“So then I said. Biscuits are you crazy?!”

“…”

“Hey Mist, are you listening to me?”

“Yes Shrapnel I am.”

I was lying down on my stomach, looking trough the scope of my new sniper. We came across a Separatists outpost, and IronClaw decided that we should investigate it. He plans to take them by surprise. I gave Saw my cloak so that she could sneak up close to any zebra and take them out silently with her knives. She wasn’t using it properly. I could see her hooves appear as she moved behind the outpost. IronClaw took Cog with him to try and pick the lock on the door. He left Shrapnel to “protect” me while I gave them cover with my sniper.

We were out of the savannah, but we still haven’t truly entered the desert. Grass was replaced with dry brown earth. Shrubs and trees were growing sparingly in patches. All in all it made for a dreary scene. I saw a shadow pass behind a window.

“Shhh… I think I saw something.”

“Really? What? Is it the Separatists?” Shrapnel asked and thankfully stayed quiet when I didn’t answer. I needed to concentrate.

Cog was hunched in front of the door with IronClaw standing next to him. His twin SMG’s ready. A window opened above them, and a zebra leaned out with a rifle. I aimed for his head, breathed out and pulled the trigger.

The body fell a few meters away from IronClaw. He immediately turned around pointing both weapons at the corpse. Seeing that there was no threat, he looked in my general direction and nodded before turning back to Cog.

I checked the other windows. There was no movement. Cog backed away from the door and smiled. IronClaw waved with one of his SMG’s.

“Alright Cog got the door open, let’s go” I threw the sniper on my back and pulled out my rifle.

I kept looking behind and glancing left and right as we made our way to the outpost.

“Mist you alright? You seem jumpy.” Shrapnel asked.

“Just cautious.” Actually I am nervous. I felt exposed without my cloak. Guess I’ve gotten used to always having it on me.

The outpost itself was a simple two-story building made out of brick. It has definitely seen better days. The walls were cracked, and I don’t think I could find a single window that wasn’t broken. The door on the other hoof was a thick slab of steel. Shrapnel wanted us to let her “open” it, but to our relief Ironclaw did not feel like letting everyone within a five mile radius known about our presence. So Cog was put to work, and Shrapnel was left to pout.

“When are we going in?” I asked in a whisper.

“As soon as Saw shows up.” IronClaw’s gaze swept across the terrain. Looking for any sign of trouble.

“Knowing her she probably climbed through a window, found a bottle, and is getting blind drunk by now.” At that moment, a yellow hoof appeared behind Cog’s head and smacked him.

“Ow! The fuck?”

Saw’s grinning face became visible.

“I can see why you’re so fond of this cloak Mist. Tell me. You ever used it to be somewhere you’re not supposed to?” She gave me a toothy grin, her eyebrows going up and down.

“Well, yeah. That’s what it’s for. To help you sneak into or out of dangerous places. The stealth cloaks also give you a tactical advantage on the battlefield.” Why is she asking me? She was already using it to remain undetected while scouting out the back of the outpost.

“No I didn’t mean that.” She rolled her eyes. “I meant did you ever use it to spy on mares bathing or ponies playing Leapfrog. You know. The Four-Legged Frolic, Horizontal Refreshment?”

“Leapfrog, Horizontal Refreshment?” Shrapnel was giggling, Saw facehooved.

“Fucking! I meant fucking.”

“What?! Of course not!” Is she serious?

“I would have. If I had this thing earlier.”

“Of course you would you perverted cunt.” Cog said while rubbing the back of his head. Saw raised her hoof.

“Is Saw going to have to smack a bitch? Again?”

“If you two ladies are done screwing around we have work to do.” The feathers on IronClaw’s head stood up. It gave him quite a menacing appearance. Saw shut up and Cog grumbled sullenly.

“Did you find anything Saw? Any back entrances?”

She shook her head. “Nope. No doors or anything.”

“Alright get ready. Shrapnel you take point.” She saluted with a hoof and trotted up to the door.

He pushed the door open, and Shrapnel charged in with the rest of us following close behind. The initial room was small, and dusty with cracked walls. You could even see the bricks at places.

There was a table with a few empty bottles, and some clean plates lying on it. A working fridge in one of the corners, and an old worn out couch with some ammo crates placed next to it.

The only things that weren’t covered with dust were the dishes. Which meant they’ve seen recent use. And judging by their number there should be quite a few zebra living here.

“I’ve got hostiles. Five of them. One is right in front of us but could be on the second floor.” Cog said as he looked around, his sawed-off hovering near him.

“Let’s go say hi!” Shrapnel said gleefully and as if on cue the door in front of us flew open. A zebra stood in front of us and opened fire. Saw and I jumped to the right, Cog laid low behind Shrapnel. IronClaw flexed his wings, but folded them back again when they hit the ceiling. I realized how hard this had to be for him. The mercenary obviously wanted, and needed more room to maneuver. Thankfully Shrapnel was the main target of the assault. Bullets just ricocheted off of her armored suit, in a chorus of metal greeting metal. “Fwomp!” Her left gun answered the zebra’s barrage and he exploded. My ears rang, and the whole room seemed to shake. Dust and mortar flaked from the ceiling.

Ironclaw was saying something, but I had no idea what it was.
“-it! No explosives indoors!” IronClaw finished.

“ Well they’re running all over the place now.” Cog dusted himself of while looking around.

We pushed on into the next room. It was a long hallway with another door to the right and a staircase.

“Shrapnel, Cog. Do you see anything?”

“One behind the door to the right, three more up the stairs.”

“Right. Mist, Cog check the door. Saw, Shrapnel with me up the stairs.”

They were halfway up when a zebra mare with a knife in her mouth jumped on IronClaws back. He drooped one of his SMG’s. The staircase was too narrow for Shrapnel to turn around, and Saw couldn’t reach the zebra when IronClaw reared up.

Cog and I watched. There was nothing we could do. His shotgun would likely hit everyone and I dared not use my rifle. There was too much movement.

She brought her head next to his so that she could open his throat with her knife. That was a mistake. IronClaw now knew exactly where she was, and his metal talons went straight for her head. I heard bones crack as sharp steel dug into her skull. Her jaw went slack, and she dropped the knife. IronClaw heaved and threw her off over the railing.

“Boss! You alright?” Cog asked with concerned. I looked at the corpse of the mare. Blood was pooling around her head. Bits of skull and brain leaked out as well from the holes IronClaws steel talon had left.

“I’m fine. Stick to the plan.” He said wiping his bloody talon and picking up his weapon. They disappeared upstairs, and Cog and I turned our attentions back to the door at the end of the hall.

“You better let me go in first.” It’s not that I doubted Cogs abilities or anything. It’s just a precaution in case another Separatist decides to jump us. Cog had no objections, so I went in.

The room was full of lockers and to one side, on a table, I saw a terminal. I’ve only seen broken ones, this one still worked! Drawn like a moth to a flame I approached it.

Do I just press one of these buttons to make it work? My hoof was inches from the many buttons on the console when I heard a scraping sound followed by a clang of metal. One of the lockers opened and from within a zebra with a rifle emerged. He had me in his sights. Time seemed to slow. I had lowered my rifle when I went to the computer and now I was gripping it with my magic, trying to bring it up. Was I already too late? There is no way that I can raise my rifle in time.

BLAM!!!

A shot went off. But it wasn’t the zebra who fired it. From his right, Cog had shot him in the hoof with his shotgun. The blast tore apart his hoof and knocked away his rifle. He hit the ground clutching the bleeding stump. Cog pointed his gun at the zebras head and with the second shot splattered his brains across the floor. It took me a moment for my own brain to process what happened.

“That was impressive. Thank you Cog.”

“Yeah I’m a real shotgun surgeon. Is that a terminal?”

“Looks like it. And it still works. Do you know ho-” I was interrupted by gunshots. They came from upstairs. Cog looked up and smiled.

“One left.”

BOOM!!! The walls shook and more dust and mortar crumbled from the ceiling.

“Damn it! What the fuck is wrong with you?! The boss said no blowing shit up inside!” We heard Saw yell.

“And that makes five. We got them all!” Cog exclaimed happily.

“Let’s go tell IronClaw that all is clear down here.”

The second floor consisted of a hall just off the stairs and two rooms. A body riddled with holes greeted us at the door, and inside Ironclaw was reloading his weapons. Saw was raiding the footlockers next to the bunk beds, and Shrapnel admired her hoofwork. By which I mean a badly burnt and caved in part of a wall. There was nothing left of her target.

“Hey boss! Everything is clear down stairs. There is even a terminal down there. A working one!”

“Good. I want whatever is on it.”

I was trying to open the door to the other room, but it was locked.

“Having trouble Mist? Here, let me show you.” Cog pushed me aside and sat down in front of the door. He levitated out a screwdriver and a bobby pin. “Now observe. You put the screwdriver here in the slit. Then you take the bobby pin and put it above the screwdriver. You can’t see it, but on the inside there are pins. Think of them like tiny cylinders. You push them up with the bobby pin, and twist the thing around with the screwdriver.” He stood up, holding the screwdriver, and bobby pin in place. “Want to give it a try?”

Why not? I stepped up, and wrapped his tools in my own magic. My mane tingled, and I felt that strange sensation that happens when you brush against somepony else's magic.

Alright, it was time to try this. I turned the screwdriver slowly, and the lock did the same.
It seemed to get caught in something, I pushed, and the pin snapped.

“Take it easy. Here take these pins and keep trying.” He levitated a few more bobby pins my way, and headed downstairs to talk with IronClaw.

I turned my attention back to the lock. Levitating a new pin and sliding it in I tried again.

I turned the lock the same way as before. This time when it got stuck I didn’t force it, instead I moved the pin to a different position then tried the screwdriver again. My efforts were rewarded with a satisfying click, and the door opened.

“I knew you could do it!” Somepony yelled from right behind me.

What the!? My magic slipped, and the screwdriver spun in the air. I caught it again, before it hit the floor. “Shrapnel!”

“Ooops! Sorry. C’mon let’s see what’s inside.” The armored mare apologized headed for the now opened door.

The room had a desk with some papers and pencils, a chair, filing cabinet and a bed. Shrapnel rummaged through the filing cabinet while I checked the table’s drawers.

I found a small leather-bound book, a pistol and some ammo. The gun and ammo I put into my saddlebags then I sat into the chair and opened the book. It was a log of this outpost’s commanding officer. There wasn't anything of interest in it. Just reports, sightings of Remnant, ponies, and slavers. I skipped to the last page. Now here is something interesting.

We received orders from HQ. I’m taking four of the contingent with me and leaving the others here. Nexus station 3 hasn’t reported in over a week. The last transmission we received sounded more like the ravings of a mad zebra. I wouldn’t have believed a word of it, if it hadn't been for the fact that Nadala made that last transmission. She is in charge of security there. I know her, she is capable. Nadala I hope you’re still alive. What were those bastards at Prometheus thinking bringing that psychopath to work for them? I don’t care how amazing he is, he can’t be trusted. This is his fault. I'll personally tear out his heart, when I find him. If he has one.

Well that explains why there were so few of them here. But who is this psychopath and what did he do? I flipped a few pages back.

The messages are getting more and more degraded, but their meaning is clear enough. Still waiting for HQ’s orders. But what does it matter if only find corpses. The projects are lost, and these facilities with them. Maybe she was right. Could the incident at Black-Light somehow be connected? I heard the stories from Nadala herself. One survivor, a mare. Everyone else dead and the facility rendered inaccessible when the tram tunnel collapsed. What’s stranger still is the fact that the same mare that had survived was transferred to Prometheus. Maybe she’s cursed? But no, how could that be. For years, everything was fine. That is until “he” joined.

Prometheus? Black-Light?

Sent word to HQ for instructions and a request for back up. The inside and the outer perimeter of Nexus 3 is compromised. They will need to send help quickly if they want to save their precious projects. No matter what goes wrong, honest soldiers always end up paying for it. What good is it to develop magical weapons if they kill our own before we can even use them?!

Just my luck. These are the facilities with the weapons.

Have they lost their minds? Noises? Missing squads? Is this some kind of joke Nadala? If so it’s in poor taste. And the desertion? The Caesar will have them flayed alive when he hears about this.

Desertion is not something you'd see from Zebra often, but the Seperatists are less organized and less disciplined than the Remnant.

Gone dark? I don’t envy her. She is probably going to get some of the blame for the screw ups. I’ve sent word to command. They weren’t happy.


Tremors? In the desert? Maybe the bastard is planning to blow up Prometheus. Sending a report to command. Maintenance will be dispatched within a month or so. By that time. They will probably have already fixed the problem themselves.


Are they insane! HIM!!! How many of our own has he killed so far? He's killed Remnant too, but that does not make it better. He cannot be trusted. Are they actually letting him work on a project like this? The whole world has gone mad, and nothing good will come out of this. Mark my word.


I flipped through the older entries. There was nothing interesting.

“So what’s it say?” Shrapnel had moved to stand beside me and looked at the book. I repeated what I had read.

“Wow! What could they have been doing at this Black-Light that got the zebra so spooked?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to know. Did you find anything?”

“Just a few caps and a potion.”

“Mist! Get your flank down here now!” Saw shouted from downstairs. I nearly fell from the chair.

“Come on let’s see what the loudmouth wants.” Shrapnel said leaving the room. I put the book in my pack and followed.

“I’m here Saw. What do you need?”

She pointed to the terminal. Cog was hunched in front of it, and IronClaw stood beside him, his talons crossed. Saw went on.

“You can read these squiggles right?”

Squiggles? I looked at the screen.

“Oh you mean zebra. Yeah I can read them.”

“Good because translating with my PipBuck is a pain in the ass, and it tends to mangle the words.” Cog said stepping away from the terminal.

<Incoming messages> Was highlighted, so I entered that and read aloud from the oldest entry first.

--- > Report 38: New team member for Prometheus.

You’re not going to like it.

Command said that he’s an expert in arcano-tech. Still doesn’t change WHO he is.

It’s Zaxis. No not some other unfortunate bastard who has the same name, but the one

and only true bastard himself. I don’t get paid enough to deal with this crap.

--- > Report 49: Equipment failure.
We’ve been having tremors and power outages constantly. What the hell are they doing down there? Our systems are glitching like crazy. This is the third time I’m writing the same report. Whatever they’re doing it’s also drawing enormous amounts of power.

--- > Report 52: Prometheus gone dark.
We have no idea what’s go^%$ on! They’re not resp(**76#. And now six of our soldiers here at Nexus 3 ^$$#332**&missing! Emergency procedure 992@3$!so the trams are shut%$own as well. The scientists keep complaining (6648^%42#hear noises. I’ve sent a squad down into the tun&75* to investigate. As if I already di83$^51!ve enough problems.

--- > Report 53: Still nothing from55%^&9theus.
Now the sc*87(9)$%33$@&1!%^#pearing. The ones I sent into the tunnels ne77% returned. Ancestors have me(274%!^9@eir souls. It’s Black-Light^5%@ over again. Now I’m start3@0)to believe the eggheads. I can hear it too. The 3(8#*@. Hissing, scraping and tapping. We don’t 5#&@9*!lk alone anymore, even to the bathro3ms. More keep disap7 #@5ng. Call HQ! We ne9$ back up! Some of them are #9@sidering desertion. I said I would pers0_!#+* shoot anyone wh! *6ies to leave. The Caesar @0_#*! send us here so that we could abandon everythi!9@*4&#( worked for. But if we don’t get the situation under co&99*4@ it won’t matter who I shoot, we’ll a&@992 dead anyway.

--- > Report 55: Damn it ^2!3eed help1
Only ten &@8#0 left now! !!29# all dead. A few ran but they (3&n’t get far. Spirits be kin8. They 3%3 in the sand as well! No way out! I can he3$2*hem in the walls. His7ing and scr2(&*ng. The ones that escaped, they were just swall37ed up by the sand. I can still #ear the2( screaming. I locked the door. And now 49@) trapped. They are in%^339 with us and outsi)_ too. No wa- out!

--- > Report 58: All alo5@ now.
I wo@9er if she felt like this back at8#(-)2-Light? Everyone is dead or 4&ing. I’ve seen them! So many eyes. Clicki(2)3nd his2#)g. I locked @0self in the secure”8@9oom. The aut#;(ted def(3ses were use’|ss. They strike fro9 the walls, grab y@\(8#d drag you to #0@@nows where. No one wan3)8@9\*2see where the holes>0@8d. I don’t blame them. They 29&!all around me now. In 44) walls. I can h!-r them. Don’t %other sending anyone. @0*! purge the station. I)3(&u can. Or leav*>)t to the desert. Ther<(2s nothing here)4*@ death. As for me. I !9ve a few bull(3s left. I’m going to use them, but not on %9ose things. Tell them that i&3)&29! mistake. All of it. Bla6k-Lig2t, Prom5^401*, @elix. We shou7# *ave left 6&3<9%cilities buried an2(forgotten.

I finished reading. Everyone was silent.

“Well I vote we NOT go and see the haunted bases. What about the rest of you?” Cog looked hopefully at us.

“If this were a democracy your vote would mean something. It is not. Mist does it say where this Prometheus facility is?” IronClaw said uncrossing his talons and leaning into the terminal screen squinting.

“No but from what I’ve seen here and read in this journal.” I said as I levitated the book out of my saddle bags and gave it to IronClaw. “Prometheus, and some other facilities are underground. Connected to Nexus station by a series of tunnels.”

“Tunnels. Abso-fucking-beautiful.” Saw deadpanned.

“He’s right. If we want to get our asses killed we best head for the Nexus station. Luckily while my PipBuck was connected to that thing and thanks to the incoming/outgoing signals, my map was updated with the location of Nexus 3.” He stated proudly, holding up the hoof with the PipBuck for all of us to see.

“And how far is it?”

“A day or so further west.”

“Alright then. We head out tomorrow. We’ll sleep here. Shrapnel you and me will take the first watch. The rest of you off to bed.”

“Yes mom.” Cog teased.

We went to the room with the bunk beds. I took the one closest to the window and dropped my gear beside it. Cog took the one next to mine and Saw the one furthest from the window. The bed squeaked as I tossed and turned. What if the nightmares come? I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in… I don’t know how long.

“Fwomp” A pillow landed on my head.

“Damn it Mist! Go. To. Sleep!” Saw growled.

“Hey! My pillow!” Cog cried. And I gave him the one Saw threw at me.

Alright. Just close your eyes. Relax. Think happy thoughts. Like the time in Sumaj when... When I left Navarost and helped Santir and… Anger and despair gripped me. The only thing I remembered were the bodies.

My thoughts turned to those of my family. Things would have been better if I had died with them. I wouldn't have had to find out just how messed up the world is. “Mom. Dad. Amber. I miss you, and Zaeryl too. Why does everypony I care about have to die?”
I don’t know exactly when it happened, but sometime during my reminiscing I slipped into the world of dreams.

Water splashed around my rear hooves. I was in a battle stance. Fallen Caesar. The final lesson in hoof to hoof.

“Mist. You mustn’t hesitate.” Zaeryl was saying. I didn’t want to hurt her, which was silly. Even with her health problems Zaeryl could still kick my flank, like she did the first day when we started training.

I lowered my head, charging straight at her, and like water she flowed away. Grabbing my head with a hoof, and suddenly I was upside down. Splashing in the water, while looking up at the sky.

Her hoof was coming down on my head. I knew she wouldn’t seriously hurt me, but still I wanted to avoid a potential bruise.

Gathering my magic and focusing it, I wrapped it around her hoof and tried pushing it away. The spell broke almost instantly, but it was enough to confuse her for a moment.

In that time, I had moved out of the way and bucked her legs from under her. The mare stumbled and fell face first into the water.

Zaeryl's recovery was swift, I'd barely had time to blink before she was back on her hooves. Maybe I shouldn't have done that? She looked at me with a smile on her face.

“Good. I almost forgot you’re a unicorn. When you fight never forget to use your magic. The zebras who fight you might also forget what you are. Use that to your advantage.”

After sparing we went back to her home for dinner.

We studied history, medicinal herbs as well as the poisonous ones. Time went by. Day turned to night and back to day again.

I was sitting in front of my desk. A quill levitating above a parchment. I looked down at the words. They were gibberish. None of them made any sense. A feeling of dread crept over me.

“Mist! Mist! Are you in there!?” That was Joram. Oh no. No no no no no! I know what happens next.

“Please don’t. I… can’t.” But it was too late. Images moved before my eyes of their own accord. I was downstairs with Joram and he was panicking. My heart beat faster and my throat tightened. He was telling me to go with him.

“No.Please, don't do this. I don't want to go there. Please.” I begged inside my mind, but my body was already moving.

We were galloping, and familiar trees whizzed me by as I kept pace with Joram.

We reached the grove, and Joram froze. Tears started moving down my cheeks. The old gnarled tree stood in front of me. Black, twisted and silent with a body lying beside it's black twisted roots. The silent sentinel.

Zaeryl looked like she had died peacefully, as if she had simply laid down to rest, but I knew that she would never get back up again. I moved slowly to her, my steps shaky, I gulped down air. In my mind I could hear myself telling her how something scared Joram.

Why? I collapsed besides her, my heart and body aching for just one more day with the shaman that had taken me in all those years ago. Why did she have to die? I gripped the body tightly, so long as I held tight she wouldn't be gone. She’ll still be with me.

“Mist. It’s alright.” How can it be alright Zaeryl? You're dead.

“Mist it’s going to be alright.” She said again. I just sobbed and hugged her tighter.

“Mist it’s alright. It’s just a bad dream” I felt a comforting hoof on my shoulder.

I was on a bed hugging a pillow. Saw was standing over me. Her eyes were full of sadness and understanding. I eased myself into a sitting position and rubbed the tears from my eyes with a hoof. The room was still dark.

“What time is it?” I asked groggily.

“Almost dawn. C’mon lets go down stairs.”

“Ughhh… Saw. Did you say something?” Cog asked from his bed.

“Nothing numbnuts. Go back to sleep.”

I nodded, picked up my gear and followed her out of the room.

Once we got there Saw told IronClaw that we could take over the watch while they get some sleep. IronClaw looked tired, his eyes were bloodshot. Or that could have something to do with sharing watch with Shrapnel. She didn’t seem tired at all and continued telling the griffin one of her many stories. Oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t listening. When both of them had gone up the stairs Saw went for the fridge.

“Hot damn! Score!” She tossed me a bottle. It was beer. She popped her own with her teeth and took a long swallow.

I opened mine on the end of a table. She looked at me for a long time before she spoke.

“Whenever, I see a pony cry I just want to slap a few of their teeth loose and tell them to grow a pair.” I flinched. “However that doesn’t apply for those who cry while they dream. And the kind of tears you shed.” She took another gulp from her bottle. “Well ponies like that have seen some fucked up shit and have a right to cry.” This time I took a long drink from my bottle.

“So… who’d you loose?”

Where do I start? From the beginning would be best. I did not look forward to recalling all that had happened to me. All the pain. But a part of me wanted to get these feeling out. I talked, and told her everything. Starting from the beginning, and it hurt. Not as much as I had imagined. The beer helped me deal with that part.

“And that’s it.” I finished. The first light of dawn slowly crept through the windows, seemingly chasing away the fears and pain that lurked in the shadows.

Saw looked trough the window, a ghost of a tear in the corner of her eye.

“I. Had a daughter. Once.” She rubbed the tears away. Looking down at the floor.

“Back in Equestria. We lived peacefully. Well as peacefully as any hell hole could be.”

“What happened?” I asked and regretted it immediately. I did not want to reopen old wounds.

“Slavers happened. I was scavenging some old store. Told her to stay hidden under an old upturned carriage. Told her it would be safer while I check out the building.” She snorted. “Safer. Yeah right.” She took another drink from her bottle. “The door to one of the rooms had collapsed, but there was a hole on the side big enough to squeeze trough. I took the chance, thinking something useful would be in there. That was when I heard her cry out.” Tears were flowing down Saw’s cheeks now. She wiped them away with a hoof.

”By the time I got my fat ass out of that hole they were already gone. I could hear them mentioning a slave market, so I knew they were slavers. Raiders, or ghouls would have just killed her, and stayed to look for me too.” She looked me straight in the eyes. “Your mother had sense enough to save you, told you to run. I. I killed my daughter. No, I did worse. I let those filthy animals take her.” Saw tried to take another sip from the bottle, but it was empty. To my surprise she gently lowered it back on the table.

“I tried to find her. Three years I looked, but found no trace. I got into a fight with a bunch of raiders. Almost died too. Think I wanted it. An end to the pain, but IronClaw found me. Like he did with you, and that saved me. It was just him and Shrapnel at the time, and they needed a medic, so I figured what the hell. I have medical knowhow, might as well join them. A merc doesn’t have a long life expectancy, pays okay, and there is the booze too.

Saw sighed with relief, and looked to me. "What about you Mist? What do you want to do with the rest of your miserable existence?"

What did I want to do? The ponies I cared about are dead. So what do I want?

“I want to help ponies. I…” I opened my mouth, and closed it several times while trying to string a coherent sentence together.

“Not just ponies but everyone who needs it. And maybe help get the world back to the way it once was. You know, before the war.” Where did that come from?

“Heh. You know you’re crazy right? But sometimes, with things being like this. Crazy is the way to go.” She went back to the fridge, took out another beer and opened it. “Alright then. Hero. Here’s to you” She said raising the bottle. “I wish you luck in your future exploits!” She drank deeply, and I emptied my bottle too.

We had a few moments in total silence before we heard the sound of hooves. It was Cog. He had finally woken up and decided to join us.

“So nice of you to let me sleep in Saw.” He said yawning. “I didn’t know you cared.”

“Well it’s important for babies to get enough sleep. Otherwise they cry, moan and bitch the rest of the day.”

It was past midday when IronClaw and Shrapnel woke up. We had breakfast, very little fresh food, mostly pre-war preserved goods. This however only seemed to be bothering me. Shrapnel was busy devouring a box of cakes. It wasn’t pretty. There were no survivors. Saw and I ate some yellowed lettuce. She washed it down with a beer. IronClaw’s complaint over the lack of meat didn’t surprise me, but Cog’s did.

“Well you’re right. Meat isn’t exactly healthy for ponies, but it’s not like it’ll kill us either. Fresh vegetables and fruit are almost impossible to find in Equestria. And they cost a lot of caps. So only the rich uppity sons of bitches can afford them, the rest eat what they can.” Saw explained.

IronClaw is a griffin they eat meat. It’s natural for them, but ponies. The thought made me queasy.

After we ate and took another sweep of the outpost to make sure we didn’t miss anything. We headed out.

“I spy with, my little eye, something… yellow!” Shrapnel asked.

“Hmm. Is it sand?” Cog guessed.

“Yep!”

“Alright! We get it! The scenery doesn’t change much!” Saw lost her patience. I couldn’t blame her. The Sun was beating down hard on us. Shrapnel and Cog have been playing that same game for a few hours now. And the answers were either sand, sky or cloud. Maybe a tree if they got lucky, or a rock.

IronClaw went on ahead, not in the sky but on the ground. He said he didn’t like flying in this kind of heat.

“Hey Mist! Me and Saw got this little bet going as to how boss lost his talon. What do you think happened?” Cog asked me.

“Uhm. Maybe lost it in a fight with some other griffin or something? I don't know.”

“Pffft. Boooring! I say it was a dare. And then he used the new steel ones to tear out the eyes of the poor sod who called him a coward.” Cog said confidently.

“You really are an idiot, aren’t you? Mist is right. It was probably a fight. My guess is magical energy weapon melted it off.” Saw was chiding Cog when.

“Hellhound bit it off.” Shrapnel said.

“You’re kidding?” Cog’s eyes were as big as saucers. Shrapnel shook her head.

Saw whistled. “Well fuck me into next Tuesday.”

“What is a Hellhound?” I’ve never heard of such a thing.

“Nastiest motherfuckers you find in the Equestrian Wasteland. Kinda like dogs, only bigger, and walking on their hind-legs. They use their claws to dig trough rock, earth, concrete, steel, armor, and worse they are clever fuckers. Clever enough to use weapons, and hunt in packs.” Saw finished and spat.

Those creatures actually sound familiar. I read about creatures that lived in the jungle. Almost impossible to kill. Huge. Three times bigger than a ripper beast. Extremely sharp senses, and claws that could tear easily through tank armor.

“So how did it happen?” Cog asked.

“Hmm.” Shrapnel tapped her helmet. Presumably wanting to tap her chin. “How about I tell you the story, IF Mist decides to join us for real?” even though her face was completely covered, I was certain she was grinning from ear to ear.

Saw and Cog looked at me expectantly.

“Well.” I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly, not enjoying the attention. “I told you. I’m helping you with this mission, but I will not work for the Remnant or the Separatists.”

“What if we ask to only be given assignments that don’t involve the Remnant or the Separatists?” Shrapnel offered.

Cog was taken aback. “Shrapnel you can’t choose what contract you want. RazorWing is the one in charge.”

“I’m flattered Shrapnel, really I am. but I don’t think I would want to work with a group that does business with them regardless. Why do you want me to stay so badly?” I was genuinely curious about her insistence on me staying.

“Because you’re a nice pony, and I like you silly.” Her answer left me dumbstruck. I worked my mouth, trying to say something with little success.

Up ahead IronClaw was waiting for us. When we reached him he pointed out into the desert with his steel digit.

“There.” He said. What did he mean there? I followed his talon and squinted at the horizon. At first I saw nothing, but then something glimmered in the distance.

It took another two hours of walking before the five-story steel building loomed in front of us. Not particularly subtle, but then again it didn’t need to be. It was impossible to find unless you knew exactly where you were going or unless you had a PipBuck. The huge rolling hills of sand completely obscured it from sight.

“So… How do we get in?” Cog took a step forward as if answering my question.

“Leave it to me.” He started tapping the walls around the steel door. The door itself had no lock. The only thing that marked it as an entrance of any kind were the edges that stuck out from the smooth walls. Nexus station 3 didn’t look anything like a normal building. The walls didn’t stand straight, they leaned at an angle. It was like somepony took four triangles and together so they made a four edged cone.

“Sometime today would be nice.” Saw complained, but Cog ignored her and went on with his tapping.

“Maybe I could try and-” Everypony turned to look at Shrapnel. IronClaw just raised an eyebrow while giving her a reproachful look. “Right. No blasting.” Shrapnel hung her head in disappointment, and started digging the sand listlessly with an armored hoof.

“Hah-ha!” He exclaimed proudly when a metal panel slid away to reveal buttons and a screen.

He pressed a button and the screen came to life. Cog’s neck snapped as he tilted it firs left then right and he called me.

"Okay. I'm gonna try to hack into this, but I need you to translate."Cog attempted to explain what was going on. Apparently, instead of logging into the console using normal means he was using the PipBuck to access a hidden subsystem.

Lines filled with words and gibberish would pop up on the PipBuck, and one of those would be the pass-code. You can only attempt this thrice before the system detects the intrusion, so after trying twice we would have to reset the entire process.

When we had gotten it right the door opened.

"Open sesame." Shrapnel giggled. She entered first, and the rest of us fell in line behind her.

It was cold inside, our breath misted in front of us. White, glowing tubes lined the roof of this metal corridor. Giving off a faint light that made things barely visible. We had our weapons out, travelling the lengthy corridor in relative silence.

The door screeched and we all turned to face it as it closed shut. We stood there unmoving for a couple of minutes. That could very well have been our last glimpse of the outside world.

IronClaw waved for us, and we to continue on.

Many doors lined the corridor. We stayed together, taking our time to check each and every one. They were all empty, no sign of bodies, no odd smells, or anything.
Just a thin layer of dust that covered everything. It was quiet, so quiet that we could hear each other breathe.

“This… is a bad place.”

“Sh-Shut up Cog.” Saw stammered. Our bodies had cooled down. The drop in temperature was not that hard to deal with anymore, and my breath was no longer misted. It was colder than outside, but not freezing cold anymore.

At the end of the corridor was another large door. It opened automatically when we approached it. Beyond it was huge rectangular room an “atrium” Cog said. The faint lights were enough to show that the ceiling was actually three-stories above us.

If you looked up you could see the second and third floor. Like a balcony you could lean over the railing and look down at the floor where we were.

Straight ahead there was a wide window that showed into a narrow room filled with computers. Cog went in there as soon as he spotted it. At either side of that room were large steel doors and two more on the left and right side of the atrium.

There were a few tables with chairs in there as well, and they spaced well apart. Large steel lockers were pressed against the atriums walls.

“Hey this looks like a control terminal. Hold on, let me see if I can get the generator working again.” Cog said. His voice muffled by the thick glass.

The lights started to flicker, and then grew brighter, soon more lights turned on and the atrium and the upper floors were could be seen perfectly. It just made the emptiness of the station more apparent. White walls and grey steel. No sounds except the gentle humming coming from the lights.

The peace was interrupted by a loud noise and red lights started flashing.

“Warning!”

“Intruders detected.”

“Activating security protocols.”

A voice declared loudly.

“Mist what’s it saying?!” Saw asked.

“Oh shit.” I'm not sure how, but IronClaw immediately understood what those words implied, and began pulling away at one of the lockers lining the wall.

Once one side was far enough from the wall he pulled it down with an thunderous crash to make a temporary barricade.

On either side of the window two hatches opened to reveal mounted guns. Each of them had a glowing red eye.

IronClaw pulled Saw down behind the barricade by her cloak, and I followed. Shrapnel covered us, opening fire on the turrets to draw their attention away from us.

The armored mare yelled, and collapsed as bullets struck her armor. Easily tearing trough the layered metal.

“Shrapnel! She’s down!” I yelled and peeked out and fired at the guns with my rifle. That got there attention and they started firing at the locker.

“Cog!” I screamed.

“I’m trying!”He yelled back. I peeked out again, just long enough to see him furiously tapping the console in front of him.

“That son of a bitch! If I die here I’m going to kill him!” Saw screamed.

IronClaw rose from cover to shoot at the turrets but then quickly had to duck back down.

“Cog!” He shouted.

“I’m… trying!” Cog shouted back.

Shrapnel wasn't moving, and I could hear how the locker was caving in with each new bullet that struck it. Small dents were appearing on our side of the closet. It won't hold much longer, and once the improvised barricade got breached, we would stand no chance against the turrets.

“Cog!” All three of us shouted in unison.

Instead of an answer there came a loud bang, and then everything went silent.
I took the chance, and peaked up from behind our cover. The guns had stopped shooting, and their red eyes no longer glowed.

Vaulting over the locker I ran towards Shrapnel, blood had begun pouring onto the ground from holes in her armor. I fumbled but managed to remove Shrapnel’s helmet. Her eyes were closed, her breathing shallow and blood was coming out of her mouth.

I levitated a potion to her lips and poured it down her throat. Soon Saw was beside me checking Shrapnel out more thoroughly.

“Is she…?” Cog had gotten out of the room and joined us.

“She’s alive.” I said. Cog let out a breath. He looked like he was about to faint.

“How is she?” IronClaw asked.

“It was close. She took one near the heart. She’s going to make though. Gonna take more than that to bring Shrapnel down.” IronClaw nodded. He was spreading and closing his wings. I noticed his right one didn’t snap back as quickly as the left one.

“Are you alright?” I asked. He could have been shot while he left cover.

“I’m fine. I won’t be flying soon. I think I sprained a muscle pulling that thing down.” He turned to the lockers and frowned. “Armor piercing rounds. That was a close one.”

“Ughh… What happened.” Shrapnel blinked her eyes, and rose up. Wiping blood from her mouth the metal mare looked around.

“You got shot. Anymore stupid questions?” Saw asked.

“Uh-huh. Is everypony else ok?”

“We’re fine Shrapnel, take it easy.” I said gently smiling at her.

We waited until Shrapnel was better before we continued exploring the station. We found some scrap metal for her to repair her armor and a lot of weapons and some healing supplies. It turns out Cog had to shoot the console in order to stop the automated defense. So now we had to find the security room if we wanted to find a way into the Prometheus facility.

We kept together mostly. Never more than one room away from one another. The rooms we were searching through were pretty much the same.

We found some ammo, caps, a healing potion and bandages. I was picking a lock on one of the doors While Cog searched the room across from me.

Two pins later I managed to open the door only to freeze upon entering. There was a table in the room, and behind it a zebra sat in front of a terminal.

I raised my rifle. She didn’t seem to notice me, so I took a few steps forward. Her body was slumped forward, eyes foggy and staring into nothingness. A gun was between her fore-hooves. There was a hole on the top of her head. Old blood had dried and crusted over her chest.

I lowered my rifle once I realized that that zebra was already dead. I had a pretty good guess as to whom this particular zebra was.

“Hey Mist. You find something?” Cog asked at the door.

“Yeah it looks like this is Nadala. The one in charge of security.” I took a few steps forward, but a sound made me stop.

BEEP!

“What was th-“

“Mist get out of there!” Cog yelled.

BEEP! BEEP!

The world was slowing down as realization hit me. I turned, putting one leg in front of the other while the beeping sounds intensified.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I knew something was wrong as the floor left my hooves. I felt a surge, and the whole room began moving. Or was it me?

The last thing I could remember was hearing a loud crash and feeling my body shake. The world went black.

When I opened my eyes, everything felt blurry. Cog was shaking me, and saying things I couldn't understand. My ears were ringing.

I felt a distant wave of pain in my left hoof that was slowly intensifying. I looked down, the armor around it had been torn to shreds and was blackened by flame.

My leg was bleeding, and disfigured. I screamed, cried out in pain until that was all i could hear.

"Shit, shit, shit." I heard Saw curse. "Shrapnel hold him down. Cog, a little help here."

Shrapnel pressed down on me in a strange hug, and I felt the cold, disfigured metal of her armor press against my body.

“On three.” Saw's voice was clear and serious. On three what?

“One.” Saw put her hooves on either side of my bleeding one.

“What’s going on?” I managed to ask right before IronClaw stuffed a rag in my mouth. He held my head into place, keeping me from opening my mouth with his iron claw.

“Two.”

What’s happening? What are they doing?!

“Three!”

Pain! There was only pain! I screamed or at least tried to. IronClaw kept my muzzle shut and me teeth digging into the rag.

“Now! Now Cog hold it straight with your magic!”

Make it stop! Why are they doing this!?! It hurts so much! Make It STOP!
I tried to break free but Shrapnel’s grip was as hard as iron. I screamed and squirmed until everything went black a second time.

When I opened my eyes. I was in the same room, but I had a pillow under my head. I looked around and saw IronClaw sitting at the desk looking at the terminal. Where did the zebra go?

“Wha-What happened.” My voice was hoarse. And it was painful to speak. IronClaw turned his head to me.

“A mine exploded near you. How are you feeling?” The memories were returning to me now. My leg was covered in bandages, and I tried to rise. IronClaw stopped me.

“Take it easy. Having your bones reset Isn’t an easy thing to shrug off no matter how many healing potions you drink.” It felt weird to hear concern in his voice. I must have been in worse shape than I'd thought.

When I looked back at the event it felt more like a nightmare, rather than an actual event. I could hardly recall the pain at all, and while I was thankful for that. I still had the memory of my hoof all disfigured and ruined.

I stood up and stretched my leg a few times.

"Everything working alright?" IronClaw had taken a step forward, maybe prepared to catch me if I'd fallen.

“Seems like it. Doesn't hurt at all.” I kept looking at my hoof, and flexed it idly. The attention making me a little uncomfortable.

“Well you have Saw to thank for that. If you feel up to it go help Cog. He’s having trouble getting the elevator to the trams working. Right door at the atrium.” I nodded.

“While you were unconscious I did some more scouting. No bodies but I did find holes in the walls. Big enough for two ponies to enter side by side. There was blood around them. Whatever the things that attacked the zebras haven’t been here in some time. Never the less be careful.” He turned back to the terminal, idly tapping the buttons.

I found Saw and Shrapnel down at the atrium. Shrapnel saw me first.

“Hey Mist! I didn’t know you had such strong lungs. I thought I might go deaf when you screamed.”

“Heh. Yeah sorry. Saw I wanted to thank you. You too Shrapnel.” Saw waved a hoof dismissively and Shrapnel just smiled.

“Umm… IronClaw said Cog might need-“

“Help. You bet your ass he does. He’s been at it for five hours now.” I nodded and went to find Cog.

He was in an elevator. The panel he removed was beside him. He stuck his muzzle into the mess of wires.

“Hey Cog. You need any help?”

“Hey Mist. How’s the leg?” He faced me and smiled.

“Good. Thanks by the way. For helping set the bones right.”

“Well you’re welcome, but don’t take this the wrong way when I say that I never want to see the inside of a ponies leg for as long as I live.” He stuck his head back amongst the wires.

"Don't get me wrong, it's a fine leg, and I'm sure it has served you well. Less blood and pain in fixing machinery though. Hold this."

I held the panel with my magic, as Cog began reconnecting wires to a set of inputs, and outputs.

"You sure you know where to connect those?"

"Pffft. Foals play!" Cog waved my insecurities away, and began shoveling wire. A few lights within the elevator flickered to life.

"And here we.-" The door to the elevator closed. Trapping us inside. "-go."

"I don't like this." Cog put a hoof to my muzzle.

"You just haven't seem me work my magic just yet." He flipped a switch. "Stop worrying so much and have a little faith." The elevator groaned, and started descending in a slow, lumbering fashion.

“What about the others?!” This was bad.

“Well just go down and then back up for the others.” The elevator stopped. The lights started flickering. “This could be a problem.” No, really?

The lights in the elevator came back with another groan. Then it started again. The elevator began screeching, the lights flickered off, and with a terrifying, groaning sound something snapped.

Gravity vanished, and my back was smashed against the ceiling of the elevator.

The decent stopped as suddenly as it came, and my body crashed into the floor. My head was ringing. It was pitch black everywhere I looked.

"Cog?" I felt a blood from my nose. “Cog are you alright?” There was no answer.

“Cog!” Oh no, please. Don't be dead. You can't be dead! “Cog! Damn it answer me!”

He didn’t answer I tried to feel my way around when a bright light appeared right before my eyes.

Footnote: Level Up.
New Perk: Evasive – You are quick on your hooves, and there is no doubt about it. In a firefight you are 10% more likely to dodge oncoming fire, and in a close up and personal hoof to hoof fight you are 10% more likely to avoid or parry oncoming blows.

(Thank you Kkat for making such an awesome story and world in which other ponies like myself can play and let loose our imagination. Somber deserves thanks as well. For proving that side-stories can be just as amazing and unforgettable as the original. Special thanks to Damhoof, Mentidabrony and Isphone for helping me edit and sort out the convoluted mess I've made out of Mist's story. Thanks also go to DamnfoolBrony for working his magic and helping me set up the perks. Oh and very special thanks to Lauren Faust!)