Silver looked around nervously as they walked. They were drawing a lot of attention, though she imagined it was more from Kree's presence than anything else. Still, she held the blanket tightly around herself and tried to avoid looking anypony in the eye.

The town seemed to be comprised almost entirely of junk. The homes were made of wood, most of which had cracked and broken from years of neglect. Most seemed raised a few inches off the ground, as if there used to be something wrapped under and around them. The road was in shambles, covered in gouges and pits that she had to walk or hop over, though a few showed the signs of ponies making the effort to smooth and fill in. Not very well, though.

“Fuck!” Kree said before pulling to the side, dragging Silver around with her. “Keep behind me.”

“What is--” The words caught in her mouth as she saw what it was. It couldn't be anything else.

Stepping out from one of the buildings, four robots appeared. They were shaped like ponies, but every inch of them was covered in steel and iron. Guns were strapped to their sides, pushing out past them. She knew next to nothing about guns, but she knew these ones were big and therefore deadly. “W-what... what are those?”

“Steel rangers. Nasty fuckers. Don't draw their attention unless you... don't draw their attention. Stay behind me.”

“Okay,” she said with a pathetic squeak. Unfortunately for her, one of them turned towards the two and started walking over.

“Not very many griffons around these parts. Why aren't you near your settlements?” the thing said when it came close. It sounded like a pony, but the voice was distorted. Its eyes were glowing, too. There was no way that could actually be a pony, could it?

“I like being near our old aviaries. Reminds me of home,” Kree said quickly, glaring down at the thing. “You got a problem with that, metal breath?”

“Who's that?” the steel ranger said, its head turning towards Silver, insult ignored.

The unicorn froze in place, her eyes being drawn back towards the big guns that were facing them. The other three rangers had stopped as well, turning towards them. “My bitch. Why don't you go hassle something else. Maybe bend over and start shoving those guns up--”

“Lower your hood,” the thing said.

Silver whimpered and looked to Kree for help. “Beat it, we're not--” Her words were cut off by a loud click from the metal monster. The griffon growled before reaching down and pulling the blanket down just enough to reveal Silver's face. She whimpered, but looked at the red glowing eyes. For a few moments she waited, expecting those weapons on its back to start tearing through her.

Instead, the ranger turned away. “It's not her. Move out.”

Kree watched them go, for once not making a snide comment until they were out of sight. “You're a lucky little fuck, you know that?”

“W-why?” Silver asked, lifting the make shift hood back up.

“This little blanket just saved your life. Steel rangers only care about tech, any tech. They'd have ripped that little gadget on your leg clean off.”

“W-what? But it can't come off without the key! I don't even--”

“I never said they'd leave the leg behind.”

Silver had a flash back to that leg that had landed in her lap only hours before. “I think... I think I'm going to be... to be...” The cake in her stomach began to twist and roll.

“What? What are you--” The griffon let out an undignified squawk as she jumped back, away from the vomiting pony. “Damn it, that was some good cake!”

Silver didn't care, she just remained on her knees, emptying her gut across the ground. When she finally managed to stop, she slowly wobbled to her hooves and looked around. Nopony was even looking at her, let alone staring. Her last meal was spread out on the side of the street and the ponies here acted as if it was an every day occurrence. Her horn flashed twice as she cleaned her mouth with her spell. Once to clean it, twice for good measure.

Kree shook her head before motioning towards the building the metal things had come from. “Come on. We're going to see if any convoys are going out.”

“Convoys? Wait! What about...” she asked, motioning towards the mess she'd made. “Shouldn't we--”

“What? You threw up, just leave it.”

Her eyes widened. “But what if somepony steps in it?”

The griffon turned to her, staring as if she was mad. Her beak hung open as if to speak, but for the first time she was left completely speechless. She opened and closed her beak a few times, before just turning and walking into the building.

Silver looked down at her mess before trotting after her protector and lifting the edge of the blanket back over her head. She really didn't like the idea of being out here alone. Not to mention that without her guardian set of wings, her eyes were slowly being drawn up towards the sky. She pushed open the door, a rickety slab of wood held on by two little ropes on the left wall. The air was hot and humid, with a stench that smelled worse than... well, she sadly lacked the proper vocabulary to describe it. She wanted to compare it to those raiders she'd met, but even they hadn't smelled this bad. At least, while outside.

There were a dozen ponies here, at least, sitting on upside down boxes. She didn't see any horns or wings amongst them, all earth ponies. A bar had been made out of two overturned devices she couldn't identify. They seemed to be some kind of computer, covered in weird pictures of ponies. The place was silent, every eye on Kree. She quickly moved up besides the griffon. “Is something wrong?” she whispered.

“Ain't nothin' wrong,” the mare behind the 'bar' said. Her coat was faded and dirty brown, her mane a dirty red and done up into a small, strange tower like shape. “Everypony just likes bein' nosy whenever Kree comes to town. She ain't like them other griffons, so you all mind your own business,” the earth pony called. There was a few more seconds of staring, before the ponies looked away. “What brings you here, feather butt?”

“Looking for some information,” Kree said before dropping a few small bottle caps on the counter. Silver couldn't even begin to understand what that was about.

“Three caps? It better not be anythin' important,” the woman said before sweeping the caps into her hoof.

“It's about this.” Silver let out a yelp as she was pushed forward and the hood was dropped down. “Need you to see if you can...” The words caught in her throat.

“What? Looking for work for your little stallion friend?”

“It... but... Silver?” Kree asked softly.

The stallion gulped and then looked up at the griffon. “We... we should talk.”

“I'D FUCKING HOPE SO!”

The mare just looked between the two of them. “You need the back room for a second?”

“Yeah,” Kree said with a nod, not taking her eyes off the stallion.

“Five caps for an hour.”

“Add it to my tab!” the griffon yelled, before grabbing Silver and hauling him towards the back. The unicorn let out a little yelp as he tried to keep up, but was mostly dragged along the way. She slammed open the door, only to slam it shut a moment later. “Okay!” She turned on him. “This is magic, right? Some kind of fancy unicorn magic. You're a... a...”

“A stallion now,” Silver said softly. “It's... not quite what you think, I swear. I don't really control it.” His eyes were focused on those very nasty talons at the end of those very thick, powerful arms that looked ready to claw him in half. He instead tried looking up, which was his next mistake. Kree's eyes had turned a lot redder than he remembered and that beak looked as sharp as any blade. He backed away quickly. “It's o-one of the spells, the megaspells! My stable, they test spells there. Matrixes, megaspells, all kinds of magic. Designing and creating t-the most powerful spells in existence! Ones that could... fix the world,” he said softly as he lowered himself. “O-or they will, one day.”

“That. Explains. Nothing,” Kree said, the venom in her eyes almost enough to kill the stallion.

“I-I served one purpose. M-morale,” he squeaked softly. “E-entertainment. The spell was perfected two generations ago. It... it's all superficial. I-I just... I just look male. I look like whatever... my companion for the evening wants me to look like. When I got close to your friend, she likes males, so I look male!”

Kree just kept staring, though the red in her eyes began to dim. “So you are a mare?”

He looked uncomfortable then. “I... I don't really... know?” he squeaked and cowered again. “The spell has been on me since I was just a child, it was a long, long time ago, before I started my training. I swear.”

Kree reached down and then picked the stallion up by the throat. She looked contemplative for a moment, before dropping him again. “So why doesn't it change for me?”

“It probably only triggers for ponies. It was designed by ponies, for ponies.”

“What other kinds of... spells are there like this? On you?”

That made him cringe and his gaze lowered even further. “There... are a few. I was chosen for this one because I wasn't... capable of the other spells. I wasn't smart enough or... strong enough to host the transfers.” He shivered. “But they have magic that can do anything. I'm not—wasn't allowed to see all of the spells, but I've seen some of what they can do.”

“And they just tossed you out here?” She reached down and put a claw under his chin, making him look up. “Just what did you do?”

Silver let out a soft whimper, feeling the claw dig into his skin. “I... made a mistake. A huge, horrible mistake.” The claw was removed and he lowered his head.

“Just what kind of mistake could an entertainer make?” She then shook her head, before lifting the hood back over his head. “At least you didn't change much. About the same size.”

“I don't change that much. Though... I can... appear different.”

“How?”

“I was tasked with entertaining all, including the elderly and fillies. When playing board games and the like, they often preferred ponies who at least appeared closer to their age, so the spell was--”

“Enough,” Kree said with a shake of her head. “Still, the rest of your stable seems quite interesting.” Her eyes widened. “Wait, you were talking before about food. Fresh food. They have magic for that?”

Silver nodded. “Of course. Growing plants in such a...” He paused when he realized his comrade was drooling, slightly. “It's... no point. You'll never find the stable. Even if you could, you'd never get in.”

“What?”

He lowered his gaze. “The most powerful spells in existence. I was tossed out of the stable, but once the door closed I'd have never found it again. It's... hidden. You'd never tell it from all the other rocks. Nopony could.”

Kree stared at the stallion before face clawing. How could she fucking have THIS kind of luck? Had she been one of the launchers of those mega spells in a past life? How did she manage to meet and save the ONE PONY IN THE ENTIRE FUCKING WASTELAND who not only managed to come from a place that was LITERALLY heaven, and yet somehow managed to be completely useless and not know a damn thing about how to get into it or how to copy it? She was a good griffon, she... well, okay, she was a horrible griffon. But there was still no excuse for this. “You have to know some of the spells, some way to access it though, right?”

“If I was capable of that, I wouldn't have been chosen as an entertainer.”

Kree turned to the wall and banged her head against it a few times, before sighing. She then turned towards the cowering unicorn and sighed. “Well, the way I see it, I'm no worse off than I was before.” Her heavy breathing and glares revealed that to be a lie. “You, on the other talon. How do you... stop that?” She gestured towards all of him.

“I can't. I told you, I'm not... I don't cast the spells, organize them or even see where they're stored. I can't even begin to imagine the punishment I'd receive if I tried to alter the spell.” His face managed to somehow turn whiter.

“Wonderful.” She pulled the blanket back over his face. “Just... keep your face hidden for now. Damn it. Damn, damn, damn it,” Kree muttered as she turned and walked back towards the door. She wished they'd developed a whole new curse word that she'd never heard of for a situation like this. Damn and fuck just didn't cut it.

She pushed the door open and more eyes followed them. But nopony was besides the door. Though she did notice the bar mare had a shotgun on the counter, polishing it with a casualness that seemed…staged. She guessed a few ponies were looking to listen in, but that was why she paid caps for the back room. It came with its own variety of sound proofing.

Kree sat down and glanced to the bartender. “Okay Shots, I need to know if there's a caravan coming through here towards Equality. Something where a useless, pretty face could get work cleaning stuff, without any questions asked.”

Silver giggled a little. “Shots?”

The tender glanced up and glared. “Yah got a problem with mah name?”

“No ma'am!” the stallion said before taking cover behind Kree who stiffened.

“I told you already. I'm. Not. Cover.” She shoved him aside.

Shots hummed. “Ah might know a place. So long as it's not your face you're hopin’ to sell.” Kree merely glared. “Yeah, your pretty boy might be able to help. He one of them stable colts?”

“Is it that obvious?” Silver asked softly.

“Honey, nopony looks that clean after they've been out here a week,” Shots said with a snicker. “Kree, you know there are some slavers just outside the town, you could make a pretty pen--” She quickly went silent at the glare she received from the griffon. “Just a suggestion. Not expecting any trade for at least a month, you just missed the last wagon out two days ago. But when they get back, you should have no trouble gettin' with them. Now, you might be able to find an' escort if you're in a hurry, but that'll cost yah a lot more. You think he'll be good to work an' pay?”

Kree looked down at Silver. “So, slavers? How much you think he'd be worth?”

“What?” Silver asked. “Kree, please--”

“It was a joke,” Kree said before slamming a claw down on his head, ruffling it. “How about work here? It's no Equality, but there should be a few caps in it.”

That made Shots' eyes narrow. “Kree, ah have enough stallions. Ah don't need some pretty stable bitch comin' in on my turf.” Her hoof went down to rest on the shotgun.

Silver looked between the two, the glares feeling like they might make his blanket burn to ash at any moment. Finally Kree sighed. “Fine. No back work for him.”

“Why don't you just take him yourself?”

“Through that hell hole?” Kree shook her head. “It'd be hard enough getting myself through it. No way I could keep this idiot alive.”

“Then looks like you'll need a guide. Ah can put the call out, but it'll take a while and...” she considered for a moment, tapping a hoof on the bartop. “Twenty caps. Least, if you want one anytime soon.”

Kree glowered. “Twenty caps? That's robbery and you know it.”

“Ten, if you'll tell me what you two were fightin' about.”

Kree grumbled, before slowly tossing a claw full of bottle caps onto the counter. “Just see what you can find. Somepony good. And cheap.”

Shots chuckled and took the bits, before looking up. “Some advice, free. Those ponies outside town? Part of Perpetual's herd. I'd wait until they're out of town 'fore yah go.”

Kree nodded. “Thanks dirt kicker.”

“Of course. You ain't bad for a griffon, I'd hate to see yah get shot or enslaved. Besides, for twenty-eight caps I'd sell yah the location of my mother, if she were still around. Hell, I'd tell yah where we dropped the body.” She paused. “Wait, how desperate are yah to make some caps?”

Kree stopped and glanced back. “Why?”

She motioned her over. “Ah... might have some work for yah. Your lil pretty boy might be useful too, assumin' that horn of his works.”

The griffon trotted back to the bar and leaned against it. “What you have in mind?”

“Mines behind the town. Some foals got themselves killed tryin' to find somethin' valuable. Here's the kicker, they did find somethin', judgin' by the one that made it to the doc 'fore croakin'. A mana gem. A workin', nearly fully powered mana gem. Said they got ambushed by...” Her eyes shifted to Silver before going back to Kree. “You know. Probably inside one of them old machines, you'll need a unicorn to dig it out. But if you can, I'll make it worth the trouble.”

Kree's eyes widened. “A mana gem? Really? Something like that--”

“Would be worthless to most ponies unless they know the right buyer,” Shots said with a grin. “But ah know the right buyer an' yah need some caps. So how about this. Yah get me the gem, I'll see about makin' your wallet a bit heavier an' gettin' yah the escort you need.”

Kree stared at the earth pony for a few moments before nodding. “A lot heavier.”

“Of course,” Shots said before spitting into her hoof and holding it out. Silver cringed as Kree did the same with her talon before the two shook. She then turned tail and started trotting back towards the exit.

Silver trotted after Kree. “What, err, what now? And what's 'you know' supposed to mean?”

“Now? We have a job,” she grumbled before glaring down at him. “Twenty eight caps. You're an expensive pony. But if this works, it won't be a problem anymore. You won't be my problem.”

Silver opened his mouth to object, but quickly shut it. “I'm... sorry.”

“If this works out, you won't have to be. Probably more bits than you'd be able to earn otherwise, aside from on your back.”

He nodded. “I could... clean things? My spell is good for... errr...” The look she gave him shut him up quickly.

“Is that really the only kind of magic you know? 'Cleaning'? That's pretty pathetic.”

“Well... I... also know how to numb ponies. I've only ever used it on foals when they were teething, though. Well, and on Golden when he tripped and broke his leg, I had to assist until the medical ponies got there. It didn't have as much an effect on him, though. I... almost learned a healing spell. But... I didn't get a chance to really... finish learning it.”

“That's... actually that might be useful. Eventually. Come on, I want to pick up some shotgun ammo before we go.”

Silver nodded and followed behind the griffon. He couldn't begin to imagine how she navigated the place. She moved through the town as if she'd been here a hundred times before, but ponies kept glancing at her as if they'd never seen her. Some at least talked to her, though. More caps were exchanged, along with little boxes with which he assumed were bullets. He was beginning to understand what the caps were for at least.

“How long have you lived here?”

“Don't know. A week, a month, a year. Time flies when you're having fun,” Kree said before looking down to Silver. “You keeping up okay?”

“Yeah...” he said suspiciously.

“You aren't scared of narrow spaces, are you?”

Silver had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Errr...”

“Are you more or less scared of narrow places than you are of me?”

“Less,” the unicorn said without hesitation.

“Good, you're smarter than... some rocks I've met. Come on.” She led the stallion towards the back of the town. When they got there, he could see that the place wasn't just built against the mountain, part of it was built in the mountain. Tunnels were dug into it, most of them having seemingly collapsed, though a few still stood. A few earth ponies were set up outside one in particular, holding shotguns. The wood holding it up was old and housing a few cracks. The 'guards' gave the two a look, but didn't impede their way. His pipbuck began to make a soft clicking sound and he looked down at it.

“One of the dials is going off.”

“And?”

“I... don't know? I was only barely briefed on... oh, hold on.” He tapped a button. “Rads? Why wou--” His tail and mane nearly stood on end. “Radiation!” He looked at the caves with new found horror. “They're filled with radiation!”

Kree looked down at the device. “The little dial thing is barely moving.”

“It's a very low amount of radiation, but it's radiation, it's not safe!”

“The water you drank earlier had more radiation than that.”

Silver turned up, staring at the griffon with newfound horror. He couldn't even speak. Unfortunately, Kree took that was the perfect opportunity to start hauling him into the cave. It was dark, but the ticking stopped once they were a few feet in.

“Your lil device has a light, doesn't it?”

“W-what? Oh, right, ummm, yes,” Silver said, flipping it on. He then glanced back towards the entrance. What had caused the radiation? His eyes fell on a small, muddy puddle of water. “There's... water here.”

“Of course there is. Supposedly there's an entire ocean on the other side of these mountains. It filters into all these caves a drop at a time.”

Silver whimpered and gave a nod. Occasionally little ticks would come from his pipbuck and they'd find small puddles of water. He kept close to Kree, trying to avoid them as best he could.

“You should stop complaining. If you wanna see a real radiated body of water, should see the river heading to Equality. In some places it even glows at night.”

“But this water... it's...”

“I've drunken worse. Before you know it, you probably will too. If you're lucky, it won't be out of a toilet.”

He whimpered and moved a little closer to her.

Kree glanced down and sighed. “So... you really don't know what you are?”

“Huh?” he glanced up, the makeshift hood falling off his head.

“You said you didn't know. Was that just panic or...?”

“I don't. It's not... the magic is...” He shrugged. “My magical aptitude wasn't set for... the right amount. The right synchronization. The right... anything. I couldn't be a researcher. But I was a unicorn, so they wouldn't put me in the mundane duties, like the earth ponies and pegasi. So they made me an entertainer.” He said. “It wasn't bad, though! You get good food, you spend a lot of time growing up amongst the important ponies. I loved taking care of the foals, too. They were absolutely adorable. As long as you serve correctly, it's amazing.”

“How many ponies were with you? With the same spells?” Kree asked as she dipped low. The tunnels they were in were small, built for a pony. A lot of the wood holding them up was showing signs of rot and she didn't want to think about what might happen if she accidentally knocked something.

“Like me?” He shrugged again. “I... don't know? I know there were a few, sometimes I'd see them when I helped with the foals. Oh, and the pony who trained me. Her name was Silk, she was nice. We didn't meet each other often, though. We were trained to entertain the important unicorns, not ourselves.”

Kree nodded. “Oh? Tell me about the lessons.” They walked right by a puddle and the unicorn didn't notice. At least his cluelessness was helping her for once.

“The most important one was obey your betters. I spent months on that one. N-not because I didn't get it, I mean, it's an easy one to remember. But she said it was very, very, very important that I learn it.” A dark look fell over his face and he looked ahead. “I... still didn't learn it.”

Kree shrugged and kept walking. Depressed Silver was at least not stupid nearly getting them killed Silver.

“Are there a lot of other stables out here?” he asked.

“What?”

Silver looked up. “The ponies... they knew I was from a stable. You did too. How many are there out here?”

Kree sighed. “A few. On the west side I don't think there are any left. The griffons... well, they don't like ponies. Any stables there that were found wouldn't have survivors for long. On the east side? I've heard of a few. There's one right by the swamp, but nopony has gotten in as far as I know. Even the swamp creatures don't go near it. I heard rumors of somepony coming out of it every few months, but I don't know if any of them are true.”

“And others?”

Kree shrugged. “Those little heavens are pretty well hidden, there's no telling how many are left. But every so often some stupid little stable dweller comes running out, but most get killed. You don't all get lucky enough to run into bad ass griffons who then save your ass.”

Silver nodded and gave her a little nuzzle. “Thank you. For everything. I... I'm sorry I can't be more useful. I wish I was... I wish I knew how.”

The griffon shook her head. “Be thankful, but don’t worry about it. You ever get the chance to save my ass, then do it.” She snorted. “Though I doubt that'll ever happen.”

“Is that why you're helping me? Because you think one day I'll save you?”

Kree glanced down before shaking her head. “No. You're more like... a pet. I found you, I want to at least get you on the right track before you inevitably get yourself killed.”

Silver stared up for a few moments before turning aside. He had a sneaking suspicion there was more to it than that. He just had to figure out the best way to find out. “There's more to it than that, isn't there?” Nailed it.

Kree rolled her eyes. “Maybe I just like being clean for once in my life. You have any idea how long I've been trying to get some of that much out of my talons? I swear, I think you even cleaned the wax from my ears.”

Silver giggled softly. “It's a very useful spell. Whenever there were issues at the lab I could spend an entire day just cleaning everything until it glowed. Or stopped glowing. I got very, very good at it.”

“It's the most useful useless spell I've ever seen.”

“Thanks, it--” The words caught in his throat and then he glared at her. “That wasn't very nice.”

Kree rolled her eyes, before stopping. She grabbed his collar and pulled him to a stop. “Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“Something's out there,” Kree whispered.

“Don't be ridiculous, it—” Silver froze and stared at his pipbuck. Ahead of them, three red marks had appeared as markers. “T-there's at least three.”

“If you have that, why didn't you warn me earlier?”

“I wasn't looking at it,” Silver hissed back, his eyes being drawn forward. Whatever they were, they weren't moving much. Or they were coming straight at them. They were straight ahead, at least. A light clicking could be heard. Not like the rad warning, but like talons against stone. “What... is it?”

“If I had to guess? Probably bloatsprite,” Kree lied before reaching back and drawing her shotgun out. “Stay besides me. I need the light.”

“B-but it's... what if...”

“I wouldn't have come down here if I didn't know I could handle it,” Kree snapped. “Just keep the light up and I'll--”

A high pitched shriek filled the air and something lunged from the darkness. It looked like a mass of flesh and feathers, its warped beak lunging out at them. It didn't lunge for long, a single blast from Kree's shotgun dropping it to the ground. “They're coming!” Silver shrieked as two more shrieks filled the air. Kree cocked the gun and as two more of the things stepped into the light, her gun went off instantly, blowing their faces off.

Silver just stared, her eyes widened as she looked at the three things in front of her. They were covered in melted feathers and flesh, with stubby, melted wings and legs. At the end of the legs were melted talons. They barely came up to her knees, the beaks seeming to make up most of their mass. “They're griffons! Little griffons!”

“Ghouls,” Kree said quickly, before nudging one with her talon. “That was easier than I expected. Small ones usually are, I guess.” She then slammed the butt of her gun down on their heads, for good measure.

“What's a ghoul?” Silver asked softly as he stepped around them. “Wait, I knew it! Griffons are just mutated pegasi!”

The griffon gave another withering glare. “Ghouls are dead things that haven't had the sense to stay dead. They aren't mutants or anything else. Just walking corpses. If you're lucky, these are the only ones you'll see, it--” She stopped and looked around. “Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“I thought I heard a... rumbling,” Kree muttered, before shaking her head and continuing on. “It's nothing. There's probably a few more of them. If it comes down to it, shoot to kill. You have that gun I gave you, right?”

Silver nodded and slowly drew it in his telekinesis. “Y-yes. But... I've never used it before. I ummm... don't... know how.”

“Aim the hole at the thing you want dead, then pull the metal thing under the barrel. It goes boom,” Kree said sarcastically, eliciting another glare from the unicorn. The tunnel they were in suddenly opened up into a chamber supported by a few damaged boards and plenty of already broken ones. Silver gagged slightly from the smell, before gagging fully from the sight. The lights revealed almost a... he couldn't even count them. All that remained were the bloody remains and bones, cracked and shattered across the chamber floor. Interspersed with the remains were the dead remains of other tiny griffons. The ghoul ones, Silver hoped. He moved closer to Kree, only pausing to look down when he felt something sticky underhoof.

It was blood.

He inhaled sharply and prepared to scream. A blood covered talon covered his mouth. “Shut. It,” Kree whispered firmly. “I know you want to scream, but don't. Most of these tunnels were made before the bombs fell, too much racket and you'll bring the whole thing down on us. Besides, you don’t want to wake anything up.”

Silver whimpered, retching against the talons as the smell of old blood flooded his nose. “If I let you go, are you going to scream?” He shook his head and the talon was removed.

He didn't scream, but he did lean over and nearly threw up. If there had been anything in his stomach, he would have. Instead, he dry heaved, the light illuminating the melted beak of the griffon ghoul corpse in front of him. He couldn't move, all he could do was try to throw up, the sights and smells too much for him to handle. He felt something dragging him away and he was soon facing the tunnel. The wonderfully empty stone tunnel that only had dirt and wood.

“Use your cleaning spell, it'll make you feel better.”

Silver listened to the voice, his horn glowing and sending the blood away. It helped with the smell, slightly, but most importantly he couldn't feel it any more. He could almost pretend that the smell was something else. Anything else. Rotten tomatoes. Yes, that was it. Just a hundred pounds of rotten, moldy tomatoes that had been abandoned. Slowly he stood up and moved to Kree's side, his horn glowing as he cast the spell on her.

“That won't help,” Kree said.

“It will for me. I'm not looking at anything but you. Nice, clean, living, non-bloody griffon.”

She rolled her eyes. “You dropped your gun,” she said, holding it out. It was covered in blood as well, making him close his eyes. A quick spell cleansed it. He stumbled a bit and shook his head. “Are you okay?”

“Used the spell too much. It--”

“Are you really so useless that you knock yourself out CLEANING yourself?” The angry yell sent off an echo through the chamber, making her cringe and ready her gun. “Take it,” she ordered.

He nodded and quickly took the gun, though he put it back into his bag. “You... know, I think your gun is more likely to ummm... bring this place down than our yelling would.”

“Shut it,” she warned.

“Why did you even need me for this?”

“Telekinesis. So try not to tire yourself out before we get there,” she muttered with annoyance.

“There have to be other unicorns who could do this, ones more useful?” he muttered.

“Gods, do you ever shut up?”

He sighed and kept walking, staring at her feathers. They were much nicer than the ghoul's, though quite a few of them were in desperate need of being plucked. He hummed for a moment before his horn glowed.

Kree snapped to attention and gripped her gun tightly, whipping it around and aiming it at Silver. The unicorn eeped and held up the plucked feather defensively. “Just what do you think you're doing?” she managed to both whisper and yell at the same time.

“P-plucking the bad feathers. L-look, it's so damaged it--”

“Don't touch my feathers,” she snapped.

“But I used to--”

“Don't. Touch. My.” She knocked the edge of her gun against the unicorn's horn, making the telekinetic grip falter. “Feathers.”

He nodded quickly. Satisfied, she turned and started walking again, occasionally glaring back at him. He kept his eyes on her feathers until finally they made it to the end of the chamber and back into another tunnel. He let out a sigh of relief. “Finally, out of that hole,” he muttered before looking ahead and then down at his pipbuck. Another soft squeak escaped him. “There are... more of these. I mean, them. Red marks. Some ahead, but a lot more to the right.”

Kree nodded and readied her gun as they stepped forward. The light illuminated the tunnel, soon revealing a split in the path, a steep incline on the right. His pipbuck began clicking wildly as they passed and a quick look at it revealed at least a dozen red marks in that direction. Kree ignored it, though, and kept going down the tunnel.

“What's up there?” Silver whispered before glancing back towards the split.

“Probably connects to the aviaries. It's where those griffon's are born. Were born.”

Silver nodded, glancing ahead again. There were still four more ahead of them. He slowly drew his gun and took a deep breath. “We're almost to them.”

“Turn off your light.”

The unicorn looked confused, but did as he was told. To his horror, there was a low green glow ahead of them. “Is... is that...”

“Is your little sensor going off?”

Silver looked down at it and, to his surprise, it wasn't. He held it out towards the glow, but it wasn't making a sound. “No.”

“Then shut up and let's keep going.”

Silver nodded and followed after the griffon, his eyes low. The tunnel opened up a second time and his eyes widened with horror.

The source of the green glow was a puddle of slimy green water, something inside it was casting the light. Dangling over the pool was a large machine. It was covered in mold and rust, though in the glow she could make out weird appendages and a metal drill. A heavily decomposed sign was on the side, with the only legible text being “-Tec”. It took him a few moments of twisting his head to try and read the sign to realize the entire machine was upside down, its hood flapped open.

However, that wasn't the terrifying part. When they stepped into the room he realized his pipbuck wasn't showing only four enemies, just that they were so bundled together that it looked like four. The light revealed at least a dozen of the creatures, bathed in the glow. Most surrounding the little pool. “That's it, isn't it?” he whispered softly.

Kree nodded, her eyes never leaving the sleeping creatures. “Can you get it? You've got telekinesis, don't you?”

Silver nodded slowly.

“Well? Grab it and let's get out of here. I'll cover you.”

The unicorn took a deep breath and slowly moved closer, his gun moving back into his bag. He told himself that it was too dark to see all the little ghouls in the room. That there couldn't possibly be that many, they probably just looked like more because he was terrified he was going to die. If they woke up, Kree would shoot them. Before they got to him. Probably. Maybe. Oh, he was going to die.

He held his breath as he came to the edge of the herd, his horn glowing as he tried to grab whatever it was in the water. The sludge rippled a bit, but he found it refused to come up. He leaned a little closer, allowing himself just a tiny bit more grip. It was no use. He was too far away to reach it with his magic. He looked down at the sleeping creatures and took a deep breath. They didn't move or breath. So maybe they were already dead? He narrowed his eyes before taking a step, his hoof moving between two of the creatures. A melted feather rubbed his hoof, sending a shiver through him, but it didn't move.

Another step. Still no movement from the creatures. Another. Now all four of his hooves were in their midst, surrounded by them. He tried to stop shaking, but he couldn't. His horn glowed as he grabbed the object. Slowly it began to stir. It lifted, gently, out of the water. It broke through the sludge and he grinned at it. It was a completely white gem, shedding a gentle glow over the room. He took one small step forward.

“Tick tick tick tick.”

It took him a second to realize the ticking was coming from him and he looked down at his pipbuck, which was warning him of the radiation ahead. In the silence it might as well have been a gunshot. He pulled his hoof back and the ticking stopped, the gem flying through the air towards him. He jumped back out of the mass as the melted feathers started to stir and a great shriek filled the air. Kree's shotgun went off besides Silver's ear, deafening him and making his grip on the gem falter. It flew through the air, hitting him square in the face. “Ow!”

He shook it off and looked ahead again. The creatures were probably making more shrieks, but he couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears. He grabbed the gem in his magic and turned tail to run.

He spared only a moment to look back, the sight making him freeze in his steps. Kree had fallen back towards the door, unloading her shotgun into the air, though every blast was silent. The ghouls only seemed slightly deterred, coming at her from both sides. The trigger was pulled again and again until there was nothing, no flash of light from the barrel. Kree turned tail, racing after Silver. She gave him a quick shove when she ran back, making him start gallop again. The gem illuminated the way and, thankfully, he was too deaf to hear the things running behind them. Though he swore he could feel their breaths on his flank. Then he remembered they didn't seem to breathe. He ran faster.

They made it to the next chamber and he spared a moment to glance back. The creatures were right behind them, their stumpy little legs and useless, melted wings flapping desperately to keep up. They had a lead, but not much of one. Silver looked towards Kree, then ahead. The tunnel at the end was standing, a beacon of hope. Sure, the trail to it was covered in blood and bodies but right now he found it a far less distressing thought compared to what was following them.

More importantly, his eyes caught sight of one of the big, mold covered posts that were near the entrance. It was one of a pair, though its twin was laying on the ground, having long since crumbled. He leaned forward as he ran by it and kicked out, his hooves hitting the wood and sending it crashing back.

“THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!” Kree screamed. Oh, hey, his hearing was back. Well, some of it. He heard a rumbling above and didn't look up, just doing his best to run after the griffon.

He wanted to scream, yell, holler, but instead all he could do was gallop as hard as his hooves could take him, dashing into and down the tunnel after Kree. To his surprise, he found himself actually passing the griffon after a few moments. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel for only a few seconds, before darkness enveloped him. He struggled to breath as dust and dirt swirled around him, filling his lungs, but he couldn't stop. He could hear the rumbling behind him. He was going to die, he knew it.

He ran into something slightly softer than stone and toppled back, a gun shot going off behind him. “It's got me! Shoot it, shoot it!” something under him screamed.

“Don't shoot it, don't shoot it!” Silver shrieked as she rolled off the startled pony. Hey, she was a she again.

The dust began to clear and she took a few breaths of clear air, before hacking and coughing out what felt like her lungs. When her head rose again she was staring down the barrels of three pairs of shotguns. She gulped and lightly held up the gemstone in her magic. “I, uhhh, found this?”

“SILVER YOU BETTER HOPE I DON’T GET OUT OF THIS OR I WILL KILL YOU!”

The unicorn turned towards the mineshaft and cringed. Rocks were spilling out of it. Kree had... managed to mostly make her way out of the drop zone, but her lower back half was under the wood that had held the entrance up and quite a few of the rocks.

Silver's eyes were drawn down to the small trail of blood that was flowing out as the griffon tried to pull herself free. “O-oh...”

“I'm sorry,” Silver said softly as she gave her most gentle smile towards the griffon.

Kree did not look amused as she laid on the(freshly cleaned thanks to Silver) table. An earth pony walked around, aligning bones and tissue into place. Most of the feathers on her back half had been removed, many of her bones had been broken and deep lacerations had been gouged into her back side. Once the adrenaline had gone away, it had taken three injections of med-x to move the griffon without her roaring and two more once she'd arrived at the doctor. A small trail of healing potions were lined in front of Kree, but none of them could be taken until the stallion had finished aligning the bones properly. Otherwise he'd have to start all over. The griffon let out another hiss of pain as the doctor was forced to cut into her.

“I'm really, really sorry,” Silver said again, staring up at Kree. “I... I got the thing though. The thingie we needed?”

“The gem? Yes, you did,” Kree said with a growl. “And you almost got me killed. Now the caps will barely cover the-- OW! CAREFUL BACK THERE!”

“Sorry,” the pony mumbled.

“Barely pay to get all this fixed!”

Silver gulped and slowly nodded. “I... I'm really, really, really sorry. I-I just thought...” She gulped. “D-don't hurt me, I'm just going to help. O-okay?” She slowly inched forward, wary of the griffon's claws. She tapped her with her horn, a low spark flickering.

Kree blinked and relaxed. “That's... mildly better.”

“Enjoying yourselves?” a voice said from the door. The two looked around to see Shots, standing in the frame. She looked less than pleased. “Happy you almost got the town destroyed?”

“What? We only destroyed the mines! Well, I only... sorry,” Silver said, her gaze lowering as she moved away from the mare's glare.

“Could have brought half the mountain down on our heads,” Shots said bitterly. “If we had wanted it destroyed, we would have done it ourselves.” She then sighed before reaching a hoof back and pulling out the gem. “But, let it never be said I ain't a mare of my word. Yah got the gem, so I've agreed to pay for all the damages you’ve done. Keep you out of trouble, at least for a bit.”

Kree cringed as there was a popping sound from her other half. “And? What's the catch?”

“I want yah two to stay out of town for a bit.” Shots moved closer, turning another glare towards Silver. “Well, I want you to. Don't bring him... Wait... weren't you a...” She looked confused, before shaking her head. “Don't bring... him with yah again. Come back in a week an' I'll see what I can scrounge up for yah. Get you that escort.”

Kree sighed nodding. “Fine.”

“Good. Now... the slavers left. But my advice is you make a stop with them. Drop off your dead weight, forget the escort.”

Kree glanced to Silver for a few moments and the mare gulped. But then the griffon shook her head. “If I was going to visit them, it wouldn't be to sell.”

Shots nodded. “Fine. If ever a pony deserved it, though. One week. Don't show your ugly beak here before then.”

The griffon gave a grudging nod and the mare turned away, walking off. Silver smiled weakly, but she didn't even look back. Dejected, the unicorn got to her hooves and trotted out from the medical room, cringing as there was a light crunch from the griffon's backside.

The waiting room, if it could be called that, just had a single smelly, partially rotten couch and a few old books, missing plenty of pages. She sighed and ruffled through them until she found one with a green cover and a little red cross on it. A low burst of guilt flooded through her and she sat down, pulling the book in front of her and began to read. It was probably going to take hours before Kree could walk again. Probably hours before Kree would even LOOK at her again. At least she could try to find something to help relieve some of the suffering.

Level up!

Perks gained:

Silver:

Additional spell count: Because one just isn't enough.

Kree:

Toughness: Your skin ain't thin.

Author's Note

And so ends the second chapter. Hopefully did better on this one than the last one. Was a bit too excited on the first and probably should have ended up mixing this one with the first(was too used to doing frequent short chapters), but hopefully more in line with the FoE style now. Hope everyone likes. :)