Chapter 1: Trouble on the Home Front
Chapter 1: Troubles on the Homefront
Grey. Dull, emotionless grey. It summed up Kit Tinker's bleak existence within Stable 87 quite nicely. It was the color of the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. It was the color of a lifeless corpse laying in the narrow corridors. No hope lay within the tight confines of the stable, for hope was but a word, printed on paper, destined to fade with time. When one was stuck within a world where ponies murdered each other needlessly, without thinking, without asking the question 'why?'. where was the source of hope?
She lay in bed, her sea blue eyes staring lifelessly at the same grey ceiling, the one which she had spent most of her life under. Alarms blared, drowning out the sounds of gunshots and screaming that could be heard throughout the stables metal interior. The hissing of her bedroom door opening broke her trance, the sounds of the ongoing battle increasing as it opened fully. Kit glanced towards the open doorway briefly, seeing a familiar violet unicorn come rushing in, before turning her head back towards the ceiling.
"What are you doing here Ros- Bulletspree? Shouldn't you be out there murdering ponies?" Kit snarled at her sister, who had begun grabbing objects and belongings off the shelves, placing them into her saddlebags. Her mane was a chaotic mess of pink, tuffs of hair stuck out in a haphazard fashion from lack of care. She wore a standard, grimy stable jumpsuit with the numbers '87' boldly printed on the back in faded yellow colours, strapped to her thigh was a worn faux-leather pistol holster.
"Get up Kitty, we're getting the hell out of here!" Spree shouted, completely ignoring her sisters snide remark. She finished packing her saddlebags, having filled it with what little food and water they had, along with her IF-21 10mm pistol, a box of 24 10mm rounds and whatever supplies were left in the stables medical bay.
Kit looked at her sister Ludicrously, chuckling darkly under her breath. "Oh yeah? How do you suppose we do that hmm? We'd have get past all those ponies out in the halls who are shooting each other then, managing that, we have to get through a 15'' thick steel door!!"
"Would you quit your bitching? I have a plan to get us out of here!" She replied proudly, putting a hoof up to her puffed out chest, the saddlebags falling to the floor, having not been strapped on properly.
"Like your 'plans' have gotten us anything but good, remember the time you planned to sneak into the earth pony section to steal food?"
"Do you want to stay here and die!?" Spree shouted, causing Kit to flinch, "Look, all of the fighting is in the mud pony side of the stable and I have the code for the front door, getting out should be a breeze!"
Her sisters winning grin and assurances filled her with a renewed, weak, sense of confidence. She reached for her Pip-Buck 2000, that was lying forgotten on her bedside cabinet, and strapped it onto her left foreleg, securing it tightly in place. She switched it on, its nigh indestructible screen flaring to life with a pale green, luminescent glow. The H.U.D appeared in front of her vision, displaying a simple compass in , along with a small box in the bottom right corner displaying the condition and quantity of equipped items, which was currently empty.It was old and it was terribly outdated, lacking most of the fancy features that the newer Pip-buck 3000 models held, such as the rad-meter and motion tracker, but it was better than nothing.
She slid herself off of her bed, quickly throwing on her own Stable Utility overalls and saddlebags. Picking up a framed picture off the cabinet and tucking it safely into her saddlebags, she followed her sister out of her bedroom door. For first time in what felt like forever, Kit Tinker finally had a reason to hope.
The sharp crack of pistol fire echoed throughout the battle torn halls, the last soul wrenching screeches of dying ponies, filled with nothing but pain and sorrow, followed close behind them. This, couple with the deserted halls, made simply walking through the stables corridors feel like a trip through Tartarus itself.
The closer the two mare got to the stables main atrium, the horrific sounds became louder and clearer, making the duo feel as though they would stumble into the crossfire at every turn.
"Are you sure it's all in the earth pony side? Those gunshots sound pretty close." Kit winced as a particularly loud screech of agony filled the air. Two gunshots followed and then the voice was silenced.
“I’m...I’m pretty sure it’s only in that half, l-last time I checked it was anyway.” Spree stuttered, looking back at the fear filled face of her sister. She turned her head back around, facing forward, and noticed a sign indicating the atrium to be on the next right.
“Only one way to find out.” Kit muttered darkly, her steps becoming hesitant and shaky.
The two slowly edged their toward the intersection of the two hallways, heads low and ears perked, waiting for any sounds of movement. They turned the corner and halted in their tracks almost immediately. There, laying dead in a large puddle of dried blood, was a mint green unicorn mare. Her blank, soulless eyes stared back at the pair, her face frozen in an expression of agony and grief. A smeared trail of blood continued behind her, leading into the atrium hall. Her fore hoof was outstretched in front of her, making it obvious that she had dragged herself to that position.
“M-Misty?” Kit’s legs threatened to buckle underneath her, the raw emotion flowing through her body becoming too much for her to handle. A pit formed in her stomach and her heart felt like it had ceased beating. Her mind began to race, all the fond memories rushed to the forefront of her mind. All the times she spent with her friend. All the sleepovers they spent giggling madly in their quarters, gossiping non-stop about the strange on goings within the stable.
But one memory shined brighter than the rest, the final crack that burst the dam, the night her parents had died.
The Stable was abuzz with activity, unicorns bickered and argued with one another, trying to distinguish a reason for the sudden, unprovoked attack that had stemmed from the earth ponies of the Stable. A dozen unicorns, both old and young, were brutally maimed and injured, the results of a surprise detonation in the Stable's common room. At least half a dozen more were dead, their bodies being carried down to the furnaces for cremation, their families and loved ones grieving their loss.
Deep in the recesses of the Stable, down in the forgotten maintenance tunnels where nary a pony entered, a small lilac unicorn filly curled up in self seclusion. Her light pink mane was a disheveled mess, her aqua eyes bloodshot and teary from heavy boughs of crying. In her arms she clutched a small stuffed animal, worn and tatty from years of childish abuse and love.
The distinct sounds of frantic hoof steps and raspy, panicked breathing found their way to the filly, making her ears perk and her eyes widen. She scanned around for a place to hide from her unwanted guest but found no such place, as the tunnels were barren and desolated. The set of hooves skidded to a stop at the opposite end of the dingy corridor, just outside the open blast door, their owner desperately wheezing in breath after breath.
The pony, a young mint green unicorn just above the age of twelve, slumped into the doorframe and looked into the room, her tired, sunglow eyes probing the room for the young filly. She quickly spotted her small friend, beginning another exhausting sprint towards her. "T..Tinks! I...I heard...what happened, I'm ...I'm so...so sorry!" She fell to a stop, scooping the small Kit Tinker into her arms with a bone crushing hug.
"T-They're d-dead M-Misty," She mumbled, her voice catching and hiccupping with every word, "M-My parents are d-dead." Her face suddenly buried itself into her friends shoulder, her tears coming back full force as sobs rocked her body. Misty gently rubbed little mares back, her movements were awkward and unsure, never having found herself in such situations before.
"W-Where's my sis-sister?"
"I...I dunno, she said she had to uh...take care of some...things. Sh-She's okay though...I think." Misty fumbled over her words, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the turn of events and heartbroken at the state her usually happy go lucky friend was in.
"I j-just w-want my m-mummy." Kit weakly croaked out.
"I..I know," Misty stuttered, "I know...."
“I’m guessing you knew her?” Spree asked in a voice just barely over a whisper, placing a hoof on her sisters quivering shoulder. Kit could only offer a nod of confirmation, her voice having been lost in the vast sea of sorrow threatening to drown her. Spree reached to place the rest of her leg around Kit but she shrugged her off. Instead, Kit began walking towards the broken body of the mare once knew as a friend.
Kit knelt down, her legs becoming coated in the sticky blood puddled around her. She reached out a hoof towards the young mares forehead, A shiver ran through her body as she contacted the ice cold skin. Fighting to hold back the flood of tears, she placed her hoof over the mares eyes and dragged it down, closing them for the last time. Her resolve finally caved and she broke down, her eyes becoming a fountain of tears as she wept for her fallen friend. Spree rushed to her side, wrapping her arms around her sisters shaking form. Kit turned and buried her head into her chest, her cries of anguish becoming muffled sobs as her sister comforted her.
They stayed there for what felt like hours, embraced in each others arms. Eventually Kits shaking sobs subsided into the occasional weak sniffle or hiccup.
“C’mon sis, we...we need to go.” Spree whispered gently, stroking her sisters mane as her gaze remained locked on the stiff corpse that had caused so much anguish. Slowly, she eased Kit away from her and helped pull her to her hooves.
They continued on through towards the stables main atrium, stopping short of the metal hydraulic door. Spree, using her magic, reached into her saddlebags and extracted her 10mm pistol, clicked a magazine into place and cocked the slide. Satisfied that it was loaded and primed for fire, she placed it into the holster that was strapped to her flank.
“P-Please, don’t tell me you’re going to use that....” Kit stared, transfixed on the tool of death that was strapped to her sisters leg. The same tool that had caused the death of her best friend.
Spree sighed, looking away from Kit's pleading eyes. “What choice do I have sis? The whole Stable has gone to Tartarus, if somepony starts shooting at us, we need to shoot back or we're dead!"
"Just...promise me you'll only use it in an emergency, please?"
"Okay Kitty....only in an emergency, I promise." Spree sent her sister a reassuring smile, drawing the gun back out of it's holster. She flipped the safety switch on and removed the clip, before floating it back towards its place. As Kit smiled and turned back towards the door, she slyly slipped the magazine back in.
"So...w-what do you think's on the other side Rose?" Kit trembling voice asked, barely above a whisper. So quiet Spree almost didn't hear it over the constant sounds of gun shots echoing in her ears.
"Looks like we're about to find out Kitty."
Spree reached her hoof out towards the doors switch, firmly pushing the 'open' button. The hydraulic seals hissed and separated, the dull, grey metal grinding open before them, sliding up into the ceiling. Nothing could've prepared them for what they saw.
Bodies littered the floor, along with spent bullet casings. Lockers and table's lay toppled, with the recently deceased laying stiffly over them or behind them, having used them as a make shift cover. In the center of the carnage, a beige earth pony lay brutally impaled on a chair, having fallen from the catwalk overhead. One leg was protruding crookedly from the back of his throat, whilst another pierced his lower abdomen.
"Well....now we know why it all sounded so close..." Spree stated plainly, taking in the large amounts of vivid gore with ease. Her sister however, didn't fair as well. Kit stood, her wide blue eyes gaping at the scene before her, a strangled gurgle escaped her throat, unable to form even the simplest of words.
"C'mon sis....we should get out of here, the whole place has gone to shit." Spree whispered gently, seeing her sisters far-gone expression. Grasping Kit's foreleg lightly, she began pulling her quickly but gently through the mess of mutilated corpses and gore. Avoiding a particularly large pool of blood, they made it across the atrium, reaching the final sealed door, which would lead them to their goal; the stable door.
They quickly opened the dented block of metal and briskly made their way down the final corridor, emerging into the stable's main entrance. The whole area was rusty from disuse and lack of care, decade old papers lay strewn about the floor, yellowed with age. The dim, dusty fluorescent lights overhead barely illuminated the scene, making it seem as if it was torn straight out of a horror movie. The one thing that stood out most though, was the gigantic, cog shaped seal, the numbers '87' painted on it in bold, pealing white paint. The two ponies stood in awe, both amazed and worried, at the thick behemoth before them.
"Are you sure it'll open sis? I-I mean look at it, it's practically fusing together from the rust!" Kit stared horrified, the notion of being trapped within the underground tomb drained the life from her face.
"C-Course it will, all we have to do is punch in the code and we're home free! Watch." Spree trotted rapidly over the faded yellow control panel and began entering the code sequence displayed on her outdated Pip-buck 2000.
"Let's see... 8 ... 6 ... 4 ... 3 .... Enter!" Spree announced with a smile, slapping her hood down on the enter key. A loud buzzing sound erupted from the control panel, signaling that the code was incorrect.
"What? B-But I entered all the numbers!" She screamed, forcefully slamming her hooves onto the age weathered panel, her shoulders slumping in irritation. "Why won't it work!?"
Kit inched nervously over to her sister, peering over her shoulders at the rusted device. Her eyes caught onto the small, barely lit screen, displaying four numbers, each separated by a forward slash, along with another four blank spaces after them.
"Sis... I-It needs an eight digit code to open, are you sure you got the right password? M-Maybe you missed some!"
"That was," Spree took a deep breath and sighed, further leaning over the battered terminal, in an attempt to calm herself down, "That was all that was there, just those four numbers, along with some bullshit about mud ponies. Why would they make a door that can only be opened with eight numbers but only give the Overmare four! it doesn't make sense!"
"They gave our Overmare four... What about the other Overmare? The Earth ponies? What if... What if she has the other half?"
"What? Why the heck would they trust a dirty mud pony with half the code? I say that this was intentional, those bastards at Stable-Tec wanted us to stay in here! They wanted us all to die!" Spree began pounding her hooves on the already damaged panel.
"S-Spree....please stop doing that." Kit said weakly, staring in confusion at her sisters odd, and quite frankly, terrifying behavior.
"We're both gonna' die here! And there's nothing we can do! We'll just sit in here, in a underground hole, full of rotting corpses for the rest of our lives!" Spree continued to rant, turning her anger on a nearby table, flipping the poor thing into a wall.
"Spree Please! You're going to break something important!" Kit repeated herself, raising her voice until it was almost a scream, moving towards her sister and to try and stop the madness taking place before her eyes.
"We've all been fucked from the start! They wanted this! I bet it's not even a fucking wasteland outside! I bet they've been watching us squirm in here! I bet they think it's real funny too, sick bastards!" Kit jumped back as a terminal smashed to the floor, its glowing green screen crackling and sparking as it impacted the hard metal floor, shattered glass spilling on the floor around it.
Kit quickly closed the distance between them, roughly grasped her sisters shoulders and proceeded to vigorously shake her. "Rose, please stop it! You're scaring me!"
"Don't call me Rose!"
*Smack*
Time seemed to freeze as Spree's hoof collided with her dear, innocent sisters face. Shocked overtook her system as she witnessed Kit Tinker's head snap to the side, her body following close behind, as she fell to the cold flooring. Paper crinkled and tore as her small body toppled onto it, her hooves cradling her bruised face.
"K-Kitty...I...I didn't mean to- I'm sorry." Kit flinched as her sister approached, staring down at the dull paneling underneath, unwilling to look up at her sisters pleading, aqua eyes.
"It's okay, It was my fault for grabbing you..." Kit Tinker softly whispered a reply, the pain clearly transmitted through her voice.
"N-No, no it's not your fault, I shouldn't have let myself go like that, I shouldn't have started destroying everything in sight, I shouldn't have hit you..." Spree yanked her sister into a tight hug, feeling her entire body tense at the contact, before relaxing into the strong embrace.
"A-Are you sure there even is a second half of the code though? I mean...what would be the point in separating it?" Spree's body seemed to deflate in her sister's arms, her shoulders filled with a sudden weight as they dropped, her head coming to rest on Kit's.
"Because...Because I think this Stable is a test. Think about it, what would be the point in stuffing earth ponies and unicorns, but then make them hate each other? I...I think we weren't meant to kill each other..." Her voice trailed off, images of the mass of bodies in the stable's main atrium popping into her head, along with the image of Misty's...'No, don't think about that right now, you have to be strong! For Rose and yourself!'
"I guess it's worth a shot, at least we'll know we tried if we fail..."
"We won't, I know it," Kit offered a weak smile, the small spark of hope flickering at the back of her eyes erupting into a blaze. She picked herself up from the hard floor, offering a hoof to her sister. "C'mon sis, let's go."
"Right behind you sis." Spree smiled back, accepting the helping hoof and pulling herself to her hooves.
A sudden silence filled the air as the two sisters back tracked their way to the stable's atrium, filling the two ponies with a sense of dread and foreboding. As they re-entered the scene of devastation, not a shot was heard, nor a scream, nor the loud bang of a grenade exploding. No signs of life where heard at all, the whole stable had fallen completely dead.
Spree and Kit edged their way through the mess of corpses, being careful not to slip on the large pool of blood which had formed in the center of the room."I don't like this...It's too quiet."
"Maybe they called a truce? Or maybe they realised that shooting each other wasn't the answer..." Kit struggled to find a logical answer in the sea of uncertainty she found herself swimming in. Why did the stable suddenly fall silent? Surely if somepony had won, there would be cheering or a celebration, or at least some noise signifying life still existed. But there was none, just the constant, struggling drone of the stables failing air filtration unit.
"Somehow Kitty, I highly doubt that..." Spree answered, taking a wide berth around a blood caked unicorn stallion, whose face and body were mangled from a grenade explosion, making it nearly impossible to recognize who he was. Kit followed close behind, trying her best not to look at the carnage. They eventually made it to the hydraulic door that would lead them into the earth pony section of Stable 87, into the very heart of the conflict.
"You ready sis? You might not want to see what's on the other side of this door." Spree warned gravely, lifting her right foreleg and poising her hoof over the doors release button, prepared to open it. "You can wait for me back at the door if you want, I'll be alright on my own."
"No, I'm coming with you, I'm not letting you go it alone. We're in this together and we'll get out of this together." Kit stated with mock bravado, giving her sister a weak smile and a nod, to confirm her readiness.
"Don't say I didn't want you..." With that, Spree pushed her hoof, pressing the 'open' button. The door hissed and creaked, slowly crawling it's way up into the wall. It's metal was bent and warped, having been in the same proximity as the grenade that had claimed the unicorn stallions life, but eventually it opened fully, revealing the darkened corridors beyond.
"What happened to the lights?" Kit inquired curiously, staring up at the emergency lighting, bathing her in a eerie red glow.
"Some idiot must've blown up the main power line, the whole place has gone dark. Be on your guard, who knows what's waiting for us in there." Spree's magic reached behind her, pulling her pistol out of the holster strapped to her thigh, bringing it to hover eye level in front of her. Checking it over, she released the safety and pulled the slide back, pulling a round into the chamber.
"You promised you'd only use that in an emergency."
Spree looked to her left, seeing her sister glaring her way and, more specifically, at the gun hovering in front of her face. "I would class right now as an emergency, there could be an ambush waiting for all we know! I just want to be prepared."
"Just...don't go shooting the first thing you see, I want to see if we can talk to whoever is in there before a bullet flies through their brain! If they shoot at us just... Do what you have to do." Kit sighed, walking further into the red haze of the corridor, without a glance back towards her sister. Spree looked to the pistol hovering in her aura, then back at her sister. Groaning in defeat, she re-holstered it and cantered to her sisters side.
"So, which way to the Overmare office? I've never been in here before." Spree asked, stopping at an intersection leading off in three directions. The paths to her left and right led to a closed hydraulic door, whilst the path straight ahead led to a flight of stairs. The wall to her left held a series of directional signs, three of which were missing or completely broken, a fourth was stained with blood and the fifth stated that the main atrium was back in the direction in which they had came.
"Uh...I'm guessing this is just a mirror copy of our side so...left leads to the stallions dorms and right leads to the mares. Straight ahead must lead to the common rooms." Kit said thoughtfully, switching on her pip-buck light and shining into the barely lit hallway, taking in the semi-familiar surroundings. She peaked into the leftward corridor and spotted the male bathrooms, confirming her suspicions.
"Well, I guess there's only one way to find out, c'mon." Bulletspree trotted ahead, electing herself to lead the way, deciding on the corridor straight ahead, towards a flight of blood stained stairs.
As the two ponies made their way up the dimly lit stairwell, they came across an earth pony mare with her back firmly wedged into the corner. Her face was stuck frozen in a expression of pain and shock, and her glossy, lifeless green eyes stared blankly ahead, unblinking. In her hoof she clutched a half loaded, mouth held 10mm pistol, having succumbed to her injuries in the process of reloading. Spree knelt down and began searching the mare's clothing, picking out a pair of spare magazines from the bloodied pockets and a box of twenty four 10mm rounds, holding them aloft in her magic.
"What are you doing?" Kit hissed, appalled by her sisters behavior.
"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm getting extra ammo, she isn't using it any time soon." She replied, gesturing to the stiff corpse with her free hoof, whose pockets she was busy patting down and scavenging with the other. When she decided that she had gotten everything of use, Spree stood back up and took inventory of the objects floating in her magic, placing them into her own jumpsuit pockets for easy access. Taking a second thought, she glanced back down at the body, her horn glowing a bright blue.
Reaching out with her magic, she grasped the pistol that lay forgotten next to the deceased mare and lifted it into the air. She then slid the guns magazine fully into place with a metallic click, then flicked the slide release, snapping a 10mm round into the chamber. Checking the weapon over, ensuring that was in a semi-decent working condition, she floated it over to her confused sister.
"Why are you giving that to me? I don't even want to touch one of those things, never alone shoot one!" She protested, pushing the gun away with her own blue coloured magic, staring at her sister with indignation.
"Just take it, just in case, I'll feel better knowing you have someway of protecting yourself." Staring defiantly into her sisters pleading eyes, Kit eventually relented, accepting the foul weapon with disgust, quickly placing it into her saddlebags. 'Out of sight, out of mind.'
Finished with their quick looting session, the two of them continued their trek up and the stairs and through the hellish, confined space of a long corridor, passing a dozen ransacked family dorms, their contents destroyed or missing. Ignoring the strange disappearance of furniture, they continued on, encountering nothing but silence and the occasional stiff corpse of an earth pony, which Spree was quick to search, looking for anything of use.As they were walking down the deserted, Kit couldn't help but feel like there was somepony watching her.
Eventually the two came across another sealed door, a sign above stating that they had just arrived at the entrance to the earth pony 'common room'. A place where everypony would meet and socialize, share funny stories, gossip, make friends or just relax in the overall pleasant and friendly atmosphere.
"Yup, this is definitely a trap." Spree announced nonchalantly, drawing her favored pistol for the third time, giving it a quick once over to check its condition and ammunition, before floating it up at eye level. This time, she had the intention to use it, no matter how much her sister argued and begged.
"What makes you so sure? They could all be dead in there, just like everywhere else." Kit turned to look at her sister and began fuming at the site of the drawn pistol and her sisters hot headed attitude, shooting first was not a way to make allies.
"How many bodies did we pass on the way here? Three? Four? Out of all of them, how many were unicorns? Answer, none." Spree pulled an empty magazine from her pocket and began loading rounds into the top, slipping it back in to her pocket when it was full. "That's because the mud ponies were retreating, regrouping. They were setting up an ambush for our ponies to fall in to, and the idiots took the bait." She finished filling a second magazine, slipping it in with its cousin.
"How are you so sure they're still alive then? Our Pip-bucks don't have those fancy motion trackers." Kit asked Incredulously.
"Because if they weren't; firstly this door would be wide open, 'coz there wouldn't be anypony left to close it, and secondly the fact that all those cameras we passed on the way here couldn't stop watching us. Now, copy what I do," Spree pressed her body up against the area between the doorframe and the wall, effectively hiding herself from the possible hostiles on the opposite side of the door. Kit reluctantly followed suit, wedging herself into the adjacent space. Bringing her pistol to bare once more, Spree prepared her hoof over the door release.
"Ready?" Kit rolled her eyes, but nodded all the same, wanting her sister to hurry up with her silly antics. Spree quickly pressed the button and jerked her hoof back into cover. She placed her hoof up to her lips, signaling for Kit to remain silent. The door opened with a hiss and they waited. A brief minute followed before a sound broke the silence.
"Where are they? Igneous, go check it out!" A mares voice shouted, supposedly at another pony in the room.
"What! Why do I have to go? Send the pipsqueak, she was gonna die anyway!." A second voiced sounded, this one obviously belonging to a stallion due to its deep tone and gruff undertone.
"That filly is staying exactly where she is! Now get your ass over there and check it out, before I hit you!" The first voice replied back, aggression and annoyance evident in the mares voice.
"Okay, jeesh." The sound of hoof steps echoed through the silence, growing louder with each passing second. Spree pulled her pistol close, activated her pip-bucks Stable-Assisted Targeting Spell (S.A.T.S), and rolled out of her cover, aiming for the stallions head. Time seemed to slow down as her gun fired with a sharp crack, a bullet tearing through the air at breakneck speed, flying straight into the shocked stallions face. The round tearing a hole through his skull, turning his brain to much, before continuing its course straight out the back of his cranium. He flew back, body limp and lifeless, with his blood and grey matter splattering the area behind him.
Spree quickly switched targets, this time aiming for the mare, who was too busy being frozen with shock to fire back with her combat shotgun. Another loud bang sounded, and another bullet left the guns barrel, finding its new home inside the poor mares head. She promptly fell like a sack of bricks, her weapon slipping from her slack jaw and clattering to the floor. Spree switched to the third and last target, preparing to unload another round but stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her 'target'.
A small yellow filly lay curled up in the corner of the room, partially hidden behind an overturned sofa, her shoulders shaking as she cried softly. Spree slipped out of S.A.T.S and lowered her pistol, unsure of how to proceed. Kit poked her head into the room, her curiosity piqued at the sound of sobbing. Looking towards the area in which her sister was dumbly staring, her eyes widened as she too spotted the small filly.
Stepping fully into the room, she began looking around, checking for any other surviving ponies apart from herself, her sister and the filly. All the rooms furniture, along with beds and cabinets from the ransacked rooms they had passed, were set up as a makeshift barricade at the far end of the room, riddled with holes and caked in blood. The scene in front of the barricade almost made her release whatever contents were still left in her stomach.
Mounds of unicorn bodies lay piled in front, each cut down as they ran blindly into the room, straight to their deaths. Behind the barricade a similar scene was laid out, with earth ponies lay slumped over furniture or lay crumpled on the floor, having been caught in the return fire from the panicked unicorns. Each was bathed in the same eerie red glow of the stables emergency lighting, creating an image straight out of Tartarus itself.Blocking the images from her mind, Kit began to approach the young pony, taking a wide berth of the bodies.
Hearing the older pony approaching, the yellow filly peaked her head from behind the sofa, her orange mane and yellow coat clashing harshly with the sofas dull brown. When her tearful green eyes spotted Kit inching her way towards her, she quickly ducked back behind and curled into herself in an attempt to make herself as small as possible. "S-Stay away daemons! Please! Don't kill me..."
"Daemons?" Kit stopped approaching, completely puzzled by the fillies odd exclamation. "Why would she call us..?" Realisation dawned on her. She looked at the mass of dead flesh that covered the majority of the room and at the two fresh corpses, that were slowly draining a puddle of blood from the new orifices in their skulls.
"Oh..."
"C'mon Kitty leave her, we need to get that code and get out of here, we can't afford to take her with us." Spree said softly as she holstered her sidearm and picked up the bloodied shotgun in her magic, checking its drum mag. Satisfied that it held a suitable number of shells, she then began to move towards the far end of the room, climbing up and over the impromptu barrier. She stopped when she reached the bullet beaten hydraulic door, glancing back at her sister, still staring at the filly. "C'mon Kit, she'll only slow us down."
Kit Tinker made a move to follow her sister but the sound of the fillies whimpering sobs kept her locked in place, a certain memory resurfacing. She shook her head and quickly blocked it out, unwilling to face the pain the images brought. She began looked back and forth between her sister and filly with uncertainly, torn between her feelings and the harsh before her.
"I'm sorry Spree, I-I can't leave her here." She whispered softly, redoubling her advance on the filly, who quickly shrank into a tight ball, covering her head with her tiny hooves. Kit reached quickly reached her, gently pulling the tiny mare into a comforting hug, softly brushing her scarlet mane with her hoof. The filly struggled weakly, attempting to fight the sudden warm embrace she found herself in. Eventually realising the futility in her struggles, they gradually ceased, being replaced by heavy sobs that violently shook her small frame.
Bulletspree sighed deeply, turning away from the scene taking place in front of her eyes and quickly pressing the doors release button. It quietly hissed open before her and, taking one last glace back at her sister, she slipped through, flicking the close switch as soon as she was on the other side.
"I'll be back for you Kitty...I promise."
[canter]- - - - - -
"Ssh, it's okay, you're okay, I'm not going to hurt you. I know it hurts sweetie, just let it all out. It's okay." Kit continued to stroke the filly's mane, gently rocking the both of them back and forth, in an effort to calm the small yellow pony down. The filly now clutched Kit's body like a pillow, screaming and crying out her pain and heartache. In return, Kit held her tighter, rubbing the young mares back, resting her chin atop her head.
"Ssh it's okay, I'm here for you." Kit closed her eyes, imagining moments, such as the one she found herself in, with her mother. She remembered how she would sing a soft lullaby to her as she cried, the words forever lost to her in the sands of time, but the melody still played out clear as day. Kit took a deep breath and began to hum softly, rehearsing the song as best as her clouded memory allowed.
The filly's sobs slowly subsided, replaced by a troubled, hiccup filled snore as she slipped off into the realm of dreams and nightmares. The hissing sound of the door opening sounded nearby, followed by the sound of hoof steps crossing the metal plating that made up the floor making their way steadily towards her.
"Where'd you go sis? Did you get the code already?" Kit asked without looking up from the filly held in her forelegs, a small smile appearing on her face as she felt the seven year old snuggle into her lap.
No answer came, but the hoof steps continued to move closer, each step creating a loud metallic clang as it impacted the floor. The pony was close now, less than a few meters, yet there was still no reply.
"Sis?" Looking up from the filly, Kit looked towards the source of the hoof steps and gasped, pulling herself and the filly away from the pony that was definitely not her sister! Instead, there stood a pale blue unicorn stallion, his left foreleg was raised off the ground, a jagged wound ram across the limb, dripping blood. The rest of the stallion's body was in no better condition, small cuts and bruises, caused by grenade shrapnel dotted his torso and back. But the that made Kit jump in fright were his eyes, large and wide, the pupils shrunken to mere pinpricks, one occasionally twitching. They were the eyes of a pony whose mind was erased, replaced by pure insanity.
He clutched a jagged piece of metal in his mouth, the tip stained with blood, as he advanced on the two defenseless ponies. Kit, thinking fast, quickly levitated the filly out of harms way as the stallion lunged, throwing her body to the floor with the impromptu knife heading for her throat.
As the door seals hissed shut behind her, Spree brought the combat shotgun up to eye level and began to steadily make her way down the halls, which had been spared the bloodshed and battle damage. She peered into every room which she passed, checking for anypony lurking in the shadows waiting to attack her from behind, finding nopony she moved on to the next. Coming across the medical bay, she stopped her progress to search through the near empty cabinets and medical cases, managing to scrounge up a couple of healing potions and a few rolls of bandages, adding them to the few medical supplies she had.
Restarting her search, she eventually found herself outside the final room on the corridor. A locked, sealed door barred her from entering and a barely visible, yellow sign above the door marked it as a 'classroom'. Spree paused, trying to decide if it was worth her time to pick the lock and take a peak inside, if only to stem the rising paranoia and curiosity.
Losing the internal debate, she took off her saddlebags and began rummaging through them with her hooves, annoyed by the amount of she had packed into them. She eventually found her box of bobby pins, along with a screwdriver. Lifting them into the air with her magic, Spree placed the bobby pin in the key hole, moving it around until she found the sweet spot. She then placed the screwdriver above and slowly applied a gentle pressure, gradually turning the lock clockwise, until it gave a satisfactory click.
"I still got it," grinning to herself Spree replaced her tools and stood up straight, strapping her saddlebags back onto her back as she did so. Reaching out her magic to collect the nearly forgotten combat shotgun, Spree reached her hoof out to the door switch and flipped it. She quickly brought the shotgun to bear as the metal slid open, aiming it into the room with a look of pure concentration.
Her eyes widened and she took a step back, the shotgun clattering to the floor as her mind went blank, trying to comprehend what she saw. She stood stock still for a few seconds, her face contorted with disgust and disbelief, before she slammed her hoof back onto the door switch and closed it, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it of the images witnessed. Taking a moment to quell the rising sickness and anger, she turned away from the door and returned to plan at hoof, making her way up the final staircase to the Overmare's office.
Stepping into the last stretch of corridor she noticed two things. One being that there seemed to be a lot of furniture stuffed haphazardly into the small hallway and the second being the two rifles being pointed in her direction, the ponies holding them already pulling the triggers. Acting fast, Spree quickly threw herself behind a nearby toppled cabinet, the incoming bullets ricocheting harmlessly off of its thick metal. Taking a quick peak over her cover, she noted the position of the two lone earth ponies, who had set up cover at the far end of the corridor, hiding behind a ruined couch. The crack of one of the rifles firing forced Spree to duck her head back down, just as the round impacted the wall behind her, cutting a few wayward hairs loose from her scalp.
"Shit."
Panicking, Kit raised her hooves and forced the stallion back with all her might, keeping the blade just inches from her throat and no further, unable to summon any extra strength. Gasping with fright, she attempted to buck him off using her hind legs, missing his body completely and instead kicking the air uselessly.
Tears began to drip from her eyes as her shaking forelegs began to get pushed back, the sharp point inching closer and closer to her exposed neck. Her eyes began to frantically search around the room, looking for anything to hit the crazed stallion with. Her eyes stopped moving as they fell her saddlebags, laying about a meter and half away from her, the 10mm pistol laying spewed out just next to them. Concentrating the best she could, she tried to summon her magic to lift the sidearm. Her horn began to glow as her aura appeared, surrounding the weapon. It jiggled, barely moving an inch off the ground, before another rough push from the stallion broke her concentration, the edge of metal slicing into her neck. The gun clattered the floor as Kit pushed back with her dwindling reserves of strength, blood steadily streaming out the shallow gash, dripping to the already crimson floor.
The stallion suddenly cried out, forgetting Kit entirely as he focused his attention on the small filly wrapped around his wind pipe. Taking the brief distraction to her advantage, Kit reached out again with her magic, grasping the pistol firmly, quickly floating it over to her side. Just as it reached her, the large stallion had managed to throw the yellow filly off him, her small body landed with a soft *pomf* into an overturned sofa. Shakily Kit raised the pistol and fired, the shot aimlessly veering off to the side, missing the stallion completely.
Kit quickly fired again, nearly loosing the pistol from her magical grip, the bullet again uselessly missing, pinging off of a metal locker in the corner of the room. The stallion gave a cringe worthy chuckle, his mouth contorting into a manic grin as he began to limp back towards his frightened prey. Crawling frantically backwards, Kit fired a third time, the round blowing out a light in the ceiling, causing sparks to rain down on the bloodied corpses below.
Kit found herself unable to retreat anymore with her back firmly pressed against the cold metal wall, the pistol still spazzing about in her magical grip, unable to temper her erratic emotion. The stallion continued to advance, his bloody hoof leaving a trail behind him as he uncaringly dragged it along the ground. Desperately, Kit fired a fourth time, the bullet sailing through the air and striking true, ripping straight through the stallions shoulder.
He howled in pain, the jagged metal piece falling from his mouth as he fell back, clutching at his wounded shoulder. Another shot, this one tearing into his abdomen, earning another scream of pain as he collapsed to the floor. The crazed stallion began clawing desperately for his fallen weapon, blood gurgling out his mouth as he dragged himself sluggishly along the floor, a grin still shining on his face. A sixth and final shot rang out, blowing a hole clean through his head, ending his insanity.
Kit stay stock still, tears streaming down her face and blood leaking from her neck, the gun clattering to the floor as her magic cut out. Her body shook as she curled herself up, her hooves cupping her muzzle as the tears continued to fall, her eyes never leaving the body laid in front of her.
She suddenly stiffened as another, smaller body pressed itself against her own, tiny yellow hooves reaching around her barrel in a tight hug. Kit glanced down at the young filly and scooped her into her forelegs, hugging her tightly as if she were a stuffed toy, earning a squeal of protest in return.
Being forced to cower behind a metal box as a pair of ponies took pot shots was not Spree's idea of a good time, in fact it just pissed her off. She grunted as a round scraped along the side of the locker, feeling the rush of air as it grazed past her hind hoof, missing only by a few inches. She needed to move, or at least shoot back, her annoyance growing with each continuous shot fired. Her combat shotgun lay in her lap, completely useless at the current distance between her and her targets.
A sudden roar of agony echoed throughout the vault, reverberating its way through the stairway behind her, originating from a someplace close, judging by its volume and clarity. 'Kitty!' Spree internally screamed, prepared to make a break from her cover and gallop to the aid of her sister, the echoes of gunshots made her stop in her tracks. The sound of the weapon reassured her, recognizing the distinct crack of a 10mm round being fired 'She'll be fine...I hope.' Spree squished her thoughts and turned her attention back to the situation at hoof, the stream of lead being thrown at her momentarily frozen.
Taking their pause as an opportunity, Spree leaped to her hooves and ran down the corridor, the combat shotgun floating next to her, unloading shell after shell towards the earth pony cover. Buckshot tore at the seat cushions tearing it to tattered shreds, along with the unprepared face of one of the earth ponies. The second quickly ducked back behind cover as his friend was blown into chunks by the 12 gauge rounds. The combat shotgun began to click as Spree pulled its trigger, its drum magazine empty of shells. Discarding the empty weapon to the ground, Spree drew her pistol, aiming it towards the seconds ponies position as she continues to run.
Hearing the loud clicking, along with the sound of the firearm falling to the ground, the last earth pony brought himself out of cover and prepared to fire his rifle at the fast approaching pony. His eyes widened as Spree unleashed a stream a bullets from her pistol, each finding its mark in his face and neck. He dropped to the floor with a faint gurgle, his body twitching with spasms before falling still.
Spree continued her dash, leaping over the decimated couch, landing a few hooves distance between the two freshly dead bodies. She slipped out the empty magazine and placed it into her pocket, floating a fresh mag into place with a click. Spree swaggered her way up to the sealed hydraulic door of the Overmare's office, a winning smirk appearing on her muzzle.
"Don't you dare come near me unicorn filth!" A voice hissed and crackled over the intercom, filled with hatred and disgust. Spree looked up at a camera mounted just above the door, gave a shit eating grin and waved her hoof. Winking at the pony on the other side, she raised her pistol and fired, blowing the small fixture into sparks and broken glass and then unloaded a few shots into the intercom speaker, silencing the Overmare's squawking.
After a few minutes of tinkering with the lock, along with a couple snapped bobby pins, it finally clicked open, allowing Spree access. She placed her tools back into her saddlebags and slipped out a full magazine for her pistol, using it to replace the half empty one. Confident that she was ready, Spree pointed the small firearm towards the room and flipped the door switch, bringing it hissing open. The Overmare greeted her from the other side of her desk, holding her own pistol firmly in her jaw, glaring daggers Spree's way.
"I tholf nu nuth t' com fthere!" The cream coloured earth tried to shout, her voice garbled and muffled by the pistol grip stuffed in her mouth, Spree stared back in confusion.
"What? I can't understand you."
"I thaid, I tholf nou nuth t' comf fthere!" The mare repeated in irritation, taking a threatening step forward, saliva beginning to drip from her chin. Spree shook her head, as a faint chuckle escaped her mouth, amused by the scene in front if her.
"Olay, here's how we do this, I put my gun down and you put down yours. You give me the other half of the stable door code and then I'll leave. Sound good?" Spree raised her eyebrow, staring closely at the older mare, awaiting her response. Finally, with hesitation, the earth pony mare slowly lowered her gun onto her desk. Spree followed suit, floating her own pistol into its holster, then sat on her rump, smiling cockily in the other mares direction.
"Why do you want the code? It doesn't work, It never has, the whole Stable is permanently sealed shut. We're all going to die in here, if not from a gunshot, then a slow and painful death from dehydration, starvation or suffocation." The Overmare planted herself back down into her leather seat, brushing a stray grey strand of hair out of her vision. She sat staring forward with a grim expression on her face, keeping her weary, green eyes focused on her unwanted guest.
"Is that why you killed those foals Miss High Arc is it?" Spree replied coldly, checking over the mares engraved placard, displaying her name for all to see. Her demeanor quickly performed a sudden one-eighty as she remembered the classroom and its unfortunate inhabitants.
"What foals? I have no idea what you're talking about." In an attempt to feign innocence, the earth mare leaned back into her chair, but was unable to meet the judging blue eyes that seemed bore into her very soul.
"Stop lying, you know I saw them, you've been watching us with your little cameras the whole time."
High Arc heaved a deep sigh, glancing briefly towards the lilac unicorn glaring daggers towards her. If looks could kill, Spree would've turned the aged mare inside out and strung her up from her intestines. Wincing, the mare looked towards her desk, specifically at the spit coated handle of her pistol.
"Yes...I had those foals...put to sleep. Told them it was a flu injection, said it would keep them safe from the unicorn germs, poor dears believed us...Then we got them to take a nap. We had them overdosed on every drug we had left in the medical bay, forcing them into a coma. Their hearts stopped whilst they slept, completely painless. It was...for the best." Her voice sounded weak, hollow, as if she was trying to convince herself that her actions were necessary, that what she did was the only option available.
"For the best? You had all those innocent foals killed because it was 'for the best'!? Did you stop to think about everypony else in the stable? Killing each other because you were too selfish to share the only source of water available? What about our foals!? Do you know how many died because we were forced to give them unfiltered water!?" Spree screamed, leaping the distance between her and High Arc, pressing her snout forcefully into the mares face, forcing her back in her seat.
"You unicorn filth are of no concern to me, only the well being of my ponies is important. You can all go rot in Tartarus for all I care." The earth mare spat back, pushing the enraged pony backwards with her fore hoof, wiping spittle off her face with the other.
"Heh and where are your 'ponies' now? Oh that's right...they're all dead, along with every 'filthy' unicorn, along with nearly every innocent foal in this stable, because of you. You could have stopped all of this before it started, saved the lives of everypony!" Spree stepped back and smirked, a sense of pride and joy overtaking as she watched the mares expression turn to one of dawning realisation, her face turning sickly pale.
"Now...about those codes?" She continued, casually placing a hoof onto the circular desk, leaning over towards the floundering mare, staring intently at a fleck of blood that had long dried onto the back of her free hoof.
"The...The password for my terminal is Apple Core, get the codes and get out...I-I have things to do." High Arc muttered, her voice devoid of emotion, her lifeless eyes staring at the pistol lying still on her ancient desk.
"Thank you for the assistance, I'll just be on my way," giving a sly wink, Spree trotted up to the terminal, entered the code and downloaded the codes needed to access the door, as well as a file named 'For Overmare's Eyes Only'. Haven gotten what she came for, she quickly vacated the room and sealed the door, leaving the broken mare alone with her regrets. Taking a pause in the hallway, she perked her ears and listened.
*Bang*
Smirking with satisfaction, Spree hurried her way past the two broken corpses and over their wrecked barricade, galloping through the winding corridors as quickly as physically possible.
Chapter 2
"Kitty, guess what I got!" She burst into the room like an excited child, panting rapidly from excursion, accidentally kicking a stiff leg out of her path, not noticing its lack of owner. Her eyes probed the chaos of the atrium, searching her dear sister. Her head quickly snapped to attention when she found her target, laying with her back pressed against a wall, a small filly huddled in her arms. This wouldn't have surprised her much, having left the pair in the same state, but the look on Kit Tinkers face told her something had happened, something bad.
Following her sisters gaze, she found a unicorn stallion sprawled on the ground, fresh blood covering his body and the floor around him. His hoof was outstretched, reaching for a sharpened piece of bloodied metal lying a few feet ahead of him. The stallions eyes were stuck open, the pupils dilated and glazed, his face held a blood filled, manic smile. His body was filled with holes, one in his abdomen, another through his shoulder blade and a third clean through his head.
Glancing back at her sister, she spotted the discarded 10mm pistol, with empty shell casings surrounding it. She quickly put the pieces together and bounded toward her sister, intent on helping her sister in any way she could, even if she didn't know how.
The small yellow filly stirred as she heard Spree approach, opening her bloodshot eyes in the direction of the worried unicorn, recognizing the messy pink hair and violet coat instantly. She whimpered, pushing herself further into the soft lilac coat of her protector, trying to keep as much distance between herself and the mad killer. The filly went completely unnoticed by Spree however, too focused on the blood stain creeping down the collar of her sisters overalls and the steady flow of tears dripping from her unfocused eyes.
Sliding unsteadily next to Kit Tinker, her side painfully impacting the wall, she began to inspect the shallow wound. Relieved that it wasn't anything serious or life threatening, she reached into her saddlebags with her magic and pulled out a roll of bandaged, along with a bottle of disinfectant and a ball of cotton wool. Taking the top off of the disinfectant, she placed the ball of cotton over the bottles mouth and quickly tipped it upside down and back upright. She then began to clean the wound, wiping away the copious amounts of blood. The burning sensation of the disinfectant caused Kit to wince ever so slightly, her blank, tearful gaze still fixed, never leaving the dead stallion. After inexpertly applying the bandage around her sisters wound, Spree reached out with her magic for one of the healing potions sat in her saddlebags, but decided against it, figuring she'd save them for a more serious injury. She stood back up and stepped in front of her sisters vision, breaking her trance like state.
"Kit?...Are...Are you okay?" Spree mentally facehooved, realizing how stupid her question was and how obvious the answer.
"I...I killed him Rose. I sh-shot him. He...he tried to kill me, so...so I-I killed him first..." Kit's voice sounded weak, hollow, devoid of any scrap of emotion. She glanced briefly at the concerned eyes of her sister with her soulless eyes, pleading for a way to escape her horrid reality. She caught sight of the 10mm pistol, the one which she had used to add to the already large amounts of death and devastation. She whimpered and looked away, looking back down at the filly shaking with fear in her forelegs.
"You did what you had to Kitty. Just think about what he would've done to you or that filly if you hadn't shot him!" Spree stated in an attempt to reassure her distraught sister, finally remembering the yellow earth pony she had stopped to comfort. Her words seemed to have little effect on the almost comatose mare, in fact they seemed to only make matters worse. Kit whimpered and began to hug the filly tightly, the stream of salty tears becoming a waterfall as image after image played out in her head.
"Shit, that was a dumb thing to say..." Spree mumbled to herself, this time physically facehoofing, dragging her forehoof down her face. "Look Kit, it was either him or you. Celestia knows why he attacked you in the first place but the only thing that matters is that you are alive."
Kit jerked her tear filled gaze towards her sister "What makes my life more important than his? What makes me better than him?"
"Because Kit...I need you, I'd be lost without you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself, I would've ran with these idiots and got myself killed if I didn't have you," She gestured to the mass of dead unicorns behind her with her foreleg, "Celestia even that filly needs you right now! What would've happened to her if you'd died?" Her words seemed to reach Kit, penetrating her demeanor of self loathing and disgust, forcing her eyes to the ground, closed in deep thought, her tears continuing to fall.
"Kit I-I know you're hating yourself right now, taking the life of another pony is never easy but...you get used to it, you learn to not think about it and ignore it. The first time I killed somepony I was a mess, crying buckets and everything, but eventually... I just stopped caring. I convinced myself what I do is necessary, to protect everypony, you especially." Spree admitted, pushing the advance, in an effort to break through the crack she had created and bring her sister back from the brink. It seemed to do the trick as, ever so slightly, Kit gently nodded in reply.
"Okay then, I'll give you a couple minutes to sort yourself, then we're getting the fu- uhh... fudge out of here." Spree stuttered, suddenly remembering the seven year old that was also present with them, who was currently peaking her frightened eyes out from behind Kit's foreleg. Spree attempted to smile at her, but ended up making a menacing grimace, causing the earth pony to pull herself tighter against her sister's body. Frowning at the filly's response, Spree stood herself back up and left the two ponies alone, walking over to the mass of bodies with the intention of scavenging them.
"Sh-she isn't as bad o-once you get to know her sweetie..." Kit whispered into the little filly's hear, feeling her retreat from her sisters presence, utterly frightened.
"She's scary..." The filly finally spoke, her voice was mumbled and stuttered, from her recent bouts of crying, barely above a whisper as she continued to tremble. She watched with wide, teary eyes as Spree dug through the mass of corpses, seemingly unfazed by the vile mess of blood and decay.
"I-I know she acts sc-scary but she's a big sof-softy at heart, especially when it comes to the ponies she lo-loves." Kit began to gently stroke the filly's orange mane with her right hoof, the other laid across the filly's back, pulling her closer and turning her head away from the atrocious scene. No sooner since uttering those words a loud explosion rocked the room, blowing a small cluster of bodies into chunks and ribbons of flesh. A string of angry and profound curses followed the explosion the source of which was the current topic of conversation, who was busy smashing the life out of an already beaten stable security helmet with her magic.
"Y-You're going to have to t-trust me on that sweetie."
The results Spree's angry rant left a mess of glass and Kevlar spread out over the bloodied floor, along with a cut hoof for her efforts. After breathing deeply for a few seconds, in an attempt to calm herself down, she decided she was done searching the bodies for anything useful, unwilling to have another near death encounter with a random grenade. From the brief few minutes she had spent scavenging, she had recovered at least eighty 10mm rounds for her pistol, three fragmentation grenades and an unused healing potion. She also uncovered another combat shotgun, this one in a slight state of disrepair, as well as eighteen 12 gauge rounds, twelve of which she loaded into its drum magazine.
She then brought up her left foreleg to glance at her Pip-buck's clock, its soft orange glow alighting her hardened features, the current time showed that she had been at it for a good ten minutes. Figuring that ten minutes was enough time for her sister to collect herself, she trotted back over to the two, bringing the strap of the shotgun over her neck, letting it hang loose at her side.
"You and that filly ready to go Kitty? The quicker we get out of here, the better we'll all feel."
"Ye-Yeah we're ready, c'mon...urm...w-what was your name again?" kit drew a blank, feeling foolish at the fact that in all the time she had spent sat with the filly, she had never asked her name.
"My...My name's A-Apple Core." The young filly, Apple Core, sputtered out, her confidence withering in the presence of Bulletspree.
"T-That's a cute name, my names K-Kit Tinker and my sister's Rosemary, but she likes to call herself Bulletspree." Kit smiled at Apple Core, introducing herself and her sister out of courtesy more than anything else, since the filly already knew her name.
Spree's ears perked at the mention of the filly's name, the exact same name having been used as the late High Arc's terminal password. "D-Did you just say Apple Core? You're not by chance the daughter of High Arc? Y'know, your Overmare." She asked with curiosity, already having a safe bet about what the answer would be.
"Um...Y-Yes." She replied shakily, seeing the sudden rage building behind the violet pony's eyes, suddenly feeling even more unsafe being in the mad unicorns vicinity. Spree suddenly gave a snicker, taking a long look at the cowering earth pony, before she turned away and fell into laughter.
"This...This is just precious! hahaha...I guess she didn't want to give snk mercy to hehehe to her own daughter!" Spree's laughter slowly declined into mild chuckles, the confusion felt by the two other present ponies unchanging.
"W-What's so funny?" Kit dared to ask, confusion and mild disturbance shining clear on her face.
"What's funny is that her mother," Spree spat the word like venom, "had every single little earth pony colt and filly drugged to death, that is every single colt and filly but hers."
"Mommy would never do that on purpose! She was just making sure that everypony was safe from the unicorn cooties!" Apple Core shouted in retaliation, leaping from Kit's lap to defend her mother's tarnished honour, blindly and without question, just as any child would.
"Heh, then I guess she didn't want you protected against the 'cooties', some mother she turned out to be." Spree replied sarcastically, toying with the filly's weak mind, in a sick effort to get even with the already deceased mare, the mare who ruined her and her sisters life.
"She did! I just...I ran away, they were using these big, scary looking needles..." Apple Core physically shook at the image, the idea of one of those pointy objects going into her arm made her feel weak to the bone.
"Congratulations kid! You saved yourself from your mothers kiddy killing spree! How does it feel being the last of your friends to be alive!?" Spree screamed almost joyfully, watching the filly squirm as she slowly advanced on her, enjoying every minute of her torture.
"Rose! Stop it, can't you see you're hurting her!?" Kit jumped in front of her sister, maintaining at least a forelegs distance, just in case. Apple Core took the opportunity to slide between her legs, seeking sanctuary from her tormenter.
"HER MOTHER KILLED EVERYPONY IN THIS STABLE!" Spree roared, stamping her bloodied hoof on the ground and stepping forward in an effort to assert her dominance.
"And m-making a filly cry will make up for that? She's in-innocent in this, s-so don't blame her for anything!" Kit glared at her sister, placing a hoof over the filly's chest, barring her sister from reaching her. "You're no better! How many ponies have you killed, five? ten? You could've easily stopped and t-talked, worked things out, b-but instead you just shot each other."
"I...I did what I had to...to protect you, why can't you understand that? I...I did what I had to..." Spree's anger tempered off, becoming sorrow and desperation as she fought an inner battle with herself, trying to justify the actions taken by herself.
Kit took a deep breath and sighed, her horn glowed a faint blue as she lifted the filly, who squeaked in protest, from between her legs and hoisted onto her back. "Let's just...Let's just get out of here...I-I can't stand it here anymore."
She began walking to the common rooms exit, back towards the darkened corridors and the stables main atrium, leaving her sister to flounder helplessly. Spree watched her sister trot away, unsure if she should follow, unsure whether she deserved to follow, or deserved to stay locked away in a tomb with everypony else, everypony she had a hoof in killing.
"Rosemary..." Her sisters voice brought her back to reality, sounding tired and frail. "Please... I need you." Rose looked at her sister, stood waiting in the open doorway, her body bathed in the red light of the hallway beyond, her eyes pleading. Rose looked around at the mess, the ponies killed because they were too stubborn and too unrelenting to stop and think. Then back at the two ponies who were completely innocent, free of blame and guilt, in need of protection against the withering storm of reality. She decided.
"Okay Kitty...Let's go."
An awkward silence filled the air as the trio made their way through the dead stable, only the echoing sounds of their hooves hitting the cold steel could be heard as they trotted along. The two sisters walked side by side, each sparing only a brief glance at the other before their eyes fell back to the path ahead. Apple Core sat atop Kit's back, her eyes were knitted closed, twitching occasionally as horrific nightmares plagued her sleeping mind. This continued throughout their short trip, even as they neared the great door of Stable 87.
Finally, the three reached their destination and ceased in their movements. Minutes trickled by as the two conscious ponies stood staring warily at their salvation or possible damnation. Slowly, slowly Rose inched her way towards the battered, faded yellow control panel and reached her hoof towards the keypad, and with an incredible slowness she began entering the code.
8...6...4...3...8...4...3...7
The terminal pinged and flashed green, confirming the code and unlocking the control lever for the door release. Rose shakily hovered her hoof above the lever, shaking with anticipation and fear. Her violet, bloodstained hoof was joined by another equally as shaky hoof and they pulled the lever together as one, gradually sliding it as far as it would go.
Young Apple Core jolted awake with a squeal and fell off Kit's back with a thud, as Klaxons blared and warning lights flashed, filling the room with a cacophony of noise. A large metal arm extended out from the ceiling, lining itself up with the center of the metal behemoth and clanked into place. A steam hissed out from around its clamp as it secured itself tightly in place, then it began to pull. A loud, deafening, ear ringing screech penetrated the air as metal grated against metal, pulling the century old door from its fixture. Rust flaked off and rained down from the its edges as it was gradually moved aside until finally it halted, groaning as it grew accustomed to its new home.
The three ponies stared at the dark expanse beyond the door, the jagged edges of rock only just visible to them, only appearing with every rotation of the stables warning light above their heads, everything else beyond that was shrouded in a hungry shadow. The klaxons had ceased their wheezing sounds of alarm as the stable door was fully opened, leaving only the faint sounds of trickling water dripping deep ahead in the perpetual darkness.
The two elder mares stood stock still, their hooves rooted to their spots, unable to move out of both fear and uncertainty of what lay ahead of them. The inky blackness reached clawed into their soul and tore at their already weakened spirits, leaving a growing pool of dread to fill the void. The youngest fared the worst of the three, she sat whimpering behind Kit, frightened by the sudden screeching and of the panicked thought of the possible boogey man that lay ahead, hiding away in the shadows, waiting to strike.
"S-So....urm...L-Let's go!" Rose uttered weakly, beginning to edge her way forward, her hooves leaving faint tracks in the fine layer of rust that now blanketed the area as if it were snow. Her tepid movements slowed as she grew closer to the stable's exit and the dark, damp rock beyond. She switched on her pip-buck light and held it up, the green glow only managing to illuminate a meager few feet, enough to see that it was indeed a cave. Slightly satisfied that they still had a chance of escape, she motioned for the other two to join her with a nod of her head, a faint smile gracing her lips.
"C'mon, l-let's see where this cave leads."
After calming down Apple Core's erratic shaking, returning her to her place on Kit's back, the three mares began to explore the long system of tunnels. Kit followed her sisters example and activated her own Pip-Buck light, only adding a small amount of light to the pale green radius around them. They could barely see a few feet ahead, leaving them to confusedly navigate the complicated paths and branching routes. Their pip-bucks out dated mapping function gradually mapped their surroundings, helping to better navigate and backtrack when they hit a dead end.
At one point in their exploration they discovered the source of the mysterious trickling noise, a narrow stream that had managed to cut it's way through a small, weakened segment of rock on both sides of a small chamber. Rose dipped her hoof into the stream, the cool liquid barely rising above the edge of her hoof, feeling the gentle flow of the water. Along the bank of the steam a curious mushroom of sorts sprang out from the softened earth, from which a strange red glow seemed to originate from. Rose was tempted to pick a few but ultimately decided against it, unsure as to whether or not the funky fungus was safe to eat.
Deciding not to the waste the opportunity presented before them, the two sisters began to fill the few empty bottles they had at their disposal, whilst young Apple Core lazily swished her hoof in the soft flow, creating small splashes. Once they had finished their tasks, they began the arduous and extremely unpleasant task of removing the thick layer of dried blood from their pink coats. However, no matter how much Kit scrubbed and scratched, she could not seem to remove the feeling of blood from her hooves, rubbing her skin raw with her efforts. Her sister quickly realized what she was doing and stopped her before she managed to rub the flesh from her bone, holding Kit tightly as she began to cry.
The three continued on, saddlebags sloshing with a surplus of water and relatively cleaned of blood, through winding dark passageways, halting only to let their Pip-Buck maps update. At last, they came to the last stretch of their journey, their maps displaying a straight passage to an placed marked curiously as 'The Equestrian Wasteland'. Light streamed into the darkness from an area ahead, illuminating the grey, green, moss covered rock around them. Turning off their Pip-buck lights, they approached the light at the end of the tunnel, trotting towards their salvation and their damnation.
Slowly, slowly they found themselves nearing a an old, time beaten wooden door. A strange, almost heavenly light leaked through cracks and holes in its rotted surface, shining on their awe stricken faces, a sense of wonder overtaking them. Apple Core peaked her head above Kit's dishevelled mane, curious as to why the two older mares seemed so entranced by such a boring looking door.
With a careful slowness, Kit reached her hoof toward the heavily rusted door handed, grasping the rust red ring and pulled. Dust and mold drifted down as the door swung open, almost breaking off its hinged from the sudden movement. The light outside was a whole lot harsher than what it was within the cave, even if it was only a small fraction of the suns full might. Wincing at the sudden influx of light, the three ponies forced their eyes towards the dry earth, shadowing their faces with their hooves.
Eventually their eyes adjusted and they returned their gazes forward, jaws dropping as they took in the scenery. A clearing lay spread out before them, filled with the dried husks of what used to be grass. Trees stood tall, their branches bare of all things green and alive, their bark a dull, decayed grey. Crackles sounded in the distance, Rose quickly recognized it as the ghostly echo of gunfire but kept her lips sealed, afraid to further ruin the already bleak moment. Kit turned her gaze skyward, in an attempt to glimpse at the magnificent sun in which she had read so many stories about, only to see a thick, unending layer of clouds blanketing the sky.
"What do you think happened to the sky sis?" Kit asked absentmindedly, "Where's bright sun? The singing birds? The beautiful blue? Why is it all...grey."
"I dunno Kitty, I know there was a war and stuff but...I don't think a war would caused all the clouds to do...that! Maybe those Zebra's had a hoof in it? Who knows." Rose shrugged her shoulders and pulled up her Pip-Buck, scanning over the steadily updating map in an effort to gain her bearings. Oddly, the rotten wooden gate in which they had emerged from was labelled 'Red Ruby Mine', which was strange considering the fact that they had not seen a single ruby in their short spelunking expedition.
As the two ponies talked, little Apple Core gently slid herself from Kit Tinker's back and hopped onto the dusty earth below with a small grunt. Taking a brief glance up towards the depressing sky, she turned her attention to the field of yellowed grass only a few feet ahead and jumped towards it, a small giggle escaping her throat.
"Apple, no!" Kit shouted, springing her forelegs out in front of her in an effort to catch the airborne filly before she landed on the potentially dangerous plant life. Her reflexes proved to be too slow and the filly landed with a soft thump, the wilted grass crunching under her hooves. Off balanced and lost in shock Kit quickly followed suit, flopping over with a heavy thud and getting a mouthful dry grass and mud. Quickly she started to spit and hack, trying to get rid of the foul substances in her mouth, as well as the awful tastes that accompanied it, much to the amusement of the two other ponies present. Apple Core's childish giggles had transformed into uncontrollable laughter as she rolled onto her back, her legs kicking at invisible objects.
"Kitty, stop playing in the mud, we need to see if there's anywhere we can stay for the night, it's getting pretty late." Rose pointed out, checking the clock on her Pip-Buck, chuckling slightly at her sisters overreaction. Kit huffed in response, spitting a particularly determined piece of grass from her mouth as she stood herself back on all fours, making her way over to the still giggling Apple lying flat on the ground.
