The sky took to a gloomy grey. It's clouds were parted in one part of the sky, and that was where the sun was. It left one patch of sunlight in it's nuclear winter wonderland. Silent Hill lay in bed with her legs tucked tightly against her. Bubblegum stayed behind and they let her die. She wanted to slit their throats open and hang their heads on a wall. She wouldn't lose anyone. She couldn't. Her men were her family. A tear slipped her eye as the remains of their fallen friend lay bandaged, by custom, and layered in honey. They'd preserve her at least... wasn't that one thing Silent Hill could remember her for. Her lifeless body, forever frozen in time?

Brown fixed his glasses and took off his disposable gloves, ignoring the faint scent of honey clinging to his hooves. To his very soul. He couldn't fathom how she survived even one minute of trading blows with that... creature. Grins was a real warrior. A real soldier. She died with her hooves up and she went down swinging, he told Senior Airmare Hill. If not to honor her body, they'd honor her memory as the best fighter they'd ever served with.

"Senior Airmare Hill... You'd be doing us all a favor if you came out and paid your respects to Grins. She'd want us to move on. And I don't mind if you wring my neck till it snaps. But this... is something we can't miss.  We can't forget to show her we miss her." He murmured, keeping his eyes anchored to the snow below.

Lightning struck and the sky scarred itself white. A storm of seemingly horrid whispers and raving, yet... soothing whispers assaulted their ears. The enclave pony fainted on the spot, her eyes going wide before staying frozen in place. From the ground burst forth a skeletal and decrepit foreleg. It sprang forth and dug out from the dry, infertile earth bloodied by its escape. It clawed its way out the womb of the world and trotted straight for the body Grins always dragged about. In one, precise motion, it brushed the corpse with it's forehooves. It gave life, collapsed into pieces and brought Buddy to life. Buddy gave a hearty, throaty chortle when he spotted Doctor Brown holding a grenade ready.

It stared back with one, rotten eye socket and an eye being eaten away by black maggots. A hollow whisper seeped out it's slit throat and into his ears.

"Would you raise a hoof at Death? Or Celestia? Or your own Father? I am here to part with my child."

"I-I don't know what you are. I have to raise my hoof at you...!"

Another hollow chortle. It made his knees weak and he felt strangled as his breath grew heavy with coldness.

"And with strange aeons, you may find that even death may die... Is that what you were figuring?" It hushed, grinning with many broken and jagged teeth.

It said no more and whispered sweet life into Bubblegum's lips. The mare held their mane down and licked around that strangely fresh necrotic maw. The being let loose a long, drawn breath and joined her. They swapped spit and honey for ages before it finally pulled away and trailed a hoof down her lips. All she did was grin her way into bedroom eyes.

"Sweet child of mine... The Void is full for now, thanks to the fields of viscera you've tended to time and time again. But you have to stay here. Some of daddy's children are aching to come home. Be careful. But don't be afraid to visit me. Hear me whisper your name. It is yours." He hushed, breathing into her ear and tickling the mare.

A soft, permanent layer of frost and... blush took to her skin. Lilith turned into a creature with two legs and two arms, finally fixing her itch for mobility in combat situations. Her skin was a pale peachy color. Not only that, but her head grew ram horns and her ribs flayed open to resemble teeth. The cutiemark on her flank, now on her upper back, became an elaborately decorated skull with a candied, almost flamboyant aesthetic to it. Bubblegum nuzzled her 'father' and waved goodbye with an innocent 'goodbye, daddy...!' as he was struck with lightning and turned to ash.

Bubblegum grins saw her companions all unconscious and laid out around camp. At first, she thought they were dead. But further inspection revealed they'd fainted. She shrugged and gathered their sleeping forms into one, convenient tent. In her spare time, Bubblegum repeated her new name over and over, turning about the pages in her erotic novel.

"Lilith. Lilith. Lilith. Lilith. Wow, that name really suits me. I wonder why daddy wanted me to have this one, though." Hushed Lilith Grins, switching on Silent's WristBelle radio.

She tuned into something that haunted her down to the core.

A song she caught mid-ending flooded her with memories of a time she was herself. Long-gone nights of drunken sex, cultists and bar fights swarmed her mind with mental buckshot, leaving holes and corrupting memories she should've had.

Her daze shattered completely when she heard a voice on the radio. It had an informative quality to it. Much like some radio broadcast of the black and white days, anypony listening would imagine it was pre-recorded hundreds of years in advance. But, surprisingly, it wasn't. Lilith heard a stallion's voice. It had a smoky, low baritone that made her cover her rising limbs. Hn, she noted fondly, wondering why there were two of them between her legs.

'Hello Equestria. You're listening to Grand Pegasus Radio. This is your host, Sham Bursting Cooper. It's come to my attention that a so-called trio of outlaws is roaming the wastes of Mini Soda. But from what my sources say, this isn't entirely true. Not only were they seen battling Talons in the old Downtown Sauk Lake area, but one of the three helped a former enclave pegasus get rid of four Clonelestias in a strategically sound outpost down near Jail Seed. Now that's impressive. Keep your eye out for a mare with pink hair and a pegasus with bandages on. Make sure to thank them for rescuing your post, Beta Company.'

That's it. That was their way to the other remnants.

Lilith closed her hentai novel and kept it safely in her bag, making sure to clip together the pages about sacrificial rites and worshiping an ancient god. Nobody could ever take her book away. They didn't know how to handle it. She felt woozy, however. Her body grumbled and ached for two things:

food... and sex.

Lots and lots of sex.

Next Chapter: Ave, True To Sweetie. Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes