M.A.S. hub, Trotson

Day 3

After briefly contemplating what a grounder knowing an Enclave salute could possibly mean, I shoved Dead Hoove’s entire existence into the back of my mind. It was a mystery, and one that I personally felt I needed to solve, but that wouldn’t happen right now. The Invisible Mare was waiting for us, and I didn’t want to test a foal’s patience. If she was anything like Rainy and Clear, that wouldn’t be fun.

When I found Willow in the labs she was an absolute mess, face stained with tears and laying in a corner. She looked up at me as I made my way to her, doing her best to wipe the stains from her cheeks to minimal effort. A sigh left her lips, failing to get rid of the burden holding onto her. A burden that I had likely caused.

“I couldn’t see her, or hear her, and I couldn’t even talk to her,” Willow explained. “Yet I could tell she was there. I could feel her, even if it… even if….”

“She wouldn’t want to see you like this,” I replied. The alicorn’s muzzle opened just the slightest bit, her head tilted slightly to the left. “She’s your friend, right? Even down here on the surface you ponies must understand how important having ponies you can trust is. She stuck with you and Sharpshot all these years because you’re her friend.”

I’m not sure why I was bothering to explain it all, but it gave a desirable effect. After lowering her head, seeming to lose herself in thought, her hooves shuffled. Standing up, still breathing heavily from the crying she had done, the grounder did her best to give me a smile. She couldn’t keep it up for longer than a few seconds.

“Yeah, it is nice. I’m glad to have a friendly face here,” She said, looking at a random spot on the floor. No doubt that was where she believed Dead Hooves to be, but they weren’t there. I wasn’t quite sure where they were, now that I think about it. “Thanks Dead Hooves. I know you probably disapproved of a lot of things Sharpshot and I did, but it is nice to have you around.”

We left the lab not long after, entering back into another hallway and entering momentary silence. My eyes wandered to the windows, wondering if any ghouls trapped in opposite rooms were possibly watching us as we walked around. I understood that Lucky using the light as an indicator was probably her best option, but I couldn’t help but feel a target painted on my back. If any of these things broke out, they would know exactly where we were.

I didn’t want to find out if they were truly indestructible or not.

The next lab we entered seemed very similar to the first, except Lucky had to darken two doors instead of just one this time. Another few terminals, most of which seeming to be in far too much disrepair, could be seen next to windows. They were probably meant for keeping tabs on the experiments being run down here. Experiments meant in good faith, but would never see the light of day.

A few were working, but outside of two they all seemed to have been corrupted in some way. Perhaps a bad wire or something inside them had been messed with just right, but the contents on them came up as gibberish. I would have probably checked them if something else hadn’t caught my interest quicker.

Laying nice and out in the open for anypony to pick up was what seemed like an experimental firearm. A laser rifle if I was to make a more in depth guess. Its dark blue, glowing receiver stuck out nearly as much as the clear battery that was slotted in for ammo. Inside was something strange, seeming to warp the space around it and doing it damndest to pull what it could in. It had taken hold of my fascination, and by Celestia it was refusing to let go.

I picked it up and looked it over, noting how some parts of it felt home-made while other parts were far too intricately designed. It was a prototype, that was for sure, and while it no doubt worked I doubted any military service would want it. The firearms in use by the Enclave were reliable, easy to maintain, and easy to use. This looked like I needed seven pages of a user manual just to understand how the magazine unclipped.

If this thing got dirty, that was likely it.

“Is that the gun that scientist mentioned in the rainbowy terminal?”

I looked at the alicorn, who was currently sifting through a terminal since I had busied myself with the prototype rifle. As I turned my attention back to said rifle, I willed up a part of the MentaBuck I hadn’t played around with: being the storage manager. A move which caused my intrigue to turn into disappointment at the sight of the name written on it. Sweet princesses, they had actually decided to call it “the Spaghetti Gun”.

As if either the MentaBuck or Luck Heart felt how upset the name made me, I watched as the letters changed. Its name had been changed from the… Spaghetti Gun, to the Atomizer. I felt the tiniest sliver of hope in ponykind be restored at the sight, only to have it crushed immediately after as I remembered what the surface was like. It was nice having it for what little time I did, however.

The terminal had mentioned it was broken, and one look at it via the MentaBuck confirmed that. It only looked like it could function because it had been built more intricately than a pre-war watch. I sat it back down on the table, frustrated that I wouldn’t be able to at least try out a firearm that nopony had ever seen before. That also might have been for the best, cause I didn’t want to find out if this thing being made by scientists made it liable for explosion.

“Anything of interest over there?” I asked the alicorn as I started to make my way over to her.

“Not a lot I understand. I don’t recognize a lot of the words on the screen,” she answered. Her words seemed to make herself self-conscious, a hoof twirling through her mane. “My owner taught me how to read, but only the basics. Said he didn’t have any use for a slave who couldn’t tell which version of “where” was being said.”

I wasn’t sure how to voice my feelings about that all, so I simply gave her a nod. “Anything interesting you do understand then?”

“It mentioned something called Nebula again. Not Project Nebula, just Nebula,” she explained. She gave me a shrug. “Seems the entire purpose of this place was to make a new energy source.”

“One that didn’t involve magical radiation,” I replied. I looked to the terminal for a moment, and then started walking towards the only lit up door in the room. “It doesn’t matter anymore. None of this matters to our world today.”

As I reached the door and opened it, I looked behind me to see Willow staring at me blankly. She averted eye contact as soon as I noticed her staring at me, turning back to the terminal. Her blank expression shifted into a frown, and a solemn nod was given to me. As she trotted over to me, I found myself curious as to what had her down. Did the alicorn think this still had meaning for our world today? Or did she wish that it did still matter?

I leaned towards the latter, because it felt more sensible.

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

Our journey led us to a single door right in the middle of a hallway, nowhere near as big or sturdy as the others. Everything to the left slowly faded into darkness, and a look at the local map on my MentaBuck (which was still ridiculously hard to read) showed no other doors in the room beyond. This is where Lucky Heart had wanted us, but why here I had no real idea.

Willow and I shared a look, and then the former opened the door. As we stepped in, we were greeted by the first real signs of centuries having passed down here. The walls, floors, ceilings, and a large majority of the lab equipment had remained intact and in good condition throughout most of the facility. This was a very different environment compared to the rest of the labs. I saw multiple bookshelves filled to the brim with material that, while not as horribly discolored and moldy as what was typically found above ground, were clearly aged. A terminal with a microphone and radio sat to one side, and sitting out on top of it was something that gave me a major pause.

A statuette.

I could save it for later, because it was not the traitor’s statuette. My eyes instead turned to the pile of sheets strown along one corner of the floor. A makeshift bed if I were to guess, given that I had learned ponies had indeed called this place home for a small span of time. The only reason most of this stuff hadn’t been taken with them was probably due to the ghouls that this place held prisoner. They definitely felt like an intellectual.

“So where do we go from here?” I shouted out, feeling pretty sure that Lucky would hear me. “As far as I can tell there isn’t anywhere else to go.”

The radio next to the terminal came to life, my expression forming into a grimace despite my best efforts. It wasn’t the low static hum of the Sprite-Bots or a terminal, but the kind one got when in between radio channels. Willow had turned her attention to it long before I did, the radio seeming to tune itself without any outside help needed. At certain points I could hear the faintest signs of a feminine voice coming through, but it took some time until I could actually hear what was being said.

“Okay, this thing should be working now. The bitch was right, should have worked that out beforehoof.”

“I would prefer it if you used my real name. Profanities are unnecessary.”

I blinked, having not expected two different voices to be coming through at once. One sounded far younger and more playful, though with a hint of annoyance hidden behind it all. The second was more robotic, but something in my gut said it wasn’t actually a robot. There was a more natural, authentic tone in their voice I didn’t believe a machine could emulate. With hesitant steps I stepped closer to the radio, watching the walls around me.

I couldn’t be sure that everything in here was actually safe. Something felt off.

“Hey, she’s my pony of interest. Let me take care of this,” the younger voice said. There was a pause, and then she spoke up again. “Apologies Miss Rhapsody. My associate doesn’t feel that kind about the ponies of today, so disregard anything she might say.”

“Do not worry. I feel the same,” I told the voice, ignoring the annoyed huff and pout my words received from Willow. “I can wager a guess at who you are. Lucky Heart, correct.”

“Yes. Apologies for stringing you along like this,” they replied. I could hear her smirk from the other side, making me doubt the validity of her apology. “I would have simply contacted you from your radio, but Enclave tech isn’t something I have much control over. It’s weird to experience that, after five years of being able to control everything.” She laughed as if what she had said was a joke. I didn’t find it funny. “I’m sure you know how it feels, being afraid of something which you don’t know.”

Her attempts at being friendly put me off. It was exceptionally clear that friendliness was only surface level, and as such I treated it as I would anything surface related. I walked over to the radio and stared down at it with fury and confidence, chest out and posture straight. Clearly the filly thought of me as an easy target; I couldn’t allow that.

“I didn’t come here to entertain conversation with a grounder-born filly, especially one playing princess,” I stated, voice stoic and unmoving. “You want something from me, and if I’m guessing correctly, it's because you have the documents Angel Hair had on you.”

“ArcanaTech has what?!”

“You know why I'm here, and what I’m looking for. I can already take a guess at what you want, so don’t bother trying to be friendly. Now go on, explain yourself.”

The radio remained silent, and for a second I expected it to stay that way. Then a different voice, the one that sounded more robotic, chimed in.

“I highly discourage you to act like you have any authority here, lieutenant colonel,” she said, as if those simple words would be enough to shake me. “Allow me to be clear, I personally do not know this city inside out. I know it better than the filly, and know how to take control of everything within the Project Nebula labs and turn it against you.”

I gave the radio a disappointed look. “And you claim this because…”

“That information isn’t important. All you need to know is my name: Moondancer,” the second voice said, the slightest hint of hate present within every word she spoke. “Now you will listen to your better, twisted amalgamation of ponykind. I doubt you have the intellect and ability to fight a nebula ghoul.”

A snarl escaped me for a moment, but I caught myself and hid it as quickly as possible. The wound to my pride hurt, and I would typically not let a fucking wise-ass grounder ever think of me as there better, but this wasn’t the time. The term “nebula ghoul” clearly referred to the ghoul Willow and I had seen through the window, and the only known way to kill it was broken. As much as I hated to admit it, I had no choice but to shut up.

“Now, let's go over what I’ve got collected, feel free to take that statuette by the way,” Lucky said, her last few words getting a grumble out of Moondancer. “I can assure it is real… just like the one you destroyed in the hotel.”

Given permission to piss off the grounder, I did as I was told and grabbed it. The statuette was of Minister Twilight Sparkle, “be smart” written on the plaque. I knew it was meant as encouragement, but in the given situation I couldn’t help but find it a double meaning. If I wasn’t smart here, I would die. That would do the Enclave any good, and it wouldn’t be good for Lucky.

I placed it in my saddlebag and turned my focus back towards the Invisible Mare.

“Incredibly standoffish, cold, and thinks little of us here on the surface. Better at killing ponies than she is at small talking them if the events in the apartment complex are anything to go by,” Lucky listed off. “Slight intrigue in pre-last day history. Has a husband and two daughters, all of which still live above the clouds, and looking for a pony named Angel Hair. Now, question, is there any reason you destroyed that statuette back in the hotel?”

“It was an image of a traitor, one despised by all sane pegasi,” I explained, considering the information well known enough both among the clouds and surface to be okay to explain. If this had been any city besides Trotson, I might have been shocked at the question. “Rainbow Dash forsaken her kind in their time of need. That is all there is to it.”

“It’s like we thought then; deep seated hatred and resentment built up from two centuries of near-isolation,” Lucky responded, interest clear in her voice. “Funny, so many ponies saw her as a hero. Guess like everypony with a damn cutie mark she was more caught up in herself than being right.”

While I couldn’t but agree with her assessment of the first dashite, there was a hint of something more. A sadness, a desperation that what she felt deep down wasn’t actually true. What I had said had been the final nail in a long constructed coffin filled with dead beliefs.

“The name Moondancer, it showed up on the other terminal I checked,” Willow said. A gave her a brief side glance, telling her I was listening. “It can’t be the same pony; that was two centuries ago and they sounded nothing like a ghoul. Has to be offspring or somepony unrelated.”

“Now then, I have other questions but those can wait till later. Everypony else is in position, it's showtime!” she replied, pulling both Willow and I’s attention back to more pressing matters. Who this Moondancer pony was could wait. “Now, I’m sure you're already aware of this Miss Rhapsody – most likely due to a certain mutual acquaintance – but to summarize I have interest in the tech the Enclave was working on. It’s rather nasty stuff in the form you were all making it in, but I can see it applied in more… useful ways.”

“That isn’t the reason I’m down here to collect it and you know it,” I stated, leaning down against the desk. “The G.P.E. wants it destroyed. You are part of that reason.”

“And I need to remind you that my reach only extends so far. Without connection to the S.P.P. main hub, I am no threat to the Enclave,” Lucky explained. I stood firm, showing with only body language she hadn’t changed my mind. “Miss Rhapsody, I can understand the apprehension you must have for working with me – with ArcanaTech as a whole – but I can assure you we are no threat. In fact our beliefs align. We understand the Enclave’s hatred of today’s Equestria, and the danger it possesses. Thus why we seek to control it… and perhaps better it.”

“You amalgamations have wallowed in uncivilized chaos for two centuries,” Moondancer chimed in. “In time, ArcaneTech plans to fix that. Those documents hold information that will be vital to the making of a new Equestria. Restoration of civilization, a decent goal worthy of forfeiting allegiances.”

“Your motives do not matter, and do not compare the pegasi of the Enclave to yourselves,” I said, allowing a small amount of displeasure to seep through my voice. “We are more than you grounders ever were, more than you can be now, and more than you ever will be. Do not act like you are anywhere close to as glorious as the Enclave, and don’t try to toy with one of its soldiers.”

The door leading out of the office suddenly opened back up, and I turned my head ready to fire on whatever entered. Instead we were greeted with darkness, only able to see the wall across from the door due to the lights directly above me. It was a threat, and a look at the alicorn next to me shrinking in fear told me it was half working.

“I can understand your displeasure, Miss Rhapsody, but I think it is important to tell you we weren’t asking for your assistance,” Lucky said, her voice far less playful than it was before. That well-hidden annoyance had taken center stage. “We’re requiring it. You want to leave alive? You want your chance at vengeance? Then you will undermine your own and help ArcanaTech. Am I clear, soldier?”

If she was physically there I would have slapped the filthy grounder, filly or not. Instead I was forced to endure, grind my teeth against each other, and do as I was told. I didn’t want to help them, but I also didn’t have any say about if I could or not. With that in mind, I gave them a faux sigh to hopefully make them think I was willing to cooperate.

First chance I had to get out of their grasp, I was taking it.

“Now then, allow me to make this forced arrangement good for you: I know where Angel Hair is, and I’m willing to give you her location.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

I then proceed to do the dumbest thing I could in that moment: I let my reawakened emotions show. I beamed, a grin bordering on psychopathic gracing my muzzle at the news given to me. I wasn’t won over, but false cooperation had turned into willing cooperation in the span of a single statement. The Invisible Mare had me, and I could only assume she was smiling like a predator who had just caught their first meal in days.

“All I ask is that you fulfill a little request. Do not worry, you can do it right here, and it can not harm you or your companion,” Lucky said, her voice making me realize my mistake far too late. I did my best to hole up the glee I was feeling with stoicism, but I doubt it did anything at the end of the day. “Two actually. I’m sure you remember Gold. Close friend of mine, made a bit of an unsavory first impression if I’m guessing correctly.”

“The griffon that stabbed me in the back as soon as we were out of Trotson Station,” I replied, giving a mechanical nod. “Why do you bring him up?”

“I’m sure your alicorn companion would want to hear this too. Come close, Miss Willow Wisp,” Lucky requested. I looked back to Willow, who in turn looked at me. She slowly walked up to the desk, giving me a cautious glance. “You are the wife of a Mister Open Heart, right? You’ll be happy to know he, as well as Miss Gemini, are safe. You can thank Gold for that; it was his form of an apology.”

Willow let out a long breath, her body releasing tension neither of us knew had likely built up in her body. “Thank Celestia.”

“That is only the start of his apology. I’ll be having him tag along with you, and this isn’t negotiable,” Lucky explained. One corner of my lip bent down, but I kept my mouth shut. “The first request is you make sure he doesn’t die. He’s the closest thing to a father I have anymore.”

“Deal,” I replied. “Just don’t expect me to be friendly.”

“He’ll win you over in time trust me,” she said, a bit of that cheer she had lost earlier coming back. “Now for the second one. You know I spent time in Stable 71, and that it is where my parents died. Sandstone was given express permission to use it as long as they don’t do anything that I don’t like.” She paused. “The garden was okayed by me personally. I didn’t expect it to last long, given the lack of real soil and nutrients. When it managed through a couple of months I took a bit more interest, and discovered how: they incinerate the dead or captured, and use the ash to feed the soil.”

I refused to react externally, but the loud inhale Willow did next to me spoke how I felt. The incineration of the already deceased did not disturb me, that was simple cremation. What did was the doing the same exact thing to living ponies, whether they were grounders or not didn’t matter. I subtly scraped the tip of my hoof against the office floor, remembering Bone Breaker’s statement about wanting more Enclave to come to Trotson, and seeing it in a far different light.

“Were they going to do this to Sharpshot and Gemini?” I asked. Willow looked at me as if I had gone insane, the slight hope that Bone Breaker had something resembling a heart still burning in her.

“It’s incredibly likely. They did send you to die, after all,” Lucky answered. Willow’s head lowered at the confirmation. “Don’t feel sad, Miss Wisp. Your husband is safe, that is all that matters.”

“I know but… I wanted my gut to be wrong,” Willow replied, despite Lucky and Moondancer likely having no ability to answer. “It can't hurt too much to try and find the good in ponies, right?”

“The Invisible Mare’s has been broken, and a pony must face punishment,” Moondancer spoke, confirming that they indeed couldn’t hear the alicorn. “It will be decided by you, Singing Rhapsody, who receives it. The choice is between Bone Breaker or her son, Razor. Who do you choose?”

Most ponies would have likely asked why they had to pick or what the punishment was. I didn’t, because it was the only other thing necessary to get Angel Hair’s location. All I had to do was speak a name, and their first leg of my journey for vengeance could be considered nearly complete.

“Before the technological boom and the union of the three tribes, pegasi would amputate in order to get rid of infected wounds,” I explained. “The same solution comes here. Punish Bone Breaker.”

For just about a minute, there was silence. It was broken not by myself, Willow, or Moondancer, but Lucky.

“She isn’t in Trotson anymore, so I can’t give you the exact coordinates, but I know where she is heading. It’s a place called Our Haven. She’s looking for her father and believes they are there.”

I felt a flame of rage light in my heart. The implication made Angel’s treason even worse.

“Her… father? Why would he be down here?”

“Cause it is her blood father she's talking about,” I answered, turning to Willow. “Her mother had her before getting married; a fling during a surface deployment.” I glanced to the left, eyes seeing bookshelves. Lucky wasn’t there, I knew it, but it felt better than staring at a radio for much longer. “You told her, didn’t you?”

“She came to us, offering valuable Enclave resources in exchange for finding her father. An earth pony named Molten Glass, apparently,” Lucky explained. I felt the fire inside my chest grow, wanting so badly to scream in rage at what such sensitive information had been given up for. “Funny isn’t it? When you Enclave ponies came five years ago you were talking about how high and mighty you were compared to us. Turns out you're just like the rest of us.“

Without any hesitation, a roared out and slammed my hoof down onto the radio. It didn’t hold up to the force, caving inwards and spark slightly. I heard the clop of hooves behind me, no doubt Willow taking a few steps back in fright. She had all the right to be afraid, and I had every right to be angry. I had endured Sharpshot’s idiotic world view, the same unicorn throwing our entire plan into the gutter just to spite on fucking mare, and now the continuous insults and exploitation of the Enclave by ArcanaTech. All of that was endured just so I could gain some idea of where one fucking traitor was.

The mark against being a pure pegasus, about being no better then some filthy mud-rolling cretin that’s first emotion was psychotic glee, was the snapping point.

“I am not like you!” I screamed at the broken radio, knowing that Lucky could still hear me. “You and your fucking “organization” is nothing compared to the Enclave! We have education, a military, a government that has maintained for two entire centuries. We have more than you will ever have. We are more than you will ever be! So how about you go ahead, keep your cavity-filled mouth shut, and learn your damn place!”

My response came in the form of darkness, sudden and all encompassing. If I wasn’t so angry, I might have realized how much shit I had just put myself in, but it was too late. There was a soft blaring of warnings in a far off room, a sign something had gone horribly wrong. If I had been in a better mental state I probably would have realized what that meant. Instead the aggravating noise just rose by temper further.

“Rhapsody I think it might be a good idea to quiet–“

“Shut up! I don’t want to talk to you right now!” I exclaimed, turning around looking at where I assumed Willow to be. I couldn’t actually see anything. “I shouldn’t even know you! I should be back up in the clouds with my family, enjoying a forced retirement. Instead I left them and… and…,” my legs suddenly lost all ability to move, emotions swapping from anger to sadness like I was a teenager instead of a grown mare. “and I decided to abandon them. I shouldn’t have left them. I’m a terrible mother.”

I felt two hooves, one feeling not completely there while the other pressed down from above. I wanted to cry, but I could. Anchor wasn’t there, and neither of the ponies behind me held their special touch. So I just sat there, questioning, languishing in self-made torment until somepony broke the silence.

“Thinking about “what if” won’t do anything. We make decisions, deal with the goods and bads of it, and move on,” the first pony, Dead Hooves I quickly realized, said to me. I had no idea when she had shown up, and I wasn’t in a state to be thinking about such questions. “You’re already down here, with us. No reason to linger on untraveled roads.”

“You’re here because of your family, Singing,” Willow said, her words somewhat overlapping with Dead Hooves own. “You want them to be safe and happy. You’re battling for them. I’m sure they are happy, knowing that.”

Dead Hooves’ words did more than Willow’s. I understood the alicorn was trying to help but she was wrong about a lot. Anchor, Clear, and Rainy knew nothing about why I had actually come down here. They weren’t aware of anything, outside of the fact that I was branded. Anchor had comforted me, but my foals likely saw me as a villain.

Yet thinking about it all would get me nowhere. I could save it for later, when my anger wasn’t causing myself problems. I initially reached a hoof to wrap around Dead Hooves, but was quickly reminded that she wasn’t really alive. The next hoof correctly went around Willow, who pulled me up off the ground.

“Not gonna lie, didn’t expect you to try and cheer me up,” I said.

“I spent twenty years of my life being told “kill” by a pony I didn’t like. It caused me to see all the bad in ponies,” She replied. Through the darkness, I could see the slightest sign of a smile. “When Dead Hooves and I traveled together, I had the ability to look at ponies through another lens. I learned that what I had been seeing was just the worst parts of ponies, and I wanted to change that.” Having determined I was more than able to stand up by this point, Willow let go of my hoof, allowing it to stiffly meet the floor. “I decided it was best to start finding the good.”

I blinked, then tilted my head. “I doubt you found any down here, outside maybe Sharpshot.”

“You would be surprised. I learned a lot from that experience, even if I’ve become a bit easy to manipulate because of it,” I watched her outline start to pace through the darkness, my eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light. “I met Dead Hooves, Sharpshot, this doctor named Stitches, a Zebra named Joy, and of course Star Chart. Sure, not all of them were good, but they had good in them. Finding that did a lot for me, even when things went wrong with the Goddess, because I could see that there was some good in her goals.” She looked at me. “I know it can be hard, talking to ponies you don’t understand, but maybe it can help you down here. It certainly did for me.”

I couldn’t give an answer, because something about admitting she was right or wrong felt off. I likened it to a song that I couldn’t quite place, or a memory just out of my reach, but somehow worse. If it hadn’t been for the radio suddenly stirring back to life, even if only on the edge of it, I probably would have sat there trying to figure out what it was.

“Hel… you t… er m… Moon… ry… let ou… ele… rry!”

It was hard to tell what the pony on the other side – likely Lucky – was saying, but now that my emotions weren’t controlling me I didn’t need to hear them. The lights were out, the exact thing that Moondancer had threatened us with when I tried to remind her of her place. No, it wasn’t the lights itself that were the threat, but what her control of the labs meant. The alarm blaring far in the distance had stopped, and I had a feeling it was to draw something out instead of make us run.

“I fucked up, didn’t I?”

“Yep.”

As if the MentaBuck itself found the need to reply, multiple red dots started to show up on my E.F.S.

“Great,” I replied, holding in the groan that was trying to surface. “Let's take the way we came here back. I’m not entirely sure, but that way seems far less dense.”

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I couldn’t tell if the silence was our friend or enemy, and the same went with the darkness. One made our hoofsteps far too loud, and the other left very little vision of the world around us. I constantly found myself checking the local map, cause even with my eyes well adjusted to the lightless world around me things were impossible to see. The only reason I knew we had reached the door of a lab was because we had reached a dead end. The same exact lab the Atomizer had been found in. If there wasn’t a door next to us, then my lack of vision had clearly been worse than before.

While there had been red dots earlier, the E.F.S. had blinked them away as soon as it was clear I wasn’t in immediate danger. That meant that, if there was something on the other side, I wouldn’t know it was there until it saw me. Taking into consideration that I would likely not be able to fight it, I did my best to line myself up just right so that not a single part of my weapons or myself were visible through the door.

I looked to the alicorn across from me, who was far too large to hide on the doors side. Of course, being both an alicorn and having the ability to turn invisible, she wasn’t in anywhere near as much danger as myself. She opened the door, only to stammer back with it only half open as something wailed at her. Thinking quickly, Willow turned invisible.

I rushed out of cover in an attempt to close the door, but closing it wouldn’t have stopped the beast. Like a frag grenade, the door suddenly burst open, knocking me several feet away and away from the lab.and onto the hallway’s floor. Getting my hooves back under me as quickly as possible, I unloaded two rounds into the ghoul, only for them to bounce off its skin like a pebble. It screamed at me, not from rage at being harmlessly shot but for sheer intimidation.

As if to add to the fear created by me wasting two of my six remaining rounds, the E.F.S.’ right corner suddenly became alight with red. Only one red dot was directly in front of me, and the subject of its existence was stampeding towards me with hooves that sounded more like a mini earthquake than a simple clop.

The only reason it didn’t reach me was a sudden invisible force suddenly picking it up from the ground and chucking it into the lab. Lost to the darkness of the lab we had tried to enter, all I got was the loud thud the ghoul gave against it’s wall, and then another as it fell down. Willow lowered her invisibility, a manic excitement in her eyes, drooling at whatever she saw. If it wasn’t for the mass amount of red dots shifting in my lower vision, I would have asked her about it.

“Willow just leave it–”

“It’s sturdier than me,” A chill went through me as her voice bordered on foal-like wonder. “but I can still make it bleed.”

Shock and fear mingled inside my mind as she charged the beast. It charged her back, matching her pained battle cry with a banshee scream, not carrying that it was facing an alicorn. Willow turned mere moments before collision, slamming her hoof into its head.

It did jack shit, the ghoul continuing to barrel into her, nearly managing to knock her over if she hadn’t bent her hind legs. It nearly knocked over an alicorn, and judging by the fact Willow was getting pushed back it was significantly more powerful. As Willow tried to push it off, it sank it into her shoulder. She wasn’t getting out of this without outside assistance.

I need to get it off her. I need to hit its eye.

Only three bullets remained in the semi-auto, but it would do the job significantly better than the novasurge. Not wanting to miss or chance hitting Willow, I burst in and ran up, using my wings to gain a bit of altitude as I closed the distance. As I activated S.A.T.S., I aimed for the head and readied a shot. Time picked its pace back up, a bang deafened everypony present, and a feral scream joined it as the ghoul let go.

I hit the ground with a thud, watching as Willow punched it as hard as she could. To my surprise it was still alive, the shot apparently not hitting its brain… or maybe it did. Clearly whatever megaspell created it had caused its body to become insanely strong. Could that go for its insides as well? A question for when I wasn’t fighting for my own life.

Willow grabbed a terminal from the nearest counter, not having any care for the information that could possibly be contained on it, and hurled it at the ghoul. It did more damage to the machine then it did to her enemy, its muzzle not drawing even the smallest amount of blood. With even more force than she had used to throw the terminal, she proceeded to slam its head into the ground with both her hooves and put all her body weight on top of it.

The beating that proceeded would have killed anything else, haymaker after haymaker thrown at the undead abomination’s face with strength only an alicorn could muster. She held absolutely nothing back; the shadow’s of absolute darkness made it impossible to see her hooves from a punch being unchambered to then being unleashed upon the unsuspecting foal under her. It took several dozen strikes – the insane look on her face keeping me from getting closer or telling her we were wasting time – but then I saw it: red on the ghouls muzzle.

“Yes! Bleed! Bleed!” Willow commanded, sounding more like an insane dictator then the wonderful, sane mare that had pulled me from somber realization. “Show me more. I want to see more!”

The creature was on the floor, and now that it had been bloodied once it was easily bloodied more. The seemingly endless string of punches did find an end, coming in the form of Willow slamming both hooves down on its face with. It’s face was barely dented inwards, the meaty squish and the crash of bones was enough to quench that blood craze that had obtained my companion. I’m not sure if her silently getting off, seeming a bit embarrassed by what she did, was nearly as shocking as the fact it was still breathing. It didn’t seem conscious, but it wasn’t dead!

“I, uh, got a bit excited. Sorry.”

“It’s… it’s fine.”

Willow nodded as I made my way up to her side, my eyes on the slow, heavy rise and fall of the nebula ghoul’s chest. Its hooves flailed, though it wasn’t anywhere near as fast as the typical panicked animal; a likely result of the beating it had just received. As soon as I noticed it wasn’t unconscious I picked up my pace, Willow matching it with much less effort. My eyes stayed on it, allowing me to see the moment the ghoul managed to get a hoove back underneath it.

Willow’s ears twisted at the thundering sound its hoof made, followed soon by her neck as she gave a gleeful stare at the creature she had spent the past few minutes beating into the ground. I got into the air and proceeded to smack her clean across the nose, breaking whatever spell the ghoul’s movement had put her under.

“Get the door open. We don’t have the time or bullets for an extended fight!”

She looked between the ghoul and me several times, each one allowing the barely-killable monster in front of us more time. Then she nodded and took off towards our exit. I joined her a second later, landing on the ground and watching from behind as the ghoul finished the process of standing up. I briefly glanced towards the nearest table, knowing the Atomizer was right there. The moment my eyes turned back to the nebula ghoul, it was glaring at me with drunken fury.

“It's open!”

“Go!”

The ghoul lunged at me the moments my wings flapped, sending me back into the air. It crashed into the floor below me, the concussion it was suffering causing it to have more trouble getting back up then usual. A sharp turn sent me to the table, picking up the prototype gun in one hoof with one hoof before banking back towards the door. It hadn’t recovered by the time I was back out into the next hallway, flying as fast as I could in such tight corridors.

All I heard was its hooves upon the ground joined between the sound of Willow’s own. My focus stayed right ahead of me, the speed I was moving making the dark halls and labs near impossible to see. Small corrections were the only time I slowed, typically happening because I had come inches away from a head on collision with a wall. The fact all the red dots on my E.F.S. were behind us was the only comfort, because it assured me that as long as we were going forward we were fine.

Time blended together, the first lab we came across turning into a small blip as we came back across it. One moment Willow had shoulder bashed the doors to it open, all care for quiet gone. The next she was doing the same thing to get out of the lab. Eyes solely on her and ignorant to my surroundings, it didn’t even occur to me we had just passed by it till we were outside the lab.

As we reached the elevator, my hooves finally touched down on the metal floors. I glanced from one end of the hallway to the other, looking for any sign of nebula ghouls approaching. Willow, in the meantime, was slamming her hand against the elevator’s call button as furiously as possible.

“Who called the fucking thing back up?”

It didn’t dawn on me till now just how odd it was hearing her swear.

The sound of hooves started to boom from both sides of us, an animalistic cry sounding at different times from different sides. I looked down at the atomizer in my front hooves, then back to the elevator, and then back down one side of the hallway again. I aimed down one end of it, doing my best to stay calm even as the sight of two nebula ghouls appeared from the darkness. An all to calm ding came from my left, followed by the parting of the elevator doors.

Willow entered first, slamming her hoof down on the ground floor button as I got it. The doors started to close, but they weren’t quick enough. I hadn’t stepped far away from, and as I turned around to look out into the hallway my face found that of a smooth, pale white unicorn ghoul right in front of me. All I saw was its body, because its head had been lowered to use its horn as a dark age jousting lance.

A lance that broke through the skin in my chest, much to my shock and fear. It used its head to block the elevator door, keeping it from closing and practically tossing me around like a ragdoll as it tried to get its hooves through the crack to reopen it. No unicorn, ghoul or otherwise, should have been that fucking strong. When I managed to get its horn out from inside of me, a wet noise accompanying said action, Willow rammed head first into the beast.

The doors closed, the elevator started to move, and I collapsed onto the floor. The claustrophobia of the occupied elevator, the lack of light, and the agony that had come with forcibly removing the beast’s horn from my body caused an anxiety spike. The pain of the wound itself wasn’t actually terrible, feeling more like a horrible cramp, but by dropping the atomizer and clutching my chest with both hooves I could feel the warm, wet blood staining my fur.

That Celestia my coat color hid the stains.

“You okay Singing?” I looked up to Willow, the alicorn kneeling down and staring at me with worry.

“Had… had worse but… fuck.”

“Singing?”

“Are all unicorn horns able to pierce skin?”

She gave me a nod, and I let out a stuttered breath. At least one part of those damn things were still like a natural unicorn. Granted I would have preferred to find out in a less hooves on way. Maybe a textbook, though I doubted its ability to keep my interest.

As the elevator doors opened and we found ourselves back in the entrance room of the Ministry of Arcane Science hub, I smiled. “I think finding out where Angel Heart is makes up for a hole in the chest.”

I grabbed the atomizer in one hoof, ready to limp my way out only for Willow to stand in front of me. She put a wing under me, laid down, and then flicked it up. I found myself put onto her back, the alicorn giving me a smile as she got back up. I blinked once, twice, and then a third time before looking down at my chest. It was staining her coat red now.

“You don’t have to,” I told her, looking back up from the blood stain forming on her back.

“Hey, friends help friends. Besides, being bloody is attractive down here.”

I laid my head back down. “I think that’s just you Willow.”

She responded with a giggle. As we reached the doors leading out of the M.A.S. hub, Willow’s smile turned more melancholy. She reached a hoof out to the door, looked back to me for a second, and then faced forward again as she opened it. I was blinded by the sunlight, gritting my teeth and closing my eyes as the wind hit my wings. I spread them out, letting out a sigh at nearly the exact same time Willow did.

“I did this with Dead Hooves. I carried her from place to place since she could only crawl, and it allowed me to see the world differently. It allowed me to appreciate what was along with what still is.”

I looked down to her front hooves, the blood on them drying up. “Yet you still kill. You seem to enjoy it.”

“It was basically all I knew for twenty years. Felt if I didn’t learn to enjoy it, I might do something bad to myself when it was all over.”

…

“Hey, Willow.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re insane.”

The melancholy on her face fell away, leaving a smile of pure contentment in its place. “Consider how you usually talk to ponies, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

I snorted. “Good. That’s what it was supposed to be.”