Chapter 12: Into the Black
“The road to Tartarus is full of good intentions.”

The pages of the journal were getting drenched by the cold rain drizzling through the fog, but I could care less at the time about such trivial things. There was something bothering me about the whole thing with the Goddess. She had appeared and disappeared often, but never when I actually needed her. So.I looked up from the journal and my gaze fell upon the pony who had given me the journal.

The Goddess.

Or rather, a pony that resembled perfection to a T. However her two-tone mane was nearly perfect, her light azure blue fur was perfect, if a bit dirty, and her blue eyes were perfect. All of this had lead me to assume this pony was The Goddess, but she did not radiate the same grace that the Goddess had.

"Who are you?" I asked as my head tilted. She stood not more than three yards from me and, in the light provided by the Pipbuck, I could make out faint scars upon her hide from where she had been shot before.

Which meant that she was not The Goddess.

"I am not 'The Goddess'," she replied at the same time I thought it. This confirmed my thoughts at the time so I nodded.

“Then who are you?” I asked again and tilted my head the other way.

"My name is not important, but you," she pointed at me and I tilted my head a little bit more. "You, Shell Shock, need help. So much shit on this island is fucked up because of your little run around it a few weeks ago. Didn’t you stop to think for one second about what the fuck you were doing?"

I took a slow look around the cloudship crash site. One half of the Cloudchaser was smoking, like it had been the first time I was there, the broken concrete and mud around it still had the skeletons and decomposing bodies, the buildings around us were decrepit but most of all... there was a lot more green around than I remembered.

I looked at the odd alicorn again while my ears slowly folded back. "The plants... I caused this?" She nodded in response and they pressed against my head. "But... Axe and I... We destroyed the research data!"

"Moron!" She slammed her hoof into the mud as a scowl formed on her face. Which caused me to shrink back a bit as I closed the journal and held it tight. "You left the fucking doors open and spore carriers got out! Their seed got everywhere and these plants have overtaken everything!”

I glanced down at my hooves as I brought them up. My forelegs were dark and wet with blood despite me having washed them clean earlier. "I only wanted to help ponies,” I replied quietly while looking at my right foreleg. “I... I'm not evil."

"You are," she said somberly. Her voice was quiet and held no pity. Still, I did not look at her because I tried to brush the blood off with a hoof and failed. It only made the slick stuff stay on. "Ponies were doing fine here and then you tried to 'help', but instead. You fucked it up worse than it was before!"

"But... I just..." Tears welled up in my eyes so I shut them tightly and turned my head to the side. "I just... Wanted to make up for what I've done in the past. During the war, after, and with Unity. I'm not… I’m not a bad pony. In the past I hurt ponies and zebra alike in a horrible manner. But I want to help now. I... I can... I can help if... you... give me a chance."

"Then put aside your differences with the Steel Rangers and fix this island."

I opened my eyes and looked up at her. My face was so soaked from the rain she could not tell if I was crying or not. However my voice had been choked and it wasn’t hard to figure out. The Not Goddess alicorn smiled a little bit in some vain attempt to make me feel as if everything would be alright.

Again, I looked down at my darkened hooves, but this time a bit of green magic surrounded them as I began to scrub them clean with magic and my hoof.

"What are you doing?" The other alicorn asked. Her voice was slightly concerned.

I shook my head while I ignored her and scrubbed harder with the magic, and then left hoof when it wouldn’t come off. The pressure was enough to cause a normal pony worry about breaking the skin but I could have cared less. I felt nothing beyond the scrubbing. My forelegs needed to be clean of the blood.

They should be a crystalline tan! I thought to myself and scrubbed harder.

"Shock, what are you doing?!" the alicorn asked again, but this time, her voice was more familiar, almost exactly like Sister’s. However I still scrubbed my hooves as I tried to get the blood off them. When I looked at them they were not a nice crystal tan or forest green, which they should be.

They should, they must, be nice and perfect like The Goddess is. I thought to myself and scrubbed harder.

Something, be it the bottom of my hoof or the Pipbuck edge, sliced a line of red across my right foreleg and blood began gushing out of the wound. I didn’t care. I just wanted the blood off off so I kept scrubbing to get it clean again.

"Shock, stop!" the alicorn shouted from much closer, but I kept scrubbing my hooves. My jade green magic formed a barrier around the bleeding cut to keep any blood in. Something took hold of my shoulders and my whole body rocked back and forth violently as the alicorn shouted. "Shell Shock, stop this right now you're scaring me!" her voice cracked a bit, like a concerned relative, causing me to break my trance and blink.

I looked up at the face of Sister, her forelegs were on my shoulders and her face was a mask of deep concern.

I slowly held my forehooves up to show her and I hardly felt the warm trickle of as it ran down my leg onto my chest. The wound did not even hurt. "There's blood on them.” I told her with my mouth. “Can't you see it? They're black, soaked to the bone, with the blood of ponies, zebra, and gryphons. I can't get it off. But I try. I try my hardest to remove it and I can never get it out. Please, tell me how can-"

She wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug and almost sent me sprawling on my back from the unexpected weight shift. My wings flared out with a pop in an effort to balance out her weight, but I could have cared less. I stared over her shoulder at the fog as my hooves dropped again.

Something, most likely her nose, rubbed at my neck while I continued to stare almost absently stare at the fog.

Zebras, ponies, gryphons. I can see every single one of their faces whenever I close my eyes. They haunt me where I go, whisper things to me, urge me to dice ponies into little bits like before. To eat their flesh, because there's no food due to the snow, and not to worry because they would have done the same. It’s them or me and in the end it won’t be me who dies, but them.

I laid my head on Sister's as I quietly sobbed. "I'm... a monster..."

She nodded and her cheek rubbed against my neck, which felt nice. "Yes, you are a horrible, horrible, monster," Sister sniffed quietly, “and I'm sorry. But you can change."

I merely nodded in agreement while I continued to stare at the wall of fog. I did not care that I was bleeding out, because deep down I could feel the blood pumping through my veins.

"Why are you pretending to be The Goddess?" I quietly asked with my mind. "Why trick me like this? What purpose did it serve?"

“Because… it was the only way to get you to listen. And I couldn’t get to you physically so I ha-”

"We must do better," I whispered with my mouth, interrupting Sister's explanation of why she had been pretending to be The Goddess. But I did not care. "We must do better. War? Fear? Death? We must do better... for all. We must do better... We must-"

"Shock!" Sister exclaimed in my ear, which broke me from my zone and caused me to blink. I turned my head to look at her and realized we were still hugging. Her puffy eyes gave away the fact that she had been crying as well. A fact I already knew.

But over what, I had no idea.

My lips curled up in a smile as I tried to change the subject. "Yes, what is it you wish, Sister?"

"You were doing it again," she replied and smiled as well. But her smile appeared a bit forced, so mine grew a little bigger. “I told you not to say ‘We’ anymore.”

I shut my eyes and nodded. "Yes, we, as in the both of us."

Sister nodded slowly and leaned forward. I quickly raised my Pipbuck hoof and placed it on her lips as I pushed her back slightly.

She looked cross-eyed at my hoof then me as I told her. "Sister, how many times must I tell thee? I like stallions. Dost thou wish me to knock a few of your teeth out or stab you with my horn?" She slowly shook her head. "Good, now will you please stop trying to kiss me or get between my legs?"

She nodded, so I lowered my hoof. Sister looked down at my other hoof and frowned, a lot. "Shock, you're bleeding."

I glanced at the offending hoof as I took a closer look. “Yes, I am. It is not terminal and will heal quickly.”

By now my non-Pipbuck hoof was covered in my own blood, but the gash was slowly sealing thanks to the radiation I had soaked up earlier. However as it was doing so I noticed that the Pipbuck's radiation meter was slowly dropping, which was odd and meant that as I healed it used up the radiation in my body. I made a mental note to soak up more.

Movement drew my attention to Sister's face again. Her horn was glowing an azure blue and a strip of cloth was floating near her face. She brought the bandage to my injured foreleg, which I held out for her and watched as she began wrapping it up.

"Shock, what are we going to do with you?" Sister shook her head and sighed deeply.

"What ever do you mean?" I asked as my head tilted a little, then looked at the now bandaged wound. The white cloth quickly turned a deep crimson from my own blood. "I'm fine. Only a few odd things now and then is not a problem."

"You keep injuring yourself," she quietly said as a hint of sorrow touched her voice. "These metal disc things in your body must hurt." I shook my head and my flowing mane kept my bad eye covered. Sister picked up the end of my mane in her magic and looked at it. “Do you bathe in radiation or something? This thing is always flowing.”

"Sister," I said with my mind, drawing her attention back to me. "How did you change your coat color? This fact confuses me greatly."

"A disguise." she smiled.

However, I eyed her as one of my eyebrows raised up and my head tilted to the side a bit. "Are you a changeling?"

“No, I used a dye but it's not very good in the rain." She giggled and stood up.

As I looked at her I noticed the streaks in her non-flowing mane left by the dye. She eventually looked at me and a faint smile formed on her face. "We should get inside," she said quietly. As if talking to loud were to bring trouble.

I glanced around at the fog surrounding us with my one good eye and gave the faintest of nods. As I pushed myself to a standing position my legs shook slightly and popped.

Sister trotted towards to door to the Cloudchaser, I followed behind her as best I could, but was forced to limp a little on the newly injured leg. "Sister, how is it I did not see you leave?"

She glanced back at me and smirked. "You were so fixated on taking a shower I waited a few minutes before going invisible and following you out."

I nodded as we entered the wreckage. The rusty hall smelled like somepony dipped it in paint thinner, mold, and wet dirt. Still, my Pipbuck light gave us some semblance of light of of an area about three meters wide. Which was about as wide as the passageway.

I quickly trotted around Sister as our hooves fell in step like a drum beat against the cold rusty deck. My one eye scanned the rusty walls to our left as best it could while I also kept an eye ahead as best I could.

As I approached the first corner I attempted to peer around only to be met by my mane in my blurry right eye. I sighed deeply as I let out my breath and shook my head.

"I wish to see again..." I quietly whined.

"You will," Sister replied and trotted around me into the new corridor. "Come on." She flicked her tail to the side in a gesture to get me to follow.

Yet it also gave me a full view of her backside and I couldn’t help but look at it for the second it was visible. I rolled my eyes and trotted after the blue alicorn. She looked at me and gave a faint smirk as she turned right into another passageway.

"I know you looked, because you’re blushing a little," Sister said sensually, which held no effect on me.

Again I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "How could I not when you display it like that? And no, I was not aroused by the sight of it nor was I blushing! I don't know where you got that idea from."

Sister stopped and stomped a hoof down while thrusting her wings down. "Please?!" she whined like a filly as I trotted by and did not look at her face. "One time is all I'm asking! I won't ever bug you again about it."

"No," I replied flatly in her mind and kept walking. "I have already told you many times. I have not, nor will I, ever bed a mare."

Sister's hoofsteps echoed behind me as she cantered over and slowed to my pace. She looked at me with a pleading expression; her eyes grew big as she bit down on her lower lip and her ears drooped to the side of her face.

I smiled at her as my wing unfolded and quickly slapped her across the face. Sister blinked and quickly shook her head. "What was that for?!"

"It is the counter to that eye trick," I replied in her mind with a smile.

I stopped at a door and set a hoof on it before gently pushing it open. The door gave a rusty groan on non-oiled hinges that was loud enough to wake the dead.

The two of us stood as still as statues, my ears swiveled in all directions, and we awaited a response. After an eternity I glanced at Sister, whose expression had turned serious, and noticed her horn was glowing its normal glow.

What she was using it for I had no idea but I heard nothing. The door groaned again as I pushed it open even more and stepped through into the room.

My ears continued swiveling while I scanned the rusty hall. A blue light behind me lit most of the grimy junk. I glanced at Sister and was surprised to see the glow was coming from her exquisite horn.

But my horn is better. It is sharper, pointier, and better at stabbing things.

Sister trotted forward as I stepped to the side and allowed her to pass. While she trotted past I glanced at the door and shut it with my magic. Sister glanced back at me and nodded.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked, she nodded again and continued trotting. My gaze slowly wandered from the back of her head on down to her flank. It lingered there while I trotted along behind her through the rusty passageway.

Her cutie mark, two crossed revolvers, adorned her flank. She had one, other ponies have one, and yet... as I glanced back at my flank a frown formed on my face.

"My flank is blank." I said quietly with my mind. "I do not remember what my cutie mark was..."

"You'll find out some day," Sister said without looking back. "Everypony has one. It's only a matter of finding out what your special talent was. Do you remember it?"

"No," I sighed. "In fact, there is a gap from when I was born to two years before the war ended. It is blank and hurts if I try to remember that time."

"Well perhaps you're not meant to know. You're fine the way you are, yes?"

I nodded and did not bother responding to her. Sister stopped at a door and pushed it open with her hoof. Light spilled out into the hallway and cast a shadow on the rusty wall. Sister poked her head in and I Iooked in as well. A foul, rancid, stench of rotting meat filtered out from the room that caused my nose to wrinkle. So I brought my wing out to cover it in an attempt to block out the smell. It failed miserably.

Inside the room was my missile launcher with the odd creature still attached to it. Sister glanced back at me. "Got a spatchula? Maybe we can peel it off." In response I shook my head. She sighed and nodded. "Alright, we'll try to pull it off by force then."

I stepped across the threshold and trotted over to the monster. My forest green hoof nudged the thing’s squishy, rubber like, chest. It partly rolled onto its side and my gaze went to its face.

"What is it?" I asked Sister with my mind. Because it looked a lot like a mule, but with sharp teeth and solid black eyes.

"I have no fuckin' idea," she replied. A blue glow surrounded one of its hind legs as Sister's magic lifted it up and she looked between them. "Hm... interesting." She let the monster’s leg go and stepped back.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her odd act. "Of course, you would check if it was male or female. Do you have a knife?" She glanced at me. An eyebrow was raised up and her head was cocked at an angle so I said. "I'm curious as to how it looks inside. I'm not going to eat it. As it has black blood and smells horrible. The meat is most likely spoiled even if it was a pony."

Her eyebrow raised more at the mention of meat and pony in the same sentence. "There's something wrong with you. How could you even think of eating a pony in the first place?!"

"I had to survive!" I shouted back at her and my eye twitched. "It was deathly cold almost year round. The snowstorms were long and could kill if you stayed out for too long. No food grew on the surface and what little places there were underground, had expensive food. I don't. Eat. Pony. Not anymore."

"Fine, fine..." Sister nodded and walked over to a workbench. "Let's see..." she opened a drawer and frowned. "Clipboard?"

"I... suppose..." I replied with my mind. She tossed the object over with her magic, I caught it with mine and floated it towards the odd monster. I sat down as Sister rummaged through more drawers.

"I found some ten mil casings… Um... Looks like a bottle of glowing Sparkle-Cola and a clean slide for a pistol."

I looked up with my head tilted. She walked over to me while floating the objects she had found. "That is Sparkle-Cola RAD." I told her and pointed at the radish on the bottle. “Tastes like radishes.”

Sister frowned while looking at the bottle. "Rad... as in radiation?" I nodded. "What? That's absurd! Who... Who would drink irradiated cola?!"

"It's tangy and has a nice kick to it," I smiled while replying in her mind. She facehoofed. "They eventually pulled it because they realized it was bad. Keep that one. A collector might want it."

"Who collects Sparkle-Cola junk?"

"A ghoul, a wastelander fascinated by the old world, and me. But I do not need drinks any longer. So please. Keep it. For trading."

She nodded. "I don't have my bags so you keep it." Sister floated all the junk to me, I placed it into my saddlebags that were next to the missile launcher and slowly nodded.

My magic pushed the clipboard into the spot where the monster’s hoof connected with the launcher. Despite me trying to wiggle it under there nothing happened. I frowned and pushed harder to no effect.

"Need help?" Sister asked as her blue magic engulfed the creature and tugged on it. "Hm... it seems stuck."

"It appears so, yes," I nodded at the obvious. "How about you pull on the creature and I'll pull on the missile launcher?"

"Okay," she gripped the being's chest with her forelegs and hovered off the ground. I flapped my own wings and hovered as well. My forelegs wrapped around the launcher tube and I gave a nod. "Three... two... one... Go!"

I rapidly flapped my wings as I fled backwards at the same time Sister also flew backwards. The creature went taut and pulled us to a stop but the both of us kept pulling as hard as we could. It slipped a bit from my grip so I used a bit of magic to hang onto the tube. My muscles strained from the amount of effort I was putting into it.

As I looked down I noticed the edges of the hoof were peeled back slightly.

Suddenly, and with a flesh rending ripping sound, all resistance vanished and I immediately flew backwards, which I quickly corrected into a hover. I looked at Sister, who had dropped the now two legged creature and was holding a forehoof to her mouth. Her face had turned a color close to my coat color most likely due to the new stench that filled the room. As I floated backwards my gaze went to the missile launcher tube in my magical grip.

The two, now bloody, forelegs were still attached to the launcher and slowly dripped what blood they held not seconds ago.

"It appears as if it has a literal death grip," I said at the same time Sister turned her head and heaved onto the floor. I ignored her food that was now adorning the deck and stared at the forelegs of the monster.

As I managed to get the clipboard under the hoof Sister said, "and I thought they smelled bad on the outside...”

A smile crossed my lips when I managed to push the clipboard under a bit. The hoof popped loudly like a cork in a wine bottle and the foreleg fell to the ground with a wet squish. The clipboard floated to the other hoof and I pushed on it.

*** ***

I trotted through the rusty passageways behind Sister with the Annihilator on my back. She smiled back at me and looked forward again.

I rolled my eyes as I picked up my pace a little, lest she get any ideas. Sister had yet to say anything since she heaved her lunch earlier. I think it embarrassed her to have that reaction but it was perfectly normal in my opinion because that monster really did smell quite bad.

I turned my head to the right to check that direction, and saw a grey tail disappear around a corner. "Wait here," I told Sister with my mind as I trotted after the tail.

I slowly approached the corner and glanced around it as the grey tail barely disappeared again. So I sighed and trotted after it a second time, but a little faster. My gaze was locked on the corner and I cared not if Sister was following me. As I approached that corner I hopped out and see more of the grey tail disappearing around another corner.

I frowned, but quickly cantered after it as my hooves beat down on the deck. My head tilted a bit as my ears twitched in an attempt to hear anything over than my breathing or hooves.

But I heard nothing beyond my own hooves.

I dared not slow down as I barreled around the corner and almost slipped on the deck. The odd pony ahead was partly visible; dull tan hindquarters with a cutie mark of some kind and a heavily grey streaked brown tail. My pace picked up as my frown grew.

As I turned the next corner an indistinct shout reached my ears. The odd pony's tail darted inside of a room and I grinned for she, or he, had nowhere to go. I quickly turned the corner and canter into the room.

But my jaw dropped as my eyes widen to the size of pie plates and I slid to a stop.

What was sitting in the center of the room was a sickly looking dull tan unicorn; her horn was long and pointed, a rough looking grey businessmare suit adorned her body and hid her cutie mark, her right foreleg was a dull silver cybernetic replacement, her normally brown mane was full of grey streaks. A pained smile crossed her wrinkled face and reached all the way to her sunken jade green eye as she motioned me inside. Her other eye was covered by a dirty grey cloth patch.

I glanced down the hall before stepping inside and looked at my old self.

She brought her normal forehoof to her mouth and began coughing into it. I wordlessly walked over and sat while I waited for her to finish coughing. She, myself, appeared to have definitely seen better days. And she had.

As the coughing spree died down she held out her foreleg. The bottom of the hoof was covered in a disgusting mixture of blood and some other stuff.

"Look at this," she said. Her voice was as hoarse as a ghoul’s. "I'm fuckin' dying slowly and RadAway isn't helping. Fuckin' rotting from the inside! The doc says my lungs are givin’ out first followed by my stomach."

All I could do was sit there and look at it. So I slowly nodded. She set the hoof down and scraped it along the deck which left a trail of the red muck.

"Is there a way to fix this?" she asked and I nodded in response. "I'll do anything."

A smile formed on my lips. "Yes, there is something you could do."

"What?"

"You... could join Unity."

She hissed as she looked away and glared at the wall. "Unity, hah! How did that work out for us?" My ears folded back when I realized she had actually meant her and I. "Hm? Shell Shock, how did Unity work out? Tell me, no." I opened my mouth to respond but closed it. "Tell Us, was it worth the pain of being stripped of everything We were?"

"Y-yes," I nodded because I was confident in my choice. "Radiation actually heals me and let's me cast more powerful spells. Like a heart attack spell."

"Heh, that's nice." she mumbled and shut her eyes with a pained groan. "Ever find him again?" My ears folded back as I bit my lower lip and looked down. "Your silence says no. I figured as much."

"I... We only just now, within the last few weeks, were able to control ourself again. They lied. We were under the direct control of The Goddess and could not do anything without being punished if it went against her will... What... is our cutie mark?"

"Cutie mark...?" She giggled, which caused my head to tilt. "You don't remember?!” I shook my head again. “Wooooow. That's just... bad." Her giggle intensified into a full on laugh. One, that for whatever reason I cannot fathom, I joined in on. So We sat there laughing at nothing for I don't know how long until something touched my shoulder.

My head snapped to the left and I saw the long blue foreleg of Sister. Slowly my gaze followed it to her face. Her ears were back and her brows were knitted together in worry.

“What are you laughing at?” She asked quietly.

I pointed my left hoof at myself sitting to my right while I kept my gaze on Sister. “Her. I said something funny and we were laughing about it.”

Her eyes looked at the pony next to me for a second before she looked at me again. Sister's ears slowly drooped to the sides of her face, mine followed as my smile faded.

"There's no one there." Sister softly sighed. My eyes widened and I quickly looked to my right.

Nothing was there; no blood on the deck, no mare, and no hair.

"But she was there! I saw her and..." I frantically looked around the empty room for her and pushed Sister away as I stood up. "Lilium!" I called out with my mouth. "I know you're here. Where’d you go?"

Sister placed a hoof on my back, causing me to look at her face. "Shock, you're not well and it's scaring me."

I sighed and nodded. "Perhaps I am not... Seeing things is not good." She wrapped her forelegs around me in a hug, which I returned and nuzzled her neck a little. "I'm scared of what is happening to me..."

'Don't be,' a familiar voice whispered in the back of my mind.

Sister stepped back from the hug and wiped her eyes. "We should get back to the others.” She sniffed a little bit. “That ghoul filly might freak out and go feral if you're not there when she wakes up."

I smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s go.”

She trotted past me and I took one last look around the room. All I saw was rust, darkness, and rust. However, in the light of Sister's moving horn, a glint in a rubble pile caught my eye. I walked over to it and sat down.

"Shock? Come on." Sister called out to me.

I ignored her and lift up what appeared to be a blanket. Underneath it was a pile of bones with an earth pony shaped skull. Buried in his, or her, chest was a blade. The hilt had an orange topaz in the very bottom of it which caught the light and made it sparkle. I used my magic to pull it free and looked it over.

The bones clatter in a heap in response.

The blade appeared to be heavily rusted and about the length of my horn with a leather wrapped hilt. I stepped back a few steps before swinging the sword left and right to get a feel for how it handled in my magic.

It felt light and quick to swing. Not brutish like the chainsaw sword, which We miss very much so. It was useful in so many ways and dear to Our heart.

I nodded and floated the pommel into my mouth so I could hold it. The taste was like old dried skin that was moldy. I turned around and trotted over to Sister. She facehoofed. "Shock, aren't you going to check the room for supplies?"

I shook my head slowly as I replied with my mind. "I have all I need, so why do I need to check for more?"

"Just... follow me," she said in annoyance and trotted into the hall before turning right. I followed after her while I tightly held onto my new sword.

*** ***

I stopped at the door to Celly’s room, having zoned out following Sister, and smiled as the door opened with a rusty groan. Inside was Celly, who was sitting off to the side near the desk next to Sienna.

The both of them were looking at the poster we had picked up. Celly slowly looked up at me and gave a wave. “Sienna told me there's some kind of code in this message but I can't seem to find it."

"Yup!" Sienna nodded a few times. “It doesn’t read right and some words are odd or repeated.”

Sister pushed past me, causing me to stagger sideways, and trotted over to her equipment. I quietly watched as she pulled her jacket on with magic.

As she picked up her bags my gaze went over to Celly. I gave him a slight head bow before I walked over to where Celly was and sat down.

"Something bothering you?" he asked and tilted his head a little, I copied his head tilt.

"No," I shook my head. "I just wanted to tell you that your coat reminds me of once green fields and you have a nice flank."

He looked at where his cutie mark used to be and frowned. "You mean I did but no longer."

"Weeell," I shifted my weight around a bit on my hind legs as my nethers started to feel funny. I glanced at Sister, who was watching us, then looked at Celly and blushed slightly. "You see... I think you look cute, but you need a bath."

"Are you saying what I smell bad?" he tilted his head a little more.

I nodded. "Yes, you smell horrible. I need to keep focused on the task at hoof and your stench is distracting me."

"And what task is that?"

"To kill Eclipse." I smiled.

"I think Miss Lilium wanted to cast a foal ma-aah!" Sienna yelped as I quickly pulled her into a hug and covered her mouth with a hoof.

Warmth spread across my cheeks as I blushed deeply. Celly tilted his head the other way and stared. "Hm? What was she saying?"

"Nothing!" I hastily replied and tried to smile, but failed.

However Sienna pushed my hoof away from her mouth. "Foal making spell!" she finished her sentence and again I quickly covered her mouth with a hoof. She squirmed underneath my grip so I pulled her against my chest. Silence fell upon the room.

Awkward, eerie, silence.

The kind where you could imagine hearing crickets chirping.

My cheeks continued to burn in a fierce blush that no doubt covered my whole face. Sienna squirmed enough that she is able to push my hoof away and fall to the floor. I did not look down at her. My eyes were firmly locked on Celly's eyes.

He brought his hoof to his mouth and coughed into it. I blinked slowly and relaxed a little but my blush remained. "Foal making spell, huh?" Celly quietly asked. A stifled giggle behind me caused my ears to swivel back toward Sister. "Well, Sienna," Celly looked down at her. "I think you're old enough to know about how-"

"No!" I exclaimed and covered her ears with my hooves. "She's just a foal."

"A foal that's over two hundred years old." Sister said from behind me. I pulled Sienna close and gently pat her on the head.

She looked up at me but I ignored her and glared at Celly. "I said, no! We have a plan and it is simple, We kill Eclipse, then put you in charge and the bounty will be gone! After that we clean up the plant problem on the island."

Celly nodded slowly. "Fine, but how do you plan to kill her? She's most likely far out to sea and I can't fly."

My ears folded back because I did not realize something until just then. With Eclipse being on a ship she could be at the mainland by that time and we would need a lot of help.

Hoofsteps behind drew my gaze to Sister as she walked over and looked down. Sienna had long given up her struggling and was now just snoring softly in my grip.

Which was a good thing!

"Enclave," Sister said, drawing a confused look from both Celly and I. My head tilted a bit as my eyebrow raised up. "The Enclave had a deal with you right, Shock?" I nodded and my ears slowly lifted when I realized what she was implying. "They're not hard to find. Head north off the island and you'll come across a smaller island. They have a base there at the wreckage of an old cloudship."

"Why not this one?" My head tilted a little bit more.

Sister shrugged. "This one looks to be in much worse shape and had a crazy ghoul living here."

"Good point," I nodded. "When do we leave?"

"How about after you rest?" Sister asked. "You look like shit."

I looked at Celly, then her, and finally Sienna before I nodded. "I suppose I could do with some rest."

"And I don't mean that creepy statue thing you do either. I mean actual rest that involves sleeping."

With a resigned sigh, I nodded and removed my weapon with magic. The Annihilator slowly floated over to Sister, who grabbed it and looked at it. I smiled and laid on my side. My eyes slowly shut while I cuddled with a still passed out Sienna.

With my eyes being closed I laid there and concentrated on breathing slowly in an effort to fall asleep. However, after a long while of slowly breathing, the sound of two sets of hoofsteps prevented me from falling asleep.

A rusty groan signaled the hoofsteps leaving the room followed by another groan and a metallic clank. Most likely the hatch was opened and closed.

Thus far in my odd journey my telepathy had not been used so much, so I allowed the spell to pick up thoughts around Sienna and I.

Sienna's thoughts were easy to figure out; she was dreaming about playing with other young foals and running around a city much like the fake one. A nice, clean, city full of joy and happiness.

"Is she dangerous?" I heard Celly ask another pony inside my head. Which caused me to focus on him and the one he was walking to.

"Who?" Sister's voice also filled my head.

"That green with the missile launcher. She nearly killed me in blind rage for no reason like some common raider! She’s fucking ins-"

"Shut up!" Sister shouted, her muffled voice created a sort of echo. "You have no idea, do you?"

"No idea about what?" Celly replied with a rather snide tone.

"She tries to be nice, she wants to be nice, but she. Can't help herself. Earlier I saw her cut herself while trying to wash invisible blood off her hooves. She doesn't see the world like you or I, so yes. She is fucking dangerous to you and to anypony she deems unworthy of Unity."

"Then she should be put down before she-"

"No!" Sister shouted again and I heard her echo. ”Shock can change. I've seen it first hoof. She just... she needs something. I'm not sure what."

"I'm not fucking her."

"No, that's not it. You're an 'impure stallion', which are her words not-wait. Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

"Shit. She's n-"

I quickly severed the connection and concentrated on not using the spell.

A rusty groan echoed in the room as the hatch opened, yet nothing followed it for some time.

"Shock, are you awake?" Sister eventually whispered. Even though We were awake, We were not going to respond. "Shock, I know you were awake not seconds ago, so stop this foolishness."

Still, despite her effort to trick Us, We did not move nor did We respond.

"Hm... maybe it was a different green." Sister mumbled. “A completely new one that appeared within the last hour.”

My ears twitched as hoofsteps entered the room and came closer. They stopped near me just before warmth pressed against my back, so I cracked an eye open. A dark blue wing crossed my sight for a second as Sister pulled me into a cuddle of her own.

She wrapped a foreleg around me as well and whispered. "Good night, Shock."

I slowly closed my eye and tried to drift off to sleep again.

*** ***

The three of us trotted along the desolate road. Having left the Cloudchaser not more than four hours ago. The sun was up, the fog lifted slightly, and we could see a decent distance.

I say three because Sister was off flying ahead in the fog on a scouting mission. She was excited, but I was annoyed. Annoyed at a certain chartreuse unicorn to my right.

Celly trotted alongside Sienna, who was between us. He looked around to our right while I glanced left. All that was there were decrepit buildings and vines. Any pony life had long since been snuffed out and any sign of recent activity was covered by the vines.

I hopped over one of the larger ones, then stopped to watch as Sienna scrambled over it. She trotted over and smiled. I nodded and gave Celly a little glare. He did not notice because his back was to me, but Sienna did.

"What's wrong?" Sienna whispered in her gravelly foal voice.

I shook my head as I replied only in her mind, "nothing. Just don't trust him, okay?"

She nodded and cantered to catch up with the... imp spawn. He was no longer a pony. His behavior last night had lowered his status in my eyes from impure to imp spawn. Which is what I place mules at. Beneath ponies, bastard creations, and hideous creatures that have no place in the wasteland.

That was what Celly was, beneath regular ponies.

I continued trotting along the road with the bow at the ready. The vines around us appeared similar to the tentacles We had seen in that stable, except they did not attack us and they were much smaller. Still, I was weary about the whole thing and kept an eye out.

My bags felt slightly heavy due to carrying everything the group owned. For some odd reason they elected me to carry all of our bags and equipment that was not needed. This felt degrading and was probably the point. Still, I carried it all with pride and a steady step.

Celly's robe, however, was draped across his back and Sister's jacket was in my bags because it was so humid out we are all drenched in sweat. Sister had taken the jacket off rather quickly. Oddly, or not so since we are similar in size, it fit me just fine. Sienna had no such complaints about the weather because of obvious reasons. Her being a ghoul.

As the three of us came to the end of the street I saw that it was blocked by rubble. I looked up at the wall of brick, metal, and plants while I attempted to grasp just how high it was. It did not look much taller than a three story building, which were a nearby, but something was odd about it.

Why would a pile of debris be this high when the surrounding areas were just as tall? I thought to myself as I stopped walking.

Sienna bumped into my forelegs, causing me to look down at her frowning face. Her ears were back and her solid red eyes looked a bit frightful. I smiled and pat her on the head. “What is it?” I asked quietly with my mouth.

“Somethin’ is watchin’ us.” She replied and pointed at something. I followed her gesture to a pony outline with two round things on their sides that were most likely large weapon barrels. “The bar is green, so I haven’t said anythin’, but it’s creepy, ‘cause they won’t come any closer.”

I slowly nodded and looked back at the wall of debris. There was no rhyme nor reason to it. It was just a pile of debris piled high, so I picked Sienna up in my forelegs and hovered with a flap of my wings.

They burned and stung along the leading edge as I flapped them, but I did not give a fuck. I slowly hovered forward with my bow around my neck and Sienna in my forelegs. The flight was short and we quickly reached to top faster than a pony could say giggle at the ghosties.

My jaw dropped at the sight that befell me upon reaching the top of the pile. I landed and folded my wings against my side,

Ahead of us was a trench that was perhaps wider than the Cloudchaser, but looked to lead back to the cloudship wreck. A look left and right revealed that it disappeared into the fog, which lead me to believe that whatever it was, was moving at a good pace when it crashed. As I stood there like a foal my ears swiveled back at the sound of rubble falling into small piles.

I looked back and rolled my eyes. The imp spawn Celly was trying to climb the pile towards us. A noise like wings flapping drew my attention up at Sister. She looked down at me while she hovered above us.

“Yeah, it leads to the Chaser.” She confirmed my thoughts about it being the cloudship’s wreck. “Look, Shock, we’re not far from a Steel Ranger base. Maybe an hour by hoof.”

“And?” I tilted my head some. “That does not help us. We need to get to the Enclave.”

“But the Rangers have boats.” Sister pointed at Celly behind us. “He probably has supporters that could give us one. All we gotta do is walk in invisible, find them, and get the keys.”

I looked down at Celly again as he neared the halfway point. His hoof stepped on loose rubble and slipped, causing him to fall down the pile again. A hiss escaped my lips as I scowled at the imp spawn.

“I do not trust him,” I told Sister in her mind. “Something does not feel right. However if you think we should, then let’s go to the base.”

I looked at her and she nodded. “Alright, it’s this way.” Sister pointed a foreleg northeast.

“But I get seasick!” Sienna whined as I planted my rump on the rubble and waited for Celly.

*** ***

I stopped and glanced at the Pipbuck. Its radiation needle was firmly planted in the yellow just inside the red. The clicker device that warned of radiation did not work and neither did the main display so all I could do was rely on constant needle checks to see how I was faring.

It is a shame really. Such a nice piece of technology was wasted in a trap that failed to kill its intended victim.

I set my hoof down and resumed trotting along the desolate street. Sienna kept glancing around at everything. I looked at Sister who trotted along ahead of me.

The base should have been close according to Sister, whom I did not fully trust either. Except I did not have a choice. She was the only pony I knew aside from Sienna that had not tried to kill me. Sister had consistently protected me from myself and from the other alicorns. Yet I have done nothing for her... nothing at all… Perhaps I should allow her to... no.

My hoof caught on something, causing me to stumble forward a bit and I nearly lost my balance, but I jumped to the side a bit and landed on all fours.

When I looked up I saw Sienna was looking at me with her head tilted. "That was cool!" she hopped off the ground a bit and grinned.

"Thank you..." I nodded as I took a slow look around the area. Green plants grew everywhere and the road had long since turned to dirt, which was not good. As I looked the way we had come all I saw was dirt and fog. "Sister, where are we?"

"Um... I'm not... I'm not sure..." she replied a bit hesitantly. Slowly, I turned a circle and looked around. Trees and jungle brush greeted my vision as far as I could see through the fog. "Something's wrong we should have been there by now." Sister said with a bit of concern.

My gaze fell upon Celly as he looked around. His ears were back and he was biting his lower lip almost as if he were afraid. "I don't know where we are either," Celly whispered. "Looks like outside the city. And that ain’t good."

I took a much slower look around to get my bearings. Sienna started trotting into the bushes, so I followed along behind her. She silently disappeared into the brush behind a large leaf. This caused me to frown and quicken my pace.

"Sienna?" I pushed the leaf aside and stepped around the plant as Sienna's tail disappeared behind another plant. I let out a deep sigh of frustration and followed. "Sienna, what are you doing?"

"Shock?" Sister called out. "Wait up! The plants are fucking evil!"

I ignored Sister and continued following Sienna. The brown unicorn ghoul filly disappeared around another plant. My hooves carried me through the leaves. I did not focus on my surroundings. All I was focused on was making sure Sienna was safe and that she did not run into any bullets. After a while I stopped at a clearing. Sienna stood at the edge and was looking out into a thick corn field that was taller than a pony’s head.

"What is this place?" Sienna whispered as I pulled her into a hug.

I looked down into her red eyes and replied. "A field of corn. Don't run off like that again, okay?" She nodded slowly but I continued. "This island is dangerous and you could easily get-"

A few twigs snapped and my ears swiveled back as I quickly turned my head to look. "They are green." Sienna whispered.

Sister pushed a large leaf out of the way as she walked out of the treeline and let it go. It snapped back, hitting Celly in the face and caused him to fall down. I smiled at his plight.

Sienna giggled, which sounded like rocks rattling around in a can, and clapped her forehooves together.

"Shock, what is wrong?" Sister asked while looking around. "Why did you run off?"

I pat Sienna on the head. "Sienna ran off and I didn't want her to get hurt."

"Right," Celly grumbled and picked himself up. "She just happens to run into a cornfield?"

Sienna held her foreleg up and tapped the Pipbuck with her other hoof. "This told me there were green bars nearby, so I had to look! It says Outpost Zeta, but it's a cornfield!"

My head whipped around to look at the cornfield and my mane momentarily blocked my vision. "Outpost...?" I whispered with my mouth. "We should go… right now..."

Celly rolled his eyes as he trotted around me and headed into the cornfield. "Oooooh, I'm so afraid of corn, hah!" He mocked Us, causing a growl to escape Our throat. "Are you afraid of a little corn?"

I gulped down my growl and replied. "It is not the corn I am afraid of, but what sleeps in the dirt." My gaze was drawn to movement near Celly as the stalks rustled and parted.

"Mister Celly-" My hoof quickly blocked Sienna from alerting him. She struggled under my grip, but I held it tight so the unicorn could get taken out here and now.

"Ssh," I whispered into Sister and Sienna's mind, "there are things that hunt via sound and sight in there."

"Celly, look out!" Sister shouted. "Something's in there."

Odd clicking and chittering noises respond to Sister from the cornfield.

I watched as whatever it was got closer to him while he backed towards us. My horn glowed as the metal bow was slowly brought out. I notched an 'arrow' as I drew the string back and aimed.

Celly's flank appeared first as I swept the bow towards the closest one, it lingered on Celly and the magic around the string started fading.

An odd thought crossed my mind at that moment. It would be so easy to kill him now, but he is useful. So he will live another day.

My magic tightened around the string and I quickly aimed at the target inside the cornfield and waited. Celly continued backing towards us and stopped. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Sister had her twin 10mm pistols out and pointed at the target.

A black pony like face appeared and Sienna screamed in fright, so I let the string go. The suspension leaf audibly snapped forward as it sent my 'arrow' at the target.

The thing looked up and their solid blue eyes widened at the same time the railway spike drove its way into their chest. A loud crunch filled the air and I watched as the black pony was sent flying back into the cornfield before I could get a good look at it. But I was hoping to hit it in the head, however any hit worked for me.

"Fuck me." Sister whispered to herself.

My magic quickly set another arrow and I drew it back at the same time I aimed at the next target.

There was an incessant tapping on my leg, so I looked down at it. Sienna was looking at me with her head tilted. "Green is friendly, right?" I nodded. "Well there was two green bars, now only one."

I slowly looked from Sienna to the cornfield. “Whoever you are, come on out. We mean you no harm.” I yelled loud enough to be heard across the field.

“You kill us, steal our food, and expect us to believe you?” a voice replied from the cornstalks. My bow aimed in that direction.

"Yes," Sienna called out to them. "We were frightened and lashed out."

"Bullshit," the voice replied as it moved towards the fallen one. I tracked just ahead of it with the bow and hoped my aim was true if I needed to use it.

"Show yourself," Celly said loudly.

The pony thing kept moving through the corn past its dead comrade. "And what if I don't?"

"I send a high-explosive missile to your position," I replied with a deathly serious tone. "It's not hard to see where you are."

"Fine," the voice said as it slowly moved closer. "I'm coming out but I'm holding you to your word."

I nodded, which was pointless because they couldn’t see it, Sister continued to hold her pistols at the ready and we waited. The cornstalks moved apart as the pony thing stepped out and I frowned.

It wasn’t a pony thing, but a unicorn with a coat that was a dark blue like the night sky. His eyes were silver like a gun barrel and his two-tone mane was orange and yellow like fire. Across his back were half filled saddlebags and a small pistol was in a foreleg holster.

“Alicorns…” he whispered above a breath as I slowly lowered the bow and relaxed it. “Just what I needed.” I looked down at Sienna as she nearly galloped over to the unicorn. He looked at the movement and his eyes widened. “Aah!” he screamed like a filly and jumped back into the cornstalks.

“Mister unicorn?!” Sienna shouted in her gravelly voice as she chased him into it. “Wai-oof!” Sienna’s voice was cut off by the unicorn screaming like a filly again.

I rolled my eyes. The bow was placed around my neck and I trotted into the cornfield. My magic pushed them aside as I attempted to find the unicorn and came across him laying on his back with eyes the size of dinner plates. Sienna was standing on top of his chest with her head at a slight tilt. I lifted her off the ground with my magic and placed her on my back. She peered around my neck and bunched up my mane so she could see and nearly pulled on it.

I extended a hoof down as I told him with my mouth. “Sorry, she gets excited around new ponies. I'm Shell Shock and her name is Sienna."

"I only wanted to say hello," Sienna said quietly.

The unicorn looked at my hoof, Sienna, and back to the hoof. He took it and pulled himself to his hooves. "I'm Fire Blade," he grumbled. "Nice to meet you, I guess.”

"Shock," Sister said loudly, "I need to show you something."

"What is it?" I asked without taking my eyes of Fire Blade.

"Just come here and bring that unicorn."

I nodded and motioned for him to lead. "Shall we go see what she wants?"

"Fine..." he sighed and trotted around me. I quickly followed after him.

Sister stood over a black body that was bleeding from where my railway spike had caved in the pony's chest. However, as I was able to get a good look at the pony, I saw the fangs, solid blue eyes, bug like wings, and the holes in the changeling's legs. A hiss of annoyance escaped me because I realized then that Tank must have been referring to changelings as 'bugs'.

Sister's magic pulled the spike out. I leaned down and looked at the changeling's shell. Where the spike had punctured wasn't exactly a vital spot but the sheer force of the blow had driven it deep inside his chest cavity and had shattered his bones. Hopefully he died instantly.

I stepped back and looked at the spike. One of the fins were bent and one was missing, so I tossed the useless thing away.

As I shook my head I noticed Fire Blade was staring at the changeling as if it were important. So I tilted my head a bit and looked at him. His expression reminded me of that look a pony got when they just saw their friend die. The hollow, empty, look that they’ll never hear their voice again or see them laugh. The look that said a piece of them died along with the other.

"Hey you, Fire Blade." My eyes slowly narrowed. He looked at me and his expression changed a bit. "Yeah, you. Are you a changeling?"

Fire Blade blinked in shock a few times as he tilted his head and took a step back. "Wha-huh?!"

"Are? You? A? Changeling?!" I demanded as the bow was telekinetically pulled from where I left it earlier. A spike was placed in the notch and drawn back at the same time I aimed it at his head.

At this distance it was impossible to miss.

"No," Fire Blade replied flatly.

Sienna tapped my neck and whispered, "he's still green."

A fiery glow that matched his mane color surrounded his horn and the metal string of my bow. My brows knitted together as I attempted to block his spell but failed because I did not know how beyond yelling at him. I had no idea what he was doing to it, so I let the string go.

It snapped and the spike harmlessly fell to the ground. I glanced down at it for a second before I swung the bow like a club. It was let go and the sword was quickly unsheathed from the strap.

Fire Blade easily caught the leaf spring in his magic and brandished it like a weapon. My eyes widened when it was also surrounded by a fiery glow because I could feel the heat coming off it.

"Shock, stop being a foal!" Sister shouted from behind me. Her voice was annoyed and bored sounding. "If he was a changeling wouldn't his magic be green?"

I ignored her and dug my hooves into the dirt in preparation to jump at him. My eyes narrowed as he copied me and readied his own stance. Fire Blade held the spring to the side a bit and I did the same with my sword.

"Do you think you can best one such as I?" I asked with my mind. "An alicorn that has fought zebras in hoof to hoof combat and survived?"

His eyes narrow further but something pressed against my leg and I looked down at Sienna. Her ears were back and she was looking up at me with her concerned solid red eyes. "Don't hurt him he's green," she said quietly with her gravelly voice.

A soft thump caused me to look over at Fire Blade as he took a few steps away from the spring that was now on the ground. "No, I'm not a changeling. You can cut my leg to see for yourself."

I nodded and slowly floated the knife over to Fire Blade. He eyed it carefully but said nothing as it sliced a line of red into his left foreleg. The blade floated back to me and I licked it clean. It tasted normal but with a hint of metal and rust. Which was obvious why, the blade was rusty.

I glanced at the changeling and noticed that his blood is oddly colored, it was not red, so I dipped my hoof in it and tasted a little of it. The taste was sour and had a slight kick to it.

"Very well.” I nodded. “You're not a changeling, so why are you here?"

"Caps, same as you. A gryphon wanted me to clear out some bugs for him. Surprise, surprise, it was changelings." He shrugged as he shook his head. "But I don't kill ponies."

"Bullshit!" Sister trotted around me and almost pushed her nose against Fire Blade's. "Tell another lie and I'll let Shock have her way with you."

He blinked but did not back down. "I don't attack unless they attack me in some way and even then I try to disable them. If they die, oops."

I tilted my head almost sideways. "This method confuses Us. How can one attack a pony without killing them?"

Fire Blade rolled his eyes. "It's simple. I do my thing, you do yours, and we'll get along just fine."

"What thing is that?" Celly asked.

"Delivering corn to a nearby changeling settlement." Fire Blade replied and levitated the dead changeling's bag of corn off the body. "They don't normally come out this way because they're afraid."

"Afraid of what?" I asked as I tilted my head the other way and my neck popped, relieving some tension.

"The island, that gryphon, and some creepy things in the fog."

I slowly looked at the corn all around us. "Then We must help them as payment for killing one of theirs."

"Shock," Sister looked at me as I started pulling corn off the stalks, "what about Eclipse?"

"She can wait. I have made a mistake and need to fix it. To do better. For all ponies."

*** ***

I glanced up at the cloudy sky as we walked along the jungle floor, yet all I could see were the green leaves of the canopy. A light rain was hitting the leaves, but it never made it through the canopy. My bags were heavily loaded with as much fresh corn as I could carry. Same went for Sister and Celly. Even with our equipment from earlier the weight was not that bad. I sighed deeply and lowered my gaze to the jungle floor.

All of the trees seemed nice and all in all it felt peaceful if one were to forget for a moment that the very plants could kill you. Yet... I took comfort in DJ Buccaneer's voice while he spoke through Sienna's Pipbuck.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, don't go out in the fucking fog. I don't want to hear anymore reports of ponies having their heads pulled off or torn to shreds by a pack of those Mist Roamers. It's not a nice way to go. Now then! According to our resident weather expert, DJ Snow, the fog should not last more than a few weeks... Now that the boring weather is out of the way it's back to the music!"

As the music began I smiled a little because the beat was soothing and soft almost like the first one I had heard many weeks ago. I slowly looked around while walking along behind Fire Blade. All I could see was dense jungle and patches of fog. Oddly enough, I thought I saw something move inside the fog.

Fire Blade had said there was a community nearby but I did not believe him because I did not see any signs. If one built a settlement far from their food they could not protect it, but perhaps it was stolen corn and that was why the trip seemed to be taking so long.

The moist ground under my hooves reminded me that I needed a hooficure, badly. Fire Blade came to a stop at a small hill with a hole in it. I glanced around and wondered if it was a trap because Sienna did not seem to tell me if we were being followed or not unless I asked. Which was oh so annoying.

"We are here," Fire Blade pointed at the hole. "It's inside there."

"It is a hole in the ground." I replied while mentally preparing a spell. My eyes slowly narrowed as I glared at him.

"This is the settlement." He glared back.

"It's a hole in the ground!" I stomped my hoof into the moist soil and snarled a bit. "Is this some kind of game where you lead us away to a cave and try to run? Because if it is you will not get two steps further." My horn glowed a bit when I thought of choking him with my magic.

Sienna walked over to the hole and looked in. "My Pipbuck said this place has a name and I can see a few green bars ahead." Sister and Celly followed her and looked inside as well. I walked over to the hole and looked in around them.

All I could see was a few lights strung along the ceiling and a door at the far end. I looked at Fire Blade and hissed through my teeth. "What trickery is this? This screams trap."

"It’s not a trap," he replied with a wave of his hoof. "Just go to the door and knock."

"Why don’t y-Sienna, wait!" I shouted as said ghoul filly trotted forward. Celly trotted after her and Sister stepped aside. I quickly followed after Sienna. "Sienna, this is danger..." My voice trailed off into a mumble as two devices dropped down from the ceiling and unfolded with noisy clicks as they turned towards me.

The turrets followed my movement as I dove on Sienna and cast my shield spell. Much to my surprise bullets did not slam into my shield. A strange squeal caused me to look up at the door as it opened. Silhouetted by the light of the next room was a tall figure with holes in the bottom of their forelegs and a strange looking horn with two holes in it.

I tried to block my vision with a hoof as they stepped forward into the tunnel and the door closed behind them.

“Drop your weapons, all of you,” the creature said in a strange echoing voice. I blinked and lowered the hoof. The creature was a tall female changeling with a blue mane.and strange green eyes that had slits in them. Her translucent blue bug wings buzzed a bit before they folded against her side. She wore a dark blue chestplate that reminded me of Enclave power armor.

“What is it?” Sienna whimpered, so I pulled her close against my chest.

“She, is a changeling,” I replied in Sienna’s mind while glaring a bit at the changeling. Her gaze looked behind me and she nodded a little. I glanced up at the turrets that were still aimed at us and spoke with my mouth. “Those do not have ammo or they would have fired on Sienna and I.”

“No,” the changeling replied. “They just aren’t set to fire unless I tell them too. Now drop your weapons. You aren’t getting inside with them.”

I looked at Fire Blade, then Celly, and finally Sister. She shook her head ever so gently, so I nodded and looked at the changeling. “Very well. We will give up our weapons.”

“What?!” Sister shouted in surprise. “Shock, this is insane! Let’s jus-oh, shit…” I looked back at her and saw three more changelings stood at the tunnel entrance. But these had makeshift armor along with dull looking lead spitting weapons in their magical grip. I had no illusions that the weapons were of poor quality. Mostly due to having found a few ‘poor’ looking weapons that performed flawlessly.

I looked at the door again as it opened and a changeling with a set of chains stepped through the doorway.

“We need to talk about certain things,” the tall changeling said as she glared down at me. “Now remove your shield and drop your weapons and you won’t be harmed.”

“What are the chains for?” I asked as I tilt my head.

“A precaution and to make the others feel safe. Now do as I say and the turrets will go back into the ceiling. Otherwise they will tear you to shreds with armor-piercing rounds.”

Whether I wanted it to or not, the shield around Sienna and I dropped with a slight shimmer. The changeling nodded at my shield dropping. I sighed and started to undo all of my bags with magic.

“I brought you corn.” I told her with my mouth. “Because I may have overreacted and killed one of yours. This is my compensation for it.”

The bags of corn were set off to the side along with my other bags and rusty blade. I looked behind me and saw that Sister was taking off her equipment as well. Celly, having none, just stood there. Sienna buried her face in my chest and whispered something I could not make out. So I pat her on the back with a hoof and stood up.

“All of my weapons are over there,” I nodded at the bags. The changeling’s horn glowed as she levitated the Annihilator off my back. I suppressed a whimper and resisted the urge to jump after it. She set it on her back and nodded.

“Very good.” The turrets retracted into the ceiling and the changeling stepped to the side. “Now put these on.” She tossed the hoofcuffs at me with magic and my ears folded back.

“Don’t do it, Shock,” Sister said with a bit of concern. I glanced back at her then looked at the hoofcuffs. They were a little rusty, but otherwise they looked like they would fit.

“If it must be so, then it must be so. There is no other choice.” I started to put the hoofcuffs on with magic. The cuffs went on my hind legs easily enough, but one on my left foreleg wouldn’t go on correctly.because of the Pipbuck.

An object landed near my hooves and I looked at it. “A Pipbuck tool to remove the one from your leg.” the changeling explained.

I grabbed the object in magic and inserted it into the slot. The Pipbuck clicked as it unlocked and dropped to the ground. A tingle ran up my leg from the warm moist air as it hit the matted fur where the Pipbuck had sat for only a day. The last cuff was clasped shut in the spot and I stood up.

"What of Sienna?" I asked.

"She can go with the unicorn, but you and the other alicorn are to come with me."

I nodded and nudged Sienna towards Celly. "It'll be okay," I told her with my mind. "We'll be fine. She only wants to talk for a while."

Sienna picked the Pipbuck up in her teeth and scrambled over to Celly. He looked confused and scooted away when she tried to hide under him.

I slowly pulled my journal out of my bag and held it in my wing. "I'm keeping this,” I told the changeling. She nodded and floated a collar from a bag on her side. When I recognized what it was my ears to pressed against my head.

A slave collar.

“Put it on.” She said as it floated over. I stepped back and opened my mouth to object, but it was quickly wrapped around my neck. The device beeped as it was locked shut and my ears drooped to the side of my face. “Oops. Too late,” the changeling grinned. “I already did.”

“Shock, you’re fucking stupid.” Sister grumbled as I looked back at her. A set of hoofcuffs and a matching slave collar was around her neck.

“We are not stupid.” I replied with my mind. “We did not have time to react.”

“Now,” the female changeling began. “If either of you try to run from this facility, the collars go off.” I nodded slowly. “If you try to take them off, they go boom. And if either of you are more than twenty meters from each other for more than ten seconds, the collars go off. Now, welcome to Bunkerville.” She smiled and stepped aside.

Beyond her was a stable entrance door. The thick metal cog wheel was already open and the path leading in looked well used. Bright fluorescent lights lit the area and made it easy to see.

I blinked and tilted my head. “What? This place is a stable?”

“Inside, now!” She shouted as her smile quickly faded to a glare. I started in surprise from the tone.

I looked back at Sister who was hovering towards me with a glare. "How could you be so dense?! This is the second time you let a pony put one of these things around your neck!" She flew in and landed near an open stable door. My collar started beeping which caused my eyes to widen.

I quickly hobbled through the small door after Sister and the beeping slowed to a stop. "How was I supposed to know?! Tell me, how?" I glared at her. “She was nice and I assumed it was safe!”

"Shock, assumption is the mother of all fuckups. The turrets should have tipped you off!" She shouted. "You had the chance to run with your shield up and you dropped it!"

I fluffed up my feathers a bit and scowled at her. “So? You said I should fix the island! I killed one of the inhabitants here and I feel I must repay the debt."

"By having us chained together with explosive an collar around our necks?!" Sister held her forelegs up as best she could and shook them.

"Quiet!" the changeling shouted. Sister and I looked over as she stepped inside and shut the door. I saw Sienna galloping towards us as it closed and then there was a muffled thump, most likely from her hitting it. The changeling ignored it and walked over to us. "You two are like an old married couple. Always bickering and fighting."

"What is this place?" I asked with my mouth. “It looks like a stable.”

"Because it is a stable, or what's left of one." She stopped at the door and motioned for us to go inside. "Now, you two will follow me and not speak unless spoken to. If either of you do, the both of your tongues will be removed as punishment. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Got that?"

Sister looked at me and nodded. "Do you, Shock?" She asked. I nodded slowly then looked at the changeling as Sister said. "We do."

“Good, now walk!” She shouted and stepped through the door.

I looked through the open stable door at the clean metal stairwell and wondered.

What is her plan for us?

-----------

Shell Shock: Level up!

New perk - Strong back. You can carry more weight than other ponies. +25 to carry weight.

Sister: Level up!

New Perk - Dual Wield. Using two weapons in your magic is easier for you than other ponies as long as they aren’t too big. Can dual wield small calibre pistols with ease as if they were one.