Once more Grey had opted to gather information, having been previously fruitless with his attempts at gathering anything from the Bishops before they closed, and instead deciding on trying his luck with the Castles today. As a result however, It was just Cait, Scrapyard, and myself that went to visit the Ranger outpost at my insistence. More information on the task at hand however was always welcomed. However they did have startling news that lead me to believing that I hadn't been the only survivor of the forty third research facility exploding (Cait and Scrap didn't count, considering they were out of the explosion radius when the building exploded).

"There's an orange mare in similarly colored power armor with a squad of Ponytrons who broke in recently and took residence in the left wing after her robots were inevitably hacked and turned against her by the rampant AI." A ranger had informed us, "She came here yesterday, though her endurance must be waning if she hasn't been sleeping in such a high danger area."

"What's her armor model?"

Another ranger shook his head, "We don't know sir, I personally think its a jury rigged set myself, though whoever had the brains and resources to make it certainly did a good job of combining both Enclave and Ranger armor models in order to make it. Never seen a heavier looking suit, even by our standards."

"A flying tank then?" Cait had asked concerned.

"More like a vertibuck in a pony skin. Grenades did nothing to it but scratch the paint, though she purposely dodged a rocket, suggesting that it still has the weakness to heavy explosives. That and with most enclave power armor, she has to cover the underside of her wings as they are exposed there when in flight."

"Any known weapons?"

The rangers nodded, "Dual chain guns, not as heavy as regular mini-gun or as penetrating, but still able to spew out a thousand rounds of death every minute or so."

"What about our monster pony situation?"

"Current status unknown sir, we haven't seen him directly since he had entered, and the rangers who went in never came back so we have to assume the worst and say that hes still alive while they died to either the security system or the other two guests."

"The information is appreciated, please resume your guard in case anything comes out. We will investigate this personally at the request of Elder Cola." Cait said to the small group of power armored ponies. There was a ridiculous amount of awe coming off a few of the younger ones in the group, especially since the one they were awed by was wearing a heavily reinforced edition of combat armor in comparison to their much harder and sturdier power armor that seemed to add several inches in height to the point where they came up to my eyes with the top of their heads rather than the bottom of my jaw. It was unnerving to say the least as the only ponies who ever came so close or even dwarfed me so far had been my caste member that I had shot back in the Stable for trying to kill me, and Maul, who was by all rights more terrifying than Grey on a bad day by a factor of five.

But if that Nightmare Nighter had survived, what about somepony like Maul? I would hold onto the hope of yanking Maul off his cannibalistic and aggressive nature for a semblance of normality and personally try and see to it that he was given proper medical aid for his conditions if the other pony who had invaded here days prior to the orange pegasus was indeed Maul. Though I had to wonder what drew them both to this place as well as what had caused the AI to go on a rampage.

However I did not fancy the short rather unassuming building in front of me, I was trained in long range yet over the past few weeks we've been going into narrow corridors and up close and personal ranges of combat far more than I should of been. The fact that I had to mount a shotgun on one side of my new battle-saddle reconfirmed that. Luckily however my stores of magic was near, if not completely, refilled by my bout of unconsciousness after the Aqualights and the day long drain of the populace around me of their emotional energies. Similarly to when we had invaded the other facility, I was going in well rested, and this time with a battle saddle.

After Cait bid goodbye to his fellow Rangers we went inside, Cait and scrapyard taking the usual front while I followed behind them hovering in the narrow hallways with my varmint rifle and shotgun both at the ready. It didn't take long to find the first traces of destroyed ponytrons, which were quadruped robots armed with a variety of smaller weapons about that was in total about the size of a foal by the way, and the wrecked remains of turrets which looked as though something had literally ripped it like gum from the ceiling and smashed it into a wall before it stopped functioning. We managed to retrieve a few spark cells for energy weapons we didn't have as well as a targeting talisman from the turret. Continuing onward we were met with another dank and dark hallway that barely had the courtesy of giving the occasional spark, either the Rangers had a grudge against light-bulbs, or something had broken them all recently.

Turning off my saddles safety I stepped forward ahead of Cait, unfolding my wings and taking advantage of their new glowing properties to dimly light the path ahead of us as we advanced. My ears were perked for any small noises that would give away anything but was disappointed as the only noises were our own hoofsteps on the tile floor. Cait stopped suddenly, "You hear that?"

"What?"

Cait held up a hoof, "Shhh... Listen..."

We all paused, stopping in tracks and faintly I heard a series of small taps before that noise also stopped.We waited and the noise didn't continue. He put his hoof down and gestured for me to move closer and I oblige and he whispers, "When I wink, we both do a hop, skip and a jump, and try to hear him over the lack of noise."

I nod and move away as we proceed down the hallway, when we round the corner he winks and together we hop up into the air, breaking our gait and sure enough, there is that sound of approaching hoofsteps that also jerks to a halt a few seconds too late. Scrapyard growled uneasily, his ears flicking back and looking back the way we came, and I take a look around the corner, my wings faint light not piercing beyond the shadows a few yards away. But the end of the hallway confirms that nopony is there. I extend my senses down the hall to be sure and I detect nothing, giving an all clear chirp we continued downward, occasionally and sporadically double checking behind us for any clue to which of the three threats were following us.

Eventually out narrow hallway gave way for a four way hallway, ever gloomy in this windowless atmosphere, I spoke up, "Which way?"

"Straight." Cait nodded onwards, for once I didn't argue with him. The clacking noise was growing louder, and now it wasn't just trying to remain stealthy, it had figured out that we knew it was there, whatever it was.

I turned around and began trotting backwards while Cait and Scrap kept their pace, my own gaze searching down the hall we came from with the occasional glance to the left and right whenever we passed a shut, or otherwise locked door. My senses were stretched, but I couldn't feel anyone else but Cait and Scrapyard, that didn't mean we were safe though, robots, as the other magical facility had proven, could easily bypass my natural radar. Halfway down the hallway was when those said things began showing up.

Dozens of pairs of green glowing mechanical eyes were the first thing I spotted from a distance, rapidly incoming as I watched, and I put a hoof on Cait to get his attention, "We have incoming."

Cait drew his sword and he nodded, "This way too. What do we do?"

"Fight?" I offered weakly, not liking the growing mass of glowing eyes that dimly illuminated the bot in front of it while I turned off the safety of my battle saddle.

Cait grinned with his sword hovering in the air in front of him, "Sound's like a plan, Scrap get the rear, and I'll trust you to the support fire."

I nodded while Scrapyard let out a low growl of confirmation, spinning in place and racing past us towards the bots I was facing, he bowled into them while I targeted the deeper ranks with S.A.T.S. before letting my Varmint rifle kick itself into gear sending three shots of the clip's five into the masses beyond. Turning around I let my shotgun roar and take out another before Cait had engaged his side.

Combat then became hectic as Cait fought with blades to tear into the small army of foal shaped robots, who in return began peppering us with small arm fire from inbuilt weapons. Scrapyard fought valiantly with his well worn claws and fangs, unable to bite through the metal but adapting to simply ripping each small robot limb from limb that he managed to get a hold of or bending them out of shape. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cait's armor taking a beating, but as with when we met, this new armor held together just as great as his old ones. A bullet flashed past me, barely missing my face and instead scraping a long line through my cheek. I hissed, firing at the perpetrator and rejoining the commotion.

A clanking noise was our first indication that a pair of ceiling turrets had joined the fight and begun firing balls of green plasma at us, our fight having dragged us forward as we advanced through the mechanized ranks and we had to take shelter in a side room, hurriedly shutting the door behind the three of us and pressing against it before any more of the annoying orange and black robots could swarm us or the turrets mow us down in lethal plasma fire. It didn't hold, far too soon the ancient metal door began showing signs of wear and tear as the little filly robots began battering their way through it.

"Where in Celestia's holy arse..." Cait panted, as I kicked my saddle into it's reloading process, "Did a Nightmare Nighter get all those damn robots!"

Scrapyard gave a low whine in agreement to Cait's protest, his mouth was torn and bloodied as well as several smaller splotches of blood along his furred body, unlike us, he wasn't armored thanks to the distinct lack of armor in his body type. I focused my medical magic to heal the two of them while I formulated a response, "Don't ask me, I'm a stable raised pony, remember? Are robots supposed to be so common?"

Cait chuckled, "We've seen more robots these last few weeks than I usually see in two years." He nodded to the door, "So do we keep fighting that miniature swarm?"

I looked around the room briefly taking everything in. It was rather undecorated part of what once was a barracks, a few moldy beds, a novel that read 'Energy weapons and you!' draped over one side, and a few tables that held recently spoiled food. My eyes caught on something however, "Not if we can help it, though we might not need to. I know a way to distract them, just keep the door shut until they go away."

Cait looked to what got my interest and sighed, "Splitting up again? Bad idea, considering what we're up against."

The smart side of my brain, ever the survivalist agreed with him, so did the little pony in my head but I wasn't going to agree with those two or Cait, Cait after all was the technology expert among us, considering he was a Steel Ranger and as a result had more access and training to deal with this problem. I shook my head, "I'll lure them away as long as I can before losing them back up another ventilation shaft and meet you two further down. Maybe I'll figure out a way to deal with the other two problems while we're at it."

My companion sighed, unsheathing his blade and cutting off a hoof of a robot who had managed to punch through the door with a leg, "There's no persuading you otherwise is there?"

I gave him my cockiest grin, or at least tried to. It might of came out in a goofy, somewhat disappointing fashion instead, "Learned that from you."

That drew a grim smile from Cait as he began hacking and stabbing at the next robotic limb to make it through, "Not the best role model to follow Aria." Never the less, a few minutes later I found myself crawling through the compact vent, my guns barely not brushing either side of it, however I did have to trust my hat and the majority of my saddlebags to Cait again. This meant that Ambush would be sitting out this round, unless Cait used it. Thinking of which, I never had seen Cait use a long range gun before, a shotgun sure, but never a rifle or even showed the slightest interest in Ambush beyond that it was a gun. Remembering his combat preference revolved around short range, I didn't blame him.

What I didn't expect however, when I had passed through the ventilation enough to be looming directly over the grate into the hallway of the next room however, was that a ponytron was in the vent with me, the smaller bugger easily fitting into where I had to drop and crawl. It pointed a gun at my unarmored face and I seriously regretted my next action. I fired my varmint rifle into the robot, cleanly taking off it's head but the sound of gunfire in the narrow metal shaft reverberated and deafened my poor ears. I thrashed, trying to reach my hooves around my ears to get the horrid ringing and pain to stop. The noise however, as well as the feedback the bot who had been about to shot me, had attracted the other robots attentions, and a hail of gunfire began piercing the vent as I desperately scrabbled for sanctuary onward. My desperate crawl was doomed to failure as both sides around me turned orange as plasma fire from the turrets melted the ends and caused the vent to fall.

I hit the ground with a heavy thunk in my metal tube, and I had to act, forcing myself through the still red hot metal that burned my hooves and fleeing down the hall while gunfire and plasma bolts chased me down the line, my balance was off and I nearly tripped twice while I hurried down the hallway and took a blind leap of faith down the next right turn while my armored flank got itself covered in enough metal to make a new sidearm.

I cursed my luck as I spotted two turrets waiting for me in the next hallway and took aim with S.A.T.S. Firing a combination of shotgun shrapnel, which killed the first turret, and varmint rifle at the second, which failed to destroy it, but took out it's targeting talisman, causing it to flail and shoot around blindly as though it was an insect on the verge of death. I managed to dodge past the turret, not having enough time to deal with it as my pursuers rounded the corner and began shooting at me again. This time I took a left, and gave a sigh of relief as I spotted a pair of turrets that had already been destroyed. Dashing through the hallway again at top speeds allowed me enough of a break to round the next corner before the little bundles of terror and death could open fire again.

The natural agility of my body was starting to outpace their slower maintained pace, that I knew, but all the speed in the world didn't help me if I couldn't out maneuver them. Something that became apparent when I had to leap over another swarm of a half dozen of the things, fly through turret fire that added a pair of new holes in my wings, and avoid being disintegrated as I ran head first into a Sentry bot that had uncovered itself from a hidden alcove in a wall. Seeing another set of doors, I all but rammed into them but they refused to budge, I tried to open them again, but they were still locked, "Oh buck me with Luna's entire moon!" I shouted in panic as I turned and readied my weapons again, no time to pick the lock, even if I did have the time, the door wouldn't stop a small army of robots, nor did I have enough time to go back the way I came.

I took aim down the hallway and double checking that my guns were reloaded, "If I'm going down, I'm taking you all with me!" That was a lie, and both of us knew it. If I was going down, I was only going to be able to take a few of them down with me before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

As the robots rounded the corner however, I didn't expect to be suddenly yanked through the door by my tail only to have it shut after me. A familiar bright orange and black powered armor pegasus, albeit in shoddy condition in comparison to when we first met shut the door and locked the door again by pushing a heavy medicine cabinet in the way. I sat there in shock as the sounds of automatic fire began peppering the door from the other side. She turned her armored head towards me and momentary disbelief flashed through her cold spectrum of emotion, matching my jaw dropped look of disbelief.

She was the first to recover, "You again? Alright, what's going on here." when I failed to give my response on the accounted dropped jaw she stomped, venom seeping into her tone, "Speak insect, who are you and why are you here?"

Xp Footnote: 40% until level up.

Note Added: Ponytron Subtype, Filly Swarmer Mrk II: These small robots are armed with whatever they can carry. Typically they have inbuilt pistols and travel in swarms, when one breaks down, another will often go and find scrap metal to repair it while excess scrap is used in making more of them, this makes defeating a swarm near impossible unless you beat them down all at once, or make them run out of scrap metal. They are not above cannibalizing other broken robots for this purpose. Rumor has it that these robots were once designed in the image of Sweetie Belle in her youth, however these ones seem to have been painted Nightmare Nighter coloration. Darn shame.

With the return of our mysterious Nightmare Nighter, who knows what else is going on in this mysterious facility, perhaps Another experiment is here besides Maul as well? Why did the AI go rampant? Where in the world did all these robots come from? Find out next time on FoE: ACP! As always, you can ask Aria or her companions questions or leave them comments on her ask blog found here!