"I apologize for the uh, injuries you sustained. Though it's good to see you've made a remarkable recovery." The Enclave Pegasus removed his helm once more and folded in his wings. I wasn't sure which was harder to believe, the fact that i had just sprung back up like none of my prevous wounds ever happened; or the fact that not only Spring Breeze was alive, but so was the enclave pony we met the first day this all began.

"I could say the same thing to you. How though? I saw the crater..." I stood there looking at Spring Breeze as she sat next to the pegasus. The last i had seen either one of them, they had alledgedly been blown to pieces by a missile.

"Did you ever see a body? Or some form of remains?" The pegasus arched a brow and chuckled before holding out a hoof.
"Lance Corporal Dune, well ex corporal." He spoke with that same heavy Yiddish from the day we first met him. Just hearing it again made a knot form in my stomach all over again. I felt ready to tackle him again and start beating on his head like a drum.

"You have a lot of explaining to do..." I growled, brandishing The All-Equestrian on my back to get my point across as he sighed and nodded, sitting on his flank to tell his story.

"Yes. First off, my reason for the sudden entrance: I was trying to warn you of the Enclave's impending attack on your town. However, most likely one of your guard ponies, shot my wing and caused me to crash into your greenhouse." He began as Scarlet Blaze trotted forward, getting into the story now.

"So you came to warn us, cool, but why were they even coming to attack us in the first place?" She gave him a questioning glance. Dune shook his head and raised his shoulders.

"Even I am not sure, though I'm starting to believe your friend here has something to do with it." Dune trotted up to me and pressed his hoof against the gem that was melted into my chest (which still hurt like a bitch by the way). "I do not know the full details, only that we were in search of a mare known as Dr. Cloverfield and her so called "catalyst". You spoke of her as your mother back in your town when you first found me, yes?" So that rumor was true, they had come for her.

I nodded and sat on my flank staring at the green gem imbedded in me. "So you're saying I'm this so called catalyst?" Scarlet and I both exchanged glances between one another, returning them to Dune for more answers.

"Possibly. You see, your mother is part of a splinter group from an experimental branch of scientists we had originally trusted on the surface. We called them Tranquility..." My eyes widened the moment he said that name. "They had been working on something that was known only as, the "God Talisman". The purpose or use behind it, they would never tell us. That was when we lost all contact with the scientists and began to hunt down those that were a part of this project." He looked to me with a solemn expression. "Your mother was a part of that Project, meaning that you must hold some role in it as well."

"Well, I know I'm out of the loop and all, but can we please focus on the task at hand?" Juniper asked, scowling at Dune now and stepping forward. "Water talismans, you took them. We need them." My mind had completely blanked from the actual reason we had come here. Then again, I wasn't even entirely sure what talismans were. All that I knew was that the water ones were supposed to purify even some of the foulest of water. So what did a "God" talisman do?

Dune chuckled softly and looked at Juniper. "Enclave I may be, but I am no thief. I didn't steal anything more then a few bits of medical supply for Spring Breeze and I." Juniper didn't seem to buy what he was selling and began to step closer, drawing her weapon before Spring Breeze stepped in front of him again.

"But we might have an idea as to who did take them." Spring Breeze clarified and started to trot towards a wrecked caravan wagon. The wagon had been picked clean of anything valuable. Even the bodies had been moved, leaving behind splotches of dried blood and a few bits of brain matter on the ground. "We saw someone, or something, come by and drag away the bodies and supplies. It must have taken the talismans as well." Great, so the water talismans could be anywhere in Equestria by now.

"We can take you to where we last saw the thing. Though don't expect to find much." Dune clarified as he adjusting his damaged suit. I still didn't understand why anypony would be willing to help us, especially the pony that was part of the reason everything I cared about was burnt ash. At this point I wasn't really going to question any of it and instead just let it happen.

Everypony got re-equipped and prepared. After I puked up another radioactive waste-ball I levitated Reprisal from my holster and examined it, now I was only down to one pistol and the All-Equestrian. Not that having just those two was a hindrance, but I had finally learned how to dual wield both Reprisal and Vindicta.

We followed them down the path, walking past the pool of blood where I had once been. It felt...un-nerving, to see my own blood on the ground. If it wasn't for whatever the hell was keeping me alive, there would have been more then just my blood laying there. I was glad to be alive but even still, the thought of how I could have. No, should have, died there.

You were made for something better Shamrock Oh hello darkness my old friend. If only that could have been removed along with the few pints of blood I had splattered across the canyon.

You are a key to many doorways Shamrock, ones that can lead to many different places. Great, just what I needed right now, more cryptic metaphors.

A key that many ponies wish to have their hoofs on. Ponies such as the Enclave. Of course, because they were so careful in making sure they didn't accidentally burn me to ash along with the rest of the town.

The doors that are opened are yours to choose. Some lead to tranquility, others to oblivion.

Great, where's the door back to when things were normal in my life?

"Well, here we are. Like I said, there isn't much left." Dune motioned to the wrecked caravan. Two large beats of burden laid dead on the ground, yet no signs of any cargo or even the ponies that were delivering whatever had been in the crates. Still, how did we know he wasn't just trying to cover his tracks? It wasn't that I didn't trust him, but he was the pony that more or less ruined my entire life in a matter of minutes.

"Hey I think I found something!" Juniper called out and waved for us to come other. She pointed a hoof at the dirt at the end of the wreckage. Okay, she was making zero sense. Then I finally saw what she was pointing at.

Drag marks in the dirt: someone or something must have taken the bodies somewhere, and these tracks were going to lead us to just that place. "Nice work Juniper, come on lets go check this out..." I took the lead and followed the imprint in the dirt towards one of the caves. The entrance had been blocked off by a small wooden door with strange green moss growing off the sides of it. This was where the trail had led us...and we weren't liking that.

"So the talismans are in there?" Scarlet knocked on the door as it slowly creaked open. I was getting flashbacks of Stable 24 all over again as the crusty scent of mold flew free from the cavern.

"If I say no do we have to go inside still?" Juniper gave a weak chuckle at her joke as we trotted single file down the tunnel, the dim glow from our pipbuck's light illuminated the small pathway. The deeper into the tunnel we went, the more strange fungus and moss we saw. Scarlet's pipbuck began to tick every so often as we trotted past an occasional opened vat of toxic waste.

"For the love of Celestia, how deep does this thing go?" I growled in frustration before hearing a loud Twang. Then we were showered in multiple pieces of tiny metal. No...not just metal pieces. Grenade spoons.

"Shit, move!" Dune shouted, spreading his wings and leaping down the dark tunnel ahead as we all hit the dirt. The entire cavern erupted in flames around us, which should have incinerated every last one of us. Except...we were still alive? Hell we hadn't even been touched by shrapnel? Our ears rang as I slowly opened my eyes to catch a glimpse of a glowing purple wisp vanish, though not before illuminating the massive Stable doors before us.

You were made for something better Because the constant ringing in my ears from the explosion wasn't a big enough of a headache? We finally got ourselves situated from the blast as what sounded like an intercom rang out.

"Oh good, more friends? Do come in! We were just getting things set up for a very special occasion!" A jittery mares voice giggled creepily over the intercom, the giant Stable Tech. logo began to spin and open wide with a loud metallic creek.

"This has bad written all over it..." Dune muttered as the lights sparked and fluttered on with a low buzzing sound that made the hairs on all of our coats stick up. Then we actually saw what was inside of the stable...

"Life is a party?" Scarlet looked at the words painted in red across the walls.

"I'm so glad to have new friends here! The last bunch I invited didn't like the party and they tried to leave..." The jittery mare sighed as one of the lights flickered on brightly to reveal multiple bodies piled together in a pile of flesh and bones. Torn, blood-covered. Guess those words weren't written in paint then... "Dead bodies don't leave though...you wont leave will you?"

We immediately turned and rushed for the door only to see as it slammed shut and sealed with a hiss. I guess we weren't leaving anytime soon...

Or at all. The jittery mare on the intercom gasped as she saw us try to escape, Juniper was already trying to open the door back up from the control panel. "She's overridden the door controls, we're going to have to manually unlock them from the Overmare's office." she growled in frustration and kicked the control with a hoof before we all turned towards the sound of claws scraping against metal.

"How rude of you, we invite you into our home with open hoofs and this is how you show your thanks?" The mare growled over the intercom. She then started making a goddess awful shriek that made my ears vibrate down to my hoofs. The scraping began to grow louder and numerous as the hall in front of us was filled with shrieks of a similar nightmarish form.

"What the actual fuck are those!?!?" Scarlet aimed her rifle down the hallway as several strange looking creatures rushed out. They stood about as tall as a normal pony. Except they looked nothing like ponies, they were covered in nothing but green moss and fungus. Their teeth were razor sharp and had no visible eyes, but they sure as hay knew that we were there as one leapt forward only to be blasted apart by Dune's gauss rifle, coating all of us in nasty green spores.

The strange spore creatures began to double guess themselves until another got the courage to rush forward only to have its head splattered in a shower of gelatinous green goo. After the first two bit the dust, most of the others looked at one another and scattered down the hallways while the intercom rang again, only this time the mare was crying "Wh-what are you doing to my friends!?!? Y-you monsters!

Right, we were the monsters here. I stepped forward and shouted up at the ceiling. "If you don't want us to hurt your 'friends' then just open the doors and let us go!" One of these days I'm going to learn to not piss off ponies that I can't see or anticipate what they have up their sleeves. The lights flickered off once more and we were bathed in the dim green glow once more. My ears perked up at the sound of hissing once more. This time, however, it wasn't coming from the monsters and it certainly not coming from the stable doors either.

It took just one quick breath before we were all suddenly coughing and stumbling around in the mist that quickly surrounded us all. The noxious fumes burnt my lungs and made my mouth feel dry as everything began to spin around us. My limbs felt like they were made of paper as I crumpled to the floor with a light thud. None of us could move a muscle while we gagged on the emissions. Good news: we weren't dying. Bad news: we were probably going to soon. The sounds of hissing began to halt as more of the creatures began to snarl and emerge.

"Leave? Why would you want to leave so early? You didn't even get to enjoy the festivities!" The mare began to laugh maniacally while her friends gripped us in their grimy claws and hauled us off down the hallways. "We were just going to play a few games and have some cupcakes!" The mare giggled with delight while she began to sing about cupcakes over the intercom.

Author's Note

Why the random number in the chapter title? See if you can guess.