The wasteland never made anything easy.

The Stealthbuck had gotten me through the maze of maintenance tunnels and to the surface without being seen. After a few close scrapes with some of the patrolling guards, I considered myself lucky. The key word there, however, was lucky. Now I was hunkered down behind a row of wooden counters as several brass-armored slavers fired at me through the shattered window of an old cafe. I felt a strange sympathy for the raiders I'd pinned in this very position less than a week ago as bullets thumped against the damp barricade. From the reflective surface of a cracked mirror on the back wall, I managed to glimpse the rubble-strewn steps of several large buildings across the open plaza just outside.

The skyscrapers included both the M.A.S Desert Springs Hub and the Oracle HQ building. The latter of the two stood out from the grimy, industrial architecture of the rest of the city. Its curved glass structure with white walls set it apart from the crumbling brick and mortar, even if it too had become mottled and brown over the centuries. It was much like the Destiny Corporation tower and looked in no better condition from the outside.

Doesn't mean there isn't some centuries-old monster in there to mess you up again, Dragonfire. My mind warned.

Nevertheless, as wary of the mysterious building as I was, I quickly focused on my true objective. The blocky, squat building that was the South-Western Stable-Tec hub sat between the two towers and it was in just as bad condition as its neighbors. Yet even if I could get over to it, there was no way that I was making it in through the collapsed door and deep pit that had dragged half of its front face into the infernal foundries below. Another shot penetrated the rotted wood beside me, and redirected my focus to more immediate problems, however.

So much for not dying. Great way to keep your promise to Cherry. My mind stated flatly. Shut up, you should be thinking of a way out of this, not mocking me! I mentally cursed, tapping a hoof against my helmet.

Even that small action stung as I felt the Med-X wearing off, allowing all of the aches, pains, and intense burning in my wounded shoulder to steadily return. Groaning, I sat up and forced the agony to the back of my mind as I popped one of the last doses Sky had given me and used the broken mirror to peer over the counter. The water-stained walls of the building hemmed me in on both sides. In fact, I was amazed that anypony could have once run a business in such a small space. The intense industry and residential areas in this place merged so seamlessly that it was hard to distinguish between a home and what was a hole for burning trash. Houses and shops were crammed tightly amidst the sprawl of pipelines, factories, and foundries, with long, steel walkways and rows of wires trailing throughout all of them like a great spider's web. It was as if the whole place was one big factory built on top of the bare minimum quality of life standards that everypony working here needed to live.

Searching for anything I could use to escape, I looked up to see several burst pipes running across the ceiling as well as a rusted ventilation system that was suspended by nothing more than some taught threads of metal. It was even more unfortunate that there were no more tables and chairs left. The trick I'd used on Mr. Red's raiders could have worked again if there was at least something to throw at my opponents. That left me with only one clear option, and the survivor in me was begging that I took it.

Just go back down to Cherry and the others. You can at least save them. The sensible voice chimed in my head. No, that will draw the slavers back down there too, not to mention all the ponies I crept past to get up here in the first place. I need a damn plan! Give me some options brain!

In frustration, I fired several blind plasma rifle shots at the slavers. But they were safely taking cover behind what was left of a broken monument in the plaza's center.

"I'm sick of this, somepony just blow that place up!" One buck shouted as another tossed a grenade.

Grenades? Those I can handle. My magic flared, catching the explosive mid-air and tossing it back.

"One, two..." I paused, ears rising as the thing failed to detonate.

Then there was an almost silent whoosh and a more distant explosion as the grenade detonated in the face of a group of slavers far further back from anywhere I could have thrown it. Seconds later I peeked into the reflection to see one of the slavers fall dead on the flooded asphalt.

"What the fuck!?" one slaver called, as the same question crossed my mind.

Shifting to get an even better look I saw the group of brass armored ponies looking up in panic and taking the pressure off me.

"What's he doing? Hey, you stupid shit-lark we're on your side!" a mare added firing into the upper floor of the building I was hiding in.

Okay, I was officially confused. Either I had yet another guardian angel, they had an enemy, or the wasteland just felt like fucking with me some more. Regardless, I took my chance and fired several shots of plasma into one of the bucks. He cried out in pain as the searing bolts of plasma melted through his brass armor and into his leg.

Yeah, still not understanding why they wear that stuff.

My target fell heaving onto the wet asphalt. In the midst of it all, I thought I saw what I could only describe as a fiery green flash somewhere above. The two remaining slaver's eyes went wide and they stopped firing for a split second. All I really took note of was the fact that they were still far too focused on what was attacking them from upstairs to notice me and it wasn't long before another of them fell to the ground that they resumed fire. Even with most of my enemies distracted, however, I hardly needed to do anything but fall back into my cover and watch the reflection in the mirror as slaver after slaver fell. Eventually, the last slaver, a mare, bolted towards me, yelling as she ran.

"Fuck, can't trust any of you guys... Why's somepony always gotta try and turn..."

There was a sharp whoosh and she fell to the floor only inches from my cover, blood leaking from a clean hole in her skull.

Okay, what the fuck?

I reloaded my plasma rifle cautiously before I trotted around the bullet-beaten counter and over the dead mare. Looting what I could, I made sure to take a good look around for any sight of whoever killed my attackers. Yet by now, I was used to having a mysterious stranger saving me, only to vanish mere seconds later. True to that, the blood-washed street was devoid of all but the thrashing buck I'd shot and his dozen or so dead friends.

I glanced up to my right, seeing the massive industrial towers blasting flame into the rainy sky as they wrapped and twisted around the taller skyscrapers and apartments that marked the far side of the collapsed plaza. Past the ruined monument at its sunken center, steel frames held thick pipes aloft over the cracked streets and rusted rail lines. More still bubbled up from huge fissures in the gnarled earth where entire parts of the city had collapsed into the fires of the hellish underworld below. I swiftly took note of anypony else that may be watching me too, but most of the crudely built slaver structures that hung from the ruins were too far away or too unoccupied for anypony to notice me. At the lack of any more Brazen opposition, it wasn't hard to assume that most things this deep into the city were going on underground.

Yeah, like feeding ponies to ghouls and mocking their pleas for mercy. Tell me, where did you leave your friends again?

I don't need reminding of that, thank you, brain.

In the gloom above the metallic skyline, I could see the distant mesa reach even higher. Another of the flat-topped mountains sat to the left, where the flame-spitting metropolis thinned out slightly. As my eyes panned down the view was obscured by the crooked form of a leaning skyscraper, its crumbling frame draped in pipes and scaffolds. 'Ministry of Arcane Sciences' was written in lopsided metal letters above the rusting door. 'Stable-Tec' marked what was left of the building next to it, along with the tell-tale icon of the company. Finally, the Oracle building looked even odder up close, especially with its electrical blue logo that still flickered with the faintest glimmer of light. Maybe it was just what had happened to me back in the Destiny tower, but the sight of the glass spire made my skin crawl far more than anything else.

Great, I've come all this way, and how the fuck am I supposed to get into the damn place? I mentally groaned as I regarded the collapsed foyer of the Stable-Tec hub, taking care not to get too close to the deep fissure that had consumed almost half of the building.

I looked at my Pipbuck, hoping to find any kind of other entrance, tunnel, bridge, or anything.

No more stupid ideas, you don't have all the time in the world to go exploring for a way in! My mind commented. No! I'm gonna be the best pony I could be! I countered. I was not a good one, but I was gonna do this, I needed to do this for Star.

A rasping cough caught my attention as the half-melted buck I'd shot tried to crawl across the wet asphalt toward his weapon. Turning, I pointed my plasma rifle at his head. This was the only mercy I could offer such a monster. He looked at me, yellowed eyes narrowing as they met the crackling barrel of the rifle.

"Ya'... Ya' have no idea... What y'all gettin' in comin' in 'ere causin' trouble," he coughed.

I paused, holding my gun steady.

"Why? Are you gonna chase me across the wasteland? Already got some ponies in line for that, and most of them still have all four of their legs," I told him bluntly.

He hacked and gagged some more. He knew he was dead, he knew he could spite me with whatever he wanted and I could do nothing but speed his inevitable passing.

"No... Y'all 'er just like us, nopony knows what t'er gettin' inta when it comes ta dem..." He coughed again, convulsions stealing his words.

I kneeled down over him, eyes narrowing. "Who is them?" I asked sharply.

"The fire, the swarm ... The Barron's freaks… Cure for da rage... Hahaha!" His words were silenced as his head exploded.

Warm gore smothered my visor and I staggered back, wiping a hoof over the glass as the weak display flickered and his red outline vanished.

"Don't move," somepony uttered. Then I felt the cold barrel against…

Oh, goddesses I really needed to get that part of my rear properly armored.

"It's so nice to finally get you alone." I swallowed, years of social instinct taking over. This wasn't the first time somepony was threatening my nethers with a gun.

"Well, if you're so keen, at least ask me out to dinner first," I nickered as the gun tickled my reproductive organs. My mysterious advisor merely grunted.

"I would, but if you haven't noticed, our options are rather limited. Now, turn around slowly." I did as instructed and was swiftly met by the sight of the black barding pony from the tunnel.

His horn glowed with amber magic, levitating his weapon around. His head was still covered and I could almost feel the stare of his eyes behind those insect-like green domes. Then with a forehoof and a click, he flicked the helmet up over his horn and levitated it onto his back, revealing…

Oh, shit. Why did the dark mysterious pony stalking me for the past day have to be so devilishly good-looking?

His coat was a dusty blue and his dark purple mane curled, almost falling over his cool yellow eyes.

"That's a good pony, would hate to put an end to your lovemaking," he said, the corner of his mouth curling in a smile.

I felt the barrel of his odd weapon shift before levitating back to him. Now I could see the thing a little better I really had to admit it was the strangest rifle I'd ever seen. It looked more like somepony had wonder glued a pile of scrap together in the rough shape of a rifle and I could only assume from the state of the slavers around us that it was some kind of silent weapon. That, in addition to a jagged sword and holstered pistol, lead me to believe his choice of weapons was not conventional.

Humm, more in common than you think then? My mind mused.

"Now, about that dinner?" His smile widened and he bowed his head.

My magic was just about ready to grip my plasma rifle and melt his face off. But I had a feeling he'd be expecting such a thing after stalking me for so long, plus I really didn't want to damage such a fine complexion unless I really had to. So I looked for something I could knock over his head instead.

"Yeah, about that...You were right..." I found a brick, levitating it ever so gently from a pile of rubble to his right. "There's absolutely no options. I guess we're both stuck, haha," I added with a slight laugh.

"Yeah," he said calmly, his amber eyes lidded.

Then his rifle flipped in the air instantly and shot the brick from my magic.

I paused, one eye twitching.

"Urm ... Well, this is awkward," I stuttered, coiling back and raising my weapon.

His horn flared and then the spark cell fell out of my rifle.

"Hey, that's cheating!" I accused, scrambling for the dropped ammunition.

His cool smile didn't falter as he raised his jagged rifle to my head.

"This is Sting." He nodded to the weapon. "I'm Vertigo. You know, I've been watching you for a long while now and you're not dead, so... Oh, I don't know." He lifted a forehoof to his muzzle. "Please stop trying to kill me!"

He said that so casually, so calmly, too calmly. Well, apart from that last part. Then his magic flared again and he reloaded my rifle and pushed it back to me.

"Do you agree?" he asked one last time, lowering his weapon as if giving me a chance to shoot him if I really wanted to.

Am I a magnet for strange things or is this another side effect of being somepony's science project? That was the first thought to enter my head, yet he really didn't seem to want me dead, so I nodded.

Vertigo smiled again, his eyes finally opening fully and reducing the effects of his stupidly good looks only a little.

"So... You have a name? I mean I kinda know after hearing your friend shout it all the time, but... Proper greetings and all." He rolled a forehoof in the air, then bowed.

"Dragonfire," I stated bluntly.

He nodded then raised a forehoof to his chin.

"Boastful... strong, a bit stupid... You're a misfit."

Wait, is he talking about me? I paused, ears rising as confusion wracked my brain once again.

"I'm sorry. I've met my fair share of odd ponies lately, but who in Equestria are you supposed to be?" I finally asked.

He looked back at me seemingly slightly pained.

"Oh, I'm a former member of a lot of groups of ponies that tend to disappear every time I'm around," he boasted as if I should understand what such an utterly backward and confusing sentence was supposed to mean. Then his expression fell flat.

"But to put it in a way you and your simple mind may understand..." He motioned with a forehoof as if to make sure I was listening. "I'm a merc who's just spent most of my last day saving your flank," he stated dryly.

That I could somewhat understand.

"A private merc?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as my experience with this particular topic came to the forefront of my mind.

"Guess so, we're all private really. We all got our own morals, after all, right?" he went on, and I paused, a little lost for words.

Okay, this buck is insane! Still, he had saved me from all the doubt and guilt that would arise if I'd gotten back to Cherry without what I came in here for, not to mention all of the other things. And his face, his body…

Gurr, by the goddesses, stop making my adversaries look so handsome!

"You're trying to head in there, I assume?" he asked a moment later, nodding to the Stable-Tec hub's collapsed foyer.

"Yeah, why?" I responded.

"Now why would you want to go into such an unstable building when there are clearly two far safer pre-war treasure troves right next door to it?" he asked, nodding to the skyscrapers on either side of the collapsed hub.

"Why is it any of your business?" I retorted, even as my curiosity regarding the Oracle building flared.

"Because I know you're looking for a stable and you're only alive right now because of me and that thing on your leg..." He nodded to my Pipbuck and I shifted it out of view.

He frowned a little. "You want to trust me a little?"

"Ha, sorry but my stocks of trust are currently coming in at zero," I retorted bluntly.

"Oh, okay then, I guess I'll just take all I know about the Transcendent, Oracle, and Stable Fifty over here with me then," he taunted, turning tail and walking away towards the Oracle building.

My mind instantly jump-started and I was caught between a spike of hope and a deep pit of anger, not to mention a flare of irritating lust at the sight of his smooth, muscular flanks as he walked away. How can he know? How do I even know I can trust him? Then again if he knew anything about what was going on I had to find out what.

Dragonfire, the last time you trusted anypony that had anything to do with this mess you ended up unconscious in a morgue. Ever considered the fact he's been keeping you alive just like Overseer? My mind stated, and I couldn't help but agree.

But if he knew about where Star had been taken, if he knew what had happened to me and what I could do to avoid ending up like Hayland? I looked at my Pipbuck first noticing his blue bar then the marker of the Oracle building he was heading towards as it turned from a blank pin to a small version of the company logo on my map. I looked at the Stable-Tec hub, angrily admitting to myself just how inaccessible it was.

I didn't have all the time in the world here, and right now I had only one option if I really did want to unravel this mystery and save my ponynapped friend. Still, I couldn't help but feel Vertigo had stalked me with the intention of capitalizing upon a situation in which I had little choice but to trust him. Then as if expecting my exact reaction to the current standoff he paused, glancing back at me over his shoulder.

Goddesses, why does he get to look so... so... so goddesses damn sexy!

"What do you know?" I finally asked, more than ready to shoot him at the first sight of anything even remotely suspicious.

If he so much as flicked his tail in the wrong direction I'd blow his stupid, handsome face off.

"That depends on how far you're willing to go for your answers?" he responded and I frowned.

"Right now, as far as I need to go to find my partner and save my friends," I retorted and he nodded.

"Well, Stable Fifty is just up on the masa outside of the city. The Transcendent have the slavers here under their hoof with a promise they can offer a cure for the Rage. Don't really expect there's any truth to that, but feel free to go up there and get him. You'll be on your own though because my next job is to find out what they're really up to and why they need an army of slaves. So if you really want a chance to save your friend, help me, and then I'll help you," he suggested, turning back and holding out a hoof to me.

I could really see what Mister Red had meant by under new management now and wondered how many ponies knew that the slavers here were under the rule of some fanatical religious group of nut-jobs. That was if Vertigo was telling the truth, but after hearing many of the Brazen Skulls talk about this whole Rage thing, I had to surmise there was some truth to it.

Nevertheless, I eyed Vertigo's outstretched forehoof as the rain dripped from the black armor encasing it. Then looked up into his eyes. If he was a liar then he was a damn good one, but I'd seen damn good liars before. Then again, what choice did I have?

"And I can trust you how?" I questioned and he laughed a little.

"You can't, not even after I saved you. But this is the wasteland and believe me when I say you're in way over your head. I know where you went and I know that you've probably seen things no pony has seen since the war. But unlike someponies, I'm trying to help. Only, for me to do that, you need to help me get the information I need in order to help you," he explained.

"Oh? Why do you need me when you seem to be doing fine all on your own?" I challenged, glancing at the dead slavers.

He trotted back over and tapped my Pipbuck which made me flinch as I strongly suppressed my survival reflexes.

"Because you have something on that Pipbuck, I don't know what it is but the moment you wired it up before, that whole factory went crazy. The key point is, you can get into those glassy white buildings for some reason and I can't, not without a whole load of trouble," he explained, and truly realizing he had a good point, I sighed.

"Okay, I'll help you. But one wrong move..."

"And you'll what? Blow my head off? Wow, you really are too easy to read, Dragonfire," he responded as I finally shook his hoof before snatching mine away.

"Still, if nothing else, you're the first pony with any decent emotion out here," he said, licking his lips in an odd manner as he trotted up to the shattered doors of the Oracle building and put his helmet back on. "Oh, and here, this is for that shoulder of yours," he added, levitating back a strong healing potion.

I felt like I'd picked up another unwanted buck at a party, only I had the misfortune of being sober enough to realize just how strange he really was despite his good looks. My untrusting mind still fired questions at the mental image of him like flack cannons into a war-torn sky, even as my lustful brain conjured up several fantasies of what I'd do to him if not in this situation. Regardless, after a wary sniff of the healing potion, I took a sip.

"Come on, I want to get this over with and then get out of here. I haven't eaten in days," he whined, passing through the rusted old doors.

He hadn't what? He wasn't a cannibal pony, was he? I knew how those situations usually ended.

Regardless, I made sure to have my last good-functioning weapon ready to melt Vertigo to goo if he tried anything.

Idiot, fool, stupid. Now all I needed to do was add great big magnet for all the wasteland's strangest and wildest phenomena to my ever-growing list of disadvantages.

"What did you say about me being able to get in here with no problem?" I called over the sound of heavy gunfire.

"Attention, attention! This area is restricted, please surrender and..." The damaged ponytron's obsessive chatter was silenced by a plasma blast to its torso.

Despite that, something about finally killing one of the stupid, pony-manufactured scrap piles after all I'd been through was very therapeutic.

Spoken way too soon, Dragonfire. My mind commented and within moments the wasteland all too eagerly jumped on the opportunity to turn my satisfaction against me.

Another of the quad-wheeled robots rolled into the corridor to take the place of the one I'd just dispatched, its mouth opening to reveal a fresh barrage of laser fire.

"Damn, these fucking things really ruffle my feathers!" Vertigo stated as he ducked back around the wall opposite me.

Even in the midst of combat, he was still hard to figure out, like a set of stairs while I was drunk. He doesn't even have any feathers?

"This area is restricted, please..."

"Oh just shut it!" he yelled firing his scrap weapon, Sting, into the metal contraption.

I'd learned swiftly after descending to the lower level of the Oracle hub that his custom weapon made use of well... Almost anything as ammunition. The mangled gun gave a whir as it chomped on any metal he put into it and spat three sharp spears of glinting death into the robot. I was really glad he'd not fired that thing between my flanks when he'd had the chance as the shards cut holes straight through the robot's mechanical shell. The ponytron crackled, sparked, and buzzed a few distorted words before it died. The laser weapon built into its domed, pony-like head sparking out with a pop.

"Anypony else?" Vertigo called into the long, white-walled corridor.

The place reminded me all too much of the Destiny building's interior, the only difference here was the fact the building was nowhere near as clean. The clinical, pale walls were mottled and brown, dried rivers of muddy water forming dirty lines upon almost everything. Hanging from the walls were shattered screens and projectors, and on my left was a row of smashed plant pots. To the left was a grimy window offering a view down into what appeared to be some kind of underground garden. Now it was nothing more than a soggy pool surrounded by rotting wood and long dead vegetation that snaked away through huge rends in the chamber's sides. I waited a few seconds to see if any more robots were going to roll up before I peered around the large planter I'd adopted as cover.

There were no more repetitive orders to surrender echoing through the halls as I stepped out. Vertigo seemed even less cautious, he simply trotted by me and right over to the foremost of the drooped robots, pushing the still construct over.

"Not bad," he admitted, nodding at me as he passed a hoof over the hole my rifle had melted in one of the robots.

"Not bad yourself," I replied skeptically. His gun, it really did have a sting. That, and I had no idea how it worked.

"Built off of an A2-21 prototype I presume, good model. You should make it automatic," he offered, nodding at my plasma rifle.

"Oh you don't know the half of what this baby's made from," I replied, my inner love for tinkering snatching my mind as I boastfully acknowledged his admiration.

Wait, Dragonfire, this was the pony who had a gun pressed to your butt not long ago, and now… Shut up brain!

"I imagine that's got a kick to it too," he mused, nodding to my holstered saddle blaster. I held back the urge to wince.

"It would... But I kinda, broke it a little," I admitted shamefully. He snorted as if mildly disgusted by the fact then moved on deeper into the facility.

Well, what did he know? If my blaster was working it could give his shitty pile of scrap a run for its caps any day. Just not today, and that was a mighty fine pile of scrap he was hauling and... Shut up, brain!

"Damn it, we got at least two more of them coming this way, the hallway has turrets too!" Vertigo called sourly, peering around the corner. "Fuck!"

He turned back around, looking over the corridor until his insectoid eye lenses locked onto a faded image on one of the walls. It was long ruined and ancient, but depicted a chart of some of the company's staff members. Most were unicorns and all were dressed in white lab coats bearing the blue comet trail Oracle logo. Several more notice boards and posters showed pictures of a smart, lavender unicorn mare with a darker purple mane and highlights as a cream, glasses-wearing unicorn with a maroon and purple mane stood beside her.

'Knowledge is magic' one declared.

Yeah, but knowledge was still only half the battle. My mind mused.

My attention was stolen seconds later by a wood splintering crash as Vertigo bucked open one of the corridor's side doors.

"Nope," he stated flatly before moving to the next door.

"And behind door number two is..." His hooves connected with the rotted wood before it swung open and he looked inside. "Bingo!"

I looked to the room where he'd disappeared, then to the corridor and sound of approaching robots ahead of me. I swiftly chose to follow him through. Inside was a large office, with an array of shattered terminal screens on the far side and a smaller room to the left. Wait no, that was an elevator. In front of the long-dead monitors was a desk and another terminal, so too were the walls lined by rusted filing cabinets, glass cases, and shelves stacked with crumpled paper and files. Most notable of all though was the turret as it dropped from the roof the moment I entered.

Of course there was a fucking turret!

I ducked to the right landing behind a locker that had fallen into the middle of the room as the automated defense swiveled around to face us.

"Really!" Vertigo moaned, then with a flash of his horn he was on the other side of the room.

Wait, how'd he get...

The turret opened fire, peppering my cover with bullets, then there was a sharp swoosh as Vertigo sent a metal dart straight through something important and the automated weapon fell limp. Nevertheless, I sent a plasma blast its way just to make sure, and it melted to the floor in a pool of green goo. From behind the desk, Vertigo gave me an odd look, almost as if he thought I was not taking this seriously or something.

Oh, because I'm the one not taking this seriously? I stood up, looking at him.

"What, you never seen anypony teleport before? It's rare, yeah. But with enough practice, any unicorn should be able to do it," he elaborated, almost taunting me.

I really felt stuck between hating his smug face and really wishing he'd tell me how to perform such a useful spell. Regardless, I stepped over the fallen cabinet, trotted right up to him, and placed a forehoof on the desk.

"Teleporting, taking out goddesses know how many raiders and slavers single-hoofed? I always thought I was good, but even I'd find any of that hard! So who the fuck are you really?" I demanded, prodding a forehoof to his chest

He hit something on the terminal and the doors to the elevator opened. Then he looked at me, cocking his head.

"Well, it's good to see you have a hint of humility at least. I'm Vertigo, I thought we already did the name exchange thing. Now if you don't mind I'm going to try and get the elevator to the lower levels working so we can get away from all the robots trying to kill us," he muttered, waving a hoof at me.

I growled, banging my hoof on the desk again. The mere mention of descending deeper into the bowels of another place like this did not do anything to aid me in trusting him.

By the goddesses, if I didn't have a friend to save and an army of religious mad-ponies after me I'd have nothing to do with this guy.

"No, you helped me kill those slavers, followed me in here, and now we're fighting those things like we're best friends I..." I trailed off.

He shook his head, pushing my hoof from the desk. "You saying we're not best friends? I mean yeah, dinner first and all that but..."

My serious look must have had some weight to it, it was able to stop him rambling even with my helmet on. "No, we're not 'best friends'," I grunted.

"Fine. But not to be rude, you followed me into this exact building, so yeah... I mean you could have just left, I've got enough crazy ponies after me too, especially after Stable fifty-four," he boasted as he moved over to the elevator. I paused, my ears rising as my mind went to work.

"Stable fifty-four? You were the pony Rapid was talking about on the radio?" I asked curiously.

I had no way of knowing if there was any connection between him and what the radio mare had said, he could just be a mercenary from there for all I knew. But this was the wasteland, it liked to fuck with me, and what better way to do that than with cryptic clues? He removed his helmet and his look turned skeptical, then came the expression of a pony who loved bragging even more than I did.

"Wow, news travels faster than I expected out here," he said as he went to work messing with some kind of pad in the elevator's wall. "It was another of the Transcendent's secret bases, not as fortified as Stable-fifty though. They were taking slaves and raiders affected by the Rage and locking them up there. It's something they seem to be very fond of lately."

So maybe he is the pony that cleared them out of there after all? I wondered.

I supposed that absolved him of really being on their side at least. Then again, Overseer had not seemed incredibly fond of them either.

"Okay, say I really was to believe you were the pony Rapid was talking about and not just some buck who heard that on the radio. How does somepony clear an entire stable full of well-armed ponies all alone?"

"Let's just say they can't seem to notice me, even when I'm right in front of them," he added, a hint of amusement in his tone even as I sensed I really wasn't getting the whole story.

Okay, so that last part makes no sense. Nor did any of it really. Rapid had said Stable fifty-four had been cleared yesterday, but that was halfway across the desert. Then again he'd just revealed he could teleport so…

How far can somepony teleport? My thought process must have been evident because Vertigo looked at me like I was stupid

"So, you not only took on an entire stable full of raiders, but also made it halfway across the desert in one day?" I stated, the words so unbelievable they actually tasted odd.

He leaned forward eagerly, seeming to forget about his tinkering with the elevator. "Oh, oh, don't forget the part about that Mister Yellow guy, or that Balefire egg or..." He cut himself off, ears rising.

Mister Yellow? The image of Mister Red, just with all the redness exchanged to the new color crossed my mind. He was connected to this too, the Brazens, the buck that had been with Griddle and the Transcendent all were...

'I guess you could say we're under new management.'

Fuck! My mind screamed and I heard the fabulous entity that was the wasteland laughing at me from afar as the curtain fell, only to see my post-apocalyptic enemy had a massive sign mirroring my mental profanities.

'Fuck you, Dragonfire'

"Urm, you may wanna duck," Vertigo said swiftly, putting on his helmet and tapping my hoof to draw me out of my stupor.

"Attention, attention this area is restricted, please surrender!" A much deeper, tinny voice sounded from the hallway.

Fuck you wasteland’

I bolted to the left, ignoring the churning in my gut as I rolled into the elevator. Bolts of crimson energy sparked across the room towards Vertigo. The buck just grumbled something before firing a previously aimed shot right at the sentry bot's head. The sharp shard made a small hole somewhere between the robot's shoulder and its head, but it was far bigger than any ponytron. The thing gave a shudder but kept firing as it rolled slowly forward and a second sentry forced its way in through the doorway behind it.

"Please surrender and submit to disintegration," the robot blurted loudly.

The second one was even larger, angrier, and looked more like a tank than anything that should be within an office building. There was a loud crash as the robot violently made the door large enough for it to fit through and a massive gatling weapon on its arm swerved toward us.

Who in Equestria makes a robot too big for the building it's designed to patrol? The utter ridiculousness of the pre-war world baffled my mind as I turned to Vertigo.

"Hey, captain sarcastic, if you're going to do something I suggest you do it fast!" I stated as the spray of crimson death was unleashed upon us.

I ducked into the elevator as Vertigo fired a few shards into the metal beast. But the sharp projectiles merely seemed to pass through its amour and get lost inside it somewhere as the robot continued to fire. I brought up my rifle, and it brought up a missile launcher.

A missile launcher, seriously! I'd seen these kinds of robots before and even now the fact this was allowed to happen in an organized, pre-war society baffled me.

"Vertigo, do something!" I called, and there was a sudden green flash and a wave of fiery heat behind me.

Instinct drew my eyes to the light, but the survivalist in me took over before I could look away from our attackers.

Eyes on the killer death machine Dragonfire, eyes on that, please!

There was a series of beeps behind me as Vertigo did something with the elevator controls, then another fiery green flash and a wash of heat.

"Facial recognition accepted. Bata class clearance permitted. Welcome Professor: Moon Dancer," beeped a metallic voice.

The elevator shook and sparked to life, the light around it turning green as the door began to close. That was when the missile fired and I leaped back, landing sprawled out over the black armored body of Vertigo as the thing exploded against the closing door. I heard nothing but the loud boom, the moan of metal, and the clatter of shrapnel as I closed my eyes and felt the heat surge over me. A shower of sparks and sharp metal glanced my barding, rattling in the elevator as the thing gave a heavy shunt. I looked at Vertigo as I lay across his chest. Given how good-looking he was I was surprised it had taken me this long to find myself sprawled out over him in the corner of some isolated space. All we had to do now was get undressed. But as he looked at me from behind those stupid lenses I could only say one thing.

"I fucking hate you!"

The elevator gave another heavy shunt as the smoke cleared, then the whole thing was sent plummeting down into the shaft below.

For what seemed like several impossibly long moments, all I could feel was the sensation of plummeting weightlessness. The light in the elevator flashed on and off and the screeching of metal rang out painfully. Then much to my stomach's discomfort, the elevator gave a grinding call of metallic grief as it shuddered to an uneasy stop, sparks spitting in from holes in the corroded frame.

"Emergency stop must still be working, not that we should hang around to test it," Vertigo observed as he pushed me off and looked up.

"Oh really? That's so reassuring," I grumbled trying not to fall over with the internal discomfort churning within me as I rose to my hooves. "Now, you have a plan to get out of here, right?" I asked as the elevator gave a dangerous moan.

"Give me a second," he said as his horn glowed, straining as the hatch at the top of the elevator was forced open.

Then with a flash he vanished and reappeared on top of the elevator, peering down at me as the thing lurched dangerously. I felt my whole body shudder and the griping in my gut grow as I looked up at him, seeing nothing but the dark shaft and the distant light of fire coming through one of the doors far above. Then Vertigo shifted over to the edge of the car and the whole thing shunted uneasily to the right.

"By the goddesses, if you don't stop fucking moving I'm going to kill you!" I called as he peered down over the edge of the car.

"Don't worry, we're almost at the bottom," he assured me, then teleported back inside with a flash and pointed his rifle through a hole rent in the wall that revealed one of the emergency brakes.

I looked between him and the brake, internally cursing. This stallion is going to get me killed through sheer stupidity alone!

"Wait, wait don't you dare!" I called but he paid no attention to me as he shot a shard right through the brake mechanism then spun to hit the one on the opposite side.

I'm really going to kill him!

The elevator sank with a jolt, tilting until he shot out the second brake. Then it fell for a grand total of two milliseconds before it slammed hard into the ground. Vertigo shuddered at the impact and I fell to the floor as my legs became a weak pile of jelly. He lowered his rifle and looked down at me, the smug face I knew he must be wearing annoyingly hidden behind his stupid helmet.

"Dare do what?" he asked, then held out a hoof to me.

Damn it, Wasteland, stop making me look bad in front of stupidly good-looking stallions who I don't even trust! My mind cursed and I shoved his gesture aside as I shakily rose to my hooves.

"You know perfectly well what, now you going to fill me in on the next part of your plan to get out of this stupid thing?" I snapped and he simply turned to the door and wrapped it in his magic.

The aged metal frame gave a few groans of protest as Vertigo strained, but after a few seconds, the thing was pried open revealing a long, dark corridor just a step above where the elevator car had landed.

"Fillies first," he suggested, motioning to the corridor with a forehoof.

"If you think I'm going anywhere down here before you are, you have another thing coming." I made that fact very clear as I did my best to straighten myself and ignore the gurgling in my gut.

Vertigo just sighed. "And here I thought you were eager to get out of here. Oh well, if you insist," he replied as he stepped up and out into the hall, flicking on a light attached to his helmet.

Once again I really tried not to look at his flanks as he moved ahead of me, and gave a disgruntled snort of irritation as I moved out after him into the dark hall, activating my Pipbuck's own light. All the while I was checking my new E.F.S for red bars. It was an odd change of pace for me, but while I was getting used to it I really hoped the hostiles I could see milling about were those of the robots above us.

"Well, now what?" I asked, watching Vertigo as he peered left and right down two branching corridors.

"Now we have to find this place's mainframe and see how it feels about whatever you have on your Pipbuck there," he answered, nodding at my foreleg.

Really, we came all the way down here just to see how my Pipbuck plays with the building's mainframe? I said as much, but he just nodded.

"I don't know if you've heard, but getting into a building like this is pretty hard even for a pony of my talents. But getting into the most secure files of a place like this one is nigh impossible unless you're exactly the right program. I... Or more importantly, you, really need whatever information we can find down here," he explained.

"And why do I need it?" I countered, not liking where this was going.

"Well, you want to save your friend and find out what's going on don't you?" Of course, that would be his response.

I fought the urge to face hoof as he started trotting along one of the corridors towards another large metal door at the end, with a slightly smaller room to the right.

"Okay then, fine. What exactly are we looking for?" I went on, playing along with his little game as best I could without wanting to just shoot him.

"I have no idea, just a big thing with a lot of wires and terminal screens is what I usually go for," he said with a shrug.

Great, why do I always have to be the one to get stuck with such clueless ponies? I mentally sighed as Vertigo reached the large metal door at the end of the corridor and tried to push it open.

"Pony feathers, damn thing won't budge," he declared, then nodded at the doorway leading off to the right. "You want to try and make yourself more useful? Go see if there's an access switch in there," he instructed and I felt my frustration spike.

Seriously, I'm not some kind of saddleblanket mare for him to boss around! Yet against all that my stubborn pride was telling me, I did as I was told.

If nothing else it would only result in getting out of here and back to Cherry faster. Checking my E.F.S for any hostels that may be in the room and deeming it clear, I cautiously stepped through the door. It led out into a gloomy office, rather similar to the one Hayland had under the Destiny corporation building. There was even a big window to my left that looked down into a dark space. This one was far less well-kept, however, and was shattered in several places.

A faint light shone through the window, and I saw that beyond the broken glass was a mostly collapsed catwalk that led around the upper circumference of a large, circular chamber. In the center of the chamber was a tall spire of wires, pipes, and screens that lead up into the domed ceiling and fanned out like the roots of some kind of odd upside-down tree. Around the middle pillar were several empty frames that appeared to have once held some kind of tall, rectangular objects, yet such things were long gone. More cables snaked out from each of the empty frames and lead up into what was left of a reinforced glass box surrounded by monitors and spindly robotic arms. Other tables, and even rows of chairs sat around the room's edge as if it had been used to display experiments to crowds of ponies. Many of them even had black glasses still resting on the seats

"What in Equestria?" I asked myself quietly, looking back at a desk that sat facing the window.

The wall behind me was bare, save for a few small cracks in its otherwise pale surface. In fact, aside from a terminal atop the desk and a chair behind it, the room was rather unfurnished. Then I saw another fiery, green flash from where I'd left Vertigo in the corridor. My ears perked and I moved to see what he was up to. Before that, there was a dull beep and the corridor lit up with ambient red light.

"Access denied, all staff below clearance level Alpha access to main facility chamber suspended... Please await termination," a tinny mare's voice sounded as alarms began to chime.

"Termination, seriously? It said she had beta class clearance. That's supposed to be high!" Sounded an odd feminine voice from the door, a voice that definitely wasn't Vertigo's.

Upon hearing the stranger I bolted towards her, then a turret dropped from the ceiling right above it and quickly opened fire.

The stranger's voice was the last thing on my mind as I instinctively rolled to the side, bullets digging into the carpet. My insides felt like they were still rolling long after I came to a stop and levitated my rifle up to melt the turret into green goo. A few shots of plasma later and I did just that, allowing slag to drip onto the floor, sizzling the carpet.

"Hey, what the fuck did you just do?" I called out into the hall as laser shots flashed past the door toward Vertigo.

"Attention, attention. This area is restricted, please stand down and allow us to dispose of you quietly," a robot chimed from somewhere in the corridor outside as Vertigo returned fire with Sting.

The sharp whoosh of the weapon's needle projectile was followed by a clunk and a fizzle as the robot he was firing at fell to the floor. He took the free moment to dive into the office. He still looked exactly as he did when I'd left him, but I supposed I'd just have to ask him about the odd voice I'd heard at a time when neither of us were being shot at.

"Attention, this is a restricted area!" boomed the far deeper voice of a sentry bot, the sound of its heavy treads accompanied by the grinding of metal as it crushed the smaller robot Vertigo had just taken care of.

"I thought you said you were supposed to be good at this kind of thing?" I asked, fixing the buck a glare.

I expected an equally witty comeback as he turned to me, but I couldn't help but notice he wasn't really looking at me, more behind me. I felt my mane stand on end as I swallowed and turned, right as a hiss of steam escaped a large panel in the wall. It was then that I realized the cracks I saw weren't cracks at all as a rectangular slab fell away to reveal the red eyes of another sentry bot.

Of course there's a fucking hidden robot, why not!

"Goddesses, you've got to be kidding me!" I cried as I jumped under the desk and the robot raised its beam mini-gun.

Great, now I can be disintegrated instead of being blown up or falling to my death in a stupid elevator car. Painful memories of Hayland came to mind as the gatling laser's fire began to flash and burn through the desk.

"Use the terminal, it's an executive one there should be a way to turn the stupid thing off!" Vertigo instructed, crawling back from the door as the second sentry bot rolled up to it.

Without thought, I telekinetically yanked the terminal down and hooked it up to my Pipbuck. "Come on, come on, you little miracle worker, please don't fail me now!" I pleaded, closing my eyes as random bars of code flashed across the screen.

Then with a telltale boop, the thing flashed to life and I was greeted with the flash of the Oracle logo.

*Oracle executive access granted, welcome professor: Moon Dancer*

Another set of text read before several options presented themselves on the screen. Within seconds I glimpsed an option labeled security; accessing it, I quickly found anti-intruder functions and immediately hit the first thing I saw to say off.

"Primary defensive directive terminated. Backup directive re-initiated. Disposal of all non-essential Oracle personnel. Priority one." Both sentry bots growled in a deep metallic voice before each of them regarded me with a rather unnerving level of detail. "Attention, no alpha clearance level identification recognized, please stand by for termination."

"What!?" I called, as both robots resumed firing.

Vertigo darted back from the door firing several quick shots at the sentry bot in the doorway, yet the shards of metal did little more than slow the armored monster for a few seconds.

"Damn it, I'm really starting to hate this place," he yelled taking cover beside me.

"You and me both, now stop being so dramatic and tell me what to do!" I retorted as I searched the terminal.

The look he gave back was one of intense disapproval. "What? I thought you were going to shut them off!"

"I did, but apparently this place doesn't really care about their own ponies unless there some high and mighty egghead, so intruders or not we're still on the execution list!" I explained.

"Wow, and here I thought this place was going to be a lot easier," he responded, and I fought the urge to face hoof once again.

"Yeah, you're a real ton of help, you are!" I snapped, looking back to the screen and ducking as several energy blasts darkened the scales on top of my helmet.

The smell of singed hair as the metal underneath heated up really became my motivator as I looked at my Pipbuck, then slammed it against the side of the desk.

"Come on, you stupid logic box, if you're going to do something, you better do it now!" I cursed, really hoping somepony really did want to keep me alive.

For an unbearably long moment nothing happened, a few minutes later and there was still nothing but gatling laser fire. I levitated up my rifle, if these things were going to kill me then I wasn't making it easy.

"Sorry, Cherry," I whispered as I looked around the cover and fired several bolts into one of the robot's heavily armored hides.

The plasma did little more than make a glowing hot bruise upon the dark gray metal. Fuck, nothing short of a balefire egg is gonna blow these fucking things up! I mentally cursed.

"Warning critical error detected... Sircurtttyyyy sysssiiittemms commmmmpromised... New targets designated. Executing command." Like that, the robots all stopped, only to raise their gatling weapons and missile launchers to point at one another.

'New targets?' Oh shit!

I ducked back behind the desk, as the pair opened up on one another with intense volleys of beam fire. The unending onslaught of magical energy began to strip away the armor of each robot relatively fast, but when it failed to kill each of them quickly enough the missiles went off, and everything inevitably ended in a fiery explosion. The blast shook the whole room, ripping away at the walls, the desk, and shattering the window. I had nothing but my armor to protect me from the hurricane of flames and shrapnel.

I closed my eyes, grabbed the closest thing I could use as an anchor, and prayed to the goddesses that the whole building didn't come down on top of us. Then the air went still save for the crackling of the flames that burned from the robots' broken bodies. A few seconds after that, I finally opened my eyes, vision flickering in my visor.

"You planning to do this every time we're almost blown up?" Vertigo asked, and I looked up to see what I'd grabbed was his torso.

In the same instance, I let go and staggered back. Yeah, definitely ask him out first… No, just no... I mean he's pretty hot and not a victim like Cherry, he... No, brain!

I didn't say a word, nor did I really want to think about the awkwardness in the air as the dust settled and the smoke drifted out into the large room beyond the broken window. Peering around the desk I saw that most of the room's walls were scorched black. The far right wall (as well as the corridor that had been beyond it) had been replaced by a mound of rubble.

Great, you really were almost buried alive. My mind chirped. My eyes did not linger on the destruction, however, instead, they were drawn to the flickering terminal screen.

'Security failsafe activated. Shut down attempt denied. Custom self-termination protocol activated. Have a nice day.'

I stared at the words as a whole slew of other random code and gibberish scrawled around them, then it all winked out and the scene went dead. I looked at my Pipbuck, I both wanted to kiss the thing and was terrified by it all at once. It had saved my life again, yet the reason why we're rapidly becoming a serious concern of mine.

Hey, don't blaspheme against the mighty Pipbuck! The part of me that was just happy to be alive retorted.

"Now that's why I knew you'd be useful down here," Vertigo stated as he sat up and rubbed some dust from his helmet with a forehoof.

"You mean my Pipbuck's useful, don't you?" I corrected sternly, but he just shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're much prettier to look at," he joked, retrieving a vial of peculiar green liquid from a bag in his armor, opening a small hatch around his muzzle, and taking a sip.

What? No... He doesn't get to say that... He's too good-looking and... Oh, Goddesses fucking horse apples!

I was left stuttering for a long moment before I was finally about to answer. Then I noticed he was not getting up. Instead, he was still clutching his chest and forehead as he levitated the vial of green liquid back into his bag. Through the scratch marks in his armor, several large wounds ran across his bloodied coat and they were... Glowing? A faint green hue seemed to emanate from the deep gashes as they closed.

How fucked up is this buck? What is he? A mutant, ghoul, tainted, a crazy raging daemon pony? Then I recalled his gesture from the elevator and offered him a forehoof.

He looked at me curiously, then at the helpful motion. Goddesses, I know I may have brushed off your kind offer, but did everypony have to be wary of me trying to help them?

"Thanks," he said as I helped him to his hooves.

"So, you gonna tell me what this is really all about?" I asked, removing my helmet and putting on my best cute mare expression as I motioned to the last remnants of his odd wounds.

That didn't seem to faze him, instead, he just moved past me and placed a hoof on the terminal.

"What, you never seen some crazy shit like that out here? Zebra elixir, nothing more," he told me as I set my helmet on my back. "Now, if you're looking for answers about the killer death robots then... You’re shit outta luck. Because I have no idea why anypony would program them to kill their own staff and remove the shutdown command. Let's just hope they all self-terminated," he explained, glancing out of the window.

"Is that your mainframe?" I asked, unplugging my Pipbuck from the terminal and stepping up beside him, nodding towards the pillar of terminal screens in the center of the large room.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that would be an odd place to put one because Oracle has a big obsession with hiding them," he elaborated.

"Yeah, didn't every pony try and hide that kind of information before the war?" I asked, and he laughed.

"Sure, but you've really not seen paranoid yet. Now if you want to do something else take a look around," he added, instantly darting over to the part of the wall the sentry bot had emerged from, prodding at the metal in search of any kind of secret.

I have to find yet another secret in one of these goddess-forsaken buildings? I thought to myself, then instantly set my eyes back on the terminal and levitated it back onto the desktop.

"Hello, Moon Dancer. By Celestia, it's been a long time. I'm glad I could finally get a connection in Desert Springs. This is Twinkle Shine from the M.A.S hub in Canterlot, we went to Celestia's school for gifted unicorns together, remember? Not that I'm saying you should, that was a long time ago, and well... Everything's so stressful nowadays and you're such a big professor an' all, haha.

Anyway, I've been told to inform you that Twilight Sparkle herself has taken an interest regarding your work and wishes to come to see the project for herself. There will also be representatives from the Equestrian Science and Research Foundation. I am also supposed to send you a checklist of all the things that must be prepared before the Ministry mare's arrival. You know how Twilight can be with her lists. She even said she'd have made this call herself, you were once one of her head researchers, after all... Haha. But like... well, we all know there's no free time around here anymore.

Anyhow, I hope you can get back soon with confirmation, I know communications over there are going haywire with the excavation. And well, I know this is going to sound kind of informal but... I hope you're happier where you are now, Moon Dancer. Because I'd like to think we're still friends, even if you don't remember me and the other girls anymore. But haha, listen to me! Sorry, have a good day, goodbye."

Vertigo banged on another part of the wall as the recording died, taking Twinkle Shine's flustered voice with it. It was one of the few I could find on the terminal and it was rather old, older than even the day the world had come to an end. Almost everything else important seemed to have been wiped from the terminal.

Probably something to do with the fact that they ordered their robot security to slaughter every pony they employed that wasn't some big shot. I noted suspiciously.

Below the recorded message was an attachment containing a checklist of seemingly unnecessary preparations. Ranging from seat ordering and orientation to the number of ice cubes in the refreshments. The words 'Yours sincerely, Twilight Sparkle' written at the bottom.

Twilight Sparkle? She was just another pretty face hiding a whole plethora of dark secrets. They were all the same. The Ministry mares, the princesses, Stable-tec...

I sighed, slumping down in what was left of the blown-up chair, and scrolled right down to the bottom of the terminal's contents. Then something right at the end caught my eye.

'Safe room door controls.' My ears perked as I leaned forward, then I glanced at Vertigo as he continued tapping hopelessly on the back of the small space the hidden sentry bot had emerged from.

And he said he was supposed to be good at this? A small desire to simply spite the buck welled up within me and I grinned wryly as I selected the option and told it to open.

For a long few seconds, there was nothing and I sat up straight, looking around the room for any secret compartment that might open. When that failed to happen I sank back down, mildly disappointed. Then there was a small beep, the sound of a heavy door swinging inwards and a profane yell from Vertigo as he fell into the hidden room muzzle first.

"Hooves and horseshoes!" he called as I looked over to see the back of the rear of the space he was testing had opened to reveal a new room. "Fucking stupid door," he groaned, sitting up and rubbing his helmeted muzzle.

I got up from the chair and trotted over to him, shining my light into the dark space as the centuries-old air and dust escaped from within.

"Told you there'd be a hidden door, found it no problem," he boasted as he raised back to his hooves.

"Yeah, of course, you did," I muttered slyly as I trotted past him. "Now come on, I don't want to be down here any longer than we have to."

The room was shrouded in darkness, yet in the green light of my Pipbuck, I could see it was a long space with a row of terminal screens covering the upper half of the walls on either side. Below them, a counter covered in dials, buttons, and switches still flickered. Wires were strung overhead and the faint hum of still-working electricity permeated the still air as the rattle of our hooves on the metal floor chimed. Taking another step forward I saw that the room opened out towards the end, sinking down a step into a slightly larger square chamber in which there were several blocky rows of electrical equipment.

"Wow, somepony really wanted to keep an eye on this place without anypony else knowing it," I observed as I brushed a hoof over one of the dusty control panels, seeing flickering camera feeds from random parts of the building.

"Like I said, you really haven't seen paranoid yet," Vertigo commented as he moved past me and down to where the room widened. "This looks promising though, there's got to be a mainframe access point in here," he added as he moved over to one of the large machines.

I turned my attention to the terminal screens that still radiated a dull green hue, and levitated over a dusty stool that had been left in one corner of the room. The moment I sat down some of the screens flashed a series of code and I shifted back in my seat.

Okay, as much as it had saved my life a few times, this was now getting kind of creepy. Yet as if not to be dissuaded by my uncharitable thoughts, the code dissipated from green to red and then vanished a moment later.

Awww, now you've gone and made it angry, Dragonfire! My mind muttered and I tried to ignore it.

Making my miracle Pipbuck angry was not something I wanted to do, even if it did freak me out. That was when the terminal right in front of me flashed to life with more than just code. First appeared the logo of Oracle, then another set of words.

***Data logs access granted, accessing terminated surveillance file 201. Please stand by... Surveillance footage recovered. Do you wish to play? Yes?/No?***

I squinted, making sure what I was really seeing was actually there. Then I got a very eerie feeling as I glanced at my Pipbuck.

Did somepony want me to see something? Why? The question ran ominously through my mind, yet once again curiosity sank its claws into caution and ripped it aside.

I couldn't help the fact that I really wanted to know, despite how unnerving it was, and I quickly pressed play. The first image I saw was blurred by static and colorless. But It did not take me long to recognize the large, cylindrical chamber as the one just outside the office behind us. Or if it was not that one, it was another one very similar. The version on the screen looked far newer and well-lit however, despite the image's poor quality. In it, I saw the rows of seats filled with ponies, each one wearing a pair of dark glasses.

There were two seating areas, one on the opposite side of the room and one below where the camera was situated. In the middle of the two was a set of three chairs, one was empty, and another supported a unicorn mare with a mint green coat and darker lime mane, her body covered mostly by a lab coat. The scientist sat nervously beside the unmistakable form of Twilight Sparkle, who was flanked by two armed pegasus guards. Then the movement of another pony as she entered the camera's view caught my attention. In the blurred image, I could just make out her cream coat as well as the mixture of maroon and purple in her mane. She too wore a white lab coat.

She stood before the tower of cables and wires in the middle of the room, the web now crackling with orange energy. The frames they were connected to were not empty however, and held within each was an odd pillar of silver metal, the likes of which were marred by a shimmering ornate pattern and radiated a dull glow. Connected to them was one of the glass boxes I'd seen shattered, and within them was what appeared to be Parrasprites.

"Fillies and gentlecolts of the Ministry of Arcane Science. Ministry mare." The cream mare looked over at Twilight in particular, and the lavender mare almost appeared to fidget a little. "My fellow explorers into the unknown, I am Professor Moon Dancer," she declared.

"You are here today to bear witness to the revolutionary applications of this new element, what we are currently calling Element-E! So if you would all please put these on for your own protection," she added, then turned to the tower, levitating a pair of black glasses over her eyes as the rest of the crowd did the same.

Seconds later, she began pressing buttons and pulling levers on the tower's console. It gave a spark and the camera feed flickered as from it more of the orange energy began to pulse creating visible winds that battered the scientists.

"To get right to the point, what you are about to witness will change the war, and the world," Moon Dancer declared, flipping one last switch.

As she did so a bolt lanced from each of the wired pillars and into the main structure. The metallic spires each began to thrum, a buzzing hum coming from the experimental device as a shielded spell enveloped the glowing spire. It built and built until the whole thing was like a rod of pure light within the magical field, then it arched out from the mechanical tower to the box containing the Parrasprites, and the creatures were struck by the orange lightning.

"The samples of Element-E excavated from the fissures under the city have proved quite fascinating. It seems that when the right kind of magical stimulation is applied it produces a form of energy like no other. We have taken to calling it primal-magic, for now, as it seems to be the basis for all forms of energy." I could hardly see through the bright light as Moon dancer went on, but within seconds it had faded to reveal the smoking interior of the tank.

The Parrasprites were dead, they had to be? I thought as I leaned closer.

The slamming of a multi limped, fusion of… Something with gnashing teeth, razor-sharp legs, burning orange wings, and silver metal tendrils that lashed out at the glass proved otherwise. The crowd gasped, recoiling a little. Twilight's guards leaped to protect her, but once it was clear the monster could not escape, they relaxed. Twilight herself leaned forwards, eyes focused right on the new monster.

"As you can see Element-E has a rather violent response to any bio-electrical current. Once again acting on the basis of the energy within the subject itself. This leads to the creation of what we like to call Neurodynes. As a basis for all potential life on Equs, it seems these Neurodynes can almost be programmed. As evident by the creature before you this could possibly be used to almost speed up a life form's very evolution," Moon Dancer elaborated, stepping forward.

"Now what I, and our scientific team here at Oracle propose is research into the application of this effect on ponies. As of now the only hypothesized method of creating and controlling this primal-magic is Element-E. The end goal of this proposed research is the creation of an army of highly evolved super soldiers." At those words, Twilight sat up and moved over to the professor.

Moon Dancer frowned as the Ministry mare offered a smile."Moon Dancer, right?" she asked, and the professor nodded, pushing up her glasses.

"That's correct, Miss Sparkle, we went to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns together," she responded, a faint glimmer of hope in her voice.

"Sorry, I don't recall. So many things going on these days that it's hard to think back that far," Twilight admitted, and Moon Dancer's frown deepened. "But this... This is an amazing discovery! With this, we could win the war in a matter of months, or weeks even. An army of super ponies... I don't even know what the possibilities of future evolution could be... Alicorns perhaps?" Twilight went on, lifting a hoof to her muzzle.

"Yes, I think about it a lot, yet you must understand that this research is in very early stages of development, to apply it to ponies would take far longer," Moon Dancer responded, yet Twilight still just seemed lost in thought.

"But this combined with... Oh yes, it's almost possible," she mumbled to herself, bearly audible on the camera.

“I'm sorry, but I must insist that you return to your seat, Ministry mare, this site may still have trace amounts of radiation, and your attire is not equipped with the proper protection," Moon Dancer stated, nodding to Twilight's seat, glancing nervously at the catwalk above.

"Of course, forgive my intrusion. This is just so great, you should be very proud," Twilight congratulated one last time before trotting back to her seat.

Moon Dancer glanced up at the catwalk one last time. Then, as if on cue, there was a metallic twang and the whole thing fell right in front of Twilight, crushing the mint green mare and her two guards, before swinging into the crowd on the cords that remained fixed to the roof. Twilight froze with a gasp, as the whole room erupted into chaos. Moon Dancer was the only pony who looked out of place in the panicked-filled throng, as she stamped one hoof on the ground. I almost swore I heard her groan before she reluctantly trotted out. Flicking her tail against a switch beside the box, a spark of electricity shocked the monster inside dead as the whole system powered off.

I sat back in the chair, eyes passing over the other screens in case there was anything else that had appeared on them. Nothing presented itself and I just remained there for several more seconds before catching a glimpse of something glinting in the corner of my eye. Looking down under the desk I was met by a broken ventilation grate, sitting within, along with a few old papers, was a memory orb. I reached out with a hoof, taking the thing and putting it in my saddlebag.

Sometimes I think some pony went placing all these things around just to mess with me. I thought before turning to Vertigo.

He was still tinkering with one of the machine blocks, reworking wires, and flicking switches as he muttered to himself

"Hey, you know anything about this?" I asked and he looked up, a pair of long cords still draped over his head.

"Know anything about what?" he asked, and I nodded at the screen.

"About random surveillance recordings appearing right in front of me. Especially considering what it looks like they captured," I went on.

"Really?" He cocked his head and trotted over.

"Yeah, it looks like somepony was trying to kill Twilight Sparkle. I think this may have been an assassination attempt or something," I explained as he moved over and looked at the screen, yet the moment he did so it went dark.

"Wait, what? Who was talking about that?" he asked, looking back at me as the screens all died.

"Well, no pony was talking about it directly. Somepony called Moon Dancer looked rather pissed that Twilight didn't die though," I informed him and he shook his head.

"Are you sure?" he pressed and I nodded.

"Of course I'm sure... Why? What does it matter? Twilight's been dead for years anyway… They all have."

"She always said they were trying to take over the M.A.S... But why? It doesn't make sense," he muttered to himself, raising a hoof to his chin

"Hello, Equestria to stupid pony. What are you going on about?" I waved a hoof in his face, and he paused.

"Why would it show you that?" he asked, and my face contorted in bafflement.

"What! I thought you were supposed to be helping me find all the answers?" I yelled, and he shook his head.

"I have no idea, all I do know is that kind of stuff was not what I was expecting to find down here. Why would they just leave incriminating footage like that laying around?" he asked, but I shrugged.

"I don't think they did. I think what or whoever wanted me to see it recovered it somehow," I answered.

"Maybe so, but if that was the case then you'd have to have a very powerful program, more powerful than I was expecting," he went on, tapping my Pipbuck.

Goddesses, I don't understand any of this technical terminal shit.

"What do you mean more powerful than you were expecting? I'm standing right here, you know? And I'm not some moronic mare that just happens to be attached to the miracle Pipbuck!" I stated with a stomp of my hoof.

He turned around, muttering to himself as he moved back to the large bank of machinery he'd been messing with. I stepped out of the chair and moved over to him, shining my light over the wall to see what he'd been doing. The mass of sparks, blinking lights, empty sockets, and blank screens made about as much sense as his words.

"There's something in the system... Wait, how many times did you plug that thing in?" he asked, nodding at my Pipbuck.

"Just the once, why? That's all it’s ever needed to save my flank before," I stated.

"Ha, you're thinking about the potential too limitedly. Let's see what happens if you hook it up to this," he suggested, now motioning to one of the empty sockets in the wall.

I regarded him and his work for a long moment, the sinister message I'd seen in the terminal still fresh in my mind.

Maybe it was a warning? Get out while you still have a chance kind of thing? Remember what happened last time, Dragonfire? Vertigo caught me staring, then sighed.

"Look if you don't like the Transcendent, then we're on the same side. All I need you to do is plug it in again," he stated, looking right at me even as he reached for my foreleg

"So you can do what with it?" I snapped, pulling my hoof back

"Damn, why do you have to be so difficult? I have a friend in Crossroads that could really do a lot with this stuff. I work for them, and they're kind of a technological wizard. If anyone can help you with all this it's them, " he finally explained.

'Crossroads?' The town on the highway, but that was miles away. Wait I thought he was the one who was supposed to be helping me!

I said as much, but he shrugged again, "The only way you could ever get to them is through me, so technically I still am helping you. Now, the Pipbuck if you'd please."

Grumbling to myself I reluctantly lifted my foreleg and let his telekinesis plug it into one of the sockets he'd created. "Now, this is where the fun begins," he said flicking a switch.

The way he said that made me shiver and it was hard not to imagine some kind of evil scientist rubbing their hooves together as they cackled wickedly. Yet I was more distracted by the rapidly scrolling code that danced across several of the once-dead screens, not to mention the screen of my Pipbuck.

Goddesses, he knew what he was doing right? You know what you're doing trusting him like this, right? Dragonfire? My mind asked as I felt almost hypnotized by that scrawling code.

"Yes, come on, you beauty, give me everything, tell me how to beat those fuckers and their stupid freaks," Vertigo muttered as he watched the code too.

Wait, those fuckers and their what?

"Hey, what do you mean by freaks? You mean like monster ponies?" I asked, images of Carnage floating about my mind.

Vertigo stiffened as if he should not have said that. "I guess you could call some of them monster ponies, that's if you can even call them ponies anymore. But you don't need to worry about all that."

"No, I'm pretty sure I do. Look, I trusted you and gave you access to my Pipbuck. Now, if you really want me to trust you, tell me what you didn't before," I pressed and he sighed.

"Most inquisitors, the color-coded ones are just charismatic shells. The Transcendent have done far worse to ponies. As far as I know, there's only two. I met one called Locust at Stable fifty-four, and well... Well, she was pretty fucked up," he explained as he flicked a couple more switches on the terminals.

So Mister Red was not a normal pony? Yeah, he was still normal enough to get taken down by a good smash to the head though. My mind mused, unable to believe a pony like Carnage would have been fooled by such a thing.

"So who's Locust?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"She was just one mare. Thought she was just another slave when I went in, she didn't have the silly armor," he began, tapping his own armored hoof.

Funny, his armor looked a lot similar. What did a set of silly eye lenses make him super special or something? Then again, at least he hadn't covered his in that confusing orbital pattern.

"Well, turns out she wasn't a normal pony, though I only found that out once I got close. She had some kind of control over a swarm of mechanical microsprites that lived... Inside her ..." He trailed off, the memory sickening him as he took a sharp breath. "I mean now that I think about it the big holes in her spine should have been a big giveaway. She was like some damn symbiote."

"They lived inside her?" I asked in alarm, the image, sensation of such a thing making my stomach twist even more.

"Oh yeah, she'd strip the flesh off your bones in an instant if she wanted to," he assured me and I shot him a flat look.

"And you killed her, right?" I asked bluntly.

He snorted. "Ha, I'm stealthy but I'm not that good an assassin. No, I killed them all by sneaking in and flooding the whole place with radiation from the reactor. Got out before the door sealed. But that bitch just ate right through the door and didn't seem to care."

"She what?"

Ate through a Stable door, but that was a Stable-Tec door! Not even a mega-spell could get through something like that!

Despite everything Vertigo smiled at my stunned expression and right there and then I really wanted to hit him.

"Yeah she did, and I don't think I need to explain how uncomfortable knowing a pony like that's out there makes me. Stupid ponies and their stupid experiments," he muttered as if he wasn't one of these same stupid ponies.

I really considered what I was about to say next after that reaction. Yet after all he'd put me through, I wasn't really that concerned with his mental state.

"You ever heard of another one called Carnage?" I asked and he quickly looked at me.

"You saying there's more than just the one left?" Even behind that helmet, it was the first time I'd sensed fear in his voice, yet given who I was referring to I couldn't blame him.

I nodded, revealing every detail I'd seen, from his armor's flaming mane and red coat to the way he'd turned into a real monster after that stuff was injected into him.

"You're kidding me, right?" I shook my head and he fell forward over the code-filled screen.

"The shit I do for..." he groaned wearily before cutting himself off.

"Shit you do for what?" I asked, nudging him with a hoof.

He glanced back and I swear he growled like some sort of dog. "I have that psycho swarm bitch, now this ... Carnage. What a stupid name!" he exclaimed raising his hooved in the air.

"It also kind of makes this next bit of the plan a lot more... Well, interesting," he tapped a hoof to the terminal.

"What?" I asked, a million different things flooding out of my untrusting mind at those words.

"Well, you see your Pipbuck there has been doing exactly what I was expecting it to do if it had the chance," he said, gesturing at the device as I instinctively ripped it away.

I had no idea what was going on but I was really wondering why I'd trusted him again.

Because you're a stupid pony, didn't you prove that back under the last creepy science building?

"That is exactly why I didn't tell you what I was thinking sooner," Vertigo said, seeming to think for a second

"Tell me what?" I demanded and he flicked a switch on the wall.

***Data Transfer Complete. Please Have A Nice Day***

The words appeared on the screen as I gasped and looked down at the device on my foreleg.

"You transferred everything onto my Pipbuck?" I exclaimed, but he shook his head.

"No, your Pipbuck did that. The first time you plugged it in it must have installed a worm. I just gave it the opportunity to get the worm back. Looks like you picked up something very interesting and it really hated Oracle."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You lied to me, you little bastard," I growled.

"Haha, if only you knew how incorrect that insult was. But another thing I forgot to mention is that big of a data transfer is very hard to miss. Plus, if it is a Destiny corporation program on that Pipbuck of yours, then right about now it should..." Before he could finish there was a loud beep from the terminals.

"Warning, foreign artificial intelligence detected in primary core systems. Designation hostile: Proceeding with automated server wipe. Oracle security has been notified: all access points now in lockdown status," stated the tinny voice of a mare over the building's PA system.

Seconds later the whole room shook and trails of dust fell as a boom sounded somewhere above. In the same instance, my E.F.S lit up with red dots like a tree on Heartswarming Eve.

Goddesses it was all happening again, only this time I was stuck with a complete moron instead of my friend!

Vertigo looked at me as he drew Sting in his magic. "Oracle and Destiny hated each other, I did say you hadn't seen Paranoia yet."

"You... Goddesses, I'm going to fucking kill you!" I screamed.

---

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added: Hit the Deck - You’ve been hit by one too many explosions. Perhaps it’s time to consider a new career. +25 Damage Threshold against explosives.

Companion Attained: Vertigo - Really? Are you just a magnet for the strangest of ponies? Oh well, at least this one can teach you a thing or two about being sneaky... Not to mention he's hot! You gain +40% duration for Stelthbucks and +20% damage from sneak attacks while your companion is present.

Next Chapter: Chapter Seventeen: Last Train Out Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 53 Minutes