Remnants of a Dying World

by Dusk-Spark

Ch. 9: "Without batting an eyelash."

"Here, drink this. It'll warm you up a bit. Now where was I?
Ah yes. The owner of that scarf. He was...strange, to say the least. Back before Equestria descended into madness, you'd meet friends in all kinds of places. Sometimes they'd be someone you do business with, or a school mate, oh I'm sorry...you don't know what school is. Well...the point is, friendship has a way of running into you when you least suspect it.
Wait, didn't I say something similar to this a while ago?"

---

---

The arctic air brushed roughly against his coat, it was weaker than it was out in the frozen lands but...it was still really cold (as if that needed to be said). "Sally, you alright?"

"This one has no errors to report, user. However, your body temperature is dropping at an alarming rate. This one advises shelter or an article of clothing to defend against the winds."

As for Aurora; she was walking close by, if trailing behind a bit. She kept her gun close, pointing it at anything that even remotely looked like it could move.

"We shouldn't have left the tram." Nox realized that now, but there was nothing any of them could do about it now. Unless they wanted to make the trek back. They weren't in the citadel yet, still on the outskirts but the road was taking them much closer to the...giant, crystalline walls surrounding the whole citadel. "I...don't remember those from the pictures." He knew one Crystal Pony back in Vanhoover, called herself Quartz (ended up nicknaming her Quirky). Most of his knowledge of the crystal empire came from her and the pictures from her home. But he didn't quite remember the GIANT WALL SEPARATING THE CITADEL FROM THE OUTSIDE!
"That's gonna be a problem." They'd seen it back at the tram, but they hadn't realized how big it was until-

"WELCOME TO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!" The sudden sing-songy, overly cheerful voice of a mare made Nox shriek like a filly, jump, and land on Aurora's back (who was surprisingly strong enough to hold him up, up until she bucked him off).
The thing that had nearly given Nox a heart attack was a time-worn sign which was three times his size, by the road. A holographic mare in crystal empire garb was pacing around inside the sign. "Hold still please." A green light shined on them from the top of the sign, washing over them several times before disappearing. "You are cleared of any infections, my name is Aiya. How may I assist you?"

"Uh...okay..." He was having flashbacks of VA-381 now, which he tried not to think about. "Um, can you help us find shelter?"

"....Yes!" A 3-Dimensional map of the crystal empire laid itself out before the two ponies. "The green dot is you." It showed them loitering outside the empire, "follow the road up to the crystal wall, I have alerted the gate personnel of your impending arrival. Please follow their instructions and enjoy your stay in the crystal empire! Remember, if you have encountered anything pertaining to the plague; please contact the nearest officer for assistance. Thank you, and have a lovely day." And that was the last they heard of Aiya (though Nox had a feeling that she'd be back).

Nox should've been happy, he was finally gonna get some answers. Was gonna get on the train back home, everything should've been fine. Why wasn't he happy though? "Oh well...that was easy?" Nox said to empty air, because Aurora had already walked ahead of him. "Hey wait up!" He called after her.

---

To say that the wall was much bigger up close would have been one heck of an understatement. "I wonder how they managed it?" Maybe they had a unicorn help them or something? Or maybe they used their own magic? Crystal Pony abilities were still largely unknown, after all. "So, she said go to the gate..." His voice trailed off when he saw the crystal gates...torn off the wall and tossed aside in the snow. In its place was a makeshift gate of metal garbage and broken down machines which Nox couldn't even begin to comprehend (they looked big enough to fit a fully grown stallion though). "She said there would be ponies here to come greet us." But there were no ponies.

Aurora looked as though she could care less; she was much busier pawing at the ground curiously and routinely opening and closing a compartment on her gun. "...."

"HELLO?" Nox shouted out. "ANYONE INSI-" Suddenly he felt something smash into his side, he tried to fight back but he was pinned in a way that restricted his movement!

"*** *** ******!!!" Aurora angrily shouted at him in the gibberish that she thought was a language.

"What?! What did I do?" Before he could protest anymore; Aurora's hoof was shoved over his mouth while pointing her other hoof to a...rather law paw print on the ground. Ohhhh, Nox understood now. 'Okay, quiet voices. Got it.' Nox frantically nodded until Aurora finally let him up. He shook off the snow clinging to his coat and mane, feeling just a little bit colder after that whole thing. "Well, I don't think anyone's coming out." There was no way they were getting through the blockade, so that only left them with one other option. "Let's see if there's another-Aurora?"

"?" Aurora's head snapped back to Nox. She'd been staring intently at something above the wall, when Nox tried to see what it was...all he saw were gray clouds.

"Is something wrong?"

"...?" She tilted her head off to one side, looking at Nox as though he'd asked her to list every element on the periodic table (which even he didn't know).

"Nevermind, um...Sally, a little help?"

"Of course, user."

With Sally's help, Nox illustrated to Aurora that the three of them should check around the wall to maybe find another entrance.

"..." After several seconds of pacing back and forth, and looking in various directions. Aurora nodded cautiously, pushing Nox to go forward with her forehoof.

Now that he thought of it, Aurora always seemed to hang back a bit. Why was that? Well, if he had to guess it was probably because she didn't fully trust him. Maybe she thought that if she were to turn her back on him, Nox would immediately stab her, take her stuff and then run off.
"Hm..." Come to think of it, why hadn't she already done that to him? She'd already tried to rob and murder him for the talons, what's stopping her now?
'No, no. Don't think like that Nox. We're both ponies, in the same boat, plus I saved her life. Why would she try to kill-' And then his mind flashed back to when she pulled the trigger on VA-381. '...She didn't even bat an eyelash. Was it because he was a machine or...had I misjudged her character so badly?'
That would have to wait as he felt Aurora's teeth bite into his tail. "AGH! What?!" He unintentionally shouted in shock, which earned him another tackle from Aurora. Before he could protest, she pointed ahead of them. It looked as though she was pointing at a simple rock...
....
A rock that moved up and down. Yeah that was breathing...
...
A breathing rock, that dripped with that same sludge like material as the monster from the tunnels.
....
Yeah that wasn't a rock at all.

Aurora drew an illustration in the snow: it was two circles to represent them, a line representing the wall, and a bigger circle to represent the monster. She traced a path back the way they came, away from the monster entirely. That was her plan at least, and Nox could not agree more. With her gun still locked onto the monster, she slowly crawled away.

Nox followed suit, this was almost like when he used to play Hide and Seek back in Cloudsdale. Except for the cosmic monstrosity several meters away that would murder the crap out of them if they were-

"WELCOME TO THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE!"

Oh sweet Celestia. Of all the worst things that could happen, a fallen sign still functioning and giving away their position is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!

Immediately, Aurora's shield went up. Right before the monster would've been on Nox, the shield had cut clean through its claw. Nox averted his gaze from the still wiggling claw. The monster that was frantically scratching at Aurora's shield vaguely resembled a Diamond Dog's build and posture, but its features were much closer to that of a timberwolf (well, a timberwolf covered in sludge). The dome shield would keep them safe for now, but the two ponies needed to figure something out. The glint of the gun's barrel caught his eye; Aurora had dropped it, having had to put her focus on maintaining the barrier instead. Nox scooped it up out of the snow and took aim at the sludge wolf.

"User, destroy the core!

Is what he remembered Sally telling him before. It wasn't exactly difficult to find the RED GLOWING WEAK POINT! It was right on the forehead, glowing and pulsing. He took aim...

That screech rang in his ears again.

His forelegs shook. Stop shaking.' He tried to tell himself. The way its screeching made him feel was starting to come back to him. 'C,mon Nox, be a brave pony...'

She just pulled the trigger without batting an eyelash.

Would he end up like that too? 'I'm not a murderer, this is survival. Its us or them. I am not a bad pony...'

The shield faltered for just a second. Too weak, the claw broke through and scratched Aurora across the face. The violent impact knocked her off her hooves and into a snowbank.

The sludgewolf turned its attention to Nox, reared onto its back legs and then-

BANG

It stood motionless for a few seconds as the bullet pierced through its core, and then it toppled over with a loud thud. The gun fell from Nox's shaking hooves.

....

Several seconds of him just standing over the corpse passed by uninterrupted. He slapped himself with his foreleg and rushed over to Aurora's side, "Aurora!"

"..." She groaned as she felt the scratches on her cheek and muzzle.

"I-It's not so bad." He lied.

If she had understood him, she didn't seem to care. Her horn sparked to life as she got to doing...something to the wound. Words failed to describe exactly what she was doing, but she seemed to be letting out a lot more blood from the wound.

Nox didn't even want to stay and watch, he trotted back over to the gun. Cautiously moving around the dead body of the sludge wolf. The gun had fallen closer than he thought; he reached out to it slowly, occasionally glancing back at the dead monster. A bit closer. Closer...he snatched the gun out of the snow, pausing to search for signs of movement from the monster.
....
Nope, it was dead alright.

After passing the gun back to Aurora, the two ponies took a moment to breathe.
And a moment was all they had, because the sounds of howls drifting along the winds reached their ears; it was like someone had dunked ice water down their backs. Out of the corner of his eye, Nox saw TWO more monsters climbing over the snowy hill. Time to run is what he thought, but they were being flanked by four more back the way they came. "Ow!" Something hit Nox from above, he looked up to see one of the monsters scaling over the crystal wall.
"This is not good." Those things were too fast and too strong for Nox to handle with just a knife, how many could Aurora kill before they would finally overpower her? 'If only I could fly.' Desperation was starting to set in, "Sally! Ideas!"

"....This one advises retreat."

"Well that's obvious, do you have any better ideas?!"

"...This one apologizes, at present time your only option is to flee, however...odds of survival are 16.7%."

"Dammit!" Was this really where it would end? Unless fate intervened, this certainly looked like the end of the road. Funny how fate has a way of working out.

"Hey, you two." A hushed voice called to them nearby, "Over here." The voice was coming from...a rock. Well, not so much a rock but something underneath the rock. "Hurry up, I can't keep this hatch open forever!"

Nox's choices were...stay here and deal with the sludge wolves or...go with a complete stranger down in a dark tunnel and hope he's not a psychopath. "...Aurora!" Nox bumped her flank, "Let's go!"

---

They could still hear the clawing outside the hatch, "Are you worried? Don't be. That hatch has survived worse things, eventually the monsters'll get bored and leave. But we'll be long gone on the off chance they do make it through." Their savior said to calm their nerves, which was dimmed by his monotone, deadpan "I really wish I was somewhere other than here" manner of speaking. He was a pale green unicorn, a bit smaller than Nox but they were probably the same age, his horn's glow created a very interesting contrast off his jet black mane, what really caught Nox's eyes though...was the scarf around his neck, its rather bright colors really clashed with the unicorns muted tones. The only light source were the horns of Aurora and their new friend.

"Thanks for the help." Nox said, letting out a breath he didn't realize that he'd been holding in. If he ever had to go through that again in his life, it'd be way too soon.

"You're lucky you were so close to the hatch, and that I happened to be outside the barricade when you were shouting like an idiot."

Nox let the idiot comment slide, 'If he was there, why didn't he open the gates?' Was what Nox was thinking, it would've saved them some trouble. "So, where are we going, exactly?" Nox couldn't help but notice Aurora hanging back again, 'She really doesn't trust anyone.'

"Back to the settlement, its the only safe place from the plague monsters."

"Plague what now?"

"...Have you been living under a rock? Never mind. Plague monsters is what we call those...things."

"The sludge wolves?"

"So you call them sludge wolves?"

This was getting them nowhere, "Plague monsters. Well, I'm really glad you showed up when you did...I did not wanna be a pony snack. Speaking of which, what's your name anyways? I'm Nox, this is Aurora, and this is Sally."

He nodded in response, "...Break, is what they call me. Or B." He took a deep breath as he lead them through the dark, dank tunnels. They didn't look natural at all, not like from the shelter to the central hub though, this one looked...well...for lack of a better word, amateurish. All Nox hoped was that it didn't topple and crush them to death. With the way fate loves to screw them over, that was very likely.
"Now listen," Break began, his tone dropping to a lower pitch as he spoke, "Before we let you in, some ponies will have to personally inspect you for contamination."

"What?"

"...Wow, you really have been under a rock this whole time." He muttered under his breath. "To make sure you're not going to turn and kill us all, it's standard procedure. Nothing to worry about. I already know you're clean."

"How do you know?"

He chuckled softly, "Its simple deduction." He took a deep breath...
"You're rather clean, well built, and free of any major scars, this suggests that you've been in a very safe place all this time with other ponies.
You have a habit of keeping your severed wings close to your body, which suggest you're self conscious about the injury, this suggests a past trauma.
In addition, based on the discoloration near the cut-off point and the closer to the shoulder joint: there was something covering it until recently.
There's a bit of sludge residue on your hooves and clinging to your coat, but they haven't festered which suggests that you weren't infected, plus you don't have any of the psychological or physiological signs of infection or you're a really good liar, and I'm willing to bet you couldn't lie your way out of a bucket.
Not to mention if you were infected, Aiya would've been blaring alarms for an hour or two." He spoke rather quickly and with a gleam in his eyes.

"...I...wh...you..." Nox couldn't tell if he was impressed or creeped out.

He then turned his jet-black tail to Aurora, "as for your friend..." He took another deep breath, there he goes again...
"She keeps herself in the back, which suggests she's had bad experiences with ponies before.
She doesn't fully trust us, so she'll be the most troublesome mainly due to a communication barrier and the way she carries herself like a fighter, if she wanted to she could probably kill the both of us in a matter of seconds before we had time to draw weapons.
Her lack of a response means she either can't hear me or she doesn't understand the words either of us say.
Her foreleg has been bandaged up with a dirty blue rag, but she doesn't seem to have any problems walking so its unlikely that its an injury and more likely to have sentimental value or she could be hiding a plague scar, but there's no festering wound on that leg and I can't detect the scent of rot on her.
I would ask you about the rag, but you probably don't know as its very clear that you two only met recently, probably less than a day ago judging by the differences in how you carry yourselves and your hygiene.
While she is scratched up quite a bit, there's no signs of infection; and I watched how she fixed herself up which means she is aware of the contamination danger and has purged herself beforehand so its unlikely that she'd be a contamination risk.
Unlikely but not completely out of the question." He finally breathed a sigh and turned back around, "Just follow our instructions and then you can leave if you want."

Nox only briefly glimpsed Break's smug smile, "...How...did you know all that stuff?" Nox could barely follow any of that.

"Like I said, simple deduction."