The map on my pipleg led us to an old bomb shelter under the ruins of a wartime concrete house. The place was at the edge of the jungle, only a few trees separating our hiding spot from a wasteland that took up half the island. This was actually to our advantage, as we could skirt along the edge of the forest on our way to stable 50, giving us both cover, and less overgrown land to trot over.

The wasteland itself was nothing but rocks and some grass, almost as though the trees refused to grow there. All islands were like this, with the big island being the most extreme do to volcanic activity.

Inside the shelter, we settled down to catch our breath. None of us took off our gas masks as even though the door could seal shut behind us, the air in here was considerably stale and dusty. But, this place was thankfully empty. Other than a few chairs, a table, some trash, and a gutted out kitchen, it was fairly empty. There were also two doors inside the shelter, but both doos had the words “Rusted Shut” painted on them, and trash piled in front of them. It was safe to assume that scavengers had cleared this place out long ago, and that there wasn’t even really a point in checking for anything they might have missed.

This shelter reminded me a bit of the stable-tec tunnels. With it’s dull mix of gray colors and rust, it matched the pallet of the tunnels. But this place was darker, and clearly not made for more than a hoof full of ponies to live in, possibly for just a family or a small group of friends. Still, everyone fit inside, and found a place to sit.

“I thought this whole island was just jungle, like the other islands?” Merit spoke up.

”The parts safe enough to travel, ya.” Sweet spoke up.

Merit sighed. “Alright what's wrong with the non jungle parts of the islands?”

“Mostly, it’s the magical radiation that’s the problem.” I sat on a mostly intact chair and cleared my throat. “A few military bases were built out on the wasteland, well that's what we were told was there before they became craters at the end of the war.” I sighed, remembering a time that Rototom described trekking around one years ago. “They're a hot bed of nasty stuff. When the wind blows, bubbles of radiation are shaved off to roams around with the wind. But the forest, despite the toxic pollen the plants and trees produce all year round, also soak up these radiation bubbles. So, as long as you stay in in the woods, you're not likely going to deal with a death bubble of concentrated radiation.

“Alright, I get it.” Merit nodded his head. “At least the trees can protect you from the radiation, though wouldn't a group like Orthrus have ways to block out that radiation, maybe even seal up the craters. They do have advanced technology, and even the airships.”

“I’ve heard stories about ponies trying that, none ended happily.” Nodding back, I checked my pipbuck. The distance to stable 50 was not too far, the tree line being an a direct path to our destination. “We say it’s ‘magical radiation’, but in truth it’s a cocktail of volatile zebra alchemy and pony magics. Chaotic shit to say the least. For some reason, if it’s not originally part of the wasteland, it the bubbles will eat through it, rendering it impossible for any pony to build there.”

“The royals say that it’s because of a dragon.” Captain Stratus spoke up. “The last queen said she saw it in a dream, breathing vile black miasma, corrupting the lands.”

Sweet raised up a hoof. “My favorite crazy conspiracy theory is that it's all a lie, and we don't need gas masks at all.” We all deadpanned at her, and she shrugged, “What can I say? It helps to cut the stupid from the gene pool. Though, yellow puke looks and smells the worst.”

Stratus looked over at Harp with a frown. “You leave the stable once and you’ve become friends with degenerates and monsters.”

“A monster Princess.” Mayall corrected. “Thank you very much.”

“Yes, and would you like me to serve you tea?” Stratus responded sarcastically, “By what right do you claim the title of princess?” I could see Mayall’s tail twitch in anger from that, and her glow grew a bit brighter as the lurker glared at the captain.

“It has more to do that her mother is their leader.” I stepped in between them before a fight broke out. “Mayall has her own following among her kind, and access to a functional submarine. But if you want any close comparison, she also has an abusive older sister who is inclined to commit genocide.”

Stratus huffed and looked away as Harp trotted over to us. “On that topic, what's happening to you Mayall?” She asked in a polite manner.

“I and the pony High Kite were working on getting the bug to work.” The lurker shrugged, obviously as clueless as the rest of us. “I remember breathing odd tasting air, putting wires in my pipbuck, then lightning. When I woke, I tasted pink, and ponies were falling from sky.”

“Let me see that pipbuck” I trotted up to Mayall, and took the pipbuck into my hooves. Touching it sent my E.F.S on the fritz, the display on my hud flickering, and stretching wildly. Even the screen on my pipleg was acting up. The pipbuck on Mayall’s leg was dead, so I undid the latch, taking it off her leg. The moment it was off of her, all the interference on my hud stopped.

I messed with the pipbuck, turning knobs, pressing buttons, but it was indeed dead. Looking back to Mayall, she was clearly as tall as a normal pony now, and her fins were almost twice the length of all the other Lurkers I've seen. Somehow, what happened had changed her, and it was concerning to me to say the least.

“So, when you say that you plugged wires into the pipbuck, what do you mean?”

“Just that.” Mayall nodded. “I could not get bug box to work, so I had a thought. I plugged the pipbuck into the big radio, and then into bug box. Then, zapp.”

“Can I try something?” Harp asked as she trotted right up to Mayall. I gave her a nod, wondering what she was going to do. Harp started to shimmer, the magic gathering around her for a moment before she reached out and touched Mayall.

My hud display shorted out, the little E.F.S. bar that acted as a compos, and hostility sensor vanished. Mayall was not just glowing now, she was shining a bright red is pink, the most intense light coming from her eyes. I quickly checked my pipleg, it's screen nothing but zeros and ones, as it glitched out.

“By all that is fucking good, make it stop!” A pained cry from Sweet drew my attention. “Just fucking stop it!” Her eyes were unfocused, and looking in different directions.

Harp took her hoof off Mayall. The interference didn't stop immediately, though it slowly drain away to become less disruptive. Both my E.F.S hud and my pipleg screen were glitched, but not to the point of being unreadable.

“How you feeling Sweet?” I called out to my friend,

“My eyes are giving me a headache, got bile in my throat,” Sweet responded as she reached up and rubbed at her bionic eyes. “and I’m seriously thinking of having crab for dinner.”

“Anything more technical than that?” I asked.

“Right, it's like I lost control of my eyes.” Sweet closed her eyes, which seem to give her some comfort. “Even now I'm having problems focusing. You know, like when we got our eyes checked by Orthrus way back when, and they force them to dilate. It’s like that, but so much worse.”

“Just keep them shut for now.” I offered as Sweet nodded and covered her eyes. “It’s going to suck for a bit longer, but I need to figure this out.” I turned on the radio on my pipbuck, and tuned it to one of two radio signals. The radio gave a small chirp as it tracked to channel three, where DJ Cerberus's static filled party music began to play. “Go ahead and touch Mayall again Harp. Give her some more magic.”

My E.F.S glitched out once more as Harp transferred magic into Mayall. The radio also glitched, turning into a roar of static, but it was also picking up other signals. Nothing came out clearly, but I definitely picking up nearly all the radio signals on the islands, and even some others I didn’t recognize. “Amazing. I think Mayall absorbed the M.o.M bug’s magic, or at least, some of its effects.”

Harp pulled away from Mayall. “Will she be okay?”

“I’m not dying, am I?” Mayall added.

“I’m a mercenary, not a doctor,” I shrugged. “Even if I was, I would not know how her physiology works. But it’s clear she’s mutated, though only time will tell if it’s harmful, or even permanent or not.” Mayall started to look nervous, tapping a hoof and swaying a bit. “Harp, do you have a mirror?”

“I’ve got this if it’ll work.” Harp rummaged through her saddle bag, pulling out a compact. “I found it along with the other things at the old hotel.”

She passed it to me and I opened it up. I was less than pleased to see that my face was all dirty again, but that was something to deal with later. Turning so that Mayall could see herself, the lurker gasped.

“I, look... different.” She studied herself in the small mirror, moving it around to inspect her glowing flins.

“Taller too.” I added.

“I think she’s quite beautiful now, very regle at that.” Harp scratched her chin, and smiled. “You’re right in that she’s tall, well, tall-ish, and her fins look a bit like a flowing mane now. Not quite in the same way as the princesses of old, but similar. I mean, look at it! It’s long and it glows.” Harp touched the floppy fin, and my hud glitched out before she quickly pulled her hoof back. “Oops, sorry.”

Mayall played with her head fin a bit, bouncing it off her hoof. I took a closer look as well, and strangely, the fin seemed to shift in hue, ever so slightly, in a pattern, like waves on water. Even her joints seem to have this going on, but not as much as the fins. The only thing that seemed to not change was her chitin, as the tough and scratched up shell still a shiny purple color.

“I’m not a tech, but this is fascinating.” I spoke up softly as I looked over her. “I’m sure the ponies back at Orthrus would love to study you.”

“No!” Mayall pulled back with a gasp. “No pony base, will not be caged.” She slammed her hoof down. “I return to mine. They will learn, they will study this new change.”

I nodded. “That’s fine, I’m not going to force anything. When this missions over, we can talk about it again.”

“Agreed, especially since she can't come with us.” Sweet spoke up. “Her pipbuck was kindof what saved her before. If she can’t disguise herself, well, the ponies at stable 50 will likely kill her on sight.”

“It’s fine.” Mayall nodded as I looked down at the dead pipbuck, and then up at her. “I should not have left the sub in the first place, they all must be so worried right now.”

“That’s probably for the best.” I sighed. Though she was strange to have around, and has brought her own share of trouble, the lurker was growing on me. “You sure you will be safe to make your way back to the sub? It’s dangerous out there.”

“I be fine,” Mayall shrugged. “ponies are the most dangerous, but I can avoid them easy peasy.”

“I don’t doubt that, but that’s not what I meant.” I passed her the dead pipbuck. “I’m more worried that your sister will suddenly show up. I’d rather not see another station flooded.” She gave me an annoyed stare as she took the pipbuck and shoved it into her bag.

Turning to the others it was clear the two royal guard ponies were itching to go. Pointing at the stallion, I motion to the door outside. “Can you go post up as a lookout and let us know when the pirates finally move on?”

He looked over at Stratus, who nodded her head before he trotted off to the door. Stratus got up as he did and slowly walked up to me, staring me down. What was her sudden fascination with me?

“If you're upset about me telling one of your guards ponies what to do, best to just shove it.” Stratus didn't seem to respond much to what I just said, she just straightened up, her eyes scanning me.

“That medal you have,” She asked as she narrowed her eyes. “is it a replica?”

“No.” I Instinctively covered it with my hoof. “It’s a family heirloom. Same for the scarf.”

“Interesting,” Her eyes carefully scanned me. “If that is true, then that must mean you have old royal guard in your blood.”

“It also means I have Zebra as well, so what's does it matter to you?” I asked back, her eyeing making me feel a bit nervous. “Does that bother you?”

“Not much, not really.” Stratus sat back, taking a deep breath. “I’ve just read the reports, and was a little curious about you. The Echo family, a name I didn't remember until I saw that medal.” She dug into one of her pockets, and pulled out a worn medal that looked a bit too much like my own. “Same heritage, though my bloodline is, well, less diluted.”

A laugh came from Sweet. “You mean that they keep it ‘in the family’.”

“Let's cut to the chase,” Stratus ignored Sweets taunt, and put her medal away. “It's obvious that you want to protect the princess, and she trusts you to do just that. We have an old saying from queen Majesty the first; ‘blood calls’. I have the feeling that you blood is calling you to do just that.”

I felt a bit confused, and so I took the bait. “What is this ‘blood calling and what’s it going to do with me’?”

“You have the heritage of a royal guard.” she explained. “Like cutie marks, everypony has a sort special of heritage which runs through their veins. A farmer will more than likely birth farmers, a guardian, more guardians. And a royal...” She motioned with her hooves at Harp. “even if she has no chance to claim the throne, is still a royal.”

“Okay, so what you're saying is that my blood is calling me to protect Harp?” Right, I was getting what she was saying, but it gave me a headache. “And that it’s not because she's a friend and client, but because she is of royalty and I;m a descendant of a royal guard of the old world.” Stratus nodded. “Alright, then if this is true, what does that mean for me?”

“Well I like to say that it makes you an ally, but like how you pointed out, you also have zebra blood. That makes you a dangerous gamble to have around the royal family.” Stratus got up, and trotted over to Harp, before continuing. “True or not, it's best if you and your friends leave with the monster princess. With the barbarians gone, I'll be able to safely escort Princess Harp back to her home”

Harp placed her hoof on the guard captains shoulder. “Stratus, please...”

“I’m sorry but this is nonnegotiable, princess.” Stratus responded firmly. “We have already lost too many of our own today, including you uncle and brother. Any more interference from them might be seen negatively by the rest of the royal family.” Harp backed away a bit. “I'm sorry, Harp, but they will only incur more suspicion onto you. I’ve already cleared out that rebellious group who wanted you for the throne, and I know their existence put distance between you and the rest of your family. So, I don’t want things to be harder on you as they already have been, you must understand.”

“I, but.” she looked over at me with pleading eyes.

I shook my head “It’s fine Harp, all our job was to do is get you back home, so it’s fine. But, doubt it's a good idea for us to split up here. If anything, Sweet and I are the only ones with the proper weapons for traveling along the forest edge. Let us help escort Harp to her home station, like what we were hired to do, and then we can take a tunnel back home.”

Stratus paused for a moment before sighing. “Fine. But I won't be taking Harp through the Station, and I’ll have to have you detained for a night once there to get your statements on the events that have happened today.

Sweet and Merit traded looks before Sweet shrugged and turned to Stratus. “As long as you can insure the whe’re treated properly. Not to speak I'll of the dead, but Golden had made a pool full of dead mirage ponies, something you didn’t seem to have a problem with.”

“That all depends if you try to kick my guards ponies or not.” Stratus replied. Trotting past us, she knocked on the door out of here. “Is the coast clear?”

There was a short pause when all of us fell quite.

“All clear” The stallion called out.

Opening the door, Stratus became bathed in the light as the shadows scurried away. The places untouched by the light seem to become dark black pits, of which gave me a foreboding feeling of being watched. It was one of the many common feelings when roaming the surface, and only one of the reasons we needed to move quickly.

“Alright everypony, let's get moving.” I told everyone. “This place is starting to creep me out.”

Stratus flew through the air past me, slamming into the wall. Harp let out a gasp as Stratus hacked up blood and tried to shake off the surprise hit. Turning to the royal guard, I watched as he smiled and slowly took off his helmet.

“You spoke of blood.” The guard spoke, but his voice sounded distorted, becoming more mare like with each word. “My populace will receive the blood of their oppressor,” By now, a monotone mare's voice was clearer than crystal, and there was no trace of a stallion’s voice at all. “For only in revolution can they be free of their chains.” She dropped the guards pony helmet to the ground, revealing the mangled face of the Reaver I fought up in New Canterlot. Lacerations across her displayed the heavy cybernetics under her fake skin. Her left cybereye dangled from its bloody metal socket, and her lips looked as though they’d been bitten off. “It is our duty to fight, our duty to win. All we have to lose, is our chains.”

“Why can't your kind just die,” I stared at Kaossilator as my blood started to boil. “Die and go to Tartarus already!”

Kaossilator pulled out a muddy SMG, the same kind that the Pirates used, and slowly backed up to the outside “For I am the spirit of a populace crying out for salvation.” She stared down at me, her red cyber eyes suddenly shifting to a brilliant golden color. “I am what transcends death itself, and you, you are but mortals that will stay put. Black Spot will come and pick you up soon.” I ground my teeth as she spoke using Phobetor’s tainted words.

Her golden eyes burned down at me right as it slammed shut, leaving us back in the darkness of the room. The sounds of clattering hit the door, as Sweet and I rushed to it. It cracked open, but then gravel poured from the crack. We’d been buried alive in this old bunker.

“No no, no, no, no!” I could hear a faint whispering from beside me, slowly getting louder and more panicked. Harp sat shaking over the injured Stratus, almost chewing on her hooves. “There's just too much blood.” She drove her hoof into her saddle bag and frantically pulled out a half empty bottle of healing potion. “Drink. You’re going to be fine, drink, drink.”

Stratus choked down the healing potion, but looking at her, she was going to need more. There was a bloody hoof mark on her swelling face. I could tell the hit had broken her jaw and at least fractured her eye socket. Her wings laid limp behind her, with one of them having painfully twisted backwards. She needed a doctor, and if anything, all that healing potion was going to do was buy her time. Trotting over to Harp, I placed my hoof on her shoulder. The young mare was shaking, tears welling up in her eyes.

“S-she...” Her mouth quivered, holding back a voice on the edge of sobbing. “She's going to be alright, right?”

“Just hold it together and I'll find us a way out of here.” I looked over at Merit and Sweet. “You two, help get Stratus stabilized. I'm going to go look for another way out.” The two gave me a worried glance, but did as I asked as I trotted over to Mayall. “Come with me.”

She tilted her head. “Pony thinks both of us search in this small hidey hole will be faster?”

“Naw, but if we get out, that Reaver is not going to expect you.” Looking to the back of the shelter, there were only two rooms closed off.

Both doors were rusted shut, but they also opened outward, meaning the hinges could be undone. Of which were rusted through, something that I didn't feel like working slowly at. Pulling out my rifle, I proceeded to charge it up.

With a blast of air, and the shearing of old metal, one of the door hinges broke. The second came apart just as easily. Using my grappling hoof, I grabbed onto one of the broken hinges still attached to the door, and pulled. At first it barely budged, but then Mayall grabbed onto me and pulled. The door creaked before opening enough for me to grab the side of the door and properly pry it open.

More darkness greeted us inside, along with a thick coating of dust that blanketed every surface. Turning on my pipleg lamp, the light revealing a bathroom. The room, while dark, looked trashed, and broken glass reflected some of the light, glinting through the dust from multiple places on the floor. Taking a closer look and the scattered broken bottle, the symbol of the M.O.P. could be seen on the empty healing potions. Quickly looking at the medicine cabinet, the shelves inside were smashed, even the mirror broken.

“Vibraphone.” Mayall whispered.

I turned to her and she pointed her hoof past me into the bathroom. Looking to what she was pointing at, my eyes stopped on the old a bathtub. A mold coated curtain ringed around the edge the tub, obscuring everything inside the old porcelain basin except for something that was vaguely pony shaped. Slowly, the obscured object moved as my light highlighted the bathtub itself.

The head of the hidden pony turned slowly, looking in my direction. A mostly bone hoof slowly extended out from under the curtain, but I could see some rotten flesh hanging from it. Stepping over the edge of the tub and onto the dust and glass caked floor, the monster slipped. It tumbled out of the tub, getting wrapped up as it tore the curtain down from above. There was a thick snap as both its own forelegs gave under its own dessicated weight. But the pony didn’t stop. Slowly, it used it’s rear hooves to push itself along the floor towards me. The dragging curtain slowly began to pull off of it, and the boney face of a ghoul looking up at me with rotten, cloudy eyes.

It extended its neck, opening it's mouth as it reached as far as it could and bit down on my pipleg. There was an unpleasant crunchy sound to it’s biting as pieces of its teeth broke off rather than do any damage to my leg. What remained of its now exposed flesh was putrid, and swollen, peeling off the bones as it tried to push itself closer.

In a stroke of two century delayed mercy, I lifted my grappling leg up away from it, and brought it down on the ghouls skull. It’s old head caved it in with a squelch, and the rest of its body stopped moving. Only the sound of my breathing and a soft chittering from Mayall filled the empty dark room now.

With the ghoul dead, I quickly checked over the rest of the room. Like the rest of the bunker, anything that could have been of useful had either been taken or broken long ago. The only thing that still seemed intact in here at all was the bathtub. But, it had ring of a blackish brown muck in it that looked putrid, along with a long shard of the mirror with the same stain on it. My mind unhelpfully put two and two together, and I felt even worse for what the poor ghoul must have gone through.

Goddesses, I hated bathtubs and everything that happened in them.

Leaving the bathroom, I went to open the next room in the same manner as the last. This time it was a bedroom with just as heavy of a coating of dust as the rest of the place. Scanning the room for dangers, my eyes focused in the bed. The skeleton of a pony still laid on top of the bed, only a dark stain remained under the bones. Next to it, under the covers was a smaller than expected pony shaped lump.

“Mayall?” I sighed softly as I readied my rifle. “pull back the covers.”

Mayall quietly trotted to the bed, slowly lifting up the covers and pulling them back. The bones of the first pony clattered as the bed sheet shifted for what was probably the first time in centuries. However, as Mayall pulled the covers back, the lump came into full view. My chest felt heavy as a little filly was uncovered. Other than a few bald patches, she was well preserved, probably having laid here undisturbed since her parents...

“Mama?” The filly opens her cloudy blue eyes, giving a small yawn as she lifted her head. Her voice sounded like she had swallowed sand, sending a chill down my spine.

“S… sorry, I'm not...” I offered as I had to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Taking a step closer, she looked like she was mostly skin and bones, so very frail. “Have you been curled up under there, this whole time?”

The filly tilted her head. “I…” She looked around the room, her head struggling to stay up. “Mama said she will be back, because papa got sick, because the air smelled bad.”

The air, yes that's it, they must have some sort of ventilation. “honey, do you know where the air is filtered is here?”

“Mama?” The ghoul filly looked around again before her eyes fell back to me.

“No, I'm not, she's… elsewhere .” I was getting the feeling that her mom went to the bathroom to take the easy way out. What a fucking bitch, I’m almost angry I felt sorry for her.

“If mama's not back,” She blinked slowly. “Can you help papa? He’s sick.”

I was getting the feeling that the filly wasn’t all there, so I had to trot carefully. It’s obvious she’d been here since the end of the great war, but why things went bad for them I couldn’t quite be sure. They had to deal with the air turning toxic, so they must had been in the bunker for months before the filtration system couldn’t handle the new outside environment anymore.

“Say honey,” I asked softly as I tried to give her a friendly smile. “Why don’t you tell me why your father got sick?”

“The air smelled bad, so papa went to fix the air,” She looked away for a moment. “He said I shouldn’t worry because we had plenty of that orange medicine. He went into the closest and came back sick, but the medicine didn’t make him better. Mom a cried when papa couldn't get out of bed anymore, and that’s when she said she’d come back soon.”

So it sounds like he got a heavy dose of the toxins in the air from back then, no amount of radaway would have helped him. What that radaway did do though was save him from being ghoulified like the filly and her mother. Still, the filly had given me everything I’d needed as I trotted over to the closet. Opening the door, a few boxes of clothes and toys say inside, along with a small door on the back wall. If I had to guess, the filter system for this must be back there, and if that’s true, there’s access to the outside as well.

“I think I might have found a way out.” Looking back, the frail ghoul filly was standing on the edge of the bed, her thin emaciated legs looked like they could barely hold her up.

“Your going... going to find mama, help papa?” her eyes were dim, yet had a small shine to them, like there was still a small spark of light was inside. Which unfortunately meant I was left with a choice...

I only had two options; either leave her here with a lie that we’d come back, or take her with us. The second option was impossible though, she'd die along the way. Even if we somehow got her through, she would die anyway once we got to Orthrus. Statute thirty two unfortunately stated that any and all ghouls with a questionable mental state are to be euthinised in an official Orthrus facility.

Then again, maybe the old ghoul I’d met earlier could take her? But then, how would I get her to him? Would I even have time for a detour like that with everything going on?

I looked at the little filly, and then at Mayall. “Can you leave the… nevermind.” I shook my head. “there's a door here, can you go on ahead? I’ll catch up shortly, I just… need a minute.”

Mayall nodded, and trotted past me into the closet. The small door on the other side creaked as she opened it, and again as she slipped in and shut it behind her. My attention turned back to the filly, so small, weak, and now that looked closer, no cutie-mark.

“Say honey, what's your name?” I offered as my mind made itself up. There wasn’t time to run around with everything going on. With the invasion, the republic, and everything else, the future of the metros depended on getting Harp back home safely.

“I, um… I think…” She then looked confused for a moment. “Petal, Noon Petals.”

“That's a lovely name,” Slowly, I walked up to the Noon Petals. “ I’m Vibraphone Echo. Would you like to see your mama and papa?”

A small sniffle came from the filly as she nodded. “Yes, I want mama, I want papa.”

“Then can you be a good girl, and close your eyes?” She nodded again and closed them tightly. With a light touch, I carefully pulled out my knife. “Now, I’m going to take you to a place where you’re going to meet a odd looking mare. Your mama might be with her, so don’t be scared.” My knife was aimed at the base of the filly skull. “Even if she’s not, Charon will take you to see them both, okay?”

“Really?” She asked.

“Yes.” I let out my own light sniffle before piercing the blade into the back of her skull as fast as I could. Noon Petals went limp as I caught her, and again the room was bathed in silence. As reverently as I could, I moved her back to the center of the bed. I placed her next to her father's bones, and draped the bedsheets across again to cover them both up.

Taking a moment to collect myself, the faces of the trapped ponies trapped in the train engine came into my mind. There had already been too many there, and now, there was another innocent pony who’d been killed by my hooves. Yet as has been the case, I did not have the time to stop and contemplate their loss, even if I felt I was leaving something of myself behind.

Turning to the closet, I stepped inside and away from everything I’d just done. The room on the other side of the closest was small, with an old ladder that stretched upward. Mayall was climbing back down, dropping a rusted fan down behind her. “So can we get out from up there?”

“There is a hole up there,” Mayall touched down and kicked the fan to the side. “but it's too small for any of us to fit through. Though, the not dead, dead pony could maybe fit.”

“Not happening, I'll go check.” I responded, looking up at the tunnel.

One hoof after another I climbed the ladder, taking me up to another small room. The hole Mayall spoke of looked like what was left of the bunker’s air filtration unit. Roots and other plant matter had long laid claim to it, and the rotted away edges of the old filters even had small plants sprouting out of them. The hole where the fan had been was definitely small, but just big enough that my head could easily fit through it. The problem was my shoulders and legs, but that was if I wanted to put both through.

Maybe, just maybe, I could make one work, and I only really needed one.

“Mayall, get up here,” I pulled my head back through and called down the ladder. “I have an idea!”

The lurker squeezed into the small ventilation room. “What is your idea?”

“Right.” I took a deep breath. “I'm going to detach two of my legs, and crawl through the hole, I’ll need you to hoof them back to me when I get to the other side. Once that's done, I’ll need you to wait by entrance for me to clear whatever is blocking it.”

Mayall nodded and started to climb as I detached my pip leg and a back leg. Pushing myself, I slowly maneuvered myself through the hole. Many little insects scurried away as my grappling leg extended, latching onto a nearby root before the winch kicked in and I pulled myself forward.

It was not long until I found myself completely outside. I tapped on the overgrown ventilation hole, and my legs soon came out. Reattaching them was an easy task, I just had to make sure that no dirt got inside the connectors, which was easier said than done but so far the easiest thing I’d done all day. My rifle was last to be passed through the ventilation hole, and I watched as spider crawled on the barrale.

“Alright, get back to the others, Mayall.” I swept my pip leg along the rifle and brushed the spider off of it. “I’ll see you at the entrance, be ready for a fight if that bitch is still around.”

The still slightly glowing lurker nodded and disappeared back down the hole. Looking around, the forest here seemed a lot bigger then I remembered, and darker. Shaking off the thought, I made my way around to the bunker’s door. Inside the old ruined house that sat above ground, sitting on an old decrepit chair was the body of the royal guard stallion who’d come to check if things were clear. His head was tilted back, his neck gaped open, and blood staining his chest. At the door to the bunker, part of the ruined old house walls around it had been pushed in front of the door, and a plank of wood was jammed to keep it all in place. Smashing the plank, I moved on to throw the rubble out of the way.

“What's the word?” The monotone voice Kaossilator spoke above me. “Confoundingly annoying.” Looking up I say Kaossilator glaring down at me from above the door, Her one good eye shifted to a gold color. “Can’t you just accept me and do as I say?”

“How about you go back to whatever Celestia forsaken hole you crawled out of,” The anger bubbled up inside me again. “and go fuck yourself, you cunt!”

“Must you be so difficult when you know it is hopeless now.” Phobetor frowned. “But if you must try my patience, well, there are others I can use.” A smile formed on the mutilated mares face. “Did you know that your sister has not been sleeping well lately? She’s been having some bad nightmares for some reason.”

The eyes of Kaossilator sifted back to red, and the hunting smile turned to a sneer. “Dog of Orthrus, you stand in the way of true Equality. To save everypony from the slavery that your ilk oppress upon them, I’ll see to it that their chains will finally be broken. And with those chains, I’ll see them used to hang you ‘til death.”

I bit my tongue. Any kind of argument was useless with her at this point. Crazy strong, and crazy in the head, she was too far gone to reason with anymore. I survived through luck last time, but this time I had my guns.

“You know, I've met Livenka, the mother of your revolution.” I offered her with my own smile. “Nothing but a two bit fraud.”

Kaossilator eye lit up in anger. “Silence dog, and die!”

She leapt at me as I rolled back, drawing my revolver. Her chest contacted with my back legs, and I kicked. As soon as she hit the door, I fired all six shots into the bitch.

She fell to the ground, each shot finding their mark, and a grayish white fluid slurred out of her. Quickly, I dumped the empty shells out of my revolver, and prepared six more bullets. That wouldn’t put her down. Reavers were tough, and I didn’t want waste a moment or to take any chances.

I took aim as she simply laughed at me. Kaossilator launched herself from her crumpled position, only giving me time to fire one shot before her body impacted into my own. My hold on my gun was severed as we tumbled onto the ground.

I struggled to get her heavy body off of my own, but to no avail. My revolver was out of reach, and the rifle was pinned under me. Pulling out my knife, my hoof was knocked away by a backhooved swing. The knife wasn’t just knocked away, rather it’d been sent airborne straight above me.

“Sorry.” Kaossilator straightened herself up, and caught my knife before it landed on me. “but you can't stop what’s already in motion. Your blood will be used to paint our flag of equality.” Her one good eye was wild, filled with madness.

*Clang!*

The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the air as Lacerations hoof warped. A bolt punctured it, knocking my knife and sending it flying from her grip. Looking past, I found Harp was holding her rifle, breathing heavily.

“How sweet, the spoiled princess wishes to save her stalwart guardian.” Kaossilator placed her other hoof on my neck, this a popping sound her hoof opened up forming claws that pressed around my neck. “Now do be patient. It'll take only a moment more to kill her, so just stay right there, I'll come for you next.”

I struggled, but I just couldn't get her off of me. Harp fired a few more bolts at her, but the Reaver just batted them away. For a moment things were becoming blurry and cold as my lungs burned for air. Even my E.F.S. struggled to function, glitching as my vision failed. Then, for what felt like no reason at all, it stopped, except for my E.F.S. that continued to glitch.

“What… what is this?” Kaossilator had loosens her grip as held her head in pain. “Stop it! Whatever you’re doing, stop!”

Looking back at Harp, her leg was extended, touching Mayall. The lurkers eyes were like spotlights, shining bright pink light at us. I used this opportunity to strike out at Kaossilator, grabbing her loose dangling eyeball with my grappling leg. More grayish white fluid poured from her eye socket as I pulled the eye out. Small cables attached to the eye came out, stretching out as long as my leg, forcing the mad cyber pony off of me. Quickly, I scrambled to recover my knife.

Kaossilator squirmed, pain and confusion must have taken over her senses. With knife in hoof, I took aim, and plunged my knife down. The open eye socket made the best way in. Squirming still, she was helpless to fight me off as I carved cold steel into her brain.

It was not gentle, no, I made sure of that. She did not have the right to such an easy death, and she definitely did not deserve such a mercy. I twisted the blade, torquing it until her twitching cibernetic body stopped. Even then, I twisted it some more for good measure to make sure she wasn't faking. Pulling it out, my blade was covered in the gray white fluid, and what I guessed was brain mush.

Cleaning off my knife on Kaossilator dead body, I turned to Harp and Mayall. “Thanks for the save.”

Sweet and Marit trotted out of the shelter caring Stratus between them. The pegasus mare did not look much better, dispirited being bandaged up with rags. She was still lucid, looking at me. “Where's my subordinate?” Her voice was strained, sounding almost as bad as she looked.

“Dead, killed by the reaver.” I answered as I slipped my knife back into its holster.

“A shame.” She responded. “let's move, I've had my fill of freaks and monsters.”

I nodded, and checked my pipleg map.

Two vertibucks flew overhead, and began to slow down in our area. We didn't need to be told twice to be on our way out of here. The sound dampening talismans helped keep us from attracting any more unwanted attention, and soon, we’d made a good bit of distance from the shelter. And my hope was that soon we could get back underground without running into anymore trouble.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Are you sure Stratus will be fine?” Harp whispered to me.

I glanced at the worried mare before looking back ahead. “She's hurt, but it probably looks worse than it is. As long as we can get her to a station, she’ll be fine.”

“Sorry.” Harp mumbled.

“Don’t apologize, not here.” I took a deep breath and sighed. “Were all in over our heads here. So just hold, bottle it up until we're safe, and focus on getting to stable fifty. Can you do that?” She nodded, and fell back behind me.

We’ve made good time, skirting the wasteland from with in the woods, and keeping out of sight. Signs of the toxic winds constantly made itself known, mainly from the foul smell of death that permeated through our mask filters. Taking a peek out every now and then, the sight of a dead rad boar or dozen was not uncommon. We even saw a group of pirates, all slumped over, having likely died by roaming death bubble.

Merit trotted up to me, but he kept his eyes on the wasteland just past the trees. “Are you sure we're safe here?”

I shook my head. “If our pipbuck starts clicking, we’ll have to move deeper into the woods. But until then, the edge will give use the least amount of obstacles to get past.”

“Roger.” Merit saluted. “Quick question, why is it safe above the trees? I mean, from the radiation and all.”

That was a good question. I had to think about it for a moment as my memory was more than a bit hazy on the history. After a few seconds, I thought I had something, but instead came up blank.

“If you asked a scholar, they’d know.” I shrugged to him. “but if I had to ask, the magic in the radiation might be heavier than air, so it can't get all that far above ground. So even if it is blown above the trees, it probably just sinks back down and gets absorbed at some point. It’s also probably why it also kills so fast. The chaotic magic is so thick that you can almost choke on it, even with a gas mask.”

“You know,” Merit eyed the wasteland for a moment, before looking back at me. “more and more I'm starting to get it.”

“Get what?” I asked.

“How we were tricked into staying up in the sky for so long.” A quiet chuckle came from him. “Have you ever felt that things were both not wrong, and not right at the same time?”

I thought about it for a moment, and shook my head when I came up blank again. Maybe I just wasn’t understanding the question? Merit continued.

“I mean if you think about it, you have a massive population in the sky that has no idea how to live anywhere else. To expose them to the world below, who knows how many would die just due to common hazards. And even the survivors, in which ways would the world below chew them up? Between the pirates, the royal fucks on this island, I can see why we waited to come down.” He gave out a long sigh. “Hell, with the equalist you told us about, I have no doubt many enclave citizens would give into them to once again have a safe life. Even if it is nothing but a lie.”

“So I get it now.” Another chuckle came from him. “The enclave was not wrong, because it would have torn the citizens apart to leave the clouds. But, that doesn’t excuse the wrong they’ve done. They were far too obsessed with holding onto their power, so much so that they couldn’t see that our way of life was going to fall. With or without would below dragging us down, the Enclave was doomed to fail.” Merit looked up, mumbling to himself for a moment before continuing. “It's all too late to speculate what the Grand Pegasus Enclave should have done, but I know we could have easily carved a home below the clouds, and slowly prepared citizens for a new life. Yet, resources were wasted, and the enclave became broken, corrupt, and scattered.”

I didn’t really know what to say, I've only known life on the is islands. For me, mainland equestria was nothing more than a place in history lessons or in fairytales. Even then, much of that history had sadly forgotten over the years.

“Well I bet things will get better, I'm sure.” I tried to offer some sort of hope for the future. “Orthrus may have its flaws, but they always think in the long term. New Cloudsdale will be in good hooves.”

“Maybe.” He responded, sounding a bit exhausted. “We’ve had a long time to think, to ponder on what went wrong. If an opportunity showed itself, I know we will not squander it this time.” Merit suddenly stopped. “Do you hear that?”

I stopped, and scanned with my ears

*Buzzzzz*

I followed the sound, a bit to the side, and a bit up. There it was above us, a big blue bug with buzzing wings, and a nasty stinger.

“So why are we stop…” Sweet walked up to us, Stratus on her back. “Fuck it's a twitter-mite!” she scooted back quickly.

I shushed her, not wanting to disturb the electric wasp. Closing my eyes, I checked for any more sounds of buzzing. Faint, but not far behind, I could hear it. It was clear that more were nearby further into the woods, but if we were lucky...

“Just follow my lead,” Whispering, I directed the others to keep low. “as long as we don't disturb the bugs, they won't attack.”

“I really should start bringing bug bomb with me.” Sweet mumbled.

The textbooks never went into detail about dealing with twitter-mites, mainly stating that vacuuming them into a glass jar was the safest way to deal with them. But that was for the ones that existed before the bombs and two centuries of mutations. From what the engineers told me about these ones, the preferred method of getting rid of these pests was with a good flamer.

Staying low, we moved through the trees, carefully taking each step. The bugs numbers only grew as we walked, and ten of them now sat above us buzzing their wings now and then. A few of the trees had scorch marks on them, which were normally signs of the Twitter-mites having been riled up earlier. The buzzing from further in the forest was also getting louder, meaning that the rest of the swarm had to be nearby.

Looking back, Sweets was the one who looked most worried, but also most in control. Each of her steps was small and slow, and her ears were never unalert. The rest of us were nothing more than a mix of confusion and general worry. I myself belonged to the latter half of that, but I knew we had to keep moving.

Pushing forward, the Twitter-mites became more active, but still look uninterested in us. As more of the bugs passed overhead, I regretted not thinking of a plan of luring the bugs away. Harp’s drone, Order, would have been a perfect distraction for us now that I think of it.

*Snap!*

I looked back to see that Mayall had broken a big stick under her hoof. Everypony had frozen, holding our collective breath as all of our eyes turned into the forest. To our fortune, the Twitter-mites had not been disturbed, buzzing and going about whatever it was they were doing.

“Who's out there!?” A loud and gravelly voice yelled out. The once calm bugs now all began buzzing their wings, surrounding us in the sound. I could barely hear the sound of hooves dragging across the forest dirt over the buzzing, but it was coming closer. “Come on out, you stinkin’ bilgerat!”

We all remained quiet and unmoving. The shuffling got closer, and so did the buzzing. A rotting hoof stepped out not far from in front in me, and shortly the rest of the foliage was pushed aside. A ghoul pirate who was completely covered in twitter-mites came out into the open, and it now made sense to me why the mites were around here at all.

It was a walking hive, or at least, a pirate in the process of becoming one. His flesh had not yet to begin to bloat up with the twitter-mites maggots, but Both his eyes were gone, and the bugs were already in the process burrowing into his flesh. Adding to his horrifying visage the pirate’s bottom lips were missing, only torn flesh and rotting teeth remaining.

“Rusty Shank, I know that's you! Come on out and face me!” The unicorn pirates ghoul laughed a malicious laugh. “Do I need to pay ya sister another visit, you scoundrel!?” The ghoul acted like it could see, the radiation most likely having damaged his brain. The moment before he moved felt like an eternity, the buzzing of the Twitter-mites becoming deafening. When the ghoul moved onto the wastland, the main swarm of the bugs went with him, slowly, but eventually giving us enough space to continue.

We kept on the ghoul as we slowly passed him, I kept my rifle trained on him. It take one shot to kill the ghoul, but the swarm, we would have little time to run before bolts of lightning came at us.

“Oy, Salt Lick, come on out!” The ghoul bellowed, as he began to walk in circles. “Ya still get ya slave to discipline?”

Merit passed me, along with Sweet whom had Stratus on her back. Looking back to the ghoul, he started sniffing the ground. His actions made me a bit worried, though the eyes were gone, the undead pirate my still have its sense of smell. I waved for the other two to move, we couldn’t afford to stick around. A worried Harp passed me, followed by a fairly confused Mayall. With every pony now past the crazy, bug infested ghoul, I secured my rifle, and followed the others.

Quietly but quickly, we made as much distance as we could. Yet, the Twitter-mites didn't seem to go away as we traveled, only lessening slightly in number. I kept my eye on the bugs, noting that they weren’t following us. Harp struggled to keep quiet as one of the bugs landed near her, nearling screaming out before she stuck her own hoof in her mouth to silence herself.

*Click, click, click*

Our geiger counters ticked to life, and we all stopped in our tracks. Merit looked back at me, and I motioned to turn in towards the woods. We jumping into the thick jungle, and the disturbed Twitter-mites took flight, as did the ones on the other side. There were even more of the bugs on this sid, and now disturbed, the buzzing became deafening.

*Click, click, click, click, click.*

Not far from us was a bloated glowing ghoul, the Twitter-mite nest inside of it having grown so large that the skin of the ghoul split under the pressure. A green glowing slime dripped from its mouth, as a bug passed through a hole in its cheek. Like with the pirate, and most hives, it's eyes were missing, yet the eye sockets glowed yellow.

Harp began to shake, and even Sweet looked ready to run. The glowing hive ghoul slowly turned it's head to us as the clicking of our pipbucks gave us away.

Right, we were fucked with a capital F, and I had no clue what to do. Pulling out my rifle, I took aim at the green glowing ghoul.

“When I say go, run,” I whispered to Harp. “run back it the forest edge, and away from here.” She looked back at me, eyes wide. “Trust me.”

Shuffling from behind me drew my attention, and the infested pirate stumbled out from the thicket. “If this is about poisoning your grog, then fuck you, you not dying from poison freak!” The loud ghoul pirate now drew the attention of the glowing ghoul, both now coming closer to us.

I took aim at the glowing ghoul, the infested pirate was still far enough behind us that we could get away from it, making the glowing ghoul the most pressing target. This should give the others time, and with the help of S.A.T.S, taking out the pirate should be easy. I took a deep breath, slowly exhaling. It was going to be dicey, but I'll get through this. I aimed down the sights, the glowing ghoul stared back with its non-existent eyes.

*Bamff!*

I was gone, leaving only a bloody stump sitting in my sights. It's head was just… gone! Pulling back from my rifles sights, I saw it's head was pinned to a tree by a javelin.

“You barbaric fuck!” Stratus yelled out as the Twitter-mites began to swarm. “You want a fight? Come get me!” Stratus hobbled, trying to break away from our group. I understood what she was trying to do, but I was just not interested in delutiona heroics right now.

“Ah, I hear a pretty mare, and one interested in me beating her down, can't wait.” The pirate licked his upper lip with a dry tongue.

“Sweet, grab that idiot and run!” I yelled. Turning back, the Pirate had gotten closer, far closer than I liked. Aiming my Rifle, I put a bolt in his head.

The death of both hive ghouls sent the Twitter-Mites into a rage. The buzzing ramped up everywhere, to a near defending level of sound.

I pushed Harp, getting her hooves. “Go, go, go.” A single cloud formed above us, sparking with electricity, and cracking. Harp fell over, so I forced her up, but she had gone limp.

“I can't,” She whimpered, her body shaking. “I... I just can't.”

The black cloud above us sparked, and then flashed with a boom. All I could do was cover Harp with myself, the electricity crawling up my spine, then.. Nothing. A moment had passed, and I was clealy still alive.

A bronze colored hoof placed itself on Harps shoulder. Merits clothes were burnt, along with his mane, which had a line of smoke coming off of it. “Listen princess, I know you're scared, but we need to be strong. Ponies are counting on you, and if you give up here and now, they're going to die. So I need you to chin up, and run. If not for them, for me, because I don't think I can take another one of those blasts.” Harp looked up at him and nodded.

“But what if I lose everything?” She asked as I got off of her and helped her up to her hooves.

“Well, then you can follow my lead and spend ten years waiting for a second chance.” Merit answered.

“Or you can take everything from them, and make them regret making you their enemy.” I lightly hit him on the shoulder. “Now let's go.”

The twitter-mite thunder cloud sparked up again, but Merit dashed up and kicked it. The cloud flew off into a tree, exploding in sparks that scorched the bark and leaves on it. Harp and I broke into a gallop with Merit flying above us, as more thunder clouds formed around us. With Merit leading the way, we were able to carve our way through the swarm, only getting a few light zaps.

Out of the swarm, we quickly ran into the others. Sweet had a burnt tail now, but didn’t look all that worse for wear. Mayall, well, looked about as burnt as she had before, so I assumed she was fine. Stratus on the other hoof was now lying limp on Sweets back, hopefully only because she was as exhausted as the rest of us were. Stopping to catch my breath, Harp nearly fell over.

“Can you keep going?” I asked. I knew she wasn’t okay, but she more than anypony else needed to keep running.

“I.. I don't know.” The poor mare was still shaking, but was at least still on all four of her hooves. “But I can try.” She was going to be fine, she just needed time.

I turned to Merit, the burnt stallion still flapping in the air. “How did you just shrug off that bolt like that?”

“I'm a pegasus, we have insulated fur. A thunderbolt may shake us up, but it won’t kill us.” He landed with a soft thump. “Also if it's a cloud, even of bugs, we can kick it the crap out of it.” That answer was good enough for me I guess.

“Shit, I think Stratus was stung!” Sweet yelled, and I quickly ran over, seeing saw Stratus gasping for breath.

As Sweet laid the mare on the ground, doing her best to be gentle, Harp jumped to her side, panic in her eyes. “She's going into anaphylactic shock! Do any of you have an epinephrine in your medical supplies? ” She looked between us all, but all we just shook our heads. Harp looked back at Stratus, her shoulders slumping. “By Celestia... don't do this to me...”

As Stratus struggled to breath, she reached up and caressed her hoof along side Harp. “D… don't cry… be… be strong… f… for… me.”

Harp grabbed onto Stratus’ hoof, holding it close as she choked down a sob. “How c… can I. Not without you, I… I’m just useless, pl… please don’t… leave me.”

“St… stop selling y... yourself short, p...princess.” Stratus spoke before she started convulsing. Sweet and I did our best to hold her down, but without any medicine, we all knew how this was going to end. Slowly, but inevitably, Stratus stopped moving. Her wheezing came to an end as she became limp, and after a few more seconds, her dot on my E.F.S. vanished.

We all sat there in silence as Harp began to wail. Her sorrowful cry silenced even the forest itself for a moment, as if nothing in it wanted wanted to disturb the mare’s soulful sorrow. It wasn’t fair for her to go that way, not after fighting this far to keep Harp safe.

And because of that, even though we’d hadn't known the mare that well, we all wept for Stratus.

______________________________________________________________

Without anything else stopping or slowing us, we made our way to the end of the forest just as the sun was setting. Before us now was the Hanamare Bay resort, named of course after the bay it was built around. The large cove had supposedly been a major vacation spot of the old world, and somehow still was on the island today. Though, going to the beach with a gas mask on didn’t sound fun to me, but I still had to agree that the old resort community was a pretty sight to see. The weathered but well kept hotel that sat in the middle of the huddled mass of buildings along the beach was a sight for sore eyes. The fact that Stable 50 sat somewhere below filled me with the knowledge that at least after everything we’d been through, we almost had Harp home.

Everything here was orderly and clean, even the trees looked groomed, It all gave the place a sophisticated feeling, something only managed with the tireless work of countless poor ponies. And it was not just trees, but colorful flowers hanging from baskets, and vines that lined the resort walls. The ruins of this old world town were more like a garden, nothing more than a playground for the nobility and the rich of this island.

My E.F.S picked up a bunch of green dots, the non-hostiles quickly raising in numbers the deeper into the old resort we trotted. A few pony heads poked out around corners and through windows, but none engaged with us. I looked back at Harp, her advanced gas mask doing well to help hide her face. She saw me looking at her, and I gave her a nodd.

“Remember, don’t let anypony know who you are.” I kept my voice hushed as she stepped closer to me. “if anypony asks, you're my little sister, got it?”

“I… I know.” She nodded back. I had a good feeling that even without my instructions, she was not going to talk much, something I could understand.

Passing by a large mural, I couldn't help but stare up at it. It was of a white mare standing on a balcony, with many bowing ponies below. There was a depiction of Celestia behind her, holding a crown in bright golden magic. It was an elegant and detailed mural, protected by a large sheet of glass that was remarkably clean for having spent so long above ground.

“A depiction of Majesty's coronation.” Mayall spoke. “Though Equestria no longer had any queens after Celestia and Luna took over, the coronation was still held for the eldest daughter in canterlot.” we all looked at the Lurker, and she shrugged back. “You all need to read your history books more.”

“Why are you still here again?” Sweet asked, sounding a bit annoyed.

“Because my nest in on the other side of the island.” Mayall tilted her head up, obviously annoyed by Sweets question. “If I try to swim from here, my sister will likely find me.”

I just sighed as I felt annoyed over the growing animosity between the two.

“Lets just not dwell on it right now.” I intervened, breaking their gazes before each of them looked away. “We can figure this out later. Until then, let's call a truce, alright?” Sweet and Mayall didn’t respond, but I took the silences as an agreement. I could only hope the two didn’t move to fighting each other before we got Harp back into Stable 50.

Moving on, we came to the building in question. The intact hotel entrance had been blocked off with concrete walls. A large faded billboard let me know what it was called during the war; ‘Cliff Side Hotel.’ In the bottom right corner of the old world advertisement, was the logo for Stable-Tec.

Merit gave a long whistle. “How the fuck is this place in such good condition?”

“I was made by Stable-Tec. Everything they built was specifically made so it could survive an indirect megaspell hit.” I answered. “From what I’ve been told, the walls are mostly just a formality, and braking into the building on the ground floor is nearly impossible. Though, if you were thinking you’d give that a shot anyway, the guards around here will still shoot you the moment you try to jump or fly over the wall.”

“The rich and powerful get all the good toys.” Sweet commented before looking to our right. “Where the rest of us just get to kick around in the muck.”

I gave a long sigh before looking where she was. About two blocks away was the metro station for us normal folks to get back underground. The hotel itself was connected to it, but there was no chance we were getting in without having to reveal Harps identity. Even then, I doubt they would let the rest of us in, leaving her all by herself, open to any assassins.

Sweet tapped me on the back, and pointed off to the right. There was a metro entrance in the distance, with a few ponies mulling around it. “Your probably thinking the same thing, we ain't getting into that hotel, well not from up here.”

I nodded. “I could also do with a drink, lets go.” I motion for everypony to follow me, trotting away from the hotel.

At the entrance to the metro, three ponies stood in the way. None of them looked like any kind of official guard the Orphic Kingdom would use. To be blunt, I’m pretty sure these ponies weren’t the type anyone would hire for anything even back in Charon's Stop.

“Hold it right there.” The pony speaking to us was a scrawny unicorn stallion, his mask barely fitting him. “Five bits a head. Hoof them over or you aint getting in!” The two others where large earth ponies, both with metal hooves on.

Harp took a step forward, but I stopped her. “Do you have a permit for this checkpoint?”

“Ya, I got a permit.” The unicorn shifted his head side to side, looking at the two earth ponies before laughing, joined by the two others. “It’s called pay up or I break a leg.”

“Is that so?” Right, now I wanted to sock this fool in the face. “Any other way that you can let us pass, without doing something that wastes both our time?”

“Well if you ain't got the bits…” He eyed over at Harp. “I’ll gladly take some time with the little mare there, she got some nice legs.”

“Actually,” I took a deep breath, knowing this was not going nowhere, and fast. “I know another think I can pay you with.” I pulled out my revolver, and activated S.A.T.S. and targeted the two bigger ponies legs. The bullets hit their mark, and the two stallions stumbled back, both in shock and that a bullet when through one of their legs. “There’s two bits of led for you. Unless… did you say it cost two, or three?” I aimed at the Unicorns head, his eyes going wide. “Regardless, I’m feeling generous today.”

“Okay, okay!” The unicorn stallion stumbled back, shaking, and his pants now wet. “Y.. ya, that will do.” He scrambled away, quickly turning a corner as his two thugs limped off after him

Everypony was silent as we entered the metro building, and walked down the stairs. The sealed doors to the station stood before us, and I was greatful to finally get back underground. With a slight screetch of the old metal hinges, the ponies behind them slowly opened the door.

“The fuck was that?” Sweet yelled. “Aren’t we trying to keep a low profile, this isn’t Charon’s Stop you know!”

“We didn’t have time for that hogshit.” I glanced at my best friend, and while her concern was understandable, I didn’t see what she was fussing about. “It was clear that it was a shakedown, so nopony is going to care anyway.”

“That’s not the point Viby” Sweet shook her head, and lowered her voice. “I mean, I understand, fuck em, they probably deserve two bullets each. But if you start waving your gun around, then the locals are going to start asking questions. And let me remind you, were connected to Orthrus, which is not a popular group around here.?”

“And you think we should just some ponies jerk us around, because of that?” I growled. “I’m sorry if that was extreme, but I didn’t see you take a dive into a pool full of corpses, or didn’t have to shoot some innocent ponies in a cage just to slow a train down, or find an over two hundred year ghoul filly you had to put out of her misery!” Sweet took a step back as I huffed. “Hurting two thugs? That's way down at the bottom of my list of fucking worries right now.”

We all became quiet again.

*Thud*

We looked over to see Harp collapsed on the ground, the sight making my heart feel like it just stopped.

Merit was quick to see if she was okay, he breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank the goddesses she’s just fainted. She’ll be alright once we get her inside.”

“Yeah, good. Let's find a place to put her” Sweet looked up at me and huffed. “And maybe get some proper rest ourselves.”

__________________________________________________________________

Footnote:

New Perk: Finesse - +5% Critical Chance