Fallout Equestria: Due North

The world was nothing but murky darkness, pierced occasionally by the orange glow of houses. The lights did little to relieve the blackness brought about by Luna's night. They flashed by, disappearing into the abyss as quickly as they'd appeared.

I turned back into the troop bay; the emergency lighting cast a cool blue glow over everything. It illuminated the weary faces of my companions, a couple of whom would rather be in bed. The rest fumbled with equipment, attaching flashlights to their weapons.

There was a grim silence in the air; we were entering into Tartarus. The only sound was the low rumble of the cloud generators and the slow, deep breaths of the vehicle's occupants. A shudder ran through the airframe as we descended, and I looked around at the others.

"There's one more thing," Evergreen spoke up. "Our contact won't do jack shit for us unless we give them the proper sign. Right now if you suspect somepony's a 'Mite you challenge them; 'Do you have a Geiger Counter?' and if they are then they'll respond with 'Mine is in the Shop'."

We all nodded in understanding; nopony really wanted to speak. The sergeant rolled her eyes and went back to checking her weapon.

The rest of the squad had outfitted with silenced submachine guns, and were in the process of loading clips of .45 rounds. Evergreen had instead chosen a 'spec-ops' shortened version of the military standard-issue R-91 assault rifle, sprayed matte black.

She rammed a full clip of 5.56 rounds into place, seating it with a click. The weapon was quickly strapped onto her battle saddle. She was ready, and so was everypony else. We were on final approach.

As I tried to get a better look at our destination the horizon lit up. Great balls of fire rose towards the blanket of clouds, billowing skywards. Were those detonations within the Divide?

"Rainbow Falls again," Firing Pin shrugged, "They're using that damned 914mm gun to shell the Marked. Happens every few days, not sure if they hit anything."

The thought of a stray artillery shell wiping us all out was not a comforting thought, distant though the blasts were. We were going into there after all.

Suddenly the earth beneath was illuminated stark white. The little ridges and stones beneath us cast tiny shadows as our ranging lights flared. We were low, dangerously so, the ground rising up to meet us.

I gripped tightly to my overhead hoofhold as the sky-tank decelerated. Songbird followed suit, and Sunny held tightly to my side. I doubted she'd ever adjust to flying, but given we were proceeding on the ground from here on out it probably didn't matter.

Behind us our contrails snaked away into the blackness, here and there illuminated momentarily by lightning. Beyond that an area of the cloud barrier glowed a faint bluish-white, betraying the moon's location. The mountain of Firefly was out of sight, masked by the dark.

"Brace for landing," the pilot droned. The aircraft jerked violently. We'd come to a halt, low to the ground, amongst a few mountain trees. The troop ramp lowered, and cool outside air wafted in.

Evergreen stood up, switching on the tiny lamp attached to her earpiece. Snap Roll followed suite, and I did the same. Firing Pin and Tailwind's helmet lights came on, slicing through the murky darkness with narrow white beams.

Tailwind was the first out, his armoured hooves marring the muddy ground. Snap Roll leapt from the ramp, landing with a satisfying squelch. Songbird was next, using both hands to ease herself down. I stepped easily down, and Sunny leapt from the ramp onto my back.

My breath turned to mist in the cool air, illuminated by my light. Sunny shivered slightly; one of the school ponies had offered her a coat, which she'd gladly accepted, but the cold was still getting to her.

"This is Railroad 2-1 to Firefly Actual," Evergreen whispered into her microphone. "We've landed south of Ponyat; no resistance so far. Any information you can give?"

"Our contact's got two patrols this side, plus a penal on the other," the response crackled through my earpiece, magically synced with my pipbuck, "Plus air support. From now on maintain full radio silence; we don't know if the NR is capable of decrypting this frequency. Actual out."

"Air support?" I whispered. How did they have aircraft?

"There was a mountain tour company in Rainbow Falls pre-war," Evergreen said quietly, "Operated dirigibles and sky-wagons. With the help of griffon mercs they've got some of 'em airborne again, as sniper platforms and artillery spotters."

"Shit!" Firing Pin hissed.

"Keep it down," the NCO chided. "Let's move."

The sky-tank's lights switched off in tandem with the cloud generators. I suddenly felt very alone; we were here, enemy territory, with no support and at most a couple of allies ahead.

She set off at a slow trot, keeping low, and the rest of the squad followed. We quickly picked our way down the muddy bank and onto a narrow mountain road, where signs pointed onwards to Ponyat. The charred husks of wagons littered our path, rusting away.

A light drizzle pattered on the battered asphalt. It trickled down the street, providing a white noise backdrop to our expedition. We pressed on through it.

The first building we encountered was mostly intact; a small roadside restaurant converted into an NR checkpoint. Their emblem was dilapidated though, half washed away. There were no lights beyond the shattered windows, but we took cover behind a large cargo wagon nonetheless.

A chain-link fence, reinforced with concrete crash barriers, blocked the entire road. There was a gate in it within the restaurant's surrounding wagon park. Presumably once caravans would have passed through there, and ponies on hoof would've been directed through the restaurant.

"EFS looks clear," Evergreen murmured. I checked; she was right. "Firing Pin," she commanded, "Move up."

"Yes, sergeant," he whispered. He crept up the side of the wagon, until he reached the edge of the wagon park. He crouched behind a boulder and shone his helmet lamp through the windows; nothing.

Gesturing his combat-armoured hoof, he crept closer. I moved up to where he'd previously been, Sunny clinging to my back all the while. The others took up positions nearby, weapons trained. Firing Pin looked around, but nothing was visible.

I cantered quickly over to the restaurant, followed closely by Songbird. The other three came after in single file.

The inside was deserted, and had long been stripped of anything valuable. I swung my head around, casting a circle of white light across the large room. Nothing… except a sign painted onto the counter. It was a simple emblem, one of several lines around a square.

One of the Twittermites' signs. Box meant cache, right? I crept around the counter, and sure enough, on a shelf within the counter, was a large, worn suitcase. I opened it slowly, just as Snap Roll trotted over.

"What's in there?" she asked, slightly too loud for comfort.

"No idea," I whispered, "But we're about to find out."

I peered inside, my light glancing off of a tape lying atop a pile of rotting clothing. I picked it up and stood back up, before passing it over to Evergreen.

"Huh?" she slipped it into her pipbuck, and it began to play over our local radio.

"This is Tourist," it was the hushed voice of a mare, speaking quickly, "To R two one. The window is open to make contact. Follow Glimmer's valley."

That was it? Nothing else except a cryptic message. I looked to the sergeant for answers.

"'Tourist'; that's our contact," she whispered. "No idea where 'Glimmer's valley' is. We'll have to move on."

Tailwind nodded his armoured head in agreement. He was first out of the restaurant's other door, followed by Firing Pin. Each covered one side of the road, and the rest of the unit split between the two. Me and Songbird took the left, Evergreen and Snap Roll the right.

The shadows of ruined buildings loomed ahead, tilting at jaunty angles. Amid the ruins beams of torchlight swept, searching for hostiles. The sergeant called a halt.

"Lights down," she ordered, and one by one our flashlights winked out. I followed suite, plunging the area around us into pitch blackness.

The other lights momentarily swung our way, and I held my breath as the autowagon in front of me lit up. They didn't see us though, and continued their patrol. I checked my Eyes Forward Sparkle; six hostiles, moving slowly west.

I suddenly realised that my back was empty. Where could Sunbeam have gone; had she been left behind? I looked around rapidly in a panic. Evergreen noticed my worry and darted over to my side of the road. She gave me a questioning glare, and I was about to respond when my sister darted around the side of the wagon in front of me.

Her cream fur and 'borrowed' coat were speckled with mud. She was out of breath, white mist pouring from her mouth as she panted.

"Six, uh, all in riot gear," she ignored me, turning instead to the sergeant, "All have flashlights. Two heavy weapons; an IF-89 and uh, a 'Viper' or something."

I blinked in surprise; had she just scouted out the patrol? With a sigh of resignation I lifted her up onto my back.

"An IF-89 Sidewinder and an IF-90 Pit Viper?" Evergreen mumbled into her microphone, before noticing my confused expression "Not good. The Viper's the 'Winder's bigger, uglier brother; not something you want pointed at you."

"Oh," Sunny piped up again, "And there's a sign on that building."

She was pointing to a crumbling two-storey on the near edge of town. The roof was entirely gone, and one corner of the building had broken away and was tilting scarily. Evergreen nodded in understanding.

She turned to the others and pointed with a hoof to the building. Firing Pin nodded back and crept forwards, belly low to the ground. He reached the doorway, and was about to enter when the patrol returned.

I held my breath as the beans of light sliced through the rain, glinting off each droplet in turn. Firing Pin pressed up against the doorway, hoping for the best. For a second it seemed as if he'd be seen. Then they were gone, heading off to continue their search.

"Move," the sergeant hissed, "Now."

I moved up to the doorway. Beside it a sign had been painted, this one with an upwards arrow in the centre of the lines. Above the door a rain-soaked sign read; Starlight Glimmer's home for wayward foals. Of course; Glimmer's valley.

I darted inside. The upper floor was in tatters, and the ground floor had partially collapsed. What had once been a nice communal area with a large rug and bookshelves had given way to a muddy sinkhole.

A tunnel ran from the sinkhole out under the building, where it opened out into a wide gulley, maybe seven feet deep; the valley. Firing Pin was already halfway down, and the rest of the squad had reached the building. I eased myself down backwards, Sunny holding on tight, getting mud all over my armour.

Songbird skittered down next to me, and I had to grab her jacket to stop her from running out into the gulley. Several bridges crossed this, and the whole thing was littered with broken pipes and sections of collapsed building. Was this a scar left by the shelling, or something else?

We separated again, half to each side of the valley. I took right with the girls and Firing Pin. There was an overhang on both sides that gave us some cover. We moved along slowly, trudging across the muddy floor.

"Hello Bravo One Zero. This is Zero," crackled my earpiece; Evergreen was intercepting their radio and broadcasting it across our local network. "Movement spotted over by the foals' home. Move now. Over."

Shit; they'd seen us somehow. I looked up, the rain stinging my face, and caught sight of a dark mass overhead. It was a blimp of some kind, with fore and aft searchlights. The air support.

"Bravo One Zero, roger," came the reply, "Out."

Just ahead a rusting red sewer pipe jutted out of both sides of the ravine, the middle section missing or destroyed. We'd have to hide inside it. I shot a sidelong glance at Evergreen, then made a break for it.

My hooves pounded the mud and stones. Brown water flew. Galloping hooves overhead stirred me on. Then I was inside the pipe, my heart thumping against my ribs.

Sunny scrambled down into the stagnant water, just as Songbird and Firing Pin joined us. Across I could see Evergreen and Tailwind huddled inside the pipe. Hang on, where was Snap Roll?

Then I saw her. She was still galloping for it, almost to the pipe. Her wings were flared and beating, he chest heaving. She was going to make it.

"Contact!"

A wide beam of light lanced into the ravine. Bullets flew, punching into her belly and flank. Blood stained the muddy water. She went limp mid-leap. Tailwind leant out and caught her as she fell.

He yanked her into the pipe. The sergeant pulled out a first-aid kit and handed her a healing potion. She drank it down, before passing out. Evergreen fought to staunch the flow, deaf to the yelling of the soldiers above.

"I hit one!" somepony bawled. "Where'd she go?"

"Fucking great!" another declared. "Hostiles this side of the fucking wall!"

"Hello Zero. This is Bravo One Zero," the radio crackled. "Confirmed enemy contact; advise. Over."

Suddenly a high-beam searchlight illuminated the trench, full glare. The pipes just barely provided enough shadow to hide us. The damned airship was directly overhead.

"Zero. Fan out and search. Out."

By now they'd managed to bind Snap Roll's wounds, and Evergreen had loaded her onto Tailwind's back. He was taking her back? Or were they going to bring her along?

Tailwind got into position, ready to make a gallop for the foals' home. With the searchlight however, there was no way he'd make it. We needed a distraction, and a fucking huge one.

I peered down the pipe, away from the ravine. It opened out into another trench or shell-hole. That gave me an idea. I reached into my saddlebag, looking for a little something I'd requisitioned from Cross Halving.

My hoof encountered a cold metal sphere, and I yanked it out. A grenade presented itself, glinting in the searchlights' glow. I could hear the hooves above us now; it was now or never.

I gripped the pin in my teeth just as Firing Pin turned to me, eyes wide beneath his compound visor.

"What're you-" he never got the chance to finish. I pulled the pin free and threw the explosive, sending it clattering down the pipe. It landed in the mud beyond.

"Hey!" one of the troopers above called. "There's somethi-"

The grenade detonated. A vast pillar of mud cascaded skywards. There was yelling, and the patrol galloped towards the blast. The searchlight swept away, looking for hostiles that weren't there. Tailwind set off back at full gallop, reaching the building in seconds.

We were now down two ponies, including our only power armour unit. This was bad, very bad. I looked around; we'd have to move any second now.

"This is Railroad 2-1 to Firefly Actual," Evergreen's panicked voice came over the radio, "We've suffered one casualty; badly injured. I've had to send Tailwind to evac. Have a medical team ready when the sky-tank comes in. Any support would be greatly appreciated."

"Negative 2-1," Actual sounded genuinely worried, "We can't risk drawing additional attention. If any of them know it's us, then you'll have to take them out. Actual out."

"Stars fucking dammit!" Evergreen swore. "Okay, it's okay. We just need to move, now."

"Y'okay?" I asked as Sunbeam scrambled up onto my back. She and Songbird both just nodded, too scared to speak. I tensed up, flaring my wings, ready to gallop.

There was an area ahead where a collapsed wall formed a roof over the trench. That would be our best bet for escape, surely. I waited only a second, then galloped.

The muddy ravine became a blur. My hooves splashed in the mud and rainwater. For a second a flashlight swung down into the trench, but I was already long gone. Then I was in the shadow of the crumbling roof and out of the rain.

"Hello Zer… is Bravo One One…" the silence on the radio broke for a second, the noise switching between static and a panicked voice, "-Backup. I say again send bac… -una fuck us with the moon! It's a fucking he-"

The transmission cut out abruptly. I looked up to see the blimp, tossing in the storm winds, begin heading towards the northeast of the village. It was an old tourist vehicle, with floor-to-ceiling windows, all of which were now shattered or covered with corrugated iron. The logo of the operator had been painted over with the stripes of the Republic; red, yellow, and blue from the top down.

It rose and fell, battered by a fierce crosswind. Suddenly it found its target and swung sideways, aiming the bow-mounted spotlight into the ruins. I tried, but I couldn't manouvre enough to make out exactly what they were tracking.

"Holy shit…" a whisper came from the radio. "Hello Bravo One One. This is Zero; radio check. Over."

There was a moment of silence.

"Zero," the voice from the airship began again, "Bravo One One; nothing heard. Out."

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned to see Evergreen. She looked significantly worse for wear, with large bags forming under her eyes and her brown braid soaked through. She was silent, looking to me for… what exactly?

"What now?" she demanded, barely a whisper. I froze; she was deferring to me? Why me? I had no idea what to do.

"We keep following the ravine," I said quickly, "Until we find our contact."

She nodded in confirmation, as did Firing Pin. I peered out beyond our improvised shelter just as the radio burst to life.

"Hello Bravo One Zero. This is Zero. We have an unknown hostile moving your way; Starlight tier threat level. One One is wiped out; be on full alert. Over."

"Bravo One Zero," the response came. "Roger that. Out."

The patrol ponies sounded genuinely spooked. A whole squad had just been wiped out; the blimp must've seen the remains from above. Neither us nor the Republic troops were alone anymore, and their dirigible didn't seem to be doing much good.

By now it was bucketing down, the omnipresent pitter-patter of the driving rain disguising the movements of our enemies. The thick, muddy water in the ravine had formed a river, swollen by the torrent. It was flowing away from the home, down the centre of the gulley.

That meant it was downhill ahead, and the Twittermites' access to the Divide was underground. So this was the right direction. Good to know.

I crept forwards; the next cover, half of a house leaning at forty-five degrees over the right side of the trench, was a few yards away. It was going to be another case of galloping for it, and hoping for the best. I readied myself, while Sunbeam adjusted her position on my back.

Three… two… one… go! My wings beat the air, pushing my slight frame faster. My destination drew near, closing with every second.

Suddenly the rain stopped, blocked by the tilting walls. I leant against the trench side directly beneath, panting from exertion. My sister slipped from my back, landing with a slight splash in the mud.

Songbird was the next to make the crossing, arriving as out of breath as I was. Evergreen came after, choosing to fly just above the floor rather than risk another run. I found myself wishing I could do the same, and rapidly escape any threat.

A tremor ran through the ground. Something exploded above to the right, showering the surrounding area in soggy earth. A new red blip had formed on my EFS, advancing rapidly. Suddenly the night was illuminated with muzzle flares and the rain drowned out by gunfire.

Wild cursing and screaming filled the radio. Firing Pin froze, halfway to our hiding place. He took one look back, and yelled.

"RUN!"

The next thing I saw was the upper half of an NR soldier arcing overhead, entrails flying out behind it. It hit the trench in front of us, staining the mud a crimson hue. The girls screamed in unison.

I practically grabbed Sunbeam with a foreleg and tossed her onto my back. She buried her face in the back of my mane, unable to watch. My body kicked up a gear, and I bolted down the trench like I'd never run before. The thing bellowed, unleashing a pure, animalistic roar.

I made the mistake of looking back. Whatever it was it at least twice my size, easily picking up another soldier and ripping his head off. Then it saw us.

Some kind of twisted curiosity overtook me as I ran. I grabbed my holorifle, still dangling from its sling, and activated the scope's night vision. Peering past Sunny, I could just make out the beast's features.

It was running, fast, towards us. Massive front legs pounded the earth, ending in claws over a foot long. Droplets of water flew, shaken free from a shaggy brown coat. Huge canine teeth gnashed, eager to tear into our flesh. Wide eyes burned with unspeakable rage.

I dropped my weapon, letting it dangle. Putting all four hooves on the ground gave me a burst of speed. I caught up to the others, forging a path through the mud.

The roof we'd been under moments ago exploded in a shower of bricks and dust. It was in the trench; we were all dead. It sent up a great wave of muddy water, showering everything in a fresh coat of earth.

I could feel my over exerted body failing. Each step sent fire up my injured leg, and my lungs were fit to burst. My whole frame was shaking, and I was sure that adrenaline was the only thing still keeping me going. I couldn't keep this up much more.

Firing Pin seemed to realise our sorry state. He spread his grey wings, catching the wind. He rose fast, orange tail trailing out behind. He flew into the winds, pulling a wide loop overhead. He decelerated at the top, only to dive nearly straight down.

The monster didn't see him coming. He bit the trigger on his battle saddle, spraying the creature with .45 rounds. The muzzle flares cast a harsh yellow glow across his features. A hundred little blossoms of blood grew from its back. It wasn't enough to stop it.

As he came down the creature slowed. It leapt onto the trench wall, then pushed off upwards. For a second it looked as if he's make it past. Then a massive claw swept him from the sky and smashed him into the mud. The monster came down on top of him, raining blow after blow with bloody claws.

I tore my eyes away from the evisceration. The trench ended just ahead, with a length of pipe jutting from the wall. If we could make it to there, it wouldn't be able to get inside.

"There!" I yelled. Evergreen nodded, practically scooping Songbird up in her forelegs and flying to the pipe. I barrelled into it, feeling my legs give way as I reached relative safety. Sunbeam slid off my back, hiding behind me from the monster.

Everypony was shaking, even Evergreen. Firing Pin was dead, torn to pieces by the monster. I pulled out my holorifle, sighting out of the pipe down the scope. It reared up, spreading its claws wide, and howled.

It was splattered with the blood of allies and enemies alike. Bullet wounds peppered its fur, and its own blood ran in a hundred streams of crimson down its rain-matted fur. It was only then that I finally worked out what it was.

A fucking hellhound. The most dangerous creature in the wasteland had just attacked us, and if what I'd heard was true was probably planning how to get at us. It stalked across the trench, twin jets of mist blowing from its nostrils.

Suddenly it spun around, prompting me to jump. It sniffed the air, turning to look upwards. The fur on its back stood on end; it could tell something was about to happen.

An explosion took out the trench wall in front of it. The blast shook our hiding spot, causing scraps of rust to fall from the ceiling. The hellhound staggered backwards, a fresh brown coat splattered over the crimson. It roared, searching left and right for whatever had injured it.

A unicorn mare leapt over the beast, still gripping the pin from a grenade in her teeth. A pump-action shotgun levitated at her side. She fired, sending a wave of white-hot particles of lead into the creature.

It howled and spun to meet her, getting another blast to the face for its efforts. It staggered backwards, swinging wildly with massive claws, until it hit the trench wall.

I gripped my weapon, lining up a shot… wait, of course! I placed its spindly hind legs in my reticle and fired. It fell forwards, still wildly lashing out.

The hellhound started dragging itself forwards with surprising speed. It made a beeline for our pipe, desperate for some kind of revenge. I moved away from the entrance, lining up another shot. I didn't need it.

A sniper round tore through its head, splattering the mud with white brain and red blood. It was dead, finally. I peered from the tunnel, looking for our new ally, but she'd vanished. Slowly I stepped out of the pipe.

It was only then that I noticed the sign painted onto the rusting metal. It was one of the Twittermites' with a plus in the centre. A plus denoted an ally; the unicorn mare with the shotgun?

"D'you have a Geiger counter?" somepony said behind me. It was the same as the voice from the restaurant tape. I spun on the spot, just as the mare materialised in front of me, levitating a sniper rifle as well as her shotgun.

"Ours is in the Shop," Sunbeam responded quickly, prompting the mare to crack a smile.

"Alright," she said quickly. "We need to get moving 'fore those fuckers manage to bring the blimp around. It's down there."

She pointed into the pipe, and we wordlessly proceeded inside. It was pitch black beyond, and even though my eyes had long adjusted to the night outside I was forced to activate my earpiece lamp.

The pipe led downwards, coming out into a large underground room with high stone walls. The mare came out behind us, bringing up the rear.

She had a stark white coat, partially hidden under a brown leather jacket. Her mane was mostly blue, with a few pale purple stripes and highlights. She'd shaved the right side mostly off, and the rest had been pushed so that it fell over her left eye. Her eyes were a deep magenta, and seemed to be constantly judging us all. Her cutie mark was a trio of musical notes, two pink and one cobalt.

"How did you disappear like that?" Songbird asked.

"Stealthbuck," she proudly held up her foreleg, displaying a compact little device that appeared to be of the same make as a pipbuck, "Agent's best friend. Now, would you mind telling me how you ended up down two ponies before the hellhound attacked?"

"They saw one of mine," Evergreen admitted, "Shot her up bad. I had to send another to carry her out."

"You were careless," the mare sighed.

"We were unprepared!" Evergreen shot back.

"Exactly," the mare poked the sergeant's chest. "You waltzed into a war zone before you knew where you were."

"Calm down!" Sunbeam cut in. "Arguing is only going to make things worse. Can't you see that."

"The kid's right," the agent admitted. "We need to keep moving, or we'll have an armoured group on top of us. It's this way."

"Hold up," Evergreen demanded; couldn't she just give it a rest? "I get that you rebel types are secretive, but can we at least get a name to call you?"

"Fine," the mare grunted, "Sergeant Major. I'm Sonnet."

I stopped; Sonnet? She'd been a member of the same caravan as Feather, Pistol Grip, and Silas.

"Did you, uh, ever meet a pony called 'Feather'," Sunny asked, "Or Lamplight?"

"You've run into him then?" Sonnet set off at a slow trot. "He still a massive idiot?"

"He thought I was a mare," I replied. "We ran into Pistol and Silas as well."

"Typical Feather," she chuckled. "He spent the whole caravan journey oohing and ahhing at the simplest things. That and drooling over my plot. Didn't tell you that, did he?"

I shook my head, falling into step beside her as she trotted. She led us out of the cellar and along a dingy corridor, forcing us to move into single file. We passed a couple of alcoves, both filled with dust-caked barrels of something. The smell of alcohol hung in the air, giving away their contents.

"This place, uh, used to be a brewery?" my sister suggested.

"Yup," Sonnet shrugged, "Furthest place south you could get authentic Crystal Berry Ale. Was a town secret during Ponyat's trading days, but nowadays we use it to reach base."

She lead onwards, our lights glancing off the damp stones which formed the walls. Our hoofsteps echoed along the narrow passage, tricking me into looking around more than once. Beyond the corridor was a large room, containing several massive wooden barrels.

A faint light crept into the room from under a large wooden door. It wasn't much, but it allowed me to switch off my lamp again. Sonnet trotted up to the door and tapped three times on the creaking wood. A slot, cut into the door at eye level, slid open, revealing a pair of dark green eyes.

"D'you have a Geiger counter?" a laid-back stallion asked from the other side.

"Mine's in the Shop," Sonnet rolled her eyes, "Let us in, Beacon."

Beacon gladly obliged, pulling the door open to reveal an earth buck with a pale brown coat and a gel'd-up black mane, wearing military combat armour. He grinned, leaning against the wall of the corridor we were in.

The hallway was only a few feet, before it opened into the side of a subway tunnel. A wooden staircase ran down to an improvised platform, at which a train was parked. Presumably we'd be walking past it.

Beacon set off down the stairs, followed by Sonnet and then me. He reached the platform, but instead of heading down onto the tracks he entered the train. Surely it didn't still work?

It was a battered yellow thing with red stripes, dangling from a surprisingly clean rail built into the ceiling. What the normal tracks were for was anypony's guess, since the logo on the vehicle marked it out as a standard carriage of the Stalliongrad Metro. Sonnet trotted aboard without a second thought.

With trepidation I boarded the train. It creaked and swung slightly, but held firm. Sunny was up next, followed closely by Songbird. Evergreen boarded last, looking rather frazzled and more than a little angry.

"Alright ponies," Beacon grinned, "It's choo choo time!"

He was standing in the driver's cabin, fumbling with the controls. We were letting him drive the monorail? He yanked a large lever forwards, and the train started with a heart stopping jolt.

We rolled slowly away from the improvised station, leaving the brewery behind. Lightning Dust had been right about the rail tunnels, but she'd never mentioned usable subway trains. How was this even still working, after two hundred years of decay?

The train picked up speed, swaying on the overhead rail. The red tiles of the side walls became a blur, and the tunnel air whipped through the shattered windows. I found myself hanging on to one of the hoofrails for dear life, terrified that any second the car would leap the track and smash into the ground below.

"You'll get used to it," Sonnet said in response to my fear. "It's nearly perfectly safe."

I'd have much preferred it to be completely safe, but this was the wasteland. I doubted anything, even places like Firefly, was truly safe. It wasn't a comforting thought.

A ring of lights, built into the walls of the tunnel, bloomed to life ahead. They were approaching fast; was that our destination? We didn't seem to be decelerating, unless…

I was thrown to the metal floor, landing painfully on top of my holorifle. We'd stopped, somehow, without hitting anything. Considering how fast we'd been going, it was an absolute miracle that we'd stopped at all.

I staggered to my hooves, feeling a little dizzy. A quick glance over at my companions revealed that they mostly felt the same way. A pair of agents were waiting at the door, on another scratch-built platform. They beckoned me towards them, and I quickly stumbled off the train.

The 'station' only existed because the tunnel ahead was solid with rubble. Had we stopped even a moment later we would've rear-ended another car, derailed and buried in dirt. The walls were the same red tiles the whole way, although a service corridor had been cut into one, behind the platform. The lights were old floodlights, screwed into the walls to mark the station's position.

Sonnet trotted around me, taking point. She headed into the narrow corridor, by the entrance of which the Twittermites' logo had been painted.

"Hey!" Evergreen called out, prompting us all to stop. "How am I supposed to get back?"

"We'll send you back tomorrow," Sonnet said firmly, "Your aircraft already knows."

"What?!" the sergeant's wings flared in irritation.

"You're in no state to travel," the unicorn pointed out, "And landing another Boomer cloudship near Ponyat would only arouse suspicion."

"You do need rest," Sunny pointed out.

Evergreen let out a sigh of frustration, still silently fuming. The situation was well and truly out of her control, and she greatly resented that fact. She was silent as we entered the maintenance hallway, scowling all the while.

The maintenance corridor ran on for longer than it should've. Bundles of cabling ran along the walls and roof, frayed and sparking. A few halogen lights cast an icy glow across everything, sending long shadows stretching down and behind us. At the end there was simply a door, marked Restricted Area: No Unauthorised Ponies.

Sonnet pushed it open telekinetically, revealing some kind of maintenance room. A series of targets had been set up opposite a second door to the left, and upended tables formed improvised barricades. A firing range; we were in the base.

We made our way around the edge of the range, through the other door. From there a short, wide staircase led up into a large, square room full of ponies. Floor-to-ceiling windows opposite looked into some kind of silo, with a missile leaning over inside it. The entire facility had a slight tilt, as if dislodged from its foundations.

The place was clearly military in construction, with deactivated turrets on the ceilings and treadplate flooring. Desks and terminals had been hauled into positions all around, alongside workshop equipment.

The rebels who had assembled to meet us varied greatly. A rather serious doctor stood to the far right, next to a mare with a robotic leg, then a zebra. On the other side were a couple of agents, as well as a… diamond dog?

It was a very dark brown, wearing a denim jacket and a flying cap with several different flip-down lenses attached. It was staring intently at Songbird, an enthusiastic grin on its face. Sonnet went over and stood next to the creature, just as the crowd parted.

A mare strode through. She was maybe two inches taller than me, with a nearly-white pink coat. Her mane, which was styled as a few large curls, was a pale purple gradient with a light blue stripe running through it. Her eyes were a piercing turquoise, as bright as crystals. She was a unicorn, her horn protruding through her neatly-combed mane.

She wore a purple saddlebag on her left side, and carried some kind of advanced magical axe strapped to her right, pulsating with purple energy. Over this she wore a simple yet large brown cloak, which concealed her cutie mark completely.

"Done staring?" she asked, shoving me out of my thoughts. Something else filled my mind immediately though; she sounded young, younger than me maybe.

"You must be Cloudburst," she said flatly. "And what exactly is your friend here?" She was pointing at Songbird.

"I thought it was one of Tinker's aliens," Sonnet sniggered, interrupting me.

"Aliens are real!" the diamond dog, Tinker, declared. I quickly made eye contact with Songbird; we were thinking the same. Maybe he'd encountered humans.

"How d'you know?" I asked, ignoring the murderous look the young mare shot me.

"I've seen them probes," he exclaimed, "The long, tube thingies with all them robotic arms. And- and- and they crashed that saucer downtown."

"Describe it," I demanded; he'd mentioned Firelances, we were onto something.

"Don't encourage him," the doctor moaned, to no avail.

"It was a saucer," he continued, "So it was round. But it had these big yellow windows, and like, a tesla coil on the back."

"Blue with yellow markings?" Songbird demanded.

"Well how 'bout that," Tinker was genuinely impressed, "She's right."

"Ugh," the doctor rolled his eyes, "This is ridiculous! It was just an Enclave experiment or something. You let him go on like that and he'll inject us all with battery acid or something! Fleur, can you please put a stop to this?"

"Tinker's right," I said, before anypony else could speak, "Aliens do exist; you're looking at one." -I gestured to Songbird- "They built those probes, they're called Firelances, and they probably built that aircraft too. They don't come from outer space though."

By now the Twittermites were all looking at me like I was completely insane. A small voice in my head was screaming at me for saying that so openly, but the chance was too great to pass up.

"Where'd they come from then?" Tinker asked. I took a deep breath.

"An alternate dimension," I said slowly, "Where there's parallel versions of some stuff here. The only 'natural' way there is through a mirror in the Crystal Empire."

"Starswirl's mirror?" the unicorn mare whispered, disbelief frozen on her face.

"Fleur!" the doctor stamped his hoof. "This has gone too far as it is!"

"No," Fleur shot back, a surprising amount of authority in her young voice, "I've seen it, in the Empire. I read the fucking research notes for Project Sunset; this alternate dimension exists, with an alternate Canterlot and everything. What I didn't realise was that Tinker's crackpot theories were correct.

"The thing's a masterpiece of magic. There's even some kind of transformation or illusion enchantment on it so you don't come out looking like an unheard of magical creature."

So Project Sunset was the mirror then, or at least research into it. She'd called it "Starswirl's"; had Starswirl the Bearded created it?

The doctor made an unintelligible sound of irritation and stormed off, leaving the rest of us behind. Fleur rolled her eyes.

"Don't mind Painkiller," she shrugged, "I would've done the same."

"So you're Fleur then?" I asked.

"The one and only," she cracked a slight smile. "The filly who's seen the empire. Welcome to Twittermite Alpha."

"This silo's your base?" Evergreen demanded.

"Yup," she shrugged, "MWT NorFront Instillation Epsilon. That's what the signs say anyway. Now, Cloudburst, you'll be staying here tonight. Tomorrow there'll be a briefing, and then it'll be off, into the Divide."

"Understood," I nodded, "So, who's my escort?"

"You're not getting one," Fleur burst my bubble. Wait, what? I was going across the Divide alone? That didn't make any sense; even if I did make it unaided I'd be unable to carry much back. This had to be a joke.

"What?!" I asked, wings flaring in surprise.

"Calm down," she said calmly, "We aren't stupid enough to try and send you alone. No; I'm coming with you."

A collective gasp erupted from the gaggle of freedom fighters. Nopony had been expecting that.

"What're we supposed t'do without ya Fleur?" Tinker questioned.

"You could send me," Sonnet suggested, "Or Beacon, or Drummer, Celestia; even Painkiller's available."

"You're all needed here," Fleur's voice sliced through the commotion, "You all do as much, if not more, than I do. In my absence Sonnet will take command of operations, and Painkiller will deal with domestic affairs. Any queries will have to be brought up during the briefing tomorrow, which I expect you all to attend. Have I made myself clear?"

There were affirmatives all round, although many were unsure or confused. As the group slowly filtered away, Painkiller approached, having been drawn back by the commotion at Fleur's departure.

"I hope you understand the importance of all this," he said sternly.

"Sure," I reassured him, though in reality I really wasn't.

Footnote: Level up.

New Perk:
Ghost (1) - Your adventures have taught you how to better avoid hostiles. You are now 25% harder to detect while sneaking.