The glowing rock skips across the broken floor of the ruined hallway, dispelling a small area of darkness around it as it slowly slides to a stop. After a few seconds, another glowing rock skips past it and lands further down the hallway.

Then another skips past that one. And another one after that.

This feels a little foalish: tossing glowing rocks ahead of me in some vain attempt to spot some hellhound lying in wait for me in the dark. And yet, I can’t help but pick up yet another rock to cast a light spell on and toss it further down my path. Simply because my mind can’t stop seeing Lupa’s red eyes peering out of every shadow and dark corner I come across.

It doesn’t help that this area feels like a scene in a bad horror novel. Flickering incandescent bulbs that barely light up the hallway they are in, broken walls and piles of rubble large enough to hide a monster behind, ruined rooms with enough claw marks and bloodstains to work up the imagination. And the silence. With only the sound of my hoofsteps and the skipping of the rocks to break it.

If I didn’t see the hellhounds go down this way, I would have gone back and picked a different path forward.

But here I am, following two elite killing machines down a dimly lit hallway because this happens to be my best guess at where Rose might be. With literally no clue on if I lost them or if I’m walking around in circles or what. This place seems to blend together in how completely ruined it all is. Even the signs are too illegible to be of any use. Although I doubt they would have helped, given how useless the map is turning out to be.

Alright, what is a good way to keep myself from getting lost here? Or, more lost than I already am. Well, there are stories about how ponies use a trail of breadcrumbs or rocks to help them figure out where they’ve been before. Plenty of rocks around here, but how do I make mine stand out? A light spell? No, while that’s good for checking corners, a path of glowing rocks will stand out too much and attract the wrong kind of attention… wait.

I look back and then plant a hoof on my forehead at the long trail of glowing rocks behind me. The one I had been unwittingly creating this entire time and one that any hellhound can easily follow right to me.

Dear Luna, why didn’t I realize this earlier?

I levitate one of the glowing rocks near me off the ground and stare at it. Then again, this has been my life for a while now, hasn’t it? Making rash decisions for what I thought were good reasons only for me to realise how stupid and naive I was long after the damage has been done.

Alright, focus. E.F.S. isn’t showing anypony following me right now. If I move fast enough, then they come to the end of the trail long after I’ve left the area. Of course, being crippled doesn’t help matters and making it bright enough so I can see where I’m teleporting to is out of the question. But if I extend the trail towards the opposite direction of where I’m going….

Limping towards another intersection, I pick a corridor at random and fling my glowing rock down it. It flies through the air and then pegs a chain of tin cans hanging from the ceiling. I flinch as the cans crash into the ground, the sound echoing throughout the nearby area.

Great. Just great. If they didn’t know where I am before, they do now. Not like things can get any worse.

A few grenades then roll into the light. A few pinless grenades.

Instinctively, I teleport backwards and dive into the nearest open door. The explosions thunder loudly outside and seem to shake the ground beneath me as I cover my head with my forelegs. When everything finally becomes quiet again, I pick myself off the ground. “Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid,” I mutter under my breath as I quickly limp to a knocked over desk to hide behind. “At this rate, everypony in this entire area will know where I am!”

Peering over the edge of the desk, I check my surroundings. Scorch marks, dried blood splatters, torn up remains of ghouls scattered along the floor of this half collapsed room, but no hellhounds. Yet. Despite E.F.S. confirming that nothing is out there, or rather, because my E.F.S. isn’t always reliable, I hunker down in my hiding place and let out a sigh.

Of all the things that could possibly happen. This is the worst. Possible. Thing.

Ironically, the sole bright spot in all of this is that the grenades seem to have taken out a little bit of my glowing trail. Making it less obvious that I’m here even if it leaves me sitting in the dark until I can figure out my next move. Not that it’ll be wise to stay here any longer than I have to.

Pulling up my map on my PipBuck, I do my best to hide the light coming off of it while trying to figure out where to go from here. According to the map, I’m in the security office for this floor, which really doesn’t seem right but it’s too dark to really confirm that right now. It would explain why the StealthBucks were in that financial office, however, if they were moved after the room collapsed in on itself.

Anyway, there’s a set of labs nearby and a storage bay a little ways past that. So if I don’t run into any more grenades, hellhounds, ill-tempered robots, or anything else that wants my head, I should be able to make it. And maybe find more supplies to make up for the ones I lost.

I pull out another StealthBuck out of my bag (after all, Lupa sensing me earlier might have been a fluke) and begin to hook it up when something reflects the light of my PipBuck back at me. It looks like some kind of metal object sticking out of the rubble. Curious, I cautiously move closer and dig it out, revealing it to be a very long and dented red box. Dragging it back to my safe spot behind the desk, I brush off the dust and open it up.

Inside is a broken magical energy rifle with a note inside: “In case of zebra invasion, changeling takeover, alien abduction, genocidal robots-” Ok, nevermind, this note is turning out to be a long laundry list of increasingly ridiculous scenarios. Skipping to the end, I find the name of the note’s writer: Mahzun.

Well, Mahzun, thankfully none of what you were afraid of ever happened. But Luna bless your soul for preparing for them regardless. Thank you for the spare parts.

Poking my head back over the desk one more time to make sure there isn’t anypony outside, I take out the broken rifle and strip it for parts. Then I pull out my gauss rifle, strip out all of the burnt and broken bits, and start the long process of figuring out which parts will work with my rifle.

I wish I had that spell inside my PipBuck that provides a breakdown of what can be used to fix a piece of gear and gives a step by step process on how to do it. Unfortunately, the instructions on how to weave that particular spell into the main spell matrix of the PipBuck was missing from the manual. Actually, it’s a miracle that the current spells on this thing work in the first place, considering there were more pages missing from that manual than was still attached.

At least my mend spell takes some of the guesswork out of it. Some days I wish it could fix something as complicated as this rifle, but being able to fuse wires together without needing some kind of tool to do it is good enough. Hay, it’s more than paid for itself for the amount of caps I would have had to spend fixing up my gear after every battle by now.

After a few minutes of repair work, the dead silence surrounding me starts to tug at my paranoia and it isn’t long before I clip an earbloom to my left ear and plug it into my PipBuck. It won’t be bad to listen to something if I keep the other ear open for danger, right?

Pulling out the holotape from the office, I load it into my PipBuck and press play. A high pitch screeching sound assaults my left ear, causing me to wince as I quickly turn down the volume. Well, there goes my hearing.

The sound soon dies out and is replaced by the voice of a very professional sounding mare. “Pastel Skies. Head of the Financial Department. Late 30s. Pegasus. Mare. This is a recording for insurance purposes concerning the ‘Green Bean’ rocket incident. As of-”

A door slams open, causing me to look back at the entrance before realising that it’s from the recording as somepony loudly asks “Pastel, what is the meaning of this?!”

Wait, this voice sounds familiar. Almost like she sounds like Bright Eyes. But this really can’t be her, can it?

“You’re going to have to be more specific if you want me to answer you properly, Raina,” Pastel says calmly. A bit too calmly, actually, unless this is a regular occurrence for her.

“This!” Raina declares while what sounds like a stack of paper hits a desk. “What do you mean we’re almost broke?!”

Yes, the way she is talking just now: Raina has to be Bright Eyes. Just without the whole echoey voice bit.

“Exactly what I said in the memo: we’re running low on funds,” Pastel states plainly while I get back to work on my rifle. “Ever since testing began on the new prototype rockets, their results haven’t been impressing any of our potential investors.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. My rockets are performing spectacularly,” Raina arrogantly answers back (might as well refer to past Bright Eyes as Raina for now).

“So having your rocket destroying the Mayor’s statue in town is what you would call ‘performing spectacularly’?” Pastel asks dryly.

“Hey! That had nothing to do with how my rocket was designed!” Raina snaps back. “It’s Mahzun’s fault for not making sure that the launch pad wouldn’t buckle under pressure!”

“Please leave my cousin-in-law out of this,” Pastel says in the same dry tone as before. “The building contractor was the one using shoddy practices and Mazhun did find the evidence we needed to sue him out of business. Not to mention that his unique skills managed to secure us this property for cheap in the first place.”

“Yes, by convincing the previous owner that it was an ancient dragon burial ground with a zebra curse on it,” Raina says, unimpressed. “That paranoid zebra also spent some of those extra bits he saved up to make sure that this place’s layout is as confusing as possible.”

“You should be glad then. That layout kept the spirits of bad luck away and allowed your rocket to launch without incident,” Pastel says (sarcastically? It’s hard to tell with how dry her tone is) and I can picture her smirking as she calmly adds “Right into the Mayor’s statue.”

“You’re only taking his side because he’s related to Floria,” Raina points out with an edge in her voice. “Honestly, I don’t get how those two are related some days.”

“My sister-in-law might be willing to answer that question for you if you ask her nicely,” Pastel says flatly. “Of course, I doubt my brother would take kindly if you choose to act this rudely in front of his wife. Now if you will excuse me, I have an insurance claim to-”

“Pastel, this can’t fly! We-” Raina pauses for a moment and then she continues in a noticeably softer tone. “Rocky hasn’t gotten a copy of this memo yet, has he?”

“Would it destroy your perfect image if he did?” Pastel asks, devoid of any kind of spite or anger that I would expect to be in her tone.

“Pastel, this is serious!” Raina shouts, a tinge of fear creeping into her voice. “We can’t go broke. Not when we’ve gotten this far. If he finds out that we’re this far into the red…. This is his lifelong dream we’re talking about here!”

“This is all our lifelong dream, Raina,” Pastel answers back. “None of us would be here if it wasn’t.”

“Then isn’t it your job to keep this from happening?!” Raina asks.

“It is,” Pastel acknowledges. “But I can’t very well do that when the Vice President of this facility can’t cope with the fact that her mistake has just cost us dearly.”

Raina groans, her frustration clearly evident in her tone, but Pastel continues. “The only way to avoid this now is if we managed to secure a loan from a place that’s willing to risk signing one with us. Although, considering the current political climate, this accident might be the final nail in our coffin.”

I stop working and listen closely as Raina asks “What do you mean?”

“We are a rocket research facility near the border with about a fourth of our staff being zebras,” Pastel explains calmly. “Once the Ministry of Morale catches wind of this, they will come here to investigate. And if they suspect that any of us are enemy sympathizers, what do you think will happen?”

The recording goes quiet for a solid minute before Raina quietly asks “Can’t we just pay the town to keep quiet or something?”

“And risk going to jail?” Pastel asks rhetorically. I can imagine her shaking her head as she continues. “Even if we had the bits, that would make us guilty in the Ministry’s eyes if they, no, when they find out.”

Another minute passes before Raina speaks up. “Look, this project can’t fail. Not after getting this far. I won’t allow it!” Something slams against a desk and I check my surroundings to make sure it is just the recording as she adds. “There has to be something we can do to fix this.”

Suddenly a non-gravely version of Rocky Shore’s voice asks “And what do you propose?”

“Mr. Shores!” Raina says, trying hard and failing to hide the surprise in her tone as she speaks. “What brings you over here?”

“I got the memo, same as you,” Rocky Shores says as a door closes near them. Ignoring the urge to look around again, I go back to fixing my rifle as Rocky asks “So? What’s your plan?”

“Well, I... don’t know,” Raina begrudgingly admits. “But I got us through worse situations than this. I can get us out of this one!”

“I’m sure you can,” Rocky says in an oddly cheerful tone. “But that won’t be necessary this time.”

“You sound like you already have something figured out,” Pastel says, though the quality of the recording makes it hard to tell if she sounds impressed or skeptical.

“Well,” Rocky begins to explain. “My secretary just informed me not too long ago that a representative from the Ministry of Tech has a pretty interesting proposition for us. She’ll be coming by in a few hours and I would like you two to be there for the meeting.”

“What could they possibly want with us?” Raina asks.

“I don’t know. That’s why I want both of you with me when she presents her proposal: to tell me if the deal is any good or not,” Rocky says before quietly adding “I don’t really want a repeat of that building contract fiasco.”

Then, with what I can imagine would have been a smile on his face, he asks, “So, can I count on you two for that?”

“Of course, Mr. Shores,” Pastel says. “I can hold off on this statement recording and get to work preparing for the meeting right away.”

“Excellent!” Rocky says enthusiastically. An enthusiasm that dies down to a noticeable degree when he adds “Ah, I see you’re using a holotape again.”

“Yes, I am. Why would I use anything else?” Pastel asks politely.

Rocky clears his throat. “Well, I thought your work would be easier if you used a memory orb instead?”

I tense up, my mind unwittingly recalling the last memory orb I used: that cracked metallic orb that cursed me in the first place.

No, no, they’re not talking about that thing. They’re talking about a normal memory orb. The kind that let’s one relive a stored memory through the eyes of the memory’s owner. Not what… whatever that cracked orb did to me.

“Mr. Shores, please, I deal with sensitive information here,” Pastel says in a blunt yet professional manner, mercifully pulling me out of my thoughts before I could relive something truly horrifying. I clear my mind and take a deep breath to calm down as she continues. “And I won’t risk somepony viewing a recording of me reading this report and noticing something through my eyes that could potentially jeopardize our company.”

“But I spent all those bits on that shipment of memory orbs last month,” Rocky groans. I can’t tell by the tone of his voice if he’s sincerely upset about this or just faking it. Hopefully the latter, since Pastel is right about not using them in this regard.

“And I’m sure we can use them for recording holiday events rather than sensitive information,” Pastel says rather flatly. “I just wish you two would stop giving me reasons to use red ink in my ledgers.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Raina says sharply.

“Well, if this all works out then we won’t have to worry about red ink ever again. Come along, we’ve got a meeting to prepare for!” Rocky says cheerfully. “Oh! And please don’t terrify our guest, Raina. We really do need this deal.”

“You’re never going to let that go are you?” Raina asks with some annoyance in her voice.

“Nope,” Rocky says before the recording ends with an audible click.

Ok, this recording is interesting, to say the least. I didn’t think I’d get a peak into Bright Eyes’ and Rocky’s past while wandering around down here. Or find out that Bright Eyes’ former name was Raina. Or that this place nearly went under until the Ministry of Tech bailed them out. That last point might explain why this place is labeled “Equestrian Defense Silo One” while the sign outside still has the original Lunar Institute name.

Although, why they would want to invest with a company that accidentally ‘replaced’ the mayor’s statue with an experimental rocket is beyond me. Makes even less sense to put balefire missiles here with that incident hanging over this place. Then again, it sounded like they only appeared after the ghouls returned to this place. Which means somepony thought it would be a good idea to store dangerous weapons while this place was a museum.

None of this really makes any sense. But it isn’t my job to try to piece together what happened here. Not when there’s the option to ask Rocky and Bright Eyes for an explanation later.

Fusing the last wire into place, I put the cover back on my gauss rifle and pull off my earbloom. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like anypony has come around to check up on that explosion. Here’s hoping it stays that way.

Slowly, I make my way to the door, poking both my rifle and my head around the edge. With E.F.S. not picking anything up, I then move further into the dark hallway, casting a dim light spell to light the way.

Once again the atmosphere hangs oppressively over me. Every awkward hoofstep sounds louder than normal now; the shadows seem to move oddly when the light hits them; the ponies in the old propaganda posters, normally cheerful, now seem to stare at me as I pass.

Then I step down on something soft and squishy.

Under my hoof lies the torn up remains of a ghoulish griffon. Memories flash before my eyes as I step back. Ones of that accursed silver-winged griffon lying on the ground before me. His right wing horribly mangled and bloodied. His eyes stare back in fear as he claws at the ground in a vain attempt to get away from me.

And blades of blood hovering above him. Ready to tear him apart.

‘You should have killed him.’

Ignoring the sneering voice of the dark pony, I push the memories back into their box. This is not something I want to think about now. Or ever.

‘As if forgetting about the past will erase what you did,’ The dark pony says mockingly as I limp around the dead body. ‘You know that griffon deserved worse. They all did. So why did you hold back then? Why are you holding back now?’

“Enough already,” I mutter under my breath. The atmosphere here is already making me jumpy. No need to have that voice wear my nerves down further.

Suddenly the hallway lights flicker on and something catches my eye. I turn and point my rifle to where I think it might be just as the lights die out. In the soft green glow of my light spell, nothing moves. Seconds pass. Then minutes. Finally, I let go of a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in and slowly move forward again.

Only to stop again when something else moves. Pointing my rifle in that direction, I get ready to shoot at… a spider crawling up the wall.

At this rate, I’m going to end up shooting a poster, aren’t I?

To be fair, some of them seem to be designed to be unsettling. Like the Ministry of Morale, one hanging on the wall near me. With the Ministry Mare creepily staring out and the caption ‘Pinkie Pie is watching you FOREVER!’ surround the old pink mare. Old. That feels wrong somehow. Outside of the grey streak in her mane and the small amount of wrinkles on her face, Pinkie Pie still looks much like the younger version I used to read about. Hmm, how would she handle a terrifying situation like this? Probably by singing a song, like she did when she and her friends were on their way to confront Nightmare Moon. How did that song go?

‘When I was a little filly and the sun was going down-’

Right, nevermind, I remember now. And definitely remember why I don’t like this song now. With a shake of my head to dispel it, I continue onward. Only for Pinkie Pie’s voice to creep its way back into my head.

‘The darkness and the shadows, they would always ma-’

No, no! Not getting this stuck in my head for another week! I try to tune it out by focusing on my surroundings more. But that doesn’t seem to help any.

“I’d hide under my-”

Picking up my pace as fast as I can, I look around for something, anything, to distract me from this inferno song! Honestly, what was up with ponies in the old days and their obsession with catchy impromptu musical numbers?!

Again, something catches my eye, causing me to stop and look around with my rifle at the ready. Did Lupa and that Winona hellhound finally decide to turn around and check out the explosion? Or am I getting worked up over another spider again?

Then I spot two red orbs through a nearby window. The same shade of red as Lupa’s.

Quickly, I aim my rifle and shine my light at the window, ready to shoot Lupa before she can kill me. Instead, the orbs turn out to be lights on some odd research equipment.

I glare at the stupid machine. “And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and-” I stop, realizing that I’m now quietly singing the song to myself. And that I feel slightly at ease now. Whether it is because of the song or my now growing sense of embarrassment for acting so ridiculous, I’m not sure. Either way, one thing is clear: “You win this time, Ms. Pie.”

Hearing the mare snickering doesn’t make me feel any better.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at the silly unicorn why don’t you?” I say bitterly. “You’re not the first one to kick me while I’m down.”

Wait, that doesn’t sound like Pinkie Pie at all. And it sounds awfully real for something that should only be in my head.

Of course the snickering stops the moment I look in the direction where it’s coming from. I wait, scanning my surroundings to make sure nothing is going to jump out at me, before finally letting out a sigh. “Get a grip on yourself, Intrepid,” I mutter to myself as I go back to limping down the hallway again. “This is no time to start hearing things.”

‘You know Dad wouldn't be jumping at shadows like this,’ The little pony in my head says pointedly as I move forward yet again. ‘He would have kept his cool and found Winter Rose by now instead of wasting time bumbling into traps and being terrified of everything. Hay, even she seems to be doing alright for a mare that supposedly needs rescuing.’

The words stab into me like daggers in the back. It hurts how true they all are and another dagger soon joins them with the realization that I don't really know what Winter Rose looks like. Just that she is grey and maybe a pegasus ghoul. At the very least, she'll be the only pony down here, so there's that going for me.

‘But Dad would have made sure he knew what she looked like,’ My little pony continues as I limp around the remains of another grenade trap. ‘He would have gotten every single detail he needed before setting one hoof into this place. Unlike his useless son, who rushed down here with only a nearly useless map and an unhealthy desire to be a hero to help him. Just like last time. And every time before that.’

I stop and stare at a trail of blood leading through a giant hole that used to be a dead end.

‘You know you’ll never be like him,’ My little pony finally says, twisting the final knife into my heart. ‘Why can’t you accept that and give up?’

Ignoring the question, I limp through the hole and into a mostly dark room, with the only light source shining in from what’s left of the exit on the other side. Some of the scientific equipment reflect the light off their glass surface as they sit on the counter in front of me. Rubble and broken glass litter the floor in a way that suggests that somepony has moved through here recently. Although, how recently is anypony’s guess.

As I limp towards the obvious exit, a red dot appears in the corner of my eye. Expecting yet another stupid red light bulb from some broken lab machine, I turn my head and see the face of a hellhound.

A real hellhound.

The back of her paw slams into me, sweeping me off my hooves and into the opposing wall. Pain wracks my body as I lose my concentration over my magic, causing my light spell to vanish and my gauss rifle to fall to the ground near me.

Before I can fully grasp the situation, the hellhound picks me up holds me to her face. It takes a second to recognise her as the Winona hellhound from earlier as she sniffs my mane and grins. “Heh, I told Lupa someone was following us,” She says, her rancid breath causing me to gag. “But I wasn’t expecting a living unicorn.”

“And I wasn’t expecting a hellhound with bad breath!” I answer back, trying to sound calm despite the panic flooding my mind.

She chuckles. “You’re funny. And noisy too. I like that in my prey,” She extends the claws on her other paw. “It’s almost a shame to gut you now. Maybe I should have some fun with you first.”

“Sorry, I-I hate cat and mouse,” I say, panic seeping into my tone now as I look around the place. “P-Plus, you don’t really want to kill me, do you Winona?”

She slackened her grasp on me. “Winona?” She asks, obviously confused by the name that I gave her without thinking.

That split second is enough to let me teleport behind the counter and turn on my StealthBuck. It’s magic kicks in not a moment too soon, turning me invisible just before the hellhound runs past me and straight through the bright exit. Her head whips around frantically, her ears in attention, her eyes scanning every inch of the area around her.

Right. Not going that way then.

Slowly, as to not attract her attention, I inch towards my gauss rifle, feeling a small sense of relief as it disappears the moment I grab onto the strap with my mouth. With backtracking being the only real option available, I limp back to the giant hole I entered from when suddenly the hellhound rushes back into the room. Fear keeps me rooted in place as she leaps onto the counter and slowly scans the room. Even with the StealthBuck cloaking me, moving can still give me away if I’m not careful. And with her being so close to me, a single misstep could mean death.

But this is fine. As long as she doesn’t bump into me, I can just wait right here until she gets bored and-

My heart stops as she sniffs the air and slowly turns to stare straight at me.

She knows I’m here, doesn’t she?

Her extended claws swinging towards me says that she does. I teleport away in time to hear those claws dig into concrete instead of my hide. Reappearing at the furthest end of the dark hallway, I strain my eyes to see the hellhound’s red silhouette on E.F.S. in the darkness. She tears into her surroundings frantically until the silhouette cocks her head into the air.

Then the silhouette tears the floor apart as she dashes on all fours towards me.

Fumbling in the dark for my rifle, I finally just cast my light spell and then attempt to activate S.A.T.S.. No point in trying to hide anymore. However, S.A.T.S. doesn’t turn on by the time I have my rifle pointed towards the silhouette and fire. Despite it being a near blind shot, I somehow manage to hit her leg, knocking it out from under her and causing her to stumble and slow down to avoid crashing into the ground. With the few seconds that shot buys me, I hit my PipBuck against the ground, trying to get it to work.

Come on! Come on! Work you stupid piece of junk!

It doesn’t work. The hellhound gets back up and starts moving towards me again as I give up and reload my rifle.

So you know, Luna, this is completely unfair! My leg gets torn up and I can barely walk because of it! This hellhound gets shot in the leg and she shakes it off like it was nothing! Just saying!

Firing another shot at her shoulder, I watch the bullet miss her completely before loading another round while she picks up speed. With no time left to end this non-lethally, I aim for her head.

Sorry. If there was any other way, I’d take it in a heartbeat. But I made a promise and you are in my way. So if it’s between your life and mine-

I pull the trigger.

-I’m picking me.

With a roar, the rifle fires and the bullet grazes Winona’s cheek as it misses her head. I swear under my breath and pull out the spent MFC. My body won’t stop shaking as I try to focus on reloading my rifle. Another shot, if I can just get another shot in.

But she appears in front of me before I can even do that, claw raised above her head, ready for the kill.

Then, a shot rings out. Blood erupts from her claw as it slams into the nearby wall. She roars in pain and immediately turns her head to the adjacent hallway. Another shot hits her shoulder and, surprisingly, ricochets into the ceiling. She growls with pure hatred before tearing into the nearby wall and vanishing into the darkness.

I sit down. My heart feels like it is beating inside my head, my body still shaking from the fear and adrenaline running through it. “Buck it all, Silverwing!” I yell, “Did you really need to cut it that close before-”

Before what, exactly? Why am I yelling at that stupid griffon for? He’s not here. If he was, there would have been more bullets fired, followed by a sword-wielding mare hyped up on drugs-

No, this isn’t the time to start thinking about that stuff! I need to get out of here before that hellhound comes back!

Getting back up, I teleport a couple of jumps down the hallway, backtracking until I spot a room to hide in. Moving past some of the construction supplies on the floor, I push over a table and hunker down behind it. With a deep breath, I peak over my cover and scan the room with E.F.S. on. No hellhounds. Not in the room and not in the hallway outside. Allowing myself to relax just a little, I slump back down against the table.

This isn’t an ideal situation to be in, not knowing where my opponent is. Neither is holding up in a room where half-finished plywood walls are the only thing separating me from the rest of the facility. Then again, there isn’t such a thing as a safe room when dealing with someone that can tear through walls with ease, is there?

At least I was saved at the last minute by a mysterious pony. Of course, it kind of ruins the romanticism of the event when it is obvious that that mysterious pony is Winter Rose. Maybe I shouldn’t have teleported away so quickly and given her a chance to show herself?

A glimpse of red catches the corner of my eye. A clear sign that I am definitely not out of the woods yet.

Focusing on the red dot showing up on E.F.S., I ready myself and point my gun towards it as it gets closer. Soon it transforms into the familiar silhouette of the hellhound, moving carefully just outside of the wall to my left. It will not take long for her to catch my scent again.

Given how thin the wall looks, I could just shoot through it and, with luck, end this once and for all.

Luck. Right. I pull up my inventory on my PipBuck to check on how much ammo I have left, in case this plan goes as well as all of the other ones I have had lately. As I search the list, my eyes come across the entry for the bottle of blood I got earlier.

And in the back of my mind, the dark pony chuckles. ‘You almost forgot that was there didn’t you? You know, a blade is more likely to kill at this point than your rather unsteady aim.’

Closing the inventory, I try to line up my shot with the head of the silhouette. My aim is good enough for this and I have more than enough ammo for if something goes wrong. There is no need to resort to that magic here.

‘But it is your power, is it not?’ The dark pony asks. ‘What’s wrong with using it here, where no one else will get hurt? Outside of that annoying hellhound, of course. Is it really horrible to feel empowered? To force her to be the weak one here?’

Time seems to slow to a crawl as the silhouette stops. I try to keep my rifle steady even as it slightly shakes in my magical grip. And… is killing her really the only option here? The other hellhounds are clearly following Lupa out of fear. Max showed very clearly what happens when someone challenges her.

So that hellhound out there really hunting me down, is because she truly wants to kill me? Or is she only doing it because she’s afraid of disobeying Lupa?

‘That doesn’t really change anything,’ The dark pony says coldly. ‘All that matters is that she is trying to kill you now. And you’ve already seen how effective bullets seem to be on her. Are you really betting your life on the vain hope that one more might take her down?’

Taking a deep breath, I try to push the dark pony out of my head. He is right about one thing, bullets didn’t slow her down. But if I were to charge my rifle, like I did with that hellhound that nearly killed me back at the main entrance, maybe that might stop her? It is worth a shot. And better than killing her outright.

‘And do you think the ghouls would agree with you?’ It keeps whispering in my head. ‘How many of them were ripped to shreds when the hellhounds first attacked? How many friends and loved ones died because of these monsters? Did any of these hellhounds think twice about killing them like you are doing now?’

“Enough,” I mutter to myself.

The dark pony glares in response. ‘Pretend all you want, none of them are innocent and you know it. They have blood on their claws and they deserve to be torn apart just like their victims. Just like Silverwing when he-’

The silhouette suddenly jerks backwards, startling me into pulling the trigger. The plywood wall explodes around the area where the bullet punches through it. I hold my breath, partially to not breath in the newly formed dust cloud, and silently curse when it becomes obvious that the silhouette has disappeared. Because of course E.F.S. would stop working right now.

And there wasn’t a yelp or a howl of pain after the shot. So that is definitely a miss. But, there is not a hellhound bashing through the wall now. No demands that I show myself. Just silence.

Silence is the last thing I want to hear right now.

My heart beats faster as I replace the spent MFC from my rifle and scan my surroundings. This is what I get for relying on a spell that doesn’t tell me how far away something is. I shouldn’t have assumed that that hellhound was on the other side of the wall. Dear Luna, I should have tried sneaking away when I still had the chance.

Ok, stop, focus. What would a huge death machine do now?

Splinters hit my face as Winona tear through the unfinished wall. I panic, instinctively teleport away just as she slashes at me, swinging through empty air instead.

“Nice trick, unicorn.” She snarls, turning to glare at me at the other end of the room.

“Thank you,” I point my rifle at her. “I spent a lot of time getting it right.”

With one swift motion, she lunges at me. Again, I teleport out of the way and fire another shot the moment I reappear behind her, hitting her shoulder. She winces in pain and spins around, her claws nipping my neck as I once again teleport away.

Blood trickles from a small cut on the side of my neck as I reappear behind the table. Loading another shot, I wait for her to strike yet again. She isn’t going to get another lucky cut against me. Not now.

I blink when she stands up calmly. No sign that she is going to attack again. Although the light pouring in through the new hole in the wall doesn’t make her look any less threatening.

“Look, you’re more trouble than you're worth,” Winona says as she levels her eyes to meet mine. “So let’s make a deal: tell me where the… the… where the winged pony thief is and I’ll let you go.”

I aim my rifle squarely at her head. “And I’ll believe you because?”

She extends her claws out menacingly. “I could kill you now.”

While this is a peaceful resolution that I normally look for, it sucks. Partially since that means betraying the pony that I’ve gone through Tartarus and back already to rescue. Which goes against every fiber of my being, on top of it being an utterly stupid thing for me to do.

But mostly for one very, very obvious reason.

“I, umm, don’t know where she is?” I say, trying desperately to figure out what to do next.

“Don’t lie to me!” Winona snaps back. “I know she’s here! I know she’s helping you! Now tell me which shadow she’s skulking in!”

“Why would I lie about this?!” I spit out while throwing my hooves up into the air. “I have no clue where she is! Do you think I would be following you if I did, Winona?!”

“Why do you keep calling me Winona?” She snarls loudly.

“Because you remind me of-” I thankfully stop myself before I do something incredibly stupid like telling a hellhound that she reminded me of Applejack’s pet dog. “Nevermind, what is your name then?”

Winona looks at me with a surprised expression on her face before thoughtfully looking at the ground. I can’t help but feel relieved by this.

Dear Luna, she’s actually humoring me! This is how Equestria should work! Everypony sits down, gets to know each other, and works out their differences without resorting to bloodshed. If I can play my cards right, I’ll be able to resolve this peacefully and-

“It’s Princess,” Winona mutters while looking away. “My name is Princess.”

-And that can’t be her name, can it? Really?

Sure enough, she looks embarrassed enough for this to be real. I hear some snickering in the room and it takes a second longer than it should to realize that I’m the one making that sound. That immediately stop when she smashes the table in front of me with her good paw.

She doesn’t attack right away, but any chance of ending this peacefully is probably truly dead now. Good job me. I try to subtly activate S.A.T.S. and teleport away while I still have the chance. Winona notices my attempt to manipulate my PipBuck, though and rushes forward to cut me down. That rush slows down to a crawl as S.A.T.S. activates just in time.

Finally! This stupid piece of junk activates on time for once! Now, let’s think. Where should I go to get away from here and… wait, is that a grenade?

Sure enough, the S.A.T.S. is not targeting Winona but the flashbang hovering between us. A pinless flashbang.

As much as I would love to know how that got there, that will have to wait until later. If a flashbang isn’t a sign that I need to leave now, I don’t know what is.

I queue up a teleport spell, focusing on the lit hallway Winona came from. Then, with a small prayer to Luna that I won’t reappear inside of a wall or the floor, I execute S.A.T.S.. The scene in from of me speeds up and I notice the hellhound’s expression turn into surprise before teleporting away. The moment I reappear, I throw myself onto the floor and cover my ears while shutting my eyes tightly.

The flashbang goes off behind me, followed by faint gunshots. The flurry of activity keeps me rooted in place until the sound of claws digging into concrete prompts me to stand up and start limping away.

An unfamiliar voice stops me as she yells out, “While you’re running back to Lupa, go ahead and tell her that Smarty says ‘Hello’ for me, Princess!”

She does not sound like a hellhound. She does not sound like a ghoul either, for that matter. So, who is this? I slowly turn around just in time to see the mystery mare walk through the hole in the wall.

Standing right in front of me is a bat pony mare.

I have to blink a few times to make sure I’m not seeing things. Sure enough, she is still there as she turns to look at me with her piercing cyan eyes. Her tufted ears twitch slightly as she brushes her white highlighted, light blue mane back. Her red scarf around her neck seems to highlight her lithe, light grey body. In no way does her sturdy-looking leather barding seem to hinder her graceful movement, or the strong-looking pair of bat wings sprouting from her back. A knife is holstered on her shoulder while she slings her hoof-lever sniper rifle onto her back.

When she gives me a wonderful smile that shows off her sharp canine teeth, I decide to open my mouth.

“Oh dear Luna! You’re a bat pony! Or is that thestral? Nevermind that, there’s a bat pony standing right in front of me! I didn’t think any existed! N-Not that I don’t want your kind to exist, mind you! I do! But no one has seen one since that ghoul bat pony appeared, but he’s a ghoul and you’re alive! A-Are you really nocturnal?! Do you eat meat?! Can you really fly with thos-Mmphh”

Her smile disappears as she quickly shoves a hoof to my mouth.

Smooth, Intrepid. Real Smooth.

“Ok, as soon as I remove my hoof, I want you to take a breath, ok?” The bat pony mare instructs. Once I nod in agreement, she removes her hoof and, as instructed, I take a deep breath.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting to find a bat pony here of all places,” I explain while rubbing the back of my neck.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” She answers back before looking me over with some concern. “You alright? You look like a mess.”

“I’ve had better days,” I admit while looking over her shoulder to the room behind her. There is a giant hole in the ground where the table used to be. “So is Wino-, err, Princess gone?”

“Yeah, she’s gone,” The mare says with some annoyance in her voice. “Stupid mutt kept thrashing around. Couldn’t get a clean shot on her before she finally tucked her tail between her legs and escaped. Luna, I hate hunting them on this floor.”

“I’m sorry,” I reply back instinctively.

“What for? You couldn’t have done anything to stop her,” She says. “If anything, I screwed up the perfect opportunity you gave me.”

Was that a backhoof compliment or genuine?

“Come on, let’s get going before more show up,” She pats me on the shoulder and then starts to walk off. I quickly follow.

“Oh! By the way,” She looks back at me. “What’s your name?”

“Intrepid Scholar,” I answer her back. “You?”

She looks back with pride in her eyes. “Winter Rose, the greatest bounty hunter ever!"

I stop and stare at her. “Winter Rose?”

“Yep!” She gives me a wink. “Now, you going to stand there admiring how awesome I am or you going to keep up?”

“Oh! Right!” I quickly stop gawking and hurry to catch up with her. A giant grin appearing on my face.

Thank you, Luna. After every stupid thing that has happened so far, thank you for finally letting me find Winter Rose in one piece without dying. Now I can quickly get her out of here and get back to my self imposed exile. For once, things are finally looking up for me.

Please let things stay this way. Please?

Congratulations! Despite every setback, you’ve managed to find Winter Rose!

Quest Objective Completed:

Find Winter Rose.

Quest Objective Gained:

Escort Winter Rose Back To Safety.

Current Quest Objective:

Scavenge For Medical Supplies.Don’t Die