I brought a hoof up to block out the brightness of the sky along with the heat being amplified by the thin cloud cover. Although the heat radiated from the ground as well, the air above it wavering and distorting the massive structure ahead of us. The only upside was the salty taste in the air, probably because of the endless body of water stretching past the horizon. Something else lingered in the air, something familiar but too faint to distinguish.

The Pandora’s Children base laid on the edge of Equestria, resting on the border of an unknown land and a huge expanse of water. The map on my Pip-Buck simply cut off. Whoever built this place was clearly trying to avoid visitors.

Somehow, Clover convinced Gale and I that we were the only ones who could get in without suspicion. Turned out Mangle got her name there so she would most likely be recognized. Nibble would fail to keep calm, whatever that meant, and a pegasus tended to stand out.

The mission seemed simple enough. Get in, learn what Pandora’s Children were up to, and get out. Clover had me almost confident when I left, but the slow trot towards the most savage group in Equestria had my nerves unraveling.

I glared at Gale. The humid atmosphere reminded me of the sauna and I could only image he was enjoying our trot.

“They’re about to shoot at us,” Gale almost sang. “Just keep moving forward, don't run.”

I stiffened as one of the guards on the roof swiveled a mounted turret at us. She took aim and fired a short burst. The cracked earth next to us exploding into plumes of dust. I froze up for moment but resisted the urge to turn tail and kept up with Gale.

“Why?” I asked.

“Works as an initiation. If you're scared enough to run they want nothing to do with you. Well, maybe you'll make decent target practice.”

My hoof caught on something and I almost stumbled over. I glanced down to see a pony’s skull. We were treading on a mass grave. Most of the remains were covered in layers of dirt and had died ages ago, but there were at least a dozen recently slaughtered corpses. The salty taste in the air was finally overtaken by the other scent I now recognized, the taste of iron.

The raider took a few more shots, getting closer with each burst. In between the loud gunfire her maniacal laughter could be heard despite how far away she still was. She stopped shooting when we finally reached the massive metal gates blocking the entrance. The fuchsia mare leaned over the wall and brought a widening circular device to her muzzle.

“What the fuck do you want?” the voice blasted out, amplified by the circular thing.

Gale opened his mouth wide and pointed at his teeth. The raider squinted down at us and eventually nodded.

“And the other?” she said into the amplification device.

“Possible recruit!” Gale yelled up.

The raider mare disappeared back over the wall.

A moment later a loud crack ripped through the air and a mass of chains started to rattle. A small section of the massive gate raised and I followed Gale as he stepped inside the fortress.

The raider mare from before rode a piece of sheet metal lowered by a pulley. She wore Pandora’s Children signature sickly green barding. Her coat helped hide the wide variety of scars covering her body.

“Your pathetic gang’s in the back,” she said. “Leader is making a big speech, maybe it'll convince you to join a real gang.”

It took a moment for me to realize she directed the statement at me. “Oh, uh…” Talking to the raider so casually had thrown me for a loop. If she knew I was part of Elpis she'd be trying to kill me, but instead she had just tried to recruit me. Without more delay I lowered my voice and tried to sound more like a raider, “Yeah... I may check that out, especially if the pay’s better.”

Gale cringed at my new voice but the mare seemed to buy it.

“Yeah, that's the spirit.” She slapped a hoof across my flank as we continued inside.

When we were out of ear shot Gale gagged. “I'm all for pain, but don't use that voice again.”

I nodded in agreement but was sure to jot down a mental note that I now had a way to make him uncomfortable.

“Well,” Gale said as he stopped to look around. “This place got cleaned up.”

I took a moment to take in the fortress. It was just as massive as the outside made it seem. Hundreds of makeshift homes made of scrap metal and rotting cloth stretched along the walls of the fortress. The ground was littered with all manner of waste. Past that were firing ranges that might have actually been firing ranges before the war, given the faded red bullseyes on the wall. Pandora's Children had modified the ranges with rotting, bullet riddled, corpses as targets. The din of a distant crowd reached out from somewhere inside the base but I could not see past the hills of trash.

Overlooking the entire base was a building nearly the height of the wall. All the windows were tinted near black but some had broken revealing bits of the interior. My gut twisted as I stared at it, the tarnished white concrete covering most of the fortress made the near black tower give off an ominous aura, as if the building and all those inside were watching you.

Who built this place? I flicked on my EFS in hopes of an answer.

Flim Flam Industries: Weapon Testing Facility

I rolled my eyes. Should have guessed, but why would they need this? The only weapons I knew Flim and Flam made were those shitty silver ones. Would they really need a massive facility for those?

I winced as my nose caught a whiff of the smells emanating from the shacks. “Did you say this place was cleaned up?”

Gale started a slow trot towards the distant din of voices. “I left when Pandora’s Children were at their peak, this place was loud, violent, and believe it or not, way more disgusting. They also had… unique ways of keeping morale up.” Gale glanced at set of wooden logs protruding from the ground. Each of them had rusted metal chains fit for a pony. The ground around the logs was stained with blood and other bodily fluids. If these were still being used for I thought they were, then I understood why Clover kept Nibble out of here.

“But looks like whoever took over made a few changes,” Gale concluded.

“The fuck are you lowlifes doing?” a gruff yet weirdly familiar female voice yelled.

I tensed up and tried to find the source of the voice. Past some of the houses I caught sight of a mare in black armor just as she bucked down a door to a house and stormed inside. Sounds of a scuffle ensued.

“Now stop fucking and get your asses to the boss’ speech before we make examples out of you!” the same mare yelled.

A mare and a stallion rushed out of the house. They were both half dressed and stumbled along as they tried to put on the rest of their armor while galloping away. The raider in black stepped out and I recognized her stone-colored coat, the shotguns on her battle saddle, and the eye patch covering her left eye. Oh shit! The raider from Furlong.

I dipped behind the nearest house just as the raider turned our way. Gale however had not remembered her and just stood there.

“Hey!” the raider yelled. “Who else is back there?”

Gale turned to me for a moment and mouthed, “Fight?”

I shook my head and snuck out of view as I heard the raider approach. Chances were she would recognize me since she nearly ran me down, but Gale had been a bit more hidden. I doubt she saw him.

“Don’t I know you?” the raider questioned. Or I could be completely fucking wrong.

“I don’t-”

“Oh, a Jackal. Next time just say so and don’t waste my fucking time. I’m late enough as it is.” The raider turned tail and headed the same way the other raiders ran.

“What was that all about?” Gale asked.

“She’s the raider who lead the assault on Furlong,” I answered.

“Really? Regardless, we should go attend this speech, maybe this mission will go as easily as Clover made it sound.”

I nodded in agreement and we followed after the raiders as the countless voices grew ever louder.

We eventually broke free of the makeshift houses into an open square jam-packed with Pandora’s Children. I had never seen so many ponies in one place before, even the population in Tenpony seemed miniscule compared to the crowd in front of me. The murmur of hundreds of conversations cut out any other noises.

A second level of shoddy scaffolding wrapped around square. Ponies dressed in black armor sat along the second level and overlooked the rest. The raider with the eyepatch took her place among them which I pointed out to Gale with a nudge.

He had to yell so I could hear him. “Lieutenants! Each one is in charge of around fifty grunts!”

Most of the conversations died out when a massive dark purple earth pony emerged.

“Skull Splitter,” Gale identified. “He was the one who started the fighting pits. Lotta brawn, not a lot of brains.”

Skull Splitter yelled, “SILENCE!” His violet mane shook from the strength of his voice as it cut through all other conversations.

Everypony obeyed except for one raider who yelled, “Fuck you!”

Skull Splitter broke out into laughter and everypony seemed to follow suit.

Still laughing, Skull Splitter reached into his mane and pulled out a grenade. His laughter came to halt as he pulled the pin and threw it at the raider who had yelled back, and by extension all those who were unfortunate enough to be around him. It detonated and screams rang out as a wave of red mist showered the area. After the explosion all noise died except for the cries of the injured and the meaty thump of falling body parts.

Well, I’m not joining this gang.

“Anypony else have something to say?” Skull Splitter yelled. He scanned the crowd. “Disappointing.”

Skull Splitter stepped out of the way as an orange unicorn mare emerged, her mane fluttering in the wind like flames. I turned to Gale for a name, but he only shrugged. The nameless mare took her place on the opposite side of Skull Splitter and they both bowed down.

A yellow unicorn stepped forward until he reached the edge of the platform. His mane was styled back and glistened with the same sickly green color of Pandora’s Children armor. He stared forward without glancing down, and his horn glowed a bright yellow as he took in a deep breath.

“I have reached enlightenment.” His voice was silky smooth and easily carried through the entire compound. It was so audible, in fact, that it sounded as if he was speaking right beside me. Gale fiddled with his own ears, clearly experiencing something similar.

“It taught me so much,” he continued. “How we were founded. Why Equestria is dying. Our true purpose! And what a glorious purpose it is. The leader before me came so close to accomplishing it, yet he left us. He abandoned us. Our numbers used to be in the thousands but because of his treachery we have dwindled into the hundreds. So many lives wasted.”

Something’s wrong. My head felt fuzzy as his words attempted to make me feel his loss. They slithered around in my ear, trying to find a way into my mind.

“That time is behind us now. With your help, all of you, we will succeed where he failed, and I will never leave you, abandon you, betray you. I hereby adopt the name Epimetheus, and in doing so, adopt you all as my children.” He waved his hoof over the crowd.

For a moment I faltered because his words touched on worries I held for so long, and with that they found a way in. The words reached inside my head, digging through my mind until finding my fears and insecurities. They uprooted those fears and planted themselves in their place. Instead of dreading being left behind or being useless, I felt Epimetheus' love. The crowd cheered, shouted, and cried, and now I understood why. His love had no equal and I would to anything for him. I was about to join in their delight, but with the slightest gesture Epimetheus asked for silence, and I willingly obeyed.

“I am taking you all on a journey with me, a journey to find the key to our purpose which the betrayer failed to find. Will you come with me, my children?” He was answered by cheers loud enough to make my ears ring.

“What a bunch of nuts,” Gale said right before I joined in their cheer.

What! How could he speak such blasphemy against our father… Father? But he's not my... I grabbed my head as the fuzzy feeling ebbed away. What the hell? I glanced up at Epimetheus as the light faded from his horn. A spell maybe? I shook myself free of… whatever that was.

Epimetheus wiped away a tear. “Thank you, my children.” With a final emotional wave to his impassioned audience, he turned and left. Almost immediately after the lieutenants on the second level started barking orders and Pandora’s Children scattered as they prepared for their “journey.”

Gale and I spied on Pandora’s Children as they packed their bags and left. The massive gate took a dozen ponies on each side to pull open. Only two lieutenants, the eyepatch mare and another one who had metal blades attached to his hooves, and their grunts were left behind to guard the base. This would be the greatest opportunity for us to scout the area, and Gale claimed he knew where to start.

Gale led us to the back of the fortress and stopped when we found a group ponies around a campfire. They wore a variety of bardings all the way from leather to one with plated armor, but with each one something seemed off.

“Well I’ll be damned,” a raspy feminine voice marveled. “Is that our Gale?” A faded pink unicorn cantered up to us. She was dressed up in a padded tan armor and her battle saddle held a weapon made of shiny, smooth metal. Her cutie mark was a bandana and revolver. She grabbed Gale’s face and turned his head.

“Hit ‘N Run,” Gale greeted, unbothered by her rough and sudden handling of him. “I see your plan on dying of old age is working out ni-”

She covered his mouth and smiled just enough to show off her set of sharp, pointy teeth. “Thought you would know better than to bring up a lady’s age?” She released him and gave him a quick hug. “I’m guessing you're not back for good?”

Gale shook his head.

“Didn’t think so.” She sighed. “Well who’s this then.”

“Ardent Fable, ma’am,” I introduced.

“Ma’am makes me sounds old. Call me Hit N’ Run, leader of the Jackals.”

“You are old,” Gale remarked. Hit N’ Run threw out a back leg into Gale’s side and he toppled over. “You still hit hard for an old-” Another hoof slammed into his throat. Gale had a huge grin while he gasped for air. He might have been trying to laugh.

“Damn boy never knew when to shut the hell up,” the gang leader growled, then smirked. “Glad to see nothing's changed. C’mon let’s get you kids some grub.” She stepped on Gale as she made her way to the pot over the fire.

“So Gale warned them about our ambush because he wanted some work to do,” Hit N’ Run explained. “The only thing more dangerous than an ambush is somepony knowing they're about to be ambushed. My Goddesses, what a shitshow that was.” The group of Jackals that had gathered around to listen laughed. I figured this was a funny-in-hindsight thing.

“Ah Gale, you should have never left,” Hit N’ Run reminisced.

Gale shrugged. “Found a better fit.”

“So I’ve heard...”

The group had been fun and rowdy, but they were all suddenly silent. Each of them with a hint of shame in their eyes. That's when I finally picked up what was off about their armor, not a single hole, cut, or scrape marred the surface, hell no dirt or grime either. It's as if the crowd had never even seen combat.

Hit N’ Run sat down next to Gale. “There's this new group running about,” she said. “Callin’ themselves Elpis. Pandora’s Children are offering a hefty amount of caps for any pony who can bring in a member.”

Shit.

Gale kept calm and kept his playful demeanor. “Big enough to interest you?”

“You know our way, that job is too high risk. I hear they can make it out of any situation. Much like how I taught you.”

“You also taught me the loose chicken round up.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I failed to follow their conversation and it sounded like we were getting betrayed.

“You sneak onto a farm and release a farmer's chickens,” Gale explained. “While they try to round them up you rob their house. We're the chickens, and Pandora’s Children are the farmers.” Gale faced his old leader. “You really think they won't come for you?”

“How long you think I've been planning this?” Hit N’ Run pulled out a handkerchief and fused with the dirt on Gale’s armor. “Listen, we pull this off, the whole gang could retire and live to die of old age. I trust you to buy us the time we need. I'd get into that big building there, since you won't last long out in the open.”

Gale only gave her a smileless stare.

“You should never have left.” A hint of regret inched into Hit N’ Run’s voice. “Good luck, and don't do anything stupid just to keep the barmaid alive.”

My my jaw clenched. This bitch knew the whole time that we were part of Elpis. She probably held us here while one of their members ran off to inform Pandora’s Children. She even knew that ridiculous nickname. “Fuck you, I'll keep him alive and get us out of here.”

Hit N’ Run got up and dared to get near me as she stared into my eyes. I wanted to jump into SATS and blow her away but the indicator on the compass still counted her as neutral and I had yet to cross that line.

“By Celestia, you sound serious.” She gave a dry laugh. “Tell you what, just this once, I'll bet against the odds.” She tipped her head and with that the Jackal's took their leave.

“Why didn’t we kill her?” I growled.

“Better only one gang try to kill us than two,” Gale cautioned. “We need to get moving.”

Taking Hit N’ Run’s advice we beelined for the black tower in the middle of the fortress. We had only just started weaving though some of the scrap metal homes before Pandora’s Children were upon us. A bullet slammed into a piece of scrap in front of me, narrowly missing my leg. I spun and entered SATS, targeting three of the four raiders chasing us, and let the spell take over. Two of the raiders dropped with chests full of lead. I ran past Gale as he tried to take out the other two behind us.

I could see the entrance to the black building just past a break through a cluster of homes when the raider with an eye patch stepped in front of me, both of her shotguns in optimal range to blow me away. My heart stopped and she leaned down to fire. Our eyes met a moment before she bit down and the threat indicator in front of me suddenly turned neutral.

The raider release the trigger and asked, “Ardent?”

I was at loss for words. I scanned the raider from hoof to ear but no part of her seemed familiar aside for an ounce of her voice.

“By the Goddesses it is you, but how did-”

A saw blade flew past me trained at the mare’s neck. With incredible speed the raider dove to the side falling into one of the houses. The weak structure collapsed on top of her, but the neutral indicator remained.

Gale pulled me along, reminding me of our rather urgent need to escape.

We slammed through the doors into the black building. Gale levitated chairs over to jam the doors while I peeked out a shattered window. We had got in just in time. Pandora’s Children had just rotated the mounted guns along the wall’s perimeter to face inside the base. I shielded my eye as a glare reflected off of something in the distance, and not a moment later Gale bit down on my mane and pulled my head away from the window. A bullet shot through the broken glass and buried itself in the marble floor.

“Glares mean sniper,” Gale said. “So no more sightseeing.”

I nodded. “What's the plan?”

“I hoped you would figure something out.”

“Me!?” My ears dropped. Why did Gale trust me to get us out of this? Aside from me saying I would...

“Tell you what. I'll get us out of this building, you figure out how we get out off the base. Fair enough?” Gale brought up his weapon and fired. A raider from the second floor fell over the ledge, a saw blade lodged in his face. “We're going up.”

I tapped at my temple as if that could make the EFS less useless. Red dots filled my compass but once again it did not tell me if they were above, below, or right behind the door in front of me, and considering the building seemed to branch up endlessly, each door we opened had its risks. The rooms we passed were a combination of offices and workshops with a lot of engineering tools. Whenever we took cover from the random patrol I swiped a bunch of the equipment. Nibble will be happy if we make it out alive. I let Gale focus on maneuvering the facility while I thought of ways to get out of the base, but the only course of action I came back to was to escape through the main entrance. A suicidal plan since it's the most heavily defended area.

We rounded a corner where a stallion with a gas mask and black armor stood waiting. Shiny circular tanks were strapped to his back and the connected weapon coughed spouts of fire from its nozzle.

Oh shit.

The stallion gave a cruel, muffled laugh and pulled the trigger. A white-hot plume of flame spewed forth towards us while roaring like a dragon. Before the blaze could reach us, however, they parted and veered around. Now rushing back at the screaming raider as the inferno engulfed him, burning away his coat. To conclude his horrific demise, the tank on his back ruptured and tore him apart, coating the hallway in front of us in his burnt flesh and raging flames.

“What just happened?” I turned to Gale for an answer. I could make out the faint aura of magic around his horn and followed it as it flowed through the hallway. Wherever it touched the flames slowly died out. Events of the past suddenly made sense to me as I pieced his spell together.

“You stopped the Lazuline from burning Mangle!” I exclaimed in astonishment. “You can control fire!”

“That's not true,” Gale countered. “I can manipulate oxygen; important difference.” He extinguished the flames and we continued our run.

Gale appeared triumphant when he reached a set of double doors on the top floor. He rushed forward and slammed the doors open, only to be greeted with the noise of automated turrets taking aim.

“BEEP! BEEP!”

Gale froze up at the sight of the machines. I bucked him out of the way and entered SATS, assigning a shot to each of the turrets. The spell took over and bullets were exchanged. All participants hit their intended targets. The mounted turrets exploded in a burst of colorful electricity while I swore as bullets slammed into my chest.

Gale rushed over and levitated out a pair of forceps. Without warning he dug them into my bullet wound. A scream caught in my throat as the cold metal entered my burning wound. Gale grasped something lodged in my chest and pulled out a blood covered bullet, which I observed with a grimace.

“The armor stopped the rest.” Gale smirked. “You know, whenever I save you I avoid getting injured.”

“I'm sure you prefer it this way.” I managed a gritting smile.

Gale nodded in agreeance. “We need to get you new barding.”

Gale offered me a healing potion but the burning in my chest was minimal so I pushed it away. “Might need it for something more serious.”

Gale gave my chest another look and must have agreed, since he put the potion away.

With a little struggling I moved forward into the massive office. One of the walls of the office had nothing but glass panels that overlooked the fortress. An impressive desk with gold trim and two seats had been built close to the window. Engraved metal name tags were built into the desk, one reading ‘Flim’ and the other ‘Flam.’ Multiple other, smaller tables had been set up and were covered in various paperwork. One of the walls in the office held camera feeds which revealed that Pandora’s Children had blown the door open and were funneling in.

What is Gale thinking? He had lead us to a dead end. Gale slammed his hoof on a red button next to the entrance. The room’s lights flashed red, and a blaring alarm went off. The door to the room slammed shut and a thick metal wall raised up in order to seal the inside. Oddly enough, the room filled with the scent of apple cider, a relaxing scent but not helpful for our situation. Gale looked around, waiting for something else to happen.

“Damn,” he muttered. “Thought for sure that would reveal some secret way out.”

I checked the cameras. Pandora’s Children were only halfway up and still had to get through the door. I spotted the lieutenant with the metal claws leading the way. “It bought us some time to figure things out at least. Let's look around?”

“I'll start with the desk.” Gale trotted over and started pulling out random drawers and dumped their contents onto the floor.

Guess I'll check the tables. Most of the papers just contained names and positions; a great deal had a black slash through them. Each paper I found useless I slid off the table until revealing a set of blueprints to the entire facility. An idea sparked and I searched the layout until finding a path in the back of the base.

“I think I know a way out,” I told Gale.

“That’s good...” Gale had given up searching the desk and peered out the glass panel. “...Because I found our way out of here.” He lined Hemorrhage up along the glass panel and fired. The sawblade ripped across the glass, sending small shards everywhere. I was pelted with relatively harmless but stinging glass chips, driving me to cover behind the desk as Gale lined up another shot.

One of the drawers Gale pulled out of the desk had a small latch on the bottom. I pulled on the latch and the base of the drawer popped off to reveal an audio recorder.

“Alright Ardent, let's get out of here,” Gale called out. “I see a ledge we can jump to.”

I slipped the audio log into my saddle bag. “But this is the only building, how is there a ledge?”

Gale had almost cut a square hole into the panel, and now it hung on by a small corner he avoided but could now be easily broken. He made room for me and pointed down. I leaned over but only saw a straight drop.

“I don’t see a-”

Gale grabbed me and lept at the window. The glass gave way to our weight and we were suddenly freefalling towards the ground.

What? What! WHAT! was all I could think as the air rushed past me while we dropped floor after floor.

Gale had shut his eyes and clenched his jaw in concentration. The magic around is horn had never been more clear. Gusts of winds formed below us, colliding and creating a twisting, circular mass of air. Gale lifted his head and the miniature tornado rose up, slamming into us. The blast hit every square inch of me almost simultaneously. If I would ever be bucked by a giant pony, it would probably feel something like this. The spell kept the fall from being lethal but that was about it.

Being an experienced faller at this point I bent my legs and at the moment of impact did my best to roll. My heart skipped when the snap of bone ripped through the air. I braced myself for the incoming pain, but soon realized the noise didn't come from me.

Gale laid on the ground but one of his back legs stuck directly up, a piece of bone protruding from mutilated flesh.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered as I fumbled for a healing poultice. If I had even an ounce of the calm Gale did, I might have made a “karma's a bitch joke.” It seemed fitting given his snarky comment about avoiding injury when saving me, but seeing a wound like that while noting my complete lack of medical expertise had me in a full panic. With a shaky hoof I finally retrieved the healing potion.

“Can't,” Gale said with a sharp inhale. “Not until the bone is set.”

“Well what then? Should I carry you?”

Gale glanced down at his leg. His eyes rolled up and his body convulsed in an oddly sexual manner. He shook his head. “We'd be too slow. Instead we’re going to have to have some fun here and now. Come stand over here.”

I nodded absently as he moved me into place.

“We need to set the bone back into place. It's easy, you just pull then apply pressure here.” He placed my hoof right below the bone and pushed down a little. A small spurt of blood rushed down his leg and he let out moan. “Don't stop till the bone is under the skin and you hear a pop. If you don't get a pop it means the bone is not in place and you either need to pull or push harder.”

My stomach flipped. Luna help me, I am not cut out for this. He grabbed onto his thigh.

“Pull then press,” Gale repeated. “Go!”

I pulled at Gale’s leg. His flesh stretched and blood started pour out of the wound. I pushed down and the bone sank back into his leg. This time Gale cried out in absolute pain as his head slammed back into the ground. I could feel the bone under the skin. That's not right... and no pop. I pushed again and could feel the bone rub against something solid: the connecting bone, I guessed. I need to pull harder. I yanked at his leg and Gale pulled up on his thigh. His eyes started to roll up into his skull, he wasn't going to be able to keep this up much longer. I shoved down with more pressure then I felt comfortable but was rewarded with a loud pop. Gale’s grip released as his entire body went limp.

I felt along his leg, leaving bloodied hoof marks as I patted down, then compared that to his other back leg. Everything feels the same, and even the skin is falling back into place. I lifted his head and poured the potion in. Gale half-swallowed, half-drowned in the liquid. After a moment he lunged upward and grasped along his injured leg. He released a shaky breath as the wound closed up.

“Was it good for you too?” Gale asked with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. Mid-roll I caught sight of the non-eyepatch luitentinet staring down at us from the window we escaped from. He leapt after us, letting the blades on his hoof catch the glass. They shattered as he slid down at an alarming rate. Also concerning was the other raider as she waved in order to get the attention of the mounted guns on the wall to point out our position.

“We need to go.” I helped Gale up and took the lead.

The raider succeeded at flagging us down because within moments the turret-mounted ponies unleashed hell on us. I weaved between the endless amount of homes and trash piles, but the longer they fired the more the other mounted turrets joined them. Soon we’d be getting shot at from all angles and no amount of cover would help.

Luckily we were getting close to the spot I saw on the blueprint. Unluckily I kept seeing more and more signs warning about radiation in the area. I checked my geiger counter and smirked. Liars. I raced forward until finding a house bigger than the rest, exactly where I thought the exit must be. I rushed through the door and galloped to the back corner. After wiping away some trash covering the floor I lifted the secret hatch to reveal a staircase. Flim and Flam sure were consistent; a secret lab with a secret exit.

Gale raised an eyebrow. “How did you know wh-”

“It was on the blueprints,” I explained, stepping down the stairs. I replayed the image of the blueprints in my head. Unlike the other underground labs we’d ventured into, this one was built like a maze.

After the third turn, Gale spoke up, “Do you know where you're going?”

“I told you I saw the blueprints.” I replayed the memory again as we came to a split. “Straight.”

“Do you have them with you?”

“No, I saw them.”

“But that's not- Oh, right, eidetic memory.”

I made a right turn, which should have lead straight into the main lab, but instead I nearly slammed into a metal door. I pulled at it to no avail.

Gale rested against the wall since we had finally stopped moving. His breathing was ragged and strained. He's reaching his limit, but we're so close.

Hoofsteps echoed down the halls behind us, one set had a distinct ting as metal hit the ground. Damn, that guy just won't quit.

Gale nickered. “Can you unlock it?”

The door had multiple latches locking it down. It was likely opened with a computer.

“I can try?” I pulled out the lock picking device. The moment I crouched down, the door whirred, and the latches slid out of the way as the door opened.

“Wow, that thing is amazing,” Gale marvelled as he stepped through.

I followed, staring at the device. “I don't think-”

The door slammed shut and locked behind us. Two battered mares stood at the far end of the hall, holding revolvers in their mouths. They weren't dressed like Pandora’s Children, but Gale still levitated Hemorrhage out. They aren't showing up as hostile on my EFS!

“Wait!” a mare's voice yelled moments before I did. “No pony shoot!” The speaker, a stunning tan unicorn with a bleach blonde man and white lab coat, sped around the corner.

“Why dif you let dem in?” the blue mare on the right mumbled through her weapon.

“They're running from the raiders and we need him.” The unicorn pointed directly at me. “Please.”

The blue mare reluctantly holstered her weapon. Gale levitated his away as well.

The unicorn approached us without hesitation. Her cutie mark was a hexagon with a few branching lines. She grabbed my hoof and examined my Pip-Buck, adjusting her glasses. “This is exactly what we need.”

“Um hi?” I greeted. “I'm Ardent.”

The mare went from grasping my hoof to shaking it. “I'm Ionic Bond, and you’re our ticket out of here.”

Footnote: Level Up New Perk; Life Giver: You permanently gain 30 additional hit points.

Author's Notes:

Chapter 18 coming soon... Like really soon. It will be the final chapter of part 1 of 3.