P.O.N.I.E.S: Shadow of Canterlot

by GoldenGust

Chapter 2: The fog, all consuming

The waggons fabric roof gently flicked and moved in the wind. The day would have been pretty, The sun shining brightly down, making rays of light through the small worn holes in the roof. Silver tracked the rays as they moved from the front of the waggon to the back. The feeling of the waggon running over a rock and a gruff voice snapped him out of his thought.

"You're the one they sent?" The voice came from a pegasus guard that was situated across from Silver. His tone wasn't angry, the guard sounded worried like he was concealing an unfathomable amount of fear and needed to say something, anything to take his mind off of what was coming.

"Yes, I am. SilverBullet" Silver stated his name and took in the reaction from the guard. The guard's eyes widened slightly as he leaned in.

"You're that secret service stallion, huh" The guard looked Silver up and down and tilted his head, his tone sounded disappointed. Silver met his eyes with a raised eyebrow and a smile. "I pictured you'd be a little..." The guard fought against his own mind, looking for the right words.

"Bigger?" Silver chuckled and widened his smile. The guard looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with a forehoof.

"Well, yeah." The guard looked back over to him. He was a rather large stallion, The trademark golden castle guard armour fit him well and was full of scrapes and dents from years of use. "But with the new weapons coming out because of the war, you don't need to be a big stallion to be a dangerous one any more." The guard nodded towards Silver's holster, the gun within reflecting the sunlight that penetrated through the holes in the roof. "You must be a unicorn too. Considering you don't have one of those bulky battle saddle things." Silver smiled, lifting a forehoof he parted his mane slightly to reveal his horn.

"Guilty as charged" Silver shifted a little on the wooden bench, getting more comfortable and shifting his weight to the side a little to face the guard. "Shall we address the gryphon in the room? You ever been past the fog before?" The guard looked down for a moment.

"None of us have. We were all just stationed near it, moving back as it marched forward. I've heard things from inside it though and-" The guard stopped and looked around for a second before looking forward towards the two earth ponies pulling the wagon. "Onyx and Smoky know more." The guard nodded his head towards the earth ponies. One is as black as night and the other only a minuscule amount brighter. The lighter one looked back and then looked at his darker companion. The black stallion turned around a large, fresh scar across his left eye.

"Those..." Onyx took a breath. It sounded laboured but not from the hours that had passed of him pulling the wagon. "The things in the fog could not have been made by pony kind. Deformed and aggressive, not even the pits of Tartarus could hold them." Smoky, the lighter earth pony gave his friend a soft nudge and offered an optimistic grin.

"They sure as buck not invincible though, you got first hoof experience. You bounded in like a bat pony straight from Tartarus! Smashed that thing right in the jaw?" Smoky joyfully pondered, not expecting any answer. "I guess it was a jaw. could have been anything with how odd that thing looked" Onyx rolled his eyes with a weak smile.

"Please shut up, little brother." Onyx tried to match his brother's energy but just couldn't. Silver could see the thoughts swirling around in the large, black pony's mind.

Silver let out a small sigh as he turned back to the azure pegasus. "Sir, I don't think I caught your name. Since we are all getting aquatinted" Silver asked as he got back into his comfortable position.

"Sapphire Arrow. Captain of the fog gu-" Before Sapphire could finish, Onyx interrupted.

"Acting captain. You ain't captain fully until we get confirmation of Solar Dice's condition." Onyx explained with an air of professionalism in his voice. Smoky chimed in, lacking the earlier professionalism of his older brother.

"If anyone can survive in there, it's Dice! He's tougher than-" Both of the earth ponies fall silent and the wagon jerks to a stop.

"State your business" A Hardened voice came from outside, this one was female.

"Official business, from Princess Luna," Onyx explained as he nudged his brother.

"Oh!" Smokey stuttered "Documents are in the saddlebag, ma'am" Smokey looked up at the insurmountable wall of fog and his ears flattened. Silver and Sapphire both sat up to look out of the front of the wagon. Silver, spotted a fired-manned Pegasus with sunglasses, She was wearing a worn bomber jacket with some old ribbons and awards sewn to it. Next to her was a younger-looking red unicorn in formal attire. She walked over, and her horn lit up crimson, she pulled out the documents and gave them to the yellow Pegasus, who looked over the top of her sunglasses at the documents.

"First time on the front?" The yellow Pegasus eyed Smokey.

"No ma'am. Just got back from transfer" Smokey kept his posture straight.

"So you were here with Dice and his squad when things went to shit, huh?" The Pegasus nodded towards the red unicorn, and she put the documents back in Smokey's saddlebag. "Let them through" The Pegasus looked over at Silver and eyed him up and down, he felt his very soul being inspected. "I sure hope you know what you are doing" She turned and walked away, and the wagon jolted forward, signalling the journey's continuation.

"That was Spitfire" Sapphire broke the silence. Silver recognized the name.

"Spitfire, huh? Wasn't she a Wonderbolt?" Silver asked, his eyes focused on the wall of fog that was getting closer. He could taste the dread in the air.

"Yeah," Sapphire tapped his hoof on the bench. "They disbanded when war prep started" Sapphire explained, his wings twitching as he followed Silver's gaze to the fog. "Don't worry about being scared. Still gets to me too" The Pegasus offered a smile to Silver. "Times like this, if you ain't scared, you are stupid" Silver took a deep breath and looked back at the blue Pegasus.

"I appreciate it" Silver tried his best to get comfortable again as the sun stopped shining through the holes in the roof of the wagon. Now being replaced by a thick smoke. Silver covered his mouth instinctively, but could still make out the soft laugh of sapphire on the other end of the fog in the wagon.

"It's not toxic. As far as we know" Sapphire's smile could be barely made out through the consuming smoke.

"It'll pass" Onyx's voice cut through the fog as he explained, "A couple of minutes of this, and then we will be through." the road got notably rougher as the waggon continued carving its way through the wall of fog.

"Once we are past this. Where are we going?" Silver moved his hooves from his mouth, still nervous about breathing in the fog, but it didn't turn his lungs to liquid yet, so that soothed him.

"Ponyville!" Smokey chimed in, his voice was shaky, but he was fighting his own nerves with optimism. "The Plan is to drop you off there and see what you can scrounge up from the library Twilight was based at. Once we are done there, we either follow the lead or get the buck out of here" Smokey took a breath. Silver waited and watched as the fog thinned, looking out the front of the wagon. The trees were dead or dying, like a gradient of decay. The once bright and luscious green grass is now a sickly, pale brown. Shrivelled shrubs dotted the landscape, breaking up the monotony of destroyed grass and rotting wood. A suffocating silence replaced the disappearing fog. Silver felt a chill up his spine, which compelled him to fire up his horn and clutch his gun.

"Welcome to Tartarus boys" Onyx shatters the silence. "Keep your heads on a swivel. SilverBullet! I want you to keep the gun handy. SapphireArrow! Get your combat harness on. If something swoops out at us, we might need someone in the air" Onyx's voice changed, more authoritative and commanding. It gave Silver the push he needed to whip out his gun and cling to it with his magic, so tightly he could have cracked the ivory grip. Silver ears flicked as he snapped out of his fixed gaze on the dilapidated road in front of them, which seemed to stretch on into infinity. He pulled his eyes away to look at the Pegasus guard, who was digging a harness out of a large duffle bag. It was a black saddle strap with a large metal cannon on the left side, almost the entire length of his body. The Pegasus laid the weapon on the floor of the waggon. Kneeling down and slipping his head under a curved metal magazine which led into a side bag. He slid the ornate, metal muzzle into his mouth while beginning to stand. His wings unfolded and moved through small holes on either side of the saddle, folding back into a comfortable position. He gave his body a shake, and the rattle of the weapon echoed through the silent forest road. He looked towards Silver and smiled, moving his head to the left until there was a small pop, and he let out a sigh before moving forward to join Silver at the front.

"Locked and loaded sir," Sapphire said in a joyful and playfully mocking tone which produced a scoff from Onyx.

"I would have forgotten more about combat than you could hope to remember. If I forgot anything, to begin with," Onyx narrowed his eyes back at the Pegasus who responded with a respectful smile.

"Why do you think I gave you the job?" Sapphire stated rhetorically before narrowing his eyes at the tree line, scanning it for any movement.

"How long till we get there?" Silver asked, joining Sapphire in his diligent scanning.

"From here to Ponyville is about three days. We have camping equipment and food for the trip, we are to keep a low profile, so we don't have lots of defences, but we are trained, and we know these things can die." Onyx explained, which soothed Silver's hyperactive nerves somewhat. "We are expecting minimal resistance with the route we are taking. The map shouldn't have changed much. We are still in Equestria at the end of the day." After Onyx's words, All that filled in the space of the silence was the noise of the waggon wheels creaking and the earth ponies trotting. Nothing else. No birds or any animals whats so ever. Just suffocating silence broken by the ruckus of travel.

"When we set up camp, should we set up sleep shifts?" Silver's hoof bounced off of the front wall of the waggon. he crossed his forelegs on the front, keeping his eyes trained on the tree line.

was that movment? or the wind? I can feel my heart pounding. Left? Clear. Right? Clear? Is that something? I can't breathe

"We do have shifts. I was going to go over it when we set up camp but it is important info. I will stay up first. Then Smokey. Then Sapphire. Silver, you should stay rested. We got your back, you are our precious cargo after all" Onxy explained. While the black earth pony was talking. Sapphire gave Silver a small nudge and an understanding smile. For a moment, Silver stopped scanning the trees and looked towards the armoured Pegasus and took a deep breath. Silver responded to Sapphire's smile with a thankful nod.

After a while of travelling through the fog. The trees and grass are replaced by a small town. It was full of dilapidated buildings, some abandoned and some boarded up with signs of a struggle. And the first signs of the repugnant stench of death. Silver tracked one of the previously boarded up doors, its boards now splintered and shattered across the concrete steps and splayed out inwards into the dark room. He peered through the door frame and was illuminated by the sickly amount of sunlight that had clawed its way through the fog. Inside, framed by grey sunlight. Was a corpse. The pony was unrecognizable, A pegasus, one of their wings missing. Silver locked eyes with the corpse.

Species? Pegasus. Decomposition? about 8 months worth, later stages. Cause of death? Unknow- wait. No, is that a gunshot?

Silver froze. in the ponies, half rotten forehead was a bullet hole. this was a murder.

"First time seeing the dead?" Sapphire asked, giving another gentle nudge to Silver. "Don't worry. you ge-"

"That pony was killed but another pony" Silver interrupted, his voice was emotionless due to shock. The entire waggon jolted as Smokey froze up, causing Onyx to stumble and look back.

"What did you say?" Onyx let a small whisper of fear escape through his voice. "How can you be sure?"

"Follow me." Silver turned around and hopped out of the back of the waggon. Somthing pushed him towards the door. Silver peered in, casting another spell to help illuminate the rotting house. The walls were peeling, the hooves of time tearing at the wallpaper. The smell was more powerful, filling his lungs like rotting sewage. His time as a detective made him able to shove the smell out of his mind. Silver's eyes landed back on the corpse. The corpse's eye gazed back at him, the other was gone. Bugs swarmed around it, slowly and steadily chewing through their pony-flavoured banquet. Sapphire moved next to Silver, his face turning up in disgust.

"Ah Sweet Celestia, He had a rough day huh?" Sapphire slowly moved into the room, his head on a swivel. Silver followed him in, aiming his pistol around with his magic. He reached the corpse and leaned his head down. "You sure that's a gunshot?" Sapphire kept his back to the corpse, aiming at the stairwell at the left side of the room. After a moment, the other two earth ponies came in. Smokey's face went white and he stopped at the door.

"Stay outside, keep watch." Onyx's voice was softer than usual. He gave his brother a soft smile, Smokey nodded and leaned against the door frame.

"See the hole in their skull? You can see the residue of old gunpowder. Whoever shot this pony wasn't using the best ammo. The hole is roughly about point seven inches. So I'm guessing a shotgun slug." Silver explained, continuing his analysis of the body, noticing the saddle bag sitting a few paces away. It was splayed out, its contents long ransacked. On the open top of the saddlebag was an expertly sewn-on patch. It depicted an embroidered symbol of the magic hazard symbol. a yellow warning triangle with a black silhouette of a unicorn on one side and an unstable explosion on the other. "Did you guys know anything about this?" Silver turned around to see Sapphire now looking closer at the hole in the ponies skull, tracking his gaze down to the missing eye.

"How, did you get all that?" Sapphire asked. Visually shivering off some uncomfortable feeling as he pulled away. "You got a good eye huh? Pun not inten-AHH!" Sapphire's voice erupted into a scream as an unidentified bug clawed its way out of the eye socket of the corpse, After gorging itself on rotting insides it flopped down onto the floor and crawled slowly towards Sapphire. "KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT" Sapphire squealed and stumbled away, falling down into a sitting position. Onyx stamped on the bug, destroying it utterly.

"Well, if anypony didn't know we were here, they sure as Tartarus know now." Onyx rolled his eyes unamused, wiping his stained hoof off on Sapphire's azure fur, Causing the Pegasus to recoil and jolt away. Onyx turned to Silver. "We had heard communications but nothing we could make out. We knew somthing was talking in here but..." Onyx shook his head slightly like he just had an image flash into his brain which disturbed him. "Those monsters can speak, not very well but they can. Wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that some of them were talking into mics absentmindedly and broadcasting their words to anypony that would listen to them." His voice became sombre as he looked into a random spot on the ruined wall. "We should probably move on. Don't want to stay still for too long. We need to make it to the camp spot before dark." Onyx stated and walked back to the door "Smokey! We are leaving..." There was no response from Smokey. Causing Onyx to stop in his tracks for a moment. Silver turned around and looked at the door frame. Sapphire's eyes darted to the door frame as well.

"Smokey? You there bud?" Sapphire talked to the doorway to no response, his rebuttal was to put the muzzle into his mouth and resting his teeth on the button. His eyes looked at Onyx whose face was filled with worry. Onyx slowly made his way to the doorway before looking out.

"Little brothe-" Onyx's face went pale, and his eyes narrowed.

"Onyx?" Silver's voice broke the decade of silence. he got no response, the earth pony stood motionless. he almost stumbled out of the doorway. That's when both Sapphire and Silver noticed the pool of fresh blood at the bottom of the concrete steps. Before they could protest, a bullet ripped through Onyx's neck. His body slumped to the ground and twitched. Silver's eyes shot wider and his body solidified. Sapphire clenched his teeth, causing him to fire the rifle on his hip. The noise echoed through the landscape. Slowly being replaced with giggles getting closer. And closer. Before abruptly stopping. The silence dragged on for an age before it was broken by the clatter of an object rolling through the doorway.

"OH SHI-" Sapphire's protests were interrupted by a blinding light and thunderous bang. Silver felt his body get flung back and the feeling of him hitting the back wall. Silver clattered to the ground. his vision fading.

"Outsiders have been dealt with ma'am, The Donor is safe."

"Yes ma- GUAH"

"Poor bastards. Let's hope The Sence left something behind- Oh this is new. We have a live one"