Chapter 1: Through the halls
“To find that which can’t be found, one must be truly good and lost.”

’Walking hurts so much!’ We looked down at Our pained hooves as we walked away from the camp. Then glanced back at the camp and stopped mid-stride as a thought struck Us. ’Something must be done with the cart We were forced to haul around all day.’

We sighed as We turned back, but the beautiful purple night sky distracted Us and We stopped to stare longingly. We wished to fly among the beautiful stars and the thought reminded Us that Sister and We are all that is left of Unity.

A single star fell and We smiled, wishing for Our sister to be happy and to show her that We are not as bad to be stuck with as she thinks. As We stared at the sky something large and dark drew Our gaze to the moon.

We narrowed Our eyes at the large tramp steamship hull that floated across the moon. It was too far away to make out the specific details of. We have heard from the Crescent's barkeep that there is a pegasus radio pony who lives on an airship that stays in the island's mist in the day, but comes out at night to recharge the ship's spell matrix by the light of the moon.

We huffed in annoyance as that sounds ludicrous! Pegasi live in cloud cities, not airships! It's maddeningly constrictive for Us in a ship as We cannot stretch Our wings!

We think thy bartender was playing Us for a foal like this dead pissant did.

Our gaze went back down to the two door vehicle that We were pulling as a cart and we trotted over to it. The vehicle had four wheels and the back half had been cut out to make for storage. Inside were boxes that the now decaying impure pony was going to sell. Some were unlocked medical supplies, and some were ammunition and junk. We hummed in annoyance as Our nose turned up at the smell of the harness.

’Perhaps We should wash it with the earth pony's water first? Yes that may work.’

With a nod at Our own perfect logic, We withdrew a five gallon jug of water.

*** ***

It didn't.

As the morning sun beat on Us, causing Us to sweat profusely, the harness still smelled. But at least it was not that dirty. Our exquisite mane was washed of blood and booze. Our gaze went around the wrecked highway as We made Our way towards a large circular building once called a hoofball arena, which loomed before Us.

The ponies there spotted Us long before We spotted them because a rifle shot kicked up dirt into Our face, blinding Us momentarily.

We coughed and gagged on the horrid tasting dirt as We waved Our hoof about to clear it. As it slowly cleared, an impure blue-grey unicorn stallion was standing there with a large floating scoped rifle aimed at our head.

"What do you want?" He asked in a tone that indicated suspicion.

We slowly pointed a forehoof back at the cart, then spoke to him with Our mind. "We wish to trade. Here is food, medical, and ammo supplies for this place. We do not require compensation, only directions."

He arched a brow and the barrel dropped slightly. "Is this some kind of trick?"

"No trick,” We shook Our head slowly as We set the hoof down. “We know your kind may not like Us. We mean you no harm. May We be allowed passage to trade? You can verify the contents if thou wishes."

"Don't move." He ordered as he sidestepped over to the cart. The floating weapon was trained on Us the whole time.

We complied and did not even blink! His gaze and expression said it was creepy. We dared not move except for Our mane as that rifle looked like it could bore an extremely large hole in Our head. The impure unicorn went through the boxes while We watched curiously.

"Is it sufficient?" We tilted Our head.

He stepped back and shook his head. "Something tells me you are telling the truth, but the rest of me is screaming this is a trap."

"We can assure thee it is not a trap. May We show you something?"

"I suppose, but I'm watching you."

We looked at the impure unicorn and smiled a friendly smile. "If thou would be so kind as to place thine horn against ours. We will show you We mean no malice."

He looked around with a sigh as he put the rifle across his back. "I'm probably going to regret this, but okay."

As We lowered Our head We touched horns with the impure unicorn. We showed him everything from when We woke up in that medical place to now. We made sure to leave nothing out. For him to trust Us he must know Our reasoning for everything. When we parted there was shouting.

"...do we do?!"

"It's melting Snapshot's brain! Shoot it!"

"No!" The blue-grey unicorn named Snapshot shouted as something was pressed against our head. "She means us no harm."

Our eyes opened, revealing the two of us to be surrounded by armed ponies of all colors. Cold metal pressed against Our left ear. We looked over at the barrel of a shotgun that was held by an earth pony. To Our right was an assault rifle. We are not sure what was behind as We dared not look.

"How yu kow?" The orange shotgun earth pony asked around his trigger.

We hope he does not fire!

Snapshot looked at him. "Because she let me in her mind, alright?"

The white one on Our right stated. "Coulda fabricated the memories."

Snapshot mouthed something to him while putting a hoof to his ear. The white impure pony nodded as he slowly lowered his assault rifle. We tilted Our head in confusion. We did not know the meaning of this gesture, nor what he mouthed as We dare not read pony lips. It is bad enough they speak with air!

"Let her in. I'll be responsible if she does anything funny."

We smiled with a nod. All the ponies stepped out of Our way, letting us pull the cart towards this place. We looked at Snapshot as We walked past him. "What is this place known as?" We asked in his mind.

"Candlelight Park."

"Thank you, sir." We turned Our head forward so the impure did not see Us roll Our eyes.

Then We looked up at the crumbling stadium. It did not appear defended to Our eyes, but that could be an illusion. Hoofsteps behind Us drew Our attention to Snapshot as he trotted close in behind us with his rifle on his back.

We tilted our head in confusion as we told him in his mind. "You do not have to escort Us. We will be fine."

"Doubt anypony will talk to you unless a security detail is nearby. They think all alicorns are hostile."

We nodded at his sound reasoning. Somepony in the past had been kind enough to build a stone ramp leading up the side of the stairs. Which We followed up. As We neared the top of the cracked stone ramp many voices reached Our ears that muddled together in the echoing concrete tunnel.

We stopped to look at the various tent housing nearby and a group of impure ponies stopped to look at us as well. We did not want to be here, but We were lost and perhaps there was a pony here that could help.

We looked down at Snapshot. "What may We do to earn their trust?"

He pointed a hoof at a nearby board with notes nailed on it. We went over to it and had to lean down to scan the various documents. Some were for killing ponies for caps while others were for retrieving items, so We used magic to pluck off a hoof full of the scavenging contracts. As Us killing a pony would probably be bad and make them think We were evil.

One wanted Us to go down into the sewers. We placed it back on the board as We dare not touch that nasty muck! The second one required Us to go to a museum to retrieve a box for two hundred caps, so We tucked that into our saddlebags. A third wanted us to collect money from a few ponies, and We also took that one.

How hard could it be?

The fourth and final one We kept was a collection order for as much scrap electronics and metal as one could find. It payed a hundred caps for the metal and a hundred and fifty for the electronics in bundles of five.

We looked down at Snapshot. "Where may We offload our supplies and this cart?"

"Walk this way." He turned with a sigh towards a line of wooden shops a hundred yards away.

We copied his actions with a smile.

What ponies there were in the tunnel here parted for us like the wave a pre-war steamship makes as it sailed the sea. A few shouted things We blocked out so as to not make a scene, however as soon as We looked at them, they cowered and hid behind others or walls. They dare not say those things to Our face, the cowards.

Snapshot looked over at Us. "You know that tablet you acquired automatically keeps track of your jobs and tells you where to go, right?"

’Really?!’

We removed the yellow colored device from Our tight fitting saddlebags. As We looked at its now black screen We. "How does one work this device?" We asked as we pressed the screen with magic, then the button on the bottom.

He stopped, pointed a hoof at the screen and explained. "Well it's not keyed to you, so it will show up as blank or off. I'm taking you to a pony who can unlock it for a fee."

We put the device away and followed Snapshot. Our gaze eventually wandered and lingered on his hindquarters. We quickly looked at a stall selling food before he could see Us. As We looked at the food stand an idea formed in Our head.

With a smile We trotted over to the lime green pony. "Dost thou sell Moonshine?" We asked in her mind as We looked down at her.

She shrank back as she looked at Snapshot in terror. "Is it safe to be in here?!"

Snapshot nodded. "Yea. I'm watching her, so it's cool."

The lime green shopkeeper nodded as she sighed and pointed at a hoof written board. "What I got is listed there."

Out gaze went to it.

Luna's Light
Celestia's Ray
Wild Pegasus
Applebomb Whiskey
Nox Scotch
Captain's Spiced Rum
Stalliongrad Finest Vodka.
Sparkle-Cola
Sunrise Sarsaparilla
Royal Crystal Cola
Purified Water
Dirty Water

We frowned as We did not see anything labeled moonshine. "There is no Moonshine."

The lime green pony grumbled something and crouched low. Our ears heard bottles rattling together for a while before she re-appeared with two bottles. One silver and one glowing gold. She hefted each bottle in turn as she said. "I got Luna's Light and Celestia's Ray. Both are moonshine. Luna’s Light can be used as fuel for certain vehicles if you cut it with oil."

We looked around at all of the ponies around us. Then We looked up up and hoped the Goddess forgives Us for drinking something with their name on it. "May We have a sample of each, please?"

Her brow arched in suspicion or something. But she poured the silvery drink first. We held it up in magic as We gave it a sniff, which caused Our nose to wrinkle. We put it to our lips and drank the shot glass of Luna's Light. The flavor of it made Us want to spit it out right then as We nearly gagged, but gulped it down. As We held the glass out, the gold colored drink was poured.

It went down much smoother and We smiled in delight with a nod. "May We buy a bottle of Ray?" We asked. “This one we like most.”

She set the bottle down after closing it and said. "Ninety caps."

Ninety caps were floated out of Our bag with magic as We set the correct amount down. The bottle was quickly brought over and We hugged it with a smile.

Sister might like this one as it was not as strong as the one We first showed her! But We mustn't tell her its name, or she may go apeshit on Us.

We put the bottle of Ray into our bags with magic and followed Snapshot as he walked towards the back of the tunnel.

Three stalls down from the drink stand was a shop that had three pink butterflies on it. We knew exactly what the symbol was from pre-war times. We stopped and unhooked from the cart. As We went to the back We retrieved the box of medical supplies. It was hefted in Our magic as We trotted over. The box was gently set down and We returned to the wagon. Then We hooked back into the harness and left the perplexed pony behind.

Snapshot's jaw was hung open as we were leaving the stall. "You just gave away two thousand caps worth of supplies!"

We nodded and told him. "Medical aid is given freely to all, even the impure. It would be wrong to charge for it, and hurt pony opinions of us."

He shook his head slowly while quietly mumbling incoherently. We stopped at a stall selling clothes as We wondered what We might look like wearing a snappy businessmare suit. We shook Our head as We snorted through our nostrils.

No, such a foals dream to think of such niceties.

*** ***

We arrived at the destination told by Snapshot.

A room in the back of the stadium which was guarded by a maze of turns and tents. We stepped through the door into the somewhat dark room and bit back a gasp. Entire shelves full of electronics and robotics lined the walls! Those Steel Rangers would love to get their grubby metallic hooves onto this cache.

Snapshot walked over to another impure stallion. As he whispered things We could not hear he pointed at Us. We tilted Our head at this secrecy and wished we could listen in. Though We had blocked out the spell to read minds shortly after the Goddess moved on, because We had heard everypony within a two hundred yard radius. It nearly drove Us insane!

The impure grey unicorn with Snapshot nodded and then looked at Us. "So you have a DC tablet that needs to be reset? Well it'll cost ya a lot."

Our ears folded back in shame. "We do not have much. Will you accept the cart outside as trade?" We swept Our hoof around the room. "A pony such as yourself may one day need to move all of this and a cart would help immensely. There are also boxes of ammo supplies in it."

He motioned Us over with a nod. "Very well. Let me see the tablet."

We trotted over with it floating in front of Us. As We did so We noticed that Snapshot was walking off. We looked at him with a tilt of Our head. "Thou is leaving?"

He nodded. "I have to get back to the gate. You'll be fine with my brother."

"Thank you, Snapshot." We respectfully bowed Our head and continued. "The Goddess will reward your kindness one day." Snapshot rolled his eyes and trotted off. Our gaze lingered slightly on his hindquarters before We turned Our attention back to his brother, who was smiling. It caused Us to blink in confusion. "What?"

"You like him." He grinned.

"We do not! He is impure and does not believe in the Goddess, ergo We do not like him!"

’Though the Goddess... no! Take the thoughts with the impure and toss them into a volcano!’

Snapshot's brother shrugged. "Whatever. Hand over the tablet then."

We floated it over to his grasp. He plugged it into a machine. The stallion punched a few buttons while fiddling with things beyond Our knowledge and both devices displayed a bar. One was filling while the other was draining. "Alright this will take a while, come back in a few hours."

We laid down and looked at the wall.

*** ***

Livewire waved a hoof in front of Our face. Only Our mane and tail moved as We were laying down and resting. Which for Us that meant long periods of just laying there and looking at things without moving a muscle.

He stepped in front of Us and put a hoof to Our nose, then pushed on it hard. Still We stayed unmoving. He scratched his chin in thought, then paced back and forth in front of Us for a long while.

Livewire glanced at the tablet. "It’s nearly done." We blinked finally and looked at him. He shook his head slowly. "Do you realize how creepy it is to have a living pony sitting as still as a statue without blinking for hours?"

We shook Our head. "No, We do not. Do you know where We can get this collar removed? It is heavy and We dare not touch it as it most likely will go off."

"Might be a pony in the South Bay that can do it, but I don't know how well your kind is received there." A loud beep caused the two of us to look over at the devices.

We stood and trotted the distance in wonder at the device. Such a magnificent piece of technology that is well above anything We can truly imagine. Our gaze then went around the room at all the wonderful electronics.

’Perhaps he wouldn't mind if we borrowed one for a while?’

We shook Our head and looked back at him as he was unplugging the tablet from the machine. He slid it over to Us as We looked down and tilted Our head in confusion.

'Place hoof here' was written in green letters above a circle about the size of a hoof.

We held Our hoof over the spot and pressed down. Almost immediately, A warm glow traveled from the bottom of the hoof, up the leg and into our head. We almost drew back, but assumed it to be normal. It beeped again as a bar at the top filled and the warm glow slowly faded. We drew the hoof back as it asked for a username and pass key. With Our magic We typed Our name Shell Shock as the user and Sister's name for the key.

It beeped three times in rapid succession. The screen faded to some black background that showed a green logo We recognized from a few places here in Oakwood. When We opened the note function We saw five notes.

So We Selected one. It opened a compass to the side that pointed in a seemingly random direction. We selected another note and the needle pointed somewhere else.

"Ooooh. It does know where to go!” We excitedly said in Livewire’s mind.

"It links with your neural network and magic," Livewire commented before We asked how it knew. He tapped the screen with his hoof. "It also doubles as a radio, and has a map as well as other functions. Like a camera."

We looked at his yellow eyes with a nod. "Does it allow Us to see other ponies nearby like a Steel Ranger? We would love this ability as the Tin Cans outsmart Us sometimes because of it."

Livewire chuckled as he shook his head. "No, it doesn't have an E.F.S. Pipbucks do though. If you can find one out here we, ahem, I may be able to do something with it."

"Thank you, Livewire.” We gave him a respectful nod. “Is there a way we can pay you?"

"I am kind of looking for parts for a project. You can bring junk by and I'll take a look at it."

"Sounds adequate." Our gaze went around the shop to all of the equipment as We wondered if anything could be ‘acquired’.

A long round tube with glass on one end was set down on the table. We held the torch in magic and flicked the switch, immediately a narrow beam of blue-white light shot out and lighted where it touched. As We swept it back and forth We accidentally ran it across Livewire. He recoiled in shock as he cried out and clutched at his eyes. The torch dropped and clattered to the floor as Our eyes widened.

"We are so sorry! Livewire, We-"

He waved his hoof about and silenced our sentence. "It's nothing, don't worry. Just seeing a spot is all."

However We floated out a healing potion We had found and brought it over to him. "Please drink this! We do not wish you to be hurt by Us. You may be impure, but a nice impure pony."

"I assure you my vision is fine, but if it pleases you I will drink it." He took the drink in his own magic field with a smile and downed it's contents.

We looked back the way We had come as he set it down. "We have lingered too long and must go."

"May the Goddess smile upon you on your journey." He said softly. Immediately Our head whipped around to his smiling face. We smiled in return and nodded.

"Thank you, Livewire." We put everything away and touched his head with Our horn. "May the blessing of the Goddess be upon thee."

*** ***

The ammo shopkeeper was a brown earth pony with a revolver for a cutie mark. She stood and glared at Us from behind her counter while pointing a minigun battle saddle at Us. Behind her was a room We presume to hold weapons and ammo as there were only small arms displayed outside.

"We assure you We only wish to trade!" We told her with Our mind. Our bags were floating to Our side and open to show her the truth. The rocket launcher was on Our other side and We realized too late it may have been a bad idea to walk up with a floating rocket launcher. Her narrowed lilac eyes went from the bag, to Us, and then to the Annihilator Mk.I. This wasn't going as well as We had hoped it would! We pointed a hoof at the launcher. "We need rockets, and-"

She spit the trigger out of her mouth and snidely said through the side of her mouth. "Missiles."

We blinked and tilted Our head. "Huh? It is an Annihilator Mk.I rocket launcher."

"No... It's an Annihilator Mk.I missile launcher, not a rocket launcher. Hence it shoots missiles you idiot!"

Our ears folded back at her remark as We looked at the empty weapon. "We are not stupid... please do not call Us that. We know more about explosives than you could ever dream of."

She rolled her eyes as she relaxed slightly. "I always thought alicorns were supposed to be big scary monsters and seeing one now... You're not that scary, just a large pony."

"Then may We trade with you, since We are not scary?"

"Hmph," she smirked and dropped her head under the counter then reappeared with a box. We watched her set a finned blue tipped warhead down, one orange, a red, and then a black one down. “Alright tell me which one you want and I’ll get it.”

We pointed at the black one. "What one is this? We have not seen its like before."

"Black powder propellant and hoofmade explosives. Doesn't deal as much damage or fly as fast, but a hell of alot cheaper to buy."

We pointed a hoof at the blue one. "One of these electromagnetic’s, one high-explosive incendiary, and five high explosive rock-missiles, if you please."

She nodded. "Okay. I'll be back." She walked through a door to the back.

Our gaze went around to all the weapons. There were a few assault rifles, one hunting rifle, two small pistols, and five energy weapons. We glanced around at all of the ponies walking around to see if any were paying attention. None were. So We grabbed the hunting rifle in magic as it was brought over so we could check it out. It was in very good shape, but made from scrap parts. The twin barreled rifle looked to fire a small caliber and was single shot breech load with one barrel stacked on top of each other.

We smiled as We stuffed it in Our bag along with an energy pistol. Then We acted like they were never there. Soon We tapped Our hoof in boredom as the pony was taking a very long time. After waiting for what seemed like hours, the brown pony walked back in with a box of missiles on her back.

She set them down on the counter and said. "Okay the HEI's are two-fifty each, the EMP is two hundred, and the high-ex is one eighty. Comes out to one thousand three hundred and fifty caps."

With Our magic, We dropped all Our caps on the counter in a large pile. She slowly counted them all, but shook her head. "You only have a hundred."

’We should have at least three hundred! Did we get robbed by Livewire while we were resting?’

With a sigh We set down the .22LR ammo, and a few items we consider junk. The earth pony We are calling Ammo did the calculations again and shook her head. "You're still a thousand caps off."

We went to Our bags as we thought of the weapons we just took. Then shook Our head as We are sure she knows all her inventory well. Our ears folded back as Our gaze went down to the pile of caps.

We started counting them out to be sure We only had a hundred as that did not seem correct. When We had finished We looked up at Ammo with hard eyes. Our forest green hoof slammed down on the counter and made everything hop a few inches into the air.

She blinked in shock and shrank as We shouted only inside her head. "HOW DARE YOU TRICK US LIKE THAT! We HAVE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY TWO CAPS YOU LYING CUR!"

Ammo clutched her ears with her hooves and collapsed in agony. She withered around on.the floor for a few seconds as she shouted. "Alright I lied! Just stop screaming in my head!" She looked up at Us, visibly shaken. However We kept glaring laser beam eyes at her with Our brows knitted together in disappointment.

"Very well. We will be quiet, but thou hath lost Our trust and We will not be giving you thine business." We placed everything back into our bags, placed them on Our back and trotted off.

"Wait, come back and I'll give you eighty percent off!" She shouted.

We turned Our nose up and quickened our pace.

We refuse to let any pony who lies to Us have Our caps. Now We are glad We took the weapons from that tramp. Our gaze went to the yellow tablet as it was floated out.

In the center at the top it read twenty after noon. We pushed on the screen with magic and smiled as the map of Oakwood was displayed. There was a marker for Sister and Our smile turned into a grin.

’Now we know where we are! She is ten to fifteen miles north of us.’

We selected the cap collection note and four markers were now displayed: one way down south, one near Sister, one here and one to the far north near a bridge.

We pressed on the screen. It zoomed in and We frowned because the map did not show Us the inside of the building. The note function was opened as We followed the compass for here. Eventually We ran into something soft. The impure pony collapsed to the floor and We nearly dropped the device as We tripped over the diminutive pony.

With how We were treated by everypony so far, but Livewire, We chose to glare at the small egg white mare in a blue mechanic jumpsuit under a white lab coat.

She stood as she dusted herself off and looked at a pair of broken glasses. "Watch where you're going you id..." Her gaze followed Our legs all the way up to Our eyes. "Sorry!” she yelped in shock as she scooted back. “Maybe I should watch where I’m going, huh?"

"We accept your apology. Now go." We pointed Our hoof in a random direction. The impure pony nodded and trotted off. Then Our gaze went to the compass as it spun in that direction she was walking, then We looked up at her. "Wait!"

She stopped mid-stride and slowly looked back as she asked. "Yes...?"

Our gaze flickered down to the note and We found her description. "Thou owes Long Tap four hundred caps and We are here to collect them."

"Oh fuck," she muttered and broke into a gallop.

We put the tablet away and chased after her. Our hooves echoed in the concrete tunnel as We galloped, but she was quicker! She ducked left under a cart, and we followed by jumping over it, then she skidded into a turn and headed back the way she had originally come from.

We got a long look at her backside as We galloped around ponies. "Help!" She shouted and looked around. "I'm being attacked by an alicorn! Help!"

A large pink pony stepped in front of Us. We hopped to the side and skidded, slid around them and continued after the mare. An idea formed in our head and We jumped, flapped our wings to propel Us higher. We smiled as We fell with style.

We landed in front of the mare and spun around in a slide as We telepathically boomed. "HALT!"

Her eyes went wide as she skidded to a stop and bumped her nose with mine. She smiled nervously while she slowly backed away. As We stood back to full height We noticed a group of angry and armed ponies circling us and closing in.

We stood on our hind legs while we put a hoof in the air and telepathically yelled. "Do not attack Us!" We dropped back down and slowly looked at them all in turn while We continued. "This mare owes caps to Long Tap. When We inquired she ran off shouting for help. We hath not laid a hoof on her."

We glared at her again and she cowered as she covered her head with her hooves. A steel grey unicorn in a stetson stepped out of the group and looked down at her.

"Is this true, Rose?" He asked as he nudged her with his hoof.

She looked up from under her short light green mane and nodded slowly. "Yes... But it's a fucking alicorn! What else am I supposed to do when one of them says they want to collect caps?"

"You give them the caps!" He retorted angrily then pointed a hoof at Us. "Now give her the caps you owe!"

“But..." she squeaked.

"Do it!"

"I don't have them!" She shouted and bawled into her hooves, "I lost them gambling, alright? I have nothing. No food, no home, no clothes, I have absolutely nothing!"

We smiled at how We scared this mare into submission. Sister would be proud!

The steel grey pony looked up at Us. "Guess you can't collect." With a shrug he yelled at the others. "Alright, show's over! Ain't nothing to see here."

They slowly trickled, off leaving the crying mare and I. We tilted Our head as We laid down and looked at her in confusion. She kept crying.

We laid there watching her cry for a while before We got bored. Our gaze looked over at a few ponies who were whispering and pointing at us. One of them snickered, but a glare from Us caused them to gulp and go somewhere else.

We looked back at the mare and whispered in her head. "Do not cry."

She sniffed as she slowly looked up at Us with puffy eyes. "Why? You just made me admit my gambling problem to the whole fucking town!"

We looked back at Our bags and brought out a hundred caps with magic. Then We floated them to her fore hooves with a smile. "Is this enough to get thee a meal for a few days?" We softly asked.

"You're just giving me these?" We nodded and used Our magic to place her hooves together to cover the caps slightly. "Just like that with no strings attached?"

"Yes. We do not need to eat. The Goddess sent the Sisters of Unity to Oakwood to show its inhabitants her power and that We are the future."

She smiled, but her eyes said another thing. "I heard the 'Goddess' died. Is it true?"

"We heard that as well, but We are unsure if it is true. Go, take your caps and be happy."

She looked around at the other ponies, then whispered to Us. "Would... it be okay if I go with you?"

We tilted Our head and blinked in surprise. "We do not understand... We are an alicon and you’re an impure... Yet you... wish to come with Us?"

She nodded as she began to stuff her caps into pockets. "Yeah. I figure you're going places that have good salvage and well, salvage is caps.... and I need caps."

"Do you wish to join the Sisters of Unity too?" We asked.

"Uhh... What do they do?"

We looked into her eyes and grinned. "Simple. We destroy the Goddess's mortal enemies through the use of excessive firepower."

"And who are they?"

"Enclave and Steel Rangers. Of course We have yet to see any Tin Can Chickens out here and suspect the Enclave to have no presence here."

The mare gulped, though We did not know why... maybe she's thirsty? The bottle of Ray was floated out with magic and We offered it to her. She shook her head and stood up.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can join your Sisters of Unity thing. However I will go with you and split all salvage we find. How does that sound?"

"Adequate."

"I'm Rose."

"Ponies call us Shell Shock. We are unsure why as that is not Our real name."

"What is your name?"

We shrugged and decided to partly lie to her. "It is lost to time and We are now Shell Shock, the green alicorn. This We are okay with as it is an adequate name for Our actions."

*** ***

Rose and I walked along the road. We held the tablet in front of Our eyes as We looked at the map. The museum was not far away, maybe two or three streets over, and it may hold items of value. We put the device away. As We were turning Our head We spotted movement.

We stopped, causing Rose to look back at us as she stopped as well. "What?"

"Ssh!" We projected into her head, "we are being watched."

Our gaze slowly scanned the two story houses and four story brick buildings as We looked for anything odd. Though We could not see anything odd that would indicate a trap.

Rose looked around as well then shook her head. "I don't see anything. Let's keep moving."

With a nod We floated out the hunting rifle and stared at it with narrowed. We wondered if that pitiful ammunition We found fit it. So We brought out a .22LR round, opened the breech, and placed the .22LR round in the chamber. We tilted Our head in confusion at the perfect fit.

"That's a small hoofmade pipe rifle." Rose commented as she looked over. "Not the best, but alright in a pinch. You know when you said excessive firepower I thought you'd have something bigger than that tiny thing." We loaded the second shot and then used magic to pull out the missile launcher with a smile as Ross gulped. "Point taken."

As We put it away We brought the over and under pipe rifle's screw sight to Our eye. We aimed the sight at various things to get a feel for it before We were forced to use it.

We kept it out as We turned down the right street and saw the museum loom before us. We must do these jobs quickly so that we can get back to Sister we thought to ourself. The parking lot was mostly devoid of vehicles save for five and the museum's overhead dome was missing most of its glass.

We trotted over to the nearest vehicle and peered inside it as We wondered why internal combustion powered vehicles weren't more widespread on the mainland. We only knew of a few V-2 Vertibucks to have them.

We bucked out the glass window with Our hoof, covering the inside with glass, and found the door to be already unlocked. With a shrug We dug through the vehicle's contents, which was one Sparkle-Cola...

We went over to the next one which was a four door station wagon. Inside We spotted a yellow and pink box sticking out from under the seat. This time We tried the door with magic and found it locked. So Our forehooves were brought up as We smashed them into the glass.

We pulled the box out of the vehicle with magic. As We turned around to show Rose the box We smiled at her.

"We found this,” We told her. “Thou may keep it as per our agreement." We pushed it towards her and she used a bobby pin plus a knife from a pocket to open it.

She took out an inhaler of some kind and immediately put it back. Other contents were two potions, and a box of Mint-als. Rose sighed as she looked up at US. "Can you carry my stuff?"

"...No... We are not a slave, nor a pack mule. You must carry your own equipment, or leave it behind." We told her with a glare that said she better not look for the detonator to the collar.

With another sigh, she tore off a long strip of cloth and fastened it to the medical box like a belt. Rose strung it around her chest, then put some scrap wires into it. We nodded in approval at her ability to make impromptu saddlebags.

As We turned We looked at the large double doors that marked the entrance of the museum. Our hooves carried the two of us there, We gripped the handle in magic and opened it. We recoiled and put a clipped wing to Our nose as the reek of death filtered out when the doors opened.

We glanced around at what we could see through what little light filtered in, We saw nothing. No reason for that smell when We opened the door.

At the time We had thought maybe it was the rotting wood that smelled, as this place was pretty far gone. In the center of the large atrium was a wrecked wooden and cloth plane. The wires supporting it had long collapsed, but a tiny hologram showed it was a biplane at one time. We ignored it and as moved around it.

We nudged a door to the back open with Our nose, then went around a trashed display that at one time showcased a sporting shotgun. This decrepit hallway was filled with weapon cases. Light filtered in through smashed or dirty windows. We passed by other smashed weapon cases for Ironshod weapons. Their contents long gone. Down the hall was a pile of wood that drew Our attention. We trotted over to it and looked at the floating hologram of a Mark IV tank that had sponson guns.

We shuddered at the thought of using wood as vehicle armor. Next to it sat an early wheeled car with flat tires and rotted out wood rims. With a defeated sigh We continued deeper into the museum.

There were various vehicle exhibits with pony mannequins as well as other races, but we ignored them in favor of following the tattered signs for the space exhibit as We thought that might be interesting.

As we turned right we heard a voice, except it was metallic and garbled. Our guess is an old recording of some kind, because We couldn't understand it at all. We looked around the dark hallway again as we made a left towards the space exhibits.

Sometime later, We stopped to look at the picture of a couple ponies on the moon. They looked so happy. We honestly don't remember them going to the moon, then again We were out of the loop on world events for many years. There was an earth pony floating above what looked to be another earth pony in white suits.

We smiled at the picture of happier times and continued as more lights clicked on followed by static.

"In... ronauts placed a mir... moon. That way we can..." The rest of it was garbled static.

As We looked left We saw a grimy glass window that looked interesting. We trotted over and wiped a hoof across the surface of the glass. We pressed Our face against it and stared at the massive rocket that was surrounded by gloom. Lights kicked on at the bottom and slowly made their way up. The lights at the very top revealed a capsule that was nearly stripped of paint. Rust streaked the rest of the rocket all the way down to the bottom and a walkway spiraled its way around.

We frowned at the horrid condition rocket and continued our trot through the rotted museum. There was a door to our left and a sign that said it went to the rocket. So We followed it and bucked open the door to the rocket display.

A grand re-opening banister had half fallen off and crushed a glass window that caused us to duck under it as we walked through the hallway. Above us the shattered glass dome still had shreds of fabric hanging down. The elements had done a number on the walkways paint and the carpet.

We tested the walkway with a hoof. It gave a metal creak. Then We gave it a firm push and a nervous smile when it stayed put. So We stepped onto it and It groaned as We put all four hooves on. We quickly backed away as We let out a breath of relief when it stayed put.

“It should be okay,” Rose quietly said.

“Should...” We smiled at her. “Ride our back and if it breaks We can slow the fall with Our wings.”

She nodded in agreement and We laid down. Then Rose climbed onto our back nervously. She was very light, almost like a foal, which she was close to the size of. We stepped forward onto the catwalk and gave it a few seconds to settle before we began to follow it down.

It took quite a while due to nearly every other step being received with a groan of metal. As we stepped onto the last step We hesitated because the floor looked perfectly spotless. Our gaze went back up to the broken dome as We shielded Our face from the waning blue sky with a hoof.

Dark grey clouds were slowly rolling in, causing the sky to darken.

High above us, the shriek of metal echoed followed by a loud metallic crash and then another shriek.

We dove to the side as level upon level of metal catwalk came crashing down in a mass of twisted steel and dust. When it settled We huffed and got to Our hooves as Rose groaned. As We glanced up We saw the outline of a pony, but they quickly vanished.

Our ears folded back against Our head as We realized that it was much too far for us to jump up to that door even with wings assisting Us.

We looked around the bottom room and spotted an open door. With nowhere else to go, We went inside with Rose behind Us. The hallway beyond was mold covered and almost pitch black.

We followed that hallway for some time before it opened into some kind of large spacious room with seating around a trashed object. There were four exits and We picked the one to our right. Which we followed for a long time before we made a right and had a new choice of doors.

We picked the one on our left and tilted Our head as We opened it. There was a pony skeleton slumped over a desk with a severely rusted weapon nearby. The weapon was magically put into Our saddlebags as We went through their pockets with magic. All We found was a useless document detailing security for the grand re-opening of the museum. The second document had a bunch of letters and numbers that read: G4C0MD215.

We assumed it to be useful and put it in our bags. With nothing else in there We turned around and opened the door across the hall. All it was, was an empty janitor's closet and that caused Us to frown. We left that behind and went through the third door.

Inside that room We saw shelves, upon shelves, moldy cardboard boxes of crap that fell apart to the touch. Anything of value looked to have been stripped long ago as well. We left the storage room and made our way towards the green glowing exit signs.

As we neared the exit door We opened it and sighed deeply in frustration as where were more stairs leading... down. We had no idea why they would go even further down as the plans for the building according to Rose stopped at this level.

Our hooves echoed in the dark stairwell as we made our way down with the tablet in front of Us. The outdoor only map useless, but the compass was pointing nearby.

As We looked up from the device We stopped at an unusual door that looked like a reinforced blast door with a keypad next to it. We went over to it and tried the code We found, but it flashed a red error and screeched.

Rose pushed Us out of the way. “Let me try! You might break it or something.”

We sighed and tapped Our hoof in boredom as she backed out of the terminal twice before it flashed green. “There.” Rose hit a button and the door slid open with a hiss.

By that time We had Our energy weapon out. We were looking at one of the flat parts on it strangely as We had never used one before. There was no discernible barrel and that caused Us to wonder where the shots exit from. Rose jumped up and plucked it out of Our grasp with her hooves before We could react.

As she landed on the floor she glared. “Don’t you know not to look in the barrel?!”

“We could not see a barrel?” We told her the truth in her mind.

She rolled her eyes as she put it away. “No energy weapons for you then.”

We sighed and looked at the floor. Then Our gaze went to the truly pitch black hallway and We stepped inside. There was a loud click that caused Us to start in surprise and draw the pipe rifle, but it was only a yellowed light turning on above us. And then another one at the very far end clicked on which caused Us to frown. The rifle was put away as We brought out the torch and tablet.

The both was floated in front of Us as we went into the grim darkness before us. Our torch cut a swath of light like the moon in the night sky. We looked down at the compass then up at the alternating doors that lined the walls every thirty meters. We turned left into the first room we came across.

There was a desk and file cabinet, which Rose went through the contents of and found a strange orange metal feather. She put that away and we left that room as we went farther down the dark hallway. Our gaze looked left and right. About eighty feet down was another office, but on the right hand side. Inside held just an empty desk.

*** ***

We turned left in the dark hallway. Rose and Us had found nothing for the last two hours according to the tablet. The torch was getting slightly dimmer with the passing of minutes. Every eighty to a hundred feet was an office on either side of the hallway. We were not sure of their purpose, but Rose was growing more and more concerned.

As we turned right around a bend, the office hallway abruptly changed to one with cracked concrete walls and four inches of ice cold salt water on the floor.

We stopped walking and blinked in surprise as We turned Our head to look back at cracked concrete walls. There was no possible way for them to have changed like that!

"Did the hallway just change?" We asked in a whisper of the lips, because We were so shocked that We momentarily could not use telepathy.

"Yeah..." she replied in a whisper. “It looks... nice.”

"What is going on?" We asked as We looked at Rose in worry. "Perhaps we should head back?"

"There might be loot down here." She whined and pouted. Her eyes grew big and watery as she bit her lower lip slightly.

With a nod from Us, We continued into the now concrete tunnel. The icy water sloshed about as it sent a chill up Our legs and into Our spine. This place was wrong. It felt wrong and we should not have been there.

After another few blank corners, Rose opened an office door and gasped in shock as her eyes went wide.

"Mom?" Our ears swiveled as We looked back at her and stopped. "Mom, what are you doing here? You're... dead."

’Dead?!’

Our eyes widened as Our hooves carried Us over and We looked in the door. All we saw was a standard empty concrete jail cell with no pony, nor desk or anything else.

Rose winced at some unseen words. "I love her, and I don't care! Screw the rules!"

We stepped in front of her as We spread Our glorious wing to block her sight. She blinked as she recovered from whatever it was and looked up at Us as We assured her. "Rose, thine mother is not really there."

Her eyes widened as they went to Our wings. "Sweet Celestia what happened to your wing?!"

We folded our wing with a sneer as We stepped forward and shut the door behind Us with magic.

"An impure pony tricked Us, but do not get any ideas as it shall not happen again." We told her honestly.

"I know a pony that can remove that collar.” Rose smiled up at Us. “She's pretty handy with electronics and pretty close-by."

We huffed at this and shook Our head. "No! We will not accept thy offer of help as We do not trust Rose, an impure fillyfooler."

"What's that got to do with it?!" she shouted as she hopped off the ground.

"Absolutely nothing. We merely pointed it out is all. So who was she?"

"The mare of my dreams. Our parents didn't approve, because they wanted us to have children and wouldn't listen to any reasoning."

We rolled Our eyes as We understand that problem. "Ugh, We know how that is. The Goddess has Us seeking a way to make male alicorns so that we may breed. She found a reference to this island and ordered Sister and I, along with four others, to investigate it for possible clues." We pointed a hoof at her as We added. "Do not think to come onto Us, Rose. We like stallions and would prefer them to be alicorns.”

Her eyes bulged out of her sockets. "Huh?! The thought never even occurred to me!"

"Uh-huh."

As We turned to continue walking, a ghost of a pony shape with glowing lavender eyes crowded the very edge of Our peripheral vision. However when We looked directly at it the pony vanished.

We were not liking this one bit...

*** ***

We rounded a corner in the near pitch black tunnels as we walked through the water. Rose kept trying to look inside the rooms. Then We would remind her that it would be bad if she did as We had to block her from looking the first time.

A thud drew our attention to one of the rooms. Our gaze went over to it as We opened the door with magic and prepared to shut it if something tried to jump out.

Nothing did.

Inside was a body and a few items. We looked at the grime covered earth pony skeleton sprawled out on the floor.

It had a top hat and a long ripped overcoat. Behind the skeleton was a decayed fiddle that had all but rotted away. In his clutches was a used syringe that We recognized to be for Cloudpack. Scattered around him were various empty drug containers. A Dash inhaler, a box of Party-Time Mint-als, four Med-X syringes and one absurd looking three in one drug. There was also a bottle of rum that long since evaporated.

We mourned for the loss of the alcohol.

A search of his torn bags revealed a four shotgun shells that We put away and a single shot over and under shotgun that looked to be made to attach to your foreleg. The leather was akin to a sock with straps to tighten it down on one side.

Though it was odd as there was no visible trigger. We took a journal of sorts out and put that away. We used Our magic to tie the shotgun to Our right foreleg snugly. The very short barrel was on the inside of our leg for easy access for reloading. As We opened the breech We loaded two slugs in with a smile and snapped it shut.

“Groovy.” We commented as We held the foreleg up and looked at it.

We left the office and continued as We floated out the journal.

Don’t fuck with the Wardens. If they tell you to submit, you better fucking submit! The others thought it’d be a good idea to shoot a warden that had 'arrested' one of us. They were all three beaten to death by just one! I ran the fuck away and left them. The fools didn’t listen to me when I said they couldn’t die. They laughed at me and called me a stupid PTM addict. WELL WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?!

Fuck I’m going to die in this Luna damned blue hallway. I know someone is reading this and I’m long dead. My advice is to get the fuck out of here FAST or you’ll die down here. And don’t ever stop moving. Alright I’m going to take some drugs and play one last song.

We closed the book and put it away as We continued into the slowly worsening tunnels.

Why did they say the hallways were blue? They are cracked concrete!

*** ***

As we rounded the extremely grimy corner Our dim torch highlighted a long dead skeleton clutching a box in one hoof and a Pipbuck on the other foreleg. His, or her, stable suit was decayed into tatters, but its yellow number 383 was displayed proudly if a bit faded.

We grinned at the realization that the pony held the box we were looking for and they had a Pipbuck! We were finally able to get the advantage Steel Rangers had. However as We picked both items up in magic, Rose jumped and knocked the Pipbuck out of our magic's grasp

She held it to her chest as she landed on the floor. "Nuh-uh. We go half and half on loot, remember?" We nodded as this We remember to agreeing on. "You get that box you came for and I get this Pipbuck."

With an exasperated sigh of defeat We slipped the box into Our bags. As We did so the compass turned to a new location while the tablet beeped.

"Very well... Thou can has thy Pipbuck. Just be sure to tell Us if there are hostiles about, fair?"

"Yup,” she nodded.

Our gaze went back down to the tablet and We wondered if there was anything else down here. We put the now not needed device away as We pushed forward with the torch in front of Us.

We did not bother to look in the offices because of Rose's experience earlier, so We broke into a gallop with her behind us. The concrete halls became a blur as We turned left, then a right, followed another left and stopped abruptly as We came across the same dead skeleton.

"That should not have happened...” We said slowly and breathed deeply as sweat ran down Our face. “We did not go in a circle."

"How do you know? We've been running for almost an hour!"

We looked over at Rose as We held out a wing and made a gesture while We said. "Because we went in a Z pattern. Left, right, left. We would have had to gone left, left, left to go in a circle."

A voice whispered in the back of Our mind. "Hungry, so very hungry... Feed me..."

Our ears perked up and We branched out with Our mind. "Sister?!"

We extended Our telepathic range as We looked for the source through the various rooms and hallways. In doing so We found out something very troublesome in the process.

This place looped back in on itself regardless of which way you went. After an agonizing amount of time We found another alicorn and connected with her. "Who are you?" We asked as We did not recognize her.

"Who is this? How did you contact me?!" She asked suspiciously.

We smiled at Rose as We told the alicorn, "We are a green and a friend. Do not be frightened."

"I am not frightened! Get out of my head this instant or so help me I will find you and fillet you alive!"

We kept staring at Rose and she started to get unnerved from Our smile. "But sister, We are all that is left of Unity. The others are dead. Plea-"

"Others survived the Destroyer's attack and I somehow ended up on this Goddess forsaken island. NOW GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"But.... sister We are trapped and could use some help." We showed her where we were in the tunnels and hoped she’d come.

Rose waved a hoof in front of Our face as she tilted her head. "Are you alright? You haven't blinked.... at all in the last few minutes."

The connection was severed when the alicorn started shouting obscenities at Us for invading her personal space.

We smiled warmly at Rose. "We have found a new sister and she is in these tunnels!"

Suddenly, a bright purple flash filled the hallway and Rose yelped in surprise.

The nearly black purple alicorn We had connected to was glaring daggers at Us. On her side was a pair of saddlebags and she said scornfully with her mouth. "You... you are the most annoying green I have ever met! It is no wonder you were banished here."

Our ears folded back in embarrassment at her remark. "We were not banished... the Goddess gave Us a job to do!"

"Twenty years ago! What have you been doing this whole time if she gave you a job?!"

"Searching, and..." We looked away in confusion as twenty years seems awfully long to have been here. It felt like months..

"And?" She asked pointedly while tilting her head and drew Our attention back to her.

"Fighting Steel Rangers. There is something on this island that they want, but We do not know what it is."

"She's dead it doesn't matter anymore. Let them have it." The dark purple alicorn said.

"The Goddess is not dead." We told her flatly with Our mind.

"Is too. She took a megaspell to the face!"

We glared at her. "She is not!"

"Is too!"

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is too infinity!"

“Is not double inf....” The dark purple alicorn rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever! Goddess, I hope I don't go insane on this island like you have."

Rose finally spoke up as she raised her hoof. "Um... you said Shell Shock was banished? Why was she banished?"

The two of us looked down at her. "Not your concern!" Purple Sister said, her voice laced with anger at the impure pony.

We smiled and nodded as We were glad that she did not make something up. Because the Goddess really did send Us out here on a mission.

We connected with her again and she immediately looked at Us. "What?!" She demanded in Our mind.

"May we call you Grumpy?" We asked her with a tilt of Our head.

She facehoofed and groaned in what sounded like annoyance.

*** ***

Grumpy pointed a hoof at the tablet that we had floating in front of us. "So this blue alicorn called 'Sister' is here?" We nodded and tapped it with Our own. "Is she like you or.... more sane?"

"Sister is usually there and no. She is meaner than Us and talks like you. We do not know why Our sisters insist on speaking with air... it is taxing."

She nodded. "And you want me to teleport the three of us there?"

We shook Our head slowly. "No no no. That is not what We want! We want you to teleport us outside the museum, and then you meet up with her."

She arched a brow. "What for? I have no ties to either of you! I should just leave right now."

"Because she needs to know of the bounty on alicorns and We suspect she may be worried."

"Why don't you connect with her and tell her?"

We looked at the skeleton on the floor sadly. "We have tried and she does not hear, nor respond. We think she may have left Us."

"Gee I wonder why..." Grumpy said dryly with a roll of her eyes.

"We do not know." We tilted our head. "Perhaps she was forced too?"

"Well in any event I can't teleport three ponies out of here. It's just too far and too much without basking in a ton of radiation for a day. We are nearly a mile underground."

We smiled and connected to her. She glared at Us, but did not say anything. We explained inside her head. "We soaked up some the other day and with our connection We can amplify thy spell. Which would make it easier for you to cast, thus thou can transport the three of us out of here with a fraction of the power normally required."

"You can do that?" Rose asked and we nodded. Grumpy looked at her suspiciously.

"You sure do ask a lot of questions. Are you a spy?"

Rose’s eyes widened. "No, I am just curious, because I've never gotten the chance to talk to an alicorn without them shooting first!"

She received a glare from Grumpy and We looked at the both of them. After a few seconds we put the tablet and torch away. Then looked at Grumpy and nodded. "We are ready."

She sighed. "Alright this might disorient you if you’re not used to it."

It all happened in the blink of an eye. We watched it all with a smile as We were providing power and time was slowed for Us.

The world around us began swirling and tearing. As each piece was torn off, the outside world replaced it. We glanced up at the cloudy night sky as it was being revealed. With a pop and a flash we stood outside of the museum whole in body and missing nothing.

We broke the connection and clapped Our forehooves together in delight. "We're out of that trap!"

"Yeah, thanks. Do you happen to know the blue's name beyond 'Sister'?

We glanced at Rose, then whispered only to Grumpy’s mind. "We are unsure as to her name."

Grumpy nodded. "I'm going to go now, but I will tell her you are safe and working your way back."

With a nod from Us, she vanished in a purple flash. Which left just Rose and I. If Grumpy does not trust her, then We do not trust her. However We cannot simply take the Pipbuck as it would be obvious as to whom took it, so We are at a loss.

Rose stretched with an audible yawn. “I’m worn out and need to find a place to sleep.”

We nodded. “Very well, We shall keep an eye out for impure bandits while you sleep.”

***===***===***

I galloped across the muddy city park with my bolt-action IF-12 floating in front of me. The weapon was heavily outdated, but it's what I was issued and loved. Ahead of me lay a trench line of zebra’s firing at us as our company charged.

They had dug in and most of the city was reduced to ruin. A hundred or so yards behind their trench line was a ruined factory that produced who knows what. Ammo, guns, vehicles. It didn't fucking matter. We were told to take it and that is what we were going to do. I wrapped a dead armored pegasus in magic and used the lifeless body as a shield while I made my way towards a bomb crater. I weaved left and right while taking pot shots at the zebra troops who'd stick their heads up.

As I got within range I tossed the body inside the crater and slid down after it.

One of the others I was with dove in with a wet muddy plop. He looked up at me and grinned while panting heavily. "Damn, you're fast!"

I grinned back. "You're just lazy!" Arrow tried to climb over, but I used my magic to shove him back down. "That's stupid, watch!" I took his woodland camo hat with magic and began to slowly lift it up over the crater.

A shot sent it flying from my magic's grip. He gulped while he pulled it back on as I loaded in five more rounds.

"Then we're stuck!" Arrow huffed.

I tried to explain a plan, but an artillery shell howled and went silent.

I immediately grabbed Arrow with a hoof and pulled him low into the crater as the shell landed a few feet outside and showered us with mud.

I worked my jaw around to get rid of the ringing in my ears as I shouted. "They got this shit pre-ranged!"

"Ya think?!" He looked over at the one winged pegasus with a few holes in its side. "What's with the bird?"

I used my magic to ripp the armor off the body as I explained. "Ya want armor? Here’s armor!" I cringed as I tossed it over to him. "It won’t fit me and I want his grenade gun. I'll lob them at the trench while using his body as a shield with you behind me."

A groan escaped me as I looked at the sky camo pattern. In the mud down here he stuck out like a bad hooficure. The combat saddle was unstrapped and I looked at it in confusion. Instead of figuring out how to put it on I ripped the grenade machine gun off, levitated it up and put away my bolt-action.

We never got armor beyond just an old metal recycled royal guard chest plate that was totally inadequate. Hell our uniforms were frayed woodland camo stuff that wasn't used anymore and bore no markings of any kind. We might as well have just been naked. Arrow looked at the wing plate and ripped it off with his hooves as it was useless to the blue crystal pony.

As I glanced at the dead body I wrapped it in magic and slowly made it look over the crater. Half his head exploded and showered us with brains and bone. I tossed it aside as I sighed. "Yeah, we're fucked."

Arrow looked down at the radio. "I think the radio works. Let's get some support."

I made a motion with my hoof as he removed it. It was held to my ear as I cleared my throat and attempted communications in my best stallion impersonation. "Red Barn this is..." I looked at the armor and shrugged. "Gold Bird four. I am on the ground and injured with two others. Zebras have us pinned down. Requesting two Zippos at..." Arrow held up a map and pointed a hoof at our location. "Grid reference eight, Kilo, Foxtrot, Alpha, six, four, two, zero, eight, two. Come in from the southeast. Western trench still not taken, and ground pre-ranged. We won’t last long."

The reply was almost immediate. "Roger that, Gold Bird Four, Zippos in bound. E.T.A. Ten minutes."

Arrow shook his head in amazement. "I don't know what's more impressive. The fact that you pulled that off by making up a code name. Or the fact that you sounded like an annoying colt whose balls haven't dropped and it still worked."

I laughed. "Yeah. Well if anyone asks we can claim he died after calling them. How's it look?"

He gave a nod and crept up for a look. Then quickly dropped back down as a shot snapped overhead. "The others made it slightly closer, and I think the regulars are just now catching up."

"Hit or miss?"

He shrugged as he held out a hoof. "Bet ya he misses the target."

"Fifty bits says he hits it." I shook his with mine.

A new voice came over the radio. "Gold Bird Four this is Eagle seven. Can you point out your position with smoke?"

I held up the radio again and resumed my fake voice. "Negative Eagle seven. No smoke grenades. Friendlies east of target still haven't reached the trench, you're clear to make a run."

"Uh, Roger that. Keep your heads down."

Two objects dropped out of the southeastern sky with a thunderous roar. The first single engine propeller ground attack aircraft lined up with the zebra trench and unleashed a barrage of rockets and gunpods. His wingman following suit a few hundred yards behind.

Arrow looked over the crater and smiled. "You owe me fifty bi-" His head rocked back as his brains sprayed out of the new hole.

"Arrow!" I shouted as his corpse slid next to the dead pegasus.

***===****===****

I looked at the floor as a tear ran down my cheek. My hoof came up as I caught it and stared at the salt flavored droplet. I let it fall and involuntarily rubbed my right foreleg in an effort to ensure it was still whole. Before I joined Unity I only had three legs because of that battle.

When I took a breath, I smelled fresh blood and cordite. Slowly, I looked around for trouble.

Nothing was amiss and a test of Our nose revealed no blood, so then why did We smell it?

I contemplated the vision. I remember the horrible feeling that everypony was dying around us yet we fought on, because we must or be shot as traitors. Lately when We sit like that I get snippets of Our past. Visions of things that were before We became better with Unity. The Goddess helped Us to block them out, but now... they were free again.

‘We must do better’ was Fluttershy’s motto. But as We looked around the destroyed museum We saw that in the end We only succeeded in doing worse.

With Our magic We pulled out the yellow tablet and noticed that the map marker for Sister had moved, and so did the one for Our collar. The collar marker was halfway between here and the one out in the jungle while Sister's had vanished. We left that function as We pressed the radio and found it to be tuned into a channel with what sounded like a drunk mare.

“This here’s DJ Snow bringing ya the midnight news. The tempra.... temperature is about seventy-five degrees, wind is round twenty miles an hour an’ some annoying fog be rolling in later tonight. But who cares? I sure as hell don’t. Alright out heres in.... uh, Oakwood we’ve gots a little alicorn problem with two of 'em. We all know that, right? Well I done heard it through the grapevine that one of em was spotted giving goods away to Candlelight. Why? I don't fuckin' care! Maybe they finally wised up. BUT! One good deed.... is not enough ta redeem a mare of a lifetime of evilness, so we’ll see if they really are changing.”

We looked at the device in confusion as the sound of a bottle being opened was played out.

‘We are not evil!’ We thought to ourself. ’Do ponies think we are evil and that why they attack us on sight? We must show them that we are not evil. There must be a way to do better.’

The bottle was set down noisily and the mare continued.

“Alright DJ Buccaneer will be on in a few hours, but this here’s DJ Snow saying.... Have some Green Onions.”

We tilted Our head as We blinked in surprise at the organ playing out. The noise it was playing was... soothing. Like it is melting Our worries away. We had forgotten the joy of music. We tapped Our hoof to the beat and listened with a smile.

*** ***

Gently, We gripped a feather shaft with Our mouth and felt the oil gland apply its fluid as We ran Our mouth along the shaft. Preening is such an annoyingly slow process with Our large wings and a great many feathers. Except We must do so every so often to keep them in tip top shape! And it gives Us time to think. Pre-dawn light had turned the sky a grey hue, but a fog rolled in on a salty breeze from the west.

As We finished Our longest feather We started on the next one in.

We were unsure of how to handle Rose. She likes alicorns. This much We could sense from her questioning Us over everything.We do. But she did not wish to join Us against the Steel Rangers.

We stopped halfway down the second feather as We glanced at Rose. Her chest rose and fell slowly as slept peacefully and heavily.

The fact that she may be a Steel Ranger crossed Our mind.

A thought of touching Our horn to her head and looking into her memories struck Us. Except We banished it as that would lose what little trust she has of Us. Instead We floated out the journal again to read while preening. This We can multi-task with.

We were a few miles away when one of the missiles kicked out of the rack. In a pillar of fire and smoke it took off turning straight up as it almost hit the deck. I watched it disappear into the clouds above us and was about to head inside when I remembered something. I looked at the remaining missiles still in the rack. They shouldn’t fly straight up like that. Because cruise missiles didn’t do that. After I went inside I asked the pilot. “What missile did you fire?”

She shrugged and after a little bit of searching on a touchscreen monitor she pulled up a result. “SLCM-35M, low yield. Eight kilotons.”

“Get us the hell out of here!” I screamed while hitting the collision alarm and looked through the door to the outside. A loud bell rang out and red lights started flashing behind me.

The missile broke through the clouds and the Cloudchaser picked up speed while banking away. A high pitched humming sound grew louder as the airship started moving faster with smoke trailing out below the stern. The warhead was almost on top of the city when I slammed the door shut and spun the wheel to seal it before looking away.

A bright flash shone through the rear windows as I was thrown around from the ship nearly flipping over. The pilot for her part stayed in the chair-bed control console thing and righted the airship. After she regained control I stood up and opened the door to see a giant mushroom cloud of fire and smoke looming over the city remains...

Our eyes widened as We finished reading the last page as it detailed him megaspelling a city with no clear reason why. Because sadly, the page explaining the reasoning had been torn out at one point.

We flipped back farther and it looked like it was owned by a mare who died writing as her blood was being drained in some form of execution, then a different pony, and finally the one who We got it from. The dates were wild and We suspected this to be a false journal because of it. As it speaks of events that never occurred. Like a floating city made of steel and stone! With a huff we tossed the journal away.

Then stared at it.

Something at the back of our mind was telling Us to keep it. And so We floated it back into Our bags. Then We went back to preening in annoyance at having learned nothing from the mysterious journal.

*** ***

The two of us walked along the narrow debris strewn road towards the South Bay marker. Around us were many houses packed together and the street had tall grass growing out of the cracks. We were nearly to South Bay when a shot grazed Rose's neck, causing her to yelp in shock and duck.

We looked around at the buildings with Our .22 rifle floating at eye level, but We saw nothing.

"Give us the alicorn and you can walk away!" A pony shouted from a building. Though with the narrow road it echoed and made locating impossible without an E.F.S.

Rose scrambled behind the cover of a wagon with a line of red across her neck. She removed strips of medical bandages from her bags and wrapped her neck while she shouted. "What?! Why do you want an alicorn?"

"Don't play dumb with me.” The voice shouted as We looked around with a determined look. “Set the detonator down and walk away. You're outnumbered and no pony needs to die!"

As Our .22 rifle swept around the thin two story houses as We said with Our mind to only Rose. "Stay hidden, Rose. We have this handled."

"Okay." She nodded rapidly.

We slowly trotted down the overgrown road as We scanned each building slowly. But We still did not see any ponies. We really needed an E.F.S is what We needed! One of the doors eventually opened up as a green pony walked out. They wore what looked like just a hat and black leather barding with a weapon on their side. In their combat saddle was a single large automatic rifle with a big magazine.

Our gaze narrowed as We aimed the pipe rifle at him. He looked at it, a smile formed on his face, and chuckled. "Is that a foals toy?"

We frowned while We telepathically boomed. "IT IS THY DOOM!"

Both barrels spit lead at the same time with a loud pop. One bullet struk the pony in the ear and the other missed altogether. We jumped, flapped our clipped wings for extra lift, and landed on the roof behind him.

’How could we miss that close?!’ We hissed to ourself.

Then We quickly magically loaded in two more shots and stood on our hind legs as We spread Our wings. Our telepathic shout boomed as thunder roared overhead. "THOU FOALISH MORTALS HAVE ANGERED THE GODDESS!"

We glared down at the pony as rain started falling. Which drenched Our overly long mane and caused it to stop flowing. He aimed his saddle up at us and sent a two round burst that struck the wood roof and tore off splinters.

"Get down from there and give up!" he shouted.

Our gaze went around to the buildings and We smiled at the realization that he was actually alone.

We brought the pipe rifle down to aim as distant thunder rumbled. Our shots missed, but his bored their way into Our shoulder and chest. We staggered back on two legs as We loaded in two more shots.

However he kept firing a stream of bullets at Us. Fire burned through our insides as two struck our neck, one grazed our face and hit our ear, and finally another two hit our hind legs. Which collapsed under us unexpectedly.

Thrown off balance, We tumbled onto the porch awning as Our body slammed down with a thud and slid off in a heap.

We groaned as he trotted over with a smile. Our eyes narrowed as We pointed our right hoof at his head. His eyes widened just before the shotgun recoiled on Our leg as it sent a 20 gauge slug straight between his eyes. The top half of his skull folded into red gore and sprayed off into the rain.

We dropped the leg and crawled over to the now dead and bloody pony.

Our magic unhooked his rifle from the saddle and We read the name of the weapon: Buckmaster E1018 'BAR'.

Along the stock the name ‘Fallen Angel’ was carved into it along with four horn/wing stamps underneath the words. We pressed the eject button for the twenty round magazine with magic and saw that it fired .308 rounds. Inside the reloading mechanism were two extras.

’A proper tool!’ We thought and grinned.

However our perceptiveness failed Us because a bullet bored its way through Our flank as We cried out in pain. We hefted the weapon up in magic along with the extra magazines and bolted for a wrecked wagon that had slammed into another one.

We slid to a stop behind it and glanced around as We desperately wished for E.F.S. as the rain muffled any distant sound. The click of a weapon’s cocking mechanism drew Our attention to Our left as We instinctively rolled at the same time smg shots snapped past Our ears.

We used Our magic to bring the BAR up so We could aim down the sights at the pony. Magic squeezed the trigger just enough to let off a two round burst before We let go of the trigger. Our bullets thumped into the pony’s armored chest and caused her to grunt as she dove for cover.

We wished for this weapon to be mouth held so We could go invisible and sneak around. But it strangely had a large trigger guard behind the magazine for a hoof to slip through. This weapon was very odd indeed!

We spotted movement on a roof and aimed down Angel, she roared four times. The pony tumbled to the road with a loud snap and We cringed at the realization that his neck was broken upon impact.

We slowly crawled back from Our cover and went over to the other side of the wagon. Our gaze fell upon the 10mm smg pony who was looking where We previously were and Angel barked three times. Our shots caved her skull in and sent her brains to the road.

Our ears swiveled towards a scream behind us as We turned around and saw a unicorn floating a rifle to Rose’s head. Our eyes narrowed as he shouted. “Drop the we-”

Angel tore his head off and nearly covered Rose’s lab coat in red as she recoiled in shock. The weapon finally clicked empty. So We slid a new magazine in while We scanned the buildings, but saw nothing.

Hoofsteps behind Us caused us to turn around as Rose trotted over. She looked up at Us as she laid down and to go through her metal box of supplies. Eventually she removed a healing potion and handed it to Us.

"You're hurt. Drink."

We took it in magic with a smile.

Level up!
New perk added - Keen eye for detail. Just because you aren't the sharpest tool in the shed doesn't mean you don't catch on quick. +10% xp from passing speech checks and disarming traps.

Speech increased slightly.

Companion perk - Walking workbench. Rose can craft items as well as repair your gear. All you have to do is ask...

Main quest updated - Oakwood Blues, II. Attempt to improve relations with the Oakwood locals before they come at you with torches and pitchforks. New objective: complete more sidequests for various towns.

Main quest updated - Ties that bind. Find a pony in South Bay you can trust whom can remove your slave collar, or take up Rose Petal’s offer.

Side quest updated - The box. Return the ornate brown box to its owner.

Side quest accepted - Where's my money?! Collect all eight thousand caps from ponies for Long Tap, or pay off the debts yourself.

Side quest accepted - Secrets of the forgotten. Find out the meaning of the journal and if it is real or not.

-840 Karma

Candlelight reputation set to Mixed. You might be bad, but you might also be good? Ponies aren't sure what to make of you and so you have difficulty trading, as well as talking to ponies.

New companion!

Rose.

Race: ???

S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
Strength: 5
Perception: 5
Endurance: 4
Charisma: 7
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 7
Luck: 2

Tagged skills: repair, energy weapons, science.

Traits:

Terminal rage: Terminals just lie down and die for you. +5 science and grants an extra chance should you be locked out of a terminal.

Scrap heap: You spot the best salvage even after others have picked it clean. 10% more likely to find extra ammo, or caps in containers.

Fatal Flaw:

Small frame: Due to something happening as you aged you didn't mature to your full height. -2DT and you take 15% more damage. Can only wear light armor and you carry less weight than other ponies. +1 agility. -50 to carry weight.

13 pitch-black cats: What is luck anyway? Due to your low luck when something goes wrong in your party... it spirals out of control horribly.

Blind as a bat: Has anypony seen my glasses? +2 perception when wearing glasses. -1 when not.

Main quest accepted - Curiosity. Follow Shell Shock and see if she really is an evil monster or just a cuddly alicorn.

Companion perk - Big tough alicorn. Why do you have to get shot when theres a bullet sponge nearby?

Author's Notes:

Went back, fixed a lot of it and added in some details that were missing the first time around.