Determination. That’s what I felt as I rode the unbearably slow elevator back to the surface. Azura stood by my side, ready to accompany me back to Moletown to confront Mr. Coal. I had left Gunny, Grizela and Gumdrop behind in Eclipse, each of them busy with their own projects. Besides, I trusted them to watch the place for me while I was gone. I looked at the edge of the elevator platform and smirked at the sight of Chestnut’s blood still caked to it. Of all the blood and gore that was cleaned up while I was out I’m glad his wasn’t. A darker part of me was satisfied at the sight where his flame was extinguished at my hooves. Azura had saw me staring and bumped me with her elbow.

“He’s dead Sparks, you can’t kill him again so stop staring.”

I licked my lips and looked her dead in the eye. “I wish I could do it again.”

She gave me a strange look before returning her gaze forward. The words that escaped my mouth were not mine. At the same time though, it wasn’t a lie. I wondered just how much of myself I had lost since the day I was forced out of the stable. My home. A home that now laid abandoned in the earth, its twisted goals never coming to fruition. I shook the thought of a home I could never return to from my head as the elevator came to a stop inside an old metal walled…garage? We stepped off the platform and made our way outside. We were at what looked like an old farm. We had just walked out of the garage attached to the farmhouse that sat opposite a field with a large barn at its center. To the south I could see the edge of the Baltimare ruins where the entrance to Moletown was. After a moment the wind started to pick up, bringing with it loud clicks from my Geiger counter. I looked to the northeast where the wind came from to see an enormous swath of land near the coast that had been obliterated.

“That’s Balefire’s Wake. One of the bombs that was meant to hit Baltimare that just missed the city.”

“One of the bombs?” I asked. I had thought only one megaspell had detonated near the city. In a way I was glad to see its aftermath. However the dark clouds in the sky above the blast site continued to assault us with radiation tainted air.

“Let’s check out the barn real quick and get out of here before our skin falls off.” I said, pushing my curiosity aside. I picked up the pace to a brisk trot to follow after Azura as she flew over to the barn, pushing the barn door open just in time for me to run inside and shut it behind us. It did little to dissuade the ticking from my PipBuck but it was reduced to a manageable level provided we moved quickly.

“Why exactly did we come in here? Hoping to find something?”

“Let’s say I have a hunch. Judging by how much stuff was in the complex I think there is a cargo ramp somewhere in here.”

Sure enough after a few minutes of looking I found what I was looking for. It must have recognized me as the new administrator as it started opening when my PipBuck got close.

“Is it everything you hoped for?” Azura said in a bored tone.

“It’s good to know these kind of things. Useful to know that nopony but me can get it to open.” At least I hoped so. I doubted that the old administrator was personally involved with the receiving of cargo and resources so other means of getting it to open must have existed. Though I was confident that such things wouldn’t be resurfacing and even if they did, I had all of Eclipse’s security to deter such attempts.

“If you’re done satisfying your curiosity we have places to be don’t we?”

Rhetorical questions aside she was right. I had a lot to bargain with, more than I imagined I would, so now it was time to get my family back. Celestia above if he had hurt them in any way…

“Lead the way Azura. I’ll follow as closely as I can.”

She nodded and shoved the barn door open and launched out into the air. She slowly drifted further and further away from me but with my EFS I could follow her long after she left my sight. At fairly regular intervals I caught up to her hovering in the air and we would repeat the process. During one of my catch ups I figured I would give a listen to the radio. I levitated the ear-bloom to my ear and switched it to DJ-Pon3’s broadcast. I tuned in to the middle of the news segment.

-nd that’s why you should always carry a weapon of some kind if you’re in that area. Now let’s move on the east side of the mountains. In a bit of news that even I’m glad to hear, somepony recently spotted the Harbinger of Hope as he’s been called, alive and well in a little place called Moletown. Finally we have the answer to if he survived the battle that destroyed Black Town about a month ago. Though we might be subject to the same kind of suspense. My source in the area said that he was taking part in a large expedition to expand the underground city’s borders. Not long after everypony departed an enormous crashing was heard from the tunnels and so far nopony has returned. That was almost three days ago. Here’s hoping that somepony, anypony makes it out of there. Now I’ll shut up for a bit while you lovely ponies get an earful of Sapphire Shores-

I pulled the bloom from my ear and was reminded of the same questions I had when I first heard a broadcast about me. Where was he getting all this information? Why was he so interested in me? A part of me began to suspect his motives and wondered if he and Watcher were connected in some way. Perhaps the wasteland was making me a tad cynical. Was it so hard to believe that he just wanted to bring truth and hope back to Equestria? I supposed not.

Hours passed and the familiar train tunnel that was the entrance to Moletown came into view. Azura was hovering just in front of it talking to a trader stallion hauling a cart. She turned her head and smiled when she saw me, pointing her good claw at me. The light blue earth pony stallion also smiled when he saw me, though a bit more forlornly. They made their way over to me and the stallion was the first to speak.

“Been a bit since I’ve seen you Sparks, how the hell’ve you been?” His voice was tired yet…familiar.

“Rain Drop? Is that you?”

“Heh, I’m not surprised you don’t recognize me.” He said, brushing a bit of his purple mane off his face. “I’ve definitely seen better days.”

“It’s good to see a familiar face.” I took a peek at the contents of his cart and wasn’t surprised to see many containers of water. “I’ve made a home in the Crater, do you still make it there often?”

“Not really, I mostly just move water these days. It’s easy enough and it keeps me busy.”

“Where’s Sandy? I thought you two did everything together.”

Rain Drop closed his eyes and recoiled like I was going to hit him. I took a step back to give him a bit of space and maybe ease off whatever was bothering him.

“She…she’s dead, Sparks. Not long after we went our separate ways in the Crater…in her grief over Blood Orange she…couldn’t bear the truth. She overdosed on some kind of drug that she got from somepony while I was out one day.”

Something he said almost stopped my heart. “B-Blood Orange?” I asked, a slight crack in my voice.

“Our daughter, the one who went missing that we were looking for. We wanted to hope that she was still alive somewhere but we both knew the reality of it. Sandy just…dealt with it in her own way.”

I could feel my legs turning to jelly. It took a lot of my strength to keep from falling back on my flank. All this time I thought they were looking for a filly. Somepony small like Aurora not a full grown mare. Back then I didn’t know Chestnut had survived what happened at the stadium, I didn’t let them finish their story before I shut it down with that fact. They never had the chance to tell me her name. Sandy died for nothing…and I- I killed…

“Chestnut.” I managed to spit out.

Rain Drop’s ears perked up at the mention of the name. “What?”

“H-he did survive and…and I tracked him down.”

“Was Blood Orange with him!?” He grabbed my armor and shook me slightly, a look of desperation in his eyes.

I couldn’t tell him the truth. It would ruin him. I did what I could to try to ignore his question and keep talking. “I found him, just a few days ago…and I killed him. I killed him with my own hooves.”

“Sparks, don’t ignore me. I’m glad he’s dead but was Blood Orange with him?”

“I…ask Azura. I was unconscious after the fight with Chestnut.” I diverted his gaze from me to her, knowing that she didn’t know what he was talking about. I knew that she would unwittingly create the truth he needed to hear, even though it was a false one.

Azura landed next to Rain Drop and he gave her Blood Orange’s description.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see anyone like that, alive or dead.”

Rain Drop’s whole body slumped and all the energy left his eyes. He was finally accepting the fact that both of his children were dead. He turned to me and gave me a tear-filled look. I placed my hoof on his shoulder, holding back tears of my own as the words fell out of my mouth.

“I lost a child too Rain Drop…I know how you feel a-and I’m sorry…sorry for-”

Rain Drop gently pushed my hoof away, giving me that teary eyed look again.

“I...I failed as a parent. T-this is my fault, Sandy...I'm sorry.” He whispered, his voice heavy with grief. Without another word he returned to his cart, hitched himself to it and soon disappeared into the ruins in silence. I watched him go until he was out of sight, releasing a weary sigh, choking on all the anxiety I was feeling. Azura approached me, looking worried at the expression I wore.

“Sparks…what is it? What’s bothering you?”

I felt the words form on my tongue but they never came out. I took a wobbly step forward and ungracefully fell back on my flank, holding my hooves to my head, the fresh realization wracking my whole body.

“It was me.” I said quietly, my voice shaky and distant.

“What was you?”

I felt like I was going to puke. I had ended Blood Orange’s life and I had enjoyed it. I enjoyed causing her pain, I enjoyed watching her suffer. For being associated with the stallion I loathed I subjected her to agonizing mutilation and torture. What did the Wasteland do to me? What the fuck was I becoming?

“I…I killed her.”

I know what it means to care for a child. I remember forcing my daughter away before I tortured Blood Orange. Then I did terrible things to somepony else’s daughter. It’s easy to ignore the consequences of such acts and what they could do to families when they’re not your own. Even Chestnut had been motivated by family to do what he did. That realization only made me feel worse. How many corpses did I leave in my wake in my quest for vengeance? How many families did I destroy?

“I killed Blood Orange…tortured her…made her suffer and I lied…l-lied right to his face.”

Azura took a step away from me. Every time I thought we were making progress as friends she learned something new about me that pushed her away.

“D-did you know?”

“No…I had no idea.” I could have used that as an excuse to ease my conscious but this was something to be remembered, something to hold onto. I’m not a bad pony. I’m not going to let the Wasteland turn me into a monster.

I got back up to my hooves and started heading towards the tunnel entrance. I didn’t want to think on the subject any further.

“Sparks…if you want to talk about it-”

“I don’t.” I interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. If I thought about it any longer I might start to regret what I did. And that’s the worst part. I should be sorry but if I thought that way now then every action I had taken since leaving the Crater would be shrouded with doubt and guilt. Everything I did to get to Chestnut I did for her. I wouldn’t let her memory be stained with regret for what I had to do to avenge her. Even with everything I knew now I would do it again. Now I could take it all and move on, learn from actions that begot suffering, reflect on the crimes I committed in the name of vengeance.

“Not now…not ever.” I finished. Pushing ahead to the gates of Moletown. As we made it through Azura jumped into the air with a loud wing beat, spinning a moment to face me.

“I’ll be back, don’t go too far ok?”

I simply waved my acknowledgment to her as she sped off to wherever she needed to be. I took advantage of the solitude and deftly stuck a syringe of painkiller into my leg. I didn’t know if emotional pain was a priority when the drug was developed but it did help control my nerves. I would need my body strong and my mind clear if I wanted to confront Mr. Coal. I wandered the paths of Moletown aimlessly for a time, trying to block out my encounter with Rain Drop. Just as I was beginning to find my drive to action I felt a tap on my flank.

“So you still walk do you parvulus?” A deep, accented voice said from behind me. I froze on the spot, refusing to face him in fear of succumbing to his knock out dust again. “How did you survive da collapse?”

“That’s my business Sunshine.” I said slowly, averse to mentioning Eclipse in any way. “I’m ready to talk to Mr. Coal. Care to take me there pal?”

“You are far too confident in yourself asinus.”

He kept peppering in words in the zebra language in what I could only assume were less than flattering names.

“Follow me and do not stray.”

“Not going to knock me out this time?”

“Der is too much at stake for you. You will obey or suffer da consequences.”

I didn’t intend to try anything with that same thought in mind. I had to stay my hoof and tongue while they still had Sunny and Aurora captive. We ducked and weaved through the small crowds, heading to wherever we were to meet Mr. Coal. That was when I remembered that this street worked both ways. I wouldn’t try anything for fear of what would happen to my family and they needed me to get inside the stable. All the threats from Mr. Sunshine were empty, he wouldn’t dare rob Mr. Coal of his only chance to get what he sought. So with that in mind I turned the table and started tormenting the large zebra.

“Did you know a zebra mare named Axela?”

“Where did you hear that name?” He whipped his head back to face me.

“I heard it from a pony she was either working for or with. So…do you know her?”

“She is my nepti…my niece. What is da purpose of dese questions?”

“I just thought that I’d like to be the one to tell you that she’s dead.” In less than a blink a hoof hit me across the face and just like last time he grabbed me and pinned me to a nearby wall.

“You lie! Axela would never fall to an invalidum such as you!” He hit me again, in the gut this time, releasing his hold on me as I crumpled to the ground. I wheezed the breath from my lungs, finding it difficult to draw breath for a moment.

“Wasn’t…me that killed…” I wasn’t allowed to finish as a firm kick to my chest cut me off. The force of the kick sent me rolling across the street, startling several ponies as I came to a stop. Sunshine was quick to chase after me, pressing a hoof to my throat when he stood over me.

“Then perhaps you could be persuaded into telling me who?” A cruel smile grew on his face as he applied more and more pressure to my throat. He was used to being Mr. Coal’s enforcer, meaning that he likely never expected his prey to fight back or retaliate in any way. Knowing that roughing me up was the worst he could do made what came next all the sweeter. I flipped my hind legs up towards my chest and launched Sunshine off of me and into the air. I had just got to my hooves when he recovered and went on the attack. The first hit came in fast and erratic, striking me in the foreleg at the knee which almost made me fall on my face if it wasn’t for the swift uppercut that rose to greet it. Stars exploded in my vision and I could taste the blood trickling from my mouth as I gave my now loose teeth a careful prod with my tongue. Soon a familiar sight was above me, grabbing me by the neck and holding me up to meet his striped face.

“You are lucky Mr. Coal needs you alive.” He growled. His threat gave me all the vindication I needed for what came next. I threw my head forward for all I was worth and slammed my skull into his muzzle. He dropped me to the ground and reeled back, holding a hoof to his bloody nose.

The look in his eyes after that was one of indignant fury. He roared loudly causing many of the passerby’s to flee as he made to charge me. As I scrambled to stand up again he leapt into the air, ready to drive his hooves down upon me. I reacted just fast enough to catch him mid-air in my telekinesis, stopping all his momentum. I got to my hooves and released my hold, hitting him with a shoulder charge before his hooves touched the ground. He hit the ground in such a way that his rolls threw him perfectly back on all fours. He ran at me again but this time when he jumped he did a missile dive, tucking his legs into his body and slamming all four hooves into me when he got close. I rolled backwards head over tail until the back of my head hit the wall of a nearby structure. I could see my vision getting blurry and the sounds around me became distorted. Sunshine had taken a position in front of me and was preparing another running strike, one that would surely put me out of the fight. He bared his teeth and began charging my way and in a brief moment of clarity between blurry spells I grabbed his hind legs with my magic and gave them a hard push away from me. The force of which whipped his body towards the ground where his head collided with the concrete. After a brief moment of nothing we both slowly rose to our hooves glaring at each other.

“Were you not a unicorn a swift victory would have been mine.”

“That’s your opinion.” I responded, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Sunshine chuckled and wiped the rest of the blood from his nose before turning around to continue taking me to Mr. Coal.

“It seems I underestimated you. I hope you stay on Mr. Coal’s good side. I wonder what you would be capable of if you weren’t holding back.”

“I could say the same thing about you Sunshine.” I’d definitely pushed my luck with him, if it had come down to a real fight I doubt I’d be the one standing.

We kept moving deeper into the heart of Moletown until we reached a decently large ramshackle building made of sheet metal. Mr. Sunshine stood in front of the closest door and motioned towards it for me to go first. I did as he wanted and was surprised to see that he didn’t follow me inside. The room I stood in was mostly dark but even without the light I could see that I was not alone thanks to my EFS. All at once a light dangling from the roof lit up, revealing Mr. Coal seated at the end of a table, sitting in a chair as if he was expecting me.

“Sparks…I see you have returned. Have something for me?”

I took a seat opposite him and smiled. “I think I found your stable.”

“You think?” He said quickly, his eyes narrowing.

“Forgive me, I found it. However I haven’t tracked down its exact location yet.”

“So you’re back because?”

“Because I want my family back before we proceed. I have everything you need in my PipBuck and we both know you won’t be able to bypass its biometric lock if you kill me.”

“You aren’t as stupid as I hoped you’d be. Very well you shall have them back.”

“Oh and one more thing.”

Mr. Coal looked at me with a raised eyebrow, suspicious of my motives. “Name it.”

“We will be accompanying you to Stable 50.”

“And what makes you think you can command me?”

“Because I know who you really are, Flint Coal. You aren’t just a ghoul, you’re a pre-war ghoul. You’re searching for something in that Stable that goes beyond petty wealth or weaponry. What are you really after?”

“That my friend, is none of your concern, however if you insist on accompanying me then I have no choice but to agree to your terms.” Mr. Coal whistled loudly to somepony else in the building and before long the unconscious forms of Aurora and Sunny were brought before me. They were still tied to chairs which made me wonder if they had eaten anything since I had last seen them. Mr. Coal seemed to pick up on my distress as he calmly addressed the situation.

“Don’t worry, they were fed and properly hydrated. Dead hostages are useless hostages after all.” He said with a smug smile, flipping his hat on his head with a flourish. He stood from his chair and walked over to the pony who had brought Aurora and Sunny to me, who I noticed was a unicorn mare. “Bring Mr. Sunshine with you on your way out.” He pointed firmly in my direction. “I’ll meet you outside.” With that they both vanished in a pink sparkle of magic. I wanted to complain that I could not use such a spell when I remembered the ponies in the chairs before me. I cut the ropes that were binding them and gently tried to shake Aurora awake.

“Aurora, Aurora wake up.” I poked her in the tummy and got a slight reaction. I levitated her out of the chair and onto my back. I did a little hop and that had the desired effect. Aurora jerked herself awake at the jolt and almost fell off my back. She dove forward and wrapped her legs around my neck to center herself. It took her a moment to realize where she was judging by the look of confusion on her face. When our eyes met though, they lit up like a Hearths Warming tree.

“Dad? Dad!” She squeezed my neck tighter and nuzzled into me making me stifle a tickled laugh.

“Are you alright princess?”

“I…I think so.” She lightened her grip on me and she had a far off expression. Something was bothering her.

“What do you remember?”

“I…remember the alley with the guy in the cloak. I remember waking up in a closet with Aunt Sunny. After a while they brought us food, I remember the smell but I don’t remember eating it or falling asleep again. Cold…I remember the cold and dark. B-but now you’re here and everything’s going to be okay. Right?”

“Right.” I nodded. Sunny was still slumped over in her chair and that’s when I noticed something about her. They had stripped her of her leather duster. Her hat and coat were on the floor next to her. I walked around her and did something I’ve wanted to do for a long time now. I leaned in closer to her and got a good hard look at a part of her I never thought I’d see. I had to resist an urge to touch it, pulling my hoof back to stop myself.

“W-what are you doing Dad?” Aurora asked quietly, her cheeks were rosy and she tried to hide her expression. I gave her a questioning look, wondering what she meant when I realized how this must look.

“Oh no no no, I was looking at her cutie mark Aurora. Just her cutie mark.” Speaking of which it was the first time I had seen it and I could see why she would want to hide it. A pair of masks, comedy and tragedy. However unlike the traditional symbol, both masks appeared to be crying. Now I was even more curious at what happened to her to make a mark like this. On a surface level though I could see what they represented. Her split personalities, Sunny and Downpour. Grim had said that something extremely traumatic must have happened to her if it split her mind in two. Before I could think about it any longer, Sunny herself awoke with a jump, falling out of her chair. She quickly got back to her hooves and once she realized she wasn’t wearing her coat, her tail curled in to block her cutie mark, her face sporting a small blush.

“Sunny…I-” I started but she turned away from me, practically diving into her duster on the floor.

“Don’t look at me.” She said, frantically throwing her coat over her body. She was hiding more than her cutie mark under her duster. Sunny bore many scars on her body from a lifetime of fighting, each one holding a story of survival. Sunny’s tragic past left many marks on her, both mental and physical.

“Sunny.” I tried again. “It doesn’t matter to me what you look like or what your mark means.”

Sunny wouldn’t face me but she seemed to have been calmed by my words a bit. “I…I know Sparks.”

She had her own demons to fight but she wasn’t ready to let me help her, not yet. This wasn’t the first time she hinted to something from her past that sat heavily on her soul. I remember something she said in Stable 71 about somepony she knew who could have foalnapped the stables population. She took another moment or two to get her belongings together, all the while trying to hide from me under her hat.

“What happened while I was out?” She asked, peeking at me from under her hats brim.

The way she said it made me think that she could and probably had guessed what had transpired.

“Mr. Coal forced me to work for him while you were his hostages. When I delved into the tunnels beneath Moletown for him I found the Eclipse Complex.”

“And Chestnut?” She said like she was accusing me of something.

“Dead…I killed him myself.”

“And? Do you feel as you thought you would?”

I’d been thinking about that since I watched him die. The fire in my heart had finally let up since his death but I didn’t feel like I hoped I would. I don’t know how I thought I’d feel but it wasn’t what I was feeling now. Did I really think that all the pain I felt from Winter’s death would just vanish once I killed him? That was something I still couldn’t answer. It had to mean something. How could it not?

“I…I don’t know.” My eyes fell to the floor, knowing what kind of reaction I was going to get from her. But nothing came. She just gave me a look that spoke more to me than words could. Understanding. She knew what I was feeling, perhaps better than anypony and because of that she said nothing. She just nodded and waved a hoof towards Aurora.

“C’mon kiddo, let’s go get something to eat.”

“Ok Aunt Sunny, coming Dad?” She was already halfway out the door before turning back to ask me.

“Yeah…lead the way.”

We passed Mr. Sunshine on our way out. Aurora looked at him with a confused looked while Sunny simply glared at him. They continued on their way into town while I took a moment to hang back with Mr. Sunshine.

“Mr. Coal teleported outside. We are all going to this Stable of his. We’ll meet you once I’ve made sure they’re okay.” I nodded ahead to my family.

“Very well. Do not dally for long.”

“It’ll take as long as it takes. You’ll be going nowhere without me.”

“You tink a bit too much of yourself. Don’t forget who’s in charge here.”

I turned around to say more but there was nopony there. I huffed in annoyance at the zebra’s arrogance, turning away from where he had been to follow the others.

“There you are!” I heard from above me. Azura came in fast and landed in front of me looking at me with a hint of concern. “Did you get in a fight?”

“Sort of, I found Mr. Sunshine and we came to blows.” I said, going out of my way to exaggerate the cut in my mouth.

“And that was all he did to you?”

“I’m precious cargo remember? He held back.” As much as I didn’t want to admit it all of his strikes had been nonlethal. I wasn’t so cocky that I thought I was his better in hoof-to-hoof combat. The result of our spat proved that much as the only hits I got on him were assisted by my magic.

“It sounds like you should learn to keep a lower profile.” Azura gave me a sly smirk, unsure of what she was implying.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Have you seen yourself lately? You stick out like a Minotaur. Just look at your armor.” She jabbed a talon into my chest, my gaze following her claw to my armor. I saw the enormous gash where my chest plate had once been, its remains still black and charred from Chestnuts magical energy pistol. After that I took a more extensive look of all the parts I could see. When was the last time I cleaned this thing? I thought, looking at the dark stains of blood. Whether it was mine or somepony else’s was unclear and the bullet holes didn’t help matters. Despite my reluctance it just might be time to replace it. My expression dipped as I came to that realization.

“Something wrong?” She asked, like she was trying to lead me. I sighed and touched a hoof to my chest, feeling the nasty scar in the armor.

“No…no. It’s just that this is one of the last reminders of my old home.” It probably wasn’t smart to get sentimental about something that was supposed to save your life. Sadly Stable 63 wasn’t my home anymore. Back when I first left it was like a constant symbol of my motivation to return. A reminder of what was at stake…Now? Now it was a relic that was beginning to fail its purpose. I wasn’t sure how much more it could take before becoming completely useless but with my nostalgia regarding what it once represented gone…

I took a solemn moment to carefully take the armor off, leaving me in my old stable utility barding. It too was bearing its share of scars but it wasn’t going to lose its purpose anytime soon.

“I guess I can see what I can get for it.” I said dejectedly, floating it beside me as I walked past Azura.

“H-hey wait up!” She called after me, flying up and landing in front of me again. “I wasn’t trying to make you get rid of it.” She said a little sadly. “I just wanted to give you this.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a black cloak. “It’s a zebra stealth cloak. I thought it would help you get around without being seen.”

I took it from her grasp and inspected it, noting that it was woven from a fine, thick fabric. The gemstone set into the clasp was also interesting to note. “Like those invisibility cloaks?” I said, remembering what both Axela and Sunshine had.

“Yeah, I took this one from the zebra I killed in Eclipse. I’m pretty sneaky when I want to be so I wanted you to have it.”

I was speechless, this was an incredibly valuable piece of equipment. It was like being gifted a set of power armor. I slung it over my neck and secured the clasp, giving myself a quick inspection.

“Azura…I-I don’t know what to say. Thank you.” I surprised her by pulling her into a gentle hug, she let out a startled squeak as I did. After a few seconds she sheepishly squirmed out of my grasp, a light tinge to her cheeks.

“I-I’m glad you like it. They are…ya know, incredibly rare so try to take care of it.”

“How do I use it?” I spun in a quick circle, flipping the cape around with a flourish.

“Put the hood up.” She pointed to the hood, laying down on the back of my neck. I levitated it up and over my head. All at once my whole body vanished from sight. I waved a hoof in front of my face and couldn’t see a thing.

“This is incredible.” I said in amazement. The only thing I could see of myself were the slight impressions of where my hooves were.

“The zebra’s response to power armor.” She pointed out, looking roughly where she thought my face was. “It’s also supposed to muffle any sounds you might make as well as hide your scent.”

I could see why Equestria and the zebra nation were so evenly matched. I wondered just how many of these existed in Equestria. Especially if this was their response to power armor, which meant that they didn’t just give them to every soldier. It was likely that the few that I knew of were not recovered by the Equestrian military, rather they were passed down the line of zebra survivors. Either way I was incredibly grateful for the gift. Then a fun idea formed in my mind and I carefully crept behind Azura. After a moment or so of silence Azura started to look confused.

“Sparks? You uhh…you still here?” She spun in a circle, claw held out as if to touch me. I crouched just in time to dodge it and prepared my attack. Once her back was to me my trap was sprung.

“Stealth hug!” I yelled, springing into the air and landing on Azura’s back.

“Aaahhh!” She cried, her wings pumping overtime and taking us into the air. After a few seconds of adrenaline fueled panic she stopped trying to shake me off and leveled out. “That’s not funny Sparks.” As expected, I spotted a blush on her face. It was nice to know that I was still capable of some good-natured teasing considering the last few days I’d had. Although I was aware of the emotional dissonance of my behavior. Just a little while ago I was on the verge of a breakdown because of the truth about Blood Orange and now here I was playing invisible grab ass with a griffin I barely knew. The sheer one eighty of it almost made my mind and body retaliate violently. It was only by the grace of the one holding me aloft that I didn’t show the turmoil I was feeling. In fact I may have been because of her that I was acting this way... With those thoughts in mind, my smile vanished and she brought us back to the ground.

“Sorry.” I said, trotting ahead of her to find the others, stopping a moment to toss my ruined armor into a nearby dumpster. Azura’s head tilted to one side in confusion as she followed after me.

“Sparks…” She started gently. “About what you said earlier…to that trader-”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” It took a lot of my willpower not to pick up my pace and get some distance between us.

“You said you lost a child too…” She continued, though still as gentle.

“Don’t.” I said sternly, barely able to keep my voice from cracking. I wiped a solitary tear from my face and kept moving. If Azura had said anything else I didn’t hear it. All the bandages I’d wrapped around my heart were painfully ripped away at the mention of the child that was taken with Winter. Pain that was just as strong as the night they were killed. Chestnut’s death hadn’t been the cure I was hoping for. My pain was still there, strong as ever.

“Hey Daddy!” Aurora shouted, startling me away from my thoughts to see that I’d wandered into the market. She dashed to my side and ran one lap around me before she noticed Azura.

“Oh h-hello.” She said timidly. “I remember you.”

“I remember you too little one.” Azura said with a calm smile. “I’m glad to see that you’re alright.”

Sunny made a noise between a scoff and a sigh, getting our attention. “So you replaced us while we were gone?” She gave me an accusing glare.

“Umm I uhh…sort of?”

Sunny only narrowed her gaze and diverted it to Azura. “And? Is she coming with us?”

“I…I uhh I’m not sure.” I turned to give Azura a curious look. “Is she?”

Azura looked around, taking in the sights of her home before sighing and closing her eyes. “Yes…yes she is.” She let her words hang for a moment before opening her eyes, looking confused. “That’s alright isn’t it?”

“I’m okay with it. Aunt Sunny?” Aurora turned an apprehensive look towards Sunny. Sunny held a neutral expression regarding the griffin but didn’t speak out against her. After a few long seconds she smirked and nodded her agreement.

“I guess that’s that. Welcome to the crew Azura.” I said, extending a hoof to her expectantly. After a brief moment of hesitation she made a fist with her claw and bumped it against my hoof.

“Alright alright that’s enough. Everypony get something to eat while you can. We aren’t finished here just yet.” Sunny went to take a bite of her food but froze like she just realized something. “Sparks what happened to your armor?”

“It- it uh…was due to be replaced.” I said, touching the gemstone clasp of my new cloak.

“And where is it?”

“Dumpster.”

“Uh-huh.” Sunny looked at me like a foal. Eyebrow raised, disappointed stare and everything. “Hopefully, for your sake we won’t run into anything we can’t handle. And you, Blue, I trust you can handle yourself?”

“I like to think so.” Azura drew her revolver and knife, giving them each a flourish. “Good enough to save this guy anyway.” She holstered her weapons and looked at me like as if I were a foal with their hoof stuck in the cookie jar.

“What’s that mean?” I said, perhaps a tad too defensively.

“Alright, good enough.” Sunny said, failing to hide a smile at my expense. “We’ll see for ourselves sooner or later. Now you better eat something.” Sunny ended her verbal joust with a warm smile and an offer of food, something that almost seemed foreign coming from her. I supposed her maternal instincts were hard to ignore, especially since we kept a filly around.

We took about thirty minutes to finish eating and retrieve whatever Azura needed from her home. Then we met with Mr. Coal and Mr. Sunshine just outside the tunnel entrance.

“There you are, took you long enough eh?” Mr. Coal said casually, leaning against the metal pole of an old sign.

“I told you dey’d do dis.” Mr. Sunshine said, appearing beside his boss.

“Don’t worry about it my striped friend. Lead the way Sparks.” Mr. Coal beckoned me to the front of the group. I looked at my map and retraced my steps to where we came out of Eclipse, careful to not pass through the farm directly. As we skirted the edge of the farm, it occurred to me that I wasn’t entirely sure what we were looking for. Stable 63 was connected to a small cave that ran to the surface and Stable 71 was at the bottom of a mall hidden behind a secret door. The gambit that the entrances seemed to run left the possibilities almost endless. After a 10 minute jaunt from the farm, we arrived at the mark on my map where the Stable was supposed to be. I lifted my head up from my PipBuck and saw where we ended up. In front of us was a medium sized concrete building that appeared to be a garage of some kind.

“So what are we looking for kid?” Mr. Coal stepped forward where his hooves sunk slightly in mud. “The fuck?” was all he managed to get out before a gunshot echoed out around us.

“Come no further if you want yer brains to stay in yer skulls.” An older brown mare said from the roof of the garage. She had a good sized rifle mounted to her battle saddle and had it aimed at Mr. Coal.

“Whoa take it easy. We aren’t interested in fighting.”

“Pardon me if ah don’t believe the gang of five armed trespassers.” Her aim never faltered and her expression stayed cold.

“Fine, if that’s what will assuage you.” Mr. Coal started by taking his weapon by the barrel and flinging it into the garage. He then turned to us with an expectant look. His meaning was clear to read so everypony else did the same with their weapons. Everypony except Aurora that is. I heard the zipper on her backpack start to unzip when I stopped her from opening it all the way with a tug of magic. Aurora must have deduced what I wanted her to do because she stopped pulling the zipper and pretended to adjust it. I also saw a curious look from Mr. Coal out of the corner of my eye. Once our weapons were gone the mare on the roof lowered her rifle.

“Thank ya kindly fer the donation now git the hell off muh property.”

“No, I don’t think so. We have no intention of leaving. There is something nearby I desire and I believe your…home will provide the answers I seek.” Mr. Coal took several brave steps forward, giving his best disarming look.

The mare on the roof was obviously thinking very hard about something, her face wrinkled with concentration.

“Alright but stay where yer at!” She quickly turned around and after a moment was on the ground floor of the garage, picking up all our weapons. “Once Ah’ve taken care o’ these we can discuss a trade fer what ya’ll are lookin’ fer.”

Mr. Coal snorted angrily and readjusted his hat. “Very well.”

Once she had taken our weapons away she waved us into the garage. It was apparent from the start that the garage was well lived in. All over the concrete floor were bit and baubles ranging from old bits of tech to old bleached bones.

“Ah don’t git many visitors out here an’ that’s the way ah like it. So hurry up an’ speak yer piece. What is it ya’ll want?”

I leaned forward to speak our ‘piece’ but Mr. Coal held out a hoof to stop me. “Do you mind if we just have a look around first? Under your watch of course.” He bowed his head, acquiescing to our less than graceful host. She gave us all a suspicious look and kicked the safety off her rifle.

“Alright but don’t try anythin' funny.”

In the next few moments we all fanned out looking for what we hoped would be obvious clues to the stables entrance, terminals, hidden switches and the like. Aurora was the only one other than Mr. Coal to try and break the ice by talking to the mare.

“Hi, my names Aurora. What’s yours?”

She looked startled by the sudden appearance of a filly, as if she hadn’t noticed her at all until now. I was thankful for what she was trying to do, a foal’s innocence could tear down some of the roughest walls around a pony’s heart.

“Oh hello darlin’, muh name’s Fallow Mire.”

“Why do you live all alone?”

Fallow relaxed her posture a bit and let out a small sigh. “It’s how ah have always lived. When muh Pa died he left me this garage and Ah have been here ever since.”

“Didn’t you want a family?”

“Naw…Ah didn’t. Pa taught me t' never rely on others, survival of the fittest. If Ah wasn’t strong enough t' survive on muh own then Ah didn’t deserve t’ live. A family only adds weakness, Ah don’t need anypony t’ lean on. Ah’m strong enough t’ stand on muh own hooves.”

“Hmm…” I hummed to myself. How easily could I have become like her? My strength came from my family and friends around me. They lent me strength when I thought I had no more to give. That kind of love will save ponykind not condemn it. However it was clear that Fallow had chosen her own path and there was nothing we could do or say to change her mind.

Aurora walked away from Fallow dejectedly, leaning against the far wall. The rest of the search went on in silence until Aurora spoke up. “Umm I think I found something dad.”

Mr. Coal was the first to reach her, gently nudging her out of the way. “Excuse me child. Hmm… Sparks would you come here please. I think I’ve found it.”

We all gathered near the wall around a strange looking hole in the wall. It didn’t take me long to figure out what it was, taking the peripheral plug from my PipBuck and inserting it into the wall. Once the connection was made I was greeted by a text box asking for the access code. It took a moment to input the code using only my PipBuck, CMC-SSM-7319. Once it was entered the sound of old motors and gears began grinding noisily and a section of the floor retracted away, revealing a set of stairs down into a dirty old corridor. My heart was starting to race with excitement. This was what I was here for. Inside that Stable were some of the greatest minds the old world had and with their help we could make significant progress towards restoring the Wasteland. First I had to make sure Mr. Coal wasn’t up to anything that would be a detriment to that. His motives were still a mystery but if he had been waiting as long as he claimed then surely his intentions were worth something. At least I hoped so but that was the other reason I was here.

“What the hell is this?” Fallow pushed her way to the front of the group, looking down the stairs in disbelief.

“This is what I came for.” Mr. Coal said softly, making his way down the stairs.

“Naw, Ah don’t think so. This is still muh property and Ah get first pick.”

“Excuse me? You were content to fester in your swamp, a bitter old mare living on scraps in a decaying husk before we came along! Don’t presume to take ownership of something you didn’t know was there just on the principle that sometimes you unknowingly slept next to it!” Mr. Coal barked indignantly.

“Let’s not fer’get who has the gun here, now here’s how this is goin’ t’ play out. Ah'm going t’ explore whatever’s down there and ya’ll are gonna help me, or Ah’ll kill the lot of ya.” Her voice and expression returned to how they were when she was on the roof, leveling her rifle in our direction. We had no choice but to go along with it for now. We had no idea where she had hidden our weapons and if I tried to use magic or go invisible she would likely fire into the group and I wasn’t about to risk anypony like that. I saw Azura ball her good claw in anger, like me she was never truly unarmed. However the same factor stayed her talons and my magic. I didn’t have any spells fast enough to stop her before she could get a shot off and Azura was in the middle of the group, she wouldn’t be able to get close enough to slash her before she killed one of us.

“Is this really how you want to play this?” Mr. Coal said, his voice low and threatening.

“Yup now follow me, we got work t' do.” Fallow slowly turned away from us and started down the stairs. In that brief second I remembered that Aurora still had her pistol. I had just started to search for it with my magic when a soft sound of something streaking through the air followed by the sound of a wet splat. I returned my gaze to the front of the group where I saw Aurora’s pistol in Mr. Coal’s mouth. Fallow Mire had a hole blown through the back of her head and her body collapsed, tumbling down the rest of the stairs like a rag doll. Aurora screamed at the sight and everypony else looked shocked.

“Flint what did you do?” I asked, unable to pull my eyes off the body at the bottom of the stairs. The only downside to looking out for yourself was you had nopony to watch your back.

“I removed the last obstacle.” He turned to Aurora and returned her pistol to her shaking grasp. “Thank you my dear and thank you Sparks for the opportunity.”

“No…don’t put this on me.” I took a step back up the stairs, my eyes wide.

“I saw when you stopped the filly from surrendering her weapon. For what purpose did you do that if not for something like this?”

“You did what?” Azura stepped forward, grabbing me by the shoulders and forcing me to face her. “You let her keep it? Do you realize the danger that put us in?”

“I…this isn’t what I wanted.”

“Then what did you want?”

“I wanted us to have an option! To not be helpless if things went bad! How was I supposed to know he’d take it?” I found it hard to believe I had to explain it to her. Were we supposed to let the old mare lead us around until she decided to kill us? It undoubtedly would have come to this once she knew what it was she had under her home.

“Take it easy on the guy. It was pretty smart thinking on his part.” Mr. Coal said casually.

“I don’t like what happened but I agree.” Sunny spoke up from behind. “We can’t do anything about it now so why don’t we go find our weapons and get on with it?”

“Fine.” Azura relented, releasing her hold on me. It didn’t take long to find and recover all our gear, especially without the watchful eye of a trigger happy mare to worry about. We all gathered at the bottom of the stairs where an opening to a natural cave awaited us.

“Are you alright daddy?” Aurora tugged on my tail to get my attention.

“Yeah…yeah I’m fine princess. It’s just…been a long day for me.” The murder of Fallow Mire was only the most recent crime to assault my psyche. That on top of the realization I received from Rain Drop and the beating I took from Mr. Sunshine was making today especially taxing in every way.

“I’m sorry.” Her ears fell against her head and a frown formed on her face.

“Don’t be. I made the decision to hide your gun. I gave him the opportunity to kill her. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I lowered myself to look her in the eyes. “Don’t blame yourself because it was your gun. You were only doing what I wanted you to. If you want to blame somepony, blame me.” I couldn’t force myself to admit that I had fully intended to do what Mr. Coal had done...he simply beat me to it.

Being raised in a Stable gave me a different outlook on many things. My life wasn’t molded by a lifetime of scavenging, stealing, and killing. Though now I was beginning to question if that was a good thing anymore.

Mr. Coal and Mr. Sunshine started heading down into the cave and the rest of us followed. Things were beginning to become reminiscent to my Stable now that we were underground in a more traditional sense. The stale air was heavy with moisture, resulting in an oppressive, humid atmosphere. Those of us that had lights turned them on and saw the giant steel door of the Stable a bit further in the cave.

“You never did tell us what we are doing here exactly.” Sunny said, standing before the yellow 50 emblazoned on the gear-shaped door.

“Yeah I thought we were done with Mr. Coal once we got your family back.” Azura added

“There are things of incredible value inside. I know that he knows what’s inside and I want to know what he’s after.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see soon enough. Now let’s proceed.” Mr. Coal hit a button on the door control pad and the familiar alarms began to blare as the terrible sound of metal grinding on metal screeched as the arm pulled the door back, then rolled it to the side. The entrance floor was dirty and rusted, as if the door had been opened before we arrived but that wasn’t possible. Mr. Coal took one look at the state of the Stable and began to shake.

“No…no…No! No! NOOO!!!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, galloping inside and into the depths of Stable 50.

“Flint wait!” Mr. Sunshine called after him as he too vanished inside the Stable.

My reaction wasn’t much better. I walked to the center of the entrance room and spun in a circle, taking in the state of disrepair. What hope there was in my heart evaporated in that moment. What could have happened here? I understood Mr. Coal’s reaction all too well now.

“What was that all about?” Azura asked, joining me in the center of the room. She was clearly not surprised by the state of the Stable but she didn’t know what I did.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”

“What do you mean?” Aurora asked, her and Sunny coming to stand beside me.

“It was supposed to be untouched. It was supposed to be still functional like mine was.”

“So what was the treasure inside?” Sunny asked, moving ahead into the hall Flint and Sunshine ran down.

“There were supposed to be ponies here. Some of the smartest ponies Equestria had to offer…in cryo stasis pods.”

“It’s a little early to give up isn’t it? They could still be safe in the pods for all we know. Just cuz it’s a bit dirty and rusty in here doesn’t mean they aren’t still alive.” Azura said, moving to follow after Sunny.

I looked to the ceiling and saw that the lights were on which meant the spark generator was still functional. Maybe hope wasn’t lost.

“C’mon dad we’re gonna get left behind.” Aurora was facing me, walking backwards into the hall. I followed after them, the hallway leading to the atrium. Though it wasn’t like the one in my Stable. The room was comparatively small with the floor sunk in a few inches and all around the walls were backup spark generators. About half of them weren’t in working order and the ones that remained were outputting enough power to keep the Stable running. There were three exits to the atrium sans the one we came in through. One to the left, one to the right and one directly across from us.

“So…which one do we take?” Sunny asked, her face scrunched up in irritation. Before I could answer her though, the sound of one of the doors swooshing open came from our right and a stable ponitron slowly shambled through. Azura drew her gun and looked confused why none of us did the same. I assumed that Sunny and Aurora had seen what I had, a white blip on the EFS.

“Non-hostile.” I announced as I closed the gap to meet the robot. It slowed to a stop when I came to stand in front of it, its head moving to meet my eyes.

“Please. Stand aside.” It said in its incredibly robotic voice.

“What is your directive?” I asked, moving to block its path when it tried to shuffle around me.

“I. Have been. Instructed to maintain. The cleanliness. Of the Stable. Please do not. Proceed.”

Taking a look around I refused to believe it was a janitor but ponitrons weren’t the most reliable workers after all. It was likely that it simply swept and mopped the floor and that by itself satisfied its programming even though it didn’t even begin to make a dent in the layer of rust.

“Well we aren’t going to get any help from this bucket.” I turned around to head for the door our ghoul and zebra had dashed through. As we descended down the small bit of stairs that connected this room to the atrium I noticed that the ponitron was slowly following us.

“That scrap-bot is following us.” Azura said quietly, throwing a suspicious glance behind us at the robot shambling down the stairs.

“I know. If it proves to be a problem later we’ll deal with it then. Ignore it in the meantime.” Up ahead Aurora had walked through a large door that had ‘Cafeteria’ on a sign just above the door itself. The rest of us continued after her at a slow, observant pace. It was when I heard her scream that I abandoned my inquisitive observation and galloped through the door as fast as I could. The door retracted into the roof as I neared and I saw what had upset my daughter. Skittering across the floor were several Radroaches of varying sizes. They were retreating from Aurora, abandoning the numerous pony skeletons that littered the cafeteria floor. The roaches escaped through a broken door on the other side of the cafeteria. I showed them no concern as I rushed to comfort Aurora. Sunny and Azura were quick to follow me as they came into the room just behind me, seeing the scene as I had. Sunny slowly walked out amongst the bones, inspecting them with a careful eye.

“I’m here Aurora, its ok. You’re alright.” I nuzzled her gently and her breathing began to slow. It took another moment for her to calm down and when she did, she turned around and gave the room of skeletons a sad look. Sunny was in the middle of the room now holding a pony’s leg bone with the PipBuck still attached. I started to make my way to her to evaluate the PipBuck when the lack of hooves behind me made me stop. I turned my head around to see that Aurora was sitting by the door, a fearful look on her face. I understood what was upsetting her, she didn’t want to walk among the bones so I slowly picked her up in a field of magic. She squeaked at the sudden weightlessness and closed her eyes as I floated her to me. I brought her to rest on my back, once she felt me beneath her she opened her eyes and her expression lightened.

“Thanks dad.” She whispered. She made herself comfortable by standing on her hind legs, her head resting atop mine, her forelegs wrapped around my neck for support. By the time we got to Sunny, Azura had also made it to the center of the room holding an aged weapon in her claw.

“These have been laying here for a long time. These ponies were killed a long time ago.” She tossed the useless gun aside and spotted the white filly atop my head. She tried to hide a smile but failed miserably. “You guys look so cute together.”

Aurora squeezed a little tighter and wiggled in place. “T-thank you. I…I didn’t want to walk on the floor because…” She gave the floor another sad glance.

Azura put the picture together and nodded in understanding. “You’re a brave little filly. You shouldn’t have to see things like this.” Azura reached into her pack and handed Aurora a snack cake in plastic wrapping. “Here kiddo, maybe this’ll make you feel better.”

Aurora accepted the cake and managed to form a weak smile. “Thanks Azura, I’m glad you decided to come with us.”

“Me too, your dad is hopeless so I couldn’t let him go and get into trouble.” She gave me a cheeky smirk.

“Whoa whoa whoa leave me out of it.” I pretended to brush her off, giving my attention to Sunny. “Here let me see.” I took the leg bone from her with magic and floated my special tools out.

“Think we can make use of them?” Sunny asked, hoping that we’d be able to salvage a few.

I struggled to get the latch open with my access key through the rust and when I did manage to pry it off the leg bone it was clear to me that these PipBucks were beyond saving.

“They’re no good. They’ve gone too long without maintenance. Worthless.” I tossed the hunk of old technology to the floor. It would be hard to get one’s PipBuck serviced when the technicians were dead. I looked around the room of skeletons and wondered if the Stable’s PipBuck technician lay amongst them or even if the Stable had one at all. “How long do you think they’ve been dead?” I asked the room.

“Decades easy.” Sunny said, giving a skeleton an unceremonious kick. “These bones are brittle, very brittle.”

“Also look at how they’re laid out. There was a fight here. Look.” Azura partially held up a skeleton in the remains of tattered white rags, likely a lab coat. The majority of the skeletons seemed to be dressed similarly.

“They killed the science staff? What happened here that they’d forsake everything in the Stable?” I found three skeletons with armor plating stubbornly stuck to the bones. Making this a slaughter not a fight. The clunky sound of the ponitron caught up to us and entered the room. A red light flashed behind its optical sensors when it spotted the skeleton Azura was holding up.

“No matter. What. We will. Escape.” It managed to fire off a pink laser blast that missed all of us before Sunny blew it away with a shot from her shotguns.

“I thought you said it was non-hostile?” Azura returned her gun to its holster, giving me a cross look.

“It was. If security slaughtered these ponies wouldn’t it make sense to reprogram the robots too? And what do science ponies wear?” I pointed at the skeleton at her feet, more specifically what remained of its lab coat.

“White lab coats.” She finished aloud, she looked down at the long gone remains of the science staff.

“So does that mean these are the Stables original occupants?” Aurora said from atop my head.

“If what Sunny said about the bones is true…” I started.

“It is.”

“Thank you, then that seems pretty likely.” Though the Stable door hadn’t been opened until we arrived so what was the purpose of this slaughter? “Let’s move on, I don’t want to be in this room anymore.” Everypony agreed to that and we continued through the exit opposite the way we came in. There was another set of stairs heading deeper below to a corridor with branching corridors in the cardinal directions. According to the signs the right corridor led to the science and security wings and the left led to the Overmare’s office. The straight path led to the cryo labs where I could swear I heard the sound of water. As we made it to the intersection I saw a lone skeleton just outside the door to the Overmare’s office. I found myself heading down that corridor to investigate before the thought had even finished. Once I got to the skeleton I saw that it had a bullet hole coming out the top of its skull.

“A hostage?” Azura asked, noticing the hole. Judging by the lack of bodies in the corridor it was safe to assume there was something more to this death.

“Maybe.” Sunny added, taking the skull in her hooves and examining it.

Hopefully the answers would be in the Overmare’s terminal. Maybe even the cause of the massacre upstairs. The door gave us no resistance, retracting into the wall with the hit of a button. The inside however was a stark contrast to the corridor. There weren’t as many skeletons in the room as there were upstairs but the scene was similar. Among the bones and old bloodstains were bits of garbage and empty rations of food.

“More scientists?” Aurora noted, to which I gave a second look and confirmed that all the bodies here were of science personnel. Was this the point of their last stand or was it the cafeteria? It was too early to tell. Thankfully Stable-Tec built things to last as the terminal set into the Overmare’s command center was functioning as if the Stable closed yesterday.

“This isn’t right.” Sunny said sadly. “They killed each other.”

“How can you tell?” Aurora asked, wondering how she was able to deduce that from bones.

“Unlike the last room there are no bullet holes or casings. These ponies were beaten to death.”

Aurora hopped off my back and onto the Overmare’s desk, standing beside the terminal I was using. Inside were Stable-Tec orders for operation protocol and directives. But I knew enough about what this Stable was so I ignored the official documents and kept looking for something more personal. Sure enough I found what I was looking for. The first one was dated the Last Day.

So a few of the high profile scientists didn’t make it. It wasn’t as surprising as it should have been. When I was a colt, Mother told me that the Stable wasn’t full on the day it closed. Before the Last Day there had been training drills and the like that gave a ‘cry-wolf’ effect to the population. To think some ponies ignored the sirens and warnings and were obliterated when Balefire scorched Equestria. I noticed that Sunny and Azura were flanking me on both sides, seemingly reading along with me. With that thought I continued to the next one, dated a few months after the bombs.

Then what was Stable-Tec’s plan? Did they really think the aftereffects would pass that quickly? Perhaps the hasty nature of this Stable’s construction was the cause. Judging from its size thus far I doubted there was an orchard for a renewable food source so they had to rely on what was brought the day the door closed. Or a more horrifying thought, Stable-Tec did it all on purpose. When I learned the true nature of my home I realized their true motivations or at least some of them. But even with that in mind what was the purpose? Contain and kill the smartest ponies they could get their hooves on? It just didn’t make sense. I moved on to the next entry and finally some of our questions were answered.

So there was a mutiny of sorts. As foolish as it was I could understand wanting to leave when you knew certain death awaited if you stayed. Although even if they succeeded certain death awaited for them outside as well, only they would also condemn those who were still in stasis. So from that angle I understood where the Overmare was coming from. With all that information I could see how a conflict would have broken out.

“One left.” I said to everypony, bringing up the last entry. From the get go I could tell that this one wasn’t written by the Overmare.

So that’s what happened. The body outside the door was Overmare Snow Flurry. Things must have finally come to a boil as the bodies in the office suggested. I wondered if something similar occurred in the security control room. Looking around the room one last time, a new thought came to mind. All the skeletons we saw in the cafeteria were from the faction that wanted to leave. Which meant that the science staff had eventually changed their minds, or rather they were forced to after whatever happened in here.

“Goddesses...” Sunny whispered, reaching the same conclusion as I.

“That’s everything.” I said flatly. It was almost two hundred hundred years ago. I couldn’t let it get to me. I stopped at the edge of the desk and Aurora hopped on my back to where she was before as we all headed back out into the corridor.

“We’re gonna check the security room?” Azura asked in disbelief.

“Yes. I want to get the rest of the story.” I answered quickly, hearing my motive out loud for the first time.

“What for? They’re long dead. They don’t care if you put them to rest or remember them.”

“Because if I don’t nopony will.” I gave Azura a harsh glare, stopping her in her tracks. I continued toward the security room, leaving her behind to think. Whether she did or not I didn’t really care but I wasn’t going to let her talk me out of mourning the fate of those who died here. The inside of the security room was in the state I had predicted. Bodies lay all over the floor though there were more here than the Overmare’s office and unlike the Overmare’s office, the majority of these skeletons were clad in security armor. The three we found in the cafeteria may have been the last of the security force. One particular skeleton was sitting in a chair in front of a terminal on the far end of the room. What made it stand out was that the wound looked to be self-inflicted. As I made my way over to investigate I saw an aged and faded nametag on the skeletons armor that identified whoever they had been as the chief of security. I carefully dumped the bones onto the floor and got ready to check out the terminal.

“Hopefully this will paint the rest of the picture.” I said to nopony in particular. Aurora stayed perched on my head this time and Sunny came to stand behind me to see what I would find.

“Are you certain you wish to continue?” Sunny asked, nudging a mearby leg bone with strange scrapes on it. “You know the only thing that waits for you in there is more tragedy…”

“I know…but there is always a use for the truth.” Even if that means just being known. I began searching through the terminals relevant files and found a few audio logs from the chief. The first one was about a month after the Last Day. I selected it and a gruff, middle-aged sounding stallion’s voice filled the room.

That actually made me smile. They were confined underground without their families and yet they still managed to muster the spirit to celebrate the holiday. Ponies are capable of incredible feats of compassion and understanding. Just as they are capable of cruelty and xenophobia. Qualities we thought we were above but the horror of the world’s remains prove otherwise. The next one was a few months after the prior.

So the seeds of rebellion began to grow in the hearts of the staff. That paranoia proving that even in complete seclusion underground, ponies still carried those feelings within.

“We aren’t perfect.” I caught myself saying out loud.

“We never were.” Sunny added without hesitation.

From the other side of the room I saw the silhouette of Azura finally make her way into the room. She came to stand at my other side, her face a mixed expression of confusion and sadness. She gave the text on the screen a passing look before directing her eyes to mine.

“Sorry about what I said. I didn’t know you came from a Stable.” She must have put some dots together and deduced my origin. I never made any attempt to hide it but I didn’t exactly declare myself either.

“It’s alright Azura. I guess being in a Stable again is making me wistful.”

She nodded, deciding to let it end at that. So I moved on to the next entry that was dated another few months after the prior.

It was shortly after this that the botched hostage attempt took place if what I learned from the Overmare’s terminal was right. Fear drove the security ponies to try and overthrow the Overmare and in their panic accidentally condemned the whole Stable. On the other side, the Overmare wouldn’t compromise the ponies in stasis and the Stable as a whole even if it meant starving to death. Now where were we? Sitting in a mass grave of ponies because neither side would give up. Sunny was right, this was a tragedy. Whose fault was it really though? Stable-Tec knew that even if an All-Clear signal was sent it wouldn’t go out until years after the Last Day so why was this Stable so unprepared? I almost got up to leave when I saw one final entry that was made a few years after the mutiny.

That explained the odd scrapes on I’d noticed on some of the bones. Teeth marks. There was a break that must have spanned at least a couple days before the voice came back, sounding lost and weak.

The voice stopped but the recording continued as we heard the telltale sound of a bullet being loaded into its chamber.

The audio log concluded with the echoing boom of a gunshot. He…he survived by eating the dead? Couldn’t say I blamed him, what else could he have done? I couldn’t imagine what he felt eating the corpses of ponies who were his friends. Instead of succumbing to death from the injuries he got trying to stay alive he decided to end it on his own terms, not wishing his death to come from a symbol of the atrocities he committed in the name of survival.

“That’s enough.” I sat up abruptly, the information in the terminal about an explosion put doubts in my mind that any of the ponies in stasis survived. “This place is a tomb.” I motioned for everypony to follow as we set out back into the hall, ready to head down the center path to the stasis area. The door opened up to a suspended catwalk that wrapped all the way around the room for monitoring. Right in front of us were stairs that led down onto the floor, a floor that was two feet underwater. Mr. Coal and Mr. Sunshine were standing in front of a row of vertical standing pods. Speaking of the pods, there were six rows of about ten pods, two on the back wall, one on each left and right wall and two more in the center of the room surrounded by electronic equipment. The water flooding the room was coming from the water talisman, its machine shell cracked and worn, spewing the water onto the floor where it flowed into an escape drain in the southern left corner. That was where the pod that had malfunctioned had set. One pod looked like it completely exploded, blowing a decent hole in the wall while four more in the row looked to have been damaged by the explosion.

“I think I know where Moletown gets its water now.” Azura said, pointing to the drain where the water escaped. It never occurred to me that the water was coming from a Stable but considering its cleanliness there aren’t many places it could have come from. Mr. Coal was angrily slamming his hooves on the bits of machinery. Part of me wanted to stop him but as I walked down the stairs and waded into the water, I saw the stasis pods that weren’t broken or damaged were filled with water and the bloated, ragged corpses of their occupants.

“Fuck! Fuck Fuck Fuck!” Mr. Coal yelled as he kept hitting and breaking the monitoring equipment.

“That’s enough!” I yelled back, causing him to direct his anger at me.

“Fuck you! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this and she isn’t even here!”

“So that’s what you’re after. You’re looking for somepony. Who.”

“Rarity. Mare of the Ministry of Image.” He said her name through clenched teeth and a scowl.

“Rarity? Y-you think she’s alive?” I remembered seeing her in the memories of Fancy Pants and she was a lovely mare. From what I knew of the Ministry of Image they were responsible for creating propaganda and information control for the Equestrian government. What could she have done to make Mr. Coal so angry?

“Wait a minute...you knew her?” Sunny asked, giving him a skeptical look.

“Yeah…yeah I knew her. I was the first you know, the first ‘ghoul’.”

“The Cataclysm…” I said, realizing what he meant.

“That’s right. After I crawled out of that hellscape my mane fell out, my fur stopped growing and my skin began to flake off. Then the government, the government I believed in, took me and experimented on me. They discovered that my new biology was immune to the necromantic effects of balefire radiation and attempted to replicate my condition in others. After failure after failure until I was left in some military bunker to rot in obscurity until Rarity came for me.”

“What did she want with you?” Azura asked, clearly fascinated by his tale.

“She was the first to discover that this form is ageless. She desired my help to find the secrets of immortality, immortality without the physical deformities. I agreed to help her on one condition. That she find a way to cure me, to make me normal again.”

“Did she discover a cure?” Aurora asked, equally curious about his story.

“She believed she did. I was in one her facilities when I received a letter from her inviting me to the Canterlot hub the day the bombs fell. Everything was destroyed before I could make it there and I thought I was cursed to the body of a monster forever. I knew better though. Rarity’s sister was a Stable-Tec big-wig and there was no doubt in my mind that she survived the Last Day. Now though…this place was my last hope of her survival.”

“How did you know she would be here?”

“I didn’t, she was supposed to retreat to Stable 1 if Equestria was attacked. A few decades after the war Stable 1 opened up in Canterlot and I learned from its inhabitants that she never made it to the Stable. I searched for years collecting any information relating to the Stables. This one was my last hope and she’s not here…” His voiced drifted off into silence, the look of pure emotional pain on his face spoke of how much he dedicated himself to his search. “I’ll be stuck like this until the day I die…or go feral.”

“I…I’m sorry Flint.” I said, approaching him and placing a hoof on his shoulder. An act that actually made him smile.

“Thanks kid. I suppose curing me wouldn’t matter much anyway. My family is long gone.” He pulled away from my touch and started heading up the stairs. “It’s a good thing I got all the time in the world because I’m going to need it if I’m going to make things right.”

“Are you going back to Moletown?” Azura stopped him before he got to the exit.

“No…no I don’t think so. I devoted my life to finding her and now I have to accept she’s gone. I did plenty of horrible things in my search for her. Crimes for which I must atone. Don’t worry, this won’t be the last you see me. I do have a debt to pay to Sparks after all.” He gave me an appreciative look. Next he turned his attention to Sunny. “You have my apologies for what I did to you and the filly. To find this place…”

“No harm done.” Sunny interrupted before he could continue. “Though next time I’ll kill you.” Sunny gave him one of her best glares, one that he took pretty well, nodding in acceptance.

“Very good. Mr. Sunshine!” he called out to his companion who had yet to leave the water. “I trust you to keep Moletown running while I’m away. Or you could come with me if you’d like.”

Mr. Sunshine chuckled and quickly trotted to stand beside Flint. “I do believe you’ve been alone long enough.”

“Very well then. Goodbye all. I hope to be a better pony the next time I see you.” And with that he walked back out the way we came and I wondered if we ever would see him again. I had him pegged for a despot but everything he did he did for a reason. A reason I could understand. Now he sought to make amends for everything he did along the way, an admirable decision now that he’s accepted the truth.

Now that I was the only one standing in the water near the pods, I noticed that on the displays that still worked were names for the desired occupants. The one that stood out was one I had heard before, though only the initials. ‘Pumpkin Cake’ the screen said or as I knew her, Project Lead P.C. This was the third place I’d found her name and I knew where her project was located. Now I really had to know what lay in the depths of that facility locked behind that cloud terminal.

Aurora got down from my head and looked at the bodies floating in their pods, a look of sadness and fear on her face.

“S-shouldn’t we do something about them?” Aurora asked trepidatiously.

“What do you mean? Bury them?” Azura asked, looking at the skeletons with a raised brow.

“O-or something… all of them.” Aurora pleaded.

“Aurora…do you know how long it would take to bring all these bodies and skeletons outside? Let alone dig graves for them?” Sunny tried to dissuade her but from the look on her face told me she wasn’t hearing it.

“I don’t care! I’ll do it myself if I have to!” She jumped off my back onto the monitoring equipment attached to the pods and began to pound on the glass as if to break it. “Dad help me! Please…”

“Sparks we don’t have the time to-” Azura tried to say before I levitated out my gun and shot the glass of a stasis pod on the other wall, spilling the stagnant water and its occupant into the knee high water that flooded the room. I repeated the action on three more pods before the sound of two other guns being discharged and shattering glass sounded behind me.

It took us the rest of the evening and some of the following day to lay all of those ponies to rest but I didn’t regret it for a moment. Afterwards I showed Sunny and Aurora our new base of operations in Eclipse. After everything that had happened in the last week I was ready for a change. A big change. I was ready to move on past my quest of vengeance and into the future. It was time to become the pony I wanted to be and it started with a certain question to my best friend.

“Sunny…what do you think about rebuilding the Regulators?”

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: A Little Dash. – When wearing light or no armor, you may make one action per turn for free.

Quest Perk: Lawbringer. – By deciding to rebuild the Regulators you have placed yourself at the front of the fight against evil. Ponies are more generous with rewards regarding the extermination of villainous people and most settlements will view you in a positive light.

Next Chapter: Chapter Eighteen: The Chosen Estimated time remaining: 20 Hours, 9 Minutes