Pathways.

They either lead you to something safe, or they lead you into something far more dangerous where death is inevitable. Its one of those dreaded puzzles that often comes with a negative outcome. At least on the plus side there’s some breathing room. The outside is currently under a hard thunderstorm, with a faint, muffled booming thunder behind us.

I’m not great when it comes to decision-making, am I?

“So… any suggestions on what tunnel should we take?”

While waiting to decide from Gale’s question, there was a metallic catwalk up ahead that splits into forks that takes us to either of these paths. They’re pretty durable and sturdy enough to support us and not give way.

Suppose we could go straight. Considering as how there isn’t any Raider activity going on. I led them forward to the middle tunnel inside with a large door that happens to be the entrance. There was some muffled noises in the background, with random conversations and loud, thrash music being played. I knocked the door three times with a hoof. A sliding peep door was conjured by magic as it open to reveal two eyes, “Whaddya want? We ain’t accepting no reservations.”

His accent sounded rather funny - in a non-humorous way of course - from an unknown origin. It didn’t took long before he shifted his eyes to us. “Wait… youse ain’t delivery ponies I ordered about. What brings ya here to Tunnel Snakes headquarters?”

Tunnel Snakes? This is new, as I’ve never heard such a thing before. Must’ve been like that Tatzlwurm we encountered before. But Tunnel Snakes seem a pretty odd name for a faction.

“We came here to seek temporary shelter, away from the bad weather. Normally, we’d pay you in caps but we don’t have much at this time. We recently left from Whinnyappolis until the weather suddenly went bad and it was raining quite aggressively.”

His eyes squinted at Gale’s statement, “Must’ve been those goddamned alicorns, always making the rain fell goddamn miserable to everypony. But what makes ya think I’d let somepony enter our headquarters, from the likes of a Grand Pegasus Enclave like ya too? Especially a ghoul and a nerd?”

“Well for starters, I left the Grand Pegasus Enclave after they defiled me because of their repeated discrimination against me. And I won’t go back to them for as long as I live.”

He grumbled indifferently before sliding the peep door shut. Well, that was short-lasted. Or so we thought; the guard opened up the entrance door, “Come on in, but on one condition.” Seems this club we’re about to enter has strict regulations. Gale and Bullseye were reluctant at first, but after I entered inside without having a second thought, both of them entered inside with me.

“Youse three follow me, I’ll take ya to Copperhead, leader of the Tunnel Snakes. Youse ponies gonna relinquish your weapons to him until you’re gonna leave, or whatever you do so long as you don’t do no funny business.” The bouncer explained. He has a leather jacket, with the back logo consisting of a snake, with letters stitched as ‘Tunnel Snakes’. His mane is… pretty interesting. Never knew his mane was perfectly combed, mostly covered with unknown substance (looks pretty greasy too).

Once inside, there was a party going on. The bar on the right consists of drunken ponies shouting various words that are hard to hear due to a large crowd, and the above ceiling is covered in smoke. Geez, so many of them having way too much cigarettes, and you’d wonder how they managed to survive in this kind of half-assed environment!

Gale was even coughing from the polluted room though Bullseye seemed pretty unfazed by this. Is Bullseye secretly a smoker? How can living ghouls endure something like this?!

We soon entered up a second floor and directed to the door that leads to an office inside. The bouncer knocked on the door, “Yo, Copperhead! Youse not new visitors in Tunnel Snakes HQ!”

There was a muffled voice inside behind the door, “Well, bring ‘em in! And if they have weapons on them, tell them to put them in my safe!”

“Alright, youse three know what to do. Enjoy yer stay and don’t think of no funny business, ya hear?” He soon left as I entered the door, with the two following me inside his office. Copperhead swiveled his chair around to face us, with a copper red coat and a dark gold mane… pompadour?! I’ve never seen that kind of mane style before!

I was the first to set my DHC-6 sniper rifle on the front desk, with Bullseye setting his revolver on the desk as well.

Copperhead arched a brow to Gale Storm, “What? Ya expect me to greet you with that look, missy?”

Gale clearly didn’t approved his comment and she puffed her cheeks at this. She begrudgingly surrenders both Plasma Rifles and sets them on the table in front of him, “Don’t ever call me ‘missy’ again…”

I went to comfort her as to de-escalate any potential situation; Copperhead seemed to disregard her comment and nodded at us, “Good. Seems you three listened to Adder so when you come back, I’ll give these weapons back to you three. Name’s Copperhead, and I’m the leader of the Tunnel Snakes, and the Tunnel Snakes rule, get it?”

Sounds like an awfully cheesy motto for a faction. His friends were so damn rowdy and drunk that they’re completely lost from reality. I’m surprised that almost all of them are still standing and not having killed themselves from smoke inhalation or even alcohol poisoning.

“So, what’s your names and how’d you find us here? If you were Raiders, you’d be dead already.”

Do we look like Raiders to you, Copperhead? The Wastelands just can’t get any weirder, honestly…

Gale Storm filled the introductions for us, “I’m Gale Storm, this here’s Zero and this is Bullseye.”

As Copperhead gave an affirmed nod, he curiously looked at Bullseye, “Say, don’t I know you? Unless you’re a different kind… must be your mustache; surprised that it didn’t fall off of you as a ghoul.” Bullseye merely rolled his eyes in return, “Its just part of my nature, hombre. Nothing special.”

“Well, no shit. Well, suppose I’ll give you three a tour, and maybe a place to stay in the meantime. Just follow me and no wandering off, alright?”

Great, he’s gonna take us to that loud, rowdy lobby again, isn’t he? Because I’m not all into rowdy ponies throwing wild, drunken parties. And I sure as hell do not want to be involved in a bar brawl because I can’t imagine them using objects as improvised weapons while we’re disallowed to use any of them for self-defense. Not to mention the risk of being kicked out of the club and leaving us weapon-less. And I’ve grown weary from having my weapons falling at the wrong hooves; first was Taser who claimed my former friend’s rifle as his own, the other completely devoured inside the temple. I’m not losing my third and current rifle, and it’ll be over my dead body if anypony would ever take it away from me.

As we followed Copperhead on a tour, Gale simply held her hoof around my own and stood close to me in a protective manner, which is understandable. The Tunnel Snakes are all stallions and mares are nonexistent. We followed Copperhead back to the bar lounge, with the party already showing signs of other members already taking a break and exhausted; most had passed out on the floor from alcohol use and the loud, thrashing music had already died out. The lone bartender was cleaning up the bar table, not giving a single care about his drunken patrons.

“So, this is the bar lounge, as you ponies have already witnessed. Don’t mind the smoke inside, we usually had a no-smoking policy before, but the Tunnel Snakes here wanted to party hard. Of course, the use of Party Time Mint-als is death because we don’t want them to go as far as to become addicted to that candy-flavored drug. Gotta be smart about that.” Copperhead explained, especially with the Mint-als part. Never even took Part Time Mint-als and they’re lethal as fuck. It takes a scientist like myself to know these kinds of consequences upon consuming Party TIme Mint-als.

“Looks like they’ve been partying really hard that they passed out.” Gale reiterated, having a slight, disgusted look from the sight of drunken ponies. “I’m surprised that they managed to not end up killing themselves from alcohol poisoning.”

Copperhead replied her statement, “Eh, they have strong livers. We did have some that never made it through, despite our bartender’s warnings. But what can you do, really?”

“Least they’re not too addicted, hombre.” Bullseye replied to his statement.

“Well no shit, hombre. If they were high on Mint-als, they’d be taking a long dirt nap.” Copperhead reiterated this.

Even with a set of rules, the headquarters is horribly disorganized, and its really messy as fuck to walk into - or even live in as well. They also have no regard for proper hygiene either, so that’s pretty disgusting and repulsive in itself. Seriously, they’re like Raiders who are also untidy! Sheesh! (At least they’re not armed.)

Gale was still holding me protectively as we followed Copperhead to the cafeteria. Looks a big mess to go for, with trays and spoiled foods left half-eaten, or uneaten, yet somehow it manages to store a good amount of fresh food for later meals. Still pretty repulsive, especially with strewn trays stained with various foods. Who’s even the janitor in this?! Even in the Wastelands, its still a health code violation!

Of course, it wouldn’t matter because health inspectors are nonexistent in the Wastelands. Its their own funeral.

Gale Storm expressed disgust at the sight, “Ugh… are they a bunch of sloppy eaters? Have they no shame?”

“Well, I’m not their nanny, am I? Not my fucking fault they can’t try to eat like civilized ponies. Besides, this isn’t Canterlot, this is the Tunnel Snakes HQ. But yes, this is the cafeteria. Least we have a working garden so that none of us could cannibalize ourselves without starving to death.” Copperhead replied and mentioned the area before taking us upstairs to the next floor where there are dormitories. Looks to be a mess, but at least it wasn’t so severely disorganized.

Still can’t blame Gale having her disgusted look. She has her reasons to not like the environment. Bullseye himself didn’t seemed to care; guess he’s used to disorganized places like this. “So, this is the dormitories where they sleep, hombre?” Bullseye asked as to be sure.

Copperhead nodded at his question, “Yep. Not much but hey, I’m not their maid. Their problem, not mine, or my second-in-command and bouncer Adder.”

I’ve heard that before. Just ask Taser. Gale simply whispered to me, “Hopefully if we’re not tired, we could just head on elsewhere after our ‘tour’.”

Her soft tone of voice has some suggestiveness to it. I’m not sure where’s she going with that.

And Pinkie, don’t get any ideas as always. I don’t want Copperhead here to look at me funny. Besides, I’ve already gotten weird looks from that lone Raider in Whinnyappolis before. But this headquarters is untidy as fuck, and I’ve seen partially-destroyed buildings that are quite clean and pristine on the inside!

As much as I love to stay here for more tour, its feeling pretty stuffy with the ventilation system being severely unmaintained. Wait, who’s even maintaining this facility anyway?!

Copperhead soon realized this, “Oh fuck… I forgot that I was supposed to have Black Mamba to fix some shit! That fucking slacker…”

Great. Another one of his members named after snake species. Might as well get animal control while we’re at it.

“Follow me to the maintenance room, ponies. Hopefully one of you guys know how to repair faulty equipments.”

Well, if there are any tools and spare parts found, that would come in handy. Otherwise, don’t count on me using telepathy; I’m not a unicorn so I don’t possess magic of any kind.

Fortunately for Bullseye however, he replied to Copperhead, “Well, I’m known for fixing up knick-knacks back in Whoover Dam. I got this covered, boss.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, Copperhead would need him in order to get the Tunnel Snakes HQ back up to speed. “Alright then, ya weird ghoul with that mustache. Follow me. You two stay here in that dorm room over there. Pretty vacant too and I’ll make sure your ghoul friend is safe.”

Gale was uneasy at first before giving the two a confirmed nod, “Be careful, you two…”

Once the two departed, let out a rather deep, heavy sigh. This feels pretty unsettling, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem half bad that Gale wanted me. Of course, I could be silly and just say she simply cares about me. But what have I done so far? Yes, I protected them from a Caesar’s Legion attack - who are currently on a pony-hunt for us - and even did various things that are too much for me to list out. I simply slumped on a partially-broken mattress, with Gale laying herself next to me. “So, mind turning on the radio to see what’s on the news?”

I turned on the radio from my PipBuck, hearing that the music was already coming to an end.

“Hey there, everypony! DJ Pon3 again with some thundering news! The rain is intense and unfriendly, with thunderstorms brewing and may last weeks on end so stay indoors unless you wish to catch a cold, and that wouldn’t be a good thing unless you’re well-equipped with medicine! But anyway, onto the REAL news; New Hampshore is officially off-limits for ANYpony - yes, you heard right - and I mean ANYpony from getting near the area as its been completely infested with butterflies from hell! Or, Cazadores. Not sure what’ll happen next, but whatever you do, never, EVER get near New Hampshore under any circumstances. Even had word from Starshooter here and told me to give a shout out to Zero, a unique and interesting scientist who hopes to become the hero of the Wastelands - just like our own Littlepip - to help and eradicate the greatest threat we’re currently facing.

Zero, if you’re tuning in, you’re surely making a name for everypony around here in Equestria! We sure appreciate of what you’re doing for the greater cause so far! So, without further ado, here’s a tune that’ll make those gloomy days bright and shiny! Stay tuned for more of yours truly, DJ Pon3, where even the miserable weathers can be overcome by the shining light of Equestria!”

Soon, the radio cuts to a snazzy jazz music after DJ Pon3’s latest news. I never even met this DJ Pon3 before in my life and I’m suddenly commended for my actions? Actions for what, exactly? I hardly made any contributions to the Wastelands, much less Equestria! And since when did Starshooter became an eavesdropper if I’ve yet to return myself to him?! He’s already holding a goddess-damned grudge against me despite the fact that I was fucking abducted by Dr. Scalpel, even silenced me in order to complete a total monstrosity that is his ‘creation’ and not only did I fail to exact revenge, but the threat in Equestria is far from over as a result of a growing number of Cazadores completely engulfing the city of New Hampshore, which could definitely put us ponykind on the endangered species! And even if I had exacted revenge against Dr. Scalpel and his monstrous creation, it won’t make a damn difference because I’ve let both him and my team down, and I’m sure as hell am likely to be held responsible for the deaths of my two former colleagues Carbon Monoxide and Solar Eclipse.

I felt that the only reason I was commended is because somepony feels sorry for me. And I’m far from being a hero anyway. I’m just a scientist who’s doing whatever it takes to protect my friends and even try to settle in a friendly town that isn’t planning to poison us or shoot us en masse. At least Stable Town is the only likeable place I got to stay in. Fuck everything else, really. Manehattan’s nice and all, but its too… trendy for my taste. And I wouldn’t fit in to Tenpony Tower at all, really. I’m not a multi-billionaire anyway.

My mind is on the edge of venting anger and embarrassment, but it seems Pinkie Pie is basically keeping my mental state occupied. Still, what have I contributed to Equestria anyway? What have I actually done so far to make life-changing decisions? Nothing! Nothing, I tell you! Those little things I did were just of self-defense and just killing those bastard creatures, ghouls and Raiders who are too damn drugged up to be reasoned with, and even Slavers who want to make a quick buck on selling victims to others. And don’t get me started on the Legion who are currently on an ongoing hunt for us right now.

It wasn’t long until Gale let out a smile curled from her lips, “I knew I wanted to be by your side, Zero. I’m sure our friends will agree to this. Keep this up and you’ll be officially rhymed as a hero.”

I suppose. Still, me being the hero of the Wastelands means very little to me. Collecting artifacts, or just scouting around and trying to just survive… I’m simply far from being the hero of the Wastelands yet.

Meanwhile with Bullseye, he surveys the damage from the main transformer, which had been worn down to the core as a result of lack of maintenance and the maintenance worker being nonexistent to help maintain the headquarters, “Where’s your worker at? He ran off?”

“No, he left to take a leak and never returned. Seems like he wanted to bail from the Tunnel Snakes instead of fixing shit up. Yes, he ran off on us, and nopony ever caught up to that bastard ever since.” Copperhead responded to his question, much to his disdain.

“So ah… who is this ‘bastard’ you mentioned, señor?”

“Pfft, I dunno. Black Mamba, I guess. He was the only maintenance crew the Tunnel Snakes has ever had, but secretly bailed out on us and never returned. When I find him, he’ll be marked for death… for now, see if you can fix it up before we suffocate ourselves to death here.”

Bullseye didn’t questioned Bullseye’s intention with Black Mamba and proceeded to pull the worn out fusion core from the main generator, resulting all the lights within the building to be shut off. Emergency lights flicker on with us inside the run-down dormitory as Gale held onto me protectively. I mean, I can handle myself that’s fine.

Bullseye began disassembling a couple of worn-out parts from the main generator and headed to the maintenance room to find the working, unused parts, floating each one with magic. There is also an unused fusion core - only one left - locked in a container that requires a password to unlock it, and Bullseye himself doesn’t actually know how computers work. “Hmm… gonna get boss to unlock this, dunno anything about advanced gadgets…”

He returned back to the generator, easily fitting in new parts and easily fitted them inside as Copperhead arched a brow, “Where’s the fusion core, bud?”

“Ay, will have to get the boss to unlock the password. Its locked in a containment.” Bullseye answered his question. Copperhead merely face-hoofed at this, “Oh great… no wonder why Black Mamba bailed on me because he can’t even crack a fucking code…” Bullseye begrudgingly regrouped to us, “Hey, does one of you know how to use terminals? This ghoul here needs a bit of education.”

Was that a threat to Bullseye, COpperhead? He may not be bright, but if I have my voice, I’d tell you to watch your mouth, because that kind of comment means we’re not gonna get along from your snide remarks regarding his intellect. He may be a ghoul and doesn’t know much about technology, but to badmouth my friends puts you on thin ice. Even Gale Storm did not approve of Copperhead’s comments to Bullseye, but remained silent as to avoid confrontation.

Bullseye pointed a hoof at me, “There he is. My boss can hack any terminal.”

Gee, I wonder why he chose you and not me in the first place? Thanks for wasting time, by the way. I got up from the mattress and Gale followed me afterwards. I don’t really blame her for really wanting to protect me. “Alright, just follow me, you three. Its not like its the end of Equestria as we know it.”

You must be THIS wrong to say such things. The only reason why Equestria’s life hasn’t ended yet because we’re merely delaying the inevitable! My mind berated for me.

We went to the generator room with Copperhead,w ith the main fusion core having been removed along with parts. The air’s getting stuffier too so I have to make it quick because the emergency power isn’t gonna last forever.

I went to the terminal and booted it up. And thanks to my expertise with terminals - because well, I’m a scientist, no less - I was able to easily unlock it, with ‘Nodes’ being the password. The sealed door soon hissed open, revealing a fresh and unused fusion core inside. Why didn’t his friends do this in the first place? Were they that lazy?

I wrapped a hoof around it and pulled the Fusion Core off of the storage chamber and went back to the main generator where Bullseye had just finished reassembling the parts into it. Copperhead and Gale Storm nodded to me and I slid the unused Fusion Core into the main generator, the generator whirring itself up as full power begins to restore the entire facility, and the air much cleaner and easier to breathe in now.

Copperhead nodded to me, “You done good, kid. For a dork that don’t speak, you sure know how to handle things yourself.”

If I were to ask you again, why did you brought Bullseye and not me in the first place? A thanks wouldn’t have been necessary anyway; your Tunnel Snake fellows need to stop slacking off and party less and work more and be socially active without getting themselves drunk and being inept at doing their jobs.

“So, now that its been fixed, I think we should start heading elsewhere before you’ll start charging us a fee for just visiting the… Tunnel Snakes headquarters.” Gale was obviously skeptical and didn’t want us to overstay our welcome here, which is pretty understandable. This kind of faction is really disorganized and I don’t think we have any reason staying here any longer.

Copperhead frowned at Gale’s sight of detest, “Well, its not like I’m asking you guys to join my gang or anything, sheesh. And its not like I’m asking you guys to even stay here anyway.”

“Fine, fine whatever. I’ll give you ponies your weapons back and let you guys be on your way.” He motioned his head for us to follow him to his main office to give us our weapons back. We left the generator room and went back to his office, having already passed the passed-out ponies who had one drink too many. (Their sound systems were on the fritz too, just a fuzzy, static noise to it with a small, feedback noise coming from the microphone laying on the ground.)

And as promised, Copperhead gave us our weapons back and opened up his personal terminal as to open up a secret passageway behind him, “You’re free to go. I’d tell you ponies to fuck off, but you did helped out on restoring our HQ back to normal so… yeah. Just don’t get lost in the tunnels now.”

Oh please. That was nothing more than a mundane task because you and your slack-offed partners are too afraid to handle maintenance in your own building! What a waste of time this has been, seriously. We entered the secret exit and none of us said good-bye to him, for obvious reasons of course. Copperhead didn’t reciprocated this either and simply shut the passage door behind us. Seems we’re heading downstairs into another tunnel path with a multitude of paths to take… seems we’re now underground dwellers.

“So… take your pick, Zero. We’ll follow you.”

Thanks for the motivation, Gale. Even so, I’m a scientist, not a navigator. And I’m sure as hell am not an architect either. Even the map itself from my PipBuck shows multiple pathways that isn’t gonna get us anywhere. Even when we have a good amount of supplies with us, we might have to eventually resurface yet again to restock or risk getting ourselves trapped underground forever.

And either way, it just feels awfully isolated.

I led the two to the right side of the path of my choice (because apparently, a scientist must assume leadership… which was the case back in New Hampshore), and they both followed me. We didn’t liked Tunnel Snakes HQ anyway; this kind of faction is too dysfunctional and too disorganized to even be a faction. They weren’t even hostile or friendly, just… dysfunctional and disorganized.

At least there’s lit bulbs in tunnels… I’m not gonna question regarding the Wastelands’ budget on excessive lighting. I bet they’re mostly powered by Arcane… sciences and stuff I don’t know about. Yes, I’m a scientist, but I’ve not heard or seen Arcane-related things.

We soon come across an obviously empty and isolated camp area with nopony around (I checked my PipBuck and no red blips anywhere). My Pinkie sense doesn’t sense any dangers here, be it hidden or obvious. Gale lightly tapped my shoulder, “I’ll scout the area, Zero. Just rest up, will let you know if something’s happening.” She nods to Bullseye as he soon follows her. “Rest up, boss. We’ll be back.”

I nodded at the two and they soon left to scout around the area, with me setting my saddlebags down before taking off my lab coat as to treat it like a blanket. I laid back, but I felt something rather small but hard upon laying my head back. I sat up and turned around to see a holotape just sitting here. Why would anypony leave a holotape on a sleeping bag? Its not a pillow or anything.

I picked up the holotape and played the audio from my PipBuck. Oddly enough, however, nothing’s being played. Seems that holotape has been unused by anypony. Is it a dud? Looks fine to me… geez, its like somepony brought a holotape and did nothing about it. What a wasted potential. I tossed the holotape away and simply slid myself to sleep.

The two have returned, with no signs of trouble. Bullseye got the vacant sleeping bag whereas Gale Storm sat herself next to me, Everything’s clear, Bullseye. Suppose we should rest up for the night… or day, seeing as we’re still inside the tunnels. But we sure as hell are not going back to the Tunnel Snakes building. Many stallions just look like a bunch of drunken ruffians and they’re just a disgrace to ponykind. Besides, I wouldn’t want a single, dirty stallion going near me and catcalling me in the most degrading manner, so I’m glad we decided not to stay here…” She nods to him, “No offense, Bullseye.”

He merely shrugged, “Its not a concern to me. I’m just a ghoul pony who’s just doing what comes natural. Least boss is asleep.”

Gale slowly turned her head to me before turning her head back to him; I heard the conversation, but was already asleep for me to even ask what was going on.

“Just stay on guard in case something happens, Bullseye.” She slowly lays herself back and rolls herself around to the side before unfurling her wing and tucks it around me to provide extra comfort. With Bullseye keeping his guard up, Gale fell asleep next to me in a protective manner. I paid no mind to it, this day’s been rather hectic, especially with lack of proper management in that facility too.

I was the first to wake up to see Bullseye having already fallen asleep after keeping guard. There weren’t any gunfire or any hostile groups swarming in on us, or the Tunnel Snakes trying to pursue us. Or even the Legion having strapped an explosive vest around us; no red blips from my PipBuck either. Seems our rest was well-deserved without incident.

I turned my attention to Gale, seeing that she’s still asleep next to me. It seems she’s showing her affection to me, which is surprising in itself, but I don’t want to express my embarrassment over her attachment to me. At least Tootsie Roll isn’t here to see this or she’ll just relentlessly tease me.

Gale shifted herself awake, fluttering her eyelids open before gazing up to me, “Hey, Zero… did ya sleep well?”

I nodded to her in response. Bullseye himself was asleep after staying up all night keeping guard, which eventually led to his tiredness as a result. At least I have a couple of food supplies left in my saddlebags with me. She dug up my saddlebags to grab at least two, unopened canned food, mostly just uncooked beans, soon prepping the two onto a campfire and the two began to cook up.

The Tunnel Snakes were, again, a total mess, disorganized to the point where they’re more of total nuisances than a dangerous threat. I faced worse factions, namely Raiders and Slavers, but the Tunnel Snakes were too difficult to be taken seriously. And Copperhead was more of a slacker than a leader, I have no pity for him, honestly.

Once both canned foods were cooped up and their lids popped open, I’m wondering how am I gonna eat it without making a mess of myself. I’m an earth pony, not a unicorn. And Bullseye’s asleep too so unless I could stuff my muzzle inside without it getting stuck… this is gonna be a challenge in itself.

And I really hate to have my lab coat stained too; the Wastelands don’t give a fuck about cleanliness, but I do. And Gale’s already gotten a head start ahead of me. No fair! Oh well, bottom’s up!

Although even if she considers this as a race, I myself wanted to take it nice and easy, with cooked beans slowly sliding down from the can and into my open mouth, with the sauce dripping down to the ground as I’m doing my best to keep it at bay from staining me and my outfit.

The beans slowly slid down from the can and into my open mouth, adjusting the can to its original position as I clamp my mouth shut, chewing them up inside. Mmm…. delicious! Least it beats trying to hold a spoon with my mouth and trying to feed myself with said mouth, which would be obviously impossible unless I’m a unicorn, which I’m not of course.

I repeated the process, with the sauce dripping out of the can and effectively missing me. The can soon came up empty, but also leaving my stomach full and satisfied. Gale finished hers, even though she made a bit of mess of herself. She playfully grinned at me, “What?”

My only response was a shrug, but I did returned the expression. Bullseye stirred himself awake; good thing I have an extra food for him to eat so I pulled a third, canned beans and gave it to Bullseye. He easily floated it up with magic once it was well cooked and the lid popped open and he simply guzzled it down. Honestly, am I the only one here who cares about personal hygiene? Least we had our quick meal finished for us to keep going.

Once we got up, I led the two to the chosen path from the seemingly large tunnel. “Ooohh, I hope Tootsie Roll can give us information on how Stable Town is doing so far.”

Not sure how it’ll be possible, Gale. We’re underground and signal’s nonexistent for the time being. And even if we reach the surface, my PipBuck wouldn’t notify me yet regarding both Stable Town and the ongoing process of Bob’s upgrade. I mean, unless there’s a radio tower underground, its not a guarantee that it’ll pick up the signal outside of the Wastelands, just underground. Only a rush of echoing waterfall can be heard up ahead, which isn’t surprising really.

Other than that, there’s nopony inside so far. At least there aren’t any Raiders who are about to jump on us. Just a couple of fresh ammunitions strewn across the area so I gathered them up to find the right type of ammunition and gave a couple to Bullseye, leaving me with none since there’s no sniper rounds at all. And none have any plasma cartridges whatsoever for Gale’s Plasma Rifles.

I still remember that I have my Sparkle-Cola Victory with me that’s been unconsumed from my saddlebag. Maybe if there’s a crafting station around here, I might figure out its purpose for this. And I still remember having consumed the first one, which had a pretty strong, if not sour, flavor. Especially from its high radiation levels like the Sparkle-Cola Quartz. I’ve yet to try out the Sparkle-Cola RAD myself, but it can’t be as bad as the two, previous beverages I tried them out. Sparkle-COla Quartz is a different story; it was pretty tasteless and not only was I able to see darker environments, my body became a living flashlight (for a temporary time, thankfully). Crazy times, isn’t it?

I’m not seeing any exit around here, though the stairs lead up the next floor. Though there’s no railings so we had to tread carefully up the stairs, but Gale herself had wings so she flew up next to us in case either of us end up falling off-balance.

We made it up the stairs and it looks to be a settlement of a sort, but a small one too. Only three ponies, none who are hostile, thankfully.

“Halt! Who goes there?” The mare was well-armed, as are the other two. Seems they're not defenseless and we know they’re not Raiders, but they sure don’t take kindly to intruders. Gale waved a hoof to her, “Its alright! We mean no harm. We’re just looking for an escape route, nothing more.”

The mare slowly blinked her eyes a bit and holsters her rifle, with the other two also holstering their weapons though their leader took a good look at Gale, “Hmm… I assume you happen to be an ex-Grand Pegasus Enclave?”

She gave the unnamed mare an affirmed nod and answered with only a single word, “Yes.”

“Okay, then. Let them in, girls.”

The two opened the main entrance gate as it swung open. Looks like a settlement for just three of them. We entered inside and the three mares correspond each one of their types; unicorn, pegasus and earth. My guess is, are they siblings?

“So, who are you three?” Gale asks, the unicorn mare glancing to her in response, “Address your names first.”

Seems she’s the kind of pony who doesn’t take kindly to strangers asking like that.

Gale frowned, but still introduced us, “I’m Gale Storm. This is Zero, and this is Bullseye.”

“My name is Crescent Star. The earth mare is known as Rocky Road and our pegasus friend is known as Wind Valor. So you said you want an escape route, huh?”

Rocky Road’s name fits the aspect of her overall appearance, mane, tail, eyes, even cutie mark included. But why a flavor of ice cream,though? Of course, the same would apply to me as why I’m even called Zero.

Crescent Star looks to have a midnight blue coat with an equally-darker blue mane and tail; even her cutie mark is a crescent-shaped moon, along with five, small stars to them. And it seems she’s the leader of the pair too, no doubt about it. Rocky Road is… well, her appearance and cutie mark says it on the tin.

And for Wind Valor? Well, she looks pretty brave, owing to her name though isn’t much of a talker. In addition with her clear white mane/tail combo (wavy too), her coat is sky blue with light-green eyes. I seriously hope she isn’t sharing my idea of being mute; I wasn’t born mute, you know!

“There’s only one exit route that only we can go through. But even then, we’d rather return here afterwards. Last time we had that incident well… they never lived to tell the tale. You sure about this?” Crescent warned.

Gale nodded affirmatively to her. “We have to reach the surface soon.”

“Alright… but first, let’s just find a rest area so we can get to know each other a little more. No need to rush things, really. I understand that you three want to escape, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.” Crescent motioned us to the seats. “Come, sit.”

We took a seat and I set my saddlebags down, but ensured to keep the sniper rifle by my side as to not lose it. Its just too precious for me, especially after having lost both of the previous rifles.

“So, care to share your stories?” She enthused us.

“Well… Zero himself is just a scientist with amazing prowess and a pretty high intellect too. Judging by how he dresses, and how he looks. If he could talk, he might tell you more about him.” Gale shared the story about me. Thanks for filling me in. “As for myself? Well… I defected from the Grand Pegasus Enclave after being repeatedly mistreated by my own comrades, specifically stallions… no offense Zero, Bullseye.”

“None taken.” Bullseye neutrally replied.

Gale continued, “After that, I ran away and going rogue in the process, in hopes of finding better ponies. Of course, I met my younger sister Cloud Storm back in Stable Town and, even though she didn’t appreciate in me joining my father and the Grand Pegasus Enclave, she reconciled with me afterwards. I felt appreciated by her words, too.”

Once she finished with her explanation, Crescent Star inspected her closely, “Lemme guess. You’re a Dashite, right?”

Gale only gave her a nod. I still don’t understand the concept of a Dashite myself. Its almost as if her cutie mark had been branded into another cutie mark that overlays the original cutie mark. Then again, what do I know?

And I don’t think her ex-soldiers are looking for us anyway. They’ve probably called off their search a long time ago.

Crescent’s attention turns to Bullseye while WInd Valor and Rocky Road resume their patrol, “So uhh… what’s your story? Aside from being a ghoul that is.” Apparently, Bullseye seemed to be spaced out at the moment, “Huh? Were you asking me?”

Her brows furrow, looking rather annoyed at his question, “Yes. Care to share your story with me? Or do you rather keep it to yourself for personal reasons?”

I’m pretty sure his ghoulish nature doesn’t always benefit a better memory of his ghoulified brain. Give him a chance, Crescent.

“Used to work at a mining quarry until radiation happened… this is how I look like. Even worked as a maintenance worker at Whoover Dam before… having imprisoned myself for no reason, other than my altered mentality from radiation, of course.” Bullseye briefly explained.

Crescent gave a small nod to him. “I see. Least you’re not like other feral ghouls who would just attack anything that moves, let alone eat them in a cannibalistic manner.”

“Well, not all of us ghouls are like that. So long as we don’t go out in irradiated areas too much, we are perfectly fine.” Bullseye glanced at me. “So boss,should we move on?”

I dunno. At this point, aimlessly wandering around seems rather unfeasible and to return back to Stable Town seems a waste of time. Unless I have word from Sweet Cheeks, there’s no way on returning back to the town unless there’s an emergency. And I haven’t gotten a word from her either, just to check up on Tootsie’s pet robot.

And we’re seriously not going back to Tunnel Snakes HQ. Too unsanitary and Gale Storm was already uncomfortable enough when they approached her in a questionable and inappropriate manner.

“We’ll need to relax first, Bullseye.” She replied him for me. “We can’t waste our energies on just walking around.”

“We have a room for you to rest up.” Crescent pointed to the next room, with a functioning ventilation shaft providing air conditioning that cools throughout the room, and the settlement area as well so we wouldn’t asphyxiate.

With a nod, we followed her to the guest room for us to rest on. And there’s still no signal from the PipBuck either, just static. I slid my saddlebags and my trusty, high-grade rifle down before laying back on the mattress. Sure wish we could resurface soon, but hopefully one that doesn’t include a flesh-peeling irradiated environment that will kill us. Gale was second to lay herself close to me, her wing draped around me. Bullseye however, stayed with Crescent, “I’ll be glad to assist you while my boss will be resting up.”

“We’re perfectly fine as we are well-equipped, but I don’t mind lending you a helping hoof while your friends rest up.” Crescent accepted his offer. Rocky Road was preparing a meal in a small, kitchen area whereas Wind Valor performed maintenance work in makeshift buildings and electronics.

Gale gently pressed her nose to my cheek, which isn’t surprising anymore as it took me a while to suppress my… embarrassed reaction from physical contact.

I really hope I don’t end up getting those weird fantasies running in my head…

Two hours later, I was nudged awake by Gale herself. Is it morning already or… wait, we’re still underground. Dammit!

“C’mon, Zero. Food is ready for us.” Gale left to the dining area, prompting me to follow suit. I mean, our own food supply is pretty light, least we get to have our meal free of charge. Bullseye never slept at all; he only sleeps whenever he feels like it.

Looks like steamed casserole served on the table; I’m gonna take a wild guess that they have a working hydroponic garden somewhere which would be the reason for them keeping their food supplies steady, but where would they get sunlight from? My guess would be artificial sunlight that makes food grow, really. There’s really no other source that can do such a thing, and even with advanced magic isn’t sufficient enough (unless you’re an alicorn) to grow fresh produce.

They look and smell good too!

“We just want to make sure that you’re indeed ready to move on so Rocky Road prepared a meal for you three while you two were asleep. We found no intruders at all, thankfully. And we aim to keep it that way.” Crescent’s offer was appreciated, even if her shared hospitality with us is only temporary. Least we can keep on exploring with a full stomach. We sat ourselves down on the chair and enjoyed our dinner (or is it breakfast? Ah who cares), and they indeed taste delicious.

Shame they don’t allow any additional visitors except themselves, and us (even if its only temporary). Least they made this settlement highly secured and not allow any threat to set their hooves on their territory.

We finished with our meal and I let out a satisfied sigh. Could learn how to cook, even though I’m severely limited with only a hoof and my mouth. “All done?” Crescent asked. Gale nodded with a response, “Yup! They were very tasty! Thank you so much, Crescent Star.”

“It was a pleasure. Although, this is one time only, as this is true to most of our previous visitors. We take provisions very seriously and we disallow them any form of service if they’re of gluttonous nature. Or worse, greed, just to take what they want.” She had a stern, authoritative tone, revealing her intentions on protecting their provisions at any cost, especially in a strict manner.

I sucked it up and gave her an affirmative nod.

Crescent wasn’t finished, “And we haven’t forgotten that you three needed a way back to the surface. There’s no alternative routes that provide resurfacing back to the Wastelands. There is, however, a secret passageway that only I show our visitors another way out. However, we dare not to enter inside the room ourselves; I only ventured myself halfway inside before I had to return back here. I refuse to deviate myself from Wind Valor and Rocky Road, especially since our personal settlement cannot be left unattended by any means. We do not ask you three to stay, but I must warn that you must tread carefully for what lies ahead. I cannot explain further to you so if you do enter the passage I mentioned you about, you’re on your own.”

It seems we’re likely to face a new challenge, but if it means resurfacing back to the Wastelands, we will. I’m not a mole that enjoys burrowing deeper into Equestria until I reach its earthy core. And with my PipBuck unable to pick up any signal, apart from the Tunnel Snakes building that provided signal through a signal broadcast (which had surprisingly worked amid its deplorable state), there’s no way of picking up any future broadcasts, such as distress signals or other miscellaneous broadcast frequencies.

We can’t keep looking for different routes that’s guaranteed to get us more lost than finding an exit. Suppose it was rather foolish to enter the large, tunneling area from Whinnyappolis when torrential downpour commenced, but the rainfall had radiation contents to it and it was anything but a harmless weather. Come to think of it, I wonder if it had already stopped raining a long time ago? Then again, I’m not a weatherpony so I sure as hell don’t have wings, and Gale Storm herself isn’t qualified to be one either.

“Shall we go, boss?” Bullseye asked, which seemed like an unnecessary question when we’re gonna get ourselves moving regardless.

“I’m sure his looks mean we do indeed have to go, and assume the worst. But its our only way, really.” Gale reiterated the ghoul pony. “Oh, and Zero?” She levitated my saddlebags and rifle that was placed next to the mattress before giving them to me. “Don’t forget these. Never go unarmed and unprepared.”

I nodded again to her in thanks, strapping my saddlebags and slid my DHC-6 Sniper Rifle in between me and my saddlebags so it’d be firmly in it so it won’t slip off of me.

“Now, follow me.” Crescent motioned her head to us so we followed her to the designated path where the secret passage is as mentioned by her.

Once we arrived, it appears to be a dead-end right in front of us after arriving from a narrow crevasse. We’re certain that this is anything but a dead-end.

Crescent began to close her eyes, soon casting a rather powerful magic, the aura emitting from her horn having a darker color to it. Her tone of voice was dark and different, making chanting words that are never heard from normal ponies. She was speaking with an ancient language that’s only been done by alicorns, though it seems Crescent Star had learned dark, advanced magic that even regular unicorns weren’t able to execute.

The ‘door’ in front of us soon rumbled open, revealing to be an obviously-dark entrance. Crescent had finished chanting and opened her eyes, looking directly at us. “Go. You only have a good ten seconds before it seals itself shut. I cannot guarantee safety, but regardless… good luck out there.”

“Thank you.” Gale softly spoke before we made haste and entered inside the pitch blackness of what its called a secret passageway. As Crescent left to return to her makeshift town, the door behind us had sealed shut. I was quick enough to illuminate the darkness with my PipBuck’s flashlight. The room inside is empty, covered in cobwebs in corners of the walls. Seems Crescent didn’t told us that this room is stuffy!

And oxygen is very limited, with no ventilation either.

“Zero, we better get moving. I don’t think I want to breathe in here…”

Yeah, me neither. I hurriedly led my team forward as we navigated through every turn we find. Meanwhile, I looked at the map from the screen, which shows me that there’s only one, albeit long, path before arriving the main room. I need to pace myself without wasting my energy and die from lack of oxygen.

And as we continued throughout, my vision was starting to get blurry. Bullseye had to strip his boiler suit as he was becoming out of breath, his last of his stamina hanging in the balance, as are my own. “Boss… are we there yet…?”

Oh lay off… fuck, my brain’s going around in circles…

“Zero… the terminal… up ahead..” Gale wasn’t any better either; she wasn’t just losing oxygen, but also becoming dehydrated from having to keep up to head to the main room.

I barely made myself to the terminal as I booted it up. Fuck, if only I could think clearly, I could crack open the code and get this door open. Too bad no proper oxygen meant that every second of delay means death is creeping up on us. Even with beverages won’t make up for the lack of oxygen; could quench thirst yes, but only after I get this damn thing open. Otherwise, it’d be a serious waste of a good drink because we’ll just start sweating again… oh who am I kidding? I clearly can’t think straight, can I?!

As for the monitor screen from the terminal… I can’t even see symbols, much less words. Goddammit, I’d have to be crazy enough to mash every word that even I can’t make up for it. I squinted my eye as hard as I could as to try and correct my sight a little, with no improvement.

Also, Pinkie Pie fell asleep in my mind which is a goddess-damned way to go. Guess even she can’t provide mental assistance when my mind is too foggy to make up to the words displayed on the screen.

After getting three wrong answers, out of sheer luck is where I managed to get one, correct answer from a word chosen that I wasn’t able to describe. The glorious beeping sound was music to my ears, but I quickly prompted the command to open the door. Once it does, a savior has allowed us to breathe again, that is, oxygen. It was quick, because the longer we had to wait, the dire the situation can get. As short our venture was, we were never warned that there wasn’t gonna be oxygen when we stepped in. I was surprised there weren’t any corpses or bones, and even so, we wouldn’t have to stop to see because we were losing oxygen fast.

Gale let out a relieved sigh before fainting herself forward to the main room; the main room appears to be a very large, but also abandoned, atrium, which was dark blue in color. There were eerie voices echoing throughout the room. They were soft, but still enough to be heard.

Of course, we were too fatigued to freak out from the sudden loss of oxygen and near-dehydration so we sat ourselves down to catch a breather. I opened up the saddlebags and handed out various beverages (except the Sparkle-Cola Victory) to Bullseye and Gale Storm.

We chugged them down and they were great enough to restore our lost energies back in almost an instant. And also enough to get ourselves back onto our hooves and for us to recollect our thoughts. “What is this place…?” Gale had an unnerving expression while hearing more of those eerie sounds and voices inside an atrium. There were stairways that lead to one story up to another, as well as ghost ponies phasing in and out, completely oblivious to our presence.

There were winds blowing softly inside, which is unusual for such a room; there’s no windows at all. The door behind us soon creaked itself shut, this time forming itself into a solid wall. Guess now we really can’t turn back.

My PipBuck soon notified me that this room is known as Nightmare Atrium, which pretty much explains the unsettling decor and spooky setting. Gale held herself close to me out of fear from witnessing ghosts whereas Bullseye approached one of them. His hoof ends up going through the ghost’s body; it felt cold, as if the spirit doesn’t interact with solid objects, much less living ones. “Huh… do ghosts normally behave like this, boss?”

I shrugged, and none of the ghosts seem to react when Bullseye spoke. This is weird; least they’re not the kind of ghosts that possess ponies’ bodies for puppetry uses.

“Umm Zero..? Can we uhh… keep moving? These ghost seem creepy… hell, this room is creepy in itself.”

I held Gale close to me. I don’t blame her from how unsettling this room is. Maybe there are more things to explore, but hoo boy. This is gonna be a long day (again)… or night, if you count this room.

Footnote: No Level Up
Quest Perk Added: Leader - You have some natural leadership abilities and have managed to cultivate them. Any party member within moving distance of you gains +1 to their Agility, up to their racial max, and +2 to their DT. You do not get these benefits – that’s the price of being a leader.

Author's Notes:

Originally released on September 2017.