Chapter 6: A Book by Her Cover

Chapter 6: A Book by Her Cover

“Can you do that? Can you explode twice?”

*****

The colt woke with a start. Somepony in the other room was shouting.

“No! No! You can’t do this to him, Fleet! I won’t let you do it!”

The colt stared forward and rubbed his bleary eyes, trying to focus on the fuzzy outline of the door ahead of him. Another voice rose up from behind the heavy wood panel. He recognized it as the doctor’s.

“Lily! We can’t keep him here! You saw what he did, what he was turning into? We do nothing and everypony here is going to get—”

His mother’s voice rang out again, interrupting the stallion.

“I don’t care! You lay one hoof in his head and I'll kill you where you stand!”

Her voice faltered as she choked on the last word, immediately launching into a violent fit of coughing.

The colt screwed his eyes shut and covered his ears with his hooves. What was going on? He’d never heard his mother yell like that. She never yelled like that.

The doctor’s voice softened a bit from behind the door. The colt could hear his hoofsteps travel across room. “Lily, calm down. Sit. You need to—”

K-slap!

"Don't you tell me to calm down!"

His mother’s voice shook with anger as the sound of a hoof meeting hide pierced the air. She immediately began to cough again, but continued to rant through her uneven breaths.

“You don’t get to make this choice! His life is just as important as anypony else's here. He hasn’t done anything wrong!”

The doctor’s voice remained even.

“Lily, stop. I know it’s hard, but it’s too late. There’s nothing we can do for him. We can’t risk—”

His mother slapped him again, her voice raw and raspy.

“No! I won’t let this happen. I’m getting Brightshine.”

The colt could hear her uneven hoofsteps begin to make for the door. Her coughs resurfaced, coming louder and wetter than before. His body tensed after each one.

He could hear the doctor call out after her.

“Lily. Stop! Sit down! You have to rest!”

“Brightshine! Brightshine”

His mother ignored the doctor’s pleadings altogether, continuing to shout as she stumbled toward the door.

“Brightshine! Bright—”

Suddenly, her voice stopped. A half second later there was a dense thud as something heavy landed against a table, sending its contents crashing to the floor.

“Lily!”

The frantic clattering of hooves echoed through the door. There was a weak spluttering sound, like somepony choking, then silence.

The colt’s eyes widened in the darkness of his room. Like a pony possessed, he slowly slid out from under the covers and onto the floor below. Quietly, he started forward, limping on his bandaged limb despite the fact that the pain seemed to have disappeared completely. He could feel his heartbeat begin to rise as he approached the heavy door, gingerly lifting his hoof the handle as if it was made of ice.

Slowly, cautiously, the colt pushed the door and stepped into the room. His eyes fell upon the scene before him.

“Mmm…mother?”

With a start, Doc Fleet’s head swiveled in his direction, his hooves sending several fallen instruments skidding across the floor. Face set in shock, the brown stallion opened his mouth, but failed to produce any speech.

Wordlessly, the colt’s gaze settled on the figure lying at his hooves. It didn’t stir.

Time stopped. An icy chill sunk into his chest.

No.

Slowly, his cold eyes traveled back to meet the doctor’s.

No.

The eyes of the brown stallion widened in response. Happy could see his entire body recoil, a terrified look of realization spreading across the older stallion's face.

No.

The air around the colt seemed to thicken. He could suddenly feel the room around him and everything in it. See it. Taste it. Hear it. Smell it. The doctor. The figure on the floor. The flames flickering from the lantern in the corner. The howl of the storm raging outside. The frigid spikes in his chest began to melt away. His senses burned with stimulation.

Something powerful shifted deep inside him. Without thinking, the colt took a step forward.

No.

Inhaling sharply, the doctor scrambled backwards, his hooves scattering more of the instruments that lay strewn about the floor. Eyes fixed on the colt, he lifted a foreleg in front of his body. His voice suddenly sounded shaky and weak.

“Son. S-s-stop. Stop! It’s not what you think.”

No.

The stallion's words didn’t register. The colt took another step. And another.

On their own accord, his eyes drifted back to the still blue figure on the floor. He could see her face now. Bright red blood ringed her lips, a single stream of which had trailed down the side of her face and began pooling onto the weathered tile below. Her green eyes stared ahead vacantly, lids half closed in a pained expression of worry and fatigue.

At the edge of his perception, the colt could hear the stallion behind him quietly breathe another word.

“Happy—”

His mind imploded.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!”

Molten rage erupted from the colt’s chest, bathing his body in a wash of blinding heat. The sensation of a thousand cutting knives tore into his body, overloading his spinning mind as his muscles began to bulge and tear away from themselves. The sickening squelch of reforming flesh and bones echoed through his ears and he fell to the floor, his frame writhing in a hellish pile of twisting limbs.

He roared. The flames of Tartarus radiated outward from his chest and lungs.

Through it all, however, his eyes remained fixed on those of the brown stallion. This was his fault. His fault.

HIS FAULT!

Though the madness, he felt his ears twitch. He could hear the distant shouts of other ponies galloping full tilt through the storm outside. They would be here in seconds, plowing through the front door. Coming at him with sticks, and knives, and hooves, and guns.

It didn’t matter. None of it did. His eyes remained fixed on the pathetic brown stallion releasing his bowels in front of him.

All that mattered was the rage.

Through the psychotic jumble of his boiling thoughts, a wicked, shadowy voice emerged, drowning out the sounds of his writhing body. Dripping with malice, it uttered a single word.

Kill.

A vein burst in Happy’s eye, shrouding the world in a curtain of red.

He obeyed.

*****

Knock knock knock.

Happy watched as the yellow mare’s hoof fell heavily on the door, echoing through the framework of the small, piecemeal shack before them. The old, heavy sign hanging above their heads—reading "Doctor" as it swung loosely on rusted chains—rattled loudly with each impact.

The mare’s voice was just as stern.

“Fleet Hoof. I know you’re in there.”

Without thinking, Happy shot a self-conscious glance toward the townsfoalk behind them. Several of the Creek Benders milling throughout the dim streets had turned their heads, faces set in looks of disapproval.

Happy grinned sheepishly in response, a surprising flood of warmth rushing to meet his cheeks. Though some of the glances were meant for Serenity, he couldn’t help but feel like all eyes were on him. Especially after yesterday.

Behind him, Serenity hooves echoed on the woodwork again. Louder this time.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

More glances. Happy shrunk into himself, hiding his eyes behind his hooves. Serenity, however, continued to pound away, entirely unphased.

“Fleet Hoof!”

A gruff voice finally met hers from the other side of the door.

“Quiet with that goddesses damned racket already! I can hear you, I can hear you...”

Serenity glanced back at Happy as the sound of muffled hoofsteps finally began to echo from inside the shack. She gave the gray buck a strained smile—the frustration in her expression still apparent—tapping a hoof to the ground at her side.

Happy nodded. Averting his eyes from the other ponies around them, he plodded forward and took his place next to Serenity in front of the door.

Serenity seemed to notice his discomfort as soon as he dropped down on his haunches beside her. Shooting a quick, disapproving glance of her own at the ponies behind them, she gave Happy a comforting nudge.

Happy rotated his head, glancing up into her warm eyes. She smiled. Genuinely this time.

“Hey. Don’t give them any thought. They can think what they want, it doesn’t matter. Okay? You'll show them eventually.”

Happy nodded glumly, pawing at the ground with his hoof.

Serenity rolled her eyes and gave him another nudge, more playfully this time.

“Okayyy?”

Slowly, a smile broke across Happy’s face as he met her eyes and nodded. She was right. She still trusted him, and that was all that really mattered.

The door ahead squealed on its hinges, prompting both ponies to look up. The brown-coated bust of a unicorn appeared in front of them a moment later, a set of thin, wire-framed spectacles balanced on his muzzle. His gruff voice sounded just as irritated as it had a moment before.

“Enlighten me Serenity, what could possibly be so important that you think you need to wake me at this hour of the—”

Fleet Hoof’s voice stopped short as his eyes settled on the gray buck seated at the mare’s side. Without a word, his horn flared with golden magic and the door swung shut, slamming loudly against its frame.

“Fleet Hoof!”

“No!”

Happy’s ears drooped as the gruff voice interrupted Serenity’s from its place behind the door.

“No, no, no! Whatever it is, if it includes that buck, I want no part in it!”

Serenity shot a quick glance at Happy before turning her eyes back to the door.

“Listen, Fleet, you don’t understand, this could be a—”

“No, you don’t understand.” Fleet Hoof’s volume rose a notch. “I don’t care what you or Red say, he is not good news. If you’ve forgotten already—and I doubt you have—he’s the reason the town almost got flattened by a herd of rampaging Brahmin yesterday. Do you have any ideas how many sprained ankles I had to set from the panic that caused? Thirty of them! Thirty! No. Find somepony else.”

Serenity stayed silent for a moment, glancing down at her hooves. Happy watched intently as she chewed her bottom lip, the gears in her mind working away. Finally, she raised her head, addressing the closed door.

“Fleet Hoof...” she began. Her words had taken on a more persuasive tone, flowing smoothly from her lips like those of a businessmare’s.

“...you once told me that discovering new advances in arcane medicine was the reason you worked with the Institute in the first place, right?”

No response.

The mare continued, tapping a hoof on the ground.

“And that when the ponies there stopped you from doing that—burning the records of all those spells they didn’t want others to find—that’s when you left, wasn’t it?”

Serenity paused, listening for a reply. The voice behind the door remained silent.

She smiled, her expression more mischievous than Happy was used to seeing.

“What if I told you ‘that buck’ out here could heal a broken leg without treatment—a full compound break too, not just a fracture—in less than a day? No potions. No healing spells.”

She stopped again, allowing the weight of her words to sink in.

“You wouldn’t just let that pass you by without finding out why, would you?”

Checkmate, said a little lavender unicorn in the back of the buck’s mind.

Happy nodded in agreement before suddenly stopping short.

Wait, who had said that? What-mate?

Before Happy could give it much more though, the sound of the door unlocking pulled Happy back into the moment. A low chorus of grumbles filtered out from the small shack and, slowly, the door swung back open, revealing a defeated looking Fleet Hoof inside.

The older stallion sighed, adjusting his faded labcoat before glancing up in their direction. He held up a hoof.

“Fine. One examination. Then he’s out.”

***

“Okay. We’re going to try this one more time. Say ‘ahhh.’”

“Ahhhhhhh-haha-ahhhh…”

Happy couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle as the two hundred year old tongue depressor went to work on his tongue for the third time in so many minutes. Floating in the golden aura of Fleet Hoof’s magic, it tingled as it moved along the inside of his mouth. Holding his head steady as he could manage, Happy strained his eyes to the left, trying to get a better view of the doctor.

Fleet Hoof himself was perched on a short stool not a hooflength away, his brow fixed in concentration as he manipulated the tasteless splinter with his magic. His stern expression looked more focused than anypony’s Happy had ever seen.

The buck stifled another chuckle as the depressor slid behind his gum line, prying his lips back as the doctor inspected his teeth.

“Hmmm...enlarged canines…interesting.”

He paused for a moment, glancing down at his side to scribble a few hoofwritten notes on a yellowed scratchpad. The object’s movement resumed a moment later, traveling toward his cheek.

“An unusual sharpening of the incisors and premolars as well….interesting…very interesting.”

More scribbles. Happy sat patiently, still forming an “ahhh” with his mouth, waiting for the stallion to continue. Almost on their own accord, the buck's eyes drifted over to his left where Serenity sat against the wall. Noticing his gaze, she offered him a reassuring smile. The buck attempted to return it, but quickly remembered Fleet Hoof’s instructions and held his mouth open. His eyes traveled back to the doctor.

As if on cue, the brown stallion tapped his pen against the paper, flipping his notepad shut.

“Well, that does it for the physical exam.”

Happy could hear Serenity get up from the stool behind him. Spitting the tongue depressor onto the floor, he turned his head to meet her.

“And?” The mare tilted her head, waiting for the older stallion to continue.

Fleet Hoof turned back to his worktable, shifting through supplies with an uncharacteristically giddy expression on his face. He seemed like an entirely different pony than he had before, totally engrossed in the work before him. He took the question in stride.

“The specimen displays some remarkable physical anomalies. Increased muscle density, accelerated reflex times, increased predatory traits in the eyes and jawline. The entire skeleture even appears to adopted traces of vestigial hoof claws on all four limbs. Fascinating developments, really.”

“Happy, you mean.”

“Hmm?” Fleet Hoof craned his neck around, lifting an eyebrow behind his glasses.

Serenity met his face with a stern look.

“You said ‘specimen.’ He has a name, you know."

The brown stallion began to nod before she could continue.

“—Ahhh, yes, yes, yes. Giddy. Of course, of course.” He immediately resumed his search.

Happy watched Serenity slap a hoof to her forehead. Taking another step forward, she approached Fleet Hoof’s side, trying her best to regain eye contact.

“So…what do you think?”

The doctor paused again, offering a quizzical stare.

“I beg pardon?”

It was the mare’s turn to look confused.

“What do you think? About Happy?”

Fleet Hoof’s expression remained unchanged.

Serenity flung her hooves up, the frustration finally starting to show in her face.

“Ugh, Giddy!”

A complacent smile slid across Fleet Hoof’s face as he finally caught her drift.

“Ahh, of course, Smiley.”

He paused for a moment before offering the mare a small shrug.

“No clue.”

No clue?

Happy tilted his head.

Now he was getting confused. Didn’t Serenity say that Fleet Hoof would know how to fix…whatever it was that needed fixing?

The yellow mare seemed to have the same question.

“What do you mean ‘no clue?’”

Fleet Hoof shrugged again, offering an infuriatingly contented smile.

“Just that. No clue. Without the proper amplifying equipment, my diagnostic spells can only go so far as to assess what should and is, not could and might.”

He trotted over to Happy’s side, placing a hoof on the buck’s shoulder. Happy shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to react to the doctor’s sudden surge of friendliness.

“From all measurable standards, he’s perfectly healthy. Better even, if what you tell me about his ability to heal turns out to be true.” He rubbed a hoof against Happy’s head, causing the buck to squint.

“Granted, his mental stability has degraded substantially, but without further analysis, the presence any advanced arcane influences are simply speculative.”

Serenity plodded back to Happy’s side, motioning for him to hop down from the examination chair he’d been sitting in.

The gray buck obliged, eager to escape Fleet Hoof’s grasp. The doctor barely seemed to notice, though, turning back to his workbench as Serenity began to speak.

“So you’re telling me you can’t figure anything else out without the right equipment?”

The doctor spared her a quick glance.

“Correct.”

Serenity glanced at the floor a moment, furrowing her brow as she searched her mind for a second time.

Happy frowned. She looked awful worried.

Trotting up to the mare’s side, he gave her a comforting nudge.

She turned at his touch, offering him a small smile.

“It's alright. I think I have an idea, Happy.”

The unicorn cleared her throat.

“Fleet Hoof—” she started, adding a dash of Red-like authority to her voice.

The older stallion turned, meeting her gaze. A look of determination had settled into the mare's eyes.

“—What equipment do you need?”

***

Ahhh, back on the road again.

Happy smiled, allowing the dim, midday light to wash over him.

As nice as it was in Creek Bend meeting ponies and chasing Brahmin, he’d forgotten just how much he missed roaming the wastes. How long had it been since he last left the settlement? Two weeks? Three weeks? A month?

The buck did some quick mental calculations, counting on his hooves.

Oh, two days, that was right.

He chuckled at his own forgetfulness.

“Happy, you coming?”

Happy’s ears perked up at the request. Glancing forward, he could see Serenity stopped along the trail ahead of him, standing beside the rusted remnants of a fallen sky-wagon. Her usual canvas-colored ammo vest had been swapped out for a black, hooded, security jumpsuit. At the moment, the hood was down, resting on her shoulders. Only her hooves, tail, and head were exposed to the open air.

Happy’s hoof rose at the sight, scratching along the collar of his own jumpsuit. Despite the gray buck’s protests—and Warehouse’s too, something about the uniforms being “too valuable to waste on an idiot like that”—Serenity had insisted that he wear one if they were going out into the wastes.

Begrudgingly, he’d finally obliged, ducking into the bunkhouse so nobody could see him change.

The thought led Happy to nip at the cloth above his cutie mark. He didn't remember his old barding ever itching like this before.

He grunted. Probably the change of material. He hadn’t taken that old barding off ever since—

“—Happy.”

Serenity called to him again, this time with a little more of an edge to her voice. Whimpering, Happy lifted a foreleg and tugged at a sleeve with his teeth, making doe eyes.

Serenity shook her head playfully.

“Yes Happy, you made it very clear you don’t like your new outfit. I know, I know….”

She trotted back up to his side, returning his gaze with a pleading look of her own.

“…but can you do it for me? Just this once?”

Happy tried and failed to look away, unable to take his eyes of the mare. Taking advantage of the situation, Serenity batted her eyelashes, putting on her best pout.

“Pleaaaase?”

Happy groaned, out-done at his own game. Reluctantly, he nodded and started forward, doing his best to ignore both the itchy jumpsuit and the look of triumph slowly breaking across Serenity’s face.

He grumbled to himself.

He’d show her. One of these days he’d be able to resist her charm.

A welcoming nudge pressed against his side, stirring the buck from his mutterings. He looked up. Serenity smiled back, offering a little “cheer-up-grumpy” sort of look.

Try as he might, Happy couldn’t help but return the grin. Her smile was infectious.

The two continued to wander south down the broken roadway, passing by piles of broken blacktop as they passed along. The steep ridges concealing Creek Bend had already fallen back into the distance behind them, replaced with the desolate, rolling plains and hills of the wastes. Dusty mounds of rubble and debris dotted the landscape at random intervals, but aside from the occasional bloatsprite, there wasn’t a living creature in sight.

In sight.

Twitch. Twitch-a-twitch.

Happy tensed as he felt his ears perk up on their own accord. Narrowing his eyes, he swept the landscape, pausing only briefly as his eyes passed over Serenity's form. Preoccupied with other thoughts, she continued to trot along without hesitation, unaware of whatever it was he was picking up on.

Twitch-a-twitch.

There it was again!

Happy whipped his head to the side. He could almost feel the eyes studying him and Serenity.

A low growl began to vibrate up from his throat.

Where was it coming from?

“Happy, I think I see it!”

“Hmmm?”

Happy spun around in excitement at Serenity’s sudden outburst. Could she sense it too?

Nodding excitedly, Happy leapt over to the mare’s side, sighting his eyes down her outstretched hoof like a rifle barrel.

Wait…a building?

The gray buck blinked and rubbed his eyes.

Sure enough, Serenity's hoof pointed to the outline of a wide, boxy building, it’s silhouette dark and foreboding in the distance.

Awhhh.

Happy sighed, shifting around on his hooves. It was just a building. Not the source of the watching sensation. His eyes went back to scanning the wastes.

Serenity cocked her head in his direction, noticing his disappointment. She raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Huh. I thought you’d be a least a little more excited about finding the med center.”

Happy tilted his head, breaking away from his search.

Med center? What was she going on about now? Oh, wait a second. That was right!

The buck tapped a hoof to his skull. Serenity’s explanation from earlier played across his mind in choppy clips.

Med center…equipment…Fleet Hoof...fix you up.

He nodded to himself as the memory solidified.

Ohhh, that med center. The whole reason they were out here searching in the first place.

Serenity chuckled at the buck's expression.

“There you go. Glad to see your memory’s starting to shape up a bit.”

She turned, lifting her hoof back in the direction of the structure.

“That’s it right there. The 'Ministry of Peace Emergency Medical Center, San Palomino Hub.’ Red used to have us make runs there every once and a while before the raiders started to get bad. It’s been a couple years since then, though.”

Happy flinched a bit, averting his eyes at the mention of the word "raider." Fortunately, Serenity seemed too busy reminiscing to notice. She set her hoof back on the ground, continuing to speak as she started forward.

“Most of the basic medical supplies have been scavenged out for a while, but I think there’s still a good chance we’ll be able to find what we need on one of the lower floors.” She turned to Happy, motioning toward the building with her horn. “You remember what we’re looking for in there, right?”

Happy nodded, drawing up the image in his mind. A shiny, purplish looking rock covered in thin metal bands. Fleet Hoof had sketched a picture of one before they had left. A "sensory talisman," he’d called it.

Serenity replied with a curt nod, he hair braid bobbing behind her.

“Good.”

Her horn shimmered, lifting the jumpsuit’s black hood and casting her face in shadow.

“Now stay with me and stay low. The center’s been vacant for a while, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

Happy nodded, feeling a tingle of excitement run through his limbs as he levitated his own hood up over his head. Then, remembering that he wasn’t a unicorn, he casually lifted his foreleg and drew it up by hoof.

Smooth.

The two ponies started forward with a new sense of vigilance, sweeping the area for anything out of the ordinary. To Happy’s relief, the prickling sensation of being watched had disappeared for the moment. Now the biggest threats he could make out were a couple of odd shaped rocks and a broken road sign.

However, as they grew closer to the complex, Happy could sense that something was amiss. Tension had begun to radiate from Serenity and—although he couldn’t see her expression beneath her hood—he could sense her frown.

Clicking his tongue, Happy swung his head toward the building and studied it.

Like every other structure in the wastes, its colors seemed to bleed into its surroundings—a grim shade of gray and black. Shaped something like an enormous, square-cut mushroom, the complex stood only four stories tall, a line of thin columns supporting the small overhang that extended over the ground floor. The windows that weren’t clouded with debris were dark, giving the whole place an even less inviting appearance.

The buck continued his sweep of the area. From the looks of the charred pavement, the area in front of the center had been a parking lot once. The rusted remnants of carriages and skywagons sat at random intervals, basking in the nonexistent glow of a few broken lampposts that were scattered evenly about the lot.

Happy tilted his head, looking around for signs of other buildings but finding none.

Odd. Why would ponies build such a big place in the middle of nowhere?

He shrugged. More questions for later.

About forty yards from the building, Serenity paused in mid-step. Lowering her stance, she crouched close to the ground, sidestepping behind a pile of rubble at their left. She turned her hooded face toward Happy’s, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“Happy, stop. Something’s not right.”

The mare didn’t need to tell him twice. The buck immediately dropped to his stomach and shifted beside her, the dark fabric of his jumpsuit allowing him to sink into the shadows.

Staring intently, Happy watched as Serenity pulled back her hood, surveying the scene before them. Taking her cue, he did the same. After a few moments she lifted a hoof, motioning toward the complex.

“Those doors. See those marks?”

Happy squinted, biting his tongue in concentration. Sure enough, he could make out several black marks, each shaped like a bullseye. A few nondescript piles of white ash rested at the doors’ base.

The buck turned back to Serenity and nodded, his jaw flapping loosely.

Serenity placed a hoof on his shoulder, quieting him.

“Those aren’t regular bullet holes, Happy. They’re scorch marks.”

Her brow furrowed in concentration as she turned her gaze to the ground. Happy could hear her continue, talking to herself more than him.

“That's weird—nobody’s sold Flash Industries tech west of New Appleoosa in ages. Where would they even find the cartridges…”

He smiled. It was nice to know he wasn't the only pony who sometimes talked to himself to figure things out.

Serenity's voice petered off, her hoof tapping idly against the ground. A few more of her mumbled phrases met Happy’s ears intermittently.

“Gangers? No...Other traders? Unlikely....The emergency systems wouldn't...wait—emergency systems?”

She exchanged a quick glance with Happy.

“Stay out of sight. I’m going to try something.”

There was a low hum as Serenity’s horn began to glow red. From the corner of his vision, Happy could see a small rock about the size of his hoof rise up from the ground a few hooves away. It began to float forward, casting a small shadow on the parking lot below.

The buck turned his head in sync, following its path with wide eyes. No matter how much she used it, Serenity’s magic never ceased to amaze him.

Slowly, the floating rock approached the wide double doors of the med center entrance. Squinting with effort, Serenity’s horn flared as she gave it an added mental push. It sped up only slightly, but enough to elicit a dull thud from the metal door.

For a moment, there was silence.

They waited.

Whrrrrrrrrrrr.

Happy’s ears twitched as the slightest breath of sound washed over them. He tensed, prompting Serenity to cast a worried gaze in his direction. She placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Happy. Do you hear something?”

He continued to stare forward, eyes fixed on the pockmarked door.

Whrrrrrrrrr.

He turned to Serenity and nodded. There was definitely something in there. What though, he couldn’t tell. All he could make out was the fact that the noise sounded vaguely…mechanical. Like metal on metal and spinning wheels.

Whrrrrrrrrrr.

Happy tensed further.

He wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. He could feel his insides begin to heat up, heart pumping warm blood through his veins. His mind began to cloud with anticipation, a quiet, familiar voice calling to him from the darkness at the back of his mind.

Go. Do it. Kill.

Happy shook his head. No. Not again. Not like yesterday. He could do this.

Pulling his eyes away, Happy's gaze met the mare at his side.

Serenity.

Unaware of his gaze, the yellow unicorn continued to stare ahead, eyes fixed on the door with militant focus. Even in her heavy security barding she was striking, her blue-green eyes shining fiercely behind her braided mane loops.

Happy closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Her presence was…calming. He focused on his breathing.

Eventually, the voice fell away. He could still feel the tension in his body, but the growing darkness had subsided.

He allowed himself a small grin of triumph.

More sounds. Happy opened his eyes. Serenity’s ears had begun to twitch as well. The quiet whirring had grown loud enough her to pick up on, too.

Happy tilted his head, wracking his memories for a match. What made that sort of noise?

Curiosity getting the best of him, the buck poked his head up from behind the rocks, temporarily leaving the shadows.

Serenity’s hooves instantly grabbed at his shoulder, trying to pull him back.

“No, wait! Happy! Stay down—”

Serenity’s warning was cut off as the double doors flew open ahead of them, impacting against the outside walls of the building and bouncing back shut with surprising force. A strange looking mechanical figure—a vaguely pony shaped, sideways cylinder resting on two sets of triangular treads where its legs would have been—stormed through the opening, entering the parking lot in a cloud of dust. Its front end appeared to house a small domed shape structure filled with glowing green ooze—some sort of pinkish, meaty thing suspended in the midst of it

Happy’s eyes widened, an excited smile breaking across his face. This was new.

The bulky mechanical pony immediately spun in his direction, sending a flashing red sensor passing across his face. With a loud, grating noise, two rubbery-looking black arms extended from its sides, each ending in a fancy-looking, three-pronged tip. At the same time, a tinny, distorted voice crackled to life from its chest.

“WARNING: EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE 4107 ENACTED. POSSIBLE ZEBRA INTRUDER ENCOUNTERED ON THE PREMISE. NEUTRALIZING.”

Happy heard a high pitched hum, and watched as the pronged tips on the bot’s arms began to glow a vibrant red.

His smile widened further.

Ooooh. A light show.

“Happy!”

"Glllk!"

A muffled choking sound escaped the buck's lip as he stumbled backwards, jerked down by his collar. Two arcs of red light shot across his vision as he landed, casting shadows across the face of the mare at his side.

Serenity pinned him to the ground beneath her, her forehooves resting on his chest.

“Happy! What do you think you’re doing?” Her eyes were locked on his. “It almost shot you!”

Happy arched an eyebrow. Shot? Wait…did she mean the lights?

To the mare’s irritation, Happy snickered, batting a hoof casually in the air.

Pshhh. What was she all worried about? Little glowing lights weren't going to hurt Happy.

Serenity’s expression went flat. Pointing to the ground next to their barricade of debris, she powered up her magic and levitated another small rock out into the open. Happy grinned and watched, following it with his eyes.

Tzzzzkt!

A beam of light instantly shot out to meet it, evaporating the small object in a puff of smoke.

Happy stiffened. Suddenly worrying about small flashing lights didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all. He nodded to Serenity.

The pressure on his chest lifted as she nodded back, pulling him close to her side. The mecha-pony's monotonous voice continued to echo out from behind their impromptu shelter.

“TARGET LOST. PRIMARY TRACKING SENSOR ERROR. CALIBRATION NEEDED. HOLDING POSITION.”

Shaking her head in approval, Serenity quietly addressed the buck.

“Good, sounds like there's something wrong with it. As long as we’re not too loud, it probably won't find us if we stay out of sight.”

She shifted into a low crouch, motioning to the gray buck with a hoof.

“Keep your head down, I’ll get this thing out of the way.”

Wait, what!?

Happy’s hoof shot out, grabbing Serenity’s as she started to rise. He met her eyes with a look of bewilderment. Hadn't she just told him to stay put?

A reassuring smile broke over Serenity’s face. She patted him on the hoof.

“It’s alright Happy, I know what I’m doing. These things aren't too bad if you stay in their blind spot.”

Taking a step back before he could react, she flashed him a sly wink.

“Besides, didn’t I already tell you I know how to take care of myself?”

With that, she tumbled into the open, a spray of laser fire immediately flashing past her rapidly twisting figure.

Tzzzzkt! Tzzzzkt! Tzzzzkt!

Serenity!

Happy scrambled to his hooves in a heartbeat, launching himself over the pile of debris and onto the broken pavement below. Digging his hooves into the ground, he started forward, only to stop short a half second later when his eyes fell upon the scene before him.

The yellow mare was already twenty strides ahead, spinning and twisting so rapidly the buck could barely make out her dancing form. Her braided mane and tail twirled around her like whips, sailing through the air with sharp cutting noises as the laser fire missed her by inches. She was all fluid grace and precision—the tight fitting security barding she wore didn’t seem to hinder her in the least.

Da-dunk.

Happy’s heart skipped a beat.

Drawing close to the bot, Serenity vaulted forward, launching herself into a wide arc above its domed head. It’s treads squealed—reacting with surprising swiftness for such a bulky machine—but not nearly fast enough to pull back in time. Spinning her figure like a top, the mare lashed out, striking a hoof against the glass dome. A piercing clink echoed across the parking lot as a long crack spread across its surface.

“NEUTRALIZING. NEUTRALIZING.”

Happy could have sworn the tinny voice had begun to sound desperate.

Swinging herself forward in midair, Serenity landed onto the bot’s back with her hind hooves. Immediately, she sprung into the air again, backflipping over the machine's rear as she delivered another solid strike against the dome.

Krrrtchink!

Twice was enough. The dome immediately burst apart in a shower of glass, spraying green ooze in all directions. Serenity rolled out of the way as she hit the ground, avoiding the spray it altogether.

With a sickly sounding cough, the machine slowed, its treads whining with fatigue as the voice on the speakers began to slur its words.

“NEUTRALIZING. NEUTRALIZING. NEUU—TRAAALLL—IIII—ZZZIIINNNGGG….”

With a last wheeze, it slumped forward, sparks shooting out from the cracked dome. A moment later, there was a wet plop as the pink, meaty thing that had been suspended in the middle of the ooze rolled onto the ground below.

Happy’s eyes shifted to Serenity, then back to the wreckage, then back to Serenity.

Well. That had escalated quickly.

Serenity smiled, resuming her normal posture like nothing had happened. She trotted up to the buck, giving him a playful nudge in the side at the sight of his expression.

“Hey, I thought I told you to keep your head down.”

Happy simply stared at her, his jaw hanging open.

His words had left him.

Finally he shook his head, breaking himself from his stupor. Serenity chuckled for a moment, then quieted as her eyes fell back on the stalled bot.

“Hmm.”

She tapped a hoof to her chin, trotting back toward the fallen bot. Happy followed, curious to see what had caught her attention.

Reaching its side, Serenity nudged one of the bot’s rubber coated arms with her foreleg. It gave easily, scraping along the lot at her touch. Trying to seem like he knew what he was doing, Happy did the same, knocking at its side as if it were a door.

His efforts were rewarded with a hollow clanging noise. He giggled.

“Odd.”

Happy glanced over at the yellow mare, her hoof tapping against the ground.

“That's a ministry robobrain, alright. Red and I never came across anything like this when we were here before, though. Why would they have gone active all of a sudden?”

She shrugged after a moment, glancing back at Happy.

"I'm not sure what's going on, Happy, but we'll have to make sure we stay on guard when we go inside."

She nodded toward the double doors.

“Are you ready to—”

The mare had lost him at 'inside.' Giggling in anticipation, Happy bolted for the doors, already imagining all the treasures he’d find inside. He had to make up for not getting to play with any of Warehouse’s toys somehow.

Hooves scrambling against the broken pavement, Happy reached the entrance in a heartbeat. Grabbing onto the handle with a greedy grin, he swung the door open and bolted forward like a madpony.

KADUNG!

A flash of white light arced across Happy’s vision as he collided with something solid. Clutching his head in his hooves, he fell backwards, trying to focus his vision on whatever it was he’d run into.

A high pitched hum began to sound in front of him.

Happy felt his body go rigid.

Uh oh.

“ZEBRA HOSTILE SIGHTED. NEUTRALIZING.”

Happy flailed blindly, lifting his hooves to brace himself for the impact. Serenity's voice started to call out behind him.

“Hap—”

KRA-KOW!

A sudden gunshot rang out from nowhere, blocking out all other noise. An instant later, a shower of glass and warm liquid exploded across Happy’s face, sending him rolling back onto the pavement.

Huh? What had just happened?

Happy pawed at his face, clearing the green gel from his eyes and mane as his vision slowly returned to him. He could hear the frantic hoof-falls of somepony approaching him from behind, but couldn’t tear his eyes from the scene ahead. Another one of the mecha-ponies stood dead in the doorway, its glass dome disintegrated by whatever it was that had just hit it.

Wumph.

"—Mmmph!"

Happy let out a surprised grunt as Serenity tackled him from behind. Pulling him back onto his flank, she turned his face in her direction. Eyes wide, she ran a hoof down the side of his forehead, tracing the outlines of several deep gashes the exploding glass had made.

“Happy? Happy? Are you alright?”

Happy nodded lazily, still dazed from the impact. Tiny, chirping pegasai were everywhere.

He smiled, nodding beneath her hoof.

He really liked it when she got this close.

Serenity’s blue eyes shrunk with relief. Leaning in, she wrapped the buck into a tight hug.

“Goddesses, Happy. I thought you’d gotten yourself killed.”

Happy's expression softened. He hadn't meant to make her worry.

“Vhat? Killed by zat tin can? Vasn’t even close.”

Happy's ears twitched as a familiar accent called out behind them, Serenity's head lifting up as well. Turning as one, the two of them glanced back, eyes falling on its source.

Touching down on the blackened parking lot was a griffon, a long silver rifle slung casually across its back between its wings.

The figure smiled.

Lifting his flight goggles to his forehead with a talon, the familiar face of Victor met the ponies' gazes with a grin. Looking over their dumbfounded expressions, he chuckled as he offered the two a shrug.

“Vhat? Vere you expecting zee cavalry?”

***

Perk Achieved!

Medical Anomaly - Science has confirmed it, you're a badass. Come radiation, taint, Tartarus, or high water, your body can manage to take that extra punch.

Your HEALTH increases by 15%.