“With our backs to the wall, the darkness will fall. We never quite thought we could lose it all
Ready, aim, fire, ready, aim, fire.”

The air was thick with violence, the streets were full of brass and blood. The wails of the injured mixed in with the symphony of gunfire that turned the night into a high tempo song of suffering and death. Every now and again, we’d get a break from it as more artillery shells sang overhead to their targets. Combined with the dramatic lighting of a half dozen burning fires that had started, tonight was poised to be one of those old world opera’s that I couldn’t stand listening to.

The retaliation to our push was stiff. They’d managed to counter Kiwi’s mobile fortress with their own machine gun nest. After a few attempted shots to shoot out her hooves, Kiwi was forced to set the mobile wall down. Of course, without her pushing up, the rest of us were pinned.

I’d taken cover behind an old half burnt newsstand, pressing myself up against the largest stack of decayed and sopping wet newspapers that I could. Predious was off to my right, crouched behind one of the old concrete city benches. It was at this point at which I had really wished he’d brought an actual gun.

Across the street from us, hid both Oil Can and Cheap Shot. The both of them were pressed against the backside to a stairway of the ruined apartment building they were under. The rain of fire coming against us was bad enough that even the power armored steel ranger sought shelter in the doorway of a small shop.

A resounding bang beat out the chattering machine gun, and the entire side of the power armored ranger was sheared away before the whole thing bloomed like a bloody flower. Gore and steel ribboned into the street as what little remained of the shredded armor crashed over onto its side.

“Storm.” Predious snapped at me. “I need you to be my eyes for your rifle.”

“Wha…?” I tried to ask, but was cut off by another explosive bang from whatever weapon they were shooting at us. The second shot however, reminded me of a rifle I’d once heard just like it. Excessively powerful, and taken from the dead hooves of Pallet back at dodge. The traitorous steel ranger bastards must have found more ammo for the damned thing.

“Now.” He sneered. “No time.” As he spoke, his horn glowed and pulled my rifle from my hooves. “Turn around, and lay on the ground.” My rifle delicately floated through the air above me as I looked over to him. “Do it slowly.” His gaze was locked up the street, stern and unwavering.

Carefully, and slowly, he scooted himself back as I did. As I laid down, I turned myself over onto all fours. From this new position, I could see that there had been a hole burned through the wall just above the stack of papers I’d been hiding behind. Without another word, Predious lowered my gun down enough to where the scope and barrel had unobstructed sight through. Sadly, it sat too far up for me to just grab it.

“What direction in your scope is the toppled red brick building toward.” He asked, slowly panning my rifle back and forth. After a moment, it lined up with my eye, and I could use it like a telescope. Out of the right corner of it, I could barely see the canted edge of the building.

“To the right a little.” I answered. Slowly, he swung the gun over, revealing the dark windows of the old facade.

“Tell me when you can see the old entryway.” He spoke calmly, tilting the gun down. As he did, the old windows went out of sight, and the collapsed entryway came into view.

“I can see it.” I said.

Another night shattering bang resounded, and Cheap Shot screamed out. It broke my attention, and I looked over to find that there was a good chunk of the stairway between Cheap and Oil now missing.

“Storm, pay attention.” Predious grunted. “When I get to the third floor, tell me with a tap.” Again, he moved the rifle so that my view panned up along the windows. The third floor came up quickly, and I tapped my hoof on the ground. “Now, two windows over…” He trailed off, turning the rifle. I tapped my hoof as the window came up.

“I don’t see anything.” I said, looking for any sign of movement at all.

“Wait for it…” He sighed, keeping his eyes locked on to it. I heard him move. Glancing from the corner of my eye, I watched him slowly stand up from his cover. “Hold…” He said again slowly.

Looking back through the scope, I watched as a shadow moved in the room. The faint flicker of light glinted in the crosshairs, and the shape of a rifle was outlined in the dim firelight that came up from the street. Fuck, he’d used himself as bait!

“Pred!” I shouted, only to be cut off by my own rifle. Watching through the scope, I froze, holding my breath as I watched the shadow in the room move. Harmony’s large rifle slipped out the window, quickly followed by the half headed body of a griffon dressed in all black. The rifle hit the ground butt first, standing straight up before the griffon plowed into it and bent the barrel from the impact.

Good riddance.

“Nice shot.” I said, looking over to Pred. He gave me a nervous smile back as his legs shook wildly. I don’t think he even wanted to know how close he’d cut it.

A fresh burst of machine gun fire ripped through the top half of the news stand. Pred’s legs gave out from under him, and he flopped onto the ground with me. We both sat and cringed as the chattering fire splintered and tore at the old world wood construction. I could hear the heavy impacts of bullets against the wet, compressed newspapers.

“Everypony, keep your heads down!” Salsa shouted. “Incoming in five!” She screamed. “Four!” Even before she could count any further, I could hear the whistling drone. “Three!” And with that, she too curled herself and waited.

Even the enemy seemed to relent for a moment. For only a moment, there was a blissful calm. No gunshots, no screams of pain, no shouting of orders. And in an instant, that was gone again.

The highly explosive payload of the artillery shell detonated with tremendous force. Even from behind cover, the initial flash blinded me, leaving the image of a cowering Predious lingering in my eyes. Then, another blast, and another. Five in total lit up the night and sent waves of pressure over us. The silence that had existed only seconds before, was replaced with an oscillating ringing as I uncurled myself.

“Let’s go!” Kiwi screamed out, only coming across my ears as a whisper. The dozen or so of our fighters that had been spread out were quick to get back to their hooves. Kiwi screamed out and lifted her fortress off the ground, and started to move forward again.

Both Predious and I pushed ourselves to our hooves. He used his magic to sling my rifle over me again, and also drew my revolver out into his own hold. For taking out that asshole in the window, I say he’d earned its use. Oil Can crossed the street hastily, pushing up close to my side.

“Did you take out that sniper?” He called out with a wide smile.

I pointed a hoof over to Predious. “He did. And you’re welcome.” I said, wearing a smile of my own across my muzzle.

Looking ahead of us, the smoke and dust was clearing. The artillery barrage had cleared not just the machine gun nest in the intersection ahead, but also partway up the next street. The twisted wrecks of what must have once been old sky carts and carriages lay thrown about as small, prismatic mushroom clouds rose into the night from them. The largest, and farthest cloud was that from an old skybus, which lay twisted and on it’s side in the middle of the road.

“Thank the goddesses for those flying deathtraps.” Predious said, strolling along next to me as we made our way through the intersection. “And lucky us. Only two more streets to go.”

Of course, the wasteland never lets sarcasm like that off easy.

The enemy troops that had moved in ahead of us opened fire. Again, the street became chaos as we all moved for cover. I was about to remark about how wonderful it was going to be to do the same shit as the last street all over again. However, a familiar high pitched whine came from the sky, and it sent a shiver up my spine. Because it couldn’t have possibly gotten worse.

From over one of the tall office buildings one block ahead, came a pair of bright searchlights. The looming, bug like form of an enclave Virtibuck hovered over the top. From the side of it, a red light from the interior of it backlit a pony who stood at what looked like a mounted weapon. As Predious and I gazed up at it, the pony opened fire. Red lines of rapid fire death rained down on the street ahead of us.

The pegasus aiming it swiveled their fire around, causing most of us to dive for cover. The half voiced cries of a few who failed to make it filled the air between reinvigorated gunfire from the deadites ahead. One scream in particular forced my glance around the rusty mailbox I’d pressed against.

“Fuck!” Kiwi screamed out. Her rear legs collapsed out from under her as what looked like a whole half of her flank bubbled and boiled.

“Bring it down, Chips!” Salsa screamed, swiveling her gun up as she loosed a long stream of fire at the sky ship. Cinnamon turned and followed suit on her own gun. The virtibuck veered off and dipped around the building. It would only be a moment before they returned and repeated their attack.

Without Kiwi’s fortress pinning them down, the whole of the Deadite force seemed to pop up from their cover to fire. Dozens of rounds sparked off the metal prow of the set up, even more sparked around the edges and forced Salsa back from her gun. Cinnamon was slow to move, and as she did, I watched as her head snapped to the side forcefully. The slender horn on her head gave a sickening crack as it all but splintered, sending her down in the dirt.

“Give them some fucking covering fire!” I screamed out. With a single fluid motion, I spun myself around and pulled my rifle up. Fifty feet or so ahead of me, I saw a rotten stallion with a rusty assault rifle out in the open.

I took aim. My hooves were steady as I pulled the trigger. With a flash from the end of my barrel, the top of his skull separated from his head. As he crumpled, I worked the action to my rifle and looked for another target. A mare with a bolt action looked over to me as I pulled the trigger. The round flew low and punched a hole in her chest. Didn’t matter to her, she didn’t even feel it.

Before she could pull the trigger, I focused on hitting her this time. The world around me slowed down, and a green overlay traced around her. S.A.T.S. told me that I had a sixty seven percent chance to hit with a shot to her head. Not bad odds, but I queued up two shots anyway.

The spell resolved, and time began to crawl forward. My forehoof worked the action as S.A.T.S. guided my aim upwards. In the same action that slammed the level shut with a new round in the chamber, my hoof pressed down on the trigger. My gun gave off another flash, the bullet zipping out from the barrel through the air. Quickly, it punched a hole through the mare’s head, blasting out the back of her skull in a shower of bone and decayed brain.

However, as she died, her own hoof fell on her trigger. A flash from her rifle surprised me as S.A.T.S. accelerated time again. I felt as her round punched into my chest, and I let out a sucking gasp as my breath was forced from me.

“Storm!” Predious yelled, pulling himself away from the large trashbin he’d taken cover behind. The pain in my chest was incredible, and my vision started to blur quickly. It was a bad hit, and I knew it. “Drink!” Pred shouted into my ear. Quickly, I found a glass bottle shoved in my muzzle.

I choked and sputtered as the horrid tasting potion was forced down my throat. Almost immediately, the pain started to leave me. With a shuddering whine, I forced myself to breathe again. Without warning, Predious put his hooves around me, and yanked. We both collapsed back behind Predious’s garbage bin and caught our breath.

The sound of others around us firing at the Deadites was a welcome sound. What wasn’t, was the sound of the Virtibuck returning again. I wasn’t the only one to notice however. Looking back over, I watched as Salsa got back onto her gun and opened up. Behind her, Cinnamon Chips fumbled using her hooves to get a roll of gauze around Kiwi’s black and burned hindquarters. Lines of blood ran down Chips head from the base of her shattered horn, but the determined look in her eyes told me that the loss of her magic wasn’t slowing her down.

“Storm, are you alright?” Predious shouted out into my ear. Even so, I could barely hear him past the heavy chattering of Salsa’s gun. A tremendous rending sound filled the air before a heavy blast lit up the night.

Like a sawblade, one of the Virtibuck’s propeller blades shot down the street. With a whizzing drone, it zipped by Salsa, tearing a line of snow up as it passed by. It bounced on the blades a few times before impaling itself through the skycar we’d taken shelter behind when we emerged from the sewers. The ground shook as the rest of the wreck must have hit the ground, but my eyes were locked on Salsa. She blinked a few times before letting out a whine, collapsing back down behind the fortress’s metal shield. She put her hoof to her chest and hyperventilated, eyes wide and unfocused.

“We have ta push!” Cheap Shot cried out from a doorway behind us.

“Kiwi’s fortress is the only thing that can help us do that!” I cried back. I didn’t want to do what I was about to, but I needed him. “Cheap?”

“I know what ya goin’ ta ask.” I shouted out. “I better not get fuckin killed, Storm!”

Looking over at Pred, I found him patiently awaiting my suggestion. “We have two earth ponies and a unicorn.” I said flatly. “We need to take over and get them out of the line of fire.”

“I agree.” Predious nodded as he cocked an eyebrow. “However, I don’t think I can cast a shield well enough to protect us from the ricochets.”

“How many more potions did you cram into your bag?” I asked, looking back over to Kiwi and the others. It looks like Cinnimon had gotten the idea that they were no longer of any used behind the construct, and was quickly trying to unhook Kiwi from the harness.

“Four.” Pred yelled with an uneasy tone to his voice. “You sure about this?”

“Cheap? You Ready?” I cried out, turning my gaze back to the doorway he was hidden in. I could barely see him in it, but he gave me a nod. “Cinnamon!” I called out, pulling her attention. “We’re going to swap places!”

She nodded and hastily undid the rest of the bindings ok Kiwi. As she undid the first few, the metal prow leaned back slightly, now sitting on the snowy roadway by itself. Salsa still sat in shock, shaking and lost in her own little world.

“GO!” I screamed, pushing myself up to my hooves. With a crouch, skip, and a dive, I’d nearly barreled into Salsa. It seemed to snap her out of her shock, because she took off running as I slid behind the shield. Predious and Cheap shot ran across in much the same fashion as I had, nearly smacking right into Cinnamon and Kiwi as she was finally pulled free.

“Kiwi, can you still run?” I asked, quickly pushing myself past her. I tried to slip myself into the harness, but found that my coat and bags made me far too bulky to fit in there.

“To make it to cover?” She smirked, wincing as she barely touched her hoof to the snow. “You bet I can.” From the look on Cinnamons face, even she knew that was a lie.

“Covering Fire!” Oil Can shouted from his own cover ahead. “Get that thing moving...” Was all I’d heard before friendly gunfire opened up in waves again.

Cinnamon hooked Kiwi’s foreleg around her neck and hobbled forward. As they did, Cheap Shot pushed me aside and easily slipped himself into Kiwi’s harness. He must have had a mare’s figure, because he didn’t even need to adjust the straps to get himself hooked in. He looked back over to me and pointed to the gun that Cinnamon was using.

“I’m a lousy shot with anythin’ but a pistol anyway.” He smiled and pushed himself against the harness. Groaning, he struggled to lift the heavy metal contraption. With a grunt, he got it balanced. With short, quick steps, he started forward.

Quickly, I moved myself behind the heavy machine gun on my side. Carefully, I pushed myself up onto my hind legs and hooked my forehooves around the handles for it. It swung on it’s mount more stiffly than I’d thought, but it was a challenge to keep it steady as Cheap Shot moved forward. Standing on my rear hooves and shooting my rifle was a walk in the park. This? This was a nightmare to keep balanced. Predious of course was an asshole, using his magic to simply pivot and aim his machine gun.

A few sparking shots pinged off the armor just in front of me, and I turned my gaze to find a colt with a submachine gun firing at me. As his magazine ran dry, he gave me a devilish smirk and attempted to hop down into cover. Maneuvering the heavy gun into line, I pulled back on the triggers with my hooves.

The heavy thumping sounded distinctly different from behind the gun as my machine gun chattered away. The deadite colt turned into nothing but decaying chunks as my rounds ripped him to pieces. Swinging the gun around, I found a small sky carriage that already had a few bullet holes in, but had a bobbing mass past it that didn’t belong in the window. Acting on a hunch, I punched a few rounds through and was rewarded with the skycarrage catching fire.

Then it exploded.

The blinding prismatic blast left another afterimage in my eyes as the blastwave tore across the street. The light rain of metal bits and body parts was punctuated with a cheer from the other ponies with us. Finally, we were moving Forward again.

The blast had cleared a good amount of the Deadites, tearing their already fragile flesh apart and setting them on fire. Like in the orchard, those who were lit on fire, screamed out in pain. They writhed, ran, and thrashed through the snow as we approached, each one being put down as we marched on.

With little trouble, we passed beside the flaming hulk of the Virtibuck, and through to the intersection of seventh street. At the corner ahead, we could now clearly make out the grand casino and hotel building that was our target. The old building had been built in the shape of a crescent moon. It’s white facade had worn the test of time well, and still looked as imposing as the real moon once had in the night sky. The large and empty sprawling park to the other side of it was where we’d bring that moon crashing down onto, and I couldn’t help but wonder if more deadites were waiting behind cover there for us.

Actually, I didn’t know if it had been a new tactic, a chance to regroup, or just plain fear, but the second we started to cross past seventh, our part of the city fell eerily silent. The sound of whistling artillery shells even ceased for a good minute. Only the sound of crackling flames around us, and sporadic gunfire deeper in the city met our ears.

The pregnant pause was broken when what sounded like a thundering storm erupted on the horizon. What must have been a dozen whistling shells flew across the sky over the city. The multiple blasts that erupted from near the exclusion zone sent shockwaves of air through the city streets. For a moment, everypony turned their eyes along the street before a heavy rumbling picked up under our hooves.

“The banking tower is down.” Predious called out, “Frosty’s team pulled it off!” A resounding cheer from those around us helped to lighten the mood. Cheap Shot cried out as he pushed forward and speed himself up almost to walking speed.

“Come on, everypony!” He yelled. “Let’s take dat casino down!” Another roaring cheer erupted from the ponies around us as they rushed forward. I kept my eyes open, scanning the dark apartment buildings and storefront along the street.

“Wait!” Predious shouted. As he did, I saw what he had in the ruins of a small grocery outlet. To anyone ahead, the flashing orange light might as well been another flickering fire from the numerous flaming debris to rain from the sky. However, the mines hidden near the groups of skycart wrecks had fooled us all. The only thing I could do now, was wince, and close my eyes.

The cacaughinous blasts, shook even the buildings around us. The sound of smashing brick and breaking glass filled the gap between the prismatic flashes that erupted. My skin sizzled lightly from the intense blasts, and the rad meter in my pipbuck spiked up to a quick ticking. The ringing in my ears once again graced me with it’s presence, and something heavy slammed against the front of the metal plates we were behind.

The force of it knocked both Pred and I off our hooves into the snow. It didn’t move Cheap more than a few inches, but even so he strained to keep the metal from sliding back any further. With a slight screech, half a skywagon tilted and dropped down in front of us, pushing some of the rising smoke away.

I looked around, finding Oil Can laying face down in the snow ten feet behind us and off to the side. Several deep lacerations bled heavily as I ran over to him. I called out for him, but my busted hearing was probably still better than his. There was a large part of his skull that was exposed, the skin of it having been sheared clean off. A deep gouge ran through it, but it was at the very least intact.

I turned to call for Predious, but found his hoof shove me aside anyway. From under his armor, he floated another of the purple healing potions and popped the top of it off. With the delicacy of a scientist mixing dangerous chemicals, he poured a line of it into each major wound. Thankfully, they started to close up.

With a light pop, a low drone filled my ears. My hearing had decided to return, albeit not to it’s best. Turning around to find the source of the sound, I looked back towards the hotel. In the sky, another spotlight illuminated the air ahead of a sky vehicle. This one didn’t look like a vertibuck, rather…

“Tank!” Kiwi shouted from behind. Like a yellow bolt, Salsa galloped back up to her place on the fortress. Cinnamon pushed herself off Kiwi and ran back to her place as well.

The top of the skytank rotated, turning a long barreled cannon towards us. Again, Both the Ranger mare’s opened up with their machine guns. With an efficiency only paralleled by most sentry bots, their streams of fire concentrated on the quickly approaching vehicle. Their shots sparked of it for a moment.

One of the shots caused a blast of green fire to erupt from the side of the tank. The whole tank listed for a moment before the top of the turret opened up. A dark figure zipped up into the night before an explosive blast consumed the vehicle. I watched as the heavy turret top flipped through the air with the grace of a frying pan. It tumbled down, slamming into the street with a reverberating clang, and finally coming to a rest against the front of the ruined grocery market.

A few bursts of green fired down at us from the air in quick succession, catching us off guard. Salsa screamed as one of the bursts hit her foreleg. Her flesh crackled as the green goop melted through it. Writing and flailing in pain, she collapsed to the side and struggled to get away from the steaming plasma residue.

“Fuck your cities!” Predious shouted, pulling my revolver up and tracing it through the sky. “Fuck your Government!” He squeezed off a pair of shots, his pinprick eyes darting about as puffs of steam came from his ragged breaths. “Fuck your Cowardice!” Another few shots flew into the night, one of them sparking off the lone pegasis’s armor. “Fuck. Your. Loyalty!” With another quick double tap, the pegasus stallion screamed out and tumbled through the air.

He landed with a heavy whump in the snow ahead of our the mobile fortress. Stumbling forward, both Predious and I walked forward, leaning around the edge of the fortress. The groaning stallion wasn’t wearing power armor, but something lighter. The hole in his side from Pred’s rage shooting wasn’t bleeding too badly, but it meant that this stallion wouldn’t be a problem for us much longer. With a pained scream, he reached up and pulled his helmet off. The blue coated stallion that emerged was familiar to me, and in an instant, my mind reminded me of why.

“You’re the jackass who arrested me!” I called out. “Cloud Streaker!”

He snapped his attention to me, snarling in anger. “You!” With those words out of his muzzle, his eyes went wide.

My hearing changed into a dull thumping whine as both machine guns opened up on him. Dozens of rounds punched gaping holes in the stallion, tearing his body to nothing more than a meaty pulp before the shooting came to a stop. The steaming pile of pegasus sent my mind reeling back to my time at the prison, but even then, I hadn’t seen those ponies mutilated right in front of my eyes.

I stumbled back from the sight, finding that the machine gun next to me was coated in Predious’s magical aura. Giving the other gun a quick glance, it too was held in his aura. Behind it, stood an equally shocked looking Cinnamon Chips, whose forelegs quaked under her.

“Pred?” My own voice came across muffled, but at least I could still hear it. As I turned to face him, I found his hooves wrap up under the collar of my jacket and pull me close.

“What!?” He screamed in my face. “You think that was too harsh?” With a forceful shove, he pushed me down into the snow, turning the machine gun in it’s mount on me. “Do you know what they did at the end of the fucking war?” He screamed. As he did, the end of his muzzle started to turn frost white. His eyes began to glow with a shimmering radiance that didn’t belong on any pony I’d ever seen. “Those little fucking cowards abandoned us down here, left us to burn in the radiation filled wastes that they helped create! Out of sight, out of mind I fucking guess!” He stomped furiously in the snow. “Every. Single. Fucking. Day that has passed, I have done nothing but pray to the princesses that those selfish bastards burn for what they’ve...!”

A dark metal pipe whipped through the air and hammered against the helmet Predious wore. With one good solid blow, he went stiff, and collapsed onto the ground. The white around his muzzle that had also been climbing up his hooves, ever so slowly began to rescind. Standing over him, was a very bloody and ragged looking Oil Can.

“That settles it.” He grunted, coughing out a glob of blood as he did. “I’ll never complain about winter door duty again in my life.” With a soft thump, he let the metal drop out of his fetlock and into the snow. “Let’s just blow this place up and go home.”

I’d instructed Oil Can and Cheap Shot to set up a temporary defensive area around a small corner cafe that sat across the street from the Casino. The small glass storefront was a bit wider that I’d have liked, but Kiwi’s mobile fortress was big enough that it could cover the center of the entrance, with just a ponies width on either side being open. When this building came down, I just knew we’d have the Deadites all over us, so I wanted to make sure we were ready for a fight.

Inside, Kiwi and Cinnamon did what they could to help Salsa deal with the pain from her now missing leg. Even as Predious and I trotted up the large marble steps of the hotel, I could hear her pained screams echo in the dark city.

“So, I’ll just need you to keep watch.” Predious hummed as we approached the large, open front to the casino. “It won’t take me long to place the talismans on the load bearing supports, so just try not to get into too much trouble.”

It was clear to me that this side of the casino hadn’t meant to be open air. There had once been a set of very large open windows here, the dust colored remains of melted and shattered glass lay scattered around the point where they once sat. Just inside the building, laid a dozen or so old gambling tables. Around each of them, sat a collection of finely dressed skeletons. A skeleton at one of the blackjack tables still sat propped up, it’s cold dark eye sockets gazed out at what felt right at me and me alone.

The memories of Pai’s orchard flooded my mind, and sent a shiver down my back.

“Storm?” Pred said, putting his hoof on my shoulder. My mane stood on end, and I jumped back from him as my heart slammed against my chest.

“Goddesses, what!?” I snapped at a whisper.

“Are… you alright?” He asked with more concern than somepony like him should have the authority to use. I was going to have to have a long talk with him about what happened back there with Cloud Streaker, but we still had a job to do.

“I’m fine, just…” I paused, looking back into the dark Casino. “Just felt like Pai’s orchard for a moment.”

“Ah, well, I know how to fix that.” He chuckled and trot off in front of me. “Just need to make this place a bit more lively, is all!” As he trotted past the threshold of the hotel and inside, he began to loudly hum to himself. Past the sounds of far off fighting, the echoing song was the only thing I could hear as he disappeared off around a corner just inside.

With a sigh, I approached the threshold as well. My hoof caught on one of the melted pieces of glass, and I nearly tripped. With a whine, I held my hooves out and stabilized myself quickly, glad to not fall all over the place for once. When I looked up again, I froze.

All of the skeletons were looking at me.

“Oh, fuck this place.” I grumbled, pushing myself forward after Predious. I honestly would give anything to be back before all this, where raiders were my only problem, and I didn’t have to deal with any creepy bullshit anymore.

Rounding the corner he’d disappeared from, I realized that I didn’t even know where he’d gone. The wide hallway in front of me broke off at several points, and held several open doors. Just pushing myself to get away from the skeletons behind me, I decided to keep heading straight. I made the mistake of looking behind me for just a moment, and again, my hoof caught on something.

Tumbling forward, I let out a yelp as I slammed down onto a dusty rug. The friction of it stopped me quickly, but the cloud that puffed up from my impact sent me into a sneezing fit. Rubbing at my eyes, I fought futilely against the dust assault. Picking myself up, I walked a few steps and tried to get my bearings.

I’d entered the reception area of the Hotel, and was standing in the main foyer. Looking up, floor after open floor followed the curve up of the hotel, for a total of five that I could see. Each open floor held a number of card tables and dark gambling machines. A faded banner hung from the end of the second floor, just over a large collection of finely dressed skeletons. It was hard to read, but I could barely make out what it had said.

“Huh, free drinks?” I muttered to myself. “Good thing they didn’t invite Tasteless…” I stopped myself there. I’d hated how she was gone. How there was nothing that I could have even done. Still, I felt like she should have been here for this. She wouldn’t have cared about helping, and would have gone straight to raiding the bar. ‘All these fancy ponies would have had nothing but the good stuff!’ I thought in my mind.

I looked at the wall to the side of the pile of corpses. A sign on it read Grand Ballroom, and a smirk pulled across my muzzle. I had to do it, because it’s what she would have done. Maybe after all this, I could share the rest of the bottle with Gauge as well. That way maybe, just maybe, we could both find some closure.

As I walked slowly around the open reception area towards the ballroom, I listened to Predious' upbeat tune echo through the old halls. Carefully, I wandered around the hundred or so formally dressed skeletons that lay across the floor. None of these unfortunate souls were thankfully looking at me, all of them laying charred and black as they had for the last hundred and fifty years.

As I looked around, an odd flash caught my eye from the direction of the ballroom. Stopping mid step, I looked over into the darkness that say beyond a broken set of glass double door entryway.

Walking slowly, I hobbled my way over. I had one hoof tightly wrapped around the sling to my rifle, ready for anything that was waiting to come at me. The sounds of fighting in the city continued behind me, that is, right until I cross the threshold of the dark doorway.

I was nearly blinded as the room flashed with a golden light. The old world song that Predious had been singing was amplified in my ears by the twelve pony big band that played it softly in the far corner of the room. Dozens of ponies laughed, conversed, and danced around the room. I looked down, even finding myself wearing a flowing golden gown.

"Don't be alarmed," The young, strong voice of a stallion met my ears. I looked up, finding myself staring straight into Filius' smiling face. Unlike the last few times I'd seen him, there was no way to tell that he had been nothing but a bony old stallion a month ago. It was weird, he looked young and healthy. "You aren't going crazy, I'm just projecting this all through your head." Holding his hoof out to me, he canted his head with a smile. "While your friend is busy, why not indulge me in a little fantasy?" I couldn't help myself from reaching my hoof out, taking his. To my surprise, it was warm, firm, and almost... real.

"I'm going to stop you, you know." I said sternly, walking forward as he lead me out into the center of the dancefloor. Looking over Filius he wore a purple tuxedo, with an ornate silver trim to it. A crimson cape was draped across his side that flowed in an ethereal breeze.

"My dear, you are welcome to try." He laughed, slowly beginning to rock himself from side to side. As the song ended, a slower, more relaxing song started up. "I know what it is you are trying to do, and it will not work." As he rocked, he turned around and held my hoof tightly. For some reason, I found myself joining him in his movements. "Whatever Gallant has told you, had the thought ever crossed your mind that he was just using you to get to me?" Slowly, he pulled me closer into his hooves. I should have been disgusted, should have gelded him right then and there, but my body wasn't my own. It fought against everything I told it to do.

"I know he wants to kill you. I want him too." I grinned right up until the moment he spun me around and I fell back into his waiting hooves.

"You are remarkably calm about that." Filius gave another wide smile as he pulled me close. We rocked together next to the other couples, stuck in a slow dance that I was beginning to hate. "For a monster, you may not actually be that bad after all."

"The only monster in this city is you, Filius." I grunted, thankful that I at least still had control of my voice. "Tell me, what do you get out of doing the same ritual again and again? Do you get off on it, or are you just so fucked up in the head that you can't help but be an evil douchebag?"

"Such language." He said as he rolled his eyes. Slowly, he stood me back on my hooves and twirled me around again. "And to think, if I didn't realize that you were such an oddity and held on to you, I might have never remembered what it was like to feel challenged again."

"Big words coming from somepony who's failed to achieve what they want two times." I sighed, feeling annoyed as we went back to slowly pressing against each other again. "Trust me, Filius. If luck's taught me anything, it's that third time is not the charm."

"Pah, luck." He scoffed. "I was never much one who believed in luck. In my experience, you must create your own path to the life you wish yourself to have." He paused his dancing as his grin grew wider. "Even if it takes three virgin lives to complete the path, some sacrifices are worth the outcome."

At that, I started giggling. Instinctively, I pulled my hoof away from him as I did. "That's so funny!" I couldn't contain myself, finding that concept so absyrd. "You waited all this time... came to the wasteland even!" My laughter had worn away his smile and poise. He instead now stood there, looking at me in disgust. "No pony in the wasteland is a virgin! Not unless they're..." My mood died as I remembered that he still had Stratos’ young filly prisoner.

"Oh, yes." His wide smile crawled across his lips again as he stretched out his forehooves and clapped. "You are certainly smarter than you look, Storm Rider." As he stopped clapping, the ponies around us started to clap, and I realized that the song around us had just ended. "While it's been fun, I have so much work left to do before the stars above are aligned." With a fancy roll of his hoof, he bowed before and laughed. "Goodnight, and farewell..." He looked up and gave me one last look. "My little monster."

With a roar, a bright green light shown from behind me. I turned around with all the other party ponies, and watched as a an enormous green fireball raged towards us. Some mare screamed, and instinctively I raised my hooves as the light grew too bright to avoid.

"Storm?" Predious asked softly. "Are... you alright?"

I realized that I was on my rear hooves, still trying to shield myself. Blinking a few times, my eyes readjusted to the darkness around me. Looking down, I found that my outfit was back to my jacket, satchel, and rifle.

"Uhh... yeah." I slowly spoke up. "Filius was just in my mind."

That nearly made Predious go white as a sheet.

"What?" He spat out, looking around. "Does he know what we're doing?"

"I think he does, but he's overconfident. He's going to slip up, I know it." I said as I dropped down onto my forehooves. "Did you set the talismans?"

"Mhmmm." He nodded. "Just finished the last one when I heard you humming your own tune in here." He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I came by to find you... dancing."

I facehoofed. "If you ever tell anypony, I'll murder you in your sleep." Dragging my hoof down my face, I looked around the old ballroom. In the small amount of light that we did have in here, I noticed something peculiar about the walls. Odd dark blobs lined them all over the place. As I walked over to them, I froze mid step. They weren't blobs, rather the shadows of the dancing ponies at the ball permanently burned into the old walls. "Let's just blow this place already." I muttered, stepping back slowly. I am entirely done with creepy old ruins where the ghosts of the past are there to haunt me.

We both ran back through the old and dark halls. Passing the gambling skeletons again, I couldn’t avoid looking over at them. Their bones no longer gazed in my direction. Instead, they lay scattered about much in the same way as they were as when I first gazed at them. Even the dealer’s skeleton was crumpled over onto the floor, facing away from me.

Out into the street, Predious and I slowed ourselves down to a light trot. The raging battles throughout the rest of the city felt farther away now. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved, or worried at that. Maybe it was a good thing that Filius knew what we were doing. He’d be shifting tactics now, and we might be able to catch him before he was again ready to deal with us.

Almost as I’d finished that thought, a heavy wave of gunfire opened up somewhere in the city. It was as if somepony had simply lifted a curtain and two armies started to fight. I sighed as Pred and I entered the old cafe. A quick break in the fight had just been wishful thinking I guess…

“Are the charges set?” Kiwi asked, looking up to me with her worn out, pleading eyes. I could tell that all this fighting had taken a toll on her already. Salsa whimpered and cried into Cinnamon Chip’s neck as she simply sat in her hooves. Her eyes stared off into the distance, filled with fear.

“Yes.” Predious nodded. “All Salsa has to do is call it in.”

“Yeah, about dat. Ain’t happenin’.” Cheap Shot grunted, kicking Salsa’s half melted radio over. “She’d be a dead mare if the damn thing ain’t been on her side. Good thing Ya brought dat one.” He said, pointing a hoof to the large box on Pred’s back.

“So, about that as well…” Pred sat down and looked nervous. “I… don’t actually know how to use one of these models.”

“You’ve read a million books,” I grumbled, giving him a very flat look. “not a single one told you how to operate a radio?”

Kiwi brushed past me, hobbling up to the side of Pred. She sat down, and with a quick tap to the side of the large box. With ease, she popped open a small flap and hoofed out a large sized rectangular box with a coiling cord trailing off it.

“One moment. Please try not to move.” She said, using one of her forehooves to hold the half leg sized box to her head, and the other to fiddle with something in the large box on Pred’s back. “Alpha command? This is Kiwi reporting in from primary target charlie one.” She paused, and flicked a switch on the side of the box. With a crackle of static, the voice of one of the most annoying stallions in the world picked up.

“This is command.” Cottage came over with more than a fair share of static. “Are the talismans in place?”

“Affirmative.” Kiwi nodded and looked over to me. “You may fire when ready.”

“Incoming barrage in thirty seconds.” Cottage replied. “Proceed to minimum safe distance.”

“Wait…” Cheap Shot spoke up with a whine. “Ya sure ya set ‘em up right? What if the hotel ain’t going ta fall the right way?”

“It should.” Predious cocked an eyebrow, sounding somewhat insulted for a moment. Then a small smirk came across his muzzle as he put a hoof to it and looked up to the ceiling quizzically. “Or were they supposed to go on the other pillars?”

“Pred.” Seriously, now wasn’t the time for jokes. He’d been less serious in the last two hours than he had in the last two months. Maybe it was his nervousness leaking through. Maybe it was just him trying to cope with the curse clawing away at his mind. However, as much as he probably needed it, I didn’t want it to degrade the morale of the others. “Knock it off.”

He opened his muzzle to retort, but another barrage of thunder erupted on the horizon. The old cafe fell deathly silent as we sat and listened. Even Salsa’s whimpering had trailed off into a pregnant pause. The whistling came through the air as we all simply waited with baited breath. The only thing I could think about before the strike, was how I really wish I’d remembered to grab that drink for Tasteless.

Damnit.