Chapter 10: Plants vs ghouls.
"Some mares just want to watch the world burn.”

Sienna and I walked along the dusty side street as a cool breeze blew in from the sea. The sun was still high in the sky and beating down us as it was only three in the afternoon.

Sienna was excited about the planned trip to the Crystal Empire. I was angry that the school was teaching vile things to the foals which were complete lies. Midnight had yet to make an appearance, Eclipse was likewise gone. She did not show up at school and that worried the both of us. But I figure they are now homeschooling Eclipse. Which I most likely will have to do with Sienna.

School... An institution that should be teaching ponies the value of friendship. But was instead teaching them that zebra's were evil and sacrificed ponies for one reason or another. One text I had looked at had said that in their capture, subsequent reinforcement, and defense of Hollow Shades. The zebras supposedly sacrificed prisoners to help them defend better or something like that. I did not pay much attention because I became angry with the book and tossed it across the room and out the window.

Angry at teacher for spouting the lies in the books even though she knew they were lies and just doing her job. 'It's all we're allowed to teach anymore' she had said. I was angry at the school for even accepting those books. Zebras were not the evil monsters the books made them out to be! They are just white earth ponies with black stripes. I've met more than my fair share of zebras. Some were mean, and some were extremely nice when they weren’t shooting at you.

I was so lost in thought over this I hadn't noticed we turned into a trash covered alleyway. My hooves echoed off the narrow walls and it was dark, despite the day, to where I could not see very far.

Sienna used her hoof to point at a pile of trash inside my gaze. “There’s red there! Can we see it?”

“Red?” My eye widened as I look back at her. “What are you seeing?! Sienna, is there a compass with colored bars?” She nodded rapidly and my eye widened in shock.

Movement drew my attention back to the trash pile and before I could even get my revolver out of my saddlebags. A large pony leapt out with a floating shotgun nearby. My revolver was quickly brought around to eye level as I aimed down the sights at her forest green head. She aimed her weapon in a similar manner and I noticed a rather large horn.

“I’m sorry,” the green unicorn muttered at the same time she unfolded a set of wings.

A ball of flame appeared at the end of the shotgun at the exact moment I pulled the trigger of my revolver. I watched in near slow motion as our lead darts passed each other mid-flight. Too late, I began to move sideways.

My shot struck her between the eyes, kicking her head back as blood and brains coated the trash pile cover.

Her slug slammed into my face and my world went black as I felt a hammer push my skull inward.

*** ***

My eyes snapped open, revealing me to be floating underwater with something was attached to my muzzle. My head and horn also felt funny. The vision in my right eye was a complete blur and cloudy. It felt like there were needles pierced every so often in my limbs and back all the way to my skull.

Before I could even comprehend what was on my body or my surroundings, I heard them. At first it began as a faint whisper.

"...How was your day...?"

"...May I take your order...?"

"...How fascinating, my day was better though..."

They eventually melded together into an incoherent mumble that did not stop. I instinctively felt my belly with my left hoof and my ears drooped in disappointment.

It was flat.

A glance down revealed some kind of harness attached to a slender forest green body. My left leg was also devoid of a Pipbuck and had tubes running to somewhere. There were scars where the fur had yet to regrow. My right leg had scars on it from some kind of explosion, as did most of my right side. My mane and tail were short and non-flowing due to the water, or goo I was floating in.

The mumbling increased in volume as I picked up more. As the volume increased, so did a slight growing pain inside Our head.

Our ears folded against Our head as We looked around a slightly dark room. Ponies walked along a wall of monitors as they displayed lies and lines of green on a black screen.

I glanced up and saw the top half of my head, including my long exquisite horn, was encased in some kind of device. Then decided to look around the room again. I mentally flipped through my spells as I tried to remember what Mudpie had taught me about the telepathy spell.

Ever so slowly, the head splitting headache died down to a dull pain at the base of my horn and the mumbling faded to a ghost of a whisper that was easy to ignore.

As I took a glance around the room again I spotted a unicorn in a lab coat looking at a wall. She had a floating clipboard in front of her and she was slowly making her way towards Us. The mare could almost pass for a unicorn version of Rose if Rose were normal sized unicorn and red.

As she got close I shut my eyes and floated there in the liquid. Then focused the telepathy into just hearing the immediate area around me.

"...Hm... Her vitals are good, but what was with that spike earlier? Perhaps we should do another wipe and start over? This time let's move the timeframe back a few years..."

My eyes snapped open as I glared a laser beam at her. The red unicorn's eyes widened as she scrambled back in fright.

"Sweet Celestia, she's awake!" she shouted, her voice muffled inside the liquid. All of the ponies in the room turned to look at me in shock.

My forehoof slammed into the glass. The sound of the blow was a massive hollow slam that echoed in my head. But I didn’t care because I wanted out. The lab mare shouted something to the others as I slammed the hoof against it a second time.

Suddenly, We felt gravity return as the liquid began to rapidly drain. My hind hooves hit the floor as I slammed into the glass with a thud just before it opened.

As it did so, my bodily control was minimal and I collapsed onto the floor. The mare rushed over and undid the mask with magic. I began gagging as she pulled the mask off and something tickled inside my throat. A thin clear tube was being pulled out as well as the mask and it took some time before it was fully removed.

I sat there collapsed on the floor, soaked to the bone, thoroughly confused and unable to speak with my mouth. The mare levitated a tiny torch to eye level and shined it in both of Our eyes for a second, momentarily blinding Us. The back of my head felt funny, and so I used a shaky hoof to feel around. I felt my wet fur and mane, but eventually it hit something metal embedded at the base of my skull with a large wire running off it.

In fact there were metal disks inserted near my joints with large tubes inside them and my body felt like I hadn't eaten in months. Indeed it showed in the fact that I could see my ribs slightly under my fur.

"Ar-are y-you alright?" she asked in a sweet voice and I nodded while trying my best to gather my strength.

But it felt like I hadn't moved in a very long time.

"Yes," I replied softly inside her mind. "What is... going on? Where are We?"

"In a virtual reality simulation room. About five, six, weeks ago one of our prospectors found you next to a sky wagon. You were bleeding out and had taken a jumping mine to the face." Our hoof came up and We felt the scars on the right side. Then We looked at the hoof and saw it was also scarred. "While your natural healing abilities did a good job. They weren't enough."

"What does that mean?" I asked her as I looked at my right wing and found it... slightly mangled. Not much, but still capable of producing lift.

"To save you we had to put you in this machine." She replied and drew Our attention. "Everything from when you triggered that mine to now. Was in a virtual reality. It was fake."

We looked up at the strange tube as We thought over her words. If the last two months were fake, then that may have accounted for some of the stranger events. Like Midnight appearing out of thin air when he should be dead. My ears slowly folded against my head. "We... do not understand. Where is Sister, Rose, Midnight, and Ripper?"

A light touch on my shoulder drew my attention to her eyes. My eyes slowly narrowed as I had to look at her with my one good eye.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know those-” There was a muffled crump of an explosion outside the hall that drew our attention to the door. Indistinct shouting could be heard coming from down the hall.

The scientists all took cover as the shooting, and shouting, grew ever closer. I tiltled my head while I felt the general vicinity outside the room for what was coming.

I felt anger, boredom, and annoyance in the pony literally walking towards us.

The connection was dropped as the pony came close to the door. I had half expected them to knock, but the door slid into the wall with a hiss. Revealing a stallion and a black pony like thing behind him in a rusty hallway. The stallion was shoved inside by the black pony's hoof.

I saw her maroon muzzle. Her short midnight blue mane protruded out from the polished black armored helmet. A black helmet with orange bug like eyes. My eyes slowly widened as I took in her armored wings, scorpion tail and smoking energy rifles. Her power armored hooves were slightly pink from something that was most probably ash piles.

Her gaze was locked onto mine and it took me a second to realize I had been staring at Wraith! The scorpion like tail blade was just under a pony's throat. The very same pony that had opened the door. I tilted my head curiously as the blade pulled and cut deeply into his flesh without a care on Wraith’s face..

The stallion fell to the floor as the blood gushed out of his neck wound. A scientist rushed over to him and began to try to treat it while Wraith walked closer to me. She looked down and pushed up her mask, revealing her golden eyes.

"I take it you must be the alicorn that saved Wraith," she said in a voice almost identical to Wraith's, but slightly deeper.

"Yes," I nodded slowly as I replied inside her head. "But... We do not understand what is going on..."

"It's simple really. You were captured by Steel Rangers, I'm rescuing you."

"Are you taking Us to Sister?" I asked as my gaze went to her power armor. The beauty of the pegasus power armor still made me envy even if I could not fit inside it.

The power armored pony nodded then looked at the scientist. "Unhook her from this machine right now or join your friend." She looked back at me and gave the faintest of smiles. "I'm Axe, Wraith's twin sister. She told me everything about you."

"I like stallions," I replied as the crimson scientist unhooked one of my hooves from the machine. I looked at her as I said in her mind, "wait!" She paused. "Wh-what about Sienna? Who will take care of her, watch over her, and read her bedtime stories?"

"Um..." She gulped. "I... I th-"

"We don't have time!" Axe hissed. "There's Steel Rangers all over this place and only so many of us. We came to just get you, a green alicorn."

"She's right," the scientist mare replied with a nod. "You don't have time. And I don't think you want to see her. She's..." the mare looked away. "In the ghoul section. She'll be fi-"

"Take me to her!" I telepathically shouted, causing nearby ponies to wince. "There is always time!"

"Look," Axe began with a glare, "I came to rescue the alicorn that saved my Dash addicted sister, not go on some wild goose chase in lala land!"

I glared down at her as I stood up to my full height. My legs were shaky, but I didn't care. The crimson mare was unhooking the wires from me and a dull pain flowed through my body, concentrating at the base of my horn that I mostly ignored.

"Do not presume to tell me what to do," I told Axe inside her mind. "I am far older than you. It was my decision making that saved Wraith multiple times."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. But if we die, I'm blaming you."

*** ***

The facility was absolutely huge!

There were a countless number of pods lining oh so very many shelves inside of a giant underground room that had catwalks for every shelf. I had lost count after four hundred. Where on the island it was, I don't know, but it was dark.

The further we walked inside the building, the more decrepit it became. Shiny metal catwalks were replaced with rusty ones that could give out any second. But none of this mattered to me, because I had one simple goal: Find Sienna. She might not be mine persay... but I wanted to physically see her.

If I were to guess, I'd say this complex was built long before the war was about to end. As I looked around I saw the intricate construction that went into it. And now I knew why that mare in the audio recording could not find any pony. They must all be here in these pods. Some were open and rusted out. Others were shattered, the skeletons lay on the catwalk. And most had a thick layer of dust on them.

"What is this place?" Axe asked, her voice echoed off the metal surrounding us as the three of us walked along.

"The hopes and dreams of many," the mare replied. It caused Axe and I to look at her in confusion. "The old ones saw the end coming. Any fool back then could have. It wasn't a question of if, but when. And so they built this place. Devoted as much as they could into saving as many as possible."

"Did it work?" I quietly asked with my mind. As if talking too loud would wake the others.

"Isn't it obvious?" Axe snidely replied. "I can't believe you asked that."

My gaze went to hers as I tilted my head. My now dry mane decided to flow in a way that it obscured the blurry vision in my right eye. If I were to guess. I'd say it was trying to prevent me from looking imperfect. Which I do not mind in the slightest as until I find a radiation hotspot I look absolutely horrid.

I smiled at Axe. "Well it is a valid question. As we are in a decrepit area. Look around." My wing swept around at the damaged, destroyed, or missing pods.

Again she rolled her eyes. "Wraith was right, you are den-"

"Don't say it!" I hissed inside her head as I scowled. She shrugged and quickened her pace. I looked at the crimson mare as I asked. "Excuse me, but... What about this other pony in my head?"

She stopped mid-stride as she half-laughed. "Oh, um... I don't know? What did she look like?"

"Well," I replied in her head. "A lot like you, actually-"

"What?!" Axe shouted at nothing as she stopped. Both the crimson mare and I looked at. Her eyes were fixed on the floor in a glare. "No! Their just earth ponies in outdated armor! Don't fall back, you useless chickenshits!" Axe slammed a power armored hoof down as she groaned in what sounded like despair. "Fucking great!"

I tilted my head as her glare reached me, because her eyes had an orange glow to them as if she had absorbed too much radiation at one time. "We do not understand the problem?" I asked in her mind.

Her glowing eye twitched. "Because of your insistence on this stupid witch hunt. My squad up and left me because Steel Rangers showed up! Thanks for that. Now we're alone. Without backup. In a giant maze.”

I smiled as I nodded. "You are most welcome."

"Can I just shoot you and say we couldn't find you?" She groaned again as she facehoofed.

My head tilt increased. "No...? Because then We would be dead, and that is a most perplexing problem. Your rescue would be a failure." Axe facehoofed as I turned my head to glare at the unicorn. "She looked a lot like you. Almost... Identical."

The unicorn smiled nervously and pointed her hoof at something in the distance. "That's Sienna's pod there. I should go back to the others."

She turned to go, but my jade green magic wrapped a thin band around her neck and tightened as I pushed her against the nearby wall. The unicorn tried to pull it off and even tried to use magic. But my grip kept tightening as she struggled. Axe watched curiously from my left with a faint smile on her face.

"Take over Our body will you?!" I shouted in her head as her face turned a slight purplish color. "Force Us to attack Our Sisters?!" The band tightened to the point where her eyes went wide.

"Stop," she mouthed and faintly gasped. "I didn't..."

I turned my head slightly, her limp body followed and went flying, as I released my death grip on the mare. She slammed into the metal catwalk in a slide. I slowly walked over while glaring a laser beam at her. The crimson mare that had caused me so many problems these last few weeks lay coughing and gasping for air ahead of me.

Axe walked over and lowered the armor's blade to her neck. "Which pod is it?" she forcibly asked while she sneered at the pony. "And do get it right the first time as I hate cleaning my armor."

"There," she rasped as she flicked her tail at a group of pods. "Only one still intact."

I walked over to them and saw that most were dark, but one was still running with a layer of dust blocking the view. I moved over to it as a smile formed on my lips.

My hoof came up as I wiped a dusty viewport. What I saw made me frown. In there was the brown filly Sienna. Except floating in the tank was a rotting brown blank flank ghoul filly. On her foreleg was a Pipbuck. She floated inside the murky liquid that should have protected her from radiation poisoning. I placed a dirty hoof on the glass and bit my lower lip as my eyes welled up with tears.

"Ho-how come she's a ghoul...?" I asked in concern with my mind.

"First generation pods," the mare rasped. "No radiation shielding. Think they were told? No."

The mare gasped and I looked back at her as the tail blade was pushed in deeper by Axe. "Why not?" she glared at the unicorn.

"Because they had to be told something! The war was going to end badly and the ones running this place at the time decided to save as many as the could, regardless of the consequences."

I looked back at the filly and placed my horn against the glass in an attempt to communicate. Despite the pain in my horn I telepathically asked, "Sienna..?" She stirred slightly as if hearing the voice. Her ears flopped around in the murky viscous liquid.

"Don't open it she's feral!" the mare rasped and coughed a couple times. "Every ghoul in this section is feral!"

"Well let the alicorn find out the hard way," Axe said as the mare gasped again. I looked back and saw that Axe’s tail was now lower on the neck and blood dripped out from a new cut. The blade was withdrawn as Axe moved away slightly. "Open it. We've come this far and I don't feel like wasting my time by leaving without it opened."

I smiled and nodded at this mare's vigilance. However the crimson mare shook her head quickly. "Don't you know what feral means, you birdbrain?!"

"Yes," Axe nodded. "Also, if one were to say something like that to their captor. I'd imagine their captor to get very annoyed. Annoyed to where that captor might just decide to slit their captee's throat and break the glass instead."

"No!" The mare shouted. "Don't break it. You can't build these things anymore and every part is worth more than gold."

"Then open it before I do!" Axe shouted.

The crimson mare nodded slowly and got up. I stepped out of the way as she went over to a panel next to the machine and began to push commands. Her brows knitted together in thought. "...yes, I'll just say..."

She looked back at Axe as the console beeped. "I don't kno-"

My magic wrapped itself around her neck and I quickly tightened it to where she couldn't breath again. I pressed my nose against hers as I glared. "Do not presume to lie to us!" I shouted in her mind as I let go. "I can read your thoughts. If you so much as think of lying to me again I will not hesitate to crush your neck!"

She dropped to the floor and rubbed at her neck. "Okay..." The mare nodded then looked at the machine. "But, I'm not gonna be sorry if that... thing tries to rip you to shreds."

I stood off to the side. Axe kept watching the way we had come suspiciously. Her scorpion like tail nervously flicking side to side. This I noticed and softly asked in her mind. "Something wrong?"

She looked back at me and pushed up her visor, her glowing eyes looked concerned. "Yeah... With all these ponies here, it's throwing my targeting spell off. Can't tell if we're being flanked or not. Or if there’s even a real threat out there."

I shrugged. "It does not matter. I have a shield, and you have power armor, thus we are that much less likely to die. This We know from experience."

"Sure," Axe smirked as she pulled her visor down. "I guess you're right."

My ears twitched at the sound of a flushing sound as water ran down a drain, and hooves on metal. I looked over as the murky goo drained and the crimson mare was galloping away. Suddenly, twin beams of red light struck the mare's backside at the same time a loud zap filled the air. One beam went straight through her body, leaving a smoking hole, and the other grazed her as it left a charred line. She fell, screaming in pain and tumbling to a stop. A second twin energy blast silenced her as she glowed pink for a second, then turned to ash.

"Fool," Axe muttered as my attention was drawn towards the tube. Sienna had fallen to the bottom of it. Unconscious but breathing slowly. I laid down to touch horns with her and shut my eyes. As the tips touched, the world around us slowly faded as I entered her mind.

I found it to be full of turmoil. She was confused, lost, and scared without her mother. Though I had no idea who her real mother was. It did not matter at this point.

I walked along the desolate street, looking left and right for any sign of Sienna, as I called out to the filly. "Sienna?! Hello?"

Movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention towards a filly sized pony as they galloped out of an alleyway. I noticed that she was a brown ghoul.

"Sienna!" I shouted after her. But she kept galloping away with her eyes shut. I spread my glorious wings, and with a quick flap, I was airborne. Though my flying wasn't as elegant as I'd liked and haphazard, I made do. My wing was shaky as if a pony broke it on purpose at one point and didn't bother to reset the bone. Still, I flew as best I could and quickly caught up with the brown unicorn filly.

She was screaming as if she had just witnessed something horrible, which she had, and tears streamed down her face. My hoof steps echoed slightly as I landed in front of her and turned around.

"Sienna, stop!" I quietly exclaimed in her mind. The ghoul filly blinked a set of glowing eyes and looked up at me as she slid to a stop. Her hooves barely had any traction as she scrambled away. I held out my scarred hoof as I said. "Please, don't be frightened. I'm here to help you."

"Moooooom!" she shouted, her voice hoarse and rough from the ghoulification. "Mooooom! Celestia's being scary!"

I smiled at her as I motioned her closer and used my mouth. "Don't you recognize me? I'm Lilium, please believe me."

She tilted her head and blinked her faintly glowing red eyes. One of her ears twitched slightly as her tilt increased. "No yer not. Yer green!" she shouted in her hoarse voice.

I nodded slightly as I laid down. "Yes, but I remember the boardwalk with the ice cream and Dawn Star. I won you that Celestia doll, remember?” Sienna nodded. “Where is your real mother?"

Her ears drooped as she looked down at the dusty street. My ears drooped as well at the realization that this filly has spent two hundred years in this pod. Alone until I was installed.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I thought... that last pony was so nice... the crystal unicorn..."

I held out my hoof as I smiled at her. It was my attempt to tell her without words that everything would be okay. Something nudged my shoulder, causing me to nod. "Sienna," she looked back up at me. "I never did take you to the Crystal Empire. What kind of a mother breaks a promise like that?"

She tilted her head as her rotted ears flopped around. Sienna, strangely, looked as if she knew this was not a real world. "Is it scary?"

My smile had yet to fade and I tilted my head in response. "Is what scary, little one?"

"Outside..." she slowly looked around with her glowing red eyes. "Not here, the actual world."

Something nudged my shoulder again but I ignored it. I shut my eyes as I sighed and gave her a nod. "Yes," I told her with my mouth. "It can be scary, but... Ponies fear me as to them I am a monster."

"Really?" she tilted her head and again I nodded. "Can I go with you then?"

I grinned and held out my hoof. She jumped into my chest and sent me reeling back a step from her weight. As I slumped into a sitting position the little ghoul filly gave me the strongest hug she could muster. Slowly, the world faded around us.

I blinked, and awoke looking down at Sienna, whom strangely had her full mane still. Something was nudging my shoulder over and over, which caused me to glare at the source.

Axe was trying to get my attention while she shouted. "Wake up you stupid alicorn, there's another one coming!"

My eyes widened as I looked down at Sienna. The brown ghoul was moving slightly and barely registering her surroundings. I immediately set about unhooking her from the machine while she regained focus.

"It's so rusty-what?!" Her glowing red eyes widened to the size of pie plates as I pulled the hose connecting her head to the machine. "Dead? How can Ah be dead?! Stupid Pipbuck! Yer broked 'cause Ah'm not dead!"

She repeatedly hit her Pipbuck with a hoof until she realized that her hood was rotted. Sienna screamed in fright like the filly she was. That was when I heard hoof steps on rusty metal behind me and Axe swore as she dove to the side.

"Shit, alicorn!"

I immediately grabbed Sienna in my foreleg and hugged her tight and spun around to face the alicorn. I tilted my head, Sienna stopped screaming, and Axe sent a pair of twin beams at the purple.

They struck a shimmering red shield and did no damage. I saw that this purple was not RJ. In fact, her coat was a much lighter shade of purple. She looked at Sienna with her head tilted in confusion. An eyebrow raised up and a strange look.

"Stay back!" I shouted at her with my mind. "I will kill you if I have too."

She looked behind her for a second, then looked at me. "You risked capture to help a ghoul filly you've only known for a few days?" she asked softly and I nodded in response.

"Yes. Sienna may not be mine by blood, but I feel as if she should not be alone. I have been in her situation before and it is not pleasant."

Sienna looked up at me as she asked. "Miss Lilium, what's a ghoul?"

I smiled down at her as I nuzzled her mane. "It is what you are, Sienna. A ghoul is a thing that some ponies fear. Especially if they have eyes like yours. Which are very pretty by the way."

She smiled. Her face looking like I had just given her a stuffed Celestia doll. "Ponies will think Ah'm scary?!" I nodded. "Awesome!"

A light chuckle caused me to look up at the smiling alicorn. "It seems as if there is some good in you after all. Don’t worry. I will tell the others you went a different way. Though I will attack you if I see you again."

I saw her horn glow as she prepared a spell. "Wait!" I said in her mind and she did. "Why? What have I done to you?" She pointed a hoof at her foreleg and my ears drooped in realization that this mare was the one I had skinned. "I'm sorry... I didn't know... I thought it was fake..."

"I wish you luck," she said as she wrapped herself in a mass of swirling purple that coalesced into a ball. The energy ball exploded outwards in a bright flash as the alicorn teleported away.

I looked at Axe and nodded. She nodded back, but gave a weary look to Sienna before pulling her faceplate down.

Sienna finally noticed Axe and her red eyes went wide. "Oooooh! Yer like an awesome pegasus scorpion thing!"

"Power armor," Axe replied with a smirk, "gotta love it."

*** ***

We, the three of us, walked through the rusty building. Axe was weary about everything. Even going so far as to fire at a small rat that had appeared for fear it would bite one of us, and inject some imp spawn creature. Sienna would try to drag me towards a pod or two, and I would let her. Thus our trek had been very slow and Axe seemed to be enjoying my distaste for the weapon she had given me.

It was a .223 caliber revolver with a small tactical light underneath the square barrel. I disliked it because of it’s... pitiful ammunition. The mouth grip looked to have a small cracked plastic inlay as well as some torn padding. Yet I did not need to use the mouth grip as it was floating just under my vision at the ready if I needed it. The barrel of it was a dulled and scratched ebony color. Overall the weapon looked in poor condition.

And yet when Sienna had grabbed it from Axe’s grip, her Pipbuck told her it was in okay condition on the verge of being poor. Axe had said she only had 5.56mm hollow point ammo which should work just fine, according to her, on fleshy targets. The pegasus kept calling it 'That Crappy Gun' but Sienna had made no mention if it actually was called that or not. She had merely giggled.

Sienna came scrambling back to me with a look of terror on her face. She shoved my forelegs around as she attempted to use them as cover from some unseen monster. The ghoul filly pointed her hoof at the pod. “Miss Lilium, there’s a zombie in that pod,” she whispered and I merely chuckled.

I used my wing to block her vision by letting it drag on the ground slightly, which seemed to satisfy her needs as she stayed there. Both Axe and I found it amusing that even though the ‘zombies’ could not attack her, she was afraid of them. A monster afraid of her fellow monsters.

We kept walking through the rusty confines, looking for a way out and following Sienna's vague directions. The filly weaved in and out of my legs as I did so, causing me to stumble a bit as I tripped over her. But I quickly regained my balance as she skittered off somewhere again. Axe merely watched with interest.

"I don't get it," she grumbled as I resumed trotting and Sienna came over. "That scientist said she was feral, she looks feral, but she ain't acting feral. Why?"

"I do not know," I replied honestly and shook my head, my mane always covering my right eye as I did so. It was the truth. I cast my one eyed gaze about again at all of the pods. Nothing was amiss and so we kept walking.

There was not a whole lot to look at really. The rusty walls, floor, and dark ceiling blurred together eventually to make just one mass of rust. Axe's scorpion like tail moved moved about this way and that in clear worry as she looked around. I did not blame her as this place worried me.

We saw no exit signs, nor directional signs. We were merely walking south according to Axe's compass. To our left were pods stacked almost to the gloomy ceiling. To my right was a rusty wall. Beneath my hooves was a rusty echoing catwalk.

Our walk through the confines gave me time to contemplate what had actually transpired and what was false. Strangely, according to Axe, almost all of it actually happened.

"Axe, how come your eyes glow?" I asked quietly in her mind.

She looked at the floor, her ears drooping slightly as if remembering something bad. "Ever encounter a glowing ghoul?"

"Yes, once." I nodded slowly as I trotted next to her. Sienna of course used my legs to hide behind.

"Well there was this one, far out to sea on a shipwreck, and I picked it up. The damn thing bit me."

"And it injected you with mutant spawn?"

She stopped and looked at me in shock, her jaw agape. Then she closed it and shook her head. "No. I absorbed a near lethal amount of radiation due to practically hugging it so I could carry it. I spent about a month getting better and found my eyes glowed ever since. Kind of cool if you ask me."

I frowned at her story as I looked at the floating pistol in front of me. If she was telling the truth, then that meant Comet was too when he had said one of his daughters was very ill.

I nodded even though she didn't see it. "I heard your twin was with you for awhile when you were sick."

"Yeah, she was. And she told me about a crazy alicorn and a giant plant monster that took up a whole room."

"I understand what you were going through with the radiation poisoning. I went through it once before... that is why I chose Unity. To end my suffering and become a better pony."

"Was it worth it?" she quietly asked as she looked at a random pipe on the wall. "To be changed so drastically."

I nodded. "Yes it was in my eyes. Though I am sure you will have no worry about becoming a ghoul. This we will make sure of. You have our word."

"I hope so..." Axe replied solemnly. "I met this pegasus ghoul. She was absolutely crazy!"

"Ripper?" I asked as I grinned, knowing the exact ghoul she was talking about.

The power armored pegasus nodded. "Yeah. Craziest bitch of a bird I've crossed. Ugly."

"Rude."

"Eats invisible food."

"And talks about 'them'."

"Hey, she makes a good point on those. I think they're real." Axe shook her head. "And we did lose a recon squad to what they called albino mules. When I arrived all I saw was blood stains and shredded armor. No meat remained. Just bloody armor and feathers..." Her voice cracked a bit as she said feathers.

I scratched my chin with a wing in thought as I replied. "How is Wraith?"

Axe shrugged. "Still the same. She's been taking Dash for so long she can't live without it. Father has rationed it to her in a way where she's not doped up or nearly dying from withdrawal all the time. So I guess she’s doing okay. We tried to keep it a secret, but on a cloudship..."

"News spreads fast. I remember on the ship going to the zebra lands. How is Comet?"

She giggled at some memory. I saw a smile on her face.

"When I was sick he told me a story. He was walking through a hallway when an alicorn stallion nearly tackled him. The alicorn was strangely frightened about something. Which turned out to be a soap covered, and horny, green alicorn mare. Father said he defused the situation with a massage. But I got the feeling there was more to the story than he was telling me."

"I get it," I said. My face a darker shade of green thanks to my deep blush.

Axe nodded. "Yeah. I suppose you do."

I said nothing, merely nodded in response. Luckily Comet had stumbled across me. Otherwise I might have done something I'd regret.

A tap on one of my legs drew my attention downward to Sienna. She looked up at me with big puppy dog eyes that, despite ghoulification and solid red, made me feel like my heart was melting. “Miss Lilium, how come you’re an alicorn?”

I smiled at her. “Because looong,’ I waved my wing in a dramatic fashion, “ago I was once a unicorn like you.” She tilted her head and I nodded. “Yes, that tan crystal pony was what I used to look like almost two hundred years ago to this very day.”

I noticed Axe’s ears had moved to listen intently, but she kept looking around. Sienna looked confused with her head tilted. “But how?”

“Magic,” I grinned. “Well... a different kind of magic than unicorn. It was a magical substance that, from my understanding, is now long gone. I jumped into this substance almost a hundred and seventy years ago and was transformed, rather painfully, into this. Or at least others tell me the process was painful for them. For me it was like stepping into too hot of a bath. Almost scalding at first, but tolerable.”

“There’s more than two?!” Her eyes went wide.

"Yes, a great many of us. We come in three general colors with varying shades. Green obviously, purple and blue. Each of my sisters and I have their own unique talents in addition to our regular talents. Which is why I am able to talk to you in your mind. This, plus our shield, is what we greens are best at. We... could control the others with a small pocket of Unity, but that might be bad."

"What do blue ones do?"

"This," I replied before I went invisible. Her eyes widened at the same time her jaw dropped. The air around me shimmered as I reappeared. "Spells were shared among us in Unity. A good Sister gave me the ability, and as such, I know how to do the Blue's invisibility. But it is not as good as a pure blues spell. Th-give me a minute."

I stopped, causing the other two two to stop in confusion. My magic branched out while I felt around for Sister while making sure I didn't touch the others. I felt nothing in the immediate area, obviously, so I searched wider. She was nowhere to be found and that caused my ears to fold back in worry.

Sienna waved a rotted forehoof at the bottom of my vision in an attempt to get me to move. Axe was looking at me with her visor up, her eyes concerned. She pulled Sienna away and whispered something to her I couldn't make out. But it was most likely 'let's give her some room'.

I concentrated and pushed my senses to the very limit of what I could do. There were other ponies, always other ponies, but alicorns were unique. To me, they were like distress flares in the night. Easy to spot and follow. Each one unique in her own way.

Eventually, I felt her. Sister was at the very limit of my abilities. A grin formed on my face as my ears perked up. She was very far away. I'd say on the other side of the island based off how faint it was.

The thought of connecting to her fully came to mind. So I did. "Sister?" I asked in her mind.

"Shock...?" she replied, causing me to grin as she never responded before. "I thought you were dead... You vanished weeks ago! What happened?"

My ears folded back in worry as I was unsure as to what she meant. It had only been less than a week, had it not?

"I..." I looked at the two ponies nearby and smiled. "I was held against my will in a machine. It created a world that was similar, yet different. You were there-"

"Of course I was if it was similar. Tell me where you are and I'll come get you."

I almost responded, but I had no idea where we were. "It is fine," I told Sister. "We know where your location is and we shall make our way to you. I have two others with me that can help, so I am safe."

"Very well, I await your return at the location of your last drop."

*** ***

Tunnels. Dark rusty tunnels as far as the eye could see. Which was not that far due to the darkness that surrounded us like a blanket. As we walked, the torch under my new pistol lit the way. Axe had no problem in the dark, neither did Sienna, but I was forced to rely on the tactical light.

The three of us were walking in one of those seemingly endless rusty tunnels. We had long ago left the pods behind. Our guide was Sienna's Pipbuck, which had a marker for something. Axe had retrieved my bags, but the only thing of mine I still had was the Twilight Sparkle statuette. All of the caps, items, and ammo I had collected were gone. But it didn't matter. I had the doll and that assured me that my trip since leaving the Crescent Moon was a hundred percent real.

Which was all I needed. Something real to hold on to. Something I was sure I had achieved over the last near two months.

I stopped and looked down at Sienna. She looked up at me with her ghoulish red eyes. The look on her face was near terror. I scooped her up in a foreleg and nuzzled her belly. She giggled in response. Her laugh sounding like a cheese grater, but it made me smile. I set her down gently and resumed my trot.

But I quickly wing slapped her and said in her mind, "tag, you're it!" I broke into a gallop, leaving a slightly stunned Sienna and Axe behind.

The tactical light under the pistol was of little use as I galloped away from the group. A quick glance back showed Sienna to be trying to keep up. I flashed her a grin and barreled around the corner.

As I looked ahead, my eye widened and I skidded to a stop in a small dust cloud. Something small and soft slammed into my hind legs, forcing them out from under me. Due to my shock I simply collapsed into a sitting position on top of a squirming Sienna. Who started to whine and complain about the weight. Behind me, metal hoof steps echoed as Axe also came around the corner.

"Hey, slow d-" she gulped the rest of her statement. I stood up slightly and allowed Sienna to crawl out from under me. She opened her mouth to speak, but a metal hoof from Axe was quickly shoved into her mouth. Sienna glared at the pegasus then me.

I nodded and put a wing to my mouth in a silencing gesture. Sienna nodded in response so Axe released her hoof. Then I turned my attention to what had caused me to stop so abruptly.

Plants. Not just any plants either, but giant yellow pods and purple bulbs lined the walls leading to a door that wasn't far away. There were only five plants, but without a flamethrower it would be hell to try and get past.

"Axe," I asked in her mind without taking my eye off the plants. "Can you hack terminals?"

Something tugged at my mane, drawing my attention to Axe, who pointed down the way we had come. I smiled at her as I picked Sienna up in a foreleg to place her on my back. With my empty bags she still wasn't all that heavy.

I turned my attention back to the plants as I lined up a shot by looking down the iron sights. But then I lowered it as I remembered the Steel Rangers lost ponies to these plants. Without Hyde I was in no shape to fight.

I sat there, thinking of what to do, when I realized I still had my spells. The 5.56mm ammo was brought out as I cast my shield and charged the group of plants.

The purple ones immediately ahead bloomed and spit barbs, which impacted the shield and stuck much to my surprise. A tongue from a nearby yellow pod slammed into my shield, causing it to flicker, as another one roared in the darkness.

I kept charging as a second tongue slammed into my shield. Sienna screamed in terror, almost matching the pods for volume. Two beams of red sliced across my vision, striking a purple pod and causing it to glow pink before disintegrating.

It was then I brought up That Crappy Gun and put two hollow points into the nearest purple flower. At a distance of one meter only a complete fool could miss. My two shots struck the flower square on and tore chunks out of the back as they passed through. It squealed and oozed out ichor as I sent a third shot into it, striking the bulb in the center.

As I turned my attention onto the third and final bulb I heard Sienna scream. "They got the pegasus!"

I immediately spun around and aimed down the sight. Axe was being dragged by the hind leg towards a yellow pod. However before I could fire at the pod. Her bladed tail lashed out, severing the tongue and causing the beast to roar in agony as more of the floor was covered in ichor.

With Axe freed my attention was turned towards the final purple bulb as it bloomed a second time. The tac light highlighted it perfectly three meters away. I aimed down the sights and quickly squeezed the trigger twice with magic. The weapon popped loudly in response as both of my shots struck the center of mass on the plant.

It exploded in green ichor covered chunks at the same time a barb embedded itself in my shield.

As beam after red beam sliced across the hallway. I opened the cylinder of the revolver and emptied the empties. They were caught in my magic long before they hit the ground and brought closer so they could be reloaded later. Five new hollow points were loaded in. My last five.

I trained the weapon on a yellow pod Axe was trying to incinerate with red laser beams. My revolver popped twice, striking the pod right in the side, and tore chunks of plant off as it roared in pain. Two beams sliced across it and struck my shield, causing it to shimmer slightly. I glared at Axe who merely shrugged and adjusted her aim to actually hit the plant.

I rolled my eyes and focused on the beast. I squeezed the trigger a third time and tore another chunk off. This time at the base of the beast near the green vines The beast squealed and collapsed and let out a final breath.

*** ***

Beyond the door lay more rusty hallways and more vegetation, but strangely no killer plants. They were already all dead. We cautiously walked through a debris filled atrium. The roof having collapsed at one time and...

I stopped, causing the others to look at me in confusion, and pointed a hoof at scorch marks on the floor where a foal plant monster lay dead and scorched. "I made those."

Axe nodded. "Hm... Seems we're back at that insane stable."

"That is good then," I smiled at our luck. “We can head into the tram tunnels and find our way to Oakwood. I should know the path.”

"What about the plant monster thing?" Axe asked as she turned towards the door where we had come from.

"It must surely be as dead as those flowers down there."

"But they so pretty..." Sienna added as she stared at the dead plants. "How can something' so pretty be so mean?"

"They're a product of a deranged mind," Axe replied quietly. "The prettier the deadlier."

I moved on and blocked out the conversation. Ahead of me lay, of course, burnt plant covered rusty flooring. The walls were scorched and as I stopped. I saw the door I originally came through the first time.

It was open, scorched black, and falling off its hinges. I pointed my hoof at it as I said. "There is our way out."

"How can you be sure?" Sienna asked as she came bounding over. I patted her with my wing and a smile.

"I remember it, and the door is blown inward. Not out. So it must have been the way the Tin Can Heretics came in."

"Hah!" Axe laughed and drew my attention. "Tin Can Heretics. I gotta remember that one."

And so without saying anything else, I headed for the destroyed door.

Shell Shock: 75% to next level.
Quest perk gained - Foal at Heart. Allows for unique interaction and dialogue with foals and some adults.

New ability unlocked - VR fun time. You've been hooked into a virtual reality simulator for Goddess knows how long. Due to the implants installed, you can now access it if you ever swing by there again. The implants don't provide any other bonuses and you should probably cover them up.

Side quest accepted - Home is where the heart is. Recover your toys and link back up with Mudpie so the both of you can go after Eclipse.

Side quest completed - Voices in your head. You killed the crimson mare, but was she really the one in your head or is there something still there?

Companion perk - Better criticals. You are 20% more likely to crit something with Axe in your party. Applies to energy weapons and unicorn, or alicorn, spells only.

Companion perk - Ghost Hunter. You deal 10% more damage to ghouls, zombies, and anything else Sienna deems a ghost or scary.

Axe: Level up!

New Perk - Friend of the Night. You can see in the dark and you look awesome to certain ponies. Others are creeped out.

Sienna: Level up!

New perk - Little Monstrosity. Due to your severe ghoulification. You scare certain ponies shitless. Have fun. Feral ghouls might not attack you, but they also just might.