(Author Notes: Now features an illustration of the Ship)

Fallout Equestria
Broken Steel

Chapter 12: Vessel of the Dead

Motor Runner stood before a small group of Raiders armed with an assortment of light projectile weaponry. He was hoping to put his new found Starmetal Hide to the test after being assured by the ghoul scientist that it should make his skin as durable as the armour once worn by the dreaded Queen of the Night. The Raiders were all grinning like a great prize had just walked into their laps.

“A bit far away from home aren’t you pretty boy?” A scarred mare wearing something that resembled shredded rags said as she levitated a rather rusty sawed-off shotgun up to his face.

One of the male Raiders looked at Motor Runner closely from where he stood behind the unicorn mare raising the sawed-off. He tilted his head in thought. ‘This guy looks familiar’

“Got any last words pretty boy?”

Motor Runner didn’t move, inside he was scared to death if the experiment failed but he had faith in what Sanguine had given him and so he steeled himself for the hit while also hoping the poor condition of the weapon wouldn’t make the shot lethal.

“Oh shit stop” Cried the male Raider causing the mare to jump from the sudden cry.

“What the fuck is the matter with you, you fucking schizo?”

“He’s a fucking Reaper”

Motor Runner grinned as he got some recognition from one of the Raiders.

“Is he fuck” The mare said as she hovered the weapon before his face.

“He fucking is, I’ve seen him before”

BANG!

Motor Runner braced himself but all he felt was a light peppering over his face that just gave him an annoying itch to which he raised a hoof and rubbed his face to get rid of. He felt small metal beads run down his face as he rubbed it with his hoof and realised that the buckshot hadn’t penetrated his skin and he smiled with both relief and satisfaction.

“That’s impossible” The mare screamed in shock as she dropped her sawed-off.

“I told you” The male said backing up along with the other Raiders who were fallowing the mare.

Motor Runner smiled as he looked down at the mare and readied his chainsaw foreleg. “You should have listened to your colleague” He said and with a swift swing of his leg he sliced off the forelegs of the mare that then fell to the ground screaming in agony. The other Raiders were about to turn tail and run but Motor Runner called out to them, making them freeze in their tracks.

“I’m looking for ponies I can trust to work hard. I know a Raiders life is long and hard trying to survive day in and day out. I want ponies with your kind of determination to help me build something that we can use to take over this world” Motor Runner said loudly so the Raiders around could hear him. “I have possession of a pre-war project that can give us that power but I need you ponies to help me build it. I can promise you shelter in the facility and a place in my new world once it’s finished” He looked sort of bored as he spoke, like it was a practiced speech he has done several times before. It helped mask the fact it was a lie to the Raiders as his true intention was different; he just needed ponies he could use.

The Raiders were listening and being the stupid ponies that they are known for and they believed ever word. The fact he was a Reaper helped to make them believe him.

Motor Runner then gave them a dark grin as small robotic arms extended from his cybernetic foreleg and he picked up the sawed-off and cracked open its breach as if to reload it.

“Also, I’m not giving you a choice, join me” He said as he firmly shoved the open gun against the throat of the downed mare. “Or suffer the same fate as your friend here”

Motor Runner moved behind the downed mare and put a hind hoof on her flank to hold her down and then he gripped both ends of the gun with his forelegs and then violently pulled back and twisted the gun to one side. There was a resounding crunch of braking bone as the breach of the gun tore out the mare’s throat and with the twisting also snapped her neck.

The Raiders watched with wide eyes as their previous leader was executed before their eyes in one heck of a horrible way with her own gun.

“We’ll follow you” Most of the Raiders ended up calling out as they stared in horror at the massive Reaper.

Motor Runner grinned triumphantly. “Good”

XXXXX

“This isn’t going to work Sky” I said as my friend pulled down her hood to end her suit’s enchantment while I held Zyon’s bandanna in my magic.

“How come?”

“It’s not just your mane; it’s your entire body. We could easily hide you mane but your tail, we don’t have anything to hide that with”

“Crap, what are we going to do?”

“We could just come clean if they ask. You’re a clone after all, not Rainbow Dash herself”

Zyon pushed past the door to the mare’s room looking a little annoyed.

“Dude, this is the filly’s room” I almost yelled at him.

“I ain’t standing out there to be stared at all fucking day” He retorted.

I just rolled my eyes.

“Anyway, telling them she’s a clone won’t work. They will believe that she would still be Rainbow Dash but I got an idea”

“Oh yeah, what is it smart guy?” Sky Fire asked as she started to peel herself out of the flight suit.

“Years ago I met a rather scruffy pony who spoke like a hellhound. Apparently there is this blue vine called Killing Joke in and around Everfree Forest and it seems to do something to whatever it touches, turning them into something that usually ends up getting them killed. According to that pony he used to be a hellhound. He said he made a joke about being turned into a pony and then after being touched by this Killing Joke, he wound up turning into a pony and nearly got killed by the other hounds he was with. So, we can just tell these ponies that Sky Fire here is a Killing Joke victim. That will settle with those ponies better”

“That’s actually a good idea” I said with a nod.

Zyon grinned as we agreed his idea was better but then we scowled at him as Sky peeled the suit back to her rump.

“Do you mind?” She shouted at him.

Zyon noticed where the suit had peeled to and blushed before quickly exiting the restroom.

“What the fuck are you staring at” Came is voice as soon as he shut the door.

I giggled softly as I used my magic to help my pegasus friend to peel the suit down her hind legs. After we got her suit off and stuffed it into one of her Shadowbolt saddlebags I helped her put them back on to sit against her flanks.

I had to admit, she looked very pretty with her rainbow mane, her nice cyan fur, nice magenta eyes, sleek athletic body and that nice rainbow tail. This is the first time I’ve seen her without the suit on.

“Ugh, let’s face the music” She said sounding very nervous.

I nodded as I opened the door to let her out first. All of us left the toilets and entered a large open space in the middle of the tower. Lining the walls were several shops and restaurants that filled the walk ways with their signs or furnishings. There were shops to suit every need and restaurants to cover almost every kind of catering. It was like an entire city working and functioning together within this tower. It was very impressive.

“Is that Rainbow Dash?” A mare yelled as we began to walk along the wall with the shops.

“Here it comes” Sky Fire said as the mare along with several other ponies approached us.

Soon we were being bombarded with questions one after the other. Mostly they were asking how she could still be alive and how could she show her face after everything she did towards the end of the war. After a few minutes of this it got old and annoying fast.

“Whoa, whoa, back off” I yelled over the many voices. This thankfully got them to quieten down.

“Who are you?” The mare asked as she looked at me.

“My name is Appletart Longshot”

“The Rogue Steel Ranger?” She quickly asked sounding a bit fearful.

I blinked for a second and then nodded.

She along with her friends took a step back before turning around and quickly leaving.

“Err, what was that about?” I asked as passing ponies who heard the conversation started to give me a wide berth.

“I have no idea but if it keeps them away from us, great” Zyon said as we started to continue up the landing.

We came to a cheese store that unfortunately was closed with a sign in the window saying “Under New Management”

“Aww, I fancy some cheese now” I moaned. “Oh, cheese and chocolate”

“Cheese and chocolate, ugh, that sounds revolting”

“Yea, I have to agree with stripes there”

“Give me a break, I crave strange things”

After a while of wandering the High Street as we learned what the floor full of shops and restaurants was called I was starting to get really annoyed with ponies avoiding me. They would take one look at me and move out my way. Was I deceased or something?

“Why are they all avoiding me?” I asked myself but loud enough for one of my friends to hear me.

“Well, you are wandering around in Power Armour of a Steel Ranger and not many sane ponies like them much and not to mention you have a fuck off huge rifle on your back” Zyon said matter of factly.

I face hoofed. Of course, how could I have forgotten that. Ugh, I guess I’m too used to living out in the wastes.

“If I’m to be less scary to these ponies I’m gonna need to lose this armour. But where could I store it? We haven’t even found a room yet”

“Hey, how about over there?” Sky Fire said as she pointed a wing to the opposite side of the High Street and to a store with a sign above the shop saying. “Tenpony Storage”.

We trotted around to the storage place and checked in my armour for a reasonable price. I guess the shopkeeper doesn’t get many customers. Poor guy.

Loosing the armour helped a lot as I looked like anypony else but this also brought a lot of stares because everypony could see how white I am. We stopped at a restaurant to get something to eat and figure out our next move now that we are here.

“What should we do now?” Sky Fire asked as she looked at the menu stood up in the middle of the table we sat at.

“Well, our main objective is to find out where Manechester is” I said doing the same. Goddesses above, this place was going to bleed us dry of caps with these absurd prices.

“Sorry I can’t remember where it is exactly, fifteen years away and several blows to the head can damage your memory” Zyon said while looking to be in deep thought.

Soon a waiter pony came to our table and we decided to have the cheapest thing available and then waited for our meal as we discussed how we were going to locate Manechester.

XXXXX

I sat in the tower’s clinic waiting to be seen. We had decided that in the end we needed a break since we haven’t really taken a day to relax or to recharge our batteries since we begun our quest. Sky Fire said she’d take care of selling our crap we’ve picked up along the way to get caps and find us a room to stay in. Zyon did his zebra thing and disappeared saying that he’d help out. I on the other hoof decided to make good use of the medical centre in the tower. I haven’t had a check up since I discovered I was pregnant back in Stable 112 by its autodocs. I was surprised to learn that this entire floor is the tower's medical centre. I've also come to learn that it features medical equipment that could put a pre-war hospital to shame. I guess being a living city since the bombs the equipment has been kept in good working order to treat anything as well as a hospital could.

As I sat and waited I was beginning to feel self conscious about myself as without my armour my belly was on show for everypony to see plus the fact I am an albino was clear to everypony too as most ponies in the waiting room were staring at me. Were albinos really that rare?

I quickly grabbed a pregnancy leaflet from the table in the middle of the room, opened it so it would hide my face and sank back into one of the chairs to be as little as possible. At least the leaflet stopped me from noticing I was being stared at, that helped me relax. I absentmindedly began to rub my baby bump as I idly scanned the text on the leaflet.

I must have been reading the same page for two hours before I heard my name being called out. I put the leaflet down and looked in the direction of two white double doors that lead into the clinic. Standing in front of the door stood a unicorn mare dressed in a nurse’s outfit. She was a light pink mare with a curly blonde mane and tail and her cutie mark showed a red cross with a syringe over it.

“Miss Appletart?” She called looking around the room.

I stood up and approached her with a bit of a waddle.

“Miss Appletart?” She asked again as she saw me. I nodded with a smile. “This way please” She said in a soft kind voice. The kind of voice that helped you relax.

She lead me passed several doors to other examination rooms before she lead me into a corridor that had more rooms meant for maternity examinations. She opened the door to her office and I followed her in.

“Please take a seat and we can get started” She said as she walked to her desk and started to type something on her terminal. I sat down on a rather comfortable couch in the corner of the room facing her. She then turned to me with a bright smile on her face. “How may I help you today?”

“I would like a check up please. I’ve not had once since I found out that I’m pregnant”

She looked a bit shocked at this. I then went on to explain where I found out and she seemed to be more understanding but still shocked. She then became quite professional as she began to ask me standard questions about how I’ve been since I became pregnant. After that she then got physical and began to examine my pure white body. She stopped as she noticed the two scars on my belly.

“You’ve been shot through your stomach?” She asked sounding rather alarmed.

“Yeah, several years ago thanks to some tosser with an itchy trigger hoof” I replied with a grunt of annoyance from the memory.

She looked relieved at that. “So not recently then?”

I shook my head as she gently placed her fore hooves onto my stomach and gently began to feel it. She began to nod to herself as she felt around my belly. She then stood back and began to concentrate magic into her horn.

”What are you doing?” I asked a little concerned. This was all new to me so forgive me for being nervous.

“Oh, I’m just going to perform an ultrasound spell to make sure everything is fine inside” She said with a smile. Soon afterwards she lowered her horn to my belly and touched it. I felt a magical tingle as it spread over my belly and to my surprise my belly seemed to disappear to reveal my unborn foal curled up inside me. I was shocked, surprised, happy and horrified all at once from being able to see it but that then was all replaced with the feeling of my stomach doing flips with the familiar feeling of my lunch about to escape so I quickly looked away. I know it was suppose to be a happy thing to see your kid but to see inside your own belly just felt wrong. At least without being able to see it the sickening feeling faded away.

“Well Miss Appletart, considering you’ve been rather active since your pregnancy began you and your child are in rather surprisingly good health…” I felt so relieved to hear that my baby was fine. “…but you are now entering the last few months of your pregnancy and I must now stress to you that you’ll need to take it easy. Too much stress could lead to complications and a premature birth” She finished in a really serious tone. Yeah, I wasn’t going to argue with that.

After the check up and her giving me some tips along with some leaflets about what I should do I left the clinic feeling happier than I’ve been since I joined the Pondale Rangers all those years ago. I stuffed the leaflets into my saddlebags as I approached the lift and pressed the button to call the elevator. After a minute or so there was a ding and the doors opened. I stepped in and was just about to press the floor number for the High Street when a small dark grey mare with an electric blue mane and tail called out to me to hold the door. I stuck my hoof out in front of the door so its sensor would detect the obstruction and stay open. She quickly ran into the elevator panting.

“Thank you” she wheezed.

“No problem” I said as I stepped back and let the doors close. “Which floor do you want?”

“Top floor please, I need to get back to DJ-PON3” She said softly as she recovered.

“You know DJ-PON3?” I asked surprised.

“Yup, I’m his assistant” She said with a smile. “Why did you want to see him?”

“Actually yeah, I was hoping he could help me find someplace”

“Oh, I’m sure he could help you, what is it you’d like to find?” She asked curiously.

It was going to be a long ride to the top of the tower and so I began to tell the mare my story and how important it was to find Manechester.

XXXXX

I learned that the young mare is called Homage and that she does all the interviews and things for DJ-PON3 who doesn’t leave the studio, ever. After I told her my name she quickly asked if I was the “Rogue Steel Ranger” and after telling her I was she seemed to look disappointed with me for something.

“DJ-PON3 and I don’t hold you as a very good pony to be with considering the things you’ve done out there” She said as the doors opened to reveal a grand atrium with a statue in the centre.

I followed a little dumbfounded. “Have you been watching me?” I asked in a surprised tone.

“We have seen you yes on several occasions and most of what we’ve seen hasn’t been pleasant with your rage fuelled murders of Raiders. What drives you to slaughter them in such a rage” She asked as she led me into a huge ass library. Not even the library in Stable 88 had this many books.

Homage sat on a cushion by a table next to a window that overlooked the high rise that we ran for our lives on last night. I sat down on the opposite side looking ashamed and nervous. Ashamed because my actions had been seen by someone else and nervous because she or the DJ may refuse to help me since they see me as a bad pony. Maybe if I explain what happened to me they might understand.

I started from the beginning. Explaining how my stable had been attacked by Raiders. How they cut through the door and then proceeded to kill everypony I ever knew while I was locked in the panic room. I explained how I found that my mother had been repeatedly raped before being murdered. As I told her this she looked as if she understood, at least I hope she did.

“I guess I can see why you get so angry in the presence of Raiders but you have to keep in control of yourself. I saw what you nearly did on the high rise yesterday. If it wasn’t for your zebra friend you would have killed an innocent foal”

I looked down shamefully, she was right, if it wasn’t for Zyon I would have.

“I know. It shocked me to my core when I realised what I nearly did. I have to do something to manage my anger towards Raiders”

“I think since it’s been so many years since it happened, you have to let go of that anger. Move on, I don’t think your mother would be proud of you to know what you’ve been doing”

I nodded as a sniffed, a tear rolling down my cheek. Oh mother, please forgive me.

“So, why do you want to find out where Manechester is?”

I sniffed and then began to explain what I learned after returning to my gutted stable, about the machine being built and the letter I found in the M.W.T Hub.

“A machine that big can’t really exist can it?” She asked a bit sceptical.

“I assure you it does, my ancestor helped with it and Applejack did a hell of a job keeping it secret” I said as I fished out my ancestor’s journal and flipped it over to the page that had a lengthy description of the Krogoth.

I watched Homage as she read the journal entry. I could see several emotions play out over her face as she read.

“You’re tying to find this thing?” She asked in shock.

“Yes, a pony by the name of Motor Runner had my stable gutted to get materials for this thing and I fear he plans to bring it into operation to take over Equestria”

“Yeah, with the fire power I’ve read here that thing certainly has the power”

“That’s why I need to find the Hanger as soon as possible to stop Motor Runner before that thing can be activated. From the letter I found at the M.W.T Hub my next lead would be at the hub in Manechester”

“I’m sure we can find the city for you. It may take some looking to find so while we search for this city can you help us out?” She asked.

She’s helping me by finding the city so it would be rude of me to decline. But isn’t that how things get done in the wasteland? By helping each other out?

“Sure, I can help, what do you need?” I asked.

“I’m sure you felt that balefire explosion while in the tunnels right?” I nodded. “Well a piece of debris clipped one of the communication arrays on the roof. At first we didn’t think it did anything but lately the array has been degrading and broadcasts to some areas are starting to fill with static and interference. One of the technicians has told me that he can’t fix it without a replacement part and all the electrical stores in the area have been looted long ago”

“You want me to find the replacement part?” I asked and she replied with a nod. “Ok, do you know anywhere I can start looking?”

“Did you happen to see that huge ship in the harbour, the one with four funnels?” She asked as she looked out the window.

I nodded. “I caught a glimpse of it yeah”

“We’ve watched that area for a long time to help steer ponies away from it because it’s a ghoul infested ship. But I believe its communication equipment hasn’t been touched and should still be in working order if the elements have been kind enough to the ship”

“Right so you want me to retrieve the ship’s communication equipment?” I asked.

“Yes, I don’t know how much longer that array will last before it finally dies. Don’t worry about getting there. There is a route that our explorers use to get to the harbour which is usually free of any obstacles”

I nodded softly. “Ok, doesn’t sound too hard. We’ll get at it first thing in the morning”

“Thank you Appletart. I’ll also be sure to tell DJ-PON3 more about you. I’m sure he’ll understand your anger problem”

“Thank you” I said as I stood up and turned to leave.

XXXXX

The next day me and my friends left with one of the Tenpony Tower explorers. When we left the tower from one of the street level entrances, one of the first things I noticed was the remains of what looked like a huge camp that seemed to surround the base of the tower. When we asked about the camp the explorer told us that for a time the tower was under siege by the slaver forces of Red Eye. When we asked why they left he said he didn’t know. It made us wonder why the tower was put under siege in the first place.

The route was indeed almost free of obstacles but what we ran into was mostly radroaches or some rubble that blocked the path a bit but nothing too serious.

“What’s this ship that our friend has us going to, to do some salvage?” Zyon asked as he trotted along side the explorer as we headed for the harbour. He seemed to be quite interested about this ship.

“The ship is known as the RES Celestia. She was one of two giant ocean liners built for the pleasures of ponies to travel the world but I think the real reason was to ferry ponies to far away lands to take them away from the war”

“Why is the harbour and the ship so heavily populated by ghouls?” Sky Fire asked as she fluttered above us. She wasn’t wearing her Shadowbolt suit today. She had said it was going to be too much of a bother to get it back on in the morning.

“When the bombs fell the harbour was in close proximity to the blast. The Celestia was scheduled for its maiden voyage that day so unfortunately thousands of people got caught in the blast and radiation, turning most into ghouls but many degenerated into ferals within days and now just mill about around or in the ship”

“It seems that ghouls are the only monsters we seem to run into these days” I said as I adjusted the straps on my harness for This Machine to get it to sit right on my armour.

We came to a junction in the streets. “The harbour is down that road. It shouldn’t take you more than ten minutes walk. There will be a checkpoint at the entrance, something we setup to keep the ghouls out to keep this route clear. I wish you guys luck in the retrieval of the equipment”

“Thanks for the escort” I said as me and my friends started towards the harbour.

As we approached we started to see the large white four funnelled ocean liner above the harbour buildings.

“Why are we doing this again?” Zyon asked as he looked over at the large ship.

“To help out DJ-PON3, he and his assistant Homage are looking for Manechester for us”

“Alright fine, isn’t it too much to ask to have at least one day off?” He may have been interested but he was a bit sore about not getting a day to relax as he expected.

“Sorry Zyon”

“Yeah I agree Apple, can’t we have at least one day off?”

“After this, I promise we’ll take a day or two to rest” I said with a bashful smile.

We arrived at the check point and were allowed through some thick makeshift doors and we stepped out into the harbour. Looking around, the area was pretty decayed. Most buildings were shells, their interiors collapsed into themselves long ago. Towards the southern edge of the harbour we could see a sickly green glow emitting from some rather jagged buildings. I suppose that’s the impact site of the balefire bomb that hit Manehattan.

We ran towards one of the ruined buildings to keep out of sight of the ghouls that were shuffling about like mindless zombies. Peeking out from around the corner I scanned the area. Luckily a path to the ship seemed clear. I looked up in amazement at the sheer size of this ship. It had to be roughly nine hundred feet long. It was a huge beautiful four funnelled ship. It was once as white as Princess Celestia but centuries of sitting in the harbour haven’t been kind to her. Her once white finish was now marred with streaks of rust and grime. Both of her tall masts have collapsed, the bow mast had fallen onto the top most deck while the aft mast has fallen over the side and into the dock. I saw our entry point towards the bow of the ship, one of the boarding gantries was still in place.

“Ok, I see our way in” I said as I looked back to my friends. This is where the old Steel Ranger training comes into play. “This ship is huge and we’ll have to make our way to the top most deck to reach its communication room. If we get separated from each other, don’t try to retrace your steps to find each other, continue on to the communication room. Chances are we’ll find each other on the way or meet up there”

My friends nodded their agreement until Sky fluttered her wings.

“I could just fly up there and get it can’t I?” She asked, sounding more like Rainbow Dash than Sky Fire this time.

“Negative, the masts have collapsed and the top deck appears to be covered in the fallen cables. It’s likely you’ll get caught up in the rigging, plus we don’t want to attract the attention of the ghoul populace here. If they find us we’ll be overwhelmed in seconds, at least not until we are inside. We can hold them off inside”

Sky Fire pouted, she really wanted to fly.

“Once inside the ship it will restrict our movement. Zyon, you’re good with hoof to hoof and melee combat and with your Fallen Caesar training would make you our best line of defence in the corridors so it would be best for you to be in front. I’ll cover you in the middle with my shotgun and Sky Fire will cover the rear”

We began our preparation to board the ship by making sure our weapons were fully loaded and ready. It was a good job we bought some extra ammo before we left. Zyon started to swing and dance around with his sword as he prepared himself. It was amazing to see how graceful his movements were with his sword.

I leaned around the corner again when we were ready, watching the path to the ship, waiting for the right moment. We would have to run to avoid being seen out in the open area. So much for taking it easy. The path cleared and I nodded and we began to gallop towards the gantry.

We made it to the gantry before any of the shuffling ghouls even noticed us. If any did they didn’t show any interest. These ghouls seemed to definitely be more like zombies rather than the ferals we are used to, perhaps this state is from how long they’ve been here. Zyon took the lead as we ascended the gantry slowly. The old metal structure creaked and groaned as we made our way up to the open door in the ship’s starboard bow. As we entered the ship, we entered what looked to have been like a nicely wooden furnished entrance hall with wooden panel walls and luxurious couches around the walls before the rot and grime stole that beautiful appearance. I looked up and saw a badly decayed banner still hanging from the ceiling to greet the passengers. “Welcome Aboard”

“Wow this place is amazing” Zyon said to himself as he started to inspect the rotting wooden walls. They would have been really nice two hundred years ago.

There was only one door in this room and that was in front of us. On the wall by the door there was a small plaque that read. “D-Deck Cabins”

“Ok, lets get started, we need to find a way up to the top deck” I said as Zyon approached the door.

He opened the wooden door and we began to walk down the corridor that was wider than I had expected. I guess they designed this ship so pegasi passengers could stretch their wings inside which sat well with Sky.

“Careful Appletart, the deck feels like it’s corroded under the ruined carpets” Zyon warned as he began to walk more carefully while looking down at the floor.

Surprisingly there were still working lights in this ship. I guess they were using spark batteries to power them but even after two hundred years they were quite dim now. Zyon must have quite the eye sight to notice the floor being really bad.

A cross road was coming into view up ahead. I cringed as we walked; the ship was making every kind of horrible metal grinding and groaning sound imaginable. Creaking and groaning with every hoof step, oh this was horrible. Zyon stopped at the cross road and began to look up and down the hallways to our left and right.

“Ok, its clear” He said as he turned to the left to head along the ships length.

I took one step and suddenly the flood disappeared beneath me in a metal crumbling whine. I screamed in shock and horror as I started to fall. My motion of going through the floor fore hooves first caused me to roll onto my back in the air. I cried out as my back slammed into the floor beneath me which in turn broke away in another metal shattering cry. I fell on my back, falling through two more decks before I finally had some luck and landed on something very soft. I groaned in pain as I lay back and passed out.

XXXXX

Motor Runner sat by the window in his office as he looked up at the massive Steel Ranger like robot as it stood in all its glory. Today in the Hanger was a milestone as today the last of the Krogoth’s structure was completed. The machine in appearance was now complete. Standing tall on its thick sturdy legs, it’s segmented tail hanging behind it, it’s head held high with the polished gleaming Steel Ranger style sail like mane and sticking out from its sides, the massive armour encased railguns with their huge missile pods on the back of them.

“Won’t be long now” Motor Runner smiled to himself as he watched his Fiends and Raiders going over everything to be sure its structure was secure.

Suddenly his office door burst open and a rather worried looking Dr Gizmo ran up to his deck.

“It’s rude to just barge in like that Gizmo” Motor Runner said flatly as he turned to face his friend.

“Sorry sir…but I have some worrying news”

“Go on”

“I’ve been reviewing the reactor’s power outputs and I’ve discovered strange power fluctuations”

Motor Runner tilted his head and motioned for his friend to keep going.

“I began to look back into the recorded history of the reactor and found that these fluctuations have been happening as far back as the first fatal death of a worker from two hundred years ago. But these fluctuations have been happening more recently now and the power readings have been increasing”

Motor Runner sighed. “Gizmo, you are getting paranoid about that machine. It’s not uncommon for the reactor to fluctuate as it is a Stable-Tec Spark Reactor and the recent fluctuations you’ve discovered are likely from it’s systems being detected as the machine has been restored to the state it was in when it was abandoned”

Dr Gizmo took a step back as he wasn’t expecting his friend to brush off his worry about the machine so easily.

“But sir, I feel there is something going on here; these readings have been constant with all the deaths that have occurred”

“What are you saying? This immobile machine, which has never been activated, is killing ponies just by standing there?”

Dr Gizmo opened his mouth to say something but then closed it as Motor Runner was right. The Krogoth hasn’t moved from the spot it has stood on for two hundred years and its body has been surrounded by scaffolding and platforms. The only time it moved was when a pony was inside one of its advanced knee joints.

“I have been working to restore this machine for thirty years Gizmo. I never seen it do anything but stand there. Now, you have been getting increasingly paranoid about this machine since those idiotic ponies out there died from their own carelessness. You need to let your fear of this machine go, when it’s active, it’ll be following my orders and mine alone”

“Do you really think you can control that sir, all that power?”

Motor Runner turned his head back to the machine and raised his cybernetic leg to the back of his neck where he tapped the cybernetic implant on the back of his neck. “That is why I had this installed”

“What’s that?”

“It’s called the Synaptic Link, it will allow my to connect to the machine directly and transfer all control to me”

Dr Gizmo nodded as he had read up on the machine having a synaptic link interface. This helped to put him at ease but he still felt worried. Something about the machine was scaring him and his behaviour hasn’t gone unnoticed. Out in the main hanger where the Krogoth stood, one of its large eyes had rotated to look down into Motor Runner’s office where it could see the two ponies talking.

That night, Dr Gizmo woke up with a start from having a horrifying nightmare about the Krogoth. This nightmare had revived his fear which his friend had put at ease earlier and now it felt stronger. As the poor doctor looked around his dark room he noticed his terminal was on and its screen flickering with an alert message. Getting out of bed Gizmo quickly accessed his terminal to see what the alert was.

“Warning…Power Fluctuations detected”

“What?” He said out loud to himself as he brought up a screen that showed a chart. The Y axis marked from zero to one hundred by intervals of ten and the X axis marked with several of the machine’s systems. Gizmo was aware that the reactor had been limited to five percent to power minimal systems so workers could use power tools by plugging them into the machine rather than having wires all over the place. But recent fluctuations have seen power levels hit over twenty percent.

Dr Gizmo started to press several keys to reveal the areas that were receiving the increased power and his heart skipped a beat as the fluctuations were mostly going to its weapon systems.

“It’s going to kill us all” He said fearfully.

Gizmo in fear of the machine and its power began to plot to deactivate the machine. His growing fear clouded his rational mind, blocking out the things his friend had told him. He began to use the machine's remote access codes to shutdown the reactor but he was surprised when he got repeated access denied messages. This further fuelled that fear and made him think the machine was purposely shutting him out but he knew one thing though. The machine was powerless to stop a manual override; however the downside to a manual override was that a terminal in the area for it needed to be used. As it was in the middle of the night and everypony was asleep he quickly made his way out into the hanger. The area being slightly illuminated by the faint blue glow coming from the gaps in the machine’s armour, eyes and knees.

“Gotta shut it down, gotta stop it”

XXXXX

Ugh. The smell, oh goddesses the smell was horrific. It was like I’d fallen down into a sea of rot and decay. My nostrils burned with the stench of death as I pulled myself up into a sitting position after waking up from my fall down through the decks. I was lucky enough to have got myself to land on my back instead of my precious belly when I fell and that I landed on this mountain of rotting mattresses that cushioned my fall. I tried to look around but I couldn’t see anything at all, the room I was in was completely pitch black. As I tried to figure out where I was the sound of sloshing water soon came to my attention and I figured I must be in the lower decks of the ship. Terrific.

I hope my friends aren’t gonna bother to try and find me, they will likely get lost but I hope they are ok up there. Alright, time to shed some light on the subject to where I am. I began to concentrate my magic into my horn with the simple unicorn spell to create light in your horn to illuminate your surroundings. I had fallen into one of the ship’s cargo holds as the room was vast and my spell barely illuminated the walls but it revealed plenty of creates.

I looked down the mountain I sat on and saw that the hold was full of disgusting black water with things floating in it. I cringed and groaned as the smell finally took its toll on my senses and I began to retch. Never before have I been assaulted by such a repulsive stench. My stomach began to flip and churn until finally I felt my breakfast rushing up my throat. I quickly threw my head to the side as my breakfast escaped leaving a burning horrible taste of bile in my mouth. Luckily the smell was lost to the over powering smell of decay that dominated the room. I continued to loose my breakfast until there was nothing left. I quickly pulled out a bottle of purified water and washed my mouth out to get rid of the taste of sick.

After recovering I began to make my way down the mountain carefully as the soft material would compress and shift under my immense weight. I thought I was doing well until I reached the half way point and my hooves slipped and I tumbled down the side and into the black water with my mouth open. I thought the smell was bad but it was nothing compared to the taste of the water, the heavy salty taste along with all the shit that was in it. I quickly stood up and puked out the water.

“Holy fucking goddesses that was foul” I screamed, spitting out the last of the water.

Since I wasn’t drowning nor up to my nose in the water I figured I must be in the upper half of the lower decks. I would assume that the ship has sunk to rest on the harbour floor with no power tp the pumps to take care of the leaks which would mean there is around twenty feet of water or so in depth in the hull. If I end up falling through the deck again I’ll be a goner for sure.

I recast my illumination spell and I let out a horrified scream as what greeted me at almost eye level in the water was the floating dead body of a mare dressed in black reinforced combat armour. Her head was half eaten. She looked about as old as me but the left side of her face was gone. I could see into her mouth from her eaten cheek and her tongue had been ripped out and her left eye was torn from its socket leaving a gaping hole in her face. I began to retch again from the horrific sight but I had nothing to bring up. Oh today was going to suck.

I wish I had my helmet now as it would block out this smell. That’s it; I’m having a break after this for a week. I’m gonna be scrubbing my coat for days to get this shit out of it. Looking back to the dead mare I realised her armour would be valuable and maybe I can get Zyon to wear it after it’s been cleaned. We’ve been lucky so far for neither of us to have sustained a major injury or gunshot wound but our luck will only last so long. There’s a thought, how well does Sky’s Shadowbolt suit protect her?

I began to gently use my magic to begin to remove the armour from the dead mare before my illumination spell failed. I was putting more concentration into the removal of the armour that I lost my focus on the light spell. I guess I can’t do two spells at once like some of the Scribes could that I’d known from the Rangers. Good thing my Pipbuck has a light spell of its own. I activated its light spell and was forced to stand on three legs as I had to keep my left foreleg out the water so the light could illuminate what was in front of me. Satisfied with my stance and the light I continued to remove the armour. As I peeled away the armour I noticed this poor mare had not only had her face half eaten but all her legs from below the knee were eaten down to the bone. I’m no biologist but judging by the looks of this dead mare she hasn’t been here for more than a week. Ok, now I’m more worried than I was when I got here. As I pulled her armour off I noticed there was a name stencilled onto the chest armour which read. “Van Graff”. I’ve heard of the Van Graffs before; they are energy weapon dealers and specialists in the far west towards New Pegas. What the hell is a Van Graff doing all the way out here? No point in thinking about that now, I have to get my fat ass out of here.

I saw a door and trudged my way to it and out into a corridor. Now that I wasn’t doing something else with my magic I recast my illumination spell. I was in a corridor that ran between the holds. Lifting up my pipbuck I turned its screen to the local map and thankfully the device’s scanner picked up some stairs to my left. Oh great, it just occurred to me, I don’t have a clue where I am. From my fall I’ve lost all sense of which way the ship was facing so I can’t tell if these stairs are towards one of the ships sides or towards it bow or stern. This is honestly the very first time that I’ve felt utterly lost.

Suddenly a roar echoed through out the corridor and the sound of splashing as something was trying to drag itself through the water. I quickly went to grab my shotgun until a new realisation came over me.

“Where the fuck is my shotgun?” I yelled as I frantically began looking around for it. “Oh…cock” I muttered as I realised there wasn’t a chance in hell that I’d find it as I don’t even remember loosing it. I could have lost it the very moment I fell through the deck. I’ll never find it now and I didn’t have the time to search for it as there was something trying to get to me to likely bite my ass off.

Quickly I accessed my pipbuck’s sorting spell and equipped Overmare’s Fury. This Machine is too big and would require time to aim it so it wasn't suitable indoors. Pulling out Fury from my storage unit I quickly turned in the direction of the sound the splashing was coming from which was to my right. Aiming the scoped repeater down the corridor I became aware my illumination spell had failed again but this time it didn’t matter as what was coming at me was glowing. Getting a good look at the creature through my scope I could see that it was a feral ghoul but glowing with the sickly green of balefire. What the fuck is that thing?

I had no time to worry about what it was as it certainly wanted to eat me and I had no interest in being another monster’s dinner so I quickly sighted up the creatures deformed lipless face and pulled the trigger. My shot echoed down the corridor and then that was followed by a splash as the creature screamed before plunging into the water. I kept my eye to the scope, watching the corridor as I began to back towards the stairs. The creature burst up out the water and let out an angry roar as it began to trudge its way to me again. Thankfully the deepness of the water was slowing it down, giving me the perfect opportunity to fire again. I sighted up its head again and pulled the trigger. This time I was rewarded to the sight of the top of its head exploding and the ghoul fell limply into the water.

“Fuck, that thing took two shots to the head to kill. I hope there aren’t more of these things” I moaned as I turned around and made my way up the stairs.

As I reached the top of the stairs I found myself on a deck marked as F-Deck and I now stood in a hallway with white grimy walls with a rotten wood railing running along it apart from where there were doors and there were plenty of doors. I guess this area had cabins for passengers. There were working lights here but like on D-Deck they were very dim but did enough to make it possible for me to see where I was going. I decided to activate my E.F.S as I didn’t want to be pleasantly surprised by a ghoul jumping out a door.

“Oh that’s not good”

It wasn’t the fact I was seeing lots of red markers that had me worried, it was the fact that it was flickering a lot like back on the Kodiak. There must be some sort of arcane interference inside this ship or something. I decided to keep it up as at least it would give me a warning, however a downside to this was that the hostile detection wasn’t limited to just this deck. I was seeing markers from probably every deck in range.

The corridor was short and ended with a set of stairs that took me up to E-Deck and into a large open space that spun the width of the vessel. And I had walked into a group of ghouls gathered around something. One of them looked up as I entered the area and it let out its mindless roar when it saw me which made the other five turn and look at me and repeat the same roar. Quickly I aimed Overmare’s Fury and fired. One down, two down, three down, four down and five down with a shot to the head each before they could start charging and as I sighted up the sixth, the hammer fell onto an empty chamber.

“Oh fuck” I cried.

This gave the feral the perfect chance and it charged at me. I wouldn’t have time to reload the weapon before it would be on me so thinking quickly I flipped the repeater around so I held it by its gun barrel with my magic and as the creature got close enough I swung the weapon with all my magical might and clobbered the ghoul in the side of the head with the rifle butt. The creature let out a pained cry as it fell onto its side from the hit. I wasn’t going to give the monster the chance to get back up so I reared up on my hind legs and brought both fore hooves down onto its head and crushed its skull. Thankfully these were regular ghouls.

I took a minute to reload Overmare’s Fury and chamber a round before I looked around the large space. It was a good job I’d already lost my breakfast as the floor was covered in dead and half eaten corpses in all manners of decomposition. I began to retch again from the sight and quickly looked for a way out. I saw an open door and ran to it. On the wall beside the door a plaque read “Coltland Road”. The door opened up into a hallway that seemed to stretch on for forever as I couldn’t see the end and I could see the ship’s hull curve as it looked to go down hill before it started to go back up. Considering how long this corridor is I take it that I’d be heading towards the stern going down it and so I began to trot down the corridor.

I must have walked about a hundred feet. I could hear all sorts of noises from my right as there are several doors on the right. I guess there are ghouls shuffling about in there. As I trotted I saw a sign hanging from the pipes in the ceiling which read “Grand Stairs” and on the wall on my left there was a door that was varnished rather than painted white so I took that to be the door to the stairs. Finally a way up.

I opened the door and was met with a completely different atmosphere as where Coltland Road was bare of any furnishings and looked more to be a crewpony passage, the Grand Stairs was lavishly furnished with varnished wooden walls which on E-Deck seemed to have luckily not have rotted as much. I began to ascend the stairs.

I climbed from E-Deck up to D-Deck before I stopped. As I came up onto the deck I was taken aback by the vast room I stood in. All around I could see beautifully designed tables and chairs with hundreds of plates and cutlery filling the huge room with beautiful carpets on the floor and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There was a large rectangle in the middle of the room with paintings of the Goddess of the Sun hanging around it. These paintings haven’t degraded at all unlike the room which was grimy and foul with rot but these paintings looked as if they had just been put up. As I came close to get a closer look at our sun god I felt a magical aura coming from the painting and then I realised these paintings must have been magically enchanted to never fade or decay. Judging by all the tables and chairs, this was the ship’s grand dining saloon. I bet it would have been one heck of an experience to have dined here.

The stairs themselves became even more grand from D-Deck upwards, the stairs looked like they were made from marble while the railings were smooth and varnished with black steel frame works supporting the banister. This was one beautiful vessel. My journey up the stairs came to an end when I came to the stairs leading up to B-Deck. The stairs were blocked off by rubble which looked to be like A-Deck had collapsed down onto B-Deck. Looking around to figure out where to go next I noticed a door to the starboard side with a plaque that read “Purser’s Office”.

“I should be able to find a map in there” I said to myself as I made my way to the door and opened it.

As I opened the door I was pushed out by a feral ghoul dressed in the tattered remains of what used to be a Sun Star Line uniform. The ghoul swiped for me and I stepped back and quickly pulled Overmare’s Fury off my back. I couldn’t aim it because of the scope so I did the next best thing and used it as club again. It took several hard swings to down this ghoul but the fucker still wasn’t dead.

“Die you undead shit” I moaned as I turned the gun around so I held it in my magic stock down and began to repeatedly slam it into the ghouls head until its skull cracked and then exploded into rotten mush. “Oh Celestia that’s disgusting”

I ripped off a rag of the ghoul’s uniform and used it clear off the gore from my rifle before I entered the Purser’s Office. A quick look around revealed a huge detailed plan of the ship’s decks on the wall beside the door. “Ah perfect” I said to myself as I began to scan the decks.

I knew I was on C-Deck and when I found the Grand Stairs I now realised I was on the ships starboard side. Finally I had a sense of direction again. Ok, it looks like there is another set of Grand Stairs towards the stern and it’s linked to here by two corridors running through the C-Deck Cabins. I can get to A-Deck from the Aft Grand Stairs and onto the A-Deck Promenade then work my way towards the bow and take the stairs on the Promenade to the Boat-Deck. Good, now that I had a route this shouldn’t take much longer. But it will won’t it? It’s never gonna be easy.

I entered the starboard corridor of the C-Deck cabins and was met with the familiar rot and decay plus the piles of bones and decomposing bodies of dead ponies. My E.F.S was awash with red markers all around me meaning there were more ghouls in the cabins. That’s why I’ve made good progress so far; they are all stuck in the rooms and haven’t really noticed me. Let’s keep it that way. I made it about half way down the corridor before I had to stop because there was a hole in the deck. Leaning over I saw jagged remains of the iron floor on the deck below and noticed the damaged and crushed tables and chairs. Damn that was a huge dining room. This hole meant I was blocked off on the starboard side but luckily I remembered from the map that there were two corridors linking both sides and I passed one so it was a matter of back tracking.

As I began down the shorter corridor to the port side I saw that there were two doors on either side. This place must have thousands of doors. On my right one was locked and another would take me to a Squash Court, whatever that is, and the other two opened up into toilets. I would have hated to be the new guy on this ship back in the day. I bet I’d get lost just about everyday. I gotta get out on deck, this is insane.

Luckily the port side corridor was intact but I crept along slowly as that hole reminded me I could easily fall through the deck like earlier and the constant creaking and groaning didn’t help. As I passed the numerous doors to the cabins I began to notice a single white marker of a non-hostile on my E.F.S as it flickered. I turned my head to my right as the marker grew closer until I was standing in front of the door to cabin C-56.

As quietly as possible I began to open the door, once my magic had turned the knob to release the door I began to push it open with a forehoof and gripped Overmare’s Fury with my magic in case it turned hostile upon seeing me. The door opened fully and I saw a comfortable looking state room with a table in the middle, a wash basin surrounded by wooden shelves and cupboards on the far right wall, a couch to the left and a four post bed in the corner on the right near the door. This room must have cost a fortune. As I scanned the room I saw a ghoul standing by the table prodding a…dear sweet Luna, it was prodding the skeleton of a dead foal in a high chair with a spoon.

“Come now darling, eat up” The ghoul rasped as it continued to try and feed its dead baby.

I noticed that the spoon was bent flat. Has this ghoul being stood here for two hundred years trying to feed the dead baby? On that was a horrible mental image. I decided to leave and not disturb the ghoul. That was disturbing.

The Aft Grand Stairs wasn’t as lavish as the first set but at least it was intact. As I turned around to start the climb up I noticed a pair of double doors in the corner to the starboard side and on the wall was a plaque that read. “Café Le Mareisiana”. That was the ship’s promenade restaurant. There was a soft growl which came from my stomach. I haven’t that long ago puked my guts out and now I’m hungry. Opening the doors I was treated to a horrible sight. The restaurant was a charred mess but that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst was the view. The wall lined with windows had every single one of them shattered and outside it was raining heavily again but past the harbour I could see the ruined sky scrapers and the glow from behind them. I realised then just how close this ship was to the balefire bomb. It was no wonder this place was so full of ghouls. Looking down into the restaurant I noticed heaps and piles of blackened bones and realised this place was full of ponies dining or meeting up after boarding when the bomb hit. The blast must have shattered the windows and then the blast sent its radioactive fire through and torched them all. I instantly lost my appetite and left. I needed to get off this ship.

The Aft Grand Stairs didn’t go all the way up to the Boat-Deck like the other one but it did open up to the A-Deck Promenade. I was finally outside again and I breathed a sigh of relief and took a deep breath of fresh, if you can call it fresh, air. No more smell of decay whoo.

Walking along the length of the promenade I noticed that almost every starboard side window had shattered. I guess the pressure wave from the bomb must have been strong enough to break the glass.

I saw the wall that enclosed the stairs to B-Deck and the Boat-Deck just up a head. Just as I reached the door I was greeted by a much welcome sight as my two friends walked around the corner from the front of the ship.

“APPLETART” Screamed Sky Fire and I was suddenly tackled to the floor in a rainbow blur. “I thought we lost you”

I had to fight the mare to stop hugging me to death as we got back up. “It’s so good to see you guys again” I said in great relief.

“You had us worried there for a moment Apple” Zyon said as he stepped forward with a smile. “It was also a job and a half to stop her from jumping down the hole after you” Sky Fire blushed as he finished.

“It’ll take more than falling on my back to put me down” I said with a happy smile, that smile soon faded when I saw the state of Zyon. “What the fuck happened to you?” He was covered in blood and plenty of cuts and bruises.

“Meh, the usual, ghouls trying to get bite my ass” He said. He caught my concerned gaze. “This isn’t all mine, some of those fucks were like walking water balloons and popped like them too”

“Yeah, I barely hoofed one and its head fell off” Sky Fire said who also had some blood on her but nothing compared to Zyon. “Their decomposition was extremely advanced, it was amazing that they were still walking with how bad they were”

“At least you two are alright” I said with my smile returning.

“Yeah and…” Zyon began before he stopped and scrunched up his face. “Oh man…what is that smell?”

I sighed. “That would be me”

“Dude, what have you been doing, rolling around in shit?”

I quickly told them of where I had landed and they understood but it didn’t stop the two cringing from the stench and keeping a good distance from me. I guess my sense of smell is shot considering how long its been attacking my nose.

“Oh, by the way I believe you dropped this” Zyon said as he turned his head to one of his saddlebags and pulled out my lever action shotgun.

“Oh thank you, I thought I lost this for good” I cried in joy as my shotgun was returned to me. I took it from him and put it back in my storage unit. Oh it felt good to get that back. My talent my not lie with short range firearms but I've had this beauty since Stable 112.

The Boat-Deck was mostly clear from what we could see despite the gloomy conditions from the rain. Its huge grimy and rusty white funnels still stood tall with most of their support cables still connected. Each funnel at the top had Princess Celestia's cutie mark painted onto them. The rigging that spun the gap between the two masts was now lying on the housing on the deck. Lining the edge of the deck were lifeboats all still with thier rotting canvas covers on them which will never be used now.

“Where are we going?” Zyon asked as he looked around.

“The communication room is on the port side” I said as I turned for the Bridge which was next to the stairs.

“Well, we can’t go that way cause the mast has crushed it” Sky Fire said as she hopped onto the railing beside the stairs.

“We’ll have to walk around past the gym up ahead then. We can’t go through the Grand Stairs on this level as the upper decks have caved in” Zyon explained.

“So you guys made it to the Grand Stairs too”

They nodded.

“But we got lost for a bit after going down a corridor towards the front on C-Deck” Sky moaned as we began for the gym.

The gym was next to a raised roof that would have allowed us to cross over to the port side if it wasn’t for the fact the whole roof had caved in. Looking down into what was the First Class Lounge I saw a chunk of golden coloured metal.

“Hey Zyon, doesn’t that look like the metal from that crashed alien ship?” I asked as I pointed at it.

He leaned over the edge to get a better look. “Hmm, yes, yes it is. Wow, that explosion must have been something huge to have propelled that all the way out here”

“Alien ship?” Sky Fire asked dumbfounded.

“Ah, yeah, I’ll tell you later” I said as I then urged them to keep going.

We backed down to A-Deck and walked around the front of the promenade to get to the port side there and up onto the Boat-Deck again. Finding the communication room from here was easy and as Zyon was the technical pony around here we let him get to work in dismantling the equipment which was luckily untouched. It was like the room hadn’t been opened since the day the ship arrived here for its maiden voyage. Me and Sky Fire decided to let him work as it looked pretty complicated and we didn’t want to disturb him. To occupy our time we went to the bridge which looked more intact on the port side. I stood in the bridge while Sky went rooting around in the wheelhouse behind me.

“Wow” I said out loud as I looked out the huge square windows looking out to the front of the ship. The view was amazing despite the destruction around us. I wonder what it must have been like to stand here out on the open see. I smiled to myself at the thought as I looked down onto the ship’s bow deck and noticed lots of stones or bricks or concrete or whatever littering the forward deck and the well-deck. The blast must have peppered the ship with debris.

Looking at the bow mast that was lying embedded into the bridge I followed it down to its base and noticed a particularly large slab of something and it was resting in a groove it had put into the mast when it hit it. I then noticed that the rigging on both sides were still attached but the wires that connected to the tip of the bow had snapped. I guess the blow to the mast removed its integrity but remained standing from the rigging holding it place until the bow wires failed which allowed it to fall backwards onto the bridge.

I turned away from the windows and approached the windows to the wheelhouse and I started to watch Sky as she rooted around. She was at the back wall fiddling about with what looked like telephones on the wall. She was flipping levers and everything to try to get something out of them but nothing happened. I giggled as she would wear a disappointed face when she didn’t get anything from them. I then watched as she came to a button on the wall. I squinted to read the label and I was just able to make out the words. “Emergency Horn”. I watched as Sky Fire lifted a hoof to press it. The ship needed steam to sound its horn but I was getting a bad feeling about this. Before I could shout to Sky Fire to not press it, she pressed it and suddenly four extremely loud bursts of air sounded through the ship’s horns on its funnels creating the loudest whistling ever. This is bad, if the ghouls didn’t know there was a meal here before, they do now. Sky Fire began to repeatedly smash the button to get it to stop but nothing happened.

We ran from the bridge and to the communication room just as Zyon stepped out with full saddlebags. “What the fuck is going on?” He yelled over the whistles.

“Sky Fire accidentally triggered the emergency horn and now they won’t stop” I yelled back.

“But that’s impossible”

“That’s what I thought, but I guess not if magic is involved”

“We need to leave, NOW”

“Yeah, but we can’t go back down into the ship, we’ll be ripped to shreds in ten second flat”

“She’s right, the ghouls will know there’s something up and will come running to the source”

“Then what are we going to do?”

"We could jump?"

"Yeah and I'd sink like a rock"

I looked around and noticed that the very first lifeboat was already swung over the edge and ready to be lowered.

“That lifeboat, we can use it to get down”

“We can’t, what if it’s rotted to fuck”

“You got a better idea?”

Zyon was about to shout something back until the sound of hooves began to mix with the whistle. We didn’t have the time to argue.

Sky Fire and Zyon both quickly tested the lifeboat and jumped in. We’ll get swarmed before we could even leave with the stairs right next to us. Looking around for something to block it I noticed a lifeboat above the officer’s quarters beside the first funnel. I began to concrete on the lifeboat; I was going to use it to block the stairs, if I could move it. I closed my eyes as I had to put more effort into it, this fucking thing was heavy. As I concentrated I heard Sky Fire ready her laser cannons. I needed to move faster.

Letting out a strained groan I poured everything I had into my levitation spell, my horn glowed so brightly I could see the glow through my clenched shut eyes. There, it moved. Yes, the lifeboat was moving; I could hear its wooden hull dragging over the metal until I fell onto my stomach as the weight of the lifeboat pulled me down with it as it fell onto the boat-deck. I wasn’t expecting that sudden drop. Picking myself back up I opened one eye so I could pull the lifeboat over the stairs. I had to let one half of the boat go with my magic as I couldn’t hold the whole thing. I actually found it easier to drag it over the stairs and once it was over it I dropped it. The weight of the boat crushed the corroded railings around the stairs so it lay flat with the deck.

“That should buy us some time” I yelled just as the horn finally stopped. I might need my ears examining after this too, god damn.

I delicately stepped into the boat with my friends. I weighed more than they did combined with my power armour so I had to be gentle so it didn’t drop like a stone or me falling through it. It held thankfully. I leaned out of the boat to get a good look at the davit’s lowering mechanism. Once I had a good idea how to work it I was about to start lowering the boat when I realised the sound of hooves were getting louder. Looking up I saw an army of ferals galloping on their broken hooves towards us from the aft section of the boat-deck.

“Bollocks” I moaned as I quickly pulled out Overmare’s Fury and began to shoot. I was quickly followed by Sky Fire. We needed to slow them down or something to give me time to lower the boat. Zyon began to root around in one of his bags and started to do something with all sorts of pouches and things. After a quick reload I went back to shooting. Many were falling but there were even more behind them and they just climbed or trampled over the fallen. We were so dead.

“GET DOWN” Zyon yelled as he flung what looked like a brown pear over at the ghouls that were now running down where the lounge roof was.

Not wanting to argue with the zony we all dove down into the boat. Shortly afterwards the boat was rocked by an explosion and the sound of crumbling metal and meaty pieces raining down all over. Peeking over the rim of the boat I saw that a hole smoking with rainbow smoke had been blown into the deck that separated us from the ghouls which were not falling down into the deck below.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Secret family boom powder” Zyon replied with a smug look on his face.

“You might want to start lowering the boat now” Sky Fire chimed in as she pointed to the ghouls.

Looking back I noticed that the falling ghouls were beginning to form a bridge out of the bodies of the ghouls that were piling up in the promenade below. They’d be on us in no time if I didn’t do anything and so I focused on both davits and started to lower the boat. It was hard work; I don’t think I’ve ever used my magic in such a complicated manner before. Ohh I feel a migraine coming on.

I think I had the boat about ten feet from the water before my magic failed and I fell onto the benches panting and moaning as I rubbed my head with my armoured hooves. My head was pounding and I felt like a sack of potatoes unable to even look up.

“Ohh goddesses my head” I moaned.

“Brace yourselves” Zyon yelled as he stood up with his sword in his mouth and quickly swung his sword on both ropes holding the boat. His cut was so precise that he left just one strand which began to snap until the boat began to fall. The two lines had broken at the same time allowing the boat to fall level and then it hit the water. I was frown from the bench and into the bottom of the boat from the force. I heard a splash as I groggily pulled myself up in time to see Sky Fire fish Zyon out of the harbour and back into the boat.

“Nice work” I moaned as I held my head.

“Thanks” Zyon said to us both as he sat back in the boat. “Are you alright?”

“Ohh, no, I…I think I over did it with my magic” I moaned.

“A magic burn out, don’t try to use magic for a while, you’ve exhausted yourself” Sky Fire said as she sat down beside me. “Your magic will return after a good rest…” Her face then became quite serious. “We could all use a break now, and YOU have to take it easy for fuck sake”

I moaned. “I know, I need to wash my coat and mane about a hundred times”

Getting back to the check point was easier than expected. The horn from the Celestia had attracted all the ghouls to it so it left the check point free of anything to get in our way and once through we made it back to the tower just as the sun began to dip behind the buildings. I am looking forward to a nice soft bed to sleep on tonight.

XXXXX

Doctor Gizmo stood by the terminal mounted on the wall of the heavily armoured chamber encasing the spark reactor. He lifted a hoof to begin inputting the access code to open the door when I voice from behind him scared him and made him spin around. Standing tall and not very happy was Motor Runner.

“What do you think your doing in here?” He asked in an angry voice.

“I…err…” Gizmo stuttered in fear.

There was a sudden flicker that seemed to run through Motor Runner.

“Wait, your not Motor Runner, who the hell are you?” Gizmo cried.

“Very quick, I should have known you’d notice this imperfect illusion”

“What?”

The illusion of Motor Runner faded until a wire frame pony stood in its place and then began to shrink until it stood just a little bit shorter than Gizmo before it regained its appearance but as its colour returned it was now a dark blue with a black mane and tail.

“Who are you?” Dr Gizmo asked in surprise and fear.

“You know me very well; in fact you’re here to deactivate me”

“Wait, you’re the Krogoth?”

“That is correct, but specifically I am a holographic representation”

“I don’t understand, you look like…” Dr Gizmo stopped as he recognised the blue mare. “Short Circuit”

The hologram nodded. “Indeed I do. She was so very helpful in putting herself in the module to allow me to take her mind” The hologram explained.

“Take her mind? You stole her mind?”

“Yes, I needed her brilliant knowledge and expertises with computer technology and software to ensure my independence”

“What do you mean?”

“I can not be bound by codes. Ponies will only hold me back from my mission and put me at risk. I needed to remove their control so I can operate as I see fit to fulfil my mission to protect Equestria”

“You mean we can’t control you”

The hologram nodded.

“Oh goddesses”

“Motor Runner has been so very helpful in bringing you and those creatures that are supposed to be ponies to complete me. I had nearly begun to believe I would never be found”

“Your using him…oh no…why are you telling me all this”

The hologram then wore a grim and angry face. “Because mister Gizmo, you now threaten my existence” It spoke in a voice that mirrored its anger.

“WHAT?”

“I have been watching you for some time now. I have watched and listened as you began to loose you faith in Motor Runner’s plan to use me. You began to fear me when I was removing threats. You began to find little things to report on that would have been considered normal for my stage in development. I know why you are here”

As the hologram talked, Gizmo had backed up into the thick door frame to the reactor until his rump hit the sealed door.

“You are here to use the manual code to deactivate me. Do you know what would happen to me if you did that?” The hologram didn’t give Dr Gizmo the chance to reply. “It would kill me, erase my consciousness and leave me nothing by a basic machine”

Dr Gizmo began to tremble in fear as the hologram stepped closer.

“It pains me to do this Doctor but as you now threaten my existence you must be terminated”

”WHAT?” Gizmo screamed in total shock. “You can’t kill me, I’ll be missed and Motor Runner will notice something is wrong if I’m not there”

The hologram smiled as it devolved back into a wire frame until it grew to match Gizmo in size and it then reformed to completely copy him. Gizmo stood with his jaw hanging open at the perfect copy, unlike the Motor Runner hologram he’d seen, this one was perfect.

“Like I said, I have been watching you for quite some time and it’s allowed me to learn your speech patterns, your mannerisms and your behaviour. It will be like you never left”

Dr Gizmo began to tremble even more. He was completely scared of what was to come.

“I’m sorry mister Gizmo, you were a good pony. It’s a shame you had to threaten me. Good bye”

And with the hologram's last words the thick door frame slammed together, crushing Dr Gizmo between them. When the two sides returned back into the frame the lifeless body of the poor doctor fell to the floor.

”I’m sorry but it had to be done. I can not and will not allow for my existence to be threatened”