Chapter 24

– Hunted –

Stable 59, overgrown and overrun with plant life to the point the door would never close again. I didn’t know what to expect from a different stable, much less an abandoned one. What could be waiting for us in those halls?

“Hey Shadow, you ok?” Meadow asked.

I shook my head, “Sorry Meadow. Yeah I’m alright. Just nervous I guess.”

“Nervous about going into a stable that’s not yours?” Meadow asked.

“Yeah. Just feels weird, seeing a stable reduced to this.” I said.

“I understand. But don’t worry, I’ll be right by your side. All the way.” Meadow said, smiling at me.

“Thanks Meadow. Now come on, Moonlight needs us.” I said, giving her a smile back before moving forward.

We both moved towards the door, the vines and plants making it a bit awkward to walk around. I almost tripped on a smaller vine that was obscured from view by the grass. I could hear Meadow giggling beside me.

Looking over at her, I saw her walking through the foliage unburdened by the terrain. She just moved as if nothing could stop her.

“How are you moving so freely?” I asked.

“Oh, this is nothing. Mom told me we Kirins can walk anywhere. I can move so silently and smoothly that I wouldn’t even disturb a single blade of grass.” Meadow said proudly.

“Wow. The books back home didn’t have that much detail on the Kirin. I’d love to know more.” I said.

“Well, let’s make it through the scary stable and I might tell you more.” Meadow said, walking past me towards the door.

I caught up with her right at the door. I peeked into the opening very carefully, looking for any sign of movement or life. As I scanned the area around the entrance, nothing seemed to strike me as odd. I could see no movement. But the place was a mess. The plants had covered the walls and desks. Equipment laid broken and destroyed on the floor. Even the panel for opening the stable was completely taken over by the vines.

“See anything?” Meadow asked behind me.

“No. If there are any creatures still alive in this place, they would be further inside I imagine. Come on, let’s find that terminal Artemis talked about.” I said.

We moved inside through the opening, the terrain feeling just as awkward for me, stepping around vines and other stuff. But the metal underneath gave a more familiar sensation. Like back home. It made me feel nostalgic. I’d left the stable weeks ago, and yet, it didn’t feel like that long ago.

Getting my head back into the present, I soon found a room off to the side of the door. Inside was a glowing terminal, just as Artemis had told me. Moving to the device, I sat down in front of it and pressed a button. The machine came to life and lit up, the familiar green glow of the screen got brighter and displayed several options for information.

“Think this thing can tell us where our snake is?” Meadow asked.

“I believe so. Let’s take a look.” I said.

I started to look through all of the information on the computer. It had several sections, including supply lists, personnel files, and a reminder for a bake sale going on for Hearth’s Warming. And on the next line of text was just what I was looking for, a list of specimens for preservation. I pressed the option and got a long list of creatures that were brought to the stable. Some creatures I recognized, such as manticore, timberwolves, and cockatrices. Others I did not recognize, what in Tartarus was a parasprite?

And near the bottom of the list, I found what I needed. One basilisk, Level 4.

“Got it. It was on Level 4. Surely the corpse is down there.” I said.

Meadow looked over my shoulder at the screen, “Looks correct. Let’s hope the elevator works.”

I nodded and was about to get up before a thought occurred to me, “Hang on.”

I browsed through the files looking for a map of the stable. But when I clicked on the map option, all I got was “File corrupted”.

“Damn. Guess we will have to hope this place is similar in design to my stable.” I said.

“It was a good idea. This place must be a labrinth.” Meadow said.

We both left the room and went towards the only exit, towards the back of the room just across from the stable door. The door opened without issue and we stepped inside. But just as we did, something made me turn around and freeze. The hairs on my neck were standing on end, my muscles tensed in anticipation.

“Shadow what’s wrong?” Meadow asked.

“I thought I sensed something nearby. Like we were being watched.” I said.

Meadow took a step back into the door room and looked around, ears folded up listening for any sign of life. After about a minute, she lowered her ears and turned back to me.

“I don’t sense anything Shadow.” She said.

I took a deep breath and started to calm down, “I guess I’m being paranoid. This stable is giving me the creeps.”

“Same. So let’s keep going. Sooner we find the Leviathan Tongue, the sooner we can get out of here.” Meadow said.

We both nodded in agreement and continued on our way.

The stable was in rough shape, vines and plants growing all over the walls. I wonder what kind of plants they were growing in here to make this place become so overwhelmed. What happened to all the ponies that lived here? Where are all the creatures that were supposed to inhabit this place? Are some of the creatures out in the swamp from this stable?

So many questions, but no answers so far.

The hallway had some rooms that were closed off by the vines, but a few rooms were accessible. Taking Ratchet’s teaching to heart, I ventured into the first room that I could access through the foliage. It looked to be a storage unit. Boxes and lockers adorned the walls of the space. Meadow and I took a side to scavenge through, but came back with very little. Whoever was here last must have picked through a lot of this stuff. Some bobby pins, a few pre war bits and a clipboard were the highlights of this room. Honestly, I wondered if Ratchet truly knew what he was talking about?

The next room wasn’t much better. All it contained was another glowing terminal. Having nothing better to do while Meadow searched through the filing cabinet, I sat in front of the terminal to see what I could find.

Most of the files were corrupted, no clue why. I had very little understanding of pre-war technology. What little I knew came from Master Zala’s lessons on information gathering. And that wasn’t more than hacking into terminals more or less.

But there was a journal entry, and according to the date, was shortly after the bombs fell. Curiosity got the better of me, so I clicked on it.

Journal Entry #1
Dr. Fauna

So, the door has been closed for three days now. Contact with the outside has ceased and the animals are all ours. It’s gonna be a lot of work, but I’m sure our ponies can handle them. I’ve been a veterinarian for several decades now. Fluttershy herself chose me for this honor. I’m glad she didn’t make me the Overmare, but I also wish she could have chosen somepony better. That Proper Sentiment is so jaded.

But she doesn’t bother me all that much, so I can take care of my animals without her nagging. So many wonderful creatures down here. So many that I haven’t even had the time to count them all. I can’t wait to spend all my time with them. No more bills, no more war.

Well then, this Fauna sure sounded like she was excited for her time down here. Maybe this stable wasn’t so bad.

“Find anything Shadow?” Meadow asked, having finished her search.

“Just a journal entry from some doctor. Nothing useful.” I said.

“Let’s continue down the hall and find an elevator.” Meadow said.

I nodded and we both continued down the hallway. No more rooms to explore, so we just kept going. As we turned the corner, I smiled at the familiar sight of an elevator door. I ran towards it and pressed the button to open the door. It opened and I heard Meadow utter a little, “yes.”

We stepped inside and as I pressed the button for the 4th Level, nothing happened. I pressed it again and still nothing.

“Oh come on.” I said.

“What’s wrong with this thing?” Meadow said, pressing her hoof to every button.

“Must be a blown fuse or something. Looks like we’re gonna have to take the stairs.” I said.

“Ugh, I hate stairs.” Meadow said, groaning.

Suddenly a low growl came from outside the elevator, the door never closed so we were basically trapped in a small room. We slowly turned to see a large black cat had put itself right in front of the door. The cat was bigger than I was, with large paws and yellow eyes that stared at us with hunger.

We made no moves, trying to think of a way to deal with this new threat. We had very little room and if this thing pounced, we would have maybe a second to respond. I thought about it, and I knew what I should do.

I lit up my horn, and that caused it to pounce.

My sword flew out of its sheath and stopped the beast’s jaws as it pinned me against the wall of the elevator. Its strength was great, but I held it there as it tried to swipe at me with its paws. I looked to see that Meadow had gotten out of the elevator and was currently pointing her bow at the creature.

I pushed at the beast with all my strength and managed to get it off me enough to grab Umbra from its sheath and stab it in the heart. The beast roared in pain as I stabbed it, flailing its paws sporadically to try and hit me. One claw managed to scrape off the armor plating on my barding before another stab of my blade made it go limp.

I pushed it off me and tried to catch my breath. That thing came out of nowhere.

“What is this thing?” I asked.

“Looks like a panther, but a lot larger than it normally is.” Meadow asked.

“Must be one of the creatures they kept here. Radiation must have leaked in here at some point and changed their anatomy.” I said.

“I don’t think so. It doesn’t look like it’s mutated.” Meadow said.

“So, what do you think happened to it?” I asked.

“No clue. Maybe we’ll find some answers further inside.” Meadow said, looking to the hallway.

I nodded and we continued down the hallway once again. There had to be a stairwell close by. If this stable was anything like mine, it should be around the next corner.

Sure enough, as we rounded the corner, there it was. The door to the stairwell was laying on the ground, most likely knocked over by an animal. Maybe even that panther I killed. I really hope not everything in this stable was that big. Or worse, bigger.

I stepped into the stairwell, looking down over the rail to see the state of the lower levels. Most of the stairs were intact, with some vegetation growing on them. Not thick enough where it impeded our progress, but enough to trip you if you weren’t careful. I walked ahead, taking point as Meadow watched our rears in case another beast was sneaking up on us. Level 4 is where we needed to go, and these stairs should go down all the way.

As we reached Level 2, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end again, but I couldn’t tell why. I didn’t see or hear anything, but the feeling persisted. And as I took the next step, my hoof fell on something that wasn’t a vine or metal. Rather, it was sticky.

I looked at my hoof and found that it was stuck on some kind of substance. It was sticky and as I pulled my hoof back, the substance pulled back with it. My hoof was stuck to this stuff, and I couldn’t get it out. As I pulled at my hoof trying to free myself, I looked around and found that substance was covering everything. The stairs, the door, and the walls. It was then I realized what this stuff was.

“Meadow! Get me out of here quick!” I shouted.

She ran to me, “What? What’s wrong?”

“We need to move! Help me get my hoof out quick!” I yelled.

As she got out a hunting knife from her saddlebags, a chittering noise came from below us. As she cut my hoof free, we saw large legs coming from the railings. We both froze as multiple eyes stared at us as the creature emerged from the lower level of the stairwell. Black and red adorned its body as it stared at us, a huge abdomen that took up a lot of room towered over us. Mandibles and fangs glistened with venom snapped at us and the beast let out a roar.

“Spider!” Meadow screamed.

The beast lunged at us, making us jump back from its fangs. I pulled out Venta and stood my ground against the creature. How in Tartarus does a spider get this big!?

I slashed at the beast’s mandibles as it lunged again and my blade bounced off. This thing had a tough exoskeleton, I needed to think more carefully about my strikes. But at least my blade could deflect its attacks. The worst part of this was the fact we were in such an enclosed space. A perfect lair for a spider of this size, as its prey would have little room to fight back or escape.

An arrow of magic flew at the beast, getting one of its eyes as it reared back in pain. I looked back to see Meadow looking scared but her bow at the ready. Close quarters would be a bad idea, so I took out Desert Rose instead. Going into SATS, I lined up two shots to its head and released the spell. Both bullets hit home and the beast reared back and crawled further away. The door to Level 2 was now clear of the spider. We couldn’t stay in this stairwell and fight it. We needed to have room to maneuver.

“Come on! This way!” I shouted.

Meadow followed me towards the door to Level 2, but it was covered in webs. I could hear the spider chittering as it climbed back up the stairs to us. I lit my horn and used my fire spark spell to catch the webs on fire, trying to burn them away enough to open the door. It worked well enough and with a tug of my magic, the door flew open.

“Meadow, this way!” I yelled.

I jumped through the door, feeling the heat of the flames that were still burning the webs. I landed on my hooves and turned to see Meadow still in the doorway. She had a look of terror on her face, but she wasn’t looking at the spider. She was staring at the flames around the door.

“Meadow!” I yelled.

She didn’t seem to hear me, she just stood there in a daze. The spider was right behind her now. She didn’t even seem to hear it as it clattered towards her.

I grabbed Meadow in my magic and pulled her through the doorway, throwing her behind me as I fired another bullet into the spider as it stood in front of the doorway. It was too large to fit through the door, but I didn’t want to take any chances. My bullet hit another eye and it fled back into the stairway. I slammed the door shut as the flames started to die down and took several breaths. That was close.

I looked back to Meadow, who was on the ground in the fetal position. She had sweat running down her brow, like she was having a panic attack.

I walked over to her slowly, “Meadow, are you ok?”

She didn’t answer, she just shook like a leaf in the wind.

“Meadow.” I said a little louder.

That seemed enough to snap her eyes to me, and for a moment, I thought they looked pure white, like she had no pupils.

But they quickly returned to their original amber golden color.

“What happened back there?” I asked.

Meadow slowly got to her hooves, “Sorry. The spider just freaked me out.”

Her voice was distant, like she wasn’t fully over the feeling that just washed over her.

“You weren’t even looking at the spider. What’s going on Meadow?” I asked.

“None of your business!” Her voice said, but something else too. Like there was a distortion.

I backed up, not knowing what had set her off but I could tell she needed some space.

She seemed to realize that she had snapped and quickly took several deep breaths. When she seemed to regain her composure, she looked back at me.

“I’m sorry Shadow, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Thanks for saving me.” Meadow said, trying to smile at me.

Her smile may have looked genuine, but I knew enough about hiding emotions that I could see something beneath the surface. She truly was scared about something. But what could it have been?

“Anyway. We’ll need to find another way to the lower floors. I’d rather not deal with that spider again.” Meadow said, turning towards the hallway.

“Right. My stable had two stairwells on each side of the levels, so there might be another one on the other side of this level.” I said.

Meadow nodded and we started down the hallway. Hopefully the next set of stairs will be spider free.

This level was larger than I originally thought. The vegetation had grown over things here too, seeming to spread upwards and outwards from the floor. Where were they coming from?

We had been walking for a good half hour and still it seemed like we weren’t getting any closer to the other side. We had looked in some offices, but they had nothing to share. Not even any terminals.

There weren't a whole lot of rooms. More just long hallways with the occasional room full of cages. Judging by the size of the cages, these were the smaller animals. They probably wanted to keep the larger beasts on the lower levels in case they got out. Though judging by that panther we saw near the entrance, they must have found a way up.

“This place is huge. How many creatures did they have down here?” Meadow asked.

“Not sure. I didn’t look at all the terminal entries. I’d say a whole lot. I’ve read that Ministry Mare Fluttershy was a big animal lover. I wonder if she funded this stable with her ministry?” I asked.

“Who knows? But something else is bothering me.” Meadow said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Where are all the staff? Shouldn’t there be some pony skeletons or something?” Meadow asked.

That was a fair point. We hadn’t seen a single pony corpse or any sign of the staff since we got inside. Where did they all go? The beast didn’t eat their bones did they?

“Maybe they all left?” I questioned.

“Maybe. But why?” She asked in return.

We both looked at each other and shrugged before carrying on. I eventually saw another wall on the far side of the hallway, with a sign saying “Stairs” in faded red letters. Meadow and I were relieved to have found it, but as we started towards it, a noise rang out. A scream.

I pulled Meadow into one of the rooms and peeked my head around the edge of the door to see what was happening. A dirty brown unicorn was running in a panic, hitting the wall as he didn’t bother to turn the corner. He turned back towards the direction he came from and blasted a bolt of magic. Meadow tried to come around me but I pinned her to the wall with my foreleg.

I shushed her and looked back at the pony. He was going pale and fired another bolt of magic down the hallway. This time it hit the floor where I could see it. What was he doing?

Suddenly, I could hear something. It sounded like… footsteps? Really heavy footsteps.

The pony fired again, but this time it hit the wall. Then he started firing blindly, one bolt veering off so much it nearly hit me down the hallway. I ducked into the room to avoid getting hit. And after a few seconds, the bolts stopped. I peeked out the door again and what I saw made no sense.

The unicorn stallion was hovering in the air, but he wasn’t using magic. His horn wasn’t lit, but there he was, hovering with his body straight up and down and pinned to the wall. He looked like he was choking, was there somepony else there? I couldn’t see anything.

And then, out of the blue, his throat spewed blood all over the walls, seemingly from a slash to his throat. But there wasn’t anything there. He gurgled as he drowned in his own blood before going limp and dropping to the floor. This sight spooked me so much that I jumped back into the room and grabbed Meadow, holding my hoof to her mouth. She could still breathe through her nose but she couldn’t make a sound. She struggled at first until she saw my terrified expression, and then heard the footsteps.

Thump, Thump, Thump

Something was coming down the hallway, and I had no idea what it could be. I was too petrified to move. I felt such shame. Guardians weren’t supposed to be afraid, but something about this situation demanded fear. The footsteps kept going until they sounded like they were right outside the door. Then they stopped.

My heart was beating faster and faster in my chest as the silence went on. Whatever killed that pony was right outside. Did it know we were here? I could feel Meadow trembling in my hooves. What should we do?

Then, the footsteps started again. They moved faster than before and the presence of whatever that was just vanished. I let Meadow go and we both had to take deep breaths to calm ourselves.

“What was that?” Meadow asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s dangerous.” I answered.

“But what was it? Is this stable haunted or something?” Meadow asked.

“I don’t know. What I do know is that we need to keep moving. Sooner we find the herb, the sooner we can get out of here.” I said.

“I’m all for that. Between the spider and whatever that thing is, I’ve seen enough of this place.” Meadow said.

“Agreed. That stallion might have come from a stairwell. Let’s try looking down the hallway.” I said.

We moved out into the hall and towards that poor stallion. His body was laying limply against the wall, throat torn clean. I looked closer and noticed something strange. His horn was missing. It looked like it was cut off with a very sharp object, clean and perfect. As if perfected with practice.

Why would this thing take a pony’s horn?

“Shadow, I think I found the next stairway!” Meadow shouted from down the hall.

I closed the poor pony’s eyes and said a prayer to The Goddess Luna to guide his soul to paradise. I didn’t know him, but he couldn’t have deserved to die like that. I moved towards Meadow’s voice and indeed found a staircase to the next level. We walked inside carefully, not taking any chances after the spider encounter.

I sensed no presence inside, and after a quick look around, I found nothing. Meadow didn’t seem to be on edge anymore, so the danger was gone. For now.

“Let’s head down. See how far these stairs go.” I said.

“You don’t think they’ll go all the way down?” Meadow asked.

“Doubtful. My stable had several stairwells, and not all reached the bottom levels. This stable has less levels, but could still have that same idea.” I said.

“Damn. So much for a straight shot.” Meadow said, her shoulders slumping.

“Don’t let it worry you too much. That thing is upstairs, so if we can get what we need and find another way back to the top floor, we can avoid a fight.” I said.

“Good idea. Now let’s find that herb.” Meadow said.

We continued down the stairs towards Level 3, not knowing what would come.

As the door to Level 3 came into sight, my fears were realized. The stairs stopped and did not continue onto Level 4. We would have to find another set of stairs.

Meadow moved towards the door and gently opened it with her magic. As the door opened, the lighting of the level seemed brighter than normal. And I could swear I felt warmth, like the heat of the sun. We stepped out into a large open room that looked like a forest. Trees stood tall all the way up to the ceiling, with large shrubs and bushes big enough to hide a pony easily.

A closer look at the walls and ceiling revealed that the roots had penetrated the metal after all these years and spread upwards. This might be the source of all the plants on the upper levels and the entrance. How were these plants getting nutrients way down here?

“This place is amazing. It’s almost like we’re back outside. How did they do this?” Meadow asked.

“Not sure. Perhaps they have an irrigation system down here. Pumping water from underground reservoirs or water talismans maybe.” I said.

“And that light, it feels like sunlight. I haven’t felt anything like it since I was in Olympia.” Meadow said, closing her eyes and basking in the glow of the lights.

“Oh? What do you mean? Doesn’t the cloud cover block out the sun 24/7?” I asked.

“Not in Olympia. Lord Zeus and his family kicked out the Enclave and tore up the cloud layer over the city. It’s one of the only places in the Wasteland you can actually see the sun.” Meadow explained.

This Zeus was sounding more and more impressive with every detail I learned. He seemed like a strong leader. I wouldn’t mind meeting him one day.

“Anyway. How are they making sunlight down here?” I asked.

“No clue. Magic I guess.” Meadow said, shrugging.

I shook my head, “No matter. We need to find the stairway down.

She nodded and we were both off again. The forest was much easier to navigate than the jungle outside. No huge tree roots to jump over, no bogs, no quicksand, and no giant toads. Thank the Goddess.

As we came to a fork in the road, we found a sign with two arrows. Written on these arrows were two locations. “Security Station” and “Observation Platform”.

“Hmm, which way do you think the next stairwell is, Shadow?” Meadow asked.

“No clue. The security station should have a map of the area though. If we’re lucky, maybe the cameras still work.” I said.

“Good idea.” Meadow said.

So we went left, towards the security station. If it was anything like ours back home, we should find something useful.

After about 10 minutes of walking, we found the door to Security, and it was locked. Of course it was. Looking at the door, the lock seemed pretty standard. Master Zala had us pick these door locks all the time back home for training. This should be easy.

“Hang on. I can pick the lock.” I said.

Floating out my bobby pins and screwdriver, I began to work on the lock. It was tough, as should be expected from security. You didn’t want to make it easy for just anyone to pick it. That would be a disaster waiting to happen. As I started chuckling at the memory of myself once picking the lock of Chief Onyx’s office, I broke a bobby pin. Dammit.

I nearly flinched and looked over my shoulder, looking for a clipboard to whack me in the back of the head, but Master Zala was not behind me, only Meadow. You know, maybe I had some issues.

But after a bit of time with my second bobby pin, the lock clicked and the door opened. Take that Chief Onyx!

“Wow. I’m impressed, Shadow. You’re not some master thief are you?” Meadow chuckled.

“Of course not. I’m a spy.” I said jokingly.

That made her break out into laughter. I soon joined her as we walked into the room. When we could see clearly past the tears in our eyes, we saw that the place looked pretty well intact. The clutter of junk and broken stuff was significantly less than in other parts of the stable we had seen. A door rested on the back wall, “Storage” written on it.

“I’ll check in back. Are you good with checking the cameras?” I asked.

“No problem. I’ll look through the desks too and see if I can find anything useful.” Meadow said, walking up to the monitors on the far wall.

I walked to the Storage door and opened it with ease. I honestly expected it to be locked. Looking inside, I saw storage lockers lining the back wall. Jackpot.

Moving swiftly over to them, I opened the first one and found a sparkle cola. Unopened and seemingly still good. I put it away in my saddlebags and moved to the next locker. I immediately closed it with a bright blush on my face. What kind of pony keeps photos like that in their locker? Have they no shame?

Moving quickly over to the next one, I opened it much more slowly and looked inside. A small book greeted me, sitting comfortably on the metal rack inside. I picked it up in my magic and looked it over. It had a lock on it, so I could not open it. The lock was the kind you couldn’t pick. I needed the key, and I couldn’t see it inside the locker. Well maybe I will find the key later. I put it in my saddlebag.

And the final locker stood before me, I reached out with my magic and tried to open it, only to find it locked. Damn. I took out my bobby pins and screwdriver and got to work on the lock. This one was even more stubborn than the door was. Snap!

“Dammit…” I muttered to myself.

I continued to work on that lock and after about 10 minutes of effort, I had lost 5 pins to this damn thing!

“I will get you open, you hunk of junk!” I exclaimed.

Another 5 minutes passed and I was getting really annoyed. I had gone through 7 more pins, and I was down to my last one. Part of me was saying to stop and save it for another time, but that part was swiftly drowned out by my frustration, constantly yelling in my ear, “I WILL NOT LOSE TO A LOCKER!”

And with that inner rant, the lock finally gave way to my strength and determination. I thanked the Goddess Luna for her grace and opened the door to reveal my prize for my efforts. A large case was sitting comfortably inside the locker, made of fine wood and plastic. I gently levitated it out and sat it on the bench inside the room. Opening the latches with my magic, I nearly jumped for joy at what I saw.

A lever action 20 gauge shotgun, looking brand new sat inside the case. It looked undisturbed from the many years it must have sat inside the locker. I lifted it out with my magic and held it in front of me. It was beautifully crafted. The stock looked smooth and bright in the light of the room, the metal of the gun black as night. This beauty looked like it hadn’t been fired at all.

I looked over to the locker and found some 20 gauge shells sitting inside. I took several and began to load my new gun. It held 5 shells and one in the chamber. After loading it, I pulled the lever and heard that sweet sound. This was one of my favorite weapons back during my firearm training. Sure pumps were also great, but something about these weapons always made me feel more comfortable.

I held up my new shotgun and saw it had sights. Though you normally don’t need to aim with a shotgun, it was a welcome feature.

I walked into the front room of the Security station, levitating my new weapon for all to see. Meadow looked back at me with a grin.

“I could hear you back there. All that work for a gun?” Meadow said, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey! A very good looking gun, thank you very much.” I said jokingly.

Meadow rolled her eyes, “Colts and their guns…”

I stuck my tongue out at her and walked over to the monitors with her, “Anything working?”

“Unfortunately no, and no map that I can see either.” Meadow said.

“Damn. Well I guess we’ll have to just keep goin-”

CRASH!

We were thrown from our seats in front of the monitors by a huge force that hit the wall beside it. The dent in the metal told me of the strength we felt. I quickly got up and floated my shotgun in front of me, ready for whatever was coming. Claws ripped through the metal, scraping down and making our ears hurt with the screech.

A roar came from the other side of the wall and with another slash, a hole formed in the wall big enough to reveal an eye, looking right at us.
An arrow flew over my shoulder and landed right square in that very same eye. The creature roared in pain and hit the wall again, denting the metal again and knocking the monitors off the other wall.

“Meadow, we need to get outside! We’ll get cornered in here!” I yelled out.

She ran with me towards the door of the Security station and we dashed right through as it opened, out into the forest once again.

As we turned to see the beast that had scared us so bad, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It looked like a bear, kind of.

It was large, bigger than Mercer was. Merciful Luna it looked almost as big as our ship! Four arms were connected to a large torso of muscle and strength, with a large stinger at it’s abdomen. Two wings that looked too small to support the beast dotted its back and looked much like that of a bug. The head looked very much like a bear, only with antennae instead of ears. This thing looked like something straight out of Tartarus!

As the beast’s wings buzzed and it turned to look at us, the sound made my skin crawl and I took a wild shot with my new shotgun. The range I was at did nothing to help my shot as it bounced harmlessly off the wall next to it. Cursing under my breath, I pulled the lever back and loaded in the next shot.

This time I used SATS, aiming two shots at the creature's head. The spell released and my shots fired, missing the head and instead impacting the beast’s chest. The shots tore flesh from the chest, but not enough to kill. It honestly just pissed the thing off. It flew at me with a roar, making me dodge underneath its claws. I turned to see that the tree it hit instead of me had large claw marks on it, running deep.

Man, this thing has sharp claws..

Two magical arrows came flying into its side as Meadow got the creature’s attention. The beast roared again and flew at her. This gave me a perfect shot at its back and its wings. I went once again into SATS and had enough charge for one shot. I aimed for its wings in hopes that I would ground the thing. My shot fired and I missed its wings, landing my shot right into its lower back. The beast howled in pain and stumbled to the ground. Its wings still buzzed and it hovered there for a moment.

Meadow took the opportunity to fire more arrows, two of which landed in its shoulders. The beast was getting irritated at this point, being shot at from two directions. It grabbed a small tree nearby, and proceeded to swing it at Meadow. She nimbly dodged the first strike, but was grazed by the second, catching her on her hind leg. She flew a few feet and landed in the dirt groaning.

“Meadow!” I yelled.

The beast grew closer to Meadow, not noticing that I was closing in behind it. I pulled out Venta and leaped onto its back as it hovered just above where Meadow was stunned. It wiggled and tried to get me off its back, but I held my footing as best I could. Soon Venta was lifted into the air and with a downward thrust, I dug my previous blade into its wing joint.

It screamed and howled as it lost its balance in the air and fell over to the side, hitting a tree and knocking me off. My blade was still lodged in its wing joint when it got on its legs and glared hatefully at me.

My shotgun came out as the beast began to lumber over to me. I fired a shot and it hit its chest again, not seeming to do that much to stop it from coming towards me. I pulled the trigger again, hitting its arm with a spray of blood. It staggered at the pain, but recovered quickly as it began running at me again.

I pulled the trigger again, only to hear that “click” sound of an empty gun. I forgot to reload!

I struggled to get out more shells from my saddlebags before the beast caught up to me, hitting me with its paw and knocking me into a tree. My head was spinning from the blow, and the creature was looming over me like a predator that just cornered its prey.

My sword was still in its back, out of sight so I couldn’t telekinetically pull it out. My shotgun was empty and my dagger wasn't’ going to help a whole lot in this situation. I got Umbra out anyway and tried to look threatening.

It didn’t seem to work as the beast roared and pulled up its arm to swipe at me again, this time to kill.

Move Shadow, you need to move!

I closed my eyes and awaited the blow. But to my confusion, it never came.

I opened my eyes to see the beast was struggling with something behind it, like something was on its back. Was Venta causing it that much pain that it ignored me?

“Not this time, you stupid bugbear!” A female voice shouted from behind the beast.

And then I saw somepony I thought I’d never see again, and this time, she was conscious.

It was her. The pegasus that fell from the sky and that Moonlight and Dr. Gingko fixed her wing! She was here, she was kicking at the back of the bugbear!

Why was she here of all places?

The beast struggled to get the pegasus off its back, turning and swiping at her like a mosquito, but it had no chance, as this pegasus flew around it with ease. As it had its back to me now, I saw Venta in its back. I lit my horn and telekinetically pulled at my blade. Venta flew back to me with a spray of blood from the bear. I then slashed at its wings, cleaving one of them off.

The beast howled in pain and fell to the ground, writhing as it lost its ability to fly.

The pegasus then flew over to me, landing next to me and holding out a hoof, “Off your flank! Let’s go!”

I took the hoof and looked at her in confusion. Before I could ask why she was here, the beast got up again. The pegasus then pushed me out of its way as it rammed its head into the tree that was behind us. We ran over to Meadow, who was still lying right where she fell.

“Meadow, get up. We gotta go!” I yelled out.

“My hind leg is injured. I can’t walk!” Meadow said.

Then the pegasus just ran over to Meadow, brought her head under her belly and scooped Meadow onto her back like it was nothing. Meadow was blushing heavily at this, but did not have time to voice a complaint as the beast was coming towards us.

“This way!” The pegasus mare shouted as she ran towards a doorway near the wall.

I didn’t argue, moving to keep up with her and when we reached the metal door, the pegasus slammed her hoof on the button and the door slammed shut behind us. The impact of the beast made us jump back as it beat on the door to get at us. This was a reinforced metal Stable door. It dented, but it did not budge. Eventually the creature seemed to give up and everything went silent.

I breathed heavily and put my weapons away before looking at the mare.

She looked at me too, not saying anything.

“Um… Hello.” I said awkwardly.

“Hey. Do you come here often?” She said with a smile.

I didn’t know what else to say. What was I supposed to say? I never thought I’d see this mare again, let alone talk to her. The silence went on for a few minutes.

“Umm, excuse me. Could you let me down please?” Meadow said, her face still red with embarrassment.

“Whoops. Sorry about that. Here.” The pegasus said, letting Meadow down gently.

I helped Meadow lay against the wall and turned back to the mare, seeing her just sitting on her rump smiling at us.

“Long time no talk hero.” She said.

I was so confused, “Hero? Wait no. Sorry. What is going on here?”

“Well I just saved you both from a really big bugbear. Kinda badass really.” She said.

“No. I mean, why are you here? You disappeared back at the research facility and now I find you here?” I said.

“Yeah… sorry about disappearing on you all like that. I didn’t know where I was, and there were a whole bunch of strange ponies around me. So I kinda panicked but only a little bit.” She said, gesturing with her hoof when she said “a little”.

She then walked up to me, “So let’s start off right this time. Name’s Stormy Night, but please, call me Stormy.”

She extended a hoof out to me and smiled that same friendly smile.

I smiled and accepted it, “Shadow Strike. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you properly Stormy.”

“Yeah, again. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier, but I just fell from the sky and may have blacked out for a bit.” Stormy said.

“I’m just glad you’re ok. We were all wondering what happened to you after you disappeared. I guess Moonlight and Dr. Gingko fixed your wing pretty well.” I said.

“Yep. Was a little stiff for a few days, but nothing I couldn’t handle. So, what brings a big shot hero like you into this shithole?” Stormy asked, leaning against the wall now.

“Big shot hero?” I asked.

“Yeah. I found a radio while I was out in the wastes that talked about you doing all kinds of heroic deeds.” Stormy said.

I sighed, “I’m no hero. Just a stallion trying to do some good.”

I turned to Meadow, “Meadow, let’s have a look at that leg.”

Meadow showed me her right hindleg, the one that was struck by the bugbear no doubt.
After a bit of an examination, “Doesn’t look like anything is broken. MIght be bruised.”

I dug into my saddlebags and pulled out a healing potion and a syringe of Med-X.

“Here, take the potion. That should get you well enough to walk. Just don’t do anything too crazy for a few hours. Here’s some Med-X for the pain.” I said.

She nodded and drank the potion gratefully while I pushed the needle into her shoulder, making her wince a little but the relief of the medicine soon followed after.

When Meadow opened her eyes, they widened when she saw Stormy sitting across from her.

“Meadow huh? That’s a fitting name for a cutie like you.” She said with a grin.

Meadow’s blush returned and she sputtered with her words to find a response. This made Stormy laugh a little.

I cleared my throat to get their attention, “So Stormy, you never told us why you’re here?”

She was about to answer when we started hearing something, something familiar. It was heavy footsteps, like the ones before. A chill went down my spine as Stormy jumped up.

“Hurry! We need to get out of here!” She yelled.

We helped Meadow to her hooves and we ran down the hallway. The footsteps continued towards us as we passed through the hall. Where was Stormy taking us? Shouldn’t we hide?

As we rounded a corner, I saw a room to the far end of the hallway with some strange writing on it. I had read several languages back into the stable, but this one was unknown to me. But I didn’t have time to wonder about it too much before Stormy opened the door and pulled us inside before slamming it shut.

I waited for this thing to beat the door just like the bugbear had, but after several seconds, nothing came. I couldn’t even hear the footsteps anymore.

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“Don’t worry. It won’t come in here. Don’t ask me why, it just won’t.” Stormy said, slumping against the wall.

“What is that thing?” Meadow said.

“Not a clue. All I know is that it’s big, it’s fast and it loves killing.” Stormy said.

“Is it another beast from this stable?” I asked.

“Oh no. It’s no beast. This thing is smart. It leaves traps. It tracks, and herds its victims. No animal does that.” Stormy explained.

“Then where did it come from?” I asked.

“Stormy, who’s out there?” I heard another voice call from the back of the room.

Meadow and I turned to see who it was, but they must have been hiding.

“Rose, it’s alright. I found some newcomers.” Stormy said.

After Stormy said that, two ponies came out from behind a bunch of boxes on the far side of the room. One was a young unicorn colt, looking just a little younger than Ratchet. He had a light brown coat and a darker brown mane. The other was a unicorn mare, she was light green with a rose red mane. Her eyes were also green as were the colts. And the most shocking thing to notice was that the mare was pregnant, heavily so. She looked like she was already several months into it.

The colt stood in front of her, “Did you get dragged in here by the Hunter too?”

“Hunter?” I asked.

“That big invisible thing that kills everything in sight. Loud footsteps, moves fast, really hard to hit.” He explained.

“No. We came here by our own power.” I said.

“What are you stupid or something!?” He said.

“Tumbleweed, now don’t be rude.” Rose said.

Tumbleweed, why does that sound familiar?

“Ok. Sorry. So why did you come here?” Tumbleweed asked.

“We came here to find something.” I said.

“A scavenger hunt? In a place like this? What could be here and only here?” Stormy asked.

“Leviathan's Tongue. It’s an herb that grows from a basilisk’s corpse.” I said.

“Oh ya mean that tall wispy stuff growing around that big snake skeleton downstairs?” Stormy asked.

I turned to her quickly, “You’ve seen it!?”

I turned so quickly and sharp that my saddlebags jumped and something fell out of it. I must have forgotten to close them up when we ran.

“Yeah. Once when that thing brought me here. It takes you to the lower level first.” Stormy said.

“Tell me where -” I started to say before I heard the clip of a hammer being pulled back behind me.

I turned to see that Tumbleweed was holding Desert Rose and was pointing it at me with eyes filled with rage. Tears started to form in them as he looked ready to shoot me.

“Where did you get this!?

Footnote: No status change.

New weapon: Lever Action Shotgun

Author's Note

Hey guys, Hades here.

So another chapter after a long hiatus. Here's hoping I can keep it up XD

So Stormy, been waiting to introduce her!

And now it appears Shadow has some explaining to do..

Also, the loss of 15 bobby pins is... regrettable, but worth it for that awesome new shotgun!