"You realize we just shut ourselves into the Evil Scary Stable of Spookiness, right?" Sam wanted to slap Pip in the face, but this wasn't the time nor place. He had vowed alongside an old friend of his to never come back down into one of these things on his own free will.

'This had better be worth it,' He thought bitterly, regarding the discarded papers and cans on the ground underneath flickering lights, 'Cause this is sending me quicker to Hell than I was before.' Dogmeat didn't say anything, seemingly remembering his won experiences in these places. Sam knew exactly what the Blue Heeler was thinking of.

It started (and ended) with the word 'Gary'.

The magical field surrounding the shotgun in the air flickered constantly, and the weapon jolted every few seconds. Sam-whose sight was as foggy as his thoughts-knew it was a symptom of his major concussion. While his skull couldn't be dented, the kinetic waves of any hit could go through easily. He knew of a Wasteland recipe to drastically cut the length of his injury, which would then be completely gone after a four hour nap. But now, in the dankness of the subterranean megashelter, it was impossible. He would have to wait until he got back to New Appleloosa, or maybe a saferoom inside these metal catacombs. But for now, a little bit of willpower could get him through.

Calamity's eyes darted from one shadow to another, his muscles tense and his wings twitching every few seconds. He was a pegasus deep underground, one of his instincts and iconic bodily functions-flying-rendered useless by the few tons of steel, concrete and rock above his head.

"Wand'r, no offense, but ah'm gonna trust Pip ah'n this one," He told him, "I reckon she knows more abou' the Stables here than you do." Sam couldn't blame him for choosing the optimistic side, so he nodded in response. "Besides," he added, flapping his wings, "Not like these are gonna do me any good down here, one way or t'other." The flapping caught Pip's gaze, which was then turned to the twin rifles on either side of his body built into a saddle of some kind. Metal reins extended from it, meeting a few inches from his face from a bit that acted like a trigger, both of the rifles firing at the same time.

"Hey, Calamity," She said, "I've been meaning to ask you, what is that?" She pointed her hoof at the saddle. Sam took his eyes off of the hallway in front of them for a moment to glimpse the saddle, but regretted it instantly; a red blip went off, but when he turned to look at it he saw nothing. He tightened his telekinetic grip on his shotgun, slowly edging forward, trying to spot the ghost.

"What?" He turned looking around, spinning in place. Pip couldn't suppress her laugh, the pegasus was making a fool out of himself. "What, you mean my battle saddle?" Pip must've nodded, because Calamity went on. Sam paid them no mind as they went on, instead pushing farther into the Stable. He wanted to get in, purge whatever fucks were in here, and get out. He couldn't hear Dogmeat's soft footfalls, signaling that he had stayed back. That relived Sam; The dog wasn't very useful in this setting, especially with his small phobia. He needed to be as safe as possible.

He spent a few minutes ducking into the doors in the hallway, scavenging when he could. He left the locked box in the storage room, knowing he wouldn't be able to with the curves and blurs in his vision. He quickly walked out, seeing Pip and Calamity still talking about his damn saddle. He rolled his eyes, having seen firsthand that conversing and letting your guard down in a vault would attract the danger and ultimately kill you in a terrible way. Poor Parker and Jenkins...

Only when he crept down the stairs did the two notice he was gone, but by that time Sam was reading the terminal entry inside a classroom. It was a cleaner, more kid-friendly version of his old classroom. However, there were some major differences, like the addition of the bookshelf with a once-plush rug beside it. There was also a tank to hold an animal of some kind, giving Sam the impression that the madness that destroyed this stable had began either here or close. Shaking his head, he finally started to read the first entry.

Had a real surprise when we tested the young unicorns on their magic today. I had all my little ponies bring in their pets and show me how they could make them levitate. Simple enough, although a squirming animal can add a level of difficulty for foals at this age. I had to let both Butter and Peridance each borrow the class mascot, since neither have a pet of their own. Peridance was thrilled, but I think Butter is terrified of the snake, even though she's been told it's defanged and harmless. Needless to say, Butter didn't do very well.

The real surprise was little Quanta, who has been struggling with even minor levitation all year. Now I know these things have never been recorded in girls, but I can't imagine any other explanation: we had a full magical epiphany occur right in our classroom. Quanta not only levitated herself, but she let out a flash of energy that affected all of the pets in the room. Most just panicked and had to be recovered, but some (including our mascot) seem to have vanished completely. And strangest of all, the arcane flash seems to have transformed Carrot Tail's ugly old cat into… well, an even uglier old cat.

It only lasted a moment. Quanta seems fine. Didn't even realize what she'd done. Of course, parents had to be called, and Carrot Tail is traumatized. It will be a miracle if I can teach these foals anything for the rest of the week. Meanwhile, I'm going to write up a proposal to have another unicorn stallion watch over these tests from now on. Just as a precaution.

So the reason this stable went crazy WAS because of this room, some kind of magical school test. He was partially right on the gene splicing, just not how he thought it would go. He quickly moved on, noting the clopping and the pats of the footfalls of his friends.

I expected a few parents to keep their colts and fillies home after the excitement at the beginning of the week, but by now they should be letting them back. Instead, attendance is at its lowest yet. Over half my students have skipped their classes today. If things haven't turned around after the weekend, I'm going to have to start calling parents. And if that doesn't work, maybe even the Overstallion.

"Ya ever heard of anypony called Prince Celest?" Sam nearly jumped out of his fur, barely going against his impulse of pulling his Deagle and pumping the speaker full of lead. He knew they were coming, of course, but he had no idea they were that close. Damn vault hallways...

"Nice to see you two caught up," Sam muttered. Neither of them heard, much to his chagrin. Dogmeat was oblivious, sniffing a small box of toys in one of the corners.

"What?" Pip asked, "Lemme see that." She took the book in her telekinetic grip, which appeared to be a children's book. Sam, now curious, pulled one of the books out to read for himself. While it seemed to be a boring book about different ancient legends of Equestria, Pip seemed to be angry at them. "The Stallion in the Moon?" Sam had just gotten to that part.

"Y'know," Calamity chuckled, "Ah think ah remember my ma readin' me a story like that… only, it was a mare in the moon, if I recollect." Sam's eyebrows shot up, starting to see the pattern forming.

"That's because it's supposed to be The Mare in the Moon!" She almost shouted. Sam's mind was accelerating. From what he had read in the barely ruined books he could in the Ponyville Library, Equestria had been ruled by an immortal princess for millennia. That, and instead of in human history where males dominated everything for most of history, it was the opposite here.

"So let me try and figure out what's wrong with this stable," Sam said, putting the book back, "One; Instead of a very matriarchal society like Old Equestria seemed to be, down here it is a patriarchal, from the textbooks to the stories, and about five times worse." Pip nodded, seemingly agreeing with his train of thought.

"Well, ah suspect some of 'em were stallions t' begin with," Calamity muttered. Sam couldn't help but agree, having come from a more equal society-at least the ruins of one.

"Two!" Pip continued for him, though her voice sounded a little strained, "Not one story or textbook has anything but the vaguest references to the history or governance of Equestria." After shifting through the books a little bit, Sam could see that she was right. Now it was starting to come together, and it seemed Pip was starting to catch on too.

"Y'know," Calamity said, noticing how angry Pip was becoming, "Yer gonna burst somethin' if ya don't calm down a touch." Pip responded by throwing the book she had into the corner in anger. Sam stifled a chuckle as she went to the terminal to read the entries, leaving him examine the rest of the classroom. As he looked closer, he could see some small signs of a struggle of some sorts. Scuff marks on the ground where desks were suddenly and aggressively moved, papers that were on some scattered around on the floor, and even claw marks on the wooden surfaces...

He crept out of the room, shotgun still up. In the time he had been in he had seen seven blips, twice they showed up two at a time. His hunch of them in the ventilation ducts were reinforced as the ceiling above him emitted scratching when his trained ears tuned out the clanging of the ill-maintained pipes. A mix of a cat and a rattlesnake... He wasn't looking forward to when they showed. He ignored the raising of voices behind him, pressing forward.

He ducked into a storage room, a glowing terminal on a table at the end. He only partially relaxed when he checked in-between the crates on the shelves to make sure none of the buggers were hiding there. With the coast clear, he placed his shotgun on the small amount of table space available and began going through the entries, apparently from the perspective of one of the maintenance ponies.

Entry 1:

I cannot believe my luck. Persimmonie is one fine mare. The date last night went incredibly well. She even let me kiss her! And her little filly, Carrot Tail, seems to like me too. Even better, I kinda like her. I don't have to pretend like I thought I would just to spend some more time with her mother. In fact, we have a second date planned tomorrow night.

Oh, and Greyhorn finally fixed the lighting on level 2-B. That flickering was driving everypony bonkers.

Entry 2:

Dammit, of all the luck. First, the whole lighting strip on guess-which-level blows out, plunging the damned atrium into blackness in the middle of rush. Even worse, Persimmonie postponed our date. Some unicorn filly did something wonky to Carrot Tail's pet, and Persimmonie's been with her all day trying to keep the little cunt from drowning in her own tears. I take it back. I hate children.

Sam snickered at the last part of the entry. He had reasons to hate children, having come close to being turned into Swiss cheese at the hands of a bunch of ten year-olds barricaded in a cave.

Entry 3:

Got called to the Overstallion's office today. Big emergency that required my special talents. Any guesses? He locked himself out again. Again! This is the third time this week. Fortunately, any pony with half a lick of sense could get that thing open. Weakest damn lock I've ever seen. Still, just in case Greyhorn ever has to do it, I've left a handful of bobby pins and a copy of Today's Locksmith in the Maintenance locker room safe. I've even highlighted the most useful bits for him. So as long as he doesn't forget the password, even he shouldn't have a problem. And I made the password his name, so… oh hell, he'll still probably forget it.

Meanwhile, my love life's taken a turn for the worse. Persimmonie's filly is apparently in the clinic. I hear the cat attacked her. They'll probably have to put it down.

Entry 4:

Where the hell is Greyhorn? Idiot missed his whole damn shift today. Called up to his room, but no answer. Goddammit, I've got to do everything around here myself.

Oh, I replaced the entire lighting assembly up on level 2-B and guess what? We're still having problems. I swear to God the ponies who built this whole place must have been cutting corners. Probably cheated Stable-Tec out of fat loads of money. I hope their asses melted when the megaspells hit.

Entry 5:

Still no Greyhorn. Talked with some others, and they haven't seen him either. Suggested I check medical. Would be just like him to find some way to fall and impale himself on his own horn.

Dammit, there's that scratching sound again. Something's managed to get into the ventilation system. I've removed several of the covers on this floor. Hopefully, whatever it is will fall out and I won't have to send some colt crawling in after it. Did I mention how much I hate children?

Double-dammit. I just spotted the thing staring down at me. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was Carrot Tail's damn cat. But they caught it and put it down yesterday.

Triple-dammit! The damn thing just bit me! I swear, I'm going to send a colt up there after it with a flamethrower!

"Hey, guys?" Sam asked behind his shoulder, feeling eyes that weren't apart of his group on the back of his head.

"Yeah?" Pip and Calamity asked, right behind him.

"Duck." He quickly twirled around while grabbing his shotgun, able to put one blast into the exposed vent ducts before one jumped out. The one that jumped away was very feline, only that its fur was replaced by scales, large fangs that didn't fit in its mouth, and the slits of the eyes going horizontal instead of vertical. The holes made by the lead pellets of the buckshot, however, began to leak blood.

The first one that jumped was thrown into the wall behind him on instinct by Littlepip, her and Calamity backing out of the room at his warning. The second flew past him and into the terminal. Sam quickly raised a hindleg and kicked out, nailing the bastard in the face. The pure kinetic force shattered its skull, sending shards of bone into its brain. He saw the first one quickly reorienting itself from its collision with the wall. Before he could do anything, Littlepip's hoof came flying at it, crushing its head in-between her hoof and the metal. She barely got a breather before the third one jumped out of the vent and landed in her mane, snagging itself in its knots.

"Get it off! Get it off!" She screamed, regressing into a filly. She involuntarily kicked out with her hindlegs. Because of the small amount of space, her legs landed on Sam's chest, sending him sailing backwards into the terminal, breaking it. He slumped down, wind knocked out of him and chest bruising. He barely looked up when he heard two deafening bangs in sync with each other, and being sprayed with the green blood of the creatures. He sighed and put his head back on the table, grateful that episode was over.

That was when he felt his skin catch alight. He looked down quickly and saw the blood that landed on his exposed fur was eating through his tissue like acid. The spatter of blood around his hindhoof began to burn as well, the flesh melting off of the bones to reveal its shiny surface after going through the tough boot leather. The drops that didn't land on his skin-his hat-also had holes burned into them, the excess blood on the brim dripping down and landing on his cheek, a few centimeters below his eye. He choked back a scream, instead slamming his unaffected foreleg into the floor, denting it with a loud bang. A pool of water quickly formed in it. Pip and Calamity were snapped out of their small moment by the bang and looked down to his position on the floor. Dogmeat weaved through their legs and sniffed at the holes, before being pushed back by Sam's leg.

"Back it up, bud," He groaned, "Don't get any on you." He slowly getting back up on his hooves. He quickly checked his hoof, seeing that he cracked it open, leaking blood. His wounds, thankfully, had cauterized, but had also marred his bones' metallic surface. While painful, the corrosion would eventually go away.

Eventually.

Now, he looked like a thoroughly pissed Terminator. But instead of John Connor, he was trying to find...he didn't even know. And that fact pissed him off even more. Why were they down here when they could've just shut the door and left? Of course he knew the answer, he had been in the same shoes as Pip more than once.

He grabbed his shotgun off of the ground, shakily putting it onto his back. He slowly passed his two companions, his injured hooves making bloody prints on the ground. His hindleg scraped across the metal floor, doing more damage to the floor's surface. In the almost deathly silence that the entire Stable was in, both of them could hear what Sam muttered under his breath.

"Let's get whatever we came for and get the fuck out."

---

Three quick guided shots from Little Macintosh blasted apart three more of the creatures. While these creatures were stealthy and quick, they were weak. Another was surgically torn apart by a blast from Sam's shotgun, his sight increasingly blurry. His only hope for hitting anything was, as much as he hated it, spray and pray. Dogmeat was huddled under his torso, on orders of his master in fear of his quick theory on these things; whatever their blood was made of, it could burn through almost anything foreign to this universe, hence the holes in his hat. He grimaced as he fired again; He would have to fix that.

Calamity whinnied and shook his wings as more creatures jumped onto him, piercing his hide with their sharp claws. One that he threw off was turned into mush as he buck-kicked one, the extreme force and the fragility of its body too much.

"How many of these l'il monsters ya reckon we got?" Calamity asked rhetorically in the midst of it all, his voice pained. Pip missed once while firing at one of the creatures, but got the second. The magnum round blew the creature apart as soon as it hit its chest. One more got past her defenses, however. It sunk its teeth into his neck, blood instantly spurting out of the wound. To Calamity's defense, he only cried out a little.

But at the cry of pain, something in Sam's mind clicked. His pupils constricted, his vision cleared, and his mind lost its fog. The last time he had gotten lazy, people had died. People that shouldn't have died, people that would've lived if not for his carelessness. It wouldn't happen again, not on his life.

He quickly spun around, VATS activated. Time slowed to a crawl as the creature's body parts were surrounded by green grids. The head quickly came out of Calamity's neck, blood covering its mouth. Chance of hit; 67% He took the chance, selected his target, and fired.

Every single one of the pellets, by the grace of everything above them, met their targets. In an instant, there was no head to speak of. The body flew off of the pegasus before Pip could even register what had happened. Time went back to normal as VATS turned off, allowing Pip to assess Calamity while Pip worked.

"Damn those things got a bite," He commented, groaning as he tired to touch the wound. Pip swatted the hoof away.

"Hold still, let me look," She told him. She began wrapping magical bandages around the wound, of which she was running out. While they were distracted with that-including Dogmeat, who realized that Calamity was a better option for cover-Sam began to unleash.

With his .45 and his shotty in his TK, his slaughter of the demonic creatures seemed to be a dance. While carefully making sure that no blood got on his person or his possessions, he filled all with holes. While one was being torn to ribbons with two shotgun blasts, another two were being quickly and efficiently killed with single shots to the head. Within fifteen seconds, five monsters lay around him dead.

Breathing heavily through the nose, Sam put his pistol back in its holster. He nodded at his handiwork; That was one of the best workouts he'd had in months. He turned around, looking to his friends and dog. While Calamity looked like he wanted to stay and hold his wound, they seemed ready to leave.

"Pip?" Sam asked, "Any ideas?" It did not take long for an answer, coming nonverbally as she took the lead. Calamity and Sam shared a look before following.

They walked through ankle-high water in the Maintenance section, the trip long and wet. Pip took time to go through the safe with the password she had found, finding more bobby pins and a the lockpicking magazine. While Sam would've done the same thing, he could see Calamity slowly growing paler and more sickly. Sam himself wasn't doing hot either, almost completely sure the cracked hoof had become infected in the murky water. Thankfully, they found the corpses of the creatures floating inside flooded rooms. Apparently they couldn't swim.

Sam quoted Three Dog in his mind. 'Praise Jesus, praise Jesus!'

His praise ended when he started to see the skeletons. The first ones were by themselves, in hiding places (one fell out of a weakened panel in the wall). As they got closer to the atrium, they started showing up in groups of four and five. Sam glanced behind him, and saw Pip's wide eyes and shallow breathing. He grimaced, remembering his same reaction in Vault 106. The untold amounts of death in a place so similar to the home you had lived all of your life... He wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Pip, the pressure and emotions too much, stopped to lean against the wall. He had to stop Calamity, who would've continued on. His pain-dulled mind was running on autopilot. Sam leaned him against the wall too, making sure he didn't faint.

'Probably poison,' Sam thought. His mouth twisted into a frown. 'Yeah, definitely poison.' They needed to keep going, to find a clinic for the antidote...if it existed.

The next moment, nine of the creatures jumped out of hiding places in an ambush.

Two were almost immediately cleaved in half by the Equestrian debut of the shocksword, the volts burning through their flesh in a similar fashion to a fictional lightsaber. The wounds were instantly cauterized, preventing the blade from being destroyed by the acidic blood. Two more were killed by one .45 bullet from the M1911A1, and one was ripped to shreds with a blast from the shotgun. Another two were blown apart by two quick shots from Little Macintosh, and another was cut down b four bullets form Calamity's battle saddle, leaving one more. The creature seemed to be bigger than the others, its scales larger and seemingly more hardened. It leaped off of the wall with speed greater than he had ever seen, faster than a Radscorpion's stinger. With the way its claws and fangs were looking, he wasn't going to make it out of the Stabe.

He felt an itch in the base of his horn, and Pip saw a golden aura pulse out of the area for a moment, lacing around the usual green. Sam could feel something...unlock in his mind. Time slowed, the monster intent on killing him going through the air as fast as molasses. he knew that this feeling wasn't VATS, if it was the monster could be going as fast as the others. Now, nanoseconds were going as fast as minutes. He felt that itch spread all over his horn, the gold magic encasing it. The itch ws unbearable, as if begging to be released.

Do it.

A large bolt of his normal green magic erupted from the tip of his horn, connecting with the monster in an instant. Because time so still incredibly slow, Sam quickly guessed that it was going at a fraction of the speed of light.

Time went back to normal, and the monster was launched into the wall. The steel underneath crumpled at the impact, and the monster was almost atomized. Its liquefied remains dripped out of the hole and onto the floor, pooling inside a dent.

Sam slumped back onto the opposite wall, the magical discharge taking some energy out of him. He quickly got off after catching his breath; He had to stay alert. He looked over and saw Pip rewrapping Calamity's wound, deep in thought.

"You good, Calamity?" Sam asked, reloading his shotgun before putting all of his weapons back in their respective places on his body. The marksman didn't respond, his eyes glazed over.

"Okay, that's it," Pip said as she finished wrapping the bite, "I've been a dumb pony." She began pacing, her eyes glued to the water-covered floor. "We turn around, gallop back to the entrance as fast as we can, barricade ourselves and wait the damn storm out. Then we leave and close the door behind us." Sam looked down the hallway, deeper into the Stable.

"We're too far in to backtrack now," Sam argued, "Might as well see what's down here to scavenge." He peered around a corner, and saw a door at the end of the hallway, with a flickering sign that said 'clinic' above it.

"Ahm… actually… Ah vote we continue t' the clinic." They both turned around, their eyes widening as they saw his state.

Ah'm guessin' y'all…" He managed to say, wobbling on his legs, "…would keep somethin' there for… y'know… poison?" He passed out and fell to the ground. The clank echoed seemingly across the whole Stable.

"Calamity!" Pip shouted, running over to the pegasus. Sam glanced at Dogmeat, who let out a snort. Sam groaned in response before walking over to check him out.

Things got a little more complicated.

---

Chimera

from the personal notes of Doctor Brierberry, Head of Medicine, Stable 24

I've chosen to call this new species "chimera" for what I feel are suitably obvious reasons. The creature is a result of a wild magical burst from a rather exceptionally gifted filly named Quanta. In a flash of uncontrolled magical power, Quanta managed to fuse several creatures within her vicinity into a single being-a fully functional and completely new life form.

The initially created chimera took several days to molt before revealing its true nature, during which time another filly, Carrot Tail, was attacked by the creature. She was rushed to the clinic, but perished within hours from an unknown magical toxin injected into the child by the creature.

After molting, the chimera subsequently attacked a maintenance worker by the name of Greyhorn. This time, both the chimera and its victim were fully mature. Based on the case of Carrot Tail, we treated Greyhorn with antivenom spells and potions, but to no avail. Greyhorn lasted three times as long as Carrot Tail, and was in extreme agony for most of that period. It was only after Greyhorn's death that we learned the key component of the chimera's make-up.

As you will be able to see from the images I am having attached to this document, the feline and serpentine elements of the fusion are quite obvious. (See images C-1 and C-2) What we initially didn't realize, couldn't have suspected, is that there had been some manner of insect in the classroom when Roe cast her spell, and that too was infused into the creature on a deeply inherent level. You see, the fangs of the chimera aren't so much like the fangs of a rattlesnake, but more akin to an insect's ovipositor.

The behavior of this species is extremely aggressive, attacking any suitable host within which it can inject its eggs. Over the course of a single day, those eggs will mature within the host, after which a litter of new, baby chimera will dig their way out of the infected pony, ultimately killing the host if the pony is not already dead. In the case of Greyhorn, five new chimera erupted from his body less than an hour after he was pronounced dead. (See image C-3) You can imagine the look on my assistant's face. (But you don't have to. See image C-4)

Fortunately, from the case of Greyhorn, and the baby chimera specimens he provided us with, we have been able to devise and conjure an anti-chimera potion. Unfortunately, some of the herbs required were in tragically short supply, so there is a high probability that we will not have sufficient quantities for everyone. The Overstallion is keeping one bottle locked away in his office, along with the recipe. Meanwhile, I am storing the rest in the medical refrigerator here in the clinic while I wait for the Overstallion's decision on how to implement dispersal.

"Well, that's going to be a problem, ain't it?" Sam asked. Pip jumped, realizing she was reading aloud. "An' those skeletons righ' there ain't a very good omen." He looked to her horrified face, then chuckled. "Don' worry, ah got 'I'm under real nice with some morphine. A bit loopy, but can't feel 'r hear 'none." She sighed, a small amount of relief lifted off her shoulders.

"What's with the accent?" She asked, as she opened up the fridge with a dozen skeletons in front of it, desperately hoping that there was a bottle of the potion in it. Dogmeat had been preoccupied with sniffing them.

"Good bedside mann'r," He answered softly, injecting another stimpak into Calamity's neck. He tossed it to the ground, joining four others and a small, circular plastic container. "Mah pa was a doctor, fer a charity group out West. Followers of the Apocalypse." He began to unwrap the bandages around his wound, quickly becoming tangled. "Now you, missy, are a terrible nurse." He pulled out his trench knife and cut them loose. The glint off of the stainless steel blade hit something around the pegasus' neck. "Now, whadda we have here..."

He took the pulled the dogtags off of his neck, waking him. The pegasus coughed as Pip walked to the Plexiglas-like window that overlooked the atrium. She turned around, weighing her options, and saw the knife hovering inches over Calamity's head, and the Wanderer's murder-filled eyes darting from the tags to his patient.

"Pa?" Calamity asked, his voice weak, "Tha' you?" Sam's eyes blinked hard, shaking himself out of his trance. He tucked both the knife and tags away, the latter going in one of the pouches inside his duster.

"It's tha Wand'r, Calamity," He answered in a soft drawl similar to his patient's, which he had gotten from his times out West, "Now you don't worry none, ah'll git ya all fixed up."

"Ya sound like mah pa..." He said, falling back into sleep, "Why am ah so...sleepy..."

"Putting ya under, partner," Sam answered, patting his foreleg, "It'll make workin on ya a million times easier, an' ya won't feel ah thing."

"Tha's...good..." Calamity sighed once last time before passing out completely. Sam grabbed a sheet form the ground and threw it over his unconscious body. He grabbed his shotgun from his leaning position on the gurney.

"The stimpaks will delay the venom," He told Pip, looking out the same window as her, "It seems to drain energy for the babies to grow. He's got about half a day." He took a glance at her, noticing she hadn't back. "So, you got a plan?"

"Chimeras are all over the atrium," She told him. He checked to see fit the same two dozen chimeras were still where he had seen them a few seconds earlier.

"Yep."

"The entrance to the Overstallion's office is in there."

"That it is."

"And I need to get in there."

"So you do." He glanced over to her. "Still have that Stealth Boy?"

"Stealth BUCK," Pip corrected, pulling the device out. Sam shrugged, knowing the simple plan already.

"Go for it." That stopped Pip's train of thought.

"Wait, really?" She asked, "Not gonna try and stop me or anything? Not even complain?" Sam chuckled.

"Calamity might've," He said as he nodded over to the unconscious stallion, "But I know better than to argue against a women like you. Besides, can't leave a friend behind."

"Friend?" She looked to the small scar on his forehead, "But he shot you. Well, he shot me, and KILLED you." Sam smiled.

"You want to know how I met one of my friends, a man I consider a brother?" Pip looked back to Calamity, then nodded. If what Sam had said was true, they had time.

"I had taken a job for this bartend, taking his bodyguard with me for about a week. He was the perfect guard; Large, strong, and silent. So I tried to befriend him. Talked his ear off. Saved each other's lives a few times. And then, when I returned him...he was ordered to kill me." Pip could see his distant look, his eyes glazed over as he remembered. "There was a standoff for about five minutes. His gun was at me, but I didn't point one at him. I trusted him. He was a friend." He closed his eyes, a smile on hs face. "Shot rang out, and we were friends ever since."

"So he shot the boss guy?" Sam chuckled and pulled down his collar, showing her a jagged scar right above his collar bone.

"He shot us both," He told her, "The slug went through me and into his skull 'with minimal damage'." Sam smiled, putting it back. "Dick just wanted payback back for Evergreen-" Calamity groaned on his gurney, a hoof falling off of his chest. Dogmeat regarded the noise before turning back to the scent-covered fridge.

"We're wasting time," Sam said, picking up his shotgun, "Get in, get the antidote, and come back as soon as possible." Pip nodded, putting the Stealth Buck on her PIP-Buck.

"Wish me luck," She said, turning to leave.

"Let's hope to God you won't need it," He muttered under his breath, resuming his vigil over the atrium.

"Besides, death'll be quick."

---

It took Pip nearly two hours to go through the atrium, get the antidote, and come back. When she walked in, her Stealth Buck finally running out of power, he was sticking a needle into his neck. The serum-a mix of stimpak fluid, Psycho, and New Vegas medicine powder-quickly entered his veins and began working its intended goal. The rage effect Psycho was cancelled out by the powder and the stimpak, only giving him a slight buzz. He turned around as Dogmeat stuck his head up from a bone he had been gnawing on.

"You got the antidote?" He asked, throwing the needle down. Pip took the bottle out of her saddlebag and floated it over. Sam uncorked it quickly, lightly slapping Calamity's face.

"Come on, boy," He said in his Dixie accent, "Got tha antidote righ' here." Calamity's eyes flickered as he became conscious once more.

"Ah hurt," He moaned, clutching his head as the feeling of the venom coursing through his body returned. Sam groaned.

"Effects gone," He grumbled, sitting him up, "Ponies filter out effects faster than humans. Noted." Pip helped Calamity to his hooves, steadying him as he swayed. Sam uncorked the bottle and lifted it to his mouth. Calamity gulped it down, allowing the potion to enter his stomach before passing out again. Sighing, he hoisted the pegasus onto his back, making sure he wouldn't slide off. He nodded forward.

"Lead the way," He whispered, pulling out his Deagle. Pip nodded and pulled out Little Macintosh, reloading as they sneaked out, Dogmeat in between them.

Sam placed Calamity into the looted box of dynamite at Pip's orders, making sure to close it. Since they needed to get out as fast as possible and Dogmeat couldn't defend him form any attack, they made sure he was hidden before going their separate ways. They spent hours looting almost the entire Stable, making sure to prop open all of the doors with nearby furniture. Since there were two of them, however, the time of the whole process was cut in half.

They rendezvoused at the clinic, making sure to pick it clean. After the contents of the room were cleaned, Pip pulled out a stick of dynamite and began to light it. She was stopped by Sam's hoof, which had a tin can with wires and a grenade pin sticking out of its lid.

"Watch and learn," He told her, walking out of the room. She followed him, half out of obedience and half out of fear. He slowly floated a metal garbage can into the door frame, closing the door and wedging it open. He pulled the pin and tossed it inside. He quickly backpedaled, Pip turning around and following him. A moment later the room exploded in blue flame, the fire almost reaching them from their position ten feet away. Pip blinked, marveling at the seemingly homemade device.

"The bones in there are glass," Sam explained, holding another up, "And the radiation should cook any chimera that come in alive if they aren't rad-proof." He put it back into his duster and turned back around. "Now we leave."

Within the hour, all four of the party was at the cave opening. The storm was still raging outside, thunderclaps constantly ringing throughout the sky.

"So now what?" Sam asked, slowly getting Calamity on his hooves. While still a little wobbly, he was fine.

"We take all of this dynamite we totally didn't loot-" Pip held up the fifteen sticks, bundled up into three groups of five with duct tape. "-And flood the cave." Sam smiled.

"Nice," He complimented, "But we can sell most of these at a nice price in New Appleloosa. This, however..." He pulled out a small bomb-shaped device form his satchel. "I can't sell this, and I have a little too many." Calamity's eyes bulged out of his sockets when he saw the nuclear hazard sign painted on its hull.

"Is tha' what I think it is?" He asked. Sam nodded, a small evil grin on his face. "Tha' may be a lil overkill, Wand'r." Pip grumbled.

"So how is this going down?" She asked. Sam flew up to the cave ceiling and wedged the bomb in-between some rocks right above the cave opening.

"First off, one guys start running out of this cave as fast as you can." He smacked the end of the bomb.

---

Sam sat on top of a pile of rocks outside of New Appleloosa, on a small ledge that was reminiscent of a couch due to its size. In his aura was a bottle of whiskey, and beside him on a small ledge was his hat and his Deagle. His blonde hair shifted in the small breeze, the sun setting on the horizon in front of him while a herd of bovines wandered on the desert plains below him.

Sam took a long swig from the bottle, lowering it and regarding the label with disdain afterward. Blackwater, Dad's favorite...

"There ya are," A voice said from above. Sam made to point his Deagle at the source, but stopped when he saw it was Calamity. "Pip was worried, thought ya wandr'd off er somethin'." Sam chuckled, looking back to the view.

"Can't blame her, it's in the name," He replied, scooting over slightly. "Sit down, stay awhile." Calamity flew down to the small rock couch, sitting down with a clop. "Thirsty?" Calamity accepted the bottle almost eagerly, taking a gulp.

"Good hooch," Calamity complimented. The two sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, watching the sunset.

"So why are you really here?" Sam asked. Calamity was only slightly surprised, having seen how skilled this stallion was since he had woken up from his body bag.

"Ah wanted ta thank ya," He answered "Fer saving mah life." Sam smiled, taking another swig.

"It's what Dad would've done," He replied. Calamity smiled whimsically.

"He seems like ah good stallion." Sam's smile vanished.

"He was." Calamity's smile left as well, taking another drink. Sam breathed in, closing his eyes and feeling the wind go through his mane.

"I left my home because of him," He said after exhaling, "He had left me while it was going through a crisis. He was my rock, he was always there. And he left without saying goodbye." He opened his eyes. "I followed him all across the Wasteland, getting him out of hell just to be able to look him in the eye." He looked back to Calamity, anger in his eyes. "And I saw him die right in front of me a day later." Calamity grimaced.

"Who're the crooks?" He asked after Sam went back to his bottle. Sam gave him a sad smile.

"Called themselves the Enclave." Calamity's eyes widened.

"Really now?"

"Yeah." He held up Calamity's holotags in his TK, with the trench knife flying out of his duster and to Calamity's throat. "Ain't that a coincidence?" Calamity's brow furrowed.

"Ah left them a long time ago," He spat out, "Don't ya DARE compare me ta them!" Sam narrowed his eyes, but still lowered his knife.

"Noted," He said at last, giving him the bottle, "You're unwavering response just saved your life, Deadshot. Means that you truly do hate them." Calamity took the whiskey, but didn't drink.

"What tha hell is tha supposed ta mean?" He asked. Sam grinned evilly.

"I've heard the same lines from a dozen before you. They didn't pass." He leaned back. "That means I can and will trust you." He pulled out another bottle of liquor, a Scotch. He leaned it towards him after opening it. The two clinked bottles.

"To newfound friendship," Sam muttered before drinking. Calamity, still shaken, smiled.

"Ta newfound friendship." He drank too, enjoying the burning going down his throat.

Away from the virgin eyes of Pip, the two stallions hit off a lasting friendship...that would leaves ripples in the Wasteland with her forever.

---

Footnote: Level Up.

New Perk: Wasteland Concoction(1)-Your risky experimentation has paid off. Your resistance to toxins has greatly increased.

Quest Perk added: Not-so Lone Wanderer-the more warm and friendly atmosphere of the Equestrian Wasteland is getting to you, allowing you to make friends easier than ever before. Charisma is increased +2.

---

About 10,800 overall with 24 Part 1. Noice.