Fallout: Equestria - CLASSIFIED

“I’m talking about having our hooves in the holes and the whole damn dike’s crumbling around us.”

*** *** ***

*Clink-Flick*

The immediate area around me glowed dully, as I brought the tiny flame of the flip-lighter to the end of a cigarette. The light pushed the darkness away, if just barely enough to see a hoofstep in front of me. My eyes fluttered closed as I inhaled the tobacco, relief finally flooding over me, as the nightmarish events began to fade to the back of my mind. I sat on my haunches, against the wall, watching as the smoke consumed inch after inch of the grey hallway in storage. I exhaled the cigarette smoke from my lungs to join the cloud bellowing from the inferno.

I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. I wonder what Diamond would think of me swapping my pipe for cigs. The chuckle turned into a painful cough as I felt the external stab still present near the side of my abdomen. Blood… My blood… A LOT of my blood puddled onto the floor around my haunches, conjoining the ever expanding red lake from the mare laying soaked and stiff in front of me. My own trail led from where I sat to around the corners of the hallway, all the way back to the burning wreckage of the elevator.

I groaned, trying to forget about it all, as I kept the tiny flame of my lighter open to consume just that much more oxygen around me. My hoof traced the billiards 8-ball engraved on the side of it, as my ear flickered at the distant clopping of hooves. No... Not distant... just silent, as if they were navigating the corridors with caution. Security or Maintenance? Maybe both? I sighed as I felt myself slipping away. My eyelids felt heavy and my breathing became shallow. Everything around me, the smoke, the blood, the grey... everything blurred together. The last thing that I remembered, was the slightest of smirks fighting to tug my lips to one side of my face, as I flicked my cigarette to the floor in my magic and flipped my lighter closed. And just like that, I brought the darkness back...

One Hour Earlier

Every single step I took made my hooves burn with anxiety as we descended further into the cavern.

‘Hey, Spark, what’s new?’ Oh, not much. My pinko friend just started another maintenance riot, before opening the fucking stable door. So now, I have to trudge through a murky tunnel of dirt to arrest her. You? I gagged at the rather stale taste of air, the thought of which entering my lungs making me want to curl up and die. There was some consolation in the back of my mind that kept me going, however, which had me looking forward to knocking Platinum’s teeth out when we finally got to her. Still, I couldn’t help but groan at even the slightest cloud of dust being kicked up by our hoofsteps. “How did this devolve into me coming out here? You know we’re probably breathing irradiated air, right?”

Glitter turned to glare at me. “Damnit Sparky! Would you shut up about the fucking cave! We’ve got a job to do.”

I could feel Aqua flanking me with a glare of her own. “You smoke that stupid pipe of yours whenever you can, yet you’re afraid of breathing a little unfiltered air?”

But, that’s... different! I rolled my eyes as we turned our focus back to the second crowd ahead of us. Don’t they know nopony who’s stepped out here has ever come back!? Come on, I..! I... Okay... To be fair, I’m probably the only one who would know about that. Poor bastards...

Everything was dark and cold, with the only source of direction being the foggy light illuminating the very end of the tunnel. It winded downward to what looked like an old steel door with concrete walls around it. Luckily, it still looked shut... but, recalling the Thorn Petals Incident a few years back... Yeah, that door isn’t stopping anypony for very long.

Kahn suddenly turned in front of Glitter, stopping the five of us before we reached the crowded last barrier between us and the outside. “Whoa, hold up a sec...” He extended his foreleg, swatting his hoof against Glitter’s chest. “I’ve got the feeling that you’re a little more anxious about this than the rest of us... If we do this, we’re still doing it my way: Calm and quiet.”

Glitter gave him a dirty look, looking as if she were holding back every fiber of her being not to charge into the crowd and drag Platinum back to lock-up by her mane. But, swallowing her inferior judgment, she nickered in defeat. “Fine... let’s just get this over with.”

“No argument there.” He looked to the rest of us. “Aqua, go back to the stable door, watch our backs, and don’t let anypony through. Take the doc with you.”

Aqua nodded before turning around with Stem. She gave one last look at me, trying her best to appear determined. “Good luck Spark...”

Right... Luck...

As they back tracked their way to the stable door, Kahn turned to me. “Spark, you follow behind me.” I gave a hesitant nod, myself trying to appear determined, yet still showing them just how pissed I was for them bringing me down here, as I made a vain attempt to ignore the dust falling over my mane from the cave’s ceiling. I’m guessing my nod was either too hesitant or held too much of an ‘I’d rather be anywhere else but here’ kind of sway to it, as Kahn rolled his eyes at me, and turned to Glitter again. “And you... just try not to do anything stupid... This isn’t school.”

All of our ears suddenly flickered and perked at the sound of a new commotion coming from the crowd ahead of us. The ensemble of voices sounded both distressed and excited, beginning to shout and chant in unison around the wall of concrete. “Folly! Folly! Folly! Folly!”

Ah, geez… These assholes are off their rockers…

Kahn cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Attention everypony! Attention!” Not one pony so much as turned their head, ignoring the Exec pony -and the consequences of doing so- continuing to rally around the wall, almost as if they were trying to push it down with sheer maintenance strength and force. Kahn growled to himself before trying again. “HEY! EVERYPONY LISTEN UP! HELLO!?”

After another unsuccessful attempt, Glitter stepped next to him, putting her forehoof between her teeth, whistling loudly. “EVERYPONY! THIS IS THE CHIEF OF SECURITY! YOU ARE ALL VIOLATING A CODE 02!” Once again, they were ignored by the mass of ponies, raising their voices louder in unison to shut us out.

...are these two serious? I sighed, rolling my eyes as my magic grasped the grip of my pistol.

Glitter nickered, she and Kahn inhaling one more time, ready to unleash a loud unified shout to try and out-wail the crowd. Before they could fruitlessly yell anything else, however, they were cut short--

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Both Glitter and Kahn winced, the gun going off right next to their ears, as everypony else flinched in unison, all spinning around towards the frightening sound of my 10mm shooting upwards at the cavern ceiling.

See? There's effective ways of doing things.

“Asshole!” Glitter and Kahn cried in chorus, covering their ears with their forehooves. “What the fuck, Sparky!?” Glitter scorned.

“Goddess damn you!” Kahn looked as if he were about to have a heart attack, clutching his chest with his hoof while glaring up at me in rage. “What part of ‘not pull your gun’ did you not understand!?”

“What?!” I defended over the ringing in my ears. “It got their attention, didn’t it?” I suddenly felt an uncomfortably sized shadow fall from where I'd hit my shots, before its source landed directly on my head. Oh... that didn’t feel like dirt. I cringed, feeling it twitch around in my mane. “Gyah! Fuck! Not the mane!” I shrieked and gagged in disgust, shaking my head whilst frantically brushing the remains of a radroach out of my previously styled, now grossly disheveled mane with my hooves. The mutant insect’s twitching pulp and greenish brown ichor made the fur on the back of my neck stand on end, as if every nerve in my body was crying out in protest against the grotesquely sticky contact, now running down my entire back. That’s it! I’m commandeering the entire sanitation chamber after this! I only paused my degrading hygienic panic when I looked ahead of us to see the crowd of ponies now facing opposite of the door, staring straight at us, quietly murmuring to themselves.

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this!” Glitter growled, stepping in front of Kahn. “Platinum Braid!”

“Damnit Glitter, I said follow me!” Kahn hissed, but his complaint fell on deaf ears.

“Platinum! Platinum Braid! Show yourself, right now!” She continued, “Come out, and no pony has to get hurt!”

With a final shiver, I shook myself free of disgust the best I could before aiming my pistol toward the crowd, taking my turn again to break Kahn’s rules. I stepped in front of Glitter, narrowing my eyes in suspicion as I tried to pick out the mare from my foalhood through the ensemble. I huffed, becoming frustrated, the greasy maintenance crowd continuing to block my line of sight. “Alright! I’m only gonna say this once!” I warned.

I heard Kahn huff to himself behind me. “Are you two purposely trying to piss me off!?”

Kahn? He may think he’s the pony of reason. A natural leader... but, in reality he’s just envious of his true lack of authority. We’ve gone over things of this nature before. The fact is, he’s an entity of the executive council. Myself, an agent of the Overmare. And then we can’t forget Glitter Punch, the head of the Security department, always seeing herself as the only pony with enough grit to stick it where the stable needs sticking. Of course, we all had to play across the field of Stable 17’s defense and Stable-Tec’s offense. We all have... different jurisdictions. And we’ve only had one occurrence before now to test the grey waters in-between. And now we’re right back where we were, stepping over each other’s hooves all over again.

Kahn’s anger, however, was nothing compared to mine, as I let my growing frustration for everything boil my rage over the top. Sugar Spade, the holotape, the riots, the poker game, the flowers, Platinum Braid and now this Celestia forsaken shit contaminated refuse of a cesspool! “EVERYPONY STEP ASIDE!!!” I commanded in a loud, authoritative voice. “And get back inside the stable, before we lock you all out here, AND TURN THE TURRETS ON EVERY LAST GODDAMN ONE OF YOU!!!” I was having none of it. I was angry. Resentful. These bastards had given Glitter and Kahn reason to drag me out to this shithole cave. They may have fallen for playing their game, but I haven’t! I’m done playing games with these grime lickers. These ponies are either going to end this riot right now, or I’m not gonna be held responsible for taking out my twitching radroach-infested-maned rage on every last toaster-repairing pinko bastard in maintenance.

All eyes were suddenly on me, specifically the end of my 10mm’s smoldering barrel, their expressions beginning to shrink with fear. Finally, the small mass of ponies began to split in two, forming a narrow path as they dispersed around us, softly cursing disdain for loyalty inspectors under their breath. Just like that, they were gone, leaving us alone as if there was nothing wrong. All of them... except for one. We heard her whispering to herself as we turned our attention back to the lone mare, still fruitlessly pushing against the barrier.

“Can you feel her?” The mare’s forehooves were placed against the rusted steel door. “Can you hear her?” She pivoted her head just enough to glance at our approach before turning back to the door. “They’re coming... She is coming... Getting closer.”

Okay... she’s officially lost it. And I think I’m officially about to do the same from this shit. She sounded crazy. Insane. What the hell happened to her? How could a holotape have done... this to her!? I gulped, taking the time to holster my pistol again as Glitter and Kahn stepped forward ahead of me, fighting over which of them should take the lead to arrest our former friend.

To be honest, I needed to calm myself down. I felt every vain in my body back there, pulsing that anger through to my head. That... came very close to breaking a code 2019 if I wasn’t careful. My eye twitched as I released the rest of my built up magic through my horn. I gave a painful hiss through my teeth while nopony was looking. Better to get rid of it now before it builds up again. I... I’m still in control. I’m still in control, damnit! This is not happening again! Can’t let it! The rest of the ponies had left the area, trotting back through the stable door. I looked up to see them pass a very anxious Officer Wave and Doctor Root. I shook myself back into focus, burying my rage beneath the dirt -more literally than you’d think- before I rejoined Glitter and Kahn. Still in control... I gave a slow sigh, ignoring the musty stench in and out of my nostrils...

Oh, who am I kidding? I gagged so hard it made Glitter jump.

Platinum continued her ramblings. “There will be death that follows... and only my maintenance ponies know what will happen next!”

“Damnit Platinum!” Kahn growled, “Knock that crap off! Talk to us, for Luna’s sake!”

Platinum slowly lowered her hooves from the door and turned towards us. And... her look matched her ramblings. Her black mane was messy and covered in grease stains -well, more than usual anyway- while her eyes were so bloodshot, that what would usually make up the whites of her eyes, now almost looked like my own red irises. And the smell... Luna! Is she allergic to soap or something!? I couldn’t tell if she was completely insane or just really REALLY hungover from the night before. I already wanted to take a day to rinse myself in a shower, but after just one look at her, -and whiff of her- I wanted to go through the stable’s radiation cleanser at least three times.

“Platinum...” Glitter lamented, looking over her, sounding almost sorry for our friend’s miserable appearance, before she sighed and shook herself back into the mind of Security Chief. “You’re under arrest for inciting treason against the Overmare!” She nodded at my horn, prompting me to nod back as I prepared to generate my aura again, freshly cleansed and ready for a straight and stable spell. “Come forward Platinum... and do not use you’re magic.”

She smirked as she took a step towards us. “You think you can take me?” She let out a giggle that made my skin crawl even more. “She will not let you...”

“I told you she was into some weird shit now...” Kahn raised an eyebrow at her. “Where is that holotape? We know you opened the door with it.”

I had to replay that in my mind a few more times for it to finally sink in. Platinum Braid somehow opened the stable door! We’ve... had that problem with ponies in the past, but Diamond and I fixed that by uninstalling the override. Only the Overmare, with Gold level clearance, has control of the stable door. So... how in the name of Celestia did it open this time!? Whatever was on this holotape, it must have somehow given Platinum the correct authorization.

“The... the holotape?” She laughed, “Oh Kahn, Kahn, Kahn... You have no idea what was really on it, do you? None of you! Sugar Spade was the only other one and she took it to the grave.”

She shot a glance at me. I narrowed my eyes before looking away from her accusing ones. I stayed silent for the moment, hoping she wouldn’t accuse me of being a part of it. I mean, Platinum always had her suspicions... but I knew that look. There’s no way she could have known... could she?

“I’ve been enlightened... by a goddess!”

“...what the fuck?” Glitter shook her head in disbelief. Kahn’s jaw dropped. I simply wanted to face-hoof.

“You’ve got to be kidding me...” Platinum was never the type to turn to Celestia, let alone the type to be enlightened... But I had a feeling Platinum wasn’t talking about the former leaders of Equestria. “Is this some kind of sick joke!?” I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I hope you’re not relying on a prayer for salvation or something, cause you’re not getting it here!” I sneered, gesturing to the hellish tunnel around us.

She turned her attention back to me. “Do you not... believe me Sparky?”

Again, I remained silent, but I grappled enough worthy energy to shake my head with a doubtful ‘you’ve lost it’ look.

“I saw when the goddess let the first gear of Stable 17 hiss and begin to open. I heard her voice of love, prosperity... and hunger saying, ‘Leave this place and come and see the light!’” The steel-colored mare’s own voice echoed around the cavern, spreading out her forelegs as if she were preaching to her former crowd of maintenance goons.

“ENOUGH!” Glitter demanded at the top her lungs, surpassing Platinum’s echo around us. “I said come forward!”

Platinum sighed with another short laugh of insanity before she took another step towards us. “I saw the destruction of a diamond, the sparkling blood that flowed from striking these powerful walls, a prince of envy to lead the light bringers further into darkness...” Her deadly glare landed on me as she took one last step forward. “...and behold... it was a spark of wrath from Tartarus itself that followed us into the apocalypse... but Folly will not allow me to follow you.”

The world around me fell frozen and silent as I stared into her eyes. She never blinked, focused on my confused and albeit, anxious face. I had no idea what she was talking about. None of it made any sense. What the hell was a Folly? She... she’s lost her mind. She’s lost her fucking mind! A friend that I used to follow, admire even as a colt, is now some kind of... I don’t know what... Was all of maintenance really buying into this crap to riot?

“SPARKY!”

I snapped out of her hypnotizing gaze to hear Glitter shouting my name. I couldn’t tell if it was the first, the second, or the fifth time.

“Cast your spell on this bitch already!”

She’s not that pony... not anymore. Platinum smirked, my horn glowing, pointing it towards her. I took a deep breath and focused my magic. I know I said it was simple enough... but this part was still always difficult for a unicorn like me. I cast the hoof-cuff spell, generating an illumination of red in the shape of two restrictive orbs around her forehooves.

Her expression suddenly became peaceful, as she began to whisper. “You will learn your mistake in time, but soon we will all be together again Sparky... don’t... you... worry.”

I let out a painful groan, forcefully cutting my magic, allowing the spell to stay suspended around her hooves.

She smiled almost mockingly, tilting her head as if she were pitying my pain. “Still in control there, Charger?”

I huffed in her face before trotting behind her and pushing her forward. “Bite me.”

*** *** ***

“Kahn! Glitter! We’ve got to get the buck out of here!”

We trotted back through the cavern, leaving the lonely wall of concrete separating us from the outside to remain lonely and closed behind us. I brought up the rear, Kahn and Glitter trotting in front, keeping the crazed Platinum between us. I cringed as I felt my tail drag in the dirt behind me, though I had to remind myself that focusing on that was a whole lot better than the radroach guts dripping from my mane. I am dead serious. I don't care what Diamond says, the sanitation chamber will be ‘closed’ for the rest of the night.

After following the path back up to the stable door, we arrived at a panicking Aqua Wave. “Hurry!” She shouted, “I dunno how much longer I can hold’em back!”

“You can’t take her! We won’t let you!” The maintenance ponies behind her had gathered around the entrance as she pushed and shoved to keep them at a distance. “You can’t do this! Please don’t do this!” The ponies’ cries for Platinum’s release grew more intense and louder. “They’ve taken Platinum! They’re taking her away from us! Folly help her!”

Diamond’s voice still boomed from the speaker. “Get her to security! Whatever it takes! I’ll try to contact you in the eleva--” She cut out as the ponies surrounding us began to grow more hostile, and a wrench flew out from the crowd knocking the intercom off the wall.

Kahn shouted over them. “Aqua! Where’s Stem Root?”

“He’s waiting by the elevator! He’s holding it for us!” She followed us, keeping her focus on containing the surrounding crowd. “I said stay back!”

I shot a glare at Platinum as we continued through the path between the mass of angry maintenance ponies. “What’s this... ‘Folly’ you’re all talking about? You said her name back there too.” I had to admit I was a little curious. If there was one thing I knew about Platinum, it was that she was not one to easily submit to a higher power. So, what the hell made her change her mind?

She slowly looked back at me with a disturbingly peaceful smile. “She is the one who will help us. Who will save us from this place. Who will devour the powerful...”

I shook my head in bewilderment. “Platinum... Come on.” I groaned, “We know you better than that. We’re your friends, damnit! You can drop the act with us.”

She only gave a peaceful sigh as I continued to guide her flank through the crowd. “Your skepticism is... unfortunate, Spark. But you WILL understand. All of you will. Everypony will... She promised me that.”

Luna... she’s acting like a total whack job. And now I’m not so sure if she even IS acting. Well... we’ll find out soon enough. The second we get her off this floor, I’m taking her straight to my office for questioning. Hopefully, I wouldn’t need to take it too hard on her. Sure, I’ve been wanting to just let her have it ever since she showed up at our cards game last night, and we haven’t exactly been on good terms for a while now either... but, we still have a history. A history that still fits her under my ‘friends’ tab, no matter how far we may have stretched our friendship over the years. However, it was feeling... rather stretched to the limits right now. Stretched enough for my father’s voice to grow even louder in the back of my mind. Oh, what the hell? A little broken leg with six months for her to recover couldn’t hurt.

I rolled my eyes, occasionally glancing from side to side, just in case a pony squeezed through Aqua’s amateur crowd control. My ears perked at the sound of hooves crunching bone, looking up to see Glitter apple-bucking a Stallion who was blocking our route, sending him wailing in pain on the concrete floor. I couldn’t help but chuckle. She still had the same moves now that she had as a filly, bucking school bullies off their hooves.

“Everypony keep back!” She opened the door, quickening our pace to the elevator where we saw the Doc still waiting for us.

“Come on Come on, faster!” I heard Aqua covering our rear, who was now the only thing between me and the threatening mob running us down to get to their supervisor.

Seriously! How could anypony like their boss this much!?

They followed us through the door and flooded into the generator room around us. Once again, we were surrounded.

Bang! Bang!

The sound of 10mm rounds being fired startled all of us, well... except for Platinum whose expression remained calm and unfractured.

“Damnit Glitter!” Kahn scolded, trying to push her back with his forehooves. “What are you doing!”

“Fck uff Krrrn!” She growled around the pistol grip in her mouth, aiming it threateningly at more maintenance ponies flanking us. “Em derrin mer jrrb!”

Bang! Bang!

She fired her pistol at the floor in front of the mob again, prompting the rest of us, even Kahn, to pull out our weapons too. Aqua’s teeth pulled a riot shotgun from her utility belt, while Kahn and I pulled our pistols with our magic; my 10mm and Khan’s .357 IF-38.

“Stand back, Damnit!” Kahn yelled, galloping passed me to help Aqua. “Get Platinum to the elevator! Move!”

After seeing our will to fire, the maintenance ponies finally began to raise their own weapons at us. Only they weren't aiming to simply scare us... I saw each cautionary EFS blip flash red, one by one, becoming hostile after Glitter’s warning shots. Luckily, what made up their numbers to outgun us, lacked in their shooting skills and accuracy. We all ducked nonetheless, hearing the pings of ricocheting bullets all around us.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Blam! Bang!

Stem waved his forehoof at us as we approached the elevator. “Bring her in! Come on you’re almost there! Get in!”

I pushed Platinum inside as Glitter, Kahn, and Aqua followed.

...and so did everypony else.

Stem Root began hitting the down button on the control panel, trying to close the doors as the flood of ponies tried to enter with us. Their legs and hooves slithered in through the closing doors like a grotesque mass of tendrils, some keeping us from leaving by prying the doors apart while others desperately tried to kick, grab, and scratch at us.

I almost choked on my breath, seeing every single blip turn hostile red on my EFS, save for Platinum’s and the rest of the team, who’s blips ranged from blue to green.

Kahn aimed his pistol at them. “Stop or we will shoot! Get the hell back!”

Platinum giggled, watching us struggle to get the elevator to descend. “You all look so stressed. Oh! I know!” I could almost see the teasing lightbulb flash above her head. “Remember when we snuck that piano down to the old reactor room? It’s been a while since we heard a nice song, hasn’t it?”

My eye twitched as I fought my mind between scolding her volatile thought process and focusing on the frenzied maintenance department.

Well... I mean, has it really been that long since I played? Heh... I guess it had to have at least been before we-- Wait! Stable Control to Spark! Bunch of pinko hippie-horses about to fuck your shit up! Over!

After mentally scolding myself, I eventually decided on the latter as the ensemble of ponies grew. I heard Platinum giggle again, still dubiously sitting behind us. “How about a song?” She asked, her demeanor ridiculously calm. Oh, I swear Platinum, if you start... Before anypony was able to decline her suggestion, she cleared her throat and began to sing. It was something her softly toned voice hasn’t done in a long time. But... It was as if not a single day had passed since I last heard it.

“I don’t want to set Equus on fire...”

The rest of us stood by the doors, trying to push them back.

I winced as I tried to block them from getting further inside. “Get this thing moving Doc!” A forehoof suddenly reached through the mass of ponies and grabbed my leg. “Hey! Get off me!” I hollered, trying to tug away from his strong... and greasy maintenance-worker grip. “AGH! Fuck! I'm gonna rip your legs off, punk!”

“...I just wanna start... a flame in your heart...”

“Get them out of the way!” Kahn just stood there barking orders at us as we continued to struggle with them. He remained on guard, however, his revolver staying suspended in his magic, aiming straight at the crowd.

I shoved and punched them with my opposite hoof, finally prying myself away before seeing another pony struggle with Glitter’s pistol, attempting to pull it from her teeth. Quickly, grabbing her in my magic, I tried to pull her back in, the elevator doors still repeatedly opening and closing around us. Kahn continued to bark demands and threats, Stem working frantically on the controls. The chaos turned to one giant blend of horror.

I glanced to my left to see Aqua continuously bucking her hind legs against the maintenance ponies, their hooves still hooked around the elevator doors. She growled and grunted with every kick, easily breaking their bones, her hooves landing blows left and right against them... but hardly any cared to avoid her. “Get back!” She screamed, “I-... I don’t want to hurt-- H-hey!” Her rear hoof suddenly kicked against somepony’s foreleg attempting to reach for her. “Get us the buck out of here! Go down!”

“In my heart I have but one... desire...”

“I can’t! They’re blocking the way!”

I watched Glitter close her eyes with a growl, before clenching her jaw tight, pulling the trigger, and firing a shot right into the pony’s face, his blood and brain matter spraying onto her and the ponies behind him.

“Damnit Doc! Go! Go! Go! Go!”

“I’m not an engineer Mr. Kahn! Get them out of the way!”

I winced, as the pony’s grip -and life- faded, prompting him to fall back into the crowd and the force of my magic to throw Glitter to the back of the elevator. I had no time to ask if she was okay, as I witnessed the strength of at least fifteen ponies pry the doors open completely! I cringed, hearing the elevator's cords begin to strain, feeling the whole box rock us all back and forth. On pure impulse, my eyes darted to the warning label above the panel.

Max Capacity: 8 ponies.

"SHIT!" I snapped, before another pony slipped through the crowd. I formally greeted him by the underside of my pistol -whipping it against his skull- in my magic, as he tumbled back into another maintenance mare. “You like that, you grime lickers!?” I yelled, my magic resorting to prying their hooves off of the doors.

“And that one is you... No other wi--”

“SHUT UP! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? JUST SHUT UP!” Glitter pushed Platinum to the ground in an emotional rage before turning back to the frenzied ponies.

“That’s it! Open Fire!”

The pause was brief. VERY brief. In fact, I wasn’t able to count two seconds after Kahn gave the order, but it was there, and I could tell that we all felt it. But, in that instant, duty, the stable, and our safety all tied for first. There must have been somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five ponies now, all pushing their way into our boxed ride. That didn’t stop us... The five of us, Aqua, Kahn, Glitter, Stem, and myself, all relied on our guns, and fired into the throng of obstructive bodies. No S.A.T.S, we didn't need it. We just squeezed our triggers over and over. It was like shooting radroaches in a barrel.

Bang! Bang! Blam! Bang! Blam! Blam! Bang!

It maybe took a little more than a minute from the first shot to the last. Critical blows struck the ponies in front of us, their bodies flailing, their blood spurting, their voices crying, while some others actually had the sense to flee. But the rest of them... Celestia, these ponies are deranged! What did they just make us do!? In the end, I was able to count a good eleven maintenance ponies that laid dead, with a few severely wounded as the rest finally let go of the doors. They grinded close, conjoining a painted mural of blood red flowers... roses that surrounded the crevice between the two doors. I could already hear Diamond Blossom asking me to paint them back to grey.

We... We just did that. And for what? All we did was take Platinum Braid a hundred yards -give or take-, and just like that... We sent THAT many more ponies to join Sugar Spade? Those... fucking maintenance assholes!WHY DID THEY MAKE US DO THAT!? WHY AM I ALWAYS THE ONE TO DO THAT!!? YOU..! Rrrr! You couldn't let me have a break, could you!? No, you have to make me shoot you like a bunch of fucking animals! Story of my life...

I huffed enough of my rage through my nostrils to not kick Platinum’s teeth in when we all turned around to glare at her, frantically panting as if we’d just finished a marathon around the stable. The elevator finally began to descend from the massacre. I took a minute to release some more tension and lowered my magical grasp around my pistol. But, before I could even let out a breath of relief, all of our ears suddenly perked at a loud thud above us. We all blinked at each other from the strange noise, hesitating to shift our gaze toward it’s direction. The thought startled us so much, I don’t think we could have believed it possible.

Thud!

That was a mistake...

“Wha-What was..?” Aqua whimpered as we all helplessly followed her gaze to the elevator's ceiling. “Th-that’s not what I think it is, is it?”

Thud!

Another...

Thud! Thud!

And more...

A groan escaped my lips as my magic just about snapped in forlorn. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding...”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Oh fuck...” Glitter muttered as we heard a loud ping and the elevator jolted. “We need to get them off the u--”

CLANK!

Everything fell silent and sedated as I lost my breath. I tried to gasp, but my lungs refused to expand in my chest. My magic cut out, followed by Kahn’s, then Glitter’s jaw, then Aqua’s, then Stem’s. Our guns slowly floated up above us, before I felt my own weightlessness lift my whole body into the air, then everypony else shortly followed.

“I’ve lost all ambition, for worldly acclaim... I just wanna be the one you love...”

Time slowly began to creep back to my conscience, seeing everypony brace themselves by grabbing onto the walls with their hooves. Minutes began to turn back to seconds. The freefalling box was filled with the sounds of our screams behind the unnatural singing voice of Platinum Braid, which seemed to drown out everything else under its alluring tune. I tried to grab onto the walls around me, but all I could do was push my hooves against them to try and brace for the impact we all knew awaited us below.

“...and with your admission, that you feel the same...”

My heart beat frantically as I looked around, trying to find something, anything to get me out this. But it was no use. My eyes narrowed at Platinum, still holding onto the floor somehow... and still looking as calm as before, as if there was nothing about to slam us into the bottom of the stable.

“Spark!” I looked in the direction of Kahn’s voice calling my name to see gravity forcing him into one of the upper corners. It took me a second to realize his horn was glowing its white aura. “Use your magic! We gotta slow this thing down!”

Without another second to lose, I focused on my magic, lighting up my horn. “Shit! What the hell do I use it on!?”

Kahn screamed as I suddenly felt an external tug on our metal death trap. “ANYTHING!”

I winced in pain as I concentrated my magic on one of the only things I knew existed on an elevator: The bottom.

“I’ll have reached the goal I’m dreaming of...”

I screamed, not from the notion of falling to my death, but from the weight of the elevator transferring to my horn. Flares of energy erupted from both of our horns. The strain on my magic was so great, it felt like a stake was being driven through the top of my head. I felt the elevator jolt back and forth from our efforts, but I couldn’t tell if it was actually doing any good. One thing was for sure... it wasn’t enough. Gravity suddenly flipped right side up, prompting my magic to implode in a migraine inducing snap. But I had no time to complain about it. No time to even feel it. The force of the impact slammed me into the floor, my surroundings turned to a blur, and my ears filled with the unnatural sounds of metal twisting, glass shattering, and concrete crunching. If I could be thankful for one thing... it was that my mind blacked out before I could feel the rest of my senses.

“I don’t want to set Equus...

..on...

...fire...”

oooOOOooo

“Okay, I need you to hold still for me.”

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey! That hurts!” I yelled at the nurse mare, reeling from a large ice pack she -rather aggressively- slapped over my black eye.

The medbay… This was the third time this month. I never really planned on coming back to this place so many times... but I guess it beats the boring old orphanage.

“Oh for--! What the hay happened to you?”

I attempted to turn to see who asked the question, only for the nurse to jerk my head back to the ice pack in her magic. But I knew the voice. I didn’t need to see to know it belonged to one of my friends.

“Hold Still!” Nurse Daisy scolded. “Sister Cross is going to hear about this one.”

Great... as if I hadn’t heard her lecture a million times already.

Kahn chuckled, more out of disappointment than amusement, shaking his head at me. “So... what did you do this time?”

“I didn’t do anything!” I said, defensively. I tried to look at the older colt, but my vision was all blurry... plus the nurse kept me in place again.

Kahn and I had met when he caught me picking his switchblade out of his pocket. I was pathetic. A loser. I had no rightful place in this stable before I met other foals like Kahn. I guess the colt took pity on me, because the next thing I knew, I was working ‘jobs’ with him, and some rather cute fillies I’d also met, who helped us expand our little partnership shortly after.

I heard another young pony trot into the room behind him. “He threw a pipe wrench at a security officer... and missed.” Platinum gave a small giggle, making fun of my failed rebellious behavior. “So... the security officer threw it back at him, and... I don't mean to laugh Spark but, you should have seen it!" She put her forehoof over her eye and stuck her tongue out. "Hit him right in the face!”

The two ponies, who ironically inspired me to do such an act, both erupted into a sudden fit of laughter. My heart sank at that. Here I was trying to make them proud, and all they do is laugh at me. I growled, trying to sound more annoyed than I was emotionally hurt... well, and physically I guess. “It’s not funny!”

“Oh believe me... it’s more than funny.” I heard yet a third young pony trot in. I shifted my one good eye just enough to see the blurred image of Glitter Punch trying to hold in her own laughter with her forehoof. “This is too good. I’m not even going to ask what tempted you to do that.”

Kahn stifled his laughter just enough to respond for me. “You don’t have to ask. The blank flank was obviously trying to get a cutiemark in... what would it be this time? Social Justice? Attacking security ponies?” He suggested jokingly.

“They-- Ow!” I flinched from the nurse poking my eye harder with the ice pack. “It was the security and maintenance ponies! They started to fight! You always said to never let security ponies bully you, so... I tried to help!”

This time it was Glitter who shook her head. “You’re an idiot, you know that? First of all, that didn’t help anypony. Second, what have we always told you?: Don’t get involved with that shit.”

“Miss Glitter Punch!” Nurse Daisy gasped, turning to glare at the charcoal filly in shock. “Does your father tolerate that language!?”

Glitter blushed innocently, rubbing her foreleg with her hoof, shamefully avoiding her glare. “N-no, Mrs. Daisy... S-sorry...” She tried to hide her embarrassment as she looked back up at me. “But... Yeah... Don’t get involved in that... in that stuff. You’re lucky you didn’t end up in lock-up... again.”

The nurse rolled her eyes before finally leaving me with the ice pack. I lowered it from my eye, feeling the swollen flesh pulse and twitch in the exposed air. “Is it bad?”

My sight may have been bad to begin with, but even I could see the cringe on each of my friends' faces.

I squinted my one good eye at the mirror next to me. "Oh, c'mon, it doesn't look that bad."

"Charger?" Kahn began with a skeptical tone. "Where are your glasses?"

I scrunched my muzzle, my nearsighted gaze falling to the tile floor below, my chest stinging with shame. "I... I don't-- Ugh! They broke, okay!?" I growled, my magic levitating the broken lenses and black rims out of my pocket.

I always hated those glasses. Like two giant rectangular magnifying glasses over my eyes. They were humiliating! Especially on a colt who's already the blank-flank laughingstock! If I wasn't too busy crying from taking a wrench to the face, I might have jumped for joy when I found out they’d finally broke. Of course, I realized the consequence of that was seeing nothing but fuzzy blobs for the fore(un)seeable future. "I... I don't need those stupid things anyway!” I sniffled, “I can... I can see just fine without them!"

“Oh, c’mon, Spark...” Platinum sighed, “You know that’s not true... Unless you think ‘just fine’ is only being able to see an inch in front of your face. Besides, they don’t look that bad on you. I think you look really handsome with them.” The burning blush in my cheeks distracted me from noticing the glow around her horn, her magic pulling something out of her own pocket. "Here, take a look in the mirror with these."

Before I could ask, 'with what?', another pair of nerdy glasses -this time an even more humiliating pair of circles- fit around my face. I blinked -or, winked, I guess- as my one eye adjusted to the clearer vision. That was when I saw my puffy, swollen eye, looking like some kind of mutant out of a Power Ponies comic, the lens magnifying it to maybe two or three times it's normal size. "Gyaaah!" I nearly sprung off the table, pedaling away in shock.

Well, on the bright side... at least nopony can call me four-eyes for a while...

Kahn cleared his throat as he trotted over to me, putting a foreleg around my shoulder. “Look buddy, you leave the fighting to us from now on, okay? Besides, you’re just a little colt. We can’t have you with a criminal record already. You’ll get that cutiemark sooner or later.” He tussled my mane with his other hoof.

I groaned internally from him calling me, ‘little colt’. He wasn’t that older than me. Not old enough to be calling me ‘little’ at least. The only reason I let him get away with it, is because... Well, I guess I deserved it for not having my cutiemark by now. Ooooh! It’s not fair! I should have gotten it! I was patient enough when Glitter and Platinum got theirs. We’re the same age, so I couldn’t have been far behind, but now Diamond Blossom and Angel Mist already got theirs, and they’re younger than me! At this rate, Aqua will get hers before me next!!! What is wrong with me!?

I sighed, taking the glasses off, hesitating to replace my old ones with them. I put the ice pack back over my eye, my shoulders slumping forward in defeat. “Gimme a break, Kahn... I can handle myself just fine. You don't need to treat me like a foal for crying out loud."

He gave me a skeptical look. "Clearly..." He poked my ice pack with his hoof, prompting another 'Ow!' to escape my throat. "I suppose if you can handle yourself so well, then there's no need to ask you to come with us on our next job... You know, since you're too busy joining in on the riots. I guess you’d just prefer to sit around with Docker Blue all night, staring at a blank wall in Maintenance."

"W-what? You’ve got another job?” I asked in surprise. "Wait! I wanna go with you guys!"

"Oh yeah? What about your new maintenance pals?" Glitter teased.

"Screw those... those... Grime Lickers! All they do is whine anyway!" I yelled, desperately trying to convince them. "Whatever you need me to steal, I’m your Buck!" Too determined to complain anymore, I put Platinum’s glasses back on my face without a second thought. “Just point, and I’ll get to work.”

Kahn shared a look with Glitter and Platinum before turning back to me. "You'll be doing something a bit different this time, Sparky... Remember how I taught you how to play poker?”

oooOOOooo

Ding Lev-...

Static

“...can you hear me?”

Static

Le-evel fo-

Static

“Is everything okay?”

Despite what I thought suffering in Tartarus would feel like, I never would have trusted it’d be worse than where I was now: Pain, destruction, darkness, pockets of flames around me... and the staticky voice of my ex-wife.

“Are you there Kahn?”

No. Not dead yet... but not exactly healthy. I blinked my eyes to try and drain the blurriness of my mind. The images of ponies slumped over broken pieces of material slabs filled my vision.

“Chief Punch? Come on Glitter, please be there!”

I gathered enough energy to turn my head and look around. Damnit. Damnit. Damnit! It hurt. Everything hurt. I coughed from plumes of smoke drifting through what I could only guess was the wreckage of the elevator. I groaned along with an attempt to sit up.

“Aqua? Please? Officer Aqua Wave!”

“Gaah!” A sharp spike of pain surged from my abdomen. Bracing for the worst, I looked down to see a jagged steel strip, shredded into the shape of a small blade, piercing through my right side, half sunk into my flesh, and soaked by the stained radius of red slowly expanding across my stable barding. This... is not something I can deal with... Okay, okay don’t panic. The Doc, he can... probably help me...

“I don’t want to set Equus on fire honey... I love you too much...”

I lifted my head up again to look around. To my relief, the blurry shapes of ponies adjusted back to the images of my old friends. Aqua laid to my side on her back, Glitter in front of me on her face with Kahn and the Doc behind her. A plume of sparks erupted over our heads, showering the debris coated floor. The elevator doors were nothing but twisted pieces of metal, bent just enough for there to be a small opening for light to shine through.

“...I just wanna start, a great big flame down in your heart...”

“Doctor Stem Root, are you there?”

I winced at the sound of Diamond’s voice echoing in my ears once again. To my impulsive dismay, I realized the speaker to the elevator was indeed still operational, and my head happened to be resting in the ‘Sparky’ shaped dented wall next to it. We must have slowed our freefall down just enough for us not to be pancaked into the lowest level. If I remembered correctly, we were somewhere on the storage level. I took a shallow breath, searching for any energy I had left to respond to her.

“Diamond? I’m... I’m here...” I lifted my ears, expecting to hear her response.

“Are you there? Please! Somepony respond!”

I only realized then, that I was calling out to nothing but sound. Suffering through another surge of pain, I turned my head enough to look at the speaker, barely intact, hanging off the wall to my left. There was a button next to it.

Alright, that might be a problem...

My left foreleg was trapped under some debris. Not thinking I could take any further pain, I tried to use my magic. Unfortunately, the only use that did was make my head throb. Yeah... let it be known that catching a freefalling elevator will exhaust your magic reserves. Why, Celestia, WHY!? I don't have time for burnout right now! With a deep breath of painful preparation, I reached for it with my right foreleg, twisting my impaled side in the process.

“...you see, way down inside of me... darling I have only one desire...”

Needless to say, I yelped in pain with every attempt at stretching my leg toward it. At this point, the only thing I’d be able to say to her is... “Aaaiiieeee!”

“...and that one desire is you...”

There it was again. My ears flickered at the sound of a soft and beautiful feminine voice, still singing in her unnerving tone, getting closer and closer, until the air around me was filled with nothing but a nauseous blend of song and static. Where... Where is it coming from!? I can’t see a damn thing, and-... FUCK! It hurts! Oh Celestia, it hurts! Please! Please, just get me out of this! Just--! Giving one last attempt, I stretched my foreleg just enough to push the button inward. Just as I was about to wail in pain through the intercom, something forced my hoof back. I gasped, a black aura engulfing my foreleg, violently pushing me back to my right side before it evaporated. My eyes widened at what I was snapped back to, standing over me with a glare of disturbing joy, finally uttering the last of her lyrics.

“...and I know... nopony else... ain’t gonna do...”

Platinum laughed at me as she stepped closer to my pinned body. She lowered her head to hover over mine, only to send an upheaval of cold hard shock through my body with a whisper.

“She told you, you know... She said I would devour the powerful... and I’m so hungry...”

“Hello?”

I gulped as a purple light flashed around her, engulfing her legs, barrel and head, while creating a current of energy to blow her mane and tail through its invisible wave. Her entire body was using her magical aura’s energy. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not from this stable anyway... For a unicorn to use anything but their horn, let alone their whole being as their magical output, they had to be extremely powerful! And... Platinum’s not that powerful!

Slowly, she began to glow brighter and brighter until she beamed a light so blazingly intense of blue and purple, that no other light in Stable 17, whether artificial or magical, could have ever compared to the phenomenon that I was witnessing, as I laid trapped under the debris.

“P-Platinum...” I wheezed, my voice weak and wavering from shock as I tried to close my eyes tight, and shut out my friend’s sudden accumulation of literal blinding power. “Platinum, wha-- what are you--?” I found it impossible to finish that thought as she continued her incredible display of defiance, not just rebelling against us or the Overmare, but unironically against reality itself!

Platinum Braid, Brown level Supervisor of the Maintenance department, a once fun and caring dark grey unicorn from my foalhood, a good friend of many years, a pony who, even now, I can still picture speaking a personal mixture of mock tough and tenderness while sober, and a suspicious faith of abrasive arrogance while drunk, breathed an excruciating gasp of excitement before her entire body burst at the seams, and the blinding light finally ceased.

I could have sworn that time slowed, and my heart stopped. Platinum... N-no... The second of time I was trapped in slowly began to increase to its normal pace. I stared in horror as I watched a fountain of blood explode in every direction, as what was left of my friend fell to the floor in red chunks of flesh, meat and bone, and seemed to burn to nothing once they did. A grotesque wave of burning red pulp and ichor splashed over me, my unconscious friends, and every other inch of the elevator wreckage... yet, not a drop stuck to any object, living or otherwise, and instead just evaporated upon its wet and grossly sticky contact. But... Fuck... whatever internal thoughts I might have had to try and comprehend it, were all incinerated when I finally found the courage to blink, and the thing that replaced the shadow of the former pony slowly came into focus. I held back an urge to vomit as the creature, covered head to hoof in the blood of the mare who stood where it stood not a second ago, glared back at me with a nauseating grin of excitement... No... Celestia, she looked like she was in pure delight.

“Sparky? Sparky!? Anypony!? This is Diamond Blossom! Pick up the fucking intercom!”

Sweet princess of shit...

The pony standing over me was not Platinum... at least not anymore. I guess it was mostly pony and a unicorn, with a similar horn, and eyes, despite a different color, -and sharing qualities similar to that of what I could only guess to be part bat and part mare, if not just a feral reptile pony- It still had the exact mold of the unicorn it once was. But, it couldn’t have been her! It just couldn’t..!

“P-P-Platinum..?” I stuttered, not able to think of any other words to produce but the former mare’s name.

Instead of Platinum’s friendly caramel green aura, this thing produced a foggy unholy black around its horn, the same that prevented my leg from reaching the intercom’s button. The frightening creature looked... I guess flirtatious would be the right word -her voluptuous proportions seemed just the right amount of dubious- She had a blood-red mane with spiky bangs and a particularly long forelock that arched in front of her face. But I couldn't tell if the red was her natural color, or if it was just from what remained of Platinum's gory insides. She had a dark purple coat, nocturnally glowing purple eyes, small fangs to curl over the rest of her pearly, red splattered white teeth, and a sickening evil grin that could have only been plastered across her muzzle by some plotting figure of Tartarus.

I blinked again, feeling paralyzed by what I’d witnessed, my voice beginning to assist my brain for words it couldn’t find. “W-who... what, I-...”

“Sssshhhhh….” My rambling search for an explanation was cut short when her forehoof met my lips.

I tensed, as some blood on her hoof entered my mouth, and I tasted the tang of the irony substance. Nope! I screamed internally, trying to pull myself away from her reach. But the debris still held me in place. Okay... now I think I’m gonna be sick... All I could do was tighten my lips, allowing the rest of what was left of Platinum Braid to be smeared across my muzzle.

“You’re so cute when you struggle my little pony...” After an insane giggle, she suddenly pivoted at another round of Diamond's voice blaring from the intercom.

“They’re not picking up! I need every guard to the main elevator shaft NOW!”

Looking up at the intercom, she let go of my lips, easily stepping over my body to whisper hauntingly to the speaker as she pressed the button. “Overmare?” A low cackle escaped her throat, one last time, before simply whispering, “...Run”.

There was no response, just the empty noise of static emissions before the intercom was crushed under the pressure of the mare’s powerful magic.

She giggled as she turned back to me. “You... Well, if I were you, I'd just stay right where you are... don't make things worse for yourself.” Her evil smirk slowly melted into an unappreciative glower. “...I trust you're believing now... I would keep your face in mind, but you appear... too weak to keep me full along our journey. You will satisfy my herd, though.” She sighed, a peaceful expression somehow returning to her face. “Welcome to my pasture, Stable 17...” With that, her horn glowed again, ripping the scrap doors down to the ground with a deafening thud. After kicking some debris to the side, she trotted out, whistling Dixie.

Stunned was an understatement of an indescribable level. That... was impossible. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, as I heard the hoofsteps of whatever pony -or creature- that was, trot further away, the echo of clopping hooves fading with every step.

"Sparks..." I heard a quiet groan next to me.

Turning, I saw Aqua painfully roll to her stomach, letting her sea green mane droop over her face. I was too shell shocked to say anything. Hearing more painful groans, coughing and gasps in front me, I looked to witness everypony else begin to gain consciousness. The smoke around us began to grow thicker, which meant the pockets of fire must had been spreading.

After Glitter regained her surroundings, she weakly began to stand, one hoof at a time. "We... cough We gotta get out of here..."

The distant sounds of echoing hooves suddenly returned... except these were more than just the four of one pony... these were a lot of ponies. Before I naively believed these were the security ponies that Diamond was sending, my hopes were sunk by their growing conversation.

"It was her!"

"Platinum was right, she's opened the door for us. A new life!"

"We're going to be in charge from now on!"

"Ha! Not yet, stable dwellers! There's the elevator. It's time you showed your loyalty to her..."

"Are... are you sure we have to--?"

"Hey! She's blessed us to eat... so you eat..."

That... didn't sound like a rescue party... The appearance of five red blips on my EFS confirmed my speculation.

Kahn flicked his ears upon hearing them, frantically trying to get to his hooves. "C'mon... we gotta get out of here, now! Everypony up!"

"Wait! Sparky's pinned!" I watched as Aqua stumbled to my side. "C'mon guys! Help me get him out!"

"Oh, Celestia's ass!" Glitter cursed as she limped to the door frame. "We don't have time! We gotta get the fuck out of here!" She stumbled out, galloping through the smoke, and left us behind. B-but... but Glitter and I, we-- And she just--!? I sighed... or at least tried to in my condition. I guess I couldn't blame her. If I were in her position, I don't know if I would have stuck around to die or do the same... Good luck, I guess... bitch.

"Glitter! Fuck! Hold on Aqua I'm coming over!" Kahn crawled over to the shredded steel sticking out of my side. "Doc! What do we do about..." He turned to watch Stem quickly limp out of the elevator after Glitter. Gotta say... I was surprised it took him that long to ditch us.

"I'm going to kick their--!" Kahn gasped, hearing the maintenance crew's hoofsteps get closer and closer. He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. "Aqua, grab it! Quick!"

His words finally snapped me out of my shock. My eyes widened with caution, only realizing too late what they were about to do. I finally found enough urgency to speak up. "Wait wait wait wait wait wait! Hold on! Don't do thaaaAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

Before I could finish my plea, Aqua's jaw latched onto the steel, and ripped it out of my flesh with a crunchy wet pop. I had been roughed up before. Punched, kicked, stabbed, even shot... It was quick and adrenaline fueled. But this... I hollered in anguish, attempting to clutch my torn open body with my free hoof. Agonizing pain burst from within as I heard the wet oozing sound of my wound, bleeding me like a butchered pig all over my coat and barding.

"Sorry Sparks!" Kahn frantically moved to my left side to try and remove the debris pinning my leg.

Okay, forget what I said about Glitter. I wish these asshats had just left me to die here too!

Aqua threw the bloody piece of metal to the side. She gave me a 'sorry I painfully ripped something from your body' look.

I shuddered in pain, finding another pocket of air to waste on my voice. "You ever do that again..." I wheezed, "...I'll knock your teeth out."

She sighed. "Sorry, but we're gonna get you out... don't wor--"

"BEGIN THE FEAST!"

Wearing maintenance and storage coveralls, a group of ponies barged through the smoke-filled box, racing toward Kahn and Aqua. Before they could even react, three storage ponies grabbed Kahn as he barely finished clearing the debris, while two maintenance ponies grabbed Aqua from behind. She yelped as they grabbed her legs and neck. "Hey! Get the fuck off me! Help!"

They both struggled and attempted to resist them as they were dragged out of the debris. I heard the crazed ponies chant, struggling off with them down the smoky hallway, the fire around me growing in size, until their silhouettes slowly faded through the haze. "Join us! Or feed us! Join Folly! Or feed Folly!"

What the hell did they mean by that!?

This is a fucking nightmare! I had to get out of here! I winced, the fire growing closer to me and spreading fast. If I didn't get out soon, I was going to be fried. Luckily, Kahn removed enough debris for me to pull my leg free. I yelped in pain as I began to crawl towards the light... No way in hell am I dying down here like this. But I was losing oxygen fast, choking on the burning smoke filling my lungs. I couldn't see. My eyes clenched tight from the toxic fumes... and the excruciating feeling of pain from the hole in my side.

C'mon Sparks... you've been through worse. Giddyup, you asshole! I almost froze, feeling my rearhoof brush up against something heavy. With another grunt, and a quick prayer to whatever almighty smiter was out there, my horn flickered to life, burnout stabbing my skull with a migraine. I was just barely able to pick up the object in my magic. Yet, despite it all, a smile almost threatened to appear across my blood-smeared muzzle as I pulled the slide back.

*Click-Clack*

Okay, you pinko bastards... You want another war? You've got one...

*** *** ***

Knock Knock Knock Knock

“Damnit, I’m coming! Keep your tail on!”

Knock Knock Knock

The door slid open, revealing the cranky grey-maned stallion on the other side, holding a steaming cup of coffee in his magic. “What the hell do yo-- Oh shit...”

I spit the gun out of my mouth, prompting it to clatter in a puddle of blood below me. “Eeyeah...” My voice croaked.

His magic imploded as the mug dropped to the floor and shattered, his coffee splashing and splattering all over his floor. He gulped, backing away from my staggered posture. “Evenin’, Inspector Sparkhorn...”

“Evening, Docker...” My eye twitched as I stepped inside of his office. I watched his pupils shrink at the sight of my blood-soaked stable jacket, only realizing some of it was my own when my forehoof clutched the open wound at my side. “Where is everypony?” My breath was weak and gravely, even stifling a cough, yet my voice still struck the stallion with authority. “Shouldn’t you guys be working inventory?”

He winced, his eyes incapable of leaving my bloody state. “I uh... gave them the night off...”

I tilted my head, raising my one good eyebrow. “Huh...” My mouth clicked. “Doesn’t sound like you... You know that’s a code violation. 719... If I’m not mistaken.”

He gulped nervously, his gaze finally rising to meet mine. “You uh... you workin’ tonight..?”

Half a chuckle escaped my throat, turning into another cough a moment later. “As a Loyalty Inspector?” I asked before nodding. “I guess you could say that.” Blood dripped down my muzzle into my smirk, offering me a coppery aftertaste. “I’m taking care of a few code violators. Anarchists, hoodlums, pinkos, hippies... you know how it goes.”

“R-really?” He gave an awkward snicker as he backed up further against the wall. “Well... Well, I-I uh...”

“Docker...” I let out another dry cough as I mirrored his hoofsteps toward him. “Where are they?”

A nervous twitch pulled the side of his mouth back, shifting his eyes side to side in bewilderment. “W-who?”

My forehoof left my bloody opening in an instant to back-hoof him across his face.

The older stallion shrieked in pain, my hoof striking his muzzle. He backpedaled, my ears barely registering the sound of a tooth bouncing off the concrete. “You crazy bastard!” He fell back on his haunches, shuddering as he rubbed his now bruised jaw and bloody lip.

Oh, I wasn't even close to finishing with him... I growled, horn glowing red, my magic grabbing him by the collar and throwing him to the hard, grey floor. “Maintenance! Maintenance you asshole! They’re rioting again!” I snorted, glaring down at him with all the threatening intent I could project. “You don’t think that I would know who Platinum Braid would go to first when it happened!?”

He rolled over on his side, spitting a fresh red lump of phlegm onto the floor. “This is the storage level! I’m the fucking supervisor of storage workers! Not maintenance!” He jarred.

My magic grabbed him again, holding him to the floor, while I wound my foreleg back for a stronger punch.

He sputtered, raising his forehooves up as if to plead for mercy. “Wait! Hold on! I swear! Whatever is happening, I have nothing to do with it!”

I narrowed my eyes, only hesitant to let him go. “Then why... did three of your guys just attack us in the main elevator shaft!? And two more outside!!!”

He whimpered, crawling out from under me and back to his hooves, only to lose balance on his weaker legs and fall to his haunches again. “I swear that... I don’t have the slightest fucking idea... what you’re talking about!” He groaned, letting out a short coughing fit, spitting the red crusted contents of his mouth onto the floor in front of me. “Now... I think you would agree... that because of your... aggressiveness… that we should make our way to the medbay. I’ll mention that you had a...” He sniffled, his forehoof wiping the blood away from his mouth. “Let’s call it a muscle spasm... And as for you... well, you look like Tartarus chewed you up and spit you out...”

“I’ve had worse...” My breath shuddered as I watched a trail of blood follow me from the door to across the room where I stood. I released some of my temper through a sigh, checking the corners of the room before peeking my head back into the hall. “Supervisor Platinum Braid is dead. They took Executive Kahn and Security Officer Aqua Wave.”

“Wait, what!?” He shook his head in disbelief. “Who!?”

I gave another frustrated growl, narrowing my eyes back on him. “I told you... Your goddamn storage ponies!” I arched my brow. “So... what have you got to say about that, Docker Blue?”

He huffed, shaking his head again, now looking a bit annoyed himself. “I told you, I have nothing to do with it! I’m too old for riots! I--!”

My ears perked at the sound of hooves clopping down a distant hallway behind us. I suddenly caught Docker’s uneasy gaze at the sight behind me, as he noticed the two dead storage ponies in the hallway. A pool of red expanded beneath them, blood flowing from their nostrils, a few gashes in their heads, and a couple bullet sized holes.

“Docker?”

He turned his attention back to me, a nervous twitch pulling the side of his mouth back. “Y-yes, Inspector?”

I sighed, trying to brush some of the blood off of me with my forehoof... with limited success. “You’re a brown level supervisor. Brown level is rioting. So, give me a reason not to cite you... Like I did to these two.” I nodded back towards the pathetic heap of ponies behind me.

He cringed as my words made his knees buckle. “I told you! I’m too old to--! To--!”

“Okay, you’re too old.” I knitted my brow, “Tell me something I don’t know, Docker. Or else!”

He shook his head with a growl. “Goddessdamnit! There isn’t anything you don’t already know! I don’t do business with the maintenance department! We’re on two completely different levels of the stable! Wouldn’t you know that!?”

My doubtful eyes squinted at him, yet I could only see the desperate seriousness in his own. Eh... He may be brown level, but I knew when my old shift supervisor was shoveling shit my way. And he wasn’t doing that now. I gave a defeated nod. “I would...”

He gave me one last look of concern -for me or himself, I couldn’t tell- “Well then, if you don’t mind, I now have a rather painful bruise to put ice on. So, if that’s all..?” He motioned to the door with his hoof. “G’night...”

I sighed again, my forehoof drifting to my furrowed brow. “Hold on... You know, it’s pretty noisy down here... An old coot like you, especially, can tell when any number of ponies are screwing around on your floor. Would you say... eight, including myself?”

He turned back toward me, narrowing his eyes in thought, before finally shaking his head. “I uh... I’d say ten.... not including yourself.”

“Yeah... Do me a favor, will you?” I cleared my throat as my magic pulled a scrap of paper out of my stable jacket -stained in blood- and levitated it toward him. He gave a disgusted cringe before grabbing the shabby scrap in his own aura. “Get to your intercom and buzz that number.”

He tilted his head in confusion. “Security?”

“Yeah, tell them Inspector Sparkhorn thinks there’s a code 0 in progress on the storage level.” I stepped back into the hall. My magic reached for the pistol I’d dropped in the storage ponies’ blood, shaking it free of their bodily fluids, before pulling the slide back. “Be sure to tell them that it’s in progress.”

The old buck nodded. “In progress...” He repeated, “Code 0... Alright, Spark, I’ll do this, as long as you promise to leave me alone.”

I nodded. “Thanks...” My eyes suddenly began to water again as I coughed on the smoke wafting through the hall from the elevator. Shit... that’s gonna be a problem. “Hey Docker, tell’em there’s a code 1871 in Storage too... Main elevator shaft.”

"1871..." He bit his lip nervously and turned towards his intercom, only to give another concerned glance in my direction. "Should I page the Medbay for you while I’m at it? You uh... You look like you cou--”

"I'd appreciate that..." I nodded with a smirk. “Goodnight Docker.” My magic reached out and closed his door, dropping it back down with a mechanical hiss. I coughed again, wiping my muzzle free of blood before turning towards the next corner at the sound of more hoofsteps.

Where the hell are those security reinforcements?

*** *** ***

“Gyaah!” I yelped in pain and skidded to a halt, feeling my wound tear further from my movements. “Son of bitch...” I cut off my breathing again, my ears perking at even more hooves trotting towards me. My eyes widened a moment later, heart stopping cold, as a gun engulfed in an orange aura floated out of the shadows through the door next to me.

Okay... plan now and probably die in the next two seconds, or act now and die in the next two minutes... Duh! GRAB IT YOU ASSHOLE!!!

I quickly lunged toward him, swatting his gun downward. He barely had time to gasp before my magic spun my 10mm a hundred-eighty degrees, and bludgeoned him with its cold, steel mouth grip. I struck him across his muzzle, prompting his magic to implode from shock. But, he took a page out of my attack as his own forehooves latched onto my pistol, knocking it out my aura. I struggled to take him down, minding his horn as it charged up.

zzzzzzZZZZZTTtttzzzzz!

I grunted as I ducked, the magical beam just barely singeing the tip of my ear and leaving a nice burn mark on the opposing wall. My eye twitched, pulling my foreleg back and punching his left foreleg above his Pipbuck.

“You...” I growled, putting all my weight into my forehoof, hitting the same spot, causing him to yelp in pain. “...Code breaking...” My mouth ripped the gun from his hooves as I grabbed either side of his head and threw him to the floor. “Ashhhoorr!” My magic wrapped around his Pipbuck, pulling his bruised foreleg in front of him, before I slammed my body on top of it.

With a loud crunch and twice as loud -and just as satisfying- scream from the stallion, I rolled to my hooves, aiming my mouth-gripped 10mm toward the next doorway, another pony trotting into my sites. I watched her eyes widen in slow motion after entering SATS.

Bang! Bang!

She fell in a heap as I turned right back toward the broken-legged unicorn’s head and clenched my jaw against the trigger, ceasing his cries before the targeting spell ended. "Goddamn grime lickers... Who’s next!?"

"HHHHHHRRRRAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!” A mare charged right at me, wielding a sharp, steel object in her violet aura as she rammed my pistol out of my mouth. The gun clattered to the floor, my forehooves struggling to block the object from stabbing the center of my eye.

Great... another crazy mare with a knife.

The tip imbedded itself in the grey wall, not an inch away from my face. I could read the stable-tec engraving across the blade as her magic pulled it back out to swipe at me. My legs collapsed below me, sliding down the wall as the edge scraped across the grey, leaving a shaggy horizontal streak. I rolled, putting weight on my forelegs while my hindlegs sprung towards her and bucked her in the chest. She grunted, backpedaling away. Meanwhile, I was crying out, staggered in pain. That last kick must have tore about another inch out of the hole in my side.

Okay... try something else...

I clutched my wound again with another groan, the mare charging back at me, this time swiping at my neck. I jerked my head back, smacking it against the floor as the blade gave me a close shave below my chin. Ignoring the throbbing crack in my skull, I quickly rolled to my hooves and swatted the knife away again, the edge grinding against my Pipbuck, before going for the unicorn’s throat.

Her eyes bulged in shock as my forehooves squeezed around her neck. She gagged, trying to struggle against me while bringing her knife back around.

“GAAH!” I yelped, feeling the blade slice right through my rearleg, just as I felt her forehoof punch against my stomach wound.

I’m not sure what kind of animalistic, non-equine scream escaped my lungs, but when it did, I remember feeling really... really pissed off.

My horn finally glowed into focus, the mare's vibrant violet aura suddenly struggling with a blood red magic tendril, now turning the blade on her between us. A deeper concern faded in across her face as I pushed her to the floor, pinning her forelegs with my own. I was easily too heavy for the mare to push away with her strength, her magic remaining focused, still struggling for dominance over the knife. We both growled and hissed and kicked and bit. I could feel all of her body’s energy move to concentrate into her magic, not even bothering to move her legs against my hooves anymore. It could have taken her only a second or two to turn the blade back onto me and sink it into my throat. She could have... if she hadn’t had sacrificed her physical energy for her magic. She gasped as my forehooves abruptly left her throat for the knife, slamming down on its handle. The blade sank into her in the chest. She cried, screaming through her teeth as her magic loosened. I slammed down on it again... and again. Blood began to run down the corners of her lips. Soon I had to rely on my own magic to hold the knife, plunging it three more times into her. Finally, her violet aura evaporated, and her body fell stiff. The knife clattered into the red puddle below us, myself breathing deep and wet coppery breaths, before I rolled off of her.

Celestia… Before Sugar Spade... do you know how long it’s been since I’ve killed a pony? ...well... I guess it doesn’t matter now. It’s been long enough apparently. I haven’t been this deep in blood since Ivy Locks was--

I coughed, tasting iron over my tongue as I looked up to see a thick plume of smoke surrounding the hallway. I couldn’t tell which way was up anymore. Regardless, a smirk found its way to my muzzle, followed by a smug chuckle. “And that’s ten... You haven’t busted this old swindler out yet, Platinum...” I crawled to the adjacent wall, almost ready to give up and let my body shake my consciousness loose before something else caught my eye. That smirk turned into a grateful smile.

My magic wrapped around the object in the mare’s pocket. I levitated the small grey pack in front of me, opening the flap to allow me access to at least a dozen preserved cigarettes.

Again, I chuckled, looking down at the mare’s twitching corpse. “Heh... Don’t you know these things are bad for you?” With that, I put one between by lips and reached inside my pocket with my magic. All too excited for the coming relief of tobacco and nicotine, I pulled out my flip-lighter and ignited its flame.

*Clink-Flick*

Footnote: Level Up!

New Perk: Like Father Like Son - The apple did not fall far from the tree. Your father’s advice has forced you to see every little flaw another pony can have. When targeting an enemy in SATS, their specific damage resistance and vulnerabilities are displayed, showing you the best place to strike for a chance at a critical hit.