Bittersweet Birthday

I opened my eyes to a dimly lit room, my eyes struggled to focus on the dank and grey celling above. I tried to move and found myself bound, naked and cold. I looked down my side and the sheets were stained with ichor. This room smelt horrible, mostly of decay and rot. I felt a rising panic inside I realised how I came to be here. Where was he? What’s he going to do to me? Where was Midnight? I glanced around the room and there were no other beds. I checked my EFS and a green blip was showing against a few red. That must mean that she’s alive and I had to admit that did make me feel a little better despite the predicament we were in.

I struggled against the bonds that bound me. I wasn’t strong enough and even my magic couldn’t snap them.

“Oh, you’re awake,” a gravelly voice said. “You gave up some fight didn’t you?”

I looked for the voice and found the same blood/ichor stained coated zombie. His fur had all but fallen out showing nothing but rough scabbed skin, the only part that seemed normal about him were his eyes.

“What do you want with us?” I asked trying to sound brave. In all honesty I was shaking with fear. “Let us go,” I demanded.

“Oh no I cannot do that,” he said with a smile. “All that trouble in capturing you simply to let you go? Oh no that cannot do, I’ve always dreamt of studying a live pony.”

“Why do you care?” I asked.

“Ahh,” he said as he wheeled a over small table with surgical instruments upon it. “With nothing but mutants to study I have been unable to find out why this ailment fell upon us. Why we turned into this and not died like the others.”

I looked precariously at the instruments, despite the fact that they had spent two hundred years inside this hospital they we’re still shiny. It seems this ghoul had taken care of them and even washed them to ensure their cleanliness.

“Why though?” I said with a quivering voice. “It’s not like you can reverse what’s happened.”

“You’re right,” he sighed as he picked up a scalpel. “But that doesn’t quench my curiosity.”

He walked up to me with the knife and placed it just below the breast bone. My heart was hammering hard and I could feel the pulse in my ears. There was no way this was happening, no way.

“Arghhhh” As he pierced the skin and tracked it down.

CRASH

The ghoul looked at the door to where Midnight was no doubt hold up before placing the blade back on the surgeons table. He then turned his back on me and went into the second room. Magically I grabbed the knife and cut my bonds loose. I then attempted to get off the bed, however I fell to the floor, my body not yet fully responsive after being tranquilized. It appeared the coast was clear, however I wasn’t able to stand. I looked around for my things however I couldn’t see them. I was in a bad position and I had to kill this crazy ghoul. I only had one chance and that chance presented itself when he came back.

“Hey,” He shouted before rushing over to me. In his confusion I threw the scalpel and it sailed right past his left ear. Shit, that now left me defenceless. He charged at me, a knife in hoof and just before he reached me I activated my shield. The ghoul bounced off it and fell into a heap on the dusty floor. My shield collapsed and in an instant he was on top of me, I felt the knife slash at my shoulder just shy of the neck. In one swift move I pulled the knife from his grasp magically and drove it into his skull. I felt him become limp and I pushed him off me.

With a sigh of relief I got shakily to my hooves, the knife still clutched in my magic all aware of the blood now running freely from the gash between my shoulder and neck as well as the wound on my underside. I walked slowly into the room that Midnight was in and found her tied to a bed similar to my own. She appeared to be semiconscious. I hauled myself towards Midnight, she had a lump on her head, a number of cuts and a gash across her face. She also had what appeared pressure wounds on her hind leg.

“Midnight,” I whispered shaking her slightly. “Midnight, wake up.”

Midnight didn’t move, her eyes rolled around in their sockets. I looked around the room for our things and found them thrown into the corner haphazardly. A few memory orbs had scattered across the floor and my magnum sat on the table about a meter away from our bags. I levitated my bad and memory orbs in one spell and brought them over to me before depositing the orbs and checking for my medication.

Inside the bags were just the shotgun, my figurines, caps, my zebra orb, a single painkiller shot and three small healing potions of which were hiding amongst the figurines, the sniper rifle sat on top. The little mutant pony had taken my supplies. I shook my head and levitated a healing potion and pushed it down Midnight’s throat. I waited a moment and she regained full consciousness after about a minute.

Relief washed over me as I saw those big red eyes stare at me. I cut the bonds holding her in place and she pushed herself out of the bed. Midnight was shaky but she seemed to be okay. “Amethyst, what happened to you?” she said quickly, pointing a hoof at my shoulder.

I glanced at the wound which was dark and seeping blood that ran down my leg and over my pipbuck. The blood was pooling at my hoof as it ran freely. “I’ll be alright,” I said weakly. I pulled another healing potion out from my saddlebags and drank it. The gash healed to a scab and I felt the pain in my abdomen lessen as well.  As my adrenaline dropped I began to feel a little lethargic.

I checked our barding which had been randomly thrown into the corner like our saddlebags. I picked up my barding and it was sliced with a knife

“We had better go,” Midnight suggested. “The elevator is not far.” I helped Midnight get her saddlebags back on and attached her battlesaddle to her back. She clipped it in, I put my saddlebags on and ignited my horn. As I did so I noticed a safe on the ground. It was quite large and it had a dial. I couldn’t get into it if I tried. Ignoring it Midnight and I hurried to the door. I took a deep breath, pain shooting across my underside as I did so.

“Let’s go,” I whispered as I levitated my loaded shotgun. Midnight nodded, she then opened the door and ran down the corridor. I chased after her, red blips moving suddenly as they detected movement. Sure enough I had four zombies on my tail and they were running faster than I could. Midnight skidded to a halt so quickly that I slammed into her, pain burst from my shoulder but I managed to not lose my footing. I pushed the doors apart and horn lit, the inside of the elevator shaft was revealed and I could see our way out. An access ladder in relatively good condition was against the back wall of the shaft. I ran through first, I wrapped myself in my levitation field and jumped, just as I felt a zombie wrap it’s hooves around my hindquarters. I hit the ladder and grabbed on with dear life, the zombie still trying to kill.

BANG BANG BANG

Midnight shot the zombies before turning to me.

BANG

She then jumped and landed just below me.

I felt a sting of pain shoot through my right lower leg and I cried out, it echoed through the shaft. The zombie became limp and fell into the abyss. I looked down and Midnight’s bullet had grazed my lower leg, leaving behind an inch long gash that began to bleed. I bit down hard, trying to ignore the pain.

I looked up to see a mass of zombies at the entrance of the elevator, one slipped and fell into the dark abyss below. I heard it hit the ground below with a loud CLANG

“Are you alright?” Midnight whispered.

I closed my eyes for a second before replying with a nod. “Let’s go,” I managed to say. We began our decent, my purple light hardly penetrating the velvet darkness of the elevator shaft, the cables that carried the lift vanished into the darkness below. Normally I wasn’t afraid of the dark but today was very different. I began to fear that Alyshia, Brax and Scerine had perished, Taken by the unknown within this dark place, amidst my pain the thought of them being dead felt far more painful than a simple gash. If they were dead, it was my fault for leading them here. I felt my right hind hoof slip abruptly on the metal ladder, my heart jumped and I clung onto the metal with my forehooves, my body closer than necessary to the ladder itself. I repositioned myself and discovered my hoof was dripping blood that had run down from the bullet wound.

“You okay?” Midnight whispered again as she looked up from below.

“Yeah sorry, just slipped,” I whispered back.

I shook my head and told myself that Alyshia, Brax and Scerine were still alive and Meep was with them. They should be okay. We passed the second floor, the inside of the elevator doors thankfully shut as I could hear sinister screeches and other sinister noises beyond. We passed this door then we passed the first floor. Just one more floor to go. That was when my purple light lit the bottom. At least at first I thought it was the bottom, now I realised that it was the roof of the lift itself, a dead zombie lying crumpled on top.

Midnight stepped onto the lift and I jumped down after her. The hatch was in the middle, about a ruler length from the dead zombie pony. I opened the hatch magically, I looked down into the darkness and knelt on the side of the opening. I placed my hooves securely on the sides of the opening and swung myself down, still holding onto the opening I looked down and saw the floor a meter below my dangling legs. A drip of blood fell to the floor and I let go, for once in my life I landed softly and easily on the elevator floor. Midnight jumped straight after me and spread her wings to break the fall.

“Phew,” I sighed before looking at Midnight.

Midnight didn’t look so scared anymore. She glanced at me. “Can you see them?” Midnight asked quietly.

I scanned my EFS, the sound of a zombie snarling in the distance rattling my ears as I did so. I saw a lot of red but no green, that was when I was about to tell Midnight ‘No,’ when a single green blip appeared. I looked into the darkness and saw a single flashing red light slowly getting bigger followed by the soft sounding metal wings. The small metal dragonfly entered my purple light and sailed into the elevator before landing on my head.

“Hey,” I whispered to Meep as I gathered him into my hoof and held him up to my face. “Where’re the others?” Meep’s huge eyes shifted to focus on me and he let of a positive “Beep,” He flew off my forehoof and we made to follow him at a much slower pace than he flew to us, which was good because we had to be stealthy.

After walking down a corridor filled with old beds, bones, a vending machine and into an open room with many chairs and a front counter, I saw an additional three green lights appear in the sea of red on my EFS. We snuck towards the green and once across the room a closed door came into view. This must be it, they must be holed out here. Relief swept over me, they were here, and alive. I knocked on the door twice and after a second it opened. I saw a charcoal pony with big green eyes and she pulled me into a hug, I noticed that her right forehoof was bandaged. “You’re all okay,” Scerine said happily. She stepped aside to let us in, failing to acknowledge Midnight but that was probably for the best.

The small room was lit by a fire cracking in the corner, a single bed lay empty against the wall next to a blood pressure machine and a computer sat on a desk against the opposite wall.

Once inside I shut the door before turning to Alyshia and Brax. Both of whom were on the floor. Brax appeared to be knocked out, he had a gash on his leg and it appeared he had been bitten on his face and forelegs. “What happened to him?” I asked feeling a little concerned.

Alyshia turned to me causing me to recoil. She had an open gash against her temple, blood ran down the side of her face and she had a bruise rising on her left cheek. Her barding was still mostly intact. “Broken leg,” She replied before turning her attention to Brax.

“Shouldn’t you fix yourself first?” I blubbered, exasperated although not entirely surprised to see that Alyshia was putting somepony else first.

“No,” Alyshia replied without turning her head. “You’re next Amethyst, you’re bleeding. I’m not even going to ask what happened to your shoulder.”

I checked the gash in my leg, the blood flow had slowed somewhat however my shoulder had become irritated by the climb down and had started to swell. “What happened to you?” I asked Scerine as Midnight sat on the bed.

Scerine held her bandaged hoof. “I got knocked down and my hoof bent the wrong direction inside the armour,” She replied. “I’ve just strapped it for now, Alyshia will fix it later.”

I scratched my face and sighed. I felt tired and just wanted to be out of here. “What happened anyway,” I asked Scerine. “How did you all end up here?”

“Oh, I was flying near Alyshia and Brax. Alyshia noticed you two sail through the window,” she recounted. “Anyway, we got through the doors and we burst into a waiting room, once the doors were shut they didn’t come after us. It was pretty odd but anyway,” she rambled. “Once we were inside I used my EFS to try and track the zombies. But there were so many of them. We wandered around aimlessly wanting to meet up with you two so we tried to find the stairwell. We got lost and I accidentally walked into a zombie.”

I nodded to show that I was paying attention and I somehow knew what was coming.

“All hell broke loose,” Scerine continued. “The zombie I walked into jumped on me and I fell awkwardly causing this.” Scerine held her hoof to show. “I got back up and started firing at everything. Brax got jumped by three at once, in his attempt to throw those off he broke his leg. Alyshia hit her head on a fallen bed frame and was attacked by the zombies. I got them off her and she seemed a little concussed. Anyway. Somehow we managed to shake them off, Alyshia helped Brax and we came back into the waiting room.” She pointed to the door before continuing. “Then we found this place. We’ve been here for about an hour.”

“Wow,” I muttered. I looked over to Midnight who looked exhausted. “Are you okay Midnight?” I asked.

“Yeah, just tired,” she sighed.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

Alyshia managed to fix Brax, he however remain unconscious as Alyshia had clearly used her knockout spell on him. “Midnight hon, can you jump off the bed?” Alyshia asked. Midnight had fallen asleep on the bed and didn’t respond. I stepped over to assist. Rather than wake Midnight I levitated her off the bed and placed her on the floor near the warm fire. Alyshia then levitated Brax onto the bed with some difficulty.

Alyshia sighed. “That was the worst break ever.” She then levitated a bottle and took a long draught.

“That bad?” I said, “You were there a while.”

“His bones are quite brittle,” Alyshia said with a nod. “He’s aging, he probably hasn’t lived with the best diet and his leg snapped so badly I’m shocked it didn’t shatter or cut anything major.” I was taken aback at this and was about to ask if he was going to be okay but Alyshia must have seen this because she said, “He’ll be okay though. It splintered so I had to be careful but it’s mended now. “He should be good for tomorrow” she said with a smile. “Anyway, your turn,” she said suddenly.

I got up and laid on the dirty sheet on the floor as requested by Alyshia. She looked me up and down. “Knife wound, how did that happen?” she asked me.

“I have another on my stomach,” I informed. “I used a healing potion.” I circumvented the part about nearly being sliced up as I was sure Alyshia would probably freak out.

Alyshia’s horn lit and she examined me. “How do you feel?” she asked.

“I dunno, bit light headed and my face is a little itchy. My leg hurts the worst.”” I replied. “I got hit in the face with some taint like stuff so that’s probably it for the face. I also hit my head but it wasn’t that bad.”

Alyshia cleaned my wounds and applied a healing potion. My wounds healed more effectively, the bleeding scabs on my stomach and shoulder quickly scabbed properly as did my bullet wound on my leg.

Next to be examined was Midnight. She didn’t take to kindly to be awoken. “I’m fine,” Midnight grumbled as Alyshia ran her spell over her.

“You do appear fine,” Alyshia muttered.

“She re-broke her wing,” I said remembering it might be worth for Alyshia to examine.

“It doesn’t appear broken,” Alyshia said as she pulled the wing magically. It was then that she saw the healed mark that was clearly my own, I could tell as she stared at the mark. It wasn’t as well sealed as Alyshia’s but it did the job.

“Well it wouldn’t, I fixed it,” I said with an air of triumph. “So you don’t need to worry about it.”

Alyshia didn’t look pleased at all. “You operated on her?” Alyshia asked with a tad of venom.

“Yeah she did,” Midnight replied clearly wanting to advert a situation, she added, “She did a good job too, saved my life.”

“Amethyst, you could have done damage,” Alyshia said scathingly, her eyes filled with frustration. “You should have brought her straight here.”

“Enough!” Midnight snapped. “We’d both be dead otherwise. I’m fine, you’re not checking me over until you clam down and get some rest.” Midnight paused for a moment before shaking her head. She then returned to her sleeping spot as Alyshia signed angrily.

Scerine turned to me. “You alright?” she asked. I nodded and she leaned closer so her muzzle was in my ear. “I think she’s being unfair, she’s been pretty grumpy before you arrived so don’t take it to heart.”

I grimaced and gave her a nod.  Alyshia had been in a bad mood since we left on this particular journey, it was starting to get tiresome. I let myself relax and felt tiredness engulf me, I pushed all the bullshit to the back of my head before giving off a huge sigh. Scerine put her wing around me and somehow this managed to comfort me. “It’ll work out,” she said quietly. We found ourselves a corner away from the door and I let darkness consume me.

*                                        **                        **                      **                       *

I felt warm and cozy. Despite falling asleep on the floor near Scerine I didn’t have any blankets to keep me warm. Despite the fact that I could feel slow breathing against my head. I opened my eyes and I discovered myself in a position that I didn’t remember getting into. My head was resting on Scerine’s shoulder which rose and fell with her breathing. Her wing kept my body warm which fell over my body in a warm yet protective sort of way. I closed my eyes again. In a way, it made me feel loved, it was a different feeling that when Alyshia cared for me and it wasn’t that crazy feeling like with Midnight, it was a soft fluttery feeling deep within my heart. I mulled over these feelings for a few minutes before…

“Okay everypony time to get up,” Alyshia said loudly, interrupting my thoughts. I opened my eyes again and everything was bathed in the deep blue of Alyshia’s magic. Midnight groaned as she sat up, Alyshia appeared above me with a smile on her face. “Up you get love birds,” she said happily.

I blushed. “We’re not love birds,” I mumbled as I sat up. Scerine stirred, she rubbed her left eye with a hoof.

“What’s the time?” she said groggily.

I got to my hooves and checked my Pipbuck. “Six am,” I yawned. Something soft hit me square in the face and landed on the floor.

“You two, hurry up, food is on the desk, and we best make with haste. Amethyst, put that on, it’ll keep you warm,” Alyshia urged. “It’s going to be a long day. I don’t want to spend another night here.”

I picked up the cloak with my magic. It was Alyshia’s old brown cloak, the one she wore when we first met her. I put it on before joining my friends at the desk.

We wolfed down the food quickly, Alyshia packed her things, Scerine got into her battle armour and I secured my saddlebags in place. Once we were finished I began a quick briefing on where we were going. “Okay,” “I began, my eyes scanning the plans I had downloaded the previous day. “We need to go back to the elevator and take it down to the basement 3. I’ve got the map up so we can take it from there.”

“How are we getting down the elevator?” Scerine piped up.

“I’ll levitate it down,” I said simply. I heard Brax mutter something to Midnight but I ignored it. “Any more questions?”

Everypony shook their head. “Good,” I said with a nod. “Meep, Shut down,” I ordered. Meep fluttered onto my saddlebag strap, secured himself to it and shut down.

All too soon we were leaving the safety of the bunkered room. Alyshia and I left first, our horns lighting the way, my rifle ready. “Watch your step,” Alyshia hissed, “be super quite. No talking until we get the elevator.”

I wasn’t even ten steps from the door when my purple light shone on an upright, unmoving zombie. My heart jumped into my throat and I took an involuntary step back. Alyshia grabbed my forehoof to move me on. Stiffly I marched by Alyshia’s side, adrenaline pumping as the zombie merely stood there with no clue of the five ponies in his midst.

On the way to the elevator we encountered two further zombies, as blind as the first and completely oblivious to our presence. “They must be blind,” I whispered as I magically closed the door behind us.

“What gave you that impression?” Midnight snickered.

“I was merely curious,” I said heavily as Scerine gave me a boost onto the roof of the elevator. I passed my rifle down to Alyshia and turned to the pulley mechanism, the dead zombie from yesterday was in the way so I shifted the body so I had full 360 degree access to it. I didn’t know how this worked. I could see the pulley and the rusty steel ropes, electric wires ran into a small box with a clamp on it. Focusing on the little clamp I opened it, the elevator didn’t move.

“What’s going on?” Midnight called, “Do you need help, help, help,” he voice echoed.

“I’m fine,” I hissed. “I just need to…” I saw another clamp and written in dusty writing was listed as “Emergency break.” I opened both clamps at once. Not expecting it I almost felt my breakfast leave my stomach and the elevator suddenly dropped. Alyshia screamed, which echoed up the elevator shaft. This reignited the waves of red blips on my EFS. I let the clamps go, their snapping shut causing the elevator to grind to a halt. “Alyshia” I hissed, “don’t wake the dead.”

“Sorry,” she whispered.

I looked down to ensure everypony was okay. Brax didn’t look too pleased to be on this death ride but I felt that he would rather be here than by himself in that room. Scerine was standing idly and Alyshia was being pried off of Midnight.

“Okay, ready/” I asked. “Phase two.” Everypony nodded except for Alyshia.

I put myself back into position and released the emergency break before slowly releasing the main break. The elevator shifted, squeaking slightly as it slowly dropped. The first elevator door passed, before the second, it began to get colder as we descended, we then passed the third door. I eased the break as we came to the final door.

“Stop,” I heard Midnight say over the grinding of the cables. I snapped the breaks shut and the elevator came to a grinding halt. I jumped down into the elevator and bought up my EFS. As I did so the date popped up over my interface to indicate an important day. It was the fifth of January, my birthday. “Wow, I almost forgot today was my birthday,” I laughed. I collapsed the date and glanced for red blips.

“Happy birthday Amethyst,” Alsyhia said happily. I looked up from my EFS and looked at Alyshia.

“Thank You,” I said smiling. “I haven’t heard that from anyone apart from Berry since I was eighteen.” When I thought about it, it was my mum that mentioned my eighteenth birthday, only because she didn’t want me to steal her grog.

“Yeah, made it to twenty huh?” Midnight said with a pat on the shoulder.

“Happy birthday,” Scerine chipped in.

“It’s downhill from here,” Brax put in. “You’ll blink and then you’re thirty,” Brax said with a wave of a hoof. “Then before you know it your old like me.”

“Well let’s hope I make it to your age Brax,” I laughed. “Anyway, we have a mission to complete.” I glanced back to my EFS and there were two blips on my EFS. Is that all? I thought. I levitated my rifle into attack position. “I’m opening the door,” I said quietly. Brax, Midnight and Scerine fell into a ready stance in case of unseen or inactive enemies behind the door, I wrapped my magic around the elevator doors and pulled them apart, my purple glow showing nothing but a dusty concrete floor and ceiling. The walls were rusting steel; there was nothing to suggest danger.

I stepped out into the corridor, my hoof steps echoing through the dead corridor. The two red blips only moved when I moved and they were some distance to the front right of me. Whatever they were, they were stationary.

“”Well, this looks better?” Midnight whispered. “Maybe we won’t get mauled this time.”

“Yeah, my EFS isn’t picking up much,” I muttered, my hoof to my chin. “Which is unusual, didn’t anypony die and turn to zombies down here?”

“The taint or radiation might not have been able to get down here,” Alyshia whispered as she looked around, her blue horn light washing over around her and mingling with my purple. “We must be underground and this floor is built like a fortress.”

I walked a few paces ahead and the corridor opened up into a small steel and concrete room, there was what appeared to be a check in desk, a secure steel door and a few chairs against the wall opposite the check in desk. “Why does everything have to be secure?” I moaned. “Why can’t I just walk through?”

“If life was that easy then we wouldn’t be here,” Brax replied.

“Wise words,” I sighed as I pulled out my Pipbuck hacking cable and opening the slot on the keypad. “Let’s get to it. Meep you can activate again.”

The little dragonfly woke and took to the air before settling atop Scerine’s back.

Once plugged in, I opened up the interface to begin. I poked and prodded the password; this was made all the way harder by the password being an eight digit number rather than a password. I backed out, trying to remember the numbers I saw before. Next screen showed a mass of numbers, time to rule out numbers. In two guesses I found that there were 2 fives and no twos. After ten minutes this had begun a puzzle. I have two fives, one three, three sevens, one nine and one eight.

At least this gave me a basis to work on. I went in again after backing out for what felt like the umpteenth time and was given six eight digit numbers with the numbers that I had but in different orders. I guessed twice before backing out, I went back in and one the second try…

Ding

The door clicked and with a push of magic the door opened.

“Yay,” I said cheerfully clapping my forehooves together.

“Impressive,” Brax commented. Although from the look on his face it appeared that he actually meant it.

I smiled, “It was my job back home,” I said with a small shrug, “Only most of the passwords were easy to break, this one was harder.”

We entered through the door, the ceiling dropped significantly, Brax’s head was almost brushing the open pipes on the ceiling. “This reminds me of the lower levels back home,” I said quietly, but loud enough for everypony to hear. “Just supply corridors for the pipes, I didn’t work down there but I’ve been down there a few times when my boss came to inspect the wiring.”

“Really?” Midnight muttered back. “This is bordering on claustrophobic, and you asked me to move into the stable.”

“Oh no, the main corridors are quite wide,” I replied, “and the ceilings were about three meters high, except in the atrium, that had massive ceilings.” I thought for a moment. “The orchard was so big you could fly in it. The light replacements though,” I shuddered, “they were annoying as hell. The bulb is big but it looks small so it’s hard to tell if they work or not.”

“Would be interesting seeing plants that are actually healthy,” Alyshia said with a little laugh. “Not to mention eating fresh food.”

“Oh you’ll get that when we go back,” I said confidently. “Assuming I get a water talisman on time. I’ll show you around the stable, you don’t have to stay but I’m sure when I get the talisman that you’ll want to stay for a few days.”

“You’re not going to live there permanently when you’re done are you?” Scerine asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

I looked at the ground, not sure of an answer. I missed home, it was dull, yes. But it wasn’t like the last two months or so have been uneventful, once I had the water talisman I wanted to go back and live that lonely boring life that I deserve. Not fight each day to live, to see more atrocities.

“Amethyst?” Scerine said a little more loudly. I might have even heard a sense of urgency from her voice.

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “I have ponies in there I care about too, but I love you guys, even Brax.” Brax grunted at this. “It’s true,” I muttered, “It’ll be a hard decision.”

“Live in Cantal,” Midnight suggested. “It’s a lovely town, hardly any raiders or incidents, clean water. It’s close to your home too.”

“Maybe, if the Overmare would permit me to come and go as I please,” I said feeling a little defeated at the idea.

“Well,” Alyshia piped up, “You can demand to come and go as you please, you have the water talisman. Think about it, you can demand just about anything.”

“She’ll still say no,” I sighed.

“Then kick her out,” Alyshia said. “I’m sure the other ponies at the stable would side with you.”

“I s’pose,” I said feeling slightly elated. “We’ll see how we go.”

It was then that we came to a T-Section. I lead the group right, my mind on home, my bed, my stuff. It made me think; was my stuff going to be thrown out? Would somepony else be there? What about my job? I didn’t like the idea of somepony sleeping on my bed. After all, it was my bedroom.

“Amethyst?” Alyshia called from afar. I stopped just in time as I was about five centimeters from a solid door. I took a few paces back to get a good look at it. The door was the size of the corridor, it was rectangular, grey and it looked like an airlock door. The door had a large steel dial lock on the front and secured firmly to the door was a yellow sign made of reflective material that was peeling.

Power, Water and Air Supply. Restricted Area. Authorised ponies only.

Below that sign was a smaller sign that was made hard to read by the peeled paint.

Ministry of Magic Security applied to this area.

“Let’s hope that the Ministry of Magic defences are dodgy,” I said with a nervous laugh. “If not let’s just hope they break as easily as a water talisman.”

“I really don’t like the idea of this,” Brax growled.

“Oh we went to that MOM building back in New Saddle remember?” I said. “We dealt with the stuff fine there.”

“Not really, we struggled more with your curiosity than the defences,” Brax replied clearly. “Anyway, those defences were made of turrets. That was made by the Ministry of War and Technology. We haven’t actually seen a weapon from the Ministry of Magic.”

“True,” I said agreeing. “This door though isn’t magic by any stretch though. It’s as basic as it gets.”

“Well if it’s mechanical, you aren’t going to be getting in,” Scerine put in. “Good luck picking that.”

I examined the lock. “It’s electric, but it’s also a fire door, like the ones back home.” I glanced at my Pipbuck, noticing a corridor that we had walked passed was actually a fire exit. “This is the only way out,” I said pointing to the door. “Which means, during emergencies the door unarms.” I wrapped my magic around the large dial and hoping I was right. It didn’t turn at first and for a moment I thought I was wrong. But after a brief shriek the dial turned and the door swung open. “Phew, I would have looked like an idiot if that didn’t open,” I said with a nervous laugh.

Behind the door the concrete floors turned into a spider web of steel catwalks. Some had collapsed into the depths below. I looked down and my purple light illuminated a large generator that was under water, the surface about five meters down. Whist it was cold the water was still liquid unlike that at the New Saddle MOM Building. Red blips floated over my EFS indicating enemies. The water rippled below as something surfaced momentarily.

“Let’s go,” Midnight urged, pulling me out of my reverie.

“Right, sorry,” I whispered as I turned to walk.  My map still visible I was having issues deciphering the web of catwalks, I knew we had to go right at some point but not entirely sure where. I flicked through to the second floor of catwalks and found our prize. I stopped dead and someone walked right into my rump, almost causing me to land face first into the catwalk.

“Sorry,” Alyshia whispered apologetically. “What’s up?”

“We need to be up there,” I said as I pointed a hoof to the catwalks above. “The Talisman is on the wall on the far right.”

“We can fly up,” Midnight suggested. “I don’t know about you but I don’t want to spend the next twelve hours in here.”

“I agree,” Alyshia piped up. “You and Amethyst can go and we’ll wait here.”

“What about me?” Scerine chipped in. “I want in too.”

“I’m cool to stay here,” Brax agreed.

“Okay,” I said with a nod of my head. “Alyshia, Brax and Meep, stay down here. Meep, keep an eye for danger, if you see anything please sent off your alert.” Meep beeped to indicate the command. “Midnight and Scerine I will go to the next level and get this done.”

“How do we know if you’re in danger?” Alyshia asked with a step forward, concern etched on her face.

“Meep will know, I also have Midnight and Scerine, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” I said with what I hoped to be a warming smile.

Alyshia smiled. “Be quick and be safe,” she said before pulling me into a hug.

“Geez Alyshia,” I accepted her hug. Once we broke I clambered onto Midnights back and we were off.

The flight was short, I followed the map carefully as we ascended and told Midnight to bank right. We landed on a new catwalk, this one slightly wider than the one below. The catwalk ended against a wall with a small peeling cabinet. I squeed. “Our prize, for the taking,” I said out loud.

“Phew,” Midnight sighed. “Go for it.”

I made towards the cabinet, my heart hammering, hopeful that for once I will have the talisman. It’s in my grasp. Just a few more meters…

A flash of purple appeared before the cabinet causing me to take a step back.

“What the hell is that,” Midnight half shouted.

A small pop sound followed the light which faded away to reveal a purple unicorn mare. She had purple eyes, dark blue bane and her mane and tail was streaked with pink and purple. She looked very familiar.

“You are trespassing on Ministry of Magic property, please leave at once,” the mare said. My EFS was showing this pony as an orange blip. She wasn’t hostile but she was aggressive.

My mind clicked. “Twilight?” I said taken aback. Wasn’t she like dead two hundred years ago? She should be dead, this shouldn’t be possible. She didn’t look at age older than the posters. She looked solid, not transparent so that must mean that she’s real. I knew that I was probably screwed. Element of magic versus the one trick pony, I really didn’t want to fight Twilight.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” I asked taking a step closer and glancing at Midnight to try and catch her attention. “It’s been two hundred years, yet you’re cooped up in the hospital. You shouldn’t theoretically exist.”

“I am an apparition set up to defend this place from thieves, terrorists and intruders.” Twilight stated “The fact that you see me is proof enough that I exist. Now heed my call, leave this place.”

I raised an eyebrow. “The war is over Twilight,” I replied with a heavy sigh. “This place belongs to no one; there are no thieves or intruders so you have nothing to be worried about.” I thought for a moment before adding; “If you truly are an apparition, then why are you solid?”

“This is property of the Ministry of Magic, in support of the Ministry of Kindness,” Twilight said simply. “It matters not if there is a war or not, this is still the property of the equestrian government.”

“Which is gone,” I said slowly and simply. “I need that talisman, if you really want to help ponies then let me pass, it serves no use here.”

I looked at Midnight and she caught my eye. I gave a little nod to indicate her to try and pry it from the box while I kept Twilight distracted.

“No,” Twilight said in an authoritarian tone. “You will not pass,” Twilight growled Midnight was at the box trying to pry it open. Her horn glowed and then she whipped around and shot an angry purple bolt of energy at Midnight. Midnight jumped at the last second, taking to the air. The blast hit the little box which left a sizable mark in the cabinet’s door.

My heart sank, Twilight tried to aim another shot at Midnight so Rifle in magic I entered SATS, Twilight turned to see me aiming at her and just as I shot, her shield went up which absorbed the bullet completely. Midnight swooped for the box again and Twilight aimed another spell. Taking caution to the wind I jumped on her back and covered her eyes with my hooves.

“Get off me,” Twilight shouted as she tried to buck me off. “You can’t take it.” I slid from her back, my forehooves slipped from her face and I grabbed onto her mane to prevent me from falling off. Twilight wrapped me in her magical aura and pulled me off of her, she didn’t seem too impressed and I didn’t blame her. Scerine swept through and she grabbed hold of me and took to the air, breaking Twilight’s hold on me. That was when she turned on Midnight who was now using a piece of pipe to break into the cabinet.

“Scerine drop me back down again,” I said loudly. “She’s going to blast Midnight.” Scerine turned and made for the catwalk again. She dropped me behind Twilight who was now facing Midnight. Scerine took to the air again I ran at Twilight, but it was too late, Twilight shot her spell and at the last second, Scerine landed in front of Midnight and took the full blow of the spell. She was blasted back and Midnight had to leap out of the way as Scerine hit the wall, her armour slanging loudly against the wall.

“How dare you hit one of my friends!” I roared. I launched myself at Twilight, wrestling the unicorn to the ground, her horn lit and she tried to melt my face off but I pushed her head into the steel. I felt a blow to my stomach as she kicked me in the gut. I tried to keep her head away from me so she couldn’t cast but my right forehoof became locked in hers. She wrapped me in her magic and threw me across the catwalk as hard as she could. Pain burst through the left side of my body as it hit the steel, acting almost like a cheese grater on it. I had not a second to react as I saw a huge bolt of magic surge towards me. I activated my shield and the spell hit the shield so hard that the outer layer of magic jumped from the surface before rippling like a tsunami.

“What?” Twilight shouted. “How did you block that?”

I dropped the shield. “It’s my special talent!” I shouted back, flashing my cutie mark. The words came naturally from my mind and somehow I felt that my shield was part of my special talent. .

“Makes sense,” Twilight said coolly. She didn’t aim at me again, instead turning back towards Midnight and Scerine who still hadn’t gotten up from her direct hit. Midnight grabbed the what I hoped to be unconscious Scerine in her hooves and jumped from the platform. I seized this opportunity to lift Twilight in my own field of magic but this hardly disabled her. Her horn burst to life and in an instant my magic on her dropped. She dropped to the ground and without warning a huge bolt of purple lightning surged straight for my face, I threw my shield up and turned my face away, the bolt hit the shield which shattered like it was glass. I felt my muscles seize as the spell struck me in the side of the face and I collapsed to the floor. I looked back at Twilight and saw that Midnight was at it again with the cabinet.

“You won’t kill me,” I growled. “You’re too righteous for that.”

“No, just enough to get you out of here,” Twilight said casually as she walked towards me. I saw Midnight break open the cabinet and extract what was within. When Midnight took to the air I jumped back to my hooves and without looking at Twilight I jumped from the catwalk. I sailed through the air and about halfway to the liquid surface Midnight caught me on her back and sailed towards the others.

“Go, go go!” I shouted as the green blips appeared. “Run!”

All my companions save for Scerine who was roped to Brax began to run back towards the safety door. Midnight landed behind Brax who was at the back of the group. I jumped from Midnight’s back and landed roughly.

POP

I glanced over my shoulder and Twilight, the magic of her teleportation spell fading was running from behind. Her horn charged up and just as I stepped over the threshold her spell fired. I threw up my shield and with an explosive BANG the shield absorbed a vast majority of the spell before shattering. I was blown forward by the remaining impact and smacked my chin on the concrete. Stars burst in front of my vision but I jumped back up and slammed the door in Twilight’s face. A loud, satisfying clang followed. My satisfaction however was marred as I heard the sound of wrenching metal. Twilight held the safety door in her field of magic, fire was in her eyes and somehow I could tell that now she was prepared to kill. She shrunk the safety door and threw it like a frisbee. I activated my shield again to protect not only myself but my fellow companions ahead. The shield took the door without collapsing.

I continued to run for my life, Brax about two meters in front, Scerine’s tail hanging over his. We made the turn at the appropriate turn and ran back through the security door with Twilight just meters behind. Suddenly my hooves left the ground, only about twenty meters from the elevator and I was hung upside down. I looked wildly about and saw Twilight charge another missile spell. I activated my shield, this time taking extra care to bind the spell to form my most powerful shield yet.

“Amethyst!” Alyshia screamed. I dropped to the ground and Twilight’s spell fired and hit the shield explosively. The surface of the shield jumped at the impact of the huge purple bolt, purple embers raining onto the ground but it didn’t collapse.

I only saw the look of shock as I ran back into the elevator, my shield spell still active until I reached the threshold. I slammed the elevator door shut and feeling incredibly jumpy from the adrenaline, I threw myself up to the opening to the shaft. Alyshia wrapped her magic around me and gave me a little push. I darted strait for the breaks and released them, the elevator dropping slightly as my telekinesis wrapped around the elevator itself. I pushed the elevator up, my magic straining as I pushed my magic to the edge. It creeped up one floor at a time, I wasn’t going to stop. We were going to have to go to the roof. I snapped the breaks shut as the elevator neared the ceiling itself before jumping down. I pulled the elevator doors apart. There was a small ledge we had to step on but the elevator was in a good enough position. Once everypony was out I slammed the elevator doors shut behind us. Alyshia gave an odd kind of laugh, as if she couldn’t believe we were alive.

I took a few deep breaths before asking Midnight; “So, did you get it?”

“Yeah I did,” Midnight said flashing the talisman that was wrapped firmly around her neck.

“Good,” I sighed. “Now we just need to figure out how to get out of here.”

“Is Scerine okay?” I asked Brax. I heard noise from Scerine but it was barely audible.

“Sounds like her armour shut down,” Brax replied

I un-roped Scerine from Brax and levitated her down, I opened her visor. Scerine was conscious. “Thank goodness you’re alive,” Scerine said, her charcoal face full of relief. “Err, my armour shut down,” Scerine said with a strange laugh. Do you mind rebooting me?”

I plugged my Pipbuck into her armour and restarted it. After about a minute she could move again. “Ow, my ankle” she muttered as she got shakily to her hooves.

“Are you alight?” I asked.

“Yeah, that spell kinda felt like being hit with a huge piece of hot metal, I think I did more damage to my hoof,” she replied.

“I’ll take a look at it soon,” Alyshia promised. “We just need to get out of here.”

“We can use that,” Midnight suggested pointing to an old carriage painted in white with a peeling red cross.

Alyshia blinked. “Is that an old pegasi pulled ambulance that I see?”

“Lucky,” I said with a grin. “We need to get going.”

“What about DJ Pon-3’s relay tower?” Brax reminded us.

“Oh fuck,” I sighed remembering the promise I made to Homage. “Yes we need to fix that first.”

“Relay tower?” Scerine asked. “I can do that, what’s it for?”

“The radio,” I replied. “Homage asked me to fix it while we were here, I couldn’t refuse as she gave us the information that lead us here.”

“I’m on it,” Scerine said. “Where is it?”

I looked at my Pipbuck and found the mark Homage had left on it. “Meep can you please take Scerine to the relay tower?”

Meep obeyed, taking the map from my pipbuck and the duo took to the air.

“Hey Scerine!” I shouted after she took off. She stopped for a moment looking back at me. “Thanks.” I said with a smile. Scerine simply saluted and left us.

Midnight and Brax were to be found under the ambulance, probably trying to determine if it still worked. “You were brave,” Alyshia suddenly said. She placed a hoof on my shoulder and I looked up at her. “You took that- those spells for us. You’re a faster runner than myself and Brax and you kept yourself at the back. That last one, I could see how much you cared when you threw that shield up.”

I looked at her, Alyshia’s face was bloody from the previous day, her blue eyes glassy and she looked pretty shell shocked. “I did what I had to,” I replied. “I couldn’t defeat her, she’s much too powerful.”

“You don’t realise how powerful you actually are Amethyst,” Alyshia said with a little smile. “Not in the way you’re thinking either. In the way you hold yourself, there aren’t that many ponies that would take a hit for another.”

“I’ve always put you guys first,” I said feeling confused.

“The power of friendship,” Alyshia told me. “Is the most powerful I have seen. Twilight wasn’t with her friends, she was by herself. Even if she’s an illusion, she was the shell of herself without her friends. You defeated her spell with your will to protect us.”

I shrugged. “I was protecting myself as much as you guys.”

“That might be true,” Alyshia replied. “But you still sought our protection.”

“She’s a go’er,” Midnight interrupted as she came out from the underneath of the ambulance.

“Now we just need to wait for Scerine to get back,” Brax put in.

      *                                        **                        **                      **                       *

Scerine was back after about an hour. She landed awkwardly on the roof, her right forehoof not touching the ground. “Done,” Scerine said happily. “We can go now.”

“I’ll fly,” Midnight said. Midnight hesitated for a second before walking over to Scerine. “Look,” Midnight said. “I know I’ve been hard on you but…” she hesitated again. “I owe you one for what you did down there.”

“It’s no problem,” Scerine said.

“Amethyst might just be right about you,” Midnight finished before turning to me and handing over the water talisman, she then turned her back and strapped herself to the front of the ambulance.

It was then that we all boarded the ambulance, Brax having removed the useless stuff to make room. Once the door was shut Midnight took off. Scerine got out of her armour at the insistence of Alyshia to look at her forehoof. “Are you okay?” I asked the charcoal coloured pegasus.

“Should be,” Scerine replied as Alyshia scanned the injured limb. “So what now?” Scerine asked.

“We gotta take this home first,” I said holding the precious object in my magic to show it off. “Anyway, I should probably…” I placed the talisman in my saddlebags which were now on the floor.

Alyshia patched up Scerine and she was free to move around. I was half asleep at the back, trying to forget that place. The dark, the zombies, the dark illusion of Twilight Sparkle. I wanted to forget that place forever, despite finally having my prize it was marred by what I had seen. I felt Scerine’s foreleg wrap around my shoulders and she let my head fall on her shoulder. Darkness fell away and I slipped into darkness.

      *                                        **                        **                      **                       *

I opened my eyes. My head was resting on Scerine’s shoulders still, she was awake and our eyes locked for a moment. Without realizing what I was doing I nuzzled her, in return she pushed a piece of stray manky black hair out of my left eye. I felt at ease with her here, her green eyes full of life and warmth. “How long have we been flying for?” I asked, my eyes on hers.

“About and two and a half hours,” Scerine replied. “Midnight’s going to drop soon as the light is starting to fade.”

I nodded, it would be nice once we got back to the stable but that won’t be till tomorrow at the very least. A hot shower would be first on my to-do list. I knew I had a huge decision to make soon, to stay or to go. I thought back to Alyshia telling me that I could demand to come and go in exchange for the talisman. It was defiantly an option and I could visit every now and then. I pushed the thoughts from my mind, which was a decision for later.

After about half an hour, Midnight began to drop, clearly finding a place to land. It didn’t take long and I felt a slight bump as the wheels touched the ground. Scerine and I got to our hooves and I strapped my saddlebags in place. Alyshia and Brax had fallen asleep on opposite ends of the carriage. I shook Alyshia awake. “We’ve landed,” I told her.

Alyshia yawned. “Goodie,” she replied, getting to her hooves. Scerine woke Brax and we all disembarked. I took a look around. We had landed near a steep incline, a large pony made cave imbedded within.

It was starting to get dark. I spotted Midnight stretching her wings. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that this trip to that Hospital is over,” Midnight said happily. “Never again…”

“I concur,” I replied. ‘So we’re sleeping here tonight?”

“Yep,” Midnight said. “Then tomorrow we’ll try and make the full leg to your stable.” I nodded and that’s when Midnight approached me. “So?” she asked. “Are you staying or are you coming to live in Cantal?”

I rubbed my left foreleg in nervousness. “I’m not really sure,” I sighed. “I’m leaning more on the coming to Cantal side butt I won’t know for sure until I get home.”

Midnight held a hoof to my shoulder. “I’ll support you no matter the decision. So long as you come visit.”

I smiled. “Defiantly.”

As the sky began to go from dark grey to black we entered the cave, it had a concrete floor but the rest of the cave was natural rock. Hanging from the cave ceiling about five meters high were light’s that no longer worked or had no electricity. Nothing on my EFS showed that something else lived here, which was a relief. Once we were about thirty meters in we stopped. Brax dropped lumber on the ground and proceeded to light a fire. It didn’t take long and a small fire was crackling away, providing warmth in this cold dry cave. I took my saddlebags off and dumped them to the side before dropping to my haunches.

Alyshia cooked some dinner, Brax was eating right out of the can. Midnight had a packet of jerky *Shudder* and Scerine pulled out a bunch of grapes and an apple. Scerine passed the apple to me. I hesitated, not wanting to take such luxurious food from her. “You can take it,” Scerine pushed.

I took the apple and bit into it. It was juicy, like the ones back home. I hadn’t eaten food like this for ages. “I missed fresh food,” I sighed as I polished it off, core and all.

“We can’t wait to taste some,” Alyshia said as she stirred herbs and beans together. “Does the stable have apples?”

I nodded. “They have many produce, the earth ponies do the growing. I think there are ten varieties of fruit and another ten of vegetables.”

The apple was by no means enough for dinner so Alyshia served up a portion of the cooked meal to me. It was a little spicy but that hid the taste of ancient food so it wasn’t too bad. Not as good as the apple though.

     *                                        **                        **                      **                       *

After dinner I took a long draught of water before placing it back in my saddlebags. Scerine tapped me on the shoulder. “Do you want to go for a walk?” she asked nervously.

I nodded. “Sure,” I said before getting to my hooves, igniting my horn as I did so.

Scerine and I walked slowly to the mouth of the cave. She seemed to be going slow on purpose and she hadn’t said a word since we left. She looked nervous for one, but what, I couldn’t tell. What could she be so nervous about?

We exited the cave and that’s when she stopped. I looked Scerine full in the face and she looked like she was going to pass out. “Scerine, what’s up?” I asked.

She took a deep breath and tried to say something but nothing came out from her muzzle. She was starting to make me feel nervous too. She took another deep breath before finally saying. “Can you close your eyes for me?”

“Oh sure,” I said before closing my eyes. What was this about?

“I need to tell you something,” Scerine said nervously.

“Sure what is it?” I asked curiously.

“Happy Birthday.”

What? Is that it? She dragged me all the way out here to say Happy Birthday? I was about to open my eyes when I felt something soft touch my lips. I literally felt my heart jump a thousand miles into the air. Was this happening? I must be dreaming, this kind of stuff only happens in dreams. I kissed her back, it was the most wonderful thing I have ever felt. Scerine held a hoof to my temple to prevent my mane from flopping down in the way. After what felt like an hour we broke apart. I opened my eyes and Scerine was smiling. “I had to tell you how I felt,” Scerine finally said. “I’m glad you feel the same way.” I threw myself at her and gave her a strong hug. She placed her hooves behind my head and held me tight.

“I’m glad you found me,” I finally said.

“I’m glad too,” Scerine said quietly. “We had best get back though or they’ll begin to worry.” I nodded and we broke apart. I had a spring in my step as we walked back, as I’m sure Scerine did as well. I found my special somepony, finally I found her. I dipped my horn as we came back to the fire, Scerine and I sitting together.

“What are you two chirpy about?” Brax asked.

“Nothing,” I said in a squeak.

Scerine nodded to confirm. “Nothing.”

Alyshia was smiling in a knowingly sort of way, she knew what had happened and she struggled to keep her composure as a thousand questions were clearly on the tip of her tongue. Midnight didn’t seem to care as she chewed on her meat meal.

Alyshia shook her head and looked down at Midnight. “How in Celestia’s name do you eat that Midnight?” Alyshia asked.

Midnight shrugged. “It’s salty,” she said, her mouth full of dry beef.

Alyshia looked back and at me and finally she couldn’t contain it. “Do you mind if I borrow Amethyst for a moment?” she asked Scerine.

Scerine cocked her head as to why Alyshia was asking her that, she finally gave a single nod.

Alyshia pulled me to my hooves and marched me just beyond earshot of the others. “You two kissed didn’t you?” she asked, her voice full of excitement and hope.

I rubbed my foreleg nervously with the other. I finally said “Yes,” my mouth twisting into a smile.

Alyshia squeed. “How was it?”

“It was great,” I said excitedly. “Scerine really likes me.”

“Ohh I’m so happy for you,” Alyshia cried. “So you two are an item them?”

“Yeah I think so,” I said. “That’s how Scerine put it anyway.”

Alyshia managed to calm down. “Okay, let’s get back.”

“Actually, Alyshia,” I said. “Can you keep this quite, only until I get around to telling Midnight?”

“Sure, just don’t leave it too long,” she said.

I nodded and with that we returned. I sat back down next to Scerine. “What did she want?” she whispered in my ear.

“She knew we kissed, our faces gave it away,” I whispered back. “I told her to keep it quite though, at least until I can get around to telling Midnight. I’m not sure how she’ll take it.”

“Good idea,” Scerine whispered back.

The rest of the evening was spent recounting tales back at the hospital, everything from the zombies, to the elevator, to Twilight. Before we knew it, it was time for bed. "I just need to go to the toilet,” I said to Scerine. “I’ll be right back.”

I went deeper into the cave to do my business, the rocky walls of the cave however turned into towering columns of forty four gallon drums, their surfaces dusty. I stopped and glanced at a barrel at eye height. I placed a hoof on the label and ran it across the surface.

Impelled Metamorphosis Po-

My hoof sunk into the barrel, it was like it was paper thin. I pulled my hoof back and green sludge emptied at my hooves. I took a step back. My forehoof covered in the green stuff. Without warning the barrel I touched collapsed under the others and the barrels fell over me.

“Amethyst?” I heard Alyshia scream.

I was lying in the green muck, it began to burn and prickle violently, as if my skin was bubbling. It felt wrong, I tried to get up but I came crashing back to the ground in a dull slop. The burning sensation was getting stronger.

“Alyshia,” I cried out. “Help.”

I was finally pulled from the muck, I had no energy and the burning and prickling sensations were painful. Alyshia’s horn glowed and everything went black.

         *                                        **                        **                      **                       *

I opened my eyes and was staring at a ceiling, the familiar beep beep beep sound filling my ears. I felt somepony holding my hoof. I looked to my right and Scerine was sleeping, her head against the bed and my hoof wrapped in hers. I remembered the kiss. That amazing kiss that she gave me. I was taken back to the strange and painful burning and prickling sensation. So that must have hospitalized me, I thought. I felt a strange sensation on my back but that could be from the exposure to that chemical. I pushed it out of my mind. “Scerine?” I pulled my hoof out of hers and placed it on her foreleg. “Scerine?”

Scerine woke up. It took her a moment to register that I was awake but once she did her muzzle spread into a wide smile. “Welcome back,” she said.

“Glad to be back,” I replied.