"Wow, I never thought this is how everypony would start hating me." Shining Armor sighed as the team prepared to split up for the day.

"BBBFF, don't you ever think anypony hates you!" Twilight snapped in response. "We're upset about your smoking because we love you! Think of it this way. If you don't quit, then you might not live to see Flurry Heart have her own foals."

"I, uh...well, I guess that would suck."

"See? And that's why you need to quit."

"On his own accord." Princess Celestia finished.

"Huh?"

"Twilight, he smokes as a way to relieve stress. As sad as I am to see him do it, getting on his case about it will just add to his stress and make him want more. We need to treat him like the grown stallion he is and let him make the decision when he's ready. Trust me, I didn't quit until...uh, 1992, I think."

"You smoked?"

"Literally every pony and human alike went about their day with a lit cigarette in their mouths at one point in time. Back in the fifties, you were weird if you didn't."

"I...I guess if he needs the space, then that's what we'll give him. I just hope he does the right thing sooner than later."

"I promise I will, Twiley." Shining Armor said. "I just need a little more time, that's all."

As much as Twilight wanted to continue the conversation in hopes that her brother would quit smoking right then and there, everypony had a job to do and they were burning daylight. Due to the events of the previous night, the team had stayed up later than anticipated and ended up getting a late start the following morning. Now that everypony was aware of precisely what kinds of dangers existed in the exclusion zone, they made it a point to be extra diligent and even started to carry some of the firearms that were provided for them.

"Hmm...okay, 'press side button forward'..." Soarin mumbled as he read an instruction book with one hoof and held a thirty-eight caliber revolver in the other. "...'Cylinder should open, revealing six chambers'...okay, got it. 'Unit is now ready to load'."

Soarin was one of the best when it comes to multitasking while flying at the same time. He had never used a firearm before but ever since the United States Of America began importing them into Equestria by the barge loads, he had always been curious about them. Most Equestrian law enforcement agencies including the Royal Guard had adopted the use of them by now and Soarin was eager to learn more about them. Once he had deposited six cartridges into the cylinder of his own piece, he proceeded to read the instruction booklet on what to do from there.

"Okay, 'This unit is double action which means it can be fired weather hammer is fully cocked or un-cocked'." Soarin read. "'For safety, gently pull hammer back until it clicks once. This is half cock position in which unit can not be discharged. When ready to fire, fully cock hammer and line up the sights with target. Caution: Unit has enlarged trigger guard which allows it to be operated by those with non-cloven hooves. Take care while carrying loaded as to avoid accidental discharge'. Alright, sounds simple enough."

"So, you think you got the gist of it?" Spitfire asked as she flew beside Soarin.

"I think so. It's always cool to learn something new. Kinda freaks me out a little bit though. I mean, did you see those things? They look creepy enough dead, imagine how Shining Armor felt when he was being attacked by them. Oh, and this morning, I saw some guys wearing lab coats loading them into a pick-up truck."

"Well, as long as we stay in the building at night, we should be fine. That and I doubt those mutants can fly."

"Ooohh, don't jinx it. With my luck, they might do just that."

The Wonderbolt proceeded to focus on the ground below in hopes that they would find a sign of Dr. Hoofenschtov, the missing workers, or both. Both felt content with their sidearms that they were carrying and that they would know how to use them in the event that they needed to. The only thing left for them to do was to continue the search and hope for the best.

"Hey, don't let it get you down, big guy." Rainbow Dash said. "Sure everypony was a bit disappointed but it's not the worst somepony's ever done."

"I know, Rainbow." Shining Armor replied. "I just feel bad that I disappointed them to begin with though."

"Hey, at least you're not on crack or something. Then everypony would be really bummed."

"Well, yeah I guess it could be worse."

"Honestly, I think everypony was mostly upset because going out to smoke almost got you killed last night. Twilight kinda started freaking out when she got woke up by the noise outside and realized you weren't in the room."

"Jeez, now that you mention it, I guess I do owe her an apology for that."

"Hey, what's this?"

While Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor were trotting along, the former spotted something peculiar on the ground just a few steps away. It was a small, brown, flat object just poking out of a clump of grass that appeared to be folded in half. Before picking up however, the two ponied placed their Geiger counters near it as a precautionary measure and then proceeded to investigate it once they found that it was cold.

"Looks like somebody lost their wallet." Shining Armor said as he opened the bi-fold to find out whom it belonged to. "Let's see...Ivan...Melnyk? Whoa."

"Isn't that one of the missing guys?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah and finding one of their belongings without the person isn't a good sign. I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I hope we're wrong, dude. I really fucking hope we're wrong."

As the hours ticked by, Spitfire and Soarin remained diligent in their search as did the rest of the teams. Still, there was a decent amount of daylight left but Spitfire was growing slightly impatient at the lack of anything new to speak of and began thinking of an idea to cover more ground faster and more efficiently.

"Hey, Soarin, I don't think we're covering a lot of area with us flying so close together like this." Spitfire said. "Let's keep each other in sight but maybe just split up a bit."

"Sure, we can do more damage that way." Soarin chuckled. "Alright, I'm game. You can head towards the center of the city and I'll look around the outskirts."

"Alright, lemme know if you see anything."

With that, the two partners veered off their straight course and split up in effort to expand their search horizon. For another hour, the two continued to sweep through the city while yielding no new findings. Fortunately for Soarin, he would not remain empty hoofed for much longer as he spotted a round, bright orange object lying on the ground in the backyard of a kindergarten building. As the wonderbolt swooped down and got closer, he could tell that the object in question was a hardhat. Since there were three construction workers missing in the area, it seemed quite obvious who the owner must have been.

"Man, this can't be a good thing." Soarin said as he tapped the hardhat with a hoof. "I should probably get spitfire over he-gah!"

Soarin was taken by surprise by what he saw when he flipped the hat over. The wonderbolt inspecting the hat was indeed a brave one as he needed to be in his line of work but nothing could have prepared him for the dried up red stains that he saw on the inside. With a shaky hoof, Soarin fumbled through his bag for his radio that he would use to alert Spitfire but found himself unable to get a good grip on his device. After taking a moment to try and calm himself, he attempted to remove his saddlebag but soon found difficulty in that as well. With his hoof and wings stuck under one of the straps that held his bag on, the clumsy stallion stumbled about and soon failed to notice that he was coming dangerously close to a steep incline until it was too late.

"Ahh!" Soarin gasped as he tumbled down a steep hill. "Oof! Ohh! Ow! Damn! Ouch! Awww!"

After what seemed like an eternity of tumbling down the incline and seeming to hit every rock and stick on the way down, Soarin finally came to a rest in what appeared to be an irrigation ditch. Being that he was in a slight daze, he took a moment to gather himself and lay there for a moment to wait for the mild pain to subside. Fortunately, he did not feel as if any bones were broken and shrugged off any injuries he may have sustained as minor bruises. It was when he preparing to return to his hooves that he was about be be scarred in a way that could never be repaired by years of the best therapy his bits could pay for.

"Jeez, what's with all the flies?" Soarin said as he swatted the air and rolled over to his side.

It was at that moment, that the brave pegasus came face to face with something that he would truly never wish on a worst enemy. A grizzly sight that would haunt him in his dreams for the remainder of his days. As his pupils fully dilated and every hair on his body stand on end, Soarin's mouth went dry as he began to hyperventilate until finally, he let out a loud, feminine scream.

"Did you hear that?" Rainbow Dash ask as she perked her ears up."

"Yeah, it sounded like somepony screaming." Shining Armor replied as he too went on the alert. "I think it's coming from tha-"

"Spi-Spi-Spiffire! Gaahuhuhuh! Th-th-the intes-intestines are allovertheplahahahace!" Soarin's voice frantically trembled over the radio. "Sh-Sh-Shining! Anypohohonayyy!"

"Soarin!?" Shining Armor answered. "Dude, where are you! What happened!?"

"It's horribleee! Gaaahuhuhuhuh! Oh gahahawd!"

"Soarin!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Just hang in there, buddy! We can hear where you are, we're on our way!"

Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash could hear the faint sound of Soarin bawling in the distance as he was not very far away from where the two were searching. After stuffing the wallet into her bag, Rainbow Dash flew into the direction of Soarin's cries as fast as she could with her unicorn partner close behind. As the two got even closer and the screaming get louder, the two could see spitfire flying in that direction as well until finally, a flare signal shot up into the air right from where Soarin could be heard.

Soon after the flare burst in the air, Soarin's crying stopped much to the dismay of everypony else who was rushing over to his aid. Nopony had a clue what to expect to see once they reached him but all of them feared the worst. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire were especially worried sick and wanted nothing more than closure as the suspense of not knowing what could be happening to their friend was simply agonizing.

Finally, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor along with Spitfire made it to the edge of the incline and slid and flew down to see a trembling Soarin curled up in the fetal position laying next to the very answer to many questions they would have had. As the three worried but at the same time somewhat relieved ponies approached their sobbing friend, they could make out the facial features of the bloody, mangled body of a man laying behind him. While Spitfire and Shining Armor trotted over to comfort the emotionally troubled wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash pulled the wallet out of her saddlebag and opened it to compare the photo on the driver's license to that of the face of the decaying corpse. The photograph was a direct match with the only difference being the deep, wide open slashes and small, round puncture wounds on the deceased man's throat.

As more ponies from the split up teams came to investigate the flare, the first ones on the scene started to investigate the body and search the nearby area for more clues. Even to the toughest, most hardened of individuals, the sight that lay before them was enough to make them physically sick. They were sickened by the odor of the decaying body, sickened by the blood, the gashes, the gouges, the exposed intestines and organs, and the mere fact that there exists a being vile and heartless enough to commit such a despicable and disgusting act. Still, as horrible as the remains of the unfortunate man who met his demise were to look at, the fact that his eyes were still open along the expression of fear and agony frozen onto his face was ultimately what made everypony's stomachs turn.

"Oh my god..." Twilight gasped as she and Celestia slid down the incline to the scene. "I think I'm gonna *urp*. I think I'm gonna be sick."

"In all my years of exploring abandoned cities..." Daring Do began as she removed her hat. "I never thought I'd see something as sick as this."

"It literally hurts to think about what this poor man was put through before it all ended." Celestia said as she trotted over to the body where she proceeded to reach down and close his eyes. "Please show some respect, everypony. Fredrick or Dymitri should be here any minute. Soon, he'll get the proper burial he deserves..."

Even though none of the ponies had ever met or knew the murdered man personally, to see the mangled pile of flesh and broken bones he had been reduced to was a sad sight to say the very least. Until Fredrick or Dymitri arrived, there was nothing the team could do but just stand there in silence. After comforting Soarin, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash were finally able to get him to calm down. Galloping onto the scene to see the corpse was one thing but to roll down a hill and nearly land on top of it was understandably traumatizing.

Finally, the sound of an inline-six engine could be heard coming ever closer followed by a car door closing and a pair of heavy combat boots sliding through the gravel and dirt down to where the flare had come from. Fredrick Schultz had arrived to take the matter from there and alert the Prime Minister that one of the missing workers was now accounted for but sadly not in the best circumstances.

"Damn, what a way to go." Fredrick sighed as he knelt down to examine the body.

Fredrick had a reaction much different than that of the ponies and was oddly more calm despite the gory scene that lay before him. He was a hardened man whom had been through unimaginable things during his time in the Ukrainian Army and it seemed that dealing with the lifeless body of his own kind was nothing more than another day at the office. Nothing new or out of the ordinary for the emotionally numbed soldier.

"Uh, here's his wallet." Rainbow Dash said as she hoofed the deceased's identification over.

"Ah, okay this is, uh...Ivan Melnyk." Fredrick said as he brought his radio to his face. "Dymitri, it's Fred. Get a hold of the nearest coroner and the guys at the checkpoint. Tell them to bring a hearse into the zone over to the Western outskirts of the city."

"A hearse?" Dymitri repeated over the radio. "Oh, man, I was afraid you were gonna say that. Alright, they'll be there in next hour."

There was nothing anyone or anypony could do but wait for the authorities to come collect the body. The wait was mostly silent with the exception of the sound of everypony's breathing and Fredrick lighting up one cigarette right after the other and taking the occasional swig from a bottle of bols. The silence was incredibly awkward as Fredrick was not much of a talker so after a while of being crowded around a corpse, most of the ponies started getting antsy until finally, Fredrick of all people broke the silence.

"Looks like I gotta step up my game." Fredrick said.

"Beg your pardon?" Celestia asked.

"I was the one getting paid to find these guys and you ponies got to him first. I'm not one to normally admit this..."

"Admit what?" Daring Do asked.

"I guess you candy colored pansies are smarter than I thought. Just a little bit though."

"Um, thanks? I guess?" Celestia replied.

"Hey, down there!" Dymitri hollered down to the group. "Think you can catch this stretcher if we roll it down!?"

"Yeah, go ahead!" Shining armor shouted up to Dymitri.

A few seconds later, Dymitri and a man in a black suit who came with him pushed a stretcher complete with a body bag down the incline where at first it began tumbling uncontrollably until Shining Armor grabbed with his aura and slowed its decent down the hill. At first, Fredrick was certain that he may have to push the stretcher with a body on it all the way up but once Shining Armor used what limited magic he had in this world, the hardened soldier just stood watched with his mouth agape and a lit cigarette hanging from his lower lip. The unicorn failed to make a good first impression with him but at this point, seeing how easy some simple levitation magic could make an otherwise strenuous job, Fredrick could not help but be impressed this time. Being the stubborn man he was though, of course he would not admit it as he had already given his fair share of one compliment for the next few months.

Once the stretcher made it down to the ditch where the team was waiting, Twilight held it still with her aura while Celestia gently lifted the body up onto it. To finish, Shining Armor unfolded the white sheet that lay on the foot of the stretcher and laid it over top of the deceased man. Finally, the pegasi proceeded to carry the stretcher back up to the top of the steep hill while the wingless ponies made their way up on hoof.

The man in the black suit who came with the hearse was the coroner that Dymitri called for. Now that everypony had made it to the top of the slope, the job could be finished and the remains sent to receive a proper burial. When the coroner took hold of the stretcher and pushed it towards the back of the hearse, Spitfire stood next to the opened back door with a salute. Soarin, then stood across from Spitfire and did the same until everypony followed suit and was standing in a row across from each other, offering a salute to the murdered man as he was pushed past them and loaded into the back of the Mercedes hearse.

With the body placed into the back of the car as the coroner headed back to Kiev, Fredrick getting back to his search and the sun beginning to set over the horizon, everypony liked to think that they day was a productive one. Even though the circumstances were rather unfortunate, Celestia and the others refused to give up hope or believe that the day was wasted. Another section of the city was searched and one of the workers was now accounted for and his remains were on their way to the custody of his family. Everypony could only hope that Radius and the other two missing men would be found in better shape than the first as the team hastily made their way back to the base where they would retire for the night once again.

Author's Notes:

Submit all complaints in the comment section if you would, please. A simple dislike helps me none whatsoever.