At some point during the trip, I fell asleep, but quickly awoke when the cart suddenly jolted to a halt. I didn't hear any gunshots or screams, so I knew we weren't just ambushed by any raiders. Also, I was aware that there was no way we reached Woodtrot this soon, so I remained with my back to the floor of the cart with my hat over my eyes. Whatever caused this delay, I was sure that the two stallions pulling the cart could handle it.

Trying to go back to sleep, I heard a mare speak with a silvery voice. "Excuse me, I'm kind of lost. Would any of you stallions know where the nearest town is?"

One of the stallions answered her. "Hmm, I think there's a settlement just beyond that ridge over there. We would offer you a ride, but we're in a rush. Can you make it there on your own?"

There was silence for a while until the mare responded. "Thank you, I think I can manage."

"Then best of luck to you, ma'am."

The cart was rocking as the earth ponies once again took off in a full gallop. Several minutes down the road, one of the stallions spoke.

"Wait, isn't that settlement a slaver town?"

"Crap! I think it is, should we go back for her?"

The other pony was silent for a moment before responding. "No, she looked like a smart mare; I'm sure she'll notice before she even sets foot in there, and besides...Ol' Citrus would be very upset with us if he found out we were delayed more than once."

I slowly sat up, raised my hat and watched with groggy eyes over to the horizon. In the distance, I spotted what looked like a charcoal-black unicorn with a white mane traveling down the road all on her lonesome.

My second sleep was woken by the sound of a stallion's voice and a hoof nudging me.

"Sir?"

Please just let me sleep. Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away.

I was nudged again, this time a bit rougher.

"Sir, we arrived."

Right, right...the job. Getting up was a struggle for my sore muscles. The mystery of how I even fell asleep on this thing, not once, but twice, was too much of a puzzle even for me. Hopping off the cart, I yawned as I stretched my legs. The two sweaty stallions looked at me with envious eyes.

Ok, P.I., no need to upset the nice stallions that just hauled you across the wasteland by showing off how well rested you are when compared to them.

I coughed into my hoof and scanned the area.

The settlement of Woodtrot appeared to have been built around the ruins of a small urban town. Surrounding the town was a makeshift barrier composed of scorched billboards, plywood, and whatever else that was on hoof at the time of its construction. Walking along the top of the wall were ponies wielding rifles, patrolling the town's perimeter. Ol' Citrus was right, this place was secure. The way into the town was by two large slabs of rusted metal on hinges attached to the wall, acting as the entrance for the town. Atop the gate, the name 'Woodtrot' was spelled out using letters that were either neatly cut or barbarically ripped out from different advertisements.

Giving my thanks to the two stallions, I made for the entrance. As I entered, the ponies on the wall watched my every movement for any sign of unwanted trouble. Now inside, I could see that most of the buildings where either uninhabitable or collapsed into mountains of bricks; those that survived were converted into homes and businesses for those who lived here.

Homes were repaired for their original purposes, while buildings like firehouses and restaurants were turned into stores and inns for the locals and traders. I stopped, then looked around, where there's a settlement there's almost always a...a bar!

Spotting it, I quickly made my way to the one building in this town that had a flashing sign depicting a frothing cup of cider. I didn't have to be a detective to know that was the universal symbol for alcohol.

The bar door creaked loudly as it swung inwards. The place was what you would expect from a pub; the hardwood counter had multiple ring stains on it as it spanned half way across the room along one of the walls. Behind it was a refrigerator and a rack stocked with all kinds of bottles, each filled with different pre-war alcoholic brands. The space in the center of the room was full of wooden tables, one was occupied by hardened looking wastelanders in the middle of a card game; caps rested on the center of the table, acting as poker chips. Oddly, a couple of the tables were smashed and had drops of fresh blood around them, indicating that something had happened here recently.

Approaching the bar, I took a seat in one of the many stools facing it. Behind the counter was the bar pony, a middle aged dark blue unicorn holding a rag in his magic and using it to clean a glass cup.

"What'll it be?" The bartender asked.

My response came with a friendly smile. "A sparkle cola would be fine."

Without even turning around, he opened the fridge with his magic, pulled out a bottle of cola, popped the cap off (Which he kept...) then slid the cola over the counter towards me. After giving him the caps for the beverage, I used both hooves to carefully pick up the bottle and brought it to my lips. Ugh, warm...figures...Why even have a fridge if you're not gonna keep drinks cool?

"So..." I took another sip, set the bottle back down, then gestured to the smashed tables behind me. "What's the story behind that?"

The bar pony wiped the counter as he spoke. "Eh, some mare showed up to town way early in the morning. Came in here, and some of the boys in their inebriation got a little rowdy. They wouldn't take no for an answer, so..." He chuckled "That's when she got rowdy-er. I swear, I've never seen anything like it. One mare was able to knock around six stallions all on her own." The bar pony then looked over me and grinned to one of the stallions playing cards. "Gave you one heck of a black eye. Hope you learned a lesson there, Skeeter."

"Ahh shut it!" Yelled...well, I'm assuming that was Skeeter.

"Maybe I would consider that when one of you pays for the damages." Retorted the bar-pony.

"So what happened to the mare?" I asked.

The bar-pony responded as he went back to wiping the counter. "Security ponies showed up and took her in."

"I see..." I said as I nodded. "Listen, I'm looking for somepony. A cousin of mine. Was told she might be here." I still remembered Tangerine's description from Citrus earlier. "She's an orange unicorn with a green mane and tail. Around my age. Has an orange with two leaves for a cutie mark. Ring any bells?"

"Hmm." The bar pony placed a hoof under his chin. "Did she always carry around a saddlebag full of oranges?"

"Yes, that's her!" I was going out on a limb here; I honestly didn't know if she did or not, but who else in this town would have access to oranges when they were considered a rare commodity?

"That sounds like Tangerine." A frown formed on the bartender's face. "Kid, I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I hear she's gone missing."

I tried to look utterly shocked. "W-what? What do you mean she's missing?"

He slowly shook his head as he spoke. "I mean just that, and she ain't the only one too."

Wait, what!? Citrus failed to mention any other missing ponies...I had to know more. "Other ponies? Who?"

"From what I hear, a dozen or so mares have disappeared recently."

Something wasn't making sense... "How can somepony just disappear here? Let alone a dozen. I thought this place was supposed to be safe?"

"You're preaching to the choir, kid. Woodtrot security is investigating, but so far, they came up with squat." The bartender looked to the table were the ponies were still playing poker. "Skeeter, when are you gonna get off your arse and find them!?"

"When you quit hounding me!" Yelled Skeeter.

"You know what I think?!" The bartender slammed a hoof on the counter, causing my cola to jump. "I think you're just lazy!"

"Ah says you. I'm on break! I'll get on it when I get on it." I could see why security was having such a hard time locating the mares...

To my amazement, a notification popped up in my E.F.S.

Oh...that was neat. But these clues...was there a reason for this? Any significance?

Whatever it was, I wasn't going to find the answer in here.

Finishing my cola, I got out of my seat and started for the door, but before I exited, I turned back to the bartender.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where I can find Tangerine's place? Would you?"

Tangerine's home resided inside a two story building near the edge of the town, a couple buildings over from the barricade. The bottom floor used to be a small flower shop while the second floor was where the original owners would live. Trying the door, I found that it was strangely unlocked. Stepping inside, I could see clay pots, each filled with soil and budding plants, over them rested fluorescent lamps hooked up to spark batteries. My guess, these plants where gonna be Tangerine’s first orange trees.

Immediately, I began to search the shop, and it didn't take long for me to find a mess in the backroom. In the center was an overturned table, complete with smashed pot, soil, and some weird chemicals pooled over the floor tiles.

Oh this wasn't good. There was a struggle here.

Looks like she was in the middle of caring for the plant when somepo-

I quickly became tense. I just heard a shuffling noise through the ceiling... Somepony was upstairs.

With Conversationalist drawn, I made my way slowly up the stairs. The shuffling noise continued as, just now, I noticed a green bar shuffling around on my E.F.S. (I'm still new to the thing. Could you blame me for not noticing earlier?) Halfway up the stairs, my weight caused one of the steps to creak.

Shit...

The green bar stopped moving and remained still.

Now upstairs, I reached the door that the bar was behind and slowly swung it open. On the other side was a violet coated earth pony buck, a bit older than me, with a silver mane. He was wearing typical wasteland barding and a battle saddle; attached to it, a hunting rifle was trained right on me.

We were at a standstill, both of us with a weapon pointed at the other.

I was the first to break the silence.

"Who are you?" Well that's what I tried to say, but with Conversationalist in my mouth, it sounded more like 'Fwo har hyu?'

Regardless, the other pony understood my meaning.

"Boresight, and you...", he then pointed to a round piece of metal with the letter 'W' engraved, pinned to his barding, "are interfering with Woodtrot security business."

After a couple more seconds of starring at each other, I was the first one to back down by slowly lowering my weapon and putting it back in its holster. A part of me was a little disappointed, hoping that he was hostile just so I would have an opportunity to try out S.A.T.S. for the first time.

"So," Boresight said after he too lowered his weapon, "now that we got the formalities out of the way, I'd ask you the same question."

"I'm..." I didn't want to say my name out of fear that word would spread of a detective running around town asking questions. Ok, P.I. Think of something...think think think...think of something common, but not too common. "Lucky...Lucky Horseshoe"

IDIOT! The part of my brain that came up with that was being beaten to a bloody pulp by the other parts.

"Lucky, huh?" Oh wow, he bought it! "And why are you here?"

I shook my head to distract myself from the brain beating, then cleared my throat. "I was told this is my cousin's place. Dropped in to see if she was here."

Boresight raised an eyebrow. "Do you normally greet your relatives with a weapon?"

"Oh! It's an, um..." I coughed into my hoof. "Inside...joke..."

"Well it wasn't funny to me... I could have killed you!" Responded the security pony.

"Sorry. What are you doing here anyway?"

A look of concern appeared on his face. "You've...heard about your cousin...right?"

"I heard a rumor that she's gone missing recently..."

Boresight nodded slowly. "I'm afraid that's true. As for why I'm here, well, I decided to search this place for any clue as to where she is." He scratched his mane. "But so far, I'm stumped. I thought I would find something like a note explaining where she's gone or...or something."

I cocked my head. "And you're doing this on your own because...?"

He scoffed. "Those other security ponies who are supposed to be searching would rather be drinking, gambling, or chasing tail, instead of being out here looking for our own." His face shifted to one of annoyance. "I have half a mind to tell the town mayor that they be replaced with competent ponies."

I could easily recall Skeeter and his gang from earlier.

"Well why don't you?" I asked.

He lowered his eyes. "Believe you me, I'd love to, but Woodtrot is a town of a couple hundred, and there's only so many who have either the skills or drive to protect it. We take what we can get." His mouth formed a scowl. "Even if there's some ponies who sign up just for the gun and sense of authority, but are nowhere to be found when they're needed."

Well, it was good to know that there were at least some ponies in Woodtrot's security who were actually doing their jobs. But as much as I respected Boresight for his dedication, he was kinda interfering with my own investigation. I was going to have to get rid of him somehow.

After some quick thinking, I got it. "Boresight..." I forced up a sigh. "Ya mind giving me a few minutes alone here?"

He looked at me quizzically. "Why? I'm still searching for clues."

"Oh, I-I know, but I'd like to see if I can find any personal items..." His eyebrow raised again. "T-to bring to the family back home...in case...y-you know."

He stared at me for a couple seconds, and when he finally got it, he mouthed an 'ooh'. "I'll head outside then." I don't want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn here, but I think that performance would have won multiple awards for best in show back in pre-war times. "But if you find anything important, you best tell me. Is that understood?" Without breaking eye contact, I nodded. "Well I'll leave you to it then."

Finally, the violet security pony left me to my own investigation.

Adjusting my hat, I took note of the room I was in. It was a single room with one window that had some decrepit looking curtains, and two doors; one leading to the stairs I climbed earlier, and the other to a bathroom. What furniture Tangerine owned here consisted of a slightly charred bookcase, (possibly scavenged, then sold to her), a couple drawers, a coffee table, and a bed. Even up here, there was a row of clay pots lined up against one of the walls.

Well, time to see what I can find.

After some time searching around the room, I noticed something. Screwed into one of the walls was a hook rack with three hooks, the first two were occupied by a coat and a pre-war sun hat, the third hook however, had nothing on it.

I had a hunch, but just to be sure, I brought up my notes on the PipBuck. A couple button presses later and... YEP! There it was on the small screen.

Tangerine was always seen with a saddlebag full of oranges.

Since the coat and hat were hung, then by using that logic, the third hook would have been for her saddlebags. But, empty hook, so Tangerine must have had her saddlebags on her when she went missing.

Putting some extra thought into it, there were signs of a struggle downstairs, meaning that somepony had broke in, but after looking around, I saw no broken glass, tampered locks, or busted doors.

How could they have gotten in?

Well, I did have one theory, but to confirm it, I was going to need something that I didn't have on me. Where would I find one in a jiffy? After a couple of seconds rubbing my chin, I suddenly facehoofed with a grin as I remembered that I did indeed see one on my way in.

Running downstairs, I grabbed the spark-battery that was powering the fluorescent light, and on my way back up, I found a hammer and screwdriver; I was going to need these as well.

Once I was back in the room, I used the screwdriver to open the spark-battery's casing, exposing the small magical gem inside. Extracting it, I then put it inside the pillowcase I got from Tangerine's bed and proceeded to smash it with the hammer against the coffee table. I didn't stop until the gem was the consistency of a fine powder.

I then looked around for something that Tangerine was guarantied to have lifted with her magic. I settled for her hat. Placing the hat on the table, I then poured a small amount of the gem powder onto it.

Now, count to three Conterlots.

One Canterlot...

Two Canterlot...

The powder on the hat started to glow.

Three Canterlot...

I blew the powder away on the third Canterlot, and what remained on the hat was a faint orange glow.

What I just did was a little trick I learned in one of my detective novels. Whenever something is picked up using unicorn magic, the item is left with faint traces of the magic; it's sort of the magical equivalent of a hoofprint. By spreading gem powder over the hat, I was able to momentarily revive that magical signature by using the gem's magic. Old Equestrian law enforcement would have kept each criminal unicorn's unique magical frequency on record, but since this was the wastes, I didn't have such a luxury. Instead, I settled for the color of the magic.

Tangerine's description stated that she was an orange unicorn with a green mane, so her magic would have been either orange or green. The hat glowed orange, so this was to be my control sample.

Moving the dusty curtains out of the way, I now had an unobstructed view of the window; bellow it was a small latch, locking the window shut. This was still a hunch but I shook out some gem power onto the latch.

Three Canterlots later and... BINGO!

I blew away the powder as the latch started glowing a mustard yellow. I didn't have any worry about the possibility of multiple magical signatures causing different colors to blend, because what I also learned from my novels was that magical traces acted like...well...I'm not very good at explaining this myself, so I'm going to describe it the same way one of my books did.

Pretend unicorn magic is paint, and the item you use it on, is a barn. When you repaint a barn with a new color, you paint over the old one.

Opening the window, I stuck my head out and saw that right outside was an old fire escape. This confirmed my hunch as to why there wasn't a forced entry.

A unicorn with either a mustard yellow coat or mane climbed up the escape and used their magic to unlock the window from the outside.

This also meant that Tangerine was taken.

A couple more minutes of searching turned up no further clues. Exiting the building, I approached Boresight who was still hanging around outside.

"Boresight..." I said.

He stopped his whistling and turned to me. "Yes?"

"In the letters my cousin sent me. She often spoke of a barn north of the town that she liked to visit sometimes. Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, I know where that is." He said with a nod. "That's just outside of the wall though; can't see why anypony would want to hang around there."

"You mind taking me? Just to make sure she isn't there or something..."

He regarded me for a moment before he answered. "Sure...follow me."

The barn where Ol' Citrus left the ransom money was in total disarray; a large section of the roof was missing, several of the walls had severe scorch marks, most of the wood it was made from was rotting, what little red paint that survived was peeling away, and one of the barn's double doors was missing. Walking inside, the stench of pungent mildew was like a slap to the nostrils. Breathing through my mouth, I continued my search for any leads.

Citrus said he put the requested caps inside a bag and left it in the center of the barn around midnight, then waited outside, hoping that his daughter would be released to him. He waited for several hours, but his daughter was never brought to him, and when he checked the barn again, the bag was gone.

After several minutes of searching, (followed by in-between breaks of me going outside for fresh air), I found something that I almost missed.

Right when I was about to leave, I noticed that one section of the floorboards didn't have as much ash covering it as the rest, forming a less dirty square shape on the floor. Tapping the boards that did have ash caused a solid sound. Tapping the square caused an echoey sound, almost as if it were...hollow.

Spotting a rack full of long rusted farm tools, I took a spade, forced it in between some floorboards and easily pulled them off. (They weren't even nailed in...) Underneath was a small gap big enough for a pony to squeeze into. At the bottom of the gap were discarded water bottles and snack cake wrappers. Somepony was waiting in here...

With this new information, I formed the scenario in my head.

Citrus showed up and placed the bag in the barn. He steps outside and waits for hours. The pony under the floor comes out and takes it, then goes back into the gap. But hold on a minute! They never told Citrus to wait outside. He did that on his own because the letter never gave any instruction about what to do next. So how would the pony waiting under the barn have known when to leave? Citrus waited for hours. If the pony didn't know that, Citrus would have seen him exiting the barn at some point. So the question is...how did the ransom pony know when it was safe to leave?

I stepped outside to get some fresh air.

"You know." Boresight said. "I could have told you that she wasn't in there."

I snorted to clear out any trace of the mildew smell from my nasal cavities. "Ugh, I can see why somepony wouldn't want to hang out in there."

"Still," Boresight said with a small shrug, "I'm sorry she wasn't there. Listen, I'm sure that if you come with me, you and I can convince the sheriff to--"

I couldn't hear a word Boresight was saying, as something caught my attention.

Atop the town wall I could see two guard ponies, both on opposite ends of the barricade. They were talking to each other, even though they were both out of the others hearing range. After squinting my eyes to get them into better focus, I saw how. They were talking into metal devices that were shaped like rectangles and had antennas sticking out of them. They were walkie talkies...

My eyes widened with a realization.

"--In no time... Hey, you feeling alright?"

I shook my head and refocused on Boresight. "Y-yeah, just worried about Tangerine is all. What...what were you saying?"

He rolled his eyes. "I said that we might be able to convince Sheriff Bronze Star to get more ponies searching the town. Maybe show some of that concern for your cousin that you showed me earlier."

I nodded. "Yeah...yeah."

"Good, I'll take you to him."

Once again, Boresight lead me to my next destination.

I was led to a building near the center of the town that used to be a police station. Naturally, this was where Woodtrot's security would met up in. Once inside, I followed Boresight through a large room full of old desks and ponies shuffling about. Sitting on top of most of the desks were terminals, some were even still in working order.

Boresight stopped at a door and started knocking.

A voice came from behind the door. "Come in."

Boresight opened the door, turned, and motioned for me to go in with him. Doing so, I entered the room and spotted sitting behind a large oak wood desk, a bright blue unicorn buck with a black mane and tail, sporting a handlebar mustache. He wore a faded black cowboy hat and protective barding that was in much better condition than what the other guards had.

"Sir," Boresight placed a hoof on my shoulder, "this is Lucky Horseshoe." He then pointed to the mustachioed stallion. "Lucky, meet our head of Woodtrot security; Sheriff Bronze Star."

Bronze Star tilted his hat in my direction and spoke in a gruff voice. "Evenin', what's the occasion for this here meetin'?"

I opened my mouth to speak but Boresight cut me off.

"We came here to see if we could persuade you to maybe put some more ponies on the search for the missing--"

Bronze Star slammed his front hooves on the desk, silencing Boresight. "Dammit Boresight! We've been through this already! We're already doing what we can with who we have on hoof, or do you want me to get some of the guards off wall duty, hmm?" His tone changed to a sarcastic one. "Let's put the whole town at risk."

Boresight used a more aggressive tone. "Maybe we should. Maybe then you'd see that some of these ponies don't even know how to do their jo--."

A knock from besides me interrupted their argument. Standing in the door-frame was an olive coated unicorn buck with a yellow mane and tail, who spoke in a familiar graty voice. "Boss, me and my group just searched the old subway like you's said."

"And?" Bronze Star replied.

"Crap hole was empty as always, nuthin' but radroaches."

Bronze nodded. "I appreciate your efforts, Skeeter. You're dismissed." He then looked at Boresight. "You were saying?"

As Skeeter walked down the hallway and the two continued their argument, I caught a whiff of something in the air; it was a sweet, sensuous odor, almost like that of an...orange.

Quickly stepping into the hallway, I saw Skeeter at the far end, heading for the exit.

Unicorn...

Yellow mane...

And the scent of an orange...

The two security ponies didn't even notice me leave over their bickerment.

It was starting to get dark as I followed Skeeter for half an hour, looking for a chance to get him alone.

As he walked into an alley, my window of opportunity arrived. Once he was halfway in, I quickly dove at him from behind, knocking him down and completely taking him by surprise; a couple oranges spilled from his saddlebags when they fell off him. Using my earth pony strength, I managed to pin him to the ground, however, he then pulled out his pistol with his magic and tried to aim it at me. Before he could pull the trigger, I slapped it away, causing the gun to skid on the ground away from his magical range.

Skeeter had difficulty speaking as I pressed my forearm against his neck. "P-please! Give – me a little more...time! You'll have your money by tonight...p-promise!"

"Not here for that!" I picked up one of the oranges with my hoof using every bit of earth pony dexterity I had and brought it up to Skeeter's face. "I know you have her! Where is she!?"

Skeeter's eyes widened with the realization of who I was. "Ah, fuck! You's the cousin from the bar!"

"I didn't ask if you recognized me!" I squeezed his neck a bit harder. "Where is she, and why have you taken her!?"

"F-fuck you man! I ain't-- tellin' ya nuthin'! He'd kill me if ah don't ge--"

"Wrong!" I cut him off. "I might kill you if you don't tell me what's going on!" I then started to smash the orange against his face. On the third strike, the peel broke, squirting juice into his black eye.

Skeeter squirmed under me as he screamed for several seconds. "Fine! Fine! I'll tell you! Pleeease stop!"

Just what I wanted to hear. "I kept hearing about some missing mares, was that you!?"

He stared at me with one eye closed and a hint of defiance on his face. That disappeared when I lifted the pulped orange over him, ready to get his other eye should he felt the need to lie to me. "Yes! It's me and my squad!"

His squad? Well that explained the barn scenario; one pony on the wall watching over the barn and Citrus, the other hiding under the floorboards with a walkie talkie.

"Why do this!?" I questioned. "You're supposed to be protecting this town!"

Skeeter squealed a bit as I waved the orange near his face. "M-me and the guys! We've run up a large amount of debt to some very important big-shot!" I applied some pressure to his neck in order to convince him to get to the point. "W-we know some slavers who would pay a ton of caps for some mares! For...entertainment purposes! They visit the town sometimes! T-the gang and I made arrangements...to meet inside the old subway tonight! They give us the caps, and we give them the mares we collected!"

Something didn't make sense, how would the slavers have gotten out of Woodtrot with the mares? I couldn't imagine slavers being able to just walk through the front gates unnoticed with the missing ponies that security has been looking for.

"How would the slavers get into the subway?" I asked.

Skeeter's voice was starting to get hoarse. "The...the subway has a tunnel that exits just outside of Woodtrot's barricade."

One last tidbit of info was needed.

"Why send a ransom for Tangerine if you were already going to get paid for the mares?"

He coughed. "Wasn...wasn't my idea. A couple of the guys got greedy once we found out that the bitch's dad was loaded."

And after that is when I came into the picture...

Now that I heard everything, I bit Conversationalist's mouthpiece and pulled it from its holster.

The look Skeeter gave me was one of utter horror. "Oh, oh fuck no! I just tolds ya what you wanted to hear man! You's don't have to kill me!"

I pointed the gun at him and grinned for a couple seconds, then tossed it in the air, caught it in my mouth by the barrel, and slammed the other end against his skull, knocking him unconscious.

I spat out Conversationalist onto my hoof and got off of Skeeter.

"You're right...you're not worth the price of the bullet."

Using a length of rope I found lying around in the alley, I tied up Skeeter and stashed him inside an old garbage dumpster.

Now that he was dealt with, there was still the issue with the rest of his squad. They had Tangerine and the other mares tucked away inside the subway right under Woodtrot, ready to be sold to slavers tonight.

I was losing daylight, so I had to work fast. Running around the town, I finally spotted one of the entrances to the subway. I descended down the long flight of stairs and passed a row of broken ticket booths, only to be greeted to darkness. Standing in the dark, I began fiddling with my PipBuck and was almost blinded when the screen gave off a bright green light. (Note to self: Look away the next time you turn that on...) Now partially illuminated, I could see a long abandoned subway station with train tracks running along both sides of it; ceramic tiles had fallen off the walls and support pillars, littering the ground. Despite that, I could still make out a mural on one of the walls made from colored tiles. They formed the image of Princess Luna spreading her wings over a flock of foals beneath her, all in awe of her presence. Above that was a train schedule that displayed information like street names, what train goes where, and when a certain train would arrive.

I waved my PipBuck around to get a better view of the station.

Oh no...four tunnels. There was no way I would be able to search the entire subway in time. Maybe if I try to quickly go one by--

I stopped that thought and facehoofed, as now I just noticed multiple green dots clustered together on my E.F.S.; all in the direction of the tunnel I would have checked last...

I hopped off the elevated platform and landed beside the rails, then ran down the aforementioned tunnel. I stopped running and turned off my light when I spotted a glow coming from around the curve of the tunnel.

I stayed in the shadows, but was just close enough to see what the source of the glow was. What I saw was a similar looking station to the one I had used to enter the subway. In it was a flaming barrel sitting in the center of a dozen mares who were all kept in an improvised cage. Just outside the cage were six ponies all in Woodtrot security barding.

Skeeter's squad... They were sitting next to their own fire while playing cards and drinking.

"The fuck is Skeeter!?" One of the guards yelled.

"Hell if I know. Asshole is probably off drinking at the bar, while we watch over the cunts."

"Fuck him, we don't need him for the trade off. When are they getting here anyway?"

"Couple more hours. After that, it will be easy sailing from here on out. No more worrying about you-know-who after our asses."

"I hear ya, I'd finally be able go to sleep without fear of somepony waiting to slit my throat."

"Oh yeah! Plus we got our little 'bonus' from that orange filly there."

The pony who said that pointed at a mare in the cage. She was orange with a green mane, and on her flank was an orange with two leaves attached to the stem... Tangerine...

The six ponies all joined in a chorus of laughter, that was then interrupted when the mare beside Tangerine spoke up. She was a young, amber coated earth pony with emerald eyes, a black mid-length mane and tail with multiple streaks of yellow, and was also wearing what looked like full body Stable barding that had the number '73' embroidered on it.

"Just let us go you assholes! I kicked the crud out of you most of you there, I'd do it to the rest of you too!"

The security ponies only laughed harder. Then one of them spoke to the mare who just yelled at them. "Oh you are just the sweetest. Lucky us you came to town when you did. We're probably gonna get extra for you; I hear Stable ponies are...'softer'."

The amber mare actually growled at him through the fence.

"Yellow." Tangerine spoke. "Please don't make them upset, they have guns!"

"Ha!" Yellow scoffed. "And it's because of those guns that they even got me."

Tangerine rolled her eyes. "That...and you thought you were being arrested."

"Hey!" Yellow brought a foreleg to her chest. "I'm new to this whole 'wasteland' thing! How was I supposed to know that these dicks were crooked?!"

"Shut up!" A guard yelled at the two. "I'd be quiet now, unless you always wanted to know what it was like to be a corpse!" He then pointed his rifle at Yellow. She glared at him for a second or two, then backed down. "Good girl."

Having seen enough, I crept over the train tracks and climbed onto a section of the platform that was shrouded in a pillar's shadow cast by the fires.

With the security ponies in the middle of their game and conversation, I snuck by the cage. The mares spotted me, one of them looked ready to scream until I quickly put a hoof to my lips.

"Shh." I spoke in a volume that only the mares would hear. "I'm here to get you out."

Silently, a few nodded. I then tip-toed to the entrance of the fence. Shit...there was a padlock keeping it closed.

The amber mare approached me and whispered. "One of them has the key."

Turning to the six ponies, I spotted a key hooked to a chain attached to the barding of one of them.

There was no way I could sneak up and take the key without them noticing. Straight out engaging them in a firefight now would be suicide. The odds were six to one, not to mention that there were defenseless ponies in here; I didn't want any of them to get hit by a stray bullet.

Ooh, what to do, what to do?

"Hey, psst..." I turned back to the amber mare. She motioned with her hoof for me to get closer. Doing so, she began whispering in my ear. "I have an idea."

After hearing her out, I nodded. It seemed like a decent idea, and it was better than my plan of...well, nothing...

"Hey." The guards ignored the amber mare. "HEY!"

An irritated guard responded to her cry. "What is it now!?"

"I have to go to the little fillies room."

The guard shook his head. "No, forget it."

"Oh come oooooooooon!" Groaned the amber mare, her legs twitching under her. "I haven't been able to go all day since you brought me here!"

"We don't care." The guard said matter of factly.

A grin appeared over the mare's mouth. "Fine, wait here in a station that is going to smell like crap in a couple minutes."

The guards turned to one another. It was clear by the look of their faces that they wouldn't have liked that.

One of them spoke up. "Fine! Casing, you take her!"

"Why do I got to do it?" Casing, an earth pony responded.

"Cause you got the key, dingus. Besides, it'll be fine; just take her there, and if she tries any cute shit, shoot her in the kneecap."

Casing grumbled for a bit. "Fine! But next time, one of you fuckers do it!" He got up, walked to the cage and unlocked it. When the mare stepped out, he relocked the cage, then escorted Yellow at gunpoint to the bathroom.

The subway bathroom had clearly seen better days; its once pristine, tiled white walls were gray, cracked and had sections of it missing entirely. The same could be said for its mirrors, now coated in a thick layer of dust from centuries of neglect. The sinks were just covered in rust and decades old stains, but worst of all were the toilet stalls. Some of the stalls didn't even have toilets in them, instead they had smashed chunks of porcelain were a toilet would have been.

The bathroom was just as dark as the tunnels, so Casing used the flashlight taped to his rifle to light the way from behind Yellow.

Yellow stopped in front of one of the stalls. "Can you check it for radroaches? I don't want one of those things jumping out at me while I crap."

Casing didn't hide his annoyance as he reluctantly opened the stall.

At the same time he opened his stall, I opened the one I was hiding in; the one right behind Casing...

"See, there's noth--"

Casing failed to finish that sentence as I hit him at the back of his head using the blunt end of Conversationalist. Casing fell to the ground, slumped besides the toilet. At some point, I really should use Conversationalist for its intended purpose... On the plus side, I do save ammo.

Yellow then took the key and detached the flashlight from the rifle, then placed it on the floor between us; it illuminated both of us and the ceiling.

Putting my gun back in its holster, I faced Yellow. "You got 'em?"

A smile spread across her face as she presented the keys over the light. "Right here."

I nodded. "Nice, that was a good plan."

"Heh, I can't believe that actually worked... So what now?"

I was silent for a spell as I thought about it. "I'll create a distraction, try and draw them away from the cage. When that happens, you go unlock it, and try to sneak the mares out. Think you can manage that?"

"Ha! Piece of cake."

"Alright, you'll know it when you hear it." I then exited the bathroom and snuck behind one of the support pillars just far enough away from the guards. Each of them was just as armed as Casing was, so I had to do this right.

I drew Conversationalist and took a couple short controlled breaths to psych myself up before doing this.

As soon as I was ready, I immediately emerged from behind the pillar and started shooting in the direction of the guards, being extra careful not to hit the mares.

After my first couple shots, they scrambled and hid behind whatever they could; the corrupt security ponies didn't even look at the mares, as their concern was now me. Now behind cover, the guards returned fire, causing me to fall back behind the pillar. I spotted one trying to reposition to get a better shot at me. As he ran out of cover, I leaned out and fired; a yelp of pain confirmed that I hit him, however, after taking that shot, so was I. The bullet hit my right shoulder, and as it bled, my right foreleg was starting to feel numb. I also noticed that on my PipBuck screen, there was a picture of a fedora and tie wearing earth pony with his whole right foreleg flashing red.

Luckily, the bullet passed through and didn't hit any bone. As bullets were peppering the pillar, I began scrambling around in my saddlebags until I found a vial full of glowing purple liquid. Popping the cork, I guzzled the sweet tasting liquid then watched as the wound started to close and feeling was returning to my leg. Healing potions were amazing.

Once I heard them reloading, I dashed out and moved to new cover, shooting to keep them pinned as I did so. Now behind a new pillar I started reloading my gun. On the second I finished, one of them was besides me; he must have chased me here! Before he pulled the trigger, I reacted by hastingly knocking his gun aside, forcing him to shoot the floor. I then kicked him away from me, causing him to be pushed back into his allies' fire. Two down, three to go...

Peering around my new cover, I saw that two of them were both shooting from behind the same bench. Well, now was as good a time as any. Leaning out of cover, I repeatedly mentally shouted for S.A.T.S., hoping that my PipBuck would detect my need for it...

Nothing happened... Or to be more precise, nothing was moving. The two guards were aiming at me, but weren't firing. I was suspended in time! I couldn't even move!

Well shit... The PipBuck froze my brain or something... Oh that's just great! I'm probably dead right now, and my brain hasn't registered it yet! Chesterfield sold me a defective PipBuck! Oh I should have taken Conversationalist from him, and slapped him upside the head wit--

My supposed last thoughts were interrupted when the head of one of the guards was highlighted. Above it, I could see the words 'Head Targeted' and a percentage in my vision. Oh... I mentally blushed from self embarrassment, then queued one shot for each of their heads.

Umm...accept?

Time resumed as my body partially moved on its own, shooting both of the guard's heads. They fell to the floor almost in unison. One of them did hit me during that stunt, but my vest took the bullet. Luckily, it was made from bullet-proof material, so the impact was more annoying than life threatening.

But...that was awesome! So that's what S.A.T.S. does! I stroked my PipBuck, and had a new-found appreciation for it. That was cut short however when I was knocked to my side. Standing tall above me was an earth pony buck, who must have snuck around me during the commotion.

As I took aim, he knocked conversationalist away, then pinned me and started to strangle me with both his hooves. I struggled for breath as I repeatedly hit him across the face...it wasn't effective at all. He began to use his full weight on me; with less air in my lungs, my struggle began to lessen.

Just when all hope was lost, out of nowhere, Yellow jumped onto his back and wrapped her forelegs around his neck. The guard got off me as he fought for his own air, and tried to get the mare off of him. He swung left to right in an attempt to shake her off, yet Yellow refused to let go, not even when he started slamming his back against a wall. Finally, the earth pony reared up, then fell on his back, out cold from lack of oxygen. The mare then let go and squirmed her way out from under him.

Now being able to breath properly, I got back on my hooves, rubbed my neck, picked up Conversationalist, then nodded to my savior. "Thanks...I owe you one."

Night had fallen as I emerged from the subway with the mares in tow. It didn't take long for the townsfolk to notice and start flocking around us. Some of the mares ran into the embrace of their families and loved ones, weeping tears of joy from their reunion.

Sheriff Bronze Star even showed up. "What in tarnation is going on here?"

It was then and there that I explained everything to him. Citrus, his daughter, the plan with the slavers, Skeeter and the other corrupted security members. He seemed more upset about the last one. He felt like he could have prevented this if he had a better judge of character. He also asked why I didn't come to him when I suspected security members. I explained that at the time, I wasn't sure who was involved, and for all I knew, he could have been involved as well.

An hour later, Tangerine, Yellow, and myself were in the security building.

"Well, we got Skeeter locked up now." Said Boresight. "Let that piece of brahmin shit rot."

Yellow crossed her forelegs together and nodded. "Good, let's see how he likes being in a cage."

Boresight nodded in agreement "All the other mares returned home, so why are you three still hanging around here?"

"Well," I spoke, "I'm waiting for stallions who brought me here to finish resting up so I can take Ms. Tangerine here to her father." I then pointed a hoof at Yellow. "As for you...Yellow...was it? Why are you still here?"

Yellow blinked. "Yeah, it's Yellow, Yellow Jacket. I'm here because...well, I have no where to go."

Ah... The Stable barding, her earlier talks about 'being new to the wasteland'. You'd sometimes hear about stables having a preset time to open and release its inhabitants.

"If your Stable just opened." I asked. "Why didn't you stay with the other Stable ponies?"

Yellow Jacket's eyes skimmed around as she rubbed a hoof on her shoulder. "W-where I'm from, it was a boring place. This wasteland seemed more exciting..."

"That and you were Stable 73's janitor." I said as I pointed at a patch on her Stable barding that said 'Custodian'.

"T-that too..." Yellow Jacket slowly nodded her head. "So I was thinking, P.I., you seem like a buck who can handle himself out here, and you seem nice enough..." She was starting to look as if she were embarrassed to continue. "I was wondering if I could maybe...travel...with you?"

I was not expecting this. This Stable mare wanted to travel. With. Me. Well, I only had one answer for this. "Yellow Jacket." I said.

She looked at me with a smile and wide hopeful eyes. "Yes?"

"That's a bad idea..." I said that with a smirk while slowly shaking my head.

She looked oh so disappointed...for like two seconds, then her expression made a complete 180 and became an angry one. "Why not!? We made a good team down there! And you did say that you owed me one!"

Tangerine interjected with a sing song tone in her voice. "That is true, I did see, and hear you say that..."

Ignoring Tangerine, I tried to reason with Yellow Jacket. "Listen, kid, I--"

"Don't call me 'kid'! We're like the same age!"

I scoffed. "Really? And how old are you even?" I had a strange sense of deja vu...

"Twenty-one! How old are you!?"

Crap...

She stared at me, her hoof tapping the floor impatiently. Giving in, I responded with gritted teeth. "Tenti..."

She put a hoof behind her ear. "What was that? Speak up!"

"Twenty! I'm Twenty!" I could have lied, but I knew I could convince her by telling her the reasons why traveling with me was a bad idea. "But that doesn't matter!" It would have mattered to help my argument if I was older... "Age difference aside, my line of work often has me going to dangerous places; I sometimes even get shot at! Besides, I live somewhere where I don't think you'll even be allowed in," I gestured to her with a hoof, "and you don't look like you're swimming in caps!"

She was silent for a moment, she seemed as if she were trying to think of a counter argument. "Maybe if--"

"HELP! SOMEPONY HELP!" Someone was yelling from down the hall. All of us got up and ran to the source of the voice.

It was coming from outside the jail cells where one of the guards was still yelling. I approached the pony who was shouting. "What's going on!?" I questioned.

He lifted a hoof and pointed to the cell room. "It's Skeeter! Something is wrong with him!"

Running inside the cell room, I spotted Skeeter lying on the floor of his cell; he was convulsing and foaming from the mouth. As soon as the guard unlocked his cell, I ran inside and held his head up. I then noticed something sticking out from the side of his neck, it was some sort of dart...

Yanking it from his neck, I shook him to keep him conscience. "Skeeter! Who did this to you!?"

He stared at me with strained red eyes and managed to mutter something through all that foam before dying. "S-Stage...Hand..."

I closed his eyes and gently laid him back down...he may have been scum, but he was already going to pay for that.

Stage Hand? The hell did that mean?

On the way back, I was as silent as the same two stallions from before, pulling the cart; they couldn't have been happy about the extra weight... As Tenpony tower was nearing, Tangerine and Yellow Jacket were chatting like school fillies the whole trip. It was clear that the two became fast friends during their short confinement.

Standing outside the tower's entrance was Ol' Citrus. The second he and his daughter saw each other, they bolted towards one another, then collided into a frenzy of hugs, kisses, and tears. Even I could admit that it was a welcomed sight.

"Tangerine...." Citrus said as he stroked his daughter's mane. "My little filly...you're alright..."

"Daddy!" Tangerine cried into her father's chest. "I thought I would never see you again!"

They stayed in the other's embrace until Tangerine broke off, then pointed to Yellow. "Daddy, I'd like you to meet Yellow Jacket; she helped save my life."

Yellow Jacket shyly waved to him. "Heh heh...hello...sir..."

Citrus smiled. "You can drop the 'sir'. After saving my Tangerine, you're practically family!"

Yellow Jacket looked to the floor and smiled, trying to hid a blush. "I-it was nothing."

I coughed loudly, getting Citrus's attention. "Seems that I've brought your daughter here safe and sound, as was the agreement..."

Citrus focused on me for a bit. "Oh, forgive my manners. I'll send somepony to you with the rest of your payment."

"Excellent." I tilted my hat to him. "Don't forget to spread the word; I could use the business."

I looked to Tangerine and Yellow Jacket, silently nodding my goodbye to them. Funny, Jacket thought she would be able to convince me on the trip here. Good luck doing that from outside the tower.

As I headed to the Towers entrance, I could still hear Citrus talking with Yellow Jacket. "Now, if there is anything I can do to repay you, just name it."

Yellow Jacket was silent, possibly thinking of something, then spoke. "Well...there is one thing." The doors closed behind me before I heard what it was.

Back in my office after a hard day, I threw myself onto the couch and napped. An hour later, I was awoken to the sound of knocking.

Another client? So soon?

Opening the door, I bore witness to an unwelcome sight.

"HEEEEY! PAAARTNER!"

Yellow Jacket was the other side with a big smile, then wrapped her forelegs around my neck and hugged me.

In utter bafflement, I stared at empty space in front of me.

...What?

Footnote : Level Up

New Perk Added – The Nose Knows: When encountering a specific smell, you have a 10% chance to cross examine the scent to memory and see if it is case related. Who knows, sometimes a smell can be important when solving a mystery.