“But that doesn’t change a thing. I’m a synth, which means I need to be destroyed.”

Spies.

The Institute's influence had spread far. Farther than I could ever possibly know. Or perhaps I did know, but refused to accept it as truth.

If the files I had stolen from the Institute were to be believed, then they had multiple spies in almost every settlement and faction of note. Friendship City, Tenpony Tower, Oasis, The Hollow Shades, Las Pegasus, even settlements out in the Hoof and secret organizations like the Friendship Express were not free of the Institutes gaze. It seemed only Fillydelphia was exempt from this rule, for one reason or another.

Even my own band of friends were not safe from the Institutes spies it would seem.

I had seen the signs. How could I not, they had been everywhere. But I had been to blind and ignorant to accept them as facts. I had pushed the truth aside, not even daring myself to consider it as a possibility. Because the truth was too terrible for me to accept. But there was no denying it anymore. Now I knew...

The Institute had always stayed one step ahead of us at every turn. They had known exactly where we were, and when to strike. They had somehow known I would be on the roof of the Fluttershy Medical Centre before they sent a synth to retrieve the A.A.S.S. from me. It hadn’t been until after we had made it into the Friendship Express ourselves that the Institute had been able to dig its claws into their operations.

When I was in the Institute, Glasswing had threatened Xayah’s life if I didn’t cooperate. He had shown me a video of Xayah, through the video feed of a synth located within the Friendship Express. I had assumed the synth spy had been keeping a close eye on Xayah under Glasswings orders. It had never dawned on me until now that perhaps they had been watching Xayah under my orders instead.

The Institute had been watching us closer than I could have ever possibly realized. And the worst part was, I didn’t even know if their spy knew...

“Are you sure you’ll be fine? You could always travel with us if you want?” Brisk asked, his words jolting me from my thoughts. We were standing in the outskirts of the Manehattan Garden, the Manehattan streets once more in our view.

Star Breeze shook her head at Brisk. “Nah. I’ve got to report to the Enclave. But I appreciate the offer,” She shuffled her bandaged wing, at her side wincing slightly. “And I’ll be fine. Pegasi wings are made of tough stuff. It should be fully healed in a day or two. I should be flying without issue in half that time.”

“We do appreciate your assistance, even though we have not always seen eye to eye,” Xayah said stepping forward. “Perhaps we can be less shooty with each other the next time we cross paths?”

Star gave a weak smile. “Yeah, I’d like that…” She bit her lip, clearly hesitating to say something. “And for what it's worth, thanks for helping me out back there. I know I’m not always the easiest pony to deal with.”

Brisk seemed to blush a little. “You aren’t half bad,” Mirra snickered at that. I glanced over at her, but she quickly covered her mouth with a hoof at my stare.

Star rolled her eyes at Brisk and turned to face me. “I do have a word of warning though. About the Enclave,” I raised my eyebrows at that, enticing her to continue. “I’d probably be branded a dashite for telling you this, but I figured I owe you one for getting me out of that whole slavery thing and all, so I figured I might as well tell you. Despite what I’ve said in the past, I’d rather you didn’t die.”

Pyre gave a slight chuckle. I winced at the sound of her voice, not sure quite how to react to her considering what I had just discovered on the Institute files. Still wasn’t quite sure how to bring that topic up with Pyre yet. “No really?” Pyre mocked at the pegasus, sounding oddly in a good mood. “What is this information?”

Star scratched at the ground with a hoof. “Look, I don’t know when it’s going to happen. Probably pretty soon. But the Enclave is going to come down from the cloud layer.”

Pyre scoffed. “Yeah right. I’ve heard they’ve been telling ponies up there that for years. That one day they’d swoop down and save the poor ponies of the wasteland. That’s hardly news Star, that's propaganda.”

Star Breeze scowled at Pyre. “You want this information or not,” She turned back to face me. “I know what the Enclave has been saying. I’m not an idiot. But it’s different this time. Red Eye has been up to something, and it's got all the higher ups in the Enclave shitting themselves over it. They’re planning to come down and do something brash, soon. And not in a little recon squad like I was in. I’m talking a big ass fucking army. There are rumours about them starting something called Operation: Cauterize. I don’t know if they’re actually crazy enough to do something stupid like that, but if they do… I don’t know… just skip town or some shit like that. The Enclave isn’t a fucking joke and I’d recommend not getting in their way when they do decide to show up.”

I felt my eyebrows knit together. “What is Operation: Cauterize?”

Star gave a disgruntled huf. “Some dumb ass military operation the Enclave is planning, or thinking of planning. I don’t know. I’m a scientist, not a soldier or some shit. It’s bad. Apparently it's built on pure paranoia or some shit. at least that's what I've been told. Kill anypony that is a threat, might be a threat or has any correlation or past with somepony that is or might be a threat. That sort of shit,” Star groaned and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “Basically it means they’re going to kill everypony and say it was self defense even though they shot first. Just don’t stick around when it happens.”

“We’ll do our best to stay safe, thanks,” Brisk said, smiling a little. Mirra snickered again, causing all of us to look at her this time. She slapped her hooves over her mouth and went back to being quiet.

“Well… um… thanks… I guess,” Star Breeze said awkwardly, taking a few steps away from us. She looked back at us. “I wouldn't recommend coming and meeting me again, we're kinda supposed to be enemies or some shit, and I’d be in a lot of fucking trouble if the Enclave found out we’ve worked together... but if you ever do need me, I’ll be in the Four Star building, where we first met,” She hesitated for a second. “Don’t come find me. That will just be bad for all of us. But I do hope I can see you all again...”

She turned and began walking away from us into the ruined streets of Manehattan, not even bothering to try flying away with her damaged wing.

“Yeah… I wouldn't mind that either…” Brisk said, his eyes following the small pegasus as she trotted away.

This time, Mirra failed to control herself and let out a loud snicker. I glanced down at her. “What’s got you laughing?”

Mirra snickered and pointed a gnarled hoof in Brisk’s direction. “Somepony has a crush,” Mirra dragged the words out in a singsong manner, making Brisk blush even harder.

Brisk backpedaled away from us. “Wh-what! I do not!” his blush deepened. “I-I mean… Star’s kinda cute I guess… but like… you know… enclave and kinda a bitch. I-I don’t like her like her!” we all chuckled slightly as he fumbled around for words. Brisk cast Mirra a grumpy stare. “Traitor.”

Mirra stuck her tongue out at him.

Pyre chuckled. “Alright, alright. Let's leave the buck alone,” She cast Brisk a smug look. “Though we will definitely not forget about this…” She turned back to look at me. “To Friendship City?”

I nodded. “We could all use a break. And until we figure out another way to get into the Institute, there isn’t really much else we can do.”

Xayah nodded, stepping back up to me. “It will be good to get some rest. It feels we have not had the proper time to unwind since we left Tenpony.”

Though I couldn’t see her face through her power armour, I could tell Pyre was grinning. “Well, come on then. No point waiting around for a Manticore to come eat us,” She turned and started leading the group away from the gardens. It was good to finally be getting away from that damn place. As much as I wished the wasteland could have more life in it, the eyeball vines and contant watchful gaze of the Balefire Phoenixes had begun to get on my nerves. Not to mention the constant fear of Killing Joke.

Glancing ahead of me at Pyre as she led us forwards, I gulped and slowly trotted up beside her, making sure that I was out of earshot of the rest of our friends. I had to deal with this now before it became a real issue. No more secrets.

“Pyre, I was hoping I could get your opinion on something,” I started, not really knowing how to start the conversation properly. How are you supposed to break this kind of news to somepony?

Pyre cast me a sideways glance. “Sure. What are you thinking about, Amber?”

I gulped again. “I… um… Well I wanted to know what your thoughts on what synths are?” I held my breath as I waited for a response.

Pyre was quiet for a second, continuing to trot forwards without slowing her pace. “Synths? I don’t know. Never really thought about it," She finally answered, not bothering to slow down. "They’re just robots, right?”

I grimaced. “I, um… technically, yeah… But I wanted to know your opinion on them more than that,” Pyre gave me a confused look. I fumbled to try and explain myself. “I mean, like… The Friendship Express thinks they’re alive and sentient. That they’re just like ponies and stuff. But then the Institute just thinks they're machines with no real free will. Do you think that?... or rather which, um... which do you believe in?... I... yeah...”

Pyre thought for a second, clearly off put by my clear discomfort. “Not really sure. I guess if they can think and learn then I suppose that makes them alive. They’re still just machines so… I don’t know. I’ll leave it at that. Why?”

Wasn’t that just the question of the year.

My heart stopped for a second as I tried to figure out how to continue. I took a deep breath. No more secrets… “I was looking over the Institute files I stole last night and… well, um… I might have learned something that, uh… something kind of bad…”

Pyre stopped and glared at me. Through her visor I saw her eyes suddenly filled with understanding. She glanced back at our friends who we slowly trailing behind us, engaged in a conversation of their own. “One of them’s a synth… aren’t they,” Her voice was so quiet I almost didn’t hear her. Pyre scowled before looking back at me. “Don’t worry Amber, we’ll figure this out. If we can get to the Institute then maybe we can find out what happened to the real…”

“It’s not one of them, Pyre,” I said slowly, cutting her off before she could finish that train of thought. I felt my stomach twisting into a knot as I tried to force myself to say the next couple of words. “It… It’s you…”

Silence.

Pyre was staring at me, her face unreadable through her helmet. She stood there for a second, frozen. Then, as if her legs had started growing weak under her she took a shaky step back.

“P-pyre? Are you alright?” I asked, slowly stepping towards her and placing my hoof on her shoulder. She quickly shrugged it off. It was a stupid question. It always was. I don’t know why I kept asking it.

“There… there must be some kind of mistake…” Pyre said, her voice fearful and uncertain. "I can't be a... I would remember something like that... I... You're wrong..."

I shook my head. “I don’t think I am... I... I found this in the Institutes files last night,” I held up my pipbuck for her to look at, the line about Pyre Blaze still displayed across my screen.

Pyre stared at the screen for a second before looking down at her hooves. “For how long?” Her voice was frail and weak. It sounded scarily like her fathers did, before the end.

“Pyre, I don’t know what you…”

“How long have I been a synth?” her voice came out in a violent sounding hiss, making me flinch backwards.

I took a step away from her. How long had she been a synth? Had she been replaced while I was in the Institute? When we were separated in the MAS tower? I suddenly got the horrifying idea stuck in my head that I might never have actually met the real Pyre Blaze at all.

“I-I don’t know. Maybe a couple days. Maybe a year. More,” I took another step back, my own uncertainty making me shake. “I’m sorry…”

“What’s happening?” Brisk asked, the rest of our friends finally moving up beside us. “Why are we stopping?”

Pyre didn’t even look at them as they came to a stop beside us. She just continued to stare at me, shaking. She took yet another step away from us. “They’ve been using me, haven't they?” I opened my mouth to respond, but never got the chance as Pyre continued. “That’s how they found the Friendship Express! How they always know where we are! They've been using me to get to you!”

Brisk and Xayah exchange a worried look. “What is going on? Who’s been using you?”

I cast Pyre a worried look. She gave me a small nod of confirmation in return. Reverting my gaze to my friends, I held out my pipbuck. “I found this on my pipbuck last night…” Brisk and Xayah leaned in, their eyes widening as they read the lone line.

“You’re a synth?” Brisk blurted abruptly, his eyes flicking up from the pipbuck to Pyre. Graceful as always Brisk.

Pyre scowled at him and slammed her hoof down on the ground. “So the file says! Turns out I’ve been spying on all of you since the beginning. You were right all along Brisk. You shouldn’t have trusted me!”

Brisk’s eyes widened at the remark. “Now wait, hold on. I said that a long time ago… I don’t think that about you now. Haven't in a while...”

Pyre gave a mirthless chuckle. “Well you should have.”

Mirra took a timid step forward. “Pyre? You’re scaring me…”

Pyre spun around and stared at the Changeling filly. there was a moment of stillness as Pyre glared down at Mirra. Then her eyes widened with what looked like fear and she pushed herself away with a snarl. She clutched at the side of her head with her hooves and reeled back. “Fuck! I thought I could do good! Fucking hell! Why can’t I just do good!?” she reared up and slammed her hooves down on a dented garbage can that had fallen over on the side of the road, crushing it completely.

I took a step towards her and once more held out my hoof to her, but she batted it aside. “Pyre, you can do good. Just because you’re-”

“Don’t lie to me Amber!” Pyre scowled, whipping around to glare at me. “I never should have listened to you! Fuck! You made me think that I might actually be good for something… that I… I don’t fucking know… that I might be able to do good for once… Just once in my fucking life! Fuck you!”

I winced back. “Pyre, what are you talking about? Of course you can.”

“Can I?!” She retorted, her voice rising. “Heartbeats dead Amber. Maybe you don’t remember, but I snapped his fucking neck! Because I fucking remember that!” She spun and glared at Brisk and Xayah. “Xayah’s missing her fore hooves and Brisk is without a horn because I was selfish and dragged you all into my problems!” She glared at me again. “I thought with Plaga gone I might be able to do better… Become more than I am... but it didn’t change a fucking thing, did it! I’m still a walking fucking bomb that’s going to get all of you killed! Me being here just puts you all in more fucking danger! And I’ve been telling you that from the goddess damned start!”

Mirra scowled and fluttered up into Pyre’s face. “You’re wrong!” The changeling spat. Pyre blinked and took a surprised step back at the changeling's sudden outburst. “We’re all making mistakes. But you help protect us. You always have. Because that’s what you do,” She sniffed and reaserted herself. “You’ve been saying that we’re safer without you, but I can think of a hundred times over the last couple of days where you saved our lives! Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Pyre was silent for a second, simply looking up at Mirra in awe. Finally she lowered her head. “I think I messed up with you the most,” Mirras wings stopped fluttering for a second at the remark and she sagged in the air before she was able to catch herself. “I thought I could protect you… What a fucking idiot I am…”

Mirra dropped down and landed on the ground in front of Pyre. “Wh-what do you mean?”

Pyre scowled at herself. “I care about you Mirra. I don’t know what damaged part of my mind thought that I might be able to protect you… That thought I should be allowed to care about you... but for a while I actually thought it would all work out… I thought that if I watched over you without getting to close then maybe you’d be safe. But nothing’s safe from me... Me watching over you just lets the Institute know more about you... It turns out that I... I should have been farther away…”

Mirra’s eyes widened. “Pyre! W-wait! What are you saying!”

Pyre took a step back and turned from Mirra to address all of us. She took a moment to steady herself before standing up as straight as she could, putting on a brave front. “I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

My mouth dropped. “You’re… leaving…”

Pyre gave me a regretful nod. “The Institute’s using me to watch you… that’s how they’ve known so much… The longer I’m with you, the harder it will be for you to achieve anything against the Institute. You can’t beat them as long as they're using me to watch you. So…” She paused, her own voice catching in her throat. “I’m leaving. It’s the only way things will be okay…”

I took a daring step forward. “Pyre, you’ve been with us for almost a month now, and we’ve been fine. We can find a different way to deal with-”

“Do you really think that Amber?” Pyre scowled, stomping towards me. She tapped a metal clad hoof against her helmet as she neared me. “Can you really look me in the eye and honestly tell me that it’s not the Institute looking back,” Pyre snarled, continuing her advance. I couldn’t see her eyes very well through the visor, but I didn’t need to. I knew she was right. If anything, the ambiguity of her visor only furthered her point.

I dropped my head and looked down at my hooves. “Pyre… Are you sure about this? I don’t know how we’ll be able to cope without you. You really are a part of this group. This family...” Pyre hesitated for a moment before giving me a grim nod. I sighed. "Where will you go?"

"I... I don't know... I... I guess I just need some time to figure shit out..." Pyre said slowly. She turned from me and faced the Manehattan skyline. “And yeah… I… I think it would be for the best,” She glanced back at Brisk and Xayah. “You two keep Amber from dying. Got it?”

Xayah took a step forward, her head bent low. “I would never not look after Amber. You be safe, you foolish pony,” Brisk gave a nod of agreement.

Pyre chuckled. “Yeah. Like I’m ever safe,” She turned to look me in the eye. “And that goes for you as well. I expect to come back to everypony here in one piece.”

I smirked at that, though my heart felt like it was screaming at me. She was actually planning on leaving us. Just like that. After everything that had happened. I should have just kept my stupid mouth shut and not said anything.

Pyre finally turned her gaze to look at Mirra. The small changeling was clearly holding back tears, but she was doing a pretty damn good job of hiding them. Pyre sighed. “Mirra… I’m sorry I couldn’t be what you wanted me to be. I really did try… and maybe- maybe once I figure all this shit out, I can be… but for now I think this is goodbye…”

Mirra’s lip quivered. She thrust herself forwards and wrapped her hooves around Pyre’s fore hoof in a tight hug. “Y-you can stay. We don’t need you to go… You really don’t have to-”

She was silenced as Pyre placed a hoof on Mirra’s muzzle. “Yeah. I think I do need to do this,” She looked back up at me, but only briefly. “Not long ago, I said that all that was left of me was the flesh and hide on my bones… turns out I don’t even have that anymore… Now that Plaga is dead… I think I need some time to myself. To figure out who I’m going to be. I’ve spent too long trying to be better, now that I have been given a chance to do just that, I don’t know if I really have a good idea of what that better is going to look like.”

Mirra continued to hug Pyre’s leg until the large pony finally pushed her away. Pyre took a step backwards, taking us all in. She took a deep breath, as if unsure if she was making the right choice, before turning and slowly trotting off into the ruined streets of Manehattan.

Mirra let out a quick sob and moved to follow her, only for me to quickly grab onto her and pull her back. She squirmed in my grip for a moment before finally going limp and simply watching Pyre go.

I took a long, deep breath once Pyre was out of sight. That had not been how I had expected that confrontation to go. It felt weird, knowing Pyre wasn’t with us anymore. Like a hole had been ripped in my chest and refused to heal.

“Such a pity,” A posh voice cooed from behind us. We all jumped, spinning around to face the large Secuirtron that had rolled up silently behind us. Somehow it had gotten within a few feet of us without making a single sound. The securitron’s screen, as it had before, depicted the Image of the Canterlot ghoul, Fleur De Lis.

I scowled at the image of the ghoul. I was not in the mood for this right now. “What do you want Fleur,” I growled, stalking towards the hulking Securitron.

Fleur put a hoof to her chest. “Perhaps you had forgotten about our previous deal, Amber Aura.”

I scowled. “I think I remember telling you to fuck off.”

The snobby ghouls eyes narrowed in response. “You would dare speak that way to one of the Canterlot elite!” She snarled, somehow managing to remain looking posh while she did it. She straightened herself out and fixed up her mane as a strand fell into her face. “If you can remember correctly, I requested the A.A.S.S. to be delivered to the Ponypalooza Hotel within twenty four hours or there would be consequences.”

“And I remember not giving a damn,” I scowled back, whipping out Braeburn’s Liberator and aiming it at the securitrons screen. I was really, really not in the mood for another asshole trying to take the A.A.S.S.

Fleur chuckled darkly at the weapon being aimed at the screen. “As it has been over twenty four hours, it is time to begin those consequences,” I considered firing off a shot into the screen, but something in her voice made me pause. Fleur stepped aside, revealing the area behind her.

Through the screen I could see the towering structure of the Ponypalooza Hotel in the distance. Fleur appeared to be outside, near the Fetlock suburbs. Not far away I could see the abandoned mall where I had confronted Steel Blade. Actually, the longer I looked at the screen, the more I began to realize that I recognized the exact location.

It was the small town we had first encountered Flask when we had first visited Fetlock. Just off to the left, I could make out the shapes of the small tents that constituted the town.

I felt my eyes narrowing. “What are you doing?”

Instead of responding, I heard Fleur’s voice call out. “Bring them out.”

The sound of stomping hooves could be heard, followed by a bunch of ponies and canterlot ghouls clad in dark combat armour and bearing Red Eyes symbol marched into frame, dragging a group of bound ponies behind them. A few of the ponies they had captive I didn’t recognize, but I was able to spot mayor Dusty and his foal Scrapper amongst them. Even the two raiders we had helped rescue from Steel Rangers less than a day ago were tied up.

Fleur moved back onto the screen, giving me a sad look through the Securitron. “I did warn you Amber,” She gestured towards the ponies that had dragged the captives forwards. “Kill them.”

What! No! She couldn’t...

But I couldn’t do anything. I was halfway across the city, helpless to do anything but watch as the slavers slowly raised their guns and took aim. I wanted to look away, but I found myself unable to turn my head from the unfolding scene.

I watched Dusty struggle against his bindings, trying to put his own body between the guns and his son. It was a useless act, and he knew it too. Nothing could stop bullets.

This was my fault. All of this was on me. Fleur had warned me there would be consequences, but I had ignored her. I had never thought the price would be so high.

The slavers guns fired, filling the air with the sound of gunfire and smoke. The gunfire lasted only a few seconds. That was all the time that was needed. The captive settlers all dropped dead, their bodies riddled with holes and seeping blood. I felt a part of me die inside as I watched the body of four different foals, Scrapper included, slump against their parents carcasses, dead.

I took a step back, my head and heart reeling. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. They had just wiped out a whole settlement… because of me… I had hardly even known them, and they had gone and shot them anyway. It wasn’t fair.

I heard Brisk snarl at the Securitron from behind me, his angry growl rising above Xayah and Mirra’s whimpers.

To Fleurs credit, she had the audacity to look genuinely upset. She looked down at me through the screen with sad eyes. “I believe you also know a pony that goes by the name of Flask. A friendship Express operative I believe.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. Not him too. He had told me that he was going to be going to this town. Since I had seen the two raiders we rescued amongst the pile of fresh corpses, I could only assume that he had made it there as well.

Fleur gestured to somepony to her left that I couldn’t see. A few seconds later, two griffins clad in dark combat armour pulled a bound Flask forwards, his head was hung low and his muzzle was bleeding from what appeared to be numerous beatings. He glanced up at the screen for a second, giving me a clear view of his bruised face. “Amber?” His voice sounded frail.

I snarled at the image of Fleur. “Let him go!” This was too much. Xayah stepped up beside me, her tear filled eyes glaring daggers at Fleur through the screen.

“I have been informed that you have been seen by the Town Oasis,” Fleur continued, her expression continuing to look sad. “If the A.A.S.S. is not brought to me in another twenty four hours, we might pay that town a visit,” Her expression turned grim. “That or we will go to one of the other settlements you have been in contact with. The Hollow Shades, Friendship City. We’ll choose one of them.”

I felt tears stinging down my cheeks as I watched one of the combat armoured griffins raise a pistol and place it against the side of Flask’s head.

“Wait! Stop!” I blurted, raising my hoof as if to signal for them to cease what they were doing. “I’ll do it. I’ll meet you.”

Fleur's eyes never stopped looking sad. “Yes… you will,” She signalled to the griffin beside her. The griffin gave a grunt-like nod and fired. The bullet ripped through the side of Flask’s skull, spewing brain matter out the other. Flask’s limp corpse collapsed and fell out of view. Fleur took a shaky sigh, and to my surprise, she blinked away a tear. “I will see you soon, Amber.”

The screen on the Securitron flickered slightly for a second before filling with static. With that, the robot slowly rolled away as if nothing had happened. I stood there staring at the spot the robot had stood for a second before falling over and collapsing on my side. It was simply all too much. Pyre leaving, the deaths of all those ponies that didn’t deserve it.

I couldn’t keep doing this. The tug of war over possession of the A.A.S.S. was taking too many lives. If it had only been me, or even me and my friends, that might have been one thing, but it wasn’t. The death count was rising by the day, and there was no pony to blame but myself.

How many ponies would still be alive if I had just given up? Would the ponies of Stable 25 still be alive? Would many of the ponies of the Hollow Shades have been massacred? How many ponies and changelings had died in the battle for the Institute simply because of the insane power struggle over this dumb oblong device? The number was getting too high to count.

And the worst part was, the more I thought about it, the more I realized every last one of those deaths were on me.

I felt something nudging my cheek. I opened my eyes to see Xayah looking down at me in worry, both Brisk and Mirra peered over her shoulder at me with similar expressions.

“Amber, are you alright?” Xayah asked, her voice sounded pained. What a silly question that was. I will never understand why we keep asking each other that question when the obvious answer is no. When I failed to respond, Xayah nuzzled me again. “Amber, I think we need to get going…”

I nodded, not really knowing what I was supposed to do. Go to the Ponypalooza Hotel I suppose. But then what? Just give Fleur the A.A.S.S. like that? After everything, could I allow Red Eye to get his hooves on it? It felt wrong.

Slowly, I crawled back up to my hooves, letting Xayah and Brisk help me up and steady me as I finally got back into a standing position. I looked over my friends. They looked worried. They should be. Things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds, and we had no logical way of stopping it. That and we were down one pony.

“Amber, do we have a plan?” Brisk asked from beside me. Mirra hopped up onto his back to look at me, making him wince slightly. He didn’t have Pyre’s strength.

After taking a second to process everything, I shook my head. “I… I don’t know. But we have to do something. We can’t let them do something like that again,” All of my friends nodded, but they kept looking at me as if expecting me to suddenly come up with some sort of brilliant plan. But no plan came. Taking a deep breath, I continued. “We’ll confront her and think over her demands… maybe kill her if that’s an option, but I’m not going to let Red Eye get his hooves on the A.A.S.S. We’ve come too far to simply let that happen. And Red Eye with mass mind control? That's not something we can allow,” Assuming that's what Red Eye even wanted with this Utopia Program. I never had managed to find out exactly what his plan was.

Brisk nodded. “Yeah. Sounds like as much of a plan as we’re going to get.”

I glanced down at my pipbuck map. It was a three hour walk back to Fetlock, assuming we walked uninterrupted. More than enough time to make it there before the twenty four hour deadline. Of course, this was Manehattan, so getting interrupted was almost a guarantee.

I sighed, trying to push down the growing guilt that had been rising up inside of me. I could deal with all that guilt another day. Right now I had ponies to save.

“Amber, can we talk?” Mirra’s voice piped up from beside me. Instinctively, I looked up at where she would normally be atop Pyre’s back, only to remember that Pyre was no longer with us. Instead, I glanced down where the small changeling was struggling to keep up with us on her small hooves.

Brisk had carried her for a short distance, him being the strongest of the four of us, but his strength was minimal compared to that of Pyre’s and soon he had to ask her to walk. She had done so without complaint, but from the exhaustion on her face, I could tell trying to keep up with us was getting to her. I had to remind myself how young Mirra actually was. It was easy to forget sometimes, she always acted so much older than her age.

I gave a quick nod, deciding to slow down my trot as much as possible to allow the filly to keep pace with me. “What do you want to talk about?”

Mirra glanced down at her hooves. “A few things… I guess. I wanted to ask if… well…” She looked back up at me with her large blue eyes. “Do you t-think that I made Pyre go away?”

I paused and gave her a surprised look. “What? Why would you think that?”

Mirra cast her gaze back towards the ground. “Well… I think she thought that being around me would hurt me… that's what she always kept saying,” She scuffed at the ground with a hoof as we continued walking. “I thought that would all be over after all that happened in the Manehattan Gardens… Apparently not…”

My gut twisted. I had thought Pyre was going to be over all of that as well once Plaga was dealt with, but none of us could have expected what we had found in the Institutes files. “Pyre’s just confused,” I said, trying to reassure the changeling filly. “She just found out that she isn't exactly who she thought she was, and that ponies have been spying on her. and worse, using her to spy on us. I’d be a little confused as well,” I didn’t bother mentioning that she just found out there was a good chance that the real Pyre Blaze was probably dead and discarded into some trash heap somewhere as well.

Mirra continued to shuffle along beside me, not bothering to look up. “But do you think she left because of me?” She paused just long enough to sniffle. “She seemed angry and stuff, but I don't think she was going to leave until I said something…”

I finally pulled my own gaze away from the changeling. “I don’t know Mirra. Pyre cares about you. Pyre just has trouble figuring out how to deal with that sort of thing.”

“Yeah… that’s just another thing I messed up with her,” Mirra grumbled in a self deprecating tone, staring loath fully at her own hooves as we continued to walk forward.

I winced at her self pity. This conversation isn't turning out well. I had to turn this around somehow. “You said you wanted to talk to me about something else?” I asked, hoping the second topic was a happier one. "What was that?" I was wrong. It wasn't happier at all.

Mirra seemed to shrink at the mention of the other topic. “Oh... Um, y-yeah… I, um… I wanted to talk to you about my mom…”

Great. This was going to turn out just peachy, I could already tell. Sighing, I gave a small nod. “What about that do you want to talk about?” I asked in as gentle of a voice as I could muster.

Mirra let out a shaky breath. “Back in the Manehattan Gardens you asked me if I was angry at you… for what happened between my mother and I…” I gulped. I remembered that awkward conversation all too well. Mirra looked back up at me, though she never looked me in the eye. “Well… Pyre told me I shouldn’t worry about what you’d think… that you’d understand… so, um… I think I need to get something off my chest.”

I gave her a small nod. I already had a good idea of what that might be. I gave her a thin smile that probably looked as forced as it felt. “Rant away.”

“I… well I…” Mirra sighed and finally dared to look me in the eye. “I think I lied to you in the garden… I know I shouldn’t be angry at you. It’s not fair of me, and you had no idea what would happen when we found my mom, but I can’t help it… I keep thinking that things would have been better and I would have been happier if I just never found out... I you had just stayed out of it...” She took a shaky step away from me. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t deserve for me to feel that way.”

I shook my head. “I-its fine. I understand. I’m no stranger to anger. It’s a confusing thing,” I pulled my gaze away and looked up at the jagged rooftops of Manehattan’s skyscrapers. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t have helped you more, and that things turned out the way it did. You deserved better.”

Mirra gave a small sigh. “No I don’t… Your help was more than anypony deserved. And yet here I am being angry at you for something you had no control over,” She glared down at her hooves glumly. “You all deserve better than me. I’m just a handicap to this group.”

I gave her a reassuring nudge. “Hey, don’t say that. You’ve saved our butts a couple of times. Besides, without you, who would stop Xayah and I from annoying Brisk and Pyre with our constant PDA?” I winced. “Well… I guess just Brisk now, but you get what I mean.”

Mirra gave me a genuine smile, though the grin didn’t seem to be reflected much in her eyes. “Yeah, you guys are pretty gross…” She took a long deep breath, before slowly exhaling. “Thank you Amber. I’m sorry that I got angry at you.”

I waved her apology off with a hoof. “Don’t mention it. It happens to all of us.”

Mirra gave one last sigh. "Do you think Pyre will come back? I miss her already."

"I don't know. I hope so, and I miss her too. It's weird to not have her around," I replied, wishing I had a more concrete answer to give her. "Maybe after all this stuff with the Institute is over... But I hope we see her before then..."

I heard a small beep from ahead of us. I looked up to see Brisk looking down at his pipbuck a few feet in front of us. Xayah was looking over his shoulder as he read whatever had appeared on the screen.

“Amber, I think we found something?” Brisk said, calling back to me. I quickened my pace to join them, only for my pipbuck to make a beeping sound a second later. I glanced down to see a radio broadcast pop up onto the screen.

As I got closer, Brisk clicked the broadcast on. “Hello, this is Blueberry of the Outcasts. We are pinned down outside of Stable 23 by a group of Steel Rangers that call themself the True Steels,” We all exchanged a worried look at that. The True Steels were not something to be taken lightly. “We have a group of Civilians that are caught in the crossfire. We need backup. This Message repeats!”

Brisk shut off the broadcast as it began to start again and looked up at me. “So… Are we off to help them?” I didn't like the idea of going into another Stable. Just the idea of it made me think of the tragedy that had occurred in Stable 25, but I nodded anyway. Whether I wanted to go into a Stable or not didn't matter, there were ponies that needed our help and I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get back at the True Steels for what they did to my old home.

“Do we have time?” Xayah piped up, looking up from the pipbuck as well. “We cannot risk Fleur hurting more families.”

I thought about that for a second. “We should still have time. So long as we don’t get sidetracked more, we can help out the Outcasts and still make it too Fetlock in time,” I probably jinxed it by saying that, but there was no taking back the words at that point. “Besides, it sounds like there are ponies that need help there too. We can’t let them get in the crossfire with two ranger factions. We’ve all seen how destructive those groups can be to the area around them.”

That seemed to satisfy Xayah, but she still looked nervous. I realized that watching those slaver ponies kill all those families were probably bringing back some unwanted memories about her own mother and daughter being killed. I’d need to make time to talk to her about that.

Brisk gave an agreeing nod. “Alright then, let's not waste any time,” He looked his pipbuck map over for a second before slightly adjusting the direction he was walking and heading towards the location of the broadcast. Thankfully, it didn’t look like the conflict between the Outcasts and the True Steels were too far of course from our original destination.

As we began walking, I pulled up beside Xayah. “Hey. You want to talk about it?”

Xayah cast me a worried look before dropping her head. “That transparent?”

I gave a small smirk and a nod. “When we first met you, used to be really good at hiding your emotions. Now it's pretty hard not to notice when you're having them.”

Xayah sighed. “It is because I used to force myself not to have them at all. Now that I’m letting them out, I am having difficulty coping,” She gave me a gentle smile, though it felt superficial. “Being with you helps though, and it still feels better than bottling it all up.”

I gave her a quick nuzzle as we followed behind Brisk. I heard Mirra d'aww somewhere behind us. I gave the changeling an unamused look, but it only made her snicker more. I suppose that was better than the moping she had been doing only minutes before, so I couldn't really complain.

“Watching those fillies and their families get… what Fleur had those slavers do… It’s really getting to me,” Xayah confessed, pulling away from the nuzzle somewhat.

“You’d be wrong not to,” I replied, looking back to where Brisk was walking ahead of us. “What she did was evil. I’m going to make sure she pays for that…”

Xayah whimpered. “When I saw those fillies die… I just kept seeing Zira. I still feel like I see her sometimes. Watching me from the wastes… It gets worse around fillies…”

I nodded, but I didn’t really know how to respond. Xayah hardly talked about her past family. I knew she was amazingly managing to cope, but she had never seemed too interested in letting the rest of us help her with it. I supposed she didn’t want her old family to affect her new family, not that I felt that was fair to her. Or even us for that matter.

“Well, if you ever want to talk, I’m always here,” I said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

Xayah gave me a grim, but thankful expression. “Thank you… just… can you promise me something?”

I raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

“If something like what happens with the raider children happens again…” I felt my heart thump an extra few times in my chest, the mention of my slaughter of the raider children bringing back unwelcome flashbacks. “...If something like that happens again… I know you did what you had too… but can we try and find another way?”

I nodded, my whole body feeling numb. “Yeah… of course. I would have anyway… I just had no other choice last time…” Was I trying to justify myself murdering foals? I shouldn’t be. Something like that didn’t have the right to be justified.

“I know… I know…” Xayah sighed. She leaned in again and gave me a quick kiss before resting her head on my shoulder while we walked. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I replied softly, even though my whole body felt heavy and my chest felt like my heart was going to explode out of it. The day had only just begun, but it had simply been too much. Something told me things were only going to get worse.

We walked quietly for a few moments, before our moment of calm was interrupted by the sound of explosions and magical energy weapon fire. Brisk ducked behind a building and cast us a backwards glance. “Fifty caps says we found the rangers.”

I pulled up next to him, pulling out Breaburn’s Liberator. “I’m not taking that bet, because you’re probably right,” I peeked around the edge of the building to take a good look at what we were up against.

There was a fairly small metal structure off to one side of the road that looked to be some sort of elevator shaft. The front of the structure held a faded Stable-Tea logo and I could only assume that it led down to the Stable 23 Knight Blueberry had mentioned. A few rangers, and even a couple of what appeared to be innocent wasteland ponies lay in bloody heaps across the street, their bodies riddled with holes and burns from the Steel Rangers weapons.

Four Steel Rangers clad in full suits of power armour stood at attention in front of the entrance to the structure, their large weapons still steaming from being recently fired. Unlike most rangers I had seen, these ones had their power armour painted with golden highlights. It wasn’t hard to figure out that they were members of the True Steels. Golden power armour just seemed like the kind of conceited, power complex like thing and asshole like Iron Hock would do.

On the opposite side of the street, taking shelter behind a blockade of rubble, were six ponies dressed in the Outcasts distinctive red and black power armour. Beside them I even saw a Robobrain, no doubt one of the ones from the Fluttershy Medical Centre. Like the Outcasts, the Robo brain had been painted with their signature black and red paint job.

In the centre of the street were a group of ponies that looked like traders. They were currently cowering behind the blasted carcass of what had once been a Brahmin, before the heavy weaponry of the True Steels had ripped it into little more than shredded meat and flesh on a pile of broken bones.

Though they were more in numbers than the four True Steels, it was clear the fight was not going in the Outcasts favor. The True Steels had significantly bigger weaponry for one thing, as well as the traders were stuck in the middle of the two of them, with the True Steels weapons aimed mostly at them as if they were hostages.

“Fire again and we kill the savages,” One of the True Steels boomed, taking an intimidating step towards the Outcasts. “Lower your weapons and leave. This Stable has been claimed by High Lord Elder Iron Hock!”

High Lord Elder? Seriously? I knew Iron Hock was an arrogant and self centred prick, but making up a title like that for himself just seemed ridiculous. He must have been trying to compensate for something when he came up with that title.

“We cannot allow you to take possession of another Stable,” one of the Outcasts replied, unmoving in their stance. After a few seconds, I recognised his voice. Knight Blueberry. It was hard to see from our distance and through his power armour, but he seemed to be doing a lot better than he had the last time we saw him. He wasn’t stuck in the Fluttershy Medical Centre due to his wounds anymore, so that was an obvious plus. “We will not leave until you surrender.”

The True Steel knight that had spoken took another step forward. “You will leave now, or we will be forced to use force.”

I saw one of the cowering traders pull away from their cover behind the dead Brahmin and begin rushing down the street. “Fuck this!” He screamed, his head ducked low as if trying to dodge gunfire.

One of the True Steels pivoted and fired a shot from their magical energy rifle. The red laser lashed out and struck the stallion on the rump. The Stallion called out in pain, the shot ripping through his flesh and pulverising most of his left side in seconds. Not a moment later, he dropped to the ground in a glowing pile of ash.

“No pony move!” The leading True Steel ordered again, slamming their metal clad hoof on the ground. “No pony will move until the Outcast traitors have stood down!”

I felt Mirra tug at the bottom of my Stable barding. “Amber, we need to do something,” She squealed, hiding behind my leg as she looked out at the True Steels and their impressive weaponry.

I nodded. “Uh… yeah. Follow me,” I slowly pulled myself out from behind cover. “And keep your weapons drawn. Something tells me this isn’t going to be pretty.”

With my friends flanking me, I cautiously trotted towards the scene, Braeburn’s Liberator aimed towards the group of True Steels guarding the entrance to the Stable. One of the True Steels spotted us almost immediately and quickly turned to face their guns towards us.

“Shit, we got more ponies,” The True Steel growled, giving the other three True Steels a warning of our approach. Almost every pony in the area turned their heads to face us, though they all kept their weapons up and aimed at their opponents.

“You!” I heard one of the True Steels snarl at me. I couldn’t tell which one it was through their helmets. “You killed Pistachio!”

I didn’t know who the hell Pistachio was, but apparently I killed him, because suddenly lasers were flying everywhere. I pushed myself backwards, pulling me and my friends behind a ruined wagon as the True Steels abruptly opened fire.

“Well that didn’t go as diplomatically as I had hoped,” I grumbled, ducking down as a beam of magical red energy flashed over my head. They didn't even give us the chance to talk things out. Damn True Steel dicks.

Brisk cast me a strange glance. “Who the fuck is Pistachio?”

I gave him a confused look in return. “No clue. I’ve never even heard the name before,” I grimaced, releasing I didn’t know the names of most of the ponies I killed. Great, just another thing to add to my list of guilts. “My best guess is that they were one of the True Steels back at the Bank.”

Xayah groaned, the top of her mane smoking from where one of the True Steels magical energy weapons had almost blasted into her. “That probably throws out any option for diplomacy with these zealots in the future then.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right, like they ever allowed us that option to begin with.”

“Get Back! Hurry!” I heard the voice of Knight Blueberry call out from across the street. From over the wagon, I could see him ushering the traders to safety as his fellow Outcasts provided cover fire.

There was a loud, resounding whoosh as a rocket was launched forwards from one of the True Steels battlesaddles. The projectile flashed across the street and exploded against the Brahmin Carcass, sending shredded flesh and shrapnel raining across the street. The traders were sent flying, most of them managing to catch themselves and continue rushing towards cover, while two were ripped open by the large rocket.

“We need to give coverfire,” I ordered, ducking down again as one of the rangers fired at our position. “Brisk, you’re with me. Xayah and Mirra, stay here and give us coverfire. Pyre…” I stopped. Pyre wasn’t here anymore. I shook my head to disburse the depressing thought. “Lets go!”

I pulled myself out from behind the wagon, Brisk quick on my hooves as we sped towards our Power armoured opponents. The True Steel approaching us pivoted to face us, their magical energy rifle firing in our direction.

Brisk and I dove apart, the red lasers flashing past us. One of the True Steels shots landed, ripping a burning gash across the side of my flank. I bit my lip to keep from screaming as the searing pain shot up my side.

Brisk spun, his pistol firing off a shot into the rangers head. The shot pinged off the side of his helmet, failing to penetrate, but making the ranger stagger. The True Steel didn’t have time to righten himself as Brisk spun around and gave him a quick buck to the face, knocking him backwards and sprawling onto his back.

One of the Outcast rangers fell, a well aimed shot from a grenade launcher sending their body flying back and ripping their armour to scrap. I saw the Outcast Robobrain rush towards them and begin working over the body in a vain attempt to revive them.

I fired a shot from my shotgun, the buckshot lashing through one of the True Steels legs and ripping appart their armour. The True Steel staggered, blood and fire spilling from the wound. The minigun on their battle saddle roared to life as they stumbled, spraying the area in front of me with a hail of lead. I hoped back, the burning pain in my body only increasing as I pushed myself to move out of the way.

I heard Xayah’s sniper fire off a shot. One of the rangers fell, her shot lancing through one of the weaker spots in the armour.

The surviving traders finally got clear off the fire, pulling themselves behind a makeshift barricade near the Outcasts. One of them fired behind them at the True Steels with what looked like a hoof made pipe gun, but their shots were sloppy and only hit air.

The True Steel that Brisk had knocked to the ground pulled themselves back to their hooves, their energy weapon turning to face me. I ducked down and rolled, the magical lasers whizzing past me and scorching the wall of the building behind me. I rolled back up, Braeburn’s Liberator blasting a slug point blank into their visor. The glass covering their eyes shattered from the shot, sending sharp shards piercing into the True Steels eyes, blinding him.

Another shot from Brisk’s pistol finally put the stumbling True Steel down, the bullet slashing through the weaker spot of armour on his neck.

With a rallying cry, the five remaining Outcasts began charging forwards, their weaponry blasting out at the last couple of True Steels. The True Steel with the rocket launcher fired, the air around him rippling as the powerful projectile flashed forwards. The Outcasts dove apart, only for one of them to get hit square in the chest by the rocket. The Outcast was blown apart, limbs and broken pieces of armour flying in every direction.

Knight Blueberry’s fired off a rocket of his own, the large missile slammed into the remaining True Steels, sending them crashing backwards into the metal, bunker-like walls of the elevator shaft. One of the True Steels managed to pull himself back up, his legs now ruined and bleeding hunks of scrap metal and tattered flesh. Another shot from Blueberry’s rocket launcher quickly put him down for good.

There was a second of silence as everypony waited to see if there was going to be anymore violence. Once it was clear that everypony with the intention of fighting was dead, Blueberry and the rest of the Outcasts turned to face us. “Amber? Brisk? Is that you?”

I nodded. Xayah and Mirra quickly pulled themself out from behind the wagon and joined us on the street. “Yeah. We heard your distress signal. Figured we’d help you out.” I responded, only sparing Xayah and Mirra a quick glance as they approached.

Blueberry nodded. “Well I’m glad you could help… even if you did just provoke the combat early,” He sighed. “It was destined to break out into violence sooner or later anyway. With the Steel Rangers, they at least give the idea of talking it out first. But these True Steels, as they’ve taken to calling themselves, simply have no desire to ask questions any time except later,” He turned to address one of the Outcasts beside him. “Check on the civilians. Try to patch ‘em up as best as possible before we send them on their way.”

“Are you in charge here?” Xayah asked, as Blueberry turned his attention back to us. “Last I heard, only Crusaders and Paladins of the Rangers lead squads? That said, I am no expert on Steel Ranger structure.”

Blueberry gave a bob of his head in agreement. “No, you’re correct, and usually that would be the case. Unfortunately, the Outcasts are spread pretty thin at the moment, even while only defending the small area we have procured. We do our best to protect the ponies of the wasteland, and while I have no regrets or reservations about that, it does put us at a disadvantage with the other ranger factions. Due to my involvement in the liberation of the Fluttershy Medical Centre, I’ve been temporarily promoted to Crusader. Crossroads is looking into putting me into the position permanently… assuming we survive the coming days.”

Brisk raised an eyebrow. “If that’s not an ominous statement, I don’t know what is. What’s happening in the coming days?”

Blueberry was forced to avert his attention from us for a second to talk to another Outcast before returning his gaze to us. “In short, a lot. Red Eye’s forces are growing and we are currently down an Elder as Steelhooves deals with business out in Canterlot. Top that with our constant struggle with the Steel Rangers and these True Steel fanatics. The Outcasts are struggling, and if Iron Hock and his goons keep taking over territory like they have been, we’re going to have a serious problem.”

I gave a quick smirk. “Well at least they don’t have this location. A Stable must be a pretty big tactical advantage and win for the Outcasts.”

Blueberry shook his head. “Wish I could say that was true. But this fight isn’t over. Those True Steels were just guards. Assuming they’re still going by Steel Ranger Protocol, which considering their nature I find very likely, we’ve got twenty more rangers down inside the Stable along with a Paladin.”

I gulped. “Never mind. That sounds like a bad situation to be in.”

“It’s worse than bad,” Blueberry corrected flatly. “Iron Hock chose his Paladins very well. He might be an arrogant jackass, but that pony knows what he’s doing. I’ve heard rumours that Paladin Tesla Coil was sent to procure this Stable. I only met him once, but back before the schism, he was one of the Steel Rangers best strategists and combatants.”

“What’s in the Stable?” Mirra piped up, drawing all our attention down to her. At our confused looks, she elaborated. “I mean, what does the Stable have that’s useful to them?”

Blueberry gave a grunt of acknowledgment. “Stable 23. The Outcasts no longer have access to the records in the Fillydelphia Stable-Tec headquarters as it still remains a Steel Ranger base, but from our memory of it, the Stable was used as an experiment for testing different forms of medication," Though I had no love for the Steel Rangers, it was good to hear Red Eye hadn't managed to take that location from the rangers quite yet. "We are unsure about the current status of the inhabitants, but we are aware that it holds a lot of prewar tech, including advanced medical supplies that would be a huge tactical advantage.”

Mirra seemed to accept that answer and went back to looking over the area. I looked away from the small changeling and back to now Crusader Blueberry. “We can lend assistance if you need it?” The last thing I wanted right then was to go into a Stable. Stables brought back too many memories. Memories that I would rather I didn’t have. But this wasn’t about me, and I’d be damned if I let these True Steel Assholes get a hoofhold in another valuable location, not to mention another Stable.

“What happened to not getting sidetracked?” Brisk mumbled from beside me.

I cast him a warning glance. “We’re already sidetracked. Might as well see this through to the end.”

Blueberry gave an affirmative nod. “We would greatly appreciate the support,” He gestured over to the remaining three ponies in his squad. “When we left for Stable 23, there were eight of us. Now we’re four. Assuming the True Steels inside are as high in numbers as we suspect, we’re going to be very outnumbered.”

“And outgunned by the looks of it,” I grunted, nudging at one of the fallen True Steels weapons. “These True Steels have an impressively large arsenal.”

“The True Steels made a push against Fort Strong a few days ago. Made enemies with the Steel Rangers, but that's not saying much with these ponies,” Blueberry explained. “There was a huge military MWT weapons factory underneath the fort. I don’t know where Iron Hock got the fuel, but he somehow managed to get the factory up and running again. something the rangers have been trying to do for years. They’ve almost got enough guns and ammo coming out of that place to arm a small army.”

I winced. I knew exactly where he got the fuel. He was keeping true to what he said and using the bodies of the ponies of Stable 25 as fuel. I was suddenly even more ready to charge into Stable 23 and wipe out the True Steels inside.

“The only relief is that it doesn’t seem like he’s been able to get the Dragon Lancer gun on the roof of the building to work yet,” Blueberry continued. I shivered as I remembered the massive gun on top of Fort Strong. If Iron Hock ever managed to get that monstrosity up and running… well, I might just take Star’s advice and get out of the city as fast as possible.

“The Traders have been healed and are on their way,” A tinny, female voice said. I was surprised to recognize the voice.

Turning, I saw the Robobrain quickly approaching us. Blueberry gave us and the robobrain a quick nod before moving off to help the rest of his remaining squad. I squinted my eyes at the approaching robot, as if trying to make out a face in the distance. My close inspection didn’t have any use on the robot’s metallic features. “Dazzling Souvenir?” I asked, voicing my suspicions.

Dazzling Souvenir rotated slightly to look at me. “Amber, it is a pleasure to meet you again. I must thank you again for helping to release my friends and I from our programming. We have made a lot of progress in returning all of the scientists at the Fluttershy Medical Centre back into their old selves.”

I gave the robobrain a smile. “It’s good to hear that things are working out.”

Dazzling Souvenir did a strange bob-like motion that I assumed was supposed to be a nod. “Yes, we could not be happier,” The robobrain paused for a second, as if pondering something. “The others and I have been talking about our lost memories, and we think we’ve remembered something about what you wanted to know.”

I raised an eyebrow. Something I wanted to know? It took me a second to remember what I had asked of her. “Oh, about the Utopia Program?”

Dazzling Souvenir bobbed again. “Yes. we believe that the Utopia Program wasn’t just based off of a memory orb. We believe it was in fact a memory orb itself,” I had to try my hardest not to look disappointed. This I had already known. “But it is more than that… The Utopia Program was created inside of the Institute. There were many reasons for this of course, such as anonymity, but the primary reason was because the Institute was the only place where it could have been created.”

“Because of their technological advancements?” Xayah assumed, seeking confirmation on Dazzling Souvenir's statement.

The Robobrain twisted back and forth, simulating the shaking of a head. “No. The Institute was run by the Ministry Mares. It could have easily been a Ministry of Arcane Science project,” She paused and twisted around to face me more directly. “It could only have been created in the Institute because that was the only place that all of the memories the Utopia Program utilizes can be found.”

“I… what, wait?” I asked. I had no idea what that meant, or how it was important.

“Back during the war, Pinkie Pie threw a party. This party was the last time recorded where all six ministry mares were found in the same location. I am fuzzy on the exact events of that party, but I believe that there was a falling out between some of them. And know Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had a falling out prior to this event,” Dazzling Souvenir explained. “The Institute was the only location after these events, where all mares could be located with relative ease. While none of the Ministry Mares worked together directly on Institute projects, they all contributed to the Institutes caused. Some, like Twilight Sparkle were more hooves on with the projects, but even ponies like Applejack who were somewhat more indirect in their contributions were still actively involved.”

Brisk scratched the top of his head. “So… what? The Utopia thing or whatever is a collection of the Ministry mares' memories?”

Dazzling Souvenir was silent for a few seconds after that. “We are not sure,” She said, finally breaking her silence. “We seem to recall there being more than just their memories involved, and we doubt that is all there was to it… but we believe that was Utopia’s main source.”

I nodded, but I didn’t really know what I would do with that information. This whole Utopia Program thing just felt like it was getting more and more confusing and convoluted every time I learned about it.

Crusader Blueberry, now with his remaining three rangers in tow, approached us. “We are about to head down into the Stable,” Blueberry declared as he came to an abrupt stop a few feet away. “Are you ready?”

I looked at all of my friends to make sure they were ready. They all gave me a brave, affirmative nod. We all had plenty of reasons to hate these True Steel basterds. “We’re ready.”

“Then come along,” Blueberry ordered, turning and approaching the metal structure. “I don’t know what we’re going to find down there, but this is going to be one hell of a shitshow,” He cast a glance at Dazzling Souvenirs Robobrain. “Souvenir, can you wait up here and make sure that all the civilians make it to safety? Then keep an eye out. Radio me if more trouble comes.”

Dazzling Souvenir held up an accordion-like arm and saluted. “Of course. You can count on me.”

We all turned back to the structure and made our way towards the Stable below. I felt myself shiver as Blueberry pushed open the door and revealed the dark elevator shaft. Seeing Stable 44 in the Hollow Shades had been confusing, uncomfortable, and had brought back unwelcome memories of the atrocities that had happened in my own Stable. I could already tell this wasn't going to be fun.

As I stepped forwards and made my way into the small elevator beside the Outcasts, I realized that I was shaking. I was scared, and I knew that whatever lay beyond the metal Stable door below was only going to make that fear grow.

I tried to stop myself from shaking as the elevator began to move downwards with a loud hiss, but to little success. Xayah wrapped one of her striped hooves around my neck to try and comfort me, no doubt she could see my discomfort.

The ride to the bottom of the elevator was spent in near silence. The lights that had once illuminated the elevator back before the war had long since gone out, leaving us in almost complete darkness. If not for the light of Brisk and I’s pipbucks and the lamps on the Outcasts helmets, we wouldn’t have been able to see.

Finally, the elevator came to an abrupt stop. There was a moment of complete stillness as we waited for the door to open.

I suddenly really missed Pyre. She probably would have said something really stupid right about then that would have distracted me from what was happening around me. But of course, Pyre wasn't here. She was off in the wasteland alone, doing who knows what.

Funny, Brisk used to be the one who made jokes to lighten the mood all the time, but it felt like it had been a long time since he had acted like his old self. Probably not since before the tragedy of Stable 25. I looked over at him in the gloom. He looked sad. he often looked sad when he thought no pony was looking. that and his missing horn only made him look all the sadder. When had he changed so much? Why was I only noticing this now?

I didn’t have time to think about that, as just then the elevator doors slid open with a loud clang. I squinted a little as I was temporarily blinded by the bright light that flashed towards us through the doorway.

I blinked, trying to help my vision adjust to the sudden burst of light. I heard Mirra make a frightened yelp from beside me as we all stepped out into the cavern-like room that held the entrance to the Stable door.

The Stable door was open, but that wasn’t what drew our attention. The rock foor was slick and sticky, coated in a thick layer of crimson blood. I felt myself take an involuntary step back and my heart started beating faster and faster in my chest. I could feel myself break out into cold sweats.

No… not again. Please not this again… I had seen this before. It’s Stable 25 all over again...

The entrance to the Stable was surrounded by corpses.

Footnote: Three quarters to next level.