Chapter 18: Fight or Flight
"Use a sledgehammer. It’s the only way to be sure you hit your mark."

I silently walked along the tunnel as cold salt water splashed on my chest with each hoof fall. Darkness slowly surrounded us as the sun steadily set across the ocean. The annoying Steel Ranger scribe, Bell Tower, limped along behind me, a gash ran along his side from where a giant crab had tried to slice him in half before my chainsaw ripper tore the appendage off. As for me, I was also injured. My limp wings dragged along the icy water and bandages covered my flank from where I had hit a rock on my way down the cliffside and my foreleg was in a splint.

Nothing had prepared me for fighting on a cliffside against a crab almost three times as tall as I was. And neither was I prepared when the ground gave way while I was trying to stab the crab in the head. Wherever its head was.

“Heeey!” a mare’s voice shouted with an echo from behind us. I turned around and brought a hoof up to block the bright light of the sun from blinding me too much. Through a squinted eye I could make out the distinct silhouette of a fish pony. “Thanks for clearing out the crabs!” the fish pony said before she went to clap her forehooves together, but faceplanted into the muck in a cry of surprise. With an annoyed groan, she pushed herself up and shook her head, quietly muttering, “I hate when that happens.”

I rolled my eyes and limped towards her, Scribe Bell Tower grumbled to himself and followed along behind me again. As I neared the pony I realized that it was the same fish pony that had told me to kill the crabs in the first place, causing me to frown when I realized there was probably a third way to the club and not the way we were going. “Liar,” I hissed with my mind and mouth. “You lied to Us!”

“What?!” her eyes widened. She quickly scrambled back as We started to glare at her. “N-n-no! I didn’t lie to you!”

“Yes, you did! You said that ‘ponies were getting killed by crabs’. There is clearly more than one way out of the club!”

“Land ponies are being killed by the crabs!” she shouted. “Sea ponies can swim through the underwater tunnels…” She gulped and hugged her large fin, but made no move to run. “Please… I was being serious.”

I shut my eyes and sighed deeply, slowly lowering my head to the water at my hooves. As I stood there I wondered about everything, and whether or not the constant fighting would follow me around wherever I went. “I just want Sister back,” I whispered quietly with my mouth. “I want to go home. I don’t want to worry about ponies attacking me where I go. All I want to do is have a family and be myself!” Slowly, I looked up at the fish pony with my ears back. “Do you understand? I just… I want to be normal again.”

"Well that radiation hotspot is out to sea and you should follow me to get there." The fish pony smiled a bit.

I sighed and nodded.

*** ***

My roaring ripper floated next to me as I galloped through the rotted hallway, barreling straight towards a closed door with my head lowered. The Steel Ranger scribe galloped behind me with my old IF-12 and the fish pony, somehow, kept up with my 10mm pistol, Shock, in her mouth. The wooden door ahead of me exploded outwards in a shower of splinters as I slammed my full body weight into it. A quick glance of the dark rectangle room revealed a tattered black couch with ponies hiding behind it.

My momentum kept me going as I galloped towards the terrible shelter and leapt over it, bringing Hyde down on the head of the pony on the left. His eyes were wide as the spinning Hellhound teeth sliced clean through his snout, shearing it off halfway down in a torrent of blood. What was left of his nose fell to the ground at the same time I landed and spun around to face the screaming pony. Hyde was quickly shoved inside his skull, spraying his companion with bits of brain, eye goo and bone.

The living piratical pony scrambled back as Hyde was pulled out of his now clearly dead friend. Scribe What’s His Name aimed the IF-12 down the barrel at the same time the fish pony quickly crawled into the room and aimed the pistol as well. My remaining eye twitched as I stood there and glared at the pirate pony, my teeth grinding together while Hyde dripped fresh gore from the fresh kill.

“Food,” I said to the pony. “I need food.” He gulped at the same time he backed into the rotted wood wall. Mud, blood, and sweat dripped off my forest green body that I once thought was perfection. However, the pirates would taste my only part of my fury, but Eclipse will taste the full brunt of it.

“Wh-what…?” the pony whimpered, his clearly improvised barding was battered, rusted, and in desperate need of repairs. The weapon, if a pony could call it that, was dropped on the ground. It looked like a heavily rusted club that used to be a standard issue battle rifle. A sad, sorry, excuse for a weapon that should never have been acquired by the pony if he wanted to shoot something with it.

“I think what my winged friend means,” Bell Tower said as he slowly stepped around the couch into my vision. “Is that she’s hungry, and you’re her food.” I kept my gaze on my target and ignored the Steel Ranger pony since he kept moving until he was on my left. Movement on my right at the edge of my vision indicated the fish pony had caught up and was aiming the weapon I let her borrow.

“You’re all insane!” the pony shouted, his eyes going even wider as he tried to back further into the wall. Hyde was adjusted in my magic before I gripped the trigger a tiny bit, causing the blade to spin some.

“She might be,” the scribe nodded, “but I am holding her back. Now where’s the diving equipment?”

“D-di-diving equ-equipment…?”

“Don’t lie to Us!” I shouted, grabbing Hyde’s trigger as I swung the weapon around in an arc. His spinning blades barely sliced the pony’s foreleg, leaving a faint line of red at the same time I let go of the trigger. The pony screamed in pain and clutched the area as I shouted, “you lie to Us again and We will. Kill. You!”

He gulped, quickly pointing a hoof at the door on the opposite end of the room. “The boss has them! I didn’t sign up for this… He just said that we were going to take the box and that’s it.”

“Who told you to take it?” I hissed through my mouth.

“I don’t know!”

"Was it Star Paladin Eclipse?!" I shouted.

"I don't know!" He replied, shutting his eyes as I trotted over.

"Liar!" I shouted as I spun the non-spinning blade around and stopped it on his chest. "Do you think I'm a fool? If you were hired for a job you would have been told every detail about wh-"

"Shock!" the stallion to my left shouted, drawing my attention over to Scribe Bell Tower before I could run the pirate through. "That's enough. You scared him shitless."

"Literally," the fish pony replied. I looked over at her, noticing she had moved back and was holding her nose with a hoof while the pistol rested on her fin.

This fact caused me to take a step back from the pirate pony and look at him. His hind leg armor had a new stain on it that I wasn't sure if it was piss or feces, or a combination of both. Slowly, I brought my wing up and covered my nose as I removed Hyde from the pony's chest. His eyes rolled back as he let out a breath and fell to the floor.

I turned my gaze to the door in question and stared at it with my one eye, licking some blood off my lips as it dripped down off my horn.

"Somepony needs to leash her before she does something stupid," I heard the fish pony think, but ignored it because she was right. I needed to be leashed and contained, but I didn't care. That could come at another time.

Slowly, I trotted forward towards the door.

*** ***

I trotted along the dark hall, my gaze scanning left for a bit before I turned my head to scan the right. The moldy carpeted wood beneath my hooves creaked under my weight, but I cared not if that made me think I was fat. I was not fat, no. I was perfect. A perfect specimen created in the image of a Goddess. A Goddess who was gracious enough to grant me the gift despite my frail, old, and addled mind at the time.

She was the one pony who I believed was doing the right thing. Alicorns were the future then, and still are the future of ponies. If only we could make alicorn stallions. Alicorn stallions seemed to be confusion and impossible for the Goddess to make, and yet... a simple plant created one.

A simple. Plant. A plant was smarter than the Great and Powerful Goddess.

It was such a ludicrously simple and stupid idea that we never saw it coming. But whether or not he was truly real remained to be seen. Zakiya was real and Axe mentioned the alicorn stallion, so he must be real. But there was the fact that I could not find him with my telepathy. That lead me to believe he was not real.

As I took a step, my hoof touched something that broke my inner monologue about the lack of dicks among alicorns. Slowly, I blinked and registered my surroundings. So caught up I was in talking to myself, that I did not notice the hallways change to a musty wood smell and not moldy salt water. Around me sat bright, nearly polished, wood for walls, clean wood flooring and painted wood for the ceiling.

"Why'd you stop?" Scribe Bell Tower asked quietly, nearly whispering it.

"My hoof hit something," I whispered to him and the fish pony with my mind. "Don't move."

"There's nothing-"

"There is! It feels like a wire." I slowly looked down at my hoof and saw it. A faint glint of light partially wrapped around my hoof leading to the walls. My magic wrapped the wire in a jade green glow to hold it in place as I took a few steps back.

Gulping down my fear of being turned to alicorn paste, I looked along the wire and saw it was hooked to a three metal apples painted to match the wood. It was a simple, effective, and deadly trap.

After a quick disarm that involved slowly checking everything for redundant traps, I placed the painted frag grenades in my bags and resumed trotting.

Not far down the hallway was a door that was, strangely, unlocked and partially open. With my magic, I levitated out a 'shiny' object from the around the sea pony's neck, which was a waterlogged mirror, and ever so slowly edged it into the open so I could look into the room without being seen.

Slowly, the mirror was panned left and right as I attempted to find anything of importance. All I saw was a dark, dank, room. Off to one side was a bed with two ponies on it; one earth pony partially laying atop the other with their muzzles in kissing range. Instead of doing so, they were talking. Next to the bed was their armor, weapons, and saddlebags.

I gave the mirror to the fish pony and took a deep breath before charging into the room, the door slamming against the wall in a loud bang from the force of my entry. The two ponies jumped in surprise at the sudden intrusion; one of them rolled off the bed, landing behind it with a thud, while the other one, a unicorn, sat up with a glowing horn.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said, slowly bringing Hyde around to aim at the unicorn. She stared at me and I stared at her for a moment before she frowned. Movement drew my attention over to the stallion as he lifted his head from behind the bed with a rifle in his grip, causing the mare to go into my blind spot. Before I could even think of tossing Hyde at the pony, I felt something small and red hot slam into my neck, burning flesh and whatever else as the room was filled with the clap of a gunshot.

A second bullet slammed into my chest before I could blink and turn my head. I collapsed, falling to my knees and rolled onto my side at the same time Hyde hit the floor . A gunshot came from behind me. I watched the mare's eye explode into red goo from the bullet's impact at the same time a fourth shot filled the room from behind the bed.

"Fuck!" Bell Tower shouted as I heard the distinct sound of the IF-12's bolt being run through its motions. I began coughing up blood as my vision slowly grew darker. "Fix Shock!" He yelled, firing a second shot at the pony.

I didn't have time to see if he hit anything with his bad aiming, which I had seen against the crabs, because the fish pony's face filled my one eyed vision. She held up a vial of purple and shoved it in my mouth, clamping my jaws around it. "Drink!" She shouted at me.

I had already wordlessly complied, tilting my head back some as I fought the urge to cough up my own blood. The purple liquid ran down my throat, probably out the hole because she placed her hoof on my neck, and down into my stomach.

I shut my eyes as another shot rang out, causing my ears to press against my skull.

"Just keep drinking," the fish pony said through the ringing in my ears. Slowly, my throat began to itch deep down, informing me that the potion was doing its job of healing my wounds.

"Did they both go through?" Scribe Bell Tower asked. I'm not sure if the fish pony replied, but he said, "you need to take the bullet out of her chest, now!"

My eyes snapped open at that. I saw the fish pony looking up at the scribe. She pulled the empty bottle out of my mouth and held my head in her forehooves. "She could have choked on her own blood if we stopped to take the bullet out."

"Well, there's only one thing to do." Bell Tower said.

I gulped the last of the potion down and said with my mind, "cut it out. We don't want it in Our perfect body."

*** ***

We watched the fish pony float in the tub of murky water, tiny waves lapped at her shimmering scales, while We thought over Our agreement with her. The floor around us was just as rusty and grimy as the rest of the ship and We did not care to close the door. Scribe Bell was busy being a thieving techno hoarder in the other room while the fish pony and Us sat in the bathroom.

A magical bandage was wrapped tightly around Our neck where the bullet had penetrated and around Our chest where We had to cut Ourself open to get the bullet out.

"Well," the fish pony sheepishly laughed. "At least you have telepathy. Right?"

Her remark caused Us to roll Our eyes and look over at Scribe Bell Tower. We watched his backside for a few moments, tilting Our head when We noticed he was muttering something to the slain stallion. We, being curious of course, decided to listen in a bit with our telepathy.

"...guide you to the hereafter, and a better life in the next."

We tilted Our head the other way when he closed the dead stallion's eyes.

"So what do you see?" the fish pony asked quietly, drawing Our attention over to her smirking visage that We wanted to knock off her face. "Did you like the view?"

"Yes," We said with a head bow. "There is no shame in looking at a nice stallion."

"Huh?" Scribe Bell Tower asked in clear confusion inside Our head, causing Us to facehoof when We instantly realized that We were still inside his head. We quickly dropped the spell as Our cheeks heated up in a tiny blush.

Our actions received a laugh from the fish pony as she tossed her head back and flicked her fin, splashing Us with icy and, irradiated water. "You need to cool off," she giggled some.

We set the hoof down and looked at the mare with a frown. "We do not think that to be funny. In fact, we think We should stab you with this," We held Hyde in magic so she could see him and revved his blades a bit.

Her smile slowly faded when she saw the small chainsaw blade. "That's... not funny ."

"And neither are you," We glared at her.

She floated away from the tub edge with her hooves up. "Sweet Celestia, can't you take a joke? I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"Mood?" We tilted Our head. "We lost. Lost. Our beautiful voice! The only thing I wish for, is to get the stupid diving equipment so I can get healed. I am sick of this and want it to stop."

As I put Hyde down, she let out a breath she had been holding and mumbled something I did not care to hear because I knew the response.

'We are not insane and neither do We need a leash,' a voice said in the back of my mind. 'They are the crazy ones. They don't know what it's like to be in Our position. They would have died long ago if they were'.

"Soaked enough to travel?" Bell Tower asked, receiving a nod from the fish pony. "Alright, let's get moving."

Slowly, with a frown and a fiery glare, I looked over at the stallion. "Who put you in charge?"

"Group vote."

"What?" I tilted my head.

"Fin and I voted, and came to the conclusion that I should lead. I am paying you after all."

"That's absurd!" I shouted with my mind as I stomped my hoof down, receiving a hollow thud from the metal. "You're paying me to show you the island. I should lead!"

"Nope," Bell Tower shut his eyes and shook his head. "I let you lead and look what happened, you got shot in the neck and we're here. Wherever that is."

I opened and closed my mouth for a couple seconds in an attempt to come up with a reply. Failing at doing so, I stomped both my forehooves down and let out a silent scream of rage.

*** ***

Bell Tower, Blue Fin, and I walked along the wreck's corridor. The aforementioned fish pony dripped irradiated water and left a trail while I lead us onward at Bell Tower's directions, much to my annoyance.

Every so often I would quickly check my right to make sure there were no gun toting ponies trying to hide in my clear blind spot. I might as well be totally blind at the rate I was being injured.

My mind slowly worked its way back in time as I walked along. I wondered what Scribe Bell Tower was talking about and made a mental note to ask him about it when we left the derelict. But what I did gather from his actions, was that the Steel Ranger Scribe did not like to shoot ponies.

Eventually, my mind snapped back to reality when I noticed a door up ahead. It was a simple wooden door that seemed... out of place. Almost as if a pony had taken paint and applied it to the door not less than an hour ago. The walls around the door were heavily rusted and a few insults were done in blood or feces, causing me to frown.

As I reached the door, I pressed my ear against it and listened. Fin and Bell Tower waited next to me for an answer. I tried my hardest to find any noise, but I heard nothing. So, with a deep breath, I lowered my head and tried to peer through the lock, but found it impossible as it was blocked halfway through.

"Well?" Fin whispered.

"I can't see shit," I said in her mind. But before I could say anything else, she reached up and tried the door handle. It clicked noisily, swinging inward to reveal something I was not expecting.

"You!" A deep blue alicorn shouted in a familiar voice as her eyes went wide. Both her non-flowing twin pig tailed mane and her braided tail were tied with pink bows on the end. A simple faded ball cap sat on her head and a simple grimy shirt adorned her chest. She stood on plush carpet near an ancient wooden desk. Off to the other side of the room was an open locker where clothes spilled out from. Sitting on the alicorn's back was a familiar pump action shotgun that I remembered Blue carried. On the desk was a box with masks and tanks sticking out of it. It seemed that we had found the leader of the pirates and he was not a he, but a she.

I quickly grabbed Fin in a hug and pulled Bell tower close with my wing before throwing up my shield. "Shock, you idiot!" Bell Tower hissed. "Now we can't-"

"SILENCE!" I boomed inside his head, causing the unicorn to wince and immediately shut up. Fin pulled the trigger of the pistol I had given her, causing my shield to ripple as the 10mm bullet slammed into it and did nothing but fall to the ground.

"Uhh.... Yeah, this is a dumb idea," Fin mumbled around the pistol.

The blue alicorn had made no move for her shotgun until Fin had fired the pistol. Her shotgun was now floating near her head as she slowly strutted over to a locker with a smirk. "So Shell Shock, have you told your companions about your..." she noisily racked the pump back and forth, causing me to gulp. "Diet?"

I looked down at the fish pony and unicorn, sheepishly smiling as Bell Tower asked, "what's she mean?"

"Shock eats ponies," the blue alicorn said nonchalantly. "Butchers them worse than any raider could and cooks their flesh in front of them."

"You were serious?!" Bell Tower's eyes widened in shock as he backed as far away from me as he could, Fin likewise backed away. "I thought you were just acting to scare that pony."

"I... I can explain," I whimpered a bit. "You see. I... I... I, um... I have a slight... problem?"

"Yes..." the blue alicorn said, pumping the shotgun a few more times and drawing my attention to her as the red shells jumped onto the floor one after the other. I saw she had orange shells floating in her magical grip and began to load them one by one. "Why don't you explain to all of us how you butchered one of your own alicorn sisters. How you skinned her starting with her flanks and then cut her horn, wings, and legs off one by one. All while she was conscious."

As quick as I could, I dropped the shield and shoved Bell Tower away before leaping over Blue Fin. The blue alicorn looked over as I landed and quickly went invisible, Hyde clattering uselessly to the ground. My mind raced and my heartbeat thundered in my mind as I looked around in an attempt to find where to go. It seemed, to me, as if everything was moving slowly; Bell tower was busy recovering from the stumble, while Fin was staring in confusion, and the other alicorn was loading the last shell into her shotgun's chamber.

I quickly and silently darted over to the table with the scuba gear on it and dove underneath it. "Oh come now," the alicorn called out while looking around. "You think I won't find you? Only so many places you can hide."

"Hey!" Fin shouted. "I want my scuba gear back!" She received a frown from the alicorn as the blue brought her shotgun to bear on Fin. "Heh," Fin half-laughed. "Maybe I was mistaken? Underwater gear looks alike you know."

The blue alicorn put a hoof to her lips in a silencing gesture. "Shush. Shock is still here and-"

"She's not going to come out with that shotgun floating about," Bell Tower said. "So just put it away."

Something occurred to me that caused me to tilt my head. All the ponies I had talked to in the derelict ship had called their boss 'him'. And if the alicorn, who was in the fanciest room with the gear, was the boss. Then she had a big problem.

I tried to call out to her, but frowned when I didn't have a voice. Fin had said it could take a couple months to get it back and I did not have that kind of time, so I desperately needed the radiation the fish pony knew of.

"Shut up, Scribe," the blue alicorn said. "I can't hear her hoof steps." She slowly walked around the room with the shotgun floating as she said, "Sheeeell Shock. Come out, come out, wherever you are. I just wanna talk."

I knew she would shoot me as soon as she could and probably even shoot the others I was with. I couldn't leave because she was a blue and might be able to see me moving even with invisibility up. They had much better skills than I ever could hope to achieve and I did not want to fight an alicorn.

So. I took a deep breath, stepped out from under the table and dropped the spell. The air around me shimmered as the alicorn spun around and aimed the shotgun at me, causing my ears to fold back. "That's a good dog," she smirked.

"Wait! I can help you," I told her just in her mind.

"By killing all my lackeys?!" she hissed with her mouth.

"They shot at us first," Fin added, receiving a glare from both the blue and I. She eeped and his behind a silent Bell Tower.

When we were sure she wasn't going to interrupt, the blue and I looked at each other again. "Well?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "The fish pony is right. They did shoot at us first, but. I know about your,.. lack of, um? how do I put this?" I looked up at the ceiling in thought for a moment before smiling. "About you being turned into a mare against your will."

"No shit?" the blue asked sarcastically. "I bet you have amazing detective skills. Why haven't I shot you yet, detective Shell Shock?"

"Because deep down you wonder if I can actually help."

"Are you reading my thoughts?"

"No," I shook my head . "I try not to invade an alicorn's privacy. But remember in the jungle when we first met," I slowly lowered my head until we were looking eye to eye again and noticed that the shotgun was a little lower. "Remember when I talked to you with telepathy? I heard a stallion's voice, not a mare's. And-"

"There's no fix!"

I frowned and quickly touched horns with the blue alicorn, and the world around us began to swirl into a black abyss. The alicorn let out a very mare like scream of anger as the both of us landed on soft fluffy pillows in the black abyss.

I quickly sat up and held my hooves out before she could recover. "Wait!" I shouted. She sat up, tossing a pillow at me with a frown. It struck me square in the face with an oomph, making me stagger back a bit as I pulled it off and tossed it to the side with magic. "There is a-"

Another pillow slapped me in the face, cutting my sentence off again. I screamed in annoyance and made the pillows disappear. The blue's ears drooped when her next shot vanished before it hit me. "Damnit. I want out of this fucked up head world!"

"Hear me out," I said, slowly sitting down on nothing. "Then I'll let you go and you can do whatever you want to me."

"Like I have a choice." The blue grumbled, folding her hooves across her chest.

I waited a few seconds to see if she would interrupt and when she didn't, I took a deep breath. After I slowly let it out I said, "recently there was this orange alicorn stallion I met on this very island chain."

That drew her full attention. Her ears swiveled forward and perked up as her forelegs relaxed. "You lie."

"I would never lie to a sister. This orange alicorn told me how he used to be a pegasus, but had fallen into Killing Joke and was turned into a stallion."

"How does that work?" her eyebrow raised up in confusion as she tilted her head some.

I shrugged. "I think the joke was that he was going to be hunted down by everypony on this island chain for being an alicorn."

"Gee, I wonder why," she replied dryly, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Anyway. This pegasus to alicorn pony proves that an alicorn stallion can exist. A stupid plant is smarter than The Goddess. All we have to do is see if we can make it specifically turn an alicorn into a stallion."

The blue alicorn slowly scratched her chin in thought for a few long moments. I could see her brows knit together and the frown as it slowly formed on her face. "I really would like to be normal again. But the question is..." she slowly looked up into my eyes as the frown turned into a smirk. "Why do I need you?"

"Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"You just told me what plant was needed to fix me. I can just kill you now and be done with it."

"Um... I... I, uh..." My ears drooped as I frowned when I realized the truth. "You are right... You don't need me to find the location of the plant and a pony that can mix up a potion."

"Shit," she frowned. "I just realized I don't know any potion makers."

Her response caused me to clap my hooves together with a grin. "So you can't kill me yet!"

"It seems not..."

*** ***

"Shock!" Captain Dead Hoof, the blue alicorn formerly known as Blue, shouted as she looked around the room for me. A knife floated in his/her grip and I wasn't quite sure what to call her. She wanted to be called him and refused to be called sister, but my mind was conflicted.

I sat on the dresser of her room, invisible to the naked eye. The room was exactly the same as it was almost an hour ago, save for 'Captain' Dead Hoof's attire. She wore a skin tight wetsuit as the fish pony Blue Fin called them.

I found myself looking at Dead Hoof in the way I looked at Sister, as a good friend I could count on, but perhaps there was more to it. He/she was a captain without a ship and a pony lost in a strange body, one that she opted to reject as flawed. And rightly so. I would be pissed too if somepony swapped my gender without telling me it would happen.

"Where are you?" Dead Hoof shouted again, breaking my thought trance.

"Please," I said into her mind. "I don't want to be hurt anymore."

Then facehoofed as the air around me shimmered when the invisibility spell dropped. Dead Hoof quickly looked over, a smirk slowly forming on her face as I jumped to my hooves and began galloping away. "There you are."

I glanced over just as the blue alicorn slammed into me, sending us careening into the bed. Under our combined weight and with our momentum, the bed frame shattered, sending us sprawling on the mattress and stunned the both of us from the sudden shift of direction change. Quickly recovering from the stun, I rolled over, but the blue's hooves pressed down on my chest and pinned me down.

"Hold still!" Dead Hoof hissed at me as she brought the knife closer to my face. My eyes widened at the sight of it heading for my blurry side.

I quickly gave it a useless telekinetic slap, grabbed the blue's sides with my hind legs and, with some luck due to the distraction, flipped positions to where I was atop Dead Hoof. "Hah!" I smirked, she glared at me and shoved against my chest.

I let go and spun around to gallop off, but her fat weight tackled me to the ground in a small dust cloud. Her forelegs wrapped around my neck and I could feel her frantic heart beat into my back. "Shock! That eye has to come out if you want to heal properly!" Dead Hoof shouted in my ear.

"You know," I said only into her mind. "If you were a stallion, I'd like this position."

"Then you'd like a toy of mine that we can play with later,” she whispered sensually in my ear, causing my whole face to heat up in a deep blush. My reaction received a laugh from her.

"That's not the same thing!" I hissed back when I recovered from the unexpected reply.

We laid there for a couple of seconds while I glanced at Blue Fin and Bell Tower. They were quietly watching and eating from a box of apple chips. It made me angry, but then I realized that they really couldn't help in the situation. So why not have dinner and a show? I know I would have done the same thing.

"Roll onto your back," Dead Hoof said as she let go of my neck and stood up, giving my flank a light slap where the cutie mark should be.

I blushed even more, quickly burying my face in my forehooves so Bell Tower and Blue Fin didn't see it. "Why must you torment me?” I whispered in Dead Hoof’s mind. “I don't want my eye removed. It will heal on its own with radiation."

"You'll grow a new one," Dead Hoof replied. "It'll be quicker and safer."

"Safer...?" I asked, opening my eyes only to see my very dirty coat. "How is a knife near my brain safer?!"

"Because you won't be underwater as long. You don't want to drown, do you?"

I laid there, staring at my hoof and thinking. She was right. If it was removed, it could potentially grow back much faster than if I simply healed it. But I did have an attachment to the eye and did not trust her with a knife anywhere near any vital spots.

Slowly, I took a deep breath and looked at the slender blue alicorn in the skin tight wetsuit. Her mane did not flow and was still tied in a pair of pigtails with the pink bows on the end. I wanted to mock her choice of mane style if she considered herself a stallion, but chose to keep my mouth shut. She nodded at me, causing my ears to fold back.

As I laid there staring at her, I wondered what Dead Hoof would look like as an alicorn stallion. The alicorn mare form was the perfect example of pony evolution, even I could not deny that they were appealing to the eye, so an alicorn stallion had to be just as perfect.

The thought caused me to smile. Which in turn caused Dead Hoof to smile for all the wrong reasons because he/she brandished the knife towards me. "Get on your back and this'll be over quick."

My smile instantly faded to a frown and I ended up seeing Sister standing there trying to tell me that We should not talk to the impure ponies because we were trying to stay alive.

I slowly looked over at Bell Tower and Blue Fin, asking myself and Dead Hoof, "did We kill Sister with Our actions...? I... We... We only... wanted to help ponies...

"Shock, snap out of it!" Dead Hoof shouted, drawing my attention over to her. "Get your head together and focus on the now, not the fuck-ups of the past."

"Then you know about her death..." My ears slowly folded back as I lowered my head to stare at my forest green blank flank. "Eclipse killed her, beat her to death in front of me."

"I know," Dead Hoof said quietly. "Word travels fast on the islands. I'm sorry she's dead, but you have to focus on something else or you're going to be a wreck for the rest of your life."

"I am," I said with a nod, slowly bringing my gaze to meet Dead Hoof's. "I'm going to do worse to Eclipse. She's going to regret killing our sisters and wearing their bones."

"Then you'll need to be in top shape," he replied as he brought the knife into my view. "You'll need both eyes."

*** ***

I glanced up at the 'sky' from behind a face mask hooked up to air tanks on my back. The surface of the ocean moved about in a strange manner as warm sunlight bored its way down to us, partially illuminating the wreck while my horn did the rest. Oddly, or not so depending on how you looked at it, the shipwreck Blue Fin knew about was only forty feet underwater in a lagoon. It was even possible to see the wreck from the nearby rocky cliffs in the day.

As I sat there, Dead Hoof swam by my vision, drawing my attention to her. The blue alicorn gracefully swam around, chasing Blue Fin, while I was merely sitting on the hull of the wreck and soaking in as much radiation as I could. I felt my feathers ich terribly as they grew back and I even felt my eye growing back. That orb which Dead Hoof so forcibly removed in the attempt to show me that alicorns could indeed heal almost any wound. She was a fool to think I did not know that knowledge. I knew better than her how alicorns worked.

She knew nothing about us beyond the fact that 'he' was now a she against his will. It was by The Goddess's will that he join our perfect sisterhood. It was true that all alicorns were female in her image, a minor setback and one that was soon to be rectified I hoped. I only wished that Sister were alive to see it. She... might have liked to have seen it.

The thought of Sister caused me to look down at the steadily rusting ship beneath me as bubbles escaped my mask when I let out a deep sigh. My wetsuit did not do a good job of keeping the frigid ocean water at bay, but I did not care. I would freeze to death if it meant fixing the mistake I made. The mistake that caused the death of a pony, whom I cherished and loved as a sister more than the other alicorns. There had to be a way to bring her back. I would do anything to bring her back, to make sure she were alive still.

I'd give up everything to hold her one more time, to hear her laugh and to see her smile.

"There has to be a way!" I shouted as loud as I could. My hoof slammed against the rusty metal beneath me, causing a loud boom to echo for some time in the water, as I grit my teeth and stared at the dirt cloud that flew up at me. Slowly, my breathing calmed down to normal, but... I did not feel sad for the loss of Sister anymore. No, I felt angry at myself for causing it and annoyed that I could do nothing about it, except keep my last promise.

"Something wrong?" I heard Dead Hoof's voice inside my head, having kept a faint link with her, Blue Fin, and Bell Tower, so we would know when it was time to go and so Bell Tower knew we were okay.

"I'm... fine," I replied and looked back towards the bow of the ship.

"Suddenly shouting 'there has to be a way' inside my head means something is bothering you," Dead Hoof continued to poke at my brain. She could poke me all she wanted, but she would get no farther.

Instead of answering her, I dropped her connection and smiled a bit when I felt her frustration. However, Blue Fin swam into my view and folded her forelegs across her chest. I rolled my eyes, well one eye because my right was still covered, and looked out at the endless sea. Only to have the fish pony dart into my vision again.

"You're being childish," Blue Fin said in my head.. I merely shrugged and pointed to my ear, tilting my head as if to say I couldn't hear her. "Liar!" She shouted. "You yelled at me about lying, and here you are lying."

"What would you have me do?!" I shouted back at her mind. "She doesn't understand my pain. You don't understand my pain. You don't. Get it."

"Make us understand then," she replied.

Make them understand... Make them understand my pain? If only it were so easy and simple as to tell them. To tell a simple wasteland pony the complexities of love is physically impossible. It's like trying to explain hygiene to a raider that hasn't ever taken a bath. They just don't get it.

Wastelanders just. Don't. Get it.

*** ***

Dead Hoof sat far from me on the beach while holding up a very familiar brown leather bound book in her magic. Her wet mane had been tied back again and she wore all her gear. Which consisted of a jacket, like the one I was wearing but a little shorter and no sleeves, her hat, shotgun, and saddlebags with some makeshift armor.

A rock was floating in my magical grip as I attempted to judge the distance with both of my eyes. "How far?" Dead Hoof shouted.

I frowned a little and knitted my brows in thought, which took only a split second to decide. "Thirty paces," I shouted with my mouth, glad to have my voice box back, and tossed the rock with my magic.

Dead Hoof's gaze tracked it skyward and the both of us watched as the rock landed with a soft thump a foot away from her, causing me to frown and pick up another rock. I tossed it with my magic, we watched it again as it sailed over her head and landed ten feet behind her.

Bell Tower and Blue Fin were sitting nearby playing cards on a rocky outcropping. I wondered why the fish pony was sticking around, but didn't bother asking. Instead I picked up another rock with my magic and tossed it. Dead Hoof watched as it sailed left and landed twenty feet to her side. She facehoofed and shouted, "how could you have been in charge of a missile launcher?!"

With a roll of my eyes I picked up another rock and telekinetically tossed it as hard as it could. I watched as it sailed through the air, and struck Dead Hoof's foreleg dead on. She jumped back, grabbing hold of the foreleg as she screamed in pain, "aah, fuck! What was that for?!" Her shout drew confused looks from the two card playing ponies.

"I hit my target," I shouted. "You wanted me to hit you with a rock, but did not specify if it was first try or fourth."

Her cradled foreleg trembled in pain, causing me to frown and start trotting across the sand over to her. "I told you to hit the book! Not me. The book, the book, the book!"

When I reached her, I gently took the foreleg in magic and looked it over, frowning at the large welt on her perfect blue leg. "I'm sorry, but We did not think clearly."

"Obviously," she muttered under her breath, but I heard it in my head. "Can I ask you something?" I knew the foreleg would heal soon with how much radiation the two of us soaked up, so I did not think either of us were worried about permanent damage.

"Hm?" I tilted my head as I slowly looked from her leg to her eyes. "You can ask me anything."

She looked over at Blue Fin and Bell Tower before looking at me and whispering, "why do you hang out with that Steel Ranger?"

I slowly looked over at the scribe and sighed deeply. "I do not know." My voice was quiet and sweet like, well, like candy apples. "He offered to pay me bits if I showed him the island and it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Do you still have the bits?" Dead Hoof asked. I nodded slowly. "All of them?” Another nod from me caused her to smile. “May I have them?"

I watched Bell Tower and Blue Fin play cards for a few more moments. They seemed like any other boring non-alicorn pony, if one such boring pony was half fish. They seemed to ignore us and seemed like Blue Fin would giggle once in a while. No doubt because Bell Tower made a terrible joke.

With a deep sigh of frustration, I slowly levitated my bag of bits out and floated them to Dead hoof. She took them in her own magic and limped towards the duo. "Give me a minute," she said quietly before leaving normal hearing range.

I knew what she planned, so I looked off at the water and shut my eyes. The cool salty sea air blew in off the wave tops as they crashed down on the beach, drowning out any conversation Dead Hoof was having with Bell Tower. I, of course, ignored them and chose to bask in the warm sunlight, slowly laying down on my side as I spread my fully healed wing out to let it catch the breeze. My mind began turning over every possibility ranging from Bell tower refusing and Dead Hoof having to shoot him, all the way to the simple idea that he took the bits and trotted off.

After an eternity of waiting, a light touch on my flank caused me to open my eyes and look over at Dead Hoof. She pulled her hoof away from my body and smiled. "We're alone."

"And?" I tilted my head some, my ear twitching about as I raised my eyebrow in confusion. "You even got the fish pony to leave?"

Dead Hoof bowed her head a bit. "She only wanted her equipment and she got it. Now that we are alone..." she smirked, causing my ears to slowly fold back when I remembered her comment about a certain toy and the two of us. "There is something I want you to know. Rules as it were."

"Rules?" I tilted my head, receiving a nod from her. "What rules?"

"Simple ones really; rule one, you won't butcher ponies-" I opened my mouth to retort, but she held up her hoof, causing me to close my mouth. "Ah-ah. Let me finish before you interrupt. Rule one, you won't butcher ponies for the sake of 'food'. Rule two, you will listen to my every word as if it were the law. Rule three, I will say who you can and cannot shoot. Instead of shooting ponies, you will devote your time to helping ponies in need. Rule four, you will not carry any blades or weapons of any kind in a town and give them to me before we head in. Any questions?"

"May I kill Eclipse and skin her?" I asked as I tilted my head the other way. "I swore to Sister that Eclipse was going to die."

Dead Hoof stood there looking at me, a frown slowly forming on her face. I bit my lower lip and waited for her response. Her brows knitted together as her face scrunched up, clearly in deep, deep thought about my question. She looked out over the ocean and sighed before looking at me, spreading her wings out. "Okay. Eclipse can die."

*** ***

Wind whipped at my face, blowing my short mane back as I skimmed a few feet above the choppy ocean's surface. Every so often, the waves would smash together and throw cold salty spray on my face, but I didn't care. I was flying again and could see with both of my eyes. I was happy, almost too happy and cared little about the struggle of Bell Tower or that one Steel Ranger Elder whose name I had forgotten.

All I cared about. Was flying.

My forehooves slapped at a wave as I swooped down, causing me to giggle in glee as I pulled up, rolled over above Dead Hoof, and swooped down underneath her in a very lazy barrel roll. She glanced over at me and tried to frown, but I could see the faintest of smiles form on her lips. Dead Hoof tucked her wing in, banking away from me before leveling out and flying off. I pulled up and flew higher than her before leveling off to chase down the wayward alicorn.

She glanced back as she darted left. I rolled into a bank and followed her with a powerful flap of my wings. Dead Hoof dropped low to the water's surface, her forehooves skimming wave top after wave top as she tried to outrun me. I smiled, angling downward in a dive to pick up speed.

Her cutie mark covered blue flank steadily approached at a rapid rate. But before I could tap it, she banked to the right and flew off with a few more flaps of her wings. With a fake groan of annoyance, I followed along behind her and tried closing the gap again.

She looked back at me, smirked, and pulled up, propelling herself skyward like a rocket. I followed along a bit slower to see what her plan was. Dead Hoof flew up, and up, and up, almost to the cloud layer before she collapsed her wings against her side, causing me to tilt my head.

"Catch me!" She shouted as her inertia caused her to hover in the air for a split second before falling towards me. I tilted my head the other way and held my hooves out as she came closer. Dead Hoof's weight slammed into my forelegs, I was yanked downward, but pulled her close and held her tight, noticing a grin was on her face and her eyes were shut.

"We do not see what is so amusing," We told her quietly.

Dead Hoof opened her eyes and grinned at me. "Now I know I can trust you to not eat me when I sleep."

"Huh?" I tilted my head and blinked in confusion as I began hovering the two of us down towards the water. "You could always have trusted me to not harm you."

"Forgive me for wanting to make sure myself after that hellhole of a dream." she replied. I stared at her blue face that reminded me of Sister so much, that it caused me to see Mudpie in Dead Hoof. "Shock," she said as we stopped above the water. "Tell me something."

"Hm?" I tilted my head. "What do you want to know?"

Dead Hoof hovered up and slightly away, frowning a bit. "Your... eating habits. How did they come around?"

I looked off and away at the ocean, my mind slowly working over the question. Do I want to tell her? She is an alicorn... And probably shared my memories at one time due to Unity. So why then is she trying to get me to talk about it?

With a frown, I started hovering in the original direction we had been flying. "I'm not sure if I should tell you. It's a dark past I want to forget. Do you want to know something?"

"What?" Dead Hoof asked, hovering after me and just to my side.

I glanced over at her and waved my hoof at the sky as I said, "imagine an Equestria that has lush grass, living trees, and life everywhere, not this constant grey and death."

"I heard the stories from the ghouls, but have never seen it first hoof and would have never believed such a thing were possible until I came to the islands."

I hovered a little faster over the waves and nodded a little. "I was there, back before everything died. It was an amazing place full of happy ponies. I was a foal, I think." My brows knitted together in thought.

"You think?" Dead Hoof giggled at me and hovered in front of me, spinning around so she'd fly backwards. "Shock, everypony ever born was a foal at one time."

I looked away and frowned. "I don't remember the first near twenty years of my life. It's all muddled and blank."

"Sounds like something bad must have happened."

I nodded a little. The wave reflecting light beneath us did little to quell my brain's thoughts centering on the blank spot in my mind. I wondered what was so bad that I completely blocked it out, but any prolonged dwelling caused a near literal fiery dagger to stab at my head. Causing me to hold my forehead with a hoof and frown. A quick shake of my head fixed my pain when I banished the thoughts of thinking about my past to the dark recess of my mind.

"How much longer to the island?" I asked quietly, as if talking too loudly would bring them back.

"About an hour, but we should rest once we find a safe place to land."

"An hour? I bet we can be there faster." I flew around the blue and flapped my wings, propelling me faster and faster.

"Shock!" Dead Hoof called out. "Remember to fly low!"

*** ***

My hooves slammed into the grass covered dirt as the force of the landing caused my legs to buckle. I collapsed, rolled off the momentum, and stood up, flaring out my glorious wings with a pop as I looked back up at Dead Hoof with a smirk. "An hour? Hah!"

The blue alicorn slowly fluttered down and folded her wings, looking around the island. It was a mostly flat island covered in a forest with the Hoofington quite visible from our approach. Luckily we had the failing sunlight at our backs to blind the Tin Cans to our presence. It seemed as if we had Lady Luck on our side for once.

I slowly turned around to face Dead Hoof and folded my glorious wings. "What now?"

"We find shelter and plan our attack on that ship," she replied as she began trotting into the forest. I pulled Hyde out and began trotting after her.

As I trotted around Dead Hoof, I glanced left before looking right with my eyes, smiling when I had no dead zone except for the back of my head. But, all I saw were trees and trees, and more trees along with water behind us. The forest was not quite the same as the jungles of Oakwood, which is understandable, but it was very similar to the swamplands back in Equestria. Which was fucking odd.

“How come we could not gather the Enclave?” I asked, placing Hyde’s handle in my mouth so that my magic’s glow did not give away my position against the foliage.

“Because,” Dead Hoof replied and said nothing else. Her reply caused me to frown as the two of us began to walk along a small path between the trees. My gaze scanned the forest ahead for any signs of the Tin Can Steel Rangers, but I found nothing.

However, that fact caused me to stop and slowly hold my wing out. “Wait,” I said in her mind, “this is a very bad idea.”

“You just now realized that?” Dead Hoof deadpanned.

I quickly shook my head before looking back at Dead Hoof. Her blue coat was a bit sweat matted from the flight and the failing light made her look nearly black. “No,” I said quietly. “I knew going to their base might be a bad idea, but… their suits have the same targeting that Pipbucks do if my memory is right.”

Dead Hoof’s ears folded back as a slight look of worry crossed her face. “So they can track us?” I nodded. “Greaaaaat. Another awesome idea!”

“But they cannot track us if they cannot see us,” I said with a grin. Then hovered my Hellhound bladed sword back into its sheath before going invisible.

"You do realize we can't sleep while invisible, right?" Dead Hoof asked. "And it takes a lot of magic to keep running?"

"We can share the load if you allow it."

“No.” Dead Hoof said and went invisible.

Then the two of us walked silently and unseen for some time. I followed along the small path as it wended its way through the forest and curved around trees. I did not push the blue alicorn about sharing the abilities and did not expect her to want to be connected to me for some reason, but. If that was her wish, then that was her wish.

I frowned as the darkness slowly overtook the land and the creatures of the night began to awake as birds chirped good night to their mates. The path ahead was heavily covered by grass, bushes and a thick grouping of trees, causing me to slow my trot some.

"Why are you slowing down?" Dead Hoof whispered. How the blue tracked me through the invisibility was not really a mystery to me, because my stealth was not as good as hers and she could easily see my outline up close.

"Something feels wrong," I replied as I slowed down even more and stopped as a faint misty fog began to form in the area. "The path feels traveled, but is too overgrown." I sniffed the air and smelled a strange familiar smell.

"What?" she asked, a hint of annoyance underlining her voice caused me to frown.

"Someth-" My gaze glanced left towards dark trees as my ears picked up faint whispers on the breeze coming in off the ocean. I stood there, looking around with both my eyes while trying to spot any non-tree object, but I saw nothing. "Voices..."

"Shock, nothing is there," Dead Hoof said as she nudged my flank forward, but I held my ground.

I heard them. The whispers in Equestrian and Zebra. The whispers saying they were ready. The cannons echoing in the distance as artillery launched its barrage of deadly rain. Suddenly, as I glanced right, the trees erupted with a scattering of multiple points of light and the rapid pops of hidden weapons shattered the silence.

"Ambush!" I shouted as I dove for something, anything, to use for cover. My body slammed into the dirt and slid behind a large tree as I telekinetically undid my bags and opened them up, digging through the left one where I had placed the pistols.

"Shock!" Dead Hoof shouted, but I ignored her.

Instead of replying, I only glanced in her direction to make sure the blue still stood. She was standing there unstealthed with a look of terror on her face. "Get down you moron," I hissed. She ignored my reply and stayed standing. I finally pulled out the pistol, slid a magazine in and dropped the safety before glancing around the tree.

Nothing was there.

All my eyes saw was trees, mist, and fireflies. The hot misty forest was silent save for my heart as it tried to escape my chest with every beat. Using my hoof, I slowly wiped the sweat off my face and kept staring out at the Forest to find any equine shapes in the distance. But a touch on my side caused me to whip my head around to look at the worried face of Dead Hoof. Her ears were back, but her horn was alight as her shotgun floated at the ready in case something shot at us.

"I think we're safe. Just don't fire that," she said quietly, causing my ears to droop. I glanced at the floating pistol and frowned when I saw it was Sister, the broken one.

I opened and closed my mouth to form a reply, the name scratched into the side was quite obvious and I had no idea how I didn’t see it. Slowly, I looked up at Dead hoof with my ears back as the pistol floated closer. "I see them, all their faces. I hear their voices. They're there when I shut my eyes and they haunt my dreams. I can't get rid of them." She bit her lower lip when I placed the barrel of Sister against the side of my head. "This would be the only way to get rid of them," I sighed deeply and let my magic fade, causing the pistol to drop to the ground. "But I know that option would be worse because that would leave my promises unfulfilled. There's no glory in death or living for me. I'm a wounded pony and am cursed to carry the burden of what I've done. Only the Goddess will tell me when I can finally rest in peace and quiet."

I didn't realize when, but Dead Hoof had placed my bags back onto my back and tightened the straps. It wasn't until I finished talking that I noticed. I looked down at the jacket that used to belong to Sister and frowned, slowly running my hoof along the sleeve with the built-in magazine holder. "I have to survive for her," I said quietly with my mouth. "I made her a promise that I would live until I died of old age. I swore that I'd come back alive."

The broken pistol was set into my forehooves by magic as Dead Hoof said, "then you keep your promise and come with me. Forget this stupid task of killing Eclipse and come with me to the mainland. There are others who can help you, I’m sure of it. We can work to keep these visions from popping up."

I shut my eyes as I hugged the pistol and sniffled. "I can't leave the island yet. I keep my promises and Eclipse will die."

"She will die from old-"

"SHE DIES BY MY HOOF!" I screamed at Dead Hoof in the Royal Canterlot Voice, causing her to take a couple steps back with wide eyes. I covered my mouth as my eyes slowly widened in shock, the pistol fell to the dirt for a second time. "Sorry..." I whispered. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad." I clutched my ears with my hooves and slowly lowered my head. "I'm a wreck of a pony and you shouldn't have to put up with Us. Just go. We can do this Ourself."

"No," she said flatly, but We did not look up at her. We stared down at the pistol as it glinted pale moonlight into Our eyes and reminded Us of the way Sister’s eyes looked at night. "I can't let you be by yourself. You're living in whatever horrible past you had and you need help before you hurt innocent ponies. I'm going to give you that help, so you're stuck with me until we die." A distinct metallic click-clack of a shotgun's pump being run through its motions caused my ears to twitch up as I slowly lowered my hooves, and looked up at the blue alicorn. The shotgun floated under her head, pointed off to the side. "So let's kick some flank and be done with it."

Slowly, I smiled at Dead Hoof and held my hoof out to her.

----------------

Shell Shock: 75% to next level.

Dead Hoof: Level Up!

New Perk - Shotgun Surgeon. Your affinity with shotguns allows your shots 15% more accuracy when wielding any shotgun based weapon and a 5% chance to knock the target back with the right ammo.