Chapter 21: Dijoneigh

We awoke at first light to go shopping for supplies. Alyshia found some light barding that fit for me as well as a few more cans of food. Midnight bought new armour plates and Brax some batteries for his armour.

“Do you need anything Scerine?” I asked.

“We don’t even know if she wants to come along Amethyst?” Alyshia sighed.

“Sure, I’ll go,” Scerine said with a shrug, “And I should be fine for supplies,” she added with a pat to her saddlebags.

We had one more store left, the medical store. Here, Alyshia picked up some extra bandages as I mulled over the morphine stocks behind the grimy glass cabinet. This stuff’s a life saver and I need some, especially since Alyshia said she wouldn’t be giving it to me unless I was in extreme pain. “Can I have a pack of morphine please?”

Alyshia looked at me worried. “No Amethyst, I’m dealing with the medication.”

I was taken aback, “I have medical training you know,” I said coldly. “I know how to administer this stuff.”

The shop assistant was confused as he levitated a pack that I wanted to buy.

“She’s an addict,” Alyshia told the shop assistant..

I was the only pony who could say something at this accusation.“I am not…” I growled. “Where in Celestia’s name did you get that idea?”

Before she could answer I passed the caps onto the counter and was given the pack of painkillers.

“Thank You,” I said with a smile at the shopkeeper before frowning at Alyshia. “I can handle myself, I don’t need medication kept away from me, I’m not three years old.”

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

Finally we were on the way to Splendid Valley, which was almost a day away, the snow was thick and those of us who couldn’t fly carved trenches through the snow.

“Is what Alyshia said true?” Scerine whispered to me so Alyshia couldn’t overhear.

“Pfft, as if,” I told her, Meep landing on my head as I said so. “I got into her medical supplies a while ago and stole healing potions,” I added. ”Might have something to do with it.”

Beep

Alyshia hadn’t talked to me all morning and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. “Alyshia?”

“Hmm?” she answered without looking at me..

“What was all that about at the drug shop?” I asked, “Do you still have a vendetta against me taking those healing potions?”

“No,” Alyshia sighed.

I felt unconvinced and it must have shown on my face because Midnight chipped in, “She doesn’t.”

“How do you know?” I asked curiously.

Midnight and Alyshia looked guilty for some reason and I heard Brax laugh. “Cat’s out of the bag now, you’re gonna have to tell her Alyshia.”

“Tell me what?” What’s going on?” I said starting to feel angry that something was kept from me.

Alyshia sighed before shooting Midnight a look of venom. “When you were in hospital and they took you off the morphine, you started having withdrawals.”

“And why don’t I remember this?” I asked roughly.

“Because you were just coming to,” Alyshia said, “they put you back to sleep and detoxified your body.”

“So why wasn’t I told this?” I snapped.

“Because I wanted to protect you,” Alyshia sighed.

“So you lied to me?” I said heavily. “You all lied to me…”

“Brax and I swore not to say anything,” Midnight cut in, “Alyshia and the doctor told us that if you don’t remember then you’re less likely to relapse.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I snorted. I pulled open my saddlebag, took the Morphine pack out and threw it at Alyshia. “There… Happy?”

We all walked or flew in silence, the only sound was the rustling of half dead trees in the wind and Scerine’s wing beating in my ear.

After about an hour of silence, Brax spoke, “Can we have a break?” he asked, coming to a complete stop.

“Having problems keeping up old stallion,” Midnight mocked.

“Something like that,” Brax sighed as he sat down in the white powder.

We all sat in the snow, grey from the lack of sunlight. Everypony but me had something to eat, until Alyshia threw a small pack of biscuits at me. I got no food, because I can’t be trusted to eat, I can’t take medication or I’ll be accused of being a drug addict or cutting myself again. “You know,” I said matter of-factly. “If you took away my guns, I’ll just have a few keepsakes left.”

“Please don’t start,” Alyshia sighed.

“So how far away are we from Splendid valley?” Midnight chipped in clearly trying to avert an argument.

I checked my pipbuck. “We’ll be there by dusk,” I said after examining the distance.

“We’ll set up camp about an hour away from the border,” Brax growled. “That way, we can’t be jumped by anything sinister.”

We nodded in agreement. Every second we’re not in that place the better.

I took a bite out of a biscuit.

I couldn’t really think much more about the whole ordeal. Alyshia was being stupid.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

As light began to fade, we stopped and agreed to set up camp in a cluster of dead bushes. Brax setup the tent and Alyshia started the fire. As she threw in twigs and pieces of grass I sat beside her. “Sorry about before,” I sighed feeling deflated, “I shouldn’t have acted like such a jerk.”

Alyshia nodded. “I’m sorry too,” she said softly as she made eye contact, she considered me for a second before pulling out the Morphine pack. She took one syringe out and passed it over.

“I know you can handle yourself,” she said softly. I took the syringe. “Just please don’t use it on yourself unless you absolutely have to.”

I nodded.

I looked down at the snow before looking back into her eyes. “How did this happen Alyshia?” I asked.

“I gave you too much,” Alyshia said shakily. “My judgement was clouded when you got hurt, there was a few times where a lower dosage would have helped and times where I just shouldn’t have given you any.”

“How come you didn’t know until I was in hospital?”I asked, “Did they give me too much in Hospital?”

Alyshia shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

“Are you meaning to say, that you got Amethyst addicted to Painkillers?” Brax asked.

Alyshia nodded, tears streaming down her eyes, the firelight making her eyes look ablaze.

“It’s okay Alyshia,” I said. “Its fine and I don’t remember it, so it’s all good.” I gave her a hug which she pulled me into.

“I’m sorry,” Alyshia cried. “I didn’t mean to lie about it, I was humiliated.”

We broke apart. “Forget it,” I laughed. Alyshia nodded and wiped her eyes.

“I’m being stupid,” she said with a hiccough.

“Where did you guys get this tent from?” Scerine asked curiously. “It’s like a house inside.”

“From somepony who was once with us,” Brax growled, now armourless and poking a stick in the fire.

“Where are they now?” she queried.

“Dead,” I replied.

“Oh, sorry,” she said sympathetically. She took a seat to my left, all she wore was a small woolen jacket, I couldn’t help but notice how cute she was. She let off a yawn and rubbed her eyes with a hoof.

“Tired?” I questioned, chancing a look into her green eyes.

“Bit,” she replied. She picked up a stick that Alyshia had left on the ground and poked the snow with it for a bit, tracing clouds and the sun.

“Do you miss it?” Alyshia asked softly.

“Not really,” Scerine sighed. “I’m glad to be away for a bit, I don’t miss my sergeant that’s for sure.”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Here, I’ll show you something.” Scerine placed the tip of the stick in the fire and let it catch fire, she pulled the stick out and blew out the flame. She then traced the air with my name. When she was done, the word “Amethyst” formed and slowly floated away.

“That’s cool,” I giggled, “I didn’t know you could do that.”

Scerine smiled but didn’t reply. Meep flew in front of her before landing on Alyshia’s extended hoof. Alyshia rubbed her hoof under his metal chin and he cooed.

“I like your little robot,” Scerine said. “He’s so cute.”

“He is, isn’t he,” Alyshia agreed. It appeared that Meep was cheering Alyshia up a little, even though she still had tears in her eyes.

“Beep”

“I shot him by accident and then repaired him,” I responded. “Are you sure you’re okay Alyshia?” I added.

“Yeah,” Alyshia said with a nod.

“Did you want to go for a walk?” Scerine asked me after ten minutes of silence. It was pitch black now and I couldn’t think of a worse time to go for a walk. “I need to go to the toilet,” Scerine said reading me.

“Sure,” I replied.

We got up and walked through the bushes, my horn flooding the area with light. “Sorry, I just don’t like the dark,” Scerine said.

“Fair enough,” I said. “Actually, Scerine, can I ask you a question?” I added, curiosity now getting the better of me.

“Sure,” she replied.

“Apart from your father, is there anypony else that’s special to you?” I said thinking I was pushing my luck.

“No,” Scerine replied. “I did have a girlfriend about two years ago but that didn’t really work out.”

My heart skipped a beat, I wasn’t expecting that. Another mare that likes mares?

WHACK

I walked headfirst into a thick branch and snow cascaded onto my head and my horn went out.

“Ow,” I cried.

“Are you okay?” Scerine asked through the darkness.

“Yeah,” I said reigniting my horn and throwing everything back into a purple hue.

I looked around and all I could see were branches. “Are you okay to go here?” I said rubbing my horn.

“Okay,” Scerine said with a nod. I turned around and let her go about her business. When she returned she was shivering slightly. “I think we should get back, I’m getting cold,” Scerine said with a slight chatter.

“So, do you have anypony special at home?” Scerine asked me.

“Just a friend,” I told her, ducking branches as I said so.

“That’s nice,” Scerine said. “I don’t really have friends, just ponies I like.”

We got back to the smell of food cooking over the open fire, it was a relief to feel the warm lick of the flames again.

“You two were gone a while,” Alyshia observed.

“Yeah, we talked for a while,” I answered. “Anyway, what's for dinner?” I asked curiously.

“Spiced Beans,” Alyshia answered as she stirred the pan with a wooden spoon.

“Amethyst is a baby,” Brax whispered loudly to Scerine who had leant in to smell the food. “She gets fed, put to bed, fixed up and comforted by Alyshia. You’ve seen it yourself.”

I felt fire build inside me, almost as hot as the fire I was in front of. “Excuse me?” I said loudly, “This shit again?”

Brax shook his head. “And you’d think, she would have gotten over her mummy to feed and bathe her.”

I stood up, quivering with anger. “You have no idea,” I roared, tears streaming down my face. “My mother was witch.” I drew breath and without looking back stormed into the dead forest that Scerine and I had just left.

I stopped once I was deep enough to not be heard and I burst into tears. It’s not fair, why was he acting like this? Why does he keep bringing up the fact that I was stable raised and not handling it out here? I longed to go home, back inside the dull grey corridors where I was safe. That was the problem though, it wasn’t safe back home either…

crunch crunch crunch

My ears perked and without thinking I lit my horn and the area was bathed in purple light, it threw a pegasus into view and it took me a second to realise it was Midnight.

“Hey, are you okay?” Midnight asked cautiously.

I scowled. “I’m fine,” I said heavily.

“Brax shouldn’t have said what he said,” Midnight told me as she sat down beside me. “It wasn’t fair.”

“He goes on and on about it,” I growled stamping my front hoof into the snow. “He doesn’t know me or my life.”

Midnight gave a weak smile. “That’s why I said it wasn’t fair.”

“Do I really act like a filly?” I asked, “Am I really just a dumb foal stuck in the wasteland looking for something that doesn’t seem to exist?”

“No,” Midnight said bluntly.

I wasn’t sure if the answer surprised me or not and I raised an eyebrow as if I was saying ‘really’

“I’m being honest,” Midnight said. “When I discovered you, you had already gone through a lot. You ran away from the safety of your home, you escaped capture and you got into a bit of a situation that I helped you out with.”

“Yeah, I s’pose,” I mumbled.

“Then when we left Cantal, you saved me and rescued Brax.” Midnight added. “And if it wasn’t for you, he’d probably be in Red Eye’s slave camp. All before you met Alyshia, and I hardly mothered you.”

“You did help me overcome my fears though,” I sighed.

“Of course you were scared,” Midnight said caringly. “You just ran away from home and were out in the unknown, you nearly lost your life.”

I gave Midnight a small smile as things began to make sense. “I guess,” I replied.

“Amethyst, look at me,” Midnight asked of me.

I looked at her, my purple light reflecting off those scarlet eyes. “You are a strong mare, don’t let anypony tell you otherwise, not Brax, not me, not Alyshia, not anypony.” Midnight pulled me into a hug and I hugged her back. I felt some of the pressure ebb away, hugs seemed to do this, I don’t know how but that was one of the magical things about a simple hug.

When we broke the hug Midnight smiled and said, “I notice that you don’t blush around me anymore.”

I gave a nervous laugh. “I’ve found out how to hide my feelings,” I replied.

“Love is weird, isn’t it?” Midnight sighed as she broke the hug.

I nodded in approval.

“Should we head back?” Midnight requested, “It’s pretty cold.”

“If I can push Brax into the fire,” I joked.

“I think we might give that a miss,” Midnight laughed.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

When we got back, Brax and Scerine weren’t anywhere to be seen. Alyshia sat by herself next to the fire eating. “Feeling better?” Alyshia asked after she swallowed her food.

“Yeah loads,” I replied taking a seat next to Alyshia.

“Here,” Alyshia said passing me a bowl of some kind of fragrant stew in her magic.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile as I took the stew in my magical field. “Where’s Brax and Scerine?” I asked with a mouthful of food.

“Brax went to bed and Scerine followed suit,” Alyshia answered. “Oh and Meep shut himself down as well.”

“Yeah I might hit the hay as well,” Midnight chipped in as she rubbed her eyes. “Pretty long walk today.”

“Night,” Alyshia and I said in unison as Midnight went inside the enchanted tent. Once Midnight was inside, Alyshia turned to me, ““What Brax said was not on,” she told me.

“Yeah I know,” I yawned, a hoof covering my mouth. “Midnight said so too, besides. I saved him.”

“I have a feeling he thinks he owes you,” Alyshia said matter-of-factly as she stared into the fire. “I dunno.”

“Maybe,” I sighed, never considering this to be why he was with us. I had the feeling he was wanting to get out and about again, not wanting to remain cooped up in his tiny house all winter.

Once I was finished my meal I washed up with the hot water Alyshia had on the fire and we went back inside the tent together, the fire still burning brightly.

       *                                        **                        **                      **                       *

The following morning was bitterly cold, it was snowing finely, the fire from the night before nothing but coals glowing angrily next to the charcoal coloured rocks and powdery white snow.

It took us an hour to get ready to go and before we knew it we were standing on the edge of Splendid Valley. The Valley declined steeply downwards, the climb down was going to be tough. The other side of the valley wasn’t visible on the vertigo inducing horizon, I couldn’t tell what was down there from up here as it was still quite early and the terrain was too dark to make out any towns or structures.

The decent into the valley was not eventful, the rocks were covered in frost and the crevices were covered in hard snow that made it incredibly slippery. It didn’t take long until somepony slipped.

“Argh,” Alyshia cried as her hind hood slipped on ice and she fell sideways onto a large boulder. “Ow.”

“You alright?” Midnight asked as she assisted Alyshia back into a standing position.

“Yes I am quite alright Midnight,” Alyshia said scathingly as she brushed her jacket that had scuffed from the fall. ‘It’s only myself and Amethyst here are slipping all over the place while you, Scerine and Brax get a free ride.

It was true, the ice made it hard to descend for the two of us. Midnight and Scerine could fly and Brax’s armour crushed the ice he stood on. I hadn’t fallen yet as I was being particularly careful. I’ve fallen enough for a life time.

It was therefore a relief when we were finally in the valley, or was it?

Splendid Valley on the ground felt different. The air was thicker, it felt less humid, it was colder and the snow was nothing but a layer of ice over a sandy ground.

“Sooo,” Scerine started. “Where are we going?”

“Uhh, good question,” I mumbled as I brought the pipbuck map to my face. I pinpointed our location and the map linked a railway track that lead to a town near our destination on the other side of the valley. If the weather was good we should be there tomorrow. “We need to follow the tracks,” I said confidently.

“Where are the tracks?” Alyshia asked curiously as she looked around.

“Should be over there,” I said pointing to the north.

I looked up from my Pipbuck to find somepony was not paying attention. “Brax, are you even listening?” I asked bitterly.”Brax?” I said again turning my head the left.

What Brax was doing made my heart miss a beat. “Bran NO!” I yelled.

Btzzzzz

I activated my shield just in time for it to catch the flaming greenish liquid from coming into contact with myself, Alyshia and Midnight.

Once it collapsed I stormed up to stupid idiot, livid with rage. “You fucking cunt,” I roared pushing the stallion with both my forehooves. He stumbled, both from my push and shocked from my sudden outburst.

“Amethyst,” Scerine burst out, flying over to try to calm me. “Stop!”

I pretended her voice didn’t exist and I shook her off as I rounded on the stallion. “Don’t fucking shoot anything unless I tell you, you idiot,” I thundered. I’ll fucking douse you in that shit next time you fucking shoot one. Do I make myself clear?”

“Is that taint?” Midnight asked, allowing Brax to remain silent.

“Yes,” I growled. As expected a faint buzzing sound began and I facehoofed. “Nice, now there are more…”

About five of the ugly green, balloon shaped insects had come from a cluster of dead bushes about fifty meters away. I pulled out my magnum and entered SATS. I knew they were far enough away to shoot safely but I didn’t want to risk it.

Five well placed shots to the wings of the creatures and they fell to the hard snow with an odd squishy sound, still alive but immobile.

“I told you about these on the Luna line,” I reminded everypony. “Do not shoot if they are close, stay away from them, they spit taint. Shoot at the wings at a safe distance if you please.” I took a deep breath then finished “Let’s go find this track.”

       *                                        **                        **                      **                       *

Hellhounds… It’s all that has been on my mind for the hour we’ve been walking along the track. They aren’t normally active on the surface in winter but it’s not uncommon for them to attack anyway. All they have to do is feel our hoofsteps, if only Alyshia, Brax and myself could fly.

“What’s up Amethyst?” Alyshia asked as I imagined myself being taken by a hellhound from beneath my hooves.

“Hellhounds,” I sighed.

Alyshia grimaced. “Me too, but the zombie ponies as well.”

“Remind me again how these Hellhounds track their prey?” Brax growled for the first time since I pushed him.

“They track their prey using the sound waves from us walking,” I said simply. “Our hoof steps send sound waves underground and that’s where they live.

“So tell me why are we all walking on the ground where we’re in danger of being killed?” Brax said impatiently. “You might have read that book but did you think on how we’re going to get across the valley alive?”

I felt confused. “We hope we don’t get killed,” I said simply not thinking of any other solution.

“So why are we walking again? Three ponies are sure to draw their attention,” Brax growled.

“You three can’t fly,” Scerine cut in for me. “If you could then you’d just fly over the danger.”

Brax facehoofed so hard that the metal clanged loudly against the soft wind.

I looked at Scerine and Midnight who looked as confused as I felt then looked at Alyshia and her purple eyes were alight.

“I see what Brax means,” Alyshia said. “What if we could fly? Scerine and Midnight are both pegasi, they can carry us.”

“Good luck carrying Brax,” I whinnied. “Let alone him and another pony.”

“You can carry him,” Alyshia said matter-of-factly.

“Good point,” Scerine said as she landed on the ground. “I’ll carry Amethyst. Midnight can carry Alyshia,” Scerine added.

“If you drop me, I’ll kill you,” Brax growled as I clambered onto Scerine’s cold metal back. “I swear it.”

Once Alyshia and I were seated, I lifted Brax from the cracked ice in my shroud of magic. Yes, he was heavy, yes I’d need to take a break every so often but no matter how much I hated Brax for last night, I had to admit, he was a smart pony.

The flight was quite slow, we flew about five meters from the ground and travelled about double the walking speed. If we flew any faster, I could lose grip of Brax. I was happy with the low altitude though, I didn’t feel nauseous so I could concentrate on lifting the heavy bulk of a stallion.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

About an hour into our flight, I had to rest. We tried to have Alyshia carry Brax but she couldn’t lift him for any longer than five minutes.

“Sorry guys,” I said when we grounded. “I just need fifteen minutes.”

“It’s alright,” Midnight yawned as she stretched and flicked her tail. “I need rest too.”

Scerine pulled her visor back and let the cool air touch her face. “It gets hot in this thing,” she said as she fanned air into her face with a hoof. She let her rump slide out from beneath her and sat down.

“I prefer to see your face anyway,” I said sitting down beside her. “I don’t like the armour.”

“Either,” Scerine sighed as she leant her head against my shoulder. I tensed. I wasn’t used to this type of closeness, or was it because a hot mare was leaning on me? I began to feel hot around my barding and I wanted to shift but I couldn’t. Nevertheless Scerine’s actions, or should I say mine didn’t go un-noticed.

“Scerine, you’re making Amethyst excited,” Brax growled.

I looked up at him, wanting to tear him up more than I did this morning. I looked for Alyshia and she was engaged in conversation with Midnight. “I am not,” I snapped.

“Am I?” Scerine asked lifting her head and looking at me. I felt embarrassed, I could feel my face heating up. “Amethyst, have you ever been told you have a cute blush?” Scerine snickered.

“Yes,” I squeaked, covering my face with my hooves to hide my blush. It was one thing with Midnight but this was ridiculous.

Scerine leaned towards me giggling, “Well, they were right,” she whispered.

“Hey,” Brax called to the other two mares.

Beep

Midnight and Alyshia looked over towards us and I sank to the ground. Brax was going to humiliate me, make me pay for my outburst.

Beep

“”You two have to check this out,” he called waving a hoof to come over.

Beep Beep Beeeeeeeeep

Meep hit me square in the head, beeping his little head off.

“Ow” I cried, “Meep stop, what is it?” I cried as I tried to swap the Dragonfly off me.

“Beeep,” he cried. “Beep.”

“What is it?” Alyshia asked Brax.

“Amethyst is-“ Brax began but Alyshia cut him off.

“Stop, Meep get off her,” Alyshia called to the Dragonfly. Alyshia pulled him off me in her field of magic but that didn’t stop the dragonfly from struggling.

“Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep,” Meep shrilled loudly.

“What’s up with him?” Scerine asked. “Is he trying to tell us something?”

“Meep, communicate to my Pipbuck,” I ordered.

The struggling Dragonfly stopped struggling and the red light on his back began to flash. I opened the file he sent and it was an image, I couldn’t make out what it was, all I could see was a map and a red haze on it with a marker indicating our location. Scerine sidled up to me and analyzed my pipbuck.

“What is it?” I asked her.

Scerine’s eyes widened. “We need to go,” she said urgently.

“Why?” Midnight questioned, “I’m not done resting.”

“Just do it,” Scerine said. “There are enemies near us. I’ve seen this before on the enclave radar.”

It was then that I felt the ground move, just as the feeling began Scerine grabbed me and launched herself up into the air just as a huge hulk of a dog like creature burst to the surface, right where I was standing. Brax recoiled, shocked but Midnight filled it with bullets, just as they thought it was dead the Hellhound launched itself at Brax and took a swipe, Brax jumped to get out of the way but the huge claws just got him, tearing the armour like it was paper.

BANG

Alyshia held a high powered magnum in her field of magic, the Hellhound that was about to tear Brax apart fell to the ground.

BANG BANG BANG

Alyshia discharged the entire thing into its head as if it was something she had done multiple times.

I jumped off Scerine’s back before she landed and ran over to Brax whom Alyshia was attending to. His left side was shredded but the claws only just got him, thanks to his armour and quick judgment.

“Meep,” Meep chimmed urgently.

“We have to go,” I shouted, “Now.”

Alyshia jumped up and ran over to Midnight, I jumped onto Scerine and took off. Brax hadn’t yet moved so I tried to lift him off the ground but he screamed in protest, his body bent strangely as the armour plates that were damaged separated.

“We have to get him out of the armour,” I cried to everypony. “Scerine, put me down,” I requested.

Scerine dropped me to the ground next to Brax, my shotgun at the ready. I needed this in case for close combat. “Brax, we need to get you out of the armour,” I told him. He grunted approval from his lying position. This proved difficult as the armour had powered off due to extensive damage. I had managed to get his helmet off after about a minute but I had no idea how I was going to get it all off.

The ground shook again and three hellhounds burst onto the surface, throwing rock and ice everywhere. The nearest one had just surfaced about a meter away, I shot it before it got proper footing, the beast fell to the ground missing an arm.

Btrzzz

I activated my shield and the laser bounced off it, another hellhound charged me as the one with the gun began receiving fire from above .I was too slow with my gun and in deactivating my shield that the claw of the giant beast hit my shield hard.

I expected to feel the claws rip me to pieces but that didn’t happen. The claw sank into the shield up to the beast’s paw but the shield didn’t fail, the claw brushed my nose ever so slightly, causing a sting of pain as my shield rippled heavily from the assault.

The beast didn’t seem to expect this and was slow to come in with a second claw as I collapsed the shield

BANG BANG BANG BANG

I emptied the gun into the beast, gore splattering myself and the ice red from blood. I didn’t stop until the gun had nothing left, by which time my vision was tinted red.

The other Hellhound fell to Midnight and Scerine a moment after.

Scerine landed to help me get Brax out of his steel prison. It took about a minute for the back half to come off and another minute to take the forward half off. I lifted the battered, bleeding and now armourless stallion off the ground as I jumped onto Scerine.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

Today was not kind to us in the slightest. By early afternoon we had made it past the half-way mark however what concerned me was the darkening of the clouds on the horizon. They began to take on the form of the clouds from two nights ago.

I saw a small flash in the clouds but no thunder.

Scerine groaned. “Looks like we need to find somewhere to stay?” she cried. “Think there’s a storm on the horizon.”

“We’ll be fine,” Alyshia called from Midnight’s back. “We’ll find someplace if the weather goes bad.”

Alyshia was right, the ground was littered with places to bunker down. Smashed carts, trucks and even caravans that had fallen from the elevated highway, I saw a derailed train about an hour ago.

“I want to stay somewhere safe,” Brax growled. “We’ll just get eaten by zombies or hellhounds.”

The poor stallion still looked in pain but at least he stopped bleeding, we can tend to him when we stop for the night but nevertheless at least he’s still alive.

“We’ll find somewhere safe,” I sighed impatiently, glancing at the old stallion whose fur was stained maroon from blood. “We won’t let the hellhounds hurt you.”

Brax scowled. “Maybe if we didn’t need to rest,” he muttered.

“Don’t even try to blame this on me,” I snapped. “You’re the one who made all the noise, you should be grateful you’re alive.” Even as I said it though, I was lucky to be alive as well. Despite being covered in sticky hellhound blood, I knew some of it was mine and if it wasn’t for my shield.

Brax thankfully remained silent.

I wanted to ask Alyshia about it, the book said they can cut through shields like a hot knife through butter, but maybe it didn’t matter. My shield wasn’t the same as hers or anypony else I had come across. It was just a made up spell… It however seemed that the hellhound that had attacked me had experience with coming in contact with a magic shield before. It hadn’t expected the shield to hold up, I even thought I saw something on the hellhound’s face that seemed like confusion. I couldn’t be sure due to the heat of the moment. Those claws though, to cut through Brax’s armour like that, and the claw only just got him too.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

It was getting late, after taking so long to get to us the storm had begun to close in far too quickly. The clouds darkened, lightning was less pronounced than last time but still prevalent. We had decided to head for a piece of elevated highway a few kilometers away, upon it perched a small structure. The height enabled us to remain safe and assuming the dwelling was unoccupied we could settle there for the night and remain protected from the storm.

Visibility reduced far too quickly and before we knew it, it was gloomy, windy and it was now snowing and rapidly turning into a blizzard. Scerine found it hard to not be pushed off course, my main issue however was that Brax was freezing, he had nothing to protect him, the wind and ice would claim him if we didn’t get there soon. Meep meanwhile had dug his claws into my barding and hung onto with dear life.

“It’s there!” Scerine bellowed pointing in the gloom to a small spot of light a few hundred meters away. The light didn’t make sense, no one lives out here do they? We landed on the piece of road that was heavily cracked, the wind was unbelievable and made it hard to stand, Brax was still being carried in my field of magic as he couldn’t walk. Alyshia approached the red corrugated iron door and knocked.

I couldn’t hear movement over the sound of the wind, just as Alyshia was about to knock again, the door flew open and behind it was an old grey unicorn stallion, a shotgun pointed at Alyshia’s head.

“Wait,” Alyshia called desperately. “We come in peace, my name’s Alyshia, we’re just looking for a place to ride out the storm.” Alyshia gave a small bow of her head.

I hoped the old stallion would let us stay, my mane blew in the wind as it got tangled, my ears were freezing and my face was numb. He looked at the rest of us, his eyes lingering on me for a moment more than the others. His facial expression relaxed and he stood aside to let us in.

The house was small but warm, a simple window stood at the back of the cast iron wall, the wind battering against it. The house despite being small on the outside had two doors leading to other rooms. A stone fireplace stood against the right wall and a battered but clean sofa a few feet from it, the house had a small kitchen and relics hung from the walls including an old rifle. To top it all off a red patterned rug sat on the uneven wooden floor.

“Sorry to intrude Mister,” Alyshia said apologetically.

“Call me Newt,” the gruff stallion said roughly. “What’re you all doing out here anyways?” he said. “Too dangerous out here.”

“We gathered that,” Brax growled, now on the ground.

“We’re going to Dijoneigh,” I put in. “We have something to find.”

“Must be mighty important,” Newt grunted. “You’re lucky to have made it here, the storm woulda killed you all for sure. It’ll blow over by morning, in which case you can be on your way, meanwhile make yourselves at home.”

“Thank you sir,” Alyshia said. “We can’t thank you enough.”

“By the way, the white one might want to take a shower, the stallion said addressing me. “I don’t want blood over that sofa. It’s the door next to the fireplace.”

I blushed, not that anyone could see. I muttered “Be right back,” and walked through the door. The shower room was small and the ground was merely bitumen, the shower head was built into the back of the fireplace and I could only assume a tank rested in the roof that was heated by the fireplace. I took off my disgusting barding and turned the shower on. The water was warm and it cancelled out the draft that initially came out of the drain. I was disgustingly filthy, the blood from my head and torso stained my fore legs pink as the water ran over me, I put my mane through the water and it was surprising how much my black mane could mask the blood and dirt. When I was done I dried myself then placed my barding in my saddlebags and left the shower room relatively clean.

Alyshia was tending to Brax’s wounds, it appeared she was cleaning them before giving him the draught of healing potion. Scerine was sitting idly on the sofa out of her armour and Midnight had her back to the fireplace, her wings hanging lazily. Newt was busying himself in the kitchen. It appeared he was trying to start the firewood stove.

Scerine smiled at me as I exited. “How was it?”

“Nice, and warm,” I said as I settled down next to her.

“You look a bit tired,” Scerine commented.  I did feel a little exhausted, my magic had been stretched today, carrying Brax for the rest of the way might have been a lot easier without carrying his armour too but I had to do it for hours without a break.

“Carrying Brax was tough on my magic,” I replied. “I’ll be alright.”

“You want to lie down?” Scerine asked, “Its okay if you want to.”

“It’s alright,” I replied. “I don’t want you to move.”

“No it’s fine,” Scerine said sitting back and offering for me to lie in her lap.

I felt like I shouldn’t, I didn’t want to be awkward, but I kind of wanted to. I laid down across the sofa and rested my head against Scerine’s warm belly. I instantly felt like sleeping but I went to look at the fireplace. Instead Midnight blocked it and she was facing us. It was then that she got up and moved over to where Alyshia and Brax were.

“Better?” Scerine said quietly.

“Mhmm,” I agreed. “Okay, I’ll close my eyes for a moment.”

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

I woke up but I felt groggy. Scerine was stroking my mane slowly, it made me feel close to Scerine, my heart melted but I didn’t want her to know that. I opened my eyes. “Hey,” she said quietly. “Have a good nap?”

I looked up at her and nodded. “How long was I out?”

“Only about thirty minutes,” Scerine said. “I think Newt is making us tea.”

“That’s nice,” I sighed as I rubbed my right eye with a hoof. I yawned and then sighed. I wanted Scerine as a pillow more often.

When tea was served, we sat at the dining table with Newt. He didn’t talk much but I had a question for him, something that was tugging in my brain since we arrived. “Why do you live out here?” I asked curiously. “It’s so hostile, why not live in Bilneigh?”

Alyshia glared at me in that ‘You shouldn’t be asking that’ kind of way.

“It’s quite out here,” he answered. “Nopony to bother me, besides the monsters it’s nice. Also, I like to collect,” he added gruffly waving a hoof at the trinkets that cluttered his house. “Built the place meself twenty years ago, still go to Bilneigh for supplies but I get on fine by myself.”

“Where’re you from anyway?” he asked before taking a sip of tea. “Why’re you all out here?”

“I’m from a stable,” I replied simply. “We’re on our way to Dijoneigh, we’re looking for a water talisman.”

“Dijoneigh huh, well… There might be one, maybe in the hospital, ain’t gone in those places though.” he growled.

“Why not?” Alyshia asked.

“Creepy,” he said simply, “never been in in one, don’t ever want to.”

The hospital made sense, this would be a good starting point. The hospital would need to be self-sufficient after all, it can’t rely on mains water or electricity. It would surely hold a water talisman, so long as it wasn’t damaged or tainted.

After our tea, it was time for bed. Newt turned off the lights and headed into his room and left us to sleep by the fireplace. Alyshia got the sofa, we needed our medical pony in top condition for tomorrow. Brax had the foot of the sofa and Midnight, Scerine and myself had the carpet Scerine would be sleeping between Midnight and myself, I did notice that Midnight put some distance between herself and Scerine. I wished Midnight would get over her angst towards her. Scerine was lovely, cute and hot. What wasn’t there to love?

It took a little while to get to sleep. Apprehension and the howl of the wind outside made it hard to drift away, however after about half an hour exhaustion set in and I fell away into the darkness of sleep.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

I felt something warm touching me, it was nice and I didn’t want to move. I opened my eyes and saw Brax’s back facing the sofa, he was asleep. It was early morning and little light filled the room. My back was against Scerine and she had her hoof tucked around me like a foal would try to hold an overlarge stuffed animal. Her breathing could be felt against my back as her warm dark fur warmed me. My heart fluttered for a moment. If only this is something I could wake up to everyday. She probably wasn’t even aware that she was holding me. I relaxed, despite the day ahead I still had about an hour before everypony awoke and so I allowed myself to soak up Scerine’s warmth.

I fell asleep again but was awoken by Midnight. “Are you serious!” she cried. “Really?”

I felt Scerine move as she sat up. I opened my eyes and found my friend pissed off, her eyes glaring angrily at Scerine. Scerine blubbered but finally managed to say, “Sorry?”

Midnight laughed. “You getting all cozy with Amethyst, what’s going on?” she demanded.

Scerine blushed, it was obvious despite her dark face and this kind of made me blush a little too. “I didn’t even know I was doing it,” she replied.

Midnight scoffed. “I saw you with her on the couch, I see what’s happening. She’ll fall in love with you and then when you go back to cloud land, you’ll abandon her and hurt her and if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you.” Midnight said with a growl to the last three words, Midnight was now nose to nose with the charcoal pegasus who looked scared.

“It’s not like that,” Scerine said pulling her head back.

“Enough,” Alyshia snapped. “Cut it out, the two of you.”

Midnight glared at Scerine. “I’m a mare of her word,” Midnight finished before pulling away.

We looked at each other, unsure what to make of the situation. Midnight can’t seriously be reading Scerine as having an interest in me? I mean, I’m a skinny, runty looking unicorn with hardly any curves and an ugly mane. I’m not attractive, if I was then maybe. Scerine could have any mare or stallion she wanted. She was attractive, she wasn’t tall but she had the curves, the beautiful dark coat that rippled across her toned body and to top it off the snow white mane, green eyes and her tipped wings just made her all the more of a looker. Not to mention, she’ll want somepony from the clouds, somepony she can see every day without becoming a Dashite.

“Amethyst? Amethyst?” Scerine asked waving a hoof in my face. I zoned back in and shook my head.

“Sorry,” I sighed. “Just things on my mind.”

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

We bade farewell to Newt and thanked him for his hospitality before we left. Brax was fitted in my old barding that was too big for me, which was rather small on him but it was better than nothing. At least he won’t freeze and will be somewhat protected.

The snow from the previous night hadn’t accumulated much on the piece of road, probably due to the wind. We took off around nine thirty to our destination.

It took about three hours to land in the outskirts of Dijoneigh. We sat atop a ridge close to town and looked down upon it. The town was desolate, a three story building in the CBD had partially collapsed and an old water tower was leaning precariously. Between the collapsed building and the water tower was a larger building. It was about four stories tall and I could just make out the faded cross atop the structure. The hospital was the best bet, if not then one of the nearby mining facilities. After all, the mining industry would have used a lot of water to wash the ores of impurities.

“So here we are,” Brax growled. “I’m shocked we’re alive.”

“Well it’s a hell of a lot dangerous down there than anywhere we’ve been,” I answered seriously. “Towns were full of ponies before the war broke out, to the ponies that didn’t actually die, what would they be?”

Brax sighed. “Zombies?”

“Yep,” Midnight mumbled.

“So that means,” I lectured. “We need to be sneaky, ninja quite, and that shouldn’t be as hard for Brax to do now that he’s out of that heavy armour.”

“Without that armour I’ll be half the fighter I was,” Brax snapped. “Now it’s gone, I don’t even have a battlesaddle.”

And there he goes… Blaming me once again. I didn’t take the bait this time and instead said “Okay, let’s do this.”

We snuck into town, my EFS was emblazoned with red but the zombies that were wondering around were pretty stupid. They seemed quite lethargic, maybe it was the storm last night, I don’t know. I just expected them to sense us by smell or by hearing but even when Brax knocked down a waste bin the zombie we had snuck past moaned stupidly.

The snow had however masked our hoofsteps making stealth easier. We were just one block from the hospital when I rounded a corner and walked headlong into something squishy.

“Amethyst,” Alyshia cried. I bounced off it and fell to the ground, it however did not. It turned its ugly eyes onto me.

SCRAHHHH

It’s saliva peppered my face as I made to round my Magnum on the zombie pony.

BANG

I shot it in the head and it crumpled to the ground.

SCRAHH

SCRAHH

I heard dozens of hooves in the snow and my EFS was now blazoned with moving red blips. “Looks like we just woke the zombies,” Brax growled.

“Go,” Alyshia cried magically lifting me to the ground.

We all ran as fast as we could, Midnight took to the air and began shooting the zombies from above. I just hoped she wouldn’t hit us. We rounded another corner and I looked back to see about thirty of the things running too fast to be natural. I looked back and saw the parking area for the Hospital just ahead. It didn’t look like we were going to make it. I pulled out my magnum just in case but that just caused me to loose concentration and I tripped over the gutter of the medium strip and landed face first into the snow. I felt hooves grab me, I was surely about to be torn to bits, however a second later I found myself hoisted in the air by Midnight, my magnum still in my field of magic.

I slipped into SATS and aimed at the one that was at Alyshia’s heels, I then locked onto one that was too close to Brax.

BANG

BANG

BANG

All shots found their mark, right in the head and the three zombies fell to the ground. We were almost at the Hospital, it was just a few hundred meters away. I emptied my magnum into a further five zombies and switched to my Sniper Rifle. This thing wasn’t easy to use with the rise and fall of Midnight as she beat her wings and some of my shots missed as I discharged.

Click

I was out of bullets with this one as well.

SCRAHH

I only just caught a glimpse of a pegasus zombie as it crashed into Midnight and I, sending us into a horrible roll through the air.

CRASH

I felt myself thrown from Midnight and I hit a solid tiled surface hard. I skidded several meters across the dusty floor and hit something metallic that moved on impact.

BANG

I got to my hooves, Midnight had just shot the zombie that tackled us in midair and only now did it become apparent that we had crashed through the third story of the Hospital. The hospital was dusty, the light that flooded through the window we crashed through was full of dust, and very little light penetrated the windows that weren’t broken. I looked into the gloomy room. It appeared that we were in a ward where ponies recovered. Dusty beds lined the walls, some with a skeleton remaining, dusty machines and drips hung from each bedside and an ancient television was face down after it fell from its rack.

It was then that I noticed that my face stung a little, I must have been cut by the glass. I looked over to where Midnight was and she was looking out of the broken window, her face had two cuts.

“Did they make it?” I asked desperately from where I was standing.

“I think so,” Midnight sighed. “We can’t go down there though because there’s a horde of zombies at the entrance.

“Hopefully they’ve barricaded the door,” I said. “We don’t want them in here.” As I said it though, I feared that what could be in here could be just as bad, if not worse. I left Midnight to stare down at the ground and I went off to find my sniper rifle which had slipped out of my grasp when I landed. I found it under one of the old rusty beds, I wrapped my magic around it and pulled it out. That was when a thousand red blips appeared on my EFS.

I didn’t see anything, did that mean that whatever they were, were they behind that wall?

Bzzzzzz

It came from under the bed. I backed away from it and a large insect flew out from beneath the bed. It was yellow and black striped and two massive stingers on it butt. I pointed my sniper rifle at it and pulled the trigger.

Click

Fuck, it wasn’t loaded. The wasp flew at me quickly and it’s stinger made contact with my barding that had thankfully protected me against the attempted stabbing. I swung my sniper rifle at it and I had struck it with the butt of the weapon. It bounced off the rifle and hit the machine by the bed, this didn’t stop it and unexpectedly it regurgitated a greenish muck that struck me full in the face.

BANG

The wasp fell to the floor. Midnight had shot it. I spat some of the foul muck from my mouth, it tasted like somepony had mixed rotten fruit with petrol. It burned the inside of my mouth and my face.

“You alright Amethyst?” Midnight asked. “Sorry, I should have noticed you were in trouble sooner.”

“It’s alright,” I said as I pulled out a bottle of water. “It was just a wasp.” I opened the lid and poured some in my mouth before spitting it out, I then washed the muck off my face.

“Taint?” Midnight asked.

“Probably,” I replied now fuming I’ve been exposed to it. “I’ll have to get checked up back in Tenpony but I’ll be alright for now.” I reloaded my sniper rifle and my magnum before pulling out my shotgun. The shotgun will be better in the enclosed corridors. “We should probably find the others before we look for the talisman,” I suggested. “I don’t like the idea of it only being us two.”

“I agree,” Midnight said. “So to the ground level?”

I nodded and we left the dank dark ward through the aged hospital doors. Once the door swung closed we were both plunged into darkness.

“Brilliant,” Midnight sighed.

I lit my horn and the purple glow penetrated the darkness just enough to see the walls and directly in front of us. This unnerved me as my EFS was lit all over the place and I had no idea where they were. Sure enough as my first hoofstep echoed through the corridor I heard something squeal in the distance and then the shuffling of hooves. My heart began to race and I realised that we were in a really bad situation.

“I do not like this,” Midnight whimpered. “I do not like this at all.”

I looked at her, my purple glow on her scared eyes, realising that mine probably looked like hers. “I can’t see another way,” I whispered.

Midnight shook her head. “Me either.”

I took another step forward and once again my hooves echoed throughout the corridor. This place was clearly crawling with all sorts of mutants as I heard a gurgling sound.

“What was that?” Midnight whispered, scared.

“I don’t know,” I whispered back. “I need to find a terminal so we can locate the staircase.”

Midnight nodded and we preceded stealthily down the corridor. The first thing I saw was a vending machine that had fallen over face first, this caused me to come to a halt. Cans of cola littered the floor, the second vending machine was still standing, a crack ran through the glass running from the top left to the bottom, inside was chips, chocolate and peanuts. I ignored the machine, getting the food would make way too much noise.

I beckoned Midnight to follow and we made our way over to a door on the left, it was slightly ajar so it would make less noise to enter. Shotgun ready I pushed the door open magically and stepped inside, Midnight at my heels. What I didn’t expect was the stench of death. “Mother of Celestia,” I gagged.

I heard Midnight gag behind me as I spotted the source of the smell. My purple illumination lit up the bed in the room and on it was what appeared to be a zombie pony tied back down to the bed with straps, it had been opened up from rib cage down to the belly button. It appeared to have been disemboweled.

“That’s disgusting,” Midnight chocked. “It looks like it has been there for weeks… Who or what?” Midnight’s eyes became wide with fear. “You don’t think there’s something with intelligence in here do you?”

I looked at the dead zombie pony and my only guess was that somepony or something had done that to the pony, which made this whole place far more dangerous than what I thought it would be. I suddenly wished that Meep had followed us through, we could find our way back with his help, as a scout. Then I realised it was probably best for the others that they have him, Scerine could help communicate with him and send him to us.

“There’s a terminal,” Midnight said, her hoof over her nose to hold out the stink. I spotted it in my purple light.

“Can you watch my back?” I requested as I plugged my pipbuck in. Midnight nodded and turned around to ensure the coast was clear. I booted the terminal from scratch using the power from my pipbuck, it bathed the room in an eerie green light mingled with my purple. I then hacked into the system on the first go (Password was Cheese123) and I was in. I wanted out of this room before I vomit my breakfast onto the floor so I quickly scoured the folders and found the fire evacuation plans. I downloaded the files to my pipbuck and once complete unplugged my pipbuck causing the computer to lose power.

“Where’s the stairs?” Midnight asked as we left the dark room into the equally dark corridor. I stopped and pulled the files on my Pipbuck. I found the third floor and I checked the floor. I then matched my map up to the file and found that we were in the corridor, the room we crashed into was the recovery ward and the room were just in was the low risk isolation room. The corridor we were in ended in a T section. Left was a dead end with a mares ward, right went onto another corridor with what appeared to be outpatient surgeries, another T section with a left turn will take us to the stairs and elevators.

“It’s not too far,” I replied to Midnight’s question as I looked up. “Just follow me.”

Carefully we crept through the corridor, taking care to not allow our hooves to echo. My Pipbuck continued to show massive signs of red. After what felt like an eternity we were finally at the T Section. “We turn right up here,” I whispered to Midnight. Midnight nodded and that’s when I heard ragged breathing, it was close and it made me stop.

“What’s the matter?” Midnight asked, concerned.

“Do you hear that?” I whispered. I became aware of a foul odour that came with the breath, like the smell of something that had died in water. I waited a second and the little colour left in Midnight had drained from her face. I had an inkling and I looked up only to see a… a something dangling from the ceiling. I aimed my shotgun at it and shot just as it fell from it’s holding place. The shot didn’t seem to do anything. Midnight was frozen with fear, she hadn’t even attempted to shoot the… what looked like a tentacle/pony/monster hybrid. The thing appeared to be made out of rotten goo, the eyes were frosted and shone purple under my light and it had what appeared to be patched pink fur. I could only make out what were wings with a couple of remaining pink feathers. The grey tentacles were raised threateningly. I suddenly became paralyzed from fear, I hadn’t seen anything so disgustingly grotesque.

Midnight became aware of herself and she ran for her life. I got up and ran after her, I got four paces when something caught my left hindleg and I came crashing to the floor, my chin hit the ground hard. I heard my shotgun hit the ground and I was plunged into darkness as my horn went out. Stars filled my vision as I lit my horn again. I turned and the pony thing had wrapped a tentacle around me leg. I heard it groan and saw it’s disgusting mouth open as another tentacle wrapped itself around my body. I looked around for my Shotgun but it wasn’t within my light field and I couldn’t see it. It began to drag me across the floor and in a state of panic I screamed. “Midnight,” I cried, as I attempted to fight of the beast. “Midnight help me.” A flash of white streaked past me, the beast raised a third tentacle and swiped at her. It caught Midnight in mid-section and she hit the ground, the sound of a crack resonating through the corridor. She jumped up, tears in her eyes, her recently broken wing was left hanging, bent at an odd angle. She bit down on her battle saddle and emptied her cartridges into the beast. I felt the tentacles relax enough for me to squeeze out. The beast let off a final roar and fell to the ground with a thud.

The red lights on my EFS began to move erratically. As if they were all moving. I heard the sounds of hooves echoing along the corridor. It had called for backup in it’s final moment, the zombies were coming. “We need to hide,” I said quietly to her. Midnight nodded, the pain reflecting in her dilated eyes. We ran in the direction of the stairs, we had to find something, anywhere. If we could get into the stairs we might be okay. I turned down the bend and ran, Midnight at my heels down the dusty corridor. Finally we reached the second T Section. I turned left and saw a horde of zombies running straight for us. I turned back to run upwards and it too had zombies rushing quickly from there too, I had no choice. I pulled the door open opposite of the T Section and Midnight ran inside. I followed suit and slammed the door shut. Just as it latched a body had thrown itself against it with a loud BANG.

I levitated a heavy instrument against the door to ensure it’s integrity and sighed before turning to my companion. Midnight had fallen to the floor in pain, she was sobbing and shaking. I pulled my only painkiller from my Saddlebags and sat down beside her. Midnight looked up to me and I showed her the needle. “This will only hurt for a moment,” I told her softly. Midnight nodded and I jabbed her in the left foreleg and injected.

Midnight didn’t get up, her wing was still bent and I had nothing to help her. I began getting angry at Alyshia for taking all my medical supplies. I wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for her. I got up, considered the fact that this was a hospital and found a locked medical cabinet beside the bed. I pulled out my lock picking utensils and attempted to pick it. It wasn’t easy, the lock was rusty and I nearly broke my bobby pin but finally it snapped open.

The cabinet was full of all sorts of things, Morphine in both needle and tablet form, Codeine, Penicillin and other strong antibiotics, General and Local Anesthetics, Healing potions, including strong doses, Buck, Adrenaline, Rad X among other medications I hadn’t studied. I also found a titanium brace for thin broken bones.

I pulled out a box of forty painkiller needles (Morphine) three boxes in tablet form, several boxes of Antibiotics, a large amount of local anesthetic, all the healing potions, a few doses of adrenaline and Rax X and stuffed them all into my saddlebags.

I found a surgical knife which I needed to sanitise as well as the titanium braces before I could use them. “Okay I’m going to levitate you onto the bed, are you okay with that?” I requested of Midnight

Midnight nodded, she looked like she was going to be sick. I lifted her into the air and placed her carefully onto the dusty bed. “Do you have matches?” I asked. Midnight pointed to her Saddlebag which she had taken off and left on the ground with her battle saddle. I ruffled through her things and found what I needed. I pulled out a match and ignited it. I ran the blade carefully over the flame until it was hot and repeated the process for the brace. I shook the match out and blade cooling in my field of magic I pulled out a few shots of local anesthetic. I felt sorry for my friend at this point, I know these hurt like hell but I didn't know how to administer general and I might accidentally poison her.

“This is going to hurt,” I told her as I levitated the needle to her wing. It was now that I had a good look at the damage, the bone hadn’t quite skewered her skin but I could see bleeding beneath the skin. I injected the anesthetic to the wound and Midnight cried out in pain. I gave another dose to the same area and the poked it with the tip of the knife. “Can you feel that?” I asked.

“No,” Midnight croaked.

I placed the knife over the break and made a small incision so I could see the bone. The bone was hollow, that would make it easier to insert the brace but I also had to straighten the bone. I saw that Midnight was already biting into her forehoof. I couldn’t find a reason to delay this any further. I inserted the brace into the most visible bone. I sighed and wiped my forehead. The banging against the door still hadn’t stopped and it was affecting my concentration. “Okay, for the hard part,” I sighed. “Are you ready?””

Midnight nodded and bit hard into her forehoof. I magically pulled both bones apart and pushed them back together over the brace. Midnight howled in pain but thankfully she didn’t move so as to cause any further damage. As I held the bones in place I pushed the skin back together and finally I forced a full bottle of strong healing potion down her throat. The skin and bones healed instantly, leaving a small surgical mark behind.

I fell to the floor, covered in sweat and exerted by performing a surgery I wasn’t qualified to do. “That’s it,” I managed to say. “You might want to take some of these,” I sighed handing her a box of strong Antibiotics. “I can’t be sure the knife and brace was completely free of bacteria.”

Midnight took a tablet and sat up. “Geez Amethyst, you aren’t too bad with this healing stuff,” Midnight praised.

“It was crude,” I replied. “I’ve never done any training in surgery.”

BANG BANG BANG

On the third bang a zombie hoof appeared through the small glass window in the door. With each charge from the zombies the door was now shaking precariously. “Shit,” I sighed. “We need to find a way out.”

“Here,” Midnight said pointing to the air vent in the roof. Luckily Midnight was feeling alright, those painkillers mixed with the healing potion must have done the job. I pulled the vent open. It was large enough for Midnight and myself to squeeze through. “I think you should go first, as you have the light.”

Midnight got up out of the bed and put on her saddlebags and battle saddle. She unclipped the guns and put them away in her saddlebags. I hadn’t the slightest clue on how I was going to get up there. “Levitate yourself and I’ll push you through,” Midnight suggested. I did as she suggested and Midnight picked me up around the middle with her forehooves and threw me upwards. I caught the jagged sides with my forelegs and pushed myself into the dusty vent. I turned around and looked down at Midnight. “Good job,” she said with a smile. I picked her up in my levitation field and levitated her up to the vent as well.

It was cramped up here, without a doubt. My purple light reflected strangely from the metal clad vent that made it look like the walls were moving as I moved my head. “Are you okay?” I asked, turning my head to check on Midnight only to have my horn whack the side of the vent. I let out a gasp of pain and looked back forward.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Midnight whispered. It was with that that I lead the way down the cramped vent. The dazzling purple in combination of our hooves clanging on the metal floor was disorientating. I could hear the bizarre sucking sounds from below and it really made me glad that I wasn’t down there. After about a minute of crawling, the vent it turned to a T Section. My Pipbuck indicated to go left, I turned left…

“Scrahhh!” Something the size of a cat jumped at my face, I threw my hooves up and grabbed it mid jump. The thing began to thrash around, I had nothing to shoot it with so I levitated it away from me where it withered violently. It was a giant six legged rat thing, it had no fur and scabbed skin, its eye sockets were empty and it grossed me out. Midnight passed over a knife where I slit its throat silently so as to not attract more of them. We crawled over the ugly rat and continued through our metal refuge.

Another one minute of crawling ended when we reached a blip indicating the stairwell and elevator shaft. I found a vent outlet about two meters ahead and wrapped my magic around it. I pulled and it didn’t budge, I pulled harder and the outlet appeared to be rusted to the ventilation itself. I jerked it upwards as hard as I could.

I heard the tear of wrenching metal and the floor beneath us tore as the outlet ripped from the ventilation. We both fell, my face grazing the serrated steel. I hit the floor and full of adrenaline jumped up as hundreds of red blips moved. I helped Midnight to her hooves and ran for the stair case. It was blocked with rubble. I turned and the corridor was full of zombies, there was too many to fight. Instead I wrapped my magic around the elevator doors and reefed them apart. It was then that a tentacle wrapped itself around me, I looked back at my captor and it was another of those bloated things, Midnight was already suspended.

“Good work my minions,” a ragged voice rang out. “Now we have some more test subjects.” I glared through the purple gloom and saw what appeared to be a zombie wearing a blood stained lab coat. Only this one can talk, that must mean that it’s a ghoul.

“Let us go,” I said shakily from my upside down position.

“But why would I do that pretty unicorn filly,” the ghoul said stepping into my purple light. “I need to know many things, I haven’t had any live test subjects before. This is a onetime occurrence that I just can’t resist.”

I had a feeling that this was the pony that had disemboweled that zombie, he was going to do the same to us. I felt a rise of panic overcome me. I activated my shield and sliced the tentacle holding me. I fell to the ground and picked up the knife that had fallen from my grasp in my magic and threw it at the ghoul’s head. He ducked and it hit a zombie behind him which crumpled to the ground. I pulled out my magnum and as I did I felt something sharp and painful hit my hind leg. I looked at what had hit me and it was a needle attached to a syringe. I pulled it out and looked at the ghoul who was holding a gun.

“What’s this?” I asked. The whole world swam before me as my body became weak. My head swam and overwhelming weakness overcame me. I hit the ground and before I could pass out I aimed my magnum at the ghoul.

I heard Midnight shout my name and then there was nothing.