“I hate these ruins,” Slice said. “Any ruins. Ghosts.”

Nor shook his head in awe. “Manehatten is something, even with the ruins.”

Storm had been the mastermind behind this probe. They were going to scope out the Red Racer Factory, the entrances to each city and the random spot Shadow had marked on the map. It was on the way to the factory.

“We should hunker down,” Thunder advised. “It’s early, but I have a bad feeling.”

“There,” Storm pointed. “Third floor.”

They slipped into the building. To their luck, the stairs were out and they had to cautiously open the flaps hiding their wings so they could use them. It was easy to set up and they felt secure.

Thunder hushed them as a group of ponies moved below them. It was Raiders by the look of things.

“Good call,” Storm said to Thunder.

“Shadow,” Nor poked. “SHADOW!”

“Sorry,” Shadow shook his head.

“You are quiet and distracted and its unnerving. What is eating at you?”

“Nothing,” Shadow sighed. “It’s just, out on another mission, that is all. Tiring.”

Nor took first watch, Shadow second and Thunder third. Shadow didn’t sleep well through the third watch.

Shadow slipped over to Thunder, helmet off. Thunder removed his as well.

“What’s up?” Thunder whispered. “Something has grabbed you by the tail.”

“Baltimare went smoothly. Kifopiga was hell, but smooth. Sure, I took an real injury at Baltimare…”

“And Kifopiga,” Thunder said. “How is your leg?”

“Okay,” Shadow shrugged. “Still sore at times.”

“Yes, its been smooth-ish,” Thunder sighed. “But we can’t say that luck is against us. Or for us. Each mission is separate from the others. You can’t be concerned that something will happen because it hasn’t been happening.”

“Each mission brings it’s new elements and complications. None are alike. We can not say that because we handle a situation easily, that the next one will be a disaster.”

“Sorry,” Shadow sighed.

“It’s fine,” Thunder smiled. “You are our leader. We are here for you, to support you. But I am not envious of you. You have a lot to think about and balance. And have been doing an amazing job.”

The others woke up and they ate breakfast. It was back to cautiously pick their way through the ruins. It wasn’t long until they saw a Raider outpost. Dead ponies were stuck on spikes and hanging down, impaled on chain hooks.

“Is that a turret?” Storm asked.

It was. Second floor, knocked out wall. The turret was their 24/7 guard and in a prime spot to see not only them, but at least one other street.

“Are we going to go in?” Thunder asked everypony.

“I can put a bullet straight through it,” Shadow stated. “We stay hidden and if they make it to us, we jump them.”

Shadow slipped out to a good location. He was exposed and the turret noticed him. His rifle was the one that broke the silence and it was Shadow that won the duel. He was gone as fast as he had appeared.

The Raiders were scrambling to decipher where the shot had come from, without exposing themselves too much. They were beginning to hone in on their direction.

They were not the only ones awoken. Several ghouls rose up with their sloshing, gravely cry. The ghouls were crawling out of the rubble around them. Thunder called for laser rifles and they opened up on the ghouls.

Shadow cut two down, but one slammed into him. Another followed up and he was on the ground before he knew it. Shadow slashed the leg of one and then another. They were deep cuts, leaving their mark on the bone.

It gave Shadow the time to kick the third off with his leg, knife locked out to stab. There was a fourth that had joined. It came down to bite. Shadow would have none of it, slicing the neck open. He quickly reversed and brought the blade back to the fissure and opening it more with a reverse strike that cut to the bone and slipped in between the vertebrae.

The first two had recovered from the slashes, but were hit with a shot to the head. They landed on top of Shadow. Thunder pulled Shadow up, dumping their bodies onto the ground.

It was Nor who called for the charge and they dashed out of the rubble towards the Raiders. They may have been paying attention to the noise from the fight, but half of them juggled their weapons in fear. They were not ready for an aggressive charge.

The Inquisitors opened fire, taking down one or two and forcing the rest to duck. Shadow lined up to jump the wall while the others went for the opening in the wall. A Raider stood up, opening fire with his automatic rifle. Shadow launched at him, using his armor to compensate for the height of the wall.

The Raider’s combat armor stopped Shadow's knife, but being slammed but a pony charging at full speed in power armor was something it couldn’t stop. Shadow landed and the Raider was left skidding and bounding along the ground, broken.

Shadow was right where he needed to be. More of them were from coming out of the building where the turret had been. He killed two with his laser rife, one turning to ash as it burned. A grenade through the door finished the few afraid to exit.

More opened fire from inside a building’s first and second floor. They were piss pour shots. If they had stayed quiet, the Inquisitors never would have known they were there. Bloodthirsty Raiders on not, they were assaulting their home, protecting what was theirs. What they had taken from others to make theirs.

Thunder and Nor dashed into a building where fire was coming from while Storm and Slice took cover. Shadow dashed inside the building that the turret had been. He was on the second floor a second later and opened up with his Novasurge from his superior position.

The battle against the Raiders lasted longer than expected. Flushing them out of the buildings proved troublesome. The few left had barricaded themselves in and cut off Thunder and Nor in a well laid trap. They couldn’t avoid Thunder and Nor getting to shelter, but it created a troublesome shootout.

Without their wings, flanking was impossible. Storm and Slice had the solution, but it failed three times before they got it to work. Together, they were able to pull the pin on a regular grenade and toss it up the stairs, behind one of their positions.

They missed getting behind the second fortification, but it landed in front, blasting it apart. Thunder lazily picked the last of the Raiders off.

“Anything good?” Thunder asked.

Shadow tossed him the automatic rifle the Raider he had tackled was using. It was a piece of wood with copper piping and other soft metals. They had put together a mixed matched gun.

“No rifling,” Thunder stated. “But better than nothing. Ingenious for unskilled hooves.”

Thunder tossed aside the rifle.

“Nothing else form a quick look,” Shadow said. “Let’s move out.”

“Shadow, we are only a few blocks from your location,” Storm informed them.

They went back to carefully picking through the ruins. Storm stopped them twice to try and scavenge. Both times proved worthless.

They were not using a scout. It almost proved disastrous as they came right up on top of a settlement of sorts. They backed up and spread out to observe.

“This is larger than I want to hit,” Thunder stated. “We didn’t have a choice with the Raiders, but we have a choice now. This is exploratory.”

“We will just see if we can get some information on it,” Storm replied. “That is all.”

“I have a few ponies approaching from the north,” Slice announced. “Looks like traders.”

They waited on Slice to give them more information.

“Mark the location as Gutterville,” Slice finally told them. “That was the name I heard.”

“Then lets move out,” Storm ordered.

They began to slowly work their way towards their destination.

“There it is,” Storm pointed.

It was a crumbled building with little left except the steel frame. Shadow walked out into the open and over to it. He pulled out the small orb for reference and picked through the rubble. Slice and Storm were on watch so Thunder began to pull back larger pieces of rubble. They were making a lot of noise.

“Nothing here to even indicate even the building number,” Thunder stated. “We should move out.”

“It just appears to be an old apartment building,” Nor added.

“Shadow, I know you were expecting to find something important,” Thunder said.

“Wanting, not expecting,” Shadow corrected him. “This was found here. I was hoping for an answer as to what it is, that was all. What it is could prove to help us, or not. So, its not helping and yes, lets move out.”

“Red Racer Factor,” Storm said. “Lets find out what it is hiding.”

“Hiding?” Nor asked. “I don’t recall discussing it hiding anything.”

“Its a foal’s toy factory, in the middle of a big, horrible war when everything else was converted to production to make sure they stayed alive. Sure, some places didn’t convert, but I think it’s hiding something.”

They decided to make camp early. They found a spot looking over the factory’s entrance. There was a giant scooter that was suspended on the front of the building off the top. It’s color was long ago stripped away, but red lingered in places.

“Looks harmless enough,” Nor stated.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Storm chuckled.

“There is a good chance this might have what we need,” Storm added.

“On that,” Nor said flooding their coms with music.

Brass instruments dominated things, making you feel like swaying.

“DJ Pon3 hoping to change your mood with the Dill Sisters singing ‘In the Mood!”

Everything gave way to crystal clear voices ringing out. The voices were delicate but strong, making Shadow almost swoon.

Mr. What-ya-call-em what you doin' tonight

Hope you're in the mood because I'm feeling just right

How's about a corner with a table for two

Where the music's mellow in some gay rendezvous

There's no chance romancin' with a blue attitude

You got to do some dancin' to get in the mood

Sister What-ya-call-em that's a kindly idea

Something swing-a-dilla would be good to my ear

Ev'rypony must agree the dancin' has charm

When you have the certain one you love in your arms

Steppin' out with you will be a sweet interlude

A builder-up with that will put me in the mood

In the mood - that's it I got it

In the mood - your ear will spot it

In the mood - oh, what a hot hit

Be alive and get the jive

You've got to learn how

Hep, hep, hep - hep like a hepper

Pep, pep, pep - hot as a pepper

Step, step, step - step like a stepper

We're muggin' and huggin'

We're in the mood now

Mr. What-ya-call-em all you needed was fun

You can see the wonders that this evenin' has done

Your feet were so heavy 'til they hardly could move

Now they're light as feathers and you're right in the groove

You were only hungry for some musical food

You're positively, absolutely in the mood

Sister What-ya-call-em I'm indebted to you

It all goes to show what good influence can do

Never felt so happy and so fully alive

Seems that jammin' jumpin' is a powerful jive

Swingeroo is giving me a new attitude

My heart is full of rhythm and I'm in the mood

In the mood that's it 'cause I got it and I'm

In the mood your ear will spot it when you're

In the mood bobbity bop a diddly-bop-a-bop-a

Be alive and get the jive

You've got to learn how

Hep, hep, hep, you're hep like a hepper full of

Pep, pep, pep, you're hot as a pepper and you

Step, step, step, step step like a stepper

We're muggin' and now we're huggin'

'Cause we're in the mood

Nor cut the music off when the instruments brought the song home.

“It’s being bounced off the SPP towers,” Nor stated. “Perhaps their equipment can use them to overpower the clouds and direct a general distress message to the Enclave.”

“It would come over unsecured radio channels,” Storm warned. “And we have the time line that we are having to pay attention to.”

“And what if we are just being strung along?” Nor asked. “Has anypony else thought of that?”

Shadow shook his head. “I haven’t. But we could use a trip up, even if it means right back down. It would make us feel better. Calm us down.”

“What about quitting?” Thunder asked.

Shadow looked at them all for a while, thinking. He wanted out as much as they did.

“If we can and get recalled, we have to be committed to heading back down to finish what that assignment is. Then we can quit.”

They all agreed.

“What do you think the chance of it working is?” Shadow asked.

“Its got a good shot,” Storm said. “But things might take some time. We would have to take and hold the studio.”

“I am sure the three of you could figure it out,” Shadow replied.

“I don’t know the SPP towers,” Slice said. “I can’t do much. I wasn’t allowed to find out about them.”

“I really only know of them,” Nor added.

“This is all on me,” Storm agreed. “Its delicate. Making it past the clouds is the hardest thing. Period. Its either magical, technical, or both. Codes and encryptions. If it wasn’t for those, we could have contacted somepony by now. I am the only one with the technical knowledge to do it. That is my job.”

“Track it down,” Shadow ordered. “Then we will scope it out, head back, resupply and make a major assault on the place. We have to make sure we can take it and hold it long enough. We will probably have to make it through another two week checkpoint, but it is better than nothing.”

“Red Racer,” Storm stated. “Focus on that. Slice, you should have a field day in there. Shadow, take on the administrative section. Nor and Thunder, you have watch. I doubt we will end up being quiet.”

Watch was set and they let their minds and bodies rest.

When it came time for breakfast, they pulled their meals from Slice’s bags to give him more room. If they had to reshuffle things later, they could. But it gave them a better buffer.

They confidently moved into the factory. Shadow immediately moved behind the receptionist’s desk and began working on the terminal. It was easy to break through the safeguards, but all that was left was basic interoffice communication. Half of them were corrupted or irretrievable.

Shadow moved up the stairs. He found himself on the sale’s floor. Over a dozen desks and terminals were committed to sales. The terminals were all burned out or destroyed. Any papers found were sales. Shadow kept them with him, in case they were covering something with the sales receipts.

“Not much on my end,” Shadow informed them. “Sales receipts, that is all.”

Shadow found another room filled with desks and terminals. One was still online. It was their customer service room and another dead end.

Management had their offices on the third floor with their own receptionist. That terminal had a schedule for each manager. The CEO, Scootaloo, had multiple CMC meeting. Both in her office and elsewhere. The CEO was the most promising.

Shadow tried to pick the lock on the door but he only ended up breaking the mechanism. Shadow rolled his eyes in frustration and bucked the door. It proved a worthless choice. Shadow almost called Thunder up to blast open the door when he remembered his laser cutter. It took time and his hooves were not steady like Slice’s, but he cut the bolts and was able to force open the door with a screech.

“Just opening a door,” Shadow explained before anypony had time to freak out.

The office had an old scooter on display. It was broken from years of use. Above it was a framed red cloak with a blue badge of sorts, poorly stitched on. Behind the desk was a painting of three ponies. Yellow, white and orange. The orange one had wings and had to be Scootaloo.

It was a cloud terminal on the desk. The terminal was still working, but it had multiple layers of security. The first was easy to open, but only gave the calendar. It was the same as the one the receptionist had.

“How are you doing Shadow?” Storm asked.

“Hacking into the CEO’s terminal,” Shadow replied.

“Need help?”

“Not yet.”

Shadow got into the next level. This was sales and sales reports. Onto layer three. Shadow plugged in his suit’s hacking assistant, but even it was coming up with block after block. Shadow pulled it out and set his hooves to use. He stopped right before he locked himself out.

Storm came up and it wasn’t long before the last layer of security was down. He left Shadow alone. He was working on something with Storm.

SCHEDULE

SALES

SALES PROJECTIONS

CUSTOMER SERVICE

PROTOTYPES

CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ACTIVITIES

STABLE-TEC CONTRACT

SAFE UNLOCK

#$##%&*%^%#%&

The last one was corrupted. Shadow unlocked the safe first. He heard the click behind him. The painting was hiding it. Shadow opened the Cutie Mark Crusader Activities.

Carpenter Cutie Mark

Pet Finder Cutie Mark

Engineer Cutie Mark

Scientist Cutie Mark

Flying Cutie Mark

Inventing Cutie Mark

Terminal Technician Cutie Mark

Salespony Cutie Mark

GALLoPS Cutie Mark

Shadow was confused. Scootaloo was way to old to not have a Cutie Mark. He opened the Carpenter Cutie Mark File:

Today the CMC tried our hoof at carpentry. Hammers are hard to use and the wood unforgiving. After a day of splinters, still no Cutie Mark. Perhaps Concrete is better.

Shadow clicked back and tried the Pet Finder file.

Today the CMC tried to help Fluttershy find Angel. We searched all day and didn’t find him. He never answered our calls. Turns out he was playing hide and seek with us. No Pet Finder Cutie Mark.

Engineer Cutie Mark

Today the CMC learned about cogs and wheels. Along with other things like tensile strength of steel, aluminum, and other materials. Steel is promising and a cog is easy to move yet can provide a good seal. As fun as it was, no Engineer Cutie Mark.

Scientist Cutie Mark

Twilight Sparkle was kind enough to fit us into her busy schedule. We learned the whole scientific process from start to finish. State Problem > Formulate Hypothesis > Design Experiment > Collect Data > Analyze Data > Draw Conclusion. We can repeat it as many times as possible, changing what we need to in order to find the answer to our original question. We had been doing some of this research on our own. Now we can really do it.

Flying Cutie Mark

No.

Inventing Cutie Mark

We didn’t get our Cutie Marks in inventing but we did make some cool models.

Terminal Technician Cutie Mark

It has been a while since I wrote a Cutie Mark report. We may never get our Cutie Marks in being a terminal technician, but it was fun nonetheless. My coding skills have gotten better.

Salespony Cutie Mark

First Sale! It is happening! Of course, our Cutie Marks for being saleponies won’t happen.

GALLoPS

My time is better spent training for GALLoPS than these childish Cutie Mark attempts. I am not satisfied with my Cutie Mark at all. We never should have done it. The others don’t feel like I do about them. Too late now. But GALLoPS is worthy of my time.

Shadow had never heard of a Pony being dissatisfied with their Cutie Mark. That was the opposite of what a Cutie Mark was. They way the reports were written was odd. Shadow opened up the STABLE-TEC CONTRACT hoping it would lead to some answers.

C-Axel > 20,000

B-Cog > 15,000

G-Wheel > 50,000

G-Belt > 10,000

12-Cog > 120

12-Seal > 120

Desk Model 6 > 140

Shadow read the list off to Slice and Storm

“Interesting,” Slice replied. “It explains why some of these parts don’t fit together. They were being sold to Stable-Tec.”

“Anything promising?” Shadow asked.

“Nothing,” Slice sighed. “No evidence of anything dark or mysterious.”

“I have some cryptic entries, but nothing makes sense,” Shadow replied. “There is a set of files that seem to have been erased or damaged.”

“I’m coming up,” Storm stated. “I want to see these.”

Shadow got up and fully opened the safe. There was a very large stack of papers. Beside them was small statuette. The pile of papers were taller than the statuette. Shadow pulled the statuette out first.

There was no denying who it was. Rainbow Dash. The rainbow mane gave it away. Shadow had heard enough stories to know it was her as well. She was striking a power pose that went along with the words inscribed. “Be Awesome!” The thing was in perfect condition.

Shadow felt a wave of power come over him. It was more than just a statuette. There was magic involved. Powerful magic. Shadow slid it into his bags and pulled out the massive stack of papers.

Shadow sat down on the ancient couch to rifle through them. Storm came in and began to rake through the terminal. The first thing was the most current sales catalog. It was all toys. Toy after toy.

The next half was the major sales receipts. Large purchases.

Shadow looked at Storm. “Who needs 200,000 Size 10 wheels?”

“Size 10?” Storm asked looking up. “If sizes 1, 2 and 4 are any indicators, 10 would be almost the size of a pony. Great size to move artillery and large equipment.”

“So, that is promising,” Shadow mumbled. “But no shipping location. And this was a few days before the spells fell.”

Shadow kept moving through the papers. There were more large orders made soon before the spells dropped. No shipping location. That was already known.

“No idea what was going on,” Shadow said as he moved into much smaller orders.

Halfway through Shadow found a manufacture manifest. Every single thing they made was on this list. From the tiniest screw to wheels twice the average size pony.

“Lets ditch,” Storm suddenly said. “Nothing in here. It seems that the bottom section is destroyed.”

“You are probably right,” Shadow sighed.

He set aside the papers. “I just keep getting older and older but getting less and less information. This is all real sales and building a business.”

Shadow put the papers back in the safe and locked it. “In case we ever need to retrieve them.”

“Smart move,” Storm said. “I am locking this to our passwords.”

The building shuttered and groaned.

“Sorry,” Thunder said. “I found the mount for that giant scooter. And I touched it. Barely. Can I knock it off?”

“Sure,” Shadow chuckled. “Why the fuck not? Once we are done.”

“Bah, knock it off,” Slice said. He was frustrated. “I am done. This was a bust on all fronts.”

“Eh, I found a cool statuette,” Shadow said. “Of Rainbow Dash. But otherwise, no go.”

“Its early,” Storm said as he led Shadow out of the office. “We can make the outside of Tenpony Tower if we get moving.”

They waited outside of the factory. Thunder set explosives and came out. He calmly walked out as they went off and the scooter fell to the ground, narrowly missing him.

“Cocky,” Shadow laughed.

They all laughed. They needed a good laugh. It was back to being serious as they had to pay attention or die.

As the tower came into view among the ruins, Nor spoke up. “The radio station is being broadcasted from the top of it.”

“That is some good new,” Shadow said.

They halted as a growling howl took over the area.

“What else?” Thunder sighed.

“We have to, for safety,” Nor said moving off in the direction.

The noise made it easy to navigate and hone in it.

“There!” Thunder pointed.

“Manticore!” Nor yelled. “And that is a pony!”

It was a Manticore slowly advancing at a pony on the top of a building.

“Nor, with me!” Shadow ordered. “Others, watch!”

They made it to the top just in time. A single round was all Shadow needed to drop it, headless.

“HEY! I WAS WORKING WITH IT! YOU KILLED IT! YOU KILLED MY WORK!”

“Excuse me?” Shadow asked, projecting his voice. “It was going to kill you?”

“No! Don’t you see that neural headband? I was controlling it!”

The pony launched at him. Shadow shoved him back to the edge.

“Then you should probably do some more work on it,” Shadow replied. “Because that wasn’t control.”

“You don’t know what you are talking about!” The pony launched at him again.

Shadow rolled his eyes. He was done with this lunatic. Shadow picked him up and tossed him over the edge. Shadow watched him fall and slam into the ground. He rolled a bit after landing. He somehow survived, but he was soaking in a puddle of something that didn’t look healthy.

“Nice,” Slice chuckled. “Toss him off the building into radioactive sludge. Quantum harmonize his ass.”

“Do you think it could work?” Shadow asked Nor.

“Maybe, but it needs a better control factor. It shouldn’t be able to turn on the handler like that.”

Gunfire erupted below and Shadow dashed to the other side of the building. Several Manticores were attacking the group. They all had the band things on. Shadow opened up, taking one down. Thunder was easily keeping three at bay with little burns from his laser rifle. Nor gave him backup.

Slice and Storm were being forced back up by another. They poured lead into it’s chest. Shadow didn’t have a safe angle. The wall behind them crumbled. A large section fell on Slice, pinning his unconscious body. Storm turned to help him but never saw the paw swipe coming.

Storm was dragged into the building by a Manticore. Shadow fired a rocket through the opening and then risked the four story drop. He rolled and slammed into the ground. He couldn’t recover as he saw the beast drop Storm and advance.

Thunder had stopped any playing around and let lose every round in his GPER. Thunder knew Shadow was still alive so he scrambled into the building. Shadow saw him grind to a halt and just stare.

Nor was beside Shadow a few seconds later, helping him up. They hobbled over to Thunder. There was nothing to be done as they looked at Storm. Too much blood was gone. And that was ignoring the other injuries.

“Slice,” Nor whispered.

They backed away, unable to stop looking. Nor’s grunts pulled them out of the trance. Shadow was useless for lifting it, even with his armor, but he was able to slide under and drag Slice out when Thunder had the slab high enough.

“I’m okay,” Slice softly groaned. “I’ll live. Thank the stars for this armor. It saves us from everything.”

“Not everything,” Shadow gulped.

Slice tried to scramble up but his body gave out.

“Take it easy,” Shadow ordered. “Lets get your helmet off and a health potion down.”

“Same for you Shadow,” Nor stated. “A four story drop was stupid.”

They carefully took off Slice’s helmet. It was hard for Slice to swallow the potion.

“Put my helmet back on,” Slice coughed. “Then load me up with Med-X. I don’t want to, can’t let myself, feel anything.”

“We’ve got you,” Shadow smiled. “You are in safe hooves.”

“I’ll carry Slice,” Nor said. “I can give him the support he needs as we walk.”

“Fuck walking,” Shadow spat. “It’s time for wings. Non stop!”

“Right,” Thunder said. “Go! I will catch up. It won’t be hard. At all. Shadow is injured.”

Shadow’s wings popped the snaps on their wing covers and he flexed them.

“We have to go,” Shadow ordered. “NOW!”

Shadow launched straight up. He lost his vision as he opted for tears over screaming across their coms from the pain. He knew he was almost to the ground as he opened his wings. He circled up and around to cruise.

Shadow finally was able to see and he was further off course than he thought. He was behind them and saw Thunder take off with Storm secured on his back. Shadow scanned the area for more any dangers.

Nothing was wrong and nopony was there. Nopony. That crazy ‘scientist’ wasn’t in the puddle of sludge. He had crawled off to somewhere. Somehow.

“I’m cruising higher,” Shadow coughed. “The night is going to help hide us. Lets get clear of this city. Another place to hate. Just one to revere and one to like. The rest of this foul land can fucking burn.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 54 - Cherry Trees Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 6 Minutes