My eyes began to water as we were met with a tunnel to the outside world. My nose burned as the foul toxic air entered my lungs. I began to retch afraid of throwing up on myself. I heard Nurse Redheart gagging and retching herself. The smell of decaying flesh is overwhelming.
"Nurse Redheart!" I called out to the mare still blinking my watery eyes.
"My-my nose!" She yelled gagging more. She knocked her hoof on the stone ignoring my call.
"We need to get moving, now!" I demanded and began to walk in the tunnel. I heard rustling behind me and a clunk.
"Wait, come to me I know a spell that may help us for a few minutes." Nurse Redheart called, seemingly begrudgingly.
I squinted walking over the the still white mare. Her horn began to become encased by a soft pink glow illuminating a small area around us. She pointed her horn to the sky expelling a soft pink dome around the two of us. The air seemed to clear inside of the small bubble of safety. I sighed blinking the last tear from my eye.
I looked over to Nurse Redheart noticing a saddle bag that is placed precariously on her back.
"I see you noticed the saddle bag?" She asked me as if reading my mind.
I just blinked.
"It was by that skeleton to the right of the Ranch door." She began to rummage through it's contents tossing some trash and rotten food aside. Her eyes lit up as she levitated two black respirators, "here put this on." She hovered a dirty respirator towards me.
"Since when did ponies willingly carried respirators in their saddle bags? I know that the apocalypse is here and all but that seems a little overboard." I exclaimed still mesmerized by the equipment.
" They were earth pony from what I can tell, not much information if any was leaked to them. Most Earth Ponies thought that the MV Bomb traveled through the air."
I cocked my head to the side, still examining the weird object that lay in my hooves. I noticed a small tab on the side that may attach to the TrackerJack but it seemed unlikely. I used my hooves to adjust the two straps on the sides of the air filters. Fitting the equipment on my muzzle I used a small amount of magic to pull the straps taunt around my head. My vision wavered as the magic in my system was still dangerously low.
Pink magic dropped from above us as the dome around us protecting us fizzled out. After the last magic was absorbed into the universe I heard Nurse Redheart beginning to gag. Turning my gaze over to her I saw her struggling to adjust the straps. My mind raced kept saying to help her, help her.
"Here, let me!" I called louder so she could here me through the respirator. She nodded and continued to cough. I used my hooves once again to adjust the head and neck strap. "Help me by holding it to the front of your muzzle comfortably!" She nodded to me placing the black and red respirator to her snow white muzzle. Slipping the one strap through the latch I pulled it taunt with my hoof. Sliding down to the neck strap I slipped the strap into the latch. I slowly walked back not wanting to give that close moment with her up.
"Thanks," she called to me her eyes creased into a smile.
"Mhm." I nodded.
Turning I took a long look at our surroundings. God damn more confusing colors. Mostly grey but it's too much grey. Grey ceiling, grey stone, grey ash. Groaning my eyes glared at the walls. I turned back to the rusty door with black soot caking the exterior. My eyes fell on a foal and mare skeleton. Pain struck my gut like a ten ton boulder. The mares legs were still wrapped protectively around the foal. I walked over to them touching their heads with my horn closing my eyes. My head began to ache as I stood there in silence. Opening my eyes I looked up bewildered. Hovering above the two skeletons were two ghost like ponies a mare... and foal. The air was expelled from my lungs.
I heard hooves clack behind me. "What are you looking at?" A voice asked ripping me from the moment of silence.
Startled I jumped a bit. Whipping my head around my dark respirator collided with another object. I gasped standing there noticing I was nose to nose with a now blushing Nurse Redheart. Her pink eyes were captivating and this moment was a euphoric bliss. Clearing her throat I backed up.
"Sorry Nurse-"
She cut me off raising a hoof, "Please if you respect me as now a free pony do not used the term Nurse with my name or even in my direction. I will be a medic pony if you so wish however I will not be associated by that title anymore." She walked to the sooty door turning her flank to it. "A title that binds me to that retched life!" She curled into her barrel releasing her legs as a loud twang sounded in it's place."You have no idea for how long I've waited for an opportunity to escape. It seems that you were no better off that I was, always picked on. Secluding yourself to your room, staying in there for days on end." She began to cry and laugh her voice muffled by the respirator. "Oh Goddess Luna, this must be a sign that I was meant to live, meant to go on." She began to weep collapsing to the crude floor soiling her coat. "I was trying to mess up putting the respirator on. I was trying to lose oxygen." My eyes grew wide. I slowly walked over to her. "I want you to not have to worry about me, Spades! I want you to thrive in the Boondocks not have me as a dead weight like in the Ranch_"
I rested my chin on her head shutting her up almost instantly. "Your talking to much." I sighed nuzzling her. Her coat was soft and her mane was tickling my face.
She gave off a soft whimper.
I sighed again not wanting to give off this sweet moment, "we better start moving before they send a party after us, especially after you bucked the door just then."
She sniffled and nodded slowly standing to all four hooves. I turned my head to see the spirits of the foal and mare cuddling, the mare sill protective. I trotted over to the two. Smiling under the respirator I inwardly awwed at their love.
Redheart trotted over to me, "What are you looking at?"
I looked over to her puzzled, "can't you see..." my voice trailed off as the spirits were shaking their head.
"She won't see or hear us son of Death." I grunted shutting my eyes and clenching my jaw as the mares voice invaded my head.
"Spades! Are you okay, talk to me!" Redheart asked concern spilling from her mouth,
I grunted, "yeah." Sighing the mare flew down and into the skeleton on the larger mare. The skeleton began to be in cased in a green glow like a spell was causing this. The jaw bone of the mare clanked and clattered a stressed voice exited the mouth, "Please_not_time!" Great this is going to be easy, I mean it always is! I shook my head. "Death_look_for_Spades! You_need_run! E_" The last word was cut off most of the bones from the skeleton cracking and crashed to the stones.
I looked to Redheart expecting her to be as confused as I was only to see her extremely distressed. She was pointing her hoof behind me motioning me to turn. 'Well S__t.' I moaned in my head.