"Is she going to be alright?" Babs Seed asked.

"Yeah, she's stable, but she needs to rest." Scootaloo said. "We need to get her back to Santos, she'll know what to do. Hopefully..."

Isaac was sitting by the ladder, he wiped some blood away from his forehead as tears trickled off his chin and nose. He shook his head before getting up. He gently picked Applebloom up and swallowed a lump in his throat, gave a nod and exited the building.

They ran to the elevator, Isaac literally slammed his fist down on the controls and it began his descent.

"She jumped in front of me." Babs said suddenly. "She sacrificed herself for me." She hit the floor with a sob.

Once it stopped and the rails lifted, they began running again and hurried past the pipes, Santos and Norton looking on in curiosity.

"Santos, are there any medical supplies up there?" Isaac asked over the comm.

"Medical supplies? Why would you-"

"Dammit Santos!" Isaac yelled. "Applebloom is hurt! She needs to rest and we still don't know if there's anything else wrong with her! Are there any medical supplies up there!?" He yelled, his voice was hoarse and ragged.

"Yes! I'll get them out immediately."

They entered the elevator and it lifted them up, Isaac was shaking from anxiety. Once the doors were open, they all ran and found Santos and Norton standing in attention.

He laid Applebloom on a table and propped her head up with a pillow. Scootaloo took off her friend's suit and winced as she saw the new scar.

It was noticeable; it was a large ring right under her rib cage.

"What the hell happened?" Norton asked.

"What the hell do you think!?" Isaac roared, slamming a fist down on the counter. "She was attacked when she was trying to save her cousin!"

"She shouldn't have done that, I mean look at what happened! The dumbass got herself skewered."

Isaac threw a punch and pinned Norton against the gate, he pulled out his own Pulse rifle and stared with hatred at the man.

"You listen here you worthless piece of shit!" Isaac yelled as he pressed the barrel of the gun to Norton's head. "She did it to save her cousin's life! She didn't plan on getting impaled! And if your just going to make bullshit remarks like that, then get the hell away from her, me, and the other crusaders!"

With a shove he sent Norton to the floor and returned back to Applebloom's side.

He was getting ready to go back over and hit Isaac when a bony tentacle slammed into him. Knocking the air out of him, he flew back against the wall and looked up.

Scootaloo was staring at him, her eyes a swirling black mist. Sweetiebelle was running at him. Before he could raise his rifle, she pinned him against the wall and her horn began to glow. He squinted against the light, and his confusion turned to shock as the metal around him bent and made shackles.

She got off him and ran back to her friends side.

"Santos, c-could you look after her while we go and turn the pipes on?" Isaac asked.

"Of course." She replied. "And I'll make sure to keep Norton away from her." She whispered with a wink.

"Thank you, really thank you, Santos." Isaac said pulling the woman into a hug. "Thank you for doing this..."

He got off her and waved the others along. Babs took one last look at her cousin before entering the elevator.

"The heat exchanges are working now, Isaac. But the specimen isn't thawing, could you go and reroute the pressure?"

"Sure, sure..." He said half-heartedly.

They walked back to the pipes and stared at the valves, Isaac shrugged and turned them on.

Steam hissed from every crevice in the pipes, heating their suits up. Light's flashed on and the controls lit up. One light lit the second valve, Isaac took it in his kinesis and turned it.

More steam was forced out; the fourth valve lit up and Scootaloo turned it.

The first lit up and Babs Seed looked at her hoof before sticking it out. She thought of the white light and flinched when it shot out from her hoof. She turned her hoof a little and it turned with it.

The third valve lit up and Sweetiebelle turned it.

They worked diligently, each of them getting a valve, in a few moments the pressure was high enough. The floor was shaking, the pipes were rattling in their restraints and the temperature had gone up drastically. Isaac pushed the button and jumped back.

The Nexus thawed out, the noise of the steam was enough to shroud the sound of metal being shot.

"Yes! The internal temperature is rising! And I have more good news!" Santos said excitedly.

"Really? What is it?" He asked.

"Come up to the observation booth! I'll explain it on the way."

As they walked, she continued talking.

"The Necromorph's are conduits for the Markers' signals. Well, the researchers built a sensor to track that signal upstream to find the Machine!"

"So where's the sensor?"

"It's in one of the fancy storage sheds." Applebloom replied shakily over the comm.

"Couse? Are you alright?" Babs asked.

"Sore, but fine. Norton's givin' me a look that'll make a Necromorph cringe. Santos is wrappin' me in a blanket, sayin' ah need to rest but ah-" A small thud was heard and soon snoring followed it.

"She keeps going in and out," Santos said. "She'll live but she lost a lot of blood, even more that what that bullet wound on her back leg caused. Your lucky, she's lucky, that blade passed inches away from her diaphragm."

"What would have happened if that was cut?" Babs asked.

"I think it would be better if I left that unsaid." She said. "As Applebloom said, it is in a warehouse. At the other end of the camp."

They entered the elevator and met Santos. Norton was keeping his distance from her as she tended to Applebloom.

Babs Seed and the others rushed to her side, Isaac leaning over her to pull up a blanket. She smiled a little before her eyes fluttered open and then closed.

"Hey, Isaac, girls..." She said. "Did ya miss me?"

"Applebloom, I was so afraid." Babs Seed said pulling her into a hug.

Applebloom wheezed and gritted her teeth, but returned it anyway.

"Babs, it's still tender." She said.

She let go and Applebloom fell back onto her pillow. She pulled the blanket back up and smiled. She moved around a bit before a hoof poked out from blanket and began to move around, patting herself.

"Hey, where'd ma'h suit go?" She asked.

"It's got a hole or two in it." Scootaloo said, looking at the suit. "It went right though both sides."

"Ah know," Applebloom smiled. "Could ya fix it so ah could put it back on? Ah'm gettin' chilly."

"Sure, now you just rest and try not to get turned into a shish-kabob... Again."

"Will-" She stopped speaking and her mouth closed to a small smile.

"Here are the blueprints." Santos said sliding a piece of paper over.

Isaac took it and put it in a pocket. He gave a nod before noticing Norton.

"Hey Santos," Isaac said, never breaking eye contact with Norton. "If he," he pointed his Force gun at Norton. "Tries anything funny, use this if you have to." He slid her his gun and pulled out his own shotgun.

She picked it up and checked the ammo, she nodded and turned to Norton as they left to get the parts.

Scootaloo stopped and got Applebloom's suit, she took it and jumped off the rail. When the others exited the elevator, she was taking the suit out from the bench and back up to Applebloom.

"Here you go bloom, a fresh fixed suit." Scootaloo smiled as her own magic put the suit on her friend. "Have fun."

Applebloom rolled over onto her back as her friend left. She tapped her helmet and a screen came up, she smiled as a familiar song began to play.

As they exited the elevator, Norton spoke over the comms.

"Ok, geniuses here's a question; let's say this stupid experiment works and you find the Machine. Then what? Do you guys have any clue about turning it off?"

They entered a doorway and waited for it to open. It opened letting in the harsh arctic wind hit them again.

"Well, admiral Graves referred to a Codex. She said it was the key to controlling the Machine." Isaac replied.

They stepped over the corpse and got on the lift, letting the safety guards lower Santos added her two cents.

"Yes! I've been able to decrypt Dr. Serrano's logs and he references someone name Rosetta as being instrumental in forging this key."

"Are you listening to yourselves!?" Norton said angrily. "You don't know any more about this bullshit than I do!"

"Hey," Isaac said. "That's what kept me and the crusaders alive on Titan Station." He said casually. "So far, it's been pretty good for us. We tend to go with the flow."

"Go with-what-screw this!" Norton cut off his link.

"Heh, rage quit." Isaac smiled underneath his helmet.

The rails lifted again and they stepped off, Isaac with a spring in his step from his small victory. When they entered the circular doorway and it opened, they all stopped and went slack jawed. Isaac got over his in a few seconds.

Four Unitologist soldiers, all without weapons were surrounded by candle. They each put a knife to their throats and quickly cut their jugulars. The middle of the drill platform was pooled with blood, small streams were made as it drained through the grooves.

"That... What was that?" Babs Seed asked.

"Same old, same old." Isaac shrugged. "Just some less violent Unitologist soldiers, or worshipers whatever you want to call them. Me and your friends saw a lot of this on Titan. But on the Ishimura..." He shook his head. "Just damn..."

He was about to walk past the corpses when Sweetiebelle ran up to them and closed their eyes. Isaac nodded slightly when the others weren't looking.

They trudged back up the snowy incline from earlier, the crusaders slower from the snows depth. They entered the elevator and stood in silence, listening to the clinks of metal as it ascended. The doors opened, letting a fresh blast of cold air through. Isaac poked his head out and looked around.

"All clear." He said as they walked out.

They crossed the red snow, Babs gagging slightly when she saw an eyeball. Sweetibelle put a hoof on her shoulder and gave a smile. She nodded before continuing to the patchwork ramp.

Isaac put in the security codes and the door unlocked, he put a hand to the hololock and opened it.

"Up we go, and to the parts." Isaac said. "To probably get killed later."

"Way to stay positive Isaac." Sweetiebelle rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I'm actually in a good mood." He said. "Aside from, Applebloom..."

She rolled her eyes and perked her ears up when a distinct noise was heard.

"Stalkers." She hissed. "Hey Isaac, remember those bird-like thing's from Titan?" She asked evilly.

He looked down and saw a black tendril curling around his foot.

"I hate you so much."

When the doors opened, a squawk was heard and Isaac was slammed against the ceiling roughly. Scootaloo stopped and looked around, seeing nothing she put him down.

He lay there on the floor, groaning in pain.

"I think you went a little overboard Scoot's." Sweetiebelle said as she trotted up to Isaac. "Isaac? Are you alive?" She poked him with a hoof and only got a moan in response.

He rolled over and grabbed her with an arm, he pulled her to his chest and her ears splayed up.

"Scoot's! You knocked him out!" Sweetiebelle yelled attempting to unlatch his arm. 'He's a lot stronger than he looks.' She thought.

Scootaloo blushed and coughed into her hoof before attempting to pull her friend out. After a minute of struggling she was left panting and confused.

"His arm wont budge." She said. "Usually I could easily do that, but now... He's like a statue. I'm sorry Sweetiebelle, but your on your own."

The look of horror on Sweetiebele's face made the other two crusaders laugh.

While Sweetiebelle struggled against Isaac, Scootaloo took him by his feet and began dragging him around a corner. Scootaloo pushed the hololock and the doors opened.

She lifted Isaac up by the shoulders, his grip weakened and Sweetiebelle fell to the floor. She shook a tiny hoof at the man, forgetting he wasn't conscious.

The doors opened and Scootaloo let Isaac fall into the snow. She wrapped a tentacle around his shoulders and dragged him through it. She paused and looked to her right, she traced the two-toed tracks out into the frozen waste.

"Babs." Scootaloo whispered. "Were about to run into some Stalkers, aim for the legs and then finish them off with a cut to the arm."

"Stalkers?" Babs asked. "Why are they called that?"

"They hunt in packs," Sweetiebelle said. "And since we can't risk hurting Isaac anymore, I'll go and take care of them."

Four, thin bony arachnoid like legs came out from Sweetiebelle's back. She stood up on them before swiftly running ahead, the surprised squawks of Stalkers were heard before they were muted. Sweetiebelle came back with a Stalker head attached to a leg.

"The three ahead are gone, but there could be more of them." She said absorbing the head.

"W-Where am I?"

They all looked back at Isaac as he sat up. He rubbed his faceplate and looked around, his gaze stopped at Scootaloo.

"Eh heh... Hey Isaac." She waved.

"You..." He said through gritted teeth.

"Now, let's not do anything well regret later, Isaac." She said backing away.

"You... Knocked me out." He got up, the sounds of his knuckles popping made her splay her ears back. "Run, run before I do something your friends will regret later."

As she took off running, a blaring yell was heard. They all turned around and saw a Stalker running out from the vent.

"Oh Shit!" Isaac yelled as it ran at him.

It was nearly at arms length with him before a bang went through the air and it's head fell from it's neck, a gaping hole going through it's back and head.

"Did ya think yall could go without me?" Applebloom asked as she limped out on her Planet cracker Plasma cutter.

"Applebloom, what the hell are you doing here!?" Isaac shouted as he ran over to her. "You should be resting, not coming out here!"

"Do ya think me almost dyin' is enough to keep me down?" She laughed. "Please, ah ain't that soft. No offense Scootaloo."

"None... Taken?"

"Applebloom, as a trained veterinarian, I highly advise you to go back and rest." Isaac pleaded.

"And as your friend, ah highly advise ya to stop worrin' over me. Ah'm fine, ah had to hogtie Norton and spin Santos around a little before ah got away. And that was when ah just woke up. Ah'm wide awake now."

"Appleboom, you sure your gonna be alright?" Babs asked. "Ah mean, most ponies don't just get up after something like that happens."

"Couse, if ya haven't learned it by now, we apples and ma'h friends, aren't most ponies. And hey, when we get out'a this, ah get to see Big Mac faint again. That's worth just as much as any Hearth's Warming Eve gift."

She limped ahead of them, gritting her teeth as she went. She stopped and looked back.

"Are yall comin' or are yall just gonna let me do everything ma'hself?"

As she trudged along, a grunt escaping her every few steps, they all caught up and kept glancing nervously at her. As they passed a corpse farther ahead, Stalker corpses littered it, all of them full of small holes.

She passed a glance at Sweetiebelle, giving a slight nod that went unnoticed.

They passed a small crane, a lightpost and another stack of crates when a Stalker came down from a small incline. Applebloom took off it's legs before firing once into it's head, splitting it in two.

They slowly walked down the slope to the left, the sheer wind and snow combined making it difficult to navigate even a few feet. Once at a lower area, more rusted machinery was present. Half a Stalker came crawling out from a corner only for Isaac to stomp it's head in.

Sweetiebelle took care of the Stalker peeking out from behind a crate a few feet away from where Isaac was standing, he jumped out of the way when she threw a small boulder his way.

"Sweetiebelle, we've had this discussion." He said.

"Say warning whenever I throw a boulder in your general direction, I know Isaac." She said.

"Well good, as long as you know." He nodded.

Just as they went ahead, the path took a turn to the left and made a stone, ice covered bridge. Isaac made the mistake of looking over; he quickly got to the other side, claiming to be standing guard.

They entered the worn building and a tape was heard, displaying a visual guide from the other side of the door.

The room inside was a mess; papers littered the floor, chairs were stacked in unorganized piles, moldy food sat on dirty plates, the paint was falling off in piles and whatever fabric was in there, was molded.

As they looked around the room, they all stopped to watch the message playing.

"If you are watching this film it means, despite our every precaution, containment has become a necessity. it is now up to us to make the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the Sovereign colonies that we have sworn to protect. We understand we cannot expect one-hundred percent compliance. Therefore, the military arm of this final quarantine campaign will divide into three tiers of soldiers on sweep-and-cleanse duty."

"What is this...?" Applebloom muttered in disbelief.

"Genocide." Isaac stated simply.

"Let's get out of here." Babs Seed said. "This is just horrible."

"Yeah, but that's a hard way of learning life." Isaac said. "I survived something like that on Titan Station, with some help." He said.

As they entered another door, Isaac spoke again.

"Tiedmann, he ordered a full sweep of the station, wanting to kill every patient involved with the Markers. I killed Stross, another patient who went mad with guilt. It was a big shock when Sweetiebelle turned Tiedmann into a pony, can't say I was against it when they threw him into the Necromorph's. But, I can't shake this feeling like... It's as if he isn't dead, but not here."

Babs Seed glanced at her cousin, Applebloom shook her head. Babs nodded and kept quiet.

The frozen wastes ahead were surrounded by concrete walls, filled in with large shipping containers, light's were attached above on the walls over the doors, a trail of flares marking the way to the armory.

And running past the crates were a small group of Stalkers.

"Sweetiebelle, if you would." Isaac said.

She handed him her suit before running out into the middle.

She grew in size, her features becoming Necrotic in appearance but kept the original equine shape. Her blades shot out from her back, her bottom jaw splitting and her armor coating her as her spine made a new tail.

She lit her horn and set the others on her back, when they got a good grip she sent a pulse of energy through the ground. The Stalkers fell twitching with blood coming from their eyes and nose, their insides cooking from the full exposure as arks of electricity passed through the crates and them.

She set them down before changing back and cleaning up the parts.

They all walked to the door leading to the warehouse, Isaac keeping watch while Applebloom sat against the wall. She let her helmet unfold and breathed out a forced breath.

"We really are tough ponies, aren't we couse?" Bab Seed asked as she blew her mane out from her eye.

"Ya know it. And, between you and me," she snuck a look at Isaac before scooting closer. She whispered something in her cousin's ear and sat back with a smile.

"You'd really do that for him?" She asked.

"With what he's done for ya, me, and ma'h friends, he deserves it. Specially' after what happened to his parents on Titan." She frowned shaking her head. "Ah feel bad for him. He needs it just as much as he deserves it."

"What happened to them on Titan?"

"We found their bodies. Torn up beyond belief, we only knew it was them when ah found their name cards." She said.

"Alright, let's go in and get these parts." Scootaloo said. "Hey, AB and Babs, you should probably let your helmet's fold up, I'm not responsible for you two if you catch frostbite."

They nodded and with a grunt, Applebloom pushed herself upright and fell into the snow. She got up with a heavy breath and continued on, her friends watching in concern while Babs helped her along for a few seconds.

As they went in and the doorway began to spin, the collective gurgles of their stomachs resonated throughout the small space.

"Um, Hey Santos, Norton, Do you want any snow cones?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, Sure, we are getting hungry." Norton replied.

"It would help, I can't work on an empty stomach." Santos replied.

"Do you want anything Ellie? What about you Carver?" Sweetiebelle asked. "I could fix some real quick."

"Sure, that would be wonderful Sweetiebelle." Ellie said.

"I'll take a few." Carver said.

"Whoa. Uh, hey guys?" Isaac said. "Whatever they were experimenting on here, looks like it got up and took half the warehouse with it."

The crusaders looked past him and saw the warehouse looked like ti was about to come down. A large hole and most of a wall had been taken out, the back of the building had been torn off completely letting in an avalanche of snow and rock; the elements froze nearly everything, even the metal.

"Fiddle sticks." Applebloom said.