“Hellhounds, ferals, even bots. They don’t know what they’re doing. But Raiders, they choose to be this cruel.”

Injustice.

The wasteland is filled to the brim with Injustice. It takes and it corrupts, and more times than not, it takes and corrupts those that didn’t deserve it. Thousands died in the Balefire holocaust that tore down the world, many of which were little more than innocent victims trapped in a political struggle that had gone too far.

The ponies of Equestria had deserved better. The zebras of the zebra homelands had deserved better. Every other race that had been massacred in the necromantic fires, cognizant or not, had deserved better.

They didn’t get better. They had been slaughtered. For some the deaths were quick and painless, their small lives blinking out in a bang of glowing green fire. Others had died slowly. Some were still dying.

A bead of sweat dripped down my brow as I helped Xayah lower the bodies of Train Tracks and Rail into the grave we had dug for them. We hadn’t been able to dig a very deep grave, but it was the best we could give them with what we had.

I sat back and looked down at the two corpses. They, like many others, had deserved more than to slowly die in a dark hole in the ground, deprived of light and pony connection. I had wanted to bury them under the light of Celestia’s sun, but the Enclave had ensured that that wasn’t an option. Above ground was the best I could give.

As Xayah slowly started covering the bodies in dirt, I pushed the radio on my pipbuck, letting the sound of DJ Pon3’s tunes send them off to their final resting place. The song was slow and sad, filled with a painful melancholy. It fit the atmosphere appropriately.

Wiping the sweat from my head, I moved to help Xayah bury them faster. I could hear Xayah near silent grunts as we pushed all of the overturned earth back into place.

We both sat together in silence once we were done, looking over the two graves we had dug and remembering who lay beneath. Taking a deep breath, we picked ourselves up and headed back down the road to where the rest of our friends were scouting the areas ahead for dangers.

As we moved away, the song on my pipbuck came to a close and the voice of DJ Pon3 began playing out. “Hello Wasteland! How is everypony doin’?” DJ Pon3’s voice started. “I interrupt your regularly scheduled music with… dan na na! A bit of knews! Here it is…”

My ears perked up as I started to listen to his broadcast. It had been a few days since I had listened in and I was curious what was going on in the wasteland. It always seemed like something new and crazy was going on.

“First I’d like to put out a warning to anypony daring the Ponyville area, or Celestia forbid, the Everfree Forest,” The DJ continued. “Those Fires ponies have been seeing. That’s where they’re coming from. Fires, and lots and lots of slavers. Seems like Red Eye is up t’ something crazy out there. So if you find yourself nearby, either stay sharp, or stay clear.”

Beside me, Xayah grimace. “My family and I passed through the Everfree forest to avoid raiders when returning from New Appaloosa,” The zebra said grimly. “It would have been safer to deal with the raiders. Red Eye is a fool for doing anything out there.”

I thought about that for a second. “Red Eye is a lot of things,” I said finally, trying to put words to my scrambled thoughts. “But I don’t think a fool is one of them. If he's doing something, chances are he has a plan.”

Xayah nodded solemnly, not agreeing with or disagreeing with the statement.

“Now here’s something a little more local for all of you wasteland wanderers out in Manehattan,” DJ Pon3 continued, his voice lowering slightly. My listening intensified. “Do you all remember those Canterlot ghouls I mentioned traveling between the expanse between Filly and Manehattan? No? Well you better start remembering, cause they’re starting to gather in force around Fetlock. In particular, at the Ponypalooza Hotel.”

I froze. I had been aware that the Ponypalooza Hotel had been filled with ghouls, but now a bunch of Canterlot ghouls were coming to Manehattan and moving it? That, and Crank and the rest of the cyber ponies were going to meet their original client at the same hotel before they had decided to betray them for Kamari. There was no way this was just a coincidence.

“And there is one last thing, and this one is from my assistant Homage to that crazy and amazing Bringer of Light. She says,” DJ Pon3 paused as she started to wrap up her broadcast. I could hear the muffled sound of shuffling papers through the radio. “Well, she says, ‘next time let's try to get to 32’… What ever could that mean…? I have no idea. Anyway, this has been DJ Pon3. Keep fighting that good fight children! And now, some music...”

As music started to play out of my pipbuck again, I glanced over at Xayah. From her scrunched up muzzle, I could tell she was thinking many of the same thoughts.

“I suppose we’re probably going to need to stop by the Ponypalooza Hotel sometime soon, are we,” I grumbled. There was just no end to the amount of quests we had to go on, was there. Xayah just nodded glumbly. Still curious about the circumstances, I asked. “What exactly is a Canterlot ghoul by the way? Are they different from normal ghouls?”

Xayah cast me a glance. “Back in Glyphmark, we would get the occasional Canterlot ghoul that would stumble down from the mountain,” She explained. “Unlike most ghouls that were born from radiation, these ghouls originate from powerful necromantic magic. You cannot kill one unless you dismember or vaporise them with magical energy weapons.”

I groaned. “Great, more things that don't want to die like a normal thing. And now they’re in Manehattan,” I glanced up from my hooves to look at Xayah. “Glyphmark must be well defended if you need to constantly defend against those things.”

Xayah laughed. It wasn’t a happy laugh. “Glyphmark is far from protected Amber. Zebra’s do not get well fortified and thriving towns in Equestria like ponies do.”

I furrowed my brow. “What’s Glyphmark like then?”

“You were worried that your Stable might starve if you did not return the A.A.S.S.” Xayah started, her tone grim. “Back in Glyphmark, we fear that every day. But we do not have an A.A.S.S. to give us hope.”

We walked in silence after that, neither of us knowing what else to say.

A small flash of red brought my attention to my EFS. A couple red bars flickered into view on the edges of my compass, only to vanish from sight a second later. Pyre had been right; we were being followed.

A few minutes later we met back up with the rest of our friends. Brisk was quietly looting the body of a charred raider while Heartbeat tended to a small wound on Mirra’s shoulder. Pyre was nowhere to be seen.

Brisk glanced up at us as we approached, a grin across his face. “You guys missed all the action.”

I looked around at the five burning raider bodies on the ground. “It looks like it was less action and more Pyre doing what she does best,” I said, poking a body with my hoof. I don’t know why I was surprised that it was hot to the touch. “Besides, knowing us, there’ll be plenty of action before the day is through to participate in.”

Xayah glanced around. “Where is Pyre by the way?”

Mirra looked up from the bandage Heartbeat was placing over her shoulder. “She’s spreading the Raiders blood around. She said something about confusing Hellhounds noses.”

I winced. I knew exactly what she was doing. She was trying to lead Viscera and her Hellhound raiders away from us. As disgusting the idea of desecrating these ponies bodies was, I understood the necessity.

Heartbeat pulled himself back up and looked out across the street. “I do hope she doesn’t take long. I don't like sitting around in the open like this.”

I gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Pyre knows what she’s doing. Some of her tactics might be a little… uh… barbaric… but she knows how to survive in the wasteland. Probably better than any of us,” I saw Mirra give an approving nod at the statement.

“I’m guessing you successfully buried the bodies,” Brisk surmised, turning back to the raider bodies. He seemed to be having trouble finding anything of value. Most of the useful supplies they had had had been melted away by Pyre’s flamers.

Xayah gave a quick nod. “The grave was not as deep or ceremonies as it should have been, but the deed has been done.”

“Good, we should get moving then,” Pyre said from behind me. I jumped a little at her voice, not expecting her to be behind me. I turned my head to see Pyre approaching us from a side alley, her power armour soaked in raider blood. Almost out of instinct, Mirra fluttered over and perched atop her back. “The MWT hub is about a half hour walk from here still.”

I nodded and fell into step with Pyre as she started leading us in the supposed direction of the MWT hub. From my pipbuck map, we seemed to be going the right direction. I leaned in close to her. “You think you managed to lead the Hellhounds away from us?”

Pyre cast me a worried glance. I could see her fear, even through her fully enclosed helmet. “Viscera is one of the best trackers in the Wasteland. I did what I could, but I doubt I did enough.”

I looked back at Mirra who was in the middle of a conversation with Heartbeat. I tapped her on her uninjured shoulder to get her attention. “Hey, would you mind scooting over a bit so I can join you up there?”

Mirra shrugged and fluttered to the edge of Pyre’s rump to make room for me to climb up. Pyre sent a scowl in my direction. “Excuse me? I’m not a personal carriage.”

I gave her a smug look. “No, but you’ve carried me and the rest of us around enough that I know you can easily carry my weight.”

I started to climb up on top of her. Pyre growled. “Just ‘cause I can, doesn’t mean I want to. What makes you think you can just-”

I held the memory orb I had found in the Manehattan metro up with a hoof, cutting her off. “Watching a memory orb. Either carry me or we wait a bit for me to watch it.”

Pyre scowled again, but didn’t protest anymore as I clambered up on top of her. Despite being completely clad in metal, she was actually fairly comfy to sit on. Pyre looked over at Xayah. “For future adventures, let's keep Amber restricted to only riding you.”

Both Xayah and I went bright red with embarrassment. Brisk and Mirra snickered. Yup, now was a good time to go into a memory orb. That was enough of that conversation.

I let my amber magic wrap around the glowing memory orb. The world spun, then swirled away into nothingness.

I was in the body of a mare. Thank the goddesses! It didn’t matter how many memory orbs I went into, I would never get used to the feeling of suddenly becoming a Stallion.

My host looked to her right. Beside her I could make out the shapes of a dark black and grey zebra and another pony.

To my surprise, I recognised the pony. He was a brown unicorn buck with a cyan mane. I had seen him in one of Twilight's memories back in the MAS tower… He had been a Four Star diplomat working with Kamari.

Had I been in control of the body I was inhabiting, I would have narrowed my eyes.

What had his name been again? Though I know I had heard Twilight say it, I couldn’t quite remember exactly what it was.

We were standing in a small shop, more of an outlet than anything else really. The things we were selling were a strange mix of numerous different things, from potions to jewelry. We even seemed to be selling terminals.

“Thank you for helping me with my humble little store,” The Zebra said in a soothing and rhythmic tone, her eyes moving from a customer that walked past to my host. “With ponies here, we have sold more things than ever before.”

My host waved a hoof casually. “Don’t even mention it Zirria, it was nothing really. Anything for a friend,” my host's voice definitely belonged to Rail. It sounded almost exactly as it had in some of the earlier recordings of her I had heard. Not that that was much of a surprise, I had found the orb on her body.

The zebra named Zirria raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you will not get in trouble being seen with me? That division between us is not what your company would decree?”

The other Four Star member I had seen in the memory with Twilight glanced over with a smirk. “What Four Star? Nah, they’re cool. We will be fine being seen with you,” He chirped reassuringly. “Besides. Nothing could stop us from helping you out. We want to do this. It’s what friends are for.”

I could see Zirria give a kind and thankful smile. My host glanced away, her eye catching on a pony that was quickly approaching us.

Rail quickly bumped the unicorn buck with a hoof, drawing his attention to the approaching pony. The unicorn noticed him immediately, his eyes landing on the approaching buck before darting around to make sure nothing else was out of the ordinary.

The buck came to a stop in front of the three of them. “Zirria,” he said gracefully, giving a polite bow of his head. He quickly turned his attention back to the Rail and the unicorn, his expression hardening. “Rail, Train Tracks, I need you two to come with me. It’s very important.”

My mind blanked for a second. Wait... What!

I suddenly remembered the name that Twilight had called the Four Star Spokesperson in the memory. I had just buried the same pony that had helped Kamari imobalise Twilight and wipe her memories? I felt a little sick at the idea.

Train Tracks nervously glanced at Zirria. “You okay if we head out for a bit?”

The zebra nodded quickly, she pulled out a cloth and started cleaning up the table. “I shall be fine of course. You need not work here all day, I do not force.”

Swiftly moving out of the small outlet like shop, Train Tracks and Rail started following the buck as he led them away from the shop.

“Where are we headed? What’s happened?” Rail said, trying to match her pace with the buck. “Is the MOM onto us? What?”

The buck shushed her with the wave of his hoof. “Quiet, wait until we are in private, please…”

After that we continued to walk in silence.

A few moments later, the buck ushered us into a dark room. Train Tracks and my host shuffled inside, the door closing with a solid sounding thunk behind us.

My host looked around. The room was small. There were a few chairs in the center of the room and a large desk that took up most of the floor. A yellow and blue pony sat behind the desk, a cigar hung from his mouth, nearly obscuring his face with smoke.

Train Tracks baulked. “Boss? What are you doing out here?”

The pony behind the desk raised a hoof to quiet him. “Please. Keep your voice down. This is not the type of place I would normally like to hold one of these meetings, but our employer was absolutely convinced that this was of the utmost urgency and could not wait.”

I felt Rail raise an eyebrow. “And when are we going to meet this employer?” She asked in a hushed voice, a slightly annoyed tone in her words. “This employer has been having us make risky moves. If we keep doing what this mystery employer says then we’re all going to get caught.”

I felt my whole body lock up. Rail silently choked as it suddenly got verry hard to breath. Her body felt numb and strange, feeling in her legs disappeared and she tumbled to the floor with a thud.

All three of the stallions around her sprung to attention, their eyes darting around to see what the cause of her sudden slump had been.

A terrible voice I knew all too well spoke from the shadows of the room. “Question me again, and I’ll prick you with a more lethal poison…” there was a shimmer of air, and Kamari stepped into the center of the room, pulling the hood off of his stealth cloak. A small dagger was strapped to his forehoof, dripping with some sort of venom. He steered down at Rail, taking pleasure in her paralysis. “You need not worry about getting caught. I will personally see to that.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Train Tracks take a step back. He glanced worriedly at the pony that sat behind the desk. “Th-this is the employer… We’ve been working for a… for…” He locked up as he glared at Kamari. “Zirria told me about your kind. You are not welcome here.”

The pony behind the desk raised a hoof again to silence him. He quickly glanced at the pony who had lead Rail and Train Tracks to the room. “Would you mind leaving us for a moment.”

The pony nodded and ducked out. The door closed behind him with a loud click.

Train Tracks returned his attention to his boss. “You can’t be serious! Working with this… with this star worshipper! Most zebras would try to kill us if they knew we were talking with the likes of him! Let alone working for him!”

Kamari leered at Train Tracks from across the room. “I have come with a message from the Caesar directly. My stripes are no longer of a zebras concern.”

I could feel Rail attempting to narrow her eyes at Kamari, but the paralysis was making it difficult. Train Tracks however, had no issues doing so. “How do we know this is not just a trick! Your tribe doesn’t exactly have the best reputation for such things!”

Kamari lazily held up a scroll with a red ribbon and seal. “This is a message directly from the Caesar to you,” Kamari said with a stomp of his hoof. “He wants you to start expanding the four Star Monorail out towards the Hollow Shades. There is something in the deep there that he wants.”

The zebra passed the scroll to the pony behind the desk. He unrolled the scroll and read it over quickly. The stallion nodded a few times thoughtfully as his eyes scrolled across the parchment. Finally he looked up. “Everything is in order.”

Through my hazy vision, I could see Kamari’s grin widening. The zebra turned to Train Tracks, a smug expression across his face. “You are to come with me to the Hollow Shades. We’re going to pay Twilight Sparkle a little visit,” He turned back to the pony behind the desk. “You will not hear from me again.”

Train Tracks gritted his teeth and gestured towards Rail lying next to him on the ground. “And what about Rail?”

Kamari scoffed. “Don’t worry. She will wake up in a few hours with no memory of any of this,” the edges of his lips curled up at the edges as a particularly sinister thought washed over him. “Her fate is far kinder than certain others today…” He gave the pony behind the desk one more nod before pulling his hood over his head and disappearing. A few seconds after, Train Tracks walked out of the room looking scared and dejected.

The pony behind the desk sighed, putting down his cigar and taking a quick sip of what I could only assume was coffee before looking down at my host pitifully. He returned his attention to the door. “Rivets!”

The pony he had previously been asked to wait outside crept in slowly, only casting a small glance at my host's limp body. “Yes sir? What do you need.”

The pony behind the desk took another sip of coffee and gestured to my body. “Bring her back to her apartment and lay her in her bed. Make it look like all of this was just a dream to her.”

Rivets nodded and slowly picked up my host's body with a grunt. I felt a faint tremor race through my paralised body as I was lifted up into the air.

I felt my body begin to be carried across the room to the door. My hosts gaze was fixed on the pony behind the desk, on account of being unable to move my body. He had taken to staring at his coffee cup curiously, as if he had spotted something in it that shouldn’t have been there.

The last thing my host saw as the door slowly closed behind her, was the pony behind the desk’s eyes widen as he began to stare in horror at his cup. His mouth started to foam before he slumped over onto his desk, dead.

The door closed, the pony carrying Rail seeming to not have noticed the sudden death inside.

I Slowly raised my head up from where it lay on Pyre’s back. We were still walking, but now I could see a large building taking up the good half of a road. A cracked sign that had fallen from the side of the building and come to rest on the street read, ‘Ministry of Wartime Technology Manehattan Hub’.

The MWT Hub had been nearly decimated completely by the balefire bombs. The top half of the large tower had fallen downwards towards the street and landed atop the Ironshod Firearms hub on the far side of the road, creating a crumbling and dangerous looking bridge between the two structures. The walls of glass windows had shattered, leaving the street a mess of broken glass and ruble.

We weren’t the only ponies there.

Raiders had made the underpass created by the toppled tower as a home. Grisly corpses dangled from meat hooks under the overpass like twisted wind chimes. Cages and tents littered the ground around the entrance to the MWT tower, all of which coated in a thick layer of filth and gore. I could spot several raiders milling around the area. I could only assume there were more within the tents.

I hopped off of Pyre’s back, quickly tucking the memory orb back into my saddlebags. Pyre glanced at me as I leapt off.

“Good timing there Amber. We’re here,” My raider friend nickered, returning her attention to the raiders blocking our entrance to the building.

We all pulled up behind a broken sky wagon and looked out at the raiders.

“Anypony got a plan?” Brisk questioned, peeking over the top of the sky wagon from beside me.

Pyre seemed to roll her eyes behind her helmet. “There are only twelve or so. We could just run out and fight them,” She kicked at a broken chunk of asphalt with her hoof. “It's not like we’ve haven't dealt with worse.”

“I have an anesthetic spell,” Heartbeat piped up, giving Pyre a quick glare. “We can just immobilize them. No need to kill anypony.”

Both Brisk and Pyre cast him weird looks.

“You do realise they’re raiders, right? They’re scum. Ponies that need to be put down,” Brisk cooed, arching one of his eyebrows. He winced and glanced at Pyre. “No offense.”

Pyre made a small snort-like laugh. “None taken. Hell, I agree with you. The wasteland is safer if we just kill them now.”

Xayah gave a nod of agreement. “We should not let them live and give them the opportunity to kill more ponies. That would be foolish of us.”

“Just because they’re raiders, doesn’t mean we need to be raiders as well,” I pointed out. “If we can do this without killing ponies, shouldn't we try it?”

Heartbeat looked thankful that somepony had decided to take his side. He gave me a thankful smile.

Brisk gave me a crooked look. “Because if we don’t kill them, they’ll kill somepony else. What part of that didn’t you understand? These aren’t some helpless ponies that are struggling to survive. These are psychos that take pleasure in rape, torture and pillaging.”

“Besides, it's three against two,” Pyre said casually, as if to say the minority rules had always been the way we operated. She glanced at Mirra. “Unless you want to pitch in.”

Mirra shuffled uncomfortably atop Pyre’s back. She glanced down at her hoofs. “Well, um… Only if ponies won't hate me for which side I pick.”

Heartbeat shook his head in reassurance. “Of course not. We all have different opinions.”

Mirra shifted around a little more, not sure how to proceed. Finally she spoke, not bothering to look up. “Well… I don’t want to hurt anypony… So can we do it Heartbeat’s way?”

Brisk gave a small groan. “Alright, that’s three against three. Which of course brings us back to square one,” He slowly looked to each of us. “Anypony else have any ideas?”

“We’ll do it Heartbeat’s way,” Pyre grunted. Her voice was quiet enough that we almost missed it. We all turned to gawk at her. She just scowled back. “What?”

“You are choosing to do it the non violent way?” Xayah asked in a low voice. “It is very uncharacteristic of you.”

Pyre just shook her head. “I changed my mind. If that’s what Mirra thinks we should do, we’ll do it.”

Heartbeat gave a sigh of relief. I just nodded grimly. “Alright, let's do this then.”

We did a little bit more planning before creeping around the side of the building, trying our best to stick to the shadows. Pyre was far from sneaky, but the rest of us were fairly successful in keeping our noise and visibility from the raiders.

We came to a stop at the edge of the building and paused, waiting for an opening to attack. I could hear two raiders trot past us, talking to each other.

“Seriously? You haven’t heard about the stranger?” One of the raiders said, his voice sounding just as slimy and ragged as he looked. “The raiders nightmare? Seriously?”

“Never heard of ‘em,” The second echoed grumpily. “Sounds like fuckin’ brahmin shit to me. I mean, really? A pony that appears out of nowhere, shots one pony dead and disappears? Why wouldn’t he just stick around to kill everypony?”

I heard the raider beside him grunt. “Fuck if I know. Legend has it he only appears when the pony he’s gardin’ needs help.”

“He’s a legend now? You’re just makin’ this shit up!”

“I am not!” the raider growled. “Mark my words. That stranger is real, and he’s got a hard on for putting ponies like us in the ground.”

I heard both of them snort at each other and begin to walk away. And walking away meant they weren’t facing us.

I tapped my hoof on the ground twice to signal to my friends behind me before darting around the side of the building.

My baton swung out and snapped both of the raiders back legs before they realised they were under attack. They fell to the ground with a cry of pain, unable to move. Heartbeat cast his spell, numbing the raiders and making them fall to the ground limp.

The rest of the raiders turned, their attention drawn by the sound of their screaming companions. They started rushing towards us the moment they saw us, only for two to fall screaming to the ground, their front hooves blasted out by well aimed shots from Brisk and Xayah’s weapons.

Another fell to the ground, hit by a shot of Heartbeat’s anaesthetic spell.

The remaining raiders reached us, holding up crude makeshift daggers in their mouths. But they were already looking scared. In a matter of seconds we had reduced their numbers by almost half.

Pyre launched herself around me, her metal clad hooves flying out and slamming two of the raiders heads together. The raiders fell, unconscious and twitching. Those two wouldn’t need to be immobilized by Heartbeat.

Now in the center of the raider group, the raiders began to turn towards Pyre, blades ready to swing at her.

The raiders had been expecting a fight. What they didn’t expect was a small insectoid creature to leap at them from atop Pyre, a sticky, green mucus spewing from her mouth and onto their hooves. The raiders tried to pull back, surprised by the changeling's sudden attack. They couldn’t. Two more raiders found themselves immobilized, stuck to the ground by a vile mucus like slime.

The last three raiders stumbled backwards, fear flickering across their faces. Two of them turned tail and bolted, rushing away as fast as they could. The last stood his ground, stomping his hoof against the street as if trying to intimidate us.

He never saw my baton levitate up behind him and smack him across the back of the head. He fell forwards, slumping to the ground like a large rock that had just been dropped out a window.

Heartbeat stepped around me and cast his spell again, this time knocking out the four immobilized raiders that were still conscious.

I stepped forwards and poked one of the raiders with a hoof. They didn’t react, no longer able to feel any part of their body. “So, tell me why you didn’t cast this spell on me when you sawed my wings off?” I asked sceptically, trying not to think about the pain of the bonesaw cutting through my new appendages.

Heartbeat gave me a sad look. “I considered it, and in most cases I would have. But these raiders are most likely going to be unable to move for the good half of the day. I feared that would be an unwise situation to put you through in the middle of the Manehattan metro.”

I nodded. I probably would have told him not to cast it anyway had I known how long those effects lasted.

Mirra quickly zipped around, wrapping all of the unconscious raiders in her gross changeling mucus. I grimaced as I saw the wad of green slim spew from her mouth and fuse the raiders together in one big clump.

Xayah leaned down and sniffed the vile slime. She quickly recoiled, gagging at the stench. “Ew… that is… ew…”

Mirra glanced down nervously at her hooves. “Sorry.”

Pyre gave a shake of her head and gave the small changeling a playful bump on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it kid. I think it's pretty cool.”

“You would think spitting out mucus is cool Pyre,” I chuckled back, moving past the raiders and towards the doors to the MWT hub.

Pyre scowled. “Hey, give the kid a break. If you could do that, you’d do it too. Admit it.”

I just put my hooves over my head in a playful surrender. “Never said it wasn’t useful,” I glanced down at Mirra. “You did good. Now, come on. Let's try and get this done with and be out of here as quickly as possible.”

I pushed open the doors to the building. Immediately, I was forced to jump back as a ghoul that had been silently waiting behind the door burst out and swung at me with a hoof. I rolled to the side, the ghouls attack just barely missing.

Bang!

Brisk sent a bullet through the ghouls head. The ghoul dropped to the ground, its head now an oozing stump of blood.

“Well, Freedom did tell us there would be ghouls,” Pyre said, poking at the body with a hoof.

I grimaced for the second time in the last few minutes. “Apparently,” I glanced over to Brisk. “Thanks bro, good shot.”

Brisk gave a small nod as he looked over his remaining ammo. “No problem, but I’m running low on shots. I’ve only got 4 left,” I did notice that Brisk had, however, slung a machete he had taken from one of the paralysed raiders over his back. I had a strange rush of nostalgia at the sight.

Xayah gave a quick nod of agreement as she looked over her own supplies. “I am running low myself.”

I quickly riffled through my saddle bags, looking over my own ammo. I had eleven shots left for my shotgun. I gulped. That wasn’t much.

“Don’t fret it,” Pyre said, pushing the door open the rest of the way and walking in. “This is the ministry of Wartime Technology and Ironshod Firearms. This is probably the single best place to get ammo.”

The front lobby of the MWT hub was huge, clearly designed for large gatherings of ponies, or at the very least, a place for lots of ponies to wait while they awaited whatever official business they had with the MWT.

Ghouls awaited us inside. They had been sitting on toppled benches that lay scattered about the room, as if still waiting to attend that official business, even two hundred years later.

Pyre’s flamers burst to life, smothering the first few in flame before they had a chance to rise from their seats and attack. One of the ghouls rushed at her, leaping forwards and grappling onto her power armor. Pyre staggered back, trying to shake off her attacker.

I swung my baton at the ghoul assailing Pyre, knocking it off and sending it sprawling across the floor. Anther ghoul lashed out, this time towards me. I ducked back as its hooves flashed towards my throat.

The ghouls hoof was sliced off as Brisk swung his new machete forwards. The ghoul staggered back, limping awkwardly as it tried to stay standing on only three rotting legs.

I saw Heartbeats horn flare as he cast his anaesthetic spell. One of the ghouls dropped limp to the ground, immobilized by the spell. To my surprise, Heartbeat didn’t leave it at that. He walked forwards and quickly and surgically, slit the ghouls throat, killing it instantly.

More ghouls were approaching us, their mouths twisted into a growl as they staggered forwards.

Before they could attack, one of them dropped dead as a serrated knife plunged into its side. I saw Xayah flicker into view from under her stealth cloak for a second before once again disappearing.

Even Mirra let a shot ring out from her revolver. The bullet lanced through a ghoul's throat, dropping it dead to the ground. Mirra winced. “Sorry…”

I hopped back as one of the ghouls rushed me. It dove forwards, its hooves swinging at my face, only to come in contact with air as I scuttled backwards. I swung at it with my baton, only to miss it as the currently three legged ghoul rammed into me from the side. I stumbled, trying to stay upright as the two ghouls rounded on me.

They lunged at me as a group, slashing and snapping at me from two directions at once. I swung my combat shotgun out at them with my magic. The gun's stock slammed into one of the ghouls head, while the barrel simultaneously blasted buckshot into the face of the other.

Both ghouls lurched back, the one I had shot toppling over as their face and brain were ripped apart by the powerful burst. The other ghoul staggered, bleeding from a large gash on its brow. It snarled and advanced on me, clearly not caring for its wounds.

I took a step back, readying my combat shotgun to fire at it. I never needed to fire.

Pyre moved up behind it, her large forehooves swinging up on either side of the ghouls head and crushing its skull flat between them. The ghoul twitched and tried to spin around to attack her, only to fall to the ground dead.

I gave her a grateful look before turning to look around the room. Despite the building having been surrounded by raiders prior to our arrival, the place seemed relatively unlooted. Freedom had told us that the Friendship Express had been unable to get past the ghouls. It seemed the same could be said about the raiders.

Mirra fluttered over to an open ammo crate to the left of the room and started dunking the contents into her saddlebags. It looked like a strange mix of multiple ammo types, from bullets of weapons we didn’t have to a large collection of apple grenades. Mirra didn’t seem to care that most of it was useless to us though and kept dumping it all in.

“Keep your eyes open everypony,” I said, moving towards a staircase that seemed to lead to the next floor. “There’s a good chance there are going to be more ghouls in here.”

Everypony nodded and slowly began to move after me. Brisk quickly walked up and kept pace with me as I led us forwards. “So what exactly do these anti-cloaking devices and super targeting talismans look like?”

I shrugged. “No clue. I mean the super targeting talismans probably just look like talismans. Maybe a little flashier.”

“And where might we find them? I mean, this place is huge,” Brisk pushed.

“Most likely they are in different parts of the building,” Xayah pointed out, looking up at something above us.

I followed her gaze up to two signs that hung from the ceiling. Each had an arrow, pointing to a separate hallway, leading in different directions. The signs read, ‘Weapons Development’ and ‘Technology Wing’.

I groaned. Great, another large building where we needed to search endlessly for something that may or may not even be here. “Alright, lets split up, we’ll get this done quicker if split into two groups.”

“Right, because splitting up worked great last time,” Pyre quipped, looking down from the signs to give me an accusing look. “Or do you want to end up with wings sticking out of your back again?”

Xayah and Mirra looked at me in horror at the statement. I had never bothered to tell them about what the crazy alicorn had done to me, both because I figured they would sleep better if they didn’t know and to keep me from dwelling to long on the pain it had caused me.

“We’ll split up into larger groups this time,” I assured them all. “That alicorn wouldn’t have stood a chance if there had been more of us…” I thought about that for a second before correcting. “It didn’t stand a chance once more of us showed up.”

Pyre just rolled her eyes behind her helmet. “Alright, if you insist. But if one of us ends up dead, I get to say I told you so,” She glanced back at the signs. “By the way, I call investigating weapons Development!”

Brisk groaned. “Damn it, I was going to call that one…”

Pyre reached out a hoof and pulled Brisk in for a tight hug. Brisk squirmed and tried to escape, but he was no match for Pyre’s superior strength. “Then it looks like you’re coming with me Brisky. Come along.”

Pyre scooped Mirra up onto her back and began dragging Brisk down the hallway, a glumb look across his face. I chuckled as I watched her pull him away. It was no surprise she had pulled Mirra along too.

I turned back to Xayah and Heartbeat. “Alright, I guess that means we’re checking out the technology wing.”

Heartbeat almost looked giddy. “Thank Celestia. I heard that the MWT and MOP were working together a fair amount in this building.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What kind of projects did those two work together for?”

Heartbeat shrugged. “No idea, it could be anything really. Or nothing at all. Nopony has spent much time in this building to find out.”

“It seems odd that ponies wouldn’t try harder to get past the ghouls,” Xayah pointed out as we began walking down the hallway. “If the things in here are so valuable then why wouldn’t they work harder to get the thing this building contains?”

“Well, who would be able to?” Heartbeat pointed out. “Most raiders and wasteland wanderers don't really have much use for MWT technology, or even know what it is for that matter. To them it's just a building swarming with ghouls that is more trouble than it's worth. And lets me honest, the ponies at Tenpony aren’t going to do anything unless it has something to do with Twilight Sparkle.”

“What about the Steel Rangers?” I asked, remembering the fanatical, technology scavenging raiders. “Seems like this place would have been right up their alley?”

Heartbeat nodded. “It is, but the Steel rangers don’t have a strong presence on this side of the city. Most of them are closer to Fetlock in Fort Strong… or I suppose Stable 29 if we’re talking about the Outcasts.”

“But you would think they would at least attempt to take the stuff inside of here,” I pushed, unable to believe that such a faction would simply ignore this place.

“I’m sure they have. But Manehattan is a death trap. I’m sure you’ve noticed that by now,” Heartbeat continued. “They would have to travel all the way across the city on hoof, then walk all the way back while carrying all the spoils of their looting. Something like that takes time and resources. Recently, the Steel Rangers have had neither of those.”

We turned a corner into a small room. The floor was covered in rows of dented, dust covered desks, each one covered in flickering terminals and blueprints. A feral ghouls in a lab coat walked back and forth across the room, scratching at itself.

Before I could think to attack, Nurse Heartbeat cast his anaesthetic spell, dropping the ghoul limp to the ground.

I winced as the ghoul fell. “Damn, remind me not to get on your bad side,” I smirked, poking my head into the room and looking around to make sure there were no more ghouls. When I was sure the coast was clear, I walked the rest of the way in and started digging through the drawers.

“I do not like using my anaesthetic spell for combat purposes,” Heartbeat replied sowerly, following in after me with Xayah close behind him. “But if I need to fight, I would rather my enemies need to suffer as little as they can.”

He moved up beside the ghoul, and like the first ghoul he had attacked in the building, surgically slit its throat. I grimaced. “Why do you kill the ghouls after you immobilize them? You left the raiders alive…”

Heartbeat sighed and glanced up at me from across the room. “I’ve had a few ghoul patents over the years. Not many in Tenpony, but a fair amount from my time in the wasteland. Do you know what they all told me?”

I shook my head.

I saw Xayah’s lips twist into a frown as she opened up a terminal. “They told you to kill them if they ever went feral…” She breathed, a grim tone in her voice. “There was a zebra ghoul I knew in Glyphmark that once told me that.”

Heartbeat gave her a sad nod. “No pony wants to go feral. Most ponies would rather die than become one of those…” He took a deep breath to calm himself. “I took an oath to protect ponies… But feral ghouls aren’t ponies anymore. They’re husks. Mindless corpses in a ponies skin. From what some ghouls have told me… the only part of them that's still pony is a small thought in the back of their brian that tells them to kill themself before they kill anypony else.”

I could feel my stomach clench at the thought. “If I ever become a feral ghoul for some reason… I want you guys to promise to kill me too,” I said slowly. “I don’t think I’d want a fate like that…”

Both Xayah and Heartbeat gave an agreeing nod, though Xayah looked terrified by the simple thought alone. Her eyes quickly widened as she read over the terminal she was looking at.

“Amber, you may want to take a look at this,” Xayah said, her eyes scanning over the terminal’s screen. Heartbeat and I moved up beside her and began to read.

<MWT ADMINISTRATION TERMINAL 6F>

>Log #13 Anti-Cloaking Device

>So it turns out that the Ministry of Image is working on stealth technology as well. Apparently that's where Twilight even got the idea for these projects in the first place. Honestly, it's starting to feel like the Ministry mares are working together on everything and leaving the rest of us all in the dark. Fuck if I know when they find the time to do that, I don’t think they have all been seen together all at once in years.

>Course Stealth technology is a risky thing, especially since we know zebras have access to it too. Last thing we need is an army of zebras sneaking up on us without our knowing. But fuck those striped ass hole! This time, we’ve got the one up on them. The MTW has had most of the ponies in the development of StealthBucks shift their efforts to an Anti-cloaking device. Sure they’re only single use at the moment, but that won’t matter much seeing how they last the good part of an hour. If we can’t beat the Zebra’s at infiltration, might as well make it so they can’t infiltrate us as easily, right?

>Anyway, Braeburn caught wind of the project and wanted permission to use it in some weapons he’s making. Applejack was adamant that it doesn’t get involved in weapon development, something about not making new ways to kill ponies. Doesn’t matter. She hardly runs this ministry anyway. More of a figurehead than anything else these days.

>We sent two of the Anti-cloaking Devices over to Ironshod across the street, kept the other for ourselves up in robotics. After we make a few more we’re going to try turning it into an augmentation. Just imagine, ponies with the ability to see right through those filthy zebras stealth cloaks! Applejack’s got to approve of that at least.

>I suppose it doesn’t really matter if she doesn’t approve anyway, I mean how the fuck is Applejack going to find out? She hardly spends any time in her own ministry and when she does, it's either out in Ministry Walk or down in her office in the basement. Fuck if know why she asked to have her office there instead of the top floor like it was supposed to be.

I checked through the other entries on the terminal. It was the last, possibly written only shortly before the bombs. Which meant there was a good chance that the Anti-cloaking devices were still in the aforementioned spots.

I groaned. “Great, looks like we’re going to need to head over to Ironshods after we stop by robotics here then.”

Xayah gave a small whinny-like sound of understanding. “Lead on.”

We quickly left the room and headed back into the hallway. A few feet away, I saw an old floor plan hanging from one of the walls. I began moving toward it.

As we walked, I found the courage to turn to Heartbeat and ask. “How is Brisk doing by the way? About the Buck addiction I mean?” Xayah’s ears perked up at the conversation, but she didn’t dare interject.

Heartbeat paused for a second, stopping his slow walk towards the map on the wall. “He is doing better. He will never truly recover of course, not from that, but he has shown tremendous strength in fighting against his urges,” He gave a small laugh that sounded both happy and sad at the same time. “Honestly, I don’t think he needs me looking over him anymore.”

I furrowed my brows. “So what will you do then? Are you going to head back to Tenpony?”

Heartbeat thought about that for a bit. He tapped his chin thoughtfully with a hoof before turning back to me with a smile. “One day, definitely, but perhaps not today. I grow tired of the uptight, bigot filled society of Tenpony. While I perhaps tend to have more patients when working at the Tenpony hospital, I feel like I’ve made a bigger difference out here with all of you than I ever did there. Besides, as I said when I first joined you, Helpinghoof and Lifebloom have the Tenpony hospitals more than covered. I think I’d like to stick around and help you ponies for a bit, if you’d still have me?”

I gave him a warm smile. “Of course we would. You’re practically part of our family now. No matter how messy and broken our family dynamic is.”

Heartbeat gave me a grin in return as we continued walking towards the map on the wall. “You ponies, and zebra, certainly have your issues, but to be honest, you’re a closer family than most others out in the wasteland.”

That was a nice thought. A strange and allegedly sad thought, but a nice one.

The map that hung on the wall had long since faded, most of the lines that made up the image having disappeared completely. The only thing on the map that was still clearly legible was the big red dot with the words ‘you are here’ printed above it.

Narrowing my eyes and squinting at the map, I began to search around the area for anything of value. I saw faded images of rooms and hallways. A strange ladder looking symbol I guessed was supposed to represent stairs were a little down the hallway and to our right.

Finally I spotted the words reading ‘Advanced Robotics’. The once black lettering was now closer to a light grey, but I was still able to make out the words. “This way,” I said, pointing down a side hall that led to a staircase leading farther up into the tower.

It took about ten minutes to find the Advanced robotics area I had seen on the map. A lot of the hallways had collapsed in on themselves, constantly making us need to backtrack and find a way around. Often we would need to find and go through holes in walls to get around the crumbling parts of the structure.

When we finally made it into the advanced robotics lab, we found ourselves in a large chamber. The room had been sealed by an incredibly heavy duty metal door, nearly as thick as a Stable door. The roof above us had been torn away, giving us a clear view of the sky and the toppled half of the skyscraper that created a bridge to the Ironshods building across the street. A long catwalk stretched across the top of the room. One side of it had collapsed, leaving a makeshift ramp that led up to the opening in the ceiling.

A metal platform lay in the center of the room with large claw-like appendages dangling down above it. The skeleton of a long dead pony stood in the center of the platform, held upright by a collection of metal clamps.

“What is this thing?” Xayah gasped, looking over the strange device.

I trotted up to a terminal attached to the machine and clicked it on. It was unlocked, and a good thing too, because the security measures on the terminal were matched only by the terminal I had found in Silver Ace’s apartment. Whoever had once owned this terminal had not wanted anypony else to have access to its contents.

>DOCTOR PESTILENCE’S TERMINAL OMEGA-5>

>Augmentation Program Options:

>Logs

>Begin Process

I blinked as I read over the name of the terminal's owner. Doctor Pestilence. Assuming the name wasn’t just a strange coincidence, he had been the pony out in Las Pegasus that Crank had seeked to help change him back from being a cyber pony.

I activated the logs and watched as a wall of text opened up on the screen.

>Test subject 1: Ineffective. The pony was unable to survive the procedure. The MWT is furious… Applejack would probably shut me down if she found out… she won't find out. The subject had a heart attack in the middle of the procedure. Well, when I say heart attack, I really mean they were unable to live having their heart removed before we could give them a synthetic one. We will be more successful next time.

>Test Subject 2: We were in fact more successful. The next subject survived having their heart replaced. They unfortunately however, died moments after from kidney failure. Honestly, these ponies need to get stronger immune systems.

>Test Subject 3: They survive the process. Unfortunately for them, they did not survive the mental trauma caused by having their skin peeled from their face. The damn fool leapt off the roof an hour later. Furthermore, apparently Applejack is catching wind of pony volunteers going missing. I’ll have to make a note to only test on ponies that I plucked off the street. No pony will notice if a whore or two disappears. Right?

>Test Subject 5: No change in behaviour.

>Test Subject 6: No change in behaviour.

>Test Subject 7: Success! I simply had to wipe their memory afterwards. It was so obvious! Subject seven has shown no signs of attempting to commit suicide afterwards. Of course, they haven’t exactly shown signs of anything afterwards, but I kind of like them that way. They don’t complain when I give them orders. I’m pretty sure Pureblood wants them that way too.

I grimaced as I read over the logs. If these log entries belonged to the same Doctor Pestilence that Pyre had talked about, and I’m pretty damn sure that they were, I could easily understand Pyre’s disdain for the buck. He sounded absolutely despicable.

I turned my gaze to the second option on the terminal and clicked it.

>DOCTOR PESTILENCE’S TERMINAL OMEGA-5>

>Augmentation Program - Begin Process

>Procedure primed and ready

[Choose Augmentations]

[Activate]

I looked up at the pony skeleton hooked up to the machine. They had been in the middle of a procedure when the bombs had fallen. Unable to move, the pony hooked to the machine had been unable to even flee, trapped to the augmentation device forever. It was a terrible fate.

“I think I found it,” I heard Heartbeat say from behind me.

I turned to see him standing over a table in the far corner, looking over some sort of clunky device. Xayah and I walked over, craning our necks to see what he was looking at.

It was some sort of brown, cube shaped device that looked like it could theoretically plug into a pipbuck, though I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how. A small gemstone was embedded in the top of the device, looking strikingly similar to the gem on the clasp of Xayah’s stealth cloak. It rested in a small box labeled, ‘Anti-cloaking device’.

“That would be it,” I said flatly as I read over the label on the box it sat in. I plucked it up and rolled it around in my hooves. It wasn’t very large, making it fairly easy to conceal. I quickly tucked it into my saddlebags. One down, one to go.

My eyes landed on a small case resting on the desk beside where the anti-cloaking device had been resting. The box was a dark black and had the symbol of a set of gears surrounded by an apple and bisecting by a sword imprinted on the top. Pulling open the lid, I found a single glowing memory orb looking up at me.

I picked the orb up in my hooves and turned to face Xayah and Heartbeat. “Do you mind if I look at this?”

Heartbeat waved his hoof encouragingly for me to view it. “We should be safe from the ghouls in this room. We’ll keep watch while you’re inside it.”

I gave him a grateful look before returning my attention to the orb. I wrapped it in my magic and felt the world shift and swirl away.

I was in the body of a mare. Whomever I was inhabiting had clearly had a few to many sugary treats, because I felt like I was bouncing off the walls with energy. Wisps of pink mane kept bobbing in and out of my vision as my host bounced along the long hallway.

Beside me walked an oddly familiar orange mare with a yellow mane and light brown stetson. It took me a second to recognise her as Applejack, the mare of the Ministry of Wartime Technology. I remembered her from the story of the Mare in the moon.

Walking beside Applejack on either side were two snooty looking canterlot nobility ponies. The first one I recognised immediately as Pureblood. His golden coat seemed to dazzle to a near intolerable degree, making me question if he had bathed himself in glitter. I assumed that he was trying to emulate the sparkling manes of Princess Celestia and Luna.

The other nobility pony was strikingly similar in posture and frame, though notably younger. He had a light grey, almost white coat and light amber mane. I could only get a small glance at his cutie mark, but from what I could gather, it was some sort of compass.

“...And you have interest in this project now, why?” Applejack said. I had been too focused on taking in my surroundings and trying to identify all the ponies present that I had missed the first half of what Applejack was saying.

The nobility pony I didn’t recognise raised his muzzle into the air even more than it already was with a huff. “We do not need to explain ourselves to you. We can choose what we think is a good investment with our...”

Pureblood cut the younger pony off with a near violent wave of his hoof. “Excuse Blueblood, he lacks tact,” Pureblood soothed, his voice sounding equally as tactless.

So this was the Blueblood Rarity and Rainbow Dash had been talking about. I wracked my brain as I tried to remember what they had said about him. Something about being Pureblood’s son and wanting to marry Rarity.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Well, what is it then?”

Pureblood glanced around, making sure there was nopony else in the hallway save for those present. He looked over to Blueblood and narrowed his eyes. “Would you leave us for a moment?”

Blueblood gawked at his father. “Excuse me? I will not be removed from the room like some common pony!”

Pureblood just continued to glare, looking down at Blueblood with a snooty snarl. “Leave us Blueblood.” Blueblood looked between the three ponies for a few seconds in disbelief before huffing and marching away down the hallway. As soon as he was gone, Pureblood gestured for Applejack and my host to move into a side room.

Applejack opened up the room with a key card and ushered everypony in. “Now I reckon I know what this is all about, since ye were sendin’ yer kin away and all. This room should be free of any security, so we can talk openly here.”

My host seemed to bounce up and down excitedly. “Oooh! I love secrets! All kinds of secrets! Tell me tell me tell me!” I had already figured out who I was in before hearing the voice, but the voice only finalised it. I was in the body of Pinkie Pie.

Pureblood grinned. “It has to do with the Institute. Rarity has insisted we create a way to hide our signals from EFS. A secret facility under Manehattan isn’t much use if everypony with a pipbuck can simply spot a bunch of life tags under their hooves.”

Applejack though on that for a second. “Well I reckon that ain’t all that different from what our StealthBucks been doin’. Invisibility hides ponies from EFS as well, Incorporating half the spell into the Institute might be able to conceal us a little better.”

Pureblood nodded. “We’re shifting funding to ensuring that this concealment project is achieved. I want your top ponies working on this immediately.”

The whole world seemed to shift as Pinkie tilted her head at a near impossible angle. “But won't ponies get suspicion that all those bits are going towards something like that? I mean if it was all going towards making cupcakes then maybe no pony would complain. I mean cupcakes are delicious and super super tasty, but I don’t think we’re making cupcakes so I think ponies might start to notice.”

Both Applejack and Pureblood just blinked a couple of times as they tried to take the important parts of what Pinkie had said out of the jumble of words about cupcakes.

Finally Applejack gave a thoughtful nod. “Well the zebras just came out with their own version of the pipbuck ‘bout a month ago. Ain’t as good as Stable-Tecs, but it does the job. I reckon we can convince ponies that it's designed fer hidin’ soldiers in battle,” Applejack thought on that for a few more seconds. “Might not be such a bad idea to use it fer that as well anyhow.”

Pureblood growled. “No. This project is to go to the Institute and the Institute alone. Say what you must to cover our tracks, but I will not allow such a device to fall into the hooves of Zebras or common ponies.”

Applejack’s eyebrows furrowed. “Now you listen here Pureblood. The Institute is ‘bout protectin’ ponies, not the other way ‘round. Keepin’ the Institute secret don’t do no pony no good if we don’t go ‘round helpin’ ponies. That is always our first priority.”

Purebloods face twisted into a snarl. “You speak like that to me again Applejack and I will cut your fundings! We’ll see how well you help ponies without government backings!”

Applejack scowled. “Yer fancy bits are a nice bonus Pureblood, but unlike Rainbow Dash and Twilight, most of my fundin’ comes from hard workin’ ponies and other businesses ‘round Equestria.”

Pureblood took a step forward, clearly trying to intimidate the farm pony. Applejack stood headstrong before him, not giving him the satisfaction of her backing away, despite him standing practically muzzle to muzzle with her.

“Oh really?” Pureblood soothed, his voice lowering to a tone that dripped with malice. “And how have all those business ponies been doing? Are they really interested in helping all those common folk you seem so adamant in serving?”

Applejack winced at that and finally took a step away from him. “Well not exactly, but I’m doin’ my best ta turn them around.”

Purebloods scowl only thickened. “We’ll see about that, Applejack… You had best watch your step around here. I’d hate for there to be some sort of accident…”

Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Pureblood, an angry look across her face. “Now don’t you go being a mean meany-mean pants,” She said flatly, poking the canterlot elite in the chest with an accusing hoof. Pureblood opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Pinkie shot straight up, her mane and tail standing on end as if she had been electrocuted. “Twitchy knee, scratchy nose…”

Pureblood exchanged a look with Applejack. “What are you talking abou-”

Pinkie’s face adopted a similar snarl to that which Pureblood and Applejack had worn only a few moments prior. But unlike them, her face held a devilish gleam to it. “Twitchy knee, scratchy nose,” Pinkie said again, though this time as if she were explaining herself. “That's my pinkie sense. It means somepony is listening in on us.”

The second those words left her mouth, there was a clatter from outside the door, as if somepony outside had had their ear pressed against the surface, and was now bolting away down the hallway. Purebloods face drained of colour, making him look more yellowy-orange than gold.

“Stop the spy!” Pureblood shouted, twirling around to face the door.

Pinkie was way ahead of him. The world around me spun and Pinkie Pie darted forwards at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible without pegasus wings. She bounded into the now empty hallway and looked around. I felt a strange itch in her left ear, followed by Pinkie darting to her left.

“Shaky tail, fluttery eye,” Pinkie breathed. She turned and shot down a side hallway before coming to the base of a set of stairs. She didn’t slow as she began racing up them. “Scratchy fetlock, numb hoof.”

Pinkie darted around the building at nauseating speeds, the strange itches and tingles in her body seeming to lead her in certain directions. They just felt like weird itches to me.

Finally pinkie broke into a large room, a few floors above where she had been talking to Pureblood and Applejack. The large room was filled with ponies, all them moving around the room with stacks of papers or sitting having small meetings in their cubicles tucked against one wall.

Pinkie’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the room. Whomever the spy had been, had clearly come here to blend in.

Letting her lips twist into a smile, Pinkie turned and closed the door behind her. Her mane stretched forwards, seemingly having a mind of its own and poked itself into the doors lock. There was a click, as Pinkie locked the room from the outside.

She smiled deviously as her mane withdrew. She slowly bounced her way into the room, weaving through the different ponies going about their business. A few ponies gave her a respectful, or even fearful nod as she passed them.

“Shaky leg, scratch neck,” Pinkie whispered to herself as she slowly went further and further into the room. “Fluttery ears, twitchy tail. Tingly pelves, scratchy hoof,” Suddenly Pinkies right ear burned as if it had been caught on fire. She whipped her head around to spot a green pony with a blue mane across the room that was doing everything he could to not look at her. “Gotcha!”

The world swirled back in around me as I came out of the memory orb. I could practically feel the buzz of Pinkie Pie’s seemingly endless energy leave me as my mind returned to my own body. It felt weird to be back in my own body, I forgot how much my body hurt and ached.

I was kissing somepony. Why the heck was I kissing somepony?

I slowly moved my mouth away and groaned. “Xayah, this probably isn’t a great time,” I could feel the mouth move away from me.

My eyes opened. A pair of dazzling blue eyes stared back. Those weren’t Xayah’s eyes.

Surprised, I pushed myself away from the unicorn mare in front of me, only to find my hooves tied and my back pressed against the wall.

I gulped, taking in the mare in front of me. Cream coat, pink and blue mane, blood coated hide and hellhound claws strapped to her hooves. I felt a sickening horror growing inside me as I realised who I was in the presence of.

“Nope, not Xayah! Guess again!” Viscera chirped cheerfully, taking a small step closer to me. She raised a hoof and pressed it against my stomach, pushing me against the ground and pinning me down. Her face drew up close to mine again, her hot breath breathing down onto me. “I have a bit of a score to settle with one of your friends. Now that I’m here, we are going to be getting very closely acquainted, you and I.”

I instinctively reached out with my magic, wrapping my telekinesis around Viscera’s throat. The raider chuckled, her free forehoof lashed out and bashed against the base of my horn. The blunt side of the Hellhound claws slammed into me, causing a large crack to go shooting up my horn, smaller cracks spider webbing along the base.

My magic imploded as the searing pain shot through me. My head jerked back and slammed against the solid wall, agony bursting through my skull as I felt the crack shoot up my horn. Blood drizzled from my horn and dripped into my eye, mingling with the tears that were already beginning to roll down my cheeks.

My horn wasn’t broken, but I doubted I would be able to cast magic for the next few days. I doubted I would ever even be able to use magic again without feeling some sort of pain.

My blurry vision began to travel up to take in the rest of the room. We were no longer in the robotics lab. We had been tied up and moved back to the large room somewhere else in the building. Viscera had made quick work of decorating the room to her liking. Blood coated the floors and walls and she had gone around posing the broken and mutilated bodies of ghouls in vile, if not straight up sexual positions. The mutilated ghouls eyes all seemed to face inwards, staring at us with glazed and empty eyes. An undead audience for the atrocities Viscera no doubt had planned.

Xayah and Heartbeat lay a few feet away from me, their hooves tied in a similar style to mine. Three hellhound guards stood over them, each dressed in raider barding made of pony flesh.

We were not the only ponies held in captivity in the room either. Five ponies lay around us, their hooves tied tightly together with barbed wire. They lay battered and bruised, clearly having been victims of the raiders torment for days.

I tried to pull myself away again, only for Viscera’s Hellhound claws to dig deeper into my front. I could feel myself rapidly going into a panic attack. Viscera was here! Her Hellhounds were here!

Damn it, Pyre had told me Viscera and her hellhounds were following us. I had seen the signs myself. Why hadn’t I been more careful? How could I have just let my guard down like that when I knew they weren’t far behind. She had been waiting for us to be divided and unprepared, I had known this too. How could I have been such a fool?

I had underestimated Viscera. I knew she was dangerous, but I had never realised to what extent. Pyre feared her, that should have been enough warning for me.

My eyes continued darting around the room, searching for a way out. I saw nothing. A catwalk raced around the top of the room, but I could see no logical way of getting up to it. There was only one entrance to the room, a large set of metal double doors. But even that was seemingly impossible to get to as a particularly large hellhound stood in front of it, making sure no pony could get out.

Viscera saw my eyes linger on the door and laughed. “Oh, what’s this? Are you trying to figure out a way to escape?” She grinned down at me, showing off her wicked sharpened fangs. “There is no escaping. There is no running. It doesn’t matter how far away you get. We will find you.”

I tried to push her hoof off of me, but her strength far exceeded my own. “Wh-what do you want?”

Viscera looked at me almost pitifully. She stared down at me for a few seconds, contemplating the question. “It’s not often that a pony asks a raider what they want,” She finally replied, her malicious grin widening. “Usually we just want to have some fun,” Her hoof loosened its grip a little and she slid her hoof down the length of my body, finally bringing it to rest between my hind legs. I squirmed, trying to pull myself away from her unwelcome touch.

“Usually,” I pushed, picking out that particular word. I could feel my mind quickly spiralling into more and more panic and my thoughts became difficult from Visceras invasive touch. “So what particularly do you want right now?”

Viscera looked almost pleased with the question. “I’m here for Pyre. I’m here to make her pay for betraying me… but you…” She leaned in close, her mouth brushing up against my ear. “You and your friends are just entertainment.”

I shiver of fear shot through me at those words. There was no talking our way out of this. Our suffering was the only thing these psychopaths wanted.

Her tongue lolled from her mouth and she dragged its slimy surface across my face. I scrunched up my muzzle and shut my eyes as her tongue rolled over my face. She finally pulled herself away from me, walking towards one of the Hellhounds that stood guard over my friends.

Xayah looked over at me, her eyes both pleading and sorrowful. Her muzzle was broken and her left eye had swollen up. “Sorry Amber, we tried to hold them off, but they overpowered us.

The Hellhound above her abruptly kicked her, sending Xayah thumping against the wall. She rolled to a stop, blood drizzling from her mouth. “Silence! Save your talking for when the fun begins!” the hellhound snarled, his voice a low, unmistakable gargle.

Heartbeat pulled himself over to Xayah, wrapping his magic around her as he began to cast a healing spell. Another hellhound grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and tossed him across the room where he landed next to me with a loud thwack. His head lurched back, cracking against the wall and beginning to drizzle blood.

Heartbeat’s head shakily shifted to look at me, his eyes distant as he tried to shake the dizziness from his head. “Amber, w-what’s the plan?” His voice came out as little more than a frail croak. From the bruises and scars that covered his body, I could tell the raiders had been far from kind to him.

I just stared at him, unable to hide the growing terror in my eyes. “I-I dont’ have one… I don’t know…” I started to shake as the inevitability of the situation began to take hold of me. These weren’t just raiders, these were hellhounds. Heavily armed, well trained hellhounds. We were tied up, battered, broken and I had lost the use of my magic for the next few hours at least. And who knows what had happened to our weapons. I let my gaze land on the five other ponies the raiders had tied up. All of that and we had prisoners we needed to free. I couldn’t stand by and let Viscera and her hellhounds torture and kill these ponies.

“I grow tired of waiting,” I heard one of the hellhounds growl in it’s gravelly sounding voice. He reached down and plucked Xayah’s body from the ground. Xayah twisted, trying to get free of the hellhound's powerful grip, only to find herself trapped. “Let me fuck this cunt now while we wait for the others.”

There were more! Of course there were more. Pyre had told me that Viscera liked to travel in groups of ten, but there were only four here. I could feel my already dying hopes of escape fade away completely.

Xayah’s eyes widened at the hellhound's words. She began struggling harder to free herself, only for the hellhound to smush her face first against the wall. “Pony struggles against me. Pony needs to be taught a lesson!” The Hellhound spat. One of his large claws pinned Xayah to the ground by the neck as his other pushed her hind legs apart.

I screamed, pushing myself up and trying to rush at the Hellhound. My tied legs caught and I fell to the ground, my face crashing against the floor.

Another hellhound bounded forwards, its claws lashing at my hooves and pinning me to the ground as well.

“Wait,” Viscera sang out in a singsong voice. Both of the hellhounds froze at her words. “Pyre’s friends are to be kept alive until Pyre arrives. Believe me, that will be much more entertaining,” She glanced over at one of the tied up captives. “I’m sure we could do less with one of them though.”

The Hellhound holding Xayah down moved away from her, looming over the captive I didn’t know the name of. Xayah let her body relax with relief as the tight grip on her neck loosened.

The hellhounds screamed incoherent cheers as they moved in on the frightened captive. They didn’t kill the pony. That would have been far too kind. They raped them. They taunted them. They slowly carved off chunks of the bound ponies flesh and fed it to them.

The captive screamed. I tried to move my hooves to cover my ears, but they were tied too tightly. I turned my head away, burying it in Heartbeats side as the ponies wails continued. Heartbeat nuzzled me, unable to do any more with his bound hooves.

The screaming lasted for what felt like hours, but I knew it couldn’t have been any longer than five minutes. At last the screaming dulled to a pained whimper, the tormented pony no longer able to find the strength to scream.

I saw Viscera raise a hoof into the air, signalling for the Hellhounds to stop. The raider hellhounds pulled themself away from the bloody mass of flesh that had at once been a pony, blood and gore dripping and hanging from their jagged teeth and claws.

My eyes widened with horror as I took in the blob of squirming flesh where the pony had been. Their skin had been flayed, their limbs had been chewed. Both of the ponies eyes had been gored out, leaving its battered and bleeding face with two hollow black sockets looking out at nothing. But the worst part was, they were still alive. They squirmed back and forth, like a worm that had been impaled on the end of a fishing hook.

Viscera poked at the bloody body with a claw, tearing open a small gash in the ponies side. She leered down at the pony, her smile sick and twisted. “Still alive? Now who should I give the honour of finally killing you to?” She asked, her gaze drifting over her Hellhounds. She tapped her hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Lets see. Who deserves to give the final blow?”

Each Hellhound whooped manically as she trotted back and forth before them. Viscera raised a hoof into the air, slowly pointing to each Hellhound in turn, as if ordering them to take the ponies life before shaking her head and moving to the next hellhound.

With each and every time her hoof passed over one of the Hellhounds, they began to get more crazy, slowly working themselves up into a bloody frenzy. They leaped into the air, howling and screaming as if they themselves were in pain. Their huge claws fidgeted at their sides and lashed at the air as they impatiently waited for Viscera to decide.

Finally Viscera let her playfully sern face lighten and split into a vile grin. He body spun, her hoof moving away from the Hellhounds to point at me. “You!”

My eyes widened, my shivering body beginning to tremble even more. I shuffled back, pushing myself back up against the wall. “M-m-me?” My voice caught in my throat.

Viscera’s grin was unbearable. She hooked one of her hellhound claws into the shivering ponies side and tossed them at me. Their broken body landed in front of me, bumping into the air for a second from the heavy impact before skidding to a stop in front of me.

Up close I was able to see each and every gory detail in crystal clarity. They had been brutally skinned alive and the bones in their legs had been shattered. They had at one point been a unicorn, but now their horn was little more than a jagged stump of shattered bone. I couldn’t tell if they were a mare of a stallion. If they had been a stallion, the Hellhounds had gelded him.

Viscera closed in on me, baring her jagged teeth as she leered. “Well, kill them.”

I tried to scoot back again, but I was already as pressed up against the wall as I could get. The pony before me raised its head shakily and looked towards me with its eyeless sockets. Its mouth silently mouthed the words “Please…” Whether they were asking me to save them or for me to kill them I didn’t know.

Heartbeat tried to move in front of me protectively, only for Viscera to toss him aside with a swipe of her hoof. Heartbeat hit the ground hard, a large, bloody gash across the side of his face.

I looked back up at Viscera, my eyes wet from tears. “Wh-why have me… why have me k-kill them?”

Viscera’s grin simply continued to grow. “You’re the perfect pony to do the job. I’ve been watching you and your friends for days. You don’t want to see this poor pony suffer… so put them out of their misery,” she pushed the dying pony a little closer to me with a hoof.

It was cruel and unfair, but she was right. If I didn’t kill them, they would slowly die of blood loss, assuming they didn’t first die from the shock. It would be a slow death, a painful death. But I was being given the option to kill them now. Save them from the endless pain they were enduring. End their life quicker.

Shakily, I pulled myself forwards and limped towards the shivering blob of flesh. As I reached forwards I began to realise the second part of Viscera’s plan. I didn’t have any weapons and my hooves had been tied. I couldn’t kill them quickly. They would die slowly and painfully anyway.

I propped the dying ponies head up against my chest and began to wrap my hooves around them, the barbed wire holding my hooves together pressing tightly up against their neck. The pony gagged, they’re hooves failing frantically around them out of instinct as they felt the sharp wire dig into their flesh and begin to choke them.

I held my hooves steady as the pony squirmed. I let my head reach down so that my mouth was inches from their ear. “I’m sorry.”

The pony calmed a little at the words, but they didn’t stop struggling. Finally there was a ragged sounding choke, and the pony went still.

Breathing heavily, I pulled myself away from the body. My hooves were soaked in the ponies blood, both metaphorically and literally. I could hear the hellhounds around me cheering and screaming for more. I tried to ignore them.

I let my gaze lift up to look at Viscera. How I hated her. My hateful gaze was simply met with twisted amusement.

“Eat them,” Viscera soothed, her expression unchanging.

I felt my body go cold. She wasn’t asking me to… Goddesses… I couldn’t…

One of the hellhounds placed their sharp claws against Xayah’s neck. Xayah tried to pull back, only for the hellhound to dig its claws in deeper, drawing a trickle of blood. Xayah looked at me pleadingly, fear sprawled across her face.

Viscera leaned in closer, her eyes dazzling with glee. “I said eat them.”

I lay there, unmoving for the longest time as I sat and stared at the lifeless corpse of the pony I had just killed. It wasn’t fair! I couldn’t just… just eat them! They deserved better than that.

I saw the hellhounds claws dig even deeper into Xayah’s flesh.

I sighed and pulled myself forwards, trying my best to not give Viscera the satisfaction of seeing me cringing away. I opened my mouth, the lips trembling as I stared down at the body. I shut my eyes, and took a bite.

My mouth filled with bile and I vomited on myself, coating my hide in bile and the remains of the stew I had eaten this morning. The taste of flesh and blood filled my mouth and I forced myself to swallow. The pony flesh oozed down my throat in chunky globs, feeling more like a slime than meat.

My body trembled and I toppled over, retching, my body trying to expel the vile substance I had just forced myself to consume.

The Hellhounds had gone into a manic frenzy now, leaping and cheering as they watched me gagging on the floor in a pool of my own filth and blood.

I could feel Viscera petting the top of my head as if I were a dog. I wanted to spin around and attack her, but I couldn’t find the strength. I knew she would just beat me if I did anyway.

The door clicked open and four more hellhounds marched into the room. One of them shoved a battered looking Brisk forwards, making him collapse to the ground in the center of the room. The other three pulled Pyre forwards, large chains wrapped tightly around her power armour as they dragged her in. Like the rest of us, both Brisk and Pyre had been removed of their weapons.

Outside the door I could see two more hellhounds standing guard. There would be no escaping out that way.

Viscera’s face lit up as she saw Pyre being dragged towards her. She stood upright and clapped her forehooves together happily. “Pyre! It's so good to see you!” Viscera cooed, waltzing across the room and giving Pyre a playful hug.

Pyre glared back at her from behind her helmet. “I can’t say the feeling is mutual I’m afraid,” She growled back, her voice filled with loothing. She turned her head to face the rest of us. “Everypony alright?”

I was going to nod back, but before I could Viscera had slapped Pyre across the face, sending the raider sprawling to the floor.

“You will only address me right now you fucking cunt!” Viscera raged, her hoof slamming down on Pyre’s head and pinning her to the ground like she had done to me when I had first come to my senses. She leaned down, her voice cold and merciless. “You will only address me right now… understand?”

Pyre was silent for a long moment before finally grunting out. “Yes… I understand.”

Viscera straightened herself up and put on a happy expression. “Wonderful. This is going to be so fun, I have some great games planned!”

I pulled myself over to Brisk and let myself collapse next to him. “Bro, are you alright?”

Brisk looked back at me, his expression pained. “I’ve had better days.”

I glanced around the room, noticing that someone was missing. “Where is Mirra?” I whispered, keeping my voice low, as to make sure the Hellhounds didn’t hear.

Brisk shook his head. “I-I don’t know. Pyre told her to run. I haven’t seen her.”

Mirra was still free, she might still be able to save us. I felt guilty just by thinking those thoughts. I hoped she ran and never looked back. She was too young to need to see things as horrible as what was happening in this room.

The sound of Viscera’s Hellhound claws clattering against the ground alerted me of her approach. I looked up just in time to see her hoof reach down and lift my head up. “Tell me Amber, how much about Pyre do you really know?”

I squirmed in her grip, trying to shake myself free. Finally I just gave up and went limp in her grip. “What are you talking about?”

Viscera sneered and pointed over at Pyre. “That lovely raider over there. How much do you know about her?”

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say. “I… I know… I don’t know, I know lots of different things…”

Viscera’s grin momentarily switched to annoyance. “The details! Did you know about all the things her father did to her? The things we did together in the Manehattan Scourge? Her cutie mark story?”

I opened and closed my mouth, trying to figure out what to say. It suddenly struck me that I didn’t even know what Pyre’s cutie mark was.

Viscera’s grin returned, the expression on my face clearly saying everything. “Not even her cutie mark story?” She glanced over at Pyre playfully. “We have a lot of work to do!”

“Viscera, stop this!” Pyre growled, pulling herself back up and taking a step towards Viscera. The hellhounds moved to stop her, but Viscera waved them off.

“Beg then,” Viscera said flatly. She advanced towards Pyre, making my large raider friend take a step back. “Beg for me not to.”

Pyre looked around for a second, clearly looking for a way out. “Please stop this…” Pyre’s voice was so quiet that I could hardly even hear it.

Viscera snarled again. “Do it on your knees!” She screeched, her hellhound claws lashed at the ground, digging large groves into the metal surface.

Pyre stood a second longer, weighing her options. Finally, she bent her knees and knelt. “Please stop this Viscera. Let them go…”

Viscera reached out and placed a hoof on Pyres head gently. “Now say sorry.”

Pyre gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry.”

Viscera’s hoof pressed down harder on Pyre’s head, the sharp hellhound claws strapped to her hoof beginning to dig into her metal helmet. “I don’t believe you! Try harder!”

“I’m sorry for betraying you!” Pyre screamed out. I couldn’t see her face through her helmet, but from her voice I could tell she was crying. “I’m sorry for betraying you and leaving you behind! Just please don't do this again!”

Again… this had happened before. Pyre had told me she had been forced to kill her friends back when she was a slave, but had Viscera killed her friends on other occasions I didn’t know about?

The thought sent a shock of fear through me as I suddenly realised what Viscera was doing.

Viscera had a flare for the dramatic. She wanted to kill Pyre in a climactic duel. But she wanted more than that. She wanted it to be poetic. She wanted history to repeat.

She wanted Pyre to kill us herself…

Viscera’s head leaned down to Pyre. “No…”

Pyre’s head bolted up, fear making her whole body go rigid. “No! Stop! Viscera damn it! Don’t do this!”

Viscera took a few steps back, her grin the widest it had been since she had captured us. “Well, let's start off easy. Why don’t you tell everypony your cutie mark story?” Viscera soothed, her voice leaving no room for argument. She lay down beside me, as if a child awaiting story time.

Pyre was staring at her in horror, her eyes darting back and forth behind her helmet. She took a shaky step back, only for the hellhound guarding the door to push her forwards. “I-I… I ca… I can’t…” Pyre stammered, her whole body visibly quivering.

Viscera scowled. “Perhaps you need the proper motivation…” her horn glowed blue and suddenly I felt something tight clamp around my throat.

I reeled back, looking down to see a magical collar around my neck. I glanced around. All of my friends had similar glowing blue collars around their necks as well. The collars began to tighten, strangling me and making me choke out as my breath began to catch in my throat.

“Tell the fucking story slut or your friends choke to death!” Viscera scowled, her hellhound claws scratching at the ground violently.

Pyre seemed to shrink under the pressure of the situation. She hung her head and wailed.

I froze my struggling against the ever tightening collar as the wail reached my ears. Pyre was wailing like a foal. It didn’t even feel like I was looking at Pyre anymore, but a scared filly trapped in the dark. I… it was heartbreaking.

Viscera bared her teeth again. “Tell the story!”

“It’s bones!” Pyre screamed out, no longer able to take Viscera’s screams. “My cutie mark is charred, blackened bones…”

Pyre collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Viscera only scowled more. “Why!”

“Because that’s all that was left!” Pyre wailed, burying her head in her hooves as if trying to hide herself from the rest of us.

I felt the collar around my neck shift. At first I thought it was releasing, but it wasn’t. It was rising. Slowly, the collars started floating up into the air, pulling me and my friends upwards. I choked more, the collar suddenly becoming a magical noose.

“All that was left of who!” Viscera scowled. She pulled herself up from the ground and loomed over Pyre, her face demanding violent retribution.

Pyre stilled, her sobbing slowly dying down as a single moan escaped her lips. “Mom….”

I felt my blood run cold. Pyre had gotten her cutie mark by… burning her mother alive… the idea was too horrible to think about.

“And what happened to your cutie mark?” Viscera pushed, still not accepting Pyre’s answer as complete. When Pyre was unresponsive, Viscera bashed her across the head. “I asked what happened to your cutie mark!”

“I-I…” Pyre’s voice caught, her words nearly obscured by tears. “I burned it off…”

This had gone on for too long. We needed to get out of here. I could tell Pyre wouldn’t be able to stand any more mental torture. I didn’t think I could stand it much longer myself.

“Why?” Viscera snarled again, her face only inches from Pyres own. “Why did you burn your cutie mark off!”

Pyre whimpered. “Because you told me too.”

At last, the collars around my neck release. I fell to the ground with a thud, panting for breath. I could see Heartbeat, Brisk and Xayah not far away, each of them clutching at their throat where their coat and flesh had been stripped and rubbed dry by the tight collar.

“Exactly,” Viscera smirked, finally stalking away from Pyre. “And now you’re going to do what I tell you again,” She gestured to all the ponies around the room. “Choose two ponies Pyre. The ponies you choose die.”

Shakily, Pyre glanced around the room. Her gaze landed on the four remaining pony captives we didn’t know. Silently, Her hoof raised and pointed towards them. Viscera grinned and nodded to her hellhounds.

At once, the hellhound lunged forwards and began ripping into the two ponies. The ponies screamed, only for their cries to be obscured by the gurgling of blood. Something rolled towards me and bumped against my hoof. A severed pony head, its eyes wide and empty.

The hellhounds moved away, leaving the mangled bodies of the ponies laying dead on the floor.

Viscera turned back to Pyre. “Predictable, but that is why we brought those ponies along. We figured we’d start off easy before we start to have the real fun. Now choose two more. These ones will get a different fate.”

Again, Pyre’s hoof raised and pointed to the two remaining ponies we didn’t know. The ponies stared back at her hoof, their faces filled with fear.

I screamed, trying to push myself between the Hellhounds and the captive ponies. “Damn it, let them go!” I screamed, swinging my bound hooves at the hellhounds. The hellhound quickly knocked me aside with a single swipe.

Viscera whirled and sprang at me, her hellhound claws digging deep into the flesh of my forehooves. “This is about Pyre!” Viscera shrieked, her voice manic and angry. “You will not interfere! You’ll get your turn!”

She lashed at me again, sending me tumbling across the floor. Viscera stood there seething at me for a moment before pulling on a warm and almost caring smile. She gestured towards the hellhounds again.

The hellhounds were grinning as they moved in towards the two ponies Pyre had pointed towards. I could tell from their expressions that they were excited for this part. Their claws lashed forwards, but instead of slicing into the ponies as I expected, their claws cut through their bonds.

The two ponies looked at their freed hooves in surprise for a moment. They looked up at Viscera as if expecting this to be some sort of cruel joke. Viscera just gave them a kind grin back. “You are free to go now.”

The hellhound guarding the door stepped aside, letting the two surprised ponies walk past and out into the building.

Pyre watched the ponies leave for a moment in surprise before turning back to Viscera. “You.. let them go?”

Viscera gave her a warm smile. “Of course. You should have picked your friends. They could be walking free right now. Now pick two more…”

I felt my stomach drop. Viscera had planned that. She had known Pyre was going to pick the two that weren’t her friends first. This next round of whatever sick twisted game this was wasn't going to be as forgiving, and we all knew it.

Pyre’s eyes darted across the room, moving back and forth between all of us. Whomever she picked next she would be signing up for a death sentence, and she knew it. So Pyre just stood there, refusing to choose.

Viscera scowled at her. “Pick or I pick for you!”

Pyre shook her head. “No… I… I can’t do… I can’t do it…”

Brisk stood up before anypony could stop him. “I’ll do it. Let the rest of them go,” he wobbled on his hooves as he stood, his balance kept off by the barbed wire around his hooves and the beating he had received before getting thrown into this room with us.

Viscera swung around and slashed him across the chest, ripping three holes in his barding and flesh beneath. Brisk stumbled backward, blood oozing from his front. “Pyre will choose!” Viscera howled at him, once again seething as she had when I had tried to interject. She paused, thinking for a second. “Actually, I think I will let you in on this one... you might be just the pony we need for this specific part of the game,” She turned back and glared at me. “You and your sister here.”

I felt my whole body lock up with fear. How did she know that? Had she heard me when I called him Bro? I had been whispering that though, there was no way that...

She is more hellhound than pony, Pyre had told me. Of course she had enhanced hearing. She had augmented all of her senses.

I took an involuntary step back. “What are you…”

Viscera leered and sliced Brisk and I’s bonds open with her hellhound claws. “Fight… fight to the death.”

No… I wouldn’t do that! I couldn’t do that. I stared over at Brisk who was looking at me with worried eyes.

The Hellhounds around began cheering more, riling themselves up as they awaited a big fight they had no doubt been expecting since the beginning.

Pyre pushed herself forwards. “No, stop this Viscera! Just kill me, I’m who you want! I even have my armor! We can end the legend of the great Manehattan scourge here and now!”

Viscera tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Hmmmm. Tempting, but no… We’ll get to that afterwards,” She returned her gaze to Brisk and I. “Now fight!”

I never saw Xayah get up. At some point she had crawled forwards and positioned herself behind Viscera. I only saw her once she lurched forwards and wrapped her barbed wire bonds around Viscera’s neck.

“Xayah! Don’t!” I heard Pyre shout, worry and surprise flaring through her voice.

Viscera stumbled back, shocked by the sudden attack. Her shock was quickly replaced with rage. Her forehooves lashed behind her, the hellhound claws cutting deep into Xayah’s flesh. Xayah staggered back, bleeding from three deep gashes in her leg.

But Viscera wasn’t done. Now free of Xayah’s grasp, she spun around and lashed out again. Her claws tore through the fronts of Xayah’s legs, ripping apart flesh and shattering bone.

Xayah screamed, falling back and collapsing to the ground in a heap. I stared in horror as I realised her forehooves didn’t fall with her. Viscera had ripped Xayah’s hooves from her body.

Viscera growled, pressing her hoof down on Xayah’s head as a display of power.

I screamed. I doubt my screams made coherent words. I dashed forwards, swinging my hooves at Viscera in a frantic attempt to get her away from Xayah. Viscera didn’t even flinch as two of the hellhounds grabbed onto me and tossed me back to the ground.

Heartbeat pulled himself over, his horn once again flaring to life as he attempted to cast a healing spell on the heavily bleeding zebra.

Viscera chuckled, her hoof lashing out and slashing Heartbeat across the throat. Blood spurted from his neck as he fell back, a large gash racing from one side of his throat to the other, just stopping short before his jugular. Heartbeat eyes were wide with shock, his mouth opened and closed aimlessly as he tried to get breath, only for blood to start spilling from his mouth.

I felt something inside of me snap. Heartbeat wasn’t dead, no yet, but there was no surviving a wound like that. He would slowly bleed out, drowning in his own blood. There was no way for me to save him. Even if Viscera and her hellhounds weren’t present, there was nothing I could have done to stop him from slowly choking to death.

Viscera lowered her hoof and looked down at the slowly dying nurse Heartbeat. “Such a shame, really. I kinda wanted to fuck him…” She turned to look at Pyre lazily. “Well? Are you going to put him out of his misery or not?” Pyre just continued to stare at her in horror. When Pyre didn’t move, Viscera elaborated. “This here is my favorite type of wound. I like to give it to all of my prey,” I could see Viscera’s wicked smile growing as she began to circle around Pyre. “I didn’t slice his jugular. He won't die of his wound. The good nurse will die of blood loss, but he’s going to die feeling like he’s drowning in his own blood. It should take a full ten minutes before he is fully dead.”

I saw Brisk drop to his haunches beside me, his gaze locked on our dying friend. I could feel my fear and terror slowly being replaced with a burning anger.

Something caught my attention. My eyes drifted up to the catwalks above us. There, shivering in fear was Mirra. She had her pistol drawn and was aiming it down at Viscera. But how had she…

My eyes landed on a small vent set into the roof. It had been popped open. Mirra had come in through the ventilation system. I didn’t know if I should fear for her or be proud of the little filly.

I forced myself to look away from her, not wanting to give away her position to the raiders.

Pyre took a step forward, then another, and another, until she came to loom over the Heartbeat. She knelt down, her gaze unable to meet his. Heartbeat was looking up at her, his eyes pleading. Pyre’s hooves wrapped around Heartbeats bleeding throat.

My eyes darted back up to Mirra. If ever there was a time for her to do something, it was now. But when I saw her, the little hope I had had of her saving us began to once again die. She was cowering, her aim faltering slightly.

Finally meeting his gaze, Pyre leaned down and put her mouth against Heartbeat’s ear. “I’m sorry you had to die because of me… you were a good pony…”

Pyre’s hooves twisted. Heartbeat’s head snapped to the side with a sickening crack. His twitching stilled. Nurse Heartbeat died.

My legs finally gave out from under me completely and I collapsed to the ground sobbing. I stared at the lifeless body of my friend, more and more tremors racing through my body.

Heartbeat lay still on the floor in a pool of his own blood, his throat lashed open and twisted at an impossible angle. His lifeless eyes stared back at me, pale and emotionless.

Slowly, Pyre pulled herself back to her hooves. Her expression was unreadable through her enclosed helmet.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the bleeding corpse on the floor. We had just lost one of our own. We had failed him. I had failed him

My eyes shifted to Xayah, she was nudging her severed forehooves desperately, as if unable to believe that they had truly been cut off. Her eyes looked distant, the blood loss clearly getting to her as well. She fell over, limp, her chest slowly rising and falling as she slipped into unconsciousness.

We were going to lose even more of us if we stayed around here any longer. My eyes once again began darting around the room, looking for a way out. Nothing. The door was blocked and guarded and there was still no way up to the catwalks where Mirra was hiding.

Viscera turned back to face me, her voice returning to a low hum. “Now, where were we?” Her eyes landed on Brisk and I. “Ah, that’s right. You two were going to fight to the death for us...” Her hoof reached out, one of her claws cutting into Xayah’s side. “Or I will make her death far worse than just blood loss.”

Blam!

A single shot rang out from the catwalks. Viscera dodged, the bullet whizzing past her and grazing her side. The raider winced, her gaze shifting upwards and landing on a whimpering Mirra. She scowled, but her mouth couldn’t stop twisting into a wide grin all the same.

“Ah, the changeling,” Viscera cooed, seeming to soak up the small changelings' fear. “I was wondering where you had gotten off to. Boys!”

Two of the hellhounds rushed forwards, their large claws digging into the metal walls and they began to climb up towards Mirra. Mirra squeaked in fear, darting back towards the vents. The Hellhounds got there first.

This was probably going to be our only chance. I had to act now. I swung around to buck at Viscera, only for two more hellhounds to rush at me and once more pin me to the ground.

I saw another do the same to Brisk and another jump at Pyre.

This wasn’t a rescue. This wasn’t an escape. This was simply Viscera proving that there was no hope.

The two hellhounds climbed back down from the catwalks, Mirra tight in their grip. Before Mirra could even try to squirm away, they had bound her in barbed wire and roughly tossed her into the corner, shivering.

Viscera returned her attention to us. “Now that we’re all here, let’s raise the stakes. One of you dies in the next minute, or the changeling filly suffers the same fate at your nurse.”

I wanted to scream. It wasn’t fair! None of this! I couldn’t just kill Brisk, but if I did nothing both Xayah and Mirra would die. I turned to look at him, seeing that his face was filled with confliction as well. He was clearly thinking the same thoughts.

“Just kill me,” I whispered to him quietly. “Maybe if you do that she’ll let you all go.”

Brisk just stared back at me with disbelief. “I-I can’t do that Amber. The wasteland needs ponies like you… no, the wasteland needs you! It doesn’t need another selfish pony like me who’s only looking out for themself.”

I let my mouth drop open a little. “How… How can you say that! Of course it needs you! I need you! I never would have made it this far if not for what you’ve done!”

The Hellhounds had formed a circle around us now, their mouths twisted into foul grins as they closed in. They were chanting, urging us to fight. I wanted to buck them all in the face.

It felt so wrong, that I could have traveled so far, faced so much, only to fail and die here. But as I looked around the room I saw nothing. No way to escape, no sudden last minute surprise that would swoop in and save the day. It was just us and the raiders… and the raiders had won.

One of the Hellhounds snarled, pushing me forwards with a claw. It howled with laughter as I staggered towards the center of the group. “Fight already bitch! Kill the pony!”

I scowled back at the hellhound and returned my attention to Brisk. “Just kill me Brisk. Then you, Xayah and Mirra can walk away. I… I don’t think I would be able to live with myself if I had to kill you…”

“Neither could I…” Brisk said back, his tone uneven and shaky. “You’re my sister Amber, I can’t hurt you… not again…”

“Get on with it!” A hellhound growled, gnashing its teeth at us violently. “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Quickly, the rest of the hellhounds began to join in on his chant, here manic howls turning to psychotic laughter. “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”

I heard Viscera groan from somewhere behind me. “Tick-tock ponies! I want to see blood soon or I cut off the tiny little changeling's head!”

“Just let them go!” I heard Pyre pleading, her voice soaked with fear. “You don’t need them, just me!”

I could feel Viscera’s hungry eyes burning into the back of my head. “You’re right Pyre… I don’t need them… Kill the changeling!”

Pyre flew at Viscera, her armoured hooves lashing at her frantically, only for the chains holding her down to pull taught before she could reach her. “NO! Don’t touch her!”

No! Damn it! Not another one!

One of the hellhounds broke off from the circle and moved towards Mirra, its claws reaching out to tear into her. Mirra screamed, her hooves struggling to free themselves as she reached for something in her saddlebags with her mouth. Her thin wings had been tied above her, restricting her access to whatever she was trying to reach.

“Wait!” I yelled out, tears once again streaming down my face. The hellhound froze, its claws only inches from Mirra’s face. I glanced over at Brisk, my heart sinking.

Brisk was staring back at me bravely, beckoning me onward. There was no way Viscera was going to let Pyre leave this room alive, and one of the two of us had to die, but the rest might be able to survive. Mirra didn’t deserve this, and there was still a chance to save Xayah, though from the blood spilling from her body, I was guessing those chances were slim.

I took a deep breath. “I…” My voice refused to say the next few words. I gulped, biting back tears and pushed onwards. I took a timid step towards Brisk. “I’ll kill him…”

I could feel my heart start pounding and a sense of dread wash over me. I could see Brisk’s whole body tense up in anxiety as I took another step towards him. I could tell he tried to keep up his brave expression, but it was clear that he was scared. He didn’t want to die. Not here. Not now.

Viscera moved around the outside of the circle of hellhounds, slowly moving into my field of view. She grinned at me, once more showing off her sharpened teeth. “Wonderful! How do you wish to kill him?”

My legs started shaking and threatened to give out from under me. How did I want to kill Brisk!? That question wasn’t fair! I couldn’t decide that sort of thing!

I glanced over to Brisk for suggestions. He just looked back at me grimly, his face slowly filling with resignation. “Just make it quick please,” He said flatly, his breath coming out in pained pants.

I grimaced and gave a small nod. “J-just a gun…”

Viscera tensed. For some reason she hadn’t seemed to expect that response. I suppose she had been expecting something more sinister and primal. She held up Mirra’s revolver which the hellhounds had confiscated and dumped all but one of the bullets onto the floor. She glared at me dangerously before placing the weapon on the ground.

“If it looks like you are even beginning to point this at us, all of your friends die,” Viscera hissed, her voice destroying any hope that might have come from getting possession of a firearm. The hellhounds looming over Mirra, Xayah and Pyre tightened their grips on my friends, digging their claws into their flesh. She placed a hoof against the revolver and slid it across the floor to me.

The gun skidded to a stop at my hooves. I stared at the weapon, my mind unable to fully register what I was about to do. I went to pick it up with my magic, only for the large crack Viscera had put in my horn to flare with pain.

My hooves flew to my horn, grasping at it in a futile attempt to stop the pain. The hellhound cackled at my pain as I almost doubled over in agony, my vision spinning.

Shaking off the pain, I took the revolver up in my hooves. I had the sudden urge to spin around and shoot Viscera, despite her warning. But what would that accomplish? All my friends would die and there’s a good chance Viscera would be able to get out of the way of the shot anyway.

Fuck me! Now I had a weapon and I couldn’t even use it on anypony but Brisk.

Moving forwards with shaky legs, I pulled myself up to Brisk and sat down beside him. I took a deep breath, my gaze fixed on the revolver and unable to meet his eyes.

I heard Brisk take a worried breath of his own. I felt his hoof gently wrap around my shoulder and pull me closer. “It’s okay Amber. Everything is going to be okay.”

It was a lie. A hollow, empty lie. And we both knew it. Even if by some miracle we both managed to walk out alive, things would never be okay after this. Heartbeat was dead, Xayah was without her forehooves, and the rest of us would be emotionally scarred for the rest of our lives.

Stealing myself, I tilted my gaze up to look at him. I found myself looking up into his eyes. They were nice eyes, a light blue. Similar to Viscera’s, though lacking the malic and the hate. I felt hot tears pooling in my eyes.

“But it’s not going to be okay Brisk… I…” I had to stop as my words were obscured by a painful sob. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without you! I can’t do this alone! I can't!”

Brisk just smiled back. “Yes you can. I know things were hard for you back in Stable 25. I know you left that place feeling like you were worthless at everything. But it’s not true. You are an amazing pony Amber Aura. Not just anypony can do what you have done.”

I sniffled, amazed that Brisk was somehow managing to hold back his tears. “But… Without you I… I don’t think that…”

Brisk put a hoof to my lips. “We do what we can to save the ponies of the wasteland Amber. Save the ponies that we care about. We are not raiders. That’s what you taught me,” he couldn’t hold back anymore. A single tear rolled down Brisk’s face. “When I left the Stable, I didn’t expect to last the night. You saved me and showed me a way to survive. DJ Pon3 might always be talking about that other Stable Dweller, but you’re my bringer of light Amber. You saved me when I thought I would die. Now let me save you.”

My body felt like lead. I was sinking. Farther and farther down into an abyss. I couldn’t do this! It was all too much!

Brisk wrapped me in a tight hug, holding me close as I blubbered against him.

Damn me… I had to do this.

I pulled back and looked back up at him, forcing myself to give him a smile. I wasn’t going to let him die without seeing one last smile. “Tell me a joke Brisk,” I said, raising the gun upwards a little. My hoof shook, my whole body screaming in protest and telling me to put the gun back down. “Just one more…”

Brisk gave me a warm smile and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Yeah… one more joke would be nice,” He thought for a second, his eyes still closed. “What did the hungry Appaloosa say when he finished his haynet?”

I placed the barrel of the gun against Brisk’s head. I could feel a tremor run though his body as he felt the cold metal of the gun press against his temple. I sighed, my stomach clenching up on itself. “I don’t know Brisk, what?”

Brisk allowed a small laugh to escape his lips. “That hits the spots.”

A tight knot formed in my throat. I could feel myself stop breathing for a moment. It was time. “I… I love you bro…”

A genuine smile forced its way onto Brisk’s lips. “I love you too sis...”

A tremor shot through my body. I shut my eyes, not daring to look. My grip tightened on the trigger of the Revolver.

Bang!

I flinched back, blood and gore splashing onto my face and mixing with the tears that streamed down my cheeks. Brisk dropped to the floor, his own body now drenched in hot blood, gleaming black in the dim lighting.

The hellhound beside us had exploded a mere second before I had pulled the trigger. I clutched the revolver to my chest, feeling the weight of the single bullet that still resided inside, fearful tears spilling down my face.

“What the fuck was…” Viscera screamed out, taking a step back from where the hellhound that had exploded. She was cut short as she saw a bunch of metal apples rolling across the floor towards her. Her eyes widened. “Apple grenades!”

Viscera and her hellhounds scattered, moving away from the explosives as quickly as possible. Brisk leaped to his hooves, pulling me up and throwing me away as well. The grenades exploded, showering the room in shrapnel.

Mirra fluttered past me, her hooves still bound in barbed wire, but her small insectoid wings free. And with her wings free, she was able to reach back grab at things in her saddlebags. She pulled another apple grenade from her saddlebags with her mouth and tossed it towards the raiders. “You should have taken all my stuff!” Mirra spat, what would have normally been welcome snark, marred by the atrocities that had transpired.

I rushed to Xayah’s side and tossed her over my back, not daring to check to see if she still had a pulse. I could see Brisk quickly releasing Pyre from her chains, his bobby pins making quick work of the raiders crude lock. He must have hidden some bobby pins in his mane or tail before we were captured.

The door slid open and the two hellhounds waiting outside stepped in, their faces twisted into a snarl. “What the fuck is happening in…”

I fired the single shot of the revolver into one of the hellhounds face. The beast staggered back, blood oozing from his missing eye.

I darted past him, my movement slowed by the weight of Xayah’s limp form on my back. Her body kept sliding off my side, her two missing hooves making it hard to find any secure way to carry her.

My surviving friends rushed out behind me, all diving out of the way as the second hellhound in the doorway swung at them with its claws.

“Noooo! Fuck! No! Get them!” I heard Viscera shrieking behind me. “Bring Pyre back! Kiiiiiillll!”

We darted down the hallway, looking for a way out. It didn’t take long to find one. We burst into the main lobby of the tower, the doorway leading out of the MWT Hub only a few feet away.

“Go! Now!” Pyre urged, darting towards the door as fast as she could. I could hear the hellhounds behind us charging down the hallway, their long claws scratching at the walls in a desperate attempt to recapture us.

I began to move forwards, then stopped. I could feel Xayahs’ blood dripping down my side. She wasn’t going to make it, not while losing this much blood. She had already been bleeding out for a few minutes already, who knew how much longer she had.

I stood frozen, my hoof only a few inches from the door. My mind was racing a hundred miles an hour. There was a way that I could save her… but I didn’t like it.

Brisk turned back, his eye catching with mine. “Sis, what are you doing!?”

I gulped, my mind already made. “Get to the Friendship Express, I’ll meet up with you there!” I called back, taking a step away from the door.

Pyre whirled around, looking back at me with horror as she realised I planned to head back inside. “Amber, are you crazy! Viscera will kill you!”

Mirra stuck her muzzle into her saddlebags and pulled out what looked like two small talismans. “We got the Talismans we were looking for before they captured us, we can come back later for the rest!”

We had all the components we needed to make one of the two teleportation devices, but this wasn’t just about making those devices any more. I looked back at Xayah on my back. She looked so small and weak, her white coat was beginning to look sickly. I had to save her. I had to...

I turned back to face them, my expression a mix of determination and fear. “I’ll see you guys again, I promise!”

With that, I turned tail and darted back into the building, rushing up the stairs just as the small army of hellhounds poured into the lobby. I heard my friends give a startled yelp before darting off down the road.

The hellhounds burst out of the building and onto the street, not paying me any heed. One glanced up at me, before growling and darting out the door. Their orders were to get Pyre, not me.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. I could do this.

Click. Clack.

A sharp ringing sound echoed throughout the building. I shivered at the noise. It was the scratching of hellhound claws against metal.

“Oh, Amber!” Viscera’s voice singsonged out in a playful voice from the gloom of the building. Her voice echoed off the walls, making it sound like she was in every direction at once. “I know you’re still in here! I can smell your fear!”

My heart thudded in my chest. I turned and bolted down the hallway, turning a corner that led to the intersection I had seen when we first arrived. I didn’t bother to look up at the signs hanging above the hallway, I just banked and rushed down the appropriate hall.

I heard the sound of claws scratching against metal behind me. The sound of cackling was slowly getting closer. I didn’t dare look back, fearing that if I did, Viscera would be upon me.

The scratching didn’t sound like she was moving fast. She was trying to scare me, playing with her prey as she hunted. It was working.

Sweating profusely, I turned and rushed towards the robotics lab. The large metal door was still open, thank the goddesses. I leaped forwards, pulling Xayah and I into the room and reached for the terminal that rested just inside the door. My hoof slammed down on the emergency lock.

I turned to face the door. Viscera was standing just beyond, her hooves outsreched and reaching to rip me apart. With a hiss, the door abruptly began to slam shut. Viscera scowled, lunging forwards, claws extended.

She was too slow. Viscera rammed herself against the metal door as it slammed shut, screaming and howling like a wounded animal. “You think you can hide from me! You think you can escape!”

I jumped back as Viscera slammed herself against the other side of the door again, the thick metal denting inwards. I heard her claws begin slashing at the metal, filling the air with ear piercing shrieks of metal on metal.

I stumbled towards the augmentation machine in the center of the room, pushing the skeletal pony off of the platform. I hauled Xayah’s limp body off of my back and began fastening her to the machine.

Goddesses, I really hope this thing still worked after two hundred years in the apocalypse.

I felt the first few drops of rain land on my head as the sky above began to open up and pour down on us through the open roof above. I pulled myself away from Xayah, praying to Celestia that I had strapped her in properly.

Viscera rammed herself against the door again, another large dent forming in the metal door. “When I get my hooves on you, I’m going to fuck you sensless!” Viscera screamed, her claws once again slashing at the door. To my horror, I saw a small sliver metal get torn away from the door. “When I’m done with you, you’re going to beg me for death!”

I pulled myself over to the terminal at the base of the augmentation device and clicked it on.

>DOCTOR PESTILENCE’S TERMINAL OMEGA-5>

>Augmentation Program - Begin Process

>Procedure primed and ready

[Choose Augmentations]

[Activate]

I gulped and began looking over the augmentation options. The opportunities were nearly endless. I quickly realised that it wouldn’t be hard to transform Xayah into something not all that different from Crank and the other cyber ponies.

Crank had told me that he was a mix between MWT technology and various MAS projects. Were these augmentations the base for the cyber pony design Crank had been transformed into? It seemed very likely.

Crank had been powerful, next to unkillable. I could save Xayah! I could make sure she never got hurt like this again!

Guilt passed through me just by thinking those thoughts. No. Xayah wouldn’t want that. She wouldn’t want her body to be twisted and changed into something so sinister and vile.

Taking a deep breath, I selected the minimal possible augmentations and reached for the activation button.

Viscera slammed against the door again. Bits of metal flew away, leaving a small hole in the door for her to peer through. I saw one of her dazzling blue eyes peer through the hole and stare at me. “Hello Amber!”

Her claws began to poke through the hole, stripping away pieces of metal from the door. The hole began to grow.

I returned my attention to the terminal and clicked activate.

>DOCTOR PESTILENCE’S TERMINAL OMEGA-5>

>Augmentation Program - Activate

>Procedure primed and ready

>No Med-X detected

>No Morphine detected

>No Buck detected

>Do you still wish to begin the procedure?

[Yes]

[No]

I stared in horror at the words scrolling across the flickering green screen. The machine was out of painkillers!

I remembered my experience in Inferno’s body when he had been transformed into a cyber pony. The experience had been unbearable. And while I knew this procedure was less extensive and would probably hurt a little less, I couldn’t put Xayah through something like that without the proper pain medication…

A larger chunk of metal flew from the door, skidding across the room and landing in a large puddle that had been formed by the rain pouring in above us. One of Viscera’s hooves pushed its way through the door, reaching for me. “I’m going to get ya! I’m going to get ya!” The psychotic raider sang out, her claws now scratching at the inside of the door.

There was no other way. It was put Xayah through this, or let her die…

I clicked yes.

Immediately, metal, claw-like appendages descended from the remains of the roof, pulling Xayah’s body up into the air. I watched helpless as violent looking saw blades moved towards her, slowly shearing off the excess flesh and muscle around the stumps of her legs.

Xayah’s eyes popped open as the blades cut into her, her mouth twisting into a silent scream. She tried to thrash around, but the clamps and claws held her tight.

Four more claws moved in, carrying a pair of dark metallic forehooves. They began to attach them to Xayah’s stumps, small blow torches welding the metal to her flesh.

Xayah stared down at me, her face a mix of agony and terror. Her gaze locked with mine, her expression pleading for me to stop the machine. I did nothing but stare back in guilt and watch.

Large metal appendages ending in needle-like points dropped from the crumbling remains of the ceiling above and began probing into her body. I began to realise, even with the minimal augmentations I was giving her, how extensive and body altering they had to be. The legs had to be connected to her brain, spine and muscles still, otherwise the mechanical legs would be little more than heavy chunks of metal.

Scalpels began to cut into her flesh, peeling away bits of flesh around her shoulders and upper half of her cervix. Wires were sewn into and around her spine, racing up her neck and attaching into her brain.

Xayah finally began to scream. Her once silently twisting lips curling back and unleashing a blood curdling howl that shouldn’t have been able to be made by any pony or zebra. My whole body was trembling. I had done this to her...

I jumped as another part of the door fell away. The hole was almost large enough for Viscera to squeeze through. The raider began to cackle, it was a manic laugh that echoed around the chamber and rattled inside of my head.

The metal appendages began to stitch Xayah’s flesh back together, leaving throbbing red scars where they had cut into her.

At last they lowered her back to the ground and released, dropping her twitching body unceremoniously to the floor.

I rushed to her side, picking her up and throwing her over my back. She was unconscious again, pushed back into oblivion by the terrible pain of what had just happened to her.

I didn’t have time to see if she was alright. I pushed myself upwards and headed for the large catwalk that stretched along the top of the room. I grappled onto it, trying to pull both myself and Xayah’s now fairly heavy body up the steep incline.

The large metal door behind me burst open. I dared a glance behind me to see Viscera glaring at me with a murderous intent, her hoof claws digging deep into the metal flooring.

It was time to run.

I forced myself to push past my pain and rush for the end of the catwalk. I could hear Viscera howling and whooping behind me as she gave chase, her hellhound claws sticking into the catwalk, giving her traction and making her move much faster than I could.

I reached the end of the catwalk and bucked at it with my hooves. I’m not a strong pony, but the catwalk was only a small buck away from collapsing as it was.

The catwalk broke away, crashing back to the ground of the robotics lab. Viscera snarled, leaping from the catwalk seconds before it collapsed and digging into the side of the wall with her claws.

The raider glared up at me, her expression practically screaming all the different things she would do to me if she caught me. To my horror, she began to slowly climb up the side of the vertical wall face.

I spun on my hooves and rushed across the top of the collapsed skyscraper, making my way to the building across the street. The heavy rain slicked the already crumbling and uneven surface, making me need to put more effort into not slipping than moving forwards.

I reached the end of the makeshift bridge and dropped into the Ironshod Firearms building.

My hooves hadn’t even touched the ground when a ghoul leapt from the shadows of the collapsing room and lashed at me.

I rolled aside, narrowly avoiding the ghoul. Xayah fell from my back, toppling to the floor like a sack of rocks.

I stood over her defensively, staring down the feral ghoul. I thought to reach for my weapon, only to remember we had lost everything except Mirra’s revolver, and that was out of bullets.

The ghoul lunged, its hooves swiping at my head. I ducked and bucked at it as it sailed past me. I heard a crunch as one of the ghouls ribs snapped. It fell to the floor, screaming.

Not bothering to see if it was still able to fight, I scooped Xayah up and tossed her back over my back before rushing towards a set of stairs that lead down the building.

As I ran forwards, something caught my eye. A sign hung over one of the doors to my right. It read, ‘Weapons Development’.

I recalled the terminal entry I had read in the MWT hub about the Anti-cloaking devices. They had given two of them to a pony named Braeburn for weapons development. I might still have a chance to get everything I needed.

Changing direction, I turned and rushed towards the door. I pushed it open, moving into the room and searching for the Anti-cloaking device.

My eyes landed on a flickering terminal resting on a small desk. The screen had cracked and it was coated in a thick layer of dust, but it still seemed operational.

Quickly checking my EFS to make sure Viscera wasn’t nearby, I moved over to the terminal and clicked it on. Multiple logs popped up on the screen, but a particular one caught my eye.

<PISTOL’S TERMINAL 1A>

>Log #32 - Braeburn’s Liberator shotgun and Anti-Cloaking Device

>The MWT was generous enough to lend me two of their Anti-cloaking devices yesterday. The first one of course is being used to make duplicates, we’ll probably start production on those next week, but the second went right into my personal beauty.

>I call it Braeburn’s Liberator. Named after the pony I intend to give it to of course. The thing is an absolute masterpiece of wartime weaponry. A quad barrel shotgun! Power of a shotgun with the speed of a combat shotgun, not to mention the four shots as opposed to the usual one or two that the average shotgun holds.

>But the beauty of the weapon doesn’t end there, oh no! I’ve enhanced the weapon with all the state of the art tech. Fire talismans, targeting talismans, regeneration talismans and you guessed it, that lovely Anti-cloaking device. This baby can find and locate any target, regardless of invisibility or EFS blockers!

>I’ll give it as a gift to Braeburn next time I see the old guy. He deserves it after all the heartache he and his family have been going through. I heard the death of Granny Smith hit him pretty hard. Don’t think he ever really got over that…

>Till then though, I’m keeping this magnificent weapon nice and safe here with me. I’ll find something more protective than a glass case for it tomorrow.

I looked up from the terminal and spotted the long, glass case that rested on the desk beside it. Inside was perhaps the single most beautiful weapon I had ever seen. As the terminal had suggested, it was a shotgun, equipped with four barrels. What the terminal failed to mention was that the shotgun had been engraved with gorgeous swirling, golden patterns along the barrels and stock. Along the side of one of the barrels read, ‘Braeburn's Liberator’ in elegant golden font.

Beside the glass case was exactly what I was looking for. The second Anti-cloaking device. I quickly picked it up and tossed it into my saddlebag with the other one.

I returned my attention to the glass case that held Braeburn’s liberator. The creator of the gun had been right, it was a work of beauty. And I wanted it.

I shifted my gaze down to the clasp on the case. It was locked.

I wanted to scream. The most beautiful, perfect weapon in the world was only inches away and I couldn’t reach it because of a dumb lock! I didn’t even have any bobby pins, not that I would have been able to pick it even if I did.

A small scratching sound drew my attention back to the door. My body locked up as I saw the source of the sound.

Viscera stood in the doorway, blocking our only way out of the room. She was grinning, knowing full well that she had caught us. She took a step forward, her large hellhound claws scratching deep grooves into the floor. “Amber, Amber, Amber. Tisk tisk. You can’t run from me.”

I took a step back, trying to keep my body between the raider and Xayah. I glanced at the door behind Viscera. There was no way I would be able to run past her, she was too fast.

I let my eyes land on the glass case holding Braeburn’s Liberator, a plan slowly forming in my mind.

Viscera took another step forward, seeming to savour the moment of having caught her prey. “Now what should I do with you Amber? Killing you is too quick. I’ll rape you, obviously, but there should probably be more...” her eyes lingered over Xayah’s limp body, her lips twisting into a sneer. “Perhaps I’ll make you eat your little zebra friend too. I’ll chop her up and feed you her heart piece by piece.”

The plan I was forming in my mind kept crumbling every time Viscera spoke. My plan wasn’t complicated, but her words were keeping me in a heightened state of panic. After everything I had been through, I knew Viscera wasn’t bluffing.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “I won’t let you hurt her,” I scowled, forcing myself not to simply charge the raider in sheer anger. “You will not touch her again!”

Viscera’s hellhound claws clicked against the ground as she took another step forward. She was getting closer, I could almost feel her warm breath breathing onto my face. “And how do you hope to stop me?” She leered, strutting forwards even closer with her lascivious walk. “Perhaps I’ll make you skin her alive first. I’m sure with the right motivation I could convince you to…”

I spun, bucking her in the face. Viscera leapt back, startled by my sudden attack. She clearly hadn’t been expecting something so rash. She staggered, managing to stay on her hooves.

Shutting my eyes tight, I slammed my head against the lid of the glass case holding the quad barrel shotgun. The glass shattered, the broken shards cutting deep into my hide. Blood spilled from my nose, I could tell it was broken.

With my head already half buried inside the case, I locked my mouth around the grip of the shotgun and swung it up to face Viscera, who was still trying to steady herself after the sudden buck to the face.

“This is for Heartbeat,” I scowled, my words surprisingly audible around the grip of the gun.

Braeburn’s Liberator fired. I staggered slightly as the powerful blast of the gun whiplashed me backwards. The explosive buckshot shot forwards and ripped into Viscera’s forehoof, the shot magically guided by the guns built in targeting talisman.

Viscera’s leg exploded, blasting her across the room and showering the hallway in her blood. Fire burst around the stump of her leg, sizzling and charrig her cream coat black. She landed in a heap, her remaining forehoof clutching at where the powerful shotgun ahd blasted into her and batting out the fire.

She glared up at me, her eyes brimmed with tears and fury. “I’m going to skin you alive and turn you into a coat!” She howled, staggering back to her hooves and lunging forwards, her remaining hoof claw slicing at the air in front of her.

I backstepped and fired at her again. Viscera was fast. Even with only three legs, she could move at speeds that could only be matched by a pegasus. She was not however, faster than a bullet.

Viscera dove to the side, the second blast from my shotgun tearing into her side and ripping apart her flesh. She fell back again, her already blood matted coat now almost completely black with blood in the dim lighting.

The raider shrieked like a wounded animal, rolling back to her hooves and glaring at me a burning anger.

I steadied Braeburn’s Liberator and aimed it at her, trying to calm the spinning in my head that had been caused by the extensive knockback of the gun.

Viscera slashed a hoof at the ground in defiance, sizing me up. “You’ve made a very grave mistake, Amber Aura! I’m going to destroy you! I’m going to fuck you and mount your flayed head on my wall! I’m going to use your severed head as a personal toilet you cunt fucking peice of…”

I didn’t let her finish her sentence. I fired again, this time at her head. Viscera rolled away, only narrowly avoiding the shot in her slowed state. The buckshot scratch at her cheek, drawing blood and burning the flesh around the wound. She spun and took off, racing away down the hallway.

I was about to put Xayah down and give chase when a realisation struck me. She was leading me into a trap. Viscera wasn’t stupid, and she was a skilled hunter. If I gave chase, she would manage to corner me again, and this time there would be no catching her by surprise.

Screaming at the injustice of it all, I turned and started rushing the opposite direction. I sent a prayer up to the goddesses that Viscera bled out and died of her wounds or that one of the buildings many ghouls would take her out while she was weakened.

It felt unfair and cruel that Viscera had done all that she had to us, and would still get to walk away with her life. But she wasn’t my main priority right now. I had to get Xayah to safety and rejoin with my friends. We had everything we had come for, now it was time to take on the Institute.

I rushed out onto the street. The rain was still spilling down from the clouds heavily, turning the barren and cracked street into one giant puddle. My hooves splashed in the water as I bolted away from the MTW and Ironshods buildings. My heart pounded in my chest and I could feel my breath beginning to come out in short ragged bursts.

There was no sign of my friends or the Hellhounds. Hopefully that had managed to get the hellhounds of their tail and gotten to the Friendship Express safely.

My instincts told me to rush straight to the Friendship Express, but the still composed part of my mind ordered me not to. Viscera was weakened, yes, but she was still hunting me, and her hellhounds could be anywhere. The last thing I needed were those psychopaths finding the Friendship Express.

Letting a shaky sigh escape my lips I began taking longer, roundabout side routes, making sure to keep my trail as vague and misleading as possible. My eyes continuously glanced down at my EFS, making sure that nopony was following me. I saw red bars flicker on the sides of my compass a couple times, but they seemed to be moving in the opposite direction.

When I was finally convinced that I wasn’t being followed, I began to make my way back to the metro station that housed the Friendship Express.

Exhaustion finally caught up with me and I collapsed to the ground in the middle of the empty street, water splashing up around me as I landed. Xayah moaned from atop my back as I hit the ground, still unconscious from the tortures of the day.

“I’m going to get you to safety,” I assured the sleeping zebra, pushing myself back to my hooves. I staggered, one of my knees deciding to give out as I put my weight on it. “I’m going to make this okay… I swear…”

One step at a time, I pulled us forwards through the pissing rain. Every few steps I would stubbled slightly, a few times I fell, only to pull myself back up and continue trudging on.

The heavy rain and thick, looming clouds cast the ruined city of Manehattan into a desaturated grey light, making the streets and buildings look completely foreign and strange. If not for the map on my pipbuck, I would have been completely lost.

I slowly pulled myself around a corner in the road, taking in the last stretch to the metro station. My eye caught on two shapes moving towards me, one green, one black.

“Amber!” Brisk called out, spreading up his already quick pace to reach me. Mirra rushed beside him, limping from a wound I never saw get inflicted. Pyre wasn’t with them.

I collapsed with relief as my friends moved up beside me. I felt Brisk lift Xayah off my back and onto his while Mirra pushed up against me to give me support. At once we began moving towards the metro station.

Our manes and coats were soaked and drenched by the rain and my muzzle had begun to run. I feared that I was catching some cold from the harsh weather, but my mind hardly had time to linger on that. I was too preoccupied reliving the events of the day in my head.

I feared for Xayah, and the effects that being turned into a cyber pony would have on her. I felt confliction and terror towards Pyre and the grim secrets about her that had been unveiled. But most of all, I mourned for Heartbeat. He had been a good pony, one of the few ponies in fact that I could genuinely say that about without a doubt in my mind.

Heartbeat had been the kind of pony to put the lives of others before his own, to heal even his enemies. He had become like family to me in the short time I had known him. He had planned to travel with us, to help us protect ponies. And now he was gone, ripped away from us in the blink of an eye.

I wanted to stop. I wanted to lie down right there in the rain and do nothing until I woke up from this horrible nightmare. But it wasn't a nightmare; it was all real.

I looked over at Brisk, his face forming a perpetual grunt as he struggled to haul Xayah the last little bit on is tired and battered limbs.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered to him, my eyes wet from both tears and rain. “I would never try and kill you, I promise… I would never… Goddesses, I’m so sorry…”

Brisk forced a glance over at me, his expression softening. “Amber, you had no choice. I understand. I told you too…” his tone was soft and caring, but there was a flicker of something else in it as well. Hurt.

No matter how dire the situation had been, no matter how much he had told me to kill him, no matter what he said then or now, the fact I had placed the gun to his head was a terrible blow in our relationship that would never truly go away.

We piled into the metro station, only slowing once to open up the secret door that led into the Friendship Express headquarters.

Pyre was waiting for us inside. She stared at us as we slowly dragged ourselves into safety, silently watching us with sad and tired eyes. I dared myself to look over to her and give her a reassuring smile, but she only frowned and turned away from me.

We simply collapsed without a word onto the floor once we had all made it inside. Friendship Express operatives were at our sides in moments with healing potions and bandages, clearly already informed by Pyre of our brutalized state.

I felt a healing potion get pushed against my lips. I drank it thankfully, feeling the potions magic slowly patch together the small cuts and gashes that covered my body.

Somepony was leading me further into the Friendship Express’ base, but my mind was too foggy and my eyes were too tired to see who it was. I felt myself get laid down on a mattress. Somepony above me was telling me to rest.

Yes, sleep sounded good. We could all use some sleep.

But I couldn’t. Every time my eyes started to close, Heartbeats broken and bleeding body would flash through my mind, jolting me back to the waking world. I curled up against myself, sobbing as the horrors Viscera had done continuously forced their way back into my mind.

Finally, I looked up from my mattress. Xayah lay not far from me, resting on her own mattress. She was twitching and squirming in her sleep, clearly trapped in a nightmare.

I slowly dragged myself over to her, wrapping my forehooves around her shivering body. I felt the icy touch of her new metal legs, sending a shock of cold through my whole body. I curled up around her and sobbed.

Finally safe and in Xayah’s embrace, my body let my mind drift away into oblivion. The horrors of my night terrors just as terrible as the horrors of the waking world.

Footnote: Half way to next level.

Author's Notes:

RIP Heartbeat. You were the first to fall...

Hope you all had a good day.

Fallout: Equestrian belongs to Kkat.