I expected to meet some kind of resistance once the door had completely receded and the klaxons had stopped. Instead, we were greeted by an empty entrance, complete with eerie silence. If Stable 54 followed the theme of the other stables I’d explored then the layout should be nearly identical. With that in mind the atrium seemed like the best place to start.

“Where is everypony?” Indra asked, spinning in a complete circle on her hooves. “I expected…more.”

“Don’t let your guard down.” I said, giving her an admonishing look. “We don’t know what to expect.”

“Right.” She said straightening her posture, ears on the swivel.

“Look.” Pumpkin said, calling something to us that had fallen on the floor from further ahead. “It…oh Celestia…it’s a horn.” Floating before us in Pumpkin’s magic was a bloody, broken unicorn horn. I heard her stifle a gag as she dropped it to the floor with a clatter. The blood wasn’t that old either…could this belong to the unicorn who’d escaped us in the operating theatre? Mechanical clicking and whirring stole my attention as a turret descended from the ceiling directly above us. A quick upwards thrust from Starfall put a stop to the threat before it could pose itself.

“Curious.” I said, looking further down the hall in confusion.

“What? What’s wrong?” Sunny asked, noticing the sudden shift in mood.

“There should be more. If we tripped an alert or alarm then all of them should have activated but only one did.”

“What does that mean?” Indra asked, spinning in another tight circle, surveying all around us.

“It means it was activated individually by somepony with access.”

“Why would they only activate one?” Pumpkin asked, her brow creased in thought. I was about to speculate further when I thought I saw something disappear around the corner of an adjacent hallway.

“To get our attention.” I mumbled to myself, trotting down the hallway in question, the others following behind me. The deeper we got the more obvious it was that ponies were living here. Empty Dash inhalers and garbage littered the floor and the musty smell of old piss and other fluids permeated the darker corners. We were nearing the maintenance section when I noticed that, intermittently, several of the ceiling lights had gone out and the presence of habitation dwindled then disappeared.

“Where are we going?” Pumpkin asked, igniting the tip of her horn with a ball of white light. What the light revealed stopped us in our tracks. At least five ponies, each dressed in stable barding lay in a heap. Some had the tops of their skulls removed and others had obvious machinery inserted into their brains. One looked like they had been completely vivisected for no discernable purpose. All at once the sweet smell of rot and death washed over us. Sunny grimaced but did not falter, Indra and I averted our gazes and swallowed back the bile. Pumpkin hadn’t the same fortitude, which forced her to turn around and retch loudly, her already empty stomach offering nothing. To our right a door whooshed open and our attention was thankfully drawn away from the corpses. From the doorway stepped a relatively clean earth pony stallion. His coat was olive which clashed awfully with his blue mane. He was dressed in military fatigues and carried a pistol in a holster on his left front leg.

His eyes widened as he noticed us and before I could say a word, he dove back through the doorway, drawing his pistol as he did. More voices than one could be heard inside though I couldn’t make out what they were saying. A decision must have been reached as three grenades were haphazardly lobbed into the hallway.

“Scatter!” I commanded, rushing to Pumpkin’s side to usher her away. The grenades exploded in a deafening boom; the sound amplified by the confined corridor. Stinging pains blossomed across my body as I put myself between Pumpkin and the blast, bits of shrapnel digging through my armor. Sunny and Indra had been thrown to the floor, fresh blood welling up from their wounds. I tried to stand but couldn’t find my equilibrium, wobbling on shaky legs as the ringing assaulted my ears. One of them must have dashed into the hallway as a bullet dug into my back and knocked me prone, my armor protecting me from serious harm. I felt something heavy hit the floor but still couldn’t see through the dust. I felt Pumpkin move away as something else thudded to the floor. I could faintly detect the crack of gunfire but had no way of telling where it was coming from. An unnatural wind began to blow as the dust and smoke was cleared from the hall. Already on the ground were two of the mercenaries we’d been expecting to see with no others in sight. Had they run or had there only been the two? When I turned to investigate the source of the wind, I wasn’t surprised to see Pumpkin standing there, a slight glow to her horn.

“That wasn’t so tough.” Indra said, wiping some blood off of one of her hooves. So that’s what I felt, the bodies hitting the floor.

“Are they dead?” I asked, prodding at the blue-maned stallion with magic.

“That one is.” She said, nodding to the one I was poking.

“And her?” Sunny asked of the other.

“Kill…” I hesitated a moment, cautious of what had befallen us earlier with Orchid. These ponies weren’t monsters…by definition at least and those thoughts stayed my hooves. “Take her weapons and leave her.” I finished; my decision made. Leaving the bodies behind us, we continued down the dark corridor until the next clue came to us. Something ahead crashed to the floor with the ringing sound of metal. We galloped ahead, hopeful of catching a glimpse of who or what was leading us on. By the time we got there only a spilled toolbox could be found.

“I don’t get it.” Pumpkin said, her breathing heavier than normal. “Who would take the effort to lead us to the abandoned section?”

“Somepony who needs help?” Indra offered with a forced smile.

“Or somepony’s luring us to our deaths.” Sunny finished dourly.

“Or maybe…” I said quietly, noticing the door to the nearby maintenance closet close a little more. I inched my way closer and closer as quietly as I could. I gently gripped the handle with my hoof. “Somepony is hiding!” I yelled, yanking the door open.

“WAAAAHHH!!!”
“AAAHH!!”

A filly had been hiding there, a terrified filly whose scream of terror had also frightened me. I fell back on my flanks as the poor thing stared at me, her eyes wide in alarm and her chest rising and falling as she struggled to control her breathing. I stared back at her, also trying to calm my heart. Pumpkin slowly came to stand by my side and crouched down a bit closer to the filly’s level.

“Hello.” She said sweetly. “What were you doing in there?”

“I-I-I…” The filly stammered, her eyes darting between the four of us. I looked back to Sunny and Indra, waving a hoof at them to sit. Both her mane and coat were off-white in color but most striking of all were her deep green eyes. I would guess she was maybe nine years old.

“It’s alright sweetie.” Pumpkin continued, siting on her flanks and holding her legs out. “Come on out, we’re not going to hurt you.” I tried my best smile as Pumpkin spoke. A white blur zipped out of the closet and into Pumpkin’s embrace. I reached out a hoof to pat her on the head but withdrew when she flinched.

“S-s-sorry.” She stuttered, affixing me with an apologetic look. “M-my name is O-oleander. My m-momma used to call me Ollie.”

“That’s a cute name.” I caught myself saying in imitation of Pumpkin’s warm tone.

“T-thanks.” She said quietly, releasing her hold on Pumpkin.

“My name is Sparks.” I said, holding a hoof to my chest. “This is my…” I paused, the relationship between Pumpkin and I still vague. “Pumpkin.” I finished, electing to just use her name. “And over there are my friends, Sunny and Indra.” They each waved in turn at the mention of their names. “You turned on the turret, didn’t you Ollie? You wanted us to find you. Do you know anything about the ponies here?”

“Yes. I was watching you with the cameras. The ponies came when I was little and then they started making monsters. You fight the monsters…I need your help…t-they’ve got momma.” Tears accumulated in the corners of her eyes and she reached towards me with a hoof. It was my turn to flinch but I didn’t turn away. Rather I took her hoof in my own and squeezed gently.

“We will help you Ollie, I promise. Do you know where they took her?”

“N-no!” Ollie wailed, breaking into tears and burying her face into Pumpkin’s coat.

“There there, shh shh.” Pumpkin tried to soothe, stroking Ollie’s mane as she bawled.

“It’s alright Ollie. I think I might know where she is.” The Atrium was still our best shot at finding out what exactly was going on here. Ollie’s crying slowed and she sniffed loudly.

“You do?” She asked, hope glittering in her green, tear-stained eyes.

“I do. Do you want to come with us Ollie? We’ll protect you. I’ll protect you…with my life.” The words had come out on their own but I meant it with every fiber of my being. The innocence of children is something worth protecting and doom will come to those who would desecrate it. That was…is my promise.

“You’ll take me to momma?”

“If I can, yes.” I didn’t have enough information to state anything with certainty. For all we knew her mother was already dead…or worse. But until I knew the truth myself, I would try with all my might to reunite them. “Are you ready to go?”

“Okay.” She sniffled again and let go of Pumpkin, looking up at her with a grateful expression. She stood up and started following us back the way we came towards the atrium.

Our pace was dictated by the filly who walked in the center of the group. Sunny and I in front, Indra and Pumpkin bringing up the rear.

“Who has your mother, Ollie? The monsters or the ponies?” I asked.

“The ponies.” She said plainly. “They broke into the office and said a lot of stuff I didn’t understand. The ugly doctor told the ponies to grab her and Momma told me to run away as fast as I could so I ran.”

“What office?”

“The Overmare’s office.”

“Your mother is the Overmare?”

“Mhmm. She didn’t like it when the ugly doctor and his ponies moved in but always said she didn’t have a choice.”

“Where are all the rest of the stable dwellers?” Sunny asked, putting herself between Ollie and the corpses we’d passed earlier, blocking her view.

“The ponies gave them medicine from the labs and they started acting weird. The ugly doctor made a lot of them go down to the labs with him, where the monsters are.”

“What happened to the stable scientists?” Ollie made it sound as if Stable 54 had been working perfectly until recently. Did that mean the experiments from above persisted below after all these decades? Why? For what reason? If so then that meant there were researchers or scientists to man the labs.

“I don’t know. Probably in the labs still, I guess. Momma said not to bother them and that I should stay out of the lower levels.”

We had made back to where the turret had distracted us and turned down the connecting hallway towards the atrium. A few minutes later and we were nearing the cafeteria. As we got closer, the glass windows that had allowed diners to look out into the hallways were obscured by…I didn’t want to guess. The subtle smell of death returned as I reached for the panel to open the door. The door retracted into the ceiling, getting stuck about three quarters of the way up and the smell was magnified a hundred times over. Hanging from ropes by their necks were approximately sixteen ponies, all of them wearing stable lab coats. I’d found the scientists. Some had their throats cut, some were riddled with bullet wounds and others had their bellies sliced open, dark tangles of innards hung from their bodies and coalesced in black puddles beneath them. The stench was overpowering and it was all I could do not to puke in my mouth.

“I haven’t been in there for a long time.” Ollie said, coming up behind me. “Something smells yucky.”

I turned around and hit the panel to close the door but it refused to budge. As Ollie neared, I placed a hoof on her shoulder and quickly ushered her away before she could see anything.

“We’re going to keep moving alright? Keep your eyes straight and don’t look back.” I said, stealing a glance back myself. Sunny and Pumpkin were standing in the doorway now. Sunny bared her teeth and snarled, her anger at these atrocities reaching a boiling point. Pumpkin, on the other hoof, covered her muzzle and shed a few silent tears.

“Why? I wanted to get a snack.” She said, trying to shake my hoof.

“Do as I say Ollie.” I said sternly, pushing her with a little more force. “Keep looking ahead and don’t look back, okay?” I felt her tremble slightly under my hoof.

“O-okay.”

“Good girl.” I said, swallowing down a mouthful of bile. “Almost there.”

The atrium lay at the end of the hallway before us and from this distance muffled voices could be heard. There were definitely ponies there and I wondered if I would be able to show any restraint after the brutality I saw in the cafeteria.

“The atrium?” Ollie asked, tilting her head to one side. “Why are we here?”

“I want you to hide Ollie.” I said, turning to look at the confused filly. “No matter what hear, stay hidden until we come for you. Do you understand?”

“I-I understand.” She said, her eyes wide in anticipation. “Be careful.” I thought I heard her say before she disappeared.

“Was that wise?” Indra asked, regarding me a worried glance.

“She’s avoided them this long.” I said, hoping that she’d remain undetected. “We just have to have faith in her.”

“I could go with her.” Pumpkin offered; her expression conflicted. “I-I-I don’t want to-”

“It’s alright.” I had no doubt that what she saw here traumatized her to some degree and that’s why, no matter how much I wanted her to stay, I was going to let her go. “You might want this, just in case.” I hadn’t used my shotgun in a long time so perhaps it was ready for a new owner. She took it in a field of magic and kept it floating beside her.

“Sparks…I don’t…” She started, the confliction in her eyes evident beyond doubt. “Please be careful.”

“I will.” I affirmed with a nod. It took everything I had to turn my back on her and trot knowingly into danger. I watched from the corner of my eye until Pumpkin had vanished around the same corner as Ollie. Once they were clear the rest of us cautiously approached the doors that would lead us into the atrium. From this distance the voices could be heard more clearly.

“Shouldn’t we be looking for the kid?” One of them asked, a mare if I had to guess.
“And go bumbling ‘round in the dark sections? Fuck that, place gives me the creeps. ‘Sides it’s almost my turn.” Answered a stallion’s voice.

They were looking for Ollie? What did they want with her? Answers waited for me inside and answers I would have.

“How do you want to do this?” Sunny asked in a whisper, Indra beside her waiting for my answer.

“Take one alive if you can.” I paused a moment, making up my mind about something I’d been conflicted about. “Kill the rest.” I levitated Starfall off my back and grabbed Retribution from its holster with my teeth. Once we’d armed ourselves, we rushed the door and beheld the room as it retracted into the ceiling. Seated at a table in the right corner were two stallions and a mare who were being waited on by a bored looking mare with an apron loosely tied around her. On the left was another stallion and mare duo. The mare stood off to the side with an appreciative look on her face as the stallion was mounted atop and rutting a thoroughly disinterested looking mare. Were those ponies the stable dwellers? While we still had the element of surprise, I brought my gun up and, with the aid of SATS, put a bullet through the base of the stallion’s neck. He clutched at his neck as he withdrew from the mare who didn’t react at all. Blood gushed around his hooves as he fell and stirred no more. Once the stallion fell the others became aware of us as bullets were sent our way. Sunny dove to the left, landing behind a cluster of wooden crates. Indra became a blur and I lost sight of her as I brought Starfall up to catch two bullets with its wide blade. When I moved my blade to return fire, I saw the ponies from the table take cover behind the mare wearing the apron. She didn’t move or react in the slightest at the clamor and didn’t seem to mind being used as a shield. That was going to make things difficult.

“Watch the dwellers!” I yelled, magically pushing the apron mare to the floor as I threw Starfall into the chest of one of the stallions. Indra appeared behind the two from the table and drove what looked like a butter knife into one of the mare’s eyes. The mare fell to the floor screaming, her weapon accidentally discharging a round into the apron mare’s flank. Her body jerked from the motion but still she didn’t react, even as blood began to well up from the wound. The last stallion of the table trio had a heavy wrench clenched between his teeth as he brought it down hard in the middle of Indra’s back. I rushed forward to help her when a bullet hit the barrel of Retribution and painfully jerked the pistol from my mouth. The stallion, noticing my weakness, lobbed the wrench at me where it connected with my muzzle, dropping me with a metallic thud. I could taste blood in my mouth as I heard the thunderous boom of Sunny’s battle saddle followed by a mare’s wail of pain.

I tried to stand only to have one of the crates slam into me from behind. I went down again, face first into the cold metal of the atrium floor. Before I could register who had attacked me a weight landed atop my back and something thin and hot pierced through my armor, stabbing through my right side through my ribs. I growled through gritted teeth and blindly swung my sword behind me. I felt resistance and heard the cry of a mare and the weight on my back disappeared. I immediately tried to get up but floundered as the pain in my side spiked painfully and I was forced back to the floor. I dared a look back to see a screwdriver embedded in my side all the way to the handle. My assailant lay on her back behind me, a moderate slash to her chest bleeding profusely. She sat up, revealing she was a unicorn, and glared daggers at me. Seizing the screwdriver with a purple aura, she wrenched it painfully to the side causing the breath to vacate my lungs and stars to explode in my eyes. I could barely breathe and I couldn’t stand, I was completely at her mercy. She slithered back on top of me and ripped the screwdriver from my side, eliciting a pitiful wheeze from me. She smirked and raised the screwdriver above her head with both hooves, ready to drive it into my spine. Summoning all the energy I could spare, I prepared the only spell I could think of. The tip of my horn erupted with golden light. Power I didn’t know I had burst from my horn, magnifying my spell and forcing me to close my eyes. The mare on my back screamed and fell backwards, the screwdriver forgotten as she clutched at her eyes.

“My eyes! What did you do!? I can’t see!” The mare wailed pitifully, writhing on the ground with her hooves covering her eyes.

“I think we’re clear.” Indra said, tenderly rubbing the spot on her back where she’d been struck. “Got one alive here.” She motioned with her head to the stallion who had the wrench.

“Good.” I wheezed; my voice breathless as I struggled to stand. With a muffled cry I hauled myself to my hooves, trying to shut out the pain radiating from the hole in my side.

“You alright?” Sunny asked over my shoulder. “You’re hurt.”

“I’m fine.” I lied. Between the bite on my leg and the stab wound to my side it was getting difficult to support my own weight. I slowly hobbled my way towards the still living stallion, magically retrieving Retribution as I went.

“Take this.” Sunny ordered. Holding a potion in her hooves.

I hesitated for a second and reluctantly took the bottle, draining the soothing liquid in two large swallows. The wound on my leg closed most of the way and I knew it would still be tender for a while. My stab wound however didn’t fare as well. The hole closed completely but I could still feel the damage done to whatever organ or organs she might have hit, lessened by the potion but present nonetheless. We had two potions left now and despite the urging of Sunny I refused to take another. Instead, I directed my attention to the stallion who looked up hazily at me as I approached.

“Where is the Overmare?” I asked calmly, though I’m sure the expression I wore didn’t match.

“Go fuck yourself.” He hissed, spitting a mouthful of blood on my hooves.

“Fine.” I levitated Retribution to his forehead and fired one loud, reverberating shot. It echoed throughout the atrium and I turned my back on him before he hit the ground. I then turned my attention to the apron mare who was still on the floor where I’d left her. Blood steadily leaked from the flesh wound to her flank yet her breathing and expression were frighteningly calm.

“Are you alright?” I asked. What the hell had they done to these ponies?

“I am injured.” She said in a monotone voice, her expression still unreadable.

“Can you stand?”

“Yes.” Then, like she hadn’t been wounded at all, she stood up with hardly any effort.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” I asked, motioning to the bullet wound in her flank. It had hit just an inch or two below her cutie mark which was of a cluster of three purple flowers shaped like hearts.

“Yes.” She said plainly, making no effort to look at me.

“What did these ponies do to you?” I asked, starting to understand her condition.

“It came from the labs.” She said, her monotone faltering as if she were trying to fight it. “They injected us with something the scientists locked away.”

That confirmed my theory. They had used one of the compounds we read about in the cathedral above.

“Is there a cure?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can I treat your wound?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t take long for us to clean the wound and wrap it with bandages. It would have to do for now. I left her in the care of the others as I moved to the other mare who was still standing where she’d been left, the stallion who’d abused her dead near her hooves.

“Are you alright?” I asked again, reaching out and brushing a lock of disheveled mane out of her face.

“I am tired.” She said, her monotone weaker than the other mare’s.

“How long have they been doing this to you?”

“I’ve been standing here for three days.” Her legs were trembling and I couldn’t even begin to guess how exhausted she might have been.

“H-how many?”

“Nine.” That number was backed up by what was matted in the fur of her croup, flanks, and hind legs.

“I’m going to kill them for this.” I said, more for myself than present company.

“I would like that.”

“Go take care of yourself, I’ll…I’ll be back with something to help you.” I promised, though I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep it.

“Okay.” She said, moving for the first time since I’d entered the room. I watched as she slowly made her way out of the atrium and disappeared.

I wasn’t satisfied by the way things had ended but I tried to put it out of my mind, instead turning my attention to the blind mare who was now hyperventilating on the floor, her eyes darting around uselessly.

“As for you…” I started.

“W-w-wait I might be able to h-help you.” She pleaded, her gaze missing me by a lot.

“Sunny how much rope do we have?” I asked, clutching my side with a hoof. “I want to string her up like they did the scientists.”

“NO!” She cried, shuffling backwards until her back hit the stack of crates. “I-I-I don’t-”

“Then where is the Overmare? What did your people do to these ponies? Answer me!” I screamed the last part, striking the crate just over her shoulder with my metal hoof.

“Crush, m-m-my boss, the one who hired us took her to the labs two days ago.”

“What about the stable dwellers?”

“I-I-I don’t know. Crush found some decommissioned chemicals in the labs and gave them to us to use on the ones he didn’t take himself. I don’t know any more than that I swear!”

“And the scientists?”

“I…I was just following orders.”

“Orders that you knew were wrong.” I said, calling Starfall to me and bringing the flat of the blade down on her head. Her body went limp and collapsed to the floor, whether she was unconscious or dead I didn’t care.

“Why did you do that?” Indra asked, staring at me in disbelief. “She could have told us more.”

“There wasn’t anything else she could have told me.” I said, refusing to meet her gaze. If the chemicals they used had been decommissioned then did that mean the original occupants gave up on their research? I hoped so but blind hope is only practiced by fools or the truly desperate.

“A heads-up next time would be appreciated.” Sunny said, rubbing some tears out of her eyes.

“Sorry. I didn’t know it would be that strong.” Was this a result of the magic poisoning I got from Project Outlast? Must have been, my spells were never that powerful before.

“Are we done here?” Indra said impatiently, trying her hardest to avoid looking at any of the bodies we’d left on the floor.

“I think so.” I said, wincing as I stowed Starfall on my back. “Looks like the labs are where we’re heading next. C’mon, let’s go find Pumpkin and Ollie.” We left through the door we came through and headed back towards the cafeteria, turning left down the hallway just before it. The third door from us was open and faint voices could be heard emanating from within. As we neared, I detected the monotone that I now associated with the ponies who lived here and relaxed. Inside was the apron mare, casually conversing with Pumpkin as Ollie was jumping on the bed behind them. I moved to greet them but instead grunted and clutched at my side, the internal damage making itself known. Pumpkin must have noticed me as she abandoned her conversation without hesitation and trotted to me, her eyes wide and expression tight.

“Sparks!” She called, rushing to my side to help support me. “Are you alright? I heard a lot of gunshots.”

“We’re okay.” I said with a mostly forced smile.

“We’re okay.” Sunny interjected, pointing vigorously to herself and Indra. “You are in rough shape.”

“I’ll be f-”

“He was stabbed in the side with a screwdriver.” Sunny said, looking Pumpkin in the eyes. “What? Did you think I didn’t see what happened?”

“…Yes.” I growled, wincing a bit as I rose to my full height.

“Where’s momma?” Ollie interrupted, shoving her way past Pumpkin and the other mare. “Did you find her?”

“N-not yet Ollie.” I said, trying to keep my voice neutral. Given what I knew and what I suspected, the odds of her mother being alive were slim. Very slim. “We think she’s down in the labs. That’s where we’re going next.”

“I’m coming with you.” She said, her little face rigid with determination.

“I don’t think so.” I said, shaking my head. “It’s dangerous down there, I don’t want you anywhere-”

“No!” Ollie yelled, startling me. “No! I want my momma! I want her now!” She gave none of us time to react as she deftly bolted through our legs and took off into the hallway.

“Ollie!” I yelled after her, spinning around on my hooves to give chase. The sound of the hooves behind me told me that everypony had followed. Ollie proved to be quicker than we thought and sped through and down corridors with ease, having lived her whole life in these tunnels it was no surprise she could travel them faster than we could. We had chased her past the atrium now and came upon a set of stairs descending to the second level. We passed the sign in a blur, missing what was housed on that level. It took an effort to speed down the stairs without falling, my tender leg and aching insides making the task more difficult than it should have been. Ollie was about two tail lengths in front of me when she slipped and skidded across the smooth metal floor…right in front of two armed stallions.

“There’s the girl!” One shouted, pointing his gun towards her. I maintained my speed and lowered my head, hoping to blindside them before they noticed us. The second stallion saw enough for his eyes to go wide but not fast enough to stop me from ramming his companion in the chest with my horn. I put as much force as I was able into the attack, pushing him back against the wall with a crash. The impact proved too great for my injuries, my leg buckling under the pressure.

“Run!” I shouted, attempting to yank the second stallion’s gun from him. My feeble effort did nothing but throw off his aim slightly but that was enough as he fired a wild shot that hit the wall a few inches from Ollie. By the time he’d shaken me completely the others had arrived. Pumpkin lit her horn and pinned his weapon to the wall with such force that he was momentarily pinned with it, which gave Sunny the opening she needed to quickly pivot on her front hooves and drive and explosive buck into his body. I heard bones crack and saw blood shoot from his mouth before he toppled forward and didn’t move again.

“I told you it was dangerous!” I heard myself shouting. “Don’t you understand!?” I growled as I painfully hauled myself from the floor. “The ponies here are looking for you and-” I paused as Ollie looked up at me apologetically, her lips twitching as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I…I…” She whimpered, her breathing picking up speed. “I’m sorry!” She wailed, her body wracked with sudden heavy sobs. And just like that I was at a loss. What was I supposed to say?

“Ollie I…” I started, knowing full well that there would be nothing to follow. Ollie rubbed at her eyes with her hooves and her sobs lessened into small sniffles. In the absence of words, I did the only thing that felt natural and sat down beside her and held out my legs. I didn’t expect her to accept the gesture since she shied from my touch before but was pleasantly surprised when she scooted close to me and put her legs around my midsection. I cradled her with my organic leg and slowly stroked her mane with the other while Pumpkin moved to my side and began to whisper soothing words to her. Sunny and Indra took up defensive positions on either side of us and kept watch until we were able to move again. It took a few minutes but she was able to calm down in the end, releasing her hold on me and wiping her eyes for a final time.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

“I’m not mad at you Ollie.” I said, wiping a lone tear from her cheek. “I was scared for you.”

“Grown-ups get scared?” Ollie asked bewildered.

“All the time.” Pumpkin answered for me. “Everypony gets scared. It’s a natural part of growing up.”

“The ponies are looking for you Ollie.” I cut in. “Can you think of any reason they’d want you?” I could think of a reason. Leverage. If that was the case then maybe her mother was alive after all.

“N-no.” Ollie whimpered with a shake of her head.

“We shouldn’t linger.” Sunny said over her shoulder, reminding us that we were still in enemy territory.

“Right.” I stood up and looked down at Ollie. “Stick close to us Ollie and we’ll find your mom, okay? Don’t go galloping off again.”

“O-okay.” She said with a sniffle, offering me one of her hooves. If that was what she needed then so be it. I took her hoof in mine and together we slowly began to move as a group. Ollie and I in the middle with Pumpkin beside us for support, Sunny and Indra running point and rear guard respectively. I wondered if the ponies here were the majority or minority when it came to numbers since we didn’t seem to be encountering very many. Orchid had told us there were fifteen mercenaries, plus their leader inside. Orchid had also said she wasn’t part of the actual stable crew, meaning that she’d never been inside and the numbers she gave us could have changed since for better or worse. If we were to take it at face value then that left seven ponies plus the doctor to deal with. There must have been more here once, they couldn’t have controlled a stable’s population with only fifteen ponies. The living quarters offered nothing more of interest until we discover another set of stairs leading down to the science lab. I took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the pain in my chest. This was no time to be weak, I needed to be strong if I wanted to help Ollie. We took the stairs slowly, cautious of running in to more mercs. We made it a few meters down the first corridor when a distant and heavy boom sounded and all of the lights shut off. Ollie squealed in fright and Pumpkin gasped. Ahead of us the sound of a door opening put us on edge, Sunny and I activated our PipBuck lights whilst Pumpkin lit up her horn. The light didn’t travel far thanks to the cramped nature of stable hallways which left walls of darkness three meters behind and in front of us.

“This isn’t good.” Sunny said, clamping her teeth gently on her trigger bit.

“I wonder…” I mused aloud, removing Starfall from my back. I reared back and prepared to lob it down the hallway. At the apex of my throw I heard Pumpkin shout.

“No wait!” But by then it was too late. Starfall sailed down the hallway and hit the wall with a metallic thud. I bid it to waken and it illuminated the hallway with brilliant pale light…which revealed the four bleeders stalking towards us. As soon as they were revealed by the light, they abandoned their slow gait and charged us, growling and gnashing their rotten teeth.

“Get the sword!” I heard somepony yell. At the end of the hallway, I saw two silhouettes dash from the connecting hallway and yank my sword from the wall, extinguishing its light in the process.

“NO!” I shouted after them, momentarily abandoning Ollie to give chase. I managed to put myself between my friends and the bleeders before I realized my mistake but by then it was too late to retreat. A wall of flesh slammed into me, the two bleeders in front trampling over me with jagged hooves. One caught me in the forehead with its hoof, cutting a deep gash above my left eye.

“Sparks!” Somepony yelled, followed by the thunderous rapport of weapons discharging. The third bleeder leapt into the air, aiming to land on top of me but was thrown into the wall by a blast from a shotgun. Whether it was from Sunny or Pumpkin I never had a chance to see as the last bleeder lunged towards me with its mouth wide open. I ducked low but not low enough as the bleeder bit down on my mane and began thrashing. I desperately tried to grab Retribution but blood from my forehead trickled into my eye, temporarily blinding me. From behind I heard Pumpkin cry out and something metal clatter to the floor. I managed to find my pistol and blindly unloaded it all into the body of the bleeder on me. A lucky shot must have severed its spine as its legs crumpled beneath it and it fell beside me. Painfully jerking my mane from its clenched teeth, I turned to see the carnage. The bleeder that had tried to pounce on me lay beside the wall sans its head, blood pouring from its neck stump. Pumpkin was pinned beneath one of the bleeders, the white of her lab coat around her shoulder stained with red. Indra stood behind Pumpkin, urgently fighting to keep it from biting her again. Sunny had her hooves around the last one’s neck, pulling it away from Ollie who stood behind her hiding behind her hooves. I leapt to my hooves and magically summoned the rope from Sunny’s bags, telekinetically looping it around the neck of the bleeder on Pumpkin. Once it was secure, I took the two ends in my mouth and pulled as hard as I could. The hissing snarls of the bleeder became choked as it toppled backwards to land on its back. Releasing the rope I galloped beside it, reared up on my hind legs and brought my front hooves down on its head as Indra pinned its legs. There was a sharp crack as the skull splintered but that wasn’t enough, repeating the attack twice more caved in its skull like a melon, destroying the control orb. I moved to reinforce Sunny but that proved to be unnecessary as she let out a scream of effort, broke the bleeder’s neck, and viscerally ripped its head off, tossing it forward into the dark. Once the immediate danger had passed, I left Ollie to Sunny and rushed to Pumpkin’s side.

“I’m alright.” She said, clearly noticing the distress on my face. The way she was trembling indicated otherwise.

“You’re not a very good liar.” I said, pulling her coat off to see the teeth marks cut into her flesh. “Sunny.” I called over my shoulder. “Need a potion here.”

“We got one more after this.” She said sternly, letting the seriousness of our situation sink in. “We can’t afford to make any more mistakes.” She finished by looking at me.

“I know.” I said distantly. “But the sword-”

“We’ll get it.” She said, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “We have to.”

Pumpkin reluctantly accepted the potion and drank it at my insistence. “We’re almost there.” I said, helping her up. Turning my attention to Ollie I saw that she was still hiding behind her hooves.

“Ollie.” I said softly, placing a hoof on her head. “It’s alright now, you can open your eyes.”

She shook her head and did not lower her hooves. “No.” She whimpered.

“Alright then.” I said, lifting her up off the floor and on to Sunny’s back. “You should be safe here then.”

Once she was secure, I attempted to call Starfall back to me. I could still feel the link I’d formed with the weapon and I could feel its…distress at its inability to return.

We’re coming for you. I said through our link, assuring it that we wouldn’t abandon it. I didn’t know if it could hear me or even understand the sentiment but there was something special inside that sword. It had spoken to me and accepted me as its wielder. That was why it led us to safety inside Project Outlast. The voice I heard, the glowing mare I saw…it had all been the sword. My sword and I wanted it back.

The darkness kept us at a snail’s pace, all of us watchful for more bleeders. There had to be more to these labs. They were simply too…clean for what had to happen to create bleeders. As we turned a blind corner, I stuck my hoof in something wet. Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I looked down to see a mostly coagulated puddle of blood that had seeped from under a nearby door.

“Help me with this.” I said, bumping Pumpkin on her uninjured shoulder. Our magic together was more than enough to lift the door out of our way to reveal an older pony dressed in a lab coat who had been slumped against the door dead for some time, a gunshot to his forehead. When I went to move the body out of the way I noticed a loose black cord around his neck. Attached to it was a keycard, but for what? Once the body was out of the way I surveyed the room to see an array of destroyed terminals. Dark shapes on the floor near them looked to be at least three more bodies, each garbed in lab coats. Just how systematic had the killing of the science staff been? Closer examination of the terminals revealed security readers that would accept a key card like in Eclipse but they had all been destroyed, likely to keep such features unused. They were trying to keep something hidden.

“Got something over here.” Indra called from the opposite corner. We all converged on her location and she showed us a slot in the wall that had been partially hidden behind a poster of Red something or other, looked like scooters. Curiously, I inserted the card I’d taken from the first scientist into the slot and smirked as a section of the wall receded and slid aside. Inside was little more than a small chair in front of a small table that supported a backup terminal, just what I’d hoped would be inside. On the wall directly opposite us was a whiteboard with formulas and numbers I couldn’t make heads or tails of. Ignoring those I approached the terminal and stuck the keycard in the slot and watched the screen slowly flicker to life on backup power.

“What is it you expect to find?” Sunny asked over my shoulder.

“Anything.” At once I began searching for relevant information. Eventually I came upon the personal logs of the scientist and they appeared to start sometime after the mercs moved in.

Log #101
I had hoped to never see these rooms again. It’s been fifty years since the then Overmare declared our work to be a lost cause and we became a control stable. With SMI more than likely destroyed and gone there was nopony to answer to or take direction from, all of which influenced the Overmare’s decision. Now we’ve seen a whole generation pass with no knowledge of the crimes against equinity we once committed down here. All that’s changed now. Our door was forced open by a mutant pegasus doctor named Crush and his host of mercenaries. I don’t know what he said to the Overmare but she has allowed him to enter the labs and abuse the data hundreds of ponies unjustly suffered and died for. I can’t blame her. The security force would be no match for the number of experienced mercenaries he brought. Since then, myself and the entire science staff have been taken hostage for lack of a better word and brought down to the labs where we’re being forced to work on these strange creations Crush has devised. To what end or purpose hasn’t been shared with us and resistance has been met with…harsh penalties. Junior researcher Swansong walks with a limp now and she lost sight in her right eye from the injuries she sustained when they beat her. I’ll do what I can to mitigate the damage, there are secrets in here that must stay buried.

Log #105
One of my fears has come to pass. Crush and his cronies have found the material and data required to produce more doses of the discontinued suggestion compounds. Even now as I type several doses have been made and the shame of Stable 54 has been reborn. I don’t know what he intends to do with it but I have taken it upon myself to begin working on countermeasures to eliminate the effects of all the compounds created by the SSP. With any luck I can stop this madness before it can do more damage than it’s already done. All of us have to proceed carefully. Crush was able to discover this secret on his own… Goddesses help us if he finds Subject 87 and the remnants of the EEP.

Log #179
Sixteen months. It’s been sixteen months and my countermeasures have yet to bear fruit. I just don’t understand it. All of the compounds developed in the Cathedral above share the same base line so a counter should be feasible. I’ll just have to keep trying my hardest, I have no choice. Crush has allowed his mercenaries to use the compounds as they see fit, abusing the rest of the population while the Overmare does nothing, because there is nothing she can do, not anymore. I still have time to save some of them.

Log #188
Time is running short. Crush has begun taking test subjects from the stable and turning them into those damnable abominations. His motives still elude me but I won’t allow these crimes to persist. The supply of compounds has been steady ever since the formulas were found and work on the countermeasure has stalled. If I must take it upon myself then so be it. Tomorrow I’m going to sabotage the labs and halt the synthesis of new compounds. It might take months for them to run out of what’s already been produced but once the effects fade the ponies above will be themselves again and some of them may yet get away.

Log #191
I may have made things much, much worse. I successfully sabotaged the creation process and destroyed all records of decade’s worth of research. All that remains of the SSP is on this terminal and only the Overmare and I know of it. However, while Crush and his men were investigating the damage they found the secret stairs to the maximum security wing. He knows about Subject 87 and the EEP. It won’t be long now before he

And that was all there was. With the presence of the dead bodies it didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened. The entire science staff was massacred because of this one pony’s sabotage. I downloaded everything I could to my PipBuck and then stood and put three bullets through the terminal. The glass shattered as the bullets punched through and out the back, blowing glass shards and terminal innards against the far wall. I cursed myself as I turned to leave. The date on the last entry was a little less than three weeks ago. If I had been…No! I couldn’t blame myself for this. There was nothing I could do for the scientists or dwellers who were already dead. I had to focus and do what I could for those who still lived.

“What do you intend to do with that data?” Indra asked me as I exited the secret room.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“You should turn it over to the rangers.”

“I’ve considered that, but no I don’t think I will.”

“You should reconsider. With that data we could-”

“You could what?” I spat bitterly. “Do exactly what these ponies died to prevent? No, no I will not give it to the rangers, in fact I never should have kept it to begin with.” I raised my leg and hovered my hoof over the delete command. I stared at the button for a minute but couldn’t bring myself to do it. As heinous as the research done here was, I couldn’t bring myself to erase it. Otherwise all those ponies would have died for nothing. Somepony somewhere could use this data for good, I was sure of it and until then I would guard it. I lowered my legs and stood with a slump. I hadn’t meant to be short with her, I had let my emotions get the better of me.

“Forgive me Indra.” I said, turning to face her. “I wasn’t accusing the rangers of anything. I just think its best I hold onto it until I’m absolutely sure who I’m giving it to.”

“I guess that’ll have to do huh? If you reconsider-”

“We’ll see.” I said, cutting her off before she tried to appeal to me again. Before we left the room we moved the bodies to the center and draped their mostly white coats over them. It was the best we could do for them. Ollie, from her perch on Sunny’s back, dared to peek past her hooves for the first time in several long minutes only to see the pony shaped outlines beneath their coats laid in a row.

“A-are they going to be okay?” She asked shakily, probably having an idea of what had happened.

“They’re dead Ollie.” I said quietly and without emotion. “And it’ll never be okay.”

Feeling a hoof on my shoulder I turned to see Pumpkin with a sympathetic look on her face. She inclined her head towards the far corner and began moving towards it.

“Just a second guys.” I said to the others, following after her. “What is it?” I asked softly, once I was sure we couldn’t be heard.

“How are you holding up?” She asked, a concerned shadow around her eyes. She was worried…about me.

“I’m the last pony you should be worried about.” I said dismissively, wiping more blood out of my eye from the gash on my forehead. “Don’t waste any energy on me.” I tried to turn away but a stabbing pain from my insides reminded me that I was injured and I failed to hide a pained wince.

“Well I am worried about you and you’re going to shut up and listen.” Her voice carried the same tone of authority she’d used before, with the same level of effectiveness. “I’m not blind Sparks. I can see your struggle, the war you’re waging with yourself. I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through or what you’ve done but deep inside I see there is a good pony…but he’s fighting with a monster. Will you let me help?”

“You’re already helping me.” More than she knew in fact. “But the answer is no. This…burden of mine, I won’t allow it to endanger anyone else. I won’t-”

“That’s what happened to you outside.” Pumpkin said, sudden understanding in her eyes. “You were overtaken…by something.”

“I-I don’t-” So she was bluffing? Played me like a moon-cursed fiddle.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” She pressed.

My silence might as well have been a full confession.

“I can help you.” She continued. “There are some magical artifacts I’ve seen or heard of that have ability to possess their wielders. If I can just see it I’m sure I can-”

“No!” I shouted, causing her to flinch. “This burden is mine and mine alone! Don’t you understand? I’m trying to protect you. All of you! My suffering doesn’t matter so long as no one else suffers because of it!”

~What of those who have already suffered? Or those who suffer now? Do you truly think that by keeping them in the dark that they are not suffering?~

You don’t get to talk to me about suffering. You don’t even know the meaning of the word.

~Don’t I? Do you think I sat on that pedestal for hundreds of years alone in peace? Do you think that I placed myself in this trap so I could watch my own body wither and die before my eyes? You have no idea what it truly means to suffer. But you will and when that day comes you will know a fraction of my pain. So go ahead, laud wisdom where there is none and continue on as ignorant as you ever were~

“You don’t think I’m suffering?” Pumpkin said shakily, tears twinkling on the edges of her eyes. “I care about you Sparks and watching you do this to yourself hurts me. Hurts us. Almost as much as your silence.”

“What choice do I have? Knowing won’t ease your suffering…or mine.” I closed my eyes; I couldn’t bear to see her cry. “But I made you a promise, didn’t I? When we’re done here, I’ll tell you. Everything.”

I felt hooves wrap around my neck and when I opened my eyes I saw that she was hugging me, an act which I happily returned.

“Okay.” She said, letting me go and wiping the moisture from her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. It won’t bring you comfort.”

“We’ll see.”

“I suppose we will.” I seemed to surround myself with people who were stronger than me. At least it seemed that way at times. I failed to contain a small smirk at the thought.

“Why do you wear that awful collar?” She let go of me and wrinkled her nose as if it was the first time she’d seen it.

“I broke it when I disarmed it.”

“Disarmed it?”

“It’s a bomb collar…or rather, it was.”

“D-does that mean you were-”

“Enslaved? Twice. I’ll tell you about that one day too but what do you say one step at a time eh?”

“Okay…how long have you been out of your Stable?”

“Nearly three months now…I think.” Is that all it had been?

“You…uh, get around don’t you?”

“Believe me, I’ve tried not to.” We had returned to the others before she could ask something else.

“Everything alright?” Sunny asked, looking between the two of us. “You…eh weren’t very discreet.”

“All’s good.” Pumpkin said, her tone and expression betraying none of what just transpired.

Once Sunny was satisfied, or placated more like, we returned to the hallway and pressed on. If I had to guess based on what I found on the terminal and the lack of what we found here, Crush was probably below with Subject 87 and whatever the EEP was. With that in mind we started looking for signs of damage, hoping that the stairs would be as near to it as the logs suggested.

“So.” Sunny started in a low voice. “She figured it out on her own then?”

“Partially.” I said, peering over my shoulder at Pumpkin who was too engrossed in a book she found to pay us any attention. “She bluffed me into admitting that I have something dangerous with me. She pieced together the rest on her own, well, some of it.”

“Are you going to tell her?”

“I don’t see much of a way around it. I…care a great deal for her. I can’t lie to her if I want-”

“I understand. I hope you-”

“Me too.” Truth is, I was terrified. How was she going to react when I told her the truth?

“You have a special somepony?” Ollie asked from Sunny’s back with stars in her eyes. How had I forgotten she was there? I put her there myself!

“I don’t know Ollie.” I looked over my shoulder again only this time she caught me staring and waved at me with a lopsided smile. “I hope so.”

“Found it! I think…” Indra called from the next room down. We all regrouped and headed inside to see a relatively long room that looked like a bomb had gone off inside. Against the far wall was a large hunk of twisted metal, its purpose far from recognition but it must have been a machine involved in the compound creation process. Off to the left corner a portion of the debris had been moved, leaving one space completely clear of everything.

“Think it’s here?” Indra asked, wrinkling her nose at the strangely clean area.

“I’d bet on it.” I said, looking around for hidden switches or something.

“Guys.” Pumpkin said, pointing to a familiar slot in the wall. “Maybe that’s it?” She said sarcastically.

“Bet you think you’re so clever.” I said, sticking my tongue out at her as I approached the slot. I could hear Ollie giggle at the exchange, a sound that made me smile as well. I inserted the card into the slot and watched as a portion of the floor began to pull away with the slight sound of grinding metal. Revealing a set of stairs leading-

“OPEN FIRE!”

Immediately a quartet of mercenaries at the base of the stairs sent a storm of bullets up at us. One bullet ricocheted off my metal leg, two were absorbed by my armor, and a fourth went low and hit me in the left hind leg. As I fell, I felt somepony else’s blood splash on the back of my neck. I heard my friends exchange a few shots with them as I was enveloped in a field of blue magic that moved me out of harm’s way. When I was able to rise I saw the others taking cover behind a shield wall that Pumpkin had conjured. Joining them, I drew Dragons Kiss and fired three streaks of burning red energy down the stairs. The first went wide, leaving a sizeable scorch mark on the wall. The second grazed the side of one’s head, doing little more than singing his mane. The final shot nailed one square in the chest, igniting parts of his armor. He screamed as the flames began to grow and, in his panic, he knocked two of his companions off balance, giving us the window we needed to lean out of cover and take them out. With a flare of her horn Pumpkin pushed her shield forward, knocking the last merc of her hooves. The screaming of the immolated pony ceased and with a final blast from Sunny’s battle saddle we were clear…for the moment.

“Everyone alright?” I asked, wincing as I tried to put pressure on my leg.

“I’m good.” Pumpkin said, wiping a bit of blood off her cheek where a bullet had grazed her. I looked to Sunny next and saw that she had been hit three times, twice in her left foreleg and once in her side. She noticed me looking and positioned her wounds away from me.

“I had to protect Ollie.” She said, craning her head to look at the filly on her back who looked back at her with worry on her face.

“Y-you’re hurt…because of me?” Ollie said miserably, the beginnings of tears welling up in her eyes.

“Don’t cry, little one, I was happy to do it.”

“But…but-” Ollie tried to say to no avail.

“But nothing.” Sunny said dismissively. “You’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

I limped my way over to her, wiping what had to be her blood from my neck. “You know what you have to do right?”

“Yeah…what about you?”

“Me?” I forced a chuckle, gritting my teeth as I probed my wound with magic. “I’ll manage.” I said with a grimace, letting the bullet I’d freed from my leg fall to the floor. I felt something cold touch the wound and looked back to see Pumpkin slather it with some kind of gel from her pack and immediately begin wrapping it in bandages.

“If you think you’re going to get out of telling me by dying you’re mistaken.” She said, tightening the bandages just a bit more than necessary.

“Is that a fact?” I said wryly.

“Try me.” She said, igniting her horn with a flourish of magic. To which I responded with a quick peck on her nose. Her magic fizzled out and her cheeks grew red as she looked at me dumbfounded.

“I win.” I leaned forward and whispered in her ear. I didn’t wait to see her reaction, instead I took the first cautious step down the stairs. Sunny had consumed our last potion which meant any injury from here on out would have to heal the natural way…providing they weren’t fatal. I couldn’t believe that none of the mercs we dispatched had any medicine on them. Maybe that had been by design…which meant Crush was trying to whittle us down before we even got to him and so far it was working, on me at least. The hallway we were forced to follow was empty and bare save the far away smell of burnt flesh we left at the base of the stairs. The lights were still off and even with all of our lights combined we couldn’t see very far into the darkness.

“I don’t like this.” Sunny said, a slight shiver rippling through her fur.

Her comment immediately put me on edge, more than I already was. It wasn’t like Sunny to get scared or nervous and when she did it almost always frightened me as a result. Unfortunately we had come too far to turn back now. If Crush got away then it was all for nothing. We walked in silence another five minutes, then at the very edge of sight, the sides of the hallway disappeared as it opened into a larger room.

“This is it.” I whispered, my body tensing as I tried to call Starfall again and failed. “On my count; one, two…”

“Three.” A voice spoke from the darkness. Then, with the sound of a great switch being thrown, the lights came back on. The room was tall and open. Towards the back wall were two spark generators and between them was the machinery housing the Stable’s water talisman. Halfway between the roof and floor were suspended metal catwalks that wrapped around the room’s three walls, looking down into holding cells also pressed against the walls. Dangling from the center catwalk was a mare with chains bound around her hooves. Behind that catwalk and the mare that I assumed to be the Overmare was another containment cell, one that stood higher than the others with slightly translucent walls. Inside stood a lone stallion with a frighteningly calm expression on his face. Standing above the Overmare on the catwalk was a well-built pegasus stallion. Crush, the ghoul doctor responsible for the crimes committed against Stable 54.

I instinctively went for my weapons but didn’t get very far.

“Don’t.” Said Crush, shaking his head disapprovingly. “If you do…” He pressed a button on a device he’d been holding with his wing and the sharp crackling of electric energy and the choked screaming of the Overmare filled my ears.

“Momma!” Ollie yelled, leaping from Sunny’s back. She made it a few steps before I was able to grab her and push her behind me protectively.

“Ollie?” The Overmare croaked dryly. “W-what are you doing here!? Why did you bring her here!? Run! Take her and- AAAGGHH!!!” She screamed as another jolt of electricity ripped through her being.

“And just like that your usefulness is at an end.” He said, looking down on her with a cold expression. The Overmare didn’t speak. In fact, she wasn’t moving at all…or breathing. “Thank you for delivering the child to me. Surrender her now and I will let you live, Silvershine Sparkshower.”

“That’s not going to happen.” I said defiantly, keeping myself squarely between him and Ollie.

“I didn’t think so. You-” He started, abruptly choking on his words mid-sentence, reeling as if he’d been struck.

“Sir?” A second voice said, stepping forward and revealing himself to be one of the mercenaries, emerging from his hiding spot near one of the holding cells to our right.

“That was foolis-” The stallion in the high cell started before being drowned out. Taking advantage of whatever had happened to Crush we sprang into action.

“Take her!” I cried, shoving Ollie back towards Pumpkin who surrounded the both of them in a protective blue shield as I fired a bolt of lightning into the chest of the foolish stallion. Crush however, recovered quickly and pushed himself off the catwalk and into the air.

“Sparks!” Sunny called for my attention and her idea became apparent. In her hoof was the fuel canister for her flamer attachment. She lobbed it high into the air towards Crush who was retreating towards an air duct set high in the back wall. Entering SATS I lined up Dragons Kiss with the canister and fired. The beam of burning energy struck the metal casing and it burst into an explosive ball of fire.

Duck

Ignoring my desire to see Crush burn I threw myself to the floor just as Starfall sliced through the air above me, close enough to shave a few strands off my mane. Sensing I wasn’t out of the woods yet, I tucked my legs in and rolled away, dodging a downward cleave that would have bisected me. Springing to my hooves I locked eyes with my opponent, a mauve unicorn mare wearing dark green combat armor with a gold star in the center of her chestplate. She held Starfall in its dormant state in a field of lilac magic, her eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

“That.” I said, pointing a hoof to my sword. “Belongs to me.” My injured leg wouldn’t stop quivering and the gash above my eye had reopened.

“Then come and get it.” She challenged, spinning the sword lazily in her grasp. Anger filled my mind as I tried to wrench it from her grasp. The sword, possibly resonating with my magic, started to glow like it had done in Project Outlast. We battled telekinetically for a short while but my strength waned and my spell failed. The mare lifted the sword above her head and was about to bring it down on my head when the glow brightened and released a wave of pale energy. The blast knocked the mare to the floor and forced me to shield my eyes. When I opened them, Starfall was hovering in the air blade down before me.

My light is yours. No other’s

Smiling I took the handle in my mouth and watched as pale fire engulfed the silver blade, revealing its true form. However the mare was not as impressed by the display as I was, ignoring the transformation and batting the sword aside to get to me. It didn’t take much to dislodge the blade from my mouth and just like that I was on the defensive again. She wrapped her hooves around my barrel and shoved me down to my back, another feat that didn’t take much effort thanks to my wounded leg. Once I was down she released her hold on me and began driving her hooves into my ribs, excruciatingly reminding me how hurt I really was. The familiar tang of iron graced my tongue as well as my eye and that gave me an idea. Taking the next few hits, I waited for her to reposition herself and in that second when she did I sat up and spit a mouthful of blood into her face. Her hooves snapped to her eyes to wipe away the offending liquid which allowed me time will Starfall to me through her back. She cried out as the point of the blade pierced through the gold star on her chest. Her cries became choked with blood and twin rivers streamed from the corners of her mouth. Yet she did not fall. Instead, she grit her teeth and drew a small sidearm from a holster on her foreleg. It shook in her teeth but she didn’t have to be a crack shot to hit me from where she was. With an effort she pointed it to my face and I had nothing left to defend myself. I was about to try something desperate when, with a cry of determination, the blade of Starfall punched the rest of the way through her chest. Her gun fell from her mouth as she was lifted into the air by the sword. Standing behind her was Pumpkin, her magic gripped on the handle of Starfall, her expression a mix of resolve and fear. Then, once I was safe, she unceremoniously dropped the body, sword and all, to the floor.

“I-I-I had to.” She stammered, holding out her trembling hooves as if she were inspecting them. “She was g-g-going to- I-I couldn’t let-”

“It’s alright.” Sunny said, approaching her from my direction. “You did the right thing.” Sunny placed a hoof on her shoulder which was promptly shaken off.

“No I d-didn’t.” Pumpkin protested, twin sparkles at the corners of her eyes. “Killing shouldn’t ever be right.”

“On that we agree.” Sunny said, turning her back on Pumpkin to help me up.

“Momma!” Ollie yelled again, darting past us to where her mother was hanging. She futilely jumped a few times as if she might reach her before she stopped and gave us an imploring look. “Help her!”

The Overmare hung there limp and hadn’t moved or reacted since the skirmish began. Pumpkin carefully unwound the chains that bound her and slowly lowered her to the floor. Once she was free and in our care, we were able to see the slight but steady rising and falling of her chest.

“Momma! Momma it’s me.” Ollie spoke quickly and anxiously. “It’s Ollie. I’m here.”

“I…know you are sweet…pea.” The Overmare said weakly. “Thank you.” She was barely able to crack an eye open and look at us. Goddesses how long had she been hanging there?

“Where’s Crush?” I asked, searching for his body near where I’d seen him last.

“He escaped.” The pony in the high cell answered, looking up at the air duct he used to escape and the sizeable scorch mark that surrounded it. “However, not unscathed.” The stallion had blue fur and grey mane, his eyes were red or close to it and his cutie mark was…gone.

“Who are you?” I already knew the short answer but wanted to hear more from the source. He seemed to hesitate for a second, a brief lapse in his calm expression.

“…The ponies here call me Subject 87.”

“No, what is your name.” I tried again, a bit more directly.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” He said, genuinely confused.

“What were you called before you were contained here?”

“Subject 87 is what I’ve always been called.”

“You’re wasting your time.” The Overmare said. She managed the strength to sit up which allowed us to see that the bones in both her hind legs were broken in at least two places each. “Whoever he was two hundred years was wiped away by the experiments.”

“Is that how long I’ve been here? I imagine that makes me quite old by your standards.” He said, looking to me for confirmation.

“Very.” I said with a nod of the head. “How is he that old?” I directed my question to the Overmare.

“We don’t know. One of my predecessors ordered all experimentation cease and we never learned what happened.”

“What is the EEP?”

“The evolutionary experimentation program.” 87 answered. “It was an attempt to study and possibly replicate my condition. Though since they were never able to determine what caused it in the first place it looked a lost cause to me, but the ponies here were…persistent to say the least.” He looked uncomfortable as his eyes passed over Ollie and the Overmare.

“What do you mean?” Pumpkin asked.

“That child there.” He said, pointing to Ollie. “Is one of my progenies. When the scientists failed to acquire anything useful from me they tried…a different approach.” His ears fell against his head and he averted his gaze. “The pegasus, Crush, determined that ponies of my bloodline would suit his research but I refused to do it again. From records he found here he was able to determine who amongst the Stable’s population were born from me before the experiments were ordered to cease. You two are the last of-”

87 was drowned out as a blast of static erupted from the Stable’s PA system and an alarm started blaring.

“Remote override accepted.” A robotic mare’s voice said through the speakers. “Warning: Spark generator overload initiated. Warning: Ten minutes until detonation. Warning: All personnel should evacuate to the minimum safe distance of-”

“No…NO!” The Overmare cried, her eyes going wide with fear. My own heart leapt into my throat; Crush was going to sacrifice the whole Stable to cover his escape. “You have to leave! Now!” She tapped at her PipBuck for a second and turned back to us. “I’ve given you my clearances. There’s a secret elevator hidden in the far wall; it’ll open when you get close.”

“What about you?” Pumpkin asked, fussing over her.

“I’m in no condition to move, I’ll only slow you down and you don’t have much time. Take Ollie and get her to safety, please.”

“NO! I won’t leave you Momma!” Ollie’s tears were flowing freely as she dove into her mother’s embrace.

“What about him?” Indra asked, nodding towards 87. He stood in the center of his cell; his expression still calm. I thought about a moment and reached a decision. Using my new Stable clearance, I released the locking mechanism on his cell.

“Thank you.” He said as he stepped out of the cell for the first time in decades. “By your leave.” He bowed his head and waited for our next move.

“Ollie, listen.” The Overmare said, reaching the end their conversation. “I’m so sorry, I had dreamt so much more for us. I tried; I really did.” Tears fell down her cheeks as she took in a shaky breath. “You have to leave…you have to let me go.” The Overmare’s voice cracked as her own eyes overflowed. She hugged Ollie for the last time and then quickly pushed her away and into my care.

“Can’t you teleport us out of here!?” Sunny yelled, jabbing a hoof at Pumpkin, the urgency in her tone making me jump.

“There’s no way I could get all of us that far! Not even close! Twilight herself couldn’t do it!” Pumpkin shouted back, brushing Sunny’s hoof away.

“That’s enough! We’ve got to go now!” I made sure Ollie was secure and looked back to the Overmare. “I’m sorry.” I said, turning my back and galloping towards the elevator. I felt tears sting in my eyes, the parallels of their relationship reminded me of mine with Aurora and seeing her parental sacrifice spoke her character to me in a way words never could. I would do everything I could to honor her request.

“Momma! Momma! Wait!” Ollie protested, looking at me with pleading eyes. “Please stop!” She was bawling now, her mane a mess as snot dribbled from her nose.

“I love you sweet pea.” The Overmare shouted. “Go live the best life you can…and don’t look back.” I could hear her begin to sob as the doors to the elevator opened and we darted inside.

“MOMMA!” Ollie reached a hoof out towards her mother before the doors closed in front of her and they never saw each other again in this life.

The elevator opened into a familiar corridor that would take us to the secret path under the Overmare’s desk that all Stables seemed to have. Once we were there, I moved to the Overmare’s terminal and used her clearance to access the Stable’s PA system.

“To anypony who can hear my voice, abandon the Stable immediately.” I noticed that my PipBuck began downloading something from the terminal but it was the least thing on my mind at that moment as I continued, remembering the state of the Stable’s inhabitants. “I order everypony listening to leave the Stable now and get as far away as you can.” That would have to be good enough, we didn’t have time to waste and we still had the Cathedral to navigate before we could get clear. My leg would slow us down considerably and I might as well have been blind in my left eye. The stairs down from the office led into the atrium, the bodies from before were lying where we left them and I spotted a few stable dwellers shambling towards the Stable door.

“Faster! As fast as you can!” I shouted at them as we blazed past them into the hallway. The alarms rang loud in my ears and the emergency lights had been deployed. From the atrium it was a pretty straight shot to the door but we were far from safe. As we passed the threshold of Stable 54 I skidded to a halt and looked around.

“Orchid! Where are you!? We have to go now!” I shouted, hoping that she was hiding nearby. “Don’t wait for me, just go!” I told the others as they began to slow.

“But-” Pumpkin started, but was silenced when I put Ollie on her back.

“Go now!” Her eyes were wide with fear but she nodded and turned away, galloping for the exit.

“What’s going on?” Orchid asked, dropping the hood of my cloak beside me a moment later.

“No time, this whole fucking place is gonna blow! Move!” I got behind her and shoved. Not waiting to see if she got the message, I kicked off my hooves and galloped for all I was worth, careful of my leg as not to fall. I had no idea how much time had passed or how much we had left and that thought motivated me like nothing else.

“Be Strong!”
“Be Awesome!”

~Be swift~

The sound of hooves behind me made me glad but I didn’t dare look back at them. Ignoring the path we came in through I gave my legs everything I had, tried to ignore the pain and dove through the nearest window I saw. Jagged bits of glass bit into my flesh as my hind legs dragged over the sill but the adrenaline pumping through my system ensured I could keep moving. I hit the ground hard, landing on my left shoulder and ending up on my back.

“C’mon! Get up!” Orchid had followed me out the window and stopped to help me up. We were on the opposite side of the cathedral from where we came in but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting away and hoping that I’d saved a few lives in the process. We made it about a hundred yards when the ground began to tremble, shaking with enough force to trip me to the ground. I turned my head back towards the cathedral and watched as a great ball of fire burst forth from the ground and consumed it in its entirety with an earth splitting boom. The ground between us churned as the shockwave began to spread. I tried to stand, covering my eyes from the storm of stinging wind and dirt but barely made it to one hoof before I was caught by the blast and thrown. I tried to shield myself against the impact but failed to finish the spell before the ground rose up to meet me. The impact drove the air from my lungs along with a decent amount of blood. The stabbing pain from my insides reached a highpoint as I curled in on myself and didn’t move again until it was all over.

(Two years ago)

(Twenty-three months ago)

(Eighteen months ago)

(One year ago)

(Two months ago)

(Three weeks ago)

Footnote: Level up!
New Perk: Tough Hide (MAX rank) You have gained the final +3 to your damage threshold.
So…you ever gonna dodge any attacks or…?

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Five: Growing Will Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 19 Minutes