Chapter 18: Friend in Low Places
“What I have found is that real friends stand by you.”

Muddy simply snickered as my jaw dropped.

“Now, Dust,” the general sneered. “What would possibly possess you to break into my office, hack into my terminal, and access top secret documents, hmm? Oh, and before you think of anything, please know that the fine ponies behind us have orders to shoot to kill the instant you try anything funny.”

After clearing the initial shock, my mind raced. “General, listen! You can’t listen to Muddy! He tried to kill me several times, and has killed innocent ponies…”

The general interrupted me with a laugh. “Innocent? You mean those dirtponies? None of them are innocent! Just ask the good ponies on the Soarin who were ambushed by dirtponies,” the general laughed. “At least, that’s what everypony will think. Besides, as Muddy tells it, you were willing to give up a year of work just to save a damn, dirtborn pegasus!” he scolded me. “Was she a Dashite, too? And you took her side over the Enclave!”

“General,” I pleaded. “The pegasus…”

“Did I say anything that sounded like I care what you have to say?” he barked. “Did you, or did you not attack your partner?”

“Yes, but,” I started before being interrupted.

“And did you or did you not side with a dirtpony over your Enclave partner?” he asked, loathing dripping off the question.

“I had to keep…”

“Yes… or no…” the general said, beginning to pace the room.

“Yes, but,” I tried to explain.

“Then the rest doesn’t matter to me,” he said flatly. Muddy wasn’t even attempting to fight the grin on his face as the general turned back to me. “At this point, Dust, you are in huge trouble already. You know that treason against the Enclave is punishable by death, right?” He didn’t even give me a chance to respond. “Of course you do. So why are we even having this discussion, you might be wondering.”

The general seemed to be waiting for a response, but I just kept my mouth shut.

“Well, Muddy has given me some very interesting information indeed,” Cirrus teased. “Apparently, you have come across some information that will be infinitely valuable to us.”

“Yeah, I found some aeroponics research in an abandoned facility,” I started. Again, I got cut off.

“Please, aeroponics?” he said derisively. “It would take us years to adapt that for our needs and we don’t have the time. But that isn’t to say that the facility won’t be useful in the short term. We will commandeer the facility. But no, that’s not what I’m referring to.”

“What other information could I possibly have?” I asked. My mind raced at the possibilities. Wait… “Do you mean the research I found in the stable in Horseton?”

For the first time, the general looked surprised. “Oh, you’ve been a busy little pegasus haven’t you? What do you think you found…?”

“In the stable in Horseton, where Muddy tried to kill me,” I glared at Muddy before resuming. “I found some research that allegedly could clear soil and water of balefire radiation.”

“Huh…” he responded with a grunt. “But, sadly, no. That kind of research has been attempted by our scientists and found unworkable.”

“Then what is it?” I barked back. “I don’t have the patience for this.”

The general stopped pacing. “So you really don’t know?” he said, shocked. He turned to Muddy. “He really doesn’t know…” They both started laughing. “Dust, Dust, Dust… that valuable Pip-Buck on your leg, it really is an amazing device. It seems to have automatically downloaded a file to your Pip-Buck while you were up in Whinnycrest. Why don’t you check the file list…” The general had circled back around to his position besides Muddy.

I brought up the Pip-Buck and scrolled through the data listing. There were only a few files: the aeroponics research was the first file and it had logged One’s journal. Seeing that sent a stab of grief through me, but I didn’t have time right now to dwell on it. The last file in the list caught my attention. It was simply named ‘S.P.P. Key’.

I muttered to myself. “S.P.P. key… S.P.P. The Single Pegasus Project?”

“Oh look, Muddy, Dust has caught on,” the general said condescendingly. “You really should check your gear more often. It appears you’ve inadvertently downloaded a file that will allow us to bypass Rainbow Dash’s lockouts in the S.P.P. You do realize what this means, don’t you?”

With the S.P.P. unlocked, the Enclave would have full control over the clouds, and could make it so cloud farming could be expanded. It could save the Enclave. But it would also trap the Wasteland under a perpetual, solid cloud cover. It would be permanently dark and all the ponies on the surface would lose whatever slim hopes they may still be holding on to

“No… you can’t, they need our help!” I cried out in frustration.

“Yes, we can, and we will. But we need your help,” he said, disdain dripping off each syllable. “We know that the Pip-Buck is a special model. We have run into one before. It was Scootaloo’s, the vaunted Vice President of Stable-Tec,” he added with some scorn. “It never responded to any of our previous attempts to access it. The one you have appears to have been specially designed also. All we know is that it won’t respond except to a pony that meets the criteria that was programmed or enchanted into it. All you need to do is unlock the file, get us into the S.P.P. tower, and we will consider giving you a life sentence in prison in place of an execution.”

“And allow you to doom the Wasteland to slowly waste away?” I challenged.

“Dust,” he spat, “what makes you think I give two fucks about the dirtponies in the Wasteland? We will use them to keep the facility you found running until we get the S.P.P. towers running, and then they can all rot for all I care.”

Time around me seemed to freeze. What was the choice I was being forced to make here? The first option was to turn my back on all my friends in the Wasteland, sentencing them to a slow and painful death, while I spent the rest of my life in jail? But then again, the Enclave would thrive. The second option was to turn my back on the Enclave and submit myself to whatever the general had planned for me if I said no. The food situation would get worse, and eventually it might mean the end of the Enclave as we know it.

“General,” I said, getting his attention. “With all due respect, go fuck yourself.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Dust,” the general said, shaking his head. “I was hoping we didn’t have to do this the hard way.” He turned to Muddy and the MPs. “Looks like you were right, he’s gone native. You know what to do.”

With Muddy and the General blocking the door, the two large MPs approached me. Scanning the room, I had no option but to submit since fighting would be pointless at this point and there was no avenue of escape. One of the MPs quickly drew a baton from his belt holster and swung right at my head.

After a short burst of pain, everything went black.

I came to some time later, and felt myself lying flat on a platform of some kind. My head was throbbing from where the MP had struck me with the baton. Trying to move my hoof to rub that spot, I soon found that my hooves were tied to whatever platform I was lying on.

I opened my eyes, trying to see where I was, but the room was dark. No… that wasn’t quite right. Somepony had placed a dark bag of some sort over my head. I groaned out in frustration.

“Ah, you’ve woken up,” Muddy said from somewhere behind me. “Here, let me take that for you.”

The black bag was pulled off my head, and I was nearly blinded by a spotlight shining right in my face. The throbbing in my head only made the blinding light even worse as I whimpered in pain.

“Oh, Dust, the pain hasn’t even started for you yet,” Muddy snickered. “But you can end it all right now. All you need to do is agree to get us into the S.P.P. tower.”

“Why don’t you just kill me and then use my body to open the tower?” I spat still squinting from the light.

“We tried using your unconscious body already,” he shot back. “Proximity is not good enough. . That fucking Pip-buck will only respond to you and it has to be you voluntarily entering the commands. So that’s why we’re here. We’re gonna see if I can’t convince you to help us.” The acid that dripped off the word ‘convince’ actually sent chills down my spine.

My eyes finally started adjusting to the room I was in. It was a small room with bare concrete walls. There were two bare gems dangling from the ceiling casting a dim light. And there was, of course, the spotlight that was shining right in my face. However, as my vision cleared, I saw a second spotlight. Looking at its target, I saw another table with an unmoving shape.

A loud bang brought my attention back to Muddy. He was now standing between the two tables, and moved to block my view of the other table. “Don’t concern yourself with my chicken friend over there,” he gestured with a baton. “She doesn’t concern you. Or do you sympathize with griffons now, too?”

I grimaced, bracing for the impact, as Muddy swing the baton. However, no impact was forthcoming. Instead, I heard the muffled crack as the baton struck a body. I heard a pained squawk and I looked back towards the other table, which held a griffon. Her body shivered as she began weeping.
“Help me…” she croaked. The lion part of her body was gray and her head was covered with black feathers. Her teal eyes were ringed with lavender. The feathers just below her eyes were tear stained. Dried blood stained the feathers around the corners of her mouth.

The baton whistled through the air again followed by the same sickening crack. She squawked again and softly weeped.

“I told you to shut up!” Muddy growled. “Besides, can’t you see I’m talking to a friend?” he said while swinging the baton again, eliciting another squawk. “I’m sorry, Dust. My other guest here is so rude. Now where were we… oh, yes, the S.P.P. tower. See, we need you to let us into the tower. It won’t work any other way.”

“And let you kill or enslave the Wasteland ponies?” I grunted, my head still pounding.

“What is it with you and those dirtponies?” Muddy snapped at me. “They are beneath us. They’re no better than the ghouls that are running around out there. I say let them die so that the Enclave can grow stronger!”

“No,” I grunted. “The Enclave has already done enough damage. I can not, will not, stand idly by and allow you to doom them a second time.”

“I knew I was right,” Muddy laughed. “I told the general that you cared too much. He didn’t think you would be that strong.” He turned to look at me with a wicked grin on his face. “Good thing I’ve been learning some methods of... ‘persuasion’, shall we say.”

Muddy disappeared from view momentarily. A rhythmic squeaking sound grew louder. Rattling metal joined the squeaking and grew louder. Soon, Muddy reappeared by my side with a small cart. On top of the cart were an assortment of sharp implements, all of which were caked with dried blood.

“I am so going to enjoy this, Dust,” Muddy snickered. “And just remember, you can stop this at anytime. All it will cost you is betraying the dirtponies and letting us into the tower.” Muddy turned his back and began perusing the cart of tools. “Now, which one do I want to start with?” He turned quickly and his hoof swung out and surprised me. Even in the blur, I could see the power-hooves he was wearing to amplify his strike. He bashed me right across the muzzle. “Maybe I should start with some hooves on treatment, eh?”

My vision spun as the pounding in my head increased ten-fold. My head flopped to the side and I saw the other captive in the room. The look of terror in her eyes and the tears running down her face told me she had been through what I was just about to begin experiencing. She mouthed, “I’m sorry,” before turning away.

Another strike spun my head the other way. I felt a warm trickle of blood run from my nose and down my muzzle. A groan escaped my muzzle unopposed. The room spun in my vision, which was now hazy.

“Aw, c’mon Dust, don’t let me down,” Muddy mocked.

“Why?” I groaned. “Why are you doing this, Muddy? I know it’s not only for the Enclave.” The coppery taste of blood in my mouth made me involuntarily spit out a glob of bloody saliva.

“Yeah, you’re right, Dust,” he chuckled. “I’m not that patriotic. It’s power. The general promised me power. I’ll be given control over a combat wing which will help pacify the Wasteland. And when the S.P.P. tower is operational? I’ll be in command of an entire flight division!”

I couldn’t help but to laugh. “Yeah, keep on believing that. You honestly think the general will give you that much power?”

Instead of responding verbally, Muddy struck me several more times. After one particularly vicious strike, a wet snap and a flash of pain indicated something in my muzzle had broken. I fought back whimpering as hard as I could, but it was all for naught. I began to softly weep.

“Ah, there it is…,” he squealed with glee. “And to think, this is only the beginning!” Muddy reached behind him and I heard metal rattling on the tray. He turned back around with a stun gun in his mouth. He moved so quickly and jabbed the prongs into my leg.

Every muscle in my body involuntarily contracted as the electricity coursed through my body. My teeth clenched and my body fought against the restraints to no avail. After several agonizing seconds, Muddy withdrew the prongs.

“Like my toy?” he asked rhetorically as he twisted the device in his hoof. “Bought it off a trader that came to Coltington one day. It was a piece of junk, but all it needed was a little rewiring before it worked like a charm. All those travelers I used it on seem to agree.”

All of my muscles ached and another whimper escaped my lips. “Do I have your attention now, Dust? Are you willing to help us?” I pretended to whisper a response to him. He drew closer. “What was that, I couldn’t hear you,” he said mockingly.

I collected as much phlegm as I could and spit it right in his face. The mixture of saliva and blood splattered against his face and began to drop off his muzzle. He slowly wiped it away and looked back at me with a murderous glare. “That was not a wise decision.”

Muddy turned back to the small tray behind him. After some more rattling, he spun around with another implement in his hoof. It appeared he was holding a small soldering iron. The tip was red hot and was releasing a thin wisp of smoke. I began to squirm as he drove the implement against my my muzzle and pressed hard.

I screamed as the iron burned into my flesh, filling the air with the smell of burning pony. He removed and replaced the soldering iron several times. “Are you going to help us open the tower now?”

“Why should I?” I grunted through my strained breathing. The room around me was fading to black.

“I will not let you ruin my future… the Enclave’s future!” Muddy hollered at me. “Besides, I can keep this up all day. Can you?” I couldn’t respond as I felt my consciousness slipping away. “Now, now, this simply won’t do,” he mocked. Muddy reached behind him and swung something towards my muzzle. I feebly recoiled and tried to avoid it. “Now, stop that! I am trying to help you here!”

The top of a glass bottle was forced into my mouth. He quickly forced my head back with the bottle. The familiar tang of a healing potion flooded my mouth. I gulped down the liquid.

“That’s a good little pony,” Muddy chuckled. After the last dregs of the potion went down my throat, he tossed the bottle and I heard it shatter against the wall. I could feel my burn wounds slowly healing themselves, and could even feel the bones in my muzzle beginning to knit themselves back together. “I’ll be back later. Why don’t you think about what I’ve said?”

Muddy trotted away and I heard a door slam behind me and a deadbolt slide shut. Even though the healing potion was working its magic, my body was still in pain. All I could do was lay there, whimpering.

“He is right, you know,” a meek voice said to me. I turned my head towards the source and saw that it came from the griffon captive. “He will keep doing this, over and over again, until they get what they want. It’s how they work here.”

“He’s been doing this to you, too?” I asked between sharp breaths.

“No, not him,” she responded. “Others. They bring you right to the brink of unconsciousness, and then they heal you so they can start over. I’ve been here for...” she said with a pause. “Days? Or has it been weeks now?” she trailed off.

“What do you have that they want?” I asked her.

“The location of Talon operating bases,” she sighed. “I will not give up my people. Especially not to the Enclave. Not after what you assholes have done to us.” She paused and then continued. “Just so you know, he will be back. And he will keep torturing you until you give up what he wants.”

My blood ran cold at the thought. I was never particularly good at dealing with pain, and it appeared the rest of my life would be spent in it. I couldn’t believe the Enclave actually tortured their prisoners like this.

“Name’s Gertrude, but you can call me Gertie,” the griffon said. “Might as well get to know each other. We’ll probably be the last thing the other sees.”

“Updraft,” I sighed. “But you might as well call me Dust.” I saw a confused look flash across her face. “Long story.”

We both fell into silence for a while. I simply had no words. My face ached dully as the wounds were still healing. Suddenly, the sound of scraping metal caught our attention. The door opened behind us and then closed. A cream colored stallion with a blue mane and crossed knives as a cutie mark walked between the tables.

“OK, Gertie,” they said, sounding kind of bored. “Are you going to tell us what we want to know?”

“I don’t know,” she replied back with some snark. “Are you going to let me claw your throat out?”

“I figured you’d say that,” the pegasus responded. He reached onto the table and drew out a small knife. He turned towards Gertie, blocking my view of her.

Gertie screamed as I could only imagine what the pegasus was doing to her. He changed weapons several times during the session, switching between knives, the soldering iron, even a mallet and a metal spike. He kept it up for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only about an hour or so according to my EFS. After grabbing a healing potion and force feeding it to her, he left the room.

“Gertie, you OK?” I asked.

She breathed heavily several times. “Yeah, Dust, I’m OK. That was actually an easy session,” she said with a pained chuckle. “Nothing broken, and the idiot remembered the healing potion this time. That’s a bonus.”

“Remembered?” I gasped.

“Yeah. Sometimes they ‘forget’ to bring it. Leave you writhing in pain for a while,” she deadpanned.

I returned to my thoughts about my life and if I’d spent it well. What had I done to bring me to this point? Turned my back on friends and family. Turned my back on my people. Led others into danger and hid the truth from them. Maybe this was fate? Karma?

My thoughts were broken by the sound of the door again. Gertie and I looked at each other, fear in our eyes trying to determine whose turn it was. The yellow face and light green mane of Muddy filled my view and my hopes plummeted.

“Have you made a new friend, Dust?” Muddy mocked. “Going to make friends with another enemy of the Enclave?”

“Muddy, just do what you came here to do,” I pleaded.

“Oh, I plan on it. But I have to ask, will you help us access the S.P.P. tower?” he asked.

“Fuck. You.” I spat back.

Muddy simply rubbed his hooves together. “Hmm, where to start.”

Thus began a few days of a repeating cycle. Muddy and his fellow pegasi came in and took turns beating, burning, and cutting Gertie and me. In particularly bad sessions, they would break the bones in our wings, which was probably the most painful injury I had ever experienced, since the fall in the Stable that is. And every time, they would heal us back up with potions so they could do it all over again.

I was soon deafened to my own screams, Gertie’s cries for help, and Muddy’s laughter. At least Gertie’s torturers didn’t mock her. She had probably been here so long that they were bored at this point. But not Muddy. Muddy was relishing every second of this. All because I was preventing him from getting what he wanted, and he was going to make me pay for every delay.

Torture sessions merged into periods of sleep due to pure exhaustion. Occasionally, they would force a thin, watery gruel down our throats just to keep us alive. Hours turned into days turned into weeks. If it weren’t for my EFS, I wouldn’t know how much time had passed. When it wasn’t my turn to be tortured, it was Gertie’s. We did our best to help each other through the lulls between sessions. As painful as it was, being a sympathetic face during the sessions helped us pull through. It didn’t remove the pain, but it helped to know someone was there with you.

Sessions were randomly held. Sometimes I had one back to back; sometimes they alternated between Gertie and me. Sometimes, they worked on both of us at the same time. I don’t know if my screams or Gertie’s shrieks were louder.

I think I would have cracked several times over if it hadn’t been for Silver. My thoughts would usually wander to her, even during the worst of times. I didn’t know if she began to hate me like the others most likely had, but it didn’t matter right now. Just thinking of her calmed my mind and allowed me to endure.

“DUST!” Muddy screamed at the top of his lungs, breaking me from my reverie. “Welcome back to the world of the living. Now what were you thinking of to distract you so well from our little session here? Is it the pink bitch? Maybe when I’m done here, I’ll hunt her down and give her a turn. Maybe that will change your mind.”

I just reacted and strained against my restraints. “NO!” I bellowed. “You will not hurt her! She has nothing to do with this!”

“I don’t really care,” he deadpanned. “As long as it gets you to give up the key, I’ll do whatever I have to.” Muddy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “But the truth is, Dust, I’m getting bored. You can only take so much more of this. You obviously don’t care how much I put you through. But maybe you’ll care if it’s happening to somepony else.” He turned and looked at Gertie.

Muddy reached over and grabbed a knife from the tray. “The longer you hold back, Dust, the worse it gets for her,” he said. “All it takes is the word from you.”

The knife descended faster than I thought it could. It slid right through the skin on her left leg leaving a widening gash. Blood began to flow down her leg in rivulets. Gertie screamed like nothing I had heard before.

A look of fear… no, not fear, this was surprise. “This wasn’t the deal!” she screamed. Deal? What is she talking about?

“Does it look like I give a fuck?” he shot back. “The deal was you’d help us get him to change his mind. And if this is what it takes, then that’s what I’ll do.”

The knife descended again, this time slicing through the skin on her talon. Blood began to spurt from the open wound. She screamed again, now a mixture of pain and fear.

“Dust, you better hurry, she’s bleeding out over here,” Muddy laughed.

To her credit, Gertie grit her teeth and shook her head weakly. I strained against my restraints. “Muddy, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Go. Fuck. Yourself.” I screamed.

Muddy’s face tightened as plunged the knife into her midsection. Gertie shrieked and then fell limp. I could still see her chest rising and falling slightly, but she needed help, and fast.

The next sound I heard was shocking. Muddy began to growl. It was a deep, guttural beastly sound. He threw his head back and screamed a loud and primal scream. He grabbed the small table and swung it over his head, descending right towards my skull.

The impact drove my head back into the table with a crack. I heard several sickening snaps and felt several stabs of severe pain flash through my body. My vision was spinning and things began to fade.

“Luna be damned,” Muddy growled. “Medics! Get the fuck in here and clean this up…” he said as I slid into unconsciousness.

Once again, I was in the land of pitch blackness and silence. As was normal, a small pinpoint of light pierced the veil. A hooded figure approached.

“Is this Foggy or the mysterious stranger?” I asked the pony.

The female, gravelly voice responded. “You have been through many trials, Dust, and have been awesome. And to top it all off, you have not given up yet.”

“I’ve wanted to, trust me,” I said. “Muddy has driven me so close to the edge.”

“Why don’t you just give up then?” she asked.

“I can’t,” I answered. “I just can’t turn my back on the Wasteland ponies. We did it once before and I can’t allow them to do it again.”

The hooded figure simply nodded. “But you’re Enclave, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean the Wastelanders have to die,” I responded. “We all lived together in peace before, we can do it again.”

The hooded figure nodded again. “It’s cool to see that you are learning, but you aren’t quite ready yet,” she said. “You are almost through this trial, but you will then have a very hard decision to make.”

The hooded figure turned and started to canter away. “Wait! Who are you!” I called out.

“All in good time, Dust. All in good time,” she said.

The white light grew larger and engulfed the entire space.

I awoke with a start. I involuntarily tried to sit up, but my restraints still held fast. After relaxing my body I scanned the room. It was still the small, barely lit room I had been in. On the table next to me, I saw Gertie’s body. My mind began to race until I saw the slight rise and fall of her chest, showing me she had survived.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat was burning from all the screaming before I passed out earlier. I could barely whisper. “Gertie,” I whispered. “Gertie, please tell me you’re alive.”

My pleas were met with silence. Then, after several seconds, a small groan rumbled out of her throat. Gertie struggled briefly against her restraints. Her head turned towards me and her teal eyes locked onto mine. “So I guess it wasn’t just a nightmare, huh?” she croaked.

“Are you OK?” I whispered back.

“What do you think?” she shot back. “I was stabbed, three times, for you. Was it worth it?”

I really couldn’t argue with her. It was my resistance that caused Muddy to attack her so brutally. “I’m sorry… but I can’t just let them get the tower,” I sighed. “Um, Gertie, what did Muddy mean before about a deal?”

Gertie gasped. “Well, Dust, that’s a bit complicated.” Gertie grunted in pain and took a sharp breath. “Mind if I first ask why you care so much about the dirtponies, anyway,” she said, grimacing in pain.

I noticed the deflection, but I had time to pursue it later. “There are good ponies down there, trying to survive,” I sighed. “We turned our back on them once before. I don’t think it’s right to screw them over again.”

Gertie laughed, and then immediately cried out in pain. “Don’t make me laugh,” she uttered.

“Sorry,” I shot back. “But I believe it.”

“No,” she said, still grimacing. “I mean it. Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

I couldn’t help but to giggle a little, immediately regretting it as my head started to throb. My laughter was cut short, however, as I heard the deadbolt on the door sliding open. Gertie and I looked at each other, our eyes widened in fear.

Light spilling in the now open door, lightened the room slightly. The room darkened as I heard the door click shut and soft hoofsteps slowly grew louder.

“What’s a matter, Muddy?” I shouted. “Getting too tired to walk over here?”

There was still no response and a pony’s head appeared silhouetted in the spotlight glaring into my face, obscuring the features.

“Shhh, you don’t want to attract any attention,” a gentle, yet firm, female voice responded. The voice was so familiar. As my eyes adjusted, I saw it was a magenta mare with a flaming orange mane and emerald green eyes.

“M…. mom?” I sputtered out in shock.

“Oh, Updraft!” she cried out. “It really is you! You are alive!” I was quickly and strongly wrapped up in her strong legs, encased in black Enclave power armor.

I nuzzled her back. “Mom! How did you find me?”

“Oh, Updraft! Your friend Buster told me you were back,” she said with a grin. “He almost got himself brought up on charges for fighting my aides to get my attention. Sorry it took us so long to get to you. We tailed them here, but this place is not easy to get into.” She looked me up and down. “Dear Celestia, all those scars. What have they been doing here?”

“Torture, mostly,” I sarcastically responded.

“Let’s get you out of those,” she said, while starting to release me from my restraints. Once I was free, she embraced me again and this time I could properly hug her back. The jet black armor she was wearing made the hug rather uncomfortable, but I didn’t care. “Updraft… I was told you were dead. Where have you been?”

“Well, that’s a little tough to explain. It’s classif....” I started to evade, but hesitated. Why am I hiding this now? “You know what… fuck it.” I told her all about Special Operations, the clandestine observations, Muddy’s betrayal, the S.P.P. tower key… all of it.

“You have a key to the S.P.P. towers?” she murmured, clearly shocked. “You know what this means?”

“Yes, I know. But I’m not giving it up,” I said firmly. Mom looked clearly shocked at what I said. “Mom, the ponies down in the Wasteland aren’t all bad. If we use the towers, we only make things worse for them. I can’t allow that to happen.”

“But Updraft! The Enclave needs the towers to feed…” Mom started.
The door flew open and a jet black Enclave armor helmet popped into my vision. “Umm, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we gotta move. Somepony’s coming!”

“Got it, Buster,” she nodded. Buster was here? “Alright, we can take care of this later,” Mom said, starting towards the door. “We gotta get out of here, now.” I didn’t move towards the door, however. I went towards Gertie. “Updraft, what are you doing? Let’s go!”

“Wait a minute,” I called back. I leaned over Gertie. “C’mon Gertie, you’re leaving too.”

“What are you doing with that griffon, Updraft?” mom implored.

“I can’t leave her here,” I blurted out. “Mom, you have no idea what they are doing to us here. It’s inequine!” I turned back to Gertie. “Gertie, get up! We’re leaving.”

Gertie groaned back. “Dust, er, Updraft, whatever your name is. Just go, I’ll just hold you back.”

“No, Gertie. I’m not leaving you here. C’mon,” I pleaded. I helped Gertie get to a seated position on the table. As she slid off the edge, she teetered and almost fell on her face. “Oh, no you don’t!” I quickly draped her leg across my shoulder and helped her move.

“C’mon, mares and gentlecolts. We’re running out of time here!” Buster called out again. As I drew closer to Buster, I saw he had two duffel bags thrown over his shoulder. He clapped me on the back. “Good to see you again, buddy! We took the liberty of rescuing your equipment before getting you here.”

“Good to see you too, Buster,” I nodded, offering a weak hoofbump. “Mom, why are we sneaking out? You’re a general, after all?” I asked, while Buster scanned the hallway to make sure the coast is clear.

“Updraft… whatever you got yourself into is big and secret. And it goes way above my head. Whatever General Cirrus is up to, it has the full vetting and support of somepony on the Council, so I have no authority here.” she explained. Buster waved us out and we made our way out into the hallway.

Better lit than the interrogation chamber, I could see we were in a cinderblock lined, windowless hallway. The lights were bare gems dangling by wires from the ceiling which cast odd shadows all around us. This wasn’t the Fort. Hell, this wasn’t even in the clouds.

“Where the hell are we?” I muttered, more to myself than anypony else.

“Not sure of the actual name of the location,” my mom whispered back. “From what we can tell, it was a bunker built into one of the mountainsides of old Equestria.” My mom must have noticed my face scrunched up in confusion. “Don’t know how, but General Cirrus found this place just below the cloud cover. He stores material here and uses it for other things he doesn’t want the brass to find… like torture I guess. Now let’s stay quiet… we need to sneak out of here.”

We followed Buster on the way out, slowed by Gertie’s inability to walk on her own. Muddy had done a number on her legs. Some scars were years old and others were light pink meaning they were fresh. “Just leave me, you idiot,” she groaned. “You’re gonna get caught again, or worse.” Hoofsteps behind us grew louder as we needed to slowly and carefully make our way out of the bunker.

“We don’t have much time,” Buster whispered. “They’re going to find you guys missing sooner or…” His statement was cut short by the blaring of klaxons as flashing red lights filled the facility. “Later,” he finished with a grunt. “Alright everypony, double time.”

Buster led us through long, nondescript hallways and we eventually found our way to a stairwell. The climb was slow and laborious. Gertie was basically dead weight and I wasn’t really in any condition to carry her, but nopony else could. “Gertie, I hope you can fly once we get out of here,” I prodded.

“Yeah, I should be able to,” she groaned again. “Assuming we get out of here.”

As we climbed the stairs, we heard ponies’ voices echoing down the hallways. Buster motioned across his mouth, telling us to stay quiet. He stepped out into the hallway. It felt like years before his helmeted head rounded the corner and motioned us to follow.”

We carefully made our way towards what I could only imagine was the exit. Several ponies were barking orders.

“Look over there!”

“Check corridor two-alpha!”

“I think I saw something over there!”

It was a game of cat and mouse as we painfully waited for Buster to give us the all clear, and then moving out into the open. All the while, hoofsteps and random shouts echoed all around us.

After reaching another corner, we all played the wait and see game while Buster cleared the hallway ahead of us. He never got past peeking around the corner.

“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath. “Two guards, posted by the entrance.” He paused and I could see the wheels spinning in his head. “Alright, I got a plan, but nopony’s gonna like it. I run out and distract them and you guys get out. I’ll loop back around and catch up later.”

“That’s suicide!” I hissed. “You’ll never make it!”

“Updraft,” he said with a smirk, “don’t tell me you forgot that I was the fastest runner at the academy…”

He was right, but I didn’t think it would made a difference here. I put a hoof on his shoulder. “Buster, I don’t know how I can thank you for this,” I whispered to him.

“Hey, hey,” he said with a chuckle. “You make it sound like this is goodbye.” He gave me a wink. “I’ll see you on the other side.” With that, he took off around the corner at a full gallop.

“Hey! You! Stop!” one of the guards yelled. “Intruder alert! Entry!” he continued, followed by the squelch of a radio. Hoofsteps took off at a gallop and faded away.

Mom jumped around the corner first and trotted to the door. “Luna be damned!” she cried out, banging the door with a hoof. “We need to find a keycard!”

“Not really,” I said pridefully, as I gently laid Gertie down. “Let me, please,” I said as I bumped my mother out of the way. “All it takes is a little of this,” I said as I bucked the panel open and began working on the door. “I should have this open is a jiffy.” Suddenly a bright green flash blinded me, forcing me to push away from the wall.

“Everypony behind cover!” Mom yelled out. She drew out her plasma pistol and began taking pot shots down the hallway. I watched as two jumpsuited ponies dove behind the corner, nearly avoiding being gooified. “Updraft… how much longer do you need?”

“A couple of minutes?” I said back, unsure of how accurate it was.

“Alright, I’ll do my best to provide cover,” she yelled back. “Please get the door open quickly!”

I heard the electronic whine of the plasma pistol firing. Occasionally, I would hear the sizzle of a plasma round hitting something nearby. I manipulated the wires as quickly as I could. Suddenly, a soft beep sounded from the box and the lock on the door clicked open.

“Got it!” I yelled. “Let’s go!”

“That was pretty impressive!” Mom called back. “Let’s get the Tartarus out of here!”

I picked up Gertie again and carried her through the door. We had entered a small cavern and we all ran towards the other opening. Mom was the first one through the opening and she immediately dove back inside. A chorus of plasma rounds peppered the stone around the opening and some struck the back wall of the cavern.

“Shit! They’re waiting for us outside!” she hollered. “I saw at least half a dozen of them.”

The door behind us squealed open and Buster came galloping through, closing it behind him. I saw some fresh scorch marks on his armor. “Buster, you OK?” I asked.

“Yeah, nothing this can’t handle!” he bragged, tapping his armor with his hoof. “How are things out here?” A plasma round found its way through the cavern opening and hit his armor, harmlessly sparking off of it. “That good, huh?”

“We gotta find a way out of here,” I called out. “Before we get overrun in both directions.”

Buster aimed his plasma rifle right near the door lock and fired. The green energized plasma glowed brightly as it spread over the locking mechanism. The lock itself got red hot and then eventually cooled. “That should hold them inside for a bit,” he snickered, “but it won’t last forever.”

My mom sighed deeply. She trotted over to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Updraft, we have to get you out of here. I can only imagine what General Cirrus has planned if he gets his hooves back on you.” She turned and looked at Buster. “How are your evasive maneuvers, Sergeant?”

Buster giggled. “Not too shabby if I say so myself,” he said, laughter in his mechanically enhanced voice.

“Updraft,” mom said with a tear in her eye. “I just got you back, and now I have to say goodbye again,” she sobbed.

“Mom? What are you saying?” I asked, dreading her answer.

“Buster and I are going to provide you a distraction,” she said, between sobs. “You have to get out of here and far away from Cirrus.”

“But, mom… he’s going to hunt me down,” I complained. “Muddy and him want nothing but to control the S.P.P. towers.”

“I know,” she said. “I am going to do my best to convince the Council that he has gone too far, but it’s going to take time. You need to lay low and stay out of his hooves, you got that?”

I nodded. “Mom…” I started to say.

“Updraft, it’s OK. I found you once, I will find you again.” She wrapped me in a hug. “You stay safe, you got that? I won’t lose you again.”

I squeezed my mom back. “Yes, ma’am,” I said with a half-hearted giggle. “How will I know when it’s safe to come back?”

“I’ll find you, Updraft,” she said, “even if it’s the last thing I do as a general.” She kissed me gently on the cheek. Banging on the door rattled us both out of the embrace.

“Umm, ma’am. I recommend we exit the area as quickly as possible,” Buster’s robotic voice interrupted.

“I agree,” mom said, pulling out of the hug. “Updraft, give us about a minute to draw them away and then you take off and get the hell out of here.” Mom looked over at Gertie, “Hey, griffon, you think you can get out of here, too?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Gertie grumbled. “I’ll make it.”

Mom pressed her forehead up against mine. “Updraft, I am so proud of you for surviving what you went through,” she said, fighting back tears. “We will see each other again, you hear me?”

“Yes, mom, I hear you,” I replied, fighting back tears of my own.

“I love you, Updraft.”

“I love you, mom.”

“Alright, Buster,” mom said, putting her helmet back in place. “Let’s put on a show and see if we can get Updraft some space.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Buster said, not even trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

“Let’s go.”

The two of them flapped their wings and began to hover off the ground. Moving to the far wall of the cavern, they began to accelerate towards the cavern opening. The sounds of plasma weapons firing began to fill the cavern again. Pulling my pistol, I began firing randomly out the cavern opening, hoping to alter the aim of the assaulters. I peeked my head around the cavern opening and watched the black armor clad forms begin to climb away from the mountainside and veer off in opposite directions. Several attackers immediately took off and followed close behind.

Using my EFS as a guide, I scanned the surrounding area and tried to match red markers with possible assailants, but I couldn’t match up visible ponies with the red markers on my EFS. I looked over to Gertie. “You ready?”

She simply nodded back and gestured towards the cavern opening. I strode out into the opening and took several steps. Still seeing no soldiers, I flapped hard and took off. As soon as I cleared the ground, I saw three heads pop up and take aim. They were wearing standard Enclave jumpsuits and body armor, not power armor. Well, that was good news at least.

I banked hard to my left as the first plasma rounds streaked past where I had just been. Taking a quick look back, I saw that I had only one pony pursuing me at the moment. The only problem was that he had an energy weapon on a battle saddle and all my weapons were mouth-fired. I was going to have to get in close and personal.

My heart was pounding and I broke a sweat. It had been a long time since I had done any combat flying. Pulling in my wings, I dropped into a dive and fell several dozen feet. More plasma bolts peppered the air around me, some getting close enough I could feel the heat. My pursuer knew he had the upper hoof and simply kept me in his sights.

Banking hard to the right, I started heading back towards the mountain. I was going to have to use the terrain to get the upper hoof on him. As I neared the mountain, I saw more green bolts flying through the sky. My EFS showed two red bars pursuing one green bar. Gertie was in trouble. She was going to need help. An energy bolt whizzed past my ear. Alright Dust, worry about you first.

I began to fly zig-zags between features of the mountain. Maybe if I got lucky, my pursuer would make a mistake and crash into an outcropping or something. Unfortunately, I found nothing so useful. I dipped my right wing and banked hard in that direction and tried to double back.

I saw I was getting really close to Gertie and her two pursuers. They were closing in and were nearly able to grab her and drive her out of the sky. Gertie flared her wings, braking quickly, allowing the two pegasi to catch up with her. Quickly, more quickly than I thought possible, she grabbed the nearest pegasi and encircled his body, including his wings. They began to plummet, but I watched as Gertie buried her face in the pony’s neck.

She flung her head back and I saw a spray of red fill the air around them. Gertie spit something of her mouth and let her prey go. He reached for his neck and began falling towards the ground. Holy shit.

A plasma bolt flying past my head refocused my attention on my own problems. I still had my pursuer to deal with, but I saw I could help Gertie a little. Her other pursuer did not see me. Pulling in my wings, I began a dive and aimed right for the pony. Right before I crashed into him, I flipped and got my legs out in front of me and planted them right into the pony’s midsection. He careened into the mountainside and rolled down a few dozen yards and fell motionless. Yes!

My celebration was short lived as I felt a burning sensation begin to spread in my rear, left leg. Looking back, I saw a patch of glowing green plasma that had bored through a portion of my armor. Damn projectile armor! It was basically useless against energy weapons!

Every maneuver I made now caused the leg to burn in pain as the burned skin was stretched. Each shot of pain drew my attention away from the mental calculations I was making to avoid my pursuer and sneak around him. I turned my head to look back at my pursuer and my vision flashed green.

The left side of my face felt like it was on fire. I couldn’t open my left eye, not that I wanted to. I involuntarily clutched at it and began to glide. The shot couldn’t have been a direct hit, could it? Did I lose my eye?

A large mass drove into my side, twisting my body around. The ground was directly below me and I was falling at an alarming rate, my new lack of depth perception notwithstanding. Another impact from the side turned me upside down. Every move I made to upright myself was met with another impact.

The ground was now approaching at a sickening rate. I flared my wings, doing my best to slow my descent. The pegasus landed on my back and weighed me down. Why wasn’t he just shooting me? Was he trying to take me alive at this point? Could I even survive the impending crash?

The pegasus jumped off my back and I flared my wings as hard as I could. The joints strained against the forces and I bent my legs, getting ready to brace for the impending impact. I felt my hooves hit the ground and I allowed myself to pivot forward. Tucking my wings and twisting slightly, I landed on my shoulder and began a barrel roll on the ground.

My head hit the ground hard and my vision flashed white. When I regained vision, the world spun around me as I felt impact all over my body. I was at the mercy of momentum as I hit the ground over and over again. The wind was knocked out of me at some point and my entire body felt like it was being pelted by rocks.

I finally came to rest and just lay there trying to catch my breath. My face and leg were on fire, my entire torso was throbbing and I felt rivulets of blood dripping down my body in several placed. I opened my one good eye and saw I was lying in the middle of a dirt plain. There were no identifiable features anywhere nearby and no place to head for cover. And that was what I could see between red flashes and my vision dimming in and out.

I heard a pony land somewhere behind me. Sitting up, I saw the pegasus who had just beaten the crap out of me approaching with his plasma rifle leveled right at me.

“So, you thought you could outsmart an Enclave trained flyer?” he snickered. “I can’t wait ‘til I report to General Cirrus!” He motioned for his radio button and a gray flash flew past us. A thin red line appeared across his neck. Rivulets of blood began to flow freely from the wound. He somehow finished activating his radio, but his lips were moving with no sound coming out of them. Soon after, he collapsed to the ground.

Collapsing back to the ground myself, my body still on fire, I heard another set of hoofsteps beside me. I rolled over and looked up with my good eye and saw a grey, griffon face looking down on me. Her beak and talons were stained with blood. She began reaching towards me with her talon. I closed my good eye, fearing for my death, yet again.

“C’mon, Dust,” Gertie said gently. “Let’s get you to a doctor.”

Level up!

Skills:
Unarmed: 15
Perk Obtained:
Turbulence: “The pilot has turned on the fasten seatbelt light…” - Gain +10 to unarmed when in flight