I opened my eyes in a dark unknown place. A lining of light in the shape of a door was the only thing visible. I wiped my eyes. They last thing I remember was stopping the Chimera and passing out. I felt drained, but I didn’t feel like staying still. I could still feel a small amount of the power surge I felt when I stopped the Chimera, but this time I felt different. I didn’t have the primal energy or the celestial warrior trance I had before. Instead, I was left with another kind of foreign strength.

I lifted myself from the bed I had been placed on and walked to the door. It was dark, so I had to trace my fingers across the door in order to find the handle. I opened the door and cautiously walked into a hallway.

The hallway was almost completely black with the exception of a single light hanging above me and a dim glow stemming out of cracks of a door on the end of the hall. I walked forward slowly so that I wouldn’t make too much noise. I stopped in front of the door and tried to listen for any noise, but I didn’t hear anything.

I opened the door slowly and walked in. At first I was blinded by the surrounding light, but my eyes adjusted quickly. The room was large and mostly empty. The ceiling was full of bright low-hanging lights that were still irritating my eyes. The wall farthest from me was fenced off from the rest of the room, but had a door on its left sides. There weren’t any lights above that part of the room, so I couldn’t tell if it was empty or not.

Discord and the Pyronock Jaden were sitting on some chairs in the middle of the room, while Octavia stood off to the other end of the room. They looked like they were in the middle of some conversation, but for some reason i couldn’t hear any of it. They stopped the moment they saw me. “Ah you’re up,” Discord said.

“Yeah,” I replied weakly. “Where’s Twilight?”

“Twilight’s getting some food,” Octavia replied.

“How did we get here?” I asked.

“Jaden helped us get back to Discord’s hideout.”

“You’re welcome,” Jaden said as he took a bow. I looked at Octavia in confusion.

“He helped us navigate around the Infernoland,” Octavia continued. “We avoid Pyronocks that way. Then, we carried you to Discord’s hideout, and now we’ve just been waiting for you to wake up.”

“How long have we been here?” I asked.

“About three days,” Octavia replied. “You’ve been out ever since you took out the Infernoland Chimera.”

“Oh,” was all I could say.

“That actually reminds me,” Octavia said casually, “can I talk to you in private?” Octavia gestured to the door I had just been in.

“Yeah,” I said. The two of us walked out of the room and into the dark hallway I had just gotten out of. Octavia flicked the light switch. The lights turned on. I could finally see where I had been. Octavia closed the door and sighed.

“What do you remember about your fight with the Chimera?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure if Octavia and Twilight had seen me in my celestial warrior trance, but I didn’t think that it was a good idea to tell them about it. The whole experience made me feel crazy. Every single one of my senses were tuned in the Chimera’s attacks. The actual power was great too. I had control over her abilities and was able to counter her at every moment of the fight. It also left me with something I didn’t want them to know is gave me. It made me feel like I needed to fight. It gave me a craving for more.

“I mean do you remember what you did or how you won?” Octavia asked.

“I don’t really remember,” I said nervously. I didn’t want anyone to think I was infected. I knew all too well that being infected would most likely mean my death in certain parts of the Black Plaguelands.

Octavia examined my face as if she was trying to see if I was lying or not. “Well let’s keep whatever you do remember between you, me, and Twilight,” Octavia said. “No one needs to know what happened. You’re not a danger to anyone, so we don’t need to get any unwanted attention.”

I looked at Octavia then nodded. I noticed her eyes hadn’t changed to the magma color the majority of the Pyronocks had. “Your eyes,” I said, “they’re still normal.”

“Jaden said that it would take a full day before becoming a Pyronock,” Octavia said. “I’m still not a Pyronock, and it’s been three days now.”

“So you’re not infected?” I asked.

“Discord said that the XXX Plague won’t bond to me,” Octavia said pensively. “He thinks I have some kind of natural immunity just because I’m a pony which combats the XXX Plague.”

I narrowed my eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder if Octavia’s immunity was one of the things Octavia was hiding from us. “So can he use you to find a cure?” I finally asked.

“He doubts it,” Octavia answered. “He doesn’t any of the resources needed to complete a project like that.”

“Does he know about my fight with the Chimera?” I asked.

“No,” Octavia answered. “He’s somewhat in the dark about it.”

“That’s a surprise. I figured he would’ve watched it on one of his cameras.”

“What?” Octavia asked. “He has cameras around?”

“I think,” I replied. “It’s just weird how often Discord knows where we are. It’s like he has cameras all over the place, but I don’t know for sure.” Octavia looked away pensively. “So what’s the plan?”

“Jaden is going back into the Infernoland, and Discord is just going to stay here and do whatever he can to help us.”

“What about us?”

“You and I will wait for Twilight.” Octavia’s voice became serious. “As soon as she gets here, the three of us will be checking out another outpost.”

“Why? What happened?” Knock-Knock. We turned to the sudden knocking. Octavia walked to the door we had come from and opened it enough so that she could see the person on the other side. She waited a few seconds before she opened the door completely. Octavia stepped aside and allowed Twilight to walk in. Octavia poked her head outside the door, looked around, and then she closed the door again.

“Hey there Sunset,” Twilight said in a more friendly tone, “it’s good to see you awake again.” She turned to Octavia. “So,” she said casually, “does she know what we’re gonna do?”

“Yeah,” Octavia replied, “but I haven’t told her why yet.” Octavia’s face hardened as she looked at me. “One of Vinyl’s officers was circling the Infernoland to try to contact us.”

“And to see if we’re still alive,” Twilight interrupted.

“Anyway,” Octavia said without acknowledging Twilight. “She told us that they lost contact with one of the outposts.”

“Which one?” I asked.

Octavia and Twilight exchanged looks. Octavia turned back to me, but avoided eye contact and her ears drooped down. “It’s the Canterlot high school,” Octavia said somewhat strained. “The one Applejack was in.”

“What?!” I asked on the border of sheer panic. “How the hell did you let that happen? We need to make sure they’re not hurt.”

“Okay,” responded Twilight, “but how are we suppose to fight our way out of the Infernoland and back on to the main road?”

“I think I can take care of that,” Octavia said as casually as ever. “I’ll be right back.” She walked to the door and opened it. She turned back to Twilight and me. “Twilight, get Sunset something to eat. It’s been three days since she’s eaten.” She took a pause. “And don’t worry about Applejack. She’s a tough girl,” she said reassuring us, and for a brief moment, I was sure she was reassuring herself as well. She started walking again and exited the room.

I closed the door behind me and began walking back to Discord. I would have to work out some arrangement with Jaden later, but for now I needed to talk to Discord. I knew that he had a safe path throughout the city. With his help, I would be able to finish my task quicker.

I hated having to look for someone like this Gloriosa character. I hated trying to get her attention by having Sunset kill the Chimeras, but it needed to be done. I didn’t know who she was at the time we met and Sunset had paid the price for it, but this time I had a trump card. Sunset would make extracting information from her very easy. I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of having the edge on Gloriosa; she deserved whatever punishment Sunset had planned for her, but in the end, I would be the one who advances from it all.

My thoughts shifted and an image of Applejack blossomed in my mind. I sighed. I also hated the fact that so many humans were caught up in all of this, especially people as good as Applejack. ”I already let someone I cared for get hurt," I thought to myself, "it’ll be a cold day in Tartarus when I let it happen again.”

I slowly walked into the room. I passed Jaden and walked towards Discord. I looked at Jaden. “Hey, can you give us a few minutes?” I said. “I need to talk to Discord.”

“Well what am I supposed to do?” Jaden said in an annoyed voice.

“Go get something to eat with Sunset and Twilight,” I responded.

He smiled. “Great idea,” he said cheerfully. I waited until he flew out of the room, and out of sight before I started talking to Discord.

“We need to leave,” I said.

“Well,” Discord said, “I suppose that it would be for the best. After all, you still need to look for whoever it is your looking for.”

“Yeah you’re right,” I said, “but the thing is, it’s dangerous out there especially now that the Chimera is gone. There’s no order. It’s just nothing but pure chaos.”

“And you want me to— give you something to blend in?” he asked.

“No,” I replied. “I want you to show me your way around the town.”

Discord was taken aback by my question. “What are you talking about?” he asked with a little uneasiness in his voice.

“I found something of yours when Twilight and I brought Sunset in.” I pulled out a map from my back pocket and showed to Discord. “This are all your safe house locations aren’t they?”

“So?” he asked.

“They’re all lined up with some of the Canterlot’s underground tunnels. Tunnels we can use to travel the Black Plaguelands. The ones the Umbrella Yutani Corporation uses. The exact same corporation you worked for.”

Discord stayed quiet. I crossed my arms and waited for a response.

I continued. “You’re entitled to your secrets Discord, but if you have something that can helpful, you should know better than to keep it from us.”

“Why do you assume that I travel between my safe houses?” he responded with an edge in his voice. “Why do you think I have something to hide?”

“Drop the act Discord,” I said beyond annoyed. “I read files on you. We both have secrets sure, but we shouldn’t hide them from each other. That will hinder both of our agendas.”

“My job is to stop the X.X.X. Plague and save everyone that’s left. Don’t make it sound like I want anything more than that.” Discord composed himself. “Where the hell did you get those files on me anyway?”

“You’ll know in time.” The truth was I wasn’t even sure. “But the same source informed me about the X.X.X. Plague.” I saw Discord’s eyes widen. I smiled and continued, “And more importantly, I know the X.X.X. Plague’s source.”

“Really?” Discord asked not even trying to hide his interest. “The files you read talked about the source? Gloriosa didn’t even let me know about it. How did you find it?”

“It’s my job to find information,” I said nonchalantly, “and we could help each other out here.”

“You know my agenda, what’s yours?”

“I want to know why my part in all this is. I’m involved somehow and I want to know how.”

Discord walked to the other side of the room deep in thought. “Fine,” he finally said. “I will give you help if you give me the information you gain from your travels. Is that a deal?” I nodded. “Excellent. I do have a method of travel, but it’s very limited.”

“I know,” I said. “There are tunnels linking each of your safe houses, but you only have four of them.”

Discord smiled. “You have almost everything right,” he said smugly, “but not quite everything.”

“Enlighten me,” I said. “Where’s the tunnel entrance here?”

“Its in my room’s closet. Following the tunnel will take you to my primary safe house, but that’s the only place you can travel to.”

“What about the other safe houses?” I asked. “I thought they were all connected.”

“They are, but the tunnels closed themselves as a precaution against the outbreak. Each tunnel must be opened from the safe house it’s connected to.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “The center safe house is in the sparkle zone near the police station, and that’s where I want to go. Make sure the tunnel is ready for when Sunset, Twilight, and I leave.”

“I’ll change the tunnel’s locking systems so that it will be able to stay open from both sides after you reach the tunnel you want to use.”

“That’s perfect,” I said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to make sure Sunset is ready.” I began walking back to the hallway to join Sunset and Twilight before we set off back to the police station.

“Wait,” Discord suddenly called. “So what do you know about the source?”

I smiled and turned back to him. “Sorry Discord, but that information is the only leverage I have right now.” I turned back to the hall and continued walking. “I just need to make sure I’ll gain the information I need first,” I said to myself once I was out of earshot. I continued walking until I reached the kitchen door. I opened it and went inside.

“Hey Octy,” Twilight greeted. “Did you get what you wanted from Discord?”

“Yeah,”I said. “He gave me a quick and safe way between his safe houses. They’re all connected by a tunnel system that should be able to take us to the police station.”

“Is there a way to the outpost we’re supposed to check out?” Sunset asked.

“No,” I responded, “but there’s a safe house out there we can use to get back to main one. It’s going to make traveling a lot safer and easier.”

“So we can use it to restock supplies and then we just take a car to CHS?” Twilight asked.

“That’s right,” I answered.

“What are we waiting for then?” Sunset said anxiously as she grabbed the supply bag Twilight had left in the corner of the room. “Let’s get moving.”

“Wait a little,” I said. “Discord still needs to get everything ready. It won’t take long.” I walked to a chair next to the table Twilight and Sunset were seated at and sat down. I could see that Sunset didn’t like my response. “There’s Nothing we can do to make this faster, so just try to relax.”

Sunset exhaled loudly. “I guess you’re right,” she said halfheartedly, and then exhaled loudly again.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “There at least veteran cops in that place. I’m sure that everyone there is safe, including Applejack. And besides, it’ll only take a few seconds.” Sunset nodded. Discord came rushing in the room with a bag in his hand.

“Are you all ready to leave?” he asked. We all nodded. “Good the tunnel is ready for all of you now. As for you,” he turned to Jaden, “may I examine you and your Plague for a bit longer?”

Jaden looked taken aback by the question, but he smiled. “Sure,” he said. “It’s nice talking to someone who isn’t a robot for a change, especially now that all of the robots are broken."

“Thanks for everything,” I said to both Discord and Jaden. They nodded. We went into Discord’s room. I noticed the carpet in Discord’s closet was ripped out. I saw the hole leading to the tunnels within it. I began climbing down the bars into the tunnels. In a few seconds I would be back in the dark underbelly of Canterlot, but I knew it was a safer path than before. At least, I hoped it would be.

Dr. Gloriosa Daisy had been in her lab for days studying the corrupted monsters she had contained. She took a moment away from her test subjects and virus samples to observe the evolution of the X.X.X. Plague outside her complex. She had been surprised to hear that one of the Chimeras had been neutralized by some unknown group of people and some anthro pony. Dr. Gloriosa had the pleasure of meeting the Infernoland Chimera briefly before her assassination. The Chimera was taken out right as Gloriosa had convinced her to expand her territory and infect more people.

Dr. Gloriosa was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice her visitor until she was right in front of her. “Hello Gloriosa,” the female voice breathed out, “it’s been far too long.”

She quickly turned around with her hands clenched and ready to punch whoever was behind her. She froze in place once she realized who it was. “Oh Krystrus,” she said timidly, “I’m sorry ma’am; I didn’t know it was you.”

“What progress have you made on your little experiments?” Krystrus asked.

Dr. Gloriosa looked at the woman in front of her. She was wearing a black leather jacket with matching leather pants and black high heels. She had long braided black hair with blue and purple stripes. Her eyes were covered with her sunglasses. She was taller than Gloriosa was, and though she was slightly physically weaker than her, Gloriosa knew that trying to kill her would almost instantly lead her to her death. “I do have some progress to report.”

“Well then,” Krystrus said as she sat down in the seat adjacent to Gloriosa’s seat, “show me your progress.”

“Of course,” Gloriosa said trying to sound apathetic. Gloriosa didn’t have any problems with most of her three superiors because she knew that most of them couldn’t touch her. She was too valuable an asset for everyone, with the unfortunate exception of the woman sitting in front of her.

“Let’s begin on the X.X.X. Plague’s effect on its host,” Krystrus suggested.

“The effects vary between hosts,” Gloriosa explained. “There are certain obvious factors like genetics and health that play heavily on the X.X.X. Plague’s influences on the host, but surprisingly, state of mind and self-worth seem to play just as an important part as well.”

“So your feelings affect the X.X.X. Plague?” Krystrus asked sarcastically.

“Let’s take a look at one of my test subjects,” Gloriosa walked towards one of the many containment rooms she had in her lab. There were up to a hundred containers in total. They each had one of the test subjects Gloriosa had collected throughout the Black Plaguelands. Each room had a glass cover as a fourth wall so that Gloriosa could easily see her subjects. She stood outside a room with a sign labeled MLP-624 and pointed towards the subject inside.

Krystrus then rose from her seat and walked towards Gloriosa. She peered into the containment room in moderate disgust. The current test subject inside the room looked more than dead. His body was deteriorating. What did remain didn’t seem strong or even stable, especially when she knew he might try to make himself explode. His head was partially damaged and his head was severely tilted back so that neither Gloriosa nor Krystrus could see his face.

“His genetics and health should have caused him to become one of the generic creatures,” Gloriosa stated, “but he wasn’t emotionally stable. He was completely broken when I found him. He was just waiting near a corpse of a woman. Holding its hand, waiting for the X.X.X. Plague to revive it. When the body reanimated, MLP-624 just allowed it to bite him. He wanted to kill him, but I took him so that I could observe the effects of the X.X.X. Plague.”

“So the effect is fueled by a subject’s current mental state?” Krystrus asked.

“That is correct,” Gloriosa replied.

“Do you have any other test subjects that show the opposite effect? A subject that became stronger?”

“Of course,” Gloriosa replied. She walked to another container with a sign labeled MLP-632 above it. Krystrus walked close behind Gloriosa. She pointed towards the subject inside. This subject looked normal. The test subject was a woman in her middle twenties. She didn’t have any outward mutation or any apparent corrupted related deformities. She had her head down as if she was asleep.

“She’s infected by the X.X.X. Plague?” Krystrus asked skeptically. “She doesn’t look strong enough to handle it.”

“I’ll show you,” Gloriosa said calmly. She tapped on the glass wall separating the corrupted human from Gloriosa and Krystrus. Krystrus leaned closer to the glass to see how the subject would react. Gloriosa tapped on the glass wall again. The test subject lifted her head and eyed the two people watching her outside her room. Her eyes were a glowing mix of colors people would see in fires. The red, and orange in her eyes were swirling and twisting as she looked at them.

Her arms burst into flames as she sprinted towards the glass wall. She savagely beat the wall in trying to attack Gloriosa or Krystrus. “I’ll burn this place to the ground you fucking bitch!” she yelled to Gloriosa.

Krystrus gazed at the subject at the test subject. “Does she retain her intelligence too?” she asked.

Yes,” Gloriosa said.

“So her state of mind caused her to evolve?” Krystrus said as more of a statement rather than a question. “Is this everything you found?”

“Not even close,” Gloriosa said proudly. “Follow me.” She lead her visitor to a table that displayed a hologram of Canterlot. “This was the city before the outbreak.” Canterlot looked normal. It’s industrial side, commercial side, residential side, and richer side all seemed to be clean and intact. It was healthier than Gloriosa could have ever remember. She had forgotten how beautiful her home city was.

“It’s cleaner than most cities,” Krystrus said. “It’s almost a shame.”

“Indeed,” Gloriosa said with a little regret in her voice.” Now look at it ten days after the first large scale outbreak.” The hologram updated itself to looked like the Plague ridden city Gloriosa last saw. Canterlot now had areas filled with debris and other clusters of junk. There were areas of fire, and areas that still seemed slightly clean. Many streets had barricades and other forms of defense against the X.X.X. Plague.

“And this,” Gloriosa said with a little pride in her voice, “is the current state of Canterlot.” The hologram updated itself once again. Krystrus gazed in amazement. The city was now divided into various territories. Each of the territories had their own unique features.

“What is this?” Krystrus asked not trying to hide her astonishment.

“This is what I call the Black Plaguelands,” Gloriosa said proudly. “The Black Plaguelands is made out of controlled territories.”

“Controlled territories?”

“The Infernobraze,” she said as she gestured towards a section of the land that was partially on fire. The fire stopped in unusual locations around the Infernoland giving it the appearance of a border. “The Frostfalls.” She moved her hand and pointed towards a more suburban side of Canterlot completely covered in snow. There were parts of that section that were completely frozen off creating another border like appearance. “The Electric Fields.” She motioned towards the richer section of Canterlot that was covered in clouds. It was difficult to see anything in that area. “The Psychological Industrial Complex.” She motioned towards the industrial side of Canterlot. It didn’t look very different from the hologram’s rendering of that part of the city. “And everything in between is known as the inner Black Plagueland.”

Krystrus paused for a moment. She turned towards the subject. “I’m gonna take a guess in saying that she’s from the Infernoland?” she asked.

“Yes,” Gloriosa responded.

“So the population of the Infernoland consists of people like her?”

“That isn’t all that resides in each Black Plagueland. Each territory has a leader. Discord Hammond calls them Chimeras. They are the first of their line and seemingly the strongest. Each of the Black Plaguelands has one with the exception of the inner Plagueland. There are currently three active Chimeras that we know of.”

“What happened to the fourth?”

“She was incapacitated,” Gloriosa said, “but nothing more is known about it.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Everything else will be in my report.” Gloriosa answered.

“Good, but I think I’ll stay here for a little while to make sure everything goes well. This event is a researcher’s dream. We can learn all we need to know about the X.X.X. Plague here. We’ll keep your findings between the two of us. There’s no need for our benefactors to have all the information now is there.” Gloriosa nodded. “By the way,” she said. “Where’s Discord?”

Gloriosa hesitated. She had completely lost Discord’s location and wasn’t looking forward to letting her guest know that.

“I’ve searched Discord’s house, but I didn’t find anything. Not even some of the research he was working on.”

“That truly is quite a shame,” Krystrus said with disappointment in her voice, “but at least you’re still alive.”

“I will continue with my experiments until I yield the results I need,” Gloriosa said.

“Good, but we need to gain all of the information we can before we start the real experiments.”

“What experiments do you have in mind?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Krystrus said ominously. “I think I should take a little trip around town and see all the sights. But before I go, tell me more about this incapacitated Chimera.”

It didn’t take long for Octavia, Twilight, and I to travel to Discord’s main safe house. The tunnels felt much safer than the sewers ever did. Discord’s main safe house was in a building in the same block the police station was located. I ran to the police station as fast as I could. Octavia and Twilight followed close behind. Twilight was carrying the supply bag again.

We reached the police station’s outer gate. It was locked. Octavia reached in her pocket and retrieved a key ring with a single key on it. She used it to unlock the gate.

I looked around and saw that the street was empty. As I inspected the empty streets, my mind began to wander on my trip through the Infernoland. I was still uneasy by how Octavia was acting. I was sure that she had something she was hiding and I began to feel like Discord knew something about it. Octavia’s private talk with Discord only fueled my suspicions.

“Hey Sunset,” Twilight called, “you coming or not?” Twilight gestured to the opened gate.

“Yeah,” I said half distracted. “I’m coming.” I turned back to Twilight and Octavia, Octavia was already knocking on the door, while Twilight was just waiting for me. I took this time to share my suspicions. “Hey Twilight,” I said in a low voice so that Octavia couldn’t overhear us. “Do you think we can trust Octavia?”

“Of course,” she replied somewhat surprised. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I just don’t think she’s being one hundred percent honest with us.”

“What makes you say that?”

“She sounds like she has knowledge and training about this stuff.”

“Well Octavia and I have traveled around the Black Plaguelands; we both have a good amount of knowledge. And as far as training goes, she’s a cop; she must have a good amount of training under her belt.”

“But don’t you think there’s still something she’s hiding?”

“Maybe,” Twilight responded, “but I think she cares about us. I’m sure whatever she’s hiding isn’t important enough to stop trusting her.

“I guess,” I responded halfheartedly, “but let’s keep an eye on her just in case.”

Twilight looked at me and sighed. “She doesn’t deserve this, but fine,” she said reluctantly.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Hey, what’re you two waiting for?” Octavia asked. “Are you coming or what?” I glanced at Twilight. The three of us walked through the door. A single guard protected it.

“Hey Twilight,” the guard said. “It’s nice to see you in one piece.”

“You too,” Twilight responded. “So where’s Vinyl?”

“She’s upstairs waiting for any sign of you guys,” he replied. “I’ll tell her your back.” The guard walked the three of us back into the room full of desks. Octavia walked to the desk I had found her before and sat down.

“It’s good to be back,” Octavia said. “So where’s Vinyl?”

“She’ll be here soon,” he answered. He grabbed a bag of chips that was lying on the table closest to the door and walked out of the room. I walked to the desk Octavia was resting on and waited for Vinyl to arrive.

“Why are we waiting for Vinyl anyway?” I asked.

“She’s going to give us details on the trip,” Octavia said. “We should probably figure out who’s going to go, and who’s going to stay.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Aren’t the three of us going to go like last time?”

“Maybe,” Octavia responsed, “but we might need more people in case there are swarms or corrupted humans or other animals.”

“I guess that’s fine,” I didn’t like the idea of having a group of people watching me as I go into my celestial warrior trance, but I did like the possible help.

“Don’t worry, you’ll still be paired with one of us,” Octavia reassured me.

“What exactly makes you think I’m going?” I asked.

“You’re the strongest one out of the three of us,” Octavia said,” Octavia said. “Just keep yourself in check, and you’ll be fine.” I knew what she meant by “in check.” She didn’t want to let the others see my abilities either. Twilight didn’t seem to care as much as Octavia. It was as if Twilight didn’t even seem to know at all. “So who would you choose to go with you anyway?”

“I have no idea,” I said. I knew that the clear choice was Octavia. She was smart and knowledgeable about the XXX Plague. Above all, I didn’t want to see Twilight put in harm’s way.

“Hey, you guys are back,” Vinyl said as she walked in and gave Octavia a kiss on the lips. “So how did everything go?”

“We’ll tell you on the way to Canterlot High outpost,” I said statically. Octavia gestured to Vinyl as if to tell her that we were in a hurry.

“Okay,” she replied, “but you guys can’t all go. Some people from the other outpost have sent people too. We only have to send two.”

“That’s understandable darling,” Octavia said. “Sunset should go for sure, but as for her partner…” she trailed off probably hoping someone else would be chosen.

“I think you should come,” I said to Octavia. “You know how to navigate around Canterlot, and I need that.” Despite my feelings towards Octavia, I wanted her to come with me. She had yet to let me down after all.

“Aright then,” Vinyl said. “Your car’s already prepped to go.” She handed a file to Octavia and then left the room.

“Twilight,” Octavia said, “put some supplies in the supply bag for Sunset and me.” She turned to leave. “Let’s go wait outside,” Octavia walked out of the room, and I quickly followed. We walked to the front of the police station in silence. When we reached the gate, the car Vinyl mentioned was already waiting. Octavia went to the door on the driver’s side and entered. I entered the passenger’s seat next to her. Together, we waited for Twilight.

“She’s taking her time,” I said annoyed.

“Tell me about it,” Octavia agreed, “but she’ll get here.” Twilight ran out when Octavia finished her sentence. “See? She’s right on schedule.”

Twilight ran to the car, handed me the bag, and ran back. “Good luck ladies!” we heard her shout as she ran back.

“What’s up with her?” I asked Octavia. She shrugged and began to drive forward. She must have been given something better to do by Vinyl. “You know where we need to go?”

“I do,” Octavia said nonchalantly. We were going through the sparkle zone path Applejack, Octavia, and I traveled through the first time we went out on our first mission. Octavia was driving faster than before. It almost looked like she could sense my urgency. “Don’t worry she’ll be fine.”

“I know,” I said trying to sound confident. We continued driving in silence until we reached Canterlot High. “Where is everyone?” I asked Octavia.

“Probably still coming,” she replied. “We must be the first ones to arrive.”

“We should explore,” I said. Octavia stayed quiet for a moment. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She shook her head. “It’ll be quick.”

Octavia opened her eye. “You can explore while I wait here for back up. You’re strong enough to handle yourself, and if the need comes, you can use your...” Octavia hesitated for a moment. “Let’s call them magical talents.”

“Alright,” I said, “but be careful.”

“You too,” she responded. I exited the car and began walking towards the high school. It was a two story building made out or almost entirely yellow and gold bricks. It had many other smaller buildings behind the main building and a large Wondercolt statue with a large red fence entrapping everything. This was the high school I had gon to when I was younger. I sighed and walked forward.

I threw a glance at Octavia before I entered. She was watching me intently with a radio in one hand and her magnum in the other. I turned back to the school and walked forward. The gate was opened. I walked to the front building’s main door. I reached for the doorknob, but realized that someone had shot the lock on the door. “That’s not good,” I whispered to myself as I quickly retrieved my berettas from my pockets and slowly opened the door.

The first room I came across was Principal Celestia’s office. It was empty. I stood still trying to hear any noise or feel any movement, but I didn’t feel anything. I walked to the backdoor, but before I could enter, I heard the sound of someone moving. It was subtle at first, but I was sure there was someone in the next room. I opened the door and walked in. It was just as empty as the front.

I stopped moving again. I could hear someone breathing hard. “Hello?” I asked. “Is there anyone here?” I could hear the breathing try to steady itself, but it was still too fast to miss. “I know there’s someone in there.” The breathing quickened as if the person breathing was on the verge of panic. “It’s alright I’m not here to hurt you.”

I followed the sound of breathing outside another office. The office was small and looked like it belonged to Vice Principal Luna. The breathing started to slow down again and in a matter of seconds, it was smooth and controlled. I slowly opened the door and walked in. I wasn’t able to see anyone, but I could hear the person. I walked to the other side of a desk that was facing the door and found the person making the noise.

She was a girl who looked no older than seventeen. She had red hair and green eyes. She ran for the door the moment those green eyes looked at me. I caught her before she could escape the room.

“Let me go!” she yelled.

“It’s alright,” I said trying to calm her down. “Follow me.” I held her hand and escorted her out of the building. She didn’t resist. She was too afraid to react. We walked back to the front gate. I immediately noticed that there were four more police cars now. One of the cars had people inside. They rushed out at the sight of us.

“Are you two okay?” one of the cops asked.

“We’re Fine,” I replied. “Where’s Octavia?”

“She went out with the other three to explore the back.”

There were bodies everywhere and thankfully Applejack wasn’t among them. I examined,ost of them and came to the same conclusion for all of them. “These people weren’t killed by the X.X.X. Plague, they were killed by other people,” I said with a little sadness in my voice. “Demons weren’t even involved.”

“Dear God,” one of my reinforcements said. “You’re saying that other people did this?” I nodded. “That’s just beyond fucked up.”

“Is it really that much of a surprise?” I asked. “I mean everyone’s scared. The people who did this were probably fighting for their own outpost. Maybe they were low on food and decided to attack someone who had it.”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t justify an attack on an outpost that was completely peaceful,” he replies with an edge.

“You’re right,” I said as I finished examining a bullet wound from one of the bodies. “But that’s how they justify it. It’s a very sad thing, especially for the people who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I sighed. “Let’s go back to the front. There nothing more to see here.” The three of us walked out of the gymnasium and began walking back to the front of the building.

I wasn’t sure why anyone would want to attack an outpost, however I had a pretty good idea who was behind the attack. The only group I knew who would do something like this was rogue survivor group Sunset, Twilight, and I had seen in the Infernoland not so long ago. They were truly heartless towards their fellow man.

It didn’t take us long to reach our destination. Sunset seemed to be trying to comfort someone who survived the massacre, but it didn’t look like she was talking about what had happened. Sunset was starting to look frustrated. She looked towards us. The girl’s gaze turned to me. She burst to life and ran for me. At first I was taken aback by her sudden movement. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do until she finally did it. The sole survivor wrapped her arms around me as tightly as she could. I put my arms on her shoulders and tried to calm her down. Thank god you came,” she said. I could hear the fear in her voice. It took me a second, but I eventually recognized her.

“Babs Seed, right?” I asked. She lifted her tear filled face up to me and nodded. “What happened here?”

“They attacked us,” she sobbed. “These people who call themselves The Shadowbolt Clan, and they just attacked us. They tried to take our supplies, but we didn’t let them, so they attacked us.”

“Is there anyone else here”? I asked.

“No they killed almost everyone,” she replied, “and the people they didn’t kill, they took them away.”

“Where did they take them?” I asked a little more intensely than I wanted to.

“Back to their outpost in the snowy place.”

I sighed and looked away from Babs. “The Frostfalls,” I whispered to myself. I looked at her again. “Hey Babs, these people are here to help.” I pointed to the two people that had followed me through the school. “Stay with them and the rest of us will try and find the others. She looked at me intently and tightened her grip on me.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She let go of me and walked to the others. I walked back to Sunset.

“Why did she talk to you instead of anyone else?” she asked.

“I saw her when Applejack and I delivered supplies here and she’s also Applejack’s cousin,” I answered.

“Did you find Applejack?” Sunset asked half hopeful and half terrified.

“No,” I answered, “but Babs told me where we can find her if she’s still alright.”

“Where?”

“The Frostfalls,” I answered. “I’ll start the car while you tell everyone to follow me.” I walked to my car and got in the driver’s side. I quietly waited for Sunset to finish talking to the other people. I started the car as soon as she was done talking. She walked to the passenger’s side and got in the car.

“They’re ready,” Sunset said, “but they don’t like your plan.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. “We have to go if we want to save them.”

“I know, I’d do the same thing.”

“I know you would. Maybe we can kill the Chimera while we’re at it too. That would make things easier for everyone.”

“Yeah,” she replied, “but before that, I want some justice towards the rogues for what they did to the outpost.” I nodded. We traveled and passsed a few blocks until we arrived at the Frostfall’s barricade. Sunset exited our car as our back up did the same thing. I grabbed our supply bag and joined the others shortly afterwards. Babs stayed back in one of the cars.

Fourteen of us walked towards the barricade and stopped abou ten feet away. “So who’s staying behind?” one of the women asked. “Someone needs to take care of the girl.”

“You all decide who’s going with us,” Sunset said. “Octavia and I are not staying behind.” Sunset looked towards me for reassurance.

“She’s right,” I said. “The two of us will go one way and the other group will go another.”

“If you’re going to go you need something to keep in touch,” another woman said. “Take these.” She handed Sunset and me walkie-talkies. “They’ll cover the whole Frostfalls.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said. I waved to the others and began climbing the Frostfalls barricade. “Hey Tavi, why didn’t they try to stop us from coming alone?”

“Twilight probably told everyone about you,” I replied. We climbed to the very top of the barricade. Sunset looked back to the inner Black Plagueland and signaled for me to do the same. “You ready?” Sunset nodded. “Good. Now let’s go through the Frostfalls.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: The Winter Pilgrimage Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 47 Minutes