Chapter 18

-- A New Danger --

It was about a day's travel north to reach the research facility. I carried the unconscious pegasus on my back the whole way, determined to get her the help she needed. I didn’t know what compelled me to help this random mare who fell from the sky. Maybe it was to make up for my actions in Sandpit. But I still did not feel remorse for those actions. At least, I didn’t think I did.

Perhaps it was my duty as a Guardian. To help those who need it, without thanks or reward. My thoughts went back to the figure I saw in the rain. Was it only my imagination? Or did the Goddess truly grace me with her presence?

“Shadow, there it is!” Moonlight yelled out.

I looked to where she was flying above us, seeing her hoof pointing in the direction ahead of us. I was glad to see her flying again. She seemed to be in slightly better spirits. Perhaps the urge to help this mare took her mind off her ordeal in Sandpit.

Looking ahead, the facility finally came into view. It was a large rectangular building, Bigger than any single building I had seen in the wasteland. While it only had one story, it covered much more land than the mansion back in Sandpit. Though I felt like it was small for a research facility. I had imagined it would have multiple levels for different research.

“So this is what you were on about? Well I’m afraid I’m gonna have to burst y’all bubbles. This place is locked up tight. No scavenger has been able to get in.” Ratchet said.

“Why is that?” Saskia asked.

“The terminal is different from most others in the wasteland. Can’t hack it. You need to know the password to get in, and it doesn’t give you a list of them either.” Ratchet answered.

That didn’t stop me, as I continued to the facility. Maybe finding that memory orb was the will of the Goddess as well. I wondered what we would find in this facility. Medical equipment and supplies obviously. But what else could EREC have been cooking up in there?

As we made it over the last hill, a loud explosion rang out over the desert. I quickly motioned to the others for us to hide behind a large rock formation. As we got out of sight, I put the mare down next to Moonlight and made my way to the corner of the formation to get a look at what caused the explosion. It was too far to see anything particular.

“Here try these Shadow.” Saskia said from behind me.

I turned to see her levitating a pair of binoculars over to me.

“Excellent. Thank you Saskia.” I thanked her as I took the binoculars in my own magic.

Looking through the binoculars, I saw several ponies near the entrance to the facility. The door had a large black mark on it, probably from the explosion. I could see five ponies, all wearing spiked barding and helmets.

“Raiders.” I said.

“What in Celestia’s name are they doing here?” Ratchet asked.

“Looks like they are trying to blast the door off the facility.” I said, passing him the binoculars.

He took them and got a look for himself. He scoffed, “Idiots. They could put a hundred sticks of dynamite on that thing and it wouldn’t do more than dent it.”

“Others have tried, I presume?” Saskia asked.

“Yeah. Hell even I tried to put some C4 Plastic explosives on that thing. Biggest waste of caps.” Ratchet said.

“Well, if we are gonna get in there, we need to clear them out.” I said.

Turning to Moonlight, “Moonlight, I need you to stay here and look after our patient. Ratchet, you stay here with her just in case there are more of these assholes around. I don’t want her getting jumped.”

“I hear ya partner. I’m on it.” He said.

“Alright. Please be careful Shadow.” Moonlight pleaded.

“I will. Saskia, think you can teleport behind them so we can come at them from both sides?” I asked.

“Absolutely. They won’t see me coming.” She grinned.

“Alright. Just make sure they don’t see the flash from your teleport. I’ll approach and make the first move. Once the shooting starts, let ‘em have it.” I said.

“Understood.” Saskia said before disappearing in a flash of light.

Damn, I wish I could teleport. Stupid horn.
I moved out from our hiding place and made my way silently up to the facility. I moved behind the closest rock to the facility and could hear them now.

“Damn it all! That was the last of the dynamite! Why won’t this stupid thing budge?” A mare yelled.

“Why does the boss want in here so bad anyway? That stupid red unicorn isn’t so tough. Why do we need to do what he says anyway?” A stallion said.

Red unicorn? If these raiders are with the same group that attacked my stable, they could be talking about Saber!

That name set a fire in my veins, making me jump from my cover, Desert Rose up and ready. I fired at the closest raider, the mare that spoke earlier. The shot rang out and hit her in the leg, making her fall to the ground.

“The fuck was that!?” A raider shouted.

Saskia then took her opportunity to attack them from behind as we planned. Bane and Blight unleashed a torrent of bullets, riddling two raiders full of holes. They dropped to the ground dead as the rest finally got to their weapons.

I entered SATS, taking aim at the one I injured before. Two shots to the head. I released the spell, my first shot missing. But the second shot tore into the back of her head. She didn’t even have time to scream before she hit the ground dead.

Two more left.

“Saskia! I want one of these bucks alive!” I yelled out.

I ran towards the last raiders, Venta hovering on one side of me, while my shotgun floated on my other. As I closed the distance, one of the raiders took out a mini chainsaw, like the ones in the stable. I moved to block it with my sword, showering both of us with sparks.

He struggled, but I was stronger. I floated the shotgun right into his face, making his face go pale as he stared down the two barrels.

BOOM!

His head exploded like a melon, showering me with his brains. His chainsaw dropped to the ground, whirling slowly as it stopped.

I turned to see that Saskia had the last buck on the ground, both SMGs pointed at his head.
Walking over to them, I looked down at the raider buck.

“Do you come from the raider group north of here?” I asked.

“Fuck you stripe!” He spat at me.

Saskia hit him on the head with one of her guns, making him yell out another obscenity.

“Where do you come from?” I asked slowly but sternly.

“Alright alright. Yeah we’re from the group up north. Boss sent us here to loot the place for medical supplies.” He finally answered.

“Why?” I asked.

“Cause we needed them. Lots of our boys barely escaped our last job.” He said.

That sentence made my blood boil, “You mean your attack on my stable?”

He looked up at me in confusion, but it soon turned to shock after he got a good look at my barding.

“You… you’re one of them.” He said, his voice shaking.

I glared down at him, and struck him in the face with my hoof. He spat blood on the ground before glaring back up at me.

“Your friend mentioned a red unicorn. Was he carrying twin swords?” I asked.

“Yeah. That bastard has been bossing us around ever since we left that stupid stable of yours. I’ve wanted to put a bullet in him since day 1.” He replied.

“Of that we can actually relate. Saber will die, and meet you in Tartarus.” I said, pulling my sword over his head.

Before he could get another word out, my sword pierced the top of his skull, silencing him forever. Pulling it out, I turned to where Ratchet and Moonlight had been hiding. Calling down to them, they soon joined me and Saskia in front of the large door. The pegasus mare was still unconscious on Ratchet’s back.

“So, they give ya any trouble?” Ratchet asked.

“No, but they did give me some useful information. I now know where the traitor Swift Saber is.” I said.

“That traitor you were looking for? That’s great Shadow. Where is he?” Moonlight asked.

“At the raider base, or at least he was there. No clue if he still is.” I said.

“You are on his trail, that is for certain.” Saskia said before turning to the door.

“But to the matter at hand, how do we intend to open this door?” She asked.

“Not sure of that myself. Explosives don’t work, and as I said, can’t hack the terminal.” He answered.

I started walking up to the door, placing my hoof onto the blackened surface. This was part of the EREC, the very company that was responsible for Stable 100. My ancestors.

“So how ya plan to get in there partner? Wait, your swords can’t cut through solid steel can they?” Ratchet asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I laughed, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Looking around, I found the terminal Ratchet was talking about. Moving up to it, I started it up. Like Ratchet told us, it didn’t give the optional passwords like others had done. It simply asked for a password, nothing else.

Ratchet was now looking over my shoulder, “Yep. Just like before. Ain’t no getting in there partner. Not unless you can magically guess the password.”

I grinned back at him and entered “Silver Moon” into the terminal. After a few seconds, the terminal gave a ping noise and a message appeared on the screen.

Welcome Dr. Gingko.

The door to the facility opened with a look screeching noise that made me and my companions cover our ears. After the door was opened, I turned to my friends who were staring at me with shock. Well, all except Saskia, who simply had the same smile she always had.

“Alright, how is Celestia’s name did ya do that?” Ratchet said, clearly confused.

“Remember that memory orb I found. Right at the end of it, it gave me the password for this facility.” I answered.

He blinked for a second, “Wow, talk about lucky. Well shoot, come on. Let’s see if this place was worth the walk.”

I nodded and we soon found ourselves in what looked like a lobby. A large desk was in pretty rough shape, looking like something had crashed into it. Split in half and caved in. The chairs were all rotted and torn up as well.

The floor however seemed to be made of porcelain tile, which was cracked in several places. Above on the ceiling were lights that had long since gone dark. Either the bulbs had gone bad, or the power was not working. I was hoping the former, considering we needed the equipment in here.

Another terminal was resting on the broken desk, so I moved towards it in hope I could find a map to the facility. Unfortunately, the screen was smashed. No luck.

“Well the place is in pretty rough shape. ‘Bout what I expected honestly.” Ratchet said, walking up behind me.

“Yeah. Terminal is busted. Any ideas?” I asked the others.

“Well let us continue to search around. We may find a map. Or some directions to something useful.” Moonlight said.

“Agreed. But we stick together. This place was a research base, so it probably had a security system. We may find robots, or perhaps turrets.” I said.

Everypony nodded and we started for the first hallway to our left. As we walked through, I didn’t see any signs of automated turrets. But I kept an eye out for any movement. The hallway was pretty bare, with only a few chairs hugging the walls. Several doors lined the sides, so we started to look through them.

The first door on our left led into what looked like an office space. It seemed pretty well intact. The desk was in one piece, with a glowing terminal sitting on it. A bookshelf lined the back wall, with a few books still sitting on it’s shelves.

“Ratchet, check out that terminal. Moonlight, help me search this bookshelf. Saskia, watch the hallway for any surprises.” I said.

Everypony nodded and went to their tasks. Saskia brought out Bane and Blight and stood in the doorway. Ratchet gently put our pegasus friend down on a mostly intact couch, then went to the terminal. Moonlight and I moved to the bookshelf, seeing most of the books in pretty bad shape.

“Find anything in tact Moonlight?” I asked.

“Not yet. It’s such a shame. Books are so rare back home. I would love to see what this facility could offer in terms of medical knowledge.” Moonlight said sadly.

“Where did you pick up your medical skills if I may ask Moonlight?” I asked, curiosity in my voice.

“My mother. She was the finest doctor my people had ever seen. She taught me everything I know. About medicine, and herbs.” Moonlight said.

“She sounds like quite the amazing mare.” I said.

“She was.” She said.

I turned to her, “Was?”

Moonlight looked down and fidgeted with her braid, “She disappeared five years ago. She and my uncle left the colony. I don’t know if they are still alive.”

“Why did they leave?” I asked.

She turned away, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I saw her eyes start to water, and I relented.

“I’m sorry Moonlight. I didn’t mean to pick at old wounds.” I said.

“It’s ok. It’s just so hard. Mother was my idol. I wanted to be just like her. And when she left, she never told me why.” She said softly.

We both went back to the bookshelf, and after a bit of searching, something caught my eye. I pulled out a book that was mostly intact. The cover read “Canterlot Journal of Internal Medicine”.

I passed Moonlight the book, “Here you go Moonlight.”

She looked at the cover and her eyes lit up. She took the book into her saddlebags and continued her search. I continued as well, finding only one more book that was in some kind of decent condition. This one read “Duck and Cover”.

I opened it and skimmed through the pages, seeing information about all kinds of explosives. Mines, grenades, and even some methods of making explosives charges. We didn’t have much training in explosives back in the stable. Only basic knowledge of how to avoid them.

“Hey Ratchet. You should check this book out.” I said, showing him the cover.

He looked away from the terminal and shrugged, “I already have a copy of that. Well I did, before my shack blew up.”

I put the book in my saddlebags and walked over to him. Looking over his shoulder, I saw he was still hacking into the terminal.

“No luck?” I asked.

“Almost got it. It’s being stubborn is all.” He answered.

The terminal then gave off a “ping” noise, signaling that Ratchet had found the correct password. The screen changed to a main page of options.

“Alright, now let’s find us a map.” Ratchet said.

After skimming through the options, we eventually found a map. I downloaded it to my pipbuck and Ratchet stood up, letting me go through the log files we found. Most of them were just daily logs from the doctor who owned this office. Apparently he had a thing for one of his colleagues.

But as I got to one of the last few entries, the date was a week before the bombs dropped. I clicked on it and began to read.

Entry #251

Dr. Gingko has come back to join in our research. I’m glad to have her back. She has this way about her that gets everypony motivated. Shame she isn’t interested in stallions or I’d ask her out sometime.

Back on task, we have a new project coming in. Don’t have too many of the details yet, but the director seems to be adamant about it. Samples of some kind are coming in from the jungle to the east. The directors want us to run some tests and experiments on some kind of plant. Not my field of expertise, but I do love a challenge.

That’s all for today. This is Dr. Celery signing off.

I downloaded the other files to my pipbuck. We had spent too much time going through these and we needed to find some equipment.

“Alright, let’s see what we can find on the map Shadow” Ratchet said.

I pulled up the map on my pipbuck and moved to where Ratchet could see it as well. It seemed this facility was larger than I originally thought. It had two sublevels underneath us. The first floor seemed to be office space and administration. Sublevel 2 was the main research lab, and Sublevel 3 was the reactor and extra lab space.

“Well, if I was looking for surgical equipment, I’d check the main research lab. It’s bound to have the best equipment. What do you think Moonlight?” I asked.

Moonlight came over and looked at the map, “I agree. If we make our way downstairs, we are bound to find equipment, hopefully in good condition.”

“Agreed. Let’s get going.” I said.

“Hold on guys!” Saskia shouted from the doorway.

I moved to her side, “What’s wrong Saskia?”

“Do you hear that?” She asked.

Moonlight’s ear perked up as well, “I hear it too. What is that?”

At first I didn’t hear anything, but then something reached my ears. I focused on the sound, figuring it was coming from down the hallway. It was an odd sound. Almost like, buzzing?

I looked out of the door, turning my head to the left just in time to see something unusual. A large cloud of blue was swarming it’s way down the hallway. It was fast, getting closer by the second. My fur started to stand up and I felt my instincts kick in.

I slammed the door to the office, pulling Saskia away just in time for a surge of electricity to hit the door, sparks flying as the lights in the room flickered. The door stayed electrified for a good minute before it quit.

“What in tarnation was that?” Ratchet asked.

“I don’t know. You don’t see anything like that in the wasteland?” I asked.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. And I’ve been plenty of places.” Ratchet answered.

“Did you get a good look Shadow?” Saskia asked.

“Not really. It was moving too fast. But that buzzing noise, could it have come from that?” I asked.

“Not sure. But we better be more careful now.” Saskia said.

“Indeed. We don’t want to be hit with a surge like that. That much voltage could do major internal damage.” Moonlight warned us.

I carefully opened the door, peeking out to find the hallway empty now. Whatever had come through must have moved on.

“Weapons out everypony. Stay alert. The stairway to the labs is at the end of this hallway.” I said, taking out my shotgun and Venta.

My friends followed me from behind, Moonlight staying close to me while Ratchet and Saskia panned out to cover each door in case anything else was hiding around. Ratchet carried the pegasus mare on his back still, fitting her in place as to not interfere with his battlesaddle.

As we reached the end of the hallway, we turned the corner where the stairs used to be, only to find a pile of rubble blocking the way.

“Damn it! It’s blocked.” I cursed.

Saskia turned to Ratchet, “Maybe we could blast our way through?”

“Yeah and collapse the stairwell while we’re at it. Not to mention that kind of noise will attract whatever is lurking around here.” He answered.

Looking at the map, I scanned around the first floor for another path, and eventually I was successful.

“According to the map, there is another stairwell on the other side of the building.” I said.

“What about that electric cloud thing? Can we get past it?” Moonlight asked.

“We have to try.” I said.

And so we started to head back to the main lobby to make our way to the other side of the facility. The lobby was as we left it, but still I was cautious. This creature or whatever it was could appear anywhere and if it caught us, the consequences could be dire.

We made it to the other hallway no problem, only getting spooked by a rat once. We followed the hallway, until my senses came into full attention once more. My fur stood on end and the buzzing noise returned.

“Inside a room now!” I yelled.

The blue cloud appeared once more on the other side of the hallway, barreling towards us. I went for the nearest door, finding it locked. The cloud was getting closer as I went for the next door, unlocked but the door was jammed.

“Moonlight help me pull it open!” I yelled.

She was at my side in an instant, pulling along with me, the door beginning to budge. Gunshots could be heard, coming from Bane and Blight as Saskia tried to buy us some time. I watched as the cloud seemed to hesitate for a second from the barrage of bullets. But only for a moment.

Soon the door gave way and I pushed Moonlight inside.

“Both of you get inside!” I shouted at Ratchet and Saskia.

I drew my shotgun and unloaded a shot as the cloud came closer. It stopped in the air, looking almost agitated at my attack. Suddenly it gained speed as it closed the distance. Quickly I tried to jump inside the door and slam the door. But I was too slow.

The door shut, but before I could move my hoof off of it, the electric shock from the cloud hit me, sending me flying backwards and onto my back. Back in the stable, we were trained against taser-like weapons. With the right training and fortification of the mind, you could lessen the effect.

I laid there on the floor, writhing from the shock. My limbs locked up and I could not move.

Ratchet came over to me, but Moonlight shouted, “No don’t touch him!”

That made him stop as my friends watched me on the floor, spasming. I focused my mind and tried to filter out the pain and the numb feeling I was experiencing. And after a while, I begin to gain some movement back. I took a breath to try and calm myself down, letting the feeling subside. Five seconds may seem like a short time, but in this state, it can feel like an hour.

I finally got feeling in my legs back and rolled over, trying to catch my breath. Moonlight was immediately at my side, listening to my heart and checking my pulse.

“Pulse is stabilizing. Take deep breaths Shadow, don’t try and get up yet.” She told me.

“Not the first time I’ve been shocked like this. Although, I admit. The tasers back home were nothing compared to that.” I said, still on the ground.

“You sure you’re ok partner?” Ratchet asked.

“I’ll be fine. Just need some time to recover. Whatever that thing is, a direct hit from it will most certainly kill us.” I said.

Moonlight gave me a healing potion despite my insistence I didn’t need one. She was quite persuasive when it came to being a healer. She also insisted I lay there on the floor for another fifteen minutes, just in case.

The office we ducked inside was no different than the other one we found, only the terminal was smashed and the bookshelves were empty. Papers were scattered all over the place. We looked through the broken desk and found a few bobby pins, but that was all. There was nothing for us here.

“We need to move. Sooner we get downstairs, the sooner we can find what we’re here for.” I said, standing up.

The shock hurt, but after what I went through in training, I recovered pretty quickly. I couldn’t sit here any longer. We needed to get this done. Those things were dangerous, and we needed to seal this place up again so they wouldn't escape. If they hadn’t already.

I peeked out into the hallway once again, and once more found it clear. All of us made our way to the end of the hallway, and to our relief, the stairwell was intact and clear. We stayed close to one another as we descended the stairs, and as we did, I was getting this strange feeling like we were walking into something much worse than those electric clouds.

We reached the bottom of the stairs without much trouble, other than me taking the mare on my back to give Ratchet a break. She wasn’t that heavy, and I could hear her breathing peacefully.

The door to Sublevel 2 was locked, but some time with a bobby pin and screwdriver gave us access. Opening the door, I was greeted with a large hallway once more. Only this one was more metallic and had windows lining the walls. I didn’t see anything hostile, whether it be a turret or one of those cloud things.

“Ok, let’s look into these labs and see if we can find any working equipment.” I said.

Getting nods from my group, we made our way through the hall. Peeking into the first room, I saw nothing but a bed and what looked like blast marks. As if something had exploded in there. Possibly an experiment gone bad. This place was supposed to be a medical research facility, yet it didn’t feel quite like one. While there were signs of medical equipment and such, something else had taken place here. Something bad.

I looked into the next room and found something interesting. It looked different than the other rooms, having some display cases in the very back. I opened the door, walking inside and got a closer look.
“Shadow? Find something?” Moonlight asked as she followed me inside.

“Not sure.” I said.

I walked over to the display case in the back, taking a peek inside, I found the weirdest looking rifle I had ever seen. It looked like it was made from random parts. Pipes, an air pump, springs, etc. It certainly didn’t look like much.

Moonlight came up behind me and saw the gun herself, “Why would a medical research facility make a gun?”

“I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t look like much of a weapon.” I said.

Looking over to the desk next to the display case, I found a terminal that was still active. Moving over to it I found a few files that weren’t corrupted.

Opening the first one, it read “Medical Weaponry”.

This is Doctor Xaviera, Log #1

The director finally approved of my project. Finally I can start working on my design. The perfect weapon for a medical trooper. This weapon will grant the medic of any squad the ability to not only defend themselves, but also keep their oath of not taking a life. Most medics prefer to stay in their hospitals and avoid combat. But this must change.

If we are to end this war and save lives, we must be there to help in the field. This weapon will revolutionize the art of alchemy.

As I finished the first log, I moved on to the next one.

Doctor Xaviera, Log #2

The first few prototypes of my creation did not work out so well. At first, I took parts from scrapped rifles that had been brought in, but I soon learned that they would not do. Fresh rifle parts are too hard to come by here, so I had to improvise. Using leftover equipment I “borrowed” from my colleagues labs, I think I have a design that should suit my needs.

Doctor Gingko returned today for another project. Everyone seems excited about it, but I have no time for that. I must complete my work.

Doctor Gingko again, what was this project they brought in? Maybe Xaviera will mention it. I opened the last log.

Doctor Xaviera, Log #3

This is complete! My masterpiece! To Tartarus with those who laughed at it at the board meeting today. Doctor Gingko supported me and that is all I needed.

The Syringer Rifle, a non-lethal weapon that takes the alchemy of our zebra culture and turns it into a weapon. While zebras have used blow darts for centuries, that always had a limited range. With my creation, a medic can hit the enemy from a distance, paralyzing them or even putting them to sleep with a concoction of their own making.

Furthermore, the rifle is silent, no gunpowder or bullets required. Syringes are abundant after they are used for surgery and other operations, and no need to worry about sterilizing if you are hitting an enemy.

At long last, my masterpiece is complete. Doctor Gingko wanted me to assist with the new project on Lv. 3, and now that my duty is done, I care not. This is my last entry on Project Syringer.

After I read the last entry, an option at the bottom of the list of commands appeared. It was to open the display case. I clicked it and the case opened, revealing the pristine rifle, a battle saddle, and a book. I lifted them in my magic, placing them between me and Moonlight.

“A rifle that uses syringes as ammo, filling them with different drugs as a non-lethal means of incapacitating enemies. Fascinating.” Moonlight said.

“It is certainly unique.” I said.

An idea popped in my head and I looked to my thestral friend, “Moonlight, I know you don’t like guns, but I think something like this would suit you.”

Her eyes went wide for a moment before falling back to the rifle, “I… I don’t know.”

“Moonlight, you need to learn to defend yourself. And this rifle was made for ponies like you. Those who do not wish to kill but defend themselves and others.” I said.

She looked to me again, and to the rifle. After a minute of silence, she nodded, “You are right Shadow. I refuse to be useless again.”

Ratchet then found his way into the room, “Hey you two, find anything useful?”

That was when he saw the rifle, “Well now, that is certainly an interesting rifle. Looks like it was hoofmade from bits and parts.”

“One of the doctors here created it. It shoots syringes instead of bullets. Non-lethal.” I said.

“That’s weird. So what we gonna do with it?” He asked.

“I’m taking it.” Moonlight said.

Ratchet looked shocked, “You sure? I thought you hated guns?”

“I do, but this isn’t really a gun per say. And it would be perfect for me, with my background in medicine and such.” She said confidently.

“Gotta point there. Well good for you Moonlight. Want some help setting up that battlesaddle? Looks about your size.” Ratchet offered.

“That would be appreciated. Thank you Ratchet.” Moonlight said, smiling at him.

While Ratchet looked into getting Moonlight strapped into the battlesaddle, I explored more of the room. I found a cabinet and opened it, finding an ammo box full of syringes, all labeled “Joint Lock”.

“Moonlight, I think I found you ammo for that rifle.” I said.

I turned around and saw that she had the rifle placed at her right side, the battlesaddle fitting her quite nicely. She blushed and came over.

“How do I look?” She asked.

“I think it suits you. Here you go.” I said, passing her the ammo.

She took it and Ratchet helped her figure out how to load it as well as the ammo changing mechanism that was built it.

“So what’s in the book?” I asked.

She opened it and smiled, “It’s Dr. Xaviera’s notes on different concoctions for the ammo. These are some fascinating brews. I will have to read this more when we are done here.”

As we three were leaving the room, we heard Saskia shout out, “Hey guys! I think I found something.”

We all saw that she had made her way down to the last door on the right of the hallway. Making our way over there, we all looked inside. The room had a large operation table with monitors and other medical equipment.

“Yes! This is exactly what I need!” Moonlight exclaimed as she tried to open the door.

She pressed the button on the panel, but the door did not budge. Looking back at Ratchet with pleading eyes, he got the idea. He took out a few tools and started to take the panel apart. How earth ponies managed to use tools and work with things like wires at the same time was beyond me. My horn may not work all the time, but I prefer it to using my mouth.

Suddenly, a noise came from behind us. It was a ways off, but enough to make me and Saskia tense and immediately turn to the source. Venta and Desert Rose were out in an instant as my hair on my neck stood up. Something was coming, and it wasn’t one of those clouds.

“Ratchet, keep working. Moonlight, take our patient and stay with Ratchet.” I said.

Moonlight took the mare off my back and moved next to Ratchet, who had started working a little faster.

Then came the screech, a sound that I had heard before. Ghouls.

The feral ghoul came around a corner, staggering and twitching as if it was having a fit. The creature lumbered in our direction, not showing any immediate interest in us. I had thought it would charge at us and alert the rest of the horde, but it just kept walking.

As it got closer, I noticed something different about it. While the ghouls I had seen back at the EREC center had broken skin and bits of fur still clinging to their forms, this ghoul seemed to have twigs growing out of it. Small tree limbs like those you would find on a young tree were protruding from several parts of its body, including the sides, head and legs.

“Umm… is that normal for ghouls?” I asked Saskia.

“No. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” She answered.

The ghoul stopped at the sound of our voices, and let out another screech. Then it lumbered at us faster than before. I took aim with my revolver and fired, caution thrown to the wind as the others no doubt heard that scream. The bullet ripped into the skull of the ghoul, making it scream again as it fell to the ground. It twitched a little before going limp.

Sure enough, five more came from the same hallway, all with the same condition. That could cause something like that?

A question that would have to come later as I fired again, missing. Damn my poor aim. Saskia’s SMGs rang out and unleashed a torrent of bullets at the horde, ripping them to shreds. Three of them dropped while the other two still came at us. Going into SATS, I cued up my last 4 shots to their heads, two for each one. Releasing the spell, my shots rang out. Three of the four shots hit their mark. The two ghouls fell and I needed to reload.

“Shadow, Saskia! More comin from the other hallway!” Ratchet yelled from behind us.

I turned to see another six heading our way. I quickly went to reload Desert Rose as Saskia reloaded Bane and Blight much quicker. She rained down more bullets against the horde and I moved closer to get a better shot as SATS was still recharging. I fired shot after shot, managing to hit a few more. As my gun ran out again, I went to move into melee range. Venta gleamed in the light of the hallway’s dim ceiling lamps as my blade cleaved off the head of one ghoul.

The others came at me and tried to bite me, but my sword kept them at a distance. I then put my revolver away and got out my shotgun, blasting two ghouls in the chest, sending them crashing into the wall and sliding down it with gaping holes in their chests. My shotgun was much easier to reload, but only held two shots. But Venta and Umbra ripped through the horde with little effort.

Suddenly a scream from behind alerted me and Saskia that another horde had sneaked up on Moonlight and Ratchet. I quickly ran in their direction, but the horde beat me to them.

A ping and the sound of a mechanical door opening told me Ratchet had gotten the door to work.

“Moonlight, get inside!” Ratchet yelled.

Moonlight was about to scream and run inside the room, but she instead bit down on the bridle of the saddle. A small “whoosh” sound came from her new rifle. A second later, we say a syringe in the ghoul’s neck. It stopped for a moment, seeming confused before it tried moving again. Only it’s legs seemed to not want to move, as if they were stuck. Then I remembered the label on the ammo box, “Joint Lock”. It temporarily parayzed the target!

Suddenly as the creature fell over in front of Ratchet, instead of growling as the ghouls at the EREC center had done, it hiccupped, yes hiccupped. A bubble coming from its mouth.

Ratchet looked just as confused as I was, not knowing what to do. Then the bubble popped and a cloud of brownish haze came out of it. It hit Ratchet in the face and he started to cough. In his coughing fit, he couldn’t bite down on the bit of his bridle to fire his weapon.

I had reached them by this time and cut off the ghouls head. I took my shotgun and blasted the other two. They crumpled to the floor as I turned to Ratchet. He kept coughing and sat down on his rump.

“Ratchet! You ok?” I asked him.

His coughing started to calm down after a while, “I don’t know. What was that stuff? Never seen a feral do that.”

“Not sure. These ghouls obviously are different than the others we’ve encountered.” I said.

Suddenly, Ratchet froze in place. He looked at me, and orange spots started to pop into place all over his body. He looked at his foreleg and then back to me.

“Shadow, what in tarnation is going on? I feel weird.” Ratchet said.

He tried to get up, but his legs wobbled and he fell. I caught him with magic before he hit the ground.

Saskia came up to us, “Let us discuss more inside. No telling how many more ghouls are lurking around.”

I nodded and lifted Ratchet in magic, taking him inside the room. Closing the door behind us, I moved him to a chair that was still intact. Making sure he was comfortable, I turned to find Moonlight.

She was at the operation table, positioning the pegasus mare comfortably and inspecting the equipment. Her battlesaddle was off now, her new rifle laying not far away against a wall.

“How do things look?” I asked her.

“The equipment has some wear on it, but I think I can work with this. Shadow, do you have any alcohol?” Moonlight asked.

“Yes I do. I take it you wish to use it for sterilizing tools?” I said.

“Yes. If you could please sterilize the tools on the table over there, I can hook her up to the monitor.” Moonlight said.

I nodded and began my task. Taking out the flask that Master Cross gave me, I was a little hesitant to use his famous brew in such a way. But only for a moment. A mare’s life was at stake and I couldn’t afford to be selfish.

With the tools sterilized, Moonlight had hooked up the mare to the monitor, the device indicating a steady pulse. Good.

“Moonlight, before we start with the mare, we need to have a look at Ratchet.” I said.

She nodded and came over with me to where Ratchet sat. He looked worse than before, his mane wet with sweat and his breathing ragged.

“What happened?” Moonlight asked, placing a hoof on his forehead.

“I breathed in some kind of gas from a bubble one of the ghouls spat at me. My head is pounding and I feel so weak all the sudden.” Ratchet explained.

Moonlight’s expression became more concerned, she took a stethoscope she most likely found in this room and listened to his heartbeat.

“His heart is beating irregularly, and his breathing is definitely off. Some kind of pathogen was in that gas. These ghouls might be carriers of something.” Moonlight said.

“So what have I got?” Ratchet asked, his voice growing more worried.

“I have no idea. I’ve never heard of something like this.” Moonlight said.

“Damn. I knew something was up with those ghouls. I shouldn’t have left you two alone.” I cursed.

“Shadow, you cannot be everywhere at once. None of us could have known about this.” Saskia said.

I sighed, “What do we do now?”

“This place was a medical research facility. It must have supplies and records around. I’ll need Med-X, healing potions, tweezers, forceps, and a wing brace if you can find one.” Moonlight said.

I nodded, “Alright. I’ll head out.”

I turned to Saskia, “Saskia, stay here and keep an eye on everypony. I don’t want to leave Moonlight alone when Ratchet can’t fight.”

“Of course.” Saskia agreed.

“I don’t like you going on your own Shadow. But I cannot deny that having Saskia here will make me feel more at ease while I work on my patients. Just please be careful.” Moonlight said.

“I will. I won’t venture far. But I’ll get what you need, and hopefully find out more about this sickness.” I said.

I opened the door to find no ghouls waiting for me, other than the dead ones. I closed the door behind me and went down the direction the first ghoul had come from. Venta and Desert Rose were out and ready, in case anymore of those things were sneaking around.

Strangely, I didn’t find any ghouls. The place seemed empty, silent as a graveyard. But I knew better than to let my guard down. I could feel something watching me, I wasn’t alone.

I found more laboratories, each one holding very few supplies. I did manage to find three syringes of Med-X. That was one thing off my grocery list at least.

What was truly odd was these strange black marks on the walls of some rooms, almost looking like scorch marks. Perhaps a fire broke out during an experiment?

As I continued down the hallway, I came to a fork in the road.

A sign on the wall read, “Security” to the left, and “Stairwell” to the right. The stairs would lead to Level 3, which was not my concern right now. Security on the other hand might allow me to get some information, or at least a more detailed map of the facility.

As I moved down the left hallway, growls came from the darkness. Remembering what happened to Ratchet, I took out a cloth I had found in one of the labs. Wrapping it around my muzzle, I hoped it would protect me from the gas these things spit out.

The first ghoul came charging at me, earning it a bullet from Desert Rose. Two more came through and I fired two more shots. Both shots missed their mark. Damn.

I drew Venta forward, decapitating one ghoul as the other one headbutted me in the side. I was pushed back by the force but the armor in my barding protected me from some of the damage. Desert Rose came up again and fired a shot point blank into its eye socket.

More growls came as more ghouls piled in from the rooms, six in total. I had two shots left in Desert Rose before I needed to reload. So I activated SATS once more, lining up two shots to the heads of two ghouls. Releasing the spell, one shot hit while the other did not. I cursed under my breath and put the revolver away, bringing out Umbra instead.

My sword and dagger made quick work of three of them, but the other true managed to push me back against the wall. I stood there, ready for them to attack, but as the first came at me, my magic sparked and the pain made me drop my weapons.

The pain in my horn distracted me as the ghouls tried to bite at me. One tried for my foreleg, and ended up biting down on my pipbuck instead. Pipbucks were indestructible as far as I was told. The technician said nothing sort of a lightning strike would destroy it.

The second one came around and I was sure I was in trouble, but it didn’t get the chance.

A burst of flame came from the hallway the ghouls came from, the heat intense even at the distance it was. The ghouls turned away from me and to the source of the flames. Out of the darkness of the hallway came a pony in what looked like an environment suit. Thick leather with a mask that had an air filter by the looks of it. Strapped to its side was a flamer.

The ghouls growled and charged, seeming to forget all about me. The figure simply stood there and unleashed another burst of flame at the ghouls. The creatures were engulfed in the fire, screaming as their rotted flesh burned. They fell to the floor in burnt husks.

As the ghouls laid dead, the figure drew closer to me. I collected myself and my weapons, prepared in case this being was hostile.

It stopped about 20 feet away from me, “What are you doing here?”

The voice was muffled by the mask, but not to where I couldn’t understand.

“My friends and I needed medical supplies. Who are you? Why are you here?” I asked.

The figure hit a button on it’s mask, a hissing sound following. They reached for the mask and took it off, revealing something I could not believe.

Though the features had been dulled by time and decay, and the mane on her head had thinned to an extent, the yellow was still visible, as was the pink coat on her face. A face that I had seen not long ago in a memory orb.

“This is my facility. You should not have come here.” Doctor Gingko said, her voice gravelly.

Footnote:

Moonlight, New Weapon: Syringer Rifle.

Author's Note

Hey guys Hades here. Another long wait. Sorry.

This story keeps getting harder for me. But I refuse to give up on it.