Fallout Equestria: Oakwood Bluesby YoaterChaptersChapter 1: Through the halls. (slightly re-worked 7/3/2013)Chapter 2: Fine line between realities. (Slightly revised 8/24/2013)Chapter 3: Welcome to Oakwood. (Slightly revised 9/26/2013)Chapter 3.5: A Dog and its MasterChapter 4: Sugar & Spice. (Slightly revised 5/26/2014)Chapter 5: Ghosts of the pastChapter 6: One crazy dayChapter 7: Out of the blueChapter 9: Surf CityChapter 10: Plants vs ghoulsChapter 11: OdditiesChapter 12: Into the BlackChapter 13: Beyond BunkervilleChapter 14: Memories and PhantomsChapter 15: River RatsChapter 16: Thunderstorms don't always need clouds or rainChapter 17: WavesChapter 18: Fight or FlightChapter 19: DreamsChapter 20: Dirty DeedsEpiloguePrologue: Darkness Falls (slightly revised 6/25/2013)Chapter 8: All quiet on Tranquility LaneChapter 1: Through the halls. (slightly re-worked 7/3/2013)Chapter 1: Through the halls “To find that which can’t be found, one must be truly good and lost.” ’Walking hurts so much!’ We looked down at Our pained hooves as we walked away from the camp. Then glanced back at the camp and stopped mid-stride as a thought struck Us. ’Something must be done with the cart We were forced to haul around all day.’ We sighed as We turned back, but the beautiful purple night sky distracted Us and We stopped to stare longingly. We wished to fly among the beautiful stars and the thought reminded Us that Sister and We are all that is left of Unity. A single star fell and We smiled, wishing for Our sister to be happy and to show her that We are not as bad to be stuck with as she thinks. As We stared at the sky something large and dark drew Our gaze to the moon. We narrowed Our eyes at the large tramp steamship hull that floated across the moon. It was too far away to make out the specific details of. We have heard from the Crescent's barkeep that there is a pegasus radio pony who lives on an airship that stays in the island's mist in the day, but comes out at night to recharge the ship's spell matrix by the light of the moon. We huffed in annoyance as that sounds ludicrous! Pegasi live in cloud cities, not airships! It's maddeningly constrictive for Us in a ship as We cannot stretch Our wings! We think thy bartender was playing Us for a foal like this dead pissant did. Our gaze went back down to the two door vehicle that We were pulling as a cart and we trotted over to it. The vehicle had four wheels and the back half had been cut out to make for storage. Inside were boxes that the now decaying impure pony was going to sell. Some were unlocked medical supplies, and some were ammunition and junk. We hummed in annoyance as Our nose turned up at the smell of the harness. ’Perhaps We should wash it with the earth pony's water first? Yes that may work.’ With a nod at Our own perfect logic, We withdrew a five gallon jug of water. *** *** It didn't. As the morning sun beat on Us, causing Us to sweat profusely, the harness still smelled. But at least it was not that dirty. Our exquisite mane was washed of blood and booze. Our gaze went around the wrecked highway as We made Our way towards a large circular building once called a hoofball arena, which loomed before Us. The ponies there spotted Us long before We spotted them because a rifle shot kicked up dirt into Our face, blinding Us momentarily. We coughed and gagged on the horrid tasting dirt as We waved Our hoof about to clear it. As it slowly cleared, an impure blue-grey unicorn stallion was standing there with a large floating scoped rifle aimed at our head. "What do you want?" He asked in a tone that indicated suspicion. We slowly pointed a forehoof back at the cart, then spoke to him with Our mind. "We wish to trade. Here is food, medical, and ammo supplies for this place. We do not require compensation, only directions." He arched a brow and the barrel dropped slightly. "Is this some kind of trick?" "No trick,” We shook Our head slowly as We set the hoof down. “We know your kind may not like Us. We mean you no harm. May We be allowed passage to trade? You can verify the contents if thou wishes." "Don't move." He ordered as he sidestepped over to the cart. The floating weapon was trained on Us the whole time. We complied and did not even blink! His gaze and expression said it was creepy. We dared not move except for Our mane as that rifle looked like it could bore an extremely large hole in Our head. The impure unicorn went through the boxes while We watched curiously. "Is it sufficient?" We tilted Our head. He stepped back and shook his head. "Something tells me you are telling the truth, but the rest of me is screaming this is a trap." "We can assure thee it is not a trap. May We show you something?" "I suppose, but I'm watching you." We looked at the impure unicorn and smiled a friendly smile. "If thou would be so kind as to place thine horn against ours. We will show you We mean no malice." He looked around with a sigh as he put the rifle across his back. "I'm probably going to regret this, but okay." As We lowered Our head We touched horns with the impure unicorn. We showed him everything from when We woke up in that medical place to now. We made sure to leave nothing out. For him to trust Us he must know Our reasoning for everything. When we parted there was shouting. "...do we do?!" "It's melting Snapshot's brain! Shoot it!" "No!" The blue-grey unicorn named Snapshot shouted as something was pressed against our head. "She means us no harm." Our eyes opened, revealing the two of us to be surrounded by armed ponies of all colors. Cold metal pressed against Our left ear. We looked over at the barrel of a shotgun that was held by an earth pony. To Our right was an assault rifle. We are not sure what was behind as We dared not look. "How yu kow?" The orange shotgun earth pony asked around his trigger. We hope he does not fire! Snapshot looked at him. "Because she let me in her mind, alright?" The white one on Our right stated. "Coulda fabricated the memories." Snapshot mouthed something to him while putting a hoof to his ear. The white impure pony nodded as he slowly lowered his assault rifle. We tilted Our head in confusion. We did not know the meaning of this gesture, nor what he mouthed as We dare not read pony lips. It is bad enough they speak with air! "Let her in. I'll be responsible if she does anything funny." We smiled with a nod. All the ponies stepped out of Our way, letting us pull the cart towards this place. We looked at Snapshot as We walked past him. "What is this place known as?" We asked in his mind. "Candlelight Park." "Thank you, sir." We turned Our head forward so the impure did not see Us roll Our eyes. Then We looked up at the crumbling stadium. It did not appear defended to Our eyes, but that could be an illusion. Hoofsteps behind Us drew Our attention to Snapshot as he trotted close in behind us with his rifle on his back. We tilted our head in confusion as we told him in his mind. "You do not have to escort Us. We will be fine." "Doubt anypony will talk to you unless a security detail is nearby. They think all alicorns are hostile." We nodded at his sound reasoning. Somepony in the past had been kind enough to build a stone ramp leading up the side of the stairs. Which We followed up. As We neared the top of the cracked stone ramp many voices reached Our ears that muddled together in the echoing concrete tunnel. We stopped to look at the various tent housing nearby and a group of impure ponies stopped to look at us as well. We did not want to be here, but We were lost and perhaps there was a pony here that could help. We looked down at Snapshot. "What may We do to earn their trust?" He pointed a hoof at a nearby board with notes nailed on it. We went over to it and had to lean down to scan the various documents. Some were for killing ponies for caps while others were for retrieving items, so We used magic to pluck off a hoof full of the scavenging contracts. As Us killing a pony would probably be bad and make them think We were evil. One wanted Us to go down into the sewers. We placed it back on the board as We dare not touch that nasty muck! The second one required Us to go to a museum to retrieve a box for two hundred caps, so We tucked that into our saddlebags. A third wanted us to collect money from a few ponies, and We also took that one. How hard could it be? The fourth and final one We kept was a collection order for as much scrap electronics and metal as one could find. It payed a hundred caps for the metal and a hundred and fifty for the electronics in bundles of five. We looked down at Snapshot. "Where may We offload our supplies and this cart?" "Walk this way." He turned with a sigh towards a line of wooden shops a hundred yards away. We copied his actions with a smile. What ponies there were in the tunnel here parted for us like the wave a pre-war steamship makes as it sailed the sea. A few shouted things We blocked out so as to not make a scene, however as soon as We looked at them, they cowered and hid behind others or walls. They dare not say those things to Our face, the cowards. Snapshot looked over at Us. "You know that tablet you acquired automatically keeps track of your jobs and tells you where to go, right?" ’Really?!’ We removed the yellow colored device from Our tight fitting saddlebags. As We looked at its now black screen We. "How does one work this device?" We asked as we pressed the screen with magic, then the button on the bottom. He stopped, pointed a hoof at the screen and explained. "Well it's not keyed to you, so it will show up as blank or off. I'm taking you to a pony who can unlock it for a fee." We put the device away and followed Snapshot. Our gaze eventually wandered and lingered on his hindquarters. We quickly looked at a stall selling food before he could see Us. As We looked at the food stand an idea formed in Our head. With a smile We trotted over to the lime green pony. "Dost thou sell Moonshine?" We asked in her mind as We looked down at her. She shrank back as she looked at Snapshot in terror. "Is it safe to be in here?!" Snapshot nodded. "Yea. I'm watching her, so it's cool." The lime green shopkeeper nodded as she sighed and pointed at a hoof written board. "What I got is listed there." Out gaze went to it. Luna's Light Celestia's Ray Wild Pegasus Applebomb Whiskey Nox Scotch Captain's Spiced Rum Stalliongrad Finest Vodka. Sparkle-Cola Sunrise Sarsaparilla Royal Crystal Cola Purified Water Dirty Water We frowned as We did not see anything labeled moonshine. "There is no Moonshine." The lime green pony grumbled something and crouched low. Our ears heard bottles rattling together for a while before she re-appeared with two bottles. One silver and one glowing gold. She hefted each bottle in turn as she said. "I got Luna's Light and Celestia's Ray. Both are moonshine. Luna’s Light can be used as fuel for certain vehicles if you cut it with oil." We looked around at all of the ponies around us. Then We looked up up and hoped the Goddess forgives Us for drinking something with their name on it. "May We have a sample of each, please?" Her brow arched in suspicion or something. But she poured the silvery drink first. We held it up in magic as We gave it a sniff, which caused Our nose to wrinkle. We put it to our lips and drank the shot glass of Luna's Light. The flavor of it made Us want to spit it out right then as We nearly gagged, but gulped it down. As We held the glass out, the gold colored drink was poured. It went down much smoother and We smiled in delight with a nod. "May We buy a bottle of Ray?" We asked. “This one we like most.” She set the bottle down after closing it and said. "Ninety caps." Ninety caps were floated out of Our bag with magic as We set the correct amount down. The bottle was quickly brought over and We hugged it with a smile. Sister might like this one as it was not as strong as the one We first showed her! But We mustn't tell her its name, or she may go apeshit on Us. We put the bottle of Ray into our bags with magic and followed Snapshot as he walked towards the back of the tunnel. Three stalls down from the drink stand was a shop that had three pink butterflies on it. We knew exactly what the symbol was from pre-war times. We stopped and unhooked from the cart. As We went to the back We retrieved the box of medical supplies. It was hefted in Our magic as We trotted over. The box was gently set down and We returned to the wagon. Then We hooked back into the harness and left the perplexed pony behind. Snapshot's jaw was hung open as we were leaving the stall. "You just gave away two thousand caps worth of supplies!" We nodded and told him. "Medical aid is given freely to all, even the impure. It would be wrong to charge for it, and hurt pony opinions of us." He shook his head slowly while quietly mumbling incoherently. We stopped at a stall selling clothes as We wondered what We might look like wearing a snappy businessmare suit. We shook Our head as We snorted through our nostrils. No, such a foals dream to think of such niceties. *** *** We arrived at the destination told by Snapshot. A room in the back of the stadium which was guarded by a maze of turns and tents. We stepped through the door into the somewhat dark room and bit back a gasp. Entire shelves full of electronics and robotics lined the walls! Those Steel Rangers would love to get their grubby metallic hooves onto this cache. Snapshot walked over to another impure stallion. As he whispered things We could not hear he pointed at Us. We tilted Our head at this secrecy and wished we could listen in. Though We had blocked out the spell to read minds shortly after the Goddess moved on, because We had heard everypony within a two hundred yard radius. It nearly drove Us insane! The impure grey unicorn with Snapshot nodded and then looked at Us. "So you have a DC tablet that needs to be reset? Well it'll cost ya a lot." Our ears folded back in shame. "We do not have much. Will you accept the cart outside as trade?" We swept Our hoof around the room. "A pony such as yourself may one day need to move all of this and a cart would help immensely. There are also boxes of ammo supplies in it." He motioned Us over with a nod. "Very well. Let me see the tablet." We trotted over with it floating in front of Us. As We did so We noticed that Snapshot was walking off. We looked at him with a tilt of Our head. "Thou is leaving?" He nodded. "I have to get back to the gate. You'll be fine with my brother." "Thank you, Snapshot." We respectfully bowed Our head and continued. "The Goddess will reward your kindness one day." Snapshot rolled his eyes and trotted off. Our gaze lingered slightly on his hindquarters before We turned Our attention back to his brother, who was smiling. It caused Us to blink in confusion. "What?" "You like him." He grinned. "We do not! He is impure and does not believe in the Goddess, ergo We do not like him!" ’Though the Goddess... no! Take the thoughts with the impure and toss them into a volcano!’ Snapshot's brother shrugged. "Whatever. Hand over the tablet then." We floated it over to his grasp. He plugged it into a machine. The stallion punched a few buttons while fiddling with things beyond Our knowledge and both devices displayed a bar. One was filling while the other was draining. "Alright this will take a while, come back in a few hours." We laid down and looked at the wall. *** *** Livewire waved a hoof in front of Our face. Only Our mane and tail moved as We were laying down and resting. Which for Us that meant long periods of just laying there and looking at things without moving a muscle. He stepped in front of Us and put a hoof to Our nose, then pushed on it hard. Still We stayed unmoving. He scratched his chin in thought, then paced back and forth in front of Us for a long while. Livewire glanced at the tablet. "It’s nearly done." We blinked finally and looked at him. He shook his head slowly. "Do you realize how creepy it is to have a living pony sitting as still as a statue without blinking for hours?" We shook Our head. "No, We do not. Do you know where We can get this collar removed? It is heavy and We dare not touch it as it most likely will go off." "Might be a pony in the South Bay that can do it, but I don't know how well your kind is received there." A loud beep caused the two of us to look over at the devices. We stood and trotted the distance in wonder at the device. Such a magnificent piece of technology that is well above anything We can truly imagine. Our gaze then went around the room at all the wonderful electronics. ’Perhaps he wouldn't mind if we borrowed one for a while?’ We shook Our head and looked back at him as he was unplugging the tablet from the machine. He slid it over to Us as We looked down and tilted Our head in confusion. 'Place hoof here' was written in green letters above a circle about the size of a hoof. We held Our hoof over the spot and pressed down. Almost immediately, A warm glow traveled from the bottom of the hoof, up the leg and into our head. We almost drew back, but assumed it to be normal. It beeped again as a bar at the top filled and the warm glow slowly faded. We drew the hoof back as it asked for a username and pass key. With Our magic We typed Our name Shell Shock as the user and Sister's name for the key. It beeped three times in rapid succession. The screen faded to some black background that showed a green logo We recognized from a few places here in Oakwood. When We opened the note function We saw five notes. So We Selected one. It opened a compass to the side that pointed in a seemingly random direction. We selected another note and the needle pointed somewhere else. "Ooooh. It does know where to go!” We excitedly said in Livewire’s mind. "It links with your neural network and magic," Livewire commented before We asked how it knew. He tapped the screen with his hoof. "It also doubles as a radio, and has a map as well as other functions. Like a camera." We looked at his yellow eyes with a nod. "Does it allow Us to see other ponies nearby like a Steel Ranger? We would love this ability as the Tin Cans outsmart Us sometimes because of it." Livewire chuckled as he shook his head. "No, it doesn't have an E.F.S. Pipbucks do though. If you can find one out here we, ahem, I may be able to do something with it." "Thank you, Livewire.” We gave him a respectful nod. “Is there a way we can pay you?" "I am kind of looking for parts for a project. You can bring junk by and I'll take a look at it." "Sounds adequate." Our gaze went around the shop to all of the equipment as We wondered if anything could be ‘acquired’. A long round tube with glass on one end was set down on the table. We held the torch in magic and flicked the switch, immediately a narrow beam of blue-white light shot out and lighted where it touched. As We swept it back and forth We accidentally ran it across Livewire. He recoiled in shock as he cried out and clutched at his eyes. The torch dropped and clattered to the floor as Our eyes widened. "We are so sorry! Livewire, We-" He waved his hoof about and silenced our sentence. "It's nothing, don't worry. Just seeing a spot is all." However We floated out a healing potion We had found and brought it over to him. "Please drink this! We do not wish you to be hurt by Us. You may be impure, but a nice impure pony." "I assure you my vision is fine, but if it pleases you I will drink it." He took the drink in his own magic field with a smile and downed it's contents. We looked back the way We had come as he set it down. "We have lingered too long and must go." "May the Goddess smile upon you on your journey." He said softly. Immediately Our head whipped around to his smiling face. We smiled in return and nodded. "Thank you, Livewire." We put everything away and touched his head with Our horn. "May the blessing of the Goddess be upon thee." *** *** The ammo shopkeeper was a brown earth pony with a revolver for a cutie mark. She stood and glared at Us from behind her counter while pointing a minigun battle saddle at Us. Behind her was a room We presume to hold weapons and ammo as there were only small arms displayed outside. "We assure you We only wish to trade!" We told her with Our mind. Our bags were floating to Our side and open to show her the truth. The rocket launcher was on Our other side and We realized too late it may have been a bad idea to walk up with a floating rocket launcher. Her narrowed lilac eyes went from the bag, to Us, and then to the Annihilator Mk.I. This wasn't going as well as We had hoped it would! We pointed a hoof at the launcher. "We need rockets, and-" She spit the trigger out of her mouth and snidely said through the side of her mouth. "Missiles." We blinked and tilted Our head. "Huh? It is an Annihilator Mk.I rocket launcher." "No... It's an Annihilator Mk.I missile launcher, not a rocket launcher. Hence it shoots missiles you idiot!" Our ears folded back at her remark as We looked at the empty weapon. "We are not stupid... please do not call Us that. We know more about explosives than you could ever dream of." She rolled her eyes as she relaxed slightly. "I always thought alicorns were supposed to be big scary monsters and seeing one now... You're not that scary, just a large pony." "Then may We trade with you, since We are not scary?" "Hmph," she smirked and dropped her head under the counter then reappeared with a box. We watched her set a finned blue tipped warhead down, one orange, a red, and then a black one down. “Alright tell me which one you want and I’ll get it.” We pointed at the black one. "What one is this? We have not seen its like before." "Black powder propellant and hoofmade explosives. Doesn't deal as much damage or fly as fast, but a hell of alot cheaper to buy." We pointed a hoof at the blue one. "One of these electromagnetic’s, one high-explosive incendiary, and five high explosive rock-missiles, if you please." She nodded. "Okay. I'll be back." She walked through a door to the back. Our gaze went around to all the weapons. There were a few assault rifles, one hunting rifle, two small pistols, and five energy weapons. We glanced around at all of the ponies walking around to see if any were paying attention. None were. So We grabbed the hunting rifle in magic as it was brought over so we could check it out. It was in very good shape, but made from scrap parts. The twin barreled rifle looked to fire a small caliber and was single shot breech load with one barrel stacked on top of each other. We smiled as We stuffed it in Our bag along with an energy pistol. Then We acted like they were never there. Soon We tapped Our hoof in boredom as the pony was taking a very long time. After waiting for what seemed like hours, the brown pony walked back in with a box of missiles on her back. She set them down on the counter and said. "Okay the HEI's are two-fifty each, the EMP is two hundred, and the high-ex is one eighty. Comes out to one thousand three hundred and fifty caps." With Our magic, We dropped all Our caps on the counter in a large pile. She slowly counted them all, but shook her head. "You only have a hundred." ’We should have at least three hundred! Did we get robbed by Livewire while we were resting?’ With a sigh We set down the .22LR ammo, and a few items we consider junk. The earth pony We are calling Ammo did the calculations again and shook her head. "You're still a thousand caps off." We went to Our bags as we thought of the weapons we just took. Then shook Our head as We are sure she knows all her inventory well. Our ears folded back as Our gaze went down to the pile of caps. We started counting them out to be sure We only had a hundred as that did not seem correct. When We had finished We looked up at Ammo with hard eyes. Our forest green hoof slammed down on the counter and made everything hop a few inches into the air. She blinked in shock and shrank as We shouted only inside her head. "HOW DARE YOU TRICK US LIKE THAT! We HAVE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO CAPS YOU LYING CUR!" Ammo clutched her ears with her hooves and collapsed in agony. She withered around on.the floor for a few seconds as she shouted. "Alright I lied! Just stop screaming in my head!" She looked up at Us, visibly shaken. However We kept glaring laser beam eyes at her with Our brows knitted together in disappointment. "Very well. We will be quiet, but thou hath lost Our trust and We will not be giving you thine business." We placed everything back into our bags, placed them on Our back and trotted off. "Wait, come back and I'll give you eighty percent off!" She shouted. We turned Our nose up and quickened our pace. We refuse to let any pony who lies to Us have Our caps. Now We are glad We took the weapons from that tramp. Our gaze went to the yellow tablet as it was floated out. In the center at the top it read twenty after noon. We pushed on the screen with magic and smiled as the map of Oakwood was displayed. There was a marker for Sister and Our smile turned into a grin. ’Now we know where we are! She is ten to fifteen miles north of us.’ We selected the cap collection note and four markers were now displayed: one way down south, one near Sister, one here and one to the far north near a bridge. We pressed on the screen. It zoomed in and We frowned because the map did not show Us the inside of the building. The note function was opened as We followed the compass for here. Eventually We ran into something soft. The impure pony collapsed to the floor and We nearly dropped the device as We tripped over the diminutive pony. With how We were treated by everypony so far, but Livewire, We chose to glare at the small egg white mare in a blue mechanic jumpsuit under a white lab coat. She stood as she dusted herself off and looked at a pair of broken glasses. "Watch where you're going you id..." Her gaze followed Our legs all the way up to Our eyes. "Sorry!” she yelped in shock as she scooted back. “Maybe I should watch where I’m going, huh?" "We accept your apology. Now go." We pointed Our hoof in a random direction. The impure pony nodded and trotted off. Then Our gaze went to the compass as it spun in that direction she was walking, then We looked up at her. "Wait!" She stopped mid-stride and slowly looked back as she asked. "Yes...?" Our gaze flickered down to the note and We found her description. "Thou owes Long Tap four hundred caps and We are here to collect them." "Oh fuck," she muttered and broke into a gallop. We put the tablet away and chased after her. Our hooves echoed in the concrete tunnel as We galloped, but she was quicker! She ducked left under a cart, and we followed by jumping over it, then she skidded into a turn and headed back the way she had originally come from. We got a long look at her backside as We galloped around ponies. "Help!" She shouted and looked around. "I'm being attacked by an alicorn! Help!" A large pink pony stepped in front of Us. We hopped to the side and skidded, slid around them and continued after the mare. An idea formed in our head and We jumped, flapped our wings to propel Us higher. We smiled as We fell with style. We landed in front of the mare and spun around in a slide as We telepathically boomed. "HALT!" Her eyes went wide as she skidded to a stop and bumped her nose with mine. She smiled nervously while she slowly backed away. As We stood back to full height We noticed a group of angry and armed ponies circling us and closing in. We stood on our hind legs while we put a hoof in the air and telepathically yelled. "Do not attack Us!" We dropped back down and slowly looked at them all in turn while We continued. "This mare owes caps to Long Tap. When We inquired she ran off shouting for help. We hath not laid a hoof on her." We glared at her again and she cowered as she covered her head with her hooves. A steel grey unicorn in a stetson stepped out of the group and looked down at her. "Is this true, Rose?" He asked as he nudged her with his hoof. She looked up from under her short light green mane and nodded slowly. "Yes... But it's a fucking alicorn! What else am I supposed to do when one of them says they want to collect caps?" "You give them the caps!" He retorted angrily then pointed a hoof at Us. "Now give her the caps you owe!" “But..." she squeaked. "Do it!" "I don't have them!" She shouted and bawled into her hooves, "I lost them gambling, alright? I have nothing. No food, no home, no clothes, I have absolutely nothing!" We smiled at how We scared this mare into submission. Sister would be proud! The steel grey pony looked up at Us. "Guess you can't collect." With a shrug he yelled at the others. "Alright, show's over! Ain't nothing to see here." They slowly trickled, off leaving the crying mare and I. We tilted Our head as We laid down and looked at her in confusion. She kept crying. We laid there watching her cry for a while before We got bored. Our gaze looked over at a few ponies who were whispering and pointing at us. One of them snickered, but a glare from Us caused them to gulp and go somewhere else. We looked back at the mare and whispered in her head. "Do not cry." She sniffed as she slowly looked up at Us with puffy eyes. "Why? You just made me admit my gambling problem to the whole fucking town!" We looked back at Our bags and brought out a hundred caps with magic. Then We floated them to her fore hooves with a smile. "Is this enough to get thee a meal for a few days?" We softly asked. "You're just giving me these?" We nodded and used Our magic to place her hooves together to cover the caps slightly. "Just like that with no strings attached?" "Yes. We do not need to eat. The Goddess sent the Sisters of Unity to Oakwood to show its inhabitants her power and that We are the future." She smiled, but her eyes said another thing. "I heard the 'Goddess' died. Is it true?" "We heard that as well, but We are unsure if it is true. Go, take your caps and be happy." She looked around at the other ponies, then whispered to Us. "Would... it be okay if I go with you?" We tilted Our head and blinked in surprise. "We do not understand... We are an alicon and you’re an impure... Yet you... wish to come with Us?" She nodded as she began to stuff her caps into pockets. "Yeah. I figure you're going places that have good salvage and well, salvage is caps.... and I need caps." "Do you wish to join the Sisters of Unity too?" We asked. "Uhh... What do they do?" We looked into her eyes and grinned. "Simple. We destroy the Goddess's mortal enemies through the use of excessive firepower." "And who are they?" "Enclave and Steel Rangers. Of course We have yet to see any Tin Can Chickens out here and suspect the Enclave to have no presence here." The mare gulped, though We did not know why... maybe she's thirsty? The bottle of Ray was floated out with magic and We offered it to her. She shook her head and stood up. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can join your Sisters of Unity thing. However I will go with you and split all salvage we find. How does that sound?" "Adequate." "I'm Rose." "Ponies call us Shell Shock. We are unsure why as that is not Our real name." "What is your name?" We shrugged and decided to partly lie to her. "It is lost to time and We are now Shell Shock, the green alicorn. This We are okay with as it is an adequate name for Our actions." *** *** Rose and I walked along the road. We held the tablet in front of Our eyes as We looked at the map. The museum was not far away, maybe two or three streets over, and it may hold items of value. We put the device away. As We were turning Our head We spotted movement. We stopped, causing Rose to look back at us as she stopped as well. "What?" "Ssh!" We projected into her head, "we are being watched." Our gaze slowly scanned the two story houses and four story brick buildings as We looked for anything odd. Though We could not see anything odd that would indicate a trap. Rose looked around as well then shook her head. "I don't see anything. Let's keep moving." With a nod We floated out the hunting rifle and stared at it with narrowed. We wondered if that pitiful ammunition We found fit it. So We brought out a .22LR round, opened the breech, and placed the .22LR round in the chamber. We tilted Our head in confusion at the perfect fit. "That's a small hoofmade pipe rifle." Rose commented as she looked over. "Not the best, but alright in a pinch. You know when you said excessive firepower I thought you'd have something bigger than that tiny thing." We loaded the second shot and then used magic to pull out the missile launcher with a smile as Ross gulped. "Point taken." As We put it away We brought the over and under pipe rifle's screw sight to Our eye. We aimed the sight at various things to get a feel for it before We were forced to use it. We kept it out as We turned down the right street and saw the museum loom before us. We must do these jobs quickly so that we can get back to Sister we thought to ourself. The parking lot was mostly devoid of vehicles save for five and the museum's overhead dome was missing most of its glass. We trotted over to the nearest vehicle and peered inside it as We wondered why internal combustion powered vehicles weren't more widespread on the mainland. We only knew of a few V-2 Vertibucks to have them. We bucked out the glass window with Our hoof, covering the inside with glass, and found the door to be already unlocked. With a shrug We dug through the vehicle's contents, which was one Sparkle-Cola... We went over to the next one which was a four door station wagon. Inside We spotted a yellow and pink box sticking out from under the seat. This time We tried the door with magic and found it locked. So Our forehooves were brought up as We smashed them into the glass. We pulled the box out of the vehicle with magic. As We turned around to show Rose the box We smiled at her. "We found this,” We told her. “Thou may keep it as per our agreement." We pushed it towards her and she used a bobby pin plus a knife from a pocket to open it. She took out an inhaler of some kind and immediately put it back. Other contents were two potions, and a box of Mint-als. Rose sighed as she looked up at US. "Can you carry my stuff?" "...No... We are not a slave, nor a pack mule. You must carry your own equipment, or leave it behind." We told her with a glare that said she better not look for the detonator to the collar. With another sigh, she tore off a long strip of cloth and fastened it to the medical box like a belt. Rose strung it around her chest, then put some scrap wires into it. We nodded in approval at her ability to make impromptu saddlebags. As We turned We looked at the large double doors that marked the entrance of the museum. Our hooves carried the two of us there, We gripped the handle in magic and opened it. We recoiled and put a clipped wing to Our nose as the reek of death filtered out when the doors opened. We glanced around at what we could see through what little light filtered in, We saw nothing. No reason for that smell when We opened the door. At the time We had thought maybe it was the rotting wood that smelled, as this place was pretty far gone. In the center of the large atrium was a wrecked wooden and cloth plane. The wires supporting it had long collapsed, but a tiny hologram showed it was a biplane at one time. We ignored it and as moved around it. We nudged a door to the back open with Our nose, then went around a trashed display that at one time showcased a sporting shotgun. This decrepit hallway was filled with weapon cases. Light filtered in through smashed or dirty windows. We passed by other smashed weapon cases for Ironshod weapons. Their contents long gone. Down the hall was a pile of wood that drew Our attention. We trotted over to it and looked at the floating hologram of a Mark IV tank that had sponson guns. We shuddered at the thought of using wood as vehicle armor. Next to it sat an early wheeled car with flat tires and rotted out wood rims. With a defeated sigh We continued deeper into the museum. There were various vehicle exhibits with pony mannequins as well as other races, but we ignored them in favor of following the tattered signs for the space exhibit as We thought that might be interesting. As we turned right we heard a voice, except it was metallic and garbled. Our guess is an old recording of some kind, because We couldn't understand it at all. We looked around the dark hallway again as we made a left towards the space exhibits. Sometime later, We stopped to look at the picture of a couple ponies on the moon. They looked so happy. We honestly don't remember them going to the moon, then again We were out of the loop on world events for many years. There was an earth pony floating above what looked to be another earth pony in white suits. We smiled at the picture of happier times and continued as more lights clicked on followed by static. "In... ronauts placed a mir... moon. That way we can..." The rest of it was garbled static. As We looked left We saw a grimy glass window that looked interesting. We trotted over and wiped a hoof across the surface of the glass. We pressed Our face against it and stared at the massive rocket that was surrounded by gloom. Lights kicked on at the bottom and slowly made their way up. The lights at the very top revealed a capsule that was nearly stripped of paint. Rust streaked the rest of the rocket all the way down to the bottom and a walkway spiraled its way around. We frowned at the horrid condition rocket and continued our trot through the rotted museum. There was a door to our left and a sign that said it went to the rocket. So We followed it and bucked open the door to the rocket display. A grand re-opening banister had half fallen off and crushed a glass window that caused us to duck under it as we walked through the hallway. Above us the shattered glass dome still had shreds of fabric hanging down. The elements had done a number on the walkways paint and the carpet. We tested the walkway with a hoof. It gave a metal creak. Then We gave it a firm push and a nervous smile when it stayed put. So We stepped onto it and It groaned as We put all four hooves on. We quickly backed away as We let out a breath of relief when it stayed put. “It should be okay,” Rose quietly said. “Should...” We smiled at her. “Ride our back and if it breaks We can slow the fall with Our wings.” She nodded in agreement and We laid down. Then Rose climbed onto our back nervously. She was very light, almost like a foal, which she was close to the size of. We stepped forward onto the catwalk and gave it a few seconds to settle before we began to follow it down. It took quite a while due to nearly every other step being received with a groan of metal. As we stepped onto the last step We hesitated because the floor looked perfectly spotless. Our gaze went back up to the broken dome as We shielded Our face from the waning blue sky with a hoof. Dark grey clouds were slowly rolling in, causing the sky to darken. High above us, the shriek of metal echoed followed by a loud metallic crash and then another shriek. We dove to the side as level upon level of metal catwalk came crashing down in a mass of twisted steel and dust. When it settled We huffed and got to Our hooves as Rose groaned. As We glanced up We saw the outline of a pony, but they quickly vanished. Our ears folded back against Our head as We realized that it was much too far for us to jump up to that door even with wings assisting Us. We looked around the bottom room and spotted an open door. With nowhere else to go, We went inside with Rose behind Us. The hallway beyond was mold covered and almost pitch black. We followed that hallway for some time before it opened into some kind of large spacious room with seating around a trashed object. There were four exits and We picked the one to our right. Which we followed for a long time before we made a right and had a new choice of doors. We picked the one on our left and tilted Our head as We opened it. There was a pony skeleton slumped over a desk with a severely rusted weapon nearby. The weapon was magically put into Our saddlebags as We went through their pockets with magic. All We found was a useless document detailing security for the grand re-opening of the museum. The second document had a bunch of letters and numbers that read: G4C0MD215. We assumed it to be useful and put it in our bags. With nothing else in there We turned around and opened the door across the hall. All it was, was an empty janitor's closet and that caused Us to frown. We left that behind and went through the third door. Inside that room We saw shelves, upon shelves, moldy cardboard boxes of crap that fell apart to the touch. Anything of value looked to have been stripped long ago as well. We left the storage room and made our way towards the green glowing exit signs. As we neared the exit door We opened it and sighed deeply in frustration as where were more stairs leading... down. We had no idea why they would go even further down as the plans for the building according to Rose stopped at this level. Our hooves echoed in the dark stairwell as we made our way down with the tablet in front of Us. The outdoor only map useless, but the compass was pointing nearby. As We looked up from the device We stopped at an unusual door that looked like a reinforced blast door with a keypad next to it. We went over to it and tried the code We found, but it flashed a red error and screeched. Rose pushed Us out of the way. “Let me try! You might break it or something.” We sighed and tapped Our hoof in boredom as she backed out of the terminal twice before it flashed green. “There.” Rose hit a button and the door slid open with a hiss. By that time We had Our energy weapon out. We were looking at one of the flat parts on it strangely as We had never used one before. There was no discernible barrel and that caused Us to wonder where the shots exit from. Rose jumped up and plucked it out of Our grasp with her hooves before We could react. As she landed on the floor she glared. “Don’t you know not to look in the barrel?!” “We could not see a barrel?” We told her the truth in her mind. She rolled her eyes as she put it away. “No energy weapons for you then.” We sighed and looked at the floor. Then Our gaze went to the truly pitch black hallway and We stepped inside. There was a loud click that caused Us to start in surprise and draw the pipe rifle, but it was only a yellowed light turning on above us. And then another one at the very far end clicked on which caused Us to frown. The rifle was put away as We brought out the torch and tablet. The both was floated in front of Us as we went into the grim darkness before us. Our torch cut a swath of light like the moon in the night sky. We looked down at the compass then up at the alternating doors that lined the walls every thirty meters. We turned left into the first room we came across. There was a desk and file cabinet, which Rose went through the contents of and found a strange orange metal feather. She put that away and we left that room as we went farther down the dark hallway. Our gaze looked left and right. About eighty feet down was another office, but on the right hand side. Inside held just an empty desk. *** *** We turned left in the dark hallway. Rose and Us had found nothing for the last two hours according to the tablet. The torch was getting slightly dimmer with the passing of minutes. Every eighty to a hundred feet was an office on either side of the hallway. We were not sure of their purpose, but Rose was growing more and more concerned. As we turned right around a bend, the office hallway abruptly changed to one with cracked concrete walls and four inches of ice cold salt water on the floor. We stopped walking and blinked in surprise as We turned Our head to look back at cracked concrete walls. There was no possible way for them to have changed like that! "Did the hallway just change?" We asked in a whisper of the lips, because We were so shocked that We momentarily could not use telepathy. "Yeah..." she replied in a whisper. “It looks... nice.” "What is going on?" We asked as We looked at Rose in worry. "Perhaps we should head back?" "There might be loot down here." She whined and pouted. Her eyes grew big and watery as she bit her lower lip slightly. With a nod from Us, We continued into the now concrete tunnel. The icy water sloshed about as it sent a chill up Our legs and into Our spine. This place was wrong. It felt wrong and we should not have been there. After another few blank corners, Rose opened an office door and gasped in shock as her eyes went wide. "Mom?" Our ears swiveled as We looked back at her and stopped. "Mom, what are you doing here? You're... dead." ’Dead?!’ Our eyes widened as Our hooves carried Us over and We looked in the door. All we saw was a standard empty concrete jail cell with no pony, nor desk or anything else. Rose winced at some unseen words. "I love her, and I don't care! Screw the rules!" We stepped in front of her as We spread Our glorious wing to block her sight. She blinked as she recovered from whatever it was and looked up at Us as We assured her. "Rose, thine mother is not really there." Her eyes widened as they went to Our wings. "Sweet Celestia what happened to your wing?!" We folded our wing with a sneer as We stepped forward and shut the door behind Us with magic. "An impure pony tricked Us, but do not get any ideas as it shall not happen again." We told her honestly. "I know a pony that can remove that collar.” Rose smiled up at Us. “She's pretty handy with electronics and pretty close-by." We huffed at this and shook Our head. "No! We will not accept thy offer of help as We do not trust Rose, an impure fillyfooler." "What's that got to do with it?!" she shouted as she hopped off the ground. "Absolutely nothing. We merely pointed it out is all. So who was she?" "The mare of my dreams. Our parents didn't approve, because they wanted us to have children and wouldn't listen to any reasoning." We rolled Our eyes as We understand that problem. "Ugh, We know how that is. The Goddess has Us seeking a way to make male alicorns so that we may breed. She found a reference to this island and ordered Sister and I, along with four others, to investigate it for possible clues." We pointed a hoof at her as We added. "Do not think to come onto Us, Rose. We like stallions and would prefer them to be alicorns.” Her eyes bulged out of her sockets. "Huh?! The thought never even occurred to me!" "Uh-huh." As We turned to continue walking, a ghost of a pony shape with glowing lavender eyes crowded the very edge of Our peripheral vision. However when We looked directly at it the pony vanished. We were not liking this one bit... *** *** We rounded a corner in the near pitch black tunnels as we walked through the water. Rose kept trying to look inside the rooms. Then We would remind her that it would be bad if she did as We had to block her from looking the first time. A thud drew our attention to one of the rooms. Our gaze went over to it as We opened the door with magic and prepared to shut it if something tried to jump out. Nothing did. Inside was a body and a few items. We looked at the grime covered earth pony skeleton sprawled out on the floor. It had a top hat and a long ripped overcoat. Behind the skeleton was a decayed fiddle that had all but rotted away. In his clutches was a used syringe that We recognized to be for Cloudpack. Scattered around him were various empty drug containers. A Dash inhaler, a box of Party-Time Mint-als, four Med-X syringes and one absurd looking three in one drug. There was also a bottle of rum that long since evaporated. We mourned for the loss of the alcohol. A search of his torn bags revealed a four shotgun shells that We put away and a single shot over and under shotgun that looked to be made to attach to your foreleg. The leather was akin to a sock with straps to tighten it down on one side. Though it was odd as there was no visible trigger. We took a journal of sorts out and put that away. We used Our magic to tie the shotgun to Our right foreleg snugly. The very short barrel was on the inside of our leg for easy access for reloading. As We opened the breech We loaded two slugs in with a smile and snapped it shut. “Groovy.” We commented as We held the foreleg up and looked at it. We left the office and continued as We floated out the journal. Don’t fuck with the Wardens. If they tell you to submit, you better fucking submit! The others thought it’d be a good idea to shoot a warden that had 'arrested' one of us. They were all three beaten to death by just one! I ran the fuck away and left them. The fools didn’t listen to me when I said they couldn’t die. They laughed at me and called me a stupid PTM addict. WELL WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?! Fuck I’m going to die in this Luna damned blue hallway. I know someone is reading this and I’m long dead. My advice is to get the fuck out of here FAST or you’ll die down here. And don’t ever stop moving. Alright I’m going to take some drugs and play one last song. We closed the book and put it away as We continued into the slowly worsening tunnels. Why did they say the hallways were blue? They are cracked concrete! *** *** As we rounded the extremely grimy corner Our dim torch highlighted a long dead skeleton clutching a box in one hoof and a Pipbuck on the other foreleg. His, or her, stable suit was decayed into tatters, but its yellow number 383 was displayed proudly if a bit faded. We grinned at the realization that the pony held the box we were looking for and they had a Pipbuck! We were finally able to get the advantage Steel Rangers had. However as We picked both items up in magic, Rose jumped and knocked the Pipbuck out of our magic's grasp She held it to her chest as she landed on the floor. "Nuh-uh. We go half and half on loot, remember?" We nodded as this We remember to agreeing on. "You get that box you came for and I get this Pipbuck." With an exasperated sigh of defeat We slipped the box into Our bags. As We did so the compass turned to a new location while the tablet beeped. "Very well... Thou can has thy Pipbuck. Just be sure to tell Us if there are hostiles about, fair?" "Yup,” she nodded. Our gaze went back down to the tablet and We wondered if there was anything else down here. We put the now not needed device away as We pushed forward with the torch in front of Us. We did not bother to look in the offices because of Rose's experience earlier, so We broke into a gallop with her behind us. The concrete halls became a blur as We turned left, then a right, followed another left and stopped abruptly as We came across the same dead skeleton. "That should not have happened...” We said slowly and breathed deeply as sweat ran down Our face. “We did not go in a circle." "How do you know? We've been running for almost an hour!" We looked over at Rose as We held out a wing and made a gesture while We said. "Because we went in a Z pattern. Left, right, left. We would have had to gone left, left, left to go in a circle." A voice whispered in the back of Our mind. "Hungry, so very hungry... Feed me..." Our ears perked up and We branched out with Our mind. "Sister?!" We extended Our telepathic range as We looked for the source through the various rooms and hallways. In doing so We found out something very troublesome in the process. This place looped back in on itself regardless of which way you went. After an agonizing amount of time We found another alicorn and connected with her. "Who are you?" We asked as We did not recognize her. "Who is this? How did you contact me?!" She asked suspiciously. We smiled at Rose as We told the alicorn, "We are a green and a friend. Do not be frightened." "I am not frightened! Get out of my head this instant or so help me I will find you and fillet you alive!" We kept staring at Rose and she started to get unnerved from Our smile. "But sister, We are all that is left of Unity. The others are dead. Plea-" "Others survived the Destroyer's attack and I somehow ended up on this Goddess forsaken island. NOW GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" "But.... sister We are trapped and could use some help." We showed her where we were in the tunnels and hoped she’d come. Rose waved a hoof in front of Our face as she tilted her head. "Are you alright? You haven't blinked.... at all in the last few minutes." The connection was severed when the alicorn started shouting obscenities at Us for invading her personal space. We smiled warmly at Rose. "We have found a new sister and she is in these tunnels!" Suddenly, a bright purple flash filled the hallway and Rose yelped in surprise. The nearly black purple alicorn We had connected to was glaring daggers at Us. On her side was a pair of saddlebags and she said scornfully with her mouth. "You... you are the most annoying green I have ever met! It is no wonder you were banished here." Our ears folded back in embarrassment at her remark. "We were not banished... the Goddess gave Us a job to do!" "Twenty years ago! What have you been doing this whole time if she gave you a job?!" "Searching, and..." We looked away in confusion as twenty years seems awfully long to have been here. It felt like months.. "And?" She asked pointedly while tilting her head and drew Our attention back to her. "Fighting Steel Rangers. There is something on this island that they want, but We do not know what it is." "She's dead it doesn't matter anymore. Let them have it." The dark purple alicorn said. "The Goddess is not dead." We told her flatly with Our mind. "Is too. She took a megaspell to the face!" We glared at her. "She is not!" "Is too!" “Is not!” “Is too!” "Is not." "Is too." "Is too infinity!" “Is not double inf....” The dark purple alicorn rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever! Goddess, I hope I don't go insane on this island like you have." Rose finally spoke up as she raised her hoof. "Um... you said Shell Shock was banished? Why was she banished?" The two of us looked down at her. "Not your concern!" Purple Sister said, her voice laced with anger at the impure pony. We smiled and nodded as We were glad that she did not make something up. Because the Goddess really did send Us out here on a mission. We connected with her again and she immediately looked at Us. "What?!" She demanded in Our mind. "May we call you Grumpy?" We asked her with a tilt of Our head. She facehoofed and groaned in what sounded like annoyance. *** *** Grumpy pointed a hoof at the tablet that we had floating in front of us. "So this blue alicorn called 'Sister' is here?" We nodded and tapped it with Our own. "Is she like you or.... more sane?" "Sister is usually there and no. She is meaner than Us and talks like you. We do not know why Our sisters insist on speaking with air... it is taxing." She nodded. "And you want me to teleport the three of us there?" We shook Our head slowly. "No no no. That is not what We want! We want you to teleport us outside the museum, and then you meet up with her." She arched a brow. "What for? I have no ties to either of you! I should just leave right now." "Because she needs to know of the bounty on alicorns and We suspect she may be worried." "Why don't you connect with her and tell her?" We looked at the skeleton on the floor sadly. "We have tried and she does not hear, nor respond. We think she may have left Us." "Gee I wonder why..." Grumpy said dryly with a roll of her eyes. "We do not know." We tilted our head. "Perhaps she was forced too?" "Well in any event I can't teleport three ponies out of here. It's just too far and too much without basking in a ton of radiation for a day. We are nearly a mile underground." We smiled and connected to her. She glared at Us, but did not say anything. We explained inside her head. "We soaked up some the other day and with our connection We can amplify thy spell. Which would make it easier for you to cast, thus thou can transport the three of us out of here with a fraction of the power normally required." "You can do that?" Rose asked and we nodded. Grumpy looked at her suspiciously. "You sure do ask a lot of questions. Are you a spy?" Rose’s eyes widened. "No, I am just curious, because I've never gotten the chance to talk to an alicorn without them shooting first!" She received a glare from Grumpy and We looked at the both of them. After a few seconds we put the tablet and torch away. Then looked at Grumpy and nodded. "We are ready." She sighed. "Alright this might disorient you if you’re not used to it." It all happened in the blink of an eye. We watched it all with a smile as We were providing power and time was slowed for Us. The world around us began swirling and tearing. As each piece was torn off, the outside world replaced it. We glanced up at the cloudy night sky as it was being revealed. With a pop and a flash we stood outside of the museum whole in body and missing nothing. We broke the connection and clapped Our forehooves together in delight. "We're out of that trap!" "Yeah, thanks. Do you happen to know the blue's name beyond 'Sister'? We glanced at Rose, then whispered only to Grumpy’s mind. "We are unsure as to her name." Grumpy nodded. "I'm going to go now, but I will tell her you are safe and working your way back." With a nod from Us, she vanished in a purple flash. Which left just Rose and I. If Grumpy does not trust her, then We do not trust her. However We cannot simply take the Pipbuck as it would be obvious as to whom took it, so We are at a loss. Rose stretched with an audible yawn. “I’m worn out and need to find a place to sleep.” We nodded. “Very well, We shall keep an eye out for impure bandits while you sleep.” ***===***===*** I galloped across the muddy city park with my bolt-action IF-12 floating in front of me. The weapon was heavily outdated, but it's what I was issued and loved. Ahead of me lay a trench line of zebra’s firing at us as our company charged. They had dug in and most of the city was reduced to ruin. A hundred or so yards behind their trench line was a ruined factory that produced who knows what. Ammo, guns, vehicles. It didn't fucking matter. We were told to take it and that is what we were going to do. I wrapped a dead armored pegasus in magic and used the lifeless body as a shield while I made my way towards a bomb crater. I weaved left and right while taking pot shots at the zebra troops who'd stick their heads up. As I got within range I tossed the body inside the crater and slid down after it. One of the others I was with dove in with a wet muddy plop. He looked up at me and grinned while panting heavily. "Damn, you're fast!" I grinned back. "You're just lazy!" Arrow tried to climb over, but I used my magic to shove him back down. "That's stupid, watch!" I took his woodland camo hat with magic and began to slowly lift it up over the crater. A shot sent it flying from my magic's grip. He gulped while he pulled it back on as I loaded in five more rounds. "Then we're stuck!" Arrow huffed. I tried to explain a plan, but an artillery shell howled and went silent. I immediately grabbed Arrow with a hoof and pulled him low into the crater as the shell landed a few feet outside and showered us with mud. I worked my jaw around to get rid of the ringing in my ears as I shouted. "They got this shit pre-ranged!" "Ya think?!" He looked over at the one winged pegasus with a few holes in its side. "What's with the bird?" I used my magic to ripp the armor off the body as I explained. "Ya want armor? Here’s armor!" I cringed as I tossed it over to him. "It won’t fit me and I want his grenade gun. I'll lob them at the trench while using his body as a shield with you behind me." A groan escaped me as I looked at the sky camo pattern. In the mud down here he stuck out like a bad hooficure. The combat saddle was unstrapped and I looked at it in confusion. Instead of figuring out how to put it on I ripped the grenade machine gun off, levitated it up and put away my bolt-action. We never got armor beyond just an old metal recycled royal guard chest plate that was totally inadequate. Hell our uniforms were frayed woodland camo stuff that wasn't used anymore and bore no markings of any kind. We might as well have just been naked. Arrow looked at the wing plate and ripped it off with his hooves as it was useless to the blue crystal pony. As I glanced at the dead body I wrapped it in magic and slowly made it look over the crater. Half his head exploded and showered us with brains and bone. I tossed it aside as I sighed. "Yeah, we're fucked." Arrow looked down at the radio. "I think the radio works. Let's get some support." I made a motion with my hoof as he removed it. It was held to my ear as I cleared my throat and attempted communications in my best stallion impersonation. "Red Barn this is..." I looked at the armor and shrugged. "Gold Bird four. I am on the ground and injured with two others. Zebras have us pinned down. Requesting two Zippos at..." Arrow held up a map and pointed a hoof at our location. "Grid reference eight, Kilo, Foxtrot, Alpha, six, four, two, zero, eight, two. Come in from the southeast. Western trench still not taken, and ground pre-ranged. We won’t last long." The reply was almost immediate. "Roger that, Gold Bird Four, Zippos in bound. E.T.A. Ten minutes." Arrow shook his head in amazement. "I don't know what's more impressive. The fact that you pulled that off by making up a code name. Or the fact that you sounded like an annoying colt whose balls haven't dropped and it still worked." I laughed. "Yeah. Well if anyone asks we can claim he died after calling them. How's it look?" He gave a nod and crept up for a look. Then quickly dropped back down as a shot snapped overhead. "The others made it slightly closer, and I think the regulars are just now catching up." "Hit or miss?" He shrugged as he held out a hoof. "Bet ya he misses the target." "Fifty bits says he hits it." I shook his with mine. A new voice came over the radio. "Gold Bird Four this is Eagle seven. Can you point out your position with smoke?" I held up the radio again and resumed my fake voice. "Negative Eagle seven. No smoke grenades. Friendlies east of target still haven't reached the trench, you're clear to make a run." "Uh, Roger that. Keep your heads down." Two objects dropped out of the southeastern sky with a thunderous roar. The first single engine propeller ground attack aircraft lined up with the zebra trench and unleashed a barrage of rockets and gunpods. His wingman following suit a few hundred yards behind. Arrow looked over the crater and smiled. "You owe me fifty bi-" His head rocked back as his brains sprayed out of the new hole. "Arrow!" I shouted as his corpse slid next to the dead pegasus. ***===****===**** I looked at the floor as a tear ran down my cheek. My hoof came up as I caught it and stared at the salt flavored droplet. I let it fall and involuntarily rubbed my right foreleg in an effort to ensure it was still whole. Before I joined Unity I only had three legs because of that battle. When I took a breath, I smelled fresh blood and cordite. Slowly, I looked around for trouble. Nothing was amiss and a test of Our nose revealed no blood, so then why did We smell it? I contemplated the vision. I remember the horrible feeling that everypony was dying around us yet we fought on, because we must or be shot as traitors. Lately when We sit like that I get snippets of Our past. Visions of things that were before We became better with Unity. The Goddess helped Us to block them out, but now... they were free again. ‘We must do better’ was Fluttershy’s motto. But as We looked around the destroyed museum We saw that in the end We only succeeded in doing worse. With Our magic We pulled out the yellow tablet and noticed that the map marker for Sister had moved, and so did the one for Our collar. The collar marker was halfway between here and the one out in the jungle while Sister's had vanished. We left that function as We pressed the radio and found it to be tuned into a channel with what sounded like a drunk mare. “This here’s DJ Snow bringing ya the midnight news. The tempra.... temperature is about seventy-five degrees, wind is round twenty miles an hour an’ some annoying fog be rolling in later tonight. But who cares? I sure as hell don’t. Alright out heres in.... uh, Oakwood we’ve gots a little alicorn problem with two of 'em. We all know that, right? Well I done heard it through the grapevine that one of em was spotted giving goods away to Candlelight. Why? I don't fuckin' care! Maybe they finally wised up. BUT! One good deed.... is not enough ta redeem a mare of a lifetime of evilness, so we’ll see if they really are changing.” We looked at the device in confusion as the sound of a bottle being opened was played out. ‘We are not evil!’ We thought to ourself. ’Do ponies think we are evil and that why they attack us on sight? We must show them that we are not evil. There must be a way to do better.’ The bottle was set down noisily and the mare continued. “Alright DJ Buccaneer will be on in a few hours, but this here’s DJ Snow saying.... Have some Green Onions.” We tilted Our head as We blinked in surprise at the organ playing out. The noise it was playing was... soothing. Like it is melting Our worries away. We had forgotten the joy of music. We tapped Our hoof to the beat and listened with a smile. *** *** Gently, We gripped a feather shaft with Our mouth and felt the oil gland apply its fluid as We ran Our mouth along the shaft. Preening is such an annoyingly slow process with Our large wings and a great many feathers. Except We must do so every so often to keep them in tip top shape! And it gives Us time to think. Pre-dawn light had turned the sky a grey hue, but a fog rolled in on a salty breeze from the west. As We finished Our longest feather We started on the next one in. We were unsure of how to handle Rose. She likes alicorns. This much We could sense from her questioning Us over everything.We do. But she did not wish to join Us against the Steel Rangers. We stopped halfway down the second feather as We glanced at Rose. Her chest rose and fell slowly as slept peacefully and heavily. The fact that she may be a Steel Ranger crossed Our mind. A thought of touching Our horn to her head and looking into her memories struck Us. Except We banished it as that would lose what little trust she has of Us. Instead We floated out the journal again to read while preening. This We can multi-task with. We were a few miles away when one of the missiles kicked out of the rack. In a pillar of fire and smoke it took off turning straight up as it almost hit the deck. I watched it disappear into the clouds above us and was about to head inside when I remembered something. I looked at the remaining missiles still in the rack. They shouldn’t fly straight up like that. Because cruise missiles didn’t do that. After I went inside I asked the pilot. “What missile did you fire?” She shrugged and after a little bit of searching on a touchscreen monitor she pulled up a result. “SLCM-35M, low yield. Eight kilotons.” “Get us the hell out of here!” I screamed while hitting the collision alarm and looked through the door to the outside. A loud bell rang out and red lights started flashing behind me. The missile broke through the clouds and the Cloudchaser picked up speed while banking away. A high pitched humming sound grew louder as the airship started moving faster with smoke trailing out below the stern. The warhead was almost on top of the city when I slammed the door shut and spun the wheel to seal it before looking away. A bright flash shone through the rear windows as I was thrown around from the ship nearly flipping over. The pilot for her part stayed in the chair-bed control console thing and righted the airship. After she regained control I stood up and opened the door to see a giant mushroom cloud of fire and smoke looming over the city remains... Our eyes widened as We finished reading the last page as it detailed him megaspelling a city with no clear reason why. Because sadly, the page explaining the reasoning had been torn out at one point. We flipped back farther and it looked like it was owned by a mare who died writing as her blood was being drained in some form of execution, then a different pony, and finally the one who We got it from. The dates were wild and We suspected this to be a false journal because of it. As it speaks of events that never occurred. Like a floating city made of steel and stone! With a huff we tossed the journal away. Then stared at it. Something at the back of our mind was telling Us to keep it. And so We floated it back into Our bags. Then We went back to preening in annoyance at having learned nothing from the mysterious journal. *** *** The two of us walked along the narrow debris strewn road towards the South Bay marker. Around us were many houses packed together and the street had tall grass growing out of the cracks. We were nearly to South Bay when a shot grazed Rose's neck, causing her to yelp in shock and duck. We looked around at the buildings with Our .22 rifle floating at eye level, but We saw nothing. "Give us the alicorn and you can walk away!" A pony shouted from a building. Though with the narrow road it echoed and made locating impossible without an E.F.S. Rose scrambled behind the cover of a wagon with a line of red across her neck. She removed strips of medical bandages from her bags and wrapped her neck while she shouted. "What?! Why do you want an alicorn?" "Don't play dumb with me.” The voice shouted as We looked around with a determined look. “Set the detonator down and walk away. You're outnumbered and no pony needs to die!" As Our .22 rifle swept around the thin two story houses as We said with Our mind to only Rose. "Stay hidden, Rose. We have this handled." "Okay." She nodded rapidly. We slowly trotted down the overgrown road as We scanned each building slowly. But We still did not see any ponies. We really needed an E.F.S is what We needed! One of the doors eventually opened up as a green pony walked out. They wore what looked like just a hat and black leather barding with a weapon on their side. In their combat saddle was a single large automatic rifle with a big magazine. Our gaze narrowed as We aimed the pipe rifle at him. He looked at it, a smile formed on his face, and chuckled. "Is that a foals toy?" We frowned while We telepathically boomed. "IT IS THY DOOM!" Both barrels spit lead at the same time with a loud pop. One bullet struk the pony in the ear and the other missed altogether. We jumped, flapped our clipped wings for extra lift, and landed on the roof behind him. ’How could we miss that close?!’ We hissed to ourself. Then We quickly magically loaded in two more shots and stood on our hind legs as We spread Our wings. Our telepathic shout boomed as thunder roared overhead. "THOU FOALISH MORTALS HAVE ANGERED THE GODDESS!" We glared down at the pony as rain started falling. Which drenched Our overly long mane and caused it to stop flowing. He aimed his saddle up at us and sent a two round burst that struck the wood roof and tore off splinters. "Get down from there and give up!" he shouted. Our gaze went around to the buildings and We smiled at the realization that he was actually alone. We brought the pipe rifle down to aim as distant thunder rumbled. Our shots missed, but his bored their way into Our shoulder and chest. We staggered back on two legs as We loaded in two more shots. However he kept firing a stream of bullets at Us. Fire burned through our insides as two struck our neck, one grazed our face and hit our ear, and finally another two hit our hind legs. Which collapsed under us unexpectedly. Thrown off balance, We tumbled onto the porch awning as Our body slammed down with a thud and slid off in a heap. We groaned as he trotted over with a smile. Our eyes narrowed as We pointed our right hoof at his head. His eyes widened just before the shotgun recoiled on Our leg as it sent a 20 gauge slug straight between his eyes. The top half of his skull folded into red gore and sprayed off into the rain. We dropped the leg and crawled over to the now dead and bloody pony. Our magic unhooked his rifle from the saddle and We read the name of the weapon: Buckmaster E1018 'BAR'. Along the stock the name ‘Fallen Angel’ was carved into it along with four horn/wing stamps underneath the words. We pressed the eject button for the twenty round magazine with magic and saw that it fired .308 rounds. Inside the reloading mechanism were two extras. ’A proper tool!’ We thought and grinned. However our perceptiveness failed Us because a bullet bored its way through Our flank as We cried out in pain. We hefted the weapon up in magic along with the extra magazines and bolted for a wrecked wagon that had slammed into another one. We slid to a stop behind it and glanced around as We desperately wished for E.F.S. as the rain muffled any distant sound. The click of a weapon’s cocking mechanism drew Our attention to Our left as We instinctively rolled at the same time smg shots snapped past Our ears. We used Our magic to bring the BAR up so We could aim down the sights at the pony. Magic squeezed the trigger just enough to let off a two round burst before We let go of the trigger. Our bullets thumped into the pony’s armored chest and caused her to grunt as she dove for cover. We wished for this weapon to be mouth held so We could go invisible and sneak around. But it strangely had a large trigger guard behind the magazine for a hoof to slip through. This weapon was very odd indeed! We spotted movement on a roof and aimed down Angel, she roared four times. The pony tumbled to the road with a loud snap and We cringed at the realization that his neck was broken upon impact. We slowly crawled back from Our cover and went over to the other side of the wagon. Our gaze fell upon the 10mm smg pony who was looking where We previously were and Angel barked three times. Our shots caved her skull in and sent her brains to the road. Our ears swiveled towards a scream behind us as We turned around and saw a unicorn floating a rifle to Rose’s head. Our eyes narrowed as he shouted. “Drop the we-” Angel tore his head off and nearly covered Rose’s lab coat in red as she recoiled in shock. The weapon finally clicked empty. So We slid a new magazine in while We scanned the buildings, but saw nothing. Hoofsteps behind Us caused us to turn around as Rose trotted over. She looked up at Us as she laid down and to go through her metal box of supplies. Eventually she removed a healing potion and handed it to Us. "You're hurt. Drink." We took it in magic with a smile. Level up! New perk added - Keen eye for detail. Just because you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed doesn't mean you don't catch on quick. +10% xp from passing speech checks and disarming traps. Speech increased slightly. Companion perk - Walking workbench. Rose can craft items as well as repair your gear. All you have to do is ask... Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, II. Attempt to improve relations with the Oakwood locals before they come at you with torches and pitchforks. New objective: complete more sidequests for various towns. Main quest updated - Ties that bind. Find a pony in South Bay you can trust whom can remove your slave collar, or take up Rose Petal’s offer. Side quest updated - The box. Return the ornate brown box to its owner. Side quest accepted - Where's my money?! Collect all eight thousand caps from ponies for Long Tap, or pay off the debts yourself. Side quest accepted - Secrets of the forgotten. Find out the meaning of the journal and if it is real or not. -840 Karma Candlelight reputation set to Mixed. You might be bad, but you might also be good? Ponies aren't sure what to make of you and so you have difficulty trading, as well as talking to ponies. New companion! Rose. Race: ??? S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Strength: 5 Perception: 5 Endurance: 4 Charisma: 7 Intelligence: 10 Agility: 7 Luck: 2 Tagged skills: repair, energy weapons, science. Traits: Terminal rage: Terminals just lie down and die for you. +5 science and grants an extra chance should you be locked out of a terminal. Scrap heap: You spot the best salvage even after others have picked it clean. 10% more likely to find extra ammo, or caps in containers. Fatal Flaw: Small frame: Due to something happening as you aged you didn't mature to your full height. -2DT and you take 15% more damage. Can only wear light armor and you carry less weight than other ponies. +1 agility. -50 to carry weight. 13 pitch-black cats: What is luck anyway? Due to your low luck when something goes wrong in your party... it spirals out of control horribly. Blind as a bat: Has anypony seen my glasses? +2 perception when wearing glasses. -1 when not. Main quest accepted - Curiosity. Follow Shell Shock and see if she really is an evil monster or just a cuddly alicorn. Companion perk - Big tough alicorn. Why do you have to get shot when theres a bullet sponge nearby? Author's Note Went back, fixed a lot of it and added in some details that were missing the first time around. Chapter 2: Fine line between realities. (Slightly revised 8/24/2013)Chapter 2: Fine line between realities “Know your friends, but watch them tight!” My head felt like I had been run over by a diesel locomotive. I saw that the others were slowly moving around as the fog was dissipating. My nostrils were filled with the smell of that fog which made the feeling that much worse. The others were starting to sit up as they recovered from their jump dream. Each one is different for everyone else and mine happens to be from one of the times I fell from New Cloudsdale when I was a filly. Strangely my wings never work in it. Out of the few times I had that weird dream it was always the same: falling with no control and then smashing through the ground as it shattered like glass. A look around as the glow faded from the discs revealed the armaglass walls to be a deep blue color, except somewhat see through, while the door to the outside world was the exact same. I said a quick prayer to Luna hoping this place wasn’t flooded like the last and stood up. We put the journal away with magic as We looked around at our surroundings. Rose and I trotted along a cracked overgrown asphalt road that was flanked by housing. It was still raining hard. We grumbled. "This rain is ruining Our mane!" "You keep saying that." Rose replied dryly. We glanced at her with a huff of annoyance as We spread Our wings out slightly. "Yes, well it may not bother you with your lab coat, but it certainly bothers Us! Our exquisite mane is much larger and requires more care. Just look at it getting dragged through the muck!" We pointed a hoof at the non-flowing mane as it dragged on the dirt. It saddened Us that rain caused it to not flow. "Exquisite? It flows constantly!" She hopped off the ground with a sly smile. The mini-pony nearly bumped into a faded blue box trailer in the process of landing on the ground. "And?” We tilted Our head as We replied in her mind. “We have no control over thine mane." "Just pointing it out." Rose finally bumped into it. She spun around and looked at the door with the expression a filly gets when they see a candy store. Eyes the size of dinner plates and an open mouth grin. We stepped around the flipped vehicle that had spilled its contents all across the street. And then stopped to wait for Rose as she dug through it. After a while, which felt like an eternity, she came back with a mouthful of scrap wires, cloth, and other things we split between the two of us. She put them away in her new saddlebags that she had acquired from that alicorn hunting stallion. Rose refused to wear the hat even after We washed it, so We put it on with the full intention to sell. Which includes that horrible rifle I borrowed from Candlelight! Fallen Angel is a much better weapon. We continued southeast towards a row of large decrepit structures that were now skeletons of their former selves. Rose looked at Us. "Shell Shock can I ask you something without you getting angry?" Her wet mane covered her face, which she cleared and We stopped to give her Our complete attention. "We will attempt to remain impassive, so ask away." We replied with a nod. "How come you're easy to take out for an alicorn?" We glared daggers at Rose. The thought of ripping such thoughts from her mind flashed through Ours. Though We did not act, instead We snorted a retort. "We did not have the proper tools and thus We could not fight properly until We killed that saddle pony!" "I mean your shield. How come you didn't use it? I thought green alicorns had an impenetrable shield?" Our ears folded back as Our face turned darker in embarrassment. "We... forgot about it, but next time We won't!" Rose looked up as smoke lazily filled the sky despite the drizzle. “What is burning?” She asked as she followed it to its source with her gaze. We looked at it and tilted Our head, also following it to its source behind the large structures. “We do not know, but it is in the direction of our objective for the journal." *** *** We looked down from what was left of a seven story tall office building with Rose on Our back. She pointed a hoof down at the wreckage that We could see clearly, which made the gesture pointless. Rain pelted Our head and Our mane still did not flow. Two halves of a strangely angled vessel had crashed through the residential buildings to this spot, leaving a trail of debris. One half had split apart which spilt its contents and decayed bodies everywhere. The center of the front half was still smoldering. Which was producing the smoke we had seen. As We thought of picturing it whole, We imagined it to be a very large flattened trash can. Our eyes narrowed at the heavily faded words on the rusted side: Cloudchaser. Then that means the journal is true?! We turned Our head to look at Rose. “Stay here.” “But th-” “No! We sense radiation and it may be bad. If it is not then you can come.” With a gulp she slid off onto the old roof and looked down at the wreck. A hard flap of Our wings gave Us the lift to jump through the air. We landed roughly next to a group of bodies. As We stood there We felt the warm glow of radiation, but very very little. It felt more like an old hotspot that was now nearly to background levels. We turned around around and knelt next to a long dead changeling skeleton in a brown sea coat. Which was odd as We have not seen their like in many, many, years. Our magic prodded at the body and We found nothing on him or her. So We moved over to the other body nearby which was a rotting pale gold pegasus. She wore a rusted 20mm gatling gun and rocket pod saddle. Our magic quickly removed it and tossed the weapon as far out of the area as We could. As We looked over to watch it land We noticed Rose had moved down on the debris filled road. However, as We inspected the dead mare’s suit. She blinked then quickly looked at Us with bright ruby red eyes. “The fuck you takin’ my shit for?!” She shouted in Our face. We stepped back from the not so dead pony in shock as We tilted Our head and Our ears folded back. “Huh?” “Oh I’m sorry? Did I stutter?” The rotting pale gold mare stood up and looked around before she looked at Us again. “I thought you could hear, but let me say that again slowly. What. In the fuck. Are you. Taking. My shit. For?!” “We... We thought..." “What’s the matter, huh? Never seen a ghoul before, Miss Wannabe Princess?” She walked towards Us as We backed up in worry. Our gaze went down to her heavily ripped and shot full of holes Shadowbolt uniform; the name and mask long gone. “Answer my fucking question!” We looked around again at the wreckage as We bit Our lower lip. “We followed Our compass to here because We wish to know about this journal.” We floated out said journal as We turned to look at it. She stopped to flex her wings with a tilt of her head. “Where did you find that?” she asked above a whisper. “That was with...” Her gaze went to Us as her ruby eyes narrowed. “So the fucker finally died. Well good riddance. The asshole got us all killed!” “Was he not a friend?” We asked as Our head tilted slightly. “Initially, but then he got the idea to knock off the Crystal Empire at the end of the war in 1051. It worked and we got half the EAF fleet to follow us with trillions in gold. Then Celestia sent two battle groups after us a few hours before the bombs fell.” She stood on her hind legs and waved a hoof about. “Real brilliant fuckin' plan!” “We do not understand thy date...” She rolled her ruby red eyes. “Yeah... alternate reality, time travel and everything. Imagine an Equestria where the-ANGEL!” Before We could react she jumped at Us, tearing the weapon off Our back, and landed in a roll. Her roll finished with her standing on her hind legs with the rifle gripped in her hooves. She brushed a rotting forehoof across it lovingly as she grumbled. “Damn ponies can’t even keep their weapons maintained. Why did they stamp alicorn symbols on you, my precious? Tell me of your journey... I wish to hear it." Our ears swiveled at the sound of movement. We looked over as the rusted saddle barely moved while Rose attempted to lift it, but failed miserably. The still standing ghoul deftly pointed the weapon and triggered a single shot in Rose’s direction. Her shot nearly hit Rose's head. “Last fuckin’ warning dwarf.” the ghoul pegasus shouted. Rose quickly made herself smaller as she cried out in shock and moved behind some rubble. “Sorry! But you really need to repair it!” “With what?” The ghoul shouted back. “That is a MK.IX All Weather Ground Attack Platform. Some pissant stole my goggles and without them, it’s a pile of scrap.” Rose peeked over her cover with her ears back. “Then I’ll take it off your hooves for some caps.” “No!” The ghoul shouted as she shook her head. We narrowed Our eyes as an idea came to mind. “Then give it to Us in return for us returning your rifle to thee.” Her ruby red eyes looked at Us as she lowered Fallen Angel. “Deal. Now get out of my house before I shoot you. You have thirty seconds, go.” “You mentioned gold... and an alternate reality?” Our head tilt increased. She rolled her eyes while she put the weapon across her back. “Fine... I guess I’ll tell you if you found the journal. Come on we need to get inside first.” *** *** We followed the ghoul mare through the least damaged section of the Cloudchaser towards a room. As We did so We noticed the faded posters on the rusted walls were not the usual ones we normally saw... They were for armies that sounded vague and off. The inside of the airship felt old even before the rust took hold. "We read thou megaspelled a city with this ship." We commented quietly. “Why in Celestia’s name would you do that?!” Rose shouted in shock. “All those ponies...” The ghoul nodded as she stopped at a door. "Trust me there was no normal pony alive there. You don’t want to know what had killed them all." She used her hooves to grip the round wheel. It gave a rust induced shriek as the ghoul spun it and opened the door. We followed and stopped momentarily to take in the room. The room was large and looked like to be the ships cafeteria at one point. But this ghoul had converted it into a rather large bedroom. She had covered the walls with fabric and put a deep blue carpet down. In the center was a rather large wooden box and the room felt slightly warm to Us. One corner was occupied by a large bed which held scattered plates and bottles. On a slanted table next to it were three vials one fifth the size of a healing potion that glowed pink. We trotted over to them and looked down wondering what they did. "Get away from those!" The ghoul shouted and ran over. She shoved Us out of the way and blocked Our path with a wing. "Don't fuckin’ touch anything!" "What are they?" We asked with a tilt of Our head. "None of your goddamned business. Now back the fuck up." We slowly backed away while We looked at Rose, then the ghoul. She turned around and put the vials away with an incoherent grumble. Rose slowly looked across the room with worry on her face. "This other reality is destroyed like this one, isn't it?" "About twenty years after this one if my memory is correct. Doesn’t matter how, now does it?" The ghoul said as she walked to the side of the room and laid down on the large bed with bottles and plates on it. She opened an empty bottle and took a drink. Our gaze went to the box in the center as We trotted over to it. "I wouldn't go near that if I were you." the ghoul said a bit loudly. We looked at her and planted Our rump next to it, then touched the box. "And why not?" "Because it's the warhead for a ship launched cruise missile. And before you ask... You no can has balefire bomb! It’s my plan ‘FU’ in case ‘they’ get through my defenses." We looked at it as We smiled and nodded slowly. "We can feel its power and understand. This box we will not open, nor touch." “Why do you have a balefire bomb?!” Rose shouted. “‘Cause I do. Next question?” "What was that about gold?" Rose asked with a tilt of her head. The ghoul took another draw from the empty bottle while looking at us. She then held the bottle out in an offer. Rose shook her head at the offer. We could see the ghoul narrowing her eyes in anger, so We took the offered bottle in magic and drank some air. As We floated the bottle back with a smile, We faked a gasp and wiped Our mouth off with a hoof. "Ah, that hit the spot." "Stalliongrad vodka is best vodka!" The ghoul said as she leaned back and spread her forehooves. "Who are 'they'?" We asked pointedly. As We wondered why she thought a balefire bomb to be adequate when it could level the whole city of Oakwood. As well as shower the rest of the island chain in radiation. She looked around and whispered while motioning Us closer. "They fuckin’ tap on the hull and whisper shit all the fuckin’ time. If I ever catch one of them.... I’ll cut his heart out with this spoon!” The ghoul used a wing to hold up a wooden one that had rounded edges. “Did you see any when you walked here?" "I didn't see anypony." "We flew... or jumped." We spread a wing to show her We had wings. Her eyes widened. "Who did that to you?! I'll find them and flatten their home with my saddle!" "We already killed them." "The saddle you just traded?" Rose asked. The ghoul blinked in shock for a few seconds then shook her head quickly. "I would never trade Helga! Whoever told you that is a liar!" Our gaze went over to Rose as We sighed and projected only into her head. "She seems... off and we should go before this gets worse." The ghoul held up a decidedly empty and grimy plate in an offer. "Want some hay fries? They're fresh. Made 'em myself this morning." Her gaze went to other empty plates as she pointed with a wing. “I also have a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich, daisy sandwich, and a double bacon cheeseburger.” Both Rose and I shuddered at the thought of meat as it could have be... What are We saying? There was no food there as thy plates were empty! "What is thy name?" We asked after politely refusing by shaking Our head. "Ponies call me Ripper." "We are sorry, Ripper, but we must go." When We had finished her eyes were like slits in tank viewports. The empty plate she had been holding dropped to the bed as she sat up. "What the fuck for?! If you leave they will get you and then you'll tell them of my defenses after you break from the torture! You’re safer here with me." "You blindfolded us, remember? How could we know of thy defenses if we could not see?" We smiled nervously and hoped the lie worked. Her slitted gaze went from me to Rose and back as Ripper scratched her chin in thought. We could see she was trying to remember and could imagine gears turning in her head. "It's possible that I did. And the gold we took is with Canterlot. You can have it if you can find it." We tilted Our head as Rose asked. "Canterlot? What is the gold doing there?" "Well where else are ya gonna put a trillion bits worth of gold when ya gotta sail away from a continent in a hurry? Canterlot is huge and perfect for it!" Ripper picked up the grimy plate and began eating imaginary food while looking at us. "How did you get here? In this universe." Rose asked as she slowly backed towards the door. Ripper shrugged. "Sailed into a storm a week after the bombs dropped while running from the EAN and the ICN. The Cloudchaser sunk the Eclipse a few days before with a tactical nuke, but the pegasi from her damaged the Rising Sun which sank in the storm while pounding the hell out of the Ponyville. Which also sunk a couple minutes later. It was a hell of a storm and we nearly lost our whole fleet. When it cleared we were lost and turned towards what we thought was the direction of Trottingham. Then we ran into this goddamn misty island and everything went to hell!" Our eyes slowly narrowed. "What of the other ships? Are they flying ships?" Ripper drank from her empty vodka bottle then shook her head. "No. Only this one is a cloudship The others are surface ships. We were providing air support with two wings of pegasi and our twelve plasma cannons plus anti-capital ship missiles. We may have been followed by the other fleet, so watch out for them." We briefly wondered if that was who ‘them’ were. But it did not last long as We asked. "How long hath thou been here?" "You're seriously going to pull that speak on me?! Ugh, fiiiine..." She opened the drawer with the vials and pulled out a blank clipboard, then flipped through imaginary paper. "A day... Two..? Somewhere around there... Maybe a week?" "And you're a ghoul already?” Rose asked. “Shock found the journal on a skeleton!" "As for me being a ghoul?" Ripper shrugged and went back to eating her invisible hay fries. "Better than being a vampony." “Vam... vampony? We do not understand this type of pony.” We replied as Our head tilted a bit. “You don’t want to know,” Ripper commented in a serious tone and We nodded. “If thou wishes we can search for 'them' and clear out any nearby." We made Our point by going invisible then spoke with Our mouth. "See? They won’t see Us." She stopped eating air, then slowly chewed, and nodded. "Yeah okay. I'll be here checking on my traps." *** *** We looked at Helga in confusion. A week and it was in that bad of shape to where it was so rusted one could not tell one part from another? Ripper must have been insane to think it only a week! We looked around at the rubble while putting it in Our saddlebags. Then frowned when it didn't fit. With a sigh We removed the saddlebags and placed them in a holder behind the weapon’s ammo bag. Next We levitated it across Our back and tightened the straps. A grunt escaped Us at the extremely heavy weight of the saddle. We were surprised Ripper can use it as she is only a normal pony and not an alicorn! We picked up the shiny trigger bit in Our mouth and expected a vile taste but found none. The 20mm gatling gun responded by spinning slowly with a shriek. We dropped it and took a look back at Rose, who was trotting over with a concerned look on her face. "You know if she doesn't remember trading that..." Rose and I looked at the hull of the ship as Ripper tried to hide in a shadow, but her bright red eyes gave her away. "We know. Her story is too wild to be anything, but false." "Can I ride you?" Rose blushed at the realization at what she implied, but quickly added. "In a non-sexual way of course. It's just that I'm tired." We laid down with a nod and Rose climbed onto our back, then We stood and trotted forward. After a while We turned onto a side street, that was overgrown with weeds and grass, then picked up our pace before Ripper realized that we were not truly looking for the invisible ponies she spoke of. Because even We could see she was off her rocker. We do not think her story to be true because of the changeling bones and her eating air. Still some part of it must be. Rose's tail flicked across Our face as We made a turn onto a main road which was just as overgrown. We glanced back with an eyebrow raised. "Rose, what are you doing?" "Fi'n dis sa'le." She mumbled around some tool. We rolled Our eyes and looked ahead as We floated out the tablet to see where to go for the collar marker. *** *** We slowed to a walk one street over from South Bay as Rose snored from Our back. We found it cute, but she better not make this a habit! As We peered around the corner of the brick building We looked at the compass marker that pointed us to a large mall. The parking lot surrounded the building and was mostly cleared of vehicles; save for those halfway across that we suspect to be ambush points. One of the stores looked to be three stories high and the whole thing looked like a quarter mile long flat red barn that had sponsons in the center and was fortified with sheet metal over windows. Our gaze went down to the tablet to confirm this was South Bay. We stepped out and trotted towards it as We scanned the rubble lined parking lot. When We passed by a vehicle, we stopped and sat on Our haunches as We put Our forehooves in the air. Rose slid off in a cry of shock and a soft thud. "What is going on?" She asked as she dusted her lab coat off. Our gaze went around as a unicorn stepped out with a floating grenade launcher aimed at Us. They looked at Rose as they said. "Is this alicorn your pet, or just transport?" She looked at Us, her gaze lingered on the collar for a few seconds, then she looked at the security pony and nodded. "She is my slave and does what I tell her to. Observe." Rose looked at Us again. "Lay down." With a roll of Our eyes We complied. "Shake..." We held Our hoof out and shook hers, but projected into her head. "We just laid down and thou want’s us to shake? Make it make sense!” Rose looked back at the security pony. "See? Perfectly trained!" He slowly lowered his weapon and nodded. "Alright, but keep an eye on it." *** *** Rain pelted the ceiling of what was once a mall, but was now a town called South Bay. The inside was spacious and had two floors of shops stacked on top of each other. Though it was about fifteen to thirty feet to the ground floor from up here. Most of the living quarters were department stores and ponies built housing from anything they could get their hooves on. In the center was a crumbled and rebuilt statue of the Princesses that gave the small community its running water. We were standing inside the weapons shop, which was in the food district area. This was not like the other one in Candlelight. The shopkeeper had everything out in front of his re-purposed horse shoe store. Which made Us sad as We could not take the very beautiful scoped brush gun hanging above his head in a glass case. To the sides of it were other weapons ranging from pistol, to saddles. We looked at the purple weapons shop pony suspiciously as he looked over the pipe rifle and other weapons we had laying on the counter. We were keeping the grenades and the hoofgun as it was very handy. "Two hundred caps for the rifle, and five hundred for the rest of your stuff. Sound fair?" he asked as he set the weapon down. We nodded and showed him the Annihilator. "Yes it does. Dost thee hath ammunition for thine missile launcher? We would like twenty blackpowder missiles." "I don’t have that many, but can do a trade. Twelve missiles for three hundred and eighty caps with your trade-ins." "That's outrageous!” Rose shouted, “Shock, don't-" "Deal!" We dumped Our bag of caps on the counter with magic as We stuck out a hoof. He placed twelve missiles on the counter with a glare towards Rose, but we shook hooves first. Rose huffed and stomped a hoof down. "I can't believe you just did that! Those missiles are only worth fifty caps each, not ninety!" We looked at her, then the pony. "You... tricked us?" He shook his head. "Did no such thing. You didn't try talking down the price and with you being an alicorn I figured you'd pay more." Our ears folded back in realization at at what had just happened. "We understand...." Our gaze went to a glaring Rose. "We will listen from now on." We then looked at the ammo pony and asked. "May We get the discounted price?" He shook his head. "Nope, already shook on the agreed amount." "Good." Rose nodded. "Let this be a lesson to you, Shock. Try bartering with ponies sometime, it works wonders." After Our trouble in Candlelight We counted Our caps for the pony and he took them with a nod. We looked across the racks of equipment behind him and scanned the various barding on display. "Dost thou sell barding We could use? We seem to be getting shot a lot more lately and require the use of barding." He shook his head. "Nothing big enough for you. Sorry. Other stores might though." We nodded with a deep sigh. "We figured as much." Our gaze went to the sub-machine gun he hadn’t taken. "We require repair services. How much would it be to repair Our missile launcher?" He took the missile launcher and inspected it. "Two hundred caps, but it won't be perfect and those blackpowder missiles will play hell on the tube, so don't run them all the time." "Is this sufficient compensation?" We pushed the sub-machine gun towards him. "Yeah. Give me an hour or two." We turned away from him as We walked out of the room and made a left into the large hallway. Then followed the walkway towards a cafe bar. As We stepped inside everypony stopped to look at us. We smiled nervously as we projected to all. “We only wish a drink, no trouble. Please.” Most went back to talking, but a few kept looking at Us and most specifically Our slave collar. We suspect that collar to be why We are not being attacked as ponies think We are Rose's slave. There were fifteen tables that were partially full. A few ponies played cards at two of them and five plush looking tables that were empty. At the back were a set of stairs leading towards the second floor. To Our left was a large bar that was partially occupied. Our gaze fell upon the large mirror behind the bar top and We slowly walked towards it. However as We neared it a tan crystal unicorn stared back at Us wearing tank crew fatigues, a gas mask, saddlebags, and had a cybernetic foreleg. We took a step back in shock, and so did she, as We wondered how she was here. Our gaze went around to the bar patrons; the tan me followed suit. We were unsure as to why she was here. As that is not Us anymore and We do not wish to see her imperfect form! We wish to be like the Goddess had been, perfect! We gripped a whiskey bottle in magic and prepared to throw it. But the image faded to a scowling green alicorn with a flowing mane. Slowly, Our gaze went over to a worried Rose as We put the bottle down and backed away. "We are sorry, but we must go." We replied as We bolted from the bar to anywhere but near a mirror. *** *** Thunder rumbled overhead as rain fell from the dark cloud filled night sky . We sat on the roof of the tallest place in South Bay with wings outstretched to let them get washed. To Our left was a corrugated panel propped up by a set of wooden sticks with makeshift walls and bedding. A fire pit in front of Us that was pointless for making a fire at the moment. The compass marker for South Bay led Us to this spot and the rain hid my fear. I do not want to be reminded of the past. It makes me feel horrible. I had joined Unity because I believed the Goddess was right and alicorns were the future of ponykind, but now...? I sighed deeply. Hoofsteps behind Us caused Us to turn Our head, but We saw nothing. Then a blurry outline of an alicorn laid down next to Us and shimmered, revealing Sister, as We pulled Our wings in. We touched horns and the world faded into nothingness. Sister sat next to Us and looked into Our eyes. "A purple contacted me and said you were travelling with a Steel Ranger spy. I came to ask if this were true." We blinked in shock at the accusation. "N... No! Rose is not a spy.... At least We do not believe so. We are trying to collect caps from her and have told her nothing!" Sister nodded. "I believe you, but watch her carefully. I know you might be a little slow on some things, but you really are a smart pony. You mustn't put yourself down like this." We hugged her and smiled. "Sister thine wings are mutilated. How can We be so smart if a pony tricked Us with cake?" "Did you kill the pony who did it and learn from your mistake?” We nodded and she nuzzled Our forehead. Though We think she may have kissed Us before she continued. “Then it is a lesson and you will be smarter if there's a next time." "We... I found something and require help." "Alright, show me what you've found and I'll see if I can help." We hesitated on breaking the connection and Sister's brows knitted together. "Something else on your mind?" "Yes... We were told that you wished Us to die and so thou abandoned Us to the Steel Rangers." Her eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. "Who told you that?! Shell Shock, I love you and would never harm you. I really did have something important to do!" "Such as what?" We tilted Our head. “Because the way ponies have been treating Us these few days We find your actions suspect.” "I went to check out mention of a stable built for crystal ponies on this island. There We found it abandoned and was as if they never went inside. I'll even take you there to show you!" We nodded and severed the connection. The world around us swirled and faded as it brought us back to rain drenching reality. A frown formed on Our face as We do not remember crystal ponies building stables. Then again they were a big company, and so it does not surprise Us that they did so. We laid everything out for Sister to see under the makeshift shack. She looked across all of the items then brought the tablet closer and tapped her hoof on tit a few times. “This logo was also on the stable door.” Her hoof went to the detonator as Our eyes widened. “And this I take it goes to your collar?” “Yes... please do not touch it.” She looked at Us, then the button and hovered her hoof over it. “Sister... no, don’t!” It moved closer. “I swear I didn’t say anything to Rose!” She grinned at me and inched it closer. I pleaded with my eyes. “Don’t! Please believe me!” She pressed it. ........ .... I stared in shock as she started laughing at me. My magic wrenched the detonator away from hers and noticed I something off with it.... So I pressed my hoof against the overly bright button and found it did not move. “It’s a fake! You got double tricked!” Sister giggled. I threw the fake detonator down and stomped on it with a sneer. My hoof smashed it into plastic splinters. Then I reached out with Our magic and undid the clasp for the collar as We ripped it off Our neck and tossed it down. We saw the inside of the collar was lined with lead for weight. In Our anger We tackled Sister to the roof. She blocked one of Our blows with her hoof and a smile. “Oh come on!” She drew her legs in and kicked at Us. Which sent Us flying back. We rolled to Our hooves and bucked towards her. But she deftly dodged it as she giggled. “It was a big red button!” We turned around and lunged at her again, which she side stepped, and caused Us to fall flat on Our face in a puddle. "I just had to press it, how could you not?!" We groaned and with a huff, We got to Our hooves. “We dared not bring it out,” We said as We put all Our weight on one hoof and. The maneuver caught her off-guard and struck her jaw with a hind hoof. “For fear of pressing the button!” we finished as We landed back on all fours. Sister rubbed her jaw then smiled as We nodded. “I’ll let you have that hit, because that was mean of me. You have to admit you had it coming. I mean you seriously believed some pony whom you just met when they said that I would abandon you? When we thought it was just us two alive?” “You never respond to our telepathy!" Our gaze swept across the rooftop as We looked for something that had moved at the edge of Our vision. Our sight lingered on water running into a drain pipe and we stared at it. “Yeah, well I can’t do telepathy, so I-” ***===***===*** Sister? The rain poured down in a torrent and muddied up the hill. I floated the IF-12 to my eye while I looked around the forest for zebra’s. But the brush was almost so thick that we couldn’t see the hooves in front of our faces. Zebra’s were out there, but I didn’t know where exactly. Sister, are you alright? Spotting movement in the trees above I aimed the IF-12 and let a shot go. A rocket flew towards me in response. I ducked as it struck the muddy hill eight feet below and I heard ponies screaming. I jumped and slid down next to them, covered in mud. One of them had taken shrapnel in the face and was squirming in pain as a medic tended to the wounds. Movement in the corner of my eye caused me to turn and bring the rifle up to block a zebra’s flying kick attack. Sister, wake up! Please? ***===***===** Sister held Our shoulders while she repeatedly asked. “Shock?! Shell Shock are you there?” I slowly looked at her as I blinked and recovered. “Yes, sorry...” She looked into Our eyes with worry as she placed a hoof on Our forehead. “Are you alright? I’ve been trying to get your attention for two minutes!” I trotted over to my gear and started to put my stuff away while I said. “I’m okay now. Thank you for being so worried.” “What was it?” We shook Our head with a smile and floated up the journal. “It was nothing. Just a memory of when I was a crystal pony.” “A memory of what?” Her brow arched. “Of nothing important. We do not wish to speak of it.” Sister saw she couldn’t get anywhere and so she looked over at the journal. “What is that?” “Something We found, but think to be false as We met the most insane ghoul and believe it to be hers.” "And that rusted saddle?" "The ghoul's. She took a large automatic off Us and so We took this." A light went off in Our head and We smiled. Sister took a step back. “We have something to show you!” “Uh-oh.” We dug through Our bags with magic until We found the bottle of Ray. We quickly spun around as We held it out and offered it to her. She eyed it suspiciously as she took a sniff and winced from the smell. “This.... is alcohol...” We nodded. “Yes. It is much better than the other drink, trust us. What's the worst that could happen?" *** *** Sister and I sat at a table in the bar from earlier singing loudly in tandem with the song on the radio. “Knock it off you two!” The barkeep shouted as he facehoofed. “Drunk’s are bad enough, but alicorn drunks?! Why... why me?” I looked over and smiled at him as I held one of four empty bottles and wiggled it side to side. “More Ray!” I shouted. “NO!” he boomed in response. “You two are cut-off! Most ponies pass out from one of those!” Rose was snoring as she drooled on her food pillow; having passed out earlier. We were unsure of what time it is, but We do know that DJ Snow was on and that was good enough for Us! Our hiccup turned into a loud burp that caused ponies to look over. We covered Our mouth with a hoof. A smile was on Our face as We glanced around at the other ponies before We slurred. "I hope no one saw tha..." Sister's gaze went to Rose. "Are you gonna do it, or am I?" "No... I shall do it." We replied as We stood up and walked around the table. We giggled as We glanced around and foated out a black marker Sister had found somewhere we do not care where. *** *** Why dost thine head hurt so much? It was like my brain was trying to escape through my temples and my mane was positively on fire, not to mention my ears hurt! The sunlight burned even through my shut eyes. My front half felt oddly warm which caused me to wonder why. As I opened my eyes, slowly and painfully, I saw I was in the makeshift bed on the roof of South Bay with my wing around a... "Who the fuck are you?!" I shouted with my mouth in shock and immediately regretted it as that caused my head to hurt even more. "Ow... stop yelling!" The large pink earth pony clutched his head with a hoof as I scrambled from the cuddle. The pink stallion sat up slowly while I scanned the rooftop quickly and saw just us two. "Sister?!" I shouted and galloped around the various ventilation ducts in a large circle as I looked for the sneaky outline that surely must be there! "What kind of prank art thou pulling on me?" My head whipped around to glare at the stallion as my eyes narrowed. He had some sort of ring in his ear and wore a Pipbuck on his left foreleg. I reached up at the dull pain in my ears ear and felt two matching hoop earrings on both sides. "What happened last night?" "We got married." He pointed out by tapping his ear which caused my eyes to widen. "What?! No no no! This is a prank by sister!" We galloped around again, looking for her, then stopped and tried to connect with her. But We could not find her anywhere. Slowly, We looked at the stallion and let out an exasperated sigh. "What is thy name? As We will not refer to you as... ‘husband’." "Bucky." We remembered something vague Livewire had said and pulled out the tablet as We brought up the picture folder. However as We flipped through them Our ears pressed against Our head more and We frowned deeply. "These are false! We would never kiss an impure stallion, let alone marry one!" The tablet was put away quickly as We hefted the heavy saddle, placed it on our back and galloped towards a door. We did not care as We smashed through it into a stairwell and went down two flights of stairs. When We reached the bottom We bucked the door open and galloped through the grey maintenance tunnel. We slid to a stop outside the tunnel and looked around at the two level mall. Fifteen feet below Us was the first level and there were ponies walking around. We jumped, landed on the first floor and galloped towards the ammo shop. A few shops looked to have been broken into overnight. We turned left at the large statue as We picked up our pace. ‘This was false, it has to be!’ We thought as We weaved in and out of ponies. Eventually We came across the ammo store and slid to a stop. After composing myself I trotted through the door and smiled at the stallion who glared at Us. "We wish to pick up thine missile launcher that We dropped off for repairs last night." We said with a nod in greeting. He set it on the counter, but pulled it back with a hoof as soon as We attempted to slide it towards Us. "Somepony broke in last night and stole my personal Brush Gun. Do you happen to know who?" We shook Our head, which We regretted but did not let it show. "No, We were asleep all night. Bucky can confirm it." With a sheepish smile We took Our weapon and placed across Our back before leaving the shop behind quickly. We took a closer look at the goings ons at the time and saw a few ponies eyeing Us suspiciously. ‘Perhaps We did more last night than drink and sleep’, We thought to Ourself. As We turned into the cafe/bar We saw Rose without her marker mustache and drawn on glasses. With a sigh We shook Our head. Her reaction would have been priceless to see! She smiled at Us. "That was quite a night." We stopped mid-stride as Our eyes went wide. "It was?" She nodded. "Yup, you and that pink stallion, what was his name...? Oh! Bucky!" "We do not know what thou means!" We huffed and walked around her. The barkeep looked at Us strangely, so We looked back at Rose who was grinning. "You did this trick to Us!" We said as it dawned on Us. "You drew on my face while I was sleeping!" She shouted. "Payback's a bitch ain’t it?" Then Rose smiled while she held up a right foreleg to show Us that the Pipbuck was now attached. "Bucky had the tools to attach this. Thank him for me, will ya?" With a resigned sigh We smiled because Rose pranked Us! But that was quite an elaborate prank for her small size to move Us while we slept. However We remembered something about earlier and gulped. "We... should get out of here before other ponies wake up." As We turned We noticed a mustache drawn onto Our face in the mirror and the color drained from Our face. *** *** Again Rose was on Our back trying to fix the saddle as We walked through the overgrown streets of Oakwood. Though We do not know why she was trying to fix the weapon as it is clearly a lost cause. She stopped tinkering and looked to our left at a large store. "Somepony is over there." Rose commented. "Friend or foe?" We asked. "Green is friendly, so... friend." We nodded and kept walking towards where the compass tells Us, which is south. Though We were unsure of which note We were following as it had no information beyond 'go here'. With a frown We turned down a side street. Unsure even more so as the buildings had quickly become residential. As We turned Our head We saw Rose looking at her Pipbuck in confusion. "What is it, Rose?" “Um... We’re on top of a destination apparently.”” Suddenly, a pale gold pegasus ghoul landed in front of us in a cloud of dust and glared with ruby red eyes that flared bright. As We looked at Ripper We noticed something that was not there before at the Cloudchaser. A gleaming yellow sapphire in a rusting iron necklace, a long flowing tattered purple and gold dress over her Shadowbolt suit with a ripped wide brimmed hat. The brown grass that covered the street was half as tall as she was. "You whore!” Ripper shouted as she stood up and drew Fallen Angel, but made no attempt to aim it at us. I pointed at myself. “Me?” “Yeah, you! How dare you steal Helga! I let you in my home and you steal her from me. Forcing me to come get her and expose myself to them?! Now I have to plant new traps because they will have disarmed my old ones!” “You asked me to fix it." Rose replied as she peeked out from behind Our head. Ripper blinked in shock and tilted her head. “Well, how far along are you?” “So far I’ve gotten the feed system repaired with some scrap and various parts, but what are the goggles you spoke of?” “Gem powered flying goggles with a black leather strap. Buttons on the side for night vision, infrared, and a heads up display. They plug into the saddle with a cord that is also missing.” "Can't a Pipbuck's S.A.T.S. replace them?" Ripper shook her head. "I doubt it. The goggles are keyed to the weapon platform. They are like a screen to a terminal. They give a crosshair for the guns and rockets, and a projection circle for the bombs." “Okay, we’ll look for them.” “Thanks, but you’re carrying things you shouldn’t have.” “Red bar!” Rose shouted. It happened before We even had a weapon out. She dug into a pocket with her wing and withdrew a strange looking device; it was about seven inches long and olive green with two silver bands on it. She gripped it with her teeth and pulled on a ring as the lever popped off before she tossed it towards us. Our shield went up as the weapon landed two feet in front of us at the same time she dove for cover. Our magic gripped it as We tried to toss it away. But then a blinding bright light followed by a loud bang caused my world to go black. *** *** My ears rang loudly as the world slowly came back into focus. I was lying on the ground and so was Rose. Whatever weapon Ripper had used was luckily non-lethal, but I have never seen its shape before. As I sat up, I noticed my bags were open and Ripper was nowhere to be seen. We turned Our head as We began nosing through them. A lever action Brush Gun with a hoofmade scope was there, a large grey business suit with an overcoat, a large wide brimmed hat, the Annihilator, our caps, ammunition, the rolled smelly tube, a brown pistol harness, a pair of glasses, some bottles of Sparkle-Cola, and other stuff, but not the journal, nor the tablet or box from the tunnels. “She robbed Us!” I shouted with my mouth because my head hurt too bad to use telepathy. Through the ringing I heard Rose ask. “What?! I can’t hear you!” I looked at her and used my mind despite the pain. “We were robbed by Ripper!” “What’d she take?” “The journal, Our tablet, and the box from the tunnels!” Rose looked in a random direction as she pointed a hoof. "There's a marker for your sister this way." *** *** “Red bar to your right!” Rose shouted from Our back as we ran down the cramped stairs with the Brush Gun floating in front of us. As we turned right We brought it up and aimed down the side of the barrel at a brain floating in liquid. Our brush gun roared once as it sent a .45-70 slug into the dome and shattered it in a spray of glass and sparks as We caught the shell casing casing with magic. We floated it to Rose so she may reload it at a later date. The tracked tin can robot slumped over dead before it could finish its shout of calling us zebra scum. We looked around the narrow metal hallway and waited for more robots, but none came so We quickly pressed forward under Rose’s guidance. “Left up here at the door.” As We turned left We spun on a forehoof and she held on tightly. Our hind hooves bucked down the wooden door without bothering to see if it was locked. We bolted inside after the pony We were chasing, which wasn't Ripper as not even Rose's Pipbuck knew where to go. We could not locate the Cloudchaser either because it was found before she got it attached to her leg. We turned right into darker tunnels and went down more stairs. At the bottom We slid to a stop on a catwalk in amazement at the giant underground room. There were four or five levels going down and Our target was three levels down. As We gave the brush gun to Rose We climbed onto the railing and jumped off much to her surprise. Our maimed wings attempted to flap as they slowed Our fall while the pony ran off. Hooves clanged loudly on the metal catwalk and We quickly broke into a gallop as We brought out the Brush Gun. We aimed down the scope in front of him and pulled the trigger with magic. The shot struck the pony in a leg causing him to tumble in a heap as he slid to a stop. Our hooves echoed slightly in this empty room. Which We found silly as to why anypony would build a room this big that houses nothing. Slowly Our gaze fell upon the normal sized impure pony and We sneered at them as they tried to hobble away. "Where is Sister?!" We shouted. His pained expression turned to a grin as he chuckled, causing Our eyes to go wide. "Where is she? Tell us!" "Two floors down." He laughed. "She'll be dead by the ti-" His head caved in as the brush gun sent a slug into it and painted the metal floor with his insides, causing Rose to start in surprise. We stepped around the body and ignored taking their gear as We can do that later. "Looks like we go through here." Rose commented as we reached a door. We followed the stairwell down, then took a left and put the brush gun away so We could go invisible. Rose stayed quiet and shifted her weight to tell Us which way as We moved quickly and silently through the half-dark tunnels. We passed by rooms that We did not bother to check, then made a right and followed the stairs down more. After a while We felt slightly tired. Again We walked along after turning right and came to a stop at a wood door. We took a deep breath and tried the handle which was found unlocked. Our nose gently nudged the door open as We heard a gasp from Rose. We looked around the room which appeared to be a series of open-air jail cells, but in one was Sister. Her wings were bound by metal and chained to the wall. Her tail was unmoving and something was wrong with the wall. My spell instantly failed as my mouth hung open upon seeing four alicorn skulls mounted to the wall behind her. "Sister!" I shrieked and ran over to the cage. My forehoof destroyed the truly feeble lock before I slid the door open and ran inside. I picked up her head and immediately touched horns. The world around us faded to nothingness as I sat over a large chocolate brown unicorn mare with two crossed revolvers for a cutie mark. She looked up at me with unfocused eyes. "I'm so cold..." I wrapped a wing around her and pulled her close. "Please don't do die! What is making you like so?" "They... something... in this room... is killing me slowly. Not sure what, but I started feeling colder and so tired. I think my magic is being drained." "What do I do?" "End my suffering with a bullet." I blinked back tears and shook my head. "No, I can't kill you!" "Then shut up and lets get out of here before it gets you too." I felt something nudge my shoulder so I broke the connection and looked up at Rose. "Let's get her out of here before ponies arrive!" She quietly exclaimed. "Tired..." Sister moaned in agony. As I looked around Sister’s body I saw that Rose had already unlocked all the chains. So We ducked Our head under Sister's chest and hauled her onto Our back. Rose looked perplexed. "I don't think I can get on your back with her." "Then lead the way, Rose." We motioned with Our hoof and she started trotting out of the room. *** *** We set Sister down on the ugly bed of a grimy white apartment bedroom five stories above ground. Her condition was slowly improving, but it may take a long time like this. With Our magic We placed the raincoat to Our stolen suit over her like a blanket and nudged Sister with Our nose, but she didn't move. Our ears folded back in worry. So We touched Our horn to hers as We looked back into her memory, starting from when We had drawn on Rose's face as that was what We last remember. ***===***===*** I felt a giggle rise in Sisters throat as she watched me draw on Rose's face. Her body felt similar, yet different. Sister watched as Bucky trotted over with drinks yet I don't remember him being there? I watched myself take the glowing gold drink with a smile. Bucky drank his own while watching me nearly guzzle mine down. Then the three of us talked for a while before Bucky and I got friendly, and that was when Sister pulled out the tablet. Taking our picture as we kissed for Goddess knows what reason, then he and I trotted off leaving Sister and Rose. Sister ate some food including what Rose was using as a pillow. That caused her to wake up with a snort. Rose quickly looked around the cafe. "Where's Shell Shock?" "She left in the company of a stallion to do Goddess knows what." Sister hissed while glaring at the door. "Well I should buy a room. Food is very uncomfortable and I need a bath now..." However Sister couldn't hold her giggle in and she started laughing at Rose. "What?" Rose tilted her head. “What’s so funny?!” "Look in the mirror!" Rose turned around to look at the mirror behind the bar and We could see her expression. Her eyes widened to the size of pie plates. "Aaah! Who drew on my face?!" Rose whipped around to glare at Sister. "You!" Sister shook her head with a smile. "Nope, it was Shock. Might I recommend you find her and do the same? She likes to sleep on the highest point of a building when she does actually sleep. Though I’d give them a few hours before they pass out." "Anything else?" Rose tilted her head. Sister scratched her chin with her hoof. "Do you have any earrings and can you move her?" She then outlined a devious trick and with a nod from Rose, Sister floated her the marker. Rose stood up before trotting off towards the barkeep. She gave him some caps and left up the stairs. Sister went back to eating and drinking. After probably an hour or two of skimming her memories I stopped as a teal earth pony with a braided strawberry red mane trotted over to Sister with drinks on her back. Sister eyed the mare with suspicion, however the mare smiled. "I'm Eclipse and I couldn't help but notice such a lovely mare all by her lonesome." Sister did not introduce herself, but they did talk about various things before Sister started getting woozy and her world spun throwing her off balance as she looked at her hoof. "What is...?" “I can’t believe both of you are so gullible...” Sisters head slammed down on the table and Eclipse's voice was faint. "...Welcome to hell." ***===***===*** We broke the connection and Our world faded back to reality. Now We know who to go after regarding the bounty on alicorns. As We looked around the two bedroom apartment We saw a note nearby. Tried to get your attention, but you wouldn't respond so I wrote this. I went out to look for some parts for the saddle and I'll be back before nightfall. Don't worry I'm sneaky and my Pipbuck will keep me alert. Rose. P.S. Give Bucky a kiss for me, would ya? We tilted Our head in confusion as Our ears flopped around. Because Bucky was not with us at the time and We were unsure why she wrote that. But hoofsteps caused Our ears to swivel towards another room as the aforementioned pink stallion came walking into the room. We groaned in annoyance as We facehoofed. Bucky wore a set of black cloth saddlebags over a black duster and cowpony hat. In a foreleg holster was a suppressed .357 revolver. We narrowed Our eyes and looked at his solid yellow mane. "How did you find Us? And do not think to call Us 'wife'." He lifted his foreleg. "Tracked you with my Pipbuck. You ran off in quite a hurry this morning." "Because We do not recognize you! Husband or not, We do not remember agreeing to anything last night." He shrugged a bit. "Well after we broke into pretty much half of South Bay you said I was the stallion of your dreams and somehow we ended up married... I think we annoyed the hell out of the pony that did it though?" "I was shitfaced!" I shouted with my mouth, then glanced at Sister as she stirred slightly. She flexed her wings as she shifted positions and mumbled how Shock is loud in bed. We looked back at Bucky as We made a silencing motion with Our forehoof, then trotted into the other room, and sat down on the ruined blue couch. Bucky shut the door and sat next to Us as We scooted farther away. "How could you believe a drunk mare?!" "Because I was drunk too?" He shrugged. "Though I don't remember this much complaining from you." We glared and held up a hoof as We touched our other one to it in a specific gesture as We asked. "Did we...?" "Well.... I don't remember. We fell asleep in one place, then woke up in another, so I’m assuming no." "Then last night did not happen and We shall not speak any more of it." We replied with a nod. "Alright. What now?" "Well without you putting the Pipbuck on Rose We would have lost Sister, so thank you.” We gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then Our voice hardened as We sat up and looked at him. “You must go. Stop following us as We do not wish you to be hurt by ponies hunting us.” He nodded. “I’ll be in South Bay if you ever want to talk or something.” Bucky reached into a pocket and withdrew some tools. He took off his Pipbuck and gave it to Us. “Here take this. I really don’t need it as all I ever did was use it for the radio.” We took the device and tools with a nod, but made no effort to put them on. We watched as Bucky slowly headed for the door. He hesitated, looking back at Us, so We smiled. “Be careful.” *** *** “What a doozy of a storm that was, eh folks?” DJ Buccaneer’s voice crackled out from the wall radio. We still had yet to attach the Pipbuck as We were unsure how. Of course it clamps onto your leg, but what if it is a trap? If it were then that would be bad. ”Seems like the Steel Rangers lost a scheduled resupply ship in the storm, but eh. I don’t care about that. What do I care about? Not much really. Apparently somepony put a bounty on the two alicorns we got here, but I’m not telling you who or how much. Why not? Because I’m the pony with the mic and I don’t take sides. Here’s some White Rabbit for your troubles.” Rose slowly walked in with overfilled saddlebags as she asked. “Why do you have Bucky’s Pipbuck?” We held it up and looked at it as We wondered if We should put it on or not. Rose seemed to like hers, and the E.F.S. would help us immensely. That way We were not forced to rely on Rose to tell Us what to do. We floated it over to Our outstretched foreleg, placed it over the spot and found it comfortable to look at, but it felt oddly heavy. “He gave it to us.” We said while looking at its dark screen. Our head tilted a bit as We smiled at it. “Want me to attach it? It's simple. I can show you.” “No, not yet as we are unsure if it is a trick.” We explained as Our head shook slightly. She nodded as she walked over to Helga and set down a bunch of scrap parts. A few looked to be weapons. Though We were unsure where she found said broken weapons and so We asked. “Where did you get those?” “An armory a few miles away. “ She replied without looking up from her task. “Whoever looted it before couldn’t take these and you have no idea how long it took me to get back.” *** *** We walked through the streets of Oakwood to think. We had left Sister in Rose’s capable hooves a few hours ago however We do not fully trust her, but We have no other choice. The ground beneath Us began rumbling and so We jumped onto the roof a nearby building. But that proved a mistake as the rumbling was intensified by the height. Our gaze went around the street as vehicles and wagons shook and bounced. Our legs spread out to keep Us balanced as the shaking continued for sometime. We watched in worry as a building crumbled in on itself in a dust cloud. Slowly, the shaking of the ground died off and left Us to wonder what is going on. *** *** We sat across from Sister and Rose inside the white apartment. The latter tinkering with Helga's vulcan while the former slept. The small mare had the saddle torn apart and strewn about on the grimy floor. We were unsure as to how she knew how to take it apart or even what to fix on it. But We suspected thy Pipbuck to have a hoof in it as she keeps looking at the device every so often. Her progress had been extremely slow and Rose kept swearing to Celestia and Luna every so often. We had wondered if perhaps she should have asked the Goddess for assistance. After Our thoughts were interrupted again We looked to Sister in worry, because her condition remained the same for almost two whole days. Except We were not worried about her dying from lack of food or water as our bodies do not require such things, but we do like... "Radiation." "Hm?" Rose hummed as she looked back at Us. "What was that?" "Sister needs radiation, We think." Rose pushed up her glasses with a hoof and nodded. "From what I know of alicorns that just might work, but it would also harm me and I don't wanna turn into Ripper: eating invisible food and looking hideous. Do you have a plan?" "We... do not have one, but the Crescent Moon has an engine room with a leaky reactor that has provided for us in the past. However..." We flexed Our wings and looked out the window at a much taller office building across the street. "We do not know where that is." "I know that place and lose my caps there a lot. It's thataway," Rose pointed at the wall. The Pipbuck on Our left leg beeped and We looked down at the dark blue letters. New objective found: Escort Sister to Moonville. We had no idea how it did that, nor did We truly care but it was a question that popped into Our head. It called this place Alicorns Perch. Which We deemed adequate as it had been Our home for two days if thou included yesterday when We left Sister here as day one. We had tried to use S.A.T.S. last night while Rose and Sister were sleeping, and found it did nothing beyond highlighting the two even though Rose claims it is a targeting spell. We shall figure it out someday. On the floating dark blue compass at the bottom of Our vision was an arrow pointing northeast. Both Rose and Sister were blue bars on said compass. According to this Pipbuck We have five caps, and six hundred caps worth of assorted barding, Our brush gun was worth eighteen hundred and We had twenty eight shots left with six casings of .45-70 rounds. The dirty dark grey business suit that We now wore was worth a hundred caps. Our Annihilator Mk.I was confirmed to be a missile launcher by the Pipbuck, and worth almost twice as much as the brush gun. There is no way We could ever sell such a gift from Sister. We pulled the weapon from the floor, inspected it, and found that the Pipbuck even displayed its condition as being fair. We looked at Sister, as We leaned the weapon against the wall, then Rose and tilted Our head. "Rose, what is your cutie mark?" She set down the barrel assembly and clicked her forehooves together. Rose’s voice was unsure. "It is... have you ever seen Rainbow Dash's cutie mark?" We gave a nod to Rose. "We... remember it from ministry posters. A cloud with a multicolor lightning bolt. Why dost thou ask?" "Well mine is similar. A monochrome lightning bolt on a black thundercloud." "How did you get a similar cutie mark to her? She’s a pegasus." Rose turned her head, dug through her saddlebags and withdrew a figurine of the cyan pegasus in question clenched firmly in her teeth. "Bec'uh Ah'm aw'um." Rose mumbled around the toy's base as she grinned. We chuckled with a smile. “May We see your cutie mark?” “No.” Her sea green eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she spoke that one word, then put the figurine away and went back to work. “But I found it with this audio recording.” With nothing to do, We listened as Rose played it from her Pipbuck’s speaker. There was silence and the crackle of static was followed by a mare coughing. “How is this city... be empty?!” The sound of hooves walking on asphalt filtered out as the mare walked. After more coughing her hoofsteps stopped as she noisily unfolded a paper. “Where’s the damn date on this? Five years ago... But...” She broke into a coughing fit that lasted for almost a minute. “...Where the hell is everypony? I haven't seen anyone in weeks!” Rose clicked off the recording as the mysterious mare resumed her walking. “I'm thinking it was a recording made by Ripper." she said as she put it away. We shook Our head in disagreement. "They do not sound the same." "I say they are." "Even if you take the ghoulification into account they are not the same. Their voice is differing in pitch." "Look, Shell Shock. I know you may be knowledgeable on weapons, but I think your time in Unity has muddled your senses and I'm sm-" Rose gulped down the rest of it. Our eyes narrowed as We knew exactly what she wanted to say. "You're like other ponies. You think We are stupid!" "No!" Rose's ears folded back as she looked down at the weapon. “That wasn’t what I was going to say...” "Say it." We ordered in her mind. "Tell Us what you really think of Us." "I... I didn't mean it like that!" Rose looked over to Sister then to Us with worried eyes. "I simply meant that I have had more practice listening to ponies talk. I taught foals when I was younger." "Very well..." We nodded slowly as We crossed Our forelegs across Our chest. "I will accept your answer and put this aside... for now." Rose put her tools away and trotted over slowly while she looked into Our eyes the whole time. She sat down and We thought she was going to show Us her cutie mark, but she simply said. "I'm sorry I offended you." We gave her a slight nod of acceptance but Our glare stayed. "Apology accepted." "How come you talk in the 'we' all the time?" "Because We... I... can't really think of... myself as anything, but being a part of Unity. I was in it for so long..." My gaze went to Sister. "I have trouble thinking as an individual like her and... not a part of something much grander." Sister rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head with her hooves. "Make it stop!" Both Rose and I were at her side quickly. I nudged Sister with my nose and was wing slapped in the face. "I'm trying to recover from having my magic depleted to the point that it was killing me, and you fuckers won't stop talking!" We looked at Rose and sighed. “Sister will be better! She is always grumpy in the mornings.” Shell Shock: Level up! New Perk - Intense training: +1 to perception. Side quest accepted - ???? Main quest completed - Ties that bind. Side quest completed - Secrets of the forgotten. -850 Karma. South Bay reputation set to Shunned. Stop stealing things thy little thief! Rose: Level up! New perk - Jury Rigging: That looks like it’ll work. If not duct tape fixes everything! Can repair items with similar items. Side quest accepted - Puff the Magic Dragon. Fix the MK.IX AWGAP ‘Helga’ with parts you can find for Shell Shock. Just hope she uses it against your enemies and not you. Chapter 3: Welcome to Oakwood. (Slightly revised 9/26/2013)Chapter 3: Welcome to Oakwood “If it ain’t blue, it’s goo.” Sister improved on the fourth day. She was awake, but groggy and slow moving. We had outlined the plan to her earlier, but she refused and said that all she needed was rest. Which was what she was doing and We were next to her with Our right wing hugging her. Rose was off searching for the goggles and We were unsure of her motives. Ripper would want it for herself, but We also wanted it as it is a very large weapon that would have no trouble killing Steel Rangers. Which We want to do very much so. We flicked Sister's ear with a hoof to catch her attention as We asked. "Dost thee think We should give the saddle back to Ripper?" Sister shrugged. "That is up to you." We gave a nod. "We do not think it would be wise to anger her as she has a megaspell, and that wins hooves down, so We shall give it back. But We are also confused with Bucky as We woke up next to him with no memory of the night before." "That pink stallion?" We nodded slowly in response to her question. "Hm... well I was drugged, so it stands to reason that you may have been." "We deducted as much from your memory. But then he gave Us this Pipbuck, so We are confused. Does that mean he likes Us? He is impure and... well, pink. This causes Us great confusion." Sister's eyes narrowed as she looked at me. "Well I didn't like him much and I don't think you should have so readily accepted such a gift. The marriage bit was a ploy by me to get back at you and Rose took it too far. I sincerely hope you two did not do anything extra that night." ‘We also hoped he did not take advantage of our situation.’ The tools were floated out and inserted like We had watched Rose do. The device beeped and the screen flashed red as it displayed an error. We tried again to the same result, except that time sharp blades drove themselves into Our leg, causing Us to cry out in shock. We slammed the Pipbuck against the wall with a loud crash. The metal device left a dent and caused pain to shoot up Our leg. We tried a second and third time, but only succeeded in drawing blood as the blades went deeper into Our flesh. The leg trembled visibly from the pain running through it while we cradled the now injured leg. Our eyes welled up with tears as Our whole body began to shake and Our eyes narrowed. "Why must everypony We meet trick Us? Why...? Why?! We are not stupid!" Sister nuzzled Our cheek in an attempt to calm Us down. We glared lasers at her. "They are mean ponies, that is why."She whispered softly in Our ear. "You can't trust anypony anymore. We can't even go back to the Crescent Moon because there are bounty hunters surely waiting for us." "That is it!” We hissed. “We will read their minds from now on and if We think they are taking advantage of Us, then We will kill them on the spot. No more missus nice mare!" As We looked over at Sister We bumped noses. That was when We realized just how close we were, close enough that our body heat transferred between us through touch. She smiled as her blue eyes sparkled in the daylight that filtered in through the dirty window. Our gaze went to her side where Our wing was and her words in South Bay came back, 'I love you'. She meant as a sister, right? We decided to test Our mind reading spell on her and made sure to focus it on just her and not the whole area. "She was so close! Should I have kissed her? Wait... is she... Shock are you reading my thoughts? Whiskey, tango, foxtrot?! I'm going to think of random things until you stop reading my thoughts. Can I has chees...." ‘We like stallions!’ We hissed in Our mind. ’This fact she must surely know as We have expressed the need to find a way to make male alicorns to her multiple times.’ We opened our mouth to speak, but closed it. Now that We looked at the gesture plus her thoughts of kissing Us, it felt awkward. We think of her as a sister, but she doesn't see Us that way. We pulled the wing against Our side as We scooted away from her. Sister tilted her head and looked at her side in confusion then Us. We used Our mouth to tell her. "We are sorry, but We did not realize what We were doing. It is awkward now." She smiled, used her wing to pull Our body against her, and wrapped a foreleg around Our neck in the same motion. "Shock, it is just a friendly cuddle between two mares, there is nothing wrong with it." "We... suppose not, as it is comfy." We snuggled closer to her and Our gaze went across the room to where Helga was lying in pieces on the floor, and the Annihilator was leaned against the wall. "Sister, We wish to know your name." We heard her hum a chuckle. "What's in a name? They are just titles given at birth." "You’re avoiding thine question. The purple had asked Us of it, but We did not know. And this causes Us worry. As you know Ours but We do not know yours." She ruffled Our exquisite mane with a hoof and a laugh, which We immediately fixed. "Sisterrr! Thy question remains!" "It's an embarrassing name!" "We won't make a joke or laugh.” "Oh alright fine." She moved her muzzle close to Our ear and whispered. "My name is Mudpie." We giggled and she slapped Our ear with a hoof, hard, causing Our recently added earrings to make said ear flare in pain. "Mudpie, We are worried that everypony We have met is using Us." "Shall I sing to you? I know of a song that should help ease your worries." We nodded and rested Our head against her neck to listen to her heartbeat. She cleared her throat and began to sing softly. It didn't take long before We drifted off to sleep. *** *** A loud bang startled Us awake as the door was bucked open. Our attention was drawn to it as a power armored pony ran in followed by two more. Then a teal mare in Steel Ranger robes walked in with a smug grin that We wanted to knock off her face. Four orange bars appeared on my compass after they appeared. Eclipse grinned at the two of us. "Such a lovely sight we have here. The two sole remaining proverbial thorns in my side, and with you two finally out of the way we can deal with the Enclave in this area." We smiled at the opportunity as We brought up Our shield and hauled Sister onto Our back. Our muscles tensed as We prepared to run. Sister felt this and wrapped her forelegs around Us tightly. Eclipse's gaze went to Helga and the Annihilator before she looked at us. "Now then, any last words before I kill you? And don't think that shield can protect you." She pulled up her robe to reveal something attached to dark non-metal armor that stirred memories, a Hellhound claw. One of the few weapons that can slice clean through Our shield like a hot knife through butter. Without a word We bolted for the window as Eclipse laughed. We covered the distance quickly and smashed through the dirty glass. We did not care that We could not fly since We were aiming for a lower floor of the building across the street. However, something surprised Us as we fell through the air. Blue magic wrapped itself around our bodies and in a flash We stood above the overgrown road. We fell down with a thud from Our momentum and collapsed in a heap. Sister moaned in annoyance as We looked up and saw Eclipse looking down at us. The thought of shooting her with the Brush Gun died quickly as the shield was still around Us and We were surrounded by Steel Rangers. Everywhere I looked I saw orange bars. A rocket landed outside the bubble and exploded in a fireball. My gaze followed the thick smoke trail back to Eclipse and I realized then that I did not even have my saddlebags! The only thing I had was my business suit, hoofgun with two slugs, two buckshot reloads in a pocket, torch, the Dash inhaler, and Pipbuck with the tools stuck in it. We picked Sister up as We turned south at the same time a second rocket struck dirt and the rest of the Steel Rangers opened fire on Our shield. *** *** We turned down an overgrown side street lined with rubble with three Steel Rangers on Our tail. Our gallop was slowed by Us attempting to lift Our left foreleg to click into the map function of the Pipbuck. We saw that it somehow knew where Rose was, which was somewhere to our east, so We dropped the foreleg and picked up Our pace. As We turned right onto another side street We turned invisible, and immediately made a hard left before ducking inside a shop that had not yet crumbled. Our gallop slowed to a walk while We panted and watched the Tin Can ponies gallop past us. "Took you long enough." Sister grumbled quietly. We took stock of the place as We set her down. It was a convenience store at one time, but its shelves were all looted and what was left was rusting tin cans and paper littering the floor. Behind the counter lay an open safe and a smashed cash register. An idea popped into Our head and We attempted to connect with Grumpy, but could not locate her, so We looked at Sister. "Where is Grumpy? We can not seem to locate her." "The purple whose name is RJ?" We nodded. "Went north after something. Probably out of range by now." Almost as if on cue, We heard a mare's laugh behind Us and looked over at three orange bars as Eclipse walked in flanked by two Steel Rangers. "Oh there's three now? All the more fun!" she grinned at the two of us. We picked Sister as Eclipse walked forward a few steps as she took off her robe, and showed thick armor made from large dark colored bones. Each hoof had two Hellhound claws built into it that clicked on the tile as she walked. We took a step back towards the door, and then another. As We walked backwards We looked into her mind that burned with clear hate for the two of us. And We knew right there that there was no reasoning with this mare. She saw us as beasts that needed to be put down and not allowed to live. We turned around and bolted from the room. "That's right, run away!" Eclipse cackled. As We looked back We saw her giving chase and wondered how long this would keep up. We turned left onto a wide main road that was choked with the debris of hundreds of wrecked vehicles. "Sister, are you okay?" We asked her with Our mind. “I'm... feeling sick again." She groaned. As We jumped over the debris We saw the jungle treeline a few miles away. A quick look back revealed Eclipse to have slid to a stop and was looking for a way around because she could not jump as high as Our wing assisted jump. She looked up at us and shouted, nearly screamed. "You'll never escape me, do you hear me?! Never!" Our hooves landed on the roof of a van and it caved in, causing the remaining glass to explode like a soap bubble from our combined weight. We pressed forward, and ran along the rooftops of the vehicles that stretched for almost an eighth of a mile. A few of them were spaced far apart, but that did not concern Us since We used Our wings to assist in jumping. A metallic thunk behind Us caused Us to look back and Our eyes widened. We quickly tossed the metal apple away with magic before it exploded in a ball of green fireball. Our eyes widened as Our hoof slipped and caught in something. Before We knew it a sharp pain filled the appendage as We tumbled forward and threw Sister off Our back. Our muscles strained as a sick snap filled the air, followed by fire shooting through the leg from an area above the Pipbuck, as We screamed in agony. Tears streamed from Our cheeks as We attempted to look for Sister. We eventually found her sprawled out on the road and slowly moving. She turned to look at Us and her eyes widened. "Shock... don't look at your leg." We didn't have to look at it to know it was twisted and broken badly, because the area above the Pipbuck throbbed with each beat of Our heart and We were bawling silently. The device on Our leg redundantly displayed a crying Stable-Tech unicorn mare and the outline of an alicorn with a red leg. We painfully stared, through tears, into Sister's eyes as she got up and limped over. There was a hollow thump in the distance followed by a sharp whistle overhead. A green banded shiny apple landed sixty feet away and quickly exploded in green plasma fire. Shortly after the first grenade exploded, a second thump signaled another being launched and Sister ducked as the grenade landed twenty feet closer. As We looked at Our leg We saw it was twisted above the Pipbuck unnaturally. The blue screen was wedged inside the gap between the cab of this vehicle and the one next to it. With a shriek of agony from my mouth I pulled free as a third grenade landed even closer and We could feel the heat of the explosion. A fourth thump caused me to look up, swat the grenade to the side with magic, and look away as it exploded above the ground. We shielded Our face with wing and smelled singed feathers. I felt Sister's magic grab my collar and pull me off the vehicle onto her back as a fifth thump sounded. I tracked the grenades trajectory and swatted it away, causing it to explode mid-air. My gaze went to the five orange bars as another one was launched. This time I swatted it down and smiled as the bars scattered. I looked forward as it exploded, but my eyes were drawn skyward at the sound of a resonating slap with a whine underneath. My gaze quickly scanned the area overhead and I saw an olive green shape of a AV-2 vertibuck. A twin rotor vehicle with rockets, guns, and troop carrying ability. "Sister can you go invisible?" I shouted as the vertibuck turned towards our road. She did so and the air shimmered around us. We looked down as Eclipse climbed onto the mass of twisted vehicles. Her gaze went up to the turbine powered flying machine. She stamped a hoof twice and pointed in our direction; the Vertibuck tilting left and right in response. It dropped lower to just fifty feet above the road as it flew through the urban canyon towards us. "Turn!" I shouted as I caught a glimpse of two rocket pods underneath it. Mudpie complied as the Vertibuck began strafing the road with rockets and gunpods. Mudpie galloped through the narrow alley as the concussion of a few rockets took my breath away. She pushed herself faster and jumped, taking to the air much to Our surprise. We were surprised that she could maintain the invisibility spell and fly in her condition! Her wings beat furiously as we quickly gained altitude before turning southward over the buildings as she flew higher. My gaze went down to the road as the Vertibuck pulled up from its strafing run all the while Eclipse stood and watched. ’Perhaps she can not track Us as easily as she thinks?’ *** *** Thick jungle was coming up too fast and We recognized what was wrong immediately. Our forelegs wrapped around Sister's neck as tight as We could despite the pain, and then We gripped her with Our hind legs. We beat Our wings furiously in an attempt to fly. Our fall was slowed somewhat, but still we fell fast as We screamed in agony. Sister's head fell forward and her body went limp just before We crashed through a tree. Not one to risk the chance to break a wing, We pulled them in tightly and prayed to the Goddess that we'd be safe. Our bodies smashed into a limb with a crack, then a second one and we kept going down. We felt Sister's body shudder as she hit the tree limbs first, but she did not cry out in pain. My eyes shut tight, we slammed into the ground and lost hold of Mudpie. I relaxed as my body kept tumbling and the crying Stable-mare displayed more warnings about a sprained fetlock, a concussion and other problems We cared not for. I crashed into a tree trunk with my back and cried out in pain; the display displaying the obvious. Our gaze went to a faintly breathing Mudpie. Which was good. Then We slowly looked around at our surroundings. Trees and bushes greeted Our vision as far as we could see, which was only about fifty yards before it became just a blur of green. Low misty fog covered the jungle floor and the air felt much more humid than in the city. My gaze went back down to my twisted leg and I gently felt around with magic for the break, and cringed when I found it. I attempted to take off the overcoat, but pain shot through my left leg when I moved it. So I sat on my haunches and used magic before rolling up the sleeve and biting down on it so as to not bite Our tongue. We took a few deep breaths and braced Ourself for what pain was to come, gripped the leg with magic and quickly reset the bone. It made a sickening sound as We screamed and bit hard on the sleeve as more tears fell. The break still throbbed and We couldn't walk on it, but at least if We found a few healing potions We would not have to worry. And if We found radiation it would go away completely. If... My gaze went to the various trees and bushes as I looked for anything to make a splint from. *** *** We limped heavily along the jungle floor with an unconscious Sister on Our back. The destination was the marker for the cap collection. Even a tiny hoofstep onto Our splinted leg caused pain. Our splint was made using shaped tree limbs and part of the suits overcoat. It was stupid to think of going to collect caps from a pony in the condition We were in, but the fact that there was a pony out here must mean they have medical supplies and we need them badly. Our gaze flickered left and right as We quickly scanned the jungle for anything, but We only saw the blue bars of animals, or We hoped they were animals. We wished the Pipbuck told you what it was! A snap of a twig or branch drew Our attention left, but the E.F.S. showed nothing in that direction. We slowed while turning around and hobbling backwards. “Hello?” We called out with Our mind. Whispers in zebra tongue reached Our ears as they swiveled around, but We blocked them out as We knew they could not be here. There are no zebra's on Oakwood! Our gaze went up to the trees as We looked for hidden snipers, but We saw none. So We turned around as We continued hobbling towards the marker while We checked for tripwires every so often. This made Our progress slow, but it was better than the alternative of being blown up. As We stopped, We braced Our left foreleg with magic and lifted Our right to open the breech of the hoofgun, and winced in pain. We saw the hoofgun was loaded with slugs still and gave a nod. “Mudpie, are ya dead?” I asked quietly. “Yeah...” She mumbled. I smiled at her comeback. If she were dead she could not respond, but I did not think she was feeling better. Infact I thought her condition to be worse than when I had found her in that room. *** *** We had eventually came to a wide muddy river that looked impossible to cross by hoof. On our bank of the river were two smashed boats lying in the sand and overgrown by the jungle. Our Pipbuck chirped and we looked down as We pulled the overcoat back to look at the screen. New location discovered: Dropkick’s End. ‘Why give a name for two wrecked boats?’ With a shrug We limped towards them. The boats looked to have collided with each other head-on and a skeleton was slumped over the control console of one as We pulled back the vines. A dark stain on the armored sidewall showed that they had been shot in the side of the head while they were unconscious. As We looked left We saw two more overgrown skeletons with a single hole in each of their head. Their barding had long ago been reduced to shreds and the deck underneath the vines was littered with dull brass casings of varying calibers. Next to them lay the rusted remains of a 20mm autocannon, and on the front walls of the boat were twin M-2 .50 cal machine guns likewise rusted. We hobbled towards the control console and peered over at the jumbled mess of twisted metal and fiberglass. Two sets of skeletal forelegs stuck out from where the forward turrets should have been. We looked and saw the other boat had one M-2 missing and its crew were gone, but no skeletons. Our gaze went down to the console where dials showed the rpm of two engines and a fuel gauge that read almost empty with 'Diesel fuel only' written above. To the right of the skeleton was a grimy scoped rifle in a holster that we pulled out. Our Pipbuck chirped, which told us it was a Zebra Assault Rifle that was in piss poor condition with twenty rounds in its magazine meant for thirty and was upgraded with a synthetic stock. How it all knew that We did not know, nor care. The weapon looked like you held it in your hooves to look down the scope despite it having a mouth trigger. Not like we would need to, as we used magic! We checked around and found an empty magazine to go with it, which Our Pipbuck told us it was an extended magazine. To the left of the stained wall was a small cuddy cabin designed for one pony to sleep, but was much too small for Sister or I. We gently set her down and crawled in, and looked over the mattress that disintegrated to Our touch. In one corner was an orange plastic box with a white cross on it. We pulled it over and clicked the latches open. It revealed bandages, empty syringes with traces of orange liquid, and two unmarked blue-green bottles. The other supplies were missing. On the inside of the plastic lid were directions written in a dialect of Zebra. Opening the bottle revealed the most unusual smell. Despite it looking blue-green it smelled like strawberries. We held both of them in front of Us with magic and crawled back to Mudpie. "Found something." We told her with Our mind and held the bottles in front of her. She cracked an eye open as she groaned. “What are... those?” “We are unsure. The box claims healing potions, but they smell off.” “Then.... toss them.... and let another pony try ‘em. I... won’t.” With a nod We threw them and smiled when they landed in the river with a splash. *** *** We spent the night at the boat before following the river for a few hours and coming to a bridge which we crossed. A closer inspection of both boats had revealed a nearly gone map and one syringe of Med-X, which We took then as We could not stand the pain coming from Our leg any longer. This did not kill the pain entirely, but We felt muddled and the pain lowered to an aching throb. However as We looked right We saw an orange bar slowly moving behind bushes. As We set Mudpie down We crept forward through the strange looking brush while looking around the dark jungle floor, despite it being noon. Quietly, We moved the fauna aside with the zebra assault rifle as We limped forward ready for anything. However We saw nothing but fog and bushes as the orange bar completely vanished. Then Our ears swiveled to the sound of a pony stepping on leaves. Which caused Our head to turn in that direction and the rifle dropped from Our magic’s grip out of shock. “Sis... Sister?” I blinked in shock at seeing a blue alicorn glaring at me. However I quickly realized that this pony wasn’t Mudpie, because she was wearing clothes and held a shotgun with magic. And her bar was blue... She must have been the orange bar and it turned blue when she saw Us. “Where the hell am I?!” She shouted. “The island of Oakwood,” We projected into her head. “Far off the coast of Equestria. How do you not know?” “I awoke washed up on a beach; fog and ocean behind me with jungle in front.” She replied as she lowered her weapon. We did not suspect malice, so We picked Our weapon up and put it away as she eyed Us strangely. “How long have you been here? You’re in pretty bad shape.” “A purple named RJ told us twenty years. We fear for her safety as she is a newbie to the area and ponies here resent us.” She trotted closer and put a hoof on Our shoulder with a smile. “Then worry no longer. There is a place for our kind on the mainland led by a unicorn named Velvet Remedy.” We thought over this pony’s name as it was familiar to Us... Velvet, Velvet Reme... Then it hit us like an anvil dropped from a sky wagon. “The Destroyer’s nice companion!” She nodded, but her gaze looked behind Us and We saw a pony almost on top of us in the reflection of her eye. “Look out!” The blue alicorn redundantly shouted. As We wheeled around, We brought up Our shield as the pony came running at us with a mix of a chainsaw and broadsword clenched in their teeth. However, the saw blades sliced right through Our shield as if it were not there and nearly sliced our chest as We jumped back and bumped into the blue. Seeing as the shield was useless We brought up Our right hoof while We lowered the shield, and ignored the pain to Our left. Thinking of S.A.T.S. caused something odd to happen. It was as if time had stopped for Us and We were able to look around. The pony’s face reminded Us of Eclipse in that he had a determined look in his eyes. Behind this pony were two others that held what looked like two sets of wing binders and hoof cuffs. We looked back down at the melee pony, who was looking up at Us, as his blade was about to swing a second strike. There were orange boxes around his various body parts and numbers with a percent sign, so We selected his head and noticed that S.A.T.S. allowed Us to fire both shots with a 65% chance to hit, but We elected to fire none. ’We do not need some stupid spell to tell Us if We can hit a pony! He’s right there in front of Us!’ As We left S.A.T.S. We jumped farther back with a hard flap of Our wings at the same time he swung. Our hoofgun sent a 20 gauge slug right into his chest and caused the pony to fly backwards from the momentum. He slid about four feet through the brush and We drew the zebra rifle from Our back with magic. We quickly ducked below the nearby brush and crawled right as the ponies pulled out weapons and dropped their chains. After a few seconds We popped Our head and rifle up, took quick aim down the scope at the yellow pony in mismatched armor, and squeezed the trigger. The rifle popped three times in succession for one trigger pull. We hissed in anger as the bullets that struck the pony also ignited him! He fell down, screaming in pain, and a second burst to his head silenced him as we dropped back down. We dropped back down and looked at the ground so that We could crawl on Our belly to avoid Our large perfect horn giving Us away as shots tore through the air above us. Most of them disintegrated the brush where We were last at but a few grazed Our back, yet We did not make any noise. For some reason this new sister did not elect to fire her shotgun at the ponies. Instead she yelled at them and cowered behind a tree. “Stop shooting! I mean you no harm!” A glance over at the orange bar revealed one to not have moved much and his shooting stopped as We heard the metallic click of a magazine being dropped from the rifle. We lifted Our head above the bushes and took aim at the blue stallion before We triggered a burst. Three shots struck the pony in the head, which caused him to simply drop sideways as if he simply passed out. Our gaze went around the jungle as We attempted to slow Our breathing down. Only two blue bars appeared on Our E.F.S. and the stench of burning pony slowly mixed in with cordite and the moist air as it filled Our nostrils. Blue sister gagged at the smell, which caused Us to look at her as she heaved up food. We did not find the smell as bad as some We have smelled before. The rifle was put away as We stood fully, the pain in Our leg reminded Us that We were still injured. The Pipbuck chirped and said Our Zebra Rifle was on the verge of breaking. The blue looked over at Us as she coughed a little. “What is going on?! Who were those ponies and why wouldn’t they listen?" We smiled nervously and shrugged. “Perhaps We should tell you that there is a Steel Ranger who put a large bounty on alicorns and intends to wipe out any on this island. She wears armor of the dead and has Hellhound claws for weapons.” She wiped the spittle off her mouth and downed some water. Her gaze went to the dead ponies, then back to Us. “Why of all places in the wasteland is there an actual bounty on our kind here?” "We had two wings that have spent many many years thwarting the Steel Ranger plans of taking technology back to the mainland, and they do not like it.” We pointed a hoof towards the remaining blue bar. “Sister is over there and in desperate need of medical aid. Our leg can wait as We took some Med-X." "What's wrong with your leg?" "We broke it running from that Steel Ranger with the armor of the dead." We lifted Our foreleg to show her the splint and sighed contently as the pain mostly went away. "Sister had her magic depleted, recovered some, but depleted it more. We fear she may die on Us, and would much rather not lose her. Sister means alot to Us as we are close." Without a word the new blue disappeared into the brush. Our gaze went to the dead ponies and We began to pick through their stuff. We took one of their saddlebags and holstered the chainsword across Our back with its sheathe; Our Pipbuck called it a Ripper modified with Hellhound teeth. The contents of the bags were two bottles of water that caused Our Pipbuck to click and warn Us of radiation. So We drank the bottles and then went through the contents again. We found fifty caps, the note about alicorn bounties, some food, a half drank healing potion, and a bag of RadAway which We kept for Rose. The second pony had an assault rifle and the third had a pump action shotgun. Two magazines worth of ammo for the assault rifle and six shotgun shells that were larger than Our hoofgun. We put everything into Our bags and stood up as We looked over at the two blue bars behind the bush. With a heavy limp, We made our way back, and pushed the brush aside with Our magic. We frowned when We saw Mudpie whispering to the other alicorn. Regardless We went over and laid down as We removed the healing potion and put it to Sister’s lips. Sister drank what was left, but looked at us strangely, as she set the bottle down and asked. "How come you didn't drink all of it?" We smiled and brushed her still non-flowing mane with a hoof. "You needed it more than we do." "But your leg was nearly snapped off!" She shouted and glared at Us while We smiled back. "You're being stupid, Shock. You should have drank all of that potion." We sighed, closed Our eyes and thought over what she said. "This is true, however We drank irradiated water which should provide some healing. Perhaps enough to put pressure down." We felt a hoof on Our good shoulder and We looked over at the new blue, whose gaze was soft and concerned. "Excuse me, but why do you still talk in the 'We'? Unity died with the Goddess. You're yourself again and don't have to talk like that." Sister groaned and covered her ears. "Don’t make her explain it!” "The Goddess is not dead," We told Blue flatly with Our mind. "She merely moved on to another plane of existence." "How do you know?" "Because she thinks the Goddess spoke to her about a week or so ago." Mudpie said with another groan and We gave a nod. The other blue nodded. "Alright, let's say she isn't dead. You still don't have to refer to yourself as We anymore. Unity is gone." Mudpie put a hoof on Blue's foreleg while she shook her head. "Shock is very fucking old and has a thick skull, trust me it won't get through. If I hadn't been here the day the Goddess died... I don't know what would have happened." We huffed as We fluffed our feathers a bit and looked at Mudpie. "I can call myself 'I' if I want! We just have a hard time doing so." "Well we can work on that." Blue said with a smile to Mudpie. Our gaze went around the jungle looking for orange bars, but luckily We saw none. Then We looked towards the marker and pointed a hoof. "We should go that way, as there may be medical supplies." *** *** We looked across the clearing at a large single story house that was slightly elevated above the surrounding area. The wood had long ago greyed and the windows were boarded up along with the doors. Extra planks made sure they could not open. Mudpie was sleeping on Our back, Blue had tried to carry her, but We insisted on doing it. Blue stepped forward and We held out a clipped wing to stop her. "Wait." She looked at Us as her head tilted. "It's abandoned." "Something is off." We replied quietly with Our mouth. "Like what?" Blue asked with a tilt of her head in the other direction. We looked at the shack again and noticed it looked maintained and not like the boats. "It... is too clean." "What do you mean?" "The grass is kept low, and the boards in the windows are spaced just far enough to get the barrel of a rifle through and see over. This screams trap to Us." "I say its fine." Blue walked forward twenty feet and turned around. She held up a hoof and motioned for Us to come closer. We trotted forward with Sister asleep on Our back. The Med-X had worn off by now which caused Us to limp and whimper with each step on that hoof. Thy Pipbuck chirped as it told us this place was called Tank Fort. As We took another step Our left foreleg collapsed painfully, and caused Our right hoof to fall on something thin. We looked cross-eyed at the tripwire as Our eyes widened. "Stop!" We telekinetically shouted to Blue. Blue did so as she tilted her head. "Are you alright?" "No." We responded while looking at her with just Our eyes. "Our hoof is on a tripwire. Can you lift Sister with magic?" Blue nodded and We felt Sister's weight lift from Our back. We watched as she was floated over to Blue and gently placed on her back. We quickly jumped back and cowered, but nothing happened. With a sigh of relief, We stepped over the tripwire and trotted over to Blue, and Sister. Then the door to the shack opened and a gryphon poked its head out, as it glared at us. "You three are the most unusual ponies I’ve had the pleasure of not shooting. One passed out, one heavily injured and one that looks normal." "We mean you no harm." Blue replied. She pointed to her back then me as she said, "we have injured and request medical aid. We can pay if you wish." *** *** Sister slept on Tank's bed in the bedroom while Blue and I looked at the gryphon. He had given me two healing potions as soon as he saw my leg and I don't know if I'll be able to thank him enough. We could walk on it now, if a bit painfully. The inside of this room had a couch, coffee table, wood flooring, and a desk. We assumed he made his meals on the stone fireplace in the corner that was now unlit. Tank sat across from us in the chair for the desk. "What are three alicorns doing out this way?" He asked. "Last I heard there was only two and they stayed inside the city hell bent on annoying Steel Rangers." We looked to Blue, unsure of what to say, then looked at Tank and said. "We... are hiding from the Steel Rangers. If you think we are ea-" He held up a taloned hand and We went quiet. "I know about the bounty, but I also know what they did to the ones they already caught and I wouldn't wish that fate on anypony. As far as I'm concerned they can go fuck themselves." We smiled with a nod of thanks to the gryphon. Our gaze went to his hindquarters as We wondered how exactly they were made as We knew how We were made: Dipped in a vat of I.M.P. Where exactly do these giant eagles come from that are willing to mate with a lion? The long sharp feline claws mixing in with the powerful muscles and the flight capability makes for one deadly creature. A near perfect vision of a killing machine. We are of course perfect. Tank waved a taloned hand before pointing at his beak. "My face is up here." We felt our cheeks heat up slightly as we blushed because We realized that We were staring and they may have interpreted it wrong. "We are sorry, but you are fascinating despite... you not being like us." Blue got up and gave a head bow. "I'm going to check on your friend. I'll be back in a bit." We watched her go and wondered why the hasty exit. ’Does she think what we think she thinks? We hope not as we only wondered how a gryphon was made!’ We slowly looked at Tank as We smiled nervously. He was drawing circles in the table with a razor sharp talon and We watched every movement. Tank saw Us looking and smiled, though We were unsure how a beak could smile. "Something interesting you?" he asked. We made sure to only ask Tank with our mind. "Is there a way We could repay you for your kindness?" "Well..." He looked back at the room with Blue and Mudpie. "Do you know how to work a gryphon crossbow? I've got a nasty bug problem that needs dealing with." We blinked and tilted our head. "Bug problem?" "About the size of a pony and like to eat my crops. There's some to the west of here near a field I grow food in and a few times I nearly got nabbed. You take care of the bugs and I'll call it a deal. Before you answer let me tell you. It is extremely dangerous because there are hotspots around the area and the radiation could kill you. It is best to go by air as there are... things down there in the other fields that could kill with a touch." We smiled as We nodded. "Radiation would not be a problem. For you see, the Goddess created Us in her image and We are immune to such things." *** *** The crossbow was huge! Tank had said that he had built it from scrap vehicle parts and it required a crank to pull the drawstring back. It was built out of a large rifle stock made for gryphons and had a nearly four foot wide leaf spring for the bow. According to the Pipbuck it was worth four thousand five hundred caps in the condition it was in. He had given Us twenty modified railway spikes that looked to have been sharpened and balanced with fins which extended in flight. Though We were unsure why he would deem Our hoofgun and the chainsword inadequate. They are bugs. How hard could it be? We limped into a radiation hotspot near his fields and stopped to let the warm glow rejuvenate Our body while the Pipbuck clicked like crazy. It told Us that We were gaining +25 rads a second. So We just stood there as We felt our leg heal and wings grow warm. The Stable pony now displayed a happy face and disappeared. Only to be replaced by one that looked like it was ready to vomit and was screaming at Us that We had critical radiation poisoning of over seven hundred rads. We spread Our wings and saw that We now had full primary flight feathers again! Yay! As We looked up at the clear sky We whispered. "We are thankful that Our leg and wings are healed once more, praise be the Goddess." With a slight bounce in Our step We continued down the path. A smile was on Our face as We hummed a song We heard about a pony wanting to paint everything black. This one We like most so far and wish to one day thank DJ Snow for showing it to Us. Ahead of Us lay a single track dirt path through the jungle. In the waning daylight We saw the sky light up orange and red in a blaze of colors that made Us smile. Then We quickly focused on following Our marker as We glanced around at the trees and bushes for signs of orange hostiles. Rose had told Us her Pipbuck displayed red for hostiles and that each Pipbuck may be different depending on various things that We just nodded Our head to. We suspect the original owner to be color blind to red. According to Our Pipbuck We had traveled for almost an hour before We came to a kind of clearing. We stopped before the edge and went invisible in the twilight. In front of Us lay a field of corn, though this corn was wild and did not grow as if a pony tended to them. On the other side of the field was a metal shack with a door that was falling apart and beyond that was more jungle. In all it was only the size of a hoofball field. We stepped forward and Our Pipbuck labeled this place Outpost X-ray. Our eyes narrowed at this information because if it were a crop field, would it not be labeled as such? Our E.F.S. showed nothing either, so We trudged towards the shack through the wild corn that was almost as tall as our chin. Then a We heard a growl that sounded almost like a laugh and looked to the source, but spotted nothing on the compass. However the cornstalks parted in that direction as Our whole compass began to glow orange and We slowly began to back away from whatever it was. Now everywhere We looked We were surrounded by hostiles, yet We could not physically see anything! We looked down, up, side to side, but they were nowhere! We turned Our head as We pulled out the Zebra Rifle and gripped it in Our teeth while backing towards the door to a shack. Our hoof stepped on something that squealed and We wheeled around to aim at it, but there was nothing there. Our gaze went over to the sound of cornstalks moving and caught the tail end of something thin as it slipped away. More stalks around Us parted as Our ears swiveled every which way. We gulped as We were still fifty yards from the shack and if We could not see Our attackers, and they haven’t attacked then that meant they could not see us! Instead of bothering with walking We bolted for the shack and quickly closed the distance as We practically flew over the stalks.Our magic gripped the handle and found it unlocked, but that caused Our invisibility spell to fail instantly. We facehoofed. As if on cue We heard a growl that was answered by others. We risked a look back and saw the entire field was moving and parting in Our direction. Our eyes widened and We ran inside, slammed the door shut and locked it by shoving a broom through the handle. With a defeated sigh We attempted to look around the room, but recoiled from the door as whatever was out there slammed into it with a loud crash that shook the whole shack. We spun around and aimed the nearly broken Zebra Rifle with magic at the door. We were ready to fire until it breaks and then use it as a club. As We backed up Our hind hoof stepped on air. We jumped to the side in reflex and looked at the open ponyhole cover with narrowed eyes. With nowhere else to go We climbed down the ladder. As We got to the bottom We slid the cover shut with magic which cut off all light down there. So We clicked on the Pipbuck light and brought out the torch. Its wide beam of light revealed Us to be in a grimy reinforced tunnel that was wide enough for three of alicorns to stand side by side in with our wings out and four feet taller than Our horn. The floor was dirt strangely, but We did not care what madness made them do that. We connected with Mudpie knowing that she would not respond. "Sister, we have found some sort of underground tunnel and are looking through it. The entrance is surrounded by unseen hostiles. Please do not come get us." We pressed forward and wondered what was down there as according to Our Pipbuck this field was not the right one. *** *** The blue Pipbuck light cast eerie shadows on the wall of the tunnel. A few times We would aim at them with the crossbow only to realize that it was just a shadow. An old memory was stirred by the radiation warning, but We did not dwell on it. That is long gone and We are better now. Radiation helps Us now, not leave Us coughing up blood as Our insides rot. The torch swept around the tunnel, but did not locate anything beyond grimy reinforced concrete walls for the last half hour. With a flap of Our wings We were hovering off the ground, a grin on Our face. We slowly moved forward while flying and was glad for it as it would allow Us to move quicker. The tunnels soon became a blur as We pushed Ourself and tested Our new wings to the limit. As the tunnel abruptly ended in a T We cut a hard left. Another hard flap of the wings and We were back up to speed. Our pace soon had us zooming through the dark confines under the island of Oakwood. We immediately slowed to a hover and looked around, this time much more carefully and deliberate. If this island was just one city, then what is with all these secret underground places We had run across over the last week or so? They were made from reinforced concrete with hardened blast doors and electronic locks. Not to mention the pipes overhead carrying what looked like steam, wiring, and other things. Perhaps there is more to Oakwood than just a large city on a very large jungle island surrounded by mist? A look down at the external map of Our Pipbuck showed that We were under a river far from Tank's shack. And yet when We looked up, the tunnel seemed to stretch into infinity. I scratched my chin in thought. The Steel Rangers must be here for a reason otherwise Sister and I would have driven them back many years ago. Which caused Us to wonder if the Goddess lie to Us knowing that We would cause havoc for the Rangers and Enclave, thus slowing down whatever plans they had while banishing us at the same time? I would not be surprised if she did, but why banish us? We had done nothing wrong to her! Perhaps I should find Rose and ask her what is on this island that is so important to the Steel Rangers. We nodded with a smile at Our plan and turned back the way We had come. We laughed as We flew off the ground even though We were flying in the confines of a tunnel. *** *** We slowed Our flight to a hover again near a ladder and looked at thy Pipbuck as We seemed to be lost despite following the exact number of turns in the opposite direction and following the marker! Orange flashed across Our E.F.S. We quickly dropped to the ground as We pulled out the crossbow and tracked the target. Our head turned right as something jumped at Us and time slowed to a stop in S.A.T.S. I turned my nose up at the most hideous looking rat I have ever laid eyes on as it was lit by the Pipbuck. It was about the size of a dog with razor sharp teeth and no fur with tiny eyes. S.A.T.S. displayed an 85% chance to hit its chest. We wondered how well the spell assist works as We were worried that We might not be able to hit it with the large crossbow that close normally. We toggled an attack by the crossbow and saw it used nearly the whole energy bar. With a nod from Us, time sped back up and We felt something take hold of Our body. Tank's crossbow was aimed and the trigger was pulled by Our magic. With a loud twang the railway spike was launched into the body of the giant rat, its fins spread out just before impact and sent the whole creature flying back into the wall and it stuck there. I blinked in shock and looked down at the crossbow because it had pinned that rat to the wall! Noise caused Our ears to swivel right towards the source of more rats. With the crossbow fired and them closing in with no time to reload, We dropped it and drew the Zebra Rifle as We tried to aim down the scope. Five orange bars on Our vision and eleven shots. ’We can do this easy as pie.’ The first rat shrieked as it was ignited by three shots and fell over dead. The others scurried around their fallen comrade and one jumped. We aimed above it and triggered a burst before sidestepping as the flaming hairless ball of shit landed at our hooves. A third one went down as soon as it jumped, then the weapon clicked empty. We hissed as We tossed the useless weapon away because there were still two shots! As We jumped back We stepped right again and brought up our hoof. It recoiled slightly as it sent a 20 gauge slug into the creature and the tunnel was lit by the blast at the same time Our hearing was deafened. We covered our face with the leg as the rat exploded in a ball of red, and showered Our suit with the warm coppery tasting liquid. We quickly loaded in buckshot to the now empty weapon while We floated backwards and scanned for hostiles ahead. A scream of pain escaped Our lips as one of the foul creatures clamped its maw on Our wing’s bone and caused Us to fall to the floor, because We could not flap with its weight on Us. We hissed at the creature as We spun on a hind leg and flicked Our wing forward as hard as we could. Yet its maw stayed shut, then another one clamped onto Our other wing while we were distracted and We screamed again. "You stupid fucking beasts!" We shouted, brought Our wings forward and aimed at one with the hoofgun. Buckshot tore multiple holes through the creature and into Our bone as the rat fell in a lifeless heap. We cringed and aimed at the other one. It was sent to Tartarus and We damaged Our other wing. The crying Stable-tech mare returned to Our vision as it showed both wings to have damage, but not critical as of yet. Redundant as always. However We had no time to think about that because a rat the size of a full grown pony growled at Us. We pulled a railway spike out of Our saddlebags and looked for the crossbow, which was behind the creature. It rushed forward as We dropped the railway spike and drew the Ripper from its sheath. As We gripped the trigger with magic the weapon roared to life. “We hate tunnels!” We shouted as We galloped towards it and brought the blade down. Its Hellhound teeth drew blood as the blow merely grazed the creature, which slammed into me. The weight of it sent Us sprawling onto Out back as We brought up the Pipbuck to block its bite and winced from the blades already in our leg getting pushed around. Thankfully whatever metal it was made from prevented the rat from biting into the leg. We rolled over and threw the creature against the wall before tossing the Ripper towards it. Our blow struck it in the neck. The large rat gurgled as it tried to make noise. We crawled over and ripped the blade from it before bringing it down on its chest once, twice, thrice, and four times. On the fifth blow We realized it was long dead and pulled the blade out then looked at it and wondered why it was still clean. However Our suit sleeves were completely covered in the creatures blood and our ears folded back. "Aww. I liked this suit..." We mumbled as We used Our to tear the sleeves off. We frowned, but remembered that We did not pay for it. The Ripper was floated back to the sheathe whence it came before We moved over to the Zebra Rifle. We checked its magazine and saw that there was indeed one round in it. Our frown was still there as We pulled the bolt back and a second 7.62mm round ejected. We held it up and wondered why it did not fire as thy Pipbuck did not say the weapon was broken. We put those items into Our saddle bags, picked up the railway spike and set it in the channel on the crossbow, before drawing the wire back with magic. Our gaze fell upon the ladder and We started climbing it. As We attempted to slide the cover back We found it did not budge, so We used our hooves to no effect. In the light provided by thy Pipbuck We saw that it had been welded shut and with a deep sigh, We dropped back down to the ground to look at thy Pipbuck map. We had figured on heading back towards Tank's shack and turned in that direction. Our wings ached terribly and throbbed where We had been bitten. Strangely though the gunshots did not hurt as bad as the bites. We had to keep Our wings held slightly out from Our body so as to not have agonizing pain. Our gaze went to the sick and crying Stable-Tech mare that displayed critical radiation and poison. ’How could we be poisoned?! We are the perfect image of the Goddess and we do not get poisoned!’ We smiled as the crying mare went away and the injured limb warning vanished. We spread Our wings out fully and saw the slowly drying blood where six pellets had torn through. So We sat on our haunches and decided to preen Our new feathers and clean off the blood. *** *** We suspected thy Pipbuck did not know what to do with Our body as it said We are still poisoned. The pain in Our wings died to an itch underneath the healed skin though, so that was good. The blood of those rats left a decidedly tangy electrical taste in Our mouth, which we could not get rid of as We had nothing to drink. Our ears picked up smooth jazz coming from a room about eighty feet away, and so We cantered over to the open door. As We peered inside We saw what looked like a janitors closet with rolled papers, a music player, a bed, no food or water, a lantern, and a doll like Rose's. Except this one was different. It was of a purple unicorn that caused Our mind to flip through Our memories like a book before landing on the name of the mare: Twilight Sparkle, the head of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. We remember her as We have seen her on many posters. An inscription on the base read: Be smart! We smiled at the doll because perhaps Rose would have wanted it to go with the one of Rainbow Dash. As We reached out to touch it a rotting hoof knocked Ours away and We recoiled in shock. But We quickly recovered and shoved the red ghoul against a locker. "Who are you?!" We shouted in his face as We pointed a decidedly empty hoofgun at his eye. The mustached unicorn pointed at his tattered janitor uniform and rasped. "I'm... Ra-Raul, the janitor. I thought... I thought you were trying to steal my statue." We lowered the weapon as Our gazed softened when We noticed his bar was blue. "Who are you? Ya look like one of the Princesses if they fell in a vat of green paint." We smiled. "We are a child of the Goddess. The Princesses have been dead for two hundred years." "I figured as much when the world went to hell and I turned into this." He pointed at his face. "But ya know what the worst part of bein' a ghoul is?" We shook Our head. "I can't shave my mustache! It'll never grow back if I do." He's an undead pre-war pony and worried about his mustache?! We chuckled as it must surely be a joke! It received a smile from him. We nodded and asked. "Raul, We would like to purchase the statue off you." "Five thousand caps." We felt Our eyes widen. "These are rare chica, I've only seen like six!" "Is there something else you wish instead of caps? As We only have fifty." "I've been down here for a lot of years, alone. And you have one of the nicest flanks I've seen since the Princesses." Our eyes grew wider. ’He's a ghoul! That would be... Ewww! He's like a hideous red zombie!’ "We like mares." We said as We gave him a grin. "Infact we have a marefriend named Rose. Is there something else?" He nodded and We let out a breath We had been holding. "There's a deadly plant out by one of the access hatches. If you take my flamethrower and clear it out I'll give you the statue as payment." "Why can't you do it?" "These old bones aren't made for fightin', chica. Those plants are as quick as a fox and deadly to boot. But my first offer is still on the table." We wrinkled Our nose and took a step back. "We think We will deal with this plant." He nodded and pulled a roll of paper off the stack as he laid it out and pointed a hoof. "We are here, and this plant is wayyyyy over here," his hoof traced a line and stopped at the other edge before he tapped it a few times. "I'll mark the location on your Pipbuck so you won't get lost." Said device beeped. New location discovered: Raul's place. There was a marker a few miles away too. *** *** The flamethrower tank was heavy and slightly too snug, but nothing We could not handle. Strangely, instead of being setup to fire like a rifle saddle, it had two flexible hoses that went down to a strap like the hoofgun which ended in a nozzle that howled softly, because the igniter was lit. There was a battle saddle trigger for it of course. Raul explained that all I had to do was point my hoof and bite down. We trotted through the dark tunnels with the torch floating ahead. Its round beam cast a pale blue light around the grey concrete tunnel. We could plainly see it was being slowly overgrown with green and the air became even more humid than outside which made Us sweat slightly. The E.F.S. still showed no hostiles, but We were following the map marker, so the green vines were a good sign. We pressed forward for a good five minutes and still didn't worry as We stepped around blocks of concrete with vines sprouting from the ceiling. After all they were plants. Just how could plants be deadly? We passed by a beautiful unbloomed purple flower that seemed to follow our movement. Our gaze went to the right as We turned in that direction and saw more flowers. The torch highlighted the end of the hallway which ended at a sealed door with a round hatch like on a ship. The fact that the flowers had felt like they were watching Us made it unnerving. Raul had said to only clear out the plants outside the access hatch and not go inside, but We had decided to ignore him. We gripped the wheel with magic as We trotted up to it. With a rust induced shriek the hatch's wheel gave in inch. It did not budge easily and forced Us to use magic and our strength until it gave another inch. We strained, but it got no farther. As We stepped back We looked at it before We pivoted on a forehoof and bucked one of the metal bars as hard as we could. The metal shrieked and moved while pain lanced up Our leg. We turned back around and spun the wheel with magic as We smiled when it spun smoothly. We gave a quick look to the plants that seemed to be watching Us in the dark confines. A shiver ran up Our spine before We stepped inside and immediately noticed that the lights worked, which made it seem like daylight. Inside the tunnel opened into a large two level atrium. We were on the top level across from a round shattered window. Vines and plants grew every which way and over tables. More of those purple flowers were on the bottom floor while yellow pods were on Our level. The actual floor was covered in dirt... We think or hope it to be dirt. To Our left was a partially open blast door. A catwalk ran along the center to another hallway. As We stepped inside thy Pipbuck labeled it Research Lab 13. We got the feeling that it was more of a Stable atrium than a research lab. Though We were unsure because We have never set a hoof inside of one. Our gaze scanned the room while We kept an eye on the compass. There was nothing, not even blue. With a nod We stepped forward onto the metal catwalk that ran above everything. We do not see what was wrong there. These seemed harmless, if a bit overgrown. As We turned left We walked towards the half open door that held a faded light above it indicating it was the stairwell. But it was blocked. With a shrug We turned around and walked to the edge to look down at the purple flowers. We wondered what would happen if I attempted to pick one. They were very pretty and would look nice in Our room at the Crescent Moon. And so We jumped, landed on the decidedly dirty floor and, slid a good three feet. On this level We could see there were four other doors leading in random directions and a large shattered square window. We took a step towards the purple flower and noticed something small next to it that the others outside did not have. It was a scaled green foal lying curled up and sleeping, but as We looked at the foal We saw its back had spikes of some kind. Our mind picked up frightened thoughts, so We took another step towards it and used Our mouth to whisper quietly. "Hello? Do not be afraid. We are here to help." The foal's ears swiveled towards Us as it fluttered its solid green eyes open, then glared and an orange bar popped up on Our E.F.S. We immediately pointed the hoof with the flamethrower attachment on it, but hesitated in biting the bit. ’It... It is a foal! We... can not... foal... what?!’ It groaned what sounded like 'run' as it took a few steps towards Us, We backed away unsure if We should attack. Then the green foal charged with its maw wide open and that was when We saw instead of normal pony teeth it had sharp fangs and pointy teeth. The flamethrower sent a jet of red hot fire and engulfed the creature as it squealed in pain. Its body dropping to the ground and rolling around to futilely put out the flame. We followed it with the flame and burned plants alike until it stopped moving. My gaze flickered to the compass and saw I was now surrounded by orange. Nothing but orange, a solid wall of danger. As if this whole place were alive. We turned Our head to look at a purple flower and saw it had bloomed, which revealed a sharp barb that dripped with juices. Before I could react the barb shot across the gap and burrowed into my neck. Thy Pipbuck screamed that We had just been poisoned again with some kind of neurotoxin. My eyes grew heavy as I felt my body slowing down. ’This must be what they had drugged Mudpie with!’ I remembered that I had Dash in a pocket and brought out the inhaler. The whole does was huffed and We felt its effects almost immediately. The world around me seemed to slow down like S.A.T.S. My hoof came up and pointed at the purple flower just before it was engulfed in flames and withered as it shrieked. I swept the jet of flame across the floor to another purple flower just before it sent a barb at Us. The shot missed completely as We jumped out of the way. Our gaze went up to the second floor at the sound of a roar. A large yellow pod slammed into the catwalk railing and opened wide. It revealed rows and rows... and rows of razor sharp teeth, and a tongue that moved as if alive. I jumped to the side as the tongue shot towards Us, barely missing, before it recoiled back. A jet of fire streaked up at it, which caused it to squeal and retreat. As We looked around We swung thy Pipbuck to block a green monster's attack. The metal thumped against flesh and sent it flying back. That monster was turned to toasty greens as well. Pretty soon the air inside the atrium was filled with the smell of burning plants and the jelly the flamethrower used for fuel. It was not a good smell. One of the dials on my foreleg read that I still had 3/4 a tank of fuel and 5/6th a tank of ignition fuel. However my ears heard the rusty shriek of the hatch as it closed and locked followed by some kind of laugh. The dirt beneath me erupted as some kind of blue vine burst from the ground. We beat Our wings as We jumped and sent fire down. The plant immediately dropped back to the dirt. We turned around and bolted for the nearest door. *** *** I slowed to a stop and took stock of my surroundings. We were in living quarters of the research lab and luckily there were no killer plants here, or so we hoped. The hallway had some dirt clumps with a kind of plant that glowed if you touched it, which we couldn't resist not doing. After a minute of walking, We staggered and fell against the wall as the effects of the Dash wore off. Which reminded Us that We had some lethargic poison in Our system that was somehow capable of incapacitating alicorns. Our legs collapsed and We slammed into the floor nose first. We stared at the ground for what seemed like eternity. As Our eyes finally shut We heard that plant laughing in Our mind. Something grabbed a hind leg and began to pull Us back, but all we could do was accept defeat and unconsciousness. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Tough Hide. Dafuq? How could you shoot your own wings?! +3 DT against all attacks per level of this skill. New spell unlocked - Thought skimming, I. With effort, you can pick up the surface thoughts of ponies you are looking at. Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, II. You've discovered that no matter how good you do, there will always be a pony that despises everything about you. Objective updated: Kill Eclipse and get the trapped Pipbuck off your leg before continuing. Chapter 3.5: A Dog and its MasterChapter 3.5: A Dog and its Master Shock looked over the gryphon's shoulder, her brows slowly knitting together as she watched the hybrid creature work on some form of potion. The gryphon was dressed in a lab coat with a pair of goggles on her face and gloves covering her taloned hands. "Just a drop of changeling excrement with a dash of gunpowder and-" "What are you doing?" Shock asked, causing the gryphon to leap to the side in shock as her wings flared out with a pop. Whatever the gryphon was working on fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces. The green alicorn took a couple steps back as she said, "s-sorry. We were only curious as to what thou was doing." Shock was not worried if the gryphon was hostile or not because the Pipbuck bar associated for her was still blue. The gryphon's feathers were fluffed up, making her angry face look even fatter than what the lanky hybrid actually was. She quickly shook herself, causing said fluffed feathers to go back to normal with a faint buzz. "I was trying to make fuel for... how'd you get in here?" she tilted her head almost ninety degrees sideways and clicked her beak in thought. Shock slowly pointed a forest green hoof at the door, "you left that open..." The gryphon looked over, glaring at the door and making odd noises almost like a hiss. "I did not. It must have been my incompetent assistant when she went to go get me more supplies. Have you seen her?" Shock sat down and brought a hoof to her chin as she thought back. The wheels in her head slowly ground together as they turned, but then... a memory flashed before her eyes of a mare in a lab coat spotting her and running away like a scared foal screaming about how she didn't get paid enough to deal with alicorns. However, Shock's expression did not change as she shook her head, "nope." The gryphon frowned as much as she could and sat down, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s just great! Send Sticky Hooves out to retrieve some rockets or missiles and she vanishes! I bet a Mist Roamer took her.” She pulled out an ornate silver fob watch and bounced it between her hands. “We’re going to be late, late for the launch and late for the moon!” “We’re sorry,” Shock began slowly as she stepped closer to the gryphon. “But We do not know what you mean. Late for what?” The gryphon put the watch away and rubbed her face while grumbling to herself about being surrounded by incompetent foals. Then, after a few moments, she smiled and looked at the alicorn. “Late for the rocket launch. You know the rocket in the old museum?” Shock nodded slowly.”Well, a group of ghouls have asked me to create the fuel.” “That rusty old thing flies?” Shock asked, her eyes slowly widening in shock. The gryphon pretty much ignored her. “Of course I, Professor Filigree, have been working diligently to make such a feat possible. The ghouls, of course, have been scouring for metal and other parts to cover up gaps in the rocket while I, Professor Filigree, have been working with my assistants help to make an igniter for the solid fuel.” Shock glanced at the door before taking a step forward. “Igniter? Like…” she sat down and tapped her chin some before rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “Light a match?” “Something like that,” Filigree nodded. “I needed a few missiles to see how they worked and what they used as fuel. Think you could help me?” “Um,” Shock set my hoof down, sighing deeply. “Will there be any caps involved?” “I could provide you with some or I could give you this.” Filigree dug around in her pocket before pulling the watch out, holding the ornate item out for Shock to see clear as day. “It’s kind of broken, so caps and the watch?” After some moments, about thirty seconds, of thinking, Shock nodded with a smile. “That sounds good. What can I do to help you?” “Get me some missiles first of all.” Filigree waved her wing in a gesture indicating for Shock to leave. Shock, however, unclasped her bags and set them down. She rummaged through them as she looked for what she had picked up. The mare she had spotted earlier had dropped her own bags in favor of running away from the ‘Green Terror of Oakwood’ and left Shock quite a few goodies; a pair of high-explosive missiles, an emp missile, a broken pistol and a couple small energy packs along with two hundred caps. Shock gently levitated each missile over to Professor Filigree and set them down on the counter. That was when the alicorn finally noticed exactly where she was. She had been simply walking along the sewer while lost in thought and following her Pipbuck for signs of life, but now however. Shock saw the rusty flooring connected to nearly rusted walls with large terminals running along them. Faint light filtered in through a dirty view window, causing Shock to frown and walk over to it. As she pressed her face against the dirty glass, the alicorn saw the very bottom of massive thrusters with tubes connecting to the ceiling. A ceiling that blocked her view of whatever the thrusters were connected to. She pulled away from the window and looked back at Filigree. The gryphon held a chisel to the faint gap between the high-explosive warhead and the body of the missile with a hammer in her other hand, causing Shock’s eyes to widen. “STOP!” she telepathically boomed like thunder inside the gryphon’s mind at the same time she shouted with her mouth. Filigree slowly looked over at the odd green alicorn, the hammer held back and ready to strike a blow against the chisel. "What?" Shock recomposed herself by taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. Afterward, she smiled and said with her mind, "that is not how one takes apart a missile." "And how do you know? There's no screws!" Filigree hissed. Shock rolled her eyes. She trotted over and tugged on the chisel with her magic. Filigree held on, frowning. “I doubt you know how to fix it either.” “We… have used missiles before and know the various ins and outs of them,” Shock said with a nod. "They are finicky tools when handled at the best of times, and dangerous at the wrong. Please, allow Us to help thee so one does not become a red stain on the wall." The gryphon looked at the hammer and then at Shock. With a nod, she held the tools out. Shock gently pulled them away and smiled at the gryphon. *** *** Some hours later, the three missiles were pulled apart and strewn about on the workbench Filigree and Shock had been using. The gryphon was staring out the window at the massive rocket motors she could see. "All this time and the answer was staring me in the face," Filigree mumbled quietly. "That must have been why there was two different types of fuel." "Perhaps," Shock nodded slowly, setting some rocket parts aside before standing up. She walked over to the window and stared out at the bottom half of the rocket as steam filtered down. “Where is this vehicle going?” Shock asked with a whisper in the gryphon’s mind. “If it is a big missile, then do not expect the landing to be perfect.” Filigree chucked a bit as she shook her head. “No, it is a rocket. Come here,” she said, waving her taloned hand before walking over to a panel. Shock, of course, followed Filigree to the terminal’s glow and nearly pressed her nose against the glass. As she did, Shock saw the tiny Equestrian letters displaying ‘Signal detected’ and above it was a wavy line that increased or decrease waviness every so often. “What are We looking at?” Shock whispered with her mind. Filigree pushed the obtrusive alicorn away and proudly said, “a signal from the Great Beyond!” “The what?” Filigree wrapped an arm around Shock and pulled her close, waving her other arm around towards the ceiling, Shock watched the hand as Filigree said, “the Great Beyond. It is around us all and provides the night Sky that no pony can look at because of the clouds.” “You’re talking about space, aren’t you?” Shock asked with a tilt of her head. “No,” the gryphon shook her head. “I am talking about the orb in the sky where Nightmare Moon was banished for a thousand years.” “The moon… Why would there be signals coming from the moon?” “I don’t know or care,” Filigree shrugged. ”But I have deciphered the signal and do you know what it says?” Shock shook her head, causing the gryphon to grin. “It says ‘we’re still here. The wasteland pales in comparison to the beauty of the Great Beyond. If you can come to us, we will be friends again.” Shock frowned at the information. To her, it sounded like the gryphon was talking out of her ass and making the story up, but she didn’t know a thing about decoding signals so she merely nodded her head. “We will help you reach the Great Beyond then.” “Good! Here’s your payment,” Filigree said, pulling the fob watch out of her coat. Shock grabbed it in magic and floated it close, tilting her head some at the intricate design on the face and the fact that it was ticking. She looked at the gryphon, the watch, the gryphon again and put the watch away, saying nothing about the fact that it worked. Shock then looked out at the rocket. “How do I help?” “Right!” Filigree dashed over to another panel and pointed at it. “Do you see this meter here that says ‘warning radiation’?” Shock trotted over to it, stared at the meter for a few moments, and nodded. “Yes.” “Well this meter is in another part of the facility, and I need you to go fix something in there. A part broke and no pony wants to go in because they’re ghouls and don’t want to turn feral. That is where you come in.” “How do We fix what is broken when We do not know what is wrong?” Filigree rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ll tell you how through the intercom. Let’ me just mark your Pipbuck there…” she grabbed Shock’s foreleg in her taloned hands and flipped through its functions, eventually frowning and facepalming. “How… how could you stand having that many active objectives?!” “Hm?” Shock tilted her head and looked at Filigree. “We assumed they merely went away in time. Though with so many on Our compass, We may or may not have gotten lost.” Filigree rolled her eyes and turned off all the active markers before adding a new one. “There! Now you won’t get lost. Leave your stuff here so it doesn't get irradiated." Shock bowed her head and nodded. *** *** After a slightly long and boring trek, Shock’s Pipbuck began to clickity click as radiation was detected. She smiled a bit and trotted faster into the warm familiar glow as the Pipbuck clicked faster to an almost constant beep with the needle pegged into the red. Shock, however, did not bother turning the clicker off and enjoyed the odd sound it made. She walked over to the door, glanced at the clicking device for the code, and entered it in. The door slid open, washing Shock with warm air that would have made the Pipbuck go insane if it could. Shock’s display showed a sick and crying Stable mare and a warning of deadly radiation poisoning. In the center of the room was a large pool of very dirty looking water, some pipes along the side that fed into the water. One of them was leaking the tepid water onto the ground from the a valve that appeared to have broken off. Shock walked inside the room and looked around. “Professor Filigree?” Shock shouted with her mind, receiving no response so she shouted with her mouth. “I’m here,” came the reply from speakers in the ceiling. Shock looked up at more piped as Filigree continued, "there is a leak somewhere in that room, do you see it?" Shock trotted around the room some as she inspected everything including the clearly broken pipe. "Yes," she called out to Filigree. "But We do not have any tools." "Look around you. Do you see a maintenance cabinet or door?" Shock trotted around the pool with the murky water and looked down, her gaze following the pipes all the way down to the floor where they split into different directions. At the bottom of the pool was the cabinet and the rusty remains of a ladder. Scattered all around the cabinet were various rusted tools. "Yes," Shock nodded. "We see the cabinet at the bottom of a pool." "What?" "That is what We see. A broken ladder reaching down to a pool of water with a door." "Can you get the tools?" "Already on it," Shock said, her horn alight with a jade green glow as she steadily pulled the items through the water with magic. *** *** Shock walked along the tunnels, smiling at the fact that she was heavily irradiated and might melt a hole in the floor if she stood still long enough. She did not care about the rusty tunnels or the fact that she had no gear on because she knew it was safe and sound with Professor Filigree. The gryphon was an enigma to Shock. To Shock, it seemed odd that ghouls would allow Filigree to work on the rocket when she clearly had no idea how to do so. When Shock turned into the room she had left Filigree in, she frowned at the sight. The gryphon was holding the watch on one hand and shaking a bit while she stared at it. "Is something wrong?" Shock asked with her head slightly tilted. She slowly walked over to Filigree and placed her saddlebags back onto her back, and tightened them down. Filigree blinked a couple of times and looked over at Shock, slowly nodding. "Yes. Something is... odd." "What?" "N-nothing!" Filigree shook her head and walked over to some controls, slowly adjusting them while staring at the gauges to make sure they did not go too high or low. "The rocket is ready for launch," she called out to a freestanding microphone nearby. "Good," came a raspy and gritty reply from tinny speakers. "Took you smooth skins long enough." After a few seconds, Filigree looked over at Shock and said, "let's go watch them take off." Shock nodded and motioned for the gryphon to lead the way with a hoof wave. Filigree took the hint and started walking, Shock quickly followed her into the tunnel systems. Her Pipbuck was finally displaying only one compass marker and she would know where to go when she left. As they began climbing a set of stairs, a voice began speaking through speakers set into the walls. "Today is a glorious day. For too long we have been repressed into hiding by the locals, forced to live in the dark where the other monsters live, but now we will rise above them. We will reach into the night sky once more and touch that which is forbidden to others, Luna's glorious moon. Luna has sought to give us two surface dwellers to help us on our way and we thank them. Without their efforts, we would be rats inside a box..." "Like a blue box called a tardis or just a box?" Shock asked the ceiling. At the top of the stairs, Filigree staggered a bit and clutched her spinning head. Names, far away locations and visions of things that were swirled in her head as she fought to regain balance. Shock walked over to the gryphon and wrapped a wing around her. "Are you alright? If you are dizzy, you can ride on Our back the rest of the way." "I am fine," Filigree shook her head, pushed Shock away and stood up, swiping a key card into a machine that beeped. The door opened, revealing a three level room with terminals on each level and five large screens. One such screen showed a static filled picture of the rocket in its silo as it was getting ready to launch. The screen next to it displayed a countdown of five minutes while the screen on the right displayed the trajectory. Shock's eyes were wide as she walked into the room and down the stairs to the very bottom level. Filigree went over to one of the panels and began to adjust the controls, causing the trajectory to line up for a landing on the moon. After a few moments, Shock pulled out the fob watch and stared at the ornate design on the face of it. Odd voices and images whispered to her, but they faded into the normal voices she heard, so the alicorn ended up ignoring them. Filigree stopped adjusting the trajectory and placed a hand to the side of her head, her other hand's talons began to click against the metal machine in a steady rhythm of four taps every so often. Shock looked up from the watch at the taps and tilted her head. "Are you sure you're alright, Professor Filigree?" Filigree quickly shook her feathery head and nodded. "Y-yes," she called out across the room. "Please go around and make sure everything is green or yellow." Shock nodded, setting the fob watch onto a machine before walking over to a few machines displaying critical systems. Some were dark, some were static filled, and some were showing normal or nearly normal. After a few passes, Shock went to pick the watch up with her magic and stopped, noticing that Filigree was holding it and staring at the closed face of the watch. “Professor?” Shock asked with her mouth. She tilted her head some and slowly walked over to her, but stopped halfway when the door opened, drawing her attention to it. In walked a pony both Shock and Filigree recognized to be the assistant that had run away. When she saw Shock, her face went pale, but she gulped and started walking towards them. “H-hey… I, um… found the rockets!” Shock rolled her green eyes. “You’re late,” Professor Filigree said as she shut the watch and pointed a claw at the green alicorn next to her. “She found the rockets you most likely dropped. Did you run from something?” Sticky Hooves gulped and shook her head. “N-no… I was, um… I was sleeping!” she smiled and nodded. “Yes, I was sleeping and when I woke up my bags were gone.” “Liar!” Shock shouted with her mouth. “You’re a dirty liar! You dropped those bags when you saw Us and ran like a scared filly!” "No I didn't!" "I don't care!" Filigree shouted and slammed the watch down on the nearest flat surface. "We have a job to do and an extra set of eyes helps." "Professor Filigree is right," Shock nodded. "Alright, so what do we do?" Sticky Hooves asked. Filigree looked at the clock on the screen and picked up her fob watch. "We've got two minutes to launch. That means at," she flipped the watch open and looked down at it. All train of thought lost as a golden glow surrounded the watch and Filigree's face. Voices, scenes, and other things flowed into her mind. "Professor?!" Sticky Hooves shouted as her eyes went wide. Shock frowned at the magical watch before looking at the clock. "A minute thirty," she mumbled. Filigree snapped the watch shut and glared at Sticky Hooves. “You…” her eyes slowly narrowed as she seethed through her partially shut beak. “How could you stand there for fifteen years and not think to ask about the watch? Not ever?!” “Minute twenty,” Shock said, slowly looking over at the pony and gryphon. She had noted a subtle change in Filigree’s voice, but said nothing about it. “B-bu-but you said it was broken!” Sticky Hooves shouted, her eyes steadily widening as she slowly began walking backwards when Filigree pulled out a .44 revolver. Shock glanced at the clock, and then at the others. “One min-” “Shut up!” Filigree shouted, turning the pistol on Shock and firing it. The bullet slammed into the alicorn’s chest, causing her to flinch as her eyes widened. She looked down at the wound and brought a hoof up to touch it as warm crimson liquid slowly poured out. Filigree rolled her eyes and fired a second time. The bullet slammed into Shock’s foreleg and went clean through into her chest again. “P-P-Professor Filigree, you can’t kill a pony over a watch!” Sticky Hooves shouted as Shock fell to the floor and started coughing up blood. “Professor?” Filigree hissed, stepping over the slowly bleeding out alicorn and aiming the pistol at Sticky Hooves. The other pony bumped into one of the control panels and kept backing up until she was sitting down covering her face with her hooves. “That is not my name! Professor Filigree was made up, so perfect an invention I forgot who I was. I saved you from raiders and this is how you repay me?!” “I didn’t think the watch was important!” Sticky Hooves whimpered. “It was just a beat up old watch… why bother asking about it?” “It was important! You could have released me if only you thought to ask about that watch!” Meanwhile, Shock stared at the blood coming out of her chest and concentrated, her tongue sticking out of her bloodied mouth as her magic reached inside of her. Slowly, she pulled both bullets out and rolled onto her side. As she laid there breathing heavily and coughing up the occasional blood fountain, she felt the warm glow of radiation as it slowly stitched her wounds back together. Sticky Hooves slowly lowered her hooves from her face and looked at Filigree. “Then who are you…?” As Shock slowly drew her machete sized ripper, Filigree took aim at Sticky Hooves and squeezed the trigger three times. Sticky Hooves gasped as the bullets slammed into her chest. “I… am. Your Master,” Filigree whispered to Sticky Hooves. Shock slowly stood up, grabbing the trigger for the ripper and causing it to roar to life. Filigree looked back at Shock as Sticky Hooves slumped over and and started bleeding out. "Right. Alicorn regeneration." She aimed the pistol at Shock and fired the remaining round into her. The bullet slammed into the alicorn's neck, causing her to collapse as blood began gushing out of the artery. Filigree tried to fire again, but the weapon only clicked empty. She shook her head and walked over to a nearby terminal. "Now then," she said while she began typing. "I'm going to show you true power. You're going to sit there like a good dog and I'm going to send these ghouls on a trip they'll never forget." Shock looked over at Sticky Hooves. The dead mare's eyes were wide in shock and a puddle of warm stick blood surrounded her. However, the green alicorn noticed a faint glint coming from under Sticky Hooves. She glanced over at filigree, then at Sticky hooves and slowly used her magic to turn the mare over to get a good look at the glint. What she saw was a small five shot revolver in a holster with a single reload. Shock nodded at her luck and looked up, whispering, "thank you Goddess, thank you." She gently slid the pistol over and un-holstered it as she slowly stood up, aiming the weapon at Filigree's side. Time, for Shell Shock, slowed to a crawl as she slipped into S.A.T.S. and observed Filigree typing on the terminal. She knew that if Filigree completed whatever she was doing, the ghouls probably would not make it. Despite her not knowing who the ghouls were or what they stood for, she knew what she had to do. The green alicorn selected Filigree's chest and gulped, slowly nodding to let the spell drop. Shock felt the targeting spell take hold and help guide her aim as she pulled the trigger once, twice, three times. At the distance she stood, she could not miss her target, but wanted to be sure since tiny pistols were not her favorite of weapons. The first bullet slammed into Filigree's shoulder where it met the rest of her body and burned its way inside her flesh, Shock's second bullet smashed just above the first to the same effect, while the third bored its way into a rib, snapping it on its way into a lung. Filigree stumbled sideways in a cry of pain as her shoulder went limp and the gryphon fell to the ground. Shock slowly walked over to the injured gryphon as the base began shaking. Outside, and on the monitor, one could see the rocket slowly making its way skyward trailing a pillar of fire. However, Shell Shock ignored the screen in favor of looking at the trajectory. The small screen showed an orb representing Equestria, the moon and the sun with a projected flight path that took the rocket around the moon and straight into the sun, cautions Shock to frown. "You're too late!" Filigree laughed, and began coughing violently as blood spilled out of her beak. "They're doomed. You failed!" Shock, however, saw a flashing button marked 'abort launch' and thought for a moment. In that moment of hesitation, Filigree lashed out, her talons tearing flesh and muscle with ease, causing Shock to drop the pistol when her magic field imploded with an audible pop and dropping the pistol to the ground. Filigree quickly swiped the gryphon pistol in her claws and aimed it at Shock, triggering the last two rounds in the cylinder. Both bullets slammed into the alicorn, one burrowing its way almost to her foreleg while the other one barely hit her and sent a chunk of her flesh flying. Shock screamed in agony at having been shot again, her magic gripping the nearby ripper. As it roared to life, Filigree's eyes widened in complete shock. "Why won't you just die?!" the gryphon screamed as the whirring weapon was dragged over and brought up in an arc. "No!" She shouted, triggering the empty weapon a couple of times just before the chainsaw sword was brought down on her chest. Its sharp hellhound teeth ripped through flesh, bone and sinew with ease as it sprayed blood out over the handle. Shock quickly looked over at the terminal and canceled the new flight plan, bringing up the old one where they would orbit the moon before returning to Equestria. The alicorn looked down at the dead gryphon as she pulled out her sword and licked one of the unmoving blades, tilting her head at the odd taste of the blood since it didn’t taste like pony blood, but passed it off as tasting like gryphon blood. With a shrug, she picked up the fob watch that was her payment and began limping out. She didn't care for empty revolvers that could not be used when she went invisible, neither did she care to check the gryphon over for extra bits. Shell Shock only wanted to get home and figure out how to help her alicorn Sister, Mudpie. As she walked out of the room and headed towards a door marked on her compass, a golden glow emanated from the room behind her, but the green glow of her horn and the faded lights nearby made it impossible for her to see. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Wild Wild Wasteland. Due to unforeseen circumstances and other general wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, some normal encounters are replaced with a Wild Wild Wasteland variant. Which ones are up to speculation because time is ever changing. Author's Note Happy April Fools' Day ;) (Or is it?) Chapter 4: Sugar & Spice. (Slightly revised 5/26/2014)Chapter 4: Sugar & Spice "How do you shoot an alicorn in the back? What if you miss?" As I set my IF-12 down I looked up at the cloudy sky. After a few moments, green snow slowly fell into my outstretched cyber hoof and I stared at it strangely as I held it close to an eye. Snow wasn’t unusual in the area at that time of year, but... green snow? At the time I had no idea what could have caused it. “Why is the snow green?” I asked to no pony in particular and waved it off. Then wiped the metal hoof on my uniform. Ahead of our defensive trench laid a zebra legion that was trying to take the hill, because it overlooked the other nearby hills. Providing them with a very good location to fire artillery from. Below was a large forest. Behind and above us were six dug in tank destroyers as our makeshift artillery. Open topped, lightly armored, but they packed 90mm cannons. Except everything had stopped as soon as the green snow started falling. It was so strange of an event that even the zebras had stopped to look up. “Look, calm the fuck down and just tell me what happened!” A pony nearly shouted into the radio. There was lots of static as a pony replied. “...There’s a shield around Canterlot. Cloudsdale, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia were obliterated by a megaspell. The pegasi are closing up the sky and are recalling all of their forces!” “What about us?” The radio pony asked calmly, but you could hear his voice tremble slightly. “...Get to a stable if you can... If not, then may Celestia and Luna watch over you.” The radio turned to pure static as our whole squad turned to look at the radio pony. He stared at the radio in shock with wide eyes. “They... abandoned us just like that...?” I whispered to myself. I took a look over the sandbags lining the defensive trench and saw that the zebra’s looked equally confused at the green snow. Then, out of almost nowhere, somepony took a shot at me. It struck the dirt just ahead of the sandbags and partly obscured my vision. So I did the only thing I could think of. I scooped my IF-12 up in magic, aimed down the barrel, and shot the first zebra I saw in the head. He went down like a doll, the others quickly retreated back into cover and the shooting resumed. After ducking down behind the sandbags, I looked at the highest ranking pony I saw and shouted. “The fuck do we do, Lieutenant?” He was a power armored Steel Ranger Paladin from what I remembered. “We're at least a thousand miles from the nearest stable,” he said from behind his mask with a slight echo. “So we hold this hill as ordered.” “But ya heard the radio and look at this shit falling!“ Another pony piped in as the medic started to pass out RadSafe, RadAway and gas masks. ”Do we really have to stay-” “We have no other choice!” Another pony shouted at him. ”There’s a zebra legion in front of us. Which need I remind you is the bottom of the hill? We have no air support either thanks to the chickens pulling out.” “But we’ve got artillery.” I smiled as I nodded my horn towards the vehicles parked above us. “Shouldn’t we make a truce with the zebras? ‘Cause... ya know?” Another pony asked at the same time she pointed up. I shook my head. Newbies didn’t get it. The zebras hated us and never listened to reason. They were fanatical in their wanting to fight to the last. The Lieutenant slapped my shoulder with a metallic hoof, drawing my attention to him. “You’ve got the loudest voice here, ask em.” I nodded as I set the rifle down and cleared my throat in preparation to cast a spell an unknown pony taught me while they were drunk. “GOOD EVENING FINE ZEBRA WARRIORS,” I shouted as loud as I could. My voice echoed off nearly everything which made it impossible for them to not hear me. “AS YOU CAN SEE THE WORLD HAS GONE TO SHIT. IN LIGHT OF RECENT CHANGES WE PROPOSE A TRUCE TO STOP THIS NEEDLESS FIGHTING. WHAT SAY YOU?” Another shot cracked overhead and almost grazed my ear which made me drop lower behind the sandbags. I looked at the others as a zebra shouted, “fuck you! The war is not over!” “Well I asked nicely.” I shrugged. The Lieutenant grabbed me with one of those metal hooves and said. “Dog, go run up there and tell those lazy bums to pound the hell out of the zebras. We’re getting off this damn hill tonight.” I nodded and tossed the IF-12 over the back of the trench before crawling up after it. ***===***===*** Something nudged my side, breaking my dream before it was over, as a mare asked, "hey, are you okay?" "Sick," We groaned and kept Our eyes shut. Our stomach felt like it was doing somersaults and the world swayed this way and that as if on a ship. We also felt cold sweat beading off Our brow and the smell wet dirt. The blades from the Pipbuck were still in Our leg because We could feel them tugging ever so slightly at the flesh. There was the sound of a hollow metal object being set down nearby. "Here, use this if it you’re gonna hurl," the mare said. “That poison’s not good for you.” 'How is it another pony is alive down here? Who is she?' We thought to Ourself as the world slowly stopped moving. We cracked a heavy eyelid open, Our eye revealing Us to be in one of the living quarter rooms. The walls were a moss covered grey, the floor didn't fare much better as it had debris piled in a corner. We were laying on a bed with a tattered blanket over Us. Our weapons were stacked neatly against the wall and... cleaned. The Zebra Rifle was dull, but no longer a dingy green color. "How long were We out?" We asked with Our mouth, but it came out like a croak. "About fourteen hours." The mare responded rather quickly from nearby. Our gaze went to the maroon muzzle of a pegasus mare looking at Us with golden eyes. On her head was a sort of dark khaki colored mask with the visor up and it took Us awhile to recall what it was; an Enclave power armor helmet. Our eyes slowly narrowed as We stumbled off the bed and staggered over as she took a step back. We instinctively reached out with magic and wrapped it around her heart. She groaned as the precious organ began to slow from Our spell. We could feel it trying to resist, but a grin formed on Our face as We squeezed tighter. The Enclave trooper fell to the floor as she clutched her chest. "I... saved you!" She grunted with effort through the pain the spell no doubt caused. We stopped in shock as Our eyes went wide and the pressure was released, causing her to gasp in relief. She did help Us, but why? She is Our enemy! We put Our horn to her head and connected with her mind. What We saw in her memories troubled Us. Her name was Wraith of the Grand Pegasus Enclave and her armor was not as good as full Enclave power armor, but close. It was known as light trooper armor because she was not meant to fight much. She and five others had been sent ahead to Oakwood as scouts for five Raptor class cloudships to find out if the island was viable to build a new base of operations on. Apparently the Enclave were in trouble because a group of impure wasteland ponies had destroyed quite a few cloudships in an attack of some kind. But Eclipse had talked like there were Enclave already here? Maybe these were reinforcements. Though We find it unlikely to believe they had been here for long. We looked forward in her memories to make sure she had not done anything to Us beyond cleaning Our weapons, she had not. Of the six scouts they had sent, Wraith was the only one left alive. Like Mudpie and I. Mudpie was what was left of one alicorn wing, and I of another. We lifted Our horn and stepped back. Wraith groaned again as she slowly recovered from the attack that we did not know we could do. We looked down, extending a hoof. "We thank thee for helping Us, but thou art Enclave and We suspected malice." She knocked the hoof away with a scowl and stood, swaying slightly. We went back to the bed and sat down while awaiting a response. "And I wasn't expecting to find an alicorn down here. I ne-" "Need Our help in recovering data from the computer maneframe." Wraith nodded as We finished with, "We read your memories." "Then you know that I shouldn't even be talking to you-" "But you have no choice." We smiled. Finishing her sentences is fun! Though she didn't seem to think so as she glared, her midnight blue tail moving side to side like it had its own mind. "Right... So are ya gonna help me?" She tilted her head. We sat on Our haunches as We rubbed our forehooves together, giving her a devious smile when a truly wicked plan came to mind involving the Enclave and Steel Rangers. Thy enemy of thine enemy is Our friend. That is how it goes, yes? We shall get these two factions to fight, and wash our hooves of the Steel Rangers once and for all. It’s perfect! What could go wrong? Wraith took a step back and looked over at Our weapons as Our telepathy picked up surface thoughts. "Perhaps I can get to one of those before this goes bad..." "Wraith, We shall help thee in exchange for your Raptors helping Us." She quickly looked back at Us with wide eyes. "What do you mean?! Yer a fuckin' alicorn! How could you need the Enclave's help?" "We have been here for twenty years and know Oakwood. Currently We are in a losing battle with the Steel Rangers. They have access to things We cannot comprehend. Such as this," We held up thy Pipbuck, "a Pipbuck that was modified to drive blades into Our leg should We attempt to remove it, this We found out the hard way. You Enclave ponies help Us against the Steel Rangers, and We will assist you in any way We can. Think of it as a mercenary contract, or a favor for a favor." She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then looked over at Our stuff, turning around and trotting over to Raul's flamethrower. "So we help you and you'll work for us. Just like that?" she asked as she looked down at the flame spitting weapon of death. We wonder what she means... Perhaps she does not trust Us? Wraith looked back at Us with one eye as she turned her head to the side. We smiled at her. "It benefits us both. We will get revenge and your Masters get to move about unhindered by alicorns." She clearly did not believe Us based off her muzzle forming a frown. With a sigh, We pulled what We knew of Enclave and came up with an idea. "They dare to fly above the clouds with stolen Vertibucks. We thought Enclave claims the sky above the clouds as theirs?" She shut her eyes as if she was thinking, and after a while, she sighed. "Fine, I'll see what I can do, but I can't be the one to tell my boss. If I walk up and say I was contacted by an alicorn..." Wraith shuddered. "They'll rip the memories from my brain in a not so delicate manner and leave me as a drooling vegetable." Her gaze went to the chainsaw Ripper as she flicked her midnight blue tail towards it. "I'll take that weapon in exchange for helping you, but you will have to contact them yourself." We nodded in agreement. "Where do we begin in search of these research documents you need?" "My guess is the research lab three floors down?" *** *** We stopped to put a hoof on the wall for balance as the world shifted and tilted around the two of us. Wraith looked back at Us with the orange bug eyes of the kevlar suit as she hovered in place. We found it odd how her wings and muzzle are exposed, but We shall leave armor design to better ponies. The hallway we were in took awhile to settle and before it was over We turned Our head and dry heaved. "You're not doing so hot," Wraith commented on the obvious. Thy Pipbuck mirrored her words, telling Us that We were still poisoned somehow and irradiated. But if We had lethal amounts of radiation in Us, would We not get better? Luckily the poison is nearly gone according to the display on Our foreleg. Only another few hours. We are unsure how it knows this, as it will not display the type of poison. We looked at an offered bottle of water and noticed it was very murky looking. "It's irradiated and dirty," Wraith explained. "No way I’m drinking it, so I'm giving it to you." We took the bottle and eyed it suspiciously. "Why art thou helping Us like so? We nearly killed thee." "And we’re in a place with some kind of killer plants. We're stuck together until we get outta here. Whether I like you or not, which I don't ‘cause you tried to kill me. Now I have heard that alicorns have impenetrable shields. I don't wanna lose an ally with something like that in here." We nodded, opened the bottle and drank it all as the Pipbuck complained, telling Us that We were at almost 800 rads now. We need to get that feature removed if We can't get this off my leg! Our hind legs gave out as We slumped to a sitting position, staring at the floor in all its dirt covered glory. "Wraith... We wish to ask you... a... question, regarding stallions and mares." "Wut?" Her jaw was hung open as We looked up from the floor. She closed it and replied. "You're not joking, are you?" I shook my head. "No... We wish to know for a friend, a blue alicorn. Does it mean that he took advantage of her if they woke up in the same bed, and she has no memory of the previous night? We did not know the answer. She is very confused." She scratched her chin as she looked around the dirty hallway. We did not expect an answer, but the question only recently came to mind and it was grating at Our mind. "This other mare, how did she feel in the morning?" Wraith asked pointedly. "Head pounding hangover and feeling tired, though she did not have time to contemplate as the ponies there thought she stole things. So she ran away and found Us. We... are taking care of her as she is still very sick and nearly unable to move." With a shrug Wraith turned around, slowly flying forward. "Dunno. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Never was in a situation like that myself." She came to the end of the hallway, stopping and looking both ways before hissing. "Why did they have to make these places so confusing?!" Lifting Our left foreleg up, We clicked the interior map and noticed it was only partially complete. We used magic to move it around to see what it had mapped out so far. Our ears picked up the flapping of Wraith's wings as she hovered next to Us to look over Our shoulder. "We seem to be lost," We told her. "You have taken us in circles." “Yeah?” She huffed. “Well let's see you do better!" With a smile, We nodded Our horn to the left. "Perhaps we should head that way? Left always works good for Us." "Well I planned on heading left, so we're going right." We arched a brow and stood fully so that We could look down at her. Wraith matched Our gaze with those bug eyes, then moved close enough that she bumped Our nose. We smiled, projecting into her head. "You do realize that We could stop your heart again, right?" She pulled back, drawing the chainsword and gripping it with her mouth, though her bar stayed blue. "I’ll ta'e yu wiff me!" She mumbled over the roaring blade, causing Us to roll Our eyes. As if We are afraid of her in here! There is hardly enough room to swing such a large weapon unless you use magic! Except We have told this mare We would help her and this is what We are going to do, as per our agreement that We do not believe they will uphold. With a nod and a wave of Our forehoof We replied, "lead the way then, oh fearless leader." *** *** Our gaze wandered down to Wraith's flank as she slowly flew along in front of Us. We wonder what her Cutie Mark is? Before she could look back We lifted Our Pipbuck, opening the map to distract Our brain from random terrible thoughts of mare on mare action. Though We have always wondered what… NO! We shook Our head and locked that idea in a box, wrapped said box in chains, then put it inside another box, then put that box inside one sealed with concrete, and tossed the whole thing into an active volcano. A frown formed on Our face as We looked at the map. "Stop,” We said to her with Our mind. “We are going in circles." She turned around. "Seriously?" We held out Our foreleg so she could look at the map. A deep frown also formed on her face when she saw the map. The maroon pegasus threw her hooves in the air with a deep groan, "fine, whatever! You lead now." We nodded and turned left at the same hallway We had told her too. As We trotted around one of those glowing plants, We gave it a quick wing slap, giggling as it lit the hallway in a yellow light. We turned Our head forward and continued, glancing up at the ceiling and noticing that it had roots poking out of cracked concrete. We followed Our Pipbuck compass marker, making another right and stopping. At the middle point of the hallway was a purple bulb with one of those monstrous foal creatures laying next to it. We held out a wing to stop Wraith. "Great," Wraith hissed. "Just what we needed. See what happens when ya follow..." Her voice trailed off to mumbling as the bulb bloomed and two orange bars popped up on my E.F.S. We shoved her out of the way, the both of us crashing to the floor as a barb flew overhead. We quickly stood, pointed Our forehoof at Our foes and bit down on the saddle’s bit, sending a jet of fire at the galloping green creature. It shrieked and rolled around as the flower turned into a bulb again, but We did not wait to see if it could fire a second barb. Our stream of fire engulfed the plant as it squealed and deep in the facility, we heard a roar of one of those yellow pods. I looked over at Wraith and put a wing to my lips, she nodded in agreement. Turning my attention back to the monster, I finished it off just as it put out the flames. We put the hoof down, continuing past the burning plant and ignoring the smoke filling the hallway. It wasn’t long before the hallway turned again at a T. As we turned left We saw a yellow pod at the end near a door marked stairwell. A bright orange bar was already on our E.F.S, causing me to hiss in annoyance as there is no way to avoid it. As We looked over at Wraith, We pulled the chainsword out of its sheathe much to her surprise, but after the purple flower incident she just crossed her forelegs. "Please do not make a sound," We projected into her head. Wraith nodded and dropped to the ground, sitting down as she withdrew a magazine on Zebra Infiltration Tactics from a pocket. She waved a wing towards the pod to silently tell Us to go deal with it. We turned, wondering why a pegasus would be reading about stealth and hoof-to-hoof fighting, because We thought they all used energy weapons. Why would she even read a time like this?! The pod's tongue unrolled and landed on the ground with a wet slap before quickly shooting out toward Us. The tongue wrapped around Our leg with the flamethrower nozzle and pulled hard before We could even react. We felt too slow without Dash as We lost Our footing and slammed into the floor with a thud, feeling the ground slide as We were pulled towards the monster. The chainsaw blade came down on the outstretched tongue, slicing through whatever it was as if it were paper and spraying green blood all over the place. We sneered at the pod as We hovered off the ground, pointing the nozzle and burning it while it roared, and withered.“THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS DEMANDS YOUR DEATH!” We shouted loudly with Our mind and moved forward in the air. The chainsword was brought down right on the center of the yellow plant, slicing it in half and filling the hallway with the most Goddess awful stench as it split in two! A noise drew Our attention as Wraith attempted to open the door, she banged a hoof against the wall terminal in frustration. “Fuckin’ locked out!” Our eyes narrowed as We looked at the plant, then her. “You snuck by while We were attacking?” “Duh? You said to not make a sound, so I didn’t make a sound. What was that ‘Goddess’ bit?” “We... it was something We heard before and decided to say...?” We smiled nervously as Our cheeks darkened ina blush of embarrassment. Hopefully the lie worked as We did not exactly know why We said it. As it came naturally. “Whatever, look we’re stuck down here now unless you can teleport.” We shook Our head and she sighed. “Figures. I’m stuck with the only alicorn that can’t teleport.” Does she not know Our spells were shared and only purples actually know how unless taught by others? As We put a hoof to the door, We probed it with magic and found that it was just a basic thick steel door which was electronically sealed. We grinned at an idea. The chainsaw sword roared to life as We gripped it with Our magic and shoved it into the steel, its Hellhound teeth slicing clean through without any trouble like it did to Our shield. Wraith’s eyes most likely mirrored her jaw dropping. Slowly and carefully, We sawed at the metal as red hot sparks flew back at the two of us. Wraith jumped back to avoid them, but We stayed put. Our nostrils picked up the smell of burning paint and metal while We spent a good part of five minutes cutting through the door; the blade made an arch and sliced downward. We pulled it out and flipped it over, slicing down to the floor on the original cut. When that was done We pulled the chainsword back and tossed it to Wraith, she looked at its glowing red teeth in awe. “Oh I’m definitely never going to give this thing up.’” She put it away as We bucked the new door down, making sure to avoid the sharp glowing edges, and hopped over the slag on the floor. The stairwell beyond was like the hallway; dirty floor, walls, cracked ceiling and some broken lights. We stepped forward and everything went out, only to be replaced by flashing red lights and a warning alarm. Our gaze went to the ceiling as a detached mare intoned with an echo, “warning: Security breach detected on floor five, unknown lifeform detected. Initiating lockdown and self destruct procedures.” “I’ve been down here for three days and it takes you to break it?!” Wraith groaned. We did not have time to respond as the ground rumbled beneath Our hooves. We glanced back as a very large green root slammed into the wall, filling the hallway and turning towards us. The front of the root opened wide to reveal sharp teeth and another yellow pod that likewise opened. “RUN!” We telepathically screamed and galloped down the stairs. Wraith beat Us to the bottom and was working on the door while We pointed a hoof up, ready to burn that giant plant root. We could hear her hooves furiously prancing across the keyboard as she attempted to open the door. The stairwell shook and sent dirt down as the root slammed into the door, its yellow pod squeezed through and sent the tongue down to us. We jumped to the side, shooting fire back up in the same movement. It roared and recoiled, but quickly struck out again. Before We could react, it Wrapped around Our neck and pulled, choking all the air out of Us as if We were being hung by a rope. We instinctively let go of the bit as We were pulled off the ground so as to not burn Wraith. Our hoof with the Pipbuck beat at the tongue. Then, when that failed, We tried to rip off the tongue to no avail as Our vision turned black at the edges and the monster squeezed tighter. “Sword!” We telepathically shouted. It felt like an eternity before it crossed Our vision; Our sight was nearly all the way black. We watched as the blade tumbled through the air and sliced across the tongue. Our stomach leapt into Our throat as We fell three feet before flapping Our wings. We caught the sword in magic, revved it to life, and tossed it, striking the yellow pod square in the mouth and grinned as it went clean through. We grabbed the blade with magic and brought it down across the large root, spraying its smelly ichor everywhere in the process. “Got it!” Wraith shouted as the door hissed open. We quickly pulled the blade back to Us and sent fire towards the root before retreating through the door. She was already at the keys and shutting it. When it slammed shut, Wraith breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew that was close.” Our eyes widened as We took in the hallway and poked her with a hoof over and over. “What?!” She looked at Us, then followed our gesture. This hallway was covered in vines, purple flowers, and two yellow pods with foal monsters and larger monsters, though there were no bars on our E.F.S. “Do not make a noise,” We told her with Our mind, “We think they hunt via sound.” “Shit...” she barely whispered before gulping. We nodded in agreement as that is most appropriate word to describe the situation. The chainsaw sword was floated silently back into its sheath on her back. "Please climb on. We will go invisible and sneak by." We explained while laying down. Wraith used a wing to point at the large triple tanked flamethrower. We facehoofed as We had forgotten about it being so big! Our gaze went down the hallway as the thought of using Our shield came to mind, but Wraith stepped forward. "Wait!" We called out with Our mind as We tried to stop her. She looked back and held a wing to her lips. I watched as Wraith took one extremely slow step after another. Hardly moving or even breathing as she did so. It was like watching a turtle walk while high on Dash. She sidestepped one of the purple bulbs as it looked at where she had last been. Surely they must see her walking?! Even though We wished to know her limits, We feared for her safety. With a deep breath, We cast Our invisibility spell and followed after her, eyeing each plant and monster in turn. Wraith froze as one of the yellow pods opened up, We likewise stopped. As We looked at her body We could see she was not even breathing as the tongue felt the air. Her gaze went down as it wrapped itself around her leg, going up to her chest and feeling her wing. Then the tongue tensed and pulled tight. In a cry of shock, Wraith fell down and was quickly dragged towards rows of sharp teeth. Stealth forgotten We lifted Our hoof, spraying the pod with fire at the same time We unsheathed the chainsword from her back and sliced across the tongue. Letting the weapon drop to the floor. Wraith quickly picked it up in her teeth, but could not swing it properly in the tight confines, so she staggered back as the pod roared, but We kept the flame going. However its roar was answered by everything in the hallway. "Door!" We shouted with Our mind. Wraith tossed the blade over and turned for the door. We caught it and brought the spinning blade down on the pod. Then We turned around, seeing many orange bars. Our eyes narrowed. "Do you have Dash?" We asked, barely dodging a barb as it struck wall. We could have sworn We felt the whing graze Our neck. "No! Why would I have that illegal stuff?” Wraith shouted and typed furiously as a creature leapt into the air. We brought up Our Pipbuck to block the bite, then sprayed the creature in the face with fire. We pushed it back with an unladylike grunt. "Don’t lie to Us!" "I've only got two left," she whined. We quickly glared at her, then took the inhaler as it was tossed over. We huffed the whole dose and smiled as the world slowed to a crawl. Ahead of Us lay a rolling and burning foal monster, two more behind it, and four of the full grown ones. There were an equal number of plants. It looked as if the adults guarded the pods. One of the purple flowers shot a barb at Us, that we caught in magic and put in Our saddlebag so that We may find out what it is. Our hoof came up to engulf the whole hallway in fire as the chainsword chopped anything that got through. We ducked as another barb came flying towards Us, sidestepping right, then pointed at the flower and burnt it to a crisp. Something large and green slammed into us as air was knocked from our lungs. We swung the Pipbuck to thump its brains in, which was ineffective due to thick scales. With a scowl, We reached out with magic, finding the monster's heart and instantly squeezed it flat as We slid along the floor. It dropped in a lifeless heap on top of Us. We pushed the body aside, pointing Our hoof at a yellow pod that decided to try dragging Us towards it by the tail. "Door's open!" Wraith shouted. The chainsword severed the tongue. We rolled to Our hooves and backed towards the door, catching a foal monster with the jet of fire. It shrieked and rolled around as We swept the nozzle up to the ceiling, having noticed movement. Then the door filled our vision and was blackened by the fire. We let go of the trigger and glanced at the now half empty gauges. With a nod, We gave the chainsword back to Wraith. "Dost thou still think thy research data to be useful?" We asked with a tilt of Our head. She furiously scratched at her armor with a hoof and Our gaze slowly went over to it. Our eyes widened when We noticed a puncture wound near her hind leg above where the Cutie Mark would be. "Why didn't you say something?!" Wraith staggered and slumped to the floor, breathing slowly through her nose as she wobbled. We felt her pockets and bags for anything, finding a Dash inhaler and some Party-Time Mint-Als. We floated the inhaler to her lips. "Please take this!" We said with Our mouth. “It’ll help you so we can get out of here!” She pushed the mask up with a hoof and We could see her golden eyes were bloodshot, indicating she probably already had one. "No, I already had one dose. Two might kill me." Wraith said, confirming Our suspicions. We nodded slowly. "Perhaps there is a cure?" She groaned and curled up into a ball. "Leave me to die, please?" We stuffed the PTM's in a pocket and unhooked the flamethrower. Then lifted Wraith up and laid her across Our back as she complained about wanting to die like the others had died. After that was done, We held the borrowed flamethrower in front of Us with magic and trotted deeper into the facility. *** *** The chainsword finished its work on the door, and We bucked it down. We put everything away, placing Wraith across Our back again before trotting forward. Inside the large room We saw it was not overgrown or dirty at all. There was a very large arcane computer thing taking up most of the wall and racks of beeping electronics stood between Us and the giant thing making a corridor of death if We were attacked. We trotted forward, stopping to wonder about this or that. When We finally reached the large maneframe We set Wraith down, then nudged her with Our nose and frowned when she wouldn't wake up. Her breathing was very slow as if she were dead. We hoped she would be okay. My gaze went to a glowing terminal as We trotted over to it and lifted Our Pipbuck, before hooking it into the machine like Rose has instructed us to do. Our eyes narrowed as tons and tons of numbers, letters and symbols flashed across it. Then everything stopped and it asked for a password. We... do not know how this works, perhaps We should wait for Wraith to wake up first? With a shake of my head, I sighed. No, We can not, because We heard the base say self-destruct and that is not a good thing. My gaze went back to the terminal as We bit Our lower lip. There appeared to be four chances and lots of strange symbols with about twelve different words. We tried ‘Aliens’ and it flashed an error. A glance revealed that We were down to three tries. We tapped Our hoof against the screen in concern, then scanned the strange symbols, wondering what some of the ones that look mirrored were. We tried one and a message of ‘Dud Removed’ was displayed, it removed the one we had just tried. With a groan of annoyance, We stomped Our hoof down, then looked around making sure no pony saw it. As it is unladylike. Wraith was still in her coma like state and the monsters were off wherever. We smiled and tried a few more times, leaving the terminal with only one chance left. After disconnecting the Pipbuck We began to pace. How much time was left on the self-destruct? Do we have enough time to escape? We stopped, looking up at the ceiling and attempting to connect to Mudpie, but found her unconscious. So We tried Blue. “Sister, can you hear Us?” “Yes... who is this?” Came a voice that was decidedly not Mudpie’s, or Rj’s. It was male, which We do not find odd as We have heard of stallions being converted. Still, it must be horrible for them to end up as a mare instead of a stallion alicorn. “It is Shell Shock. We seem to be trapped and a terminal vexes Us with its sciency ways.” “What happened? You vanished and I got worried. I thought that you died.” “We... I decided to help a ghoul and got trapped. There is a terminal that I have almost been locked out of.” “Just back out of it and you can try again if you didn’t lock it out.” We looked back at it, walking over and watching as it refilled its screen with new words. “Thank you, I shall be back within the day or two.” “You’re welcome,” she replied as we broke the connection. This seems like a bad design for terminal security. If it resets your chances every time you go in, then what is the point? Almost any pony with enough time can crack it. Even one as stupid as We are! Did I seriously just think that? Oh Goddess... We... are not stupid! We tried three more times before backing out and scowling at the stupid device. As We backed out again We banged Our hoof against the metal wall in annoyance. Confound these terminals, they make Us wish We had a drink! With a deep sigh, We recomposed Ourself and nodded. When We get out of here We are buying, or borrowing, a weeks worth of alcohol. As We hath lost Ours when Eclipse stole Our gear. It took Us all of seven retry attempts before We cracked it. The password was Snails. What a silly passcode. That is like 12345, only an idiot dumber than Us would have that on their luggage! As the terminal faded to a new screen We saw four entries, one was the research data which was downloaded onto the Pipbuck, or would have if it were there. Our eyes narrowed as We read that the data had been downloaded almost three hours ago, causing all the data on the terminal to become corrupted. We hissed through our teeth. Wraith is not going to like that! Inside one folder were useless notes, such as this one: Subject Three has responded unusually to the modifications and had to be put down. Perhaps I can fix this with time? I need to acquire more test subjects. This problem of them becoming hostile is merely a setback! We opened one of the folders labeled ‘Security’ and saw that it showed various views of the complex, including the first hallway We had cut a door open on. It stands to reason that a pony, whom had access to this terminal, also saw Us cutting the door and initiated the lockdown. We nodded, as that makes the most sense as this terminal showed… That we only had two hours to get out of there before the base self-destructs. My eye twitched. *** *** We followed the mysterious pony’s trail of destruction through the facility. Whoever it was had not been meticulous in their destruction, plants were ripped to shreds as if they had been hit by.... We stopped and looked down at the foal monster, giving it a kick with a hoof and seeing at least twenty holes torn through it. Steel Rangers! We scowled at nothing. Wraith most definitely will not like this! Our gaze went up towards a shredded yellow pod and saw a partial set of power armor. Only a hind leg and tail section remained with the rest appearing to be inside the yellow pod. Trotting over to it, We looked down and lifted the hind leg with magic. Immediately dropping it in shock as We saw a withered husk of a pony still attached and stripped of armor. We touched their orange body with the barrel of the flamethrower as We dared not touch it with a hoof! His tight flesh cracked and fell apart as if it had been set in the sun to dry out. The remaining armor looked melted as if dipped in acid. My gaze went back to a comatose Wraith. What would make her want to die in such a manner? It must surely be painful. And how could these plants strip a Steel Ranger of armor and suck all the fluids out? We glanced down at the Pipbuck. An hour and five minutes left. Ignoring the dead pony, I picked up my pace and galloped through the overgrown hallways. *** *** My ears picked up the draconic roar of a minigun as We galloped along. The roar of the minigun was answered by an even larger roar. Our E.F.S. picked up a wall of orange and five blue ticks through the wall in front of Us. We turned right, following that shredded hallway and making a left. Upon seeing an open door that had vines growing around its edges, We slowed our pace as in the dark room beyond, We saw a large shadow moving. We burst through the door at the same time a large root slipped by Our vision with a screaming and kicking pony in its grasp. Narrowing our eyes, We brought out the chainsword and revved it to life as We chased after the pony along the catwalk. We happened to glance right. Our eyes widened at the largest and most hideous orange plant we have ever seen. It was not yellow, but orange with eyes and a mouth. Flailing about the room were other large tendrils as they attempted to snatch the four heavily armed ponies down below. We jumped up, taking to the air and bringing the chainsword down on the root, which did not let go of the pony. Instead its grip tightened. With a scowl We pushed deeper. Then withdrew the sword and placed the flamethrower’s nozzle in the gap before triggering it. Fire shot back out as it burned the inside of the root, which recoiled and dropped the pony. We caught them with magic before they fell farther than a foot and did not care that they were a Steel Ranger. These ponies have something we want, and so We shall be nice to them until we get that data. Then all bets are off. The large Steel Ranger was tossed onto the catwalk, he stood up and turned his minigun towards the monster in the center of the room. We furiously beat Our wings to gain altitude as we aimed the flamethrower down, spraying the fire anywhere We could get an opening while dodging the roots. As we looked down at the Steel Rangers we boomed. “DO NOT ATTACK US, FOR WE ARE HERE TO HELP!” They did not seem to care, because they kept firing at the large creature. However their weapons were ineffective. We knew not what madness drove a pony to create such a creature! We flew a wide circle around it and noticed the room to be much, much, larger than the atrium we entered from. A glance down at the Pipbuck revealed only forty minutes left. Something grabbed Our hind leg and We cried out in shock as We were pulled from the air. As We looked down, We saw one of the green roots with its maw wide open and a yellow pod’s tongue wrapped around Our leg. A jet of fire was telekinetically shoved into its gullet, the orange plant monster roared and another tongue wrapped around Our other leg. They spread Our hind legs apart, causing fire to burn through the sockets as tendons ripped. I screamed in agony. My eyes widened as I saw Wraith slip off, falling limply towards the ground. I quickly caught her with magic while slicing at the plant tongues with the chainsword. Breathing a sigh of relief when the pain faded to a dull ache as I felt radiation begin to heal me. I hovered Wraith onto my back and brought up my shield, looking at the monster’s mouth, then up at the flamethrower outside the shield. No more missus nice mare! The flamethrower saddle was tossed as I telekinetically boomed. “SHOOT THE TANKS!” The flamethrower saddle flew through the air as minigun fire tracked it. Most of the shots missed, but a few struck the tank and spilt its liquid over everything including the creature’s mouth, but it did not catch fire. My eyes narrowed at this most troubling problem. That always seemed to work in the pre-war films of old. Regardless, I landed in front of the truly monstrous creature and looked up, way up, towards one of its eyes. I staggered sideways as a green tentacle slammed into my shield, engulfing Wraith and I whole. I did not worry as Wraith slipped off and landed on the bottom of the shield. Glancing right, I saw that the tentacle was hollow as if it were some kind of gullet. As I gripped the handle of the chainsword in magic, I brought it up and sliced into the artificial daylight of the room. Then spun the blade around in a circle as I sliced its absurd teeth filled maw clean off the rest of the tentacle. It quickly withdrew as it fell limply to the floor, causing me to chuckle at it with a grin. Easy food? We think not! My gaze fell upon the monster’s eye as I took flight and gained altitude as another tentacle wrapped around my shield. The bubble flickered as the creature attempted to squeeze as hard as it could. Concentrating almost as much as I could, I pouring more magic into the shield to keep it up longer, then looked the beast directly in the eye. Its toothy maw opened wide as we were pulled towards it. “WHAT ART THOU LOOKING AT, UGLY?” I telepathically boomed as I shoved the chainsword right into its eye. It roared in pain as green ichor sprayed back at my shield, which I am thankful for, and the tentacle quickly withdrew. Only to slam back into us and sent us flying across the room. My gaze went to the sword and telekinetically tugged it across flesh and bone. The monster roared in agony as the chainsword slowly sawed its way towards the other eye. My gaze tracked the red glow of a rocket as it slammed into the vine covered floor. Flames burst to life as the flamethrower fuel was finally ignited, causing the beast to roar even louder. The ground beneath one Steel Ranger erupted as the blue vine from yesterday returned, it touched him and retreated. My eyes widened in horror as his armor quickly crumpled flat like he had been stepped on! Withdrawing the chainsword from the beast, I glanced around and saw that the Steel Rangers were retreating towards a door that I suspected to be an exit. A glance down at thy Pipbuck showed thirty minutes. Our shield failed and Wraith tumbled to the ground. A green tentacle wrapped itself around me and squeezed before I had a chance to catch her. I could feel my bones wanting to break and, indeed, they did so one by one. A shriek of pain left thine lips as I shut my eyes. It only squeezed tighter, audibly cracking bones and crushing my body. Warmth spread throughout it as it attempted to heal at the same time. We were thankful to the Goddess for all the beautiful radiation We had absorbed! When I opened my eyes I saw rows and rows of sharp teeth looking at me as the end of the tentacle opened wide, ready to bite my head off. I quickly looked at the remaining eye of the beast, engulfing it with magic and squeezing as hard as I could. It sprayed its jelly like fluid everywhere like one were squeezing a lemon as it let go. I fell to the vine covered floor and hacked at the green vines attempting to crawl over Wraith. The ground rumbled beneath us. We instinctively took flight while scooping her in magic just before a blue vine burst from the ground, followed quickly by others. The chainsword lopped off the vines as they closed the gap and we flew higher. We sliced and diced at the killer plant before it retreated underground again. As I looked around, I saw that the Steel Rangers had used it being distracted on Us to fall back. The cowards. We dodged a green tendril and brought thine chainsword down, causing it to withdraw. With no other choice as I now do not have backup, we chased after the Steel Rangers. *** *** We hobbled along, looking down at the Pipbuck map to see if We were going in circles. The hallway was too narrow for flight and it appeared as if the Steel Rangers were heading deeper into the facility. As We set the leg down, We picked up the pace and felt the ground shudder as one of the large tentacle roots slammed into the wall behind Us. The flashing red lights We did not like, as it made visual detection of any living killer plant creatures impossible unless We were on top of them. This We knew from previous checks. It would not do well to look back any longer. The hallway ahead was a mess of shredded plants from minigun fire and We jumped over a dead foal monster, sliding around a right hand bend while making sure Wraith did not fall off. We saw the blue bars on our E.F.S, so We knew We were on the right track. Something slammed into Us, shoving both Wraith and I into the wall, the chainsword clattering uselessly to the ground. I slid down the wall and looked up at the toothy maw of one of those tentacles as it lunged a second time. I brought thine chainsword around, slicing across its side in one fell swoop. The tentacle sprayed green ichor across Wraith as it withered in pain. The sword came down again and split it lengthwise. As I staggered to my hooves, I scooped Wraith up in magic and did not look back. Our heart furiously beat in Our chest while Our wings burned under the skin where We had been been bitten by the rat monsters. We felt a rumble deep in the base as the detached mare intoned. “Warning: self-destruct imminent. Counting down from thirty seconds... Twenty-nine... Twenty-eight...” With a roll of Our eyes, We blocked out the voice and galloped faster, breaking into a full on run as sweat ran down our face. The hallways became a blur and We thought that perhaps We should have taken the last dose of Dash. But no. We shook Our head and concentrated on running. As We turned left again We saw the rear end of a power armored Steel Ranger with a blue bar. He glanced back at Us and it flickered to orange as he turned around, the minigun rapidly spooling up. Our chainsword revved to life, and in a spray of sparks and blood We severed his head from his body. We did not slow down as the rumbling increased. “Twenty... Nineteen....” Seventeen, We counted in Our head as We turned right. Ahead of Us lay an open door with the remaining Steel Ranger bars, Our eyes widened in shock as it was swung shut and the wheel was spun. We slid to a stop as We heard the boring base mare intone as We spun the wheel. “Ten... Nine... Eight... Six... Five...” The door was shoved open and We ran through into a sort of underground subway system. Glancing left, We saw nothing, so We bounded right and could hear the mare continue. “Four... Three... Two... One... Have a nice day!” Dirt rained down on Us as the complex exploded. We did not look back. Instead, We spread Our wings and took flight. We looked down as We began following the tracks for the subway. Ahead of Us, about two hundred yards away, were the three remaining Steel Rangers. We beat Our wings, flying overhead and landing before them in the dark confines. We stood on Our hindlegs as We held a hoof to the air and spread Our glorious wings, momentarily forgetting about Wraith as she slid off with a thud. “HALT!” We boomed telepathically in the Royal Canterlot Voice. The three blue bars slid to a stop twenty yards away. We could see they were all in power armor, two carried miniguns and a mare carried a grenade machine gun and missile launcher setup. One of them was almost as tall as We were. Overall We would be outmatched even with Our shield. Perhaps they do not know that We cannot cast it more than once per day? This We hope. The one in the center had the most firepower and We suspected to be the leader, because she had more bars on her armor and spoke first. “Give us the pegasus and we won’t turn you into pulp.” Our eyes narrowed as We dropped back to all fours. We did not expect that kind of a demand. As we We looked at the three of them in turn We asked. “We wish for thy research data thou stole first.” “Give us the pegasus, and we might give it to you. Or we could just take her by force. Because that bounty is awfully tempting.” Our eyes widened in shock as she tapped her chin with a forehoof. “Now let’s see. You have a Pipbuck and an interesting sword. Two pieces of high grade technology plu-” Our magic reached out, wrapping itself around her heart and squeezing it like We did the eye. She simply fell over dead as the other two looked at her corpse. I snorted through my nose in annoyance and looked down at my hoof, wishing for a hooficure as it desperately needed one. This We will get soon. “Anymore objections? We wish only for the data and you may go freely.” “Now just wai-” The pony clutched his chest as his heart was slowly squeezed. His Tin Can friend took a few steps back in, We are assuming, shock and looked at us. “There will not be a third time,” We told them with Our mind as We released Our grip. He gasped and began backing away from the mare. “She had it on a holodisk,” he said with a point of his hoof. We waved Ours nonchalantly. “Run along then, thou hath thirty seconds before We crush your heart.” Without a word, both of them galloped back towards the now burning facility as black smoke filled the tunnel. Our gaze went to the mare as We set down Our chainsword. We trotted over to the dead mare and felt her built in saddlebags. She had five missiles and twenty grenades, food, a jug of water, two healing potions, Med-X, RadSafe, RadAway, but no data! Our eye twitched as We looked up at the blue bars that were not far away. Well.... It had been longer than thirty seconds. Taking flight, We flew below the smoke filling the ceiling. Lazily going this way, and that as they looked back. “She’s gone!” The smaller one shouted, then looked up. “Oh fuck.” “THOU HATH LIED TO ME! NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!” We telepathically boomed across the area. Their bars turned orange as the minigun was aimed up at Us. His heart was quickly crushed, then our gaze went to the larger one. As We gripped his heart with magic, he fought back and sent a near literal wall of bullets towards Us. We dove right, picked up his dead comrade with magic and used the armor as a shield. Bullets thumped loudly against metal as they attempted to bore their way through to no avail. With an unladylike grunt, We tossed the body forward, then quickly hovered left and gained altitude before disappearing into the smoke. We held Our breath, but any sneak effect was ruined by the flapping of Our wings which cleared out the nearby smoke. With a silent groan We dove at the pony and swooped over their head, delivering a slap with a hoof as metal ring out. We quickly turned around and gripped their heart with magic, then squeezed hard to no avail. He spun around, the tracers cutting into stone and metal alike as he tried to catch Us. Our chainsword was too far away to bring over quickly, but... A glow surrounded his fallen comrade again, however instead of Us using it as a shield, We attempted to aim the minigun. Except it did not fire, causing Our eyes to narrow. How does a Steel Ranger fire their weapon?! Without knowing this fact we cannot fire it! I cried out in pain as more than a few bullets bored their way into my hide through the business suit. I scowled at the pony, swung his friend like a club and connected cleanly. With a loud metallic crash the large pony staggered sideways. We lifted the body up and brought it down once, twice, thrice. The stallion fell to the ground in a heap, his head rolling about as if he were confused. We held the body up in the air as We trotted over. An idea formed in Our mind, so We unclasped the helmet with magic and tossed it away. As We brought the metal body down onto his head Our eyes widened at the pink and yellow face. "Bucky?!" We shouted in shock as We barely stopped the dead power armored pony from crushing his head in. The body was tossed aside as We telepathically shouted, "you... you... you bastard!" Our magic disconnected the belt of bullets from his minigun and a glow green wrapped around his neck. We began dragging him back towards the comatose Wraith as he kicked and flailed about in a futile attempt to break the grip, We only tightened it. We ignored the other dead ponies, and even the unconscious one. There was one thing We must know! We gripped the chainsword in magic, shoved Bucky against the subway tunnel wall and hovered the chainsword a hairs breadth away from his neck as the teeth spun. Finally, Our magical hold was released and he gasped. Bucky coughed and gulped down air as We pinned his shoulders. We scowled as Our eyes glared lasers and telepathically yelled into his mind. "Do not lie again! Answer Our one simple question: Did thee take advantage of Us in Our drugged state?" His eyes widened. "Yes, or no! Did thee take advantage of Us?!" We saw pure terror on his face as he nodded rapidly. The blade began to very slowly touch his coat so as to maximize the pain. He shut his eyes in a grimace. "It was just a job. Drug you and let Eclipse kill you. But I did not plan to have sex with you, I swear!" The teeth went in a little deeper as he screamed in pain and blurted out, "Shell Shock, stop I tried to warn you about Eclipse!" Our eyes widened and We withdrew the blade. "What dost thou mean?" It moved closer again, just above the first cut. He arched a brow. "You didn't look at the file I left, did you?" No...? What file? We looked down at thy Pipbuck, scrolling through its functions and seeing the notes We initially thought were his ramblings and didn't bother to play. We clicked one and Bucky's voice played out. "Alright here goes. I'm hoping that I'm long gone when you hear this, because well... my name is Knight Bucky. But I'm warning you Shell Shock, don't attempt to remove the Pipbuck. It's a trap set by Eclipse to cause you pain. She’s a Star Paladin who's out for blood against alicorns. No idea why, but she takes delight in killing your kind. Hopefully you can use the Eyes Forward Sparkle to see her coming and the targeting assist to beat her. Please stay safe... I... I..." The sound of hoofsteps played out and a mare that wasn’t Eclipse spoke. "Are you ready? Our scouts report she took the bait." "Yeah, I was just cleaning it..." The recording finished as I let Bucky go. He fell to the floor with a metallic thud and reached up to his neck with a hoof. I looked over at the dead mare. "Ain't her." Bucky said with a rasp. "She's at the old naval base across the bay." We floated a healing potion over from her bags and gave it to him. "We are sorry." This makes Us confused. For We wish to kill him and yet... We want to hug him tightly. What do We do?! We softly looked into his blue eyes and asked with Our mind. "We must know. Were We at least satisfying to thee?" He gave an unsure nod. "That is good then. Bucky, if thou goes back now they may suspect something." "Except there was a giant killer plant that killed everyone." He smiled and nodded towards the other dead pony, "he actually had the holodisk. I knew he wouldn't get far after you discovered he lied. Also, please watch out with that pegasus. The Enclave are not to be trusted at all." As he attempted to stand We put a hoof to his shoulder, holding him down. Our eyes met, and We wondered if it were appropriate if We kissed him goodbye? Should We even do such a thing because he was shooting at Us not ten minutes ago? Perhaps We should punch his nose in? Our conflicting feelings over this dilemma were tearing Us asunder. Finally, We ignored the both of them and let the hoof drop before trotting over towards the dead pony with the data. We gave Bucky a quick glance as he picked his helmet back up. We smiled at him, but We knew that he knew it wasn't a real smile. He looked down at his power armor and sighed. Sitting on his haunches he began fiddling with the helmet. "What are you doing?" I asked as I connected the data to thy Pipbuck to download it. "Well, I've been thinking" Bucky spoke while doing things to it that We do not understand. "Eclipse knows I drugged you and with our vanishing act that night, she probably has put two and two together. I figure that the only reason I got stuck doing this bullshit assignment. Because she wants to kill me. So, I quit the Steel Rangers." We dropped the holodisk and tackled Bucky in a bearhug, lifting him off the ground as We flew into the air. He squirmed against Our grip, but We held him tight and spun in a circle. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now We do not have to kill you!" His eyes widened. "What?! Let me go!" We obliged his wish, opening our forelegs while still nine feet off the ground. "Shooock!" he shouted angrily as he fell. I floated down next to him and smiled with a barely suppressed giggle. He did not say to put him down first! His gaze went to Our Pipbuck as he held out his hoof. “Let’s get that off you.” We trotted over, holding it up and watching as he looked it over. His angry face turning into one that a pony gets when something very bad has gone wrong. Bucky held up one of the mangled Pipbuck tools as I smiled nervously. "Tell me, how did you manage to break this?" He asked almost in awe. "We... had forgotten to remove them from thine Pipbuck and was crushed by that plant?" He shook his head slowly and pulled out his cowpony hat. Our eyes widened as We realized that he wanted to come. "You cannot come with Us! It... It would be bad! Sister does not like thee, and..." We looked at some random piece of scrap off to the right, avoiding his gaze as We turned around. The hoofgun came out and was strapped back to Our leg as Our eyes went over to Wraith. Perhaps we may need the both of their help. *** *** Have We ever mentioned how much We hate tunnels? We may have possibly at one time, but We cannot stress it enough. Tunnels are maddeningly constricting for Us as We cannot properly maneuver in flight. You can only go forward or retreat. They are deathtraps in Our mind because of this. Also they remind Us of times long since past, of trenches with interconnecting tunnels that wended their way under a city and were filled with hostile zebras. Dark, dank, tunnels as far as We could see in front and behind Us. Overhead pipes ran every which way but loose. A metal catwalk echoed underneath Our hooves for presumably draining running water. Our torch highlighting Wraith on Bucky’s back as he walked along in front of Us. The Steel Ranger mare armor was across Our back devoid of the body, because perhaps We could make something of it later. A nice chest piece, or... or use the leg segments to armor Our upper legs. Yes, that sounds like a plan! Our wings began itching terribly and We stopped, extending a wing and noticed that the fur had not fully grown back yet, but it should have when it healed! We began nibbling on the bone where We had been bitten. That only made the itching worse, so We furiously nibbled as Our eyes narrowed. Bucky stopped and turned around to look at Us. “What are you doing?” We spoke with Our mind while almost biting into the skin. “My wings itch in the most horrible of manner! Some kind of rat hath bitten Us a while ago.” “Stop!” We did so and looked at him as his voice was filled with terror. “It was only a mutated rat.” We replied with an arched brow. “Down here and on this island?” He spoke while trotting over. ”Nothing is normal. Not even the jungle above us is normal. Now hold still.” He withdrew a large sharp knife from his built in saddlebags and Our eyes widened. We scooted away and he shrugged Wraith off, she landed on the catwalk with a thud. “Get that away from Us!” We telepathically shouted while walking backwards. Bucky shook his head, mumbling around the pommel. “Git ‘ack ‘ere!” Turning and dropping the dead mare’s power armor, We bolted down the tunnel screaming with him on Our tail. He will not cut into our wings! Bucky is an impure earth pony, he does not have our level of ability for object manipulation and for all we know he wants to clip our feathers! That shall never happen again! The itching in our wings increased as we galloped through the tunnel. “Thou art no medic!” We telepathically shouted. Something large and heavy landed on Our long flowing tail, We screamed as it went taut and pulled Us to a stop. Our body slammed onto the catwalk as a shudder ran up Our spine. We glanced back, seeing one of his black power armored hooves pinning Our tail to the catwalk. He was holding the large knife in his other fetlock as he spoke. “Medic, shmedic. Shell Shock, we’ve got to cut out the infected tissue! You don’t want to see what happens if you don’t. I don’t know what it is doing to your body, but it can’t be good.” We scrambled to Our hooves and tried to run away, not getting very far as pain shot through Our spine. Looking back at him, We groaned, “Bucky, thou art fat.” “Bite my shiny metal ass. Now let me see your wing.” He placed the pommel back into his mouth and walked towards Us, reaching out with a hoof to grab Our wing. We pulled it tight against Our body and sidestepped while hoping he would let Us do it instead. So We attempted to stall and distract. “Your ass is not shiny, it is dull and dirty.” Bucky rolled his eyes. “Leh’me see your wing!” As We were about to object again, the tunnel was filled with the roar of the chainsword. Our eyes looked up as Wraith jumped into the air with her head turned back. The bug eyes of the scout armor giving no indication of her expression, but her mouth showed hatred. She came down with it firmly clenched in her teeth aiming to slice Bucky in two lengthwise. The world around us stopped. S.A.T.S. was a wonderful thing to have sometimes. It was as if watching in slow motion. I stood there, watching the two nearly frozen ponies in the dark confines lit by thy Pipbuck light. A green ichor covered Wraith attempting to slice Bucky lengthwise, the latter moving to futilely block Hellhound claws. We could stop her heart, but that would still cause Bucky to be diced like an apple unless we caught the sword in magic first. We have a deal with Wraith, but she is Enclave and We do not expect them to uphold their end. However We also have some, not much mind you, attraction towards Bucky. Except he is an ex-Steel Ranger. We are torn between letting him die, and letting him live knowing what he did to Us. But if We let him live he could provide both The Sisters of Unity, and the Enclave with intel about the Steel Rangers. My eyes narrowed at this idea. As I looked at the blade, I began to wrap it in magic and time sped back up with a nod from me. A green glow surrounded the chainsword, catching it and pulling it into the air as Wraith held on. Bucky started backing away slowly. However, my magic gripped the both of them as I flung them against the metal wall, pinning them next to each other as they squirmed. My magic forcefully ripped thine chainsword from Wraith's mouth, then I gripped the both of their necks in magic and squeezed tight while sneering. The roaring weapon was moved around before I held it near their necks, the blades splitting hairs as the two impure ponies struggled against my magical grip. "Stop this madness this instant!" Shouted a voice from my right, causing my gaze to go over there and my eyes widened. Standing in the center of the hallway was an azure blue alicorn with a flowing two-tone pale blue mane. She glared at me with violet eyes. The alicorn folded a perfect set of wings against a perfect body. Indeed everything about this blue was perfect. Then this could only be one alicorn. The Goddess. 40% to next level. Chapter 5: Ghosts of the pastChapter 5: Ghosts of the past. “If you want to go somewhere you have to know where to go first.” Wraith and Bucky squirmed in my magical grip. The aura tightened around their necks and began to choke the two ponies to death. “I said stop!” The Goddess shouted and my grip on the two ponies loosened. We cast our gaze towards the floor as a glaring Goddess walked over. “What... do you think stopped her?” Wraith asked Bucky. “Fuck if I know! Alicorns are nuts!” He replied. 'We are not insane!' I turned my head towards them and wrapped Bucky’s heart in magic as I attempted to squeeze it flat, but all he did was squirm and we found that we could no more crush his heart than we could teleport. Then our attention went to Wraith and we tried to kill her by stopping her heart. However all it did was completely fail in a shower of sparks from our horn. The both of them dropped to the ground when all of our magic failed. We quickly grabbed them by the shoulders and held them against the wall again. “The Great and Powerful Goddess does not wish you to kill these two,” she said as we kept the chainsword near the both of them. “Look at me!” I did so, and gazed into perfection. She waved a hoof across Wraith and Bucky. The Goddess then looked at me. “Why would you kill them like so? Without a chance to fight back?” “Be.. Because they are the enemy?” We replied and smiled. Both Bucky and Wraith looked at me, then followed my gaze to the Goddess standing next to them and back to me. “What’s she looking at?” Bucky asked Wraith. “No fucking clue. A more important question is how do we get away?” The Goddess stepped in front of them, blocking our vision as she said, “do not worry about what they say. I am invisible to them, but not to you as I have planned.” I nodded. She added with a tilt of her head. “If they are the enemy, then why are you working with them? The Great and Powerful Goddess would like an explanation of this most troubling problem.” I withdrew the chainsword from their necks and set it off to the side as I sat on my haunches. We looked into her perfect eyes while we explained. “We made a deal with her,” I pointed a hoof at Wraith, “help her and gain the Enclave’s help to fight Steel Rangers.” “Mhm, and this one?” Goddess pointed a hoof at Bucky. “Why would you want to work with him?” “He is an ex-Steel Ranger and may have important intel on them.” “The Great and Powerful Goddess wishes to know: Why then are you trying to kill them?” “They...” My gaze went to the chainsword to my right as I telepathically mumbled, “attacked each other and wouldn’t stop fighting...” “Uh-huh, did you give them a chance?” “No...” We frowned and sighed. “We may have overreacted.” She smiled as she laid a hoof on my shoulder. “Well at least I was here to stop you before...” Her eyes widened while she pointed a hoof at my side. The Goddess recoiled in shock, almost bumping into the two ponies behind her as she shouted. “What’s that in your wing?!” We looked back and our magic field exploded with a pop. The two ponies dropped roughly to the metal floor of the tunnel. There was something moving under the skin! I squealed like a filly in terror and flapped the appendage as I tried to throw whatever it was off. I heard Bucky shout. “Hold her down so I can cut it out!” Wraith attempted to tackle me but I spun around her attempt. Then I noticed my other wing’s itching had also increased. I looked over at it as something moved under the surface as well. I lifted the Ripper in magic and gripped the handle. The chainsword revved to life before I remembered that it is a stupid idea to cut one’s own wings off and tossed it down the tunnel. “Goddess, help me!” I shouted telepathically. However she was nowhere in sight as I frantically looked around . A pair of lightly armored forelegs wrapped around around me as Wraith attempted to tackle me. The both of us crashed into the wall, denting pipes and sending a shockwave through my body. I pushed off the wall jumping across and body slamming Wraith into the other wall. “How dost thou liketh it?!” we telepathically yelled into her mind as she slid off. The pegasus groaned out something about her head being split open like with an axe. We spun around as we lifted Bucky’s knife off the ground and unfolded our left wing. Whatever it was under the wing was moving more than ever. My magic field failed again as a creature clawed its way through the skin. I shrieked a second time. My green eyes widening to the size of pie plates as I saw something akin to a small rat the size of, well a rat, poke its nasty blood-soaked head out of the skin. I rolled my wing hard and the creature flew off the feathery appendage. It stuck the wall with a faint snap and fell dead to the ground. My gaze went over to my other wing as I floated the knife up. I pushed it into the skin and cringed. I pushed it in deeper as I worked the blade in a circle as the creature moved about under my flesh. As I rotated the knife down the creature was pushed out prematurely. It fell to the catwalk and my hoof came down, stomping it flat with a wet crunch. “Still want to cut the tissue?” I asked out loud as I looked at the red stain leaking out. He shook his head. “No fucking way. You do it!” I narrowed an eye and put on my most serious face as I looked at the skin. Though my face appeared to be a mask I was completely fucking mortified by the fact that I had been carrying and incubating those imp spawns! I wiped my hoof off on the rusty metal grate as I pushed the not-so-sharp knife in. My wing trembled at the root as I fought the urge to scream in pain, cry, run away, and stop cutting all at the same time. My ears swiveled to the left as Wraith asked. “Okay, will somepony please tell me why I’m covered in sticky green shit and why I have The. Worst. Possible. Hangover. In all of Equestria?! And who is this Steel Ranger meathead?” I gave a sigh of relief and levitated the flesh to eye level. The flesh was black and dead. I tossed it away away with a hiss. The good news is that our Pipbuck said we were no longer poisoned. We turned our attention to the other wing and drove the blade in. We whimpered and wished for Med-X as our eyes threatened tears. Bucky pointed a hoof at me and said flatly. “I am her husband.” My eyes grew even bigger than pie plates as my pupils shrank to the size of a pea. The knife clattered to the catwalk as Wraith fell over laughing. She giggled, “oh it makes perfect sense now!” “That... That was a joke! Heh... heh-heh...” We said telepathically and unsure myself. “Not with your reaction it wasn’t!” We hissed and used the Pipbuck’s inventory spell to bring out the holodisk, and tossed it to Wraith. The disk landed on her belly as she giggled. She tilted her head and lifted it up in a hoof. “What is this?” “The research data you asked for.” We replied with our mind. She nodded and put the holodisk away. Wraith reached for the chainsword but we lifted it out of her grasp. She then took to the air attempting to grab it in her hooves. “You said I could have it!” She whined like a foal and pouted as she pushed up her mask to give us a badly working eye trick. Our old mind slowly pieced together Enclave information as we came up with a reason for her to not have it. However Bucky beat us to it. “Do you really think they’re going to let you keep it? Afterall you are covered in an unknown substance. From the surface.” Wraith gasped. “Oh no! I’m gonna be stuck in detox for a month!” She softly petted the Ripper, then unhooked the sheathe from her back. We floated both items back to us as she sighed, “guess I’ll see you guys around, maybe... hopefully. If I don’t become a vegetable” We watched as she turned around and flew into the dark abyss of the tunnel. Then a pair of metallic hooves gripped our wing and we yelped in surprise. Bucky drove the blade in and began cutting. “Hold still!” he mumbled. We looked away and cringed. *** *** "...and then she turned around and flew off," we told the Goddess as the three of us walked along in the tunnels towards Raul's place. Bucky kept glancing back with a strange look in eyes and we wondered what he was looking at. The Goddess nodded. "The Great and Powerful Goddess wishes to know: Are you two really married?" I shook my head. "Not by choice, Goddess. It was forced upon us while we were in a drugged state as a joke that got way, way, WAY out of hoof. But we were saved because of it." “From this Steel Ranger who kills alicorns for pleasure?" We nodded our head rapidly as we replied. "Yes, we barely escaped with our lives." Her eyes narrowed. "I’m ordering you to stop referring to yourself as 'we'. Unity is long gone and my body was destroyed. You are free again." "We... I shall try, Great and Powerful Goddess. This will not be an easy task for... me." She smiled. "I've heard all your prayers, and pleas for help. It is why I finally chose to make myself known when you needed help in such a dire circumstance." We nodded slowly. "Yes, we do not know what would have happened had you not appeared." Bucky stopped as he turned around to look at the both of us. He held a power armored hoof to his eye level. "Alright, I've had it up to here with this one pony conversation. Shell Shock, there is no other pony besides you and me in this area." I waved a hoof over towards the Goddess and smiled. "The Great and Powerful Goddess is right here, but you cannot see her as you are not an alicorn like us." "Just keep the conversations with her quiet, okay?" He said with a roll of his eyes. We gave him a nod and then looked at our, or we should say my, wings. The healing bandages wrapped around them were slowly mending the flesh that the radiation for some odd reason could not. Thy Pipbuck was saying that we were back at 602 rads and falling slowly. Bucky's stomach grumbled in annoyance. I sighed. Another reminder that being an alicorn was so much better than being a regular pony. We did not need to sleep, eat, or drink. I had to shift and adjust the mare's power armor before trotting to catch up. The Goddess watched me do this in confusion. "Why are you carrying armor on your back that you cannot use ? It is much too small." "I can have Rose make something with it," I replied with a grin. Bucky laughed. "Hah! Right." I glared lasers at him and as I turned my attention forward the tunnel shrank. Both Bucky and the Goddess disappeared. ***===***===*** We trotted along the narrow dirt tunnel, our long exquisite horn scraping dirt onto our head, so we had to lower it a little. We looked behind us at a blocked passageway. A frown formed on our face and we adjusted our wings. Spreading them and fluffing up the feathers before pulling our glorious wings against our body. Ahead of us was a dirt tunnel strung with poor lights. This we know to be a zebra tunnel from our memories. However we were never an alicorn then, nor did we ever go in them as an alicorn and so we did not know why we were there. One minute we were walking along with Bucky and the Goddess, then the next second it was a dirt tunnel that was mostly dark with the smell of damp dirt. The lights guided us and every so often we stopped to look back only to find a black abyss. The dirt tunnel was slowly filled with grey ethereal zebras as our ears picked up the sounds of the ghosts running to and fro. They ran past us in armor and with various weapons, but did not even glance at us. We suspected that to them we were the ghost. We pressed deeper into the complex and dirt fell every so often from the ceiling when artillery hit above us. We followed a tight left here, then a wide right there, going down brand new wooden stairs and stopped at a hallway that ended in a giant concrete and metal wall. Ahead of us was a stable’s rusty cog door. The number 55 painted in dried blood on the door and its original number was long since gone. Our eyes narrowed as we trotted over to the panel and looked at it. We reached out with magic and pulled on the lever. A loud grating buzzer rang out as two yellow lights started rotating. There was a loud crash behind the door as something moved, then with an ear piercing shriek of metal on metal the giant door was pulled back and rolled out of the way. Beyond was not a stable but a large bedroom with not so clean grey walls. There was a large crimson unicorn mare in a thick grey coat that covered her cutie mark laying on a bed directly ahead of us. We looked around as she motioned us over. Our gaze noted that she looked oh-so-very hungry and thin. This mare was there on that hill with our company shortly after the bombs had fallen. The two of us became very good friends after a disagreement with the Steel Ranger Lieutenant over the zebras. Though we do not know why she is in our memory because she is long dead. We sighed and trotted over the threshold onto the slowly rotting wooden floor.. When we looked back the door and zebra tunnels were gone. They were replaced with a loo that had been had seen better days. Then our gaze went back to the crimson mare as she trotted over. “You know,” she began with a soft and sweet voice. “I’ve seen what you originally looked like but that look suits you. The ripped suit and bandages.” She stopped a half a foot away and looked slightly up at us with bright gray eyes. Her grey mane was put into twin braids. The mare stood up slightly on her hind legs and gave us a light nuzzle to the cheek. We responded with a friendly hug, as that was what we felt we should do, then we stepped back and tilted our head as we said. “We... do not remember your name, we are sorry.” She laughed and turned around as her long grey tail wrapped around our neck in a suggestive way. “Of course you wouldn’t remember me. Afterall you spent what, 175 years in Unity and left me to starve in the wastes? I knew ‘Unity’ was bad news but would you listen? Nooo. not miss thickhead.” The mare pointed a hoof behind us as she added. "Go look at yourself in that mirror, Dog.” Our ears folded back. “Do not call us that, that is not our name anymore.” “You don’t even have a cutie mark! A mark that everypony should have. Those alicorns turned you into a mockery of a pony. A hollow shell of your former self.” “I was dying!" We telepathically shouted at her. "What was I supposed to do? Turn into a hideous ghoul, or worse, a mindless feral ghoul zombie?!” "But you left me to starve!" She stomped a hoof down in anger and gave us a scowl that made us shrink back a little despite her being smaller. "Without you I nearly died that winter! I could have helped you had you turned into a ghoul. I would have made sure you didn’t turn into a zombie!" We spread our glorious wings and pointed a hoof. “I can fly, and use powerful magic. Being a hideous ghoul would have been horrible. Unity made me better as they promised they would!" "And being a mindless drone is sooo much better, am I right? How well was Unity, hm? From what I saw of alicorns they had zero free will." "At least I am alive!" I shouted back, then quickly softened my gaze as she looked down at the floor with a hurt expression, her ears folded back as well. "I'm sorry I said that. Please don’t be angry with us. Unity was like watching through some other ponies eyes and hearing so many voices all whispering and talking almost at once." We watched as the crimson mare trotted over to the window and pointed a hoof out. “Storm’s coming. You shouldn't go out in it. We're okay on food for another week if we stretch it. If you go out you might get lost and... there are those princess look-a-like monsters out there. I know you say they are friendly, but they’re not. The ponies that go with them never come back and..." she looked to us with big puppy dog eyes, "I want you to come back. You're all that I have left now.” Our hoofsteps sounded like thunder in the large room as we walked over. We stopped and looked out as our eyes narrowed. There was nothing there but black void! A clothed foreleg wrapped around our neck and pulled us close to her. She whispered in our ear. “Why are you listening to that false Goddess? You should listen to me. Who was it that showed you that spell? Not her, but me.” We withdrew from the window and the mare’s embrace as we said with our mouth. “That... that crushing spell was yours?” “Where do you think you got it?” She kept pace with us as we stumbled into a sitting position. “That was the first spell I ever taught you. And I taught you many more. You just have to remember them and you'll be your old self again." She pointed a hoof at the loo and shouted. “Go look at yourself in the mirror!” But before we could reply we felt something grab our shoulders. The world faded to darkness as the Goddess’s sweet musical voice filled our head. “Come back to me, my child.” ***===***===*** We blinked. Bucky’s face filled our vision as he waved a power armored hoof in front of our eyes. We smiled at him and he sighed. He stepped back a few feet and said. “Finally! You were just standing there for the last half hour like a statue.” We glanced around and saw the Goddess with her hooves on our shoulders from our side. Our head tilted as we lowered it. “Thank you, Goddess. We were, I mean, I was trapped somewhere and could not leave.” “The Great and Powerful Goddess already knows this. I heard your conversation and pulled you back before she could tempt you further. Do not use those spells she gave you. Each time you do you lose a part of yourself. Please listen to me on this." “I shall not use them.” We nodded slightly. Bucky tapped my chest with a power armored hoof. Which caused me to turn my head to look at him. He asked. “Please tell me this spacing out and talking to invisible ponies thing is normal for all alicorns?” *** *** Half a day later we arrived down the hall from Raul's place. My E.F.S. was not picking up any blue or orange bars, and neither could we hear music. The Goddess sat behind me next to Bucky as I looked at the light that spilled out from the door. My exquisite, but not perfect mane flowed to the side as it obstructed Bucky's view and bumped into the wall. I set thy power armor down, unsheathing the Ripper chainsword in the same movement. I slowly stalked towards the door while keeping an eye on the E.F.S. There was a pained moan from inside the room. “Help...” I remembered my lesson from that fool weeks ago and wrapped my mane around my right wing with magic. Then I peered with one eye into the room. Inside was the red ghoul Raul laying down on the bed as if he were sleeping. His shack looked perfectly clean and the crossbow was in the corner propped against a toolbox. Then I heard the moan again and looked down. I observed Raul for a bit and noticed that he had the Twilight statue clutched in his forehooves. As we watched him our gaze went to the empty E.F.S and we noted his lack of breathing. The chainsword was set down and I looked to the others as I projected, "something does not feel right." The Goddess projected back, "do not do anything I wouldn't do." With a nod we looked back into the room. I scanned everything again before cautiously stepping inside. However we made sure to check for tripwires before we moved our hooves. We did not see any, so we took two steps forward and stood there waiting for two minutes with our muscles tensed. Nothing happened and so I took two more slow steps, then waited. Another two steps, and then two more. Raul moaned, causing us to take a step back. I slowly lowered my head, my mane came undone on its own as I turned and tilted it sideways. My ear twitched as it picked up absolutely... nothing. If he were breathing he would make raspy noises would he not? Then came another moan and my eyes went to thy Pipbuck's clock as I lifted the foreleg. We stood as still as a rock while waiting. Seconds ticked by agonizingly slow. I was thankful for this Pipbuck's clock but I now realized how much time sleeping wastes. About eight hours of wasted time. My ear swiveled as Raul's same short, pained moan came back. Everything was the same. Even the length of time. I kept my eyes on the clock and waited. Thirty seconds passed before he did it again. Then I turned my tail back to the door and slowly backed out of the room into the tunnel. "What's wrong?" We heard the Goddess's voice in our head. We told both her and Bucky. "Something's wrong. Raul is dead and it feels like a trap." "How do you know it is a trap?" As we looked back we replied, "because we have done something similar. Now stay back." I wrapped the Twilight statue in my magic's grip and retreated eight feet down the hallway. It was disconcerting moving objects that I could not see but we could manage much easier than regular unicorns. I shut my eyes and covered my ears with my hooves as I opened my mouth and turned away from the room. There was resistance as I tugged on the statue but it finally pulled free. I attempted to float it out of the room and wondered why the bomb did not go off. Was there even a bomb or were we being paranoid? The tunnel shook as the room exploded. We felt the statue fly from our magic's grip and were sad that we could not deliver it to Rose. As I opened my eyes we looked back over our shoulder. We wondered how in the Goddess's name the statue was still intact. Because smoke and fire slowly billowed out of the door frame as the dust in the tunnel settled. We coughed, waving a hoof in front of our face to breathe in clean fresh air. We glanced at thy Pipbuck’s compass as we scanned for hostiles. We did not find any so we pulled the statue back to us and looked at it in awe. We... I felt a surge of energy clear my head as I read the inscription. ‘Be smart’. 'Well we can be smart, can't we? I believe I can.' My ears swiveled back as I heard Bucky and the Goddess walk over. They each looked over a shoulder at it. "Hm... Twilight Sparkle. I, The Great and Powerful Goddess remember her. Yes, this one suits you." "That's all you got? A stupid doll? What about the crossbow, how come you didn’t grab that instead?" Bucky asked. 'Wait what?' Both the Goddess and I turned to look at him. My eyes narrowed. “What... did you say? How did you know there was a crossbow in there?” Bucky pointed in a random direction as he stepped back. “I heard you tell her you had one!” I looked over at the Goddess and Bucky muttered. “Oh, she’s there...” His hoof moved to point at her. “You told her!” I turned my attention to the pink asshole as I stood up but was forced down by the Goddess's hooves. She whispered, “perhaps there is an explanation?” I let out a breath as I put a hoof to my chest and counted down from five. It gave us an idea and we grinned as we floated out the Zebra Rifle. I aimed it at his head as I asked. “Tell me, Bucky, hath thee ever seen a Zebra Rifle fire? Its bullets set ponies on fire.” His eyes widened. “I... I swear it! You told her about the crossbow!” I shook my head. “No, I did not. I remember telling her about everything after I went into that research lab, I did not carry the crossbow in there. Now explain yourself or run away. Either way you have ten seconds before we turn you into a flaming corpse. Nine... Eight... Six.." "What happened to seven?" The Goddess projected into my head. I grinned maniacally at Bucky. “Five... Four... Three...” “We followed you inside the stable after talking to that ghoul. They want the data from that stable to grow food. Somehow it can grow anywhere and that is perfect for the mainland. I saw you... I saw you make a copy of it.” We hissed through our teeth as we asked. “Is that why you came with us? So you can steal our data when we sleep and run?” He worked his mouth, attempting to form a reply while we could see his blue eyes dart around and the sweat poured off his face. The crosshairs of the scope was right on one of his eyes. “No-yes...?” We telepathically screamed, “get out of our sight this instant!” He turned around and bolted. His hooves thundered down the tunnel as we tracked him with the scope until he turned a corner. Our ears then folded back as we let the useless weapon drop. A frown slowly formed on our face. I looked at the ground as annoying tears welled up in my eyes. “I thought...” I sniffed and looked up at the Goddess. “I thought he... liked me?” She wrapped a wing around me and pulled me tight. "I thought so too. Even one such as I can’t predict everything." We looked into her eyes as we asked, "Art thou really the Goddess?" She nodded. "But of course I am! I heard you telling ponies I was not dead yet they do not believe you. Then you thanked me for guiding you to radiation. And when you were about to kill that stallion and so on and so forth." I smiled and wiped away a tear with a hoof. "So you could hear me. We, I mean, I had wondered if we were imagining it. Nopony ever responds to my telepathy! Well except for a couple of alicorns, but they do not like us." "Just because they do not respond does not mean that they do not hear you, my child." The Goddess wrapped both her forelegs around me in a hug. She pulled me tight and shushed me. "Do not cry over him. Plan your revenge instead." "Re-revenge?" We looked at her in confusion as she smiled. "Oh yes! Sweet, sweet revenge. As I understand it that pink stallion drugged you and then took advantage of your state as well as constantly abusing your trust in him. Surely there must be some feelings of anger, yes?" I looked down towards where Bucky had gone and gripped the chainsword in magic and removed the bandages from my wings as they took us down the tunnel after him. *** *** I followed a blue bar as I came barreling around the corner. The Goddess behind and Bucky fifty yards ahead. The floating torch highlighting his Knight armor. We telepathically shouted. "Dear husband, you hath forgotten to give me a goodbye kiss!" His hooves echoed on the catwalk. He was fast but I was faster because of the tunnel being wide enough to fly in. With a quick flap of my wings I closed the distance. The chainsword's blunt end came around and struck Bucky in the side of the head. He stumbled and fell in a metallic crash, tumbling and sliding to a stop as I hovered over him. “Payback’s a bitch!" I cackled as the Ripper's spinning Hellhound cutting edge came down on his neck. However something stopped it from going any farther than just above his hide. The spinning blades making his eyes go wide as they sliced a line of red on his pink hide. My gaze went to the Goddess as her horn glowed. "The Great and Powerful Goddess meant for you to geld him with his own blade, not kill him!" I let go of the trigger as I looked back at Bucky and the blades slowed to a stop while the sword was raised. "Get up." I ordered with my mind. He did so slowly. My gaze went across his power armor and I smiled. It is a much closer fit than that mare's! I pointed the chainsword at his chest and used my mind. "Take your armor off." "What?" He blinked in shock. "I said take it off!" I shouted at him. Bucky reached up with a hoof and began to slowly take his armor off. Though we think he to be going too slow. He spoke while doing so. "You know, Eclipse is probably on her way right now." "But is she not at the naval base?" I saw the Goddess in the corner of my eye turn around. She pointed a hoof into the abyss. "I, The Great and Powerful Goddess believes there to be some ponies coming this way that do not look friendly." He chuckled. "She was right. You are gullible. I’ve been broadcasting where we were since we left the stable!" Bucky's chuckle turned into full on laughter as he dropped the last piece of armor onto the floor. We heard a familiar voice whisper softly in the back of our mind, “no more missus nice mare.” My eyes narrowed as I brought the sword around in an arc. The wall behind was painted with a line of dripping blood as the blade sliced his head from his body. Bucky’s head rolled to the floor as his body fell across his armor. Coating it in crimson as blood poured from his neck. "What did you do?!" The Goddess shouted in surprise. "I am tired of being played for a fool,” I replied grimly and scooped up his armor in magic, “there are consequences for it now and they are severe." I laid the heavy suit across my back and broke into a gallop as the sound of multiple heavy ponies echoed in the tunnel. *** *** Almost five hours later my gallop slowed to a walk as I looked around the annoying tunnel. Luckily we were near a ladder and there were no hostiles around but there were a bunch of dead mutant rat things. We groaned as we realized this was the same one that was welded shut! As I put the torch away the Goddess commented. "Thy Pipbuck light is on." I frowned at her as she winked back. I clicked that feature off and a soft glow emanated from the screen as the darkness enveloped us like a blanket. My hind legs decided to give out as I looked at the Pipbuck. The power armor fill off with a metallic crash. I played back Bucky's message and listened to a voice I'd never hear again other than through this message. An azure blue wing pulled me against the Goddess as my eyes filled again with unwanted tears. I played the message again. "But why did he stutter after saying to stay safe? Why did he say stay safe?!" I asked out loud. "We may never know." she whispered into my ear. They folded against my head as I scrolled through the Pipbuck's functions. I turned the radio on while looking for the research data file. A somewhat slow country song was playing out as a pony began singing about falling into a ring of fire. I shut the radio off after a few moments and wondered whether or not the DJ could see us. Then we shook our head to clear it of the silly idea. I did not love Bucky but... My eyes widened. 'That is a stupid idea as he only knew us for one night and the foal betrayed us constantly!' "Goddess, you're not trying to take advantage of me being stupid, are you?" I asked to take my mind off that absurd idea. Her hoof brushed my long flowing mane as she smiled. She replied as she shook her head. "No. I, The Great and Powerful Goddess am not trying to use you. You are my greatest creation. It is why The Goddess sent you to this island. The others did not have your determination, nor devotion to the task at hoof." I shut my eyes and buried my face in her neck as I cried silently. She patted the back of my head with her wing. "That's it. Let it all out. If you keep our emotions in you will explode like a volcano and We know that is not a good thing for Us." The ground beneath us began to sway again and we held onto the Goddess as nearby pipes cracked and sprayed steam into the tunnel. We sat there and waited for the swaying and shaking to subside. It took about two minutes. Then my ears picked up the flapping of wings as a pony asked. "Uhh... Shell Shock, what are you doing?" I sniffed and cleared the tears from my eyes as I lifted my head up. Hovering before me was Wraith in all her her ichor-covered glory. She tilted her head as the Goddess stood up, looked at me and nodded. "The Great and Powerful Goddess must go. It would not be prudent to only visit you." I nodded and waved, Wraith looked over as the Goddess said. "Stay safe, my child." She turned into a cloud of mist that faded to nothing. I looked back to Wraith and smiled at the Enclave pony. "Who were you looking at and what were you doing?" She asked again. "We... I was communing with The Goddess. Yes, communing with The Goddess and she touched on a subject that made me upset." She landed and sat down. I could see her wings tremble slightly as she attempted to sit still but couldn’t. Wraith kept fidgeting as she asked. "What was it? I mean you don't have to tell me of course. I’m curious is all." I tapped my teeth lightly with a hoof in thought. Should we tell her about Bucky? She already has guessed our relationship, but... "I will tell you if you answer our question first: why are you following me?" Her voice was shaky. “W-well... you... kinda... took my... dru-medicine and... I need them back?” She rubbed her foreleg with a hoof and pushed up her mask with a wing. I could see it in her eyes and the sweat running down her face. She was addicted to Dash and I had her last dose. I nodded. With my magic I floated out the drug from a pocket and put it to her lips. Wraith used her hooves and pressed down lightly on the button as she inhaled some of it. Then she passed it to me but I politely refused by shaking my head and held out a hoof. Wraith nodded and put the inhaler away as she said. "I know I said I didn't like you but that was before you saved my flank in that facility. Any other pony would have left me to die. I figure I should repay the favor and you know what?" I shook my head as I replied, "no, Wraith I do not." She dug in a pocket with a wing and withdrew the holodisk. Wraith tossed it on the floor and stomped it flat with a hoof. She twisted said hoof and the parts broke in half then spread out everywhere. She held up the central disk and ripped it in half with her teeth. Wraith spit it out and said. "Fuck that data. No good can come of it, not from what I remember seeing." I smiled and nodded. "You should have seen it. There was this giant carnivorous plant with eyes and a mouth and tentacles that could swallow me whole. And indeed it did so while we were carrying you!" Wraith winced. She looked at her armor as she asked, "Is that why I'm covered in this crap?" "Allow me to show you events you missed?" She nodded, but asked, "what does that mean?" "This." Her eyes widened as I lowered my horn to touch the top of her head. I showed her the memories from after she passed out: The giant plant monster and the fact that she kept falling off against our will. Then the time with Bucky and... My eyes widened as I felt Wraith's mind touch a memory we did not want her to see "What's this?" I heard her voice in my head. My world faded as we got sucked into it. ***===***===*** I sat behind the turret of the the tank destroyer named Hellcat with a gas mask on my face and my IF-12 floating in front of me. She was driving at fifteen miles an hour along a green snow covered road ahead of the others. Hellcat’s open top turret noisily rotated left as looked into a line of trees. I could see the orange tiger painted on along with the name and eight white rings painted around the barrel marking the number of heavy tank kills. My gaze went right to more trees as I wished that the gas mask did not obscure my peripheral vision. We’d been trying to get to the nearest Stable for the last four days. We lost three tanks and twenty ponies. The area was abandoned but it didn’t matter anymore as there was nopony to bitch to. Since we were still in zebra territory we couldn’t simply hop on the tanks and let them go full speed. That was a good way to get blown up. My ears swiveled as the turret adjusted its aim again. I looked at the one twenty yards behind us and saw it was looking to the right of our mismatched convoy. Behind that tank held a transport wagon full of random squads we had picked up. Including, oddly enough, one zebra platoon. My gaze went to my cyberleg and I prayed to Celestia that it did not fail me anytime soon. ***===***===*** I pushed off Wraith as I cried out in shock and fell over backwards across Bucky's old power armor. The lightly armored pegasus stepped over and filled my dark vision as she extended a hoof. I shouted while rolling to my hooves. "How did you do that?!" "My mother always says ‘once you open a door you can go wherever’." Wraith smiled. I glared at her and pointed a hoof. "You... you stay away from us!" "Hey you touched me first!" she shouted. Then she quietly asked "that was just after the bombs, wasn't it?" "Not your concern!" I hissed while turning around and lifted Bucky's armor. An unladylike grunt escaped us from the weight as we laid it across our back.. I heard her hoofsteps get closer. Then one of them touched my side. My hind legs tensed and kicked out. It hit air as the Dash head darted to the side. My eye twitched as I glared lasers at her. "No pony... No pony but the Goddess has ever seen those! It would do you well to forget you ever saw them. You get two questions to ask about them. Any more and I get angry and beat you to a pulp." "What was the war like?" "Hell... or like the surface wasteland but with a great many rules." She nodded. Wraith scratched her muzzle with a hoof as she hovered in thought. "Okay, I got the next one..." We stood as still as a statue waiting for it. "...how... old are you?" The twitch in my eye returned. I telepathically shouted in Royal Canterlot Voice volume. "ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY ASK A LADY THAT QUESTION!!" Wraith shrank back. Her hooves clutched her head as she groaned in pain and fell to the metal floor. My eyes widened as I went to her side and I quietly whispered with my mouth. "Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would do that." I used the Pipbuck inventory sorting spell to bring out one of Bucky's healing potions. I frowned as I put it to her lips and made her drink it. Wraith gulped the whole thing down then looked at it in confusion. "Why... did you give me this?" "To fix our screaming in your head." She chuckled and put the empty bottle away. "I guess that works." I smiled at her. "So you are better now?" "Yeah." She smiled back. I held my foreleg out to look at my Pipbuck and asked. “Is there a way to delete files? We, I mean I accidentally copied the research data and I am unsure of how these things work.” She took it in her hooves and I winced from the blades. But I giggled as she had to use her nose to move its functions around, which is so funny to see! Wraith pushed on a few buttons and I watched. After a minute or two she stepped back and nodded. “There. It’s deleting the research data.” As I looked down I saw it was deleting the data and nodded. Then my gaze went to the ceiling as I tried to open the ponyhole cover to no avail. I facehoofed as I remembered that it was welded shut. The hallway was filled with the sound of thine chainsword as I telepathically told her. “Step back and let me open it.” Sparks shot down towards us as the weapon was applied to metal and Wraith jumped out of the way. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her take another dose of Dash. We made up our mind at that point to find her more or get her off it. My eyes narrowed as I noticed that the ponyhole cover was much, much, harder to cut through than the doors in what Bucky had called a stable. It took almost an hour to saw all the way around and smoke filled the tunnel as the glowing ponyhole cover tumbled to the floor. The acrid smoke was sucked into the area above as Wraith commented on the obvious that we could plainly see. "There's a draft up there." I rolled my eyes. "It is the outside so of course there is a draft!" Wraith took flight. She stuck her head through the hole and asked with an echo. "Then why does it look like the interior of a ship?" "What?" We asked but received no response as she had flown through already. I followed her up with the power armor floating above me. Indeed it did look like the inside of a ship! Narrow rusty corridors with small watertight hatches and a stairwell leading up. My gaze watched as the dark smoke went up the stairs. There must be an exit that way. Bucky’s armor was tossed roughly onto the deck and we climbed through with our hooves so as to not burn our glorious wings. Instead we singed the bottom of our forelegs. *** *** The corridors seemed to stretch on forever. It was like the tunnels below only slightly higher up. We followed the breeze blowing in fresh salt air for what seemed like an eternity. According to our Pipbuck we traveled for two hours before we came across another stairwell which we followed up. As the hatch swung with a rusty shriek cold salt air blew in on a fast wind. I momentarily shut my eyes and looked away. The compass did not show any hostiles, so I was not worried about an attack. Wraith was nearly out of her ‘medicine’ as she calls it. Though I don’t know why because I know exactly what it is: Dash. My ears picked up the sounds of the Oakwood jungle causing me to open my eyes and look out into nothingness. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I made out a star filled purple night sky, moonlit jungle split the horizon in half and I looked down at thy Pipbuck. There is something I must do but... what? Wraith pushed past me as she said, “Thanks for the help. I’m gonna go wash my armor and head back to the Raptors. See ya whenever.” “Okay. Fly safe.” I replied without taking my eyes off the Pipbuck. In the corner of my eye I saw her take flight with a quick flap of her wings. I smiled as I located Rose on the Pipbuck map. I turned towards the jungle and flapped my wings. Quickly taking to the air and gaining altitude. I very nearly lost the suit of power armor in the process. My eyes widened as I caught it in magic and set it across my back. I flew higher as I shut my eyes and let the wind flow through my mane. It was the most amazing feeling one could ever feel. Having your ability to fly taken away is like having your horn cut off. Not a good thing. *** *** I approached the blown out wall in the building from the air while invisible. My wings carried me in through the hole I had made. I pulled them against my body before landing softly on the ruined floor. My gaze went to the bed where Rose was. Her light green mane was halfway covering her face, her lab coat and her blue mechanic's coveralls were covering up her body, but... She breathed slowly in a deep sleep and the E.F.S. showed a blue bar. However as I studied her I noticed something wrapped around her neck. My eyes narrowed as I recognized a slave collar. Slowly I trotted over to the bed where she slept and inspected the collar. There was an orange light on the back near some kind of latch. I silently hissed through my teeth as I realized that this one was actually active. The power armor was set down in the center of the room as gently as I could. Then I turned my head and dug through my saddlebags. I found the suppressed revolver and gripped it in my teeth. With a smile I stalked towards the door like I remember Wraith doing, one slow step after the other. Rose stirred as I pressed my ear to the door. I looked at her as she looked at the bloody power armor, then looked around the room “Shell Shock?” She whispered as she sat up. We set the revolver down and slid it over with a hoof. Rose smiled at it as she lifted it in her grip. But then her ears folded back and she set it on the bed. Rose looked to where I stood and pointed a hoof at her collar but I knew she could not see me. “I can’t go with you, but I’ll keep it nearby if they decide to come in. There should be about five in this building.” We gave a nod and opened the door. We slipped into the ruined hallway and noticed a lack of guards. However the E.F.S. showed at least four red bars. I walked forward and wondered how I’m going to do this silently as I cannot use my telekinetic crushing spell. An idea formed in my head that caused me to smile. We reached the end of the hallway and looked in both directions. On my left was a normal looking blue pony that didn’t wear power armor. She looked as bored as one could get on guard duty. In fact she was sleeping. I slowly walked towards her. And stopped almost on top of the sleeping mare as I glanced around again. After finding it clear I swung the Pipbuck around. It struck the mare in the head and sent her to the floor. She groaned as she began to move but we reached down with our other leg. We lifted her up and squeezed her neck tightly. The mare’s face turned a darker shade of blue and then a purple color as we squeezed her air passage tighter and tighter. We did not stop until after the bar disappeared from the E.F.S. Then I went through her barding and bags for anything. I was annoyed that I did not find the detonator for the collar but I did find an okay condition semi-automatic 10mm pistol along with two extra magazines. We pressed forward towards the stairwell and descended them as quietly as we could. As we pressed our ear against the door there was a muffled voice that we could not understand along with two hostiles. The door gave in with a wooden groan as it slammed to the floor throwing up dust and obscuring the two ponies vision. They looked at eachother then the door and the dull orange one motioned with his horn as he levitated out a shotgun. My eyes widened as I slowly stepped back. The two ponies had their weapons out and were advancing towards me. I sighed quietly as I aimed the pistol at the first one and prepared to blow his head off. However the door behind them was kicked in causing them to immediately turn around and a pale gold ghoul hovered in through the door. On her head was a ripped wide brimmed purple hat and around her body was a tattered purple dress. In Ripper’s forehooves was a recently cleaned Fallen Angel that nearly shined in the dark light of the moon. She dropped to all fours and held the Buckmaster in her right foreleg. Ripper looked at the two advancing ponies without a care. “Alright, which one of you pissants knows where my saddle is?” She asked with her gravelly voice. The response she received was a shotgun round to the chest that sent the ghoul pegasus stumbling back. Ripper looked at the hole and shook her head. Then her ruby red eyes locked on the unicorn as she aimed Fallen Angel by quickly standing on her hind legs. We ducked back as the hallway was filled with the deafening roar of the Buckmaster followed by the sound of a single pony dropping dead. “Was it you?!” Ripper shouted. “Did you steal my shit?” “N-no!” The other stallion replied. I looked back around and saw Ripper holding the barrel of the automatic rifle against his chest. "What are you talking about?!" Then she looked over at me and shouted. “Stop hiding over there. I can see you, thief.” “Thief?” We replied as we dropped the invisibility spell and caught the 10mm pistol in magic. I trotted forward as I glared at the ghoul pegasus. “You knocked us out and stole things from me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your head off!” Ripper smirked and pushed the barrel of Angel against the other pony as he attempted to move. The white stallion winced. She said. “I did you a favor. That journal kills its owners. Everypony that has ever written into it is dead. Even me. Oh sure they didn’t all die as soon as they wrote in it but the second they started writing into the journal their journey got worse and worse and worse until it killed them.” I stopped three feet away and tilted my head. “What do you mean?” “That thing is like taint to its owners. Read.” She dug around in a pocket of her dress with a wing and produced the aforementioned journal and held it out for me. Then her attention turned to the white stallion she had pinned against the wall. “Well? Where? Is? My? Saddle?!” “What’s it look-” We started in surprise as Fallen Angel roared three times and the wall behind the pony was painted in blood. The stallion slid to the floor as Ripper spit on his corpse. “Useless.” We opened the journal and skimmed through the pages. We stopped where the first owner had died and then we skimmed through to the next change of ownership. Though we just assumed that the second owner had just stopped writing. As we glanced up we saw the barrel of Fallen Angel pointed right at our head. “Now then. I know alicorns appear immortal to normal ponies but I'm not normal." Ripper began. “You’re still flesh and blood and a headshot will still kill you.” My jaw dropped as my eyes widened. “What... what do you want?” “Same question that I’ve asked these fine gentlecolts here. You don't want me to ask a third time.” With a nod I replied. “Eclipse stole it from us and we were told that she was at the old naval base. However we are unsure if it is correct information as the pony that told it to us betrayed us from the start.” Fallen Angel was lowered as Ripper nodded. Then she swiped the journal back from me before I had a chance to look at it more. “I’ll spare you the details and boring parts.” She explained as she put it away. “I killed the first owner. The second one was me, killed by a zebra vampony. The third was my coltfriend, who I had to practically level a base to save and I found out he was dead the whole time. The fourth was a random airship captain and you saw the results of that.” My eyes narrowed as I noticed something. “If you died then how are you alive?” She facehoofed and groaned. “Did you not hear the vampony part?! When they turn you they... ugh, nevermind! I’ll see you later.” We heard her mumble “I’m surrounded by morons.” I arched a brow as Ripper turned around and trotted down the hallway. her long flowing purple dress acted like the cloak of a superhero. 'If she is undead and appears to not die then we could use her help.' With a smile I said. “Rose needs help.” Ripper stopped, slowly turning her head to look back at me as she said. “Save her yourself. I’m done saving ponies.” *** *** I found that each floor all the way down to the bottom had been empty. Rose stood behind me as we floated the revolver nearby. I cast my gaze about the hallway and scanned for hostiles. There was only a blue bar and they were behind this door. With an exasperated sigh I cracked it open and peered in. There was a beautifully thin and curvy stallion sitting behind a desk looking out of the shattered window at the building across the street. The floor was made from wood with a single moldy carpet between us and the desk. It had white walls and rotted furniture. I noted that the detonator was sitting on the desk not far away from the earth pony's grasp. Next to him sat an unusual weapon. It was as if somepony mated a beam pistol with a hunting rifle stock. The 'barrel' of it ended in three prongs that sparked constantly with red energy. Its battery compartment looked to hold small energy cells and I had no illusions that this was a poor weapon because of it being hoofmade. It's total length was about as long as a hunting rifle. This stallion was... different from almost all of the others we have come across. He wore a pinstripe suit that looked to have been recently cleaned and the slate grey pony looked to have bathed this morning. He was very handsome and looked back at us with a genuine smile that hid the wrinkles which were just starting to show on his face. "Ah,” he began with a smooth voice. “The elusive Green Terror of Oakwood. I must say it's a pleasure to meet you. You've done us a favor from what I hear. I’m Major Comet." I frowned as I realized that this pony wasn't an earth pony but a pegasus. I only just now noticed this because he used a wing in a form of salute. The pinstripe suit had a flap to hide his wings from a pony’s vision. His short cropped silver and azure blue mane was starting to show signs of grey as well. "Do come in and bring your small friend. We have much to discuss." Comet said as I looked down at Rose. I stepped into the room with Rose using my long flowing tail to hide behind. I asked with a tilt of my head, "what is going on?" The pegasus held a wing out and motioned to a pair of chairs. "Sit and I’ll explain." My gaze went to the chairs but I firmly planted my rump where I stood and replied. "We do not trust thee." Rose appeared to be using us as a shield from this pony and that caused us to wonder. If this old stallion in front of us has an enchanted suit to hide his wings... does Rose's lab coat act similar? Could this be her father?! "Who are you?" I asked. "Isn't it obvious?" Comet smiled as he pointed a hoof at his face. "Don't I look familiar?" I looked back as I felt Rose tap my flank with a hoof. "He's Enclave." "Correct!" The stallion laughed. "You, Miss alicorn, have saved my daughter from a most horrible death and offered to help us in exchange for our help, did you not?" My eyes widened as I looked back at the slate grey pegasus and his name hit me like a bag of bricks. "You are Wraith's father!" "She shouldn’t have gone in the first place." he hissed and looked at the wall. "Anyway!" Comet looked back at us. "Yes, you have offered to help us in exchange for our Raptor support. And I am here to discuss terms and conditions." "What?!" Rose shouted in shock. "Shell Shock, how could you do that?!" Wraith's father didn't hear her. "Now then. Normally this is where I shoot you with my toy and say ‘no deal’ BUT! You've saved my daughter and that debt needs to be re-payed." "How do you know I saved her? We parted ways less than four hours ago!" Comet spread his forehooves wide as he smugly proclaimed. "I’m a fast flyer for my age and not to mention the Raptors are close by." 'In the mist.' We added for him in our mind. I remembered something Wraith had told me. "You didn't force the memories out did you?" His eyes widened as he slammed his forehooves down. "Not in a million years! I would never harm my own daughter! Wraith gave me a quick version of what happened and I flew out to track you. However you arrived here before I could talk to you." He reached under the desk and lifted a hoof full of glowing pink ash. "This is what's left of the one that put the collar on her neck, so don't get angry at me. Take this as a gift of good faith." As the ash fell off the hoof it revealed a strange key that he tossed over. I caught it in magic and eyed it. We put it into the slot on the collar but hesitated. "This..." I looked back at Comet. "This is a trick, it has to be as this is too easy." The pegasus rolled his gold eyes and trotted over to his 'toy'. He gripped it and turned around to aim at us. "Turn it!" Wraith's father mumbled around the grip. "No, we will not hurt our friend!" I replied as I thought about shooting him with the floating pistol. "It's okay," Rose whispered, "I think if he meant to kill me he would have pushed the button." We did not think about that. As I looked at the key I sighed. I turned it as the collar clicked and whined. The explosive collar landed on the floor with a metallic thunk. Rose hugged our foreleg tight. We looked down and rubbed her mane with a wing. "Good. Now that business is settled let's talk about my terms of helping you." Comet said as he set the hoofmade energy rifle down and looked at us. I raised a brow in confusion. "Are you not doing this freely?" "We have to agree on how we're going to help each other before we can." He smirked smugly and I felt like knocking it off his face. "What are your terms?" "Well the first order of business is talking to that airship captain and finding out their intentions and whether or not they are a threat to the Enclave. If they aren't we'll let them continue as they have been. Second, you show me everything you know about the Steel Rangers on this island: Where they're located, what weapons they use, their numbers, etcetera etcetera. If you do very good in this aspect I will see about your reimbursement." "What do you mean reimbursement?" Rose asked. Wraith's father wrinkled his nose as he looked at the miniature pony. However he replied to the question. "My daughter told me this... Shell Shock was carrying a spare Steel Ranger suit of power armor in a vain attempt to get it possibly fitted for her. Is this true?" I nodded. "Yes, finding barding in my size is very hard indeed. We were lucky that a Steel Ranger we came across was close to our size." Comet tut-tutted as he shook his head. "For shame. Steel Ranger armor is for earth ponies and idiotic unicorns who de-horn themselves. Their 'armor' is overweight outdated trash that is better suited for use as a boat anchor. For you to wear it, my dear Shell Shock, you would be at a severe disadvantage. Think long and hard, have you ever seen a Steel Ranger with... wings?" "This we did not consider," I replied as I looked at the floor, my ears folded against my head. "I understand. We would be constricted and unable to fly." Comet nodded slowly as he grinned. "Now. I may be able to see about getting you fitted for a set of Enclave power armor. Minus the helmet obviously as it wouldn't fit with your horn. This is no guarantee, mind you, as you're not officially part of the Enclave yet." I looked down at Rose and asked. "What do you think?" She looked at Comet instead and told him, "if you lie to Shell Shock. I can guarantee you that it would be the last thing you ever do." He nodded. "Yes, my daughter already told me about a certain pink Steel Ranger who had lied to her and had his head removed for it. I am not lying, because I don't lie to those I work with. It’s bad form you see." "How do we know you're not lying about not lying?" I asked. An object was removed from behind the desk and slid across the floor. I stopped it with a hoof and looked down at the framed picture. It was of a younger Comet, a faint pink mare and two identical fillies standing in front. "My family has always put honesty and loyalty above everything else. The maroon filly on the left is a longtime Dash addict. She tries to hide it but I know about her problem. The one on the right was bitten by a glowing ghoul and has fallen ill. Wraith is tending to her now, because she was not fit to come down here in the first place. I swear to you on my daughters’ lives, I am not trying to trick you.” I gave a nod. "That is acceptable." Comet looked at Rose then me and said. "Please don't get mad or take offense but my daughter told me that you might be... simple?" My jaw dropped as my cheeks burned in anger. "I don't think you are. What do I see you as you wonder? I see a mare that uses her wits to get her foes to drop their guard by letting them think she is simple and then strikes them down hard." I beamed at the compliment as I grinned and inadvertently picked up Rose's thoughts, "he calls Shell Shock stupid and she likes it? But I do it and she threatens to kill me? What am I, chopped liver? Or does she see me as..." To distract my brain I asked. "This power armor we might get. What color will it be and how well will it fit?" Comet put the picture away and spoke as he slung a set of saddlebags that also had a bedroll onto his back. "Well I would hope like mine: Fits you like a glove." He spread his wings and gave them a test flap as he looked at us. "Ready to go?" We looked at Rose. She shook her head. "I appreciate you saving me Shell Shock, but I'll be back in Candlelight if you need me." My ears folded against my head as I knelt down and pulled her into a bear hug that she returned. I told her. "Please stay safe, Rose. Other than Sister you are our only friend." She whispered softly into our ear. "I truly hope you know what you're doing." *** *** The two of us flew through the sky while thy Pipbuck played music. Comet was in front and doing tricks. I had left Bucky's armor back at Alicorns Perch as it was ungainly to take with me everywhere. Not to mention this prospect of having better armor! I beat my wings faster as Comet did a barrel roll with a laugh. He spun around and motioned us closer while he shouted. "Come on, I thought you'd be faster than this!" With a grin I tried to close the gap but he pulled away. We could see the airship in question to the far north as it traveled in what appeared to be a straight line. Comet laughed more and went into a dive. I followed suit. I rolled inverted and chased after him. Blue's almost-male voice filled my head as I dove straight down. "Sister, can you hear me?" "Yes. Sorry I forgot to tell you that I made it." I replied to her. "That is fine. I have moved your friend Mudpie to a new location. She is stable and slowly improving. However she does not want to burden you with her dead weight, so she says to finish what you are doing before you return." With a grin I replied. "Tell her, 'thank you and we will be safe'." “We hope you will be.” she replied and her presence faded. I followed Comet out of the dive and we began skimming the rooftops of Oakwood City. The dark moonlit ground below became a blur of blue-grey colors as we focused on just catching the pony in front of us. It is surprising how fast and agile Comet is for his age! I held a hoof out as I slowly inched closer. But before I could tap him he dropped down to street level. My eyes widened but I kept up. My hooves parting grass as my injured wings began to strain so I slowed down. Comet looked back and pulled into a half loop. Then flew a wide circle that brought him right next to us. "You're tired?” he asked. “And here I thought alicorns were supposed to be the superior species." I dropped to the overgrown street and held out a wing to show him where I had been bitten as I explained. "Something bit me, then its imp spawn grew under the skin and destroyed all the tissue." "Don't you have healing potions?" Comet asked with a roll of his eyes. "Just pour one or two on the wound and it'll be fixt lickety split." "No, I did not think of that as radiation does the same thing for alicorns." “Yeah,” he scoffed. "Sure looks like it's doing a bang up job." I looked at the wound and inspected it for new tissue but found none. Odd. “Hold it right there!” A pony shouted. Causing the both of us to turn our heads and look at two red bars on my E.F.S. about thirty yards away. The red armored and battle saddle wearing stallion continued. “Let’s see those pretty little hooves reach for the sky nice and slow.” The one on his left had a rocket launcher saddle. Comet rolled his gold eyes. “Always with the talking! Miss Shock, we have a schedule to keep. If that airship reaches the mist before we board we’ll be stuck in nothingness.” The both of us took flight and turned towards the airship. We quickly tried to catch the flying boat before it disappeared. Both the stallions looked up at us and then at each other in confusion. *** *** I attempted to catch up with Comet as we streaked through the sky towards the airship. A literal wall of grey mist only a few hundred yards ahead of it. Though I do not know what he means by stuck in nothingness but I will trust his judgement as he seems smarter than me. The airship’s name was painted in gold on the back of the stern: Celestia’s Delight. Smoke drifted from the single central stack as its six propellers turned to propel it through the air. How it flies we have no clue but there it was: A large 380 foot long cargo ship flying in the air. Her rain water stained white superstructure gleamed in the moonlight. There were two cranes: One ahead and one behind the central island of metal with boxes fore and aft. The two of us landed on the wooden deck near a large box by the bow and I noticed that there were machine gun blisters in various locations about the superstructure. Four M-2 .50 cals were aimed at the two of us. I gulped and put my hooves in the air as I sat on my haunches and Comet followed suit. A hatch near the bottom of the central structure opened up and spilled red light onto the deck. I looked behind me and saw the wall of mist was only a hundred yards away now. However the deck tilted as the airship turned away from the fog. As I turned my attention towards the hatch I saw a burnt umber earth pony stallion in a ship captains hat and coat. “Alicorn! What’s your business aboard my boat?” He asked loudly. “Best be quick about it before my ponies get trigger happy.” I decided that using my mind would be bad so I loudly said with my mouth. “I wish to talk to DJ Snow. I’m a fan of hers and wish to thank her face to face. Also the two of us would like accommodation. Preferably with a shower and separate beds.” “I don’t think she takes visitors but if you pay three hundred caps you can have a stateroom for a day.” “Is there some way we could possibly get a discount? As that is an awfully high price.” “That is the discount.” he replied. “May I get into my bags?” Comet asked. The earth pony nodded and Comet turned his head to nose through the saddlebag and produced a sack of something heavy that he slowly tossed at the captain’s hooves. The earth pony picked them up and looked inside. Then he frowned. “These are Enclave bits. Where did you get them?” I replied before Comet could. “We found them in a warehouse. The pegasi were pulled apart by some kind of mutated rats.” My wing extended and I pointed a hoof at the dead flesh. “When they bite you they inject their spawn into the wound and a day later it pops out.” He looked at me with an arched brow and I wondered if my lie was perhaps a bit too much. Even though it was mostly true. I tried to read Comet but it was like trying to read a brick wall. After perhaps an agonizing five seconds the earth pony nodded. “Welcome aboard the Celestia’s Delight. Don’t go out on deck in the daytime.” “Why?” “Because the fog has claws.” he replied flatly. "What is that supposed to mean?!" I shouted, but the earth pony had turned back around and Comet had begun to trot forward after him. 75% to next level. Companion perk - Better healing. You gain 20% more healing from healing potions or bandages. Does not affect radiation. Given by Comet. Author's Note I finally got a pre-reader! And I've gotta thank Amethyst Wind for helping with this chapter. Otherwise it would have been a horrible mess. Edit: Removed song lyrics. Chapter 6: One crazy dayChapter 6: One crazy day “You're doomed.” All of the blood and dirt my coat had accumulated over the last two weeks without a shower was gone and I felt squeaky clean. That tattered business suit was tossed over the side as it was much much too far gone to even consider repairing. The shower was awkward at first because Comet had insisted that we took one together to conserve the ship's water for the boilers. I saw no fault with his logic and so we took one together. Then one thing led to another and the the subject of wing massages came up after I got a wing cramp in the middle of said shower, so embarrassing! So now I was laying on a bed receiving a wing massage. Comet was doing something around the wing root with his forehooves that made all the tension simply melt away. I smiled at the amazing feeling. I had never had a wing massage before and should make it a point to get one and a hooficure more often. Though I still haven't gotten said hooficure. "So, Miss Shock," he began as he worked in between the wings on my back. "Tell me a little about yourself. My daughter says that you were alive before the bombs." "Well there is not much to tell,” I said with a sigh. “Anything before two years before the bombs went off is muddled and fuzzy. It is as if a pony has purposely removed everything from those times. I have vague feelings though." "Hm... sounds to me like the MoM decided to screw with your brain. Any idea why they would?" “No.” He started to work towards my hindquarters and I looked back in confusion as I asked with my mind. "What are you doing?!" "It's just a full body massage. Now just relax." "Are you using me?" "Are you not using using me for your own gains?" I explained it to him. "Yes, for you see, I wish for that armor and the Enclaves help. But you avoided my question. Are you using me?" "You have already answered your question by answering mine. But if you insist I will tell you. Yes, I am using you to get intel. No, I am not using you for pleasure." "That is acceptable." I nodded. I laid my head back down as I said, "this wall needs a painting or perhaps a nice set of drapes. It's so boring!" He took one of my hind legs and began to apply pressure as I continued with my story. "As for myself? I spent perhaps thirty years wandering the aftermath before being picked for Unity. Then we became an alicorn and a much better pony. If you think we regret our decisions, the answer is a big fat no.” “So you used to be a normal pony?” I nodded. “Yes. The process of becoming an alicorn involves vats of rainbow colored liquid and you being dipped in it.” "Sounds painful. What is your special talent?" He asked while working back up the leg. "I... I don't remember and this has caused me great worry over the past month or so." Then with my mouth I told him everything I knew about the Steel Rangers of Oakwood in great detail. That their base is the old naval base across the bay from the Crescent Moon, Eclipse is an insane pony hell bent on killing alicorns, they are heavily armed, they send convoys to and fro into the jungle to scavenge for stables or technology, and that they use mechanical powered Vertibucks for quick reaction time. Comet nodded. “I think all of that should be sufficient. I’ll still need to do first hoof observation.” His hooves touched an area that made me smile as I said, "stoop... That tickles!" "This?" He poked in front of my hind leg on the side of my belly which caused it to flinch and I giggled again. "Yes, that!" He did it again but harder this time. I recoiled from the attack of the tickles as my wings flapped once. I closed them and fell with a thud to the carpeted deck. When I looked over the bed at the slate grey pegasus I said. "I'm hungry. Do you want some food? I'll go get some food." "No, I'm tired. We should head to bed." I nodded. "I'll be back later then. I’m hungry." *** *** I walked along the narrow passageway inside the central superstructure. Not really caring nor noticing any of the details other than white walls, metal doors, and grey carpet. I wasn't actually hungry. I had to get away from Comet for a while to clear my head of any sexual feelings from the massage. Because I had many and did not want a second Bucky on my hooves. I turned right and followed the grey carpet as it ascended metal stairs. This hallway was like the one below except less plush. The doors were dark brown wood. I pressed forward and took a glance out of a porthole at the mist filled night sky. 'If you're gonna wander aimlessly can you at least find us food?' the crimson mare whispered in the back of my mind. My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip. I decided to ignore the mare's voice as best I could. Then made a left at the end and picked up my pace a little. I made a right and ascended more stairs. Then followed that short hallway to the end. I stopped as I looked around in confusion as we seemed to be lost. Though I didn't know where I was going anyway so it is of little consequence. My ears picked up a voice that was much too muddled to make out the specifics of. Without anything else to do we followed it. Our route made a turn and the hallway ended in a half open door. After making sure our mane didn't get in the way we peered around the door. There was a light grey zebra with ebony stripes and copper orange eyes sitting in a very plush looking chair. She was surrounded by radio equipment with lots of switches, dials and lights. I couldn't see her glyph because the dark red robe she wore obscured it. A set of headphones covered her ears. Her long two-tone mane was done in many small dreadlocks with multi-color beads on the tips that resembled the colors of the setting sun. She did not notice me. The zebra was deep in a bottle of rum and enthralled by some black device hanging from a boom in front of her. She was mid-sentence. "...and that folks is how Equestria was made! Alright, Oakwood. I’m tired, the sun’s coming up and I've got a fever. Do you wish to know the cure? More cowbell!" We found it odd that DJ Snow sounds completely different in the flesh. Her voice has a much different accent. She spun in her chair and kicked at a switch on the machine behind her. The thing rocked back a little before a record dropped onto a turntable and began to spin. As the needle touched down a guitar played out that was followed by said cowbell. The zebra put on a single saddlebag and picked up her bottle of rum with her tail. She tossed the bottle in the air and turned so it would drop perfectly into her open bag. As she turned her attention to the door she noticed us and her copper eyes widened. "Alicorn!" She shouted in shock while diving behind her equipment. Her outburst caused me to look at her in confusion. The zebra poked her head back up with a silver box clenched in her teeth. My eyes widened as the box sent a beam of red into my face. I screamed in pain as the beam grazed my muzzle and brought up my green shield. The zebra's bar never changed from blue to orange as a second and third beam struck the shield doing no actual damage. She looked cross eyed at her laser pistol then looked at me with a nervous smile. I walked forward as I ripped the beam gun from her mouth with magic. She began backing up and bumped into her chair. "Please don't kill me," she begged and made herself smaller, "I am no threat to one of you. It was a mistake I know that now!" My gaze went to the beam pistol and I dropped it to the floor then my hoof came down and stomped it flat. I looked at her as my shield was lowered. "That hurt," I whined with my mind and she made no attempt to acknowledge it. So I whined with my mouth, "all I wanted to do was say hello to DJ Snow! Why did you shoot me, DJ Snow?" She let out a breath and looked at the beam pistol. "Perhaps we should talk this over some food and get some ice on that burn, yes?" "Okay, lead the way." I nodded. *** *** I telekinetically held a bag of ice onto the slowly healing burn across my muzzle. My Pipbuck was telling me that my rads were slowly dropping too. Across from me sat Zakiya who was immune to my telepathy. We sat at a table with the crushed beam pistol in the center, a plate of meat next to it and my 10mm pistol on the other side. The table was inside the ship’s galley which ran 24/7 and stocked various foods. “My face hurts and you shot me.” I groaned again for perhaps the fifteenth time. “Why did you shoot me?!” “It is cause for alarm when one such as you sneaks up on a pony.” She said while looking down at her mostly drank bottle of spiced rum clutched in her forehooves. My eyes narrowed at this retort. So I loudly said. “You left the door open!” “Did I do so for you? No. I did not expect an alicorn to come sneaking through. I think I will need to have a long talk with the captain about informing me of new guests. Especially if they are alicorn guests.” I adjusted the ice pack and replied. “I heard DJ Snow was a pegasus but you're a zebra.” Zakiya laughed then took a draw from the bottle. She set it down and said. “Do you really think surface ponies would listen to one such as I? No. From what I’ve experienced they still do not like zebras all that much.” “How do you mask your voice then?” I asked with a tilt of my head. The meat was floated up to my eye level as I inspected it carefully. I gave it a sniff and wondered what exactly it was. “That is bacon and I can guarantee you it is not pony bacon,” she said with a point of her hoof. “Anyone goes missing on this ship and they are found within the hour. Our aerial community is tight knit like that.” I nodded and put the bacon into my mouth. My eyes went wide as the greasy flavor of syrup and whatever else it was filled my mouth. I smiled and chewed on the almost crunchy bacon. “It is good!” I told her with my mind. Then facehoofed when she stared at me blankly. So I used my mouth after gulping it down with a little Ray. “That is delicious. How many live on this ship?” “Why do you wish to know?” “Because I’m curious. I've only seen two so far and yet this ship is large.” "Very well then." Zakiya nodded. "There are about sixty earth ponies, fifty unicorns, a hundred and ten zebra, thirty pegasi, and one ghoul living aboard the Celestia’s Delight. The pegasi naturally go to the ground to gather food, clothes, and weapons for the rest of us. There is a small apple orchard in one of the forward cargo holds that the unicorns use to grow very bland tasting apples in.” The zebra took a drink from her bottle as I looked at her. “How does it fly?” “Magic!” She grinned and I shot a glare at her. Zakiya frowned then added. “It really does fly with a combination of magic and steam. Don’t ask me the specifics, because I don’t know them as I am a humble zebra. I leave pony magic to unicorns... and alicorns.” I shrugged because I didn’t really care how it flew. I was mostly asking her for intel while she was drunk, which she has very good drunk speak if a bit slurred. “You say you have one ghoul, why?” I asked. She drank from the bottle and found it empty. Zakiya arched her brow as she shook it in a vain attempt to get the very last drop out of her bottle of rum. Then she tossed it behind her and stood up as it shattered on the deck. I watched the zebra trot over to a vending machine and instead of putting bits into it like any normal pony would, Zakiya gave it a swift buck that caused it to rock back and forth. A full bottle of wonderful booze rolled into the slot at the bottom. “Works every time!” Zakiya exclaimed as she swiped the bottle of rum up with her tail, tossed it in the air and caught it in her teeth. I shook my head at her blatant disregard for her liver's well being as she walked back over while drinking. The bottle was set down as she took a seat. Something had been bugging me and it finally blurted out. "How did you know that I gave ponies supplies in Candlelight?" "I'd imagine of our pegasi was doing some trading and saw it. Then told Dj Sn-me?" "Oh. Are you afraid of me?” “Shall I run around and shout 'Star Demon' like a fool?” Zakiya shook her head and added with a sly grin. “Alicorn, you are sitting inside the steel hull of a pre-war auxiliary cruiser that is flying through the night sky. Such superstitions as the ‘stars are evil’ are for zebras who haven't seen what I've seen to worry about. I could tell you many stories about 'Star Demons' and how they are just as easy to kill as a pony but I will not. That is for another story.” I floated out the Zebra Rifle and laid it down across the table then took another bite of bacon. She looked at it while I explained. “This was found in the jungle in very poor condition. You're a zebra and I figured you might know of where to get it fixed." “You will give it to me as compensation for breaking my perfect beam pistol.” She drunkenly replied. “There is no bargaining on this!” That offer sounded fair to me so I floated out the extended magazine and shoved both items across the table. Zakiya began to tear it apart while mumbling under her breath about various things. Before I knew it she had a completely stripped Zebra Rifle laying between us. “Is it sufficient?” I asked. She did not take her eyes off the weapon as she explained. “Don't be a fool, of course it was. With some spare parts we have I can fix this. But this magazine is no good!” The zebra held up the extended one and tossed it behind her without a care. She did the same to the regular one as she shouted. “And neither is this one! Neither of these will do. Not enough capacity! I think I have a drum magazine somewhere. Yes yes," she nodded rapidly to herself, "load it with hollow points and those Mist Roamers won’t stand a chance!" My brows furrowed together as I looked at her, because I found her weapon knowledge interesting. However I ignored her musing and asked. “The captain has said that the ‘fog has claws’ and I wish to know what he means. As it sounds insane." She let out a chuckle that turned into a cry of shock as a spring jumped off the weapon. The both of us watched as it quickly disappeared into a drain on the floor. The zebra pointed a hoof towards where it had gone. “I don’t think I needed that one anyway. It must wish for a new owner. Well I hope it finds one!” Zakiya looked back at me and shrugged. “Fog with claws? Because it does have claws.” “But what does that mean?!” She clicked her forehooves together as she leaned across the table and whispered. “It would be bad luck and bring the claws to this ship if I were to tell you what they were. I will not endanger my family here for your satisfaction.” “You said you weren’t superstitious!” Again her laughter filled the air as she leaned back. “Superstitious? Not of star superstitions. However this is not a superstition, because they are real. Let us speak no more of them.” My eyes widened when I remembered Ripper referred to mysterious ponies as ‘them and they’. We wondered if they were connected but dismissed it as coincidence. The zebra put her bag to the end of the table and began to scoop the weapon parts, including the 10mm pistol, into the bag along with the food and both bottles of booze. I quickly grabbed the pistol in magic and lifted it away. I remembered something and asked. “How come only one ghoul?” “She is known as Navigator. Always at the wheel as she does not sleep," she replied without hesitation. “She is the only one able to navigate the fog safely.” “That seems far fetched.” Zakiya slung her now heavy bag across her side as she said. “If you will excuse me, I have to sleep. Or would you like to come with and keep me awake for a few more hours?” "No, I like stallions." She shrugged. "I meant for more conversation. I haven’t had good conversation in many years." "Perhaps later. I wish to speak to this ghoul. "Very well. She is on the bridge. It is that way," Zakiya flicked her tail to a door and began trotting off while mumbling, “shiver my timbers shiver my soul... “ *** *** As I walked towards the bridge door I used my telekinetics to take a sip of the Celestia's Ray. I had decided that I must see the ghoul because Comet surely would want to. We smiled and nodded at our smart plan to do all of the intel while he was sleeping. That way when he wakes up we can leave earlier. The hatch in front of me swung open quietly on recently oiled hinges and I stepped inside. "Welcome odd traveler." An old sandpapery mare's voice said from my right. "What can this old girl do for you this fine morning?" I looked over at a rotting bay colored unicorn with pretty much no mane or tail. Her cutie mark looked to be the same ship wheel that she stood next to. The real one was pony sized and engulfed in white magic. Her brown eyes looked out at the wall of fog as she moved the wheel a little. "In or out." I blinked and tilted my head. "I'm sorry. What?" "Come in or leave but shut the door either way." She said without taking her eyes off the fog. I shut the hatch with magic and trotted over to the ghoul. I have no idea what makes her special because she looks like any other ghoul I've encountered. I stepped in front of her and she made no attempt to tell me to move. As I looked around the bridge I saw that it was devoid of ponies. "How come you're alone?" "I'm not alone. There's a green alicorn blocking my vision. Move please." I nodded and stepped to the side. "Farther, your mane is in my way, miss." With a roll of my eyes I wrapped my mane around a wing and pulled it against my body. "Happy?" "No. I'd be happy if we were on the ocean again. Riding waves is far more entertaining than flying through the sky, granted you move quicker in the air, but it just doesn't have the same feel. I want to smell the sea again and feel her unpredictability. These clouds are static and smell like death." "Is this ship a threat to the Enclave?" The unicorn ghoul looked over at me. "Well aren’t you pointed. Is this ship a threat to the Enclave? No. Pay us enough and we’ll fight for ya. Always have, always will. Been the way of the Delight since before the war." "How can you fight? This is a transport ship." She smirked as she looked back out at the fog. "If you say she is, then she must be, but then that would be the death of you. We have guns aboard and a contingent of Marines capable of holding their own in an aerial engagement." I nodded. "Thank you for being honest. Can you tell me what 'the fog has claws' means?" "Go stand on deck and see for yourself. I’m not a dictionary." With a frown I asked. "How do you know where to go? I can’t see past the bow!" "Where I go I do not know!” she cackled. “Though I do know about the five Enclave Raptors following us in a line. We passed by them about fifteen minutes ago. The poor dears appear to be lost and decided to follow us. No doubt in some vain attempt to get the technology we use to fly or something like that." I walked to the aft wall of the wheelhouse and looked out at the fog where I saw the vague outline of an Enclave Raptor. "That would be the Steel Rangers who take old world technology. I'm not sure what the Enclave do other than close up the sky." “Steel Rangers, Enclave, what's the difference? Someone’s always killing someone. Even in your dreams.” "I should go talk to the captain." I said. “Well Zakiya is looking for you. See her first.” She commented as the the ship was slowed down again but with only one bell that was answered by one. “First Officer’s cabin.” A door opened behind me and she added. “Down that hall and to the left.” *** *** I walked through the ship’s superstructure as I looked for the correct cabin. Though I had no idea how Navigator knew Zakiya was looking for me. She seemed off her rocker and so did every other pony I have met so far on this ship. Always talking about ‘them’ and we wondered if Ripper was related to these ponies in some way. Which doesn't sound far off to us. I stopped and looked at the Pipbuck’s automap feature. Then groaned as I realized that I had passed the door probably four times already. I turned around and trotted down the hallway and stopped at the door. My hoof knocked against it loudly twice and I opened it partially as I told Zakiya with my mouth. “It is Shell Shock, the green alicorn, may I come in?" “You may.” I went inside and shut the door. This room was larger than the stateroom Comet and I had. There was a single queen sized bed with zebra striped sheets, a mini-fridge next to the bed, a reloading bench, an actual workbench which Zakiya sat at, and the Zebra Rifle was still in parts on the workbench. Instead of wallpaper or paint it the walls were lined with racks of everything from hoofmade pistols to full on battle saddles. There was also two sets of zebra combat armor: One that was in almost pristine condition inside a case and the other that looked like it had seen better days. Zakiya was looking back at us over a set of magnifying goggles. “Yes? What is it you wish to talk about?” “Navigator said you were looking for me?” "Yes I was. You see this weapon you gave me was on its last legs. By sheer dumb luck you have lived to tell another tale.” “Huh? Can you explain that better, please? I am not a very smart pony.” She turned all the way around and adjusted her robe as she stood up. “Then I will elaborate as if you were a foal with no knowledge of weapons. A Zebra Rifle only fires in three round bursts. Not one, not two, or four. Only ever three. Always three. You had two bullets left and so it could not fire. Had you had just one more bullet and attempted to fire it, that weapon would have exploded in your hooves. Thus killing you in the process.” “I suppose I should be thankful to the Goddess then.” I nodded. The deck tilted severely as the ship turned or something. The zebra looked over as a stack of Guns and Bullets magazines fell off the workbench. Zakiya pointed her hoof at them and shouted. “I didn’t like you anyway!" She looked at me as the ship leveled out and said. "When she decides to have fun we’re all in for a ride.” I tilted my head and asked in zebra tongue. “Are you talking about the ship or are you talking about Navigator?” “Navigator. And don't talk about my mother like that." She gave a small smile. "Your zebra is badly broken like this bottle here." Zakiya used her hoof to knock an empty bottle of rum off the workbench. It shattered as it hit the floor and she trotted over to the mini-fridge next to the bed. She retrieved a bottle from the mini-fridge and stopped halfway to give us a wink before she tossed it. I caught the rum bottle in magic and she retrieved a second one. Zakiya went back to the workbench and set the bottle down. "So you like stallions?" I realized why she winked and it became awkward. I wanted to run but I also wanted to stay and chat. Her copper orange eyes practically beckoned me to stay and so I sat down. "Correct. We do not pursue relations with mares." "Very well. I won't bring it up. Do you wish to know a secret?" "Do I have a choice?" "Not really. But anyway! My secret is this: I don't like it here. Only one mare talks to me, the rest act like I don't exist and I hated doing the radio. Sitting there all night talking and talking was so boring! It's not even my special talent." "What is your talent?" I asked then took a sip from my bottle of rum. Zakiya hopped and spun on a hind hoof with her fore legs spread wide. "Weaponry and armor!" she exclaimed as she dropped back down. "Around here I am called Zakiya the Armorer. Shell Shock, will you do me a favor?" "That depends on the favor." She nodded rapidly. "Yes yes, I know you don't like mares. It's nothing like that. Not entirely." Zakiya grabbed our mane in her teeth and began trotting towards the case with the zebra armor. Pain shot through my scalp as as she pulled the mane and attempted to run away at the same time. "Ow! Ow! Hey stop!" I shouted as I struggled to keep up. My magic lifted her off the ground and yet she kept attempting to almost gallop over. Then she looked down with a puzzled expression and let go of my mane. "I seem to be flying... Hey I'm a flying zebra! When did I grow wings? Why did no pony tell me I have wings?!" I dropped her to the deck and she practically bolted for the zebra armor in the glass case. Zakiya pressed her face against the glass as she said. "Just look at it. Painstakingly crafted by zebras of old. Lost, then found, then lost again. I spent years repairing the suit and you know what?" "I don't." I shook my head. Zakiya looked at me and almost shouted. "The sleeves too damn long! All that work was fucking wasted on armor that could not fit me!" I turned my attention to the armor in question and noticed that they were indeed too long. As if it was made for a female zebra that was almost as tall as me. “How did you manage to not notice that?” “I was a filly and didn’t know any better. However completing the armor gained me my glyph and so I have kept it these many years. I’ve never seen what it looks like on a pony but now...” She grinned at me as I took a step back. “Now I finally have a sexy mare to model it for me! But first! We must make many modifications to that horrible atrocity you call a mane. It will not do for a Legionnaire.” Stay and get my mane cut and maybe a set of armor, or run away? I sighed with a nod. "Very well." *** *** I looked at myself in the mirror and turned sideways as I flicked my now short dyed black tail to the side. It touched the floor, which was short compared to what it used to be, and my mane was now shoulder length. Zakiya had done the both of them in a great many small dreadlocks with fire red beads on the ends. It seemed to stop the flow of my mane and I was glad for it. It didn’t look too bad against my green hide in my opinion. The only problem I saw was the Pipbuck. It was an item that still needed to come off. The hoofgun managed to slip over the armor so it was no problem. The armored dress was red and black with golden trim. The dress part of it was more like layered plates which were loosely connected to allow for some movement in the armor while keeping the protection adequate. If we didn’t look too hard at our frontal profile we could pass for a very tall unicorn with a large exquisite horn. I was annoyed that the Zebra Legionnaire armor was tight around my chest and restricted my wings like what I was trying to avoid with Steel Ranger power armor. However I had actually found a set of armor that could fit! I did not think that Zakiya would just let me take the armor off her hooves for free. I will admit that I was skeptical at first as it was zebra armor. but with it on I don’t think I had much to complain about. Barding was barding. Her reflection in the mirror showed her on the bed cleaning and loading the drum magazine with hollow point rounds. “May I have this armor?” I asked. “I like it very much.” “Well it was just sitting there and is much too large for me,” she replied without looking up from her task. “However you must do something for me in return.” “Anything.” I smiled at myself in the mirror. She looked up with a grin that caused me to blush because a dirty thought flashed across my mind at the realization of what I implied. “Take me with you when you leave. There are others better suited who can do the night shift.” I let out a breath and nodded. “Deal.” She went back to work on the drum magazine and I danced around in front of the mirror. I hopped as I shifted my weight to my left hooves, then my right, and back again. Then I held the chainsword next to me with magic, stepped back, and jumped while spinning around. My new mane’s dreadlocks twirled around and I noticed they didn’t obscure my vision as bad as the overly long flowing one did. In fact I could still see clearly even though a few of the individual dreads landed on my muzzle. Zakiya got off the bed and began pulling various weapons off the wall. "I must prepare for my trip. Rest here if you wish. I won’t try anything funny. Also come here I need to make a modification to the armor." She grabbed a long sharp sword in a fetlock and I figured out right away what she meant. "Do you really want to cut into your life's work?" "It is armor and designed to get damaged, this I have accepted so cutting into it isn't much different. Is it not uncomfortable to have your wings restricted?" “Not really. I was a unicorn before becoming an alicorn, so I know how to deal without flight.” With a shrug she tossed the blade into her bags. I caught it before it could land inside and floated it over to me. I set the officer's sword down and wondered if it would be odd to dual wield blades. One that is a chainsword that can cut through nearly anything on the left and a normal sword on the right. I wrapped the drum in magic and tossed to her. She caught it and put it away. Then I climbed onto the bed and pulled the striped cover over me. It didn't take long to fall into a deep sleep and I found myself walking along a concrete tunnel. ***===***===*** I walked through the dark underground tram station with a pair of saddlebags on my back that held recently traded stale pre-war food. My cyber leg thumped against the concrete floor floor and caused the sound to be off beat, three soft and one loud. The crackle of flames reached my ears and I saw my destination in the soft orange glow coming from a fire barrel in another room three doors down. I walked past the two other rooms that I cared not for to glance inside. My crystalline tan coat was covered by my frayed tank crew barding and I wore the cloth cap to keep my head warm. Though they were hardly adequate for the long winter just after the war ended. I turned into the room and gave my coltfriend a warm smile. He sat with his back to me while he warmed his forehooves by the fire in the center of the room. His black coat was also covered in tank crew barding and I could see his cutie mark of a synthesizer. There were tiny makeshift houses along the walls and everywhere you could imagine. I stalked as quietly as I could towards him. Making it a point to gently set the cyber hoof down so as to not make noise. I stopped right behind him. My open mouth slowly inched closer to his ear in preparation to nibble it. As I did so I noticed something wrong and my eyes widened. A crimson mare with blue eyes turned her head around and smiled at me. "Have a look in this mirror." the crimson mare said in her smooth voice as her horn glowed and a small vanity mirror was floated next to her head. The mirror reflected nothing but rolling plains and blue sky. "You're not Synth!" I shouted as I began backing up. "Who are you? What is going on?!” The crimson unicorn with no cutie mark walked towards me with the mirror floating near her head. "Come on. Look into the mirror. There’s something I want you to see. It’s your future self." It showed the reflection of a pony I didn’t recognize at all and I felt myself being drawn into the mirror against my will. It was like my soul was being ripped from my body while it screamed in pain. I did the only thing I could think of. I shut my eyes and bolted from the room. *** *** My offbeat hooves echoed in the dark rubble filled subway tunnel as I galloped away from the crimson mare with no cutie mark. I couldn’t see very well in the dark and neither could she, or so I hoped. The only light came from the still working maintenance lights on the ceiling and the track signal lights that glowed red. Ahead of me was a concrete rubble pile. I dared not look back as she shouted. “Just take a peak. See what Equestria’s future has in store for you.” I clamoured over the concrete and jumped across a large black void. My hooves barely caught the other edge as my hind legs flailed about uselessly beneath me. The weight of the bags threatened to drag me into the abyss. A hoof was extended down to me and I grabbed it with my cyber hoof. Then I looked up. My eyes widened and my soul began screaming again as it was pulled towards the mirror. I pushed away from the mare and tumble into the black abyss below as my saddlebags spilled their contents. "Where do you think you can hide, hm?" she asked from everywhere as I fell. “Where you go I can go. You cannot hope to outrun me in here. Just give up now and look into a mirror. Any mirror will do fine." I tumbled through darkness for some time that felt like minutes. There was a light at the bottom and I grinned at the way out. However as I got closer I saw that it wasn't a way out but another mirror with rolling hills! My eyes widened at the realization that I couldn’t do shit to avoid this one. I saw my tumbling tan reflection in the fast approaching mirror and the unknown pony reflecting back grinned at my misfortune. "No!" I screamed and slammed into the surface as every fiber of my being screamed in pain. Blue skies greeted my vision as I passed through the mirror and was propelled up into the air. My stomach leapt into my mouth as my ascent slowed to a stop and I very nearly vomited. I cast my gaze down to the ground as I felt my body begin to fall. When the fast approaching ground slammed into me I groaned. With a second groan I lifted my head up and looked around at green rolling hills in every direction as far as the eye could see. The smell of fresh cut grass blew on a light breeze and it was serenely quiet. I looked into the sky at the sound of the crimson mare's chuckle. "That was much easier than I expected. Welcome to your new home." I shouted as I frantically looked around, "what is going on?!" “This is your prison. I took control of your body." "You can’t keep me here!" I snarled. Then looked around again as I tried to form a plan but came up blank. “I will get out!” "Oh I don't think so. That mirror was one way." My ears folded back at the information. "Since I’m trapped here you might aswell tell me why." "I suppose I owe you that. You see, I sought out the most distant green alicorn from Equestria and found you. Your sisters on the island did not expect me to take control of them with your telepathy either. That was an unexpected bonus." I sat down and dug at the grass with a metal hoof as I shut my eyes. "What was so important about me?" "To be honest? Nothing. You're just an average old green drone with a faulty template and a nearly blank mind, which was surprising. This jungle island is so far from the mainland that no pony remembers it. Not even I knew it existed until I felt you here. So it is the perfect place to rebuild my army and you've already laid the groundwork for me." “Are you going to leave me to wander alone and go insane?" "Don't be foolish. All you had to do was ask for company and it'd be provided. Observe." The voice echoed off as an alicorn formed nearby. I trotted over to the blue stallion that watched me approach. Behind him a large brown mansion rose from the ground and the door opened. I looked at the alicorn and waved my metal hoof but he looked like he wasn’t at home. "He's a drone!" I shouted. "No. He is not. The male will obey your every command and will provide actual conversation," the voice said from nowhere. "Or if you wish for a mare's company instead..." A blue alicorn mare formed next to him. "Enjoy one or the both of them, or kill them, your choice.” They looked at me like drones do, blankly. I backed away and looked up in the sky. “Why am I not an alicorn?” “Do you honestly think I’d give you that kind of power in here? No, now enjoy these two while I conquer the wasteland." I hung my head low and walked up the stairs with the drones following me. *** *** I walked along the yellow hallway with the mare drone following me and I began to wonder how bad this other pony messed things up with my body. I don’t know how long its been. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months? They are all a blur to me without a Pipbuck. All I wanted to do was help the ponies of Oakwood, show them that Unity was better... and that we were the future. Instead I got trapped in my own mind. Bucky was right, Eclipse was right, Sister was right and so was Rose. I was stupid. I was stupid and gullible, and naive, and... and... a foal. My hind legs gave out and I fell into a sitting position. Everypony was right. Be smart... As if that's possible in here! There’s no way out. The voice said that and it is clearly smarter than I am because I’m trapped here and it isn’t. A blue wing wrapped around me and pulled me against the blue’s body. She shushed me as she rubbed my side with a wing. "Sshh... It's okay. We can make you feel better." She got in front of me and I watched her lower her head. “No!” I recoiled in shock and backed away before she could even get close. "You're not real... none of this is real!" I told her. Because it was true. She looked up at me and smiled. "Of course this is real. Now let Us make you feel better." "No." She blinked and tilted her head. "Why not?" "I don’t like mares. Go away," I ordered. "You have to do as I say, now go away." She smiled and nodded. "Yes, Mistress. We will be in Our bedroom if you ch-" "I meant disappear. Go on. Leave and don't come back." "I'm afraid I can't let her do that," she replied in the crimson mare's voice. "You see this mare is act-" I lowered my head and charged the second her voice changed. My horn speared through her chest and drenched the top of my head in warm blood as I lifted her lifeless corpse and tossed it in the corner. I looked up at the ceiling two floors above in anger as the blue's blood trickled down my face and into my mouth. Oddly it didn’t taste as bad as I thought it would. "No more missus nice mare!" I shouted and my voice gradually got louder until it built up in the Canterlot Voice, "I want out. I want my body back. I WILL KILL YOU AND DEVOUR YOUR HEART IF YOU RESIST!" My gaze went back down as the room was filled with blue light. The blue alicorn stallion smiled at me. "Oh how admirable. But could you really kill another of your sisters? Say hello to the one you call ‘Blue’. You just killed ‘Sister’. Such idiotic names if you ask me." My jaw dropped in shock. Then my eyes narrowed because I remembered this wasn’t real. That meant the mare I just ‘killed’ wasn’t real. I charged him with my horn lowered. In a flash of blue he vanished and reappeared behind me as I slid to a stop. The stallion shook his head slowly while he chided, "such a shame you’re too stupid to remember the same trick doesn't work on Us twice." "I am not stupid!" I screamed and charged him again. He took flight and chuckled. "You really are.” I jumped into the air and didn’t even get close thanks to not having wings. “Think of the unborn foal. If you leave her mind now, she dies. I'll come back when you've calmed down. Ta-ta." Blue vanished in a flash of light and my eyes went to the size of pie plates. That is a lie! It has to be because that is physically impossible! *** *** Perhaps a day later four alicorns watched while I paced back and forth in front of the only mirror in this Goddess forsaken mansion. I dared not look at the severely wrinkled face nor the brown mane heavily streaked with grey. There is no way I can kill these four before they all run off and fucking multiply. Seriously. They multiplied. Now there's two purple mares and two blues. Except only one of the blues was a mare. My horn and head were scrubbed clean by the blue mare. But the blue male might fun to play with... I shook my head at that nonsense. Then stopped and looked at the alicorns. "I want my body back." The purple mare stepped forward as she said. "Are you not happy here? Think about this: Were you happy with your body?" I nodded. "Yes. I like being an alicorn." "And you’re technically still an alicorn, just not in appearance. You have everything you could ever want on top of a safe place to live. Here there are no homicidal mares trying to kill you. I'm keeping the both of us safe in the real world. Because I am far better at survival than you. The world outside is no place for you. It never was. Can you guess why?" I nodded slowly as my ears folded back. "Because stupid ponies die and the smarter ones live." The blue mare sat down beside me and wrapped a wing around me. I heard her get close as she whispered, "Shock, you’re not stupid. You mustn’t keep putting yourself down.” “Mudpie?” I asked. She nodded. “Fight whatever this is. Get out of here bef-" "I don't think so!" the crimson mare's voice shouted from nowhere. The blue mare looked at me with wide eyes. "No, stop!" Her body began to tremble. “I’ll behave. Let me stay!” I stood up and backed away. "I don't understand. What is going on?" "Just watch what I can do to your friends," the crimson mare said from nowhere. "No!" Mudpie screamed as she covered her face with her forehooves. Her whole body shook and spasmed then she slumped over. "Mudpie?" I asked as I poked the alicorn with a hoof. "Mudpie!" The house chuckled. "She won't be getting up anytime soon." "Mudpie!" I screamed and shook her. "Wake up... Sister...?" I whimpered as tears welled up in my eyes, "Sister, please... Please, wake up! Please?" "Shall I repeat this on another or do you want to stay here, and spare them the torment? I can guarantee you it is very painful for them." I shut my eyes and hugged Sister's body. "You win. I'll stay." *** *** The next day, or so, I was standing in the kitchen making some bacon in a twelve inch cast iron skillet because bacon is awesome. The kitchen was on the other side of the house and the voice had it fully stocked with knives and everything else that was deadly. I knew my way around a kitchen but didn’t know exactly how well. It was a feeling. I looked at the cooking bacon in the pan as it sizzled and popped. My eyes darted to the steak knives as a plan formed to kill the various alicorns walking about even though it was pointless. Sister had come back as drone, twice. My ears lifted up as I thought of something. The voice was arrogant and had told me all I had to do was ask and it'd be provided for. Every time I wanted out it was there to remind me that I was better off here or it’d come up with an excuse to make me stay. Could the voice be so arrogant as to leave a doorway in plain sight and was doing that to distract me from seeing it? I looked back at one of the the purple alicorns standing behind me. "Can you help me with something?" "Of course, Mistress, what is it you wish?" she replied while walking over. I gave a warm smile to the purple as she stopped right next to me. "This," I stated flatly and used my jade green magic to send the eight pound skillet and bacon into her face. Scalding hot grease struck her skull at the same time the skillet did. Metal rang out as it clanged against bone and she fell in agony while clutching at her face, screaming and shrieking from the grease burning flesh. I brought the skillet down on her head and split the the skull open in one blow with a wet crunch. I stepped back as blood began to leak out onto the tile. I turned my attention onto the other purple mare and sent the skillet flying at the same time I grabbed the knife and prepared my magic for the inevitable counter-attack. She dodged the skillet by ducking her head, but I quickly grabbed the pan in magic again, and brought it around across her horn from behind just as it began to glow. The cast iron club struck the horn with a resounding clang and sent her to the floor while her magic exploded. I swung again before she could recover and the horn cracked. A third blow made the crack grow. I brought it down again and snapped the horn off as she screamed in agony. Blood covered the purple’s head from where her horn used to be. I smiled while walking over. "Now... tell me how to leave or you will die a slow and horrible death." The alicorn looked up at me as I loomed over her with two steak knives floating at the ready. She began to get up but my cyber hoof came down and pinned her wing to the floor with a faint crack of the bone. The alicorn squirmed as she tried to get to her hooves. "Please..." she whimpered, "don't kill me... I don’t know where I am. I woke up here..." I brought the blade close to her face so she'd see it clearly as my eyes narrowed. "Then help me get out of here and I’ll spare you." "I can't, he'd kill me for it! You saw what he did to the blue." I pushed one of the blades in just under the skin and started sawing the flesh off like one were to cut a fish. "I can't!" she screamed as she shut her eyes. I ignored her and worked the blade all the way down to the hoof and held up the bloody purple fillet of flesh to show her. I didn't care to look down at the leg as I knew what it would look like. "Do you want me to continue?” I explained quietly, “I can make this last for weeks. One leg at a time all the way around and then your cutie mark." I bit down on the floating skin, ripped off a piece off and slowly chewed as I grinned. "The mirror!" she shrieked as the blade was lowered to the tender juicy meat. "The mirror! All you have to do is sh-" The purple alicorn collapsed with a blank stare. I spit the meat out and wiped my tongue off with the bottom of my cyber hoof. So... nasty! I’m never doing that again. I got up with the knives and skillet at the ready. At the door stood Blue blocking my path out of this nuthouse. “You shall not pass.” he said matter of factly in the smooth mare’s voice. My hooves carried me forward towards the not real pony. I may not have had my chainsword but I had a skillet and kitchen knives. *** *** Blue’s torso lay on the kitchen’s island as blood leaked out from his neck and the stumps that used to be his legs, which were now in the trash. HIs head was laying in the sink with kitchen knives driven into the eyes. The house began to shake as the crimson mare said. “Hm... I may have underestimated your stomach. Rest assured I have a plan.” I turned away from the butchered alicorn and walked out of the kitchen with a fiendish grin. Ahead of me lay a long yellow hallway wide enough to fly in that only got longer the more I walked. “You don’t want to do this.” The mare said. “I can bring them all back again. All you have to do is stop fighting my control.” “No, I want my body back. You have no right to take it from me! If I'm to die out there because of my own stupidity, then so be it!" "Then it's time for more drastic measures. Say hello to Ripper for me." A pale gold pegasus in a clean purple dress and wide brimmed hat walked out of a room and turned towards me. Underneath her dress was a mint condition Shadowbolt flying suit. On her back was a pristine condition Helga with a spinning 20mm vulcan and the trigger was in her mouth. Ripper looked at me with glowing ruby red eyes behind a pair of goggles and I noted fangs protruding from her muzzle that dripped fresh blood. The goggles had a wire which ran down her neck and into the saddle. An orange topaz in her rusting necklace glowed brightly like her eyes. The weapon stopped spinning as she let go of the trigger and shouted in a non-gravelly voice but not the crimson mare’s voice. "Who are you and why are you in my dream? No matter. Care to dance? Let’s go!" Ripper quickly picked up the trigger and bit down. A ball of red shot out of the outermost barrel. I brought up my shield just before 20mm rounds slammed into the glowing green bubble. They didn't go through. Instead they exploded against my shield while destroying the surrounding hallway. The force of the rounds hitting my shield sent me flying back and a literal line of red tracers narrowly missed my nose as I tumbled into a wall. The tracers struck the wall and tore through in a shower of plaster. A glance showed the hallway was now blocked and the only way to go was towards Ripper. Even the damage her saddle had done to the yellow wall was being repaired. I stood up as more shells hit my flickering shield, each hit reverberated inside my old bones. My eyes shut and I braced myself as I poured even more magic into my horn than I did against that plant monster in a desperate attempt to keep it from dying because I had no idea what would happen if I died in here. If it was to be me or her, then it will be her. A second brighter layer of magic engulfed my horn and the impacts stopped trying to push me back much to my relief. But I still strained against it every time they hit and sweat trickled down my face that got worse by the second. I noted that Fake Ripper could only fire in very short bursts that felt like fifty rounds each every second. But those fifty rounds all fired in almost the blink of an eye. When the current burst stopped I picked up the bloody meat cleaver and tossed it. She sidestepped the slow moving weapon and sent a rocket at me. I jumped into the ceiling as it passed and struck the wall behind me. Before my hooves even touched the ground I was sent flying towards the pegasus. She smirked while aiming the saddle ahead of me and another ball of red shot out. Her burst slammed into me and stopped all my forward momentum. I dropped to the floor as I groaned but made sure the shield stayed up. “Ha enuff?” She asked around the bit. “Never!” I shouted. With her distracted on me I lifted the meat cleaver behind her and sent it into her neck. Fake Ripper cried out in pain as she spun around to look at the invisible threat. Her vulcan gatling gun tore through the plaster walls as it finished its current burst. I quickly got to my hooves and charged her. She looked back at the sound of my metal hoof and her eyes widened. Fake Ripper began to turn around again. However I brought the cleaver down on her wing and the pegasus screamed before she could bring the weapon to bear, causing her to let go of the trigger. I picked up my pace, dropped the shield, and lowered my horn. It met some resistance when it hit her dress and uniform but still passed through into her chest. Blood gushed from the wound and coated my head as I lifted the pegasus up off the ground. Much to my surprise she was still alive. Fake Ripper squirmed in a vain attempt to shoot me, but the trigger was held against her neck by my head. She clamped her fangs around an ear and the side of my head exploded in pain as she pulled and tore the ear off. I turned my head as quick as I could and flung her against the wall before she could bite me again. The cleaver came around and cut the straps for her saddle. I lifted it in magic and tossed it away. The weapon thumped on the floor and flopped over even though I had expected it to slide. Fake Ripper lunged at me with her fangs bared. The cleaver struck her in the side of the head and she dropped to the floor as I backed away. As quick as I could I ripped off her hat and goggles and the cleaver came down in the center of her forehead. I stood over her and panted to make sure she was dead, she did not breathe. I pulled the cleaver out as I noticed that the blood she bled everywhere was black. It was glaringly obvious against my tan hide and the yellow walls that it now covered. My eyes widened as Fake Ripper began moving again. She lashed out with a shriek and clamped her mouth around my left foreleg. Her fangs pierced the cloth covering it and I yelled in pain as my vision rapidly grew darker around the edges. I watched in shock as her injuries began to heal before my eyes. As I hacked at her neck with the meat cleaver I screamed, "why won't you just die?!" On the last word the blade finally severed her head from her neck and the lifeless body fell over and began to coat the floor with more black blood. I held up my foreleg with Fake Ripper's head still attached to it and attempted to shake the lifeless head off to no avail. My magic gripped at her lower jaw and pulled. Fake Ripper's vice like grip caused me alarm as I broke her lower jaw with a hollow crack that made me cringe. Her head dropped to the slowly growing puddle of warm liquid. I turned and walked down the hallway to find a way out. After a couple of seconds I heard the sound of movement and glanced back. Both the head and body were surrounded by black mist as Ripper's head rolled towards her body on its own with glowing red eyes. Ripper's head reattached itself and twisted with a loud pop followed by her jaw fixing itself as she worked it around. The monstrosity sat up and looked at me then let out an ear piercing shriek that was so loud it stunned me momentarily. Fake Ripper lashed out with her fangs bared again. I grabbed her saddle in magic, aimed it and triggered the bit. It spit a ball of fire followed instantly by a deafening draconic roar. The fifty 20mm ap rounds tore through the abomination and shredded her side into tiny chunks. Ripper fell over in two halves with a wet plop. Black mist surrounded her as she began to regenerate. I triggered the saddle a second time and turned her head it into black gooey mush on the floor. However the pieces were slowly picking themselves up. I backed up with the weapon above me and sent a rocket after her at the same time I triggered the vulcan. Her body was engulfed in a fireball that blew out a nearby door. I didn't let up and sent four more rockets at the spot while firing the vulcan in bursts as often as possible. When the smoke and dust cleared all that remained of Fake Ripper was a shred of purple cloth, a pile of rubble and a giant scorch mark. 'Is she that hard to kill in the real world too?!' I thought to myself as I continued down the hallway. *** *** I stopped in the long yellow hallway and looked around. Despite travelling for perhaps three hours in a straight line I have somehow ended up back where I killed Fake Ripper. Scorched walls marked the spot of her death so it was glaringly obvious. My gaze went to the walls that had repaired themselves and I wondered exactly how long it took them to repair. With no other ideas I aimed the saddle at the wall and triggered a burst while covering my face with a hoof. Plaster shot back at me as I cut a door out of the wall that began repairing instantly. I jumped through and into a vast white room that had white floors and a white ceiling. As I looked back the hole closed and left me surrounded by white void. Everywhere I looked caused me to sway from vertigo. I cast my gaze down and walked along with the saddle floating in front of me. No sounds reached my ears and neither did any smell. Whatever or wherever this place was, it was completely sterile. I began to wonder how hard it really was to leave. ***===***===*** We, the four of us, sat inside what was left of a ruined office building overlooking the Steel Ranger naval base through the destroyed window. A razor wire fence ran around the perimeter with guard towers every hundred feet that had spotlights casing the outside in regular intervals. Their main base of operations was a large rusted combat ship that had a flat deck. The fools even had lights strung across it to make it easier to see the work they did at night on the Vertibucks that lined the deck. As we watched the patrols I noted their lethargic, almost complacent, disregard for any danger whatsoever as they readied the ship to get underway tonight. They must not considered this... Shell Shock and ‘Sister’ to be any threat. The three alicorns Shell Shock knew, even her companions she met, all thought she was a foal that was mistakenly transformed into an alicorn. Oh how wrong they were. She was an old addled pony with a massive void in her memories that made it easy to hide in and manipulate. And an easy place to keep her locked away for eternity if she’d only just calm down and accept the fact that the wasteland is no place for her. My world began to get smaller and I realized something was wrong. ***===***===*** “What have you done?!” the crimson mare shouted as she materialised in the flesh. I smirked because she was within easy range of Helga. Without saying a word I sent a burst of 20mm anti-personnel rounds after her. All of them missed but she wasn’t my target. The stream of red tracers exploded the ground beneath her hooves and sent the cutie mark-less unicorn flying. She landed and slid along the white room as it slowly changed. A world filled with death formed around us. Derelict buildings that were crumbling from time and the recent megaspell detonation formed to our sides and made a nice killing zone. A green snow covered street replaced white ground. The white ceiling was now orange and purple clouds that whistled and howled as they dumped green snow in a torrent: My prison for her and her hell. The crimson mare stood up and frantically looked around. “What... how did you do that?!” I walked towards her through the snow while shouting, “you call Us a blank flank, yet you are one?! How dare you!” Our tone took on a foals as we mocked her, “Blank Flank! Blank Flank!” “Now now... That’s no way to act,” she replied. “Give me control back. Things are in motion that if we do not act immediately weeks of planning will be lost!” I held the saddle above my head and sent a rocket after her. The crimson mare bolted away as the warhead struck ground and rained green snow down on her as it flipped over a wagon. “The time for talk is over!” I shouted and sent a barrage of bullets and rockets in her general direction hoping something would hit her. One of the buildings began to crumble from the assault and collapsed in a cloud of dust and snow. “Let me out of here and I won’t kill you!” There was a sound behind me like a vacuum and I spun around. A large wall sized mirror rose from the ground and reflected a rubble filled room overlooking something with lights at night. I tossed the empty saddle aside and stepped through the mirror. Before I did anything else I turned around and looked at the mirror as the crimson mare galloped after me. “We can co-exist together!” she shouted. “You don’t understand what’s going on out there! I can help. There’s a volca-” Before she could finish I spun on my forehooves and bucked the mirror. It shattered into an infinite number of pieces and spread everywhere like water. The room began to shake again. ***===***===*** As the shaking died down I blinked and looked around the derelict room. Voices of confusion reached my ears and I registered three alicorns behind me. A glance down showed no Pipbuck either but my leg was green and I wore zebra armor. I pulled the cloth back and saw there were eight scars on the leg. “What is going on?” “Where am I?” “My chest hurts...” Sister groaned. “Why does it feel like my neck was bitten-” “You!” RJ shouted. The three of them just now registered me standing there I turned around to look at them. “You hit me in the face with a skillet!” Blue screamed. “You butchered me!” My eyes widened as I realized that the voice was right. It was them! I began to back up as I attempted to explain myself. “Wait... That was...? I didn’t... I’m sorry... Please don’t be mad! I... I... Sorry...?” I bumped into a wall and couldn’t get any farther. The two of them walked forward. However Sister got between them and spread her wings out to block their path. “Stop!” she shouted. “She didn’t know what was going on.” “All she did was stab you with her horn!” Blue retorted. “Now move so I can kill her before she does something like that out here!” Sister looked back at me and sighed. Then she looked forward. “Shock is slow and stupid,” her voice was as if she was talking about a sibling while she continued, “why that is I don’t know because most greens are usually highly intelligent. Now before you beat her into paste think about what she was going through. You’re trapped in your own mind by a pony that is doing Goddess knows what with your body. Then the pony presents three-” “Four.” I added sheepishly and used Mudpie’s tail as a shield. “Four alicorns for you to interact with. The pony that took control of you takes control of the other alicorns in the world you’re trapped in and blocks your every move to regain control of your own body. What do you do? You remove the blockage any way you can.” “She didn’t have to throw scalding hot grease in my face!” Blue pointed her hoof at Mudpie. “You didn’t see what she did to me! She has to be stopped before she does something like that for real!” I poked my head over the tail and said. “I’m sorry! I thought you weren’t real! I would never, never, never do that to a real pony!” “I don’t believe you. At least raiders have the decency to kill their victims before they flay them!” “Are you two honestly so dense as to not see that there was no way to peacefully regain control of her body?!” Sister shouted. My ears picked up the sounds of heavy hoofsteps rapidly coming up stairs and I turned my attention to the stairwell. “Steel Rangers!” I hissed. “Good,” Blue said. “We can turn you over to them and get the bounty.” My jaw dropped as I looked over at her. She began to walk around Sister but before they could reach me Sister turned around and hugged me tight. A blinding blue light enveloped us causing me to shut my eyes. Cold steel replaced the wood floor of the room as the light died down. The smell of rotten eggs blew in on a wind from the east and a metallic groan reached my ears as I opened my eyes. Across the bay to the west I could barely make out the lights of the Steel Ranger Naval Base. Sister and I sat on top of a fallen funnel on the Crescent Moon. Her quad funnels were in horrible disrepair. One of them had fallen across the deck and had been built around, another had lots of holes in it and two looked to be missing paint completely. The white superstructure that ran down most of the length of the ship was heavily faded with large chips flaking off. “Shock, I’m sorry but I have to do this. Don’t get angry,” Mudpie said and it caused me to look at her in confusion. She leaned forward and kissed me on the lips as my eyes widened in shock. But I relented my dislike for mare on mare action for a minute and let her have the kiss. Because she defended me against the other alicorns even after I stabbed her. My ears drooped and I prayed to the Goddess that no pony saw us. After an eternity Mudpie let go and smiled when I didn’t hit her. Instead my eyes welled up with tears and I hugged her tightly while I buried my face in her neck. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know... I swear I didn’t know!” “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I figure kissing you is payback for you stabbing me. I’m alive so it’s of no concern. The other two however... I think they might hold a grudge based off that blue wanting to turn you over to the Steel Rangers.” I looked into her blue eyes that still sparkled when she smiled at me. “How do I know this is real? How do I tell?” I looked around again and asked. "Where is Comet and Zakiya? What happened? How long was I stuck there?!" "I don't know to the who those ponies are and it's been three weeks since I woke up, found you missing, and suddenly my whole bodily control vanished." My head came whipping around as I looked at Mudpie with dinner plate sized eyes. "Sister, am I pregnant? Tell me, am I?!" "Who put such a stupid idea into your head?! Shock you of all alicorns should know how highly unlikely it is for a normal stallion to do such a thing to you. That’s why we were looking for a way to make male alicorns. It's impossible." Yes, this is real. I smiled and nodded. "Yes it is a foalish idea. But that mysterious pony put it in our mind." “I notice you’re using your mouth to talk now. That is good.” She smiled then looked up. My gaze was also drawn up to the sound of flapping wings. The real Ripper with terrible condition everything circled overhead as she looked down at the yellow tablet clutched in a foreleg. She then looked at us and exclaimed, “why hello there, ladies!" “Ri-Ripper?” I asked as I tilted my head, “what are you doing here?” “I had the strangest dream and woke up with this device,” Ripper pointed her other hoof at the tablet, “beeping. It annoyed the fuck out of me so I followed the compass and came across the two of ya kissing. Ya need to get a room. Seriously get a room, or cloud, fuck and get it over with. You’ll feel better.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mudpie grinning. 'Not happening!' “What about your Balefire bomb?” I asked because I wondered if it was safe to leave it alone and to change the subject. Ripper landed next to us as she put the tablet away. “It’ll still be there when I get back. So have you encountered them yet?” “Um... no but we have encountered ponies who may have. They live aboard an airship called the Celestia’s Delight.” “The Delight still flies?!” her ruby red eyes widened. “Woooowwww... I thought she got knocked out of the sky years ago.” “What do you know of the Delight?” “Oh, lots,” she replied matter of factly. “The Delight is a zebra navy auxiliary cruiser. If memory serves me right she sunk seven... eight...? Ten...? Twelve, yeah, twelve Equestrian transports in the span of four months. Which is a lot when you factor in she worked alone and had to keep re-disguising herself after each one.” Sister raised her hoof. “Can somepony explain to me how a seagoing ship flies?” Both Ripper and I looked at her and said in unison, “magic!” “Why is it called the Celestia’s Delight if it was a zebra ship?” Sister asked the obvious again. Ripper tossed her forehooves in the air in despair as she shouted, “I’m surrounded by morons! I just explained it. Disguise. DISGUISE! You know, VISUAL camouflage?!” “But it doesn’t make any sense!” Mudpie shouted back. “They’re zebra’s! Why would they name it ‘CELESTIA’S’ when they hated Equestria?!” I ignored Ripper and Sister’s bickering about ship names as I gripped the tablet in magic, ripped it out of Ripper’s dress pocket and looked at it. My magic pushed the functions and I found that it was blank and dark. I beat my hoof against it in an attempt to turn it on to no avail: The device was keyed to Ripper. So I shouted at the device as I shook it with magic, “where is Rose? Where’s Comet?! Where are the others? I don’t have a Pipbuck, please tell me what to do!” “Is she always like this?” Ripper asked as she pointed a hoof at me. Mudpie nodded slowly. “That’s why I love her.” “And here they call me insane.” she said dryly. Then the smell of rotten eggs grew to almost a gagging level and the distant thunder of a massive explosion in the east reached our ears. Ripper turned to the east and her mouth dropped. “Uhh... I think I need to move my bomb to higher ground.” I followed her gaze as she spoke and I gasped. Off in the distance was an orange light at the top of the tallest mountain. Slowly running down the side of the mountain were multiple lines of orange and more of the bright liquid was shooting out of the top in small explosions every second. A massive pitch black cloud reached into the heavens to obscure the stars and moon. The cloud loomed over the city as grey snow slowly fell and lightning flashed inside the cloud while thunder kept coming until it was almost constant. “What is...?” I asked softly as I caught a snowflake in a hoof. I rubbed it with my other one which caused it to smudge and realized what it was. “It’s ash... then that means...” I looked back up at the mountain. “It’s a volcano.” Mudpie finished for me. A high-pitched whine echoed up from the engine room of the Crescent Moon. As the whine died down there was a loud metallic thump followed by many small vibrations. My gaze was drawn to the outer lights of the ship as they rapidly turned on one by one down the length of the ship. The hull groaned as it slowly moved back and after a few seconds the rusted chains holding it to the dock went taught. With a shudder the whole ship shook and groaned as its rearward momentum was halted. Sister and I were thrown aft and we slid down the giant funnel to the deck as it rocked in place, or would have had Sister not caught me with her forelegs. She hovered away from the ship as the Crescent Moon moved forward until the chains went taut again. In the course of flying away from the ship I only just now noticed how massive it was. She looked to be eight hundred feet long and ninety feet wide and severely rusted with recent, like in the last month, repairs. They repeated this maneuver over and over, and each time it was accompanied by a loud metallic slam that echoed over the distant thunder. Due to the sheer size of the vessel it looked to be happening in slow motion and each time it was pulled to a stop it pushed a wall of water into the dock. Eventually one of the severely rusted chains at the stern snapped and fell into the water with a large splash. The ship continued on until the bow chain went taut and pulled the bow down. The rocking funnel finally broke loose of the area built up around it and slid off the superstructure into the bay with a thump. I watched in amazement as the stern was lifted out of the water and slammed into the dock as the large starboard propeller began to tear it apart in a spray of splinters and water. The ship began to back away as it angled itself from the dock. It rapidly, or as rapid as a ship that large could go, picked up speed until the bow chain went taut and finally ripped the thing holding it to the hull off the rotted wood deck. The chain anchor, along with various bits of the deck, slid off into the water and the Crescent Moon began to navigate from the bay. I looked across at the Steel Ranger base and noted that their flat decked ship had begun to move as well. Though it didn’t have as much trouble as this one and was already halfway out of the bay. Ripper looked at me and shouted, “if ya got any business in this city I suggest you finish it fast. ‘Cause that lava’s gonna run right through this valley on its way to the sea!” I thought over her words and I got perhaps the worst idea in all of Equestria. “Your balefire bomb!” Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Swing for the Moon. You deal 10 additional damage with all melee weapons. Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, III. Objective updated: Kill Eclipse. Side quest updated - ???? Escape From Oakwood. Self explanatory. Companion perk - Stealth Mare: Your invisibility spell is more effective when Mudpie is in your party. Chapter 7: Out of the blueChapter 7: Out of the blue “When the shit hits the fan, duck.” "Balefire bomb?!" Sister shouted in my ear as she set me down on the roof of a tall building. "Shock have you gone insane?!" I shielded my eyes from the falling ash with a hoof while I watched her land and fold her wings. Ripper landed next to Mudpie and tilted her head as she asked, "what about it?" I smiled. "We can use it to make a crater to gather the lava and save Oakwood City for a while." Ripper scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "I dunno. We're not exactly talking about dynamite here. The blast is kinda... big. It'll damage the city even if we put the bomb at the base of the mountain." Sister nodded. "She's right. And do you really want to add more radiation to the world?" I turned around and looked across the bay to where the two departing ships should be. I could not see beyond a hundred yards. Because ash was now falling like rain while the cloud blotted out the sky over the whole city of Oakwood making the night turn into a moonless pitch black night. "Where is Rose, Comet, and Zakiya?” I shouted, “what about the Enclave?! They have five Raptors and could-" "Enclave?" Sister asked, which caused me to turn my head to look a her. She walked over and looked at me like one does to a young foal. "Shock, we ran the Enclave off the island when we first arrived twenty years ago. Don't you remember?" I worked my mouth in an attempt to reply but came up short. Sister put her hoof on my shoulder as she continued, "they had five Raptors. We destroyed two of them and lost the other green in the process. The Enclave ended up retreating after losing a third Raptor." "But Comet was real!" I shouted. "I... I left him on the Delight! He gave me a massage and others talked to him! Go there. They can confirm it." Ripper flapped her wings into a hover. "I'll go check the Delight out." Mudpie watched Ripper disappear before she looked back to me. "Sorry. I don't buy it." She turned her head as a syringe was levitated out of her saddlebags. As she looked at me I saw her pained expression and I began backing up. "Shock, I'm sorry but I have to knock you out for a while." I asked with a tilt of my head, "what's wrong with my plan?! It'll work!" She shook her head. "No." Mudpie teleported right next to me in a flash of light as the bubble came up and trapped her inside. The syringe pierced my neck and stung while I felt the liquid inject into my system. I dropped the useless shield spell and stepped back. "What did you put in me?!" I asked as my eyelids grew heavy. My hind legs gave out, forcing me into a sitting position and refused to work. My forelegs slowly grew numb as well. "A little poison from that barb you picked up mixed with two doses of Med-X. That hurt me more than it did you." My forelegs gave out and I slumped to the roof. I tried to stay awake, to fight the drug, but in the end it was pointless without Dash. As my eyes shut I managed to say. "I don't... understand..." *** *** As I regained consciousness I was blinded by a bright spotlight that shone on my face. I blinked and tried to focus to no effect. All I saw was white. When I tried to move I found all four of my legs were bound. I glanced over to use my magic, but fire shot through my horn which caused me to flinch. A dark shape walked in front of the light and dulled it through a long flowing mane that all alicorns have. She lifted up a hoof to hit something and the light clicked off noisily. A soft orange glow replaced it and my eyes adjusted slowly. I saw we were in some kind of metal twenty foot wide room. Mudpie sighed. When she looked at me her eyes showed regret for what she did. "Shock. A month or two ago I had a dream about you. You were doing exactly as the dream played out. Even suggesting we use that bomb. Which we did in the dream. It killed thousands of ponies still in the city and saturated the island chain with its radiation, slowly killing many more. I had to stop you. Do you understand? I couldn't let it become reality." My ears folded back against my head as she spoke. "You drugged me because of a dream?! It wasn't real!" "It was!" She shouted. "I couldn't let you do that. It would have been madness to go through with it!" "Madness?! No... I'm not insane!" Mudpie nodded slowly. "I'm afraid you are. Tell me what this Enclave pegasus looked like. I remember all of their Raptor commanders." "Slate grey. Gold eyes. A two-tone silver and blue mane. His name was Comet." Her jaw dropped a little. "Oh... fuck. Um... okay. Maybe you're not as crazy as I thought." Mudpie took a deep breath and continued. "Okay! Moving on. I strapped you to this table to protect you from harming yourself or the city. Ripper is checking on things but...” I nodded. “Yes. She is clearly insane.” “Only in the daytime it seems. Did she try to get you to eat invisible food? Because I refused and she brought out a knife.” Mudpie's horn glowed and another syringe was brought out. "I'm sorry but I have to do this again." "How come you can do magic and I can't?" "Horn lock." She nodded towards me and I looked up at a metal device with wires encasing my horn. I watched as the needle came closer. "This'll only sting for a second." "Wait! I'll be good. Please, Mudpie, I can help." "I'm afraid talking isn't going to work." Mudpie looked at the syringe. "Now this is a more potent dose. You've only been out for three hours and this should knock you out for a day." "Don't. Please don't." I was powerless to stop her. The sharp sting of the needle buried itself into my neck and I quickly lost consciousness. *** *** My eyes snapped open. The room was empty and I was groggy and partly unfocused, but eventually it went away and was replaced with a strange calming feeling. I looked left as Ripper walked in through the door with a tray of actual food and drink on her back. She walked around the device I was strapped to and set the tray down in front of me. She grabbed the sandwich in her hooves and hovered off the ground. Ripper tilted her head. I raised an eyebrow in response. "Something on your mind?" "Did... you ever have a weird dream? Like you were somepony you weren't but you were similar?" "Why are you asking me this?" She looked down at the sandwich as she said. "Well I had one where I was surrounded by alicorns and I was my old self. Then this unicorn randomly appears that sounds like you. She killed me and I woke up." "Oh... um. Yes, that was me. Are you that hard to kill for real?" "Would you like a bite to eat? It's a BLT." "Sure. But first. Did you get to the Delight?" She nodded. "And?" "They did see a pegasus with a bag of Enclave bits matching the description you gave." "And the volcano?" "Still going after two days. Most of Oakwood's residents fled to another island on the two ships and the lava seems to be cooling before it even gets remotely close to here. I did run across a pony you'd be happy to see." "Who?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "A small friend of yours." She looked over and I followed her gaze. Rose stood in the doorway looking at me in confusion. "Why is Shock strapped up like that?" A fiendish grin formed on her face. "Did you two have kinky sex and I missed it?" "No, that's... disgusting! She's a walking corpse, and an ugly one at that." Ripper floated away and clamped down on the sandwich. It was crunchy and sounded good. She gulped it down without chewing. "For that remark you don't get any food." I stuck my tongue out at her because she doesn't know that I don't need it anyway. Rose walked over and smiled at me as she spread a pair of small wings and hovered to my eye level. I grinned at her. "What?" she tilted her head. "I knew you were a Dashite." "Not really. It's complicated and I don't feel like telling you. Let's get you out of this silly thing." Ripper swallowed another bite then said. "Did I mention she wanted to use my nuke to make a crater to gather the lava and the blast would have taken out half the city and we tied her up to stop it?" Rose sighed as she looked me in the eye. "Is this true?" I nodded. “Yes.” "Well I commend you for trying to come up with a solution and I'm glad Mudpie stopped you from implementing it." Her eyes narrowed and she shouted in my face, "because that's a horrible idea! There's more than just ponies here! There's animals, gryphons and other things." "I guess I didn't think it through. I'm better now though. If you let me out I swear to The Goddess I'll be a better pony." "I don't know... I think you should stay like that until you really mean what you say. It’s kinda cute." "Ya wanna hear something awesome?" Ripper asked. Rose and I looked at her as she put a shot glass on her forehead to look like a mock horn. "I'm the Empress of ponies in another timeline and older than Celestia and Luna combined. Bow down before the Goddess of Greed!" Rose looked into my eyes as I said. "At least I'm not like her." "Good point." The small pegasus undid my hind legs then hovered up to undo my forelegs. After I dropped to the floor I lowered my head so she could remove the annoying horn lock device thing. It fell to the floor with a metallic thunk. My legs felt stiff and sore but I lifted Rose up and hugged her tightly. She attempted to hug back but had a hard time due to her small size. Mudpie walked in and her eyes widened. "What's going on in here?" I set Rose down then glared at Mudpie. "How dare you! I thought you loved me and would never harm Us. Yet here you are stabbing Us with needles and forcing Us to sleep! And then you invade my dream where I should be safe from prying eyes?!" "I had to knock you out. Because you weren't going to listen to me. I'm sorry about the dream thing. I know those are private but I was curious as to why you were mumbling. Ripper confirmed your story about the Enclave and I came to apologize for my actions." "Ripper's right here." I pointed my hoof at the ghoul. "You're a little late to the party." Mudpie nodded. "She was supposed to just feed you until I got the courage to face you again. Not let you go." "What do you mean 'courage to face me'?" "You scare the shit out of me, Shock. That's what I mean. Especially after you butchered that blue while she was alive. And because you share your head with another pony that is capable of taking alicorns over. I don't know if I'm talking to you, or her, or about to be stabbed by you again." "Wait. What?" Rose asked in shock. "Shock did WHAT?!" She immediately hovered to my eye level with a stern expression. "You tricked me! How can you butcher a pony and stab your own sister?! What's this about sharing your head? I take it back, you're crazier than Ripper!" Said ghoul finished off her sandwich with a grin. She picked up the bottle of water and took a sip. "It's complicated. Yes I butchered a pony, but she's still alive." Rose arched an eyebrow. "Yes, I stabbed Mudpie with my horn and killed her, yet she's still alive. But all of that happened in a world created inside my head by this other mare that only recently manifested. She took over my body for the last three weeks and made me do things that I couldn't see. Please believe me, I would never ever butcher a real pony!" "So wait... some other pony is in your head with you right now?" I nodded. "How is that possible?!" "I don't know. I placed her in a mental prison and want her gone. But it's only a matter of time before she escapes." *** *** The ash cloud had thinned out enough to let in the daylight, yet it was still there as the volcano slowly erupted and warm sunlight bathed the rest of the island chain. The initial eruption was violent in that it was heard all the way in Oakwood City. Its residents knew of the coming eruption thanks to a purple alicorn that was a recent arrival and had recognized the signs. The purple informed the locals just before she was taken over by the pony I now had locked away. What did they do upon hearing the warning? What any pony does when faced with a threat they can't kill, everypony panicked. Including Ripper and I. The purple was standing nearby glaring at me. Where Mudpie or Ripper had found her I have no idea. The Pipbuck that had previously been on my leg was sitting between us. My stuff was behind me and I wore the zebra armor. Mudpie's cutie mark of two crossed revolvers had come back after she defended herself with her pistols against something yesterday. My own flank was blank as was this purple’s. Purple's eye twitched. I knew the reason just as all the alicorns I was connected to knew who I was despite me having been a crystal unicorn in the dream. She pushed the Pipbuck over. "Put it on." "Why?" "Call it your punishment, Thief. You're a zebra sympathizer." I lifted the Pipbuck in my magic and opened it as I looked on the inside. There was dried blood on the padding that should automatically fit your leg just fine and I saw the eight cut marks made by the blades in the padding. It was hovered over my leg and I wondered if I could still shoot lightning so I could hurt her and not have to worry about this any longer. "I’m not a zebra sympathizer," I told her as I shook my head. "You must have me confused with another pony." "Right. Forgive me if I don't believe the pony that ate my skin." "It wasn't real!" I shouted with a glare. She slammed her hoof down on the table. "Put the damn Pipbuck on!" I placed it over the spot with a frown while wondering why I was doing what this alicorn was telling me to do. The Pipbuck was set down on the table and I shook my head. "No. It is a trick." She looked over at Mudpie in the corner and nodded. "I see she learns quick." "Yes. Nothing works twice on her." Mudpie replied. The Pipbuck was invaluable to me despite it being a trap. I had initially wanted to take it off so I could pretend to be a unicorn and get close to Eclipse so I could capture her. But since RJ and Blue saw me in the zebra armor that was no longer an option. Now I could have the Pipbuck again. I lifted it in my magic and placed it over my left foreleg then closed the clasp to lock it. As it was booting up and fitting itself to my leg Mudpie groaned. "Shock, you’re a moron." She facehoofed. Quartz looked at me with wide eyes. The slowly went back to normal and I thought I saw a smile form on her face for a second. "Why would you do that knowing what it can do to you?" I began to flip through its functions as I replied. "Because it is invaluable." "It's broken! The EFS doesn't even work properly." I held it up with a smile when I found everything was as I left it. All of the markers, notes, and radio station. It was even more comfortable than last time because it wasn’t trying to cut my leg off. "It tells me where to go. If I try to take it off, then yes, it will hurt me. Until then it is fine." The map told me that we were inside the Cloudchaser wreckage. Which meant that the balefire bomb was nearby. What I found odd was that I just noticed how heavily scratched and dented it was, but the dents and scratches looked very old. You could see the marks I had made as they were much less dirty. It was as if the previous owner had constantly hit it in an attempt to remove it. I don't blame them. "I will treat you better," I whispered to the device. The EFS flickered to life causing me to smile at the four blue bars. Then I frowned when I saw an orange one. I pointed my hoof at it, "hostile." Mudpie stood up as she levitated out a pair of 10mm semi-automatic pistols. "I'll check it out." I gripped the chainsword in magic and pulled it out as I followed Mudpie. She went through the door and looked left then right. I pointed towards the bar and she went left. I stepped out into the Cloudchaser's dark and heavily rusted passageway. The two of us followed it and it felt like it ran the length of the ship, which it most likely did, and ended with a compartment that was blocked by a shut hatch with a wheel. When I looked back the purple was right behind me with the Buckmaster Automatic Rifle floating in front of her eyes. She had it aimed right at my head as if she were making sure I wasn't going to attack. I smiled at her and she raised an eyebrow. Mudpie opened the hatch with a rusty squeal. She stepped inside and said. "So that’s where he went." I followed her in and as my eyes adjusted to the light I saw a large pink pony tied to a chair with a gag. My eyes widened when I took in his dirty pink coat, blue eyes and solid yellow mane. "Bucky?!" I shouted. "No... you're dead. I cut your head off!" This Bucky squirmed in his restraints while he struggled to remove the gag. Mudpie went over and looked at him. "Shock, is this that stallion that used you? Can I kill him for you?" His eyes widened while he shook his head and mumbled something. Mudpie rolled her eyes and undid the gag. "That wasn’t me!" Bucky shouted. "Shock, remember when we broke into that gun shop and I had to take a piss?" I shook my head. "No. It is a blank memory." "Anyway. When I went into the back this freaky bug-pony thing knocked me out and I woke up in here." "Are you a Steel Ranger?" I asked with a tilt of my head. He shook his. "No! Those assholes are raiders with high-end technology. I'm just an idiot prospector whose got a thing for a fine looking alicorn." I smiled and nodded. "Yes, you are Bucky. Mudpie, please untie him. His bar is blue." She went around behind the chair and untied his restraints. There was a noise behind us and I turned around to see Ripper. She tilted her rotting pale gold head. "What are ya doing? He's supposta remain tied up." "Why?" I asked. "Did you knock him out and tie him up?" Ripper shook her head. "No. This guy was dropped off with specific instructions to be kept tied up and alive. The teal mare gave me five thousand caps as compensation and I didn't argue." "Red mane in a large braid?" Ripper nodded. My face burned in anger. "Eclipse." I hissed through my teeth. Bucky slowly looked around at his surroundings. I watched him curiously and noted he didn’t have any earrings or matted fur from where a Pipbuck would have been. In fact as I look back in Mudpie’s memory that I had access too... he didn’t wear a Pipbuck at the time. "So then if this is Bucky, then who did I kill?" "A changeling bounty hunter and my brother," a familiar voice said as the room was lit by a green glow from my side. I saw that instead of a purple alicorn holding Fallen Angel to my head, a black bodied blue eyed bug like pony with fangs held it in their hooves. It had translucent blue bug wings that held her off the ground. It smiled at me. "You really are an idiot. I can't believe you even put the Pipbuck back on knowing it broadcasts your location to any bounty hunter with access to the frequency. Now let’s do this nice and-" I charged her with my head lowered and speared the ugly thing with my horn. Foul smelling blood coated it as I tossed the lifeless thing away. I looked over at Mudpie and Bucky. The alicorn was smiling and Bucky looked shocked. "Well she was going to kill us." I said. "Kill them first I always say." As I looked forward Ripper blocked my path. "I can't let him go. But if I were to be asleep and he escaped then it's not my problem." Fallen Angel came up and I pointed the .308 automatic rifle right between her eyes. She nodded. The trigger was magically pulled and the rifle barked twice. Two .308 slugs bored their way through her skull and struck the deck of the ship behind her. I watched as black blood leaked from the holes while she just stood there for a second like nothing happened. Ripper's eyes shut as she fell sideways to the deck. From my past experience with her I assumed she was still alive. I looked back at Bucky. "Come with us if you want to live." *** *** As the three of us exited the remains of the Cloudchaser I wondered if that alicorn was really the same one I encountered in my dream or if she had access to the memory, and where Rose was. A dense fog blanketed the area and made it hard to see beyond a hundred yards. But I didn't have long to think as Bucky said. "So, you don't remember me telling you how pretty you looked?" He grinned. "I do remember something like that before I began drinking. Why do you ask? Is it my mane? I changed it you know. Yours is nice.” Mudpie rolled her eyes as she put away her weapons and spread her wings. "Stop flirting, start flying." She flapped her wings and took flight. I attempted to do the same but my wings squirmed under the Zebra Legionnaire armor. My hoof began to undo the clasps so I could fly. However my ears picked up the sounds of ponies, or those bug things, moving through the rubble. I grabbed Bucky's hoof and dragged him towards a gap in the red bars as I quietly said. "We're surrounded!" Ahead of us lay a crumbled building which I roughly tossed Bucky towards. As I did so the strangest creature came walking out of a nearby building causing me to stare at it in shock. It looked like a ghoul pony but that is where the similarities ended. It had intelligent glowing green eyes, patches of glowing green under the skin and where there was a mostly missing mane was a white ship captains hat. Its clothing was a heavily tattered ship captains uniform. I tossed the rifle to Bucky and brought out the chainsaw broadsword I had named Hyde. My magic squeezed the trigger which caused the weapon to roar to life. The glowing ghoul looked at it and smiled as two normal looking ghouls in tattered khaki uniforms stepped out. "Give us the earth pony and you can walk away, freak." The glowing one said with a hoarse echoing voice. “You’re heavily outgunned by the remnants of the Equestrian Navy. Your Zebra magic can’t save you.” I glanced around and noticed more coming out. Most had weapons like pistols or shotguns with a few rifles but the one thing they had in common was that they were all in matching uniforms. The captain came closer and my Pipbuck complained while I felt the warm glow of radiation flow from her. It made me almost run up and hug her to get more. I sidestepped and looked at the captain while Hyde's teeth slowed to a stop. "What's he to you?" "He has information about the whereabouts of a certain... artifact. The CV-23." My mind worked over the designation. It was a ship designation I knew that much. Something told me it was the designation for the Steel Ranger's ship. "It left Oakwood a couple days ago." I told her. She shook her head. "Liar. That was the CV-21. 23's sister, Hoofington." "Hey!" A pony that sounded suspiciously like Ripper shouted, "all y'all better get outta here before I kick your ass!" Both the glowing ghoul and I looked at her as she stood atop the wreckage. She was wearing her tattered dress and necklace that glowed softly. Her weapon of choice was a rusty anti-material rifle that she was cradling in her hooves. The two holes I had put into her skull were healed with only a slight scar to show that they were there in the first place. The glowing ghoul nodded. "Second Lieutenant Ripper, I heard you died. Now I see that was a lie." Ripper nodded then aimed the rifle at the glowing ghoul but made no move to grab for the trigger. "I'm giving you one chance to leave before I shove a high explosive incendiary round up your ass. Your presence here has attracted them now leave before they get you." "I thought these ghouls were 'them'?" I asked. Ripper's eyes flicked upwards while she aimed the rifle. She grabbed the trigger and a ball of flame shot out of the barrel at the same time I was deafened by the report. Almost instantly there was an explosion above us and bits of flame trickled down trailing white smoke. As the ringing in my ears subsided I noticed movement on the rooftop of the building behind the Cloudchaser. My EFS showed orange bars intermixed with blue. I turned around and jumped behind the rubble Bucky was using for cover. He looked at me in shock. "What the hell is going on?!" "I don't know!" I replied as the sounds of their weapons opening fire filled the air. "Aim for their heads!" The glowing ghoul shouted. I sheathed Hyde while simultaneously undoing my armor. I slipped out of it, put it away as well as Angel and hauled Bucky onto my back. My wings propelled us into the air with a quick flap. I stole a glance down at what was attacking the ghouls but the low fog obscured my vision. I turned my attention back to the cloud filling sky and gained altitude. *** *** I lined up with an alleyway at least five miles away and came in on a glide. Just before my hooves scraped dirt I pulled up and collapsed them, the both of us dropped in a perfectly soft landing. I looked back at Bucky who had his forelegs wrapped around my neck. My smile slowly faded because I felt a hard Little Bucky between his legs on my back. "Tell me you're not serious." I deadpanned. He slid off and shrugged. "I couldn't help it. It just happened." I nodded. "Tell me how did we get married?" He scratched the back of his head with a pink hoof. "Well... I don't remember getting married and we weren't that drunk when I was knocked out. So I'm guessing that was with the bug-pony. Sucks to be you." I gulped and couldn't believe I kissed something like one of those bug-pony things let alone had sex with it! "We shall never speak of it again. Consider us not married." "So we part ways then." He said as he spun on his hooves to go. I grabbed him and turned him around. "Not so fast." I projected into his mind. "There are unfinished things we must discuss." He smiled at me. "So you wanna do it now?" I blinked in shock and shouted with my mouth. "What?! No I meant the ghouls! They wanted you because you knew something. What was it?" "Oh. Yeah. I found some shipwreck on another island. A big one almost as big as the Steel Ranger ship with a flat top that ran aground and fell over.” “Where?” I held out my Pipbuck. He began to nose around the map and finally ended up marking somewhere off in the ocean. He called it CV-23. ”Should be there. Careful because it’s guarded by traps and freaks. Can I go now?" I nodded my head. Then looked around. As I did so I caught sight of another bar on my EFS. My gaze went down the alleyway to where I saw a blue bar moving. A small forest green unicorn mare peered around the corner. Her face was dirty and she looked afraid. I looked back as Bucky galloped away. He didn't matter anymore. I had gotten the information I needed. If a group of ghouls want to chase him that is fine with me. My gaze went back to the filly and I smiled. "Hello little one. Don't be frightened." I slowly made my way towards her as she stepped out fully. She wore padded leather barding that covered most of her body and something about her face was familiar. But I couldn't place it. On her hooves were sharpened metal spikes and I wondered why a unicorn wouldn't use a ranged weapon. Then I remembered that I don’t use many ranged weapons either. She hesitantly walked forward while I brought out a drink. "Thirsty?" "Yes, ma'am." she replied with a firm nod and an authoritative voice. I tossed it over and she caught it in her own red magic field. Ruby red like her left eye, the right one was orange. Her mane was a dark tan color and kept in a way that resembled a stallion's mane cut. She drank from the bottle slowly while pocketing the cap. To me she looked between Rose and Comet in height, but closer to Comet. "Who are you?" I asked. "A pony sent by Zakiya. You have something of hers and you broke your word. She wants the armor back." "So she sends a filly to do it?!" She turned her flank towards me and pointed at her cutie mark. "See this? Means I ain't a foal." She set the hoof down and gave me a stern glare that was meant to intimidate but had no effect on me. "You have two options. Option A: You hand the Legionnaire armor over and I leave. Option B: I make you give it to me. Your pick." "I pick Option C: I kick your ass and fly away." She shook her head. "There is no Option C. It's A or B." Hyde came out while I said. "There's always an Option C." A red glow surrounded her horn as a pristine condition zebra officer sword was brought out. She smiled. "Oh look. I have a sword too! Seriously, why are you subjecting yourself to this? Just give me the armor and walk away." "I choose C." She shook her head in disappointment and charged. I stood my ground because it is foalish to be afraid of this mare. A smirk formed on my face as she got closer. Hyde roared to life and was brought down lengthwise on her as she brought up her sword to block it. In a flash of red light both her and her sword vanished. A pair of hooves slammed into my side and sent me stumbling. Hyde tore along the ground as I brought it around in an arc. She vanished a second time before it got close and appeared in front of me. The mare reared up on her hind hooves while her forehooves came up. She quickly brought them down as I pulled back. A blade on her hoof sliced a line of red across my face and my eye socket instantly exploded in pain. The vision in my right eye blurred red from the blood as it shut. I didn’t have time to worry about the loss of my binocular vision. My Pipbuck quickly came around to thump against her skull. She stumbled and vanished in a flash of red. Hyde was sent to my left where I assumed she’d go. I felt it hit ground before I was kicked from behind. I spun around but she wasn't there. Her short tan tail slinked into my blind side. I growled as my wings propelled me into the air away from this little teleporting monster. My half face burned in pain, I couldn't see very well and it was looking like she was right. I was going to lose because she could quickly teleport. She was looking up at me and rolled her eyes. The mare vanished again. I smiled because for a second I had thought she might have been an alicorn and able to fly. The sound of a window shattering to my right caused me to look over just as the forest green unicorn was exiting the window. My eye widened. She slammed into me and sent the both of us flying against the brick wall. As body slammed into it my head whipped back and struck the wall. I blacked out and felt my body fall towards the ground. *** *** "Hello, ma'am?" the annoyingly fast unicorn's voice echoed slightly as I felt her hoof tap my face a few times. "If you're alive just nod." I groaned as I opened my left eye. My right one felt sore and throbbed in pain. There was just blackness on that side now. Her blurry face filled my vision and I could have sworn I saw two of her sitting side by side. The sound of a pounding surf reached my ears and I realized she had moved me to a beach on the coast. We were in some kind of room with grimy beige walls and a partially collapsed ceiling that was covered over by tree branches. Yet the rain still came in. She brought out a healing potion and held it to my lips. "Why did you do this to yourself?" she asked. I bit down on the end of the bottle, tilted my head back and drank it all before I said. "What do you mean? You did this to me. You cut me eye." "No. I've been a professional about all of this. You made it difficult by going with Option B." Then her face took on a softer expression. "Can I get a favor from you?" "Perhaps." "I need a ride when it gets dark." My eye narrowed at the very idea. "You attack me, and then you want me to give you a lift? No! Absolutely not! Go cry to your mother." She stepped back and her jaw clenched shut. I sat up slowly and looked around with a frown. She had dragged me to some sort of shack. The wood floor had long ago turned grey. A dirty couch and an equally dirty sheet covered it. It took me awhile to realize that this was her home. "You should have a look at your face. I’m sorry about your eye. I thought you’d have brought up your shield or jump inside the swing, or teleport away. Sometimes shit happens." The mare stepped back more as she looked over at a pink and yellow box and it was engulfed in her magic. I watched as it was floated over with the top open. It revealed a mirror on the inside of the lid. A mirror that showed me a forest green alicorn with a bandage around the side of her head and a bloody gauze pad covering the eye. The face looked alien even though it was mine. My mind was telling me I should be a crystalline tan color. I ignored it. I looked at the unicorn as I said. "I look like hell, huh?" She nodded in response. "So what do I call you?" "Athena. A name my mother liked very much. She's been dead for a very long time." She levitated the armor from my bags with a smile. Athena set it off to the side then looked at me. "You're free to go if you want. I'll find my own way back to the Delight." *** *** The rain drenched my mane, tail, and coat while I walked along the beach. To my left far out to sea was a severe storm. Spray blew in off the waves and that made my day even more miserable. I had my flank kicked by a filly much much younger than me. A filly that was familiar. She said my eye should heal, which I'm hoping it does in time. Because having a big deadzone on my right was annoying. Thankfully the EFS mostly worked. To my right was thick jungle that obscured my view of anything important. I watched as a small line of four tracers streaked up into the sky at a small target. Line after line went up toward the vehicle. Eventually one of them struck something vital and it partially exploded underneath. The object began to fall towards me trailing fire. As it came closer I recognized it to be a cargo sky wagon complete with a chrome yellow pegasus with a short black mane still attached to the harness to pull it. She was struggling to keep it aloft but it was hopeless and gravity eventually won. With a large splash the sky wagon slammed into the ocean. The water put out some of the flames while the wagon bobbed on the surface. I watched the pegasus struggle to keep her head above the waves as the machine dragged her down. I couldn't let any pony die like that. My wings propelled me into the air and quickly closed the distance as Hyde was unsheathed. Around her neck was an active slave collar and on her flank was a thunder cloud and lightning bolt brand. The mark of a Dashite. Her aqua blue eyes widened at the sight of me. "Don't kill me!" I ignored her complaint and severed the harness from her body. She pointed her hoof at the wagon and coughed. "Save him too!" I nodded and gripped the trigger. Hyde roared to life and cut a hole in the side in a spray of sparks. As the metal fell in I peered over. There was a bone white unicorn inside with a greying white mane and a nice body floating in the water that was filling the compartment. I gripped all of his stuff. and him, in magic and hauled them out of the hole. I looked over at the pegasus mare and noticed she was hovering nearby. I took flight towards the beach with all of the things and she followed close behind. The beach wasn't far. In fact only the mare had been in danger of drowning. The sky wagon settled on the bottom with at least two feet sticking out of the waves. I set the stallion down and looked at his steadily breathing chest with my one green eye. The mare immediately blocked my view while she nudged him with her hooves. I noticed the bottom of them were tipped black. "Ivory wake up!" she nudged him harder. "Come on, don't die on me!" I grabbed her with my hooves and pulled her away. "He's not dying. Just knocked out. Are you two close?" "Sort of. If he dies my collar goes boom. He's my master and I'm his slave, Tiger Moth. Who are you?" "Shell Shock. Perhaps I can get him to remove your collar?" She shrugged. "It doesn't bother me one bit. I fly Ivory around and keep him happy so he keeps the Enclave away. Better deal than some ponies get." I looked down at the pony she called Ivory as he rolled onto his belly. I smiled at him. "Hello." His red eyes widened as he scrambled back. "Get away from me you monster!" Tiger Moth went to his side and put a black tipped hoof on his shoulder. "Ivory. She saved your ass and lost an eye in the process. Show some fucking respect." He looked at her with suspicion for a second before nodding. Ivory looked at me as my smile returned. Ivory scratched the back of his head with a hoof. "Thanks. I guess I owe you one." I shut my eye as I gave a head bow. "The Goddess saw fit to lead me here at the right time. Thank her, not me." “Where are we?” Ivory asked Moth. "I don’t remember so much... green in the wasteland.” She looked around and shrugged. “No idea we c-” “Perhaps I can help.” I said while holding out my Pipbuck and they looked at the map. “You are on the main island of the Oakwood island chain. It is inhabited by Steel Rangers, Enclave, regular wastelanders, my sisters and I, and other beings. Though I don’t know how you don’t know how you got here. We are at least four hundred miles off the coast.” Ivory glared at Moth and his hoof came around. I caught it in magic before it even got close to her face. She stood up and backed away slowly. Moth shouted, “it had to have been that storm we ran into! I ain’t seen nothing like it.” He tried to pull his hoof away but I squeezed it tightly causing him to squirm and grimace. “Let me make myself clear...” I began with my mind and squeezed it tighter to get his full attention. “I don’t care about slavers. What I do care about is how they treat their property. There will be no more beating of Tiger Moth while I’m around. If I ever see you strike her again, your punishment will be ten fold of hers. Do I make myself clear?” I released the pressure and he gasped in relief. “Crystal,” Ivory nodded and clutched the hoof. I saw a ghost of a smile cross Moth’s face. Then he looked at the sunken sky wagon as he asked, “so how do we get out of here now?” I looked towards the area where the guns had shot from as a small plan formed in my head. Then I looked at Ivory. "We say hello to the neighbors." *** *** The EFS showed about seven bars scattered about the camp. On the back of a steam truck was a quad machine gun turret. Two ponies were sitting by a fire cooking fish. One worked on the gun while another worked on ammo. One was walking a patrol while two others stood watch. The steam truck had a boiler at the front along with a large pipe for the exhaust. These ponies didn't look like Steel Rangers and neither were they hostile. I looked to my left at Ivory and Moth crouched low behind some branches while I blended in much easier. I still had the Buckmaster and brought it out. Moth smiled at it but it was gripped in Ivory's red magic field. He brought it close, checked the ammo and asked. "Any more clips?" I nodded and gave him the two extras that Ripper had filled up. "Why can't I have a gun?" Moth quietly whined. Ivory looked at her with an arched brow. She pointed at her collar. "It's not like I'm gonna commit suicide by explosive collar!" I nodded at her logic because it was sound. If she wanted to stay alive she couldn't kill Ivory. A 9mm pistol was brought out and two magazines. Moth gripped it in her teeth. My gaze then went to the camp while I whispered. "Wait here. Only shoot if they shoot first." They nodded in unison and I began trotting forward with my magic gripping Hyde's handle ready to draw him at the slightest threat. The ponies looked mostly bored but the two by the fire were talking excitedly. I made sure to step around leaves and branches that would give me away too early. The closest thing to me was the steam truck. The pony’s head was buried deep in the mechanism and it gave me a nice view of his flank. I smiled at the nice curves and approached it as I asked with my mouth. "Um, hello, what are you doing out here?" "I'm fixing a gun!" the mare replied without looking at me and my eyes widened. I quickly looked at something else as a blush formed on my face. "Damn thing jammed on us. Talk to Sarge if you want more." She flicked her tail at one of the ponies by the fire. "The small one." I walked over while wondering why I hadn't been attacked yet. The two ponies at the fire stopped talking at my approach and I laid down to match eye level with them so as to not appear threatening. It was then that I noticed they wore old Equestrian Army uniforms and were ghouls. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for a pony named Sarge." The smaller of the two, who was blue, raised a hoof. "That's me.” His voice was hoarse. “What do you need?" I looked back at Ivory and Moth then looked Sarge in the eyes and glared. "You launched an unprovoked attack on a civilian aerial vessel. They require compensation for you nearly killing them." He smiled and it slowly turned into a chuckle. "Yeah? Well you're just one alicorn and those forties can punch through your shield like paper. Besides you ain't got no authority over me." I thought back, then smiled at his corporal uniform. "Yeah?" He nodded. I inhaled and Canterlot shouted in his face. "SNAP TO ATTENTION SOLDIER!" Their eyes widened and they obeyed instantly with a sharp salute. My voice softened back to normal as I continued. "That's no way to talk to your superiors. I am Master Sergeant Lilium Bell. Serial number six, zed, two, seven, five, one." I returned the salute and they relaxed. Their eyes narrowed and Sarge said. "You could have found a pony named that in a memory orb. I need more proof before I believe you." I gave a roll of my eye. "At the end of the war the company I was with was trapped on a zebra hill facing a legion. We used our tank destroyers and punched through before making our way to a stable that had already sealed. Regardless of what we did the door wouldn't open. So we parted ways. My nickname was Dog." Sarge nodded. "Yeah, I remember you now. You guys picked us up on your way to the stable. Except you were tan and had a metal leg. Not... this green thing in front of us." I shrugged. "I was dying of radiation poisoning but I am a better pony now." They glared at me and I grinned sheepishly. "Well there's nothing wrong with being a ghoul. I chose a different path. So what brings you to Oakwood?" "Caps." Sarge replied. "Caps and entertainment." the other one said. "What if I told you the entire Crystal Empire treasury was lost at the end of the war and there’s a pony on this island chain that might know where it is?" "They use caps now, Do... Master Sergeant." "Dog is fine. What is wrong with gold? We can start anew with it! Build a new army and take over." He scratched his chin. “I don’t know. It’s a lot to think about. I’ll let you know tomorrow.” I looked over at Ivory and Moth as I shouted. “Come on over, they won’t hurt you!” My gaze went back to the ghouls. “You won’t, right?” He shrugged and shook his head. “Not if they’re friends of yours.” "Good," I nodded. "They require food and a place to sleep." *** *** My ears picked up a pony moving through the camp under the cover of a drizzle. I slowly opened my eyes as a black ghoul approached me. His grey mane was mostly gone but the cutie mark on his flank was unmistakable. I sat up while my jaw hit the floor. He stopped short and looked at me as his eyes slowly narrowed. "I heard you call yourself Lilium Bell. You better clear out before I snap your neck." "Midnight?" I tilted my head. He nodded slowly. “You have five seconds to prove to me that you are who you say you are.” “There was a snowstorm one winter about thirty years after the world ended. I went out in search of food while you stayed behind. You said the alicorns weren’t friendly and I wouldn’t come back. I ended up losing my way in the blizzard. A green alicorn found me and took me to shelter.” "I waited," his voice was shaky, "I waited for days for you to come back. I searched for weeks and came up empty. I got sick, worried, and thought you died! Why didn't you visit me? Show me a sign that you were alive? Anything would have been fine!" I brushed his rotting black cheek with a hoof while I said. "I tried, but The Goddess punished me if I did so." "Well you look... good, Lily. Better than me at least." My watery eye looked into his orange eyes. I did the only thing I could think of. I hugged Synth tight. His horn softly rubbed against mine while he returned the hug. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "I was an idiot and should have listened to you. You were right. I was wrong. I never came back..." "So what'd you bring me to eat? I’ve been waiting for a long time." He said in his rough voice. I was glad for the subject change and knew a game he was hinting at. I pulled back slightly and smiled. "Warm apricot pie." "Oh?" he tilted his head. "And where is this mystical apricot pie? I see a green apple pie in front of me and I'm very hungry." I mentally scolded myself for forgetting my color change. My smile turned into a grin as I pulled him right up against my body. "Yeah? Well too bad, mister. The kitchen is closed." His ears drooped in disappointment while I pulled away. "It's because I'm a ghoul, isn't it?" Synth asked. "No. We've been separated for a very long time and I've had a recent bad relationship. Let's take it slow.” It was a lie. He looked hideous and I was in no way going to let him get even close. He cocked his head 45 degrees. "Define bad relationship." I touched my horn to his to show him everything from me attacking the Steel Rangers by myself to this point. I left no detail out. He knew of everything, even bug-pony Bucky's drunken pleasure romp. When it was over I hadn't realized that I was crying until he wiped the tear off my muzzle. The sun was coming up by then and bathed the clouds in an orange glow as it tried to penetrate. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I won't tell anyone here about the bounty. I had many mares, and one stallion, that didn't even come close to filling the wound you left." "Coltcuddler." I smiled at him. "He almost replaced you. He was that good." Synth winked. I feigned a hurt expression and put my hoof to my chest. "But Synthie, your mother wouldn't approve! If she found out she would call me and say 'Lilium, what is my son doing with another stallion? Go get him back this instant'! Then I'd have to kick his ass." "True." He nodded then smiled. "So where's this blue alicorn?” "She comes and goes." I looked down between his legs and forced a smile at the ugly flesh. It wasn't a pretty sight. "Does that even work?" "Reconsidering your denial?" he asked as he spread his legs a little wider. I almost touched it to see if it would fall off. Instead I tore my gaze away and landed on the steam truck. "No. Only curious." I said quietly and made a mental note to find some brain bleach in the form of moonshine. He got closer and whispered in my ear. "Even with that bad eye you're as beautiful as Celestia now." I pushed him away in anger with a snarl, Synth fell over into the mud with a plop. "And what was I before, a fat cow and convenient warm fuck on those cold winter nights?!" I shouted. My joints were stiff and protested as I stood up to my full height to glare down at him. "I didn't mean it like that," he said as he rolled to his hooves. He looked up at me with his big orange eyes in an attempt to do an eye trick to get me to change my mind. “I meant you’re even better looking now than before!” It didn't work. "You meant exactly what you said. You thought I was ugly and... and, and fat!" My eye narrowed and I tracked him with my head while he walked in a circle checking me out. "What?" I asked snidely. "Nothing. Just trying to figure out how you managed to become this alicorn. I mean it's obviously a new body because you have four legs and are a different color." I shut my eye while I slowly shook my head. His words caused me to wonder whether or not I should tell him or simply show him what happened. I settled on telling him. "Synth. I am the same pony with a reformed body. The green took me to Maripony and only then did they tell me the truth. I would be turned into one of them. Instead of running away, I took off my cyber leg and jumped over the railing into the vat of I.M.P." The air behind Synth shimmered and revealed Mudpie with her head tilted. "You jumped into that shit?!" Synth recoiled in shock at the sight of the blue alicorn. "I was scared shitless!" I smiled at her. “Yes, it was like a warm bath.” Then a thought struck me. "Why didn't you help against Athena?!" I shouted. "I did," she replied with a shrug. "After you fell to the ground I teleported the both of you away. Those... things were closing in." My ears drooped because I realized Mudpie watched me fight the filly without lending a hoof. Though with how fast the filly was teleporting and moving I doubt she had a shot. I nodded and pulled Synth against my body with a wing. He smiled and Mudpie's face darkened as a scowl started forming. It quickly softened and she forced a fake smile. I looked over and nuzzled behind Synth's ear just to make her more jealous, then I looked at her and said. "This is Midnight Bell. I call him Synthie. I rescued his flank a few weeks after the balefire bombs fell and we were very happy together." "Right..." She rolled her eyes. "Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm. I'm happy you two found each other again. But don't you find it the least bit suspicious? Look around you." I let go of Synth and turned a full circle. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The others were asleep. Ivory was using Moth as a makeshift pillow to get away from the mud. She had a smile on her face and apparently didn’t mind being mostly covered in mud, or being used as a pillow. I suspect there’s more to their relationship than master and slave. The mechanic was passed out by the steam truck indicating that she worked well into the night. "Nope. Everything is perfect here." There was movement near my blindside, so I turned my head. The Goddess was standing inside a group of trees watching us. She nodded slowly. "That's not what I meant." Mudpie said. I looked at her and hugged Synth again with my wing. "Then what did you mean?" he asked. "She showed you everything, right?" Synth nodded. "Okay, then answer me this: Where is Rose? Each time Shell Shock is alone after she leaves, a random pony tries to kill her." Synth bobbed his head around while he thought over her question. He nodded. "True. But it seems like coincidence. If Rose was a changeling then that means what she mimics must be her size. She probably has bad luck and it seeps over to Lily." "Fair enough," Mudpie nodded. "But you listen here, ghoulie, you better not betray her. Otherwise you won't see me coming." "You must have me confused with a pony that's dead. I would never sell her out like that." Almost as an afterthought he added. "Even if she did disappear for over a hundred and seventy years." I smiled at his rotting visage. Mudpie nodded and hovered off the ground. She looked at the both of us. "I'm going to go see if there is anything nearby." Before she could turn to fly away I grabbed Synth's mouth and kissed him on the lips. It was awkward having to lean down to do it but it had the effect I was going for. Mudpie's face turned a deep shade of purple as her face reddened in anger and the scowl formed fully. Synth didn't notice. He was too absorbed in the kiss and had his eyes shut with his forelegs around my neck. I decided to break it off before he tried to tongue me with whatever it was he called a tongue. When I looked around Mudpie was gone. So I felt around with my mind and connected to her. "Now perhaps you will stop coming onto me," I projected and broke the connection. He glared back. "So, let me get this straight. She loves you, you reject her and break her heart like that? What the fuck is wrong with you?! Go apologize!" I sighed and took flight. *** *** Athena's shack was small and rundown from the outside. It sat well out of range from the high tide and close to the treeline. A low misty fog had rolled in from the sea and made everything grey. I swooped down and landed softly at the door. My hoof came up to knock but I hesitated. I wondered what if Mudpie had taken her to the Delight, but it was daytime and there was a single blue bar. I shrugged and knocked on the door three times. It took a few seconds before it was opened by a sweat covered Athena levitating one of Mudpie's semi-automatics. I found her two different color eyes disturbing. She smiled as she lowered the weapon. "Hello, ma'am. I take it you're here to see Muddy?" I nodded and the door opened all the way. "Come in. I'll make some tea." I walked inside and noticed that a sweaty Mudpie was on the couch glaring at me. "What are you doing here?" she asked as Athena shut the door. "Don't you have some zombie to cuddle with?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what they were up to. I shook my head. "I came to apologize. What-" "You could have told me about him sooner!" she shouted. “You knew about my feelings and teased me, yet all this time you had him?! That... that is just-” "Now now. Let her explain." Athena said from the fireplace. "Fine," Mudpie grumbled as she crossed her forelegs across her chest. I nodded. "I didn't know he was alive and you knew I liked stallions. So me liking one shouldn’t make you rage like that. I'm sorry I made you upset. I had no idea you would react like that." "Except this one's different! I don't like him. Something's off with the whole thing. He just happens to randomly appear after Rose goes missing again?" I watched as Athena set three cups of tea down. I lifted mine in magic then looked at it funny while wondering if it was poison, but Mudpie took a sip of hers. Athena scooted close and wrapped a foreleg around Mudpie. "You two look cute," I said and smiled. Then took a sip of tea and noticed it tasted like sweet pineapples, so I drank some more. "Well Muddy came here severely upset over what you did. I comforted her and it escalated rather quickly. So yeah. You don't have to worry about her anymore." I nodded and drank the whole cup. It took me awhile to notice a certain effect. I was getting warmer across my whole body and felt like talking all day. Mudpie smiled at me as she set her cup down. "Do you know what you just drank?" I nodded. "Good tea that tasted like pineapple." Athena grinned. "There was a truth serum injected into the tea. Will you answer Muddy’s questions honestly?" "Yup!" I exclaimed and held out my cup. "Can I have more? I liked it very much." "Sure," Athena replied as she filled it with magic. I lifted the cup and sipped it. "It's more of that serum though. I wasn't sure if you'd swap cups so I spiked the pot. In other words... we’re all drugged." "First question: What's your name?" Mudpie asked. "Which one?" "Your real name." I shrugged. "Dunno. The only pony name I know of is Lilium Bell and it doesn't sound like my name. It was given to me in my earliest memory." "Why don't you know?" I drank half of my cup before I responded. "They said it would be bad if I knew my real name. I didn’t question. There's also a biiig gap in my memories. It's where another pony is being locked away currently. She likes to insert herself in the place of another pony in a memory in an attempt to take control. I wish I could have thumped her over the head with a stick instead of a rocket up the ass..." Mudpie scratched her chin with a wing for a few moments before she nodded. "Okay. Do you love Midnight Bell?" I shrugged. “It’s doubtful now.” "Alright, have you ever had sex with a mare?" "No!" "Why not?" she tilted her head. "Why don't you like mares?" "Because two mares can't make a foal and I want a foal! And we're so needy and emotional." I held up my hoof and pointed at it. "I mean really, have you ever seen such a bad looking hoof? I want a hooficure and grooming, and mud bath, but I don't know where to get one! I want armor, but I can't fit into any. Well there was one, except a familiar looking green unicorn stole it from me. Want, want, want! Could I live with another pony who's also like that? Ugh, no way. Not even as a roommate." Mudpie glanced over at Athena, then looked at me and nodded. "Sounds like your logic alright. Would you ever have sex with me? Say if you were drunk?" I shook my head. "Not unless you turned into a stallion. Then I'd totally have your foal right now. Synth is, well, he's a ghoul and... fucking hideous now." "Okay that was the creepiest answer yet." Mudpie looked at Athena. "Are you sure this didn't make her crazier too? She's normally more subdued and less vocal." "Nope. Just your standard MoM truth serum." Mudpie shrugged. "Moving on. Are you going to be a better pony?" I nodded. "Will you help the wasteland and not try to take it over?" "I only wanted to help from the start. They don't like us and it forces me to use drastic measures, like guided missile." I stood up and set my tea down. As I turned around my EFS lit up with orange bars. "Hostiles." I grumbled. “Shit they must have seen you,” Athena laid down and made herself as small as possible as she whispered, “get low, don’t make a sound and pray to your Goddess they don’t come in. They can rip limbs off as easily as you levitate an object " Sister and I obeyed without question. I laid on the floor with my face turned to the side to avoid my long, exquisite, horn from protruding up. My face itched under the bandages but I made no move to fix it. I just grit my teeth and glanced around with my eye. What sounded like wet thumps slammed into the walls as if a pony was walking on them and they followed the bars as they moved to the roof. "The door's locked, right?" Mudpie whispered. "They don't use doors," Athena replied as she covered us with the sheet. The room was filled with diffuse light when whatever it was removed the sticks covering the hole in the roof. A pony shape stuck its head in before it dropped down with a plop. The orange bar moved over to the fire Athena had going and stayed there. All that could be heard was the crackle of flames and a strange whistling sound like a pony whistling a tune. Soon another bar moved in next to it followed by another. I glanced at Athena, who had her eyes shut, and wondered if the three of us could take them down. Except if she was afraid of them then that meant they were very dangerous. There was a crash and orange flames licked at the couch as they knocked over what Athena used as a fireplace. The whistling increased to a slight howl as the other two joined in. I connected to Mudpie and fed her my magic as I said in her mind. "Get us out of here." She pulled more of my my magic at the same time I felt her wrap us in a teleportation spell. The wood floor was ripped away and was slowly replaced with jungle and rain. In a blue flash we lay somewhere in the jungle on the island. Judging by the fatigue I was feeling we had teleported far away from the shack. "Well Shock," Mudpie panted. "Welcome to Stable 384." I sat up and looked around. All I saw was thick jungle hillside and it took me almost a minute to spot the shape of an overgrown concrete bunker with a still sealed door. I got up and left the two lovers while Athena complained about her place burning down. *** *** Stable 384 was clean and rusty at the same time if such a thing were possible. The floors and half of the walls were spotless. But the ceiling and top half of the walls were rusted into disarray. Mudpie was right. It felt as if no pony had set a hoof inside here in the last two hundred years. To further spur that feeling there was nothing. No beds, no machines in the cafeteria, no terminals, no bones anywhere, but the air filtration system worked just fine, which was quite… odd to say the least. We had made our way down to the deepest level of maintenance to a room that was massive and spotless all over. I was forced to cut the door open with Hyde to get in because the terminal required a special card to access and none of us had it. How convenient. The room was unlike any I had seen before. In the center was an octagonal glass room with an open door and ten metal disks inside. Around the outside was a metal catwalk. Mudpie and Athena stood at a console of sorts on the wall while they fiddled with the dials and buttons trying to turn it on. I was standing at the threshold of the glass door and stepped inside the room. Metal grating echoed beneath my hooves as I headed for one of the discs. My gaze went to the ceiling where I saw pipes and vents for who knows what. All in all I was quite curious as to what the machine did, but it was quite silly to me. The room felt like it served no point. They had built it here for some kind of reason, yet it never activated? Who builds such a thing?! My heavy saddlebags reminded me that the body snatcher was still in my head, or so I thought. She had filled them with food, ammo, cloth and a few RadAways. Clinging tightly to my form was a suit of stable barding I had found in the complex, my wings poked through a pair of slits I had cut in the fabric. I felt like it would at least protect me against a knife and I would be able to use my wings should I care to do so. As I lowered my gaze to the others, I saw Mudpie push a red button on the console. After a few seconds went by, she frowned and flexed her azure blue wings. “Huh. Guess this thing is broken.” I nodded at her logic, because it made sense since that would be one reason for ponies not using it. Athena was sitting near the blue alicorn with a blue book floating in her green colored aura. She flipped the page as her eyes moved back and forth. “This says here that they were working on a device to get ponies from one side of Equestria to the other in less time than it took for a skywagon or train.” I stepped over to one of the metal discs and tapped it with my hoof, receiving a glass like clink instead which caused me to frown. “Makes sense, but this doesn’t seem that good.” “What do you mean?” Mudpie asked, drawing my attention back to her. “If it worked, then why was it not made bigger?” I tilted my head as I unfolded my wings and refolded them. “They clearly were onto a good idea. You could transport more ponies to other areas in the blink of an eye.” Then, I looked down at the disc. “But only ten?” “Shock, what on this island makes sense?” “Good point,” I muttered under my breath. “Aha!” Athena shouted. “It says here that we need to have the door closed to go through the pathway.” With a nod, I turned my head towards the door and engulfed it in magic. As I pulled it closed, Mudpie shouted, “Shock, wait! We don’t-” Immediately, the glass room was encased in darkness as the lights dimmed, but was quickly replaced by a faint glow coming from the floor. As Mudpie rushed over to the glass door and failed to pull it open, a faint humming emanated from the walls around me. A tingle in the air caused all of my fur to stand on end as if I were about to be struck by lightning. I backed away from the glowing disc, thinking it were the source of the tingle. Mudpie uselessly banged her hoof against the door. “Use your sword! I can’t teleport inside!” she shouted, her voice muffled by the glass. I nodded at her idea and concentrated on finding the weapon, which was easier said than done as ice shot through my horn when I attempted to grab it with magic. Stumbling back and falling on my flank, I cried out in pain as I hit the metal grate below. The ice receded when I stopped trying to use magic. My shaky hoof brushed my long, exquisite, horn as if doing so could make it feel better. "I can't," I whispered. Mudpie and Athena could not hope to hear it through the glass. The blue's ears folded back when she saw my predicament. I was stuck in some kind of chamber that we had no idea what it did other than a theory. "Shock!" Mudpie slammed her hoof against the glass again. "Wake the fuck up!" I looked over at Athena, who had moved into my blind spot. The forest green unicorn was busy adjusting dials for a reason unknown to me. Her face was buried in the book and a feeling of dread washed over me. I quickly shook it off and charged at the door, heading right for Mudpie. My body weight slammed into it, the force reverberating through my side and up into my jaw. Mudpie grabbed the door handle with her hooves and tried to pull it open as I jumped into it a second time. Only to have the same result greet me. The glass didn't even crack or shudder. As I backed up to get another running start, I finally noticed the glass was at least as thick as my hoof. My hoof touched something and I felt electricity and fire shoot up my leg, causing my wings to pop out as I screamed in pain. The burning sensation was followed by the feeling of my leg being ripped apart one molecule at a time. As I reared up and flapped my wings in a futile attempt to escape the pain, I could feel my other leg rip apart under the onslaught of whatever the machine was doing. The sensation quickly moved into my empty stomach where I felt nothing. I didn't have time to even open my eyes before the burning and ripping sensation shot up to my lungs, then engulfed me completely. Through the pain I felt like I was floating on the air; however, the pain suddenly vanished and I felt myself falling through a strange blue and purple vortex. All manner of sights, sounds, and emotions ran through me as I tumbled down the rabbit hole. My bodily feelings slowly returned and vanished again a few times. I saw a familiar blue alicorn's face float by. As I reached out to touch Mudpie, she vanished just as quickly as she had appeared. I looked around and saw that they were all my memories, strangely connected to each other. There was Mudpie, Blue, RJ, and other alicorns including The Goddess herself. She radiated perfection everywhere she appeared even if she did not physically show herself. Even the mere memory of The Goddess was perfect in its own way. But, I felt the memories slip away and I soon tumbled out of their sight. There was the Destroyer, that little shit who killed the Goddess. My hoof reached for the memory, but I stopped and stared at the silver metal as the swirling light glinted off it. I brought up my other hoof and saw my tan hide sparkle in the light as if the Crystal Heart was on full blast. A warm feeling in my chest swelled up as I smiled at the sparkling hooves. I was whole. Whatever magic they built into the machine gave me my original body back, but the effect did not last. As I tumbled towards a spot below, I felt my insides catch fire again. I watched with wide eyes as my crystal coat caught fire and burn to a crisp before a purple light blinded me. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Thick skull. +10% damage resistance against attacks to your head. Quest complete - Escape from Oakwood. Side quest accepted - Voices in your head. Get the other pony out of your skull before it drives you to madness. The clock is ticking. Side quest failed - Where's my money?! Reason: some other pony completed it before your slow ass did. Side quest failed - The Box. Reason: You failed to retrieve it from Ripper before leaving Oakwood. You're a nublet for forgetting that. Chapter 9: Surf CityChapter 9: Surf City "Are our deeds written in stone or sand?" I laid on the nice, soft, sleep inducing couch cushions. The feeling caused me to feel as if I were about to pass out again. The dream journal floated in front of me in jade green magic as I slowly flipped through its pages. It seemed so real. I had felt the pain, suffering, and yet... this says it's not real. This right now feels real enough. That pony I cut up last night felt real enough. I set my hoof on the journal as I sighed at a passage with Midnight Bell on it. He was handsome but he didn't have talons, claws, and a beak, or wings. I used magic to flip quite a few pages back and read a random passage out loud to my belly. Bucky did not exist anymore, neither did Eclipse, nor that horrible plant monster. All that exists right now is this nice, amazing shower and soap. We do not care where they get their water and soap, but it is lovely. It smells like... apples. “I was told you needed some towels, so here they are.” A deep male voice says from behind Us. We gave a nod of thanks. “Thank you, mister...?” “Cola.” We did not look back as We roll Our eyes. “Let Us guess, the first half is Sparkle?” “Pretty much.” We facehoof as We groan and turn to look at the orange stallion. Our eyes pop open wide at the same time We shout, “alicorn!” Ignoring the shower, We walk over to him while still covered partly in soap. Our eyes wide as We check out the powerfully built, and perfectly beautiful, stallion from ear to hoof. Our gaze lingers on his flank where he had an actual cutie mark. It was of said drink, though We do not know why he would have a cutie mark of Sparkle-Cola. We stop at least a leg’s length away. His muscles were tense and ready to run as he flexed his wings for some reason We do not know. Our gaze move up to his yellow eyes as We ask. “How...?” “Ever heard of Killing Joke?” We nod slowly because We have seen its effects first hoof. “I used to be an earth pony, but fell into some and ended up like this. Been hiding on this ship since because of that damn bounty.” We took a couple steps closer as We ask, “how long?” “A few months or so? Why?” We smile as We step even closer, and almost touch his nose. He was now forced to look cross eyed at Us in fright. “Because the Goddess has been looking for one such as you for a very long time.” Our hoof came up to caress his cheek. He flinched, so We lowered it. “Do not be frightened by Us.” We whisper to him in a sensual manner as We nuzzle his nose with Ours, "We can show you what it means to be an alicorn. All you have to do is open your heart to Us.” “I’ve... got to go,” he replies as he bolts from the shower room. Our ears fold against Our head as We look at the floor. Were We too pushy? Was that why he ran? Then a smile crept up on Our face as We begin to chase after him. Two hundred years of waiting for... I closed the book with magic as I frowned in disappointment. "Perhaps you're not ready to hear that sort of thing. Let's look at another part, Clyde." The book was opened and flipped a few pages back. Our tank blasted across the green snow covered field. We were on the lead tanks left to cover that side. The rough ground caused all four of us to bump and bounce around slightly despite the suspension soaking most of the bad terrain up. Our three tank platoon was flanking a platoon of zebra heavy tanks and we had used a small hill to our advantage to swing around behind them. We came around the hill as more of the toxic green shit rained down and the turret rotated left sixty degrees on the Commander’s command. The hydraulics, engine noise, and metal on metal contact made everything so loud you had to shout into a helmet intercom system to be heard. The Gunner sighted in the Zebra heavy through her scope and pushed a button nearby. Immediately the gun’s breech shot backwards as all sounds in the turret were drowned out by the report of the gun. As the breech momentarily stopped to slide forward it spit out a large brass casing. The breech slammed forward to its stop and I used my magic to put the empty casing into the empty side where the ammo was stored. I did not worry about the cordite smoke as some of it filtered back in through the barrel, because we all were forced to wear gas masks as even the air outside was toxic. The tank was not fully sealed. “That’s a knockout.” The Gunner commented dryly as if she were bored. “New target,” Commander ordered over the headset built into our helmets and masks. “Nine o’clock, middle tank. Load AP. Fire when ready.” I turned around and engulfed an AP shell in with magic as I pulled it off the rack, and loaded it into the gun by pushing it with a hoof. I slapped the breech closed with a hoof. “Round up,” I said as soon as I was clear of being smacked in the face by the gun. The gunner adjusted the aim of the gun and compensated for our movement. “Firing,” she pushed the button again. The gun went through the motions and she swore. “We blew off his cupola. Load another, quick!” “Right five degrees and give us more juice.” Commander ordered the driver while I complied to the gunners demands. The tank complied and sped up. The breech shut and I shouted over the hydraulics. “Round up!” “Firing!” She yelled and pushed the button then frowned as the gun went through the motions. “Bounced.” I quickly loaded in another shell and was about to shout when, suddenly, I was thrown around the cramped turret at the same time something loud slammed into us. Our vehicle spun around to the left when its left side track disintegrated and sent our tank whipping around. The gunner quickly worked the hydraulics to aim and fired off a snapshot as I slowly recovered from hitting my head on the gun in the spin. “Bail!” The commander shouted and we each opened our hatches. My magic opened the hatch above me and I squeezed out into the toxic snow. I was not as used to the maneuver as the others and slipped on the slick metal. Which caused me to fall, hit my head again and tumble into the snow covered field. As I lay there for a second, staring up at the clouds, I prayed to Celestia that my thick cloth barding protected me. Movement caught my eyes and I looked over at as Lead’s turret rocketed into the sky in a fireball before it fell to the green snow as it trailed fire. With an unladylike grunt I hauled myself to my hooves. I closed the book again as I sighed and shook my head. "Perhaps this book isn't meant for you, Clyde." My magic engulfed said book as I slid it under the couch to hide it from prying eyes. "Let's take a nap. Maybe we can get back there and make it better for everypony." I told nopony and laid across the nice, soft, sleep inducing couch. *** *** I was jolted awake as somepony banged on my front door. A look at the clock revealed it was still early in the day. The loud knocking continued. "Alright!" I shouted and the knocking ceased as I got off the couch. My gaze went around the empty apartment. An empty apartment devoid of happiness. I reached the door, opened it with magic and nearly gasped. There before me stood a green alicorn with a bloody bandage over her right eye. Her short, for an alicorn, green mane flowed slightly and there were many small scars on her left leg. She swayed on her hooves, and slowly blinked. "Help..." she whispered in my mind as she collapsed in a heap and shut her eye. "Make them stop talking. Please, make it stop, make it stop!" I poked my head into the hallway and looked up and down it, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I grabbed the green alicorn by the mane with my teeth. She was pulled inside my apartment then I shut the door with magic. I knelt down as I gave her a nudge in an attempt to get her attention. She opened her eye and smiled at me, but it was a pained smile that caused me to wonder if she was all there or not. I also noticed she had scars in the same general areas that I did. "You're not real," I said as I sat up and backed away. "But of course I am," she replied in my mind. "I'm... You." I shook my head. "No, you're a figment of my imagination. I'm Lilium, not... some freakish monster that-" Her laughter reverberated inside my head and cut off my sentence. "Did you enjoy killing that pony earlier?" she asked softly. “When you shoved your blade through his heart?” I looked away in shame as I mumbled, "no, I did it to feel better." "And do you...?" Her pained voice asked. I nodded. "Yes, he was an asshole and deserved it. Besides, no pony knew who he was. Just some random crimson stallion." She curled up into a ball and began to shiver as if she were cold. I placed my hoof on her head and sighed deeply. "See, we are the same," she said in my mind. "I felt a familiar... hunger and followed it to its source. It hurts..." "What does?" "The voices... Can't you hear? Everypony here. I can hear them all. Make them stop! Find Mudpie, she'll... know what to do. We have endured something similar with her help, but... this... This hurts to even show you, yourself in this manner..." I shook my head in disagreement. "If you're not real, she's not real. Look..." I trotted over and pulled the journal out from under the couch. Then tossed it at her hooves. She chuckled inside my head and smiled, but her mouth had yet to open. "We do not need to look inside, as We know the contents already. They have gone through Our memories. To create a world in which you would be happiest and not question its legitimacy. A monster chained and held in reserve, is better than a monster on the loose. But they did not... realise... Our telepathy would subconsciously pick up everypony's thoughts." My eye narrowed in annoyance at her. "Let's pretend you're talking truth. If what you say is true, then why are you here?" "Because it hurts to hear so many voices at once... I suspect I know why The Great... and Powerful Goddess failed... She could not think clearly. Please, Lilium, help Us. You're not really pregnant, you don't have foals, you can't. This place isn't real!" "Shut up!" I screamed as I kicked her hard in the side with my metal hoof. She grunted and curled up tighter as she received a second kick. "I don't wanna hear any lies from an imaginary pony. I don’t care if this is fake. I like it here!" I lifted my cyber leg and brought it down on her skull as hard as I could. The metal hoof passed through her head as if it were not there and slammed into the floor with a loud crack. My eye widened as she flickered and vanished like a bad light bulb along with the journal. There was a knock at the door, which drew my attention before I could even comprehend what had just happened. I shook my head to banish the strange thoughts, recomposed myself and trotted towards the door. As I cracked it open a familiar crimson face greeted my vision. I smiled warmly at Dawn Star's concerned expression. "Hey," she said and then mouthed. "Are you alone?" I nodded. "I'm fine. There was... a bug." I grinned a fake grin at her to assure her everything was fine. Then looked back to where there was a hoof shaped dent in the floor. "I got it though," I said as I looked back at her, “the bugger was almost as big as my hoof!” "Oh," she gave a half nod. "I was in the hall and heard shouting. I thought you were in trouble or something..." "Have you seen Eclipse or Sienna? I need to talk to them about Midnight and I." She shook her head and my heart sank. "Lilium,” Dawn Star began in a concerned tone. “If you see anything 'strange' you'd let me know, right?" I nodded with a smile. "Like if I saw a green one eyed Celestia that claimed she was me? Of course I'd tell you." She arched her eyebrow in response. "Yeah, like that. Did you make that up just now, or...?" "Just now. I'm gonna get dressed and go look for the foals. You’re welcome to come if you want." “I have to wash my mane,” Dawn Star said then turned towards her door. I shut mine and laid my head against it as I sighed deeply in frustration. Nosy neighbors are never a good thing. If she gets worse I might have a need to deal with her quietly. *** *** My saddlebags were slightly heavy with a .44 revolver, ammo, bits, and paper. I was wearing a slightly loose brown dress that hid my curves slightly. And I acted as if that encounter with that... one eyed green freak never happened. My metal hoof thumped twice on the door as I knocked and waited until it was open by a white earth pony. She faked a smile at me and I nodded a greeting even though I did not like her much. "Hello, I'm looking for my daughter, Eclipse." She frowned. "Who? I don't kno-" "Eclipse!" I shouted and held my cyber hoof to about chest level. "She's a teal earth pony, and about this high." She went to shut the door, but my metal hoof was wedged between in. I did not feel the pain but I heard the crack of the wood. The white mare sighed. "Lilium, you don't have a teal filly, just Sienna." My eye widened slightly and twitched at her completely false remark! "She's a friend of your daughter, Rose!” I screamed in her face, “I have two fillies!" She nodded as she let out a deep sigh. "Midnight told me to turn you away, okay?" She shoved my hoof back through the gap and slammed the door in my face. The wood almost bumped my nose and I slumped into a sitting position, then looked down the hall where no pony was. I shut my eye and pondered this. Then I remembered Eclipse's hateful words. 'Maybe I will'. I slammed my hoof against the door a few times and it opened again. She barely cracked it open this time so she could see out with one eye. "Wait," I said before she shut the door in my face a second time. "Where is she? I need to talk to her, please, it's very important. We can't part ways on the words we said last night." "Look, I don't know what you must be going through, but leave. Midnight picked her up yesterday. I'm sorry." The white mare gently shut the door. I heard it lock as I sighed then trotted towards the elevator. Dawn's door was closed, as was everyone else's. The elevator dial was slowly moving up from the ground floor. I stopped at the brushed metal doors and looked at my vague reflection. Though it was green with a flowing green mane. I ignored the psychological reflection as I tapped my hoof on the up button and waited. As the doors opened, I stepped into the empty lift and tapped the button for two floors up. The doors waited a few seconds then shut and my stomach did flips as I was jolted upwards. The lift ride wasn't long and they opened again to reveal an identical hallway. I trotted forward as I looked at the grey flooring and white walls. Efficient, yet ugly. Arid Rain's apartment literally was directly two floors above mine. Even down to the location in the hallway. I knocked gently and a slightly tall dark blue unicorn mare opened the door. "Hello, Nova," I waved my hoof at her in a greeting. "How's things?" She smiled and opened the door further. "Greetings, Lily, the foals were just taking a nap. I'll go get Sienna." I grabbed her by the hoof with my normal hoof before she could turn around. "I just thought you should know. Last night... Eclipse caught Sienna kissing Arid Rain and said they were whispering sweet things to each other, but I'm not sure how true it is. " Her blue eyes went wide in shock as her mouth dropped a little. "What, my Arid Rain is a...? Are you serious?!" I gave her a firm nod. "Well then! I suppose I should give her a little talk as to where her priorities should lie. Like colts." "If The Goddess wishes her to be a fillyfooler, then that is her will. Good, bad, I support Sienna to grow into the mare she wants to be." "I know they've been friends practically since they were born," she sighed. "But can you at least discourage it when they're at your place? I don't know about you, but I want grandfoals." I smiled at her and gave a nod. "I will see what I can do. But I know Eclipse most certainly prefers colts. So I do not have to worry so much in that department." She looked down at my hoof that still held hers, which I only just now realized as well and my cheeks heated up in a slight blush. "Well, some of us don't have the luxury of more than one foal." Her brows knitted together as she sat down and ran her other forehoof over mine while her horn, and hoof, glowed a soft blue . "You're troubled by dark thoughts, old memories... and strange desires. I could help you to relieve these desires and thoughts." I rolled my eye and yanked the hoof away then stomped it down. "Nova Blue, please go get Sienna. I have no patience for your parlor tricks today." She nodded and disappeared in a flash of blue light. Only to reappear almost a minute later with a groggy looking Sienna. As soon as Sienna saw me her face lit up brightly. The filly bolted towards me and clamped my regular foreleg in a bear hug that felt like she was trying to kill all blood flow to the area. "I had the bestest day ever! We went out an' had pizza!" I smiled as I nuzzled the top of her head. "That is good. What do you say?" She looked at Arid Rain's mother. "Thank you for an awesome day, Miss Nova Blue." Nova waved a hoof. "I'm sure Arid enjoyed it as well. A little birdy told me she liked you a lot." Sienna shook her head so quick I thought it was going to fall off. "Nuh-uh! I slipped an' she caught me, but she also slipped an' we fell on top of each other. It was an accident!" The aforementioned other foal walked up and peered around Nova's hind legs. "Bye, Sienna." she said with a wave. I saw the look Nova gave Arid Rain. It was a look my mother once gave me. A look that says 'you're in deep shit and I'm going to lecture you about fillies and colts until your ears bleed'. "Bye, Arid! I'll see ya at school!" Sienna waved. I turned towards the elevator as I nodded at Nova Blue. "Thank you for watching her." "It's what friends are for," she replied with a nod. *** *** On our way home we ran into Mango. The gryphon had passed by a news stand and picked up the days paper. The headline? An unidentified stallion was gruesomely murdered in some alleyway with no witnesses or clues as to who did it. Of course they won't identify him. His head was weighted, tossed in the bay, and the sharks have most likely already feasted on it. The paper was now sitting on the coffee table. Mango was cooking something. Sienna was sitting on the couch and I was on the floor looking into her eyes. I placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Sienna, I..." I bit my lower lip in worry. Because I was not sure if the ten year old filly would understand. "I messed up big time, okay? You remember yesterday when I told you about Clyde?" She nodded and hugged herself as she twisted side to side. "Yup! He's gonna be the bestest little brother in all of Equestria!" "Well... Your... Your father..." I shut my eye and sighed as I settled on a lie. "Your father has taken Eclipse on a trip to... The gryphon kingdom." I silently groaned as I facehoofed. "I wanna go!" She hopped up and grinned. My ears folded back as I set the hoof down. "Let's go see them." "I... Um... I have a better idea! Let's go to..." I grinned at her as an idea came to mind. "The Crystal Empire." Her eyes went huge as she fell on her haunches. "I can show you all the amazing things there. Like the Crystal Heart that projects love all across the world. And my old neighborhood. Call it a belated birthday gift. Sound like fun?" Sienna nodded rapidly again. "Awesome fun! Can we bring Arid Rain? She would love it ‘cause she thinks your sparkly coat is pretty too. Why doesn't mine sparkle?" "It will in time. But I'm afraid we can't bring her along. I don't think her mother would approve of it. You see, Arid's mother isn't as... Forgiving, yes. She isn't as forgiving as I am when it comes to matters of, well, love. Only a crystal pony, like us, truly understands what it means. Promise me, Sienna, promise me that you'll make an attempt at talking to colts." She stuck out her tongue. "Yuck! Colts have cooties!" I pointed my cyber hoof at her. "Sienna... I'm being serious. Promise me, if they talk to you, you'll talk to them and not beat them up." She let out a deep sigh of frustration as she rolled her eyes. Then went through the motions while she said. "Cross my heart an’ hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in my-Aah!" She hit her eye with a hoof in an attempt to Pinkie Promise. "That hurt..." I smiled at her. "Well it was good enough. Now remember, Pinkie Pie is watching you," my hooves came up and I waved them about, "ooooOOOooo." She squealed in mock terror and bolted for her bedroom. As the door shut a pair of eagle arms wrapped around me and pulled me into Mango's embrace. I sighed contently as I felt his warm feathers on the back of my head. "That went much better than I expected. Did you get her something for her birthday?" "She’s not too bright, and no. I didn’t. She’s not mine." he replied and rubbed at my chest with his talons. I turned around as I pushed away with a glare strong enough to drill through his skull. "Go get her something for her birthday!” "Huh?" he tilted his head. "Get the fuck out of my house and don't come back until you found her something she'll enjoy!" Mango practically flew into the door on his way out. I laughed silently. Then my smile turned into a frown as I slumped into my forehooves and groaned. "Knock, knock," a pony that sounded like Dawn Star said. Again I groaned in annoyance as they walked in. "Anypony home?" "Yes," I said as I looked up at her standing next to the entry way. "I'm not in the mood for idle chat right now, Dawn." She pointed a hoof towards the stove where smoke was beginning to rise. "Something's burning." My eye widened as I shot up and bolted over. I used my magic to quickly move the pan off the burner onto an unused one, then shut the burner off, and shoved a lid over the pan as the smoke started filling the room. "Thanks," I said in boredom. "So I passed by a gryphon on my way over. I take it that was the father?" I nodded slowly. "How'd Sienna take the news?" My gaze went to Dawn's and my brows knitted together. "Do you work for Ministry of Morale or something? Because you sure do ask a lot of questions about my personal life." "Nope," she shook her head. I sighed deeply and nodded. "Sienna.. She... I... I couldn't tell her the truth. I told her we're going to visit the Crystal Empire, while Midnight and Eclipse visit the gryphon kingdom for a while. It was all I could think of." I lifted the lid up and was greeted by tons of smoke, but no fire. I placed it under the faucet and ran water over the pan to fully cool it. "Mango pissed me off.” I told Dawn. “He called Sienna stupid for believing the story I told her. In her eyes I have no reason to lie to her." "Are you gonna see him again?" I nodded as I shut the water off and tossed what was being cooked in the trash. "Well we do have a thing and if he makes her happy, I'll be happy." "I’m sure there’s another stallion out there that would be happy to have a mare like yourself." I smiled at Dawn Star. "Would you like some tea? I'll put a pot on. I have a special brew for friends only." "Sure." Dawn Star nodded and went over to the couch. I set about getting the tea ready. I put water in the pot, then placed it on the burner, and turned it on. As I was looking for the actual tea bags I said. "Your place is nice, roomy, and clean." "Well it's just me," she replied. "And I don't have much." I pulled the correct box of tea out and set it on the tray along with two mugs. By this time the water was boiling, so I took it off the burner and put a few bags into the pot. I had to make sure I didn't spill any of it as I set the floating tea pot onto the tray with the mugs. My magic engulfed it all and I trotted over to Dawn Star. The tray was gently set down on the new table. I sat on the comfy couch next to her and made sure the dress didn't get wrinkles in it. She reached out with a hoof, but I lightly knocked it away with mine. "Not yet. The tea needs to seep." We sat there in silence for almost ten minutes. The whole time Dawn Star had a look on her face as if she were deep in thought. I just stared at the tea with my one eye. Eventually I poured the both of us nice, hot, steamy cups of delicious tea. Dawn Star went to take a sip and grimaced in insufferable pain. "Hot!" see said through clenched teeth. I smiled. "Silly Dawn Star, the tea is hot!" She gently blew on hers and my gaze lingered on her lips, then moved up to her pretty gold eyes. "You have pretty eye coloring," I absently commented. She stopped blowing on the tea to look at me with a very faint blush on her cheeks. "Thanks, I guess. This tea smells really good." I nodded and took a sip. It burned my tongue but I made no move to spit it out. Sweat began to form on around my horn so I quickly gulped it down. She took a sip and winced. And so we drank like that. Dawn wincing as she drank hers, I slightly sweating as I drank mine. Finally I set my mostly empty cup down with a sigh. "Dawn, I'm bored. Do you want to go do something?" "Like what?" she asked and I smiled. "You'll find out, come on." I got off the couch and held out my hoof. She took it, I gripped and hauled her off the couch. Dawn star looked down at the tea. "Don't worry about it. Nothing’ll happen to it while we’re gone." The two of us walked across the room to where Sienna was. I used my magic to gently open the door so I could peer inside. With the blinds closed it was dark and slightly hard to see, but I could make out Sienna playing with a stuffed doll of Spitfire. She was hugging the near filly sized toy and whispering to it. "I know. It's just I'm gonna miss her. Mommy says she went-" "Sienna?" I asked quietly. Her ears perked up and she looked at me, then smiled. "I'm going out with a friend. Would you like to come? We're gonna go to the boardwalk and get some ice cream." She immediately dropped the toy and shot up. "Yay, ice cream!" I smiled. *** *** Dawn Star walked next to me in her uniform as I followed Sienna along the wooden pier. An ice cream sundae floated in front of me while Dawn had to use one of her cyber wings like a gryphon uses their talons to hold onto an ice cream cone. Our hoofsteps were hollow thanks to the wood planking beneath us, mine even more so. A mass of ponies surrounded us as well as food and game stands. Sienna stopped and excitedly pointed her hoof at one that had stuffed pony's as prizes before she galloped over to it. We, of course, followed. The brown unicorn filly propped her forehooves up on the counter and pointed at a stuffed Celestia doll about the same size as Sienna. She hopped up and down slightly and grinned. "Can I have it?!" The bored earth pony behind the counter looked at me as I set my sundae down. "How much to buy the Celestia doll?" He took a sip from a drink and pointed a hoof at the sign saying you had to knock down the zebra face way in the back to win a Celestia doll. I sighed as I magically set five bits down from my bags. The pony pushed a button and Sienna ran for one of the little airgun things. Then all hell broke loose. Everything inside the game started moving around and the flashing lights made it hard to see. Yet Sienna aimed the little rifle as best she could and sent yellow foam ball after yellow foam ball at the zebra face. Every shot missed or was deflected by the other targets in between the two. The game shut off and Sienna's ears drooped. So I put five more bits down and the machine started back up. Sienna tried her hardest again, yet it wasn't enough. She groaned and hit her hooves on the stand in frustration. Dawn Star tossed the remaining bit of her ice cream cone into her mouth and walked over while chewing.The earth pony held out his hoof and I dropped five more bits into it. Dawn grabbed the toy air rifle as the machine started up. I smiled while she looked determined to win the toy. Her shots were more precise and she got farther. One struck the zebra face and Sienna jumped in joy, I grinned. After a few seconds the game stopped and we all looked at the earth pony. He took a sip from his drink and pointed a hoof at the sign. "Sorry, ladies, rules are rules." "That's bullshit!" Dawn shouted. "There's not enough kinetic velocity to knock it down!" "My turn," I said as I dropped five more bits on the counter. As the machine started up I concentrated my magic on the pony's drink, ripped it from his grip and tossed it at the zebra head. My blow almost missed, but it knocked the face down. With a smile I pulled the Celestia doll off the shelf and gave it to Sienna. She hugged it tightly and smiled. "That's against the rules!" the pony shouted. I glared a laser beam at him. "And so is having a rigged game. No where in your rules does it state I have to use your stupidly underpowered airgun. I won fair and square. Now good day, sir." I felt a tug on my dress and looked down. Sienna pushed the Celestia doll towards me. "Can you carry her? She's too big for me." I nodded and levitated the doll onto my back in a manner where she wouldn't fall off. We left the game stand and continued through the mass of ponies. After perhaps a few minutes of watching Sienna running around pony legs I was forced to sit down on a bench. I looked up at the clear blue sky as the warm summer sun beat down on me. Inside the dress I was sweating badly, outside the sweat barely covered my face, and I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach like I was going to vomit. Then my face went pale when I saw a dark silver unicorn mare walking through the crowd as she looked down at ponies like she was better than them. I grabbed Dawn Star's collar and whispered. "Hide me! For Celestia's sake, hide-" "Granny!" Sienna shouted and bolted for Midnights mother. I groaned in annoyance as the foal nearly tackled her in a hug then dragged her over. "Hello, Lilium," she said in a raspy voice as she smiled at me and then looked at Dawn Star. "Who's your friend?" Dawn held out her hoof. "I'm Corporal Dawn Star. Lilium's neighbor. I moved to this city a few days ago and she was showing me around with her wonderful daughter." "Oh," she looked down at Sienna then around in concern at the ponies that were ignoring the four of us. "Where is my son and other granddaughter?" I quickly looked around myself and spotted a colt about Sienna's age then nudged her in his direction. "Sienna, why don't you go talk to that nice young colt over there?" "He's got cooties," she whispered. I glared in disappointment at her as I pointed my hoof in his direction. "You Pinkie Promised, remember?" Dawn's cyber wing came down and began to pull her away. She looked at me and nodded. "I'll watch her to make sure they don't get in trouble." Synthie's mother and I watched the two as they walked out of earshot. Then we looked at each other. "Bad news I take it?" she tilted her head and an ear twitched. I nodded and kept glancing at Dawn Star to make sure she didn’t try to run off with Sienna. "Yes... I messed up badly. I was seeing another pony and Midnight found out." Her eyes went wide. "He practically forced me to sign divorce papers and ran off with Eclipse before I could even say good bye." I facehoofed with both my forehooves. "I'm such an idiot!" I set my hooves down and looked at Midnight’s mother. Her normal snobbish expression had changed to one of contempt. Then, without warning, a dark silver hoof slapped me audibly across the face. She stomped it down as I held the spot in shock. "Trollop! You had everything a pony could want and you threw it all away, and for what? A quickie with some pony that doesn't give two shits about you? You imbecile!" "I fucked up, okay? I know that." Her blow stung more than her words did. I did not need a pony to tell me I screwed up, again. She pointed her hoof at me and her eyes narrowed. "You can forget about being invited to our family gatherings ever again. But..." Her gaze softened slightly. "Next time I see my son, I will make him bring Eclipse to you so you can say goodbye. A mother should at least have that." I nodded, "thank you." She harrumphed and stuck her nose in the air as she trotted off. I leaned back as I groaned and set the toy aside, even though it went better than I thought. Dawn, Sienna, and the colt came over in a small group along with his father. The maroon cyborg pegasus sat down next to me and our flanks accidentally touched. I didn't mind it so much because it distracted me from the verbal assault I had received. The yellow stallion gave a half bow. "Hello," he stuck his hoof out and I shook it. "Dawn Star was telling me how you beat that game and I wanted to say, good thinking. I had tried myself and gave up." I absently wrapped my cyber leg around Dawn and pulled her into a hug. "Well Dawn tried and failed too. I got pissed at the pony running it, I really did. It's not fair to trick a pony in such a manner." He smiled. "Well, Sienna is lucky to have two wonderful parents like yourselves." My jaw dropped as I pulled away from Dawn Star. "Were not married... We... uhh... I don’t like..." "She's just a friend," Dawn added for me. He nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to take Junior home for dinner." My face heated up in a blush as the stallion and his colt walked off. Sienna grinned at me. I looked at an equally blushing Dawn Star. "I swear this wasn't that kind of a date," I told her. A faint smile formed on her face but her blush stayed. "Well... I did enjoy today. So thank you for a good time." Slowly, a thought churned over in my head. A thought that was screaming at me to ask and it was wrong, yet also right. I smiled back at her. "Would you like to cap it off with dinner?" "Lilium, I'm not a fillyfooler." she replied and crushed my terrible, terrible, dreams. "Sorry." Regardless, I gave a nod of understanding. "Neither am I. It never hurts to ask, you know?" "Right, well I'm gonna head home and go iron my uniform for tomorrow." "Bye," I waved. Sienna practically hopped and waved at her. "Bye, Miss Dawn Star!" "See you two later," she spread her metal wings and took flight. I facehoofed as I groaned. *** *** As Sienna and I stepped off the elevator, with Celestia on my back, I saw a familiar face next to my door and leaned against the wall. Mango was scratching lightly at the floor with his talons and his back was to us. I made a silencing motion with my hoof to Sienna, she nodded, and we crept forward. Our hooves barely made a sound as we slowly closed the distance. I slapped him hard on the flank with a hoof to get his attention. The gryphon squawked in shock as he took to the air with a flap of his wings. Both Sienna and I giggled at him. He glared at me as he landed on the carpet and folded his wings. I got in close and hugged him with a nuzzle to the neck as he was much larger than I. Mango's foreleg arm wrapped around me in the hug. "Did you get her something?" I asked in a whisper and he nodded. "Good. Then I have a surprise for you later.” He smiled as he looked at the now open door. Sienna had dragged Celestia inside and was brushing the dolls long mane. The brush was held in a very shaky levitation field, which caused me to smile. My hoof tapped the gryphon next to me and I pointed at her. "Look look," I whispered softly in excitement. "She's levitating the brush!" "Fascinating," Mango deadpanned with a roll of his eyes. Then he walked over to her quietly and looked down. I shut the door so as to not make a sound and walked over. Mango knelt down to look into her eyes. "I heard your birthday was yesterd-" Sienna yelped in shock and her magic field popped and fizzled, the gryphon recoiled in shock as well. She looked up at Mango with a wide eyed gaze. "Huh?! You scared me, Mister!" He smiled and knelt down again. Then his talon brought out a terribly wrapped box with twine to tie it off. Sienna dropped the doll and was like a zombie as she crawled over to it. "What is it?! What is it what is it what is it?!" She chanted over and over. By then I was laying down next to Mango with his wing draped over me in a cuddle. The heat of his body was making me sweat slightly, but I did not care. Sienna grabbed the box in her hooves and failed at opening it. "It would not be a surprise if he told you." I giggled at her as she gnawed on a corner of the box with her teeth. Sienna stopped to stare at the box as she scrunched her face up and sweat started to bead off her brows. A flicker of magic surrounded the knot and failed. She stuck her tongue out and tried again. I nudged Mango with a hoof as the glow surrounded her horn again. He smiled at Sienna. "You can do it!" The glow surrounded the knot and it came loose as she pulled. Her brown hooves furiously tore the wrapping apart in a blur. The brown paper covered up her expression as she looked inside the box but the squeal of delight was all I needed to know. She used her hooves to pull a cylindrical object with a screen attached to it. My eyes narrowed at the polished, brand new, silver Pipbuck. However I smiled at the filly and laid my head against Mango's neck with a content sigh. Sienna looked at the device, then tilted her head. "What is it?" "A Pipbuck," I told her with a smile. "A device that has truly wondrous abilities. May I see it first, please?" She held it out with her hooves and it was engulfed in my magic as I brought it over. The device was inspected closely for traps by pulling the brand new padding back slightly. I found none. So I floated it back over to her as I said, "choose which foreleg carefully because they are very hard to remove." She looked at each of her forelegs, then placed it over her right foreleg and clasped it shut. A grin formed on her face as it most certainly booted up. I noticed the screen was a dark blue and wondered if it was like the Pipbuck in my dream in that she saw blue and orange bars. I dragged the Celestia doll over in my magic and looked at the filly sized toy, then to Sienna, and smiled. "Sienna, why don't you go get your Spitfire doll and we'll play a game? Your pick of the game." With a silent nod she scrambled off to her room to retrieve said doll. I looked over and nuzzled Mango's beak. The gryphon gave a warm smile and I sighed. "Thank you for giving her that. Where you got it, I don't care. Would you like to come around more often, like... daily?" "Perhaps," he replied with a shrug. Then he nodded his head towards Sienna's room. She had Spitfire done up in a makeshift flight power armor with straws as the energy rifles. The suit was made out of cardboard, and was very ugly, yet she had made it herself and so I never mentioned the fact that it was ugly. I gave Mango a quick glare that said he better not make fun of it, then made Celestia stand with my magic as a jade green glow surrounded the doll. The Celestia doll already had her wings out as if they were trying to flap in flight. I stood her on her hind hooves and pointed a hoof in the air. "Halt!" I mock shouted. "Who trespasses on Our realm of Home?" Sienna propped Spitfire up with her hooves and pointed the straw tubes at Celestia as I set my doll back to all fours."It is I, Captain Sienna, your highness." I made my doll tilt her head in confusion. "We are not Celestia, We are The Great and Powerful Goddess! Thou will join Unity or perish. Raaawwwwrrr!" Sienna rolled her eyes, "Mommy, there's no such thing! How can Celestia-" "Quiet thou ungrateful whelp!" I lowered the Celestia Dolly's head and said. "We smite thee with thine magic missiles!" Sienna pulled her doll to the side and re-aimed her 'rifles'. "Your magic missiles are no match for my laser rifles! Pew pew pew!" Celestia doll grabbed her chest with a hoof and fell over. "Ugh, you've... got Us... Our reign... Is at an end!" Spitfire doll was dragged over and Sienna jumped in joy. "Haha! I win!" "Not yet," I replied with a cackle and floated the doll into the air. "Thou foalish mortal cannot comprehend one such as I, The Great and Powerful Goddess!" Celestia doll swooped down and tackled Spitfire doll then jumped into the air. I made her fly around in a circle while cackling maniacally as Sienna watched the doll. She lifted her doll and aimed the straw rifles. "Only the great Captain Sienna can stop this monster and save Equestria!" Sienna looked at me and pleaded with her eyes. Spitfire doll was engulfed in my magic as she took flight to chase after the pseudo Goddess doll. Celestia doll looked back. "What's this?! Thy mortal foalishly thinks they-" "Pew pew pew!" Sienna shouted as Celestia doll dodged her 'shots' and Mango chuckled as he watched the display. Then Celestia doll’s horn lowered, "We, The Great and Powerful Goddess smites thee with magic missiles!" Spitfire doll flew higher, almost scraping the ceiling, and swooped down. Sienna made more make believe laser noises. I made Celestia doll fly erratically, then spiral out of control and crash into the couch with a soft oomph. Spitfire doll flew a wide victory loop as Sienna clapped her forehooves together. "Yay!" she giggled as both dolls were brought over in my magic field. I patted Sienna on the top of her head with a hoof as I roughed up her mane. "You keep practicing your magic and one day you might be as powerful as Celestia." "Really...?" she asked with wide eyes. "Well..." I half shrugged with my metal hoof, then laid my head against Mango's neck again. "Not as powerful as her, but you could be pretty powerful. Who knows? All it takes is determination and devotion," I said as I lightly tapped her on the head with with my regular hoof. Then I looked at Mango. "Would you like to stay for dinner, and maybe the night?" He scratched his beak in thought for a few moments before he shook his head. "Can't. I gotta be up early, sorry, Lils." I shrugged as he got up and scratched my head with a taloned hand, causing my mane to fall in front of my eye. Mango's lion tail wrapped around my neck and gently tickled under my chin as a giggle escaped my lips. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon," he mouthed and I nodded. As the gryphon walked away he gave a wink. I grinned at Sienna, she tilted her head as her ears twitched in wonderment. "How would you like pizza for dinner?" I asked. "Yay!" *** *** The sound of my bedroom door opening woke me from my soft slumber. I was still groggy, but rolled over onto my chest and let my regular hoof hang down from the bed. "Come on," I mumbled into my pillow without opening my eyes. "I'll keep the monsters away." I felt the little brown unicorn filly climb up my leg like a ladder, then she walked over my back and cuddled next to my side. I zoned out into that place between when you're awake and sleep. Eventually I drifted back into the blackness that is sleep. *** *** When I had awoken, Sienna wasn't there, only her new Celestia doll. This had not worried me while I cooked breakfast, which consisted of reheating leftover pizza. Sienna was, of course, overly excited about having pizza and oblivious to the real reason I have been trying to make her so happy for the last few days: Her father left us because of my screw up. She sat on the other side of the table as she devoured her slice. I set my floating slice down and wiped the grease off my face with a napkin. "So you had a bad dream again?" I asked before I lifted a milk glass in magic and took a sip. Sienna mumbled around a mouthful of food, "nuh-uh. I slept all night." My head tilted as my ear flopped sideways at her response. I clearly remembered her coming in last night and cuddling next to me with the Celestia doll. My gaze went to my messy room where the doll was still where I had left it. "Are you sure?" "Mhm, positive!" she replied. I looked at her in confusion, which slowly turned into a half smile, then gave a nod. Sienna went back to her meal and I stood up. Slowly and carefully, I made my way from the living room towards my door. My magic gripped the handle as I turned it and opened the door partly to look around the room with my good eye. Celestia doll was where she was when I awoke, but she had turned around and was facing the door in a sleeping position, and the sheets were now perfectly made. "I'm watching you," I whispered to the toy before I opened the door farther. A faint smile slowly formed on my lips as I turned around towards the kitchen. "Sienna, are your things ready for school?" She pulled her small bag off the couch and opened it to show me it's contents. "Yes!" "Got your books?" "Mhm," she nodded. "Lunch, and a snack?" "Yup! I grabbed more pizza." "How about a hat?" She tapped her chin with a hoof in thought, then shook her head. "Nuh-uh, Mommy. Weather is suposta be clear." I nodded at her response. "Yes that may be, but it never hurts to be prepared for any occasion and the sun is very hot. Here, take this one." I looked over with magic as I selected an extremely large, for a young filly, brown floppy hat from the wall, placed it gently on her head and tightened it. Sienna looked up as the brim flopped down in front of her eyes then she frowned. "Moooom, this hat is too big!" I knelt down to look at her as I adjusted it to sit on her horn and not fall down. "Better?" I asked. She nodded. "Good. Now what are you doing in school today?" "Learnin' 'bout the history of Eqwestria!" she exclaimed as she hopped off the ground and grinned. I nodded slowly. "And if a colt talks to you?" "I roll out of tha way an' buck ‘em in tha face ‘cause he has cooties!" A chuckle escaped me as I shook my head. "No no, you are going to talk to him. Remember your promise?" She nodded rapidly and made the brim of her hat flop around. "Good, now let's get you to class. Being late is never good." *** *** Sienna was at school, Midnight and Eclipse were still gone. I had expected him to come back for their things, but apparently with all their money they did not need too. I was cleaning up the apartment after the weekend, with the front door open of course, and had the Celestia doll sitting on the couch. As I went about my routine I felt like I was being watched. Like somepony was inside my head watching my every move and could hear every thought. So I stopped cleaning, set the brush down and made my way over to the plush doll. She was lifted to eye level by my magic and I glared a laser beam at her with my one eye. "What are you?" I asked the doll quietly and received no response. She looked at me with a smile like yesterday. Except today her wings were folded instead of extended and her eyes were shut and her pose indicated she was sleeping. "I know you're not a doll. Dolls don't open doors, walk into a pony's room, or make their bed, so what are you?!" I got no response again, but felt like the doll acknowledged my questioning. "Alright look here, Celestia Doll, I don't care if you're some freaky possessed toy or not. There are rules in my house that you need to know if you’re going to stay here. The first and major one: If you harm my daughter Sienna, I will personally stuff you as slow as possible into the blender tail first!" I sat down as I grabbed its head with my forehooves and brought it closer to where it filled my vision. "Here are my other rules: Protect her, watch her, be kind to her, and guard her like your life depends on it. Or its the blender! Do I make myself clear?" For some reason, I thought I saw the faintest of nods come from the toy. Shell Shock: 5% to next level. Did you think you gained xp here?! Silly, silly, alicorn. Chapter 10: Plants vs ghoulsChapter 10: Plants vs ghouls. "Some mares just want to watch the world burn.” Sienna and I walked along the dusty side street as a cool breeze blew in from the sea. The sun was still high in the sky and beating down us as it was only three in the afternoon. Sienna was excited about the planned trip to the Crystal Empire. I was angry that the school was teaching vile things to the foals which were complete lies. Midnight had yet to make an appearance, Eclipse was likewise gone. She did not show up at school and that worried the both of us. But I figure they are now homeschooling Eclipse. Which I most likely will have to do with Sienna. School... An institution that should be teaching ponies the value of friendship. But was instead teaching them that zebra's were evil and sacrificed ponies for one reason or another. One text I had looked at had said that in their capture, subsequent reinforcement, and defense of Hollow Shades. The zebras supposedly sacrificed prisoners to help them defend better or something like that. I did not pay much attention because I became angry with the book and tossed it across the room and out the window. Angry at teacher for spouting the lies in the books even though she knew they were lies and just doing her job. 'It's all we're allowed to teach anymore' she had said. I was angry at the school for even accepting those books. Zebras were not the evil monsters the books made them out to be! They are just white earth ponies with black stripes. I've met more than my fair share of zebras. Some were mean, and some were extremely nice when they weren’t shooting at you. I was so lost in thought over this I hadn't noticed we turned into a trash covered alleyway. My hooves echoed off the narrow walls and it was dark, despite the day, to where I could not see very far. Sienna used her hoof to point at a pile of trash inside my gaze. “There’s red there! Can we see it?” “Red?” My eye widened as I look back at her. “What are you seeing?! Sienna, is there a compass with colored bars?” She nodded rapidly and my eye widened in shock. Movement drew my attention back to the trash pile and before I could even get my revolver out of my saddlebags. A large pony leapt out with a floating shotgun nearby. My revolver was quickly brought around to eye level as I aimed down the sights at her forest green head. She aimed her weapon in a similar manner and I noticed a rather large horn. “I’m sorry,” the green unicorn muttered at the same time she unfolded a set of wings. A ball of flame appeared at the end of the shotgun at the exact moment I pulled the trigger of my revolver. I watched in near slow motion as our lead darts passed each other mid-flight. Too late, I began to move sideways. My shot struck her between the eyes, kicking her head back as blood and brains coated the trash pile cover. Her slug slammed into my face and my world went black as I felt a hammer push my skull inward. *** *** My eyes snapped open, revealing me to be floating underwater with something was attached to my muzzle. My head and horn also felt funny. The vision in my right eye was a complete blur and cloudy. It felt like there were needles pierced every so often in my limbs and back all the way to my skull. Before I could even comprehend what was on my body or my surroundings, I heard them. At first it began as a faint whisper. "...How was your day...?" "...May I take your order...?" "...How fascinating, my day was better though..." They eventually melded together into an incoherent mumble that did not stop. I instinctively felt my belly with my left hoof and my ears drooped in disappointment. It was flat. A glance down revealed some kind of harness attached to a slender forest green body. My left leg was also devoid of a Pipbuck and had tubes running to somewhere. There were scars where the fur had yet to regrow. My right leg had scars on it from some kind of explosion, as did most of my right side. My mane and tail were short and non-flowing due to the water, or goo I was floating in. The mumbling increased in volume as I picked up more. As the volume increased, so did a slight growing pain inside Our head. Our ears folded against Our head as We looked around a slightly dark room. Ponies walked along a wall of monitors as they displayed lies and lines of green on a black screen. I glanced up and saw the top half of my head, including my long exquisite horn, was encased in some kind of device. Then decided to look around the room again. I mentally flipped through my spells as I tried to remember what Mudpie had taught me about the telepathy spell. Ever so slowly, the head splitting headache died down to a dull pain at the base of my horn and the mumbling faded to a ghost of a whisper that was easy to ignore. As I took a glance around the room again I spotted a unicorn in a lab coat looking at a wall. She had a floating clipboard in front of her and she was slowly making her way towards Us. The mare could almost pass for a unicorn version of Rose if Rose were normal sized unicorn and red. As she got close I shut my eyes and floated there in the liquid. Then focused the telepathy into just hearing the immediate area around me. "...Hm... Her vitals are good, but what was with that spike earlier? Perhaps we should do another wipe and start over? This time let's move the timeframe back a few years..." My eyes snapped open as I glared a laser beam at her. The red unicorn's eyes widened as she scrambled back in fright. "Sweet Celestia, she's awake!" she shouted, her voice muffled inside the liquid. All of the ponies in the room turned to look at me in shock. My forehoof slammed into the glass. The sound of the blow was a massive hollow slam that echoed in my head. But I didn’t care because I wanted out. The lab mare shouted something to the others as I slammed the hoof against it a second time. Suddenly, We felt gravity return as the liquid began to rapidly drain. My hind hooves hit the floor as I slammed into the glass with a thud just before it opened. As it did so, my bodily control was minimal and I collapsed onto the floor. The mare rushed over and undid the mask with magic. I began gagging as she pulled the mask off and something tickled inside my throat. A thin clear tube was being pulled out as well as the mask and it took some time before it was fully removed. I sat there collapsed on the floor, soaked to the bone, thoroughly confused and unable to speak with my mouth. The mare levitated a tiny torch to eye level and shined it in both of Our eyes for a second, momentarily blinding Us. The back of my head felt funny, and so I used a shaky hoof to feel around. I felt my wet fur and mane, but eventually it hit something metal embedded at the base of my skull with a large wire running off it. In fact there were metal disks inserted near my joints with large tubes inside them and my body felt like I hadn't eaten in months. Indeed it showed in the fact that I could see my ribs slightly under my fur. "Ar-are y-you alright?" she asked in a sweet voice and I nodded while trying my best to gather my strength. But it felt like I hadn't moved in a very long time. "Yes," I replied softly inside her mind. "What is... going on? Where are We?" "In a virtual reality simulation room. About five, six, weeks ago one of our prospectors found you next to a sky wagon. You were bleeding out and had taken a jumping mine to the face." Our hoof came up and We felt the scars on the right side. Then We looked at the hoof and saw it was also scarred. "While your natural healing abilities did a good job. They weren't enough." "What does that mean?" I asked her as I looked at my right wing and found it... slightly mangled. Not much, but still capable of producing lift. "To save you we had to put you in this machine." She replied and drew Our attention. "Everything from when you triggered that mine to now. Was in a virtual reality. It was fake." We looked up at the strange tube as We thought over her words. If the last two months were fake, then that may have accounted for some of the stranger events. Like Midnight appearing out of thin air when he should be dead. My ears slowly folded against my head. "We... do not understand. Where is Sister, Rose, Midnight, and Ripper?" A light touch on my shoulder drew my attention to her eyes. My eyes slowly narrowed as I had to look at her with my one good eye. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know those-” There was a muffled crump of an explosion outside the hall that drew our attention to the door. Indistinct shouting could be heard coming from down the hall. The scientists all took cover as the shooting, and shouting, grew ever closer. I tiltled my head while I felt the general vicinity outside the room for what was coming. I felt anger, boredom, and annoyance in the pony literally walking towards us. The connection was dropped as the pony came close to the door. I had half expected them to knock, but the door slid into the wall with a hiss. Revealing a stallion and a black pony like thing behind him in a rusty hallway. The stallion was shoved inside by the black pony's hoof. I saw her maroon muzzle. Her short midnight blue mane protruded out from the polished black armored helmet. A black helmet with orange bug like eyes. My eyes slowly widened as I took in her armored wings, scorpion tail and smoking energy rifles. Her power armored hooves were slightly pink from something that was most probably ash piles. Her gaze was locked onto mine and it took me a second to realize I had been staring at Wraith! The scorpion like tail blade was just under a pony's throat. The very same pony that had opened the door. I tilted my head curiously as the blade pulled and cut deeply into his flesh without a care on Wraith’s face.. The stallion fell to the floor as the blood gushed out of his neck wound. A scientist rushed over to him and began to try to treat it while Wraith walked closer to me. She looked down and pushed up her mask, revealing her golden eyes. "I take it you must be the alicorn that saved Wraith," she said in a voice almost identical to Wraith's, but slightly deeper. "Yes," I nodded slowly as I replied inside her head. "But... We do not understand what is going on..." "It's simple really. You were captured by Steel Rangers, I'm rescuing you." "Are you taking Us to Sister?" I asked as my gaze went to her power armor. The beauty of the pegasus power armor still made me envy even if I could not fit inside it. The power armored pony nodded then looked at the scientist. "Unhook her from this machine right now or join your friend." She looked back at me and gave the faintest of smiles. "I'm Axe, Wraith's twin sister. She told me everything about you." "I like stallions," I replied as the crimson scientist unhooked one of my hooves from the machine. I looked at her as I said in her mind, "wait!" She paused. "Wh-what about Sienna? Who will take care of her, watch over her, and read her bedtime stories?" "Um..." She gulped. "I... I th-" "We don't have time!" Axe hissed. "There's Steel Rangers all over this place and only so many of us. We came to just get you, a green alicorn." "She's right," the scientist mare replied with a nod. "You don't have time. And I don't think you want to see her. She's..." the mare looked away. "In the ghoul section. She'll be fi-" "Take me to her!" I telepathically shouted, causing nearby ponies to wince. "There is always time!" "Look," Axe began with a glare, "I came to rescue the alicorn that saved my Dash addicted sister, not go on some wild goose chase in lala land!" I glared down at her as I stood up to my full height. My legs were shaky, but I didn't care. The crimson mare was unhooking the wires from me and a dull pain flowed through my body, concentrating at the base of my horn that I mostly ignored. "Do not presume to tell me what to do," I told Axe inside her mind. "I am far older than you. It was my decision making that saved Wraith multiple times." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But if we die, I'm blaming you." *** *** The facility was absolutely huge! There were a countless number of pods lining oh so very many shelves inside of a giant underground room that had catwalks for every shelf. I had lost count after four hundred. Where on the island it was, I don't know, but it was dark. The further we walked inside the building, the more decrepit it became. Shiny metal catwalks were replaced with rusty ones that could give out any second. But none of this mattered to me, because I had one simple goal: Find Sienna. She might not be mine persay... but I wanted to physically see her. If I were to guess, I'd say this complex was built long before the war was about to end. As I looked around I saw the intricate construction that went into it. And now I knew why that mare in the audio recording could not find any pony. They must all be here in these pods. Some were open and rusted out. Others were shattered, the skeletons lay on the catwalk. And most had a thick layer of dust on them. "What is this place?" Axe asked, her voice echoed off the metal surrounding us as the three of us walked along. "The hopes and dreams of many," the mare replied. It caused Axe and I to look at her in confusion. "The old ones saw the end coming. Any fool back then could have. It wasn't a question of if, but when. And so they built this place. Devoted as much as they could into saving as many as possible." "Did it work?" I quietly asked with my mind. As if talking too loud would wake the others. "Isn't it obvious?" Axe snidely replied. "I can't believe you asked that." My gaze went to hers as I tilted my head. My now dry mane decided to flow in a way that it obscured the blurry vision in my right eye. If I were to guess. I'd say it was trying to prevent me from looking imperfect. Which I do not mind in the slightest as until I find a radiation hotspot I look absolutely horrid. I smiled at Axe. "Well it is a valid question. As we are in a decrepit area. Look around." My wing swept around at the damaged, destroyed, or missing pods. Again she rolled her eyes. "Wraith was right, you are den-" "Don't say it!" I hissed inside her head as I scowled. She shrugged and quickened her pace. I looked at the crimson mare as I asked. "Excuse me, but... What about this other pony in my head?" She stopped mid-stride as she half-laughed. "Oh, um... I don't know? What did she look like?" "Well," I replied in her head. "A lot like you, actually-" "What?!" Axe shouted at nothing as she stopped. Both the crimson mare and I looked at. Her eyes were fixed on the floor in a glare. "No! Their just earth ponies in outdated armor! Don't fall back, you useless chickenshits!" Axe slammed a power armored hoof down as she groaned in what sounded like despair. "Fucking great!" I tilted my head as her glare reached me, because her eyes had an orange glow to them as if she had absorbed too much radiation at one time. "We do not understand the problem?" I asked in her mind. Her glowing eye twitched. "Because of your insistence on this stupid witch hunt. My squad up and left me because Steel Rangers showed up! Thanks for that. Now we're alone. Without backup. In a giant maze.” I smiled as I nodded. "You are most welcome." "Can I just shoot you and say we couldn't find you?" She groaned again as she facehoofed. My head tilt increased. "No...? Because then We would be dead, and that is a most perplexing problem. Your rescue would be a failure." Axe facehoofed as I turned my head to glare at the unicorn. "She looked a lot like you. Almost... Identical." The unicorn smiled nervously and pointed her hoof at something in the distance. "That's Sienna's pod there. I should go back to the others." She turned to go, but my jade green magic wrapped a thin band around her neck and tightened as I pushed her against the nearby wall. The unicorn tried to pull it off and even tried to use magic. But my grip kept tightening as she struggled. Axe watched curiously from my left with a faint smile on her face. "Take over Our body will you?!" I shouted in her head as her face turned a slight purplish color. "Force Us to attack Our Sisters?!" The band tightened to the point where her eyes went wide. "Stop," she mouthed and faintly gasped. "I didn't..." I turned my head slightly, her limp body followed and went flying, as I released my death grip on the mare. She slammed into the metal catwalk in a slide. I slowly walked over while glaring a laser beam at her. The crimson mare that had caused me so many problems these last few weeks lay coughing and gasping for air ahead of me. Axe walked over and lowered the armor's blade to her neck. "Which pod is it?" she forcibly asked while she sneered at the pony. "And do get it right the first time as I hate cleaning my armor." "There," she rasped as she flicked her tail at a group of pods. "Only one still intact." I walked over to them and saw that most were dark, but one was still running with a layer of dust blocking the view. I moved over to it as a smile formed on my lips. My hoof came up as I wiped a dusty viewport. What I saw made me frown. In there was the brown filly Sienna. Except floating in the tank was a rotting brown blank flank ghoul filly. On her foreleg was a Pipbuck. She floated inside the murky liquid that should have protected her from radiation poisoning. I placed a dirty hoof on the glass and bit my lower lip as my eyes welled up with tears. "Ho-how come she's a ghoul...?" I asked in concern with my mind. "First generation pods," the mare rasped. "No radiation shielding. Think they were told? No." The mare gasped and I looked back at her as the tail blade was pushed in deeper by Axe. "Why not?" she glared at the unicorn. "Because they had to be told something! The war was going to end badly and the ones running this place at the time decided to save as many as the could, regardless of the consequences." I looked back at the filly and placed my horn against the glass in an attempt to communicate. Despite the pain in my horn I telepathically asked, "Sienna..?" She stirred slightly as if hearing the voice. Her ears flopped around in the murky viscous liquid. "Don't open it she's feral!" the mare rasped and coughed a couple times. "Every ghoul in this section is feral!" "Well let the alicorn find out the hard way," Axe said as the mare gasped again. I looked back and saw that Axe’s tail was now lower on the neck and blood dripped out from a new cut. The blade was withdrawn as Axe moved away slightly. "Open it. We've come this far and I don't feel like wasting my time by leaving without it opened." I smiled and nodded at this mare's vigilance. However the crimson mare shook her head quickly. "Don't you know what feral means, you birdbrain?!" "Yes," Axe nodded. "Also, if one were to say something like that to their captor. I'd imagine their captor to get very annoyed. Annoyed to where that captor might just decide to slit their captee's throat and break the glass instead." "No!" The mare shouted. "Don't break it. You can't build these things anymore and every part is worth more than gold." "Then open it before I do!" Axe shouted. The crimson mare nodded slowly and got up. I stepped out of the way as she went over to a panel next to the machine and began to push commands. Her brows knitted together in thought. "...yes, I'll just say..." She looked back at Axe as the console beeped. "I don't kno-" My magic wrapped itself around her neck and I quickly tightened it to where she couldn't breath again. I pressed my nose against hers as I glared. "Do not presume to lie to us!" I shouted in her mind as I let go. "I can read your thoughts. If you so much as think of lying to me again I will not hesitate to crush your neck!" She dropped to the floor and rubbed at her neck. "Okay..." The mare nodded then looked at the machine. "But, I'm not gonna be sorry if that... thing tries to rip you to shreds." I stood off to the side. Axe kept watching the way we had come suspiciously. Her scorpion like tail nervously flicking side to side. This I noticed and softly asked in her mind. "Something wrong?" She looked back at me and pushed up her visor, her glowing eyes looked concerned. "Yeah... With all these ponies here, it's throwing my targeting spell off. Can't tell if we're being flanked or not. Or if there’s even a real threat out there." I shrugged. "It does not matter. I have a shield, and you have power armor, thus we are that much less likely to die. This We know from experience." "Sure," Axe smirked as she pulled her visor down. "I guess you're right." My ears twitched at the sound of a flushing sound as water ran down a drain, and hooves on metal. I looked over as the murky goo drained and the crimson mare was galloping away. Suddenly, twin beams of red light struck the mare's backside at the same time a loud zap filled the air. One beam went straight through her body, leaving a smoking hole, and the other grazed her as it left a charred line. She fell, screaming in pain and tumbling to a stop. A second twin energy blast silenced her as she glowed pink for a second, then turned to ash. "Fool," Axe muttered as my attention was drawn towards the tube. Sienna had fallen to the bottom of it. Unconscious but breathing slowly. I laid down to touch horns with her and shut my eyes. As the tips touched, the world around us slowly faded as I entered her mind. I found it to be full of turmoil. She was confused, lost, and scared without her mother. Though I had no idea who her real mother was. It did not matter at this point. I walked along the desolate street, looking left and right for any sign of Sienna, as I called out to the filly. "Sienna?! Hello?" Movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention towards a filly sized pony as they galloped out of an alleyway. I noticed that she was a brown ghoul. "Sienna!" I shouted after her. But she kept galloping away with her eyes shut. I spread my glorious wings, and with a quick flap, I was airborne. Though my flying wasn't as elegant as I'd liked and haphazard, I made do. My wing was shaky as if a pony broke it on purpose at one point and didn't bother to reset the bone. Still, I flew as best I could and quickly caught up with the brown unicorn filly. She was screaming as if she had just witnessed something horrible, which she had, and tears streamed down her face. My hoof steps echoed slightly as I landed in front of her and turned around. "Sienna, stop!" I quietly exclaimed in her mind. The ghoul filly blinked a set of glowing eyes and looked up at me as she slid to a stop. Her hooves barely had any traction as she scrambled away. I held out my scarred hoof as I said. "Please, don't be frightened. I'm here to help you." "Moooooom!" she shouted, her voice hoarse and rough from the ghoulification. "Mooooom! Celestia's being scary!" I smiled at her as I motioned her closer and used my mouth. "Don't you recognize me? I'm Lilium, please believe me." She tilted her head and blinked her faintly glowing red eyes. One of her ears twitched slightly as her tilt increased. "No yer not. Yer green!" she shouted in her hoarse voice. I nodded slightly as I laid down. "Yes, but I remember the boardwalk with the ice cream and Dawn Star. I won you that Celestia doll, remember?” Sienna nodded. “Where is your real mother?" Her ears drooped as she looked down at the dusty street. My ears drooped as well at the realization that this filly has spent two hundred years in this pod. Alone until I was installed. "I don't know," she whispered. "I thought... that last pony was so nice... the crystal unicorn..." I held out my hoof as I smiled at her. It was my attempt to tell her without words that everything would be okay. Something nudged my shoulder, causing me to nod. "Sienna," she looked back up at me. "I never did take you to the Crystal Empire. What kind of a mother breaks a promise like that?" She tilted her head as her rotted ears flopped around. Sienna, strangely, looked as if she knew this was not a real world. "Is it scary?" My smile had yet to fade and I tilted my head in response. "Is what scary, little one?" "Outside..." she slowly looked around with her glowing red eyes. "Not here, the actual world." Something nudged my shoulder again but I ignored it. I shut my eyes as I sighed and gave her a nod. "Yes," I told her with my mouth. "It can be scary, but... Ponies fear me as to them I am a monster." "Really?" she tilted her head and again I nodded. "Can I go with you then?" I grinned and held out my hoof. She jumped into my chest and sent me reeling back a step from her weight. As I slumped into a sitting position the little ghoul filly gave me the strongest hug she could muster. Slowly, the world faded around us. I blinked, and awoke looking down at Sienna, whom strangely had her full mane still. Something was nudging my shoulder over and over, which caused me to glare at the source. Axe was trying to get my attention while she shouted. "Wake up you stupid alicorn, there's another one coming!" My eyes widened as I looked down at Sienna. The brown ghoul was moving slightly and barely registering her surroundings. I immediately set about unhooking her from the machine while she regained focus. "It's so rusty-what?!" Her glowing red eyes widened to the size of pie plates as I pulled the hose connecting her head to the machine. "Dead? How can Ah be dead?! Stupid Pipbuck! Yer broked 'cause Ah'm not dead!" She repeatedly hit her Pipbuck with a hoof until she realized that her hood was rotted. Sienna screamed in fright like the filly she was. That was when I heard hoof steps on rusty metal behind me and Axe swore as she dove to the side. "Shit, alicorn!" I immediately grabbed Sienna in my foreleg and hugged her tight and spun around to face the alicorn. I tilted my head, Sienna stopped screaming, and Axe sent a pair of twin beams at the purple. They struck a shimmering red shield and did no damage. I saw that this purple was not RJ. In fact, her coat was a much lighter shade of purple. She looked at Sienna with her head tilted in confusion. An eyebrow raised up and a strange look. "Stay back!" I shouted at her with my mind. "I will kill you if I have too." She looked behind her for a second, then looked at me. "You risked capture to help a ghoul filly you've only known for a few days?" she asked softly and I nodded in response. "Yes. Sienna may not be mine by blood, but I feel as if she should not be alone. I have been in her situation before and it is not pleasant." Sienna looked up at me as she asked. "Miss Lilium, what's a ghoul?" I smiled down at her as I nuzzled her mane. "It is what you are, Sienna. A ghoul is a thing that some ponies fear. Especially if they have eyes like yours. Which are very pretty by the way." She smiled. Her face looking like I had just given her a stuffed Celestia doll. "Ponies will think Ah'm scary?!" I nodded. "Awesome!" A light chuckle caused me to look up at the smiling alicorn. "It seems as if there is some good in you after all. Don’t worry. I will tell the others you went a different way. Though I will attack you if I see you again." I saw her horn glow as she prepared a spell. "Wait!" I said in her mind and she did. "Why? What have I done to you?" She pointed a hoof at her foreleg and my ears drooped in realization that this mare was the one I had skinned. "I'm sorry... I didn't know... I thought it was fake..." "I wish you luck," she said as she wrapped herself in a mass of swirling purple that coalesced into a ball. The energy ball exploded outwards in a bright flash as the alicorn teleported away. I looked at Axe and nodded. She nodded back, but gave a weary look to Sienna before pulling her faceplate down. Sienna finally noticed Axe and her red eyes went wide. "Oooooh! Yer like an awesome pegasus scorpion thing!" "Power armor," Axe replied with a smirk, "gotta love it." *** *** We, the three of us, walked through the rusty building. Axe was weary about everything. Even going so far as to fire at a small rat that had appeared for fear it would bite one of us, and inject some imp spawn creature. Sienna would try to drag me towards a pod or two, and I would let her. Thus our trek had been very slow and Axe seemed to be enjoying my distaste for the weapon she had given me. It was a .223 caliber revolver with a small tactical light underneath the square barrel. I disliked it because of it’s... pitiful ammunition. The mouth grip looked to have a small cracked plastic inlay as well as some torn padding. Yet I did not need to use the mouth grip as it was floating just under my vision at the ready if I needed it. The barrel of it was a dulled and scratched ebony color. Overall the weapon looked in poor condition. And yet when Sienna had grabbed it from Axe’s grip, her Pipbuck told her it was in okay condition on the verge of being poor. Axe had said she only had 5.56mm hollow point ammo which should work just fine, according to her, on fleshy targets. The pegasus kept calling it 'That Crappy Gun' but Sienna had made no mention if it actually was called that or not. She had merely giggled. Sienna came scrambling back to me with a look of terror on her face. She shoved my forelegs around as she attempted to use them as cover from some unseen monster. The ghoul filly pointed her hoof at the pod. “Miss Lilium, there’s a zombie in that pod,” she whispered and I merely chuckled. I used my wing to block her vision by letting it drag on the ground slightly, which seemed to satisfy her needs as she stayed there. Both Axe and I found it amusing that even though the ‘zombies’ could not attack her, she was afraid of them. A monster afraid of her fellow monsters. We kept walking through the rusty confines, looking for a way out and following Sienna's vague directions. The filly weaved in and out of my legs as I did so, causing me to stumble a bit as I tripped over her. But I quickly regained my balance as she skittered off somewhere again. Axe merely watched with interest. "I don't get it," she grumbled as I resumed trotting and Sienna came over. "That scientist said she was feral, she looks feral, but she ain't acting feral. Why?" "I do not know," I replied honestly and shook my head, my mane always covering my right eye as I did so. It was the truth. I cast my one eyed gaze about again at all of the pods. Nothing was amiss and so we kept walking. There was not a whole lot to look at really. The rusty walls, floor, and dark ceiling blurred together eventually to make just one mass of rust. Axe's scorpion like tail moved moved about this way and that in clear worry as she looked around. I did not blame her as this place worried me. We saw no exit signs, nor directional signs. We were merely walking south according to Axe's compass. To our left were pods stacked almost to the gloomy ceiling. To my right was a rusty wall. Beneath my hooves was a rusty echoing catwalk. Our walk through the confines gave me time to contemplate what had actually transpired and what was false. Strangely, according to Axe, almost all of it actually happened. "Axe, how come your eyes glow?" I asked quietly in her mind. She looked at the floor, her ears drooping slightly as if remembering something bad. "Ever encounter a glowing ghoul?" "Yes, once." I nodded slowly as I trotted next to her. Sienna of course used my legs to hide behind. "Well there was this one, far out to sea on a shipwreck, and I picked it up. The damn thing bit me." "And it injected you with mutant spawn?" She stopped and looked at me in shock, her jaw agape. Then she closed it and shook her head. "No. I absorbed a near lethal amount of radiation due to practically hugging it so I could carry it. I spent about a month getting better and found my eyes glowed ever since. Kind of cool if you ask me." I frowned at her story as I looked at the floating pistol in front of me. If she was telling the truth, then that meant Comet was too when he had said one of his daughters was very ill. I nodded even though she didn't see it. "I heard your twin was with you for awhile when you were sick." "Yeah, she was. And she told me about a crazy alicorn and a giant plant monster that took up a whole room." "I understand what you were going through with the radiation poisoning. I went through it once before... that is why I chose Unity. To end my suffering and become a better pony." "Was it worth it?" she quietly asked as she looked at a random pipe on the wall. "To be changed so drastically." I nodded. "Yes it was in my eyes. Though I am sure you will have no worry about becoming a ghoul. This we will make sure of. You have our word." "I hope so..." Axe replied solemnly. "I met this pegasus ghoul. She was absolutely crazy!" "Ripper?" I asked as I grinned, knowing the exact ghoul she was talking about. The power armored pegasus nodded. "Yeah. Craziest bitch of a bird I've crossed. Ugly." "Rude." "Eats invisible food." "And talks about 'them'." "Hey, she makes a good point on those. I think they're real." Axe shook her head. "And we did lose a recon squad to what they called albino mules. When I arrived all I saw was blood stains and shredded armor. No meat remained. Just bloody armor and feathers..." Her voice cracked a bit as she said feathers. I scratched my chin with a wing in thought as I replied. "How is Wraith?" Axe shrugged. "Still the same. She's been taking Dash for so long she can't live without it. Father has rationed it to her in a way where she's not doped up or nearly dying from withdrawal all the time. So I guess she’s doing okay. We tried to keep it a secret, but on a cloudship..." "News spreads fast. I remember on the ship going to the zebra lands. How is Comet?" She giggled at some memory. I saw a smile on her face. "When I was sick he told me a story. He was walking through a hallway when an alicorn stallion nearly tackled him. The alicorn was strangely frightened about something. Which turned out to be a soap covered, and horny, green alicorn mare. Father said he defused the situation with a massage. But I got the feeling there was more to the story than he was telling me." "I get it," I said. My face a darker shade of green thanks to my deep blush. Axe nodded. "Yeah. I suppose you do." I said nothing, merely nodded in response. Luckily Comet had stumbled across me. Otherwise I might have done something I'd regret. A tap on one of my legs drew my attention downward to Sienna. She looked up at me with big puppy dog eyes that, despite ghoulification and solid red, made me feel like my heart was melting. “Miss Lilium, how come you’re an alicorn?” I smiled at her. “Because looong,’ I waved my wing in a dramatic fashion, “ago I was once a unicorn like you.” She tilted her head and I nodded. “Yes, that tan crystal pony was what I used to look like almost two hundred years ago to this very day.” I noticed Axe’s ears had moved to listen intently, but she kept looking around. Sienna looked confused with her head tilted. “But how?” “Magic,” I grinned. “Well... a different kind of magic than unicorn. It was a magical substance that, from my understanding, is now long gone. I jumped into this substance almost a hundred and seventy years ago and was transformed, rather painfully, into this. Or at least others tell me the process was painful for them. For me it was like stepping into too hot of a bath. Almost scalding at first, but tolerable.” “There’s more than two?!” Her eyes went wide. "Yes, a great many of us. We come in three general colors with varying shades. Green obviously, purple and blue. Each of my sisters and I have their own unique talents in addition to our regular talents. Which is why I am able to talk to you in your mind. This, plus our shield, is what we greens are best at. We... could control the others with a small pocket of Unity, but that might be bad." "What do blue ones do?" "This," I replied before I went invisible. Her eyes widened at the same time her jaw dropped. The air around me shimmered as I reappeared. "Spells were shared among us in Unity. A good Sister gave me the ability, and as such, I know how to do the Blue's invisibility. But it is not as good as a pure blues spell. Th-give me a minute." I stopped, causing the other two two to stop in confusion. My magic branched out while I felt around for Sister while making sure I didn't touch the others. I felt nothing in the immediate area, obviously, so I searched wider. She was nowhere to be found and that caused my ears to fold back in worry. Sienna waved a rotted forehoof at the bottom of my vision in an attempt to get me to move. Axe was looking at me with her visor up, her eyes concerned. She pulled Sienna away and whispered something to her I couldn't make out. But it was most likely 'let's give her some room'. I concentrated and pushed my senses to the very limit of what I could do. There were other ponies, always other ponies, but alicorns were unique. To me, they were like distress flares in the night. Easy to spot and follow. Each one unique in her own way. Eventually, I felt her. Sister was at the very limit of my abilities. A grin formed on my face as my ears perked up. She was very far away. I'd say on the other side of the island based off how faint it was. The thought of connecting to her fully came to mind. So I did. "Sister?" I asked in her mind. "Shock...?" she replied, causing me to grin as she never responded before. "I thought you were dead... You vanished weeks ago! What happened?" My ears folded back in worry as I was unsure as to what she meant. It had only been less than a week, had it not? "I..." I looked at the two ponies nearby and smiled. "I was held against my will in a machine. It created a world that was similar, yet different. You were there-" "Of course I was if it was similar. Tell me where you are and I'll come get you." I almost responded, but I had no idea where we were. "It is fine," I told Sister. "We know where your location is and we shall make our way to you. I have two others with me that can help, so I am safe." "Very well, I await your return at the location of your last drop." *** *** Tunnels. Dark rusty tunnels as far as the eye could see. Which was not that far due to the darkness that surrounded us like a blanket. As we walked, the torch under my new pistol lit the way. Axe had no problem in the dark, neither did Sienna, but I was forced to rely on the tactical light. The three of us were walking in one of those seemingly endless rusty tunnels. We had long ago left the pods behind. Our guide was Sienna's Pipbuck, which had a marker for something. Axe had retrieved my bags, but the only thing of mine I still had was the Twilight Sparkle statuette. All of the caps, items, and ammo I had collected were gone. But it didn't matter. I had the doll and that assured me that my trip since leaving the Crescent Moon was a hundred percent real. Which was all I needed. Something real to hold on to. Something I was sure I had achieved over the last near two months. I stopped and looked down at Sienna. She looked up at me with her ghoulish red eyes. The look on her face was near terror. I scooped her up in a foreleg and nuzzled her belly. She giggled in response. Her laugh sounding like a cheese grater, but it made me smile. I set her down gently and resumed my trot. But I quickly wing slapped her and said in her mind, "tag, you're it!" I broke into a gallop, leaving a slightly stunned Sienna and Axe behind. The tactical light under the pistol was of little use as I galloped away from the group. A quick glance back showed Sienna to be trying to keep up. I flashed her a grin and barreled around the corner. As I looked ahead, my eye widened and I skidded to a stop in a small dust cloud. Something small and soft slammed into my hind legs, forcing them out from under me. Due to my shock I simply collapsed into a sitting position on top of a squirming Sienna. Who started to whine and complain about the weight. Behind me, metal hoof steps echoed as Axe also came around the corner. "Hey, slow d-" she gulped the rest of her statement. I stood up slightly and allowed Sienna to crawl out from under me. She opened her mouth to speak, but a metal hoof from Axe was quickly shoved into her mouth. Sienna glared at the pegasus then me. I nodded and put a wing to my mouth in a silencing gesture. Sienna nodded in response so Axe released her hoof. Then I turned my attention to what had caused me to stop so abruptly. Plants. Not just any plants either, but giant yellow pods and purple bulbs lined the walls leading to a door that wasn't far away. There were only five plants, but without a flamethrower it would be hell to try and get past. "Axe," I asked in her mind without taking my eye off the plants. "Can you hack terminals?" Something tugged at my mane, drawing my attention to Axe, who pointed down the way we had come. I smiled at her as I picked Sienna up in a foreleg to place her on my back. With my empty bags she still wasn't all that heavy. I turned my attention back to the plants as I lined up a shot by looking down the iron sights. But then I lowered it as I remembered the Steel Rangers lost ponies to these plants. Without Hyde I was in no shape to fight. I sat there, thinking of what to do, when I realized I still had my spells. The 5.56mm ammo was brought out as I cast my shield and charged the group of plants. The purple ones immediately ahead bloomed and spit barbs, which impacted the shield and stuck much to my surprise. A tongue from a nearby yellow pod slammed into my shield, causing it to flicker, as another one roared in the darkness. I kept charging as a second tongue slammed into my shield. Sienna screamed in terror, almost matching the pods for volume. Two beams of red sliced across my vision, striking a purple pod and causing it to glow pink before disintegrating. It was then I brought up That Crappy Gun and put two hollow points into the nearest purple flower. At a distance of one meter only a complete fool could miss. My two shots struck the flower square on and tore chunks out of the back as they passed through. It squealed and oozed out ichor as I sent a third shot into it, striking the bulb in the center. As I turned my attention onto the third and final bulb I heard Sienna scream. "They got the pegasus!" I immediately spun around and aimed down the sight. Axe was being dragged by the hind leg towards a yellow pod. However before I could fire at the pod. Her bladed tail lashed out, severing the tongue and causing the beast to roar in agony as more of the floor was covered in ichor. With Axe freed my attention was turned towards the final purple bulb as it bloomed a second time. The tac light highlighted it perfectly three meters away. I aimed down the sights and quickly squeezed the trigger twice with magic. The weapon popped loudly in response as both of my shots struck the center of mass on the plant. It exploded in green ichor covered chunks at the same time a barb embedded itself in my shield. As beam after red beam sliced across the hallway. I opened the cylinder of the revolver and emptied the empties. They were caught in my magic long before they hit the ground and brought closer so they could be reloaded later. Five new hollow points were loaded in. My last five. I trained the weapon on a yellow pod Axe was trying to incinerate with red laser beams. My revolver popped twice, striking the pod right in the side, and tore chunks of plant off as it roared in pain. Two beams sliced across it and struck my shield, causing it to shimmer slightly. I glared at Axe who merely shrugged and adjusted her aim to actually hit the plant. I rolled my eyes and focused on the beast. I squeezed the trigger a third time and tore another chunk off. This time at the base of the beast near the green vines The beast squealed and collapsed and let out a final breath. *** *** Beyond the door lay more rusty hallways and more vegetation, but strangely no killer plants. They were already all dead. We cautiously walked through a debris filled atrium. The roof having collapsed at one time and... I stopped, causing the others to look at me in confusion, and pointed a hoof at scorch marks on the floor where a foal plant monster lay dead and scorched. "I made those." Axe nodded. "Hm... Seems we're back at that insane stable." "That is good then," I smiled at our luck. “We can head into the tram tunnels and find our way to Oakwood. I should know the path.” "What about the plant monster thing?" Axe asked as she turned towards the door where we had come from. "It must surely be as dead as those flowers down there." "But they so pretty..." Sienna added as she stared at the dead plants. "How can something' so pretty be so mean?" "They're a product of a deranged mind," Axe replied quietly. "The prettier the deadlier." I moved on and blocked out the conversation. Ahead of me lay, of course, burnt plant covered rusty flooring. The walls were scorched and as I stopped. I saw the door I originally came through the first time. It was open, scorched black, and falling off its hinges. I pointed my hoof at it as I said. "There is our way out." "How can you be sure?" Sienna asked as she came bounding over. I patted her with my wing and a smile. "I remember it, and the door is blown inward. Not out. So it must have been the way the Tin Can Heretics came in." "Hah!" Axe laughed and drew my attention. "Tin Can Heretics. I gotta remember that one." And so without saying anything else, I headed for the destroyed door. Shell Shock: 75% to next level. Quest perk gained - Foal at Heart. Allows for unique interaction and dialogue with foals and some adults. New ability unlocked - VR fun time. You've been hooked into a virtual reality simulator for Goddess knows how long. Due to the implants installed, you can now access it if you ever swing by there again. The implants don't provide any other bonuses and you should probably cover them up. Side quest accepted - Home is where the heart is. Recover your toys and link back up with Mudpie so the both of you can go after Eclipse. Side quest completed - Voices in your head. You killed the crimson mare, but was she really the one in your head or is there something still there? Companion perk - Better criticals. You are 20% more likely to crit something with Axe in your party. Applies to energy weapons and unicorn, or alicorn, spells only. Companion perk - Ghost Hunter. You deal 10% more damage to ghouls, zombies, and anything else Sienna deems a ghost or scary. Axe: Level up! New Perk - Friend of the Night. You can see in the dark and you look awesome to certain ponies. Others are creeped out. Sienna: Level up! New perk - Little Monstrosity. Due to your severe ghoulification. You scare certain ponies shitless. Have fun. Feral ghouls might not attack you, but they also just might. Chapter 11: OdditiesChapter 11: Oddities “These are not the ponies you’re looking for.” I looked back at Sienna who was being held by Axe as I made a motion with a wing, indicating I wanted them to wait. Oddly enough we had come across Raul's place. Or not so oddly because it was on the way back to Oakwood and you could only go forward or backwards in tunnels. Wherever that was from Raul's place I had no idea. Oakwood could have been on the complete opposite side of the island for all I knew. Raul’s place was destroyed beyond all recognition by the explosion when I had taken the Twilight Sparkle doll. The room was scorched black and most of the items were burnt as well. Charred ghoul body parts were strewn about and a nauseous smell wafted from the room. The scene that was before me was why I had Sienna wait with Axe. I nodded when Sienna sat down. Then I turned my attention back to the room as I covered my nose with a wing to keep the stench at bay. But it did little beyond make me believe it was working. And so, I slowly stepped inside while scanning around the room with my good eye. I looked for any traps that may still be active or anything of value. I stopped my search when my eye fell upon the gryphon crossbow. Well what was left of it anyway. The spring and metal wire lay in a wood pile that must have surely been the stock. A jade green glow encased all of it as I began to lift the weapon. Then stopped and set it down when I remembered Fake Bucky asking about it. I slowly walked towards it as I gently moved charred debris aside. What I saw caused me to frown. At the bottom of the spring was a wire. I followed that wire until it ended at the wall. It just... ended. Just like that. The wire stopped at the wall. My hoof gently probed the area around the wire and bumped something round about two feet long. Yet I could not physically see the object. So I brought over some ashes and dumped it all over this item. As I did so my eyes widened. At the object that was a 105mm artillery round complete with the casing holding the propellant. There was no way my shield would have protected me from it even if I was able to cast it. "What's going on?" Axe asked from down the hall with an echo in her voice. I used my mind to respond to her. "I found a most troubling trap. I suggest you back further away." I waited an eternity while I stared at the round and thought of the various ways this could go horribly: Me turned into bloody red feathers. Me turned into red mist. Me horribly maimed and bleeding out. Me ceasing to exist entirely. I gulped all of that down and followed the wire to what looked like an invisible detonator on the end of the shell. My magic encased the whole thing, bow and wire too, in a soft green glow as it was lifted off the ground and brought closer. As I flipped the High-Explosive round over I saw there was a device on the end of it shaped like a Pipbuck. Attached to the Pipbuck looked like a spark battery and Stealthbuck. I stuck my tongue out as as my face scrunched up. Each wire leading from the battery was gently undone with magic. As I undid two of them, there was a faint buzz and the air shimmered around the warhead as it became visible again. Strangely, or not so because of the battery, the Pipbuck’s screen was lit. But not brightly. The screen displayed a black background with green words that read: 'You're fucked'. I smiled at this message as no pony... My smile faded when I realized there could be a proximity sensor or timer on this whole setup and it could have been activated when the battery was disconnected from the Stealthbuck. Which caused my earlier fears to come back. "Is everything okay?" Axe shouted. Again her voice echoed in the tunnel. "This is boring!" Sienna's gravelly whine added to the echo. "Miss Lilium, I want to go home!" I dared not take my eyes off the trap and so I responded with my mind. "Please be quiet. I have a one-oh-five millimeter High-Explosive shell in my lap. There is a proximity sensor and I do not wish to become alicorn paste." "Let us know when you disarm it," Axe replied. I groaned internally and nearly facehoofed. "You shall be the first to know if I don't." Again I gulped down my fears and looked at the Pipbuck. Whoever had designed the trap was smart indeed! But... if one were to put a proximity sensor on such a trap and walk away... it would go off then. Unless said sensor had an initial startup delay or be activated when one removed the wires. My gaze went to the shell's tip where it had the strange device device attached. I noticed a faint line, highlighted by ash, and rotated just the tip to the right a bit. I shut my eyes and cringed but nothing happened. So I rotated it a bit more. Again nothing. So I rotated the shell to the left because the wire started flopping around. As I unscrewed the shell I smiled at my good fortune. I then pulled them apart and gently set the inert explosives down. Floating in my magic was the Pipbuck, Stealthbuck, and detonator to the High-Explosive shell. That got set down. I then lifted the now inert warhead in magic and gently rolled it out the door. Metallic hoofsteps signaled Axe was walking closer and a second, quieter, set let me know Sienna was too. *** *** We walked along the tunnels still. My new 'bow' was now floating nearby. It was a simple, yet highly efficient, weapon. The flat suspension spring from a cart, or vehicle, combined with some form of a metal wire and a small notch for the 'arrows'. Which were the same modified railway spikes I had previously used. Only this time I had a total of ten that survived the destruction of the room. Sienna was holding an unloaded That Crappy Gun in her teeth. Mostly because Axe didn't trust a filly with ammo and partly because Sienna's magic was kind of pathetic. But her holding the pistol provided me with a path to see by due to its tactical light. Axe... was on my back, snoring and drooling in her sleep. Which gave me an indication that we walked for quite some time. I kept turning my head to the right so that I could check my blind spot. My exquisite mane blocked my blurry right side vision. Though I have no doubts about my ability to heal in radiation. I just... wish to be happy again. My gaze went down to Sienna. She seemed to be fearless now that she had killed a radroach earlier and was triumphantly leading the way. The ground beneath us had long given way to dirt, which was good and not good. I remembered that blue plant, Killing Joke, moved through the dirt. Knowing my Luck it would probably turn me into a three legged crystal unicorn who was dying of radiation poisoning. Which would be bad, very bad indeed. But poor little Sienna... she will always stay that size, always look the way way she does, and will be feared by ponies for what she is not. Since all we could do was walk my thoughts turned to Sister. I wondered what would she do. Would she try to hug me and plant a kiss on my lips? To which I'd have to knock a few teeth out for? Or would she be a mean pony and try to screw me over in some way, again? Sienna stopped as she pointed her hoof at something. The light of the flashlight highlighted the metal rungs of a distant ladder. I smiled as I patted her head with a wing. "That must surely be our way out of here." I told her in her mind. She looked up at me with a tilted head. To which I tilted mine in the same direction. "Do you not want to see other ponies? To get out of these boring tunnels and have an adventure?" She nodded and slobbered around the pistol's bit. "Yesh, Muss Lil-" There was a hollow click as the empty weapon was triggered. Sienna looked cross-eyed at it before she spit it out into a hoof. I merely smiled at her while I levitated the weapon into her bags. "Stupid thing is heavy!" she whined as she stomped her forehooves down. "Why do I need it?" I nodded, still smiling, and patted her head again. "To protect yourself. Perhaps I will have time to teach you magic so you can levitate it. But for now. We walk!" I struck a dramatic pose before strutting towards the the ladder like I was a snob unicorn from Canterlot. As I reached it, I looked up at the ponyhole cover and took a deep breath. My magic surrounded the metal object and I lifted it gently. Then pushed it sideways and waited. And waited... My flowing mane was the only movement I saw in the darkness above. I felt something nudge me, so I looked down at a set of faintly glowing red eyes. "Is it safe?" Sienna whispered in her gravelly foal like voice. Axe was gently set on the ground with my magic. Then I put the bow across my back. "Wait here," I told Sienna with my mind. She plopped her rump where she stood and I begun to climb the ladder as quietly as I could. When I reached the top I frowned because it was that shack. Outpost Xray if memory served me correctly. But the corrugated metal door was open to the elements and pouring rain pelted the metal roof above, which made hearing anything impossible. I climbed out fully before levitating both Axe and Sienna up. I then turned my attention towards the door. Sienna took a step forward, but I quickly pulled her close and covered her mouth with a hoof. "Ssh," I whispered into her mind. "There is a very deadly thing out there that hunts by sight and sound. It kills in the most terrible of manner." She nodded quickly and my hoof was removed. I levitated Axe onto my back again and the mid weight pegasus was secured. My magic surrounded Sienna as I lifted the brown ghoul filly up and onto the top of my head. Then I cast my invisibility spell and quietly whispered with my mouth. "Please, hang on. I will get us out of here." "Okay," Sienna whispered back as she hugged my horn. Her reply was louder, but the rain drowned out most of it from the outside. I took a few steps forward out into the pouring rain. My eyes shut and I stood there for a few moments. I let the cool rain of the muggy day wash the goo from my coat and mane. Though my mane and tail stopped flowing and clung to my body. But I didn't care. I spread my wings and gave them a couple test flaps before taking flight. Even though I was erratic and shaky I still flew with the hope that it would get better. Then I remembered about the hotspot only an hour away by hoof and followed the path by air. As we left the corn field behind I dropped the invisibility spell and wrapped Sienna in magic. She squealed in terror for a second before her eyes went wide in amazement. "I'm flying!" "Yes," I replied in her mind as I nodded and leveled her out next to my head. "Yes, you are!" She giggled as she looked around in amazement, her eyes wide and jaw agape. Our flight did not last long though as eventually I spotted the clearing I was looking for and landed near it. Sienna was set down, followed by Axe, and I told the filly to wait with a hoof gesture. She sat down in response. Slowly, I walked towards the hotspot and shut my eyes as I spread my wings out. Warm and glorious radiation seeped into my body. "Miss Lilium, what are ya doing?" Sienna asked with a voice laced with concern. I smiled as I replied with my mind. "Healing, my dear Sienna. Healing." I felt the bone in my wing snap again, which caused me to cringe and whimper. The area quickly heated up as if a pony held a match to it as the bone melded together. My leg, face, and right side all heated up as well as the deep tissue slowly healed. *** *** Sienna and I flew above the jungle canopy. We kept low to the trees so as to not be spotted so easily from the ground. My green hide and magic helped us to blend in from the air. Axe was still asleep and rightfully so as it was early morning, a light blueish grey tint coated the land. We would have been flying in silence had Sienna not been giggling like mad and shouting in joy every time she rolled over. But I did not care. I was mostly healed and flying straight. Sienna was happy and flying. Axe was... sleeping and flying. Where I was heading I did not care for either. But it was hard to miss the high rises of Oakwood City. Nor was it hard to miss the smoke rising from a few areas of the city. And Sienna had not missed them either. She pointed her hoof at one of the very tall buildings that had not fallen down yet. "Oooh, look a city!" she hyperly exclaimed. "Can we go see it?!" I frowned at her request. Mostly because I knew what heading into the city would entail, but also I had to fly there anyway. So with a nod I turned the three of us towards the city of Oakwood. Which loomed before us in all its decrepit glory. The tallest building had long ago lost part of its upper floors and was now just barely taller than the rest. What had once been the upper half now lay on the ground. The structure looked to have taken down another building in the process of collapsing. However the city itself was massive. From the edge of the jungle you could just barely make out the bridge which linked the bay in a sort of circle. Quite a bit of the roads were open with very few actually being blocked by debris. But due to the climate the area closest to the jungle was overgrown by vines and plants. Almost all of the roads were cracked with plants or chest height grass growing in place of concrete. Despite all of this. The foggy bay was empty and there was only plant life. Indeed a low fog had rolled into the city much like it does every morning. The grey damp mist blocked out most sounds within the vicinity and so I flew silently above the rooftops. Only the sound of my wings flapping indicated anything at all. Sienna had calmed down and was acting strange, so I brought her closer. She grabbed hold of my mane in an effort to use it as a shield. What it was that terrified the filly? I had no idea. My gaze was locked on the derelict buildings below. Some were still standing while others were piles of rubble. And some, weren't even much more than a foundation. I wished for E.F.S. and my mind reminded me that I was carrying a Pipbuck in my bags. But it also reminded me that same Pipbuck was used for some kind of a trap with a 105mm High-Explosive shell. The very same shell in my bags. I had figured if I could find Rose she could make something from it. As I flew along I hummed to myself. But it was not a sad song. It was a happy one. It was strange. Even though there were plenty of intact buildings and life from the plant life. There was no pony life that I could see. So I continued my silent flight above the ruined city. As I was flying over a particularly familiar stretch of road. A red hot object burned its way through one of my wings. Which caused me to cry out in pain and my magic nearly lost hold of Sienna. I flapped my wings, but my injured one burned and stung whenever it flapped. And so I plummeted from the sky around the time the rifle report caught up with us. I shut my eyes and tucked Sienna close as I felt Axe go flying off in a random direction. My body slammed into something metal that collapsed beneath us in a loud metallic crunch. Fire shot through my wing, legs, and horn. Sienna, however, was safely in my grasp. I opened both of my eyes and glanced around at my surroundings. Sienna and I lay atop a now crushed wagon. Axe lay in the tall grass, but she was slowly moving and groaning about her head. Around us were buildings of all colors, but were mashed together as if there was no space between them. The misty morning fog surrounded us like a damp blanket. Blood ran out of a slowly sealing wound in my wing and coated the wagon's roof. Sienna jumped out of my grasp and galloped over to Axe. She shook the power armored pegasus with her hooves over and over until Axe responded by slapping her in the face with a wing. Sienna went over and picked up Axe's head with her hooves. "Miss Axe, are ya alright?! That was-" Axe's groan turned into a shout of surprise when her eyes opened. "Feral!" She scrambled away from Sienna until she stopped and tilted her head. Axe pointed a hoof. "Sienna?" The filly nodded and Axe let out a breath. "Sorry. I thought you were a zombie and-" "Zombie?!" Sienna shrieked and galloped over to the wagon I lay atop of and smiled down at her. She frantically looked around. "Miss Lilium! There's a zombie nearby!" I knew Axe had meant Sienna but to be on the safe side I readied my bow and looked around. Axe stood up, legs shaking, and looked around as well. "Area's clear of reds," she said loudly. "Um, Miss Lilium, yer bleeding." Sienna pointed at my wing. I nodded and stood up. Most of my side that had not been against the wagon was covered in the sticky crimson liquid. "I will be fine," I told Sienna with my mind. But a glance showed me that the wound should be hurting badly, because a giant chunk of flesh was missing, except it wasn’t. I looked up at the sounds of heavy hoofsteps. Axe was carrying a strip of cloth in her teeth as she walked over to me. With a nod, I grabbed it in my green magic field and brought the cloth closer. Sienna tilted her head in what looked like confusion. My wing was wrapped in the cloth, which quickly turned red from the blood, and I frowned. Mostly because a wound that big meant a large caliber rifle and partly because I was sure they'd check the kill. "We should get moving," Axe said quietly. I slowly scanned the buildings with my one eye. All of the dark windows could have a pony in them and that caused me to worry. I nodded. "Yes, let's." *** *** The pain in my wing had died to a dull ache by the time the morning sun broke the horizon. My mane flowed once again and I was glad for it. Sienna was deathly quiet as she looked around the buildings. The morning fog was still with us and still felt like a blanket. It obscured my vision to where I could not even see across the street. Which made it impossible to detect anything that was lurking out there in the misty morning fog unless you had E.F.S. My head swiveled left and right even though it was pointless at this time for me. The bow had a spike in it and was ready to be drawn back. Yet nothing jumped out at us from the ground, nor from the buildings. It was like... the whole city was dead. But it did not explain the pony that had shot me earlier in the day. I shrugged and kept walking. The wet grass against my hooves was refreshing. So I took a deep breath and smiled as my lungs were filled with the cool sea air. My ears swiveled every which way as they picked up... music. Odd, strange, country music drifted on the fog. This caused me to tilt my head. I looked over at Sienna, who was equally confused, then looked at Axe who seemed to be walking towards the source. I sighed and followed the maroon pegasus. It did not take long to find the source of the music. Bodies and debris lined the road. A burned out steam truck complete with a burned out trailer sat in the street. Its shadow loomed before us and that caused me to realize where we were. "Sister?" I quietly shouted as I looked around the fog. "Sister, where are you?" All I saw was low grass, fog, the shadow, and buildings. I spun a slow circle again to check and stopped. Slowly, I walked towards the two story building I had used only a few weeks ago. I nosed open the door and quietly shouted again. "Sister?!" A creak above drew my attention as I aimed, and readied, the bow. Nothing was there at the top of the stairs. Slowly, I made my way inside as I checked left, right, center, and back to the second floor. I sidestepped gently and cautiously over the moldy carpet. As I neared the stairs I aimed at the door to the right of them. Hoofsteps behind told me Axe was following. "This place smells like shit," she commented loudly and killed any stealth we had. I rolled my eyes and set a hoof on the bottom stair, then slowly started climbing. I kept the bow aimed at the door. But, of course, Axe ruined it again by flying up top and landing next to it. She looked around and shrugged. "Why are ya sneaking like that?" "Because," I whispered. "There may be hostiles around." I felt a tap on my neck as Sienna whispered. "I only see green." The bow was relaxed as I shook my head. A faint smile on my lips because these ponies had E.F.S. and we're acting careless because of it. Which was odd because ponies shouldn't do that. It would be bad. I kept the bow almost ready and finished walking up the stairs. Then took a quick check of my surroundings. Most of it looked the same. The tattered cloth was still there covering the hole, all the wood was greyed and most importantly the music was coming from the hole. I walked inside the room as I pushed the cloth aside and quickly scanned the room. There was electronic equipment, an empty box for the Annihilator, and a bed on the far wall, but no Sister. A frown formed on my face as I walked over to the box. My head turned side to side to look for any indication that she was here, but I found none. Axe was looking at the note with her head tilted and her visor pushed up. "Use this to burn the heretics into Tartarus... Use what?" she looked over at me with an eyebrow raised. "What was in this box?" "A missile launcher," I replied as I closed the box with my magic. Then slowly looked around again and made my way over to the radio. "She should be here. Sister said she'd be here!" I stomped my forehooves into the wood, cracking it, and shook my head as I glared at the box. “This all happened because of my stupidity. Had I not drank that infernal drink I wouldn't have made such blatant tactical errors such as focusing everything on that one foal in power armor!” I grit my teeth in anger as I huffed and shook my head. Then, with an angry incoherent shout, I bucked at the air. But to my surprise I hit something soft and sent the invisible thing flying. There was two decidedly mareish screams of shock as the invisible thing slammed into Axe and sent the both of them flying into the wall. A pair of 10mm pistols clattered to the floor. My ears perked up the same time the air around Axe shimmered. Revealing an azure blue alicorn wearing a pair of black saddlebags She wore a brown trench coat with what looked like magazines placed in foreleg holsters. "Shock, you're a moron," she groaned as she held a forehoof to her head. I let out a squee as I grinned and galloped over. My magic hauled Sister to her hooves so I could squeeze her tight in a bear hug. Axe had recovered from the shock of the blow and quickly scrambled back away from the surprise alicorn attack. However, Sister did something unexpected. She hugged me back as she leaned forward and planted a kiss in which she pushed her tongue into my teeth as I attempted to block her from getting farther with the kiss. My eyes went wide, Sienna fell of my back, and Axe tilted her head a bit. I decided then to let Sister go unpunished. After it was over I pulled back. Sister smiled and blinked slowly as she gave me the strangest look with her eyes. My cheeks were burning as I stared into her eyes. Her hoof came up and caressed my right cheek. I looked at something else as she said. "Look at your face... What happened?" "I stepped on a mine. Or so I'm told. I thought you had Athena to love?" "Who?" Sister asked as she tilted her head. "Shock, I haven't seen you in weeks! Not after I sent you after the Steel Rangers. I came looking and found a blood trail that stopped at a blast from a mine. I th-" I placed a hoof over her mouth to silence her as I shook my head. "Who is this alicorn?" Axe asked as she picked Sienna up and placed her on her back. I noticed that said filly looked passed out from something. "This is Sister," I replied with a nod and stood up. "She is friendly so we do not need to worry. But if she ever kisses me again..." I glared at Sister as I attempted to kill her with my eyes. Sister smiled in response and shrugged. Axe nodded as she stuck out a hoof. "I'm Axe and the ghoul is Sienna. I rescued Shell Shock from a strange lab and Sienna tagged along for the ride." Sister looked at me and tilted her head. "Is this true?" I gave her a firm nod and spread my good wing, then pointed at the metal disk in the bone near a joint. The one in my foreleg was also visible. Sister ignored Axe as she walked over to the wing and inspected it. Then she touched my back where others ran along the spine. I flinched a bit at the odd feeling coming from the metal disk. "What kind of a monster does this...?" she whispered above a breath. Her jaw was agape a bit and trembling with slightly wide eyes. Sister's hoof finished on the one at the base of my skull. "These... are vital points..." I bowed my head slightly as I nodded in agreement. "Yes, they are and allow me to exist inside a fake world. Which is-" "Fake world?" Sister tilted her head as her ears folded back. "Shock, don't you want to be here? In the real world?" I nodded slowly. "Yes, but..." I looked at a passed out Sienna as my ears folded back. "I was happy there... I had a nice life and no wor-" "Hey!" Axe shouted as she stomped a hoof down. "We lost a few pegasi to rescue you, for Ripper. Why I have no idea, nor care, but if you want to be stuffed inside a goo filled tube again. Think long and hard about those dead pegasi." A frown formed on my face as I looked at the ground and thought about them. They didn't know me, nor did they know Ripper, but they came to help me nonetheless. And some of them died in the process of freeing me. My ears pressed against my head as I nodded slowly. "You are correct. It would be wasteful to just go back now." Slowly, I looked up at Axe. "Now we go to the Cloudchaser to see Ripper." Sister clapped her forehooves together loudly and pointed at me. "Oh! I brought you something you might like..." She walked over to the bed, pulled another box from under it and opened said box. I slowly walked over and peered inside. And promptly let out another unladylike squee of delight. There, inside the box, was my Annihilator Mk.I. Her scratched and repainted tube. A repaired and cleaned firing mechanism. And most importantly: the rocket belt with three rockets. I nearly tackle hugged Sister as I hugged her tightly. A huge grin on my face. "Sister! Where did you find her?! I thought I lost it when Eclipse took it." Sister nodded as she smiled back. "Heh, I snuck in and stole it back." A filly's squeal of delight signaled Sienna had awoken. "You two kissed!" I facehoofed as a blush formed on my face. "I like stallions..." *** *** The damp evening fog greeted us as we exited the building. I deeply inhaled the moist air and smiled. Sister was alive and well. I had my missile launcher again. We had a plan. But sadly Axe was leaving. She spread her wings and hovered off the ground. Sienna was sitting on Sister's back because mine held the Annihilator Mk. I. I frowned a bit at Axe as I had not expected her to leave so soon. She waved before flying off into the fog, I waved back as my frown grew. My gaze slowly lowered as I looked at Sister. She was staring at Sienna with a hint of unease, Sienna was staring at her, and I stopped frowning to grin. "Sister, this is Sienna," I said with my mind to the both of them. "Sienna, this is Sister." Sienna's grin faded as she realized something horribly wrong. "Ewwww! You two kissed!" Sister chuckled while she shook her head. "We're not related by blood. Just through Unity. In fact, I'm much younger than Shock yet we look the same age." "I’m older by over a hundred years," I replied with a nod. "Are you sure...?" Sienna asked with her gravelly voice as she leaned back a bit. "You do look like sisters." Now it was my turn to chuckle at Sienna. "Sienna, I would know if she was. I do not know her name, so I call her Sister." "Shock, are you sure she's okay?" Sister asked while staring at Sienna’s eyes. "She looks..." "Yes. She is a red eyed ghoul filly. Nothing more." I replied before she could say anything. "Alright,” Sister nodded. “But you listen here ghoulie. Any funny business and you're getting a bullet to the face. Got that?" As if to drive her point across Sister floated one of her pistols into Sienna's view. The ghoul filly slowly nodded as Sister gave a firm nod. I merely smiled at them. "Now now, you two play nice." Sienna and Sister looked at me strangely as I stuck out my tongue. Sister rolled her eyes as she spread her wings. "Alright, Shock, we're gonna fly out of here as fast as..." She looked at my bandaged wing then facehoofed and groaned. "Why is it you always find some way to injure your wings so you can't fly?" I smiled as I shrugged and replied. "At least I did not shoot them myself like last time." "Shock, you're a moron." Sister shook her head as she sighed. "Alright. We're waking then." *** *** Day slowly turned to night as we walked through the grey mist. Sister had said that as soon as the plants began growing in the city the fog rolled in and had yet to leave. That was a couple weeks after I vanished. Which is around the time I went into that strange stable. However we were walking blindly through the fog. And yet, we still managed to come across the crash site for the Cloudchaser. Plants were growing all around the area of the cloudship. Yet within the immediate area they had yet to touch it. It was odd seeing vines growing along the side of the buildings as if a pony could climb up them. As we stood there, pondering how best to cross the threshold without setting off one of Ripper’s traps, my ears swiveled back at the sound of a wet plop. It was a sound I had heard before and it made my ears itch. I slowly turned my head around at the noise. And what I saw caused me to tilt my head as I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sister looked back and swore under her breath. What stood behind us was a pale white mule. But not your normal mule. Its eyes were solid black, the nose was a bit too small, there was no mane, and gooey saliva dripped from rows of razor sharp teeth inside its slightly open mouth. It turned its head skyward as it howled something akin to 'foooood'. Two small blasts a split second apart precede two bullets slamming into its chest. Yet the creature did not slow. It closed the gap and jumped towards me with its forelegs outstretched and a devilish grin on its face. My eyes widened when I saw suckers on the bottom of its hooves and I knew right then that if it latched on I’d be a dead pony. My horn glowed as I brought out the bow in an effort to block the creature. It worked because it slammed into the metal spring, and so I twisted and shoved it down into the dirt as more pistol blasts sent 10mm bullets thumping into the creature. As I pulled out a railway spike an odd idea was shouted by the most unlikely of sources. "Shoot it in the head!" Sienna shouted from Sister's back as I nocked the spike and pulled back with magic. "It's a got a brain don't it?! Zombies die to headshots!" The creature rolled to its hooves and leapt to the side with surprising agility, causing my arrow shot to ricochet off the road. I saw bloody chunks taken out of its hide by Sister’s Twins as she fired shot after shot into it until her pistols clicked empty. "Shit, I'm out!" Sister shouted as the beast lunged at her before she could reload, having deemed me a lesser threat, which would be its downfall. It howled its cry for food again at the same time it was wrapped in a jade green glow. I used the momentum to swing the creature around in an arc and slammed it into the grass covered road with a loud hollow crack as the glow faded from it. "Heh," Sister chuckled. "Wasn't so..." The beast rolled to its hooves and jumped onto the wall. It then walked up the wall before disappearing into the night fog. "...hard...?" "What?!" I shouted as I stomped my forehooves into the ground and a snarl formed on my face. My ears swiveled as the beast's new howl was answered by more howls. I slowly backed towards the Cloudchaser as I said. "We should probably hide now..." Sister turned and bolted for the Cloudchaser while I continued to back away as I scanned all of the buildings I could. The metal spring bow floated in front of my vision as I did so. However the strange plop of the odd mule was mirrored by more than one of them. The bow was aimed in a general direction of the sound and I released the spike. I watched as it quickly disappeared into the misty fog. There was a metal clang followed by a thud and nothing else. My head tilted but I quickly picked up my pace when I saw shapes moving towards me in the fog. The bow was brought close and slung across my neck at the same time I brought out the missile launcher. She floated just ahead and to the side of my vision. My magic encased both her and a rocket as the weapon was loaded and the safety was dropped. With my good eye I looked at the shapes galloping closer in the fog and aimed ahead of them with the Annihilator. There was a whoosh to my right as the rocket motor ignited and sent the warhead down range. As the warhead struck ahead of the mules, it exploded in a large fireball and sent flaming debris everywhere; including a mule that was on fire. A few of the shapes immediately jumped off to go chase after the flaming one. I gulped as I loaded in my second to last round. From the tearing I could hear under the howls of delight, it sounded as if they were pulling the poor creature apart. But my thoughts were interrupted as one of the aforementioned monsters leapt at me from the fog. The Annihilator was brought up sideways at the same time the creature fell down upon it. Her, for it was a mare, mouth clamped and gnawed at the metal as its suckers held on to the tube. Again I twisted the weapon and flung the creature down hard. Her head cracked as it struck concrete, but the howling creature stayed attached to the missile launcher. I hissed at the thought of what I was about to do. Instead of fighting further I let the weapon drop from my magic's grip and charged the creature. It was stunned and moving slowly, but I quickly closed the short gap and lowered my horn. It looked up just in time to get an eye full of horn. My exquisite horn met little resistance and before I knew it I had my head pressed against its eye socket. I lifted my head, the twitching creature followed, and quickly turned it. The creature flew off my horn but was caught in my magic. I flipped the weapon around, triggered off a missile towards the horde of monsters, and galloped away without caring where the warhead hit. Sister and Sienna were already waiting for me when I got to the Cloudchaser. Sienna's eyes widened as she shrieked. "There's one on your weapon!" "I know, it's dead!" I telepathically shouted back at her. "But there are more behind me!" Sister aimed her twins in my direction as she waited for an opening. And yet, she lowered them as her gaze scanned the fog. Sister tilted her head slightly. "No there aren't? It's just fog." As I reached the cloudship I slowed to a stop and looked back. There was nothing. Only the cold misty fog to greet my vision. I then looked down at the clearly dead and twitching mule which meant they were real.. A bit of warm black goo dripped onto my nose, causing me to look up. The creature's eyeball, or what was left of it, was impaled on my exquisite horn. A soft green glow surrounded it as I pulled the thing off and tossed it to the side. "Shock," Sister began. "Horns aren't meant to stab things with. You’re the only alicorn I know that does that!" “But it’s fun…” I absently nodded as my gaze was drawn down to the monster. It's blood leaked out of two new holes and coated the launcher tube, causing me to frown. My wing came up as my nose scrunched up in disgust from the stench that I only noticed at that point. "I need a bath," I said quietly with my mind. *** *** Sister and I walked through the Cloudchaser's rusty deck. Sienna rode on Sister's back and the monster mule was dragged behind me. All attempts to remove it from the launcher went for naught. It seemed even in death the creature would not relinquish its hold. Thus far in our search, the three of us had yet to come across the owner of the journal, Helga, or the wreckage. It was as if Ripper had simply never existed. The cafeteria turned bedroom was just a plain decrepit cafeteria with everything scattered around. "Ding!" Sienna exclaimed as Sister walked over a trashed poster. I looked over as my head tilted. Sister looked at her as well. Sienna tapped her Pipbuck. "That's what this broken device just did." I let the missile launcher drop as I walked over to the spot Sister stood and shoved her out of the way with a push of my good wing. The poster was a faded Ministry of Peace poster depicting Fluttershy and her bunny. At some point a pony had painted an arrow on it, which I followed to the blank wall. My magic reached out to probe the spot as I looked for any defects or oddities. I found none. With a hiss from my lips, I grabbed the poster in my magic and tossed it. That was when I noticed something on the back of the poster. I quickly floated it back to me. As I looked at the writing I tilted my head, because it looked like gibberish. Dear whoever finds this. Well first off, good job getting Through my defenses. Second, as you Can see everything is gone. Where did I go you wonder. Well I'll tell you in a minute, but first: good job getting through my defenses. Have you come for the Megaspell I wonder? Did you come to say hello? Perhaps you did, perhaps not. Was I really here in the first place? Or was I just a figment of your delusional mind. Yes, I'm talking to you: Shell Shock. If those Enclave birds did it right then you should be out and reading this poster. A specific poster for a specific pony, in a specific place, at a specific time. Why all these Specifics? Not even I know, but I know this. I'm not in the room with you. Where you think you were, you ain't never were. What you thought you knew, ain't true,,. I stopped reading after a while as it turned into pure rambling. Something told me it may be useful or it may not be, so it went into my bags. Hoofsteps caused my ears to swivel as I turned around and my gaze fell upon an odd sight as two thoughts popped into my head. One was to crush the chartreuse green unicorn's skull under my hoof. The other was wondering how he had gotten in. The former thought won out. My jade green magic wrapped around the pony as I tossed him into the rusty wall. He slammed hard into it and groaned. There was an incoherent shout to my left where Sister was, but I ignored it. My focus was only on the unicorn who wore Steel Ranger scribe robes. He slowly recovered and groaned, but my magic tossed his head into the wall as I let go. The unicorn hit with a metal thump at the same time a weight shoved me to the side and a pony, that sounded like Sister, shouted in my ear. "Shell Shock, open your fucking eyes! He's collared!" I blinked and took a moment to take in all of the details about the... impure stallion. Except his beautiful visage was marred by dirt, grime, and fresh blood that leaked down the side of his face. My one eyed gaze wandered from his unkempt silver mane, down his neck, and lingered on an active slave collar. It stayed there for a whole until I looked at his tattered robes. They were what had set me off. His drenched robes clung to his body and showed that he was a mere skeleton of a pony. I walked over to him and extended a hoof as I said. "I am sorry for my outburst. But your barding made me angry." He looked at the hoof, me, Sienna, Sister, and after an eternity he took the hoof. I pulled him to his hooves and found he was light for his size. Which was almost as tall as Sister and about the same height as Bucky. The unicorn used his orange colored magic to pull off his robes. I took a quick breath as my eye lingered on his slender frame. The chartreuse unicorn was not malnourished, but an almost model thin body type. However his beautiful flank was marred by a brand of a large number eight over his cutie mark, which made it all but impossible to identify, and a few scars from what looked like whips or swords. He bowed his head slightly and said. "Apology accepted. I am Elder Celly, or was anyway, until some madmare named Star Paladin Eclipse took over the Steel Rangers here. She slapped this collar on me and said I had ten seconds to leave or it'd blow." My ears drooped and the warm feelings I had vanished as soon as he said Elder Celly. But I smiled as an idea formed in my head. If I could get on his good side he could help me against Eclipse when the time came. Not to mention put to rest the question of why they were here. I nodded as I brought over a strip of healing cloth from Sister. My magic tore off a strip of cloth from his robe and dabbed it on his head as I began to treat his wounds. He seemed content to just stand there. "Are you okay?" Sienna asked in her gravelly voice. "You jumped into that wall pretty hard." He smirked a little, but it was quickly replaced with a grimace when I pressed the bandage on his head and wrapped it. After it was tied tight I smiled and stepped back. "Please, sit. I have some questions if you don't mind me asking them." Celly nodded as he planted his rump on the rusty floor and leaned against the wall. "First things first," he said slowly. "I'm not your slave and I never will be. Second, no using telepathy to talk to me. Are we clear?" I nodded rapidly as I smiled and replied with my mouth. "Yes, crystal like the crystal pony I once was." "Alright, ask away." He replied as he waved a forehoof about. "Shock, this guy is just going to lie to you." Sister said as she groaned quietly I ignored her and grinned. "If I help you to remove Eclipse from power will you remove the bounty from alicorns?" He nodded as he stuck out his hoof. Mine bumped his as we shook hooves to seal the deal. "Alright, deal. You take out Eclipse by any possible means and I'll see what I can do. Was that it?" "No. I was wondering if you knew why the Steel Rangers have such an interest in this place." He shook his head slowly and somberly. "Afraid not. We knew the Goddess sent alicorns here, so we followed to stop their plans and stumbled across a treasure trove of pre-war relics." My hoof connected with my face as a groan escaped my lips. "We were searching for something, yes. A way to make male alicorns so we could breed naturally and prosper. But we thought the Steel Rangers were looking for something as well and so we stayed." "I find that a bit hard to believe as an excuse to come here," Celly replied as he scratched his chin. I shook my head. "It is the truth. Have you ever seen an alicorn stallion?" He nodded, then shrugged. "Well, once, but only here on this island. He wouldn't leave his building and called himself Sparkle-Cola or something like that." My ears folded back as I looked at my hooves and pressed them together. "This pony I have also seen. I thought he may have been a figment of..." My eyes widened as I looked around the room at the same time Ripper's words came back to haunt me. "Something wrong?" Celly asked. I nodded slowly. "How do I know this is real?" I looked at Sister as I asked, "Sister, tell me. How do I know this is real?! What's fake and what isn't? I... I... Everything's..." I clutched my head with my hooves as I shut my eyes. "All my memories, Unity, the last two hundred years, that fake world. They're all blurred into a jumbled mess. I... I don't know what's real anymore..." A pair of small forelegs tried to wrap me in a hug so I pulled Sienna into the hug and slowly opened my eyes. Sienna smiled her rotted smile at me. I gently patted her mane with a hoof as I let go of the hug. Something occurred to me at that moment when I was able to look deep into her eyes. Those innocent looking feral eyes held a glimmer of intelligence that betrayed her filly size. I smiled back at her regardless. "So how did you tame a feral?" Celly asked. I looked over at him as a deep frown formed on my face. His ears folded back slightly. "She is not a feral!" I shouted. "Sienna may be a ghoul, but she is not a zombie. As for how I 'tamed' her? I didn't." Sister walked over to Celly and looked at his collar. She pulled it close and nearly pressed her muzzle against it. After a long while she shook her head. "I don't know, but it is real. Shock, can you take a look?" I nodded while walking over to them. A green glow encased the collar as I gently pulled him close to inspect it. What I found was that slave collars were rather easy to disarm when you weren't getting shot at in a combat zone. However unlatching and removing it without setting it off was another matter entirely. I smiled a bit as I set about disarming it. *** *** Celly lay in a corner of the room he called home. I couldn't help but watch him lay there. His room was almost like Ripper's, except he did not have a balefire bomb in the center of it. Instead it was furnished much like one would expect for the wasteland. Bare of everything except the essentials. The bed he was using was actually the scribe robe he had previously worn, which was now dry. Sister was staring at the artillery shell in confusion. Her ears back, head tilted, and an eyebrow raised. Apparently she had never before seen anything that could fire such a shell. And rightly so as working artillery or tanks are very rare in the wasteland now. Celly had been doing things with the Pipbuck I did not understand and it was laying in front of me as Sienna prodded it with a hoof. "I did all I could, but that thing's scrambled and most of the functions don't work." Celly said quietly. I nodded slowly. "E.F.S?" "Nope," he replied. I hissed as I picked the device up and inspected the liner. "How about S.A.T.S?" "Nothing," he shook his head as he sighed. "It's in safe mode. All you have access to is the light and that's about it. You need a Pipbuck technician's tool kit to get it working properly again." I nodded slowly and placed the device over my foreleg with the scars. My magic closed the clasp and locked it in place. "There. That settles it." As the device was booting up Sister facehoofed. "Shock, you're a moron. The Pipbuck's broken!" I nodded with a smile as a sickly alicorn popped up in the upper left of my vision with a red wing. "But this device will function as a light!" I said and tapped the aforementioned function. A soft and sickly green glow emanated from the Pipbuck. Its screen displayed a garbled mess and a few red marks on it. Celly was right though. After everything booted up it displayed all kinds of errors. Nearly everything was corrupt from whatever it was the pony did to it to make it permanently run a StealthBuck. Though it could do so no longer. A smile formed on my face as I shut the light function off. Sienna placed her right foreleg next to mine and said. "Now we're match!" Her smile faded slowly. She poked her flesh and sighed. "Apart from my skin bein' so wrinkly." "Well, we can fix that," I replied. "You know those Shadowbolt suits? I'm sure we can find something that fits you to hide your… fried looks..." "Uh, Shock," Sister said from her corner. "Can I talk to you, alone?" "Sure," I replied as I nudged Sienna over to a pile of 'toys' that was really junk. She scrambled over to them and began to push a cloudship toy around with her hoof. I got up and walked over to Sister and laid down, then lowered my head to touch horns with her. Our world faded into nothingness. There was no sound, no light, and certainly no Sister or I. But slowly, it changed. Grassy hills rose from nothingness along with a clear blue sky. I looked down at a sparkling, crystalline, tan hoof on my left foreleg. My right was metal, of course. The grass beneath them was perfect, as was the temperature and time of day. Because it was a blank area in my mind. I looked up and around at the sky. My gaze eventually fell upon the chocolate brown unicorn that was Sister. She slowly looked around the rolling hills as well before she looked at me and shot a glare that felt like she was burning through my skull. "Shock, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" she shouted, causing me to take a step or two back as my ears folded against my head. "I send you out on a routine job and you vanish for weeks? Then all of the sudden you show up with an Enclave pegasus?! What? Happened?!" "I... I... I don't know!" I shouted as I fell on my rump on the wet grass. My ears were pressed tightly against my head. I shut my eyes as I shook my head. "Really, I don't. I th-think I do but... what is real?!" "Tell me," she replied then shook her head. "Better yet, show me everything that happened that day." And so I did. A large flat wall appeared next to us and played out a memory. Starting after I galloped through the halls of the Crescent Moon. Though I did not remember having to make so many turns and a few times I even slipped. Sister tilted her head. "How could you hit anything? You couldn't even walk straight!" I shrugged as I gave her a grin. "I do not remember so much wobbling..." She facehoofed and we went back to watching the memory. I skimmed through it quickly, Sister groaned quietly when I blew my self into another room, eventually we came upon the part where I triggered the jumping mine. ***===***===*** The shockwave sent red hot shrapnel through my feathers and sent me flying backwards through the air. My body landed in a heap as I tumbled along the road, leaving a bloody streak as I did so. I felt nothing beyond fire burning inside and outside of every possible area. Blood leaked out of my ears and my vision on one side was nothing but red. I could not hear my own screams of pain through the ringing in my ears. I lay there, bleeding out and whimpering in pain, while I waited for death to come. It felt like forever until my vision in my left eye started to darken. No doubt because of all the radiation I had soaked up and I was being healed at the same time I was dying. I couldn't even move anything on my right side. So trying to crawl was out of the question. After what felt like days, my ears twitched and swiveled at the sound of multiple hoofsteps and muddled voices. "The blood trail leads... Sweet Celestia, look!" a male sounding pony shouted. "She's dead!" The hoofsteps rapidly got closer as the ponies undoubtedly galloped over. As they were slowing down a mare said, "looks like somepony's trap finished her for us." A pink hoof reached down into my vision and turned my head to face a familiar pink stallion's face. "Look at the dam-she's alive?!" Bucky shouted and looked off at nothing. "Look!" "What?!" The mare shouted and shoved him away. His face was replaced by a teal face with a strawberry red mane. Eclipse's eyes widened as I blinked slowly. "How the fuck...? What's it take to kill her?!" "Help me," I moaned as my left eye opened again. My right eye had long since been sealed shut by dried blood. Eclipse looked away with clear disgust on her face. "She's a mess. We should do the wasteland a favor and kill her now." "We shouldn't," Bucky replied. “No point in keeping her alive,” Eclipse shook her head as she stood up and my head returned to its previous position of me staring at the broken concrete. I felt cold metal press against my skull just behind my ear. "Who the fuck are you two?" a pony shouted in a gravelly voice that sounded suspiciously like Ripper. The metal was removed from my skull as Eclipse said. "This doesn't concern you, ghoul. Leave us alone." "You're on my property," Ripper replied as her light hoofsteps came closer. A feathery wing tickled my chin as she turned my head to look into my eye. Ripper looked the same as I had last seen her: Rotting pale gold flesh, almost no mane, a ripped hat and purple dress along with a rusty saddle. She tilted her head a bit as a smile formed on her rotting lips. “We should get ya cleaned up ‘cause you look like shit. I need some help and you look like-” "Who the fuck are you?" Eclipse asked, interrupting Ripper before she could finish what she was saying. "No pony owns this area!" Bucky retorted at the same time Eclipse interrupted Ripper. "Those that did are long dead!" Ripper nodded slowly. "Yes, and I watched it happen. That makes me the new owner. My name's Ripper and I came to check on a trap but what do I find?" She looked at Eclipse. "Two smoothskin mud grunts failing at-" The side of Ripper's head exploded as a bullet slammed through and sprayed her brains everywhere. I watched as she fell and hit the grassy road as what was left of her brains leaked out. She stared at me, unblinking, with glassy eyes and an angered expression. Then, I felt myself get dragged as one of them pulled me away. "I got a better idea," Bucky grunted and was most likely the one pulling me along. "We hook her into the simulator." "I say we shoot her like the ghoul," Eclipse replied. "No, this is better. Trust me. It'll be fun." "Alright, fine." Eclipse sighed. "Just make sure she doesn't know it. Otherwise she might be able to get out." “Just let her pass out then stick her in the machine.” As I was being dragged away, I saw Ripper float off the ground as she was surrounded by mist. Her eyes were glowing as the bits of her brain and skull were floated back into place. After it swirled itself inside of her through her nose, she dropped to the road and looked around. But by then she was too far away to help. She took flight with a flap of her wings and quickly disappeared into the clouds above. ***===***===*** I tilted my head at the memory. It was painful to watch, but insightful all the same. It explained a few things, but also left many questions unanswered. Like how ripper was able to stay alive after being shot in the head and having her brains splattered everywhere. I looked at Sister, who was looking at me, and nodded. Her ears were back and her eyes had a sad look. "Alright, now we know. You got captured while slowly bleeding out. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" My hoof came up and covered her mouth as I shook my head. "It's okay. Nothing can change what happened. But I found some new friends and I am okay." She nodded slowly as I let the hoof drop and looked at the memory again. Something was odd about it but I couldn't place it. I shrugged and looked at Sister. "Are we done here?" "Yeah, I think we are," she replied with a nod. I nodded as well and broke the connection from her. The world around us faded and swirled until I was standing over the real Sister. Celly and Sienna were sleeping to the drone of a rainstorm that beat down on the wreck of the Cloudchaser. Sister yawned quietly as she put a hoof to her mouth. When it was over she smiled and laid her head down. My wing gently patted her back as I said only in her mind. "I am going to go take a bath. I shall be right outside." “Alright, be safe, Shock.” She replied while her eyes shut. I smiled as I walked towards the door. *** *** I walked out into the rain as I looked around and saw nothing but cold night fog. So I used my magic to pull the bandage off my wing and shut my eyes while spreading my wings. As the cold water touched my recent wound it flared in pain, which caused me to wince slightly. And so I stood there like a fool that did not know any better. The rain beat down on my wings for an eternity until they were soaked to the bone and unfit to fly with. It took longer than expected to use the bloodied bandage to scrub myself clean and before I was done, my ears twitched around the time of soft hoofsteps echoed off the walls. I stood up as I removed my hoof and slowly looked around at the night fog. A large pony shape slowly walked towards me. One thing I noticed was that it had a long slender horn like mine. My head tilted at this as I watched the pony walk closer. Slowly it was revealed to be a light azure blue alicorn. My ears perked up at her two-tone blue mane and perfect features. The Goddess smiled at me, I bowed my head in return and said. “Goddess, your humble child had wondered what happened to you.” “I had business to attend to but I see you have managed to escape. I take it my help was sufficient then?” She turned her head as her horn glowed softly. “Help?” I asked as I sat down and tilted my head. “Do you mean showing myself to me or me shooting me in the face?” “Both.” An object was levitated out of her mane and my head tilt increased as I looked at the book that was familiar. She floated it over to me and when it got close enough I wrapped my own green magic around it. My magic opened the book and I began to flip through the pages. It was the same one I had originally found on that skeleton. After a while I came across a new entry. The world ended a great many years ago in a battle of balefire bombs that obliterated nearly everypony and other creatures, plunging the world into nuclear winter as the pegasi blocked out the sun. However life finds a way to move on and it did. We lost our home and became lost. But We finally found happiness in Unity. Life was perfect for Us, if a little wonky at first. Then one day, a little… I stopped reading as looked up at The Goddess in confusion, my ears folded back. “But… I don’t remember writing in it...” She chuckled as she shrugged and nodded. “Yes, perhaps not, but write in it you most certainly did. Think long, and hard, about what you have done and try to remember what actually happened. For surely your memories have been tampered with to make you believe false lies. Behind every lie is a truth, and behind every truth is a lie.” I looked down at the journal. There on the back of the binding was a pen. With nothing else to do while the others slept, I closed it and decided then that it had to be finished. And I will not die like the other owners. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Tip of the Spear. Your horn is sharper than most other unicorn or alicorn horns. Allowing you to stab better with it. Chapter 12: Into the BlackChapter 12: Into the Black “The road to Tartarus is full of good intentions.” The pages of the journal were getting drenched by the cold rain drizzling through the fog, but I could care less at the time about such trivial things. There was something bothering me about the whole thing with the Goddess. She had appeared and disappeared often, but never when I actually needed her. So.I looked up from the journal and my gaze fell upon the pony who had given me the journal. The Goddess. Or rather, a pony that resembled perfection to a T. However her two-tone mane was nearly perfect, her light azure blue fur was perfect, if a bit dirty, and her blue eyes were perfect. All of this had lead me to assume this pony was The Goddess, but she did not radiate the same grace that the Goddess had. "Who are you?" I asked as my head tilted. She stood not more than three yards from me and, in the light provided by the Pipbuck, I could make out faint scars upon her hide from where she had been shot before. Which meant that she was not The Goddess. "I am not 'The Goddess'," she replied at the same time I thought it. This confirmed my thoughts at the time so I nodded. “Then who are you?” I asked again and tilted my head the other way. "My name is not important, but you," she pointed at me and I tilted my head a little bit more. "You, Shell Shock, need help. So much shit on this island is fucked up because of your little run around it a few weeks ago. Didn’t you stop to think for one second about what the fuck you were doing?" I took a slow look around the cloudship crash site. One half of the Cloudchaser was smoking, like it had been the first time I was there, the broken concrete and mud around it still had the skeletons and decomposing bodies, the buildings around us were decrepit but most of all... there was a lot more green around than I remembered. I looked at the odd alicorn again while my ears slowly folded back. "The plants... I caused this?" She nodded in response and they pressed against my head. "But... Axe and I... We destroyed the research data!" "Moron!" She slammed her hoof into the mud as a scowl formed on her face. Which caused me to shrink back a bit as I closed the journal and held it tight. "You left the fucking doors open and spore carriers got out! Their seed got everywhere and these plants have overtaken everything!” I glanced down at my hooves as I brought them up. My forelegs were dark and wet with blood despite me having washed them clean earlier. "I only wanted to help ponies,” I replied quietly while looking at my right foreleg. “I... I'm not evil." "You are," she said somberly. Her voice was quiet and held no pity. Still, I did not look at her because I tried to brush the blood off with a hoof and failed. It only made the slick stuff stay on. "Ponies were doing fine here and then you tried to 'help', but instead. You fucked it up worse than it was before!" "But... I just..." Tears welled up in my eyes so I shut them tightly and turned my head to the side. "I just... Wanted to make up for what I've done in the past. During the war, after, and with Unity. I'm not… I’m not a bad pony. In the past I hurt ponies and zebra alike in a horrible manner. But I want to help now. I... I can... I can help if... you... give me a chance." "Then put aside your differences with the Steel Rangers and fix this island." I opened my eyes and looked up at her. My face was so soaked from the rain she could not tell if I was crying or not. However my voice had been choked and it wasn’t hard to figure out. The Not Goddess alicorn smiled a little bit in some vain attempt to make me feel as if everything would be alright. Again, I looked down at my darkened hooves, but this time a bit of green magic surrounded them as I began to scrub them clean with magic and my hoof. "What are you doing?" The other alicorn asked. Her voice was slightly concerned. I shook my head while I ignored her and scrubbed harder with the magic, and then left hoof when it wouldn’t come off. The pressure was enough to cause a normal pony worry about breaking the skin but I could have cared less. I felt nothing beyond the scrubbing. My forelegs needed to be clean of the blood. They should be a crystalline tan! I thought to myself and scrubbed harder. "Shock, what are you doing?!" the alicorn asked again, but this time, her voice was more familiar, almost exactly like Sister’s. However I still scrubbed my hooves as I tried to get the blood off them. When I looked at them they were not a nice crystal tan or forest green, which they should be. They should, they must, be nice and perfect like The Goddess is. I thought to myself and scrubbed harder. Something, be it the bottom of my hoof or the Pipbuck edge, sliced a line of red across my right foreleg and blood began gushing out of the wound. I didn’t care. I just wanted the blood off off so I kept scrubbing to get it clean again. "Shock, stop!" the alicorn shouted from much closer, but I kept scrubbing my hooves. My jade green magic formed a barrier around the bleeding cut to keep any blood in. Something took hold of my shoulders and my whole body rocked back and forth violently as the alicorn shouted. "Shell Shock, stop this right now you're scaring me!" her voice cracked a bit, like a concerned relative, causing me to break my trance and blink. I looked up at the face of Sister, her forelegs were on my shoulders and her face was a mask of deep concern. I slowly held my forehooves up to show her and I hardly felt the warm trickle of as it ran down my leg onto my chest. The wound did not even hurt. "There's blood on them.” I told her with my mouth. “Can't you see it? They're black, soaked to the bone, with the blood of ponies, zebra, and gryphons. I can't get it off. But I try. I try my hardest to remove it and I can never get it out. Please, tell me how can-" She wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug and almost sent me sprawling on my back from the unexpected weight shift. My wings flared out with a pop in an effort to balance out her weight, but I could have cared less. I stared over her shoulder at the fog as my hooves dropped again. Something, most likely her nose, rubbed at my neck while I continued to stare almost absently stare at the fog. Zebras, ponies, gryphons. I can see every single one of their faces whenever I close my eyes. They haunt me where I go, whisper things to me, urge me to dice ponies into little bits like before. To eat their flesh, because there's no food due to the snow, and not to worry because they would have done the same. It’s them or me and in the end it won’t be me who dies, but them. I laid my head on Sister's as I quietly sobbed. "I'm... a monster..." She nodded and her cheek rubbed against my neck, which felt nice. "Yes, you are a horrible, horrible, monster," Sister sniffed quietly, “and I'm sorry. But you can change." I merely nodded in agreement while I continued to stare at the wall of fog. I did not care that I was bleeding out, because deep down I could feel the blood pumping through my veins. "Why are you pretending to be The Goddess?" I quietly asked with my mind. "Why trick me like this? What purpose did it serve?" “Because… it was the only way to get you to listen. And I couldn’t get to you physically so I ha-” "We must do better," I whispered with my mouth, interrupting Sister's explanation of why she had been pretending to be The Goddess. But I did not care. "We must do better. War? Fear? Death? We must do better... for all. We must do better... We must-" "Shock!" Sister exclaimed in my ear, which broke me from my zone and caused me to blink. I turned my head to look at her and realized we were still hugging. Her puffy eyes gave away the fact that she had been crying as well. A fact I already knew. But over what, I had no idea. My lips curled up in a smile as I tried to change the subject. "Yes, what is it you wish, Sister?" "You were doing it again," she replied and smiled as well. But her smile appeared a bit forced, so mine grew a little bigger. “I told you not to say ‘We’ anymore.” I shut my eyes and nodded. "Yes, we, as in the both of us." Sister nodded slowly and leaned forward. I quickly raised my Pipbuck hoof and placed it on her lips as I pushed her back slightly. She looked cross-eyed at my hoof then me as I told her. "Sister, how many times must I tell thee? I like stallions. Dost thou wish me to knock a few of your teeth out or stab you with my horn?" She slowly shook her head. "Good, now will you please stop trying to kiss me or get between my legs?" She nodded, so I lowered my hoof. Sister looked down at my other hoof and frowned, a lot. "Shock, you're bleeding." I glanced at the offending hoof as I took a closer look. “Yes, I am. It is not terminal and will heal quickly.” By now my non-Pipbuck hoof was covered in my own blood, but the gash was slowly sealing thanks to the radiation I had soaked up earlier. However as it was doing so I noticed that the Pipbuck's radiation meter was slowly dropping, which was odd and meant that as I healed it used up the radiation in my body. I made a mental note to soak up more. Movement drew my attention to Sister's face again. Her horn was glowing an azure blue and a strip of cloth was floating near her face. She brought the bandage to my injured foreleg, which I held out for her and watched as she began wrapping it up. "Shock, what are we going to do with you?" Sister shook her head and sighed deeply. "What ever do you mean?" I asked as my head tilted a little, then looked at the now bandaged wound. The white cloth quickly turned a deep crimson from my own blood. "I'm fine. Only a few odd things now and then is not a problem." "You keep injuring yourself," she quietly said as a hint of sorrow touched her voice. "These metal disc things in your body must hurt." I shook my head and my flowing mane kept my bad eye covered. Sister picked up the end of my mane in her magic and looked at it. “Do you bathe in radiation or something? This thing is always flowing.” "Sister," I said with my mind, drawing her attention back to me. "How did you change your coat color? This fact confuses me greatly." "A disguise." she smiled. However, I eyed her as one of my eyebrows raised up and my head tilted to the side a bit. "Are you a changeling?" “No, I used a dye but it's not very good in the rain." She giggled and stood up. As I looked at her I noticed the streaks in her non-flowing mane left by the dye. She eventually looked at me and a faint smile formed on her face. "We should get inside," she said quietly. As if talking to loud were to bring trouble. I glanced around at the fog surrounding us with my one good eye and gave the faintest of nods. As I pushed myself to a standing position my legs shook slightly and popped. Sister trotted towards to door to the Cloudchaser, I followed behind her as best I could, but was forced to limp a little on the newly injured leg. "Sister, how is it I did not see you leave?" She glanced back at me and smirked. "You were so fixated on taking a shower I waited a few minutes before going invisible and following you out." I nodded as we entered the wreckage. The rusty hall smelled like somepony dipped it in paint thinner, mold, and wet dirt. Still, my Pipbuck light gave us some semblance of light of of an area about three meters wide. Which was about as wide as the passageway. I quickly trotted around Sister as our hooves fell in step like a drum beat against the cold rusty deck. My one eye scanned the rusty walls to our left as best it could while I also kept an eye ahead as best I could. As I approached the first corner I attempted to peer around only to be met by my mane in my blurry right eye. I sighed deeply as I let out my breath and shook my head. "I wish to see again..." I quietly whined. "You will," Sister replied and trotted around me into the new corridor. "Come on." She flicked her tail to the side in a gesture to get me to follow. Yet it also gave me a full view of her backside and I couldn’t help but look at it for the second it was visible. I rolled my eyes and trotted after the blue alicorn. She looked at me and gave a faint smirk as she turned right into another passageway. "I know you looked, because you’re blushing a little," Sister said sensually, which held no effect on me. Again I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "How could I not when you display it like that? And no, I was not aroused by the sight of it nor was I blushing! I don't know where you got that idea from." Sister stopped and stomped a hoof down while thrusting her wings down. "Please?!" she whined like a filly as I trotted by and did not look at her face. "One time is all I'm asking! I won't ever bug you again about it." "No," I replied flatly in her mind and kept walking. "I have already told you many times. I have not, nor will I, ever bed a mare." Sister's hoofsteps echoed behind me as she cantered over and slowed to my pace. She looked at me with a pleading expression; her eyes grew big as she bit down on her lower lip and her ears drooped to the side of her face. I smiled at her as my wing unfolded and quickly slapped her across the face. Sister blinked and quickly shook her head. "What was that for?!" "It is the counter to that eye trick," I replied in her mind with a smile. I stopped at a door and set a hoof on it before gently pushing it open. The door gave a rusty groan on non-oiled hinges that was loud enough to wake the dead. The two of us stood as still as statues, my ears swiveled in all directions, and we awaited a response. After an eternity I glanced at Sister, whose expression had turned serious, and noticed her horn was glowing its normal glow. What she was using it for I had no idea but I heard nothing. The door groaned again as I pushed it open even more and stepped through into the room. My ears continued swiveling while I scanned the rusty hall. A blue light behind me lit most of the grimy junk. I glanced at Sister and was surprised to see the glow was coming from her exquisite horn. But my horn is better. It is sharper, pointier, and better at stabbing things. Sister trotted forward as I stepped to the side and allowed her to pass. While she trotted past I glanced at the door and shut it with my magic. Sister glanced back at me and nodded. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked, she nodded again and continued trotting. My gaze slowly wandered from the back of her head on down to her flank. It lingered there while I trotted along behind her through the rusty passageway. Her cutie mark, two crossed revolvers, adorned her flank. She had one, other ponies have one, and yet... as I glanced back at my flank a frown formed on my face. "My flank is blank." I said quietly with my mind. "I do not remember what my cutie mark was..." "You'll find out some day," Sister said without looking back. "Everypony has one. It's only a matter of finding out what your special talent was. Do you remember it?" "No," I sighed. "In fact, there is a gap from when I was born to two years before the war ended. It is blank and hurts if I try to remember that time." "Well perhaps you're not meant to know. You're fine the way you are, yes?" I nodded and did not bother responding to her. Sister stopped at a door and pushed it open with her hoof. Light spilled out into the hallway and cast a shadow on the rusty wall. Sister poked her head in and I Iooked in as well. A foul, rancid, stench of rotting meat filtered out from the room that caused my nose to wrinkle. So I brought my wing out to cover it in an attempt to block out the smell. It failed miserably. Inside the room was my missile launcher with the odd creature still attached to it. Sister glanced back at me. "Got a spatchula? Maybe we can peel it off." In response I shook my head. She sighed and nodded. "Alright, we'll try to pull it off by force then." I stepped across the threshold and trotted over to the monster. My forest green hoof nudged the thing’s squishy, rubber like, chest. It partly rolled onto its side and my gaze went to its face. "What is it?" I asked Sister with my mind. Because it looked a lot like a mule, but with sharp teeth and solid black eyes. "I have no fuckin' idea," she replied. A blue glow surrounded one of its hind legs as Sister's magic lifted it up and she looked between them. "Hm... interesting." She let the monster’s leg go and stepped back. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her odd act. "Of course, you would check if it was male or female. Do you have a knife?" She glanced at me. An eyebrow was raised up and her head was cocked at an angle so I said. "I'm curious as to how it looks inside. I'm not going to eat it. As it has black blood and smells horrible. The meat is most likely spoiled even if it was a pony." Her eyebrow raised more at the mention of meat and pony in the same sentence. "There's something wrong with you. How could you even think of eating a pony in the first place?!" "I had to survive!" I shouted back at her and my eye twitched. "It was deathly cold almost year round. The snowstorms were long and could kill if you stayed out for too long. No food grew on the surface and what little places there were underground, had expensive food. I don't. Eat. Pony. Not anymore." "Fine, fine..." Sister nodded and walked over to a workbench. "Let's see..." she opened a drawer and frowned. "Clipboard?" "I... suppose..." I replied with my mind. She tossed the object over with her magic, I caught it with mine and floated it towards the odd monster. I sat down as Sister rummaged through more drawers. "I found some ten mil casings… Um... Looks like a bottle of glowing Sparkle-Cola and a clean slide for a pistol." I looked up with my head tilted. She walked over to me while floating the objects she had found. "That is Sparkle-Cola RAD." I told her and pointed at the radish on the bottle. “Tastes like radishes.” Sister frowned while looking at the bottle. "Rad... as in radiation?" I nodded. "What? That's absurd! Who... Who would drink irradiated cola?!" "It's tangy and has a nice kick to it," I smiled while replying in her mind. She facehoofed. "They eventually pulled it because they realized it was bad. Keep that one. A collector might want it." "Who collects Sparkle-Cola junk?" "A ghoul, a wastelander fascinated by the old world, and me. But I do not need drinks any longer. So please. Keep it. For trading." She nodded. "I don't have my bags so you keep it." Sister floated all the junk to me, I placed it into my saddlebags that were next to the missile launcher and slowly nodded. My magic pushed the clipboard into the spot where the monster’s hoof connected with the launcher. Despite me trying to wiggle it under there nothing happened. I frowned and pushed harder to no effect. "Need help?" Sister asked as her blue magic engulfed the creature and tugged on it. "Hm... it seems stuck." "It appears so, yes," I nodded at the obvious. "How about you pull on the creature and I'll pull on the missile launcher?" "Okay," she gripped the being's chest with her forelegs and hovered off the ground. I flapped my own wings and hovered as well. My forelegs wrapped around the launcher tube and I gave a nod. "Three... two... one... Go!" I rapidly flapped my wings as I fled backwards at the same time Sister also flew backwards. The creature went taut and pulled us to a stop but the both of us kept pulling as hard as we could. It slipped a bit from my grip so I used a bit of magic to hang onto the tube. My muscles strained from the amount of effort I was putting into it. As I looked down I noticed the edges of the hoof were peeled back slightly. Suddenly, and with a flesh rending ripping sound, all resistance vanished and I immediately flew backwards, which I quickly corrected into a hover. I looked at Sister, who had dropped the now two legged creature and was holding a forehoof to her mouth. Her face had turned a color close to my coat color most likely due to the new stench that filled the room. As I floated backwards my gaze went to the missile launcher tube in my magical grip. The two, now bloody, forelegs were still attached to the launcher and slowly dripped what blood they held not seconds ago. "It appears as if it has a literal death grip," I said at the same time Sister turned her head and heaved onto the floor. I ignored her food that was now adorning the deck and stared at the forelegs of the monster. As I managed to get the clipboard under the hoof Sister said, "and I thought they smelled bad on the outside...” A smile crossed my lips when I managed to push the clipboard under a bit. The hoof popped loudly like a cork in a wine bottle and the foreleg fell to the ground with a wet squish. The clipboard floated to the other hoof and I pushed on it. *** *** I trotted through the rusty passageways behind Sister with the Annihilator on my back. She smiled back at me and looked forward again. I rolled my eyes as I picked up my pace a little, lest she get any ideas. Sister had yet to say anything since she heaved her lunch earlier. I think it embarrassed her to have that reaction but it was perfectly normal in my opinion because that monster really did smell quite bad. I turned my head to the right to check that direction, and saw a grey tail disappear around a corner. "Wait here," I told Sister with my mind as I trotted after the tail. I slowly approached the corner and glanced around it as the grey tail barely disappeared again. So I sighed and trotted after it a second time, but a little faster. My gaze was locked on the corner and I cared not if Sister was following me. As I approached that corner I hopped out and see more of the grey tail disappearing around another corner. I frowned, but quickly cantered after it as my hooves beat down on the deck. My head tilted a bit as my ears twitched in an attempt to hear anything over than my breathing or hooves. But I heard nothing beyond my own hooves. I dared not slow down as I barreled around the corner and almost slipped on the deck. The odd pony ahead was partly visible; dull tan hindquarters with a cutie mark of some kind and a heavily grey streaked brown tail. My pace picked up as my frown grew. As I turned the next corner an indistinct shout reached my ears. The odd pony's tail darted inside of a room and I grinned for she, or he, had nowhere to go. I quickly turned the corner and canter into the room. But my jaw dropped as my eyes widen to the size of pie plates and I slid to a stop. What was sitting in the center of the room was a sickly looking dull tan unicorn; her horn was long and pointed, a rough looking grey businessmare suit adorned her body and hid her cutie mark, her right foreleg was a dull silver cybernetic replacement, her normally brown mane was full of grey streaks. A pained smile crossed her wrinkled face and reached all the way to her sunken jade green eye as she motioned me inside. Her other eye was covered by a dirty grey cloth patch. I glanced down the hall before stepping inside and looked at my old self. She brought her normal forehoof to her mouth and began coughing into it. I wordlessly walked over and sat while I waited for her to finish coughing. She, myself, appeared to have definitely seen better days. And she had. As the coughing spree died down she held out her foreleg. The bottom of the hoof was covered in a disgusting mixture of blood and some other stuff. "Look at this," she said. Her voice was as hoarse as a ghoul’s. "I'm fuckin' dying slowly and RadAway isn't helping. Fuckin' rotting from the inside! The doc says my lungs are givin’ out first followed by my stomach." All I could do was sit there and look at it. So I slowly nodded. She set the hoof down and scraped it along the deck which left a trail of the red muck. "Is there a way to fix this?" she asked and I nodded in response. "I'll do anything." A smile formed on my lips. "Yes, there is something you could do." "What?" "You... could join Unity." She hissed as she looked away and glared at the wall. "Unity, hah! How did that work out for us?" My ears folded back when I realized she had actually meant her and I. "Hm? Shell Shock, how did Unity work out? Tell me, no." I opened my mouth to respond but closed it. "Tell Us, was it worth the pain of being stripped of everything We were?" "Y-yes," I nodded because I was confident in my choice. "Radiation actually heals me and let's me cast more powerful spells. Like a heart attack spell." "Heh, that's nice." she mumbled and shut her eyes with a pained groan. "Ever find him again?" My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip and looked down. "Your silence says no. I figured as much." "I... We only just now, within the last few weeks, were able to control ourself again. They lied. We were under the direct control of The Goddess and could not do anything without being punished if it went against her will... What... is our cutie mark?" "Cutie mark...?" She giggled, which caused my head to tilt. "You don't remember?!” I shook my head again. “Wooooow. That's just... bad." Her giggle intensified into a full on laugh. One, that for whatever reason I cannot fathom, I joined in on. So We sat there laughing at nothing for I don't know how long until something touched my shoulder. My head snapped to the left and I saw the long blue foreleg of Sister. Slowly my gaze followed it to her face. Her ears were back and her brows were knitted together in worry. “What are you laughing at?” She asked quietly. I pointed my left hoof at myself sitting to my right while I kept my gaze on Sister. “Her. I said something funny and we were laughing about it.” Her eyes looked at the pony next to me for a second before she looked at me again. Sister's ears slowly drooped to the sides of her face, mine followed as my smile faded. "There's no one there." Sister softly sighed. My eyes widened and I quickly looked to my right. Nothing was there; no blood on the deck, no mare, and no hair. "But she was there! I saw her and..." I frantically looked around the empty room for her and pushed Sister away as I stood up. "Lilium!" I called out with my mouth. "I know you're here. Where’d you go?" Sister placed a hoof on my back, causing me to look at her face. "Shock, you're not well and it's scaring me." I sighed and nodded. "Perhaps I am not... Seeing things is not good." She wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug, which I returned and nuzzled her neck a little. "I'm scared of what is happening to me..." 'Don't be,' a familiar voice whispered in the back of my mind. Sister stepped back from the hug and wiped her eyes. "We should get back to the others.” She sniffed a little bit. “That ghoul filly might freak out and go feral if you're not there when she wakes up." I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s go.” She trotted past me and I took one last look around the room. All I saw was rust, darkness, and rust. However, in the light of Sister's moving horn, a glint in a rubble pile caught my eye. I walked over to it and sat down. "Shock? Come on." Sister called out to me. I ignored her and lift up what appeared to be a blanket. Underneath it was a pile of bones with an earth pony shaped skull. Buried in his, or her, chest was a blade. The hilt had an orange topaz in the very bottom of it which caught the light and made it sparkle. I used my magic to pull it free and looked it over. The bones clatter in a heap in response. The blade appeared to be heavily rusted and about the length of my horn with a leather wrapped hilt. I stepped back a few steps before swinging the sword left and right to get a feel for how it handled in my magic. It felt light and quick to swing. Not brutish like the chainsaw sword, which We miss very much so. It was useful in so many ways and dear to Our heart. I nodded and floated the pommel into my mouth so I could hold it. The taste was like old dried skin that was moldy. I turned around and trotted over to Sister. She facehoofed. "Shock, aren't you going to check the room for supplies?" I shook my head slowly as I replied with my mind. "I have all I need, so why do I need to check for more?" "Just... follow me," she said in annoyance and trotted into the hall before turning right. I followed after her while I tightly held onto my new sword. *** *** I stopped at the door to Celly’s room, having zoned out following Sister, and smiled as the door opened with a rusty groan. Inside was Celly, who was sitting off to the side near the desk next to Sienna. The both of them were looking at the poster we had picked up. Celly slowly looked up at me and gave a wave. “Sienna told me there's some kind of code in this message but I can't seem to find it." "Yup!" Sienna nodded a few times. “It doesn’t read right and some words are odd or repeated.” Sister pushed past me, causing me to stagger sideways, and trotted over to her equipment. I quietly watched as she pulled her jacket on with magic. As she picked up her bags my gaze went over to Celly. I gave him a slight head bow before I walked over to where Celly was and sat down. "Something bothering you?" he asked and tilted his head a little, I copied his head tilt. "No," I shook my head. "I just wanted to tell you that your coat reminds me of once green fields and you have a nice flank." He looked at where his cutie mark used to be and frowned. "You mean I did but no longer." "Weeell," I shifted my weight around a bit on my hind legs as my nethers started to feel funny. I glanced at Sister, who was watching us, then looked at Celly and blushed slightly. "You see... I think you look cute, but you need a bath." "Are you saying what I smell bad?" he tilted his head a little more. I nodded. "Yes, you smell horrible. I need to keep focused on the task at hoof and your stench is distracting me." "And what task is that?" "To kill Eclipse." I smiled. "I think Miss Lilium wanted to cast a foal ma-aah!" Sienna yelped as I quickly pulled her into a hug and covered her mouth with a hoof. Warmth spread across my cheeks as I blushed deeply. Celly tilted his head the other way and stared. "Hm? What was she saying?" "Nothing!" I hastily replied and tried to smile, but failed. However Sienna pushed my hoof away from her mouth. "Foal making spell!" she finished her sentence and again I quickly covered her mouth with a hoof. She squirmed underneath my grip so I pulled her against my chest. Silence fell upon the room. Awkward, eerie, silence. The kind where you could imagine hearing crickets chirping. My cheeks continued to burn in a fierce blush that no doubt covered my whole face. Sienna squirmed enough that she is able to push my hoof away and fall to the floor. I did not look down at her. My eyes were firmly locked on Celly's eyes. He brought his hoof to his mouth and coughed into it. I blinked slowly and relaxed a little but my blush remained. "Foal making spell, huh?" Celly quietly asked. A stifled giggle behind me caused my ears to swivel back toward Sister. "Well, Sienna," Celly looked down at her. "I think you're old enough to know about how-" "No!" I exclaimed and covered her ears with my hooves. "She's just a foal." "A foal that's over two hundred years old." Sister said from behind me. I pulled Sienna close and gently pat her on the head. She looked up at me but I ignored her and glared at Celly. "I said, no! We have a plan and it is simple, We kill Eclipse, then put you in charge and the bounty will be gone! After that we clean up the plant problem on the island." Celly nodded slowly. "Fine, but how do you plan to kill her? She's most likely far out to sea and I can't fly." My ears folded back because I did not realize something until just then. With Eclipse being on a ship she could be at the mainland by that time and we would need a lot of help. Hoofsteps behind drew my gaze to Sister as she walked over and looked down. Sienna had long given up her struggling and was now just snoring softly in my grip. Which was a good thing! "Enclave," Sister said, drawing a confused look from both Celly and I. My head tilted a bit as my eyebrow raised up. "The Enclave had a deal with you right, Shock?" I nodded and my ears slowly lifted when I realized what she was implying. "They're not hard to find. Head north off the island and you'll come across a smaller island. They have a base there at the wreckage of an old cloudship." "Why not this one?" My head tilted a little bit more. Sister shrugged. "This one looks to be in much worse shape and had a crazy ghoul living here." "Good point," I nodded. "When do we leave?" "How about after you rest?" Sister asked. "You look like shit." I looked at Celly, then her, and finally Sienna before I nodded. "I suppose I could do with some rest." "And I don't mean that creepy statue thing you do either. I mean actual rest that involves sleeping." With a resigned sigh, I nodded and removed my weapon with magic. The Annihilator slowly floated over to Sister, who grabbed it and looked at it. I smiled and laid on my side. My eyes slowly shut while I cuddled with a still passed out Sienna. With my eyes being closed I laid there and concentrated on breathing slowly in an effort to fall asleep. However, after a long while of slowly breathing, the sound of two sets of hoofsteps prevented me from falling asleep. A rusty groan signaled the hoofsteps leaving the room followed by another groan and a metallic clank. Most likely the hatch was opened and closed. Thus far in my odd journey my telepathy had not been used so much, so I allowed the spell to pick up thoughts around Sienna and I. Sienna's thoughts were easy to figure out; she was dreaming about playing with other young foals and running around a city much like the fake one. A nice, clean, city full of joy and happiness. "Is she dangerous?" I heard Celly ask another pony inside my head. Which caused me to focus on him and the one he was walking to. "Who?" Sister's voice also filled my head. "That green with the missile launcher. She nearly killed me in blind rage for no reason like some common raider! She’s fucking ins-" "Shut up!" Sister shouted, her muffled voice created a sort of echo. "You have no idea, do you?" "No idea about what?" Celly replied with a rather snide tone. "She tries to be nice, she wants to be nice, but she. Can't help herself. Earlier I saw her cut herself while trying to wash invisible blood off her hooves. She doesn't see the world like you or I, so yes. She is fucking dangerous to you and to anypony she deems unworthy of Unity." "Then she should be put down before she-" "No!" Sister shouted again and I heard her echo. ”Shock can change. I've seen it first hoof. She just... she needs something. I'm not sure what." "I'm not fucking her." "No, that's not it. You're an 'impure stallion', which are her words not-wait. Do you feel that?" "Feel what?" "Shit. She's n-" I quickly severed the connection and concentrated on not using the spell. A rusty groan echoed in the room as the hatch opened, yet nothing followed it for some time. "Shock, are you awake?" Sister eventually whispered. Even though We were awake, We were not going to respond. "Shock, I know you were awake not seconds ago, so stop this foolishness." Still, despite her effort to trick Us, We did not move nor did We respond. "Hm... maybe it was a different green." Sister mumbled. “A completely new one that appeared within the last hour.” My ears twitched as hoofsteps entered the room and came closer. They stopped near me just before warmth pressed against my back, so I cracked an eye open. A dark blue wing crossed my sight for a second as Sister pulled me into a cuddle of her own. She wrapped a foreleg around me as well and whispered. "Good night, Shock." I slowly closed my eye and tried to drift off to sleep again. *** *** The three of us trotted along the desolate road. Having left the Cloudchaser not more than four hours ago. The sun was up, the fog lifted slightly, and we could see a decent distance. I say three because Sister was off flying ahead in the fog on a scouting mission. She was excited, but I was annoyed. Annoyed at a certain chartreuse unicorn to my right. Celly trotted alongside Sienna, who was between us. He looked around to our right while I glanced left. All that was there were decrepit buildings and vines. Any pony life had long since been snuffed out and any sign of recent activity was covered by the vines. I hopped over one of the larger ones, then stopped to watch as Sienna scrambled over it. She trotted over and smiled. I nodded and gave Celly a little glare. He did not notice because his back was to me, but Sienna did. "What's wrong?" Sienna whispered in her gravelly foal voice. I shook my head as I replied only in her mind, "nothing. Just don't trust him, okay?" She nodded and cantered to catch up with the... imp spawn. He was no longer a pony. His behavior last night had lowered his status in my eyes from impure to imp spawn. Which is what I place mules at. Beneath ponies, bastard creations, and hideous creatures that have no place in the wasteland. That was what Celly was, beneath regular ponies. I continued trotting along the road with the bow at the ready. The vines around us appeared similar to the tentacles We had seen in that stable, except they did not attack us and they were much smaller. Still, I was weary about the whole thing and kept an eye out. My bags felt slightly heavy due to carrying everything the group owned. For some odd reason they elected me to carry all of our bags and equipment that was not needed. This felt degrading and was probably the point. Still, I carried it all with pride and a steady step. Celly's robe, however, was draped across his back and Sister's jacket was in my bags because it was so humid out we are all drenched in sweat. Sister had taken the jacket off rather quickly. Oddly, or not so since we are similar in size, it fit me just fine. Sienna had no such complaints about the weather because of obvious reasons. Her being a ghoul. As the three of us came to the end of the street I saw that it was blocked by rubble. I looked up at the wall of brick, metal, and plants while I attempted to grasp just how high it was. It did not look much taller than a three story building, which were a nearby, but something was odd about it. Why would a pile of debris be this high when the surrounding areas were just as tall? I thought to myself as I stopped walking. Sienna bumped into my forelegs, causing me to look down at her frowning face. Her ears were back and her solid red eyes looked a bit frightful. I smiled and pat her on the head. “What is it?” I asked quietly with my mouth. “Somethin’ is watchin’ us.” She replied and pointed at something. I followed her gesture to a pony outline with two round things on their sides that were most likely large weapon barrels. “The bar is green, so I haven’t said anythin’, but it’s creepy, ‘cause they won’t come any closer.” I slowly nodded and looked back at the wall of debris. There was no rhyme nor reason to it. It was just a pile of debris piled high, so I picked Sienna up in my forelegs and hovered with a flap of my wings. They burned and stung along the leading edge as I flapped them, but I did not give a fuck. I slowly hovered forward with my bow around my neck and Sienna in my forelegs. The flight was short and we quickly reached to top faster than a pony could say giggle at the ghosties. My jaw dropped at the sight that befell me upon reaching the top of the pile. I landed and folded my wings against my side, Ahead of us was a trench that was perhaps wider than the Cloudchaser, but looked to lead back to the cloudship wreck. A look left and right revealed that it disappeared into the fog, which lead me to believe that whatever it was, was moving at a good pace when it crashed. As I stood there like a foal my ears swiveled back at the sound of rubble falling into small piles. I looked back and rolled my eyes. The imp spawn Celly was trying to climb the pile towards us. A noise like wings flapping drew my attention up at Sister. She looked down at me while she hovered above us. “Yeah, it leads to the Chaser.” She confirmed my thoughts about it being the cloudship’s wreck. “Look, Shock, we’re not far from a Steel Ranger base. Maybe an hour by hoof.” “And?” I tilted my head some. “That does not help us. We need to get to the Enclave.” “But the Rangers have boats.” Sister pointed at Celly behind us. “He probably has supporters that could give us one. All we gotta do is walk in invisible, find them, and get the keys.” I looked down at Celly again as he neared the halfway point. His hoof stepped on loose rubble and slipped, causing him to fall down the pile again. A hiss escaped my lips as I scowled at the imp spawn. “I do not trust him,” I told Sister in her mind. “Something does not feel right. However if you think we should, then let’s go to the base.” I looked at her and she nodded. “Alright, it’s this way.” Sister pointed a foreleg northeast. “But I get seasick!” Sienna whined as I planted my rump on the rubble and waited for Celly. *** *** I stopped and glanced at the Pipbuck. Its radiation needle was firmly planted in the yellow just inside the red. The clicker device that warned of radiation did not work and neither did the main display so all I could do was rely on constant needle checks to see how I was faring. It is a shame really. Such a nice piece of technology was wasted in a trap that failed to kill its intended victim. I set my hoof down and resumed trotting along the desolate street. Sienna kept glancing around at everything. I looked at Sister who trotted along ahead of me. The base should have been close according to Sister, whom I did not fully trust either. Except I did not have a choice. She was the only pony I knew aside from Sienna that had not tried to kill me. Sister had consistently protected me from myself and from the other alicorns. Yet I have done nothing for her... nothing at all… Perhaps I should allow her to... no. My hoof caught on something, causing me to stumble forward a bit and I nearly lost my balance, but I jumped to the side a bit and landed on all fours. When I looked up I saw Sienna was looking at me with her head tilted. "That was cool!" she hopped off the ground a bit and grinned. "Thank you..." I nodded as I took a slow look around the area. Green plants grew everywhere and the road had long since turned to dirt, which was not good. As I looked the way we had come all I saw was dirt and fog. "Sister, where are we?" "Um... I'm not... I'm not sure..." she replied a bit hesitantly. Slowly, I turned a circle and looked around. Trees and jungle brush greeted my vision as far as I could see through the fog. "Something's wrong we should have been there by now." Sister said with a bit of concern. My gaze fell upon Celly as he looked around. His ears were back and he was biting his lower lip almost as if he were afraid. "I don't know where we are either," Celly whispered. "Looks like outside the city. And that ain’t good." I took a much slower look around to get my bearings. Sienna started trotting into the bushes, so I followed along behind her. She silently disappeared into the brush behind a large leaf. This caused me to frown and quicken my pace. "Sienna?" I pushed the leaf aside and stepped around the plant as Sienna's tail disappeared behind another plant. I let out a deep sigh of frustration and followed. "Sienna, what are you doing?" "Shock?" Sister called out. "Wait up! The plants are fucking evil!" I ignored Sister and continued following Sienna. The brown unicorn ghoul filly disappeared around another plant. My hooves carried me through the leaves. I did not focus on my surroundings. All I was focused on was making sure Sienna was safe and that she did not run into any bullets. After a while I stopped at a clearing. Sienna stood at the edge and was looking out into a thick corn field that was taller than a pony’s head. "What is this place?" Sienna whispered as I pulled her into a hug. I looked down into her red eyes and replied. "A field of corn. Don't run off like that again, okay?" She nodded slowly but I continued. "This island is dangerous and you could easily get-" A few twigs snapped and my ears swiveled back as I quickly turned my head to look. "They are green." Sienna whispered. Sister pushed a large leaf out of the way as she walked out of the treeline and let it go. It snapped back, hitting Celly in the face and caused him to fall down. I smiled at his plight. Sienna giggled, which sounded like rocks rattling around in a can, and clapped her forehooves together. "Shock, what is wrong?" Sister asked while looking around. "Why did you run off?" I pat Sienna on the head. "Sienna ran off and I didn't want her to get hurt." "Right," Celly grumbled and picked himself up. "She just happens to run into a cornfield?" Sienna held her foreleg up and tapped the Pipbuck with her other hoof. "This told me there were green bars nearby, so I had to look! It says Outpost Zeta, but it's a cornfield!" My head whipped around to look at the cornfield and my mane momentarily blocked my vision. "Outpost...?" I whispered with my mouth. "We should go… right now..." Celly rolled his eyes as he trotted around me and headed into the cornfield. "Oooooh, I'm so afraid of corn, hah!" He mocked Us, causing a growl to escape Our throat. "Are you afraid of a little corn?" I gulped down my growl and replied. "It is not the corn I am afraid of, but what sleeps in the dirt." My gaze was drawn to movement near Celly as the stalks rustled and parted. "Mister Celly-" My hoof quickly blocked Sienna from alerting him. She struggled under my grip, but I held it tight so the unicorn could get taken out here and now. "Ssh," I whispered into Sister and Sienna's mind, "there are things that hunt via sound and sight in there." "Celly, look out!" Sister shouted. "Something's in there." Odd clicking and chittering noises respond to Sister from the cornfield. I watched as whatever it was got closer to him while he backed towards us. My horn glowed as the metal bow was slowly brought out. I notched an 'arrow' as I drew the string back and aimed. Celly's flank appeared first as I swept the bow towards the closest one, it lingered on Celly and the magic around the string started fading. An odd thought crossed my mind at that moment. It would be so easy to kill him now, but he is useful. So he will live another day. My magic tightened around the string and I quickly aimed at the target inside the cornfield and waited. Celly continued backing towards us and stopped. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Sister had her twin 10mm pistols out and pointed at the target. A black pony like face appeared and Sienna screamed in fright, so I let the string go. The suspension leaf audibly snapped forward as it sent my 'arrow' at the target. The thing looked up and their solid blue eyes widened at the same time the railway spike drove its way into their chest. A loud crunch filled the air and I watched as the black pony was sent flying back into the cornfield before I could get a good look at it. But I was hoping to hit it in the head, however any hit worked for me. "Fuck me." Sister whispered to herself. My magic quickly set another arrow and I drew it back at the same time I aimed at the next target. There was an incessant tapping on my leg, so I looked down at it. Sienna was looking at me with her head tilted. "Green is friendly, right?" I nodded. "Well there was two green bars, now only one." I slowly looked from Sienna to the cornfield. “Whoever you are, come on out. We mean you no harm.” I yelled loud enough to be heard across the field. “You kill us, steal our food, and expect us to believe you?” a voice replied from the cornstalks. My bow aimed in that direction. "Yes," Sienna called out to them. "We were frightened and lashed out." "Bullshit," the voice replied as it moved towards the fallen one. I tracked just ahead of it with the bow and hoped my aim was true if I needed to use it. "Show yourself," Celly said loudly. The pony thing kept moving through the corn past its dead comrade. "And what if I don't?" "I send a high-explosive missile to your position," I replied with a deathly serious tone. "It's not hard to see where you are." "Fine," the voice said as it slowly moved closer. "I'm coming out but I'm holding you to your word." I nodded, which was pointless because they couldn’t see it, Sister continued to hold her pistols at the ready and we waited. The cornstalks moved apart as the pony thing stepped out and I frowned. It wasn’t a pony thing, but a unicorn with a coat that was a dark blue like the night sky. His eyes were silver like a gun barrel and his two-tone mane was orange and yellow like fire. Across his back were half filled saddlebags and a small pistol was in a foreleg holster. “Alicorns…” he whispered above a breath as I slowly lowered the bow and relaxed it. “Just what I needed.” I looked down at Sienna as she nearly galloped over to the unicorn. He looked at the movement and his eyes widened. “Aah!” he screamed like a filly and jumped back into the cornstalks. “Mister unicorn?!” Sienna shouted in her gravelly voice as she chased him into it. “Wai-oof!” Sienna’s voice was cut off by the unicorn screaming like a filly again. I rolled my eyes. The bow was placed around my neck and I trotted into the cornfield. My magic pushed them aside as I attempted to find the unicorn and came across him laying on his back with eyes the size of dinner plates. Sienna was standing on top of his chest with her head at a slight tilt. I lifted her off the ground with my magic and placed her on my back. She peered around my neck and bunched up my mane so she could see and nearly pulled on it. I extended a hoof down as I told him with my mouth. “Sorry, she gets excited around new ponies. I'm Shell Shock and her name is Sienna." "I only wanted to say hello," Sienna said quietly. The unicorn looked at my hoof, Sienna, and back to the hoof. He took it and pulled himself to his hooves. "I'm Fire Blade," he grumbled. "Nice to meet you, I guess.” "Shock," Sister said loudly, "I need to show you something." "What is it?" I asked without taking my eyes of Fire Blade. "Just come here and bring that unicorn." I nodded and motioned for him to lead. "Shall we go see what she wants?" "Fine..." he sighed and trotted around me. I quickly followed after him. Sister stood over a black body that was bleeding from where my railway spike had caved in the pony's chest. However, as I was able to get a good look at the pony, I saw the fangs, solid blue eyes, bug like wings, and the holes in the changeling's legs. A hiss of annoyance escaped me because I realized then that Tank must have been referring to changelings as 'bugs'. Sister's magic pulled the spike out. I leaned down and looked at the changeling's shell. Where the spike had punctured wasn't exactly a vital spot but the sheer force of the blow had driven it deep inside his chest cavity and had shattered his bones. Hopefully he died instantly. I stepped back and looked at the spike. One of the fins were bent and one was missing, so I tossed the useless thing away. As I shook my head I noticed Fire Blade was staring at the changeling as if it were important. So I tilted my head a bit and looked at him. His expression reminded me of that look a pony got when they just saw their friend die. The hollow, empty, look that they’ll never hear their voice again or see them laugh. The look that said a piece of them died along with the other. "Hey you, Fire Blade." My eyes slowly narrowed. He looked at me and his expression changed a bit. "Yeah, you. Are you a changeling?" Fire Blade blinked in shock a few times as he tilted his head and took a step back. "Wha-huh?!" "Are? You? A? Changeling?!" I demanded as the bow was telekinetically pulled from where I left it earlier. A spike was placed in the notch and drawn back at the same time I aimed it at his head. At this distance it was impossible to miss. "No," Fire Blade replied flatly. Sienna tapped my neck and whispered, "he's still green." A fiery glow that matched his mane color surrounded his horn and the metal string of my bow. My brows knitted together as I attempted to block his spell but failed because I did not know how beyond yelling at him. I had no idea what he was doing to it, so I let the string go. It snapped and the spike harmlessly fell to the ground. I glanced down at it for a second before I swung the bow like a club. It was let go and the sword was quickly unsheathed from the strap. Fire Blade easily caught the leaf spring in his magic and brandished it like a weapon. My eyes widened when it was also surrounded by a fiery glow because I could feel the heat coming off it. "Shock, stop being a foal!" Sister shouted from behind me. Her voice was annoyed and bored sounding. "If he was a changeling wouldn't his magic be green?" I ignored her and dug my hooves into the dirt in preparation to jump at him. My eyes narrowed as he copied me and readied his own stance. Fire Blade held the spring to the side a bit and I did the same with my sword. "Do you think you can best one such as I?" I asked with my mind. "An alicorn that has fought zebras in hoof to hoof combat and survived?" His eyes narrow further but something pressed against my leg and I looked down at Sienna. Her ears were back and she was looking up at me with her concerned solid red eyes. "Don't hurt him he's green," she said quietly with her gravelly voice. A soft thump caused me to look over at Fire Blade as he took a few steps away from the spring that was now on the ground. "No, I'm not a changeling. You can cut my leg to see for yourself." I nodded and slowly floated the knife over to Fire Blade. He eyed it carefully but said nothing as it sliced a line of red into his left foreleg. The blade floated back to me and I licked it clean. It tasted normal but with a hint of metal and rust. Which was obvious why, the blade was rusty. I glanced at the changeling and noticed that his blood is oddly colored, it was not red, so I dipped my hoof in it and tasted a little of it. The taste was sour and had a slight kick to it. "Very well.” I nodded. “You're not a changeling, so why are you here?" "Caps, same as you. A gryphon wanted me to clear out some bugs for him. Surprise, surprise, it was changelings." He shrugged as he shook his head. "But I don't kill ponies." "Bullshit!" Sister trotted around me and almost pushed her nose against Fire Blade's. "Tell another lie and I'll let Shock have her way with you." He blinked but did not back down. "I don't attack unless they attack me in some way and even then I try to disable them. If they die, oops." I tilted my head almost sideways. "This method confuses Us. How can one attack a pony without killing them?" Fire Blade rolled his eyes. "It's simple. I do my thing, you do yours, and we'll get along just fine." "What thing is that?" Celly asked. "Delivering corn to a nearby changeling settlement." Fire Blade replied and levitated the dead changeling's bag of corn off the body. "They don't normally come out this way because they're afraid." "Afraid of what?" I asked as I tilted my head the other way and my neck popped, relieving some tension. "The island, that gryphon, and some creepy things in the fog." I slowly looked at the corn all around us. "Then We must help them as payment for killing one of theirs." "Shock," Sister looked at me as I started pulling corn off the stalks, "what about Eclipse?" "She can wait. I have made a mistake and need to fix it. To do better. For all ponies." *** *** I glanced up at the cloudy sky as we walked along the jungle floor, yet all I could see were the green leaves of the canopy. A light rain was hitting the leaves, but it never made it through the canopy. My bags were heavily loaded with as much fresh corn as I could carry. Same went for Sister and Celly. Even with our equipment from earlier the weight was not that bad. I sighed deeply and lowered my gaze to the jungle floor. All of the trees seemed nice and all in all it felt peaceful if one were to forget for a moment that the very plants could kill you. Yet... I took comfort in DJ Buccaneer's voice while he spoke through Sienna's Pipbuck. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, don't go out in the fucking fog. I don't want to hear anymore reports of ponies having their heads pulled off or torn to shreds by a pack of those Mist Roamers. It's not a nice way to go. Now then! According to our resident weather expert, DJ Snow, the fog should not last more than a few weeks... Now that the boring weather is out of the way it's back to the music!" As the music began I smiled a little because the beat was soothing and soft almost like the first one I had heard many weeks ago. I slowly looked around while walking along behind Fire Blade. All I could see was dense jungle and patches of fog. Oddly enough, I thought I saw something move inside the fog. Fire Blade had said there was a community nearby but I did not believe him because I did not see any signs. If one built a settlement far from their food they could not protect it, but perhaps it was stolen corn and that was why the trip seemed to be taking so long. The moist ground under my hooves reminded me that I needed a hooficure, badly. Fire Blade came to a stop at a small hill with a hole in it. I glanced around and wondered if it was a trap because Sienna did not seem to tell me if we were being followed or not unless I asked. Which was oh so annoying. "We are here," Fire Blade pointed at the hole. "It's inside there." "It is a hole in the ground." I replied while mentally preparing a spell. My eyes slowly narrowed as I glared at him. "This is the settlement." He glared back. "It's a hole in the ground!" I stomped my hoof into the moist soil and snarled a bit. "Is this some kind of game where you lead us away to a cave and try to run? Because if it is you will not get two steps further." My horn glowed a bit when I thought of choking him with my magic. Sienna walked over to the hole and looked in. "My Pipbuck said this place has a name and I can see a few green bars ahead." Sister and Celly followed her and looked inside as well. I walked over to the hole and looked in around them. All I could see was a few lights strung along the ceiling and a door at the far end. I looked at Fire Blade and hissed through my teeth. "What trickery is this? This screams trap." "It’s not a trap," he replied with a wave of his hoof. "Just go to the door and knock." "Why don’t y-Sienna, wait!" I shouted as said ghoul filly trotted forward. Celly trotted after her and Sister stepped aside. I quickly followed after Sienna. "Sienna, this is danger..." My voice trailed off into a mumble as two devices dropped down from the ceiling and unfolded with noisy clicks as they turned towards me. The turrets followed my movement as I dove on Sienna and cast my shield spell. Much to my surprise bullets did not slam into my shield. A strange squeal caused me to look up at the door as it opened. Silhouetted by the light of the next room was a tall figure with holes in the bottom of their forelegs and a strange looking horn with two holes in it. I tried to block my vision with a hoof as they stepped forward into the tunnel and the door closed behind them. “Drop your weapons, all of you,” the creature said in a strange echoing voice. I blinked and lowered the hoof. The creature was a tall female changeling with a blue mane.and strange green eyes that had slits in them. Her translucent blue bug wings buzzed a bit before they folded against her side. She wore a dark blue chestplate that reminded me of Enclave power armor. “What is it?” Sienna whimpered, so I pulled her close against my chest. “She, is a changeling,” I replied in Sienna’s mind while glaring a bit at the changeling. Her gaze looked behind me and she nodded a little. I glanced up at the turrets that were still aimed at us and spoke with my mouth. “Those do not have ammo or they would have fired on Sienna and I.” “No,” the changeling replied. “They just aren’t set to fire unless I tell them too. Now drop your weapons. You aren’t getting inside with them.” I looked at Fire Blade, then Celly, and finally Sister. She shook her head ever so gently, so I nodded and looked at the changeling. “Very well. We will give up our weapons.” “What?!” Sister shouted in surprise. “Shock, this is insane! Let’s jus-oh, shit…” I looked back at her and saw three more changelings stood at the tunnel entrance. But these had makeshift armor along with dull looking lead spitting weapons in their magical grip. I had no illusions that the weapons were of poor quality. Mostly due to having found a few ‘poor’ looking weapons that performed flawlessly. I looked at the door again as it opened and a changeling with a set of chains stepped through the doorway. “We need to talk about certain things,” the tall changeling said as she glared down at me. “Now remove your shield and drop your weapons and you won’t be harmed.” “What are the chains for?” I asked as I tilt my head. “A precaution and to make the others feel safe. Now do as I say and the turrets will go back into the ceiling. Otherwise they will tear you to shreds with armor-piercing rounds.” Whether I wanted it to or not, the shield around Sienna and I dropped with a slight shimmer. The changeling nodded at my shield dropping. I sighed and started to undo all of my bags with magic. “I brought you corn.” I told her with my mouth. “Because I may have overreacted and killed one of yours. This is my compensation for it.” The bags of corn were set off to the side along with my other bags and rusty blade. I looked behind me and saw that Sister was taking off her equipment as well. Celly, having none, just stood there. Sienna buried her face in my chest and whispered something I could not make out. So I pat her on the back with a hoof and stood up. “All of my weapons are over there,” I nodded at the bags. The changeling’s horn glowed as she levitated the Annihilator off my back. I suppressed a whimper and resisted the urge to jump after it. She set it on her back and nodded. “Very good.” The turrets retracted into the ceiling and the changeling stepped to the side. “Now put these on.” She tossed the hoofcuffs at me with magic and my ears folded back. “Don’t do it, Shock,” Sister said with a bit of concern. I glanced back at her then looked at the hoofcuffs. They were a little rusty, but otherwise they looked like they would fit. “If it must be so, then it must be so. There is no other choice.” I started to put the hoofcuffs on with magic. The cuffs went on my hind legs easily enough, but one on my left foreleg wouldn’t go on correctly.because of the Pipbuck. An object landed near my hooves and I looked at it. “A Pipbuck tool to remove the one from your leg.” the changeling explained. I grabbed the object in magic and inserted it into the slot. The Pipbuck clicked as it unlocked and dropped to the ground. A tingle ran up my leg from the warm moist air as it hit the matted fur where the Pipbuck had sat for only a day. The last cuff was clasped shut in the spot and I stood up. "What of Sienna?" I asked. "She can go with the unicorn, but you and the other alicorn are to come with me." I nodded and nudged Sienna towards Celly. "It'll be okay," I told her with my mind. "We'll be fine. She only wants to talk for a while." Sienna picked the Pipbuck up in her teeth and scrambled over to Celly. He looked confused and scooted away when she tried to hide under him. I slowly pulled my journal out of my bag and held it in my wing. "I'm keeping this,” I told the changeling. She nodded and floated a collar from a bag on her side. When I recognized what it was my ears to pressed against my head. A slave collar. “Put it on.” She said as it floated over. I stepped back and opened my mouth to object, but it was quickly wrapped around my neck. The device beeped as it was locked shut and my ears drooped to the side of my face. “Oops. Too late,” the changeling grinned. “I already did.” “Shock, you’re fucking stupid.” Sister grumbled as I looked back at her. A set of hoofcuffs and a matching slave collar was around her neck. “We are not stupid.” I replied with my mind. “We did not have time to react.” “Now,” the female changeling began. “If either of you try to run from this facility, the collars go off.” I nodded slowly. “If you try to take them off, they go boom. And if either of you are more than twenty meters from each other for more than ten seconds, the collars go off. Now, welcome to Bunkerville.” She smiled and stepped aside. Beyond her was a stable entrance door. The thick metal cog wheel was already open and the path leading in looked well used. Bright fluorescent lights lit the area and made it easy to see. I blinked and tilted my head. “What? This place is a stable?” “Inside, now!” She shouted as her smile quickly faded to a glare. I started in surprise from the tone. I looked back at Sister who was hovering towards me with a glare. "How could you be so dense?! This is the second time you let a pony put one of these things around your neck!" She flew in and landed near an open stable door. My collar started beeping which caused my eyes to widen. I quickly hobbled through the small door after Sister and the beeping slowed to a stop. "How was I supposed to know?! Tell me, how?" I glared at her. “She was nice and I assumed it was safe!” "Shock, assumption is the mother of all fuckups. The turrets should have tipped you off!" She shouted. "You had the chance to run with your shield up and you dropped it!" I fluffed up my feathers a bit and scowled at her. “So? You said I should fix the island! I killed one of the inhabitants here and I feel I must repay the debt." "By having us chained together with explosive an collar around our necks?!" Sister held her forelegs up as best she could and shook them. "Quiet!" the changeling shouted. Sister and I looked over as she stepped inside and shut the door. I saw Sienna galloping towards us as it closed and then there was a muffled thump, most likely from her hitting it. The changeling ignored it and walked over to us. "You two are like an old married couple. Always bickering and fighting." "What is this place?" I asked with my mouth. “It looks like a stable.” "Because it is a stable, or what's left of one." She stopped at the door and motioned for us to go inside. "Now, you two will follow me and not speak unless spoken to. If either of you do, the both of your tongues will be removed as punishment. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Got that?" Sister looked at me and nodded. "Do you, Shock?" She asked. I nodded slowly then looked at the changeling as Sister said. "We do." “Good, now walk!” She shouted and stepped through the door. I looked through the open stable door at the clean metal stairwell and wondered. What is her plan for us? Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Strong back. You can carry more weight than other ponies. +25 to carry weight. Sister: Level up! New Perk - Dual Wield. Using two weapons in your magic is easier for you than other ponies as long as they aren’t too big. Can dual wield small calibre pistols with ease as if they were one. Chapter 13: Beyond BunkervilleChapter 13: Beyond Bunkerville “One day we’ll see sunshine and rainbows again, but that day is not today.” A pony pushed hard on my flanks, shoving me into the jail cell. I turned around to look at the door, but it was slammed in my face and my ears folded back. The door was your garden variety sliding blast door with a window added to it for viewing your prisoners. My gaze went to where the panel to open it should be, but wasn't. Instead, there was a solid block of concrete where the panel should be and that caused my ears to droop to the side of my face. My rump hit the cold floor hard as I sat on my haunches, lowering my head in shame. I had been tricked again by ponies I wanted to help. Instead of open civility I was greeted with guns drawn and hostility. Perhaps it was my ways of old that caused that treatment, but I wanted to mend it. To make it right like it should be. But even in my memories of just after the war I could pick out instances of ponies abusing my trust. One such instance is stuck in my mind like glue. I'll never forget it because a pony I loved died there. I sighed deeply, shutting my eyes as a few cold tears fell down my cheeks. When I opened my eyes again, I sniffled and cleared them of tears. Slowly, I turned around to face the rest of the room and took a few deep breaths. A central fluorescent light in the ceiling illuminated a piss stained mattress covered by sheets that looked like a pony used them to wipe their ass with. The stone floor beneath my hooves had a carpet at one time, but it looked as if a pony had pulled it out because they had left the tacks in various places. Along the walls were cute, and not so cute phrases written in probably shit or blood. Luckily, there was a small adjacent room with a loo that appeared to never have been cleaned. I tested the faucet in there and found it produced clear water that had just two settings, either ice cold or scalding hot. The mirror had long ago been broken and removed. So I turned to look at the shower, which I could not find because there were no provisions for it. My guess was that they used a communal shower system and that I, of course, would not get to use it. After I checked out the loo I walked back into 'my' room and placed an ear on the wall between my cell and Sister's. I stood there, waiting for a while before I tapped a couple of times on the wall with a hoof. Sister tapped back which made me smile. Since Sister was okay I walked over to my door and knocked on it. After an agonizing amount of time, an earth pony appeared in the viewport of the door. "What do ya want?" she asked through a speaker system that I couldn’t see. I smiled, pointing a hoof at the bed. "I was hoping for some clean sheets. It appears a pony took a crap on mine." The earth pony on the other side shook her head slowly. "Prisoners don't get requests." I stomped my hoof down with a glare at my guard. "I will not sleep in some other pony's shit! Either you get me some clean sheets or... or... or I'll stop your heart!" "And I'm Celestia," she deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. "I'll have your tongue cut out if you don't stop bugging me." I gulped, because this pony did not need to say that Sister's tongue would also be removed. The earth pony took a few steps away from the door as I picked up her thoughts. "Hah! Alicorns aren't so tough." She walked away from the door and I sat down again in shame. Without anything else to do, I found a comfy spot near the door to and pulled out my journal to start writing where I left off. *** *** The door next to me opened partially and a tray of food was shoved underneath. It smelled sweet and delicious. I set the journal down and levitated a sandwich up to my nose. "You have ten minutes to eat," a stallion said before closing the door. I stood up and looked through the viewport at his backside as he walked away. "See something you like?" a familiar voice whispered from behind me. I nodded slowly in response. "What is it?" "A stallion." My voice was quiet because they could probably hear me through the speaker system if I talked too loud. The stallion vanished from my view, so I laid down and began nibbling on my food. The sandwich was a bit soggy and salty tasting. Still, I ate it and didn't complain because I enjoyed eating food even though I did not need it. As I was levitating my murky looking water bottle for a drink. The voice behind me whispered, "I bet you want a ride from him." "Not really," I shook my head slowly, setting the bottle down. It had tasted like dirt and I felt a familiar sensation of absorbing trace amounts of radiation, causing me to smile. "While I would love to have a stallion of my own, I don't want to be with just any stallion. They have to be powerful, funny and most of all. Perfect. Lika an alicorn." "Shock," the voice began quietly. "We are a powerful pony, so why are you just letting Us waste away in this cell?" Gulping down the rest of my soggy sandwich, I looked over my shoulder at myself who I called Dog. She was sitting on the bed in her businessmare suit and looked as terrible as ever. Her face looked pale and sick, her eyes were slightly glossy, and her mane looked a bit thin. I shrugged a little and ate a fry that tasted like it was a few days old. "Because a beast chained is better than a beast on the loose. They want us for something and I want to know what." "They're changelings!" Dog shouted, sitting up and stomping her hoof on the bed. "They're probably keeping Us to alive so they can fuck Us for Our love energy until We're a husk!" I shook my head. "I doubt it works like that. They would have already done so and not to mention the poor accommodations they put us in. I think they want us for something else." "You let your wings get clipped, again!" "So?" I shrugged. "They will grow back next time I find a hotspot or in a few months in the next moult." "And the collar?" I looked down in shame, my ears slowly drooping. "That's what I thought. You fucked up again." The collar was not something I wanted to think about. It was connected with Sister's collar. If I died, she died and vice versa. It was a slightly heavy and ugly thing that rubbed at my fur when I looked in a certain direction to remind me it was there. The door behind me slid open a little and the stallion from earlier said, "time's up." I sighed deeply, pushing the tray under the door with my hoof before pulling said hoof back as the door shut. I quickly scrambled to my hooves and looked out the window at the stallion in a cook's apron. He picked up the tray in his teeth and with a well practiced swing, tossed it onto his back before trotting off. He glanced back and saw me looking at him. I blushed slightly as he flicked his tail just enough for me to see his stallionhood and disappeared around the corner. "How do they hide it?" I whispered to myself. "They just do?" Dog shrugged, rolling onto her back before staring up at the ceiling. "They're stallions, Shock. It's not rocket science!" I quickly sat down, shutting my eyes while trying to picture the stallion. "You're not seriously going to do that?" Dog whined. I nodded. The distinct slapping sound of a pony facehoofing preceded her groan. "This isn't the place or time for that!" "Shut up! I'm trying to picture a sexy stall-" My eyes snapped open as I quickly lost all desire for self pleasure. "Alicorn!" "Huh?" she tilted her head. "What about them?" Slowly, I walked over to her with a smile, but made sure to go around the tacks in the floor. "There's an alicorn stallion on this island!" Dog's eyes went wide. I nodded rapidly, smiling a little. "If he is an alicorn I can probably contact him!" "Don't be stupid. alicorn stallions don't exist." I waved a hoof dismissively. "Shut up, Dog. You're not real." She stuck her tongue out at me, crossing her forelegs across her chest and vanishing. Laying down down, I shut my eyes while concentrating on looking specifically for alicorns. A grumpy and distraught Sister was found right next door, obviously, so I left her and concentrated more. Alicorns were easy to pick out because they were like spotlights in the nigh. I eventually located the other Unity alicorns on the island, but no Sparkle Cola. If that was his real name. This caused me to groan in frustration and slam my hooves on the ground. Sharp pain shot through one of my forelegs as it slammed down on a rusty tack. I cried out in shock, my spell dropping, as I quickly cradled the trembling and bleeding appendage. Slowly, I brought it to my nose and sniffed the sweet familiar scent of blood. My gaze went around to the writing on walls. Ponies had put madness into the writing, but I would not add my own words to it. Instead, I looked down at my journal and sighed. "Maybe Ripper was right about the journal." I mumbled quietly to Dog. She did not respond for a while, then she appeared on the bed again and laughed at my plight. Causing my ears to droop slowly. Fear... Fear is a powerful and effective weapon. If one were to cause their enemies to rout without taking heavy losses then the battle is still won. At least that is what I had assumed to be true, but sometimes your enemies come back. Slowly, I took a long look around the room I was caged in. The writing on the walls looked depressing, and so did the bed along with the terrible floor. The only good thing there was, was clean looking water in the loo. Glancing down at my steadily bleeding foreleg, I sighed deeply out of annoyance. “They are trying to scare me, I think,” I mumbled to myself, walking over to the wall and pressing my ear against it. But I heard nothing, so I concentrated on connecting to Sister. She felt annoyed, angry and scared. “Sister?” I quietly asked with my mind as I tapped the wall. She did not respond, which caused me to frown. “Sister, please, I am sorry for getting us into this mess.” Still, I received no response from the blue alicorn. “Bet’cha she’s pissed at you,” chided Dog with a smirk. Rolling my eyes, I tapped on the wall again. “Sister? Just let me know that you are alright.” There was quite a long time of silence and then I felt her sigh deeply. “I’m not you’re fucking ‘sister’,” she replied in my mind, causing my ears to droop as I sat down. “Leave me the hell alone, Shock.” “But…The Goddess said all alicorns are her children, so that-” “We never were family. Unity was just a hive mind controlled by a supreme bitch! Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?!” “But… I’m sorry…” Slowly, my ears drooped to the side of my face as I looked down at the concrete floor in despair. “We’ll get out of this. I swear.” Sister had never spoken out against The Goddess like that before. That meant that she was really, really, angry at me for what I did and I did not blame her. Instead of continuing to talk to an angry pony, I broke the connection, covering my ears with my hooves while attempting to figure out how to leave. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Telepathy. A simple spell to read a pony’s mind or communicate with them. A spell that I mostly use to talk to ponies with.. I looked at the door and smiled as a plan formed in my head. *** *** I waited and waited until the door finally opened again, but this time it opened all the way and that tall changeling walked in. My ears folded back as I slowly backed up against the bed. She walked halfway across the room and stopped to stare at me. I gulped, looking away from my captor and stared the wall. "I see you're obedient, good." she said in that pompous voice that made me want to buck her teeth in. "Your silence tells me that you also remember my warning, which is also good. By now you're probably wondering what you're doing here." Nodding, I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. "You, being an alicorn, presents me with a pony who is far more resilient to damage than the average pony." I looked over at her as she shut the door. "You're probably wondering why I've told you this." I nodded again and she smiled. "It's simple, really, I want you to kill a pony." I rolled my eyes because she could have just asked when we first met. She laughed a bit, taking a step back. I briefly considered spearing her with my horn, but chose not to because she might have the detonator on her, which would be bad. "I can assure you this earth pony is not easy to kill. He's has cybernetic augmentations, and hits like a rocket. Thus I need a pony that is not easily damaged and an alicorn is perfect for that." I looked over at something else, the shit covered wall. “Why am I in such… deplorable conditions then?” Again the changeling laughed. “Because it is fit for a prisoner and that is what you are, my prisoner. You want out, don’t you?” I nodded slowly. “I kill this cyberpony and you will let Sister, Sienna, Celly, and I go?” Smiling, she bowed her head a little. “Yes. I will allow you to go free. Now…“ she took a breath and looked off to the side then at me. “As I understand it, alicorns have… powerful spells such as telepathy, a lightning attack and an impenetrable shield along with… what was it? Teleportation and invisibility?” Again, I nodded. “Yes, but they are-” “Good, so you will be able to assassinate the pony without being seen.” The changeling queen grinned. My ears folded back slowly as I gulped. “I… could do that.” "Good, now that we got that out of the way..." There was a green flash of fire all around her, and when it was over. She appeared to look like a muscular light blue stallion. Her back legs were replaced with grey cybernetic ones and part of her jaw was also replaced, at least in appearance. Her grey mane was cropped short along with the tail. "This is the pony you have to kill, Iron Jaw," said the changeling in a deep baritone voice. "Do not let him buck you, his hind legs act as shotguns too and he has a bite like you wouldn't believe." Slowly, I nodded while taking in all of the details. "Shotgun hind legs and a bite like the bear trap on his flank." However, I found myself trying to get a peek to see if she had changed everything or just her outer appearance. "What are you doing?" she asked with a hint of annoyance. "Seeing if..." Warmth spread across my face as I blushed deeply. "I was curious about changeling anatomy. When you change sexes, do your organs also change? Or is it just appearance? Does it work is what I’m asking." Rolling her eyes, green fire engulfed the changeling queen. Causing me to take a few steps back and when it was over, she stood before me as her normal changeling self. "I’m not telling you and no. I'm not fucking you either. Celestia knows where you've been. I wouldn't touch you if you were the last mare on the face of Equestria. Now are there anymore stupid questions? You have three before I get annoyed." I opened my mouth to say something, but looked away as my face darkened further out of embarrassment. "No... Yes..." I looked at the changeling again. "If I am locked up how am I to kill the pony?" "Hm..." She her chin for a few seconds while I wondered if the holes in her leg made it weaker and that’s why she needed an alicorn. "That is a good one. Follow me." She walked over to the door and knocked on it, I followed close. After a few moments. the door was opened and the changeling stepped out into the hall. I followed her over to Sister's door, which was opened before we arrived. A tired and rough looking Sister slowly walked out with her head hung low. "Yes?" she mumbled quietly in a voice that sounded like she had not slept for a while. "Both of you, follow." The changeling began walking in what looked like a random direction and the both of us followed her. *** *** Below our balcony ponies mixed in with undisguised changelings as if it were normal. The queen swept a hoof over the stable atrium while wearing a pompous smile. "Beautiful, isn't it? Changelings and ponies under one roof. The ponies do not mind being used for food so long as we provide them adequate protection from the outside and not go on a feeding frenzy." Slowly, I stepped up to the balcony and glanced down at the picnic tables. Somepony, or changeling, was having a birthday party for what looked like a foal. While Sister had yet to say anything since leaving her room, I hoped she would forgive me for my mistake because it was a simple matter to leave; kill Iron Jaw. Slowly, I scanned the crowd for anything that would indicate he was down there and I eventually spotted his aqua blue coat among the sea of ponies. From the distance I was at, his cutie mark looked like a bear trap. Iron Jaw was different than what the changeling queen had showed me. He had long donkey ears which meant he was a mule, yet ponies parted way for him as if they gave him the utmost respect. The fact that he was a mule made the fact that I had to kill him that much easier. Mules are not ponies. They are imp spawn. "Do you see that bright blue mule with the bear trap cutie mark, robotic hind legs and jaw?" I whispered in Sister's mind. She looked over at me with a small glare. "All I have to do is kill him and we go free."' A small smile formed on her face. "Shock, if that's true-" "Well lookie what we got here," said a cold, familiar, voice that sent a shiver down my spine. "Two collared thorns in my side served up on a platter." Sister glanced at the voice, snarling a little. I slowly turned my head to look and my heart sank at the sight of Eclipse's braided strawberry red mane even though I had known it was her. Based off the bulkly appearance of her cloak, I assumed the teal earth pony was wearing her armor, yet there were no claws near her hooves. I suspected they may have been taken from her at the door. Behind Eclipse stood two power armored Steel Rangers like guard dogs. Slowly, my ears drooped as a maniacal grin formed on Eclipse’s face. The changeling queen stepped between us, looking down at Eclipse. "There will be no violence here!" she hissed in a tone I had yet to hear from her before. "I caught them fair and square. You cannot take them without violating the laws here." "Laws, shmaws," Eclipse rolled her eyes, tapping her hoof down. “I captured these two before you and I demand their release. They are my property, not yours.” The changeling glanced back at me, then looked at Eclipse again. “No.” “What?” Eclipse’s left eye twitched. “Why the fuck not?!” She stomped her hooves down like a whiney filly who didn’t get her toy, “they’re mine! Mine! Mine!” “The green is my fuck toy and the blue is of no concern, but their collars are linked. Ergo they cannot be separated except in certain circumstances. This is not one of them.” As if to confirm the point I walked forward a bit and leaned on the changeling, wrapping a foreleg around hers. However, I could feel an angry glare from Sister that burned through my skull, yet she said nothing. Eclipse slowly looked me up and down before walking over to the railing and nodded. “Fine, if that’s what you want to use them for. But…” She looked over her shoulder, “I challenge that blue to a duel.” The changeling looked at Sister then Eclipse and nodded. SheTaking a deep breath, she practically shouted in my ear. “A challenge has been issued!” her voice echoed over the atrium, causing it to go quiet for some reason. The changeling queen left my embrace and walked over to the railing. "A Steel Ranger earth pony has challenged a blue Unity alicorn to a duel." She looked over her shoulder at Sister. "Do you accept this challenge?" Sister looked at Eclipse, the changeling, and finally me before nodding. "I accept the challenge and will enjoy beating the shit out of her." I smiled, nodding slowly in response. The changeling looked out over the atrium, nodding. "The challenge has been accepted and the duel will commence in three hours. I welcome you to watch as it will most surely be an excellent fight." "Perfect," Eclipse grinned at Sister. "First you, then the green." "Bring it, bitch," Mudpie puffed out her chest and ruffled her feathers. "I could stop your heart in ten seconds flat." “Why don’t you do it now then?” Eclipse walked up and pressed her nose against Sister’s. "There will be no fighting until the duel!" the changeling hissed as she rejoined us. "There are rules in a duel; you fight to the death and no guns of any kind are allowed. Is that understood?" Eclipse and Sister nodded. "Good. I shall see the both of you in the arena in three hours. Prepare yourselves and fight to the best of your abilities. Maybe the best mare win." The changeling queen tugged on my ear with magic as she began walking back the way we had come. "Come along, green, I'm hungry and need to relax before the show." Turning to follow close behind the changeling queen, I caught Sister's death glare and gulped. She quickly followed after me while keeping her glare. I watched Eclipse and her goons turn around and slowly walk away. The changeling led us around a few corners and we quickly lost sight of Eclipse, so I connected with Sister to explain myself. Her anger was almost overpowering. "Sister, I can explain! You see it was just a tri-" "Shut up!" she nearly screamed inside my head, causing my ears to go back. "I don't believe you, Shock, I don't fucking believe you!" "But-" "No buts!" her eye twitched. "You... I love you, I offered myself to you, but you choose this... this bug queen over me?!" "No..." I shook my head as my ears drooped slowly. "She lied... I have never touched her and she-" "Ahem," the changeling cleared her throat and I only noticed right then that we had stopped walking. "Are you two done having your argument inside your heads?" I looked at her, tilting my head, but she was looking at Sister. "I suggest you focus your anger on the one who challenged you." She looked around, whispering. "Because I have a contract with your friend for you to go free if she helps me with a problem." "She's not my friend," Sister grumbled, pushing past the changeling. "Sister, I'm sorry!" I called after her, but she ignored me. My collar began beeping so I quickly chased after her before the both of us literally lost our heads. *** *** I looked out over the balcony at the arena below from my soft cushioned bed. A cold chain held my hind leg to a post with enough length to allow me to walk a few feet. The changeling was lying on my right on her own cushion. My wing was draped over her warm body and I had my foreleg wrapped around hers to keep up the ruse for Eclipse in case she had ponies watching us. Which she most likely did. About eight meters below us was a dirt floor that looked like it was an apple orchard at one time due to the cage being built around some stumps. Now, however, ponies stood around the cage talking amongst themselves while waiting for the fight to start, and no doubt they were placing bets. Eclipse was standing at one corner of the cage while Sister stood at the other. The alicorn had her mane tied in a bun to keep it out of her face and to hide the fact that it was now flowing from radiation. Our collars had been delinked and Sister's was set to detonate via remote only. The changeling queen would not tell either of us who had the detonator. "Food," the changeling queen said quietly. I levitated a tray of grapes over and placed one into her mouth. She chewed slowly, nodding. "Does that earth pony really think she has a chance?" Slowly, my ears folded back. "Yes... she is quick, wears bone armor and has hellhound claws on her hooves. Those claws are very deadly to alicorns." "This will be interesting then." I merely nodded and waited for it to start. A unicorn stallion in a large floppy hat walked out into the center of the ring. He looked at Sister then Eclipse before nodding. "Fillies and Gentlecolts!" he shouted in a powerful voice that nearly echoed. "You have all gathered here today to watch a dance of death between two mares. One, an earth pony working for the Steel Rangers. Power armored heathens who hoard technology. The other, a Unity alicorn. The most beautiful mares in the wastes, but oh so deadly and powerful. These two foes are more than a match for your average wastelander, but what about against each other?" I glanced at the changeling and saw that her face held a smile. However, the pony below kept talking. "Well, that is what these mares plan to find out. One of them has requested her death for your entertainment. But which one?" He looked at Eclipse and then sister. "Fuck if I know, so. Without further horseshit. Leeet's get ready to rumble!" He walked towards a door in the center. "Alright, the rules are as follows; no guns and only one of you leave this cage alive. Start fighting once I close this door." I took a deep breath and held it as the door shut. As soon as the door shut, Sister vanished completely, causing Eclipse to blink in shock. The teal earth pony took a few steps forward, slowly looking around the floor in the cage.. "Interesting opener," the changeling mused. "How long can she keep the spell up?" "Indefinitely," I replied, bowing my head slightly to the side. Then placed another couple of grapes in her mouth on her tap of my hoof. She pat my side with her wing. "Good girl. Keep this up and you'll get better quarters. I can feel the sisterly love energy between you and that blue just pouring out and it is tasty." "How does it taste?" I mumbled as Eclipse started circling the center of the cage. "More filling than pony food that is for sure." "Where are you?" Eclipse shouted as she took off her cloak and tossed it in a random direction, revealing her dark bone armor. "Hiding like a coward because you're afraid of getting scratched?" Suddenly, Eclipse staggered sideways from an invisible blow and nearly collapsed on her side. She quickly hauled herself up and spun in the air with her hind claws out, hitting nothing. As she landed, she swiped a hoof full of dust and tossed it in that direction. "Smart pony," the changeling nodded at the drifting dust cloud as an invisible Sister galloped away from it, creating a slight draft and pulling it with her. Slowly, the dust settled around Eclipse, but she started kicking more, and more, of it into a large cloud. And soon the entire cage was one big cloud of dust. Most of the crowd complained and stepped away from the cage to breathe in fresh air. As if by magic, the dust started blowing out of the cage, but I knew the reason. Sister was furiously flapping her wings to clear out the dust so she could have full invisibility again. Eclipse's distraction had an unintended side effect for her, she began coughing into her hoof and had to squint her watery eyes to see lest they get dust in them. Suddenly, a pair of invisible hooves kicked the earth pony in the side, sending her flying against the cage and causing it to rattle from the weight. I cringed as the bars dented a little from the impact. Eclipse watched the ground for a second and swiped her claws at nothing, but Sister screamed in pain as a line of red appeared in thin air. She jumped back and flapped her wings to put even more distance between them. The line of red made her visible to everypony including Eclipse. As the dust slowly cleared from the arena, Eclipse began laughing at Sister who had dropped her invisibility spell and was clutching her chest were the hellhound claws dug in. Her blood poured out and was quickly coating her forelegs. My ears folded back at the sight of the wound. With her bleeding out like that her invisibility was pointless, which was probably why she dropped it. Though, Sister did drink quite a bit of irradiated water a few hours ago, so she must surely be healing already. I ignored the crowd that was making all kinds of racket because I assumed they were trying to distract the fighters. "The earth pony draws first blood!” the unicorn's powerful voice resonated over the crowd. “Can her success last or will beauty triumph over brawn?" Sister's horn glowed a deep blue as she prepared a quick spell. With a deafening clap of thunder and a blinding flash, a lightning bolt shot towards Eclipse. The bolt missed the agile earth pony by a mere hoof width as she jumped out of the way. It struck the cage and I frowned as a few ponies standing close by got burned. Eclipse began galloping towards Sister as Sister prepared another attack, the earth pony deftly dodged the lightning bolt and jumped with her claws out. Sister quickly pivoted on her good forehoof and kicked out. Her hooves cleanly connected with Eclipse’s chest and stopped stopped her in her tracks, as all the air was pushed out of her lungs. I could hear her bone armor crack slightly. Sister crouched low and jumped into the air with a flap of her wings. She folded her wings and fell with a hind hoof aimed at Eclipse's head. The earth pony recovered just in time to roll out of the way and slice her claws across Sister's wing on an upstroke. She cried out in pain again and quickly kicked. Striking Eclipse in the lower jaw with a loud crack. Sister quickly teleported to the other side of the arena to begin treating her wounds. She ripped a few pieces of cloth off some bystanders and wrapped it around herself, much to their annoyance. Oddly enough, I thought I saw a yellow maned purple pegasus in Enclave power armor standing on the far end of the cage. But a group of ponies pressed themselves against the bars before I could get a good look at her. Meanwhile, Eclipse stood where she was and spit at the ground; a few teeth and a lot of blood landed in the dirt. She wiped her face off, took a deep breath and charged Sister while she was distracted by tying the bandage on her wing. Eclipse’s head slammed into Sister’s injured wing before I could alert her. Sending the blue alicorn flying against the bars. As Sister was recovering, Eclipse pivoted on her hooves and gave Sister’s injured wing one buck with her left hoof, then one with her right, and finally one with both of them. My ears drooped as the sound of a rib snapping nearly silenced the crowd. Quickly, I brought a hoof and covered my mouth so I didn’t scream at Eclipse and get my tongue removed. All I could do was sit there… and watch as Sister was attacked. “Food,” the changeling said quietly. I quickly levitated the tray over and stared at Eclipse as she picked Sister’s head up in her forehooves and slammed it against the bars. “Ahem!” I blinked in confusion and tore my gaze away from the fight. The changeling nodded at the tray of fruit, so I levitated an apple in front of her, sighing in frustration. “Sorry, I am distracted.” I said quietly, turning my head to look back at the fight. Sister and managed to flip Eclipse onto her back and had torn off a part of her armor. The changeling took a bite of the apple and nodded. “Hm.. it seems I may have overestimated alicorns.” Slowly, I shook my head, “Eclipse has claws capable of piercing our shields. It is a fair match for both considering Sister does not know many spells.” The earth pony managed to nearly slice Sister’s chest again, but the blue alicorn had caught the claw in magic and appeared to be tugging on it. “She also has a grudge against our kind for some reason.” Sister tore off the hellhound claw boot and brought it around, slashing Eclipse across the face and drawing two lines of red. The earth pony screamed in pain as Sister shouted something incoherent from the distance. Sister brought the blades straight down on Eclipse’s head, but the teal earth pony blocked it with her other claws and punched Sister in the lower jaw with her exposed hoof. The blow appeared to stun her for a second, because Eclipse got a second strike in on her neck where her larynx was. Sister jumped away from Eclipse and landed, brandishing her stolen armor piece with the claws out. The teal earth pony slowly stood up and spit more dark red blood off to the side. Her armor piece that was removed had covered her hind quarters and now her flanks were exposed. But I could not make out what her cutie mark was from the distance I sat. "You want to help, don't you?" the changeling queen quietly asked, looking at me. I nodded slowly, "it would be beneficial to Sister if I could, but it would be obvious because of my horn glow." "I had heard greens could add to the spells of other alicorns," the changeling queen commented in a tone that sounded more like a suggestion. Sister's makeshift bandages were soaked through and dripping with blood. Even from where I sat, I could see her slight stagger and the heavy eyes of a pony slowly bleeding to death. Eclipse smirked because she no doubt could see the same signs. "What are you waiting for?" Sister shouted over the crowd. "For me to melt your brain or stop your heart? That would be too easy! I could Shock your heart." I blinked in confusion for a second, slowly realizing Sister was talking to me. Slowly, I looked at the changeling queen, who was watching the two combatants stare at each other, then looked at Sister and shut my eyes. I quickly connected with Sister's panicked mind, giving her my reserve magical power and opened my eyes. However, I couldn't move when I was casting that spell, which was its downfall in my opinion, but I could still see. "Food," the changeling said. When I didn't respond she nudged my side. And after I still didn't respond she groaned and levitated the tray of food herself. That was when I noticed how similar her magic color was to mine. From afar they would probably look the same shade of green. Sister's horn glowed a bright color, just before she sent another lightning bolt at a galloping Eclipse which was followed quickly by two more. The first one missed and flew wildly, the second struck her armor and left a scorch mark while the third struck the ground underneath Eclipse. The armored earth pony slammed the top of her head into Sister's chest wound, causing her to scream in agony again as she fell on her back and slid in the dirt. Quickly, I gave her more of my magic in an effort to help. Sister grabbed Eclipse's neck in magic and tossed her to the side at the same time she sent a lightning bolt that missed. Eclipse landed on her hooves, quickly broke into a gallop and reared up on her hind legs when she got to Sister. The blue alicorn rolled, jumping into Eclipse with all her weight and horn lowered. The exquisite horn struck the bone chest plate and snapped at the tip. Sister's pain exploded in my mind, causing me to reel in agony and hold tightly onto the changeling queen. "Shock, I'm sorry..." Sister's pained voice filled my mind. "Close... your eyes." "No!" I screamed, breaking the magic transfer and jumping to my hooves. Quickly, I flew towards the cage, but pain exploded in my leg as the chain went taut, pulling me to a stop. Turning around, I glared at the thing binding me there and tried to tear it apart with magic, yet I failed after many attempts to break it. The changeling queen looked at me in confusion. "What is she doing?" “Huh?” I quickly looked at the fight. Sister was laying on the dirt, bleeding out and smiling a weak smile at Eclipse. Her blood soaked foreleg was wrapped around Eclipse's armored one, which had its claws dug into her chest. Except Sister was not moving to pull it out. She dragged the other boot over with a hoof and offered it to Eclipse. The earth pony put it on and raised her hoof up over Sister's head. Sister stared up into Eclipse’s eyes, nodding slowly. "Stop!" I screamed, tugging again at the chain binding me to the wall. It still didn't budge, so I tugged harder and harder until it dug deep into my flesh, drawing blood, but I didn't care. The changeling queen glared up at me. "Sit down! She, and you, knew only one was leaving that arena alive. But it seems alicorns are not as-" My hoof came around and cleanly connected with her face, audibly slapping her and leaving a mark. "Don't you dare speak to Us like that!" I glared at her, my eyes slowly narrowing. "We are the perfect example of a pony. You are nothing more than a parasite living off of others. Unfit for anything else, but shit!" She held her hoof to her cheek, smirking slightly and I could see the red through one of her holes. "I shall let that slide because of your recent loss. Now, if you ever. Talk to me like that again, I will personally cut out your tongue and feed it to you." My ears slowly folded back and I broke down into tears. *** *** The orchard arena was empty, devoid of ponies that left almost a half hour ago. Had I encountered Eclipse on my way here, I would have speared her and crushed her heart without hesitation even if it ended me. Sister... Mudpie... or whatever her name was. Was lying motionless in front of me. Blinking back a few tears, I stepped towards her blood soaked body, which mirrored the now black dirt around her. I collapsed next to her with tears in my eyes, gently nosing her. "Sister..? I'm sorry I got you into this," I gently rested my head on her cold back and shut my eyes. "Please come back to me. I swear to Celestia I'll be a better pony. Just come back. I don't want to be alone." I got no response from Sister, so I tried to connect to her mind to no avail. Even applying my horn to hers produced no results. Sister was a corpse, lifeless, and never to breathe again. A dead pony... One that I loved as a sister and I will never hear her voice again. She had been there for me since Unity, even protected me against myself when I needed it. But when the time came... I could not help her. All I could do was watch as she was beat to death. My ears drooped to the side of my face, gently resting my head on her neck. "I will get her for you," I whispered to her with my mouth. "Even if I have to join you in death. I swear. I swear to The Goddess and to Celestia. I will kill Eclipse as slowly and painfully as possible. For you." I sat up, cradling Sister against my chest and began humming the song she had sang to me to help me sleep. The changeling queen, who was standing off to the side, cleared her throat, but I ignored her and pet Sister's neck. Slowly, I rocked back and forth as gently as I could as if she were needing to be rocked to sleep. "We will incinerate the body in a half hour," the changeling queen mumbled. I whipped my head around, glaring daggers at her. "No, you will bury her like a pony!" "You're in my city and will abide by my rules! Here we incinerate the bodies." "No!" I narrowed my eyes, whispering in her mind at the same time I said. "You will bury the body." "Tell me," the changeling queen rolled her eyes and waved a hoof about. "Did you think that mind trick would even work on a queen?" My ears folded back as I gulped. "Thought so. Look, the least I can do is give you a lock of her mane." "And her ashes?" "We can't collect them, so no." Slowly, I stood up and gently levitated Sister onto my back. "Where is it? I will do it myself." *** *** The incinerator stood before me. Well, it was like a giant metal box with a cute leading down into the incinerator. I cared about nothing around me except for this one last task I was going to do for Sister. The changeling queen had told me she couldn't find Celly nor Sienna. The latter going missing worried me greatly while the former... Good riddance. "Is there anything you wished to say to the deceased?" a pony in robes asked. My ears folded back. I glanced at the wooden plank they had put her on and walked over to her. She was cleaned up of all blood and appeared as if she were merely sleeping. I leaned down, giving her a very long kiss on her cold lips. After it was over I brushed her mane behind her ear. "I love you," I whispered to her even though it was pointless. "Do you hear me? I love you and hope to see you again. I don't know what I had until I lost it, and I'm sorry. One day, I will tell my foals the story of their Mommy's friend that helped her when she needed it." I kissed her cheek before slowly levitating the plank up. As I began walking towards the incinerator, the pony in robes said. "Oh Great Wind Spirit, hear our pleas for this lost and weary soul. Though she was not from our herd, she fought bravely on the field of honor. Watch over her as she moves on into the hereafter and guide her loved ones to her when they so too pass on." Opening the chute door, I gently placed Sister on it and looked at the other ponies. "Does either of you have a blade?" They looked at each other then me as the robed unicorn hesitantly pulled one out. Floating it over, I looked at myself in the metal's reflection. "What are you doing?" the changeling asked quietly. "This," I said, lifting my non-flowing mane with a hoof. The knife cut it with ease. Eventually I cut down my mane in a cut that I had during the war. Short, simple, and wouldn't get in the way. Next I cut my tail short and tossed the knife back to the pony. It struck the dirt near his hooves and stayed there. Unfolding a wing, I plucked out my best looking feather and laid it across Sister's face. Then placed what had been cut from my mane on hers. Slowly, I caressed Sister's cheek one last time before I used my magic to push the tray shut and held it there, shutting my eyes to hide the tears. After a while, I turned to face the other ponies. "Where is Sister's equipment? And where is mine? I must see them now!" *** *** The changeling stopped at a door in some hallway I had never been too. She opened it, stepping aside. "This is your new room. Near the bed, you will find all of your and that other alicorn's equipment, minus ammo." I walked into the room and turned around to face my captor. "You will help me find Eclipse, yes?" She nodded slowly. "Do this task for me and I will let you go. Do you have a name?" "Dog," I nodded. She raised an eyebrow up in confusion, tilting her head. "What idiot names their foal 'Dog'?" "Dog is my wartime nickname and it fits because I am collared like a dog." I pointed at the collar to make my point. "Riiight... Anyway, I will be back in a day or so to let you calm down." She shut the door, causing my ears to fold back. I didn't care to look at the room and immediately dumped out my bags as I began inventorying everything. I found my journal, the Twilight Sparkle statuette, the Annihilator, two 10mm pistols and five empty magazines for both, a round screw-on tube I guessed to be a suppressor, Sister's jacket that I pulled on, Ripper's odd message, some cloth bandages, the Pipbuck that I also put on and found it was still broken, my rusty sword, and a few other items. But I had no ammo, food, medical supplies beyond bandages, and no 105mm he shell. The bandages looked pretty useless as they were just cloth. None of that concerned me. I buried my nose in the jacket's collar and took a deep breath. Sister's scent was still on it, causing me to tear up at the memory. Quickly, I pulled out my journal and wrote down everything like Sister had told me to, because it was real. I wrote and wrote all through the night until there came a knock on the door. The journal was tossed into my bag that I threw on my back, tightening down. "Who is it?" I called out. Slowly, the door opened and a handsome looking unicorn stallion poked his head in. My ears folded back slowly."I was told you might need comforting," he said as he walked into the room and shut the door. This gave me the chance to slowly look him up and down, noticing that he was well groomed. The fact that he so blindly walked in without a care caused me to look away at the wall, which was devoid of shit writing. Slowly, the unicorn’s hoofsteps came closer until he stopped next to me. "Do... do you need comforting?" I shut my eyes and looked down at the floor, slowly nodding. "She was Our sister..." Underneath me, my saddlebags came unbuckled on their own, but I didn't care enough to object. Nor did I care when they were slipped off as slowly as possible. I just kept my eyes closed. "How can We go on without her? She kept Us stable in my darkest moments..." "Um... c-can you take your... your jacket off?" he asked. I obliged by sitting up and slowly pulling it off. As I set it aside I laid down and looked into the stallion's yellow eyes. "Tell Us, how can We go on?" He hugged Us and We buried Our face in his chest. "We can't go on without her, but I must. I swore to her and to The Goddess that We will have Our revenge." Slowly, I felt his hoof press against the back of my head as he pushed me lower onto his belly. Opening my eyes, stared downwards at his full stallionhood. Only then did the true meaning of his question dawn on me. What he really meant was 'comfort', as in sex, to take my mind off the death of Sister. Nodding, I slowly reached down with my hoof to oblige him. *** *** I watched the unicorn leave the room and shut the door. After a few seconds I got up and walked across the plush carpet to the loo. I turned the sink water on, letting it run for a while. Obviously the water that came out was clear and crisp. Slowly, I placed my hoof under it to test the temperature and found it normal. The cool water caressed my hoof for a moment while I stared at it. More blood was on my hooves, Sister's blood. She had warned me, but I ignored her and she paid the price for my stupidity. No... Shock's stupidity. The purpose of that stallion was clear; to get my mind off Sister, but he failed. I couldn’t stop thinking about her being so angry at me before the fight. Shutting my eyes, I sighed deeply as my ears folded back. Gently, I scooped water into my hoof and filled my mouth with it. As I opened my eyes to stare at my green alicorn reflection, I saw her scarred and ugly face, the cloudy eye, the scars along her neck and shoulder on down to her wing. I swished the cool water around in my mouth for a bit, gargling, then spit the water into the sink. The stallion had left me with an odd hard candy flavor in my mouth that I wanted to get rid of. As I was slowly drinking the water a second time, I glanced in the mirror. My reflection's ears were back and her eyes were full of tears. She looked like a younger green alicorn that had yet to lose her eye or Sister. In her eyes was joy and life, not misery and pain. I gargled the water again and spit it into the sink. "Hello, Shock," I said, wiping my mouth off with a hoof. My voice had taken on a cold, somber, tone that was not full of love. "How do you like where We are? Hm?" She placed her hoof against the mirror and looked at, mouthing something that was probably 'I'm an idiot and I'm sorry'. Slowly shaking my head, I washed out my mouth a third time, yet the taste remained. Shock buried her face in her hooves. With a shrug, I began to use the bandage to wrap my bad eye like an eye patch. "Sorry doesn't fuckin' cut it!" I shouted at the mirror, not caring if my echoing voice could be heard by others. "Sorry is for when you trip over a pony, or if you step on their tail. You fucked up and now it's my turn to take over! I, no, We will do better than you. You've been sidetracked too much. We will kill that witch of a pony. We will slice the meat off her bones and feed it to her. That, is a promise We made to Sister over her body!" Shock looked at me, slowly lowering her hooves from her face. "What are you going to do?" she mouthed at me. "It is simple. We kill the mule, then We kill Eclipse." A grin slowly formed on my face as Shock nodded. A smile began forming on her face, but I noticed something in the mirror; the changeling queen was laying on the bed looking into the loo. Which meant she was looking at me. I looked over at her, my ears slowly folding back. She got off the bed, walking over with a smile. The changeling queen was as tall as I was, which made looking at her much easier. Her hoof slowly came up as she wrapped her foreleg around my neck. I prepared myself for a kiss that never came. Instead, she looked into my eyes with her own ears back. "I wish to tell you something," the changeling sighed. "I will have to let you go for you to do this assignment for me. But I am truly sorry you lost that other alicorn. I felt the love you had for her, but now you feel hollow and empty." I looked at my reflection, noticing the changeling queen's hoof was on the latch for my collar. Slowly, she opened it as it beeped quietly. I looked at her face as if wondering she would kill me right then. "Who are you?" I quietly asked. She smiled a little as the collar fell off my neck and hit the tile below us, cracking it. "Your captor, your master, and the pony who is unleashing you." The changeling slowly levitated a few familiar bullets up to eye level; one was tipped orange which meant it was explosive. Grinning, I took the bullets in my magic. One 10mm explosive round and twenty regular. I trotted over to the empty magazines and began loading them with all but the explosive bullet. The changeling queen noticed this fact and tilted her head. “Observe.” I picked up the best looking 10mm pistol, pulled the slide back and placed the 10mm explosive round into the chamber before I released the slide. “Now I have thirteen rounds,” I giggled a little as I slid the magazine in. “The first is going to make that mule’s head explode like paste.” “I thought he was an earth pony?” the changeling queen tilted her head. “No,” I slowly shook my head. “The long ears and slightly different body shape means he is a mule.” “Oh,” She nodded slowly. “So, what’d you think of that earth pony I had sent down?” I screwed on the suppressor and brought out a knife. As I was scratching ‘Shock’ into the handle, I said, “he failed his objective, I still think of Sister, but he seemed to really have enjoyed it and had seconds.” My name was eventually scratched into the handle, so I set it down and levitated the other one that I named ‘Sister’. “Why do you ask?” “I ask because I could call for him again if need be or get you another pony.” I finished scratching Sister’s name into the handle of the non-silenced 10mm pistol and looked at the changeling. “Did you disguise yourself as him?” “No,” she shook her head slowly. “I was gathering up your ammunition and knives. By the way. What is this?” She dug through my bag and eventually pulled out my 105mm high-explosive shell. “I’ve never seen one before, but assume it to be a bullet.” “It is,” I slowly levitated it over in my magic, cradling it like a foal. “Do you have a pen, or lipstick or something?” “I have this.” She held out a hoof and spit green liquid into it. My nose wrinkled up as I covered it with a wing. She held it out, nodding, but I shook my quickly head. “It hardens into rock hard wax when it dries.” “Then you write my message.” I held out the tank round and nodded at it. “To Eclipse, with love, I hope you rot in Tartarus. From, Shell Shock.” The changeling tilted her head, but wrote the message on the side of the actual warhead then stepped back as it hardened. Slowly, a wicked grin formed on my face as I started putting everything away in preparation for later. *** *** My saddlebags were heavy with everything I owned. Sister’s brown duster worked nicely to hold my magazines and the silenced 10mm pistol, Shock, in a foreleg holster. The other one, ‘Sister’, was held inside a collar holster that could be grabbed easily by my teeth if need be. Slowly, I walked from my room and gave one last look to the changeling queen before turning invisible. “Good luck,” she nodded. The walk to the atrium gave me time to think about my choices and everything thus far in my journey. Part of me was screaming in grief about Sister's death, but the other part of me knew that to grieve now would be a bad thing. So I gulped down my grief and focused on the task at hoof, killing Iron Jaw then Eclipse. The mule would be easy enough to kill, but a part of me wondered why the changeling queen wanted him dead. Though... that mattered little to me because I wanted my revenge against a certain earth pony, and I would do anything to get it. Passing by a strange sign, I stopped and looked at it. It read 'Eveything Under the Sun including weapons'. With my task forgotten for the moment, I backed up and quickly made sure I was alone before dropping my invisibility spell, and walked inside the shop. A bell jingled and signaled my arrival. There were standing racks upon racks of everything from simple clothes to parts of power armor. Along the walls were various weapons ranging from blades to energy weapons. Taking a few steps forward, my jaw dropped at the sheer amount of hardware on display as I turned around and looked above the door at the muzzle brake to a tank barrel.. "Nice, isn't it?" a feminine voice asked. I nodded slowly, turning around and stopped cold. Standing before me was a small, half-familiar, pony in a grease stained lab coat. "Rose!" My eyes widened and I nearly tackle hugged her, but stayed put. "Who?" Not Rose tilted her head. That was when I noticed the small horn on the mare's head, which was mostly hidden by her mane and only showed itself when she had tilted it. "I don't get many alicorns in here. Much less those walking around with missile launchers on their backs. So what brings you to my shop?" "Um..." my ears folded back slowly. "I need ammo and a weapon exchange." "Alright, follow me." she walked over to a counter and hopped on a stool. "What kind of ammo?" Floating out the remaining 10mm magazines, I laid them on the counter and pointed a hoof at them. "Ten millimeter. Subsonic hollow-point if you can." "Hm," she smirked a bit as she shook her head slightly. "That kind of ammo is hard to find. It only had a few specific uses pre-war and... it begs the question of what are you going to do with it?" My eyes slowly narrowed in annoyance. "Do you, or don't you have it?" She shook her head, frowning. "No, but I have regular ten mil and some full jacketed." Setting my caps and rusty sword down next to the magazines, I nodded. "Will these cover the filling of these magazines?" The small unicorn counted them and eventually nodded. "Yup. Need anything else?" "Barding would be nice, but..." I slowly walked towards a rack of rifles. One of them was a familiar shape and had a rail on top of it, but no scope. "This," I pointed at the IF-12 bolt-action rifle next to the other one. "And twenty rifle rounds; five with full metal jackets, five hollow points and the rest regular." The small mare set a box down on the counter and a bullet bounced out. "I don't have any FMJ's, just boxes of regular rifle rounds." Sighing deeply, I pulled the IF-12 off the rack and set it down on the counter. "How much do I owe you now?" "Eighteen hundred caps." I set the Annihilator down and brought the rifle to my eye as I aimed it at the wall above her head. "Your sights are slightly bent." The rifle was aimed up a the ceiling as I pulled the slightly rough bolt back and undid it from the frame. Then field stripped it and stared down the barrel with my good eye. "The bolt is gritty and needs cleaning, not to mention the grooves in the barrel are worn." I stared intently at each part of the weapon and cleaned it to the best of my abilities without a cleaning kit. After a while I nodded. "So, you'll take it?" she smiled at me. "Perhaps... But not for eighteen hundred caps. This rifle is worth nine hundred at the most." "I have to make a profit!" she whined, her ears folding back and pressing against her head. "Look. Fifteen hundred caps and I'll throw in two boxes of ammo. That's a hundred rounds." "They better not be filled with sand." I glared a bit at her. The small unicorn blinked in shock for a few seconds as a deathly silence befell the room. Eventually, as I was putting the IF-12 back together, she recovered, slowly shaking her head. "I'd be out of business if I did that." I nodded slowly, opening my bag to get the caps, but my ears folded back when I saw that I had no more caps. A deep sigh of frustration escaped me at this fact. The unicorn frowned, tilting her head some. "Will you accept a trade?" I asked quietly with my mouth. "Yes, but it depends. What did you have to trade?" I briefly considered trading Sister's pistols, but no. They were hers and I would not give anything of hers away. Glancing down down at my missile launcher which had been given to me by Sister. I had an idea to trade that. It was a weapon that failed its purpose and was used against us by Eclipse. A traitor’s weapon. "I will trade that," I nodded at the Annihilator, "for the rifle, the two boxes of ammo, and some thick socks to muffle the sound of my hooves." "Hm..." the unicorn scratched her chin in thought for a few moments before nodding. "It's a deal." I loaded five rounds into the rifle and slung across my back. The mare smiled at me as I placed some ammo into a pocket and the rest in my bags. Five 10mm magazines went into their foreleg holder while the rest went into my bags. "It's a pleasure doing business with you." the unicorn smiled, nodding a bit. "Perhaps I'll have some 'special' items for you next time." she winked. "Yeah," I waved. Walking over to a rack of cloth barding, I searched around it for a while before I found four identical black hoof socks that I pulled on. A frown formed on my face when I saw the Pipbuck was covered. Though with some clever knife work I made the screen and buttons accessible. "Have a nice day!" the unicorn called out as I began walking out of the shop. As I walked out of the door I stopped, looking at her. "What is your name?" "Full Auto, and yours?" "Dog," I waved a clipped wing and walked away before she could reply. The hallways were of no importance, but I paid attention to the signs. Most of them had been painted over long ago with new names. Under a small one was called Common Area, so I followed it. One I noticed was labeled Queen Cog's Office. I made a mental note to ask the changeling queen what her name was the next time I saw her. Eventually my ears picked up the annoying sound of tons of ponies talking in a large room. Their echoing muddled voices briefly caused me to think my telepathy spell was working, it wasn't. I quickly glanced around and went invisible again as I neared the door. Stepping out into the room, I glanced around to get my bearings.. Ahead of me was a stable atrium, the Overmare's office was directly across from me, and below were the tons of gathered ponies. The changelings and ponies mixed and mingled together, almost creating a carpet of the rainbow. The large stable atrium served as a sort of gathering area, or park, for the citizens. They walked here and there, talked amongst themselves or played games as if it were pre-war times. After a while I spotted the aqua blue imp spawn playing chess with what appeared to be a blindfolded pony, yet Iron Jaw had less pieces and looked to be losing. Slowly, I skirted the edge of the room and made my way down the stairs towards Iron Jaw’s table. I glanced at the ceiling and nodded at Sister. Reaching down with my mouth, I grabbed the handle of Shock in my teeth and drew the pistol as I moved forward. About halfway there I noticed the unicorn I had serviced was walking around, but chose to ignore him. Iron Jaw was my target and I would not deviate or let my employer down. As I got within hearing range, I aimed the pistol at the back of Iron Jaw's head and triggered the pistol with my tongue. Shell Shock: 25% to next level. Chapter 14: Memories and PhantomsChapter 14: Memories and phantoms "With a bottle of rum and a belly full of rads." Iron Jaw had no time to react as the bullet burrowed its way into the back of his head. Sending blood, brains and bone everywhere in an explosion of gore, including onto my face. The immediate area around me fell silent as everypony looked over at the mess and I could have sworn I heard Iron Jaw's blood dripping onto the floor off my muzzle. Slowly, I stepped away from the now dead imp spawn as his headless body slumped sideways to the floor. The unicorn sitting across from my target felt his face before licking his hoof. He quickly spit it out and scrambled around the table to grab Iron Jaw in his forelegs. I took a deep breath and galloped towards the exit. "Get her!" a pony shouted as they finally broke their stupor and realized what had happened. I barreled towards the exit with the warm blood dripping down my face and multiple ponies giving chase. The signs and markers I memorized earlier came in handy and before I knew it, I was heading for a set of stairs. A shot snapped past my head. It struck the wall in front of me and exploded into a grey cloud, sending concrete splinters in my direction. As I ducked to avoid the shrapnel, I scrambled into a turn at the same time a pony shouted. "Close the blast door! Close the blast door!" Up ahead, about halfway down the hallway, was a thick rusty metal door that was slowly sliding towards the floor. It did not take long to cover the distance and I dove to the floor before rolling underneath it, losing hold of Shock. Noticing the lack of weapon, I quickly pulled Shock under the door with magic just before it shut. Except I realized my mistake when my invisibility spell dropped. However, I had no time to think about it because there were ponies on the other side yelling for them to open it. I quickly put the weapon in its holster and broke into a gallop again as the door slowly opened. As I galloped towards another stairwell, bullets slammed into the wall ahead of me and into the floor at just benid hooves. Red hot pain burrowed its way through my flank and out again as I screamed. My hooves beat down on the steps as I took them two at time and quickly reached the top. However, as I did so, a grating buzzing sound was echoing through the main door room and flashing yellow illuminated the short tunnel. My eyes widened when I saw that in the flashing yellow lights, the door mechanism started moving. I quickly poured more speed into my gallop when I noticed that the giant cog started rolling towards the open entrance. As I galloped through the narrow gap I was glad that I had chosen to cut my tail, because it might have gotten stuck in the door had been longer. My ears to pressed against my head at the sound of a loud metallic squeal, but. I had no time to think about any of that because bullets slammed into the dirt around me from the ceiling. As I jumped to the side to avoid a hole that appeared in front of me, I nearly tumbled to the tunnel floor as my muzzle was grazed by a few red hot lead darts. After I regained traction, I bolted forward as more of the lead rained down on me, but mostly missed. However, the bullets kicked dirt up into my face and nearly obscured my vision. And, as I galloped out of the door into the quiet jungle, the air was shattered again by the metallic squeal of the door. I quickly scrambled right and galloped into the thick bushes. Only then did it occur to me to use my shield. But it was pointless due to the danger having passed so I opted to go without it. However as I galloped through the trees I could hear ponies shouting for others to go get Tracker. Whatever, or whoever it was, I did not care to stick around to find out. I had to escape, so I flapped my wings in an effort to go faster. Not far away was a tree blocking my path, so I went around it. However, as I did so my outstretched wing gently brushed against the bark and I cringed as sharp pain entered where the wing had touched wood. I folded both of my wings and slowed to a canter so I would not kill myself from galloping for so long. Which was a possibility for normal ponies and I did not care to find out if it was possible for me to do so. As I focused on running away, the green jungle became a blur and I lost track of time. All I did was canter around trees and fallen branches not even caring if there were trap at my hooves ready to go off. After a long while, perhaps an hour or two, I heard running water and turned towards it. As I broke through the trees I spotted a wide river. I slowed my canter to a stop and collapsed at the edge of the river covered in sweat while panting heavily. "Goddess... We thank you," I nodded slowly and shut my eyes while taking a few deep breaths. "Your humble... child... is grateful..." Only then did I notice my flank was bleeding badly. When I looked at it I saw that the warm sticky liquid was coating the jacket black in the area where my cutie mark would be. And deep down I could feel the itching that signaled slowly healing tissue damage as it itself back together. After a moment or two Then my bloodied mane fell in front of my eyes as the itchy feeling vanished from my muzzle and flank. My ears drooped to the side of my face when I realized that meant I had no more radiation left in me and I could no longer heal. As I attempted to stand up a sharp knife like pain stabbed at my new wound, causing me to cry out in main and fall to the ground. I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth as I slowly stood up a second time. The wound flared up in pain and protested against me doing so. But I managed to get all the way up and then held the leg off the ground to relieve some tension, and the pain slowly dulled. Using my three good legs, I limped towards some bushes. And when I got to them I started pulling the large leaves off with magic. Any big leaves that I could find to make something with. I looked at my injured leg as I pulled the jacket back and cringed at the sight of a chunk missing from my flank. The wound was big, nearly hoof sized, and my whole leg was covered in the blood pumping out of it. I shut my eyes and cringed as I magically pressed the leaces onto the wound, but cold tears rolled down my cheeks. As I quickly wrapped the leaves with the bandage and snapped open my eyes, I cried out in pain again. I glanced over at the wound and frowned when it was quickly soaked in blood. In an attempt to stop the bleeding I pushed on the wound with a small green telekinetic field, but the pain from doing so caused me to whimper. A constant mechanical knocking sound drifted on the wind and drew my attention towards a faint smoke trail rising above the distant trees as the sound steadily grew closer. So, without anything else to do, I waited right there. And eventually spotted the bow of a rotting boat as it rounded the bend in the river. The paint had either never been applied, or it had been stripped away by time down to the grey wood. It was then that I wished I had a scope to see the name on the bow of it had one. The boat eventually came into full view and I saw a single pony moving about under the canopy where a central standing boiler was powering the craft. As the craft grew ever closer I saw the zebra's stripes and the familiar mane cut of dreadlocks. The zebra muttered something I could not make out as she bucked the boiler. Her details only meant it could be one pony, Zakiya. As I stood there on three legs contemplating my luck on where or not I should shout, or swim out. A raspy barking sound drew my attention to the jungle behind me along with a pony shouting something. With my mind made up for me, I began limping as fast as I could into the river and shouted at the zebra on the boat. "Zakiya! Slow down, I need a ride!" She looked over and waved a hoof, as I splashed into the cold water. "Sexy mare! You are a theif, so why should I allow you to board my new boat?" "Did you not get the armor back?!" I swam towards the boat as best I could without moving my injured appendages, but the zebra turned it away. "I will explain everything, just let me board!" Zakiya tilted her head as her ears twitched towards the sound of the barking and looked at the jungle with a grin. "Ah, it seems you have angered Bunkerville and they have unleashed the ghoul Tracker on you. Makes me wonder why they did such a thing." "I can explain if you let me board!" I shouted as I grabbed hold of the boat's side with my forelegs and was dragged along with the vessel. "I am injured, please." The zebra sighed deeply as she leaned over to grab my jacket and pulled hard. With a lot of effort, I hauled myself onto the deck and undid my water filled bags with magic. I rolled over onto my good side and looked at Zakiya as water ran off my body onto the deck. "You better explain quick." Zakiya grumbled. She walked over to the back of the boat and sat down. Then I watched her move a lever forward as the obnoxious knocking increased and the boat sped up. I nodded slowly as my vision started going black. "First, I need medical attention, fast." Then I passed out as my vision darkened further. *** *** The floor beneath me gently rocked back and forth as if I were on a moving boat. Which was obviously the case because my ears were filled with the steam engine's knocking, and a pony's drunken disgruntled voice. "Stupid piece of shit!" I awoke with a start as their hoof slammed into metal. "I never liked you!" I slowly sat up and found that I was naked save for bandages around my flank, hind leg, and face. As I felt around my face I hit a sore spot and pain stabbed at my muzzle, causing me to wince when I touched where the bullets had grazed. With nothing else to find there, I set my hoof down and looked around the boat. A furious Zakiya kicking the boiler near a gauge that was firmly planted in the red. "What is going on? Where are we?" I asked because a quick check of my surroundings revealed just heavy oppressive mist. "We are still on Oakwood if that is what you are wondering. It's early morning and I haven't slept in three days because this thing needs constant attention." The zebra's hind hooves slammed against the metal as she bucked the boiler again, leaving a dent in it. Oddly enough, the needle started falling from the red. I suspected the reasoning for that change was because the machine did not like being beat on. Though I knew it was a different one altogether. I slowly stretched out my forelegs with a yawn and smiled when I felt the tension in them start to go away as they popped. "Zakiya, I do not-" "Yes I know. I read your diary." "Journal," I corrected her. "Diary," she pulled a bottle of rum out from under her crimson cloak and drank from it. Underneath the cloak was a grey soot stained jumpsuit and both items had many filled pockets. "It is your personal thoughts and actions on a day," she hiccuped, "to day basis. Hence, diary." "It is a journal of events so that I know what is real!" I stomped my hoof down and glared at the drunk zebra. She pointed a hoof at me and hiccuped again as she swayed back and forth. "Then would youse kindly tell me why you done left me on the surface?" I shook my head as I placed a hoof on one of my cheeks. "I cannot answer that. My memories have been tampered with, again." "Then it seems you are a pony's plaything," Zakiya hiccuped. "Somepony, somewhere, is pulling your strings and guiding you along on this path of shit. And I knnnnnow who it is." I set the hoof down and looked at her with my head tilted. She was holding her bottle of rum up in a salute of some kind while looking up at the sky. "The Bottle Gods have marked you to wallow in shit. I salute you, Sexy Mare!" She took a long draw from the bottle, then proceeded to chug it, and promptly fell over on her side before snoring loudly. I let out a deep sigh as I limped over and nudged her. Causing the zebra to roll on her back and snore like an ursa. I rolled my eyes and pushed her onto her side to quiet the beast. Then limped over to the controls and as I sat down, I frowned because I had no idea how to work a boat. There were no instructions on anything or arrows to indicate where to go! But it seemed easy enough; just an adjustment of the long stick attached to the back and the boat turned. A push on the nearby lever and the boat changed speed. After getting a quick feel for the boat I kept us straight along the river. Well it was more like a zigzag due to the rocking from the moving water beneath us and my tendency to over-correct any minor adjustment. I slowly glanced around the random patches of mist as it passed by at a near walking pace. Any attempt to listen for hostiles was drowned out by the steam engine’s mechanical knock, which I suspect it being broken because of the noise. However the alone time away from anypony it gave me time to think. Time to think about the pony I had killed to gain my freedom because with the way the turrets shot at me and the changeling queen's words when I was first captured. I don't think I was meant to survive the assassination. But then again... Eclipse had challenged Sister to a fight and was allowed to walk out. Perhaps the changeling queen had expected me to merely challenge Iron Jaw to a duel. While I would have loved to beat the mule's head in. I was on a strict time schedule and I had already wasted enough of it, so my decision to shoot Iron Jaw was the best course of action in my opinion. However, now that I look back on it. I should have shot him with my rifle from the second floor balcony, but then I would have had a harder escape as everypony would have recovered faster. I wiped a few tears from my face and slowly shook my head. The thick mist wrapped around the boat like a damp blanket and, if it were not for the racket of the engine, I would have thought something was very wrong because of how quiet it was. As it was I already felt that way about everything. I was starting to feel like I was in an alien body which was no longer mine. It felt as if I was inside some other pony's body and I was just along for the ride. This fact caused me to worry if I were stuck in a memory orb and forgot about it or if I was back in the virtual world. Except both of those were pure fallacy. If I were in the virtual world I would not have the metal disks around my body and if it was a memory orb. Well there was nothing I could do but keep going. Except who was I then? A random wastelander that found a trapped memory orb or am I really… this alicorn Shell Shock? I glanced down as Zakiya moved about on the deck in her sleep. She rolled over onto her belly and I noticed a deep blush on her face from something no doubt in her dream. As I looked around again, I sighed and wondered what it her dream was about. Since the zebra was immune to my telepathy I figured she would also be immune to any mind spells or even direct horn contact, so I sat there looking around at the mist. Zakiya eventually rolled onto her side and that was when I looked away. The brief sight of a pony shape in the fog on the southern riverbank caused me to frown. It meant we were being followed by a mysterious pony in the same way Sienna and I were followed by a pony. Or it could have been one of those hell spawn 'Howlers'. I didn't know if they were hostile since my Pipbuck was broken and didn't work. Not like a working Pipbuck mattered much since Sienna had claimed the pony to be friendly. Though I had to wonder if it was Ripper or not. The insane ghoul would be a most welcome sight at this point if only to shed some light on the situation. After a while an idea came to my mind about going ashore and talking to the pony. I gently turned the boat towards the shore at the same time I throttled the engine down to where the knocking ceased altogether. The river’s current helped to push the boat past my destination, but it did not matter to me. The boat beneath me shuddered a little as it slid to a stop onto the sandbar. I glanced at Zakiya to see if she was awake or not, she wasn’t. So I picked my rifle up in my teeth and cast my invisibility spell. I took another slow glance around the fog to make sure I was alone before I hopped out of the boat and crept into the jungle. The strange pony in the mist had to be close by I figured, which lead me to think they might be Ripper since they seemed to follow me all the time. But that line of thought was destroyed when I remembered she rarely left her home except to retrieve stolen items. I stopped at a small clearing near the boat and laid down to wait for the pony behind a bush. The lush jungle was quiet except for Zakiya's snoring and the heat was nearly unbearable when the sun was hardly up. However as I laid there waiting, a faint breeze carried a familiar scent on it. An almost sweet and sickly reek. It took me a second to realize that the wind carried the stench of... death on it. Nearly taking me back to the pony-zebra war, but I pushed such thoughts aside and bit down on the rifle's grip. A pony shape steadily moved in the fog as the sickly stench drew closer. I kept my eyes on the target so that my aim would be true if they proved to be hostile. The shape drew closer and my eyes widened when I saw who it was. Walking along the jungle floor was a pale and dirt covered ex-Unity alicorn that could only be Sister. There was an open gash along her chest along with a pair of puncture holes and I could have sworn I saw her beating heart. Her limp and bloody wing dragged along the jungle floor, leaving a small trail of blood. The crack in her horn slowly leaked blood onto her nose and the ground around her. Half of Sister’s skull was crushed in showing her brain matter and one of her eyes was completely missing, showing only the socket. "Shock?" she called out to me as she looked around, but I knew she was not real nor could she see me. "Where are you? Shock?" Sister stopped and looked right at at me with that one eye that seemed to bore its way to my very core. The rifle started trembling in my grip when she cracked a smile that made her hideous face even more hideous. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you." I scrambled backwards as I finally dropped the rifle from my mouth and levitated it to eye level with magic. "You're dead!" I shouted with as my eyes teared up as my bad one partly soaked the bandage. Despite my magical ability, the rifle trembled in my telekinetic field and I was not sure if I had a clean shot due to the shaking. "I watched you die... I kissed you... And... And I pushed your corpse into an incinerator!" "Shock," Sister held her bloody foreleg out. I pulled the rifle’s trigger with magic and the weapon recoiled as the shot went wild. She jumped back from me with her ears folded back. "I want you to know that it was not your fault. Do you understand? It's not your fault!" "But it is..." I quickly pulled the bolt back with magic and slammed it forward. The weapon made a loud metallic click as it readied a second round. "I should have listened to you and left when we had the chance, but I didn't... If I had just listened... you'd still be alive!" "Then listen to me now!" Sister shouted and stomped a hoof down and caused my ears to go back. I took another step back as her dark blue coat bubbled and sloughed off her muscles as if she were merely shedding it. My good wing attempted to block the now revolting stench coming from her pale grey muscles. "Shock, I understand your reasonings for what you did, you wanted to help ponies and become a better pony yourself. But you can't do that if you start killing ponies at random!" she stomped her hoof down as the meat fell off the bone and, one by one, her feathers fell off. As I took another step away from alicorn skeleton, the bits of its crushed skull fell to the ground and her one remaining eye socket glowed an odd color. I slowly lowered the rifle as my ears drooped because I knew she was right. "I promised I'd be a better pony… And I swore I would be." Sister nodded slowly and her bones clattered into a pile on the ground just before it burst into flames. ***===***===*** "Sexy mare!" Zakiya's voice resonated inside my head as she shouted. "Shell Shock! Wake up!" My eyes snapped open, revealing Zakiya's striped face and orange eyes with a clear night sky behind her. As I slowly regained focus, I noticed that I was breathing rapidly and heavily, but it was slowing down. "Wh-what is g-going on?" I managed to ask after some effort. Zakiya stepped back with pure concern on her face. "You passed out from blood loss and started mumbling things. Then screaming and..." She brought a lantern up to show her bandaged foreleg in its dull glow. "You bit me." I curled up the best I could with my injured leg and shut my eyes, "I'm sorry... I had a nightmare." A warm hoof touched my back, but I still did not open my eyes. "Did you want to talk about it? It is said that getting it off your chest is the best medicine." I attempted to make myself smaller and said nothing. "Daybreak is soon and I would not recommend any fancy tricks for a day or two. Your body needs time to fill itself back up with blood." I sat up and felt like the world was spinning. It grew worse and worse until I quickly turned and grabbed hold of the ship's side as I shut my eyes. My dinner from yesterday exited my stomach. After it was over, I wiped what was left off of my mouth and tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was more vomit. I breathed deeply and kept my eyes shut as a hoof was placed on my back. "You should rest more," Zakiya softly whispered in my ear while rubbing my back with her hoof. "The wound-" her hoof hit one of the metal discs and caused a tingle to run up my spine and into my brain. "What is this...?" "I do not know," I rasped and scooped up some water in a magic bowl to drink some. I let the cool liquid sit in my mouth for a second before I gargled it and spit it out to get rid of the awful taste in my mouth. A second bowl was drunk slowly to soothe burning throat. I let the magical bowl vanish and looked back at Zakiya. "I woke up in a tube of goo with metal discs all over my body." The zebra pulled my jacket up and looked at them with her head tilted. "I do not know what madness drove you to get metal grafted to your body, but if what you say is true… then you must be lucky." "What do you mean?" I tilted my head some. "I have seen a few others with discs like these. They try to hide them, but sometimes they cannot." I slowly set my head down on the side of the boat with a nod. "Where are we? I need to use your boat to sneak onto the Steel Ranger ship out at sea." Zakiya laughed and let my jacket fall over my back, but I did not look at her. "You must be insane if you think they will let us anywhere near it!" "I am not insane," I growled a little under my breath. "Eclipse beat my sister to death in front of me and needs to pay for it. I swore I’d make her pay." Zakiya set her hoof on my back again and sighed deeply. "Shock, we-" "Dog," I corrected her. "Whatever your name is, we cannot sneak close enough. They would see my smoke trail and open fire on the 'zebra pirate ship'.” "Whatever." I shut my eyes and let the boat rock back and forth on the small waves as we traveled along. The mechanical knocking sound of the steam engine slowly turned into a musical beat I once heard. After a while, I opened my eyes and noticed that Zakiya had gone back to shoveling coal into the boiler and that was the source of the extra sounds. As the zebra placed the shovel full of coal into the metal tube, I said. "They made me watch as Eclipse killed my sister and she needs to pay for it!" "What would you have me do?" Zakiya shoveled more coal into the boiler and spread it around some. "Sail up to the boat, knock on the hull, and ask if they will let us kill her? I am just one zebra and you are just one alicorn. They are many in a confined space, a death trap for us." "Find me a radiation hotspot and it will heal my wings along with my other injuries. Then all you have to do is get me close enough and I'll fly there. You do not have to go any further than that." Zakiya set the shovel down and giggled a little bit as she shook her head. "As much as I would like to see you sneak on board a ship like that, I cannot risk my boat for a thief such as you. But if one such as you would care to help me with a problem, then I might do well to give you something in return to help you on your way." "What do I need to do? At this point I will do anything to kill Eclipse." "There is a town on the western coast," Zakiya nodded down river in the general direction of where we were heading. Then the zebra picked up the shovel again and scooped up more coal for the boiler. "Perhaps a two or three days by river. There I was going to get more coal for a trip back up river to deliver supplies. This river is treacherous when we hit the canyon, no thanks to some river pirates. You protect my boat through the canyon, and I will see what I can do for you." "Zakiya... I can barely stand without falling over. How do you expect me to protect you?" "We will not reach the canyon until morning tomorrow. You will have plenty of time to recover and I have toys in that box there." She set the shovel down and pointed a hoof towards the bow where there was a large box with poorly painted on flames. My curiously got the better of me as to what it was and I slowly crawled over to it. As I did so, sharp pain poked at my flank in protest of being moved. I still did not care for it and powered through to the box. When I opened the lid I squee'd in delight. There, sitting at the bottom of the wood box, was a flamethrower and what looked like zebra armor underneath it. The flamethrower tank was painted to match the zebra armor and I noticed that it had a foreleg nozzle like the one Raul had given me. I set the flamethrower next to the box and lifted the zebra armor up along with a gas mask, which was also painted to match. "What is this for?" I asked as I inspected the mask. It was more like a ballistic helmet with a hole in it for a horn, that was covered up. The gas mask portion was rigidly mounted to a pair of dark goggles, but clipped on to the helmet. "Your uniform," Zakiya replied as I slid the helmet on and buttoned the mask. The fit was okay at best and rubbed a little, which was most likely due to my head shape being different than the last owner's head. "You will use the flamethrower to ward off attacks and with your Pipbuck we-" I unbuttoned the mask and looked at Zakiya. "It does not work. Something is scrambling its systems." "Well then." the zebra frowned. She sat down and wiped her stained hooves onto her equally stained jumpsuit. "It appears this run is going to be interesting. My last guard died in the canyon and I was hoping to sneak through." I set the armor and helmet back into the box, then looked at the flamethrower. His dull paint job shined a bit in the morning sun that was trying to peek through the heavy mist. An odd and strange idea occurred to me about weapons. "Did it occur to you to use a twenty millimeter autocannon or a fifty caliber heavy machine gun? A pony held flamethrower is only good for nearly fifty meters and is highly dangerous to its user." "Where would I get that kind of ammo? I could not make it, because I do not have those casings just lying the fuck around. Neither do I have parts for either of those weapons. Such artillery is hard to come by. Only the Steel Rangers have weapons like that." I sat up and slowly ran a hoof through my short mane. "There are two patrol boats lying on the riverbank overgrown by the jungle. They have the floors lined with casings and their machine guns are intact, but heavily worn by time. One of those might be rebuilt into working condition. If a pony of sufficient skill finds them." "Where are they? Even if I cannot fix them, their scrap value would be good." "Give me a few minutes..." A magic field engulfed my bags as I dragged them over and opened them. With much care, I set the 105mm HE shell off to the side and brought out my journal. The brown book reminded me of what Sister looked like before becoming an alicorn and that caused my eyes to water again. I slowly flipped through the entries and eventually came across the right one. "Aha! Here we are. A wide muddy river impossible to cross by hoof, then after I climbed aboard one..." I skimmed the page a bit and read the entry outloud. "Their barding had long ago been reduced to shreds and the deck underneath the vines was littered with dull brass casings of varying calibers. Next to the skeletons lay the rusted remains of a 20mm autocannon, and on the front walls of the boat were twin M-2 .50 cal machine guns likewise rusted." I shut the book and grinned at Zakiya. "I found your Zebra Rifle there, so they must be serviceable." She was sitting on her haunches scratching her chin with a hoof while looking at the flames inside the boiler. Her crimson robe was neatly folded next to her. I observed her and patiently waited for an answer. Finally, she nodded slowly and set her hoof down. "I think I know what river that is. It runs into Oakwood city and connects it to this smaller one. Or this smaller one connects to that one. It is hard to tell." "So we are taking a detour?" I asked with a smile and a few bats of my eyelashes. Zakiya looked at her coal reserve, the boiler, me, then a box of supplies and sighed deeply. "Very well, we shall recover these weapons." I put the book away as Zakiya walked to the back and started making the boat turn around. *** *** I glanced up at the clear night sky as the boat slowly moved along the river. The half-moon was out and I wondered if Sister was up there waiting for me or if she were merely dead and nothing else. It was then that I found myself humming the song I once heard about a pony wanting to paint everything black. The jungle around us was louder than my humming and all I smelled was soot from the boiler that I sat near. It occurred to me then that the way I had spotted Zakiya's boat, her smoke trail, was the same way a pony could follow us in the dense jungle and not be spotted from the river. However, I did not tell the zebra that. She had enough problems it seemed. What they were she would not tell me and I did not press the matter. She would tell me on her own time. I continued to hum the song and watch the starry sky. We were in the middle of a wide open stretch of the river and anyone that wanted to get to us would need to open fire from the banks. My IF-12 was sitting within easy reach for return fire. Something occurred to me about it's ammo. I had thought that Full Metal Jacket rounds were normal ammunition. This fact caused me to stop humming and pull a round out of my bag. As I stared at it, I noticed that it looked like your standard issue military round from afar, but upon closer inspection in the light of the Pipbuck. I saw that the actual bullet was more like a ball, or filled in hollow point, and that it felt ever so slightly heavier than I remembered. I used my magic to eject a round from the IF-12 and caught it. A quick side by side comparison revealed them to be the same. I frowned a little as I re-loaded the bolt action and aimed it out at the bushes. A bright flame and a clap of thunder preceded the IF-12 recoiling in my grip. I attempted to see where my bullet went, but all I saw was a cloud of smoke that drifted away on the wind. Zakiya woke up with a snort and immediately jumped to her hind legs while pulling out her Zebra Rifle. "What is going on?!" she shouted while looking around. "Where are they?" I pulled the bolt back and caught the shell casing in magic as I slammed the bolt forward. "There is no pony. I was testing these," I held the items in magic for her to see. "It turns out I was tricked into buying black powder rounds for the price of jacketed rounds." “Oh,” Zakiya slung her Zebra Rifle across her back again and nodded. “Warn a pony next time you do that. Or, don’t do it at all. It is a waste of ammo.” I rolled my eyes as I magically unloaded the IF-12 and set the rounds into my bag. Then I brought the box out and picked out a random round. This time I aimed up at the sky and squeezed the trigger with magic. The IF-12 recoiled, spitting fire and lots of smoke a second time. I frowned a little bit as I unloaded the weapon and started to strip it down. “This is annoying. The smoke will give away my position and make it hard to send a second shot down range.” Zakiya walked over and looked down at me. “What do you plan to do? Snipe ponies from a bell tower?” As I pulled out the rifle’s barrel I shook my head slowly. “No. Just in general.” Then I realized that I did not have a rifle cleaning kit and could not clean the barrel or anything else. I let out a deep breath at this fact and looked at Zakiya. In the moonlight she appeared to be a pale blue zebra with dark grey stripes. Her muzzle was highlighted by a faint orange glow coming from her eyes like Axe’s, but not as pronounced. Something I did not notice in the early morning light, but it could have been due to the lantern she had at the time. “Do you have a rifle cleaning kit?” I asked with a tilt of my head. Zakiya bowed her head with a nod. “Yes, I would not call myself Zakiya the Armorer if I did not carry a cleaning kit.” I slowly realized something about the zebra in front of me. She was out here on a boat that was constantly moving around the island, but DJ Snow was still broadcasting. I remember that fact because Sienna’s Pipbuck was playing her voice last week or so. “Aren’t you DJ Snow?” I tilted my head a little. “I remember seeing you at the radio station on the Celestia’s Delight.” Zakiya held her rifle cleaning kit out in her hooves, but I noticed a blush on her face. “You see… that is a very funny story!” she half-laughed as I took the kit in magic and set it down. “It involves lots of alcohol and a drunken bet with a drunken DJ Snow.” “Bet?” She nodded. ”The bet was that I could not last one night as a DJ with no breaks like she does and well, you showed up. But you just assumed I was her! So I did not argue. To argue with one such as you would have been very bad as you could probably have killed me with your mind!” “So you are not DJ Snow? Then who are you?” I asked as she slumped to a sitting position on the deck. My magic flipped open the latches of the kit and I opened it. It was a very well kept cleaning kit and looked like just the thing I needed. With a nod, I started cleaning the rifle. “I am Zakiya the Armorer. This I told you many times.” She opened her cloak and pointed at the pockets inside. “I make armor, modify weapons, and rebuild broken items as evidenced by this.” The zebra let the cloak go and pulled out her Zebra Rifle. Its synthetic stock, I noticed in the moonlight, was painted with stripes and the drum magazine was well cared for. “I have rebuilt the rifle you gave me and added this drum magazine. Ninety rounds of pure military grade hollow point ammunition. Perfect for killing unarmored targets. And plants.” “What about ‘Mist Roamers’?” I tilted my head. Zakiya’s ears folded back as she put the weapon away. “They are more trouble and need armor piercing,” she said slowly with a voice filled with shame. The zebra shut her eyes tightly and slowly shook her head. “I lost a friend when I found that out the hard way. She was ripped apart in front of me.” I set the weapon parts down and nodded slowly. “I know how you feel. I saw my sister die in front of me... She was beat to death by… Eclipse.” As I wiped my eye from the tears, I set the cleaning kit down and started to put the weapon back together. “We are similar, you and I, so we need to stick together.” “Similar how?” Zakiya asked with a tilt of her head. “You are an alicorn and I am a zebra. This fact causes me to wonder how we are similar.” “We both lost ponies we cared about and could do nothing to save them.” I bowed my head slightly as I finished putting the weapon back together. It was as clean as it was going to get tonight and I will need to find some other parts to make it better. “Thank you, but we are not the same.” The zebra nodded towards the river. “I believe those are the boats you spoke of.” I looked towards where she had nodded and could not make out the boats. All I saw was a blue-grey jungle and the moon reflecting off the water. “Where?” “Allow me to show you.” Zakiya said as she walked back to the controls and the steam engine’s knocking slowed down. As the riverbank approached, I noted a pair of blobs that held a familiar shape. The riverboat drew closer to the… other riverboats and I waited. We slowly floated closer and the boats grew more distinct. I noted that they were not like Zakyia’s at all. Hers was more like a large wooden dinghy with the other stuff added on, but the boats we were steadily approaching were identical purpose built combat patrol boats. Though it begged the question as to why they had run into each other head on and were sitting on the riverbank instead of at the bottom of the river. The closer we got to them, the more I wondered about them and why they were here. “Why did my Pipbuck call them Dropkick’s End?” I asked out loud, hoping Zakiya had an answer. “Perhaps one was named Dropkick?” Zakiya replied as her boat’s bow hit the beach and rode up on it a bit, then stopped. The mechanical knocking ceased as the zebra adjusted the controls a bit before hopping onto the riverbank. She slowly looked around and nodded. “I see the weapons you describe. Let’s grab them and as much ammo casings as we can.” I hopped off the boat and followed Zakiya with my IF-12 floating at the ready, but stopped when I remembered that it was unloaded. Quickly, I turned around and lifted my saddlebags with magic. As I tightened them down I looked inside one and brought out five rounds, which I loaded into the rifle. Zakiya was already looking at the 20mm autocannon mount and was mumbling to herself. I walked over and hopped onto the deck. Then wished I had a knife. I looked at Zakiya and whined. “Do you have a knife so I can cut these vines?” She lowered her head and came up with a knife in her teeth. Then flicked her head in my direction and let the knife go. I took a few steps back as the blade embedded itself in fiberglass near me. *** *** As the noisy steam engine propelled us back the way we had come, I looked at Zakiya from the boat controls. She was sitting over a pile of parts that were once two 20mm autocannons. The casings we had picked up amounted to almost a hundred 20mm and three hundred .50 calibre casings that were still mostly usable, if a bit rusty. The zebra was cleaning the autocannons as best she could in preparation for mounting them to the boat. “So, how much farther do we have to travel?” I asked as I looked up at the orange misty fog above us that signaled a bright sunrise was coming. Already I could feel the heat starting in on us and began sweating a little. Luckily I wore nothing beyond the bandages. When I received no response from the zebra I shouted, “Zakiya!” She started in surprise and looked over in my direction as a couple parts fell to the ground. “What is it? I am very busy and do not have time for idle chatter.” “How much farther do we have to go before we reach the town?” I asked again and adjusted the boat a little to keep us in the center of the wide river. “Um…” Zakiya pulled a pocket watch from her bags and looked at it for a few seconds. I noted that it was very ornate in design and looked old, yet well taken care of. “Our travel to the boats delayed us by about twelve hours or more, so like another few days until we reach the coast.” She shrugged. “We will hit the canyon tonight unless we stop and take a break.” “Why would you want to take a break?” I asked with a tilt of my head. The zebra stretched and yawned loudly. “Because I have not had much sleep. Unless you wish to take us there while I work on this autocannon before I pass out?” I nodded slowly and started watching the morning fog around us while the boat took us along. There wasn’t much to do but observe what was going on. *** *** Zakyia sat up and yawned while stretching before she curled up, and hugged the autocannon again. The zebra had fallen asleep while working on the weapon. I had no idea what she was doing to it, but it seemed to be giving her many problems. However, that did not bother me because I was not planning on keeping a rusty weapon. What was bothering me was the fact that the boat we were on looked in poor shape, yet it ran perfectly fine. If a bit noisy and needed a kick now and then. I slowly glanced around with my one eye and noted the mist was burning off thanks to the sun, but that just made the heat worse. Zakiya did not know why the island was acting like that and neither did I, but I figured it had to do with the plants that I had let out. Which was bad, because that meant I messed up the island really bad if ponies were fleeing from it. Then again, the constant cloud layer could have meant the island never really got too warm like it was now that the constant clouds were gone. But it could have just been my ramblings thinking that. After a while of adjusting the boat, I glanced down at my flank and pulled the bandage back a little to get a look at it. The missing chunk was still missing, but it was not as big as it was. There was a strange paste plastered around all of it that had dried and flaked off a bit, even some of the paste was on my muzzle. I knew this because I could feel the dried muck underneath the bandages. What it was, I had no idea, but the smell was akin to wet plants. As I let the bandage go I looked around at the mist again because it felt like a pony was watching us just out of vision range. It was unnerving and a tad bit creepy due to that dream I had where Sister was walking through the jungle. However I knew it could not be her due to the fact that Sister was dead and it was just a dream. But a pony does not simply forget such an event as quickly as a day. Sister would also not want me to be a trainwreck of a pony that constantly cried over her loss. She was dead, I watched her die, and there was nothing I could do to change it unless… I could travel in time. Then it hit me like a bag of bricks and a light bulb popped on. I once remembered a story of a unicorn that traveled back in time to warn herself. While the details are fuzzy to me, the fact that a pony traveled through time still exists. This fact caused me to smile despite me not knowing where exactly the book was. But, deep down, I knew there was only one place it could be; Canterlot. Because a spell such as that one could only be locked away in one of Canterlot’s restricted section. I did not expect the trek to be easy, but I remembered the Goddess had sent alicorns there to look for the Black Book. With their help I could get inside the restricted section of the archives and find the book. Except… we never did hear back from them. But still! They were there and that is what matters. But the main question on my mind was how to get there after I killed Eclipse. She was out at sea on a large ship I could steal, yet I could not get to it without help. Help like that would only come from a friend… a friend that I did not have. Nearly everypony I had come across hated me for one reason or another, or they stole my trust. Slowly, my gaze lowered and I locked on the sleeping Zakiya. A zebra mare that had lost a pony she cared about, similar to how I lost a pony I cared about. I would need to find Axe, or Wraith, and Sienna again. Zakiya saw me as a thief, but I think I was starting to regain her trust again. A yawn escaped the zebra as she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes that did not glow. “I see it is almost noon,” she said quietly. “Good, so I’ve slept for a few hours.” “It seems so. What are you doing with that weapon?” I asked quietly incase she had a hangover. Zakiya pulled out a bottle of rum from her cloak and took a long draw, then let out a gasp as she wiped her mouth with her foreleg. “I am making one from two, but both barrels were heat warped. This one,” she pointed at the barrel next to her hind leg. “Is the one with the least warpage and can be cut down, thus preventing the round from hitting the warp and either shattering, or flying off in a random direction.” “Wouldn’t that reduce its accuracy?” I tilted my head some. “Since the barrel is not the same length? They designed it that long for a reason…” “It would decrease the accuracy,” Zakiya nodded. “But I figure if we take the best casings and fill them with blackpowder it wouldn’t matter as they don’t have the same punch. I will start designing a magazine for it instead of the belt it had.” I blinked in confusion and tilted my head the other way. “But… that weapon wasn’t designed for a magazine.” “I know,” Zakiya nodded. “I will have to rebuild the frame and make up a magazine, but we will need to know how big of a bullet to make before we can do any of that. I don’t suppose you know where there is a few intact twenty millimeter rounds, do you?” “No,” I slowly shook my head. “I do not. But… Ripper might. She once claimed to have enough ammo for her saddle and it is a twenty millimeter gatling gun.” “Hm…” Zakiya looked down at her bottled before taking another swig of it. “We should find her then.” “I am also looking for her, but I have a question. Zakiya… are we… friends...?” I tilted my head a little. She looked at me and drank some more from her bottle. “I do not know. You stole my armor and left me on the surface. But I shot you and helped heal you. Perhaps our relationship is acquaintances for now.” I nodded and shut my eyes as I sighed deeply. “That is sufficient for now. We will go to this town you spoke of, do what you need to do, then find a way to get to Eclipse.” "Perhaps you can get help from the Enclave?" Zakiya asked before taking another swig of rum. She set the bottle down and began nibbling on what looked like a block of cheese. "Maybe," I shrugged and adjusted the steering lever a little to keep us centered in the river. "But they are on another island." "And you're on a boat," the zebra tapped the deck with a hoof, then nibbled on the cheese again. "But they might not recognize me. I look different," I pointed a hoof at the bandage around my eye and muzzle. Zakiya pushed all of the weapon parts away and stood up, stretching her hind legs out one at a time. "You are the only green alicorn on Oakwood. There is no mistaking who you are." I lifted my Pipbuck leg and looked at my forest green coat for a while. "I... was not born like this... I was once a pony like you, but a crystal unicorn. My coat sparkled in the light and I had a coltfriend. I was old enough to be a grandmother when I joined Unity." "Were you?" the zebra tilted her head some. I shook my head, causing Zakiya to tilt her head the other way. "Hm..." The boat bounced a little on the waves and threw us slightly off course, but I easily fixed it. "I tried for many years to have a foal, but none of my efforts proved fruitful." I sighed deeply and shut my eyes as I took in the thick humid air. "Sometimes I wonder if I should not have accepted the offer to become an alicorn." "Why did you?" Zakiya sat down and scratched her ear with a hind hoof, which I thought was oddly amusing. "I did not want to die of radiation poisoning, because I had been sick for many years from it. Unity gave me the option to get out of it as it were. But..." "You might have become a ghoul." "Eh..." I shook my head. "That seems worse than death. You're trapped in a rotted body that does not die and you run the risk of going feral." "When you put it like that, I see your point." I looked out at the fog as it finally lifted and reveal a lush jungle around us. "Being a mindless drone for nearly two hundred years was probably worse than being a ghoul. I would have still been myself for however long. I remember doing things in Unity and not wanting to do them, but I had to. I could not say no without being punished. Zakiya, I..." I looked at her with ny ears back. "I'm sorry for the way we ponies treated zebras during the war." She looked over at me and tilted her head. "Why should you be sorry? That was so long ago it does not matter anymore." "But it does to me... I can recall everything I did except for a large gap. We ponies were not nice to you zebra. You're ponies too, just... striped." "Are you saying you were there during the war?" I nodded slowly, "yes, I was. I can tell you a little about it to pass the time." "Hm..." Zakiya sat down and scratched her chin, then shook her head slowly. “I have a feeling that you might make me angry with the stories.” I slowly looked out over the side of the boat. “How about one that does not involve the zebra-pony war? One that was… before it for me…” “I thought you did not remember before?” Zakiya tilted her head some. “At least, this is what you have told me.” “I don’t remember a lot of it, but this memory could only come from just after I lost my memories.” “Why’s that?” she tilted her head the other way. “What makes your so certain?” “Because it was when I was told who I was and that I had ‘been in a horrible accident’.” “What do you mean?” As I adjusted the direction of the boat, I shrugged a little. “That was what I was told. I could tell you, but you might think it was boring.” “But you have me intrigued. Please, tell it.” “Fine,” I sighed before taking a deep breath and nodding. ***===***===*** I awoke slowly to the noisy beep of a heart rate monitor and the feeling that I was being observed by somepony or ponies. My eyes fluttered open, revealing me to be inside a small medical room with grey walls and the blinds were open, which was letting in the bright sunlight. “She’s awake!” a pony exclaimed in a soft voice that made me smile. Movement near my head drew my attention towards a pony wearing a nurse uniform that I had never seen before. But it was the direction of the voice, so I assumed it was her. “Good, maybe she can tell us what happened,” another female voice said from behind me. Her voice sounded a tad bit too impatient for my tastes. The nurse spread a set of wings and hovered over before landing with a nod. “Yes, Lilium, do-” “Lilium?” I tilted my head as I tried to sit up as slow as I could. The pegasus quickly placed a hoof on me to stabilize my wobbling before it began. “Oh Lilium you shouldn’t move so quickly.” I rolled my eyes and slowly shook my head. “I don’t know why you keep calling me that. It’s not my name!” “What is your name?” the nurse asked as she hovered backwards and landed again. “Do you remember what happened?” She tilted her head some and I noticed a pair of saddlebags on her side. I looked down at the my four crystal hooves on the bed as I attempted to recall anything, but fell short of doing so. It was all a blur or completely blank. “I…” My ears slowly folded back. “I can’t recall it…” Slowly, I brought my hooves up to cover my ears as I shut my eyes. “I know I should know my name, but I just… argh! Why is it blank?!” The nurse set a hoof on my back as the other pony quietly said. “Lilium, there was an accident. Some ponies were killed and yet, you survived. But..." "I don't know what happened..." My ears drooped to the side of my face as I set my hooves down. "Do... do you recognize these ponies?" The nurse asked as she started setting some pictures down on the bed in front of me. I picked one up in magic and tilted my head. There was a unicorn mare holding hooves with a handsome crystal stallion outside of a fancy restaurant. They looked happy and in love. As I shook my head I set the picture down. "No, sorry." The nurse pushed another picture over and looked into my eyes. "They're your parents." “Huh?” I picked up the other picture in my magic and tilted my head. It showed a tan crystal unicorn filly and the two other ponies who were now slightly older. The filly, I recognized to be me, was sitting on the stallion's back with a white hat on her head. "Dad..." I set my hoof on the picture and tilted my head the other way. "Where are they?" "In a waiting room. I'll bring them in," the second voice said as I looked over at her and did not catch much of a glimpse beyond an orange colored tail. The nurse set their hoof on my side and drew my attention to her. "Lilium, you took a big bump to your head." I slowly felt the side of my head with a hoof and winced in pain. The nurse nodded. "Anything you can tell us would be helpful." "Um..." I looked down at the pictures again and sifted through them. Then stopped and tapped one that showed a light blue unicorn next to me. "I recognize this pony. No name but he seems familiar." "That is Ink Well," she nodded. "Your friend according to your parents." "Ink Well..." My eyes narrowed in thought as I looked at the picture of the two of us. Yet, I still drew a blank on our relationship or even my parents names. There was a massive memory gap that needed to be filled." The door noisily opening again drew my attention to it as the mare returned with my parents. My unicorn mother rushed over to hug me tightly. Her grip nearly cut off my breathing and it felt like she was trying to break my ribs. "Mom!" I returned the hug as I gasped for air. She nuzzled the good side of my face and I returned the nuzzle with one of my own. "What is going on?" Mother kissed me on the cheek and let go of the hug. I sighed in relief as the pain went away and took a few deep breaths. "You... were involved in a sky wagon crash a few months ago." her ears folded back slowly as her eyes watered. "And... And you were in a coma. They said... that you might never wake up." "Sky wagon?" I tilted my head a little as I tried to remember. Mother and Father nodded as the light blue unicorn Ink Well walked in. However, I ignored him and concentrated on trying to remember what happened. Eventually I nodded slowly. "Yes... I... I remember now..." I shut my eyes and continued quietly. "I was on my way to work when the thing making the sky wagon fly exploded. There... was nothing we could do but hold on to something and hope the pegasus set us down." "I'm afraid the result wasn't as simple. The wagon hit a building on the way down and killed the pegasus pulling it. You were thrown onto the rooftop and hit your head pretty hard. You were lucky." Ink Well walked over and hugged me tightly, but not as tight as my mother did. I hugged the stallion back and shut my eyes. ***===***===*** As I finished telling the memory to Zakiya, I cleared a few tears from my eyes. "And that is the earliest memory I have." "Hm..." she sat down in thought. "It seems suspicious to me. That you only remembered these events after they told you them." I shrugged as I adjusted the boat's direction again. "The doctors called it amnesia caused by a traumatic event. But why would it take everything up to that point and not the crash? This is what has caused me to think my memories were erased and the crash was a made up story." "Do you think your parents and that stallion Ink Well were made up as well?" I glared a little at Zakiya. "That is not funny. They helped me recover." "It was not meant to be a joke. Just an observation," she picked up the weapon parts and started trying to put them back together. "What was your employment?" "Huh?" I scratched my ear and tilted my head. "What was that?" "Your employment. You said you were on your way to work when the sky wagon crashed, so what did you do for caps?" I placed a hoof to my chest and sat up proudly, "I was a front-line cook for a four star restaurant." Shell Shock: 50% to next level. Author's Note Here's my gift for Hearth's Warming Eve. :) Chapter 15: River RatsChapter 15: River Rats. “Some day you’ll look back and wonder why you turned left instead of right.” Zakiya blinked in confusion as she tilted her head. "What's that mean? You ran food out to the ponies who were fighting?" I shook my head as I giggled a little bit. "No, it means I did a lot of cooking in the restaurant." "Oh," the zebra nodded slowly. "Well perhaps you can do the cooking around here sometime." "Maybe," I shrugged as I adjusted the boat to keep it in the center of the river where it was deepest. "Perhaps not. I do not intend to stick around for very long. Only until I help you get to this next town." I nodded slowly as if to reassure myself that I was correct in my words. Zakiya stretched while looking around. "Nice to see the mist is leaving us. Hopefully it will take the Mist Roamers with it." "I would have called them Howlers, because of the sound they make." Underneath the bandages, my muzzle and flank began itching due to that muck on them, so I started rubbing my muzzle with a hoof. "Stop," the zebra said loudly. I did so and looked at her in confusion. My head tilted at an odd angle so I could see her with my one good eye. "You will reopen the wounds if you keep that up." "But Zakiya, it itches, the goop is all icky and dried!" I whined like a foal as my ears folded back. "What is this stuff anyway?" "Kelp," she replied with a nod. “Well, ground up kelp, some diluted plant venom and a few nice words make a nice healing paste. While not as effective as a healing potion or bandage. It is enough to heal you over time so you don’t die from blood loss, but you will need real treatment soon.” “No wonder it smells bad.” I muttered quietly. Zakiya rolled her orange eyes. Then stood up as her ears swiveled back and slowly looked in that direction. “Great…” “What?” I leaned over to look around Zakiya and the boiler, and frowned. Floating on the river ahead of us was a flat looking boat with twin pipes at the top breathing fire and smoke. The main portion of the boat looked like a large house painted a dingy white color with tall wood structures like gun turrets. On its sides were strange bulges that kicked up water. But, on the front, was a single large gun pointed directly at us with a few ponies behind it. "Slow us down and move to the right," Zakiya said quietly. “What?” I sat back in my original position and stared at Zakiya in clear confusion. She looked at me and glared with her orange eyes while pointing her hoof to the right. “Do it! If not, they might open fire.” My magic adjusted the controls as the zebra’s boat slowed down a little bit and moved far to the right side of the river. I watched as the large ship drew ever closer and saw that it even had guns on its side. “They might have twenty millimeter rounds,” I said as I grinned. “We can flag them…” However, I noticed the large round paddle wheels were already slowing down as if they had heard me. “...down and… ask them…?” Zakiya looked over at me and nodded. “When two boats meet, they must slow to a stop and signal their intentions.” “That sounds ludicrous. Whoever made that up must have wanted an easy target,” I said as a dull mournful note rang out from the boat. It steadily increased in pitch as a cloud of steam rose in the air from a small point on the boat. My ears swiveled forward as it increased to an almost ear piercing volume and sharply cut off. “Huh?” A loud, but shrill and high pitched, wail caused me to look over at Zakiya holding a lever down. The boat we were on was making the noise from a whistle I assumed. Zakiya let the lever go, then pulled on it three more times in rapid succession. The large steam boat across the river wailed three times in response. “What is going on?” I asked Zakyia with my head tilted as the faint ringing in my ears died down. She grinned at me. “You wanted a trade, I signaled we wished to trade.” After what felt like an eternity, small boat slowly made its way across the river towards us. I stared at the large steam boat with the large guns and wondered if it ship was the Celestia’s Delight or not, but Zakiya spoke of the Delight as an airship. So I disregarded that idea. “What kind of ship is that?” I asked Zakiya. “A dinghy like mine, but smaller,” she replied. I facehoofed. “Not that one. The big one.” “Oh,” she scratched her chin as the small boat drew ever closer. “I believe that is the Mare of War. A strange vessel crewed by strange ponies.” "Strange how?" "They use fire and robots to take down their foes. I got my flamethrower from them in exchange for modifying some of their armor." As the small craft came nearer, I saw there was a pony wearing a dark green duster with ornately painted metal plates over the coat. In all, the armor looked almost as bulky as a Steel Ranger suit of power armor, but the pony was wearing a top hat that was equally decorated. There were a pair of nozzles around her forelegs which appeared to look like the end of a flamethrower. "Shit," Zakiya hissed, "that one creeps me out." "Why?" I tilted my head a bit as the boat grew ever closer. "Because she's nice. Almost too nice." I was going to reply, but the mare on the other boat levitated her hat off her head and bowed. "Ahoy fine travellers! It has come to my attention that you seek trade," she stood up as she placed the top hat back on her head. That was when I noticed that she was a pale green-blue color. "I am sure we might be able to accommodate your needs in one way or another, so how about you two fine mares?" she smiled the last bit of it. Something about her made me wonder why they picked her and not another pony. I glanced at Zakiya, who nodded at me, so I looked at the strange mare again and tossed a rusty 20mm casing across the gap. The armored mare caught it in a pinkish magic field and floated it close to inspect it. "We need at least fifty rounds in that caliber." "Hm..." the mare turned the casing over a couple of times. "Something that fires this must be big. Big enough to hunt down vehicles with, but why only fifty?" She glanced at me as she put the casing into a pocket. "You don't want two hundred or some obscene number like a thousand so you can run around murdering innocent vehicles?" "Fifty would be nice," Zakiya added before I could open my mouth, "but we really were hoping for three at the most." "Right," the armored mare adjusted her hat and smirked. "Let’s get down to business: What do you have to offer?" "Um..." I gulped as I slowly looked over at my bags. There was really nothing in there that I would want to trade and I doubted Zakiya wanted to give anything up. Then I looked at the mare. "We have information?" "What kind?" she tilted her head some. I opened my mouth to say something, but Zakiya spoke first. "I can fix something for you." The armored mare scratched her chin for a moment before nodding. "One of our boilers isn't working quite right and you can take a look at it. In return, we will give you five twenty millimeter rounds and let you go on your way." I let out a breath and smiled. "Thank you." "Right," the mare motioned for her boat to go and it began moving. "Well follow us then. And no tricks!" *** *** I looked at the ship as Zakiya's boat brushed against it. The vessel was large, but not so massive as the Steel Ranger ship or the Crescent Moon. The ship next to us looked like it might even be capable of crossing the ocean if the captain was crazy enough. And that caused me to smile. A pony tossed some rope down to Zakiya and the zebra quickly started tying it to her boat. I looked up at the deck again with my ears back as my smile slowly faded. Some ponies were pointing flamethrowers and what looked like hoofmade rifles at me. "No sudden moves, understand?" one asked loudly. I nodded in response which seemed to satisfy them, because they smiled a bit. "Be a nice alicorn and you'll keep-" "Trigger!" the armored mare snapped, drawing the attention of the earth pony. "That's no way to treat a guest under the protection of a trade agreement." "Yes, ma'am," Trigger nodded as he tipped his hat. That was when I noticed that all of the ponies on the ship, that I could see, wore matching clothes of varying quality. The three ponies above me all wore dark green dusters and top hats with rank insignias on them. It was as if I stumbled upon the Steel Rangers. If the Rangers chose to get rid of their power armor. The armored mare walked into my view as the three ponies quickly backed away like they were scared shitless of her. She looked down at me with a glowing horn. I tensed up in preparation to attack, but looked at her in confusion when a rope ladder was tossed down. "Thanks, but I think I'll fly," I smiled. She shrugged and took a few steps away. I shut Zakiya's boat off like she showed me to, picked up my gear in magic and hopped onto the deck with a powerful flap of my wings. My hooves hit the deck with a hollow thump as the mare said, "looked more like a jump to me." "I fall with style," I bowed my head slightly, noticing that Zakiya was already on the ship and being escorted off somewhere. I looked at the mare and smiled a bit. "I would like to speak with the captain." She looked me up and down for a moment before tilting her head some. I wondered what she was thinking about and who the ponies were, but I would not find either by just staring at her. I would have needed to use my telepathy to know what she was thinking, but chose not to out of respect for the two flamethrower nozzles on her forelegs. "Why do you need to see the captain? He's very busy." Regardless of how nice she had been, her tone put me off and made me feel a bit annoyed. "Because I need to ask him something important to me. Is that so hard to comprehend?" "Not at all." The mare smiled as she turned around and began walking the deck. "Follow me." I stole a glance the way Zakiya had gone and made sure nothing was amiss before following after the armored mare. *** *** The armored mare opened a wooden door and stepped inside the central superstructure. As I followed in, I wondered where they had found time to acquire the lush red carpet that looked in pristine condition. Even the dark wood walls of the interior were rich in color, and the lights appeared to be working perfectly. It was as if I stepped back in time to before the war. "How did..." I mumbled to myself as I followed along and looked at the ceiling that showed no sign of wear or dirt. "This is... beautiful." "Yes," the mare looked over her shoulder and smiled. "It's a lot of work keeping this old girl fit, but we manage." We walked by white wooden doors that appeared to be new as well. It made me wonder if they even had a problem with their boilers, or were being nice and made something up to separate us before they robbed us. There were many questions floating in my mind about the boat, the ponies, Eclipse, and most of all. What keeps drawing so many ponies to the island. The mare turned a corner and the hallway appeared to go on forever, but I knew it was just an illusion and the hallway was much shorter than infinity. I followed her up a set of stairs until we came to a doorway marked 'Crew Quarters'. The mare stepped into the hallway that was less plush and continued walking. I noticed the lack of ponies around the ship and had only seen very few, so I asked, "why do I not see anypony?" "A precaution against an invader. Until you prove you're not hostile, we are staying away from everypony." she stopped at a door and knocked hard enough with an armored hoof that I thought the door was going to break, but it did not. "But I'm not invading. All I want is to trade and talk." "Well the Captain's time is money, so speak plainly and quickly," she said as she knocked again. And waited a few more moments. Moments that dragged out and I could have sworn my heart was going to beat its way out of my chest. "Something wrong?" I asked quietly with a tilt of my head. "No." The mare frowned and knocked a third time, but hard enough that the door cracked a little. "Captain Spice!" she shouted at the door. "There is a pony here to speak with you!" She received no response and that caused my ears to slowly fold back. "I don't believe this shit," she hissed as she tried the door handle with magic and found it unlocked. "Huh? He keeps that locked when he's out..." Slowly, the mare opened the door and stuck her head inside. "Captain?" I walked over as the mare went inside. She made a motion with a hoof to indicate I should wait, so I planted my rump on the floor and waited. With the door open I could see a large room decorated in a way that could rival a pre-war mansion, which made me wonder where they found everything. Or if I somehow stepped back in time. "Captain?!" the mare shouted as she walked a large circle around the room. A door off to the side was flung open and a stallion with a cigar in his mouth walked out, glaring at her. "A stallion can't take a shit without being yelled at?!" he shouted back at her. "Oh," the mare gulped, "um..." She pointed a hoof at me. "This alicorn wishes to speak with you." "Then come in and shut the door," he motioned at me with his hoof. I glanced down the hallway and made sure I was alone before following his instructions. The captain walked over to a wooden desk and sat down in what appeared to be a a large leather chair. Slowly, I walked over to the desk and bowed my head to the side a bit, noticing that the mare's flamethrower nozzles were lit as if she thought I would attack. "Captain," I began quietly with my mouth so as to not piss them off. "I wish to hire passage on your ship." "Where to and why?" he set his cigar in an ash tray and leaned back, opening a drawer. After a few moments of digging, he pulled a roll of paper out and unrolled it. Revealing it to be a desk sized map of the island chain which appeared to be recently drawn by hoof. The name Oakwood Ruins was drawn on the largest island near a river delta. He even had Bunkerville not far from one of the smaller rivers to the northeast of the main city. There were a few other cities I didn't bother to pay attention to. On another island called Cedar Isle, to the northwest of Oakwood Island, was town named Moonville, which I assumed was the Crescent Moon since I had heard it called that once before. I glanced at the names on the map and my ears slowly folded back. "There is no place named Steel Ranger Base." The mare giggled and the stallion shot a glare at her, which cut her giggle off. He held the glare for a moment and then nodded slowly. "No, there is no location called that. The Steel Rangers are here," he set his hoof down on Deadwood Cove, which was a horseshoe shaped island southwest of Oakwood Island. "Their ship ran aground in the fog and got stuck." "Did it fall over?" "Leaning to the side some, but not falling over," he shook his head. "We did encounter a ship similar to it on the north side of Cedar Isle. Near impossible to get to by hoof and sea." he pointed a hoof at the northern portion of the island with 'Cant Pass' written on it. "Why is it impossible to get to by hoof and boat?" "The rocks for one, too many and too close together. Makes getting close by a boat like ours impossible. Another reason is the sheer cliff face. You'd have to be able to fly or walk on walls. Even then, we lost a gryphon to an automated turret. Poor fellow was shot down before he got close." I frowned a bit. Half of me wondered if it was the ship Bucky had found and my other half didn't care. Still, I had found out that Eclipse was still nearby and that caused me to grin. Since sneaking close to their base would be a lot easier when it didn't move. "I have a question," the armored mare began, drawing my attention to her. She was pointing a forehoof at my left leg with a small frown. "Why do you rely on such... antiquated technology?" "Huh?" I blinked in confusion as I tilted my head. "A Pipbuck is the pinnacle of pony technology along with laser weapons, power armor and... and... Stealthbucks." "If it's the pinnacle of pony technology, then why are we in a wasteland?" she tilted her head in the same direction as mine to match my gaze. "Hm? Answer me that." "Um..." my ears slowly drooped to the side of my face. The mare was right. I had always assumed that power armor and energy weapons were the best thing pre-war ponies had made. And yet... we blew ourselves up and left future generations with the ashes. The ship captain rolled his eyes. "Let the alicorn be. If she wants a Pipbuck, she can have a Pipbuck. She doesn't have to follow our rules." I smiled at the stallion and nodded my thanks, but then my smile slowly faded when I realized something. "But, my Pipbuck is broken.. Only the light works on it." "Hah!" the mare laughed. I did not look at her, but the stallion glared in her direction. "Why don't you take it off then?" I held my foreleg up to eye level so I could stare at the device. After a while of thinking about it, I smiled at the armored pony. "Because I like the flashlight function and it is a good weapon in hoof-to-hoof combat." "Good weapon?" the ship captain tilted his head. To demonstrate my point, I tapped my hoof against the metal casing, causing the screen to flicker some. "Whatever this is made out of, is so strong you can almost block a bullet with it." "It's still dead weight," the mare grumbled. The ship captain cleared his throat and shot a glare at the armored mare. Most likely to shut her up, which worked. After a few seconds of silence from all of us, the captain nodded at me. "My earlier question still stands. Where do you want to go?" I quickly pointed my hoof at Deadwood Cove and grinned, "I need to go here. There is a pony I have to visit with the Steel Rangers." "Nnnope," the captain shook his head. "Closest we can get you is Blue Water Marina." He set a hoof down on the southern portion of Oakwood Island. Below his hoof was a crude drawing of a dock and 'Blue Water Marina' below it. "I'm sure you can find your own way to your death from there." I pressed my forehooves together and bowed my head. "Thank you, and may The Goddess give you fair winds and following seas." "Except," the captain placed the cigar into his mouth and bit down on the end. "We haven't decided on what you can offer for passage." he managed to mumble coherently around the cigar. "Captain, if I may speak?" The mare asked. The captain nodded his head in her direction, so she continued. "This alicorn and her zebra companion have already struck up a bargain for five twenty millimeter ammunition in exchange for repairing our boilers." "Hm..." the stallion leaned back and scratched his chin some as an odd silence fell upon the room. I tilted my head wondering what he was thinking about. Slowly, I smiled a little. "I do have some information about Bunkerville. A mule named Iron Jaw was recently killed there by a assassin hired by the changelings." I could feel the mare roll her eyes. The ship captain shook his head. "While his death is interesting, a lot of ponies knew about the bounty on his head. Yet, none were insane enough to carry it out." "Well," my smile grew a little. "I know the assassin used a Stealthbuck to get close and blow his brains out." "I'm guessing you're the assassin," the captain said, causing my ears to slowly droop as my smile faded. "But! I don't care about that. What I do care about is what you have to offer in exchange for me taking you to Blue Water Marina." I pressed my hooves together again and stared at them for a long while. The room became silent again when no pony spoke. I thought about the rifle, 105mn HE shell, but then... my gaze lingered on my scratched up Pipbuck underneath the sock. Slowly, I looked at the stallion and smiled. "How about I trade you my Pipbuck?" "I thought you said it was broken?" the mare asked from my left. "It is," I nodded. "But it is the only thing I think you will accept." "Well you got one thing wrong," the ship captain said before taking a puff of his cigar. He blew the smoke off to the side and smiled. "There are always other methods." "Like what?" I tilted my head. "Well, you could join us for a while, or do some... other odd jobs. But the Pipbuck is a fine trade," he nodded. Then looked at the mare. "Take her to see the Wizard and have her remove the Pipbuck." "Yes, Captain!" the mare said with an annoying vigor and a salute. I stood up and looked over at the mare as she set the hoof down. "Follow me." She walked towards the door, but I lingered for a moment to look at the map. Oddly enough, the three islands formed a sort of triangle that looked pretty big. There was even a few question marks dotted around the ocean. Though I did not know their reasoning, perhaps they were shipwrecks? Or long lost islands? However, the captain glared a bit at me before rolling the map up. I smiled, bowing my head some. "It is an intriguing map you have." "Shoo," he waved a hoof towards the door. "We'll take you to Blue Water Marina after you've talked with Wizard." With a deep sigh, I followed the armored mare. *** *** I followed along behind the armored mare through the notso plush hallways, but eventually grew bored of the silence. My gaze wandered down from the back of her head to her flanks and I found myself... staring at the rear armor she wore underneath the trench coat. I had no idea why she wore part over the coat and the other part under it, but It'd be something to ask. The mare flicked her tail at something, causing me to blush a bit from the slight unintended view and look away. "So, this ship is nice," I said in an attempt to distract myself. "Are you Steel Rangers?" The mare laughed some and shook her head. "Steel Rangers? Hardly. You know of the Canterlot Guard? The ones with the spears, fancy metal armor who sat around the castle a lot?" "Sort of," I absently nodded. “I have seen their advertisements out in the wastes.” I did not want to reveal my age to these ponies for fear of them holding a grudge against pre-war ghouls. "Well they are rumoured to be our ancestors. After the war, a small few were on leave and stranded on this boat. Many years later, we roam the seas looking for a place to start anew. Most places are dead and lifeless, yet this island chain is not. Odd, right?" "I suppose," I shrugged some. "The island inhabitants were trying to figure out a way to grow food anywhere, and it appears they succeeded. This island is quite green while still being dangerous." "How do you know what they were planning?" I stopped, gulping slowly, and then smiled at the mare. "I found their data on it." "Really?" her eyes slowly widened. "Is it on the Pipbuck?!" "No," I shook my head. As I looked down at the device, I frowned. "That one was taken from me. This Pipbuck was found as a trap." "We should find it! That data could help save everyone!" "It won't..." my ears slowly drooped. "There are things that you don't understand, horrible monsters which were created by that data." "Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "You're probably lying anyway." I looked up as she opened a door and stepped inside. Immediately, I could hear soft piano music and smell strange things, like burning shit. As I followed the mare inside, I tilted my head some at the strange scene. Along the walls were various masks, helmets, and... skulls. In the center was a strange table and other odd things. Off to one side of the room, a tall dark purple, almost black, pony in a blood stained lab coat was bobbing her head to the music. She appeared to have goggles on her face and a mask that obscured her features. But her horn was evident. "Wizard!" the armored mare snapped, drawing the mare's attention to us. Her eyes widened upon seeing me and that is when I noticed the purple eyes and mane along with the wings at her side. "No! No! No!" she shouted as she scrambled away from whatever it was she was working on. The almost black purple alicorn slammed into a table and knocked it over, spilling its contents. "Get that freak away from me!" She stumbled and fell behind the table in a cry of shock. A bright purple flash followed quickly before I could react. Something about her felt familiar, even the voice. As if... Almost as if she were an alicorn I remembered. But it would have been silly. "I take it you two know each other?" the armored mare looked at me. I shrugged in response. "What am I saying? You're both alicorns from this island," my eyes widened in shock, "so of course you know each other!" "What?!" I shouted and walked towards where the mare had gone, but she was not there. Suddenly, a pony screaming drew my attention to my blind spot and my eye widened in fright. The nearly black alicorn was galloping towards me with a cleaver floating high and ready to strike. I dove to the side, landing in a roll and, as I quickly stood up, brought out the IF-12 with magic. However, the purple had vanished again, causing me to hiss. "RJ?! Is that you?" I shouted as I scanned around to my left, then quickly to my right. All I saw was the armored mare with a smirk on her face. "RJ! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know and..." my ears folded back. "And... I would nev-" "Diiiie!" she screamed from my blind side. I quickly turned in that direction and brought the rifle around, but her magic grabbed it. I felt it tug, so I let it go and dove over the nearest counter, landing in a roll. "Now I have a rifle, hah!" RJ shouted as I stood up on my hind legs and adopted a defensive stance. My horn brushed the ceiling. "I don't want to fight you. I just-" The rifle clicked empty when she pulled the trigger, causing me to blink in surprise. RJ glanced at the rifle and tore her concentration from the knife. "What?" she asked herself as she pulled the bolt back and looked inside. "There's no bullets?!" My magic quickly tore the cleaver away from her and tossed it to the side. Slowly, the armored mare began clapping her hooves together, drawing our attention to her. "Bravo!" she giggled. "Now that this little fight is over, can we get down to business?" "No!" RJ snapped, tossing me the rifle. I caught it with magic and dropped to all four hooves. "Tell that freak I'm not talking to her!" the purple pointed a hoof at me. I rolled my eyes. The armored mare walked over to RJ and they began whispering to each other. I tilted my head and tried to listen in, but could not hear anything beyond Pipbuck. If I used telepathy, then RJ would feel me and probably snap again, But, after a while, the purple alicorn nodded with a smirk. "Fine, I'll help her take the Pipbuck off," she said as her horn glowed. "But I don't have any Pipbuck tools." That fact caused my head tilt to increase as I blinked in confusion. "Then how are you going to help?" RJ giggled a little bit as she slowly walked over. I noticed the cleaver was floating back to her. "It's simple, really. We kill you." "Huh?" I gulped and started backing towards the door, but heard it slam shut. "This wasn't part of the deal!" "Moron," RJ mumbled with a roll of her eyes. "The Pipbuck will only think you're dead, and so it will release its hold on your leg." I bumped into the wall and kept trying to back up. RJ looked at the armored mare. The unicorn tilted her head some, her smirk had yet to vanish, and motioned at the table. "Sit, please, and we'll take the Pipbuck off." "How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?" I asked, tilting my head to the side some. "I know RJ wants to kill me." The armored mare looked at RJ. The nearly black purple looked at the unicorn and shrugged. "Well, she is pretty nuts. You should have seen what she did to this one pony." The armored mare rolled her eyes. "Regardless of what she's done to you. She has a deal with us and you will not attack her, understand?" RJ nodded slowly. She glanced down at the cleaver and sighed deeply, setting it on the table. Slowly, I took a step forward. "What is your name?" "Mine?" the mare asked. I nodded. "Pepper, and that's Miss Pepper to you, Wizard," she glared at RJ. With a faint smile, I sat down at the table and placed my Pipbuck leg on it. RJ looked the device over and her face was right near mine. I noticed that her horn appeared as dull as Sister's did and her coat. Was a rich and deep purple that would probably shine softly in the light if it were washed. As it was, the nearly black alicorn was a dingy and dull purple. Her mane was a much lighter shade and almost resembled a light violet hue. "I think I can get this off," RJ lifted her head up and glanced at Pepper. Then me. "But, since I don't have any Pipbuck tools on me..." my ears folded back. "I'm gonna have to cut your leg off." "I'm sorry," I blinked in confusion as my head tilted almost ninety degrees. "What was that? I don't think I heard you correctly." RJ grabbed the cleaver in magic and held it up. "It's simple; we cut your leg off and the Pipbuck will think you died." My eyes widened in shock and I quickly pulled the leg away, cradling it like a foal. "No! Absolutely not!" I shook my head a few times. "That's... that's absurd!" "Do you have some attachment to this archaic device?" Pepper tilted her head as she lifted an armored hoof. "I can assure you, you will be better without it." My eyes narrowed at the mare as an attempted to kill her with an imaginary eye laser. "I have an attachment to my leg!” “We’ll put it back on,” Pepper nodded at RJ. “Zebra magic is fun like that.” The purple alicorn floated out a book labeled ‘Five ways Zebra magic can help you survive’. It looked new and recently printed, but it still did not change the point. “But one time,” RJ’s ears folded back as she looked at the book, “a pony’s leg was put on backwards… except that was the first time I tried it!” “Poor guy had to have it cut off twice…” Pepper mumbled. My eyes widened in shock. “What?! Let me see that stupid book!” I snatched it away from RJ and flipped it open with my own magic. It detailed how to make a healing potion, how to make some kind of a sticky paste stuff to attach limbs again, and two other things I didn’t bother paying attention to because I tossed the book back at RJ. “How are you a ‘wizard’ if your knowledge comes from a book about zebra magic, which is more or less alchemy?” RJ frowned, turning the book over to look at the cover. She stared at it for a while and I could swear I heard gears turning inside her head. Pepper walked over to a jar of something glowing gold and I knew what it might be. She levitated the jar in her magic. "Do you know what this is?" "Alcohol?" I tilted my head. Slowly, Pepper grinned at me and nodded. "Indeed. Celestia's Ray is what we call it. I take it you have tasted it in some other location?" I nodded slowly. "It, along with our other drink, Luna's Light, brings us a hefty portion of caps from each town we visit. Where there are thirsty ponies, we provide." "I fail to see what this has to do with RJ." "Simple really. Brew making is natural for her. Whereas for us, it's harder. Her drinks are better, more flavorful, and profits have nearly doubled since we brought her on board. Hence, she is out Drink Wizard." "You're the Rum Runners I've heard about," I mumbled. "Yes, we are." She grinned. RJ set the book down and sighed, floating over a vial with some green liquid in it. "Look, I don't have any Pipbuck tools on me. This is a proven method, even if I don't like to do it." "What about if you go to Bunkerville and trade-" Pepper facehoofed again. "Nopony will give up Pipbuck tools if they have them. Not even for all the caps ever produced." "I could steal them for you," I replied with a nod, smiling a bit. Pepper shook her head, causing my ears to go back. "Why not?" "Tracker," RJ said quietly. "A ghoul that seems insane, but can track anypony across the island." Pepper nodded at RJ's words. "You cross Queen Cog, and Bunkerville sends Tracker after you. No pony has ever escaped that ghoul." Even though it sounded like a ghoul with a Pipbuck, I gulped and tried to smile, but frowned. "What do we do then?" RJ draped a cloth over the table and began sharpening the cleaver. Pepper set a jar of Celestia's Ray down on the table, followed by a belt from a saddle and a bonesaw. The unicorn opened the jar and took a sip from it. I smiled a little bit at the mare and took the drink, giving it a sniff. To me, there was a very strong alcohol smell, and yet... there was a faint smell like sweet oranges. Slowly, I took a sip and the orange flavor overpowered my tongue to the point where I could not taste the alcohol. Yet I felt the drink burn all the way down into my stomach and sit there warming it up. "That is quite good!" I giggled, causing RJ to grin. "You can hardly taste the alcohol." "There's a surprise inside," the dark purple alicorn nodded. "What kind?" I tilted my head as I lifted the jar up to look at the bottom. There was a pair of orange slices resting on the glass. "Aha! So you drink all of it, and then eat the oranges." "Yep." I took another sip of the nice orange flavored alcohol and smiled a bit as I slowly started feeling the effects. "What's in Luna's Light? That stuff was bitter and strong last time I had it." "It's much stronger alcohol and flammable. As for what's inside it. There's nothing." "Oh," I nodded slowly and took another sip. "You know... you should put some apricots in another batch of this stuff. And... strawberries, or cherries, in Luna's Light." "Hm..." RJ tapped her chin in thought as I took a third sip. It did not take a rocket scientist, or wizard, to figure out what they wanted; me drunk and numb to pain. I obliged their wishes by taking another, much longer, sip. *** *** Using her magic, RJ slowly pulled my hoof sock off and set it in my bags off to the side, which held my jacket and other gear. The socks were still on as they were the last item before the Pipbuck. Other than that, I was naked. Pepper stood off to my left smiling for some odd reason. I, on the other hoof, was starting on my 2nd jar and had an orange slice in my mouth. "Shock," said RJ with a sigh. "Haven't you had enough of that stuff? Most ponies would be passed out by now!" "Nope!" I replied with my mind as I grinned, holding the orange slice with my teeth. RJ facehoofed and shook her head. "Miss Pepper, I don't... I can't go through with this in her current state." "Why not?" Pepper asked as I pulled the orange slice in and began chewing. "You said you wanted payback. Now's your chance!" I hiccuped a bit and my cheeks felt like they were sweating. "What's wrong with what we agreed on?" "See?" RJ pointed a hoof at me. "She can't even talk straight!" "You need to open your ears," I hiccuped again. "She wasn't supposed to get shitfaced," RJ groaned, slamming her hoof on the table. "Only enough to dull the pain. It’s not funny anymore." "Maybe she'll pass out and we can cut her leg off then?" Pepper shrugged. I set my leg on the table and nodded at RJ, "let's do this." RJ grabbed the cleaver in magic and levitated a leather wrapped wooden dowel into my mouth. I bit down on it as the purple levitated the cleaver up. "I ever tell you our sister, Sister, died?" I asked with my mind. RJ tilted her head some with an eyebrow raised. "What was that?" "Mudpie... died..." I looked down at the Pipbuck as my ears slowly dropped to the side of my face, but then I took a long draw of the Celestia's Ray, but due to the dowel... a lot spilled out. As I set it down, my eyes watered a bit. "Eclipse... killed her right in front of me. Made me watch as they beat her to death. I... I was powerless to stop them, but I tried to. But..." I slowly looked up into RJ's eyes. She had her ears back and appeared completely confused or scared. "I swore I'd kill that bitch, to make her pay, for what she did to Mudpie. That... is why I am doing this." RJ blinked a couple of times, and then brought the cleaver down. Shell Shock: 75% to the next level. FFS, kill something or do some quests to level up! Chapter 16: Thunderstorms don't always need clouds or rainChapter 16: Thunderstorms don't always need clouds or rain "When you’ve lived as long as I have, why bother caring anymore?" The cleaver slammed into the table with a hollow thunk, causing me to tilt my head in confusion. RJ used her magic to pull open a nearby drawer and rummaged through it while mumbling, "I can't do this. She's too drunk to even think clearly, let alone understand we were just fucking with her." Pepper sighed deeply, looking at the cleaver half buried in the wood. "Well I thought it was funny." "I don't understand..." I hiccuped, tasting bile in my mouth. Slowly, I looked at the cleaver and wondered why she hadn't chopped into my leg yet. RJ turned her head to look at the drawer and I frowned some. "Where’s that tool at?!" she hissed. "Well," Pepper began with a shrug. "How often do we even come across Stable ponies?" "Not often I’d imagine," RJ grunted. "Check the left drawer. The one marked Stable-Tech manuals." I gripped the meat cleaver in my green magic and, with some effort, pulled it out. The pony reflecting back at me was a slightly red faced green alicorn with half her faced bandaged. She looked alien to me, and a hideous creature. Not a beautiful princess of love. 'Perhaps you're not meant to ever find love,' a voice whispered in the back of my mind, causing me to blink in confusion. ’You're hideous now. The Goddess would reject you for your looks! You’re an outcast, a reject of the Goddess! She despised you. You were the worst and dumbest mistake she ever made!' I hissed at the voice and reflection. They were both wrong. The Goddess loved all of her children and would help me find my way back to perfection. She, the mare in the reflection, was an old and wise pony. "Done!" RJ exclaimed excitedly, drawing my attention down to my leg. The matted fur felt odd and the scars had a slight green fuzz indicating the fur was regrowing. RJ set the Pipbuck down and hooked something up to it. This caused my eyes to slowly narrow in anger. "You," I hissed a bit drunkenly. "You were going to cut my," I hiccuped. "My leg off when you had tools?!" Slowly, my glare rose up and locked on RJ's frightened face, causing her ears to droop. "Shock, just listen-" "No!" I flipped the cleaver around, brandishing it towards the two purple alicorns that had appeared. "What kind of sick pony are you?!" "It was a joke, okay?!" RJ shouted. "A cruel joke. We were never going to actually cut your leg off!" "Liar! You're... you're a traitor to the Goddess! She would-" I hiccuped again, but instead of tasting bile, I felt an odd feeling rise up in my throat that caused me to gag. RJ's eyes widened as she scrambled back into some empty jars. As I dropped the cleaver from my magic, I tried covering my mouth with my hooves as the gagging feeling grew even worse. That prevented none of the alcohol and fruit from coming back up as I heaved it all out onto the table. I was about to say something, but more liquid vomit came out, causing my throat to turn raw and my stomach to flare in pain. "Shock, just breathe, okay?" RJ said quietly as my eye shut. And as I followed her instructions, I found myself drifting off to sleep as my body began to fall sideways. *** *** My eye snapped open and quickly shut as a thousand needles stabbed at the eye socket. Instead of torturing myself further with daylight, I decided to lay there and let my brain explode through the left side of my skull, or try to anyway. The headache was bad, bad enough that I felt as if it reminded me of that time with Bucky. Then again, a quick check of my surroundings with a forehoof revealed that I was thankfully alone. My bed gently rocked as a rhythmic pounding beat at my ears, nearly matching my heart beat and the throbbing headache. As I laid there, I tried to think back to the day before to figure out what had happened. I remembered arriving on the Rum Runner ship and bartering a deal; my Pipbuck for passage to Blur Water Marina. Then I remembered having to get my foreleg cut off to remove the Pipbuck, yet... The appendage did not feel like it was needing to be healed. Nor did I feel the telltale signs that there was a scar, which would be a faint pain under the skin. Everything after I started drinking was one big blur to me. With a deep sigh of frustration, I braced myself and slowly opened my eye, revealing me to be staring up at the ceiling. I slowly brought my left foreleg into view and stared at it. There was no mark where the leg had been removed, which I found odd. The temperature in the room was oddly cool and that caused me to smile a little. I tried to distract myself with thoughts of that orange alicorn stallion. He was just as strange as everything else I had encountered, but he seemed... fake. I could not contact him like I could the other alicorns. His face, from what I remembered, was handsome and he had a nearly perfect flank. He would have made a very fine husband, if he were real. I hissed at the ceiling out of annoyance for the fake world. However... I just stared up at it and tried to think of what to do. But, after a long while, a rusty creak nearby told me a door was being opened by somepony. My eyes widened as I nearly leapt out of bed in shock. I quickly pulled the sheet over me and looked at the door. In darted a strange ice blue stallion. He slammed the door shut without saying anything and darted toward an adjacent door. Curiosity got the better of me, causing me to just observe him. When he flung the other door open, he frowned. Inside of the door was a small closet that held a set of bags, a familiar jacket, and a rifle; my equipment. The icy stallion's pause allowed me to take a look at both him and the room. Bright wood ran the length of the floor with a plush, red carpet covering the area around my bed. Standard steel grey walls were adorned with ornately framed pictures of the ship in various ports. The stallion on the other hoof, was a simple and hardy earth pony wearing a dark green duster. His icy blue coat was a stark contrast with his pink mane and eyes. My one eyed gaze wandered down to his covered flank and I wondered what his cutie mark was. But before I could even open my mouth, there was a loud knock on the door that felt like a pony was hammering against my skull. "Trigger! Are you in there?" a mare shouted in a voice like needles, each syllable attempting to stab at the back of my eye socket. "Please don't shout," I whined painfully as even my own voice hurt my head and made it throb more. "Miss Shock, are you alone?" she opened the door without waiting for a response. The unicorn stuck her head in and slowly looked around, sniffing quietly. "Hm..." "My name... is Dog," I corrected her with some effort. "I like Shock better. It sounds..." she grinned. "Shocking." I rolled my eyes and regretted it instantly as I happened to glance at the window where the sun was. Pain exploded inside of my eye, causing me to shut it and clutch my head. "What happened? Did you cut my leg off?" I whispered with my mouth. "You do not remember?" I thought of shaking my head, but decided against it. "No,” I sighed quietly. “It is fuzzy and strange." "Well, after you drank for the three of us, we removed the Pipbuck and you passed out. Really, a pony should not drink that much moonshine in one sitting like you did. We weren't sure if you were going to live or not for the first day." "First... day? How long was I out?" I slowly opened my eye again. Thankfully I happened to not be looking at the window. "Three days," Pepper said, causing my ears to droop. "Day one consisted of you just laying there and day two, your zebra friend had an idea with radiation. How you seen Trigger? He's a pale blue stallion with a shotgun for a cutie mark." "No, I have not," I replied with a faint smile. "But if I see him, I shall inform you immediately." "Alright thanks anyway. There's an eye patch on the table next to you." Slowly, Pepper left the room and closed the door. I got out of the bed as best I could without causing my hangover to kill me. And slowly, but surely, made my way across the wood floor to the door. That was when I noticed the lack of pain in my hind leg and the fact that there were no bandages on my muzzle. My right half of my vision was a complete blur of grey-white. Pressing my ear against the door produced a strange reaction. The rhythmic thumping of the steam engine grew even louder to where it felt like I was being sledgehammered in the head, causing me to pull away from the door and hiss in annoyance. Instead of trying it again and hurting myself more, I felt out with my telepathy. Pepper was standing on the other side of the door, but it felt like she was starting to move away. I stood there, contemplating why I had helped the pony named Trigger when he wanted to shoot at me. Then again... lots of ponies want to shoot me, so it was no big deal to be threatened or even shot at. After an agonizing amount of time, and when I was sure Pepper was really gone and not faking it. I took a deep breath and walked away from the door as I let the spell drop. Slowly, I made my way to the table and pulled the eyepatch on with magic. Which caused the right side of my vision to go completely black, but it was better than seeing a complete blur that made it hard to focus. "You can come out now," I said with my mind to the pony hiding in the closet. "She is long gone and I will not hurt you." A few long moments went by, long enough that I thought the pony and the mare were a figment of my imagination. Even longer moments crept by, causing my ear to twitch towards the window as strange sounds filtered in like ponies outside moving around. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way over to the closet. My ear gently pressed against it in an effort to hear anything to indicate a pony was there, yet I heard nothing. However, the handle of the closet door slowly started moving with a faint squeak. I winced, pulling my head away from the door and stepping back. The door was slowly pushed open by an icy blue hoof. My horn glowed a soft green as I grabbed the handle and yanked on it, nearly tearing the door of its hinges. In a cry of surprise, the now wide eyed stallion began to fall forward. But, because I had let the door go from my magic, it bounced at the edge of its travel and slammed into the stallion's nose. *** *** A bloody nosed Trigger sat on the messy bed with a steadily melting ice pack on his face. I was sitting on the floor with my black socks on and a small mirror floating nearby. Trigger pulled the ice pack off his face and looked at himself from various angles. It was then that I noticed, despite the dried blood I had caused, he did not look that bad. Trigger, for the lack of a better word, was cute to me despite him not having claws. He belonged to a race of ponies that were hardy and resilient in the face of hell. If you could not do magic, then the wasteland was cruel and yet earth ponies appeared more numerous than unicorns and definitely more numerous than pegasi. "You broke my nose," Trigger drawled out with an odd tone due to his current situation. "I fixed it though," I replied in his mind with a smile. He frowned some, turning his head to the side. "I don't know... One side looks different." "Shall I adjust it?" my head tilted. "I'll be gentle this time." "No!" his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "It's fine. I don't think I can go through havin' my nose broken and adjusted again." "Trigger," I began quietly in his head. "You have not told me why you are hiding from your boss. I could be in trouble for helping you." The icy stallion looked down, sighing deeply as his ears drooped to the side of his face. "Promise you won't tell anypony?" I nodded slowly and said nothing. The thought that he could have killed a pony crossed my mind, but... in the wasteland. No pony is innocent and everyone is a killer. Even the young. It was a sad but true fact. "I don't want to do this anymore," Trigger muttered quietly, but I heard it from his mind as well. The sad tone of his voice told me that he really did mean it. "I want off this ship, and I don't want to take anymore orders from Miss Pepper." "Hm..." I scratched my chin in thought with a clipped wing. Something deep down, possibly my old training, was screaming at me to berate this pony for dereliction of duty. However, I ignored it because I had long ago given up that life. Instead I listened to a side of me that was better and less strict. "Trigger," I grinned. "I have a plan." "What?" he tilted his head. I placed a hoof to my chest and nodded with a proud expression. "Simple, you climb on my back. I'll carry you to Zakiya's boat and cover you with blankets before coming back here. She then sails away with you onboard and you'll never have to come back here again." "How will you get past the guards? They'll see me and that'll be that." "Ah," I held my leg up a bit as I shut my eyes and turned my nose up some. "Fortunately, Shock can turn invisible. It's a simple and brilliant plan by The Great and Powerful Shell Shock!" My eyes went wide and I slowly brought a hoof to my mouth at what I had said, because it sounded like something The Goddess might say. "Uh... okay...?" Trigger tilted his head. "Tell me you don't always talk like that." I just sat there blinking in complete shock and at a complete loss for words. There was no reasoning for why I had said that beyond having heard it countless times. "I'm going to guess by your reaction, that you don't. Okay, look. Miss Shell Shock, we should do this now before your zebra friend leaves." With an audible gulp, I slowly nodded. "Yes, we should," I replied in his mind. "However I would like payment for helping you." "Does it look like I have anything to trade?" the icy blue earth pony replied with a wave of his hoof. "All I have is this jacket and a blade." A faint smile crept across my face that turned into a smirk when I remembered the captain's words. "There is always something to trade, and a mare has needs. Needs that a stallion could help with." Slowly, it dawned on him and his expression changed from neutral to complete wide eyed shock in an instant. "Oh no!" Trigger roared as he scrambled back. "I won't fuck you just like that!" "You could use your hoof?" I half-shrugged and wondered if Raul felt the way I felt when talking with this pony. It felt... strange and awkward to even bring the subject up with a random pony, but he did bring it on himself. "I..." his eyes darted around the room. "I... Uh, I like m-stallions," Trigger grinned a grin that looked forced. Even I could see the sweat forming on his face and knew he was lying. But, I sighed with a nod and let my ears slowly droop. "I am sorry to push it on you, but you must put yourself in my position: You're pleasuring yourself and a stallion barges into the room. What do you do?" "Uh..." he blushed deeply, which made him look even cuter to me. "I... Uh, um... I..." he looked away, gulping. "I a-ask if he w-wants to... to join...?" "Yes," I bowed my head some. "But if you will not help with that, then I ask what can you offer?" "Advice; don't let them make you stay longer than you need to. If they ask if you want to join, say no. Do what you came to do and get out." "Why?" I tilted my head. "They seemed nice and this ship is obviously well cared for." "They say you can leave whenever you want, but you can't because you need to pay them back before you can. Everything they give you has a price you have to work off, even food, and you'll never work it off. In short, they're nice slavers that turn mean when you try to leave." With a quiet hum, I scratched my chin again with my clipped wing. If the information was accurate, then it would come in handy and save me. But I had no way to tell if it was beyond the stallion's words. So, I stuck my hoof out with a nod and a grin. "That is adequate." *** *** An invisible outline slowly made its way through the ship as silently as it could. My hoofsocks did an okay job of muffling my hooves, but I still did not move when a pony was nearby. Trigger stayed silent like I had told him to and there were no... accidental odd feelings on my back. As I looked around the deck outside the area with the rooms, I made sure there were no ponies nearby that would see the door move. After a few moments of searching I found none, so I gently shut the door and locked it. Another glance showed the ship was moving along the river in a heavily forested area. The jungle canopy nearly reached to the center of the river and I wondered how wide it was. "That was scary," Trigger finally whispered. "I thought for sure Fabric saw us." "Why is she called Fabric?" I replied with a quiet whisper as I began walking towards where I remembered where Zakiya's boat should be. "Because she makes our jackets and all of the cloth items you've seen on the ship." "So ponies here are named after their jobs on the ship?" I asked. "Only the 'workers' are," he mumbled as we passed by a gun turret that was thankfully empty. I stopped walking and slowly backed up. As I looked at the weapon, I felt Trigger's forelegs wrap around my neck. He, obviously, could not see me staring intently at the M-2 .50 caliber heavy machinegun behind a thin sheet of armor. It appeared well taken care of, which was not surprising. But, sadly, there was no ammo. I glanced up and down the deck, my gaze lingering on one of the paddle wheels as it slowly propelled the ship along the river. "How many are on this ship?" "Ponies?" I rolled my eyes at his remark. "No, diamond dogs. Of course ponies!" "Um... about two hundred ponies and twenty gryphons." With a sigh of frustration, I resumed walking aft towards where I thought Zakiya's boat was. The zebra's boat was indeed still attached to the ship by two very long and thick ropes that stretched out some distance. Zakiya herself was not aboard and its boiler appeared to be quiet. Regardless of what I thought about it, I had promised to help Trigger and I would see it through to the end. Slowly, I took quite a few steps back and lined up with the boat. "What are you doing?" Trigger asked quietly. "This," I replied as I broke into a gallop, my hooves slamming into the wood deck and alerting anypony nearby. As I closed in on the railing, I spread my wings and gave them a few hard flaps, propelling the both of us into the air. I smiled at sailing through the air like I was flying, but my eyes widened in shock when I began falling over the boat. We were coming in at too shallow of an angle and overshot it, slamming into the water with a loud splash. As quickly as I could, I kicked my way to the surface. A visible Trigger was already there thrashing about like panicked foal. His hooves flailed about, slamming into the water and spraying it everywhere. I let my invisibility spell drop so he could see me, and the icy blue stallion immediately wrapped my neck in a hug that began cutting off my windpipe. As my vision slowly started darkening, I tried to stay afloat by paddling. "Trigger... I... can't breathe!" I gasped. His grip immediately loosened but he stayed there hugging my neck, and it took me a few moments to realize something; he could not swim. It was the only thing that made sense for why he acted like that. Slowly, my one-eyed gaze went down river where the two boats were steadily steaming towards a bend. The river's current gently pushed us along after the boats, but there was no way I could swim fast enough to catch them. And there was no way I could fly. But the ponies there would surely put two and two together, and come to the correct conclusion. I only wondered what was going to happen to Zakiya once it was found out that I had helped Trigger. With nothing else to be done, I swam to the edge of the river. *** *** The dense and steaming hot jungle seemed to stretch on forever as I walked alongside of Trigger, with my now loaded IF-12 just to the right of my vision. That way I could quickly aim down it and fire if need be. On my left was a foot long blade. Trigger settled with using my 10mm pistol, Sister, as he had no other weapon. Our progress was slow no thanks to the lush green jungle all around us with thick brush, nor did the oppressive and sticky heat help any. Sweat practically poured down my face, causing me to wonder how in The Goddess's name did I go so long with my original mane? It was huge and dragged along the ground if I did not have any radiation flowing within me. Not to mention it felt only a little cooler with all of it gone. Regardless of my feelings about the heat and my old mane, I pressed on and so did Trigger. Sadly, the icy blue pony could not use a pistol and blade, so that left me to hack at the bushes with his blade. As I brought the weapon down on a large leaf, slicing it half way through, I frowned. "Trigger, this blade is dull," I said with my mind." "I sharen ih dis 'ornin'," he managed to mumble around the pistol's trigger. But I heard what he said in his mind, "I sharpened it this morning." With a roll of my eye, I pulled the blade out and hacked at the leaf again, cutting it all the way. "Then why am I failing to cut these, hm? If you sharpened it this morning, I should be cutting through these much easier." "But I did!" he whined in his mind, I ignored his nasty slobbery speak. "I sharpened it after breakfast." "It's dull!" I hissed, bringing the blunt weapon down on a branch. It snapped partly, so I used my magic and broke it off. "How much farther to town?" "Uh, about... five miles?" And ahead of us laid thick brush with no path, forcing us to make our own. "That'll take all day." With an annoyed grunt, I pressed forward. Hacking and slashing at the bushes with a magically assisted blade. My ears swiveled left and right as I listened for anything out of the ordinary, but all of the noise I was making made it hard to hear. A pony or zebra could be only a few feet behind or to our sides and we'd never know it. I dared not look up for fear of seeing a sniper in the trees that was not there. As I was pushing the latest broken leaf aside, I noticed movement out of the top of my vision. And before I knew it. An eight legged freak the size of my face filled my entire view. In a split second, I jumped back as my wings flared up, screaming, "Goddess, that thing is huge!" both the rifle and and blade fell to the floor as my magic field exploded with a pop. The eight legged freak landed on the ground and began scurrying towards a tree. Trigger galloped over and stomped the demon spawn with a hoof. I, however, chose to be a dignified mare and kept screaming my head off as I pranced in place. "Kill it! kill it! Burn the fucking thing to make sure it's dead!" Trigger stomped on the demon spawn again and twisted his hoof before pulling it along the ground. "It's dead! Will you shut up?!" he shouted. I gulped, quickly dragging my dropped items back with magic. As I lifted the IF-12 off the undergrowth, a shaky hoof brushed off the invisible spiderweb from the weapon. "That... That thing. It was as big as my face!" "Was not," Trigger walked back over with a smirk. "You're afraid of spiders?" "Am not." I lifted the blade up and wiped it off, then turned to my right and began to carve a new path. "It startled me was all." I shuddered a bit because I could just feel its web on my face. Like... like a strand of my mane, but not. It was there and sticky, but couldn’t be removed even after I waved my hoof! "You know the town is in the other direction, right?" asked Trigger with a hint of annoyance or arrogance. I nodded as I brought the blade down on a plant. "So why are we going this way?" As it was snapped and dropped, I glanced up before moving forward. "There might be treasure this way. We'll circle around and come back to this path." "You're afraid of spiders." "Am not," I huffed, fluffing up my feathers. "Are too," he nudged my flank, causing me to start in surprise. "Admit it." "I am not afraid of spiders!" I hissed inside his mind. "If... If you don't shut up," I turned around and aimed the IF-12 at his head as I dropped the safety, "I'll shoot you!" He gulped and nodded slowly. *** *** The sun was slowly setting and set the sky ablaze in various hues that centered on red. Making the path ahead of us annoying to see due to the canopy that cast dark shadows everywhere. Despite the time of day, it was still annoyingly hot and sticky, causing Sister's jacket to stick to my body. Trigger was following a faint path through the jungle that was more like a single hoof track than a path. And neither of us had said anything since the last rest stop. My one eyed gaze steadily wandered down to his flank and tail. Like Pepper, Trigger wore what looked like barding underneath, except his appeared to be made of a cloth with thick pads as armor, not plate. His tail was cropped short, yet still managed to cover his stallionhood. As he flicked the tail in the direction of a fly, I smiled a little bit and waited for him to do it again. "You're staring," Trigger said, causing my cheeks to burn in a deep blush as I quickly looked at a passing tree. "No-yes." I sighed deeply. "Sorry. It's just..." I looked over at him and noticed that he was looking back at me while walking slow. "I want a foal." "A foal huh?" he mumbled around his pistol, but I heard it clearly from his mind. Trigger stumbled on a tree limb and quickly picked himself up, returning his attention to walking. "It's something simple, but not so simple. I had one once, but she vanished and I'm going to look for her again." "How are you going to do that?" I slowly glanced around the dark jungle and sighed. "She's on this island. A small brown ghoul filly with red eyes, but isn't feral." Trigger stopped, slowly looking back at me. "I've heard about a ghoul like that." "Well, it would be helpful for me to know what has become of her. I worry for her safety." "I only heard rumours because I was mostly on the ship, but... they aren't good. They say she and-aah fuck!" Trigger cried out in pain, dropping the pistol from his mouth, at the same time a rifle report shattered the jungle's relative silence. Without wasting a breath, I aimed in the direction the shot had come from and ducked behind a thin looking tree that would not protect from much. Trigger was rolling around in pain on the ground as a second shot slammed into his chest, causing him to scream. Despite my gaze being in the direction of the shooting, I could not see the muzzle flash or the pony. My magic began dragging the squirming earth pony towards me by his hoof. Splinters flew at my face as a third shot tore a chunk of wood from the tree next to my glowing horn. I turned my head slightly and covered my face with a hoof. Never letting up on the magical pull until Trigger was next to me. "It's burning my skin!" he moaned in pain through the clenched teeth and rolled onto his back. There were two holes in his jacket and chest plate, yet the padded portion held two smoking bullets. They were quickly tossed to the side, causing him to gasp in relief. "Thanks," Trigger panted as he removed a metal plate with two dents in it from his chest. "Luckily they hit my armor and not my face." The icy blue stallion glanced ahead and bobbed his head around. After a few moments of looking like a bird, he shook his head. "Can't see anything, can you?" I ever so slowly slowly looked around the tree with half my face and waited. The jungle was eerily quiet. No animals made any noise, and neither could I hear any wind blowing through the trees. The only noise I could hear over my own thundering heartbeat sounded like very faint surf pounding against rocks. The dark jungle ahead was static. No movement could be seen coming from our wayward shooter. So I sat there motionless for a very long time and still could not spot them. "What are you doing?" Trigger barely whispered above his own breath. "Watch my back, okay?" I asked with my mind as I hoofed the IF-12 to him along with my saddlebags. After I slowly took my jacket off, I folded it up and placed it inside the bags that I also gave to him. "I'm going to get my gun back." "What?!" his eyes went wide in shock. I crouched really low and took one agonizingly slow step after the other towards the faintly glinting gun. And yet, the hostile did not fire for some odd reason, which I was hoped was because they could not see me. The pistol was not that far away and I had it in my mouth in no time. As I turned my head to the right to glance in that direction. Something slammed into the pistol and tore it from my not-so tight grip in a shower of sparks. I quickly glanced around as the pistol bounced off the nearby tree, hitting me in the side. A second, louder, shot rang out from behind me, followed by a white cloud of smoke. The bullet struck a tree ahead of me at the same time I heard the mechanical bolt being run through the motions. Yet, I saw nothing that indicated there were ponies. For all I knew they could have been zebras with stealth cloaks or something like that. It took me a few more moments to realize that they were not shooting directly at me, but at Trigger. This fact caused me to glance at the icy blue stallion and see that he was covering me like I instructed. I had no illusions that he would not hesitate to turn that rifle on me if a favorable situation presented itself. With a quiet sigh and the faintest of nods, I looked forward again. That was when I saw it, a structure built into a tree almost sixty yards ahead. It was camouflaged in such a way that it would be nearly impossible to detect in the daytime, but somepony had neglected to tell the builders that trees did not have large viewing slits cut into them. "Bunker, fifty to sixty yards ahead," I whispered inside Trigger's mind. "What are you going to do?" he whispered back. "I don't have a grenade or rocket hidden up my ass." I laid there contemplating on what to do. There were a few options; I could have yelled at them, used my mind to trick them, or a combo of both. However, I elected to observe them and see if my quarry was a good shot or not, which would tell me if I needed the shield. "You're surrounded!" Trigger shouted from behind a tree, choosing my choice for me. "We got five ponies over here and more flanking you! Give up now!" I wanted to facehoof, but I chose not to incase they had a scope trained on my skull. There was silence for a long while. Long enough that I thought they had gone. But eventually a shot landed near the tree Trigger was using for cover. "Bullshit!" a mare shouted from ahead of me. "Why don't you and your pinned unicorn friend give up? We'll treat you nice and easy." "That you, Topper?" Trigger shouted, still hiding behind the tree. "I thought we were friends?!" "Friends don't level towns!" another pony shouted, confirming my thought that there were two. "Your boss is trying to level Blue Water!" "What?!" Trigger shouted in pure shock. "You're lying! They would nev-" "Trigger," I whispered with my mouth, interrupting him. "In my bags should be a very large shell. Slide it out, don't roll it." "Liar! You're their scout ain't'cha?" Topper yelled. "Here to sneak into the town and steal stuff!" “What’s a seashell going to do?” Trigger asked, causing me to facehoof. “It’s a big bullet, you can’t miss it!” I hissed in his mind. After a few moments of quiet digging, the 105mm HE shell was slid out onto the path. I grabbed it with my magic and dragged it over as another shot landed near my hooves, throwing dirt into my face. "No fancy tricks, unicorn!" the second pony shouted. "No magic and you'll stay alive." Their threat caused me to roll my eye. I continued to quickly drag the shell over until it was near my head. Then I brought the broken 10mm pistol over and placed it against the side of the warhead. "Alright," I yelled with my mouth loud enough for them to hear. "I've got a Balefire Egg and I'll blow us all up if you don't lay your weapons down and come on out!" "That's not a Balefire Egg!" the second pony shouted. "That's just a tube with a cap on it." "You know the Rum Runners have a pair of Egg Launchers," Trigger shouted. "So do as she says!" As the jungle darkened further from the setting sun, my ears swiveled around and heard... whispering nearby as the pounding in my head grew. Faint, almost imperceptible and incoherent whispering that I heard many times before. "Last warning." I shouted, ignoring the voices. "Put your weapons down and come on out!" "You're not suicidal," the second pony shouted. "If you do that, you'll die too!" I frowned at their ability to see through my ruse and wondered of they had better scopes than I had initially thought. Even though Trigger had tried to convince them as well. With a deep sigh, I set my pistol down along with the 105mm shell. Slowly, I began to stand up to my full height as I shouted. "Alright! You win. It's just a round tube and a cap. But I'm warning you, put the weapons down and come on out!" "Or else what?" the pony named Topper shouted. I rolled my eye and stood on my hind legs, holding a hoof high as I spread my glorious clipped wings. Before they could even begin to comprehend the beautiful alicorn before them, I quickly cast my shield and surrounded myself in the jade green bubble. "Or you will be doomed!" I telepathically boomed in their minds. “The Goddess does not take kindly to-” But suddenly, there was a bright flash from their hidey hole as a large weapon shattered the air like a clap of thunder. To my horror, and complete shock, I felt the large bullet penetrate my shield and smash through one of my feathers on the left wing. My eye went to the size of a pie plate as my jaw dropped in complete shock. "Fuck, fuck, load it faster!" the second pony said in my mind, having left the telepathy open. "Trigger," I nearly shouted in his mind as I lowered my horn and began charging them with the shield up. "Give me covering fire on that bunker. I'm going in!" *** ** Death. It comes for us all one way or the other, even the princesses and The Goddess found that death is the thing that makes all ponies and equal, even the 'evil' zebra. We all die. But... something deep down inside me told me to spare Topper and her accomplice. Well, that and Trigger screaming in my ear to put the knife down and not cut the skin from their bones. Topper and her pal were bound together half a mile or so behind us. The rope was easy to get out of if you knew what you were doing, but I doubted that they could get out of it in a reasonable time frame. As for what made me think of death? The stench of it; that sweet, repugnant, smell every wastelander knows but ignores. It, along with a charcoal smell of burning wood and something I couldn't place, drifted inland on the stiff ocean breeze. Through my new scope, I watched a set of lights slowly sail on the ocean. The full moon and clear night sky would have been serene had it not been for the thick smoke clouds that steadily rose skyward from below us. "They...?" Trigger whispered to himself as he collapsed. "The town... A whole town?!" I slowly lowered the massive scoped pipe rifle from my vision and looked down at him. Genuine tears were in his eyes at the sight of the burning town below. With nothing else to do, I brought the rifle up to my eye and slowly scanned the area while listening for anything other than the ocean or Trigger's sobbing, which I tried to block out. As I slowly panned the scope with my magic, I spotted quite a few craters mixed in with the burning rubble indicating they used large shipboard guns to assault the town. Dark pony shapes darted this way and that as they frantically galloped around the town in an effort to combat the blaze. There was nothing I could do for them other than watch. But... as I scanned the town again, I spotted ponies dragging the corpses of a few Rum Runner ponies, their jackets made them obvious. "Trigger, what was the purpose of the visit to this town?" "To trade!" he sobbed. "It's all we do on the route... Trade alcohol and ammo for caps, and supplies. We... go on a route around the island every month. This wasn't supposed to happen." "Trigger!" I snapped, looking down at him. "I suggest you take that jacket off right now." He was staring at the cuff of his jacket that covered his forelegs. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered over and over. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Ghost of the Jungle.(Rank I) You can now sneak around slightly better as long as no pony hears your hoofsteps or sees you moving quickly. +5 to stealth when your coat color matches the shrubbery. Just don’t do magic, the glow gives you away. Chapter 17: WavesChapter 17: Waves "When you feel the hunger mounting, sometimes you can’t help but listen to it.” "Trigger!" I shouted again at the stallion, yet received no response from Mister Mumble. He kept staring at the cuff of his jacket and mumbling to himself. So I flipped the rifle around in magic and swung it, cleanly connecting the stock to his cheek in a loud slap. As I put the weapon across my back, Trigger slowly looked at me in shock, his eyes wide as he brought a forehoof to his face where a red mark was starting to form. "You slapped me," he whispered as his eyes began to narrow. "You slapped me with a gun?!" "You were cryin' like a whiny colt who had his bottle taken away!" I hissed inside his mind. Then nodded at the burning town and continued. "If we are going to go in there, you need to take your jacket off." "I was not crying like a foal," he muttered to himself. After a moment or two of eerie silence, he sighed and shook his head. "I can't take the jacket off." He picked up the dropped small rifle, which Topper had used to shoot him with, and looked at me. "We go around." I rolled my eye. "You're out of ammunition for that. It's why they switched to this," I nodded at the massive single shot pipe rifle on my back. "I say we go through town and hire a boat to Deadwood Cove." "What?! You... You're... That's stupid!" Trigger shouted, stomping his hoof down in the cliff side with a glare. Part of me wished to see it break and fall. "What makes you think they have an intact boat? Look at the town!" "Yes," I replied in his mind with a nod. "I see that it is burning, but there might be an intact boat down there. It is a marina after all and marinas have a great many boats." Trigger sat down and folded his hooves across his chest. He gave me a glare that had no effect on me. "We're going around." "Through." "Around!" "What? You don't want to take your precious jacket off?" I tilted my head. "I'm sweating badly and am in need of a serious grooming, so you must be sweating just as bad, if not worse with your armor." "I'm fine." he growled. I sighed and facehoofed. "What are you a mare or something and want to hide it?" "What?! No!" Trigger rapidly shook his head. "What gave you that idea?!" Without responding to his asinine question, I gripped his hind legs in magic and quickly yanked the earth pony into the air. He squirmed and dangled in my grip as I checked between them with my hoof, finding out that he was indeed a stallion. "What are you doing?! Put me down!" he shouted. So, I obliged his wish and let go of his hind legs, causing the stallion to fall face first into the ground. He slowly pushed himself up and gave me a glare that still did not affect me. "You want to find out that badly?" I nodded. "Fine! I'll show you." He began grumbling incoherently to himself as he tossed his jacket at me and showed me his back. A back that had two holes in in the armor. Holes, that had tiny scabbed over nubs where wings should be. "Oh..." my ears slowly folded back as I bit my lower lip and slowly brought a hoof to cover my mouth in case it dropped. "I'm... I don't... I..." I shut my eye and sighed deeply. "Sorry." "Happy?" "No," I shook my head. "I'm not... But I have an idea." "Do tell," he replied, if a bit snidely. I slowly unsheathed the knife as I opened my eyes and looked down at his jacket. "Bandages." "Huh?" "Bandages." "Wut?" he tilted his head, causing me to roll my eyes. “Bandages!” I shouted as I tossed the blade at the jacket. *** *** The two of us slowly wended our way down the treacherous and rocky cliff side; each slow step was met with the fear that one could fall and turn into a pony pancake. At least, that was Trigger's fear. My wings would prevent me from becoming some raider's breakfast if that were to happen. Trigger now wore only his bare fur, a rare thing for him he admitted, and a set of dark green 'bandages' around his barrel to cover up the wing nubs on his back. I had a long strip of cloth wrapped around my head like a bandana to keep the sweat from dripping into my eyes and stinging my only good one. The odd dewinged pegasus walked not far behind me as I made my way down past rocks, slippery dirt and almost pitch black darkness. Light from the town fires and my horn partially illuminated our path, casting odd and curious shadows about. As I neared the bottom, I wondered to myself about what could happen inside the town. My mind ran through every scenario starting with them shooting at us to the two of us simply walking in and stealing a boat. The final scenario of boat theft caused me to pause briefly and wonder, why didn't I think of that before?! It's brilliant! We just sneak in while invisible and steal a steam boat! I quickly spun around to face Trigger and grinned, my face most likely a freakish mask of shadows. "Trigger!" He stopped, sighing deeply as he looked up at me. "Shock?" "Dog." I corrected him, then quickly shook my head and added, "but that doesn't matter. What matters-" "Is your name," he said, the two odd lights cast strange shadows across his face but I saw the bright fire in his eyes. "A name is who you are. Your name could strike fear into hearts or inspire a pony. So which is it? Shell Shock, The Great and Powerful Shell Shock, or Dog? The one who fetches an item for its master?" "Just..." my eye twitched as I ground my teeth together. "Just shut up! A name is a title given at birth, a thing to change if you feel like it." "So what is your name then?" Trigger asked, causing me to facehoof and groan. As I was about to berate him for asking stupid questions and breaking my concentration, my ears picked up a faint flutter on the wind underneath the waves and my own breathing. I quickly dropped the light spell as I looked up and pulled Trigger into the shadows as best I could. Flying above us towards the town was a group of ponies, but not just any ponies. The sheer numbers, six, could only have come from the Enclave as I did not think they had that many traitors running around. That and the fact that I saw one with an Officer's Cap fly across the moon. A faint smile crept across my face as I watched them fly towards the town, but I could feel Trigger shaking in my grip as he said, "s-scouts." Four broke formation in pairs of two and went to opposite ends of town while the center two landed near the center. "What are forward scouts doing here?" "I want to find out," I said, my smile growing larger as I thought up an idea, a simple one. They owed me armor. "I don't," Trigger McGrumpy Face said, causing me to glare at him and try to burn through his skull with my eye. "No, I seriously don't. They'll probably brand me a Dashite and I don't want that!" I pointed a hoof at the 'bandages' around his chest. "You're an earth pony with a broken rib, remember? And the Enclave here doesn't care. All of them were supposedly called that because they couldn’t get back to help the rest." "I'm not going," he stomped his hoof down and returned my glare. "Yes," I stomped mine down and glared even harder, "you are! I rescued your scrawny ass because you can't even swim, so it is the least you could do for me in return!" His ears folded back some as he bit his lower lip. *** *** Charred wood and the repugnant smell of burnt flesh filtered from the town the closer we got. The closer we got, the more chances of being spotted we had. However, as a part of my master plan, I was invisible and moving as slowly as I did on the Rum Runner boat. That did not stop my hooves from picking up ash, dirt, and grass. With the bottom of my hooves covered in stuff that could give me away if it was daytime or a pony was attentive enough, I sighed and dropped my invisibility spell. Trigger was not amused, but he did not protest because we were inside the town. A town which was mostly burned flat with craters every so often from the ship’s guns. I took a glance at the smoldering ruins nearest to me and frowned because it was a hotel. The metal sign stood proud outside of the ruins indicating it was the Marlin Inn. As a cool wind blew in off the ocean, I heard garbled voices of ponies in conversation most certainly about what had transpired. Trigger Mc Grumpy Face climbed off my back and crept over to the shadow of a rubble pile. I, however, elected to creep forward towards the talking as quietly as I could. Which was pretty damn quiet thanks to the wind blowing inland, and a few nearby roaring fires. As I made my way down the rubble strewn street, I looked right towards what used to be a building and wondered if ponies had time to escape, but… a quick breath from me and I was looking away from them towards my left where only the skeletal wall of a building remained. I stopped, tapping the wood with my hoof. It creaked for a second, and then a loud snapping sound caused me to jump back as the whole wall fell in on itself into a heap of charred wood. I gulped, taking a few steps back and bumped into something soft. Wheeling around to see what it was, I tilted my head the same direction as the uniformed pony’s own head tilt. She stood as average as a normal pony with a short cropped mane that stuck out from behind her officer’s cap with a gold bar on it, causing me to slowly smile and bow my head some. “Lieutenant,” I said with my mouth as I raised my head back to normal. The clearly Enclave pegasus adjusted her hat with a hoof. “Well, well, well. If it ain’t Shell Shock,” she said with a slight drawl that caused me to frown. “We lost a few pegasi to rescue ya. And ya just up an' vanish without so much as a thanks!” I audibly gulped and tried to smile some, but it was obviously forced and failed to form. The mare looked down the street towards Trigger and then at me. “Well,” I began with a quick breath. “You have me at a loss as you know my name, but I do not know yours.” “Swift Wings,” she said, taking her hat off and bowing some. In the light of the fires and moon, I noticed that her uniform was neatly pressed and appeared to be immaculate. I gave a nod as she placed her hat back onto her head. "Lieutenant Swift Wings, I was in the company of a pegasus known as Axe. She is maroon, gold eyes, a midnight blue mane and has a twin sister named Wraith." "Axe went missin' on the mission," Swift Wings said. "But she done showed up less than a week later with a truly fanciful tale as to why she disappeared." "I can assure you, it is not a lie." "I know," she adjusted her hat some. "Axe has a hard time lyin' an' I have my ways of confirmin' the truth." Swift Wings smirked. "May I call you Swifty?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "Swift Wings or Swift does not sit as well as Swifty." "That's a nickname Wraith must have told you," she muttered quietly. Then shook her head. "Fine, just not around the others." I smiled and nodded. "I will use my telepathy and they won't know." "Riiight," the pegasus adjusted her hat again. "What are ya doin' here anyway? Wait, lemmie guess. They annoyed you!" I rolled my eyes. "No, I was-" "Hey!" a pony shouted from my left, drawing my attention over to a pale looking stallion. The moonlight made it hard to figure out his coloring. "Where'd you get that rifle!?" "Some impure ponies shot at me with it," I shouted with my mouth. Then turned and unfolded my glorious wings. "What's it to you?" He trotted over and stuck his pale hide in my face as I folded my wings. "That rifle belongs to the Blue Water Marina Defense Force, not you. If they shot at you, then you messed up big time." I glanced over at Swifty. The pegasus shrugged and looked down the rubble strewn road again. "I dunno why y'all are lookin' fer my help. I'm just a neutral third party who came to see if she could help those in need. We don’t interfere with yer local problems." With an internal growl, I looked at the obtrusive stallion again. "They shot at my friend and I for no reason! We were walking in the jungle and the next thing I know, he took a hit to the side." “Describe your ‘friend’,” the stallion said as a near intelligible shouting could be heard coming from behind us. I looked back to see Trigger being pulled from the rubble by a pair of ponies. A third unicorn had a rifle or shotgun floating and aimed at him. “Looks like we already found them,” the stallion next to me said, drawing my attention back to him. “I can explain,” I said with a sheepish smile. “You see, he and I… we, uh... fuck it.” I turned and bolted towards Trigger. "Hey! Get back here!" the pony shouted, no doubt hot on Our hooves. We galloped faster, using Our glorious clipped wings to propel Us faster like a missile towards Trigger. The ponies looked over at Us, slowly bringing their glowing weapon to bear. As We stared down the approaching gun barrel, We gripped it with magic and struggled for a split second. Managing to throw his aim off at the same time he fired, the blast echoed around the area as We slammed into the unicorn like a freight train. Both of us went sprawling down to the ground in a heap, sliding to a stop in a small dust cloud. "HALT!" We telepathically boomed inside his mind, causing the unicorn's magic field to disappear in a flash as he cringed. "THE GREAT AND POWERFUL-" Something slammed into the back of Our head, causing Us to collapse on top of the unicorn. As We groaned and tried to push Ourself up, the item smashed into Our head again, causing Us to black out. ***===***===*** I sat in a partially destroyed building, leaning against a wall with my IF-12 just in front of me and also leaning against said wall. My magic was levitating a combat knife and a sharpening stone. My four tan hooves were covered in grime and blood that I did not care to clean off. Around me lay rubble, Arrow the blue crystal pony, and a zebra across from me. "This is a nice knife, isn't it?" I asked quietly, slowly running the sharpening stone across it. The zebra legionnaire across from me nodded in response. Arrow looked over at us and slowly shook his head. "Lilly, he's not going to say anything," he quietly said. The zebra looked over at him and glared, causing Arrow to roll his eyes. I smirked at Arrow, slowly running the stone across the blade one more time. As Arrow went back to looking out another window, I put the knife into its sheath and picked up the zebra's blade. Slowly, the zebra looked at me and tilted his head as I placed it flat against his side, cleaning the blood and dirt off it with a slow pull. "My blade is nice," I said. "But..." I pulled the sword over and looked at my reflection through the green magic field that surrounded it. "There's something about zebra swords that I like. Perfect for cutting fleshy things and perfectly balanced." The zebra tilted his head as I placed the blade on a hoof and removed the magic field, smiling as it stayed balanced. "Don't you agree?" The zebra nodded, if a little bit too slow for my liking, and shut his eyes as if he were thinking. A slight noise outside like concrete falling drew my station to the window, causing me to let all of my magic go. Slowly, as if I were a tortoise, I rose up along the window frame and peered out. A tracked heavy tank sat in the rubble strewn street, smoke billowed out of the engine compartment as flames licked at the zebra body partly hanging off the turret. The turret was angled to fire at something down a fork in street and the track facing me had broken from the explosion which caused its incapacitation, and subsequent fire. They had not expected a rocket to the side from my disposable rocket launcher. That empty tube sat between Arrow and I. Neither did they expect a hail of gunfire when they had opened the hatches. But what had caused the sound which drew my attention was a small dog. It scurried among the rubble looking for its next meal. I thought of tilting my head, but decided to just observe it. He, or she, moved from out behind a rubble pile and stopped at the body of a pony. As it started digging in for a feast, I glanced over at Arrow with my eyes and whispered, "it's just a dog." "And?" he shrugged. I rolled my eyes, tapping the side of my head with the flat of the zebra sword. "He's a smart pooch, getting food where he can." "That's fucking disgusting," Arrow looked down at his shotgun and used his hoof to wipe some dirt off. Slowly, I sat down again and looked over at the zebra legionnaire nearby. "What do you think? It's a nice idea, right? How else would the dog survive?" My magic reached out, making the long dead corpse smile and nod in agreement. He had a few bullet holes in his chest and a stab wound to the neck. Food for the dogs it seemed he was. "No," another pony nearby whispered and shook his head. "Just... no. That thought makes me sick." "A dog's gotta eat somehow," I shrugged. "How about we call her... Dog?" a third stallion asked, receiving nods from the other four and a roll of my eyes. Near unintelligible metallic chatter nearby drew my attention over to a pony in an Equestrian Army uniform with a radio box on her back. She was holding a hoof to her ear and listening to what was going on. While we waited for the new orders, I set about sharpening my new sword. After almost a minute, she nodded and looked over at the four of us, "Lieutenant Sparks wants us to head back and link with the rest of the platoon. Wait..." she held her hoof to her ear for a few more seconds. "Scratch that. He wants us to knock out a tank two blocks down that's got 'em pinned." Arrow looked over at me and then down at my empty rocket launcher. "How can we do that? Lilly's out of rockets." I rolled my eyes. The radiopony nodded and said with a hoof to her neck, "negative, we cannot-" "Wait," I tapped the sword against the empty tube, causing the radio pony to look at me. "I might not have these, but a grenade or two down the hatch will do the trick just the same." She nodded and started to reply. ***===***===*** The black abyss of unconsciousness slowly left me, leaving behind an odd hunger and a feeling. One I had tried to block out long ago, one I hoped to never surface again, and one that made me feel... different. Not like a normal pony or even an intelligent alicorn, but like an animal. An almost feral feeling. Because, a mare has to eat somehow. If you don't eat, you die. You don't drink, you die. It's as simple as that. There are no other rules. I have to survive, I thought to myself as I slowly opened my eyes, only to be met by darkness on one side of my vision and the other side was a perfectly clear view of wet mud. They would do the same to me. Ice cold pinpricks assaulted my back and exposed skin as a banshee howl of a wind attacked my ears. With a pained groan about a throbbing headache, I pushed myself up to a sitting position and took stock of my surroundings. A thick mist surrounded me as rain poured down in a furious torrent, obstructing my view of anything beyond thirty yards. A collapsed building lay not far away and looked very familiar. After a quick check of my gear, I came to the conclusion that I had everything but the large pipe rifle and ammo for it. Another conclusion was that they had left me exactly where I was knocked out. A teeth rattling boom echoed all around me as thunder rumbled overhead, causing me to uselessly clutch my ears for a few moments. When it was over I stood up and slowly trotted through the mud towards the area I had remembered the last standing building to be. As I trotted along, I tried to ignore the wind and the ice cold threatening to dig its way into my spine. Despite the coldness of the rain, the temperature of the island was still almost unbearably hot. I could not see much beyond the misty rain that blanketed the area, so I stayed near the rubble piles to keep my bearings partly correct. Or so I had hoped. "Hello?" I called out just before thunder roared overhead, causing me to stop and clutch my ears. The howl of the wind whistled and wailed past my ears as I set my hooves down and resumed walking. Our IF-12 floated out of Our bags and We checked the internal magazine, spying that it was unloaded. With a roll of Our perfect eyes, We floated out five rounds and loaded them. Then stood up again and trotted on. As We wandered near aimlessly around the piles of rubble, We began to wonder if We were dead, because We only saw destruction and rain. The buildings were flattened, drenched, and the ground was no longer dirt but hoof deep mud, causing Us to growl at the brown muck that covered Our pristine hide. Even the icy rain did not do well to clean the muck off. It seemed to only make it worse. "Trigger?" We called out again to the howling wind and rain as We walked along, and looked around. "Swift Wings? Anypony?!" Only roaring thunder replied to my calls. Thunder so loud I thought it would split the very earth beneath my hooves. I quickly brought the IF-12 close and looked up at the sky, shielding my face from the rain with a hoof. A loud snarl followed by a rumble like a freight train caused my ears to press against my head in an attempt to block it out. Tiny ice droplets began to slowly fall around me and pelted my hoof like a hail of spikes, causing me to realize I was most likely under the center of a very severe storm. As I put the IF-12 into my bags, thunder roared overhead at the same time the wind began to increase. Right then, I wished for the ability to create only partial shields so I could make an umbrella. I trotted on as best I could through the muck and wind threatening to push me on my side. My progress was slow and I hadn't made it more than a few yards when the hail increased to a ferocious level and the wind threatened to knock me over. Eventually, I spotted what looked like a standing structure and made my way towards it. The windows were boarded up and, for a second, the door was locked. A quick buck from my hind hoof caused the lock to be smashed and the door was flung open. "Hello?" I called out as I stepped inside the dark hallway and shut the door behind me. But received no response beyond the hail pelting the roof like thousands of tiny hammers and the thunder that roared like a freight train. Oddly enough, light illuminated the hallway. Revealing somewhat maintained wood hallways and a starting to get soaked carpet. At the far end of the hallway was a closed door with the words 'Pit of Despair' written above it in green letters. They looked old, cracked, and faded, but still got the message across. To my left was a set of stairs leading to a collapsed second floor. To the right was nothing. It seemed that the only way to go was forward, and so I trotted towards the door. As I passed the stairs, I saw another door that was hidden from the front door by the stairs. "Hello?" I quietly called out to anypony as I placed my hoof on the door and slowly opened it. "We are friendly." After a few seconds of nothing, I opened the door all the way and stepped inside. It was like stepping into a small shop from before the war ended. Four free standing shelves ran down the center of the clean room and appeared empty. I slowly trotted along the shelves, keeping an eye on the boarded up window across from me. There was nothing in the shelves. Kind of like they had purposely cleared it out, which they most likely did. I sat down at the end of a shelf and ran a hoof through my short wet mane, staring intently at the cash register. With nothing else to do, I trotted around the checkout desk and stopped, a faint smile slowly grew on my face at the sight of an unopened floor safe. A quick check of the safe revealed the obvious. So I telekinetically dug through my bag for anything useful to pry with and only found Trigger's long knife. I sat there contemplating on shooting the lock or trying to smash it, but figured I'd need an explosive to get inside. Without any further thought, I stabbed the gap between the cash register and the bit holder, and started to wiggle the knife around as thunder roared loud enough to shake the building. The box finally popped open, revealing at least forty caps and a gold bit. I telekinetically placed them into my bag and ripped the box out of the register, tossing it haphazardly to the side. Underneath the small box was a rusty key, causing a smile to form on my face. There was a layer of dust around and on said rusty key indicating no pony had used it in many, many, years. I glanced around one more time before inserting the key into the safe and turning it. A faint, almost imperceptible, snap was heard as the key broke and thunder roared overhead. "Nooooo!" I shouted as the thunder died down to a faint rumble, then facehoofed when I remembered I used magic and not my hooves. With the key already snapped off in the lock, I did not need to fiddle with anything as I tried to magically turn the lock. It clicked noisily and the floor safe was open, my smile instantly faded when I saw the contents. Papers and letters lined the inside of the safe. I tore the letters out with magic and tossed them away along with the papers. Then lowered my head with my light spell going to see the inside of the safe. The inside held nothing. No extra shelves, no weapons, no hidden panels of any kind. It was just... papers. Useless papers. Useless fucking papers! *** *** The thunder and hail pelting the roof of the building had let up to less deafening levels, and I was pacing back and forth in front of the door marked 'Pit of Despair'. What is it? I wondered to myself as I paced back and forth. Is it a trap? A slaver den? Some horrible basement where a group of cannibals keep their meat? The last thought caused my stomach to growl. I stopped pacing at the growl and slowly looked at the offending organ as my eyes slowly widened. "Why did you do that?" I asked myself with my mouth. Obviously, my stomach did not respond, but something else did. "Feed," a voice whispered in the back of my mind. "So hungry. There must be something!" I shut my eyes and looked away from my stomach at something else, wondering why my stomach did that. It was crystal clear to me that I did not need to eat thanks to the process that had turned me into an alicorn. So why then, did my stomach grumble like I was hungry? It made no sense to me and felt like something that would never get solved. Oh how wrong I was. As I stood there in front of the door to the Pit of Despair, my nose picked up a faint and familiar smell. Sweet and slightly charred. It was the sweet smell of somepony cooking meat, which caused me to shut my eyes again and sniff at the air. As I blindly followed the smell, I ran into something hard and opened my eyes to see the door right there blocking my path. With a frown, I opened the offending door and tilted my head at the stairs in a brightly lit stairwell with odd sounds coming from below. There was nothing else for me to do on the top floor, so I slowly followed the stairs down into the pit. At the bottom was a rusty hatch-like door with water covering the floor. As I hopped off the last step, the ice cold water splashed my chest and sent a chill through my spine. I slowly and carefully walked over to the hatch-door and pressed my ear against it, hearing the faint sounds of a rhythmic drum beat, or steam engine. With a frown, I stepped back and slowly opened the door, causing said noise to get louder. What lay beyond the door caused me to tilt my head. It was a lighted rock tunnel like what one would find in a cave with a floor covered in water. I glanced back towards the stairs one last time before trotting my way towards the end of the cave. The rocky floor beneath my hooves steadily grew deeper and deeper until I was forced to stop when it reached my chest. I looked back at the door again and then forward. Below me was a very faint light at the bottom of an underwater cavern. Oddly, or not so, it seemed as if the sounds were coming from the underwater cave. I took a deep breath and jumped into the water, swimming as far down as I could. When I reached the bottom of the cavern, I floated there for a moment and looked at the tunnel in an attempt to gauge its length, but I could not do so well as it appeared to stretch into infinity. However, I decided to paddle forward toward the end because I saw a pinprick of light. As I swam through the lighted tunnel, I glanced back and noticed a heavily rusted ladder going up to the surface. It told me that the tunnel wasn't always under water. The more I swam, the further the tunnel seemed to stretch and the more my mind worked out the many ways the idea could go wrong. But I swam as fast as I could until my lungs began burning and protesting to the fact that I had yet to breathe in a while, so air bubbles started leaving my mouth in some vain attempt to stave off the inevitable. It only caused the burning feeling to increase until my lungs felt like they were on fire. I spotted an opening above and exhaled all of my air reserve as I swam upward. My brain screamed for air that my lungs could not receive and I involuntarily took a breath, instantly regretting it because fire shot through my lungs. I began choking on the water as I thrashed about trying to find the surface or anywhere that had air. My vision in my only working eye started to go dark as I tried breathing again to the same result. Something grabbed at my thrashing wings and yanked me up. As my head broke the surface of the water, I began to cough violently and didn't notice I was on land until rolled over and vomited water. Lots of water that had been in my lungs. I had nearly died swimming in that tunnel and had felt the icy skeletal grip of death approach me for a few seconds, but something or somepony had decided it was not my time to die. "Don't you know that tunnel is a death trap at high tide?" A pony asked to my right, causing me to shake my head and stare down at the now wet rock as water dropped off my face "Hmph. Figures an alicorn wouldn't know that. I don't think I've ever seen one down this way. What brings you to the Pit of Despair?" I looked over at the pony and opened my mouth to respond, but my jaw nearly hit the floor. Sitting across from me was the strangest pony I had ever laid eyes on. About halfway down his body, his dark green hide turned to scales and then into a fin. All I could do was stare at the pony's fin in complete shock as he flicked it a little bit. "Hello?" the fishpony asked and flicked his fin some more, causing water to hit me in the face. "Can you talk?" My head sat there spinning in complete confusion, leaving me unable to reply to the fishpony. He did not seem to mind as he just sat there and patiently waited. I coughed a couple more times, finally breaking my daze and shook my head. "I can talk just fine," I said with my mind and a fake smile. "You are such... an odd... creature. I was so stunned by the sight that I could not speak!" "Right," the fishpony nodded some. "Mind telling me what the hell you were doing in that tunnel?" I sat up and undid my bags with magic, set them aside, then dumped them out so the water could drain. I frowned when I remembered my ammo was filled with blackpowder and it might have been ruined by the tunnel, but I pushed such thoughts aside and started to field strip the IF-12. "I was knocked out last night, and it was clear," I said with my mind as I started setting various parts down. "When I awoke, it was thundering and pouring so hard I could barely see my hoof in front of my face. I sought shelter that proved to be pointless and found the tunnel." I stared down the barrel and wished I had swiped Zakiya's weapon cleaning kit because there might come a time when I need it. As it was, I saw a bit of muck inside the barrel from when it had been fired, but nothing major. So I started putting it back together. "When high tide comes in, the tunnel fills. And when the tide goes out, it drains." the fishpony said. "Why?" "Because it does," he said as I finished putting the weapon together and tested it with an empty casing, smiling when it clicked. "What are you doing?" "Cleaning and making sure my stuff works. Now why does the tunnel fill with water again?" "Because of the tides..." "But we are not near the water? We are underground," I pointed out, causing the fishpony to facehoof. *** *** Fish ponies, or sea ponies as they are known as, sat all around an odd looking room ahead of me. It was as if a pony had found a cavern with lots of puddles and built a catwalk running around and over the ponds. In the center of the room sat what appeared to be a floating bar with a highly active pony mixing drinks. DJ Buccaneer's music set played out from hidden speakers and all kinds of ponies danced to it. Lights from the ceiling provided the room with multi-colored light. I just sat there staring in complete shock at the scene because I had never heard of a place like it on the island before. Neither had Sister or she would have most certainly told me! The fish pony that had rescued me from certain death scrambled forward towards a pool like he was crawling on his front legs and slipped into a pond. That was the last I saw of him. The other fish ponies, and regular ponies, all ignored me as I started walking around to see what the Pit of Despair was like. It appeared as if it was a dance club… for fish ponies, which was an odd thing to me. As I slowly walked over a pond, I looked down at the water and noticed they were deep pits most likely connected to tunnels. The nearest sea ponies stopped their odd dancing and stared at me. I glanced at them, but kept walking towards the bar for a drink. When I reached the bar, I noticed then that most of the ponies were observing me. But I ignored them and leaned down to speak with the fish pony. "Excuse me!" I shouted with my mouth over the electronic music. "Where am I?" "The Pit of Despair!" The fish mare shouted back and held up a bottle of glowing gold liquid which was most certainly Celestia’s Ray. "A watering hole deep underground away from the ravages of topside." I frowned at the fish pony and shouted, "I need to get to Deadwood Cove!" "What for?" "Because I fucking want to!" I glared at the fish pony. "I need a boat to get there." The fish pony laughed at me, causing my glare to turn into a scowl as I attempted to kill her with my eye. After a few moments of not dying she said, "boats are on the surface. And the surface was just hit with a nasty storm. Why don't you just fly there when the storm is over?" I opened and closed my mouth for a few moments as I tried to come up with a retort, but failed horribly to do so. So I just shut my eyes and sighed deeply, trying to calm down. After I did so, I nodded. "I would love to do that, but..." I unfolded my clearly clipped wings. "I cannot. My wings are clipped and I need radiation to heal then back to their original glory." The fish pony frowned and hugged her large fin as if it were a blanket. "That's a good reason to not fly. Look, you do a job for me and I'll tell you where some radiation is. Deal?" "It's not underwater is it?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "I nearly drowned swimming through a death trap tunnel and do not wish to do so again." The fish pony nodded as her ears folded back. "Yes, it's underwater." I frowned and glared. "B-but I swear you can easily get to it!" My head tilted the other way. "I'll give you some underwater breathing equipment. Good enough for thirty minutes underwater. Which will get you to a wreck and back to the surface easily." With a deep sigh I shut my eye and nodded. "What must I do?" "Got a weapon or destructive spells?" "Of course," I nodded as I floated out my IF-12 and looked at it. The stock was partly beat up, its barrel was dark, and the cloth wrap I had put around it was a bit damp much to my annoyance. "This is my rifle, there are a great many of it, but this is mine." "Alright, good. You'll need it to kill some crabs." "Crabs?" I cocked an eyebrow and stared down at the fish pony. "Why crabs?" "When the tide goes out and most of the tunnels drain, a large group of crabs show up and have killed a couple ponies. You do this for me and I'll get you some radiation." With a bow of my head, I put the rifle away and said, "thank you. If you ever see an icy blue earth pony named Trigger, tell him Shock says hello." "I shall. Look, you're going to have to wait for early morning before you can do my job. You can make yourself at home while you wait." *** *** I laid there in the corner of the Pit of Despair for what felt like days while I watched the ponies go about their business. They would dance for a bit, talk, dance, drink, and dance some more. Eventually, I spotted a pony that kept staring at me every so often. I mostly ignored him until I noticed that the silver colored unicorn was making his way over to me. This fact caused me to tilt my head and wonder why he was doing so. For a few moments I thought I might have a shot at a nice chat until I spotted the Steel Ranger scribe robes he was wearing, and rolled my eye before looking at something else. "Miss Shock I presume?" he said in a pompous tone reminiscent of posh Canterlot unicorns. I said nothing. "Look, you can deny it all you want but it's not hard to track you. You leave a trail of bodies and unexplained situations. Not to mention you’re the only green alicorn here." "Come to arrest me, have you?" I hissed in his mind. "Should you try, you will fail." "No," he shook his head. "I have a proposition for you." I shut my eye and sighed deeply. "I am not dunk enough for a romp in the hay with a bug pony thing pretending to be a Steel Ranger. In fact I have not touched any alcohol today." "Wut?" He replied in clear confusion, causing me to smirk on the inside. "That's... not what I meant... You know of Star Paladin Eclipse, right?" "Correct," I nodded and looked over at the unicorn. "Let me guess, she wants you to kill me?" "No," he facehoofed. "I'm from the Baltimare Steel Rangers and we know the alicorns are no longer under the control of the Goddess." "And?" "And we normally send reinforcements to the island once a month. A few months ago we lost one of the few working transports we have. No rime or reason why. It just vanished." "So?" I shrugged. "Maybe the rusty piece of junk sank in the storm like DJ Buccaneer said?" The unicorn shook his head. "I was talking with the sea ponies here about it when you arrived. One claims to have found the wreckage of the ship far out to sea." "You're boring me with this drivel. Get to the point already." I flexed my wings a bit and folded them to show my growing impatience. "It was full of holes, shelled by naval artillery of some form." Slowly, I looked over and tilted my head. "You're saying this Paladin Eclipse sank your own boat?" The Steel Ranger scribe sat down and shrugged. "I don't know. She doesn't know I'm here and-" "Wait..." My brows knitted together in thought as I slowly thought over his words and came up with an idea. "I met a pony that has recently been far out to sea. She claimed to have encountered a glowing ghoul at some battleship wreck that was sinking." "Battleship?" I nodded. "Huge hulk of floating steel with very large guns capable of firing over the horizon." "Where is the pony you spoke to?" "On an Enclave raptor probably," I shrugged, causing the unicorn the frown. "But what does a missing ship have to do with Eclipse?" "What would you do if you were in charge of a group of ponies and one of your ships sank?" "Send out a search party?" "Exactly," the unicorn nodded. "She failed to even mention the missing ship in any reports sent back with the shipments. In fact she never even mentioned that there was a change in leadership on the island." I rolled my eyes again and sighed. "Maybe she's just bad with reports? Paperwork is boring and shooting things is much more fun." "Star paladins do not just overthrow an Elder on a whim and neglect to inform others. In fact, from what I hear, they're doing worse under her leadership because she's so fixated on killing alicorns." I rubbed my head with a hoof, sighing deeply again as I shut my eyes. "Mister whatever your name is, I do not care about your politics. In fact, I have half a mind to stop your heart right here, but for the fish ponies' sake, I am holding back." The unicorn's horn glowed as he pulled an item out of his bags and dropped it on the ground, causing me to tilt my head. It was a small single edged machete that had a chainsaw blades instead of a normal blade. On the flat of the blade was a scratched in name that looked horribly drawn on; Hyde. "What is this... pathetic blade you have shown me?" "It's a ripper known as Hyde. I got it from somepony who claimed to have gotten it from another pony that stole it from a green alicorn, you." "No," I shook my head. "Hyde is a single edged broadsword with hellhound teeth. Not this pathetic excuse for a sword!" My magic pulled Trigger's old machete out and set it down next to the fake Hyde. They were a perfect match for size. "See? That is not Hyde! He is a massive weapon capable of cutting open anything!" The unicorn rolled his eyes and kicked fake Hyde towards me. "Stop lying. This is your blade because there are no other green alicorns on the island." Slowly, my magic lifted the puny chainsaw weapon to my eye level and I stared at it while wondering if he was telling the truth. "I want it." "I'll trade you for it," he said. "But I will not just give it to you." "What do you want?" I asked as I inspected the cutting blades and found they were still as sharp as when I first picked the weapon up. "How about... your rifle you flaunted about earlier?" My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip and continued to stare at the weapon. I began to wonder to myself about things. Could I hit anything? If I could not land on Zakiya's boat and I misjudged the tunnel length... then perhaps my far sight is bad and me attempting to shoot a far target would fail? I floated out the rifle and ammo with a nod. "I... accept your trade." He took the items from me and I realized something right then and there. "You still have not told me why you are here. If it's just to give me Hyde, then you are stupid." "I want to hire you actually," he said with a nod, causing me to facehoof. Then I stood up and started swinging an inactive Hyde around like I was practicing; spinning it in a circle to test how it acted against the force of the spin followed by a downward chop, and then an angled upward arc, finally ending with the tip pointed at the unicorn. He just stood there and pushed it aside with his magic much to my annoyance. "As I was saying. I want to hire you for a job. I do not know the island chain and am looking for a guide that can handle some danger." "We do my job first," I told him as I brought Hyde close to my body and looked for a holder. Finding none caused me to frown. “And you will pay me in caps or favors.” “What?” “You heard me. Caps or favors.” The unicorn frowned some, then nodded. "I have six hundred caps, is this sufficient?” he asked as he turned his head and levitated a bag of caps from his saddlebags. I sat there scratching my chin in thought for a few long moments before nodding myself. “Yes, that sounds adequate.” He tossed the caps over, I caught them and dumped them out. “What are you doing?” “Counting,” I replied as I began to count each and every cap. Shell Shock: 25% to next level. Chapter 18: Fight or FlightChapter 18: Fight or Flight "Use a sledgehammer. It’s the only way to be sure you hit your mark." I silently walked along the tunnel as cold salt water splashed on my chest with each hoof fall. Darkness slowly surrounded us as the sun steadily set across the ocean. The annoying Steel Ranger scribe, Bell Tower, limped along behind me, a gash ran along his side from where a giant crab had tried to slice him in half before my chainsaw ripper tore the appendage off. As for me, I was also injured. My limp wings dragged along the icy water and bandages covered my flank from where I had hit a rock on my way down the cliffside and my foreleg was in a splint. Nothing had prepared me for fighting on a cliffside against a crab almost three times as tall as I was. And neither was I prepared when the ground gave way while I was trying to stab the crab in the head. Wherever its head was. “Heeey!” a mare’s voice shouted with an echo from behind us. I turned around and brought a hoof up to block the bright light of the sun from blinding me too much. Through a squinted eye I could make out the distinct silhouette of a fish pony. “Thanks for clearing out the crabs!” the fish pony said before she went to clap her forehooves together, but faceplanted into the muck in a cry of surprise. With an annoyed groan, she pushed herself up and shook her head, quietly muttering, “I hate when that happens.” I rolled my eyes and limped towards her, Scribe Bell Tower grumbled to himself and followed along behind me again. As I neared the pony I realized that it was the same fish pony that had told me to kill the crabs in the first place, causing me to frown when I realized there was probably a third way to the club and not the way we were going. “Liar,” I hissed with my mind and mouth. “You lied to Us!” “What?!” her eyes widened. She quickly scrambled back as We started to glare at her. “N-n-no! I didn’t lie to you!” “Yes, you did! You said that ‘ponies were getting killed by crabs’. There is clearly more than one way out of the club!” “Land ponies are being killed by the crabs!” she shouted. “Sea ponies can swim through the underwater tunnels…” She gulped and hugged her large fin, but made no move to run. “Please… I was being serious.” I shut my eyes and sighed deeply, slowly lowering my head to the water at my hooves. As I stood there I wondered about everything, and whether or not the constant fighting would follow me around wherever I went. “I just want Sister back,” I whispered quietly with my mouth. “I want to go home. I don’t want to worry about ponies attacking me where I go. All I want to do is have a family and be myself!” Slowly, I looked up at the fish pony with my ears back. “Do you understand? I just… I want to be normal again.” "Well that radiation hotspot is out to sea and you should follow me to get there." The fish pony smiled a bit. I sighed and nodded. *** *** My roaring ripper floated next to me as I galloped through the rotted hallway, barreling straight towards a closed door with my head lowered. The Steel Ranger scribe galloped behind me with my old IF-12 and the fish pony, somehow, kept up with my 10mm pistol, Shock, in her mouth. The wooden door ahead of me exploded outwards in a shower of splinters as I slammed my full body weight into it. A quick glance of the dark rectangle room revealed a tattered black couch with ponies hiding behind it. My momentum kept me going as I galloped towards the terrible shelter and leapt over it, bringing Hyde down on the head of the pony on the left. His eyes were wide as the spinning Hellhound teeth sliced clean through his snout, shearing it off halfway down in a torrent of blood. What was left of his nose fell to the ground at the same time I landed and spun around to face the screaming pony. Hyde was quickly shoved inside his skull, spraying his companion with bits of brain, eye goo and bone. The living piratical pony scrambled back as Hyde was pulled out of his now clearly dead friend. Scribe What’s His Name aimed the IF-12 down the barrel at the same time the fish pony quickly crawled into the room and aimed the pistol as well. My remaining eye twitched as I stood there and glared at the pirate pony, my teeth grinding together while Hyde dripped fresh gore from the fresh kill. “Food,” I said to the pony. “I need food.” He gulped at the same time he backed into the rotted wood wall. Mud, blood, and sweat dripped off my forest green body that I once thought was perfection. However, the pirates would taste my only part of my fury, but Eclipse will taste the full brunt of it. “Wh-what…?” the pony whimpered, his clearly improvised barding was battered, rusted, and in desperate need of repairs. The weapon, if a pony could call it that, was dropped on the ground. It looked like a heavily rusted club that used to be a standard issue battle rifle. A sad, sorry, excuse for a weapon that should never have been acquired by the pony if he wanted to shoot something with it. “I think what my winged friend means,” Bell Tower said as he slowly stepped around the couch into my vision. “Is that she’s hungry, and you’re her food.” I kept my gaze on my target and ignored the Steel Ranger pony since he kept moving until he was on my left. Movement on my right at the edge of my vision indicated the fish pony had caught up and was aiming the weapon I let her borrow. “You’re all insane!” the pony shouted, his eyes going even wider as he tried to back further into the wall. Hyde was adjusted in my magic before I gripped the trigger a tiny bit, causing the blade to spin some. “She might be,” the scribe nodded, “but I am holding her back. Now where’s the diving equipment?” “D-di-diving equ-equipment…?” “Don’t lie to Us!” I shouted, grabbing Hyde’s trigger as I swung the weapon around in an arc. His spinning blades barely sliced the pony’s foreleg, leaving a faint line of red at the same time I let go of the trigger. The pony screamed in pain and clutched the area as I shouted, “you lie to Us again and We will. Kill. You!” He gulped, quickly pointing a hoof at the door on the opposite end of the room. “The boss has them! I didn’t sign up for this… He just said that we were going to take the box and that’s it.” “Who told you to take it?” I hissed through my mouth. “I don’t know!” "Was it Star Paladin Eclipse?!" I shouted. "I don't know!" He replied, shutting his eyes as I trotted over. "Liar!" I shouted as I spun the non-spinning blade around and stopped it on his chest. "Do you think I'm a fool? If you were hired for a job you would have been told every detail about wh-" "Shock!" the stallion to my left shouted, drawing my attention over to Scribe Bell Tower before I could run the pirate through. "That's enough. You scared him shitless." "Literally," the fish pony replied. I looked over at her, noticing she had moved back and was holding her nose with a hoof while the pistol rested on her fin. This fact caused me to take a step back from the pirate pony and look at him. His hind leg armor had a new stain on it that I wasn't sure if it was piss or feces, or a combination of both. Slowly, I brought my wing up and covered my nose as I removed Hyde from the pony's chest. His eyes rolled back as he let out a breath and fell to the floor. I turned my gaze to the door in question and stared at it with my one eye, licking some blood off my lips as it dripped down off my horn. "Somepony needs to leash her before she does something stupid," I heard the fish pony think, but ignored it because she was right. I needed to be leashed and contained, but I didn't care. That could come at another time. Slowly, I trotted forward towards the door. *** *** I trotted along the dark hall, my gaze scanning left for a bit before I turned my head to scan the right. The moldy carpeted wood beneath my hooves creaked under my weight, but I cared not if that made me think I was fat. I was not fat, no. I was perfect. A perfect specimen created in the image of a Goddess. A Goddess who was gracious enough to grant me the gift despite my frail, old, and addled mind at the time. She was the one pony who I believed was doing the right thing. Alicorns were the future then, and still are the future of ponies. If only we could make alicorn stallions. Alicorn stallions seemed to be confusion and impossible for the Goddess to make, and yet... a simple plant created one. A simple. Plant. A plant was smarter than the Great and Powerful Goddess. It was such a ludicrously simple and stupid idea that we never saw it coming. But whether or not he was truly real remained to be seen. Zakiya was real and Axe mentioned the alicorn stallion, so he must be real. But there was the fact that I could not find him with my telepathy. That lead me to believe he was not real. As I took a step, my hoof touched something that broke my inner monologue about the lack of dicks among alicorns. Slowly, I blinked and registered my surroundings. So caught up I was in talking to myself, that I did not notice the hallways change to a musty wood smell and not moldy salt water. Around me sat bright, nearly polished, wood for walls, clean wood flooring and painted wood for the ceiling. "Why'd you stop?" Scribe Bell Tower asked quietly, nearly whispering it. "My hoof hit something," I whispered to him and the fish pony with my mind. "Don't move." "There's nothing-" "There is! It feels like a wire." I slowly looked down at my hoof and saw it. A faint glint of light partially wrapped around my hoof leading to the walls. My magic wrapped the wire in a jade green glow to hold it in place as I took a few steps back. Gulping down my fear of being turned to alicorn paste, I looked along the wire and saw it was hooked to a three metal apples painted to match the wood. It was a simple, effective, and deadly trap. After a quick disarm that involved slowly checking everything for redundant traps, I placed the painted frag grenades in my bags and resumed trotting. Not far down the hallway was a door that was, strangely, unlocked and partially open. With my magic, I levitated out a 'shiny' object from the around the sea pony's neck, which was a waterlogged mirror, and ever so slowly edged it into the open so I could look into the room without being seen. Slowly, the mirror was panned left and right as I attempted to find anything of importance. All I saw was a dark, dank, room. Off to one side was a bed with two ponies on it; one earth pony partially laying atop the other with their muzzles in kissing range. Instead of doing so, they were talking. Next to the bed was their armor, weapons, and saddlebags. I gave the mirror to the fish pony and took a deep breath before charging into the room, the door slamming against the wall in a loud bang from the force of my entry. The two ponies jumped in surprise at the sudden intrusion; one of them rolled off the bed, landing behind it with a thud, while the other one, a unicorn, sat up with a glowing horn. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said, slowly bringing Hyde around to aim at the unicorn. She stared at me and I stared at her for a moment before she frowned. Movement drew my attention over to the stallion as he lifted his head from behind the bed with a rifle in his grip, causing the mare to go into my blind spot. Before I could even think of tossing Hyde at the pony, I felt something small and red hot slam into my neck, burning flesh and whatever else as the room was filled with the clap of a gunshot. A second bullet slammed into my chest before I could blink and turn my head. I collapsed, falling to my knees and rolled onto my side at the same time Hyde hit the floor . A gunshot came from behind me. I watched the mare's eye explode into red goo from the bullet's impact at the same time a fourth shot filled the room from behind the bed. "Fuck!" Bell Tower shouted as I heard the distinct sound of the IF-12's bolt being run through its motions. I began coughing up blood as my vision slowly grew darker. "Fix Shock!" He yelled, firing a second shot at the pony. I didn't have time to see if he hit anything with his bad aiming, which I had seen against the crabs, because the fish pony's face filled my one eyed vision. She held up a vial of purple and shoved it in my mouth, clamping my jaws around it. "Drink!" She shouted at me. I had already wordlessly complied, tilting my head back some as I fought the urge to cough up my own blood. The purple liquid ran down my throat, probably out the hole because she placed her hoof on my neck, and down into my stomach. I shut my eyes as another shot rang out, causing my ears to press against my skull. "Just keep drinking," the fish pony said through the ringing in my ears. Slowly, my throat began to itch deep down, informing me that the potion was doing its job of healing my wounds. "Did they both go through?" Scribe Bell Tower asked. I'm not sure if the fish pony replied, but he said, "you need to take the bullet out of her chest, now!" My eyes snapped open at that. I saw the fish pony looking up at the scribe. She pulled the empty bottle out of my mouth and held my head in her forehooves. "She could have choked on her own blood if we stopped to take the bullet out." "Well, there's only one thing to do." Bell Tower said. I gulped the last of the potion down and said with my mind, "cut it out. We don't want it in Our perfect body." *** *** We watched the fish pony float in the tub of murky water, tiny waves lapped at her shimmering scales, while We thought over Our agreement with her. The floor around us was just as rusty and grimy as the rest of the ship and We did not care to close the door. Scribe Bell was busy being a thieving techno hoarder in the other room while the fish pony and Us sat in the bathroom. A magical bandage was wrapped tightly around Our neck where the bullet had penetrated and around Our chest where We had to cut Ourself open to get the bullet out. "Well," the fish pony sheepishly laughed. "At least you have telepathy. Right?" Her remark caused Us to roll Our eyes and look over at Scribe Bell Tower. We watched his backside for a few moments, tilting Our head when We noticed he was muttering something to the slain stallion. We, being curious of course, decided to listen in a bit with our telepathy. "...guide you to the hereafter, and a better life in the next." We tilted Our head the other way when he closed the dead stallion's eyes. "So what do you see?" the fish pony asked quietly, drawing Our attention over to her smirking visage that We wanted to knock off her face. "Did you like the view?" "Yes," We said with a head bow. "There is no shame in looking at a nice stallion." "Huh?" Scribe Bell Tower asked in clear confusion inside Our head, causing Us to facehoof when We instantly realized that We were still inside his head. We quickly dropped the spell as Our cheeks heated up in a tiny blush. Our actions received a laugh from the fish pony as she tossed her head back and flicked her fin, splashing Us with icy and, irradiated water. "You need to cool off," she giggled some. We set the hoof down and looked at the mare with a frown. "We do not think that to be funny. In fact, we think We should stab you with this," We held Hyde in magic so she could see him and revved his blades a bit. Her smile slowly faded when she saw the small chainsaw blade. "That's... not funny ." "And neither are you," We glared at her. She floated away from the tub edge with her hooves up. "Sweet Celestia, can't you take a joke? I was just trying to lighten the mood." "Mood?" We tilted Our head. "We lost. Lost. Our beautiful voice! The only thing I wish for, is to get the stupid diving equipment so I can get healed. I am sick of this and want it to stop." As I put Hyde down, she let out a breath she had been holding and mumbled something I did not care to hear because I knew the response. 'We are not insane and neither do We need a leash,' a voice said in the back of my mind. 'They are the crazy ones. They don't know what it's like to be in Our position. They would have died long ago if they were'. "Soaked enough to travel?" Bell Tower asked, receiving a nod from the fish pony. "Alright, let's get moving." Slowly, with a frown and a fiery glare, I looked over at the stallion. "Who put you in charge?" "Group vote." "What?" I tilted my head. "Fin and I voted, and came to the conclusion that I should lead. I am paying you after all." "That's absurd!" I shouted with my mind as I stomped my hoof down, receiving a hollow thud from the metal. "You're paying me to show you the island. I should lead!" "Nope," Bell Tower shut his eyes and shook his head. "I let you lead and look what happened, you got shot in the neck and we're here. Wherever that is." I opened and closed my mouth for a couple seconds in an attempt to come up with a reply. Failing at doing so, I stomped both my forehooves down and let out a silent scream of rage. *** *** Bell Tower, Blue Fin, and I walked along the wreck's corridor. The aforementioned fish pony dripped irradiated water and left a trail while I lead us onward at Bell Tower's directions, much to my annoyance. Every so often I would quickly check my right to make sure there were no gun toting ponies trying to hide in my clear blind spot. I might as well be totally blind at the rate I was being injured. My mind slowly worked its way back in time as I walked along. I wondered what Scribe Bell Tower was talking about and made a mental note to ask him about it when we left the derelict. But what I did gather from his actions, was that the Steel Ranger Scribe did not like to shoot ponies. Eventually, my mind snapped back to reality when I noticed a door up ahead. It was a simple wooden door that seemed... out of place. Almost as if a pony had taken paint and applied it to the door not less than an hour ago. The walls around the door were heavily rusted and a few insults were done in blood or feces, causing me to frown. As I reached the door, I pressed my ear against it and listened. Fin and Bell Tower waited next to me for an answer. I tried my hardest to find any noise, but I heard nothing. So, with a deep breath, I lowered my head and tried to peer through the lock, but found it impossible as it was blocked halfway through. "Well?" Fin whispered. "I can't see shit," I said in her mind. But before I could say anything else, she reached up and tried the door handle. It clicked noisily, swinging inward to reveal something I was not expecting. "You!" A deep blue alicorn shouted in a familiar voice as her eyes went wide. Both her non-flowing twin pig tailed mane and her braided tail were tied with pink bows on the end. A simple faded ball cap sat on her head and a simple grimy shirt adorned her chest. She stood on plush carpet near an ancient wooden desk. Off to the other side of the room was an open locker where clothes spilled out from. Sitting on the alicorn's back was a familiar pump action shotgun that I remembered Blue carried. On the desk was a box with masks and tanks sticking out of it. It seemed that we had found the leader of the pirates and he was not a he, but a she. I quickly grabbed Fin in a hug and pulled Bell tower close with my wing before throwing up my shield. "Shock, you idiot!" Bell Tower hissed. "Now we can't-" "SILENCE!" I boomed inside his head, causing the unicorn to wince and immediately shut up. Fin pulled the trigger of the pistol I had given her, causing my shield to ripple as the 10mm bullet slammed into it and did nothing but fall to the ground. "Uhh.... Yeah, this is a dumb idea," Fin mumbled around the pistol. The blue alicorn had made no move for her shotgun until Fin had fired the pistol. Her shotgun was now floating near her head as she slowly strutted over to a locker with a smirk. "So Shell Shock, have you told your companions about your..." she noisily racked the pump back and forth, causing me to gulp. "Diet?" I looked down at the fish pony and unicorn, sheepishly smiling as Bell Tower asked, "what's she mean?" "Shock eats ponies," the blue alicorn said nonchalantly. "Butchers them worse than any raider could and cooks their flesh in front of them." "You were serious?!" Bell Tower's eyes widened in shock as he backed as far away from me as he could, Fin likewise backed away. "I thought you were just acting to scare that pony." "I... I can explain," I whimpered a bit. "You see. I... I... I, um... I have a slight... problem?" "Yes..." the blue alicorn said, pumping the shotgun a few more times and drawing my attention to her as the red shells jumped onto the floor one after the other. I saw she had orange shells floating in her magical grip and began to load them one by one. "Why don't you explain to all of us how you butchered one of your own alicorn sisters. How you skinned her starting with her flanks and then cut her horn, wings, and legs off one by one. All while she was conscious." As quick as I could, I dropped the shield and shoved Bell Tower away before leaping over Blue Fin. The blue alicorn looked over as I landed and quickly went invisible, Hyde clattering uselessly to the ground. My mind raced and my heartbeat thundered in my mind as I looked around in an attempt to find where to go. It seemed, to me, as if everything was moving slowly; Bell tower was busy recovering from the stumble, while Fin was staring in confusion, and the other alicorn was loading the last shell into her shotgun's chamber. I quickly and silently darted over to the table with the scuba gear on it and dove underneath it. "Oh come now," the alicorn called out while looking around. "You think I won't find you? Only so many places you can hide." "Hey!" Fin shouted. "I want my scuba gear back!" She received a frown from the alicorn as the blue brought her shotgun to bear on Fin. "Heh," Fin half-laughed. "Maybe I was mistaken? Underwater gear looks alike you know." The blue alicorn put a hoof to her lips in a silencing gesture. "Shush. Shock is still here and-" "She's not going to come out with that shotgun floating about," Bell Tower said. "So just put it away." Something occurred to me that caused me to tilt my head. All the ponies I had talked to in the derelict ship had called their boss 'him'. And if the alicorn, who was in the fanciest room with the gear, was the boss. Then she had a big problem. I tried to call out to her, but frowned when I didn't have a voice. Fin had said it could take a couple months to get it back and I did not have that kind of time, so I desperately needed the radiation the fish pony knew of. "Shut up, Scribe," the blue alicorn said. "I can't hear her hoof steps." She slowly walked around the room with the shotgun floating as she said, "Sheeeell Shock. Come out, come out, wherever you are. I just wanna talk." I knew she would shoot me as soon as she could and probably even shoot the others I was with. I couldn't leave because she was a blue and might be able to see me moving even with invisibility up. They had much better skills than I ever could hope to achieve and I did not want to fight an alicorn. So. I took a deep breath, stepped out from under the table and dropped the spell. The air around me shimmered as the alicorn spun around and aimed the shotgun at me, causing my ears to fold back. "That's a good dog," she smirked. "Wait! I can help you," I told her just in her mind. "By killing all my lackeys?!" she hissed with her mouth. "They shot at us first," Fin added, receiving a glare from both the blue and I. She eeped and his behind a silent Bell Tower. When we were sure she wasn't going to interrupt, the blue and I looked at each other again. "Well?" she asked. I took a deep breath and nodded. "The fish pony is right. They did shoot at us first, but. I know about your,.. lack of, um? how do I put this?" I looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment before smiling. "About you being turned into a mare against your will." "No shit?" the blue asked sarcastically. "I bet you have amazing detective skills. Why haven't I shot you yet, detective Shell Shock?" "Because deep down you wonder if I can actually help." "Are you reading my thoughts?" "No," I shook my head . "I try not to invade an alicorn's privacy. But remember in the jungle when we first met," I slowly lowered my head until we were looking eye to eye again and noticed that the shotgun was a little lower. "Remember when I talked to you with telepathy? I heard a stallion's voice, not a mare's. And-" "There's no fix!" I frowned and quickly touched horns with the blue alicorn, and the world around us began to swirl into a black abyss. The alicorn let out a very mare like scream of anger as the both of us landed on soft fluffy pillows in the black abyss. I quickly sat up and held my hooves out before she could recover. "Wait!" I shouted. She sat up, tossing a pillow at me with a frown. It struck me square in the face with an oomph, making me stagger back a bit as I pulled it off and tossed it to the side with magic. "There is a-" Another pillow slapped me in the face, cutting my sentence off again. I screamed in annoyance and made the pillows disappear. The blue's ears drooped when her next shot vanished before it hit me. "Damnit. I want out of this fucked up head world!" "Hear me out," I said, slowly sitting down on nothing. "Then I'll let you go and you can do whatever you want to me." "Like I have a choice." The blue grumbled, folding her hooves across her chest. I waited a few seconds to see if she would interrupt and when she didn't, I took a deep breath. After I slowly let it out I said, "recently there was this orange alicorn stallion I met on this very island chain." That drew her full attention. Her ears swiveled forward and perked up as her forelegs relaxed. "You lie." "I would never lie to a sister. This orange alicorn told me how he used to be a pegasus, but had fallen into Killing Joke and was turned into a stallion." "How does that work?" her eyebrow raised up in confusion as she tilted her head some. I shrugged. "I think the joke was that he was going to be hunted down by everypony on this island chain for being an alicorn." "Gee, I wonder why," she replied dryly, causing me to roll my eyes. "Anyway. This pegasus to alicorn pony proves that an alicorn stallion can exist. A stupid plant is smarter than The Goddess. All we have to do is see if we can make it specifically turn an alicorn into a stallion." The blue alicorn slowly scratched her chin in thought for a few long moments. I could see her brows knit together and the frown as it slowly formed on her face. "I really would like to be normal again. But the question is..." she slowly looked up into my eyes as the frown turned into a smirk. "Why do I need you?" "Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion. "You just told me what plant was needed to fix me. I can just kill you now and be done with it." "Um... I... I, uh..." My ears drooped as I frowned when I realized the truth. "You are right... You don't need me to find the location of the plant and a pony that can mix up a potion." "Shit," she frowned. "I just realized I don't know any potion makers." Her response caused me to clap my hooves together with a grin. "So you can't kill me yet!" "It seems not..." *** *** "Shock!" Captain Dead Hoof, the blue alicorn formerly known as Blue, shouted as she looked around the room for me. A knife floated in his/her grip and I wasn't quite sure what to call her. She wanted to be called him and refused to be called sister, but my mind was conflicted. I sat on the dresser of her room, invisible to the naked eye. The room was exactly the same as it was almost an hour ago, save for 'Captain' Dead Hoof's attire. She wore a skin tight wetsuit as the fish pony Blue Fin called them. I found myself looking at Dead Hoof in the way I looked at Sister, as a good friend I could count on, but perhaps there was more to it. He/she was a captain without a ship and a pony lost in a strange body, one that she opted to reject as flawed. And rightly so. I would be pissed too if somepony swapped my gender without telling me it would happen. "Where are you?" Dead Hoof shouted again, breaking my thought trance. "Please," I said into her mind. "I don't want to be hurt anymore." Then facehoofed as the air around me shimmered when the invisibility spell dropped. Dead Hoof quickly looked over, a smirk slowly forming on her face as I jumped to my hooves and began galloping away. "There you are." I glanced over just as the blue alicorn slammed into me, sending us careening into the bed. Under our combined weight and with our momentum, the bed frame shattered, sending us sprawling on the mattress and stunned the both of us from the sudden shift of direction change. Quickly recovering from the stun, I rolled over, but the blue's hooves pressed down on my chest and pinned me down. "Hold still!" Dead Hoof hissed at me as she brought the knife closer to my face. My eyes widened at the sight of it heading for my blurry side. I quickly gave it a useless telekinetic slap, grabbed the blue's sides with my hind legs and, with some luck due to the distraction, flipped positions to where I was atop Dead Hoof. "Hah!" I smirked, she glared at me and shoved against my chest. I let go and spun around to gallop off, but her fat weight tackled me to the ground in a small dust cloud. Her forelegs wrapped around my neck and I could feel her frantic heart beat into my back. "Shock! That eye has to come out if you want to heal properly!" Dead Hoof shouted in my ear. "You know," I said only into her mind. "If you were a stallion, I'd like this position." "Then you'd like a toy of mine that we can play with later,” she whispered sensually in my ear, causing my whole face to heat up in a deep blush. My reaction received a laugh from her. "That's not the same thing!" I hissed back when I recovered from the unexpected reply. We laid there for a couple of seconds while I glanced at Blue Fin and Bell Tower. They were quietly watching and eating from a box of apple chips. It made me angry, but then I realized that they really couldn't help in the situation. So why not have dinner and a show? I know I would have done the same thing. "Roll onto your back," Dead Hoof said as she let go of my neck and stood up, giving my flank a light slap where the cutie mark should be. I blushed even more, quickly burying my face in my forehooves so Bell Tower and Blue Fin didn't see it. "Why must you torment me?” I whispered in Dead Hoof’s mind. “I don't want my eye removed. It will heal on its own with radiation." "You'll grow a new one," Dead Hoof replied. "It'll be quicker and safer." "Safer...?" I asked, opening my eyes only to see my very dirty coat. "How is a knife near my brain safer?!" "Because you won't be underwater as long. You don't want to drown, do you?" I laid there, staring at my hoof and thinking. She was right. If it was removed, it could potentially grow back much faster than if I simply healed it. But I did have an attachment to the eye and did not trust her with a knife anywhere near any vital spots. Slowly, I took a deep breath and looked at the slender blue alicorn in the skin tight wetsuit. Her mane did not flow and was still tied in a pair of pigtails with the pink bows on the end. I wanted to mock her choice of mane style if she considered herself a stallion, but chose to keep my mouth shut. She nodded at me, causing my ears to fold back. As I laid there staring at her, I wondered what Dead Hoof would look like as an alicorn stallion. The alicorn mare form was the perfect example of pony evolution, even I could not deny that they were appealing to the eye, so an alicorn stallion had to be just as perfect. The thought caused me to smile. Which in turn caused Dead Hoof to smile for all the wrong reasons because he/she brandished the knife towards me. "Get on your back and this'll be over quick." My smile instantly faded to a frown and I ended up seeing Sister standing there trying to tell me that We should not talk to the impure ponies because we were trying to stay alive. I slowly looked over at Bell Tower and Blue Fin, asking myself and Dead Hoof, "did We kill Sister with Our actions...? I... We... We only... wanted to help ponies... "Shock, snap out of it!" Dead Hoof shouted, drawing my attention over to her. "Get your head together and focus on the now, not the fuck-ups of the past." "Then you know about her death..." My ears slowly folded back as I lowered my head to stare at my forest green blank flank. "Eclipse killed her, beat her to death in front of me." "I know," Dead Hoof said quietly. "Word travels fast on the islands. I'm sorry she's dead, but you have to focus on something else or you're going to be a wreck for the rest of your life." "I am," I said with a nod, slowly bringing my gaze to meet Dead Hoof's. "I'm going to do worse to Eclipse. She's going to regret killing our sisters and wearing their bones." "Then you'll need to be in top shape," he replied as he brought the knife into my view. "You'll need both eyes." *** *** I glanced up at the 'sky' from behind a face mask hooked up to air tanks on my back. The surface of the ocean moved about in a strange manner as warm sunlight bored its way down to us, partially illuminating the wreck while my horn did the rest. Oddly, or not so depending on how you looked at it, the shipwreck Blue Fin knew about was only forty feet underwater in a lagoon. It was even possible to see the wreck from the nearby rocky cliffs in the day. As I sat there, Dead Hoof swam by my vision, drawing my attention to her. The blue alicorn gracefully swam around, chasing Blue Fin, while I was merely sitting on the hull of the wreck and soaking in as much radiation as I could. I felt my feathers ich terribly as they grew back and I even felt my eye growing back. That orb which Dead Hoof so forcibly removed in the attempt to show me that alicorns could indeed heal almost any wound. She was a fool to think I did not know that knowledge. I knew better than her how alicorns worked. She knew nothing about us beyond the fact that 'he' was now a she against his will. It was by The Goddess's will that he join our perfect sisterhood. It was true that all alicorns were female in her image, a minor setback and one that was soon to be rectified I hoped. I only wished that Sister were alive to see it. She... might have liked to have seen it. The thought of Sister caused me to look down at the steadily rusting ship beneath me as bubbles escaped my mask when I let out a deep sigh. My wetsuit did not do a good job of keeping the frigid ocean water at bay, but I did not care. I would freeze to death if it meant fixing the mistake I made. The mistake that caused the death of a pony, whom I cherished and loved as a sister more than the other alicorns. There had to be a way to bring her back. I would do anything to bring her back, to make sure she were alive still. I'd give up everything to hold her one more time, to hear her laugh and to see her smile. "There has to be a way!" I shouted as loud as I could. My hoof slammed against the rusty metal beneath me, causing a loud boom to echo for some time in the water, as I grit my teeth and stared at the dirt cloud that flew up at me. Slowly, my breathing calmed down to normal, but... I did not feel sad for the loss of Sister anymore. No, I felt angry at myself for causing it and annoyed that I could do nothing about it, except keep my last promise. "Something wrong?" I heard Dead Hoof's voice inside my head, having kept a faint link with her, Blue Fin, and Bell Tower, so we would know when it was time to go and so Bell Tower knew we were okay. "I'm... fine," I replied and looked back towards the bow of the ship. "Suddenly shouting 'there has to be a way' inside my head means something is bothering you," Dead Hoof continued to poke at my brain. She could poke me all she wanted, but she would get no farther. Instead of answering her, I dropped her connection and smiled a bit when I felt her frustration. However, Blue Fin swam into my view and folded her forelegs across her chest. I rolled my eyes, well one eye because my right was still covered, and looked out at the endless sea. Only to have the fish pony dart into my vision again. "You're being childish," Blue Fin said in my head.. I merely shrugged and pointed to my ear, tilting my head as if to say I couldn't hear her. "Liar!" She shouted. "You yelled at me about lying, and here you are lying." "What would you have me do?!" I shouted back at her mind. "She doesn't understand my pain. You don't understand my pain. You don't. Get it." "Make us understand then," she replied. Make them understand... Make them understand my pain? If only it were so easy and simple as to tell them. To tell a simple wasteland pony the complexities of love is physically impossible. It's like trying to explain hygiene to a raider that hasn't ever taken a bath. They just don't get it. Wastelanders just. Don't. Get it. *** *** Dead Hoof sat far from me on the beach while holding up a very familiar brown leather bound book in her magic. Her wet mane had been tied back again and she wore all her gear. Which consisted of a jacket, like the one I was wearing but a little shorter and no sleeves, her hat, shotgun, and saddlebags with some makeshift armor. A rock was floating in my magical grip as I attempted to judge the distance with both of my eyes. "How far?" Dead Hoof shouted. I frowned a little and knitted my brows in thought, which took only a split second to decide. "Thirty paces," I shouted with my mouth, glad to have my voice box back, and tossed the rock with my magic. Dead Hoof's gaze tracked it skyward and the both of us watched as the rock landed with a soft thump a foot away from her, causing me to frown and pick up another rock. I tossed it with my magic, we watched it again as it sailed over her head and landed ten feet behind her. Bell Tower and Blue Fin were sitting nearby playing cards on a rocky outcropping. I wondered why the fish pony was sticking around, but didn't bother asking. Instead I picked up another rock with my magic and tossed it. Dead Hoof watched as it sailed left and landed twenty feet to her side. She facehoofed and shouted, "how could you have been in charge of a missile launcher?!" With a roll of my eyes I picked up another rock and telekinetically tossed it as hard as it could. I watched as it sailed through the air, and struck Dead Hoof's foreleg dead on. She jumped back, grabbing hold of the foreleg as she screamed in pain, "aah, fuck! What was that for?!" Her shout drew confused looks from the two card playing ponies. "I hit my target," I shouted. "You wanted me to hit you with a rock, but did not specify if it was first try or fourth." Her cradled foreleg trembled in pain, causing me to frown and start trotting across the sand over to her. "I told you to hit the book! Not me. The book, the book, the book!" When I reached her, I gently took the foreleg in magic and looked it over, frowning at the large welt on her perfect blue leg. "I'm sorry, but We did not think clearly." "Obviously," she muttered under her breath, but I heard it in my head. "Can I ask you something?" I knew the foreleg would heal soon with how much radiation the two of us soaked up, so I did not think either of us were worried about permanent damage. "Hm?" I tilted my head as I slowly looked from her leg to her eyes. "You can ask me anything." She looked over at Blue Fin and Bell Tower before looking at me and whispering, "why do you hang out with that Steel Ranger?" I slowly looked over at the scribe and sighed deeply. "I do not know." My voice was quiet and sweet like, well, like candy apples. "He offered to pay me bits if I showed him the island and it seemed like a good idea at the time." "Do you still have the bits?" Dead Hoof asked. I nodded slowly. "All of them?” Another nod from me caused her to smile. “May I have them?" I watched Bell Tower and Blue Fin play cards for a few more moments. They seemed like any other boring non-alicorn pony, if one such boring pony was half fish. They seemed to ignore us and seemed like Blue Fin would giggle once in a while. No doubt because Bell Tower made a terrible joke. With a deep sigh of frustration, I slowly levitated my bag of bits out and floated them to Dead hoof. She took them in her own magic and limped towards the duo. "Give me a minute," she said quietly before leaving normal hearing range. I knew what she planned, so I looked off at the water and shut my eyes. The cool salty sea air blew in off the wave tops as they crashed down on the beach, drowning out any conversation Dead Hoof was having with Bell Tower. I, of course, ignored them and chose to bask in the warm sunlight, slowly laying down on my side as I spread my fully healed wing out to let it catch the breeze. My mind began turning over every possibility ranging from Bell tower refusing and Dead Hoof having to shoot him, all the way to the simple idea that he took the bits and trotted off. After an eternity of waiting, a light touch on my flank caused me to open my eyes and look over at Dead Hoof. She pulled her hoof away from my body and smiled. "We're alone." "And?" I tilted my head some, my ear twitching about as I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "You even got the fish pony to leave?" Dead Hoof bowed her head a bit. "She only wanted her equipment and she got it. Now that we are alone..." she smirked, causing my ears to slowly fold back when I remembered her comment about a certain toy and the two of us. "There is something I want you to know. Rules as it were." "Rules?" I tilted my head, receiving a nod from her. "What rules?" "Simple ones really; rule one, you won't butcher ponies-" I opened my mouth to retort, but she held up her hoof, causing me to close my mouth. "Ah-ah. Let me finish before you interrupt. Rule one, you won't butcher ponies for the sake of 'food'. Rule two, you will listen to my every word as if it were the law. Rule three, I will say who you can and cannot shoot. Instead of shooting ponies, you will devote your time to helping ponies in need. Rule four, you will not carry any blades or weapons of any kind in a town and give them to me before we head in. Any questions?" "May I kill Eclipse and skin her?" I asked as I tilted my head the other way. "I swore to Sister that Eclipse was going to die." Dead Hoof stood there looking at me, a frown slowly forming on her face. I bit my lower lip and waited for her response. Her brows knitted together as her face scrunched up, clearly in deep, deep thought about my question. She looked out over the ocean and sighed before looking at me, spreading her wings out. "Okay. Eclipse can die." *** *** Wind whipped at my face, blowing my short mane back as I skimmed a few feet above the choppy ocean's surface. Every so often, the waves would smash together and throw cold salty spray on my face, but I didn't care. I was flying again and could see with both of my eyes. I was happy, almost too happy and cared little about the struggle of Bell Tower or that one Steel Ranger Elder whose name I had forgotten. All I cared about. Was flying. My forehooves slapped at a wave as I swooped down, causing me to giggle in glee as I pulled up, rolled over above Dead Hoof, and swooped down underneath her in a very lazy barrel roll. She glanced over at me and tried to frown, but I could see the faintest of smiles form on her lips. Dead Hoof tucked her wing in, banking away from me before leveling out and flying off. I pulled up and flew higher than her before leveling off to chase down the wayward alicorn. She glanced back as she darted left. I rolled into a bank and followed her with a powerful flap of my wings. Dead Hoof dropped low to the water's surface, her forehooves skimming wave top after wave top as she tried to outrun me. I smiled, angling downward in a dive to pick up speed. Her cutie mark covered blue flank steadily approached at a rapid rate. But before I could tap it, she banked to the right and flew off with a few more flaps of her wings. With a fake groan of annoyance, I followed along behind her and tried closing the gap again. She looked back at me, smirked, and pulled up, propelling herself skyward like a rocket. I followed along a bit slower to see what her plan was. Dead Hoof flew up, and up, and up, almost to the cloud layer before she collapsed her wings against her side, causing me to tilt my head. "Catch me!" She shouted as her inertia caused her to hover in the air for a split second before falling towards me. I tilted my head the other way and held my hooves out as she came closer. Dead Hoof's weight slammed into my forelegs, I was yanked downward, but pulled her close and held her tight, noticing a grin was on her face and her eyes were shut. "We do not see what is so amusing," We told her quietly. Dead Hoof opened her eyes and grinned at me. "Now I know I can trust you to not eat me when I sleep." "Huh?" I tilted my head and blinked in confusion as I began hovering the two of us down towards the water. "You could always have trusted me to not harm you." "Forgive me for wanting to make sure myself after that hellhole of a dream." she replied. I stared at her blue face that reminded me of Sister so much, that it caused me to see Mudpie in Dead Hoof. "Shock," she said as we stopped above the water. "Tell me something." "Hm?" I tilted my head. "What do you want to know?" Dead Hoof hovered up and slightly away, frowning a bit. "Your... eating habits. How did they come around?" I looked off and away at the ocean, my mind slowly working over the question. Do I want to tell her? She is an alicorn... And probably shared my memories at one time due to Unity. So why then is she trying to get me to talk about it? With a frown, I started hovering in the original direction we had been flying. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. It's a dark past I want to forget. Do you want to know something?" "What?" Dead Hoof asked, hovering after me and just to my side. I glanced over at her and waved my hoof at the sky as I said, "imagine an Equestria that has lush grass, living trees, and life everywhere, not this constant grey and death." "I heard the stories from the ghouls, but have never seen it first hoof and would have never believed such a thing were possible until I came to the islands." I hovered a little faster over the waves and nodded a little. "I was there, back before everything died. It was an amazing place full of happy ponies. I was a foal, I think." My brows knitted together in thought. "You think?" Dead Hoof giggled at me and hovered in front of me, spinning around so she'd fly backwards. "Shock, everypony ever born was a foal at one time." I looked away and frowned. "I don't remember the first near twenty years of my life. It's all muddled and blank." "Sounds like something bad must have happened." I nodded a little. The wave reflecting light beneath us did little to quell my brain's thoughts centering on the blank spot in my mind. I wondered what was so bad that I completely blocked it out, but any prolonged dwelling caused a near literal fiery dagger to stab at my head. Causing me to hold my forehead with a hoof and frown. A quick shake of my head fixed my pain when I banished the thoughts of thinking about my past to the dark recess of my mind. "How much longer to the island?" I asked quietly, as if talking too loudly would bring them back. "About an hour, but we should rest once we find a safe place to land." "An hour? I bet we can be there faster." I flew around the blue and flapped my wings, propelling me faster and faster. "Shock!" Dead Hoof called out. "Remember to fly low!" *** *** My hooves slammed into the grass covered dirt as the force of the landing caused my legs to buckle. I collapsed, rolled off the momentum, and stood up, flaring out my glorious wings with a pop as I looked back up at Dead Hoof with a smirk. "An hour? Hah!" The blue alicorn slowly fluttered down and folded her wings, looking around the island. It was a mostly flat island covered in a forest with the Hoofington quite visible from our approach. Luckily we had the failing sunlight at our backs to blind the Tin Cans to our presence. It seemed as if we had Lady Luck on our side for once. I slowly turned around to face Dead Hoof and folded my glorious wings. "What now?" "We find shelter and plan our attack on that ship," she replied as she began trotting into the forest. I pulled Hyde out and began trotting after her. As I trotted around Dead Hoof, I glanced left before looking right with my eyes, smiling when I had no dead zone except for the back of my head. But, all I saw were trees and trees, and more trees along with water behind us. The forest was not quite the same as the jungles of Oakwood, which is understandable, but it was very similar to the swamplands back in Equestria. Which was fucking odd. “How come we could not gather the Enclave?” I asked, placing Hyde’s handle in my mouth so that my magic’s glow did not give away my position against the foliage. “Because,” Dead Hoof replied and said nothing else. Her reply caused me to frown as the two of us began to walk along a small path between the trees. My gaze scanned the forest ahead for any signs of the Tin Can Steel Rangers, but I found nothing. However, that fact caused me to stop and slowly hold my wing out. “Wait,” I said in her mind, “this is a very bad idea.” “You just now realized that?” Dead Hoof deadpanned. I quickly shook my head before looking back at Dead Hoof. Her blue coat was a bit sweat matted from the flight and the failing light made her look nearly black. “No,” I said quietly. “I knew going to their base might be a bad idea, but… their suits have the same targeting that Pipbucks do if my memory is right.” Dead Hoof’s ears folded back as a slight look of worry crossed her face. “So they can track us?” I nodded. “Greaaaaat. Another awesome idea!” “But they cannot track us if they cannot see us,” I said with a grin. Then hovered my Hellhound bladed sword back into its sheath before going invisible. "You do realize we can't sleep while invisible, right?" Dead Hoof asked. "And it takes a lot of magic to keep running?" "We can share the load if you allow it." “No.” Dead Hoof said and went invisible. Then the two of us walked silently and unseen for some time. I followed along the small path as it wended its way through the forest and curved around trees. I did not push the blue alicorn about sharing the abilities and did not expect her to want to be connected to me for some reason, but. If that was her wish, then that was her wish. I frowned as the darkness slowly overtook the land and the creatures of the night began to awake as birds chirped good night to their mates. The path ahead was heavily covered by grass, bushes and a thick grouping of trees, causing me to slow my trot some. "Why are you slowing down?" Dead Hoof whispered. How the blue tracked me through the invisibility was not really a mystery to me, because my stealth was not as good as hers and she could easily see my outline up close. "Something feels wrong," I replied as I slowed down even more and stopped as a faint misty fog began to form in the area. "The path feels traveled, but is too overgrown." I sniffed the air and smelled a strange familiar smell. "What?" she asked, a hint of annoyance underlining her voice caused me to frown. "Someth-" My gaze glanced left towards dark trees as my ears picked up faint whispers on the breeze coming in off the ocean. I stood there, looking around with both my eyes while trying to spot any non-tree object, but I saw nothing. "Voices..." "Shock, nothing is there," Dead Hoof said as she nudged my flank forward, but I held my ground. I heard them. The whispers in Equestrian and Zebra. The whispers saying they were ready. The cannons echoing in the distance as artillery launched its barrage of deadly rain. Suddenly, as I glanced right, the trees erupted with a scattering of multiple points of light and the rapid pops of hidden weapons shattered the silence. "Ambush!" I shouted as I dove for something, anything, to use for cover. My body slammed into the dirt and slid behind a large tree as I telekinetically undid my bags and opened them up, digging through the left one where I had placed the pistols. "Shock!" Dead Hoof shouted, but I ignored her. Instead of replying, I only glanced in her direction to make sure the blue still stood. She was standing there unstealthed with a look of terror on her face. "Get down you moron," I hissed. She ignored my reply and stayed standing. I finally pulled out the pistol, slid a magazine in and dropped the safety before glancing around the tree. Nothing was there. All my eyes saw was trees, mist, and fireflies. The hot misty forest was silent save for my heart as it tried to escape my chest with every beat. Using my hoof, I slowly wiped the sweat off my face and kept staring out at the Forest to find any equine shapes in the distance. But a touch on my side caused me to whip my head around to look at the worried face of Dead Hoof. Her ears were back, but her horn was alight as her shotgun floated at the ready in case something shot at us. "I think we're safe. Just don't fire that," she said quietly, causing my ears to droop. I glanced at the floating pistol and frowned when I saw it was Sister, the broken one. I opened and closed my mouth to form a reply, the name scratched into the side was quite obvious and I had no idea how I didn’t see it. Slowly, I looked up at Dead hoof with my ears back as the pistol floated closer. "I see them, all their faces. I hear their voices. They're there when I shut my eyes and they haunt my dreams. I can't get rid of them." She bit her lower lip when I placed the barrel of Sister against the side of my head. "This would be the only way to get rid of them," I sighed deeply and let my magic fade, causing the pistol to drop to the ground. "But I know that option would be worse because that would leave my promises unfulfilled. There's no glory in death or living for me. I'm a wounded pony and am cursed to carry the burden of what I've done. Only the Goddess will tell me when I can finally rest in peace and quiet." I didn't realize when, but Dead Hoof had placed my bags back onto my back and tightened the straps. It wasn't until I finished talking that I noticed. I looked down at the jacket that used to belong to Sister and frowned, slowly running my hoof along the sleeve with the built-in magazine holder. "I have to survive for her," I said quietly with my mouth. "I made her a promise that I would live until I died of old age. I swore that I'd come back alive." The broken pistol was set into my forehooves by magic as Dead Hoof said, "then you keep your promise and come with me. Forget this stupid task of killing Eclipse and come with me to the mainland. There are others who can help you, I’m sure of it. We can work to keep these visions from popping up." I shut my eyes as I hugged the pistol and sniffled. "I can't leave the island yet. I keep my promises and Eclipse will die." "She will die from old-" "SHE DIES BY MY HOOF!" I screamed at Dead Hoof in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing her to take a couple steps back with wide eyes. I covered my mouth as my eyes slowly widened in shock, the pistol fell to the dirt for a second time. "Sorry..." I whispered. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad." I clutched my ears with my hooves and slowly lowered my head. "I'm a wreck of a pony and you shouldn't have to put up with Us. Just go. We can do this Ourself." "No," she said flatly, but We did not look up at her. We stared down at the pistol as it glinted pale moonlight into Our eyes and reminded Us of the way Sister’s eyes looked at night. "I can't let you be by yourself. You're living in whatever horrible past you had and you need help before you hurt innocent ponies. I'm going to give you that help, so you're stuck with me until we die." A distinct metallic click-clack of a shotgun's pump being run through its motions caused my ears to twitch up as I slowly lowered my hooves, and looked up at the blue alicorn. The shotgun floated under her head, pointed off to the side. "So let's kick some flank and be done with it." Slowly, I smiled at Dead Hoof and held my hoof out to her. Shell Shock: 75% to next level. Dead Hoof: Level Up! New Perk - Shotgun Surgeon. Your affinity with shotguns allows your shots 15% more accuracy when wielding any shotgun based weapon and a 5% chance to knock the target back with the right ammo. Chapter 19: DreamsChapter 19: Dreams “Some mares call them paradise, but I call it hell.” The Steel Rangers had set up a small tent city outside their ship base. Un-armored ponies scurried about their business almost like in pre-war times, but instead of fighting zebras. They were desperately trying to dig the massive ship out of the beach where it had run into. Scaffolding covered most of the bow and I could see sparks from where welders were busy making their hasty repairs. Whether or not the thing would be able to sail again was another matter entirely because almost all of the bow was crushed inward quite a bit. The more I watched them work from my invisible perch, the more anxious I became to sneak in and kill Eclipse. It was a suicidal mission that had two logical outcomes that I was willing to accept; I die before I get to her, or I kill her and die in the escape attempt. Dead Hoof was adamant about the first one while I was leaning towards the second with a very slim chance of survival. We could go invisible and disappear from the sensors after all. It was a nice and easy trick to escape, but the plan called for the both of us to go in and out the narrow corridors. I had refused to give in to the other alicorn's attempts to pry into my past. She wanted to know who I promised to return home to and what the world was like. All I would tell her was that it was a nice place and much better than now. She would get no more from me because she does not need to know. Only one alicorn deserved to know, and she is now dead. Something I regret heavily, but cannot dwell on or risk losing focus, which would be incredibly bad with how close I was to the Steel Rangers. Thinking of the Tin Cans caused the gears in my head to slowly spin around as my mind worked over a plan. I wished for a missile launcher, flamethrower or artillery gun to lob my message into the camp, but I would get no such luxuries. The only tools I had were the 10mm pistol 'Shock', the chainsaw ripper 'Hyde', my various spells including the shield, and a small bundle of grenades. Not the best, but workable. As I thought of the grenades, my gaze wandered from the camp over to a Vertibuck sitting on the beach near a whole stack of fuel drums. The Tin Cans were using the Vertibuck to fly around the island chain and back again. I knew they had quite a few of the things, including weapons for them. As I stared at the thing, a plan slowly formed in my head. And it caused me to grin. *** *** I finished crawling back through the forest and dropped my invisibility spell as I approached a cave mouth. "Sister?" I called out telepathically. "I have finished my recon of the ship and..." My voice trailed off when I saw the inside of the cave. Dead Hoof laid on her back on the cold stone floor, her wings unfolded and her eyes wide open, but unblinking. All of our stuff was scattered around and a few red shell casings were laying next to her body. My ears folded back as I slowly approached her and laid down, resting my wing over her body. "I'm sorry," I whispered with my mouth and looked down at my hooves. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I..." I shut my eyes as tight as I could. "I'm an idiot!" I shouted. "You warned me not to come here, but.." I slowly shook my head as my ears drooped to the side of my face. "I didn't listen because I'm an idiot. I thought we could-" "Shock?" Dead Hoof's voice resonated in my ears as it echoed off the cave walls, causing me to stop talking. "What are you talking about?" "You're dead..." I whispered. "Dead?" "Yes," I slowly nodded. "Killed by scouts who came while I was away..." "Wut?" "It's true." I opened my eyes and looked at her face. Strangely the dead alicorn had a confused, shocked and horrified expression on her face all at once. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. "I'm not dead," she said and slowly sat up, giving her wings a test flap. "I was asleep." "Asleep?" I asked, tilting my head some. "Yeah," she nodded. "I sometimes sleep with my eyes open. Helps to-" I interrupted her by hugging the blue alicorn as tight as I could and burying my face in her neck. "You're alive!" "Sh-I... Can't..." She gasped for air in my grip and her wings flapped uselessly. As soon as I loosened it, she immediately took in a huge breath of air and sat there breathing deeply. I pulled back and smiled. After a while, she said, "you thought I was dead?" I nodded slowly and waved a hoof at the state of our belongings. "When I saw this, and you on the floor with a sightless gaze. I... I may have overreacted." Something touched my wing, causing me to look down at Dead Hoof's dark blue wing. Her dirty feathers were twisted about and it looked as if she hadn't preened in weeks, causing me to frown. "I should have let you know about my sleeping habit ahead of time," she said. "But I was looking for that journal of yours and made a mess." "My journal?" I asked, still staring at her messy wing. Even mine was messy. More so because it had been clipped and healed multiple times in the last few months. Even I never have the time to do a proper preening to clean them. The fact made me frown even more. "I wanted to look at it but couldn't find it." "Because I didn't want you to find it," I replied. "When was the last time you preened?" "Huh, you di-what? Preen?" she asked, clear confusion in her voice. "What the hell is preen?" "How old of an alicorn are you?" I gently reached out with my telekinesis and unfolded her wing all the way. "I'm..." Dead Hoof tilted her head. "What are you doing?" "Your wings need preening, and I will give them that since you obviously do not know how." I moved closer to her and gently gripped the bottom of the feather's shaft where it met the wing with my mouth, lightly moving it to see if it'd fall out. When it didn't slowly moved down the feather, straightening and cleaning it as I went. When I finished with the feather, I looked at Dead Hoof. "You do that." "For how many?" She asked, holding the wing up to her mouth and nibbled on one of her feathers, causing a couple blue feathers to stick to her nose when she pulled back. "All of them," I replied as I removed the feathers from her nose with magic. "All..? That could take all day and..." Her voice nearly trembled in fear. "They could find us." "It'd be faster if I preened my wings while you preened yours." She looked down at her wing again and, after a couple seconds, frowned. "To answer your question, I was converted about six or seven months ago." "Why'd you do it?" I asked with my mind as I started to preen Dead Hoof's out stretched wing. "I was captured by slavers and sold to Red Eye. Like I had a choice in the matter." I finished with the second feather and spit the old one out before starting on the third. "All alicorns are created from willing unicorns. They should have asked if you wanted to be converted or not." "They did," she replied as I started on a couple smaller and ragged looking feathers. They were plucked with magic because I had seen the new ones already growing in. "But they basically said 'convert or die'." I stopped preening, slowly looking at Dead Hoof as my eyes widened. "What...? No! They would have said something like 'you can go freely if you do not want to convert'." "Like I'm supposed to believe that!" she shouted and waved a hoof around. "armed guards and powerful fucking alicorns around me? Like they would have let me go, just like that!" I slowly nodded. "I have seen it first hoof. Many, many, years ago I brought in one unicorn. She seemed so sure of it up until we arrived at Maripony. There she got skittish, unsure and wanted to nothing to do with us. So we escorted her out of the area and left her alone." "Okay, fine!" Dead Hoof folded her forelegs across her chest. "Maybe the alicorns would have let me go, but Red Eye's cronies sure as hell weren't going to. Can we not talk about this? I don't like being a mare and don't like to be reminded of it." I gave a faint nod. Then looked down at Dead Hoof's wing. "Do you want me to continue preening your wings while I tell you my plan and what I saw earlier today?" "Sure." *** *** As quietly as I could, I darted out from behind a tree and zipped through the air, landing on top of a rocky outcropping overlooking the Steel Ranger camp and ship from the other side of the bay. I laid down as my invisibility spell dropped and watched the ponies far, far away from Dead hoof and I. The surf slamming against the rocks drowned out the other alicorn's hooves as she landed next to me. I glanced at her. The cold ocean spray from a wave covered us both, just before another wave slammed into the rock. "It's brilliant, right?" I asked with a smile. "They're not going to let you steal a Vertibuck and get away," Dead Hoof said with a frown. "Think it through." "I have. It's simple; We knock out Eclipse, tie her up, transport her while invisible, and board the chopper." "How do you propose we get aboard that Vertibuck carrier?" I nodded my horn at the side of the ship where the top deck met the stern. A large gap could be seen in the ship as if the deck was extended further than the hull. "Do you see that point where the two halves meet? The ship has doors everywhere. Getting aboard is not hard. Navigating it is a different matter altogether." "Huh?" Dead Hoof laid down next to me and looked at the ship. "It's gotta be easy to navigate since that thing is like a larger ship than what I had, right?" I shook my head. "If the Steel Rangers kept the interior as it was in pre-war times, you are going to find acronyms and numbers, not words, telling you what was what." "I don't get it." I facehoofed and groaned. "How hard is this to understand?! Sometimes you'll have to go up two decks and down again just to keep going on the same level. It is a maze of tunnels and doors." Dead Hoof rolled her eyes. "Why not just say that? So how are we going to navigate it and find Eclipse?" Slowly, I looked out over the bay and frowned. In truth, I had no idea how to navigate it. The Crescent Moon had been redone by its inhabitants to be easier to navigate on top of it being a passenger ship. The Celestia's Delight had been an auxiliary cruiser built from a cargo ship. I knew, in the deepest recesses of my mind, that the Hoofington would be three times as confusing. I had only been on a ship like it once before we were deployed and I was only allowed in specific areas; the bunks, the galley, and the unloading platform. Something kept nagging at me though. It was Dead Hoof's reluctance to work with the Enclave. She wouldn't tell me why, but I assumed it had something to do with the fact that Equestria was covered in clouds because of those flying shitheads. But I could overlook that and work with them if they showed they had something to offer. I looked at the blue. "Dead Hoof, why won't you let the Enclave help? They promised me they would!" She looked over at me and frowned, causing me to frown in response. Her eyebrows knitted together in clear thought for a few long moments while we stared into each other's eyes. Then she said, "because." That was it? Just because?! What is her problem with the Enclave? Did they do something to her? But that is silly. Unless... "You've had dealings with them in the past," We said flatly. She didn't reply, only looking out at the ship beyond us. "You can tell Us what happened." "It's nothing," she shook her head. "Just this one pegasus I knew." "Who?" "I'm not sure. She came into my camp one night, injured. I took her in, healed her and gave her what food I had." "Then what?" I tilted my head some as I moved a little closer. "They came in the morning. Armor as black as night, eyes that'd give even you the creeps, and tails with sharp swords. They came in and took her back by force." Dead Hoof looked down with a deep frown on her face. "Never saw her again." "Sorry," We said, a frown forming on Our face as well. "We did not... mean to bring up bad memories. We know how bad memories can effect a pony." "Shock." "Hm?" We looked up into Dead Hoof's eyes. "Stop it. Stop calling yourself 'We'. You're not in Unity anymore." I nodded slowly and looked at the ship in the distance. "I didn't realize I was. Shall we, you and I, get moving?" She went invisible in response, so I cast the spell and took flight. We swooped low over the waves like We had done on our approach to the island and gave Our wings a few quick flaps, propelling Us faster than a gallop with ease. Dead hoof and I flew unseen along the wave tops while my mind worked over her story. I wondered why she had given it up so easily, but passed it off as her just wanting to get it off her chest. Or it could be a false story. Now that I knew, I knew not to ask her about it again. As the two of us approached the ship, I could see its patchwork repairs all along the bull that would be a better fit for a scrapyard. Its paint job was mostly rust overlaid with a dosing of whatever paint they had at the time, giving the appearance of a rather hideous looking ship up close. However, its number and name were proudly painted on in white. My path took me past rusted doors, large caliber weapons, and other things I did not care for. However, We passed by a large gap in the side and suddenly stopped in the air, Dead Hoof's weight slammed into me, causing the both of us to tumble a bit before I righted myself. I glanced back at where she might be and did not see her outline, but heard the faint flap of her wings over the wings. "Dead Hoof," I said quietly with my mouth. "Where are you?" "Here," she whispered back, the distance of her voice said she was less than a leg's length of distance away. "Why did you stop?" I pointed my hoof in a useless gesture at the large opening in the side of the ship. Inside, I could see multiple Vertibucks in various states of repairs and ponies in orange jump suits diligently working on them. A loud whirring noise filtered out from the workshop as a pony unbolted something with an ancient air gun. "This is our way in," I whispered. "What? But... There's ponies! They'll see the door open up." "Not if they are busy working." I said before flying inside the shop and landing some distance from the nearest Vertibuck behind some boxes. A quiet clop of hooves near me told me that Dead Hoof had followed regardless of her feelings on the matter. I glanced over at the door to the ship's interior and began watching it. No pony was near it and neither was any pony near us, so I dropped my invisibility spell with a deep sigh. "We should take a break." I sat down and glanced at Dead Hoof, who had also dropped her spell. She was frowning at me, but not saying anything. I stared at her, she stared back, and the seconds began passing. After a while, she took a deep breath and said, "Shock, this is dumb." "How so?" I asked, tilting my head some. "You and I are probably kill-on-sight and we're surrounded by Steel Rangers while visible." She floated out her shotgun and stared at the side of the barrel with a frown. "I don't want to kill them, but I'll do it if they leave me no choice." She put the weapon away as I slowly peered out from behind cover and looked at the door. Again, no pony was near it. And why should they post guards inside the hangar? They'd want to keep the crew out, not in! I went back to my hiding spot next to Dead Hoof and was about to suggest a plan when a yellow glow surrounded a box at the same time a pony shouted very close by, “yeah, yeah. I’ll get that turbocharger! It’s just behind…” My eyes went wide as the box was lifted up and pulled away from us. My horn glowed its soft color as I drew my 10mm pistol, Shock, with the attached suppressor and pointed it at the box, slowly taking a couple steps back. “...here…” the pony muttered as his grumpy face turned to a look of shock, his eyes slowly went wide as his jaw slowly dropped. “Shock, don’t...” Dead Hoof said. Shock moved into my vision as I lined up a shot on the pony’s head and made a silencing motion with my hoof. The silver unicorn glanced at the floating box, me, the box, Dead Hoof, me, the box and tossed it towards me, shouting, “alicorns!” “Wait!” Dead Hoof shouted as the box slammed into my floating pistol, causing it to get knocked sideways at the same time the trigger was squeezed. The sound was akin to a pony stomping their hoof on a metal can, but still loud enough to echo in the room as the bullet ricocheted off the ground and lodged itself into a wall. I was sent reeling back when the box shoved the pistol into my snout, causing me to see stars at the same time my magic field imploded and the pistol dropped to the ground. “Shock, wait!” I collapsed from the very heavy box slamming against my face and felt as if my nose was on fire. The wooden box was shoved away as I grabbed the pistol in my magic and leaped towards the boxes. They exploded outwards as my body slammed into them. By then I had the attention of the mechanically inclined unicorn and other ponies in the room. I quickly stood up on my hind legs, spread my wings out and held a hoof towards the sky to give an imposing sight as I telekinetically shouted, “THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS IS DISPLEASED!” Everything went quiet, deathly quiet. A big burly earth pony stallion with something in his mouth walked out from behind the closest Vertibuck. I could see that he wore grimy coveralls filled to the brim with tools, and his mane was stained with grease. If I had to name him, I’d call him Greaser. Greaser turned his head to the side, but kept his gaze on me and spit up some rather icky looking brown stuff. “Like I give a shit if yer some ‘goddess’. Ya jus’ damaged some ancient parts, an’ I ain’t to happy about that.” “AND WHAT ART THOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT, WHELP?” We continued to glare at the insolent pony. He glanced at the others nearby for a few seconds before looking at Us. “I challenge ya to a duel; no magic, no guns, an’ no wings. You win, ya get somethin’. Ya lose, you get outta my shop.” Our eyes narrowed at the pony as We slowly untied Our saddlebags and floated everything, including the pistol, towards Dead Hoof. “We accept thy challenge!” We shouted with Our mouth. Dead Hoof most likely facehoofed because We heard the distinct slap of a hoof hitting a pony’s face from her direction. “Shock, we could have bribed them…” she muttered. We ignored her remark and slowly held one fore hoof out as We turned sideways and readied for the attack. The earth pony pulled a large wrench over and held it close, smirking at Us. “Ready?” We nodded. “Yes. Are you?” His smirk grew even larger and he pointed at the Vertibuck to Our right. “Take the starboard engine off that one, tear it apart, an’ rebuild it 'fore we can do the same to the other side,” “What...?” We tilted Our head and blinked in confusion. “You are not going to fight Us?” “One, two, three, go!” He shouted and dashed over to the Vertibuck and began to work on it. I stood there blinking in complete shock for a few long moments. A heavy shove knocked me back to reality as Dead Hoof shouted, “Shock, wake up and start working!” *** *** I clamored around the roof of the Vertibuck, wrench firmly clenched in my teeth as my greasy hooves worked to get a good angle on the flying machine's engine. However, any and all attempts to work were constantly thwarted by the fact that we did not how to pull the thing apart. Neither did we not know how to put it back together! Dead Hoof was sitting on the ground with a bunch of parts in her lap and a confused expression on her face. "Did this part go here? Or..." She set the odd part down and frowned. "No, that's not it..." "Time's up!" A pony yelled from behind us, drawing my attention to the other side of the Vertibuck. The aforementioned loud mouth was sitting next to the completed engine with a pompous smirk on his face. I felt like slapping it off with a flying kick of doom. Then my gaze went to my flank, which was up in the air with my short tail not doing a good job of covering myself. A low growl built up in my throat as I thought about what the pony could have been staring at. Quickly, I spun around and mentally shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SEE?!" He chuckled, turning his head to spit some icky brown-black stuff out, then looked at me again. "A grease covered loser. You lost." "This challenge was absurd!" I shouted and stomped my hoof into the metal vehicle's roof, causing it to ring out. "A duel is honorable combat between two parties! Not this... This travesty! It is an abomination and-" "I woulda lost had I fought ya," the pony said. "Yer an alicorn, who is obviously experienced in fightin', an' I'm a mechanic who can barely hit anythin' with a pistol. I would've lost an' it was in my favor to pick what I had the advantage in, just as you would've done." My teeth ground together as I thought over his words. He was right, I was an okay shot and okay with hoof-to-hoof, having picked up the zebra's Fallen Caesar fighting style long ago. The pony was at a severe disadvantage against me and not all duels are decided by sword, hoof, or bullets. The battle of wits is a real battle none the less. With a deep sigh, I hung my head low and nodded. "You are correct. We have lost the duel and will leave your shop at once." The pony pointed his grease stained hoof at the door to the ship's interior, causing me to tilt me head. "There's the door, now git!" I looked over at the pony, then down at Dead Hoof and finally the door, a small smile formed on my face. *** *** "I don't believe you," Dead Hoof grumbled as she walked along beside me through the rusty passageways. She wasn't invisible and neither was I. All her weapons were being carried by the pony behind us. All of mine, except for the 10mm pistol, was also being carried by the pony. Shock was expertly hidden inside Dead Hoof's long mane so it couldn't be easily seen. We had been 'captured' as part of a brilliant plan. Since it would be advantageous to have a local pony escort us around, I had decided to make a deal with the mechanics. It was a brilliant and simple plan. As the path split, the pony nudged us towards the right and the three of us continued walking. The presence of two alicorns drew looks from some ponies inside the rooms, but when they saw that we were 'captured' they left us alone. I glanced over at Dead Hoof as we passed by a room marked 'Motel Spinner Hub'. "It is brilliant," my voice whispered into her mind. "This way we can memorize the layout." She merely rolled her eyes in response. I nodded a bit and looked at the path ahead. The interior of the ship was much like the outside, rusty and ugly. Metal piping ran overhead, carrying who knows what, and bulkheads spaced every so often showed where the water tight doors were. When shut, those doors were perfectly sealed to keep water out, but I had a feeling that Hyde could cut through them. I began humming to myself as we walked, but quickly stopped. "Dead hoof," I whispered in her mind. She glanced over at me with a frown. "Don't worry about the engine. The mechanics know how to properly put it back together." "I get the feeling that it'll blow up as soon as they turn it on," she muttered under her breath. I nodded slowly at her worry and did not reply. Instead, I picked up my pace and began to almost canter along the hallways in anticipation of finally killing Eclipse. The rusty floors and walls were ignored in favor of memorizing the layout; a left here, the third right there, head up the stairs to C Deck, cross over to the other side of the ship and climb to B Deck. There, on B Deck, the interior changed. It was no longer rusty, but well kept like the Delight had been. The metal interior had been painted over an ugly grey time and time again, providing a nice relief to the previous halls. Still, the three of us pressed onward towards our destination, the Captain's Quarters. However, at the end of the first hallway was a pair of power armored tin cans standing guard at the door. "Halt!" one shouted through his armor's speaker like some brainwashed guard. Dead Hoof and I instantly complied. An audible gulp could be heard from the blue's throat. "Ole' Cookie captured these two tryin' to sneak aboard," the pony behind us said. "I'm takin' 'em to see Elder Eclipse." The guards looked at each other for a few long moments, then at us. "You'll take them to the brig instead." "Shock," Dead hoof whispered through her teeth. With a deep breath, I stared at the two tin cans and tried to figure out who was newer. It didn't take long with the Steel Rangers being sticklers for old world practices. The one on the right was new and had less maintained equipment, so I glanced at the one on the left and whispered in his mind, "the alicorns don't need to go to the brig. Alicorns are too important for the brig and must be seen right away." The guard looked at the other one and a silent conversation could be seen as their heads bobbed around. One even stomped his hoof down. After standing there for an eternity, the guards finally opened the door. The one on the left looked at us and said, "add their weapons and gear to the ship's armory. We'll escort them from here." We glanced back at the pony behind Us. He nodded, gave a salute and galloped off. This caused Us to hiss a bit because he had Hyde and the special 105mm shell. *** *** We walked in silence. One Tin Can ahead with one behind Us. Dead Hoof flanked Us and no pony said a word, out loud. "Sister, we can still get out of this," We said in Dead Hoof's mind. "How? Tell me, is this how Mudpie died? She followed you until you killed her with your stupidity?" We looked away from her, but was shoved back in line by the Tin Can behind Us. "Eyes front," he said and We wordlessly complied by staring at the flank of the power armored guard ahead. "We are not stupid," We whispered in Dead Hoof's mind."We would not have survived so long if We were." "Unless the Princesses took pity on you." I winced and her words stung. Dead Hoof had no right to call me stupid because she did not know the circumstances surrounding anything. She would be the same if she had to go through what I did. There was no right answer to pick at the time because the wasteland is not black and white. Only shades of grey. The Tin Cans led us through the grey hallways that We paid no real mind to, but glanced up every once in a while to see the numbers and letters. They did not look back at us and every pony we came across quickly hid in their rooms again. Eventually, we approached a door and the Tin Cans began slowing down. He stopped and knocked loudly, the metal ringing out caused Our ears to press against Our head in an effort to block out the sound. We stood there waiting for what felt like an eternity before the door was opened. "What is it?" an old raspy voice asked from behind the door. "Ma'am, we have captured two alicorns," the head Tin Can said, "and the green one even tried to mind trick us into bringing her to Eclipse." A sound like rocks rattling around in a can could be heard from the door as the pony laughed. "Did she now? And yet you still listened to her order." The Tin Can shifted around on his weight as if he was unsure or surprised by her remark. "Let them in and leave us." "Ma'am?" He tilted his head. "But they-" "I can handle two alicorns just fine," she replied. "Now let them in and fuck off." The Tin Can stepped aside and looked at Us. “Get in there,” he said with a nod towards the door. We glanced at Dead Hoof before wordlessly complying not out of choice. Dead Hoof followed Us inside the small and spartan room. Off on one side was the bed with a dirt filled flower box. Literally, there were small flowers growing inside the box. A glance to Our right made Us stop as Our eyes widened in surprise. Standing next to the, now closed, door was a shriveled purple ghoul inside Enclave power armor. The suit looked dinged, scratched and missing its wing armor. Instead she had a set of brown saddlebags over where the wing holes would be. Her helmet was off, revealing her shriveled face, her bright life filled orange eyes and what was left of her once full yellow mane. Dead Hoof took a few steps back when the mare smirked at us. “Expecting some other pony?” We opened Our mouth and closed it a few times in an attempt to form a reply, but came up short. Dead Hoof stomped her hoof down, causing Us to flinch and look at her. “Who are you?” she asked for Us, but her tone was quite annoyed. The mare looked over at Dead Hoof as well. "Who am I?" she asked as she placed a power armored hoof to her chest and tilted her head. Dead Hoof nodded. "I'm no pony you'll know. No pony you'll ever heard of, because I'm smart." Her reply caused me to frown. I stared at her old armor and wondered how she got it and, as she turned towards the window, I noticed that she didn't even have wing stubs. She was just a normal earth pony ghoul. Her bladed tail flicked left and right while she stared out at the nearby island. "You see." she glanced back at us. "Alicorns learn from their mistakes. When one dies, you all know about it, correct?" I nodded slowly. It was a painful feature of Unity in my eyes, but it let us all know how to adapt from threats we had yet to encounter. "What's your point?" Dead Hoof growled, then yawned into her hoof. I found myself yawning due to the sheer contagiousness of a yawn. "My point is that I work in the shadows." Her crypticness caused me to roll my eyes. "Where is Eclipse?" "I'm getting to that." She defiantly replied before looking out the window again. "Long, long, ago. There was an earth pony in love with a unicorn. The unicorn was silently followed by a blue. Alicorn." My head tilted some as my ears swiveled towards her to listen to every word. "This alicorn promised the earth pony that she would help the unicorn. Then, one day." She looked back at us and glared. "A sniper blew the unicorn's brains out in front of the earth pony!" Dead Hoof facehoofed. "This is ridiculous. Ponies die all the-" "Silence!" I hissed at Dead hoof, causing her to go quiet. Then, I slowly looked at the purple mare in Enclave armor. "Let Us guess. You decided to track down the alicorn?" She nodded, a grin slowly formed on her face. "How did it feel? Because the look on your face when her head was smashed in was priceless." My face paled as all blood suddenly left it and I stood there, my legs trembling as my wings slowly flexed in and out in anger, anxiousness, worry? The purple mare's grin grew ever more, causing me to scowl as blood began to rapidly pump through my body. "Your reaction is all that I needed," she said. Then frowned deeply. "But Eclipse fucked my plan up. She was supposed to kill you, not that blue." "Why?" I hissed through my teeth while slowly grinding them together. "Why do you want me dead?" "To let that blue know the heartbreak I felt. To let her live in eternal fuckin' agony knowing her cunt love died in front of her and she was helpless to stop it." She turned her nose up a bit and waved her hoof at the door. "Piss off, you're not needed anymore." "WHERE IS ECLIPSE?!" We shouted as loud as We could with both Our mind and voice. The ghoul tossed her head back, placed a power armored hoof against her forehead and collapsed. "Oh no, help! I've made an alicorn angry! Whatever shall I do? Woe is meeee!" I rolled my eyes at her antics and looked over at Dead Hoof. The blue alicorn was looking towards the door to see if the guards were coming, but the door didn't open. I saw that her wing was bulged out a bit, indicating that she was hiding the 10mm pistol inside of it. Slowly, I looked over at the ghoul, who had started laughing much to my annoyance. But then, something strange happened. A tan unicorn slowly walked into my view. Her presence caused my eyes to widen in complete surprise because her hide was marred by scars and her cybernetic hoof was nearly frozen from rust. Floating in her, well my, magical grip was a bloody knife that looked sharp enough to split hairs. Lilium wore a wicked grin on her face as she closed the gap and stopped next to the laughing ghoul. Slowly, Lilium looked up at me. "I know what you're thinking" Lilium said. "You wanna slice this ghoul's skin off, but she won't care because she's been living without it for some time. Know what I say?" "What?" I asked myself. "See this knife?" she twirled it around in her magic and grinned. I nodded. "Shove it up her ass and rip her in half! Take her armor as your prize. You've earned it." "But you're not real..." My ears slowly folded back as the purple earth pony slowly stood up. "And neither is the knife." "Then use your horn," Lilium whispered as she disappeared in a cloud that slowly vanished. "What the fuck are you still doing here?" the ghoul shouted. "I said leave!" I glanced at Dead Hoof, then at the purple ghoul and stood up as tall as I could. "No." I glared at her. "No?" "Are you deaf or stupid? I said no!" I stomped my hoof down and glared. "Not until you tell us where Eclipse is." "Fine." She rolled her orange eyes with a sigh and a wave of her hoof. "She's in Baltimare. Now fuck off and don't come back." "No." I shook my head and slowly spread out my glorious and majestic wings. "I challenge you to a duel!" The ghoul blinked in shock a couple of times before tilting her head with a confused expression. "Huh?" "A duel is honorable combat between two ponies. It is what Eclipse challenged Sister to, so I challenge you to a duel! Since you are the one responsible for Sister's death." "I know what a duel is," she mumbled. Then shuffled a bit on her hooves and glanced at me, the door, Dead Hoof, then back to me. "Just you and me?" I nodded slowly and placed my hoof against my chest. "I give you my word as a pony who fought zebras in the war that ravaged this land. Just you and I will-" Something tiny zipped past my ear with a crack, interrupting me. The ghoul's head was tossed back again, but instead of laughter, most of her brains splattered the wall behind her and covered half the window. I jumped in complete surprise as the room was filled with the muffled sound of the silenced 10mm pistol 'Shock'. The ghoul's lifeless body collapsed into a twitching mess on the floor, causing my eye to twitch a bit. Quickly, I spun around to face Dead Hoof, flared out my wings and glared at her.The smoking pistol floated in her magic just under her eyes. "HOW DARE THEE!" I shouted at her with my mind. "YOU... You..." "Yell at me later!" Dead Hoof shouted as she turned and ran for the door, quickly going invisible. "Grab what you can from her and let's run before the guards come." I stood there for a second before I realized she was right. The guards would have been told to come back at a set time, but a nearby pony might have heard the shot. However... Dead Hoof's punishment will have to wait. I quickly dashed over to the earth pony and pulled her saddlebags onto my back. Then set about dismantling her power armor as best I could. "Shock! We don't have time for that!" "No!" I shook my head as I pulled off a foreleg piece and cringed when her skin underneath was mostly gone. Ghouls were always hideous to me. "I need her armor!" "It's useless. Fucking leave it!" I shook my head again as I put the other foreleg piece into my new bag. "Shock," Dead Hoof said in a cold tone as a metal object was stuck to the back of my head. The chest plate's clasp was let go as I let my magic slowly fade, because I knew there could only be one thing that was pressed against my skull, the suppressor to my own pistol. "Leave the armor. And let's. Go. Or your brains are painting the floor." With an audible gulp, I gave a very faint nod. "You make a very valid point. We will go." "Good girl." *** *** We walked through the rusty halls of the ship as silent as we could be. My mind churned over the ghoul. I had no idea who she was and suspected neither would have Mudpie as it was highly unlikely that she could track down a specific alicorn, considering how many there wereover the years. I suspected that the ghoul wanted to end all alicorns and would have returned to manipulating ponies in a short while. Her mannerisms were odd as well. She wasn't even concerned about having two powerful spell casters in the room! "Why was an earth pony wearing pegasus power armor?" I whispered with my mouth. "Doesn't matter, she's dead." Dead Hoof replied just as quietly from behind me. "You will not do that again," We growled at the blue and stopped. "Do what?" she asked almost innocently, causing Our teeth to grind together. We spun around to face the blue alicorn, Our hooves grabbing her soft invisible flesh as We tossed her against the wall and pinned her there. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" We shouted with Our mind at the same time she cried out in pain from hitting the wall. We cared little as Our invisibility spell dropped. "Do not presume that because We are old and grey, that We are also stupid." As Dead Hoof became visible, Our hoof pressed down on her throat, slowly choking her. "We challenged the earth pony to fair combat. You had no right to intervene! It... It... It goes against-" "Fuck fair play," Dead Hoof nearly spat at Us. "Shock. Do you honestly think that there are good ponies in the wasteland? Do you think there's a stallion in shining armor coming to sweep you off your hooves? Wake the fuck up! You're not in some storybook where you're a damsel in distress. You're a monster that other ponies fear, a villain. If anything I should be the one to kill you. Right here and now." We were about to retort when We felt cold steel press against the bottom of Our jaw. "Do it," We glared at her. "Kill Us and you'll forever be a mare." "It's a risk I'm willing to take." she glared back as a metallic click told Us the hammer was drawn back. "I honestly don't know how Mudpie put up with you." "She loved Us, We loved her as a sister, and Sister accepted Us for who We were." "And look where it got her!" Our ears folded back at her remark. We looked away and shut Our eyes, causing the pistol to slowly lower away from Our skull. "Do you not think We regret the choices We made that led to her death? We will find a way to fix it." "Then let's get our stuff and leave this stupid ship." "Where are we heading?" I asked, partially wondering because I wanted to go to Baltimare and kill Eclipse while another half of me wanted to go to Canterlot. "Baltimare. There's bound to be some friendly alicorns there and we can get help for you." Slowly, I nodded and looked into Dead Hoof's eyes. "Okay, but I want to go to Canterlot as well." Her eyebrow arched up in confusion. "Why Canterlot?" "Because. There may be a way to bring Sister back. We heard rumors that they kept the best spells in Canterlot, and hope there is a time travel spell there." "Shock," her ears slowly folded back . "Shock... That's... That doesn't seem right to do." "But it is." I slowly let Dead Hoof go and she dropped to all four hooves. “Sister will live again and my mistake will be fixed!” Her ears drooped to the side of her face in response, but quickly perked up. My ears twitched and swiveled as a metallic groan ran throughout the passageway, causing me to glance up at the ceiling as pipes shuddered and wobbled in place. Suddenly, the deck beneath us lurched, tossing me into the cold wall as Dead Hoof went the other way. My wings popped out to balance me as I braced myself with my hooves. The deck lurched again, but this time we were not thrown around, and the hallway bucked one last time before settling out. "Attention everypony," a metallic stallion's voice shouted from everywhere and nowhere. "We have officially freed the Hoofington from the island! Kick back, relax, and have a few Sparkle-Colas because we're shipping out at oh-four-thirty tomorrow." I looked back at Dead Hoof and tilt my head. "They freed the ship." "And?" She pushed me onward, so I obliged and began walking again. "We knew they were digging it out. Just keep walking and maybe we can get out of here in one piece." I nodded some and kept walking along the rusty path. It wended its way this way and that as the two of us delved ever deeper into the bowels of the ship. *** *** My eyes snap open and quickly focus as I slowly push myself upright. The dim light of a lantern casts a pale glow across the journal below me, highlighting the last page of it. Slowly, my jade green magic picks up the pen and slowly floats it half-way down the page where I had fallen asleep while writing about my time on the Hoofington, but the pen begins trembling in my magic before it's even placed on the page. "I..." I bite my lower lip and toss the pen at the tent flap and clutch my head with my hooves, shutting my eyes. "I can't do this," I whisper softly. "I thought I can, but I just... can't! I see her face. The memories it dredges up. Why must they haunt me? Goddess, what makes me different than other wastelanders who don't have these problems?" Of course I do not receive a reply from the long dead Great and Powerful Goddess. Groaning out of frustration, I set my hooves down and stumble towards my cot before flopping into it. The fluffy cloud pillow entices me towards the blissful embrace of sleep. I let my wings unfold and lay flat as I mumble, "no more looking into the past. Nothing good comes from it, only pain and sorrow. I'm sorry, Mudpie. Dead Hoof is right. There are no good ponies in the wasteland, I can't save them, and I couldn't save you. I'm a failure." Shell Shock: Level up! New Perk - Ghost of the Jungle.(Rank II) You can now sneak around slightly better as long as no pony hears your hoofsteps, or sees you moving quickly. +10 to stealth when your coat color matches the shrubbery. Just don’t do magic, the glow still gives you away. Dead Hoof: Level up! New Perk - Quick Draw. You can un-holster a weapon 10% faster than other ponies. Quest perk - Dream Crusher. You crushed her chance at revenge, asshole. +25% resistance to critical hits and you're 5% more likely to have Shock listen to your ideas. Chapter 20: Dirty DeedsChapter 20: Dirty Deeds "Wait for the opportune moment before striking." Something hard kicks at my gut, causing me to gasp awake and curl up at the pain. "Shock!" Dead Hoof shouts, his voice rings in my ears, as my vision begins registering my surroundings with two blurry alicorns ahead of me. "Shock, get the fuck up!" The two blue alicorns slowly focus into one as my brain figures out what is going on, it's noon and I overslept. I can tell based off the bright daylight coming in from behind the alicorn in front of me."What is it?" I grumble quietly with my mind as I scratch the side of my head. "Need a morning hoof job or something?" "No," he replied as his eyes narrow. "I don't want to have sex with you right now." I shrug some and yawn. "It's not sex when I do all the work. Just me helping you to relieve some tension." "Get your head out of the gutter!" he shouts, causing me to wince in pain. "Wait. Have you been drinking?" I pull my warm blanket over my body and shake my head. He continues to block most of the light from coming in. Truth be told, I have not enjoyed these days with Dead Hoof. Turns out the mainlanders already knew how to make alicorn stallions, making my brilliant plan absolute crap and my deal with Dead Hoof only one way; his way. I scratch my mane with a quiet yawn and try to look out of my tent at the other boring tents outside. My attempt fails because he steps in front of my vision. For some reason I find my gaze lingering on his mane that he dyed a purple color and continued to put in pigtails with pink bows. "Remember what I said on the island?" he asks. I nod slowly as I curl up in my blankets. "Then what were my rules?" I sigh deeply, roll my eyes and recite with my mouth, "I will listen to your word as if it were law. I won't butcher any ponies for food or fun like a sadistic raider. I will dedicate my time to helping ponies and not killing them. If I want to kill a pony I must first ask permission." "And the last one?" he asks, tilting his head a bit. "What last one?" He frowns and points his hoof in a threatening manner. "Don't fuck with me. You know the rules!" Dead Hoof sets the hoof down and floats a small single shot pistol out of his mane. "No. Weapons. Allowed!" How he hides things in there is beyond my measure of comprehension. I sniffle a bit and shrug, my heavy eyelids threatening to send me back to sleep. "What if I'm walking along and some pony attacks me? I need the protection a-" "No weapons in town!" He shouts at me, causing my ears to fold back. "You have a shield. Use that and come get help, okay?" I nod a little bit. "Good," he says as his glare softens to a more normal expression. "I hate yelling at you. You know that, right?" I look at the tent wall where my gear is stored and frown. "You do it a lot though." "Because I want to see you as that monster I met on the island." "That monster is what I am," I reply. "I'm an evil monster who can't be redeemed. Any attempts fail or get the other ponies killed." I feel his warm hoof under my chin as he turns my head to look at his face again. "You're a better pony than that. All you have to do is let go of your old ways and change with the new. There's a new, safer, world out there if you just let it in." I frown at his remark and let my eyes shut. "You know I'm right because you got your cutie mark back," he points out, causing me to try glancing down at it. I fail to see it, but I know exactly what it is. "It's a dumb mark though." "But you can put it to good use here." He says, slowly leaning closer, almost to kissing range. I place my hoof on his lips and push him back. "I might like you, but not that much. There's a purple stallion around here that has my eye." "Oh?" Dead Hoof smiled a bit as his eyes flutter like some teenage filly. "And why haven't you talked with him?" "Be... because he is a stallion, and... and... And I don't want a wasteland relationship." "A what?" he blinks as he pulls back even further. "What the hell is that?" I bring my other hoof up and look at it. "This is a mare." I nod my horn at the new hoof. Then look at my right hoof, "and this is a stallion." I bring them together and look at Dead Hoof. "They get together for no reason and bang each other's brains out. Afterward..." I remove the hooves and pull the covers over me. "They go their separate ways, or they stay together and one dies in a firefight. I want a stable, lasting, relationship with a pony that won't have a high risk of dying within the next couple years to a lead wall." Dead hoof has a confused expression on his face, his head tilted to the side and pulled back a bit as he blinks over and over and over for a few seconds. "Huh?" he tilts his head. "Are you saying you won't talk to him because he might get shot?" I nod. "That's stupid! You take what you can get and don’t worry about the future." Shrugging, I lean over and flop ontop my comfy cot with a thump and shut my eyes. "Then leave me alone to wallow in my pity." Dead Hoof grabs the blanket and pulls on it, but I hold tight. "Noooo! I don't want to get out of bed!" "Shoock," Dead Hoof growls as the pulling intensifies. "There's hungry ponies that need to eat!" "Fuck 'em," I reply and use my magic to keep me curled up and snuggled in my comfy bed. "I had a bad dream and I need my sleep." "So? You have bad dreams every day. Nothing new there." "This one was about Mudpie and us when we first met on the island." The pulling stops and something is set where my wing is. I open my eyes and look at it, finding out it is Dead Hoof's forehoof. "Shock. Canterlot is leveled to the ground." "Maybe the book survived?" I ask, my gaze slowly moving from the hoof, up his leg towards his face. "They don't know for certain if anything survived the Enclave’s bombardment, so it could still be there!" Dead Hoof's gaze slowly goes over to my box of stuff where my open journal is sitting on top of it. "Did you read that last night?" I nod slowly as I try to snuggle my still warm bed. The feeling of being in a soft bed causes me to smile a little. "Yes. I was writing and trying to finish it, but passed out." Dead Hoof facehoofs. "No wonder you had a nightmare about Mudpie. Which one was it?" I shut my eyes and sigh. "The one where I'm walking through a jungle and I see her talking corpse." "I get goosebumps thinking about that image." Her wing feathers fluff up. She walks over to the journal and looks at the last entry on the open page, frowning a bit. "You didn't finish it?" "I do not care." "What if somepony finds this in thirty years or so? They'll never know what happens after you yelled at me because I shot that earth pony. I thought you wanted to finish it." I nod again. "I don't care what some random future pony thinks. I'm never writing in it again. You are right, I need to move on. Ripper was right..." I bury my face in my pillow and mutter, "the journal is cursed." "Then let's uncurse it by making lunch!" Dead Hoof says as he tugs at my blanket. "I don't want to make lunch." I try to bury my face in my pillow even further. "I want to sleep!" Dead Hoof walks over and starts to slowly pet my back with his hoof. I sigh contently at the feeling of his hoof running along my spine and slowly relax. "Fine,” he says quietly. “You rest here and I will tell the others that Tail Blade is going to cook." "No!" I shout as my eyes snap open. "She is a horrible, horrible, cook who would burn soup if such a thing were possible I'll cook!" I say as I sit up and look at Dead Hoof. My response receives a chuckle from him. "I knew that'd get you out of bed. Come on then! There's hungry wastelanders and chances to fill your pockets with caps." I quickly grab my stuff in magic, apron included, and shut the journal before dashing out of the tent towards my table. I did not get much farther than thirty paces when some green pony suddenly appears in my path. My eyes widen as I find myself skidding along the dirt covering the alicorn camp as I try to stop, flapping my wings to slow myself. The pony looks over at me and steps to the side, holding her leg out at the same time I bump into her soft fur. "Easy now," she says as she removes the hoof. I give my wings one last flap before folding them and standing up, looking over at her. It is like looking into a mirror if that mirror showed a pony with a coat three times as light as your own. The green alicorn's face could be mistaken for a grey at a good distance away. Only up close could one see her green. My eyes slowly wander from her moving mouth to her own eyes that were a deep green much like my coat. It takes me a second to realize who it is, Mistress Tail Blade, the camp's leader. Why her name is Mistress is not known to me. All I know is that she runs a camp for alicorns in the Baltimare area. Any and all alicorns are welcome, for a small fee; you work around the camp and help the others or you get out. She waves her hoof across my face, causing me to blink and realize that I am staring at her. Taking a couple steps back, I try to smile and laugh nervously. "Uh, um. Ah, well I suppose I should..." I glance down at my stuff on the ground and frown. "Thank you for moving out of my way?" "Shell Shock, right?" she asks. I shut my eyes, sighing deeply as I pull my stuff close with my magic. "That is Our... My. That is my name." "Right, right," she says. I open my eyes and look at her. "You run Lilly's Soup House." I nod. "Yes, ma'am, I do." She holds her hoof out and smiles. "I'm Mistress Tail Blade." Slowly, I bring my hoof out and shake hers. "Can... can I ask you something?" She nods as we set our hooves down. "Why Tail Blade?" "That's a funny story actually." She sits down, so I also sit down and patiently wait. "I once had a long tail, didn't bother cutting it, see?" I nod. "So I would tie daggers inside it and use the tail like a deadly whip. Until one day the whip kicked back and stabbed me in the flank!" She starts laughing like some posh Canterlot unicorn. I force a smile and a fake laugh at her not so funny story. "Heh, so is that it?" After a few seconds of her annoying laugh, she stops and smiles. "Most ponies want to know why I'm called 'Mistress'." "I think I can imagine," I mutter under my breath. "Ex-slaver?" She shakes her head. "Then what?" "I used to run a brothel in a town waaaay," she leans back and waves her hooves around, "down south in the Badlands. I ended up dropping my name and calling myself Mistress to keep who I was hidden. Kind of stupid, huh?" I shake my head and let out a quiet sigh. "No. I have many names, some are thankfully lost to time, but a few stick with me." "What are they?" "Shell Shock, Dog, and Lilium, which is my original name." "Ah." she nods. "Now I see where the Lilly comes from in Lilly's Soup House." I bow my head at her figuring it out quickly. "I get Shell Shock, I get Lilium, but I don't get Dog." I frown, slowly looking down at my hooves. "Because I'm a monster on a leash. My masters point me in a direction and say 'kill that tank' or 'take that hill' and I do. I follow orders to the letter. That. Is why I have the name Dog." By the time I finish, she is holding a hoof to her chin, her brows furrow together in thought and her lips are just a tight thinking line. I wait patiently for a response. Soon, she nods and looks at me. "I think I understand you now." She slowly stands up and motions with her wing for me to follow. "Come, I have a business proposal for you to hear out." "Really?" I tilt my head and trot along next to her, ignoring the tents around us. "I already cook when I can and think you did not mind." "Oh no, no, no." she shakes her head and slowly wraps a wing around me, pulling me close. "Lilly, I have certain... Business partners throughout the city." I give a firm nod and swivel my ears forward to give her my full attention. She glances at me and smiles. "While I am sure your skills with cooking are quite good. It seems you have a second, more useful, skill set that I have a need for." "I made a promise many years ago that I would survive and come back for a pony very dear to me. So far I have kept the former, but not the latter. My family is dead so the latter is impossible." Mistress Tail Blade opens a door to a corrugated shack and we step inside. She shuts it behind us, folds her wing and heads over to a locker. "Lilly. How quiet is your ability to fight?" "Quiet?" I stand at the doorway, blinking in confusion. "I... I can turn invisible, but I don't think fights are quiet. Quite the contrary." "They are if they are done in a certain manner," she says, pulling a dirty manilla folder from the locker. I trot over to her and take it from her with magic, slowly opening it up. "I want you to kill ponies for me. Who I say with no questions asked, and absolutely no talking about it," she says rather bluntly as I begin to look over the folder. In it are colored sketches of various ponies, a unicorn, a pegasus strangely enough, a few earth ponies and... My gaze went back to the earth ponies and I pull a stretch of a very familiar one out. "I'll do it," I say as my eyes slowly narrow on the picture of a teal earth pony with a strawberry red mane. "Don't you want to hear my offer?" I blink, mentally facehoofing at the sudden realization that I very nearly accepted another offer without hearing it through! Slowly,I put the picture back into the folder and shut it, nodding. "What are your terms? What's the catch?" "My terms are simple," she says as she takes the folder and puts it in the locker. "You will go about your cooking as you normally do. I will 'slip' some information to you about a target, and you will take them out, sound fair?" I frown at the locker, stepping back as she shuts it and locks it with a spin dial lock. "What do I get in return?" "Caps, favors, entertainment, whatever you want it's yours." She says in a voice like velvet. My frown only grows more. I look down, slowly rubbing a foreleg with my hoof. "If I do this I'll need a weapon. Dead Hoof won't let me have any." "Sounds like he has you wrapped tight around his hoof." I nod a little, then shake my head. "It's for my own good. I... sometimes see things, visions of long dead ponies who aren't there. I hear voices in my head belonging to zebras and ponies I've killed urging me to kill more. He's trying to help me ignore that. The only other pony I have found that could do that, is now dead." "Seems you early greens weren't quite perfected enough to remain in a stable mental state for so long." "Perfect...?" I blink a few times. "The Goddess made all her children perfect. If I am slightly flawed, then it was by her will that I am flawed and I accept it." "Great," Mistress Tail Blade mutters under her breath. "A Goddess worshiper." She claps her hooves together and smiles at me. "What do you say to my proposal?" I blink again, then frown. Dead Hoof would kill me if she finds out, but I am quite bored here in the camp. Except... I have been making progress. I have yet to call myself 'We' for weeks! But... My gaze goes over to the locker and I remember Eclipse's portrait in there. "I..." Opening and closing my mouth, I try to formulate a reply. I shut my eyes and sigh deeply. "I'll need something special, a suit." "Done." Came a quick reply from Mistress Tail Blade. "Not just any suit. A form fitting one with built in sheaths for knives. And I'll need a suppressed revolver, preferably less than a forty-four in caliber to make less of a mess. I will also like a weapon cleaning kit and payment in caps for each job I complete, including the first." "You're expecting payment on top of the weapons and clothes?" She asks. I open my eyes and nod. "You're quite bold." "And you're fucked without me," I reply honestly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have asked the camp crazy. You should have already known I'm not all there and we just ‘happen’ to bump into each other?" I place a hoof to the side of my head to make my point. "You're desperate for a dog to send after ponies you need to get rid of and you sure as hell don’t want a raider to do it." She walks over to the desk and sits down with a sigh. "Alright. Talk with Stitches after lunch. He'll get you set up with the suit. Any preference on the revolver?" "One that works,” I nod, “isn't too big and isn't silver. It needs to be dark and not reflect light. But I can paint it over if finding a non-silver one is too hard" I nod again. "So I am to talk with Stitches after lunch." "I just told you that," she grumbles. "I was repeating it so I'd remember. Have a good day, Mistress Tail Blade." I bow gracefully before turning for the door. *** *** I stare at the slowly boiling tomato soup, slowly stirring it as I listen to the sounds of the camp. Ponies, and alicorns walk around oblivious to me and my food like always. I don't care. They could all be ghouls for all the good it would do. Alicorns don't even need food! But still, I eat to remind myself that I'm a pony. To remind myself that I used to be worse off than now. To be my old self now would be to invite death over for tea and crumpets. Normal ponies are inferior to us alicorns. Weak, frail, and so helpless without to guidance of the Goddess. But I can say the same about us. I shut my eyes and sigh deeply while continuing to stir my food. Opening my eyes again, I look up at the camp. It's a ramshackle hodgepodge of tents, corrugated shacks, old skywagons, and part of a Pony Joe's coffee shop. The Pony Joe's being the center of what the locals call 'Alicorn Town'. There they sell food for caps, but they won't include my soup stand for some reason. They don't look at me like they look at each other. I feel like an outcast that gets to live with them, a pony you know of but will never talk to. Each minute of each hour of the day they pass by my soup stand. I smile and wave them over, but they quickly walk off. Dead Hoof comes by to take the cooked soup to the Pony Joe's for them to eat. I never get invited. Sitting down, I stare at my soup and slowly stir it. A blue alicorn's reflection slowly appears in it. "Hi, Dead Hoof," I say quietly to the blue. The only pony to ever come by. "Hey. Soup's ready?" he asks. I nod slowly. "Yeah. But why can't I cook inside the diner? It's boring here and," I look up at his face, "no pony ever talks to me." "I told you already." he pulls the pot off the grate with magic and sips from the ladle. "The diner doesn't have a stove, so you have to cook out here. Good soup by the way." I nod a bit. "They're tomatoes you bought for me." His wing wraps around me and pulls me close to his body in a hug. I sigh as his body heat slowly transfers to my wing. "Cheer up, Shock. Ponies-" "Lilly," I correct him. "I... I shouldn't use my old name." He nods. "Well there's bound to be happy ponies once they have this soup!" He smiles. I try to smile back, but notice movement out of the corner of my eye, drawing my attention to the almost grey-green alicorn Tail Blade. Dead Hoof lets go of our hug and steps back. "I better get this to the Diner." he says as he trots off with the pot in tow. Both Mistress Tail Blade and I silently watch him go. I tilt my head and stare at his flank, smiling a bit. He walks between a couple of tents and vanishes as he turns the corner, so I look at Mistress Tail Blade. She steps closer and sets a hoof on the wooden part of my ‘shop’, which is just a table and a stove. "I have a location for a revolver you might like," she says in my mind without moving her lips. I glance around to see if anypony was nearby and nod when I see that we are alone. "What caliber?" I ask in her mind. "It was small." she shrugs. "You don't know?" She shakes her head, causing me to frown. "How can you not know?" "I don't use primitive bullets to vanquish my foes. Here is the code to a box in a run down department store with a ruined cargo wagon out front about two blocks away. Second floor, right side, second door in should be the mare's restroom. The box is buried under the rubble in the far corner. I have placed your first contract inside of the box as well. Your payment will be the suit and pistol. Any questions?" Again, I slowly glance around at the tents surrounding us to see if anypony had walked over. None have, so I slowly take the paper and nod at Tail Blade. "One of the ponies in your folder Eclipse, is a pony I am looking for. Where is she?" "I can't give away that information here. Somepony might be listening." Sighing deeply, I hang my head low. "I understand. Thank you for this opportunity, Mistress Tail Blade." "Good luck, Lilly." *** *** I slowly and steadily pick my way through the rubble of downtown Baltimare, glancing back every once in a while to see if any pony has followed me from the camp; none has. So I smile and keep going. The ruins ahead are slowly decaying with time, once proud buildings stand as near salt blasted rusting hulks that creak and groan on the wind. Piles of rubble line the sides of the derelict buildings. My gaze wanders left, right, and up the rusty steel monstrosities. They stand as testament to the engineering of earth ponies. Buildings that can stand the test of time without maintenance makes me wonder what else they built that can last this long. But if I had my way, I’d bring down every single one and start anew. Slowly lowering my gaze down to road level, I spot the wrecked cargo wagon ahead. It’s tilted and leaning against the building with looted boxes falling out the open doors. The boxes are nothing more than smashed wood and anything worthwhile is long since looted. I stop, kicking one of the wood boxes with an armored forehoof and slowly glance up at the name of the store. "Haystacks and Beyond," I mutter to myself, the sign is partially destroyed, but I know the name since I remember the store chain well. It's a place that sells everything from cups to full on furniture. I glance back down the broken road towards Alicorn Town and wait, hopefully catching a glimpse of a cloaked blue or a regular pony trying to hide. I know that my boss, Mistress Tail Blade, wanted me to talk with Stitches after lunch, but this... This is more important. It's a chance to help with more than just cooking, and I'm going to take it. The suit can wait until tomorrow. It's only a piece of clothing that a vision of perfection does not truly need. Seconds slowly begin to tick by as my gaze flicks across the road at a partially collapsed building, nothing moves. Frowning at my inability to spot hidden ponies, I turn and head inside the old department store. Shards of glass crunch into the carpet from the weight of my hooves as I pick my way around the wreckage of the door. The carpet is initially pure dirt until you get a few paces inside where it turns to normal moldy old carpet again. Ahead of me, many shelves three times as high as I am reach to the ceiling. Some are collapsed, having long since spilled their wares out, and some have holes cut into them with boards placed as bridges. My magical glow slowly pulls an old trusty flashlight out and I flick it on, casting a pale yellow beam of light on an old unicorn skeleton with tattered saddlebags. I walk over and quietly inspect them, but find nothing in the bags beyond holes. The light of the torch reflects off something underneath the bones, so I gently move them to the side and find a dust covered bottle of Stalliongrad's Finest. Bringing it up, I gently dust it off and find it's filled with a purple liquid, which causes me to nod a bit and put it into my own bags. A healing potion most likely, I think to myself as I stand up from the bone pile. The torch slowly sweeps across the dark room until the light falls upon a sign pointing to the staircases. I nod at it and tell myself, the second floor mare's room. I slowly begin picking my way over the rubble as I follow the signs pointing to the staircase. Though I do not worry so much about salvagers or raiders. Any inhabitants are long gone, otherwise they would have set up shop. Something bright catches my eye, causing me to stop and stare at it. The torch illuminates an intact pre-war anti-zebra poster.'Better wiped than striped!' is the motto below a few demonic looking zebras standing over a group of scared foals with a Steel Ranger defiantly standing in defense. The mere sight of the poster causes my wings to flex in and out as my breathing deepens and my feathers fluff up. I continue to stare at it as my ears twitch and swivel, picking up sounds; multi-language shouting, gunfire, and swords clashing against each other. I find myself grinding my teeth together as my ears press against my head to block out the sounds, but they don't cease, only intensifying. Rearing up on my hind hooves, I grab the top of the poster and rip it off as I scream as loud as I could without a spell, "look what it did to this world!" I land back on the floor, panting heavily as my heart thunders in my ear and my breathing starts to slow down. Looking down at the carpet, I shut my eyes. "Put the past behind you and have no regrets," I whisper to myself. "Don't look to the future for it holds uncertainty. You're here in the now, that is what matters." I turn away from the now vandalized poster and head for the stairs. They are collapsed into a large pile of rubble much to my dismay. It causes me to stomp my hoof down and flare my wings out. "Damnit! How did she..." I look back at my outstretched wings and facehoof. "Right, wings. I can fly." Giving my wings a few test flaps, I smile at the broken ceiling and hover up to it. The broken rubble pile is just far enough below that a pony cannot jump or see into it. It takes a flying pony, or teleporting unicorn, to reach the second floor. I glance back at the first floor and slowly scan the area with my torch. The light slowly passes by the old shelves, ruined carts, fallen debris, and nothing else out of the ordinary. My flapping wings is the only sound my ears pick up as they swivel in all directions. Smiling some, I turn around and slowly hover my way to the second floor. The second floor is less picked through, but in even worse shape than the first. One side of the building's roof collapsed long ago, filling half the second floor with debris and giving a large hole for the elements to poke through. Daylight floods the floor to the point that I no longer need the torch, so I turn it off and put it away. I slowly glance at the rubble and partially picked through stuff around me as I wonder to myself, which right side? Right while I'm facing the street or with the street behind me? Looking right, all I can see is the collapsed portion of the department store. Piles and piles of dirty rain soaked rubble line one half of the wall. My gaze stops and backtracks when I spot a partial door barely hanging on by a hinge. I glance down before hovering over to the door. It's just a rotting wood door with a sign on it. Beyond the door is a bunch of trashed stalls and mirrors, leading me to believe it might be the mare's room. Picking up the sign in my magic, I dust it off and see an outline of a stallion. With a roll of my eyes, I toss the wood to the side and hover away, finding another restroom system not more than ten feet away. The stalls have all been crushed flat by debris, but the side holding the mirrors up is strangely intact. Shrugging at what must be the obvious mare's room, I land, fold my wings and trot in. The rubble around the far wall looks to have been disturbed recently and the shape of it screams 'I'm hiding something'. I head over to the box shaped rubble pile and gently begin moving the pieces from it one at a time. As I do, my brain wants to scold Mistress Tail Blade for her impetuous hiding spot as even a fool could have found the box. I will have to hide it better later. Tossing the last piece of rubble to the side, I stare at the rusty locker with the shiny combination lock. The sight of it makes me wonder about the mental state of the other green and where she got a nearly new lock. But, I shrug and pull the code out from inside my foreleg's ex-power armored plate. The armor, while unpowered and partially useless without the suit, does give me an advantage when I have to slap a pony or block a strike. The code for the lock makes me frown, but it's easy to remember. 42, 48, 36. The lock clicks as my magic pulls it apart and sets it to the side. Then, ever so slowly, I partially open the locker and shine the torch all along it to check for wires. Finding none, I slowly open it all the way and cringe as the hinges let out a rusty scream. My ears twitch and swivel around while I sit and listen for intruders trying to sneak up on me, nothing does. Looking down into the locker, I find a large burlap sack. It's pulled out and I dump it out right there. Papers fall out with a flutter along with a few heavy objects, I quickly grab them in magic and pull them close as I pick the revolver up. Floating the revolver near my ear, I gently spun the wheel and find it's slightly rusty. I frown and look down the cylinder's dirty chambers. The weapon looks to be in poor shape, but I was not expecting top notch equipment. There is no suppressor much to my dismay, something I shall bring up with Mistress Tail Blade the next time I see her. However, with some love and care the pistol can be great again. I gently set it to the side and look at my paperwork. Not so strangely, it's the same dirty folder I saw in her office, but with most of the contents removed. All that is in it is a picture of a pegasus mare named Cloud Layer and her last known location. Which happens to be in a building down by the docks. There was a stamp indicating her death was urgently requested. I fold the folder up, place the picture in my bag along with the pistol and ammo before standing up. *** *** Slowly, I ascend the rubble strewn stairs as silently as I could, my horn is dark and the revolver firmly clenched in my teeth. No sounds greet me beyond the occasional clink of my metal forehooves on stone, the thunderous sound of my heart beating in my chest, and the roar of my nose breathing. I glance up at the top of the stairs where a door is blocking the path, then look down the way I had come. Seven whole flights of stairs. Why the pony could not be on the ground floor is beyond my reasoning. At least it is not the top... I take a quiet breath to calm myself even more and look at the door. My hoof gently touches the cold rusty steel of the handle as I press down, receiving no response. The locked door causes a warm, angry, feeling to well up inside my chest. To come so far only to be blocked by a stupid door! A door, the great immovable object that it seems nopony can pick a lock on. Well… Turning around as best I can in the narrow confines of the stairwell, I back up and test the door with a hind hoof. It feels like your average wooden door which has stood against the test of time; dead, hollow, and slightly squishy. Drawing my hind legs in as far as I can, I balance on my forehooves while staring at the door. My hind hooves slam against the door, the wood shatters outward as the door split in four large chunks. Spinning around as fast as I could, I gallop into the hallway only to be met by silence. After a few seconds, I slow my gallop to a stop and frown. The dirty halls around me are quiet except for a windy moan coming from nearby. I glance in the direction and push open a door with my hoof. The room beyond the door is missing a window and cool salty air blew in from the coast not far away, blue sparkling water catches my eye and tries to entrance me into staying. Letting out a quiet hiss around the pistol's trigger, I turn from the room and head down the hall to another door that gets bucked open. After the wood splinters and dust settle, I turn around and look in. The room is thankfully not looking out at the water, but neither is my target in it. All that my gaze spots is a desk and an overturned file cabinet. Stepping inside the room, I walk over to the desk and start pulling drawers out in a haphazard manner, dumping them out as soon as they're clear of the desk. The first drawer is empty so it gets tossed to the side, the second holds useless papers and the third holds a single bit and five rifle rounds. My magic grabs the last drawer tightly before tossing it at the window with a snarl. The wood smashes clean through, shattering the glass into lethal shards that rain down onto the street below with the bullets and bit. "Fuck this building!" I shout with my mouth as I grab the desk with my armored hooves and pull up, flipping the desk over. As soon as I’m standing, I pivot on my hind hoof and kick out with the other one, slamming it into the desk. The wood desk cracks a little from the force and gets shoved back some. I lift my armored forehooves up and bring them down on the file cabinet with a metallic clang, leaving two dents in it as the shock of the blow reverberates up my forelegs. My heart pounds against my chest as I take deep breaths, wings flexing in and out as I look around the derelict room for something, anything, to shoot or kick. "You have to be her," a voice says from behind me. I spin around and attempt to trigger the pistol, but only succeed in flicking my tongue out of my mouth like a snake. This causes me to blink in confusion and look down at the pistol on the floor before I could get a good look at the pony. My magic surrounds the dropped pistol and I lift it up. "Expecting somepony?" I ask as I bring the pistol to bear on the blue unicorn in ugly looking blood soaked barding. He doesn't even flinch. "You must be here for the chicken wings," he says, causing me to frown. When I don't reply, he sighs, "the pegasus?" I nod slowly. "Yes, I am." "Did you bring the bits we asked for?" Bits...? What did she not tell me? I turn my head to the side a bit and eye the pony. My mind flashes back to Mistress Tail Blade telling me that I'd be paid to kill ponies for her. Not even the papers in the folder I had indicated I was to pay for the rescue of the pony, which means... this job is a test of my abilities to do a job and not have any witnesses. "Yes," I nod. "I have been given a sack of bits as payment." "May I see them?" the slaver asks. I shake my head, causing him to glare. "The deal was we trade fair for her. The bits for the pegasus." "You sure you didn't want caps?" I ask. "Every pony uses caps these days you know." "Bits. You can't use caps for pre-war vending machines." I smile a bit at his reply. "I'd like to make sure she hasn't been harmed first. Then, and only then, will you get your payment." "Give me your pistol," he says. Again, I shake my head. "Dost thee think I am a foal? If I walk in there unarmed, I will be outnumbered, and at your complete mercy. If thou wants the bits, thou will hath to let me keep thine pistol." He takes a half-step back, blinking as confusion slowly spreads across his face. The reaction makes me smirk knowing that he probably could not understand half of it. A couple of seconds pass before he nods. "Okay. You can keep the pistol. Follow me." *** *** I hum quietly to myself as I follow the stallion through the building. Little does he know that I am marking each corner we pass by so I can make a hasty exit when the shit hits the fan, because it sure as hell will when they find out I have nothing but caps. The stallion makes a left at a door and steps inside a room, I follow along behind him and quickly glance around to get my bearings. The room used to be a cubicle office at one time, but now the walls are set up as a sort of impromptu maze along three of the walls including most of the windows. The smell of rich smoked meat fills the room and I try ignoring the bags of body parts hanging from the ceiling, ripe with flesh for the taking. "Nice decorations," I mutter to the blue stallion. He glances back at me with that 'yeah sure' face, but I gesture to one of the bags over the fire with a hoof. "If you put the meat inside a trash bin with coals and wood chips, it'll give the meat a smoky flavor. Put some spices on it and you'll have a real nice tasting meal." He cocks an eyebrow at my suggestion. "You eat meat?" "Not any more." I shake my head. "The smell is... enticing, but we have business to attend to." He nods and starts leading me around the maze of cubicle walls, which I can just barely see over so his attempt at subterfuge is pointless. In the center of the room is a tent with a pink pony and Cloud Layer sitting outside it. Cloud Layer has ropes binding her to a chair, except one of her forelegs, and a chessboard is between them with pieces in it that looked like Cloud Layer was losing. They glance at us as we approach and a glimmer of hope passes over Cloud Layer's face when she sees me. I glance at the tent to see if anyone was inside it, but none are. Stepping around the fire, I stand next to Cloud Layer and look her over. A scabbed over nub replaces one of her ears, various cut marks line her forelegs and her wings were missing quite a few feathers. The sight of the pitiful starved, near skeletal, pegasus makes me frown. "She hasn't been treated well," I say, pointing at her ear. "What's this? I was told she was alive and well." The pink mare rolls her eyes. "They didn't tell you a thing." "Proof of life," Cloud Layer whimpers, receiving a death glare from the mare. I look over at the stallion as my horn glows, slowly opening my bag. His face lights up from the prospect of bits. My magic feels around the bag for the familiar feel of my pistol. As quick as I can, I draw the pistol from my bags and bring it to eye level, causing the stallions face to turn into a look of horror. "Deal's off," I say at the same time I telekinetically pull the trigger and the hammer slams forward. The revolver recoils in my magical grip as the blast fills the room, my bullet striking the stallion in the eye. I pull the hammer back again and send a second shot at the stallion before he had time to even react to the first. A splattering of blood from the back of his head coats the wall behind him before his body drops. "Book!" the mare shrieks in horror at her mate dying. She dives out of the chair before I can train my pistol on her and quickly drags the corpse behind a cubicle wall out of my line of sight. Glancing at the stunned Cloud Layer, I start to untie her with my magic as I say, "it's okay. I'm here to get you out." "Really?" she asks sarcastically as the last knot is undone. "I thought you were here to play chess." I roll my eyes and glance at the blood trail and try to block out the mare's sobbing scream. "Can you walk?" I ask Cloud, then aim towards the mare's voice and unload shot after shot at the wall. A scream of pain hits my ears at the same time the first bullet hit, but it is cut short by the second bullet rapidly following it. The third and fourth most likely finish the mare off. "Y-yeah," Cloud Layer mumbles, drawing my attention over to her. Her legs shook as if they had not supported her for some time. "No. I can't move." The revolver's cylinder flips out and I pull the casings out with magic, slowly floating them into my bag before I start loading it with more rounds. "You're going to have to walk, understand?" I ask Cloud Layer. She gulps and tried to take a step forward, yelling in pain. I frown and snap the cylinder into the firing position with a spin. "I can't move!" she screams as tears fill her eyes. "My legs fucking hurt any time I move them!" "Then stand there and don't move," I say. She sets her leg down and most of the pain in her face goes away. “It’ll make things easier.” "Wh-what are we going to d-do?" she asks, sniffling between words. "I can't fly and I can't walk." "Well," I pull the hammer back on the revolver, "I'm going to collect my paycheck. As for you? Mistress Tail Blade sends her regards." I turn the pistol and aim at her chest, causing her eyes to go wide. "You bitch! I hope-" my magic pulls the trigger, causing the pistol to kick a lead dart into her chest. The bullet slams into her and goes clean through into the wall. Pulling the hammer back again, I send another bullet at her chest. She staggers into the wall from the impact and slowly slides down, leaving a bloody streak as she gasps for breath. I float the revolver to her head, pull the hammer back and look away, triggering it again. Warm liquid splatters back onto my face, forcing me to blink it out of my eyes. I squeeze the trigger a fifth time, forcing even more of the mare's cranial matter to fly back at my face. Stepping back, I shake the now bloody pistol to get any blood off it and start heading back through the maze towards the door. On my way by the raider mare, I put one last bullet into her and her mate's head just to be sure they were dead. The thing I've learned these past few weeks is that I cannot run from my past for long. It creeps up and hits me with a sledge hammer, so the only thing to do is embrace my inner demons and let them flow out once more, because let's face it. I already reserved a seat in Tartarus long ago and war will most likely never change. Somewhere down the road, somepony will want another pony dead, and with the changes to the wasteland. They can't do it openly anymore. They'll need an obedient dog to do their dirty work for them in the shadows. And I'm more than happy to oblige for a price. Shell Shock: Game Over! EpilogueEpilogue. "Wake me up when this insanity is done." Eclipse, that cruel earth pony with no compassion towards alicorns. Her time was coming. Mistress Tail Blade reluctantly allowed me to go after her, so long as her death could not be traced back by an inquisitive pony. Luckily for me that was just what I planned. I had it all planned out to the second. Her routine was quite simple to figure out once you sat down long enough and watched. She'd wake up in the morning, stretch, workout, eat something and head off to the others. After that she did whatever it was Steel Rangers did for the day before she came home and read a faded Daring Do book for a couple hours. Eclipse would then fall asleep after that. That was when I made my move. After five days of sitting still and watching her through a scope I had procured from a pony that didn’t need it anymore, I left my perch from the nearby building. My muscles ached and protested, the insides feeling like they were pulling back to my original position. Yet I pushed on and quietly made my way down the broken rubble pile. My stone colored cloth was still wrapped around me like a nice cloak which kept my wings covered. The rubble beneath my hooves threatened to give way, so I took flight with a flap of my wings. I landed on the street after a short flight and darted over to a mailbox, crouching as low as I could. The night sky was as bright as ever with the full moon, which gave me a nice clear view without any aids. All was quiet except for my breathing and the thundering coming from my chest. My extremely heavy bags were prepped for the mission close to my heart and the drive that kept me going through Oakwood until Dead Hoof crushed it. But I was given a second chance at it and I was not going to waste or fuck up in any way. It had to go as I planned or all would be lost. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I peered over the mailbox at the building Eclipse slept in. It was a simple brick building built by the hardy race known as earth ponies. Where the others around it failed and crumbled partially or in whole, it stood the test of time. Laughter, music, and light spilled forth from the bottom floor and I could see ponies of all color moving inside. Luckily, I did not plan on kicking in the front door and claiming I was there to kick everypony’s flank. My plan was much more simple. “Nice night for a walk,” said a nearby voice, forcing me to stop and look before I prepared to take flight. Leaning against an ancient light post was a familiar unicorn. Moonlight reflected off her sparkling coat where it could be seen, which was only her face. She wore a form fitting suit hide her features much like me. Lilium even wore an old trench coat over the suit with a top hat, well, topping it off. “I used to do this too.” she said as a revolver encased in green magic floated out from her coat. She stared at the cylinder for a second, her eyes darting to each bullet, before giving it a spin and snapping it shut. “Now’s not the time,” I told myself. “We can have a mirror conversation later.” She shrugged and looked up at the moon, I followed her gaze and saw a large cloud bank steadily moving in. “It’s not the same you know.” “I know,” I nodded. “Who cares if you get caught shooting a pony out here, right? The worst that’ll happen is a firefight and even more bodies. Though that body count will add up and one day, you’ll be looking back with regret. I know because I did.” “I can’t wash my hooves any more than I have, so I’ve stopped caring about it.” Lilium pointed a hoof towards the moon and smiled. “But what if you could wash away your past deeds like the coming rain?” “I’ll still be who I am. Nothing can change or take away what I’ve done to past ponies. It will stick with me until I go to the grave. Wishing for redemption is a pipedream that will never come to fruitrition.” “Then take this and have a good night.” Lilium tipped her hat with magic before tossing the revolver towards me. I instinctively reached out with my own magic and caught it. It felt heavy, loaded and, most of all, real. Pulling it close revealed that the weapon was an actual single action revolver with fancy designs on the body. I flipped the weapon over and saw an inscription on the barrel that read ‘Even a heartless monster can be redeemed if given the chance. All it takes is for one pony to care’. Opening the revolver’s cylinder and checking the bullets showed me that it was full and each one had a small inscription on their casings; Hope, Decency, Compassion, Forgiveness, Charm, and Morality. Looking up revealed Lilium to have gone, but her coat’s hem betrayed her as she galloped around the corner. Eclipse forgotten for the moment, I broke into a gallop as I slipped the pistol into my already full bags. I barreled around the building and headed down the alleyway. Lilium was already far ahead, despite her age which was old. She slipped away again, so I took flight and flew after her as quick as I could, ignoring the buildings around us or even if anypony was watching. A strange whirring noise filled the air as I closed the gap on the corner. The vision was familiar and I found my mind wandering back towards the time with Sister on the Cloudchaser. There too, I chased a vision of myself, yet that vision did not toss me a loaded weapon that was quite real! As I flew around the corner, I folded my wings and slid to a stop along the ground as I kicked up a small cloud of dust. The night air was strangely quiet except for the thundering of my heart and my heavy breathing. My gaze went left, right, up, down, everywhere, but Lilium had vanished. Only yards away was a brick wall where the not a vision Lilium had to have run into. I saw her head down the path, yet she was not there! A quick check of the nearby dumpster with my light spell revealed it to be empty, and the wooden boxes were far too small for her to have vanished inside of. The revolver she had given me was brought out and I checked it over, and over, to make sure it was still the same, it was. Nothing made sense. No vision I interacted with ever gave me a physical object that I could touch, feel and taste. Though it tasted like a freshly oiled revolver. A check of the revolver against the other one in my bags revealed them to be different weapons entirely. For one, the shape was off as Lilium’s revolver had an intricate design on it. Another was that the barrel on Lilium’s revolver was a couple inches longer with a flip up iron sight. I frowned as I put it away and flew back towards Eclipse’s building. The burning question on my mind was a simple one: How the hell did that happen? Am I still back in that fake world?! I stopped above Eclipse’s building and looked around. The buildings and night sky around me looked as real as my hoof. My hooves felt like they were on a rooftop, the air felt cool and my feathers felt real. A shake of my head cleared the stupid thoughts from my skull. I still had those strange metal disks in my body. A light touch of my hoof confirmed it, so what happened really happened to me. Somehow, my old self managed to appear in the flesh and disappear just as quickly. Which was something to look into, but not at this time. Ignoring further ramblings and thoughts, I dashed towards the rooftop edge and jumped off. I spun around in the air, slowly shutting my eyes as I unfolded my wings and hovered in place. I could feel a slight electrical tingle in the crisp night air flowing through my feathers, which was not odd to me due to the coming storm. The sensation felt like the one you’d get when lightning was about to strike. My mission had been side tracked, but not for long. I chose then to expedite what I had planned and tossed caution to the wind. So, with a deep breath, I brought up my shield and charged at Eclipse’s window. The glass shattered as the shield went clean through and I dropped it. That was a mistake. My hind legs caught on the opening as I felt my stomach lurch and, with a yelp of surprise, my face met the hard unforgiving ground of Eclipse’s bedroom. “Who’s th-fuck!” the aforementioned earth pony shouted in complete surprise, having noticed me as I pushed myself to my hooves and withdrew the 105mm artillery shell with magic. She looked at me, the door, the shell, and bolted for the door. The shell whirled around in my magic and I released it, letting the momentum fling the high-explosive shell across the room for me. Eclipse’s side was slammed by the impromptu club and the mare was shoved into the wall by the weight as a loud snap filled the room. The heavy object slammed into the ground and slowly rolled to the side as I strutted over to her with my head held high. “Been a while,” I said quietly, using my mouth to speak as she did not deserve a more elegant method of communication. “And I see you still recognize me.” She sat there panting while holding a hoof to her side. “You broke my fucking ribs!” My magic gripped the handle of my 10mm pistol as I drew the weapon and pointed it at Eclipse. Another object floated out and I turned on the audio recorder as her gaze went to it. “Now then, let’s start from the beginning. Hello, your name is…?” “Star Paladin Eclipse,” she grumbled through her teeth, her eyes glaring a bright fire at me. “Or, I was anyway. They demoted me to Knight.” “Good.” I nodded. “Do you know why I am here?” “To kill me probably. That’s why you’ve got that pistol aimed at me isn’t it?” She sat down and continued to hold her side as I pulled out a knife. “Correct. I had a plan, but I had to change it to unforeseen circumstances. So now we are doing a new plan.” Eclipse rolled her eyes as she muttered something under her breath about a crazy alicorn. Then shook her head and yawned. “If you’re going to kill me. Please shoot me now and spare me the theatrics. Your entrance was terrible by the way.” The knife moved closer to her flesh and pressed down, drawing a bit of crimson liquid. “Yes, yes it was. Just a question, but did you hear a strange whirring sound earlier? Like this?” I tried to replicate it, but mostly failed at it. Eclipse facehoofed. “Just kill me now and save me the stupidity!” she shouted. Then shook her head while muttering, “why? Celestia, what did I do to deserve this stupid alicorn?” “I’m not stupid. I was just asking a simple question! Now pay attention.” Slowly, the knife moved down her foreleg as it peeled the top layer of her skin off. Her eyes widened as she yelled in pain. “Aah! What the fuck?! Stop that hurts!” “It’s supposed to hurt.” I nodded. “That’s why it’s called torture.” “I ended her suffering!” Eclipse shouted, causing me to stop skinning her foreleg. I tilted my head and blinked as I opened and closed my mouth to try coming up with a reply. “She asked me, begged me, to kill her. She was in pain from the fight.” “Radiation would have healed her!” I shouted as my eyes narrowed towards the teal mare. “Alicorns. Heal. From radiation! You killed her like some kill happy crazy mare!” “Just stop and think for one second. Who actually killed her? Me? Or the pony that put her in that position?” “Don’t try to guilt trip me!” The knife was shoved through Eclipse’s leg and into the wall. “Don’t you dare try to say I killed her. Your pathetic device was sucking the magic from her in a failed attempt to capture me.” Eclipse attempted to pull the knife out with her hoof, which it came free quite easily, and stared at it. The pistol was floated up and pressed against the side of her skull. “You know what?” I asked as she glanced at me with her eyes, a look of fear and horror crossed her face. “We’re done with this conversation.” Tension slowly built up in the trigger as I pressed on it with magic. Prologue: Darkness Falls (slightly revised 6/25/2013)Chapter 0: Darkness Falls. An old and wise pony once told us that in the future there is only chaos. The world ended a great many years ago in a battle of balefire bombs that obliterated nearly everypony and other creatures, plunging the world into nuclear winter as the pegasi blocked out the sun. However life finds a way to move on and it did. We lost our home and became lost. But We finally found happiness in Unity. Life was perfect for Us, if a little wonky at first. Then one day, a little grey mare sought to make things better for others. She succeeded, but it only made it worse for Us again. We remember the day We stopped hearing the voice of the Goddess. It was probably two... three...? Days, weeks, months, years ago? We’re not entirely sure as the years have blurred together since We joined Unity willingly long before the Destroyer arrived. However We know that day is gone and We are unsure of things to come, as We can now do things that the Goddess would not allow... like think for ourselves again and that is not a good thing. We galloped through the halls of the old rusty ship forever docked at the Oakwood Dock’s and telepathically shouted. "Sisssssterrrr! Sister, Sister!" Everypony can hear Our telepathic shout, but We do not care! As We wish to show Sister this awesome thing We discovered called moonshine. Oh and food. Most, if not all, of the ponies here fear us for some reason We do not know. Perhaps it was because of the things We once did in the Goddess's name? However Sister has set Us up with a new boss in exchange for staying here and helping. Ahead of Us, a grey impure pony was attempting to step through the hatch in front of Us. But with Our telekinetics We gripped him in a jade green field of magic, shoved him through and against the wall. Then We squeezed through the small hatch, which was a bit of an annoyance due to Us being as large as Celestia was, but we always manage if no impure ponies are in the way. We followed the rusty passageway then made a left at the end, followed by a right and literally bowled through a couple of impure. Our weight knocked them into the bulkhead walls. With a wide grin We took a sip from the jar and ducked Our head so that we may go down the stairs two decks and then aft. At the end of that passageway we had to turn left again, then another right, and up some stairs. We took another sip from the jar, smiling as it warmed out belly, and followed that passageway to the right. Eventually We went back down two more flights of stairs. After a few more twists and turns in the bowels of the ship We arrived at our destination. The engine room. We gulped back our smile as We composed ourself and opened the door, then stepped through into the large dark room. Sister’s large blue form stood next to the engine with Our new boss about twenty feet from her in conversation. We quickly hid the jar to Our side and turned so that Boss didn't see it. "...have Shock do it," he told her. We always hated coming in near the end, because then Sister has to explain it to Us and she hates it for some reason We can't fathom. Sister nodded firmly as she glared at the pony. "Fine. Just make sure your ponies don't shoot her this time! The Goddess dislikes failure and we dislike when we have to heal our sister." He gave her a nod and walked towards Us, and the exit, while We glared and tried to present an imposing picture like Sister says to. It was much easier before the Goddess stopped talking to Us. We missed her dearly. He looked up and stopped. We stared at each other for a long while. Finally he blinked and We smiled. "Hah! We win!" We projected into his head and Sister groaned in annoyance. We looked up as We told her, and only her. "We have something to show you!" We left Boss behind and went over to the engine. Which we nearly hugged as the warm radiation fed our body. "What is it?" Sister asked with her snide voice. ‘Why doesn't she talk like We do? Who needs to waste breath and energy by moving their mouth? Telepathy is so much better!’ We thought to ourself. Regardless, We held up the jar in magic with a grin. "Moonshine!” We told her with Our mind. “Thy impure bar pony makes it and it is absolutely amazing! You should try some." Sister blinked in shock as she took a step back. "You know we don't require such things! What motivated you to try it in the first place?" "Because We were told it was good?" We sipped from the jar with a smile and offered it to her. The alcohol burned our insides, but We liked it. She glanced around then took the drink in her magic, gave it a sniff and wrinkled her nose. We watched as she slowly put it to her lips and took a long draw. Sister’s eyes widened as she spit it back out all over Our face as she coughed. We laughed as We had the same reaction the first time! Then We realized something and looked at Our long flowing mane. We shook Our head in disappointment with a frown. "Thou got Our mane covered in booze...." Sister tossed the jar away with eyes on fire and We shrank back. Our ears folded back as the glass shattered the wonderful drink everywhere. She shouted. "Foal! Stop interacting with those beyond who I tell you too!" We nodded slowly in understanding. "If we act like we have been before that bitch destroyed the Goddess, we can still get benefits like this..." Metal rang out as Sister tapped the ship's engine with her hoof. "Free. Consistent. Source of protected radiation from our loyal supporters." Sister snarled at Us, causing Us to hop a little bit in surprise. "We are monsters, so start acting like one again!" "What of Our other sisters?" We asked quietly in her head. "We have not heard from them in a long ti-" "They are dead! Where have you been? Living under a rock? We are all that's left out here in Oakwood!" ‘Because a ship is like a rock... right?’ We thought slowly as We nodded. "May we still get Moonshine?" We asked her with a smile. "NO!" Her eyes went wide in horror as she roared and echoed in the room. "I can’t believe you like it!" Sister rolled her eyes and dramatically groaned. "Why? Why of all of us in Unity did I get stuck with you?" "We do not see a problem being paired together. In fact We think this to be fun." We looked back the way Boss had gone and then looked at Sister. "Sister, what did Boss want?" She put a hoof on our shoulder. "You are going to help him attack a convoy of Steel Rangers and he wants you to plant on bomb on both the front, and rear, vehicle. Then support his ponies while they try to take the supplies." We nodded and turned invisible. "We can do that!" "Go!” Sister pointed angrily at the hatch. “The convoy nears the spot in thirty minutes. Do not be late." *** *** We hummed a blues tune quietly in our head while We crept towards the rear wagon. They didn't see Our giant form, because we were cloaked and Our spell cannot possibly be seen by impure ponies! The wagon was a four axle box trailer being pulled by a three axle steam truck with two black clouds billowing from its side pipes. To get by the clouds of smoke, We had to hold Our breath. We were two miles from the entrance to the bridge leading across the bay and they were heading there fully loaded. We went under the center of the 30ft flatbed trailer and pulled the plastic bomb off Our back with thine hoof as using magic breaks the invisibility spell. Then We glued the device to the underside between two frame support beams. The timer read: 00:01:15. We smiled as We left the trailer before being run over by the rear axles. As We looked right We had to back up as a blue mare in acolyte robes nearly ran into Us. She stopped and looked in Our direction. We gulped as we slowly sidestepped with the vehicle. The pony slowly looked forward as she shout. "I think I saw something!" With a silent snarl We backed up slowly. ’That bomb is going to go off in a matter of seconds or minutes! Ugh, time why are thou so weird to us?!’ We silently groaned before we turned and quietly galloped away. The vehicle stopped and ponies began inspecting the trailer as We left it. Then the one in the front exploded in a fireball, followed quickly by the rear wagon, thus trapping the convoy in the street perfectly. ’A little light on explosives, but effective still.’ We thought as We ducked into a building marked by Sister and We dropped the invisible spell. Our hooves now hollowly thumped on the carpeted wood as we made Our way up stairs, turned left and followed the rubble trail towards where we were to meet Sister for our weapon and further instructions. At the end of the hallway was a cloth covering what had once been a door. We pushing the cloth back and frowned. Sister was not there! We quickly scanned the room in worry as We wondered if she'd gotten shot, but that would be silly! Sister has a better invisibility spell than We do, but We have a shield that does not seem to work anymore... Our gaze fell upon a box and We went over to it. On top of it was a note that We picked up in magic and read. Sister, Use this to burn the heretics into Tartarus. Something has come up that demands my attention and I leave it in your more than capable hooves. Be safe. Signed, Sister. We opened the box and squee'd in delight at its contents, then quickly looked around to see if anypony saw that unladylike outburst. None did of course, so We looked down at the okay condition Annihilator Mk.I rocket launcher. Underneath it were seven shots of high-explosive and two orange tipped rockets that were sheathed in a belt which We hung around our neck. With our new found toy We galloped from the room towards the roof. As We reached the roof Our ears were assaulted by the sounds of ponies locked in urban combat. We used Our magic to load in one of the orange tipped rounds and the thought of going invisible crossed our mind. But using a spell breaks it so it's useless. We crept low and wished that Our mane didn't flow all the time. As We reached the brick protruding up We peered over at the deep black road below. The rear truck was burning with parts of ponies nearby, and smoke rose from the front of the convoy as that truck burned too. We involuntarily ducked as the boiler blew in a cloud of white steam and scalding hot water, catching two acolytes in the blast. Some ponies were hiding behind recent rubble, or using the wagons as cover as they fred at the ones hiding in the building. An idea formed in Our head, We stood on Our hind legs with the rocket launcher floating nearby and stuck a hoof in the air. Our divine wings were extended to full and We telepathically boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "FOALISH MORTALS! THE GODDESS DEMANDS YOUR DEATH!" Our rocket launcher aimed, and with a whoosh, it sent the warhead flying towards the center vehicle. Our aim struck true, it exploded and spread burning phosphorous everywhere in an orange explosion, setting three ponies in the blast radius on fire. Everypony followed the white smoke trail leading to Us. ‘That got their attention!’ We thought as We dropped back behind the edge just before they returned fire. Bullets shattered the brick next to Our head, showering Us with shards. We left the useless cover behind with the rocket launcher floating in front of Us. Then loaded in the second high explosive incendiary warhead. We giggled slightly as We were glad to be releasing our pent up anger and thought to ourself. ’Sister always lets Us have fun by killing the heretics that do not believe in the Goddess. We only wish to help the wasteland by allowing them to join Unity, but do they listen? Noooo! They shout horrible things about the Goddess and force Us into hiding in the Crescent Moon's hull. Then there’s the Destroyer.... oh We could go on, and on, about how she dropped a boxcar on one of Our sisters, and trapped one in a memory orb, but there is no time for contemplating. Only killing time!’ We peered over the broken sign and aimed Ann. She sent a warhead down at another vehicle as We dropped back behind cover before they saw Us. We galloped over to the door leading to a stairwell and followed that down two stories to a destroyed office floor. Quietly, We made Our way to the shattered windows and stood far enough back to not be seen. We loaded in a high explosive rocket and as We looked at the ponies down below, We frowned. One metal monstrosity of a pony was looking up at Us while aiming his/her own rocket launcher. We took a snapshot and galloped from the window as their rocket streaked up, and destroyed the ceiling in a shower of wood shards. Our weapon and Us went two different directions as We were deafened by the explosion. We grit our teeth while dragging Ann back to Us with magic. ’Fuck those Steel Ranger heretics and their metal suits!’ We hissed to ourself as We rolled to Our hooves and galloped from the room. Our rocket launcher was in front of Us as We loaded in another rocket and crashed through the wood door. We jumped and fluttered down the center of the six flights of stairs, landing softly. Then We took a slow look around as We tested the door with a hoof and found it locked. We rolled Our eyes, spun around, and bucked it. Our hooves sent it flying off its hinges, because who needs to fumble with a lockpick when you can just buck it down?! The hallway beyond was short and partly collapsed, which caused Us to crouch down to sneak through. However as We neared the door a rocket streaked through, slamming into the wall in front of Us and showered Our body with red hot concrete. Quickly, We jumped out, sent a warhead after him and kept going before they had a chance to reload their rocket launcher. We heard the rocket detonate, followed by impure pony screams and frowned as We wanted to hit the heretic! We loaded a new rocket as We galloped through the wooden hallway while minigun fire roared from another room towards Us. A few of the five millimeter bullets bored their way into Our hide and caused Us to yelp as We entered some sort of break room. We dove behind an overturned fridge with some snack cakes spread out on the ground. We took one box and devoured its contents as We looked around. A thought struck us, ’Steel Rangers have the ability to track us with their suit, so if we disable suit they just cram in a can?’ Our gaze went to the fridge and we smiled at the idea. ’Fridge Shield! Our magic easily tore the door off its pathetically weak hinges. We nodded as We inspected it. It looked stout enough to stop bullets. We looked back at Our flank to pull out the five rounds that were setting Our insides on fire and tossed the tiny bullets away. We shouted telepathically to anypony nearby. “We’re still alive dickhead!” The response came in the form of minigun fire and a rocket destroying the wall as We dove for cover again behind the fridge, causing the roof to groan and timbers to snap. We took a deep breath as We hefted the door in front of Us and charged the destroyed wall. Fridge Shield smashed through what was left of the wood door. We slid to a stop as We glared at the Tin Can down the hall. As the hallway was filled with the roar of a minigun the rounds impacted the metal shield and pushed it back towards Us. Our magic floated the Mk.I launcher up over the door We let a rocket fly. In Our haste, we had momentarily forgotten to duck and inadvertently burned Our mane. We nearly filly squealed in horror, but quickly put the fire out with magic before it did more than singe Our beautiful mane. The Steel Ranger dove for cover and the shot missed, striking the front wall. Our eyes narrowed when We saw at least two more of the Tin Cans outside. We telepathically boomed while We loaded in a new rocket. "THOU TIN CANS CANNOT HOPE TO MATCH OUR PERFECTION!" We heard metallic laughter from the other room where the Ranger had taken cover. A frown formed on Our lips as We trotted over to look around with one eye. But the sneak effect was ruined by Our beautifully flowing mane that We simply must do something about! The laughter stopped and the Steel Ranger tin can looked at Us as his minigun spooled up. Fridge Shield was quickly brought up and 5mm bullets slammed against it. The force of the impacts pushed the shield back into Us. We snarled as we took a snapshot into the room. Instantly, Our eyes went wide as we realized our fuck up. The blast wave shoved the fridge door into Us and sent Our body crashing through the wall behind and bones cracked. We slammed against another wall and slumped to the floor covered in dirt and blood. We groaned as fire lanced through one of Our wings, and blood trickled from our ears and nose while all we could hear was a loud ringing sound. We tried to link to Sister to ask her for help, as she sometimes comes if We do. "Sister... We are hurt... Please come... Please? Please? There are many St-" We broke the link when the ceiling above snapped loud enough to overcome the ringing. Our eyes widened as it kept snapping and groaning. A timber landed next to Us, so We quickly stood up and tried galloping as best We could. Which was a limping hobble. We stole a glance at the Tin Can and saw charred body parts, and metal everywhere. We made sure to bring the Annihilator as it would be bad to leave it behind. Sister would not be pleased. We stumbled and pressed against the wall, using it for support, and went forward. We needed to find something to heal the wounds quickly as they greatly diminished Our combat effectiveness. Timbers snapped behind Us and the building came crashing down in a dust cloud as We stumbled down the stairs onto the road. We looked around at the battle. The Tin Cans were winning and We groaned audibly and mentally scolded ourself. ’We fucked up and fixated on that foal in power armor too long!’ We brought Our rocket launcher up to help, but it clicked empty and caused Us to frown. Our magic loaded in the thrice to last warhead. One of the Tin Cans turned around and his twin miniguns quickly spooled up, then roared like a dragon. We brought up Our magic bubble shield and sent a rocket at the same time as we were enveloped by a green bubble. His rounds went everywhere else, but not into Us. Our warhead struck the ground under him and sent the now three legged pony flying sideways in a slow tumble as he trailed blood from his stump. We quickly loaded in another shot and fired, but looked at the rocket with a puzzled look when it clicked. Then We facehoofed as Our green shield prevented us from putting the new warhead in! We quickly looked around and bounded behind cover as We dropped the shield to load in the warhead. Trying to raise the shield a second time caused fire to lance through Our long horn. We clutched Our head and waited for it to die down. ’Huh? We should be able to cast that infinitely!’ With a huff of annoyance, We floated the rocket launcher at our side as We stood and popped out from behind cover to take a snapshot. Then ducked back and loaded our last round in while we thought back in Our memories. ’Steel Rangers work in fives and we've seen four. Where's...’ Our gaze went up and We immediately dove out of the way from a rocket attack high above Us. Burning shrapnel buried itself in Our flank as We were sent flying by the shockwave. We landed in a heap on the rubble lined road and groaned again as We slid to a stop. A silver apple landed near us, we tossed it away with wide eyes, and it exploded only a few feet away, showering us with shrapnel and sending Us sliding back more. We futilely used Our wing to cover Our face as the metal passed through the feathers like they weren't there. "Kill the monster!" A metallic mare’s muffled voice shouted. Reminding Us what we've become. Not a vision of the perfect future, but a hideous monstrosity in their eyes. 5mm rounds kicked up a line of concrete and stitched across Our side as they burrowed their way in, burning our insides. We grit Our teeth as we loaded Our last rocket and turned it on a Tin Can before pulling the trigger with magic. Ann clattered to the road as the warhead missed completely, but caused them to take cover. We groaned inwardly and picked her up with a wing and tried to limp away. We collapsed behind a wagon and almost sobbed while We reconnected with Sister. "We... are sorry, Sister. We failed... We do not think we will make it, but we will try." We looked at one ruined wing, then at the other with a long splinter protruding from the bone. A cry of pain escaped us as We removed it and panted. "We cannot fly... Will try to make it by hoof." We broke the connection and went invisible. *** *** We stumbled and fell to the grass covered road in a dusty heap as Ann dropped from Our grip for the umpteenth time. Our wounds too great and painful to keep going. We painfully grabbed the Annihilator with a hoof and wrapped Our forelegs around her in a cuddle. She was a good weapon that served Us faithfully. We shut Our eyes and waited for the end. And waited... Finally after a long while We sighed and opened Our eyes as We looked at the beautifully crafted toy of death in Our embrace. A toy that was now in almost poor condition. Sister would be upset if We did not go on! And so that is what We will do! We wrapped the weapon in a wing, stood back up painfully, and shakily on our hooves, and limped onward. The Crescent moon is this way... we think. As We limped along We slowly looked around at all the similar buildings and overgrown roads. A sigh of frustration left us as we approached a sky wagon. ’We have no clue where it is we are! Everything looks so different down here...’ We prayed while We limped around a wrecked sky wagon. "We pray to the Goddess so that she may give Us protection and deliver us unto Our sister in a timely manner, praise be the Goddess." We hoped she heard that and We do not truly believe Sister when she says the Goddess is dead. Because how can a goddess die? The answer is she cannot as she is immortal. She must have left her corporeal form behind and is watching over us all like a true goddess. We stopped and looked back at the sky wagon at an odd, yet familiar, feeling. ’There may be medical supplies in there!’ We thought to ourself as we turned around and limped over to the wreckage. As we neared the machine We felt a familiar warm feeling of radiation coming from the cracked engine. We looked up and whispered, “thank you Goddess, thank you!” We collapsed and put Our face against the leaking device. Then rubbing it with Our cheek and smiled. It was not much radiation, but enough to heal Our minor wounds and dull the pain. We connected to Sister, but she never responds... none ever do. "Sister! The Goddess answered our prayer for help! See? The Goddess is not dead, she is watching over Us!" We left the leaking engine behind and opened the cargo doors so We could rummage through the boxes of impure pony junk. We found a Med-X needle that We immediately injected, some Rad-away that We tossed away, five bottle caps which We put into the rocket belt, half a bottle of rum, and six rounds of .22LR ammo. We held one of the .22LR rounds with magic to eye level as We eyed it suspiciously. ’Who in their right mind would willingly use a weapon that fires such.... pitiful ammunition?’ Regardless of Our caliber preference, We pocketed the ammo as one may need it for trade. We opened the mostly gone bottle of rum and drank what was left as We continued limping on Our way. ’We are so pleased with the Goddess! We asked, and she answered. It was like... magic!' Our ears swiveled as rubble fell to the road. Slowly, We looked around. We glanced behind Us and facehoofed at the realization that We were walking back towards the remaining Steel Rangers! We turned back towards the sky wagon. It wasn't far, but one of Our hooves tugged on something, which caused Us to glance down as the tripwire suddenly went slack. Underneath the rubble pile a device whirred and gave a metallic pop as an object jumped out and drew our attention. Our eyes widened and We jumped back as its panels unfolded, exploding bright light in our face along with a truly deafening clap of thunder. Our world went black as our body fell to the road. *** *** Sometime later, We opened Our eyes as a dull throbbing pain ran through Our horn and followed an incessant beeping noise; over and over. Slowly, We looked around a sort of tall medical room devoid of ponies with the area above being glass, the room behind the glass dark. The whitewashed walls reflected the blinding light from directly overhead and gave the entire room a muted headache inducing feeling. Wires ran from Us to a machine that was doing the beeping. Our bed was as hard as a rock and We realized it was just a metal table that was covered by a sheet. One of Our hind legs had a metal band around it that appeared attached to the bed. ’Clouds make for some of the best beds, they should have given Us clouds!’ "I see you're awake." A metallic voice said from the walls. We slowly scanned the white and tried to reply with Our mind, but fire shot through Our horn causing us to collapse onto the bed in agony. We laid there, panting until the pain in our horn subsided, and wiped the sweat off our brow. "If you try using magic in there, then that happens." the voice said flatly. Our gaze went up to a yellow earth pony standing behind thick looking glass. We looked at him in contempt as We hate talking with Our mouth. It sounds so... weird and undignified! Regardless, We softly cleared Our throat and asked. "Where... are we?" He pushed a button next to him with his hoof. "Somewhere in Oakwood. Why does it matter?" "Curious is all. We take it you healed Us?" We held out a wing and noticed that Our feathers had been clipped beginning from the third outside flight feather. A quick check of the other revealed the same. "What... happened to Our beautiful wings?" "I stitched your wounds, and a few healing potions finished the job. However the feathers had to be cut as they were heavily damaged." We sighed and nodded because if what We remember about the grenade shrapnel going through Our wing were true, then that must be true that they had to be cut. "How long have we been here?" "At least two days." We looked up at him and smiled. "The Goddess will reward thee for helping Us." His voice echoed in the small room as he pushed the button again. "You do realize she's been dead for a couple weeks, right?" We looked up at the ceiling and smiled as We put Our forehooves together and placed them against Our chest. "The Goddess is not dead, merely in another plane of existence. She answered Our prayer earlier and watches over Us even now." "Look, I don't care if you believe she's Celestia! I don't wanna hear none of that Unity shit in my home, do you understand?" We looked at the impure and nodded slowly in understanding. "Good. Now mind telling me why I found you shot full of holes and blown up?" We shall forgive him calling Unity that as he does not know that in Unity We are better as a whole. "...Perhaps... Do We get anything for in return for telling thee?" "I have extra cake." he replied with a shrug. "Very well, that will do," We gave a nod of acceptance of his trade offer as food is wonderfully yummy. "We were helping Sister and Boss to clear out a convoy of Tin Can Heretics." "Tin Can... you mean Steel Rangers?" "Yes. They had supplies Boss needed and he asked Sister, whom asked us to do it." Our ears folded back as We looked at the floor in shame. "We... failed." "And it was just you versus a platoon of Steel Rangers?" Again We nodded. "Sister gave us nine rockets, and We used all of them to take out half." He sat down and looked in deep thought while he scratched his chin. We thought he looked constipated. The impure pony looked at Us finally and asked. "Was she there with you?" We shook our head. "No she was not. Sister was called away on important business." "In other words, she didn't want to die and used you instead." "No no no!" We furiously shook our head. "Sister would never harm Us! We are all that's left out here in Oakwood. The others... died. What of Our cake? Thou said We would get some food after We told thou what happened." He sighed. "Fine... Give me a minute." We nodded and waited for what We're assuming a minute as he appeared in the doorway with a dark metal collar and a plate of cake on his back. The pony trotted over and set the objects down. Our gaze locked on the super delicious looking cake as We licked Our lips in anticipation. Our hoof reached out for it, but was slapped away. We quickly drew it back as We looked at the hoof in confusion. "No! Not yet." We frowned at the piss yellow stallion. "Let me put out this collar on you and then you can have it." ’He touched Us! How dare he?! But why the collar? We have seen ponies with them before, but do not know their function.’ We tilted Our head as We asked. "What does it... do?" "It's a medical collar. It'll tell me if you're fully healed or not." Something in the back of Our mind screamed at Us that it was bad, but we nodded and lowered our head to his level. He clasped it on with a grin and stepped quite far back. We noticed the collar was very heavy, which a medical collar shouldn’t be if one existed. He was now holding up a device with a large red button in one hoof. "Do you see this?" he asked as he pointed at it. "Of course We do you foal! What is it?" "The detonator for the slave collar that I just put around your neck." Our eyes widened as Our jaw dropped. "Thou... thou hath tricked Us! Why you little shit!" We lunged for him, but the chain attached to Our hind leg went taut and We fell to the floor with a thud as fire lanced through the socket. We groaned in annoyance as We realized that Our life was now in his hooves. He stepped over Us and grinned. "First are the rules. Rule one: if you use magic to fiddle with the collar, it blows up. Rule two: if you hit the collar too hard, it blows up. Rule three: if you try to disarm the collar without the key, it blows up. Rule four: if you hit me, it blows up. Now do what I say and this will be easier." We nodded slowly. “Get up. We’re going on a trip.” *** *** We sat off to the side of the tiny camp with a grumble and mentally complained. ’Such an undignified act pulling a cart! Only dirty earth ponies or donkeys, or imp spawn mules, should ever be used to pull a cart, not a vision of perfection! The harness smells, chafes, itches, is dirty, and not to mention heavy!’ It was night out and We do not know where We are. Master, as he wants to be called, created a fire and was cooking a can of beans. There was a flat gem powered device with a large screen that ‘Master’ kept looking at. We looked up and thought a quick prayer to the Goddess. ‘He shall die tonight in your name and if We die then it is by Our choice, praise be the Goddess.’ As We looked down at the earth pony We crept around to his back as best We could. His fire ruined his night vision and Our forest green coat let Us slip into shadows. We silently charged him, but Our silence was not good enough as he turned at the last second when we noisily kicked over a nearby can. With a telepathic cry of anger, Our horn skewered his heart and protruded out the other side of his body, and killed him instantly. Not to mention getting our mane and horn covered in blood! We quickly turned Our head and tossed his limp body away, it fell in a dusty heap as We hobbled over. Our magic patted his barding pockets for anything of value. In addition to the detonator there was a round rolled tube of something smelly. We stripped the pony and went through his saddlebags. In there We found traps, Our rocket launcher, rocket belt, and 300 caps with a note. Wanted: all alicorns for crimes against the Steel Rangers. 10,000 cap reward for each one brought in alive. 2,500 dead. We frowned as We put everything into his bags, including the screen thing, and slung the bags across Our back. Then We took a look around again in an attempt to find out where We were. We shrugged and headed towards where the sun had set earlier. Level up! New Perk - Questing: You can now gain levels and new perks due to a process known as questing. Congrats! Allows you to pick one extra perk, so choose wisely. New perk - Widowmaker: Who’s a sexy mare? You are. Yes you are! +10% damage to stallions, and unique dialogue options with certain characters. Main quest accepted - Oakwood Blues, I. Get back to Sister at the Crescent Moon and tell her of the bounty on alicorns. Due to your feathers being mangled, you must walk. Main quest accepted - Ties that bind. Find a pony with whom you can trust to remove your slave collar. Character sheet below. Shell Shock -865 Karma Race: Green Unity alicorn S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Strength: 7 Perception: 5 Endurance: 6 Charisma: 3 Intelligence: 4 Agility: 7 Luck: 8 Tagged skills: Big guns, repair, explosives. Traits: Screw the toasters! You hate anyone wearing power armor, as they are the cause of all the worlds problems in your eyes. +5% chance to crit against those who serve the Steel Rangers, or Enclave. Reputation automatically set to kill on sight for both. Visions of Unity. You look down upon all those who are not like you, because you are perfection. +10% damage to all wasteland ponies. Due to you being an alicorn, your reputation set to friendly to alicorns and to idolized to those who worship the Goddess. Fatal flaw: Low intelligence: You were not the sharpest tool in the shed before joining Unity. Thanks to losing Unity you are back to 'normal'. Thus other ponies can now take advantage of your gullibility. -30 to speech, barter as well as other ponies gain unique dialog with you. Dramatic entry: Screw using a lockpick, use your hooves! Depending on the lock you might need to blow it up, but be careful as it may destroy the contents of a box and will announce your presence to other ponies nearby. Replaces Lockpicking as a skill. Kleptomare: Oooh, shiny! You see expensive things and wish them to be yours. +10 sneak and you are 10% less likely to be caught taking items. Racial spells: Telekinetics: Even a foal knows this one. Needs no more explaining. Telepathy: Why do you need to move your mouth to speak?! You communicate with your mind and abhor speaking by flapping the lips. +20% to creepiness factor for other ponies. Shield spell: You have it, so why can’t you use it? Oh that’s right! You don’t really want to... +25 DT for two minutes. 24hr recharge time between casting unless connected to Unity. Invisibility: Learned from Sister and allows you to turn invisible. Due to it not being yours initially it’s not as great as hers, thus other ponies can detect you easier. Grants a similar effect as a stealth buck. Lasts until canceled. Ten minute recharge. Author's Note Cleaned it up some. I hope it's better now. Chapter 8: All quiet on Tranquility LaneChapter 8: All quiet on Tranquility Lane “An old and wise pony once told me that in the future there is only chaos.” Something shook me as a pony quietly said, “Lily, wake up you’re having a nightmare.” My eyes snapped open as I lunged at the intruder. I wrapped a foreleg around a dark shape and squeezed tight. He struggled under my grip while I started to notice a few things. First I was in an immaculately clean room with the lights on. Which revealed a clean grey carpet on bright wood flooring, clean yellow-white walls, a clean white ceiling, a star filled night sky out of the window with... Lighted apartment buildings across the street. I glanced down at the black unicorn whose face was rapidly turning blue. A crystalline tan foreleg was wrapped around him and was squeezing tight. My right shoulder felt funny, like it wasn’t there, so I glanced at it and my eyes slowly widened. Where there should be a foreleg, there was a cybernetic socket and on the nightstand next to the desk was a dull silver foreleg that attached into it. A stray lock of brown hair fell in front of my eyes and all vision in my right eye was a complete blur like it was glazed over, because it was. I connected the dots and the pressure was released on the pony. He gasped in relief while he slumped forward on the bed. I used my magic to pull the bed sheets aside, which allowed me to look at the scars on the right side of my body from the mortar shell, but more importantly. I saw my cutie mark and his. My only good hoof was applied to my forehead as I facehoofed in despair. “I’m sorry,” I whispered softly. "I thought... I'm sorry, Synthie." He held out a foreleg and nodded. “It’s okay. At least you couldn't snap my neck. Mind telling me what your dream was about?” I took his hoof in mine, pulled him back into bed, and covered us up. “Just... a creepy one.” I replied while he ran a hoof around the cybernetic socket’s rim. We stared into each others eyes for awhile. I shut mine and sighed. “You were a zombie, I was a green version of Celestia. There was a blue version, and purple, along with many other ponies, and we were all stuck on this insane island two hundred years after...” I immediately shot up in a sitting position and looked out the window at the city. “The war against the zebras!” I shouted. My wide eyed gaze went to his as I added. “Synthie, we must warn the Princesses about the future!” He pulled me back down and hugged me tightly. “It was a dream, Lily. I told you, you should see the Ministry of Peace about these. They’re getting worse.” The door was kicked open and I shot up again in surprise. A spell at the ready to kill whatever was intruding, but it quickly dropped in confusion when I saw three blank flank foals scrambling towards me. One brown unicorn, one sky blue unicorn with orange eyes, and one teal earth pony with a strawberry red mane. Their hooves barely had traction as they practically bolted towards us. They looked about that age where they were late bloomers in getting their cutie mark. Sienna and Eclipse hopped onto the bed while Arid Rain bounced off, and went flying after mistiming the jump. I giggled as my magic lifted her up and onto it. Eclipse shoved the slightly Sienna, who shoved back, and they began to bicker and fight. “I was here first!” the brown one shouted. The teal filly bucked the brown one off and jumped on her. “Nu-uh, I got here first!” The sky blue one tackled Eclipse, pulled her off by the mane and tossed her away. “Get off my friend ya meanie!” She hit the wall with a thud and slid down. She got up, shook her head and charged, but was promptly grabbed in a field of silver by Synthie. He lifted her off the floor while she pouted. “Moooom!” the Sienna said loudly and pointed at the teal one. “Eclipse bit Arid Rain!” The sky blue filly in question held out her hoof to show the bite mark on her leg. “We didn’t do nuthin ta make ‘er angry!” Eclipse glared at her. “But Ma, I caught Sienna kissing her! That’s just... ew! Their both fillies!“ “I slipped,” Sienna commented as her face darkened, clearly out of embarrassment. “And... an’ I jus’ happen ta... land with my mouth on hers. We didn’t not kiss.” Arid Rain looked at Sienna, then me and nodded. “It’s true! She fell an’... an’ landed on top of me!” My eyes widened at the ridiculousness of this situation. Eclipse rolled her eyes while still floating off the ground in magic. “Yeah, suuuure. Sis’ fell through the top bunk mattress an' onto you?” She yelped in shock as Synthie tossed her to me. I caught the filly in my good leg and glared at her. She gave a nervous smile. "Hi, Ma." I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time was two minutes to midnight. I sighed. “Eclipse, Sienna, Arid Rain,” they looked at me as I continued, “do you three know what fucking time it is? What are you still doing awake?!” Eclipse pointed a hoof at Sienna and Arid. “Sis’ an’ her friend were whispering things an' keeping me awake!" “Were not!” they shouted in unison. “Were too!” “Were not!” “Were too!” “Were not!” Sienna hopped and shouted at the same time. Eclipse sighed. “You’re jus' one big doo doo stain, fatty.” “I’m not fat!” “Are too!” “She is not!” Arid Rain shouted, “she’s a strong 'n pretty filly!” “I knew it,” Eclipse snidely replied. “You two were kissing!” “Were not!” “Were too!” Sienna gave a fiendish grin at Eclipse. "You wet your bed and woke yourself up!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did..." While the three fillies bickered back and forth, Synthie tied to stop them and I blocked it out. I decided to put my cyber leg into the socket. As it connected I felt the sting of electricity flow through and the leg came to life with a crackle. Underneath the silver leg had been a book with a pen attached to the binding that I brought over and opened as I was curious. This dream journal belongs to Lilium Bell. Please don’t read it. If you do I will find you and beat you with my cyber leg until you forget you ever read it. My eyes widened as I began to skim through the pages. “What?” I asked above my breath as I read many pages of a very long lucid dream in which I had no memory of my past and was a green alicorn. My ears drooped as the book was dropped and I clutched my head with my hooves. I began to slowly rock back and forth as Eclipse dropped to the bed and, looked at me in concern. She placed a hoof on me and gave a nudge. "It wasn't real," I whispered. "It wasn't real! Yes! Thank Celestia it wasn't real." “Your mom’s weird,” Arid Rain whispered to Sienna. Synthie collected all the foals into a bundle and smiled at them. “Back to bed you three and let’s have a look at this bite.” His eyes narrowed at Eclipse. “And you... you’re grounded. You're gonna be doing dishes for a month.” She pouted and began whining. “But I don’t wanna!” I glared and shouted at her. "Go back to bed!" Their ears drooped in shock. *** *** The day’s newspaper lay in front of me on the coffee table along with a jar of moonshine. Synthie went to work, Arid Rain had gone home earlier and Sienna was attempting to beat up Eclipse over last night’s debacle. I wore an eye patch over my right eye because even with glasses I couldn't see out of it. I'd been feeling sick all morning and had vomited earlier from it. Yet I still felt slightly sick. A set of crimson hooves walked in, which caused me to look up at a pegasus mare with a two-tone blue mane, and golden eyes. She was wearing an Equestrian Air Force uniform and hat. Instead of having normal wings, she had cybernetic wings much like my leg. I flinched as I began to move towards the intruder, but stopped when I remembered that I leave the door open in the day and a sign saying 'don't knock, just come in'. “Hello, neighbor,” she said rather cheerfully. “I'm Corporal Dawn Star and I moved in yesterday. I saw the sign on the door and came in to say hello. As well as to tell you that I’m baking a cake for a housewarming party and wanted to say you're invited to come to it if you want." "I'm Lilium Bell. I was once like you. Except they let me go because of this,” I held up my cyber leg and showed her it as I pointed at my eye. “Unfit for combat and my term was up." "Nice to meet you, Lilium." "And these two balls of joy are Sienna and Eclipse." I said as the two aforementioned foals rolled into the couch with Sienna on top of Eclipse as she to slap the teal filly across the face. Eclipse was trying to slap back and neither managed to land a blow. It was like watching a couple of foals wave at each other in point blank range. Dawn Star looked at me in confusion. “Aren’t you going to stop them before they get hurt?” “No. If Eclipse can’t defend herself against her own sister, then how can she at school and in the wasteland that is to come after the war?” Her jaw dropped slightly then she shook her head. "Okayyy... Did you have any spare flour? I kind of ran out after my first failed attempt." “In there, next to the sink,” I pointed at the kitchen that was just inside the door to the large two bedroom apartment. She walked over while she looked around at all of our decorations. Quite a few were zebra relics I had 'liberated' along the way. As she was nosing around for the flour she said, “I'm sorry about your leg and eye. It's tragic, this war. If you wanna talk about it I'm right next door." I stood up to say something as Eclipse, who without Sienna noticing, had climbed on top of the couch and dove off. Sienna belatedly registered the threat. Eclipse tackled the larger filly to the ground and both of them slammed into the coffee table. Their combined weight snapped the legs off and sent its contents flying. Any comment I had for Dawn Star died when I saw my precious alcohol jar go flying through the air. My jaw dropped in shock, but luckily, I caught the jar in magic and brought it back without spilling a single drop. I glared disapprovingly at the two fillies as their ears folded back in despair. Sienna pointed a hoof at Eclipse. "She did it!" "Did not!" Eclipse retorted. "Doo Doo Brain fell into tha table!" "You pushed me!" "No I didn't!" "Found it!" Dawn exclaimed. I looked over at her as her smile faded when she pulled a bagged .44 revolver and two speed loaders out of the can of flour. My eyes widened. "Put it away before the foals see it!" Dawn Star quickly put it back in and shut the lid. "Okaaayyy. Not in that one! Let's see..." She pulled out another jar and hesitantly looked inside it. She smiled and opened it all the way. "Oh hey, here's the flour! I'm not gonna find..." she looked at the foals, then me. "One of those items deep in here, am I?" I shook my head. "No." She gave a nod as I scooped up Sienna and Eclipse. They struggled against my cyber leg's hug. "Thank you for the offer of talking, perhaps I will take you up on it later and I'll be sure to come by the party for a while." She nodded. "How about when I bring what's left of the flour back when I'm done baking?" "Sure," I said with a wave. She turned and walked out of the apartment. I waited for her door to close before I dropped the foals and glared at them. Eclipse squealed in terror and ran off to her room, which was directly across from where I had been sitting. Sienna looked down at the floor. "Sorry," she mumbled under her breath. I turned my head and pointed at my ear with my cyber hoof. "I'm sorry, I must have heard a gnat buzzing around. Did you say something?" She nodded and raised her voice to a mumble. "I'm sorry we broke the table. I'll do the dishes an' take trash out for a whole week ta make up fer it, Ah swear!" I glared at my little fillyfooler and motioned her closer. Then leaned down when she did and whispered. "I think you and Arid Rain look cute together. Just hold off on it for awhile to let your friendship grow." Sienna smiled brightly and her ears perked up. "And next time somepony comes flying at you like that, roll out of the way and kick their face when they slam into the ground." She gave a nod. "Yes, Mom." I nudged her towards the room with my cyber hoof. She took the hint and began walking towards it. "Tell your sister we're going shopping for a new table. She's coming with us whether she likes it or not. And practice your magic!" *** *** The three of us, well four with Dawn Star, walked through the department store that was more like a warehouse. I browsed for a new table, Dawn looked for a desk, and my two foals were being as obedient as a dog. They stayed quiet, followed along, and barely hit each other. I stopped and pointed my hoof at the coffee table. As I turned to ask the foals opinion, an annoying sales pony walked over and shoved his muzzle in our business. "That's a very fine table indeed!" he explained too excitedly for my tastes. "Top of the-" I grabbed him by the neck with my cyber leg, pulled him close and spoke through my teeth while giving a fake smile for passer-bys. "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it! Now beat it before I beat you with the table." I let him go and he quickly left the three of us alone. Again I pointed at the table. "Sienna, Eclipse, what do you think?" "I think Doo Doo Head will break it again," Eclipse said. "Nu-uh. Water Bed will break it." Sienna grinned. "Mom, I think the table is too pretty." "Suck up," Eclipse chided. Sienna glared at her. "You still wet yer bed!" Eclipse blushed in embarrassment and looked at a dresser to avoid my gaze. I gave a nod. "The both of you are right. While the table is nice, it might get broken one day with how you two play. But that's not to say we can't have nice things. Just be careful near it." I glanced around with my one eye but couldn't find Dawn Star anywhere nearby, then I glanced up, since she could fly, and saw her watching me from the rafters. When she saw me looking she smiled and waved. I nodded back. A tug drew my attention down to Sienna. She pointed her hoof in a seemingly random direction, which was in my blind spot. I followed it just in time to catch Eclipse in magic as she jumped off the dresser. Her aim being to land in glass breakables. She squirmed, and pouted, as I set her down and pointed my hoof in an annoyed manner. "How could you think that was a good idea?! It's glass! Do you want me to explain in great detail how glass will cut through you, your tendons, and your organs like a hot knife through butter?" She rolled her eyes. "I was bored! Shopping's boooring." "Well we're done anyway." I gave her and Sienna a nudge in the general direction of the exit with my cyber hoof. They scrambled off with shouts of joy. I looked over and tore off one of the price tags for the fancy coffee table. I wended my way through the crowd of ponies while I followed the fillies. With it being the weekend there were a lot of ponies in the store. But it wasn't hard to follow the fillies because some of the ponies would almost get knocked over or react to the two as they bickered back and forth. The two fillies bowled over a display stand, spilling its contents everywhere, and quickly scrambled back to me. I ignored the destruction to stop and let Eclipse climb my foreleg onto my back, followed by Sienna. "Doo Doo Head broke something," Eclipse whispered in my ear. "You pushed me!" Sienna sneered at her. "Nu-uh! You jumped into me." I nodded as we passed by it on our way to the register. The pony behind the counter smiled. I slid the ticket over along with an address and my bag of bits. "I'd like this table delivered to this address." The unicorn took it, rang it up and scribbled something on the receipt. As he handed it to me he took my bits and said, "it'll be delivered tomorrow morning around ten." I gave a nod and turned to go. *** *** As we walked through the streets I had watched all of the ponies around to make sure none of them were going to attack my foals, none did. It was like... paradise. Despite the war going on everypony was happy and went about their day as if nothing was amiss. There was even the odd zebra here and there, and they went about unmolested by ponies who hate them. It was perfect. So why then was I laying on the couch at noon with the foals napping and wondering why it felt off in a way. Almost like it was wrong. Dawn Star had finished making her cake and was talking about how she lost her wings I think. I absently nodded my head while looking at the door across from me where Eclipse and Sienna were. Eclipse was an odd one... She fought a lot with Sienna and Sienna's friend. Her anger at her unicorn sister was acceptable. She was jealous that Sienna was getting more attention and bigger, and a unicorn while she was an earth pony. "...and so they set me up with a place here," Dawn finally finished. I looked over at her sitting in the chair and smiled. "So how long until you're able to go back again?" "I start a desk job as a recruiter on Monday. Can you believe that shit?!" I shrugged. "Well you do have a pretty face. Which might attract more stallions into the military. Well, the ones that walk in... maybe... It's also safer if that's what you prefer." One of her cyber wings came out as she scratched her chin in thought for a while and she bobbed her head around. "You know I never thought of it like that. Yeah... and I won't have to worry about flak guns, missiles, gryphons, and dragons trying to kill me. You're right it is a little better." I smiled warmly at her from some of the alcohol and felt its delayed effects heating up my face. "See? There's a good point in every situation. Even if you don't see it at first." She got up and shook my real hoof with both of hers. As she let it go she said. "Thanks for the chat, but I gotta go decorate the cake now. I'll see you at the party." "Alright, my door is always open for you." Dawn stopped and looked at me with confusion for a second. "You're apartment door, right?" I nodded. "Okay, good," she laughed in embarrassment as a blush formed on her face. "I thought you meant something else for a second." "Naughty thoughts?" I asked with a smile. Her face darkened even more. As she was walking towards her place I slumped back with a deep sigh of regret as I facehoofed. My words could have been better, no. They should have been chosen better. I shook my head slowly to ignore the fact that there was nothing I could do about it. The little patter of tiny hooves dragging something drew my attention to the room where the foals were sleeping. Eclipse had a deep blush on her face as she dragged a damp looking set of sheets behind her. I sat up and sighed. "Bad dream again?" She nodded. "Don't worry about it. I have them myself a lot and it's okay. It scared you and your body did the only thing it knew what to do. Put the sheets in the hamper and we'll wash it in a bit." I watched the teal filly take the sheet into the loo that was in the center of the hallway between my room and theirs. However as she turned around she stumbled and fell face first into the wet sheet. She groaned in annoyance while I stayed quiet. Eclipse got up, put the sheets in a pile and with a scowl she washed her face in the sink. My vision was slowly filled with a feathered face and a beak. Mango grinned at me while I rolled my eyes and leaned back. "Hey, Lils!" He hopped into a hover. "So did you meet the new tenant?" I nodded and he swooped around the apartment, barely missing expensive breakables. "That's awesome!" Mango slowed to a hover and tilted his head. "So... what was she like? I mean she wouldn't talk to me. She kept giving me the cold shoulder, and ignored my knocking earlier. Then she just up and vanished for a few hours! Well you were gone too, but I figured you went to the store because you always do on Saturday mornings. Did she go with you?" I double facehoofed as Eclipse crept around the floating gryphon. She walked over and tapped my leg. I glanced down at her pout, so I gave her a bear hug that she returned. When I set her down she asked. "Can I go play wiff my friend Rose?" "Well you did bite your Sister's friend... So, no." "Pleaseeeeeee?" Her eyes grew really big and I lightly flicked my tail in her face, which distracted her and broke eye contact before it could attempt to melt what ponies called my heart. "You're mean," she grumbled. I tapped my cyber hoof against my chin while I looked up at the ceiling. "Well... I'd say that little 'accident' earlier is part of your punishment." A smile slowly formed on my face as I brought my gaze down to meet hers. "So you can go play for two hours while Mommy talks with her friend, okay?" "Yay!" she exclaimed and bolted from the apartment to one down the hall. I looked over at Mango and smiled. He hovered closer and dropped to the floor. Mango leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I kissed back for a second before I pushed the gryphon away with a scowl. "Not now!" I hissed. "Sienna's sleeping. What if she see's us or a pony walks in?" He shrugged and sat down next to me, then scooted close enough that our flanks were touching. He smiled at my belly and slowly rubbed it with a talon. I shut my eyes and smiled at the gesture because it felt really nice. "Looks like your oven is cooking that bun nicely," he said. My jaw dropped as I shoved his taloned hand away and looked down at the small bulge. My jaw dropped further. "Oh no... No no no!" I clutched at my ears with my forehooves and shut my eyes. "This can't be real this can't be real this can't be happening!" Mango leaned in, wrapped an arm around me and stroked my mane with his taloned hand in an attempt to comfort me. It was working. "Well it might not be mine," he explained. "Could be another of Midnight's. I'm sure he's been trying for another wonderful foal." I slumped over into his embrace and dropped my hooves to the couch as I sighed in defeat. "No... Synthie and I... we've, well to put it bluntly. We haven't had sex in almost a whole year. Sweet Celestia, I'm so fucked right now! How am I going to explain this to Synthie?" I laid there, listening to his heartbeat as my brain ran through various scenarios ranging killing Mango and claiming magic created the foal, to telling Synthie right now with a terminal call. I looked up at Mango's smiling face and smiled back as my horn glowed while I concentrated on grabbing a kitchen knife. Then my magic field faded and the knife dropped to the counter when I realized this wasn't the wasteland. You can't kill random ponies in broad daylight because you wanted too! You had to wait till night time when no pony saw you two together. Then take them out into the desert to a pre-dug hole. Mango looked up at the sound of the knife dropping. "What was that?" "Probably Eclipse knocking something over. So any names? I think Clyde's a good colt name. Let's name him Clyde." He looked back down at me in confusion. "You do realize I'm a gryphon and you're a mare, right?" I nodded. "Mhm, and?" "Your new foal is most likely a hybrid. Half gryphon, half pony." "So Clyde then?" He shrugged and I smiled. Mango gently laid me on my back and my smile turned into a grin as he climbed on top. I wrapped my forelegs around him as he collapsed on top of me. I rolled my eye in annoyance because I was expecting something else. "You know I had the strangest dream last night." "Do tell," he said. The weight of him using me like a pillow was almost crushing, but he made sure to not crush a certain area. "You were a mare, well alicorn mare, but you still loved me and-" He put a talon to my lips in an effort to silence me which worked. "Ssh... Spoilers." Mango smiled. "It sounds like a creepy dream to me. Let's not dwell on it any longer." "Are you okay?" Sienna's voice caused my crystalline face to go pale. The both of us looked at the unicorn filly who had her head tilted at an angle. "Did you fall too, Mister?" "Uhh..." he nodded as he sat up. "Yeah. I was flying and lost my balance." I looked at Mango, then Sienna, then Mango, and back a few times before I finally shoved the gryphon off with a scowl. "What'd I tell you about flying in my house? Get out this instant you fat turkey!" He scooted away and got off the couch. "I'm sorry, okay?! I guess I'll see you later." I waved and wanted to hug him goodbye, but not with Sienna right there. I patted the couch and motioned her over as Mango left the room. She complied by climbing up and sitting down. I let out a deep sigh of frustration. "Sienna, you know I love you dearly, right?" "Yes, Momma." she nodded. "And you know I love Eclipse just as much because I don't play favorites?" Another nod signaled she was listening intently. "I also love your father just as much as the both of you. But the gryphon that was just here a minute ago... Well... I love him too." "Like Papa?" "Not as much as I love your father. But enough that we... Well we did something magical together a couple months back." She tilted her head even more and gave me a confused look. "Magical like a spell?" I gave a half nod and kind of waved my hoof about as I shrugged. "Eh, sort of... Yeah. Let's just say with his help I cast a spell that only adults know and you're getting another sibling to play with in a few more months." I sat up to expose my belly and pointed at the slight bulge with my hoof. "I'm calling him Clyde. Because I'm hoping to Celestia and Luna it's a colt." Her face lit up like the sun on the summer sun celebration day. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, I'm gonna have a brother to play with?!" She shot forward, stopped just before my belly and gently laid her ear on it. "I hear him!" Sienna jumped back and grinned. "Mom, this is the best birthday gift ever!" I gave a weak smile because I had honestly forgotten it was their birthday. My gaze flickered to the moonshine jar for a second before it locked back onto the sweet innocent filly in front of me. "Can you go put Mommy's Firewater away and bring me a Sparkle-Cola?" Sienna nodded and grabbed the handle of the jar in her teeth as she couldn't quite grasp the finer points of levitation yet. I slumped back down onto the couch and groaned while I facehoofed. One down, two to go and no more alcohol for almost a year I thought to myself. "Sienna," I said while staring at my metal hoof. "Forget the Cola. Go get your sister then leave us alone for a bit. She's at her friends house." The patter of her hooves told me she obeyed. I shut my eyes to rest them for a while and wondered if Mango was right. That it was not a pony. What would it even look like? Some insidious wasteland monster freak that I'd have to keep locked away, or a beautiful creature of death like gryphon's are? My ears picked up three sets of hooves. It caused me to lower my hoof from my eyes so I could see. Flanking Sienna was Arid Rain and Eclipse. I lifted my head up and tilted it at her creepy orange eyes. "Arid Rain... Don't you live two floors above us?" She nodded and bumped Sienna with her flank. "Ah, I see. Well if you two want to have a tea party or play some games, I have all of that. There's even some makeup in the loo." Eclipse rolled her eyes as the other two fillies walked into the other room. "I bet their kissing right now," Eclipse snickered as she came within whispering range. My regular hoof slapped her across the muzzle hard enough to get her attention but not hard enough to cause any harm. She held her forehoof to her face in shock while I pointed the one I used and glared. "So what if your sister likes fillies?!" I scolded. "I don't want to hear you making fun of her about it again, do I make myself clear? You should love her for who she is! Eclipse, this family is all you will have someday so be nice, and most of all be happy for her. Because she loves you even though you're mean to her." She nodded and set the hoof down. "Fine. Doo Doo Head said you want ta see me?" I made a motion for her to sit on the couch. She climbed up and sat down. "Yes. You know I love you even though you try to beat up Sienna everyday, right?" She nodded. "And what's your point?" "I love her the same amount. Your father too. I don't play favorites. It's just..." I clicked my forehooves together while I thought up a different explanation because Eclipse seemed smarter than Sienna at times. A smile formed on my lips. "I have this friend see, and... With his help I cast an adult only spell and well..." I showed her. "It worked." She arched her eyebrow and for a second I thought she was going to buck my stomach. "That's what you had Doo Doo Head bring me here for? So you could tell me I'm gonna have another stupid sibling?!" She groaned and hopped off the couch. "That's so lame! I'll be at Rose's house." My ears folded back as my heart sank. The teal filly began walking towards the door as I sat up. "Eclipse, tell me what have I done to you to make you like this? Why do you hate me so? Where did I go wrong?" She looked back and her concern or something flashed across her eyes for a second before it returned to her usual demeanor. "I'm staying the night at Rose's. She's having a slumber party an' Doo Doo Head isn't invited." "Yeah? Well why don't you just ask her mother to be your mom?!" I shouted in anger and stormed towards Sienna's room. "Maybe I will!" she replied snidely. I stopped at the door to the tiny hallway and gave a sidelong glance at Eclipse. She had her head hung low as she turned to corner into the hallway. My gaze returned to the door and I gently place an ear to it. "Not like that... you're doing it wrong!" Arid Rain said with a whine. "How about here?" Sienna asked and received a giggle. "Yes, there." Arid Rain replied followed by a thump and another giggle. My eyes widened and I threw open the door as I quickly scanned the room. Sienna had failed an attempt at climbing into my old dress uniform and had fallen on her face. Arid was wearing a badly fitting hat and a much too long for her dress. Behind them was a perfectly made triple bunk bed, desk, and an open chest of toys that had its contents scattered everywhere. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the fillies playing dress up. My smile returned. "Sienna. Why don't you pick out your favorite toys, take them over to Arid's house, and stay the rest of the night there?" "Really?!" she hopped up and grinned. I nodded. "Awesome! Come on, Arid, let's get ready!" Arid scratched at the wood. "I dunno... my mom might not like it..." "It will be fine," I told her. "Just tell her... Doom Bunny. Arid, please don't forget to tell her." She nodded. "I won't." "Arid. Repeat what I said, please." The sky blue unicorn sighed. "When we get to my house I'm to tell my mother 'Doom Bunny'." "Good." *** *** The time was close to when Synthie would be getting home. I had made myself as pretty as I could with all my scars on my right side by using makeup, sexy sleepwear under a robe that hugged my curves, a fancy eye patch, candles, nice food and dim lights. All I could do now was wait for my husband to get home and break the news in the nicest way I could. I lay on the couch again with the robe partially open. The .44 revolver was loaded and under the broken coffee table just in case things got really bad. That was the reasoning for me telling Arid Rain to tell her mother the code word. It was to have her check my apartment as soon as the sun comes up. That way ponies would know right away if I went missing. It took a while but eventually the black unicorn opened the door and came inside. "Hello?" he called out as he shut the door. "In here," I replied sensually. He walked through the short entryway and smiled at the sight of me. I pulled the robe back to reveal everything. "Do you like what you see?" He nodded then took a long look around. "I take it the foals are at their friends for the night?" I smiled, "yup. There's a housewarming party for Dawn Star in a couple hours, but I figure we have time for a quick tumble." He frowned. "Lily, I'm worn out from work and I've got to catch up on some research into zebra necromancy. I'm sorry." My smile instantly faded and I closed my robe. "Be that way then!" I retorted as I sat up. He trotted over and place a hoof on my shoulder. My lips began to tremble and my eyes started watering. "I... I... I have something to tell you..." Synthie tilted his head. "What's wrong, Lily?" I fell into his embrace and hugged him. "I'm pregnant," I mumbled into his neck. "I'm sorry!" "But, Lily, that's wonder-wait..." He instantly let go with wide eyes and I fell to the floor in a cry of shock. "Pregnant? But we haven't...?" I shut my eyes as I nodded. "I'm an idiot! I've been seeing a gryphon, he comes over a few times a week and we have sex. I met him last year. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... Please forgive me." I felt his hoof on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked up at his smiling face. "Took you long enough to admit it." I nodded, then stopped mid-nod and blinked in shock. "You... you knew?! How?" "Well I do sleep right next to you and you have a habit of mumbling in your sleep. So I had my suspicions when his name kept popping up." he shrugged. "Why do you think I keep coming up with excuses? I'm not having some other pony's seconds! You can just forget that idea." "I'll stop seeing him. I swear I'll make it up to you! Right now. I'll do anything!" "Alright," he turned his head and his horn glowed as he levitated out a stack of papers, and laid them down in front of me. "You wanna make it up? I've already got it all planned out for when you admitted it or I walked in on you two." I skimmed through them rather quickly and my heart sank. "Divorce papers?! But we can't do that to the foals! They... They'll... They'll ask questions!" He leaned down, I looked into his glaring eyes. "Then ya should have thought about that before ya fucked that gryphon!" "I was lonely! You went to work, came home to do more work, and you ignored me! I..." I groaned in annoyance as he dropped a pen on top of the paper. "No, Synthie! I won't do that to them!" "Sign them!" he shouted in an authoritative voice that caused me to wince. "What's gonna happen if I do?" I asked as I picked it up. "Simple really. You get Sienna, I get Eclipse. This place is yours already, so you're keeping that. You get to keep fucking that gryphon and don't have to worry about it anymore." I gulped as I looked at the papers. "Please... I can change. I can be a better pony." He tapped a hoof on the paper and glared. With a sigh of defeat I picked up a pen in magic, quickly signed my name on all the lines that required it and tossed the papers in his face with a glare. Midnight caught them and nodded. He wordlessly picked up his bag and left the apartment. I winced as the door slammed shut. *** *** Later on I sat in Dawn Star's main room where there was a whole lot of ponies. It was identical to mine. One big room with a connected kitchen and two rooms next to each other connected by a short hallway. The cyborg pegasus was being a good host with a few kegs, snacks, cake, and awesome music that wasn't too loud. Of course when one pony happened to notice I wasn't drinking and asked why. I accidentally let slip that I was carrying... All the mares rushed me like a swarm of gnats after fresh blood while they slathered me in their praise, or pity. None of it I wanted. I just wanted to be left the fuck alone to wallow in my own self pity for what I'd done. Except I couldn't even have that. A crimson red earth pony stallion with a black mane came over and decided to talk like he knew me. "Some mess, eh Dog?" I shot a glare in his direction as he continued, "you and me, we're both stuck in places we don't want to be in. Why not let me help you? I can show you the way out of this craziness and the path to the truth." He leaned in and received my cyber hoof to the face. The blow was hard enough to audibly break his snout and blood began to leak from his nose. He held it while I glared at him. "Get away from me! I don't know you, I've never seen you before, and if you ever try to get that close again you'll be shark bait." Dawn Star came over with a concerned look on her face. She looked at the stallion, then me. "What happened?" "She hit me," he said while holding his nose and pointing at me. I rolled my eye in annoyance. "After you tried to kiss me!" Dawn nodded in understanding, I hope. She looked at the stallion. "I don't even remember inviting you. You’re not from this building, so you better leave, mister." He said nothing as he got up and left the two of us. She sat down and sighed. "So an affair with a gryphon, huh? Guess you're not as happy of a pony like I thought." "Not really, no," I replied dryly while I watched the stallion disappear into the hallway. Something stirred inside me and began to slowly work over in my mind. I looked down as Dawn Star set down a glass of what looked like sweet tea with a lemon on it. I smiled, "ah, nice one." *** *** After the party wound down around eleven and I helped to clean up, I grabbed a few of my long combat knives I used for decoration. There was a box with items in a hidden compartment that I had found when I was cleaning my bed room. In it contained a thin, and form fitting, combat armor that I was now wearing. It had many a built in sheathe for reasons not even I knew of. Well it was slightly tight around the midsection now because of Clyde. Over that went a loosely fitting trench coat so I could easily get to the blades and my suppressed .357 revolver and hide the armor. The .357 had been in a pocket of the trench coat along with a black mask. Which stayed in the pocket. As I was locking my door Dawn Star had been helping a couple of drunken ponies to the elevator and had just reached hers. She tilted her head. “Going somewhere? It’s almost two in the morning.” I gave a nod. “Just going for a trot to clear my head of Midnight Bell. The midnight air is... refreshing. I’ll be back in a few hours. Sienna and Eclipse are at their friends for the night.” Dawn Star nodded. “Okay. Thanks for helping to clean up the party.” “Anytime,” I replied as I trotted towards the elevator. When the cyborg pegasus shut her door I tapped the down button with my magic. A smile crept up on my face at a thought that had occurred to me when I had punched that crimson red earth pony. I began to softly hum a tune as I waited for the elevator to reach my floor. Shell Shock: 5% to next level.
Chapter 1: Through the halls. (slightly re-worked 7/3/2013)Chapter 1: Through the halls “To find that which can’t be found, one must be truly good and lost.” ’Walking hurts so much!’ We looked down at Our pained hooves as we walked away from the camp. Then glanced back at the camp and stopped mid-stride as a thought struck Us. ’Something must be done with the cart We were forced to haul around all day.’ We sighed as We turned back, but the beautiful purple night sky distracted Us and We stopped to stare longingly. We wished to fly among the beautiful stars and the thought reminded Us that Sister and We are all that is left of Unity. A single star fell and We smiled, wishing for Our sister to be happy and to show her that We are not as bad to be stuck with as she thinks. As We stared at the sky something large and dark drew Our gaze to the moon. We narrowed Our eyes at the large tramp steamship hull that floated across the moon. It was too far away to make out the specific details of. We have heard from the Crescent's barkeep that there is a pegasus radio pony who lives on an airship that stays in the island's mist in the day, but comes out at night to recharge the ship's spell matrix by the light of the moon. We huffed in annoyance as that sounds ludicrous! Pegasi live in cloud cities, not airships! It's maddeningly constrictive for Us in a ship as We cannot stretch Our wings! We think thy bartender was playing Us for a foal like this dead pissant did. Our gaze went back down to the two door vehicle that We were pulling as a cart and we trotted over to it. The vehicle had four wheels and the back half had been cut out to make for storage. Inside were boxes that the now decaying impure pony was going to sell. Some were unlocked medical supplies, and some were ammunition and junk. We hummed in annoyance as Our nose turned up at the smell of the harness. ’Perhaps We should wash it with the earth pony's water first? Yes that may work.’ With a nod at Our own perfect logic, We withdrew a five gallon jug of water. *** *** It didn't. As the morning sun beat on Us, causing Us to sweat profusely, the harness still smelled. But at least it was not that dirty. Our exquisite mane was washed of blood and booze. Our gaze went around the wrecked highway as We made Our way towards a large circular building once called a hoofball arena, which loomed before Us. The ponies there spotted Us long before We spotted them because a rifle shot kicked up dirt into Our face, blinding Us momentarily. We coughed and gagged on the horrid tasting dirt as We waved Our hoof about to clear it. As it slowly cleared, an impure blue-grey unicorn stallion was standing there with a large floating scoped rifle aimed at our head. "What do you want?" He asked in a tone that indicated suspicion. We slowly pointed a forehoof back at the cart, then spoke to him with Our mind. "We wish to trade. Here is food, medical, and ammo supplies for this place. We do not require compensation, only directions." He arched a brow and the barrel dropped slightly. "Is this some kind of trick?" "No trick,” We shook Our head slowly as We set the hoof down. “We know your kind may not like Us. We mean you no harm. May We be allowed passage to trade? You can verify the contents if thou wishes." "Don't move." He ordered as he sidestepped over to the cart. The floating weapon was trained on Us the whole time. We complied and did not even blink! His gaze and expression said it was creepy. We dared not move except for Our mane as that rifle looked like it could bore an extremely large hole in Our head. The impure unicorn went through the boxes while We watched curiously. "Is it sufficient?" We tilted Our head. He stepped back and shook his head. "Something tells me you are telling the truth, but the rest of me is screaming this is a trap." "We can assure thee it is not a trap. May We show you something?" "I suppose, but I'm watching you." We looked at the impure unicorn and smiled a friendly smile. "If thou would be so kind as to place thine horn against ours. We will show you We mean no malice." He looked around with a sigh as he put the rifle across his back. "I'm probably going to regret this, but okay." As We lowered Our head We touched horns with the impure unicorn. We showed him everything from when We woke up in that medical place to now. We made sure to leave nothing out. For him to trust Us he must know Our reasoning for everything. When we parted there was shouting. "...do we do?!" "It's melting Snapshot's brain! Shoot it!" "No!" The blue-grey unicorn named Snapshot shouted as something was pressed against our head. "She means us no harm." Our eyes opened, revealing the two of us to be surrounded by armed ponies of all colors. Cold metal pressed against Our left ear. We looked over at the barrel of a shotgun that was held by an earth pony. To Our right was an assault rifle. We are not sure what was behind as We dared not look. "How yu kow?" The orange shotgun earth pony asked around his trigger. We hope he does not fire! Snapshot looked at him. "Because she let me in her mind, alright?" The white one on Our right stated. "Coulda fabricated the memories." Snapshot mouthed something to him while putting a hoof to his ear. The white impure pony nodded as he slowly lowered his assault rifle. We tilted Our head in confusion. We did not know the meaning of this gesture, nor what he mouthed as We dare not read pony lips. It is bad enough they speak with air! "Let her in. I'll be responsible if she does anything funny." We smiled with a nod. All the ponies stepped out of Our way, letting us pull the cart towards this place. We looked at Snapshot as We walked past him. "What is this place known as?" We asked in his mind. "Candlelight Park." "Thank you, sir." We turned Our head forward so the impure did not see Us roll Our eyes. Then We looked up at the crumbling stadium. It did not appear defended to Our eyes, but that could be an illusion. Hoofsteps behind Us drew Our attention to Snapshot as he trotted close in behind us with his rifle on his back. We tilted our head in confusion as we told him in his mind. "You do not have to escort Us. We will be fine." "Doubt anypony will talk to you unless a security detail is nearby. They think all alicorns are hostile." We nodded at his sound reasoning. Somepony in the past had been kind enough to build a stone ramp leading up the side of the stairs. Which We followed up. As We neared the top of the cracked stone ramp many voices reached Our ears that muddled together in the echoing concrete tunnel. We stopped to look at the various tent housing nearby and a group of impure ponies stopped to look at us as well. We did not want to be here, but We were lost and perhaps there was a pony here that could help. We looked down at Snapshot. "What may We do to earn their trust?" He pointed a hoof at a nearby board with notes nailed on it. We went over to it and had to lean down to scan the various documents. Some were for killing ponies for caps while others were for retrieving items, so We used magic to pluck off a hoof full of the scavenging contracts. As Us killing a pony would probably be bad and make them think We were evil. One wanted Us to go down into the sewers. We placed it back on the board as We dare not touch that nasty muck! The second one required Us to go to a museum to retrieve a box for two hundred caps, so We tucked that into our saddlebags. A third wanted us to collect money from a few ponies, and We also took that one. How hard could it be? The fourth and final one We kept was a collection order for as much scrap electronics and metal as one could find. It payed a hundred caps for the metal and a hundred and fifty for the electronics in bundles of five. We looked down at Snapshot. "Where may We offload our supplies and this cart?" "Walk this way." He turned with a sigh towards a line of wooden shops a hundred yards away. We copied his actions with a smile. What ponies there were in the tunnel here parted for us like the wave a pre-war steamship makes as it sailed the sea. A few shouted things We blocked out so as to not make a scene, however as soon as We looked at them, they cowered and hid behind others or walls. They dare not say those things to Our face, the cowards. Snapshot looked over at Us. "You know that tablet you acquired automatically keeps track of your jobs and tells you where to go, right?" ’Really?!’ We removed the yellow colored device from Our tight fitting saddlebags. As We looked at its now black screen We. "How does one work this device?" We asked as we pressed the screen with magic, then the button on the bottom. He stopped, pointed a hoof at the screen and explained. "Well it's not keyed to you, so it will show up as blank or off. I'm taking you to a pony who can unlock it for a fee." We put the device away and followed Snapshot. Our gaze eventually wandered and lingered on his hindquarters. We quickly looked at a stall selling food before he could see Us. As We looked at the food stand an idea formed in Our head. With a smile We trotted over to the lime green pony. "Dost thou sell Moonshine?" We asked in her mind as We looked down at her. She shrank back as she looked at Snapshot in terror. "Is it safe to be in here?!" Snapshot nodded. "Yea. I'm watching her, so it's cool." The lime green shopkeeper nodded as she sighed and pointed at a hoof written board. "What I got is listed there." Out gaze went to it. Luna's Light Celestia's Ray Wild Pegasus Applebomb Whiskey Nox Scotch Captain's Spiced Rum Stalliongrad Finest Vodka. Sparkle-Cola Sunrise Sarsaparilla Royal Crystal Cola Purified Water Dirty Water We frowned as We did not see anything labeled moonshine. "There is no Moonshine." The lime green pony grumbled something and crouched low. Our ears heard bottles rattling together for a while before she re-appeared with two bottles. One silver and one glowing gold. She hefted each bottle in turn as she said. "I got Luna's Light and Celestia's Ray. Both are moonshine. Luna’s Light can be used as fuel for certain vehicles if you cut it with oil." We looked around at all of the ponies around us. Then We looked up up and hoped the Goddess forgives Us for drinking something with their name on it. "May We have a sample of each, please?" Her brow arched in suspicion or something. But she poured the silvery drink first. We held it up in magic as We gave it a sniff, which caused Our nose to wrinkle. We put it to our lips and drank the shot glass of Luna's Light. The flavor of it made Us want to spit it out right then as We nearly gagged, but gulped it down. As We held the glass out, the gold colored drink was poured. It went down much smoother and We smiled in delight with a nod. "May We buy a bottle of Ray?" We asked. “This one we like most.” She set the bottle down after closing it and said. "Ninety caps." Ninety caps were floated out of Our bag with magic as We set the correct amount down. The bottle was quickly brought over and We hugged it with a smile. Sister might like this one as it was not as strong as the one We first showed her! But We mustn't tell her its name, or she may go apeshit on Us. We put the bottle of Ray into our bags with magic and followed Snapshot as he walked towards the back of the tunnel. Three stalls down from the drink stand was a shop that had three pink butterflies on it. We knew exactly what the symbol was from pre-war times. We stopped and unhooked from the cart. As We went to the back We retrieved the box of medical supplies. It was hefted in Our magic as We trotted over. The box was gently set down and We returned to the wagon. Then We hooked back into the harness and left the perplexed pony behind. Snapshot's jaw was hung open as we were leaving the stall. "You just gave away two thousand caps worth of supplies!" We nodded and told him. "Medical aid is given freely to all, even the impure. It would be wrong to charge for it, and hurt pony opinions of us." He shook his head slowly while quietly mumbling incoherently. We stopped at a stall selling clothes as We wondered what We might look like wearing a snappy businessmare suit. We shook Our head as We snorted through our nostrils. No, such a foals dream to think of such niceties. *** *** We arrived at the destination told by Snapshot. A room in the back of the stadium which was guarded by a maze of turns and tents. We stepped through the door into the somewhat dark room and bit back a gasp. Entire shelves full of electronics and robotics lined the walls! Those Steel Rangers would love to get their grubby metallic hooves onto this cache. Snapshot walked over to another impure stallion. As he whispered things We could not hear he pointed at Us. We tilted Our head at this secrecy and wished we could listen in. Though We had blocked out the spell to read minds shortly after the Goddess moved on, because We had heard everypony within a two hundred yard radius. It nearly drove Us insane! The impure grey unicorn with Snapshot nodded and then looked at Us. "So you have a DC tablet that needs to be reset? Well it'll cost ya a lot." Our ears folded back in shame. "We do not have much. Will you accept the cart outside as trade?" We swept Our hoof around the room. "A pony such as yourself may one day need to move all of this and a cart would help immensely. There are also boxes of ammo supplies in it." He motioned Us over with a nod. "Very well. Let me see the tablet." We trotted over with it floating in front of Us. As We did so We noticed that Snapshot was walking off. We looked at him with a tilt of Our head. "Thou is leaving?" He nodded. "I have to get back to the gate. You'll be fine with my brother." "Thank you, Snapshot." We respectfully bowed Our head and continued. "The Goddess will reward your kindness one day." Snapshot rolled his eyes and trotted off. Our gaze lingered slightly on his hindquarters before We turned Our attention back to his brother, who was smiling. It caused Us to blink in confusion. "What?" "You like him." He grinned. "We do not! He is impure and does not believe in the Goddess, ergo We do not like him!" ’Though the Goddess... no! Take the thoughts with the impure and toss them into a volcano!’ Snapshot's brother shrugged. "Whatever. Hand over the tablet then." We floated it over to his grasp. He plugged it into a machine. The stallion punched a few buttons while fiddling with things beyond Our knowledge and both devices displayed a bar. One was filling while the other was draining. "Alright this will take a while, come back in a few hours." We laid down and looked at the wall. *** *** Livewire waved a hoof in front of Our face. Only Our mane and tail moved as We were laying down and resting. Which for Us that meant long periods of just laying there and looking at things without moving a muscle. He stepped in front of Us and put a hoof to Our nose, then pushed on it hard. Still We stayed unmoving. He scratched his chin in thought, then paced back and forth in front of Us for a long while. Livewire glanced at the tablet. "It’s nearly done." We blinked finally and looked at him. He shook his head slowly. "Do you realize how creepy it is to have a living pony sitting as still as a statue without blinking for hours?" We shook Our head. "No, We do not. Do you know where We can get this collar removed? It is heavy and We dare not touch it as it most likely will go off." "Might be a pony in the South Bay that can do it, but I don't know how well your kind is received there." A loud beep caused the two of us to look over at the devices. We stood and trotted the distance in wonder at the device. Such a magnificent piece of technology that is well above anything We can truly imagine. Our gaze then went around the room at all the wonderful electronics. ’Perhaps he wouldn't mind if we borrowed one for a while?’ We shook Our head and looked back at him as he was unplugging the tablet from the machine. He slid it over to Us as We looked down and tilted Our head in confusion. 'Place hoof here' was written in green letters above a circle about the size of a hoof. We held Our hoof over the spot and pressed down. Almost immediately, A warm glow traveled from the bottom of the hoof, up the leg and into our head. We almost drew back, but assumed it to be normal. It beeped again as a bar at the top filled and the warm glow slowly faded. We drew the hoof back as it asked for a username and pass key. With Our magic We typed Our name Shell Shock as the user and Sister's name for the key. It beeped three times in rapid succession. The screen faded to some black background that showed a green logo We recognized from a few places here in Oakwood. When We opened the note function We saw five notes. So We Selected one. It opened a compass to the side that pointed in a seemingly random direction. We selected another note and the needle pointed somewhere else. "Ooooh. It does know where to go!” We excitedly said in Livewire’s mind. "It links with your neural network and magic," Livewire commented before We asked how it knew. He tapped the screen with his hoof. "It also doubles as a radio, and has a map as well as other functions. Like a camera." We looked at his yellow eyes with a nod. "Does it allow Us to see other ponies nearby like a Steel Ranger? We would love this ability as the Tin Cans outsmart Us sometimes because of it." Livewire chuckled as he shook his head. "No, it doesn't have an E.F.S. Pipbucks do though. If you can find one out here we, ahem, I may be able to do something with it." "Thank you, Livewire.” We gave him a respectful nod. “Is there a way we can pay you?" "I am kind of looking for parts for a project. You can bring junk by and I'll take a look at it." "Sounds adequate." Our gaze went around the shop to all of the equipment as We wondered if anything could be ‘acquired’. A long round tube with glass on one end was set down on the table. We held the torch in magic and flicked the switch, immediately a narrow beam of blue-white light shot out and lighted where it touched. As We swept it back and forth We accidentally ran it across Livewire. He recoiled in shock as he cried out and clutched at his eyes. The torch dropped and clattered to the floor as Our eyes widened. "We are so sorry! Livewire, We-" He waved his hoof about and silenced our sentence. "It's nothing, don't worry. Just seeing a spot is all." However We floated out a healing potion We had found and brought it over to him. "Please drink this! We do not wish you to be hurt by Us. You may be impure, but a nice impure pony." "I assure you my vision is fine, but if it pleases you I will drink it." He took the drink in his own magic field with a smile and downed it's contents. We looked back the way We had come as he set it down. "We have lingered too long and must go." "May the Goddess smile upon you on your journey." He said softly. Immediately Our head whipped around to his smiling face. We smiled in return and nodded. "Thank you, Livewire." We put everything away and touched his head with Our horn. "May the blessing of the Goddess be upon thee." *** *** The ammo shopkeeper was a brown earth pony with a revolver for a cutie mark. She stood and glared at Us from behind her counter while pointing a minigun battle saddle at Us. Behind her was a room We presume to hold weapons and ammo as there were only small arms displayed outside. "We assure you We only wish to trade!" We told her with Our mind. Our bags were floating to Our side and open to show her the truth. The rocket launcher was on Our other side and We realized too late it may have been a bad idea to walk up with a floating rocket launcher. Her narrowed lilac eyes went from the bag, to Us, and then to the Annihilator Mk.I. This wasn't going as well as We had hoped it would! We pointed a hoof at the launcher. "We need rockets, and-" She spit the trigger out of her mouth and snidely said through the side of her mouth. "Missiles." We blinked and tilted Our head. "Huh? It is an Annihilator Mk.I rocket launcher." "No... It's an Annihilator Mk.I missile launcher, not a rocket launcher. Hence it shoots missiles you idiot!" Our ears folded back at her remark as We looked at the empty weapon. "We are not stupid... please do not call Us that. We know more about explosives than you could ever dream of." She rolled her eyes as she relaxed slightly. "I always thought alicorns were supposed to be big scary monsters and seeing one now... You're not that scary, just a large pony." "Then may We trade with you, since We are not scary?" "Hmph," she smirked and dropped her head under the counter then reappeared with a box. We watched her set a finned blue tipped warhead down, one orange, a red, and then a black one down. “Alright tell me which one you want and I’ll get it.” We pointed at the black one. "What one is this? We have not seen its like before." "Black powder propellant and hoofmade explosives. Doesn't deal as much damage or fly as fast, but a hell of alot cheaper to buy." We pointed a hoof at the blue one. "One of these electromagnetic’s, one high-explosive incendiary, and five high explosive rock-missiles, if you please." She nodded. "Okay. I'll be back." She walked through a door to the back. Our gaze went around to all the weapons. There were a few assault rifles, one hunting rifle, two small pistols, and five energy weapons. We glanced around at all of the ponies walking around to see if any were paying attention. None were. So We grabbed the hunting rifle in magic as it was brought over so we could check it out. It was in very good shape, but made from scrap parts. The twin barreled rifle looked to fire a small caliber and was single shot breech load with one barrel stacked on top of each other. We smiled as We stuffed it in Our bag along with an energy pistol. Then We acted like they were never there. Soon We tapped Our hoof in boredom as the pony was taking a very long time. After waiting for what seemed like hours, the brown pony walked back in with a box of missiles on her back. She set them down on the counter and said. "Okay the HEI's are two-fifty each, the EMP is two hundred, and the high-ex is one eighty. Comes out to one thousand three hundred and fifty caps." With Our magic, We dropped all Our caps on the counter in a large pile. She slowly counted them all, but shook her head. "You only have a hundred." ’We should have at least three hundred! Did we get robbed by Livewire while we were resting?’ With a sigh We set down the .22LR ammo, and a few items we consider junk. The earth pony We are calling Ammo did the calculations again and shook her head. "You're still a thousand caps off." We went to Our bags as we thought of the weapons we just took. Then shook Our head as We are sure she knows all her inventory well. Our ears folded back as Our gaze went down to the pile of caps. We started counting them out to be sure We only had a hundred as that did not seem correct. When We had finished We looked up at Ammo with hard eyes. Our forest green hoof slammed down on the counter and made everything hop a few inches into the air. She blinked in shock and shrank as We shouted only inside her head. "HOW DARE YOU TRICK US LIKE THAT! We HAVE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO CAPS YOU LYING CUR!" Ammo clutched her ears with her hooves and collapsed in agony. She withered around on.the floor for a few seconds as she shouted. "Alright I lied! Just stop screaming in my head!" She looked up at Us, visibly shaken. However We kept glaring laser beam eyes at her with Our brows knitted together in disappointment. "Very well. We will be quiet, but thou hath lost Our trust and We will not be giving you thine business." We placed everything back into our bags, placed them on Our back and trotted off. "Wait, come back and I'll give you eighty percent off!" She shouted. We turned Our nose up and quickened our pace. We refuse to let any pony who lies to Us have Our caps. Now We are glad We took the weapons from that tramp. Our gaze went to the yellow tablet as it was floated out. In the center at the top it read twenty after noon. We pushed on the screen with magic and smiled as the map of Oakwood was displayed. There was a marker for Sister and Our smile turned into a grin. ’Now we know where we are! She is ten to fifteen miles north of us.’ We selected the cap collection note and four markers were now displayed: one way down south, one near Sister, one here and one to the far north near a bridge. We pressed on the screen. It zoomed in and We frowned because the map did not show Us the inside of the building. The note function was opened as We followed the compass for here. Eventually We ran into something soft. The impure pony collapsed to the floor and We nearly dropped the device as We tripped over the diminutive pony. With how We were treated by everypony so far, but Livewire, We chose to glare at the small egg white mare in a blue mechanic jumpsuit under a white lab coat. She stood as she dusted herself off and looked at a pair of broken glasses. "Watch where you're going you id..." Her gaze followed Our legs all the way up to Our eyes. "Sorry!” she yelped in shock as she scooted back. “Maybe I should watch where I’m going, huh?" "We accept your apology. Now go." We pointed Our hoof in a random direction. The impure pony nodded and trotted off. Then Our gaze went to the compass as it spun in that direction she was walking, then We looked up at her. "Wait!" She stopped mid-stride and slowly looked back as she asked. "Yes...?" Our gaze flickered down to the note and We found her description. "Thou owes Long Tap four hundred caps and We are here to collect them." "Oh fuck," she muttered and broke into a gallop. We put the tablet away and chased after her. Our hooves echoed in the concrete tunnel as We galloped, but she was quicker! She ducked left under a cart, and we followed by jumping over it, then she skidded into a turn and headed back the way she had originally come from. We got a long look at her backside as We galloped around ponies. "Help!" She shouted and looked around. "I'm being attacked by an alicorn! Help!" A large pink pony stepped in front of Us. We hopped to the side and skidded, slid around them and continued after the mare. An idea formed in our head and We jumped, flapped our wings to propel Us higher. We smiled as We fell with style. We landed in front of the mare and spun around in a slide as We telepathically boomed. "HALT!" Her eyes went wide as she skidded to a stop and bumped her nose with mine. She smiled nervously while she slowly backed away. As We stood back to full height We noticed a group of angry and armed ponies circling us and closing in. We stood on our hind legs while we put a hoof in the air and telepathically yelled. "Do not attack Us!" We dropped back down and slowly looked at them all in turn while We continued. "This mare owes caps to Long Tap. When We inquired she ran off shouting for help. We hath not laid a hoof on her." We glared at her again and she cowered as she covered her head with her hooves. A steel grey unicorn in a stetson stepped out of the group and looked down at her. "Is this true, Rose?" He asked as he nudged her with his hoof. She looked up from under her short light green mane and nodded slowly. "Yes... But it's a fucking alicorn! What else am I supposed to do when one of them says they want to collect caps?" "You give them the caps!" He retorted angrily then pointed a hoof at Us. "Now give her the caps you owe!" “But..." she squeaked. "Do it!" "I don't have them!" She shouted and bawled into her hooves, "I lost them gambling, alright? I have nothing. No food, no home, no clothes, I have absolutely nothing!" We smiled at how We scared this mare into submission. Sister would be proud! The steel grey pony looked up at Us. "Guess you can't collect." With a shrug he yelled at the others. "Alright, show's over! Ain't nothing to see here." They slowly trickled, off leaving the crying mare and I. We tilted Our head as We laid down and looked at her in confusion. She kept crying. We laid there watching her cry for a while before We got bored. Our gaze looked over at a few ponies who were whispering and pointing at us. One of them snickered, but a glare from Us caused them to gulp and go somewhere else. We looked back at the mare and whispered in her head. "Do not cry." She sniffed as she slowly looked up at Us with puffy eyes. "Why? You just made me admit my gambling problem to the whole fucking town!" We looked back at Our bags and brought out a hundred caps with magic. Then We floated them to her fore hooves with a smile. "Is this enough to get thee a meal for a few days?" We softly asked. "You're just giving me these?" We nodded and used Our magic to place her hooves together to cover the caps slightly. "Just like that with no strings attached?" "Yes. We do not need to eat. The Goddess sent the Sisters of Unity to Oakwood to show its inhabitants her power and that We are the future." She smiled, but her eyes said another thing. "I heard the 'Goddess' died. Is it true?" "We heard that as well, but We are unsure if it is true. Go, take your caps and be happy." She looked around at the other ponies, then whispered to Us. "Would... it be okay if I go with you?" We tilted Our head and blinked in surprise. "We do not understand... We are an alicon and you’re an impure... Yet you... wish to come with Us?" She nodded as she began to stuff her caps into pockets. "Yeah. I figure you're going places that have good salvage and well, salvage is caps.... and I need caps." "Do you wish to join the Sisters of Unity too?" We asked. "Uhh... What do they do?" We looked into her eyes and grinned. "Simple. We destroy the Goddess's mortal enemies through the use of excessive firepower." "And who are they?" "Enclave and Steel Rangers. Of course We have yet to see any Tin Can Chickens out here and suspect the Enclave to have no presence here." The mare gulped, though We did not know why... maybe she's thirsty? The bottle of Ray was floated out with magic and We offered it to her. She shook her head and stood up. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can join your Sisters of Unity thing. However I will go with you and split all salvage we find. How does that sound?" "Adequate." "I'm Rose." "Ponies call us Shell Shock. We are unsure why as that is not Our real name." "What is your name?" We shrugged and decided to partly lie to her. "It is lost to time and We are now Shell Shock, the green alicorn. This We are okay with as it is an adequate name for Our actions." *** *** Rose and I walked along the road. We held the tablet in front of Our eyes as We looked at the map. The museum was not far away, maybe two or three streets over, and it may hold items of value. We put the device away. As We were turning Our head We spotted movement. We stopped, causing Rose to look back at us as she stopped as well. "What?" "Ssh!" We projected into her head, "we are being watched." Our gaze slowly scanned the two story houses and four story brick buildings as We looked for anything odd. Though We could not see anything odd that would indicate a trap. Rose looked around as well then shook her head. "I don't see anything. Let's keep moving." With a nod We floated out the hunting rifle and stared at it with narrowed. We wondered if that pitiful ammunition We found fit it. So We brought out a .22LR round, opened the breech, and placed the .22LR round in the chamber. We tilted Our head in confusion at the perfect fit. "That's a small hoofmade pipe rifle." Rose commented as she looked over. "Not the best, but alright in a pinch. You know when you said excessive firepower I thought you'd have something bigger than that tiny thing." We loaded the second shot and then used magic to pull out the missile launcher with a smile as Ross gulped. "Point taken." As We put it away We brought the over and under pipe rifle's screw sight to Our eye. We aimed the sight at various things to get a feel for it before We were forced to use it. We kept it out as We turned down the right street and saw the museum loom before us. We must do these jobs quickly so that we can get back to Sister we thought to ourself. The parking lot was mostly devoid of vehicles save for five and the museum's overhead dome was missing most of its glass. We trotted over to the nearest vehicle and peered inside it as We wondered why internal combustion powered vehicles weren't more widespread on the mainland. We only knew of a few V-2 Vertibucks to have them. We bucked out the glass window with Our hoof, covering the inside with glass, and found the door to be already unlocked. With a shrug We dug through the vehicle's contents, which was one Sparkle-Cola... We went over to the next one which was a four door station wagon. Inside We spotted a yellow and pink box sticking out from under the seat. This time We tried the door with magic and found it locked. So Our forehooves were brought up as We smashed them into the glass. We pulled the box out of the vehicle with magic. As We turned around to show Rose the box We smiled at her. "We found this,” We told her. “Thou may keep it as per our agreement." We pushed it towards her and she used a bobby pin plus a knife from a pocket to open it. She took out an inhaler of some kind and immediately put it back. Other contents were two potions, and a box of Mint-als. Rose sighed as she looked up at US. "Can you carry my stuff?" "...No... We are not a slave, nor a pack mule. You must carry your own equipment, or leave it behind." We told her with a glare that said she better not look for the detonator to the collar. With another sigh, she tore off a long strip of cloth and fastened it to the medical box like a belt. Rose strung it around her chest, then put some scrap wires into it. We nodded in approval at her ability to make impromptu saddlebags. As We turned We looked at the large double doors that marked the entrance of the museum. Our hooves carried the two of us there, We gripped the handle in magic and opened it. We recoiled and put a clipped wing to Our nose as the reek of death filtered out when the doors opened. We glanced around at what we could see through what little light filtered in, We saw nothing. No reason for that smell when We opened the door. At the time We had thought maybe it was the rotting wood that smelled, as this place was pretty far gone. In the center of the large atrium was a wrecked wooden and cloth plane. The wires supporting it had long collapsed, but a tiny hologram showed it was a biplane at one time. We ignored it and as moved around it. We nudged a door to the back open with Our nose, then went around a trashed display that at one time showcased a sporting shotgun. This decrepit hallway was filled with weapon cases. Light filtered in through smashed or dirty windows. We passed by other smashed weapon cases for Ironshod weapons. Their contents long gone. Down the hall was a pile of wood that drew Our attention. We trotted over to it and looked at the floating hologram of a Mark IV tank that had sponson guns. We shuddered at the thought of using wood as vehicle armor. Next to it sat an early wheeled car with flat tires and rotted out wood rims. With a defeated sigh We continued deeper into the museum. There were various vehicle exhibits with pony mannequins as well as other races, but we ignored them in favor of following the tattered signs for the space exhibit as We thought that might be interesting. As we turned right we heard a voice, except it was metallic and garbled. Our guess is an old recording of some kind, because We couldn't understand it at all. We looked around the dark hallway again as we made a left towards the space exhibits. Sometime later, We stopped to look at the picture of a couple ponies on the moon. They looked so happy. We honestly don't remember them going to the moon, then again We were out of the loop on world events for many years. There was an earth pony floating above what looked to be another earth pony in white suits. We smiled at the picture of happier times and continued as more lights clicked on followed by static. "In... ronauts placed a mir... moon. That way we can..." The rest of it was garbled static. As We looked left We saw a grimy glass window that looked interesting. We trotted over and wiped a hoof across the surface of the glass. We pressed Our face against it and stared at the massive rocket that was surrounded by gloom. Lights kicked on at the bottom and slowly made their way up. The lights at the very top revealed a capsule that was nearly stripped of paint. Rust streaked the rest of the rocket all the way down to the bottom and a walkway spiraled its way around. We frowned at the horrid condition rocket and continued our trot through the rotted museum. There was a door to our left and a sign that said it went to the rocket. So We followed it and bucked open the door to the rocket display. A grand re-opening banister had half fallen off and crushed a glass window that caused us to duck under it as we walked through the hallway. Above us the shattered glass dome still had shreds of fabric hanging down. The elements had done a number on the walkways paint and the carpet. We tested the walkway with a hoof. It gave a metal creak. Then We gave it a firm push and a nervous smile when it stayed put. So We stepped onto it and It groaned as We put all four hooves on. We quickly backed away as We let out a breath of relief when it stayed put. “It should be okay,” Rose quietly said. “Should...” We smiled at her. “Ride our back and if it breaks We can slow the fall with Our wings.” She nodded in agreement and We laid down. Then Rose climbed onto our back nervously. She was very light, almost like a foal, which she was close to the size of. We stepped forward onto the catwalk and gave it a few seconds to settle before we began to follow it down. It took quite a while due to nearly every other step being received with a groan of metal. As we stepped onto the last step We hesitated because the floor looked perfectly spotless. Our gaze went back up to the broken dome as We shielded Our face from the waning blue sky with a hoof. Dark grey clouds were slowly rolling in, causing the sky to darken. High above us, the shriek of metal echoed followed by a loud metallic crash and then another shriek. We dove to the side as level upon level of metal catwalk came crashing down in a mass of twisted steel and dust. When it settled We huffed and got to Our hooves as Rose groaned. As We glanced up We saw the outline of a pony, but they quickly vanished. Our ears folded back against Our head as We realized that it was much too far for us to jump up to that door even with wings assisting Us. We looked around the bottom room and spotted an open door. With nowhere else to go, We went inside with Rose behind Us. The hallway beyond was mold covered and almost pitch black. We followed that hallway for some time before it opened into some kind of large spacious room with seating around a trashed object. There were four exits and We picked the one to our right. Which we followed for a long time before we made a right and had a new choice of doors. We picked the one on our left and tilted Our head as We opened it. There was a pony skeleton slumped over a desk with a severely rusted weapon nearby. The weapon was magically put into Our saddlebags as We went through their pockets with magic. All We found was a useless document detailing security for the grand re-opening of the museum. The second document had a bunch of letters and numbers that read: G4C0MD215. We assumed it to be useful and put it in our bags. With nothing else in there We turned around and opened the door across the hall. All it was, was an empty janitor's closet and that caused Us to frown. We left that behind and went through the third door. Inside that room We saw shelves, upon shelves, moldy cardboard boxes of crap that fell apart to the touch. Anything of value looked to have been stripped long ago as well. We left the storage room and made our way towards the green glowing exit signs. As we neared the exit door We opened it and sighed deeply in frustration as where were more stairs leading... down. We had no idea why they would go even further down as the plans for the building according to Rose stopped at this level. Our hooves echoed in the dark stairwell as we made our way down with the tablet in front of Us. The outdoor only map useless, but the compass was pointing nearby. As We looked up from the device We stopped at an unusual door that looked like a reinforced blast door with a keypad next to it. We went over to it and tried the code We found, but it flashed a red error and screeched. Rose pushed Us out of the way. “Let me try! You might break it or something.” We sighed and tapped Our hoof in boredom as she backed out of the terminal twice before it flashed green. “There.” Rose hit a button and the door slid open with a hiss. By that time We had Our energy weapon out. We were looking at one of the flat parts on it strangely as We had never used one before. There was no discernible barrel and that caused Us to wonder where the shots exit from. Rose jumped up and plucked it out of Our grasp with her hooves before We could react. As she landed on the floor she glared. “Don’t you know not to look in the barrel?!” “We could not see a barrel?” We told her the truth in her mind. She rolled her eyes as she put it away. “No energy weapons for you then.” We sighed and looked at the floor. Then Our gaze went to the truly pitch black hallway and We stepped inside. There was a loud click that caused Us to start in surprise and draw the pipe rifle, but it was only a yellowed light turning on above us. And then another one at the very far end clicked on which caused Us to frown. The rifle was put away as We brought out the torch and tablet. The both was floated in front of Us as we went into the grim darkness before us. Our torch cut a swath of light like the moon in the night sky. We looked down at the compass then up at the alternating doors that lined the walls every thirty meters. We turned left into the first room we came across. There was a desk and file cabinet, which Rose went through the contents of and found a strange orange metal feather. She put that away and we left that room as we went farther down the dark hallway. Our gaze looked left and right. About eighty feet down was another office, but on the right hand side. Inside held just an empty desk. *** *** We turned left in the dark hallway. Rose and Us had found nothing for the last two hours according to the tablet. The torch was getting slightly dimmer with the passing of minutes. Every eighty to a hundred feet was an office on either side of the hallway. We were not sure of their purpose, but Rose was growing more and more concerned. As we turned right around a bend, the office hallway abruptly changed to one with cracked concrete walls and four inches of ice cold salt water on the floor. We stopped walking and blinked in surprise as We turned Our head to look back at cracked concrete walls. There was no possible way for them to have changed like that! "Did the hallway just change?" We asked in a whisper of the lips, because We were so shocked that We momentarily could not use telepathy. "Yeah..." she replied in a whisper. “It looks... nice.” "What is going on?" We asked as We looked at Rose in worry. "Perhaps we should head back?" "There might be loot down here." She whined and pouted. Her eyes grew big and watery as she bit her lower lip slightly. With a nod from Us, We continued into the now concrete tunnel. The icy water sloshed about as it sent a chill up Our legs and into Our spine. This place was wrong. It felt wrong and we should not have been there. After another few blank corners, Rose opened an office door and gasped in shock as her eyes went wide. "Mom?" Our ears swiveled as We looked back at her and stopped. "Mom, what are you doing here? You're... dead." ’Dead?!’ Our eyes widened as Our hooves carried Us over and We looked in the door. All we saw was a standard empty concrete jail cell with no pony, nor desk or anything else. Rose winced at some unseen words. "I love her, and I don't care! Screw the rules!" We stepped in front of her as We spread Our glorious wing to block her sight. She blinked as she recovered from whatever it was and looked up at Us as We assured her. "Rose, thine mother is not really there." Her eyes widened as they went to Our wings. "Sweet Celestia what happened to your wing?!" We folded our wing with a sneer as We stepped forward and shut the door behind Us with magic. "An impure pony tricked Us, but do not get any ideas as it shall not happen again." We told her honestly. "I know a pony that can remove that collar.” Rose smiled up at Us. “She's pretty handy with electronics and pretty close-by." We huffed at this and shook Our head. "No! We will not accept thy offer of help as We do not trust Rose, an impure fillyfooler." "What's that got to do with it?!" she shouted as she hopped off the ground. "Absolutely nothing. We merely pointed it out is all. So who was she?" "The mare of my dreams. Our parents didn't approve, because they wanted us to have children and wouldn't listen to any reasoning." We rolled Our eyes as We understand that problem. "Ugh, We know how that is. The Goddess has Us seeking a way to make male alicorns so that we may breed. She found a reference to this island and ordered Sister and I, along with four others, to investigate it for possible clues." We pointed a hoof at her as We added. "Do not think to come onto Us, Rose. We like stallions and would prefer them to be alicorns.” Her eyes bulged out of her sockets. "Huh?! The thought never even occurred to me!" "Uh-huh." As We turned to continue walking, a ghost of a pony shape with glowing lavender eyes crowded the very edge of Our peripheral vision. However when We looked directly at it the pony vanished. We were not liking this one bit... *** *** We rounded a corner in the near pitch black tunnels as we walked through the water. Rose kept trying to look inside the rooms. Then We would remind her that it would be bad if she did as We had to block her from looking the first time. A thud drew our attention to one of the rooms. Our gaze went over to it as We opened the door with magic and prepared to shut it if something tried to jump out. Nothing did. Inside was a body and a few items. We looked at the grime covered earth pony skeleton sprawled out on the floor. It had a top hat and a long ripped overcoat. Behind the skeleton was a decayed fiddle that had all but rotted away. In his clutches was a used syringe that We recognized to be for Cloudpack. Scattered around him were various empty drug containers. A Dash inhaler, a box of Party-Time Mint-als, four Med-X syringes and one absurd looking three in one drug. There was also a bottle of rum that long since evaporated. We mourned for the loss of the alcohol. A search of his torn bags revealed a four shotgun shells that We put away and a single shot over and under shotgun that looked to be made to attach to your foreleg. The leather was akin to a sock with straps to tighten it down on one side. Though it was odd as there was no visible trigger. We took a journal of sorts out and put that away. We used Our magic to tie the shotgun to Our right foreleg snugly. The very short barrel was on the inside of our leg for easy access for reloading. As We opened the breech We loaded two slugs in with a smile and snapped it shut. “Groovy.” We commented as We held the foreleg up and looked at it. We left the office and continued as We floated out the journal. Don’t fuck with the Wardens. If they tell you to submit, you better fucking submit! The others thought it’d be a good idea to shoot a warden that had 'arrested' one of us. They were all three beaten to death by just one! I ran the fuck away and left them. The fools didn’t listen to me when I said they couldn’t die. They laughed at me and called me a stupid PTM addict. WELL WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?! Fuck I’m going to die in this Luna damned blue hallway. I know someone is reading this and I’m long dead. My advice is to get the fuck out of here FAST or you’ll die down here. And don’t ever stop moving. Alright I’m going to take some drugs and play one last song. We closed the book and put it away as We continued into the slowly worsening tunnels. Why did they say the hallways were blue? They are cracked concrete! *** *** As we rounded the extremely grimy corner Our dim torch highlighted a long dead skeleton clutching a box in one hoof and a Pipbuck on the other foreleg. His, or her, stable suit was decayed into tatters, but its yellow number 383 was displayed proudly if a bit faded. We grinned at the realization that the pony held the box we were looking for and they had a Pipbuck! We were finally able to get the advantage Steel Rangers had. However as We picked both items up in magic, Rose jumped and knocked the Pipbuck out of our magic's grasp She held it to her chest as she landed on the floor. "Nuh-uh. We go half and half on loot, remember?" We nodded as this We remember to agreeing on. "You get that box you came for and I get this Pipbuck." With an exasperated sigh of defeat We slipped the box into Our bags. As We did so the compass turned to a new location while the tablet beeped. "Very well... Thou can has thy Pipbuck. Just be sure to tell Us if there are hostiles about, fair?" "Yup,” she nodded. Our gaze went back down to the tablet and We wondered if there was anything else down here. We put the now not needed device away as We pushed forward with the torch in front of Us. We did not bother to look in the offices because of Rose's experience earlier, so We broke into a gallop with her behind us. The concrete halls became a blur as We turned left, then a right, followed another left and stopped abruptly as We came across the same dead skeleton. "That should not have happened...” We said slowly and breathed deeply as sweat ran down Our face. “We did not go in a circle." "How do you know? We've been running for almost an hour!" We looked over at Rose as We held out a wing and made a gesture while We said. "Because we went in a Z pattern. Left, right, left. We would have had to gone left, left, left to go in a circle." A voice whispered in the back of Our mind. "Hungry, so very hungry... Feed me..." Our ears perked up and We branched out with Our mind. "Sister?!" We extended Our telepathic range as We looked for the source through the various rooms and hallways. In doing so We found out something very troublesome in the process. This place looped back in on itself regardless of which way you went. After an agonizing amount of time We found another alicorn and connected with her. "Who are you?" We asked as We did not recognize her. "Who is this? How did you contact me?!" She asked suspiciously. We smiled at Rose as We told the alicorn, "We are a green and a friend. Do not be frightened." "I am not frightened! Get out of my head this instant or so help me I will find you and fillet you alive!" We kept staring at Rose and she started to get unnerved from Our smile. "But sister, We are all that is left of Unity. The others are dead. Plea-" "Others survived the Destroyer's attack and I somehow ended up on this Goddess forsaken island. NOW GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" "But.... sister We are trapped and could use some help." We showed her where we were in the tunnels and hoped she’d come. Rose waved a hoof in front of Our face as she tilted her head. "Are you alright? You haven't blinked.... at all in the last few minutes." The connection was severed when the alicorn started shouting obscenities at Us for invading her personal space. We smiled warmly at Rose. "We have found a new sister and she is in these tunnels!" Suddenly, a bright purple flash filled the hallway and Rose yelped in surprise. The nearly black purple alicorn We had connected to was glaring daggers at Us. On her side was a pair of saddlebags and she said scornfully with her mouth. "You... you are the most annoying green I have ever met! It is no wonder you were banished here." Our ears folded back in embarrassment at her remark. "We were not banished... the Goddess gave Us a job to do!" "Twenty years ago! What have you been doing this whole time if she gave you a job?!" "Searching, and..." We looked away in confusion as twenty years seems awfully long to have been here. It felt like months.. "And?" She asked pointedly while tilting her head and drew Our attention back to her. "Fighting Steel Rangers. There is something on this island that they want, but We do not know what it is." "She's dead it doesn't matter anymore. Let them have it." The dark purple alicorn said. "The Goddess is not dead." We told her flatly with Our mind. "Is too. She took a megaspell to the face!" We glared at her. "She is not!" "Is too!" “Is not!” “Is too!” "Is not." "Is too." "Is too infinity!" “Is not double inf....” The dark purple alicorn rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever! Goddess, I hope I don't go insane on this island like you have." Rose finally spoke up as she raised her hoof. "Um... you said Shell Shock was banished? Why was she banished?" The two of us looked down at her. "Not your concern!" Purple Sister said, her voice laced with anger at the impure pony. We smiled and nodded as We were glad that she did not make something up. Because the Goddess really did send Us out here on a mission. We connected with her again and she immediately looked at Us. "What?!" She demanded in Our mind. "May we call you Grumpy?" We asked her with a tilt of Our head. She facehoofed and groaned in what sounded like annoyance. *** *** Grumpy pointed a hoof at the tablet that we had floating in front of us. "So this blue alicorn called 'Sister' is here?" We nodded and tapped it with Our own. "Is she like you or.... more sane?" "Sister is usually there and no. She is meaner than Us and talks like you. We do not know why Our sisters insist on speaking with air... it is taxing." She nodded. "And you want me to teleport the three of us there?" We shook Our head slowly. "No no no. That is not what We want! We want you to teleport us outside the museum, and then you meet up with her." She arched a brow. "What for? I have no ties to either of you! I should just leave right now." "Because she needs to know of the bounty on alicorns and We suspect she may be worried." "Why don't you connect with her and tell her?" We looked at the skeleton on the floor sadly. "We have tried and she does not hear, nor respond. We think she may have left Us." "Gee I wonder why..." Grumpy said dryly with a roll of her eyes. "We do not know." We tilted our head. "Perhaps she was forced too?" "Well in any event I can't teleport three ponies out of here. It's just too far and too much without basking in a ton of radiation for a day. We are nearly a mile underground." We smiled and connected to her. She glared at Us, but did not say anything. We explained inside her head. "We soaked up some the other day and with our connection We can amplify thy spell. Which would make it easier for you to cast, thus thou can transport the three of us out of here with a fraction of the power normally required." "You can do that?" Rose asked and we nodded. Grumpy looked at her suspiciously. "You sure do ask a lot of questions. Are you a spy?" Rose’s eyes widened. "No, I am just curious, because I've never gotten the chance to talk to an alicorn without them shooting first!" She received a glare from Grumpy and We looked at the both of them. After a few seconds we put the tablet and torch away. Then looked at Grumpy and nodded. "We are ready." She sighed. "Alright this might disorient you if you’re not used to it." It all happened in the blink of an eye. We watched it all with a smile as We were providing power and time was slowed for Us. The world around us began swirling and tearing. As each piece was torn off, the outside world replaced it. We glanced up at the cloudy night sky as it was being revealed. With a pop and a flash we stood outside of the museum whole in body and missing nothing. We broke the connection and clapped Our forehooves together in delight. "We're out of that trap!" "Yeah, thanks. Do you happen to know the blue's name beyond 'Sister'? We glanced at Rose, then whispered only to Grumpy’s mind. "We are unsure as to her name." Grumpy nodded. "I'm going to go now, but I will tell her you are safe and working your way back." With a nod from Us, she vanished in a purple flash. Which left just Rose and I. If Grumpy does not trust her, then We do not trust her. However We cannot simply take the Pipbuck as it would be obvious as to whom took it, so We are at a loss. Rose stretched with an audible yawn. “I’m worn out and need to find a place to sleep.” We nodded. “Very well, We shall keep an eye out for impure bandits while you sleep.” ***===***===*** I galloped across the muddy city park with my bolt-action IF-12 floating in front of me. The weapon was heavily outdated, but it's what I was issued and loved. Ahead of me lay a trench line of zebra’s firing at us as our company charged. They had dug in and most of the city was reduced to ruin. A hundred or so yards behind their trench line was a ruined factory that produced who knows what. Ammo, guns, vehicles. It didn't fucking matter. We were told to take it and that is what we were going to do. I wrapped a dead armored pegasus in magic and used the lifeless body as a shield while I made my way towards a bomb crater. I weaved left and right while taking pot shots at the zebra troops who'd stick their heads up. As I got within range I tossed the body inside the crater and slid down after it. One of the others I was with dove in with a wet muddy plop. He looked up at me and grinned while panting heavily. "Damn, you're fast!" I grinned back. "You're just lazy!" Arrow tried to climb over, but I used my magic to shove him back down. "That's stupid, watch!" I took his woodland camo hat with magic and began to slowly lift it up over the crater. A shot sent it flying from my magic's grip. He gulped while he pulled it back on as I loaded in five more rounds. "Then we're stuck!" Arrow huffed. I tried to explain a plan, but an artillery shell howled and went silent. I immediately grabbed Arrow with a hoof and pulled him low into the crater as the shell landed a few feet outside and showered us with mud. I worked my jaw around to get rid of the ringing in my ears as I shouted. "They got this shit pre-ranged!" "Ya think?!" He looked over at the one winged pegasus with a few holes in its side. "What's with the bird?" I used my magic to ripp the armor off the body as I explained. "Ya want armor? Here’s armor!" I cringed as I tossed it over to him. "It won’t fit me and I want his grenade gun. I'll lob them at the trench while using his body as a shield with you behind me." A groan escaped me as I looked at the sky camo pattern. In the mud down here he stuck out like a bad hooficure. The combat saddle was unstrapped and I looked at it in confusion. Instead of figuring out how to put it on I ripped the grenade machine gun off, levitated it up and put away my bolt-action. We never got armor beyond just an old metal recycled royal guard chest plate that was totally inadequate. Hell our uniforms were frayed woodland camo stuff that wasn't used anymore and bore no markings of any kind. We might as well have just been naked. Arrow looked at the wing plate and ripped it off with his hooves as it was useless to the blue crystal pony. As I glanced at the dead body I wrapped it in magic and slowly made it look over the crater. Half his head exploded and showered us with brains and bone. I tossed it aside as I sighed. "Yeah, we're fucked." Arrow looked down at the radio. "I think the radio works. Let's get some support." I made a motion with my hoof as he removed it. It was held to my ear as I cleared my throat and attempted communications in my best stallion impersonation. "Red Barn this is..." I looked at the armor and shrugged. "Gold Bird four. I am on the ground and injured with two others. Zebras have us pinned down. Requesting two Zippos at..." Arrow held up a map and pointed a hoof at our location. "Grid reference eight, Kilo, Foxtrot, Alpha, six, four, two, zero, eight, two. Come in from the southeast. Western trench still not taken, and ground pre-ranged. We won’t last long." The reply was almost immediate. "Roger that, Gold Bird Four, Zippos in bound. E.T.A. Ten minutes." Arrow shook his head in amazement. "I don't know what's more impressive. The fact that you pulled that off by making up a code name. Or the fact that you sounded like an annoying colt whose balls haven't dropped and it still worked." I laughed. "Yeah. Well if anyone asks we can claim he died after calling them. How's it look?" He gave a nod and crept up for a look. Then quickly dropped back down as a shot snapped overhead. "The others made it slightly closer, and I think the regulars are just now catching up." "Hit or miss?" He shrugged as he held out a hoof. "Bet ya he misses the target." "Fifty bits says he hits it." I shook his with mine. A new voice came over the radio. "Gold Bird Four this is Eagle seven. Can you point out your position with smoke?" I held up the radio again and resumed my fake voice. "Negative Eagle seven. No smoke grenades. Friendlies east of target still haven't reached the trench, you're clear to make a run." "Uh, Roger that. Keep your heads down." Two objects dropped out of the southeastern sky with a thunderous roar. The first single engine propeller ground attack aircraft lined up with the zebra trench and unleashed a barrage of rockets and gunpods. His wingman following suit a few hundred yards behind. Arrow looked over the crater and smiled. "You owe me fifty bi-" His head rocked back as his brains sprayed out of the new hole. "Arrow!" I shouted as his corpse slid next to the dead pegasus. ***===****===**** I looked at the floor as a tear ran down my cheek. My hoof came up as I caught it and stared at the salt flavored droplet. I let it fall and involuntarily rubbed my right foreleg in an effort to ensure it was still whole. Before I joined Unity I only had three legs because of that battle. When I took a breath, I smelled fresh blood and cordite. Slowly, I looked around for trouble. Nothing was amiss and a test of Our nose revealed no blood, so then why did We smell it? I contemplated the vision. I remember the horrible feeling that everypony was dying around us yet we fought on, because we must or be shot as traitors. Lately when We sit like that I get snippets of Our past. Visions of things that were before We became better with Unity. The Goddess helped Us to block them out, but now... they were free again. ‘We must do better’ was Fluttershy’s motto. But as We looked around the destroyed museum We saw that in the end We only succeeded in doing worse. With Our magic We pulled out the yellow tablet and noticed that the map marker for Sister had moved, and so did the one for Our collar. The collar marker was halfway between here and the one out in the jungle while Sister's had vanished. We left that function as We pressed the radio and found it to be tuned into a channel with what sounded like a drunk mare. “This here’s DJ Snow bringing ya the midnight news. The tempra.... temperature is about seventy-five degrees, wind is round twenty miles an hour an’ some annoying fog be rolling in later tonight. But who cares? I sure as hell don’t. Alright out heres in.... uh, Oakwood we’ve gots a little alicorn problem with two of 'em. We all know that, right? Well I done heard it through the grapevine that one of em was spotted giving goods away to Candlelight. Why? I don't fuckin' care! Maybe they finally wised up. BUT! One good deed.... is not enough ta redeem a mare of a lifetime of evilness, so we’ll see if they really are changing.” We looked at the device in confusion as the sound of a bottle being opened was played out. ‘We are not evil!’ We thought to ourself. ’Do ponies think we are evil and that why they attack us on sight? We must show them that we are not evil. There must be a way to do better.’ The bottle was set down noisily and the mare continued. “Alright DJ Buccaneer will be on in a few hours, but this here’s DJ Snow saying.... Have some Green Onions.” We tilted Our head as We blinked in surprise at the organ playing out. The noise it was playing was... soothing. Like it is melting Our worries away. We had forgotten the joy of music. We tapped Our hoof to the beat and listened with a smile. *** *** Gently, We gripped a feather shaft with Our mouth and felt the oil gland apply its fluid as We ran Our mouth along the shaft. Preening is such an annoyingly slow process with Our large wings and a great many feathers. Except We must do so every so often to keep them in tip top shape! And it gives Us time to think. Pre-dawn light had turned the sky a grey hue, but a fog rolled in on a salty breeze from the west. As We finished Our longest feather We started on the next one in. We were unsure of how to handle Rose. She likes alicorns. This much We could sense from her questioning Us over everything.We do. But she did not wish to join Us against the Steel Rangers. We stopped halfway down the second feather as We glanced at Rose. Her chest rose and fell slowly as slept peacefully and heavily. The fact that she may be a Steel Ranger crossed Our mind. A thought of touching Our horn to her head and looking into her memories struck Us. Except We banished it as that would lose what little trust she has of Us. Instead We floated out the journal again to read while preening. This We can multi-task with. We were a few miles away when one of the missiles kicked out of the rack. In a pillar of fire and smoke it took off turning straight up as it almost hit the deck. I watched it disappear into the clouds above us and was about to head inside when I remembered something. I looked at the remaining missiles still in the rack. They shouldn’t fly straight up like that. Because cruise missiles didn’t do that. After I went inside I asked the pilot. “What missile did you fire?” She shrugged and after a little bit of searching on a touchscreen monitor she pulled up a result. “SLCM-35M, low yield. Eight kilotons.” “Get us the hell out of here!” I screamed while hitting the collision alarm and looked through the door to the outside. A loud bell rang out and red lights started flashing behind me. The missile broke through the clouds and the Cloudchaser picked up speed while banking away. A high pitched humming sound grew louder as the airship started moving faster with smoke trailing out below the stern. The warhead was almost on top of the city when I slammed the door shut and spun the wheel to seal it before looking away. A bright flash shone through the rear windows as I was thrown around from the ship nearly flipping over. The pilot for her part stayed in the chair-bed control console thing and righted the airship. After she regained control I stood up and opened the door to see a giant mushroom cloud of fire and smoke looming over the city remains... Our eyes widened as We finished reading the last page as it detailed him megaspelling a city with no clear reason why. Because sadly, the page explaining the reasoning had been torn out at one point. We flipped back farther and it looked like it was owned by a mare who died writing as her blood was being drained in some form of execution, then a different pony, and finally the one who We got it from. The dates were wild and We suspected this to be a false journal because of it. As it speaks of events that never occurred. Like a floating city made of steel and stone! With a huff we tossed the journal away. Then stared at it. Something at the back of our mind was telling Us to keep it. And so We floated it back into Our bags. Then We went back to preening in annoyance at having learned nothing from the mysterious journal. *** *** The two of us walked along the narrow debris strewn road towards the South Bay marker. Around us were many houses packed together and the street had tall grass growing out of the cracks. We were nearly to South Bay when a shot grazed Rose's neck, causing her to yelp in shock and duck. We looked around at the buildings with Our .22 rifle floating at eye level, but We saw nothing. "Give us the alicorn and you can walk away!" A pony shouted from a building. Though with the narrow road it echoed and made locating impossible without an E.F.S. Rose scrambled behind the cover of a wagon with a line of red across her neck. She removed strips of medical bandages from her bags and wrapped her neck while she shouted. "What?! Why do you want an alicorn?" "Don't play dumb with me.” The voice shouted as We looked around with a determined look. “Set the detonator down and walk away. You're outnumbered and no pony needs to die!" As Our .22 rifle swept around the thin two story houses as We said with Our mind to only Rose. "Stay hidden, Rose. We have this handled." "Okay." She nodded rapidly. We slowly trotted down the overgrown road as We scanned each building slowly. But We still did not see any ponies. We really needed an E.F.S is what We needed! One of the doors eventually opened up as a green pony walked out. They wore what looked like just a hat and black leather barding with a weapon on their side. In their combat saddle was a single large automatic rifle with a big magazine. Our gaze narrowed as We aimed the pipe rifle at him. He looked at it, a smile formed on his face, and chuckled. "Is that a foals toy?" We frowned while We telepathically boomed. "IT IS THY DOOM!" Both barrels spit lead at the same time with a loud pop. One bullet struk the pony in the ear and the other missed altogether. We jumped, flapped our clipped wings for extra lift, and landed on the roof behind him. ’How could we miss that close?!’ We hissed to ourself. Then We quickly magically loaded in two more shots and stood on our hind legs as We spread Our wings. Our telepathic shout boomed as thunder roared overhead. "THOU FOALISH MORTALS HAVE ANGERED THE GODDESS!" We glared down at the pony as rain started falling. Which drenched Our overly long mane and caused it to stop flowing. He aimed his saddle up at us and sent a two round burst that struck the wood roof and tore off splinters. "Get down from there and give up!" he shouted. Our gaze went around to the buildings and We smiled at the realization that he was actually alone. We brought the pipe rifle down to aim as distant thunder rumbled. Our shots missed, but his bored their way into Our shoulder and chest. We staggered back on two legs as We loaded in two more shots. However he kept firing a stream of bullets at Us. Fire burned through our insides as two struck our neck, one grazed our face and hit our ear, and finally another two hit our hind legs. Which collapsed under us unexpectedly. Thrown off balance, We tumbled onto the porch awning as Our body slammed down with a thud and slid off in a heap. We groaned as he trotted over with a smile. Our eyes narrowed as We pointed our right hoof at his head. His eyes widened just before the shotgun recoiled on Our leg as it sent a 20 gauge slug straight between his eyes. The top half of his skull folded into red gore and sprayed off into the rain. We dropped the leg and crawled over to the now dead and bloody pony. Our magic unhooked his rifle from the saddle and We read the name of the weapon: Buckmaster E1018 'BAR'. Along the stock the name ‘Fallen Angel’ was carved into it along with four horn/wing stamps underneath the words. We pressed the eject button for the twenty round magazine with magic and saw that it fired .308 rounds. Inside the reloading mechanism were two extras. ’A proper tool!’ We thought and grinned. However our perceptiveness failed Us because a bullet bored its way through Our flank as We cried out in pain. We hefted the weapon up in magic along with the extra magazines and bolted for a wrecked wagon that had slammed into another one. We slid to a stop behind it and glanced around as We desperately wished for E.F.S. as the rain muffled any distant sound. The click of a weapon’s cocking mechanism drew Our attention to Our left as We instinctively rolled at the same time smg shots snapped past Our ears. We used Our magic to bring the BAR up so We could aim down the sights at the pony. Magic squeezed the trigger just enough to let off a two round burst before We let go of the trigger. Our bullets thumped into the pony’s armored chest and caused her to grunt as she dove for cover. We wished for this weapon to be mouth held so We could go invisible and sneak around. But it strangely had a large trigger guard behind the magazine for a hoof to slip through. This weapon was very odd indeed! We spotted movement on a roof and aimed down Angel, she roared four times. The pony tumbled to the road with a loud snap and We cringed at the realization that his neck was broken upon impact. We slowly crawled back from Our cover and went over to the other side of the wagon. Our gaze fell upon the 10mm smg pony who was looking where We previously were and Angel barked three times. Our shots caved her skull in and sent her brains to the road. Our ears swiveled towards a scream behind us as We turned around and saw a unicorn floating a rifle to Rose’s head. Our eyes narrowed as he shouted. “Drop the we-” Angel tore his head off and nearly covered Rose’s lab coat in red as she recoiled in shock. The weapon finally clicked empty. So We slid a new magazine in while We scanned the buildings, but saw nothing. Hoofsteps behind Us caused us to turn around as Rose trotted over. She looked up at Us as she laid down and to go through her metal box of supplies. Eventually she removed a healing potion and handed it to Us. "You're hurt. Drink." We took it in magic with a smile. Level up! New perk added - Keen eye for detail. Just because you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed doesn't mean you don't catch on quick. +10% xp from passing speech checks and disarming traps. Speech increased slightly. Companion perk - Walking workbench. Rose can craft items as well as repair your gear. All you have to do is ask... Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, II. Attempt to improve relations with the Oakwood locals before they come at you with torches and pitchforks. New objective: complete more sidequests for various towns. Main quest updated - Ties that bind. Find a pony in South Bay you can trust whom can remove your slave collar, or take up Rose Petal’s offer. Side quest updated - The box. Return the ornate brown box to its owner. Side quest accepted - Where's my money?! Collect all eight thousand caps from ponies for Long Tap, or pay off the debts yourself. Side quest accepted - Secrets of the forgotten. Find out the meaning of the journal and if it is real or not. -840 Karma Candlelight reputation set to Mixed. You might be bad, but you might also be good? Ponies aren't sure what to make of you and so you have difficulty trading, as well as talking to ponies. New companion! Rose. Race: ??? S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Strength: 5 Perception: 5 Endurance: 4 Charisma: 7 Intelligence: 10 Agility: 7 Luck: 2 Tagged skills: repair, energy weapons, science. Traits: Terminal rage: Terminals just lie down and die for you. +5 science and grants an extra chance should you be locked out of a terminal. Scrap heap: You spot the best salvage even after others have picked it clean. 10% more likely to find extra ammo, or caps in containers. Fatal Flaw: Small frame: Due to something happening as you aged you didn't mature to your full height. -2DT and you take 15% more damage. Can only wear light armor and you carry less weight than other ponies. +1 agility. -50 to carry weight. 13 pitch-black cats: What is luck anyway? Due to your low luck when something goes wrong in your party... it spirals out of control horribly. Blind as a bat: Has anypony seen my glasses? +2 perception when wearing glasses. -1 when not. Main quest accepted - Curiosity. Follow Shell Shock and see if she really is an evil monster or just a cuddly alicorn. Companion perk - Big tough alicorn. Why do you have to get shot when theres a bullet sponge nearby? Author's Note Went back, fixed a lot of it and added in some details that were missing the first time around.
Chapter 2: Fine line between realities. (Slightly revised 8/24/2013)Chapter 2: Fine line between realities “Know your friends, but watch them tight!” My head felt like I had been run over by a diesel locomotive. I saw that the others were slowly moving around as the fog was dissipating. My nostrils were filled with the smell of that fog which made the feeling that much worse. The others were starting to sit up as they recovered from their jump dream. Each one is different for everyone else and mine happens to be from one of the times I fell from New Cloudsdale when I was a filly. Strangely my wings never work in it. Out of the few times I had that weird dream it was always the same: falling with no control and then smashing through the ground as it shattered like glass. A look around as the glow faded from the discs revealed the armaglass walls to be a deep blue color, except somewhat see through, while the door to the outside world was the exact same. I said a quick prayer to Luna hoping this place wasn’t flooded like the last and stood up. We put the journal away with magic as We looked around at our surroundings. Rose and I trotted along a cracked overgrown asphalt road that was flanked by housing. It was still raining hard. We grumbled. "This rain is ruining Our mane!" "You keep saying that." Rose replied dryly. We glanced at her with a huff of annoyance as We spread Our wings out slightly. "Yes, well it may not bother you with your lab coat, but it certainly bothers Us! Our exquisite mane is much larger and requires more care. Just look at it getting dragged through the muck!" We pointed a hoof at the non-flowing mane as it dragged on the dirt. It saddened Us that rain caused it to not flow. "Exquisite? It flows constantly!" She hopped off the ground with a sly smile. The mini-pony nearly bumped into a faded blue box trailer in the process of landing on the ground. "And?” We tilted Our head as We replied in her mind. “We have no control over thine mane." "Just pointing it out." Rose finally bumped into it. She spun around and looked at the door with the expression a filly gets when they see a candy store. Eyes the size of dinner plates and an open mouth grin. We stepped around the flipped vehicle that had spilled its contents all across the street. And then stopped to wait for Rose as she dug through it. After a while, which felt like an eternity, she came back with a mouthful of scrap wires, cloth, and other things we split between the two of us. She put them away in her new saddlebags that she had acquired from that alicorn hunting stallion. Rose refused to wear the hat even after We washed it, so We put it on with the full intention to sell. Which includes that horrible rifle I borrowed from Candlelight! Fallen Angel is a much better weapon. We continued southeast towards a row of large decrepit structures that were now skeletons of their former selves. Rose looked at Us. "Shell Shock can I ask you something without you getting angry?" Her wet mane covered her face, which she cleared and We stopped to give her Our complete attention. "We will attempt to remain impassive, so ask away." We replied with a nod. "How come you're easy to take out for an alicorn?" We glared daggers at Rose. The thought of ripping such thoughts from her mind flashed through Ours. Though We did not act, instead We snorted a retort. "We did not have the proper tools and thus We could not fight properly until We killed that saddle pony!" "I mean your shield. How come you didn't use it? I thought green alicorns had an impenetrable shield?" Our ears folded back as Our face turned darker in embarrassment. "We... forgot about it, but next time We won't!" Rose looked up as smoke lazily filled the sky despite the drizzle. “What is burning?” She asked as she followed it to its source with her gaze. We looked at it and tilted Our head, also following it to its source behind the large structures. “We do not know, but it is in the direction of our objective for the journal." *** *** We looked down from what was left of a seven story tall office building with Rose on Our back. She pointed a hoof down at the wreckage that We could see clearly, which made the gesture pointless. Rain pelted Our head and Our mane still did not flow. Two halves of a strangely angled vessel had crashed through the residential buildings to this spot, leaving a trail of debris. One half had split apart which spilt its contents and decayed bodies everywhere. The center of the front half was still smoldering. Which was producing the smoke we had seen. As We thought of picturing it whole, We imagined it to be a very large flattened trash can. Our eyes narrowed at the heavily faded words on the rusted side: Cloudchaser. Then that means the journal is true?! We turned Our head to look at Rose. “Stay here.” “But th-” “No! We sense radiation and it may be bad. If it is not then you can come.” With a gulp she slid off onto the old roof and looked down at the wreck. A hard flap of Our wings gave Us the lift to jump through the air. We landed roughly next to a group of bodies. As We stood there We felt the warm glow of radiation, but very very little. It felt more like an old hotspot that was now nearly to background levels. We turned around around and knelt next to a long dead changeling skeleton in a brown sea coat. Which was odd as We have not seen their like in many, many, years. Our magic prodded at the body and We found nothing on him or her. So We moved over to the other body nearby which was a rotting pale gold pegasus. She wore a rusted 20mm gatling gun and rocket pod saddle. Our magic quickly removed it and tossed the weapon as far out of the area as We could. As We looked over to watch it land We noticed Rose had moved down on the debris filled road. However, as We inspected the dead mare’s suit. She blinked then quickly looked at Us with bright ruby red eyes. “The fuck you takin’ my shit for?!” She shouted in Our face. We stepped back from the not so dead pony in shock as We tilted Our head and Our ears folded back. “Huh?” “Oh I’m sorry? Did I stutter?” The rotting pale gold mare stood up and looked around before she looked at Us again. “I thought you could hear, but let me say that again slowly. What. In the fuck. Are you. Taking. My shit. For?!” “We... We thought..." “What’s the matter, huh? Never seen a ghoul before, Miss Wannabe Princess?” She walked towards Us as We backed up in worry. Our gaze went down to her heavily ripped and shot full of holes Shadowbolt uniform; the name and mask long gone. “Answer my fucking question!” We looked around again at the wreckage as We bit Our lower lip. “We followed Our compass to here because We wish to know about this journal.” We floated out said journal as We turned to look at it. She stopped to flex her wings with a tilt of her head. “Where did you find that?” she asked above a whisper. “That was with...” Her gaze went to Us as her ruby eyes narrowed. “So the fucker finally died. Well good riddance. The asshole got us all killed!” “Was he not a friend?” We asked as Our head tilted slightly. “Initially, but then he got the idea to knock off the Crystal Empire at the end of the war in 1051. It worked and we got half the EAF fleet to follow us with trillions in gold. Then Celestia sent two battle groups after us a few hours before the bombs fell.” She stood on her hind legs and waved a hoof about. “Real brilliant fuckin' plan!” “We do not understand thy date...” She rolled her ruby red eyes. “Yeah... alternate reality, time travel and everything. Imagine an Equestria where the-ANGEL!” Before We could react she jumped at Us, tearing the weapon off Our back, and landed in a roll. Her roll finished with her standing on her hind legs with the rifle gripped in her hooves. She brushed a rotting forehoof across it lovingly as she grumbled. “Damn ponies can’t even keep their weapons maintained. Why did they stamp alicorn symbols on you, my precious? Tell me of your journey... I wish to hear it." Our ears swiveled at the sound of movement. We looked over as the rusted saddle barely moved while Rose attempted to lift it, but failed miserably. The still standing ghoul deftly pointed the weapon and triggered a single shot in Rose’s direction. Her shot nearly hit Rose's head. “Last fuckin’ warning dwarf.” the ghoul pegasus shouted. Rose quickly made herself smaller as she cried out in shock and moved behind some rubble. “Sorry! But you really need to repair it!” “With what?” The ghoul shouted back. “That is a MK.IX All Weather Ground Attack Platform. Some pissant stole my goggles and without them, it’s a pile of scrap.” Rose peeked over her cover with her ears back. “Then I’ll take it off your hooves for some caps.” “No!” The ghoul shouted as she shook her head. We narrowed Our eyes as an idea came to mind. “Then give it to Us in return for us returning your rifle to thee.” Her ruby red eyes looked at Us as she lowered Fallen Angel. “Deal. Now get out of my house before I shoot you. You have thirty seconds, go.” “You mentioned gold... and an alternate reality?” Our head tilt increased. She rolled her eyes while she put the weapon across her back. “Fine... I guess I’ll tell you if you found the journal. Come on we need to get inside first.” *** *** We followed the ghoul mare through the least damaged section of the Cloudchaser towards a room. As We did so We noticed the faded posters on the rusted walls were not the usual ones we normally saw... They were for armies that sounded vague and off. The inside of the airship felt old even before the rust took hold. "We read thou megaspelled a city with this ship." We commented quietly. “Why in Celestia’s name would you do that?!” Rose shouted in shock. “All those ponies...” The ghoul nodded as she stopped at a door. "Trust me there was no normal pony alive there. You don’t want to know what had killed them all." She used her hooves to grip the round wheel. It gave a rust induced shriek as the ghoul spun it and opened the door. We followed and stopped momentarily to take in the room. The room was large and looked like to be the ships cafeteria at one point. But this ghoul had converted it into a rather large bedroom. She had covered the walls with fabric and put a deep blue carpet down. In the center was a rather large wooden box and the room felt slightly warm to Us. One corner was occupied by a large bed which held scattered plates and bottles. On a slanted table next to it were three vials one fifth the size of a healing potion that glowed pink. We trotted over to them and looked down wondering what they did. "Get away from those!" The ghoul shouted and ran over. She shoved Us out of the way and blocked Our path with a wing. "Don't fuckin’ touch anything!" "What are they?" We asked with a tilt of Our head. "None of your goddamned business. Now back the fuck up." We slowly backed away while We looked at Rose, then the ghoul. She turned around and put the vials away with an incoherent grumble. Rose slowly looked across the room with worry on her face. "This other reality is destroyed like this one, isn't it?" "About twenty years after this one if my memory is correct. Doesn’t matter how, now does it?" The ghoul said as she walked to the side of the room and laid down on the large bed with bottles and plates on it. She opened an empty bottle and took a drink. Our gaze went to the box in the center as We trotted over to it. "I wouldn't go near that if I were you." the ghoul said a bit loudly. We looked at her and planted Our rump next to it, then touched the box. "And why not?" "Because it's the warhead for a ship launched cruise missile. And before you ask... You no can has balefire bomb! It’s my plan ‘FU’ in case ‘they’ get through my defenses." We looked at it as We smiled and nodded slowly. "We can feel its power and understand. This box we will not open, nor touch." “Why do you have a balefire bomb?!” Rose shouted. “‘Cause I do. Next question?” "What was that about gold?" Rose asked with a tilt of her head. The ghoul took another draw from the empty bottle while looking at us. She then held the bottle out in an offer. Rose shook her head at the offer. We could see the ghoul narrowing her eyes in anger, so We took the offered bottle in magic and drank some air. As We floated the bottle back with a smile, We faked a gasp and wiped Our mouth off with a hoof. "Ah, that hit the spot." "Stalliongrad vodka is best vodka!" The ghoul said as she leaned back and spread her forehooves. "Who are 'they'?" We asked pointedly. As We wondered why she thought a balefire bomb to be adequate when it could level the whole city of Oakwood. As well as shower the rest of the island chain in radiation. She looked around and whispered while motioning Us closer. "They fuckin’ tap on the hull and whisper shit all the fuckin’ time. If I ever catch one of them.... I’ll cut his heart out with this spoon!” The ghoul used a wing to hold up a wooden one that had rounded edges. “Did you see any when you walked here?" "I didn't see anypony." "We flew... or jumped." We spread a wing to show her We had wings. Her eyes widened. "Who did that to you?! I'll find them and flatten their home with my saddle!" "We already killed them." "The saddle you just traded?" Rose asked. The ghoul blinked in shock for a few seconds then shook her head quickly. "I would never trade Helga! Whoever told you that is a liar!" Our gaze went over to Rose as We sighed and projected only into her head. "She seems... off and we should go before this gets worse." The ghoul held up a decidedly empty and grimy plate in an offer. "Want some hay fries? They're fresh. Made 'em myself this morning." Her gaze went to other empty plates as she pointed with a wing. “I also have a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich, daisy sandwich, and a double bacon cheeseburger.” Both Rose and I shuddered at the thought of meat as it could have be... What are We saying? There was no food there as thy plates were empty! "What is thy name?" We asked after politely refusing by shaking Our head. "Ponies call me Ripper." "We are sorry, Ripper, but we must go." When We had finished her eyes were like slits in tank viewports. The empty plate she had been holding dropped to the bed as she sat up. "What the fuck for?! If you leave they will get you and then you'll tell them of my defenses after you break from the torture! You’re safer here with me." "You blindfolded us, remember? How could we know of thy defenses if we could not see?" We smiled nervously and hoped the lie worked. Her slitted gaze went from me to Rose and back as Ripper scratched her chin in thought. We could see she was trying to remember and could imagine gears turning in her head. "It's possible that I did. And the gold we took is with Canterlot. You can have it if you can find it." We tilted Our head as Rose asked. "Canterlot? What is the gold doing there?" "Well where else are ya gonna put a trillion bits worth of gold when ya gotta sail away from a continent in a hurry? Canterlot is huge and perfect for it!" Ripper picked up the grimy plate and began eating imaginary food while looking at us. "How did you get here? In this universe." Rose asked as she slowly backed towards the door. Ripper shrugged. "Sailed into a storm a week after the bombs dropped while running from the EAN and the ICN. The Cloudchaser sunk the Eclipse a few days before with a tactical nuke, but the pegasi from her damaged the Rising Sun which sank in the storm while pounding the hell out of the Ponyville. Which also sunk a couple minutes later. It was a hell of a storm and we nearly lost our whole fleet. When it cleared we were lost and turned towards what we thought was the direction of Trottingham. Then we ran into this goddamn misty island and everything went to hell!" Our eyes slowly narrowed. "What of the other ships? Are they flying ships?" Ripper drank from her empty vodka bottle then shook her head. "No. Only this one is a cloudship The others are surface ships. We were providing air support with two wings of pegasi and our twelve plasma cannons plus anti-capital ship missiles. We may have been followed by the other fleet, so watch out for them." We briefly wondered if that was who ‘them’ were. But it did not last long as We asked. "How long hath thou been here?" "You're seriously going to pull that speak on me?! Ugh, fiiiine..." She opened the drawer with the vials and pulled out a blank clipboard, then flipped through imaginary paper. "A day... Two..? Somewhere around there... Maybe a week?" "And you're a ghoul already?” Rose asked. “Shock found the journal on a skeleton!" "As for me being a ghoul?" Ripper shrugged and went back to eating her invisible hay fries. "Better than being a vampony." “Vam... vampony? We do not understand this type of pony.” We replied as Our head tilted a bit. “You don’t want to know,” Ripper commented in a serious tone and We nodded. “If thou wishes we can search for 'them' and clear out any nearby." We made Our point by going invisible then spoke with Our mouth. "See? They won’t see Us." She stopped eating air, then slowly chewed, and nodded. "Yeah okay. I'll be here checking on my traps." *** *** We looked at Helga in confusion. A week and it was in that bad of shape to where it was so rusted one could not tell one part from another? Ripper must have been insane to think it only a week! We looked around at the rubble while putting it in Our saddlebags. Then frowned when it didn't fit. With a sigh We removed the saddlebags and placed them in a holder behind the weapon’s ammo bag. Next We levitated it across Our back and tightened the straps. A grunt escaped Us at the extremely heavy weight of the saddle. We were surprised Ripper can use it as she is only a normal pony and not an alicorn! We picked up the shiny trigger bit in Our mouth and expected a vile taste but found none. The 20mm gatling gun responded by spinning slowly with a shriek. We dropped it and took a look back at Rose, who was trotting over with a concerned look on her face. "You know if she doesn't remember trading that..." Rose and I looked at the hull of the ship as Ripper tried to hide in a shadow, but her bright red eyes gave her away. "We know. Her story is too wild to be anything, but false." "Can I ride you?" Rose blushed at the realization at what she implied, but quickly added. "In a non-sexual way of course. It's just that I'm tired." We laid down with a nod and Rose climbed onto our back, then We stood and trotted forward. After a while We turned onto a side street, that was overgrown with weeds and grass, then picked up our pace before Ripper realized that we were not truly looking for the invisible ponies she spoke of. Because even We could see she was off her rocker. We do not think her story to be true because of the changeling bones and her eating air. Still some part of it must be. Rose's tail flicked across Our face as We made a turn onto a main road which was just as overgrown. We glanced back with an eyebrow raised. "Rose, what are you doing?" "Fi'n dis sa'le." She mumbled around some tool. We rolled Our eyes and looked ahead as We floated out the tablet to see where to go for the collar marker. *** *** We slowed to a walk one street over from South Bay as Rose snored from Our back. We found it cute, but she better not make this a habit! As We peered around the corner of the brick building We looked at the compass marker that pointed us to a large mall. The parking lot surrounded the building and was mostly cleared of vehicles; save for those halfway across that we suspect to be ambush points. One of the stores looked to be three stories high and the whole thing looked like a quarter mile long flat red barn that had sponsons in the center and was fortified with sheet metal over windows. Our gaze went down to the tablet to confirm this was South Bay. We stepped out and trotted towards it as We scanned the rubble lined parking lot. When We passed by a vehicle, we stopped and sat on Our haunches as We put Our forehooves in the air. Rose slid off in a cry of shock and a soft thud. "What is going on?" She asked as she dusted her lab coat off. Our gaze went around as a unicorn stepped out with a floating grenade launcher aimed at Us. They looked at Rose as they said. "Is this alicorn your pet, or just transport?" She looked at Us, her gaze lingered on the collar for a few seconds, then she looked at the security pony and nodded. "She is my slave and does what I tell her to. Observe." Rose looked at Us again. "Lay down." With a roll of Our eyes We complied. "Shake..." We held Our hoof out and shook hers, but projected into her head. "We just laid down and thou want’s us to shake? Make it make sense!” Rose looked back at the security pony. "See? Perfectly trained!" He slowly lowered his weapon and nodded. "Alright, but keep an eye on it." *** *** Rain pelted the ceiling of what was once a mall, but was now a town called South Bay. The inside was spacious and had two floors of shops stacked on top of each other. Though it was about fifteen to thirty feet to the ground floor from up here. Most of the living quarters were department stores and ponies built housing from anything they could get their hooves on. In the center was a crumbled and rebuilt statue of the Princesses that gave the small community its running water. We were standing inside the weapons shop, which was in the food district area. This was not like the other one in Candlelight. The shopkeeper had everything out in front of his re-purposed horse shoe store. Which made Us sad as We could not take the very beautiful scoped brush gun hanging above his head in a glass case. To the sides of it were other weapons ranging from pistol, to saddles. We looked at the purple weapons shop pony suspiciously as he looked over the pipe rifle and other weapons we had laying on the counter. We were keeping the grenades and the hoofgun as it was very handy. "Two hundred caps for the rifle, and five hundred for the rest of your stuff. Sound fair?" he asked as he set the weapon down. We nodded and showed him the Annihilator. "Yes it does. Dost thee hath ammunition for thine missile launcher? We would like twenty blackpowder missiles." "I don’t have that many, but can do a trade. Twelve missiles for three hundred and eighty caps with your trade-ins." "That's outrageous!” Rose shouted, “Shock, don't-" "Deal!" We dumped Our bag of caps on the counter with magic as We stuck out a hoof. He placed twelve missiles on the counter with a glare towards Rose, but we shook hooves first. Rose huffed and stomped a hoof down. "I can't believe you just did that! Those missiles are only worth fifty caps each, not ninety!" We looked at her, then the pony. "You... tricked us?" He shook his head. "Did no such thing. You didn't try talking down the price and with you being an alicorn I figured you'd pay more." Our ears folded back in realization at at what had just happened. "We understand...." Our gaze went to a glaring Rose. "We will listen from now on." We then looked at the ammo pony and asked. "May We get the discounted price?" He shook his head. "Nope, already shook on the agreed amount." "Good." Rose nodded. "Let this be a lesson to you, Shock. Try bartering with ponies sometime, it works wonders." After Our trouble in Candlelight We counted Our caps for the pony and he took them with a nod. We looked across the racks of equipment behind him and scanned the various barding on display. "Dost thou sell barding We could use? We seem to be getting shot a lot more lately and require the use of barding." He shook his head. "Nothing big enough for you. Sorry. Other stores might though." We nodded with a deep sigh. "We figured as much." Our gaze went to the sub-machine gun he hadn’t taken. "We require repair services. How much would it be to repair Our missile launcher?" He took the missile launcher and inspected it. "Two hundred caps, but it won't be perfect and those blackpowder missiles will play hell on the tube, so don't run them all the time." "Is this sufficient compensation?" We pushed the sub-machine gun towards him. "Yeah. Give me an hour or two." We turned away from him as We walked out of the room and made a left into the large hallway. Then followed the walkway towards a cafe bar. As We stepped inside everypony stopped to look at us. We smiled nervously as we projected to all. “We only wish a drink, no trouble. Please.” Most went back to talking, but a few kept looking at Us and most specifically Our slave collar. We suspect that collar to be why We are not being attacked as ponies think We are Rose's slave. There were fifteen tables that were partially full. A few ponies played cards at two of them and five plush looking tables that were empty. At the back were a set of stairs leading towards the second floor. To Our left was a large bar that was partially occupied. Our gaze fell upon the large mirror behind the bar top and We slowly walked towards it. However as We neared it a tan crystal unicorn stared back at Us wearing tank crew fatigues, a gas mask, saddlebags, and had a cybernetic foreleg. We took a step back in shock, and so did she, as We wondered how she was here. Our gaze went around to the bar patrons; the tan me followed suit. We were unsure as to why she was here. As that is not Us anymore and We do not wish to see her imperfect form! We wish to be like the Goddess had been, perfect! We gripped a whiskey bottle in magic and prepared to throw it. But the image faded to a scowling green alicorn with a flowing mane. Slowly, Our gaze went over to a worried Rose as We put the bottle down and backed away. "We are sorry, but we must go." We replied as We bolted from the bar to anywhere but near a mirror. *** *** Thunder rumbled overhead as rain fell from the dark cloud filled night sky . We sat on the roof of the tallest place in South Bay with wings outstretched to let them get washed. To Our left was a corrugated panel propped up by a set of wooden sticks with makeshift walls and bedding. A fire pit in front of Us that was pointless for making a fire at the moment. The compass marker for South Bay led Us to this spot and the rain hid my fear. I do not want to be reminded of the past. It makes me feel horrible. I had joined Unity because I believed the Goddess was right and alicorns were the future of ponykind, but now...? I sighed deeply. Hoofsteps behind Us caused Us to turn Our head, but We saw nothing. Then a blurry outline of an alicorn laid down next to Us and shimmered, revealing Sister, as We pulled Our wings in. We touched horns and the world faded into nothingness. Sister sat next to Us and looked into Our eyes. "A purple contacted me and said you were travelling with a Steel Ranger spy. I came to ask if this were true." We blinked in shock at the accusation. "N... No! Rose is not a spy.... At least We do not believe so. We are trying to collect caps from her and have told her nothing!" Sister nodded. "I believe you, but watch her carefully. I know you might be a little slow on some things, but you really are a smart pony. You mustn't put yourself down like this." We hugged her and smiled. "Sister thine wings are mutilated. How can We be so smart if a pony tricked Us with cake?" "Did you kill the pony who did it and learn from your mistake?” We nodded and she nuzzled Our forehead. Though We think she may have kissed Us before she continued. “Then it is a lesson and you will be smarter if there's a next time." "We... I found something and require help." "Alright, show me what you've found and I'll see if I can help." We hesitated on breaking the connection and Sister's brows knitted together. "Something else on your mind?" "Yes... We were told that you wished Us to die and so thou abandoned Us to the Steel Rangers." Her eyes went wide as her jaw dropped. "Who told you that?! Shell Shock, I love you and would never harm you. I really did have something important to do!" "Such as what?" We tilted Our head. “Because the way ponies have been treating Us these few days We find your actions suspect.” "I went to check out mention of a stable built for crystal ponies on this island. There We found it abandoned and was as if they never went inside. I'll even take you there to show you!" We nodded and severed the connection. The world around us swirled and faded as it brought us back to rain drenching reality. A frown formed on Our face as We do not remember crystal ponies building stables. Then again they were a big company, and so it does not surprise Us that they did so. We laid everything out for Sister to see under the makeshift shack. She looked across all of the items then brought the tablet closer and tapped her hoof on tit a few times. “This logo was also on the stable door.” Her hoof went to the detonator as Our eyes widened. “And this I take it goes to your collar?” “Yes... please do not touch it.” She looked at Us, then the button and hovered her hoof over it. “Sister... no, don’t!” It moved closer. “I swear I didn’t say anything to Rose!” She grinned at me and inched it closer. I pleaded with my eyes. “Don’t! Please believe me!” She pressed it. ........ .... I stared in shock as she started laughing at me. My magic wrenched the detonator away from hers and noticed I something off with it.... So I pressed my hoof against the overly bright button and found it did not move. “It’s a fake! You got double tricked!” Sister giggled. I threw the fake detonator down and stomped on it with a sneer. My hoof smashed it into plastic splinters. Then I reached out with Our magic and undid the clasp for the collar as We ripped it off Our neck and tossed it down. We saw the inside of the collar was lined with lead for weight. In Our anger We tackled Sister to the roof. She blocked one of Our blows with her hoof and a smile. “Oh come on!” She drew her legs in and kicked at Us. Which sent Us flying back. We rolled to Our hooves and bucked towards her. But she deftly dodged it as she giggled. “It was a big red button!” We turned around and lunged at her again, which she side stepped, and caused Us to fall flat on Our face in a puddle. "I just had to press it, how could you not?!" We groaned and with a huff, We got to Our hooves. “We dared not bring it out,” We said as We put all Our weight on one hoof and. The maneuver caught her off-guard and struck her jaw with a hind hoof. “For fear of pressing the button!” we finished as We landed back on all fours. Sister rubbed her jaw then smiled as We nodded. “I’ll let you have that hit, because that was mean of me. You have to admit you had it coming. I mean you seriously believed some pony whom you just met when they said that I would abandon you? When we thought it was just us two alive?” “You never respond to our telepathy!" Our gaze swept across the rooftop as We looked for something that had moved at the edge of Our vision. Our sight lingered on water running into a drain pipe and we stared at it. “Yeah, well I can’t do telepathy, so I-” ***===***===*** Sister? The rain poured down in a torrent and muddied up the hill. I floated the IF-12 to my eye while I looked around the forest for zebra’s. But the brush was almost so thick that we couldn’t see the hooves in front of our faces. Zebra’s were out there, but I didn’t know where exactly. Sister, are you alright? Spotting movement in the trees above I aimed the IF-12 and let a shot go. A rocket flew towards me in response. I ducked as it struck the muddy hill eight feet below and I heard ponies screaming. I jumped and slid down next to them, covered in mud. One of them had taken shrapnel in the face and was squirming in pain as a medic tended to the wounds. Movement in the corner of my eye caused me to turn and bring the rifle up to block a zebra’s flying kick attack. Sister, wake up! Please? ***===***===** Sister held Our shoulders while she repeatedly asked. “Shock?! Shell Shock are you there?” I slowly looked at her as I blinked and recovered. “Yes, sorry...” She looked into Our eyes with worry as she placed a hoof on Our forehead. “Are you alright? I’ve been trying to get your attention for two minutes!” I trotted over to my gear and started to put my stuff away while I said. “I’m okay now. Thank you for being so worried.” “What was it?” We shook Our head with a smile and floated up the journal. “It was nothing. Just a memory of when I was a crystal pony.” “A memory of what?” Her brow arched. “Of nothing important. We do not wish to speak of it.” Sister saw she couldn’t get anywhere and so she looked over at the journal. “What is that?” “Something We found, but think to be false as We met the most insane ghoul and believe it to be hers.” "And that rusted saddle?" "The ghoul's. She took a large automatic off Us and so We took this." A light went off in Our head and We smiled. Sister took a step back. “We have something to show you!” “Uh-oh.” We dug through Our bags with magic until We found the bottle of Ray. We quickly spun around as We held it out and offered it to her. She eyed it suspiciously as she took a sniff and winced from the smell. “This.... is alcohol...” We nodded. “Yes. It is much better than the other drink, trust us. What's the worst that could happen?" *** *** Sister and I sat at a table in the bar from earlier singing loudly in tandem with the song on the radio. “Knock it off you two!” The barkeep shouted as he facehoofed. “Drunk’s are bad enough, but alicorn drunks?! Why... why me?” I looked over and smiled at him as I held one of four empty bottles and wiggled it side to side. “More Ray!” I shouted. “NO!” he boomed in response. “You two are cut-off! Most ponies pass out from one of those!” Rose was snoring as she drooled on her food pillow; having passed out earlier. We were unsure of what time it is, but We do know that DJ Snow was on and that was good enough for Us! Our hiccup turned into a loud burp that caused ponies to look over. We covered Our mouth with a hoof. A smile was on Our face as We glanced around at the other ponies before We slurred. "I hope no one saw tha..." Sister's gaze went to Rose. "Are you gonna do it, or am I?" "No... I shall do it." We replied as We stood up and walked around the table. We giggled as We glanced around and foated out a black marker Sister had found somewhere we do not care where. *** *** Why dost thine head hurt so much? It was like my brain was trying to escape through my temples and my mane was positively on fire, not to mention my ears hurt! The sunlight burned even through my shut eyes. My front half felt oddly warm which caused me to wonder why. As I opened my eyes, slowly and painfully, I saw I was in the makeshift bed on the roof of South Bay with my wing around a... "Who the fuck are you?!" I shouted with my mouth in shock and immediately regretted it as that caused my head to hurt even more. "Ow... stop yelling!" The large pink earth pony clutched his head with a hoof as I scrambled from the cuddle. The pink stallion sat up slowly while I scanned the rooftop quickly and saw just us two. "Sister?!" I shouted and galloped around the various ventilation ducts in a large circle as I looked for the sneaky outline that surely must be there! "What kind of prank art thou pulling on me?" My head whipped around to glare at the stallion as my eyes narrowed. He had some sort of ring in his ear and wore a Pipbuck on his left foreleg. I reached up at the dull pain in my ears ear and felt two matching hoop earrings on both sides. "What happened last night?" "We got married." He pointed out by tapping his ear which caused my eyes to widen. "What?! No no no! This is a prank by sister!" We galloped around again, looking for her, then stopped and tried to connect with her. But We could not find her anywhere. Slowly, We looked at the stallion and let out an exasperated sigh. "What is thy name? As We will not refer to you as... ‘husband’." "Bucky." We remembered something vague Livewire had said and pulled out the tablet as We brought up the picture folder. However as We flipped through them Our ears pressed against Our head more and We frowned deeply. "These are false! We would never kiss an impure stallion, let alone marry one!" The tablet was put away quickly as We hefted the heavy saddle, placed it on our back and galloped towards a door. We did not care as We smashed through it into a stairwell and went down two flights of stairs. When We reached the bottom We bucked the door open and galloped through the grey maintenance tunnel. We slid to a stop outside the tunnel and looked around at the two level mall. Fifteen feet below Us was the first level and there were ponies walking around. We jumped, landed on the first floor and galloped towards the ammo shop. A few shops looked to have been broken into overnight. We turned left at the large statue as We picked up our pace. ‘This was false, it has to be!’ We thought as We weaved in and out of ponies. Eventually We came across the ammo store and slid to a stop. After composing myself I trotted through the door and smiled at the stallion who glared at Us. "We wish to pick up thine missile launcher that We dropped off for repairs last night." We said with a nod in greeting. He set it on the counter, but pulled it back with a hoof as soon as We attempted to slide it towards Us. "Somepony broke in last night and stole my personal Brush Gun. Do you happen to know who?" We shook Our head, which We regretted but did not let it show. "No, We were asleep all night. Bucky can confirm it." With a sheepish smile We took Our weapon and placed across Our back before leaving the shop behind quickly. We took a closer look at the goings ons at the time and saw a few ponies eyeing Us suspiciously. ‘Perhaps We did more last night than drink and sleep’, We thought to Ourself. As We turned into the cafe/bar We saw Rose without her marker mustache and drawn on glasses. With a sigh We shook Our head. Her reaction would have been priceless to see! She smiled at Us. "That was quite a night." We stopped mid-stride as Our eyes went wide. "It was?" She nodded. "Yup, you and that pink stallion, what was his name...? Oh! Bucky!" "We do not know what thou means!" We huffed and walked around her. The barkeep looked at Us strangely, so We looked back at Rose who was grinning. "You did this trick to Us!" We said as it dawned on Us. "You drew on my face while I was sleeping!" She shouted. "Payback's a bitch ain’t it?" Then Rose smiled while she held up a right foreleg to show Us that the Pipbuck was now attached. "Bucky had the tools to attach this. Thank him for me, will ya?" With a resigned sigh We smiled because Rose pranked Us! But that was quite an elaborate prank for her small size to move Us while we slept. However We remembered something about earlier and gulped. "We... should get out of here before other ponies wake up." As We turned We noticed a mustache drawn onto Our face in the mirror and the color drained from Our face. *** *** Again Rose was on Our back trying to fix the saddle as We walked through the overgrown streets of Oakwood. Though We do not know why she was trying to fix the weapon as it is clearly a lost cause. She stopped tinkering and looked to our left at a large store. "Somepony is over there." Rose commented. "Friend or foe?" We asked. "Green is friendly, so... friend." We nodded and kept walking towards where the compass tells Us, which is south. Though We were unsure of which note We were following as it had no information beyond 'go here'. With a frown We turned down a side street. Unsure even more so as the buildings had quickly become residential. As We turned Our head We saw Rose looking at her Pipbuck in confusion. "What is it, Rose?" “Um... We’re on top of a destination apparently.”” Suddenly, a pale gold pegasus ghoul landed in front of us in a cloud of dust and glared with ruby red eyes that flared bright. As We looked at Ripper We noticed something that was not there before at the Cloudchaser. A gleaming yellow sapphire in a rusting iron necklace, a long flowing tattered purple and gold dress over her Shadowbolt suit with a ripped wide brimmed hat. The brown grass that covered the street was half as tall as she was. "You whore!” Ripper shouted as she stood up and drew Fallen Angel, but made no attempt to aim it at us. I pointed at myself. “Me?” “Yeah, you! How dare you steal Helga! I let you in my home and you steal her from me. Forcing me to come get her and expose myself to them?! Now I have to plant new traps because they will have disarmed my old ones!” “You asked me to fix it." Rose replied as she peeked out from behind Our head. Ripper blinked in shock and tilted her head. “Well, how far along are you?” “So far I’ve gotten the feed system repaired with some scrap and various parts, but what are the goggles you spoke of?” “Gem powered flying goggles with a black leather strap. Buttons on the side for night vision, infrared, and a heads up display. They plug into the saddle with a cord that is also missing.” "Can't a Pipbuck's S.A.T.S. replace them?" Ripper shook her head. "I doubt it. The goggles are keyed to the weapon platform. They are like a screen to a terminal. They give a crosshair for the guns and rockets, and a projection circle for the bombs." “Okay, we’ll look for them.” “Thanks, but you’re carrying things you shouldn’t have.” “Red bar!” Rose shouted. It happened before We even had a weapon out. She dug into a pocket with her wing and withdrew a strange looking device; it was about seven inches long and olive green with two silver bands on it. She gripped it with her teeth and pulled on a ring as the lever popped off before she tossed it towards us. Our shield went up as the weapon landed two feet in front of us at the same time she dove for cover. Our magic gripped it as We tried to toss it away. But then a blinding bright light followed by a loud bang caused my world to go black. *** *** My ears rang loudly as the world slowly came back into focus. I was lying on the ground and so was Rose. Whatever weapon Ripper had used was luckily non-lethal, but I have never seen its shape before. As I sat up, I noticed my bags were open and Ripper was nowhere to be seen. We turned Our head as We began nosing through them. A lever action Brush Gun with a hoofmade scope was there, a large grey business suit with an overcoat, a large wide brimmed hat, the Annihilator, our caps, ammunition, the rolled smelly tube, a brown pistol harness, a pair of glasses, some bottles of Sparkle-Cola, and other stuff, but not the journal, nor the tablet or box from the tunnels. “She robbed Us!” I shouted with my mouth because my head hurt too bad to use telepathy. Through the ringing I heard Rose ask. “What?! I can’t hear you!” I looked at her and used my mind despite the pain. “We were robbed by Ripper!” “What’d she take?” “The journal, Our tablet, and the box from the tunnels!” Rose looked in a random direction as she pointed a hoof. "There's a marker for your sister this way." *** *** “Red bar to your right!” Rose shouted from Our back as we ran down the cramped stairs with the Brush Gun floating in front of us. As we turned right We brought it up and aimed down the side of the barrel at a brain floating in liquid. Our brush gun roared once as it sent a .45-70 slug into the dome and shattered it in a spray of glass and sparks as We caught the shell casing casing with magic. We floated it to Rose so she may reload it at a later date. The tracked tin can robot slumped over dead before it could finish its shout of calling us zebra scum. We looked around the narrow metal hallway and waited for more robots, but none came so We quickly pressed forward under Rose’s guidance. “Left up here at the door.” As We turned left We spun on a forehoof and she held on tightly. Our hind hooves bucked down the wooden door without bothering to see if it was locked. We bolted inside after the pony We were chasing, which wasn't Ripper as not even Rose's Pipbuck knew where to go. We could not locate the Cloudchaser either because it was found before she got it attached to her leg. We turned right into darker tunnels and went down more stairs. At the bottom We slid to a stop on a catwalk in amazement at the giant underground room. There were four or five levels going down and Our target was three levels down. As We gave the brush gun to Rose We climbed onto the railing and jumped off much to her surprise. Our maimed wings attempted to flap as they slowed Our fall while the pony ran off. Hooves clanged loudly on the metal catwalk and We quickly broke into a gallop as We brought out the Brush Gun. We aimed down the scope in front of him and pulled the trigger with magic. The shot struck the pony in a leg causing him to tumble in a heap as he slid to a stop. Our hooves echoed slightly in this empty room. Which We found silly as to why anypony would build a room this big that houses nothing. Slowly Our gaze fell upon the normal sized impure pony and We sneered at them as they tried to hobble away. "Where is Sister?!" We shouted. His pained expression turned to a grin as he chuckled, causing Our eyes to go wide. "Where is she? Tell us!" "Two floors down." He laughed. "She'll be dead by the ti-" His head caved in as the brush gun sent a slug into it and painted the metal floor with his insides, causing Rose to start in surprise. We stepped around the body and ignored taking their gear as We can do that later. "Looks like we go through here." Rose commented as we reached a door. We followed the stairwell down, then took a left and put the brush gun away so We could go invisible. Rose stayed quiet and shifted her weight to tell Us which way as We moved quickly and silently through the half-dark tunnels. We passed by rooms that We did not bother to check, then made a right and followed the stairs down more. After a while We felt slightly tired. Again We walked along after turning right and came to a stop at a wood door. We took a deep breath and tried the handle which was found unlocked. Our nose gently nudged the door open as We heard a gasp from Rose. We looked around the room which appeared to be a series of open-air jail cells, but in one was Sister. Her wings were bound by metal and chained to the wall. Her tail was unmoving and something was wrong with the wall. My spell instantly failed as my mouth hung open upon seeing four alicorn skulls mounted to the wall behind her. "Sister!" I shrieked and ran over to the cage. My forehoof destroyed the truly feeble lock before I slid the door open and ran inside. I picked up her head and immediately touched horns. The world around us faded to nothingness as I sat over a large chocolate brown unicorn mare with two crossed revolvers for a cutie mark. She looked up at me with unfocused eyes. "I'm so cold..." I wrapped a wing around her and pulled her close. "Please don't do die! What is making you like so?" "They... something... in this room... is killing me slowly. Not sure what, but I started feeling colder and so tired. I think my magic is being drained." "What do I do?" "End my suffering with a bullet." I blinked back tears and shook my head. "No, I can't kill you!" "Then shut up and lets get out of here before it gets you too." I felt something nudge my shoulder so I broke the connection and looked up at Rose. "Let's get her out of here before ponies arrive!" She quietly exclaimed. "Tired..." Sister moaned in agony. As I looked around Sister’s body I saw that Rose had already unlocked all the chains. So We ducked Our head under Sister's chest and hauled her onto Our back. Rose looked perplexed. "I don't think I can get on your back with her." "Then lead the way, Rose." We motioned with Our hoof and she started trotting out of the room. *** *** We set Sister down on the ugly bed of a grimy white apartment bedroom five stories above ground. Her condition was slowly improving, but it may take a long time like this. With Our magic We placed the raincoat to Our stolen suit over her like a blanket and nudged Sister with Our nose, but she didn't move. Our ears folded back in worry. So We touched Our horn to hers as We looked back into her memory, starting from when We had drawn on Rose's face as that was what We last remember. ***===***===*** I felt a giggle rise in Sisters throat as she watched me draw on Rose's face. Her body felt similar, yet different. Sister watched as Bucky trotted over with drinks yet I don't remember him being there? I watched myself take the glowing gold drink with a smile. Bucky drank his own while watching me nearly guzzle mine down. Then the three of us talked for a while before Bucky and I got friendly, and that was when Sister pulled out the tablet. Taking our picture as we kissed for Goddess knows what reason, then he and I trotted off leaving Sister and Rose. Sister ate some food including what Rose was using as a pillow. That caused her to wake up with a snort. Rose quickly looked around the cafe. "Where's Shell Shock?" "She left in the company of a stallion to do Goddess knows what." Sister hissed while glaring at the door. "Well I should buy a room. Food is very uncomfortable and I need a bath now..." However Sister couldn't hold her giggle in and she started laughing at Rose. "What?" Rose tilted her head. “What’s so funny?!” "Look in the mirror!" Rose turned around to look at the mirror behind the bar and We could see her expression. Her eyes widened to the size of pie plates. "Aaah! Who drew on my face?!" Rose whipped around to glare at Sister. "You!" Sister shook her head with a smile. "Nope, it was Shock. Might I recommend you find her and do the same? She likes to sleep on the highest point of a building when she does actually sleep. Though I’d give them a few hours before they pass out." "Anything else?" Rose tilted her head. Sister scratched her chin with her hoof. "Do you have any earrings and can you move her?" She then outlined a devious trick and with a nod from Rose, Sister floated her the marker. Rose stood up before trotting off towards the barkeep. She gave him some caps and left up the stairs. Sister went back to eating and drinking. After probably an hour or two of skimming her memories I stopped as a teal earth pony with a braided strawberry red mane trotted over to Sister with drinks on her back. Sister eyed the mare with suspicion, however the mare smiled. "I'm Eclipse and I couldn't help but notice such a lovely mare all by her lonesome." Sister did not introduce herself, but they did talk about various things before Sister started getting woozy and her world spun throwing her off balance as she looked at her hoof. "What is...?" “I can’t believe both of you are so gullible...” Sisters head slammed down on the table and Eclipse's voice was faint. "...Welcome to hell." ***===***===*** We broke the connection and Our world faded back to reality. Now We know who to go after regarding the bounty on alicorns. As We looked around the two bedroom apartment We saw a note nearby. Tried to get your attention, but you wouldn't respond so I wrote this. I went out to look for some parts for the saddle and I'll be back before nightfall. Don't worry I'm sneaky and my Pipbuck will keep me alert. Rose. P.S. Give Bucky a kiss for me, would ya? We tilted Our head in confusion as Our ears flopped around. Because Bucky was not with us at the time and We were unsure why she wrote that. But hoofsteps caused Our ears to swivel towards another room as the aforementioned pink stallion came walking into the room. We groaned in annoyance as We facehoofed. Bucky wore a set of black cloth saddlebags over a black duster and cowpony hat. In a foreleg holster was a suppressed .357 revolver. We narrowed Our eyes and looked at his solid yellow mane. "How did you find Us? And do not think to call Us 'wife'." He lifted his foreleg. "Tracked you with my Pipbuck. You ran off in quite a hurry this morning." "Because We do not recognize you! Husband or not, We do not remember agreeing to anything last night." He shrugged a bit. "Well after we broke into pretty much half of South Bay you said I was the stallion of your dreams and somehow we ended up married... I think we annoyed the hell out of the pony that did it though?" "I was shitfaced!" I shouted with my mouth, then glanced at Sister as she stirred slightly. She flexed her wings as she shifted positions and mumbled how Shock is loud in bed. We looked back at Bucky as We made a silencing motion with Our forehoof, then trotted into the other room, and sat down on the ruined blue couch. Bucky shut the door and sat next to Us as We scooted farther away. "How could you believe a drunk mare?!" "Because I was drunk too?" He shrugged. "Though I don't remember this much complaining from you." We glared and held up a hoof as We touched our other one to it in a specific gesture as We asked. "Did we...?" "Well.... I don't remember. We fell asleep in one place, then woke up in another, so I’m assuming no." "Then last night did not happen and We shall not speak any more of it." We replied with a nod. "Alright. What now?" "Well without you putting the Pipbuck on Rose We would have lost Sister, so thank you.” We gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Then Our voice hardened as We sat up and looked at him. “You must go. Stop following us as We do not wish you to be hurt by ponies hunting us.” He nodded. “I’ll be in South Bay if you ever want to talk or something.” Bucky reached into a pocket and withdrew some tools. He took off his Pipbuck and gave it to Us. “Here take this. I really don’t need it as all I ever did was use it for the radio.” We took the device and tools with a nod, but made no effort to put them on. We watched as Bucky slowly headed for the door. He hesitated, looking back at Us, so We smiled. “Be careful.” *** *** “What a doozy of a storm that was, eh folks?” DJ Buccaneer’s voice crackled out from the wall radio. We still had yet to attach the Pipbuck as We were unsure how. Of course it clamps onto your leg, but what if it is a trap? If it were then that would be bad. ”Seems like the Steel Rangers lost a scheduled resupply ship in the storm, but eh. I don’t care about that. What do I care about? Not much really. Apparently somepony put a bounty on the two alicorns we got here, but I’m not telling you who or how much. Why not? Because I’m the pony with the mic and I don’t take sides. Here’s some White Rabbit for your troubles.” Rose slowly walked in with overfilled saddlebags as she asked. “Why do you have Bucky’s Pipbuck?” We held it up and looked at it as We wondered if We should put it on or not. Rose seemed to like hers, and the E.F.S. would help us immensely. That way We were not forced to rely on Rose to tell Us what to do. We floated it over to Our outstretched foreleg, placed it over the spot and found it comfortable to look at, but it felt oddly heavy. “He gave it to us.” We said while looking at its dark screen. Our head tilted a bit as We smiled at it. “Want me to attach it? It's simple. I can show you.” “No, not yet as we are unsure if it is a trick.” We explained as Our head shook slightly. She nodded as she walked over to Helga and set down a bunch of scrap parts. A few looked to be weapons. Though We were unsure where she found said broken weapons and so We asked. “Where did you get those?” “An armory a few miles away. “ She replied without looking up from her task. “Whoever looted it before couldn’t take these and you have no idea how long it took me to get back.” *** *** We walked through the streets of Oakwood to think. We had left Sister in Rose’s capable hooves a few hours ago however We do not fully trust her, but We have no other choice. The ground beneath Us began rumbling and so We jumped onto the roof a nearby building. But that proved a mistake as the rumbling was intensified by the height. Our gaze went around the street as vehicles and wagons shook and bounced. Our legs spread out to keep Us balanced as the shaking continued for sometime. We watched in worry as a building crumbled in on itself in a dust cloud. Slowly, the shaking of the ground died off and left Us to wonder what is going on. *** *** We sat across from Sister and Rose inside the white apartment. The latter tinkering with Helga's vulcan while the former slept. The small mare had the saddle torn apart and strewn about on the grimy floor. We were unsure as to how she knew how to take it apart or even what to fix on it. But We suspected thy Pipbuck to have a hoof in it as she keeps looking at the device every so often. Her progress had been extremely slow and Rose kept swearing to Celestia and Luna every so often. We had wondered if perhaps she should have asked the Goddess for assistance. After Our thoughts were interrupted again We looked to Sister in worry, because her condition remained the same for almost two whole days. Except We were not worried about her dying from lack of food or water as our bodies do not require such things, but we do like... "Radiation." "Hm?" Rose hummed as she looked back at Us. "What was that?" "Sister needs radiation, We think." Rose pushed up her glasses with a hoof and nodded. "From what I know of alicorns that just might work, but it would also harm me and I don't wanna turn into Ripper: eating invisible food and looking hideous. Do you have a plan?" "We... do not have one, but the Crescent Moon has an engine room with a leaky reactor that has provided for us in the past. However..." We flexed Our wings and looked out the window at a much taller office building across the street. "We do not know where that is." "I know that place and lose my caps there a lot. It's thataway," Rose pointed at the wall. The Pipbuck on Our left leg beeped and We looked down at the dark blue letters. New objective found: Escort Sister to Moonville. We had no idea how it did that, nor did We truly care but it was a question that popped into Our head. It called this place Alicorns Perch. Which We deemed adequate as it had been Our home for two days if thou included yesterday when We left Sister here as day one. We had tried to use S.A.T.S. last night while Rose and Sister were sleeping, and found it did nothing beyond highlighting the two even though Rose claims it is a targeting spell. We shall figure it out someday. On the floating dark blue compass at the bottom of Our vision was an arrow pointing northeast. Both Rose and Sister were blue bars on said compass. According to this Pipbuck We have five caps, and six hundred caps worth of assorted barding, Our brush gun was worth eighteen hundred and We had twenty eight shots left with six casings of .45-70 rounds. The dirty dark grey business suit that We now wore was worth a hundred caps. Our Annihilator Mk.I was confirmed to be a missile launcher by the Pipbuck, and worth almost twice as much as the brush gun. There is no way We could ever sell such a gift from Sister. We pulled the weapon from the floor, inspected it, and found that the Pipbuck even displayed its condition as being fair. We looked at Sister, as We leaned the weapon against the wall, then Rose and tilted Our head. "Rose, what is your cutie mark?" She set down the barrel assembly and clicked her forehooves together. Rose’s voice was unsure. "It is... have you ever seen Rainbow Dash's cutie mark?" We gave a nod to Rose. "We... remember it from ministry posters. A cloud with a multicolor lightning bolt. Why dost thou ask?" "Well mine is similar. A monochrome lightning bolt on a black thundercloud." "How did you get a similar cutie mark to her? She’s a pegasus." Rose turned her head, dug through her saddlebags and withdrew a figurine of the cyan pegasus in question clenched firmly in her teeth. "Bec'uh Ah'm aw'um." Rose mumbled around the toy's base as she grinned. We chuckled with a smile. “May We see your cutie mark?” “No.” Her sea green eyes narrowed behind her glasses as she spoke that one word, then put the figurine away and went back to work. “But I found it with this audio recording.” With nothing to do, We listened as Rose played it from her Pipbuck’s speaker. There was silence and the crackle of static was followed by a mare coughing. “How is this city... be empty?!” The sound of hooves walking on asphalt filtered out as the mare walked. After more coughing her hoofsteps stopped as she noisily unfolded a paper. “Where’s the damn date on this? Five years ago... But...” She broke into a coughing fit that lasted for almost a minute. “...Where the hell is everypony? I haven't seen anyone in weeks!” Rose clicked off the recording as the mysterious mare resumed her walking. “I'm thinking it was a recording made by Ripper." she said as she put it away. We shook Our head in disagreement. "They do not sound the same." "I say they are." "Even if you take the ghoulification into account they are not the same. Their voice is differing in pitch." "Look, Shell Shock. I know you may be knowledgeable on weapons, but I think your time in Unity has muddled your senses and I'm sm-" Rose gulped down the rest of it. Our eyes narrowed as We knew exactly what she wanted to say. "You're like other ponies. You think We are stupid!" "No!" Rose's ears folded back as she looked down at the weapon. “That wasn’t what I was going to say...” "Say it." We ordered in her mind. "Tell Us what you really think of Us." "I... I didn't mean it like that!" Rose looked over to Sister then to Us with worried eyes. "I simply meant that I have had more practice listening to ponies talk. I taught foals when I was younger." "Very well..." We nodded slowly as We crossed Our forelegs across Our chest. "I will accept your answer and put this aside... for now." Rose put her tools away and trotted over slowly while she looked into Our eyes the whole time. She sat down and We thought she was going to show Us her cutie mark, but she simply said. "I'm sorry I offended you." We gave her a slight nod of acceptance but Our glare stayed. "Apology accepted." "How come you talk in the 'we' all the time?" "Because We... I... can't really think of... myself as anything, but being a part of Unity. I was in it for so long..." My gaze went to Sister. "I have trouble thinking as an individual like her and... not a part of something much grander." Sister rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head with her hooves. "Make it stop!" Both Rose and I were at her side quickly. I nudged Sister with my nose and was wing slapped in the face. "I'm trying to recover from having my magic depleted to the point that it was killing me, and you fuckers won't stop talking!" We looked at Rose and sighed. “Sister will be better! She is always grumpy in the mornings.” Shell Shock: Level up! New Perk - Intense training: +1 to perception. Side quest accepted - ???? Main quest completed - Ties that bind. Side quest completed - Secrets of the forgotten. -850 Karma. South Bay reputation set to Shunned. Stop stealing things thy little thief! Rose: Level up! New perk - Jury Rigging: That looks like it’ll work. If not duct tape fixes everything! Can repair items with similar items. Side quest accepted - Puff the Magic Dragon. Fix the MK.IX AWGAP ‘Helga’ with parts you can find for Shell Shock. Just hope she uses it against your enemies and not you.
Chapter 3: Welcome to Oakwood. (Slightly revised 9/26/2013)Chapter 3: Welcome to Oakwood “If it ain’t blue, it’s goo.” Sister improved on the fourth day. She was awake, but groggy and slow moving. We had outlined the plan to her earlier, but she refused and said that all she needed was rest. Which was what she was doing and We were next to her with Our right wing hugging her. Rose was off searching for the goggles and We were unsure of her motives. Ripper would want it for herself, but We also wanted it as it is a very large weapon that would have no trouble killing Steel Rangers. Which We want to do very much so. We flicked Sister's ear with a hoof to catch her attention as We asked. "Dost thee think We should give the saddle back to Ripper?" Sister shrugged. "That is up to you." We gave a nod. "We do not think it would be wise to anger her as she has a megaspell, and that wins hooves down, so We shall give it back. But We are also confused with Bucky as We woke up next to him with no memory of the night before." "That pink stallion?" We nodded slowly in response to her question. "Hm... well I was drugged, so it stands to reason that you may have been." "We deducted as much from your memory. But then he gave Us this Pipbuck, so We are confused. Does that mean he likes Us? He is impure and... well, pink. This causes Us great confusion." Sister's eyes narrowed as she looked at me. "Well I didn't like him much and I don't think you should have so readily accepted such a gift. The marriage bit was a ploy by me to get back at you and Rose took it too far. I sincerely hope you two did not do anything extra that night." ‘We also hoped he did not take advantage of our situation.’ The tools were floated out and inserted like We had watched Rose do. The device beeped and the screen flashed red as it displayed an error. We tried again to the same result, except that time sharp blades drove themselves into Our leg, causing Us to cry out in shock. We slammed the Pipbuck against the wall with a loud crash. The metal device left a dent and caused pain to shoot up Our leg. We tried a second and third time, but only succeeded in drawing blood as the blades went deeper into Our flesh. The leg trembled visibly from the pain running through it while we cradled the now injured leg. Our eyes welled up with tears as Our whole body began to shake and Our eyes narrowed. "Why must everypony We meet trick Us? Why...? Why?! We are not stupid!" Sister nuzzled Our cheek in an attempt to calm Us down. We glared lasers at her. "They are mean ponies, that is why."She whispered softly in Our ear. "You can't trust anypony anymore. We can't even go back to the Crescent Moon because there are bounty hunters surely waiting for us." "That is it!” We hissed. “We will read their minds from now on and if We think they are taking advantage of Us, then We will kill them on the spot. No more missus nice mare!" As We looked over at Sister We bumped noses. That was when We realized just how close we were, close enough that our body heat transferred between us through touch. She smiled as her blue eyes sparkled in the daylight that filtered in through the dirty window. Our gaze went to her side where Our wing was and her words in South Bay came back, 'I love you'. She meant as a sister, right? We decided to test Our mind reading spell on her and made sure to focus it on just her and not the whole area. "She was so close! Should I have kissed her? Wait... is she... Shock are you reading my thoughts? Whiskey, tango, foxtrot?! I'm going to think of random things until you stop reading my thoughts. Can I has chees...." ‘We like stallions!’ We hissed in Our mind. ’This fact she must surely know as We have expressed the need to find a way to make male alicorns to her multiple times.’ We opened our mouth to speak, but closed it. Now that We looked at the gesture plus her thoughts of kissing Us, it felt awkward. We think of her as a sister, but she doesn't see Us that way. We pulled the wing against Our side as We scooted away from her. Sister tilted her head and looked at her side in confusion then Us. We used Our mouth to tell her. "We are sorry, but We did not realize what We were doing. It is awkward now." She smiled, used her wing to pull Our body against her, and wrapped a foreleg around Our neck in the same motion. "Shock, it is just a friendly cuddle between two mares, there is nothing wrong with it." "We... suppose not, as it is comfy." We snuggled closer to her and Our gaze went across the room to where Helga was lying in pieces on the floor, and the Annihilator was leaned against the wall. "Sister, We wish to know your name." We heard her hum a chuckle. "What's in a name? They are just titles given at birth." "You’re avoiding thine question. The purple had asked Us of it, but We did not know. And this causes Us worry. As you know Ours but We do not know yours." She ruffled Our exquisite mane with a hoof and a laugh, which We immediately fixed. "Sisterrr! Thy question remains!" "It's an embarrassing name!" "We won't make a joke or laugh.” "Oh alright fine." She moved her muzzle close to Our ear and whispered. "My name is Mudpie." We giggled and she slapped Our ear with a hoof, hard, causing Our recently added earrings to make said ear flare in pain. "Mudpie, We are worried that everypony We have met is using Us." "Shall I sing to you? I know of a song that should help ease your worries." We nodded and rested Our head against her neck to listen to her heartbeat. She cleared her throat and began to sing softly. It didn't take long before We drifted off to sleep. *** *** A loud bang startled Us awake as the door was bucked open. Our attention was drawn to it as a power armored pony ran in followed by two more. Then a teal mare in Steel Ranger robes walked in with a smug grin that We wanted to knock off her face. Four orange bars appeared on my compass after they appeared. Eclipse grinned at the two of us. "Such a lovely sight we have here. The two sole remaining proverbial thorns in my side, and with you two finally out of the way we can deal with the Enclave in this area." We smiled at the opportunity as We brought up Our shield and hauled Sister onto Our back. Our muscles tensed as We prepared to run. Sister felt this and wrapped her forelegs around Us tightly. Eclipse's gaze went to Helga and the Annihilator before she looked at us. "Now then, any last words before I kill you? And don't think that shield can protect you." She pulled up her robe to reveal something attached to dark non-metal armor that stirred memories, a Hellhound claw. One of the few weapons that can slice clean through Our shield like a hot knife through butter. Without a word We bolted for the window as Eclipse laughed. We covered the distance quickly and smashed through the dirty glass. We did not care that We could not fly since We were aiming for a lower floor of the building across the street. However, something surprised Us as we fell through the air. Blue magic wrapped itself around our bodies and in a flash We stood above the overgrown road. We fell down with a thud from Our momentum and collapsed in a heap. Sister moaned in annoyance as We looked up and saw Eclipse looking down at us. The thought of shooting her with the Brush Gun died quickly as the shield was still around Us and We were surrounded by Steel Rangers. Everywhere I looked I saw orange bars. A rocket landed outside the bubble and exploded in a fireball. My gaze followed the thick smoke trail back to Eclipse and I realized then that I did not even have my saddlebags! The only thing I had was my business suit, hoofgun with two slugs, two buckshot reloads in a pocket, torch, the Dash inhaler, and Pipbuck with the tools stuck in it. We picked Sister up as We turned south at the same time a second rocket struck dirt and the rest of the Steel Rangers opened fire on Our shield. *** *** We turned down an overgrown side street lined with rubble with three Steel Rangers on Our tail. Our gallop was slowed by Us attempting to lift Our left foreleg to click into the map function of the Pipbuck. We saw that it somehow knew where Rose was, which was somewhere to our east, so We dropped the foreleg and picked up Our pace. As We turned right onto another side street We turned invisible, and immediately made a hard left before ducking inside a shop that had not yet crumbled. Our gallop slowed to a walk while We panted and watched the Tin Can ponies gallop past us. "Took you long enough." Sister grumbled quietly. We took stock of the place as We set her down. It was a convenience store at one time, but its shelves were all looted and what was left was rusting tin cans and paper littering the floor. Behind the counter lay an open safe and a smashed cash register. An idea popped into Our head and We attempted to connect with Grumpy, but could not locate her, so We looked at Sister. "Where is Grumpy? We can not seem to locate her." "The purple whose name is RJ?" We nodded. "Went north after something. Probably out of range by now." Almost as if on cue, We heard a mare's laugh behind Us and looked over at three orange bars as Eclipse walked in flanked by two Steel Rangers. "Oh there's three now? All the more fun!" she grinned at the two of us. We picked Sister as Eclipse walked forward a few steps as she took off her robe, and showed thick armor made from large dark colored bones. Each hoof had two Hellhound claws built into it that clicked on the tile as she walked. We took a step back towards the door, and then another. As We walked backwards We looked into her mind that burned with clear hate for the two of us. And We knew right there that there was no reasoning with this mare. She saw us as beasts that needed to be put down and not allowed to live. We turned around and bolted from the room. "That's right, run away!" Eclipse cackled. As We looked back We saw her giving chase and wondered how long this would keep up. We turned left onto a wide main road that was choked with the debris of hundreds of wrecked vehicles. "Sister, are you okay?" We asked her with Our mind. “I'm... feeling sick again." She groaned. As We jumped over the debris We saw the jungle treeline a few miles away. A quick look back revealed Eclipse to have slid to a stop and was looking for a way around because she could not jump as high as Our wing assisted jump. She looked up at us and shouted, nearly screamed. "You'll never escape me, do you hear me?! Never!" Our hooves landed on the roof of a van and it caved in, causing the remaining glass to explode like a soap bubble from our combined weight. We pressed forward, and ran along the rooftops of the vehicles that stretched for almost an eighth of a mile. A few of them were spaced far apart, but that did not concern Us since We used Our wings to assist in jumping. A metallic thunk behind Us caused Us to look back and Our eyes widened. We quickly tossed the metal apple away with magic before it exploded in a ball of green fireball. Our eyes widened as Our hoof slipped and caught in something. Before We knew it a sharp pain filled the appendage as We tumbled forward and threw Sister off Our back. Our muscles strained as a sick snap filled the air, followed by fire shooting through the leg from an area above the Pipbuck, as We screamed in agony. Tears streamed from Our cheeks as We attempted to look for Sister. We eventually found her sprawled out on the road and slowly moving. She turned to look at Us and her eyes widened. "Shock... don't look at your leg." We didn't have to look at it to know it was twisted and broken badly, because the area above the Pipbuck throbbed with each beat of Our heart and We were bawling silently. The device on Our leg redundantly displayed a crying Stable-Tech unicorn mare and the outline of an alicorn with a red leg. We painfully stared, through tears, into Sister's eyes as she got up and limped over. There was a hollow thump in the distance followed by a sharp whistle overhead. A green banded shiny apple landed sixty feet away and quickly exploded in green plasma fire. Shortly after the first grenade exploded, a second thump signaled another being launched and Sister ducked as the grenade landed twenty feet closer. As We looked at Our leg We saw it was twisted above the Pipbuck unnaturally. The blue screen was wedged inside the gap between the cab of this vehicle and the one next to it. With a shriek of agony from my mouth I pulled free as a third grenade landed even closer and We could feel the heat of the explosion. A fourth thump caused me to look up, swat the grenade to the side with magic, and look away as it exploded above the ground. We shielded Our face with wing and smelled singed feathers. I felt Sister's magic grab my collar and pull me off the vehicle onto her back as a fifth thump sounded. I tracked the grenades trajectory and swatted it away, causing it to explode mid-air. My gaze went to the five orange bars as another one was launched. This time I swatted it down and smiled as the bars scattered. I looked forward as it exploded, but my eyes were drawn skyward at the sound of a resonating slap with a whine underneath. My gaze quickly scanned the area overhead and I saw an olive green shape of a AV-2 vertibuck. A twin rotor vehicle with rockets, guns, and troop carrying ability. "Sister can you go invisible?" I shouted as the vertibuck turned towards our road. She did so and the air shimmered around us. We looked down as Eclipse climbed onto the mass of twisted vehicles. Her gaze went up to the turbine powered flying machine. She stamped a hoof twice and pointed in our direction; the Vertibuck tilting left and right in response. It dropped lower to just fifty feet above the road as it flew through the urban canyon towards us. "Turn!" I shouted as I caught a glimpse of two rocket pods underneath it. Mudpie complied as the Vertibuck began strafing the road with rockets and gunpods. Mudpie galloped through the narrow alley as the concussion of a few rockets took my breath away. She pushed herself faster and jumped, taking to the air much to Our surprise. We were surprised that she could maintain the invisibility spell and fly in her condition! Her wings beat furiously as we quickly gained altitude before turning southward over the buildings as she flew higher. My gaze went down to the road as the Vertibuck pulled up from its strafing run all the while Eclipse stood and watched. ’Perhaps she can not track Us as easily as she thinks?’ *** *** Thick jungle was coming up too fast and We recognized what was wrong immediately. Our forelegs wrapped around Sister's neck as tight as We could despite the pain, and then We gripped her with Our hind legs. We beat Our wings furiously in an attempt to fly. Our fall was slowed somewhat, but still we fell fast as We screamed in agony. Sister's head fell forward and her body went limp just before We crashed through a tree. Not one to risk the chance to break a wing, We pulled them in tightly and prayed to the Goddess that we'd be safe. Our bodies smashed into a limb with a crack, then a second one and we kept going down. We felt Sister's body shudder as she hit the tree limbs first, but she did not cry out in pain. My eyes shut tight, we slammed into the ground and lost hold of Mudpie. I relaxed as my body kept tumbling and the crying Stable-mare displayed more warnings about a sprained fetlock, a concussion and other problems We cared not for. I crashed into a tree trunk with my back and cried out in pain; the display displaying the obvious. Our gaze went to a faintly breathing Mudpie. Which was good. Then We slowly looked around at our surroundings. Trees and bushes greeted Our vision as far as we could see, which was only about fifty yards before it became just a blur of green. Low misty fog covered the jungle floor and the air felt much more humid than in the city. My gaze went back down to my twisted leg and I gently felt around with magic for the break, and cringed when I found it. I attempted to take off the overcoat, but pain shot through my left leg when I moved it. So I sat on my haunches and used magic before rolling up the sleeve and biting down on it so as to not bite Our tongue. We took a few deep breaths and braced Ourself for what pain was to come, gripped the leg with magic and quickly reset the bone. It made a sickening sound as We screamed and bit hard on the sleeve as more tears fell. The break still throbbed and We couldn't walk on it, but at least if We found a few healing potions We would not have to worry. And if We found radiation it would go away completely. If... My gaze went to the various trees and bushes as I looked for anything to make a splint from. *** *** We limped heavily along the jungle floor with an unconscious Sister on Our back. The destination was the marker for the cap collection. Even a tiny hoofstep onto Our splinted leg caused pain. Our splint was made using shaped tree limbs and part of the suits overcoat. It was stupid to think of going to collect caps from a pony in the condition We were in, but the fact that there was a pony out here must mean they have medical supplies and we need them badly. Our gaze flickered left and right as We quickly scanned the jungle for anything, but We only saw the blue bars of animals, or We hoped they were animals. We wished the Pipbuck told you what it was! A snap of a twig or branch drew Our attention left, but the E.F.S. showed nothing in that direction. We slowed while turning around and hobbling backwards. “Hello?” We called out with Our mind. Whispers in zebra tongue reached Our ears as they swiveled around, but We blocked them out as We knew they could not be here. There are no zebra's on Oakwood! Our gaze went up to the trees as We looked for hidden snipers, but We saw none. So We turned around as We continued hobbling towards the marker while We checked for tripwires every so often. This made Our progress slow, but it was better than the alternative of being blown up. As We stopped, We braced Our left foreleg with magic and lifted Our right to open the breech of the hoofgun, and winced in pain. We saw the hoofgun was loaded with slugs still and gave a nod. “Mudpie, are ya dead?” I asked quietly. “Yeah...” She mumbled. I smiled at her comeback. If she were dead she could not respond, but I did not think she was feeling better. Infact I thought her condition to be worse than when I had found her in that room. *** *** We had eventually came to a wide muddy river that looked impossible to cross by hoof. On our bank of the river were two smashed boats lying in the sand and overgrown by the jungle. Our Pipbuck chirped and we looked down as We pulled the overcoat back to look at the screen. New location discovered: Dropkick’s End. ‘Why give a name for two wrecked boats?’ With a shrug We limped towards them. The boats looked to have collided with each other head-on and a skeleton was slumped over the control console of one as We pulled back the vines. A dark stain on the armored sidewall showed that they had been shot in the side of the head while they were unconscious. As We looked left We saw two more overgrown skeletons with a single hole in each of their head. Their barding had long ago been reduced to shreds and the deck underneath the vines was littered with dull brass casings of varying calibers. Next to them lay the rusted remains of a 20mm autocannon, and on the front walls of the boat were twin M-2 .50 cal machine guns likewise rusted. We hobbled towards the control console and peered over at the jumbled mess of twisted metal and fiberglass. Two sets of skeletal forelegs stuck out from where the forward turrets should have been. We looked and saw the other boat had one M-2 missing and its crew were gone, but no skeletons. Our gaze went down to the console where dials showed the rpm of two engines and a fuel gauge that read almost empty with 'Diesel fuel only' written above. To the right of the skeleton was a grimy scoped rifle in a holster that we pulled out. Our Pipbuck chirped, which told us it was a Zebra Assault Rifle that was in piss poor condition with twenty rounds in its magazine meant for thirty and was upgraded with a synthetic stock. How it all knew that We did not know, nor care. The weapon looked like you held it in your hooves to look down the scope despite it having a mouth trigger. Not like we would need to, as we used magic! We checked around and found an empty magazine to go with it, which Our Pipbuck told us it was an extended magazine. To the left of the stained wall was a small cuddy cabin designed for one pony to sleep, but was much too small for Sister or I. We gently set her down and crawled in, and looked over the mattress that disintegrated to Our touch. In one corner was an orange plastic box with a white cross on it. We pulled it over and clicked the latches open. It revealed bandages, empty syringes with traces of orange liquid, and two unmarked blue-green bottles. The other supplies were missing. On the inside of the plastic lid were directions written in a dialect of Zebra. Opening the bottle revealed the most unusual smell. Despite it looking blue-green it smelled like strawberries. We held both of them in front of Us with magic and crawled back to Mudpie. "Found something." We told her with Our mind and held the bottles in front of her. She cracked an eye open as she groaned. “What are... those?” “We are unsure. The box claims healing potions, but they smell off.” “Then.... toss them.... and let another pony try ‘em. I... won’t.” With a nod We threw them and smiled when they landed in the river with a splash. *** *** We spent the night at the boat before following the river for a few hours and coming to a bridge which we crossed. A closer inspection of both boats had revealed a nearly gone map and one syringe of Med-X, which We took then as We could not stand the pain coming from Our leg any longer. This did not kill the pain entirely, but We felt muddled and the pain lowered to an aching throb. However as We looked right We saw an orange bar slowly moving behind bushes. As We set Mudpie down We crept forward through the strange looking brush while looking around the dark jungle floor, despite it being noon. Quietly, We moved the fauna aside with the zebra assault rifle as We limped forward ready for anything. However We saw nothing but fog and bushes as the orange bar completely vanished. Then Our ears swiveled to the sound of a pony stepping on leaves. Which caused Our head to turn in that direction and the rifle dropped from Our magic’s grip out of shock. “Sis... Sister?” I blinked in shock at seeing a blue alicorn glaring at me. However I quickly realized that this pony wasn’t Mudpie, because she was wearing clothes and held a shotgun with magic. And her bar was blue... She must have been the orange bar and it turned blue when she saw Us. “Where the hell am I?!” She shouted. “The island of Oakwood,” We projected into her head. “Far off the coast of Equestria. How do you not know?” “I awoke washed up on a beach; fog and ocean behind me with jungle in front.” She replied as she lowered her weapon. We did not suspect malice, so We picked Our weapon up and put it away as she eyed Us strangely. “How long have you been here? You’re in pretty bad shape.” “A purple named RJ told us twenty years. We fear for her safety as she is a newbie to the area and ponies here resent us.” She trotted closer and put a hoof on Our shoulder with a smile. “Then worry no longer. There is a place for our kind on the mainland led by a unicorn named Velvet Remedy.” We thought over this pony’s name as it was familiar to Us... Velvet, Velvet Reme... Then it hit us like an anvil dropped from a sky wagon. “The Destroyer’s nice companion!” She nodded, but her gaze looked behind Us and We saw a pony almost on top of us in the reflection of her eye. “Look out!” The blue alicorn redundantly shouted. As We wheeled around, We brought up Our shield as the pony came running at us with a mix of a chainsaw and broadsword clenched in their teeth. However, the saw blades sliced right through Our shield as if it were not there and nearly sliced our chest as We jumped back and bumped into the blue. Seeing as the shield was useless We brought up Our right hoof while We lowered the shield, and ignored the pain to Our left. Thinking of S.A.T.S. caused something odd to happen. It was as if time had stopped for Us and We were able to look around. The pony’s face reminded Us of Eclipse in that he had a determined look in his eyes. Behind this pony were two others that held what looked like two sets of wing binders and hoof cuffs. We looked back down at the melee pony, who was looking up at Us, as his blade was about to swing a second strike. There were orange boxes around his various body parts and numbers with a percent sign, so We selected his head and noticed that S.A.T.S. allowed Us to fire both shots with a 65% chance to hit, but We elected to fire none. ’We do not need some stupid spell to tell Us if We can hit a pony! He’s right there in front of Us!’ As We left S.A.T.S. We jumped farther back with a hard flap of Our wings at the same time he swung. Our hoofgun sent a 20 gauge slug right into his chest and caused the pony to fly backwards from the momentum. He slid about four feet through the brush and We drew the zebra rifle from Our back with magic. We quickly ducked below the nearby brush and crawled right as the ponies pulled out weapons and dropped their chains. After a few seconds We popped Our head and rifle up, took quick aim down the scope at the yellow pony in mismatched armor, and squeezed the trigger. The rifle popped three times in succession for one trigger pull. We hissed in anger as the bullets that struck the pony also ignited him! He fell down, screaming in pain, and a second burst to his head silenced him as we dropped back down. We dropped back down and looked at the ground so that We could crawl on Our belly to avoid Our large perfect horn giving Us away as shots tore through the air above us. Most of them disintegrated the brush where We were last at but a few grazed Our back, yet We did not make any noise. For some reason this new sister did not elect to fire her shotgun at the ponies. Instead she yelled at them and cowered behind a tree. “Stop shooting! I mean you no harm!” A glance over at the orange bar revealed one to not have moved much and his shooting stopped as We heard the metallic click of a magazine being dropped from the rifle. We lifted Our head above the bushes and took aim at the blue stallion before We triggered a burst. Three shots struck the pony in the head, which caused him to simply drop sideways as if he simply passed out. Our gaze went around the jungle as We attempted to slow Our breathing down. Only two blue bars appeared on Our E.F.S. and the stench of burning pony slowly mixed in with cordite and the moist air as it filled Our nostrils. Blue sister gagged at the smell, which caused Us to look at her as she heaved up food. We did not find the smell as bad as some We have smelled before. The rifle was put away as We stood fully, the pain in Our leg reminded Us that We were still injured. The Pipbuck chirped and said Our Zebra Rifle was on the verge of breaking. The blue looked over at Us as she coughed a little. “What is going on?! Who were those ponies and why wouldn’t they listen?" We smiled nervously and shrugged. “Perhaps We should tell you that there is a Steel Ranger who put a large bounty on alicorns and intends to wipe out any on this island. She wears armor of the dead and has Hellhound claws for weapons.” She wiped the spittle off her mouth and downed some water. Her gaze went to the dead ponies, then back to Us. “Why of all places in the wasteland is there an actual bounty on our kind here?” "We had two wings that have spent many many years thwarting the Steel Ranger plans of taking technology back to the mainland, and they do not like it.” We pointed a hoof towards the remaining blue bar. “Sister is over there and in desperate need of medical aid. Our leg can wait as We took some Med-X." "What's wrong with your leg?" "We broke it running from that Steel Ranger with the armor of the dead." We lifted Our foreleg to show her the splint and sighed contently as the pain mostly went away. "Sister had her magic depleted, recovered some, but depleted it more. We fear she may die on Us, and would much rather not lose her. Sister means alot to Us as we are close." Without a word the new blue disappeared into the brush. Our gaze went to the dead ponies and We began to pick through their stuff. We took one of their saddlebags and holstered the chainsword across Our back with its sheathe; Our Pipbuck called it a Ripper modified with Hellhound teeth. The contents of the bags were two bottles of water that caused Our Pipbuck to click and warn Us of radiation. So We drank the bottles and then went through the contents again. We found fifty caps, the note about alicorn bounties, some food, a half drank healing potion, and a bag of RadAway which We kept for Rose. The second pony had an assault rifle and the third had a pump action shotgun. Two magazines worth of ammo for the assault rifle and six shotgun shells that were larger than Our hoofgun. We put everything into Our bags and stood up as We looked over at the two blue bars behind the bush. With a heavy limp, We made our way back, and pushed the brush aside with Our magic. We frowned when We saw Mudpie whispering to the other alicorn. Regardless We went over and laid down as We removed the healing potion and put it to Sister’s lips. Sister drank what was left, but looked at us strangely, as she set the bottle down and asked. "How come you didn't drink all of it?" We smiled and brushed her still non-flowing mane with a hoof. "You needed it more than we do." "But your leg was nearly snapped off!" She shouted and glared at Us while We smiled back. "You're being stupid, Shock. You should have drank all of that potion." We sighed, closed Our eyes and thought over what she said. "This is true, however We drank irradiated water which should provide some healing. Perhaps enough to put pressure down." We felt a hoof on Our good shoulder and We looked over at the new blue, whose gaze was soft and concerned. "Excuse me, but why do you still talk in the 'We'? Unity died with the Goddess. You're yourself again and don't have to talk like that." Sister groaned and covered her ears. "Don’t make her explain it!” "The Goddess is not dead," We told Blue flatly with Our mind. "She merely moved on to another plane of existence." "How do you know?" "Because she thinks the Goddess spoke to her about a week or so ago." Mudpie said with another groan and We gave a nod. The other blue nodded. "Alright, let's say she isn't dead. You still don't have to refer to yourself as We anymore. Unity is gone." Mudpie put a hoof on Blue's foreleg while she shook her head. "Shock is very fucking old and has a thick skull, trust me it won't get through. If I hadn't been here the day the Goddess died... I don't know what would have happened." We huffed as We fluffed our feathers a bit and looked at Mudpie. "I can call myself 'I' if I want! We just have a hard time doing so." "Well we can work on that." Blue said with a smile to Mudpie. Our gaze went around the jungle looking for orange bars, but luckily We saw none. Then We looked towards the marker and pointed a hoof. "We should go that way, as there may be medical supplies." *** *** We looked across the clearing at a large single story house that was slightly elevated above the surrounding area. The wood had long ago greyed and the windows were boarded up along with the doors. Extra planks made sure they could not open. Mudpie was sleeping on Our back, Blue had tried to carry her, but We insisted on doing it. Blue stepped forward and We held out a clipped wing to stop her. "Wait." She looked at Us as her head tilted. "It's abandoned." "Something is off." We replied quietly with Our mouth. "Like what?" Blue asked with a tilt of her head in the other direction. We looked at the shack again and noticed it looked maintained and not like the boats. "It... is too clean." "What do you mean?" "The grass is kept low, and the boards in the windows are spaced just far enough to get the barrel of a rifle through and see over. This screams trap to Us." "I say its fine." Blue walked forward twenty feet and turned around. She held up a hoof and motioned for Us to come closer. We trotted forward with Sister asleep on Our back. The Med-X had worn off by now which caused Us to limp and whimper with each step on that hoof. Thy Pipbuck chirped as it told us this place was called Tank Fort. As We took another step Our left foreleg collapsed painfully, and caused Our right hoof to fall on something thin. We looked cross-eyed at the tripwire as Our eyes widened. "Stop!" We telekinetically shouted to Blue. Blue did so as she tilted her head. "Are you alright?" "No." We responded while looking at her with just Our eyes. "Our hoof is on a tripwire. Can you lift Sister with magic?" Blue nodded and We felt Sister's weight lift from Our back. We watched as she was floated over to Blue and gently placed on her back. We quickly jumped back and cowered, but nothing happened. With a sigh of relief, We stepped over the tripwire and trotted over to Blue, and Sister. Then the door to the shack opened and a gryphon poked its head out, as it glared at us. "You three are the most unusual ponies I’ve had the pleasure of not shooting. One passed out, one heavily injured and one that looks normal." "We mean you no harm." Blue replied. She pointed to her back then me as she said, "we have injured and request medical aid. We can pay if you wish." *** *** Sister slept on Tank's bed in the bedroom while Blue and I looked at the gryphon. He had given me two healing potions as soon as he saw my leg and I don't know if I'll be able to thank him enough. We could walk on it now, if a bit painfully. The inside of this room had a couch, coffee table, wood flooring, and a desk. We assumed he made his meals on the stone fireplace in the corner that was now unlit. Tank sat across from us in the chair for the desk. "What are three alicorns doing out this way?" He asked. "Last I heard there was only two and they stayed inside the city hell bent on annoying Steel Rangers." We looked to Blue, unsure of what to say, then looked at Tank and said. "We... are hiding from the Steel Rangers. If you think we are ea-" He held up a taloned hand and We went quiet. "I know about the bounty, but I also know what they did to the ones they already caught and I wouldn't wish that fate on anypony. As far as I'm concerned they can go fuck themselves." We smiled with a nod of thanks to the gryphon. Our gaze went to his hindquarters as We wondered how exactly they were made as We knew how We were made: Dipped in a vat of I.M.P. Where exactly do these giant eagles come from that are willing to mate with a lion? The long sharp feline claws mixing in with the powerful muscles and the flight capability makes for one deadly creature. A near perfect vision of a killing machine. We are of course perfect. Tank waved a taloned hand before pointing at his beak. "My face is up here." We felt our cheeks heat up slightly as we blushed because We realized that We were staring and they may have interpreted it wrong. "We are sorry, but you are fascinating despite... you not being like us." Blue got up and gave a head bow. "I'm going to check on your friend. I'll be back in a bit." We watched her go and wondered why the hasty exit. ’Does she think what we think she thinks? We hope not as we only wondered how a gryphon was made!’ We slowly looked at Tank as We smiled nervously. He was drawing circles in the table with a razor sharp talon and We watched every movement. Tank saw Us looking and smiled, though We were unsure how a beak could smile. "Something interesting you?" he asked. We made sure to only ask Tank with our mind. "Is there a way We could repay you for your kindness?" "Well..." He looked back at the room with Blue and Mudpie. "Do you know how to work a gryphon crossbow? I've got a nasty bug problem that needs dealing with." We blinked and tilted our head. "Bug problem?" "About the size of a pony and like to eat my crops. There's some to the west of here near a field I grow food in and a few times I nearly got nabbed. You take care of the bugs and I'll call it a deal. Before you answer let me tell you. It is extremely dangerous because there are hotspots around the area and the radiation could kill you. It is best to go by air as there are... things down there in the other fields that could kill with a touch." We smiled as We nodded. "Radiation would not be a problem. For you see, the Goddess created Us in her image and We are immune to such things." *** *** The crossbow was huge! Tank had said that he had built it from scrap vehicle parts and it required a crank to pull the drawstring back. It was built out of a large rifle stock made for gryphons and had a nearly four foot wide leaf spring for the bow. According to the Pipbuck it was worth four thousand five hundred caps in the condition it was in. He had given Us twenty modified railway spikes that looked to have been sharpened and balanced with fins which extended in flight. Though We were unsure why he would deem Our hoofgun and the chainsword inadequate. They are bugs. How hard could it be? We limped into a radiation hotspot near his fields and stopped to let the warm glow rejuvenate Our body while the Pipbuck clicked like crazy. It told Us that We were gaining +25 rads a second. So We just stood there as We felt our leg heal and wings grow warm. The Stable pony now displayed a happy face and disappeared. Only to be replaced by one that looked like it was ready to vomit and was screaming at Us that We had critical radiation poisoning of over seven hundred rads. We spread Our wings and saw that We now had full primary flight feathers again! Yay! As We looked up at the clear sky We whispered. "We are thankful that Our leg and wings are healed once more, praise be the Goddess." With a slight bounce in Our step We continued down the path. A smile was on Our face as We hummed a song We heard about a pony wanting to paint everything black. This one We like most so far and wish to one day thank DJ Snow for showing it to Us. Ahead of Us lay a single track dirt path through the jungle. In the waning daylight We saw the sky light up orange and red in a blaze of colors that made Us smile. Then We quickly focused on following Our marker as We glanced around at the trees and bushes for signs of orange hostiles. Rose had told Us her Pipbuck displayed red for hostiles and that each Pipbuck may be different depending on various things that We just nodded Our head to. We suspect the original owner to be color blind to red. According to Our Pipbuck We had traveled for almost an hour before We came to a kind of clearing. We stopped before the edge and went invisible in the twilight. In front of Us lay a field of corn, though this corn was wild and did not grow as if a pony tended to them. On the other side of the field was a metal shack with a door that was falling apart and beyond that was more jungle. In all it was only the size of a hoofball field. We stepped forward and Our Pipbuck labeled this place Outpost X-ray. Our eyes narrowed at this information because if it were a crop field, would it not be labeled as such? Our E.F.S. showed nothing either, so We trudged towards the shack through the wild corn that was almost as tall as our chin. Then a We heard a growl that sounded almost like a laugh and looked to the source, but spotted nothing on the compass. However the cornstalks parted in that direction as Our whole compass began to glow orange and We slowly began to back away from whatever it was. Now everywhere We looked We were surrounded by hostiles, yet We could not physically see anything! We looked down, up, side to side, but they were nowhere! We turned Our head as We pulled out the Zebra Rifle and gripped it in Our teeth while backing towards the door to a shack. Our hoof stepped on something that squealed and We wheeled around to aim at it, but there was nothing there. Our gaze went over to the sound of cornstalks moving and caught the tail end of something thin as it slipped away. More stalks around Us parted as Our ears swiveled every which way. We gulped as We were still fifty yards from the shack and if We could not see Our attackers, and they haven’t attacked then that meant they could not see us! Instead of bothering with walking We bolted for the shack and quickly closed the distance as We practically flew over the stalks.Our magic gripped the handle and found it unlocked, but that caused Our invisibility spell to fail instantly. We facehoofed. As if on cue We heard a growl that was answered by others. We risked a look back and saw the entire field was moving and parting in Our direction. Our eyes widened and We ran inside, slammed the door shut and locked it by shoving a broom through the handle. With a defeated sigh We attempted to look around the room, but recoiled from the door as whatever was out there slammed into it with a loud crash that shook the whole shack. We spun around and aimed the nearly broken Zebra Rifle with magic at the door. We were ready to fire until it breaks and then use it as a club. As We backed up Our hind hoof stepped on air. We jumped to the side in reflex and looked at the open ponyhole cover with narrowed eyes. With nowhere else to go We climbed down the ladder. As We got to the bottom We slid the cover shut with magic which cut off all light down there. So We clicked on the Pipbuck light and brought out the torch. Its wide beam of light revealed Us to be in a grimy reinforced tunnel that was wide enough for three of alicorns to stand side by side in with our wings out and four feet taller than Our horn. The floor was dirt strangely, but We did not care what madness made them do that. We connected with Mudpie knowing that she would not respond. "Sister, we have found some sort of underground tunnel and are looking through it. The entrance is surrounded by unseen hostiles. Please do not come get us." We pressed forward and wondered what was down there as according to Our Pipbuck this field was not the right one. *** *** The blue Pipbuck light cast eerie shadows on the wall of the tunnel. A few times We would aim at them with the crossbow only to realize that it was just a shadow. An old memory was stirred by the radiation warning, but We did not dwell on it. That is long gone and We are better now. Radiation helps Us now, not leave Us coughing up blood as Our insides rot. The torch swept around the tunnel, but did not locate anything beyond grimy reinforced concrete walls for the last half hour. With a flap of Our wings We were hovering off the ground, a grin on Our face. We slowly moved forward while flying and was glad for it as it would allow Us to move quicker. The tunnels soon became a blur as We pushed Ourself and tested Our new wings to the limit. As the tunnel abruptly ended in a T We cut a hard left. Another hard flap of the wings and We were back up to speed. Our pace soon had us zooming through the dark confines under the island of Oakwood. We immediately slowed to a hover and looked around, this time much more carefully and deliberate. If this island was just one city, then what is with all these secret underground places We had run across over the last week or so? They were made from reinforced concrete with hardened blast doors and electronic locks. Not to mention the pipes overhead carrying what looked like steam, wiring, and other things. Perhaps there is more to Oakwood than just a large city on a very large jungle island surrounded by mist? A look down at the external map of Our Pipbuck showed that We were under a river far from Tank's shack. And yet when We looked up, the tunnel seemed to stretch into infinity. I scratched my chin in thought. The Steel Rangers must be here for a reason otherwise Sister and I would have driven them back many years ago. Which caused Us to wonder if the Goddess lie to Us knowing that We would cause havoc for the Rangers and Enclave, thus slowing down whatever plans they had while banishing us at the same time? I would not be surprised if she did, but why banish us? We had done nothing wrong to her! Perhaps I should find Rose and ask her what is on this island that is so important to the Steel Rangers. We nodded with a smile at Our plan and turned back the way We had come. We laughed as We flew off the ground even though We were flying in the confines of a tunnel. *** *** We slowed Our flight to a hover again near a ladder and looked at thy Pipbuck as We seemed to be lost despite following the exact number of turns in the opposite direction and following the marker! Orange flashed across Our E.F.S. We quickly dropped to the ground as We pulled out the crossbow and tracked the target. Our head turned right as something jumped at Us and time slowed to a stop in S.A.T.S. I turned my nose up at the most hideous looking rat I have ever laid eyes on as it was lit by the Pipbuck. It was about the size of a dog with razor sharp teeth and no fur with tiny eyes. S.A.T.S. displayed an 85% chance to hit its chest. We wondered how well the spell assist works as We were worried that We might not be able to hit it with the large crossbow that close normally. We toggled an attack by the crossbow and saw it used nearly the whole energy bar. With a nod from Us, time sped back up and We felt something take hold of Our body. Tank's crossbow was aimed and the trigger was pulled by Our magic. With a loud twang the railway spike was launched into the body of the giant rat, its fins spread out just before impact and sent the whole creature flying back into the wall and it stuck there. I blinked in shock and looked down at the crossbow because it had pinned that rat to the wall! Noise caused Our ears to swivel right towards the source of more rats. With the crossbow fired and them closing in with no time to reload, We dropped it and drew the Zebra Rifle as We tried to aim down the scope. Five orange bars on Our vision and eleven shots. ’We can do this easy as pie.’ The first rat shrieked as it was ignited by three shots and fell over dead. The others scurried around their fallen comrade and one jumped. We aimed above it and triggered a burst before sidestepping as the flaming hairless ball of shit landed at our hooves. A third one went down as soon as it jumped, then the weapon clicked empty. We hissed as We tossed the useless weapon away because there were still two shots! As We jumped back We stepped right again and brought up our hoof. It recoiled slightly as it sent a 20 gauge slug into the creature and the tunnel was lit by the blast at the same time Our hearing was deafened. We covered our face with the leg as the rat exploded in a ball of red, and showered Our suit with the warm coppery tasting liquid. We quickly loaded in buckshot to the now empty weapon while We floated backwards and scanned for hostiles ahead. A scream of pain escaped Our lips as one of the foul creatures clamped its maw on Our wing’s bone and caused Us to fall to the floor, because We could not flap with its weight on Us. We hissed at the creature as We spun on a hind leg and flicked Our wing forward as hard as we could. Yet its maw stayed shut, then another one clamped onto Our other wing while we were distracted and We screamed again. "You stupid fucking beasts!" We shouted, brought Our wings forward and aimed at one with the hoofgun. Buckshot tore multiple holes through the creature and into Our bone as the rat fell in a lifeless heap. We cringed and aimed at the other one. It was sent to Tartarus and We damaged Our other wing. The crying Stable-tech mare returned to Our vision as it showed both wings to have damage, but not critical as of yet. Redundant as always. However We had no time to think about that because a rat the size of a full grown pony growled at Us. We pulled a railway spike out of Our saddlebags and looked for the crossbow, which was behind the creature. It rushed forward as We dropped the railway spike and drew the Ripper from its sheath. As We gripped the trigger with magic the weapon roared to life. “We hate tunnels!” We shouted as We galloped towards it and brought the blade down. Its Hellhound teeth drew blood as the blow merely grazed the creature, which slammed into me. The weight of it sent Us sprawling onto Out back as We brought up the Pipbuck to block its bite and winced from the blades already in our leg getting pushed around. Thankfully whatever metal it was made from prevented the rat from biting into the leg. We rolled over and threw the creature against the wall before tossing the Ripper towards it. Our blow struck it in the neck. The large rat gurgled as it tried to make noise. We crawled over and ripped the blade from it before bringing it down on its chest once, twice, thrice, and four times. On the fifth blow We realized it was long dead and pulled the blade out then looked at it and wondered why it was still clean. However Our suit sleeves were completely covered in the creatures blood and our ears folded back. "Aww. I liked this suit..." We mumbled as We used Our to tear the sleeves off. We frowned, but remembered that We did not pay for it. The Ripper was floated back to the sheathe whence it came before We moved over to the Zebra Rifle. We checked its magazine and saw that there was indeed one round in it. Our frown was still there as We pulled the bolt back and a second 7.62mm round ejected. We held it up and wondered why it did not fire as thy Pipbuck did not say the weapon was broken. We put those items into Our saddle bags, picked up the railway spike and set it in the channel on the crossbow, before drawing the wire back with magic. Our gaze fell upon the ladder and We started climbing it. As We attempted to slide the cover back We found it did not budge, so We used our hooves to no effect. In the light provided by thy Pipbuck We saw that it had been welded shut and with a deep sigh, We dropped back down to the ground to look at thy Pipbuck map. We had figured on heading back towards Tank's shack and turned in that direction. Our wings ached terribly and throbbed where We had been bitten. Strangely though the gunshots did not hurt as bad as the bites. We had to keep Our wings held slightly out from Our body so as to not have agonizing pain. Our gaze went to the sick and crying Stable-Tech mare that displayed critical radiation and poison. ’How could we be poisoned?! We are the perfect image of the Goddess and we do not get poisoned!’ We smiled as the crying mare went away and the injured limb warning vanished. We spread Our wings out fully and saw the slowly drying blood where six pellets had torn through. So We sat on our haunches and decided to preen Our new feathers and clean off the blood. *** *** We suspected thy Pipbuck did not know what to do with Our body as it said We are still poisoned. The pain in Our wings died to an itch underneath the healed skin though, so that was good. The blood of those rats left a decidedly tangy electrical taste in Our mouth, which we could not get rid of as We had nothing to drink. Our ears picked up smooth jazz coming from a room about eighty feet away, and so We cantered over to the open door. As We peered inside We saw what looked like a janitors closet with rolled papers, a music player, a bed, no food or water, a lantern, and a doll like Rose's. Except this one was different. It was of a purple unicorn that caused Our mind to flip through Our memories like a book before landing on the name of the mare: Twilight Sparkle, the head of the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. We remember her as We have seen her on many posters. An inscription on the base read: Be smart! We smiled at the doll because perhaps Rose would have wanted it to go with the one of Rainbow Dash. As We reached out to touch it a rotting hoof knocked Ours away and We recoiled in shock. But We quickly recovered and shoved the red ghoul against a locker. "Who are you?!" We shouted in his face as We pointed a decidedly empty hoofgun at his eye. The mustached unicorn pointed at his tattered janitor uniform and rasped. "I'm... Ra-Raul, the janitor. I thought... I thought you were trying to steal my statue." We lowered the weapon as Our gazed softened when We noticed his bar was blue. "Who are you? Ya look like one of the Princesses if they fell in a vat of green paint." We smiled. "We are a child of the Goddess. The Princesses have been dead for two hundred years." "I figured as much when the world went to hell and I turned into this." He pointed at his face. "But ya know what the worst part of bein' a ghoul is?" We shook Our head. "I can't shave my mustache! It'll never grow back if I do." He's an undead pre-war pony and worried about his mustache?! We chuckled as it must surely be a joke! It received a smile from him. We nodded and asked. "Raul, We would like to purchase the statue off you." "Five thousand caps." We felt Our eyes widen. "These are rare chica, I've only seen like six!" "Is there something else you wish instead of caps? As We only have fifty." "I've been down here for a lot of years, alone. And you have one of the nicest flanks I've seen since the Princesses." Our eyes grew wider. ’He's a ghoul! That would be... Ewww! He's like a hideous red zombie!’ "We like mares." We said as We gave him a grin. "Infact we have a marefriend named Rose. Is there something else?" He nodded and We let out a breath We had been holding. "There's a deadly plant out by one of the access hatches. If you take my flamethrower and clear it out I'll give you the statue as payment." "Why can't you do it?" "These old bones aren't made for fightin', chica. Those plants are as quick as a fox and deadly to boot. But my first offer is still on the table." We wrinkled Our nose and took a step back. "We think We will deal with this plant." He nodded and pulled a roll of paper off the stack as he laid it out and pointed a hoof. "We are here, and this plant is wayyyyy over here," his hoof traced a line and stopped at the other edge before he tapped it a few times. "I'll mark the location on your Pipbuck so you won't get lost." Said device beeped. New location discovered: Raul's place. There was a marker a few miles away too. *** *** The flamethrower tank was heavy and slightly too snug, but nothing We could not handle. Strangely, instead of being setup to fire like a rifle saddle, it had two flexible hoses that went down to a strap like the hoofgun which ended in a nozzle that howled softly, because the igniter was lit. There was a battle saddle trigger for it of course. Raul explained that all I had to do was point my hoof and bite down. We trotted through the dark tunnels with the torch floating ahead. Its round beam cast a pale blue light around the grey concrete tunnel. We could plainly see it was being slowly overgrown with green and the air became even more humid than outside which made Us sweat slightly. The E.F.S. still showed no hostiles, but We were following the map marker, so the green vines were a good sign. We pressed forward for a good five minutes and still didn't worry as We stepped around blocks of concrete with vines sprouting from the ceiling. After all they were plants. Just how could plants be deadly? We passed by a beautiful unbloomed purple flower that seemed to follow our movement. Our gaze went to the right as We turned in that direction and saw more flowers. The torch highlighted the end of the hallway which ended at a sealed door with a round hatch like on a ship. The fact that the flowers had felt like they were watching Us made it unnerving. Raul had said to only clear out the plants outside the access hatch and not go inside, but We had decided to ignore him. We gripped the wheel with magic as We trotted up to it. With a rust induced shriek the hatch's wheel gave in inch. It did not budge easily and forced Us to use magic and our strength until it gave another inch. We strained, but it got no farther. As We stepped back We looked at it before We pivoted on a forehoof and bucked one of the metal bars as hard as we could. The metal shrieked and moved while pain lanced up Our leg. We turned back around and spun the wheel with magic as We smiled when it spun smoothly. We gave a quick look to the plants that seemed to be watching Us in the dark confines. A shiver ran up Our spine before We stepped inside and immediately noticed that the lights worked, which made it seem like daylight. Inside the tunnel opened into a large two level atrium. We were on the top level across from a round shattered window. Vines and plants grew every which way and over tables. More of those purple flowers were on the bottom floor while yellow pods were on Our level. The actual floor was covered in dirt... We think or hope it to be dirt. To Our left was a partially open blast door. A catwalk ran along the center to another hallway. As We stepped inside thy Pipbuck labeled it Research Lab 13. We got the feeling that it was more of a Stable atrium than a research lab. Though We were unsure because We have never set a hoof inside of one. Our gaze scanned the room while We kept an eye on the compass. There was nothing, not even blue. With a nod We stepped forward onto the metal catwalk that ran above everything. We do not see what was wrong there. These seemed harmless, if a bit overgrown. As We turned left We walked towards the half open door that held a faded light above it indicating it was the stairwell. But it was blocked. With a shrug We turned around and walked to the edge to look down at the purple flowers. We wondered what would happen if I attempted to pick one. They were very pretty and would look nice in Our room at the Crescent Moon. And so We jumped, landed on the decidedly dirty floor and, slid a good three feet. On this level We could see there were four other doors leading in random directions and a large shattered square window. We took a step towards the purple flower and noticed something small next to it that the others outside did not have. It was a scaled green foal lying curled up and sleeping, but as We looked at the foal We saw its back had spikes of some kind. Our mind picked up frightened thoughts, so We took another step towards it and used Our mouth to whisper quietly. "Hello? Do not be afraid. We are here to help." The foal's ears swiveled towards Us as it fluttered its solid green eyes open, then glared and an orange bar popped up on Our E.F.S. We immediately pointed the hoof with the flamethrower attachment on it, but hesitated in biting the bit. ’It... It is a foal! We... can not... foal... what?!’ It groaned what sounded like 'run' as it took a few steps towards Us, We backed away unsure if We should attack. Then the green foal charged with its maw wide open and that was when We saw instead of normal pony teeth it had sharp fangs and pointy teeth. The flamethrower sent a jet of red hot fire and engulfed the creature as it squealed in pain. Its body dropping to the ground and rolling around to futilely put out the flame. We followed it with the flame and burned plants alike until it stopped moving. My gaze flickered to the compass and saw I was now surrounded by orange. Nothing but orange, a solid wall of danger. As if this whole place were alive. We turned Our head to look at a purple flower and saw it had bloomed, which revealed a sharp barb that dripped with juices. Before I could react the barb shot across the gap and burrowed into my neck. Thy Pipbuck screamed that We had just been poisoned again with some kind of neurotoxin. My eyes grew heavy as I felt my body slowing down. ’This must be what they had drugged Mudpie with!’ I remembered that I had Dash in a pocket and brought out the inhaler. The whole does was huffed and We felt its effects almost immediately. The world around me seemed to slow down like S.A.T.S. My hoof came up and pointed at the purple flower just before it was engulfed in flames and withered as it shrieked. I swept the jet of flame across the floor to another purple flower just before it sent a barb at Us. The shot missed completely as We jumped out of the way. Our gaze went up to the second floor at the sound of a roar. A large yellow pod slammed into the catwalk railing and opened wide. It revealed rows and rows... and rows of razor sharp teeth, and a tongue that moved as if alive. I jumped to the side as the tongue shot towards Us, barely missing, before it recoiled back. A jet of fire streaked up at it, which caused it to squeal and retreat. As We looked around We swung thy Pipbuck to block a green monster's attack. The metal thumped against flesh and sent it flying back. That monster was turned to toasty greens as well. Pretty soon the air inside the atrium was filled with the smell of burning plants and the jelly the flamethrower used for fuel. It was not a good smell. One of the dials on my foreleg read that I still had 3/4 a tank of fuel and 5/6th a tank of ignition fuel. However my ears heard the rusty shriek of the hatch as it closed and locked followed by some kind of laugh. The dirt beneath me erupted as some kind of blue vine burst from the ground. We beat Our wings as We jumped and sent fire down. The plant immediately dropped back to the dirt. We turned around and bolted for the nearest door. *** *** I slowed to a stop and took stock of my surroundings. We were in living quarters of the research lab and luckily there were no killer plants here, or so we hoped. The hallway had some dirt clumps with a kind of plant that glowed if you touched it, which we couldn't resist not doing. After a minute of walking, We staggered and fell against the wall as the effects of the Dash wore off. Which reminded Us that We had some lethargic poison in Our system that was somehow capable of incapacitating alicorns. Our legs collapsed and We slammed into the floor nose first. We stared at the ground for what seemed like eternity. As Our eyes finally shut We heard that plant laughing in Our mind. Something grabbed a hind leg and began to pull Us back, but all we could do was accept defeat and unconsciousness. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Tough Hide. Dafuq? How could you shoot your own wings?! +3 DT against all attacks per level of this skill. New spell unlocked - Thought skimming, I. With effort, you can pick up the surface thoughts of ponies you are looking at. Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, II. You've discovered that no matter how good you do, there will always be a pony that despises everything about you. Objective updated: Kill Eclipse and get the trapped Pipbuck off your leg before continuing.
Chapter 3.5: A Dog and its MasterChapter 3.5: A Dog and its Master Shock looked over the gryphon's shoulder, her brows slowly knitting together as she watched the hybrid creature work on some form of potion. The gryphon was dressed in a lab coat with a pair of goggles on her face and gloves covering her taloned hands. "Just a drop of changeling excrement with a dash of gunpowder and-" "What are you doing?" Shock asked, causing the gryphon to leap to the side in shock as her wings flared out with a pop. Whatever the gryphon was working on fell to the floor and shattered into a million pieces. The green alicorn took a couple steps back as she said, "s-sorry. We were only curious as to what thou was doing." Shock was not worried if the gryphon was hostile or not because the Pipbuck bar associated for her was still blue. The gryphon's feathers were fluffed up, making her angry face look even fatter than what the lanky hybrid actually was. She quickly shook herself, causing said fluffed feathers to go back to normal with a faint buzz. "I was trying to make fuel for... how'd you get in here?" she tilted her head almost ninety degrees sideways and clicked her beak in thought. Shock slowly pointed a forest green hoof at the door, "you left that open..." The gryphon looked over, glaring at the door and making odd noises almost like a hiss. "I did not. It must have been my incompetent assistant when she went to go get me more supplies. Have you seen her?" Shock sat down and brought a hoof to her chin as she thought back. The wheels in her head slowly ground together as they turned, but then... a memory flashed before her eyes of a mare in a lab coat spotting her and running away like a scared foal screaming about how she didn't get paid enough to deal with alicorns. However, Shock's expression did not change as she shook her head, "nope." The gryphon frowned as much as she could and sat down, folding her arms across her chest. “That’s just great! Send Sticky Hooves out to retrieve some rockets or missiles and she vanishes! I bet a Mist Roamer took her.” She pulled out an ornate silver fob watch and bounced it between her hands. “We’re going to be late, late for the launch and late for the moon!” “We’re sorry,” Shock began slowly as she stepped closer to the gryphon. “But We do not know what you mean. Late for what?” The gryphon put the watch away and rubbed her face while grumbling to herself about being surrounded by incompetent foals. Then, after a few moments, she smiled and looked at the alicorn. “Late for the rocket launch. You know the rocket in the old museum?” Shock nodded slowly.”Well, a group of ghouls have asked me to create the fuel.” “That rusty old thing flies?” Shock asked, her eyes slowly widening in shock. The gryphon pretty much ignored her. “Of course I, Professor Filigree, have been working diligently to make such a feat possible. The ghouls, of course, have been scouring for metal and other parts to cover up gaps in the rocket while I, Professor Filigree, have been working with my assistants help to make an igniter for the solid fuel.” Shock glanced at the door before taking a step forward. “Igniter? Like…” she sat down and tapped her chin some before rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “Light a match?” “Something like that,” Filigree nodded. “I needed a few missiles to see how they worked and what they used as fuel. Think you could help me?” “Um,” Shock set my hoof down, sighing deeply. “Will there be any caps involved?” “I could provide you with some or I could give you this.” Filigree dug around in her pocket before pulling the watch out, holding the ornate item out for Shock to see clear as day. “It’s kind of broken, so caps and the watch?” After some moments, about thirty seconds, of thinking, Shock nodded with a smile. “That sounds good. What can I do to help you?” “Get me some missiles first of all.” Filigree waved her wing in a gesture indicating for Shock to leave. Shock, however, unclasped her bags and set them down. She rummaged through them as she looked for what she had picked up. The mare she had spotted earlier had dropped her own bags in favor of running away from the ‘Green Terror of Oakwood’ and left Shock quite a few goodies; a pair of high-explosive missiles, an emp missile, a broken pistol and a couple small energy packs along with two hundred caps. Shock gently levitated each missile over to Professor Filigree and set them down on the counter. That was when the alicorn finally noticed exactly where she was. She had been simply walking along the sewer while lost in thought and following her Pipbuck for signs of life, but now however. Shock saw the rusty flooring connected to nearly rusted walls with large terminals running along them. Faint light filtered in through a dirty view window, causing Shock to frown and walk over to it. As she pressed her face against the dirty glass, the alicorn saw the very bottom of massive thrusters with tubes connecting to the ceiling. A ceiling that blocked her view of whatever the thrusters were connected to. She pulled away from the window and looked back at Filigree. The gryphon held a chisel to the faint gap between the high-explosive warhead and the body of the missile with a hammer in her other hand, causing Shock’s eyes to widen. “STOP!” she telepathically boomed like thunder inside the gryphon’s mind at the same time she shouted with her mouth. Filigree slowly looked over at the odd green alicorn, the hammer held back and ready to strike a blow against the chisel. "What?" Shock recomposed herself by taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. Afterward, she smiled and said with her mind, "that is not how one takes apart a missile." "And how do you know? There's no screws!" Filigree hissed. Shock rolled her eyes. She trotted over and tugged on the chisel with her magic. Filigree held on, frowning. “I doubt you know how to fix it either.” “We… have used missiles before and know the various ins and outs of them,” Shock said with a nod. "They are finicky tools when handled at the best of times, and dangerous at the wrong. Please, allow Us to help thee so one does not become a red stain on the wall." The gryphon looked at the hammer and then at Shock. With a nod, she held the tools out. Shock gently pulled them away and smiled at the gryphon. *** *** Some hours later, the three missiles were pulled apart and strewn about on the workbench Filigree and Shock had been using. The gryphon was staring out the window at the massive rocket motors she could see. "All this time and the answer was staring me in the face," Filigree mumbled quietly. "That must have been why there was two different types of fuel." "Perhaps," Shock nodded slowly, setting some rocket parts aside before standing up. She walked over to the window and stared out at the bottom half of the rocket as steam filtered down. “Where is this vehicle going?” Shock asked with a whisper in the gryphon’s mind. “If it is a big missile, then do not expect the landing to be perfect.” Filigree chucked a bit as she shook her head. “No, it is a rocket. Come here,” she said, waving her taloned hand before walking over to a panel. Shock, of course, followed Filigree to the terminal’s glow and nearly pressed her nose against the glass. As she did, Shock saw the tiny Equestrian letters displaying ‘Signal detected’ and above it was a wavy line that increased or decrease waviness every so often. “What are We looking at?” Shock whispered with her mind. Filigree pushed the obtrusive alicorn away and proudly said, “a signal from the Great Beyond!” “The what?” Filigree wrapped an arm around Shock and pulled her close, waving her other arm around towards the ceiling, Shock watched the hand as Filigree said, “the Great Beyond. It is around us all and provides the night Sky that no pony can look at because of the clouds.” “You’re talking about space, aren’t you?” Shock asked with a tilt of her head. “No,” the gryphon shook her head. “I am talking about the orb in the sky where Nightmare Moon was banished for a thousand years.” “The moon… Why would there be signals coming from the moon?” “I don’t know or care,” Filigree shrugged. ”But I have deciphered the signal and do you know what it says?” Shock shook her head, causing the gryphon to grin. “It says ‘we’re still here. The wasteland pales in comparison to the beauty of the Great Beyond. If you can come to us, we will be friends again.” Shock frowned at the information. To her, it sounded like the gryphon was talking out of her ass and making the story up, but she didn’t know a thing about decoding signals so she merely nodded her head. “We will help you reach the Great Beyond then.” “Good! Here’s your payment,” Filigree said, pulling the fob watch out of her coat. Shock grabbed it in magic and floated it close, tilting her head some at the intricate design on the face and the fact that it was ticking. She looked at the gryphon, the watch, the gryphon again and put the watch away, saying nothing about the fact that it worked. Shock then looked out at the rocket. “How do I help?” “Right!” Filigree dashed over to another panel and pointed at it. “Do you see this meter here that says ‘warning radiation’?” Shock trotted over to it, stared at the meter for a few moments, and nodded. “Yes.” “Well this meter is in another part of the facility, and I need you to go fix something in there. A part broke and no pony wants to go in because they’re ghouls and don’t want to turn feral. That is where you come in.” “How do We fix what is broken when We do not know what is wrong?” Filigree rolled her eyes. “Well, I’ll tell you how through the intercom. Let’ me just mark your Pipbuck there…” she grabbed Shock’s foreleg in her taloned hands and flipped through its functions, eventually frowning and facepalming. “How… how could you stand having that many active objectives?!” “Hm?” Shock tilted her head and looked at Filigree. “We assumed they merely went away in time. Though with so many on Our compass, We may or may not have gotten lost.” Filigree rolled her eyes and turned off all the active markers before adding a new one. “There! Now you won’t get lost. Leave your stuff here so it doesn't get irradiated." Shock bowed her head and nodded. *** *** After a slightly long and boring trek, Shock’s Pipbuck began to clickity click as radiation was detected. She smiled a bit and trotted faster into the warm familiar glow as the Pipbuck clicked faster to an almost constant beep with the needle pegged into the red. Shock, however, did not bother turning the clicker off and enjoyed the odd sound it made. She walked over to the door, glanced at the clicking device for the code, and entered it in. The door slid open, washing Shock with warm air that would have made the Pipbuck go insane if it could. Shock’s display showed a sick and crying Stable mare and a warning of deadly radiation poisoning. In the center of the room was a large pool of very dirty looking water, some pipes along the side that fed into the water. One of them was leaking the tepid water onto the ground from the a valve that appeared to have broken off. Shock walked inside the room and looked around. “Professor Filigree?” Shock shouted with her mind, receiving no response so she shouted with her mouth. “I’m here,” came the reply from speakers in the ceiling. Shock looked up at more piped as Filigree continued, "there is a leak somewhere in that room, do you see it?" Shock trotted around the room some as she inspected everything including the clearly broken pipe. "Yes," she called out to Filigree. "But We do not have any tools." "Look around you. Do you see a maintenance cabinet or door?" Shock trotted around the pool with the murky water and looked down, her gaze following the pipes all the way down to the floor where they split into different directions. At the bottom of the pool was the cabinet and the rusty remains of a ladder. Scattered all around the cabinet were various rusted tools. "Yes," Shock nodded. "We see the cabinet at the bottom of a pool." "What?" "That is what We see. A broken ladder reaching down to a pool of water with a door." "Can you get the tools?" "Already on it," Shock said, her horn alight with a jade green glow as she steadily pulled the items through the water with magic. *** *** Shock walked along the tunnels, smiling at the fact that she was heavily irradiated and might melt a hole in the floor if she stood still long enough. She did not care about the rusty tunnels or the fact that she had no gear on because she knew it was safe and sound with Professor Filigree. The gryphon was an enigma to Shock. To Shock, it seemed odd that ghouls would allow Filigree to work on the rocket when she clearly had no idea how to do so. When Shock turned into the room she had left Filigree in, she frowned at the sight. The gryphon was holding the watch on one hand and shaking a bit while she stared at it. "Is something wrong?" Shock asked with her head slightly tilted. She slowly walked over to Filigree and placed her saddlebags back onto her back, and tightened them down. Filigree blinked a couple of times and looked over at Shock, slowly nodding. "Yes. Something is... odd." "What?" "N-nothing!" Filigree shook her head and walked over to some controls, slowly adjusting them while staring at the gauges to make sure they did not go too high or low. "The rocket is ready for launch," she called out to a freestanding microphone nearby. "Good," came a raspy and gritty reply from tinny speakers. "Took you smooth skins long enough." After a few seconds, Filigree looked over at Shock and said, "let's go watch them take off." Shock nodded and motioned for the gryphon to lead the way with a hoof wave. Filigree took the hint and started walking, Shock quickly followed her into the tunnel systems. Her Pipbuck was finally displaying only one compass marker and she would know where to go when she left. As they began climbing a set of stairs, a voice began speaking through speakers set into the walls. "Today is a glorious day. For too long we have been repressed into hiding by the locals, forced to live in the dark where the other monsters live, but now we will rise above them. We will reach into the night sky once more and touch that which is forbidden to others, Luna's glorious moon. Luna has sought to give us two surface dwellers to help us on our way and we thank them. Without their efforts, we would be rats inside a box..." "Like a blue box called a tardis or just a box?" Shock asked the ceiling. At the top of the stairs, Filigree staggered a bit and clutched her spinning head. Names, far away locations and visions of things that were swirled in her head as she fought to regain balance. Shock walked over to the gryphon and wrapped a wing around her. "Are you alright? If you are dizzy, you can ride on Our back the rest of the way." "I am fine," Filigree shook her head, pushed Shock away and stood up, swiping a key card into a machine that beeped. The door opened, revealing a three level room with terminals on each level and five large screens. One such screen showed a static filled picture of the rocket in its silo as it was getting ready to launch. The screen next to it displayed a countdown of five minutes while the screen on the right displayed the trajectory. Shock's eyes were wide as she walked into the room and down the stairs to the very bottom level. Filigree went over to one of the panels and began to adjust the controls, causing the trajectory to line up for a landing on the moon. After a few moments, Shock pulled out the fob watch and stared at the ornate design on the face of it. Odd voices and images whispered to her, but they faded into the normal voices she heard, so the alicorn ended up ignoring them. Filigree stopped adjusting the trajectory and placed a hand to the side of her head, her other hand's talons began to click against the metal machine in a steady rhythm of four taps every so often. Shock looked up from the watch at the taps and tilted her head. "Are you sure you're alright, Professor Filigree?" Filigree quickly shook her feathery head and nodded. "Y-yes," she called out across the room. "Please go around and make sure everything is green or yellow." Shock nodded, setting the fob watch onto a machine before walking over to a few machines displaying critical systems. Some were dark, some were static filled, and some were showing normal or nearly normal. After a few passes, Shock went to pick the watch up with her magic and stopped, noticing that Filigree was holding it and staring at the closed face of the watch. “Professor?” Shock asked with her mouth. She tilted her head some and slowly walked over to her, but stopped halfway when the door opened, drawing her attention to it. In walked a pony both Shock and Filigree recognized to be the assistant that had run away. When she saw Shock, her face went pale, but she gulped and started walking towards them. “H-hey… I, um… found the rockets!” Shock rolled her green eyes. “You’re late,” Professor Filigree said as she shut the watch and pointed a claw at the green alicorn next to her. “She found the rockets you most likely dropped. Did you run from something?” Sticky Hooves gulped and shook her head. “N-no… I was, um… I was sleeping!” she smiled and nodded. “Yes, I was sleeping and when I woke up my bags were gone.” “Liar!” Shock shouted with her mouth. “You’re a dirty liar! You dropped those bags when you saw Us and ran like a scared filly!” "No I didn't!" "I don't care!" Filigree shouted and slammed the watch down on the nearest flat surface. "We have a job to do and an extra set of eyes helps." "Professor Filigree is right," Shock nodded. "Alright, so what do we do?" Sticky Hooves asked. Filigree looked at the clock on the screen and picked up her fob watch. "We've got two minutes to launch. That means at," she flipped the watch open and looked down at it. All train of thought lost as a golden glow surrounded the watch and Filigree's face. Voices, scenes, and other things flowed into her mind. "Professor?!" Sticky Hooves shouted as her eyes went wide. Shock frowned at the magical watch before looking at the clock. "A minute thirty," she mumbled. Filigree snapped the watch shut and glared at Sticky Hooves. “You…” her eyes slowly narrowed as she seethed through her partially shut beak. “How could you stand there for fifteen years and not think to ask about the watch? Not ever?!” “Minute twenty,” Shock said, slowly looking over at the pony and gryphon. She had noted a subtle change in Filigree’s voice, but said nothing about it. “B-bu-but you said it was broken!” Sticky Hooves shouted, her eyes steadily widening as she slowly began walking backwards when Filigree pulled out a .44 revolver. Shock glanced at the clock, and then at the others. “One min-” “Shut up!” Filigree shouted, turning the pistol on Shock and firing it. The bullet slammed into the alicorn’s chest, causing her to flinch as her eyes widened. She looked down at the wound and brought a hoof up to touch it as warm crimson liquid slowly poured out. Filigree rolled her eyes and fired a second time. The bullet slammed into Shock’s foreleg and went clean through into her chest again. “P-P-Professor Filigree, you can’t kill a pony over a watch!” Sticky Hooves shouted as Shock fell to the floor and started coughing up blood. “Professor?” Filigree hissed, stepping over the slowly bleeding out alicorn and aiming the pistol at Sticky Hooves. The other pony bumped into one of the control panels and kept backing up until she was sitting down covering her face with her hooves. “That is not my name! Professor Filigree was made up, so perfect an invention I forgot who I was. I saved you from raiders and this is how you repay me?!” “I didn’t think the watch was important!” Sticky Hooves whimpered. “It was just a beat up old watch… why bother asking about it?” “It was important! You could have released me if only you thought to ask about that watch!” Meanwhile, Shock stared at the blood coming out of her chest and concentrated, her tongue sticking out of her bloodied mouth as her magic reached inside of her. Slowly, she pulled both bullets out and rolled onto her side. As she laid there breathing heavily and coughing up the occasional blood fountain, she felt the warm glow of radiation as it slowly stitched her wounds back together. Sticky Hooves slowly lowered her hooves from her face and looked at Filigree. “Then who are you…?” As Shock slowly drew her machete sized ripper, Filigree took aim at Sticky Hooves and squeezed the trigger three times. Sticky Hooves gasped as the bullets slammed into her chest. “I… am. Your Master,” Filigree whispered to Sticky Hooves. Shock slowly stood up, grabbing the trigger for the ripper and causing it to roar to life. Filigree looked back at Shock as Sticky Hooves slumped over and and started bleeding out. "Right. Alicorn regeneration." She aimed the pistol at Shock and fired the remaining round into her. The bullet slammed into the alicorn's neck, causing her to collapse as blood began gushing out of the artery. Filigree tried to fire again, but the weapon only clicked empty. She shook her head and walked over to a nearby terminal. "Now then," she said while she began typing. "I'm going to show you true power. You're going to sit there like a good dog and I'm going to send these ghouls on a trip they'll never forget." Shock looked over at Sticky Hooves. The dead mare's eyes were wide in shock and a puddle of warm stick blood surrounded her. However, the green alicorn noticed a faint glint coming from under Sticky Hooves. She glanced over at filigree, then at Sticky hooves and slowly used her magic to turn the mare over to get a good look at the glint. What she saw was a small five shot revolver in a holster with a single reload. Shock nodded at her luck and looked up, whispering, "thank you Goddess, thank you." She gently slid the pistol over and un-holstered it as she slowly stood up, aiming the weapon at Filigree's side. Time, for Shell Shock, slowed to a crawl as she slipped into S.A.T.S. and observed Filigree typing on the terminal. She knew that if Filigree completed whatever she was doing, the ghouls probably would not make it. Despite her not knowing who the ghouls were or what they stood for, she knew what she had to do. The green alicorn selected Filigree's chest and gulped, slowly nodding to let the spell drop. Shock felt the targeting spell take hold and help guide her aim as she pulled the trigger once, twice, three times. At the distance she stood, she could not miss her target, but wanted to be sure since tiny pistols were not her favorite of weapons. The first bullet slammed into Filigree's shoulder where it met the rest of her body and burned its way inside her flesh, Shock's second bullet smashed just above the first to the same effect, while the third bored its way into a rib, snapping it on its way into a lung. Filigree stumbled sideways in a cry of pain as her shoulder went limp and the gryphon fell to the ground. Shock slowly walked over to the injured gryphon as the base began shaking. Outside, and on the monitor, one could see the rocket slowly making its way skyward trailing a pillar of fire. However, Shell Shock ignored the screen in favor of looking at the trajectory. The small screen showed an orb representing Equestria, the moon and the sun with a projected flight path that took the rocket around the moon and straight into the sun, cautions Shock to frown. "You're too late!" Filigree laughed, and began coughing violently as blood spilled out of her beak. "They're doomed. You failed!" Shock, however, saw a flashing button marked 'abort launch' and thought for a moment. In that moment of hesitation, Filigree lashed out, her talons tearing flesh and muscle with ease, causing Shock to drop the pistol when her magic field imploded with an audible pop and dropping the pistol to the ground. Filigree quickly swiped the gryphon pistol in her claws and aimed it at Shock, triggering the last two rounds in the cylinder. Both bullets slammed into the alicorn, one burrowing its way almost to her foreleg while the other one barely hit her and sent a chunk of her flesh flying. Shock screamed in agony at having been shot again, her magic gripping the nearby ripper. As it roared to life, Filigree's eyes widened in complete shock. "Why won't you just die?!" the gryphon screamed as the whirring weapon was dragged over and brought up in an arc. "No!" She shouted, triggering the empty weapon a couple of times just before the chainsaw sword was brought down on her chest. Its sharp hellhound teeth ripped through flesh, bone and sinew with ease as it sprayed blood out over the handle. Shock quickly looked over at the terminal and canceled the new flight plan, bringing up the old one where they would orbit the moon before returning to Equestria. The alicorn looked down at the dead gryphon as she pulled out her sword and licked one of the unmoving blades, tilting her head at the odd taste of the blood since it didn’t taste like pony blood, but passed it off as tasting like gryphon blood. With a shrug, she picked up the fob watch that was her payment and began limping out. She didn't care for empty revolvers that could not be used when she went invisible, neither did she care to check the gryphon over for extra bits. Shell Shock only wanted to get home and figure out how to help her alicorn Sister, Mudpie. As she walked out of the room and headed towards a door marked on her compass, a golden glow emanated from the room behind her, but the green glow of her horn and the faded lights nearby made it impossible for her to see. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Wild Wild Wasteland. Due to unforeseen circumstances and other general wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff, some normal encounters are replaced with a Wild Wild Wasteland variant. Which ones are up to speculation because time is ever changing. Author's Note Happy April Fools' Day ;) (Or is it?)
Chapter 4: Sugar & Spice. (Slightly revised 5/26/2014)Chapter 4: Sugar & Spice "How do you shoot an alicorn in the back? What if you miss?" As I set my IF-12 down I looked up at the cloudy sky. After a few moments, green snow slowly fell into my outstretched cyber hoof and I stared at it strangely as I held it close to an eye. Snow wasn’t unusual in the area at that time of year, but... green snow? At the time I had no idea what could have caused it. “Why is the snow green?” I asked to no pony in particular and waved it off. Then wiped the metal hoof on my uniform. Ahead of our defensive trench laid a zebra legion that was trying to take the hill, because it overlooked the other nearby hills. Providing them with a very good location to fire artillery from. Below was a large forest. Behind and above us were six dug in tank destroyers as our makeshift artillery. Open topped, lightly armored, but they packed 90mm cannons. Except everything had stopped as soon as the green snow started falling. It was so strange of an event that even the zebras had stopped to look up. “Look, calm the fuck down and just tell me what happened!” A pony nearly shouted into the radio. There was lots of static as a pony replied. “...There’s a shield around Canterlot. Cloudsdale, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia were obliterated by a megaspell. The pegasi are closing up the sky and are recalling all of their forces!” “What about us?” The radio pony asked calmly, but you could hear his voice tremble slightly. “...Get to a stable if you can... If not, then may Celestia and Luna watch over you.” The radio turned to pure static as our whole squad turned to look at the radio pony. He stared at the radio in shock with wide eyes. “They... abandoned us just like that...?” I whispered to myself. I took a look over the sandbags lining the defensive trench and saw that the zebra’s looked equally confused at the green snow. Then, out of almost nowhere, somepony took a shot at me. It struck the dirt just ahead of the sandbags and partly obscured my vision. So I did the only thing I could think of. I scooped my IF-12 up in magic, aimed down the barrel, and shot the first zebra I saw in the head. He went down like a doll, the others quickly retreated back into cover and the shooting resumed. After ducking down behind the sandbags, I looked at the highest ranking pony I saw and shouted. “The fuck do we do, Lieutenant?” He was a power armored Steel Ranger Paladin from what I remembered. “We're at least a thousand miles from the nearest stable,” he said from behind his mask with a slight echo. “So we hold this hill as ordered.” “But ya heard the radio and look at this shit falling!“ Another pony piped in as the medic started to pass out RadSafe, RadAway and gas masks. ”Do we really have to stay-” “We have no other choice!” Another pony shouted at him. ”There’s a zebra legion in front of us. Which need I remind you is the bottom of the hill? We have no air support either thanks to the chickens pulling out.” “But we’ve got artillery.” I smiled as I nodded my horn towards the vehicles parked above us. “Shouldn’t we make a truce with the zebras? ‘Cause... ya know?” Another pony asked at the same time she pointed up. I shook my head. Newbies didn’t get it. The zebras hated us and never listened to reason. They were fanatical in their wanting to fight to the last. The Lieutenant slapped my shoulder with a metallic hoof, drawing my attention to him. “You’ve got the loudest voice here, ask em.” I nodded as I set the rifle down and cleared my throat in preparation to cast a spell an unknown pony taught me while they were drunk. “GOOD EVENING FINE ZEBRA WARRIORS,” I shouted as loud as I could. My voice echoed off nearly everything which made it impossible for them to not hear me. “AS YOU CAN SEE THE WORLD HAS GONE TO SHIT. IN LIGHT OF RECENT CHANGES WE PROPOSE A TRUCE TO STOP THIS NEEDLESS FIGHTING. WHAT SAY YOU?” Another shot cracked overhead and almost grazed my ear which made me drop lower behind the sandbags. I looked at the others as a zebra shouted, “fuck you! The war is not over!” “Well I asked nicely.” I shrugged. The Lieutenant grabbed me with one of those metal hooves and said. “Dog, go run up there and tell those lazy bums to pound the hell out of the zebras. We’re getting off this damn hill tonight.” I nodded and tossed the IF-12 over the back of the trench before crawling up after it. ***===***===*** Something nudged my side, breaking my dream before it was over, as a mare asked, "hey, are you okay?" "Sick," We groaned and kept Our eyes shut. Our stomach felt like it was doing somersaults and the world swayed this way and that as if on a ship. We also felt cold sweat beading off Our brow and the smell wet dirt. The blades from the Pipbuck were still in Our leg because We could feel them tugging ever so slightly at the flesh. There was the sound of a hollow metal object being set down nearby. "Here, use this if it you’re gonna hurl," the mare said. “That poison’s not good for you.” 'How is it another pony is alive down here? Who is she?' We thought to Ourself as the world slowly stopped moving. We cracked a heavy eyelid open, Our eye revealing Us to be in one of the living quarter rooms. The walls were a moss covered grey, the floor didn't fare much better as it had debris piled in a corner. We were laying on a bed with a tattered blanket over Us. Our weapons were stacked neatly against the wall and... cleaned. The Zebra Rifle was dull, but no longer a dingy green color. "How long were We out?" We asked with Our mouth, but it came out like a croak. "About fourteen hours." The mare responded rather quickly from nearby. Our gaze went to the maroon muzzle of a pegasus mare looking at Us with golden eyes. On her head was a sort of dark khaki colored mask with the visor up and it took Us awhile to recall what it was; an Enclave power armor helmet. Our eyes slowly narrowed as We stumbled off the bed and staggered over as she took a step back. We instinctively reached out with magic and wrapped it around her heart. She groaned as the precious organ began to slow from Our spell. We could feel it trying to resist, but a grin formed on Our face as We squeezed tighter. The Enclave trooper fell to the floor as she clutched her chest. "I... saved you!" She grunted with effort through the pain the spell no doubt caused. We stopped in shock as Our eyes went wide and the pressure was released, causing her to gasp in relief. She did help Us, but why? She is Our enemy! We put Our horn to her head and connected with her mind. What We saw in her memories troubled Us. Her name was Wraith of the Grand Pegasus Enclave and her armor was not as good as full Enclave power armor, but close. It was known as light trooper armor because she was not meant to fight much. She and five others had been sent ahead to Oakwood as scouts for five Raptor class cloudships to find out if the island was viable to build a new base of operations on. Apparently the Enclave were in trouble because a group of impure wasteland ponies had destroyed quite a few cloudships in an attack of some kind. But Eclipse had talked like there were Enclave already here? Maybe these were reinforcements. Though We find it unlikely to believe they had been here for long. We looked forward in her memories to make sure she had not done anything to Us beyond cleaning Our weapons, she had not. Of the six scouts they had sent, Wraith was the only one left alive. Like Mudpie and I. Mudpie was what was left of one alicorn wing, and I of another. We lifted Our horn and stepped back. Wraith groaned again as she slowly recovered from the attack that we did not know we could do. We looked down, extending a hoof. "We thank thee for helping Us, but thou art Enclave and We suspected malice." She knocked the hoof away with a scowl and stood, swaying slightly. We went back to the bed and sat down while awaiting a response. "And I wasn't expecting to find an alicorn down here. I ne-" "Need Our help in recovering data from the computer maneframe." Wraith nodded as We finished with, "We read your memories." "Then you know that I shouldn't even be talking to you-" "But you have no choice." We smiled. Finishing her sentences is fun! Though she didn't seem to think so as she glared, her midnight blue tail moving side to side like it had its own mind. "Right... So are ya gonna help me?" She tilted her head. We sat on Our haunches as We rubbed our forehooves together, giving her a devious smile when a truly wicked plan came to mind involving the Enclave and Steel Rangers. Thy enemy of thine enemy is Our friend. That is how it goes, yes? We shall get these two factions to fight, and wash our hooves of the Steel Rangers once and for all. It’s perfect! What could go wrong? Wraith took a step back and looked over at Our weapons as Our telepathy picked up surface thoughts. "Perhaps I can get to one of those before this goes bad..." "Wraith, We shall help thee in exchange for your Raptors helping Us." She quickly looked back at Us with wide eyes. "What do you mean?! Yer a fuckin' alicorn! How could you need the Enclave's help?" "We have been here for twenty years and know Oakwood. Currently We are in a losing battle with the Steel Rangers. They have access to things We cannot comprehend. Such as this," We held up thy Pipbuck, "a Pipbuck that was modified to drive blades into Our leg should We attempt to remove it, this We found out the hard way. You Enclave ponies help Us against the Steel Rangers, and We will assist you in any way We can. Think of it as a mercenary contract, or a favor for a favor." She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then looked over at Our stuff, turning around and trotting over to Raul's flamethrower. "So we help you and you'll work for us. Just like that?" she asked as she looked down at the flame spitting weapon of death. We wonder what she means... Perhaps she does not trust Us? Wraith looked back at Us with one eye as she turned her head to the side. We smiled at her. "It benefits us both. We will get revenge and your Masters get to move about unhindered by alicorns." She clearly did not believe Us based off her muzzle forming a frown. With a sigh, We pulled what We knew of Enclave and came up with an idea. "They dare to fly above the clouds with stolen Vertibucks. We thought Enclave claims the sky above the clouds as theirs?" She shut her eyes as if she was thinking, and after a while, she sighed. "Fine, I'll see what I can do, but I can't be the one to tell my boss. If I walk up and say I was contacted by an alicorn..." Wraith shuddered. "They'll rip the memories from my brain in a not so delicate manner and leave me as a drooling vegetable." Her gaze went to the chainsaw Ripper as she flicked her midnight blue tail towards it. "I'll take that weapon in exchange for helping you, but you will have to contact them yourself." We nodded in agreement. "Where do we begin in search of these research documents you need?" "My guess is the research lab three floors down?" *** *** We stopped to put a hoof on the wall for balance as the world shifted and tilted around the two of us. Wraith looked back at Us with the orange bug eyes of the kevlar suit as she hovered in place. We found it odd how her wings and muzzle are exposed, but We shall leave armor design to better ponies. The hallway we were in took awhile to settle and before it was over We turned Our head and dry heaved. "You're not doing so hot," Wraith commented on the obvious. Thy Pipbuck mirrored her words, telling Us that We were still poisoned somehow and irradiated. But if We had lethal amounts of radiation in Us, would We not get better? Luckily the poison is nearly gone according to the display on Our foreleg. Only another few hours. We are unsure how it knows this, as it will not display the type of poison. We looked at an offered bottle of water and noticed it was very murky looking. "It's irradiated and dirty," Wraith explained. "No way I’m drinking it, so I'm giving it to you." We took the bottle and eyed it suspiciously. "Why art thou helping Us like so? We nearly killed thee." "And we’re in a place with some kind of killer plants. We're stuck together until we get outta here. Whether I like you or not, which I don't ‘cause you tried to kill me. Now I have heard that alicorns have impenetrable shields. I don't wanna lose an ally with something like that in here." We nodded, opened the bottle and drank it all as the Pipbuck complained, telling Us that We were at almost 800 rads now. We need to get that feature removed if We can't get this off my leg! Our hind legs gave out as We slumped to a sitting position, staring at the floor in all its dirt covered glory. "Wraith... We wish to ask you... a... question, regarding stallions and mares." "Wut?" Her jaw was hung open as We looked up from the floor. She closed it and replied. "You're not joking, are you?" I shook my head. "No... We wish to know for a friend, a blue alicorn. Does it mean that he took advantage of her if they woke up in the same bed, and she has no memory of the previous night? We did not know the answer. She is very confused." She scratched her chin as she looked around the dirty hallway. We did not expect an answer, but the question only recently came to mind and it was grating at Our mind. "This other mare, how did she feel in the morning?" Wraith asked pointedly. "Head pounding hangover and feeling tired, though she did not have time to contemplate as the ponies there thought she stole things. So she ran away and found Us. We... are taking care of her as she is still very sick and nearly unable to move." With a shrug Wraith turned around, slowly flying forward. "Dunno. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Never was in a situation like that myself." She came to the end of the hallway, stopping and looking both ways before hissing. "Why did they have to make these places so confusing?!" Lifting Our left foreleg up, We clicked the interior map and noticed it was only partially complete. We used magic to move it around to see what it had mapped out so far. Our ears picked up the flapping of Wraith's wings as she hovered next to Us to look over Our shoulder. "We seem to be lost," We told her. "You have taken us in circles." “Yeah?” She huffed. “Well let's see you do better!" With a smile, We nodded Our horn to the left. "Perhaps we should head that way? Left always works good for Us." "Well I planned on heading left, so we're going right." We arched a brow and stood fully so that We could look down at her. Wraith matched Our gaze with those bug eyes, then moved close enough that she bumped Our nose. We smiled, projecting into her head. "You do realize that We could stop your heart again, right?" She pulled back, drawing the chainsword and gripping it with her mouth, though her bar stayed blue. "I’ll ta'e yu wiff me!" She mumbled over the roaring blade, causing Us to roll Our eyes. As if We are afraid of her in here! There is hardly enough room to swing such a large weapon unless you use magic! Except We have told this mare We would help her and this is what We are going to do, as per our agreement that We do not believe they will uphold. With a nod and a wave of Our forehoof We replied, "lead the way then, oh fearless leader." *** *** Our gaze wandered down to Wraith's flank as she slowly flew along in front of Us. We wonder what her Cutie Mark is? Before she could look back We lifted Our Pipbuck, opening the map to distract Our brain from random terrible thoughts of mare on mare action. Though We have always wondered what… NO! We shook Our head and locked that idea in a box, wrapped said box in chains, then put it inside another box, then put that box inside one sealed with concrete, and tossed the whole thing into an active volcano. A frown formed on Our face as We looked at the map. "Stop,” We said to her with Our mind. “We are going in circles." She turned around. "Seriously?" We held out Our foreleg so she could look at the map. A deep frown also formed on her face when she saw the map. The maroon pegasus threw her hooves in the air with a deep groan, "fine, whatever! You lead now." We nodded and turned left at the same hallway We had told her too. As We trotted around one of those glowing plants, We gave it a quick wing slap, giggling as it lit the hallway in a yellow light. We turned Our head forward and continued, glancing up at the ceiling and noticing that it had roots poking out of cracked concrete. We followed Our Pipbuck compass marker, making another right and stopping. At the middle point of the hallway was a purple bulb with one of those monstrous foal creatures laying next to it. We held out a wing to stop Wraith. "Great," Wraith hissed. "Just what we needed. See what happens when ya follow..." Her voice trailed off to mumbling as the bulb bloomed and two orange bars popped up on my E.F.S. We shoved her out of the way, the both of us crashing to the floor as a barb flew overhead. We quickly stood, pointed Our forehoof at Our foes and bit down on the saddle’s bit, sending a jet of fire at the galloping green creature. It shrieked and rolled around as the flower turned into a bulb again, but We did not wait to see if it could fire a second barb. Our stream of fire engulfed the plant as it squealed and deep in the facility, we heard a roar of one of those yellow pods. I looked over at Wraith and put a wing to my lips, she nodded in agreement. Turning my attention back to the monster, I finished it off just as it put out the flames. We put the hoof down, continuing past the burning plant and ignoring the smoke filling the hallway. It wasn’t long before the hallway turned again at a T. As we turned left We saw a yellow pod at the end near a door marked stairwell. A bright orange bar was already on our E.F.S, causing me to hiss in annoyance as there is no way to avoid it. As We looked over at Wraith, We pulled the chainsword out of its sheathe much to her surprise, but after the purple flower incident she just crossed her forelegs. "Please do not make a sound," We projected into her head. Wraith nodded and dropped to the ground, sitting down as she withdrew a magazine on Zebra Infiltration Tactics from a pocket. She waved a wing towards the pod to silently tell Us to go deal with it. We turned, wondering why a pegasus would be reading about stealth and hoof-to-hoof fighting, because We thought they all used energy weapons. Why would she even read a time like this?! The pod's tongue unrolled and landed on the ground with a wet slap before quickly shooting out toward Us. The tongue wrapped around Our leg with the flamethrower nozzle and pulled hard before We could even react. We felt too slow without Dash as We lost Our footing and slammed into the floor with a thud, feeling the ground slide as We were pulled towards the monster. The chainsaw blade came down on the outstretched tongue, slicing through whatever it was as if it were paper and spraying green blood all over the place. We sneered at the pod as We hovered off the ground, pointing the nozzle and burning it while it roared, and withered.“THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS DEMANDS YOUR DEATH!” We shouted loudly with Our mind and moved forward in the air. The chainsword was brought down right on the center of the yellow plant, slicing it in half and filling the hallway with the most Goddess awful stench as it split in two! A noise drew Our attention as Wraith attempted to open the door, she banged a hoof against the wall terminal in frustration. “Fuckin’ locked out!” Our eyes narrowed as We looked at the plant, then her. “You snuck by while We were attacking?” “Duh? You said to not make a sound, so I didn’t make a sound. What was that ‘Goddess’ bit?” “We... it was something We heard before and decided to say...?” We smiled nervously as Our cheeks darkened ina blush of embarrassment. Hopefully the lie worked as We did not exactly know why We said it. As it came naturally. “Whatever, look we’re stuck down here now unless you can teleport.” We shook Our head and she sighed. “Figures. I’m stuck with the only alicorn that can’t teleport.” Does she not know Our spells were shared and only purples actually know how unless taught by others? As We put a hoof to the door, We probed it with magic and found that it was just a basic thick steel door which was electronically sealed. We grinned at an idea. The chainsaw sword roared to life as We gripped it with Our magic and shoved it into the steel, its Hellhound teeth slicing clean through without any trouble like it did to Our shield. Wraith’s eyes most likely mirrored her jaw dropping. Slowly and carefully, We sawed at the metal as red hot sparks flew back at the two of us. Wraith jumped back to avoid them, but We stayed put. Our nostrils picked up the smell of burning paint and metal while We spent a good part of five minutes cutting through the door; the blade made an arch and sliced downward. We pulled it out and flipped it over, slicing down to the floor on the original cut. When that was done We pulled the chainsword back and tossed it to Wraith, she looked at its glowing red teeth in awe. “Oh I’m definitely never going to give this thing up.’” She put it away as We bucked the new door down, making sure to avoid the sharp glowing edges, and hopped over the slag on the floor. The stairwell beyond was like the hallway; dirty floor, walls, cracked ceiling and some broken lights. We stepped forward and everything went out, only to be replaced by flashing red lights and a warning alarm. Our gaze went to the ceiling as a detached mare intoned with an echo, “warning: Security breach detected on floor five, unknown lifeform detected. Initiating lockdown and self destruct procedures.” “I’ve been down here for three days and it takes you to break it?!” Wraith groaned. We did not have time to respond as the ground rumbled beneath Our hooves. We glanced back as a very large green root slammed into the wall, filling the hallway and turning towards us. The front of the root opened wide to reveal sharp teeth and another yellow pod that likewise opened. “RUN!” We telepathically screamed and galloped down the stairs. Wraith beat Us to the bottom and was working on the door while We pointed a hoof up, ready to burn that giant plant root. We could hear her hooves furiously prancing across the keyboard as she attempted to open the door. The stairwell shook and sent dirt down as the root slammed into the door, its yellow pod squeezed through and sent the tongue down to us. We jumped to the side, shooting fire back up in the same movement. It roared and recoiled, but quickly struck out again. Before We could react, it Wrapped around Our neck and pulled, choking all the air out of Us as if We were being hung by a rope. We instinctively let go of the bit as We were pulled off the ground so as to not burn Wraith. Our hoof with the Pipbuck beat at the tongue. Then, when that failed, We tried to rip off the tongue to no avail as Our vision turned black at the edges and the monster squeezed tighter. “Sword!” We telepathically shouted. It felt like an eternity before it crossed Our vision; Our sight was nearly all the way black. We watched as the blade tumbled through the air and sliced across the tongue. Our stomach leapt into Our throat as We fell three feet before flapping Our wings. We caught the sword in magic, revved it to life, and tossed it, striking the yellow pod square in the mouth and grinned as it went clean through. We grabbed the blade with magic and brought it down across the large root, spraying its smelly ichor everywhere in the process. “Got it!” Wraith shouted as the door hissed open. We quickly pulled the blade back to Us and sent fire towards the root before retreating through the door. She was already at the keys and shutting it. When it slammed shut, Wraith breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew that was close.” Our eyes widened as We took in the hallway and poked her with a hoof over and over. “What?!” She looked at Us, then followed our gesture. This hallway was covered in vines, purple flowers, and two yellow pods with foal monsters and larger monsters, though there were no bars on our E.F.S. “Do not make a noise,” We told her with Our mind, “We think they hunt via sound.” “Shit...” she barely whispered before gulping. We nodded in agreement as that is most appropriate word to describe the situation. The chainsaw sword was floated silently back into its sheath on her back. "Please climb on. We will go invisible and sneak by." We explained while laying down. Wraith used a wing to point at the large triple tanked flamethrower. We facehoofed as We had forgotten about it being so big! Our gaze went down the hallway as the thought of using Our shield came to mind, but Wraith stepped forward. "Wait!" We called out with Our mind as We tried to stop her. She looked back and held a wing to her lips. I watched as Wraith took one extremely slow step after another. Hardly moving or even breathing as she did so. It was like watching a turtle walk while high on Dash. She sidestepped one of the purple bulbs as it looked at where she had last been. Surely they must see her walking?! Even though We wished to know her limits, We feared for her safety. With a deep breath, We cast Our invisibility spell and followed after her, eyeing each plant and monster in turn. Wraith froze as one of the yellow pods opened up, We likewise stopped. As We looked at her body We could see she was not even breathing as the tongue felt the air. Her gaze went down as it wrapped itself around her leg, going up to her chest and feeling her wing. Then the tongue tensed and pulled tight. In a cry of shock, Wraith fell down and was quickly dragged towards rows of sharp teeth. Stealth forgotten We lifted Our hoof, spraying the pod with fire at the same time We unsheathed the chainsword from her back and sliced across the tongue. Letting the weapon drop to the floor. Wraith quickly picked it up in her teeth, but could not swing it properly in the tight confines, so she staggered back as the pod roared, but We kept the flame going. However its roar was answered by everything in the hallway. "Door!" We shouted with Our mind. Wraith tossed the blade over and turned for the door. We caught it and brought the spinning blade down on the pod. Then We turned around, seeing many orange bars. Our eyes narrowed. "Do you have Dash?" We asked, barely dodging a barb as it struck wall. We could have sworn We felt the whing graze Our neck. "No! Why would I have that illegal stuff?” Wraith shouted and typed furiously as a creature leapt into the air. We brought up Our Pipbuck to block the bite, then sprayed the creature in the face with fire. We pushed it back with an unladylike grunt. "Don’t lie to Us!" "I've only got two left," she whined. We quickly glared at her, then took the inhaler as it was tossed over. We huffed the whole dose and smiled as the world slowed to a crawl. Ahead of Us lay a rolling and burning foal monster, two more behind it, and four of the full grown ones. There were an equal number of plants. It looked as if the adults guarded the pods. One of the purple flowers shot a barb at Us, that we caught in magic and put in Our saddlebag so that We may find out what it is. Our hoof came up to engulf the whole hallway in fire as the chainsword chopped anything that got through. We ducked as another barb came flying towards Us, sidestepping right, then pointed at the flower and burnt it to a crisp. Something large and green slammed into us as air was knocked from our lungs. We swung the Pipbuck to thump its brains in, which was ineffective due to thick scales. With a scowl, We reached out with magic, finding the monster's heart and instantly squeezed it flat as We slid along the floor. It dropped in a lifeless heap on top of Us. We pushed the body aside, pointing Our hoof at a yellow pod that decided to try dragging Us towards it by the tail. "Door's open!" Wraith shouted. The chainsword severed the tongue. We rolled to Our hooves and backed towards the door, catching a foal monster with the jet of fire. It shrieked and rolled around as We swept the nozzle up to the ceiling, having noticed movement. Then the door filled our vision and was blackened by the fire. We let go of the trigger and glanced at the now half empty gauges. With a nod, We gave the chainsword back to Wraith. "Dost thou still think thy research data to be useful?" We asked with a tilt of Our head. She furiously scratched at her armor with a hoof and Our gaze slowly went over to it. Our eyes widened when We noticed a puncture wound near her hind leg above where the Cutie Mark would be. "Why didn't you say something?!" Wraith staggered and slumped to the floor, breathing slowly through her nose as she wobbled. We felt her pockets and bags for anything, finding a Dash inhaler and some Party-Time Mint-Als. We floated the inhaler to her lips. "Please take this!" We said with Our mouth. “It’ll help you so we can get out of here!” She pushed the mask up with a hoof and We could see her golden eyes were bloodshot, indicating she probably already had one. "No, I already had one dose. Two might kill me." Wraith said, confirming Our suspicions. We nodded slowly. "Perhaps there is a cure?" She groaned and curled up into a ball. "Leave me to die, please?" We stuffed the PTM's in a pocket and unhooked the flamethrower. Then lifted Wraith up and laid her across Our back as she complained about wanting to die like the others had died. After that was done, We held the borrowed flamethrower in front of Us with magic and trotted deeper into the facility. *** *** The chainsword finished its work on the door, and We bucked it down. We put everything away, placing Wraith across Our back again before trotting forward. Inside the large room We saw it was not overgrown or dirty at all. There was a very large arcane computer thing taking up most of the wall and racks of beeping electronics stood between Us and the giant thing making a corridor of death if We were attacked. We trotted forward, stopping to wonder about this or that. When We finally reached the large maneframe We set Wraith down, then nudged her with Our nose and frowned when she wouldn't wake up. Her breathing was very slow as if she were dead. We hoped she would be okay. My gaze went to a glowing terminal as We trotted over to it and lifted Our Pipbuck, before hooking it into the machine like Rose has instructed us to do. Our eyes narrowed as tons and tons of numbers, letters and symbols flashed across it. Then everything stopped and it asked for a password. We... do not know how this works, perhaps We should wait for Wraith to wake up first? With a shake of my head, I sighed. No, We can not, because We heard the base say self-destruct and that is not a good thing. My gaze went back to the terminal as We bit Our lower lip. There appeared to be four chances and lots of strange symbols with about twelve different words. We tried ‘Aliens’ and it flashed an error. A glance revealed that We were down to three tries. We tapped Our hoof against the screen in concern, then scanned the strange symbols, wondering what some of the ones that look mirrored were. We tried one and a message of ‘Dud Removed’ was displayed, it removed the one we had just tried. With a groan of annoyance, We stomped Our hoof down, then looked around making sure no pony saw it. As it is unladylike. Wraith was still in her coma like state and the monsters were off wherever. We smiled and tried a few more times, leaving the terminal with only one chance left. After disconnecting the Pipbuck We began to pace. How much time was left on the self-destruct? Do we have enough time to escape? We stopped, looking up at the ceiling and attempting to connect to Mudpie, but found her unconscious. So We tried Blue. “Sister, can you hear Us?” “Yes... who is this?” Came a voice that was decidedly not Mudpie’s, or Rj’s. It was male, which We do not find odd as We have heard of stallions being converted. Still, it must be horrible for them to end up as a mare instead of a stallion alicorn. “It is Shell Shock. We seem to be trapped and a terminal vexes Us with its sciency ways.” “What happened? You vanished and I got worried. I thought that you died.” “We... I decided to help a ghoul and got trapped. There is a terminal that I have almost been locked out of.” “Just back out of it and you can try again if you didn’t lock it out.” We looked back at it, walking over and watching as it refilled its screen with new words. “Thank you, I shall be back within the day or two.” “You’re welcome,” she replied as we broke the connection. This seems like a bad design for terminal security. If it resets your chances every time you go in, then what is the point? Almost any pony with enough time can crack it. Even one as stupid as We are! Did I seriously just think that? Oh Goddess... We... are not stupid! We tried three more times before backing out and scowling at the stupid device. As We backed out again We banged Our hoof against the metal wall in annoyance. Confound these terminals, they make Us wish We had a drink! With a deep sigh, We recomposed Ourself and nodded. When We get out of here We are buying, or borrowing, a weeks worth of alcohol. As We hath lost Ours when Eclipse stole Our gear. It took Us all of seven retry attempts before We cracked it. The password was Snails. What a silly passcode. That is like 12345, only an idiot dumber than Us would have that on their luggage! As the terminal faded to a new screen We saw four entries, one was the research data which was downloaded onto the Pipbuck, or would have if it were there. Our eyes narrowed as We read that the data had been downloaded almost three hours ago, causing all the data on the terminal to become corrupted. We hissed through our teeth. Wraith is not going to like that! Inside one folder were useless notes, such as this one: Subject Three has responded unusually to the modifications and had to be put down. Perhaps I can fix this with time? I need to acquire more test subjects. This problem of them becoming hostile is merely a setback! We opened one of the folders labeled ‘Security’ and saw that it showed various views of the complex, including the first hallway We had cut a door open on. It stands to reason that a pony, whom had access to this terminal, also saw Us cutting the door and initiated the lockdown. We nodded, as that makes the most sense as this terminal showed… That we only had two hours to get out of there before the base self-destructs. My eye twitched. *** *** We followed the mysterious pony’s trail of destruction through the facility. Whoever it was had not been meticulous in their destruction, plants were ripped to shreds as if they had been hit by.... We stopped and looked down at the foal monster, giving it a kick with a hoof and seeing at least twenty holes torn through it. Steel Rangers! We scowled at nothing. Wraith most definitely will not like this! Our gaze went up towards a shredded yellow pod and saw a partial set of power armor. Only a hind leg and tail section remained with the rest appearing to be inside the yellow pod. Trotting over to it, We looked down and lifted the hind leg with magic. Immediately dropping it in shock as We saw a withered husk of a pony still attached and stripped of armor. We touched their orange body with the barrel of the flamethrower as We dared not touch it with a hoof! His tight flesh cracked and fell apart as if it had been set in the sun to dry out. The remaining armor looked melted as if dipped in acid. My gaze went back to a comatose Wraith. What would make her want to die in such a manner? It must surely be painful. And how could these plants strip a Steel Ranger of armor and suck all the fluids out? We glanced down at the Pipbuck. An hour and five minutes left. Ignoring the dead pony, I picked up my pace and galloped through the overgrown hallways. *** *** My ears picked up the draconic roar of a minigun as We galloped along. The roar of the minigun was answered by an even larger roar. Our E.F.S. picked up a wall of orange and five blue ticks through the wall in front of Us. We turned right, following that shredded hallway and making a left. Upon seeing an open door that had vines growing around its edges, We slowed our pace as in the dark room beyond, We saw a large shadow moving. We burst through the door at the same time a large root slipped by Our vision with a screaming and kicking pony in its grasp. Narrowing our eyes, We brought out the chainsword and revved it to life as We chased after the pony along the catwalk. We happened to glance right. Our eyes widened at the largest and most hideous orange plant we have ever seen. It was not yellow, but orange with eyes and a mouth. Flailing about the room were other large tendrils as they attempted to snatch the four heavily armed ponies down below. We jumped up, taking to the air and bringing the chainsword down on the root, which did not let go of the pony. Instead its grip tightened. With a scowl We pushed deeper. Then withdrew the sword and placed the flamethrower’s nozzle in the gap before triggering it. Fire shot back out as it burned the inside of the root, which recoiled and dropped the pony. We caught them with magic before they fell farther than a foot and did not care that they were a Steel Ranger. These ponies have something we want, and so We shall be nice to them until we get that data. Then all bets are off. The large Steel Ranger was tossed onto the catwalk, he stood up and turned his minigun towards the monster in the center of the room. We furiously beat Our wings to gain altitude as we aimed the flamethrower down, spraying the fire anywhere We could get an opening while dodging the roots. As we looked down at the Steel Rangers we boomed. “DO NOT ATTACK US, FOR WE ARE HERE TO HELP!” They did not seem to care, because they kept firing at the large creature. However their weapons were ineffective. We knew not what madness drove a pony to create such a creature! We flew a wide circle around it and noticed the room to be much, much, larger than the atrium we entered from. A glance down at the Pipbuck revealed only forty minutes left. Something grabbed Our hind leg and We cried out in shock as We were pulled from the air. As We looked down, We saw one of the green roots with its maw wide open and a yellow pod’s tongue wrapped around Our leg. A jet of fire was telekinetically shoved into its gullet, the orange plant monster roared and another tongue wrapped around Our other leg. They spread Our hind legs apart, causing fire to burn through the sockets as tendons ripped. I screamed in agony. My eyes widened as I saw Wraith slip off, falling limply towards the ground. I quickly caught her with magic while slicing at the plant tongues with the chainsword. Breathing a sigh of relief when the pain faded to a dull ache as I felt radiation begin to heal me. I hovered Wraith onto my back and brought up my shield, looking at the monster’s mouth, then up at the flamethrower outside the shield. No more missus nice mare! The flamethrower saddle was tossed as I telekinetically boomed. “SHOOT THE TANKS!” The flamethrower saddle flew through the air as minigun fire tracked it. Most of the shots missed, but a few struck the tank and spilt its liquid over everything including the creature’s mouth, but it did not catch fire. My eyes narrowed at this most troubling problem. That always seemed to work in the pre-war films of old. Regardless, I landed in front of the truly monstrous creature and looked up, way up, towards one of its eyes. I staggered sideways as a green tentacle slammed into my shield, engulfing Wraith and I whole. I did not worry as Wraith slipped off and landed on the bottom of the shield. Glancing right, I saw that the tentacle was hollow as if it were some kind of gullet. As I gripped the handle of the chainsword in magic, I brought it up and sliced into the artificial daylight of the room. Then spun the blade around in a circle as I sliced its absurd teeth filled maw clean off the rest of the tentacle. It quickly withdrew as it fell limply to the floor, causing me to chuckle at it with a grin. Easy food? We think not! My gaze fell upon the monster’s eye as I took flight and gained altitude as another tentacle wrapped around my shield. The bubble flickered as the creature attempted to squeeze as hard as it could. Concentrating almost as much as I could, I pouring more magic into the shield to keep it up longer, then looked the beast directly in the eye. Its toothy maw opened wide as we were pulled towards it. “WHAT ART THOU LOOKING AT, UGLY?” I telepathically boomed as I shoved the chainsword right into its eye. It roared in pain as green ichor sprayed back at my shield, which I am thankful for, and the tentacle quickly withdrew. Only to slam back into us and sent us flying across the room. My gaze went to the sword and telekinetically tugged it across flesh and bone. The monster roared in agony as the chainsword slowly sawed its way towards the other eye. My gaze tracked the red glow of a rocket as it slammed into the vine covered floor. Flames burst to life as the flamethrower fuel was finally ignited, causing the beast to roar even louder. The ground beneath one Steel Ranger erupted as the blue vine from yesterday returned, it touched him and retreated. My eyes widened in horror as his armor quickly crumpled flat like he had been stepped on! Withdrawing the chainsword from the beast, I glanced around and saw that the Steel Rangers were retreating towards a door that I suspected to be an exit. A glance down at thy Pipbuck showed thirty minutes. Our shield failed and Wraith tumbled to the ground. A green tentacle wrapped itself around me and squeezed before I had a chance to catch her. I could feel my bones wanting to break and, indeed, they did so one by one. A shriek of pain left thine lips as I shut my eyes. It only squeezed tighter, audibly cracking bones and crushing my body. Warmth spread throughout it as it attempted to heal at the same time. We were thankful to the Goddess for all the beautiful radiation We had absorbed! When I opened my eyes I saw rows and rows of sharp teeth looking at me as the end of the tentacle opened wide, ready to bite my head off. I quickly looked at the remaining eye of the beast, engulfing it with magic and squeezing as hard as I could. It sprayed its jelly like fluid everywhere like one were squeezing a lemon as it let go. I fell to the vine covered floor and hacked at the green vines attempting to crawl over Wraith. The ground rumbled beneath us. We instinctively took flight while scooping her in magic just before a blue vine burst from the ground, followed quickly by others. The chainsword lopped off the vines as they closed the gap and we flew higher. We sliced and diced at the killer plant before it retreated underground again. As I looked around, I saw that the Steel Rangers had used it being distracted on Us to fall back. The cowards. We dodged a green tendril and brought thine chainsword down, causing it to withdraw. With no other choice as I now do not have backup, we chased after the Steel Rangers. *** *** We hobbled along, looking down at the Pipbuck map to see if We were going in circles. The hallway was too narrow for flight and it appeared as if the Steel Rangers were heading deeper into the facility. As We set the leg down, We picked up the pace and felt the ground shudder as one of the large tentacle roots slammed into the wall behind Us. The flashing red lights We did not like, as it made visual detection of any living killer plant creatures impossible unless We were on top of them. This We knew from previous checks. It would not do well to look back any longer. The hallway ahead was a mess of shredded plants from minigun fire and We jumped over a dead foal monster, sliding around a right hand bend while making sure Wraith did not fall off. We saw the blue bars on our E.F.S, so We knew We were on the right track. Something slammed into Us, shoving both Wraith and I into the wall, the chainsword clattering uselessly to the ground. I slid down the wall and looked up at the toothy maw of one of those tentacles as it lunged a second time. I brought thine chainsword around, slicing across its side in one fell swoop. The tentacle sprayed green ichor across Wraith as it withered in pain. The sword came down again and split it lengthwise. As I staggered to my hooves, I scooped Wraith up in magic and did not look back. Our heart furiously beat in Our chest while Our wings burned under the skin where We had been been bitten by the rat monsters. We felt a rumble deep in the base as the detached mare intoned. “Warning: self-destruct imminent. Counting down from thirty seconds... Twenty-nine... Twenty-eight...” With a roll of Our eyes, We blocked out the voice and galloped faster, breaking into a full on run as sweat ran down our face. The hallways became a blur and We thought that perhaps We should have taken the last dose of Dash. But no. We shook Our head and concentrated on running. As We turned left again We saw the rear end of a power armored Steel Ranger with a blue bar. He glanced back at Us and it flickered to orange as he turned around, the minigun rapidly spooling up. Our chainsword revved to life, and in a spray of sparks and blood We severed his head from his body. We did not slow down as the rumbling increased. “Twenty... Nineteen....” Seventeen, We counted in Our head as We turned right. Ahead of Us lay an open door with the remaining Steel Ranger bars, Our eyes widened in shock as it was swung shut and the wheel was spun. We slid to a stop as We heard the boring base mare intone as We spun the wheel. “Ten... Nine... Eight... Six... Five...” The door was shoved open and We ran through into a sort of underground subway system. Glancing left, We saw nothing, so We bounded right and could hear the mare continue. “Four... Three... Two... One... Have a nice day!” Dirt rained down on Us as the complex exploded. We did not look back. Instead, We spread Our wings and took flight. We looked down as We began following the tracks for the subway. Ahead of Us, about two hundred yards away, were the three remaining Steel Rangers. We beat Our wings, flying overhead and landing before them in the dark confines. We stood on Our hindlegs as We held a hoof to the air and spread Our glorious wings, momentarily forgetting about Wraith as she slid off with a thud. “HALT!” We boomed telepathically in the Royal Canterlot Voice. The three blue bars slid to a stop twenty yards away. We could see they were all in power armor, two carried miniguns and a mare carried a grenade machine gun and missile launcher setup. One of them was almost as tall as We were. Overall We would be outmatched even with Our shield. Perhaps they do not know that We cannot cast it more than once per day? This We hope. The one in the center had the most firepower and We suspected to be the leader, because she had more bars on her armor and spoke first. “Give us the pegasus and we won’t turn you into pulp.” Our eyes narrowed as We dropped back to all fours. We did not expect that kind of a demand. As we We looked at the three of them in turn We asked. “We wish for thy research data thou stole first.” “Give us the pegasus, and we might give it to you. Or we could just take her by force. Because that bounty is awfully tempting.” Our eyes widened in shock as she tapped her chin with a forehoof. “Now let’s see. You have a Pipbuck and an interesting sword. Two pieces of high grade technology plu-” Our magic reached out, wrapping itself around her heart and squeezing it like We did the eye. She simply fell over dead as the other two looked at her corpse. I snorted through my nose in annoyance and looked down at my hoof, wishing for a hooficure as it desperately needed one. This We will get soon. “Anymore objections? We wish only for the data and you may go freely.” “Now just wai-” The pony clutched his chest as his heart was slowly squeezed. His Tin Can friend took a few steps back in, We are assuming, shock and looked at us. “There will not be a third time,” We told them with Our mind as We released Our grip. He gasped and began backing away from the mare. “She had it on a holodisk,” he said with a point of his hoof. We waved Ours nonchalantly. “Run along then, thou hath thirty seconds before We crush your heart.” Without a word, both of them galloped back towards the now burning facility as black smoke filled the tunnel. Our gaze went to the mare as We set down Our chainsword. We trotted over to the dead mare and felt her built in saddlebags. She had five missiles and twenty grenades, food, a jug of water, two healing potions, Med-X, RadSafe, RadAway, but no data! Our eye twitched as We looked up at the blue bars that were not far away. Well.... It had been longer than thirty seconds. Taking flight, We flew below the smoke filling the ceiling. Lazily going this way, and that as they looked back. “She’s gone!” The smaller one shouted, then looked up. “Oh fuck.” “THOU HATH LIED TO ME! NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!” We telepathically boomed across the area. Their bars turned orange as the minigun was aimed up at Us. His heart was quickly crushed, then our gaze went to the larger one. As We gripped his heart with magic, he fought back and sent a near literal wall of bullets towards Us. We dove right, picked up his dead comrade with magic and used the armor as a shield. Bullets thumped loudly against metal as they attempted to bore their way through to no avail. With an unladylike grunt, We tossed the body forward, then quickly hovered left and gained altitude before disappearing into the smoke. We held Our breath, but any sneak effect was ruined by the flapping of Our wings which cleared out the nearby smoke. With a silent groan We dove at the pony and swooped over their head, delivering a slap with a hoof as metal ring out. We quickly turned around and gripped their heart with magic, then squeezed hard to no avail. He spun around, the tracers cutting into stone and metal alike as he tried to catch Us. Our chainsword was too far away to bring over quickly, but... A glow surrounded his fallen comrade again, however instead of Us using it as a shield, We attempted to aim the minigun. Except it did not fire, causing Our eyes to narrow. How does a Steel Ranger fire their weapon?! Without knowing this fact we cannot fire it! I cried out in pain as more than a few bullets bored their way into my hide through the business suit. I scowled at the pony, swung his friend like a club and connected cleanly. With a loud metallic crash the large pony staggered sideways. We lifted the body up and brought it down once, twice, thrice. The stallion fell to the ground in a heap, his head rolling about as if he were confused. We held the body up in the air as We trotted over. An idea formed in Our mind, so We unclasped the helmet with magic and tossed it away. As We brought the metal body down onto his head Our eyes widened at the pink and yellow face. "Bucky?!" We shouted in shock as We barely stopped the dead power armored pony from crushing his head in. The body was tossed aside as We telepathically shouted, "you... you... you bastard!" Our magic disconnected the belt of bullets from his minigun and a glow green wrapped around his neck. We began dragging him back towards the comatose Wraith as he kicked and flailed about in a futile attempt to break the grip, We only tightened it. We ignored the other dead ponies, and even the unconscious one. There was one thing We must know! We gripped the chainsword in magic, shoved Bucky against the subway tunnel wall and hovered the chainsword a hairs breadth away from his neck as the teeth spun. Finally, Our magical hold was released and he gasped. Bucky coughed and gulped down air as We pinned his shoulders. We scowled as Our eyes glared lasers and telepathically yelled into his mind. "Do not lie again! Answer Our one simple question: Did thee take advantage of Us in Our drugged state?" His eyes widened. "Yes, or no! Did thee take advantage of Us?!" We saw pure terror on his face as he nodded rapidly. The blade began to very slowly touch his coat so as to maximize the pain. He shut his eyes in a grimace. "It was just a job. Drug you and let Eclipse kill you. But I did not plan to have sex with you, I swear!" The teeth went in a little deeper as he screamed in pain and blurted out, "Shell Shock, stop I tried to warn you about Eclipse!" Our eyes widened and We withdrew the blade. "What dost thou mean?" It moved closer again, just above the first cut. He arched a brow. "You didn't look at the file I left, did you?" No...? What file? We looked down at thy Pipbuck, scrolling through its functions and seeing the notes We initially thought were his ramblings and didn't bother to play. We clicked one and Bucky's voice played out. "Alright here goes. I'm hoping that I'm long gone when you hear this, because well... my name is Knight Bucky. But I'm warning you Shell Shock, don't attempt to remove the Pipbuck. It's a trap set by Eclipse to cause you pain. She’s a Star Paladin who's out for blood against alicorns. No idea why, but she takes delight in killing your kind. Hopefully you can use the Eyes Forward Sparkle to see her coming and the targeting assist to beat her. Please stay safe... I... I..." The sound of hoofsteps played out and a mare that wasn’t Eclipse spoke. "Are you ready? Our scouts report she took the bait." "Yeah, I was just cleaning it..." The recording finished as I let Bucky go. He fell to the floor with a metallic thud and reached up to his neck with a hoof. I looked over at the dead mare. "Ain't her." Bucky said with a rasp. "She's at the old naval base across the bay." We floated a healing potion over from her bags and gave it to him. "We are sorry." This makes Us confused. For We wish to kill him and yet... We want to hug him tightly. What do We do?! We softly looked into his blue eyes and asked with Our mind. "We must know. Were We at least satisfying to thee?" He gave an unsure nod. "That is good then. Bucky, if thou goes back now they may suspect something." "Except there was a giant killer plant that killed everyone." He smiled and nodded towards the other dead pony, "he actually had the holodisk. I knew he wouldn't get far after you discovered he lied. Also, please watch out with that pegasus. The Enclave are not to be trusted at all." As he attempted to stand We put a hoof to his shoulder, holding him down. Our eyes met, and We wondered if it were appropriate if We kissed him goodbye? Should We even do such a thing because he was shooting at Us not ten minutes ago? Perhaps We should punch his nose in? Our conflicting feelings over this dilemma were tearing Us asunder. Finally, We ignored the both of them and let the hoof drop before trotting over towards the dead pony with the data. We gave Bucky a quick glance as he picked his helmet back up. We smiled at him, but We knew that he knew it wasn't a real smile. He looked down at his power armor and sighed. Sitting on his haunches he began fiddling with the helmet. "What are you doing?" I asked as I connected the data to thy Pipbuck to download it. "Well, I've been thinking" Bucky spoke while doing things to it that We do not understand. "Eclipse knows I drugged you and with our vanishing act that night, she probably has put two and two together. I figure that the only reason I got stuck doing this bullshit assignment. Because she wants to kill me. So, I quit the Steel Rangers." We dropped the holodisk and tackled Bucky in a bearhug, lifting him off the ground as We flew into the air. He squirmed against Our grip, but We held him tight and spun in a circle. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now We do not have to kill you!" His eyes widened. "What?! Let me go!" We obliged his wish, opening our forelegs while still nine feet off the ground. "Shooock!" he shouted angrily as he fell. I floated down next to him and smiled with a barely suppressed giggle. He did not say to put him down first! His gaze went to Our Pipbuck as he held out his hoof. “Let’s get that off you.” We trotted over, holding it up and watching as he looked it over. His angry face turning into one that a pony gets when something very bad has gone wrong. Bucky held up one of the mangled Pipbuck tools as I smiled nervously. "Tell me, how did you manage to break this?" He asked almost in awe. "We... had forgotten to remove them from thine Pipbuck and was crushed by that plant?" He shook his head slowly and pulled out his cowpony hat. Our eyes widened as We realized that he wanted to come. "You cannot come with Us! It... It would be bad! Sister does not like thee, and..." We looked at some random piece of scrap off to the right, avoiding his gaze as We turned around. The hoofgun came out and was strapped back to Our leg as Our eyes went over to Wraith. Perhaps we may need the both of their help. *** *** Have We ever mentioned how much We hate tunnels? We may have possibly at one time, but We cannot stress it enough. Tunnels are maddeningly constricting for Us as We cannot properly maneuver in flight. You can only go forward or retreat. They are deathtraps in Our mind because of this. Also they remind Us of times long since past, of trenches with interconnecting tunnels that wended their way under a city and were filled with hostile zebras. Dark, dank, tunnels as far as We could see in front and behind Us. Overhead pipes ran every which way but loose. A metal catwalk echoed underneath Our hooves for presumably draining running water. Our torch highlighting Wraith on Bucky’s back as he walked along in front of Us. The Steel Ranger mare armor was across Our back devoid of the body, because perhaps We could make something of it later. A nice chest piece, or... or use the leg segments to armor Our upper legs. Yes, that sounds like a plan! Our wings began itching terribly and We stopped, extending a wing and noticed that the fur had not fully grown back yet, but it should have when it healed! We began nibbling on the bone where We had been bitten. That only made the itching worse, so We furiously nibbled as Our eyes narrowed. Bucky stopped and turned around to look at Us. “What are you doing?” We spoke with Our mind while almost biting into the skin. “My wings itch in the most horrible of manner! Some kind of rat hath bitten Us a while ago.” “Stop!” We did so and looked at him as his voice was filled with terror. “It was only a mutated rat.” We replied with an arched brow. “Down here and on this island?” He spoke while trotting over. ”Nothing is normal. Not even the jungle above us is normal. Now hold still.” He withdrew a large sharp knife from his built in saddlebags and Our eyes widened. We scooted away and he shrugged Wraith off, she landed on the catwalk with a thud. “Get that away from Us!” We telepathically shouted while walking backwards. Bucky shook his head, mumbling around the pommel. “Git ‘ack ‘ere!” Turning and dropping the dead mare’s power armor, We bolted down the tunnel screaming with him on Our tail. He will not cut into our wings! Bucky is an impure earth pony, he does not have our level of ability for object manipulation and for all we know he wants to clip our feathers! That shall never happen again! The itching in our wings increased as we galloped through the tunnel. “Thou art no medic!” We telepathically shouted. Something large and heavy landed on Our long flowing tail, We screamed as it went taut and pulled Us to a stop. Our body slammed onto the catwalk as a shudder ran up Our spine. We glanced back, seeing one of his black power armored hooves pinning Our tail to the catwalk. He was holding the large knife in his other fetlock as he spoke. “Medic, shmedic. Shell Shock, we’ve got to cut out the infected tissue! You don’t want to see what happens if you don’t. I don’t know what it is doing to your body, but it can’t be good.” We scrambled to Our hooves and tried to run away, not getting very far as pain shot through Our spine. Looking back at him, We groaned, “Bucky, thou art fat.” “Bite my shiny metal ass. Now let me see your wing.” He placed the pommel back into his mouth and walked towards Us, reaching out with a hoof to grab Our wing. We pulled it tight against Our body and sidestepped while hoping he would let Us do it instead. So We attempted to stall and distract. “Your ass is not shiny, it is dull and dirty.” Bucky rolled his eyes. “Leh’me see your wing!” As We were about to object again, the tunnel was filled with the roar of the chainsword. Our eyes looked up as Wraith jumped into the air with her head turned back. The bug eyes of the scout armor giving no indication of her expression, but her mouth showed hatred. She came down with it firmly clenched in her teeth aiming to slice Bucky in two lengthwise. The world around us stopped. S.A.T.S. was a wonderful thing to have sometimes. It was as if watching in slow motion. I stood there, watching the two nearly frozen ponies in the dark confines lit by thy Pipbuck light. A green ichor covered Wraith attempting to slice Bucky lengthwise, the latter moving to futilely block Hellhound claws. We could stop her heart, but that would still cause Bucky to be diced like an apple unless we caught the sword in magic first. We have a deal with Wraith, but she is Enclave and We do not expect them to uphold their end. However We also have some, not much mind you, attraction towards Bucky. Except he is an ex-Steel Ranger. We are torn between letting him die, and letting him live knowing what he did to Us. But if We let him live he could provide both The Sisters of Unity, and the Enclave with intel about the Steel Rangers. My eyes narrowed at this idea. As I looked at the blade, I began to wrap it in magic and time sped back up with a nod from me. A green glow surrounded the chainsword, catching it and pulling it into the air as Wraith held on. Bucky started backing away slowly. However, my magic gripped the both of them as I flung them against the metal wall, pinning them next to each other as they squirmed. My magic forcefully ripped thine chainsword from Wraith's mouth, then I gripped the both of their necks in magic and squeezed tight while sneering. The roaring weapon was moved around before I held it near their necks, the blades splitting hairs as the two impure ponies struggled against my magical grip. "Stop this madness this instant!" Shouted a voice from my right, causing my gaze to go over there and my eyes widened. Standing in the center of the hallway was an azure blue alicorn with a flowing two-tone pale blue mane. She glared at me with violet eyes. The alicorn folded a perfect set of wings against a perfect body. Indeed everything about this blue was perfect. Then this could only be one alicorn. The Goddess. 40% to next level.
Chapter 5: Ghosts of the pastChapter 5: Ghosts of the past. “If you want to go somewhere you have to know where to go first.” Wraith and Bucky squirmed in my magical grip. The aura tightened around their necks and began to choke the two ponies to death. “I said stop!” The Goddess shouted and my grip on the two ponies loosened. We cast our gaze towards the floor as a glaring Goddess walked over. “What... do you think stopped her?” Wraith asked Bucky. “Fuck if I know! Alicorns are nuts!” He replied. 'We are not insane!' I turned my head towards them and wrapped Bucky’s heart in magic as I attempted to squeeze it flat, but all he did was squirm and we found that we could no more crush his heart than we could teleport. Then our attention went to Wraith and we tried to kill her by stopping her heart. However all it did was completely fail in a shower of sparks from our horn. The both of them dropped to the ground when all of our magic failed. We quickly grabbed them by the shoulders and held them against the wall again. “The Great and Powerful Goddess does not wish you to kill these two,” she said as we kept the chainsword near the both of them. “Look at me!” I did so, and gazed into perfection. She waved a hoof across Wraith and Bucky. The Goddess then looked at me. “Why would you kill them like so? Without a chance to fight back?” “Be.. Because they are the enemy?” We replied and smiled. Both Bucky and Wraith looked at me, then followed my gaze to the Goddess standing next to them and back to me. “What’s she looking at?” Bucky asked Wraith. “No fucking clue. A more important question is how do we get away?” The Goddess stepped in front of them, blocking our vision as she said, “do not worry about what they say. I am invisible to them, but not to you as I have planned.” I nodded. She added with a tilt of her head. “If they are the enemy, then why are you working with them? The Great and Powerful Goddess would like an explanation of this most troubling problem.” I withdrew the chainsword from their necks and set it off to the side as I sat on my haunches. We looked into her perfect eyes while we explained. “We made a deal with her,” I pointed a hoof at Wraith, “help her and gain the Enclave’s help to fight Steel Rangers.” “Mhm, and this one?” Goddess pointed a hoof at Bucky. “Why would you want to work with him?” “He is an ex-Steel Ranger and may have important intel on them.” “The Great and Powerful Goddess wishes to know: Why then are you trying to kill them?” “They...” My gaze went to the chainsword to my right as I telepathically mumbled, “attacked each other and wouldn’t stop fighting...” “Uh-huh, did you give them a chance?” “No...” We frowned and sighed. “We may have overreacted.” She smiled as she laid a hoof on my shoulder. “Well at least I was here to stop you before...” Her eyes widened while she pointed a hoof at my side. The Goddess recoiled in shock, almost bumping into the two ponies behind her as she shouted. “What’s that in your wing?!” We looked back and our magic field exploded with a pop. The two ponies dropped roughly to the metal floor of the tunnel. There was something moving under the skin! I squealed like a filly in terror and flapped the appendage as I tried to throw whatever it was off. I heard Bucky shout. “Hold her down so I can cut it out!” Wraith attempted to tackle me but I spun around her attempt. Then I noticed my other wing’s itching had also increased. I looked over at it as something moved under the surface as well. I lifted the Ripper in magic and gripped the handle. The chainsword revved to life before I remembered that it is a stupid idea to cut one’s own wings off and tossed it down the tunnel. “Goddess, help me!” I shouted telepathically. However she was nowhere in sight as I frantically looked around . A pair of lightly armored forelegs wrapped around around me as Wraith attempted to tackle me. The both of us crashed into the wall, denting pipes and sending a shockwave through my body. I pushed off the wall jumping across and body slamming Wraith into the other wall. “How dost thou liketh it?!” we telepathically yelled into her mind as she slid off. The pegasus groaned out something about her head being split open like with an axe. We spun around as we lifted Bucky’s knife off the ground and unfolded our left wing. Whatever it was under the wing was moving more than ever. My magic field failed again as a creature clawed its way through the skin. I shrieked a second time. My green eyes widening to the size of pie plates as I saw something akin to a small rat the size of, well a rat, poke its nasty blood-soaked head out of the skin. I rolled my wing hard and the creature flew off the feathery appendage. It stuck the wall with a faint snap and fell dead to the ground. My gaze went over to my other wing as I floated the knife up. I pushed it into the skin and cringed. I pushed it in deeper as I worked the blade in a circle as the creature moved about under my flesh. As I rotated the knife down the creature was pushed out prematurely. It fell to the catwalk and my hoof came down, stomping it flat with a wet crunch. “Still want to cut the tissue?” I asked out loud as I looked at the red stain leaking out. He shook his head. “No fucking way. You do it!” I narrowed an eye and put on my most serious face as I looked at the skin. Though my face appeared to be a mask I was completely fucking mortified by the fact that I had been carrying and incubating those imp spawns! I wiped my hoof off on the rusty metal grate as I pushed the not-so-sharp knife in. My wing trembled at the root as I fought the urge to scream in pain, cry, run away, and stop cutting all at the same time. My ears swiveled to the left as Wraith asked. “Okay, will somepony please tell me why I’m covered in sticky green shit and why I have The. Worst. Possible. Hangover. In all of Equestria?! And who is this Steel Ranger meathead?” I gave a sigh of relief and levitated the flesh to eye level. The flesh was black and dead. I tossed it away away with a hiss. The good news is that our Pipbuck said we were no longer poisoned. We turned our attention to the other wing and drove the blade in. We whimpered and wished for Med-X as our eyes threatened tears. Bucky pointed a hoof at me and said flatly. “I am her husband.” My eyes grew even bigger than pie plates as my pupils shrank to the size of a pea. The knife clattered to the catwalk as Wraith fell over laughing. She giggled, “oh it makes perfect sense now!” “That... That was a joke! Heh... heh-heh...” We said telepathically and unsure myself. “Not with your reaction it wasn’t!” We hissed and used the Pipbuck’s inventory spell to bring out the holodisk, and tossed it to Wraith. The disk landed on her belly as she giggled. She tilted her head and lifted it up in a hoof. “What is this?” “The research data you asked for.” We replied with our mind. She nodded and put the holodisk away. Wraith reached for the chainsword but we lifted it out of her grasp. She then took to the air attempting to grab it in her hooves. “You said I could have it!” She whined like a foal and pouted as she pushed up her mask to give us a badly working eye trick. Our old mind slowly pieced together Enclave information as we came up with a reason for her to not have it. However Bucky beat us to it. “Do you really think they’re going to let you keep it? Afterall you are covered in an unknown substance. From the surface.” Wraith gasped. “Oh no! I’m gonna be stuck in detox for a month!” She softly petted the Ripper, then unhooked the sheathe from her back. We floated both items back to us as she sighed, “guess I’ll see you guys around, maybe... hopefully. If I don’t become a vegetable” We watched as she turned around and flew into the dark abyss of the tunnel. Then a pair of metallic hooves gripped our wing and we yelped in surprise. Bucky drove the blade in and began cutting. “Hold still!” he mumbled. We looked away and cringed. *** *** "...and then she turned around and flew off," we told the Goddess as the three of us walked along in the tunnels towards Raul's place. Bucky kept glancing back with a strange look in eyes and we wondered what he was looking at. The Goddess nodded. "The Great and Powerful Goddess wishes to know: Are you two really married?" I shook my head. "Not by choice, Goddess. It was forced upon us while we were in a drugged state as a joke that got way, way, WAY out of hoof. But we were saved because of it." “From this Steel Ranger who kills alicorns for pleasure?" We nodded our head rapidly as we replied. "Yes, we barely escaped with our lives." Her eyes narrowed. "I’m ordering you to stop referring to yourself as 'we'. Unity is long gone and my body was destroyed. You are free again." "We... I shall try, Great and Powerful Goddess. This will not be an easy task for... me." She smiled. "I've heard all your prayers, and pleas for help. It is why I finally chose to make myself known when you needed help in such a dire circumstance." We nodded slowly. "Yes, we do not know what would have happened had you not appeared." Bucky stopped as he turned around to look at the both of us. He held a power armored hoof to his eye level. "Alright, I've had it up to here with this one pony conversation. Shell Shock, there is no other pony besides you and me in this area." I waved a hoof over towards the Goddess and smiled. "The Great and Powerful Goddess is right here, but you cannot see her as you are not an alicorn like us." "Just keep the conversations with her quiet, okay?" He said with a roll of his eyes. We gave him a nod and then looked at our, or we should say my, wings. The healing bandages wrapped around them were slowly mending the flesh that the radiation for some odd reason could not. Thy Pipbuck was saying that we were back at 602 rads and falling slowly. Bucky's stomach grumbled in annoyance. I sighed. Another reminder that being an alicorn was so much better than being a regular pony. We did not need to sleep, eat, or drink. I had to shift and adjust the mare's power armor before trotting to catch up. The Goddess watched me do this in confusion. "Why are you carrying armor on your back that you cannot use ? It is much too small." "I can have Rose make something with it," I replied with a grin. Bucky laughed. "Hah! Right." I glared lasers at him and as I turned my attention forward the tunnel shrank. Both Bucky and the Goddess disappeared. ***===***===*** We trotted along the narrow dirt tunnel, our long exquisite horn scraping dirt onto our head, so we had to lower it a little. We looked behind us at a blocked passageway. A frown formed on our face and we adjusted our wings. Spreading them and fluffing up the feathers before pulling our glorious wings against our body. Ahead of us was a dirt tunnel strung with poor lights. This we know to be a zebra tunnel from our memories. However we were never an alicorn then, nor did we ever go in them as an alicorn and so we did not know why we were there. One minute we were walking along with Bucky and the Goddess, then the next second it was a dirt tunnel that was mostly dark with the smell of damp dirt. The lights guided us and every so often we stopped to look back only to find a black abyss. The dirt tunnel was slowly filled with grey ethereal zebras as our ears picked up the sounds of the ghosts running to and fro. They ran past us in armor and with various weapons, but did not even glance at us. We suspected that to them we were the ghost. We pressed deeper into the complex and dirt fell every so often from the ceiling when artillery hit above us. We followed a tight left here, then a wide right there, going down brand new wooden stairs and stopped at a hallway that ended in a giant concrete and metal wall. Ahead of us was a stable’s rusty cog door. The number 55 painted in dried blood on the door and its original number was long since gone. Our eyes narrowed as we trotted over to the panel and looked at it. We reached out with magic and pulled on the lever. A loud grating buzzer rang out as two yellow lights started rotating. There was a loud crash behind the door as something moved, then with an ear piercing shriek of metal on metal the giant door was pulled back and rolled out of the way. Beyond was not a stable but a large bedroom with not so clean grey walls. There was a large crimson unicorn mare in a thick grey coat that covered her cutie mark laying on a bed directly ahead of us. We looked around as she motioned us over. Our gaze noted that she looked oh-so-very hungry and thin. This mare was there on that hill with our company shortly after the bombs had fallen. The two of us became very good friends after a disagreement with the Steel Ranger Lieutenant over the zebras. Though we do not know why she is in our memory because she is long dead. We sighed and trotted over the threshold onto the slowly rotting wooden floor.. When we looked back the door and zebra tunnels were gone. They were replaced with a loo that had been had seen better days. Then our gaze went back to the crimson mare as she trotted over. “You know,” she began with a soft and sweet voice. “I’ve seen what you originally looked like but that look suits you. The ripped suit and bandages.” She stopped a half a foot away and looked slightly up at us with bright gray eyes. Her grey mane was put into twin braids. The mare stood up slightly on her hind legs and gave us a light nuzzle to the cheek. We responded with a friendly hug, as that was what we felt we should do, then we stepped back and tilted our head as we said. “We... do not remember your name, we are sorry.” She laughed and turned around as her long grey tail wrapped around our neck in a suggestive way. “Of course you wouldn’t remember me. Afterall you spent what, 175 years in Unity and left me to starve in the wastes? I knew ‘Unity’ was bad news but would you listen? Nooo. not miss thickhead.” The mare pointed a hoof behind us as she added. "Go look at yourself in that mirror, Dog.” Our ears folded back. “Do not call us that, that is not our name anymore.” “You don’t even have a cutie mark! A mark that everypony should have. Those alicorns turned you into a mockery of a pony. A hollow shell of your former self.” “I was dying!" We telepathically shouted at her. "What was I supposed to do? Turn into a hideous ghoul, or worse, a mindless feral ghoul zombie?!” "But you left me to starve!" She stomped a hoof down in anger and gave us a scowl that made us shrink back a little despite her being smaller. "Without you I nearly died that winter! I could have helped you had you turned into a ghoul. I would have made sure you didn’t turn into a zombie!" We spread our glorious wings and pointed a hoof. “I can fly, and use powerful magic. Being a hideous ghoul would have been horrible. Unity made me better as they promised they would!" "And being a mindless drone is sooo much better, am I right? How well was Unity, hm? From what I saw of alicorns they had zero free will." "At least I am alive!" I shouted back, then quickly softened my gaze as she looked down at the floor with a hurt expression, her ears folded back as well. "I'm sorry I said that. Please don’t be angry with us. Unity was like watching through some other ponies eyes and hearing so many voices all whispering and talking almost at once." We watched as the crimson mare trotted over to the window and pointed a hoof out. “Storm’s coming. You shouldn't go out in it. We're okay on food for another week if we stretch it. If you go out you might get lost and... there are those princess look-a-like monsters out there. I know you say they are friendly, but they’re not. The ponies that go with them never come back and..." she looked to us with big puppy dog eyes, "I want you to come back. You're all that I have left now.” Our hoofsteps sounded like thunder in the large room as we walked over. We stopped and looked out as our eyes narrowed. There was nothing there but black void! A clothed foreleg wrapped around our neck and pulled us close to her. She whispered in our ear. “Why are you listening to that false Goddess? You should listen to me. Who was it that showed you that spell? Not her, but me.” We withdrew from the window and the mare’s embrace as we said with our mouth. “That... that crushing spell was yours?” “Where do you think you got it?” She kept pace with us as we stumbled into a sitting position. “That was the first spell I ever taught you. And I taught you many more. You just have to remember them and you'll be your old self again." She pointed a hoof at the loo and shouted. “Go look at yourself in the mirror!” But before we could reply we felt something grab our shoulders. The world faded to darkness as the Goddess’s sweet musical voice filled our head. “Come back to me, my child.” ***===***===*** We blinked. Bucky’s face filled our vision as he waved a power armored hoof in front of our eyes. We smiled at him and he sighed. He stepped back a few feet and said. “Finally! You were just standing there for the last half hour like a statue.” We glanced around and saw the Goddess with her hooves on our shoulders from our side. Our head tilted as we lowered it. “Thank you, Goddess. We were, I mean, I was trapped somewhere and could not leave.” “The Great and Powerful Goddess already knows this. I heard your conversation and pulled you back before she could tempt you further. Do not use those spells she gave you. Each time you do you lose a part of yourself. Please listen to me on this." “I shall not use them.” We nodded slightly. Bucky tapped my chest with a power armored hoof. Which caused me to turn my head to look at him. He asked. “Please tell me this spacing out and talking to invisible ponies thing is normal for all alicorns?” *** *** Half a day later we arrived down the hall from Raul's place. My E.F.S. was not picking up any blue or orange bars, and neither could we hear music. The Goddess sat behind me next to Bucky as I looked at the light that spilled out from the door. My exquisite, but not perfect mane flowed to the side as it obstructed Bucky's view and bumped into the wall. I set thy power armor down, unsheathing the Ripper chainsword in the same movement. I slowly stalked towards the door while keeping an eye on the E.F.S. There was a pained moan from inside the room. “Help...” I remembered my lesson from that fool weeks ago and wrapped my mane around my right wing with magic. Then I peered with one eye into the room. Inside was the red ghoul Raul laying down on the bed as if he were sleeping. His shack looked perfectly clean and the crossbow was in the corner propped against a toolbox. Then I heard the moan again and looked down. I observed Raul for a bit and noticed that he had the Twilight statue clutched in his forehooves. As we watched him our gaze went to the empty E.F.S and we noted his lack of breathing. The chainsword was set down and I looked to the others as I projected, "something does not feel right." The Goddess projected back, "do not do anything I wouldn't do." With a nod we looked back into the room. I scanned everything again before cautiously stepping inside. However we made sure to check for tripwires before we moved our hooves. We did not see any, so we took two steps forward and stood there waiting for two minutes with our muscles tensed. Nothing happened and so I took two more slow steps, then waited. Another two steps, and then two more. Raul moaned, causing us to take a step back. I slowly lowered my head, my mane came undone on its own as I turned and tilted it sideways. My ear twitched as it picked up absolutely... nothing. If he were breathing he would make raspy noises would he not? Then came another moan and my eyes went to thy Pipbuck's clock as I lifted the foreleg. We stood as still as a rock while waiting. Seconds ticked by agonizingly slow. I was thankful for this Pipbuck's clock but I now realized how much time sleeping wastes. About eight hours of wasted time. My ear swiveled as Raul's same short, pained moan came back. Everything was the same. Even the length of time. I kept my eyes on the clock and waited. Thirty seconds passed before he did it again. Then I turned my tail back to the door and slowly backed out of the room into the tunnel. "What's wrong?" We heard the Goddess's voice in our head. We told both her and Bucky. "Something's wrong. Raul is dead and it feels like a trap." "How do you know it is a trap?" As we looked back we replied, "because we have done something similar. Now stay back." I wrapped the Twilight statue in my magic's grip and retreated eight feet down the hallway. It was disconcerting moving objects that I could not see but we could manage much easier than regular unicorns. I shut my eyes and covered my ears with my hooves as I opened my mouth and turned away from the room. There was resistance as I tugged on the statue but it finally pulled free. I attempted to float it out of the room and wondered why the bomb did not go off. Was there even a bomb or were we being paranoid? The tunnel shook as the room exploded. We felt the statue fly from our magic's grip and were sad that we could not deliver it to Rose. As I opened my eyes we looked back over our shoulder. We wondered how in the Goddess's name the statue was still intact. Because smoke and fire slowly billowed out of the door frame as the dust in the tunnel settled. We coughed, waving a hoof in front of our face to breathe in clean fresh air. We glanced at thy Pipbuck’s compass as we scanned for hostiles. We did not find any so we pulled the statue back to us and looked at it in awe. We... I felt a surge of energy clear my head as I read the inscription. ‘Be smart’. 'Well we can be smart, can't we? I believe I can.' My ears swiveled back as I heard Bucky and the Goddess walk over. They each looked over a shoulder at it. "Hm... Twilight Sparkle. I, The Great and Powerful Goddess remember her. Yes, this one suits you." "That's all you got? A stupid doll? What about the crossbow, how come you didn’t grab that instead?" Bucky asked. 'Wait what?' Both the Goddess and I turned to look at him. My eyes narrowed. “What... did you say? How did you know there was a crossbow in there?” Bucky pointed in a random direction as he stepped back. “I heard you tell her you had one!” I looked over at the Goddess and Bucky muttered. “Oh, she’s there...” His hoof moved to point at her. “You told her!” I turned my attention to the pink asshole as I stood up but was forced down by the Goddess's hooves. She whispered, “perhaps there is an explanation?” I let out a breath as I put a hoof to my chest and counted down from five. It gave us an idea and we grinned as we floated out the Zebra Rifle. I aimed it at his head as I asked. “Tell me, Bucky, hath thee ever seen a Zebra Rifle fire? Its bullets set ponies on fire.” His eyes widened. “I... I swear it! You told her about the crossbow!” I shook my head. “No, I did not. I remember telling her about everything after I went into that research lab, I did not carry the crossbow in there. Now explain yourself or run away. Either way you have ten seconds before we turn you into a flaming corpse. Nine... Eight... Six.." "What happened to seven?" The Goddess projected into my head. I grinned maniacally at Bucky. “Five... Four... Three...” “We followed you inside the stable after talking to that ghoul. They want the data from that stable to grow food. Somehow it can grow anywhere and that is perfect for the mainland. I saw you... I saw you make a copy of it.” We hissed through our teeth as we asked. “Is that why you came with us? So you can steal our data when we sleep and run?” He worked his mouth, attempting to form a reply while we could see his blue eyes dart around and the sweat poured off his face. The crosshairs of the scope was right on one of his eyes. “No-yes...?” We telepathically screamed, “get out of our sight this instant!” He turned around and bolted. His hooves thundered down the tunnel as we tracked him with the scope until he turned a corner. Our ears then folded back as we let the useless weapon drop. A frown slowly formed on our face. I looked at the ground as annoying tears welled up in my eyes. “I thought...” I sniffed and looked up at the Goddess. “I thought he... liked me?” She wrapped a wing around me and pulled me tight. "I thought so too. Even one such as I can’t predict everything." We looked into her eyes as we asked, "Art thou really the Goddess?" She nodded. "But of course I am! I heard you telling ponies I was not dead yet they do not believe you. Then you thanked me for guiding you to radiation. And when you were about to kill that stallion and so on and so forth." I smiled and wiped away a tear with a hoof. "So you could hear me. We, I mean, I had wondered if we were imagining it. Nopony ever responds to my telepathy! Well except for a couple of alicorns, but they do not like us." "Just because they do not respond does not mean that they do not hear you, my child." The Goddess wrapped both her forelegs around me in a hug. She pulled me tight and shushed me. "Do not cry over him. Plan your revenge instead." "Re-revenge?" We looked at her in confusion as she smiled. "Oh yes! Sweet, sweet revenge. As I understand it that pink stallion drugged you and then took advantage of your state as well as constantly abusing your trust in him. Surely there must be some feelings of anger, yes?" I looked down towards where Bucky had gone and gripped the chainsword in magic and removed the bandages from my wings as they took us down the tunnel after him. *** *** I followed a blue bar as I came barreling around the corner. The Goddess behind and Bucky fifty yards ahead. The floating torch highlighting his Knight armor. We telepathically shouted. "Dear husband, you hath forgotten to give me a goodbye kiss!" His hooves echoed on the catwalk. He was fast but I was faster because of the tunnel being wide enough to fly in. With a quick flap of my wings I closed the distance. The chainsword's blunt end came around and struck Bucky in the side of the head. He stumbled and fell in a metallic crash, tumbling and sliding to a stop as I hovered over him. “Payback’s a bitch!" I cackled as the Ripper's spinning Hellhound cutting edge came down on his neck. However something stopped it from going any farther than just above his hide. The spinning blades making his eyes go wide as they sliced a line of red on his pink hide. My gaze went to the Goddess as her horn glowed. "The Great and Powerful Goddess meant for you to geld him with his own blade, not kill him!" I let go of the trigger as I looked back at Bucky and the blades slowed to a stop while the sword was raised. "Get up." I ordered with my mind. He did so slowly. My gaze went across his power armor and I smiled. It is a much closer fit than that mare's! I pointed the chainsword at his chest and used my mind. "Take your armor off." "What?" He blinked in shock. "I said take it off!" I shouted at him. Bucky reached up with a hoof and began to slowly take his armor off. Though we think he to be going too slow. He spoke while doing so. "You know, Eclipse is probably on her way right now." "But is she not at the naval base?" I saw the Goddess in the corner of my eye turn around. She pointed a hoof into the abyss. "I, The Great and Powerful Goddess believes there to be some ponies coming this way that do not look friendly." He chuckled. "She was right. You are gullible. I’ve been broadcasting where we were since we left the stable!" Bucky's chuckle turned into full on laughter as he dropped the last piece of armor onto the floor. We heard a familiar voice whisper softly in the back of our mind, “no more missus nice mare.” My eyes narrowed as I brought the sword around in an arc. The wall behind was painted with a line of dripping blood as the blade sliced his head from his body. Bucky’s head rolled to the floor as his body fell across his armor. Coating it in crimson as blood poured from his neck. "What did you do?!" The Goddess shouted in surprise. "I am tired of being played for a fool,” I replied grimly and scooped up his armor in magic, “there are consequences for it now and they are severe." I laid the heavy suit across my back and broke into a gallop as the sound of multiple heavy ponies echoed in the tunnel. *** *** Almost five hours later my gallop slowed to a walk as I looked around the annoying tunnel. Luckily we were near a ladder and there were no hostiles around but there were a bunch of dead mutant rat things. We groaned as we realized this was the same one that was welded shut! As I put the torch away the Goddess commented. "Thy Pipbuck light is on." I frowned at her as she winked back. I clicked that feature off and a soft glow emanated from the screen as the darkness enveloped us like a blanket. My hind legs decided to give out as I looked at the Pipbuck. The power armor fill off with a metallic crash. I played back Bucky's message and listened to a voice I'd never hear again other than through this message. An azure blue wing pulled me against the Goddess as my eyes filled again with unwanted tears. I played the message again. "But why did he stutter after saying to stay safe? Why did he say stay safe?!" I asked out loud. "We may never know." she whispered into my ear. They folded against my head as I scrolled through the Pipbuck's functions. I turned the radio on while looking for the research data file. A somewhat slow country song was playing out as a pony began singing about falling into a ring of fire. I shut the radio off after a few moments and wondered whether or not the DJ could see us. Then we shook our head to clear it of the silly idea. I did not love Bucky but... My eyes widened. 'That is a stupid idea as he only knew us for one night and the foal betrayed us constantly!' "Goddess, you're not trying to take advantage of me being stupid, are you?" I asked to take my mind off that absurd idea. Her hoof brushed my long flowing mane as she smiled. She replied as she shook her head. "No. I, The Great and Powerful Goddess am not trying to use you. You are my greatest creation. It is why The Goddess sent you to this island. The others did not have your determination, nor devotion to the task at hoof." I shut my eyes and buried my face in her neck as I cried silently. She patted the back of my head with her wing. "That's it. Let it all out. If you keep our emotions in you will explode like a volcano and We know that is not a good thing for Us." The ground beneath us began to sway again and we held onto the Goddess as nearby pipes cracked and sprayed steam into the tunnel. We sat there and waited for the swaying and shaking to subside. It took about two minutes. Then my ears picked up the flapping of wings as a pony asked. "Uhh... Shell Shock, what are you doing?" I sniffed and cleared the tears from my eyes as I lifted my head up. Hovering before me was Wraith in all her her ichor-covered glory. She tilted her head as the Goddess stood up, looked at me and nodded. "The Great and Powerful Goddess must go. It would not be prudent to only visit you." I nodded and waved, Wraith looked over as the Goddess said. "Stay safe, my child." She turned into a cloud of mist that faded to nothing. I looked back to Wraith and smiled at the Enclave pony. "Who were you looking at and what were you doing?" She asked again. "We... I was communing with The Goddess. Yes, communing with The Goddess and she touched on a subject that made me upset." She landed and sat down. I could see her wings tremble slightly as she attempted to sit still but couldn’t. Wraith kept fidgeting as she asked. "What was it? I mean you don't have to tell me of course. I’m curious is all." I tapped my teeth lightly with a hoof in thought. Should we tell her about Bucky? She already has guessed our relationship, but... "I will tell you if you answer our question first: why are you following me?" Her voice was shaky. “W-well... you... kinda... took my... dru-medicine and... I need them back?” She rubbed her foreleg with a hoof and pushed up her mask with a wing. I could see it in her eyes and the sweat running down her face. She was addicted to Dash and I had her last dose. I nodded. With my magic I floated out the drug from a pocket and put it to her lips. Wraith used her hooves and pressed down lightly on the button as she inhaled some of it. Then she passed it to me but I politely refused by shaking my head and held out a hoof. Wraith nodded and put the inhaler away as she said. "I know I said I didn't like you but that was before you saved my flank in that facility. Any other pony would have left me to die. I figure I should repay the favor and you know what?" I shook my head as I replied, "no, Wraith I do not." She dug in a pocket with a wing and withdrew the holodisk. Wraith tossed it on the floor and stomped it flat with a hoof. She twisted said hoof and the parts broke in half then spread out everywhere. She held up the central disk and ripped it in half with her teeth. Wraith spit it out and said. "Fuck that data. No good can come of it, not from what I remember seeing." I smiled and nodded. "You should have seen it. There was this giant carnivorous plant with eyes and a mouth and tentacles that could swallow me whole. And indeed it did so while we were carrying you!" Wraith winced. She looked at her armor as she asked, "Is that why I'm covered in this crap?" "Allow me to show you events you missed?" She nodded, but asked, "what does that mean?" "This." Her eyes widened as I lowered my horn to touch the top of her head. I showed her the memories from after she passed out: The giant plant monster and the fact that she kept falling off against our will. Then the time with Bucky and... My eyes widened as I felt Wraith's mind touch a memory we did not want her to see "What's this?" I heard her voice in my head. My world faded as we got sucked into it. ***===***===*** I sat behind the turret of the the tank destroyer named Hellcat with a gas mask on my face and my IF-12 floating in front of me. She was driving at fifteen miles an hour along a green snow covered road ahead of the others. Hellcat’s open top turret noisily rotated left as looked into a line of trees. I could see the orange tiger painted on along with the name and eight white rings painted around the barrel marking the number of heavy tank kills. My gaze went right to more trees as I wished that the gas mask did not obscure my peripheral vision. We’d been trying to get to the nearest Stable for the last four days. We lost three tanks and twenty ponies. The area was abandoned but it didn’t matter anymore as there was nopony to bitch to. Since we were still in zebra territory we couldn’t simply hop on the tanks and let them go full speed. That was a good way to get blown up. My ears swiveled as the turret adjusted its aim again. I looked at the one twenty yards behind us and saw it was looking to the right of our mismatched convoy. Behind that tank held a transport wagon full of random squads we had picked up. Including, oddly enough, one zebra platoon. My gaze went to my cyberleg and I prayed to Celestia that it did not fail me anytime soon. ***===***===*** I pushed off Wraith as I cried out in shock and fell over backwards across Bucky's old power armor. The lightly armored pegasus stepped over and filled my dark vision as she extended a hoof. I shouted while rolling to my hooves. "How did you do that?!" "My mother always says ‘once you open a door you can go wherever’." Wraith smiled. I glared at her and pointed a hoof. "You... you stay away from us!" "Hey you touched me first!" she shouted. Then she quietly asked "that was just after the bombs, wasn't it?" "Not your concern!" I hissed while turning around and lifted Bucky's armor. An unladylike grunt escaped us from the weight as we laid it across our back.. I heard her hoofsteps get closer. Then one of them touched my side. My hind legs tensed and kicked out. It hit air as the Dash head darted to the side. My eye twitched as I glared lasers at her. "No pony... No pony but the Goddess has ever seen those! It would do you well to forget you ever saw them. You get two questions to ask about them. Any more and I get angry and beat you to a pulp." "What was the war like?" "Hell... or like the surface wasteland but with a great many rules." She nodded. Wraith scratched her muzzle with a hoof as she hovered in thought. "Okay, I got the next one..." We stood as still as a statue waiting for it. "...how... old are you?" The twitch in my eye returned. I telepathically shouted in Royal Canterlot Voice volume. "ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY ASK A LADY THAT QUESTION!!" Wraith shrank back. Her hooves clutched her head as she groaned in pain and fell to the metal floor. My eyes widened as I went to her side and I quietly whispered with my mouth. "Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it would do that." I used the Pipbuck inventory sorting spell to bring out one of Bucky's healing potions. I frowned as I put it to her lips and made her drink it. Wraith gulped the whole thing down then looked at it in confusion. "Why... did you give me this?" "To fix our screaming in your head." She chuckled and put the empty bottle away. "I guess that works." I smiled at her. "So you are better now?" "Yeah." She smiled back. I held my foreleg out to look at my Pipbuck and asked. “Is there a way to delete files? We, I mean I accidentally copied the research data and I am unsure of how these things work.” She took it in her hooves and I winced from the blades. But I giggled as she had to use her nose to move its functions around, which is so funny to see! Wraith pushed on a few buttons and I watched. After a minute or two she stepped back and nodded. “There. It’s deleting the research data.” As I looked down I saw it was deleting the data and nodded. Then my gaze went to the ceiling as I tried to open the ponyhole cover to no avail. I facehoofed as I remembered that it was welded shut. The hallway was filled with the sound of thine chainsword as I telepathically told her. “Step back and let me open it.” Sparks shot down towards us as the weapon was applied to metal and Wraith jumped out of the way. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her take another dose of Dash. We made up our mind at that point to find her more or get her off it. My eyes narrowed as I noticed that the ponyhole cover was much, much, harder to cut through than the doors in what Bucky had called a stable. It took almost an hour to saw all the way around and smoke filled the tunnel as the glowing ponyhole cover tumbled to the floor. The acrid smoke was sucked into the area above as Wraith commented on the obvious that we could plainly see. "There's a draft up there." I rolled my eyes. "It is the outside so of course there is a draft!" Wraith took flight. She stuck her head through the hole and asked with an echo. "Then why does it look like the interior of a ship?" "What?" We asked but received no response as she had flown through already. I followed her up with the power armor floating above me. Indeed it did look like the inside of a ship! Narrow rusty corridors with small watertight hatches and a stairwell leading up. My gaze watched as the dark smoke went up the stairs. There must be an exit that way. Bucky’s armor was tossed roughly onto the deck and we climbed through with our hooves so as to not burn our glorious wings. Instead we singed the bottom of our forelegs. *** *** The corridors seemed to stretch on forever. It was like the tunnels below only slightly higher up. We followed the breeze blowing in fresh salt air for what seemed like an eternity. According to our Pipbuck we traveled for two hours before we came across another stairwell which we followed up. As the hatch swung with a rusty shriek cold salt air blew in on a fast wind. I momentarily shut my eyes and looked away. The compass did not show any hostiles, so I was not worried about an attack. Wraith was nearly out of her ‘medicine’ as she calls it. Though I don’t know why because I know exactly what it is: Dash. My ears picked up the sounds of the Oakwood jungle causing me to open my eyes and look out into nothingness. My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and I made out a star filled purple night sky, moonlit jungle split the horizon in half and I looked down at thy Pipbuck. There is something I must do but... what? Wraith pushed past me as she said, “Thanks for the help. I’m gonna go wash my armor and head back to the Raptors. See ya whenever.” “Okay. Fly safe.” I replied without taking my eyes off the Pipbuck. In the corner of my eye I saw her take flight with a quick flap of her wings. I smiled as I located Rose on the Pipbuck map. I turned towards the jungle and flapped my wings. Quickly taking to the air and gaining altitude. I very nearly lost the suit of power armor in the process. My eyes widened as I caught it in magic and set it across my back. I flew higher as I shut my eyes and let the wind flow through my mane. It was the most amazing feeling one could ever feel. Having your ability to fly taken away is like having your horn cut off. Not a good thing. *** *** I approached the blown out wall in the building from the air while invisible. My wings carried me in through the hole I had made. I pulled them against my body before landing softly on the ruined floor. My gaze went to the bed where Rose was. Her light green mane was halfway covering her face, her lab coat and her blue mechanic's coveralls were covering up her body, but... She breathed slowly in a deep sleep and the E.F.S. showed a blue bar. However as I studied her I noticed something wrapped around her neck. My eyes narrowed as I recognized a slave collar. Slowly I trotted over to the bed where she slept and inspected the collar. There was an orange light on the back near some kind of latch. I silently hissed through my teeth as I realized that this one was actually active. The power armor was set down in the center of the room as gently as I could. Then I turned my head and dug through my saddlebags. I found the suppressed revolver and gripped it in my teeth. With a smile I stalked towards the door like I remember Wraith doing, one slow step after the other. Rose stirred as I pressed my ear to the door. I looked at her as she looked at the bloody power armor, then looked around the room “Shell Shock?” She whispered as she sat up. We set the revolver down and slid it over with a hoof. Rose smiled at it as she lifted it in her grip. But then her ears folded back and she set it on the bed. Rose looked to where I stood and pointed a hoof at her collar but I knew she could not see me. “I can’t go with you, but I’ll keep it nearby if they decide to come in. There should be about five in this building.” We gave a nod and opened the door. We slipped into the ruined hallway and noticed a lack of guards. However the E.F.S. showed at least four red bars. I walked forward and wondered how I’m going to do this silently as I cannot use my telekinetic crushing spell. An idea formed in my head that caused me to smile. We reached the end of the hallway and looked in both directions. On my left was a normal looking blue pony that didn’t wear power armor. She looked as bored as one could get on guard duty. In fact she was sleeping. I slowly walked towards her. And stopped almost on top of the sleeping mare as I glanced around again. After finding it clear I swung the Pipbuck around. It struck the mare in the head and sent her to the floor. She groaned as she began to move but we reached down with our other leg. We lifted her up and squeezed her neck tightly. The mare’s face turned a darker shade of blue and then a purple color as we squeezed her air passage tighter and tighter. We did not stop until after the bar disappeared from the E.F.S. Then I went through her barding and bags for anything. I was annoyed that I did not find the detonator for the collar but I did find an okay condition semi-automatic 10mm pistol along with two extra magazines. We pressed forward towards the stairwell and descended them as quietly as we could. As we pressed our ear against the door there was a muffled voice that we could not understand along with two hostiles. The door gave in with a wooden groan as it slammed to the floor throwing up dust and obscuring the two ponies vision. They looked at eachother then the door and the dull orange one motioned with his horn as he levitated out a shotgun. My eyes widened as I slowly stepped back. The two ponies had their weapons out and were advancing towards me. I sighed quietly as I aimed the pistol at the first one and prepared to blow his head off. However the door behind them was kicked in causing them to immediately turn around and a pale gold ghoul hovered in through the door. On her head was a ripped wide brimmed purple hat and around her body was a tattered purple dress. In Ripper’s forehooves was a recently cleaned Fallen Angel that nearly shined in the dark light of the moon. She dropped to all fours and held the Buckmaster in her right foreleg. Ripper looked at the two advancing ponies without a care. “Alright, which one of you pissants knows where my saddle is?” She asked with her gravelly voice. The response she received was a shotgun round to the chest that sent the ghoul pegasus stumbling back. Ripper looked at the hole and shook her head. Then her ruby red eyes locked on the unicorn as she aimed Fallen Angel by quickly standing on her hind legs. We ducked back as the hallway was filled with the deafening roar of the Buckmaster followed by the sound of a single pony dropping dead. “Was it you?!” Ripper shouted. “Did you steal my shit?” “N-no!” The other stallion replied. I looked back around and saw Ripper holding the barrel of the automatic rifle against his chest. "What are you talking about?!" Then she looked over at me and shouted. “Stop hiding over there. I can see you, thief.” “Thief?” We replied as we dropped the invisibility spell and caught the 10mm pistol in magic. I trotted forward as I glared at the ghoul pegasus. “You knocked us out and stole things from me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t blow your head off!” Ripper smirked and pushed the barrel of Angel against the other pony as he attempted to move. The white stallion winced. She said. “I did you a favor. That journal kills its owners. Everypony that has ever written into it is dead. Even me. Oh sure they didn’t all die as soon as they wrote in it but the second they started writing into the journal their journey got worse and worse and worse until it killed them.” I stopped three feet away and tilted my head. “What do you mean?” “That thing is like taint to its owners. Read.” She dug around in a pocket of her dress with a wing and produced the aforementioned journal and held it out for me. Then her attention turned to the white stallion she had pinned against the wall. “Well? Where? Is? My? Saddle?!” “What’s it look-” We started in surprise as Fallen Angel roared three times and the wall behind the pony was painted in blood. The stallion slid to the floor as Ripper spit on his corpse. “Useless.” We opened the journal and skimmed through the pages. We stopped where the first owner had died and then we skimmed through to the next change of ownership. Though we just assumed that the second owner had just stopped writing. As we glanced up we saw the barrel of Fallen Angel pointed right at our head. “Now then. I know alicorns appear immortal to normal ponies but I'm not normal." Ripper began. “You’re still flesh and blood and a headshot will still kill you.” My jaw dropped as my eyes widened. “What... what do you want?” “Same question that I’ve asked these fine gentlecolts here. You don't want me to ask a third time.” With a nod I replied. “Eclipse stole it from us and we were told that she was at the old naval base. However we are unsure if it is correct information as the pony that told it to us betrayed us from the start.” Fallen Angel was lowered as Ripper nodded. Then she swiped the journal back from me before I had a chance to look at it more. “I’ll spare you the details and boring parts.” She explained as she put it away. “I killed the first owner. The second one was me, killed by a zebra vampony. The third was my coltfriend, who I had to practically level a base to save and I found out he was dead the whole time. The fourth was a random airship captain and you saw the results of that.” My eyes narrowed as I noticed something. “If you died then how are you alive?” She facehoofed and groaned. “Did you not hear the vampony part?! When they turn you they... ugh, nevermind! I’ll see you later.” We heard her mumble “I’m surrounded by morons.” I arched a brow as Ripper turned around and trotted down the hallway. her long flowing purple dress acted like the cloak of a superhero. 'If she is undead and appears to not die then we could use her help.' With a smile I said. “Rose needs help.” Ripper stopped, slowly turning her head to look back at me as she said. “Save her yourself. I’m done saving ponies.” *** *** I found that each floor all the way down to the bottom had been empty. Rose stood behind me as we floated the revolver nearby. I cast my gaze about the hallway and scanned for hostiles. There was only a blue bar and they were behind this door. With an exasperated sigh I cracked it open and peered in. There was a beautifully thin and curvy stallion sitting behind a desk looking out of the shattered window at the building across the street. The floor was made from wood with a single moldy carpet between us and the desk. It had white walls and rotted furniture. I noted that the detonator was sitting on the desk not far away from the earth pony's grasp. Next to him sat an unusual weapon. It was as if somepony mated a beam pistol with a hunting rifle stock. The 'barrel' of it ended in three prongs that sparked constantly with red energy. Its battery compartment looked to hold small energy cells and I had no illusions that this was a poor weapon because of it being hoofmade. It's total length was about as long as a hunting rifle. This stallion was... different from almost all of the others we have come across. He wore a pinstripe suit that looked to have been recently cleaned and the slate grey pony looked to have bathed this morning. He was very handsome and looked back at us with a genuine smile that hid the wrinkles which were just starting to show on his face. "Ah,” he began with a smooth voice. “The elusive Green Terror of Oakwood. I must say it's a pleasure to meet you. You've done us a favor from what I hear. I’m Major Comet." I frowned as I realized that this pony wasn't an earth pony but a pegasus. I only just now noticed this because he used a wing in a form of salute. The pinstripe suit had a flap to hide his wings from a pony’s vision. His short cropped silver and azure blue mane was starting to show signs of grey as well. "Do come in and bring your small friend. We have much to discuss." Comet said as I looked down at Rose. I stepped into the room with Rose using my long flowing tail to hide behind. I asked with a tilt of my head, "what is going on?" The pegasus held a wing out and motioned to a pair of chairs. "Sit and I’ll explain." My gaze went to the chairs but I firmly planted my rump where I stood and replied. "We do not trust thee." Rose appeared to be using us as a shield from this pony and that caused us to wonder. If this old stallion in front of us has an enchanted suit to hide his wings... does Rose's lab coat act similar? Could this be her father?! "Who are you?" I asked. "Isn't it obvious?" Comet smiled as he pointed a hoof at his face. "Don't I look familiar?" I looked back as I felt Rose tap my flank with a hoof. "He's Enclave." "Correct!" The stallion laughed. "You, Miss alicorn, have saved my daughter from a most horrible death and offered to help us in exchange for our help, did you not?" My eyes widened as I looked back at the slate grey pegasus and his name hit me like a bag of bricks. "You are Wraith's father!" "She shouldn’t have gone in the first place." he hissed and looked at the wall. "Anyway!" Comet looked back at us. "Yes, you have offered to help us in exchange for our Raptor support. And I am here to discuss terms and conditions." "What?!" Rose shouted in shock. "Shell Shock, how could you do that?!" Wraith's father didn't hear her. "Now then. Normally this is where I shoot you with my toy and say ‘no deal’ BUT! You've saved my daughter and that debt needs to be re-payed." "How do you know I saved her? We parted ways less than four hours ago!" Comet spread his forehooves wide as he smugly proclaimed. "I’m a fast flyer for my age and not to mention the Raptors are close by." 'In the mist.' We added for him in our mind. I remembered something Wraith had told me. "You didn't force the memories out did you?" His eyes widened as he slammed his forehooves down. "Not in a million years! I would never harm my own daughter! Wraith gave me a quick version of what happened and I flew out to track you. However you arrived here before I could talk to you." He reached under the desk and lifted a hoof full of glowing pink ash. "This is what's left of the one that put the collar on her neck, so don't get angry at me. Take this as a gift of good faith." As the ash fell off the hoof it revealed a strange key that he tossed over. I caught it in magic and eyed it. We put it into the slot on the collar but hesitated. "This..." I looked back at Comet. "This is a trick, it has to be as this is too easy." The pegasus rolled his gold eyes and trotted over to his 'toy'. He gripped it and turned around to aim at us. "Turn it!" Wraith's father mumbled around the grip. "No, we will not hurt our friend!" I replied as I thought about shooting him with the floating pistol. "It's okay," Rose whispered, "I think if he meant to kill me he would have pushed the button." We did not think about that. As I looked at the key I sighed. I turned it as the collar clicked and whined. The explosive collar landed on the floor with a metallic thunk. Rose hugged our foreleg tight. We looked down and rubbed her mane with a wing. "Good. Now that business is settled let's talk about my terms of helping you." Comet said as he set the hoofmade energy rifle down and looked at us. I raised a brow in confusion. "Are you not doing this freely?" "We have to agree on how we're going to help each other before we can." He smirked smugly and I felt like knocking it off his face. "What are your terms?" "Well the first order of business is talking to that airship captain and finding out their intentions and whether or not they are a threat to the Enclave. If they aren't we'll let them continue as they have been. Second, you show me everything you know about the Steel Rangers on this island: Where they're located, what weapons they use, their numbers, etcetera etcetera. If you do very good in this aspect I will see about your reimbursement." "What do you mean reimbursement?" Rose asked. Wraith's father wrinkled his nose as he looked at the miniature pony. However he replied to the question. "My daughter told me this... Shell Shock was carrying a spare Steel Ranger suit of power armor in a vain attempt to get it possibly fitted for her. Is this true?" I nodded. "Yes, finding barding in my size is very hard indeed. We were lucky that a Steel Ranger we came across was close to our size." Comet tut-tutted as he shook his head. "For shame. Steel Ranger armor is for earth ponies and idiotic unicorns who de-horn themselves. Their 'armor' is overweight outdated trash that is better suited for use as a boat anchor. For you to wear it, my dear Shell Shock, you would be at a severe disadvantage. Think long and hard, have you ever seen a Steel Ranger with... wings?" "This we did not consider," I replied as I looked at the floor, my ears folded against my head. "I understand. We would be constricted and unable to fly." Comet nodded slowly as he grinned. "Now. I may be able to see about getting you fitted for a set of Enclave power armor. Minus the helmet obviously as it wouldn't fit with your horn. This is no guarantee, mind you, as you're not officially part of the Enclave yet." I looked down at Rose and asked. "What do you think?" She looked at Comet instead and told him, "if you lie to Shell Shock. I can guarantee you that it would be the last thing you ever do." He nodded. "Yes, my daughter already told me about a certain pink Steel Ranger who had lied to her and had his head removed for it. I am not lying, because I don't lie to those I work with. It’s bad form you see." "How do we know you're not lying about not lying?" I asked. An object was removed from behind the desk and slid across the floor. I stopped it with a hoof and looked down at the framed picture. It was of a younger Comet, a faint pink mare and two identical fillies standing in front. "My family has always put honesty and loyalty above everything else. The maroon filly on the left is a longtime Dash addict. She tries to hide it but I know about her problem. The one on the right was bitten by a glowing ghoul and has fallen ill. Wraith is tending to her now, because she was not fit to come down here in the first place. I swear to you on my daughters’ lives, I am not trying to trick you.” I gave a nod. "That is acceptable." Comet looked at Rose then me and said. "Please don't get mad or take offense but my daughter told me that you might be... simple?" My jaw dropped as my cheeks burned in anger. "I don't think you are. What do I see you as you wonder? I see a mare that uses her wits to get her foes to drop their guard by letting them think she is simple and then strikes them down hard." I beamed at the compliment as I grinned and inadvertently picked up Rose's thoughts, "he calls Shell Shock stupid and she likes it? But I do it and she threatens to kill me? What am I, chopped liver? Or does she see me as..." To distract my brain I asked. "This power armor we might get. What color will it be and how well will it fit?" Comet put the picture away and spoke as he slung a set of saddlebags that also had a bedroll onto his back. "Well I would hope like mine: Fits you like a glove." He spread his wings and gave them a test flap as he looked at us. "Ready to go?" We looked at Rose. She shook her head. "I appreciate you saving me Shell Shock, but I'll be back in Candlelight if you need me." My ears folded against my head as I knelt down and pulled her into a bear hug that she returned. I told her. "Please stay safe, Rose. Other than Sister you are our only friend." She whispered softly into our ear. "I truly hope you know what you're doing." *** *** The two of us flew through the sky while thy Pipbuck played music. Comet was in front and doing tricks. I had left Bucky's armor back at Alicorns Perch as it was ungainly to take with me everywhere. Not to mention this prospect of having better armor! I beat my wings faster as Comet did a barrel roll with a laugh. He spun around and motioned us closer while he shouted. "Come on, I thought you'd be faster than this!" With a grin I tried to close the gap but he pulled away. We could see the airship in question to the far north as it traveled in what appeared to be a straight line. Comet laughed more and went into a dive. I followed suit. I rolled inverted and chased after him. Blue's almost-male voice filled my head as I dove straight down. "Sister, can you hear me?" "Yes. Sorry I forgot to tell you that I made it." I replied to her. "That is fine. I have moved your friend Mudpie to a new location. She is stable and slowly improving. However she does not want to burden you with her dead weight, so she says to finish what you are doing before you return." With a grin I replied. "Tell her, 'thank you and we will be safe'." “We hope you will be.” she replied and her presence faded. I followed Comet out of the dive and we began skimming the rooftops of Oakwood City. The dark moonlit ground below became a blur of blue-grey colors as we focused on just catching the pony in front of us. It is surprising how fast and agile Comet is for his age! I held a hoof out as I slowly inched closer. But before I could tap him he dropped down to street level. My eyes widened but I kept up. My hooves parting grass as my injured wings began to strain so I slowed down. Comet looked back and pulled into a half loop. Then flew a wide circle that brought him right next to us. "You're tired?” he asked. “And here I thought alicorns were supposed to be the superior species." I dropped to the overgrown street and held out a wing to show him where I had been bitten as I explained. "Something bit me, then its imp spawn grew under the skin and destroyed all the tissue." "Don't you have healing potions?" Comet asked with a roll of his eyes. "Just pour one or two on the wound and it'll be fixt lickety split." "No, I did not think of that as radiation does the same thing for alicorns." “Yeah,” he scoffed. "Sure looks like it's doing a bang up job." I looked at the wound and inspected it for new tissue but found none. Odd. “Hold it right there!” A pony shouted. Causing the both of us to turn our heads and look at two red bars on my E.F.S. about thirty yards away. The red armored and battle saddle wearing stallion continued. “Let’s see those pretty little hooves reach for the sky nice and slow.” The one on his left had a rocket launcher saddle. Comet rolled his gold eyes. “Always with the talking! Miss Shock, we have a schedule to keep. If that airship reaches the mist before we board we’ll be stuck in nothingness.” The both of us took flight and turned towards the airship. We quickly tried to catch the flying boat before it disappeared. Both the stallions looked up at us and then at each other in confusion. *** *** I attempted to catch up with Comet as we streaked through the sky towards the airship. A literal wall of grey mist only a few hundred yards ahead of it. Though I do not know what he means by stuck in nothingness but I will trust his judgement as he seems smarter than me. The airship’s name was painted in gold on the back of the stern: Celestia’s Delight. Smoke drifted from the single central stack as its six propellers turned to propel it through the air. How it flies we have no clue but there it was: A large 380 foot long cargo ship flying in the air. Her rain water stained white superstructure gleamed in the moonlight. There were two cranes: One ahead and one behind the central island of metal with boxes fore and aft. The two of us landed on the wooden deck near a large box by the bow and I noticed that there were machine gun blisters in various locations about the superstructure. Four M-2 .50 cals were aimed at the two of us. I gulped and put my hooves in the air as I sat on my haunches and Comet followed suit. A hatch near the bottom of the central structure opened up and spilled red light onto the deck. I looked behind me and saw the wall of mist was only a hundred yards away now. However the deck tilted as the airship turned away from the fog. As I turned my attention towards the hatch I saw a burnt umber earth pony stallion in a ship captains hat and coat. “Alicorn! What’s your business aboard my boat?” He asked loudly. “Best be quick about it before my ponies get trigger happy.” I decided that using my mind would be bad so I loudly said with my mouth. “I wish to talk to DJ Snow. I’m a fan of hers and wish to thank her face to face. Also the two of us would like accommodation. Preferably with a shower and separate beds.” “I don’t think she takes visitors but if you pay three hundred caps you can have a stateroom for a day.” “Is there some way we could possibly get a discount? As that is an awfully high price.” “That is the discount.” he replied. “May I get into my bags?” Comet asked. The earth pony nodded and Comet turned his head to nose through the saddlebag and produced a sack of something heavy that he slowly tossed at the captain’s hooves. The earth pony picked them up and looked inside. Then he frowned. “These are Enclave bits. Where did you get them?” I replied before Comet could. “We found them in a warehouse. The pegasi were pulled apart by some kind of mutated rats.” My wing extended and I pointed a hoof at the dead flesh. “When they bite you they inject their spawn into the wound and a day later it pops out.” He looked at me with an arched brow and I wondered if my lie was perhaps a bit too much. Even though it was mostly true. I tried to read Comet but it was like trying to read a brick wall. After perhaps an agonizing five seconds the earth pony nodded. “Welcome aboard the Celestia’s Delight. Don’t go out on deck in the daytime.” “Why?” “Because the fog has claws.” he replied flatly. "What is that supposed to mean?!" I shouted, but the earth pony had turned back around and Comet had begun to trot forward after him. 75% to next level. Companion perk - Better healing. You gain 20% more healing from healing potions or bandages. Does not affect radiation. Given by Comet. Author's Note I finally got a pre-reader! And I've gotta thank Amethyst Wind for helping with this chapter. Otherwise it would have been a horrible mess. Edit: Removed song lyrics.
Chapter 6: One crazy dayChapter 6: One crazy day “You're doomed.” All of the blood and dirt my coat had accumulated over the last two weeks without a shower was gone and I felt squeaky clean. That tattered business suit was tossed over the side as it was much much too far gone to even consider repairing. The shower was awkward at first because Comet had insisted that we took one together to conserve the ship's water for the boilers. I saw no fault with his logic and so we took one together. Then one thing led to another and the the subject of wing massages came up after I got a wing cramp in the middle of said shower, so embarrassing! So now I was laying on a bed receiving a wing massage. Comet was doing something around the wing root with his forehooves that made all the tension simply melt away. I smiled at the amazing feeling. I had never had a wing massage before and should make it a point to get one and a hooficure more often. Though I still haven't gotten said hooficure. "So, Miss Shock," he began as he worked in between the wings on my back. "Tell me a little about yourself. My daughter says that you were alive before the bombs." "Well there is not much to tell,” I said with a sigh. “Anything before two years before the bombs went off is muddled and fuzzy. It is as if a pony has purposely removed everything from those times. I have vague feelings though." "Hm... sounds to me like the MoM decided to screw with your brain. Any idea why they would?" “No.” He started to work towards my hindquarters and I looked back in confusion as I asked with my mind. "What are you doing?!" "It's just a full body massage. Now just relax." "Are you using me?" "Are you not using using me for your own gains?" I explained it to him. "Yes, for you see, I wish for that armor and the Enclaves help. But you avoided my question. Are you using me?" "You have already answered your question by answering mine. But if you insist I will tell you. Yes, I am using you to get intel. No, I am not using you for pleasure." "That is acceptable." I nodded. I laid my head back down as I said, "this wall needs a painting or perhaps a nice set of drapes. It's so boring!" He took one of my hind legs and began to apply pressure as I continued with my story. "As for myself? I spent perhaps thirty years wandering the aftermath before being picked for Unity. Then we became an alicorn and a much better pony. If you think we regret our decisions, the answer is a big fat no.” “So you used to be a normal pony?” I nodded. “Yes. The process of becoming an alicorn involves vats of rainbow colored liquid and you being dipped in it.” "Sounds painful. What is your special talent?" He asked while working back up the leg. "I... I don't remember and this has caused me great worry over the past month or so." Then with my mouth I told him everything I knew about the Steel Rangers of Oakwood in great detail. That their base is the old naval base across the bay from the Crescent Moon, Eclipse is an insane pony hell bent on killing alicorns, they are heavily armed, they send convoys to and fro into the jungle to scavenge for stables or technology, and that they use mechanical powered Vertibucks for quick reaction time. Comet nodded. “I think all of that should be sufficient. I’ll still need to do first hoof observation.” His hooves touched an area that made me smile as I said, "stoop... That tickles!" "This?" He poked in front of my hind leg on the side of my belly which caused it to flinch and I giggled again. "Yes, that!" He did it again but harder this time. I recoiled from the attack of the tickles as my wings flapped once. I closed them and fell with a thud to the carpeted deck. When I looked over the bed at the slate grey pegasus I said. "I'm hungry. Do you want some food? I'll go get some food." "No, I'm tired. We should head to bed." I nodded. "I'll be back later then. I’m hungry." *** *** I walked along the narrow passageway inside the central superstructure. Not really caring nor noticing any of the details other than white walls, metal doors, and grey carpet. I wasn't actually hungry. I had to get away from Comet for a while to clear my head of any sexual feelings from the massage. Because I had many and did not want a second Bucky on my hooves. I turned right and followed the grey carpet as it ascended metal stairs. This hallway was like the one below except less plush. The doors were dark brown wood. I pressed forward and took a glance out of a porthole at the mist filled night sky. 'If you're gonna wander aimlessly can you at least find us food?' the crimson mare whispered in the back of my mind. My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip. I decided to ignore the mare's voice as best I could. Then made a left at the end and picked up my pace a little. I made a right and ascended more stairs. Then followed that short hallway to the end. I stopped as I looked around in confusion as we seemed to be lost. Though I didn't know where I was going anyway so it is of little consequence. My ears picked up a voice that was much too muddled to make out the specifics of. Without anything else to do we followed it. Our route made a turn and the hallway ended in a half open door. After making sure our mane didn't get in the way we peered around the door. There was a light grey zebra with ebony stripes and copper orange eyes sitting in a very plush looking chair. She was surrounded by radio equipment with lots of switches, dials and lights. I couldn't see her glyph because the dark red robe she wore obscured it. A set of headphones covered her ears. Her long two-tone mane was done in many small dreadlocks with multi-color beads on the tips that resembled the colors of the setting sun. She did not notice me. The zebra was deep in a bottle of rum and enthralled by some black device hanging from a boom in front of her. She was mid-sentence. "...and that folks is how Equestria was made! Alright, Oakwood. I’m tired, the sun’s coming up and I've got a fever. Do you wish to know the cure? More cowbell!" We found it odd that DJ Snow sounds completely different in the flesh. Her voice has a much different accent. She spun in her chair and kicked at a switch on the machine behind her. The thing rocked back a little before a record dropped onto a turntable and began to spin. As the needle touched down a guitar played out that was followed by said cowbell. The zebra put on a single saddlebag and picked up her bottle of rum with her tail. She tossed the bottle in the air and turned so it would drop perfectly into her open bag. As she turned her attention to the door she noticed us and her copper eyes widened. "Alicorn!" She shouted in shock while diving behind her equipment. Her outburst caused me to look at her in confusion. The zebra poked her head back up with a silver box clenched in her teeth. My eyes widened as the box sent a beam of red into my face. I screamed in pain as the beam grazed my muzzle and brought up my green shield. The zebra's bar never changed from blue to orange as a second and third beam struck the shield doing no actual damage. She looked cross eyed at her laser pistol then looked at me with a nervous smile. I walked forward as I ripped the beam gun from her mouth with magic. She began backing up and bumped into her chair. "Please don't kill me," she begged and made herself smaller, "I am no threat to one of you. It was a mistake I know that now!" My gaze went to the beam pistol and I dropped it to the floor then my hoof came down and stomped it flat. I looked at her as my shield was lowered. "That hurt," I whined with my mind and she made no attempt to acknowledge it. So I whined with my mouth, "all I wanted to do was say hello to DJ Snow! Why did you shoot me, DJ Snow?" She let out a breath and looked at the beam pistol. "Perhaps we should talk this over some food and get some ice on that burn, yes?" "Okay, lead the way." I nodded. *** *** I telekinetically held a bag of ice onto the slowly healing burn across my muzzle. My Pipbuck was telling me that my rads were slowly dropping too. Across from me sat Zakiya who was immune to my telepathy. We sat at a table with the crushed beam pistol in the center, a plate of meat next to it and my 10mm pistol on the other side. The table was inside the ship’s galley which ran 24/7 and stocked various foods. “My face hurts and you shot me.” I groaned again for perhaps the fifteenth time. “Why did you shoot me?!” “It is cause for alarm when one such as you sneaks up on a pony.” She said while looking down at her mostly drank bottle of spiced rum clutched in her forehooves. My eyes narrowed at this retort. So I loudly said. “You left the door open!” “Did I do so for you? No. I did not expect an alicorn to come sneaking through. I think I will need to have a long talk with the captain about informing me of new guests. Especially if they are alicorn guests.” I adjusted the ice pack and replied. “I heard DJ Snow was a pegasus but you're a zebra.” Zakiya laughed then took a draw from the bottle. She set it down and said. “Do you really think surface ponies would listen to one such as I? No. From what I’ve experienced they still do not like zebras all that much.” “How do you mask your voice then?” I asked with a tilt of my head. The meat was floated up to my eye level as I inspected it carefully. I gave it a sniff and wondered what exactly it was. “That is bacon and I can guarantee you it is not pony bacon,” she said with a point of her hoof. “Anyone goes missing on this ship and they are found within the hour. Our aerial community is tight knit like that.” I nodded and put the bacon into my mouth. My eyes went wide as the greasy flavor of syrup and whatever else it was filled my mouth. I smiled and chewed on the almost crunchy bacon. “It is good!” I told her with my mind. Then facehoofed when she stared at me blankly. So I used my mouth after gulping it down with a little Ray. “That is delicious. How many live on this ship?” “Why do you wish to know?” “Because I’m curious. I've only seen two so far and yet this ship is large.” "Very well then." Zakiya nodded. "There are about sixty earth ponies, fifty unicorns, a hundred and ten zebra, thirty pegasi, and one ghoul living aboard the Celestia’s Delight. The pegasi naturally go to the ground to gather food, clothes, and weapons for the rest of us. There is a small apple orchard in one of the forward cargo holds that the unicorns use to grow very bland tasting apples in.” The zebra took a drink from her bottle as I looked at her. “How does it fly?” “Magic!” She grinned and I shot a glare at her. Zakiya frowned then added. “It really does fly with a combination of magic and steam. Don’t ask me the specifics, because I don’t know them as I am a humble zebra. I leave pony magic to unicorns... and alicorns.” I shrugged because I didn’t really care how it flew. I was mostly asking her for intel while she was drunk, which she has very good drunk speak if a bit slurred. “You say you have one ghoul, why?” I asked. She drank from the bottle and found it empty. Zakiya arched her brow as she shook it in a vain attempt to get the very last drop out of her bottle of rum. Then she tossed it behind her and stood up as it shattered on the deck. I watched the zebra trot over to a vending machine and instead of putting bits into it like any normal pony would, Zakiya gave it a swift buck that caused it to rock back and forth. A full bottle of wonderful booze rolled into the slot at the bottom. “Works every time!” Zakiya exclaimed as she swiped the bottle of rum up with her tail, tossed it in the air and caught it in her teeth. I shook my head at her blatant disregard for her liver's well being as she walked back over while drinking. The bottle was set down as she took a seat. Something had been bugging me and it finally blurted out. "How did you know that I gave ponies supplies in Candlelight?" "I'd imagine of our pegasi was doing some trading and saw it. Then told Dj Sn-me?" "Oh. Are you afraid of me?” “Shall I run around and shout 'Star Demon' like a fool?” Zakiya shook her head and added with a sly grin. “Alicorn, you are sitting inside the steel hull of a pre-war auxiliary cruiser that is flying through the night sky. Such superstitions as the ‘stars are evil’ are for zebras who haven't seen what I've seen to worry about. I could tell you many stories about 'Star Demons' and how they are just as easy to kill as a pony but I will not. That is for another story.” I floated out the Zebra Rifle and laid it down across the table then took another bite of bacon. She looked at it while I explained. “This was found in the jungle in very poor condition. You're a zebra and I figured you might know of where to get it fixed." “You will give it to me as compensation for breaking my perfect beam pistol.” She drunkenly replied. “There is no bargaining on this!” That offer sounded fair to me so I floated out the extended magazine and shoved both items across the table. Zakiya began to tear it apart while mumbling under her breath about various things. Before I knew it she had a completely stripped Zebra Rifle laying between us. “Is it sufficient?” I asked. She did not take her eyes off the weapon as she explained. “Don't be a fool, of course it was. With some spare parts we have I can fix this. But this magazine is no good!” The zebra held up the extended one and tossed it behind her without a care. She did the same to the regular one as she shouted. “And neither is this one! Neither of these will do. Not enough capacity! I think I have a drum magazine somewhere. Yes yes," she nodded rapidly to herself, "load it with hollow points and those Mist Roamers won’t stand a chance!" My brows furrowed together as I looked at her, because I found her weapon knowledge interesting. However I ignored her musing and asked. “The captain has said that the ‘fog has claws’ and I wish to know what he means. As it sounds insane." She let out a chuckle that turned into a cry of shock as a spring jumped off the weapon. The both of us watched as it quickly disappeared into a drain on the floor. The zebra pointed a hoof towards where it had gone. “I don’t think I needed that one anyway. It must wish for a new owner. Well I hope it finds one!” Zakiya looked back at me and shrugged. “Fog with claws? Because it does have claws.” “But what does that mean?!” She clicked her forehooves together as she leaned across the table and whispered. “It would be bad luck and bring the claws to this ship if I were to tell you what they were. I will not endanger my family here for your satisfaction.” “You said you weren’t superstitious!” Again her laughter filled the air as she leaned back. “Superstitious? Not of star superstitions. However this is not a superstition, because they are real. Let us speak no more of them.” My eyes widened when I remembered Ripper referred to mysterious ponies as ‘them and they’. We wondered if they were connected but dismissed it as coincidence. The zebra put her bag to the end of the table and began to scoop the weapon parts, including the 10mm pistol, into the bag along with the food and both bottles of booze. I quickly grabbed the pistol in magic and lifted it away. I remembered something and asked. “How come only one ghoul?” “She is known as Navigator. Always at the wheel as she does not sleep," she replied without hesitation. “She is the only one able to navigate the fog safely.” “That seems far fetched.” Zakiya slung her now heavy bag across her side as she said. “If you will excuse me, I have to sleep. Or would you like to come with and keep me awake for a few more hours?” "No, I like stallions." She shrugged. "I meant for more conversation. I haven’t had good conversation in many years." "Perhaps later. I wish to speak to this ghoul. "Very well. She is on the bridge. It is that way," Zakiya flicked her tail to a door and began trotting off while mumbling, “shiver my timbers shiver my soul... “ *** *** As I walked towards the bridge door I used my telekinetics to take a sip of the Celestia's Ray. I had decided that I must see the ghoul because Comet surely would want to. We smiled and nodded at our smart plan to do all of the intel while he was sleeping. That way when he wakes up we can leave earlier. The hatch in front of me swung open quietly on recently oiled hinges and I stepped inside. "Welcome odd traveler." An old sandpapery mare's voice said from my right. "What can this old girl do for you this fine morning?" I looked over at a rotting bay colored unicorn with pretty much no mane or tail. Her cutie mark looked to be the same ship wheel that she stood next to. The real one was pony sized and engulfed in white magic. Her brown eyes looked out at the wall of fog as she moved the wheel a little. "In or out." I blinked and tilted my head. "I'm sorry. What?" "Come in or leave but shut the door either way." She said without taking her eyes off the fog. I shut the hatch with magic and trotted over to the ghoul. I have no idea what makes her special because she looks like any other ghoul I've encountered. I stepped in front of her and she made no attempt to tell me to move. As I looked around the bridge I saw that it was devoid of ponies. "How come you're alone?" "I'm not alone. There's a green alicorn blocking my vision. Move please." I nodded and stepped to the side. "Farther, your mane is in my way, miss." With a roll of my eyes I wrapped my mane around a wing and pulled it against my body. "Happy?" "No. I'd be happy if we were on the ocean again. Riding waves is far more entertaining than flying through the sky, granted you move quicker in the air, but it just doesn't have the same feel. I want to smell the sea again and feel her unpredictability. These clouds are static and smell like death." "Is this ship a threat to the Enclave?" The unicorn ghoul looked over at me. "Well aren’t you pointed. Is this ship a threat to the Enclave? No. Pay us enough and we’ll fight for ya. Always have, always will. Been the way of the Delight since before the war." "How can you fight? This is a transport ship." She smirked as she looked back out at the fog. "If you say she is, then she must be, but then that would be the death of you. We have guns aboard and a contingent of Marines capable of holding their own in an aerial engagement." I nodded. "Thank you for being honest. Can you tell me what 'the fog has claws' means?" "Go stand on deck and see for yourself. I’m not a dictionary." With a frown I asked. "How do you know where to go? I can’t see past the bow!" "Where I go I do not know!” she cackled. “Though I do know about the five Enclave Raptors following us in a line. We passed by them about fifteen minutes ago. The poor dears appear to be lost and decided to follow us. No doubt in some vain attempt to get the technology we use to fly or something like that." I walked to the aft wall of the wheelhouse and looked out at the fog where I saw the vague outline of an Enclave Raptor. "That would be the Steel Rangers who take old world technology. I'm not sure what the Enclave do other than close up the sky." “Steel Rangers, Enclave, what's the difference? Someone’s always killing someone. Even in your dreams.” "I should go talk to the captain." I said. “Well Zakiya is looking for you. See her first.” She commented as the the ship was slowed down again but with only one bell that was answered by one. “First Officer’s cabin.” A door opened behind me and she added. “Down that hall and to the left.” *** *** I walked through the ship’s superstructure as I looked for the correct cabin. Though I had no idea how Navigator knew Zakiya was looking for me. She seemed off her rocker and so did every other pony I have met so far on this ship. Always talking about ‘them’ and we wondered if Ripper was related to these ponies in some way. Which doesn't sound far off to us. I stopped and looked at the Pipbuck’s automap feature. Then groaned as I realized that I had passed the door probably four times already. I turned around and trotted down the hallway and stopped at the door. My hoof knocked against it loudly twice and I opened it partially as I told Zakiya with my mouth. “It is Shell Shock, the green alicorn, may I come in?" “You may.” I went inside and shut the door. This room was larger than the stateroom Comet and I had. There was a single queen sized bed with zebra striped sheets, a mini-fridge next to the bed, a reloading bench, an actual workbench which Zakiya sat at, and the Zebra Rifle was still in parts on the workbench. Instead of wallpaper or paint it the walls were lined with racks of everything from hoofmade pistols to full on battle saddles. There was also two sets of zebra combat armor: One that was in almost pristine condition inside a case and the other that looked like it had seen better days. Zakiya was looking back at us over a set of magnifying goggles. “Yes? What is it you wish to talk about?” “Navigator said you were looking for me?” "Yes I was. You see this weapon you gave me was on its last legs. By sheer dumb luck you have lived to tell another tale.” “Huh? Can you explain that better, please? I am not a very smart pony.” She turned all the way around and adjusted her robe as she stood up. “Then I will elaborate as if you were a foal with no knowledge of weapons. A Zebra Rifle only fires in three round bursts. Not one, not two, or four. Only ever three. Always three. You had two bullets left and so it could not fire. Had you had just one more bullet and attempted to fire it, that weapon would have exploded in your hooves. Thus killing you in the process.” “I suppose I should be thankful to the Goddess then.” I nodded. The deck tilted severely as the ship turned or something. The zebra looked over as a stack of Guns and Bullets magazines fell off the workbench. Zakiya pointed her hoof at them and shouted. “I didn’t like you anyway!" She looked at me as the ship leveled out and said. "When she decides to have fun we’re all in for a ride.” I tilted my head and asked in zebra tongue. “Are you talking about the ship or are you talking about Navigator?” “Navigator. And don't talk about my mother like that." She gave a small smile. "Your zebra is badly broken like this bottle here." Zakiya used her hoof to knock an empty bottle of rum off the workbench. It shattered as it hit the floor and she trotted over to the mini-fridge next to the bed. She retrieved a bottle from the mini-fridge and stopped halfway to give us a wink before she tossed it. I caught the rum bottle in magic and she retrieved a second one. Zakiya went back to the workbench and set the bottle down. "So you like stallions?" I realized why she winked and it became awkward. I wanted to run but I also wanted to stay and chat. Her copper orange eyes practically beckoned me to stay and so I sat down. "Correct. We do not pursue relations with mares." "Very well. I won't bring it up. Do you wish to know a secret?" "Do I have a choice?" "Not really. But anyway! My secret is this: I don't like it here. Only one mare talks to me, the rest act like I don't exist and I hated doing the radio. Sitting there all night talking and talking was so boring! It's not even my special talent." "What is your talent?" I asked then took a sip from my bottle of rum. Zakiya hopped and spun on a hind hoof with her fore legs spread wide. "Weaponry and armor!" she exclaimed as she dropped back down. "Around here I am called Zakiya the Armorer. Shell Shock, will you do me a favor?" "That depends on the favor." She nodded rapidly. "Yes yes, I know you don't like mares. It's nothing like that. Not entirely." Zakiya grabbed our mane in her teeth and began trotting towards the case with the zebra armor. Pain shot through my scalp as as she pulled the mane and attempted to run away at the same time. "Ow! Ow! Hey stop!" I shouted as I struggled to keep up. My magic lifted her off the ground and yet she kept attempting to almost gallop over. Then she looked down with a puzzled expression and let go of my mane. "I seem to be flying... Hey I'm a flying zebra! When did I grow wings? Why did no pony tell me I have wings?!" I dropped her to the deck and she practically bolted for the zebra armor in the glass case. Zakiya pressed her face against the glass as she said. "Just look at it. Painstakingly crafted by zebras of old. Lost, then found, then lost again. I spent years repairing the suit and you know what?" "I don't." I shook my head. Zakiya looked at me and almost shouted. "The sleeves too damn long! All that work was fucking wasted on armor that could not fit me!" I turned my attention to the armor in question and noticed that they were indeed too long. As if it was made for a female zebra that was almost as tall as me. “How did you manage to not notice that?” “I was a filly and didn’t know any better. However completing the armor gained me my glyph and so I have kept it these many years. I’ve never seen what it looks like on a pony but now...” She grinned at me as I took a step back. “Now I finally have a sexy mare to model it for me! But first! We must make many modifications to that horrible atrocity you call a mane. It will not do for a Legionnaire.” Stay and get my mane cut and maybe a set of armor, or run away? I sighed with a nod. "Very well." *** *** I looked at myself in the mirror and turned sideways as I flicked my now short dyed black tail to the side. It touched the floor, which was short compared to what it used to be, and my mane was now shoulder length. Zakiya had done the both of them in a great many small dreadlocks with fire red beads on the ends. It seemed to stop the flow of my mane and I was glad for it. It didn’t look too bad against my green hide in my opinion. The only problem I saw was the Pipbuck. It was an item that still needed to come off. The hoofgun managed to slip over the armor so it was no problem. The armored dress was red and black with golden trim. The dress part of it was more like layered plates which were loosely connected to allow for some movement in the armor while keeping the protection adequate. If we didn’t look too hard at our frontal profile we could pass for a very tall unicorn with a large exquisite horn. I was annoyed that the Zebra Legionnaire armor was tight around my chest and restricted my wings like what I was trying to avoid with Steel Ranger power armor. However I had actually found a set of armor that could fit! I did not think that Zakiya would just let me take the armor off her hooves for free. I will admit that I was skeptical at first as it was zebra armor. but with it on I don’t think I had much to complain about. Barding was barding. Her reflection in the mirror showed her on the bed cleaning and loading the drum magazine with hollow point rounds. “May I have this armor?” I asked. “I like it very much.” “Well it was just sitting there and is much too large for me,” she replied without looking up from her task. “However you must do something for me in return.” “Anything.” I smiled at myself in the mirror. She looked up with a grin that caused me to blush because a dirty thought flashed across my mind at the realization of what I implied. “Take me with you when you leave. There are others better suited who can do the night shift.” I let out a breath and nodded. “Deal.” She went back to work on the drum magazine and I danced around in front of the mirror. I hopped as I shifted my weight to my left hooves, then my right, and back again. Then I held the chainsword next to me with magic, stepped back, and jumped while spinning around. My new mane’s dreadlocks twirled around and I noticed they didn’t obscure my vision as bad as the overly long flowing one did. In fact I could still see clearly even though a few of the individual dreads landed on my muzzle. Zakiya got off the bed and began pulling various weapons off the wall. "I must prepare for my trip. Rest here if you wish. I won’t try anything funny. Also come here I need to make a modification to the armor." She grabbed a long sharp sword in a fetlock and I figured out right away what she meant. "Do you really want to cut into your life's work?" "It is armor and designed to get damaged, this I have accepted so cutting into it isn't much different. Is it not uncomfortable to have your wings restricted?" “Not really. I was a unicorn before becoming an alicorn, so I know how to deal without flight.” With a shrug she tossed the blade into her bags. I caught it before it could land inside and floated it over to me. I set the officer's sword down and wondered if it would be odd to dual wield blades. One that is a chainsword that can cut through nearly anything on the left and a normal sword on the right. I wrapped the drum in magic and tossed to her. She caught it and put it away. Then I climbed onto the bed and pulled the striped cover over me. It didn't take long to fall into a deep sleep and I found myself walking along a concrete tunnel. ***===***===*** I walked through the dark underground tram station with a pair of saddlebags on my back that held recently traded stale pre-war food. My cyber leg thumped against the concrete floor floor and caused the sound to be off beat, three soft and one loud. The crackle of flames reached my ears and I saw my destination in the soft orange glow coming from a fire barrel in another room three doors down. I walked past the two other rooms that I cared not for to glance inside. My crystalline tan coat was covered by my frayed tank crew barding and I wore the cloth cap to keep my head warm. Though they were hardly adequate for the long winter just after the war ended. I turned into the room and gave my coltfriend a warm smile. He sat with his back to me while he warmed his forehooves by the fire in the center of the room. His black coat was also covered in tank crew barding and I could see his cutie mark of a synthesizer. There were tiny makeshift houses along the walls and everywhere you could imagine. I stalked as quietly as I could towards him. Making it a point to gently set the cyber hoof down so as to not make noise. I stopped right behind him. My open mouth slowly inched closer to his ear in preparation to nibble it. As I did so I noticed something wrong and my eyes widened. A crimson mare with blue eyes turned her head around and smiled at me. "Have a look in this mirror." the crimson mare said in her smooth voice as her horn glowed and a small vanity mirror was floated next to her head. The mirror reflected nothing but rolling plains and blue sky. "You're not Synth!" I shouted as I began backing up. "Who are you? What is going on?!” The crimson unicorn with no cutie mark walked towards me with the mirror floating near her head. "Come on. Look into the mirror. There’s something I want you to see. It’s your future self." It showed the reflection of a pony I didn’t recognize at all and I felt myself being drawn into the mirror against my will. It was like my soul was being ripped from my body while it screamed in pain. I did the only thing I could think of. I shut my eyes and bolted from the room. *** *** My offbeat hooves echoed in the dark rubble filled subway tunnel as I galloped away from the crimson mare with no cutie mark. I couldn’t see very well in the dark and neither could she, or so I hoped. The only light came from the still working maintenance lights on the ceiling and the track signal lights that glowed red. Ahead of me was a concrete rubble pile. I dared not look back as she shouted. “Just take a peak. See what Equestria’s future has in store for you.” I clamoured over the concrete and jumped across a large black void. My hooves barely caught the other edge as my hind legs flailed about uselessly beneath me. The weight of the bags threatened to drag me into the abyss. A hoof was extended down to me and I grabbed it with my cyber hoof. Then I looked up. My eyes widened and my soul began screaming again as it was pulled towards the mirror. I pushed away from the mare and tumble into the black abyss below as my saddlebags spilled their contents. "Where do you think you can hide, hm?" she asked from everywhere as I fell. “Where you go I can go. You cannot hope to outrun me in here. Just give up now and look into a mirror. Any mirror will do fine." I tumbled through darkness for some time that felt like minutes. There was a light at the bottom and I grinned at the way out. However as I got closer I saw that it wasn't a way out but another mirror with rolling hills! My eyes widened at the realization that I couldn’t do shit to avoid this one. I saw my tumbling tan reflection in the fast approaching mirror and the unknown pony reflecting back grinned at my misfortune. "No!" I screamed and slammed into the surface as every fiber of my being screamed in pain. Blue skies greeted my vision as I passed through the mirror and was propelled up into the air. My stomach leapt into my mouth as my ascent slowed to a stop and I very nearly vomited. I cast my gaze down to the ground as I felt my body begin to fall. When the fast approaching ground slammed into me I groaned. With a second groan I lifted my head up and looked around at green rolling hills in every direction as far as the eye could see. The smell of fresh cut grass blew on a light breeze and it was serenely quiet. I looked into the sky at the sound of the crimson mare's chuckle. "That was much easier than I expected. Welcome to your new home." I shouted as I frantically looked around, "what is going on?!" “This is your prison. I took control of your body." "You can’t keep me here!" I snarled. Then looked around again as I tried to form a plan but came up blank. “I will get out!” "Oh I don't think so. That mirror was one way." My ears folded back at the information. "Since I’m trapped here you might aswell tell me why." "I suppose I owe you that. You see, I sought out the most distant green alicorn from Equestria and found you. Your sisters on the island did not expect me to take control of them with your telepathy either. That was an unexpected bonus." I sat down and dug at the grass with a metal hoof as I shut my eyes. "What was so important about me?" "To be honest? Nothing. You're just an average old green drone with a faulty template and a nearly blank mind, which was surprising. This jungle island is so far from the mainland that no pony remembers it. Not even I knew it existed until I felt you here. So it is the perfect place to rebuild my army and you've already laid the groundwork for me." “Are you going to leave me to wander alone and go insane?" "Don't be foolish. All you had to do was ask for company and it'd be provided. Observe." The voice echoed off as an alicorn formed nearby. I trotted over to the blue stallion that watched me approach. Behind him a large brown mansion rose from the ground and the door opened. I looked at the alicorn and waved my metal hoof but he looked like he wasn’t at home. "He's a drone!" I shouted. "No. He is not. The male will obey your every command and will provide actual conversation," the voice said from nowhere. "Or if you wish for a mare's company instead..." A blue alicorn mare formed next to him. "Enjoy one or the both of them, or kill them, your choice.” They looked at me like drones do, blankly. I backed away and looked up in the sky. “Why am I not an alicorn?” “Do you honestly think I’d give you that kind of power in here? No, now enjoy these two while I conquer the wasteland." I hung my head low and walked up the stairs with the drones following me. *** *** I walked along the yellow hallway with the mare drone following me and I began to wonder how bad this other pony messed things up with my body. I don’t know how long its been. Minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months? They are all a blur to me without a Pipbuck. All I wanted to do was help the ponies of Oakwood, show them that Unity was better... and that we were the future. Instead I got trapped in my own mind. Bucky was right, Eclipse was right, Sister was right and so was Rose. I was stupid. I was stupid and gullible, and naive, and... and... a foal. My hind legs gave out and I fell into a sitting position. Everypony was right. Be smart... As if that's possible in here! There’s no way out. The voice said that and it is clearly smarter than I am because I’m trapped here and it isn’t. A blue wing wrapped around me and pulled me against the blue’s body. She shushed me as she rubbed my side with a wing. "Sshh... It's okay. We can make you feel better." She got in front of me and I watched her lower her head. “No!” I recoiled in shock and backed away before she could even get close. "You're not real... none of this is real!" I told her. Because it was true. She looked up at me and smiled. "Of course this is real. Now let Us make you feel better." "No." She blinked and tilted her head. "Why not?" "I don’t like mares. Go away," I ordered. "You have to do as I say, now go away." She smiled and nodded. "Yes, Mistress. We will be in Our bedroom if you ch-" "I meant disappear. Go on. Leave and don't come back." "I'm afraid I can't let her do that," she replied in the crimson mare's voice. "You see this mare is act-" I lowered my head and charged the second her voice changed. My horn speared through her chest and drenched the top of my head in warm blood as I lifted her lifeless corpse and tossed it in the corner. I looked up at the ceiling two floors above in anger as the blue's blood trickled down my face and into my mouth. Oddly it didn’t taste as bad as I thought it would. "No more missus nice mare!" I shouted and my voice gradually got louder until it built up in the Canterlot Voice, "I want out. I want my body back. I WILL KILL YOU AND DEVOUR YOUR HEART IF YOU RESIST!" My gaze went back down as the room was filled with blue light. The blue alicorn stallion smiled at me. "Oh how admirable. But could you really kill another of your sisters? Say hello to the one you call ‘Blue’. You just killed ‘Sister’. Such idiotic names if you ask me." My jaw dropped in shock. Then my eyes narrowed because I remembered this wasn’t real. That meant the mare I just ‘killed’ wasn’t real. I charged him with my horn lowered. In a flash of blue he vanished and reappeared behind me as I slid to a stop. The stallion shook his head slowly while he chided, "such a shame you’re too stupid to remember the same trick doesn't work on Us twice." "I am not stupid!" I screamed and charged him again. He took flight and chuckled. "You really are.” I jumped into the air and didn’t even get close thanks to not having wings. “Think of the unborn foal. If you leave her mind now, she dies. I'll come back when you've calmed down. Ta-ta." Blue vanished in a flash of light and my eyes went to the size of pie plates. That is a lie! It has to be because that is physically impossible! *** *** Perhaps a day later four alicorns watched while I paced back and forth in front of the only mirror in this Goddess forsaken mansion. I dared not look at the severely wrinkled face nor the brown mane heavily streaked with grey. There is no way I can kill these four before they all run off and fucking multiply. Seriously. They multiplied. Now there's two purple mares and two blues. Except only one of the blues was a mare. My horn and head were scrubbed clean by the blue mare. But the blue male might fun to play with... I shook my head at that nonsense. Then stopped and looked at the alicorns. "I want my body back." The purple mare stepped forward as she said. "Are you not happy here? Think about this: Were you happy with your body?" I nodded. "Yes. I like being an alicorn." "And you’re technically still an alicorn, just not in appearance. You have everything you could ever want on top of a safe place to live. Here there are no homicidal mares trying to kill you. I'm keeping the both of us safe in the real world. Because I am far better at survival than you. The world outside is no place for you. It never was. Can you guess why?" I nodded slowly as my ears folded back. "Because stupid ponies die and the smarter ones live." The blue mare sat down beside me and wrapped a wing around me. I heard her get close as she whispered, "Shock, you’re not stupid. You mustn’t keep putting yourself down.” “Mudpie?” I asked. She nodded. “Fight whatever this is. Get out of here bef-" "I don't think so!" the crimson mare's voice shouted from nowhere. The blue mare looked at me with wide eyes. "No, stop!" Her body began to tremble. “I’ll behave. Let me stay!” I stood up and backed away. "I don't understand. What is going on?" "Just watch what I can do to your friends," the crimson mare said from nowhere. "No!" Mudpie screamed as she covered her face with her forehooves. Her whole body shook and spasmed then she slumped over. "Mudpie?" I asked as I poked the alicorn with a hoof. "Mudpie!" The house chuckled. "She won't be getting up anytime soon." "Mudpie!" I screamed and shook her. "Wake up... Sister...?" I whimpered as tears welled up in my eyes, "Sister, please... Please, wake up! Please?" "Shall I repeat this on another or do you want to stay here, and spare them the torment? I can guarantee you it is very painful for them." I shut my eyes and hugged Sister's body. "You win. I'll stay." *** *** The next day, or so, I was standing in the kitchen making some bacon in a twelve inch cast iron skillet because bacon is awesome. The kitchen was on the other side of the house and the voice had it fully stocked with knives and everything else that was deadly. I knew my way around a kitchen but didn’t know exactly how well. It was a feeling. I looked at the cooking bacon in the pan as it sizzled and popped. My eyes darted to the steak knives as a plan formed to kill the various alicorns walking about even though it was pointless. Sister had come back as drone, twice. My ears lifted up as I thought of something. The voice was arrogant and had told me all I had to do was ask and it'd be provided for. Every time I wanted out it was there to remind me that I was better off here or it’d come up with an excuse to make me stay. Could the voice be so arrogant as to leave a doorway in plain sight and was doing that to distract me from seeing it? I looked back at one of the the purple alicorns standing behind me. "Can you help me with something?" "Of course, Mistress, what is it you wish?" she replied while walking over. I gave a warm smile to the purple as she stopped right next to me. "This," I stated flatly and used my jade green magic to send the eight pound skillet and bacon into her face. Scalding hot grease struck her skull at the same time the skillet did. Metal rang out as it clanged against bone and she fell in agony while clutching at her face, screaming and shrieking from the grease burning flesh. I brought the skillet down on her head and split the the skull open in one blow with a wet crunch. I stepped back as blood began to leak out onto the tile. I turned my attention onto the other purple mare and sent the skillet flying at the same time I grabbed the knife and prepared my magic for the inevitable counter-attack. She dodged the skillet by ducking her head, but I quickly grabbed the pan in magic again, and brought it around across her horn from behind just as it began to glow. The cast iron club struck the horn with a resounding clang and sent her to the floor while her magic exploded. I swung again before she could recover and the horn cracked. A third blow made the crack grow. I brought it down again and snapped the horn off as she screamed in agony. Blood covered the purple’s head from where her horn used to be. I smiled while walking over. "Now... tell me how to leave or you will die a slow and horrible death." The alicorn looked up at me as I loomed over her with two steak knives floating at the ready. She began to get up but my cyber hoof came down and pinned her wing to the floor with a faint crack of the bone. The alicorn squirmed as she tried to get to her hooves. "Please..." she whimpered, "don't kill me... I don’t know where I am. I woke up here..." I brought the blade close to her face so she'd see it clearly as my eyes narrowed. "Then help me get out of here and I’ll spare you." "I can't, he'd kill me for it! You saw what he did to the blue." I pushed one of the blades in just under the skin and started sawing the flesh off like one were to cut a fish. "I can't!" she screamed as she shut her eyes. I ignored her and worked the blade all the way down to the hoof and held up the bloody purple fillet of flesh to show her. I didn't care to look down at the leg as I knew what it would look like. "Do you want me to continue?” I explained quietly, “I can make this last for weeks. One leg at a time all the way around and then your cutie mark." I bit down on the floating skin, ripped off a piece off and slowly chewed as I grinned. "The mirror!" she shrieked as the blade was lowered to the tender juicy meat. "The mirror! All you have to do is sh-" The purple alicorn collapsed with a blank stare. I spit the meat out and wiped my tongue off with the bottom of my cyber hoof. So... nasty! I’m never doing that again. I got up with the knives and skillet at the ready. At the door stood Blue blocking my path out of this nuthouse. “You shall not pass.” he said matter of factly in the smooth mare’s voice. My hooves carried me forward towards the not real pony. I may not have had my chainsword but I had a skillet and kitchen knives. *** *** Blue’s torso lay on the kitchen’s island as blood leaked out from his neck and the stumps that used to be his legs, which were now in the trash. HIs head was laying in the sink with kitchen knives driven into the eyes. The house began to shake as the crimson mare said. “Hm... I may have underestimated your stomach. Rest assured I have a plan.” I turned away from the butchered alicorn and walked out of the kitchen with a fiendish grin. Ahead of me lay a long yellow hallway wide enough to fly in that only got longer the more I walked. “You don’t want to do this.” The mare said. “I can bring them all back again. All you have to do is stop fighting my control.” “No, I want my body back. You have no right to take it from me! If I'm to die out there because of my own stupidity, then so be it!" "Then it's time for more drastic measures. Say hello to Ripper for me." A pale gold pegasus in a clean purple dress and wide brimmed hat walked out of a room and turned towards me. Underneath her dress was a mint condition Shadowbolt flying suit. On her back was a pristine condition Helga with a spinning 20mm vulcan and the trigger was in her mouth. Ripper looked at me with glowing ruby red eyes behind a pair of goggles and I noted fangs protruding from her muzzle that dripped fresh blood. The goggles had a wire which ran down her neck and into the saddle. An orange topaz in her rusting necklace glowed brightly like her eyes. The weapon stopped spinning as she let go of the trigger and shouted in a non-gravelly voice but not the crimson mare’s voice. "Who are you and why are you in my dream? No matter. Care to dance? Let’s go!" Ripper quickly picked up the trigger and bit down. A ball of red shot out of the outermost barrel. I brought up my shield just before 20mm rounds slammed into the glowing green bubble. They didn't go through. Instead they exploded against my shield while destroying the surrounding hallway. The force of the rounds hitting my shield sent me flying back and a literal line of red tracers narrowly missed my nose as I tumbled into a wall. The tracers struck the wall and tore through in a shower of plaster. A glance showed the hallway was now blocked and the only way to go was towards Ripper. Even the damage her saddle had done to the yellow wall was being repaired. I stood up as more shells hit my flickering shield, each hit reverberated inside my old bones. My eyes shut and I braced myself as I poured even more magic into my horn than I did against that plant monster in a desperate attempt to keep it from dying because I had no idea what would happen if I died in here. If it was to be me or her, then it will be her. A second brighter layer of magic engulfed my horn and the impacts stopped trying to push me back much to my relief. But I still strained against it every time they hit and sweat trickled down my face that got worse by the second. I noted that Fake Ripper could only fire in very short bursts that felt like fifty rounds each every second. But those fifty rounds all fired in almost the blink of an eye. When the current burst stopped I picked up the bloody meat cleaver and tossed it. She sidestepped the slow moving weapon and sent a rocket at me. I jumped into the ceiling as it passed and struck the wall behind me. Before my hooves even touched the ground I was sent flying towards the pegasus. She smirked while aiming the saddle ahead of me and another ball of red shot out. Her burst slammed into me and stopped all my forward momentum. I dropped to the floor as I groaned but made sure the shield stayed up. “Ha enuff?” She asked around the bit. “Never!” I shouted. With her distracted on me I lifted the meat cleaver behind her and sent it into her neck. Fake Ripper cried out in pain as she spun around to look at the invisible threat. Her vulcan gatling gun tore through the plaster walls as it finished its current burst. I quickly got to my hooves and charged her. She looked back at the sound of my metal hoof and her eyes widened. Fake Ripper began to turn around again. However I brought the cleaver down on her wing and the pegasus screamed before she could bring the weapon to bear, causing her to let go of the trigger. I picked up my pace, dropped the shield, and lowered my horn. It met some resistance when it hit her dress and uniform but still passed through into her chest. Blood gushed from the wound and coated my head as I lifted the pegasus up off the ground. Much to my surprise she was still alive. Fake Ripper squirmed in a vain attempt to shoot me, but the trigger was held against her neck by my head. She clamped her fangs around an ear and the side of my head exploded in pain as she pulled and tore the ear off. I turned my head as quick as I could and flung her against the wall before she could bite me again. The cleaver came around and cut the straps for her saddle. I lifted it in magic and tossed it away. The weapon thumped on the floor and flopped over even though I had expected it to slide. Fake Ripper lunged at me with her fangs bared. The cleaver struck her in the side of the head and she dropped to the floor as I backed away. As quick as I could I ripped off her hat and goggles and the cleaver came down in the center of her forehead. I stood over her and panted to make sure she was dead, she did not breathe. I pulled the cleaver out as I noticed that the blood she bled everywhere was black. It was glaringly obvious against my tan hide and the yellow walls that it now covered. My eyes widened as Fake Ripper began moving again. She lashed out with a shriek and clamped her mouth around my left foreleg. Her fangs pierced the cloth covering it and I yelled in pain as my vision rapidly grew darker around the edges. I watched in shock as her injuries began to heal before my eyes. As I hacked at her neck with the meat cleaver I screamed, "why won't you just die?!" On the last word the blade finally severed her head from her neck and the lifeless body fell over and began to coat the floor with more black blood. I held up my foreleg with Fake Ripper's head still attached to it and attempted to shake the lifeless head off to no avail. My magic gripped at her lower jaw and pulled. Fake Ripper's vice like grip caused me alarm as I broke her lower jaw with a hollow crack that made me cringe. Her head dropped to the slowly growing puddle of warm liquid. I turned and walked down the hallway to find a way out. After a couple of seconds I heard the sound of movement and glanced back. Both the head and body were surrounded by black mist as Ripper's head rolled towards her body on its own with glowing red eyes. Ripper's head reattached itself and twisted with a loud pop followed by her jaw fixing itself as she worked it around. The monstrosity sat up and looked at me then let out an ear piercing shriek that was so loud it stunned me momentarily. Fake Ripper lashed out with her fangs bared again. I grabbed her saddle in magic, aimed it and triggered the bit. It spit a ball of fire followed instantly by a deafening draconic roar. The fifty 20mm ap rounds tore through the abomination and shredded her side into tiny chunks. Ripper fell over in two halves with a wet plop. Black mist surrounded her as she began to regenerate. I triggered the saddle a second time and turned her head it into black gooey mush on the floor. However the pieces were slowly picking themselves up. I backed up with the weapon above me and sent a rocket after her at the same time I triggered the vulcan. Her body was engulfed in a fireball that blew out a nearby door. I didn't let up and sent four more rockets at the spot while firing the vulcan in bursts as often as possible. When the smoke and dust cleared all that remained of Fake Ripper was a shred of purple cloth, a pile of rubble and a giant scorch mark. 'Is she that hard to kill in the real world too?!' I thought to myself as I continued down the hallway. *** *** I stopped in the long yellow hallway and looked around. Despite travelling for perhaps three hours in a straight line I have somehow ended up back where I killed Fake Ripper. Scorched walls marked the spot of her death so it was glaringly obvious. My gaze went to the walls that had repaired themselves and I wondered exactly how long it took them to repair. With no other ideas I aimed the saddle at the wall and triggered a burst while covering my face with a hoof. Plaster shot back at me as I cut a door out of the wall that began repairing instantly. I jumped through and into a vast white room that had white floors and a white ceiling. As I looked back the hole closed and left me surrounded by white void. Everywhere I looked caused me to sway from vertigo. I cast my gaze down and walked along with the saddle floating in front of me. No sounds reached my ears and neither did any smell. Whatever or wherever this place was, it was completely sterile. I began to wonder how hard it really was to leave. ***===***===*** We, the four of us, sat inside what was left of a ruined office building overlooking the Steel Ranger naval base through the destroyed window. A razor wire fence ran around the perimeter with guard towers every hundred feet that had spotlights casing the outside in regular intervals. Their main base of operations was a large rusted combat ship that had a flat deck. The fools even had lights strung across it to make it easier to see the work they did at night on the Vertibucks that lined the deck. As we watched the patrols I noted their lethargic, almost complacent, disregard for any danger whatsoever as they readied the ship to get underway tonight. They must not considered this... Shell Shock and ‘Sister’ to be any threat. The three alicorns Shell Shock knew, even her companions she met, all thought she was a foal that was mistakenly transformed into an alicorn. Oh how wrong they were. She was an old addled pony with a massive void in her memories that made it easy to hide in and manipulate. And an easy place to keep her locked away for eternity if she’d only just calm down and accept the fact that the wasteland is no place for her. My world began to get smaller and I realized something was wrong. ***===***===*** “What have you done?!” the crimson mare shouted as she materialised in the flesh. I smirked because she was within easy range of Helga. Without saying a word I sent a burst of 20mm anti-personnel rounds after her. All of them missed but she wasn’t my target. The stream of red tracers exploded the ground beneath her hooves and sent the cutie mark-less unicorn flying. She landed and slid along the white room as it slowly changed. A world filled with death formed around us. Derelict buildings that were crumbling from time and the recent megaspell detonation formed to our sides and made a nice killing zone. A green snow covered street replaced white ground. The white ceiling was now orange and purple clouds that whistled and howled as they dumped green snow in a torrent: My prison for her and her hell. The crimson mare stood up and frantically looked around. “What... how did you do that?!” I walked towards her through the snow while shouting, “you call Us a blank flank, yet you are one?! How dare you!” Our tone took on a foals as we mocked her, “Blank Flank! Blank Flank!” “Now now... That’s no way to act,” she replied. “Give me control back. Things are in motion that if we do not act immediately weeks of planning will be lost!” I held the saddle above my head and sent a rocket after her. The crimson mare bolted away as the warhead struck ground and rained green snow down on her as it flipped over a wagon. “The time for talk is over!” I shouted and sent a barrage of bullets and rockets in her general direction hoping something would hit her. One of the buildings began to crumble from the assault and collapsed in a cloud of dust and snow. “Let me out of here and I won’t kill you!” There was a sound behind me like a vacuum and I spun around. A large wall sized mirror rose from the ground and reflected a rubble filled room overlooking something with lights at night. I tossed the empty saddle aside and stepped through the mirror. Before I did anything else I turned around and looked at the mirror as the crimson mare galloped after me. “We can co-exist together!” she shouted. “You don’t understand what’s going on out there! I can help. There’s a volca-” Before she could finish I spun on my forehooves and bucked the mirror. It shattered into an infinite number of pieces and spread everywhere like water. The room began to shake again. ***===***===*** As the shaking died down I blinked and looked around the derelict room. Voices of confusion reached my ears and I registered three alicorns behind me. A glance down showed no Pipbuck either but my leg was green and I wore zebra armor. I pulled the cloth back and saw there were eight scars on the leg. “What is going on?” “Where am I?” “My chest hurts...” Sister groaned. “Why does it feel like my neck was bitten-” “You!” RJ shouted. The three of them just now registered me standing there I turned around to look at them. “You hit me in the face with a skillet!” Blue screamed. “You butchered me!” My eyes widened as I realized that the voice was right. It was them! I began to back up as I attempted to explain myself. “Wait... That was...? I didn’t... I’m sorry... Please don’t be mad! I... I... Sorry...?” I bumped into a wall and couldn’t get any farther. The two of them walked forward. However Sister got between them and spread her wings out to block their path. “Stop!” she shouted. “She didn’t know what was going on.” “All she did was stab you with her horn!” Blue retorted. “Now move so I can kill her before she does something like that out here!” Sister looked back at me and sighed. Then she looked forward. “Shock is slow and stupid,” her voice was as if she was talking about a sibling while she continued, “why that is I don’t know because most greens are usually highly intelligent. Now before you beat her into paste think about what she was going through. You’re trapped in your own mind by a pony that is doing Goddess knows what with your body. Then the pony presents three-” “Four.” I added sheepishly and used Mudpie’s tail as a shield. “Four alicorns for you to interact with. The pony that took control of you takes control of the other alicorns in the world you’re trapped in and blocks your every move to regain control of your own body. What do you do? You remove the blockage any way you can.” “She didn’t have to throw scalding hot grease in my face!” Blue pointed her hoof at Mudpie. “You didn’t see what she did to me! She has to be stopped before she does something like that for real!” I poked my head over the tail and said. “I’m sorry! I thought you weren’t real! I would never, never, never do that to a real pony!” “I don’t believe you. At least raiders have the decency to kill their victims before they flay them!” “Are you two honestly so dense as to not see that there was no way to peacefully regain control of her body?!” Sister shouted. My ears picked up the sounds of heavy hoofsteps rapidly coming up stairs and I turned my attention to the stairwell. “Steel Rangers!” I hissed. “Good,” Blue said. “We can turn you over to them and get the bounty.” My jaw dropped as I looked over at her. She began to walk around Sister but before they could reach me Sister turned around and hugged me tight. A blinding blue light enveloped us causing me to shut my eyes. Cold steel replaced the wood floor of the room as the light died down. The smell of rotten eggs blew in on a wind from the east and a metallic groan reached my ears as I opened my eyes. Across the bay to the west I could barely make out the lights of the Steel Ranger Naval Base. Sister and I sat on top of a fallen funnel on the Crescent Moon. Her quad funnels were in horrible disrepair. One of them had fallen across the deck and had been built around, another had lots of holes in it and two looked to be missing paint completely. The white superstructure that ran down most of the length of the ship was heavily faded with large chips flaking off. “Shock, I’m sorry but I have to do this. Don’t get angry,” Mudpie said and it caused me to look at her in confusion. She leaned forward and kissed me on the lips as my eyes widened in shock. But I relented my dislike for mare on mare action for a minute and let her have the kiss. Because she defended me against the other alicorns even after I stabbed her. My ears drooped and I prayed to the Goddess that no pony saw us. After an eternity Mudpie let go and smiled when I didn’t hit her. Instead my eyes welled up with tears and I hugged her tightly while I buried my face in her neck. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know... I swear I didn’t know!” “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I figure kissing you is payback for you stabbing me. I’m alive so it’s of no concern. The other two however... I think they might hold a grudge based off that blue wanting to turn you over to the Steel Rangers.” I looked into her blue eyes that still sparkled when she smiled at me. “How do I know this is real? How do I tell?” I looked around again and asked. "Where is Comet and Zakiya? What happened? How long was I stuck there?!" "I don't know to the who those ponies are and it's been three weeks since I woke up, found you missing, and suddenly my whole bodily control vanished." My head came whipping around as I looked at Mudpie with dinner plate sized eyes. "Sister, am I pregnant? Tell me, am I?!" "Who put such a stupid idea into your head?! Shock you of all alicorns should know how highly unlikely it is for a normal stallion to do such a thing to you. That’s why we were looking for a way to make male alicorns. It's impossible." Yes, this is real. I smiled and nodded. "Yes it is a foalish idea. But that mysterious pony put it in our mind." “I notice you’re using your mouth to talk now. That is good.” She smiled then looked up. My gaze was also drawn up to the sound of flapping wings. The real Ripper with terrible condition everything circled overhead as she looked down at the yellow tablet clutched in a foreleg. She then looked at us and exclaimed, “why hello there, ladies!" “Ri-Ripper?” I asked as I tilted my head, “what are you doing here?” “I had the strangest dream and woke up with this device,” Ripper pointed her other hoof at the tablet, “beeping. It annoyed the fuck out of me so I followed the compass and came across the two of ya kissing. Ya need to get a room. Seriously get a room, or cloud, fuck and get it over with. You’ll feel better.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mudpie grinning. 'Not happening!' “What about your Balefire bomb?” I asked because I wondered if it was safe to leave it alone and to change the subject. Ripper landed next to us as she put the tablet away. “It’ll still be there when I get back. So have you encountered them yet?” “Um... no but we have encountered ponies who may have. They live aboard an airship called the Celestia’s Delight.” “The Delight still flies?!” her ruby red eyes widened. “Woooowwww... I thought she got knocked out of the sky years ago.” “What do you know of the Delight?” “Oh, lots,” she replied matter of factly. “The Delight is a zebra navy auxiliary cruiser. If memory serves me right she sunk seven... eight...? Ten...? Twelve, yeah, twelve Equestrian transports in the span of four months. Which is a lot when you factor in she worked alone and had to keep re-disguising herself after each one.” Sister raised her hoof. “Can somepony explain to me how a seagoing ship flies?” Both Ripper and I looked at her and said in unison, “magic!” “Why is it called the Celestia’s Delight if it was a zebra ship?” Sister asked the obvious again. Ripper tossed her forehooves in the air in despair as she shouted, “I’m surrounded by morons! I just explained it. Disguise. DISGUISE! You know, VISUAL camouflage?!” “But it doesn’t make any sense!” Mudpie shouted back. “They’re zebra’s! Why would they name it ‘CELESTIA’S’ when they hated Equestria?!” I ignored Ripper and Sister’s bickering about ship names as I gripped the tablet in magic, ripped it out of Ripper’s dress pocket and looked at it. My magic pushed the functions and I found that it was blank and dark. I beat my hoof against it in an attempt to turn it on to no avail: The device was keyed to Ripper. So I shouted at the device as I shook it with magic, “where is Rose? Where’s Comet?! Where are the others? I don’t have a Pipbuck, please tell me what to do!” “Is she always like this?” Ripper asked as she pointed a hoof at me. Mudpie nodded slowly. “That’s why I love her.” “And here they call me insane.” she said dryly. Then the smell of rotten eggs grew to almost a gagging level and the distant thunder of a massive explosion in the east reached our ears. Ripper turned to the east and her mouth dropped. “Uhh... I think I need to move my bomb to higher ground.” I followed her gaze as she spoke and I gasped. Off in the distance was an orange light at the top of the tallest mountain. Slowly running down the side of the mountain were multiple lines of orange and more of the bright liquid was shooting out of the top in small explosions every second. A massive pitch black cloud reached into the heavens to obscure the stars and moon. The cloud loomed over the city as grey snow slowly fell and lightning flashed inside the cloud while thunder kept coming until it was almost constant. “What is...?” I asked softly as I caught a snowflake in a hoof. I rubbed it with my other one which caused it to smudge and realized what it was. “It’s ash... then that means...” I looked back up at the mountain. “It’s a volcano.” Mudpie finished for me. A high-pitched whine echoed up from the engine room of the Crescent Moon. As the whine died down there was a loud metallic thump followed by many small vibrations. My gaze was drawn to the outer lights of the ship as they rapidly turned on one by one down the length of the ship. The hull groaned as it slowly moved back and after a few seconds the rusted chains holding it to the dock went taught. With a shudder the whole ship shook and groaned as its rearward momentum was halted. Sister and I were thrown aft and we slid down the giant funnel to the deck as it rocked in place, or would have had Sister not caught me with her forelegs. She hovered away from the ship as the Crescent Moon moved forward until the chains went taut again. In the course of flying away from the ship I only just now noticed how massive it was. She looked to be eight hundred feet long and ninety feet wide and severely rusted with recent, like in the last month, repairs. They repeated this maneuver over and over, and each time it was accompanied by a loud metallic slam that echoed over the distant thunder. Due to the sheer size of the vessel it looked to be happening in slow motion and each time it was pulled to a stop it pushed a wall of water into the dock. Eventually one of the severely rusted chains at the stern snapped and fell into the water with a large splash. The ship continued on until the bow chain went taut and pulled the bow down. The rocking funnel finally broke loose of the area built up around it and slid off the superstructure into the bay with a thump. I watched in amazement as the stern was lifted out of the water and slammed into the dock as the large starboard propeller began to tear it apart in a spray of splinters and water. The ship began to back away as it angled itself from the dock. It rapidly, or as rapid as a ship that large could go, picked up speed until the bow chain went taut and finally ripped the thing holding it to the hull off the rotted wood deck. The chain anchor, along with various bits of the deck, slid off into the water and the Crescent Moon began to navigate from the bay. I looked across at the Steel Ranger base and noted that their flat decked ship had begun to move as well. Though it didn’t have as much trouble as this one and was already halfway out of the bay. Ripper looked at me and shouted, “if ya got any business in this city I suggest you finish it fast. ‘Cause that lava’s gonna run right through this valley on its way to the sea!” I thought over her words and I got perhaps the worst idea in all of Equestria. “Your balefire bomb!” Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Swing for the Moon. You deal 10 additional damage with all melee weapons. Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, III. Objective updated: Kill Eclipse. Side quest updated - ???? Escape From Oakwood. Self explanatory. Companion perk - Stealth Mare: Your invisibility spell is more effective when Mudpie is in your party.
Chapter 7: Out of the blueChapter 7: Out of the blue “When the shit hits the fan, duck.” "Balefire bomb?!" Sister shouted in my ear as she set me down on the roof of a tall building. "Shock have you gone insane?!" I shielded my eyes from the falling ash with a hoof while I watched her land and fold her wings. Ripper landed next to Mudpie and tilted her head as she asked, "what about it?" I smiled. "We can use it to make a crater to gather the lava and save Oakwood City for a while." Ripper scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "I dunno. We're not exactly talking about dynamite here. The blast is kinda... big. It'll damage the city even if we put the bomb at the base of the mountain." Sister nodded. "She's right. And do you really want to add more radiation to the world?" I turned around and looked across the bay to where the two departing ships should be. I could not see beyond a hundred yards. Because ash was now falling like rain while the cloud blotted out the sky over the whole city of Oakwood making the night turn into a moonless pitch black night. "Where is Rose, Comet, and Zakiya?” I shouted, “what about the Enclave?! They have five Raptors and could-" "Enclave?" Sister asked, which caused me to turn my head to look a her. She walked over and looked at me like one does to a young foal. "Shock, we ran the Enclave off the island when we first arrived twenty years ago. Don't you remember?" I worked my mouth in an attempt to reply but came up short. Sister put her hoof on my shoulder as she continued, "they had five Raptors. We destroyed two of them and lost the other green in the process. The Enclave ended up retreating after losing a third Raptor." "But Comet was real!" I shouted. "I... I left him on the Delight! He gave me a massage and others talked to him! Go there. They can confirm it." Ripper flapped her wings into a hover. "I'll go check the Delight out." Mudpie watched Ripper disappear before she looked back to me. "Sorry. I don't buy it." She turned her head as a syringe was levitated out of her saddlebags. As she looked at me I saw her pained expression and I began backing up. "Shock, I'm sorry but I have to knock you out for a while." I asked with a tilt of my head, "what's wrong with my plan?! It'll work!" She shook her head. "No." Mudpie teleported right next to me in a flash of light as the bubble came up and trapped her inside. The syringe pierced my neck and stung while I felt the liquid inject into my system. I dropped the useless shield spell and stepped back. "What did you put in me?!" I asked as my eyelids grew heavy. My hind legs gave out, forcing me into a sitting position and refused to work. My forelegs slowly grew numb as well. "A little poison from that barb you picked up mixed with two doses of Med-X. That hurt me more than it did you." My forelegs gave out and I slumped to the roof. I tried to stay awake, to fight the drug, but in the end it was pointless without Dash. As my eyes shut I managed to say. "I don't... understand..." *** *** As I regained consciousness I was blinded by a bright spotlight that shone on my face. I blinked and tried to focus to no effect. All I saw was white. When I tried to move I found all four of my legs were bound. I glanced over to use my magic, but fire shot through my horn which caused me to flinch. A dark shape walked in front of the light and dulled it through a long flowing mane that all alicorns have. She lifted up a hoof to hit something and the light clicked off noisily. A soft orange glow replaced it and my eyes adjusted slowly. I saw we were in some kind of metal twenty foot wide room. Mudpie sighed. When she looked at me her eyes showed regret for what she did. "Shock. A month or two ago I had a dream about you. You were doing exactly as the dream played out. Even suggesting we use that bomb. Which we did in the dream. It killed thousands of ponies still in the city and saturated the island chain with its radiation, slowly killing many more. I had to stop you. Do you understand? I couldn't let it become reality." My ears folded back against my head as she spoke. "You drugged me because of a dream?! It wasn't real!" "It was!" She shouted. "I couldn't let you do that. It would have been madness to go through with it!" "Madness?! No... I'm not insane!" Mudpie nodded slowly. "I'm afraid you are. Tell me what this Enclave pegasus looked like. I remember all of their Raptor commanders." "Slate grey. Gold eyes. A two-tone silver and blue mane. His name was Comet." Her jaw dropped a little. "Oh... fuck. Um... okay. Maybe you're not as crazy as I thought." Mudpie took a deep breath and continued. "Okay! Moving on. I strapped you to this table to protect you from harming yourself or the city. Ripper is checking on things but...” I nodded. “Yes. She is clearly insane.” “Only in the daytime it seems. Did she try to get you to eat invisible food? Because I refused and she brought out a knife.” Mudpie's horn glowed and another syringe was brought out. "I'm sorry but I have to do this again." "How come you can do magic and I can't?" "Horn lock." She nodded towards me and I looked up at a metal device with wires encasing my horn. I watched as the needle came closer. "This'll only sting for a second." "Wait! I'll be good. Please, Mudpie, I can help." "I'm afraid talking isn't going to work." Mudpie looked at the syringe. "Now this is a more potent dose. You've only been out for three hours and this should knock you out for a day." "Don't. Please don't." I was powerless to stop her. The sharp sting of the needle buried itself into my neck and I quickly lost consciousness. *** *** My eyes snapped open. The room was empty and I was groggy and partly unfocused, but eventually it went away and was replaced with a strange calming feeling. I looked left as Ripper walked in through the door with a tray of actual food and drink on her back. She walked around the device I was strapped to and set the tray down in front of me. She grabbed the sandwich in her hooves and hovered off the ground. Ripper tilted her head. I raised an eyebrow in response. "Something on your mind?" "Did... you ever have a weird dream? Like you were somepony you weren't but you were similar?" "Why are you asking me this?" She looked down at the sandwich as she said. "Well I had one where I was surrounded by alicorns and I was my old self. Then this unicorn randomly appears that sounds like you. She killed me and I woke up." "Oh... um. Yes, that was me. Are you that hard to kill for real?" "Would you like a bite to eat? It's a BLT." "Sure. But first. Did you get to the Delight?" She nodded. "And?" "They did see a pegasus with a bag of Enclave bits matching the description you gave." "And the volcano?" "Still going after two days. Most of Oakwood's residents fled to another island on the two ships and the lava seems to be cooling before it even gets remotely close to here. I did run across a pony you'd be happy to see." "Who?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "A small friend of yours." She looked over and I followed her gaze. Rose stood in the doorway looking at me in confusion. "Why is Shock strapped up like that?" A fiendish grin formed on her face. "Did you two have kinky sex and I missed it?" "No, that's... disgusting! She's a walking corpse, and an ugly one at that." Ripper floated away and clamped down on the sandwich. It was crunchy and sounded good. She gulped it down without chewing. "For that remark you don't get any food." I stuck my tongue out at her because she doesn't know that I don't need it anyway. Rose walked over and smiled at me as she spread a pair of small wings and hovered to my eye level. I grinned at her. "What?" she tilted her head. "I knew you were a Dashite." "Not really. It's complicated and I don't feel like telling you. Let's get you out of this silly thing." Ripper swallowed another bite then said. "Did I mention she wanted to use my nuke to make a crater to gather the lava and the blast would have taken out half the city and we tied her up to stop it?" Rose sighed as she looked me in the eye. "Is this true?" I nodded. “Yes.” "Well I commend you for trying to come up with a solution and I'm glad Mudpie stopped you from implementing it." Her eyes narrowed and she shouted in my face, "because that's a horrible idea! There's more than just ponies here! There's animals, gryphons and other things." "I guess I didn't think it through. I'm better now though. If you let me out I swear to The Goddess I'll be a better pony." "I don't know... I think you should stay like that until you really mean what you say. It’s kinda cute." "Ya wanna hear something awesome?" Ripper asked. Rose and I looked at her as she put a shot glass on her forehead to look like a mock horn. "I'm the Empress of ponies in another timeline and older than Celestia and Luna combined. Bow down before the Goddess of Greed!" Rose looked into my eyes as I said. "At least I'm not like her." "Good point." The small pegasus undid my hind legs then hovered up to undo my forelegs. After I dropped to the floor I lowered my head so she could remove the annoying horn lock device thing. It fell to the floor with a metallic thunk. My legs felt stiff and sore but I lifted Rose up and hugged her tightly. She attempted to hug back but had a hard time due to her small size. Mudpie walked in and her eyes widened. "What's going on in here?" I set Rose down then glared at Mudpie. "How dare you! I thought you loved me and would never harm Us. Yet here you are stabbing Us with needles and forcing Us to sleep! And then you invade my dream where I should be safe from prying eyes?!" "I had to knock you out. Because you weren't going to listen to me. I'm sorry about the dream thing. I know those are private but I was curious as to why you were mumbling. Ripper confirmed your story about the Enclave and I came to apologize for my actions." "Ripper's right here." I pointed my hoof at the ghoul. "You're a little late to the party." Mudpie nodded. "She was supposed to just feed you until I got the courage to face you again. Not let you go." "What do you mean 'courage to face me'?" "You scare the shit out of me, Shock. That's what I mean. Especially after you butchered that blue while she was alive. And because you share your head with another pony that is capable of taking alicorns over. I don't know if I'm talking to you, or her, or about to be stabbed by you again." "Wait. What?" Rose asked in shock. "Shock did WHAT?!" She immediately hovered to my eye level with a stern expression. "You tricked me! How can you butcher a pony and stab your own sister?! What's this about sharing your head? I take it back, you're crazier than Ripper!" Said ghoul finished off her sandwich with a grin. She picked up the bottle of water and took a sip. "It's complicated. Yes I butchered a pony, but she's still alive." Rose arched an eyebrow. "Yes, I stabbed Mudpie with my horn and killed her, yet she's still alive. But all of that happened in a world created inside my head by this other mare that only recently manifested. She took over my body for the last three weeks and made me do things that I couldn't see. Please believe me, I would never ever butcher a real pony!" "So wait... some other pony is in your head with you right now?" I nodded. "How is that possible?!" "I don't know. I placed her in a mental prison and want her gone. But it's only a matter of time before she escapes." *** *** The ash cloud had thinned out enough to let in the daylight, yet it was still there as the volcano slowly erupted and warm sunlight bathed the rest of the island chain. The initial eruption was violent in that it was heard all the way in Oakwood City. Its residents knew of the coming eruption thanks to a purple alicorn that was a recent arrival and had recognized the signs. The purple informed the locals just before she was taken over by the pony I now had locked away. What did they do upon hearing the warning? What any pony does when faced with a threat they can't kill, everypony panicked. Including Ripper and I. The purple was standing nearby glaring at me. Where Mudpie or Ripper had found her I have no idea. The Pipbuck that had previously been on my leg was sitting between us. My stuff was behind me and I wore the zebra armor. Mudpie's cutie mark of two crossed revolvers had come back after she defended herself with her pistols against something yesterday. My own flank was blank as was this purple’s. Purple's eye twitched. I knew the reason just as all the alicorns I was connected to knew who I was despite me having been a crystal unicorn in the dream. She pushed the Pipbuck over. "Put it on." "Why?" "Call it your punishment, Thief. You're a zebra sympathizer." I lifted the Pipbuck in my magic and opened it as I looked on the inside. There was dried blood on the padding that should automatically fit your leg just fine and I saw the eight cut marks made by the blades in the padding. It was hovered over my leg and I wondered if I could still shoot lightning so I could hurt her and not have to worry about this any longer. "I’m not a zebra sympathizer," I told her as I shook my head. "You must have me confused with another pony." "Right. Forgive me if I don't believe the pony that ate my skin." "It wasn't real!" I shouted with a glare. She slammed her hoof down on the table. "Put the damn Pipbuck on!" I placed it over the spot with a frown while wondering why I was doing what this alicorn was telling me to do. The Pipbuck was set down on the table and I shook my head. "No. It is a trick." She looked over at Mudpie in the corner and nodded. "I see she learns quick." "Yes. Nothing works twice on her." Mudpie replied. The Pipbuck was invaluable to me despite it being a trap. I had initially wanted to take it off so I could pretend to be a unicorn and get close to Eclipse so I could capture her. But since RJ and Blue saw me in the zebra armor that was no longer an option. Now I could have the Pipbuck again. I lifted it in my magic and placed it over my left foreleg then closed the clasp to lock it. As it was booting up and fitting itself to my leg Mudpie groaned. "Shock, you’re a moron." She facehoofed. Quartz looked at me with wide eyes. The slowly went back to normal and I thought I saw a smile form on her face for a second. "Why would you do that knowing what it can do to you?" I began to flip through its functions as I replied. "Because it is invaluable." "It's broken! The EFS doesn't even work properly." I held it up with a smile when I found everything was as I left it. All of the markers, notes, and radio station. It was even more comfortable than last time because it wasn’t trying to cut my leg off. "It tells me where to go. If I try to take it off, then yes, it will hurt me. Until then it is fine." The map told me that we were inside the Cloudchaser wreckage. Which meant that the balefire bomb was nearby. What I found odd was that I just noticed how heavily scratched and dented it was, but the dents and scratches looked very old. You could see the marks I had made as they were much less dirty. It was as if the previous owner had constantly hit it in an attempt to remove it. I don't blame them. "I will treat you better," I whispered to the device. The EFS flickered to life causing me to smile at the four blue bars. Then I frowned when I saw an orange one. I pointed my hoof at it, "hostile." Mudpie stood up as she levitated out a pair of 10mm semi-automatic pistols. "I'll check it out." I gripped the chainsword in magic and pulled it out as I followed Mudpie. She went through the door and looked left then right. I pointed towards the bar and she went left. I stepped out into the Cloudchaser's dark and heavily rusted passageway. The two of us followed it and it felt like it ran the length of the ship, which it most likely did, and ended with a compartment that was blocked by a shut hatch with a wheel. When I looked back the purple was right behind me with the Buckmaster Automatic Rifle floating in front of her eyes. She had it aimed right at my head as if she were making sure I wasn't going to attack. I smiled at her and she raised an eyebrow. Mudpie opened the hatch with a rusty squeal. She stepped inside and said. "So that’s where he went." I followed her in and as my eyes adjusted to the light I saw a large pink pony tied to a chair with a gag. My eyes widened when I took in his dirty pink coat, blue eyes and solid yellow mane. "Bucky?!" I shouted. "No... you're dead. I cut your head off!" This Bucky squirmed in his restraints while he struggled to remove the gag. Mudpie went over and looked at him. "Shock, is this that stallion that used you? Can I kill him for you?" His eyes widened while he shook his head and mumbled something. Mudpie rolled her eyes and undid the gag. "That wasn’t me!" Bucky shouted. "Shock, remember when we broke into that gun shop and I had to take a piss?" I shook my head. "No. It is a blank memory." "Anyway. When I went into the back this freaky bug-pony thing knocked me out and I woke up in here." "Are you a Steel Ranger?" I asked with a tilt of my head. He shook his. "No! Those assholes are raiders with high-end technology. I'm just an idiot prospector whose got a thing for a fine looking alicorn." I smiled and nodded. "Yes, you are Bucky. Mudpie, please untie him. His bar is blue." She went around behind the chair and untied his restraints. There was a noise behind us and I turned around to see Ripper. She tilted her rotting pale gold head. "What are ya doing? He's supposta remain tied up." "Why?" I asked. "Did you knock him out and tie him up?" Ripper shook her head. "No. This guy was dropped off with specific instructions to be kept tied up and alive. The teal mare gave me five thousand caps as compensation and I didn't argue." "Red mane in a large braid?" Ripper nodded. My face burned in anger. "Eclipse." I hissed through my teeth. Bucky slowly looked around at his surroundings. I watched him curiously and noted he didn’t have any earrings or matted fur from where a Pipbuck would have been. In fact as I look back in Mudpie’s memory that I had access too... he didn’t wear a Pipbuck at the time. "So then if this is Bucky, then who did I kill?" "A changeling bounty hunter and my brother," a familiar voice said as the room was lit by a green glow from my side. I saw that instead of a purple alicorn holding Fallen Angel to my head, a black bodied blue eyed bug like pony with fangs held it in their hooves. It had translucent blue bug wings that held her off the ground. It smiled at me. "You really are an idiot. I can't believe you even put the Pipbuck back on knowing it broadcasts your location to any bounty hunter with access to the frequency. Now let’s do this nice and-" I charged her with my head lowered and speared the ugly thing with my horn. Foul smelling blood coated it as I tossed the lifeless thing away. I looked over at Mudpie and Bucky. The alicorn was smiling and Bucky looked shocked. "Well she was going to kill us." I said. "Kill them first I always say." As I looked forward Ripper blocked my path. "I can't let him go. But if I were to be asleep and he escaped then it's not my problem." Fallen Angel came up and I pointed the .308 automatic rifle right between her eyes. She nodded. The trigger was magically pulled and the rifle barked twice. Two .308 slugs bored their way through her skull and struck the deck of the ship behind her. I watched as black blood leaked from the holes while she just stood there for a second like nothing happened. Ripper's eyes shut as she fell sideways to the deck. From my past experience with her I assumed she was still alive. I looked back at Bucky. "Come with us if you want to live." *** *** As the three of us exited the remains of the Cloudchaser I wondered if that alicorn was really the same one I encountered in my dream or if she had access to the memory, and where Rose was. A dense fog blanketed the area and made it hard to see beyond a hundred yards. But I didn't have long to think as Bucky said. "So, you don't remember me telling you how pretty you looked?" He grinned. "I do remember something like that before I began drinking. Why do you ask? Is it my mane? I changed it you know. Yours is nice.” Mudpie rolled her eyes as she put away her weapons and spread her wings. "Stop flirting, start flying." She flapped her wings and took flight. I attempted to do the same but my wings squirmed under the Zebra Legionnaire armor. My hoof began to undo the clasps so I could fly. However my ears picked up the sounds of ponies, or those bug things, moving through the rubble. I grabbed Bucky's hoof and dragged him towards a gap in the red bars as I quietly said. "We're surrounded!" Ahead of us lay a crumbled building which I roughly tossed Bucky towards. As I did so the strangest creature came walking out of a nearby building causing me to stare at it in shock. It looked like a ghoul pony but that is where the similarities ended. It had intelligent glowing green eyes, patches of glowing green under the skin and where there was a mostly missing mane was a white ship captains hat. Its clothing was a heavily tattered ship captains uniform. I tossed the rifle to Bucky and brought out the chainsaw broadsword I had named Hyde. My magic squeezed the trigger which caused the weapon to roar to life. The glowing ghoul looked at it and smiled as two normal looking ghouls in tattered khaki uniforms stepped out. "Give us the earth pony and you can walk away, freak." The glowing one said with a hoarse echoing voice. “You’re heavily outgunned by the remnants of the Equestrian Navy. Your Zebra magic can’t save you.” I glanced around and noticed more coming out. Most had weapons like pistols or shotguns with a few rifles but the one thing they had in common was that they were all in matching uniforms. The captain came closer and my Pipbuck complained while I felt the warm glow of radiation flow from her. It made me almost run up and hug her to get more. I sidestepped and looked at the captain while Hyde's teeth slowed to a stop. "What's he to you?" "He has information about the whereabouts of a certain... artifact. The CV-23." My mind worked over the designation. It was a ship designation I knew that much. Something told me it was the designation for the Steel Ranger's ship. "It left Oakwood a couple days ago." I told her. She shook her head. "Liar. That was the CV-21. 23's sister, Hoofington." "Hey!" A pony that sounded suspiciously like Ripper shouted, "all y'all better get outta here before I kick your ass!" Both the glowing ghoul and I looked at her as she stood atop the wreckage. She was wearing her tattered dress and necklace that glowed softly. Her weapon of choice was a rusty anti-material rifle that she was cradling in her hooves. The two holes I had put into her skull were healed with only a slight scar to show that they were there in the first place. The glowing ghoul nodded. "Second Lieutenant Ripper, I heard you died. Now I see that was a lie." Ripper nodded then aimed the rifle at the glowing ghoul but made no move to grab for the trigger. "I'm giving you one chance to leave before I shove a high explosive incendiary round up your ass. Your presence here has attracted them now leave before they get you." "I thought these ghouls were 'them'?" I asked. Ripper's eyes flicked upwards while she aimed the rifle. She grabbed the trigger and a ball of flame shot out of the barrel at the same time I was deafened by the report. Almost instantly there was an explosion above us and bits of flame trickled down trailing white smoke. As the ringing in my ears subsided I noticed movement on the rooftop of the building behind the Cloudchaser. My EFS showed orange bars intermixed with blue. I turned around and jumped behind the rubble Bucky was using for cover. He looked at me in shock. "What the hell is going on?!" "I don't know!" I replied as the sounds of their weapons opening fire filled the air. "Aim for their heads!" The glowing ghoul shouted. I sheathed Hyde while simultaneously undoing my armor. I slipped out of it, put it away as well as Angel and hauled Bucky onto my back. My wings propelled us into the air with a quick flap. I stole a glance down at what was attacking the ghouls but the low fog obscured my vision. I turned my attention back to the cloud filling sky and gained altitude. *** *** I lined up with an alleyway at least five miles away and came in on a glide. Just before my hooves scraped dirt I pulled up and collapsed them, the both of us dropped in a perfectly soft landing. I looked back at Bucky who had his forelegs wrapped around my neck. My smile slowly faded because I felt a hard Little Bucky between his legs on my back. "Tell me you're not serious." I deadpanned. He slid off and shrugged. "I couldn't help it. It just happened." I nodded. "Tell me how did we get married?" He scratched the back of his head with a pink hoof. "Well... I don't remember getting married and we weren't that drunk when I was knocked out. So I'm guessing that was with the bug-pony. Sucks to be you." I gulped and couldn't believe I kissed something like one of those bug-pony things let alone had sex with it! "We shall never speak of it again. Consider us not married." "So we part ways then." He said as he spun on his hooves to go. I grabbed him and turned him around. "Not so fast." I projected into his mind. "There are unfinished things we must discuss." He smiled at me. "So you wanna do it now?" I blinked in shock and shouted with my mouth. "What?! No I meant the ghouls! They wanted you because you knew something. What was it?" "Oh. Yeah. I found some shipwreck on another island. A big one almost as big as the Steel Ranger ship with a flat top that ran aground and fell over.” “Where?” I held out my Pipbuck. He began to nose around the map and finally ended up marking somewhere off in the ocean. He called it CV-23. ”Should be there. Careful because it’s guarded by traps and freaks. Can I go now?" I nodded my head. Then looked around. As I did so I caught sight of another bar on my EFS. My gaze went down the alleyway to where I saw a blue bar moving. A small forest green unicorn mare peered around the corner. Her face was dirty and she looked afraid. I looked back as Bucky galloped away. He didn't matter anymore. I had gotten the information I needed. If a group of ghouls want to chase him that is fine with me. My gaze went back to the filly and I smiled. "Hello little one. Don't be frightened." I slowly made my way towards her as she stepped out fully. She wore padded leather barding that covered most of her body and something about her face was familiar. But I couldn't place it. On her hooves were sharpened metal spikes and I wondered why a unicorn wouldn't use a ranged weapon. Then I remembered that I don’t use many ranged weapons either. She hesitantly walked forward while I brought out a drink. "Thirsty?" "Yes, ma'am." she replied with a firm nod and an authoritative voice. I tossed it over and she caught it in her own red magic field. Ruby red like her left eye, the right one was orange. Her mane was a dark tan color and kept in a way that resembled a stallion's mane cut. She drank from the bottle slowly while pocketing the cap. To me she looked between Rose and Comet in height, but closer to Comet. "Who are you?" I asked. "A pony sent by Zakiya. You have something of hers and you broke your word. She wants the armor back." "So she sends a filly to do it?!" She turned her flank towards me and pointed at her cutie mark. "See this? Means I ain't a foal." She set the hoof down and gave me a stern glare that was meant to intimidate but had no effect on me. "You have two options. Option A: You hand the Legionnaire armor over and I leave. Option B: I make you give it to me. Your pick." "I pick Option C: I kick your ass and fly away." She shook her head. "There is no Option C. It's A or B." Hyde came out while I said. "There's always an Option C." A red glow surrounded her horn as a pristine condition zebra officer sword was brought out. She smiled. "Oh look. I have a sword too! Seriously, why are you subjecting yourself to this? Just give me the armor and walk away." "I choose C." She shook her head in disappointment and charged. I stood my ground because it is foalish to be afraid of this mare. A smirk formed on my face as she got closer. Hyde roared to life and was brought down lengthwise on her as she brought up her sword to block it. In a flash of red light both her and her sword vanished. A pair of hooves slammed into my side and sent me stumbling. Hyde tore along the ground as I brought it around in an arc. She vanished a second time before it got close and appeared in front of me. The mare reared up on her hind hooves while her forehooves came up. She quickly brought them down as I pulled back. A blade on her hoof sliced a line of red across my face and my eye socket instantly exploded in pain. The vision in my right eye blurred red from the blood as it shut. I didn’t have time to worry about the loss of my binocular vision. My Pipbuck quickly came around to thump against her skull. She stumbled and vanished in a flash of red. Hyde was sent to my left where I assumed she’d go. I felt it hit ground before I was kicked from behind. I spun around but she wasn't there. Her short tan tail slinked into my blind side. I growled as my wings propelled me into the air away from this little teleporting monster. My half face burned in pain, I couldn't see very well and it was looking like she was right. I was going to lose because she could quickly teleport. She was looking up at me and rolled her eyes. The mare vanished again. I smiled because for a second I had thought she might have been an alicorn and able to fly. The sound of a window shattering to my right caused me to look over just as the forest green unicorn was exiting the window. My eye widened. She slammed into me and sent the both of us flying against the brick wall. As body slammed into it my head whipped back and struck the wall. I blacked out and felt my body fall towards the ground. *** *** "Hello, ma'am?" the annoyingly fast unicorn's voice echoed slightly as I felt her hoof tap my face a few times. "If you're alive just nod." I groaned as I opened my left eye. My right one felt sore and throbbed in pain. There was just blackness on that side now. Her blurry face filled my vision and I could have sworn I saw two of her sitting side by side. The sound of a pounding surf reached my ears and I realized she had moved me to a beach on the coast. We were in some kind of room with grimy beige walls and a partially collapsed ceiling that was covered over by tree branches. Yet the rain still came in. She brought out a healing potion and held it to my lips. "Why did you do this to yourself?" she asked. I bit down on the end of the bottle, tilted my head back and drank it all before I said. "What do you mean? You did this to me. You cut me eye." "No. I've been a professional about all of this. You made it difficult by going with Option B." Then her face took on a softer expression. "Can I get a favor from you?" "Perhaps." "I need a ride when it gets dark." My eye narrowed at the very idea. "You attack me, and then you want me to give you a lift? No! Absolutely not! Go cry to your mother." She stepped back and her jaw clenched shut. I sat up slowly and looked around with a frown. She had dragged me to some sort of shack. The wood floor had long ago turned grey. A dirty couch and an equally dirty sheet covered it. It took me awhile to realize that this was her home. "You should have a look at your face. I’m sorry about your eye. I thought you’d have brought up your shield or jump inside the swing, or teleport away. Sometimes shit happens." The mare stepped back more as she looked over at a pink and yellow box and it was engulfed in her magic. I watched as it was floated over with the top open. It revealed a mirror on the inside of the lid. A mirror that showed me a forest green alicorn with a bandage around the side of her head and a bloody gauze pad covering the eye. The face looked alien even though it was mine. My mind was telling me I should be a crystalline tan color. I ignored it. I looked at the unicorn as I said. "I look like hell, huh?" She nodded in response. "So what do I call you?" "Athena. A name my mother liked very much. She's been dead for a very long time." She levitated the armor from my bags with a smile. Athena set it off to the side then looked at me. "You're free to go if you want. I'll find my own way back to the Delight." *** *** The rain drenched my mane, tail, and coat while I walked along the beach. To my left far out to sea was a severe storm. Spray blew in off the waves and that made my day even more miserable. I had my flank kicked by a filly much much younger than me. A filly that was familiar. She said my eye should heal, which I'm hoping it does in time. Because having a big deadzone on my right was annoying. Thankfully the EFS mostly worked. To my right was thick jungle that obscured my view of anything important. I watched as a small line of four tracers streaked up into the sky at a small target. Line after line went up toward the vehicle. Eventually one of them struck something vital and it partially exploded underneath. The object began to fall towards me trailing fire. As it came closer I recognized it to be a cargo sky wagon complete with a chrome yellow pegasus with a short black mane still attached to the harness to pull it. She was struggling to keep it aloft but it was hopeless and gravity eventually won. With a large splash the sky wagon slammed into the ocean. The water put out some of the flames while the wagon bobbed on the surface. I watched the pegasus struggle to keep her head above the waves as the machine dragged her down. I couldn't let any pony die like that. My wings propelled me into the air and quickly closed the distance as Hyde was unsheathed. Around her neck was an active slave collar and on her flank was a thunder cloud and lightning bolt brand. The mark of a Dashite. Her aqua blue eyes widened at the sight of me. "Don't kill me!" I ignored her complaint and severed the harness from her body. She pointed her hoof at the wagon and coughed. "Save him too!" I nodded and gripped the trigger. Hyde roared to life and cut a hole in the side in a spray of sparks. As the metal fell in I peered over. There was a bone white unicorn inside with a greying white mane and a nice body floating in the water that was filling the compartment. I gripped all of his stuff. and him, in magic and hauled them out of the hole. I looked over at the pegasus mare and noticed she was hovering nearby. I took flight towards the beach with all of the things and she followed close behind. The beach wasn't far. In fact only the mare had been in danger of drowning. The sky wagon settled on the bottom with at least two feet sticking out of the waves. I set the stallion down and looked at his steadily breathing chest with my one green eye. The mare immediately blocked my view while she nudged him with her hooves. I noticed the bottom of them were tipped black. "Ivory wake up!" she nudged him harder. "Come on, don't die on me!" I grabbed her with my hooves and pulled her away. "He's not dying. Just knocked out. Are you two close?" "Sort of. If he dies my collar goes boom. He's my master and I'm his slave, Tiger Moth. Who are you?" "Shell Shock. Perhaps I can get him to remove your collar?" She shrugged. "It doesn't bother me one bit. I fly Ivory around and keep him happy so he keeps the Enclave away. Better deal than some ponies get." I looked down at the pony she called Ivory as he rolled onto his belly. I smiled at him. "Hello." His red eyes widened as he scrambled back. "Get away from me you monster!" Tiger Moth went to his side and put a black tipped hoof on his shoulder. "Ivory. She saved your ass and lost an eye in the process. Show some fucking respect." He looked at her with suspicion for a second before nodding. Ivory looked at me as my smile returned. Ivory scratched the back of his head with a hoof. "Thanks. I guess I owe you one." I shut my eye as I gave a head bow. "The Goddess saw fit to lead me here at the right time. Thank her, not me." “Where are we?” Ivory asked Moth. "I don’t remember so much... green in the wasteland.” She looked around and shrugged. “No idea we c-” “Perhaps I can help.” I said while holding out my Pipbuck and they looked at the map. “You are on the main island of the Oakwood island chain. It is inhabited by Steel Rangers, Enclave, regular wastelanders, my sisters and I, and other beings. Though I don’t know how you don’t know how you got here. We are at least four hundred miles off the coast.” Ivory glared at Moth and his hoof came around. I caught it in magic before it even got close to her face. She stood up and backed away slowly. Moth shouted, “it had to have been that storm we ran into! I ain’t seen nothing like it.” He tried to pull his hoof away but I squeezed it tightly causing him to squirm and grimace. “Let me make myself clear...” I began with my mind and squeezed it tighter to get his full attention. “I don’t care about slavers. What I do care about is how they treat their property. There will be no more beating of Tiger Moth while I’m around. If I ever see you strike her again, your punishment will be ten fold of hers. Do I make myself clear?” I released the pressure and he gasped in relief. “Crystal,” Ivory nodded and clutched the hoof. I saw a ghost of a smile cross Moth’s face. Then he looked at the sunken sky wagon as he asked, “so how do we get out of here now?” I looked towards the area where the guns had shot from as a small plan formed in my head. Then I looked at Ivory. "We say hello to the neighbors." *** *** The EFS showed about seven bars scattered about the camp. On the back of a steam truck was a quad machine gun turret. Two ponies were sitting by a fire cooking fish. One worked on the gun while another worked on ammo. One was walking a patrol while two others stood watch. The steam truck had a boiler at the front along with a large pipe for the exhaust. These ponies didn't look like Steel Rangers and neither were they hostile. I looked to my left at Ivory and Moth crouched low behind some branches while I blended in much easier. I still had the Buckmaster and brought it out. Moth smiled at it but it was gripped in Ivory's red magic field. He brought it close, checked the ammo and asked. "Any more clips?" I nodded and gave him the two extras that Ripper had filled up. "Why can't I have a gun?" Moth quietly whined. Ivory looked at her with an arched brow. She pointed at her collar. "It's not like I'm gonna commit suicide by explosive collar!" I nodded at her logic because it was sound. If she wanted to stay alive she couldn't kill Ivory. A 9mm pistol was brought out and two magazines. Moth gripped it in her teeth. My gaze then went to the camp while I whispered. "Wait here. Only shoot if they shoot first." They nodded in unison and I began trotting forward with my magic gripping Hyde's handle ready to draw him at the slightest threat. The ponies looked mostly bored but the two by the fire were talking excitedly. I made sure to step around leaves and branches that would give me away too early. The closest thing to me was the steam truck. The pony’s head was buried deep in the mechanism and it gave me a nice view of his flank. I smiled at the nice curves and approached it as I asked with my mouth. "Um, hello, what are you doing out here?" "I'm fixing a gun!" the mare replied without looking at me and my eyes widened. I quickly looked at something else as a blush formed on my face. "Damn thing jammed on us. Talk to Sarge if you want more." She flicked her tail at one of the ponies by the fire. "The small one." I walked over while wondering why I hadn't been attacked yet. The two ponies at the fire stopped talking at my approach and I laid down to match eye level with them so as to not appear threatening. It was then that I noticed they wore old Equestrian Army uniforms and were ghouls. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for a pony named Sarge." The smaller of the two, who was blue, raised a hoof. "That's me.” His voice was hoarse. “What do you need?" I looked back at Ivory and Moth then looked Sarge in the eyes and glared. "You launched an unprovoked attack on a civilian aerial vessel. They require compensation for you nearly killing them." He smiled and it slowly turned into a chuckle. "Yeah? Well you're just one alicorn and those forties can punch through your shield like paper. Besides you ain't got no authority over me." I thought back, then smiled at his corporal uniform. "Yeah?" He nodded. I inhaled and Canterlot shouted in his face. "SNAP TO ATTENTION SOLDIER!" Their eyes widened and they obeyed instantly with a sharp salute. My voice softened back to normal as I continued. "That's no way to talk to your superiors. I am Master Sergeant Lilium Bell. Serial number six, zed, two, seven, five, one." I returned the salute and they relaxed. Their eyes narrowed and Sarge said. "You could have found a pony named that in a memory orb. I need more proof before I believe you." I gave a roll of my eye. "At the end of the war the company I was with was trapped on a zebra hill facing a legion. We used our tank destroyers and punched through before making our way to a stable that had already sealed. Regardless of what we did the door wouldn't open. So we parted ways. My nickname was Dog." Sarge nodded. "Yeah, I remember you now. You guys picked us up on your way to the stable. Except you were tan and had a metal leg. Not... this green thing in front of us." I shrugged. "I was dying of radiation poisoning but I am a better pony now." They glared at me and I grinned sheepishly. "Well there's nothing wrong with being a ghoul. I chose a different path. So what brings you to Oakwood?" "Caps." Sarge replied. "Caps and entertainment." the other one said. "What if I told you the entire Crystal Empire treasury was lost at the end of the war and there’s a pony on this island chain that might know where it is?" "They use caps now, Do... Master Sergeant." "Dog is fine. What is wrong with gold? We can start anew with it! Build a new army and take over." He scratched his chin. “I don’t know. It’s a lot to think about. I’ll let you know tomorrow.” I looked over at Ivory and Moth as I shouted. “Come on over, they won’t hurt you!” My gaze went back to the ghouls. “You won’t, right?” He shrugged and shook his head. “Not if they’re friends of yours.” "Good," I nodded. "They require food and a place to sleep." *** *** My ears picked up a pony moving through the camp under the cover of a drizzle. I slowly opened my eyes as a black ghoul approached me. His grey mane was mostly gone but the cutie mark on his flank was unmistakable. I sat up while my jaw hit the floor. He stopped short and looked at me as his eyes slowly narrowed. "I heard you call yourself Lilium Bell. You better clear out before I snap your neck." "Midnight?" I tilted my head. He nodded slowly. “You have five seconds to prove to me that you are who you say you are.” “There was a snowstorm one winter about thirty years after the world ended. I went out in search of food while you stayed behind. You said the alicorns weren’t friendly and I wouldn’t come back. I ended up losing my way in the blizzard. A green alicorn found me and took me to shelter.” "I waited," his voice was shaky, "I waited for days for you to come back. I searched for weeks and came up empty. I got sick, worried, and thought you died! Why didn't you visit me? Show me a sign that you were alive? Anything would have been fine!" I brushed his rotting black cheek with a hoof while I said. "I tried, but The Goddess punished me if I did so." "Well you look... good, Lily. Better than me at least." My watery eye looked into his orange eyes. I did the only thing I could think of. I hugged Synth tight. His horn softly rubbed against mine while he returned the hug. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "I was an idiot and should have listened to you. You were right. I was wrong. I never came back..." "So what'd you bring me to eat? I’ve been waiting for a long time." He said in his rough voice. I was glad for the subject change and knew a game he was hinting at. I pulled back slightly and smiled. "Warm apricot pie." "Oh?" he tilted his head. "And where is this mystical apricot pie? I see a green apple pie in front of me and I'm very hungry." I mentally scolded myself for forgetting my color change. My smile turned into a grin as I pulled him right up against my body. "Yeah? Well too bad, mister. The kitchen is closed." His ears drooped in disappointment while I pulled away. "It's because I'm a ghoul, isn't it?" Synth asked. "No. We've been separated for a very long time and I've had a recent bad relationship. Let's take it slow.” It was a lie. He looked hideous and I was in no way going to let him get even close. He cocked his head 45 degrees. "Define bad relationship." I touched my horn to his to show him everything from me attacking the Steel Rangers by myself to this point. I left no detail out. He knew of everything, even bug-pony Bucky's drunken pleasure romp. When it was over I hadn't realized that I was crying until he wiped the tear off my muzzle. The sun was coming up by then and bathed the clouds in an orange glow as it tried to penetrate. "Don't worry," he whispered. "I won't tell anyone here about the bounty. I had many mares, and one stallion, that didn't even come close to filling the wound you left." "Coltcuddler." I smiled at him. "He almost replaced you. He was that good." Synth winked. I feigned a hurt expression and put my hoof to my chest. "But Synthie, your mother wouldn't approve! If she found out she would call me and say 'Lilium, what is my son doing with another stallion? Go get him back this instant'! Then I'd have to kick his ass." "True." He nodded then smiled. "So where's this blue alicorn?” "She comes and goes." I looked down between his legs and forced a smile at the ugly flesh. It wasn't a pretty sight. "Does that even work?" "Reconsidering your denial?" he asked as he spread his legs a little wider. I almost touched it to see if it would fall off. Instead I tore my gaze away and landed on the steam truck. "No. Only curious." I said quietly and made a mental note to find some brain bleach in the form of moonshine. He got closer and whispered in my ear. "Even with that bad eye you're as beautiful as Celestia now." I pushed him away in anger with a snarl, Synth fell over into the mud with a plop. "And what was I before, a fat cow and convenient warm fuck on those cold winter nights?!" I shouted. My joints were stiff and protested as I stood up to my full height to glare down at him. "I didn't mean it like that," he said as he rolled to his hooves. He looked up at me with his big orange eyes in an attempt to do an eye trick to get me to change my mind. “I meant you’re even better looking now than before!” It didn't work. "You meant exactly what you said. You thought I was ugly and... and, and fat!" My eye narrowed and I tracked him with my head while he walked in a circle checking me out. "What?" I asked snidely. "Nothing. Just trying to figure out how you managed to become this alicorn. I mean it's obviously a new body because you have four legs and are a different color." I shut my eye while I slowly shook my head. His words caused me to wonder whether or not I should tell him or simply show him what happened. I settled on telling him. "Synth. I am the same pony with a reformed body. The green took me to Maripony and only then did they tell me the truth. I would be turned into one of them. Instead of running away, I took off my cyber leg and jumped over the railing into the vat of I.M.P." The air behind Synth shimmered and revealed Mudpie with her head tilted. "You jumped into that shit?!" Synth recoiled in shock at the sight of the blue alicorn. "I was scared shitless!" I smiled at her. “Yes, it was like a warm bath.” Then a thought struck me. "Why didn't you help against Athena?!" I shouted. "I did," she replied with a shrug. "After you fell to the ground I teleported the both of you away. Those... things were closing in." My ears drooped because I realized Mudpie watched me fight the filly without lending a hoof. Though with how fast the filly was teleporting and moving I doubt she had a shot. I nodded and pulled Synth against my body with a wing. He smiled and Mudpie's face darkened as a scowl started forming. It quickly softened and she forced a fake smile. I looked over and nuzzled behind Synth's ear just to make her more jealous, then I looked at her and said. "This is Midnight Bell. I call him Synthie. I rescued his flank a few weeks after the balefire bombs fell and we were very happy together." "Right..." She rolled her eyes. "Forgive me if I withhold my enthusiasm. I'm happy you two found each other again. But don't you find it the least bit suspicious? Look around you." I let go of Synth and turned a full circle. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The others were asleep. Ivory was using Moth as a makeshift pillow to get away from the mud. She had a smile on her face and apparently didn’t mind being mostly covered in mud, or being used as a pillow. I suspect there’s more to their relationship than master and slave. The mechanic was passed out by the steam truck indicating that she worked well into the night. "Nope. Everything is perfect here." There was movement near my blindside, so I turned my head. The Goddess was standing inside a group of trees watching us. She nodded slowly. "That's not what I meant." Mudpie said. I looked at her and hugged Synth again with my wing. "Then what did you mean?" he asked. "She showed you everything, right?" Synth nodded. "Okay, then answer me this: Where is Rose? Each time Shell Shock is alone after she leaves, a random pony tries to kill her." Synth bobbed his head around while he thought over her question. He nodded. "True. But it seems like coincidence. If Rose was a changeling then that means what she mimics must be her size. She probably has bad luck and it seeps over to Lily." "Fair enough," Mudpie nodded. "But you listen here, ghoulie, you better not betray her. Otherwise you won't see me coming." "You must have me confused with a pony that's dead. I would never sell her out like that." Almost as an afterthought he added. "Even if she did disappear for over a hundred and seventy years." I smiled at his rotting visage. Mudpie nodded and hovered off the ground. She looked at the both of us. "I'm going to go see if there is anything nearby." Before she could turn to fly away I grabbed Synth's mouth and kissed him on the lips. It was awkward having to lean down to do it but it had the effect I was going for. Mudpie's face turned a deep shade of purple as her face reddened in anger and the scowl formed fully. Synth didn't notice. He was too absorbed in the kiss and had his eyes shut with his forelegs around my neck. I decided to break it off before he tried to tongue me with whatever it was he called a tongue. When I looked around Mudpie was gone. So I felt around with my mind and connected to her. "Now perhaps you will stop coming onto me," I projected and broke the connection. He glared back. "So, let me get this straight. She loves you, you reject her and break her heart like that? What the fuck is wrong with you?! Go apologize!" I sighed and took flight. *** *** Athena's shack was small and rundown from the outside. It sat well out of range from the high tide and close to the treeline. A low misty fog had rolled in from the sea and made everything grey. I swooped down and landed softly at the door. My hoof came up to knock but I hesitated. I wondered what if Mudpie had taken her to the Delight, but it was daytime and there was a single blue bar. I shrugged and knocked on the door three times. It took a few seconds before it was opened by a sweat covered Athena levitating one of Mudpie's semi-automatics. I found her two different color eyes disturbing. She smiled as she lowered the weapon. "Hello, ma'am. I take it you're here to see Muddy?" I nodded and the door opened all the way. "Come in. I'll make some tea." I walked inside and noticed that a sweaty Mudpie was on the couch glaring at me. "What are you doing here?" she asked as Athena shut the door. "Don't you have some zombie to cuddle with?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what they were up to. I shook my head. "I came to apologize. What-" "You could have told me about him sooner!" she shouted. “You knew about my feelings and teased me, yet all this time you had him?! That... that is just-” "Now now. Let her explain." Athena said from the fireplace. "Fine," Mudpie grumbled as she crossed her forelegs across her chest. I nodded. "I didn't know he was alive and you knew I liked stallions. So me liking one shouldn’t make you rage like that. I'm sorry I made you upset. I had no idea you would react like that." "Except this one's different! I don't like him. Something's off with the whole thing. He just happens to randomly appear after Rose goes missing again?" I watched as Athena set three cups of tea down. I lifted mine in magic then looked at it funny while wondering if it was poison, but Mudpie took a sip of hers. Athena scooted close and wrapped a foreleg around Mudpie. "You two look cute," I said and smiled. Then took a sip of tea and noticed it tasted like sweet pineapples, so I drank some more. "Well Muddy came here severely upset over what you did. I comforted her and it escalated rather quickly. So yeah. You don't have to worry about her anymore." I nodded and drank the whole cup. It took me awhile to notice a certain effect. I was getting warmer across my whole body and felt like talking all day. Mudpie smiled at me as she set her cup down. "Do you know what you just drank?" I nodded. "Good tea that tasted like pineapple." Athena grinned. "There was a truth serum injected into the tea. Will you answer Muddy’s questions honestly?" "Yup!" I exclaimed and held out my cup. "Can I have more? I liked it very much." "Sure," Athena replied as she filled it with magic. I lifted the cup and sipped it. "It's more of that serum though. I wasn't sure if you'd swap cups so I spiked the pot. In other words... we’re all drugged." "First question: What's your name?" Mudpie asked. "Which one?" "Your real name." I shrugged. "Dunno. The only pony name I know of is Lilium Bell and it doesn't sound like my name. It was given to me in my earliest memory." "Why don't you know?" I drank half of my cup before I responded. "They said it would be bad if I knew my real name. I didn’t question. There's also a biiig gap in my memories. It's where another pony is being locked away currently. She likes to insert herself in the place of another pony in a memory in an attempt to take control. I wish I could have thumped her over the head with a stick instead of a rocket up the ass..." Mudpie scratched her chin with a wing for a few moments before she nodded. "Okay. Do you love Midnight Bell?" I shrugged. “It’s doubtful now.” "Alright, have you ever had sex with a mare?" "No!" "Why not?" she tilted her head. "Why don't you like mares?" "Because two mares can't make a foal and I want a foal! And we're so needy and emotional." I held up my hoof and pointed at it. "I mean really, have you ever seen such a bad looking hoof? I want a hooficure and grooming, and mud bath, but I don't know where to get one! I want armor, but I can't fit into any. Well there was one, except a familiar looking green unicorn stole it from me. Want, want, want! Could I live with another pony who's also like that? Ugh, no way. Not even as a roommate." Mudpie glanced over at Athena, then looked at me and nodded. "Sounds like your logic alright. Would you ever have sex with me? Say if you were drunk?" I shook my head. "Not unless you turned into a stallion. Then I'd totally have your foal right now. Synth is, well, he's a ghoul and... fucking hideous now." "Okay that was the creepiest answer yet." Mudpie looked at Athena. "Are you sure this didn't make her crazier too? She's normally more subdued and less vocal." "Nope. Just your standard MoM truth serum." Mudpie shrugged. "Moving on. Are you going to be a better pony?" I nodded. "Will you help the wasteland and not try to take it over?" "I only wanted to help from the start. They don't like us and it forces me to use drastic measures, like guided missile." I stood up and set my tea down. As I turned around my EFS lit up with orange bars. "Hostiles." I grumbled. “Shit they must have seen you,” Athena laid down and made herself as small as possible as she whispered, “get low, don’t make a sound and pray to your Goddess they don’t come in. They can rip limbs off as easily as you levitate an object " Sister and I obeyed without question. I laid on the floor with my face turned to the side to avoid my long, exquisite, horn from protruding up. My face itched under the bandages but I made no move to fix it. I just grit my teeth and glanced around with my eye. What sounded like wet thumps slammed into the walls as if a pony was walking on them and they followed the bars as they moved to the roof. "The door's locked, right?" Mudpie whispered. "They don't use doors," Athena replied as she covered us with the sheet. The room was filled with diffuse light when whatever it was removed the sticks covering the hole in the roof. A pony shape stuck its head in before it dropped down with a plop. The orange bar moved over to the fire Athena had going and stayed there. All that could be heard was the crackle of flames and a strange whistling sound like a pony whistling a tune. Soon another bar moved in next to it followed by another. I glanced at Athena, who had her eyes shut, and wondered if the three of us could take them down. Except if she was afraid of them then that meant they were very dangerous. There was a crash and orange flames licked at the couch as they knocked over what Athena used as a fireplace. The whistling increased to a slight howl as the other two joined in. I connected to Mudpie and fed her my magic as I said in her mind. "Get us out of here." She pulled more of my my magic at the same time I felt her wrap us in a teleportation spell. The wood floor was ripped away and was slowly replaced with jungle and rain. In a blue flash we lay somewhere in the jungle on the island. Judging by the fatigue I was feeling we had teleported far away from the shack. "Well Shock," Mudpie panted. "Welcome to Stable 384." I sat up and looked around. All I saw was thick jungle hillside and it took me almost a minute to spot the shape of an overgrown concrete bunker with a still sealed door. I got up and left the two lovers while Athena complained about her place burning down. *** *** Stable 384 was clean and rusty at the same time if such a thing were possible. The floors and half of the walls were spotless. But the ceiling and top half of the walls were rusted into disarray. Mudpie was right. It felt as if no pony had set a hoof inside here in the last two hundred years. To further spur that feeling there was nothing. No beds, no machines in the cafeteria, no terminals, no bones anywhere, but the air filtration system worked just fine, which was quite… odd to say the least. We had made our way down to the deepest level of maintenance to a room that was massive and spotless all over. I was forced to cut the door open with Hyde to get in because the terminal required a special card to access and none of us had it. How convenient. The room was unlike any I had seen before. In the center was an octagonal glass room with an open door and ten metal disks inside. Around the outside was a metal catwalk. Mudpie and Athena stood at a console of sorts on the wall while they fiddled with the dials and buttons trying to turn it on. I was standing at the threshold of the glass door and stepped inside the room. Metal grating echoed beneath my hooves as I headed for one of the discs. My gaze went to the ceiling where I saw pipes and vents for who knows what. All in all I was quite curious as to what the machine did, but it was quite silly to me. The room felt like it served no point. They had built it here for some kind of reason, yet it never activated? Who builds such a thing?! My heavy saddlebags reminded me that the body snatcher was still in my head, or so I thought. She had filled them with food, ammo, cloth and a few RadAways. Clinging tightly to my form was a suit of stable barding I had found in the complex, my wings poked through a pair of slits I had cut in the fabric. I felt like it would at least protect me against a knife and I would be able to use my wings should I care to do so. As I lowered my gaze to the others, I saw Mudpie push a red button on the console. After a few seconds went by, she frowned and flexed her azure blue wings. “Huh. Guess this thing is broken.” I nodded at her logic, because it made sense since that would be one reason for ponies not using it. Athena was sitting near the blue alicorn with a blue book floating in her green colored aura. She flipped the page as her eyes moved back and forth. “This says here that they were working on a device to get ponies from one side of Equestria to the other in less time than it took for a skywagon or train.” I stepped over to one of the metal discs and tapped it with my hoof, receiving a glass like clink instead which caused me to frown. “Makes sense, but this doesn’t seem that good.” “What do you mean?” Mudpie asked, drawing my attention back to her. “If it worked, then why was it not made bigger?” I tilted my head as I unfolded my wings and refolded them. “They clearly were onto a good idea. You could transport more ponies to other areas in the blink of an eye.” Then, I looked down at the disc. “But only ten?” “Shock, what on this island makes sense?” “Good point,” I muttered under my breath. “Aha!” Athena shouted. “It says here that we need to have the door closed to go through the pathway.” With a nod, I turned my head towards the door and engulfed it in magic. As I pulled it closed, Mudpie shouted, “Shock, wait! We don’t-” Immediately, the glass room was encased in darkness as the lights dimmed, but was quickly replaced by a faint glow coming from the floor. As Mudpie rushed over to the glass door and failed to pull it open, a faint humming emanated from the walls around me. A tingle in the air caused all of my fur to stand on end as if I were about to be struck by lightning. I backed away from the glowing disc, thinking it were the source of the tingle. Mudpie uselessly banged her hoof against the door. “Use your sword! I can’t teleport inside!” she shouted, her voice muffled by the glass. I nodded at her idea and concentrated on finding the weapon, which was easier said than done as ice shot through my horn when I attempted to grab it with magic. Stumbling back and falling on my flank, I cried out in pain as I hit the metal grate below. The ice receded when I stopped trying to use magic. My shaky hoof brushed my long, exquisite, horn as if doing so could make it feel better. "I can't," I whispered. Mudpie and Athena could not hope to hear it through the glass. The blue's ears folded back when she saw my predicament. I was stuck in some kind of chamber that we had no idea what it did other than a theory. "Shock!" Mudpie slammed her hoof against the glass again. "Wake the fuck up!" I looked over at Athena, who had moved into my blind spot. The forest green unicorn was busy adjusting dials for a reason unknown to me. Her face was buried in the book and a feeling of dread washed over me. I quickly shook it off and charged at the door, heading right for Mudpie. My body weight slammed into it, the force reverberating through my side and up into my jaw. Mudpie grabbed the door handle with her hooves and tried to pull it open as I jumped into it a second time. Only to have the same result greet me. The glass didn't even crack or shudder. As I backed up to get another running start, I finally noticed the glass was at least as thick as my hoof. My hoof touched something and I felt electricity and fire shoot up my leg, causing my wings to pop out as I screamed in pain. The burning sensation was followed by the feeling of my leg being ripped apart one molecule at a time. As I reared up and flapped my wings in a futile attempt to escape the pain, I could feel my other leg rip apart under the onslaught of whatever the machine was doing. The sensation quickly moved into my empty stomach where I felt nothing. I didn't have time to even open my eyes before the burning and ripping sensation shot up to my lungs, then engulfed me completely. Through the pain I felt like I was floating on the air; however, the pain suddenly vanished and I felt myself falling through a strange blue and purple vortex. All manner of sights, sounds, and emotions ran through me as I tumbled down the rabbit hole. My bodily feelings slowly returned and vanished again a few times. I saw a familiar blue alicorn's face float by. As I reached out to touch Mudpie, she vanished just as quickly as she had appeared. I looked around and saw that they were all my memories, strangely connected to each other. There was Mudpie, Blue, RJ, and other alicorns including The Goddess herself. She radiated perfection everywhere she appeared even if she did not physically show herself. Even the mere memory of The Goddess was perfect in its own way. But, I felt the memories slip away and I soon tumbled out of their sight. There was the Destroyer, that little shit who killed the Goddess. My hoof reached for the memory, but I stopped and stared at the silver metal as the swirling light glinted off it. I brought up my other hoof and saw my tan hide sparkle in the light as if the Crystal Heart was on full blast. A warm feeling in my chest swelled up as I smiled at the sparkling hooves. I was whole. Whatever magic they built into the machine gave me my original body back, but the effect did not last. As I tumbled towards a spot below, I felt my insides catch fire again. I watched with wide eyes as my crystal coat caught fire and burn to a crisp before a purple light blinded me. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Thick skull. +10% damage resistance against attacks to your head. Quest complete - Escape from Oakwood. Side quest accepted - Voices in your head. Get the other pony out of your skull before it drives you to madness. The clock is ticking. Side quest failed - Where's my money?! Reason: some other pony completed it before your slow ass did. Side quest failed - The Box. Reason: You failed to retrieve it from Ripper before leaving Oakwood. You're a nublet for forgetting that.
Chapter 9: Surf CityChapter 9: Surf City "Are our deeds written in stone or sand?" I laid on the nice, soft, sleep inducing couch cushions. The feeling caused me to feel as if I were about to pass out again. The dream journal floated in front of me in jade green magic as I slowly flipped through its pages. It seemed so real. I had felt the pain, suffering, and yet... this says it's not real. This right now feels real enough. That pony I cut up last night felt real enough. I set my hoof on the journal as I sighed at a passage with Midnight Bell on it. He was handsome but he didn't have talons, claws, and a beak, or wings. I used magic to flip quite a few pages back and read a random passage out loud to my belly. Bucky did not exist anymore, neither did Eclipse, nor that horrible plant monster. All that exists right now is this nice, amazing shower and soap. We do not care where they get their water and soap, but it is lovely. It smells like... apples. “I was told you needed some towels, so here they are.” A deep male voice says from behind Us. We gave a nod of thanks. “Thank you, mister...?” “Cola.” We did not look back as We roll Our eyes. “Let Us guess, the first half is Sparkle?” “Pretty much.” We facehoof as We groan and turn to look at the orange stallion. Our eyes pop open wide at the same time We shout, “alicorn!” Ignoring the shower, We walk over to him while still covered partly in soap. Our eyes wide as We check out the powerfully built, and perfectly beautiful, stallion from ear to hoof. Our gaze lingers on his flank where he had an actual cutie mark. It was of said drink, though We do not know why he would have a cutie mark of Sparkle-Cola. We stop at least a leg’s length away. His muscles were tense and ready to run as he flexed his wings for some reason We do not know. Our gaze move up to his yellow eyes as We ask. “How...?” “Ever heard of Killing Joke?” We nod slowly because We have seen its effects first hoof. “I used to be an earth pony, but fell into some and ended up like this. Been hiding on this ship since because of that damn bounty.” We took a couple steps closer as We ask, “how long?” “A few months or so? Why?” We smile as We step even closer, and almost touch his nose. He was now forced to look cross eyed at Us in fright. “Because the Goddess has been looking for one such as you for a very long time.” Our hoof came up to caress his cheek. He flinched, so We lowered it. “Do not be frightened by Us.” We whisper to him in a sensual manner as We nuzzle his nose with Ours, "We can show you what it means to be an alicorn. All you have to do is open your heart to Us.” “I’ve... got to go,” he replies as he bolts from the shower room. Our ears fold against Our head as We look at the floor. Were We too pushy? Was that why he ran? Then a smile crept up on Our face as We begin to chase after him. Two hundred years of waiting for... I closed the book with magic as I frowned in disappointment. "Perhaps you're not ready to hear that sort of thing. Let's look at another part, Clyde." The book was opened and flipped a few pages back. Our tank blasted across the green snow covered field. We were on the lead tanks left to cover that side. The rough ground caused all four of us to bump and bounce around slightly despite the suspension soaking most of the bad terrain up. Our three tank platoon was flanking a platoon of zebra heavy tanks and we had used a small hill to our advantage to swing around behind them. We came around the hill as more of the toxic green shit rained down and the turret rotated left sixty degrees on the Commander’s command. The hydraulics, engine noise, and metal on metal contact made everything so loud you had to shout into a helmet intercom system to be heard. The Gunner sighted in the Zebra heavy through her scope and pushed a button nearby. Immediately the gun’s breech shot backwards as all sounds in the turret were drowned out by the report of the gun. As the breech momentarily stopped to slide forward it spit out a large brass casing. The breech slammed forward to its stop and I used my magic to put the empty casing into the empty side where the ammo was stored. I did not worry about the cordite smoke as some of it filtered back in through the barrel, because we all were forced to wear gas masks as even the air outside was toxic. The tank was not fully sealed. “That’s a knockout.” The Gunner commented dryly as if she were bored. “New target,” Commander ordered over the headset built into our helmets and masks. “Nine o’clock, middle tank. Load AP. Fire when ready.” I turned around and engulfed an AP shell in with magic as I pulled it off the rack, and loaded it into the gun by pushing it with a hoof. I slapped the breech closed with a hoof. “Round up,” I said as soon as I was clear of being smacked in the face by the gun. The gunner adjusted the aim of the gun and compensated for our movement. “Firing,” she pushed the button again. The gun went through the motions and she swore. “We blew off his cupola. Load another, quick!” “Right five degrees and give us more juice.” Commander ordered the driver while I complied to the gunners demands. The tank complied and sped up. The breech shut and I shouted over the hydraulics. “Round up!” “Firing!” She yelled and pushed the button then frowned as the gun went through the motions. “Bounced.” I quickly loaded in another shell and was about to shout when, suddenly, I was thrown around the cramped turret at the same time something loud slammed into us. Our vehicle spun around to the left when its left side track disintegrated and sent our tank whipping around. The gunner quickly worked the hydraulics to aim and fired off a snapshot as I slowly recovered from hitting my head on the gun in the spin. “Bail!” The commander shouted and we each opened our hatches. My magic opened the hatch above me and I squeezed out into the toxic snow. I was not as used to the maneuver as the others and slipped on the slick metal. Which caused me to fall, hit my head again and tumble into the snow covered field. As I lay there for a second, staring up at the clouds, I prayed to Celestia that my thick cloth barding protected me. Movement caught my eyes and I looked over at as Lead’s turret rocketed into the sky in a fireball before it fell to the green snow as it trailed fire. With an unladylike grunt I hauled myself to my hooves. I closed the book again as I sighed and shook my head. "Perhaps this book isn't meant for you, Clyde." My magic engulfed said book as I slid it under the couch to hide it from prying eyes. "Let's take a nap. Maybe we can get back there and make it better for everypony." I told nopony and laid across the nice, soft, sleep inducing couch. *** *** I was jolted awake as somepony banged on my front door. A look at the clock revealed it was still early in the day. The loud knocking continued. "Alright!" I shouted and the knocking ceased as I got off the couch. My gaze went around the empty apartment. An empty apartment devoid of happiness. I reached the door, opened it with magic and nearly gasped. There before me stood a green alicorn with a bloody bandage over her right eye. Her short, for an alicorn, green mane flowed slightly and there were many small scars on her left leg. She swayed on her hooves, and slowly blinked. "Help..." she whispered in my mind as she collapsed in a heap and shut her eye. "Make them stop talking. Please, make it stop, make it stop!" I poked my head into the hallway and looked up and down it, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I grabbed the green alicorn by the mane with my teeth. She was pulled inside my apartment then I shut the door with magic. I knelt down as I gave her a nudge in an attempt to get her attention. She opened her eye and smiled at me, but it was a pained smile that caused me to wonder if she was all there or not. I also noticed she had scars in the same general areas that I did. "You're not real," I said as I sat up and backed away. "But of course I am," she replied in my mind. "I'm... You." I shook my head. "No, you're a figment of my imagination. I'm Lilium, not... some freakish monster that-" Her laughter reverberated inside my head and cut off my sentence. "Did you enjoy killing that pony earlier?" she asked softly. “When you shoved your blade through his heart?” I looked away in shame as I mumbled, "no, I did it to feel better." "And do you...?" Her pained voice asked. I nodded. "Yes, he was an asshole and deserved it. Besides, no pony knew who he was. Just some random crimson stallion." She curled up into a ball and began to shiver as if she were cold. I placed my hoof on her head and sighed deeply. "See, we are the same," she said in my mind. "I felt a familiar... hunger and followed it to its source. It hurts..." "What does?" "The voices... Can't you hear? Everypony here. I can hear them all. Make them stop! Find Mudpie, she'll... know what to do. We have endured something similar with her help, but... this... This hurts to even show you, yourself in this manner..." I shook my head in disagreement. "If you're not real, she's not real. Look..." I trotted over and pulled the journal out from under the couch. Then tossed it at her hooves. She chuckled inside my head and smiled, but her mouth had yet to open. "We do not need to look inside, as We know the contents already. They have gone through Our memories. To create a world in which you would be happiest and not question its legitimacy. A monster chained and held in reserve, is better than a monster on the loose. But they did not... realise... Our telepathy would subconsciously pick up everypony's thoughts." My eye narrowed in annoyance at her. "Let's pretend you're talking truth. If what you say is true, then why are you here?" "Because it hurts to hear so many voices at once... I suspect I know why The Great... and Powerful Goddess failed... She could not think clearly. Please, Lilium, help Us. You're not really pregnant, you don't have foals, you can't. This place isn't real!" "Shut up!" I screamed as I kicked her hard in the side with my metal hoof. She grunted and curled up tighter as she received a second kick. "I don't wanna hear any lies from an imaginary pony. I don’t care if this is fake. I like it here!" I lifted my cyber leg and brought it down on her skull as hard as I could. The metal hoof passed through her head as if it were not there and slammed into the floor with a loud crack. My eye widened as she flickered and vanished like a bad light bulb along with the journal. There was a knock at the door, which drew my attention before I could even comprehend what had just happened. I shook my head to banish the strange thoughts, recomposed myself and trotted towards the door. As I cracked it open a familiar crimson face greeted my vision. I smiled warmly at Dawn Star's concerned expression. "Hey," she said and then mouthed. "Are you alone?" I nodded. "I'm fine. There was... a bug." I grinned a fake grin at her to assure her everything was fine. Then looked back to where there was a hoof shaped dent in the floor. "I got it though," I said as I looked back at her, “the bugger was almost as big as my hoof!” "Oh," she gave a half nod. "I was in the hall and heard shouting. I thought you were in trouble or something..." "Have you seen Eclipse or Sienna? I need to talk to them about Midnight and I." She shook her head and my heart sank. "Lilium,” Dawn Star began in a concerned tone. “If you see anything 'strange' you'd let me know, right?" I nodded with a smile. "Like if I saw a green one eyed Celestia that claimed she was me? Of course I'd tell you." She arched her eyebrow in response. "Yeah, like that. Did you make that up just now, or...?" "Just now. I'm gonna get dressed and go look for the foals. You’re welcome to come if you want." “I have to wash my mane,” Dawn Star said then turned towards her door. I shut mine and laid my head against it as I sighed deeply in frustration. Nosy neighbors are never a good thing. If she gets worse I might have a need to deal with her quietly. *** *** My saddlebags were slightly heavy with a .44 revolver, ammo, bits, and paper. I was wearing a slightly loose brown dress that hid my curves slightly. And I acted as if that encounter with that... one eyed green freak never happened. My metal hoof thumped twice on the door as I knocked and waited until it was open by a white earth pony. She faked a smile at me and I nodded a greeting even though I did not like her much. "Hello, I'm looking for my daughter, Eclipse." She frowned. "Who? I don't kno-" "Eclipse!" I shouted and held my cyber hoof to about chest level. "She's a teal earth pony, and about this high." She went to shut the door, but my metal hoof was wedged between in. I did not feel the pain but I heard the crack of the wood. The white mare sighed. "Lilium, you don't have a teal filly, just Sienna." My eye widened slightly and twitched at her completely false remark! "She's a friend of your daughter, Rose!” I screamed in her face, “I have two fillies!" She nodded as she let out a deep sigh. "Midnight told me to turn you away, okay?" She shoved my hoof back through the gap and slammed the door in my face. The wood almost bumped my nose and I slumped into a sitting position, then looked down the hall where no pony was. I shut my eye and pondered this. Then I remembered Eclipse's hateful words. 'Maybe I will'. I slammed my hoof against the door a few times and it opened again. She barely cracked it open this time so she could see out with one eye. "Wait," I said before she shut the door in my face a second time. "Where is she? I need to talk to her, please, it's very important. We can't part ways on the words we said last night." "Look, I don't know what you must be going through, but leave. Midnight picked her up yesterday. I'm sorry." The white mare gently shut the door. I heard it lock as I sighed then trotted towards the elevator. Dawn's door was closed, as was everyone else's. The elevator dial was slowly moving up from the ground floor. I stopped at the brushed metal doors and looked at my vague reflection. Though it was green with a flowing green mane. I ignored the psychological reflection as I tapped my hoof on the up button and waited. As the doors opened, I stepped into the empty lift and tapped the button for two floors up. The doors waited a few seconds then shut and my stomach did flips as I was jolted upwards. The lift ride wasn't long and they opened again to reveal an identical hallway. I trotted forward as I looked at the grey flooring and white walls. Efficient, yet ugly. Arid Rain's apartment literally was directly two floors above mine. Even down to the location in the hallway. I knocked gently and a slightly tall dark blue unicorn mare opened the door. "Hello, Nova," I waved my hoof at her in a greeting. "How's things?" She smiled and opened the door further. "Greetings, Lily, the foals were just taking a nap. I'll go get Sienna." I grabbed her by the hoof with my normal hoof before she could turn around. "I just thought you should know. Last night... Eclipse caught Sienna kissing Arid Rain and said they were whispering sweet things to each other, but I'm not sure how true it is. " Her blue eyes went wide in shock as her mouth dropped a little. "What, my Arid Rain is a...? Are you serious?!" I gave her a firm nod. "Well then! I suppose I should give her a little talk as to where her priorities should lie. Like colts." "If The Goddess wishes her to be a fillyfooler, then that is her will. Good, bad, I support Sienna to grow into the mare she wants to be." "I know they've been friends practically since they were born," she sighed. "But can you at least discourage it when they're at your place? I don't know about you, but I want grandfoals." I smiled at her and gave a nod. "I will see what I can do. But I know Eclipse most certainly prefers colts. So I do not have to worry so much in that department." She looked down at my hoof that still held hers, which I only just now realized as well and my cheeks heated up in a slight blush. "Well, some of us don't have the luxury of more than one foal." Her brows knitted together as she sat down and ran her other forehoof over mine while her horn, and hoof, glowed a soft blue . "You're troubled by dark thoughts, old memories... and strange desires. I could help you to relieve these desires and thoughts." I rolled my eye and yanked the hoof away then stomped it down. "Nova Blue, please go get Sienna. I have no patience for your parlor tricks today." She nodded and disappeared in a flash of blue light. Only to reappear almost a minute later with a groggy looking Sienna. As soon as Sienna saw me her face lit up brightly. The filly bolted towards me and clamped my regular foreleg in a bear hug that felt like she was trying to kill all blood flow to the area. "I had the bestest day ever! We went out an' had pizza!" I smiled as I nuzzled the top of her head. "That is good. What do you say?" She looked at Arid Rain's mother. "Thank you for an awesome day, Miss Nova Blue." Nova waved a hoof. "I'm sure Arid enjoyed it as well. A little birdy told me she liked you a lot." Sienna shook her head so quick I thought it was going to fall off. "Nuh-uh! I slipped an' she caught me, but she also slipped an' we fell on top of each other. It was an accident!" The aforementioned other foal walked up and peered around Nova's hind legs. "Bye, Sienna." she said with a wave. I saw the look Nova gave Arid Rain. It was a look my mother once gave me. A look that says 'you're in deep shit and I'm going to lecture you about fillies and colts until your ears bleed'. "Bye, Arid! I'll see ya at school!" Sienna waved. I turned towards the elevator as I nodded at Nova Blue. "Thank you for watching her." "It's what friends are for," she replied with a nod. *** *** On our way home we ran into Mango. The gryphon had passed by a news stand and picked up the days paper. The headline? An unidentified stallion was gruesomely murdered in some alleyway with no witnesses or clues as to who did it. Of course they won't identify him. His head was weighted, tossed in the bay, and the sharks have most likely already feasted on it. The paper was now sitting on the coffee table. Mango was cooking something. Sienna was sitting on the couch and I was on the floor looking into her eyes. I placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Sienna, I..." I bit my lower lip in worry. Because I was not sure if the ten year old filly would understand. "I messed up big time, okay? You remember yesterday when I told you about Clyde?" She nodded and hugged herself as she twisted side to side. "Yup! He's gonna be the bestest little brother in all of Equestria!" "Well... Your... Your father..." I shut my eye and sighed as I settled on a lie. "Your father has taken Eclipse on a trip to... The gryphon kingdom." I silently groaned as I facehoofed. "I wanna go!" She hopped up and grinned. My ears folded back as I set the hoof down. "Let's go see them." "I... Um... I have a better idea! Let's go to..." I grinned at her as an idea came to mind. "The Crystal Empire." Her eyes went huge as she fell on her haunches. "I can show you all the amazing things there. Like the Crystal Heart that projects love all across the world. And my old neighborhood. Call it a belated birthday gift. Sound like fun?" Sienna nodded rapidly again. "Awesome fun! Can we bring Arid Rain? She would love it ‘cause she thinks your sparkly coat is pretty too. Why doesn't mine sparkle?" "It will in time. But I'm afraid we can't bring her along. I don't think her mother would approve of it. You see, Arid's mother isn't as... Forgiving, yes. She isn't as forgiving as I am when it comes to matters of, well, love. Only a crystal pony, like us, truly understands what it means. Promise me, Sienna, promise me that you'll make an attempt at talking to colts." She stuck out her tongue. "Yuck! Colts have cooties!" I pointed my cyber hoof at her. "Sienna... I'm being serious. Promise me, if they talk to you, you'll talk to them and not beat them up." She let out a deep sigh of frustration as she rolled her eyes. Then went through the motions while she said. "Cross my heart an’ hope ta fly, stick a cupcake in my-Aah!" She hit her eye with a hoof in an attempt to Pinkie Promise. "That hurt..." I smiled at her. "Well it was good enough. Now remember, Pinkie Pie is watching you," my hooves came up and I waved them about, "ooooOOOooo." She squealed in mock terror and bolted for her bedroom. As the door shut a pair of eagle arms wrapped around me and pulled me into Mango's embrace. I sighed contently as I felt his warm feathers on the back of my head. "That went much better than I expected. Did you get her something for her birthday?" "She’s not too bright, and no. I didn’t. She’s not mine." he replied and rubbed at my chest with his talons. I turned around as I pushed away with a glare strong enough to drill through his skull. "Go get her something for her birthday!” "Huh?" he tilted his head. "Get the fuck out of my house and don't come back until you found her something she'll enjoy!" Mango practically flew into the door on his way out. I laughed silently. Then my smile turned into a frown as I slumped into my forehooves and groaned. "Knock, knock," a pony that sounded like Dawn Star said. Again I groaned in annoyance as they walked in. "Anypony home?" "Yes," I said as I looked up at her standing next to the entry way. "I'm not in the mood for idle chat right now, Dawn." She pointed a hoof towards the stove where smoke was beginning to rise. "Something's burning." My eye widened as I shot up and bolted over. I used my magic to quickly move the pan off the burner onto an unused one, then shut the burner off, and shoved a lid over the pan as the smoke started filling the room. "Thanks," I said in boredom. "So I passed by a gryphon on my way over. I take it that was the father?" I nodded slowly. "How'd Sienna take the news?" My gaze went to Dawn's and my brows knitted together. "Do you work for Ministry of Morale or something? Because you sure do ask a lot of questions about my personal life." "Nope," she shook her head. I sighed deeply and nodded. "Sienna.. She... I... I couldn't tell her the truth. I told her we're going to visit the Crystal Empire, while Midnight and Eclipse visit the gryphon kingdom for a while. It was all I could think of." I lifted the lid up and was greeted by tons of smoke, but no fire. I placed it under the faucet and ran water over the pan to fully cool it. "Mango pissed me off.” I told Dawn. “He called Sienna stupid for believing the story I told her. In her eyes I have no reason to lie to her." "Are you gonna see him again?" I nodded as I shut the water off and tossed what was being cooked in the trash. "Well we do have a thing and if he makes her happy, I'll be happy." "I’m sure there’s another stallion out there that would be happy to have a mare like yourself." I smiled at Dawn Star. "Would you like some tea? I'll put a pot on. I have a special brew for friends only." "Sure." Dawn Star nodded and went over to the couch. I set about getting the tea ready. I put water in the pot, then placed it on the burner, and turned it on. As I was looking for the actual tea bags I said. "Your place is nice, roomy, and clean." "Well it's just me," she replied. "And I don't have much." I pulled the correct box of tea out and set it on the tray along with two mugs. By this time the water was boiling, so I took it off the burner and put a few bags into the pot. I had to make sure I didn't spill any of it as I set the floating tea pot onto the tray with the mugs. My magic engulfed it all and I trotted over to Dawn Star. The tray was gently set down on the new table. I sat on the comfy couch next to her and made sure the dress didn't get wrinkles in it. She reached out with a hoof, but I lightly knocked it away with mine. "Not yet. The tea needs to seep." We sat there in silence for almost ten minutes. The whole time Dawn Star had a look on her face as if she were deep in thought. I just stared at the tea with my one eye. Eventually I poured the both of us nice, hot, steamy cups of delicious tea. Dawn Star went to take a sip and grimaced in insufferable pain. "Hot!" see said through clenched teeth. I smiled. "Silly Dawn Star, the tea is hot!" She gently blew on hers and my gaze lingered on her lips, then moved up to her pretty gold eyes. "You have pretty eye coloring," I absently commented. She stopped blowing on the tea to look at me with a very faint blush on her cheeks. "Thanks, I guess. This tea smells really good." I nodded and took a sip. It burned my tongue but I made no move to spit it out. Sweat began to form on around my horn so I quickly gulped it down. She took a sip and winced. And so we drank like that. Dawn wincing as she drank hers, I slightly sweating as I drank mine. Finally I set my mostly empty cup down with a sigh. "Dawn, I'm bored. Do you want to go do something?" "Like what?" she asked and I smiled. "You'll find out, come on." I got off the couch and held out my hoof. She took it, I gripped and hauled her off the couch. Dawn star looked down at the tea. "Don't worry about it. Nothing’ll happen to it while we’re gone." The two of us walked across the room to where Sienna was. I used my magic to gently open the door so I could peer inside. With the blinds closed it was dark and slightly hard to see, but I could make out Sienna playing with a stuffed doll of Spitfire. She was hugging the near filly sized toy and whispering to it. "I know. It's just I'm gonna miss her. Mommy says she went-" "Sienna?" I asked quietly. Her ears perked up and she looked at me, then smiled. "I'm going out with a friend. Would you like to come? We're gonna go to the boardwalk and get some ice cream." She immediately dropped the toy and shot up. "Yay, ice cream!" I smiled. *** *** Dawn Star walked next to me in her uniform as I followed Sienna along the wooden pier. An ice cream sundae floated in front of me while Dawn had to use one of her cyber wings like a gryphon uses their talons to hold onto an ice cream cone. Our hoofsteps were hollow thanks to the wood planking beneath us, mine even more so. A mass of ponies surrounded us as well as food and game stands. Sienna stopped and excitedly pointed her hoof at one that had stuffed pony's as prizes before she galloped over to it. We, of course, followed. The brown unicorn filly propped her forehooves up on the counter and pointed at a stuffed Celestia doll about the same size as Sienna. She hopped up and down slightly and grinned. "Can I have it?!" The bored earth pony behind the counter looked at me as I set my sundae down. "How much to buy the Celestia doll?" He took a sip from a drink and pointed a hoof at the sign saying you had to knock down the zebra face way in the back to win a Celestia doll. I sighed as I magically set five bits down from my bags. The pony pushed a button and Sienna ran for one of the little airgun things. Then all hell broke loose. Everything inside the game started moving around and the flashing lights made it hard to see. Yet Sienna aimed the little rifle as best she could and sent yellow foam ball after yellow foam ball at the zebra face. Every shot missed or was deflected by the other targets in between the two. The game shut off and Sienna's ears drooped. So I put five more bits down and the machine started back up. Sienna tried her hardest again, yet it wasn't enough. She groaned and hit her hooves on the stand in frustration. Dawn Star tossed the remaining bit of her ice cream cone into her mouth and walked over while chewing.The earth pony held out his hoof and I dropped five more bits into it. Dawn grabbed the toy air rifle as the machine started up. I smiled while she looked determined to win the toy. Her shots were more precise and she got farther. One struck the zebra face and Sienna jumped in joy, I grinned. After a few seconds the game stopped and we all looked at the earth pony. He took a sip from his drink and pointed a hoof at the sign. "Sorry, ladies, rules are rules." "That's bullshit!" Dawn shouted. "There's not enough kinetic velocity to knock it down!" "My turn," I said as I dropped five more bits on the counter. As the machine started up I concentrated my magic on the pony's drink, ripped it from his grip and tossed it at the zebra head. My blow almost missed, but it knocked the face down. With a smile I pulled the Celestia doll off the shelf and gave it to Sienna. She hugged it tightly and smiled. "That's against the rules!" the pony shouted. I glared a laser beam at him. "And so is having a rigged game. No where in your rules does it state I have to use your stupidly underpowered airgun. I won fair and square. Now good day, sir." I felt a tug on my dress and looked down. Sienna pushed the Celestia doll towards me. "Can you carry her? She's too big for me." I nodded and levitated the doll onto my back in a manner where she wouldn't fall off. We left the game stand and continued through the mass of ponies. After perhaps a few minutes of watching Sienna running around pony legs I was forced to sit down on a bench. I looked up at the clear blue sky as the warm summer sun beat down on me. Inside the dress I was sweating badly, outside the sweat barely covered my face, and I was beginning to feel sick to my stomach like I was going to vomit. Then my face went pale when I saw a dark silver unicorn mare walking through the crowd as she looked down at ponies like she was better than them. I grabbed Dawn Star's collar and whispered. "Hide me! For Celestia's sake, hide-" "Granny!" Sienna shouted and bolted for Midnights mother. I groaned in annoyance as the foal nearly tackled her in a hug then dragged her over. "Hello, Lilium," she said in a raspy voice as she smiled at me and then looked at Dawn Star. "Who's your friend?" Dawn held out her hoof. "I'm Corporal Dawn Star. Lilium's neighbor. I moved to this city a few days ago and she was showing me around with her wonderful daughter." "Oh," she looked down at Sienna then around in concern at the ponies that were ignoring the four of us. "Where is my son and other granddaughter?" I quickly looked around myself and spotted a colt about Sienna's age then nudged her in his direction. "Sienna, why don't you go talk to that nice young colt over there?" "He's got cooties," she whispered. I glared in disappointment at her as I pointed my hoof in his direction. "You Pinkie Promised, remember?" Dawn's cyber wing came down and began to pull her away. She looked at me and nodded. "I'll watch her to make sure they don't get in trouble." Synthie's mother and I watched the two as they walked out of earshot. Then we looked at each other. "Bad news I take it?" she tilted her head and an ear twitched. I nodded and kept glancing at Dawn Star to make sure she didn’t try to run off with Sienna. "Yes... I messed up badly. I was seeing another pony and Midnight found out." Her eyes went wide. "He practically forced me to sign divorce papers and ran off with Eclipse before I could even say good bye." I facehoofed with both my forehooves. "I'm such an idiot!" I set my hooves down and looked at Midnight’s mother. Her normal snobbish expression had changed to one of contempt. Then, without warning, a dark silver hoof slapped me audibly across the face. She stomped it down as I held the spot in shock. "Trollop! You had everything a pony could want and you threw it all away, and for what? A quickie with some pony that doesn't give two shits about you? You imbecile!" "I fucked up, okay? I know that." Her blow stung more than her words did. I did not need a pony to tell me I screwed up, again. She pointed her hoof at me and her eyes narrowed. "You can forget about being invited to our family gatherings ever again. But..." Her gaze softened slightly. "Next time I see my son, I will make him bring Eclipse to you so you can say goodbye. A mother should at least have that." I nodded, "thank you." She harrumphed and stuck her nose in the air as she trotted off. I leaned back as I groaned and set the toy aside, even though it went better than I thought. Dawn, Sienna, and the colt came over in a small group along with his father. The maroon cyborg pegasus sat down next to me and our flanks accidentally touched. I didn't mind it so much because it distracted me from the verbal assault I had received. The yellow stallion gave a half bow. "Hello," he stuck his hoof out and I shook it. "Dawn Star was telling me how you beat that game and I wanted to say, good thinking. I had tried myself and gave up." I absently wrapped my cyber leg around Dawn and pulled her into a hug. "Well Dawn tried and failed too. I got pissed at the pony running it, I really did. It's not fair to trick a pony in such a manner." He smiled. "Well, Sienna is lucky to have two wonderful parents like yourselves." My jaw dropped as I pulled away from Dawn Star. "Were not married... We... uhh... I don’t like..." "She's just a friend," Dawn added for me. He nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to take Junior home for dinner." My face heated up in a blush as the stallion and his colt walked off. Sienna grinned at me. I looked at an equally blushing Dawn Star. "I swear this wasn't that kind of a date," I told her. A faint smile formed on her face but her blush stayed. "Well... I did enjoy today. So thank you for a good time." Slowly, a thought churned over in my head. A thought that was screaming at me to ask and it was wrong, yet also right. I smiled back at her. "Would you like to cap it off with dinner?" "Lilium, I'm not a fillyfooler." she replied and crushed my terrible, terrible, dreams. "Sorry." Regardless, I gave a nod of understanding. "Neither am I. It never hurts to ask, you know?" "Right, well I'm gonna head home and go iron my uniform for tomorrow." "Bye," I waved. Sienna practically hopped and waved at her. "Bye, Miss Dawn Star!" "See you two later," she spread her metal wings and took flight. I facehoofed as I groaned. *** *** As Sienna and I stepped off the elevator, with Celestia on my back, I saw a familiar face next to my door and leaned against the wall. Mango was scratching lightly at the floor with his talons and his back was to us. I made a silencing motion with my hoof to Sienna, she nodded, and we crept forward. Our hooves barely made a sound as we slowly closed the distance. I slapped him hard on the flank with a hoof to get his attention. The gryphon squawked in shock as he took to the air with a flap of his wings. Both Sienna and I giggled at him. He glared at me as he landed on the carpet and folded his wings. I got in close and hugged him with a nuzzle to the neck as he was much larger than I. Mango's foreleg arm wrapped around me in the hug. "Did you get her something?" I asked in a whisper and he nodded. "Good. Then I have a surprise for you later.” He smiled as he looked at the now open door. Sienna had dragged Celestia inside and was brushing the dolls long mane. The brush was held in a very shaky levitation field, which caused me to smile. My hoof tapped the gryphon next to me and I pointed at her. "Look look," I whispered softly in excitement. "She's levitating the brush!" "Fascinating," Mango deadpanned with a roll of his eyes. Then he walked over to her quietly and looked down. I shut the door so as to not make a sound and walked over. Mango knelt down to look into her eyes. "I heard your birthday was yesterd-" Sienna yelped in shock and her magic field popped and fizzled, the gryphon recoiled in shock as well. She looked up at Mango with a wide eyed gaze. "Huh?! You scared me, Mister!" He smiled and knelt down again. Then his talon brought out a terribly wrapped box with twine to tie it off. Sienna dropped the doll and was like a zombie as she crawled over to it. "What is it?! What is it what is it what is it?!" She chanted over and over. By then I was laying down next to Mango with his wing draped over me in a cuddle. The heat of his body was making me sweat slightly, but I did not care. Sienna grabbed the box in her hooves and failed at opening it. "It would not be a surprise if he told you." I giggled at her as she gnawed on a corner of the box with her teeth. Sienna stopped to stare at the box as she scrunched her face up and sweat started to bead off her brows. A flicker of magic surrounded the knot and failed. She stuck her tongue out and tried again. I nudged Mango with a hoof as the glow surrounded her horn again. He smiled at Sienna. "You can do it!" The glow surrounded the knot and it came loose as she pulled. Her brown hooves furiously tore the wrapping apart in a blur. The brown paper covered up her expression as she looked inside the box but the squeal of delight was all I needed to know. She used her hooves to pull a cylindrical object with a screen attached to it. My eyes narrowed at the polished, brand new, silver Pipbuck. However I smiled at the filly and laid my head against Mango's neck with a content sigh. Sienna looked at the device, then tilted her head. "What is it?" "A Pipbuck," I told her with a smile. "A device that has truly wondrous abilities. May I see it first, please?" She held it out with her hooves and it was engulfed in my magic as I brought it over. The device was inspected closely for traps by pulling the brand new padding back slightly. I found none. So I floated it back over to her as I said, "choose which foreleg carefully because they are very hard to remove." She looked at each of her forelegs, then placed it over her right foreleg and clasped it shut. A grin formed on her face as it most certainly booted up. I noticed the screen was a dark blue and wondered if it was like the Pipbuck in my dream in that she saw blue and orange bars. I dragged the Celestia doll over in my magic and looked at the filly sized toy, then to Sienna, and smiled. "Sienna, why don't you go get your Spitfire doll and we'll play a game? Your pick of the game." With a silent nod she scrambled off to her room to retrieve said doll. I looked over and nuzzled Mango's beak. The gryphon gave a warm smile and I sighed. "Thank you for giving her that. Where you got it, I don't care. Would you like to come around more often, like... daily?" "Perhaps," he replied with a shrug. Then he nodded his head towards Sienna's room. She had Spitfire done up in a makeshift flight power armor with straws as the energy rifles. The suit was made out of cardboard, and was very ugly, yet she had made it herself and so I never mentioned the fact that it was ugly. I gave Mango a quick glare that said he better not make fun of it, then made Celestia stand with my magic as a jade green glow surrounded the doll. The Celestia doll already had her wings out as if they were trying to flap in flight. I stood her on her hind hooves and pointed a hoof in the air. "Halt!" I mock shouted. "Who trespasses on Our realm of Home?" Sienna propped Spitfire up with her hooves and pointed the straw tubes at Celestia as I set my doll back to all fours."It is I, Captain Sienna, your highness." I made my doll tilt her head in confusion. "We are not Celestia, We are The Great and Powerful Goddess! Thou will join Unity or perish. Raaawwwwrrr!" Sienna rolled her eyes, "Mommy, there's no such thing! How can Celestia-" "Quiet thou ungrateful whelp!" I lowered the Celestia Dolly's head and said. "We smite thee with thine magic missiles!" Sienna pulled her doll to the side and re-aimed her 'rifles'. "Your magic missiles are no match for my laser rifles! Pew pew pew!" Celestia doll grabbed her chest with a hoof and fell over. "Ugh, you've... got Us... Our reign... Is at an end!" Spitfire doll was dragged over and Sienna jumped in joy. "Haha! I win!" "Not yet," I replied with a cackle and floated the doll into the air. "Thou foalish mortal cannot comprehend one such as I, The Great and Powerful Goddess!" Celestia doll swooped down and tackled Spitfire doll then jumped into the air. I made her fly around in a circle while cackling maniacally as Sienna watched the doll. She lifted her doll and aimed the straw rifles. "Only the great Captain Sienna can stop this monster and save Equestria!" Sienna looked at me and pleaded with her eyes. Spitfire doll was engulfed in my magic as she took flight to chase after the pseudo Goddess doll. Celestia doll looked back. "What's this?! Thy mortal foalishly thinks they-" "Pew pew pew!" Sienna shouted as Celestia doll dodged her 'shots' and Mango chuckled as he watched the display. Then Celestia doll’s horn lowered, "We, The Great and Powerful Goddess smites thee with magic missiles!" Spitfire doll flew higher, almost scraping the ceiling, and swooped down. Sienna made more make believe laser noises. I made Celestia doll fly erratically, then spiral out of control and crash into the couch with a soft oomph. Spitfire doll flew a wide victory loop as Sienna clapped her forehooves together. "Yay!" she giggled as both dolls were brought over in my magic field. I patted Sienna on the top of her head with a hoof as I roughed up her mane. "You keep practicing your magic and one day you might be as powerful as Celestia." "Really...?" she asked with wide eyes. "Well..." I half shrugged with my metal hoof, then laid my head against Mango's neck again. "Not as powerful as her, but you could be pretty powerful. Who knows? All it takes is determination and devotion," I said as I lightly tapped her on the head with with my regular hoof. Then I looked at Mango. "Would you like to stay for dinner, and maybe the night?" He scratched his beak in thought for a few moments before he shook his head. "Can't. I gotta be up early, sorry, Lils." I shrugged as he got up and scratched my head with a taloned hand, causing my mane to fall in front of my eye. Mango's lion tail wrapped around my neck and gently tickled under my chin as a giggle escaped my lips. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon," he mouthed and I nodded. As the gryphon walked away he gave a wink. I grinned at Sienna, she tilted her head as her ears twitched in wonderment. "How would you like pizza for dinner?" I asked. "Yay!" *** *** The sound of my bedroom door opening woke me from my soft slumber. I was still groggy, but rolled over onto my chest and let my regular hoof hang down from the bed. "Come on," I mumbled into my pillow without opening my eyes. "I'll keep the monsters away." I felt the little brown unicorn filly climb up my leg like a ladder, then she walked over my back and cuddled next to my side. I zoned out into that place between when you're awake and sleep. Eventually I drifted back into the blackness that is sleep. *** *** When I had awoken, Sienna wasn't there, only her new Celestia doll. This had not worried me while I cooked breakfast, which consisted of reheating leftover pizza. Sienna was, of course, overly excited about having pizza and oblivious to the real reason I have been trying to make her so happy for the last few days: Her father left us because of my screw up. She sat on the other side of the table as she devoured her slice. I set my floating slice down and wiped the grease off my face with a napkin. "So you had a bad dream again?" I asked before I lifted a milk glass in magic and took a sip. Sienna mumbled around a mouthful of food, "nuh-uh. I slept all night." My head tilted as my ear flopped sideways at her response. I clearly remembered her coming in last night and cuddling next to me with the Celestia doll. My gaze went to my messy room where the doll was still where I had left it. "Are you sure?" "Mhm, positive!" she replied. I looked at her in confusion, which slowly turned into a half smile, then gave a nod. Sienna went back to her meal and I stood up. Slowly and carefully, I made my way from the living room towards my door. My magic gripped the handle as I turned it and opened the door partly to look around the room with my good eye. Celestia doll was where she was when I awoke, but she had turned around and was facing the door in a sleeping position, and the sheets were now perfectly made. "I'm watching you," I whispered to the toy before I opened the door farther. A faint smile slowly formed on my lips as I turned around towards the kitchen. "Sienna, are your things ready for school?" She pulled her small bag off the couch and opened it to show me it's contents. "Yes!" "Got your books?" "Mhm," she nodded. "Lunch, and a snack?" "Yup! I grabbed more pizza." "How about a hat?" She tapped her chin with a hoof in thought, then shook her head. "Nuh-uh, Mommy. Weather is suposta be clear." I nodded at her response. "Yes that may be, but it never hurts to be prepared for any occasion and the sun is very hot. Here, take this one." I looked over with magic as I selected an extremely large, for a young filly, brown floppy hat from the wall, placed it gently on her head and tightened it. Sienna looked up as the brim flopped down in front of her eyes then she frowned. "Moooom, this hat is too big!" I knelt down to look at her as I adjusted it to sit on her horn and not fall down. "Better?" I asked. She nodded. "Good. Now what are you doing in school today?" "Learnin' 'bout the history of Eqwestria!" she exclaimed as she hopped off the ground and grinned. I nodded slowly. "And if a colt talks to you?" "I roll out of tha way an' buck ‘em in tha face ‘cause he has cooties!" A chuckle escaped me as I shook my head. "No no, you are going to talk to him. Remember your promise?" She nodded rapidly and made the brim of her hat flop around. "Good, now let's get you to class. Being late is never good." *** *** Sienna was at school, Midnight and Eclipse were still gone. I had expected him to come back for their things, but apparently with all their money they did not need too. I was cleaning up the apartment after the weekend, with the front door open of course, and had the Celestia doll sitting on the couch. As I went about my routine I felt like I was being watched. Like somepony was inside my head watching my every move and could hear every thought. So I stopped cleaning, set the brush down and made my way over to the plush doll. She was lifted to eye level by my magic and I glared a laser beam at her with my one eye. "What are you?" I asked the doll quietly and received no response. She looked at me with a smile like yesterday. Except today her wings were folded instead of extended and her eyes were shut and her pose indicated she was sleeping. "I know you're not a doll. Dolls don't open doors, walk into a pony's room, or make their bed, so what are you?!" I got no response again, but felt like the doll acknowledged my questioning. "Alright look here, Celestia Doll, I don't care if you're some freaky possessed toy or not. There are rules in my house that you need to know if you’re going to stay here. The first and major one: If you harm my daughter Sienna, I will personally stuff you as slow as possible into the blender tail first!" I sat down as I grabbed its head with my forehooves and brought it closer to where it filled my vision. "Here are my other rules: Protect her, watch her, be kind to her, and guard her like your life depends on it. Or its the blender! Do I make myself clear?" For some reason, I thought I saw the faintest of nods come from the toy. Shell Shock: 5% to next level. Did you think you gained xp here?! Silly, silly, alicorn.
Chapter 10: Plants vs ghoulsChapter 10: Plants vs ghouls. "Some mares just want to watch the world burn.” Sienna and I walked along the dusty side street as a cool breeze blew in from the sea. The sun was still high in the sky and beating down us as it was only three in the afternoon. Sienna was excited about the planned trip to the Crystal Empire. I was angry that the school was teaching vile things to the foals which were complete lies. Midnight had yet to make an appearance, Eclipse was likewise gone. She did not show up at school and that worried the both of us. But I figure they are now homeschooling Eclipse. Which I most likely will have to do with Sienna. School... An institution that should be teaching ponies the value of friendship. But was instead teaching them that zebra's were evil and sacrificed ponies for one reason or another. One text I had looked at had said that in their capture, subsequent reinforcement, and defense of Hollow Shades. The zebras supposedly sacrificed prisoners to help them defend better or something like that. I did not pay much attention because I became angry with the book and tossed it across the room and out the window. Angry at teacher for spouting the lies in the books even though she knew they were lies and just doing her job. 'It's all we're allowed to teach anymore' she had said. I was angry at the school for even accepting those books. Zebras were not the evil monsters the books made them out to be! They are just white earth ponies with black stripes. I've met more than my fair share of zebras. Some were mean, and some were extremely nice when they weren’t shooting at you. I was so lost in thought over this I hadn't noticed we turned into a trash covered alleyway. My hooves echoed off the narrow walls and it was dark, despite the day, to where I could not see very far. Sienna used her hoof to point at a pile of trash inside my gaze. “There’s red there! Can we see it?” “Red?” My eye widened as I look back at her. “What are you seeing?! Sienna, is there a compass with colored bars?” She nodded rapidly and my eye widened in shock. Movement drew my attention back to the trash pile and before I could even get my revolver out of my saddlebags. A large pony leapt out with a floating shotgun nearby. My revolver was quickly brought around to eye level as I aimed down the sights at her forest green head. She aimed her weapon in a similar manner and I noticed a rather large horn. “I’m sorry,” the green unicorn muttered at the same time she unfolded a set of wings. A ball of flame appeared at the end of the shotgun at the exact moment I pulled the trigger of my revolver. I watched in near slow motion as our lead darts passed each other mid-flight. Too late, I began to move sideways. My shot struck her between the eyes, kicking her head back as blood and brains coated the trash pile cover. Her slug slammed into my face and my world went black as I felt a hammer push my skull inward. *** *** My eyes snapped open, revealing me to be floating underwater with something was attached to my muzzle. My head and horn also felt funny. The vision in my right eye was a complete blur and cloudy. It felt like there were needles pierced every so often in my limbs and back all the way to my skull. Before I could even comprehend what was on my body or my surroundings, I heard them. At first it began as a faint whisper. "...How was your day...?" "...May I take your order...?" "...How fascinating, my day was better though..." They eventually melded together into an incoherent mumble that did not stop. I instinctively felt my belly with my left hoof and my ears drooped in disappointment. It was flat. A glance down revealed some kind of harness attached to a slender forest green body. My left leg was also devoid of a Pipbuck and had tubes running to somewhere. There were scars where the fur had yet to regrow. My right leg had scars on it from some kind of explosion, as did most of my right side. My mane and tail were short and non-flowing due to the water, or goo I was floating in. The mumbling increased in volume as I picked up more. As the volume increased, so did a slight growing pain inside Our head. Our ears folded against Our head as We looked around a slightly dark room. Ponies walked along a wall of monitors as they displayed lies and lines of green on a black screen. I glanced up and saw the top half of my head, including my long exquisite horn, was encased in some kind of device. Then decided to look around the room again. I mentally flipped through my spells as I tried to remember what Mudpie had taught me about the telepathy spell. Ever so slowly, the head splitting headache died down to a dull pain at the base of my horn and the mumbling faded to a ghost of a whisper that was easy to ignore. As I took a glance around the room again I spotted a unicorn in a lab coat looking at a wall. She had a floating clipboard in front of her and she was slowly making her way towards Us. The mare could almost pass for a unicorn version of Rose if Rose were normal sized unicorn and red. As she got close I shut my eyes and floated there in the liquid. Then focused the telepathy into just hearing the immediate area around me. "...Hm... Her vitals are good, but what was with that spike earlier? Perhaps we should do another wipe and start over? This time let's move the timeframe back a few years..." My eyes snapped open as I glared a laser beam at her. The red unicorn's eyes widened as she scrambled back in fright. "Sweet Celestia, she's awake!" she shouted, her voice muffled inside the liquid. All of the ponies in the room turned to look at me in shock. My forehoof slammed into the glass. The sound of the blow was a massive hollow slam that echoed in my head. But I didn’t care because I wanted out. The lab mare shouted something to the others as I slammed the hoof against it a second time. Suddenly, We felt gravity return as the liquid began to rapidly drain. My hind hooves hit the floor as I slammed into the glass with a thud just before it opened. As it did so, my bodily control was minimal and I collapsed onto the floor. The mare rushed over and undid the mask with magic. I began gagging as she pulled the mask off and something tickled inside my throat. A thin clear tube was being pulled out as well as the mask and it took some time before it was fully removed. I sat there collapsed on the floor, soaked to the bone, thoroughly confused and unable to speak with my mouth. The mare levitated a tiny torch to eye level and shined it in both of Our eyes for a second, momentarily blinding Us. The back of my head felt funny, and so I used a shaky hoof to feel around. I felt my wet fur and mane, but eventually it hit something metal embedded at the base of my skull with a large wire running off it. In fact there were metal disks inserted near my joints with large tubes inside them and my body felt like I hadn't eaten in months. Indeed it showed in the fact that I could see my ribs slightly under my fur. "Ar-are y-you alright?" she asked in a sweet voice and I nodded while trying my best to gather my strength. But it felt like I hadn't moved in a very long time. "Yes," I replied softly inside her mind. "What is... going on? Where are We?" "In a virtual reality simulation room. About five, six, weeks ago one of our prospectors found you next to a sky wagon. You were bleeding out and had taken a jumping mine to the face." Our hoof came up and We felt the scars on the right side. Then We looked at the hoof and saw it was also scarred. "While your natural healing abilities did a good job. They weren't enough." "What does that mean?" I asked her as I looked at my right wing and found it... slightly mangled. Not much, but still capable of producing lift. "To save you we had to put you in this machine." She replied and drew Our attention. "Everything from when you triggered that mine to now. Was in a virtual reality. It was fake." We looked up at the strange tube as We thought over her words. If the last two months were fake, then that may have accounted for some of the stranger events. Like Midnight appearing out of thin air when he should be dead. My ears slowly folded against my head. "We... do not understand. Where is Sister, Rose, Midnight, and Ripper?" A light touch on my shoulder drew my attention to her eyes. My eyes slowly narrowed as I had to look at her with my one good eye. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know those-” There was a muffled crump of an explosion outside the hall that drew our attention to the door. Indistinct shouting could be heard coming from down the hall. The scientists all took cover as the shooting, and shouting, grew ever closer. I tiltled my head while I felt the general vicinity outside the room for what was coming. I felt anger, boredom, and annoyance in the pony literally walking towards us. The connection was dropped as the pony came close to the door. I had half expected them to knock, but the door slid into the wall with a hiss. Revealing a stallion and a black pony like thing behind him in a rusty hallway. The stallion was shoved inside by the black pony's hoof. I saw her maroon muzzle. Her short midnight blue mane protruded out from the polished black armored helmet. A black helmet with orange bug like eyes. My eyes slowly widened as I took in her armored wings, scorpion tail and smoking energy rifles. Her power armored hooves were slightly pink from something that was most probably ash piles. Her gaze was locked onto mine and it took me a second to realize I had been staring at Wraith! The scorpion like tail blade was just under a pony's throat. The very same pony that had opened the door. I tilted my head curiously as the blade pulled and cut deeply into his flesh without a care on Wraith’s face.. The stallion fell to the floor as the blood gushed out of his neck wound. A scientist rushed over to him and began to try to treat it while Wraith walked closer to me. She looked down and pushed up her mask, revealing her golden eyes. "I take it you must be the alicorn that saved Wraith," she said in a voice almost identical to Wraith's, but slightly deeper. "Yes," I nodded slowly as I replied inside her head. "But... We do not understand what is going on..." "It's simple really. You were captured by Steel Rangers, I'm rescuing you." "Are you taking Us to Sister?" I asked as my gaze went to her power armor. The beauty of the pegasus power armor still made me envy even if I could not fit inside it. The power armored pony nodded then looked at the scientist. "Unhook her from this machine right now or join your friend." She looked back at me and gave the faintest of smiles. "I'm Axe, Wraith's twin sister. She told me everything about you." "I like stallions," I replied as the crimson scientist unhooked one of my hooves from the machine. I looked at her as I said in her mind, "wait!" She paused. "Wh-what about Sienna? Who will take care of her, watch over her, and read her bedtime stories?" "Um..." She gulped. "I... I th-" "We don't have time!" Axe hissed. "There's Steel Rangers all over this place and only so many of us. We came to just get you, a green alicorn." "She's right," the scientist mare replied with a nod. "You don't have time. And I don't think you want to see her. She's..." the mare looked away. "In the ghoul section. She'll be fi-" "Take me to her!" I telepathically shouted, causing nearby ponies to wince. "There is always time!" "Look," Axe began with a glare, "I came to rescue the alicorn that saved my Dash addicted sister, not go on some wild goose chase in lala land!" I glared down at her as I stood up to my full height. My legs were shaky, but I didn't care. The crimson mare was unhooking the wires from me and a dull pain flowed through my body, concentrating at the base of my horn that I mostly ignored. "Do not presume to tell me what to do," I told Axe inside her mind. "I am far older than you. It was my decision making that saved Wraith multiple times." She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But if we die, I'm blaming you." *** *** The facility was absolutely huge! There were a countless number of pods lining oh so very many shelves inside of a giant underground room that had catwalks for every shelf. I had lost count after four hundred. Where on the island it was, I don't know, but it was dark. The further we walked inside the building, the more decrepit it became. Shiny metal catwalks were replaced with rusty ones that could give out any second. But none of this mattered to me, because I had one simple goal: Find Sienna. She might not be mine persay... but I wanted to physically see her. If I were to guess, I'd say this complex was built long before the war was about to end. As I looked around I saw the intricate construction that went into it. And now I knew why that mare in the audio recording could not find any pony. They must all be here in these pods. Some were open and rusted out. Others were shattered, the skeletons lay on the catwalk. And most had a thick layer of dust on them. "What is this place?" Axe asked, her voice echoed off the metal surrounding us as the three of us walked along. "The hopes and dreams of many," the mare replied. It caused Axe and I to look at her in confusion. "The old ones saw the end coming. Any fool back then could have. It wasn't a question of if, but when. And so they built this place. Devoted as much as they could into saving as many as possible." "Did it work?" I quietly asked with my mind. As if talking too loud would wake the others. "Isn't it obvious?" Axe snidely replied. "I can't believe you asked that." My gaze went to hers as I tilted my head. My now dry mane decided to flow in a way that it obscured the blurry vision in my right eye. If I were to guess. I'd say it was trying to prevent me from looking imperfect. Which I do not mind in the slightest as until I find a radiation hotspot I look absolutely horrid. I smiled at Axe. "Well it is a valid question. As we are in a decrepit area. Look around." My wing swept around at the damaged, destroyed, or missing pods. Again she rolled her eyes. "Wraith was right, you are den-" "Don't say it!" I hissed inside her head as I scowled. She shrugged and quickened her pace. I looked at the crimson mare as I asked. "Excuse me, but... What about this other pony in my head?" She stopped mid-stride as she half-laughed. "Oh, um... I don't know? What did she look like?" "Well," I replied in her head. "A lot like you, actually-" "What?!" Axe shouted at nothing as she stopped. Both the crimson mare and I looked at. Her eyes were fixed on the floor in a glare. "No! Their just earth ponies in outdated armor! Don't fall back, you useless chickenshits!" Axe slammed a power armored hoof down as she groaned in what sounded like despair. "Fucking great!" I tilted my head as her glare reached me, because her eyes had an orange glow to them as if she had absorbed too much radiation at one time. "We do not understand the problem?" I asked in her mind. Her glowing eye twitched. "Because of your insistence on this stupid witch hunt. My squad up and left me because Steel Rangers showed up! Thanks for that. Now we're alone. Without backup. In a giant maze.” I smiled as I nodded. "You are most welcome." "Can I just shoot you and say we couldn't find you?" She groaned again as she facehoofed. My head tilt increased. "No...? Because then We would be dead, and that is a most perplexing problem. Your rescue would be a failure." Axe facehoofed as I turned my head to glare at the unicorn. "She looked a lot like you. Almost... Identical." The unicorn smiled nervously and pointed her hoof at something in the distance. "That's Sienna's pod there. I should go back to the others." She turned to go, but my jade green magic wrapped a thin band around her neck and tightened as I pushed her against the nearby wall. The unicorn tried to pull it off and even tried to use magic. But my grip kept tightening as she struggled. Axe watched curiously from my left with a faint smile on her face. "Take over Our body will you?!" I shouted in her head as her face turned a slight purplish color. "Force Us to attack Our Sisters?!" The band tightened to the point where her eyes went wide. "Stop," she mouthed and faintly gasped. "I didn't..." I turned my head slightly, her limp body followed and went flying, as I released my death grip on the mare. She slammed into the metal catwalk in a slide. I slowly walked over while glaring a laser beam at her. The crimson mare that had caused me so many problems these last few weeks lay coughing and gasping for air ahead of me. Axe walked over and lowered the armor's blade to her neck. "Which pod is it?" she forcibly asked while she sneered at the pony. "And do get it right the first time as I hate cleaning my armor." "There," she rasped as she flicked her tail at a group of pods. "Only one still intact." I walked over to them and saw that most were dark, but one was still running with a layer of dust blocking the view. I moved over to it as a smile formed on my lips. My hoof came up as I wiped a dusty viewport. What I saw made me frown. In there was the brown filly Sienna. Except floating in the tank was a rotting brown blank flank ghoul filly. On her foreleg was a Pipbuck. She floated inside the murky liquid that should have protected her from radiation poisoning. I placed a dirty hoof on the glass and bit my lower lip as my eyes welled up with tears. "Ho-how come she's a ghoul...?" I asked in concern with my mind. "First generation pods," the mare rasped. "No radiation shielding. Think they were told? No." The mare gasped and I looked back at her as the tail blade was pushed in deeper by Axe. "Why not?" she glared at the unicorn. "Because they had to be told something! The war was going to end badly and the ones running this place at the time decided to save as many as the could, regardless of the consequences." I looked back at the filly and placed my horn against the glass in an attempt to communicate. Despite the pain in my horn I telepathically asked, "Sienna..?" She stirred slightly as if hearing the voice. Her ears flopped around in the murky viscous liquid. "Don't open it she's feral!" the mare rasped and coughed a couple times. "Every ghoul in this section is feral!" "Well let the alicorn find out the hard way," Axe said as the mare gasped again. I looked back and saw that Axe’s tail was now lower on the neck and blood dripped out from a new cut. The blade was withdrawn as Axe moved away slightly. "Open it. We've come this far and I don't feel like wasting my time by leaving without it opened." I smiled and nodded at this mare's vigilance. However the crimson mare shook her head quickly. "Don't you know what feral means, you birdbrain?!" "Yes," Axe nodded. "Also, if one were to say something like that to their captor. I'd imagine their captor to get very annoyed. Annoyed to where that captor might just decide to slit their captee's throat and break the glass instead." "No!" The mare shouted. "Don't break it. You can't build these things anymore and every part is worth more than gold." "Then open it before I do!" Axe shouted. The crimson mare nodded slowly and got up. I stepped out of the way as she went over to a panel next to the machine and began to push commands. Her brows knitted together in thought. "...yes, I'll just say..." She looked back at Axe as the console beeped. "I don't kno-" My magic wrapped itself around her neck and I quickly tightened it to where she couldn't breath again. I pressed my nose against hers as I glared. "Do not presume to lie to us!" I shouted in her mind as I let go. "I can read your thoughts. If you so much as think of lying to me again I will not hesitate to crush your neck!" She dropped to the floor and rubbed at her neck. "Okay..." The mare nodded then looked at the machine. "But, I'm not gonna be sorry if that... thing tries to rip you to shreds." I stood off to the side. Axe kept watching the way we had come suspiciously. Her scorpion like tail nervously flicking side to side. This I noticed and softly asked in her mind. "Something wrong?" She looked back at me and pushed up her visor, her glowing eyes looked concerned. "Yeah... With all these ponies here, it's throwing my targeting spell off. Can't tell if we're being flanked or not. Or if there’s even a real threat out there." I shrugged. "It does not matter. I have a shield, and you have power armor, thus we are that much less likely to die. This We know from experience." "Sure," Axe smirked as she pulled her visor down. "I guess you're right." My ears twitched at the sound of a flushing sound as water ran down a drain, and hooves on metal. I looked over as the murky goo drained and the crimson mare was galloping away. Suddenly, twin beams of red light struck the mare's backside at the same time a loud zap filled the air. One beam went straight through her body, leaving a smoking hole, and the other grazed her as it left a charred line. She fell, screaming in pain and tumbling to a stop. A second twin energy blast silenced her as she glowed pink for a second, then turned to ash. "Fool," Axe muttered as my attention was drawn towards the tube. Sienna had fallen to the bottom of it. Unconscious but breathing slowly. I laid down to touch horns with her and shut my eyes. As the tips touched, the world around us slowly faded as I entered her mind. I found it to be full of turmoil. She was confused, lost, and scared without her mother. Though I had no idea who her real mother was. It did not matter at this point. I walked along the desolate street, looking left and right for any sign of Sienna, as I called out to the filly. "Sienna?! Hello?" Movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention towards a filly sized pony as they galloped out of an alleyway. I noticed that she was a brown ghoul. "Sienna!" I shouted after her. But she kept galloping away with her eyes shut. I spread my glorious wings, and with a quick flap, I was airborne. Though my flying wasn't as elegant as I'd liked and haphazard, I made do. My wing was shaky as if a pony broke it on purpose at one point and didn't bother to reset the bone. Still, I flew as best I could and quickly caught up with the brown unicorn filly. She was screaming as if she had just witnessed something horrible, which she had, and tears streamed down her face. My hoof steps echoed slightly as I landed in front of her and turned around. "Sienna, stop!" I quietly exclaimed in her mind. The ghoul filly blinked a set of glowing eyes and looked up at me as she slid to a stop. Her hooves barely had any traction as she scrambled away. I held out my scarred hoof as I said. "Please, don't be frightened. I'm here to help you." "Moooooom!" she shouted, her voice hoarse and rough from the ghoulification. "Mooooom! Celestia's being scary!" I smiled at her as I motioned her closer and used my mouth. "Don't you recognize me? I'm Lilium, please believe me." She tilted her head and blinked her faintly glowing red eyes. One of her ears twitched slightly as her tilt increased. "No yer not. Yer green!" she shouted in her hoarse voice. I nodded slightly as I laid down. "Yes, but I remember the boardwalk with the ice cream and Dawn Star. I won you that Celestia doll, remember?” Sienna nodded. “Where is your real mother?" Her ears drooped as she looked down at the dusty street. My ears drooped as well at the realization that this filly has spent two hundred years in this pod. Alone until I was installed. "I don't know," she whispered. "I thought... that last pony was so nice... the crystal unicorn..." I held out my hoof as I smiled at her. It was my attempt to tell her without words that everything would be okay. Something nudged my shoulder, causing me to nod. "Sienna," she looked back up at me. "I never did take you to the Crystal Empire. What kind of a mother breaks a promise like that?" She tilted her head as her rotted ears flopped around. Sienna, strangely, looked as if she knew this was not a real world. "Is it scary?" My smile had yet to fade and I tilted my head in response. "Is what scary, little one?" "Outside..." she slowly looked around with her glowing red eyes. "Not here, the actual world." Something nudged my shoulder again but I ignored it. I shut my eyes as I sighed and gave her a nod. "Yes," I told her with my mouth. "It can be scary, but... Ponies fear me as to them I am a monster." "Really?" she tilted her head and again I nodded. "Can I go with you then?" I grinned and held out my hoof. She jumped into my chest and sent me reeling back a step from her weight. As I slumped into a sitting position the little ghoul filly gave me the strongest hug she could muster. Slowly, the world faded around us. I blinked, and awoke looking down at Sienna, whom strangely had her full mane still. Something was nudging my shoulder over and over, which caused me to glare at the source. Axe was trying to get my attention while she shouted. "Wake up you stupid alicorn, there's another one coming!" My eyes widened as I looked down at Sienna. The brown ghoul was moving slightly and barely registering her surroundings. I immediately set about unhooking her from the machine while she regained focus. "It's so rusty-what?!" Her glowing red eyes widened to the size of pie plates as I pulled the hose connecting her head to the machine. "Dead? How can Ah be dead?! Stupid Pipbuck! Yer broked 'cause Ah'm not dead!" She repeatedly hit her Pipbuck with a hoof until she realized that her hood was rotted. Sienna screamed in fright like the filly she was. That was when I heard hoof steps on rusty metal behind me and Axe swore as she dove to the side. "Shit, alicorn!" I immediately grabbed Sienna in my foreleg and hugged her tight and spun around to face the alicorn. I tilted my head, Sienna stopped screaming, and Axe sent a pair of twin beams at the purple. They struck a shimmering red shield and did no damage. I saw that this purple was not RJ. In fact, her coat was a much lighter shade of purple. She looked at Sienna with her head tilted in confusion. An eyebrow raised up and a strange look. "Stay back!" I shouted at her with my mind. "I will kill you if I have too." She looked behind her for a second, then looked at me. "You risked capture to help a ghoul filly you've only known for a few days?" she asked softly and I nodded in response. "Yes. Sienna may not be mine by blood, but I feel as if she should not be alone. I have been in her situation before and it is not pleasant." Sienna looked up at me as she asked. "Miss Lilium, what's a ghoul?" I smiled down at her as I nuzzled her mane. "It is what you are, Sienna. A ghoul is a thing that some ponies fear. Especially if they have eyes like yours. Which are very pretty by the way." She smiled. Her face looking like I had just given her a stuffed Celestia doll. "Ponies will think Ah'm scary?!" I nodded. "Awesome!" A light chuckle caused me to look up at the smiling alicorn. "It seems as if there is some good in you after all. Don’t worry. I will tell the others you went a different way. Though I will attack you if I see you again." I saw her horn glow as she prepared a spell. "Wait!" I said in her mind and she did. "Why? What have I done to you?" She pointed a hoof at her foreleg and my ears drooped in realization that this mare was the one I had skinned. "I'm sorry... I didn't know... I thought it was fake..." "I wish you luck," she said as she wrapped herself in a mass of swirling purple that coalesced into a ball. The energy ball exploded outwards in a bright flash as the alicorn teleported away. I looked at Axe and nodded. She nodded back, but gave a weary look to Sienna before pulling her faceplate down. Sienna finally noticed Axe and her red eyes went wide. "Oooooh! Yer like an awesome pegasus scorpion thing!" "Power armor," Axe replied with a smirk, "gotta love it." *** *** We, the three of us, walked through the rusty building. Axe was weary about everything. Even going so far as to fire at a small rat that had appeared for fear it would bite one of us, and inject some imp spawn creature. Sienna would try to drag me towards a pod or two, and I would let her. Thus our trek had been very slow and Axe seemed to be enjoying my distaste for the weapon she had given me. It was a .223 caliber revolver with a small tactical light underneath the square barrel. I disliked it because of it’s... pitiful ammunition. The mouth grip looked to have a small cracked plastic inlay as well as some torn padding. Yet I did not need to use the mouth grip as it was floating just under my vision at the ready if I needed it. The barrel of it was a dulled and scratched ebony color. Overall the weapon looked in poor condition. And yet when Sienna had grabbed it from Axe’s grip, her Pipbuck told her it was in okay condition on the verge of being poor. Axe had said she only had 5.56mm hollow point ammo which should work just fine, according to her, on fleshy targets. The pegasus kept calling it 'That Crappy Gun' but Sienna had made no mention if it actually was called that or not. She had merely giggled. Sienna came scrambling back to me with a look of terror on her face. She shoved my forelegs around as she attempted to use them as cover from some unseen monster. The ghoul filly pointed her hoof at the pod. “Miss Lilium, there’s a zombie in that pod,” she whispered and I merely chuckled. I used my wing to block her vision by letting it drag on the ground slightly, which seemed to satisfy her needs as she stayed there. Both Axe and I found it amusing that even though the ‘zombies’ could not attack her, she was afraid of them. A monster afraid of her fellow monsters. We kept walking through the rusty confines, looking for a way out and following Sienna's vague directions. The filly weaved in and out of my legs as I did so, causing me to stumble a bit as I tripped over her. But I quickly regained my balance as she skittered off somewhere again. Axe merely watched with interest. "I don't get it," she grumbled as I resumed trotting and Sienna came over. "That scientist said she was feral, she looks feral, but she ain't acting feral. Why?" "I do not know," I replied honestly and shook my head, my mane always covering my right eye as I did so. It was the truth. I cast my one eyed gaze about again at all of the pods. Nothing was amiss and so we kept walking. There was not a whole lot to look at really. The rusty walls, floor, and dark ceiling blurred together eventually to make just one mass of rust. Axe's scorpion like tail moved moved about this way and that in clear worry as she looked around. I did not blame her as this place worried me. We saw no exit signs, nor directional signs. We were merely walking south according to Axe's compass. To our left were pods stacked almost to the gloomy ceiling. To my right was a rusty wall. Beneath my hooves was a rusty echoing catwalk. Our walk through the confines gave me time to contemplate what had actually transpired and what was false. Strangely, according to Axe, almost all of it actually happened. "Axe, how come your eyes glow?" I asked quietly in her mind. She looked at the floor, her ears drooping slightly as if remembering something bad. "Ever encounter a glowing ghoul?" "Yes, once." I nodded slowly as I trotted next to her. Sienna of course used my legs to hide behind. "Well there was this one, far out to sea on a shipwreck, and I picked it up. The damn thing bit me." "And it injected you with mutant spawn?" She stopped and looked at me in shock, her jaw agape. Then she closed it and shook her head. "No. I absorbed a near lethal amount of radiation due to practically hugging it so I could carry it. I spent about a month getting better and found my eyes glowed ever since. Kind of cool if you ask me." I frowned at her story as I looked at the floating pistol in front of me. If she was telling the truth, then that meant Comet was too when he had said one of his daughters was very ill. I nodded even though she didn't see it. "I heard your twin was with you for awhile when you were sick." "Yeah, she was. And she told me about a crazy alicorn and a giant plant monster that took up a whole room." "I understand what you were going through with the radiation poisoning. I went through it once before... that is why I chose Unity. To end my suffering and become a better pony." "Was it worth it?" she quietly asked as she looked at a random pipe on the wall. "To be changed so drastically." I nodded. "Yes it was in my eyes. Though I am sure you will have no worry about becoming a ghoul. This we will make sure of. You have our word." "I hope so..." Axe replied solemnly. "I met this pegasus ghoul. She was absolutely crazy!" "Ripper?" I asked as I grinned, knowing the exact ghoul she was talking about. The power armored pegasus nodded. "Yeah. Craziest bitch of a bird I've crossed. Ugly." "Rude." "Eats invisible food." "And talks about 'them'." "Hey, she makes a good point on those. I think they're real." Axe shook her head. "And we did lose a recon squad to what they called albino mules. When I arrived all I saw was blood stains and shredded armor. No meat remained. Just bloody armor and feathers..." Her voice cracked a bit as she said feathers. I scratched my chin with a wing in thought as I replied. "How is Wraith?" Axe shrugged. "Still the same. She's been taking Dash for so long she can't live without it. Father has rationed it to her in a way where she's not doped up or nearly dying from withdrawal all the time. So I guess she’s doing okay. We tried to keep it a secret, but on a cloudship..." "News spreads fast. I remember on the ship going to the zebra lands. How is Comet?" She giggled at some memory. I saw a smile on her face. "When I was sick he told me a story. He was walking through a hallway when an alicorn stallion nearly tackled him. The alicorn was strangely frightened about something. Which turned out to be a soap covered, and horny, green alicorn mare. Father said he defused the situation with a massage. But I got the feeling there was more to the story than he was telling me." "I get it," I said. My face a darker shade of green thanks to my deep blush. Axe nodded. "Yeah. I suppose you do." I said nothing, merely nodded in response. Luckily Comet had stumbled across me. Otherwise I might have done something I'd regret. A tap on one of my legs drew my attention downward to Sienna. She looked up at me with big puppy dog eyes that, despite ghoulification and solid red, made me feel like my heart was melting. “Miss Lilium, how come you’re an alicorn?” I smiled at her. “Because looong,’ I waved my wing in a dramatic fashion, “ago I was once a unicorn like you.” She tilted her head and I nodded. “Yes, that tan crystal pony was what I used to look like almost two hundred years ago to this very day.” I noticed Axe’s ears had moved to listen intently, but she kept looking around. Sienna looked confused with her head tilted. “But how?” “Magic,” I grinned. “Well... a different kind of magic than unicorn. It was a magical substance that, from my understanding, is now long gone. I jumped into this substance almost a hundred and seventy years ago and was transformed, rather painfully, into this. Or at least others tell me the process was painful for them. For me it was like stepping into too hot of a bath. Almost scalding at first, but tolerable.” “There’s more than two?!” Her eyes went wide. "Yes, a great many of us. We come in three general colors with varying shades. Green obviously, purple and blue. Each of my sisters and I have their own unique talents in addition to our regular talents. Which is why I am able to talk to you in your mind. This, plus our shield, is what we greens are best at. We... could control the others with a small pocket of Unity, but that might be bad." "What do blue ones do?" "This," I replied before I went invisible. Her eyes widened at the same time her jaw dropped. The air around me shimmered as I reappeared. "Spells were shared among us in Unity. A good Sister gave me the ability, and as such, I know how to do the Blue's invisibility. But it is not as good as a pure blues spell. Th-give me a minute." I stopped, causing the other two two to stop in confusion. My magic branched out while I felt around for Sister while making sure I didn't touch the others. I felt nothing in the immediate area, obviously, so I searched wider. She was nowhere to be found and that caused my ears to fold back in worry. Sienna waved a rotted forehoof at the bottom of my vision in an attempt to get me to move. Axe was looking at me with her visor up, her eyes concerned. She pulled Sienna away and whispered something to her I couldn't make out. But it was most likely 'let's give her some room'. I concentrated and pushed my senses to the very limit of what I could do. There were other ponies, always other ponies, but alicorns were unique. To me, they were like distress flares in the night. Easy to spot and follow. Each one unique in her own way. Eventually, I felt her. Sister was at the very limit of my abilities. A grin formed on my face as my ears perked up. She was very far away. I'd say on the other side of the island based off how faint it was. The thought of connecting to her fully came to mind. So I did. "Sister?" I asked in her mind. "Shock...?" she replied, causing me to grin as she never responded before. "I thought you were dead... You vanished weeks ago! What happened?" My ears folded back in worry as I was unsure as to what she meant. It had only been less than a week, had it not? "I..." I looked at the two ponies nearby and smiled. "I was held against my will in a machine. It created a world that was similar, yet different. You were there-" "Of course I was if it was similar. Tell me where you are and I'll come get you." I almost responded, but I had no idea where we were. "It is fine," I told Sister. "We know where your location is and we shall make our way to you. I have two others with me that can help, so I am safe." "Very well, I await your return at the location of your last drop." *** *** Tunnels. Dark rusty tunnels as far as the eye could see. Which was not that far due to the darkness that surrounded us like a blanket. As we walked, the torch under my new pistol lit the way. Axe had no problem in the dark, neither did Sienna, but I was forced to rely on the tactical light. The three of us were walking in one of those seemingly endless rusty tunnels. We had long ago left the pods behind. Our guide was Sienna's Pipbuck, which had a marker for something. Axe had retrieved my bags, but the only thing of mine I still had was the Twilight Sparkle statuette. All of the caps, items, and ammo I had collected were gone. But it didn't matter. I had the doll and that assured me that my trip since leaving the Crescent Moon was a hundred percent real. Which was all I needed. Something real to hold on to. Something I was sure I had achieved over the last near two months. I stopped and looked down at Sienna. She looked up at me with her ghoulish red eyes. The look on her face was near terror. I scooped her up in a foreleg and nuzzled her belly. She giggled in response. Her laugh sounding like a cheese grater, but it made me smile. I set her down gently and resumed my trot. But I quickly wing slapped her and said in her mind, "tag, you're it!" I broke into a gallop, leaving a slightly stunned Sienna and Axe behind. The tactical light under the pistol was of little use as I galloped away from the group. A quick glance back showed Sienna to be trying to keep up. I flashed her a grin and barreled around the corner. As I looked ahead, my eye widened and I skidded to a stop in a small dust cloud. Something small and soft slammed into my hind legs, forcing them out from under me. Due to my shock I simply collapsed into a sitting position on top of a squirming Sienna. Who started to whine and complain about the weight. Behind me, metal hoof steps echoed as Axe also came around the corner. "Hey, slow d-" she gulped the rest of her statement. I stood up slightly and allowed Sienna to crawl out from under me. She opened her mouth to speak, but a metal hoof from Axe was quickly shoved into her mouth. Sienna glared at the pegasus then me. I nodded and put a wing to my mouth in a silencing gesture. Sienna nodded in response so Axe released her hoof. Then I turned my attention to what had caused me to stop so abruptly. Plants. Not just any plants either, but giant yellow pods and purple bulbs lined the walls leading to a door that wasn't far away. There were only five plants, but without a flamethrower it would be hell to try and get past. "Axe," I asked in her mind without taking my eye off the plants. "Can you hack terminals?" Something tugged at my mane, drawing my attention to Axe, who pointed down the way we had come. I smiled at her as I picked Sienna up in a foreleg to place her on my back. With my empty bags she still wasn't all that heavy. I turned my attention back to the plants as I lined up a shot by looking down the iron sights. But then I lowered it as I remembered the Steel Rangers lost ponies to these plants. Without Hyde I was in no shape to fight. I sat there, thinking of what to do, when I realized I still had my spells. The 5.56mm ammo was brought out as I cast my shield and charged the group of plants. The purple ones immediately ahead bloomed and spit barbs, which impacted the shield and stuck much to my surprise. A tongue from a nearby yellow pod slammed into my shield, causing it to flicker, as another one roared in the darkness. I kept charging as a second tongue slammed into my shield. Sienna screamed in terror, almost matching the pods for volume. Two beams of red sliced across my vision, striking a purple pod and causing it to glow pink before disintegrating. It was then I brought up That Crappy Gun and put two hollow points into the nearest purple flower. At a distance of one meter only a complete fool could miss. My two shots struck the flower square on and tore chunks out of the back as they passed through. It squealed and oozed out ichor as I sent a third shot into it, striking the bulb in the center. As I turned my attention onto the third and final bulb I heard Sienna scream. "They got the pegasus!" I immediately spun around and aimed down the sight. Axe was being dragged by the hind leg towards a yellow pod. However before I could fire at the pod. Her bladed tail lashed out, severing the tongue and causing the beast to roar in agony as more of the floor was covered in ichor. With Axe freed my attention was turned towards the final purple bulb as it bloomed a second time. The tac light highlighted it perfectly three meters away. I aimed down the sights and quickly squeezed the trigger twice with magic. The weapon popped loudly in response as both of my shots struck the center of mass on the plant. It exploded in green ichor covered chunks at the same time a barb embedded itself in my shield. As beam after red beam sliced across the hallway. I opened the cylinder of the revolver and emptied the empties. They were caught in my magic long before they hit the ground and brought closer so they could be reloaded later. Five new hollow points were loaded in. My last five. I trained the weapon on a yellow pod Axe was trying to incinerate with red laser beams. My revolver popped twice, striking the pod right in the side, and tore chunks of plant off as it roared in pain. Two beams sliced across it and struck my shield, causing it to shimmer slightly. I glared at Axe who merely shrugged and adjusted her aim to actually hit the plant. I rolled my eyes and focused on the beast. I squeezed the trigger a third time and tore another chunk off. This time at the base of the beast near the green vines The beast squealed and collapsed and let out a final breath. *** *** Beyond the door lay more rusty hallways and more vegetation, but strangely no killer plants. They were already all dead. We cautiously walked through a debris filled atrium. The roof having collapsed at one time and... I stopped, causing the others to look at me in confusion, and pointed a hoof at scorch marks on the floor where a foal plant monster lay dead and scorched. "I made those." Axe nodded. "Hm... Seems we're back at that insane stable." "That is good then," I smiled at our luck. “We can head into the tram tunnels and find our way to Oakwood. I should know the path.” "What about the plant monster thing?" Axe asked as she turned towards the door where we had come from. "It must surely be as dead as those flowers down there." "But they so pretty..." Sienna added as she stared at the dead plants. "How can something' so pretty be so mean?" "They're a product of a deranged mind," Axe replied quietly. "The prettier the deadlier." I moved on and blocked out the conversation. Ahead of me lay, of course, burnt plant covered rusty flooring. The walls were scorched and as I stopped. I saw the door I originally came through the first time. It was open, scorched black, and falling off its hinges. I pointed my hoof at it as I said. "There is our way out." "How can you be sure?" Sienna asked as she came bounding over. I patted her with my wing and a smile. "I remember it, and the door is blown inward. Not out. So it must have been the way the Tin Can Heretics came in." "Hah!" Axe laughed and drew my attention. "Tin Can Heretics. I gotta remember that one." And so without saying anything else, I headed for the destroyed door. Shell Shock: 75% to next level. Quest perk gained - Foal at Heart. Allows for unique interaction and dialogue with foals and some adults. New ability unlocked - VR fun time. You've been hooked into a virtual reality simulator for Goddess knows how long. Due to the implants installed, you can now access it if you ever swing by there again. The implants don't provide any other bonuses and you should probably cover them up. Side quest accepted - Home is where the heart is. Recover your toys and link back up with Mudpie so the both of you can go after Eclipse. Side quest completed - Voices in your head. You killed the crimson mare, but was she really the one in your head or is there something still there? Companion perk - Better criticals. You are 20% more likely to crit something with Axe in your party. Applies to energy weapons and unicorn, or alicorn, spells only. Companion perk - Ghost Hunter. You deal 10% more damage to ghouls, zombies, and anything else Sienna deems a ghost or scary. Axe: Level up! New Perk - Friend of the Night. You can see in the dark and you look awesome to certain ponies. Others are creeped out. Sienna: Level up! New perk - Little Monstrosity. Due to your severe ghoulification. You scare certain ponies shitless. Have fun. Feral ghouls might not attack you, but they also just might.
Chapter 11: OdditiesChapter 11: Oddities “These are not the ponies you’re looking for.” I looked back at Sienna who was being held by Axe as I made a motion with a wing, indicating I wanted them to wait. Oddly enough we had come across Raul's place. Or not so oddly because it was on the way back to Oakwood and you could only go forward or backwards in tunnels. Wherever that was from Raul's place I had no idea. Oakwood could have been on the complete opposite side of the island for all I knew. Raul’s place was destroyed beyond all recognition by the explosion when I had taken the Twilight Sparkle doll. The room was scorched black and most of the items were burnt as well. Charred ghoul body parts were strewn about and a nauseous smell wafted from the room. The scene that was before me was why I had Sienna wait with Axe. I nodded when Sienna sat down. Then I turned my attention back to the room as I covered my nose with a wing to keep the stench at bay. But it did little beyond make me believe it was working. And so, I slowly stepped inside while scanning around the room with my good eye. I looked for any traps that may still be active or anything of value. I stopped my search when my eye fell upon the gryphon crossbow. Well what was left of it anyway. The spring and metal wire lay in a wood pile that must have surely been the stock. A jade green glow encased all of it as I began to lift the weapon. Then stopped and set it down when I remembered Fake Bucky asking about it. I slowly walked towards it as I gently moved charred debris aside. What I saw caused me to frown. At the bottom of the spring was a wire. I followed that wire until it ended at the wall. It just... ended. Just like that. The wire stopped at the wall. My hoof gently probed the area around the wire and bumped something round about two feet long. Yet I could not physically see the object. So I brought over some ashes and dumped it all over this item. As I did so my eyes widened. At the object that was a 105mm artillery round complete with the casing holding the propellant. There was no way my shield would have protected me from it even if I was able to cast it. "What's going on?" Axe asked from down the hall with an echo in her voice. I used my mind to respond to her. "I found a most troubling trap. I suggest you back further away." I waited an eternity while I stared at the round and thought of the various ways this could go horribly: Me turned into bloody red feathers. Me turned into red mist. Me horribly maimed and bleeding out. Me ceasing to exist entirely. I gulped all of that down and followed the wire to what looked like an invisible detonator on the end of the shell. My magic encased the whole thing, bow and wire too, in a soft green glow as it was lifted off the ground and brought closer. As I flipped the High-Explosive round over I saw there was a device on the end of it shaped like a Pipbuck. Attached to the Pipbuck looked like a spark battery and Stealthbuck. I stuck my tongue out as as my face scrunched up. Each wire leading from the battery was gently undone with magic. As I undid two of them, there was a faint buzz and the air shimmered around the warhead as it became visible again. Strangely, or not so because of the battery, the Pipbuck’s screen was lit. But not brightly. The screen displayed a black background with green words that read: 'You're fucked'. I smiled at this message as no pony... My smile faded when I realized there could be a proximity sensor or timer on this whole setup and it could have been activated when the battery was disconnected from the Stealthbuck. Which caused my earlier fears to come back. "Is everything okay?" Axe shouted. Again her voice echoed in the tunnel. "This is boring!" Sienna's gravelly whine added to the echo. "Miss Lilium, I want to go home!" I dared not take my eyes off the trap and so I responded with my mind. "Please be quiet. I have a one-oh-five millimeter High-Explosive shell in my lap. There is a proximity sensor and I do not wish to become alicorn paste." "Let us know when you disarm it," Axe replied. I groaned internally and nearly facehoofed. "You shall be the first to know if I don't." Again I gulped down my fears and looked at the Pipbuck. Whoever had designed the trap was smart indeed! But... if one were to put a proximity sensor on such a trap and walk away... it would go off then. Unless said sensor had an initial startup delay or be activated when one removed the wires. My gaze went to the shell's tip where it had the strange device device attached. I noticed a faint line, highlighted by ash, and rotated just the tip to the right a bit. I shut my eyes and cringed but nothing happened. So I rotated it a bit more. Again nothing. So I rotated the shell to the left because the wire started flopping around. As I unscrewed the shell I smiled at my good fortune. I then pulled them apart and gently set the inert explosives down. Floating in my magic was the Pipbuck, Stealthbuck, and detonator to the High-Explosive shell. That got set down. I then lifted the now inert warhead in magic and gently rolled it out the door. Metallic hoofsteps signaled Axe was walking closer and a second, quieter, set let me know Sienna was too. *** *** We walked along the tunnels still. My new 'bow' was now floating nearby. It was a simple, yet highly efficient, weapon. The flat suspension spring from a cart, or vehicle, combined with some form of a metal wire and a small notch for the 'arrows'. Which were the same modified railway spikes I had previously used. Only this time I had a total of ten that survived the destruction of the room. Sienna was holding an unloaded That Crappy Gun in her teeth. Mostly because Axe didn't trust a filly with ammo and partly because Sienna's magic was kind of pathetic. But her holding the pistol provided me with a path to see by due to its tactical light. Axe... was on my back, snoring and drooling in her sleep. Which gave me an indication that we walked for quite some time. I kept turning my head to the right so that I could check my blind spot. My exquisite mane blocked my blurry right side vision. Though I have no doubts about my ability to heal in radiation. I just... wish to be happy again. My gaze went down to Sienna. She seemed to be fearless now that she had killed a radroach earlier and was triumphantly leading the way. The ground beneath us had long given way to dirt, which was good and not good. I remembered that blue plant, Killing Joke, moved through the dirt. Knowing my Luck it would probably turn me into a three legged crystal unicorn who was dying of radiation poisoning. Which would be bad, very bad indeed. But poor little Sienna... she will always stay that size, always look the way way she does, and will be feared by ponies for what she is not. Since all we could do was walk my thoughts turned to Sister. I wondered what would she do. Would she try to hug me and plant a kiss on my lips? To which I'd have to knock a few teeth out for? Or would she be a mean pony and try to screw me over in some way, again? Sienna stopped as she pointed her hoof at something. The light of the flashlight highlighted the metal rungs of a distant ladder. I smiled as I patted her head with a wing. "That must surely be our way out of here." I told her in her mind. She looked up at me with a tilted head. To which I tilted mine in the same direction. "Do you not want to see other ponies? To get out of these boring tunnels and have an adventure?" She nodded and slobbered around the pistol's bit. "Yesh, Muss Lil-" There was a hollow click as the empty weapon was triggered. Sienna looked cross-eyed at it before she spit it out into a hoof. I merely smiled at her while I levitated the weapon into her bags. "Stupid thing is heavy!" she whined as she stomped her forehooves down. "Why do I need it?" I nodded, still smiling, and patted her head again. "To protect yourself. Perhaps I will have time to teach you magic so you can levitate it. But for now. We walk!" I struck a dramatic pose before strutting towards the the ladder like I was a snob unicorn from Canterlot. As I reached it, I looked up at the ponyhole cover and took a deep breath. My magic surrounded the metal object and I lifted it gently. Then pushed it sideways and waited. And waited... My flowing mane was the only movement I saw in the darkness above. I felt something nudge me, so I looked down at a set of faintly glowing red eyes. "Is it safe?" Sienna whispered in her gravelly foal like voice. Axe was gently set on the ground with my magic. Then I put the bow across my back. "Wait here," I told Sienna with my mind. She plopped her rump where she stood and I begun to climb the ladder as quietly as I could. When I reached the top I frowned because it was that shack. Outpost Xray if memory served me correctly. But the corrugated metal door was open to the elements and pouring rain pelted the metal roof above, which made hearing anything impossible. I climbed out fully before levitating both Axe and Sienna up. I then turned my attention towards the door. Sienna took a step forward, but I quickly pulled her close and covered her mouth with a hoof. "Ssh," I whispered into her mind. "There is a very deadly thing out there that hunts by sight and sound. It kills in the most terrible of manner." She nodded quickly and my hoof was removed. I levitated Axe onto my back again and the mid weight pegasus was secured. My magic surrounded Sienna as I lifted the brown ghoul filly up and onto the top of my head. Then I cast my invisibility spell and quietly whispered with my mouth. "Please, hang on. I will get us out of here." "Okay," Sienna whispered back as she hugged my horn. Her reply was louder, but the rain drowned out most of it from the outside. I took a few steps forward out into the pouring rain. My eyes shut and I stood there for a few moments. I let the cool rain of the muggy day wash the goo from my coat and mane. Though my mane and tail stopped flowing and clung to my body. But I didn't care. I spread my wings and gave them a couple test flaps before taking flight. Even though I was erratic and shaky I still flew with the hope that it would get better. Then I remembered about the hotspot only an hour away by hoof and followed the path by air. As we left the corn field behind I dropped the invisibility spell and wrapped Sienna in magic. She squealed in terror for a second before her eyes went wide in amazement. "I'm flying!" "Yes," I replied in her mind as I nodded and leveled her out next to my head. "Yes, you are!" She giggled as she looked around in amazement, her eyes wide and jaw agape. Our flight did not last long though as eventually I spotted the clearing I was looking for and landed near it. Sienna was set down, followed by Axe, and I told the filly to wait with a hoof gesture. She sat down in response. Slowly, I walked towards the hotspot and shut my eyes as I spread my wings out. Warm and glorious radiation seeped into my body. "Miss Lilium, what are ya doing?" Sienna asked with a voice laced with concern. I smiled as I replied with my mind. "Healing, my dear Sienna. Healing." I felt the bone in my wing snap again, which caused me to cringe and whimper. The area quickly heated up as if a pony held a match to it as the bone melded together. My leg, face, and right side all heated up as well as the deep tissue slowly healed. *** *** Sienna and I flew above the jungle canopy. We kept low to the trees so as to not be spotted so easily from the ground. My green hide and magic helped us to blend in from the air. Axe was still asleep and rightfully so as it was early morning, a light blueish grey tint coated the land. We would have been flying in silence had Sienna not been giggling like mad and shouting in joy every time she rolled over. But I did not care. I was mostly healed and flying straight. Sienna was happy and flying. Axe was... sleeping and flying. Where I was heading I did not care for either. But it was hard to miss the high rises of Oakwood City. Nor was it hard to miss the smoke rising from a few areas of the city. And Sienna had not missed them either. She pointed her hoof at one of the very tall buildings that had not fallen down yet. "Oooh, look a city!" she hyperly exclaimed. "Can we go see it?!" I frowned at her request. Mostly because I knew what heading into the city would entail, but also I had to fly there anyway. So with a nod I turned the three of us towards the city of Oakwood. Which loomed before us in all its decrepit glory. The tallest building had long ago lost part of its upper floors and was now just barely taller than the rest. What had once been the upper half now lay on the ground. The structure looked to have taken down another building in the process of collapsing. However the city itself was massive. From the edge of the jungle you could just barely make out the bridge which linked the bay in a sort of circle. Quite a bit of the roads were open with very few actually being blocked by debris. But due to the climate the area closest to the jungle was overgrown by vines and plants. Almost all of the roads were cracked with plants or chest height grass growing in place of concrete. Despite all of this. The foggy bay was empty and there was only plant life. Indeed a low fog had rolled into the city much like it does every morning. The grey damp mist blocked out most sounds within the vicinity and so I flew silently above the rooftops. Only the sound of my wings flapping indicated anything at all. Sienna had calmed down and was acting strange, so I brought her closer. She grabbed hold of my mane in an effort to use it as a shield. What it was that terrified the filly? I had no idea. My gaze was locked on the derelict buildings below. Some were still standing while others were piles of rubble. And some, weren't even much more than a foundation. I wished for E.F.S. and my mind reminded me that I was carrying a Pipbuck in my bags. But it also reminded me that same Pipbuck was used for some kind of a trap with a 105mm High-Explosive shell. The very same shell in my bags. I had figured if I could find Rose she could make something from it. As I flew along I hummed to myself. But it was not a sad song. It was a happy one. It was strange. Even though there were plenty of intact buildings and life from the plant life. There was no pony life that I could see. So I continued my silent flight above the ruined city. As I was flying over a particularly familiar stretch of road. A red hot object burned its way through one of my wings. Which caused me to cry out in pain and my magic nearly lost hold of Sienna. I flapped my wings, but my injured one burned and stung whenever it flapped. And so I plummeted from the sky around the time the rifle report caught up with us. I shut my eyes and tucked Sienna close as I felt Axe go flying off in a random direction. My body slammed into something metal that collapsed beneath us in a loud metallic crunch. Fire shot through my wing, legs, and horn. Sienna, however, was safely in my grasp. I opened both of my eyes and glanced around at my surroundings. Sienna and I lay atop a now crushed wagon. Axe lay in the tall grass, but she was slowly moving and groaning about her head. Around us were buildings of all colors, but were mashed together as if there was no space between them. The misty morning fog surrounded us like a damp blanket. Blood ran out of a slowly sealing wound in my wing and coated the wagon's roof. Sienna jumped out of my grasp and galloped over to Axe. She shook the power armored pegasus with her hooves over and over until Axe responded by slapping her in the face with a wing. Sienna went over and picked up Axe's head with her hooves. "Miss Axe, are ya alright?! That was-" Axe's groan turned into a shout of surprise when her eyes opened. "Feral!" She scrambled away from Sienna until she stopped and tilted her head. Axe pointed a hoof. "Sienna?" The filly nodded and Axe let out a breath. "Sorry. I thought you were a zombie and-" "Zombie?!" Sienna shrieked and galloped over to the wagon I lay atop of and smiled down at her. She frantically looked around. "Miss Lilium! There's a zombie nearby!" I knew Axe had meant Sienna but to be on the safe side I readied my bow and looked around. Axe stood up, legs shaking, and looked around as well. "Area's clear of reds," she said loudly. "Um, Miss Lilium, yer bleeding." Sienna pointed at my wing. I nodded and stood up. Most of my side that had not been against the wagon was covered in the sticky crimson liquid. "I will be fine," I told Sienna with my mind. But a glance showed me that the wound should be hurting badly, because a giant chunk of flesh was missing, except it wasn’t. I looked up at the sounds of heavy hoofsteps. Axe was carrying a strip of cloth in her teeth as she walked over to me. With a nod, I grabbed it in my green magic field and brought the cloth closer. Sienna tilted her head in what looked like confusion. My wing was wrapped in the cloth, which quickly turned red from the blood, and I frowned. Mostly because a wound that big meant a large caliber rifle and partly because I was sure they'd check the kill. "We should get moving," Axe said quietly. I slowly scanned the buildings with my one eye. All of the dark windows could have a pony in them and that caused me to worry. I nodded. "Yes, let's." *** *** The pain in my wing had died to a dull ache by the time the morning sun broke the horizon. My mane flowed once again and I was glad for it. Sienna was deathly quiet as she looked around the buildings. The morning fog was still with us and still felt like a blanket. It obscured my vision to where I could not even see across the street. Which made it impossible to detect anything that was lurking out there in the misty morning fog unless you had E.F.S. My head swiveled left and right even though it was pointless at this time for me. The bow had a spike in it and was ready to be drawn back. Yet nothing jumped out at us from the ground, nor from the buildings. It was like... the whole city was dead. But it did not explain the pony that had shot me earlier in the day. I shrugged and kept walking. The wet grass against my hooves was refreshing. So I took a deep breath and smiled as my lungs were filled with the cool sea air. My ears swiveled every which way as they picked up... music. Odd, strange, country music drifted on the fog. This caused me to tilt my head. I looked over at Sienna, who was equally confused, then looked at Axe who seemed to be walking towards the source. I sighed and followed the maroon pegasus. It did not take long to find the source of the music. Bodies and debris lined the road. A burned out steam truck complete with a burned out trailer sat in the street. Its shadow loomed before us and that caused me to realize where we were. "Sister?" I quietly shouted as I looked around the fog. "Sister, where are you?" All I saw was low grass, fog, the shadow, and buildings. I spun a slow circle again to check and stopped. Slowly, I walked towards the two story building I had used only a few weeks ago. I nosed open the door and quietly shouted again. "Sister?!" A creak above drew my attention as I aimed, and readied, the bow. Nothing was there at the top of the stairs. Slowly, I made my way inside as I checked left, right, center, and back to the second floor. I sidestepped gently and cautiously over the moldy carpet. As I neared the stairs I aimed at the door to the right of them. Hoofsteps behind told me Axe was following. "This place smells like shit," she commented loudly and killed any stealth we had. I rolled my eyes and set a hoof on the bottom stair, then slowly started climbing. I kept the bow aimed at the door. But, of course, Axe ruined it again by flying up top and landing next to it. She looked around and shrugged. "Why are ya sneaking like that?" "Because," I whispered. "There may be hostiles around." I felt a tap on my neck as Sienna whispered. "I only see green." The bow was relaxed as I shook my head. A faint smile on my lips because these ponies had E.F.S. and we're acting careless because of it. Which was odd because ponies shouldn't do that. It would be bad. I kept the bow almost ready and finished walking up the stairs. Then took a quick check of my surroundings. Most of it looked the same. The tattered cloth was still there covering the hole, all the wood was greyed and most importantly the music was coming from the hole. I walked inside the room as I pushed the cloth aside and quickly scanned the room. There was electronic equipment, an empty box for the Annihilator, and a bed on the far wall, but no Sister. A frown formed on my face as I walked over to the box. My head turned side to side to look for any indication that she was here, but I found none. Axe was looking at the note with her head tilted and her visor pushed up. "Use this to burn the heretics into Tartarus... Use what?" she looked over at me with an eyebrow raised. "What was in this box?" "A missile launcher," I replied as I closed the box with my magic. Then slowly looked around again and made my way over to the radio. "She should be here. Sister said she'd be here!" I stomped my forehooves into the wood, cracking it, and shook my head as I glared at the box. “This all happened because of my stupidity. Had I not drank that infernal drink I wouldn't have made such blatant tactical errors such as focusing everything on that one foal in power armor!” I grit my teeth in anger as I huffed and shook my head. Then, with an angry incoherent shout, I bucked at the air. But to my surprise I hit something soft and sent the invisible thing flying. There was two decidedly mareish screams of shock as the invisible thing slammed into Axe and sent the both of them flying into the wall. A pair of 10mm pistols clattered to the floor. My ears perked up the same time the air around Axe shimmered. Revealing an azure blue alicorn wearing a pair of black saddlebags She wore a brown trench coat with what looked like magazines placed in foreleg holsters. "Shock, you're a moron," she groaned as she held a forehoof to her head. I let out a squee as I grinned and galloped over. My magic hauled Sister to her hooves so I could squeeze her tight in a bear hug. Axe had recovered from the shock of the blow and quickly scrambled back away from the surprise alicorn attack. However, Sister did something unexpected. She hugged me back as she leaned forward and planted a kiss in which she pushed her tongue into my teeth as I attempted to block her from getting farther with the kiss. My eyes went wide, Sienna fell of my back, and Axe tilted her head a bit. I decided then to let Sister go unpunished. After it was over I pulled back. Sister smiled and blinked slowly as she gave me the strangest look with her eyes. My cheeks were burning as I stared into her eyes. Her hoof came up and caressed my right cheek. I looked at something else as she said. "Look at your face... What happened?" "I stepped on a mine. Or so I'm told. I thought you had Athena to love?" "Who?" Sister asked as she tilted her head. "Shock, I haven't seen you in weeks! Not after I sent you after the Steel Rangers. I came looking and found a blood trail that stopped at a blast from a mine. I th-" I placed a hoof over her mouth to silence her as I shook my head. "Who is this alicorn?" Axe asked as she picked Sienna up and placed her on her back. I noticed that said filly looked passed out from something. "This is Sister," I replied with a nod and stood up. "She is friendly so we do not need to worry. But if she ever kisses me again..." I glared at Sister as I attempted to kill her with my eyes. Sister smiled in response and shrugged. Axe nodded as she stuck out a hoof. "I'm Axe and the ghoul is Sienna. I rescued Shell Shock from a strange lab and Sienna tagged along for the ride." Sister looked at me and tilted her head. "Is this true?" I gave her a firm nod and spread my good wing, then pointed at the metal disk in the bone near a joint. The one in my foreleg was also visible. Sister ignored Axe as she walked over to the wing and inspected it. Then she touched my back where others ran along the spine. I flinched a bit at the odd feeling coming from the metal disk. "What kind of a monster does this...?" she whispered above a breath. Her jaw was agape a bit and trembling with slightly wide eyes. Sister's hoof finished on the one at the base of my skull. "These... are vital points..." I bowed my head slightly as I nodded in agreement. "Yes, they are and allow me to exist inside a fake world. Which is-" "Fake world?" Sister tilted her head as her ears folded back. "Shock, don't you want to be here? In the real world?" I nodded slowly. "Yes, but..." I looked at a passed out Sienna as my ears folded back. "I was happy there... I had a nice life and no wor-" "Hey!" Axe shouted as she stomped a hoof down. "We lost a few pegasi to rescue you, for Ripper. Why I have no idea, nor care, but if you want to be stuffed inside a goo filled tube again. Think long and hard about those dead pegasi." A frown formed on my face as I looked at the ground and thought about them. They didn't know me, nor did they know Ripper, but they came to help me nonetheless. And some of them died in the process of freeing me. My ears pressed against my head as I nodded slowly. "You are correct. It would be wasteful to just go back now." Slowly, I looked up at Axe. "Now we go to the Cloudchaser to see Ripper." Sister clapped her forehooves together loudly and pointed at me. "Oh! I brought you something you might like..." She walked over to the bed, pulled another box from under it and opened said box. I slowly walked over and peered inside. And promptly let out another unladylike squee of delight. There, inside the box, was my Annihilator Mk.I. Her scratched and repainted tube. A repaired and cleaned firing mechanism. And most importantly: the rocket belt with three rockets. I nearly tackle hugged Sister as I hugged her tightly. A huge grin on my face. "Sister! Where did you find her?! I thought I lost it when Eclipse took it." Sister nodded as she smiled back. "Heh, I snuck in and stole it back." A filly's squeal of delight signaled Sienna had awoken. "You two kissed!" I facehoofed as a blush formed on my face. "I like stallions..." *** *** The damp evening fog greeted us as we exited the building. I deeply inhaled the moist air and smiled. Sister was alive and well. I had my missile launcher again. We had a plan. But sadly Axe was leaving. She spread her wings and hovered off the ground. Sienna was sitting on Sister's back because mine held the Annihilator Mk. I. I frowned a bit at Axe as I had not expected her to leave so soon. She waved before flying off into the fog, I waved back as my frown grew. My gaze slowly lowered as I looked at Sister. She was staring at Sienna with a hint of unease, Sienna was staring at her, and I stopped frowning to grin. "Sister, this is Sienna," I said with my mind to the both of them. "Sienna, this is Sister." Sienna's grin faded as she realized something horribly wrong. "Ewwww! You two kissed!" Sister chuckled while she shook her head. "We're not related by blood. Just through Unity. In fact, I'm much younger than Shock yet we look the same age." "I’m older by over a hundred years," I replied with a nod. "Are you sure...?" Sienna asked with her gravelly voice as she leaned back a bit. "You do look like sisters." Now it was my turn to chuckle at Sienna. "Sienna, I would know if she was. I do not know her name, so I call her Sister." "Shock, are you sure she's okay?" Sister asked while staring at Sienna’s eyes. "She looks..." "Yes. She is a red eyed ghoul filly. Nothing more." I replied before she could say anything. "Alright,” Sister nodded. “But you listen here ghoulie. Any funny business and you're getting a bullet to the face. Got that?" As if to drive her point across Sister floated one of her pistols into Sienna's view. The ghoul filly slowly nodded as Sister gave a firm nod. I merely smiled at them. "Now now, you two play nice." Sienna and Sister looked at me strangely as I stuck out my tongue. Sister rolled her eyes as she spread her wings. "Alright, Shock, we're gonna fly out of here as fast as..." She looked at my bandaged wing then facehoofed and groaned. "Why is it you always find some way to injure your wings so you can't fly?" I smiled as I shrugged and replied. "At least I did not shoot them myself like last time." "Shock, you're a moron." Sister shook her head as she sighed. "Alright. We're waking then." *** *** Day slowly turned to night as we walked through the grey mist. Sister had said that as soon as the plants began growing in the city the fog rolled in and had yet to leave. That was a couple weeks after I vanished. Which is around the time I went into that strange stable. However we were walking blindly through the fog. And yet, we still managed to come across the crash site for the Cloudchaser. Plants were growing all around the area of the cloudship. Yet within the immediate area they had yet to touch it. It was odd seeing vines growing along the side of the buildings as if a pony could climb up them. As we stood there, pondering how best to cross the threshold without setting off one of Ripper’s traps, my ears swiveled back at the sound of a wet plop. It was a sound I had heard before and it made my ears itch. I slowly turned my head around at the noise. And what I saw caused me to tilt my head as I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sister looked back and swore under her breath. What stood behind us was a pale white mule. But not your normal mule. Its eyes were solid black, the nose was a bit too small, there was no mane, and gooey saliva dripped from rows of razor sharp teeth inside its slightly open mouth. It turned its head skyward as it howled something akin to 'foooood'. Two small blasts a split second apart precede two bullets slamming into its chest. Yet the creature did not slow. It closed the gap and jumped towards me with its forelegs outstretched and a devilish grin on its face. My eyes widened when I saw suckers on the bottom of its hooves and I knew right then that if it latched on I’d be a dead pony. My horn glowed as I brought out the bow in an effort to block the creature. It worked because it slammed into the metal spring, and so I twisted and shoved it down into the dirt as more pistol blasts sent 10mm bullets thumping into the creature. As I pulled out a railway spike an odd idea was shouted by the most unlikely of sources. "Shoot it in the head!" Sienna shouted from Sister's back as I nocked the spike and pulled back with magic. "It's a got a brain don't it?! Zombies die to headshots!" The creature rolled to its hooves and leapt to the side with surprising agility, causing my arrow shot to ricochet off the road. I saw bloody chunks taken out of its hide by Sister’s Twins as she fired shot after shot into it until her pistols clicked empty. "Shit, I'm out!" Sister shouted as the beast lunged at her before she could reload, having deemed me a lesser threat, which would be its downfall. It howled its cry for food again at the same time it was wrapped in a jade green glow. I used the momentum to swing the creature around in an arc and slammed it into the grass covered road with a loud hollow crack as the glow faded from it. "Heh," Sister chuckled. "Wasn't so..." The beast rolled to its hooves and jumped onto the wall. It then walked up the wall before disappearing into the night fog. "...hard...?" "What?!" I shouted as I stomped my forehooves into the ground and a snarl formed on my face. My ears swiveled as the beast's new howl was answered by more howls. I slowly backed towards the Cloudchaser as I said. "We should probably hide now..." Sister turned and bolted for the Cloudchaser while I continued to back away as I scanned all of the buildings I could. The metal spring bow floated in front of my vision as I did so. However the strange plop of the odd mule was mirrored by more than one of them. The bow was aimed in a general direction of the sound and I released the spike. I watched as it quickly disappeared into the misty fog. There was a metal clang followed by a thud and nothing else. My head tilted but I quickly picked up my pace when I saw shapes moving towards me in the fog. The bow was brought close and slung across my neck at the same time I brought out the missile launcher. She floated just ahead and to the side of my vision. My magic encased both her and a rocket as the weapon was loaded and the safety was dropped. With my good eye I looked at the shapes galloping closer in the fog and aimed ahead of them with the Annihilator. There was a whoosh to my right as the rocket motor ignited and sent the warhead down range. As the warhead struck ahead of the mules, it exploded in a large fireball and sent flaming debris everywhere; including a mule that was on fire. A few of the shapes immediately jumped off to go chase after the flaming one. I gulped as I loaded in my second to last round. From the tearing I could hear under the howls of delight, it sounded as if they were pulling the poor creature apart. But my thoughts were interrupted as one of the aforementioned monsters leapt at me from the fog. The Annihilator was brought up sideways at the same time the creature fell down upon it. Her, for it was a mare, mouth clamped and gnawed at the metal as its suckers held on to the tube. Again I twisted the weapon and flung the creature down hard. Her head cracked as it struck concrete, but the howling creature stayed attached to the missile launcher. I hissed at the thought of what I was about to do. Instead of fighting further I let the weapon drop from my magic's grip and charged the creature. It was stunned and moving slowly, but I quickly closed the short gap and lowered my horn. It looked up just in time to get an eye full of horn. My exquisite horn met little resistance and before I knew it I had my head pressed against its eye socket. I lifted my head, the twitching creature followed, and quickly turned it. The creature flew off my horn but was caught in my magic. I flipped the weapon around, triggered off a missile towards the horde of monsters, and galloped away without caring where the warhead hit. Sister and Sienna were already waiting for me when I got to the Cloudchaser. Sienna's eyes widened as she shrieked. "There's one on your weapon!" "I know, it's dead!" I telepathically shouted back at her. "But there are more behind me!" Sister aimed her twins in my direction as she waited for an opening. And yet, she lowered them as her gaze scanned the fog. Sister tilted her head slightly. "No there aren't? It's just fog." As I reached the cloudship I slowed to a stop and looked back. There was nothing. Only the cold misty fog to greet my vision. I then looked down at the clearly dead and twitching mule which meant they were real.. A bit of warm black goo dripped onto my nose, causing me to look up. The creature's eyeball, or what was left of it, was impaled on my exquisite horn. A soft green glow surrounded it as I pulled the thing off and tossed it to the side. "Shock," Sister began. "Horns aren't meant to stab things with. You’re the only alicorn I know that does that!" “But it’s fun…” I absently nodded as my gaze was drawn down to the monster. It's blood leaked out of two new holes and coated the launcher tube, causing me to frown. My wing came up as my nose scrunched up in disgust from the stench that I only noticed at that point. "I need a bath," I said quietly with my mind. *** *** Sister and I walked through the Cloudchaser's rusty deck. Sienna rode on Sister's back and the monster mule was dragged behind me. All attempts to remove it from the launcher went for naught. It seemed even in death the creature would not relinquish its hold. Thus far in our search, the three of us had yet to come across the owner of the journal, Helga, or the wreckage. It was as if Ripper had simply never existed. The cafeteria turned bedroom was just a plain decrepit cafeteria with everything scattered around. "Ding!" Sienna exclaimed as Sister walked over a trashed poster. I looked over as my head tilted. Sister looked at her as well. Sienna tapped her Pipbuck. "That's what this broken device just did." I let the missile launcher drop as I walked over to the spot Sister stood and shoved her out of the way with a push of my good wing. The poster was a faded Ministry of Peace poster depicting Fluttershy and her bunny. At some point a pony had painted an arrow on it, which I followed to the blank wall. My magic reached out to probe the spot as I looked for any defects or oddities. I found none. With a hiss from my lips, I grabbed the poster in my magic and tossed it. That was when I noticed something on the back of the poster. I quickly floated it back to me. As I looked at the writing I tilted my head, because it looked like gibberish. Dear whoever finds this. Well first off, good job getting Through my defenses. Second, as you Can see everything is gone. Where did I go you wonder. Well I'll tell you in a minute, but first: good job getting through my defenses. Have you come for the Megaspell I wonder? Did you come to say hello? Perhaps you did, perhaps not. Was I really here in the first place? Or was I just a figment of your delusional mind. Yes, I'm talking to you: Shell Shock. If those Enclave birds did it right then you should be out and reading this poster. A specific poster for a specific pony, in a specific place, at a specific time. Why all these Specifics? Not even I know, but I know this. I'm not in the room with you. Where you think you were, you ain't never were. What you thought you knew, ain't true,,. I stopped reading after a while as it turned into pure rambling. Something told me it may be useful or it may not be, so it went into my bags. Hoofsteps caused my ears to swivel as I turned around and my gaze fell upon an odd sight as two thoughts popped into my head. One was to crush the chartreuse green unicorn's skull under my hoof. The other was wondering how he had gotten in. The former thought won out. My jade green magic wrapped around the pony as I tossed him into the rusty wall. He slammed hard into it and groaned. There was an incoherent shout to my left where Sister was, but I ignored it. My focus was only on the unicorn who wore Steel Ranger scribe robes. He slowly recovered and groaned, but my magic tossed his head into the wall as I let go. The unicorn hit with a metal thump at the same time a weight shoved me to the side and a pony, that sounded like Sister, shouted in my ear. "Shell Shock, open your fucking eyes! He's collared!" I blinked and took a moment to take in all of the details about the... impure stallion. Except his beautiful visage was marred by dirt, grime, and fresh blood that leaked down the side of his face. My one eyed gaze wandered from his unkempt silver mane, down his neck, and lingered on an active slave collar. It stayed there for a whole until I looked at his tattered robes. They were what had set me off. His drenched robes clung to his body and showed that he was a mere skeleton of a pony. I walked over to him and extended a hoof as I said. "I am sorry for my outburst. But your barding made me angry." He looked at the hoof, me, Sienna, Sister, and after an eternity he took the hoof. I pulled him to his hooves and found he was light for his size. Which was almost as tall as Sister and about the same height as Bucky. The unicorn used his orange colored magic to pull off his robes. I took a quick breath as my eye lingered on his slender frame. The chartreuse unicorn was not malnourished, but an almost model thin body type. However his beautiful flank was marred by a brand of a large number eight over his cutie mark, which made it all but impossible to identify, and a few scars from what looked like whips or swords. He bowed his head slightly and said. "Apology accepted. I am Elder Celly, or was anyway, until some madmare named Star Paladin Eclipse took over the Steel Rangers here. She slapped this collar on me and said I had ten seconds to leave or it'd blow." My ears drooped and the warm feelings I had vanished as soon as he said Elder Celly. But I smiled as an idea formed in my head. If I could get on his good side he could help me against Eclipse when the time came. Not to mention put to rest the question of why they were here. I nodded as I brought over a strip of healing cloth from Sister. My magic tore off a strip of cloth from his robe and dabbed it on his head as I began to treat his wounds. He seemed content to just stand there. "Are you okay?" Sienna asked in her gravelly voice. "You jumped into that wall pretty hard." He smirked a little, but it was quickly replaced with a grimace when I pressed the bandage on his head and wrapped it. After it was tied tight I smiled and stepped back. "Please, sit. I have some questions if you don't mind me asking them." Celly nodded as he planted his rump on the rusty floor and leaned against the wall. "First things first," he said slowly. "I'm not your slave and I never will be. Second, no using telepathy to talk to me. Are we clear?" I nodded rapidly as I smiled and replied with my mouth. "Yes, crystal like the crystal pony I once was." "Alright, ask away." He replied as he waved a forehoof about. "Shock, this guy is just going to lie to you." Sister said as she groaned quietly I ignored her and grinned. "If I help you to remove Eclipse from power will you remove the bounty from alicorns?" He nodded as he stuck out his hoof. Mine bumped his as we shook hooves to seal the deal. "Alright, deal. You take out Eclipse by any possible means and I'll see what I can do. Was that it?" "No. I was wondering if you knew why the Steel Rangers have such an interest in this place." He shook his head slowly and somberly. "Afraid not. We knew the Goddess sent alicorns here, so we followed to stop their plans and stumbled across a treasure trove of pre-war relics." My hoof connected with my face as a groan escaped my lips. "We were searching for something, yes. A way to make male alicorns so we could breed naturally and prosper. But we thought the Steel Rangers were looking for something as well and so we stayed." "I find that a bit hard to believe as an excuse to come here," Celly replied as he scratched his chin. I shook my head. "It is the truth. Have you ever seen an alicorn stallion?" He nodded, then shrugged. "Well, once, but only here on this island. He wouldn't leave his building and called himself Sparkle-Cola or something like that." My ears folded back as I looked at my hooves and pressed them together. "This pony I have also seen. I thought he may have been a figment of..." My eyes widened as I looked around the room at the same time Ripper's words came back to haunt me. "Something wrong?" Celly asked. I nodded slowly. "How do I know this is real?" I looked at Sister as I asked, "Sister, tell me. How do I know this is real?! What's fake and what isn't? I... I... Everything's..." I clutched my head with my hooves as I shut my eyes. "All my memories, Unity, the last two hundred years, that fake world. They're all blurred into a jumbled mess. I... I don't know what's real anymore..." A pair of small forelegs tried to wrap me in a hug so I pulled Sienna into the hug and slowly opened my eyes. Sienna smiled her rotted smile at me. I gently patted her mane with a hoof as I let go of the hug. Something occurred to me at that moment when I was able to look deep into her eyes. Those innocent looking feral eyes held a glimmer of intelligence that betrayed her filly size. I smiled back at her regardless. "So how did you tame a feral?" Celly asked. I looked over at him as a deep frown formed on my face. His ears folded back slightly. "She is not a feral!" I shouted. "Sienna may be a ghoul, but she is not a zombie. As for how I 'tamed' her? I didn't." Sister walked over to Celly and looked at his collar. She pulled it close and nearly pressed her muzzle against it. After a long while she shook her head. "I don't know, but it is real. Shock, can you take a look?" I nodded while walking over to them. A green glow encased the collar as I gently pulled him close to inspect it. What I found was that slave collars were rather easy to disarm when you weren't getting shot at in a combat zone. However unlatching and removing it without setting it off was another matter entirely. I smiled a bit as I set about disarming it. *** *** Celly lay in a corner of the room he called home. I couldn't help but watch him lay there. His room was almost like Ripper's, except he did not have a balefire bomb in the center of it. Instead it was furnished much like one would expect for the wasteland. Bare of everything except the essentials. The bed he was using was actually the scribe robe he had previously worn, which was now dry. Sister was staring at the artillery shell in confusion. Her ears back, head tilted, and an eyebrow raised. Apparently she had never before seen anything that could fire such a shell. And rightly so as working artillery or tanks are very rare in the wasteland now. Celly had been doing things with the Pipbuck I did not understand and it was laying in front of me as Sienna prodded it with a hoof. "I did all I could, but that thing's scrambled and most of the functions don't work." Celly said quietly. I nodded slowly. "E.F.S?" "Nope," he replied. I hissed as I picked the device up and inspected the liner. "How about S.A.T.S?" "Nothing," he shook his head as he sighed. "It's in safe mode. All you have access to is the light and that's about it. You need a Pipbuck technician's tool kit to get it working properly again." I nodded slowly and placed the device over my foreleg with the scars. My magic closed the clasp and locked it in place. "There. That settles it." As the device was booting up Sister facehoofed. "Shock, you're a moron. The Pipbuck's broken!" I nodded with a smile as a sickly alicorn popped up in the upper left of my vision with a red wing. "But this device will function as a light!" I said and tapped the aforementioned function. A soft and sickly green glow emanated from the Pipbuck. Its screen displayed a garbled mess and a few red marks on it. Celly was right though. After everything booted up it displayed all kinds of errors. Nearly everything was corrupt from whatever it was the pony did to it to make it permanently run a StealthBuck. Though it could do so no longer. A smile formed on my face as I shut the light function off. Sienna placed her right foreleg next to mine and said. "Now we're match!" Her smile faded slowly. She poked her flesh and sighed. "Apart from my skin bein' so wrinkly." "Well, we can fix that," I replied. "You know those Shadowbolt suits? I'm sure we can find something that fits you to hide your… fried looks..." "Uh, Shock," Sister said from her corner. "Can I talk to you, alone?" "Sure," I replied as I nudged Sienna over to a pile of 'toys' that was really junk. She scrambled over to them and began to push a cloudship toy around with her hoof. I got up and walked over to Sister and laid down, then lowered my head to touch horns with her. Our world faded into nothingness. There was no sound, no light, and certainly no Sister or I. But slowly, it changed. Grassy hills rose from nothingness along with a clear blue sky. I looked down at a sparkling, crystalline, tan hoof on my left foreleg. My right was metal, of course. The grass beneath them was perfect, as was the temperature and time of day. Because it was a blank area in my mind. I looked up and around at the sky. My gaze eventually fell upon the chocolate brown unicorn that was Sister. She slowly looked around the rolling hills as well before she looked at me and shot a glare that felt like she was burning through my skull. "Shock, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" she shouted, causing me to take a step or two back as my ears folded against my head. "I send you out on a routine job and you vanish for weeks? Then all of the sudden you show up with an Enclave pegasus?! What? Happened?!" "I... I... I don't know!" I shouted as I fell on my rump on the wet grass. My ears were pressed tightly against my head. I shut my eyes as I shook my head. "Really, I don't. I th-think I do but... what is real?!" "Tell me," she replied then shook her head. "Better yet, show me everything that happened that day." And so I did. A large flat wall appeared next to us and played out a memory. Starting after I galloped through the halls of the Crescent Moon. Though I did not remember having to make so many turns and a few times I even slipped. Sister tilted her head. "How could you hit anything? You couldn't even walk straight!" I shrugged as I gave her a grin. "I do not remember so much wobbling..." She facehoofed and we went back to watching the memory. I skimmed through it quickly, Sister groaned quietly when I blew my self into another room, eventually we came upon the part where I triggered the jumping mine. ***===***===*** The shockwave sent red hot shrapnel through my feathers and sent me flying backwards through the air. My body landed in a heap as I tumbled along the road, leaving a bloody streak as I did so. I felt nothing beyond fire burning inside and outside of every possible area. Blood leaked out of my ears and my vision on one side was nothing but red. I could not hear my own screams of pain through the ringing in my ears. I lay there, bleeding out and whimpering in pain, while I waited for death to come. It felt like forever until my vision in my left eye started to darken. No doubt because of all the radiation I had soaked up and I was being healed at the same time I was dying. I couldn't even move anything on my right side. So trying to crawl was out of the question. After what felt like days, my ears twitched and swiveled at the sound of multiple hoofsteps and muddled voices. "The blood trail leads... Sweet Celestia, look!" a male sounding pony shouted. "She's dead!" The hoofsteps rapidly got closer as the ponies undoubtedly galloped over. As they were slowing down a mare said, "looks like somepony's trap finished her for us." A pink hoof reached down into my vision and turned my head to face a familiar pink stallion's face. "Look at the dam-she's alive?!" Bucky shouted and looked off at nothing. "Look!" "What?!" The mare shouted and shoved him away. His face was replaced by a teal face with a strawberry red mane. Eclipse's eyes widened as I blinked slowly. "How the fuck...? What's it take to kill her?!" "Help me," I moaned as my left eye opened again. My right eye had long since been sealed shut by dried blood. Eclipse looked away with clear disgust on her face. "She's a mess. We should do the wasteland a favor and kill her now." "We shouldn't," Bucky replied. “No point in keeping her alive,” Eclipse shook her head as she stood up and my head returned to its previous position of me staring at the broken concrete. I felt cold metal press against my skull just behind my ear. "Who the fuck are you two?" a pony shouted in a gravelly voice that sounded suspiciously like Ripper. The metal was removed from my skull as Eclipse said. "This doesn't concern you, ghoul. Leave us alone." "You're on my property," Ripper replied as her light hoofsteps came closer. A feathery wing tickled my chin as she turned my head to look into my eye. Ripper looked the same as I had last seen her: Rotting pale gold flesh, almost no mane, a ripped hat and purple dress along with a rusty saddle. She tilted her head a bit as a smile formed on her rotting lips. “We should get ya cleaned up ‘cause you look like shit. I need some help and you look like-” "Who the fuck are you?" Eclipse asked, interrupting Ripper before she could finish what she was saying. "No pony owns this area!" Bucky retorted at the same time Eclipse interrupted Ripper. "Those that did are long dead!" Ripper nodded slowly. "Yes, and I watched it happen. That makes me the new owner. My name's Ripper and I came to check on a trap but what do I find?" She looked at Eclipse. "Two smoothskin mud grunts failing at-" The side of Ripper's head exploded as a bullet slammed through and sprayed her brains everywhere. I watched as she fell and hit the grassy road as what was left of her brains leaked out. She stared at me, unblinking, with glassy eyes and an angered expression. Then, I felt myself get dragged as one of them pulled me away. "I got a better idea," Bucky grunted and was most likely the one pulling me along. "We hook her into the simulator." "I say we shoot her like the ghoul," Eclipse replied. "No, this is better. Trust me. It'll be fun." "Alright, fine." Eclipse sighed. "Just make sure she doesn't know it. Otherwise she might be able to get out." “Just let her pass out then stick her in the machine.” As I was being dragged away, I saw Ripper float off the ground as she was surrounded by mist. Her eyes were glowing as the bits of her brain and skull were floated back into place. After it swirled itself inside of her through her nose, she dropped to the road and looked around. But by then she was too far away to help. She took flight with a flap of her wings and quickly disappeared into the clouds above. ***===***===*** I tilted my head at the memory. It was painful to watch, but insightful all the same. It explained a few things, but also left many questions unanswered. Like how ripper was able to stay alive after being shot in the head and having her brains splattered everywhere. I looked at Sister, who was looking at me, and nodded. Her ears were back and her eyes had a sad look. "Alright, now we know. You got captured while slowly bleeding out. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" My hoof came up and covered her mouth as I shook my head. "It's okay. Nothing can change what happened. But I found some new friends and I am okay." She nodded slowly as I let the hoof drop and looked at the memory again. Something was odd about it but I couldn't place it. I shrugged and looked at Sister. "Are we done here?" "Yeah, I think we are," she replied with a nod. I nodded as well and broke the connection from her. The world around us faded and swirled until I was standing over the real Sister. Celly and Sienna were sleeping to the drone of a rainstorm that beat down on the wreck of the Cloudchaser. Sister yawned quietly as she put a hoof to her mouth. When it was over she smiled and laid her head down. My wing gently patted her back as I said only in her mind. "I am going to go take a bath. I shall be right outside." “Alright, be safe, Shock.” She replied while her eyes shut. I smiled as I walked towards the door. *** *** I walked out into the rain as I looked around and saw nothing but cold night fog. So I used my magic to pull the bandage off my wing and shut my eyes while spreading my wings. As the cold water touched my recent wound it flared in pain, which caused me to wince slightly. And so I stood there like a fool that did not know any better. The rain beat down on my wings for an eternity until they were soaked to the bone and unfit to fly with. It took longer than expected to use the bloodied bandage to scrub myself clean and before I was done, my ears twitched around the time of soft hoofsteps echoed off the walls. I stood up as I removed my hoof and slowly looked around at the night fog. A large pony shape slowly walked towards me. One thing I noticed was that it had a long slender horn like mine. My head tilted at this as I watched the pony walk closer. Slowly it was revealed to be a light azure blue alicorn. My ears perked up at her two-tone blue mane and perfect features. The Goddess smiled at me, I bowed my head in return and said. “Goddess, your humble child had wondered what happened to you.” “I had business to attend to but I see you have managed to escape. I take it my help was sufficient then?” She turned her head as her horn glowed softly. “Help?” I asked as I sat down and tilted my head. “Do you mean showing myself to me or me shooting me in the face?” “Both.” An object was levitated out of her mane and my head tilt increased as I looked at the book that was familiar. She floated it over to me and when it got close enough I wrapped my own green magic around it. My magic opened the book and I began to flip through the pages. It was the same one I had originally found on that skeleton. After a while I came across a new entry. The world ended a great many years ago in a battle of balefire bombs that obliterated nearly everypony and other creatures, plunging the world into nuclear winter as the pegasi blocked out the sun. However life finds a way to move on and it did. We lost our home and became lost. But We finally found happiness in Unity. Life was perfect for Us, if a little wonky at first. Then one day, a little… I stopped reading as looked up at The Goddess in confusion, my ears folded back. “But… I don’t remember writing in it...” She chuckled as she shrugged and nodded. “Yes, perhaps not, but write in it you most certainly did. Think long, and hard, about what you have done and try to remember what actually happened. For surely your memories have been tampered with to make you believe false lies. Behind every lie is a truth, and behind every truth is a lie.” I looked down at the journal. There on the back of the binding was a pen. With nothing else to do while the others slept, I closed it and decided then that it had to be finished. And I will not die like the other owners. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Tip of the Spear. Your horn is sharper than most other unicorn or alicorn horns. Allowing you to stab better with it.
Chapter 12: Into the BlackChapter 12: Into the Black “The road to Tartarus is full of good intentions.” The pages of the journal were getting drenched by the cold rain drizzling through the fog, but I could care less at the time about such trivial things. There was something bothering me about the whole thing with the Goddess. She had appeared and disappeared often, but never when I actually needed her. So.I looked up from the journal and my gaze fell upon the pony who had given me the journal. The Goddess. Or rather, a pony that resembled perfection to a T. However her two-tone mane was nearly perfect, her light azure blue fur was perfect, if a bit dirty, and her blue eyes were perfect. All of this had lead me to assume this pony was The Goddess, but she did not radiate the same grace that the Goddess had. "Who are you?" I asked as my head tilted. She stood not more than three yards from me and, in the light provided by the Pipbuck, I could make out faint scars upon her hide from where she had been shot before. Which meant that she was not The Goddess. "I am not 'The Goddess'," she replied at the same time I thought it. This confirmed my thoughts at the time so I nodded. “Then who are you?” I asked again and tilted my head the other way. "My name is not important, but you," she pointed at me and I tilted my head a little bit more. "You, Shell Shock, need help. So much shit on this island is fucked up because of your little run around it a few weeks ago. Didn’t you stop to think for one second about what the fuck you were doing?" I took a slow look around the cloudship crash site. One half of the Cloudchaser was smoking, like it had been the first time I was there, the broken concrete and mud around it still had the skeletons and decomposing bodies, the buildings around us were decrepit but most of all... there was a lot more green around than I remembered. I looked at the odd alicorn again while my ears slowly folded back. "The plants... I caused this?" She nodded in response and they pressed against my head. "But... Axe and I... We destroyed the research data!" "Moron!" She slammed her hoof into the mud as a scowl formed on her face. Which caused me to shrink back a bit as I closed the journal and held it tight. "You left the fucking doors open and spore carriers got out! Their seed got everywhere and these plants have overtaken everything!” I glanced down at my hooves as I brought them up. My forelegs were dark and wet with blood despite me having washed them clean earlier. "I only wanted to help ponies,” I replied quietly while looking at my right foreleg. “I... I'm not evil." "You are," she said somberly. Her voice was quiet and held no pity. Still, I did not look at her because I tried to brush the blood off with a hoof and failed. It only made the slick stuff stay on. "Ponies were doing fine here and then you tried to 'help', but instead. You fucked it up worse than it was before!" "But... I just..." Tears welled up in my eyes so I shut them tightly and turned my head to the side. "I just... Wanted to make up for what I've done in the past. During the war, after, and with Unity. I'm not… I’m not a bad pony. In the past I hurt ponies and zebra alike in a horrible manner. But I want to help now. I... I can... I can help if... you... give me a chance." "Then put aside your differences with the Steel Rangers and fix this island." I opened my eyes and looked up at her. My face was so soaked from the rain she could not tell if I was crying or not. However my voice had been choked and it wasn’t hard to figure out. The Not Goddess alicorn smiled a little bit in some vain attempt to make me feel as if everything would be alright. Again, I looked down at my darkened hooves, but this time a bit of green magic surrounded them as I began to scrub them clean with magic and my hoof. "What are you doing?" The other alicorn asked. Her voice was slightly concerned. I shook my head while I ignored her and scrubbed harder with the magic, and then left hoof when it wouldn’t come off. The pressure was enough to cause a normal pony worry about breaking the skin but I could have cared less. I felt nothing beyond the scrubbing. My forelegs needed to be clean of the blood. They should be a crystalline tan! I thought to myself and scrubbed harder. "Shock, what are you doing?!" the alicorn asked again, but this time, her voice was more familiar, almost exactly like Sister’s. However I still scrubbed my hooves as I tried to get the blood off them. When I looked at them they were not a nice crystal tan or forest green, which they should be. They should, they must, be nice and perfect like The Goddess is. I thought to myself and scrubbed harder. Something, be it the bottom of my hoof or the Pipbuck edge, sliced a line of red across my right foreleg and blood began gushing out of the wound. I didn’t care. I just wanted the blood off off so I kept scrubbing to get it clean again. "Shock, stop!" the alicorn shouted from much closer, but I kept scrubbing my hooves. My jade green magic formed a barrier around the bleeding cut to keep any blood in. Something took hold of my shoulders and my whole body rocked back and forth violently as the alicorn shouted. "Shell Shock, stop this right now you're scaring me!" her voice cracked a bit, like a concerned relative, causing me to break my trance and blink. I looked up at the face of Sister, her forelegs were on my shoulders and her face was a mask of deep concern. I slowly held my forehooves up to show her and I hardly felt the warm trickle of as it ran down my leg onto my chest. The wound did not even hurt. "There's blood on them.” I told her with my mouth. “Can't you see it? They're black, soaked to the bone, with the blood of ponies, zebra, and gryphons. I can't get it off. But I try. I try my hardest to remove it and I can never get it out. Please, tell me how can-" She wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug and almost sent me sprawling on my back from the unexpected weight shift. My wings flared out with a pop in an effort to balance out her weight, but I could have cared less. I stared over her shoulder at the fog as my hooves dropped again. Something, most likely her nose, rubbed at my neck while I continued to stare almost absently stare at the fog. Zebras, ponies, gryphons. I can see every single one of their faces whenever I close my eyes. They haunt me where I go, whisper things to me, urge me to dice ponies into little bits like before. To eat their flesh, because there's no food due to the snow, and not to worry because they would have done the same. It’s them or me and in the end it won’t be me who dies, but them. I laid my head on Sister's as I quietly sobbed. "I'm... a monster..." She nodded and her cheek rubbed against my neck, which felt nice. "Yes, you are a horrible, horrible, monster," Sister sniffed quietly, “and I'm sorry. But you can change." I merely nodded in agreement while I continued to stare at the wall of fog. I did not care that I was bleeding out, because deep down I could feel the blood pumping through my veins. "Why are you pretending to be The Goddess?" I quietly asked with my mind. "Why trick me like this? What purpose did it serve?" “Because… it was the only way to get you to listen. And I couldn’t get to you physically so I ha-” "We must do better," I whispered with my mouth, interrupting Sister's explanation of why she had been pretending to be The Goddess. But I did not care. "We must do better. War? Fear? Death? We must do better... for all. We must do better... We must-" "Shock!" Sister exclaimed in my ear, which broke me from my zone and caused me to blink. I turned my head to look at her and realized we were still hugging. Her puffy eyes gave away the fact that she had been crying as well. A fact I already knew. But over what, I had no idea. My lips curled up in a smile as I tried to change the subject. "Yes, what is it you wish, Sister?" "You were doing it again," she replied and smiled as well. But her smile appeared a bit forced, so mine grew a little bigger. “I told you not to say ‘We’ anymore.” I shut my eyes and nodded. "Yes, we, as in the both of us." Sister nodded slowly and leaned forward. I quickly raised my Pipbuck hoof and placed it on her lips as I pushed her back slightly. She looked cross-eyed at my hoof then me as I told her. "Sister, how many times must I tell thee? I like stallions. Dost thou wish me to knock a few of your teeth out or stab you with my horn?" She slowly shook her head. "Good, now will you please stop trying to kiss me or get between my legs?" She nodded, so I lowered my hoof. Sister looked down at my other hoof and frowned, a lot. "Shock, you're bleeding." I glanced at the offending hoof as I took a closer look. “Yes, I am. It is not terminal and will heal quickly.” By now my non-Pipbuck hoof was covered in my own blood, but the gash was slowly sealing thanks to the radiation I had soaked up earlier. However as it was doing so I noticed that the Pipbuck's radiation meter was slowly dropping, which was odd and meant that as I healed it used up the radiation in my body. I made a mental note to soak up more. Movement drew my attention to Sister's face again. Her horn was glowing an azure blue and a strip of cloth was floating near her face. She brought the bandage to my injured foreleg, which I held out for her and watched as she began wrapping it up. "Shock, what are we going to do with you?" Sister shook her head and sighed deeply. "What ever do you mean?" I asked as my head tilted a little, then looked at the now bandaged wound. The white cloth quickly turned a deep crimson from my own blood. "I'm fine. Only a few odd things now and then is not a problem." "You keep injuring yourself," she quietly said as a hint of sorrow touched her voice. "These metal disc things in your body must hurt." I shook my head and my flowing mane kept my bad eye covered. Sister picked up the end of my mane in her magic and looked at it. “Do you bathe in radiation or something? This thing is always flowing.” "Sister," I said with my mind, drawing her attention back to me. "How did you change your coat color? This fact confuses me greatly." "A disguise." she smiled. However, I eyed her as one of my eyebrows raised up and my head tilted to the side a bit. "Are you a changeling?" “No, I used a dye but it's not very good in the rain." She giggled and stood up. As I looked at her I noticed the streaks in her non-flowing mane left by the dye. She eventually looked at me and a faint smile formed on her face. "We should get inside," she said quietly. As if talking to loud were to bring trouble. I glanced around at the fog surrounding us with my one good eye and gave the faintest of nods. As I pushed myself to a standing position my legs shook slightly and popped. Sister trotted towards to door to the Cloudchaser, I followed behind her as best I could, but was forced to limp a little on the newly injured leg. "Sister, how is it I did not see you leave?" She glanced back at me and smirked. "You were so fixated on taking a shower I waited a few minutes before going invisible and following you out." I nodded as we entered the wreckage. The rusty hall smelled like somepony dipped it in paint thinner, mold, and wet dirt. Still, my Pipbuck light gave us some semblance of light of of an area about three meters wide. Which was about as wide as the passageway. I quickly trotted around Sister as our hooves fell in step like a drum beat against the cold rusty deck. My one eye scanned the rusty walls to our left as best it could while I also kept an eye ahead as best I could. As I approached the first corner I attempted to peer around only to be met by my mane in my blurry right eye. I sighed deeply as I let out my breath and shook my head. "I wish to see again..." I quietly whined. "You will," Sister replied and trotted around me into the new corridor. "Come on." She flicked her tail to the side in a gesture to get me to follow. Yet it also gave me a full view of her backside and I couldn’t help but look at it for the second it was visible. I rolled my eyes and trotted after the blue alicorn. She looked at me and gave a faint smirk as she turned right into another passageway. "I know you looked, because you’re blushing a little," Sister said sensually, which held no effect on me. Again I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "How could I not when you display it like that? And no, I was not aroused by the sight of it nor was I blushing! I don't know where you got that idea from." Sister stopped and stomped a hoof down while thrusting her wings down. "Please?!" she whined like a filly as I trotted by and did not look at her face. "One time is all I'm asking! I won't ever bug you again about it." "No," I replied flatly in her mind and kept walking. "I have already told you many times. I have not, nor will I, ever bed a mare." Sister's hoofsteps echoed behind me as she cantered over and slowed to my pace. She looked at me with a pleading expression; her eyes grew big as she bit down on her lower lip and her ears drooped to the side of her face. I smiled at her as my wing unfolded and quickly slapped her across the face. Sister blinked and quickly shook her head. "What was that for?!" "It is the counter to that eye trick," I replied in her mind with a smile. I stopped at a door and set a hoof on it before gently pushing it open. The door gave a rusty groan on non-oiled hinges that was loud enough to wake the dead. The two of us stood as still as statues, my ears swiveled in all directions, and we awaited a response. After an eternity I glanced at Sister, whose expression had turned serious, and noticed her horn was glowing its normal glow. What she was using it for I had no idea but I heard nothing. The door groaned again as I pushed it open even more and stepped through into the room. My ears continued swiveling while I scanned the rusty hall. A blue light behind me lit most of the grimy junk. I glanced at Sister and was surprised to see the glow was coming from her exquisite horn. But my horn is better. It is sharper, pointier, and better at stabbing things. Sister trotted forward as I stepped to the side and allowed her to pass. While she trotted past I glanced at the door and shut it with my magic. Sister glanced back at me and nodded. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked, she nodded again and continued trotting. My gaze slowly wandered from the back of her head on down to her flank. It lingered there while I trotted along behind her through the rusty passageway. Her cutie mark, two crossed revolvers, adorned her flank. She had one, other ponies have one, and yet... as I glanced back at my flank a frown formed on my face. "My flank is blank." I said quietly with my mind. "I do not remember what my cutie mark was..." "You'll find out some day," Sister said without looking back. "Everypony has one. It's only a matter of finding out what your special talent was. Do you remember it?" "No," I sighed. "In fact, there is a gap from when I was born to two years before the war ended. It is blank and hurts if I try to remember that time." "Well perhaps you're not meant to know. You're fine the way you are, yes?" I nodded and did not bother responding to her. Sister stopped at a door and pushed it open with her hoof. Light spilled out into the hallway and cast a shadow on the rusty wall. Sister poked her head in and I Iooked in as well. A foul, rancid, stench of rotting meat filtered out from the room that caused my nose to wrinkle. So I brought my wing out to cover it in an attempt to block out the smell. It failed miserably. Inside the room was my missile launcher with the odd creature still attached to it. Sister glanced back at me. "Got a spatchula? Maybe we can peel it off." In response I shook my head. She sighed and nodded. "Alright, we'll try to pull it off by force then." I stepped across the threshold and trotted over to the monster. My forest green hoof nudged the thing’s squishy, rubber like, chest. It partly rolled onto its side and my gaze went to its face. "What is it?" I asked Sister with my mind. Because it looked a lot like a mule, but with sharp teeth and solid black eyes. "I have no fuckin' idea," she replied. A blue glow surrounded one of its hind legs as Sister's magic lifted it up and she looked between them. "Hm... interesting." She let the monster’s leg go and stepped back. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her odd act. "Of course, you would check if it was male or female. Do you have a knife?" She glanced at me. An eyebrow was raised up and her head was cocked at an angle so I said. "I'm curious as to how it looks inside. I'm not going to eat it. As it has black blood and smells horrible. The meat is most likely spoiled even if it was a pony." Her eyebrow raised more at the mention of meat and pony in the same sentence. "There's something wrong with you. How could you even think of eating a pony in the first place?!" "I had to survive!" I shouted back at her and my eye twitched. "It was deathly cold almost year round. The snowstorms were long and could kill if you stayed out for too long. No food grew on the surface and what little places there were underground, had expensive food. I don't. Eat. Pony. Not anymore." "Fine, fine..." Sister nodded and walked over to a workbench. "Let's see..." she opened a drawer and frowned. "Clipboard?" "I... suppose..." I replied with my mind. She tossed the object over with her magic, I caught it with mine and floated it towards the odd monster. I sat down as Sister rummaged through more drawers. "I found some ten mil casings… Um... Looks like a bottle of glowing Sparkle-Cola and a clean slide for a pistol." I looked up with my head tilted. She walked over to me while floating the objects she had found. "That is Sparkle-Cola RAD." I told her and pointed at the radish on the bottle. “Tastes like radishes.” Sister frowned while looking at the bottle. "Rad... as in radiation?" I nodded. "What? That's absurd! Who... Who would drink irradiated cola?!" "It's tangy and has a nice kick to it," I smiled while replying in her mind. She facehoofed. "They eventually pulled it because they realized it was bad. Keep that one. A collector might want it." "Who collects Sparkle-Cola junk?" "A ghoul, a wastelander fascinated by the old world, and me. But I do not need drinks any longer. So please. Keep it. For trading." She nodded. "I don't have my bags so you keep it." Sister floated all the junk to me, I placed it into my saddlebags that were next to the missile launcher and slowly nodded. My magic pushed the clipboard into the spot where the monster’s hoof connected with the launcher. Despite me trying to wiggle it under there nothing happened. I frowned and pushed harder to no effect. "Need help?" Sister asked as her blue magic engulfed the creature and tugged on it. "Hm... it seems stuck." "It appears so, yes," I nodded at the obvious. "How about you pull on the creature and I'll pull on the missile launcher?" "Okay," she gripped the being's chest with her forelegs and hovered off the ground. I flapped my own wings and hovered as well. My forelegs wrapped around the launcher tube and I gave a nod. "Three... two... one... Go!" I rapidly flapped my wings as I fled backwards at the same time Sister also flew backwards. The creature went taut and pulled us to a stop but the both of us kept pulling as hard as we could. It slipped a bit from my grip so I used a bit of magic to hang onto the tube. My muscles strained from the amount of effort I was putting into it. As I looked down I noticed the edges of the hoof were peeled back slightly. Suddenly, and with a flesh rending ripping sound, all resistance vanished and I immediately flew backwards, which I quickly corrected into a hover. I looked at Sister, who had dropped the now two legged creature and was holding a forehoof to her mouth. Her face had turned a color close to my coat color most likely due to the new stench that filled the room. As I floated backwards my gaze went to the missile launcher tube in my magical grip. The two, now bloody, forelegs were still attached to the launcher and slowly dripped what blood they held not seconds ago. "It appears as if it has a literal death grip," I said at the same time Sister turned her head and heaved onto the floor. I ignored her food that was now adorning the deck and stared at the forelegs of the monster. As I managed to get the clipboard under the hoof Sister said, "and I thought they smelled bad on the outside...” A smile crossed my lips when I managed to push the clipboard under a bit. The hoof popped loudly like a cork in a wine bottle and the foreleg fell to the ground with a wet squish. The clipboard floated to the other hoof and I pushed on it. *** *** I trotted through the rusty passageways behind Sister with the Annihilator on my back. She smiled back at me and looked forward again. I rolled my eyes as I picked up my pace a little, lest she get any ideas. Sister had yet to say anything since she heaved her lunch earlier. I think it embarrassed her to have that reaction but it was perfectly normal in my opinion because that monster really did smell quite bad. I turned my head to the right to check that direction, and saw a grey tail disappear around a corner. "Wait here," I told Sister with my mind as I trotted after the tail. I slowly approached the corner and glanced around it as the grey tail barely disappeared again. So I sighed and trotted after it a second time, but a little faster. My gaze was locked on the corner and I cared not if Sister was following me. As I approached that corner I hopped out and see more of the grey tail disappearing around another corner. I frowned, but quickly cantered after it as my hooves beat down on the deck. My head tilted a bit as my ears twitched in an attempt to hear anything over than my breathing or hooves. But I heard nothing beyond my own hooves. I dared not slow down as I barreled around the corner and almost slipped on the deck. The odd pony ahead was partly visible; dull tan hindquarters with a cutie mark of some kind and a heavily grey streaked brown tail. My pace picked up as my frown grew. As I turned the next corner an indistinct shout reached my ears. The odd pony's tail darted inside of a room and I grinned for she, or he, had nowhere to go. I quickly turned the corner and canter into the room. But my jaw dropped as my eyes widen to the size of pie plates and I slid to a stop. What was sitting in the center of the room was a sickly looking dull tan unicorn; her horn was long and pointed, a rough looking grey businessmare suit adorned her body and hid her cutie mark, her right foreleg was a dull silver cybernetic replacement, her normally brown mane was full of grey streaks. A pained smile crossed her wrinkled face and reached all the way to her sunken jade green eye as she motioned me inside. Her other eye was covered by a dirty grey cloth patch. I glanced down the hall before stepping inside and looked at my old self. She brought her normal forehoof to her mouth and began coughing into it. I wordlessly walked over and sat while I waited for her to finish coughing. She, myself, appeared to have definitely seen better days. And she had. As the coughing spree died down she held out her foreleg. The bottom of the hoof was covered in a disgusting mixture of blood and some other stuff. "Look at this," she said. Her voice was as hoarse as a ghoul’s. "I'm fuckin' dying slowly and RadAway isn't helping. Fuckin' rotting from the inside! The doc says my lungs are givin’ out first followed by my stomach." All I could do was sit there and look at it. So I slowly nodded. She set the hoof down and scraped it along the deck which left a trail of the red muck. "Is there a way to fix this?" she asked and I nodded in response. "I'll do anything." A smile formed on my lips. "Yes, there is something you could do." "What?" "You... could join Unity." She hissed as she looked away and glared at the wall. "Unity, hah! How did that work out for us?" My ears folded back when I realized she had actually meant her and I. "Hm? Shell Shock, how did Unity work out? Tell me, no." I opened my mouth to respond but closed it. "Tell Us, was it worth the pain of being stripped of everything We were?" "Y-yes," I nodded because I was confident in my choice. "Radiation actually heals me and let's me cast more powerful spells. Like a heart attack spell." "Heh, that's nice." she mumbled and shut her eyes with a pained groan. "Ever find him again?" My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip and looked down. "Your silence says no. I figured as much." "I... We only just now, within the last few weeks, were able to control ourself again. They lied. We were under the direct control of The Goddess and could not do anything without being punished if it went against her will... What... is our cutie mark?" "Cutie mark...?" She giggled, which caused my head to tilt. "You don't remember?!” I shook my head again. “Wooooow. That's just... bad." Her giggle intensified into a full on laugh. One, that for whatever reason I cannot fathom, I joined in on. So We sat there laughing at nothing for I don't know how long until something touched my shoulder. My head snapped to the left and I saw the long blue foreleg of Sister. Slowly my gaze followed it to her face. Her ears were back and her brows were knitted together in worry. “What are you laughing at?” She asked quietly. I pointed my left hoof at myself sitting to my right while I kept my gaze on Sister. “Her. I said something funny and we were laughing about it.” Her eyes looked at the pony next to me for a second before she looked at me again. Sister's ears slowly drooped to the sides of her face, mine followed as my smile faded. "There's no one there." Sister softly sighed. My eyes widened and I quickly looked to my right. Nothing was there; no blood on the deck, no mare, and no hair. "But she was there! I saw her and..." I frantically looked around the empty room for her and pushed Sister away as I stood up. "Lilium!" I called out with my mouth. "I know you're here. Where’d you go?" Sister placed a hoof on my back, causing me to look at her face. "Shock, you're not well and it's scaring me." I sighed and nodded. "Perhaps I am not... Seeing things is not good." She wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug, which I returned and nuzzled her neck a little. "I'm scared of what is happening to me..." 'Don't be,' a familiar voice whispered in the back of my mind. Sister stepped back from the hug and wiped her eyes. "We should get back to the others.” She sniffed a little bit. “That ghoul filly might freak out and go feral if you're not there when she wakes up." I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s go.” She trotted past me and I took one last look around the room. All I saw was rust, darkness, and rust. However, in the light of Sister's moving horn, a glint in a rubble pile caught my eye. I walked over to it and sat down. "Shock? Come on." Sister called out to me. I ignored her and lift up what appeared to be a blanket. Underneath it was a pile of bones with an earth pony shaped skull. Buried in his, or her, chest was a blade. The hilt had an orange topaz in the very bottom of it which caught the light and made it sparkle. I used my magic to pull it free and looked it over. The bones clatter in a heap in response. The blade appeared to be heavily rusted and about the length of my horn with a leather wrapped hilt. I stepped back a few steps before swinging the sword left and right to get a feel for how it handled in my magic. It felt light and quick to swing. Not brutish like the chainsaw sword, which We miss very much so. It was useful in so many ways and dear to Our heart. I nodded and floated the pommel into my mouth so I could hold it. The taste was like old dried skin that was moldy. I turned around and trotted over to Sister. She facehoofed. "Shock, aren't you going to check the room for supplies?" I shook my head slowly as I replied with my mind. "I have all I need, so why do I need to check for more?" "Just... follow me," she said in annoyance and trotted into the hall before turning right. I followed after her while I tightly held onto my new sword. *** *** I stopped at the door to Celly’s room, having zoned out following Sister, and smiled as the door opened with a rusty groan. Inside was Celly, who was sitting off to the side near the desk next to Sienna. The both of them were looking at the poster we had picked up. Celly slowly looked up at me and gave a wave. “Sienna told me there's some kind of code in this message but I can't seem to find it." "Yup!" Sienna nodded a few times. “It doesn’t read right and some words are odd or repeated.” Sister pushed past me, causing me to stagger sideways, and trotted over to her equipment. I quietly watched as she pulled her jacket on with magic. As she picked up her bags my gaze went over to Celly. I gave him a slight head bow before I walked over to where Celly was and sat down. "Something bothering you?" he asked and tilted his head a little, I copied his head tilt. "No," I shook my head. "I just wanted to tell you that your coat reminds me of once green fields and you have a nice flank." He looked at where his cutie mark used to be and frowned. "You mean I did but no longer." "Weeell," I shifted my weight around a bit on my hind legs as my nethers started to feel funny. I glanced at Sister, who was watching us, then looked at Celly and blushed slightly. "You see... I think you look cute, but you need a bath." "Are you saying what I smell bad?" he tilted his head a little more. I nodded. "Yes, you smell horrible. I need to keep focused on the task at hoof and your stench is distracting me." "And what task is that?" "To kill Eclipse." I smiled. "I think Miss Lilium wanted to cast a foal ma-aah!" Sienna yelped as I quickly pulled her into a hug and covered her mouth with a hoof. Warmth spread across my cheeks as I blushed deeply. Celly tilted his head the other way and stared. "Hm? What was she saying?" "Nothing!" I hastily replied and tried to smile, but failed. However Sienna pushed my hoof away from her mouth. "Foal making spell!" she finished her sentence and again I quickly covered her mouth with a hoof. She squirmed underneath my grip so I pulled her against my chest. Silence fell upon the room. Awkward, eerie, silence. The kind where you could imagine hearing crickets chirping. My cheeks continued to burn in a fierce blush that no doubt covered my whole face. Sienna squirmed enough that she is able to push my hoof away and fall to the floor. I did not look down at her. My eyes were firmly locked on Celly's eyes. He brought his hoof to his mouth and coughed into it. I blinked slowly and relaxed a little but my blush remained. "Foal making spell, huh?" Celly quietly asked. A stifled giggle behind me caused my ears to swivel back toward Sister. "Well, Sienna," Celly looked down at her. "I think you're old enough to know about how-" "No!" I exclaimed and covered her ears with my hooves. "She's just a foal." "A foal that's over two hundred years old." Sister said from behind me. I pulled Sienna close and gently pat her on the head. She looked up at me but I ignored her and glared at Celly. "I said, no! We have a plan and it is simple, We kill Eclipse, then put you in charge and the bounty will be gone! After that we clean up the plant problem on the island." Celly nodded slowly. "Fine, but how do you plan to kill her? She's most likely far out to sea and I can't fly." My ears folded back because I did not realize something until just then. With Eclipse being on a ship she could be at the mainland by that time and we would need a lot of help. Hoofsteps behind drew my gaze to Sister as she walked over and looked down. Sienna had long given up her struggling and was now just snoring softly in my grip. Which was a good thing! "Enclave," Sister said, drawing a confused look from both Celly and I. My head tilted a bit as my eyebrow raised up. "The Enclave had a deal with you right, Shock?" I nodded and my ears slowly lifted when I realized what she was implying. "They're not hard to find. Head north off the island and you'll come across a smaller island. They have a base there at the wreckage of an old cloudship." "Why not this one?" My head tilted a little bit more. Sister shrugged. "This one looks to be in much worse shape and had a crazy ghoul living here." "Good point," I nodded. "When do we leave?" "How about after you rest?" Sister asked. "You look like shit." I looked at Celly, then her, and finally Sienna before I nodded. "I suppose I could do with some rest." "And I don't mean that creepy statue thing you do either. I mean actual rest that involves sleeping." With a resigned sigh, I nodded and removed my weapon with magic. The Annihilator slowly floated over to Sister, who grabbed it and looked at it. I smiled and laid on my side. My eyes slowly shut while I cuddled with a still passed out Sienna. With my eyes being closed I laid there and concentrated on breathing slowly in an effort to fall asleep. However, after a long while of slowly breathing, the sound of two sets of hoofsteps prevented me from falling asleep. A rusty groan signaled the hoofsteps leaving the room followed by another groan and a metallic clank. Most likely the hatch was opened and closed. Thus far in my odd journey my telepathy had not been used so much, so I allowed the spell to pick up thoughts around Sienna and I. Sienna's thoughts were easy to figure out; she was dreaming about playing with other young foals and running around a city much like the fake one. A nice, clean, city full of joy and happiness. "Is she dangerous?" I heard Celly ask another pony inside my head. Which caused me to focus on him and the one he was walking to. "Who?" Sister's voice also filled my head. "That green with the missile launcher. She nearly killed me in blind rage for no reason like some common raider! She’s fucking ins-" "Shut up!" Sister shouted, her muffled voice created a sort of echo. "You have no idea, do you?" "No idea about what?" Celly replied with a rather snide tone. "She tries to be nice, she wants to be nice, but she. Can't help herself. Earlier I saw her cut herself while trying to wash invisible blood off her hooves. She doesn't see the world like you or I, so yes. She is fucking dangerous to you and to anypony she deems unworthy of Unity." "Then she should be put down before she-" "No!" Sister shouted again and I heard her echo. ”Shock can change. I've seen it first hoof. She just... she needs something. I'm not sure what." "I'm not fucking her." "No, that's not it. You're an 'impure stallion', which are her words not-wait. Do you feel that?" "Feel what?" "Shit. She's n-" I quickly severed the connection and concentrated on not using the spell. A rusty groan echoed in the room as the hatch opened, yet nothing followed it for some time. "Shock, are you awake?" Sister eventually whispered. Even though We were awake, We were not going to respond. "Shock, I know you were awake not seconds ago, so stop this foolishness." Still, despite her effort to trick Us, We did not move nor did We respond. "Hm... maybe it was a different green." Sister mumbled. “A completely new one that appeared within the last hour.” My ears twitched as hoofsteps entered the room and came closer. They stopped near me just before warmth pressed against my back, so I cracked an eye open. A dark blue wing crossed my sight for a second as Sister pulled me into a cuddle of her own. She wrapped a foreleg around me as well and whispered. "Good night, Shock." I slowly closed my eye and tried to drift off to sleep again. *** *** The three of us trotted along the desolate road. Having left the Cloudchaser not more than four hours ago. The sun was up, the fog lifted slightly, and we could see a decent distance. I say three because Sister was off flying ahead in the fog on a scouting mission. She was excited, but I was annoyed. Annoyed at a certain chartreuse unicorn to my right. Celly trotted alongside Sienna, who was between us. He looked around to our right while I glanced left. All that was there were decrepit buildings and vines. Any pony life had long since been snuffed out and any sign of recent activity was covered by the vines. I hopped over one of the larger ones, then stopped to watch as Sienna scrambled over it. She trotted over and smiled. I nodded and gave Celly a little glare. He did not notice because his back was to me, but Sienna did. "What's wrong?" Sienna whispered in her gravelly foal voice. I shook my head as I replied only in her mind, "nothing. Just don't trust him, okay?" She nodded and cantered to catch up with the... imp spawn. He was no longer a pony. His behavior last night had lowered his status in my eyes from impure to imp spawn. Which is what I place mules at. Beneath ponies, bastard creations, and hideous creatures that have no place in the wasteland. That was what Celly was, beneath regular ponies. I continued trotting along the road with the bow at the ready. The vines around us appeared similar to the tentacles We had seen in that stable, except they did not attack us and they were much smaller. Still, I was weary about the whole thing and kept an eye out. My bags felt slightly heavy due to carrying everything the group owned. For some odd reason they elected me to carry all of our bags and equipment that was not needed. This felt degrading and was probably the point. Still, I carried it all with pride and a steady step. Celly's robe, however, was draped across his back and Sister's jacket was in my bags because it was so humid out we are all drenched in sweat. Sister had taken the jacket off rather quickly. Oddly, or not so since we are similar in size, it fit me just fine. Sienna had no such complaints about the weather because of obvious reasons. Her being a ghoul. As the three of us came to the end of the street I saw that it was blocked by rubble. I looked up at the wall of brick, metal, and plants while I attempted to grasp just how high it was. It did not look much taller than a three story building, which were a nearby, but something was odd about it. Why would a pile of debris be this high when the surrounding areas were just as tall? I thought to myself as I stopped walking. Sienna bumped into my forelegs, causing me to look down at her frowning face. Her ears were back and her solid red eyes looked a bit frightful. I smiled and pat her on the head. “What is it?” I asked quietly with my mouth. “Somethin’ is watchin’ us.” She replied and pointed at something. I followed her gesture to a pony outline with two round things on their sides that were most likely large weapon barrels. “The bar is green, so I haven’t said anythin’, but it’s creepy, ‘cause they won’t come any closer.” I slowly nodded and looked back at the wall of debris. There was no rhyme nor reason to it. It was just a pile of debris piled high, so I picked Sienna up in my forelegs and hovered with a flap of my wings. They burned and stung along the leading edge as I flapped them, but I did not give a fuck. I slowly hovered forward with my bow around my neck and Sienna in my forelegs. The flight was short and we quickly reached to top faster than a pony could say giggle at the ghosties. My jaw dropped at the sight that befell me upon reaching the top of the pile. I landed and folded my wings against my side, Ahead of us was a trench that was perhaps wider than the Cloudchaser, but looked to lead back to the cloudship wreck. A look left and right revealed that it disappeared into the fog, which lead me to believe that whatever it was, was moving at a good pace when it crashed. As I stood there like a foal my ears swiveled back at the sound of rubble falling into small piles. I looked back and rolled my eyes. The imp spawn Celly was trying to climb the pile towards us. A noise like wings flapping drew my attention up at Sister. She looked down at me while she hovered above us. “Yeah, it leads to the Chaser.” She confirmed my thoughts about it being the cloudship’s wreck. “Look, Shock, we’re not far from a Steel Ranger base. Maybe an hour by hoof.” “And?” I tilted my head some. “That does not help us. We need to get to the Enclave.” “But the Rangers have boats.” Sister pointed at Celly behind us. “He probably has supporters that could give us one. All we gotta do is walk in invisible, find them, and get the keys.” I looked down at Celly again as he neared the halfway point. His hoof stepped on loose rubble and slipped, causing him to fall down the pile again. A hiss escaped my lips as I scowled at the imp spawn. “I do not trust him,” I told Sister in her mind. “Something does not feel right. However if you think we should, then let’s go to the base.” I looked at her and she nodded. “Alright, it’s this way.” Sister pointed a foreleg northeast. “But I get seasick!” Sienna whined as I planted my rump on the rubble and waited for Celly. *** *** I stopped and glanced at the Pipbuck. Its radiation needle was firmly planted in the yellow just inside the red. The clicker device that warned of radiation did not work and neither did the main display so all I could do was rely on constant needle checks to see how I was faring. It is a shame really. Such a nice piece of technology was wasted in a trap that failed to kill its intended victim. I set my hoof down and resumed trotting along the desolate street. Sienna kept glancing around at everything. I looked at Sister who trotted along ahead of me. The base should have been close according to Sister, whom I did not fully trust either. Except I did not have a choice. She was the only pony I knew aside from Sienna that had not tried to kill me. Sister had consistently protected me from myself and from the other alicorns. Yet I have done nothing for her... nothing at all… Perhaps I should allow her to... no. My hoof caught on something, causing me to stumble forward a bit and I nearly lost my balance, but I jumped to the side a bit and landed on all fours. When I looked up I saw Sienna was looking at me with her head tilted. "That was cool!" she hopped off the ground a bit and grinned. "Thank you..." I nodded as I took a slow look around the area. Green plants grew everywhere and the road had long since turned to dirt, which was not good. As I looked the way we had come all I saw was dirt and fog. "Sister, where are we?" "Um... I'm not... I'm not sure..." she replied a bit hesitantly. Slowly, I turned a circle and looked around. Trees and jungle brush greeted my vision as far as I could see through the fog. "Something's wrong we should have been there by now." Sister said with a bit of concern. My gaze fell upon Celly as he looked around. His ears were back and he was biting his lower lip almost as if he were afraid. "I don't know where we are either," Celly whispered. "Looks like outside the city. And that ain’t good." I took a much slower look around to get my bearings. Sienna started trotting into the bushes, so I followed along behind her. She silently disappeared into the brush behind a large leaf. This caused me to frown and quicken my pace. "Sienna?" I pushed the leaf aside and stepped around the plant as Sienna's tail disappeared behind another plant. I let out a deep sigh of frustration and followed. "Sienna, what are you doing?" "Shock?" Sister called out. "Wait up! The plants are fucking evil!" I ignored Sister and continued following Sienna. The brown unicorn ghoul filly disappeared around another plant. My hooves carried me through the leaves. I did not focus on my surroundings. All I was focused on was making sure Sienna was safe and that she did not run into any bullets. After a while I stopped at a clearing. Sienna stood at the edge and was looking out into a thick corn field that was taller than a pony’s head. "What is this place?" Sienna whispered as I pulled her into a hug. I looked down into her red eyes and replied. "A field of corn. Don't run off like that again, okay?" She nodded slowly but I continued. "This island is dangerous and you could easily get-" A few twigs snapped and my ears swiveled back as I quickly turned my head to look. "They are green." Sienna whispered. Sister pushed a large leaf out of the way as she walked out of the treeline and let it go. It snapped back, hitting Celly in the face and caused him to fall down. I smiled at his plight. Sienna giggled, which sounded like rocks rattling around in a can, and clapped her forehooves together. "Shock, what is wrong?" Sister asked while looking around. "Why did you run off?" I pat Sienna on the head. "Sienna ran off and I didn't want her to get hurt." "Right," Celly grumbled and picked himself up. "She just happens to run into a cornfield?" Sienna held her foreleg up and tapped the Pipbuck with her other hoof. "This told me there were green bars nearby, so I had to look! It says Outpost Zeta, but it's a cornfield!" My head whipped around to look at the cornfield and my mane momentarily blocked my vision. "Outpost...?" I whispered with my mouth. "We should go… right now..." Celly rolled his eyes as he trotted around me and headed into the cornfield. "Oooooh, I'm so afraid of corn, hah!" He mocked Us, causing a growl to escape Our throat. "Are you afraid of a little corn?" I gulped down my growl and replied. "It is not the corn I am afraid of, but what sleeps in the dirt." My gaze was drawn to movement near Celly as the stalks rustled and parted. "Mister Celly-" My hoof quickly blocked Sienna from alerting him. She struggled under my grip, but I held it tight so the unicorn could get taken out here and now. "Ssh," I whispered into Sister and Sienna's mind, "there are things that hunt via sound and sight in there." "Celly, look out!" Sister shouted. "Something's in there." Odd clicking and chittering noises respond to Sister from the cornfield. I watched as whatever it was got closer to him while he backed towards us. My horn glowed as the metal bow was slowly brought out. I notched an 'arrow' as I drew the string back and aimed. Celly's flank appeared first as I swept the bow towards the closest one, it lingered on Celly and the magic around the string started fading. An odd thought crossed my mind at that moment. It would be so easy to kill him now, but he is useful. So he will live another day. My magic tightened around the string and I quickly aimed at the target inside the cornfield and waited. Celly continued backing towards us and stopped. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Sister had her twin 10mm pistols out and pointed at the target. A black pony like face appeared and Sienna screamed in fright, so I let the string go. The suspension leaf audibly snapped forward as it sent my 'arrow' at the target. The thing looked up and their solid blue eyes widened at the same time the railway spike drove its way into their chest. A loud crunch filled the air and I watched as the black pony was sent flying back into the cornfield before I could get a good look at it. But I was hoping to hit it in the head, however any hit worked for me. "Fuck me." Sister whispered to herself. My magic quickly set another arrow and I drew it back at the same time I aimed at the next target. There was an incessant tapping on my leg, so I looked down at it. Sienna was looking at me with her head tilted. "Green is friendly, right?" I nodded. "Well there was two green bars, now only one." I slowly looked from Sienna to the cornfield. “Whoever you are, come on out. We mean you no harm.” I yelled loud enough to be heard across the field. “You kill us, steal our food, and expect us to believe you?” a voice replied from the cornstalks. My bow aimed in that direction. "Yes," Sienna called out to them. "We were frightened and lashed out." "Bullshit," the voice replied as it moved towards the fallen one. I tracked just ahead of it with the bow and hoped my aim was true if I needed to use it. "Show yourself," Celly said loudly. The pony thing kept moving through the corn past its dead comrade. "And what if I don't?" "I send a high-explosive missile to your position," I replied with a deathly serious tone. "It's not hard to see where you are." "Fine," the voice said as it slowly moved closer. "I'm coming out but I'm holding you to your word." I nodded, which was pointless because they couldn’t see it, Sister continued to hold her pistols at the ready and we waited. The cornstalks moved apart as the pony thing stepped out and I frowned. It wasn’t a pony thing, but a unicorn with a coat that was a dark blue like the night sky. His eyes were silver like a gun barrel and his two-tone mane was orange and yellow like fire. Across his back were half filled saddlebags and a small pistol was in a foreleg holster. “Alicorns…” he whispered above a breath as I slowly lowered the bow and relaxed it. “Just what I needed.” I looked down at Sienna as she nearly galloped over to the unicorn. He looked at the movement and his eyes widened. “Aah!” he screamed like a filly and jumped back into the cornstalks. “Mister unicorn?!” Sienna shouted in her gravelly voice as she chased him into it. “Wai-oof!” Sienna’s voice was cut off by the unicorn screaming like a filly again. I rolled my eyes. The bow was placed around my neck and I trotted into the cornfield. My magic pushed them aside as I attempted to find the unicorn and came across him laying on his back with eyes the size of dinner plates. Sienna was standing on top of his chest with her head at a slight tilt. I lifted her off the ground with my magic and placed her on my back. She peered around my neck and bunched up my mane so she could see and nearly pulled on it. I extended a hoof down as I told him with my mouth. “Sorry, she gets excited around new ponies. I'm Shell Shock and her name is Sienna." "I only wanted to say hello," Sienna said quietly. The unicorn looked at my hoof, Sienna, and back to the hoof. He took it and pulled himself to his hooves. "I'm Fire Blade," he grumbled. "Nice to meet you, I guess.” "Shock," Sister said loudly, "I need to show you something." "What is it?" I asked without taking my eyes of Fire Blade. "Just come here and bring that unicorn." I nodded and motioned for him to lead. "Shall we go see what she wants?" "Fine..." he sighed and trotted around me. I quickly followed after him. Sister stood over a black body that was bleeding from where my railway spike had caved in the pony's chest. However, as I was able to get a good look at the pony, I saw the fangs, solid blue eyes, bug like wings, and the holes in the changeling's legs. A hiss of annoyance escaped me because I realized then that Tank must have been referring to changelings as 'bugs'. Sister's magic pulled the spike out. I leaned down and looked at the changeling's shell. Where the spike had punctured wasn't exactly a vital spot but the sheer force of the blow had driven it deep inside his chest cavity and had shattered his bones. Hopefully he died instantly. I stepped back and looked at the spike. One of the fins were bent and one was missing, so I tossed the useless thing away. As I shook my head I noticed Fire Blade was staring at the changeling as if it were important. So I tilted my head a bit and looked at him. His expression reminded me of that look a pony got when they just saw their friend die. The hollow, empty, look that they’ll never hear their voice again or see them laugh. The look that said a piece of them died along with the other. "Hey you, Fire Blade." My eyes slowly narrowed. He looked at me and his expression changed a bit. "Yeah, you. Are you a changeling?" Fire Blade blinked in shock a few times as he tilted his head and took a step back. "Wha-huh?!" "Are? You? A? Changeling?!" I demanded as the bow was telekinetically pulled from where I left it earlier. A spike was placed in the notch and drawn back at the same time I aimed it at his head. At this distance it was impossible to miss. "No," Fire Blade replied flatly. Sienna tapped my neck and whispered, "he's still green." A fiery glow that matched his mane color surrounded his horn and the metal string of my bow. My brows knitted together as I attempted to block his spell but failed because I did not know how beyond yelling at him. I had no idea what he was doing to it, so I let the string go. It snapped and the spike harmlessly fell to the ground. I glanced down at it for a second before I swung the bow like a club. It was let go and the sword was quickly unsheathed from the strap. Fire Blade easily caught the leaf spring in his magic and brandished it like a weapon. My eyes widened when it was also surrounded by a fiery glow because I could feel the heat coming off it. "Shock, stop being a foal!" Sister shouted from behind me. Her voice was annoyed and bored sounding. "If he was a changeling wouldn't his magic be green?" I ignored her and dug my hooves into the dirt in preparation to jump at him. My eyes narrowed as he copied me and readied his own stance. Fire Blade held the spring to the side a bit and I did the same with my sword. "Do you think you can best one such as I?" I asked with my mind. "An alicorn that has fought zebras in hoof to hoof combat and survived?" His eyes narrow further but something pressed against my leg and I looked down at Sienna. Her ears were back and she was looking up at me with her concerned solid red eyes. "Don't hurt him he's green," she said quietly with her gravelly voice. A soft thump caused me to look over at Fire Blade as he took a few steps away from the spring that was now on the ground. "No, I'm not a changeling. You can cut my leg to see for yourself." I nodded and slowly floated the knife over to Fire Blade. He eyed it carefully but said nothing as it sliced a line of red into his left foreleg. The blade floated back to me and I licked it clean. It tasted normal but with a hint of metal and rust. Which was obvious why, the blade was rusty. I glanced at the changeling and noticed that his blood is oddly colored, it was not red, so I dipped my hoof in it and tasted a little of it. The taste was sour and had a slight kick to it. "Very well.” I nodded. “You're not a changeling, so why are you here?" "Caps, same as you. A gryphon wanted me to clear out some bugs for him. Surprise, surprise, it was changelings." He shrugged as he shook his head. "But I don't kill ponies." "Bullshit!" Sister trotted around me and almost pushed her nose against Fire Blade's. "Tell another lie and I'll let Shock have her way with you." He blinked but did not back down. "I don't attack unless they attack me in some way and even then I try to disable them. If they die, oops." I tilted my head almost sideways. "This method confuses Us. How can one attack a pony without killing them?" Fire Blade rolled his eyes. "It's simple. I do my thing, you do yours, and we'll get along just fine." "What thing is that?" Celly asked. "Delivering corn to a nearby changeling settlement." Fire Blade replied and levitated the dead changeling's bag of corn off the body. "They don't normally come out this way because they're afraid." "Afraid of what?" I asked as I tilted my head the other way and my neck popped, relieving some tension. "The island, that gryphon, and some creepy things in the fog." I slowly looked at the corn all around us. "Then We must help them as payment for killing one of theirs." "Shock," Sister looked at me as I started pulling corn off the stalks, "what about Eclipse?" "She can wait. I have made a mistake and need to fix it. To do better. For all ponies." *** *** I glanced up at the cloudy sky as we walked along the jungle floor, yet all I could see were the green leaves of the canopy. A light rain was hitting the leaves, but it never made it through the canopy. My bags were heavily loaded with as much fresh corn as I could carry. Same went for Sister and Celly. Even with our equipment from earlier the weight was not that bad. I sighed deeply and lowered my gaze to the jungle floor. All of the trees seemed nice and all in all it felt peaceful if one were to forget for a moment that the very plants could kill you. Yet... I took comfort in DJ Buccaneer's voice while he spoke through Sienna's Pipbuck. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, don't go out in the fucking fog. I don't want to hear anymore reports of ponies having their heads pulled off or torn to shreds by a pack of those Mist Roamers. It's not a nice way to go. Now then! According to our resident weather expert, DJ Snow, the fog should not last more than a few weeks... Now that the boring weather is out of the way it's back to the music!" As the music began I smiled a little because the beat was soothing and soft almost like the first one I had heard many weeks ago. I slowly looked around while walking along behind Fire Blade. All I could see was dense jungle and patches of fog. Oddly enough, I thought I saw something move inside the fog. Fire Blade had said there was a community nearby but I did not believe him because I did not see any signs. If one built a settlement far from their food they could not protect it, but perhaps it was stolen corn and that was why the trip seemed to be taking so long. The moist ground under my hooves reminded me that I needed a hooficure, badly. Fire Blade came to a stop at a small hill with a hole in it. I glanced around and wondered if it was a trap because Sienna did not seem to tell me if we were being followed or not unless I asked. Which was oh so annoying. "We are here," Fire Blade pointed at the hole. "It's inside there." "It is a hole in the ground." I replied while mentally preparing a spell. My eyes slowly narrowed as I glared at him. "This is the settlement." He glared back. "It's a hole in the ground!" I stomped my hoof into the moist soil and snarled a bit. "Is this some kind of game where you lead us away to a cave and try to run? Because if it is you will not get two steps further." My horn glowed a bit when I thought of choking him with my magic. Sienna walked over to the hole and looked in. "My Pipbuck said this place has a name and I can see a few green bars ahead." Sister and Celly followed her and looked inside as well. I walked over to the hole and looked in around them. All I could see was a few lights strung along the ceiling and a door at the far end. I looked at Fire Blade and hissed through my teeth. "What trickery is this? This screams trap." "It’s not a trap," he replied with a wave of his hoof. "Just go to the door and knock." "Why don’t y-Sienna, wait!" I shouted as said ghoul filly trotted forward. Celly trotted after her and Sister stepped aside. I quickly followed after Sienna. "Sienna, this is danger..." My voice trailed off into a mumble as two devices dropped down from the ceiling and unfolded with noisy clicks as they turned towards me. The turrets followed my movement as I dove on Sienna and cast my shield spell. Much to my surprise bullets did not slam into my shield. A strange squeal caused me to look up at the door as it opened. Silhouetted by the light of the next room was a tall figure with holes in the bottom of their forelegs and a strange looking horn with two holes in it. I tried to block my vision with a hoof as they stepped forward into the tunnel and the door closed behind them. “Drop your weapons, all of you,” the creature said in a strange echoing voice. I blinked and lowered the hoof. The creature was a tall female changeling with a blue mane.and strange green eyes that had slits in them. Her translucent blue bug wings buzzed a bit before they folded against her side. She wore a dark blue chestplate that reminded me of Enclave power armor. “What is it?” Sienna whimpered, so I pulled her close against my chest. “She, is a changeling,” I replied in Sienna’s mind while glaring a bit at the changeling. Her gaze looked behind me and she nodded a little. I glanced up at the turrets that were still aimed at us and spoke with my mouth. “Those do not have ammo or they would have fired on Sienna and I.” “No,” the changeling replied. “They just aren’t set to fire unless I tell them too. Now drop your weapons. You aren’t getting inside with them.” I looked at Fire Blade, then Celly, and finally Sister. She shook her head ever so gently, so I nodded and looked at the changeling. “Very well. We will give up our weapons.” “What?!” Sister shouted in surprise. “Shock, this is insane! Let’s jus-oh, shit…” I looked back at her and saw three more changelings stood at the tunnel entrance. But these had makeshift armor along with dull looking lead spitting weapons in their magical grip. I had no illusions that the weapons were of poor quality. Mostly due to having found a few ‘poor’ looking weapons that performed flawlessly. I looked at the door again as it opened and a changeling with a set of chains stepped through the doorway. “We need to talk about certain things,” the tall changeling said as she glared down at me. “Now remove your shield and drop your weapons and you won’t be harmed.” “What are the chains for?” I asked as I tilt my head. “A precaution and to make the others feel safe. Now do as I say and the turrets will go back into the ceiling. Otherwise they will tear you to shreds with armor-piercing rounds.” Whether I wanted it to or not, the shield around Sienna and I dropped with a slight shimmer. The changeling nodded at my shield dropping. I sighed and started to undo all of my bags with magic. “I brought you corn.” I told her with my mouth. “Because I may have overreacted and killed one of yours. This is my compensation for it.” The bags of corn were set off to the side along with my other bags and rusty blade. I looked behind me and saw that Sister was taking off her equipment as well. Celly, having none, just stood there. Sienna buried her face in my chest and whispered something I could not make out. So I pat her on the back with a hoof and stood up. “All of my weapons are over there,” I nodded at the bags. The changeling’s horn glowed as she levitated the Annihilator off my back. I suppressed a whimper and resisted the urge to jump after it. She set it on her back and nodded. “Very good.” The turrets retracted into the ceiling and the changeling stepped to the side. “Now put these on.” She tossed the hoofcuffs at me with magic and my ears folded back. “Don’t do it, Shock,” Sister said with a bit of concern. I glanced back at her then looked at the hoofcuffs. They were a little rusty, but otherwise they looked like they would fit. “If it must be so, then it must be so. There is no other choice.” I started to put the hoofcuffs on with magic. The cuffs went on my hind legs easily enough, but one on my left foreleg wouldn’t go on correctly.because of the Pipbuck. An object landed near my hooves and I looked at it. “A Pipbuck tool to remove the one from your leg.” the changeling explained. I grabbed the object in magic and inserted it into the slot. The Pipbuck clicked as it unlocked and dropped to the ground. A tingle ran up my leg from the warm moist air as it hit the matted fur where the Pipbuck had sat for only a day. The last cuff was clasped shut in the spot and I stood up. "What of Sienna?" I asked. "She can go with the unicorn, but you and the other alicorn are to come with me." I nodded and nudged Sienna towards Celly. "It'll be okay," I told her with my mind. "We'll be fine. She only wants to talk for a while." Sienna picked the Pipbuck up in her teeth and scrambled over to Celly. He looked confused and scooted away when she tried to hide under him. I slowly pulled my journal out of my bag and held it in my wing. "I'm keeping this,” I told the changeling. She nodded and floated a collar from a bag on her side. When I recognized what it was my ears to pressed against my head. A slave collar. “Put it on.” She said as it floated over. I stepped back and opened my mouth to object, but it was quickly wrapped around my neck. The device beeped as it was locked shut and my ears drooped to the side of my face. “Oops. Too late,” the changeling grinned. “I already did.” “Shock, you’re fucking stupid.” Sister grumbled as I looked back at her. A set of hoofcuffs and a matching slave collar was around her neck. “We are not stupid.” I replied with my mind. “We did not have time to react.” “Now,” the female changeling began. “If either of you try to run from this facility, the collars go off.” I nodded slowly. “If you try to take them off, they go boom. And if either of you are more than twenty meters from each other for more than ten seconds, the collars go off. Now, welcome to Bunkerville.” She smiled and stepped aside. Beyond her was a stable entrance door. The thick metal cog wheel was already open and the path leading in looked well used. Bright fluorescent lights lit the area and made it easy to see. I blinked and tilted my head. “What? This place is a stable?” “Inside, now!” She shouted as her smile quickly faded to a glare. I started in surprise from the tone. I looked back at Sister who was hovering towards me with a glare. "How could you be so dense?! This is the second time you let a pony put one of these things around your neck!" She flew in and landed near an open stable door. My collar started beeping which caused my eyes to widen. I quickly hobbled through the small door after Sister and the beeping slowed to a stop. "How was I supposed to know?! Tell me, how?" I glared at her. “She was nice and I assumed it was safe!” "Shock, assumption is the mother of all fuckups. The turrets should have tipped you off!" She shouted. "You had the chance to run with your shield up and you dropped it!" I fluffed up my feathers a bit and scowled at her. “So? You said I should fix the island! I killed one of the inhabitants here and I feel I must repay the debt." "By having us chained together with explosive an collar around our necks?!" Sister held her forelegs up as best she could and shook them. "Quiet!" the changeling shouted. Sister and I looked over as she stepped inside and shut the door. I saw Sienna galloping towards us as it closed and then there was a muffled thump, most likely from her hitting it. The changeling ignored it and walked over to us. "You two are like an old married couple. Always bickering and fighting." "What is this place?" I asked with my mouth. “It looks like a stable.” "Because it is a stable, or what's left of one." She stopped at the door and motioned for us to go inside. "Now, you two will follow me and not speak unless spoken to. If either of you do, the both of your tongues will be removed as punishment. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Got that?" Sister looked at me and nodded. "Do you, Shock?" She asked. I nodded slowly then looked at the changeling as Sister said. "We do." “Good, now walk!” She shouted and stepped through the door. I looked through the open stable door at the clean metal stairwell and wondered. What is her plan for us? Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Strong back. You can carry more weight than other ponies. +25 to carry weight. Sister: Level up! New Perk - Dual Wield. Using two weapons in your magic is easier for you than other ponies as long as they aren’t too big. Can dual wield small calibre pistols with ease as if they were one.
Chapter 13: Beyond BunkervilleChapter 13: Beyond Bunkerville “One day we’ll see sunshine and rainbows again, but that day is not today.” A pony pushed hard on my flanks, shoving me into the jail cell. I turned around to look at the door, but it was slammed in my face and my ears folded back. The door was your garden variety sliding blast door with a window added to it for viewing your prisoners. My gaze went to where the panel to open it should be, but wasn't. Instead, there was a solid block of concrete where the panel should be and that caused my ears to droop to the side of my face. My rump hit the cold floor hard as I sat on my haunches, lowering my head in shame. I had been tricked again by ponies I wanted to help. Instead of open civility I was greeted with guns drawn and hostility. Perhaps it was my ways of old that caused that treatment, but I wanted to mend it. To make it right like it should be. But even in my memories of just after the war I could pick out instances of ponies abusing my trust. One such instance is stuck in my mind like glue. I'll never forget it because a pony I loved died there. I sighed deeply, shutting my eyes as a few cold tears fell down my cheeks. When I opened my eyes again, I sniffled and cleared them of tears. Slowly, I turned around to face the rest of the room and took a few deep breaths. A central fluorescent light in the ceiling illuminated a piss stained mattress covered by sheets that looked like a pony used them to wipe their ass with. The stone floor beneath my hooves had a carpet at one time, but it looked as if a pony had pulled it out because they had left the tacks in various places. Along the walls were cute, and not so cute phrases written in probably shit or blood. Luckily, there was a small adjacent room with a loo that appeared to never have been cleaned. I tested the faucet in there and found it produced clear water that had just two settings, either ice cold or scalding hot. The mirror had long ago been broken and removed. So I turned to look at the shower, which I could not find because there were no provisions for it. My guess was that they used a communal shower system and that I, of course, would not get to use it. After I checked out the loo I walked back into 'my' room and placed an ear on the wall between my cell and Sister's. I stood there, waiting for a while before I tapped a couple of times on the wall with a hoof. Sister tapped back which made me smile. Since Sister was okay I walked over to my door and knocked on it. After an agonizing amount of time, an earth pony appeared in the viewport of the door. "What do ya want?" she asked through a speaker system that I couldn’t see. I smiled, pointing a hoof at the bed. "I was hoping for some clean sheets. It appears a pony took a crap on mine." The earth pony on the other side shook her head slowly. "Prisoners don't get requests." I stomped my hoof down with a glare at my guard. "I will not sleep in some other pony's shit! Either you get me some clean sheets or... or... or I'll stop your heart!" "And I'm Celestia," she deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. "I'll have your tongue cut out if you don't stop bugging me." I gulped, because this pony did not need to say that Sister's tongue would also be removed. The earth pony took a few steps away from the door as I picked up her thoughts. "Hah! Alicorns aren't so tough." She walked away from the door and I sat down again in shame. Without anything else to do, I found a comfy spot near the door to and pulled out my journal to start writing where I left off. *** *** The door next to me opened partially and a tray of food was shoved underneath. It smelled sweet and delicious. I set the journal down and levitated a sandwich up to my nose. "You have ten minutes to eat," a stallion said before closing the door. I stood up and looked through the viewport at his backside as he walked away. "See something you like?" a familiar voice whispered from behind me. I nodded slowly in response. "What is it?" "A stallion." My voice was quiet because they could probably hear me through the speaker system if I talked too loud. The stallion vanished from my view, so I laid down and began nibbling on my food. The sandwich was a bit soggy and salty tasting. Still, I ate it and didn't complain because I enjoyed eating food even though I did not need it. As I was levitating my murky looking water bottle for a drink. The voice behind me whispered, "I bet you want a ride from him." "Not really," I shook my head slowly, setting the bottle down. It had tasted like dirt and I felt a familiar sensation of absorbing trace amounts of radiation, causing me to smile. "While I would love to have a stallion of my own, I don't want to be with just any stallion. They have to be powerful, funny and most of all. Perfect. Lika an alicorn." "Shock," the voice began quietly. "We are a powerful pony, so why are you just letting Us waste away in this cell?" Gulping down the rest of my soggy sandwich, I looked over my shoulder at myself who I called Dog. She was sitting on the bed in her businessmare suit and looked as terrible as ever. Her face looked pale and sick, her eyes were slightly glossy, and her mane looked a bit thin. I shrugged a little and ate a fry that tasted like it was a few days old. "Because a beast chained is better than a beast on the loose. They want us for something and I want to know what." "They're changelings!" Dog shouted, sitting up and stomping her hoof on the bed. "They're probably keeping Us to alive so they can fuck Us for Our love energy until We're a husk!" I shook my head. "I doubt it works like that. They would have already done so and not to mention the poor accommodations they put us in. I think they want us for something else." "You let your wings get clipped, again!" "So?" I shrugged. "They will grow back next time I find a hotspot or in a few months in the next moult." "And the collar?" I looked down in shame, my ears slowly drooping. "That's what I thought. You fucked up again." The collar was not something I wanted to think about. It was connected with Sister's collar. If I died, she died and vice versa. It was a slightly heavy and ugly thing that rubbed at my fur when I looked in a certain direction to remind me it was there. The door behind me slid open a little and the stallion from earlier said, "time's up." I sighed deeply, pushing the tray under the door with my hoof before pulling said hoof back as the door shut. I quickly scrambled to my hooves and looked out the window at the stallion in a cook's apron. He picked up the tray in his teeth and with a well practiced swing, tossed it onto his back before trotting off. He glanced back and saw me looking at him. I blushed slightly as he flicked his tail just enough for me to see his stallionhood and disappeared around the corner. "How do they hide it?" I whispered to myself. "They just do?" Dog shrugged, rolling onto her back before staring up at the ceiling. "They're stallions, Shock. It's not rocket science!" I quickly sat down, shutting my eyes while trying to picture the stallion. "You're not seriously going to do that?" Dog whined. I nodded. The distinct slapping sound of a pony facehoofing preceded her groan. "This isn't the place or time for that!" "Shut up! I'm trying to picture a sexy stall-" My eyes snapped open as I quickly lost all desire for self pleasure. "Alicorn!" "Huh?" she tilted her head. "What about them?" Slowly, I walked over to her with a smile, but made sure to go around the tacks in the floor. "There's an alicorn stallion on this island!" Dog's eyes went wide. I nodded rapidly, smiling a little. "If he is an alicorn I can probably contact him!" "Don't be stupid. alicorn stallions don't exist." I waved a hoof dismissively. "Shut up, Dog. You're not real." She stuck her tongue out at me, crossing her forelegs across her chest and vanishing. Laying down down, I shut my eyes while concentrating on looking specifically for alicorns. A grumpy and distraught Sister was found right next door, obviously, so I left her and concentrated more. Alicorns were easy to pick out because they were like spotlights in the nigh. I eventually located the other Unity alicorns on the island, but no Sparkle Cola. If that was his real name. This caused me to groan in frustration and slam my hooves on the ground. Sharp pain shot through one of my forelegs as it slammed down on a rusty tack. I cried out in shock, my spell dropping, as I quickly cradled the trembling and bleeding appendage. Slowly, I brought it to my nose and sniffed the sweet familiar scent of blood. My gaze went around to the writing on walls. Ponies had put madness into the writing, but I would not add my own words to it. Instead, I looked down at my journal and sighed. "Maybe Ripper was right about the journal." I mumbled quietly to Dog. She did not respond for a while, then she appeared on the bed again and laughed at my plight. Causing my ears to droop slowly. Fear... Fear is a powerful and effective weapon. If one were to cause their enemies to rout without taking heavy losses then the battle is still won. At least that is what I had assumed to be true, but sometimes your enemies come back. Slowly, I took a long look around the room I was caged in. The writing on the walls looked depressing, and so did the bed along with the terrible floor. The only good thing there was, was clean looking water in the loo. Glancing down at my steadily bleeding foreleg, I sighed deeply out of annoyance. “They are trying to scare me, I think,” I mumbled to myself, walking over to the wall and pressing my ear against it. But I heard nothing, so I concentrated on connecting to Sister. She felt annoyed, angry and scared. “Sister?” I quietly asked with my mind as I tapped the wall. She did not respond, which caused me to frown. “Sister, please, I am sorry for getting us into this mess.” Still, I received no response from the blue alicorn. “Bet’cha she’s pissed at you,” chided Dog with a smirk. Rolling my eyes, I tapped on the wall again. “Sister? Just let me know that you are alright.” There was quite a long time of silence and then I felt her sigh deeply. “I’m not you’re fucking ‘sister’,” she replied in my mind, causing my ears to droop as I sat down. “Leave me the hell alone, Shock.” “But…The Goddess said all alicorns are her children, so that-” “We never were family. Unity was just a hive mind controlled by a supreme bitch! Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?!” “But… I’m sorry…” Slowly, my ears drooped to the side of my face as I looked down at the concrete floor in despair. “We’ll get out of this. I swear.” Sister had never spoken out against The Goddess like that before. That meant that she was really, really, angry at me for what I did and I did not blame her. Instead of continuing to talk to an angry pony, I broke the connection, covering my ears with my hooves while attempting to figure out how to leave. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Telepathy. A simple spell to read a pony’s mind or communicate with them. A spell that I mostly use to talk to ponies with.. I looked at the door and smiled as a plan formed in my head. *** *** I waited and waited until the door finally opened again, but this time it opened all the way and that tall changeling walked in. My ears folded back as I slowly backed up against the bed. She walked halfway across the room and stopped to stare at me. I gulped, looking away from my captor and stared the wall. "I see you're obedient, good." she said in that pompous voice that made me want to buck her teeth in. "Your silence tells me that you also remember my warning, which is also good. By now you're probably wondering what you're doing here." Nodding, I opened my mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. "You, being an alicorn, presents me with a pony who is far more resilient to damage than the average pony." I looked over at her as she shut the door. "You're probably wondering why I've told you this." I nodded again and she smiled. "It's simple, really, I want you to kill a pony." I rolled my eyes because she could have just asked when we first met. She laughed a bit, taking a step back. I briefly considered spearing her with my horn, but chose not to because she might have the detonator on her, which would be bad. "I can assure you this earth pony is not easy to kill. He's has cybernetic augmentations, and hits like a rocket. Thus I need a pony that is not easily damaged and an alicorn is perfect for that." I looked over at something else, the shit covered wall. “Why am I in such… deplorable conditions then?” Again the changeling laughed. “Because it is fit for a prisoner and that is what you are, my prisoner. You want out, don’t you?” I nodded slowly. “I kill this cyberpony and you will let Sister, Sienna, Celly, and I go?” Smiling, she bowed her head a little. “Yes. I will allow you to go free. Now…“ she took a breath and looked off to the side then at me. “As I understand it, alicorns have… powerful spells such as telepathy, a lightning attack and an impenetrable shield along with… what was it? Teleportation and invisibility?” Again, I nodded. “Yes, but they are-” “Good, so you will be able to assassinate the pony without being seen.” The changeling queen grinned. My ears folded back slowly as I gulped. “I… could do that.” "Good, now that we got that out of the way..." There was a green flash of fire all around her, and when it was over. She appeared to look like a muscular light blue stallion. Her back legs were replaced with grey cybernetic ones and part of her jaw was also replaced, at least in appearance. Her grey mane was cropped short along with the tail. "This is the pony you have to kill, Iron Jaw," said the changeling in a deep baritone voice. "Do not let him buck you, his hind legs act as shotguns too and he has a bite like you wouldn't believe." Slowly, I nodded while taking in all of the details. "Shotgun hind legs and a bite like the bear trap on his flank." However, I found myself trying to get a peek to see if she had changed everything or just her outer appearance. "What are you doing?" she asked with a hint of annoyance. "Seeing if..." Warmth spread across my face as I blushed deeply. "I was curious about changeling anatomy. When you change sexes, do your organs also change? Or is it just appearance? Does it work is what I’m asking." Rolling her eyes, green fire engulfed the changeling queen. Causing me to take a few steps back and when it was over, she stood before me as her normal changeling self. "I’m not telling you and no. I'm not fucking you either. Celestia knows where you've been. I wouldn't touch you if you were the last mare on the face of Equestria. Now are there anymore stupid questions? You have three before I get annoyed." I opened my mouth to say something, but looked away as my face darkened further out of embarrassment. "No... Yes..." I looked at the changeling again. "If I am locked up how am I to kill the pony?" "Hm..." She her chin for a few seconds while I wondered if the holes in her leg made it weaker and that’s why she needed an alicorn. "That is a good one. Follow me." She walked over to the door and knocked on it, I followed close. After a few moments. the door was opened and the changeling stepped out into the hall. I followed her over to Sister's door, which was opened before we arrived. A tired and rough looking Sister slowly walked out with her head hung low. "Yes?" she mumbled quietly in a voice that sounded like she had not slept for a while. "Both of you, follow." The changeling began walking in what looked like a random direction and the both of us followed her. *** *** Below our balcony ponies mixed in with undisguised changelings as if it were normal. The queen swept a hoof over the stable atrium while wearing a pompous smile. "Beautiful, isn't it? Changelings and ponies under one roof. The ponies do not mind being used for food so long as we provide them adequate protection from the outside and not go on a feeding frenzy." Slowly, I stepped up to the balcony and glanced down at the picnic tables. Somepony, or changeling, was having a birthday party for what looked like a foal. While Sister had yet to say anything since leaving her room, I hoped she would forgive me for my mistake because it was a simple matter to leave; kill Iron Jaw. Slowly, I scanned the crowd for anything that would indicate he was down there and I eventually spotted his aqua blue coat among the sea of ponies. From the distance I was at, his cutie mark looked like a bear trap. Iron Jaw was different than what the changeling queen had showed me. He had long donkey ears which meant he was a mule, yet ponies parted way for him as if they gave him the utmost respect. The fact that he was a mule made the fact that I had to kill him that much easier. Mules are not ponies. They are imp spawn. "Do you see that bright blue mule with the bear trap cutie mark, robotic hind legs and jaw?" I whispered in Sister's mind. She looked over at me with a small glare. "All I have to do is kill him and we go free."' A small smile formed on her face. "Shock, if that's true-" "Well lookie what we got here," said a cold, familiar, voice that sent a shiver down my spine. "Two collared thorns in my side served up on a platter." Sister glanced at the voice, snarling a little. I slowly turned my head to look and my heart sank at the sight of Eclipse's braided strawberry red mane even though I had known it was her. Based off the bulkly appearance of her cloak, I assumed the teal earth pony was wearing her armor, yet there were no claws near her hooves. I suspected they may have been taken from her at the door. Behind Eclipse stood two power armored Steel Rangers like guard dogs. Slowly, my ears drooped as a maniacal grin formed on Eclipse’s face. The changeling queen stepped between us, looking down at Eclipse. "There will be no violence here!" she hissed in a tone I had yet to hear from her before. "I caught them fair and square. You cannot take them without violating the laws here." "Laws, shmaws," Eclipse rolled her eyes, tapping her hoof down. “I captured these two before you and I demand their release. They are my property, not yours.” The changeling glanced back at me, then looked at Eclipse again. “No.” “What?” Eclipse’s left eye twitched. “Why the fuck not?!” She stomped her hooves down like a whiney filly who didn’t get her toy, “they’re mine! Mine! Mine!” “The green is my fuck toy and the blue is of no concern, but their collars are linked. Ergo they cannot be separated except in certain circumstances. This is not one of them.” As if to confirm the point I walked forward a bit and leaned on the changeling, wrapping a foreleg around hers. However, I could feel an angry glare from Sister that burned through my skull, yet she said nothing. Eclipse slowly looked me up and down before walking over to the railing and nodded. “Fine, if that’s what you want to use them for. But…” She looked over her shoulder, “I challenge that blue to a duel.” The changeling looked at Sister then Eclipse and nodded. SheTaking a deep breath, she practically shouted in my ear. “A challenge has been issued!” her voice echoed over the atrium, causing it to go quiet for some reason. The changeling queen left my embrace and walked over to the railing. "A Steel Ranger earth pony has challenged a blue Unity alicorn to a duel." She looked over her shoulder at Sister. "Do you accept this challenge?" Sister looked at Eclipse, the changeling, and finally me before nodding. "I accept the challenge and will enjoy beating the shit out of her." I smiled, nodding slowly in response. The changeling looked out over the atrium, nodding. "The challenge has been accepted and the duel will commence in three hours. I welcome you to watch as it will most surely be an excellent fight." "Perfect," Eclipse grinned at Sister. "First you, then the green." "Bring it, bitch," Mudpie puffed out her chest and ruffled her feathers. "I could stop your heart in ten seconds flat." “Why don’t you do it now then?” Eclipse walked up and pressed her nose against Sister’s. "There will be no fighting until the duel!" the changeling hissed as she rejoined us. "There are rules in a duel; you fight to the death and no guns of any kind are allowed. Is that understood?" Eclipse and Sister nodded. "Good. I shall see the both of you in the arena in three hours. Prepare yourselves and fight to the best of your abilities. Maybe the best mare win." The changeling queen tugged on my ear with magic as she began walking back the way we had come. "Come along, green, I'm hungry and need to relax before the show." Turning to follow close behind the changeling queen, I caught Sister's death glare and gulped. She quickly followed after me while keeping her glare. I watched Eclipse and her goons turn around and slowly walk away. The changeling led us around a few corners and we quickly lost sight of Eclipse, so I connected with Sister to explain myself. Her anger was almost overpowering. "Sister, I can explain! You see it was just a tri-" "Shut up!" she nearly screamed inside my head, causing my ears to go back. "I don't believe you, Shock, I don't fucking believe you!" "But-" "No buts!" her eye twitched. "You... I love you, I offered myself to you, but you choose this... this bug queen over me?!" "No..." I shook my head as my ears drooped slowly. "She lied... I have never touched her and she-" "Ahem," the changeling cleared her throat and I only noticed right then that we had stopped walking. "Are you two done having your argument inside your heads?" I looked at her, tilting my head, but she was looking at Sister. "I suggest you focus your anger on the one who challenged you." She looked around, whispering. "Because I have a contract with your friend for you to go free if she helps me with a problem." "She's not my friend," Sister grumbled, pushing past the changeling. "Sister, I'm sorry!" I called after her, but she ignored me. My collar began beeping so I quickly chased after her before the both of us literally lost our heads. *** *** I looked out over the balcony at the arena below from my soft cushioned bed. A cold chain held my hind leg to a post with enough length to allow me to walk a few feet. The changeling was lying on my right on her own cushion. My wing was draped over her warm body and I had my foreleg wrapped around hers to keep up the ruse for Eclipse in case she had ponies watching us. Which she most likely did. About eight meters below us was a dirt floor that looked like it was an apple orchard at one time due to the cage being built around some stumps. Now, however, ponies stood around the cage talking amongst themselves while waiting for the fight to start, and no doubt they were placing bets. Eclipse was standing at one corner of the cage while Sister stood at the other. The alicorn had her mane tied in a bun to keep it out of her face and to hide the fact that it was now flowing from radiation. Our collars had been delinked and Sister's was set to detonate via remote only. The changeling queen would not tell either of us who had the detonator. "Food," the changeling queen said quietly. I levitated a tray of grapes over and placed one into her mouth. She chewed slowly, nodding. "Does that earth pony really think she has a chance?" Slowly, my ears folded back. "Yes... she is quick, wears bone armor and has hellhound claws on her hooves. Those claws are very deadly to alicorns." "This will be interesting then." I merely nodded and waited for it to start. A unicorn stallion in a large floppy hat walked out into the center of the ring. He looked at Sister then Eclipse before nodding. "Fillies and Gentlecolts!" he shouted in a powerful voice that nearly echoed. "You have all gathered here today to watch a dance of death between two mares. One, an earth pony working for the Steel Rangers. Power armored heathens who hoard technology. The other, a Unity alicorn. The most beautiful mares in the wastes, but oh so deadly and powerful. These two foes are more than a match for your average wastelander, but what about against each other?" I glanced at the changeling and saw that her face held a smile. However, the pony below kept talking. "Well, that is what these mares plan to find out. One of them has requested her death for your entertainment. But which one?" He looked at Eclipse and then sister. "Fuck if I know, so. Without further horseshit. Leeet's get ready to rumble!" He walked towards a door in the center. "Alright, the rules are as follows; no guns and only one of you leave this cage alive. Start fighting once I close this door." I took a deep breath and held it as the door shut. As soon as the door shut, Sister vanished completely, causing Eclipse to blink in shock. The teal earth pony took a few steps forward, slowly looking around the floor in the cage.. "Interesting opener," the changeling mused. "How long can she keep the spell up?" "Indefinitely," I replied, bowing my head slightly to the side. Then placed another couple of grapes in her mouth on her tap of my hoof. She pat my side with her wing. "Good girl. Keep this up and you'll get better quarters. I can feel the sisterly love energy between you and that blue just pouring out and it is tasty." "How does it taste?" I mumbled as Eclipse started circling the center of the cage. "More filling than pony food that is for sure." "Where are you?" Eclipse shouted as she took off her cloak and tossed it in a random direction, revealing her dark bone armor. "Hiding like a coward because you're afraid of getting scratched?" Suddenly, Eclipse staggered sideways from an invisible blow and nearly collapsed on her side. She quickly hauled herself up and spun in the air with her hind claws out, hitting nothing. As she landed, she swiped a hoof full of dust and tossed it in that direction. "Smart pony," the changeling nodded at the drifting dust cloud as an invisible Sister galloped away from it, creating a slight draft and pulling it with her. Slowly, the dust settled around Eclipse, but she started kicking more, and more, of it into a large cloud. And soon the entire cage was one big cloud of dust. Most of the crowd complained and stepped away from the cage to breathe in fresh air. As if by magic, the dust started blowing out of the cage, but I knew the reason. Sister was furiously flapping her wings to clear out the dust so she could have full invisibility again. Eclipse's distraction had an unintended side effect for her, she began coughing into her hoof and had to squint her watery eyes to see lest they get dust in them. Suddenly, a pair of invisible hooves kicked the earth pony in the side, sending her flying against the cage and causing it to rattle from the weight. I cringed as the bars dented a little from the impact. Eclipse watched the ground for a second and swiped her claws at nothing, but Sister screamed in pain as a line of red appeared in thin air. She jumped back and flapped her wings to put even more distance between them. The line of red made her visible to everypony including Eclipse. As the dust slowly cleared from the arena, Eclipse began laughing at Sister who had dropped her invisibility spell and was clutching her chest were the hellhound claws dug in. Her blood poured out and was quickly coating her forelegs. My ears folded back at the sight of the wound. With her bleeding out like that her invisibility was pointless, which was probably why she dropped it. Though, Sister did drink quite a bit of irradiated water a few hours ago, so she must surely be healing already. I ignored the crowd that was making all kinds of racket because I assumed they were trying to distract the fighters. "The earth pony draws first blood!” the unicorn's powerful voice resonated over the crowd. “Can her success last or will beauty triumph over brawn?" Sister's horn glowed a deep blue as she prepared a quick spell. With a deafening clap of thunder and a blinding flash, a lightning bolt shot towards Eclipse. The bolt missed the agile earth pony by a mere hoof width as she jumped out of the way. It struck the cage and I frowned as a few ponies standing close by got burned. Eclipse began galloping towards Sister as Sister prepared another attack, the earth pony deftly dodged the lightning bolt and jumped with her claws out. Sister quickly pivoted on her good forehoof and kicked out. Her hooves cleanly connected with Eclipse’s chest and stopped stopped her in her tracks, as all the air was pushed out of her lungs. I could hear her bone armor crack slightly. Sister crouched low and jumped into the air with a flap of her wings. She folded her wings and fell with a hind hoof aimed at Eclipse's head. The earth pony recovered just in time to roll out of the way and slice her claws across Sister's wing on an upstroke. She cried out in pain again and quickly kicked. Striking Eclipse in the lower jaw with a loud crack. Sister quickly teleported to the other side of the arena to begin treating her wounds. She ripped a few pieces of cloth off some bystanders and wrapped it around herself, much to their annoyance. Oddly enough, I thought I saw a yellow maned purple pegasus in Enclave power armor standing on the far end of the cage. But a group of ponies pressed themselves against the bars before I could get a good look at her. Meanwhile, Eclipse stood where she was and spit at the ground; a few teeth and a lot of blood landed in the dirt. She wiped her face off, took a deep breath and charged Sister while she was distracted by tying the bandage on her wing. Eclipse’s head slammed into Sister’s injured wing before I could alert her. Sending the blue alicorn flying against the bars. As Sister was recovering, Eclipse pivoted on her hooves and gave Sister’s injured wing one buck with her left hoof, then one with her right, and finally one with both of them. My ears drooped as the sound of a rib snapping nearly silenced the crowd. Quickly, I brought a hoof and covered my mouth so I didn’t scream at Eclipse and get my tongue removed. All I could do was sit there… and watch as Sister was attacked. “Food,” the changeling said quietly. I quickly levitated the tray over and stared at Eclipse as she picked Sister’s head up in her forehooves and slammed it against the bars. “Ahem!” I blinked in confusion and tore my gaze away from the fight. The changeling nodded at the tray of fruit, so I levitated an apple in front of her, sighing in frustration. “Sorry, I am distracted.” I said quietly, turning my head to look back at the fight. Sister and managed to flip Eclipse onto her back and had torn off a part of her armor. The changeling took a bite of the apple and nodded. “Hm.. it seems I may have overestimated alicorns.” Slowly, I shook my head, “Eclipse has claws capable of piercing our shields. It is a fair match for both considering Sister does not know many spells.” The earth pony managed to nearly slice Sister’s chest again, but the blue alicorn had caught the claw in magic and appeared to be tugging on it. “She also has a grudge against our kind for some reason.” Sister tore off the hellhound claw boot and brought it around, slashing Eclipse across the face and drawing two lines of red. The earth pony screamed in pain as Sister shouted something incoherent from the distance. Sister brought the blades straight down on Eclipse’s head, but the teal earth pony blocked it with her other claws and punched Sister in the lower jaw with her exposed hoof. The blow appeared to stun her for a second, because Eclipse got a second strike in on her neck where her larynx was. Sister jumped away from Eclipse and landed, brandishing her stolen armor piece with the claws out. The teal earth pony slowly stood up and spit more dark red blood off to the side. Her armor piece that was removed had covered her hind quarters and now her flanks were exposed. But I could not make out what her cutie mark was from the distance I sat. "You want to help, don't you?" the changeling queen quietly asked, looking at me. I nodded slowly, "it would be beneficial to Sister if I could, but it would be obvious because of my horn glow." "I had heard greens could add to the spells of other alicorns," the changeling queen commented in a tone that sounded more like a suggestion. Sister's makeshift bandages were soaked through and dripping with blood. Even from where I sat, I could see her slight stagger and the heavy eyes of a pony slowly bleeding to death. Eclipse smirked because she no doubt could see the same signs. "What are you waiting for?" Sister shouted over the crowd. "For me to melt your brain or stop your heart? That would be too easy! I could Shock your heart." I blinked in confusion for a second, slowly realizing Sister was talking to me. Slowly, I looked at the changeling queen, who was watching the two combatants stare at each other, then looked at Sister and shut my eyes. I quickly connected with Sister's panicked mind, giving her my reserve magical power and opened my eyes. However, I couldn't move when I was casting that spell, which was its downfall in my opinion, but I could still see. "Food," the changeling said. When I didn't respond she nudged my side. And after I still didn't respond she groaned and levitated the tray of food herself. That was when I noticed how similar her magic color was to mine. From afar they would probably look the same shade of green. Sister's horn glowed a bright color, just before she sent another lightning bolt at a galloping Eclipse which was followed quickly by two more. The first one missed and flew wildly, the second struck her armor and left a scorch mark while the third struck the ground underneath Eclipse. The armored earth pony slammed the top of her head into Sister's chest wound, causing her to scream in agony again as she fell on her back and slid in the dirt. Quickly, I gave her more of my magic in an effort to help. Sister grabbed Eclipse's neck in magic and tossed her to the side at the same time she sent a lightning bolt that missed. Eclipse landed on her hooves, quickly broke into a gallop and reared up on her hind legs when she got to Sister. The blue alicorn rolled, jumping into Eclipse with all her weight and horn lowered. The exquisite horn struck the bone chest plate and snapped at the tip. Sister's pain exploded in my mind, causing me to reel in agony and hold tightly onto the changeling queen. "Shock, I'm sorry..." Sister's pained voice filled my mind. "Close... your eyes." "No!" I screamed, breaking the magic transfer and jumping to my hooves. Quickly, I flew towards the cage, but pain exploded in my leg as the chain went taut, pulling me to a stop. Turning around, I glared at the thing binding me there and tried to tear it apart with magic, yet I failed after many attempts to break it. The changeling queen looked at me in confusion. "What is she doing?" “Huh?” I quickly looked at the fight. Sister was laying on the dirt, bleeding out and smiling a weak smile at Eclipse. Her blood soaked foreleg was wrapped around Eclipse's armored one, which had its claws dug into her chest. Except Sister was not moving to pull it out. She dragged the other boot over with a hoof and offered it to Eclipse. The earth pony put it on and raised her hoof up over Sister's head. Sister stared up into Eclipse’s eyes, nodding slowly. "Stop!" I screamed, tugging again at the chain binding me to the wall. It still didn't budge, so I tugged harder and harder until it dug deep into my flesh, drawing blood, but I didn't care. The changeling queen glared up at me. "Sit down! She, and you, knew only one was leaving that arena alive. But it seems alicorns are not as-" My hoof came around and cleanly connected with her face, audibly slapping her and leaving a mark. "Don't you dare speak to Us like that!" I glared at her, my eyes slowly narrowing. "We are the perfect example of a pony. You are nothing more than a parasite living off of others. Unfit for anything else, but shit!" She held her hoof to her cheek, smirking slightly and I could see the red through one of her holes. "I shall let that slide because of your recent loss. Now, if you ever. Talk to me like that again, I will personally cut out your tongue and feed it to you." My ears slowly folded back and I broke down into tears. *** *** The orchard arena was empty, devoid of ponies that left almost a half hour ago. Had I encountered Eclipse on my way here, I would have speared her and crushed her heart without hesitation even if it ended me. Sister... Mudpie... or whatever her name was. Was lying motionless in front of me. Blinking back a few tears, I stepped towards her blood soaked body, which mirrored the now black dirt around her. I collapsed next to her with tears in my eyes, gently nosing her. "Sister..? I'm sorry I got you into this," I gently rested my head on her cold back and shut my eyes. "Please come back to me. I swear to Celestia I'll be a better pony. Just come back. I don't want to be alone." I got no response from Sister, so I tried to connect to her mind to no avail. Even applying my horn to hers produced no results. Sister was a corpse, lifeless, and never to breathe again. A dead pony... One that I loved as a sister and I will never hear her voice again. She had been there for me since Unity, even protected me against myself when I needed it. But when the time came... I could not help her. All I could do was watch as she was beat to death. My ears drooped to the side of my face, gently resting my head on her neck. "I will get her for you," I whispered to her with my mouth. "Even if I have to join you in death. I swear. I swear to The Goddess and to Celestia. I will kill Eclipse as slowly and painfully as possible. For you." I sat up, cradling Sister against my chest and began humming the song she had sang to me to help me sleep. The changeling queen, who was standing off to the side, cleared her throat, but I ignored her and pet Sister's neck. Slowly, I rocked back and forth as gently as I could as if she were needing to be rocked to sleep. "We will incinerate the body in a half hour," the changeling queen mumbled. I whipped my head around, glaring daggers at her. "No, you will bury her like a pony!" "You're in my city and will abide by my rules! Here we incinerate the bodies." "No!" I narrowed my eyes, whispering in her mind at the same time I said. "You will bury the body." "Tell me," the changeling queen rolled her eyes and waved a hoof about. "Did you think that mind trick would even work on a queen?" My ears folded back as I gulped. "Thought so. Look, the least I can do is give you a lock of her mane." "And her ashes?" "We can't collect them, so no." Slowly, I stood up and gently levitated Sister onto my back. "Where is it? I will do it myself." *** *** The incinerator stood before me. Well, it was like a giant metal box with a cute leading down into the incinerator. I cared about nothing around me except for this one last task I was going to do for Sister. The changeling queen had told me she couldn't find Celly nor Sienna. The latter going missing worried me greatly while the former... Good riddance. "Is there anything you wished to say to the deceased?" a pony in robes asked. My ears folded back. I glanced at the wooden plank they had put her on and walked over to her. She was cleaned up of all blood and appeared as if she were merely sleeping. I leaned down, giving her a very long kiss on her cold lips. After it was over I brushed her mane behind her ear. "I love you," I whispered to her even though it was pointless. "Do you hear me? I love you and hope to see you again. I don't know what I had until I lost it, and I'm sorry. One day, I will tell my foals the story of their Mommy's friend that helped her when she needed it." I kissed her cheek before slowly levitating the plank up. As I began walking towards the incinerator, the pony in robes said. "Oh Great Wind Spirit, hear our pleas for this lost and weary soul. Though she was not from our herd, she fought bravely on the field of honor. Watch over her as she moves on into the hereafter and guide her loved ones to her when they so too pass on." Opening the chute door, I gently placed Sister on it and looked at the other ponies. "Does either of you have a blade?" They looked at each other then me as the robed unicorn hesitantly pulled one out. Floating it over, I looked at myself in the metal's reflection. "What are you doing?" the changeling asked quietly. "This," I said, lifting my non-flowing mane with a hoof. The knife cut it with ease. Eventually I cut down my mane in a cut that I had during the war. Short, simple, and wouldn't get in the way. Next I cut my tail short and tossed the knife back to the pony. It struck the dirt near his hooves and stayed there. Unfolding a wing, I plucked out my best looking feather and laid it across Sister's face. Then placed what had been cut from my mane on hers. Slowly, I caressed Sister's cheek one last time before I used my magic to push the tray shut and held it there, shutting my eyes to hide the tears. After a while, I turned to face the other ponies. "Where is Sister's equipment? And where is mine? I must see them now!" *** *** The changeling stopped at a door in some hallway I had never been too. She opened it, stepping aside. "This is your new room. Near the bed, you will find all of your and that other alicorn's equipment, minus ammo." I walked into the room and turned around to face my captor. "You will help me find Eclipse, yes?" She nodded slowly. "Do this task for me and I will let you go. Do you have a name?" "Dog," I nodded. She raised an eyebrow up in confusion, tilting her head. "What idiot names their foal 'Dog'?" "Dog is my wartime nickname and it fits because I am collared like a dog." I pointed at the collar to make my point. "Riiight... Anyway, I will be back in a day or so to let you calm down." She shut the door, causing my ears to fold back. I didn't care to look at the room and immediately dumped out my bags as I began inventorying everything. I found my journal, the Twilight Sparkle statuette, the Annihilator, two 10mm pistols and five empty magazines for both, a round screw-on tube I guessed to be a suppressor, Sister's jacket that I pulled on, Ripper's odd message, some cloth bandages, the Pipbuck that I also put on and found it was still broken, my rusty sword, and a few other items. But I had no ammo, food, medical supplies beyond bandages, and no 105mm he shell. The bandages looked pretty useless as they were just cloth. None of that concerned me. I buried my nose in the jacket's collar and took a deep breath. Sister's scent was still on it, causing me to tear up at the memory. Quickly, I pulled out my journal and wrote down everything like Sister had told me to, because it was real. I wrote and wrote all through the night until there came a knock on the door. The journal was tossed into my bag that I threw on my back, tightening down. "Who is it?" I called out. Slowly, the door opened and a handsome looking unicorn stallion poked his head in. My ears folded back slowly."I was told you might need comforting," he said as he walked into the room and shut the door. This gave me the chance to slowly look him up and down, noticing that he was well groomed. The fact that he so blindly walked in without a care caused me to look away at the wall, which was devoid of shit writing. Slowly, the unicorn’s hoofsteps came closer until he stopped next to me. "Do... do you need comforting?" I shut my eyes and looked down at the floor, slowly nodding. "She was Our sister..." Underneath me, my saddlebags came unbuckled on their own, but I didn't care enough to object. Nor did I care when they were slipped off as slowly as possible. I just kept my eyes closed. "How can We go on without her? She kept Us stable in my darkest moments..." "Um... c-can you take your... your jacket off?" he asked. I obliged by sitting up and slowly pulling it off. As I set it aside I laid down and looked into the stallion's yellow eyes. "Tell Us, how can We go on?" He hugged Us and We buried Our face in his chest. "We can't go on without her, but I must. I swore to her and to The Goddess that We will have Our revenge." Slowly, I felt his hoof press against the back of my head as he pushed me lower onto his belly. Opening my eyes, stared downwards at his full stallionhood. Only then did the true meaning of his question dawn on me. What he really meant was 'comfort', as in sex, to take my mind off the death of Sister. Nodding, I slowly reached down with my hoof to oblige him. *** *** I watched the unicorn leave the room and shut the door. After a few seconds I got up and walked across the plush carpet to the loo. I turned the sink water on, letting it run for a while. Obviously the water that came out was clear and crisp. Slowly, I placed my hoof under it to test the temperature and found it normal. The cool water caressed my hoof for a moment while I stared at it. More blood was on my hooves, Sister's blood. She had warned me, but I ignored her and she paid the price for my stupidity. No... Shock's stupidity. The purpose of that stallion was clear; to get my mind off Sister, but he failed. I couldn’t stop thinking about her being so angry at me before the fight. Shutting my eyes, I sighed deeply as my ears folded back. Gently, I scooped water into my hoof and filled my mouth with it. As I opened my eyes to stare at my green alicorn reflection, I saw her scarred and ugly face, the cloudy eye, the scars along her neck and shoulder on down to her wing. I swished the cool water around in my mouth for a bit, gargling, then spit the water into the sink. The stallion had left me with an odd hard candy flavor in my mouth that I wanted to get rid of. As I was slowly drinking the water a second time, I glanced in the mirror. My reflection's ears were back and her eyes were full of tears. She looked like a younger green alicorn that had yet to lose her eye or Sister. In her eyes was joy and life, not misery and pain. I gargled the water again and spit it into the sink. "Hello, Shock," I said, wiping my mouth off with a hoof. My voice had taken on a cold, somber, tone that was not full of love. "How do you like where We are? Hm?" She placed her hoof against the mirror and looked at, mouthing something that was probably 'I'm an idiot and I'm sorry'. Slowly shaking my head, I washed out my mouth a third time, yet the taste remained. Shock buried her face in her hooves. With a shrug, I began to use the bandage to wrap my bad eye like an eye patch. "Sorry doesn't fuckin' cut it!" I shouted at the mirror, not caring if my echoing voice could be heard by others. "Sorry is for when you trip over a pony, or if you step on their tail. You fucked up and now it's my turn to take over! I, no, We will do better than you. You've been sidetracked too much. We will kill that witch of a pony. We will slice the meat off her bones and feed it to her. That, is a promise We made to Sister over her body!" Shock looked at me, slowly lowering her hooves from her face. "What are you going to do?" she mouthed at me. "It is simple. We kill the mule, then We kill Eclipse." A grin slowly formed on my face as Shock nodded. A smile began forming on her face, but I noticed something in the mirror; the changeling queen was laying on the bed looking into the loo. Which meant she was looking at me. I looked over at her, my ears slowly folding back. She got off the bed, walking over with a smile. The changeling queen was as tall as I was, which made looking at her much easier. Her hoof slowly came up as she wrapped her foreleg around my neck. I prepared myself for a kiss that never came. Instead, she looked into my eyes with her own ears back. "I wish to tell you something," the changeling sighed. "I will have to let you go for you to do this assignment for me. But I am truly sorry you lost that other alicorn. I felt the love you had for her, but now you feel hollow and empty." I looked at my reflection, noticing the changeling queen's hoof was on the latch for my collar. Slowly, she opened it as it beeped quietly. I looked at her face as if wondering she would kill me right then. "Who are you?" I quietly asked. She smiled a little as the collar fell off my neck and hit the tile below us, cracking it. "Your captor, your master, and the pony who is unleashing you." The changeling slowly levitated a few familiar bullets up to eye level; one was tipped orange which meant it was explosive. Grinning, I took the bullets in my magic. One 10mm explosive round and twenty regular. I trotted over to the empty magazines and began loading them with all but the explosive bullet. The changeling queen noticed this fact and tilted her head. “Observe.” I picked up the best looking 10mm pistol, pulled the slide back and placed the 10mm explosive round into the chamber before I released the slide. “Now I have thirteen rounds,” I giggled a little as I slid the magazine in. “The first is going to make that mule’s head explode like paste.” “I thought he was an earth pony?” the changeling queen tilted her head. “No,” I slowly shook my head. “The long ears and slightly different body shape means he is a mule.” “Oh,” She nodded slowly. “So, what’d you think of that earth pony I had sent down?” I screwed on the suppressor and brought out a knife. As I was scratching ‘Shock’ into the handle, I said, “he failed his objective, I still think of Sister, but he seemed to really have enjoyed it and had seconds.” My name was eventually scratched into the handle, so I set it down and levitated the other one that I named ‘Sister’. “Why do you ask?” “I ask because I could call for him again if need be or get you another pony.” I finished scratching Sister’s name into the handle of the non-silenced 10mm pistol and looked at the changeling. “Did you disguise yourself as him?” “No,” she shook her head slowly. “I was gathering up your ammunition and knives. By the way. What is this?” She dug through my bag and eventually pulled out my 105mm high-explosive shell. “I’ve never seen one before, but assume it to be a bullet.” “It is,” I slowly levitated it over in my magic, cradling it like a foal. “Do you have a pen, or lipstick or something?” “I have this.” She held out a hoof and spit green liquid into it. My nose wrinkled up as I covered it with a wing. She held it out, nodding, but I shook my quickly head. “It hardens into rock hard wax when it dries.” “Then you write my message.” I held out the tank round and nodded at it. “To Eclipse, with love, I hope you rot in Tartarus. From, Shell Shock.” The changeling tilted her head, but wrote the message on the side of the actual warhead then stepped back as it hardened. Slowly, a wicked grin formed on my face as I started putting everything away in preparation for later. *** *** My saddlebags were heavy with everything I owned. Sister’s brown duster worked nicely to hold my magazines and the silenced 10mm pistol, Shock, in a foreleg holster. The other one, ‘Sister’, was held inside a collar holster that could be grabbed easily by my teeth if need be. Slowly, I walked from my room and gave one last look to the changeling queen before turning invisible. “Good luck,” she nodded. The walk to the atrium gave me time to think about my choices and everything thus far in my journey. Part of me was screaming in grief about Sister's death, but the other part of me knew that to grieve now would be a bad thing. So I gulped down my grief and focused on the task at hoof, killing Iron Jaw then Eclipse. The mule would be easy enough to kill, but a part of me wondered why the changeling queen wanted him dead. Though... that mattered little to me because I wanted my revenge against a certain earth pony, and I would do anything to get it. Passing by a strange sign, I stopped and looked at it. It read 'Eveything Under the Sun including weapons'. With my task forgotten for the moment, I backed up and quickly made sure I was alone before dropping my invisibility spell, and walked inside the shop. A bell jingled and signaled my arrival. There were standing racks upon racks of everything from simple clothes to parts of power armor. Along the walls were various weapons ranging from blades to energy weapons. Taking a few steps forward, my jaw dropped at the sheer amount of hardware on display as I turned around and looked above the door at the muzzle brake to a tank barrel.. "Nice, isn't it?" a feminine voice asked. I nodded slowly, turning around and stopped cold. Standing before me was a small, half-familiar, pony in a grease stained lab coat. "Rose!" My eyes widened and I nearly tackle hugged her, but stayed put. "Who?" Not Rose tilted her head. That was when I noticed the small horn on the mare's head, which was mostly hidden by her mane and only showed itself when she had tilted it. "I don't get many alicorns in here. Much less those walking around with missile launchers on their backs. So what brings you to my shop?" "Um..." my ears folded back slowly. "I need ammo and a weapon exchange." "Alright, follow me." she walked over to a counter and hopped on a stool. "What kind of ammo?" Floating out the remaining 10mm magazines, I laid them on the counter and pointed a hoof at them. "Ten millimeter. Subsonic hollow-point if you can." "Hm," she smirked a bit as she shook her head slightly. "That kind of ammo is hard to find. It only had a few specific uses pre-war and... it begs the question of what are you going to do with it?" My eyes slowly narrowed in annoyance. "Do you, or don't you have it?" She shook her head, frowning. "No, but I have regular ten mil and some full jacketed." Setting my caps and rusty sword down next to the magazines, I nodded. "Will these cover the filling of these magazines?" The small unicorn counted them and eventually nodded. "Yup. Need anything else?" "Barding would be nice, but..." I slowly walked towards a rack of rifles. One of them was a familiar shape and had a rail on top of it, but no scope. "This," I pointed at the IF-12 bolt-action rifle next to the other one. "And twenty rifle rounds; five with full metal jackets, five hollow points and the rest regular." The small mare set a box down on the counter and a bullet bounced out. "I don't have any FMJ's, just boxes of regular rifle rounds." Sighing deeply, I pulled the IF-12 off the rack and set it down on the counter. "How much do I owe you now?" "Eighteen hundred caps." I set the Annihilator down and brought the rifle to my eye as I aimed it at the wall above her head. "Your sights are slightly bent." The rifle was aimed up a the ceiling as I pulled the slightly rough bolt back and undid it from the frame. Then field stripped it and stared down the barrel with my good eye. "The bolt is gritty and needs cleaning, not to mention the grooves in the barrel are worn." I stared intently at each part of the weapon and cleaned it to the best of my abilities without a cleaning kit. After a while I nodded. "So, you'll take it?" she smiled at me. "Perhaps... But not for eighteen hundred caps. This rifle is worth nine hundred at the most." "I have to make a profit!" she whined, her ears folding back and pressing against her head. "Look. Fifteen hundred caps and I'll throw in two boxes of ammo. That's a hundred rounds." "They better not be filled with sand." I glared a bit at her. The small unicorn blinked in shock for a few seconds as a deathly silence befell the room. Eventually, as I was putting the IF-12 back together, she recovered, slowly shaking her head. "I'd be out of business if I did that." I nodded slowly, opening my bag to get the caps, but my ears folded back when I saw that I had no more caps. A deep sigh of frustration escaped me at this fact. The unicorn frowned, tilting her head some. "Will you accept a trade?" I asked quietly with my mouth. "Yes, but it depends. What did you have to trade?" I briefly considered trading Sister's pistols, but no. They were hers and I would not give anything of hers away. Glancing down down at my missile launcher which had been given to me by Sister. I had an idea to trade that. It was a weapon that failed its purpose and was used against us by Eclipse. A traitor’s weapon. "I will trade that," I nodded at the Annihilator, "for the rifle, the two boxes of ammo, and some thick socks to muffle the sound of my hooves." "Hm..." the unicorn scratched her chin in thought for a few moments before nodding. "It's a deal." I loaded five rounds into the rifle and slung across my back. The mare smiled at me as I placed some ammo into a pocket and the rest in my bags. Five 10mm magazines went into their foreleg holder while the rest went into my bags. "It's a pleasure doing business with you." the unicorn smiled, nodding a bit. "Perhaps I'll have some 'special' items for you next time." she winked. "Yeah," I waved. Walking over to a rack of cloth barding, I searched around it for a while before I found four identical black hoof socks that I pulled on. A frown formed on my face when I saw the Pipbuck was covered. Though with some clever knife work I made the screen and buttons accessible. "Have a nice day!" the unicorn called out as I began walking out of the shop. As I walked out of the door I stopped, looking at her. "What is your name?" "Full Auto, and yours?" "Dog," I waved a clipped wing and walked away before she could reply. The hallways were of no importance, but I paid attention to the signs. Most of them had been painted over long ago with new names. Under a small one was called Common Area, so I followed it. One I noticed was labeled Queen Cog's Office. I made a mental note to ask the changeling queen what her name was the next time I saw her. Eventually my ears picked up the annoying sound of tons of ponies talking in a large room. Their echoing muddled voices briefly caused me to think my telepathy spell was working, it wasn't. I quickly glanced around and went invisible again as I neared the door. Stepping out into the room, I glanced around to get my bearings.. Ahead of me was a stable atrium, the Overmare's office was directly across from me, and below were the tons of gathered ponies. The changelings and ponies mixed and mingled together, almost creating a carpet of the rainbow. The large stable atrium served as a sort of gathering area, or park, for the citizens. They walked here and there, talked amongst themselves or played games as if it were pre-war times. After a while I spotted the aqua blue imp spawn playing chess with what appeared to be a blindfolded pony, yet Iron Jaw had less pieces and looked to be losing. Slowly, I skirted the edge of the room and made my way down the stairs towards Iron Jaw’s table. I glanced at the ceiling and nodded at Sister. Reaching down with my mouth, I grabbed the handle of Shock in my teeth and drew the pistol as I moved forward. About halfway there I noticed the unicorn I had serviced was walking around, but chose to ignore him. Iron Jaw was my target and I would not deviate or let my employer down. As I got within hearing range, I aimed the pistol at the back of Iron Jaw's head and triggered the pistol with my tongue. Shell Shock: 25% to next level.
Chapter 14: Memories and PhantomsChapter 14: Memories and phantoms "With a bottle of rum and a belly full of rads." Iron Jaw had no time to react as the bullet burrowed its way into the back of his head. Sending blood, brains and bone everywhere in an explosion of gore, including onto my face. The immediate area around me fell silent as everypony looked over at the mess and I could have sworn I heard Iron Jaw's blood dripping onto the floor off my muzzle. Slowly, I stepped away from the now dead imp spawn as his headless body slumped sideways to the floor. The unicorn sitting across from my target felt his face before licking his hoof. He quickly spit it out and scrambled around the table to grab Iron Jaw in his forelegs. I took a deep breath and galloped towards the exit. "Get her!" a pony shouted as they finally broke their stupor and realized what had happened. I barreled towards the exit with the warm blood dripping down my face and multiple ponies giving chase. The signs and markers I memorized earlier came in handy and before I knew it, I was heading for a set of stairs. A shot snapped past my head. It struck the wall in front of me and exploded into a grey cloud, sending concrete splinters in my direction. As I ducked to avoid the shrapnel, I scrambled into a turn at the same time a pony shouted. "Close the blast door! Close the blast door!" Up ahead, about halfway down the hallway, was a thick rusty metal door that was slowly sliding towards the floor. It did not take long to cover the distance and I dove to the floor before rolling underneath it, losing hold of Shock. Noticing the lack of weapon, I quickly pulled Shock under the door with magic just before it shut. Except I realized my mistake when my invisibility spell dropped. However, I had no time to think about it because there were ponies on the other side yelling for them to open it. I quickly put the weapon in its holster and broke into a gallop again as the door slowly opened. As I galloped towards another stairwell, bullets slammed into the wall ahead of me and into the floor at just benid hooves. Red hot pain burrowed its way through my flank and out again as I screamed. My hooves beat down on the steps as I took them two at time and quickly reached the top. However, as I did so, a grating buzzing sound was echoing through the main door room and flashing yellow illuminated the short tunnel. My eyes widened when I saw that in the flashing yellow lights, the door mechanism started moving. I quickly poured more speed into my gallop when I noticed that the giant cog started rolling towards the open entrance. As I galloped through the narrow gap I was glad that I had chosen to cut my tail, because it might have gotten stuck in the door had been longer. My ears to pressed against my head at the sound of a loud metallic squeal, but. I had no time to think about any of that because bullets slammed into the dirt around me from the ceiling. As I jumped to the side to avoid a hole that appeared in front of me, I nearly tumbled to the tunnel floor as my muzzle was grazed by a few red hot lead darts. After I regained traction, I bolted forward as more of the lead rained down on me, but mostly missed. However, the bullets kicked dirt up into my face and nearly obscured my vision. And, as I galloped out of the door into the quiet jungle, the air was shattered again by the metallic squeal of the door. I quickly scrambled right and galloped into the thick bushes. Only then did it occur to me to use my shield. But it was pointless due to the danger having passed so I opted to go without it. However as I galloped through the trees I could hear ponies shouting for others to go get Tracker. Whatever, or whoever it was, I did not care to stick around to find out. I had to escape, so I flapped my wings in an effort to go faster. Not far away was a tree blocking my path, so I went around it. However, as I did so my outstretched wing gently brushed against the bark and I cringed as sharp pain entered where the wing had touched wood. I folded both of my wings and slowed to a canter so I would not kill myself from galloping for so long. Which was a possibility for normal ponies and I did not care to find out if it was possible for me to do so. As I focused on running away, the green jungle became a blur and I lost track of time. All I did was canter around trees and fallen branches not even caring if there were trap at my hooves ready to go off. After a long while, perhaps an hour or two, I heard running water and turned towards it. As I broke through the trees I spotted a wide river. I slowed my canter to a stop and collapsed at the edge of the river covered in sweat while panting heavily. "Goddess... We thank you," I nodded slowly and shut my eyes while taking a few deep breaths. "Your humble... child... is grateful..." Only then did I notice my flank was bleeding badly. When I looked at it I saw that the warm sticky liquid was coating the jacket black in the area where my cutie mark would be. And deep down I could feel the itching that signaled slowly healing tissue damage as it itself back together. After a moment or two Then my bloodied mane fell in front of my eyes as the itchy feeling vanished from my muzzle and flank. My ears drooped to the side of my face when I realized that meant I had no more radiation left in me and I could no longer heal. As I attempted to stand up a sharp knife like pain stabbed at my new wound, causing me to cry out in main and fall to the ground. I shut my eyes and gritted my teeth as I slowly stood up a second time. The wound flared up in pain and protested against me doing so. But I managed to get all the way up and then held the leg off the ground to relieve some tension, and the pain slowly dulled. Using my three good legs, I limped towards some bushes. And when I got to them I started pulling the large leaves off with magic. Any big leaves that I could find to make something with. I looked at my injured leg as I pulled the jacket back and cringed at the sight of a chunk missing from my flank. The wound was big, nearly hoof sized, and my whole leg was covered in the blood pumping out of it. I shut my eyes and cringed as I magically pressed the leaces onto the wound, but cold tears rolled down my cheeks. As I quickly wrapped the leaves with the bandage and snapped open my eyes, I cried out in pain again. I glanced over at the wound and frowned when it was quickly soaked in blood. In an attempt to stop the bleeding I pushed on the wound with a small green telekinetic field, but the pain from doing so caused me to whimper. A constant mechanical knocking sound drifted on the wind and drew my attention towards a faint smoke trail rising above the distant trees as the sound steadily grew closer. So, without anything else to do, I waited right there. And eventually spotted the bow of a rotting boat as it rounded the bend in the river. The paint had either never been applied, or it had been stripped away by time down to the grey wood. It was then that I wished I had a scope to see the name on the bow of it had one. The boat eventually came into full view and I saw a single pony moving about under the canopy where a central standing boiler was powering the craft. As the craft grew ever closer I saw the zebra's stripes and the familiar mane cut of dreadlocks. The zebra muttered something I could not make out as she bucked the boiler. Her details only meant it could be one pony, Zakiya. As I stood there on three legs contemplating my luck on where or not I should shout, or swim out. A raspy barking sound drew my attention to the jungle behind me along with a pony shouting something. With my mind made up for me, I began limping as fast as I could into the river and shouted at the zebra on the boat. "Zakiya! Slow down, I need a ride!" She looked over and waved a hoof, as I splashed into the cold water. "Sexy mare! You are a theif, so why should I allow you to board my new boat?" "Did you not get the armor back?!" I swam towards the boat as best I could without moving my injured appendages, but the zebra turned it away. "I will explain everything, just let me board!" Zakiya tilted her head as her ears twitched towards the sound of the barking and looked at the jungle with a grin. "Ah, it seems you have angered Bunkerville and they have unleashed the ghoul Tracker on you. Makes me wonder why they did such a thing." "I can explain if you let me board!" I shouted as I grabbed hold of the boat's side with my forelegs and was dragged along with the vessel. "I am injured, please." The zebra sighed deeply as she leaned over to grab my jacket and pulled hard. With a lot of effort, I hauled myself onto the deck and undid my water filled bags with magic. I rolled over onto my good side and looked at Zakiya as water ran off my body onto the deck. "You better explain quick." Zakiya grumbled. She walked over to the back of the boat and sat down. Then I watched her move a lever forward as the obnoxious knocking increased and the boat sped up. I nodded slowly as my vision started going black. "First, I need medical attention, fast." Then I passed out as my vision darkened further. *** *** The floor beneath me gently rocked back and forth as if I were on a moving boat. Which was obviously the case because my ears were filled with the steam engine's knocking, and a pony's drunken disgruntled voice. "Stupid piece of shit!" I awoke with a start as their hoof slammed into metal. "I never liked you!" I slowly sat up and found that I was naked save for bandages around my flank, hind leg, and face. As I felt around my face I hit a sore spot and pain stabbed at my muzzle, causing me to wince when I touched where the bullets had grazed. With nothing else to find there, I set my hoof down and looked around the boat. A furious Zakiya kicking the boiler near a gauge that was firmly planted in the red. "What is going on? Where are we?" I asked because a quick check of my surroundings revealed just heavy oppressive mist. "We are still on Oakwood if that is what you are wondering. It's early morning and I haven't slept in three days because this thing needs constant attention." The zebra's hind hooves slammed against the metal as she bucked the boiler again, leaving a dent in it. Oddly enough, the needle started falling from the red. I suspected the reasoning for that change was because the machine did not like being beat on. Though I knew it was a different one altogether. I slowly stretched out my forelegs with a yawn and smiled when I felt the tension in them start to go away as they popped. "Zakiya, I do not-" "Yes I know. I read your diary." "Journal," I corrected her. "Diary," she pulled a bottle of rum out from under her crimson cloak and drank from it. Underneath the cloak was a grey soot stained jumpsuit and both items had many filled pockets. "It is your personal thoughts and actions on a day," she hiccuped, "to day basis. Hence, diary." "It is a journal of events so that I know what is real!" I stomped my hoof down and glared at the drunk zebra. She pointed a hoof at me and hiccuped again as she swayed back and forth. "Then would youse kindly tell me why you done left me on the surface?" I shook my head as I placed a hoof on one of my cheeks. "I cannot answer that. My memories have been tampered with, again." "Then it seems you are a pony's plaything," Zakiya hiccuped. "Somepony, somewhere, is pulling your strings and guiding you along on this path of shit. And I knnnnnow who it is." I set the hoof down and looked at her with my head tilted. She was holding her bottle of rum up in a salute of some kind while looking up at the sky. "The Bottle Gods have marked you to wallow in shit. I salute you, Sexy Mare!" She took a long draw from the bottle, then proceeded to chug it, and promptly fell over on her side before snoring loudly. I let out a deep sigh as I limped over and nudged her. Causing the zebra to roll on her back and snore like an ursa. I rolled my eyes and pushed her onto her side to quiet the beast. Then limped over to the controls and as I sat down, I frowned because I had no idea how to work a boat. There were no instructions on anything or arrows to indicate where to go! But it seemed easy enough; just an adjustment of the long stick attached to the back and the boat turned. A push on the nearby lever and the boat changed speed. After getting a quick feel for the boat I kept us straight along the river. Well it was more like a zigzag due to the rocking from the moving water beneath us and my tendency to over-correct any minor adjustment. I slowly glanced around the random patches of mist as it passed by at a near walking pace. Any attempt to listen for hostiles was drowned out by the steam engine’s mechanical knock, which I suspect it being broken because of the noise. However the alone time away from anypony it gave me time to think. Time to think about the pony I had killed to gain my freedom because with the way the turrets shot at me and the changeling queen's words when I was first captured. I don't think I was meant to survive the assassination. But then again... Eclipse had challenged Sister to a fight and was allowed to walk out. Perhaps the changeling queen had expected me to merely challenge Iron Jaw to a duel. While I would have loved to beat the mule's head in. I was on a strict time schedule and I had already wasted enough of it, so my decision to shoot Iron Jaw was the best course of action in my opinion. However, now that I look back on it. I should have shot him with my rifle from the second floor balcony, but then I would have had a harder escape as everypony would have recovered faster. I wiped a few tears from my face and slowly shook my head. The thick mist wrapped around the boat like a damp blanket and, if it were not for the racket of the engine, I would have thought something was very wrong because of how quiet it was. As it was I already felt that way about everything. I was starting to feel like I was in an alien body which was no longer mine. It felt as if I was inside some other pony's body and I was just along for the ride. This fact caused me to worry if I were stuck in a memory orb and forgot about it or if I was back in the virtual world. Except both of those were pure fallacy. If I were in the virtual world I would not have the metal disks around my body and if it was a memory orb. Well there was nothing I could do but keep going. Except who was I then? A random wastelander that found a trapped memory orb or am I really… this alicorn Shell Shock? I glanced down as Zakiya moved about on the deck in her sleep. She rolled over onto her belly and I noticed a deep blush on her face from something no doubt in her dream. As I looked around again, I sighed and wondered what it her dream was about. Since the zebra was immune to my telepathy I figured she would also be immune to any mind spells or even direct horn contact, so I sat there looking around at the mist. Zakiya eventually rolled onto her side and that was when I looked away. The brief sight of a pony shape in the fog on the southern riverbank caused me to frown. It meant we were being followed by a mysterious pony in the same way Sienna and I were followed by a pony. Or it could have been one of those hell spawn 'Howlers'. I didn't know if they were hostile since my Pipbuck was broken and didn't work. Not like a working Pipbuck mattered much since Sienna had claimed the pony to be friendly. Though I had to wonder if it was Ripper or not. The insane ghoul would be a most welcome sight at this point if only to shed some light on the situation. After a while an idea came to my mind about going ashore and talking to the pony. I gently turned the boat towards the shore at the same time I throttled the engine down to where the knocking ceased altogether. The river’s current helped to push the boat past my destination, but it did not matter to me. The boat beneath me shuddered a little as it slid to a stop onto the sandbar. I glanced at Zakiya to see if she was awake or not, she wasn’t. So I picked my rifle up in my teeth and cast my invisibility spell. I took another slow glance around the fog to make sure I was alone before I hopped out of the boat and crept into the jungle. The strange pony in the mist had to be close by I figured, which lead me to think they might be Ripper since they seemed to follow me all the time. But that line of thought was destroyed when I remembered she rarely left her home except to retrieve stolen items. I stopped at a small clearing near the boat and laid down to wait for the pony behind a bush. The lush jungle was quiet except for Zakiya's snoring and the heat was nearly unbearable when the sun was hardly up. However as I laid there waiting, a faint breeze carried a familiar scent on it. An almost sweet and sickly reek. It took me a second to realize that the wind carried the stench of... death on it. Nearly taking me back to the pony-zebra war, but I pushed such thoughts aside and bit down on the rifle's grip. A pony shape steadily moved in the fog as the sickly stench drew closer. I kept my eyes on the target so that my aim would be true if they proved to be hostile. The shape drew closer and my eyes widened when I saw who it was. Walking along the jungle floor was a pale and dirt covered ex-Unity alicorn that could only be Sister. There was an open gash along her chest along with a pair of puncture holes and I could have sworn I saw her beating heart. Her limp and bloody wing dragged along the jungle floor, leaving a small trail of blood. The crack in her horn slowly leaked blood onto her nose and the ground around her. Half of Sister’s skull was crushed in showing her brain matter and one of her eyes was completely missing, showing only the socket. "Shock?" she called out to me as she looked around, but I knew she was not real nor could she see me. "Where are you? Shock?" Sister stopped and looked right at at me with that one eye that seemed to bore its way to my very core. The rifle started trembling in my grip when she cracked a smile that made her hideous face even more hideous. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you." I scrambled backwards as I finally dropped the rifle from my mouth and levitated it to eye level with magic. "You're dead!" I shouted with as my eyes teared up as my bad one partly soaked the bandage. Despite my magical ability, the rifle trembled in my telekinetic field and I was not sure if I had a clean shot due to the shaking. "I watched you die... I kissed you... And... And I pushed your corpse into an incinerator!" "Shock," Sister held her bloody foreleg out. I pulled the rifle’s trigger with magic and the weapon recoiled as the shot went wild. She jumped back from me with her ears folded back. "I want you to know that it was not your fault. Do you understand? It's not your fault!" "But it is..." I quickly pulled the bolt back with magic and slammed it forward. The weapon made a loud metallic click as it readied a second round. "I should have listened to you and left when we had the chance, but I didn't... If I had just listened... you'd still be alive!" "Then listen to me now!" Sister shouted and stomped a hoof down and caused my ears to go back. I took another step back as her dark blue coat bubbled and sloughed off her muscles as if she were merely shedding it. My good wing attempted to block the now revolting stench coming from her pale grey muscles. "Shock, I understand your reasonings for what you did, you wanted to help ponies and become a better pony yourself. But you can't do that if you start killing ponies at random!" she stomped her hoof down as the meat fell off the bone and, one by one, her feathers fell off. As I took another step away from alicorn skeleton, the bits of its crushed skull fell to the ground and her one remaining eye socket glowed an odd color. I slowly lowered the rifle as my ears drooped because I knew she was right. "I promised I'd be a better pony… And I swore I would be." Sister nodded slowly and her bones clattered into a pile on the ground just before it burst into flames. ***===***===*** "Sexy mare!" Zakiya's voice resonated inside my head as she shouted. "Shell Shock! Wake up!" My eyes snapped open, revealing Zakiya's striped face and orange eyes with a clear night sky behind her. As I slowly regained focus, I noticed that I was breathing rapidly and heavily, but it was slowing down. "Wh-what is g-going on?" I managed to ask after some effort. Zakiya stepped back with pure concern on her face. "You passed out from blood loss and started mumbling things. Then screaming and..." She brought a lantern up to show her bandaged foreleg in its dull glow. "You bit me." I curled up the best I could with my injured leg and shut my eyes, "I'm sorry... I had a nightmare." A warm hoof touched my back, but I still did not open my eyes. "Did you want to talk about it? It is said that getting it off your chest is the best medicine." I attempted to make myself smaller and said nothing. "Daybreak is soon and I would not recommend any fancy tricks for a day or two. Your body needs time to fill itself back up with blood." I sat up and felt like the world was spinning. It grew worse and worse until I quickly turned and grabbed hold of the ship's side as I shut my eyes. My dinner from yesterday exited my stomach. After it was over, I wiped what was left off of my mouth and tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was more vomit. I breathed deeply and kept my eyes shut as a hoof was placed on my back. "You should rest more," Zakiya softly whispered in my ear while rubbing my back with her hoof. "The wound-" her hoof hit one of the metal discs and caused a tingle to run up my spine and into my brain. "What is this...?" "I do not know," I rasped and scooped up some water in a magic bowl to drink some. I let the cool liquid sit in my mouth for a second before I gargled it and spit it out to get rid of the awful taste in my mouth. A second bowl was drunk slowly to soothe burning throat. I let the magical bowl vanish and looked back at Zakiya. "I woke up in a tube of goo with metal discs all over my body." The zebra pulled my jacket up and looked at them with her head tilted. "I do not know what madness drove you to get metal grafted to your body, but if what you say is true… then you must be lucky." "What do you mean?" I tilted my head some. "I have seen a few others with discs like these. They try to hide them, but sometimes they cannot." I slowly set my head down on the side of the boat with a nod. "Where are we? I need to use your boat to sneak onto the Steel Ranger ship out at sea." Zakiya laughed and let my jacket fall over my back, but I did not look at her. "You must be insane if you think they will let us anywhere near it!" "I am not insane," I growled a little under my breath. "Eclipse beat my sister to death in front of me and needs to pay for it. I swore I’d make her pay." Zakiya set her hoof on my back again and sighed deeply. "Shock, we-" "Dog," I corrected her. "Whatever your name is, we cannot sneak close enough. They would see my smoke trail and open fire on the 'zebra pirate ship'.” "Whatever." I shut my eyes and let the boat rock back and forth on the small waves as we traveled along. The mechanical knocking sound of the steam engine slowly turned into a musical beat I once heard. After a while, I opened my eyes and noticed that Zakiya had gone back to shoveling coal into the boiler and that was the source of the extra sounds. As the zebra placed the shovel full of coal into the metal tube, I said. "They made me watch as Eclipse killed my sister and she needs to pay for it!" "What would you have me do?" Zakiya shoveled more coal into the boiler and spread it around some. "Sail up to the boat, knock on the hull, and ask if they will let us kill her? I am just one zebra and you are just one alicorn. They are many in a confined space, a death trap for us." "Find me a radiation hotspot and it will heal my wings along with my other injuries. Then all you have to do is get me close enough and I'll fly there. You do not have to go any further than that." Zakiya set the shovel down and giggled a little bit as she shook her head. "As much as I would like to see you sneak on board a ship like that, I cannot risk my boat for a thief such as you. But if one such as you would care to help me with a problem, then I might do well to give you something in return to help you on your way." "What do I need to do? At this point I will do anything to kill Eclipse." "There is a town on the western coast," Zakiya nodded down river in the general direction of where we were heading. Then the zebra picked up the shovel again and scooped up more coal for the boiler. "Perhaps a two or three days by river. There I was going to get more coal for a trip back up river to deliver supplies. This river is treacherous when we hit the canyon, no thanks to some river pirates. You protect my boat through the canyon, and I will see what I can do for you." "Zakiya... I can barely stand without falling over. How do you expect me to protect you?" "We will not reach the canyon until morning tomorrow. You will have plenty of time to recover and I have toys in that box there." She set the shovel down and pointed a hoof towards the bow where there was a large box with poorly painted on flames. My curiously got the better of me as to what it was and I slowly crawled over to it. As I did so, sharp pain poked at my flank in protest of being moved. I still did not care for it and powered through to the box. When I opened the lid I squee'd in delight. There, sitting at the bottom of the wood box, was a flamethrower and what looked like zebra armor underneath it. The flamethrower tank was painted to match the zebra armor and I noticed that it had a foreleg nozzle like the one Raul had given me. I set the flamethrower next to the box and lifted the zebra armor up along with a gas mask, which was also painted to match. "What is this for?" I asked as I inspected the mask. It was more like a ballistic helmet with a hole in it for a horn, that was covered up. The gas mask portion was rigidly mounted to a pair of dark goggles, but clipped on to the helmet. "Your uniform," Zakiya replied as I slid the helmet on and buttoned the mask. The fit was okay at best and rubbed a little, which was most likely due to my head shape being different than the last owner's head. "You will use the flamethrower to ward off attacks and with your Pipbuck we-" I unbuttoned the mask and looked at Zakiya. "It does not work. Something is scrambling its systems." "Well then." the zebra frowned. She sat down and wiped her stained hooves onto her equally stained jumpsuit. "It appears this run is going to be interesting. My last guard died in the canyon and I was hoping to sneak through." I set the armor and helmet back into the box, then looked at the flamethrower. His dull paint job shined a bit in the morning sun that was trying to peek through the heavy mist. An odd and strange idea occurred to me about weapons. "Did it occur to you to use a twenty millimeter autocannon or a fifty caliber heavy machine gun? A pony held flamethrower is only good for nearly fifty meters and is highly dangerous to its user." "Where would I get that kind of ammo? I could not make it, because I do not have those casings just lying the fuck around. Neither do I have parts for either of those weapons. Such artillery is hard to come by. Only the Steel Rangers have weapons like that." I sat up and slowly ran a hoof through my short mane. "There are two patrol boats lying on the riverbank overgrown by the jungle. They have the floors lined with casings and their machine guns are intact, but heavily worn by time. One of those might be rebuilt into working condition. If a pony of sufficient skill finds them." "Where are they? Even if I cannot fix them, their scrap value would be good." "Give me a few minutes..." A magic field engulfed my bags as I dragged them over and opened them. With much care, I set the 105mm HE shell off to the side and brought out my journal. The brown book reminded me of what Sister looked like before becoming an alicorn and that caused my eyes to water again. I slowly flipped through the entries and eventually came across the right one. "Aha! Here we are. A wide muddy river impossible to cross by hoof, then after I climbed aboard one..." I skimmed the page a bit and read the entry outloud. "Their barding had long ago been reduced to shreds and the deck underneath the vines was littered with dull brass casings of varying calibers. Next to the skeletons lay the rusted remains of a 20mm autocannon, and on the front walls of the boat were twin M-2 .50 cal machine guns likewise rusted." I shut the book and grinned at Zakiya. "I found your Zebra Rifle there, so they must be serviceable." She was sitting on her haunches scratching her chin with a hoof while looking at the flames inside the boiler. Her crimson robe was neatly folded next to her. I observed her and patiently waited for an answer. Finally, she nodded slowly and set her hoof down. "I think I know what river that is. It runs into Oakwood city and connects it to this smaller one. Or this smaller one connects to that one. It is hard to tell." "So we are taking a detour?" I asked with a smile and a few bats of my eyelashes. Zakiya looked at her coal reserve, the boiler, me, then a box of supplies and sighed deeply. "Very well, we shall recover these weapons." I put the book away as Zakiya walked to the back and started making the boat turn around. *** *** I glanced up at the clear night sky as the boat slowly moved along the river. The half-moon was out and I wondered if Sister was up there waiting for me or if she were merely dead and nothing else. It was then that I found myself humming the song I once heard about a pony wanting to paint everything black. The jungle around us was louder than my humming and all I smelled was soot from the boiler that I sat near. It occurred to me then that the way I had spotted Zakiya's boat, her smoke trail, was the same way a pony could follow us in the dense jungle and not be spotted from the river. However, I did not tell the zebra that. She had enough problems it seemed. What they were she would not tell me and I did not press the matter. She would tell me on her own time. I continued to hum the song and watch the starry sky. We were in the middle of a wide open stretch of the river and anyone that wanted to get to us would need to open fire from the banks. My IF-12 was sitting within easy reach for return fire. Something occurred to me about it's ammo. I had thought that Full Metal Jacket rounds were normal ammunition. This fact caused me to stop humming and pull a round out of my bag. As I stared at it, I noticed that it looked like your standard issue military round from afar, but upon closer inspection in the light of the Pipbuck. I saw that the actual bullet was more like a ball, or filled in hollow point, and that it felt ever so slightly heavier than I remembered. I used my magic to eject a round from the IF-12 and caught it. A quick side by side comparison revealed them to be the same. I frowned a little as I re-loaded the bolt action and aimed it out at the bushes. A bright flame and a clap of thunder preceded the IF-12 recoiling in my grip. I attempted to see where my bullet went, but all I saw was a cloud of smoke that drifted away on the wind. Zakiya woke up with a snort and immediately jumped to her hind legs while pulling out her Zebra Rifle. "What is going on?!" she shouted while looking around. "Where are they?" I pulled the bolt back and caught the shell casing in magic as I slammed the bolt forward. "There is no pony. I was testing these," I held the items in magic for her to see. "It turns out I was tricked into buying black powder rounds for the price of jacketed rounds." “Oh,” Zakiya slung her Zebra Rifle across her back again and nodded. “Warn a pony next time you do that. Or, don’t do it at all. It is a waste of ammo.” I rolled my eyes as I magically unloaded the IF-12 and set the rounds into my bag. Then I brought the box out and picked out a random round. This time I aimed up at the sky and squeezed the trigger with magic. The IF-12 recoiled, spitting fire and lots of smoke a second time. I frowned a little bit as I unloaded the weapon and started to strip it down. “This is annoying. The smoke will give away my position and make it hard to send a second shot down range.” Zakiya walked over and looked down at me. “What do you plan to do? Snipe ponies from a bell tower?” As I pulled out the rifle’s barrel I shook my head slowly. “No. Just in general.” Then I realized that I did not have a rifle cleaning kit and could not clean the barrel or anything else. I let out a deep breath at this fact and looked at Zakiya. In the moonlight she appeared to be a pale blue zebra with dark grey stripes. Her muzzle was highlighted by a faint orange glow coming from her eyes like Axe’s, but not as pronounced. Something I did not notice in the early morning light, but it could have been due to the lantern she had at the time. “Do you have a rifle cleaning kit?” I asked with a tilt of my head. Zakiya bowed her head with a nod. “Yes, I would not call myself Zakiya the Armorer if I did not carry a cleaning kit.” I slowly realized something about the zebra in front of me. She was out here on a boat that was constantly moving around the island, but DJ Snow was still broadcasting. I remember that fact because Sienna’s Pipbuck was playing her voice last week or so. “Aren’t you DJ Snow?” I tilted my head a little. “I remember seeing you at the radio station on the Celestia’s Delight.” Zakiya held her rifle cleaning kit out in her hooves, but I noticed a blush on her face. “You see… that is a very funny story!” she half-laughed as I took the kit in magic and set it down. “It involves lots of alcohol and a drunken bet with a drunken DJ Snow.” “Bet?” She nodded. ”The bet was that I could not last one night as a DJ with no breaks like she does and well, you showed up. But you just assumed I was her! So I did not argue. To argue with one such as you would have been very bad as you could probably have killed me with your mind!” “So you are not DJ Snow? Then who are you?” I asked as she slumped to a sitting position on the deck. My magic flipped open the latches of the kit and I opened it. It was a very well kept cleaning kit and looked like just the thing I needed. With a nod, I started cleaning the rifle. “I am Zakiya the Armorer. This I told you many times.” She opened her cloak and pointed at the pockets inside. “I make armor, modify weapons, and rebuild broken items as evidenced by this.” The zebra let the cloak go and pulled out her Zebra Rifle. Its synthetic stock, I noticed in the moonlight, was painted with stripes and the drum magazine was well cared for. “I have rebuilt the rifle you gave me and added this drum magazine. Ninety rounds of pure military grade hollow point ammunition. Perfect for killing unarmored targets. And plants.” “What about ‘Mist Roamers’?” I tilted my head. Zakiya’s ears folded back as she put the weapon away. “They are more trouble and need armor piercing,” she said slowly with a voice filled with shame. The zebra shut her eyes tightly and slowly shook her head. “I lost a friend when I found that out the hard way. She was ripped apart in front of me.” I set the weapon parts down and nodded slowly. “I know how you feel. I saw my sister die in front of me... She was beat to death by… Eclipse.” As I wiped my eye from the tears, I set the cleaning kit down and started to put the weapon back together. “We are similar, you and I, so we need to stick together.” “Similar how?” Zakiya asked with a tilt of her head. “You are an alicorn and I am a zebra. This fact causes me to wonder how we are similar.” “We both lost ponies we cared about and could do nothing to save them.” I bowed my head slightly as I finished putting the weapon back together. It was as clean as it was going to get tonight and I will need to find some other parts to make it better. “Thank you, but we are not the same.” The zebra nodded towards the river. “I believe those are the boats you spoke of.” I looked towards where she had nodded and could not make out the boats. All I saw was a blue-grey jungle and the moon reflecting off the water. “Where?” “Allow me to show you.” Zakiya said as she walked back to the controls and the steam engine’s knocking slowed down. As the riverbank approached, I noted a pair of blobs that held a familiar shape. The riverboat drew closer to the… other riverboats and I waited. We slowly floated closer and the boats grew more distinct. I noted that they were not like Zakyia’s at all. Hers was more like a large wooden dinghy with the other stuff added on, but the boats we were steadily approaching were identical purpose built combat patrol boats. Though it begged the question as to why they had run into each other head on and were sitting on the riverbank instead of at the bottom of the river. The closer we got to them, the more I wondered about them and why they were here. “Why did my Pipbuck call them Dropkick’s End?” I asked out loud, hoping Zakiya had an answer. “Perhaps one was named Dropkick?” Zakiya replied as her boat’s bow hit the beach and rode up on it a bit, then stopped. The mechanical knocking ceased as the zebra adjusted the controls a bit before hopping onto the riverbank. She slowly looked around and nodded. “I see the weapons you describe. Let’s grab them and as much ammo casings as we can.” I hopped off the boat and followed Zakiya with my IF-12 floating at the ready, but stopped when I remembered that it was unloaded. Quickly, I turned around and lifted my saddlebags with magic. As I tightened them down I looked inside one and brought out five rounds, which I loaded into the rifle. Zakiya was already looking at the 20mm autocannon mount and was mumbling to herself. I walked over and hopped onto the deck. Then wished I had a knife. I looked at Zakiya and whined. “Do you have a knife so I can cut these vines?” She lowered her head and came up with a knife in her teeth. Then flicked her head in my direction and let the knife go. I took a few steps back as the blade embedded itself in fiberglass near me. *** *** As the noisy steam engine propelled us back the way we had come, I looked at Zakiya from the boat controls. She was sitting over a pile of parts that were once two 20mm autocannons. The casings we had picked up amounted to almost a hundred 20mm and three hundred .50 calibre casings that were still mostly usable, if a bit rusty. The zebra was cleaning the autocannons as best she could in preparation for mounting them to the boat. “So, how much farther do we have to travel?” I asked as I looked up at the orange misty fog above us that signaled a bright sunrise was coming. Already I could feel the heat starting in on us and began sweating a little. Luckily I wore nothing beyond the bandages. When I received no response from the zebra I shouted, “Zakiya!” She started in surprise and looked over in my direction as a couple parts fell to the ground. “What is it? I am very busy and do not have time for idle chatter.” “How much farther do we have to go before we reach the town?” I asked again and adjusted the boat a little to keep us in the center of the wide river. “Um…” Zakiya pulled a pocket watch from her bags and looked at it for a few seconds. I noted that it was very ornate in design and looked old, yet well taken care of. “Our travel to the boats delayed us by about twelve hours or more, so like another few days until we reach the coast.” She shrugged. “We will hit the canyon tonight unless we stop and take a break.” “Why would you want to take a break?” I asked with a tilt of my head. The zebra stretched and yawned loudly. “Because I have not had much sleep. Unless you wish to take us there while I work on this autocannon before I pass out?” I nodded slowly and started watching the morning fog around us while the boat took us along. There wasn’t much to do but observe what was going on. *** *** Zakyia sat up and yawned while stretching before she curled up, and hugged the autocannon again. The zebra had fallen asleep while working on the weapon. I had no idea what she was doing to it, but it seemed to be giving her many problems. However, that did not bother me because I was not planning on keeping a rusty weapon. What was bothering me was the fact that the boat we were on looked in poor shape, yet it ran perfectly fine. If a bit noisy and needed a kick now and then. I slowly glanced around with my one eye and noted the mist was burning off thanks to the sun, but that just made the heat worse. Zakiya did not know why the island was acting like that and neither did I, but I figured it had to do with the plants that I had let out. Which was bad, because that meant I messed up the island really bad if ponies were fleeing from it. Then again, the constant cloud layer could have meant the island never really got too warm like it was now that the constant clouds were gone. But it could have just been my ramblings thinking that. After a while of adjusting the boat, I glanced down at my flank and pulled the bandage back a little to get a look at it. The missing chunk was still missing, but it was not as big as it was. There was a strange paste plastered around all of it that had dried and flaked off a bit, even some of the paste was on my muzzle. I knew this because I could feel the dried muck underneath the bandages. What it was, I had no idea, but the smell was akin to wet plants. As I let the bandage go I looked around at the mist again because it felt like a pony was watching us just out of vision range. It was unnerving and a tad bit creepy due to that dream I had where Sister was walking through the jungle. However I knew it could not be her due to the fact that Sister was dead and it was just a dream. But a pony does not simply forget such an event as quickly as a day. Sister would also not want me to be a trainwreck of a pony that constantly cried over her loss. She was dead, I watched her die, and there was nothing I could do to change it unless… I could travel in time. Then it hit me like a bag of bricks and a light bulb popped on. I once remembered a story of a unicorn that traveled back in time to warn herself. While the details are fuzzy to me, the fact that a pony traveled through time still exists. This fact caused me to smile despite me not knowing where exactly the book was. But, deep down, I knew there was only one place it could be; Canterlot. Because a spell such as that one could only be locked away in one of Canterlot’s restricted section. I did not expect the trek to be easy, but I remembered the Goddess had sent alicorns there to look for the Black Book. With their help I could get inside the restricted section of the archives and find the book. Except… we never did hear back from them. But still! They were there and that is what matters. But the main question on my mind was how to get there after I killed Eclipse. She was out at sea on a large ship I could steal, yet I could not get to it without help. Help like that would only come from a friend… a friend that I did not have. Nearly everypony I had come across hated me for one reason or another, or they stole my trust. Slowly, my gaze lowered and I locked on the sleeping Zakiya. A zebra mare that had lost a pony she cared about, similar to how I lost a pony I cared about. I would need to find Axe, or Wraith, and Sienna again. Zakiya saw me as a thief, but I think I was starting to regain her trust again. A yawn escaped the zebra as she rolled onto her back and opened her eyes that did not glow. “I see it is almost noon,” she said quietly. “Good, so I’ve slept for a few hours.” “It seems so. What are you doing with that weapon?” I asked quietly incase she had a hangover. Zakiya pulled out a bottle of rum from her cloak and took a long draw, then let out a gasp as she wiped her mouth with her foreleg. “I am making one from two, but both barrels were heat warped. This one,” she pointed at the barrel next to her hind leg. “Is the one with the least warpage and can be cut down, thus preventing the round from hitting the warp and either shattering, or flying off in a random direction.” “Wouldn’t that reduce its accuracy?” I tilted my head some. “Since the barrel is not the same length? They designed it that long for a reason…” “It would decrease the accuracy,” Zakiya nodded. “But I figure if we take the best casings and fill them with blackpowder it wouldn’t matter as they don’t have the same punch. I will start designing a magazine for it instead of the belt it had.” I blinked in confusion and tilted my head the other way. “But… that weapon wasn’t designed for a magazine.” “I know,” Zakiya nodded. “I will have to rebuild the frame and make up a magazine, but we will need to know how big of a bullet to make before we can do any of that. I don’t suppose you know where there is a few intact twenty millimeter rounds, do you?” “No,” I slowly shook my head. “I do not. But… Ripper might. She once claimed to have enough ammo for her saddle and it is a twenty millimeter gatling gun.” “Hm…” Zakiya looked down at her bottled before taking another swig of it. “We should find her then.” “I am also looking for her, but I have a question. Zakiya… are we… friends...?” I tilted my head a little. She looked at me and drank some more from her bottle. “I do not know. You stole my armor and left me on the surface. But I shot you and helped heal you. Perhaps our relationship is acquaintances for now.” I nodded and shut my eyes as I sighed deeply. “That is sufficient for now. We will go to this town you spoke of, do what you need to do, then find a way to get to Eclipse.” "Perhaps you can get help from the Enclave?" Zakiya asked before taking another swig of rum. She set the bottle down and began nibbling on what looked like a block of cheese. "Maybe," I shrugged and adjusted the steering lever a little to keep us centered in the river. "But they are on another island." "And you're on a boat," the zebra tapped the deck with a hoof, then nibbled on the cheese again. "But they might not recognize me. I look different," I pointed a hoof at the bandage around my eye and muzzle. Zakiya pushed all of the weapon parts away and stood up, stretching her hind legs out one at a time. "You are the only green alicorn on Oakwood. There is no mistaking who you are." I lifted my Pipbuck leg and looked at my forest green coat for a while. "I... was not born like this... I was once a pony like you, but a crystal unicorn. My coat sparkled in the light and I had a coltfriend. I was old enough to be a grandmother when I joined Unity." "Were you?" the zebra tilted her head some. I shook my head, causing Zakiya to tilt her head the other way. "Hm..." The boat bounced a little on the waves and threw us slightly off course, but I easily fixed it. "I tried for many years to have a foal, but none of my efforts proved fruitful." I sighed deeply and shut my eyes as I took in the thick humid air. "Sometimes I wonder if I should not have accepted the offer to become an alicorn." "Why did you?" Zakiya sat down and scratched her ear with a hind hoof, which I thought was oddly amusing. "I did not want to die of radiation poisoning, because I had been sick for many years from it. Unity gave me the option to get out of it as it were. But..." "You might have become a ghoul." "Eh..." I shook my head. "That seems worse than death. You're trapped in a rotted body that does not die and you run the risk of going feral." "When you put it like that, I see your point." I looked out at the fog as it finally lifted and reveal a lush jungle around us. "Being a mindless drone for nearly two hundred years was probably worse than being a ghoul. I would have still been myself for however long. I remember doing things in Unity and not wanting to do them, but I had to. I could not say no without being punished. Zakiya, I..." I looked at her with ny ears back. "I'm sorry for the way we ponies treated zebras during the war." She looked over at me and tilted her head. "Why should you be sorry? That was so long ago it does not matter anymore." "But it does to me... I can recall everything I did except for a large gap. We ponies were not nice to you zebra. You're ponies too, just... striped." "Are you saying you were there during the war?" I nodded slowly, "yes, I was. I can tell you a little about it to pass the time." "Hm..." Zakiya sat down and scratched her chin, then shook her head slowly. “I have a feeling that you might make me angry with the stories.” I slowly looked out over the side of the boat. “How about one that does not involve the zebra-pony war? One that was… before it for me…” “I thought you did not remember before?” Zakiya tilted her head some. “At least, this is what you have told me.” “I don’t remember a lot of it, but this memory could only come from just after I lost my memories.” “Why’s that?” she tilted her head the other way. “What makes your so certain?” “Because it was when I was told who I was and that I had ‘been in a horrible accident’.” “What do you mean?” As I adjusted the direction of the boat, I shrugged a little. “That was what I was told. I could tell you, but you might think it was boring.” “But you have me intrigued. Please, tell it.” “Fine,” I sighed before taking a deep breath and nodding. ***===***===*** I awoke slowly to the noisy beep of a heart rate monitor and the feeling that I was being observed by somepony or ponies. My eyes fluttered open, revealing me to be inside a small medical room with grey walls and the blinds were open, which was letting in the bright sunlight. “She’s awake!” a pony exclaimed in a soft voice that made me smile. Movement near my head drew my attention towards a pony wearing a nurse uniform that I had never seen before. But it was the direction of the voice, so I assumed it was her. “Good, maybe she can tell us what happened,” another female voice said from behind me. Her voice sounded a tad bit too impatient for my tastes. The nurse spread a set of wings and hovered over before landing with a nod. “Yes, Lilium, do-” “Lilium?” I tilted my head as I tried to sit up as slow as I could. The pegasus quickly placed a hoof on me to stabilize my wobbling before it began. “Oh Lilium you shouldn’t move so quickly.” I rolled my eyes and slowly shook my head. “I don’t know why you keep calling me that. It’s not my name!” “What is your name?” the nurse asked as she hovered backwards and landed again. “Do you remember what happened?” She tilted her head some and I noticed a pair of saddlebags on her side. I looked down at the my four crystal hooves on the bed as I attempted to recall anything, but fell short of doing so. It was all a blur or completely blank. “I…” My ears slowly folded back. “I can’t recall it…” Slowly, I brought my hooves up to cover my ears as I shut my eyes. “I know I should know my name, but I just… argh! Why is it blank?!” The nurse set a hoof on my back as the other pony quietly said. “Lilium, there was an accident. Some ponies were killed and yet, you survived. But..." "I don't know what happened..." My ears drooped to the side of my face as I set my hooves down. "Do... do you recognize these ponies?" The nurse asked as she started setting some pictures down on the bed in front of me. I picked one up in magic and tilted my head. There was a unicorn mare holding hooves with a handsome crystal stallion outside of a fancy restaurant. They looked happy and in love. As I shook my head I set the picture down. "No, sorry." The nurse pushed another picture over and looked into my eyes. "They're your parents." “Huh?” I picked up the other picture in my magic and tilted my head. It showed a tan crystal unicorn filly and the two other ponies who were now slightly older. The filly, I recognized to be me, was sitting on the stallion's back with a white hat on her head. "Dad..." I set my hoof on the picture and tilted my head the other way. "Where are they?" "In a waiting room. I'll bring them in," the second voice said as I looked over at her and did not catch much of a glimpse beyond an orange colored tail. The nurse set their hoof on my side and drew my attention to her. "Lilium, you took a big bump to your head." I slowly felt the side of my head with a hoof and winced in pain. The nurse nodded. "Anything you can tell us would be helpful." "Um..." I looked down at the pictures again and sifted through them. Then stopped and tapped one that showed a light blue unicorn next to me. "I recognize this pony. No name but he seems familiar." "That is Ink Well," she nodded. "Your friend according to your parents." "Ink Well..." My eyes narrowed in thought as I looked at the picture of the two of us. Yet, I still drew a blank on our relationship or even my parents names. There was a massive memory gap that needed to be filled." The door noisily opening again drew my attention to it as the mare returned with my parents. My unicorn mother rushed over to hug me tightly. Her grip nearly cut off my breathing and it felt like she was trying to break my ribs. "Mom!" I returned the hug as I gasped for air. She nuzzled the good side of my face and I returned the nuzzle with one of my own. "What is going on?" Mother kissed me on the cheek and let go of the hug. I sighed in relief as the pain went away and took a few deep breaths. "You... were involved in a sky wagon crash a few months ago." her ears folded back slowly as her eyes watered. "And... And you were in a coma. They said... that you might never wake up." "Sky wagon?" I tilted my head a little as I tried to remember. Mother and Father nodded as the light blue unicorn Ink Well walked in. However, I ignored him and concentrated on trying to remember what happened. Eventually I nodded slowly. "Yes... I... I remember now..." I shut my eyes and continued quietly. "I was on my way to work when the thing making the sky wagon fly exploded. There... was nothing we could do but hold on to something and hope the pegasus set us down." "I'm afraid the result wasn't as simple. The wagon hit a building on the way down and killed the pegasus pulling it. You were thrown onto the rooftop and hit your head pretty hard. You were lucky." Ink Well walked over and hugged me tightly, but not as tight as my mother did. I hugged the stallion back and shut my eyes. ***===***===*** As I finished telling the memory to Zakiya, I cleared a few tears from my eyes. "And that is the earliest memory I have." "Hm..." she sat down in thought. "It seems suspicious to me. That you only remembered these events after they told you them." I shrugged as I adjusted the boat's direction again. "The doctors called it amnesia caused by a traumatic event. But why would it take everything up to that point and not the crash? This is what has caused me to think my memories were erased and the crash was a made up story." "Do you think your parents and that stallion Ink Well were made up as well?" I glared a little at Zakiya. "That is not funny. They helped me recover." "It was not meant to be a joke. Just an observation," she picked up the weapon parts and started trying to put them back together. "What was your employment?" "Huh?" I scratched my ear and tilted my head. "What was that?" "Your employment. You said you were on your way to work when the sky wagon crashed, so what did you do for caps?" I placed a hoof to my chest and sat up proudly, "I was a front-line cook for a four star restaurant." Shell Shock: 50% to next level. Author's Note Here's my gift for Hearth's Warming Eve. :)
Chapter 15: River RatsChapter 15: River Rats. “Some day you’ll look back and wonder why you turned left instead of right.” Zakiya blinked in confusion as she tilted her head. "What's that mean? You ran food out to the ponies who were fighting?" I shook my head as I giggled a little bit. "No, it means I did a lot of cooking in the restaurant." "Oh," the zebra nodded slowly. "Well perhaps you can do the cooking around here sometime." "Maybe," I shrugged as I adjusted the boat to keep it in the center of the river where it was deepest. "Perhaps not. I do not intend to stick around for very long. Only until I help you get to this next town." I nodded slowly as if to reassure myself that I was correct in my words. Zakiya stretched while looking around. "Nice to see the mist is leaving us. Hopefully it will take the Mist Roamers with it." "I would have called them Howlers, because of the sound they make." Underneath the bandages, my muzzle and flank began itching due to that muck on them, so I started rubbing my muzzle with a hoof. "Stop," the zebra said loudly. I did so and looked at her in confusion. My head tilted at an odd angle so I could see her with my one good eye. "You will reopen the wounds if you keep that up." "But Zakiya, it itches, the goop is all icky and dried!" I whined like a foal as my ears folded back. "What is this stuff anyway?" "Kelp," she replied with a nod. “Well, ground up kelp, some diluted plant venom and a few nice words make a nice healing paste. While not as effective as a healing potion or bandage. It is enough to heal you over time so you don’t die from blood loss, but you will need real treatment soon.” “No wonder it smells bad.” I muttered quietly. Zakiya rolled her orange eyes. Then stood up as her ears swiveled back and slowly looked in that direction. “Great…” “What?” I leaned over to look around Zakiya and the boiler, and frowned. Floating on the river ahead of us was a flat looking boat with twin pipes at the top breathing fire and smoke. The main portion of the boat looked like a large house painted a dingy white color with tall wood structures like gun turrets. On its sides were strange bulges that kicked up water. But, on the front, was a single large gun pointed directly at us with a few ponies behind it. "Slow us down and move to the right," Zakiya said quietly. “What?” I sat back in my original position and stared at Zakiya in clear confusion. She looked at me and glared with her orange eyes while pointing her hoof to the right. “Do it! If not, they might open fire.” My magic adjusted the controls as the zebra’s boat slowed down a little bit and moved far to the right side of the river. I watched as the large ship drew ever closer and saw that it even had guns on its side. “They might have twenty millimeter rounds,” I said as I grinned. “We can flag them…” However, I noticed the large round paddle wheels were already slowing down as if they had heard me. “...down and… ask them…?” Zakiya looked over at me and nodded. “When two boats meet, they must slow to a stop and signal their intentions.” “That sounds ludicrous. Whoever made that up must have wanted an easy target,” I said as a dull mournful note rang out from the boat. It steadily increased in pitch as a cloud of steam rose in the air from a small point on the boat. My ears swiveled forward as it increased to an almost ear piercing volume and sharply cut off. “Huh?” A loud, but shrill and high pitched, wail caused me to look over at Zakiya holding a lever down. The boat we were on was making the noise from a whistle I assumed. Zakiya let the lever go, then pulled on it three more times in rapid succession. The large steam boat across the river wailed three times in response. “What is going on?” I asked Zakyia with my head tilted as the faint ringing in my ears died down. She grinned at me. “You wanted a trade, I signaled we wished to trade.” After what felt like an eternity, small boat slowly made its way across the river towards us. I stared at the large steam boat with the large guns and wondered if it ship was the Celestia’s Delight or not, but Zakiya spoke of the Delight as an airship. So I disregarded that idea. “What kind of ship is that?” I asked Zakiya. “A dinghy like mine, but smaller,” she replied. I facehoofed. “Not that one. The big one.” “Oh,” she scratched her chin as the small boat drew ever closer. “I believe that is the Mare of War. A strange vessel crewed by strange ponies.” "Strange how?" "They use fire and robots to take down their foes. I got my flamethrower from them in exchange for modifying some of their armor." As the small craft came nearer, I saw there was a pony wearing a dark green duster with ornately painted metal plates over the coat. In all, the armor looked almost as bulky as a Steel Ranger suit of power armor, but the pony was wearing a top hat that was equally decorated. There were a pair of nozzles around her forelegs which appeared to look like the end of a flamethrower. "Shit," Zakiya hissed, "that one creeps me out." "Why?" I tilted my head a bit as the boat grew ever closer. "Because she's nice. Almost too nice." I was going to reply, but the mare on the other boat levitated her hat off her head and bowed. "Ahoy fine travellers! It has come to my attention that you seek trade," she stood up as she placed the top hat back on her head. That was when I noticed that she was a pale green-blue color. "I am sure we might be able to accommodate your needs in one way or another, so how about you two fine mares?" she smiled the last bit of it. Something about her made me wonder why they picked her and not another pony. I glanced at Zakiya, who nodded at me, so I looked at the strange mare again and tossed a rusty 20mm casing across the gap. The armored mare caught it in a pinkish magic field and floated it close to inspect it. "We need at least fifty rounds in that caliber." "Hm..." the mare turned the casing over a couple of times. "Something that fires this must be big. Big enough to hunt down vehicles with, but why only fifty?" She glanced at me as she put the casing into a pocket. "You don't want two hundred or some obscene number like a thousand so you can run around murdering innocent vehicles?" "Fifty would be nice," Zakiya added before I could open my mouth, "but we really were hoping for three at the most." "Right," the armored mare adjusted her hat and smirked. "Let’s get down to business: What do you have to offer?" "Um..." I gulped as I slowly looked over at my bags. There was really nothing in there that I would want to trade and I doubted Zakiya wanted to give anything up. Then I looked at the mare. "We have information?" "What kind?" she tilted her head some. I opened my mouth to say something, but Zakiya spoke first. "I can fix something for you." The armored mare scratched her chin for a moment before nodding. "One of our boilers isn't working quite right and you can take a look at it. In return, we will give you five twenty millimeter rounds and let you go on your way." I let out a breath and smiled. "Thank you." "Right," the mare motioned for her boat to go and it began moving. "Well follow us then. And no tricks!" *** *** I looked at the ship as Zakiya's boat brushed against it. The vessel was large, but not so massive as the Steel Ranger ship or the Crescent Moon. The ship next to us looked like it might even be capable of crossing the ocean if the captain was crazy enough. And that caused me to smile. A pony tossed some rope down to Zakiya and the zebra quickly started tying it to her boat. I looked up at the deck again with my ears back as my smile slowly faded. Some ponies were pointing flamethrowers and what looked like hoofmade rifles at me. "No sudden moves, understand?" one asked loudly. I nodded in response which seemed to satisfy them, because they smiled a bit. "Be a nice alicorn and you'll keep-" "Trigger!" the armored mare snapped, drawing the attention of the earth pony. "That's no way to treat a guest under the protection of a trade agreement." "Yes, ma'am," Trigger nodded as he tipped his hat. That was when I noticed that all of the ponies on the ship, that I could see, wore matching clothes of varying quality. The three ponies above me all wore dark green dusters and top hats with rank insignias on them. It was as if I stumbled upon the Steel Rangers. If the Rangers chose to get rid of their power armor. The armored mare walked into my view as the three ponies quickly backed away like they were scared shitless of her. She looked down at me with a glowing horn. I tensed up in preparation to attack, but looked at her in confusion when a rope ladder was tossed down. "Thanks, but I think I'll fly," I smiled. She shrugged and took a few steps away. I shut Zakiya's boat off like she showed me to, picked up my gear in magic and hopped onto the deck with a powerful flap of my wings. My hooves hit the deck with a hollow thump as the mare said, "looked more like a jump to me." "I fall with style," I bowed my head slightly, noticing that Zakiya was already on the ship and being escorted off somewhere. I looked at the mare and smiled a bit. "I would like to speak with the captain." She looked me up and down for a moment before tilting her head some. I wondered what she was thinking about and who the ponies were, but I would not find either by just staring at her. I would have needed to use my telepathy to know what she was thinking, but chose not to out of respect for the two flamethrower nozzles on her forelegs. "Why do you need to see the captain? He's very busy." Regardless of how nice she had been, her tone put me off and made me feel a bit annoyed. "Because I need to ask him something important to me. Is that so hard to comprehend?" "Not at all." The mare smiled as she turned around and began walking the deck. "Follow me." I stole a glance the way Zakiya had gone and made sure nothing was amiss before following after the armored mare. *** *** The armored mare opened a wooden door and stepped inside the central superstructure. As I followed in, I wondered where they had found time to acquire the lush red carpet that looked in pristine condition. Even the dark wood walls of the interior were rich in color, and the lights appeared to be working perfectly. It was as if I stepped back in time to before the war. "How did..." I mumbled to myself as I followed along and looked at the ceiling that showed no sign of wear or dirt. "This is... beautiful." "Yes," the mare looked over her shoulder and smiled. "It's a lot of work keeping this old girl fit, but we manage." We walked by white wooden doors that appeared to be new as well. It made me wonder if they even had a problem with their boilers, or were being nice and made something up to separate us before they robbed us. There were many questions floating in my mind about the boat, the ponies, Eclipse, and most of all. What keeps drawing so many ponies to the island. The mare turned a corner and the hallway appeared to go on forever, but I knew it was just an illusion and the hallway was much shorter than infinity. I followed her up a set of stairs until we came to a doorway marked 'Crew Quarters'. The mare stepped into the hallway that was less plush and continued walking. I noticed the lack of ponies around the ship and had only seen very few, so I asked, "why do I not see anypony?" "A precaution against an invader. Until you prove you're not hostile, we are staying away from everypony." she stopped at a door and knocked hard enough with an armored hoof that I thought the door was going to break, but it did not. "But I'm not invading. All I want is to trade and talk." "Well the Captain's time is money, so speak plainly and quickly," she said as she knocked again. And waited a few more moments. Moments that dragged out and I could have sworn my heart was going to beat its way out of my chest. "Something wrong?" I asked quietly with a tilt of my head. "No." The mare frowned and knocked a third time, but hard enough that the door cracked a little. "Captain Spice!" she shouted at the door. "There is a pony here to speak with you!" She received no response and that caused my ears to slowly fold back. "I don't believe this shit," she hissed as she tried the door handle with magic and found it unlocked. "Huh? He keeps that locked when he's out..." Slowly, the mare opened the door and stuck her head inside. "Captain?" I walked over as the mare went inside. She made a motion with a hoof to indicate I should wait, so I planted my rump on the floor and waited. With the door open I could see a large room decorated in a way that could rival a pre-war mansion, which made me wonder where they found everything. Or if I somehow stepped back in time. "Captain?!" the mare shouted as she walked a large circle around the room. A door off to the side was flung open and a stallion with a cigar in his mouth walked out, glaring at her. "A stallion can't take a shit without being yelled at?!" he shouted back at her. "Oh," the mare gulped, "um..." She pointed a hoof at me. "This alicorn wishes to speak with you." "Then come in and shut the door," he motioned at me with his hoof. I glanced down the hallway and made sure I was alone before following his instructions. The captain walked over to a wooden desk and sat down in what appeared to be a a large leather chair. Slowly, I walked over to the desk and bowed my head to the side a bit, noticing that the mare's flamethrower nozzles were lit as if she thought I would attack. "Captain," I began quietly with my mouth so as to not piss them off. "I wish to hire passage on your ship." "Where to and why?" he set his cigar in an ash tray and leaned back, opening a drawer. After a few moments of digging, he pulled a roll of paper out and unrolled it. Revealing it to be a desk sized map of the island chain which appeared to be recently drawn by hoof. The name Oakwood Ruins was drawn on the largest island near a river delta. He even had Bunkerville not far from one of the smaller rivers to the northeast of the main city. There were a few other cities I didn't bother to pay attention to. On another island called Cedar Isle, to the northwest of Oakwood Island, was town named Moonville, which I assumed was the Crescent Moon since I had heard it called that once before. I glanced at the names on the map and my ears slowly folded back. "There is no place named Steel Ranger Base." The mare giggled and the stallion shot a glare at her, which cut her giggle off. He held the glare for a moment and then nodded slowly. "No, there is no location called that. The Steel Rangers are here," he set his hoof down on Deadwood Cove, which was a horseshoe shaped island southwest of Oakwood Island. "Their ship ran aground in the fog and got stuck." "Did it fall over?" "Leaning to the side some, but not falling over," he shook his head. "We did encounter a ship similar to it on the north side of Cedar Isle. Near impossible to get to by hoof and sea." he pointed a hoof at the northern portion of the island with 'Cant Pass' written on it. "Why is it impossible to get to by hoof and boat?" "The rocks for one, too many and too close together. Makes getting close by a boat like ours impossible. Another reason is the sheer cliff face. You'd have to be able to fly or walk on walls. Even then, we lost a gryphon to an automated turret. Poor fellow was shot down before he got close." I frowned a bit. Half of me wondered if it was the ship Bucky had found and my other half didn't care. Still, I had found out that Eclipse was still nearby and that caused me to grin. Since sneaking close to their base would be a lot easier when it didn't move. "I have a question," the armored mare began, drawing my attention to her. She was pointing a forehoof at my left leg with a small frown. "Why do you rely on such... antiquated technology?" "Huh?" I blinked in confusion as I tilted my head. "A Pipbuck is the pinnacle of pony technology along with laser weapons, power armor and... and... Stealthbucks." "If it's the pinnacle of pony technology, then why are we in a wasteland?" she tilted her head in the same direction as mine to match my gaze. "Hm? Answer me that." "Um..." my ears slowly drooped to the side of my face. The mare was right. I had always assumed that power armor and energy weapons were the best thing pre-war ponies had made. And yet... we blew ourselves up and left future generations with the ashes. The ship captain rolled his eyes. "Let the alicorn be. If she wants a Pipbuck, she can have a Pipbuck. She doesn't have to follow our rules." I smiled at the stallion and nodded my thanks, but then my smile slowly faded when I realized something. "But, my Pipbuck is broken.. Only the light works on it." "Hah!" the mare laughed. I did not look at her, but the stallion glared in her direction. "Why don't you take it off then?" I held my foreleg up to eye level so I could stare at the device. After a while of thinking about it, I smiled at the armored pony. "Because I like the flashlight function and it is a good weapon in hoof-to-hoof combat." "Good weapon?" the ship captain tilted his head. To demonstrate my point, I tapped my hoof against the metal casing, causing the screen to flicker some. "Whatever this is made out of, is so strong you can almost block a bullet with it." "It's still dead weight," the mare grumbled. The ship captain cleared his throat and shot a glare at the armored mare. Most likely to shut her up, which worked. After a few seconds of silence from all of us, the captain nodded at me. "My earlier question still stands. Where do you want to go?" I quickly pointed my hoof at Deadwood Cove and grinned, "I need to go here. There is a pony I have to visit with the Steel Rangers." "Nnnope," the captain shook his head. "Closest we can get you is Blue Water Marina." He set a hoof down on the southern portion of Oakwood Island. Below his hoof was a crude drawing of a dock and 'Blue Water Marina' below it. "I'm sure you can find your own way to your death from there." I pressed my forehooves together and bowed my head. "Thank you, and may The Goddess give you fair winds and following seas." "Except," the captain placed the cigar into his mouth and bit down on the end. "We haven't decided on what you can offer for passage." he managed to mumble coherently around the cigar. "Captain, if I may speak?" The mare asked. The captain nodded his head in her direction, so she continued. "This alicorn and her zebra companion have already struck up a bargain for five twenty millimeter ammunition in exchange for repairing our boilers." "Hm..." the stallion leaned back and scratched his chin some as an odd silence fell upon the room. I tilted my head wondering what he was thinking about. Slowly, I smiled a little. "I do have some information about Bunkerville. A mule named Iron Jaw was recently killed there by a assassin hired by the changelings." I could feel the mare roll her eyes. The ship captain shook his head. "While his death is interesting, a lot of ponies knew about the bounty on his head. Yet, none were insane enough to carry it out." "Well," my smile grew a little. "I know the assassin used a Stealthbuck to get close and blow his brains out." "I'm guessing you're the assassin," the captain said, causing my ears to slowly droop as my smile faded. "But! I don't care about that. What I do care about is what you have to offer in exchange for me taking you to Blue Water Marina." I pressed my hooves together again and stared at them for a long while. The room became silent again when no pony spoke. I thought about the rifle, 105mn HE shell, but then... my gaze lingered on my scratched up Pipbuck underneath the sock. Slowly, I looked at the stallion and smiled. "How about I trade you my Pipbuck?" "I thought you said it was broken?" the mare asked from my left. "It is," I nodded. "But it is the only thing I think you will accept." "Well you got one thing wrong," the ship captain said before taking a puff of his cigar. He blew the smoke off to the side and smiled. "There are always other methods." "Like what?" I tilted my head. "Well, you could join us for a while, or do some... other odd jobs. But the Pipbuck is a fine trade," he nodded. Then looked at the mare. "Take her to see the Wizard and have her remove the Pipbuck." "Yes, Captain!" the mare said with an annoying vigor and a salute. I stood up and looked over at the mare as she set the hoof down. "Follow me." She walked towards the door, but I lingered for a moment to look at the map. Oddly enough, the three islands formed a sort of triangle that looked pretty big. There was even a few question marks dotted around the ocean. Though I did not know their reasoning, perhaps they were shipwrecks? Or long lost islands? However, the captain glared a bit at me before rolling the map up. I smiled, bowing my head some. "It is an intriguing map you have." "Shoo," he waved a hoof towards the door. "We'll take you to Blue Water Marina after you've talked with Wizard." With a deep sigh, I followed the armored mare. *** *** I followed along behind the armored mare through the notso plush hallways, but eventually grew bored of the silence. My gaze wandered down from the back of her head to her flanks and I found myself... staring at the rear armor she wore underneath the trench coat. I had no idea why she wore part over the coat and the other part under it, but It'd be something to ask. The mare flicked her tail at something, causing me to blush a bit from the slight unintended view and look away. "So, this ship is nice," I said in an attempt to distract myself. "Are you Steel Rangers?" The mare laughed some and shook her head. "Steel Rangers? Hardly. You know of the Canterlot Guard? The ones with the spears, fancy metal armor who sat around the castle a lot?" "Sort of," I absently nodded. “I have seen their advertisements out in the wastes.” I did not want to reveal my age to these ponies for fear of them holding a grudge against pre-war ghouls. "Well they are rumoured to be our ancestors. After the war, a small few were on leave and stranded on this boat. Many years later, we roam the seas looking for a place to start anew. Most places are dead and lifeless, yet this island chain is not. Odd, right?" "I suppose," I shrugged some. "The island inhabitants were trying to figure out a way to grow food anywhere, and it appears they succeeded. This island is quite green while still being dangerous." "How do you know what they were planning?" I stopped, gulping slowly, and then smiled at the mare. "I found their data on it." "Really?" her eyes slowly widened. "Is it on the Pipbuck?!" "No," I shook my head. As I looked down at the device, I frowned. "That one was taken from me. This Pipbuck was found as a trap." "We should find it! That data could help save everyone!" "It won't..." my ears slowly drooped. "There are things that you don't understand, horrible monsters which were created by that data." "Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "You're probably lying anyway." I looked up as she opened a door and stepped inside. Immediately, I could hear soft piano music and smell strange things, like burning shit. As I followed the mare inside, I tilted my head some at the strange scene. Along the walls were various masks, helmets, and... skulls. In the center was a strange table and other odd things. Off to one side of the room, a tall dark purple, almost black, pony in a blood stained lab coat was bobbing her head to the music. She appeared to have goggles on her face and a mask that obscured her features. But her horn was evident. "Wizard!" the armored mare snapped, drawing the mare's attention to us. Her eyes widened upon seeing me and that is when I noticed the purple eyes and mane along with the wings at her side. "No! No! No!" she shouted as she scrambled away from whatever it was she was working on. The almost black purple alicorn slammed into a table and knocked it over, spilling its contents. "Get that freak away from me!" She stumbled and fell behind the table in a cry of shock. A bright purple flash followed quickly before I could react. Something about her felt familiar, even the voice. As if... Almost as if she were an alicorn I remembered. But it would have been silly. "I take it you two know each other?" the armored mare looked at me. I shrugged in response. "What am I saying? You're both alicorns from this island," my eyes widened in shock, "so of course you know each other!" "What?!" I shouted and walked towards where the mare had gone, but she was not there. Suddenly, a pony screaming drew my attention to my blind spot and my eye widened in fright. The nearly black alicorn was galloping towards me with a cleaver floating high and ready to strike. I dove to the side, landing in a roll and, as I quickly stood up, brought out the IF-12 with magic. However, the purple had vanished again, causing me to hiss. "RJ?! Is that you?" I shouted as I scanned around to my left, then quickly to my right. All I saw was the armored mare with a smirk on her face. "RJ! I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know and..." my ears folded back. "And... I would nev-" "Diiiie!" she screamed from my blind side. I quickly turned in that direction and brought the rifle around, but her magic grabbed it. I felt it tug, so I let it go and dove over the nearest counter, landing in a roll. "Now I have a rifle, hah!" RJ shouted as I stood up on my hind legs and adopted a defensive stance. My horn brushed the ceiling. "I don't want to fight you. I just-" The rifle clicked empty when she pulled the trigger, causing me to blink in surprise. RJ glanced at the rifle and tore her concentration from the knife. "What?" she asked herself as she pulled the bolt back and looked inside. "There's no bullets?!" My magic quickly tore the cleaver away from her and tossed it to the side. Slowly, the armored mare began clapping her hooves together, drawing our attention to her. "Bravo!" she giggled. "Now that this little fight is over, can we get down to business?" "No!" RJ snapped, tossing me the rifle. I caught it with magic and dropped to all four hooves. "Tell that freak I'm not talking to her!" the purple pointed a hoof at me. I rolled my eyes. The armored mare walked over to RJ and they began whispering to each other. I tilted my head and tried to listen in, but could not hear anything beyond Pipbuck. If I used telepathy, then RJ would feel me and probably snap again, But, after a while, the purple alicorn nodded with a smirk. "Fine, I'll help her take the Pipbuck off," she said as her horn glowed. "But I don't have any Pipbuck tools." That fact caused my head tilt to increase as I blinked in confusion. "Then how are you going to help?" RJ giggled a little bit as she slowly walked over. I noticed the cleaver was floating back to her. "It's simple, really. We kill you." "Huh?" I gulped and started backing towards the door, but heard it slam shut. "This wasn't part of the deal!" "Moron," RJ mumbled with a roll of her eyes. "The Pipbuck will only think you're dead, and so it will release its hold on your leg." I bumped into the wall and kept trying to back up. RJ looked at the armored mare. The unicorn tilted her head some, her smirk had yet to vanish, and motioned at the table. "Sit, please, and we'll take the Pipbuck off." "How do I know this isn't some kind of trick?" I asked, tilting my head to the side some. "I know RJ wants to kill me." The armored mare looked at RJ. The nearly black purple looked at the unicorn and shrugged. "Well, she is pretty nuts. You should have seen what she did to this one pony." The armored mare rolled her eyes. "Regardless of what she's done to you. She has a deal with us and you will not attack her, understand?" RJ nodded slowly. She glanced down at the cleaver and sighed deeply, setting it on the table. Slowly, I took a step forward. "What is your name?" "Mine?" the mare asked. I nodded. "Pepper, and that's Miss Pepper to you, Wizard," she glared at RJ. With a faint smile, I sat down at the table and placed my Pipbuck leg on it. RJ looked the device over and her face was right near mine. I noticed that her horn appeared as dull as Sister's did and her coat. Was a rich and deep purple that would probably shine softly in the light if it were washed. As it was, the nearly black alicorn was a dingy and dull purple. Her mane was a much lighter shade and almost resembled a light violet hue. "I think I can get this off," RJ lifted her head up and glanced at Pepper. Then me. "But, since I don't have any Pipbuck tools on me..." my ears folded back. "I'm gonna have to cut your leg off." "I'm sorry," I blinked in confusion as my head tilted almost ninety degrees. "What was that? I don't think I heard you correctly." RJ grabbed the cleaver in magic and held it up. "It's simple; we cut your leg off and the Pipbuck will think you died." My eyes widened in shock and I quickly pulled the leg away, cradling it like a foal. "No! Absolutely not!" I shook my head a few times. "That's... that's absurd!" "Do you have some attachment to this archaic device?" Pepper tilted her head as she lifted an armored hoof. "I can assure you, you will be better without it." My eyes narrowed at the mare as an attempted to kill her with an imaginary eye laser. "I have an attachment to my leg!” “We’ll put it back on,” Pepper nodded at RJ. “Zebra magic is fun like that.” The purple alicorn floated out a book labeled ‘Five ways Zebra magic can help you survive’. It looked new and recently printed, but it still did not change the point. “But one time,” RJ’s ears folded back as she looked at the book, “a pony’s leg was put on backwards… except that was the first time I tried it!” “Poor guy had to have it cut off twice…” Pepper mumbled. My eyes widened in shock. “What?! Let me see that stupid book!” I snatched it away from RJ and flipped it open with my own magic. It detailed how to make a healing potion, how to make some kind of a sticky paste stuff to attach limbs again, and two other things I didn’t bother paying attention to because I tossed the book back at RJ. “How are you a ‘wizard’ if your knowledge comes from a book about zebra magic, which is more or less alchemy?” RJ frowned, turning the book over to look at the cover. She stared at it for a while and I could swear I heard gears turning inside her head. Pepper walked over to a jar of something glowing gold and I knew what it might be. She levitated the jar in her magic. "Do you know what this is?" "Alcohol?" I tilted my head. Slowly, Pepper grinned at me and nodded. "Indeed. Celestia's Ray is what we call it. I take it you have tasted it in some other location?" I nodded slowly. "It, along with our other drink, Luna's Light, brings us a hefty portion of caps from each town we visit. Where there are thirsty ponies, we provide." "I fail to see what this has to do with RJ." "Simple really. Brew making is natural for her. Whereas for us, it's harder. Her drinks are better, more flavorful, and profits have nearly doubled since we brought her on board. Hence, she is out Drink Wizard." "You're the Rum Runners I've heard about," I mumbled. "Yes, we are." She grinned. RJ set the book down and sighed, floating over a vial with some green liquid in it. "Look, I don't have any Pipbuck tools on me. This is a proven method, even if I don't like to do it." "What about if you go to Bunkerville and trade-" Pepper facehoofed again. "Nopony will give up Pipbuck tools if they have them. Not even for all the caps ever produced." "I could steal them for you," I replied with a nod, smiling a bit. Pepper shook her head, causing my ears to go back. "Why not?" "Tracker," RJ said quietly. "A ghoul that seems insane, but can track anypony across the island." Pepper nodded at RJ's words. "You cross Queen Cog, and Bunkerville sends Tracker after you. No pony has ever escaped that ghoul." Even though it sounded like a ghoul with a Pipbuck, I gulped and tried to smile, but frowned. "What do we do then?" RJ draped a cloth over the table and began sharpening the cleaver. Pepper set a jar of Celestia's Ray down on the table, followed by a belt from a saddle and a bonesaw. The unicorn opened the jar and took a sip from it. I smiled a little bit at the mare and took the drink, giving it a sniff. To me, there was a very strong alcohol smell, and yet... there was a faint smell like sweet oranges. Slowly, I took a sip and the orange flavor overpowered my tongue to the point where I could not taste the alcohol. Yet I felt the drink burn all the way down into my stomach and sit there warming it up. "That is quite good!" I giggled, causing RJ to grin. "You can hardly taste the alcohol." "There's a surprise inside," the dark purple alicorn nodded. "What kind?" I tilted my head as I lifted the jar up to look at the bottom. There was a pair of orange slices resting on the glass. "Aha! So you drink all of it, and then eat the oranges." "Yep." I took another sip of the nice orange flavored alcohol and smiled a bit as I slowly started feeling the effects. "What's in Luna's Light? That stuff was bitter and strong last time I had it." "It's much stronger alcohol and flammable. As for what's inside it. There's nothing." "Oh," I nodded slowly and took another sip. "You know... you should put some apricots in another batch of this stuff. And... strawberries, or cherries, in Luna's Light." "Hm..." RJ tapped her chin in thought as I took a third sip. It did not take a rocket scientist, or wizard, to figure out what they wanted; me drunk and numb to pain. I obliged their wishes by taking another, much longer, sip. *** *** Using her magic, RJ slowly pulled my hoof sock off and set it in my bags off to the side, which held my jacket and other gear. The socks were still on as they were the last item before the Pipbuck. Other than that, I was naked. Pepper stood off to my left smiling for some odd reason. I, on the other hoof, was starting on my 2nd jar and had an orange slice in my mouth. "Shock," said RJ with a sigh. "Haven't you had enough of that stuff? Most ponies would be passed out by now!" "Nope!" I replied with my mind as I grinned, holding the orange slice with my teeth. RJ facehoofed and shook her head. "Miss Pepper, I don't... I can't go through with this in her current state." "Why not?" Pepper asked as I pulled the orange slice in and began chewing. "You said you wanted payback. Now's your chance!" I hiccuped a bit and my cheeks felt like they were sweating. "What's wrong with what we agreed on?" "See?" RJ pointed a hoof at me. "She can't even talk straight!" "You need to open your ears," I hiccuped again. "She wasn't supposed to get shitfaced," RJ groaned, slamming her hoof on the table. "Only enough to dull the pain. It’s not funny anymore." "Maybe she'll pass out and we can cut her leg off then?" Pepper shrugged. I set my leg on the table and nodded at RJ, "let's do this." RJ grabbed the cleaver in magic and levitated a leather wrapped wooden dowel into my mouth. I bit down on it as the purple levitated the cleaver up. "I ever tell you our sister, Sister, died?" I asked with my mind. RJ tilted her head some with an eyebrow raised. "What was that?" "Mudpie... died..." I looked down at the Pipbuck as my ears slowly dropped to the side of my face, but then I took a long draw of the Celestia's Ray, but due to the dowel... a lot spilled out. As I set it down, my eyes watered a bit. "Eclipse... killed her right in front of me. Made me watch as they beat her to death. I... I was powerless to stop them, but I tried to. But..." I slowly looked up into RJ's eyes. She had her ears back and appeared completely confused or scared. "I swore I'd kill that bitch, to make her pay, for what she did to Mudpie. That... is why I am doing this." RJ blinked a couple of times, and then brought the cleaver down. Shell Shock: 75% to the next level. FFS, kill something or do some quests to level up!
Chapter 16: Thunderstorms don't always need clouds or rainChapter 16: Thunderstorms don't always need clouds or rain "When you’ve lived as long as I have, why bother caring anymore?" The cleaver slammed into the table with a hollow thunk, causing me to tilt my head in confusion. RJ used her magic to pull open a nearby drawer and rummaged through it while mumbling, "I can't do this. She's too drunk to even think clearly, let alone understand we were just fucking with her." Pepper sighed deeply, looking at the cleaver half buried in the wood. "Well I thought it was funny." "I don't understand..." I hiccuped, tasting bile in my mouth. Slowly, I looked at the cleaver and wondered why she hadn't chopped into my leg yet. RJ turned her head to look at the drawer and I frowned some. "Where’s that tool at?!" she hissed. "Well," Pepper began with a shrug. "How often do we even come across Stable ponies?" "Not often I’d imagine," RJ grunted. "Check the left drawer. The one marked Stable-Tech manuals." I gripped the meat cleaver in my green magic and, with some effort, pulled it out. The pony reflecting back at me was a slightly red faced green alicorn with half her faced bandaged. She looked alien to me, and a hideous creature. Not a beautiful princess of love. 'Perhaps you're not meant to ever find love,' a voice whispered in the back of my mind, causing me to blink in confusion. ’You're hideous now. The Goddess would reject you for your looks! You’re an outcast, a reject of the Goddess! She despised you. You were the worst and dumbest mistake she ever made!' I hissed at the voice and reflection. They were both wrong. The Goddess loved all of her children and would help me find my way back to perfection. She, the mare in the reflection, was an old and wise pony. "Done!" RJ exclaimed excitedly, drawing my attention down to my leg. The matted fur felt odd and the scars had a slight green fuzz indicating the fur was regrowing. RJ set the Pipbuck down and hooked something up to it. This caused my eyes to slowly narrow in anger. "You," I hissed a bit drunkenly. "You were going to cut my," I hiccuped. "My leg off when you had tools?!" Slowly, my glare rose up and locked on RJ's frightened face, causing her ears to droop. "Shock, just listen-" "No!" I flipped the cleaver around, brandishing it towards the two purple alicorns that had appeared. "What kind of sick pony are you?!" "It was a joke, okay?!" RJ shouted. "A cruel joke. We were never going to actually cut your leg off!" "Liar! You're... you're a traitor to the Goddess! She would-" I hiccuped again, but instead of tasting bile, I felt an odd feeling rise up in my throat that caused me to gag. RJ's eyes widened as she scrambled back into some empty jars. As I dropped the cleaver from my magic, I tried covering my mouth with my hooves as the gagging feeling grew even worse. That prevented none of the alcohol and fruit from coming back up as I heaved it all out onto the table. I was about to say something, but more liquid vomit came out, causing my throat to turn raw and my stomach to flare in pain. "Shock, just breathe, okay?" RJ said quietly as my eye shut. And as I followed her instructions, I found myself drifting off to sleep as my body began to fall sideways. *** *** My eye snapped open and quickly shut as a thousand needles stabbed at the eye socket. Instead of torturing myself further with daylight, I decided to lay there and let my brain explode through the left side of my skull, or try to anyway. The headache was bad, bad enough that I felt as if it reminded me of that time with Bucky. Then again, a quick check of my surroundings with a forehoof revealed that I was thankfully alone. My bed gently rocked as a rhythmic pounding beat at my ears, nearly matching my heart beat and the throbbing headache. As I laid there, I tried to think back to the day before to figure out what had happened. I remembered arriving on the Rum Runner ship and bartering a deal; my Pipbuck for passage to Blur Water Marina. Then I remembered having to get my foreleg cut off to remove the Pipbuck, yet... The appendage did not feel like it was needing to be healed. Nor did I feel the telltale signs that there was a scar, which would be a faint pain under the skin. Everything after I started drinking was one big blur to me. With a deep sigh of frustration, I braced myself and slowly opened my eye, revealing me to be staring up at the ceiling. I slowly brought my left foreleg into view and stared at it. There was no mark where the leg had been removed, which I found odd. The temperature in the room was oddly cool and that caused me to smile a little. I tried to distract myself with thoughts of that orange alicorn stallion. He was just as strange as everything else I had encountered, but he seemed... fake. I could not contact him like I could the other alicorns. His face, from what I remembered, was handsome and he had a nearly perfect flank. He would have made a very fine husband, if he were real. I hissed at the ceiling out of annoyance for the fake world. However... I just stared up at it and tried to think of what to do. But, after a long while, a rusty creak nearby told me a door was being opened by somepony. My eyes widened as I nearly leapt out of bed in shock. I quickly pulled the sheet over me and looked at the door. In darted a strange ice blue stallion. He slammed the door shut without saying anything and darted toward an adjacent door. Curiosity got the better of me, causing me to just observe him. When he flung the other door open, he frowned. Inside of the door was a small closet that held a set of bags, a familiar jacket, and a rifle; my equipment. The icy stallion's pause allowed me to take a look at both him and the room. Bright wood ran the length of the floor with a plush, red carpet covering the area around my bed. Standard steel grey walls were adorned with ornately framed pictures of the ship in various ports. The stallion on the other hoof, was a simple and hardy earth pony wearing a dark green duster. His icy blue coat was a stark contrast with his pink mane and eyes. My one eyed gaze wandered down to his covered flank and I wondered what his cutie mark was. But before I could even open my mouth, there was a loud knock on the door that felt like a pony was hammering against my skull. "Trigger! Are you in there?" a mare shouted in a voice like needles, each syllable attempting to stab at the back of my eye socket. "Please don't shout," I whined painfully as even my own voice hurt my head and made it throb more. "Miss Shock, are you alone?" she opened the door without waiting for a response. The unicorn stuck her head in and slowly looked around, sniffing quietly. "Hm..." "My name... is Dog," I corrected her with some effort. "I like Shock better. It sounds..." she grinned. "Shocking." I rolled my eyes and regretted it instantly as I happened to glance at the window where the sun was. Pain exploded inside of my eye, causing me to shut it and clutch my head. "What happened? Did you cut my leg off?" I whispered with my mouth. "You do not remember?" I thought of shaking my head, but decided against it. "No,” I sighed quietly. “It is fuzzy and strange." "Well, after you drank for the three of us, we removed the Pipbuck and you passed out. Really, a pony should not drink that much moonshine in one sitting like you did. We weren't sure if you were going to live or not for the first day." "First... day? How long was I out?" I slowly opened my eye again. Thankfully I happened to not be looking at the window. "Three days," Pepper said, causing my ears to droop. "Day one consisted of you just laying there and day two, your zebra friend had an idea with radiation. How you seen Trigger? He's a pale blue stallion with a shotgun for a cutie mark." "No, I have not," I replied with a faint smile. "But if I see him, I shall inform you immediately." "Alright thanks anyway. There's an eye patch on the table next to you." Slowly, Pepper left the room and closed the door. I got out of the bed as best I could without causing my hangover to kill me. And slowly, but surely, made my way across the wood floor to the door. That was when I noticed the lack of pain in my hind leg and the fact that there were no bandages on my muzzle. My right half of my vision was a complete blur of grey-white. Pressing my ear against the door produced a strange reaction. The rhythmic thumping of the steam engine grew even louder to where it felt like I was being sledgehammered in the head, causing me to pull away from the door and hiss in annoyance. Instead of trying it again and hurting myself more, I felt out with my telepathy. Pepper was standing on the other side of the door, but it felt like she was starting to move away. I stood there, contemplating why I had helped the pony named Trigger when he wanted to shoot at me. Then again... lots of ponies want to shoot me, so it was no big deal to be threatened or even shot at. After an agonizing amount of time, and when I was sure Pepper was really gone and not faking it. I took a deep breath and walked away from the door as I let the spell drop. Slowly, I made my way to the table and pulled the eyepatch on with magic. Which caused the right side of my vision to go completely black, but it was better than seeing a complete blur that made it hard to focus. "You can come out now," I said with my mind to the pony hiding in the closet. "She is long gone and I will not hurt you." A few long moments went by, long enough that I thought the pony and the mare were a figment of my imagination. Even longer moments crept by, causing my ear to twitch towards the window as strange sounds filtered in like ponies outside moving around. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way over to the closet. My ear gently pressed against it in an effort to hear anything to indicate a pony was there, yet I heard nothing. However, the handle of the closet door slowly started moving with a faint squeak. I winced, pulling my head away from the door and stepping back. The door was slowly pushed open by an icy blue hoof. My horn glowed a soft green as I grabbed the handle and yanked on it, nearly tearing the door of its hinges. In a cry of surprise, the now wide eyed stallion began to fall forward. But, because I had let the door go from my magic, it bounced at the edge of its travel and slammed into the stallion's nose. *** *** A bloody nosed Trigger sat on the messy bed with a steadily melting ice pack on his face. I was sitting on the floor with my black socks on and a small mirror floating nearby. Trigger pulled the ice pack off his face and looked at himself from various angles. It was then that I noticed, despite the dried blood I had caused, he did not look that bad. Trigger, for the lack of a better word, was cute to me despite him not having claws. He belonged to a race of ponies that were hardy and resilient in the face of hell. If you could not do magic, then the wasteland was cruel and yet earth ponies appeared more numerous than unicorns and definitely more numerous than pegasi. "You broke my nose," Trigger drawled out with an odd tone due to his current situation. "I fixed it though," I replied in his mind with a smile. He frowned some, turning his head to the side. "I don't know... One side looks different." "Shall I adjust it?" my head tilted. "I'll be gentle this time." "No!" his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "It's fine. I don't think I can go through havin' my nose broken and adjusted again." "Trigger," I began quietly in his head. "You have not told me why you are hiding from your boss. I could be in trouble for helping you." The icy stallion looked down, sighing deeply as his ears drooped to the side of his face. "Promise you won't tell anypony?" I nodded slowly and said nothing. The thought that he could have killed a pony crossed my mind, but... in the wasteland. No pony is innocent and everyone is a killer. Even the young. It was a sad but true fact. "I don't want to do this anymore," Trigger muttered quietly, but I heard it from his mind as well. The sad tone of his voice told me that he really did mean it. "I want off this ship, and I don't want to take anymore orders from Miss Pepper." "Hm..." I scratched my chin in thought with a clipped wing. Something deep down, possibly my old training, was screaming at me to berate this pony for dereliction of duty. However, I ignored it because I had long ago given up that life. Instead I listened to a side of me that was better and less strict. "Trigger," I grinned. "I have a plan." "What?" he tilted his head. I placed a hoof to my chest and nodded with a proud expression. "Simple, you climb on my back. I'll carry you to Zakiya's boat and cover you with blankets before coming back here. She then sails away with you onboard and you'll never have to come back here again." "How will you get past the guards? They'll see me and that'll be that." "Ah," I held my leg up a bit as I shut my eyes and turned my nose up some. "Fortunately, Shock can turn invisible. It's a simple and brilliant plan by The Great and Powerful Shell Shock!" My eyes went wide and I slowly brought a hoof to my mouth at what I had said, because it sounded like something The Goddess might say. "Uh... okay...?" Trigger tilted his head. "Tell me you don't always talk like that." I just sat there blinking in complete shock and at a complete loss for words. There was no reasoning for why I had said that beyond having heard it countless times. "I'm going to guess by your reaction, that you don't. Okay, look. Miss Shell Shock, we should do this now before your zebra friend leaves." With an audible gulp, I slowly nodded. "Yes, we should," I replied in his mind. "However I would like payment for helping you." "Does it look like I have anything to trade?" the icy blue earth pony replied with a wave of his hoof. "All I have is this jacket and a blade." A faint smile crept across my face that turned into a smirk when I remembered the captain's words. "There is always something to trade, and a mare has needs. Needs that a stallion could help with." Slowly, it dawned on him and his expression changed from neutral to complete wide eyed shock in an instant. "Oh no!" Trigger roared as he scrambled back. "I won't fuck you just like that!" "You could use your hoof?" I half-shrugged and wondered if Raul felt the way I felt when talking with this pony. It felt... strange and awkward to even bring the subject up with a random pony, but he did bring it on himself. "I..." his eyes darted around the room. "I... Uh, I like m-stallions," Trigger grinned a grin that looked forced. Even I could see the sweat forming on his face and knew he was lying. But, I sighed with a nod and let my ears slowly droop. "I am sorry to push it on you, but you must put yourself in my position: You're pleasuring yourself and a stallion barges into the room. What do you do?" "Uh..." he blushed deeply, which made him look even cuter to me. "I... Uh, um... I..." he looked away, gulping. "I a-ask if he w-wants to... to join...?" "Yes," I bowed my head some. "But if you will not help with that, then I ask what can you offer?" "Advice; don't let them make you stay longer than you need to. If they ask if you want to join, say no. Do what you came to do and get out." "Why?" I tilted my head. "They seemed nice and this ship is obviously well cared for." "They say you can leave whenever you want, but you can't because you need to pay them back before you can. Everything they give you has a price you have to work off, even food, and you'll never work it off. In short, they're nice slavers that turn mean when you try to leave." With a quiet hum, I scratched my chin again with my clipped wing. If the information was accurate, then it would come in handy and save me. But I had no way to tell if it was beyond the stallion's words. So, I stuck my hoof out with a nod and a grin. "That is adequate." *** *** An invisible outline slowly made its way through the ship as silently as it could. My hoofsocks did an okay job of muffling my hooves, but I still did not move when a pony was nearby. Trigger stayed silent like I had told him to and there were no... accidental odd feelings on my back. As I looked around the deck outside the area with the rooms, I made sure there were no ponies nearby that would see the door move. After a few moments of searching I found none, so I gently shut the door and locked it. Another glance showed the ship was moving along the river in a heavily forested area. The jungle canopy nearly reached to the center of the river and I wondered how wide it was. "That was scary," Trigger finally whispered. "I thought for sure Fabric saw us." "Why is she called Fabric?" I replied with a quiet whisper as I began walking towards where I remembered where Zakiya's boat should be. "Because she makes our jackets and all of the cloth items you've seen on the ship." "So ponies here are named after their jobs on the ship?" I asked. "Only the 'workers' are," he mumbled as we passed by a gun turret that was thankfully empty. I stopped walking and slowly backed up. As I looked at the weapon, I felt Trigger's forelegs wrap around my neck. He, obviously, could not see me staring intently at the M-2 .50 caliber heavy machinegun behind a thin sheet of armor. It appeared well taken care of, which was not surprising. But, sadly, there was no ammo. I glanced up and down the deck, my gaze lingering on one of the paddle wheels as it slowly propelled the ship along the river. "How many are on this ship?" "Ponies?" I rolled my eyes at his remark. "No, diamond dogs. Of course ponies!" "Um... about two hundred ponies and twenty gryphons." With a sigh of frustration, I resumed walking aft towards where I thought Zakiya's boat was. The zebra's boat was indeed still attached to the ship by two very long and thick ropes that stretched out some distance. Zakiya herself was not aboard and its boiler appeared to be quiet. Regardless of what I thought about it, I had promised to help Trigger and I would see it through to the end. Slowly, I took quite a few steps back and lined up with the boat. "What are you doing?" Trigger asked quietly. "This," I replied as I broke into a gallop, my hooves slamming into the wood deck and alerting anypony nearby. As I closed in on the railing, I spread my wings and gave them a few hard flaps, propelling the both of us into the air. I smiled at sailing through the air like I was flying, but my eyes widened in shock when I began falling over the boat. We were coming in at too shallow of an angle and overshot it, slamming into the water with a loud splash. As quickly as I could, I kicked my way to the surface. A visible Trigger was already there thrashing about like panicked foal. His hooves flailed about, slamming into the water and spraying it everywhere. I let my invisibility spell drop so he could see me, and the icy blue stallion immediately wrapped my neck in a hug that began cutting off my windpipe. As my vision slowly started darkening, I tried to stay afloat by paddling. "Trigger... I... can't breathe!" I gasped. His grip immediately loosened but he stayed there hugging my neck, and it took me a few moments to realize something; he could not swim. It was the only thing that made sense for why he acted like that. Slowly, my one-eyed gaze went down river where the two boats were steadily steaming towards a bend. The river's current gently pushed us along after the boats, but there was no way I could swim fast enough to catch them. And there was no way I could fly. But the ponies there would surely put two and two together, and come to the correct conclusion. I only wondered what was going to happen to Zakiya once it was found out that I had helped Trigger. With nothing else to be done, I swam to the edge of the river. *** *** The dense and steaming hot jungle seemed to stretch on forever as I walked alongside of Trigger, with my now loaded IF-12 just to the right of my vision. That way I could quickly aim down it and fire if need be. On my left was a foot long blade. Trigger settled with using my 10mm pistol, Sister, as he had no other weapon. Our progress was slow no thanks to the lush green jungle all around us with thick brush, nor did the oppressive and sticky heat help any. Sweat practically poured down my face, causing me to wonder how in The Goddess's name did I go so long with my original mane? It was huge and dragged along the ground if I did not have any radiation flowing within me. Not to mention it felt only a little cooler with all of it gone. Regardless of my feelings about the heat and my old mane, I pressed on and so did Trigger. Sadly, the icy blue pony could not use a pistol and blade, so that left me to hack at the bushes with his blade. As I brought the weapon down on a large leaf, slicing it half way through, I frowned. "Trigger, this blade is dull," I said with my mind." "I sharen ih dis 'ornin'," he managed to mumble around the pistol's trigger. But I heard what he said in his mind, "I sharpened it this morning." With a roll of my eye, I pulled the blade out and hacked at the leaf again, cutting it all the way. "Then why am I failing to cut these, hm? If you sharpened it this morning, I should be cutting through these much easier." "But I did!" he whined in his mind, I ignored his nasty slobbery speak. "I sharpened it after breakfast." "It's dull!" I hissed, bringing the blunt weapon down on a branch. It snapped partly, so I used my magic and broke it off. "How much farther to town?" "Uh, about... five miles?" And ahead of us laid thick brush with no path, forcing us to make our own. "That'll take all day." With an annoyed grunt, I pressed forward. Hacking and slashing at the bushes with a magically assisted blade. My ears swiveled left and right as I listened for anything out of the ordinary, but all of the noise I was making made it hard to hear. A pony or zebra could be only a few feet behind or to our sides and we'd never know it. I dared not look up for fear of seeing a sniper in the trees that was not there. As I was pushing the latest broken leaf aside, I noticed movement out of the top of my vision. And before I knew it. An eight legged freak the size of my face filled my entire view. In a split second, I jumped back as my wings flared up, screaming, "Goddess, that thing is huge!" both the rifle and and blade fell to the floor as my magic field exploded with a pop. The eight legged freak landed on the ground and began scurrying towards a tree. Trigger galloped over and stomped the demon spawn with a hoof. I, however, chose to be a dignified mare and kept screaming my head off as I pranced in place. "Kill it! kill it! Burn the fucking thing to make sure it's dead!" Trigger stomped on the demon spawn again and twisted his hoof before pulling it along the ground. "It's dead! Will you shut up?!" he shouted. I gulped, quickly dragging my dropped items back with magic. As I lifted the IF-12 off the undergrowth, a shaky hoof brushed off the invisible spiderweb from the weapon. "That... That thing. It was as big as my face!" "Was not," Trigger walked back over with a smirk. "You're afraid of spiders?" "Am not." I lifted the blade up and wiped it off, then turned to my right and began to carve a new path. "It startled me was all." I shuddered a bit because I could just feel its web on my face. Like... like a strand of my mane, but not. It was there and sticky, but couldn’t be removed even after I waved my hoof! "You know the town is in the other direction, right?" asked Trigger with a hint of annoyance or arrogance. I nodded as I brought the blade down on a plant. "So why are we going this way?" As it was snapped and dropped, I glanced up before moving forward. "There might be treasure this way. We'll circle around and come back to this path." "You're afraid of spiders." "Am not," I huffed, fluffing up my feathers. "Are too," he nudged my flank, causing me to start in surprise. "Admit it." "I am not afraid of spiders!" I hissed inside his mind. "If... If you don't shut up," I turned around and aimed the IF-12 at his head as I dropped the safety, "I'll shoot you!" He gulped and nodded slowly. *** *** The sun was slowly setting and set the sky ablaze in various hues that centered on red. Making the path ahead of us annoying to see due to the canopy that cast dark shadows everywhere. Despite the time of day, it was still annoyingly hot and sticky, causing Sister's jacket to stick to my body. Trigger was following a faint path through the jungle that was more like a single hoof track than a path. And neither of us had said anything since the last rest stop. My one eyed gaze steadily wandered down to his flank and tail. Like Pepper, Trigger wore what looked like barding underneath, except his appeared to be made of a cloth with thick pads as armor, not plate. His tail was cropped short, yet still managed to cover his stallionhood. As he flicked the tail in the direction of a fly, I smiled a little bit and waited for him to do it again. "You're staring," Trigger said, causing my cheeks to burn in a deep blush as I quickly looked at a passing tree. "No-yes." I sighed deeply. "Sorry. It's just..." I looked over at him and noticed that he was looking back at me while walking slow. "I want a foal." "A foal huh?" he mumbled around his pistol, but I heard it clearly from his mind. Trigger stumbled on a tree limb and quickly picked himself up, returning his attention to walking. "It's something simple, but not so simple. I had one once, but she vanished and I'm going to look for her again." "How are you going to do that?" I slowly glanced around the dark jungle and sighed. "She's on this island. A small brown ghoul filly with red eyes, but isn't feral." Trigger stopped, slowly looking back at me. "I've heard about a ghoul like that." "Well, it would be helpful for me to know what has become of her. I worry for her safety." "I only heard rumours because I was mostly on the ship, but... they aren't good. They say she and-aah fuck!" Trigger cried out in pain, dropping the pistol from his mouth, at the same time a rifle report shattered the jungle's relative silence. Without wasting a breath, I aimed in the direction the shot had come from and ducked behind a thin looking tree that would not protect from much. Trigger was rolling around in pain on the ground as a second shot slammed into his chest, causing him to scream. Despite my gaze being in the direction of the shooting, I could not see the muzzle flash or the pony. My magic began dragging the squirming earth pony towards me by his hoof. Splinters flew at my face as a third shot tore a chunk of wood from the tree next to my glowing horn. I turned my head slightly and covered my face with a hoof. Never letting up on the magical pull until Trigger was next to me. "It's burning my skin!" he moaned in pain through the clenched teeth and rolled onto his back. There were two holes in his jacket and chest plate, yet the padded portion held two smoking bullets. They were quickly tossed to the side, causing him to gasp in relief. "Thanks," Trigger panted as he removed a metal plate with two dents in it from his chest. "Luckily they hit my armor and not my face." The icy blue stallion glanced ahead and bobbed his head around. After a few moments of looking like a bird, he shook his head. "Can't see anything, can you?" I ever so slowly slowly looked around the tree with half my face and waited. The jungle was eerily quiet. No animals made any noise, and neither could I hear any wind blowing through the trees. The only noise I could hear over my own thundering heartbeat sounded like very faint surf pounding against rocks. The dark jungle ahead was static. No movement could be seen coming from our wayward shooter. So I sat there motionless for a very long time and still could not spot them. "What are you doing?" Trigger barely whispered above his own breath. "Watch my back, okay?" I asked with my mind as I hoofed the IF-12 to him along with my saddlebags. After I slowly took my jacket off, I folded it up and placed it inside the bags that I also gave to him. "I'm going to get my gun back." "What?!" his eyes went wide in shock. I crouched really low and took one agonizingly slow step after the other towards the faintly glinting gun. And yet, the hostile did not fire for some odd reason, which I was hoped was because they could not see me. The pistol was not that far away and I had it in my mouth in no time. As I turned my head to the right to glance in that direction. Something slammed into the pistol and tore it from my not-so tight grip in a shower of sparks. I quickly glanced around as the pistol bounced off the nearby tree, hitting me in the side. A second, louder, shot rang out from behind me, followed by a white cloud of smoke. The bullet struck a tree ahead of me at the same time I heard the mechanical bolt being run through the motions. Yet, I saw nothing that indicated there were ponies. For all I knew they could have been zebras with stealth cloaks or something like that. It took me a few more moments to realize that they were not shooting directly at me, but at Trigger. This fact caused me to glance at the icy blue stallion and see that he was covering me like I instructed. I had no illusions that he would not hesitate to turn that rifle on me if a favorable situation presented itself. With a quiet sigh and the faintest of nods, I looked forward again. That was when I saw it, a structure built into a tree almost sixty yards ahead. It was camouflaged in such a way that it would be nearly impossible to detect in the daytime, but somepony had neglected to tell the builders that trees did not have large viewing slits cut into them. "Bunker, fifty to sixty yards ahead," I whispered inside Trigger's mind. "What are you going to do?" he whispered back. "I don't have a grenade or rocket hidden up my ass." I laid there contemplating on what to do. There were a few options; I could have yelled at them, used my mind to trick them, or a combo of both. However, I elected to observe them and see if my quarry was a good shot or not, which would tell me if I needed the shield. "You're surrounded!" Trigger shouted from behind a tree, choosing my choice for me. "We got five ponies over here and more flanking you! Give up now!" I wanted to facehoof, but I chose not to incase they had a scope trained on my skull. There was silence for a long while. Long enough that I thought they had gone. But eventually a shot landed near the tree Trigger was using for cover. "Bullshit!" a mare shouted from ahead of me. "Why don't you and your pinned unicorn friend give up? We'll treat you nice and easy." "That you, Topper?" Trigger shouted, still hiding behind the tree. "I thought we were friends?!" "Friends don't level towns!" another pony shouted, confirming my thought that there were two. "Your boss is trying to level Blue Water!" "What?!" Trigger shouted in pure shock. "You're lying! They would nev-" "Trigger," I whispered with my mouth, interrupting him. "In my bags should be a very large shell. Slide it out, don't roll it." "Liar! You're their scout ain't'cha?" Topper yelled. "Here to sneak into the town and steal stuff!" “What’s a seashell going to do?” Trigger asked, causing me to facehoof. “It’s a big bullet, you can’t miss it!” I hissed in his mind. After a few moments of quiet digging, the 105mm HE shell was slid out onto the path. I grabbed it with my magic and dragged it over as another shot landed near my hooves, throwing dirt into my face. "No fancy tricks, unicorn!" the second pony shouted. "No magic and you'll stay alive." Their threat caused me to roll my eye. I continued to quickly drag the shell over until it was near my head. Then I brought the broken 10mm pistol over and placed it against the side of the warhead. "Alright," I yelled with my mouth loud enough for them to hear. "I've got a Balefire Egg and I'll blow us all up if you don't lay your weapons down and come on out!" "That's not a Balefire Egg!" the second pony shouted. "That's just a tube with a cap on it." "You know the Rum Runners have a pair of Egg Launchers," Trigger shouted. "So do as she says!" As the jungle darkened further from the setting sun, my ears swiveled around and heard... whispering nearby as the pounding in my head grew. Faint, almost imperceptible and incoherent whispering that I heard many times before. "Last warning." I shouted, ignoring the voices. "Put your weapons down and come on out!" "You're not suicidal," the second pony shouted. "If you do that, you'll die too!" I frowned at their ability to see through my ruse and wondered of they had better scopes than I had initially thought. Even though Trigger had tried to convince them as well. With a deep sigh, I set my pistol down along with the 105mm shell. Slowly, I began to stand up to my full height as I shouted. "Alright! You win. It's just a round tube and a cap. But I'm warning you, put the weapons down and come on out!" "Or else what?" the pony named Topper shouted. I rolled my eye and stood on my hind legs, holding a hoof high as I spread my glorious clipped wings. Before they could even begin to comprehend the beautiful alicorn before them, I quickly cast my shield and surrounded myself in the jade green bubble. "Or you will be doomed!" I telepathically boomed in their minds. “The Goddess does not take kindly to-” But suddenly, there was a bright flash from their hidey hole as a large weapon shattered the air like a clap of thunder. To my horror, and complete shock, I felt the large bullet penetrate my shield and smash through one of my feathers on the left wing. My eye went to the size of a pie plate as my jaw dropped in complete shock. "Fuck, fuck, load it faster!" the second pony said in my mind, having left the telepathy open. "Trigger," I nearly shouted in his mind as I lowered my horn and began charging them with the shield up. "Give me covering fire on that bunker. I'm going in!" *** ** Death. It comes for us all one way or the other, even the princesses and The Goddess found that death is the thing that makes all ponies and equal, even the 'evil' zebra. We all die. But... something deep down inside me told me to spare Topper and her accomplice. Well, that and Trigger screaming in my ear to put the knife down and not cut the skin from their bones. Topper and her pal were bound together half a mile or so behind us. The rope was easy to get out of if you knew what you were doing, but I doubted that they could get out of it in a reasonable time frame. As for what made me think of death? The stench of it; that sweet, repugnant, smell every wastelander knows but ignores. It, along with a charcoal smell of burning wood and something I couldn't place, drifted inland on the stiff ocean breeze. Through my new scope, I watched a set of lights slowly sail on the ocean. The full moon and clear night sky would have been serene had it not been for the thick smoke clouds that steadily rose skyward from below us. "They...?" Trigger whispered to himself as he collapsed. "The town... A whole town?!" I slowly lowered the massive scoped pipe rifle from my vision and looked down at him. Genuine tears were in his eyes at the sight of the burning town below. With nothing else to do, I brought the rifle up to my eye and slowly scanned the area while listening for anything other than the ocean or Trigger's sobbing, which I tried to block out. As I slowly panned the scope with my magic, I spotted quite a few craters mixed in with the burning rubble indicating they used large shipboard guns to assault the town. Dark pony shapes darted this way and that as they frantically galloped around the town in an effort to combat the blaze. There was nothing I could do for them other than watch. But... as I scanned the town again, I spotted ponies dragging the corpses of a few Rum Runner ponies, their jackets made them obvious. "Trigger, what was the purpose of the visit to this town?" "To trade!" he sobbed. "It's all we do on the route... Trade alcohol and ammo for caps, and supplies. We... go on a route around the island every month. This wasn't supposed to happen." "Trigger!" I snapped, looking down at him. "I suggest you take that jacket off right now." He was staring at the cuff of his jacket that covered his forelegs. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered over and over. Shell Shock: Level up! New perk - Ghost of the Jungle.(Rank I) You can now sneak around slightly better as long as no pony hears your hoofsteps or sees you moving quickly. +5 to stealth when your coat color matches the shrubbery. Just don’t do magic, the glow gives you away.
Chapter 17: WavesChapter 17: Waves "When you feel the hunger mounting, sometimes you can’t help but listen to it.” "Trigger!" I shouted again at the stallion, yet received no response from Mister Mumble. He kept staring at the cuff of his jacket and mumbling to himself. So I flipped the rifle around in magic and swung it, cleanly connecting the stock to his cheek in a loud slap. As I put the weapon across my back, Trigger slowly looked at me in shock, his eyes wide as he brought a forehoof to his face where a red mark was starting to form. "You slapped me," he whispered as his eyes began to narrow. "You slapped me with a gun?!" "You were cryin' like a whiny colt who had his bottle taken away!" I hissed inside his mind. Then nodded at the burning town and continued. "If we are going to go in there, you need to take your jacket off." "I was not crying like a foal," he muttered to himself. After a moment or two of eerie silence, he sighed and shook his head. "I can't take the jacket off." He picked up the dropped small rifle, which Topper had used to shoot him with, and looked at me. "We go around." I rolled my eye. "You're out of ammunition for that. It's why they switched to this," I nodded at the massive single shot pipe rifle on my back. "I say we go through town and hire a boat to Deadwood Cove." "What?! You... You're... That's stupid!" Trigger shouted, stomping his hoof down in the cliff side with a glare. Part of me wished to see it break and fall. "What makes you think they have an intact boat? Look at the town!" "Yes," I replied in his mind with a nod. "I see that it is burning, but there might be an intact boat down there. It is a marina after all and marinas have a great many boats." Trigger sat down and folded his hooves across his chest. He gave me a glare that had no effect on me. "We're going around." "Through." "Around!" "What? You don't want to take your precious jacket off?" I tilted my head. "I'm sweating badly and am in need of a serious grooming, so you must be sweating just as bad, if not worse with your armor." "I'm fine." he growled. I sighed and facehoofed. "What are you a mare or something and want to hide it?" "What?! No!" Trigger rapidly shook his head. "What gave you that idea?!" Without responding to his asinine question, I gripped his hind legs in magic and quickly yanked the earth pony into the air. He squirmed and dangled in my grip as I checked between them with my hoof, finding out that he was indeed a stallion. "What are you doing?! Put me down!" he shouted. So, I obliged his wish and let go of his hind legs, causing the stallion to fall face first into the ground. He slowly pushed himself up and gave me a glare that still did not affect me. "You want to find out that badly?" I nodded. "Fine! I'll show you." He began grumbling incoherently to himself as he tossed his jacket at me and showed me his back. A back that had two holes in in the armor. Holes, that had tiny scabbed over nubs where wings should be. "Oh..." my ears slowly folded back as I bit my lower lip and slowly brought a hoof to cover my mouth in case it dropped. "I'm... I don't... I..." I shut my eye and sighed deeply. "Sorry." "Happy?" "No," I shook my head. "I'm not... But I have an idea." "Do tell," he replied, if a bit snidely. I slowly unsheathed the knife as I opened my eyes and looked down at his jacket. "Bandages." "Huh?" "Bandages." "Wut?" he tilted his head, causing me to roll my eyes. “Bandages!” I shouted as I tossed the blade at the jacket. *** *** The two of us slowly wended our way down the treacherous and rocky cliff side; each slow step was met with the fear that one could fall and turn into a pony pancake. At least, that was Trigger's fear. My wings would prevent me from becoming some raider's breakfast if that were to happen. Trigger now wore only his bare fur, a rare thing for him he admitted, and a set of dark green 'bandages' around his barrel to cover up the wing nubs on his back. I had a long strip of cloth wrapped around my head like a bandana to keep the sweat from dripping into my eyes and stinging my only good one. The odd dewinged pegasus walked not far behind me as I made my way down past rocks, slippery dirt and almost pitch black darkness. Light from the town fires and my horn partially illuminated our path, casting odd and curious shadows about. As I neared the bottom, I wondered to myself about what could happen inside the town. My mind ran through every scenario starting with them shooting at us to the two of us simply walking in and stealing a boat. The final scenario of boat theft caused me to pause briefly and wonder, why didn't I think of that before?! It's brilliant! We just sneak in while invisible and steal a steam boat! I quickly spun around to face Trigger and grinned, my face most likely a freakish mask of shadows. "Trigger!" He stopped, sighing deeply as he looked up at me. "Shock?" "Dog." I corrected him, then quickly shook my head and added, "but that doesn't matter. What matters-" "Is your name," he said, the two odd lights cast strange shadows across his face but I saw the bright fire in his eyes. "A name is who you are. Your name could strike fear into hearts or inspire a pony. So which is it? Shell Shock, The Great and Powerful Shell Shock, or Dog? The one who fetches an item for its master?" "Just..." my eye twitched as I ground my teeth together. "Just shut up! A name is a title given at birth, a thing to change if you feel like it." "So what is your name then?" Trigger asked, causing me to facehoof and groan. As I was about to berate him for asking stupid questions and breaking my concentration, my ears picked up a faint flutter on the wind underneath the waves and my own breathing. I quickly dropped the light spell as I looked up and pulled Trigger into the shadows as best I could. Flying above us towards the town was a group of ponies, but not just any ponies. The sheer numbers, six, could only have come from the Enclave as I did not think they had that many traitors running around. That and the fact that I saw one with an Officer's Cap fly across the moon. A faint smile crept across my face as I watched them fly towards the town, but I could feel Trigger shaking in my grip as he said, "s-scouts." Four broke formation in pairs of two and went to opposite ends of town while the center two landed near the center. "What are forward scouts doing here?" "I want to find out," I said, my smile growing larger as I thought up an idea, a simple one. They owed me armor. "I don't," Trigger McGrumpy Face said, causing me to glare at him and try to burn through his skull with my eye. "No, I seriously don't. They'll probably brand me a Dashite and I don't want that!" I pointed a hoof at the 'bandages' around his chest. "You're an earth pony with a broken rib, remember? And the Enclave here doesn't care. All of them were supposedly called that because they couldn’t get back to help the rest." "I'm not going," he stomped his hoof down and returned my glare. "Yes," I stomped mine down and glared even harder, "you are! I rescued your scrawny ass because you can't even swim, so it is the least you could do for me in return!" His ears folded back some as he bit his lower lip. *** *** Charred wood and the repugnant smell of burnt flesh filtered from the town the closer we got. The closer we got, the more chances of being spotted we had. However, as a part of my master plan, I was invisible and moving as slowly as I did on the Rum Runner boat. That did not stop my hooves from picking up ash, dirt, and grass. With the bottom of my hooves covered in stuff that could give me away if it was daytime or a pony was attentive enough, I sighed and dropped my invisibility spell. Trigger was not amused, but he did not protest because we were inside the town. A town which was mostly burned flat with craters every so often from the ship’s guns. I took a glance at the smoldering ruins nearest to me and frowned because it was a hotel. The metal sign stood proud outside of the ruins indicating it was the Marlin Inn. As a cool wind blew in off the ocean, I heard garbled voices of ponies in conversation most certainly about what had transpired. Trigger Mc Grumpy Face climbed off my back and crept over to the shadow of a rubble pile. I, however, elected to creep forward towards the talking as quietly as I could. Which was pretty damn quiet thanks to the wind blowing inland, and a few nearby roaring fires. As I made my way down the rubble strewn street, I looked right towards what used to be a building and wondered if ponies had time to escape, but… a quick breath from me and I was looking away from them towards my left where only the skeletal wall of a building remained. I stopped, tapping the wood with my hoof. It creaked for a second, and then a loud snapping sound caused me to jump back as the whole wall fell in on itself into a heap of charred wood. I gulped, taking a few steps back and bumped into something soft. Wheeling around to see what it was, I tilted my head the same direction as the uniformed pony’s own head tilt. She stood as average as a normal pony with a short cropped mane that stuck out from behind her officer’s cap with a gold bar on it, causing me to slowly smile and bow my head some. “Lieutenant,” I said with my mouth as I raised my head back to normal. The clearly Enclave pegasus adjusted her hat with a hoof. “Well, well, well. If it ain’t Shell Shock,” she said with a slight drawl that caused me to frown. “We lost a few pegasi to rescue ya. And ya just up an' vanish without so much as a thanks!” I audibly gulped and tried to smile some, but it was obviously forced and failed to form. The mare looked down the street towards Trigger and then at me. “Well,” I began with a quick breath. “You have me at a loss as you know my name, but I do not know yours.” “Swift Wings,” she said, taking her hat off and bowing some. In the light of the fires and moon, I noticed that her uniform was neatly pressed and appeared to be immaculate. I gave a nod as she placed her hat back onto her head. "Lieutenant Swift Wings, I was in the company of a pegasus known as Axe. She is maroon, gold eyes, a midnight blue mane and has a twin sister named Wraith." "Axe went missin' on the mission," Swift Wings said. "But she done showed up less than a week later with a truly fanciful tale as to why she disappeared." "I can assure you, it is not a lie." "I know," she adjusted her hat some. "Axe has a hard time lyin' an' I have my ways of confirmin' the truth." Swift Wings smirked. "May I call you Swifty?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "Swift Wings or Swift does not sit as well as Swifty." "That's a nickname Wraith must have told you," she muttered quietly. Then shook her head. "Fine, just not around the others." I smiled and nodded. "I will use my telepathy and they won't know." "Riiight," the pegasus adjusted her hat again. "What are ya doin' here anyway? Wait, lemmie guess. They annoyed you!" I rolled my eyes. "No, I was-" "Hey!" a pony shouted from my left, drawing my attention over to a pale looking stallion. The moonlight made it hard to figure out his coloring. "Where'd you get that rifle!?" "Some impure ponies shot at me with it," I shouted with my mouth. Then turned and unfolded my glorious wings. "What's it to you?" He trotted over and stuck his pale hide in my face as I folded my wings. "That rifle belongs to the Blue Water Marina Defense Force, not you. If they shot at you, then you messed up big time." I glanced over at Swifty. The pegasus shrugged and looked down the rubble strewn road again. "I dunno why y'all are lookin' fer my help. I'm just a neutral third party who came to see if she could help those in need. We don’t interfere with yer local problems." With an internal growl, I looked at the obtrusive stallion again. "They shot at my friend and I for no reason! We were walking in the jungle and the next thing I know, he took a hit to the side." “Describe your ‘friend’,” the stallion said as a near intelligible shouting could be heard coming from behind us. I looked back to see Trigger being pulled from the rubble by a pair of ponies. A third unicorn had a rifle or shotgun floating and aimed at him. “Looks like we already found them,” the stallion next to me said, drawing my attention back to him. “I can explain,” I said with a sheepish smile. “You see, he and I… we, uh... fuck it.” I turned and bolted towards Trigger. "Hey! Get back here!" the pony shouted, no doubt hot on Our hooves. We galloped faster, using Our glorious clipped wings to propel Us faster like a missile towards Trigger. The ponies looked over at Us, slowly bringing their glowing weapon to bear. As We stared down the approaching gun barrel, We gripped it with magic and struggled for a split second. Managing to throw his aim off at the same time he fired, the blast echoed around the area as We slammed into the unicorn like a freight train. Both of us went sprawling down to the ground in a heap, sliding to a stop in a small dust cloud. "HALT!" We telepathically boomed inside his mind, causing the unicorn's magic field to disappear in a flash as he cringed. "THE GREAT AND POWERFUL-" Something slammed into the back of Our head, causing Us to collapse on top of the unicorn. As We groaned and tried to push Ourself up, the item smashed into Our head again, causing Us to black out. ***===***===*** I sat in a partially destroyed building, leaning against a wall with my IF-12 just in front of me and also leaning against said wall. My magic was levitating a combat knife and a sharpening stone. My four tan hooves were covered in grime and blood that I did not care to clean off. Around me lay rubble, Arrow the blue crystal pony, and a zebra across from me. "This is a nice knife, isn't it?" I asked quietly, slowly running the sharpening stone across it. The zebra legionnaire across from me nodded in response. Arrow looked over at us and slowly shook his head. "Lilly, he's not going to say anything," he quietly said. The zebra looked over at him and glared, causing Arrow to roll his eyes. I smirked at Arrow, slowly running the stone across the blade one more time. As Arrow went back to looking out another window, I put the knife into its sheath and picked up the zebra's blade. Slowly, the zebra looked at me and tilted his head as I placed it flat against his side, cleaning the blood and dirt off it with a slow pull. "My blade is nice," I said. "But..." I pulled the sword over and looked at my reflection through the green magic field that surrounded it. "There's something about zebra swords that I like. Perfect for cutting fleshy things and perfectly balanced." The zebra tilted his head as I placed the blade on a hoof and removed the magic field, smiling as it stayed balanced. "Don't you agree?" The zebra nodded, if a little bit too slow for my liking, and shut his eyes as if he were thinking. A slight noise outside like concrete falling drew my station to the window, causing me to let all of my magic go. Slowly, as if I were a tortoise, I rose up along the window frame and peered out. A tracked heavy tank sat in the rubble strewn street, smoke billowed out of the engine compartment as flames licked at the zebra body partly hanging off the turret. The turret was angled to fire at something down a fork in street and the track facing me had broken from the explosion which caused its incapacitation, and subsequent fire. They had not expected a rocket to the side from my disposable rocket launcher. That empty tube sat between Arrow and I. Neither did they expect a hail of gunfire when they had opened the hatches. But what had caused the sound which drew my attention was a small dog. It scurried among the rubble looking for its next meal. I thought of tilting my head, but decided to just observe it. He, or she, moved from out behind a rubble pile and stopped at the body of a pony. As it started digging in for a feast, I glanced over at Arrow with my eyes and whispered, "it's just a dog." "And?" he shrugged. I rolled my eyes, tapping the side of my head with the flat of the zebra sword. "He's a smart pooch, getting food where he can." "That's fucking disgusting," Arrow looked down at his shotgun and used his hoof to wipe some dirt off. Slowly, I sat down again and looked over at the zebra legionnaire nearby. "What do you think? It's a nice idea, right? How else would the dog survive?" My magic reached out, making the long dead corpse smile and nod in agreement. He had a few bullet holes in his chest and a stab wound to the neck. Food for the dogs it seemed he was. "No," another pony nearby whispered and shook his head. "Just... no. That thought makes me sick." "A dog's gotta eat somehow," I shrugged. "How about we call her... Dog?" a third stallion asked, receiving nods from the other four and a roll of my eyes. Near unintelligible metallic chatter nearby drew my attention over to a pony in an Equestrian Army uniform with a radio box on her back. She was holding a hoof to her ear and listening to what was going on. While we waited for the new orders, I set about sharpening my new sword. After almost a minute, she nodded and looked over at the four of us, "Lieutenant Sparks wants us to head back and link with the rest of the platoon. Wait..." she held her hoof to her ear for a few more seconds. "Scratch that. He wants us to knock out a tank two blocks down that's got 'em pinned." Arrow looked over at me and then down at my empty rocket launcher. "How can we do that? Lilly's out of rockets." I rolled my eyes. The radiopony nodded and said with a hoof to her neck, "negative, we cannot-" "Wait," I tapped the sword against the empty tube, causing the radio pony to look at me. "I might not have these, but a grenade or two down the hatch will do the trick just the same." She nodded and started to reply. ***===***===*** The black abyss of unconsciousness slowly left me, leaving behind an odd hunger and a feeling. One I had tried to block out long ago, one I hoped to never surface again, and one that made me feel... different. Not like a normal pony or even an intelligent alicorn, but like an animal. An almost feral feeling. Because, a mare has to eat somehow. If you don't eat, you die. You don't drink, you die. It's as simple as that. There are no other rules. I have to survive, I thought to myself as I slowly opened my eyes, only to be met by darkness on one side of my vision and the other side was a perfectly clear view of wet mud. They would do the same to me. Ice cold pinpricks assaulted my back and exposed skin as a banshee howl of a wind attacked my ears. With a pained groan about a throbbing headache, I pushed myself up to a sitting position and took stock of my surroundings. A thick mist surrounded me as rain poured down in a furious torrent, obstructing my view of anything beyond thirty yards. A collapsed building lay not far away and looked very familiar. After a quick check of my gear, I came to the conclusion that I had everything but the large pipe rifle and ammo for it. Another conclusion was that they had left me exactly where I was knocked out. A teeth rattling boom echoed all around me as thunder rumbled overhead, causing me to uselessly clutch my ears for a few moments. When it was over I stood up and slowly trotted through the mud towards the area I had remembered the last standing building to be. As I trotted along, I tried to ignore the wind and the ice cold threatening to dig its way into my spine. Despite the coldness of the rain, the temperature of the island was still almost unbearably hot. I could not see much beyond the misty rain that blanketed the area, so I stayed near the rubble piles to keep my bearings partly correct. Or so I had hoped. "Hello?" I called out just before thunder roared overhead, causing me to stop and clutch my ears. The howl of the wind whistled and wailed past my ears as I set my hooves down and resumed walking. Our IF-12 floated out of Our bags and We checked the internal magazine, spying that it was unloaded. With a roll of Our perfect eyes, We floated out five rounds and loaded them. Then stood up again and trotted on. As We wandered near aimlessly around the piles of rubble, We began to wonder if We were dead, because We only saw destruction and rain. The buildings were flattened, drenched, and the ground was no longer dirt but hoof deep mud, causing Us to growl at the brown muck that covered Our pristine hide. Even the icy rain did not do well to clean the muck off. It seemed to only make it worse. "Trigger?" We called out again to the howling wind and rain as We walked along, and looked around. "Swift Wings? Anypony?!" Only roaring thunder replied to my calls. Thunder so loud I thought it would split the very earth beneath my hooves. I quickly brought the IF-12 close and looked up at the sky, shielding my face from the rain with a hoof. A loud snarl followed by a rumble like a freight train caused my ears to press against my head in an attempt to block it out. Tiny ice droplets began to slowly fall around me and pelted my hoof like a hail of spikes, causing me to realize I was most likely under the center of a very severe storm. As I put the IF-12 into my bags, thunder roared overhead at the same time the wind began to increase. Right then, I wished for the ability to create only partial shields so I could make an umbrella. I trotted on as best I could through the muck and wind threatening to push me on my side. My progress was slow and I hadn't made it more than a few yards when the hail increased to a ferocious level and the wind threatened to knock me over. Eventually, I spotted what looked like a standing structure and made my way towards it. The windows were boarded up and, for a second, the door was locked. A quick buck from my hind hoof caused the lock to be smashed and the door was flung open. "Hello?" I called out as I stepped inside the dark hallway and shut the door behind me. But received no response beyond the hail pelting the roof like thousands of tiny hammers and the thunder that roared like a freight train. Oddly enough, light illuminated the hallway. Revealing somewhat maintained wood hallways and a starting to get soaked carpet. At the far end of the hallway was a closed door with the words 'Pit of Despair' written above it in green letters. They looked old, cracked, and faded, but still got the message across. To my left was a set of stairs leading to a collapsed second floor. To the right was nothing. It seemed that the only way to go was forward, and so I trotted towards the door. As I passed the stairs, I saw another door that was hidden from the front door by the stairs. "Hello?" I quietly called out to anypony as I placed my hoof on the door and slowly opened it. "We are friendly." After a few seconds of nothing, I opened the door all the way and stepped inside. It was like stepping into a small shop from before the war ended. Four free standing shelves ran down the center of the clean room and appeared empty. I slowly trotted along the shelves, keeping an eye on the boarded up window across from me. There was nothing in the shelves. Kind of like they had purposely cleared it out, which they most likely did. I sat down at the end of a shelf and ran a hoof through my short wet mane, staring intently at the cash register. With nothing else to do, I trotted around the checkout desk and stopped, a faint smile slowly grew on my face at the sight of an unopened floor safe. A quick check of the safe revealed the obvious. So I telekinetically dug through my bag for anything useful to pry with and only found Trigger's long knife. I sat there contemplating on shooting the lock or trying to smash it, but figured I'd need an explosive to get inside. Without any further thought, I stabbed the gap between the cash register and the bit holder, and started to wiggle the knife around as thunder roared loud enough to shake the building. The box finally popped open, revealing at least forty caps and a gold bit. I telekinetically placed them into my bag and ripped the box out of the register, tossing it haphazardly to the side. Underneath the small box was a rusty key, causing a smile to form on my face. There was a layer of dust around and on said rusty key indicating no pony had used it in many, many, years. I glanced around one more time before inserting the key into the safe and turning it. A faint, almost imperceptible, snap was heard as the key broke and thunder roared overhead. "Nooooo!" I shouted as the thunder died down to a faint rumble, then facehoofed when I remembered I used magic and not my hooves. With the key already snapped off in the lock, I did not need to fiddle with anything as I tried to magically turn the lock. It clicked noisily and the floor safe was open, my smile instantly faded when I saw the contents. Papers and letters lined the inside of the safe. I tore the letters out with magic and tossed them away along with the papers. Then lowered my head with my light spell going to see the inside of the safe. The inside held nothing. No extra shelves, no weapons, no hidden panels of any kind. It was just... papers. Useless papers. Useless fucking papers! *** *** The thunder and hail pelting the roof of the building had let up to less deafening levels, and I was pacing back and forth in front of the door marked 'Pit of Despair'. What is it? I wondered to myself as I paced back and forth. Is it a trap? A slaver den? Some horrible basement where a group of cannibals keep their meat? The last thought caused my stomach to growl. I stopped pacing at the growl and slowly looked at the offending organ as my eyes slowly widened. "Why did you do that?" I asked myself with my mouth. Obviously, my stomach did not respond, but something else did. "Feed," a voice whispered in the back of my mind. "So hungry. There must be something!" I shut my eyes and looked away from my stomach at something else, wondering why my stomach did that. It was crystal clear to me that I did not need to eat thanks to the process that had turned me into an alicorn. So why then, did my stomach grumble like I was hungry? It made no sense to me and felt like something that would never get solved. Oh how wrong I was. As I stood there in front of the door to the Pit of Despair, my nose picked up a faint and familiar smell. Sweet and slightly charred. It was the sweet smell of somepony cooking meat, which caused me to shut my eyes again and sniff at the air. As I blindly followed the smell, I ran into something hard and opened my eyes to see the door right there blocking my path. With a frown, I opened the offending door and tilted my head at the stairs in a brightly lit stairwell with odd sounds coming from below. There was nothing else for me to do on the top floor, so I slowly followed the stairs down into the pit. At the bottom was a rusty hatch-like door with water covering the floor. As I hopped off the last step, the ice cold water splashed my chest and sent a chill through my spine. I slowly and carefully walked over to the hatch-door and pressed my ear against it, hearing the faint sounds of a rhythmic drum beat, or steam engine. With a frown, I stepped back and slowly opened the door, causing said noise to get louder. What lay beyond the door caused me to tilt my head. It was a lighted rock tunnel like what one would find in a cave with a floor covered in water. I glanced back towards the stairs one last time before trotting my way towards the end of the cave. The rocky floor beneath my hooves steadily grew deeper and deeper until I was forced to stop when it reached my chest. I looked back at the door again and then forward. Below me was a very faint light at the bottom of an underwater cavern. Oddly, or not so, it seemed as if the sounds were coming from the underwater cave. I took a deep breath and jumped into the water, swimming as far down as I could. When I reached the bottom of the cavern, I floated there for a moment and looked at the tunnel in an attempt to gauge its length, but I could not do so well as it appeared to stretch into infinity. However, I decided to paddle forward toward the end because I saw a pinprick of light. As I swam through the lighted tunnel, I glanced back and noticed a heavily rusted ladder going up to the surface. It told me that the tunnel wasn't always under water. The more I swam, the further the tunnel seemed to stretch and the more my mind worked out the many ways the idea could go wrong. But I swam as fast as I could until my lungs began burning and protesting to the fact that I had yet to breathe in a while, so air bubbles started leaving my mouth in some vain attempt to stave off the inevitable. It only caused the burning feeling to increase until my lungs felt like they were on fire. I spotted an opening above and exhaled all of my air reserve as I swam upward. My brain screamed for air that my lungs could not receive and I involuntarily took a breath, instantly regretting it because fire shot through my lungs. I began choking on the water as I thrashed about trying to find the surface or anywhere that had air. My vision in my only working eye started to go dark as I tried breathing again to the same result. Something grabbed at my thrashing wings and yanked me up. As my head broke the surface of the water, I began to cough violently and didn't notice I was on land until rolled over and vomited water. Lots of water that had been in my lungs. I had nearly died swimming in that tunnel and had felt the icy skeletal grip of death approach me for a few seconds, but something or somepony had decided it was not my time to die. "Don't you know that tunnel is a death trap at high tide?" A pony asked to my right, causing me to shake my head and stare down at the now wet rock as water dropped off my face "Hmph. Figures an alicorn wouldn't know that. I don't think I've ever seen one down this way. What brings you to the Pit of Despair?" I looked over at the pony and opened my mouth to respond, but my jaw nearly hit the floor. Sitting across from me was the strangest pony I had ever laid eyes on. About halfway down his body, his dark green hide turned to scales and then into a fin. All I could do was stare at the pony's fin in complete shock as he flicked it a little bit. "Hello?" the fishpony asked and flicked his fin some more, causing water to hit me in the face. "Can you talk?" My head sat there spinning in complete confusion, leaving me unable to reply to the fishpony. He did not seem to mind as he just sat there and patiently waited. I coughed a couple more times, finally breaking my daze and shook my head. "I can talk just fine," I said with my mind and a fake smile. "You are such... an odd... creature. I was so stunned by the sight that I could not speak!" "Right," the fishpony nodded some. "Mind telling me what the hell you were doing in that tunnel?" I sat up and undid my bags with magic, set them aside, then dumped them out so the water could drain. I frowned when I remembered my ammo was filled with blackpowder and it might have been ruined by the tunnel, but I pushed such thoughts aside and started to field strip the IF-12. "I was knocked out last night, and it was clear," I said with my mind as I started setting various parts down. "When I awoke, it was thundering and pouring so hard I could barely see my hoof in front of my face. I sought shelter that proved to be pointless and found the tunnel." I stared down the barrel and wished I had swiped Zakiya's weapon cleaning kit because there might come a time when I need it. As it was, I saw a bit of muck inside the barrel from when it had been fired, but nothing major. So I started putting it back together. "When high tide comes in, the tunnel fills. And when the tide goes out, it drains." the fishpony said. "Why?" "Because it does," he said as I finished putting the weapon together and tested it with an empty casing, smiling when it clicked. "What are you doing?" "Cleaning and making sure my stuff works. Now why does the tunnel fill with water again?" "Because of the tides..." "But we are not near the water? We are underground," I pointed out, causing the fishpony to facehoof. *** *** Fish ponies, or sea ponies as they are known as, sat all around an odd looking room ahead of me. It was as if a pony had found a cavern with lots of puddles and built a catwalk running around and over the ponds. In the center of the room sat what appeared to be a floating bar with a highly active pony mixing drinks. DJ Buccaneer's music set played out from hidden speakers and all kinds of ponies danced to it. Lights from the ceiling provided the room with multi-colored light. I just sat there staring in complete shock at the scene because I had never heard of a place like it on the island before. Neither had Sister or she would have most certainly told me! The fish pony that had rescued me from certain death scrambled forward towards a pool like he was crawling on his front legs and slipped into a pond. That was the last I saw of him. The other fish ponies, and regular ponies, all ignored me as I started walking around to see what the Pit of Despair was like. It appeared as if it was a dance club… for fish ponies, which was an odd thing to me. As I slowly walked over a pond, I looked down at the water and noticed they were deep pits most likely connected to tunnels. The nearest sea ponies stopped their odd dancing and stared at me. I glanced at them, but kept walking towards the bar for a drink. When I reached the bar, I noticed then that most of the ponies were observing me. But I ignored them and leaned down to speak with the fish pony. "Excuse me!" I shouted with my mouth over the electronic music. "Where am I?" "The Pit of Despair!" The fish mare shouted back and held up a bottle of glowing gold liquid which was most certainly Celestia’s Ray. "A watering hole deep underground away from the ravages of topside." I frowned at the fish pony and shouted, "I need to get to Deadwood Cove!" "What for?" "Because I fucking want to!" I glared at the fish pony. "I need a boat to get there." The fish pony laughed at me, causing my glare to turn into a scowl as I attempted to kill her with my eye. After a few moments of not dying she said, "boats are on the surface. And the surface was just hit with a nasty storm. Why don't you just fly there when the storm is over?" I opened and closed my mouth for a few moments as I tried to come up with a retort, but failed horribly to do so. So I just shut my eyes and sighed deeply, trying to calm down. After I did so, I nodded. "I would love to do that, but..." I unfolded my clearly clipped wings. "I cannot. My wings are clipped and I need radiation to heal then back to their original glory." The fish pony frowned and hugged her large fin as if it were a blanket. "That's a good reason to not fly. Look, you do a job for me and I'll tell you where some radiation is. Deal?" "It's not underwater is it?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "I nearly drowned swimming through a death trap tunnel and do not wish to do so again." The fish pony nodded as her ears folded back. "Yes, it's underwater." I frowned and glared. "B-but I swear you can easily get to it!" My head tilted the other way. "I'll give you some underwater breathing equipment. Good enough for thirty minutes underwater. Which will get you to a wreck and back to the surface easily." With a deep sigh I shut my eye and nodded. "What must I do?" "Got a weapon or destructive spells?" "Of course," I nodded as I floated out my IF-12 and looked at it. The stock was partly beat up, its barrel was dark, and the cloth wrap I had put around it was a bit damp much to my annoyance. "This is my rifle, there are a great many of it, but this is mine." "Alright, good. You'll need it to kill some crabs." "Crabs?" I cocked an eyebrow and stared down at the fish pony. "Why crabs?" "When the tide goes out and most of the tunnels drain, a large group of crabs show up and have killed a couple ponies. You do this for me and I'll get you some radiation." With a bow of my head, I put the rifle away and said, "thank you. If you ever see an icy blue earth pony named Trigger, tell him Shock says hello." "I shall. Look, you're going to have to wait for early morning before you can do my job. You can make yourself at home while you wait." *** *** I laid there in the corner of the Pit of Despair for what felt like days while I watched the ponies go about their business. They would dance for a bit, talk, dance, drink, and dance some more. Eventually, I spotted a pony that kept staring at me every so often. I mostly ignored him until I noticed that the silver colored unicorn was making his way over to me. This fact caused me to tilt my head and wonder why he was doing so. For a few moments I thought I might have a shot at a nice chat until I spotted the Steel Ranger scribe robes he was wearing, and rolled my eye before looking at something else. "Miss Shock I presume?" he said in a pompous tone reminiscent of posh Canterlot unicorns. I said nothing. "Look, you can deny it all you want but it's not hard to track you. You leave a trail of bodies and unexplained situations. Not to mention you’re the only green alicorn here." "Come to arrest me, have you?" I hissed in his mind. "Should you try, you will fail." "No," he shook his head. "I have a proposition for you." I shut my eye and sighed deeply. "I am not dunk enough for a romp in the hay with a bug pony thing pretending to be a Steel Ranger. In fact I have not touched any alcohol today." "Wut?" He replied in clear confusion, causing me to smirk on the inside. "That's... not what I meant... You know of Star Paladin Eclipse, right?" "Correct," I nodded and looked over at the unicorn. "Let me guess, she wants you to kill me?" "No," he facehoofed. "I'm from the Baltimare Steel Rangers and we know the alicorns are no longer under the control of the Goddess." "And?" "And we normally send reinforcements to the island once a month. A few months ago we lost one of the few working transports we have. No rime or reason why. It just vanished." "So?" I shrugged. "Maybe the rusty piece of junk sank in the storm like DJ Buccaneer said?" The unicorn shook his head. "I was talking with the sea ponies here about it when you arrived. One claims to have found the wreckage of the ship far out to sea." "You're boring me with this drivel. Get to the point already." I flexed my wings a bit and folded them to show my growing impatience. "It was full of holes, shelled by naval artillery of some form." Slowly, I looked over and tilted my head. "You're saying this Paladin Eclipse sank your own boat?" The Steel Ranger scribe sat down and shrugged. "I don't know. She doesn't know I'm here and-" "Wait..." My brows knitted together in thought as I slowly thought over his words and came up with an idea. "I met a pony that has recently been far out to sea. She claimed to have encountered a glowing ghoul at some battleship wreck that was sinking." "Battleship?" I nodded. "Huge hulk of floating steel with very large guns capable of firing over the horizon." "Where is the pony you spoke to?" "On an Enclave raptor probably," I shrugged, causing the unicorn the frown. "But what does a missing ship have to do with Eclipse?" "What would you do if you were in charge of a group of ponies and one of your ships sank?" "Send out a search party?" "Exactly," the unicorn nodded. "She failed to even mention the missing ship in any reports sent back with the shipments. In fact she never even mentioned that there was a change in leadership on the island." I rolled my eyes again and sighed. "Maybe she's just bad with reports? Paperwork is boring and shooting things is much more fun." "Star paladins do not just overthrow an Elder on a whim and neglect to inform others. In fact, from what I hear, they're doing worse under her leadership because she's so fixated on killing alicorns." I rubbed my head with a hoof, sighing deeply again as I shut my eyes. "Mister whatever your name is, I do not care about your politics. In fact, I have half a mind to stop your heart right here, but for the fish ponies' sake, I am holding back." The unicorn's horn glowed as he pulled an item out of his bags and dropped it on the ground, causing me to tilt my head. It was a small single edged machete that had a chainsaw blades instead of a normal blade. On the flat of the blade was a scratched in name that looked horribly drawn on; Hyde. "What is this... pathetic blade you have shown me?" "It's a ripper known as Hyde. I got it from somepony who claimed to have gotten it from another pony that stole it from a green alicorn, you." "No," I shook my head. "Hyde is a single edged broadsword with hellhound teeth. Not this pathetic excuse for a sword!" My magic pulled Trigger's old machete out and set it down next to the fake Hyde. They were a perfect match for size. "See? That is not Hyde! He is a massive weapon capable of cutting open anything!" The unicorn rolled his eyes and kicked fake Hyde towards me. "Stop lying. This is your blade because there are no other green alicorns on the island." Slowly, my magic lifted the puny chainsaw weapon to my eye level and I stared at it while wondering if he was telling the truth. "I want it." "I'll trade you for it," he said. "But I will not just give it to you." "What do you want?" I asked as I inspected the cutting blades and found they were still as sharp as when I first picked the weapon up. "How about... your rifle you flaunted about earlier?" My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip and continued to stare at the weapon. I began to wonder to myself about things. Could I hit anything? If I could not land on Zakiya's boat and I misjudged the tunnel length... then perhaps my far sight is bad and me attempting to shoot a far target would fail? I floated out the rifle and ammo with a nod. "I... accept your trade." He took the items from me and I realized something right then and there. "You still have not told me why you are here. If it's just to give me Hyde, then you are stupid." "I want to hire you actually," he said with a nod, causing me to facehoof. Then I stood up and started swinging an inactive Hyde around like I was practicing; spinning it in a circle to test how it acted against the force of the spin followed by a downward chop, and then an angled upward arc, finally ending with the tip pointed at the unicorn. He just stood there and pushed it aside with his magic much to my annoyance. "As I was saying. I want to hire you for a job. I do not know the island chain and am looking for a guide that can handle some danger." "We do my job first," I told him as I brought Hyde close to my body and looked for a holder. Finding none caused me to frown. “And you will pay me in caps or favors.” “What?” “You heard me. Caps or favors.” The unicorn frowned some, then nodded. "I have six hundred caps, is this sufficient?” he asked as he turned his head and levitated a bag of caps from his saddlebags. I sat there scratching my chin in thought for a few long moments before nodding myself. “Yes, that sounds adequate.” He tossed the caps over, I caught them and dumped them out. “What are you doing?” “Counting,” I replied as I began to count each and every cap. Shell Shock: 25% to next level.
Chapter 18: Fight or FlightChapter 18: Fight or Flight "Use a sledgehammer. It’s the only way to be sure you hit your mark." I silently walked along the tunnel as cold salt water splashed on my chest with each hoof fall. Darkness slowly surrounded us as the sun steadily set across the ocean. The annoying Steel Ranger scribe, Bell Tower, limped along behind me, a gash ran along his side from where a giant crab had tried to slice him in half before my chainsaw ripper tore the appendage off. As for me, I was also injured. My limp wings dragged along the icy water and bandages covered my flank from where I had hit a rock on my way down the cliffside and my foreleg was in a splint. Nothing had prepared me for fighting on a cliffside against a crab almost three times as tall as I was. And neither was I prepared when the ground gave way while I was trying to stab the crab in the head. Wherever its head was. “Heeey!” a mare’s voice shouted with an echo from behind us. I turned around and brought a hoof up to block the bright light of the sun from blinding me too much. Through a squinted eye I could make out the distinct silhouette of a fish pony. “Thanks for clearing out the crabs!” the fish pony said before she went to clap her forehooves together, but faceplanted into the muck in a cry of surprise. With an annoyed groan, she pushed herself up and shook her head, quietly muttering, “I hate when that happens.” I rolled my eyes and limped towards her, Scribe Bell Tower grumbled to himself and followed along behind me again. As I neared the pony I realized that it was the same fish pony that had told me to kill the crabs in the first place, causing me to frown when I realized there was probably a third way to the club and not the way we were going. “Liar,” I hissed with my mind and mouth. “You lied to Us!” “What?!” her eyes widened. She quickly scrambled back as We started to glare at her. “N-n-no! I didn’t lie to you!” “Yes, you did! You said that ‘ponies were getting killed by crabs’. There is clearly more than one way out of the club!” “Land ponies are being killed by the crabs!” she shouted. “Sea ponies can swim through the underwater tunnels…” She gulped and hugged her large fin, but made no move to run. “Please… I was being serious.” I shut my eyes and sighed deeply, slowly lowering my head to the water at my hooves. As I stood there I wondered about everything, and whether or not the constant fighting would follow me around wherever I went. “I just want Sister back,” I whispered quietly with my mouth. “I want to go home. I don’t want to worry about ponies attacking me where I go. All I want to do is have a family and be myself!” Slowly, I looked up at the fish pony with my ears back. “Do you understand? I just… I want to be normal again.” "Well that radiation hotspot is out to sea and you should follow me to get there." The fish pony smiled a bit. I sighed and nodded. *** *** My roaring ripper floated next to me as I galloped through the rotted hallway, barreling straight towards a closed door with my head lowered. The Steel Ranger scribe galloped behind me with my old IF-12 and the fish pony, somehow, kept up with my 10mm pistol, Shock, in her mouth. The wooden door ahead of me exploded outwards in a shower of splinters as I slammed my full body weight into it. A quick glance of the dark rectangle room revealed a tattered black couch with ponies hiding behind it. My momentum kept me going as I galloped towards the terrible shelter and leapt over it, bringing Hyde down on the head of the pony on the left. His eyes were wide as the spinning Hellhound teeth sliced clean through his snout, shearing it off halfway down in a torrent of blood. What was left of his nose fell to the ground at the same time I landed and spun around to face the screaming pony. Hyde was quickly shoved inside his skull, spraying his companion with bits of brain, eye goo and bone. The living piratical pony scrambled back as Hyde was pulled out of his now clearly dead friend. Scribe What’s His Name aimed the IF-12 down the barrel at the same time the fish pony quickly crawled into the room and aimed the pistol as well. My remaining eye twitched as I stood there and glared at the pirate pony, my teeth grinding together while Hyde dripped fresh gore from the fresh kill. “Food,” I said to the pony. “I need food.” He gulped at the same time he backed into the rotted wood wall. Mud, blood, and sweat dripped off my forest green body that I once thought was perfection. However, the pirates would taste my only part of my fury, but Eclipse will taste the full brunt of it. “Wh-what…?” the pony whimpered, his clearly improvised barding was battered, rusted, and in desperate need of repairs. The weapon, if a pony could call it that, was dropped on the ground. It looked like a heavily rusted club that used to be a standard issue battle rifle. A sad, sorry, excuse for a weapon that should never have been acquired by the pony if he wanted to shoot something with it. “I think what my winged friend means,” Bell Tower said as he slowly stepped around the couch into my vision. “Is that she’s hungry, and you’re her food.” I kept my gaze on my target and ignored the Steel Ranger pony since he kept moving until he was on my left. Movement on my right at the edge of my vision indicated the fish pony had caught up and was aiming the weapon I let her borrow. “You’re all insane!” the pony shouted, his eyes going even wider as he tried to back further into the wall. Hyde was adjusted in my magic before I gripped the trigger a tiny bit, causing the blade to spin some. “She might be,” the scribe nodded, “but I am holding her back. Now where’s the diving equipment?” “D-di-diving equ-equipment…?” “Don’t lie to Us!” I shouted, grabbing Hyde’s trigger as I swung the weapon around in an arc. His spinning blades barely sliced the pony’s foreleg, leaving a faint line of red at the same time I let go of the trigger. The pony screamed in pain and clutched the area as I shouted, “you lie to Us again and We will. Kill. You!” He gulped, quickly pointing a hoof at the door on the opposite end of the room. “The boss has them! I didn’t sign up for this… He just said that we were going to take the box and that’s it.” “Who told you to take it?” I hissed through my mouth. “I don’t know!” "Was it Star Paladin Eclipse?!" I shouted. "I don't know!" He replied, shutting his eyes as I trotted over. "Liar!" I shouted as I spun the non-spinning blade around and stopped it on his chest. "Do you think I'm a fool? If you were hired for a job you would have been told every detail about wh-" "Shock!" the stallion to my left shouted, drawing my attention over to Scribe Bell Tower before I could run the pirate through. "That's enough. You scared him shitless." "Literally," the fish pony replied. I looked over at her, noticing she had moved back and was holding her nose with a hoof while the pistol rested on her fin. This fact caused me to take a step back from the pirate pony and look at him. His hind leg armor had a new stain on it that I wasn't sure if it was piss or feces, or a combination of both. Slowly, I brought my wing up and covered my nose as I removed Hyde from the pony's chest. His eyes rolled back as he let out a breath and fell to the floor. I turned my gaze to the door in question and stared at it with my one eye, licking some blood off my lips as it dripped down off my horn. "Somepony needs to leash her before she does something stupid," I heard the fish pony think, but ignored it because she was right. I needed to be leashed and contained, but I didn't care. That could come at another time. Slowly, I trotted forward towards the door. *** *** I trotted along the dark hall, my gaze scanning left for a bit before I turned my head to scan the right. The moldy carpeted wood beneath my hooves creaked under my weight, but I cared not if that made me think I was fat. I was not fat, no. I was perfect. A perfect specimen created in the image of a Goddess. A Goddess who was gracious enough to grant me the gift despite my frail, old, and addled mind at the time. She was the one pony who I believed was doing the right thing. Alicorns were the future then, and still are the future of ponies. If only we could make alicorn stallions. Alicorn stallions seemed to be confusion and impossible for the Goddess to make, and yet... a simple plant created one. A simple. Plant. A plant was smarter than the Great and Powerful Goddess. It was such a ludicrously simple and stupid idea that we never saw it coming. But whether or not he was truly real remained to be seen. Zakiya was real and Axe mentioned the alicorn stallion, so he must be real. But there was the fact that I could not find him with my telepathy. That lead me to believe he was not real. As I took a step, my hoof touched something that broke my inner monologue about the lack of dicks among alicorns. Slowly, I blinked and registered my surroundings. So caught up I was in talking to myself, that I did not notice the hallways change to a musty wood smell and not moldy salt water. Around me sat bright, nearly polished, wood for walls, clean wood flooring and painted wood for the ceiling. "Why'd you stop?" Scribe Bell Tower asked quietly, nearly whispering it. "My hoof hit something," I whispered to him and the fish pony with my mind. "Don't move." "There's nothing-" "There is! It feels like a wire." I slowly looked down at my hoof and saw it. A faint glint of light partially wrapped around my hoof leading to the walls. My magic wrapped the wire in a jade green glow to hold it in place as I took a few steps back. Gulping down my fear of being turned to alicorn paste, I looked along the wire and saw it was hooked to a three metal apples painted to match the wood. It was a simple, effective, and deadly trap. After a quick disarm that involved slowly checking everything for redundant traps, I placed the painted frag grenades in my bags and resumed trotting. Not far down the hallway was a door that was, strangely, unlocked and partially open. With my magic, I levitated out a 'shiny' object from the around the sea pony's neck, which was a waterlogged mirror, and ever so slowly edged it into the open so I could look into the room without being seen. Slowly, the mirror was panned left and right as I attempted to find anything of importance. All I saw was a dark, dank, room. Off to one side was a bed with two ponies on it; one earth pony partially laying atop the other with their muzzles in kissing range. Instead of doing so, they were talking. Next to the bed was their armor, weapons, and saddlebags. I gave the mirror to the fish pony and took a deep breath before charging into the room, the door slamming against the wall in a loud bang from the force of my entry. The two ponies jumped in surprise at the sudden intrusion; one of them rolled off the bed, landing behind it with a thud, while the other one, a unicorn, sat up with a glowing horn. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said, slowly bringing Hyde around to aim at the unicorn. She stared at me and I stared at her for a moment before she frowned. Movement drew my attention over to the stallion as he lifted his head from behind the bed with a rifle in his grip, causing the mare to go into my blind spot. Before I could even think of tossing Hyde at the pony, I felt something small and red hot slam into my neck, burning flesh and whatever else as the room was filled with the clap of a gunshot. A second bullet slammed into my chest before I could blink and turn my head. I collapsed, falling to my knees and rolled onto my side at the same time Hyde hit the floor . A gunshot came from behind me. I watched the mare's eye explode into red goo from the bullet's impact at the same time a fourth shot filled the room from behind the bed. "Fuck!" Bell Tower shouted as I heard the distinct sound of the IF-12's bolt being run through its motions. I began coughing up blood as my vision slowly grew darker. "Fix Shock!" He yelled, firing a second shot at the pony. I didn't have time to see if he hit anything with his bad aiming, which I had seen against the crabs, because the fish pony's face filled my one eyed vision. She held up a vial of purple and shoved it in my mouth, clamping my jaws around it. "Drink!" She shouted at me. I had already wordlessly complied, tilting my head back some as I fought the urge to cough up my own blood. The purple liquid ran down my throat, probably out the hole because she placed her hoof on my neck, and down into my stomach. I shut my eyes as another shot rang out, causing my ears to press against my skull. "Just keep drinking," the fish pony said through the ringing in my ears. Slowly, my throat began to itch deep down, informing me that the potion was doing its job of healing my wounds. "Did they both go through?" Scribe Bell Tower asked. I'm not sure if the fish pony replied, but he said, "you need to take the bullet out of her chest, now!" My eyes snapped open at that. I saw the fish pony looking up at the scribe. She pulled the empty bottle out of my mouth and held my head in her forehooves. "She could have choked on her own blood if we stopped to take the bullet out." "Well, there's only one thing to do." Bell Tower said. I gulped the last of the potion down and said with my mind, "cut it out. We don't want it in Our perfect body." *** *** We watched the fish pony float in the tub of murky water, tiny waves lapped at her shimmering scales, while We thought over Our agreement with her. The floor around us was just as rusty and grimy as the rest of the ship and We did not care to close the door. Scribe Bell was busy being a thieving techno hoarder in the other room while the fish pony and Us sat in the bathroom. A magical bandage was wrapped tightly around Our neck where the bullet had penetrated and around Our chest where We had to cut Ourself open to get the bullet out. "Well," the fish pony sheepishly laughed. "At least you have telepathy. Right?" Her remark caused Us to roll Our eyes and look over at Scribe Bell Tower. We watched his backside for a few moments, tilting Our head when We noticed he was muttering something to the slain stallion. We, being curious of course, decided to listen in a bit with our telepathy. "...guide you to the hereafter, and a better life in the next." We tilted Our head the other way when he closed the dead stallion's eyes. "So what do you see?" the fish pony asked quietly, drawing Our attention over to her smirking visage that We wanted to knock off her face. "Did you like the view?" "Yes," We said with a head bow. "There is no shame in looking at a nice stallion." "Huh?" Scribe Bell Tower asked in clear confusion inside Our head, causing Us to facehoof when We instantly realized that We were still inside his head. We quickly dropped the spell as Our cheeks heated up in a tiny blush. Our actions received a laugh from the fish pony as she tossed her head back and flicked her fin, splashing Us with icy and, irradiated water. "You need to cool off," she giggled some. We set the hoof down and looked at the mare with a frown. "We do not think that to be funny. In fact, we think We should stab you with this," We held Hyde in magic so she could see him and revved his blades a bit. Her smile slowly faded when she saw the small chainsaw blade. "That's... not funny ." "And neither are you," We glared at her. She floated away from the tub edge with her hooves up. "Sweet Celestia, can't you take a joke? I was just trying to lighten the mood." "Mood?" We tilted Our head. "We lost. Lost. Our beautiful voice! The only thing I wish for, is to get the stupid diving equipment so I can get healed. I am sick of this and want it to stop." As I put Hyde down, she let out a breath she had been holding and mumbled something I did not care to hear because I knew the response. 'We are not insane and neither do We need a leash,' a voice said in the back of my mind. 'They are the crazy ones. They don't know what it's like to be in Our position. They would have died long ago if they were'. "Soaked enough to travel?" Bell Tower asked, receiving a nod from the fish pony. "Alright, let's get moving." Slowly, with a frown and a fiery glare, I looked over at the stallion. "Who put you in charge?" "Group vote." "What?" I tilted my head. "Fin and I voted, and came to the conclusion that I should lead. I am paying you after all." "That's absurd!" I shouted with my mind as I stomped my hoof down, receiving a hollow thud from the metal. "You're paying me to show you the island. I should lead!" "Nope," Bell Tower shut his eyes and shook his head. "I let you lead and look what happened, you got shot in the neck and we're here. Wherever that is." I opened and closed my mouth for a couple seconds in an attempt to come up with a reply. Failing at doing so, I stomped both my forehooves down and let out a silent scream of rage. *** *** Bell Tower, Blue Fin, and I walked along the wreck's corridor. The aforementioned fish pony dripped irradiated water and left a trail while I lead us onward at Bell Tower's directions, much to my annoyance. Every so often I would quickly check my right to make sure there were no gun toting ponies trying to hide in my clear blind spot. I might as well be totally blind at the rate I was being injured. My mind slowly worked its way back in time as I walked along. I wondered what Scribe Bell Tower was talking about and made a mental note to ask him about it when we left the derelict. But what I did gather from his actions, was that the Steel Ranger Scribe did not like to shoot ponies. Eventually, my mind snapped back to reality when I noticed a door up ahead. It was a simple wooden door that seemed... out of place. Almost as if a pony had taken paint and applied it to the door not less than an hour ago. The walls around the door were heavily rusted and a few insults were done in blood or feces, causing me to frown. As I reached the door, I pressed my ear against it and listened. Fin and Bell Tower waited next to me for an answer. I tried my hardest to find any noise, but I heard nothing. So, with a deep breath, I lowered my head and tried to peer through the lock, but found it impossible as it was blocked halfway through. "Well?" Fin whispered. "I can't see shit," I said in her mind. But before I could say anything else, she reached up and tried the door handle. It clicked noisily, swinging inward to reveal something I was not expecting. "You!" A deep blue alicorn shouted in a familiar voice as her eyes went wide. Both her non-flowing twin pig tailed mane and her braided tail were tied with pink bows on the end. A simple faded ball cap sat on her head and a simple grimy shirt adorned her chest. She stood on plush carpet near an ancient wooden desk. Off to the other side of the room was an open locker where clothes spilled out from. Sitting on the alicorn's back was a familiar pump action shotgun that I remembered Blue carried. On the desk was a box with masks and tanks sticking out of it. It seemed that we had found the leader of the pirates and he was not a he, but a she. I quickly grabbed Fin in a hug and pulled Bell tower close with my wing before throwing up my shield. "Shock, you idiot!" Bell Tower hissed. "Now we can't-" "SILENCE!" I boomed inside his head, causing the unicorn to wince and immediately shut up. Fin pulled the trigger of the pistol I had given her, causing my shield to ripple as the 10mm bullet slammed into it and did nothing but fall to the ground. "Uhh.... Yeah, this is a dumb idea," Fin mumbled around the pistol. The blue alicorn had made no move for her shotgun until Fin had fired the pistol. Her shotgun was now floating near her head as she slowly strutted over to a locker with a smirk. "So Shell Shock, have you told your companions about your..." she noisily racked the pump back and forth, causing me to gulp. "Diet?" I looked down at the fish pony and unicorn, sheepishly smiling as Bell Tower asked, "what's she mean?" "Shock eats ponies," the blue alicorn said nonchalantly. "Butchers them worse than any raider could and cooks their flesh in front of them." "You were serious?!" Bell Tower's eyes widened in shock as he backed as far away from me as he could, Fin likewise backed away. "I thought you were just acting to scare that pony." "I... I can explain," I whimpered a bit. "You see. I... I... I, um... I have a slight... problem?" "Yes..." the blue alicorn said, pumping the shotgun a few more times and drawing my attention to her as the red shells jumped onto the floor one after the other. I saw she had orange shells floating in her magical grip and began to load them one by one. "Why don't you explain to all of us how you butchered one of your own alicorn sisters. How you skinned her starting with her flanks and then cut her horn, wings, and legs off one by one. All while she was conscious." As quick as I could, I dropped the shield and shoved Bell Tower away before leaping over Blue Fin. The blue alicorn looked over as I landed and quickly went invisible, Hyde clattering uselessly to the ground. My mind raced and my heartbeat thundered in my mind as I looked around in an attempt to find where to go. It seemed, to me, as if everything was moving slowly; Bell tower was busy recovering from the stumble, while Fin was staring in confusion, and the other alicorn was loading the last shell into her shotgun's chamber. I quickly and silently darted over to the table with the scuba gear on it and dove underneath it. "Oh come now," the alicorn called out while looking around. "You think I won't find you? Only so many places you can hide." "Hey!" Fin shouted. "I want my scuba gear back!" She received a frown from the alicorn as the blue brought her shotgun to bear on Fin. "Heh," Fin half-laughed. "Maybe I was mistaken? Underwater gear looks alike you know." The blue alicorn put a hoof to her lips in a silencing gesture. "Shush. Shock is still here and-" "She's not going to come out with that shotgun floating about," Bell Tower said. "So just put it away." Something occurred to me that caused me to tilt my head. All the ponies I had talked to in the derelict ship had called their boss 'him'. And if the alicorn, who was in the fanciest room with the gear, was the boss. Then she had a big problem. I tried to call out to her, but frowned when I didn't have a voice. Fin had said it could take a couple months to get it back and I did not have that kind of time, so I desperately needed the radiation the fish pony knew of. "Shut up, Scribe," the blue alicorn said. "I can't hear her hoof steps." She slowly walked around the room with the shotgun floating as she said, "Sheeeell Shock. Come out, come out, wherever you are. I just wanna talk." I knew she would shoot me as soon as she could and probably even shoot the others I was with. I couldn't leave because she was a blue and might be able to see me moving even with invisibility up. They had much better skills than I ever could hope to achieve and I did not want to fight an alicorn. So. I took a deep breath, stepped out from under the table and dropped the spell. The air around me shimmered as the alicorn spun around and aimed the shotgun at me, causing my ears to fold back. "That's a good dog," she smirked. "Wait! I can help you," I told her just in her mind. "By killing all my lackeys?!" she hissed with her mouth. "They shot at us first," Fin added, receiving a glare from both the blue and I. She eeped and his behind a silent Bell Tower. When we were sure she wasn't going to interrupt, the blue and I looked at each other again. "Well?" she asked. I took a deep breath and nodded. "The fish pony is right. They did shoot at us first, but. I know about your,.. lack of, um? how do I put this?" I looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment before smiling. "About you being turned into a mare against your will." "No shit?" the blue asked sarcastically. "I bet you have amazing detective skills. Why haven't I shot you yet, detective Shell Shock?" "Because deep down you wonder if I can actually help." "Are you reading my thoughts?" "No," I shook my head . "I try not to invade an alicorn's privacy. But remember in the jungle when we first met," I slowly lowered my head until we were looking eye to eye again and noticed that the shotgun was a little lower. "Remember when I talked to you with telepathy? I heard a stallion's voice, not a mare's. And-" "There's no fix!" I frowned and quickly touched horns with the blue alicorn, and the world around us began to swirl into a black abyss. The alicorn let out a very mare like scream of anger as the both of us landed on soft fluffy pillows in the black abyss. I quickly sat up and held my hooves out before she could recover. "Wait!" I shouted. She sat up, tossing a pillow at me with a frown. It struck me square in the face with an oomph, making me stagger back a bit as I pulled it off and tossed it to the side with magic. "There is a-" Another pillow slapped me in the face, cutting my sentence off again. I screamed in annoyance and made the pillows disappear. The blue's ears drooped when her next shot vanished before it hit me. "Damnit. I want out of this fucked up head world!" "Hear me out," I said, slowly sitting down on nothing. "Then I'll let you go and you can do whatever you want to me." "Like I have a choice." The blue grumbled, folding her hooves across her chest. I waited a few seconds to see if she would interrupt and when she didn't, I took a deep breath. After I slowly let it out I said, "recently there was this orange alicorn stallion I met on this very island chain." That drew her full attention. Her ears swiveled forward and perked up as her forelegs relaxed. "You lie." "I would never lie to a sister. This orange alicorn told me how he used to be a pegasus, but had fallen into Killing Joke and was turned into a stallion." "How does that work?" her eyebrow raised up in confusion as she tilted her head some. I shrugged. "I think the joke was that he was going to be hunted down by everypony on this island chain for being an alicorn." "Gee, I wonder why," she replied dryly, causing me to roll my eyes. "Anyway. This pegasus to alicorn pony proves that an alicorn stallion can exist. A stupid plant is smarter than The Goddess. All we have to do is see if we can make it specifically turn an alicorn into a stallion." The blue alicorn slowly scratched her chin in thought for a few long moments. I could see her brows knit together and the frown as it slowly formed on her face. "I really would like to be normal again. But the question is..." she slowly looked up into my eyes as the frown turned into a smirk. "Why do I need you?" "Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion. "You just told me what plant was needed to fix me. I can just kill you now and be done with it." "Um... I... I, uh..." My ears drooped as I frowned when I realized the truth. "You are right... You don't need me to find the location of the plant and a pony that can mix up a potion." "Shit," she frowned. "I just realized I don't know any potion makers." Her response caused me to clap my hooves together with a grin. "So you can't kill me yet!" "It seems not..." *** *** "Shock!" Captain Dead Hoof, the blue alicorn formerly known as Blue, shouted as she looked around the room for me. A knife floated in his/her grip and I wasn't quite sure what to call her. She wanted to be called him and refused to be called sister, but my mind was conflicted. I sat on the dresser of her room, invisible to the naked eye. The room was exactly the same as it was almost an hour ago, save for 'Captain' Dead Hoof's attire. She wore a skin tight wetsuit as the fish pony Blue Fin called them. I found myself looking at Dead Hoof in the way I looked at Sister, as a good friend I could count on, but perhaps there was more to it. He/she was a captain without a ship and a pony lost in a strange body, one that she opted to reject as flawed. And rightly so. I would be pissed too if somepony swapped my gender without telling me it would happen. "Where are you?" Dead Hoof shouted again, breaking my thought trance. "Please," I said into her mind. "I don't want to be hurt anymore." Then facehoofed as the air around me shimmered when the invisibility spell dropped. Dead Hoof quickly looked over, a smirk slowly forming on her face as I jumped to my hooves and began galloping away. "There you are." I glanced over just as the blue alicorn slammed into me, sending us careening into the bed. Under our combined weight and with our momentum, the bed frame shattered, sending us sprawling on the mattress and stunned the both of us from the sudden shift of direction change. Quickly recovering from the stun, I rolled over, but the blue's hooves pressed down on my chest and pinned me down. "Hold still!" Dead Hoof hissed at me as she brought the knife closer to my face. My eyes widened at the sight of it heading for my blurry side. I quickly gave it a useless telekinetic slap, grabbed the blue's sides with my hind legs and, with some luck due to the distraction, flipped positions to where I was atop Dead Hoof. "Hah!" I smirked, she glared at me and shoved against my chest. I let go and spun around to gallop off, but her fat weight tackled me to the ground in a small dust cloud. Her forelegs wrapped around my neck and I could feel her frantic heart beat into my back. "Shock! That eye has to come out if you want to heal properly!" Dead Hoof shouted in my ear. "You know," I said only into her mind. "If you were a stallion, I'd like this position." "Then you'd like a toy of mine that we can play with later,” she whispered sensually in my ear, causing my whole face to heat up in a deep blush. My reaction received a laugh from her. "That's not the same thing!" I hissed back when I recovered from the unexpected reply. We laid there for a couple of seconds while I glanced at Blue Fin and Bell Tower. They were quietly watching and eating from a box of apple chips. It made me angry, but then I realized that they really couldn't help in the situation. So why not have dinner and a show? I know I would have done the same thing. "Roll onto your back," Dead Hoof said as she let go of my neck and stood up, giving my flank a light slap where the cutie mark should be. I blushed even more, quickly burying my face in my forehooves so Bell Tower and Blue Fin didn't see it. "Why must you torment me?” I whispered in Dead Hoof’s mind. “I don't want my eye removed. It will heal on its own with radiation." "You'll grow a new one," Dead Hoof replied. "It'll be quicker and safer." "Safer...?" I asked, opening my eyes only to see my very dirty coat. "How is a knife near my brain safer?!" "Because you won't be underwater as long. You don't want to drown, do you?" I laid there, staring at my hoof and thinking. She was right. If it was removed, it could potentially grow back much faster than if I simply healed it. But I did have an attachment to the eye and did not trust her with a knife anywhere near any vital spots. Slowly, I took a deep breath and looked at the slender blue alicorn in the skin tight wetsuit. Her mane did not flow and was still tied in a pair of pigtails with the pink bows on the end. I wanted to mock her choice of mane style if she considered herself a stallion, but chose to keep my mouth shut. She nodded at me, causing my ears to fold back. As I laid there staring at her, I wondered what Dead Hoof would look like as an alicorn stallion. The alicorn mare form was the perfect example of pony evolution, even I could not deny that they were appealing to the eye, so an alicorn stallion had to be just as perfect. The thought caused me to smile. Which in turn caused Dead Hoof to smile for all the wrong reasons because he/she brandished the knife towards me. "Get on your back and this'll be over quick." My smile instantly faded to a frown and I ended up seeing Sister standing there trying to tell me that We should not talk to the impure ponies because we were trying to stay alive. I slowly looked over at Bell Tower and Blue Fin, asking myself and Dead Hoof, "did We kill Sister with Our actions...? I... We... We only... wanted to help ponies... "Shock, snap out of it!" Dead Hoof shouted, drawing my attention over to her. "Get your head together and focus on the now, not the fuck-ups of the past." "Then you know about her death..." My ears slowly folded back as I lowered my head to stare at my forest green blank flank. "Eclipse killed her, beat her to death in front of me." "I know," Dead Hoof said quietly. "Word travels fast on the islands. I'm sorry she's dead, but you have to focus on something else or you're going to be a wreck for the rest of your life." "I am," I said with a nod, slowly bringing my gaze to meet Dead Hoof's. "I'm going to do worse to Eclipse. She's going to regret killing our sisters and wearing their bones." "Then you'll need to be in top shape," he replied as he brought the knife into my view. "You'll need both eyes." *** *** I glanced up at the 'sky' from behind a face mask hooked up to air tanks on my back. The surface of the ocean moved about in a strange manner as warm sunlight bored its way down to us, partially illuminating the wreck while my horn did the rest. Oddly, or not so depending on how you looked at it, the shipwreck Blue Fin knew about was only forty feet underwater in a lagoon. It was even possible to see the wreck from the nearby rocky cliffs in the day. As I sat there, Dead Hoof swam by my vision, drawing my attention to her. The blue alicorn gracefully swam around, chasing Blue Fin, while I was merely sitting on the hull of the wreck and soaking in as much radiation as I could. I felt my feathers ich terribly as they grew back and I even felt my eye growing back. That orb which Dead Hoof so forcibly removed in the attempt to show me that alicorns could indeed heal almost any wound. She was a fool to think I did not know that knowledge. I knew better than her how alicorns worked. She knew nothing about us beyond the fact that 'he' was now a she against his will. It was by The Goddess's will that he join our perfect sisterhood. It was true that all alicorns were female in her image, a minor setback and one that was soon to be rectified I hoped. I only wished that Sister were alive to see it. She... might have liked to have seen it. The thought of Sister caused me to look down at the steadily rusting ship beneath me as bubbles escaped my mask when I let out a deep sigh. My wetsuit did not do a good job of keeping the frigid ocean water at bay, but I did not care. I would freeze to death if it meant fixing the mistake I made. The mistake that caused the death of a pony, whom I cherished and loved as a sister more than the other alicorns. There had to be a way to bring her back. I would do anything to bring her back, to make sure she were alive still. I'd give up everything to hold her one more time, to hear her laugh and to see her smile. "There has to be a way!" I shouted as loud as I could. My hoof slammed against the rusty metal beneath me, causing a loud boom to echo for some time in the water, as I grit my teeth and stared at the dirt cloud that flew up at me. Slowly, my breathing calmed down to normal, but... I did not feel sad for the loss of Sister anymore. No, I felt angry at myself for causing it and annoyed that I could do nothing about it, except keep my last promise. "Something wrong?" I heard Dead Hoof's voice inside my head, having kept a faint link with her, Blue Fin, and Bell Tower, so we would know when it was time to go and so Bell Tower knew we were okay. "I'm... fine," I replied and looked back towards the bow of the ship. "Suddenly shouting 'there has to be a way' inside my head means something is bothering you," Dead Hoof continued to poke at my brain. She could poke me all she wanted, but she would get no farther. Instead of answering her, I dropped her connection and smiled a bit when I felt her frustration. However, Blue Fin swam into my view and folded her forelegs across her chest. I rolled my eyes, well one eye because my right was still covered, and looked out at the endless sea. Only to have the fish pony dart into my vision again. "You're being childish," Blue Fin said in my head.. I merely shrugged and pointed to my ear, tilting my head as if to say I couldn't hear her. "Liar!" She shouted. "You yelled at me about lying, and here you are lying." "What would you have me do?!" I shouted back at her mind. "She doesn't understand my pain. You don't understand my pain. You don't. Get it." "Make us understand then," she replied. Make them understand... Make them understand my pain? If only it were so easy and simple as to tell them. To tell a simple wasteland pony the complexities of love is physically impossible. It's like trying to explain hygiene to a raider that hasn't ever taken a bath. They just don't get it. Wastelanders just. Don't. Get it. *** *** Dead Hoof sat far from me on the beach while holding up a very familiar brown leather bound book in her magic. Her wet mane had been tied back again and she wore all her gear. Which consisted of a jacket, like the one I was wearing but a little shorter and no sleeves, her hat, shotgun, and saddlebags with some makeshift armor. A rock was floating in my magical grip as I attempted to judge the distance with both of my eyes. "How far?" Dead Hoof shouted. I frowned a little and knitted my brows in thought, which took only a split second to decide. "Thirty paces," I shouted with my mouth, glad to have my voice box back, and tossed the rock with my magic. Dead Hoof's gaze tracked it skyward and the both of us watched as the rock landed with a soft thump a foot away from her, causing me to frown and pick up another rock. I tossed it with my magic, we watched it again as it sailed over her head and landed ten feet behind her. Bell Tower and Blue Fin were sitting nearby playing cards on a rocky outcropping. I wondered why the fish pony was sticking around, but didn't bother asking. Instead I picked up another rock with my magic and tossed it. Dead Hoof watched as it sailed left and landed twenty feet to her side. She facehoofed and shouted, "how could you have been in charge of a missile launcher?!" With a roll of my eyes I picked up another rock and telekinetically tossed it as hard as it could. I watched as it sailed through the air, and struck Dead Hoof's foreleg dead on. She jumped back, grabbing hold of the foreleg as she screamed in pain, "aah, fuck! What was that for?!" Her shout drew confused looks from the two card playing ponies. "I hit my target," I shouted. "You wanted me to hit you with a rock, but did not specify if it was first try or fourth." Her cradled foreleg trembled in pain, causing me to frown and start trotting across the sand over to her. "I told you to hit the book! Not me. The book, the book, the book!" When I reached her, I gently took the foreleg in magic and looked it over, frowning at the large welt on her perfect blue leg. "I'm sorry, but We did not think clearly." "Obviously," she muttered under her breath, but I heard it in my head. "Can I ask you something?" I knew the foreleg would heal soon with how much radiation the two of us soaked up, so I did not think either of us were worried about permanent damage. "Hm?" I tilted my head as I slowly looked from her leg to her eyes. "You can ask me anything." She looked over at Blue Fin and Bell Tower before looking at me and whispering, "why do you hang out with that Steel Ranger?" I slowly looked over at the scribe and sighed deeply. "I do not know." My voice was quiet and sweet like, well, like candy apples. "He offered to pay me bits if I showed him the island and it seemed like a good idea at the time." "Do you still have the bits?" Dead Hoof asked. I nodded slowly. "All of them?” Another nod from me caused her to smile. “May I have them?" I watched Bell Tower and Blue Fin play cards for a few more moments. They seemed like any other boring non-alicorn pony, if one such boring pony was half fish. They seemed to ignore us and seemed like Blue Fin would giggle once in a while. No doubt because Bell Tower made a terrible joke. With a deep sigh of frustration, I slowly levitated my bag of bits out and floated them to Dead hoof. She took them in her own magic and limped towards the duo. "Give me a minute," she said quietly before leaving normal hearing range. I knew what she planned, so I looked off at the water and shut my eyes. The cool salty sea air blew in off the wave tops as they crashed down on the beach, drowning out any conversation Dead Hoof was having with Bell Tower. I, of course, ignored them and chose to bask in the warm sunlight, slowly laying down on my side as I spread my fully healed wing out to let it catch the breeze. My mind began turning over every possibility ranging from Bell tower refusing and Dead Hoof having to shoot him, all the way to the simple idea that he took the bits and trotted off. After an eternity of waiting, a light touch on my flank caused me to open my eyes and look over at Dead Hoof. She pulled her hoof away from my body and smiled. "We're alone." "And?" I tilted my head some, my ear twitching about as I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "You even got the fish pony to leave?" Dead Hoof bowed her head a bit. "She only wanted her equipment and she got it. Now that we are alone..." she smirked, causing my ears to slowly fold back when I remembered her comment about a certain toy and the two of us. "There is something I want you to know. Rules as it were." "Rules?" I tilted my head, receiving a nod from her. "What rules?" "Simple ones really; rule one, you won't butcher ponies-" I opened my mouth to retort, but she held up her hoof, causing me to close my mouth. "Ah-ah. Let me finish before you interrupt. Rule one, you won't butcher ponies for the sake of 'food'. Rule two, you will listen to my every word as if it were the law. Rule three, I will say who you can and cannot shoot. Instead of shooting ponies, you will devote your time to helping ponies in need. Rule four, you will not carry any blades or weapons of any kind in a town and give them to me before we head in. Any questions?" "May I kill Eclipse and skin her?" I asked as I tilted my head the other way. "I swore to Sister that Eclipse was going to die." Dead Hoof stood there looking at me, a frown slowly forming on her face. I bit my lower lip and waited for her response. Her brows knitted together as her face scrunched up, clearly in deep, deep thought about my question. She looked out over the ocean and sighed before looking at me, spreading her wings out. "Okay. Eclipse can die." *** *** Wind whipped at my face, blowing my short mane back as I skimmed a few feet above the choppy ocean's surface. Every so often, the waves would smash together and throw cold salty spray on my face, but I didn't care. I was flying again and could see with both of my eyes. I was happy, almost too happy and cared little about the struggle of Bell Tower or that one Steel Ranger Elder whose name I had forgotten. All I cared about. Was flying. My forehooves slapped at a wave as I swooped down, causing me to giggle in glee as I pulled up, rolled over above Dead Hoof, and swooped down underneath her in a very lazy barrel roll. She glanced over at me and tried to frown, but I could see the faintest of smiles form on her lips. Dead Hoof tucked her wing in, banking away from me before leveling out and flying off. I pulled up and flew higher than her before leveling off to chase down the wayward alicorn. She glanced back as she darted left. I rolled into a bank and followed her with a powerful flap of my wings. Dead Hoof dropped low to the water's surface, her forehooves skimming wave top after wave top as she tried to outrun me. I smiled, angling downward in a dive to pick up speed. Her cutie mark covered blue flank steadily approached at a rapid rate. But before I could tap it, she banked to the right and flew off with a few more flaps of her wings. With a fake groan of annoyance, I followed along behind her and tried closing the gap again. She looked back at me, smirked, and pulled up, propelling herself skyward like a rocket. I followed along a bit slower to see what her plan was. Dead Hoof flew up, and up, and up, almost to the cloud layer before she collapsed her wings against her side, causing me to tilt my head. "Catch me!" She shouted as her inertia caused her to hover in the air for a split second before falling towards me. I tilted my head the other way and held my hooves out as she came closer. Dead Hoof's weight slammed into my forelegs, I was yanked downward, but pulled her close and held her tight, noticing a grin was on her face and her eyes were shut. "We do not see what is so amusing," We told her quietly. Dead Hoof opened her eyes and grinned at me. "Now I know I can trust you to not eat me when I sleep." "Huh?" I tilted my head and blinked in confusion as I began hovering the two of us down towards the water. "You could always have trusted me to not harm you." "Forgive me for wanting to make sure myself after that hellhole of a dream." she replied. I stared at her blue face that reminded me of Sister so much, that it caused me to see Mudpie in Dead Hoof. "Shock," she said as we stopped above the water. "Tell me something." "Hm?" I tilted my head. "What do you want to know?" Dead Hoof hovered up and slightly away, frowning a bit. "Your... eating habits. How did they come around?" I looked off and away at the ocean, my mind slowly working over the question. Do I want to tell her? She is an alicorn... And probably shared my memories at one time due to Unity. So why then is she trying to get me to talk about it? With a frown, I started hovering in the original direction we had been flying. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. It's a dark past I want to forget. Do you want to know something?" "What?" Dead Hoof asked, hovering after me and just to my side. I glanced over at her and waved my hoof at the sky as I said, "imagine an Equestria that has lush grass, living trees, and life everywhere, not this constant grey and death." "I heard the stories from the ghouls, but have never seen it first hoof and would have never believed such a thing were possible until I came to the islands." I hovered a little faster over the waves and nodded a little. "I was there, back before everything died. It was an amazing place full of happy ponies. I was a foal, I think." My brows knitted together in thought. "You think?" Dead Hoof giggled at me and hovered in front of me, spinning around so she'd fly backwards. "Shock, everypony ever born was a foal at one time." I looked away and frowned. "I don't remember the first near twenty years of my life. It's all muddled and blank." "Sounds like something bad must have happened." I nodded a little. The wave reflecting light beneath us did little to quell my brain's thoughts centering on the blank spot in my mind. I wondered what was so bad that I completely blocked it out, but any prolonged dwelling caused a near literal fiery dagger to stab at my head. Causing me to hold my forehead with a hoof and frown. A quick shake of my head fixed my pain when I banished the thoughts of thinking about my past to the dark recess of my mind. "How much longer to the island?" I asked quietly, as if talking too loudly would bring them back. "About an hour, but we should rest once we find a safe place to land." "An hour? I bet we can be there faster." I flew around the blue and flapped my wings, propelling me faster and faster. "Shock!" Dead Hoof called out. "Remember to fly low!" *** *** My hooves slammed into the grass covered dirt as the force of the landing caused my legs to buckle. I collapsed, rolled off the momentum, and stood up, flaring out my glorious wings with a pop as I looked back up at Dead Hoof with a smirk. "An hour? Hah!" The blue alicorn slowly fluttered down and folded her wings, looking around the island. It was a mostly flat island covered in a forest with the Hoofington quite visible from our approach. Luckily we had the failing sunlight at our backs to blind the Tin Cans to our presence. It seemed as if we had Lady Luck on our side for once. I slowly turned around to face Dead Hoof and folded my glorious wings. "What now?" "We find shelter and plan our attack on that ship," she replied as she began trotting into the forest. I pulled Hyde out and began trotting after her. As I trotted around Dead Hoof, I glanced left before looking right with my eyes, smiling when I had no dead zone except for the back of my head. But, all I saw were trees and trees, and more trees along with water behind us. The forest was not quite the same as the jungles of Oakwood, which is understandable, but it was very similar to the swamplands back in Equestria. Which was fucking odd. “How come we could not gather the Enclave?” I asked, placing Hyde’s handle in my mouth so that my magic’s glow did not give away my position against the foliage. “Because,” Dead Hoof replied and said nothing else. Her reply caused me to frown as the two of us began to walk along a small path between the trees. My gaze scanned the forest ahead for any signs of the Tin Can Steel Rangers, but I found nothing. However, that fact caused me to stop and slowly hold my wing out. “Wait,” I said in her mind, “this is a very bad idea.” “You just now realized that?” Dead Hoof deadpanned. I quickly shook my head before looking back at Dead Hoof. Her blue coat was a bit sweat matted from the flight and the failing light made her look nearly black. “No,” I said quietly. “I knew going to their base might be a bad idea, but… their suits have the same targeting that Pipbucks do if my memory is right.” Dead Hoof’s ears folded back as a slight look of worry crossed her face. “So they can track us?” I nodded. “Greaaaaat. Another awesome idea!” “But they cannot track us if they cannot see us,” I said with a grin. Then hovered my Hellhound bladed sword back into its sheath before going invisible. "You do realize we can't sleep while invisible, right?" Dead Hoof asked. "And it takes a lot of magic to keep running?" "We can share the load if you allow it." “No.” Dead Hoof said and went invisible. Then the two of us walked silently and unseen for some time. I followed along the small path as it wended its way through the forest and curved around trees. I did not push the blue alicorn about sharing the abilities and did not expect her to want to be connected to me for some reason, but. If that was her wish, then that was her wish. I frowned as the darkness slowly overtook the land and the creatures of the night began to awake as birds chirped good night to their mates. The path ahead was heavily covered by grass, bushes and a thick grouping of trees, causing me to slow my trot some. "Why are you slowing down?" Dead Hoof whispered. How the blue tracked me through the invisibility was not really a mystery to me, because my stealth was not as good as hers and she could easily see my outline up close. "Something feels wrong," I replied as I slowed down even more and stopped as a faint misty fog began to form in the area. "The path feels traveled, but is too overgrown." I sniffed the air and smelled a strange familiar smell. "What?" she asked, a hint of annoyance underlining her voice caused me to frown. "Someth-" My gaze glanced left towards dark trees as my ears picked up faint whispers on the breeze coming in off the ocean. I stood there, looking around with both my eyes while trying to spot any non-tree object, but I saw nothing. "Voices..." "Shock, nothing is there," Dead Hoof said as she nudged my flank forward, but I held my ground. I heard them. The whispers in Equestrian and Zebra. The whispers saying they were ready. The cannons echoing in the distance as artillery launched its barrage of deadly rain. Suddenly, as I glanced right, the trees erupted with a scattering of multiple points of light and the rapid pops of hidden weapons shattered the silence. "Ambush!" I shouted as I dove for something, anything, to use for cover. My body slammed into the dirt and slid behind a large tree as I telekinetically undid my bags and opened them up, digging through the left one where I had placed the pistols. "Shock!" Dead Hoof shouted, but I ignored her. Instead of replying, I only glanced in her direction to make sure the blue still stood. She was standing there unstealthed with a look of terror on her face. "Get down you moron," I hissed. She ignored my reply and stayed standing. I finally pulled out the pistol, slid a magazine in and dropped the safety before glancing around the tree. Nothing was there. All my eyes saw was trees, mist, and fireflies. The hot misty forest was silent save for my heart as it tried to escape my chest with every beat. Using my hoof, I slowly wiped the sweat off my face and kept staring out at the Forest to find any equine shapes in the distance. But a touch on my side caused me to whip my head around to look at the worried face of Dead Hoof. Her ears were back, but her horn was alight as her shotgun floated at the ready in case something shot at us. "I think we're safe. Just don't fire that," she said quietly, causing my ears to droop. I glanced at the floating pistol and frowned when I saw it was Sister, the broken one. I opened and closed my mouth to form a reply, the name scratched into the side was quite obvious and I had no idea how I didn’t see it. Slowly, I looked up at Dead hoof with my ears back as the pistol floated closer. "I see them, all their faces. I hear their voices. They're there when I shut my eyes and they haunt my dreams. I can't get rid of them." She bit her lower lip when I placed the barrel of Sister against the side of my head. "This would be the only way to get rid of them," I sighed deeply and let my magic fade, causing the pistol to drop to the ground. "But I know that option would be worse because that would leave my promises unfulfilled. There's no glory in death or living for me. I'm a wounded pony and am cursed to carry the burden of what I've done. Only the Goddess will tell me when I can finally rest in peace and quiet." I didn't realize when, but Dead Hoof had placed my bags back onto my back and tightened the straps. It wasn't until I finished talking that I noticed. I looked down at the jacket that used to belong to Sister and frowned, slowly running my hoof along the sleeve with the built-in magazine holder. "I have to survive for her," I said quietly with my mouth. "I made her a promise that I would live until I died of old age. I swore that I'd come back alive." The broken pistol was set into my forehooves by magic as Dead Hoof said, "then you keep your promise and come with me. Forget this stupid task of killing Eclipse and come with me to the mainland. There are others who can help you, I’m sure of it. We can work to keep these visions from popping up." I shut my eyes as I hugged the pistol and sniffled. "I can't leave the island yet. I keep my promises and Eclipse will die." "She will die from old-" "SHE DIES BY MY HOOF!" I screamed at Dead Hoof in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing her to take a couple steps back with wide eyes. I covered my mouth as my eyes slowly widened in shock, the pistol fell to the dirt for a second time. "Sorry..." I whispered. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad." I clutched my ears with my hooves and slowly lowered my head. "I'm a wreck of a pony and you shouldn't have to put up with Us. Just go. We can do this Ourself." "No," she said flatly, but We did not look up at her. We stared down at the pistol as it glinted pale moonlight into Our eyes and reminded Us of the way Sister’s eyes looked at night. "I can't let you be by yourself. You're living in whatever horrible past you had and you need help before you hurt innocent ponies. I'm going to give you that help, so you're stuck with me until we die." A distinct metallic click-clack of a shotgun's pump being run through its motions caused my ears to twitch up as I slowly lowered my hooves, and looked up at the blue alicorn. The shotgun floated under her head, pointed off to the side. "So let's kick some flank and be done with it." Slowly, I smiled at Dead Hoof and held my hoof out to her. Shell Shock: 75% to next level. Dead Hoof: Level Up! New Perk - Shotgun Surgeon. Your affinity with shotguns allows your shots 15% more accuracy when wielding any shotgun based weapon and a 5% chance to knock the target back with the right ammo.
Chapter 19: DreamsChapter 19: Dreams “Some mares call them paradise, but I call it hell.” The Steel Rangers had set up a small tent city outside their ship base. Un-armored ponies scurried about their business almost like in pre-war times, but instead of fighting zebras. They were desperately trying to dig the massive ship out of the beach where it had run into. Scaffolding covered most of the bow and I could see sparks from where welders were busy making their hasty repairs. Whether or not the thing would be able to sail again was another matter entirely because almost all of the bow was crushed inward quite a bit. The more I watched them work from my invisible perch, the more anxious I became to sneak in and kill Eclipse. It was a suicidal mission that had two logical outcomes that I was willing to accept; I die before I get to her, or I kill her and die in the escape attempt. Dead Hoof was adamant about the first one while I was leaning towards the second with a very slim chance of survival. We could go invisible and disappear from the sensors after all. It was a nice and easy trick to escape, but the plan called for the both of us to go in and out the narrow corridors. I had refused to give in to the other alicorn's attempts to pry into my past. She wanted to know who I promised to return home to and what the world was like. All I would tell her was that it was a nice place and much better than now. She would get no more from me because she does not need to know. Only one alicorn deserved to know, and she is now dead. Something I regret heavily, but cannot dwell on or risk losing focus, which would be incredibly bad with how close I was to the Steel Rangers. Thinking of the Tin Cans caused the gears in my head to slowly spin around as my mind worked over a plan. I wished for a missile launcher, flamethrower or artillery gun to lob my message into the camp, but I would get no such luxuries. The only tools I had were the 10mm pistol 'Shock', the chainsaw ripper 'Hyde', my various spells including the shield, and a small bundle of grenades. Not the best, but workable. As I thought of the grenades, my gaze wandered from the camp over to a Vertibuck sitting on the beach near a whole stack of fuel drums. The Tin Cans were using the Vertibuck to fly around the island chain and back again. I knew they had quite a few of the things, including weapons for them. As I stared at the thing, a plan slowly formed in my head. And it caused me to grin. *** *** I finished crawling back through the forest and dropped my invisibility spell as I approached a cave mouth. "Sister?" I called out telepathically. "I have finished my recon of the ship and..." My voice trailed off when I saw the inside of the cave. Dead Hoof laid on her back on the cold stone floor, her wings unfolded and her eyes wide open, but unblinking. All of our stuff was scattered around and a few red shell casings were laying next to her body. My ears folded back as I slowly approached her and laid down, resting my wing over her body. "I'm sorry," I whispered with my mouth and looked down at my hooves. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I..." I shut my eyes as tight as I could. "I'm an idiot!" I shouted. "You warned me not to come here, but.." I slowly shook my head as my ears drooped to the side of my face. "I didn't listen because I'm an idiot. I thought we could-" "Shock?" Dead Hoof's voice resonated in my ears as it echoed off the cave walls, causing me to stop talking. "What are you talking about?" "You're dead..." I whispered. "Dead?" "Yes," I slowly nodded. "Killed by scouts who came while I was away..." "Wut?" "It's true." I opened my eyes and looked at her face. Strangely the dead alicorn had a confused, shocked and horrified expression on her face all at once. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. "I'm not dead," she said and slowly sat up, giving her wings a test flap. "I was asleep." "Asleep?" I asked, tilting my head some. "Yeah," she nodded. "I sometimes sleep with my eyes open. Helps to-" I interrupted her by hugging the blue alicorn as tight as I could and burying my face in her neck. "You're alive!" "Sh-I... Can't..." She gasped for air in my grip and her wings flapped uselessly. As soon as I loosened it, she immediately took in a huge breath of air and sat there breathing deeply. I pulled back and smiled. After a while, she said, "you thought I was dead?" I nodded slowly and waved a hoof at the state of our belongings. "When I saw this, and you on the floor with a sightless gaze. I... I may have overreacted." Something touched my wing, causing me to look down at Dead Hoof's dark blue wing. Her dirty feathers were twisted about and it looked as if she hadn't preened in weeks, causing me to frown. "I should have let you know about my sleeping habit ahead of time," she said. "But I was looking for that journal of yours and made a mess." "My journal?" I asked, still staring at her messy wing. Even mine was messy. More so because it had been clipped and healed multiple times in the last few months. Even I never have the time to do a proper preening to clean them. The fact made me frown even more. "I wanted to look at it but couldn't find it." "Because I didn't want you to find it," I replied. "When was the last time you preened?" "Huh, you di-what? Preen?" she asked, clear confusion in her voice. "What the hell is preen?" "How old of an alicorn are you?" I gently reached out with my telekinesis and unfolded her wing all the way. "I'm..." Dead Hoof tilted her head. "What are you doing?" "Your wings need preening, and I will give them that since you obviously do not know how." I moved closer to her and gently gripped the bottom of the feather's shaft where it met the wing with my mouth, lightly moving it to see if it'd fall out. When it didn't slowly moved down the feather, straightening and cleaning it as I went. When I finished with the feather, I looked at Dead Hoof. "You do that." "For how many?" She asked, holding the wing up to her mouth and nibbled on one of her feathers, causing a couple blue feathers to stick to her nose when she pulled back. "All of them," I replied as I removed the feathers from her nose with magic. "All..? That could take all day and..." Her voice nearly trembled in fear. "They could find us." "It'd be faster if I preened my wings while you preened yours." She looked down at her wing again and, after a couple seconds, frowned. "To answer your question, I was converted about six or seven months ago." "Why'd you do it?" I asked with my mind as I started to preen Dead Hoof's out stretched wing. "I was captured by slavers and sold to Red Eye. Like I had a choice in the matter." I finished with the second feather and spit the old one out before starting on the third. "All alicorns are created from willing unicorns. They should have asked if you wanted to be converted or not." "They did," she replied as I started on a couple smaller and ragged looking feathers. They were plucked with magic because I had seen the new ones already growing in. "But they basically said 'convert or die'." I stopped preening, slowly looking at Dead Hoof as my eyes widened. "What...? No! They would have said something like 'you can go freely if you do not want to convert'." "Like I'm supposed to believe that!" she shouted and waved a hoof around. "armed guards and powerful fucking alicorns around me? Like they would have let me go, just like that!" I slowly nodded. "I have seen it first hoof. Many, many, years ago I brought in one unicorn. She seemed so sure of it up until we arrived at Maripony. There she got skittish, unsure and wanted to nothing to do with us. So we escorted her out of the area and left her alone." "Okay, fine!" Dead Hoof folded her forelegs across her chest. "Maybe the alicorns would have let me go, but Red Eye's cronies sure as hell weren't going to. Can we not talk about this? I don't like being a mare and don't like to be reminded of it." I gave a faint nod. Then looked down at Dead Hoof's wing. "Do you want me to continue preening your wings while I tell you my plan and what I saw earlier today?" "Sure." *** *** As quietly as I could, I darted out from behind a tree and zipped through the air, landing on top of a rocky outcropping overlooking the Steel Ranger camp and ship from the other side of the bay. I laid down as my invisibility spell dropped and watched the ponies far, far away from Dead hoof and I. The surf slamming against the rocks drowned out the other alicorn's hooves as she landed next to me. I glanced at her. The cold ocean spray from a wave covered us both, just before another wave slammed into the rock. "It's brilliant, right?" I asked with a smile. "They're not going to let you steal a Vertibuck and get away," Dead Hoof said with a frown. "Think it through." "I have. It's simple; We knock out Eclipse, tie her up, transport her while invisible, and board the chopper." "How do you propose we get aboard that Vertibuck carrier?" I nodded my horn at the side of the ship where the top deck met the stern. A large gap could be seen in the ship as if the deck was extended further than the hull. "Do you see that point where the two halves meet? The ship has doors everywhere. Getting aboard is not hard. Navigating it is a different matter altogether." "Huh?" Dead Hoof laid down next to me and looked at the ship. "It's gotta be easy to navigate since that thing is like a larger ship than what I had, right?" I shook my head. "If the Steel Rangers kept the interior as it was in pre-war times, you are going to find acronyms and numbers, not words, telling you what was what." "I don't get it." I facehoofed and groaned. "How hard is this to understand?! Sometimes you'll have to go up two decks and down again just to keep going on the same level. It is a maze of tunnels and doors." Dead Hoof rolled her eyes. "Why not just say that? So how are we going to navigate it and find Eclipse?" Slowly, I looked out over the bay and frowned. In truth, I had no idea how to navigate it. The Crescent Moon had been redone by its inhabitants to be easier to navigate on top of it being a passenger ship. The Celestia's Delight had been an auxiliary cruiser built from a cargo ship. I knew, in the deepest recesses of my mind, that the Hoofington would be three times as confusing. I had only been on a ship like it once before we were deployed and I was only allowed in specific areas; the bunks, the galley, and the unloading platform. Something kept nagging at me though. It was Dead Hoof's reluctance to work with the Enclave. She wouldn't tell me why, but I assumed it had something to do with the fact that Equestria was covered in clouds because of those flying shitheads. But I could overlook that and work with them if they showed they had something to offer. I looked at the blue. "Dead Hoof, why won't you let the Enclave help? They promised me they would!" She looked over at me and frowned, causing me to frown in response. Her eyebrows knitted together in clear thought for a few long moments while we stared into each other's eyes. Then she said, "because." That was it? Just because?! What is her problem with the Enclave? Did they do something to her? But that is silly. Unless... "You've had dealings with them in the past," We said flatly. She didn't reply, only looking out at the ship beyond us. "You can tell Us what happened." "It's nothing," she shook her head. "Just this one pegasus I knew." "Who?" "I'm not sure. She came into my camp one night, injured. I took her in, healed her and gave her what food I had." "Then what?" I tilted my head some as I moved a little closer. "They came in the morning. Armor as black as night, eyes that'd give even you the creeps, and tails with sharp swords. They came in and took her back by force." Dead Hoof looked down with a deep frown on her face. "Never saw her again." "Sorry," We said, a frown forming on Our face as well. "We did not... mean to bring up bad memories. We know how bad memories can effect a pony." "Shock." "Hm?" We looked up into Dead Hoof's eyes. "Stop it. Stop calling yourself 'We'. You're not in Unity anymore." I nodded slowly and looked at the ship in the distance. "I didn't realize I was. Shall we, you and I, get moving?" She went invisible in response, so I cast the spell and took flight. We swooped low over the waves like We had done on our approach to the island and gave Our wings a few quick flaps, propelling Us faster than a gallop with ease. Dead hoof and I flew unseen along the wave tops while my mind worked over her story. I wondered why she had given it up so easily, but passed it off as her just wanting to get it off her chest. Or it could be a false story. Now that I knew, I knew not to ask her about it again. As the two of us approached the ship, I could see its patchwork repairs all along the bull that would be a better fit for a scrapyard. Its paint job was mostly rust overlaid with a dosing of whatever paint they had at the time, giving the appearance of a rather hideous looking ship up close. However, its number and name were proudly painted on in white. My path took me past rusted doors, large caliber weapons, and other things I did not care for. However, We passed by a large gap in the side and suddenly stopped in the air, Dead Hoof's weight slammed into me, causing the both of us to tumble a bit before I righted myself. I glanced back at where she might be and did not see her outline, but heard the faint flap of her wings over the wings. "Dead Hoof," I said quietly with my mouth. "Where are you?" "Here," she whispered back, the distance of her voice said she was less than a leg's length of distance away. "Why did you stop?" I pointed my hoof in a useless gesture at the large opening in the side of the ship. Inside, I could see multiple Vertibucks in various states of repairs and ponies in orange jump suits diligently working on them. A loud whirring noise filtered out from the workshop as a pony unbolted something with an ancient air gun. "This is our way in," I whispered. "What? But... There's ponies! They'll see the door open up." "Not if they are busy working." I said before flying inside the shop and landing some distance from the nearest Vertibuck behind some boxes. A quiet clop of hooves near me told me that Dead Hoof had followed regardless of her feelings on the matter. I glanced over at the door to the ship's interior and began watching it. No pony was near it and neither was any pony near us, so I dropped my invisibility spell with a deep sigh. "We should take a break." I sat down and glanced at Dead Hoof, who had also dropped her spell. She was frowning at me, but not saying anything. I stared at her, she stared back, and the seconds began passing. After a while, she took a deep breath and said, "Shock, this is dumb." "How so?" I asked, tilting my head some. "You and I are probably kill-on-sight and we're surrounded by Steel Rangers while visible." She floated out her shotgun and stared at the side of the barrel with a frown. "I don't want to kill them, but I'll do it if they leave me no choice." She put the weapon away as I slowly peered out from behind cover and looked at the door. Again, no pony was near it. And why should they post guards inside the hangar? They'd want to keep the crew out, not in! I went back to my hiding spot next to Dead Hoof and was about to suggest a plan when a yellow glow surrounded a box at the same time a pony shouted very close by, “yeah, yeah. I’ll get that turbocharger! It’s just behind…” My eyes went wide as the box was lifted up and pulled away from us. My horn glowed its soft color as I drew my 10mm pistol, Shock, with the attached suppressor and pointed it at the box, slowly taking a couple steps back. “...here…” the pony muttered as his grumpy face turned to a look of shock, his eyes slowly went wide as his jaw slowly dropped. “Shock, don’t...” Dead Hoof said. Shock moved into my vision as I lined up a shot on the pony’s head and made a silencing motion with my hoof. The silver unicorn glanced at the floating box, me, the box, Dead Hoof, me, the box and tossed it towards me, shouting, “alicorns!” “Wait!” Dead Hoof shouted as the box slammed into my floating pistol, causing it to get knocked sideways at the same time the trigger was squeezed. The sound was akin to a pony stomping their hoof on a metal can, but still loud enough to echo in the room as the bullet ricocheted off the ground and lodged itself into a wall. I was sent reeling back when the box shoved the pistol into my snout, causing me to see stars at the same time my magic field imploded and the pistol dropped to the ground. “Shock, wait!” I collapsed from the very heavy box slamming against my face and felt as if my nose was on fire. The wooden box was shoved away as I grabbed the pistol in my magic and leaped towards the boxes. They exploded outwards as my body slammed into them. By then I had the attention of the mechanically inclined unicorn and other ponies in the room. I quickly stood up on my hind legs, spread my wings out and held a hoof towards the sky to give an imposing sight as I telekinetically shouted, “THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS IS DISPLEASED!” Everything went quiet, deathly quiet. A big burly earth pony stallion with something in his mouth walked out from behind the closest Vertibuck. I could see that he wore grimy coveralls filled to the brim with tools, and his mane was stained with grease. If I had to name him, I’d call him Greaser. Greaser turned his head to the side, but kept his gaze on me and spit up some rather icky looking brown stuff. “Like I give a shit if yer some ‘goddess’. Ya jus’ damaged some ancient parts, an’ I ain’t to happy about that.” “AND WHAT ART THOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT, WHELP?” We continued to glare at the insolent pony. He glanced at the others nearby for a few seconds before looking at Us. “I challenge ya to a duel; no magic, no guns, an’ no wings. You win, ya get somethin’. Ya lose, you get outta my shop.” Our eyes narrowed at the pony as We slowly untied Our saddlebags and floated everything, including the pistol, towards Dead Hoof. “We accept thy challenge!” We shouted with Our mouth. Dead Hoof most likely facehoofed because We heard the distinct slap of a hoof hitting a pony’s face from her direction. “Shock, we could have bribed them…” she muttered. We ignored her remark and slowly held one fore hoof out as We turned sideways and readied for the attack. The earth pony pulled a large wrench over and held it close, smirking at Us. “Ready?” We nodded. “Yes. Are you?” His smirk grew even larger and he pointed at the Vertibuck to Our right. “Take the starboard engine off that one, tear it apart, an’ rebuild it 'fore we can do the same to the other side,” “What...?” We tilted Our head and blinked in confusion. “You are not going to fight Us?” “One, two, three, go!” He shouted and dashed over to the Vertibuck and began to work on it. I stood there blinking in complete shock for a few long moments. A heavy shove knocked me back to reality as Dead Hoof shouted, “Shock, wake up and start working!” *** *** I clamored around the roof of the Vertibuck, wrench firmly clenched in my teeth as my greasy hooves worked to get a good angle on the flying machine's engine. However, any and all attempts to work were constantly thwarted by the fact that we did not how to pull the thing apart. Neither did we not know how to put it back together! Dead Hoof was sitting on the ground with a bunch of parts in her lap and a confused expression on her face. "Did this part go here? Or..." She set the odd part down and frowned. "No, that's not it..." "Time's up!" A pony yelled from behind us, drawing my attention to the other side of the Vertibuck. The aforementioned loud mouth was sitting next to the completed engine with a pompous smirk on his face. I felt like slapping it off with a flying kick of doom. Then my gaze went to my flank, which was up in the air with my short tail not doing a good job of covering myself. A low growl built up in my throat as I thought about what the pony could have been staring at. Quickly, I spun around and mentally shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SEE?!" He chuckled, turning his head to spit some icky brown-black stuff out, then looked at me again. "A grease covered loser. You lost." "This challenge was absurd!" I shouted and stomped my hoof into the metal vehicle's roof, causing it to ring out. "A duel is honorable combat between two parties! Not this... This travesty! It is an abomination and-" "I woulda lost had I fought ya," the pony said. "Yer an alicorn, who is obviously experienced in fightin', an' I'm a mechanic who can barely hit anythin' with a pistol. I would've lost an' it was in my favor to pick what I had the advantage in, just as you would've done." My teeth ground together as I thought over his words. He was right, I was an okay shot and okay with hoof-to-hoof, having picked up the zebra's Fallen Caesar fighting style long ago. The pony was at a severe disadvantage against me and not all duels are decided by sword, hoof, or bullets. The battle of wits is a real battle none the less. With a deep sigh, I hung my head low and nodded. "You are correct. We have lost the duel and will leave your shop at once." The pony pointed his grease stained hoof at the door to the ship's interior, causing me to tilt me head. "There's the door, now git!" I looked over at the pony, then down at Dead Hoof and finally the door, a small smile formed on my face. *** *** "I don't believe you," Dead Hoof grumbled as she walked along beside me through the rusty passageways. She wasn't invisible and neither was I. All her weapons were being carried by the pony behind us. All of mine, except for the 10mm pistol, was also being carried by the pony. Shock was expertly hidden inside Dead Hoof's long mane so it couldn't be easily seen. We had been 'captured' as part of a brilliant plan. Since it would be advantageous to have a local pony escort us around, I had decided to make a deal with the mechanics. It was a brilliant and simple plan. As the path split, the pony nudged us towards the right and the three of us continued walking. The presence of two alicorns drew looks from some ponies inside the rooms, but when they saw that we were 'captured' they left us alone. I glanced over at Dead Hoof as we passed by a room marked 'Motel Spinner Hub'. "It is brilliant," my voice whispered into her mind. "This way we can memorize the layout." She merely rolled her eyes in response. I nodded a bit and looked at the path ahead. The interior of the ship was much like the outside, rusty and ugly. Metal piping ran overhead, carrying who knows what, and bulkheads spaced every so often showed where the water tight doors were. When shut, those doors were perfectly sealed to keep water out, but I had a feeling that Hyde could cut through them. I began humming to myself as we walked, but quickly stopped. "Dead hoof," I whispered in her mind. She glanced over at me with a frown. "Don't worry about the engine. The mechanics know how to properly put it back together." "I get the feeling that it'll blow up as soon as they turn it on," she muttered under her breath. I nodded slowly at her worry and did not reply. Instead, I picked up my pace and began to almost canter along the hallways in anticipation of finally killing Eclipse. The rusty floors and walls were ignored in favor of memorizing the layout; a left here, the third right there, head up the stairs to C Deck, cross over to the other side of the ship and climb to B Deck. There, on B Deck, the interior changed. It was no longer rusty, but well kept like the Delight had been. The metal interior had been painted over an ugly grey time and time again, providing a nice relief to the previous halls. Still, the three of us pressed onward towards our destination, the Captain's Quarters. However, at the end of the first hallway was a pair of power armored tin cans standing guard at the door. "Halt!" one shouted through his armor's speaker like some brainwashed guard. Dead Hoof and I instantly complied. An audible gulp could be heard from the blue's throat. "Ole' Cookie captured these two tryin' to sneak aboard," the pony behind us said. "I'm takin' 'em to see Elder Eclipse." The guards looked at each other for a few long moments, then at us. "You'll take them to the brig instead." "Shock," Dead hoof whispered through her teeth. With a deep breath, I stared at the two tin cans and tried to figure out who was newer. It didn't take long with the Steel Rangers being sticklers for old world practices. The one on the right was new and had less maintained equipment, so I glanced at the one on the left and whispered in his mind, "the alicorns don't need to go to the brig. Alicorns are too important for the brig and must be seen right away." The guard looked at the other one and a silent conversation could be seen as their heads bobbed around. One even stomped his hoof down. After standing there for an eternity, the guards finally opened the door. The one on the left looked at us and said, "add their weapons and gear to the ship's armory. We'll escort them from here." We glanced back at the pony behind Us. He nodded, gave a salute and galloped off. This caused Us to hiss a bit because he had Hyde and the special 105mm shell. *** *** We walked in silence. One Tin Can ahead with one behind Us. Dead Hoof flanked Us and no pony said a word, out loud. "Sister, we can still get out of this," We said in Dead Hoof's mind. "How? Tell me, is this how Mudpie died? She followed you until you killed her with your stupidity?" We looked away from her, but was shoved back in line by the Tin Can behind Us. "Eyes front," he said and We wordlessly complied by staring at the flank of the power armored guard ahead. "We are not stupid," We whispered in Dead Hoof's mind."We would not have survived so long if We were." "Unless the Princesses took pity on you." I winced and her words stung. Dead Hoof had no right to call me stupid because she did not know the circumstances surrounding anything. She would be the same if she had to go through what I did. There was no right answer to pick at the time because the wasteland is not black and white. Only shades of grey. The Tin Cans led us through the grey hallways that We paid no real mind to, but glanced up every once in a while to see the numbers and letters. They did not look back at us and every pony we came across quickly hid in their rooms again. Eventually, we approached a door and the Tin Cans began slowing down. He stopped and knocked loudly, the metal ringing out caused Our ears to press against Our head in an effort to block out the sound. We stood there waiting for what felt like an eternity before the door was opened. "What is it?" an old raspy voice asked from behind the door. "Ma'am, we have captured two alicorns," the head Tin Can said, "and the green one even tried to mind trick us into bringing her to Eclipse." A sound like rocks rattling around in a can could be heard from the door as the pony laughed. "Did she now? And yet you still listened to her order." The Tin Can shifted around on his weight as if he was unsure or surprised by her remark. "Let them in and leave us." "Ma'am?" He tilted his head. "But they-" "I can handle two alicorns just fine," she replied. "Now let them in and fuck off." The Tin Can stepped aside and looked at Us. “Get in there,” he said with a nod towards the door. We glanced at Dead Hoof before wordlessly complying not out of choice. Dead Hoof followed Us inside the small and spartan room. Off on one side was the bed with a dirt filled flower box. Literally, there were small flowers growing inside the box. A glance to Our right made Us stop as Our eyes widened in surprise. Standing next to the, now closed, door was a shriveled purple ghoul inside Enclave power armor. The suit looked dinged, scratched and missing its wing armor. Instead she had a set of brown saddlebags over where the wing holes would be. Her helmet was off, revealing her shriveled face, her bright life filled orange eyes and what was left of her once full yellow mane. Dead Hoof took a few steps back when the mare smirked at us. “Expecting some other pony?” We opened Our mouth and closed it a few times in an attempt to form a reply, but came up short. Dead Hoof stomped her hoof down, causing Us to flinch and look at her. “Who are you?” she asked for Us, but her tone was quite annoyed. The mare looked over at Dead Hoof as well. "Who am I?" she asked as she placed a power armored hoof to her chest and tilted her head. Dead Hoof nodded. "I'm no pony you'll know. No pony you'll ever heard of, because I'm smart." Her reply caused me to frown. I stared at her old armor and wondered how she got it and, as she turned towards the window, I noticed that she didn't even have wing stubs. She was just a normal earth pony ghoul. Her bladed tail flicked left and right while she stared out at the nearby island. "You see." she glanced back at us. "Alicorns learn from their mistakes. When one dies, you all know about it, correct?" I nodded slowly. It was a painful feature of Unity in my eyes, but it let us all know how to adapt from threats we had yet to encounter. "What's your point?" Dead Hoof growled, then yawned into her hoof. I found myself yawning due to the sheer contagiousness of a yawn. "My point is that I work in the shadows." Her crypticness caused me to roll my eyes. "Where is Eclipse?" "I'm getting to that." She defiantly replied before looking out the window again. "Long, long, ago. There was an earth pony in love with a unicorn. The unicorn was silently followed by a blue. Alicorn." My head tilted some as my ears swiveled towards her to listen to every word. "This alicorn promised the earth pony that she would help the unicorn. Then, one day." She looked back at us and glared. "A sniper blew the unicorn's brains out in front of the earth pony!" Dead Hoof facehoofed. "This is ridiculous. Ponies die all the-" "Silence!" I hissed at Dead hoof, causing her to go quiet. Then, I slowly looked at the purple mare in Enclave armor. "Let Us guess. You decided to track down the alicorn?" She nodded, a grin slowly formed on her face. "How did it feel? Because the look on your face when her head was smashed in was priceless." My face paled as all blood suddenly left it and I stood there, my legs trembling as my wings slowly flexed in and out in anger, anxiousness, worry? The purple mare's grin grew ever more, causing me to scowl as blood began to rapidly pump through my body. "Your reaction is all that I needed," she said. Then frowned deeply. "But Eclipse fucked my plan up. She was supposed to kill you, not that blue." "Why?" I hissed through my teeth while slowly grinding them together. "Why do you want me dead?" "To let that blue know the heartbreak I felt. To let her live in eternal fuckin' agony knowing her cunt love died in front of her and she was helpless to stop it." She turned her nose up a bit and waved her hoof at the door. "Piss off, you're not needed anymore." "WHERE IS ECLIPSE?!" We shouted as loud as We could with both Our mind and voice. The ghoul tossed her head back, placed a power armored hoof against her forehead and collapsed. "Oh no, help! I've made an alicorn angry! Whatever shall I do? Woe is meeee!" I rolled my eyes at her antics and looked over at Dead Hoof. The blue alicorn was looking towards the door to see if the guards were coming, but the door didn't open. I saw that her wing was bulged out a bit, indicating that she was hiding the 10mm pistol inside of it. Slowly, I looked over at the ghoul, who had started laughing much to my annoyance. But then, something strange happened. A tan unicorn slowly walked into my view. Her presence caused my eyes to widen in complete surprise because her hide was marred by scars and her cybernetic hoof was nearly frozen from rust. Floating in her, well my, magical grip was a bloody knife that looked sharp enough to split hairs. Lilium wore a wicked grin on her face as she closed the gap and stopped next to the laughing ghoul. Slowly, Lilium looked up at me. "I know what you're thinking" Lilium said. "You wanna slice this ghoul's skin off, but she won't care because she's been living without it for some time. Know what I say?" "What?" I asked myself. "See this knife?" she twirled it around in her magic and grinned. I nodded. "Shove it up her ass and rip her in half! Take her armor as your prize. You've earned it." "But you're not real..." My ears slowly folded back as the purple earth pony slowly stood up. "And neither is the knife." "Then use your horn," Lilium whispered as she disappeared in a cloud that slowly vanished. "What the fuck are you still doing here?" the ghoul shouted. "I said leave!" I glanced at Dead Hoof, then at the purple ghoul and stood up as tall as I could. "No." I glared at her. "No?" "Are you deaf or stupid? I said no!" I stomped my hoof down and glared. "Not until you tell us where Eclipse is." "Fine." She rolled her orange eyes with a sigh and a wave of her hoof. "She's in Baltimare. Now fuck off and don't come back." "No." I shook my head and slowly spread out my glorious and majestic wings. "I challenge you to a duel!" The ghoul blinked in shock a couple of times before tilting her head with a confused expression. "Huh?" "A duel is honorable combat between two ponies. It is what Eclipse challenged Sister to, so I challenge you to a duel! Since you are the one responsible for Sister's death." "I know what a duel is," she mumbled. Then shuffled a bit on her hooves and glanced at me, the door, Dead Hoof, then back to me. "Just you and me?" I nodded slowly and placed my hoof against my chest. "I give you my word as a pony who fought zebras in the war that ravaged this land. Just you and I will-" Something tiny zipped past my ear with a crack, interrupting me. The ghoul's head was tossed back again, but instead of laughter, most of her brains splattered the wall behind her and covered half the window. I jumped in complete surprise as the room was filled with the muffled sound of the silenced 10mm pistol 'Shock'. The ghoul's lifeless body collapsed into a twitching mess on the floor, causing my eye to twitch a bit. Quickly, I spun around to face Dead Hoof, flared out my wings and glared at her.The smoking pistol floated in her magic just under her eyes. "HOW DARE THEE!" I shouted at her with my mind. "YOU... You..." "Yell at me later!" Dead Hoof shouted as she turned and ran for the door, quickly going invisible. "Grab what you can from her and let's run before the guards come." I stood there for a second before I realized she was right. The guards would have been told to come back at a set time, but a nearby pony might have heard the shot. However... Dead Hoof's punishment will have to wait. I quickly dashed over to the earth pony and pulled her saddlebags onto my back. Then set about dismantling her power armor as best I could. "Shock! We don't have time for that!" "No!" I shook my head as I pulled off a foreleg piece and cringed when her skin underneath was mostly gone. Ghouls were always hideous to me. "I need her armor!" "It's useless. Fucking leave it!" I shook my head again as I put the other foreleg piece into my new bag. "Shock," Dead Hoof said in a cold tone as a metal object was stuck to the back of my head. The chest plate's clasp was let go as I let my magic slowly fade, because I knew there could only be one thing that was pressed against my skull, the suppressor to my own pistol. "Leave the armor. And let's. Go. Or your brains are painting the floor." With an audible gulp, I gave a very faint nod. "You make a very valid point. We will go." "Good girl." *** *** We walked through the rusty halls of the ship as silent as we could be. My mind churned over the ghoul. I had no idea who she was and suspected neither would have Mudpie as it was highly unlikely that she could track down a specific alicorn, considering how many there wereover the years. I suspected that the ghoul wanted to end all alicorns and would have returned to manipulating ponies in a short while. Her mannerisms were odd as well. She wasn't even concerned about having two powerful spell casters in the room! "Why was an earth pony wearing pegasus power armor?" I whispered with my mouth. "Doesn't matter, she's dead." Dead Hoof replied just as quietly from behind me. "You will not do that again," We growled at the blue and stopped. "Do what?" she asked almost innocently, causing Our teeth to grind together. We spun around to face the blue alicorn, Our hooves grabbing her soft invisible flesh as We tossed her against the wall and pinned her there. "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!" We shouted with Our mind at the same time she cried out in pain from hitting the wall. We cared little as Our invisibility spell dropped. "Do not presume that because We are old and grey, that We are also stupid." As Dead Hoof became visible, Our hoof pressed down on her throat, slowly choking her. "We challenged the earth pony to fair combat. You had no right to intervene! It... It... It goes against-" "Fuck fair play," Dead Hoof nearly spat at Us. "Shock. Do you honestly think that there are good ponies in the wasteland? Do you think there's a stallion in shining armor coming to sweep you off your hooves? Wake the fuck up! You're not in some storybook where you're a damsel in distress. You're a monster that other ponies fear, a villain. If anything I should be the one to kill you. Right here and now." We were about to retort when We felt cold steel press against the bottom of Our jaw. "Do it," We glared at her. "Kill Us and you'll forever be a mare." "It's a risk I'm willing to take." she glared back as a metallic click told Us the hammer was drawn back. "I honestly don't know how Mudpie put up with you." "She loved Us, We loved her as a sister, and Sister accepted Us for who We were." "And look where it got her!" Our ears folded back at her remark. We looked away and shut Our eyes, causing the pistol to slowly lower away from Our skull. "Do you not think We regret the choices We made that led to her death? We will find a way to fix it." "Then let's get our stuff and leave this stupid ship." "Where are we heading?" I asked, partially wondering because I wanted to go to Baltimare and kill Eclipse while another half of me wanted to go to Canterlot. "Baltimare. There's bound to be some friendly alicorns there and we can get help for you." Slowly, I nodded and looked into Dead Hoof's eyes. "Okay, but I want to go to Canterlot as well." Her eyebrow arched up in confusion. "Why Canterlot?" "Because. There may be a way to bring Sister back. We heard rumors that they kept the best spells in Canterlot, and hope there is a time travel spell there." "Shock," her ears slowly folded back . "Shock... That's... That doesn't seem right to do." "But it is." I slowly let Dead Hoof go and she dropped to all four hooves. “Sister will live again and my mistake will be fixed!” Her ears drooped to the side of her face in response, but quickly perked up. My ears twitched and swiveled as a metallic groan ran throughout the passageway, causing me to glance up at the ceiling as pipes shuddered and wobbled in place. Suddenly, the deck beneath us lurched, tossing me into the cold wall as Dead Hoof went the other way. My wings popped out to balance me as I braced myself with my hooves. The deck lurched again, but this time we were not thrown around, and the hallway bucked one last time before settling out. "Attention everypony," a metallic stallion's voice shouted from everywhere and nowhere. "We have officially freed the Hoofington from the island! Kick back, relax, and have a few Sparkle-Colas because we're shipping out at oh-four-thirty tomorrow." I looked back at Dead Hoof and tilt my head. "They freed the ship." "And?" She pushed me onward, so I obliged and began walking again. "We knew they were digging it out. Just keep walking and maybe we can get out of here in one piece." I nodded some and kept walking along the rusty path. It wended its way this way and that as the two of us delved ever deeper into the bowels of the ship. *** *** My eyes snap open and quickly focus as I slowly push myself upright. The dim light of a lantern casts a pale glow across the journal below me, highlighting the last page of it. Slowly, my jade green magic picks up the pen and slowly floats it half-way down the page where I had fallen asleep while writing about my time on the Hoofington, but the pen begins trembling in my magic before it's even placed on the page. "I..." I bite my lower lip and toss the pen at the tent flap and clutch my head with my hooves, shutting my eyes. "I can't do this," I whisper softly. "I thought I can, but I just... can't! I see her face. The memories it dredges up. Why must they haunt me? Goddess, what makes me different than other wastelanders who don't have these problems?" Of course I do not receive a reply from the long dead Great and Powerful Goddess. Groaning out of frustration, I set my hooves down and stumble towards my cot before flopping into it. The fluffy cloud pillow entices me towards the blissful embrace of sleep. I let my wings unfold and lay flat as I mumble, "no more looking into the past. Nothing good comes from it, only pain and sorrow. I'm sorry, Mudpie. Dead Hoof is right. There are no good ponies in the wasteland, I can't save them, and I couldn't save you. I'm a failure." Shell Shock: Level up! New Perk - Ghost of the Jungle.(Rank II) You can now sneak around slightly better as long as no pony hears your hoofsteps, or sees you moving quickly. +10 to stealth when your coat color matches the shrubbery. Just don’t do magic, the glow still gives you away. Dead Hoof: Level up! New Perk - Quick Draw. You can un-holster a weapon 10% faster than other ponies. Quest perk - Dream Crusher. You crushed her chance at revenge, asshole. +25% resistance to critical hits and you're 5% more likely to have Shock listen to your ideas.
Chapter 20: Dirty DeedsChapter 20: Dirty Deeds "Wait for the opportune moment before striking." Something hard kicks at my gut, causing me to gasp awake and curl up at the pain. "Shock!" Dead Hoof shouts, his voice rings in my ears, as my vision begins registering my surroundings with two blurry alicorns ahead of me. "Shock, get the fuck up!" The two blue alicorns slowly focus into one as my brain figures out what is going on, it's noon and I overslept. I can tell based off the bright daylight coming in from behind the alicorn in front of me."What is it?" I grumble quietly with my mind as I scratch the side of my head. "Need a morning hoof job or something?" "No," he replied as his eyes narrow. "I don't want to have sex with you right now." I shrug some and yawn. "It's not sex when I do all the work. Just me helping you to relieve some tension." "Get your head out of the gutter!" he shouts, causing me to wince in pain. "Wait. Have you been drinking?" I pull my warm blanket over my body and shake my head. He continues to block most of the light from coming in. Truth be told, I have not enjoyed these days with Dead Hoof. Turns out the mainlanders already knew how to make alicorn stallions, making my brilliant plan absolute crap and my deal with Dead Hoof only one way; his way. I scratch my mane with a quiet yawn and try to look out of my tent at the other boring tents outside. My attempt fails because he steps in front of my vision. For some reason I find my gaze lingering on his mane that he dyed a purple color and continued to put in pigtails with pink bows. "Remember what I said on the island?" he asks. I nod slowly as I curl up in my blankets. "Then what were my rules?" I sigh deeply, roll my eyes and recite with my mouth, "I will listen to your word as if it were law. I won't butcher any ponies for food or fun like a sadistic raider. I will dedicate my time to helping ponies and not killing them. If I want to kill a pony I must first ask permission." "And the last one?" he asks, tilting his head a bit. "What last one?" He frowns and points his hoof in a threatening manner. "Don't fuck with me. You know the rules!" Dead Hoof sets the hoof down and floats a small single shot pistol out of his mane. "No. Weapons. Allowed!" How he hides things in there is beyond my measure of comprehension. I sniffle a bit and shrug, my heavy eyelids threatening to send me back to sleep. "What if I'm walking along and some pony attacks me? I need the protection a-" "No weapons in town!" He shouts at me, causing my ears to fold back. "You have a shield. Use that and come get help, okay?" I nod a little bit. "Good," he says as his glare softens to a more normal expression. "I hate yelling at you. You know that, right?" I look at the tent wall where my gear is stored and frown. "You do it a lot though." "Because I want to see you as that monster I met on the island." "That monster is what I am," I reply. "I'm an evil monster who can't be redeemed. Any attempts fail or get the other ponies killed." I feel his warm hoof under my chin as he turns my head to look at his face again. "You're a better pony than that. All you have to do is let go of your old ways and change with the new. There's a new, safer, world out there if you just let it in." I frown at his remark and let my eyes shut. "You know I'm right because you got your cutie mark back," he points out, causing me to try glancing down at it. I fail to see it, but I know exactly what it is. "It's a dumb mark though." "But you can put it to good use here." He says, slowly leaning closer, almost to kissing range. I place my hoof on his lips and push him back. "I might like you, but not that much. There's a purple stallion around here that has my eye." "Oh?" Dead Hoof smiled a bit as his eyes flutter like some teenage filly. "And why haven't you talked with him?" "Be... because he is a stallion, and... and... And I don't want a wasteland relationship." "A what?" he blinks as he pulls back even further. "What the hell is that?" I bring my other hoof up and look at it. "This is a mare." I nod my horn at the new hoof. Then look at my right hoof, "and this is a stallion." I bring them together and look at Dead Hoof. "They get together for no reason and bang each other's brains out. Afterward..." I remove the hooves and pull the covers over me. "They go their separate ways, or they stay together and one dies in a firefight. I want a stable, lasting, relationship with a pony that won't have a high risk of dying within the next couple years to a lead wall." Dead hoof has a confused expression on his face, his head tilted to the side and pulled back a bit as he blinks over and over and over for a few seconds. "Huh?" he tilts his head. "Are you saying you won't talk to him because he might get shot?" I nod. "That's stupid! You take what you can get and don’t worry about the future." Shrugging, I lean over and flop ontop my comfy cot with a thump and shut my eyes. "Then leave me alone to wallow in my pity." Dead Hoof grabs the blanket and pulls on it, but I hold tight. "Noooo! I don't want to get out of bed!" "Shoock," Dead Hoof growls as the pulling intensifies. "There's hungry ponies that need to eat!" "Fuck 'em," I reply and use my magic to keep me curled up and snuggled in my comfy bed. "I had a bad dream and I need my sleep." "So? You have bad dreams every day. Nothing new there." "This one was about Mudpie and us when we first met on the island." The pulling stops and something is set where my wing is. I open my eyes and look at it, finding out it is Dead Hoof's forehoof. "Shock. Canterlot is leveled to the ground." "Maybe the book survived?" I ask, my gaze slowly moving from the hoof, up his leg towards his face. "They don't know for certain if anything survived the Enclave’s bombardment, so it could still be there!" Dead Hoof's gaze slowly goes over to my box of stuff where my open journal is sitting on top of it. "Did you read that last night?" I nod slowly as I try to snuggle my still warm bed. The feeling of being in a soft bed causes me to smile a little. "Yes. I was writing and trying to finish it, but passed out." Dead Hoof facehoofs. "No wonder you had a nightmare about Mudpie. Which one was it?" I shut my eyes and sigh. "The one where I'm walking through a jungle and I see her talking corpse." "I get goosebumps thinking about that image." Her wing feathers fluff up. She walks over to the journal and looks at the last entry on the open page, frowning a bit. "You didn't finish it?" "I do not care." "What if somepony finds this in thirty years or so? They'll never know what happens after you yelled at me because I shot that earth pony. I thought you wanted to finish it." I nod again. "I don't care what some random future pony thinks. I'm never writing in it again. You are right, I need to move on. Ripper was right..." I bury my face in my pillow and mutter, "the journal is cursed." "Then let's uncurse it by making lunch!" Dead Hoof says as he tugs at my blanket. "I don't want to make lunch." I try to bury my face in my pillow even further. "I want to sleep!" Dead Hoof walks over and starts to slowly pet my back with his hoof. I sigh contently at the feeling of his hoof running along my spine and slowly relax. "Fine,” he says quietly. “You rest here and I will tell the others that Tail Blade is going to cook." "No!" I shout as my eyes snap open. "She is a horrible, horrible, cook who would burn soup if such a thing were possible I'll cook!" I say as I sit up and look at Dead Hoof. My response receives a chuckle from him. "I knew that'd get you out of bed. Come on then! There's hungry wastelanders and chances to fill your pockets with caps." I quickly grab my stuff in magic, apron included, and shut the journal before dashing out of the tent towards my table. I did not get much farther than thirty paces when some green pony suddenly appears in my path. My eyes widen as I find myself skidding along the dirt covering the alicorn camp as I try to stop, flapping my wings to slow myself. The pony looks over at me and steps to the side, holding her leg out at the same time I bump into her soft fur. "Easy now," she says as she removes the hoof. I give my wings one last flap before folding them and standing up, looking over at her. It is like looking into a mirror if that mirror showed a pony with a coat three times as light as your own. The green alicorn's face could be mistaken for a grey at a good distance away. Only up close could one see her green. My eyes slowly wander from her moving mouth to her own eyes that were a deep green much like my coat. It takes me a second to realize who it is, Mistress Tail Blade, the camp's leader. Why her name is Mistress is not known to me. All I know is that she runs a camp for alicorns in the Baltimare area. Any and all alicorns are welcome, for a small fee; you work around the camp and help the others or you get out. She waves her hoof across my face, causing me to blink and realize that I am staring at her. Taking a couple steps back, I try to smile and laugh nervously. "Uh, um. Ah, well I suppose I should..." I glance down at my stuff on the ground and frown. "Thank you for moving out of my way?" "Shell Shock, right?" she asks. I shut my eyes, sighing deeply as I pull my stuff close with my magic. "That is Our... My. That is my name." "Right, right," she says. I open my eyes and look at her. "You run Lilly's Soup House." I nod. "Yes, ma'am, I do." She holds her hoof out and smiles. "I'm Mistress Tail Blade." Slowly, I bring my hoof out and shake hers. "Can... can I ask you something?" She nods as we set our hooves down. "Why Tail Blade?" "That's a funny story actually." She sits down, so I also sit down and patiently wait. "I once had a long tail, didn't bother cutting it, see?" I nod. "So I would tie daggers inside it and use the tail like a deadly whip. Until one day the whip kicked back and stabbed me in the flank!" She starts laughing like some posh Canterlot unicorn. I force a smile and a fake laugh at her not so funny story. "Heh, so is that it?" After a few seconds of her annoying laugh, she stops and smiles. "Most ponies want to know why I'm called 'Mistress'." "I think I can imagine," I mutter under my breath. "Ex-slaver?" She shakes her head. "Then what?" "I used to run a brothel in a town waaaay," she leans back and waves her hooves around, "down south in the Badlands. I ended up dropping my name and calling myself Mistress to keep who I was hidden. Kind of stupid, huh?" I shake my head and let out a quiet sigh. "No. I have many names, some are thankfully lost to time, but a few stick with me." "What are they?" "Shell Shock, Dog, and Lilium, which is my original name." "Ah." she nods. "Now I see where the Lilly comes from in Lilly's Soup House." I bow my head at her figuring it out quickly. "I get Shell Shock, I get Lilium, but I don't get Dog." I frown, slowly looking down at my hooves. "Because I'm a monster on a leash. My masters point me in a direction and say 'kill that tank' or 'take that hill' and I do. I follow orders to the letter. That. Is why I have the name Dog." By the time I finish, she is holding a hoof to her chin, her brows furrow together in thought and her lips are just a tight thinking line. I wait patiently for a response. Soon, she nods and looks at me. "I think I understand you now." She slowly stands up and motions with her wing for me to follow. "Come, I have a business proposal for you to hear out." "Really?" I tilt my head and trot along next to her, ignoring the tents around us. "I already cook when I can and think you did not mind." "Oh no, no, no." she shakes her head and slowly wraps a wing around me, pulling me close. "Lilly, I have certain... Business partners throughout the city." I give a firm nod and swivel my ears forward to give her my full attention. She glances at me and smiles. "While I am sure your skills with cooking are quite good. It seems you have a second, more useful, skill set that I have a need for." "I made a promise many years ago that I would survive and come back for a pony very dear to me. So far I have kept the former, but not the latter. My family is dead so the latter is impossible." Mistress Tail Blade opens a door to a corrugated shack and we step inside. She shuts it behind us, folds her wing and heads over to a locker. "Lilly. How quiet is your ability to fight?" "Quiet?" I stand at the doorway, blinking in confusion. "I... I can turn invisible, but I don't think fights are quiet. Quite the contrary." "They are if they are done in a certain manner," she says, pulling a dirty manilla folder from the locker. I trot over to her and take it from her with magic, slowly opening it up. "I want you to kill ponies for me. Who I say with no questions asked, and absolutely no talking about it," she says rather bluntly as I begin to look over the folder. In it are colored sketches of various ponies, a unicorn, a pegasus strangely enough, a few earth ponies and... My gaze went back to the earth ponies and I pull a stretch of a very familiar one out. "I'll do it," I say as my eyes slowly narrow on the picture of a teal earth pony with a strawberry red mane. "Don't you want to hear my offer?" I blink, mentally facehoofing at the sudden realization that I very nearly accepted another offer without hearing it through! Slowly,I put the picture back into the folder and shut it, nodding. "What are your terms? What's the catch?" "My terms are simple," she says as she takes the folder and puts it in the locker. "You will go about your cooking as you normally do. I will 'slip' some information to you about a target, and you will take them out, sound fair?" I frown at the locker, stepping back as she shuts it and locks it with a spin dial lock. "What do I get in return?" "Caps, favors, entertainment, whatever you want it's yours." She says in a voice like velvet. My frown only grows more. I look down, slowly rubbing a foreleg with my hoof. "If I do this I'll need a weapon. Dead Hoof won't let me have any." "Sounds like he has you wrapped tight around his hoof." I nod a little, then shake my head. "It's for my own good. I... sometimes see things, visions of long dead ponies who aren't there. I hear voices in my head belonging to zebras and ponies I've killed urging me to kill more. He's trying to help me ignore that. The only other pony I have found that could do that, is now dead." "Seems you early greens weren't quite perfected enough to remain in a stable mental state for so long." "Perfect...?" I blink a few times. "The Goddess made all her children perfect. If I am slightly flawed, then it was by her will that I am flawed and I accept it." "Great," Mistress Tail Blade mutters under her breath. "A Goddess worshiper." She claps her hooves together and smiles at me. "What do you say to my proposal?" I blink again, then frown. Dead Hoof would kill me if she finds out, but I am quite bored here in the camp. Except... I have been making progress. I have yet to call myself 'We' for weeks! But... My gaze goes over to the locker and I remember Eclipse's portrait in there. "I..." Opening and closing my mouth, I try to formulate a reply. I shut my eyes and sigh deeply. "I'll need something special, a suit." "Done." Came a quick reply from Mistress Tail Blade. "Not just any suit. A form fitting one with built in sheaths for knives. And I'll need a suppressed revolver, preferably less than a forty-four in caliber to make less of a mess. I will also like a weapon cleaning kit and payment in caps for each job I complete, including the first." "You're expecting payment on top of the weapons and clothes?" She asks. I open my eyes and nod. "You're quite bold." "And you're fucked without me," I reply honestly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have asked the camp crazy. You should have already known I'm not all there and we just ‘happen’ to bump into each other?" I place a hoof to the side of my head to make my point. "You're desperate for a dog to send after ponies you need to get rid of and you sure as hell don’t want a raider to do it." She walks over to the desk and sits down with a sigh. "Alright. Talk with Stitches after lunch. He'll get you set up with the suit. Any preference on the revolver?" "One that works,” I nod, “isn't too big and isn't silver. It needs to be dark and not reflect light. But I can paint it over if finding a non-silver one is too hard" I nod again. "So I am to talk with Stitches after lunch." "I just told you that," she grumbles. "I was repeating it so I'd remember. Have a good day, Mistress Tail Blade." I bow gracefully before turning for the door. *** *** I stare at the slowly boiling tomato soup, slowly stirring it as I listen to the sounds of the camp. Ponies, and alicorns walk around oblivious to me and my food like always. I don't care. They could all be ghouls for all the good it would do. Alicorns don't even need food! But still, I eat to remind myself that I'm a pony. To remind myself that I used to be worse off than now. To be my old self now would be to invite death over for tea and crumpets. Normal ponies are inferior to us alicorns. Weak, frail, and so helpless without to guidance of the Goddess. But I can say the same about us. I shut my eyes and sigh deeply while continuing to stir my food. Opening my eyes again, I look up at the camp. It's a ramshackle hodgepodge of tents, corrugated shacks, old skywagons, and part of a Pony Joe's coffee shop. The Pony Joe's being the center of what the locals call 'Alicorn Town'. There they sell food for caps, but they won't include my soup stand for some reason. They don't look at me like they look at each other. I feel like an outcast that gets to live with them, a pony you know of but will never talk to. Each minute of each hour of the day they pass by my soup stand. I smile and wave them over, but they quickly walk off. Dead Hoof comes by to take the cooked soup to the Pony Joe's for them to eat. I never get invited. Sitting down, I stare at my soup and slowly stir it. A blue alicorn's reflection slowly appears in it. "Hi, Dead Hoof," I say quietly to the blue. The only pony to ever come by. "Hey. Soup's ready?" he asks. I nod slowly. "Yeah. But why can't I cook inside the diner? It's boring here and," I look up at his face, "no pony ever talks to me." "I told you already." he pulls the pot off the grate with magic and sips from the ladle. "The diner doesn't have a stove, so you have to cook out here. Good soup by the way." I nod a bit. "They're tomatoes you bought for me." His wing wraps around me and pulls me close to his body in a hug. I sigh as his body heat slowly transfers to my wing. "Cheer up, Shock. Ponies-" "Lilly," I correct him. "I... I shouldn't use my old name." He nods. "Well there's bound to be happy ponies once they have this soup!" He smiles. I try to smile back, but notice movement out of the corner of my eye, drawing my attention to the almost grey-green alicorn Tail Blade. Dead Hoof lets go of our hug and steps back. "I better get this to the Diner." he says as he trots off with the pot in tow. Both Mistress Tail Blade and I silently watch him go. I tilt my head and stare at his flank, smiling a bit. He walks between a couple of tents and vanishes as he turns the corner, so I look at Mistress Tail Blade. She steps closer and sets a hoof on the wooden part of my ‘shop’, which is just a table and a stove. "I have a location for a revolver you might like," she says in my mind without moving her lips. I glance around to see if anypony was nearby and nod when I see that we are alone. "What caliber?" I ask in her mind. "It was small." she shrugs. "You don't know?" She shakes her head, causing me to frown. "How can you not know?" "I don't use primitive bullets to vanquish my foes. Here is the code to a box in a run down department store with a ruined cargo wagon out front about two blocks away. Second floor, right side, second door in should be the mare's restroom. The box is buried under the rubble in the far corner. I have placed your first contract inside of the box as well. Your payment will be the suit and pistol. Any questions?" Again, I slowly glance around at the tents surrounding us to see if anypony had walked over. None have, so I slowly take the paper and nod at Tail Blade. "One of the ponies in your folder Eclipse, is a pony I am looking for. Where is she?" "I can't give away that information here. Somepony might be listening." Sighing deeply, I hang my head low. "I understand. Thank you for this opportunity, Mistress Tail Blade." "Good luck, Lilly." *** *** I slowly and steadily pick my way through the rubble of downtown Baltimare, glancing back every once in a while to see if any pony has followed me from the camp; none has. So I smile and keep going. The ruins ahead are slowly decaying with time, once proud buildings stand as near salt blasted rusting hulks that creak and groan on the wind. Piles of rubble line the sides of the derelict buildings. My gaze wanders left, right, and up the rusty steel monstrosities. They stand as testament to the engineering of earth ponies. Buildings that can stand the test of time without maintenance makes me wonder what else they built that can last this long. But if I had my way, I’d bring down every single one and start anew. Slowly lowering my gaze down to road level, I spot the wrecked cargo wagon ahead. It’s tilted and leaning against the building with looted boxes falling out the open doors. The boxes are nothing more than smashed wood and anything worthwhile is long since looted. I stop, kicking one of the wood boxes with an armored forehoof and slowly glance up at the name of the store. "Haystacks and Beyond," I mutter to myself, the sign is partially destroyed, but I know the name since I remember the store chain well. It's a place that sells everything from cups to full on furniture. I glance back down the broken road towards Alicorn Town and wait, hopefully catching a glimpse of a cloaked blue or a regular pony trying to hide. I know that my boss, Mistress Tail Blade, wanted me to talk with Stitches after lunch, but this... This is more important. It's a chance to help with more than just cooking, and I'm going to take it. The suit can wait until tomorrow. It's only a piece of clothing that a vision of perfection does not truly need. Seconds slowly begin to tick by as my gaze flicks across the road at a partially collapsed building, nothing moves. Frowning at my inability to spot hidden ponies, I turn and head inside the old department store. Shards of glass crunch into the carpet from the weight of my hooves as I pick my way around the wreckage of the door. The carpet is initially pure dirt until you get a few paces inside where it turns to normal moldy old carpet again. Ahead of me, many shelves three times as high as I am reach to the ceiling. Some are collapsed, having long since spilled their wares out, and some have holes cut into them with boards placed as bridges. My magical glow slowly pulls an old trusty flashlight out and I flick it on, casting a pale yellow beam of light on an old unicorn skeleton with tattered saddlebags. I walk over and quietly inspect them, but find nothing in the bags beyond holes. The light of the torch reflects off something underneath the bones, so I gently move them to the side and find a dust covered bottle of Stalliongrad's Finest. Bringing it up, I gently dust it off and find it's filled with a purple liquid, which causes me to nod a bit and put it into my own bags. A healing potion most likely, I think to myself as I stand up from the bone pile. The torch slowly sweeps across the dark room until the light falls upon a sign pointing to the staircases. I nod at it and tell myself, the second floor mare's room. I slowly begin picking my way over the rubble as I follow the signs pointing to the staircase. Though I do not worry so much about salvagers or raiders. Any inhabitants are long gone, otherwise they would have set up shop. Something bright catches my eye, causing me to stop and stare at it. The torch illuminates an intact pre-war anti-zebra poster.'Better wiped than striped!' is the motto below a few demonic looking zebras standing over a group of scared foals with a Steel Ranger defiantly standing in defense. The mere sight of the poster causes my wings to flex in and out as my breathing deepens and my feathers fluff up. I continue to stare at it as my ears twitch and swivel, picking up sounds; multi-language shouting, gunfire, and swords clashing against each other. I find myself grinding my teeth together as my ears press against my head to block out the sounds, but they don't cease, only intensifying. Rearing up on my hind hooves, I grab the top of the poster and rip it off as I scream as loud as I could without a spell, "look what it did to this world!" I land back on the floor, panting heavily as my heart thunders in my ear and my breathing starts to slow down. Looking down at the carpet, I shut my eyes. "Put the past behind you and have no regrets," I whisper to myself. "Don't look to the future for it holds uncertainty. You're here in the now, that is what matters." I turn away from the now vandalized poster and head for the stairs. They are collapsed into a large pile of rubble much to my dismay. It causes me to stomp my hoof down and flare my wings out. "Damnit! How did she..." I look back at my outstretched wings and facehoof. "Right, wings. I can fly." Giving my wings a few test flaps, I smile at the broken ceiling and hover up to it. The broken rubble pile is just far enough below that a pony cannot jump or see into it. It takes a flying pony, or teleporting unicorn, to reach the second floor. I glance back at the first floor and slowly scan the area with my torch. The light slowly passes by the old shelves, ruined carts, fallen debris, and nothing else out of the ordinary. My flapping wings is the only sound my ears pick up as they swivel in all directions. Smiling some, I turn around and slowly hover my way to the second floor. The second floor is less picked through, but in even worse shape than the first. One side of the building's roof collapsed long ago, filling half the second floor with debris and giving a large hole for the elements to poke through. Daylight floods the floor to the point that I no longer need the torch, so I turn it off and put it away. I slowly glance at the rubble and partially picked through stuff around me as I wonder to myself, which right side? Right while I'm facing the street or with the street behind me? Looking right, all I can see is the collapsed portion of the department store. Piles and piles of dirty rain soaked rubble line one half of the wall. My gaze stops and backtracks when I spot a partial door barely hanging on by a hinge. I glance down before hovering over to the door. It's just a rotting wood door with a sign on it. Beyond the door is a bunch of trashed stalls and mirrors, leading me to believe it might be the mare's room. Picking up the sign in my magic, I dust it off and see an outline of a stallion. With a roll of my eyes, I toss the wood to the side and hover away, finding another restroom system not more than ten feet away. The stalls have all been crushed flat by debris, but the side holding the mirrors up is strangely intact. Shrugging at what must be the obvious mare's room, I land, fold my wings and trot in. The rubble around the far wall looks to have been disturbed recently and the shape of it screams 'I'm hiding something'. I head over to the box shaped rubble pile and gently begin moving the pieces from it one at a time. As I do, my brain wants to scold Mistress Tail Blade for her impetuous hiding spot as even a fool could have found the box. I will have to hide it better later. Tossing the last piece of rubble to the side, I stare at the rusty locker with the shiny combination lock. The sight of it makes me wonder about the mental state of the other green and where she got a nearly new lock. But, I shrug and pull the code out from inside my foreleg's ex-power armored plate. The armor, while unpowered and partially useless without the suit, does give me an advantage when I have to slap a pony or block a strike. The code for the lock makes me frown, but it's easy to remember. 42, 48, 36. The lock clicks as my magic pulls it apart and sets it to the side. Then, ever so slowly, I partially open the locker and shine the torch all along it to check for wires. Finding none, I slowly open it all the way and cringe as the hinges let out a rusty scream. My ears twitch and swivel around while I sit and listen for intruders trying to sneak up on me, nothing does. Looking down into the locker, I find a large burlap sack. It's pulled out and I dump it out right there. Papers fall out with a flutter along with a few heavy objects, I quickly grab them in magic and pull them close as I pick the revolver up. Floating the revolver near my ear, I gently spun the wheel and find it's slightly rusty. I frown and look down the cylinder's dirty chambers. The weapon looks to be in poor shape, but I was not expecting top notch equipment. There is no suppressor much to my dismay, something I shall bring up with Mistress Tail Blade the next time I see her. However, with some love and care the pistol can be great again. I gently set it to the side and look at my paperwork. Not so strangely, it's the same dirty folder I saw in her office, but with most of the contents removed. All that is in it is a picture of a pegasus mare named Cloud Layer and her last known location. Which happens to be in a building down by the docks. There was a stamp indicating her death was urgently requested. I fold the folder up, place the picture in my bag along with the pistol and ammo before standing up. *** *** Slowly, I ascend the rubble strewn stairs as silently as I could, my horn is dark and the revolver firmly clenched in my teeth. No sounds greet me beyond the occasional clink of my metal forehooves on stone, the thunderous sound of my heart beating in my chest, and the roar of my nose breathing. I glance up at the top of the stairs where a door is blocking the path, then look down the way I had come. Seven whole flights of stairs. Why the pony could not be on the ground floor is beyond my reasoning. At least it is not the top... I take a quiet breath to calm myself even more and look at the door. My hoof gently touches the cold rusty steel of the handle as I press down, receiving no response. The locked door causes a warm, angry, feeling to well up inside my chest. To come so far only to be blocked by a stupid door! A door, the great immovable object that it seems nopony can pick a lock on. Well… Turning around as best I can in the narrow confines of the stairwell, I back up and test the door with a hind hoof. It feels like your average wooden door which has stood against the test of time; dead, hollow, and slightly squishy. Drawing my hind legs in as far as I can, I balance on my forehooves while staring at the door. My hind hooves slam against the door, the wood shatters outward as the door split in four large chunks. Spinning around as fast as I could, I gallop into the hallway only to be met by silence. After a few seconds, I slow my gallop to a stop and frown. The dirty halls around me are quiet except for a windy moan coming from nearby. I glance in the direction and push open a door with my hoof. The room beyond the door is missing a window and cool salty air blew in from the coast not far away, blue sparkling water catches my eye and tries to entrance me into staying. Letting out a quiet hiss around the pistol's trigger, I turn from the room and head down the hall to another door that gets bucked open. After the wood splinters and dust settle, I turn around and look in. The room is thankfully not looking out at the water, but neither is my target in it. All that my gaze spots is a desk and an overturned file cabinet. Stepping inside the room, I walk over to the desk and start pulling drawers out in a haphazard manner, dumping them out as soon as they're clear of the desk. The first drawer is empty so it gets tossed to the side, the second holds useless papers and the third holds a single bit and five rifle rounds. My magic grabs the last drawer tightly before tossing it at the window with a snarl. The wood smashes clean through, shattering the glass into lethal shards that rain down onto the street below with the bullets and bit. "Fuck this building!" I shout with my mouth as I grab the desk with my armored hooves and pull up, flipping the desk over. As soon as I’m standing, I pivot on my hind hoof and kick out with the other one, slamming it into the desk. The wood desk cracks a little from the force and gets shoved back some. I lift my armored forehooves up and bring them down on the file cabinet with a metallic clang, leaving two dents in it as the shock of the blow reverberates up my forelegs. My heart pounds against my chest as I take deep breaths, wings flexing in and out as I look around the derelict room for something, anything, to shoot or kick. "You have to be her," a voice says from behind me. I spin around and attempt to trigger the pistol, but only succeed in flicking my tongue out of my mouth like a snake. This causes me to blink in confusion and look down at the pistol on the floor before I could get a good look at the pony. My magic surrounds the dropped pistol and I lift it up. "Expecting somepony?" I ask as I bring the pistol to bear on the blue unicorn in ugly looking blood soaked barding. He doesn't even flinch. "You must be here for the chicken wings," he says, causing me to frown. When I don't reply, he sighs, "the pegasus?" I nod slowly. "Yes, I am." "Did you bring the bits we asked for?" Bits...? What did she not tell me? I turn my head to the side a bit and eye the pony. My mind flashes back to Mistress Tail Blade telling me that I'd be paid to kill ponies for her. Not even the papers in the folder I had indicated I was to pay for the rescue of the pony, which means... this job is a test of my abilities to do a job and not have any witnesses. "Yes," I nod. "I have been given a sack of bits as payment." "May I see them?" the slaver asks. I shake my head, causing him to glare. "The deal was we trade fair for her. The bits for the pegasus." "You sure you didn't want caps?" I ask. "Every pony uses caps these days you know." "Bits. You can't use caps for pre-war vending machines." I smile a bit at his reply. "I'd like to make sure she hasn't been harmed first. Then, and only then, will you get your payment." "Give me your pistol," he says. Again, I shake my head. "Dost thee think I am a foal? If I walk in there unarmed, I will be outnumbered, and at your complete mercy. If thou wants the bits, thou will hath to let me keep thine pistol." He takes a half-step back, blinking as confusion slowly spreads across his face. The reaction makes me smirk knowing that he probably could not understand half of it. A couple of seconds pass before he nods. "Okay. You can keep the pistol. Follow me." *** *** I hum quietly to myself as I follow the stallion through the building. Little does he know that I am marking each corner we pass by so I can make a hasty exit when the shit hits the fan, because it sure as hell will when they find out I have nothing but caps. The stallion makes a left at a door and steps inside a room, I follow along behind him and quickly glance around to get my bearings. The room used to be a cubicle office at one time, but now the walls are set up as a sort of impromptu maze along three of the walls including most of the windows. The smell of rich smoked meat fills the room and I try ignoring the bags of body parts hanging from the ceiling, ripe with flesh for the taking. "Nice decorations," I mutter to the blue stallion. He glances back at me with that 'yeah sure' face, but I gesture to one of the bags over the fire with a hoof. "If you put the meat inside a trash bin with coals and wood chips, it'll give the meat a smoky flavor. Put some spices on it and you'll have a real nice tasting meal." He cocks an eyebrow at my suggestion. "You eat meat?" "Not any more." I shake my head. "The smell is... enticing, but we have business to attend to." He nods and starts leading me around the maze of cubicle walls, which I can just barely see over so his attempt at subterfuge is pointless. In the center of the room is a tent with a pink pony and Cloud Layer sitting outside it. Cloud Layer has ropes binding her to a chair, except one of her forelegs, and a chessboard is between them with pieces in it that looked like Cloud Layer was losing. They glance at us as we approach and a glimmer of hope passes over Cloud Layer's face when she sees me. I glance at the tent to see if anyone was inside it, but none are. Stepping around the fire, I stand next to Cloud Layer and look her over. A scabbed over nub replaces one of her ears, various cut marks line her forelegs and her wings were missing quite a few feathers. The sight of the pitiful starved, near skeletal, pegasus makes me frown. "She hasn't been treated well," I say, pointing at her ear. "What's this? I was told she was alive and well." The pink mare rolls her eyes. "They didn't tell you a thing." "Proof of life," Cloud Layer whimpers, receiving a death glare from the mare. I look over at the stallion as my horn glows, slowly opening my bag. His face lights up from the prospect of bits. My magic feels around the bag for the familiar feel of my pistol. As quick as I can, I draw the pistol from my bags and bring it to eye level, causing the stallions face to turn into a look of horror. "Deal's off," I say at the same time I telekinetically pull the trigger and the hammer slams forward. The revolver recoils in my magical grip as the blast fills the room, my bullet striking the stallion in the eye. I pull the hammer back again and send a second shot at the stallion before he had time to even react to the first. A splattering of blood from the back of his head coats the wall behind him before his body drops. "Book!" the mare shrieks in horror at her mate dying. She dives out of the chair before I can train my pistol on her and quickly drags the corpse behind a cubicle wall out of my line of sight. Glancing at the stunned Cloud Layer, I start to untie her with my magic as I say, "it's okay. I'm here to get you out." "Really?" she asks sarcastically as the last knot is undone. "I thought you were here to play chess." I roll my eyes and glance at the blood trail and try to block out the mare's sobbing scream. "Can you walk?" I ask Cloud, then aim towards the mare's voice and unload shot after shot at the wall. A scream of pain hits my ears at the same time the first bullet hit, but it is cut short by the second bullet rapidly following it. The third and fourth most likely finish the mare off. "Y-yeah," Cloud Layer mumbles, drawing my attention over to her. Her legs shook as if they had not supported her for some time. "No. I can't move." The revolver's cylinder flips out and I pull the casings out with magic, slowly floating them into my bag before I start loading it with more rounds. "You're going to have to walk, understand?" I ask Cloud Layer. She gulps and tried to take a step forward, yelling in pain. I frown and snap the cylinder into the firing position with a spin. "I can't move!" she screams as tears fill her eyes. "My legs fucking hurt any time I move them!" "Then stand there and don't move," I say. She sets her leg down and most of the pain in her face goes away. “It’ll make things easier.” "Wh-what are we going to d-do?" she asks, sniffling between words. "I can't fly and I can't walk." "Well," I pull the hammer back on the revolver, "I'm going to collect my paycheck. As for you? Mistress Tail Blade sends her regards." I turn the pistol and aim at her chest, causing her eyes to go wide. "You bitch! I hope-" my magic pulls the trigger, causing the pistol to kick a lead dart into her chest. The bullet slams into her and goes clean through into the wall. Pulling the hammer back again, I send another bullet at her chest. She staggers into the wall from the impact and slowly slides down, leaving a bloody streak as she gasps for breath. I float the revolver to her head, pull the hammer back and look away, triggering it again. Warm liquid splatters back onto my face, forcing me to blink it out of my eyes. I squeeze the trigger a fifth time, forcing even more of the mare's cranial matter to fly back at my face. Stepping back, I shake the now bloody pistol to get any blood off it and start heading back through the maze towards the door. On my way by the raider mare, I put one last bullet into her and her mate's head just to be sure they were dead. The thing I've learned these past few weeks is that I cannot run from my past for long. It creeps up and hits me with a sledge hammer, so the only thing to do is embrace my inner demons and let them flow out once more, because let's face it. I already reserved a seat in Tartarus long ago and war will most likely never change. Somewhere down the road, somepony will want another pony dead, and with the changes to the wasteland. They can't do it openly anymore. They'll need an obedient dog to do their dirty work for them in the shadows. And I'm more than happy to oblige for a price. Shell Shock: Game Over!
EpilogueEpilogue. "Wake me up when this insanity is done." Eclipse, that cruel earth pony with no compassion towards alicorns. Her time was coming. Mistress Tail Blade reluctantly allowed me to go after her, so long as her death could not be traced back by an inquisitive pony. Luckily for me that was just what I planned. I had it all planned out to the second. Her routine was quite simple to figure out once you sat down long enough and watched. She'd wake up in the morning, stretch, workout, eat something and head off to the others. After that she did whatever it was Steel Rangers did for the day before she came home and read a faded Daring Do book for a couple hours. Eclipse would then fall asleep after that. That was when I made my move. After five days of sitting still and watching her through a scope I had procured from a pony that didn’t need it anymore, I left my perch from the nearby building. My muscles ached and protested, the insides feeling like they were pulling back to my original position. Yet I pushed on and quietly made my way down the broken rubble pile. My stone colored cloth was still wrapped around me like a nice cloak which kept my wings covered. The rubble beneath my hooves threatened to give way, so I took flight with a flap of my wings. I landed on the street after a short flight and darted over to a mailbox, crouching as low as I could. The night sky was as bright as ever with the full moon, which gave me a nice clear view without any aids. All was quiet except for my breathing and the thundering coming from my chest. My extremely heavy bags were prepped for the mission close to my heart and the drive that kept me going through Oakwood until Dead Hoof crushed it. But I was given a second chance at it and I was not going to waste or fuck up in any way. It had to go as I planned or all would be lost. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I peered over the mailbox at the building Eclipse slept in. It was a simple brick building built by the hardy race known as earth ponies. Where the others around it failed and crumbled partially or in whole, it stood the test of time. Laughter, music, and light spilled forth from the bottom floor and I could see ponies of all color moving inside. Luckily, I did not plan on kicking in the front door and claiming I was there to kick everypony’s flank. My plan was much more simple. “Nice night for a walk,” said a nearby voice, forcing me to stop and look before I prepared to take flight. Leaning against an ancient light post was a familiar unicorn. Moonlight reflected off her sparkling coat where it could be seen, which was only her face. She wore a form fitting suit hide her features much like me. Lilium even wore an old trench coat over the suit with a top hat, well, topping it off. “I used to do this too.” she said as a revolver encased in green magic floated out from her coat. She stared at the cylinder for a second, her eyes darting to each bullet, before giving it a spin and snapping it shut. “Now’s not the time,” I told myself. “We can have a mirror conversation later.” She shrugged and looked up at the moon, I followed her gaze and saw a large cloud bank steadily moving in. “It’s not the same you know.” “I know,” I nodded. “Who cares if you get caught shooting a pony out here, right? The worst that’ll happen is a firefight and even more bodies. Though that body count will add up and one day, you’ll be looking back with regret. I know because I did.” “I can’t wash my hooves any more than I have, so I’ve stopped caring about it.” Lilium pointed a hoof towards the moon and smiled. “But what if you could wash away your past deeds like the coming rain?” “I’ll still be who I am. Nothing can change or take away what I’ve done to past ponies. It will stick with me until I go to the grave. Wishing for redemption is a pipedream that will never come to fruitrition.” “Then take this and have a good night.” Lilium tipped her hat with magic before tossing the revolver towards me. I instinctively reached out with my own magic and caught it. It felt heavy, loaded and, most of all, real. Pulling it close revealed that the weapon was an actual single action revolver with fancy designs on the body. I flipped the weapon over and saw an inscription on the barrel that read ‘Even a heartless monster can be redeemed if given the chance. All it takes is for one pony to care’. Opening the revolver’s cylinder and checking the bullets showed me that it was full and each one had a small inscription on their casings; Hope, Decency, Compassion, Forgiveness, Charm, and Morality. Looking up revealed Lilium to have gone, but her coat’s hem betrayed her as she galloped around the corner. Eclipse forgotten for the moment, I broke into a gallop as I slipped the pistol into my already full bags. I barreled around the building and headed down the alleyway. Lilium was already far ahead, despite her age which was old. She slipped away again, so I took flight and flew after her as quick as I could, ignoring the buildings around us or even if anypony was watching. A strange whirring noise filled the air as I closed the gap on the corner. The vision was familiar and I found my mind wandering back towards the time with Sister on the Cloudchaser. There too, I chased a vision of myself, yet that vision did not toss me a loaded weapon that was quite real! As I flew around the corner, I folded my wings and slid to a stop along the ground as I kicked up a small cloud of dust. The night air was strangely quiet except for the thundering of my heart and my heavy breathing. My gaze went left, right, up, down, everywhere, but Lilium had vanished. Only yards away was a brick wall where the not a vision Lilium had to have run into. I saw her head down the path, yet she was not there! A quick check of the nearby dumpster with my light spell revealed it to be empty, and the wooden boxes were far too small for her to have vanished inside of. The revolver she had given me was brought out and I checked it over, and over, to make sure it was still the same, it was. Nothing made sense. No vision I interacted with ever gave me a physical object that I could touch, feel and taste. Though it tasted like a freshly oiled revolver. A check of the revolver against the other one in my bags revealed them to be different weapons entirely. For one, the shape was off as Lilium’s revolver had an intricate design on it. Another was that the barrel on Lilium’s revolver was a couple inches longer with a flip up iron sight. I frowned as I put it away and flew back towards Eclipse’s building. The burning question on my mind was a simple one: How the hell did that happen? Am I still back in that fake world?! I stopped above Eclipse’s building and looked around. The buildings and night sky around me looked as real as my hoof. My hooves felt like they were on a rooftop, the air felt cool and my feathers felt real. A shake of my head cleared the stupid thoughts from my skull. I still had those strange metal disks in my body. A light touch of my hoof confirmed it, so what happened really happened to me. Somehow, my old self managed to appear in the flesh and disappear just as quickly. Which was something to look into, but not at this time. Ignoring further ramblings and thoughts, I dashed towards the rooftop edge and jumped off. I spun around in the air, slowly shutting my eyes as I unfolded my wings and hovered in place. I could feel a slight electrical tingle in the crisp night air flowing through my feathers, which was not odd to me due to the coming storm. The sensation felt like the one you’d get when lightning was about to strike. My mission had been side tracked, but not for long. I chose then to expedite what I had planned and tossed caution to the wind. So, with a deep breath, I brought up my shield and charged at Eclipse’s window. The glass shattered as the shield went clean through and I dropped it. That was a mistake. My hind legs caught on the opening as I felt my stomach lurch and, with a yelp of surprise, my face met the hard unforgiving ground of Eclipse’s bedroom. “Who’s th-fuck!” the aforementioned earth pony shouted in complete surprise, having noticed me as I pushed myself to my hooves and withdrew the 105mm artillery shell with magic. She looked at me, the door, the shell, and bolted for the door. The shell whirled around in my magic and I released it, letting the momentum fling the high-explosive shell across the room for me. Eclipse’s side was slammed by the impromptu club and the mare was shoved into the wall by the weight as a loud snap filled the room. The heavy object slammed into the ground and slowly rolled to the side as I strutted over to her with my head held high. “Been a while,” I said quietly, using my mouth to speak as she did not deserve a more elegant method of communication. “And I see you still recognize me.” She sat there panting while holding a hoof to her side. “You broke my fucking ribs!” My magic gripped the handle of my 10mm pistol as I drew the weapon and pointed it at Eclipse. Another object floated out and I turned on the audio recorder as her gaze went to it. “Now then, let’s start from the beginning. Hello, your name is…?” “Star Paladin Eclipse,” she grumbled through her teeth, her eyes glaring a bright fire at me. “Or, I was anyway. They demoted me to Knight.” “Good.” I nodded. “Do you know why I am here?” “To kill me probably. That’s why you’ve got that pistol aimed at me isn’t it?” She sat down and continued to hold her side as I pulled out a knife. “Correct. I had a plan, but I had to change it to unforeseen circumstances. So now we are doing a new plan.” Eclipse rolled her eyes as she muttered something under her breath about a crazy alicorn. Then shook her head and yawned. “If you’re going to kill me. Please shoot me now and spare me the theatrics. Your entrance was terrible by the way.” The knife moved closer to her flesh and pressed down, drawing a bit of crimson liquid. “Yes, yes it was. Just a question, but did you hear a strange whirring sound earlier? Like this?” I tried to replicate it, but mostly failed at it. Eclipse facehoofed. “Just kill me now and save me the stupidity!” she shouted. Then shook her head while muttering, “why? Celestia, what did I do to deserve this stupid alicorn?” “I’m not stupid. I was just asking a simple question! Now pay attention.” Slowly, the knife moved down her foreleg as it peeled the top layer of her skin off. Her eyes widened as she yelled in pain. “Aah! What the fuck?! Stop that hurts!” “It’s supposed to hurt.” I nodded. “That’s why it’s called torture.” “I ended her suffering!” Eclipse shouted, causing me to stop skinning her foreleg. I tilted my head and blinked as I opened and closed my mouth to try coming up with a reply. “She asked me, begged me, to kill her. She was in pain from the fight.” “Radiation would have healed her!” I shouted as my eyes narrowed towards the teal mare. “Alicorns. Heal. From radiation! You killed her like some kill happy crazy mare!” “Just stop and think for one second. Who actually killed her? Me? Or the pony that put her in that position?” “Don’t try to guilt trip me!” The knife was shoved through Eclipse’s leg and into the wall. “Don’t you dare try to say I killed her. Your pathetic device was sucking the magic from her in a failed attempt to capture me.” Eclipse attempted to pull the knife out with her hoof, which it came free quite easily, and stared at it. The pistol was floated up and pressed against the side of her skull. “You know what?” I asked as she glanced at me with her eyes, a look of fear and horror crossed her face. “We’re done with this conversation.” Tension slowly built up in the trigger as I pressed on it with magic.
Prologue: Darkness Falls (slightly revised 6/25/2013)Chapter 0: Darkness Falls. An old and wise pony once told us that in the future there is only chaos. The world ended a great many years ago in a battle of balefire bombs that obliterated nearly everypony and other creatures, plunging the world into nuclear winter as the pegasi blocked out the sun. However life finds a way to move on and it did. We lost our home and became lost. But We finally found happiness in Unity. Life was perfect for Us, if a little wonky at first. Then one day, a little grey mare sought to make things better for others. She succeeded, but it only made it worse for Us again. We remember the day We stopped hearing the voice of the Goddess. It was probably two... three...? Days, weeks, months, years ago? We’re not entirely sure as the years have blurred together since We joined Unity willingly long before the Destroyer arrived. However We know that day is gone and We are unsure of things to come, as We can now do things that the Goddess would not allow... like think for ourselves again and that is not a good thing. We galloped through the halls of the old rusty ship forever docked at the Oakwood Dock’s and telepathically shouted. "Sisssssterrrr! Sister, Sister!" Everypony can hear Our telepathic shout, but We do not care! As We wish to show Sister this awesome thing We discovered called moonshine. Oh and food. Most, if not all, of the ponies here fear us for some reason We do not know. Perhaps it was because of the things We once did in the Goddess's name? However Sister has set Us up with a new boss in exchange for staying here and helping. Ahead of Us, a grey impure pony was attempting to step through the hatch in front of Us. But with Our telekinetics We gripped him in a jade green field of magic, shoved him through and against the wall. Then We squeezed through the small hatch, which was a bit of an annoyance due to Us being as large as Celestia was, but we always manage if no impure ponies are in the way. We followed the rusty passageway then made a left at the end, followed by a right and literally bowled through a couple of impure. Our weight knocked them into the bulkhead walls. With a wide grin We took a sip from the jar and ducked Our head so that we may go down the stairs two decks and then aft. At the end of that passageway we had to turn left again, then another right, and up some stairs. We took another sip from the jar, smiling as it warmed out belly, and followed that passageway to the right. Eventually We went back down two more flights of stairs. After a few more twists and turns in the bowels of the ship We arrived at our destination. The engine room. We gulped back our smile as We composed ourself and opened the door, then stepped through into the large dark room. Sister’s large blue form stood next to the engine with Our new boss about twenty feet from her in conversation. We quickly hid the jar to Our side and turned so that Boss didn't see it. "...have Shock do it," he told her. We always hated coming in near the end, because then Sister has to explain it to Us and she hates it for some reason We can't fathom. Sister nodded firmly as she glared at the pony. "Fine. Just make sure your ponies don't shoot her this time! The Goddess dislikes failure and we dislike when we have to heal our sister." He gave her a nod and walked towards Us, and the exit, while We glared and tried to present an imposing picture like Sister says to. It was much easier before the Goddess stopped talking to Us. We missed her dearly. He looked up and stopped. We stared at each other for a long while. Finally he blinked and We smiled. "Hah! We win!" We projected into his head and Sister groaned in annoyance. We looked up as We told her, and only her. "We have something to show you!" We left Boss behind and went over to the engine. Which we nearly hugged as the warm radiation fed our body. "What is it?" Sister asked with her snide voice. ‘Why doesn't she talk like We do? Who needs to waste breath and energy by moving their mouth? Telepathy is so much better!’ We thought to ourself. Regardless, We held up the jar in magic with a grin. "Moonshine!” We told her with Our mind. “Thy impure bar pony makes it and it is absolutely amazing! You should try some." Sister blinked in shock as she took a step back. "You know we don't require such things! What motivated you to try it in the first place?" "Because We were told it was good?" We sipped from the jar with a smile and offered it to her. The alcohol burned our insides, but We liked it. She glanced around then took the drink in her magic, gave it a sniff and wrinkled her nose. We watched as she slowly put it to her lips and took a long draw. Sister’s eyes widened as she spit it back out all over Our face as she coughed. We laughed as We had the same reaction the first time! Then We realized something and looked at Our long flowing mane. We shook Our head in disappointment with a frown. "Thou got Our mane covered in booze...." Sister tossed the jar away with eyes on fire and We shrank back. Our ears folded back as the glass shattered the wonderful drink everywhere. She shouted. "Foal! Stop interacting with those beyond who I tell you too!" We nodded slowly in understanding. "If we act like we have been before that bitch destroyed the Goddess, we can still get benefits like this..." Metal rang out as Sister tapped the ship's engine with her hoof. "Free. Consistent. Source of protected radiation from our loyal supporters." Sister snarled at Us, causing Us to hop a little bit in surprise. "We are monsters, so start acting like one again!" "What of Our other sisters?" We asked quietly in her head. "We have not heard from them in a long ti-" "They are dead! Where have you been? Living under a rock? We are all that's left out here in Oakwood!" ‘Because a ship is like a rock... right?’ We thought slowly as We nodded. "May we still get Moonshine?" We asked her with a smile. "NO!" Her eyes went wide in horror as she roared and echoed in the room. "I can’t believe you like it!" Sister rolled her eyes and dramatically groaned. "Why? Why of all of us in Unity did I get stuck with you?" "We do not see a problem being paired together. In fact We think this to be fun." We looked back the way Boss had gone and then looked at Sister. "Sister, what did Boss want?" She put a hoof on our shoulder. "You are going to help him attack a convoy of Steel Rangers and he wants you to plant on bomb on both the front, and rear, vehicle. Then support his ponies while they try to take the supplies." We nodded and turned invisible. "We can do that!" "Go!” Sister pointed angrily at the hatch. “The convoy nears the spot in thirty minutes. Do not be late." *** *** We hummed a blues tune quietly in our head while We crept towards the rear wagon. They didn't see Our giant form, because we were cloaked and Our spell cannot possibly be seen by impure ponies! The wagon was a four axle box trailer being pulled by a three axle steam truck with two black clouds billowing from its side pipes. To get by the clouds of smoke, We had to hold Our breath. We were two miles from the entrance to the bridge leading across the bay and they were heading there fully loaded. We went under the center of the 30ft flatbed trailer and pulled the plastic bomb off Our back with thine hoof as using magic breaks the invisibility spell. Then We glued the device to the underside between two frame support beams. The timer read: 00:01:15. We smiled as We left the trailer before being run over by the rear axles. As We looked right We had to back up as a blue mare in acolyte robes nearly ran into Us. She stopped and looked in Our direction. We gulped as we slowly sidestepped with the vehicle. The pony slowly looked forward as she shout. "I think I saw something!" With a silent snarl We backed up slowly. ’That bomb is going to go off in a matter of seconds or minutes! Ugh, time why are thou so weird to us?!’ We silently groaned before we turned and quietly galloped away. The vehicle stopped and ponies began inspecting the trailer as We left it. Then the one in the front exploded in a fireball, followed quickly by the rear wagon, thus trapping the convoy in the street perfectly. ’A little light on explosives, but effective still.’ We thought as We ducked into a building marked by Sister and We dropped the invisible spell. Our hooves now hollowly thumped on the carpeted wood as we made Our way up stairs, turned left and followed the rubble trail towards where we were to meet Sister for our weapon and further instructions. At the end of the hallway was a cloth covering what had once been a door. We pushing the cloth back and frowned. Sister was not there! We quickly scanned the room in worry as We wondered if she'd gotten shot, but that would be silly! Sister has a better invisibility spell than We do, but We have a shield that does not seem to work anymore... Our gaze fell upon a box and We went over to it. On top of it was a note that We picked up in magic and read. Sister, Use this to burn the heretics into Tartarus. Something has come up that demands my attention and I leave it in your more than capable hooves. Be safe. Signed, Sister. We opened the box and squee'd in delight at its contents, then quickly looked around to see if anypony saw that unladylike outburst. None did of course, so We looked down at the okay condition Annihilator Mk.I rocket launcher. Underneath it were seven shots of high-explosive and two orange tipped rockets that were sheathed in a belt which We hung around our neck. With our new found toy We galloped from the room towards the roof. As We reached the roof Our ears were assaulted by the sounds of ponies locked in urban combat. We used Our magic to load in one of the orange tipped rounds and the thought of going invisible crossed our mind. But using a spell breaks it so it's useless. We crept low and wished that Our mane didn't flow all the time. As We reached the brick protruding up We peered over at the deep black road below. The rear truck was burning with parts of ponies nearby, and smoke rose from the front of the convoy as that truck burned too. We involuntarily ducked as the boiler blew in a cloud of white steam and scalding hot water, catching two acolytes in the blast. Some ponies were hiding behind recent rubble, or using the wagons as cover as they fred at the ones hiding in the building. An idea formed in Our head, We stood on Our hind legs with the rocket launcher floating nearby and stuck a hoof in the air. Our divine wings were extended to full and We telepathically boomed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "FOALISH MORTALS! THE GODDESS DEMANDS YOUR DEATH!" Our rocket launcher aimed, and with a whoosh, it sent the warhead flying towards the center vehicle. Our aim struck true, it exploded and spread burning phosphorous everywhere in an orange explosion, setting three ponies in the blast radius on fire. Everypony followed the white smoke trail leading to Us. ‘That got their attention!’ We thought as We dropped back behind the edge just before they returned fire. Bullets shattered the brick next to Our head, showering Us with shards. We left the useless cover behind with the rocket launcher floating in front of Us. Then loaded in the second high explosive incendiary warhead. We giggled slightly as We were glad to be releasing our pent up anger and thought to ourself. ’Sister always lets Us have fun by killing the heretics that do not believe in the Goddess. We only wish to help the wasteland by allowing them to join Unity, but do they listen? Noooo! They shout horrible things about the Goddess and force Us into hiding in the Crescent Moon's hull. Then there’s the Destroyer.... oh We could go on, and on, about how she dropped a boxcar on one of Our sisters, and trapped one in a memory orb, but there is no time for contemplating. Only killing time!’ We peered over the broken sign and aimed Ann. She sent a warhead down at another vehicle as We dropped back behind cover before they saw Us. We galloped over to the door leading to a stairwell and followed that down two stories to a destroyed office floor. Quietly, We made Our way to the shattered windows and stood far enough back to not be seen. We loaded in a high explosive rocket and as We looked at the ponies down below, We frowned. One metal monstrosity of a pony was looking up at Us while aiming his/her own rocket launcher. We took a snapshot and galloped from the window as their rocket streaked up, and destroyed the ceiling in a shower of wood shards. Our weapon and Us went two different directions as We were deafened by the explosion. We grit our teeth while dragging Ann back to Us with magic. ’Fuck those Steel Ranger heretics and their metal suits!’ We hissed to ourself as We rolled to Our hooves and galloped from the room. Our rocket launcher was in front of Us as We loaded in another rocket and crashed through the wood door. We jumped and fluttered down the center of the six flights of stairs, landing softly. Then We took a slow look around as We tested the door with a hoof and found it locked. We rolled Our eyes, spun around, and bucked it. Our hooves sent it flying off its hinges, because who needs to fumble with a lockpick when you can just buck it down?! The hallway beyond was short and partly collapsed, which caused Us to crouch down to sneak through. However as We neared the door a rocket streaked through, slamming into the wall in front of Us and showered Our body with red hot concrete. Quickly, We jumped out, sent a warhead after him and kept going before they had a chance to reload their rocket launcher. We heard the rocket detonate, followed by impure pony screams and frowned as We wanted to hit the heretic! We loaded a new rocket as We galloped through the wooden hallway while minigun fire roared from another room towards Us. A few of the five millimeter bullets bored their way into Our hide and caused Us to yelp as We entered some sort of break room. We dove behind an overturned fridge with some snack cakes spread out on the ground. We took one box and devoured its contents as We looked around. A thought struck us, ’Steel Rangers have the ability to track us with their suit, so if we disable suit they just cram in a can?’ Our gaze went to the fridge and we smiled at the idea. ’Fridge Shield! Our magic easily tore the door off its pathetically weak hinges. We nodded as We inspected it. It looked stout enough to stop bullets. We looked back at Our flank to pull out the five rounds that were setting Our insides on fire and tossed the tiny bullets away. We shouted telepathically to anypony nearby. “We’re still alive dickhead!” The response came in the form of minigun fire and a rocket destroying the wall as We dove for cover again behind the fridge, causing the roof to groan and timbers to snap. We took a deep breath as We hefted the door in front of Us and charged the destroyed wall. Fridge Shield smashed through what was left of the wood door. We slid to a stop as We glared at the Tin Can down the hall. As the hallway was filled with the roar of a minigun the rounds impacted the metal shield and pushed it back towards Us. Our magic floated the Mk.I launcher up over the door We let a rocket fly. In Our haste, we had momentarily forgotten to duck and inadvertently burned Our mane. We nearly filly squealed in horror, but quickly put the fire out with magic before it did more than singe Our beautiful mane. The Steel Ranger dove for cover and the shot missed, striking the front wall. Our eyes narrowed when We saw at least two more of the Tin Cans outside. We telepathically boomed while We loaded in a new rocket. "THOU TIN CANS CANNOT HOPE TO MATCH OUR PERFECTION!" We heard metallic laughter from the other room where the Ranger had taken cover. A frown formed on Our lips as We trotted over to look around with one eye. But the sneak effect was ruined by Our beautifully flowing mane that We simply must do something about! The laughter stopped and the Steel Ranger tin can looked at Us as his minigun spooled up. Fridge Shield was quickly brought up and 5mm bullets slammed against it. The force of the impacts pushed the shield back into Us. We snarled as we took a snapshot into the room. Instantly, Our eyes went wide as we realized our fuck up. The blast wave shoved the fridge door into Us and sent Our body crashing through the wall behind and bones cracked. We slammed against another wall and slumped to the floor covered in dirt and blood. We groaned as fire lanced through one of Our wings, and blood trickled from our ears and nose while all we could hear was a loud ringing sound. We tried to link to Sister to ask her for help, as she sometimes comes if We do. "Sister... We are hurt... Please come... Please? Please? There are many St-" We broke the link when the ceiling above snapped loud enough to overcome the ringing. Our eyes widened as it kept snapping and groaning. A timber landed next to Us, so We quickly stood up and tried galloping as best We could. Which was a limping hobble. We stole a glance at the Tin Can and saw charred body parts, and metal everywhere. We made sure to bring the Annihilator as it would be bad to leave it behind. Sister would not be pleased. We stumbled and pressed against the wall, using it for support, and went forward. We needed to find something to heal the wounds quickly as they greatly diminished Our combat effectiveness. Timbers snapped behind Us and the building came crashing down in a dust cloud as We stumbled down the stairs onto the road. We looked around at the battle. The Tin Cans were winning and We groaned audibly and mentally scolded ourself. ’We fucked up and fixated on that foal in power armor too long!’ We brought Our rocket launcher up to help, but it clicked empty and caused Us to frown. Our magic loaded in the thrice to last warhead. One of the Tin Cans turned around and his twin miniguns quickly spooled up, then roared like a dragon. We brought up Our magic bubble shield and sent a rocket at the same time as we were enveloped by a green bubble. His rounds went everywhere else, but not into Us. Our warhead struck the ground under him and sent the now three legged pony flying sideways in a slow tumble as he trailed blood from his stump. We quickly loaded in another shot and fired, but looked at the rocket with a puzzled look when it clicked. Then We facehoofed as Our green shield prevented us from putting the new warhead in! We quickly looked around and bounded behind cover as We dropped the shield to load in the warhead. Trying to raise the shield a second time caused fire to lance through Our long horn. We clutched Our head and waited for it to die down. ’Huh? We should be able to cast that infinitely!’ With a huff of annoyance, We floated the rocket launcher at our side as We stood and popped out from behind cover to take a snapshot. Then ducked back and loaded our last round in while we thought back in Our memories. ’Steel Rangers work in fives and we've seen four. Where's...’ Our gaze went up and We immediately dove out of the way from a rocket attack high above Us. Burning shrapnel buried itself in Our flank as We were sent flying by the shockwave. We landed in a heap on the rubble lined road and groaned again as We slid to a stop. A silver apple landed near us, we tossed it away with wide eyes, and it exploded only a few feet away, showering us with shrapnel and sending Us sliding back more. We futilely used Our wing to cover Our face as the metal passed through the feathers like they weren't there. "Kill the monster!" A metallic mare’s muffled voice shouted. Reminding Us what we've become. Not a vision of the perfect future, but a hideous monstrosity in their eyes. 5mm rounds kicked up a line of concrete and stitched across Our side as they burrowed their way in, burning our insides. We grit Our teeth as we loaded Our last rocket and turned it on a Tin Can before pulling the trigger with magic. Ann clattered to the road as the warhead missed completely, but caused them to take cover. We groaned inwardly and picked her up with a wing and tried to limp away. We collapsed behind a wagon and almost sobbed while We reconnected with Sister. "We... are sorry, Sister. We failed... We do not think we will make it, but we will try." We looked at one ruined wing, then at the other with a long splinter protruding from the bone. A cry of pain escaped us as We removed it and panted. "We cannot fly... Will try to make it by hoof." We broke the connection and went invisible. *** *** We stumbled and fell to the grass covered road in a dusty heap as Ann dropped from Our grip for the umpteenth time. Our wounds too great and painful to keep going. We painfully grabbed the Annihilator with a hoof and wrapped Our forelegs around her in a cuddle. She was a good weapon that served Us faithfully. We shut Our eyes and waited for the end. And waited... Finally after a long while We sighed and opened Our eyes as We looked at the beautifully crafted toy of death in Our embrace. A toy that was now in almost poor condition. Sister would be upset if We did not go on! And so that is what We will do! We wrapped the weapon in a wing, stood back up painfully, and shakily on our hooves, and limped onward. The Crescent moon is this way... we think. As We limped along We slowly looked around at all the similar buildings and overgrown roads. A sigh of frustration left us as we approached a sky wagon. ’We have no clue where it is we are! Everything looks so different down here...’ We prayed while We limped around a wrecked sky wagon. "We pray to the Goddess so that she may give Us protection and deliver us unto Our sister in a timely manner, praise be the Goddess." We hoped she heard that and We do not truly believe Sister when she says the Goddess is dead. Because how can a goddess die? The answer is she cannot as she is immortal. She must have left her corporeal form behind and is watching over us all like a true goddess. We stopped and looked back at the sky wagon at an odd, yet familiar, feeling. ’There may be medical supplies in there!’ We thought to ourself as we turned around and limped over to the wreckage. As we neared the machine We felt a familiar warm feeling of radiation coming from the cracked engine. We looked up and whispered, “thank you Goddess, thank you!” We collapsed and put Our face against the leaking device. Then rubbing it with Our cheek and smiled. It was not much radiation, but enough to heal Our minor wounds and dull the pain. We connected to Sister, but she never responds... none ever do. "Sister! The Goddess answered our prayer for help! See? The Goddess is not dead, she is watching over Us!" We left the leaking engine behind and opened the cargo doors so We could rummage through the boxes of impure pony junk. We found a Med-X needle that We immediately injected, some Rad-away that We tossed away, five bottle caps which We put into the rocket belt, half a bottle of rum, and six rounds of .22LR ammo. We held one of the .22LR rounds with magic to eye level as We eyed it suspiciously. ’Who in their right mind would willingly use a weapon that fires such.... pitiful ammunition?’ Regardless of Our caliber preference, We pocketed the ammo as one may need it for trade. We opened the mostly gone bottle of rum and drank what was left as We continued limping on Our way. ’We are so pleased with the Goddess! We asked, and she answered. It was like... magic!' Our ears swiveled as rubble fell to the road. Slowly, We looked around. We glanced behind Us and facehoofed at the realization that We were walking back towards the remaining Steel Rangers! We turned back towards the sky wagon. It wasn't far, but one of Our hooves tugged on something, which caused Us to glance down as the tripwire suddenly went slack. Underneath the rubble pile a device whirred and gave a metallic pop as an object jumped out and drew our attention. Our eyes widened and We jumped back as its panels unfolded, exploding bright light in our face along with a truly deafening clap of thunder. Our world went black as our body fell to the road. *** *** Sometime later, We opened Our eyes as a dull throbbing pain ran through Our horn and followed an incessant beeping noise; over and over. Slowly, We looked around a sort of tall medical room devoid of ponies with the area above being glass, the room behind the glass dark. The whitewashed walls reflected the blinding light from directly overhead and gave the entire room a muted headache inducing feeling. Wires ran from Us to a machine that was doing the beeping. Our bed was as hard as a rock and We realized it was just a metal table that was covered by a sheet. One of Our hind legs had a metal band around it that appeared attached to the bed. ’Clouds make for some of the best beds, they should have given Us clouds!’ "I see you're awake." A metallic voice said from the walls. We slowly scanned the white and tried to reply with Our mind, but fire shot through Our horn causing us to collapse onto the bed in agony. We laid there, panting until the pain in our horn subsided, and wiped the sweat off our brow. "If you try using magic in there, then that happens." the voice said flatly. Our gaze went up to a yellow earth pony standing behind thick looking glass. We looked at him in contempt as We hate talking with Our mouth. It sounds so... weird and undignified! Regardless, We softly cleared Our throat and asked. "Where... are we?" He pushed a button next to him with his hoof. "Somewhere in Oakwood. Why does it matter?" "Curious is all. We take it you healed Us?" We held out a wing and noticed that Our feathers had been clipped beginning from the third outside flight feather. A quick check of the other revealed the same. "What... happened to Our beautiful wings?" "I stitched your wounds, and a few healing potions finished the job. However the feathers had to be cut as they were heavily damaged." We sighed and nodded because if what We remember about the grenade shrapnel going through Our wing were true, then that must be true that they had to be cut. "How long have we been here?" "At least two days." We looked up at him and smiled. "The Goddess will reward thee for helping Us." His voice echoed in the small room as he pushed the button again. "You do realize she's been dead for a couple weeks, right?" We looked up at the ceiling and smiled as We put Our forehooves together and placed them against Our chest. "The Goddess is not dead, merely in another plane of existence. She answered Our prayer earlier and watches over Us even now." "Look, I don't care if you believe she's Celestia! I don't wanna hear none of that Unity shit in my home, do you understand?" We looked at the impure and nodded slowly in understanding. "Good. Now mind telling me why I found you shot full of holes and blown up?" We shall forgive him calling Unity that as he does not know that in Unity We are better as a whole. "...Perhaps... Do We get anything for in return for telling thee?" "I have extra cake." he replied with a shrug. "Very well, that will do," We gave a nod of acceptance of his trade offer as food is wonderfully yummy. "We were helping Sister and Boss to clear out a convoy of Tin Can Heretics." "Tin Can... you mean Steel Rangers?" "Yes. They had supplies Boss needed and he asked Sister, whom asked us to do it." Our ears folded back as We looked at the floor in shame. "We... failed." "And it was just you versus a platoon of Steel Rangers?" Again We nodded. "Sister gave us nine rockets, and We used all of them to take out half." He sat down and looked in deep thought while he scratched his chin. We thought he looked constipated. The impure pony looked at Us finally and asked. "Was she there with you?" We shook our head. "No she was not. Sister was called away on important business." "In other words, she didn't want to die and used you instead." "No no no!" We furiously shook our head. "Sister would never harm Us! We are all that's left out here in Oakwood. The others... died. What of Our cake? Thou said We would get some food after We told thou what happened." He sighed. "Fine... Give me a minute." We nodded and waited for what We're assuming a minute as he appeared in the doorway with a dark metal collar and a plate of cake on his back. The pony trotted over and set the objects down. Our gaze locked on the super delicious looking cake as We licked Our lips in anticipation. Our hoof reached out for it, but was slapped away. We quickly drew it back as We looked at the hoof in confusion. "No! Not yet." We frowned at the piss yellow stallion. "Let me put out this collar on you and then you can have it." ’He touched Us! How dare he?! But why the collar? We have seen ponies with them before, but do not know their function.’ We tilted Our head as We asked. "What does it... do?" "It's a medical collar. It'll tell me if you're fully healed or not." Something in the back of Our mind screamed at Us that it was bad, but we nodded and lowered our head to his level. He clasped it on with a grin and stepped quite far back. We noticed the collar was very heavy, which a medical collar shouldn’t be if one existed. He was now holding up a device with a large red button in one hoof. "Do you see this?" he asked as he pointed at it. "Of course We do you foal! What is it?" "The detonator for the slave collar that I just put around your neck." Our eyes widened as Our jaw dropped. "Thou... thou hath tricked Us! Why you little shit!" We lunged for him, but the chain attached to Our hind leg went taut and We fell to the floor with a thud as fire lanced through the socket. We groaned in annoyance as We realized that Our life was now in his hooves. He stepped over Us and grinned. "First are the rules. Rule one: if you use magic to fiddle with the collar, it blows up. Rule two: if you hit the collar too hard, it blows up. Rule three: if you try to disarm the collar without the key, it blows up. Rule four: if you hit me, it blows up. Now do what I say and this will be easier." We nodded slowly. “Get up. We’re going on a trip.” *** *** We sat off to the side of the tiny camp with a grumble and mentally complained. ’Such an undignified act pulling a cart! Only dirty earth ponies or donkeys, or imp spawn mules, should ever be used to pull a cart, not a vision of perfection! The harness smells, chafes, itches, is dirty, and not to mention heavy!’ It was night out and We do not know where We are. Master, as he wants to be called, created a fire and was cooking a can of beans. There was a flat gem powered device with a large screen that ‘Master’ kept looking at. We looked up and thought a quick prayer to the Goddess. ‘He shall die tonight in your name and if We die then it is by Our choice, praise be the Goddess.’ As We looked down at the earth pony We crept around to his back as best We could. His fire ruined his night vision and Our forest green coat let Us slip into shadows. We silently charged him, but Our silence was not good enough as he turned at the last second when we noisily kicked over a nearby can. With a telepathic cry of anger, Our horn skewered his heart and protruded out the other side of his body, and killed him instantly. Not to mention getting our mane and horn covered in blood! We quickly turned Our head and tossed his limp body away, it fell in a dusty heap as We hobbled over. Our magic patted his barding pockets for anything of value. In addition to the detonator there was a round rolled tube of something smelly. We stripped the pony and went through his saddlebags. In there We found traps, Our rocket launcher, rocket belt, and 300 caps with a note. Wanted: all alicorns for crimes against the Steel Rangers. 10,000 cap reward for each one brought in alive. 2,500 dead. We frowned as We put everything into his bags, including the screen thing, and slung the bags across Our back. Then We took a look around again in an attempt to find out where We were. We shrugged and headed towards where the sun had set earlier. Level up! New Perk - Questing: You can now gain levels and new perks due to a process known as questing. Congrats! Allows you to pick one extra perk, so choose wisely. New perk - Widowmaker: Who’s a sexy mare? You are. Yes you are! +10% damage to stallions, and unique dialogue options with certain characters. Main quest accepted - Oakwood Blues, I. Get back to Sister at the Crescent Moon and tell her of the bounty on alicorns. Due to your feathers being mangled, you must walk. Main quest accepted - Ties that bind. Find a pony with whom you can trust to remove your slave collar. Character sheet below. Shell Shock -865 Karma Race: Green Unity alicorn S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Strength: 7 Perception: 5 Endurance: 6 Charisma: 3 Intelligence: 4 Agility: 7 Luck: 8 Tagged skills: Big guns, repair, explosives. Traits: Screw the toasters! You hate anyone wearing power armor, as they are the cause of all the worlds problems in your eyes. +5% chance to crit against those who serve the Steel Rangers, or Enclave. Reputation automatically set to kill on sight for both. Visions of Unity. You look down upon all those who are not like you, because you are perfection. +10% damage to all wasteland ponies. Due to you being an alicorn, your reputation set to friendly to alicorns and to idolized to those who worship the Goddess. Fatal flaw: Low intelligence: You were not the sharpest tool in the shed before joining Unity. Thanks to losing Unity you are back to 'normal'. Thus other ponies can now take advantage of your gullibility. -30 to speech, barter as well as other ponies gain unique dialog with you. Dramatic entry: Screw using a lockpick, use your hooves! Depending on the lock you might need to blow it up, but be careful as it may destroy the contents of a box and will announce your presence to other ponies nearby. Replaces Lockpicking as a skill. Kleptomare: Oooh, shiny! You see expensive things and wish them to be yours. +10 sneak and you are 10% less likely to be caught taking items. Racial spells: Telekinetics: Even a foal knows this one. Needs no more explaining. Telepathy: Why do you need to move your mouth to speak?! You communicate with your mind and abhor speaking by flapping the lips. +20% to creepiness factor for other ponies. Shield spell: You have it, so why can’t you use it? Oh that’s right! You don’t really want to... +25 DT for two minutes. 24hr recharge time between casting unless connected to Unity. Invisibility: Learned from Sister and allows you to turn invisible. Due to it not being yours initially it’s not as great as hers, thus other ponies can detect you easier. Grants a similar effect as a stealth buck. Lasts until canceled. Ten minute recharge. Author's Note Cleaned it up some. I hope it's better now.
Chapter 8: All quiet on Tranquility LaneChapter 8: All quiet on Tranquility Lane “An old and wise pony once told me that in the future there is only chaos.” Something shook me as a pony quietly said, “Lily, wake up you’re having a nightmare.” My eyes snapped open as I lunged at the intruder. I wrapped a foreleg around a dark shape and squeezed tight. He struggled under my grip while I started to notice a few things. First I was in an immaculately clean room with the lights on. Which revealed a clean grey carpet on bright wood flooring, clean yellow-white walls, a clean white ceiling, a star filled night sky out of the window with... Lighted apartment buildings across the street. I glanced down at the black unicorn whose face was rapidly turning blue. A crystalline tan foreleg was wrapped around him and was squeezing tight. My right shoulder felt funny, like it wasn’t there, so I glanced at it and my eyes slowly widened. Where there should be a foreleg, there was a cybernetic socket and on the nightstand next to the desk was a dull silver foreleg that attached into it. A stray lock of brown hair fell in front of my eyes and all vision in my right eye was a complete blur like it was glazed over, because it was. I connected the dots and the pressure was released on the pony. He gasped in relief while he slumped forward on the bed. I used my magic to pull the bed sheets aside, which allowed me to look at the scars on the right side of my body from the mortar shell, but more importantly. I saw my cutie mark and his. My only good hoof was applied to my forehead as I facehoofed in despair. “I’m sorry,” I whispered softly. "I thought... I'm sorry, Synthie." He held out a foreleg and nodded. “It’s okay. At least you couldn't snap my neck. Mind telling me what your dream was about?” I took his hoof in mine, pulled him back into bed, and covered us up. “Just... a creepy one.” I replied while he ran a hoof around the cybernetic socket’s rim. We stared into each others eyes for awhile. I shut mine and sighed. “You were a zombie, I was a green version of Celestia. There was a blue version, and purple, along with many other ponies, and we were all stuck on this insane island two hundred years after...” I immediately shot up in a sitting position and looked out the window at the city. “The war against the zebras!” I shouted. My wide eyed gaze went to his as I added. “Synthie, we must warn the Princesses about the future!” He pulled me back down and hugged me tightly. “It was a dream, Lily. I told you, you should see the Ministry of Peace about these. They’re getting worse.” The door was kicked open and I shot up again in surprise. A spell at the ready to kill whatever was intruding, but it quickly dropped in confusion when I saw three blank flank foals scrambling towards me. One brown unicorn, one sky blue unicorn with orange eyes, and one teal earth pony with a strawberry red mane. Their hooves barely had traction as they practically bolted towards us. They looked about that age where they were late bloomers in getting their cutie mark. Sienna and Eclipse hopped onto the bed while Arid Rain bounced off, and went flying after mistiming the jump. I giggled as my magic lifted her up and onto it. Eclipse shoved the slightly Sienna, who shoved back, and they began to bicker and fight. “I was here first!” the brown one shouted. The teal filly bucked the brown one off and jumped on her. “Nu-uh, I got here first!” The sky blue one tackled Eclipse, pulled her off by the mane and tossed her away. “Get off my friend ya meanie!” She hit the wall with a thud and slid down. She got up, shook her head and charged, but was promptly grabbed in a field of silver by Synthie. He lifted her off the floor while she pouted. “Moooom!” the Sienna said loudly and pointed at the teal one. “Eclipse bit Arid Rain!” The sky blue filly in question held out her hoof to show the bite mark on her leg. “We didn’t do nuthin ta make ‘er angry!” Eclipse glared at her. “But Ma, I caught Sienna kissing her! That’s just... ew! Their both fillies!“ “I slipped,” Sienna commented as her face darkened, clearly out of embarrassment. “And... an’ I jus’ happen ta... land with my mouth on hers. We didn’t not kiss.” Arid Rain looked at Sienna, then me and nodded. “It’s true! She fell an’... an’ landed on top of me!” My eyes widened at the ridiculousness of this situation. Eclipse rolled her eyes while still floating off the ground in magic. “Yeah, suuuure. Sis’ fell through the top bunk mattress an' onto you?” She yelped in shock as Synthie tossed her to me. I caught the filly in my good leg and glared at her. She gave a nervous smile. "Hi, Ma." I looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time was two minutes to midnight. I sighed. “Eclipse, Sienna, Arid Rain,” they looked at me as I continued, “do you three know what fucking time it is? What are you still doing awake?!” Eclipse pointed a hoof at Sienna and Arid. “Sis’ an’ her friend were whispering things an' keeping me awake!" “Were not!” they shouted in unison. “Were too!” “Were not!” “Were too!” “Were not!” Sienna hopped and shouted at the same time. Eclipse sighed. “You’re jus' one big doo doo stain, fatty.” “I’m not fat!” “Are too!” “She is not!” Arid Rain shouted, “she’s a strong 'n pretty filly!” “I knew it,” Eclipse snidely replied. “You two were kissing!” “Were not!” “Were too!” Sienna gave a fiendish grin at Eclipse. "You wet your bed and woke yourself up!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did..." While the three fillies bickered back and forth, Synthie tied to stop them and I blocked it out. I decided to put my cyber leg into the socket. As it connected I felt the sting of electricity flow through and the leg came to life with a crackle. Underneath the silver leg had been a book with a pen attached to the binding that I brought over and opened as I was curious. This dream journal belongs to Lilium Bell. Please don’t read it. If you do I will find you and beat you with my cyber leg until you forget you ever read it. My eyes widened as I began to skim through the pages. “What?” I asked above my breath as I read many pages of a very long lucid dream in which I had no memory of my past and was a green alicorn. My ears drooped as the book was dropped and I clutched my head with my hooves. I began to slowly rock back and forth as Eclipse dropped to the bed and, looked at me in concern. She placed a hoof on me and gave a nudge. "It wasn't real," I whispered. "It wasn't real! Yes! Thank Celestia it wasn't real." “Your mom’s weird,” Arid Rain whispered to Sienna. Synthie collected all the foals into a bundle and smiled at them. “Back to bed you three and let’s have a look at this bite.” His eyes narrowed at Eclipse. “And you... you’re grounded. You're gonna be doing dishes for a month.” She pouted and began whining. “But I don’t wanna!” I glared and shouted at her. "Go back to bed!" Their ears drooped in shock. *** *** The day’s newspaper lay in front of me on the coffee table along with a jar of moonshine. Synthie went to work, Arid Rain had gone home earlier and Sienna was attempting to beat up Eclipse over last night’s debacle. I wore an eye patch over my right eye because even with glasses I couldn't see out of it. I'd been feeling sick all morning and had vomited earlier from it. Yet I still felt slightly sick. A set of crimson hooves walked in, which caused me to look up at a pegasus mare with a two-tone blue mane, and golden eyes. She was wearing an Equestrian Air Force uniform and hat. Instead of having normal wings, she had cybernetic wings much like my leg. I flinched as I began to move towards the intruder, but stopped when I remembered that I leave the door open in the day and a sign saying 'don't knock, just come in'. “Hello, neighbor,” she said rather cheerfully. “I'm Corporal Dawn Star and I moved in yesterday. I saw the sign on the door and came in to say hello. As well as to tell you that I’m baking a cake for a housewarming party and wanted to say you're invited to come to it if you want." "I'm Lilium Bell. I was once like you. Except they let me go because of this,” I held up my cyber leg and showed her it as I pointed at my eye. “Unfit for combat and my term was up." "Nice to meet you, Lilium." "And these two balls of joy are Sienna and Eclipse." I said as the two aforementioned foals rolled into the couch with Sienna on top of Eclipse as she to slap the teal filly across the face. Eclipse was trying to slap back and neither managed to land a blow. It was like watching a couple of foals wave at each other in point blank range. Dawn Star looked at me in confusion. “Aren’t you going to stop them before they get hurt?” “No. If Eclipse can’t defend herself against her own sister, then how can she at school and in the wasteland that is to come after the war?” Her jaw dropped slightly then she shook her head. "Okayyy... Did you have any spare flour? I kind of ran out after my first failed attempt." “In there, next to the sink,” I pointed at the kitchen that was just inside the door to the large two bedroom apartment. She walked over while she looked around at all of our decorations. Quite a few were zebra relics I had 'liberated' along the way. As she was nosing around for the flour she said, “I'm sorry about your leg and eye. It's tragic, this war. If you wanna talk about it I'm right next door." I stood up to say something as Eclipse, who without Sienna noticing, had climbed on top of the couch and dove off. Sienna belatedly registered the threat. Eclipse tackled the larger filly to the ground and both of them slammed into the coffee table. Their combined weight snapped the legs off and sent its contents flying. Any comment I had for Dawn Star died when I saw my precious alcohol jar go flying through the air. My jaw dropped in shock, but luckily, I caught the jar in magic and brought it back without spilling a single drop. I glared disapprovingly at the two fillies as their ears folded back in despair. Sienna pointed a hoof at Eclipse. "She did it!" "Did not!" Eclipse retorted. "Doo Doo Brain fell into tha table!" "You pushed me!" "No I didn't!" "Found it!" Dawn exclaimed. I looked over at her as her smile faded when she pulled a bagged .44 revolver and two speed loaders out of the can of flour. My eyes widened. "Put it away before the foals see it!" Dawn Star quickly put it back in and shut the lid. "Okaaayyy. Not in that one! Let's see..." She pulled out another jar and hesitantly looked inside it. She smiled and opened it all the way. "Oh hey, here's the flour! I'm not gonna find..." she looked at the foals, then me. "One of those items deep in here, am I?" I shook my head. "No." She gave a nod as I scooped up Sienna and Eclipse. They struggled against my cyber leg's hug. "Thank you for the offer of talking, perhaps I will take you up on it later and I'll be sure to come by the party for a while." She nodded. "How about when I bring what's left of the flour back when I'm done baking?" "Sure," I said with a wave. She turned and walked out of the apartment. I waited for her door to close before I dropped the foals and glared at them. Eclipse squealed in terror and ran off to her room, which was directly across from where I had been sitting. Sienna looked down at the floor. "Sorry," she mumbled under her breath. I turned my head and pointed at my ear with my cyber hoof. "I'm sorry, I must have heard a gnat buzzing around. Did you say something?" She nodded and raised her voice to a mumble. "I'm sorry we broke the table. I'll do the dishes an' take trash out for a whole week ta make up fer it, Ah swear!" I glared at my little fillyfooler and motioned her closer. Then leaned down when she did and whispered. "I think you and Arid Rain look cute together. Just hold off on it for awhile to let your friendship grow." Sienna smiled brightly and her ears perked up. "And next time somepony comes flying at you like that, roll out of the way and kick their face when they slam into the ground." She gave a nod. "Yes, Mom." I nudged her towards the room with my cyber hoof. She took the hint and began walking towards it. "Tell your sister we're going shopping for a new table. She's coming with us whether she likes it or not. And practice your magic!" *** *** The three of us, well four with Dawn Star, walked through the department store that was more like a warehouse. I browsed for a new table, Dawn looked for a desk, and my two foals were being as obedient as a dog. They stayed quiet, followed along, and barely hit each other. I stopped and pointed my hoof at the coffee table. As I turned to ask the foals opinion, an annoying sales pony walked over and shoved his muzzle in our business. "That's a very fine table indeed!" he explained too excitedly for my tastes. "Top of the-" I grabbed him by the neck with my cyber leg, pulled him close and spoke through my teeth while giving a fake smile for passer-bys. "When I want your opinion I'll ask for it! Now beat it before I beat you with the table." I let him go and he quickly left the three of us alone. Again I pointed at the table. "Sienna, Eclipse, what do you think?" "I think Doo Doo Head will break it again," Eclipse said. "Nu-uh. Water Bed will break it." Sienna grinned. "Mom, I think the table is too pretty." "Suck up," Eclipse chided. Sienna glared at her. "You still wet yer bed!" Eclipse blushed in embarrassment and looked at a dresser to avoid my gaze. I gave a nod. "The both of you are right. While the table is nice, it might get broken one day with how you two play. But that's not to say we can't have nice things. Just be careful near it." I glanced around with my one eye but couldn't find Dawn Star anywhere nearby, then I glanced up, since she could fly, and saw her watching me from the rafters. When she saw me looking she smiled and waved. I nodded back. A tug drew my attention down to Sienna. She pointed her hoof in a seemingly random direction, which was in my blind spot. I followed it just in time to catch Eclipse in magic as she jumped off the dresser. Her aim being to land in glass breakables. She squirmed, and pouted, as I set her down and pointed my hoof in an annoyed manner. "How could you think that was a good idea?! It's glass! Do you want me to explain in great detail how glass will cut through you, your tendons, and your organs like a hot knife through butter?" She rolled her eyes. "I was bored! Shopping's boooring." "Well we're done anyway." I gave her and Sienna a nudge in the general direction of the exit with my cyber hoof. They scrambled off with shouts of joy. I looked over and tore off one of the price tags for the fancy coffee table. I wended my way through the crowd of ponies while I followed the fillies. With it being the weekend there were a lot of ponies in the store. But it wasn't hard to follow the fillies because some of the ponies would almost get knocked over or react to the two as they bickered back and forth. The two fillies bowled over a display stand, spilling its contents everywhere, and quickly scrambled back to me. I ignored the destruction to stop and let Eclipse climb my foreleg onto my back, followed by Sienna. "Doo Doo Head broke something," Eclipse whispered in my ear. "You pushed me!" Sienna sneered at her. "Nu-uh! You jumped into me." I nodded as we passed by it on our way to the register. The pony behind the counter smiled. I slid the ticket over along with an address and my bag of bits. "I'd like this table delivered to this address." The unicorn took it, rang it up and scribbled something on the receipt. As he handed it to me he took my bits and said, "it'll be delivered tomorrow morning around ten." I gave a nod and turned to go. *** *** As we walked through the streets I had watched all of the ponies around to make sure none of them were going to attack my foals, none did. It was like... paradise. Despite the war going on everypony was happy and went about their day as if nothing was amiss. There was even the odd zebra here and there, and they went about unmolested by ponies who hate them. It was perfect. So why then was I laying on the couch at noon with the foals napping and wondering why it felt off in a way. Almost like it was wrong. Dawn Star had finished making her cake and was talking about how she lost her wings I think. I absently nodded my head while looking at the door across from me where Eclipse and Sienna were. Eclipse was an odd one... She fought a lot with Sienna and Sienna's friend. Her anger at her unicorn sister was acceptable. She was jealous that Sienna was getting more attention and bigger, and a unicorn while she was an earth pony. "...and so they set me up with a place here," Dawn finally finished. I looked over at her sitting in the chair and smiled. "So how long until you're able to go back again?" "I start a desk job as a recruiter on Monday. Can you believe that shit?!" I shrugged. "Well you do have a pretty face. Which might attract more stallions into the military. Well, the ones that walk in... maybe... It's also safer if that's what you prefer." One of her cyber wings came out as she scratched her chin in thought for a while and she bobbed her head around. "You know I never thought of it like that. Yeah... and I won't have to worry about flak guns, missiles, gryphons, and dragons trying to kill me. You're right it is a little better." I smiled warmly at her from some of the alcohol and felt its delayed effects heating up my face. "See? There's a good point in every situation. Even if you don't see it at first." She got up and shook my real hoof with both of hers. As she let it go she said. "Thanks for the chat, but I gotta go decorate the cake now. I'll see you at the party." "Alright, my door is always open for you." Dawn stopped and looked at me with confusion for a second. "You're apartment door, right?" I nodded. "Okay, good," she laughed in embarrassment as a blush formed on her face. "I thought you meant something else for a second." "Naughty thoughts?" I asked with a smile. Her face darkened even more. As she was walking towards her place I slumped back with a deep sigh of regret as I facehoofed. My words could have been better, no. They should have been chosen better. I shook my head slowly to ignore the fact that there was nothing I could do about it. The little patter of tiny hooves dragging something drew my attention to the room where the foals were sleeping. Eclipse had a deep blush on her face as she dragged a damp looking set of sheets behind her. I sat up and sighed. "Bad dream again?" She nodded. "Don't worry about it. I have them myself a lot and it's okay. It scared you and your body did the only thing it knew what to do. Put the sheets in the hamper and we'll wash it in a bit." I watched the teal filly take the sheet into the loo that was in the center of the hallway between my room and theirs. However as she turned around she stumbled and fell face first into the wet sheet. She groaned in annoyance while I stayed quiet. Eclipse got up, put the sheets in a pile and with a scowl she washed her face in the sink. My vision was slowly filled with a feathered face and a beak. Mango grinned at me while I rolled my eyes and leaned back. "Hey, Lils!" He hopped into a hover. "So did you meet the new tenant?" I nodded and he swooped around the apartment, barely missing expensive breakables. "That's awesome!" Mango slowed to a hover and tilted his head. "So... what was she like? I mean she wouldn't talk to me. She kept giving me the cold shoulder, and ignored my knocking earlier. Then she just up and vanished for a few hours! Well you were gone too, but I figured you went to the store because you always do on Saturday mornings. Did she go with you?" I double facehoofed as Eclipse crept around the floating gryphon. She walked over and tapped my leg. I glanced down at her pout, so I gave her a bear hug that she returned. When I set her down she asked. "Can I go play wiff my friend Rose?" "Well you did bite your Sister's friend... So, no." "Pleaseeeeeee?" Her eyes grew really big and I lightly flicked my tail in her face, which distracted her and broke eye contact before it could attempt to melt what ponies called my heart. "You're mean," she grumbled. I tapped my cyber hoof against my chin while I looked up at the ceiling. "Well... I'd say that little 'accident' earlier is part of your punishment." A smile slowly formed on my face as I brought my gaze down to meet hers. "So you can go play for two hours while Mommy talks with her friend, okay?" "Yay!" she exclaimed and bolted from the apartment to one down the hall. I looked over at Mango and smiled. He hovered closer and dropped to the floor. Mango leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I kissed back for a second before I pushed the gryphon away with a scowl. "Not now!" I hissed. "Sienna's sleeping. What if she see's us or a pony walks in?" He shrugged and sat down next to me, then scooted close enough that our flanks were touching. He smiled at my belly and slowly rubbed it with a talon. I shut my eyes and smiled at the gesture because it felt really nice. "Looks like your oven is cooking that bun nicely," he said. My jaw dropped as I shoved his taloned hand away and looked down at the small bulge. My jaw dropped further. "Oh no... No no no!" I clutched at my ears with my forehooves and shut my eyes. "This can't be real this can't be real this can't be happening!" Mango leaned in, wrapped an arm around me and stroked my mane with his taloned hand in an attempt to comfort me. It was working. "Well it might not be mine," he explained. "Could be another of Midnight's. I'm sure he's been trying for another wonderful foal." I slumped over into his embrace and dropped my hooves to the couch as I sighed in defeat. "No... Synthie and I... we've, well to put it bluntly. We haven't had sex in almost a whole year. Sweet Celestia, I'm so fucked right now! How am I going to explain this to Synthie?" I laid there, listening to his heartbeat as my brain ran through various scenarios ranging killing Mango and claiming magic created the foal, to telling Synthie right now with a terminal call. I looked up at Mango's smiling face and smiled back as my horn glowed while I concentrated on grabbing a kitchen knife. Then my magic field faded and the knife dropped to the counter when I realized this wasn't the wasteland. You can't kill random ponies in broad daylight because you wanted too! You had to wait till night time when no pony saw you two together. Then take them out into the desert to a pre-dug hole. Mango looked up at the sound of the knife dropping. "What was that?" "Probably Eclipse knocking something over. So any names? I think Clyde's a good colt name. Let's name him Clyde." He looked back down at me in confusion. "You do realize I'm a gryphon and you're a mare, right?" I nodded. "Mhm, and?" "Your new foal is most likely a hybrid. Half gryphon, half pony." "So Clyde then?" He shrugged and I smiled. Mango gently laid me on my back and my smile turned into a grin as he climbed on top. I wrapped my forelegs around him as he collapsed on top of me. I rolled my eye in annoyance because I was expecting something else. "You know I had the strangest dream last night." "Do tell," he said. The weight of him using me like a pillow was almost crushing, but he made sure to not crush a certain area. "You were a mare, well alicorn mare, but you still loved me and-" He put a talon to my lips in an effort to silence me which worked. "Ssh... Spoilers." Mango smiled. "It sounds like a creepy dream to me. Let's not dwell on it any longer." "Are you okay?" Sienna's voice caused my crystalline face to go pale. The both of us looked at the unicorn filly who had her head tilted at an angle. "Did you fall too, Mister?" "Uhh..." he nodded as he sat up. "Yeah. I was flying and lost my balance." I looked at Mango, then Sienna, then Mango, and back a few times before I finally shoved the gryphon off with a scowl. "What'd I tell you about flying in my house? Get out this instant you fat turkey!" He scooted away and got off the couch. "I'm sorry, okay?! I guess I'll see you later." I waved and wanted to hug him goodbye, but not with Sienna right there. I patted the couch and motioned her over as Mango left the room. She complied by climbing up and sitting down. I let out a deep sigh of frustration. "Sienna, you know I love you dearly, right?" "Yes, Momma." she nodded. "And you know I love Eclipse just as much because I don't play favorites?" Another nod signaled she was listening intently. "I also love your father just as much as the both of you. But the gryphon that was just here a minute ago... Well... I love him too." "Like Papa?" "Not as much as I love your father. But enough that we... Well we did something magical together a couple months back." She tilted her head even more and gave me a confused look. "Magical like a spell?" I gave a half nod and kind of waved my hoof about as I shrugged. "Eh, sort of... Yeah. Let's just say with his help I cast a spell that only adults know and you're getting another sibling to play with in a few more months." I sat up to expose my belly and pointed at the slight bulge with my hoof. "I'm calling him Clyde. Because I'm hoping to Celestia and Luna it's a colt." Her face lit up like the sun on the summer sun celebration day. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, I'm gonna have a brother to play with?!" She shot forward, stopped just before my belly and gently laid her ear on it. "I hear him!" Sienna jumped back and grinned. "Mom, this is the best birthday gift ever!" I gave a weak smile because I had honestly forgotten it was their birthday. My gaze flickered to the moonshine jar for a second before it locked back onto the sweet innocent filly in front of me. "Can you go put Mommy's Firewater away and bring me a Sparkle-Cola?" Sienna nodded and grabbed the handle of the jar in her teeth as she couldn't quite grasp the finer points of levitation yet. I slumped back down onto the couch and groaned while I facehoofed. One down, two to go and no more alcohol for almost a year I thought to myself. "Sienna," I said while staring at my metal hoof. "Forget the Cola. Go get your sister then leave us alone for a bit. She's at her friends house." The patter of her hooves told me she obeyed. I shut my eyes to rest them for a while and wondered if Mango was right. That it was not a pony. What would it even look like? Some insidious wasteland monster freak that I'd have to keep locked away, or a beautiful creature of death like gryphon's are? My ears picked up three sets of hooves. It caused me to lower my hoof from my eyes so I could see. Flanking Sienna was Arid Rain and Eclipse. I lifted my head up and tilted it at her creepy orange eyes. "Arid Rain... Don't you live two floors above us?" She nodded and bumped Sienna with her flank. "Ah, I see. Well if you two want to have a tea party or play some games, I have all of that. There's even some makeup in the loo." Eclipse rolled her eyes as the other two fillies walked into the other room. "I bet their kissing right now," Eclipse snickered as she came within whispering range. My regular hoof slapped her across the muzzle hard enough to get her attention but not hard enough to cause any harm. She held her forehoof to her face in shock while I pointed the one I used and glared. "So what if your sister likes fillies?!" I scolded. "I don't want to hear you making fun of her about it again, do I make myself clear? You should love her for who she is! Eclipse, this family is all you will have someday so be nice, and most of all be happy for her. Because she loves you even though you're mean to her." She nodded and set the hoof down. "Fine. Doo Doo Head said you want ta see me?" I made a motion for her to sit on the couch. She climbed up and sat down. "Yes. You know I love you even though you try to beat up Sienna everyday, right?" She nodded. "And what's your point?" "I love her the same amount. Your father too. I don't play favorites. It's just..." I clicked my forehooves together while I thought up a different explanation because Eclipse seemed smarter than Sienna at times. A smile formed on my lips. "I have this friend see, and... With his help I cast an adult only spell and well..." I showed her. "It worked." She arched her eyebrow and for a second I thought she was going to buck my stomach. "That's what you had Doo Doo Head bring me here for? So you could tell me I'm gonna have another stupid sibling?!" She groaned and hopped off the couch. "That's so lame! I'll be at Rose's house." My ears folded back as my heart sank. The teal filly began walking towards the door as I sat up. "Eclipse, tell me what have I done to you to make you like this? Why do you hate me so? Where did I go wrong?" She looked back and her concern or something flashed across her eyes for a second before it returned to her usual demeanor. "I'm staying the night at Rose's. She's having a slumber party an' Doo Doo Head isn't invited." "Yeah? Well why don't you just ask her mother to be your mom?!" I shouted in anger and stormed towards Sienna's room. "Maybe I will!" she replied snidely. I stopped at the door to the tiny hallway and gave a sidelong glance at Eclipse. She had her head hung low as she turned to corner into the hallway. My gaze returned to the door and I gently place an ear to it. "Not like that... you're doing it wrong!" Arid Rain said with a whine. "How about here?" Sienna asked and received a giggle. "Yes, there." Arid Rain replied followed by a thump and another giggle. My eyes widened and I threw open the door as I quickly scanned the room. Sienna had failed an attempt at climbing into my old dress uniform and had fallen on her face. Arid was wearing a badly fitting hat and a much too long for her dress. Behind them was a perfectly made triple bunk bed, desk, and an open chest of toys that had its contents scattered everywhere. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the fillies playing dress up. My smile returned. "Sienna. Why don't you pick out your favorite toys, take them over to Arid's house, and stay the rest of the night there?" "Really?!" she hopped up and grinned. I nodded. "Awesome! Come on, Arid, let's get ready!" Arid scratched at the wood. "I dunno... my mom might not like it..." "It will be fine," I told her. "Just tell her... Doom Bunny. Arid, please don't forget to tell her." She nodded. "I won't." "Arid. Repeat what I said, please." The sky blue unicorn sighed. "When we get to my house I'm to tell my mother 'Doom Bunny'." "Good." *** *** The time was close to when Synthie would be getting home. I had made myself as pretty as I could with all my scars on my right side by using makeup, sexy sleepwear under a robe that hugged my curves, a fancy eye patch, candles, nice food and dim lights. All I could do now was wait for my husband to get home and break the news in the nicest way I could. I lay on the couch again with the robe partially open. The .44 revolver was loaded and under the broken coffee table just in case things got really bad. That was the reasoning for me telling Arid Rain to tell her mother the code word. It was to have her check my apartment as soon as the sun comes up. That way ponies would know right away if I went missing. It took a while but eventually the black unicorn opened the door and came inside. "Hello?" he called out as he shut the door. "In here," I replied sensually. He walked through the short entryway and smiled at the sight of me. I pulled the robe back to reveal everything. "Do you like what you see?" He nodded then took a long look around. "I take it the foals are at their friends for the night?" I smiled, "yup. There's a housewarming party for Dawn Star in a couple hours, but I figure we have time for a quick tumble." He frowned. "Lily, I'm worn out from work and I've got to catch up on some research into zebra necromancy. I'm sorry." My smile instantly faded and I closed my robe. "Be that way then!" I retorted as I sat up. He trotted over and place a hoof on my shoulder. My lips began to tremble and my eyes started watering. "I... I... I have something to tell you..." Synthie tilted his head. "What's wrong, Lily?" I fell into his embrace and hugged him. "I'm pregnant," I mumbled into his neck. "I'm sorry!" "But, Lily, that's wonder-wait..." He instantly let go with wide eyes and I fell to the floor in a cry of shock. "Pregnant? But we haven't...?" I shut my eyes as I nodded. "I'm an idiot! I've been seeing a gryphon, he comes over a few times a week and we have sex. I met him last year. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry... Please forgive me." I felt his hoof on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and looked up at his smiling face. "Took you long enough to admit it." I nodded, then stopped mid-nod and blinked in shock. "You... you knew?! How?" "Well I do sleep right next to you and you have a habit of mumbling in your sleep. So I had my suspicions when his name kept popping up." he shrugged. "Why do you think I keep coming up with excuses? I'm not having some other pony's seconds! You can just forget that idea." "I'll stop seeing him. I swear I'll make it up to you! Right now. I'll do anything!" "Alright," he turned his head and his horn glowed as he levitated out a stack of papers, and laid them down in front of me. "You wanna make it up? I've already got it all planned out for when you admitted it or I walked in on you two." I skimmed through them rather quickly and my heart sank. "Divorce papers?! But we can't do that to the foals! They... They'll... They'll ask questions!" He leaned down, I looked into his glaring eyes. "Then ya should have thought about that before ya fucked that gryphon!" "I was lonely! You went to work, came home to do more work, and you ignored me! I..." I groaned in annoyance as he dropped a pen on top of the paper. "No, Synthie! I won't do that to them!" "Sign them!" he shouted in an authoritative voice that caused me to wince. "What's gonna happen if I do?" I asked as I picked it up. "Simple really. You get Sienna, I get Eclipse. This place is yours already, so you're keeping that. You get to keep fucking that gryphon and don't have to worry about it anymore." I gulped as I looked at the papers. "Please... I can change. I can be a better pony." He tapped a hoof on the paper and glared. With a sigh of defeat I picked up a pen in magic, quickly signed my name on all the lines that required it and tossed the papers in his face with a glare. Midnight caught them and nodded. He wordlessly picked up his bag and left the apartment. I winced as the door slammed shut. *** *** Later on I sat in Dawn Star's main room where there was a whole lot of ponies. It was identical to mine. One big room with a connected kitchen and two rooms next to each other connected by a short hallway. The cyborg pegasus was being a good host with a few kegs, snacks, cake, and awesome music that wasn't too loud. Of course when one pony happened to notice I wasn't drinking and asked why. I accidentally let slip that I was carrying... All the mares rushed me like a swarm of gnats after fresh blood while they slathered me in their praise, or pity. None of it I wanted. I just wanted to be left the fuck alone to wallow in my own self pity for what I'd done. Except I couldn't even have that. A crimson red earth pony stallion with a black mane came over and decided to talk like he knew me. "Some mess, eh Dog?" I shot a glare in his direction as he continued, "you and me, we're both stuck in places we don't want to be in. Why not let me help you? I can show you the way out of this craziness and the path to the truth." He leaned in and received my cyber hoof to the face. The blow was hard enough to audibly break his snout and blood began to leak from his nose. He held it while I glared at him. "Get away from me! I don't know you, I've never seen you before, and if you ever try to get that close again you'll be shark bait." Dawn Star came over with a concerned look on her face. She looked at the stallion, then me. "What happened?" "She hit me," he said while holding his nose and pointing at me. I rolled my eye in annoyance. "After you tried to kiss me!" Dawn nodded in understanding, I hope. She looked at the stallion. "I don't even remember inviting you. You’re not from this building, so you better leave, mister." He said nothing as he got up and left the two of us. She sat down and sighed. "So an affair with a gryphon, huh? Guess you're not as happy of a pony like I thought." "Not really, no," I replied dryly while I watched the stallion disappear into the hallway. Something stirred inside me and began to slowly work over in my mind. I looked down as Dawn Star set down a glass of what looked like sweet tea with a lemon on it. I smiled, "ah, nice one." *** *** After the party wound down around eleven and I helped to clean up, I grabbed a few of my long combat knives I used for decoration. There was a box with items in a hidden compartment that I had found when I was cleaning my bed room. In it contained a thin, and form fitting, combat armor that I was now wearing. It had many a built in sheathe for reasons not even I knew of. Well it was slightly tight around the midsection now because of Clyde. Over that went a loosely fitting trench coat so I could easily get to the blades and my suppressed .357 revolver and hide the armor. The .357 had been in a pocket of the trench coat along with a black mask. Which stayed in the pocket. As I was locking my door Dawn Star had been helping a couple of drunken ponies to the elevator and had just reached hers. She tilted her head. “Going somewhere? It’s almost two in the morning.” I gave a nod. “Just going for a trot to clear my head of Midnight Bell. The midnight air is... refreshing. I’ll be back in a few hours. Sienna and Eclipse are at their friends for the night.” Dawn Star nodded. “Okay. Thanks for helping to clean up the party.” “Anytime,” I replied as I trotted towards the elevator. When the cyborg pegasus shut her door I tapped the down button with my magic. A smile crept up on my face at a thought that had occurred to me when I had punched that crimson red earth pony. I began to softly hum a tune as I waited for the elevator to reach my floor. Shell Shock: 5% to next level.
