she floated it to me and then started to make her way to the room. I blocked her way, her expression turning into confusion, her head, once again, tilting to the side. I proceeded to reload my rifle, having some difficulty at first, because of my wounds, and making sure the mare was able to see it. Once I was done I offered the rifle back, the mare appeared to be slightly surprised at my actions. I decided to offer some extra magazines, for I had no use for it and I did not know what she would find there.

She went inside and I was left alone with my own thoughts, silently guarding the room. What will I do once we get out here? She was in many ways a liability, and despite the recent events, I still could not trust her, at least not fully. Still, she was the best contact I had with the locals, ever since we got here. What were my chances to find something similar? This could be my only chance at diplomacy (if you can call a bunch of awkward gestures diplomacy).

My internal discussion was interrupted by the sound of gunshots, exactly like the one my rifle did. She was fighting something, and the only thing I could do was wait and hope she made it back. Luckily she made it, running… or should I say, galloping fast; right above her, held by her telekinesis, was my rifle, a strange electronic device and… a glowing piece of jewelry? Was she risking her life for loot?

Before I could try to question her actions, she ran past me, followed by the sounds of her chasers coming out of the room. I decided I could leave this to a more appropriate time, turned around, and ran after her, firing a few blind shots behind me, hoping to slow down our new enemies.

After a few minutes, we made it to the next section of the facility, the mare snapping the metal doors behind us shut. I felt dizzy; I didn’t know if it was because of my wounds or exhaustion, maybe it was both, I really need to get out of here. We wasted no time in quickly checking this area; I could see the mare was also in bad shape.

This part of the facility almost looked like a different building altogether. The walls and floor were made of metal plates, not concrete, and the lights were on, yet this place was deserted. We came across a few rooms, none of them particularly interesting, like a kitchen, a small workshop and a few other office rooms. After some time we reached an atrium, with two catwalks above us, and doors on the left and right sides of the room. I decided to sit down; my vision was getting blurry.

The mare said something, but I didn’t quite hear it. Am I that bad? I could notice the corners of my sight beginning to get dark. My head was heavy; I was struggling just to keep looking straight. I heard the sound of hooves galloping away. So that’s it? She’s just going to leave me here to die… can’t say I’m surprised. Maybe if I get some rest I will have the strength to keep going… if I don’t get eaten by something while I’m out.

I always knew this was the most likely outcome. I may have survived Minsk and Berlin, but with so many casualties every day, it's just a matter of time before I joined them… all of those bastards, friends and foes, all those who died by my fault. Funny, I was betting it would be somewhere cold, instead I’m in a underground facility on some fuck up alien world, guess I’m not getting home after all, dead or alive. I know for sure my parents will freak out (as expected when losing a child), but they'll understand, just like they did when I first told of my choice to join the army.

Fuck… I promised Barin I would make it, and I can’t let him down, my family was safe, but I still owned my comrades. It is my job to lead them, to keep them alive. I can’t afford to die until we find a way back, no, I have made it so far, I have a task to complete.

I heard the sound of hooves getting closer. What? No, this isn’t possible, it must be another pony… one of the hostile ponies… yes, it’s definitely them! I snapped my pistol in the direction of the sound, the last drops of adrenaline my body had allowing me to focus for a small moment. My eyes slowly revealed my target… white coat and blonde mane… shit. It was her, she was breathing heavily, eyes wide. Was she worried about me? Man, these ponies were a fucked up bunch.

She began saying things fast in an agitated tone, a bottle filled with purple liquid floating above her. Slowly it floated towards me; I had no idea what it was, but since not drinking it would mean to keep losing consciousness, I didn’t have much to lose. Guess it’s time to take the leap of faith. Droping my pistol, I snatched the bottle and drank the strange substance.

Holy shit, what in god’s name did she gave me? The moment I started drinking it (tasted like grape, quite nice) I felt better, but it wasn’t just a feeling… I could feel the bones in my left arm snapping back together! This was insane, I couldn’t believe on what was happening. When I finished drinking, I felt perfectly fine (ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, I still had a lot of burns and some of my muscles were still hurting).

As my strength came back to me, I began wondering what she gave me. Maybe some sort of methamphetamine. That was possible, but didn’t explain how my left arm got fixed… You know what, fuck it; I’ll think about this when I’m back at the base. I suppose I should wait a few minutes, make sure there are no side effects. With that idea in mind, I opted to take out my helmet and uncover my head, the thing was heavy, and it was good to spend some time without it.

The reaction from the mare was quite amusing. She was drinking another of those bottles when I did that, and so the moment she saw me her eyes widened a bit and she choked a little (earning a smirk from me). I don’t know if I should take that as a complement or an offense, was she impressed to actually see my whole face (since the helmet and uniform only leaved a small portion of my face exposed) or did she think I was ugly? And why exactly do I care what she thinks of me or what her aesthetic tastes are? Alright, maybe this thing does have some side effects.

After the white mare recovered, she took out a small notebook and a pen. I rose a little bit from my position, trying to spot what she was drawing, and quite impressed at her ability to do it with telekinesis. From my analysis, I concluded two things; first, she was attempting to communicate through those drawing, and second, she sucked at drawing.

She turned the notebook to me, revealing two drawings, organized in a way that reminded me of a comic. The first one showed the mare and me, each one of us with a cloud above our heads, like the ones you use to indicate thoughts. The second showed, again, the two of us, but with the mare touching her horn in my head and a single big cloud above us.

It didn’t take much to figure it out what she meant. I was stunned, I was aware of her abilities with that horn, but this… it wasn’t much about what she could do, but what this could mean. Was she seriously expecting me to allow her to connect our minds or some shit? I could not even begin to imagine the number of things that could go wrong with this.

Yet, this is definitely an attempt at communication. If this thing does help us, it would mean progress on solving what was arguably the biggest problem on dealing with the locals. In addition, even if she did tried to use this to have access to more sensible information, it would hardly be enough to put the lives of my comrades at risk.

Then again, why would she do something bad? She had a chance to shoot me for quite a long time, and yet she didn’t; she could had let me to die here twice, and yet she helped me. Like it or not, she did a whole lot to earn my trust, plus, she is still my best chance at a peaceful first contact. I did not liked it, but the choice was clear, so I nodded.

Slowly, she approached me, she was trying to remain calm but I could spot some tension. I wasn’t much better, my heart was going faster at each second, despite my efforts. Time lost meaning as her horn started glowing, nothing around us mattered, and my whole attention was on her, our eyes locked. Just before we made physical contact, she closed her eyes, and so did I.

The moment that horn made contact, everything changed. I could still feel my body, my breathing, my heart, even the smooth surface of the horn in contact with my forehead. Yet I could not control anything, for my mind was not there, it was… how could I even describe it… I guess it was drifting… yes, that is close enough… above my body, not in a physical sense, but it was there, my mind was there. To be somewhere, with no body or sensation, only with consciousness… there is no right way to put it.

I started to panic, there was no way I could be prepared for something like this. I wanted out, I wanted to feel my heart racing again, as it should in moments like this. My struggle ceased when I realized there was another presence here. It was that mare, I just knew, I did not saw her, I could not use any of my senses, but I knew. She wanted me to calm down, she didn’t say it... she just… wanted to, and I didn’t want to comply at first, but then I realized, it was my choice to do this, I may not be prepared, but I choose this, so I complied.

I decided to question her intentions, again not in a physical way, hoping I could get a straight answer (if you can call weird feelings and thoughts a straight answer). She responded by… offering something… I hesitated, but more and more her comforting presence convinced me to accept it; I just knew she was being honest. Before I did so, I tried to have a better understanding of what was this… gift she was offering, and in my analysis, I concluded it was… information, voices, something involving communication. I couldn’t get much more, but I was aware this was supposed to aid on communication, and for me, that was enough, not ideal, but good enough.

Therefore, it came, an intense pressure, not physical, not in my body, but I could feel something coming through. I started to understand, it was… voices… but they held something… they had meaning… it was their language! She was giving me an understanding of their language! The joy of my discovery was the last thing I felt as the transfer ended, and the link fell apart.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, my head was spinning again, and I felt like I was in a hangover. The mare, only a few centimeters from me, was in a similar state. We stood there for what might have been hours, but probably just a few seconds. She moved first, taking a step away from me, she then looked at me once more, and spoke.

"C-c-can you understand m-me?" The… mare said… and I understood…

Well… fuck.

Footnote: Level up!

New Perk: Friend of the Night – Your eyes adapt quickly to low-light conditions.

Author's Note

Note: Thank you all who enjoy this story, please point out any mistakes or confusing parts, and also thanks to everyone in the “Fallout: Equestria” universe.

BTW, the bugs are not changelings.