Fallout Equestria: Joker

After a brief resting up and gathering some supplies from Panzer's stash, we started towards Taberoo. I had grabbed what the twins had left behind. The grenades they picked from Panzer's trap might come in handy. I loaded both the Clipper and the Judge strapping them to my front legs. Had ammo for both but I have to make my shots count. Panzer slipped into his power armor and did full systems check before we left. He asked me to do some fine tuning with my pipbuck so there wouldn't be issues later. A half hour later we reached the top of the hill that overlooked the town. Panzer raised his helmet and waved his hoof in the air like he was presenting a prize on a pre-war game show "Here it is, Taberoo. The town of ghosts" I blinked and looked at him "Whoa, hold up. You never said anything about ghosts!" Panzer "Didn't know you were the type to believe in them?" "I believe in things that can't be explained and are beyond our control. Now what exactly do you mean by ghosts?" now my mind was back to creating unneeded scenarios of me being possessed and used like a living meat puppet

He chuckled a bit as he started down the hill "There have been rumors circling the town about ghosts and spirits roaming the streets. Multiple accounts from any traders who were brave enough to trek through here say that the ghost of the ponies who once lived here haunt the very town itself. No one knows if they have hostile intentions. But I doubt there is any truth to the rumors" My heart started to swell into my throat "So you say... " I didn't like ghost stories as a colt so naturally I didn't like them now. We were nearly at the foot of the hill when a gun shot pierced the ground at Panzer's hooves. We looked up seeing a griffin hovering in the air with an antimatter rifle in its talon. "One more step Ranger, and I'll send you straight to hell!!"

The griffin landed on the ground in front of us and switched to a riot shotgun aiming it at Panzer "Stable Boy! Move away from him now! Unless you wanna get shot along side him." This griffin wasn't like the others I've seen in books and in pictures. Her feathers were a brilliant mix of red and orange. Like the flames of a phoenix. The lion part of her body wore a light shade of cinnamon. Unusual combination but it worked really well. I tried to step forward and talk to her but Panzer stopped me with his leg. "What the hell Panzer!?" I snapped at him while he shook his head "Go on without me, Cobalt. Rangers aren't exactly popular around the wastes so it's best if you go on ahead and find your mom. Trust me, it's better if you don't get involved right now. I doubt you'd be ready for a gun

I shot him a glare and pushed his leg away walking towards our assailant "Why are you doing this?" Panzer "Cobalt!! I said go!" I ignored his warning. The griffin started to shake while she kept the gun trained on me "I have no problem with you. Now please just walk away. There's no reason for you to involved." Her voice, her talons, and her entire body. She was shaking all over. I didn't think she was going to pull the trigger. I kept getting closer when she cocked the gun "I swear I will fucking shoot you if you don't move!!" I smiled softly "You're not the kind of griffin to bring harm to others."

She growled and shoved the shotgun in my face "And just what makes you think I won't pull the trigger?!" The shaking was getting worse. Her focus shifting from the ranger to me. I could see the anger and pain in her eyes. Something happened to her and I had a strong feeling it was something horrible. But I needed more details. "If you wanted to kill me you wouldn't be as hesitant as you are now. Which means you're looking for something from my friend back there. Something very valuable. Something you'd risk everything to protect... " her grip tightened on the weapon, she growled even louder, she grabbed me by the collar and lifted me into the air "Shut up!!" that was it. I knew what it was. "Your child. That's who you're looking for." the words shattered her resolve when she looked up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks "How?" "Doesn't take much to see a mother who would do anything for her children."

She growled and threw me to the ground planting the butt of her weapon in my throat "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW OF THAT!!?" her voice echoed over the town which would no doubt attract some kind of attention "You're working with this monster aren't you!? You helped him kill my babies!!!" Panzer "Cobalt!" he tried to move in to tackle her but she flipped the gun around and cocked it "One more step and blue boy here gets an express ticket down!!" I gasped and looked her in the eye "Listen to me. We didn't do anything to your children. We just arrived in the town less in ten minutes ago. I swear it's the truth." She glared down at me "Bullshit."

"I'm not making it up. Did you see anything on the ranger you're after? Any marks or something about his armor that was unique?" her eyes shot up at Panzer. Right there the realization hit. Her talons started to tremble, tears streamed down her cheeks, and the weapon collapsed on the ground. She dropped onto her knees beside me shaking her head "No, it's not him. Please- please tell me I didn't get the wrong one." she clenched her fist glaring at him "Take off your helmet. Let me see your face!!"

Panzer looked at me. I slowly nodded "Do it." he sighed and sat down before he raised his hooves to lift his helmet off. She gasped seeing the face of the charcoal stallion underneath

"No, it's not him. His face was all twisted..." she started to shudder and grabbed her head. She was ready to scream "Twisted and all wrong. Like it had been melted." I saw Panzer's ears perk up when I pulled myself up from the ground.

"You said his face was melted. Did he have a burning skull insignia stamped on the side of his armor?" Her eyes snapped up at him.

"Yes, he did. You know him?" she tightened the grip on her gun which didn't help the situation at all.

He hesitated but he slowly nodded "I know of him. He's a former ranger turned mercenary like me. Doesn't use any name. Most of my old chapter just called him Nameless."

Both the griffin and I just stared at him. He looked back at us and shrugged "What? I'm serious. I've been with the chapter for three years and I have never heard the guys name. Everypony just told me to call him Nameless."

The griffin got up and charged at Panzer grabbing his chest plate "Tell me everything you know about him right now. I am not letting him get away with what he's done to my babies!!"

He didn't show any reaction "For starters, there's a damn good chance your kids are alive."

Her eyes widen with a small glisten of hope. She growled and pulled him until her until his muzzle touched her beak "How are you so certain they're alive!?"

Panzer "He allowed you to see him. He's baiting you into a trap. Are you the only griffin here?"

She shook her head "Now. My whole family is here. About 25 bodies in all. Including my children and myself."

Panzer nodded "Okay, makes sense he'd target the kids."

I blinked and came up to them "You think he's trying to get them angry so they'd screw up?"

He looked at me and nodded "You can't see anything else when you see nothing but red"

The griffin blushed so hard her feathers looked jealous as she slowly set him down and sighed "I'm sorry. I just want to find my kids and make sure they're safe. It's maddening not knowing if they're alive or not."

I looked up at her and placed my hoof on her shoulders "We'll find them. I promise. Now did you see where this nameless may have run off too?"

She looked at me and sniffed wiping her eyes "I didn't see where he went. I got left behind when I saw my children's bedrolls were empty along with a pile of feathers. I think he may have plucked their wings so they couldn't fly." This guy was becoming more twisted than I thought after learning so little about him. But his history wasn't important right now.

"Take me to where your kids were sleeping. I may be able to pick up a trail to follow." I was always more perceptive than most of the other ponies in the stable so I was confident I'd find something

She nodded and grabbed her shotgun "Follow me. But I should warn you. My father is on the warpath and he won't give your armored friend here a chance to explain things."

Panzer "I'll hide in the hardware store she was using for the moment while you two go scope things out." He pointed at my pipbuck "87.9 that's my frequency. That way if I get into a scrap I can call out for help"

I nodded and turned my attention to the griffin "We didn't get your name. I'm Cobalt and this is Panzer". He bowed his head as she looked him over

"Apt name. I'm Heather. Family doctor and single mother. We were trying to find a new place to settle down after a group of rangers forced us from our home." she nodded towards the town "But we can talk about that later. My kids come first"

I nodded "Panzer, Heather and I head into town. You hang around the hardware store like you said."

Panzer gave me a quick nod "Right, the other griffins might make the same mistake as Heather did."

Heather "Especially my father. Took everything the family had to keep him from... " she started to tremble at her thoughts. I placed my hoof on her shoulder. She looked at me while I offered her a soft smile

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything to us. I can see it hurts to think about it"

She smiled back and placed her talons over my hoof "Thank you. You have no idea what we've been through to get here"

"I can only imagine." Heather and I made our way into town while Panzer went over to what appeared to be a hardware store. I found myself thinking there may be some good salvage left inside to find. Unless Heather and her family had cleaned it out already. She stopped at the edge of the street and looked both ways then upwards "Okay, looks clear. Can't let my dad or the others see you until we've found something." she began moving down the street while I followed at a brisk pace.

"I take it your folks aren't very trusting towards ponies are they?" She shook her head "After losing our land and my kids coming up missing he'll most likely shoot first rather than ask questions."

"Right, which reminds me. You didn't say how you ran into this Nameless guy." She growled a bit "The asshole had the nerve to show his face. I had laid my kids down for a nap and walked out of the room to stand watch just outside the door so nothing would happen. But something weird happened... I began to feel like I was drunk for several seconds. The feeling kept getting worse so I closed my eyes for a brief moment. When I opened them my kids were gone. That's when Nameless showed up at the edge of town. He had some kind of speaker in his hooves. We all heard my kids yelling out for help from it." tears began to stream down her cheeks again.

I watched and listened to her "None of you could catch him? With all that power armor he had to be slow as hell."

She nodded at my assessment. "We did think that. But he had something on his armor which threw out a smoke screen. I don't know what he used for the smoke but we couldn't breathe or see anything. He slipped away laughing the whole way mocking us.

"I swear if I get my claws on him I will end him." I thought back to the moment she said she began feeling sick

"Did you hear or see anything before you got sick?"

She looked at me and looked down at the ground thinking "No, I don't think so... Unless you count a small mechanical whine. Now that I think about it. I felt some weird sensation shoot through me just before I got sick. It came from Jackson's room where he was sleeping down the stairs from me. We had set up in the general store. He kept he'd find something to help us in there. "

"Who's Jackson?"

"Our eccentric resident tinkerer. He collects every old gadget he can find and tried to get them working to sell off to other traders. One day it ended badly when he sold what he thought was a simple toy to a little filly. Turned out the toy was a teddy bear rigged with a bomb inside of it. I don't want to think who created it and who it was for. Damn thing blew up the kid's house. Thank God the kid and her family weren't home"

"And you keep him around because?" Every word I heard didn't give me a lot of confidence in the guy.

She gave a nervous laugh "He's the only mechanic we got to fix our weapons and armor. Though I wouldn't put him down just yet. He's a genius when it comes to improvisation.If anyone can dream up a better gadget its Jackson." She cleared her throat looking away from me "He does have one big flaw though"

I just stared at her and whined. "He's accident prone isn't he?" Heather rubbed her shoulder nervously "He's not the most elegant guy I know. We once we had to dig him out of his own house. He blew out the walls and dropped the roof right on top of himself testing his own version of smoke grenades."

"Smoke grenades? What the hell was he using?!" I could hear my voice crack with that particular question.
"No idea. Didn't bother to ask. Plus I really didn't want to know." She started to walk again and peeked around the corner
"Okay, seems everything is clear. Let's just..."

"Heather Blazebeak!! Do you mind telling me what that pony is doing here with you!?" my head spun around and spotted an elder griffon sporting a hunting rifle aimed right at me.

Heather looked up at him and jumped between us "Dad, stand down! He's here to help us find the kids."

The griffin scoffed and spat at the ground "You really think I'm gonna trust a pony after everything they've done to our family?"

Heather stood her ground "Dad, please. He can help us. Give him a chance to prove it." she pleaded while he scoffed

"What makes you think he can find anything we haven't?" he grabbed her shoulder to push her aside slinging his rifle over his shoulder. I looked at his talons and noticed something. One of his talons had been broken off and a faint scent hit my nose. It was oil, the kind they used for lamps. My eyes shot up just as the griffon pushed Heather aside.

"Your talons are covered in lamp oil!" I blurted out making him gawk at me. He narrowed his eyes reaching for a pistol straped to his side "And how would you know that?" I gulped a bit "The Overmare of my stable used something like that for reading. Said it felt more authentic compared to using the lights in her room.

He blinked and looked down at the big 18 stamped on my collar. "What the hell is a stable pony doing out here?"

"I have my reasons. Now I can help you find those kids but I need you to trust me. I'm not like the ponies you dealt with before." he growled and gripped the pistol in its holster "You get one shot. You try anything clever and all I need is one shot." I nodded and looked at Heather "Let's go." she nodded back and pointed towards the general store "We were in there. They were using the storage rooms at the back of the store to keep themselves hidden from the windows."

I pushed my way past Heather's father and went inside of the store looking around. Most of the items inside were rotted beyond saving. Nearly every shelf had been looted of every toy. I assumed some of the toys had items which could be used to survive out here. Either that or the looters were hoarders. Walking to the back of the store I trailed my eyes along the floor "I think we can find a trail to follow. The floor has several sets of prints soaked in lamp oil."

Heather "Must have come from Gamble's lantern. He made one out of some scrap some time ago."

"I always told him he'd give Jackson a run for his money. Hopefully with some common sense." her father had explained when I finally reached where the kids had their beds. Heather was right. The lantern had been stepped on by something heavy. The oil was soaked into everything around it, and there was only one set of hoof prints. Now we were making progress.

"Sir, I think I found a trail to follow. If you can allow me and my friend to follow it we can find the kids."

"Friend? What kind of friend?"

I turned to face him. "The kind of friend who has no love for the ranger who did this. He knows more about than I do and he can really speed up the search."

He just stared at me before he pointed his talons at me "Just remember what I said, boy." I nodded and turned my attention to the oil stained prints on the floor. It was easy to separate which belonged to the kids and which belonged to Nameless from the mess. I followed it to the door while Glitch and Heather stayed at my tail "You coming with me?" I asked her without looking up.

Heather "You're damn right I am. These are my kids. I'll tear Hell itself apart to find them." she cocked her shotgun as Glitch sped ahead scouting out the trail.

I took a second to turn on my pipbucks broadcaster "Panzer, we found a trail heading to the main road of the town. Meet us there as soon as you can. Tell the griffins you're with me and they should leave you alone."

Panzer responded "Roger that. On my way."

Heather "Are you sure your friend will able help us? I'm not very certain my family is going to let him through if he's wearing his power armor." Glitch chirped as he flew back to us and circled around my head. The trail was heading towards the subway entrance. No doubt everyone was down in the tunnels.

"I'm sure he can help. Right now I think it's best we find your kids." I stopped at the edge of the stairs leading down "We'll need all the help we can get. Glitch fly down and see what you can find. We'll wait here for Pazner." He gave another quick chirp before zooming down the stairs. We heard Panzer's hoof steps while another griffon followed him with a rifle at his back.

"Hey Heather, this tin can with you? Claims he's here to help find Gamble and the girls."

Heather looked up and sighed "Thelma lower the gun. He's not a threat"

Thelma scoffed and rested her rifle on her shoulder "If you say so." her eyes locked onto me, her brow went into an arch while she tilted her head "What's with the stable boy?" I smiled and held out my hoof "Private Eye Cobalt. At your service. No case too big or too small." that got a few weird looks

Thelma narrowed her gaze "I'm not in the mood for your smart ass remarks stable boy. Now, what exactly would a pony like you be doing in a shit hole town like this?"

"I couldn't just enjoy the scenery and the architecture of the buildings." I wasn't sure why my mouth was saying these things but I knew I was slowly making Thelma very angry. It didn't help when we heard Panzer snicker a bit. Thelma snarled and pushed her beak in my face "You are a few seconds from me turning you into a glue stick reject!"

Heather's father bellowed from the sky as he and two others joined the group "Back off, Thelma. I'll handle him."

Thelma backed away while he walked up to me shooting a glare down at me "So you found my grand kids?"

"I didn't find them yet but I do know where Nameless went. He's down in the subway station. Most likely to limit how much everyone has to fight in."

He widened his eyes a bit and scoffed shaking his head "Fuck, we'd be walking into a trap. Anything else you can tell me?"

"I sent my spritebot down into the station to scout ahead. I'm waiting for me to come back."

He slowly nodded "Smart Lad." Glitch chirped as he raced up the stairs and nearly clocked Thelma over the head.

"Glitch!" I grabbed him in my hooves and pulled him over to me "Did you find anything?" he nodded quickly and blurted out a mixed sentence using everyone's voice we've met so far "Traps, trip wires, and mounted turrets."

Perfect, now we have to avoid some tripwires. "We can easily avoid the tripwires in the air. This nameless clown is gonna regret fucking with us!" Thelma blurted out as she cocked her weapon and rushed into down the stairs. Heather's father reached for her tail trying to pull her back

"Thelma, wait!" he watched her zoom around the corner and sighed "Idiot girl. Who knows what that bastard has down there?" everyone got a jump start when Thelma screamed out, her voice echoed from inside the stairwell.

"MOTHER FUCK!!!" my ear twitched hearing metal rattling.

Heather "Damn it he knew we'd be coming." Her father cocked his gun keeping a talon on the trigger "Seems like he was actually expecting us. Stable boy, you and your armored friend follow me down. Everyone else stay up here and keep watch."

Panzer and I nodded. I grabbed Clipper into my mouth and made sure it was loaded. Heather jumped in front of her father "Dad, I am coming with you! Those are my kids down there and I will not stand by waiting. I will lose every bit of my sanity just sitting around."

He grabbed her shoulder "Sweetheart, I know you're eager to find your kids. I am too. But we need to make sure this Nameless doesn't get the drop on us. Please wait up here with the guys and we'll bring them back I promise."

She snarled and slapped his talons away "No!! I am going and there's nothing that even you can do to stop me, Dad. Am I not owed some payback of my own?"

Her father just stared at her for several seconds before he sighed in defeat "Fine. But I want everyone to go stock up on ammo and health potions. I will not stand for anyone dying on my watch."

One of the other griffins groaned "Sir, Jackson is an accident waiting to happen. Stepping into his shop could kill us long before this Nameless asshole has a chance."

Heather "Plus we also lost the element of surprise thanks to Hothead in the tunnels." Thelma grumbled as she climbed up the stairs with a mess of wires, cooking pans, and tin cans wrapped around her body. Heather looked at her and held back a snicker "Wow, you really stepped in it this time."

Thelma glared at her "Fuck You!"

"Alright, that's enough. Let's go stock up and get ready for whatever this asshole has planned. Stable boy, see if that robot found anything else in the tunnels." Heather's father had instructed all of us. Getting called Stable Boy had already gotten old.

I walked up to him "Sir, my name is Cobalt. I'd appreciate it if you start using my name."

He glared at me and pressed his beak into my muzzle "Find my grandkids and just maybe I'll remember it."

Heather pushed her way in between us and pushed me back away from her dad "That's enough! We don't have time for this!

I snorted "She's right. Plus I wanna take a look around Jackson's shop." He scoffed and walked away pointing his talon at the two griffins that flew in with him "Stay here and keep an eye out. If that scum bag pokes his head out, shoot it off. We'll be back." he continued to their camp while Heather punched me in the shoulder.

Heather "Are you intentionally trying to start a fight?"

I sighed and rubbed the spot where she hit me "No, I just can't stand anyone who doesn't take me seriously. Why else would he call me Stable boy?"

Heather "Just bear with it for now. I promise he'll stop if you can find my kids like you promised." I could only nod as a response before following her father back to the camp. It was a good thing too I wanted to see what Jackson had locked away. Heather followed alongside me and nudged my shoulder with her beak "Please be patient with Jackson."

I nodded "Yeah, you said he was accident prone." "We think it may be more than that. His mom was a chem fiend and he got a hold of some dash when he was a hatchling. He was lucky my dad happened by before any serious damage was done to him, providing it wasn't serious before then." I looked at her, then back to the front watching her dad "How did he come to become the mechanic for your family?" She giggled a bit "That's actually a funny story. He gobbled together some energy weapon parts a long time ago and made some kind of laser that tore through five robo-ponies at once. I didn't get the full story but that was the version I was told when everyone asked why he was working on my dad's weapons.'

Cobalt "You're missing out a few details." I told her which made her stop and stare at me.

She shook her head and placed her talons on my shoulder "Don't take it the wrong way but we don't fully trust you so I hope you can understand if I keep a few details to myself." her eyes filled with the same fear from before. Which was something I couldn't truly blame her for feeling that way. After everything I've heard about other ponies treating her family like dirt it was only logical to be distrusting towards someone like me.

I nodded and smiled "Any chance I could get the full story later on when we find your kids?" I wanted to give her hope. Her expression starter to lighten up when she returned the smile and nodded

Her father cleared his throat to get our attention. The second I looked at him I saw the scolding gaze he was giving me "So what exactly is your plan to find my grandkids?" I realized I hadn't actually put any thought into an actual plan to save them. That didn't stop me from making a fool out of Iron and Crackshot."

I smiled and trotted up to him "Don't worry about the kids. I have a plan to get them out. For now, let's get resupplied and make our way into the subway. Shall we to Jackson's room?"

He scoffed and lead us back to the general store "He's in there. Let me talk to him first." he walked inside and over to what remained of the employee entrance and knocked. Silence, he tilted his head and knocked again "Huh, weird. He's usually very punctual he gets visitors." he finally started to bang on the door. Finally, a griffin charged out and grabbed Heather's father by his foreleg dragging him behind some debris "HIT THE DECK!!!" he cried out which made everyone except Panzer and myself standing on the street. "What's going on?" I managed to ask before an explosion nearly leveled the building and sent me flying into a wall for the second time. But I stayed conscious this time around. I covered my ears with a failing attempt to stop the ringing while my eyes tried to refocus on what had just happened. Everything was blurred and muffled. I felt Heather's talons sliding under my side as she picked me up and held me close to her chest. She kept saying something to me but I didn't hear a single bit of it. I turned my head to find her father pointing and yelling at the new griffin who grabbed him. Anyone could guess it was Jackson. However, the biggest question was this: What the hell was he working on?
My hearing started to clear up, I heard Heather's voice pushing away the haze while she slapped my cheek "Cobalt, come on. Snap out of it." she hit my cheek again before I managed to push her talons away

"I'm fine...." I said while I looked towards the clinic. The explosion took out the windows. Glass scattered everywhere like confetti. My attention to Heather's father and Jackson when the younger griffin dove behind Heather and myself.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think it was gonna go off like that!" The father growled as he grabbed Jackson's hind leg and pulled him out from behind us "You have any idea how much we go through because of your experiments!?"

Jackson yelled as he pulled away and fluttered away from Heather's father "I'm sorry Mr. Greyson! I was trying to make some thermite so we could defend the camp!" Everyone just looked at him as Greyson's jaw literally hung open.

Finally, he growled and grabbed Jackson's shoulder "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!!? It's bad enough we have a Goddamned kidnapper to deal with so we now have you and thermite! What in the world were thinking?" Jackson whimpered and sunk down to the ground "I was trying to make something we could use for traps, cut some materials from the buildings or maybe weapons?" Jackson was a mud colored griffin with the shortest beak I had ever seen. he was genuinely scared of Greyson, Which now I could completely understand why.

Greyson sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose shaking his head "Jackson, I told you I didn't want you working with any kind of materials without someone watching over you. Now, how much of this stuff did you make?"

Jackson started fidgeting "Well excluding the batch I just set off approximately 7, maybe 8 grams of it." Everyone looked at him while Greyson's expression changed to something of being impressed "You made 8 grams of thermite?" Jackson nodded "I've also been extracting phosphorus for some grenades we can use later for later. As well as some flash bangs."

Panzer "Wait, you have flash bangs?" Jackson "Yeah, is that not going to work?" Panzer smirked at him "Are you kidding? If Nameless is in the tunnels we can use the flash bangs to blind his worthless ass. Especially if he's using night vision with his helmet

Jackson "Oh cool. I got some napalm too if you need it."

Greyson "Napalm?" asking with great concern. Which was understandable. Here was a griffin who had the know how to make some very dangerous chemicals and had the resources to do it

"Where the hell did you get the materials to make this stuff?"

Jackson "You can do just about anything with common household prewar items. It just takes a little known how and some imagination."

"Okay, and how did you learn to make any of it?"

"From a book."

I blinked for a second and cocked a brow "A book?" He nodded and went inside of the store "Yeah, wait here and I'll grab it

I shook my head when he went inside "Wow, is he always like this?"

Greyson "Every damn day. Let's get what supplies we can and head into the subway. We're wasting time standing here talking about chemistry" he walked inside followed my Thelma and Heather.

Panzer looked at me and nudged my shoulder with his hoof "You gonna be OK? You've never seen real combat before the twins showed up. Think you'll be able to keep up?" I looked up at him and gave him a heavy sigh "I'm not sure. I don't know if I'll be able to get through this without turning back into him." He cocked his head at me "Him?"

"When I said all that dark stuff back to the bakery? There is no way that was me."

His expression changed to dread when I said that. He placed a hoof on my shoulder "Let's keep that between us. The griffins hardly trust us as it is"

He was right. Thelma alone was ready to kill us. I could feel the eyes of that thing staring from the back of my mind. Waiting for the best chance to snake its way back into control of my body. What is wrong with me? My thoughts were steadily getting darker unil I heard Jackson's voice "I'm back!!" he placed a book on the ground throwing up dust in my face. I coughed a waving it away from my face. It was a thick volume with a grey stallion on the front "Redneck's Guide to Backyard science

I couldn't help but stare at the title. Backyard science did not sound like something that was safe for anypony "Um this is where you got the formula for thermite?"

Jackson nodded "Yeah, all you need a mixture of rust and some aluminum powder. Burns hotter than the sun and leaves one hell of a mark. By the way, if either of you needs to pee I have a collection barrel inside the store."

Panzer looked at him with a weird expression "You're collecting piss? Do I really want to ask why?"

Jackson "I use it to make white phosphorous."

Greyson came out of the clinic "Let's go boys. We haven't got all day." I looked up when his voice caught my ear and he was right. We have those kids to save and we needed to move. I got up and made sure my guns were loaded. I haven't used either one with the exception of the practice shots back in the stable with Brick. I was greatly hoping I would be worth having in a fight. I gripped the Clipper in my mouth and turned off the safety "Ready."

Panzer nodded as he lowered his helmet and loaded a round into his grenade launcher and a round into his cannon. Greyson nodded and lead everyone to the subway entrance. Glitch thrilled and bumped my shoulder. I reached up and patted his head "It'll be okay, boy. I promise." It didn't take much longer to find the subway entrance and begin our descent into the station. I turned on my pipbuck lamp and shined it over the mess of tripwires Thelma recklessly stumbled into before. Thanks to her Nameless had set up several grenade bouquets all along the walls. Thelma groaned muttering to herself, however, I can catch the word idiot. I waved my lamp around as Greyson sighed rubbing his head

"Now what? We left Jackson back at his shop so we can't disarm these things."

Panzer "We may not have to." Everyone looked at him as he pointed to one of the grenades "He likes to taunt his enemies. No doubt some of these are empty shells, but I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of him using a few live ones to make us think he wasted his time."

Thelma "So if anyone hit a live grenade they'd think others were active as well."

"The empty ones would have tempted us to trip the wires on purpose." I had finished for her. This was definitely a trap he needed a lot of time to set up. However, this would have called for more time than we gave him when we left for supplies

"Glitch and I can cut the wires so everyone can pass but we lost too much time going back for supplies. I think we should maneuver through the wires as slow as we can to make up for the time lost." Greyson nodded "I think that it'll be the best route in this case. Watch your gear and your wings everyone." He looked back at Panzer "Your friend might have more trouble getting through than the rest of us."

Panzer "That was a given. I can head back up to the surface and look for a sewer tunnel that connects to the subway."

Thelma "Why would they connect the sewer to the subway? Makes no sense."

Panzer "They may have some maintenance tunnels connecting everything. It was part of underground warfare. Moving supplies from one place to another using the connected tunnels under the enemies nose. Towns like this would be big targets for the Zebra Nations back then."

I looked towards the direction of the college "Where they were discovering and developing new ways to kill each other."

Panzer nodded and nudged my shoulder with his hoof "So I'll see you guys on the other side?"

Heather walked up "Hold on. I'm coming with you. We can make this a two pronged attack. We can ambush him from both directions."

Greyson "That sounds like a plan." he looked at Panzer "Are you sure they have those tunnels here in a small town like this?"

Panzer "Remember what I said about the school? Trust me. The tunnels are real. The Rangers were trained to use every advantage at our disposal. I'm certain Nameless has something in mind if we corner him so be ready for anything." Everyone nodded and we split into two groups. Glitch hovered ahead of our group and bobbed along a nearby wall while we searched for an entrance to the sewer.

Heather walked next to me and nudged my shoulder "I can't thank you enough for helping us."

I looked at her and gave her a soft smile "Don't thank us just yet. We're going to get those kids out first." I saw the tears forming in her eyes when she grabbed me and hugged me like we had been the best of friends. I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I hugged her back.

Panzer looked over at us and shook his head as his hoof hit a pony hole cover "Found one." He kicked his hoof through the thick metal and lifted it into the air "When you two get your bits together I'll be waiting down in the tunnel." He leapt down into the tunnel while Heather pulled away and adjusted her glasses. We heard the crash when he hit the floor

"he's right. We really need to move forward if we are to succeed." I nodded and moved to the hole down into the sewers. I took a deep breath and clicked on my pip-buck light then began climbing down the ladder. Glitch hovered over my head just a few inches so he didn't hit my head on the way down. His jets pouring hot air down on my head which was starting to make me sweat a bit. I quickly wiped my brow before I continued down the ladder. With a quick glance down at the bottom, I noticed the craters Panzer made with his hooves. But he had moved out of sight. Once I was at the bottom Glitch fluttered around the tunnel a bit looking in every direction. He beeped out a couple of times and looked at me. "I don't know where he went, Boy. Let's just keep our eyes opens for anything that might sneak up on us." Heather plopped down next to me then pulled out her shot gun ensuring it was loaded before we continued into the tunnels.

Heather "So where did Panzer waltz off to?" I shrugged before taking the clipper into my mouth and disengaged the safety "No idea. He was already gone when I got down here."

"Psst! Guys over here!" Both Heather and I spun around to find Panzer pointing at a small room "I found a terminal in here. If we're lucky we may find a map of the tunnels and see if they're linked."

Heather walked over to him and looked in the room "Um technology is not my strong suit."

Panzer "No worries. That's why Cobalt is here. He's one hell of a tech pony

I cracked a smile "That's right. There's nothing I can't...." I attempted to crack my neck but it only resulted in sending a sharp pain through my neck making her freeze with the expression of pure agony on my face "Ow! That did not pan out like I thought it would." Panzer facehoofed while Heather covered her mouth giggling. I sighed and made my way over to the office and looked inside.

Panzer tapped me on the shoulder "You're not the cool type Cobalt. Best to stay you." I nodded and flashed my light around. It was definitely some type of office. A few file cabinets, shelves with a few random assortment of tools, and the terminal sat on the desk over against the far wall. Papers were thrown about along with a shattered picture frame. Trotting over I noticed someone had taped a piece of paper on the corner of the screen 'I Am...' was all it said. Two words followed ten blank lines. Was this the password or a reminder to the owner of what their password was? Whatever the case I had to get into it and dig out any useful information we could find. I took the interface plug from my pip-buck and plugged it in bringing up the password selection menu "Okay, let's see what fate has in store for us."

"IT'S NOT FAIR!!!" a voice boomed out making all four of us jump and aim at the door. It was at that time we began to see something truly bizarre. Everything was covered a bright white hue. Everything was distorted and warped. The more I stared at it the more I began to notice it was like a TV screen when you lose the signal. This was like a TV broadcast being projected in front of us.

A stallion charged into the room and rushed over to where I was sitting at the desk. He reached through me like some kind of specter. My heart leaped into my throat while he slammed his hooves on the desk and threw all the papers and the picture frame out on the floor. He hit his head on the desk, tears streaming down his cheeks "That Slut!! I gave her so much! Five years I've spent giving her everything she could possibly want. How could she do this to me!? And our son?" He stomped the ground and charged out of the room "I'll show her who's a damn fool!!"

Panzer blinked and looked at me "What the hell was that!? First, we're dealing with a kidnapper and now we've got ghosts to contend with?"

I shook my head "I don't think that was a ghost. It looked more like it was a projection. Like somewhere was playing a pre-war film in front of us."

Heather looked at the door and sighed a bit "He looked like he had been hurt. I guess he was betrayed by someone he cared about." She sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye "I know that feeling all too well."

Panzer groaned and shook his head "Okay, not trying to sound like a heartless bastard but we need to focus. Cobalt please hack the terminal so we can see if it has a map we can use."

I looked down at the mess of folders on the floor. Brushing the folders aside I found a shattered photo frame. The photo was of the stallion, a young mare holding their foal in her forelegs. Some part of me reached out to this stallion. He may have been dead but he didn't deserve whatever made him do what he did. If I ever found out what she had done was left to be seen. I flipped over the photo. Both their names were written on the top corner 'Sewer Grate and Mud Cake. Married June 3rd' Sewer grate. I am Sewer Grate. The phrase popped into my head, I think this was the password to the terminal. I turned back to the desk and typed in the password. Exact match! Panzer blinked and gave me a blank expression "He used his own name as a password. Goddesses, that was stupid. Anypony with half a brain could have found it."

Heather snickered "If anyone had half a brain back in those days then none of us would be where we are now."

"Hmm, You have a point." Panzer agreed with her as I quickly found a map of the tunnels and downloaded it to my pip-buck. I look up at the screen and traced my hoof along that path that would lead us towards the subway station.

"I think I found a direct route to the subway station. We take the tunnel going to the right at the end of this section and we can cross over into the subway." Looking back at Panzer and they both loaded and checked their weapons. I did the same popping Clipper into my mouth before we left the office. The thought of seeing Sewer Grate's rampage was echoing inside my mind. What had happened for him to become so enraged like that? That was a question for another day. "Glitch, Fly ahead and see if you can spot anything along the tunnels. If I remember from the survival guide we could be running into feral ghouls down here." Glitch gave me a nod and shot forward zooming around the corner.

Panzer lowered his helmet taking point as he marched forward deeper into the sewer. "Let's hope that's the least of the problems we'll be facing down here. With Nameless waiting for us he could have something set up like he did with the tripwires in the subway entrance." He reached up and turned on his headlamp shining it ahead of us. Heather wiped her eyes and sniffed. Her talons had a shaky hold on her shotgun. I looked up and saw the fear in her eyes. Her kids were down here somewhere and we had no idea where they were. Any rational parent would be scared to death at the thought of their children were hurt and suffering or worse, Dead.

I placed my hoof on her arm and smiled to try and ensure her. "It's going to be okay. I promise we won't stop until we get your kids back to you."

Her smile returned and gave a small nod. She followed behind Panzer while I took up the rear. The tunnel was littered with the bones of everypony who tried to escape the fallout from the mega-spells. My gut was starting to roll up in knots from the smell of 200-year-old death. I tried to fight the urge to dry heave. In the back of my mind I knew I had to get used to this if I ever needed to go underground again. Glitch blurted out a random sequence of beeps and blips when he flew up to Panzer. Panzer "You find something glitch?"

He nodded and pointed one of his claws to an open door. "Subway Ticket Booth!" Glitch exclaimed while he bobbed up and down.

Panzer nodded "Alright, so far so good. Did you see the other griffins?" Glitch nodded and opened the hatch on his side. One of Greyson's feathers fluttered to the floor. Heather blinked and quickly picked it up looking it over "Oh God, is he?"

Glitch "No, he's alive. He got held up with the tripwires."

She let out a sigh of relief "Thank God." With a nod, Heather stood up and looked at Panzer "Okay, Panzer stay on point. If we time this right we may be able to end this without a fight."

"Don't forget this is Nameless were dealing with. He may be waiting for us." He stated heading into the tunnel towards the subway station. Along the way, we discovered further evidence that ponies had stayed a long time down below ground. A few tents and several rusted aluminum cans emptied of their contents. Heather kicked one can and stuck her tongue out "How could anyone eat that crap?" "What? You don't like Cram?" Panzer said with a chuckle. "No!" Heather snapped back tapping Panzer's back side with the barrel of her shotgun "It puts my stomach into knots. Heh, my son Gamble, however, eats just about anything you put in front of him."

"How many kids do you have if you don't mind me asking?" I asked her out of curiosity. "Three, Two daughters and Gamble my son. My oldest daughter is Haley. She's an absolute angel. She tries so hard to do more for the family. Then there's my youngest daughter Courtney." She giggled a bit "She's a bit fixated on Princess Sisters. The ones you call your Goddesses. She especially loves Celestia."

Panzer scoffed as he rounded another corner making both Heather and myself to look at him. "What the hell was that about?" Heather snapped at him. He continued to march on giving us a small glance "There are no such things as Gods or Goddesses, deities, or whatever divine beings you believe in. It's all bullshit if you ask me.

Heather "So you don't believe in having faith?"

"The only things I place my faith in are my guns, my armor, and my own four hooves. I don't need some kind of religious beliefs to know I can hold my own in a brawl. Putting too much stock in such things will only set you up to get stabbed in the back." He said with a sour tone marching further away from us.

Heather clinched her shotgun and looked at me which made my heart leap into my throat. She looked at me like I was some kind of prey "So..." She leaned closer to me "What do you think?" I gulped and exhaled before looking her dead in the eye.

"I don't believe it hurts to have a little faith where something happens that can't be explained by magic or science but only to an extent. Any other time you can only rely on yourself. Which is what I think Luna and Celestia would us to do. They wouldn't want us to rely on them for everything

Her expression eased up a bit. She sighed heavily before she continued following Panzer "I'm sorry, I'm not used to dealing with anyone who is a complete atheist but I can't really judge him for that can I?"

"No one can, it'll just lay the foundation of another conflict no matter how big or small. Religious views, money or any form of power have been the most common causes of any known conflict throughout a kingdom's history. Ponies, griffins, and even the zebras have seen their own conflicts within their own borders." I looked at her and saw the saddened expression in her eyes. I reached up and held her hand "This isn't the time for a debate. We need to find your kids. After that I'm going to help you find a home you can settle down in."

She nodded and wiped her eyes "Right. Let's go." We continued down the tunnel until we merger from a door right next to the restrooms and the subway ticket booth. At the stairwell Greyson was hovering in the air holding on to Thelma's hind leg while she worked her gun through the tripwires.

She growled and turned her weapon in all directions so she didn't pull one of the wires "Damn him! I swear I'm gonna shove this thing up his ass for this shit!" She scowled before my hoof hit a tin can making them turn their attention to Heather and I. "Hey blue boy! Come here and give me a hand. My shotgun got stuck in between some of the wires and I can't get it free."

I trotted over and looked at the shotgun. She got the clip on the shoulder strap caught on one of the wires. One good yank and it could trigger a big enough bang to kill all of us. "Glitch, see if you can get the clip off of the wire. That's what is holding her up." Thelma looked at the clip and groaned leaning her head on her arms

"Oh for fuck sake!" Glitch hovered passed her and extended a claw to grab the clip and remove it from the wire without pulling it free.

Greyson and Thelma landed on the floor without making a sound. Greyson looked at me and nodded "Good to see you all made it. Probably would have saved time traveling together. Give this bastard something to think about the next time he tries kidnapping someone's kids."

Heather and Thelma nodded while everyone did a quick weapon check. I raised my hoof to stop them "Hold on! Why not try a more covert approach to all of this instead of an all out gun fight? We could risk putting the kids at risk if one of us takes a risky shot and a stray bullet hits one of them."

The griffins looked at me and then at each other. Heather gripped her weapon tightly "Dad, he's right. Maybe we could try sneaking around him before he has a chance to use them against us?"

"With the size of this station we could find a good vantage point from the support rafters on the ceiling and take him out silently," Thelma added to which Greyson nodded in approval

"Okay, we'll go with the covert approach. Any info you can offer on Nameless, Panzer? You know him a lot better than the rest of us." Panzer reached up and pulled his helmet back "All I can add a point to be careful with his fire. He's a unicorn who can manipulate flames. He's very creative when he has the time to set up traps and other tools which could turn the battle to his favor. If we screw up we're going to have a very bad time on our hooves."

Greyson nodded "Lead the way."

Panzer lowered his helmet moving towards the boarding platform of the subway. As we passed the restrooms I noticed something blinking on the inside of the door. The door was propped open with a small gap between the door itself and the door frame. I leaned closer while Glitch hovered in the air looking down at me and tilted to the side. I didn't need to get much closer to find a laser trip wire was hidden in the stallions restroom. I looked around trying to find something that was connected to it. Too late, the security gates started to lower down behind the others. I panicked and bolted trying to beat the gate. Sadly I wasn't fast enough. The gate closed tightly down on the floor and I couldn't risk yelling to the others to warn them of what had happened. Pulling up my map I searched for another way to get to the platform. There was one way. An air vent which leads from the mare's room to the security office on the upper level of the platform. "Come on Glitch!" We dove inside the mare's restroom and found the vent with no problem. I knocked it in with my power hoof and I crawled inside. I had to thank my mom for giving me a slender frame. Inching my flank through the vent I followed the route I saw on my pip-buck. I hope it was accurate and I was heading towards the security booth inside the station. After a short struggle I reached the end and punched out the vent before rolling into the floor. I jumped up to look out the window. I was just in time. At the top of the stairs Greyson, Heather, and Thelma were whispering among each other while Heather took aim with her anti-matter rifle. Panzer was looking back at the entrance probably looking for me. I turned my attention down the floor. That's when I saw them. The kids locked inside a cage which hung from an industrial sized chain connected to the ceiling. Each of them had lost the feathers on their wings so they couldn't fly, under the cage Nameless had a stockpile of mines situated in small pile. Maybe it was meant to deter them from trying to escape. A trail wires lead from the mines to a workbench, Nameless himself was sitting down on top of the wires with his back turned to the stairs. This was a perfect set of circumstances. He doesn't see the others on the stairs and I'd take only one shot to end all of this. However, my gut was telling me it was too perfect. I watched Nameless for several seconds then slipped into SATS. He moved like anyone else but something was off about him... After everything Panzer said about him. Anypony would think he would have been pre prepared for a fight. Before I released the spell that's when I saw it. Stitches on the side of his neck. This wasn't Nameless! It was a dummy rigged up to look like him.

The panic that shot through my chest made me jump through the window. I was still under the SATS spell watching the bullet from Heather's rifle flying towards the dummy's head. Within the split seconds I had left I made one of the only decisions I could. I bolted for the cage at full speed, the bullet zipped over my back and struck the dummy's head taking it off of the body, the sounds of a pin being pulled echoed in my ears when I jumped into the air and rammed the side of the cage. The bones in my right forelegs snapped on impact, but I hit the cage with enough force to swing it from the mines blast range, however, I was now the one who was receiving the full force of the mines. My body went flying into the support pillar next to the stairs before hitting the floor like a pile of meat. Ears ringing, I couldn't move my body because it felt like it weighed a ton, and it wouldn't be long before I blacked out from the pain. It was official. I had broken my leg. I opened my eyes searching for the kids. Heather and Thelma were pulling them from the cage. Heather crying so happily while she hugged her children close to her chest was a very welcome sight. Greyson joined in grabbing who I assumed was Gamble hugging him tightly. The smile on my face was the only thing I could express before I felt a needle in my side. I flinched and looked up seeing Panzer giving me two doses of Med-x.

"Relax Cobalt." He smiled at me and sat down "You caught us in time. I can't believe he had set a trap like this." He looked over at the family of griffins, his ears went flat against his head "I told her to take the shot. I could have killed those kids. I'm glad." I felt the medicine taking effect pulling me then I was out cold. The last thing I heard was the voice from my dreams "You idiot."