Chapter 6

An hour and a half later, Silver was in flight.....with Starsong in tow, riding in the back of the wagon he had collected. He managed to buy one for caps, leaving him with an extra to use to pay a unicorn to charm the wagon with gravity countermeasures, allowing him to tow the whole thing, feeling only star's weight. He was flying about above the ground, high enough to make sure they didn't hit anything, but low enough to stay away from the clouds. "How are ya doin' back there!?" Silver called out to Star.

Starsong perked her ears at the stallion's voice. "I'm still back here, if that means anything!" she called back, squinting around for any signs of Enclave swooping in on them. Of course, with no real skill in Perception, Starsong wouldn't be able to spot a pegasus coming at them until they were close enough to fire. She still kept her pistol in her magical grip, ready in case an attack was sprung.

“Just relax back there, the ride's the same as being on the ground, except, well....it isn't. But you get what I'm saying!" He called back, attempting to make the ride as smooth as possible. It was indeed a smooth ride, having no ground to hit any potholes or bumps or hills. And the wind was decent, so there was no turbulence. He spotted the river that marked the entrance of Stable . "Alrighty, we're touching down! It's just right ahead!"

He began his descent, slowing down a bit so that the landing wasn't rough. In a matter of moments, they landed down and Silver trotted a bit so as to not overrun his own hooves before slowing to a stop.

Starsong clung to one of the seats as they landed. Sure, it wasn't rough, but flying wasn't a sensation that the mare was very well versed in. As her nerves settled, she slowly stood up and opened the door of the cart. "S-Silver?" she called, glancing to either side. "They built a Stable this close to a river..?"

Silver unhitched the wagon from himself and parked it near the river behind a rock so that it was less noticeable while they explored. He looked to the river, which looked a bit low, but he figured that was because it barely rains out here to begin with. "Yeah, that's what the map shows." He stated looking over to Star and noticed her tone.

"...Something wrong with that? ......Wait, are you..? Star, can you not swim or something?"

Star shook her head, still looking at the water. She understood that all Stables should be different in some way, but, as her confused staring showed, this was simply mind-boggling to her. "It's not just that.. The location of this place is just asking for disaster.. It's like they didn't care that the river might flood the ponies inside!"

--Back in Town--

Aura was waiting by the bar and listening to various conversations between the townsfolk, she was still waiting for Essie to come out of the bar so they could have a chance to talk. She glanced up towards the cloud cover and tried to get a bead on the sun's position to figure out the time of day "She's been in there awhile, hope she comes out soon and hopefully this won't go poorly."

An afternoon of drinking and enjoyment in the saloon was a good change of pace for Essie. As the sun started to dip towards the horizon, the mare figured she'd head out and find the others so they could get rooming settled for the evening.

She trotted out with a few bottles of beer in her telekinetic grasp, slipping all but one into her bags. She took a swig from the bottle, and she noticed Aura standing near the door. "Uh.. Aura, right? What're ya doin' here?" she asked, stepping close. She'd forgotten to be suspicious of the mare. "Y'all come t' grab a drink too?"

Aura was waiting outside of the bar when the mare emerged, she was a bit surprised by the unusually friendly tone but decided not to dwell on it "Oh, nah I'm not much for drinks." she replied "I was actually looking for you, wanted to tell you that Silver and Star ran off to tackle the task in that stable." she explained and shrugged "I stuck around here mainly because I wanted to inform you of that and continue to watch how things go on down here." she added with a light smile

If the mare's trust for Silver wasn't evident before, it surely was now. She blinked at the mention of them going solo to the Stable, but didn't seem worrisome at all. "Ah'm sure they ought t' be back soon then, Stables 'r fairly small. Ain't nothin' t' navigate." She said, before taking another drink of her beer. "Y'all be careful 'round here on yer own, ya hear? Some shady stallions just itchin' fer a mare t' seem like she don't know where she's goin'." She warned solemnly, lowering her head. "Ain't no decent mare that needs that sort 'a treatment."

Aura smiled a bit at the warning "I appreciate the advisory. I can handle any stallions that try anything funny. Well at least one on one." She added with a shrug. She thought for a bit and smiled again "You want to chill somewhere and chat about stuff. Clear things up between us before we start traveling together. I like to at least know my companions." She suggested.

Essie nodded. "Sure thing. Let's go an' get all 'a us some rooms rented, seein' as we ain't leavin' tonight." she said, then levitated out one of the beers, offering it to Aura. "Want one?"

Aura shrugged and then shook her head "No, but thanks for asking." she said with a slight smile

Giving Aura a shrug in return, she levitated the bottle back into her bag. "Fair enough." she said, then stepped out onto the 'road'. "C'mon, Ah'd like t' have the rooms settled 'fore they come back."

"Sounds like a good idea, I don't know when they'll be back though." she replied and followed the mare out onto the road "Got a place in mind, you'll have better knowledge of what to look for me then I would." she added

She looked back at Aura, scratching her head. "Um.. Ya might want t' start someplace that has the word 'Inn' on it." she said, letting out a little chuckle. "Y'all featherheads 'r funny, ya know that?"

"Right...." she replied with a chuckle and then her ears perked up at hearing that "Oh, well we could say the same about ponies down here." she replied with a light smirk as she followed Essie towards an inn.

Essie shot a smirk of her own back to Aura, recognizing the stalemate. "Fair 'nough fer me." she said, nodding. "But while yer' down here, ya gotta at least pretend like ya know how shit works."

The sun was starting to set for the evening, judging by the light from the clouds dimming, and red hues becoming prominent in the gray cloud blanket. It wasn't long until the pair were stepping up and into a set of stacked train cars, marked with a sign that said 'Inn'. The pony behind the desk was a graying earth pony stallion, resting his head on a propped hoof and chewing on a small piece of rubber impatiently. He looked at the mares as they entered. "Y'all folks lookin' for a room for the night?" he asked, looking at their bags. When the sniper nodded, he reached under his desk and pulled out a small satchel, which clinked with bottlecaps inside. " caps for each pony, per night." he said stiffly. Essie cringed, but pulled out her own bag of caps. Without Starsong, Essie wouldn't be attempting haggling.

After a short spell of counting and recounting, caps were spread on the desk, and the stallion scooped them into his satchel. He pointed to a staircase behind the desk, then rested his head on his hoof again and started to chew on the piece of rubber again. "Rooms an' , third floor. They're conjoined." he said, sighing. "When will yer friends be comin' in?" he asked.

Essie shrugged as she levitated her bag of caps into her saddlebags. "Soon. Let 'em in if they ask fer Essie."

Aura nodded at the suggestion and simply followed the mare in silence, still glancing around at how others were going about their business to further her investigation and ability to blend in better. While Essie was busy arranging for the room she merely stayed quiet and listened, following Essie as she departed from the check in counter and they headed towards their rooms. Once she was out of ear shot from the innkeeper she couldn't help but chuckle "Train cars as inn room? Well that’s something for sure." she pointed out in a humorous way and not really a condescending way "things sure are pretty bad down here compared to above the clouds, makes me wonder just why the Enclave doesn't want to help. It’s like the Pegasi lost all sympathy for their brothers and sisters on the ground." she pointed out with a sigh and shake of her head.

Back at the Stable...

Star shook her head, still looking at the water. She understood that all Stables should be different in some way, but, as her confused staring showed, this was simply mind-boggling to her. "It's not just that.. The location of this place is just asking for disaster.. It's like they didn't care that the river might flood the ponies inside!"

Silver scratched the back of his mane as he considered what Star was saying. "Well....Rivets did say that the Stable only got flooded after they left, so perhaps the river was more of a means to prevent outsiders from wanting to venture too close to the entrance without getting wet?"

The mare's ears fell flat at the mention of the Stable being flooded. "Just great." she groaned, turning back to Silver. "I can't swim. I'm the only one of us that knows exactly what we're looking for, and there's no way I can get back up if I sink down there." She sat down, sighing, and stamped at the dirt. After a moment, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "We'd have to go in, to see just how bad it is." she thought out loud, "There's got to be drainage valves, assuming the maneframe is still working in there. Silver, do you know anything about Stables?" she asked pleadingly, turning around to look at him.

Silver looked up in thought, digging into his head for any useful information that he knew about Stables from Enclave reports on them......After a long pause, he turned to look to Star and gave her a nervous smile. "WELL....I got nothing on Stables...BUT, I do know how to swim, so that's something! And you're small enough to ride on my back comfortably, so perhaps you can navigate us both through the place until we find what ya need?

After another second of deliberation, the mare nodded. "That's about as good a plan as we're going to be able to come up with." she said, sighing. "I'll ride on your back until we find the stairs to the maintenance sector. From there.. I hope you can see underwater."

He nodded before stooping down on his knees and extending his wings out for her to climb on. "Alrighty then, let's get started...We only have to worry about finding your tools right? There's no need to muss about with anything else; the New Appleloosans didn't want to return to this place in the near future."

As she carefully clambered onto the stallion's back, she thought. "Well.. There shouldn't be anything to fight with, and we've got plenty of supplies, so.. Yeah. Just the tools." Once she was balanced on his back, she wrapped her hooves round his neck and held tight. "Alright.. Remember, I'm not much of a flyer.."

Silver stood back up, tucking his wings so that he held Star's legs secure to his body. "Well, we're gonna be underground, so I don't think there's gonna be much flying." He chuckled before trotting along the riverbank, heading towards the Stable entrance. "Have we got much further of a trot?"

The mare smirked. "Never know.. You could go stir-crazy just walking in there! Pegasi need wide open spaces, right?" she asked, nudging his neck. "And it depends on the layout of the Stable. Could be just next to the door, could be deep inside the place. Just have to see.."

Silver shrugged a little bit during the trot, soon nearing what looked like some cavern that the river led into. "You'd be surprised, I'm a strange pegasus; I find I can actually do quite well in closed off areas. Do I prefer open spaces? Damn right I would. Makes fighting and searching and traveling that much easier. Will I lose my shit not having that option? Nope, not at all. I just roll with it and own the situation....Speaking of... which..."

His conversation trailed off as they turned into the entrance of the cavern, finding the giant Stable cog-door....almost entirely submerged with only th of the door above the water. "........Ah......Yeahhhh, we're gonna have to get wet for this one."

Star groaned loudly at the sight of the door. "Okay.. The Stable entrances are always pretty big, so ponies wouldn't feel cramped when they all packed in for processing.." she said, racking her memory for more. "There's stairs just across though, I guess feet from the cog. It won't be much better, about feet.. You'll be able to walk, though." she determined as she looked across the water, towards a partially-lit hallway across the way. "Looks like the halls will be full up to your chest, if I'm seeing things right."

Silver looked into the Stable as Star explained it over his shoulder, nodding his head. "Right, okay...Hop off me for a sec? I gotta unhook my plasma rifle." He sighed inwardly as he tiled his flanks back so that star slid backwards off his back slowly so that she could get to her hooves easily. Trotting up to the side of the cavern, Silver pulled out a rail spike with a hammer, banging it into the cavern rock as a makeshift clothes hook. His ABS swung forward the plasma rifle before ejecting from its rack, and Silver hung it onto the rail spike, along with one of his two saddlebags, keeping the lesser weighted one.

"It's a damn shame energy weapons and water don't mix well, otherwise I'd be fine with bringing it along....hm, I ought to give this thing a name....Maybe...Prize, since we kinda won it from that trap pedestal back in the market."

Star smirked at the stallion as she made to climb onto his back. "Naming your guns? You and Essie aren't that different after all." she said as she settled back where she was before, "She really trusts you. You know that, right?" she asked, gently holding the stallion's mane for balance. "She's always had a thing against Enclave.. Not the pegasi, just the military." she trailed off for a moment, then nudged his neck. "Who was Rainbow Dash? Like.. Who was she to the pegasi, other than just the Mare of the Ministry of Awesome?"

After Silver finished up with hanging his equipment to the side, letting Star back onto his withers, he looked up in deep thought for a good answer to her question. "Huh....Well, depending on who you ask, the answer differs among the pegasi. For starters, if my history is right, she was one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, some sort of magical defense system that had worked for...thousands of years? So she was already somepony important before the war started."

"Now during the war, that's when things differ among pegasi. When the bombs fell, she was one of the very few pegasi that didn't want to abandon the surface when the rest decided to close up the sky to separate us from the rest of the chaos. She was being true to her element, which was Loyalty. She went down with a hoof full of followers to her cause, and they were never heard of again. It's believed that she died during her attempt to help.

Some will call her a hero for her actions, but those in control call her a traitor to all pegasi, and discourage others from following her hoofsteps. Hell, they actually call traitors Dashites, followers of Rainbow Dash; They even brand them with her cutie mark, right over their own to make an example out of them. Depending on your view of Dash, some will take the name with pride, others will find it shameful."

Star nodded once the stallion finished his elaboration. "Well.." she started, rubbing her chin. "That makes what Essie said a whole lot less fuzzy.." She hesitated a moment, then prodded his neck. "What's your view of her?"

Silver was about to trot closer to the water to get things started, only to have Star poke him again, followed by another question. "Huh? Who, Essie or Rainbow dash? ...And what did Essie say?"

"Rainbow Dash." she replied, ignoring the other question. "You said that the Enclave discouraged people from following her, so I'm wondering which side you picked."

Silver looked up in thought once more. "Hm....I believe she had the right idea about trying to help out the surface, but coming down here almost on her own, sans the few followers that went with her, was not the brightest idea. She could have used her power as a Ministry Mare to get a LOT more pegasi to want to help and those more capable to do it as well, but she was never a patient mare, so....What I think of her is that she was a good pony, but not a good leader. I agree with her views, but not her methods, if that makes sense."

The mare nods, then tightens her grip on his neck.

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear!" she announces with a smirk, looking towards the water. "Let's do this quickly, I've got a few questions for Essie when we get back."

He raised an eyebrow curiously, just wondering what was up with all the strange questions, but then shrugged it off and waded into the first bit of water to meet them. "Alright, Stable , here we come..." He lowered further into the water until he had to tread with Star on his back, getting acquainted with the water before swimming forward, entering through the Stable door. They had to duck under momentarily before resurfacing on the other side, their heads just three feet away from the roof of the room.

"I've got RadAway, for when we start to feel ill." she noted as her hoof tingled in the water. Dunking under caused a very uncomfortable sensation, which didn't fade quickly when they resurfaced. "Shouldn't be much further till you can walk.."

Silver breathed deeply and slowly, slowly moving forward so that they could at least touch the floor. "Good to hear, I imagine this water isn't exactly clean." He continued to tread water, moving forward until they reached the corridor, finally reaching the floor...

....It's a shame that the water was still really high; now their heads were only two feet away from the roof of the Stable corridor. "...Uhh, Star? This Stable is more full of water than we thought.."

Star groaned as they discovered that the hallway was fuller than she'd estimated. She levitated her pistol from side to side as she scanned, though not paying much attention as she apologized. "I'm so sorry, Silver.. If it's too much, we can leave. I'm sure the tools can be found somewhere else.."

Silver continued to tread forward though, moving both of them further into the Stable. "Star, we traveled two and a half days to get here. We had to deal with a ghoul infested market, a skirmish between raiders and Steel Rangers, and we have the whole Enclave fiasco going on....We can manage a water-logged Stable I believe."

"Also, make sure you keep that pistol of yours dry; it won't be useful if the parts are wet. Now, according to the layout of this place, where would you guess the PipBuck-thingamajig-repair room would be?"

There wasn't much wiggle room, but they soon reached a room with a higher ceiling, being the Atrium.

"Right." The mare said with a single nod, reassured in the mission again. "What's a little radiation, right?"

The layout of the Stable was different than back in New Los Pegasus, but familiar enough for Star to spot a hallway marked with a symbol of a hammer and wrench crossing each other. She pointed in the direction of the hallway with her pistol. "If it's accessible, it's through there!"

He looked around to the room Song was pointing out, smiling as he noticed it was on the upper level of the Atrium, allowing them to at least stand with the water up to his ankles. "Ah, well that ain't so bad. We're already here!"

Silver swam forward to reach a railing before climbing over it, setting Star onto the floor, the water up to her knees. "Well, go nuts, get what you want."

With a nod, the mare sloshes her way into the technician's chamber. She levitates her pistol onto a counter, safely away from the water, and starts to rummage through tool bags.

Silver trotted around near the doorway of the room, getting a look around the Stable; this was his first time to ever be in one, and even though it was flooded, he tried to imagine what it must have been like to have to live and die in such a place for generations. It didn't seem like a very lively place to reside, even with the artificial sunlight 'windows' installed near the ceilings....Just a moment, was something moving?

Silver squinted his eyes as he noticed a strange shape near one of the vents in the ceiling, hard to determine what it was having no lighting in that area. "Hey Star, you good on your own for a moment? I need to check something out real quick." He called over his shoulder.

As she continued to look, she called back to the stallion. "Yeah, I'm just trying to find the Technician's bag.." she said, magically rifling through a few old tool bags. "Don't go too far!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm just in the Atrium, hang on!" He called over his shoulder, flapping his wings to get up closer to the vent. He looked in, but couldn't see much due to there being no lighting at all. Silver mumbled to himself shortly before digging into his one saddlebag for a light, finding his flashlight. And as he turned it on and aimed it into the vent.....He found something furry....and scaly....with insect like legs.....and cat-like eyes....

As Star was still searching, she could hear Silver replying to her momentarily, followed by silence. IT was him probably just checking out what was going on in the room. Eventually, underneath a workbench in a cupboard, she found the Technician's Bag that she was looking for...Followed by the sound of Silver screaming back in the Atrium and a large splash. There was a strange hissing she had never heard before when Silver screamed.

The sound of the hiss and the stallion's scream sent chills down the mare's spine. She quickly spun around, pointing her pistol as the joy of finishing her task was replaced by fear for her life. "S-Silver..?" she cried, barely more than a whisper.

At first she couldn't see anything, just a figure in the water, with bubbles rising up.....Silver was nowhere to be seen.

Star slowly stepped out into the Atrium, shakily aiming her pistol around. There were no raiders in sight, none of the armored ponies, nothing but water and.. Bubbles!

Her pistol pointed at the source, and the mare peered in. The water was murky, but.. A glimpse of pale yellow under the surface sent Star into action. "Silver!" she cried, holstering her weapon and focusing on her horn. It was a struggle, since she couldn't clearly see him, but she wrapped him in a cloak of telekinesis, and pulled with all her willpower!

As she pulled him out, she could find that Silver was actually thrashing about, with some....weird...THING, attached to his face, trying to bite him. Silver coughed and sputtered as he spat out water, looking frantically to Star. "St*cough cough* Star! Ki....Kill it! Shoot this *Gah* Shoot this thing quick!"

It was a chimera, a scientific abomination that was made by the Stable residents. This was the reason they had to leave their home and flood it. And it seemed to definitely hate the water as it latched onto Silver's muzzle with all of its legs.

Star screeched at the sight of the creature, dropping the stallion onto the walkway and fumbling her pistol out. As the abomination clawed and gnashed at Silver, Star aimed and hoped for an opening to shoot the creature. "S-Silver, I can't! I'll hit you too!"

Silver grunted as his back his the catwalk, making him lose his grip on the chimera. The thing immediately latched onto his neck and bit down, making Silver scream out in agony. "GAAAH JUST SHOOT FOR FUCKS SAKE!"

The mare watched the creature bite into Silver's neck, and it was enough to push her to action. Her aim steadied for a split second, and she pulled the trigger.

The chimera screamed out a nasty sounding wail as the bullet bit into its back, making it jump off Silver and flip over, writhing and thrashing against the catwalk. Silver kicked it away from himself as he held onto his neck wound, making the thing fall into the water. That only made it thrash about more violently, being unable to swim as it sank to the bottom of the Stable floor level.....Eventually bubbles stopped rising up as the thing drowned.

Silver was in no better shape though, as he was still rolling around on the catwalk, holding onto his neck while groaning. "Ohhh Celestia...It fucking burns.....Augh!"

Star rushed to Silver's side and knelt next to him, pushed his hooves away from his neck, using her hooves to apply pressure to the wound. "Burn..? On the bite, or spreading?" she asked quickly, magicking open her medic case and floating gauze over to stop the bleeding.

"Both, both!" He quickly gasped out, his rear hooves kicking slightly as he writhed where he lied. "It just *gasp* Bit down and...*hiss* felt like fire's running, geh...Through my neck." He strained to answer.

The mare nodded quickly, looking up and from side to side, searching for any place to work. The Technician's workroom! "Silver, come with me. I'm going to repair the PipBuck and get help, but I need to keep an eye on you, okay?"

Silver groaned as he rolled onto his hooves, wobbling a bit once he stood up. He kept one foreleg pressed to his neck wound, hobbling forward on three legs, following Star into the Tech room.

Star did what she could to help him along, but with her smaller frame, most of her support was through encouragement. Once they were in the Technician's room, Star pushed all the things off of one of the workbenches and helped Silver onto it, then put her medical case and the Technician's bag onto another table.

First, she rifled through the case for more gauze and bandages, then a syringe of Med-X. She didn't have an antidote for the strange creature's venom, but the Med-X would certainly help Silver with the pain until she could get help. Laying the materials on the bench, she looked at the stallion. "Okay.. Everything's okay. I'm going to call Essie, and she'll come help. She'll bring something for you." she encouraged as she gingerly prepped the needle. "Med-X. It won't help much, but it'll hopefully stop it from hurting so much.."

Silver had crawled onto the table with one hoof, his other too busy holding his wound together, for fear that should he let it open more, he'll bleed out first before the poison would kill him. His breath was ragged as he flopped onto his back, gritting his teeth in pain. Were it not for him having to swim before, he would be sweating and his fur would be matted.

He scarcely heard her talking to him, disorientation already settling in as he groggily looked over to Star, seeing the Med-X in her grip. Not too keen on the idea, but not seeing any other options yet either, He reached over with his spare hoof and took the syringe of painkillers from her, injecting it into his neck. He winced as the needle pierced his skin, and he didn't waste time in deploying the medicine and pulling it out. Eventually it did its work and his breathing was a bit steadier.

Star took the syringe once Silver had injected the painkillers, and set it on the counter, near her MoP case. Cleaning could wait until after the PipBuck was operating, and hailing assistance for Silver.

She shrugged off the Technician's bag and opened it, nearly tearing up at all the tools and parts inside. Success! She felt a strange sensation inside, as if the experience had actually added up in her. Her ears twitched, was there.. Music?

Knowing Silver probably hadn't heard the sound, she went ahead with the PipBuck, placing it comfortably on her wrist and using her magic to manipulate the tools. Within moments, the device was attached to her wrist. A spark from her horn [Science!] caused the screen to spring to life. There was a small prick in her arm as the PipBuck mounted to her, connecting to her body for the most accurate readings. In one of the corners, the device warned her that she was dangerously close to contracting light radiation sickness. "Silver, I've got it working!" she announced jubilantly, "Now, let's call for help.."

It took a few tries of sending signals with the PipBuck, for Star to realize she needed a broadcaster to get it more than a Stable's distance from herself. She thought for a moment, then.. Light bulb! She dug into the technician's bag, praying to the Goddesses for what she needed, and.. Aha! Cable! She yanked out the cable and attached it to a slot in the PipBuck, then attached the other end to the Stable Technician's maneframe. A quick bout of hacking put her right in place to begin broadcasting to New Appaloosa. The mare cleared her throat, unsure of who she was going to be speaking to. "Hailing New Appleloosan secure frequencies, we are trapped in Stable . Friendly injured by an unidentified creature, unable to leave. Requesting medical assistance for fast-acting venom. I repeat, we are trapped in Stable twenty-four and need medical assistance."

Silver was lying there on the table still, looking as though he was getting paler by the minute. He was too busy focusing on breathing to really respond to Star, but he did notice the clicking of her PipBuck's Geiger counter. If she was getting high levels of radiation, chances were Silver was feeling the effects of it too.

.....There was a lot of static during the time Star had sent her broadcast out, repeating the message on different channels. Eventually, after switching to channel , after her message came the reply of a familiar voice. "Kzzzct.....Stable , we can hear you. This is Rivets....Are you that young filly that what came in with Silver and the other folks? What the hell are you doing way out in that place? We sealed it up fer a good reason."

"Rivets, you are coming through clearly. I am Starsong, one of the ponies he came in with." she replied, a little agitated at the 'filly' bit. "We were after some Stable-exclusive tools, and Silver was bitten by a.. Lizard-cat.. Thing. Any idea what it was, or how I can fix it? I've given him Med-X, but he's looking like he needs a whole lot more than that."

“...A lizard cat? Hm.....Oh....Oh no." There was a sigh on the other end. "Silver ran into a chimera, eh? Celestia be damned....Look kid, I hate to tell you this....You're gonna have to abandon your pal. Those chimeras are nasty bastards, and their bites are very lethal. It can kill a pony his size in about, oh say.... hour?.Now, we happen to have the antidote here, thanks to another Stable Dweller that passed though not long ago, but....There's nopony here that'll get to you fellas in time."

"You'd have to be a pegasus to reach the Stable fast enough, and the only pegasus in town is Derpy.....But, it just so happened that she's gone tonight; took her store cart and went off for the next town over for some trade......I'm really sorry, kiddo, it ain't an easy thing to do, leaving your pals behind."

Star had become immensely quiet, tense, once Rivets had mentioned how quickly the pale stallion on the table would be killed. As he explained on, though, a glimmer of hope appeared. A pegasus.. Aura!

"I-.." she started, then remembered Aura's cover. She was supposed to be an earth pony while she was in New Appaloosa, she couldn't blow her cover. On the other hand, one of their group lay dying in a Stable. The decision was made before she could even think of the consequences. "There's another pegasus in New Appaloosa."

“...Hm, what do you mean another pegasus? You've seen me at the gate, I keep tabs on all who enter Appleloosa. How would you know that there's another pegasus in my town when I wouldn't?"

"She was with us. In disguise, so we wouldn't get turned away." she admitted, not looking at Silver. She knew what she was saying was damning, but she didn't need to hear any protest. "Do what you will, just please send antidote. Please, Rivets."

There was silence on the other end of the radio. It seemed like he was weighing the options on his end. After half a minute of silence, his voice replied on the radio. ".....We're gonna have words about this after the little issue is taken care of....I'll go find your friend and let her know what's going on."

With Rivets' agreement, Star sighed with relief. "Thank you, Rivets." she replied, "I need to tend to Silver, hail this frequency if you need me." With that, she cut her broadcast and turned to Silver. "I'm sorry." she said softly, "I know I may have just gotten you kicked out of New Appaloosa, but I'd rather you stay alive, okay?"

Silver was not looking any better. His eyes looked like they were fighting to stay open, drooping heavily, his breathing wheezing like...He started to hold a hoof to his muzzle as if he was about to throw up; either from the chimera poisoning or radiation, it didn't matter. Thankfully he staved off the feeling. His ear was tuned to the Geiger counter on Star's PipBuck, looking up to her. "....Star....just....just go, you're....you're gonna get ill too...."

Star followed the stallion's eyes to the PipBuck, and she became aware of the Geiger’s ticking away on her wrist. Her horn illuminated, and from her open MoP case, floated a bag of orange liquid. She levitated it to the stallion and unstopped the end of the tube, offering it to him. "Rad Away. Should clear at least half of those symptoms..."

Author's Note

Dun dun duuuuun! Now somepony's REALLY in trouble! Will Aura be cool with breaking her cover just to help a lowly Enclave 'traitor' like Silver? Tune in next episode!