Chapter 28

Resurfacing of forgotten past

"Give me a second first," Sugarcoat replied and turned to Cap Collector. "Did you bring the goods we requested?"

"Yes," Cap Collector said.

"Bring them to that shed," the bespectacled girl waved her at the building in question, "I'll wait for you there with the promised payment. Girls," she told the others, "after me."

The shed was not big and it had no roof except for some wooden fragments that hung loosely on the armatures. A transparent plastic film covered the whole shed as a makeshift defense against bad weather. There was various junk heaped in the corner, starting from metal scrap to electronic boards. Near the wall, there were some weapons stocked in a neat column, and small crates of ammo were also there. On bigger crates, there were disassembled pistols and assault rifles. A crate with medicines was standing next to them.

"Let's talk here," Sugarcoat said. Everyone plopped down on the floor, which was covered by straw. Rarity noted with displeasure that the "floor" was quite dirty.

"How long have you been here for, Sugarcoat?" Sunset asked.

"Not long. I have been here for, like, two or three months. Thought I could settle down and have as good a life as possible in this shithole that remained of UFE. The locals accepted me here, I bunked down with a nice family, all was well, and then these white-eyed freaks from a crappy horror movie arrived. Now I have the house all to myself, because that family I bunked with? They're all dead," the former Shadowbolt's facial expression remained impassive aside from a frown for the whole time she talked, making others feel uncomfortable. "Half of the locals tugged their proverbial tails between their non-proverbial legs and bailed to Brightlight, and the remaining half has been reduced to one-third of total Horseshoe Highway's population before this clusterfuck began."

"You seem to curse a lot more now," Rarity said, frowning in disapproval at Sugarcoat's crass language.

"Should I give a damn? Since the world is Tartarus unleashed now, me swearing should be the least of your worries," the pig-tailed girl fired back in her trademark blunt manner.

"Let's focus on the situation now," Twilight said as the brahmin they had guarded were chased inside by Cap Collector.

"The situation is bad and it will become worse until we all die, if it goes on like this," Sugarcoat replied. "Do you have a plan on how to stop this madness?"

"We wanted to investigate the cause of this mess. There are various rumours flying around, from viruses to Commissariat mind control to aliens."

"Uuuuuurrgh! The people have nothing better to do about this than to create rumours?!" A slap sounded as the former Crystal Prepper nearly knocked her glasses askew while facepalming. "Stupid cowards should have done better than that if they really want to know, by coming and looking instead of gum-flapping, but no, let's hide behind the walls and chit-chat while others fight and die. Fucking cowards and egotists. Humanity has truly gone to shit."

"Here's the cargo," Cap Collector said, lowering down bags with military-grade gas masks, ammo boxes and guns. Sugarcoat went further into the shed and pulled out the sack filled to brim with something - caps, Twilight presumed, considering the jingle that came from it.

"Here're the caps," Sugarcoat said. "You gonna recount while I check what you brought us? And don't try to fucking cheat us out or I will shoot your balls off and feed them to you."

"Sweet stars almighty, lass, chill out."

"I'll chill out when I die and my blood circulation stops completely, making me cold as ice."

Several minutes were spent in silence as both sides checked and re-checked everything until declaring that everything was alright.

"You gonna bail?" Sugarcoat asked the merchant.

"Not likely," he shook his head. "I won't risk running around here alone, and these lasses were literally the only ones who agreed to get me here for what I could offer. Unless they agree to get me back, I won't risk my buttocks."

"We have business around here," Sunset said. "You'll have to wait or seek for someone else."

"Well, there's your answer. I'll stay here in Horseshoe then. I'll give everyone here a discount. That reminds me - girls, here are your caps," Cap Collector gave the promised money to the quartet, which was recounted and eagerly accepted.

"Thanks."

"Thank you. I wouldn't have meade it here alone. I'll go and set myself up for trade. Can I talk to your leader?" he asked Sugarcoat.

"We don't have a leader. Feel free to set yourself on any street you want. Just don't start any trouble or others will leave you as a bullet-ridden corpse," the girl replied disinterestedly.

"Duly noted," with these words, the merchant left. Sugarcoat sighed and plopped herself down again.

"At least somebody bothered to bring some supplies. And he also brought us gas masks. Kinda stupid, because if this is a WMD of sorts, one will need a full hazmat suit, but we'll have to take what we can. One can never be too careful."

"WMD?" Twilight asked, not familiar with the acronym.

"Weapon of mass destruction, a denominator for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. I presume I do not need to tell you why they are called that?"

"I can make an educated guess, seeing what nuclear weapons have done to this world."

"So," Sugarcoat set her glasses straight, "what are you planning to do now?"

"Well," Sunset took over, "Round Risk, the mayor of Brightlight, is curious as to what is causing this mess, and sorta hired us to investigate. We had other reasons for going into this direction, and decided that spare caps won't hurt."

"So you're going to have a look into this mess?"

"Uh-huh."

"May I join you?"

"Eh?" Sunset almost sputtered.

"Your ear drums got ruptured from gunfire or something?"

"My ear drums are fine, thanks. I just didn't expect your offer."

"Well, I am sick and tired from this mess - these zombie attacks, people running away, this feeling of impending doom and the locals' inability to stick out of the settlement to at least try and nip this whole thig in a bud. I have been telling them that the attacks won't stop; since they have been going on for some time, it's obvious that this thing has been affecting people en masse. I told them that we needed to investigate the cause, but no one wants to risk sticking their asses out of here. The fact that zombies have already got through our defenses twice apparently didn't make them realize that sitting here like ducks is going to get us killed. So if you want to get to the bottom of things, I'm game."

"Well I wouldn't say no to a familiar face, that's for sure. How well can you shoot and what equipment do you have?"

"Moderately well, or as well as you, I expect. I have an R91, a .44 magnum revolver, a knife and a couple of frag grenades, and I also have a riot police armour vest. Plus I have five hundred or so caps to spare."

"Nice, but we may need to look for some extra armour for you, since that leaves your limbs and head uncovered."

"I may not have the caps necessary to outfit myself like that."

"Nonsense, dear," Rarity said, "I believe I can help you with that predicament."

"You would throw that many caps on me?"

"I refuse to let our friend wander around in dangerous area ill-prepared."

"Now I see you are indeed Rarity," the pig-tailed girl gave a small smile. "While I cannot say that we have been that close after the Friendship Games - I think you were closer to Sunny Flare than me - I am very thankful for that."

"We'll cash in as well," Twilight offered.

"Thanks again. When are you planning to move out?"

"I think the following day will do, at the noon or one hour after that."

"Sounds good to me. The sooner we get out of this clusterfuck, the better. Now who will accompany me to that merchant?"

Cap Collector, as they have found, was not located that far from the shed. The experienced merchant found himself a place where he could potentially gain a lot of customers, and already sold some of the goods he offered.

In the end, Sugarcoat got outfitted with a full set of riot police armour, including a helmet and armour plates for limbs. She was especially pleased with a helmet that had a bullet-proof transparent shield.

"Less chance that I will crack my glasses," she said.

The whole outfit cost them 1300 caps after some heavy bartering. Sugarcoat stubbornly refused to let the girls give more than two hundred and fifty for her, and paid the remaining three hundred herself.

Rarity also took care to buy Sugarcoat a collimator sight for 275 caps, despite the former Shadowbolt's protests.

"Darling, iron sights are positively dreadful to deal with," the ex-fashionista spoke.

"Fine, but I am paying for my ammo myself. And... thanks," Sugarcoat replied.

"You are quite welcome."

The rest of the day was spent in relative silence. Rarity volunteered for sniper duty in the towers, and Applejack was standing on the wall with her LMG primed for firing, but no attack happened again. Meanwhile, Twilight and Sunset took some time to plan their route through the ruins, so that they would be able to find Sunset's magic book and take time to investigate the "zombie mystery", as they called it.

They also did some brainstorming, but were unable to come to a definite conclusion as to what could be the reason behind these attacks. Giving up on that subject, they also volunteered to help with patrolling, but nothing else happened.

Somewhere about eleven p.m., everyone went to sleep, so as to prepare themselves for the next day and the hardships is would bring...

"OK everyone, you ready?" Twilight addressed her companions. Her voice was somewhat stifled because of the gas mask she had on.

Everybody replied with an affirmative answer, and Spike barked, running in circles around Twilight's leg.

"Hey," Sugarcoat addressed the men standing near the exit from Horseshoe Highway, none-too-sweetly, "open the gates."

"Kinda wish you didn't do that, ladies," one of them sighed. "You know getting out there is basically a death sentence, right?"

"Sitting here is a death sentence as well. Might as well go out with a big bang," the pig-tailed girl said. "Could you be any faster, damn it?!"

"Doing my best here," another man snarled. "I don't see you hurrying to help."

"Shut the fuck up, milksucker. Your attempts to act tough don't convince me since you crapped yourself in that fight two weeks ago. You didn't even have brown pants on."

Stares of various levels of judegment were levered on Sugarcoat, who paid them no heed. The gas mask hid her face partially, but the scowl could still be guessed.

"And your flirting is downright dreadful, you won't even seduce a whore to sleep with you."

"Hey!"

"OK, Sugarcoat, maybe you won't rub the salt in his wounds? Please?" Twilight said.

"I refuse to be considerate of his feelings since his flirting consisted of fondling my butt and saying, quote, "We both have some guns to oil... wanna bang?", end quote."

"Seriously?" Sunset leveled a glare at the unfortunate male, who scowled and went back to work.

"Yeah," the first man said, "saw him try and do this. Thought she would shoot his testicles off for sure."

"Only out of respect for you," Sugarcoat replied. "I know you still love your son, no matter how miserable an excuse of a human being as he is in my not humble opinion."

"Thank you, Sugarcoat, for at least being considerate of my feelings."

"You're one of the few locals of whose feelings I actually consider being considerate. Yes, I just made a horrible pun. Indulge me."

"There ya go, lass," the man said. "Good luck out there - ya'll need it in spades."

"Thanks, you as well."

The girls went out of the small settlement which had the bad luck to be on the front lie of the "zombie plague" and hurried along in the direction of Stable Hearts Limited, as intended.

"If it's a bioweapon of sorts, and I think it is fully possible, since Stable Hearts Limited had their full share of very hush-hush military orders, then we should search for it there," Sugarcoat said. "That's where the gas masks come in. If the bioweapon's airborne, we'll be fine as long as gas masks aren't compromised. If they are or the bioweapon gets via some other way... we're fucked."

With that unhappy reminder, the group went on. They tried to choose narrow enough streets to allow for enough cover, but not so narrow so as to catch each other in a crossfire or have hard time retreating. They looked around, ready for any sort of ambush or a nasty surprise. Applejack and Spike were in the lead, Twilight and Sugarcoat were slightly behind, Rarity looked around with her sniper rifle, and Sunset watched their six.

Twilight was unable to fully take in the sights of post-apocalyptic Trottingham, and was trying to compensate while not getting too distracted. She took notice of some things like broken glasses of shops or remains of billboards.

One particular poster caught her attention. It had an image of smiling couple with a small kid giving pre-war money to a man in a businessed suit, most likely a functionary. An arrow went from the man to the right, pointing to a soldier in power armour stomping a twisted form of an enemy soldier. Its text said:

Can't fight? You can still do your part!

BUY

WAR

BONDS

Patriotic and Profitable!

"War bonds?" Twilight asked. "What are those?"

"A way for the government to legally take the citizens' money for war effort while promising some profit in return," Sugarcoat said. "But you shouldn't trust that text. In reality, it meant "take money now, pay back never", and that's not taking the apocalypse into account."

"Why would the government need citizens' money? We never do that in Equestria..."

"Equestria? Oh wait, you're that parallel version of Twilight?"

"Yeah, but don't shout that too loud, will you?"

"OK, I won't. Well, truth is, the government isn't that mega-rich, and war is very expensive business, and no one wants the government going bankrupt. But citizens, most of them at least, have money. So the government says, "give us money, or we won't be able to protect you!" and people give money, hoping to get them back when the war is won. But by that time, the inflation is likely to snuff out all the profits."

"I remember campaigning for buying war bonds when I ran my charity," Rarity spoke up. "Brought the government a good couple of billions of dollars, they even awarded me with a small medal for being a true patriot and all that jazz."

"Hmmm. Well, seems like they won't be giving the money back now, right?"

"They certainly won't, and even if they did, I think Canterlot Treasury is irradiated right now, so nobody would want anything out of there."

"Makes sense."

"Heads up!" Applejack called, as Spike barked and ran back to Twilight. "Enemies!"

"Everyone to cover!" Sunset commanded, and everyone hid behind the closest object that could hide them from bullets.

"Super mutants!" Rarity said. "I'm counting three... no, four... and... are there... normal humans with them?"

"What?" Sugarcoat said. "Are you sure you aren't mistaken?"

"I most certainly am not, and... watch it!"

A cacophony of gunfire echoed from the buildings as the strange group of attackers opened fire at them.

"Alright, varmints, y'all asked for it!" Applejack shouted, and opened fire with her LMG.

"Rarity, help Applejack dispose of super mutants! Sunset, Sugarcoat, pick out the others!" Twilight ordered, and looked through her holographic sight. Aiming the reticle at the head of one man in old Vault security armour, she pulled the trigger. One BAM, and the man jerked back, blood flying in the air.

Two R91 assault rifles joined the fray. Sunset and Sugarcoat took cover on opposite sides and now were trying to create some sort of crossfire. Meanwhile, Applejack and Rarity brought down one super mutant and focused their fire on another one.

The hulking green monstrosities behaved strangely, taking cover just as normal humans did. They were still too big - and thus easier to hit - but they were no longer in the open now.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack's voice was hardly hearable because of gunfire and of the gas mask that covered her face. "Since when super mutants take cover?"

"The worst fucking time for them to learn some basics of combat!" Sugarcoat snarled. Taking a risk, she emptied the rest of her magazine into a normal human hiding behind flimsy cover, and her foe fell down, riddled by lead. However, the former Shadowbolt had no time to relish her victory, as several bullets hit her torso and her right arm.

"Oof!"

"Sugarcoat!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Armour held! Kill those fuckers!"

"Reloading!" Sunset shouted.

"Reloading as well," Sugarcoat replied. Twilight let out a string of bullets, and a click signified that her magazine ran empty.

"Darn it! Reloading," she said, swapping the magazine. Sugarcoat stuck out and fired again.

"Dropped one!" she said.

A hoarse, guttural scream of pain sounded across the battlefield, followed by another scream, but of fury. Twilight's insides went cold. Sticking out of her cover, she saw one of super mutants lying dead, and the last one (when did Applejack and Rarity take care of others?) was charging them. Looking into the beast's eyes, Twilight noticed something strange...

...they were white!

The equine-turned-human could not explain how she did that, but one moment later, her holographic sight reticles had the super mutant's head in them, she was screaming, her trigger finger tightened, and her AP-79 was kicking against her shoulder.

The ogre's head came apart in a shower of gore, and a fountain of blood erupted. His raised right hand fell down...

"Look out!"

Twilight was jerked sharply to the right, as a heavy slub of armature swung just where she stood moments ago. This action quickly chased away the fog she had in her head.

She noticed that the area around them was silent. They killed all the enemies.

"Whoa, what happened?" she asked.

"You spaced out, stood still like a target and nearly got clubbed by that ogre," Sugarcoat said. "The salt in the wound is that this super mutant was dead already. If he were to crack your skull with that, your death would have been extremely humiliating. Because, really. Killed by a dead enemy? Humiliating doesn't even cover it."

"Thank you, Sugarcoat," the lavender-skinned girl grumbled, sarcasm dripping.

"I'll pretend to be sarcasm blind and consider that as thanks for me yanking you out of the way. Now what made you space out?"

"I noticed that the super mutant that charged us also had white eyes..."

"WHAT?!!!" a collective shout made Twilight's ears ring. She squinted and stuck her index finger inside her right ear, trying to dislodge the perceived cork.

"Please don't make me deaf, gunfire is bad enough," she said.

"Sorry, darling," Rarity apologized, reloading her sniper rifle, "did you say that that brutish ogre had white eyes?"

"Yes."

"Let's look at the bodies," Sunset offered. "If that's those zombies..."

She walked up to one of the normal men, wepaon at the ready, and gave it a hard kick, making it roll over onto its back.

"Yeah, this one has white eyes alright..."

As it turned out, the whole group that they just took out actually consisted of the "zombies"... and super mutants all ahd white eyes as well.

"Well, fuck," Sugarcoat said. "So this affects super mutants as well. And they actually seem to get a grasp of tactics, heck, they even work together with normal humans, as long as those are zombies as well. If this goes on, we're buggered."

"Buggered?" Twilight repeated, puzzled. Sunset's face turned green, and she quickly whispered something into her compatriot's air.

"Ewwww!" the equine Princess said, her face looking as if she just ate a lemon. "That body part is not designed for that!"

"I know, right?" Sunset muttered. "Humans have some ultra-weird kinks. Let's drop the subject and loot them."

The zombies were not extremely rich with loot. The hunting rifles and assault rifles they had were rather shoddy, so they were mercilessly left aside. Those who used assult rifles as primary weapons got themselves twenty-seven 5.56mm ammo each.

"Good," Sugarcoat said, "that's twenty-seven caps spared."

They also looted some 10mm ammo, but except Twilight, no one wanted them, so the lavender-skinned girl decided to fill a spare SMG clip with it. Rarity also found twenty .308 ammo, which she was very glad to have.

When they took everything they wanted, they decided to make haste for fear of attracting more enemies, and moved forward.

Half an hour later, they came across a block of flats. When Twilight read the plaque with the street name and number, she exclaimed:

"Girls! This is the house where Vinyl, Octavia and Lemon used to live?"

"Really?" Sunset replied.

"Yes. Vinyl asked us to investigate it, remember? Maybe we should take a quick look at it?"

"Hmpf. Might be worth it. Sugarcoat?"

"I think it's a waste of time, but I admit, I am curious to see where Lemon Zest used to live. Can't say I'm surprised she hooked up with Scratch and Melody. They always were kindred spirits. Kinda miss them."

"Vinyl and Lemon are still alive, by the way," Twilight noted.

"Really?" Sugarcoat's face brightened for the fist time. "Where are they?"

"Er... I'm afraid they swore us to secrecy, but I can tell them about you and maybe they'll let you see them."

"Why so much secrecy? And why isn't Octavia with them?"

"Octavia's... dead. She worked for Directorate of Intelligence and was accused of betrayal. Commissariat executed her."

"Shit," the ex-Shadwbolt swore. "Bad luck if I ever saw one. OK, let's head inside."

The girls entered the building and went upstairs, going to the third floor. Sunset took out the keys that Vinyl had given to them and unlocked the door to the flat that current heads of Canterlot Wastelands News used to inhabit. Everyone entered inside.

The flat was covered in dust that has accumulated over the years that have passed. The flat did not look any different from any others that could be seen in typical blocks: a living room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a hall. The livibg room had an old-looking TV and a massive radio set which had a stylized plaque reading Radiation King on it.

"Radiation King radio," Sunset commented. "One of the most popular products of nuclear fashion."

"We're looking for a hidden safe, right?"

"Right. It's not here, though. Let's look somewhere else."

The kitchen had suffered the brunt of a nuclear shockwave, as everything was torn from its place and the ceiling partially collapsed.

"Yeah, certainly won't find anything there," Sugarcoat commented.

In one of the bedrooms, however, they found what they were looking for. A safe was hidden below the bed that was crashed into splinters by concrete slabs that fell from the ceiling. Sunset, however, frowned.

"I can't pick the lock on this safe," she said.

"You don't need to," Sugarcoat said. "There is a monoblock. If it has SoftLock Solutions program, and the combination of a safe and a controlling monoblock connected to it was quite popular, we'll unlock it from the terminal. I hope it was insulated against EMP..." with these words, the pig-tailed girl flicked the "On/Off" switch on the monoblock. A beep sounded, and a command line appeared.

"A-ha! Let's see if we can hack the password..."

"We don't need to," Sunset interrupted. "Vinyl wrote the password for the administrator account for us."

"Give me that," Sugarcoat said, and logged into the system. "OK, let's find SoftLock Solutions. Yes... found it! Launching the application... "Open lock"... done! Try opening the safe now."

Applejack pulled the safe door, and it gave way. Inside, they found one 10mm pistol, one 10mm SMG, some ammo stacked in spare clips, official weapon carry license, and a magneto-optic disk that had a label with Octavia's name for it.

"Hmm. Interesting. What does it contain?" Twilight wondered. She inserted the disc into her Pip-Boy and accessed the data on it.

"Hey, Vinyl, Lemon," a refined voice of Octavia Melody filled the room. "If you are hearing this, most likely you have found this disk in our stash. It also means you might never see me again. I've got to tell you something. I'm working for DOI now. Yeah, strange, I know... I did not exactly have a choice, girls. If I wanted to, I would not do it. But there is an international classical music festival coming, and it's a rare chance to get into TODC countries now... and Commissariat has found out that one of my donors was a TODC agent. So yeah, you know what that entails. I was told to cooperate or get turned over to NSC, and you know that they would get you too! Now that Manehatten Massacre happened, they're running around helter-skelter. Girls... most likely you'll never see me again. DOI won't let me out of their clutches, and I'll get killed, either by Commissariat if they as much as suspect me of betrayal, or by TODC if they catch me. Maybe they'll torture me..."

A silence followed, interrupted by a sob, and Octavia continued, clearly distressed:

"I'm sorry, girls! I didn't want it to come to this. Vinyl, continue to wub the Tartarus out of everyone, and Lemon, rock the whole world. You two are my best friends, I wouldn't have anyone else as music-writing buddies. Goodbye, girls!"

Click. The recording ended. No one spoke, mulling over Octavia's last message to Vinyl and Lemon.

"Shucks," Sugarcoat muttered, "that's sad."

"You don't say," Sunset replied. "OK, there's nothing else to see here. Let's go on with our mission."

"Fluttershy was a model for war posters?" Twilight exclaimed, surprised.

Her eyes were currently focused on another poster that was glued to a concrete wall, and it indeed depicted a familiar pink-haired girl. She had her signature tank top, green dress and knee-high green boots, and was posed full face, sitting on the ground, her face stained in tears, eyes looking upwards to a black male figure with a red outline. The scary silhouette of a pistol in the man's right hand was aimed at Fluttershy. The background was grey, as if dark clouds covered everything above the horizon, and the ground itself was also dull and grey, although light-gray if compared to the sky. The only thing that actually was colourful was Fluttershy herself.

The bold red letters above the picture formed the words "PROTECT HER!" and below, "ENLIST NOW!".

"Yes," Rarity replied, "Photo Finish had Fluttershy as a model for some posters. And they were actually pretty effective. I have heard that volunteer enlistment went up fifteen percent after they distributed these posters. People were even buying them for collections."

"I remember how Fluttershy tried modelling back in Equestria. She gave up soon; she didn't like the attention."

"Well, our Fluttershy didn't either. But her short time made quite an impact. I mean, can a man look at her depicted like this," Rarity waved her hand at another poster, "and not have protective instincts kick in?"

Twilight looked more closely at the poster that Rarity pointed out. Fluttershy was standing back to the wall - supposedly, as the whole background was black and Twilight could judge only by her pose - with an expression of extreme fear on her face and tears in her eyes. A rifle was aimed at her; in fact, the rifle had a bayonet that was actually touching her breast, clearly aimed to pierce her heart, and the bayonet had blood dripping from it. Fluttershy's top was actually stained crimson. The person holding the rifle was not drawn on the poster, which only intensified the horrific effect.

In lower right corner, red bold letters formed the words: "Soldier of UFE, save me!"

"Damsel in distress. Used and overused ten times over," Sugarcoat's voice grated on Twilight's ears. "But damned if she isn't pulling this look like a master. Didn't expect this of her, though. I thought you would be more likely to play the damsel in distress, Rarity."

"Well... Photo Finish decided Fluttershy had a more natural charm for that than me. Let's go on, Stable Hearts Limited should not be that far away."

Indeed, fifteen minutes later, the girl arrived at the building that used to house the private microbiological laboratories. The letters "S...BLE H...R...S" were still barely hanging above entrance, while the rest were absent.

"OK. We're here, and we're not turned into zombies yet," Sugarcoat commented. "That's good. Now let's go unsolve this mystery."

"Applejack, you're in the front of the door. I'm behind you. Twilight, left side, Sugarcoat, right side. Rarity, pick whichever side you prefer and switch to your Buffalo SMG," Sunset ordered.

Everyone acknowledged the order and positioned themselves.

"OK. Applejack, ready?"

"Ready, sugarcube."

"Open the doors."

Applejack pushed the doors open and aimed her LMG inside. Twilight, Sunset and Sugarcoat stuck out, aiming inside.

"Intruder alert!" a metallic voice screeched, and two Mr. Gutsies floated out. "Lethal force authorized!"

"Waste them!" Sunset ordered, but the girls already opened fire at the robots. Mr. Gutsies spewed out plasma bolts, forcing Applejack and Sunset to dive away, but that did not save them from being reduced to scrap piles.

"OK then," the fiery-haired girl muttered as everyone entered carefully, "we have automated security here. Robots, most likely turrets as well. We need to find the main security office, it should have the master control terminal."

"There is a map," Twilight looked at the wall where a paper depicting the buiding's layout hang in a wooden frame behind the broken glass. "It is on the third floor. We are on the ground floor right now."

"Obviously," Sugarcoat snarked. "So where now?"

"We need to pass the desk, enter the lobby and use either the elevator or the stairs."

"I bet you fifty dollars that the elevator is a goner," Applejack said.

"No dice," Sunset replied. "Means we will have to fight our way upstairs."

The girls went to the large doors which served as entrance to the lobby. When Applejack kicked it, they were faced with two ceiling turrets and three Protectrons armed with laser weapons. The blonde girl hurried to cover, but not before catching several red beams.

"Drat!" she swore. "Good thing Ah have this armour on," she stuck out and tore a Protectron apart with a well-placed burst from her LMG.

"Nice one," Sugarcoat praised, sticking out and taking a potshot at the left turret. It swerved in her direction and forced the former Shadowbolt into cover. Twilight took out "Burning Flash" and fired at the same target. Five beams melted the armour and the electronics, making the turret limp uselessly. Meanwhile Sunset and Applejack took out another Protectron. The last one turned around and fired, hitting Sunset in an unprotected area of her left arm.

"Ah, shit!" the fiery-haired girl swore, taking out the first aid kit. Twilight took her position and fried the optics of the last Protectron, making it go haywire and fire blindly, making him an easy target for Sugarcoat. The latter, however, caught a few bullets from the turret and withdrew. Twilight and Applejack took out the last turret with combined fire.

"Clear," Applejack said, "Ah see no one else, and mah Pip-Boy shows nothing."

"Sugarcoat, you OK?" Rarity asked.

"I'm fine. Gotta thank you for buying me extra plates though. If not for them, my limb would have been torn. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome, darling."

"Sunset?" Twilight addressed her compatriot.

"I'll survive," Sunset replied, fixing a cold bag on her burn. "No need to waste RegenStim on it. Let's move on."

The girls looked around the lobby. Two semi-circular desks were standing opposite each other, with broken monoblocks on them and various papers scattered. In the far end, several elevators stood, but their doors were bent or broken, and one glance beyond them was enough to understand that the prospect of cutting their way short was unfeasible. The party took their way upstairs.

Each staircase was covered by a turret, and the architecture prevented them from being able to concentrate all of their firepower on it. As a result, Applejack had to go face to face against all the turrets they encountered while going to the third floor, and replace an ammunition box for her LMG twice.

"Finally, we did it," she said, getting the ammo belt into the feeder, closing the cover and moving the bolt. "Ah'll run outta ammo soon if it goes on like this. Let's finish this thing."

The door that led to the third floor was locked, and the mechanism for accepting keycards was fried my an electromagnetic pulse. Applejack did not bother trying stealth an charged into the door. Her strength and mass, augmented by power armour, were enough to smash the rather flimsy door and make it fly off its hinges - as well as expose her to two ceiling turrets and a Mr. Gutsy.

"Ah fuckin' hate these things," she snarled, diving into cover. Sunset took out her laser rifle and started raining red beams on the robot, while Twilight did the same with ceiling turrets. Laser once again proved itself effective against their automatized enemies: a minute later, the hostiles were eliminated.

"That's fuckin' annoyin' me now," Applejack snarled again.

"Agreed," Sugarcoat said. "Now where's the main security office?"

"Forward until the end of the corridor, the massive door ahead," Twilight pointed out the direction.

Come on, then.

As the quintet (Spike did not count as he was tucked in Twilight's rucksack) opened the door, they were greeted with the sight of a sentry bot.

"Die, intruders," it said, and promptly launched a rocket at them. Applejack threw herself back in desperation, and the rocket flew overhead, hitting the wall and tearing chunks of concrete and armature from it.

"Fuckin' scrap heap!" she swore, rolling behind the wall as the robot fired at her with a minigun. Twilight and Sunset attacked it with laser rifles, while Sugarcoat tried to hit its less vulnerable parts with her assault rifle. Applejack joined the fray, peppering the sentry bot with 7.62mm bullets and drawing its ire to itself. Fortunately, the sturdy walls could not be penetrated by 5mm minigun bullets, otherwise they would have been turned into cheese full of holes, but that helped them only slightly.

The sentry bot launched another rocket, and while it missed, the explosion was too close. Everyone felt their ears splitting in pain, ringing echoing in their ears. Twilight closed her eyes from the pain, unable to perceive anything with her senses. When she opened them, she noticed Sugarcoat desperately bandaging her wound as Sunset injected RegenStim into her - the pig-tailed girl caught several ricochetted bullets that were fast enough to penetrate her armour. Twilight picked her laser rifle again and aimed carefully at the robot head.

She fired until the robot's head exploded, and her rilfe beeped, signifying that the microfusion cell was empty. She pulled the lever, ejecting it and inserting a new one.

"Phooo-ey," she said. "Everyone OK?" she shouted over the ringing in her ears.

"No," Sugarcoat said, "I was wounded, but RegenStim will help me."

"Ah'm unhurt," Applejack said, "but some more scuffles like that an Ah'll have to find new armour plates."

"I'm fine," Sunset said, and gasped. "Twilight, you're bleeding!"

"Am I?" the equine-turned-human looked, and true enough, her left leg was stained with blood. "Blast!" she exclaimed, detaching the armour segment on her hip. "I didn't even notice. Ponyfeathers!"

"Let me help," Sunset said, helping Twilight with the bandage, and injecting RegenStim with the syringe given by Twilight. "You need painkillers?"

"I think I'll manage. Where's that Celestia-damned master control terminal?"

"Here, I'm sitting in front of it," Sugarcoat said. "Good thing, it's insulated against EMP. Bad news, it's password protected, I am hacking it now. Don't distract me or this stuff will lock down and we're fucked."

The others wisely chose to follow the bespectacled girl's advice, and for the next five minutes, the silence was interrupted only by Sugarcoat's more and more inventive (and anatomically impossible) curses regarding the parentage of the terminal and the notion of someone copulating with the terminal. One particuarly colourful swear made Twilight and Sunset gag and Rarity's face go green, but before it got any worse, Sugarcoat declared:

"Done! All security in the building has been deactivated. We can go anywhere we wish. Where now?"

"Let's explore the building, I guess," Twilight said, unfastening her helmet. "Curses, am I tired from wearing that thing. Do we need to split up?" she asked, fastening the helmet to her side.

"Yeah, maybe we'll cover more ground that way," Sunset agreed, taking off her own helmet. "Ohhh, I think my head will cook soon..."

"I agree," Sugarcoat said.

"Then me and Twilight will go end explore the ground and the first floor, you three search through this floor and the second one. Search for everything interesting."

"Will do," Rarity replied.

Twilight and Sunset spent twenty minutes searching through the first floor, but the only things they have found were the worker's personal messages, corporate rules and some ammo and medicine.

"At least the security does not bother us," Twilight said. "Ground floor?" she said, turning back to Sunset as she was about to turn around the corner.

"Uh-huh, coming," came the answer.

Twilight turned around and stepped forward...

Bash!

Suddenly, she saw stars, and her head responded with the mother of all pains that could come from being hit by a lead pipe.

"Hey, what the fuck?!" Sunset exclaimed, but before she was able to react, she was hit by another pipe and collapsed into darkness.

"Watch out," Sugarcoat called, "who knows what is in here."

She, Applejack and Rarity were making their way through the ruins of the laboratories on the second floor. Their heartbeat was increased, and it echoed in their ears as they went along. Each girl could hear her own breathing inside the gas mask; breathing in it was no easy feat at best times, and they were getting tired from the day's ordeals.

Fortunately, they encountered no airborne biohazards; if there were any, their gas masks seemed to be an adequate protection... for now, at least.

Finally, they reached the last lab. The only things they had encountered on the floor were broken vials and stains left by various liquids that they dared not to touch. One room was scorched; Rarity hazarded a guess that a mix of gases exploded there from a spark, and they decided to get out of that place.

The last lab on the floor was small; apparently, no more than four or five scientists were supposed to work there. There were strewn papers, but this particular lab was more in order than others. It had a heavy door, but Sugarcoat's bypass of the defenses turned off the magnetic locks and sophisticated electronic defenses that were supposed to keep the door permanently closed, and they entered freely. Sugarcoat noticed a monoblock that was insulated against electromagnetic pulses, and decided to turn it on. Unsurprisingly, it was password-protected, and she spent several minutes hacking it. Surprisingly, the password was rather short and easy to guess, which prompted some insults to the scientists' intelligence from Sugarcoat, as well as insinuations of them being directly related to apes and actually having apes for parents.

Unfortunately, most of the data was corrupted, and Sugarcoat was only able to bring up the logs. Having nothing better to do, the girls decided to read them. Most were boring, but some caught their eyes:

Log #2131
We were brought a sample of Omicron-7. Under some very heavy guard - police, Commissariat army, even fricking soldiers in power armour. I can't believe it. They brought us the same weapon TODC had used for Manehatten Massacre! And this guy from the army says they :need an improved version of it".

Are they fucking serious? It's a war crime to use a bioweapon like this! Something tells me that if I ever say that, I'll be shot. Stars know these NSC guys are quite trigger-happy.

Log #2136
Credit where it is due, TODC microbiologists know their business damn well. We have discovered what Omicron-7 does. When it enters the human body, it attacks the immune system directly, destroying all natural defenses that a human has. Layman's terms, but more scientific speak is for reports, not logs. But it does not stop there. New viruses, when they are released into the bloodstream, start infecting other cells and causing their autolysis. This eventually leads to catastrophic organ failures, as the virus stops differentiating. Further infection happens via droplets. Once the infection happens, there is no turning back. Unless a special serum is injected immediately, this weapon will kill.

Goodness.

Log #2145
I can't believe they are making us create this... atrocity. We have managed to improve this weapon, much as it sickens me to say that. Now we have made it so that this weapon can induce coma, and that upon necrosis, the dead bodies remain infectious.

The general is pleased with our progress. Tartarus damn him! We are supposed to find cures against diseases, not make a competition who creates a deadlier weapon!

Log #2151
I have placed another vial in the biohazard safe. This is the twelfth strain.

The government has us making modifications to the weapons, dropping shit-a-ton of money. What's the use? They can't exterminate every last TODC citizen. Although... I have heard that a version of our weapon was used in Bovinia and helped us achieve victory.

I feel sick, but... fascinated. Deep down, I always wanted to get back at TODC fucks, but denied it...

"Biohazard safe?" Applejack asked.

"It's right here," Rarity said, standing in front of a human-sized steel door.

"OK, let's see if it can be opened. Aaaaaaand... open!" Sugarcoat exclaimed. Rarity and Applejack turned the heavy wheel and opened the safe. Inside, they found only one metal box, small, but rather heavy.

"Ah guess it's heavily protected."

"What it says?" Sugarcoat asked.

"There's only some letters and numbers," Applejack grumbled. The box had "CPAX-12" written on it in bold letters, biohazard signs adorning the surface.

"CPAX-12?" Rarity asked, puzzled. "I've never heard of it."

"Neither have I," Sugarcoat added.

"Me neither," the blonde girl said. "OK, Ah think we've found what we needed, but we'll have to find the right person to ask what in Tartarus that is," she said, hiding the box in her armoured compartment.

"Girls, don't you think Twilight and Sunset have been gone for far too long?"

Blank stares, and then widened eyes of horror met Sugarcoat's bespectacled ones.

As Twilight came around, she noticed several things.

First, her gas mask was off.

Second, she was hanging.

Third, her hands were handcuffed above a poll, which created a very unpleasant feeling of being stretched.

Fourth, she had no weapons on herself.

Fifth, her head hurt like a bitch.

"Hey," she heard a raspy voice to her left. Turning her head and wincing in pain, Twilight saw Sunset in the same predicament as her.

"Hey," she replied. "What in Celestia's flank is going on?"

"Fucked if I know. I felt my head getting bashed, and next I know, I am here."

"Same. You know who captured us?"

"The same fucking zombies."

"Seriously? They were so eager to shoot us, and now they captured us? Something's not right. And that certainly is no bioweapon."

"Yeah, but now we're back to square one, not to mention hanging from a pole Tartarus knows where."

"We still should be in Trottingham. And we're in a building. Sunset, does anything in the windows seem familiar?"

"I don't know. Let me see."

Sunset spent several minutes twisting her head and body to different directions, trying to get a hold of her surroundings. Once she got a good look, she relaxed and said:

"We're not far from the place where I lived. We're close to our target. If only we could get out of here..."

"Ah-ha-ha, but I am afraid both of you will serve another purpose."

The newest voice rang sharply around, making both Equestrians tense. Twilight's hair tried to rise even in places not covered by it.

It's... familiar... somehow... where did I hear it?

"So the Perfect Princess and her Bacon Bitch returned here to find something that links them to Equestria? How touching."

"Oh come on, seriously?!" Sunset shouted. "Bacon Bitch? That sucked back in Canterlot High! Have some decency to be more creative with your insults!"

"Funny that you should mention Canterlot High," the voice continued, coming closer, and a person in Wastelander outfit appeared - a woman. Her face was covered by a mask and the hoodie she had covered her head, but this was not what made Twilight and Sunset gasp.

This person had Sunset's magic journal against her chest, hanging on a chain.

"I see you recognized this little book? Imagine my surprise when I learned that this small thing ultimately led to where I am now..." the person took off the hood and whipped off the mask. Pale yellow skin shone in the limited light the building had, and vivid orange hair, still bushy, but slightly saggy, cascaded down the person's shoulder. Raspberry eyes rested upon the Equestrians, and a scowl twisted the person's face.

Twilight and Sunset gasped again.

They were looking into the dagger-throwing, hot with fury, hate-filled eyes of Adagio Dazzle.

The siren who lost to them in the Battle of the Bands kept scowling at them for several seconds.

Then she smirked.

"Surprise, bitches," she said. "Pick up your jaws before they fall off for real."

Both girls noticed that they indeed were in danger of dropping their jaws, and promptly closed their mouths.

"You," Sunset spat with fury. "I take it you control the zombies?"

"Bingo, Shimmer," Adagio's smirk became even wider.

"But how?" Twilight shouted, desperate for understanding.

"Come on, you're the smart one here," Adagio turned the magic journal to the other side; both girls noticed something red on it. "What you, the Bacon and Mustard and I can use in our home land, but not here."

Twilight's insides grew cold.

"Magic," she almost whispered. "You're controlling their minds!"

"Bingo again. Yes. These people adore me, and give me power, and I, in turn, can command them."

"I don't get it," Sunset muttered, and Twilight turned to her:

"The magic journal! Notice these three red smudges on it? It's the gemstones we cracked! Adagio has used the journal to fuse the shards together!" she shouted. Sunset went pale and muttered:

"Celestia banish me to the moon..."

"But wait..." Twilight turned to Adagio. "Where are Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk?"

"Aria Blaze thought to challenge me for leadership. I could not have that. So when she made a mistake, I overwhelmed her, and extracted her essence."

"You WHAT?!" both Equestrians gasped.

"She was of no longer use anyway," Adagio continued as if she were talking about breakfast. "Sonata disappeared soon after that. The ditz must have been afraid I would do the same to her. I don't think she survived the nuclear attacks."

"So... you're here, controlling the minds of anyone who has the bad luck to come here... with the help of my magic book..." Sunset said. "Why do you need us?"

"Well, while the discord that my followers here have among them when I am not controlling them directly does power me, it's not enough. They still don't have Equestrian magic. But you, on the other hand..."

Both girls gasped again, in horror.

"And don't think your friends will avoid the same fate. I have seen with whom you travel through the eyes of those who attacked you. My followers are already on the way. They will bring Applejack and Rarity here, and their magic will be mine as well. As for that foul mouth in glasses, she will be a welcome addition... or a bullet-ridden corpse. It matters little. With your magic, my reach will extend..."

Giving both Equestrians a haughty smile, Adagio approached them, but not too close so as to avoid possible kicks. In a sultry voice, she almost whispered:

"Tenfold."

Author's Note

A blast from the past!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!

Thoughts, comments, criticism? Comments box is always open! The next chapter should be up in 15-30 days.

Stay tuned!