A faint dripping was all I could hear against the distant roar of the storm, all else was lost within an eerie gloom broken only by my Pipbuck's sickly, green light and a profuse clicking as it warned me of the water's less-than-hospitable nature. The sound of my hooves splashing in the shallow river below echoed through the long, dark subway tunnel. For almost half an hour it had been just that, an abyssal emptiness. Yet the deeper we went into the labyrinth of tunnels, the more our cold concrete surroundings became illuminated by a few flickering lights of their own.

It appeared that some form of power was still functioning, leading me to believe the slavers must either have a generator or somepony else had managed to get it started. 'New management' led me to assume the latter. At the top of my list of dangers right now, however, was flash floods. This wasn't the first time I'd been caught underground during a downpour, albeit the last time I was caught off guard. I'd hoped that I'd never have to endure the same terrifying ordeal again, trapped in a concrete tomb and doomed to drown in thick mud. I had to remind myself that I had little choice if I wanted to get through here. Yet the name Clip had first given to this place, and the fact even a raider preferred death over entering, had me more than a little on edge.

Then there was my new black armored friend. I looked at my Pipbuck, the map it presented had switched to one of the tunnels under the city and according to it, and Clip, we were heading the right way. Furthermore, the strange arcane device had marked out several locations, including an excavation site to the south, a train yard to the southwest, and a plaza to the southeast. The latter most included South Western Equestria Stable-Tec and M.A.S hubs, and a place called 'Oracle: South-Western Equestrian HQ'. Another marker 'kindly' remained me that these tunnels were named after screams. I had to admit that as useful as my Pipbuck's rapidly multiplying functions were, there were a few things I'd rather the thing keep to itself.

"How you holding up?" I asked the pair behind me, glancing back to see both Sky and Ochre's reflection in the inky, black water.

The former was clearly not liking the whole situation, yet it beat hiding away in an old factory, awaiting their inevitable capture.

"Fine, just... The quicker we get out of here the better," Sky reminded me, as Ochre gave a weak nod.

As much as I agreed with her, I had a feeling that we weren't going to get away with walking under the city completely scot-free. The anticipation of impending danger was like a coat of biting bugs crawling beneath my barding, and I still had to figure out a way to get to the Stable-Tec building and find out where the Transcendent were most likely operating from.

"Don't worry, we're evenly matched down here. There's three of us who can fight and I doubt they could fit many more ponies than that in here," I replied lifting the saddle blaster in my magic.

As much as I knew the modified beam rifle was better at close quarters, I found it hard to believe my own statement. I couldn't gun down a flood after all, and chances were slaver ponies were the least dangerous thing that may be lurking down here. Sky seemed to suspect the same thing, as did the others, yet Cherry at least looked like she took the fact I deemed her fight worthy as a compliment. I really hoped I was right about that as the idea of facing something we couldn't simply shoot to death only strengthened as we passed several gaping holes in the tunnel walls. Each gushing with torrents of brown filth. The foul smell was almost overwhelming and the sharp metal scraps that swirled about within the water and cut at my barding didn't bode well either. At that, I added; watch for razor-sharp debris to my long list of precautions.

At least the water wasn't enough to move the largest of the rubble. Yet by the positions of some of the rusted train cars and engines, it didn't seem impossible for the flow to shift them if it became strong enough. Most of the car's jagged windows boar the skeletons of long-dead ponies, many of which looked like they were still fighting to claw their way out. While others looked eerily like they'd been the day they'd died, sat perfectly normal and ready for a day's work. Another threat came in the form of dangling electrical wires that sparked dangerously close to the water. The coppery smell mixing with that of scorched rubber, challenged the stench of sewage for dominance of the damp air as we cautiously passed them by.

Next came evidence of something I could at least shoot, dead ponies drifted about in the gunk. Most of them had been stripped of their flesh. Surely this was the raiders doing. Even so, I felt my blood run cold as an almost bare pony skull drifted by me. I heard Cherry gasp and issue a muffled whimper at the sight of them. I felt another urge to run over and hug her.

She's not a foal! I reminded myself sternly, besides, I didn't even think I was good enough of a pony to have the right to embrace anymore.

To his credit, the youngest amongst us seemed most resistant to the gruesome sight, and I had to wonder exactly what the slavers had put him through to make him so desensitized. The images made it hard to believe he'd come back into the city so willingly, yet his commitment to saving us seemed as strong as Cherry's, if not a bit less naive. I scowled at my thoughts for adding that last part. But I couldn't deny it was at least partially right, just like Gina had criticized. My thoughts turned to the griffin only for a few seconds before the build-up of corpses began to turn the water into a river of decay.

I heard Ochre begin muttering something to herself over and over as she closed her eyes and turned her nose up from the foul smell. She wasn't the only one and even in her grumpy state Sky started to scientifically remind herself that what was dead, was dead and couldn't hurt her. My resistance to the horrific scene frightened me, but not as much as Cherry appeared to be trying to mirror my ignorance. If she could look at this and not care she was not the perfect pony I wanted her to be, she'd just become like another me. Doomed to wander the wasteland and fight an unwinnable fight, only to question her every action.

"This is where they told us we'd end up if we messed up. Guess this really is where they dumped all the corpses," Clip observed as his eyes passed over the watery graveyard with more sympathy than disgust.

I really hoped it was no more than that, like Sky said, at least corpses couldn't kill us. Yet after seeing that the brains of long-dead ponies could indeed try, I was certainly wary of the possibility of another room filled with zombies. This was the wasteland after all. The rotting stream didn't end until the tunnel opened into the ruins of what was once a metro station. To our left, a second rail line emerged from a similar tunnel, and both ran parallel to one another across the rubble-strewn station before vanishing into tunnels in the opposite wall. Above, the curved roof of thick concrete and tiles bore a great wound from which a torrential torrent of rain poured down like some unnaturally filthy waterfall. Many more joined it as mangled masses of rubble and broken metal trailed down to form a massive pillar as if it had frozen mid-collapse.

A crumbling bridge crossed half of the chamber, its opposite side having collapsed over the tracks, burying the rusted remains of another train car. On the opposite track, a similarly weathered, spark-powered train had plowed into the platform, its degraded corpse subjugated to a constant beating from the water above. I swiftly traversed the rubble that blocked our path, my limbs aching in protest as I wandered onto the left platform and out of the filthy water. My swimming insides began to churn anew as I shook off the liquid like a wet dog and both Cherry and Sky gave me a look that told me such actions were a bad idea with crippled limbs.

The legs in question seemed to agree as what felt like bolts of white-hot lightning lanced through each of them. I disguised the pained wince as best I could as I turned back, both I and Cherry helping to lift Ochre up from Sky's side as the pale blue unicorn jumped onto the platform. The moment the injured earth pony touched the concrete, however, she gave a sharp yelp. Her expression made it clear she was dealing with far more pain than I was, and Sky rushed over to her once again to help take the strain off of her limbs.

"Damn it, I'm going to have to use something stronger," Sky stated, levitating several syringes of Med-X from her medical bags.

I knew I could do with some of those too, but I had to settle for the weaker painkillers I was getting.

"Give us a moment," Sky said, as she focused on her task, and both I and Cherry nodded.

"Any idea where to next?" she asked, looking up at Clip as he rested his forehooves on her shoulders.

"I just know that all of the tunnels lead out to the old train yard on the east side of town, we just follow them there, then follow the tracks back to Crossroads," he told us, seemingly hoping that was enough of an explanation.

It was enough for me right now, and my growing urge to get out of here was just as satisfied with his words as I nodded.

"Well, we've got a moment, see if you can find anything useful. Just be careful," I stated, and it was not surprising that Cherry brightened slightly at the idea, even in our current situation.

Taking whatever you could when you had the opportunity was one of the oldest wasteland philosophies, after all. Yet most of my attention was focused on looking for strange things, things that may involve my miracle Pipbuck and the strange, armored pony after me. Directly above me, I could see the hole in the roof where the bridge had once connected to the wall, I could also see what was left of the mangled escalators that had once connected it to the platform. On the wall before me, was a transit sign. Most of it was far too faded to read and the few words that were visible were written in black along the crumbling tiles above. 'Four Stars, Public Transportation'.

Beside it was a set of old Sparkle Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla machines, the smashed bottles of the respective brands littering the area immediately before them. Additionally, the glass of both a smashed notice board and a long-since looted food vendor added to the glinting mess. It was almost ironic then, to find the piles of ragged corpses strewn about the platform before them as if the ponies had resorted to eating each other instead. I was unable to fight a gag as I caught the smell. Covering my helmet's respirator with a hoof, I closed my eyes and passed over the foul-smelling mass of rotting bodies and crawling insects. Did I have to remind myself of how much I fucking hated the wasteland for making ponies do something like this to other ponies?

Just fuck them all! That was the only response my mind offered.

Cherry didn't seem to be taking it much better, and my mind seemed to have given up on trying to keep the impossible truth from her. She too raised a hoof to her mouth but made no effort to cover up her retching, and even Clip was finally forced to cover his nose.

"Hey..." I spluttered, trying to form words over my urge to heave.

Cherry's wide quivering eyes locked on me, reminding me all too clearly how vulnerable she still was.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't... I shouldn't have convinced you to come down here... I shouldn't have dragged you anywhere you could see stuff like this," she muttered, and I stepped over to place a forehoof on her shoulder.

With a swift jolt, her shivering ceased and she tensed. A storm raged on in my mind the very instant I felt her tense against my limb. No, I was the one who felt like I needed to apologize. I was responsible for Cherry losing her innocence.

"I could have said no, back in Buck, or at the radio station. Even when we had to go under the factory. Besides, it was my idea too," I assured her responded. "Don't forget if it wasn't for you, I'd have given up already. Because in spite of whatever claims I make, I'm nowhere near as good a pony as you are," I admitted.

I was thankful for my helmet hiding my eyes as they closed tightly. The cold truth of that confession hit me again and again like an icy wall. Still, she'd asked me not to lie to her, and that's what I'd do.

Clip gave a weak nod as he agreed, but she looked right at me, straight through my cracked visor and into my eyes, stunned, as of the whole bloody mess littering the platform around her had drifted away and all she could see was me. I was begging her to trust me, especially after some of the things I'd said. Not only that, but trust herself, even after she'd made all those mistakes. Her one good ear twitched, the bandages around the other's stump shifting. I swallowed my dread, all I needed was for her to be able to think of herself as a good pony. Because goddesses damn me, I really didn't trust myself to be as good as she was. Moments later she gave a firm tremble, her eyes going from awe-filled to avoiding me like some scorned filly after a good talking to.

I felt my heart almost shatter to see her take it in such a way, I never wanted her to feel like that, she wasn't a foal but...

I turned around, looking over the piles of rotting flesh. At that moment the mounds of death were meaningless to me, all those lives lost before me, all of their lost potential, it was nothing. How can I be a good pony with a view like this?

"You're not a bad pony, you know," Cherry told me, a small smile seeping through that blank look as she once again seemed to read the doubts from my mind.

I smiled back, nodding. Evidently, that was enough to let the lure of potential salvage consume her again as she resumed scavenging, albeit keeping her distance from any of the corpses. I wished I had the same sensibility, but with the lack of anything incredibly abnormal for the wasteland, my mind homed in on the vending machines. Once again I thought about one of the Wastelander's first rules, salvage all you can if you get the opportunity. Years of experience and instinct activated like some lost autopilot as my eyes scanned the machines. I knew I couldn't really get inside without destroying the thing and its contents, but those frustrating facts steered me away from how I was treating my friend and that was what I needed.

At that, all that came down upon the dull surface of the sparkle-cola machine was a weary forehoof. Lazily it ran down the row of dormant buttons as my head thumped against the smooth, plastic front. A long dry sigh left me sending the water and sweat dripping from my muzzle and out through the busted respirator.

What are you doing? I asked myself wearily, my confident spark all but consumed by a cold darkness and every defense I'd bolstered in my head laying in smoldering ruin beneath an army of doubts.

I didn't have the right to tell Cherry to believe in herself. Look at you, Remember what you were. My mind told me. Remember what you overlooked down in that lab, remember Gina, and Babs!

"Dragonfire?" Cherry asked from behind me. My ears twitched back, and my head turned tentatively in fear she might just run away and leave me. "Urm, I can have a look at that, if it's okay," she proposed, motioning to the machine.

Every part of her was seemingly set on dismissing the massacre about her, and I knew focusing on picking a lock was about as far from it as she could hope to get. I looked back at the flickering image of sparkle-cola on the machine's front, before stepping swiftly aside.

"Go ahead," I told her as kindly as I could.

Her muzzle curled into a weak smile, then she trotted forward, raising her forehooves to the lock and telekinetically retrieving her bobby pin and screwdriver.

Clip jumped from her back, sliding down beside her and glancing at me. "Didn't think it would be this quiet down here... I mean it's not like I want anything to come get us, it's just ..."

"You don't trust silence?" I finished for him, and he gave me a knowing look as I levitated him onto my own back.

The pain threatened to flare again at the new weight, and I had to swallow another painkiller. The wasteland would not beat me, it would not make me weak, and I was certainly strong enough to carry him.

That's right, wasteland, I'm not weak at all! I mentally cursed, sticking out my tongue at the smug, metaphorical image of the post-apocalyptic world.

"That's the makings of a pony that's going to survive," I told Clip, and he gave a weak little laugh.

My eyes remained on Cherry at the words, however, and I noted that some parts of me longed to just stand there and watch her flank. I quickly suppressed such thoughts. Seriously, I was going mad, I was sure of it, and my mind still had time to think about those things.

I'd already assured myself I would not allow her to suffer that same humiliation, besides she wasn't my marefriend. She was my friend, and now she was a pony, a really cute, kind of nice-looking mare and not some traumatized raider victim, she…

No! I told my brain, and in an instant, the thoughts retreated away.

Fortunately, the pony sitting on my back didn't notice my brief moment of lust-filled staring and I swiftly looked to the left of the row of vending machines where the old remains of a shattered notice board still bore several weathered notices. 'Biggest gemstone ever excavated!' The bold title sat above an article that elaborated the respective gem was larger than the city hall. 'The miraculous discovery found days ago beneath the city, being referred to as the Desert Rose, is according to the Ministry of Arcane science, the largest natural gemstone ever recorded. Measuring a staggering one-hundred meters in length, the gemstone is to be subjugated to many on-location tests. Mine owners and workers have been compensated for the closure of several tunnels, yet tension still run high as to whom the discovery really belongs'.
Another article below it told of a record-breaking win for a pony in Las' Pegasus. 'Lucky pony Balthazar Gold wins a staggering 200 million bits during an excessive gambling spree on Equestria's biggest strip'.

Wish I had that many caps. I mentally sighed as my eyes fell down to the last of the still-readable articles.

'Explosion at Fort Sandstone: state prison, kills several inmates. Experts from the M.o.M and Equestrian defense force are still working to discover the source of the explosion, which is thought to be an escape attempt gone wrong.' I couldn't help but snicker at that one, what idiot would try and blow themselves up to get out of jail? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?

Then I recalled at least two occasions I'd escape capture with naught but a grenade. Okay, point taken.
A map of the metro network sat beside the notices, the blue background gave the fine white map of the tunnels an almost blueprint-like appearance ruined only by the big 'you are here' that sat over the south station. The map lined up almost perfectly with the one on my Pipbuck, minus the new tunnels and collapses over the decades. The words 'They come to take our jobs' were written in weeping ink across some of the maps too. Glancing back at the others, I saw Cherry still struggling with the vending machine and Sky helping Ochre walk towards us. One thing I did know was that I still had to find a way to the Stable-Tec building, otherwise this whole venture was pointless for me.

What about the ponies whose lives you're trying to save? My mind asked, and once again I felt a flood of guilt for thinking about things like that.

Even so, I focused my attention on the map. Running my forehoof over the moist plastic, I spotted an access tunnel that exited close to the central plaza my Pipbuck had marked. The M.A.S, Desert Springs hub, and its neighbors, the South West Equestria Stable-Tec Hub, and the area's Oracle HQ, were all situated around the open space. Unfortunately, the tunnel up to them was sitting right above a large area of crisscrossing tracks labeled 'Subterranean loading bay: 2'. I highly doubted the Brazens would leave that large of an area directly under the center of town unguarded or unoccupied for that matter. Nevertheless, the fact we were so close to it and still hadn't seen anypony, anypony alive that was. Was also somewhat unsettling. A bloody message splayed across the far left side of the public notice board only twisted those suspicions into something unnervingly sinister. 'They're all around you!'

All around us? I questioned the words in my mind before looking about, there was nothing, but water, rubble, and... corpses.

There was a smooth clunk above the gushing of water, and the sound echoed painfully through the station as Cherry removed the lock and opened one of the vending machines. In the same instant, a bar of text flashed through my vision and I froze. 'I would advise caution.' One by one, small red bars began to flash into existence on my E.F.S, yet looking over the field of corpses I couldn't see anything hostile. Then my head swiveled to the pink mare in horror, and her proud smile instantly dropped as our eyes met.

Whether I could see the danger or not, it was too late. They were all around us, and they'd definitely noticed. The few red dots on my Pipbucks E.F.S swiftly began to multiply, as an army of dormant hostiles began to wake up. It was a testament to how stupid I was for letting us come down here, no wonder the slavers had no defenses, they didn't need them! The pile of bodies behind my friend shifted in the moist air as did all of the others strewn about the station.

'Number of Targets, Calculating…' My visor brokenly declared, trying to crackle to life even in its damaged state. Yet my new Pipbuck made me all too aware of how many there were, too many. Like an army of the dead, hundreds of them rose from the field of corpses, hundreds of ravenous, red-eyed ghouls.

"Run!" I screamed as the festering horde rose up, bearing many rows of gnashing jaws.

With a blood-curdling growl, one of the living corpses erupted into the air behind Cherry. Without thought, I blasted the thing with a flurry of red light. The beams lanced across the rotten monster's hide, tearing its head to sizzling ribbons, and it fell limp beside her. Before I could even recognize the hit, however, another grizzled hiss sounded to my right and before I even knew it, I felt a pair of rotten forehooves over my back. The weight caused my legs to give out, and Clip rolled off of me as I fell. I heard Cherry shout something, yet her attention became focused on both Sky and Ochre as I battled the ghoul atop me. A combination of weak limbs, and the fact I had my back to the thing, gave it the advantage and before I could shake it off, it bit down furiously. Foul teeth gnashed against the dragon scale as it fought to get at the flesh beneath.

Almost instinctively, I bucked hard with my rear hooves sending my rump smashing up into its shriveled stomach. I knew a few tricks when it came to being pinned on my front, and the force sent the former pony flying back. Then its head exploded as Clip fired his shotgun. Another ghoul emerged from the gloom behind him, and I leaped right at it. Before the colt could even turn the ghoul had planted its teeth into my rump. Once again the dragon scales saved my hide from a mauling, but that didn't stop my crippled limbs from ensuring I fell again. Grimacing at the pain, I rolled onto my front, shaking the ghoul off and kicking it right between its glowing red eyes. It fell back, raising its hooves to its face and hissing angrily. I withdrew my hind legs and pounded it a second time, smashing its disfigured face into the vile ichor ghouls called blood.

Wait, was that glowing a faint orange too? Goddesses, not even the ghouls in this damn place are right! I noted as the goo dribbled over my armor.

"I've had far worse things wanting to take a good piece of my rump, thank you!" I grunted loudly, wincing at the pain in my gut as the bucking motion threatened to tear my insides apart.

That didn't stop me from beating its foul excuse for a face to a slimy, glowing mess with several more kicks, before striking another savage beast with the butt of my blaster as it lunged for me. Clip just looked at me, stunned for a brief moment before I levitated him up with my magic. The pain in my legs suggested that I may not be able to carry him anymore, while levitating him and using my weapon was becoming increasingly hard for my swirling mind. That didn't stop him from firing at several ghouls, all of whom found out that even he wasn't an easy meal as his shotgun reduced them to bloody mush. In the frantic blur of combat, the wet darkness about me was randomly illuminated by a bright flash as Cherry fired my magical energy pistol into more of the zombie ponies, keeping the monsters away from Sky and Ochre as they staggered over.

"We need to get out of here!" I declared urgently, bringing a heavy forehoof down on the ghoul I'd just struck with my blaster. They glanced up at me as I fired weakly into the face of an encroaching ghoul, and despite the fear, I could swear I could see a sarcastic 'no, you don’t say' expression on Sky's face.

"Come on!" I shouted, motioning behind me at the rubble pile beneath the shattered roof.

Sky's look then changed to one that told me that the ghouls were not the only ponies who she was going to kill. The look I shot back only told her we had to survive this before anypony was going to kill anypony else. Cherry seemed hesitant to move anywhere in the confusion. Moments later Clip blasted a pair of leaping ghouls behind her and she swiftly bolted along the clear path toward us.

"Get to the other tunnel, I have an idea!" I instructed as she passed me, wincing at the pain in my stomach.

She stopped at my side, lime green eyes wide with both panic and worry. "Go!" I hissed, magically placing Clip on her back.

A new pain struck me as the pink mare's expression fell into something like that of a timid foal. She trusts me, doesn't she? She trusts I I'm not lying to her again, right?

That vulnerable expression was torn away a moment later as the deep instinct to survive took hold and I nearly shoved her toward the top of the concrete pile. She moved moments before I could do so, scampering up the rubble. A moment later, both Sky and Ochre were past me and I began to backpedal up the pile of rubble, blasting the ghouls back with more controlled blasts of magical energy as I reached the peak of the mound. The sound of similar energy blasts behind me told me that there was probably more of them to gun down on the other side, it also told me that I was going to have to be fast.

With a grunt of pain, I looked to the floor below. Several more zombie ponies were advancing from my side. More still crawled over from the opposite platform flowing across the flooded tracks as a shambling horde. I brought my blaster up, sending several searing bolts of energy into the oncoming hoard, while blindly spraying plasma into the others. There was a horrid chorus of wet pops, harsh screams, and hisses as at least five of the zombies were reduced to wet ash, while two more were gruesomely dismembered and fell convulsing to the soaked platform. The bitter stench of their boiled flesh mixing with that of decomposition.

Yet for all the ones that fell, two more were unscathed enough to persist and began clumsily scaling the rubble. Savage jaws snapped, flared nostrils emitting a faint orange glow as they snared like rabid dogs. With an experienced twitch of my magic, I reloaded my blaster. Tossing the empty spark batteries at them for good measure.

Who knows maybe it could have hit one in the eye or something? The thought was irrelevant, however, and once again I brought the barrel of my blaster to bear on the hoard, adding all the firepower my horn could cope with.

"Look out!" Was all I heard one of the others call out amidst a horrific screech in my right ear.

I spun around, only to see a savage corpse lunge down at me from what was left of the station's upper bridge. I moved my weapon to blast the creature. Yet with no time to pull the trigger, the length of the energy rifle forced between us was the only thing blocking me from those teeth as the ghoul collided with me hooves first. I couldn't help but scream, both in terror and agony as I was thrust to the cold rubble and began to slip down its far side, a set of gnashing jaws only inches from my helmet. The ghoul hissed, sputtering vile secretions over my visor with every jolt. Images of Gina standing over me, her head marred by that brain creature came flickering back to me as the magic in my horn flared.

A bright spout of cyan fire hissed forth, searing the ghoul's face. The creature thrashed wildly, trying to batt the fire away as I pressed all four hooves against its underside and bucked up. It flew upwards as my hind legs did as instructed, yet my forehooves burned like they were on fire and gave out, sending the ghoul's teeth right down at my face. I shifted my head, missing its teeth by inches, but the creature took the opportunity to bring its scorched jaw down onto the underside of my left shoulder as my forehoof stretched up weakly. The softer underside of my barding was no match for the sharp needles it called teeth, and all I did was cry out in pain as the serrated blades tore at my soft flesh and my magic failed, weapons clattering away from me.

In a frantic struggle, I brought all three of my free hooves to bear, beating them against the ghoul's rotten hide with all of my might. It didn't seem to be going anywhere, however, and its maw was still firmly wrapped around my shoulder. I couldn't stop screaming, in my ravaged brain those accusations came forth and I could do nothing but understand as they told me how much I deserved to die this way. The idea both terrified me and relieved me. Suddenly a pair of pink hooves connected with the beast's head, and there was a sharp, bloody pop as the force yanked its teeth from my flesh. The zombie pony gave a garbled cry, my blood slavering gruesomely from its blackened muzzle as it looked up towards Cherry angrily.

"Get away from her, you creep!" she growled fearsomely, before opening fire with several more beams of magical energy, bullets, and whatever else she had to blast the creature down with. Ultimately, magical energy proved best as the ghoul was reduced to glowing pink ash after only a few seconds.

"You ugly fuckers better stay back too!" she called, turning to face the ghouls still clambering over the rubble towards us, opening fire upon them with bursts of energy and loud shots from Responsibility.

My whole body screamed in pain, my head, shoulder, my right forehoof, my stomach, heck even my tail felt as if it was on fire. The scent of burning ghoul and festering death clogged my nose. Those dark accusations within my mind faded but every fiber of my being still told me how much of an idiot I was. The same survival instinct bucked the distraction in the face as I looked to my left shoulder. It was smothered in dark crimson, more gushing forth by the second.

I pulled the straps of my barding tight, slowing as much of the bleeding as I could, then adrenalin took hold and I staggered to my hooves, telekinetically retrieving my weapons. My companion meanwhile, sent bolt after bolt of magical energy and bullet alike into the zombies below. It was as if she were somepony else entirely, she looked unwavering, determined, and yet only fuelled by fear. She looked angry with them, with everypony, even herself. Just like me…

Priorities! My mind screamed.

Peering over the opposite edge of the rubble I saw several more ghouls scampering up from behind her, then I saw Clip and the others backing up into the flooded tunnel, naught but his shotgun and the revolver Sky had finally been forced to use holding back the hoard. At the sight of the blue colt limping through the water, however, that underlying instinct wrapped its tendrils around my mind and slammed reality into me with the force of a train.

"Cherry, come on!" I coughed, still gagging on the taste of ghoul drool.

Warm blood pooled beneath my barding, yet before I could look the pink mare's eyes snapped to me furiously. She was frozen there, those lime-green spheres burned angrily for a long moment. My eyes merely quivered painfully. She truly looked like a different mare. Now I was looking at her and I didn't see who I'd told only minutes ago not to doubt herself. Now I saw a pony who'd had a hard life of loss and pain, all at the hooves of others. I saw a pony who was angry at the world trying to take everything from her. It was another truth of the wasteland. Was it anger, a secretly building rage that fuelled her to make a difference? Was that what had forced her to go after her friends, told her to go after Sky's distress signal? I was naught but the cowering little wreck I'd been when the wasteland had stolen from me those which I loved most and now…

By the goddesses Dragonfire you have no idea. My mind hissed.

Then Cherry's angry expression wavered, and a look at my bloodied shoulder seemed to call her back to the urgent reality.

"Dragonfire! You're..." she declared urgently.

I raised a forehoof grimacing at the pain as I motioned for her to stop.

"No, we need to get off this... Platform, now!" I forced, my weak tone and coughing doing nothing to set her concerns to rest.

She looked hesitant, even with the shambling of a hundred approaching ghouls.

Before she could object in any way, however, I turned towards the downward rubble slope. I heard her hooves shuffle uneasily. "Dragonfire you can't make it like..."

"I can worry about all the shit that is wrong with me when we're out of here!" I cut her off sharply, knowing she was gonna speak the moment my wounded body began to falter.

Then, without even so much as a word, I brought my blaster up, my horn feeling like a hot screw twisting back into my skull, as I rapidly pulled the trigger. What few ghouls Cherry had left on this side of the rubble were swiftly reduced to true corpses. The sound of more gunfire behind me and the sight of a hoard mowing over the top of the train cars across the platform only hastened my staggering as I fumbled clumsily towards the flooded tracks.

This, or a flooded tunnel full of enemies? My mind asked. But it was like I'd said, I'd been through worse, there had always been worse, and at least this time I had a plan.

The survivalist part of me would not allow me to go on without at least some kind of plan. Looking back I saw Cherry swiftly descend the rubble as she fired blindly up at the tide of hungry dead boiling over the peak. I turned, firing up at them, and backpedaled painfully, Cherry mimicking my actions as she was forced to reload.

"Get back!" I declared as my rear hooves met the platform's edge.

Sky and the others had backed right up into the tunnel, their shots taking out the ghouls trying to wade across the tracks to get at us. Cherry glanced reluctantly back at the inky water, then of all the places she could look, her firm gaze was directed at me.

"I'm not leaving you," she declared as strongly as she could.

I felt a surge of many emotions, pain, fear, pride... Horror. Even a spark of goodness. All of which were swept away as the zombie hoard began its clear stretch toward us.

"I'm not asking you to, now get into the tunnel!" I called out in the firmest tone my beaten body could muster.

I hoped she trusted me, trust was a two-way thing. She hopped back, I heard the sound of splashing as she galloped toward the others. One of the ghouls lunged at me and gained a blast of energy to the face for its trouble. Another leaped forward and I fell back into the water, the thrashing creature's momentum carrying it over me and smashing into the other side of the platform with a loud thud. Without thought, I bolted for the tunnel after Cherry and the others. My painful wreck of a body was forced to go faster than it was able to, the water making it all the harder to gallop.

The cold liquid felt as if it were dragging me back toward the hungry horde with every step. That only became more apparent as the flow of shambling corpses began to fumble down from the platform and onto the flooded tracks. Now I knew all my friends were in the tunnel ahead of me, however, I looked up and focused nowhere else. There was another surge of splashes as the horde behind fought the resistance of the water too, yet they surged through it like more of a wave then whatever I could call my pathetic excuse for movement.

"Ha! I'm dead anyway, you fuckers!" I called, knowing they were about to end up the same way any second now.

My magic flared reaching into my saddlebags, pulling the pin on one of my magical energy grenades, and levitating it up towards the tunnel's arched roof. The strain of holding it there and levitating my weapons was proving too much for my weakened body, and I ended up tossing my rifles forward into the tunnel moments before I leaped toward the others. In the same instant, my magic flared brightly, and I thrust the energy grenade right up. Holding it there as I fumbled as far into the tunnel as I could.

"Get down!" Was all I could cry through the cold water lapping at my muzzle before a bright ball of energy turned the darkness into a distant mockery of daylight for a split second.

Then, in an earth-shattering boom, the light was gone and the tunnel collapsed atop the hoard. A pressure wave of both air and water surged over my back at the same moment, and as I fell forwards into the river the world was plunged back into cold, crushing blackness.

My Pipbuck's light flickered to life. Moments later, I rose to the churning surface of the water, gasping for breath as the force of the collapse rippled through the tunnel. All the time I didn't spend flailing about like some beached fish or coughing up a storm, was spent praying to the goddesses that the rest of the roof wasn't about to come down on top of me. The moment my frantic squirming forced my hooves into contact with the silt-laden floor, I pushed up. Only to stagger as my left shoulder and foreleg throbbed painfully. Stumbling to the left I felt a cool wet surface rub against my side, it was only a moment later that I fell back against the grime-laden wall, and grit my teeth to block out the pain.

Damn it Dragonfire, this was a bad idea. No more doubts, no more mental breakdowns, no more nothing. This was simply a bad idea and you knew it! My mind went on and on, over and over. Now you're gonna be lucky to get out of this goddesses damn place alive!

My magic flared weakly, illuminating the area about me more so. In the new light, I looked down at the mauled flesh on my shoulder, barely even able to see the darkened blood stain seeping from my torn barding. I knew my thoughts were right, we'd only scratched the surface of what threats Crimson had to offer. There was still a town of armed slavers to get through, and goddesses only know what else. I was quickly beginning to doubt how I'd even survived so long out here, considering that I had been making decisions this recklessly. There's always been somepony else there, Star, my mother, at least a town or two, for me to go back to, and now... Now there was no pony. It was at times like this, with nopony else to rely on that I truly began making the wrong decisions. Hell, it was one of my stupid decisions that got me into this mess in the first place. I didn't have to take that stupid job.

I'd known the moment I heard about the bounty that it was strange. Not to mention the strange pony Griddle had brought in with her at the time. I should have just said no, I didn't have to support Star when he said we'd take it. I didn't have to leave him or follow that damn robot into the Destiny labs. I didn't have to walk so blindly into this trap that somepony seemed to have elaborately set for me. I almost growled like some wild dog at the thought of all of those stupid mistakes. Yet pain swiftly turned my frustration into a whimper.

"Dragonfire! Dragonfire!" Cherry called out amidst her own coughing and desperate gasps for air.

I felt myself lurch forward only to fall back against the wall as the pain flared once more. "I'm over here!" I shouted into the gloom, waving my Pipbuck's light.

The moment I did so, all I saw to my right was a restless pile of settling dust and rubble. To my left was nothing but an endless abyss of gloom and inky blackness. The rippling sheet of water was only broken by the bright sheen of Cherry's wet coat as the light hit her. Then Sky's, Ochre's, and finally Clip as the colt leaned against his weapon for support. I glanced at my shoulder again, then before she could see too much gruesome detail, I downed a healing potion and took out a roll of magical healing bandages. By the time I'd wrapped it in healing material, however, she'd been looking at me shamefully for a good long minute. Evidently, my medical skills were not adequate enough to provide her with the result she wanted, nor did they meet the standards of our new doctor it seemed, as Sky also regarded me with stern worry.

"You have to be about the most reckless mare I've ever met," the pale mare exclaimed, in a tone that suggested half of her wanted to strangle me and half wanted to hug me. A shot of Med-X later and I felt a great deal more of the pain subside. "That should last until we get out of here, at least... I hope," she added reluctantly as she straightened my bandages with her own magic, then looked to Cherry.

The pink mare looked over herself, then shook her head. "They need you more than I do," Cherry said, motioning to about everypony other than herself.

"Clearly," Sky muttered sourly, looking back at me before moving over to Ochre who'd been resting against the wall while her mare friend tended to the rest of us.

"Clearly, you all need each other, we'd be dead in that damn factory by now if not for them," she scorned, while Sky grumbled something inaudibly. It was clear she knew how right her words were, even if she didn't like them.

"Don't hold your breath, we're not out of this yet," I told them, rising to my hooves shakily.

The chem had already begun to subdue my pain, and the healing stimuli would probably hold out until I could get some real medical attention. I just hoped none of the drugs would impede my already fading perception. Cherry, meanwhile, still didn't look happy with the state any of us were in, me in particular.

Before she could voice those concerns, however, I spoke. "You okay?"

No, of course, she not okay, nopony is ever okay. Regardless, she nodded lightly.

"Are you?" She replied quietly, her voice taking on a tone all too similar to the one that had asked me not to lie to her again.

At first, I thought about hiding my true feelings, I didn't want her to know what I thought about all this, lest I slip up again. "More or less, thanks to you," I assured her.

"Good, then we can get going?" Sky added bluntly, resuming her place supporting Ochre.

Clip limped forwards, and without thought, I levitated him back onto Cherry's back. "The tunnels should still take us out but, I have no real idea where we are after..." He trailed off as he looked back at the rubble wall.

"Don't worry there's another way out, I saw it on the map back there. Plus, I'm learning how to use this," I offered, waving my Pipbuck where they all could see. "Besides, it takes more than a ghoul to kill me anyway," I declared bluntly, gesturing to my bloody shoulder as I fished in the water to retrieve my weapons

The look they gave me was skeptical at the very least, but it wasn't like we had much of a choice. Taking the lack of argument as agreement, I waded forward and took the lead, watching my Pipbucks map and E.F.S closely. The thing was still marked by several red bars, yet I had no idea what may be between us and them, nor if they were above or below us. The only thing that resisted me now was the foul-smelling water as it slithered by me like a thick goop.

Before I took more than a few steps, however, I noticed that in the gloom ahead, there was a faint green glow. Pinned to the far right tunnel, the flickering light seemed to sit above a small metal platform at the rail side. Its elevated height made it sit just above the inky blackness of the water.

"Hey, you think you can open that?" I asked Cherry, nodding in the direction of the service door.

She paused, thinking deeply for a moment. It was becoming clear that relying on her eagerness to be useful to make her happy was not going to work for much longer. She was starting to care about me far too much, and Just as she'd found out I was only trying to save her, not really trying to help her make a difference, she was figuring out everything wrong with me too. I wondered how long it would take her to uncover just how bad of a pony I was and consider how wrong she'd been for following me.

The pink mare regarded me for a moment, then she looked up to the locked door. "I can try," she stated, a frail confidence emerging in her tone.

I nodded, trying my best to hide the pain behind my thoughts as both Cherry and Clip made their way to the service door, the latter sitting watchfully at her side as she began to work on the lock. At that, I turned back and looked at the others.

"You get up there too, the sooner we get out of this tunnel the better," I advised, motioning to the door.

"How many more times are you going to remind us of that?" Sky retorted dryly.

A sudden disturbance in the silence behind us broke the neutral tension, and the three of us looked at each other. Then back at the rubble, only to see small parts of it begin to crumble as the sound of a hundred scratching hooves began growing like the buzz of a thousand angry bees. The fuckers are still after us? Damn these ghouls are the most tenacious in the damn wasteland!

"I think you're both right, now less talk and more moving please," Ochre added tersely, staggering forwards and forcing Sky to do the same. I backed away from the rubble, my weapons ready once again.

"It's gonna take a while to get through this, this door it's... I... No, no, I can do it," Cherry stuttered as she focused harder on the lock.

"As long as we're not around here when they get through, it’s fine with me," I said to her, and that statement earned me a few uncertain glances from the others.

Cherry merely locked eyes with the metal mechanism as if her stare could break it alone. I really wished one of us had an ability like that right now. Regardless, I positioned myself between them and the imminent threat as the sounds of burrowing grew unnervingly louder.

"Goodness... I've not seen one like this in a long time... I..." she mumbled as I heard her magic force the bobby pin, breaking it. "Urg, c'mon, you stupid lock!" she cursed, taking out another pin.

I swallowed nervously, eaten by a hoard of hungry zombie ponies underground was still not how I wanted to go. Even if I was set on the, 'soon to die train' already, there were still things I needed to do before whatever Overseer had done killed me.

You weren't thinking that when you were fighting for your life a few minutes ago. My mind stated. That's because between now and then, I'd decided to stop letting you speak, Brain! I retorted mentally.

I had to trust Cherry, trust she could get us out of this. "Hey you almost managed this when that big bug thing was after us, you can do this," I called back encouragingly, and I saw Sky mouth the words, 'Bug thing' with a perplexed look.

Then my eyes were forced back to the wall of rubble as another larger chunk fell into the water. A second later another splash sounded, yet not from the rubble pile ahead of me, this one came from the tunnel behind us. Cherry gave a nervous whimper as she fumbled at the lock.

"Don't worry it's just falling concrete," I told everypony reassuringly, hesitantly turning my attention from the rubble and to the darkness of the empty tunnel opposite.

Clip did the same, and I knew from the red bars that there were most certainly other undesirable things working their way toward us from all angles. Even in the fading glow of my horn and Pipbuck, I saw many of them move into positions that suggested they were either in the tunnel, directly above or below it. The sound of two more splashes ahead made me doubt it was either of the latter realities and I wrapped Clip in my magic. Pulling him away from the edge of the small stairs as I moved between the water and my friends. The sound of hooves splashing in the shallow water came moments later.

"Doesn't sound like concrete to me," Sky stated, levitating up her revolver.

The wall of rubble wasn't fairing well either and I felt myself torn between which set of zombie ponies was gonna get to us first. Assuming what had dropped into the water ahead wasn't something worse. The image of the large, chitinous creature that had attacked us at the radio station came to mind. The lack of any power generators to help kill it this time made the thought even more unnerving.

Damn it, Dragonfire! Really not the best thing to think about right now! Even so, I could swear I caught a glimpse of shimmering red eyes through a hole that had just opened in the rubble wall.

Suddenly, another splash sounded in the water across from the platform, I even saw the cold liquid splash against my visor as something writhed and heaved in the black ink.

"There I got it!" Cherry called out triumphantly, her words heralded by a soft click as the security door slid open.

Before I could react, however, the water to my right exploded. I levitated Clip through the door and as far from the leaping ghoul as possible, but in an instant, the creature had reached the platform. Cherry screamed, the living corpse landing atop her, wet hooves wrapping about her as its teeth clattered against the barding on the back of her neck. I swung around with all the force I could, no concern for the pain I knew I'd be feeling when the chems wore off.

"Get the fuck off her, you fucker!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I sent my rear hooves into the creature's skull.

It recoiled, giving a gargled hiss as it slipped back. Cherry kicked up, her rear legs connecting with the beast's stomach and sending it flying back.

"Get in here you two!" Came Sky's voice from the other side of the door.

I felt a small spark of relief as I realized they'd gotten themselves through. Seconds later there was another growl and that relief was stolen as another ghoul erupted from the water. I bolted through the door as the zombie pony leaped up. It wrapped its hooves over the metal rail on the track side of the platform and reached out for my tail with its jaws. Cherry made it through the door just before me. The ghoul clambered over the bars and tried to grab my hind legs. The next brief moment was one spent begging the goddesses I didn't trip.

The moment I was through the door I slammed it shut with all the force of my magic. Seconds later, another magical aura flared as Sky forced a locker up against the door. Without thought, I swung around and pointed my Saddle blaster right at the sealed opening and fell back onto my haunches gasping for breath. My chest heaved heavily, my heart racing like an engine, forcing blood through my retching body with more fury than a raging river. All the while my wide eyes quivered, locked on the sealed door as the clang of hungry hooves upon the opposite side rang out. Every moment I sat there was one just spent hoping the fuckers couldn't get through. Only after several long seconds of banging scraping and clattering failed to produce any ghouls, did my breathing finally slow and I took in a great lungful of air.

Wiping the thick, wet strands of my soaked mane from my misted visor, I heard the steady assault upon the opposite side of the door grind to an eerily silent halt. It vanished a second later, leaving only the faint hum of the dull light above us to fill the air. Collecting myself, I looked around to find we were now in a dimly lit service tunnel. Dark gray concrete formed every surface, trapping us within a cold rectangular tomb, its constant gray surface only broken by rows of pipes, service wires, and to my right, a small window.

It was, I recognized, unnervingly similar to the place I spent most of my time back in Churn, yet instead of humid and steamy this tunnel was strangely chilly. Clip and Sky seemed just as reluctant to take their eyes off the door. Ochre leaned against the wall beside the blue unicorn and Cherry was sat up against the wall to my left, a forehoof rubbing the back of her neck tenderly. The initial urge to ask the obviously flawed question was resisted. Nopony here was okay.

"Looks like we all owe you another one," I stated, in as friendly a tone as I could muster, motioning to the door.

Cherry just sniffed, wiping her nose with a forehoof before nodding weakly. Then she lowered her other forehoof and just sat there for a moment. She was thinking again, she did a lot of that.

Well of course she does, she's a smart pony. My mind snapped harshly as if some part of it really doubted the idea.

I once again quickly suppressed that thought, before looking forward. There I saw another door on the right wall of the room, the words 'you were warned' painted in dark crimson upon the cold metal. Unfortunately, that wasn't all that the blood covered. The floor was smothered in it, like a foul dark carpet several trails of which led out under the door we'd just sealed. Bloody hoof marks dotted the cold gray walls, some of which appeared to have been dragged across it, once again pointing back toward the outer door. I had a horrible feeling that being somepony in here when that door was open, wasn't the best way to go. That was evident more so by a number of disembodied limbs and splayed torsos up against the far wall, the gnawed entrails of which led out in the same direction as most of the crimson decor.

The more time passed, the more the sight seemed to affect everypony. Even after the sea of corpses outside this was a shock, yet not as much as I knew it should be. I forced my own mind away from the idea and tried not to let my eyes linger upon the bloody message scrawled across the inner door. Instead, I focused my attention on Cherry who was lifting herself from the blood-soaked floor. She looked at the gruesome display and at least tried to sink back into that stoic cocoon the last day had forced her into. That weak resolve finally seemed to be failing her though.

"I'll get the door," she stated flatly, and I shuddered at the things my mind persisted to tell me.

It took her only two attempts to get through what she told me was another well-locked door. Can't imagine why some pony would go to so much effort to keep it that way... Oh, wait there's an army of zombies out there.

Beyond the inner door was a small corridor and yet another door, once again locked. Nevertheless, Cherry set to work on it just as swiftly. I hoped it would be the last thing keeping us with our backs to the ghoul-infested subway tunnels. To the right of the corridor was a small room, and I stepped into it to allow Sky and Ochre space in the tight corridor. I was surprised to find myself fighting the urge not to gag at the foul scent of a trash can filled with very old, rotten scraps of meat and bone. Nevertheless, I was greeted with a small square box that looked to be some kind of office. On the far side sat a rusted old set of metal shelves, to my left was a locker, beside which was the smelly trash can.

Opposite, was a desk complete with a terminal, drawers, and what appeared to be a scribbled-on stack of dried paper. After salvaging what I could from the shelves; two packs of sugar apple bombs, a sparkle-cola, and several stacks of ammo for my scoped rifle, as well as some for Sky's revolver. I began looking through the cabinet. All I discovered there was an old magazine that I was amazed had survived all of the floods that must happen down here. 'Today's locksmith', well unless I was planning on twiddling with a screwdriver and bobby pin myself, I knew somepony who'd really appreciate this.

After clearing most of the room of salvage there was only one thing left, the terminal. Somewhat reluctantly I shifted over to it, sitting on an old stool that sat before the desk. A mix of both curiosity and caution wrapped over my mind as I looked at the flickering green screen. One emotion fought to slow my actions enough to ensure that Cherry would finish before I could snoop around. The other retaliated just enough to encourage me to hook my Pipbuck up to the terminal. Looking at the device on my foreleg, I tried to ignore the red bars skulking all around me, and after a rather easy hacking attempt, I got into the terminal.

The password was 'Null?' Damn, wasn't somepony a genius?

I was granted with several audio files for my efforts. Most of which were recent, only from weeks ago, reaching back about a few months. One lone entry seemed to predate the bombs, however, and I selected that recording first hoping it was pre-apocalypse enough to be at least something not emotionally desolating. A crackling of static filled the air, lasting for a long moment.

Great, it's just another dud. I mentally sighed. I was about to shut it off when the hiss of a distant voice began to emerge from the heavy static.

"Thhhiiss iiiissss...... Gooollenssssttttoeee." A Buck sounded over the buzzing of the recording before it cut out with a sharp beep, then all of a sudden the recording gave a buzzing pop and the voice continued.

"Finally, thank Celestia they finally got that thing under control. Anyway, as I was trying to say this is Golden Stone, checking in for what feels like the first time in a month. All the systems have been on the fritz ever since they found that damn thing in the mines! I mean, I know the normal rose crystals have a way with electronics, but that's only like sticking a weak magnet next to your terminal at most. That thing they have down there in the south-east tunnels…

I don't know, it's like one massive magnet screwing with everything in the city! Ever since they dug it up I've been fighting to get these damn things working. I can't be sure if the thing's even working now, I'm just talking to it because what else am I supposed to do down here? They've shut this track down for maintenance, so here I am running as standby engineer on a track that's being worked on by a whole team of engineers just up the rail!

Damn, this job. I knew I should have gone on strike with the rest of the miners when I had the chance. Stupid Ministry messing with us all. Don't get me started on Oracle, never heard of them before, but damn, they don't seem to care about anypony, least of all any of us. They all keep going on denying it, but everypony around here knows it's all the stupid M.A.S eggheads making that thing down there worse. The thing's not natural, and what do they do?

Go poke it with a big magical stick. It's like throwing rocks at a hornet's nest, I swear. Oh yeah, then there's that talk of putting the damn thing in a museum. They can shove that thing up their tails for all I care but. But now they want to keep it here? By Celestia, I really have to find a new job out of town."

The recording fell into static once more before fading away completely. At that I switched it off, moving to the second. My mind was wondering what the buck was talking about. Crystals? Well, if there was one magical thing I understood it was gems, I'd stuffed enough of the things into my weapons that was for sure. Desert Roses were what they called the red gems they found around here back before the war. Yet recalling the poster I'd glimpsed back in the station, I was reminded of a greater 'Desert Rose'. Then there was that word 'Oracle', I'd heard it before, but where?

I paused, a sickly feeling that I'd heard it back in Destiny Corp. labs not boding well with me at all. As for the gem? I knew the Roses had an effect on electronics, that was why nopony could use them to make weapons. They were more useful to use like magnets in the production of electricity. Even so, I'd never heard of a Desert Rose powerful enough to mess with an entire city. I mean if it were in a gun I'd... I had mental images of gigantic death lasers blasting down from the clouds, and felt strangely like a crazy raider boss I'd once met, who tried to mix some matrix disruption grenade with some of the red gemstones in question. The result of that misfortune was hardly productive, especially for him. All I knew for sure was that whatever this Desert Rose was, it looked like it was long gone. Especially if one of the goddesses damn ministries wanted their hooves on it. Regardless, I swiftly passed my attention to the next recording. This one was from only a few months ago, and at the sound of a grizzled buck, I instantly regretted it.

"Arrr, how wonderful we finally got this darn thing working again. It's been a couple of weeks' waste of perfect disciplinary material not having this darn... darn, thing working. That's the spark boys' problem downstairs though. I can finally get back to having some fun. Maulfiend’s finally gonna get his little set of warnings to make sure the darn miners do as they're told, not that he gives two fucks about that anymore. No, he's too chummy with them up on the mountain.

I'd say fuck him, but they'd probably just rape my mind like they did the others. I'm just in it for the blood, gore, and fine flank at the end of a good day. Helps keep the rage at bay, causin' pain, recording the slaves' pitiful pleas to come back in through the door... It's a good pain. It's extra good when they take a shot of gettin' back in. Don't think any of um' can read though. Warning I put on there might make um' really think about what they did if they could. Had to put little Breeze through the other night. Shame I couldn't record that show. Ha, ha, she was almost as good in there as she was in bed when the rotties came through to get her.

Haaahaaaa I love this darn job. Bet those rotten fuckers on the other side love it too, getting free meals every time one of the slaves really fucks up, and that fresh meat doesn't come cheap either. Hear that you zombie fuckers! Plus, now we got a new shipment coming in along the rails from Old Appaloosa. Way I hear it, we're in some good competition with those idealists in Fillydelphia.

Bet Mauls gonna hide behind his new friends when that comes to bite him too. I just hope these newbies survive the darn train ride, fuckers up there don't seem to have perfected that yet, and no slaves good to us dead. I mean, then they can't scream for me, I can't hear it either. Oh, yeah one last thing, Slate Chip. If you're in here next take a look at this darn needle caster thing or get the fucking shit off of my desk, or you'll be going through that door next, you fucking worm!"

The recording shut off there, my eyes fell over the many more that came after it. None of which I was ever going to risk listening to, the screams of ponies being eaten alive? I looked up through the blood and hoof-stained window before me at the room in which ponies had cried and screamed to get away from the ghouls, only to have those sounds drilled into the heads of the others. I'd been wrong about this place, I should have run right in over the bridge and just slaughtered as many of the despicable fuckers as I could. I was almost on the verge of tears as my mind reminded me this was the wasteland. This was not the worst thing I'd encountered, and just like that, I was dismissing it like I did all of those other awful things. I slipped back on the stool, then froze as I glanced behind me. Clip was there, looking at the screen.

"This is how they did it, isn't it?" he asked and I checked to see if I'd accidentally forgotten to plug in my ear bloom or something.

I hadn't, that meant he was a smarter pony than me. "You know?"

"They used to tell us where those recordings came from, nopony would question them, most believed it... But I never," he explained before his look turned strangely pitiful.

"You never... What?" I asked, with no intention of provoking any more of an answer should he remain silent.

His eyes fell slightly. "All I thought about was getting through the next few minutes alive. Hoping one day I'd get out... I never thought about any of the others really, even when the slavers came and took them away," he told me simply.

I stood up, looking down at him. "You're a strong little pony then, and I promise you'll get out," I assured him with a weak smile.

I knew things in his head were telling him to doubt that, but he mirrored the weak expression. I was just glad that nopony else had heard, or even guessed about the recording as he had. No pony needed to know that such cruelty could exist. While I didn't know how Ochre or Sky would feel about the traditions of those who'd nearly captured them, I knew I couldn't let Cherry find out what had been going on down here. She was a better pony, I had to preserve all of that while I could. At that, I turned tail to the terminal screen, thankful for the pain relief Sky had given me as I bucked my hind hooves right through it.

"No more recording for you, you sick fuck," I hissed, then looked back at Clip.

The feeling at least seemed mutual, and at that, my eyes came to rest upon the piles of scribbled paper that sat on the desk just beside the broken terminal. It seemed the pony mentioned in the recording had never removed their stuff after all, and at that, I wondered if some of the blood in the other room had been theirs. I shuddered, then looked at the papers to find they were some kind of blueprint detailing how a pony might possibly make a special needle caster from a collaboration of rare parts as well as a desert rose gem.

I had no idea whether it was an energy weapon, ballistic, or non-lethal. But as much as I despised every aspect of what I'd just heard about these ponies, I wrapped the blueprints in my magic and stuffed them into my saddle bags. My Pipbuck's new inventory spell kindly sorted them for me, labeling them as Red Needler blueprints. If nothing else, it would at least keep these filthy ponies from ever getting their hooves on such a weapon. I almost wanted to turn back and act upon my bold statement about torching the bridge at that idea.

As I exited the room, however, I was met with a triumphant. "Yes!" from Cherry, followed by a set of relieved sighs from the others.

Preserve her, save her. Keep at least one good pony in the wasteland. My mind repeated as the door slid open to reveal another tight, pipelined corridor.

"Here, you'll understand this better than me," I informed Cherry generously, levitating the copy of Today's Locksmith over to her.

She looked at it skeptically, then, despite all the things I knew were going on in her head, her muzzle curled into a smile. "Don't know if I've read that one, thanks," she stated appreciatively.

It was a welcome change to her blunt tone, and as much as I resented the idea, her cuteness was another major reason to save her. I stepped into the doorway, my Pipbuck very kindly reminding me that the quickest way to the subterranean loading bay was to the left as was the quickest way to the Stable-tec Hub. I still had to figure out how to get to the latter with the others, yet I'd cross that bridge when I came to it. Right now, all I was doing was keeping them all alive.

"Come on, Pipbuck says the way out is this way," I stated.

I could also see several red bars marked on my E.F.S just ahead. But in truth, every slaver I mowed down after hearing what they did to ponies down here, just meant a little less suffering and cruelty in this already far too hard and cruel world. I just hoped stopping as many of the evil ponies as I could absolve me of all the other things I'd done wrong as of late.

Okay, so this really is a bad plan. I was beginning to realize that now more than ever. But what choice do we have?

The massive chamber I was now staring at was a monument to just how bad an idea this was turning out to be. The colossal crossing of train lines, tunnels, and industrial machinery looked more like the mangled wires I'd seen inside terminals expanded tenfold. Pipes and cables hung from a crumbling concrete roof, trailing down the equally dilapidated walls. The smooth concrete that formed the wall was cracked and marred by huge fissures, water, and brown sewage cascading outwards from within. Crude bridges of rubble and frail catwalks traversed the space between the holes in the wall and the pits that dotted the ground. The smell of blood, sweat, sewage and explosive cordite filled the baking-hot air, as did the scent of molten steel.

The screeching of train cars rang out as many tones of rusted pre-war carriages were dragged over gnarled tracks. The clang of hammers, whirring machinery, and cries of an abused workforce joined the sounds, as did the cracking of whips and bang of guns. Monolithic pillars of concrete were covered by thick metal frames, and massive service elevators carried up large supply crates between huge industrial pipes. Mining pits and cages sat down between flame-spurting pipes, and some even hung from high up on the subterranean towers. Rattling chains and sparking wires were coated in sickly sprays from above as rain trickled down across their electrical surfaces to form frothy brown pools in the deepest pits below.

Across the many tracks and steel-encased pillars, I could see several large metal drums and even more rusted boxcars sinking into the mud. Dark caldrons were coated in hardened slag as their insides glowed red with the bubbling, molten liquid that was poured down into them from the larger stone vats above. Streams of the glowing hot gloop drained out from holes in their bases, flowing down long pathways before disappearing into yet more drums. Around them, a vast assortment of metalworking equipment ground on and on. Rollers, cutters, and saws all ground into the cooling metal as if somepony had dragged a whole steel mill underground into this infernal pit. Hell, it was how I'd imagined Fillydelphia, just with more stone and less red sky. In fact, now, this was far more like the fiery lair of some kind of evil, mechanical dragon.

The spurts of flame, the clouds of embers, the smoke, and the fact the air itself glowed with an orange hue like some infernal chasm, only supported that idea. I was even terrified to look at the massive chamber's far corner where a huge chasm, exposed to the stormy world above, had swallowed a vast section of the earth. Like a hungry mechanical monstrosity crawled up out of it. I was also frightened that Clip would run at the sight of this, especially when I looked down to see hundreds of battered and bloodied slaves digging in rocky pits between the rusting rails. Nothing but tattered robes and rags to protect them from the harsh conditions.

The excavation pits were rimmed by crudely erected walls of scrap and guarded by ponies clad in tarnished brass armor. On the rails above, wagons were pulled by yet more sickly-looking slave ponies, slavers beating them from atop the hordes of scrap and gemstones they were hauling in the wagons. I frowned, years of wasteland survival once again making sure that I was not as concerned by the scene as I knew I should be. I'd seen slavery, I'd seen torture, and I'd seen death.

"They call this place the Furnace, it's where they do most of the work. Most of the slaves are held in smaller cells around here too, instead of above ground," Clip explained, and despite my anxiety, I was glad he'd been the one to accompany me.

I'd insisted on scouting out every direction, especially considering one of us could hardly walk. Yet the closer we'd gotten to this place the more he'd insisted on coming with me. He did know this place better than anypony else it seemed, maybe even better than my Pipbuck.

"That means the elevator to the train yards should be back there, through one of the upper slave pens," he added, pointing back in the direction we'd left the others.

I was very glad that at least we wouldn't have to sneak through the Furnace, and I nodded to him once. Moments later, we turned away from the infernal chasm and crept our way back to the others. Even so, every moment the image of the furnace remained in my mind was one my thoughts persisted to question my morality.

How can you just walk away from this? My mind asked and despite my many, sensible excuses it would not let me simply let go of the idea. I swear my morality is going to get me killed all too soon.

"It's not pretty," I warned the others the moment we were all back together.

Cherry took a deep breath as if preparing for another world of horror. I shook my head and motioned to another corridor. "There's a cargo elevator to the train yard that way, hopefully, we can reach it without anypony noticing," I told her, my Pipbuck confirming as much.

Not only that but there was a way up to the surface close by, and a small army of markers. Fortunately, only a few of them were red, which meant the blue ones that remained must be slaves.

"Well, hopefully, this one will work," Sky muttered at the mention of another elevator,

"Can't exactly push you upwards can I," Ochre added, but before either of them could say anything more I took the lead, placing Clip back onto Cherry's back as I watched my E.F.S closely.

The dimly lit corridor beyond was stained by crimson graffiti, the bloody words kindly telling me that an area the slavers called the 'funhouse' was this way. Another told me the same about a 'dinner room' being along another corridor to the left. As I rounded another corner I was presented with an intersection of four tunnels. A rotting wooden door covered the pathway directly ahead. The corridor to the left had collapsed, and the Pipbuck told me that right was the direction we needed to take. That evaluation was swiftly silenced, however, as the wooden door swung open and an armored pony burst out laughing.

His spiked, brass armor was chipped and battered, coppery turquoise lines appearing where the brazen metal had oxidized, and where a skull shape had been molded into his helmet. The brazen buck staggered forward, laughing, and I ducked back around the corner. He looked drunk, so maybe he'd just pass us by?

"Fucking bitch. I'll show you who's boss!" he slurred back into the room he'd just come out of, slamming the door closed with a kick of his rear hooves. "Fucking mares, no better than any of those damn slaves," he added, and I heard the chime of magic as he took a sip from a bottle he had wrapped in a chain around his neck.

So he's a unicorn under all that stupid armor. My mind assessed again.

"If I had a cap for every fucking bitch and filly out there I'd fuck I'd..." The buck's words were cut off by a sharp crack and a flash of light.

The shot shattered his glass and struck him right in the eyes. With a bloody splay, he collapsed into a twitching heap, his skull naught but a crimson rag. Clip held his shotgun right above Cherry's head, but as she winced at the loud sound, he stared at the buck's twitching body with an angry glare. I just looked at him, then at the dead slaver, my morals once again in flux. These were the ponies that had beaten and tortured him for most of his life, and I was the one thinking he'd no right to shoot them?

Wouldn't you have done the same? My mind asked coolly. He'd worn that armor, he was one of them, one of the most infamous slaver groups in the southwest wasteland, he was a monster. Why did you even consider letting him leave? Or that killing him may be wrong?

My thoughts then tried to remind me that we didn't want to attract any attention, yet he was a monster. I was a good pony, wasn't I? So why shouldn't I kill monsters? It wasn't any different from what I'd always done. My eyes trailed down from Clip to 'Responsibility' sitting in its holster. Meanwhile, Cherry didn't look proud or sympathetic, she just looked focused.

"What the fuck was that?" A muffled voice called from the room beyond the door.

Right, now my mind was scorning me for allowing anypony to make a noise, no matter their personal trauma. You're an idiot through and through.

The next moment another brass armored mare burst through the door. The game was up now though, and she was not spared the wrath of my saddle blaster. The bright beams tore her hide to sizzling ribbons, melting her armor back to the molten mess that had once bubbled from the furnaces. Another buck burst through the door after her, managing to get off a shot as I reached the intersection. The bullet pinged from my scales, leaving only another aching bruise as I took his head clean off in a wet flash of gore.

Goddesses, why do they even wear that armor,? It's certainly far from the ideal material. The technical part of my mind managed to question amidst all of the other turbulence in my head.

Nevertheless, as I was forced to reload my blaster with my rapidly depleting supply of spark batteries, another two slavers charged through the door. One was met with a bullet from Responsibility, the other managed to get off a shot with a cobbled-together pistol. The bullet struck Cherry in the left forehoof and she screamed as it tore right through her improvised stable barding. I felt my own heart stop at the sight of her determination and weapon failing as she staggered to the floor, just like when she'd been shot the last time. Clip rolled over her head and onto the floor in front of her as she fell. Without hesitation I leaped up, tackling the buck before smashing the barrel of my empty blaster against his temple.

"Nopony shoots my friend!" I called over and over, all the confusing feelings I had bundled up exploding out of me.

I didn't stop smashing his head until it was a bloody pulp. He was a monster and I... I was not a good pony. The barrel of my custom energy weapon gave a metallic crunch, then sparked. I pulled it back, blood dripping from its tip as I finished the job with my hooves. Even with the supply of Med-X coursing through me, my crippled limb began to burn, and my stomach twisted into impossible knots, but I didn't care. I'd seen enough of the wasteland these past few days to last a whole lifetime. I'd lost my friend, left a confused mare to be tortured for eternity, killed a griffin who couldn't fight for her life, and murdered one of the few ponies that may have seen the world when it was a better place when she was hopelessly trapped inside a mad computer!

I was not going to lose the last good pony in the wasteland because I'd already lost myself. Stepping back I looked at the disfigured barrel of my blaster, then frowned. That was gonna take some time to fix, but so were a lot of things when I got out of this damn nightmare. I saw Cherry clutching her forehoof tightly in the doorway, trails of dark crimson staining her hooves as she fought to retrieve some healing supplies with her magic. Sky moved by her, laying Ochre against the wall as she tended to the pink mare. The sudden eruption of emotion sank back as I pulled out a healing potion.

"Here," I called, levitating the vial of purple liquid over.

Cherry looked up at me, then at the bloodied bodies behind me. She retrieved her golden-trimmed rifle with one forehoof as Sky worked to bandage the other. At that, I turned to Clip as he stared at the singed, bloodstained door ahead of us. Then the colt quivered, looking down at his shotgun as it lay on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I just..." he stuttered.

"You shot at an evil pony that beat and abused you... You have nothing to apologize for," I assured him bluntly, silencing the part of my mind that was angry at him. He nodded, retrieving his weapon and using it to stand.

"Watch them, anything comes up behind us, shoot it," I told him, sickened that I'd had to say such a thing to a pony his age.

He didn't seem opposed to the idea, however, and as he limped back I moved through what was left of the door. I emerged into what appeared to have once been a large storage room. Opposite, a vaguely recognizable cargo door was covered by a dull grey shutter. To my left, a large cargo elevator was sitting on this level, the rusted frame of its shaft visible in the walls around it. A dull light flickered amidst the pipes and wires that crisscross the roof, its sickly glow broken only by the slow rotations of ventilation fans. Despite that, the temperature here was like that a city in the middle of a desert should be. Not that I liked the brutal humidity any more than the unnaturally chilly tunnels, or infernal mining chamber.

That uncomfortable sensation, however, was swiftly overlooked as the smell hit me next. The foul, musty stench of excrement mixed with that of vomit and blood, all of which was only intensified by the warm atmosphere. Then my underlying anger once again clawed at the bars of its frail prison as I saw the rows of large cages lining each wall. For a long moment, I prayed it was just an illusion of the gloom, yet as my E.F.S had warned, the long rows of cages were filled with sickly-looking slaves. I felt rage course through my veins, the likes of which I knew I should not feel. Two brass armored ponies sat in an open cage on the second row up, its bars covered by sheets of metal preventing those in the cages on either side from getting at them. The front door of the cage had also been converted into a ramp allowing access.

An overturned table was providing the remaining pair with adequate cover, and after the commotion a few moments ago it was no surprise they were both on high alert. Clearly, these two had not been stupid enough to blindly charge out of the room, and it was at that moment, that I realized I had no cover of my own as they opened fire.

‘Dragonfire, why did you just stroll in here? Shut up, brain, you're the one who's not working properly! I mentally retorted as I bolted for the open elevator.

Bullets struck my scales, each one seeming to hit harder than the last as the pangs of pain flared. One glanced the back of my neck taking off a large tangle of my mane and I yelped, diving into the shaft and taking cover behind one of the side walls.

"C'mon out here, bitch!" One of the Brazen Skulls called.

Damn you, brain, where's that snarky sense of humor when I need it? Insulting their stupid little brains was one of the best ways to get them to fuck up!

A sound from the other door distracted the pair, however, and I had no idea which of my friends was fighting as shots blasted in from the maintenance tunnel. Regardless, I seized my chance and fired up at the slavers with my plasma rifles. One mare seemed to see the green bolt soon enough to duck, the shot hit the back of the cage. My other shots melted a hole in the wood and it sparked into flames as the second slaver clumsily rolled aside. I coiled back into the cover of the elevator shaft, my hopes now set on wishing that I didn't hurt any of the slaves as I fired so recklessly.

There was a clatter of bullets against the wall at my back, narrowly missing the two sets of cages flanking the opening in which I was hidden. Another shot came from the door as one of the slavers stopped to reload and through the hole, I'd melted in the table, I saw her face as the bullet tore it right off, shitty brass armor and all. I swiveled around my concrete cover as the second mare appeared once more. I dropped into S.A.T.S and sent three bolts of green light right into her side. The first melted more of the wood into a charred back mess, the second melted her hind hoof off, and a third her left flank. She screamed, wrenching on the floor as she splurged dire profanities. Checking my Pipbuck for any more trouble, I hastily trotted up to the little nest forged amidst the cages.

"You fucker, my leg... My fucking leg!" she cried amidst a fit of spluttered breaths.

I knocked what was left of the chard table aside with my magic, pressing the barrel of my energy weapon to her forehead.

She's a monster... You killed monsters, so just kill her!

"Ha-ha, you're never gonna… Get outta the yard ..." she spluttered before her face melted off in a green flash.

I looked up, scavenging their ammunition, and guns. Take everything. my mind told me simply, all in an effort to keep my focus where it was needed and not on stupid worries about death, saving ponies, and morality.

A light clunk sounded and I turned to see the others had entered the room and now stood on the lower end of the ramp just behind me. Only Clip didn't seem horrified by the sight of the slaves, he just looked sad and very angry. Cherry's leg was wrapped in bandages, yet she fixed her eyes on nothing but me, then she glanced back to the elevator. She was a good pony. I looked at the dead slaver, then at the slaves. Then at my Pipbuck's map. Directly above us was something it had marked as 'Robronco construction site' and beside it was another rail line. Just to the east were the Stable-tec hub, M.A.S hub, and this Oracle building that was really beginning to nag at my memory.

I assumed the construction site and train lines were the yard Clip had told me about and that the elevator led right to it, then I recalled that I only really had this opportunity to get to the Stable-Tec building and find out which one the Transcendent were using. Then there was the more recent fact that I was now in the middle of a room filled with a whole lot of ponies that could really do with saving. I sighed, looking back at my companion. I knew what she'd ask if she could. If she trusted me to be a good pony she'd have no trouble asking.

That's just proof of it then, isn't it? You're not as good as you thought you were. My mind mused disapprovingly.

"There's an open area at the top of that elevator with tracks that lead right out of Crimson, no red bars. You wanna make a difference?" I pointed to the slaves with a forehoof.

Her eyes followed wearily, she levitated up Responsibility and gave a crooked smile. Both Sky and Ochre looked at me, and both seemed a little more than uncertain. Right then, I was even afraid the former would question me.

"You want to save everypony in here?" Sky asked in shock, and for the first time, her mare friend didn't offer something witty in response. "Goddesses, what kind of pony are you?" she added.

I looked at Cherry. "I'm not that kind of pony... She is."

"Thank you," the pink mare said quietly, reaching up to wrap her forehooves lightly around my neck.

Okay, that was enough of a reward in itself! I felt my heart flutter just like it had done when I'd heard of what she'd done for her friends back in Bucktown. Then I nudged her away with a forehoof. Oh goddesses why do I have to do that, why can't I just stay like that with her forever?

"You get them out, the corridors are clear and none of those bastards got away so they shouldn't know you're here, at least for now," I explained.

"Yeah, an important word there is 'shouldn't'," Sky added skeptically, then she sighed. "Still, I suppose there are less noble things we could die doing," she added, revealing that even she may be a better pony than I was.

"Right, wait until I get back and we'll all get out of here together," I stated firmly.

There are about a hundred ponies in here. My mind reminded me, there was also an army of slaves trapped in the infernal mines downstairs but... I couldn't save everypony.

But Cherry could at least make a difference right here right now. The mare in question looked at me somewhat sympathetically, then reality seemed to hit her.

"What about you, where are you going?" she asked firmly.

My smile faltered. "I need to find out where that stable is, I still have to save Star, remember? If I don't come back or anypony comes after you, you get out of town along those tracks fast as you can," I explained bluntly, bowing my head somewhat shamefully.

She was not the only one who seemed to think I'd not completely lost it with this idea as she shivered, then tensed. All of a sudden I sensed she didn't like this plan, but her determined ideals were forcing her to improvise.

"You... You... You can't go..."

"Do you trust me?" The abrupt question silenced her and our eyes met.

I'd never realized just how beautiful her eyes really were. The teal spheres twitched nervously, then she took a deep breath. "Yes."

All I did was give a firm nod before I turned back towards the door.

"Wait, if you're going up there I should come with you," Clip said as he watched me.

"No, these slaves need more capable ponies than I do, you need to help them because you're the only pony who knows how to get around this place if things go really wrong," I told him and the sense of responsibility in the little colt's expression was immediate, even if he didn't seem to like it.

He gave a weak nod as I turned to the door, and I noticed the words 'Tracks' were imprinted in the concrete above it, the sight now rebranded with the bloody word 'Furnace'.

"Dragonfire?" Cherry called frailly.

I looked back to see her standing stoically in the center of the foul-smelling room, Responsibility levitating perpendicular before her.

"Please... Please, don't die," she pleaded with a slightly nervous smile on her face.

I swallowed all of my doubts. Can she really trust me? By the goddesses, yes, she can! I steeled my mental determination and self-conviction with the intent that in this I would not waver, then I nodded to her and smiled.

"Don't worry it takes more than a bunch of slavers to kill me. That's if they can find me," I told her, lifting up my Pipbuck and grinning as I levitated the stealthbuck I'd been carrying with me for the past few days.

---

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added: Tough Hide (level one) - Be it gunshot or ghoul the brutal experiences of the Equestrian Wasteland have hardened you. You gain +3 to Damage Threshold for each level of this perk you take.

Next Chapter: Chapter Sixteen: Vertigo Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 53 Minutes