Author's Note

GUTENTAG! (I hope that's how you spell it )

The Missing

'watch out for the flyers'

The advice from the Griffons rang in MetalSmith's head.

'They look up... Drop to the ground and find a way around them.'

And that's exactly what he's doing.

Soon after leaving the cottage of Gabby, Cameron, and Tristan, he came upon another group of exactly what he was hoping to avoid. Flyers. This time they were grouped up in the streets of Manehatten. Hundreds, mabey thousands, of these flying monsters that took away MetalSmith's primary method of transportation.

Stepping carefully, trying to reduce noise, Smith makes his way down an abandoned sidewalk. Three more blocks. Turning the corner of an office building, then continuing forward. He can see his destination. Two more blocks.

He can hear them. There must be at least fifty of them. Their breathing is distinct.

Smith peeks around the corner of the street then bolts across it. One more block.

Walking in front of the apartment building across from his, then reaching the corner.

"Please, Celestia, let there be like, two." He preys. Sticking his head around the corner he sees exactly what he didn't want to see.

A horde.

Ducking back behind the building he takes a deep breath. If his apartment building isn't locked than he could make it in with ease. But if it's locked he'll have to fly up and break through a window.

Now or never. He bolts for the other sidewalk. Bad timing. A unicorn walks from the croud and spots Smith. The unicorn snarls loudly, it's horn glowing a death black. Smith feels the resistance on his back leg emediatly. He instinctively pulls on his leg. To no avail. POP! The sound of his leg dislocating.

Screaming in pain, Smith collapses, unable to move. The scream causing the other Trotters look and start his way.

CRACK!!

Looking up in time to see the unicorn's head explode, releasing the grip on his leg. Using his three good legs he hoists himself up.

CRACK!!!

The blood and brain of the closest Trotter now decorated the street. Smith limped towards his building.

Twenty yards.

CRACK!!!

Another Trotter down.

"Almost there!" Smith tells himself. Dragging his dislocated leg behind him, he reaches the door. Bringing a hoof up and placing it on the door, MetalSmith pushes as hard as he can. The door says closed.

Extending his wings and looking up, trying to see his window, MetalSmith is stopped by the sound of the door unlocking and swinging open.

"Come on!" A mare yells. Complying, he hurries in as fast as his three legs will carry him.

CRACK!!!

The bullet wizzes by and breaks something further in the lobby. Flattening her ears, the mare pulls out a radio.

"Hey!!! Watch it Sharp!" She yells into the radio. "That was to close."

Putting the radio away and ushering Smith the rest of the way in, she closes and locks the door again. Turning around, Smith watches an earth pony Trotter turn around and start bucking the doors with it's back hooves.

Startled, the mare that saved him shrieks a bit. Shaking her head she runs forward.

"Come on! Let's get higher." she tells Smith, running towards the stairs. Untucking his wings, Smith flaps, beginning to hover, bringing the weight off his unusable limb.

Making it down the hallway connected to the lobby, the mystery mare opens the stairway door. Smith flys through, followed by mystery trotting through.

"Fifth floor!" She yells to Smith. He flies up, making a short trip. But the mare took a bit, being a unicorn.

Once she made it up to the door, she opened it, letting Smith through. With both through, she closed the for again, watching Smith set down.

"Yo! Sorter!" She yells. A stallion appears from the further hallway.

"Who's this!?" The unicorn shouts, a pistol floating at his side.

"I don't know." She replies, looking at Smith. "But Sharp saved him. That's not something he normally does, so I thought I'd help him out."

Sorter nickers, then motions to them.

"Come on. Doc's over here." He says, then walks back from where he came. Smith looks at the mare curiously. She motions to him, saying to follow her. He nods as she starts to walk.

"Thank you, for opening the door." Smith says, limping behind her.

"Yea. Now, let's get that leg fixed so you can be on your way." She says, opening the door to another apartment. Limping his way in, Smith noticed the room was empty. Save for dining table. But he stayed silent as she led him through.

Soon enough they reached a curtain. Brushing it aside, the mare stood still. Telling Smith to go on through. Nodding, he limped his way into the room. A few cots here and there. Some occupied by sleeping stallions and mares. A few empty. Across the room, sitting at a desk, was a white coated and blue maned stallion.

Behind him, Smith heard the mare whistle, causing the stallion to turn around.

"Yes?" He asks, standing up and walking over. His Cutie Mark a red plus sign.

"Fix him up so he can be on his way." She says, then walks away. The doctor turns to MetalSmith and looks up and down him. Seeing the limp limb, the doc tsks.

"What'd you do?" He asks.

"I had a run in with a unicorn Trotter." Smith responds, a bit uncomfortable with how close the doctor is getting. The doctor turns around and walks over to an empty cot.

"Please sit here. What's your name?" He asks, pointing to the cot in front of him. Smith walks over and sits, causing a serge of pain up his side.

"MetalSmith." He groans. The doctor nods then places his hooves on Smith's thighs.

"Hey! Watch it!" Smith says.

"It's either I do this and help you. Or to drag around a dislocated back leg."

Smith shuts up.

The doctor puts his hooves on Smith's left hip. Feeling the dislocation.

"Okay, it's right here. I'm going to have to pop it back in." He says to Smith. "Lilac!! Please come in here!" He shouts. The same mare who saved Smith walks in.

"Yea doc?" She asks, making her way over to them.

"Hold his back please. And push on him when I say." The doc says to Lilac. She nods. Turning around the doctor grabs a rope. He turns back around to Metal and tells him to put it in his mouth.

"We don't want you biting a hole in your cheek. Or to bite your tongue off." Lilac informs him. Metal nods, biting down on the rope.

"You ready?" The doctor asks. Smith nods. "One, two, three."

POP

"Which one of you is in charge?" Metal asks from the cot. A camoflauge stallion walks in.

"Name's Camo. Now who the HELL let you in!?" He yells, a holster on his front left leg.

"I did." Lilac says, stepping out from behind the doctor.

"Lilac! Don-"

"It's fine, Doc." She says, cutting him off.

"Who gave you authority to let in strangers!?" Camo shouts, stepping closer to Lilac.

"He was being attacked by the horde outside. Sharp killed a unicorn who was taking this one's leg." She points to Metal when saying 'this one.' Camo Huff's, then turns to Smith.

"What the hell do you need before you go!?" He asks angrely. To answer the question, Smith crawls off the cot and stand up, walking over to Camo.

"I need nothing from you. But what I do need it's access to the fifteenth floor. My a-"

"Woah, hold it. You say fifteenth floor?" Camo asks, cutting Smith of. Metal just nods with annoyance.

"Yes. That's where my apartment is. I'm looking for my family." MetalSmith tells Camo. Camo just whistles.

"That's someplace nopony goes. And onypony who was there is dead." He tells MetalSmith."place is overrun with Trotters. Since the rocket hit the side of the building, the flyers took the place over."

MetalSmith sighs, hanging his head. "Could you give me some kind of weapon? I need to get up there. I doubt my family is there, but mabey my wife left some kind of message. Where she's going." And I need my guns. He didn't say that out loud.

"Like I said, nopo-"

"I'm going up there weather you like it or not. It just comes down to weather your sending a pony to his death, or your going to give him a fighting chance." Smith says, Stone Cold expression on his face. Camo stares at Smith for a bit, then growls again. He turns around and starts to walk out the room.

"Somepony give this suicider a knife."

MetalSmith and Lilac walk up to the fifteenth floor door. Camo decided to give Smith a machete, their only one. On the condition that they get it back. Lilac went with Metal, she felt obligated to help him.

"You ready?" Lilac asks, putting her hoof on the door nob. Smith nods, machete in his mouth. "Remember, sound brings 'em to you. And killing one makes the others aggressive." She says, then pushes on the door firmly. It gives some resistance, but budges. Opening with a loud CREAK!

Wincing, the ponies in the door peer into the darkness. Nothing moves, nothing wheezes. It's as if nothing is there.

Stepping forward carefully, the two make their way into the pitch dark hallway. Smith remembers when he left this same hallway at the beginning of the week.

----------Flashback---------

"I hope you can stand yourself!" Swift shouts sarcastically. It's another fight between the supposed to be happily ever after couple.

"Honey! It's my job. I have to do this!" Smith yells, even if he and Swift are in their room, door closed, their son can hear them.

"You don't have to leave every Monday and return every Friday! All we get is two days with you. Then your gone again! Think about Jack! It's not fair to your son that you're gone five out of seven days!" She yells. Smith turns around and closes his suitcase.

"I do have to do this. It's not my responsibility to get you off your lazy flank and find a job. So I will work. And I will provide for this family. Now, despite that I'm loving this conversation, I'm late already. Have a nice week, Swift." Smith says, contempt filling his voice.

Swift had nothing left to say.

The snarl. It's not easily mistaken. And it sounds as if Camo was right. The snarling was loud and had a ton of bodies taking part in it.

"Shit..." Smith says to himself. They continue to walk until stopping at a corner. The Trotters are right around the corner.

"Where is your place?" Lilac asks from behind Smith.

"Id prefer a dinner first, darlin'." Smith says over his shoulder. Swift's silence shows Smith her lack of enjoyment in the joke. "It's in this hallway."

"Convenient." She sighs, walking over to Smith's side. "I can light the hallway so you can find it. But only for a small amount of time. The Trotter's eyesight sucks, but not enough."

"Okay. Well, now or never." He says, sighing.

Nodding, Lilac's horn glows red, enough for the two to see. Turning into the hallway, they see the bunch of Trotters. Smith's eyes scanned the hallway until he could make out the numbers on the door.

"There." He points. Lilac nods, killing the light.

"Remember." Lilac whispers. "It's sound."

Smith nods to himself, then quietly walks towards his door. His jaw tightening around the machete every time the floor creaked under his or Lilac's hoof.

BUMP!

Smith hits his head on the door. Lilac running into his flank.

"Go! Quickly!" She whispers. The snarling getting slightly louder.

Not wanting to draw any more attention, Smith doesn't respond to Lilac, instead he opens the door. Light floods into the hallway. Panicking, MetalSmith runs into the room along with Lilac, then slams the door shut. Both panting from adrenaline.

"Dammit." Smith wheezes out.

"Well, better hurry up and get what you need. Looks like we're leaving through the hole in the wall anyway." She says, pointing to the giant hole taking up half of the room. And most of the adjoining apartment. Smith nods, looking around his wrecked former home. The couch overturned, mail and other papers stuck and matted to the floor. Holes from both magic and hooves scattered the walls. Plates and cups shattered around. The rug slightly torn up from the floor.

"Somepony had a fit." Lilac giggles, observing the destruction.

"Yeah, Swift had a temper." MetalSmith says sadly. 'I wonder if it's still there.' he thinks to himself.

Turning to the hallway, Smith makes the machete at home in the sheath on his left side. Walking down the hallway he catches a glimpse at his son's bedroom. Not wanting emotions to hit him, he continues to his and Swift's room.

Entering The room, sees his mattress, but not the pictures on the walls. Or some of the decorative hairlooms.

Thanking Celestia that his wife and son got out of there, he heads for the bedside cabinet. Sitting on his haunches, Smith breaths deeply. 'please Celestia. Let it still be here.' Closing his eyes, he swings the doors open. Opening his eyes he sees it.

44 Mag. Still in is forearm holster. Smirking, he picks it up with his hooves. Looking it over, he sees the name he gave it carved into the wood mouthpiece. ' LIL RELIABLE '.

Placing the holster into his right foreleg, he heard Lilac holler from what's left of the living room.

"MetalSmith! I think this is for you!"

Curious, he gets up and makes his way over.

Walking into the living room, he looks at Lilac on the corrected couch. He heads over to her.

"I found this on the counter." She says, pointing to the note on the couch. Smith trots over and reads it.

MetalSmith,
Please, make your way to Canterlot. Celestia is taking ponies in at the castle. Hurry and she might t

The wall just blew up. Jack fell. Rebar pierced him. He's snarling now.

I need to go to Canterlot.

"Hey. We need to get going. You've been sitting there for a good half hour. Let's go." Lilac tells him. Smith wipes his face of tears and nods. He gets up from his laying position and walks over to the hole in the wall.

"Come on." Metal says in a surprisingly neutral tone. "I'll carry you."

Lilac nods and walks over. Smith extends his wings and jumps into the air. Lilac walks over so she's directly under him. Lowering some, Smith puts his forelegs around her body and pulls her up. Adjusting until he's satisfied he won't drop her, he starts to fly out.

Once clear of the building he turns around to watch the building on the way down. Then, one floor down, he spots it.

A bloody piece of rebar sticking up from the concrete wall. The green and orange colt Smith knows as his son, at the base of the rebar, snarling and growling.

Tears breaking from MetalSmith's eyes.

Lilac falls.