Starlight blinks a few times, unsure of what he just saw. 'Did she just...change colors?' he thought. He looked at the now white pegasus in front of him before taking a small bite of the apple and standing up. "Hello, Shadow...or Cyanside, er...whoever you are. My name's Starlight, but my friends call me Star. You are a friend...right? Kinda giving me mixed signals..." He heard a loud shriek and long moans coming from farther down the tunnel. Something was down here with them, undoubtedly either that smarter strange pony they'd just escaped from or a new one that had been bitten down here. Whatever it was, it wasn't good and it was heading in their direction. He pulled his map of the tunnels out of his bag as he began to walk in the opposite direction of the noise, taking small bites of the apple as he walked. He turned back to her. "Ugh, just great. We'll skip formalities for now, something's coming after us and I don't exactly think it's friendly. You can either follow me and my map back up to the surface, or you can stay down here and 'handle things by yourself.' Your choice, hot hooves..."
"Go With him" "But i thought you didn't like him." "...I don't. It's just that...well, he might be able to protect you. "But isn't that what you do?" "Just shut up and follow him, and stop talking out loud, he already thinks we're strange enough Cyanside did as Shadow told her and followed Starlight, bouncing along merrily. So why do you care if he thinks we're strange? You don't normally care how other ponies feel about us. "Would you prefer he leave you on your own?" Well no, but why would you care about that "..." Oh...I get it, you liiiiike him "I do not...It's just that he saved us back there, or at least he saved you from the burning pain, and I feel we owe him for it now." I knew it, you like him.
AWAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOHHHHHHHAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!*He screamed his sonar detection and found they were right below him*D-diie....*He searched for a way down*
Minutes passed as the pair silently slipped through tunnel after tunnel, using only Starlight's magic as light. He looked ahead and then backwards and, finding no more strange ponies, deemed it safe to talk in a low whisper to the bouncing pegasus next to him. "Listen, um...I don't usually try to get to know ponies I meet along my travels and I hope I don't offend when I ask, but your, uh...condition...intrigues me. Are you okay? You claim to be two different ponies and you have conversations with somepony who isn't there. What's worse is the fact that you bounce around with not a care in the world. Has this outbreak really gotten to you, or am I missing something?..."
*He had found a manhole that he could use to get down.He yanked it off and crawled down.*AAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!*He used his sonar scream to detect his prey*
"Oh, you mean Shadow?, She's sorta like a Sister to me. It's kinda confusing really, you see, I'm me, but she's me as well. She was the pony back there when you and her fought that strange, strange pony. And as to why I bounce about like that it's because i know we're gonna get out of this. Did i explain it well enough? I could ask Shadow to explain it to you if you want." "Cyan, dont you dare drag me into this."
"I understand a bit more now, thanks. Besides, I don't think she'd explain it to me anyways, she sounds like a very grumpy pony..." Star chuckled a bit.
"She isn't that bad once you get to know her. Just a bit antisocial. And easily irritable..and a fire hazard." "Keep your voice down Cyan, I think i can hear that strange pony that attacked us." "Speaking of which, Shadow says we should be on guard. The zombies are coming." Cyanside said, smiling throughout despite the severity of what she was saying.
"Great, just our luck..." He quickened his pace to a speedy trot. "Come on, the manhole is right up ahead. Hopefully we'll make it there before those things make it to us."
*Turns out the manhole they were going towards was the same one the Knave used to get in,He jumped from around the corner*D-die..noww...!
"What the buck was that?" Starlight turned around and saw the same beast from before a few feet away from them. He quickly jumped into a defensive stance and pulled out his machete. "So we meet again...You just don't give up, do you?" He looked around for another way out. The manhole they'd been looking for was conviently right behind the strange strange pony ready to rip them limb from limb. "Don't suppose you'll let us get by to that manhole, huh?"
N-no....DIIIIEEEEEEEEE!!!!*He lunged at them.Carefully avoiding the swinging blade.*Rrr...AWWWRAAAAAAGGGHH!!*He claws the blade out of Starlights grip*
The blade flies behind him as the strange strange pony closes in for an attack. Star, having no time to resort to his spellbook, engages the beast in hoof to hoof combat. He carefully dodges a few swipes and bites before attempting to knock over his attacker with a light beam. "Shadow! Help me out here! I don't know how much longer I can hold out against this guy!"
RAASAHARRHH*He manages to pick up Starlight and throw him into the wall*Yoou...d-die noww....*He readies himself for the kill*
"Are we even making progress towards the ship? We don't have much time to get there, and I think I've seen this place before!" Heartburn took another 360 in search for any strange ponies, but saw none. The area had been particularly quiet lately. "The longer we stay away from that ship, the less of a chance we have of even making it. How far away are we?"
"The longer we stay away from that ship, the less of a chance we have of even making it. How far away are we?" Quill heard femine voice not too far from his position. He half expected it because the Strange Ponies in this area had recently been "killed". Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything of note on his most recent excursion, and had almost decided to head back to his base when the voice caused him to stop. [size=-2]"Blast this conscience of mine..."[/size] He rounded the corner and made his presence known. To his surprise, it seemed like he had stumbled into a veritable group of survivors. No turning back now... "Um...Hello there." He glanced around, playing dumb. "Are you trying to leave the city? Maybe we can help each other." ----- The Knave felt the Presence Within. It expressed: Assimilate. ----- A roaring screech could be heard not far off from Group 1's position. Quill gimaced; he knew that sound anywhere. An unlucky group of survivors had been spotted by a Crier. He knew that unless they were well-prepared, the poor saps would be infected in no time at all. "In any case, we should make ourselves scarce."
Shadow pulled the lighter out of her saddlebags, having placed them on the ground for what she was about to do. With a flash of light, Shadow swiped the lighter across herself, the fire engulfing her hooves and wings, making her look like a monster out of hell. The pegasus leapt at the strange pony, the fire on her wings flaring out. "Leave him alone!"
*He responded to the presence with his own order"Kill." And dodged Shadow*Noww..yyou bothh..d-die...*He managed to force Shadow into the sewer water. extinguishing her fire*RAAAH!!*He pounces her and starts to claw her to death*
"Don't think I can't fight without my fire." Shadow bucks the strange pony away from her, but only a short distance. Not enough to get to any of her gear. Thinking desperately she flaps her wings towards the strange pony. Both starting to dry them, and firing off tiny projectiles. Cinder's and Ash, even when it's not on fire it's going to burn like hell...and with a little wind... She fans her wings rapidly toward the strange pony. As the projectiles increased speed, a couple of them began to spark up. ...They can ignite!
RAAWWWSSHH!*He jumps up and hangs onto the ceiling like a bat*SEEEEEERRRRRSSHH!!!*He called a group of soldier stranglings*K-killl them....*The soldiers attack*
