"Like hell you are!"

The voice came from my muzzle, but I didn't say it. An invisible force pushed me backwards, making me hit my head on the floor. Before I could get back up, my hoof contacted my face. Then, again. And again. Pepper's body was attacking itself! It might have been her body, but I was still feeling the pain.

"What the hell are you doing!" Nico finally held the hoof back. "You're hurting yourself!"

My eye was swollen shut. "It wasn't me." I breathed.

He struggled to hold the hoof back. "What are you talking about?"

My mouth opened on its own. "It was me, you idiot! Get her out of my body!"

Pepper.

I tried to stand, but was met with another punch from the other hoof. "First, you tried to kill me," Punch. "Now, you're trying to take over my body?!" Hit. "I'll kill you!"

Mixer took the other hoof and held it down.

"Pepper, stop! You're injuring your body!" Nico yelled.

"I don't care! Get her out!" She squirmed. I could feel her in my mind, trying to force me out. It was similar to having a conscious that controls your body.

"Pepper, please! I'm sorry, but I'm telling the truth. It really wasn't me that tried to kill you! I mean, at first it was... I was just so mad. I didn't want you to die, though!" I forced my own words through. She calmed her thrashing, slightly. "I'm sorry!"

"You think you can just waltz down here and take anything you want! You got us all in this mess and now you're sorry?" She argued.

"I didn't want this to happen. I wanted to go back home the minute they sent me down here. Hope just came out of nowhere. Then, this stuff happened. I'm trying my best to save you! I don't want anyone to die because of me..."

Not another word came from her. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, either. We shared a body, now, but our emotions and thoughts were separate. It was kind of scary, actually. I wondered if she would do something to hurt us both when her legs were free. I felt a hint of breathlessness as I thought about it.

"I just can't trust you." She finally said. "I trust nopony, anymore." Our eyes fell on Nico. "Especially not him."
I could see him falling apart. "I... I-"

"Shut up, Nico. You left me. You let them take me!" She cried.

"I didn't! I didn't... I thought y-you left me. There was a note. You left me!" He held her hoof. "I loved you."

She rolled over, snatching her hoof away. "It's a lie."

He stayed quiet, twisting his face into shame. I pitied him. If only I weren't in so much denial, I could have listened to that recording while I still had a Pipbuck. I suddenly realized how much I actually took the thing for granted. There was so much I could use it for, but I didn't. Of course, I didn't actually know how to use it. Most of the features, anyway. I never exactly wore a Pipbuck back home.

I (we?) stood up. "Maybe we should go." I took control over our mouth. She didn't resist, staying silent for a few minutes.

As I began to walk away, she finally spoke up. "I'll never forgive you. Any of you. The sooner we get your body back, the better. I'm leaving when I get the chance."

I didn't say anything, thinking it would be best to keep my muzzle shut. Truthfully, I didn't want her to leave. The guilt was gnawing at the back of my mind.

Why do I mess everything up?

We had already grabbed our stuff and headed back to meet up with the others. Mixer and Nico walked ahead of Pepper and me. The trip was silent, save for the occasional distant gunshot and rolling thunder. It was extremely difficult to keep my mind off of what had just went down. After all, I was stuck in the same body as the mare I tried to kill. Even if it really wasn't me, I still felt responsible. Was it not me who started the fight? Was it not my anger that caused me to lose control? The answer to both questions was yes. Yes it was.

In an attempt to think of something else, I tried to figure out how this would work. It seemed as though we shared equal control of this body. If I wasn't focused on moving a specific limb, Pepper was, and vice versa. Walking for a long distance was tolling, though. A couple of times, we nearly ended up on our faces as we got confused. She finally gave up, letting me do the walking. I'm guessing because it wasn't her journey to make, in the first place.

I thought about my family, again. My grandparents. I wish I could tell them I had finally found my dad. Unfortunately, there was a possibility their daughter (my mother) was dead. Daddy had said she left, willingly. I didn't think of him as somepony who would lie about that sort of thing. If she left willingly, surely it was because of something good. She was helping the ponies of the wasteland. Yeah, that's it! She was probably fighting off monsters and reuniting foals with their parents.

Like I'm supposed to be doing.

I sighed at the thought. The foals that were taken by Hope could have been anywhere. I still didn't even know where she was. Why was it so hard for me to focus on my tasks?

Zangth's hospital came up in the distance. It had taken us a couple of hours to get there. We were late meeting with the others, but the... unforeseen circumstances delayed our trip. I hadn't noticed before, but the hospital was in fairly good shape. The one-story building proudly showed off a cracked Ministry of Peace symbol on the face of the front wall that also had a few cracks. It would be nothing for them to worry about, though. The building would probably last a couple hundred more years, and longer if taken care of properly. The walk-way was lined with claw-like, extinct hedges.
I would never forget the poster of the yellow pegasus as we walked through the main entrance. Her eyes pleading, "We must do better." It gave me chills.

Violet, Redd, Zangth, and Cherish were already waiting in the lobby when we dragged ourselves in. Violet, of course, was the first to speak up after she looked at each of us. "What the hell happened? Where is Sia?" She worried.

"Here." I squeaked. The entire room stared at me.

"Who are you?" Redd stepped up, narrowing his eyes.

I had to explain the entire situation to everyone. And I had to explain it again, after almost everyone doubted what I had said.

"But who is Pepper?" Violet asked. At least she believed me, now.

I swallowed, not wanting to say it.

Thankfully, I didn't have to. My lips were moving before I could think. "I'm Pepper. An acquaintance of Nico. Like it's any of your business."

My best friend backpedaled at the change of voice. That, or the attitude she was getting.

Redd rolled his eyes. "This is a joke. It's a joke, right?" He looked at Mixer, who sadly shook his head.

Realizing that this, indeed, was serious, Redd's narrowed eyes widened. "Oh... Oh goddesses." He shot across the room, frantically. "This is terrible! W-Why did... What... How do we get you back?!"

"As much as I would like answers to this, I also would like to know if you had any leads on the foals? It's quite urgent." Zangth furrowed his brow, sweating.

"No, we didn't." Nico said, looking away. "We didn't see them, but I think they may have set fire to Bean's Tavern."

Nice to know a little bit of your brain is coming back. I thought to myself.

Mixer tensed. "Who would want to destroy the tavern? I've never hurt anypony!"

"To distract you all, of course." Pepper said. I felt our eyes roll. "I wasn't here and even I know how a villain thinks. You are a stupid bunch of ponies, aren't you?"

Violet huffed, red in the face. "Why don't you say that when you aren't sharing a body with my BFF?"

Pepper nickered. "Why don't you do something about it, now?"

"You know damn well why I can't do that." Violet growled.

"Enough! We've more important matters at hoof!" Zangth stomped, echoing through the lobby.

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't feel like getting my face pummeled, again.

"They're probably back at their hide out, by now." Redd crossed his hooves as he sat down.

I listened to the bickering of my friends, trying to think of something. Out of the commotion I heard my father mumbling something to himself.

"-all that work on my hat collection. I even had to sneak past Ol' Silky to get to it."

I forced mine and Pepper's gaze to him. "Did you say Silky?"

He was puzzled. "Yes? Do you... know about her?"

I thought back to the card I found with the sewing machine. "Silky is Rarity's cousin. The pearls were supposed to be in the basement of her boutique."

Mixer scratched his neck. "Well, Ol' Silky is still at her boutique, but..."

My heart skipped a beat. I knew there was bad news coming up. Everyone was listening by that point.

He sighed. "During the battle of Shattered Hoof, a battalion of zebras wanted to use the boutique as a resting spot. Silky wouldn't let them, though. She told them to get out or they would 'hear from her lawyers'. The zebra just so happened to have some kind of grenade that blew the building up."

"I, too, have heard this story from my father." Zangth said. "My great ancestors were developing a grenade-type explosive that was laced with necromancy magic and radiation. What better way to test it than to throw it in a building away from Luna's army and on one of their enemies? Only one was finished, but the zebras saw what it did to the mare who owned the boutique, so they abandoned the idea." His face soured. "The war tainted them, making them yearn for blood."

"It wasn't your fault, Zangth, nor anyone's." Cherish said, softly. "It was before our time."

Zangth gave her a half smile. I felt terrible freaking out about him, earlier. I seemed to do that a lot.

"Wouldn't the blast have attracted Celestia or Luna's attention?" I asked out of curiosity.

Mixer cleared his throat. "The shop was far enough away from Shattered Hoof that no one noticed. The blast that took down the building wasn't even megaspell tier. It was more like a quiet implosion of the structure."

"How do you know that, anyway?" Violet asked.

Mixer shrugged. "Old folks. Old ghouls. I hear stories while bartending." Then he frowned. "Or rather, I used to..."

I put a hoof on his shoulder. "It's alright, Dad. Maybe once this is all over, we can rebuild the tavern."

He smiled. "Thank you, sweetheart. I knew you would make me proud."

I returned the grin. "Right now, we need you to show us where the boutique is."

And he frowned, again. "No. Absolutely not! Ol' Silky is not a normal ghoul.She's bigger. She spits acid balls the size of Redd's head,-"

"Hey!"

"-and you can't kill her. She doesn't die! You can blast her to ashes and she would just regenerate!" He gnawed on his hooves.

I noticed my mouth was wide open listening to this horrendous description. Pepper didn't try to close it, either. Shaking the look from my face, I gulped.

"That would be the necromantic magic. It makes her almost indestructible." Zangth added. "It's far too dangerous to attempt such a thing."

"You don't have to do this, Sia." Nico said. "There's got to be another way."

I tried to look away from him, but I couldn't. Pepper was keeping her gaze on him.

If I couldn't get to those pearls, would Hope be able to? Could I afford to ignore the possibility of somepony getting to them in the future? I probably couldn't. Even Silky wouldn't be able to guard her shop, forever. I could have sworn I felt an anxiety attack.

"Can you stop panicking? You're making my heart race." I felt my mouth move.

"Sorry." I said, sheepishly. "Some things are hard to control."

We rolled our eyes without my consent. "No wonder your body was so easily taken. You must be a wreck. It's not that hard to force your body out of panic. Just don't worry."

I felt the jab at a mental level. Telling someone with anxiety to just "not worry" is like telling the sky not to be blue. I stayed quiet. I really didn't want to speak to her, after that.

It might have been anger-induced, but I knew what I had to do.

"I'm still going." I said, regretting it before I had even got the words out.

"You can't be serious?"

"What?!"

I wanted to cover my face, but Pepper stood, unmoving.

I forced the words out. "I-I need to do this. There are lives at stake. The foals, too."

Then quiet as I was, once again, in the spotlight.

"I'll... do it myself, then." I said. "I know I'm weak. I know I'm just a worrier. It's gotten in the way too many times, but I want to change that. I want to actually do some good. I signed up for the Enclave because that's the heart of it, right? To do better? Or, what it was supposed to be. I've been so afraid of death, and I know that everyone and everything dies, eventually. I realize, now that... maybe if I can't save anyone, I can die trying to make Equestria a better place." I choked up. "Even if it means dying, alone."

Nopony spoke. They just stared at me with mixed emotions. Cherish was the only one to tear up.

"No, you will not." Mixer broke the silence. "If you have to do it..." He paused. "Then, I guess I'm going, too."

"I'll go, too." Nico stood.

Violet grabbed Redd's shoulder. "Psh, you know you can't leave me and Redd behind!"

Redd gave an exasperated sigh. "Yep."

I smiled (as much as I could, anyway). My friends had my back.

"Doctor. Ghoul. Death!" Zangth hissed as he pointed to himself, towards the outside, and to the ceiling, respectively.

I went to turn, but my hooves firmly stayed in place. Pepper.

"You forget who's body you're in, don't you? You can't just come in and say you're going to get us killed. Don't I have a say in this?" She argued.

"I know, Pepper. I wish I had my body back, too. First, we should-"

"Oh, shut up, chicken shit. I'm going along for the ride. But, if I come close to death, again, I'm going to drag your soul out and beat it to Tartarus."

"You're all fools, but you are brave fools. A shipment of supplies came in, this morning. I suppose I can spare a few healing potions, bandages, and Rad-Away." He rubbed his temple, annoyed.

"Thanks, Zangth. We will get those foals back, I promise." I said.

He shook his head, walking away towards a supply area. "Promises are hard to keep if you're dead."

When he was out of sight, Cherish gave a sly grin. "Asshole." She joked. Then, she followed him.

I let out a breath I was holding.

What have I done?

Mixer led us northwest of the hospital. It wasn't too far from where the Tavern stood. I could smell moisture with a hint of burnt wood in the air. I found it funny that we had our own herd. The six of us were definitely a misfit bunch: A bartender, an Enclave officer, a "superhero", an asshole (yep that was his title according to me), and a coward sharing a body with a semi-psycho. If Silky had any wits to her, she would probably laugh at us.

The two things I noticed once we stopped on the hill over the location: The boutique was completely obliterated and no feral ghoul was in sight. There was nothing around but a pile of brick and wooden frame surrounded by dead trees. Silky definitely had this place hidden. I stepped forward, squinting my eyes. My pegasus eyes were better, but I could still see the back wall still stood about half a pony's height. The rubble piled around that area, revealing the floor that was still intact. That basement entrance had to be somewhere.

"Okay, nothing here. Let's go home." Redd began.

"Wait." I said. I tip-toed, slowly and quietly, towards the destruction. As I came closer, I saw that the pile had a sickly, pink, pulsating glow to it.

Oh, shit.

With my heart dropping to my stomach, I turned tail and trotted back just as silent as I came. Boy, my wings sure would have been pretty useful. I stopped in front of my father, who watched with pure terror.

"Dad, is that Silky? Please tell me that's not Silky." I whispered.

He nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"That thing is as big as Redd's ego!" Violet hissed.

"Really getting tired of you making fun of-"

"How the hell are we supposed to beat that?! Especially, if it doesn't die!" She spoke over Redd.

I caught myself biting my (Pepper's?) hoof. She must have snatched it out of our mouth. "Will you stop doing that! Ugh!" She shook the hoof, removing the saliva.

"Sorry! I-I'm a little nervous." I replied, shakily.

"For good reason." Mixer said, stepping next to me. "We shouldn't do this. It's not your fault what happens to anypony. That's how the wasteland works, anyway. You try your best to help others, but you also have to stay alive." He put a wing on my shoulder.

"He's right." Redd spoke. "This is just a way to get killed, for sure."

I took a deep breath, calming my tightening chest. "I have to do this. I-It may be the only way. I can't hide forever."

"B-but what if something happens to you?" Violet hugged me.

I gave a moment of silence. Mostly for myself. "Something is going to happen to me anyway, if we let Hope or... Blight take control of the wasteland." I looked around at my friends. Their faces all worried.

Except Nico. He watched the soft glow under the rubble, lost in thought.

I moved next to him, sharing his gaze.

"This is a bad idea." He said, unmoving.

"I know." I trembled, again.

"How are you going to do it?"

I paused. I really had no idea. "I-I'm open to suggestions."

The only other sound I heard was his breathing. I flattened mine and Pepper's ears, waiting for a response. Any response.

Finally, he stood, took off the saddlebags with part of our supplies, and held his rifle in front of him. Then, he hoofed it to me. "Look there, just behind that twisted clothes rack."

I tried to hold it in my hooves, but it was too heavy. It kept slipping from me. I felt our eyes roll again and Pepper's horn lit up, grasping the gun in her aura. The magic felt strange, even though I wasn't controlling it.

Through the scope, I could see small parts of Silky under the stone. What was left of her hide had been a pale violet color. However, this is not what I was entirely focused on. There, on the other side of a bronze rack, was a cellar door. I could clearly see a terminal next to it. It would probably be the only way to unlock it.

I faced the rest of the group. "I see it! The basement is right on the other side!" I instantly deflated. "But I don't know how to hack into a terminal."

My mouth began to move, again. "Wow. You can't pick locks, you can't hack terminals. What can you do?"
I looked down. I deserved that.

Nico glared at me. Or Pepper. He was staring at the right eye. If I remember, correctly, it was Pepper's eye color.

"I can hack terminals." Violet said, proudly. "I taught myself a few things down here."

I cheered up, a little bit. "I don't want you to get hurt, though."

"Why do you think they call me Flashbang? I can be gone in a flash!"

I saw Redd wince out of the corner of my eye. "That was painfully cheesy."

I had to hide a giggle.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Redd Head."

"I think I may have a plan, then. But only if you're sure you want to-"

"Sia, I told you, you are not going in alone. We're your friends, your family! We won't let you down!" Violet saluted, playfully.

"I'm not." Pepper spoke up. "I've known this idiot for a day and I still don't see what the big deal is with this mare." She scratched her ear with her hind hoof. It kind of hurt.

Nico interrupted before another argument broke out. "Pepper, I've already argued with Violet once. It does nothing but hurt someone else." The hint of sadness on his face was directed towards me, at my left eye. I almost felt bad for calling him an asshole. Almost. I was still angry about the drugs.

Pepper scoffed. "I'm not arguing. I'm giving my opinion." I felt out head turn towards the pile of glowing ghoul. "And that will be easy to get past. Look at her. She's covered in rocks. Odds are there is dust and smaller debris in her ears. She won't hear you unless you're just waltzing up there. Seriously, people. Simple. Stuff."

For three whole seconds, I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Pepper was helping me? I mean, she was as smart as she was crazy, but she was helping me? The rest of our party scratched their head or had to do a double take.
"What? Would you like me to prove it to you?" Yep. Crazy.

"No, no, no! We believe you!" I halted her first step towards the boutique, making us falter.

After gaining our composure, I went over a half-assed plan, praying it would work. "So, the best I could come up with, is that Violet, Pepper and I could sneak down there and unlock the terminal. Meanwhile, the rest of you could stay up here and watch out for Silky. If she starts to wake up, whistle or something. Maybe, we can get away before she notices."

"This plan sucks." Pepper said, flatly.

"Only because you have to come with us." Violet snarked. "It's not Sia can leave you here."

Pepper squished Violets snout with her own. "The only reason I'm allowing her to drag my body into this is so she can get the fuck out of it."

"Girls! Girls, calm down, please." Redd pushed himself between them. "We need to stay on track."

"He's right." I said, forcing Pepper's hooves backwards. It only took a little resistance. "Once we have the pearls, I'm sure we can go from there."

I turned, taking several deep breaths. That earned another eye roll from Pepper. She was honestly tiring my half of the eyes out. "Okay. Violet, let's go ahead and get this over with. The sooner we get it, the better." I motioned.

She saluted again and flapped her wings. It was much better than tip-toeing. "I really wish we had wings. How are we supposed to sneak past with minimum sound?" I asked.

"How do you think I got my cutie mark?" Pepper faced her flank. A closer inspection revealed the three objects were actually flower petals. "That is for being the quietest pony in Equestria."

I didn't even want to question her. "So, you can take control and get us down there?"

I felt a smirk on our face. "I can do better."

With that, the magic in her horn lit up. She forced the magic to move to the bottom of her hooves. I felt the familiar and comforting sensation of standing on a cloud. I knew I wasn't, but the feeling was so similar. A smile crept across our face. I couldn't tell if it was me or her, but I know I was happy! I stomped but it made no sound. I jumped, skipped, and galloped around. This was incredible!

"This is so neat!" I squealed. I immediately covered our muzzle. Looking back, thankfully, Silky wasn't disturbed.

"Okay, we'd better go before you get too excited." Violet giggled.

I nodded and led the way to the terminal.

We inched closer to the cellar door. The piece of wall that was still standing had the terminal hooked right up to the lock. I glanced toward Silky, occasionally making sure she was still down. A rotting stench reached my nose. I instinctively covered my nose. The way I felt Pepper's stomach turn told me I wasn't the only one, either.

Violet landed in front of the terminal in a flutter of feathers. She went to work, typing and cracking the code. I sat, impatiently waiting, hoping the clicking of the keys wouldn't wake the behemoth. Pepper dragged our attention over Violet's shoulder. I watched as several characters flashed across the screen and she typed away. Her brow was starting to produce perspiration.

"Violet, how long is it going to take?" I hissed.

"I have to bypass this security frame. It's... kind of difficult. But, I can do it. Just give me a few minutes." She licked her lips.

I swallowed, again. Bile was starting to creep up our esophagus. I really wanted to get out of this area. Not only because of the odor, but because my anxiety kept sending bad signals throughout Pepper's body. I could tell she was beginning to get uncomfortable.

A sudden tremor sent us scrambling to our hooves. Followed by a loud whistle.

Fuckshitdamnit!

I saw the massive pile of brick and wood start to crumble away, revealing the shifting body underneath. As she slowly got to her hooves, Silky groaned and growled. She was easily the size of a large shed. Her flesh was bloated in places, tearing her once-purple hide. The cysts were filled with pink, radiated fluid that I did not really care to imagine what it was. Her mane only held a few strands of pink and gray hair. Her tail was completely gone. She turned to face us. Obviously, her eyes were blue at one point. I say this because her iris looked like it was leaking. Like the color had bled through the rest of her eyes, covering her pupils.

I know I was in total control of Pepper's body, because I was frozen in fear. My breath was lost and I was nauseas. Especially from the smell, earlier. The way she looked directly at us made it even more terrifying. Pepper tried to pull us away, but my fear had us paralyzed.

"Move!!" Pepper shouted. I finally came to and let her take the reins.

Silky stomped her hoof, radiated liquid splashing from wherever she had been laying. Pepper dodged the drops. We would have to drink a RadAway if we hung out here any longer.

"If you could work a little bit faster on that thing, it would be nice!" Pepper faked a sing-song voice.

"I'm working as fast as I can! I think I've almost got it. I just need to keep my attention here for a couple of minutes." Violet said, as she swiftly tapped on the keys. The others were already running towards us.

The ghoul giant let out a scream unlike anything I have heard. Pepper covered her ears as the gurgling, scratching whines pierced the ozone. Celestia, herself, probably wouldn't be able to quiet this thing. When the long scream finally ended, Ol' Silky did something I didn't think a feral could do:

"S-S-Staaaaayyyyy..... A..A..WWAAA-AAYYYY!!!"

Magic +1
Intelligence +2

Warning: No Perks available.

Violet has joined your group!
Redd has joined your group!

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Kkat for this amazing universe.
If you see that reference in there, let me know.
Thank you for reading!
-AP