Chapter 4: Sugar & Spice
"How do you shoot an alicorn in the back? What if you miss?"

As I set my IF-12 down I looked up at the cloudy sky. After a few moments, green snow slowly fell into my outstretched cyber hoof and I stared at it strangely as I held it close to an eye. Snow wasn’t unusual in the area at that time of year, but... green snow? At the time I had no idea what could have caused it.

“Why is the snow green?” I asked to no pony in particular and waved it off. Then wiped the metal hoof on my uniform.

Ahead of our defensive trench laid a zebra legion that was trying to take the hill, because it overlooked the other nearby hills. Providing them with a very good location to fire artillery from. Below was a large forest. Behind and above us were six dug in tank destroyers as our makeshift artillery. Open topped, lightly armored, but they packed 90mm cannons. Except everything had stopped as soon as the green snow started falling. It was so strange of an event that even the zebras had stopped to look up.

“Look, calm the fuck down and just tell me what happened!” A pony nearly shouted into the radio.

There was lots of static as a pony replied. “...There’s a shield around Canterlot. Cloudsdale, Manehatten, and Fillydelphia were obliterated by a megaspell. The pegasi are closing up the sky and are recalling all of their forces!”

“What about us?” The radio pony asked calmly, but you could hear his voice tremble slightly.

“...Get to a stable if you can... If not, then may Celestia and Luna watch over you.” The radio turned to pure static as our whole squad turned to look at the radio pony. He stared at the radio in shock with wide eyes.

“They... abandoned us just like that...?” I whispered to myself.

I took a look over the sandbags lining the defensive trench and saw that the zebra’s looked equally confused at the green snow. Then, out of almost nowhere, somepony took a shot at me. It struck the dirt just ahead of the sandbags and partly obscured my vision. So I did the only thing I could think of. I scooped my IF-12 up in magic, aimed down the barrel, and shot the first zebra I saw in the head. He went down like a doll, the others quickly retreated back into cover and the shooting resumed.

After ducking down behind the sandbags, I looked at the highest ranking pony I saw and shouted. “The fuck do we do, Lieutenant?”

He was a power armored Steel Ranger Paladin from what I remembered. “We're at least a thousand miles from the nearest stable,” he said from behind his mask with a slight echo. “So we hold this hill as ordered.”

“But ya heard the radio and look at this shit falling!“ Another pony piped in as the medic started to pass out RadSafe, RadAway and gas masks. ”Do we really have to stay-”

“We have no other choice!” Another pony shouted at him. ”There’s a zebra legion in front of us. Which need I remind you is the bottom of the hill? We have no air support either thanks to the chickens pulling out.”

“But we’ve got artillery.” I smiled as I nodded my horn towards the vehicles parked above us.

“Shouldn’t we make a truce with the zebras? ‘Cause... ya know?” Another pony asked at the same time she pointed up.

I shook my head.

Newbies didn’t get it. The zebras hated us and never listened to reason. They were fanatical in their wanting to fight to the last.

The Lieutenant slapped my shoulder with a metallic hoof, drawing my attention to him. “You’ve got the loudest voice here, ask em.”

I nodded as I set the rifle down and cleared my throat in preparation to cast a spell an unknown pony taught me while they were drunk. “GOOD EVENING FINE ZEBRA WARRIORS,” I shouted as loud as I could. My voice echoed off nearly everything which made it impossible for them to not hear me. “AS YOU CAN SEE THE WORLD HAS GONE TO SHIT. IN LIGHT OF RECENT CHANGES WE PROPOSE A TRUCE TO STOP THIS NEEDLESS FIGHTING. WHAT SAY YOU?”

Another shot cracked overhead and almost grazed my ear which made me drop lower behind the sandbags. I looked at the others as a zebra shouted, “fuck you! The war is not over!”

“Well I asked nicely.” I shrugged.

The Lieutenant grabbed me with one of those metal hooves and said. “Dog, go run up there and tell those lazy bums to pound the hell out of the zebras. We’re getting off this damn hill tonight.”

I nodded and tossed the IF-12 over the back of the trench before crawling up after it.

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

Something nudged my side, breaking my dream before it was over, as a mare asked, "hey, are you okay?"

"Sick," We groaned and kept Our eyes shut.

Our stomach felt like it was doing somersaults and the world swayed this way and that as if on a ship. We also felt cold sweat beading off Our brow and the smell wet dirt. The blades from the Pipbuck were still in Our leg because We could feel them tugging ever so slightly at the flesh.

There was the sound of a hollow metal object being set down nearby. "Here, use this if it you’re gonna hurl," the mare said. “That poison’s not good for you.”

'How is it another pony is alive down here? Who is she?' We thought to Ourself as the world slowly stopped moving.

We cracked a heavy eyelid open, Our eye revealing Us to be in one of the living quarter rooms. The walls were a moss covered grey, the floor didn't fare much better as it had debris piled in a corner. We were laying on a bed with a tattered blanket over Us. Our weapons were stacked neatly against the wall and... cleaned. The Zebra Rifle was dull, but no longer a dingy green color.

"How long were We out?" We asked with Our mouth, but it came out like a croak.

"About fourteen hours." The mare responded rather quickly from nearby.

Our gaze went to the maroon muzzle of a pegasus mare looking at Us with golden eyes. On her head was a sort of dark khaki colored mask with the visor up and it took Us awhile to recall what it was; an Enclave power armor helmet. Our eyes slowly narrowed as We stumbled off the bed and staggered over as she took a step back. We instinctively reached out with magic and wrapped it around her heart.

She groaned as the precious organ began to slow from Our spell. We could feel it trying to resist, but a grin formed on Our face as We squeezed tighter. The Enclave trooper fell to the floor as she clutched her chest. "I... saved you!" She grunted with effort through the pain the spell no doubt caused.

We stopped in shock as Our eyes went wide and the pressure was released, causing her to gasp in relief.

She did help Us, but why? She is Our enemy!

We put Our horn to her head and connected with her mind. What We saw in her memories troubled Us. Her name was Wraith of the Grand Pegasus Enclave and her armor was not as good as full Enclave power armor, but close. It was known as light trooper armor because she was not meant to fight much.

She and five others had been sent ahead to Oakwood as scouts for five Raptor class cloudships to find out if the island was viable to build a new base of operations on. Apparently the Enclave were in trouble because a group of impure wasteland ponies had destroyed quite a few cloudships in an attack of some kind.

But Eclipse had talked like there were Enclave already here? Maybe these were reinforcements. Though We find it unlikely to believe they had been here for long.

We looked forward in her memories to make sure she had not done anything to Us beyond cleaning Our weapons, she had not. Of the six scouts they had sent, Wraith was the only one left alive. Like Mudpie and I. Mudpie was what was left of one alicorn wing, and I of another. We lifted Our horn and stepped back.

Wraith groaned again as she slowly recovered from the attack that we did not know we could do. We looked down, extending a hoof. "We thank thee for helping Us, but thou art Enclave and We suspected malice."

She knocked the hoof away with a scowl and stood, swaying slightly. We went back to the bed and sat down while awaiting a response. "And I wasn't expecting to find an alicorn down here. I ne-"

"Need Our help in recovering data from the computer maneframe." Wraith nodded as We finished with, "We read your memories."

"Then you know that I shouldn't even be talking to you-"

"But you have no choice." We smiled. Finishing her sentences is fun! Though she didn't seem to think so as she glared, her midnight blue tail moving side to side like it had its own mind.

"Right... So are ya gonna help me?" She tilted her head.

We sat on Our haunches as We rubbed our forehooves together, giving her a devious smile when a truly wicked plan came to mind involving the Enclave and Steel Rangers.

Thy enemy of thine enemy is Our friend. That is how it goes, yes? We shall get these two factions to fight, and wash our hooves of the Steel Rangers once and for all. It’s perfect! What could go wrong?

Wraith took a step back and looked over at Our weapons as Our telepathy picked up surface thoughts. "Perhaps I can get to one of those before this goes bad..."

"Wraith, We shall help thee in exchange for your Raptors helping Us."

She quickly looked back at Us with wide eyes. "What do you mean?! Yer a fuckin' alicorn! How could you need the Enclave's help?"

"We have been here for twenty years and know Oakwood. Currently We are in a losing battle with the Steel Rangers. They have access to things We cannot comprehend. Such as this," We held up thy Pipbuck, "a Pipbuck that was modified to drive blades into Our leg should We attempt to remove it, this We found out the hard way. You Enclave ponies help Us against the Steel Rangers, and We will assist you in any way We can. Think of it as a mercenary contract, or a favor for a favor."

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then looked over at Our stuff, turning around and trotting over to Raul's flamethrower. "So we help you and you'll work for us. Just like that?" she asked as she looked down at the flame spitting weapon of death.

We wonder what she means... Perhaps she does not trust Us?

Wraith looked back at Us with one eye as she turned her head to the side. We smiled at her. "It benefits us both. We will get revenge and your Masters get to move about unhindered by alicorns." She clearly did not believe Us based off her muzzle forming a frown. With a sigh, We pulled what We knew of Enclave and came up with an idea. "They dare to fly above the clouds with stolen Vertibucks. We thought Enclave claims the sky above the clouds as theirs?"

She shut her eyes as if she was thinking, and after a while, she sighed. "Fine, I'll see what I can do, but I can't be the one to tell my boss. If I walk up and say I was contacted by an alicorn..." Wraith shuddered. "They'll rip the memories from my brain in a not so delicate manner and leave me as a drooling vegetable." Her gaze went to the chainsaw Ripper as she flicked her midnight blue tail towards it. "I'll take that weapon in exchange for helping you, but you will have to contact them yourself."

We nodded in agreement. "Where do we begin in search of these research documents you need?"

"My guess is the research lab three floors down?"

*** ***

We stopped to put a hoof on the wall for balance as the world shifted and tilted around the two of us. Wraith looked back at Us with the orange bug eyes of the kevlar suit as she hovered in place. We found it odd how her wings and muzzle are exposed, but We shall leave armor design to better ponies. The hallway we were in took awhile to settle and before it was over We turned Our head and dry heaved.

"You're not doing so hot," Wraith commented on the obvious. Thy Pipbuck mirrored her words, telling Us that We were still poisoned somehow and irradiated.

But if We had lethal amounts of radiation in Us, would We not get better? Luckily the poison is nearly gone according to the display on Our foreleg. Only another few hours. We are unsure how it knows this, as it will not display the type of poison.

We looked at an offered bottle of water and noticed it was very murky looking. "It's irradiated and dirty," Wraith explained. "No way I’m drinking it, so I'm giving it to you."

We took the bottle and eyed it suspiciously. "Why art thou helping Us like so? We nearly killed thee."

"And we’re in a place with some kind of killer plants. We're stuck together until we get outta here. Whether I like you or not, which I don't ‘cause you tried to kill me. Now I have heard that alicorns have impenetrable shields. I don't wanna lose an ally with something like that in here."

We nodded, opened the bottle and drank it all as the Pipbuck complained, telling Us that We were at almost 800 rads now.

We need to get that feature removed if We can't get this off my leg!

Our hind legs gave out as We slumped to a sitting position, staring at the floor in all its dirt covered glory. "Wraith... We wish to ask you... a... question, regarding stallions and mares."

"Wut?" Her jaw was hung open as We looked up from the floor. She closed it and replied. "You're not joking, are you?"

I shook my head. "No... We wish to know for a friend, a blue alicorn. Does it mean that he took advantage of her if they woke up in the same bed, and she has no memory of the previous night? We did not know the answer. She is very confused."

She scratched her chin as she looked around the dirty hallway. We did not expect an answer, but the question only recently came to mind and it was grating at Our mind. "This other mare, how did she feel in the morning?" Wraith asked pointedly.

"Head pounding hangover and feeling tired, though she did not have time to contemplate as the ponies there thought she stole things. So she ran away and found Us. We... are taking care of her as she is still very sick and nearly unable to move."

With a shrug Wraith turned around, slowly flying forward. "Dunno. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. Never was in a situation like that myself." She came to the end of the hallway, stopping and looking both ways before hissing. "Why did they have to make these places so confusing?!"

Lifting Our left foreleg up, We clicked the interior map and noticed it was only partially complete. We used magic to move it around to see what it had mapped out so far. Our ears picked up the flapping of Wraith's wings as she hovered next to Us to look over Our shoulder. "We seem to be lost," We told her. "You have taken us in circles."

“Yeah?” She huffed. “Well let's see you do better!"

With a smile, We nodded Our horn to the left. "Perhaps we should head that way? Left always works good for Us."

"Well I planned on heading left, so we're going right."

We arched a brow and stood fully so that We could look down at her. Wraith matched Our gaze with those bug eyes, then moved close enough that she bumped Our nose. We smiled, projecting into her head. "You do realize that We could stop your heart again, right?"

She pulled back, drawing the chainsword and gripping it with her mouth, though her bar stayed blue. "I’ll ta'e yu wiff me!" She mumbled over the roaring blade, causing Us to roll Our eyes.

As if We are afraid of her in here! There is hardly enough room to swing such a large weapon unless you use magic! Except We have told this mare We would help her and this is what We are going to do, as per our agreement that We do not believe they will uphold.

With a nod and a wave of Our forehoof We replied, "lead the way then, oh fearless leader."

*** ***

Our gaze wandered down to Wraith's flank as she slowly flew along in front of Us.

We wonder what her Cutie Mark is?

Before she could look back We lifted Our Pipbuck, opening the map to distract Our brain from random terrible thoughts of mare on mare action.

Though We have always wondered what… NO!

We shook Our head and locked that idea in a box, wrapped said box in chains, then put it inside another box, then put that box inside one sealed with concrete, and tossed the whole thing into an active volcano.

A frown formed on Our face as We looked at the map. "Stop,” We said to her with Our mind. “We are going in circles."

She turned around. "Seriously?" We held out Our foreleg so she could look at the map. A deep frown also formed on her face when she saw the map. The maroon pegasus threw her hooves in the air with a deep groan, "fine, whatever! You lead now."

We nodded and turned left at the same hallway We had told her too. As We trotted around one of those glowing plants, We gave it a quick wing slap, giggling as it lit the hallway in a yellow light. We turned Our head forward and continued, glancing up at the ceiling and noticing that it had roots poking out of cracked concrete.

We followed Our Pipbuck compass marker, making another right and stopping. At the middle point of the hallway was a purple bulb with one of those monstrous foal creatures laying next to it. We held out a wing to stop Wraith.

"Great," Wraith hissed. "Just what we needed. See what happens when ya follow..." Her voice trailed off to mumbling as the bulb bloomed and two orange bars popped up on my E.F.S.

We shoved her out of the way, the both of us crashing to the floor as a barb flew overhead. We quickly stood, pointed Our forehoof at Our foes and bit down on the saddle’s bit, sending a jet of fire at the galloping green creature.

It shrieked and rolled around as the flower turned into a bulb again, but We did not wait to see if it could fire a second barb. Our stream of fire engulfed the plant as it squealed and deep in the facility, we heard a roar of one of those yellow pods.

I looked over at Wraith and put a wing to my lips, she nodded in agreement. Turning my attention back to the monster, I finished it off just as it put out the flames. We put the hoof down, continuing past the burning plant and ignoring the smoke filling the hallway. It wasn’t long before the hallway turned again at a T.

As we turned left We saw a yellow pod at the end near a door marked stairwell. A bright orange bar was already on our E.F.S, causing me to hiss in annoyance as there is no way to avoid it.

As We looked over at Wraith, We pulled the chainsword out of its sheathe much to her surprise, but after the purple flower incident she just crossed her forelegs. "Please do not make a sound," We projected into her head.

Wraith nodded and dropped to the ground, sitting down as she withdrew a magazine on Zebra Infiltration Tactics from a pocket. She waved a wing towards the pod to silently tell Us to go deal with it.

We turned, wondering why a pegasus would be reading about stealth and hoof-to-hoof fighting, because We thought they all used energy weapons.

Why would she even read a time like this?!

The pod's tongue unrolled and landed on the ground with a wet slap before quickly shooting out toward Us.

The tongue wrapped around Our leg with the flamethrower nozzle and pulled hard before We could even react. We felt too slow without Dash as We lost Our footing and slammed into the floor with a thud, feeling the ground slide as We were pulled towards the monster. The chainsaw blade came down on the outstretched tongue, slicing through whatever it was as if it were paper and spraying green blood all over the place.

We sneered at the pod as We hovered off the ground, pointing the nozzle and burning it while it roared, and withered.“THE GREAT AND POWERFUL GODDESS DEMANDS YOUR DEATH!” We shouted loudly with Our mind and moved forward in the air. The chainsword was brought down right on the center of the yellow plant, slicing it in half and filling the hallway with the most Goddess awful stench as it split in two!

A noise drew Our attention as Wraith attempted to open the door, she banged a hoof against the wall terminal in frustration. “Fuckin’ locked out!”

Our eyes narrowed as We looked at the plant, then her. “You snuck by while We were attacking?”

“Duh? You said to not make a sound, so I didn’t make a sound. What was that ‘Goddess’ bit?”

“We... it was something We heard before and decided to say...?” We smiled nervously as Our cheeks darkened ina blush of embarrassment. Hopefully the lie worked as We did not exactly know why We said it. As it came naturally.

“Whatever, look we’re stuck down here now unless you can teleport.” We shook Our head and she sighed. “Figures. I’m stuck with the only alicorn that can’t teleport.”

Does she not know Our spells were shared and only purples actually know how unless taught by others?

As We put a hoof to the door, We probed it with magic and found that it was just a basic thick steel door which was electronically sealed. We grinned at an idea. The chainsaw sword roared to life as We gripped it with Our magic and shoved it into the steel, its Hellhound teeth slicing clean through without any trouble like it did to Our shield. Wraith’s eyes most likely mirrored her jaw dropping.

Slowly and carefully, We sawed at the metal as red hot sparks flew back at the two of us. Wraith jumped back to avoid them, but We stayed put. Our nostrils picked up the smell of burning paint and metal while We spent a good part of five minutes cutting through the door; the blade made an arch and sliced downward. We pulled it out and flipped it over, slicing down to the floor on the original cut. When that was done We pulled the chainsword back and tossed it to Wraith, she looked at its glowing red teeth in awe.

“Oh I’m definitely never going to give this thing up.’” She put it away as We bucked the new door down, making sure to avoid the sharp glowing edges, and hopped over the slag on the floor.

The stairwell beyond was like the hallway; dirty floor, walls, cracked ceiling and some broken lights. We stepped forward and everything went out, only to be replaced by flashing red lights and a warning alarm. Our gaze went to the ceiling as a detached mare intoned with an echo, “warning: Security breach detected on floor five, unknown lifeform detected. Initiating lockdown and self destruct procedures.”

“I’ve been down here for three days and it takes you to break it?!” Wraith groaned.

We did not have time to respond as the ground rumbled beneath Our hooves. We glanced back as a very large green root slammed into the wall, filling the hallway and turning towards us. The front of the root opened wide to reveal sharp teeth and another yellow pod that likewise opened.

“RUN!” We telepathically screamed and galloped down the stairs.

Wraith beat Us to the bottom and was working on the door while We pointed a hoof up, ready to burn that giant plant root. We could hear her hooves furiously prancing across the keyboard as she attempted to open the door. The stairwell shook and sent dirt down as the root slammed into the door, its yellow pod squeezed through and sent the tongue down to us.

We jumped to the side, shooting fire back up in the same movement. It roared and recoiled, but quickly struck out again. Before We could react, it Wrapped around Our neck and pulled, choking all the air out of Us as if We were being hung by a rope. We instinctively let go of the bit as We were pulled off the ground so as to not burn Wraith. Our hoof with the Pipbuck beat at the tongue. Then, when that failed, We tried to rip off the tongue to no avail as Our vision turned black at the edges and the monster squeezed tighter.

“Sword!” We telepathically shouted.

It felt like an eternity before it crossed Our vision; Our sight was nearly all the way black. We watched as the blade tumbled through the air and sliced across the tongue. Our stomach leapt into Our throat as We fell three feet before flapping Our wings. We caught the sword in magic, revved it to life, and tossed it, striking the yellow pod square in the mouth and grinned as it went clean through.

We grabbed the blade with magic and brought it down across the large root, spraying its smelly ichor everywhere in the process.

“Got it!” Wraith shouted as the door hissed open. We quickly pulled the blade back to Us and sent fire towards the root before retreating through the door. She was already at the keys and shutting it. When it slammed shut, Wraith breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew that was close.” Our eyes widened as We took in the hallway and poked her with a hoof over and over. “What?!”

She looked at Us, then followed our gesture. This hallway was covered in vines, purple flowers, and two yellow pods with foal monsters and larger monsters, though there were no bars on our E.F.S. “Do not make a noise,” We told her with Our mind, “We think they hunt via sound.”

“Shit...” she barely whispered before gulping.

We nodded in agreement as that is most appropriate word to describe the situation. The chainsaw sword was floated silently back into its sheath on her back. "Please climb on. We will go invisible and sneak by." We explained while laying down.

Wraith used a wing to point at the large triple tanked flamethrower. We facehoofed as We had forgotten about it being so big! Our gaze went down the hallway as the thought of using Our shield came to mind, but Wraith stepped forward.

"Wait!" We called out with Our mind as We tried to stop her. She looked back and held a wing to her lips.

I watched as Wraith took one extremely slow step after another. Hardly moving or even breathing as she did so. It was like watching a turtle walk while high on Dash. She sidestepped one of the purple bulbs as it looked at where she had last been.

Surely they must see her walking?!

Even though We wished to know her limits, We feared for her safety. With a deep breath, We cast Our invisibility spell and followed after her, eyeing each plant and monster in turn.

Wraith froze as one of the yellow pods opened up, We likewise stopped. As We looked at her body We could see she was not even breathing as the tongue felt the air.

Her gaze went down as it wrapped itself around her leg, going up to her chest and feeling her wing. Then the tongue tensed and pulled tight. In a cry of shock, Wraith fell down and was quickly dragged towards rows of sharp teeth. Stealth forgotten We lifted Our hoof, spraying the pod with fire at the same time We unsheathed the chainsword from her back and sliced across the tongue. Letting the weapon drop to the floor. Wraith quickly picked it up in her teeth, but could not swing it properly in the tight confines, so she staggered back as the pod roared, but We kept the flame going.

However its roar was answered by everything in the hallway. "Door!" We shouted with Our mind.

Wraith tossed the blade over and turned for the door. We caught it and brought the spinning blade down on the pod. Then We turned around, seeing many orange bars. Our eyes narrowed. "Do you have Dash?" We asked, barely dodging a barb as it struck wall. We could have sworn We felt the whing graze Our neck.

"No! Why would I have that illegal stuff?” Wraith shouted and typed furiously as a creature leapt into the air.

We brought up Our Pipbuck to block the bite, then sprayed the creature in the face with fire. We pushed it back with an unladylike grunt. "Don’t lie to Us!"

"I've only got two left," she whined. We quickly glared at her, then took the inhaler as it was tossed over. We huffed the whole dose and smiled as the world slowed to a crawl.

Ahead of Us lay a rolling and burning foal monster, two more behind it, and four of the full grown ones. There were an equal number of plants. It looked as if the adults guarded the pods. One of the purple flowers shot a barb at Us, that we caught in magic and put in Our saddlebag so that We may find out what it is.

Our hoof came up to engulf the whole hallway in fire as the chainsword chopped anything that got through. We ducked as another barb came flying towards Us, sidestepping right, then pointed at the flower and burnt it to a crisp.

Something large and green slammed into us as air was knocked from our lungs. We swung the Pipbuck to thump its brains in, which was ineffective due to thick scales. With a scowl, We reached out with magic, finding the monster's heart and instantly squeezed it flat as We slid along the floor. It dropped in a lifeless heap on top of Us. We pushed the body aside, pointing Our hoof at a yellow pod that decided to try dragging Us towards it by the tail.

"Door's open!" Wraith shouted. The chainsword severed the tongue. We rolled to Our hooves and backed towards the door, catching a foal monster with the jet of fire.

It shrieked and rolled around as We swept the nozzle up to the ceiling, having noticed movement. Then the door filled our vision and was blackened by the fire. We let go of the trigger and glanced at the now half empty gauges. With a nod, We gave the chainsword back to Wraith.

"Dost thou still think thy research data to be useful?" We asked with a tilt of Our head. She furiously scratched at her armor with a hoof and Our gaze slowly went over to it. Our eyes widened when We noticed a puncture wound near her hind leg above where the Cutie Mark would be. "Why didn't you say something?!"

Wraith staggered and slumped to the floor, breathing slowly through her nose as she wobbled. We felt her pockets and bags for anything, finding a Dash inhaler and some Party-Time Mint-Als.

We floated the inhaler to her lips. "Please take this!" We said with Our mouth. “It’ll help you so we can get out of here!”

She pushed the mask up with a hoof and We could see her golden eyes were bloodshot, indicating she probably already had one. "No, I already had one dose. Two might kill me." Wraith said, confirming Our suspicions.

We nodded slowly. "Perhaps there is a cure?"

She groaned and curled up into a ball. "Leave me to die, please?"

We stuffed the PTM's in a pocket and unhooked the flamethrower. Then lifted Wraith up and laid her across Our back as she complained about wanting to die like the others had died. After that was done, We held the borrowed flamethrower in front of Us with magic and trotted deeper into the facility.

*** ***

The chainsword finished its work on the door, and We bucked it down. We put everything away, placing Wraith across Our back again before trotting forward.

Inside the large room We saw it was not overgrown or dirty at all. There was a very large arcane computer thing taking up most of the wall and racks of beeping electronics stood between Us and the giant thing making a corridor of death if We were attacked. We trotted forward, stopping to wonder about this or that. When We finally reached the large maneframe We set Wraith down, then nudged her with Our nose and frowned when she wouldn't wake up.

Her breathing was very slow as if she were dead. We hoped she would be okay. My gaze went to a glowing terminal as We trotted over to it and lifted Our Pipbuck, before hooking it into the machine like Rose has instructed us to do. Our eyes narrowed as tons and tons of numbers, letters and symbols flashed across it.

Then everything stopped and it asked for a password.

We... do not know how this works, perhaps We should wait for Wraith to wake up first? With a shake of my head, I sighed. No, We can not, because We heard the base say self-destruct and that is not a good thing.

My gaze went back to the terminal as We bit Our lower lip.

There appeared to be four chances and lots of strange symbols with about twelve different words. We tried ‘Aliens’ and it flashed an error. A glance revealed that We were down to three tries. We tapped Our hoof against the screen in concern, then scanned the strange symbols, wondering what some of the ones that look mirrored were. We tried one and a message of ‘Dud Removed’ was displayed, it removed the one we had just tried.

With a groan of annoyance, We stomped Our hoof down, then looked around making sure no pony saw it. As it is unladylike. Wraith was still in her coma like state and the monsters were off wherever. We smiled and tried a few more times, leaving the terminal with only one chance left. After disconnecting the Pipbuck We began to pace.

How much time was left on the self-destruct? Do we have enough time to escape?

We stopped, looking up at the ceiling and attempting to connect to Mudpie, but found her unconscious. So We tried Blue. “Sister, can you hear Us?”

“Yes... who is this?” Came a voice that was decidedly not Mudpie’s, or Rj’s. It was male, which We do not find odd as We have heard of stallions being converted. Still, it must be horrible for them to end up as a mare instead of a stallion alicorn.

“It is Shell Shock. We seem to be trapped and a terminal vexes Us with its sciency ways.”

“What happened? You vanished and I got worried. I thought that you died.”

“We... I decided to help a ghoul and got trapped. There is a terminal that I have almost been locked out of.”

“Just back out of it and you can try again if you didn’t lock it out.”

We looked back at it, walking over and watching as it refilled its screen with new words. “Thank you, I shall be back within the day or two.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied as we broke the connection.

This seems like a bad design for terminal security. If it resets your chances every time you go in, then what is the point? Almost any pony with enough time can crack it. Even one as stupid as We are! Did I seriously just think that? Oh Goddess... We... are not stupid!

We tried three more times before backing out and scowling at the stupid device. As We backed out again We banged Our hoof against the metal wall in annoyance.

Confound these terminals, they make Us wish We had a drink! With a deep sigh, We recomposed Ourself and nodded. When We get out of here We are buying, or borrowing, a weeks worth of alcohol. As We hath lost Ours when Eclipse stole Our gear.

It took Us all of seven retry attempts before We cracked it. The password was Snails.

What a silly passcode. That is like 12345, only an idiot dumber than Us would have that on their luggage!

As the terminal faded to a new screen We saw four entries, one was the research data which was downloaded onto the Pipbuck, or would have if it were there. Our eyes narrowed as We read that the data had been downloaded almost three hours ago, causing all the data on the terminal to become corrupted. We hissed through our teeth.

Wraith is not going to like that!

Inside one folder were useless notes, such as this one: Subject Three has responded unusually to the modifications and had to be put down. Perhaps I can fix this with time? I need to acquire more test subjects. This problem of them becoming hostile is merely a setback!

We opened one of the folders labeled ‘Security’ and saw that it showed various views of the complex, including the first hallway We had cut a door open on. It stands to reason that a pony, whom had access to this terminal, also saw Us cutting the door and initiated the lockdown. We nodded, as that makes the most sense as this terminal showed… That we only had two hours to get out of there before the base self-destructs.

My eye twitched.

*** ***

We followed the mysterious pony’s trail of destruction through the facility. Whoever it was had not been meticulous in their destruction, plants were ripped to shreds as if they had been hit by.... We stopped and looked down at the foal monster, giving it a kick with a hoof and seeing at least twenty holes torn through it.

Steel Rangers! We scowled at nothing. Wraith most definitely will not like this!

Our gaze went up towards a shredded yellow pod and saw a partial set of power armor. Only a hind leg and tail section remained with the rest appearing to be inside the yellow pod. Trotting over to it, We looked down and lifted the hind leg with magic. Immediately dropping it in shock as We saw a withered husk of a pony still attached and stripped of armor. We touched their orange body with the barrel of the flamethrower as We dared not touch it with a hoof! His tight flesh cracked and fell apart as if it had been set in the sun to dry out. The remaining armor looked melted as if dipped in acid.

My gaze went back to a comatose Wraith. What would make her want to die in such a manner? It must surely be painful. And how could these plants strip a Steel Ranger of armor and suck all the fluids out?

We glanced down at the Pipbuck. An hour and five minutes left. Ignoring the dead pony, I picked up my pace and galloped through the overgrown hallways.

*** ***

My ears picked up the draconic roar of a minigun as We galloped along. The roar of the minigun was answered by an even larger roar. Our E.F.S. picked up a wall of orange and five blue ticks through the wall in front of Us. We turned right, following that shredded hallway and making a left. Upon seeing an open door that had vines growing around its edges, We slowed our pace as in the dark room beyond, We saw a large shadow moving.

We burst through the door at the same time a large root slipped by Our vision with a screaming and kicking pony in its grasp. Narrowing our eyes, We brought out the chainsword and revved it to life as We chased after the pony along the catwalk.

We happened to glance right. Our eyes widened at the largest and most hideous orange plant we have ever seen. It was not yellow, but orange with eyes and a mouth. Flailing about the room were other large tendrils as they attempted to snatch the four heavily armed ponies down below. We jumped up, taking to the air and bringing the chainsword down on the root, which did not let go of the pony. Instead its grip tightened. With a scowl We pushed deeper. Then withdrew the sword and placed the flamethrower’s nozzle in the gap before triggering it.

Fire shot back out as it burned the inside of the root, which recoiled and dropped the pony. We caught them with magic before they fell farther than a foot and did not care that they were a Steel Ranger.

These ponies have something we want, and so We shall be nice to them until we get that data. Then all bets are off.

The large Steel Ranger was tossed onto the catwalk, he stood up and turned his minigun towards the monster in the center of the room. We furiously beat Our wings to gain altitude as we aimed the flamethrower down, spraying the fire anywhere We could get an opening while dodging the roots. As we looked down at the Steel Rangers we boomed. “DO NOT ATTACK US, FOR WE ARE HERE TO HELP!”

They did not seem to care, because they kept firing at the large creature. However their weapons were ineffective. We knew not what madness drove a pony to create such a creature! We flew a wide circle around it and noticed the room to be much, much, larger than the atrium we entered from. A glance down at the Pipbuck revealed only forty minutes left.

Something grabbed Our hind leg and We cried out in shock as We were pulled from the air. As We looked down, We saw one of the green roots with its maw wide open and a yellow pod’s tongue wrapped around Our leg. A jet of fire was telekinetically shoved into its gullet, the orange plant monster roared and another tongue wrapped around Our other leg. They spread Our hind legs apart, causing fire to burn through the sockets as tendons ripped. I screamed in agony.

My eyes widened as I saw Wraith slip off, falling limply towards the ground. I quickly caught her with magic while slicing at the plant tongues with the chainsword. Breathing a sigh of relief when the pain faded to a dull ache as I felt radiation begin to heal me. I hovered Wraith onto my back and brought up my shield, looking at the monster’s mouth, then up at the flamethrower outside the shield.

No more missus nice mare!

The flamethrower saddle was tossed as I telekinetically boomed. “SHOOT THE TANKS!”

The flamethrower saddle flew through the air as minigun fire tracked it. Most of the shots missed, but a few struck the tank and spilt its liquid over everything including the creature’s mouth, but it did not catch fire. My eyes narrowed at this most troubling problem. That always seemed to work in the pre-war films of old. Regardless, I landed in front of the truly monstrous creature and looked up, way up, towards one of its eyes.

I staggered sideways as a green tentacle slammed into my shield, engulfing Wraith and I whole. I did not worry as Wraith slipped off and landed on the bottom of the shield. Glancing right, I saw that the tentacle was hollow as if it were some kind of gullet. As I gripped the handle of the chainsword in magic, I brought it up and sliced into the artificial daylight of the room. Then spun the blade around in a circle as I sliced its absurd teeth filled maw clean off the rest of the tentacle. It quickly withdrew as it fell limply to the floor, causing me to chuckle at it with a grin.

Easy food? We think not!

My gaze fell upon the monster’s eye as I took flight and gained altitude as another tentacle wrapped around my shield. The bubble flickered as the creature attempted to squeeze as hard as it could. Concentrating almost as much as I could, I pouring more magic into the shield to keep it up longer, then looked the beast directly in the eye. Its toothy maw opened wide as we were pulled towards it.

“WHAT ART THOU LOOKING AT, UGLY?” I telepathically boomed as I shoved the chainsword right into its eye.

It roared in pain as green ichor sprayed back at my shield, which I am thankful for, and the tentacle quickly withdrew. Only to slam back into us and sent us flying across the room. My gaze went to the sword and telekinetically tugged it across flesh and bone.

The monster roared in agony as the chainsword slowly sawed its way towards the other eye. My gaze tracked the red glow of a rocket as it slammed into the vine covered floor. Flames burst to life as the flamethrower fuel was finally ignited, causing the beast to roar even louder.

The ground beneath one Steel Ranger erupted as the blue vine from yesterday returned, it touched him and retreated. My eyes widened in horror as his armor quickly crumpled flat like he had been stepped on!

Withdrawing the chainsword from the beast, I glanced around and saw that the Steel Rangers were retreating towards a door that I suspected to be an exit.

A glance down at thy Pipbuck showed thirty minutes.

Our shield failed and Wraith tumbled to the ground. A green tentacle wrapped itself around me and squeezed before I had a chance to catch her. I could feel my bones wanting to break and, indeed, they did so one by one. A shriek of pain left thine lips as I shut my eyes.

It only squeezed tighter, audibly cracking bones and crushing my body. Warmth spread throughout it as it attempted to heal at the same time. We were thankful to the Goddess for all the beautiful radiation We had absorbed! When I opened my eyes I saw rows and rows of sharp teeth looking at me as the end of the tentacle opened wide, ready to bite my head off. I quickly looked at the remaining eye of the beast, engulfing it with magic and squeezing as hard as I could.

It sprayed its jelly like fluid everywhere like one were squeezing a lemon as it let go. I fell to the vine covered floor and hacked at the green vines attempting to crawl over Wraith. The ground rumbled beneath us. We instinctively took flight while scooping her in magic just before a blue vine burst from the ground, followed quickly by others. The chainsword lopped off the vines as they closed the gap and we flew higher. We sliced and diced at the killer plant before it retreated underground again.

As I looked around, I saw that the Steel Rangers had used it being distracted on Us to fall back. The cowards. We dodged a green tendril and brought thine chainsword down, causing it to withdraw.

With no other choice as I now do not have backup, we chased after the Steel Rangers.

*** ***

We hobbled along, looking down at the Pipbuck map to see if We were going in circles. The hallway was too narrow for flight and it appeared as if the Steel Rangers were heading deeper into the facility. As We set the leg down, We picked up the pace and felt the ground shudder as one of the large tentacle roots slammed into the wall behind Us. The flashing red lights We did not like, as it made visual detection of any living killer plant creatures impossible unless We were on top of them.

This We knew from previous checks. It would not do well to look back any longer. The hallway ahead was a mess of shredded plants from minigun fire and We jumped over a dead foal monster, sliding around a right hand bend while making sure Wraith did not fall off. We saw the blue bars on our E.F.S, so We knew We were on the right track.

Something slammed into Us, shoving both Wraith and I into the wall, the chainsword clattering uselessly to the ground. I slid down the wall and looked up at the toothy maw of one of those tentacles as it lunged a second time. I brought thine chainsword around, slicing across its side in one fell swoop. The tentacle sprayed green ichor across Wraith as it withered in pain. The sword came down again and split it lengthwise.

As I staggered to my hooves, I scooped Wraith up in magic and did not look back. Our heart furiously beat in Our chest while Our wings burned under the skin where We had been been bitten by the rat monsters. We felt a rumble deep in the base as the detached mare intoned. “Warning: self-destruct imminent. Counting down from thirty seconds... Twenty-nine... Twenty-eight...”

With a roll of Our eyes, We blocked out the voice and galloped faster, breaking into a full on run as sweat ran down our face. The hallways became a blur and We thought that perhaps We should have taken the last dose of Dash. But no. We shook Our head and concentrated on running. As We turned left again We saw the rear end of a power armored Steel Ranger with a blue bar. He glanced back at Us and it flickered to orange as he turned around, the minigun rapidly spooling up. Our chainsword revved to life, and in a spray of sparks and blood We severed his head from his body.

We did not slow down as the rumbling increased. “Twenty... Nineteen....” Seventeen, We counted in Our head as We turned right. Ahead of Us lay an open door with the remaining Steel Ranger bars, Our eyes widened in shock as it was swung shut and the wheel was spun.

We slid to a stop as We heard the boring base mare intone as We spun the wheel. “Ten... Nine... Eight... Six... Five...” The door was shoved open and We ran through into a sort of underground subway system. Glancing left, We saw nothing, so We bounded right and could hear the mare continue. “Four... Three... Two... One... Have a nice day!”

Dirt rained down on Us as the complex exploded. We did not look back. Instead, We spread Our wings and took flight. We looked down as We began following the tracks for the subway. Ahead of Us, about two hundred yards away, were the three remaining Steel Rangers. We beat Our wings, flying overhead and landing before them in the dark confines. We stood on Our hindlegs as We held a hoof to the air and spread Our glorious wings, momentarily forgetting about Wraith as she slid off with a thud.

“HALT!” We boomed telepathically in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

The three blue bars slid to a stop twenty yards away. We could see they were all in power armor, two carried miniguns and a mare carried a grenade machine gun and missile launcher setup. One of them was almost as tall as We were. Overall We would be outmatched even with Our shield.

Perhaps they do not know that We cannot cast it more than once per day? This We hope.

The one in the center had the most firepower and We suspected to be the leader, because she had more bars on her armor and spoke first. “Give us the pegasus and we won’t turn you into pulp.”

Our eyes narrowed as We dropped back to all fours. We did not expect that kind of a demand. As we We looked at the three of them in turn We asked. “We wish for thy research data thou stole first.”

“Give us the pegasus, and we might give it to you. Or we could just take her by force. Because that bounty is awfully tempting.” Our eyes widened in shock as she tapped her chin with a forehoof. “Now let’s see. You have a Pipbuck and an interesting sword. Two pieces of high grade technology plu-”

Our magic reached out, wrapping itself around her heart and squeezing it like We did the eye. She simply fell over dead as the other two looked at her corpse. I snorted through my nose in annoyance and looked down at my hoof, wishing for a hooficure as it desperately needed one. This We will get soon. “Anymore objections? We wish only for the data and you may go freely.”

“Now just wai-” The pony clutched his chest as his heart was slowly squeezed. His Tin Can friend took a few steps back in, We are assuming, shock and looked at us.

“There will not be a third time,” We told them with Our mind as We released Our grip.

He gasped and began backing away from the mare. “She had it on a holodisk,” he said with a point of his hoof.

We waved Ours nonchalantly. “Run along then, thou hath thirty seconds before We crush your heart.”

Without a word, both of them galloped back towards the now burning facility as black smoke filled the tunnel. Our gaze went to the mare as We set down Our chainsword. We trotted over to the dead mare and felt her built in saddlebags. She had five missiles and twenty grenades, food, a jug of water, two healing potions, Med-X, RadSafe, RadAway, but no data!

Our eye twitched as We looked up at the blue bars that were not far away. Well....

It had been longer than thirty seconds.

Taking flight, We flew below the smoke filling the ceiling. Lazily going this way, and that as they looked back.

“She’s gone!” The smaller one shouted, then looked up. “Oh fuck.”

“THOU HATH LIED TO ME! NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!” We telepathically boomed across the area.

Their bars turned orange as the minigun was aimed up at Us. His heart was quickly crushed, then our gaze went to the larger one. As We gripped his heart with magic, he fought back and sent a near literal wall of bullets towards Us. We dove right, picked up his dead comrade with magic and used the armor as a shield. Bullets thumped loudly against metal as they attempted to bore their way through to no avail. With an unladylike grunt, We tossed the body forward, then quickly hovered left and gained altitude before disappearing into the smoke.

We held Our breath, but any sneak effect was ruined by the flapping of Our wings which cleared out the nearby smoke. With a silent groan We dove at the pony and swooped over their head, delivering a slap with a hoof as metal ring out. We quickly turned around and gripped their heart with magic, then squeezed hard to no avail.

He spun around, the tracers cutting into stone and metal alike as he tried to catch Us. Our chainsword was too far away to bring over quickly, but...

A glow surrounded his fallen comrade again, however instead of Us using it as a shield, We attempted to aim the minigun. Except it did not fire, causing Our eyes to narrow.

How does a Steel Ranger fire their weapon?! Without knowing this fact we cannot fire it!

I cried out in pain as more than a few bullets bored their way into my hide through the business suit. I scowled at the pony, swung his friend like a club and connected cleanly. With a loud metallic crash the large pony staggered sideways. We lifted the body up and brought it down once, twice, thrice. The stallion fell to the ground in a heap, his head rolling about as if he were confused. We held the body up in the air as We trotted over. An idea formed in Our mind, so We unclasped the helmet with magic and tossed it away. As We brought the metal body down onto his head Our eyes widened at the pink and yellow face.

"Bucky?!" We shouted in shock as We barely stopped the dead power armored pony from crushing his head in. The body was tossed aside as We telepathically shouted, "you... you... you bastard!"

Our magic disconnected the belt of bullets from his minigun and a glow green wrapped around his neck. We began dragging him back towards the comatose Wraith as he kicked and flailed about in a futile attempt to break the grip, We only tightened it.

We ignored the other dead ponies, and even the unconscious one. There was one thing We must know! We gripped the chainsword in magic, shoved Bucky against the subway tunnel wall and hovered the chainsword a hairs breadth away from his neck as the teeth spun. Finally, Our magical hold was released and he gasped. Bucky coughed and gulped down air as We pinned his shoulders.

We scowled as Our eyes glared lasers and telepathically yelled into his mind. "Do not lie again! Answer Our one simple question: Did thee take advantage of Us in Our drugged state?" His eyes widened. "Yes, or no! Did thee take advantage of Us?!"

We saw pure terror on his face as he nodded rapidly. The blade began to very slowly touch his coat so as to maximize the pain. He shut his eyes in a grimace. "It was just a job. Drug you and let Eclipse kill you. But I did not plan to have sex with you, I swear!" The teeth went in a little deeper as he screamed in pain and blurted out, "Shell Shock, stop I tried to warn you about Eclipse!"

Our eyes widened and We withdrew the blade. "What dost thou mean?" It moved closer again, just above the first cut.

He arched a brow. "You didn't look at the file I left, did you?"

No...? What file?

We looked down at thy Pipbuck, scrolling through its functions and seeing the notes We initially thought were his ramblings and didn't bother to play. We clicked one and Bucky's voice played out. "Alright here goes. I'm hoping that I'm long gone when you hear this, because well... my name is Knight Bucky. But I'm warning you Shell Shock, don't attempt to remove the Pipbuck. It's a trap set by Eclipse to cause you pain. She’s a Star Paladin who's out for blood against alicorns. No idea why, but she takes delight in killing your kind. Hopefully you can use the Eyes Forward Sparkle to see her coming and the targeting assist to beat her. Please stay safe... I... I..."

The sound of hoofsteps played out and a mare that wasn’t Eclipse spoke. "Are you ready? Our scouts report she took the bait."

"Yeah, I was just cleaning it..." The recording finished as I let Bucky go. He fell to the floor with a metallic thud and reached up to his neck with a hoof. I looked over at the dead mare.

"Ain't her." Bucky said with a rasp. "She's at the old naval base across the bay."

We floated a healing potion over from her bags and gave it to him. "We are sorry."

This makes Us confused. For We wish to kill him and yet... We want to hug him tightly. What do We do?!

We softly looked into his blue eyes and asked with Our mind. "We must know. Were We at least satisfying to thee?" He gave an unsure nod. "That is good then. Bucky, if thou goes back now they may suspect something."

"Except there was a giant killer plant that killed everyone." He smiled and nodded towards the other dead pony, "he actually had the holodisk. I knew he wouldn't get far after you discovered he lied. Also, please watch out with that pegasus. The Enclave are not to be trusted at all."

As he attempted to stand We put a hoof to his shoulder, holding him down. Our eyes met, and We wondered if it were appropriate if We kissed him goodbye? Should We even do such a thing because he was shooting at Us not ten minutes ago? Perhaps We should punch his nose in? Our conflicting feelings over this dilemma were tearing Us asunder. Finally, We ignored the both of them and let the hoof drop before trotting over towards the dead pony with the data. We gave Bucky a quick glance as he picked his helmet back up.

We smiled at him, but We knew that he knew it wasn't a real smile. He looked down at his power armor and sighed. Sitting on his haunches he began fiddling with the helmet.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I connected the data to thy Pipbuck to download it.

"Well, I've been thinking" Bucky spoke while doing things to it that We do not understand. "Eclipse knows I drugged you and with our vanishing act that night, she probably has put two and two together. I figure that the only reason I got stuck doing this bullshit assignment. Because she wants to kill me. So, I quit the Steel Rangers."

We dropped the holodisk and tackled Bucky in a bearhug, lifting him off the ground as We flew into the air. He squirmed against Our grip, but We held him tight and spun in a circle. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now We do not have to kill you!"

His eyes widened. "What?! Let me go!" We obliged his wish, opening our forelegs while still nine feet off the ground. "Shooock!" he shouted angrily as he fell.

I floated down next to him and smiled with a barely suppressed giggle. He did not say to put him down first! His gaze went to Our Pipbuck as he held out his hoof. “Let’s get that off you.”

We trotted over, holding it up and watching as he looked it over. His angry face turning into one that a pony gets when something very bad has gone wrong. Bucky held up one of the mangled Pipbuck tools as I smiled nervously. "Tell me, how did you manage to break this?" He asked almost in awe.

"We... had forgotten to remove them from thine Pipbuck and was crushed by that plant?" He shook his head slowly and pulled out his cowpony hat. Our eyes widened as We realized that he wanted to come. "You cannot come with Us! It... It would be bad! Sister does not like thee, and..." We looked at some random piece of scrap off to the right, avoiding his gaze as We turned around. The hoofgun came out and was strapped back to Our leg as Our eyes went over to Wraith.

Perhaps we may need the both of their help.

*** ***

Have We ever mentioned how much We hate tunnels? We may have possibly at one time, but We cannot stress it enough. Tunnels are maddeningly constricting for Us as We cannot properly maneuver in flight. You can only go forward or retreat. They are deathtraps in Our mind because of this. Also they remind Us of times long since past, of trenches with interconnecting tunnels that wended their way under a city and were filled with hostile zebras.

Dark, dank, tunnels as far as We could see in front and behind Us. Overhead pipes ran every which way but loose. A metal catwalk echoed underneath Our hooves for presumably draining running water. Our torch highlighting Wraith on Bucky’s back as he walked along in front of Us. The Steel Ranger mare armor was across Our back devoid of the body, because perhaps We could make something of it later. A nice chest piece, or... or use the leg segments to armor Our upper legs. Yes, that sounds like a plan!

Our wings began itching terribly and We stopped, extending a wing and noticed that the fur had not fully grown back yet, but it should have when it healed! We began nibbling on the bone where We had been bitten.

That only made the itching worse, so We furiously nibbled as Our eyes narrowed. Bucky stopped and turned around to look at Us. “What are you doing?”

We spoke with Our mind while almost biting into the skin. “My wings itch in the most horrible of manner! Some kind of rat hath bitten Us a while ago.”

“Stop!” We did so and looked at him as his voice was filled with terror.

“It was only a mutated rat.” We replied with an arched brow.

“Down here and on this island?” He spoke while trotting over. ”Nothing is normal. Not even the jungle above us is normal. Now hold still.” He withdrew a large sharp knife from his built in saddlebags and Our eyes widened.

We scooted away and he shrugged Wraith off, she landed on the catwalk with a thud. “Get that away from Us!” We telepathically shouted while walking backwards.

Bucky shook his head, mumbling around the pommel. “Git ‘ack ‘ere!”

Turning and dropping the dead mare’s power armor, We bolted down the tunnel screaming with him on Our tail.

He will not cut into our wings! Bucky is an impure earth pony, he does not have our level of ability for object manipulation and for all we know he wants to clip our feathers! That shall never happen again!

The itching in our wings increased as we galloped through the tunnel. “Thou art no medic!” We telepathically shouted.

Something large and heavy landed on Our long flowing tail, We screamed as it went taut and pulled Us to a stop. Our body slammed onto the catwalk as a shudder ran up Our spine. We glanced back, seeing one of his black power armored hooves pinning Our tail to the catwalk. He was holding the large knife in his other fetlock as he spoke. “Medic, shmedic. Shell Shock, we’ve got to cut out the infected tissue! You don’t want to see what happens if you don’t. I don’t know what it is doing to your body, but it can’t be good.”

We scrambled to Our hooves and tried to run away, not getting very far as pain shot through Our spine. Looking back at him, We groaned, “Bucky, thou art fat.”

“Bite my shiny metal ass. Now let me see your wing.” He placed the pommel back into his mouth and walked towards Us, reaching out with a hoof to grab Our wing.

We pulled it tight against Our body and sidestepped while hoping he would let Us do it instead. So We attempted to stall and distract. “Your ass is not shiny, it is dull and dirty.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Leh’me see your wing!”

As We were about to object again, the tunnel was filled with the roar of the chainsword. Our eyes looked up as Wraith jumped into the air with her head turned back. The bug eyes of the scout armor giving no indication of her expression, but her mouth showed hatred. She came down with it firmly clenched in her teeth aiming to slice Bucky in two lengthwise.

The world around us stopped.

S.A.T.S. was a wonderful thing to have sometimes. It was as if watching in slow motion. I stood there, watching the two nearly frozen ponies in the dark confines lit by thy Pipbuck light. A green ichor covered Wraith attempting to slice Bucky lengthwise, the latter moving to futilely block Hellhound claws. We could stop her heart, but that would still cause Bucky to be diced like an apple unless we caught the sword in magic first.

We have a deal with Wraith, but she is Enclave and We do not expect them to uphold their end. However We also have some, not much mind you, attraction towards Bucky. Except he is an ex-Steel Ranger. We are torn between letting him die, and letting him live knowing what he did to Us. But if We let him live he could provide both The Sisters of Unity, and the Enclave with intel about the Steel Rangers. My eyes narrowed at this idea. As I looked at the blade, I began to wrap it in magic and time sped back up with a nod from me.

A green glow surrounded the chainsword, catching it and pulling it into the air as Wraith held on. Bucky started backing away slowly.

However, my magic gripped the both of them as I flung them against the metal wall, pinning them next to each other as they squirmed. My magic forcefully ripped thine chainsword from Wraith's mouth, then I gripped the both of their necks in magic and squeezed tight while sneering.

The roaring weapon was moved around before I held it near their necks, the blades splitting hairs as the two impure ponies struggled against my magical grip.

"Stop this madness this instant!" Shouted a voice from my right, causing my gaze to go over there and my eyes widened.

Standing in the center of the hallway was an azure blue alicorn with a flowing two-tone pale blue mane. She glared at me with violet eyes. The alicorn folded a perfect set of wings against a perfect body. Indeed everything about this blue was perfect. Then this could only be one alicorn.

The Goddess.

40% to next level.