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

by GoldenGust

Chapter 8: A Rocky Road

The distinctive sound of a rifle ricocheting off a rock sent a surge of fear through every inch of Silver's body. Silver stumbled with a high-pitched squeal. Rarity pushed in front of the station, and her horn began to glow. A jolt of light shot into the air, a signal flare in a vibrant yellow colour. She stood tense for a moment. The ponies braced for another crack of gunfire, but none came. Rarity broke the stillness with a chuckle, gradually increasing to loud laughter. Silver cleared his throat and puffed his cheeks in frustration at the mare.

"It's Maud." Rarity managed to muster a few words through her laughter. "A warning shot. She doesn't recognise you but trust me. If she wanted you dead, you would be." Rarity playfully bumped her side into Silver's side. Silver relaxed for a moment. He looked ahead at the fortification in front of them. It was a large wooden wall made from individual tree trunks, reinforced by a wall of rocks at the base. The wall was about the height of a small house, and at the top of the wall was a row of barbed wire broken up by small sniper nests. The one that was housing their attacker was now vacant. Breaking up the main wall was a metal gate that had now swung open. Standing in the frame of the gate were two mares, both with long rifles at their flanks—the mouth bits with the firing mechanism now hanging below their chins. The mare on the left was slightly taller, with a bluish-grey coat and straight, saturated violet hair. On one side of her body was a full saddlebag; on the other was a long gun. The rifle had a port at the top for the intake of rounds, a belt of bullets curved over the mare's back and into the saddlebag. It had a wooden buttstock adorned with pebbles and rocks. Attached to the mouth bit was what looked like a monocle but was a compact scope she used for aiming. Standing next to her was a smaller mare with a similar equipment set-up. She had a bluish-grey coat but with a silver and messier mane. As Rarity and Silver got closer, Silver could feel the eyes of the silver-maned mare burn a hole in his face.

"Hello." Maud's voice was monotone, and her face was expressionless. Her voice made Silver's ears twitch. "It's been a while, Rarity." Maud looked her up and down before her turquoise eyes landed on Rarity's leg wound. "You are hurt." Maud's eyes landed on Silver. Her gaze was harder to figure out than her companion’s, but it felt bad.

"Girls, please, I would be dead if not for my stallion friend here." Rarity moved herself in between the two mares and Silver.

"Fine," the silver-manned mare grunted sharply. "Come on, let's get you looked at. Marble should be with Starlight."

"Lead the way, Limestone." Rarity followed the two mares and beckoned Silver to do the same. The compound was large. Some of the farm looked worn by time, and old fences lay tattered, but the small farmhouse looked well taken care of. There was a porch with a rocking chair, swaying in the wind. They walked towards a repurposed grain silo; on the front was a bulkhead door. Maud rummaged through her saddlebag, there was a constant jingling of bullets before she pulled out a small, silver card with a split geode on it. She swiped it across a card reader next to the door. The door clicked and hissed, the wheel spun, and the door creaked open. The four ponies trotted in, and the door closed behind them. Some steam filled the room, turning a red light green and opening the last door of the airlock.

Limestone led them through a small corridor, passing a counter and getting a glimpse into a room with coolers and shelves filled with medical supplies and tech. Maud knocked on a metal door, causing a sudden rush of assorted rummaging sounds. The door was unlocked, and behind it was a pale pink unicorn mare. Her mane was purple with light blue streaks, haphazardly bunched into a messy bun. Her Persian blue eyes were framed by heavy eye bags, and her horn constantly glowed with a turquoise aura. She wore a white doctor's coat with some multicolour stains and burns.

"Rarity?" The mare's voice was tired and soft at first before she straightened to attention, "Rarity! What are you doing here?!"

"Hello, Starlight." Rarity began before being gently coaxed inside by Maud, clearly eager to get her wound checked. The bandaged leg caught Starlight's eyes.

"Celestia! What happened?" Starlight moved out of the way to let Rarity and Maud enter. Limestone joined, followed by Silver. Starlight was too focused on Rarity to notice Silver. Silver closed the door behind him and looked around the room. The room was circular. On the right side was a medical bay; some of the beds were filled with ponies of all kinds. Rushing around was Marble, an earth pony with a similar grey coat to her sister’s, hers being much lighter. Her slightly green-grey hair was tied back and tucked into the collar of her blood-stained doctor's coat. She lifted her head, and her ears perked up at the commotion. Marble trotted her way over and led Rarity to a free bed.

"I'm fine, darlings. It's not the first time I've been shot," Rarity attempted to downplay the situation. Which only made Marble move faster. Laying her down, probing her leg up and unwinding the bandages.

Starlight got a closer look at the bandages, "Did you do the bandages yourself? It's shoddier than your usual work." Rarity chuckled softly.

"No, I had a helper." Rarity nodded her head towards Silver. Starlight turned around confused before jumping at the sight of Silver.

"How long have you been standing there?" Starlight held a hoof to her chest.

"I came in with the rest ma'am." Silver rubbed the back of his neck and mumbled under his breath, "I was pretty proud of my bandaging skills." Silver pouted.

"It is pretty impressive for an earth pony." Starlight smiled, causing Rarity to laugh.

"Who's going to tell her?" Rarity looked over to Silver with a playful smile. Silver chuckled and parted his fluffy mane to reveal his horn. Starlight moved closer to Silver and looked over his horn.

"You are full of surprises, huh? It's a bit damaged." Starlight started using her magic to pull Silver's head down to get a closer look at his horn.

"Got it in an accident while entering the zone," Silver explained, now staring at the floor.

"You got here from the outside? Why would you do that?" Silver pondered Starlight's words for a moment before sighing.

"Misson from Luna. It was supposed to be top secret but it's becoming apparent that I need to be open if I want to get anything done." Silver sighed in embarrassment.

"Luna is alive!" Starlight shot up, "Are you in contact with her?"

Silver nodded "My PDA seems to be able to get into contact with her, pretty lucky."

"That's odd. We have tried to get in contact with the outside, but it's like our signal is being blocked. Where did you get it?" Starlight raised an eyebrow.

"Luna gave it to me herself." Silver explained.

"Could be some alicorn spell. Maybe it's because it's from outside. Whatever the case, it is extremely fortunate. Having some guidance from a princess right now would be nice." Starlight's voice became sombre as her hoof tapped nervously. Limestone noticed this, her face becoming a mixture of sadness and frustration.

"Is something wrong?" Silver tilted his head. Starlight sighed and shook her head. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Limestone walked over and spoke on her behalf.

"A friend has gone missing." Limestone stated.

Rarity turned her head, "Trixie? She's gone?" she asked softly. Starlight moved to the other side of the room and began to float some Petri dishes over to a microscope, starting to work compulsively. Limestone shook her head.

"She won't talk about it, trying to block it out with work, I guess," Limestone looked over to Rarity. "Trixie went out to test some gadget. That was a few weeks ago. Nothing since. I've been keeping an eye out, but I've not been able to go out to search. I need to be here to protect the farm with Maud. The place is too big for her to hold down by herself."

"Why don't we have a look?" Rarity offered. "What was she testing? Where did she go?" Limestone looked over to Starlight, who was still working away.

"An hour or so west of here to a psyfield that some ponies had told us about. The place was crawling with changelings," Limestone shook her head. "But you know Trixie. She rushed off in the middle of the night like an idiot. Guess she was trying to prove it worked."

Rarity locked eyes with Silver, "Well that changes a few things." Rarity tapped her forehoof on the bed. "That psyhelmet is why we are here." Rarity's words made Starlight stop for a moment. Starlight turned around.

"Why would you need the psyhelmet?" Starlight asked.

"Silver, would you grab the note from my bag?" Silver trotted over to the bed and rummaged through her bag, pulling out the note and giving it to Limestone, who began to read. Horror slowly took over her face.

"Pinkie wrote this? Where did you find it?" Limestone's words made both Maud and Marble rush over to look.

"It was on the back of a bookcase in Twilight’s old home." Rarity explained. She looked over to Marble with a small, thankful smile as she stood up. She tapped her injured back leg's hoof on the floor to test it for pain, letting out a sigh of relief when there was none to be found.

"This doesn't sound like Pinkie." Limestone looked at the floor, "Then again, Pinkie wasn't acting like herself at all." Limestone huffed in frustration.

"We need the psyhelmet to look into this further." Silver stated, "Her bakery is-"

"Surrounded by psyfields, we know. We planned to go reach it ourselves when the helmet was finished, but we need to be here." Limestone shook her head, “We need to get the helmet first."

"We'll go. I am feeling much better, and Silver needs the experience." Rarity trotted her way over to Silver's side.

"I'll come with you!" Starlight raised her voice and said bluntly. "I need to find Trixie… I-" Her voice cracked, causing her to swallow.

"You don't need to explain yourself. An extra pair of hooves would be lovely, darling." Rarity smiled sympathetically.

"Changelings are a bit… difficult for training." Limestone's eyes fixated on Silver, "You sure he can handle it?"

Rarity nodded "He's going to have to learn somehow, and I'd rather not let our only connection to the outside world get ripped apart by changelings by himself." Rarity looked over to Silver. "I will fill you in on the way but for now, let's get some rest." Silver nodded in agreement. "If you will have us?"

"You are always welcome," Maud said softly. "Come on. You should get some rest too, if you plan on going out tomorrow." Maud looked over to Starlight, who nodded. Starlight took a breath as the aura around her horn fizzled out, leaving a small wisp of light bluish-grey smoke to dance away from her head. Both Silver and Rarity recognised the telltale signs of an overworked horn and shared a look. In silence, the trio followed Maud out of the silo to the small farmhouse on the other side of the courtyard.

"Maud, darling." Rarity broke the silence. "Is Mud Briar staying or is he still out working with Cheese?" Rarity asked, wanting to take their minds off of the job tomorrow.

"Mud Briar is out. Their job went well. He's heading back now." Maud responded dryly. Silver noted a small shift of her eyes. The stallion got a hint of worry from the mare, but even with years of detective experience, her poker face was impeccable.

"They have been out for a good while. I wasn't expecting their trip to Sweet Apple Acers to as long as it has." Rarity flicked a strand of hair back into place.

"Mac had them do some hunting," Maud explained.

"Ponies or mutants?" Rarity glanced over to Silver who had been looking over Starlight. Giving him a soft nudge to pull the stallion back to earth. She gave him a knowing look but was taken aback by the genuine dumbfounded expression.

"Bit of both, Mac had told them about some brainless in a school nearby, but you know how these things go." Maud said.

"Brainless?" Silver asked. "Like… zombies?"

"Zombies, brainless, afflicted. Lots of ponies have their names for them." Starlight spoke up. "Wandering groups of ponies who have had their brains melted by psyfields and such. It's an awful fate." Starlight looked down at the grey dirt with a soft look of sadness.

"They are not like the zombies you have read about. They can use guns which is just our luck." Rarity sighed with an odd mix of compassion and frustration as they reached the balcony of the house. Maud opened the door and gestured her head for them to enter.

"I'm going to head to my room. It is nice to see you, Rarity." Starlight let a tired smile stretch weakly across her face. She looked like she would immediately shut down upon contact with her bed, "Nice to meet you." She nodded in Silver's direction.

"Likewise." Silver smiled at her back as the unicorn slinked away up the stairs.

"You two don't mind sharing a room, do you?" Maud asked.

"As long as it's better than our last place, we'll be fine." Rarity grinned and chuckled.

"Anywhere is better than that place." Silver stated.

"Oh, ho, ho… you have no idea. That was a beautiful hotel compared to some of the Tartarus holes we will find on our adventures." Rarity rolled her eyes. She began to trot up the stairs. Silver followed her, giving a small nod to Maud who nodded back before leaving the house.

"Wait, adventures… plural?" Silver questioned with a laugh.