TCB: RAGE!

*Crick crack* The door did protest, another buck from Gem nearly jarred it loose, but it was Randal who claimed victory, kicking the door open the rest of the way.

"Move," Buster hissed as they rushed inside they quickly barricaded the door with the aid of Gems magic, and not a moment to soon as hoofbeats and crazed laughter was heard outside, they didn't breath until the hoof beats had passed.

"Looks like there headed towards tha middle of the base," Randal said optimistically.

"Guess there rearin fer a good ol knock down scuffle with the major, crazy bastard."

"What in Equestria's name is wrong with these, things! Ponies do not act like this, I mean some do but not like this," Gem said slowly, the hallway they had entered was dim, but not dark enough to hinder her. The two humans on the other hand were having a slightly harder time at adjusting to the dim light.

"Alright, we just keep on workin our way out of here nice and slowly," Randal said as they began to move once they felt safe.

"Looks like they need to repair some more of these old building and such, Parts of the warehouses were being used as offices and makeshift labs for the folks who were here before. We'll have to be careful, those fuckers left some nasty traps in the older buildings," Buster said, moving slowly at the head of the group.

Gemstones hooves clip clopped quietly against the old tiled floor, her horn was aglow as she shined her multy hued light into each of the darkened rooms, as they headed deeper in the air began to grow musty, and the ambient light became limited to only her horn. 'This is my shot,' She thought 'I could run now, and they wouldn't even see me, how can they shoot what they can't see?' She thought, and she would have bolted if not for the simple fact that the building made her uneasy, the old smell of decaying wood and mildew assaulted her nostrils as she walked. The rooms were empty saved long derelict computers here and there, some of the walls had been torn away to get at the precious copper wire within. Exposed piping dripped from the condensation, the air growing cooler as they went further inside.

"I hate places like this, spooky places give me the creeps," Buster shivered, his breath becoming visible as he continued to lead the group forward into the calm darkness, still and as lifeless .

The still air stirred as the three crept along, silence pressed all around them, welcoming and inviting there eyes played the faintest of tricks at time, the glow of Gems horn caused strange shadows to be cast around the building they crept through.

"Good that we're not outside with them monsters anymore, but. . . can we get out of here soon?" Randal said, he didn't seem frightened but catious.

"Ha, superstious?" Buster chuckled, he kept his eyes peeled open for anything out of the ordenary. The traps were far and few between, but the ones that are left were nasty as can be.

"I don't understand the choice to go with so few windows," Gem said slowly moving along behind Buster, she tripped falling flat on her face, her horn hitting the ground with a soft *Clack* "Ow, wha- AHH!~" she scremed, a firm hand clamped down on her muzzle to silence her. She stood up and staggered to the side retching, she hadn't been prepared for the corpse of the cat at her hooves.

"Yep, unfortunate 'volunteer' for trap hunting," Buster sighed "Not very many people are skilled with trap removal so they figured letting loose a lot of strays would work just as well, look at the trip wire," Buster said pointing out the once taunt line.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Randal said shifting the straps of his flame thrower.

"Yes, why didn't you?" Gem glared.

"Well, it was sort of in plain sight, why didn't you see it?" Buster said back harshly. Gem glared at him for a few more moments before speaking again.

"What killed it?" She said examing the small still form with digust.

"Don't know, first trap we found we scoured high and low for a gun or somethin, but there isn't anything, no one knows what part of these traps kill, they just sort of drop dead."

"Let's get out of ere' this place is giving me the oddest feeling," Randal said urging Buster on, he crept behind Gemstone everyonce and a while his eyes would dart a bit wildly. The air shifted again as a loud rumble was heard from the distance.

"There just fans folks, no boogie men are going to be jumping out at us here," Buster smiled picking up the pace.

* * *

"What are they doing," Mikey said slowly peeping out the window as they crept back towards the 'safe' room.

"Those ponies are, freaky. . . freakier," Randy said, looking out the window. A group of ponies was moving about carrying various bits of scrap. They made no sound as they galloped back and forth, they ran in teams a stark contrast to their brethren who passed by in mobs, they worked silently diligently carrying odds and ends, trash and debris to some unseen location.

"This isn't going to end well," Terry said, rubbing the knot on his head. The soldier had clubbed him with the butt of his gun to get him and Mikey to shut up, Donny was rubbing the black eye Terry had given him in turn.

"Fuck'em, let's go, I don't lik-," Randy yelped as with a stutter and shake, the vents grill fell away.

* * *

Dust floated through the air, stirred by the threes movement, shadows danced, twisting and turning from the unicorns glowing horn, never one color for long always flowing from one color to the next. The dark, dank, and stale air played tricks on their minds. Out of the corner of their eyes one of the offices looked occupied, a fleeting glimpse of the silhouette of a man, periodically the building would creak causing Gem or Randal to jolt a bit, but the things they were running from were not quiet, they announced themselves.

“This building was going to be used for research at one point, but they kept dicking around with ‘other’ projects, and never managed to fix the place up,” Buster said, his voice breaking the calm.

“What ‘other’ projects are you talking about?” Gem said, looking up, causing shadows to leap about, Randal yelped.

“I. . . don’t much like the dark,” He blushed, speaking slowly with his head down as they both looked at him.

“I’m just a grunt, but I’d say at least one of them has resulted in our ‘happy’ pony party outside,” Buster chuckled grimly. he reached into one of his pouches pulling out a tube. With a snap it began to glow. “Here fraidy cat,” He chuckled, tossing the stick to Randal.

“Fuck you,” Randal said, Gem and Buster chuckled shaking there heads, Randal made sure they weren’t looking slipped the stick into his jackets pocket, and followed.