A week ago I'd thought I'd hit the jackpot when I'd been offered a job worth a fortune. I thought I could finally have all the caps to make everything I’d done before as a bounty hunter worth it. Turns out it was most likely either a trap conjured up by some raving lunatic cult in order to get me in the right place at the right time, or it was a job that would require a small army to accomplish. But with me being me, I may have let my love of caps get the better of me and by taking on this mission I'd ended up being shot, stabbed, chased halfway across the desert, and on top of it had some malicious little robot do goddesses know what with my insides to the point I could hardly move without puking.

‘And what are you doing again, right now?’ My mind asked as I sat in the depths of another pre-war facility, alarms ringing as I looked at the stupid buck that had gotten me into this mess.

"Yeah, well as of five seconds ago I have a lot more ponies wanting to kill me. Now, how about you work with me to get the both of us out of here alive before you really consider killing me?" Vertigo suggested.

Another sound heralding the imminent arrival of the building's security rushed my decision-making as I reluctantly nodded.

"Well, can't we just shut them all down again like last time?" I asked, but he shook his head.

"Nope, didn't you hear? All of the info is gone in the purge. All terminal access is going to be on lockdown now," he elaborated.

By the goddesses, I'm going to roast his flank so hard the moment we get out of here!

Seconds later I put my helmet back on and the pair of us swiftly made our way back into the office. Vertigo instantly went over to the broken window, peering out into the large chamber beyond. I meanwhile took one look at the way we'd come in and concluded that the collapsed corridor wasn't going to be how we were getting out.

"So, what's your plan?" I called over to him.

"This room sits between this building and the M.A.S hub, below the rail lines and the Stable-tec building. There should be another elevator up to the back of the M.A.S building then we sneak out down the pipelines and right into the rail yard. Then you get your friends and we all get out of here, simple." I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Sure it was easy for him to say.

With my luck, we’ll have a horde of those heavy-duty robots racing towards us with intentions to exterminate with extreme prejudice.

Still, it was at least some kind of course of action. It was far better than just waiting here for those damn robot security to kill us on sight. Not only that, but it would make sure we ended up right where Cherry and the others would be. Yet he'd missed out one major detail.

"What about all the slaves?" I asked.

He froze mid-stride."Slaves?"

By the goddesses, this had just become a million times worse!

"Yes, the whole reason I left Cherry and the others down there. Do you really think I'd have come up here alone otherwise!?" I yelled, really hoping he wouldn't somehow sense the true goal behind that question.

It would have been yes, either way. No way would I have risked the life of the pony I really cared about for this little side expedition, nor would I have Sky up here with Clip and Ochre still injured. I just hoped the pony I really cared about would still be okay when I got back to her.

"Well, I assume you told them to come up the service elevator that leads right to the rail line beside the construction yard?" He tapped the tip of his muzzle.

Goddesses, you'd think if he'd been stalking me as much as he claimed he'd know what to do.

"Pony feathers, you've really gone and made this interesting," he explained, eyes and ears darting about as he re-evaluated his plan.

"I've made this interesting? You're the one who snuck up on me and wrangled me into your little quest! How do you even know that's the right way?" I asked, and I could swear he was looking at me like I was stupid or something under that helmet.

"Don't tell me you've never infiltrated a building like this without taking even a single look at how it's laid out?" he asked and I grumbled to myself.

"Funny, Admiral Smart-ass, now you’re getting us the fuck out of here and you’re not going to ‘conveniently’ forget about my friends," I retorted and he quickly stepped out onto the catwalk just beyond the broken window.

‘More suspended catwalks, great. How I really do adore those.’ My mind groaned as I followed him.

The moment I stepped hoof on the metal it swayed uneasily and the urge to step back and find another way out of this death trap was becoming very strong. Then there was a rattling sound behind me and I glanced back.

"What's wrong, you afraid of heights?" Vertigo asked.

‘Goddesses, I'm going to rip that helmet off and blast the smug face I know's under there to Tartarus!’ That was when the office exploded.

"Attention, attention!" blurted yet another sentry bot as it blew a hole through the rubble covering the door and tried to force its way through.

The explosion threw me forward into the rail on the other side of the catwalk and the whole thing swayed away from the window before swinging back towards the broken glass. I wrapped my forehooves around the railing as my rear hooves kicked out and my stomach lurched. Then the sentry bot trying to crawl its way over the rubble piles aimed its gatling weapon right at me while it positioned its missile launcher to blast away more of the rubble and make a path for itself.

"Why can't you just stay shut down you stupid hunks of scrap metal!" I yelled as the rocking continued.

"No chance of that now. So much for hoping they all were shot to bits by each other!" Vertigo called as I felt like I was going to throw up.

In the blurred mess that was my vision I saw him look back at me, the piece of catwalk he occupied disconnected from my own and relatively still in comparison. Two of the cables suspending my half of the catwalk snapped with a loud twang and the whole thing swiftly became vertical.

"Goddesses, get me the fuck off of this damn thing!" I cried, holding on for dear life and closing my eyes as the bright beams of the robot's weapon nearly severed the second set of cables.

‘Sure, don't just shoot at me directly.’ I thought to myself, my inner monologue absolutely dripping with loathing and sarcasm. ‘Take the long and terrifying road to kill me!’ I mentally cursed.

That was when I detected a bright flash beyond the darkness of my sealed eyelids and swiftly heard Vertigo calling out from below. "Let go, I'll catch you!"

‘Oh right, like I'm going to believe him after all of this shit!’ Then one of the cables on the far side of the catwalk snapped and the whole thing tilted a little further downwards, spinning while hanging diagonally. ‘Well, you're dead either way. Even if he's lying.’ My mind noted.

Goddesses, I really don't want to give the buck who got me into this dangerous situation in the first place the satisfaction of letting me fall to my death! ‘Then what choice is there?’ My mind queried and right then I really hated the wasteland for creating the situation for which I was out here in the first place!

Without a word, I closed my eyes as tightly as I could as the catwalk gave one last shudder before I reluctantly let my hooves slip away from the railing.

‘Damn, this is not how I expected to go out.' Then again nothing that I'd done recently had gone as I had expected.

I screamed, but shortly felt the tingling aura of telekinesis envelope my plummeting body, and my weight was reduced to that of a feather. I cracked open one eye and looked down from where I was suspended in the air by Vertigo's purple aura.

"See, not bad at all," he mused, then cocked his head and seemed to look past me.

I was about to retort with something equally witty when he added. "On second thought, let’s leave the talking until we aren’t in danger."

There was another whip-like crack as the sentry bot's fire severed the last cable and it snapped back. ‘Right, fight for survival now, talking can definitely wait until later.’

Vertigo bolted to one side, levitating me with him as the mass of metal came crashing down, smashing apart in a burst of metallic shrapnel, a great deal of the equipment that littered the experimental demonstration suffering various degrees of damage. Instinctively I kicked my legs to run too, only for me to realize again that I was still suspended by Vertigo's magic.

"Damn it, let me down! My hooves have been off the ground long enough today!" I exclaimed, my legs still squirming as Vertigo finally levitated me to the floor.

"You were up there for five seconds," he said, but I just shook my head.

"Like I said, I’ve been off the ground for long enough!" The flashes of another explosion and the following light of beam fire swiftly canceled the argument as the sentry bot broke into the office and moved over to the window to fire down at us.

"Come on, there should be an exit on the other side," Vertigo stated, running around the piles of scientific equipment.

"Great, let's just hope this one isn't locked!" I added as I carefully backed up to where he'd run, firing back at the attacking robot.

His lack of a response beyond that of a faint grumble wasn't very encouraging. But the wasteland didn't stop there. No, it had to go and make my day so much more exciting.

Below the office window from which the sentry bot fired a large steel door slid open. The bright flashing of alarms on either side rang to life, and grinding tracks carried forwards two more sentry bots, both immediately taking aim.

"Awww, come on!" I screamed, ducking behind the cover of the equipment as the two new robots blasted us with beam fire.

"Hey, give me a second. I'll have to manually try and override the door controls!" Vertigo called from where he'd pulled a panel off of the wall beside our exit.

"Good, because me and my miracle Pipbuck are kind of busy at the moment!" The sound of a missile followed my words as the sentry bot on the upper floor blasted the spire in the middle of the chamber and I was thrown aside by the concussive force of the fiery blast.

The tower went up in a flash of fire and orange sparks, the old shield around it activating for a second before flickering out. My whole body felt as if it had been put through a blender and my gut seemed like it had been through the same thing several times more as I rolled across the tile floor. Getting back on my hooves I saw that most of the central shaft had fallen down between me and the robots, it had also split in the middle. Sparks of the odd orange magic arched between the two halves and beyond it, I could see one of the sentry bots moving in to execute a pincer maneuver. I looked between the robot and Vertigo as he got back to his hooves and resumed work on the door.

‘Great, time for me to save his sorry flank for a change.’

"Hey, you!" I shouted, standing up and moving toward the sentry bot.

It paused, then swiftly shifted to point one of its very powerful weapons at me. I looked right into the red lights beneath the grill of its head and fired. The plasma did nothing but cause its black armor to glow red hot as it opened fire and advanced towards me. I darted toward the closest piece of cover I could find as the bright beams lanced through the air. All the while begging the goddesses that the laser fire wouldn't instantly turn me to ash.

"Ha, is that it? You worthless bucket of bolts! Your grandma was a toaster!" I called, unable to forgo allowing a little bit of my hatred toward all robots to surface even as parts of my flesh burned from the heat of the lasers.

The same could not be said for the sentry bot as it kept firing and raised its missile launcher. Yet the explosive never fired and I peeked up to see the robot advance mindlessly right into the crackling field of magical electricity between the two halves of the fallen spire.

"Attention, attention... Sssss-security compromised... Ssss... System error, error, error!" I expected the robot's buzzing stammer to be ended with a loud bang.

Instead, the orange lightning lashed out over it like a living spider web, reaching out and underneath the plates of armor like flickering tendrils. Then the whole thing seemed to glow from the inside before its plates began to rupture and bulge.

Okay, not what I was expecting. I noted as the inside of the robot almost began to bleed a silver metal that glowed the same vibrant orange.

"Haha, I got it!" Vertigo called out before there was a small beep and the door slid open next to him.

I looked away from the sentry bot as more of the silver metal swelled up from within it, ripping apart its arms and weapons before leaking onto the floor. Then the second of the ground-level robots blasted away through the wreckage to my right allowing both it and the one in the office above a new line of sight.

"Great, that's a first!" I called to Vertigo, galloping as fast as my aching limbs would allow right toward the door.

The robots continued to fire, nipping my tail with singeing bolts of magical energy. Moments later, I reached the door, following Vertigo into the dark corridor beyond.

"Now close it!" I yelled.

"Close it? I hadn't exactly planned that far ahead," he responded, but I was quite frankly done with these stupid robots.

"Fine, I'll do it!" I snapped pointing my plasma rifle at the door control switch.

There was no argument from my companion, in fact, he even seemed impressed. That was when the whole room was shaken by a new explosion, however. The robot caught in the lightning gave one last metal groan before it blasted apart in a flare of orange light and a molten wave of silver metal. The robot on the ground was smothered in the metallic liquid and I had no time to see the same thing happen to the sentry bot on the upper floor as I blasted the door's lock. Much to my relief it slid closed before any of the strange substance hit us.

‘Great, finally a break.’ I appreciated the reprieve for however long it lasted as the sound of the hard substance hitting the other side of the door rang out, causing it to hiss and bulge outward as extreme heat radiated from the other side, before the place finally went silent.

"So where to now, mister expert infiltrator?" I asked, turning to Vertigo.

I really had very little patience or time for this. Cherry probably thought I was dead and had left with the others by now anyway. Still, there was no way I was just going to leave her, no matter where we both ended up.

"This way, there's some labs and then an elevator up to the rear of the M.A.S hub if I'm right. Just watch out for any more security," Vertigo said as he trotted down the corridor.

‘And what has he been right about before now?’ I thought to myself as I trotted along after him.

Unfortunately, Vertigo was at least right about the security, yet we dispatched the turrets and ponytrons with far more ease than the heavily armored sentry bots. The farther we went, the darker it got, the gloom parted by the light of my Pipbuck. The green glow did nothing to settle the eerie sights I saw through the cracked windows of the laboratories as we passed by, however. I could see the shadows of operating tables sitting beneath spindly metal limbs, tipped with drills, saws, and a whole manner of sharp needles. Half-full tanks of odd liquid lingered like ghosts in the corners of the room, the ones that weren't shattered or glowing serving as an unwelcome reminder of the mare I'd seen below the Destiny building.

‘Goddesses, I really hope that hadn't been Lucky.’ I thought, noticing that some of the vats even had shriveled organic remains in them.

I dared not think about how I'd seen Lucky Star in the memory as I passed each of them before the corridor finally ended and we both emerged into a dimly lit room.

It was another operating chamber. ‘Great. So much for my break.’

The walls were a clean white, as were the panels covering the bases of several shattered glass tubes and vats positioned in a neat square around the central operating table. Looking into each I was glad to find them all completely empty. In fact, besides the medical equipment, the majority of the room was empty. Across the chamber from us was a large, shattered mirror, yet as we moved over it became clear that only one side of the thing had been transparent.

"Must have been some sort of viewing screen. Ha, figures they don't want whatever poor soul's on there to see the ponies torturing them. Cowards," Vertigo noted, nodding to the operating table as he levitated up one of the broken shards.

"And you know what they did to ponies here, do you?" I asked and was both thankful and a little disappointed when he shook his head.

‘Great, now can we just get out of here already?’ I thought to myself, voicing the sentiment to my current partner’.

Vertigo didn't seem to disagree as he tossed the broken glass aside and stepped into the room that it had once hidden from view. The dull walls in here were a stark contrast to the ones in the clinical lab. All that I could see was a control desk with a microphone, another door, and several cabinets built into the wall. I found myself drawn to the desk just for a moment unable to think about what horrible orders may have been issued from it. What had the ponies here done in their sick experiments? An image of Lucky Star and the whole host of horrible things I'd seen under the Destiny tower flashed through my mind again and I turned away. Then I found myself looking at one of the lockers as Vertigo set to work on rewiring the door.

"Damn, this better be the last one of these stupid things," he groaned and I was about to agree when something caught my attention.

Through a rusted crack in the cabinet, I saw a faint glow. I glanced at Vertigo, then back at the glow. Curiosity finally got the better of me and my horn flared as I magically pried the thing open only for a whole pile of memory orbs to come flooding out. Startled, I jumped back and raised my rifle as the orbs rolled out and pooled around my hooves only to realize how twitchy I was getting.

‘Damn, are these places really starting to get to you?’ ‘Haha, very funny, brain.’ I cursed as I lowered my rifle, then levitated up one of the orbs, careful not to let it touch my horn.

"Seriously?" Vertigo asked, watching me slip a few of them into my bag.

"What? Know your enemy, right?" I retorted.

A small part of my mind thought exactly that, yet another only wondered if they all were really just set up to mess with me. But so what if I found them interesting? This mystery had already caused me enough trouble and some of these things could contain valuable answers. Vertigo on the other hoof, swiftly became distracted elsewhere as the door beeped.

"Hey, that was easy... Wait?" It slid open and before he knew it a metal hoof smashed into his face with a hard clunk.

His helmet sparked and crackled under the force of the deactivated power hoof's strike, yet seemed to absorb most of the impact. I had a feeling if it had been turned on, he'd be dead, but I had little time to think as I lifted my weapon to the door. Only for it to be kicked from my grip and back out into the operating room by the power-hoof-wearing pony. The barrel bent with a flash of green sparks and plasma as it clattered to the floor, leaving me with only my magic as three ponies stormed in through the door. Two of them were heavily armed stallions in the dark Transcendent armor. The third was a small, gray, earth pony mare only half my size and clad in a combination of Brazen barding and black combat gear. It was her that I'd seen before, only this time she had a crackling power hoof on each of her forelimbs.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Two lost little birds," Chief growled.

She banged her hooves on the floor, sparks flying from the power hooves as they activated and tiles buckled beneath her. Then her eyes narrowed further as she focused on me.

"So you're the one who gave us the slip? Such a pretty little thing, don't really look like much. Hardly worth Carnage's effort," she mocked, waving a hoof at me. "I'd snap you like a twig if my Carrie, didn't want you alive."

‘Her what?’ My face contorted before I snapped back.

"Funny, I recall you being the one running away when I blasted your little friends." She grit her sharpened teeth.

"I'm sure it's hilarious, but how about we see how smug you are when I smash your face in, pretty girl," she declared as her two companions lunged at Vertigo and she whirled to strike me with her rear hooves.

‘Well, at least she's not coming at you with the power hooves.’ I recognized.

Then again that probably meant she didn't want to simply kill me, or at least not yet. ‘Goddesses, are all bad guys gonna do their villainous monologuing, or is there anyone who would rather have me dead without making me sit through their spiel?

I jumped to the side as her strike struck nothing but the air, and then wrapped her rear hooves in my magic and pulled, dragging her back through the window.

"Fuck you! You stupid fucking horn head!" she yelled kicking out before managing to grip her power hooves onto the window frame.

As good as I thought I might be, my telekinetic strength was nothing compared to the gripping power of those hooves and I was forced to release her.

"Now, just stop with the tricks and take it, you troublesome little bitch!" she yelled, the time for mockery clearly over.

"Haha, you're about the last pony to call anypony little, pipsqueak!" Vertigo called as he tussled with the other two ponies.

I was surprised at how fast he'd recovered from one of those hooves to the face. Either she hadn't really been trying to kill him either or his armor was really something. Regardless, it was evident that whatever orders Chief may have had to keep us alive didn't really matter anymore as the little mare's rage spiked. Now it really looked like she was just trying to smash my face in.

"What did you say, you pathetic bug? I'll squash you and your pretty marefriend here!" she declared, smashing her power hooves hard into the floor, sending enamel shards flying along with sparks of electricity.

‘Okay, definitely trying to pummel me into a bloody pulp now.’

The small mare coiled back, then sprang at me with the crackling weapons outstretched. Without my rifle, I lowered my horn, concentrated, and with a spark of cyan flame set the window frame on fire.

"Fuck! What the fuck? You can go shove that horn up your ass!" she cried as she hit the flames and kicked back, cursing a whole slew of profanities and patting out her singed fur. "Hey, you two stop fucking about with him and get this little bitch!" she called from over the blaze and before I knew it there was a clattering of gunfire against my side.

Most of the bullets bounced off of the scales or left only bruises as they hit the harder parts of my barding. Yet several pierced the flesh in my flank.

‘Bruises, beam weapon burns, and now bullet holes?’ Goddesses I was glad I was so numb on Med-X, no matter how much the painkiller was beginning to wear off.

Still, the gunshots sent me sprawling to the floor as one of the black armored bucks levitated an automatic rifle to my head as he stood over me.

"If I see so much of a spark from that horn of yours, I don’t care how much trouble I’ll be in with the boss, you won’t be causing us any more problems," he grumbled from under his helmet.

‘Well, if that was the case...’ I kicked up with my rear hooves and struck him right where it hurt.

It seemed I was not the only one to forget to put armor there as the stallion folded in on himself, grasping at his crotch with his forehooves. The moment his weapon was off of me my horn sparked again and this time blasted his helmet with a wave of cyan flame. In the end, it was safe to say that the area between his legs was the last of his problems as he fell back and desperately tried to pull his red-hot helmet off.

Absolved of my last plasma weapon, I caught his gun in my magic and aimed it at the transcendent earth pony frantically trying to pin down a teleporting Vertigo. It was clear from my companion's panting and sizzling horn that jumping from place to place was really taking it out of him. So I once again took it upon myself to save his flank. I opened fire on the attacking pony's head and it became pretty clear that while that armor was a cut above the usual wastelander's, it was far from bulletproof. I shot again and again until the black metal yielded and the earth pony fell to the floor with a hole in his skull. Vertigo finally appeared before me with a flash, gasping for breath through his helmet's vent.

"Good shot," he panted, and I grinned behind my visor.

"I shouldn’t leave all of the saving to you now, should I?" I responded, all the while trying to assure myself that I wasn't also smiling because he was also stupidly attractive.

Vertigo almost seemed to breathe in that admiration as if it were a refreshingly cool breeze, then he darted to the door Chief had attacked us from. Beyond it was a short corridor flanked by two more doors and just ahead was the open entrance of an elevator.

"Get back here... I'm going to beat the goddesses fucking shit out of both of you damn mules when I get to you!" Chief yelled from across the fire as the pair of us got in the elevator and Vertigo pressed the button to ascend with his magic.

“You’re a bastard of multiple generations of inbreeding, stumpy!” Vertigo mocked before the elevator doors.

The screaming mare disappeared as the dull hum of March of the Parraspites began to play. I let out a small breath of relief, despite the fact I knew this was most likely far from over. I still had to get back to Cherry, then escape this goddesses awful place. Then I had to find some way to get to Stable Fifty, find Star, and make sure I didn't die and... I rubbed my aching gut as it growled. It was all so much just because of this stupid job.

"Here, for the wounds. Got no Med-X left though, sorry," Vertigo offered, levitating over a healing potion as he removed his damaged helmet and took another sip of his strange green liquid.

"Stupid power hoof, how did I miss that?" he grumbled, then strapped the helmet to his side.

"Just be glad she didn't have them turned on, she wasn't trying to kill you. At least before you really pissed her off," I responded.

But most of my attention was drawn to the small vial as he took a sip. Even as I downed my healing potion, I slowly began feeling at least some relief all over my body as the magic set to work on my injuries.

‘Extra strength, wow he really does know his stuff.’ I thought as the elevator ascended for about a minute more before stopping with a beep and opening to reveal another office room.

‘Another secret elevator to the crazy basement, how predictable.’ I thought, stepping out.

It was in no better condition than any of those from the Oracle building across the plaza, the likes of which I could see through a shattered window to the right. Rain still poured outside and lightning flashed against the industrial skyline. Then Vertigo stepped out and pulled a grenade from his saddlebags.

"Perfect gift for our angry little friend down there. Should make sure she stays put for a while at least," he said as he magically sent the elevator back down, though not before pulling the grenade pin and tossing his ‘present’ inside.

A moment later there was a distant rumble and the room shook as the explosive detonated. "Now let's get out of here, we should be fine now unless they have fly-"

His words were cut off as something smashed in through the window, bounced from a desk with a metallic thud, and rolled into the room. Both our horns ignited in union, the pair of us ceasing the grenade and hastily tossing it back out of the window.

"Damn, featherbrains. They must have been watching the elevator!" Vertigo called out, as two black armored griffins took firing positions outside the window.

I glanced up, my failing visor struggling to make out the pair as they hovered in the rain, meanwhile, my E.F.S just showed me a whole load of red dots. The griffins were either Talon mercs or this Transcendent offered its services to more than just ponies. Neither option struck me as desirable as I raised the rifle I'd looted and fired into one of the flying felines, dropping into S.A.T.S. One shot struck his wing while the other hit his rear paw. The hybrid creature gave an eagle-like screech, clearly not prepared for my magically assisted accuracy. He also didn't seem ready for the sharp metal shard that sliced right through his throat as Vertigo joined me.

The second Griffin merely looked on as her companion fell to the rain-swept street below, then she sent two more bursts through the window. I ducked, a bullet striking the screen of a terminal atop the desk, bursting it with an electrical pop.

"Come on, we can find a way down to the construction yard this way," Vertigo told me as he crawled to the office door, blasting shots back into the griffin and forcing her to swerve.

"Yeah, but going down the way you planned is gonna be a lot trickier with our new friends," I countered, recalling what he'd said about the pipes.

Still, it was better than no plan at all and I began backing quickly towards the door, keeping my head low and blasting at the lone griffin. After a minute of swerving, she dove down below the window and disappeared.

"Ha, she gave up, typical," Vertigo snorted.

"There's going to be a lot more of them you know?" I corrected and he laughed a little.

"Well, yeah of course. Not to mention all the other ponies that are probably looking for us. Somepony in the Transcendent would have known the moment you plugged that program into an Oracle terminal," he elaborated and I had to fight the temptation to hit him.

"Yeah, because that's going to make getting thirty slaves out of this damn place so much simpler," I snapped, frowning.

‘Goddesses, did he know about that when deceiving me to use my Pipbuck? Does he intend for us to run with the whole of Crimson Springs on our tails?

"Don't worry, I'm working on that," he assured me, trotting on.

The short trek through the ruined corridors of the M.A.S hub was just as eventful as the last. The only things preventing me from laying into Vertigo with a barrage of questions, were the small groups of Transcendent and Brazen slavers we were forced to dispatch or sneak around. Even with my burning curiosity, years of wasteland survival demanded I stay focused, E.F.S and S.A.T.S were proving very helpful in that endeavor. That all ended as we found ourselves in another office, or more accurately, half of what was left of one. Like Vertigo had said the whole rear left corner of the building had collapsed. Many exposed floors sat above and below us, as well as many loose support beams and hanging wires that lashed about in the storm.

About five floors under us there was a crumbling concrete wall and a train line emerging from a tunnel within it. To the left of the tracks, I could see the skeletal remains of the construction site I'd seen on the city map. It had either fared far worse in the wasteland than everything else or it had never been more than a rusting frame to begin with. Under the steel mess was a whole assortment of discarded metal, rubble, and spark-operated construction machines which were gradually sinking into the muddy earth created by the torrential rain. An old Robronco sign lay half buried in the mud beside the aging tracks and next to it were several boxcars as well as a rusted, old, spark-powered engine to which a few additional train cars were attached.

"We'll get out on that, there's enough room for everypony!" Vertigo called, pointing a hoof at the train.

Well, it would certainly be faster and get everypony away from here in one go. But of all my time in the wasteland, I'd never heard of a more ridiculous idea.

"Are you being serious, that thing's nearly two centuries old for Celestia's sake! We've no idea if it even works or..." Much to my irritation, he cut me off with a wave of a hoof.

"Trust me, all you need to do is turn it on and it'll work. Earth pony engineering always does," he assured me, and the fact I was left with so few other options forced me to trust him once again.

Goddesses, is this buck just trying to kill me or make me follow every one of his ridiculous moves without question?

Still, part of me hoped I really could at least trust him to save my tail again. I also really hoped I could trust myself, or more specifically my miracle Pipbuck, to get that thing working somehow.

‘A train is no different than a terminal, right? Not to mention the tracks are downhill, so it's not like I have to keep the thing going for long as long as the brakes work?’ My thoughts were silenced by a loud crack, then another sharp twang as a bullet struck the crumbling roof above us.

"Yeah, fine plan, sounds great. Time to move," I finally agreed.

Vertigo quickly leaped from the edge of the ruined floor, landing on one of the long, rusted pipes. My eyes followed him, then moved onto the mass of pipelines that crisscrossed the back of the building before vanishing into the concrete wall above the tunnel. It was all far too high from the ground for my liking. Everything in my head was telling me just how bad an idea this was. I agreed, but today was shaping up to be a paragon of bad ideas, why not go all-in? I leaped forward, hooves landing upon the closet of the metal frames as two griffins swooped around the ruined M.A.S tower.

‘Yeah, this was a really bad idea, but at least I was right about there being more of them.’

I spun around swiftly, whipping the rain from my visor and trying hard not to slip on the wet metal as I sent several bursts of the automatic rifle in the griffins' direction. The pair swerved, narrowly avoiding the first barrage before returning fire with their own rifles.

‘Now I have no cover, great!’ I turned back and ran towards Vertigo as several rounds glanced off my dragon scale-encased rump.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" I called out profusely as I leaped to the left, landing clumsily on another set of pipes and sending my gut into another nauseating churning sensation.

"Get down!" Vertigo instructed as he raised his rifle.

Scary Images of what the scrappy thing had done to the Brazen slavers flashed through my mind as I dropped to the floor. Sting gave its signature hiss as a barrage of sharp metal needles fired toward our winged adversaries, right over my head. I heard one give a painful cry, then the pipeline shook as the beast's body came crashing down upon it before bounding into the flooded mud below. I glanced up at Vertigo as he reloaded, cramming in more shards of scrap.

‘Cherry is a good pony, I'm kind of a smart pony, and him... He's just a plain weirdo pony.’ Taking his example to heart, however, I reloaded my own weapon.

The griffins didn't seem willing to give either of us the luxury for long however as two more shots glanced off my armor, battering my body anew. ‘Damn it, I only just drank a healing potion for all of this shit!’

"Fuck, what's that fucker wearing, I can't get a good shot!?" I heard one griffin ask angrily.

"Sigil only knows. Now keep firing!" another retorted, his words heralding another hail of bullets.

I swear I blushed. At least someone appreciated my armor's design for once.

"Oh, it's a personal design, not too hard to make. All you gotta do to get some is kill a fucking dragon!" I shouted back, opening up with the automatic rifle as I spun to face them. “Also, your mother bucks toaster ovens, you overgrown turkeys!”

"Kill a dragon? Wow, sounds great! You'll have to tell me about it sometime," Vertigo laughed as he jumped down to another platform.

"You assume there's going to be another time?" I called back.

One of the griffins swooped around and behind a smokestack, trying to come at me from the left. I watched his mark on my E.F.S, then dropped into S.A.T.S and levitated out my scoped rifle

The shot flashed and my love of functioning Pipbucks only grew as it struck the griffin right in the chest. I had no idea if it actually penetrated his armor but from the way he spiraled off course and down into a mass of sharp metal girders I assumed he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

"This will teach you fucking bastards to chase me across the wasteland!" I called, almost jumping on the spot.

The griffins retreated behind the cover of the buildings and then my smug smile was wiped from my muzzle as a dark blur slammed into my left side. My insides shifted and twisted like jelly as the force rippled through me. I staggered before tumbling onto the pipeline Vertigo had jumped to just below. My automatic rifle landed on the wet metal only meters from my forehooves, the other clattered down into the thick mud below. I glimpsed Vertigo as he fired into the rainy sky then heard a croaking laugh as the pipeline shook. Rolling onto my front and trying to ignore my very, very uncomfortable stomach ache, I glanced back at the rifle that had landed in front of me. A heavy metal claw smashed down on it seconds later.

"Chase you? Haha, I'll think we'll just kill you and call it a day," a new, croaking griffin cawed.

I glanced up and right into the sharp green eyes of the black feathered creature. His right foreleg was completely made of metal, the likes of which glowed with many green lights and was tiptoed with razor-sharp talons that crackled with electricity. The tuft of fur at the tip of his lion tail was also green as were his wings' outermost pinion feathers and those forming a crest behind his black armored head. A similar black, green trimmed, carapace covered the rest of his body. Two long blades ran along the edges of his wings and there was a beam pistol holstered on his left side as well as a grenade bandolier.

"Mister Green, I presume?" If I was wrong about that, then who could blame me, maybe he was just a griffin who liked the color green.

His cracked beak parted with a smile, and he rubbed the Transcendent badge on his chest carapace with a foreclaw.

"At your service," he responded with a slight bow and spread of his wings.

‘Great, I'm right. Now for a whole new batch of questions. He's a Griffin? But... You know, you should really think more about killing your enemies, not woolgathering like some senile old mare, Dragonfire.’ ‘Shut up, brain!’

"Sigil only knows that tiny, power hoof swinging, foal couldn't have captured you down there. Never send a pony to do a griffin’s job," Mister Green grumbled, pointing to himself.

The green-tinted griffin regarded me closely, eyes appearing to see far more detail than my simple equine eyes could. He glanced back at Vertigo, who I could only assume hadn't shot him yet due to the ring of five or so griffins that now had guns pointed right at us.

‘You know a smart pony is really a stretch’, my mind snickered as I tried to figure out how they'd all managed to sneak around us.

I was even more confused as to how I was still alive, and the most puzzling thing to me was the fact I cared enough about Vertigo to not just start trying to torch them all.

"I suppose you're the rat who killed Yellow?" Vertigo didn't do anything other than scowl and the griffins all chuckled in malicious glee. "Don't think you can trick these eyes, you little grub," the griffin stated, pointing at his face. "It's funny really, I thought your kind was extinct."

I paused, then mentally backtracked. ‘His kind? He is a pony, right?’

"No, the only thing that went extinct out here is common sense," Vertigo retorted, his scowl broken by a wry grin.

The griffin merely gave another fake chuckle, his expression falling flat. "Yeah, never figured ponies would be so blatantly philosophical as to end the world," he spat.

Vertigo raised an eyebrow. "Well then, I think we can both agree that they're the lowest of the low," he responded, pointing a hoof at me.

‘Wait, why? What the fuck are these two talking about?’

"Are you two gonna shut up and kill me? If not can you please just stop wasting my time!" I shouted.

The smug contest between them stopped abruptly, Vertigo looked surprised and Mister Green showed about as much emotion as a brick wall. Then the green griffin sighed.

"Barron wants me to bring you two in, but I think he'll just settle for you." He pointed a claw at me. Then glanced at Vertigo. "You? Well, I don't think it will be too hard to say you were caught in an accident." He laughed and the Griffins around him all joined in again.

Vertigo slumped and mimicked the expression with a fake chuckle. I glanced down at the rifle under Mister Green's crackling metal claw. That limb was far too strong for me to just yank it away.

‘Damn, I really wish my eyes could melt it off or something, maybe if I focus really hard...’

There was a sharp crack amidst the thundering sound of the rain, then the green-tinted metal buckled, steam hissing from the hole in his ankle. In the same instant, there was another as one of the griffins above fell dead to the muddy tracks. Mister Green cawed angrily as the griffins scattered in confusion, his damaged claw lifted from my rifle as I snagged it, and the hole in his limb began to close.

‘It has a repair talisman, seriously!’

"Urggg! Enough talk, just kill them all you fools!" he called as my horn flared and levitated my rifle into a firing position.

The green griffin disappeared into the air before I could get a clean shot at his smug face and in the chaos, I couldn't even find him on my E.F.S. That only fuelled my frustration as I spurred back into action. Vertigo had also taken the chance to fire upon the griffins surrounding us. The gleaming projectiles Sting fired glinted in the flashes of lightning as he hopped down onto one of the lower pipes, now only inches above the train cars' roof as he downed another griffin with a swift shot to the skull.

A burst from the rifle and another confused half-feline was knocked off course and sent head-first into a rusted smokestack. Then there was a crack out in the rain and I saw another take a bullet straight through her wing, swirling down to the mud like a leaf in the wind. Reloading, I looked down over the train tracks to see where the shots were coming from. Cherry stood in the rain with Clip on her back. Water dripped from her mane and barding as she levitated Responsibility at her side, Clip holding off any attack from behind with his own weapon.

That is the pony I saved. I felt a strange concoction of pride, happiness and then fear as I saw two griffins taking aim at the pink mare.

I raised my rifle and opened fire. One of the griffins got off a shot before my bullets bit into his chest and wings. I didn't even dare look directly at Cherry as she jolted to the side, staggering behind the fallen Robronco sign. Behind the sign with her, I could see at least a dozen more ponies taking cover, I could even make out the very displeased face of Sky as she tended to them as best she could.

Oh, yeah, forget about killing Vertigo, you better make sure she doesn't get you first.

"Over here, you fucking feather brains!" I called out in an effort to draw their fire away from my friends. “You’re so stupid, you overgrown chickens can go buck yourselves!”

It worked. A griffin swiftly turned, to face me and the barrel of my levitated rifle. Her eyes went wide as I opened fire and tore most of her face off. Seconds later another pair swooped in over me and I bolted to the side, landing on the lowest of the pipes. Somewhere in the rain, I heard the sharp hiss of Sting, before one of the griffins fell to the pipe in front of me, rattling it hard. The second dived towards Vertigo, the shard of metal glancing at the side of her black helmet as she swerved and slammed into him. Both were cast over the edge of the pipe. The force of the impact caused one section of the line to give way and fall onto the top of the boxcar sitting in the tunnel's mouth below.

The griffin spread her wings as Vertigo struggled in her claws, then before she could drag him back into the air there was a flash and he was gone. With a wet thud, the griffin landed in the thick mud and swiftly became indistinguishable as the vile filth splashed her. Vertigo appeared next to her in a flash, but before Sting could fire the griffin lashed out with a claw and knocked his forelegs out from under him.

I aimed my rifle at the struggle. Then I was also knocked forward and onto the roof of the train car as my section of the pipeline collapsed. Another griffin swooped in over as I sprawled across the wet metal, my stomach swimming more than the muddy slog below as I tried to aim my rifle upward. The car shuddered as new weight landed atop me, a firm talon forcing my rifle down. The griffin smiled wickedly, her claws tipped with sharp steel. I smiled back, my horn flaring. All smiles faded as her face was scorched by magical flame and she lept back, screaming before falling to the mud and frantically rolling around.

I staggered to my hooves, looking ahead to the engine two cars along. Down to my left, I saw Vertigo tussling with the griffin in the mud. Hoofs and claws locked as she tried to snap his neck. He twisted out of her talons like a snake ending the hybrid creature's life with a blow from his jagged knife. To my right I saw Cherry as Clip and Sky all fired from their cover by the sign, at least three griffins pinning them and the slaves there. Immediately I activated S.A.T.S as I dashed along the train car, firing up into the griffins. Distracted, one had his wings torn to ribbons, another's torso joined it and the third griffin dodged.

One always has to fucking dodge, don't they!

"Get everypony in the cars, now!" I called to Cherry and the others as the griffin's attention became focused on me.

I had no idea whether they'd heard me or not as several shots glanced my armor and I could almost swear one nearly broke a scale. One hit my rear leg and I fell sprawling to the metal in the middle of the forwardmost boxcar as the bullet bit right through a gap in the worn draconic scales. I staggered onto my back, blood trailing from the wound on my leg and mixing with the hammering deluge. The griffin took aim, as did I. Once again I dropped into S.A.T.S, just enough charge left for one shot to the head. He had no such advantage. I executed the spell, each twitch of my magical aura now burning my tiring horn.

The rounds struck his head and he spiraled out of control, vanishing into the rain. Still, even in that time, the bastard had managed to fire at least once, albeit inaccurately. His shot missed my head and struck my shoulder. I screamed as it tore through the bandages, into the newly healed flesh, and through the bone.

Goddesses, if I survive this I'm going to make this stupid armor into a damn tank before trying anything like this again!’

I squirmed as I felt the warm touch of blood flood out under my armor. I reached for my saddlebags, my right forehoof and horn aching painfully. Fumbling with the bottle, I managed to down the last healing potion, not that it would do me much good with a bullet wound that deep. I'd fix that later, right now I knew what I had to do.

I staggered to my hooves, my shoulder burning. I grit my teeth as the wound slowly closed over the shattered bone. I didn't care for that as I flopped down onto the side rail of the engine car and dragged myself to the front. Inside was a large array of shattered dials, dusty buttons, and cracked screens. I tried to recall what Vertigo had said about trains, but his speech about earth pony engineering didn't really help when I had no idea where to start.

Then I realized something. ‘Nowhere to connect my Pipbuck? I guess trains really are different from terminals.’

‘Trust me, all you need to do is turn it on and it'll work.’ Vertigo's words rang in my mind.

I thought you were a smart pony? My mind sneered as I found a button that said ignition and hit it. Okay, he could have told me that!

I'd expected as much, and the thought that Vertigo may have suggested such a thing just to get me motivated made me want to strangle him all the more. In the few long moments following that, I simply prayed to the goddesses that whatever else I tried would work. I pushed one leaver and turned one dial to full and the engine gave a firm shudder before the whole thing gave a deep, vibrating growl and the cabin rattled before settling on a constant hum.

It's working, it's working! By the goddesses, it's fucking working! I leaned back against the rear of the cabin, panting as warm crimson slowly seeped from my shoulder and hind leg.

See wasteland, giving some pony a break isn't that hard, hey? The crack of rifle fire reminded me that mocking the post-apocalyptic world was not a good idea, however.

I staggered over to the cabin's window, peering out to see Cherry and Clip firing out at the griffins from one of the opened boxcars as Sky helped the last of the slaves in, much to the admiration of a smiling Ochre as she leaned against the inner wall of the car by the door. When the pale blue mare finally jumped in herself I assumed everypony was inside. I turned to the controls pressing everything I could before one central lever began to move the train steadily forward.

"Cherry, I hope you got everypony," I muttered under my breath, the idea of her as a good pony amidst the dark and desolate wasteland foremost among my thoughts as the train picked up speed.

As for Vertigo? Well, a small part of me hoped the strange buck was onboard too, only so I could kick his flank later. Even so, I couldn't help but ask myself what I'd do if it were me left behind. Before I could really consider that question the roof of the cabin shook, then a long set of claws tore straight through the metal roof.

I brought my rifle up, firing wildly into the indented roof as the crackling claw ripped back. Before I knew it, the window beside me shattered and I felt a firm grasp wrap around my neck.

"Going somewhere?" Mister Green growled as he dragged me kicking and firing wildly through the window and up onto the top of the engine car.

I tried to force him back as I squirmed, the scales on the back of my neck preventing his sharp grip from simply slicing my head off. Then came the electricity. I screamed as bolts of green lightning arched from his talons and shimmered across my body.

All the while the griffin laughed, his eyes narrowing.

"You know, I have no idea what they want with you, I think you're just too much trouble. Just be glad that it's me who had the honor of killing you, and not any of them," he growled in my ear as I gasped.

"Yeah... but you're still missing one thing, it's kind of a big flaw with you guys," I choked, head lulling as his electrifying claw grew tighter.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, and what's that?"

I managed a smile. "Peripherals."

The hiss of Sting was followed by a metal shard slicing right through the base of his right wing. His grip failed as he staggered to the roof of the car. I fell too, coughing and retching as I raised a hoof to my singed neck.

"Lowest of the low they are, but I'm still gonna have to kill you!" Vertigo called from the second car along, his grin visible even as his mane flailed in the wind.

By Celestia, even now in the midst of all this, he looks so hot... No brain, not now!

Vertigo's words didn't seem to be a question the griffin was at the luxury of answering, however, and with a sharp whoosh, two more shimmering darts were sent right at his face. Mister Green, it seemed, was far better at dodging the things than his minions, however. The griffin ducked and rolled as the projectiles flew over him.

"Strong words coming from somepony whose kind they wanted to exterminate!" he declared, his one flesh and blood claw grasping his magical beam pistol.

It was no Zap-Zap, but the griffin unloaded a full barrage of magical death right at the purple buck. Vertigo, ducked, then staggered as he fell back and disappeared over the edge of the train car. I felt a cold breath escape me as I saw him disappear.

‘Death?’ In the wasteland it was everywhere, I'd seen it so many times before.

"Fuck you, he was my only ticket out of this mess!" I screamed as I kicked out with my uninjured rear hoof.

The blow struck the griffin’s natural foreclaw making him drop the weapon.

"Fuck you and your stupid cult!" I screamed again, this time levitating up my rifle from the cabin below.

He wasn't about to let me strike him a second time however and certainly not with the ballistic weapon. He grasped the rifle from the air with his metal claw, tossing it toward the far side of the engine car. I staggered back to my hooves, watching as the rifle caught on one of the engine's ventilation fans. I was panting, muddy, wet, bleeding, sick, and really pissed off. I was really done with this shit. Mister Green only seemed to have the misfortune of being wet, not even acknowledging the hole in his wing as a cruel smile parted his beak, one unnervingly similar to that of his red counterpart.

"Just give up," he stated flatly.

I staggered back toward the front of the engine. "You give up!"

He grimaced. "I already have."

He lunged forward at me and I shifted back as far as I could as his claws scratched at my chest. The electrified metal tip of his talons left a lasting scar in the cyan scales as my magic wrapped around the rifle caught in the vent. I levitated it around as fast as my horn could and blasted his left wing with a shower of bullets. The griffin gave a painful shriek as several more holes were torn right through the feathered limb.

"Haha, it's a shame I broke all of my actual weapons, my plasma rifles are green, you'd love them!" I commented wryly as he lunged again.

My efforts to fire failed as he swatted the rifle aside and it disappeared into the rainy gloom, then he grasped me in his metal talon, heaved me up into the air, and threw me across the length of the engine car. My head spun as I rolled to a halt, adrenalin about the only thing keeping the pain from overwhelming me as I fell flat against the wet metal. With a beat of what was left of his tattered wings, Mister Green lept over and pinned me down against the back of the engine car. Blood trailed from his scruffy feathers as he bent my head and horn away providing me a very ominous view of the rattling, metal clamps and mess of wires that connected the cars as the train thundered across the muddy desert. My horn glowed as I tried to pull out a weapon, something, anything!

"In life, I am but a servant, and inquisitor of the grand Sigil. In paradise, I will be a god!" Mister Green declared in a bold voice as he pulled a metal apple from his bandoleer. "You and all of the other fools onboard this train will be my payment to the great master," he added looking at me with those sharp green eyes.

‘Goddesses, all I really did is shred his wing. It's just a wing, he can grow it back. He is half metal and surely if they make monster ponies, they can give him his wing back?’

"My life shall be Transcendent," the griffin finally added closing his eyes and pulling the pin on the grenade.

‘Braking visual contact? No pony, or griffin, who on top of me should ever do that!’

My magic wrapped around the only weapon I had left. The Saddle blaster's battered and broken barrel gave a disapproving hiss and I levitated it to the griffin's face. I had no idea what it would do if I used it in such a damaged state, but what did I have left to lose?

"Your life for this!" I cried out as the barrel glowed red hot and a solid cone of red energy ignited the griffin in a flash of searing flame.

There was a fizzing as the barrel of the blaster disintegrated into the rain and his headless body tumbled off the side. I was far more concerned with the grenade as it fell and rolled to the front of the train.

I... I can stop it in time, I could be a good pony!

The grenade exploded, the force pressing me down into the wet metal as the front of the train was consumed in a ball of flame and shrapnel. Then the whole thing gave an uneasy whir and a very heavy clunk as a set of pink flames erupted up from deep within the whirring engine and it ground hard against the tracks.

Goddesses! This thing is spark-powered, spark engines and explosions don't play well.

My eyes widened as memories of exploding chariots and wagons entered my mind, but none of those had been anywhere near as big as this. I looked back at the train carriages. All those ponies, slaves... Cherry. I rolled onto my stomach and the organ gave a painful nauseating sensation as it churned, but I didn't care.

"One last shot, old friend," I asked the half-melted blaster as I aimed it down at the connecting brace. One last shot. I closed my eyes.

"Be a good pony, Cherry." The blaster gave a painful whine, then the molten slag of its barrel glowed red hot and the whole rifle popped, fading into dust as the explosive beams reduced the metal brace to naught but pink ash to be washed away in the rain.

The carriages all screeched yet kept moving forwards. Then my horn flared with all of its magical might.

"Just do this, do this!" I hissed through gritted teeth as my magic wrapped around the wheels of all three cars. "Just do this!"

I screamed in pain as the force of a whole train's worth of momentum felt as if it were drilling my horn down into my skull. The glowing mass behind me began to slow as a bright layer of over glow burst around my horn. I closed my eyes tightly, crying out in more mind braking agony than I'd ever faced. Sparks erupted from under the carriages as yet more layers of cyan glow consumed my horn.

‘Pyrotechnics I can do, stop a train? Well… I’ll see just what I’m capable of in a moment of desperation.’

The engine cars beneath me gave a firm shunt as their increasing speed became too much for the flooded tracks to bare. I fell face-first into the metal, my horn's immense glow dying as my head throbbed more than it ever had. Even all of my hangovers combined and amplified by fifty thousand had not been like this. I had no idea if it had been enough. If I'd saved them. If she'd be a good pony and would make a difference in this shit hole of a world. This world, it was so flawed, so messed up. So far from perfect, it hurt, and this was it, I was leaving.

Well, Dragonfire we're riding the last train out of here, next stop... Somewhere, with mom, Star, brother ... The Goddesses.

I rolled onto my back, feeling the earthquake of metal under me as I peered up into the cloudy oblivion as harsh rain marred my face. Then I closed my eyes.

"Fuck you, wasteland!"

All of a sudden I felt something grasp my midsection. I felt warm hooves and the beating of wings.

‘Wait, is this an angel, or one of the goddesses? Is going to the everafter really like that?’ I opened my eyes slightly, to see a dull purple coat, whipping black mane, and cold, black armor.

‘No, it's not an angel.’ I had no idea what it was, all I saw was the bright flash of magical fire in the rainy gloom below, heard the boom and was blasted by the shockwave as it hit me and sent everything into a spin. I felt my whole body lurch and squirm as my Pipbuck began clicking wildly. But all of that was just before I was blasted into the sweet, pain-free darkness of unconsciousness.

Footnote: Level Up

New Perk Added: Action Filly (Level One) You are getting to know your targeting spells like the back of your hoof, making you about 20% cooler in combat. For each level of this perk, you gain +15 action points in S.A.T.S.

Updated artwork kindly provided by: Jedayskayvoker