Morning found me once more being woken up by an overly cheerful Glitter who, from the sound of it, was quite eager to have me begin my assigned task of getting her the four shadow wolf corpses. “Up up up! Time to be getting up! No sleeping in today for you Andariel. Got a lot of work that needs doing, those shadow wolves aren’t going to just waltz into my store and kill themselves now are they?” She asked a huge grin on her face. I didn’t bother answering her, instead choosing to roll off the bed and make my way to the bathroom.

I could hear Glitter making her way downstairs while I finished in the bathroom, and soon after joined her at the table. She pushed a bowl of Sugar Apple Bombs over to me and, though I didn’t particularly care for them nor need them for sustenance, I still needed to keep up appearances and look like I was eating real food. I was certainly getting my fill of happiness this morning; Glitter was practically bursting at the seams with it.

“Alright. So, the last I heard, the wolves have claimed the area north east of here as their territory. I would recommend heading in that direction. Try and stay away from anything that casts a long shadow unless you can help it, no sense in courting trouble before you need to. Now then, you also need to watch out for the Black Maulers. They control most of the land north of here and don’t take kindly to strangers trespassing on their territory. I don’t think that you’ll run into them, but just on the off chance you do, it’s best to just run.”

I cocked my head, picking up my chalkboard and scribbling out a question.

Why hasn’t this gang stopped

The shadow wolves?

“Well, probably cause they haven’t bothered them I would guess. Not like they really care what happens to random ponies wandering the Wastes. But, you probably won’t run into them so you shouldn’t worry about them much. Now, you best be going.” She said, finishing up her breakfast and collecting the dishes from the table. Moving them into the kitchen she dumped them into the sink before turning to face me.

“Take care of yourself out there, I would hate to have to find a new assistant so soon after finding you.” She said a smirk on her face as she opened the door and ushered me outside.

I will see you again soon

As I kill those wolves.

“Good luck and be safe.” She said, giving a wave and then shutting the door. I stood there for a few seconds, staring at the door and gathering my courage for the coming assignment. With a deep breath and firm nod I turned away from the building, striding down the middle of the street into town. From what I could see the road looked like it lead to the north east. Only a dozen steps in I regretted my decision to enter the town. It was just as awful as it had been two nights ago when I first arrived. The stench and horrid taste of the air was almost enough to gag me. I passed several ponies that were just lying on the street and I couldn’t even tell if they were alive or dead. Noling else seemed to care about them, or at least not that I could see.

“Hey there cutie, how much for an hour?”

A pony was suddenly draping a foreleg across my neck, pulling me into them. Letting out a startled hiss I snapped my jaws at whoever had their leg around me, forgetting for a second that I wasn’t in my Changeling body and didn’t have fangs. It had the desired effect though, and with a yelp the pony released me and jumped back. I turned to glare at him, seeing a cream colored earth pony with a shockingly yellow mane and verdant green eyes.

“Whoa, easy there Sweet Cheeks. Save that biting for later, wouldn’t want to give the ponies a free show now would you?” He said with a lecherous grin on his smug face as he advanced again. I scowled at him, baring my teeth and pawing the ground with a fore hoof.

~Back off. ~

He chuckled, not seeming to be impressed by me baring my teeth. “This is going to be a lot better for you if you don’t fight me so just be a good filly and come with m-OOF!” He hadn’t been very impressed by me baring my teeth but from the way his head snapped back and launched him into a flip he was impressed by my leg. He landed on the ground flat on his back and didn’t move. I waited a few seconds before examining the Power Hoof that Glitter had given me.

I rather liked it.

Placing my hoof back down on the ground, I looked around to see if anyling was going to come after me for attacking that pony. Noling was even looking my way, they didn’t seem to care. Shaking my head, I tried to breathe as little as possible as I made my way out of town and into the wastes. Things sure had changed if ponies didn’t even care enough about each other to at least ask what had happened when one knocked another out.

Now then, which way to go? I wished that I had some way to determine direction; the sun was hidden behind a vast blanket of clouds. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen the sun at all since I had woke up. Cursing softly, I looked around for any landmark that might still be left over from the time I remember.

Nothing.

Cursing louder I decided that standing around wasn’t going to help me at all and that I might as well pick a direction and head that way. Turning to my left, I began to trot in that direction. I could just see a line of hills at the edge of the horizon and figured that was as good a destination as any. As I walked I let my mind wander, going back to the before time when everything, while not easy, had been simpler.

THUNK!

I paused, looking around a bit. What was that? I took a step forward. THUNK! Right behind me! I whirled around, teeth bared and hoof cocked back ready to smash whatever was behind me. Nothi-OW!

I jerked in surprise, a sharp pain welling up from my flank as something hard and sharp smashed into it. I looked in the direction I assumed whatever had hit me had come from and saw the most bizarre thing I had ever seen in my life. It looked like someling had taken a parasprite and made it grow to monstrous proportions. My jaw dropped open as I stared, how could something like this exi-OH JEEZE! I dodged out of the way of another whatever those things were, completely grossed out as I saw it come flying out of its butt. Was it throwing its poop at me?!

I had no more time to think about it as it started launching disgusting things at me again. I refused to think about what it might be. Running forward I dodged and weaved, making sure to keep a close eye on its bottom as it pulled it back right before an attack.

Pull back….dodge!

Pull back…..weave!

Pull back…..sli-WHAP!

~STOP IT! ~

Finally closing in on the stupid thing I swung my hoof at it, only to scowl as it ducked under my punch and hit me again. Letting out a growl I launched a jab with my left hoof while holding my right back and ready to strike. It did exactly what I hoped it would, dropping down and to the right to avoid the punch and put itself perfectly in position to get hit with an uppercut from my right power hoofed foreleg.

CRUNCH!

I hit the disgusting creature square in the middle of its body. I hit it so hard it surprised even me as the wings and legs were blasted off of it and the body went sailing a good twenty feet before landing.

Breathing a bit heavily I looked down and saw something sticking out of my armor, whatever it was that it had thrown at me. I knocked it away with a hoof; it didn’t look like crap, thankfully enough. It kinda looked like………GROSS! I frantically wiped my hoof off and smashed the larvae! That thing had been shooting babies at me! What kind of sick place was this?!

I checked myself thoroughly for anymore of the disgusting things on me. After a good ten minutes I determined that there were no more and that I should be safe. Shuddering at the thought of what might have happened if that thing had beaten me I resolved to pay more attention and not get lost in thought anymore.

Going a bit slower and making sure to constantly check my surroundings I resumed my journey to the hills in the distance. It took nearly three hours, three uneventful hours in which no weird disgusting creatures tried to shoot babies at me, to reach the hills. I didn’t know if this was the territory of the shadow wolves or the Black Maulers but I’d explore it a bit and see what I could find.

The hills weren’t much to look at, now that I was close enough to really see them. There was no grass growing on them, no bushes or weeds or trees. Just blasted out holes and a few charred husks of a couple of stumps.

Wandering around on a hill I came across a bag, just lying in the middle of nowhere. Curious, I walked up to it to examine it a bit closer. It wasn’t until I had gotten closer that I noticed there was a skeleton curled up on the other side. Pausing, I looked at the skeleton for a while, wondering who it had been and why they had been out here all alone when the world ended.

~Chrysalis keep you. ~

I murmured a brief prayer for the dead pony. I don’t know if they would have appreciated me doing so but I like to think that they did. Opening the bag I rummaged around in it, finding rusted cans and nothing really of value. Tossing the bag aside I noticed that there was some kind of weird rectangle looking thing by the skeleton’s hoof. Frowning a bit I picked it up, I knew what this was. I had seen them before we had withdrawn to The Hive. It was a pony invention, something they had made to do something. Wracking my brain I tried to recall just what the purpose of the thing had been. After a few seconds I let out an irritated huff. I just couldn’t remember.

Still, it might come to me later so I stuffed the thing into a pouch on my saddlebag and after skirting around the bones I continued on my journey.

I had just crested a hill when I heard a skittering coming from further down the hill. Crouching down behind a tree trunk I waited a few seconds to see if whatever was causing the noise would come near me. The skittering continued but didn’t sound like it was coming any closer. Slowly leaning out of my cover I tried to spot whatever it was that was making the noise. It took me a few seconds before I spotted it. It was MASSIVE! A large grey scorpion was walking back and forth at the bottom of the hill. It had to have been at least fifteen feet long and six feet tall! Why was every bug so big?!

My eyes widened as I got a good look at the pincers and wicked looking tail. Those looked like they could kill me in an instant! Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor I slowly edged my way back behind the hill. Waiting to see if the creature would come after me, I let out a relieved sigh when it didn’t. I had no intention of fighting such a monstrosity and turned to my left to continue that way.

I had soon put plenty of distance between myself and Gigantor the Death Scorpion. How could something that large exist? It just didn’t seem physically possible. And why had it just been walking back and forth? Seemed a little odd but if it had kept it busy and not trying to eat me I was okay with that.

Coming across a secluded little area I found a nice rock to sit down on and have some food. I pulled out one of the Fancy Lad Buck Cakes that Glitter had given me and unwrapped it. Taking a bite I looked around at my surroundings, making sure nothing was sneaking up on me. I took my time with the Buck Cake, it was rather tasty. However, I had soon finished it. Tossing aside the wrapper I pushed myself back onto my hooves. It was then that I noticed that I was still in my pony form. While it had been useful in town I figured that my true form would be better suited to surviving out here. Hopefully other predators would not attack me if they knew I was a threat as well.

Closing my eyes I pictured my real self and in a flash of green fire I was myself once more. Licking my lips, I let my tongue trail along my fangs, snapping them closed with an audible CLACK!

Now this was better! I stretched out a bit, popping my neck and giving myself a good shake. I was now ready to face this world and everything it had to throw at me! I took a step forward and the ground promptly collapsed underneath me. With a startled scream I tried to fly but realized that the saddlebags had my wings pinned to my sides. I plunged into the darkness, having only a few seconds of heart stopping terror before I landed with a ~UGH! ~ I laid there for a few minutes, just shaking and trying to get my heart rate back down into a normal limit.

~So, no more arrogantly thinking that I’m ready for anything. Message received loud and clear world. ~ I groaned, pushing myself back onto my hooves and looking around at where I had landed. I had to admit it was rather unspectacular, just normal looking tunnels that lead off lower into the hill one way and up further the other. Taking a few minutes I adjusted my saddlebags so that it was no longer impeding my ability to fly. Deciding that I might as well explore while I was down here I headed off down the way that lead deeper into the ground, the darkness not a problem at all for me.

The tunnel continued on for maybe a quarter mile, a few twists and turns but nothing really exciting to speak of. Then I noticed a glow that was slowly getting brighter as I walked. I slowed down; crouching as I cautiously peeked around the bend where the light was coming from.

I don’t really know what I had been expecting, but two rows of lights leading towards a massive metal door with the numbers “39” written on it was not it. Not spotting any dangers I carefully made my way forward to examine the door. There was some kind of console next to it, though I couldn’t really make heads or tails of it. The door itself didn’t look like I could budge, it even if I had everyling in the Swarm to help. Giving up that option, I began looking at the console again, maybe I could somehow figure out how to open the door using this?

Sitting down in front of it, I saw that there was no writing on it.

Just a bunch of buttons.

Shrugging, I decided to just start pressing all of them and see what happened. I started with the large green one.

Nothing.

So I moved on to the red one.

Nada.

The yellow one?

Zilch.

Black one.

Negative.

Getting a little frustrated I began pressing the buttons more rapidly. I might as well have tried licking my way through the door for all the good it did me. Having exhausted the supply of buttons before me I regained my hooves and turned around. Giving the console a mighty buck I was all set to go back up the tunnel and leave this place when a loud alarm started ringing and a yellow light started flashing. Startled, I flared my wings up and bared my fangs in an instinctive move to make myself more threatening.

Then, with an almighty SCREECH and a hiss of steam the door moved back and slid away to the left to reveal another room behind it.

To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed with the revealed room. There I was, wings flared out and fangs bared, ready to scare the hide off anything that was waiting for me and instead what do I get? A room with a few pillars, another console and a closed doorway. Though, thankfully the door wasn’t as sturdy looking as the one out here. I stood there for several more seconds before deciding that there wasn’t going to be anything attacking me from that area. Letting my wings fold back up I closed my mouth and walked into 39.

The thing that first struck me as I wandered around the small area was just how clean this place was. I know I had only seen a little bit of this new world but from what I’d seen so far of it clean was a four letter word. Well, I suppose Glitter’s store had been relatively clean. So I guess everywhere except for her shop was a filthy, dirty mess.

Having exhausted my search of the small room I decided to see what lay beyond the closed door. Walking up to it I could see that there was a wheel instead of a doorknob. ~Hmm, so those ponies finally figured out that it’s easier to turn a wheel then a doorknob.~ I shook my head, remembering the times I’d been impersonating an earth pony and had to use my mouth to open doors. It could get...messy.

Reaching up, I hooked a foreleg though one of the spokes in the wheel and gave it a turn. To my surprise, it spun easily and then started to spin on its own. I jerked my hoof back and watched as it picked up speed before stopping abruptly. A single eyebrow rose up but before I could do anything more than that the wheel vanished and the door sunk down into the ground.

~The hay was that? ~

I cautiously put my hoof over the door, half afraid it was going to suddenly shoot back upward and crush me to death. I kept my hoof there for a good minute before I determined that it was safe enough to cross. I lowered my leg and then darted as fast as I could over the doorway.

No sense in taking chances.

Beyond was a rather bland hallway, though written on the walls was the rather happy looking message Welcome to Stable 39!

Scrawled underneath that, however, was the less happy message: Your Grave!

I cocked my head to the side, wondering if the exclamation mark made it happy or just a bit overly dramatic. Hmm, definitely overly dramatic.

Turning around I let out a startled scream, leaping backwards and hitting the Stable wall. There was a pony! Only this pony most certainly shouldn’t be walking around! There was a massive hole in her chest and I could see her insides. The dead pony simply stood there, staring at me before it opened its maw wide, showing me its rotted teeth and tongue. Without warning it lunged at me!

I gave another scream, whipping up my Power Hoof and trying to punch it away from me. However, just before I connected the pony vanished! Breathing heavily, I scanned the area frantically. Where could it have gone?! There was only this hallway and the door I had come from. Speaking of the door, it suddenly sounded like a very good idea to be heading back there and getting the hell out of here!

Just as the thought crossed my mind I heard a tremendous SCREECH! back from where I had come from. ~Shit! ~ Turning back I ran as fast as I could, but it still wasn’t fast enough. I got back there just in time to see the door slide back into place, locking me inside.

~Double shit. ~

I ran up to the console, giving it a buck like I had the one outside.

Nothing.

I kicked it a few more times, just to be sure. Then I started pressing all the buttons again, mixing that up with kicking the console.

A big fat load of nothing.

~Triple shit. ~

Things were suddenly looking a lot less bright for me and a lot more like I was going to be killed by some dead pony. That was even stranger than having some bloated monstrosity of a parasprite shooting babies at me. Taking a deep, bracing breath I turned back to the door. There was nothing for it. I could either stay here and slowly starve to death with no guarantee that the dead pony couldn’t get me in here, or I could take my chances with finding some way to kill the thing again in the Stable.

Oh joy.

When I put it like that, there wasn’t really any choice now was there? So, with a popping of the neck and a growl I bravely made my way back into the hallway. Alright alright, so I maybe sort of kinda crawled on my belly and peeked around the corner to see if it was still out there.

Nothing, the only thing I could see was the now much less friendly signs and the hallway with a set of stairs leading further down and into the Stable. Not even a peep, or for that matter any sound at all. Actually, now that I thought about it the only sounds I had heard so far had been the door opening and closing and my own hoofsteps. It was...rather odd.

But, the lack of sound was the least of my worries. Slowly standing up, I very carefully made my way down the hallway on to the top of the stairs. I checked behind me to make sure the Death Pony hadn’t snuck up on me again. No sign of it. Good. Taking the stairs one at a time it took me nearly five minutes to reach the bottom. There were only fifteen steps.

Still, I would rather spend five minutes cautiously staying alive then a few seconds of carelessness and end up dead. There wasn’t much at the bottom, just another hallway leading further and further into this place. I slunk along near the floor, stopping at every noise, real or imaginary until I reached the doorway. Through it I could see some sort of atrium, with a walkway running along the middle of the room, splitting it into an upper and lower part.

I didn’t see anything suspicious, just another remarkably clean room. Creeping along the top portion, I stuck close to the wall. Passing under several windows, I checked in them but it was too dark to see anything inside. I’d have to find the doors for them if I wanted to know what mysteries they contained.

It was as I was passing beneath a window that it happened again. I looked behind me to make sure I wasn’t being followed, when a flash of movement out of the bottom of my eye caught my attention. Looking down, I watched in horror as a pink fez slowly rose out of the floor. The fez was quickly followed by a horn and a cyan colored mane. Then the head rose up, soot grey in color and with big thick glasses that hid the eyes from me. I watched, unable to move as the apparition, who I could now see was a mare, fully rose out of the floor. We stood there, me staring at her and her staring at me. Well, I think staring at me. With those glasses she could very well have been staring at the ceiling or something behind me or even had her eyes closed. Then, she slowly opened her mouth again.

This time however, I was able to react in time. I swung my power hoof at the side of her head, intending to smash it in between my weapon and the window. That plan went right out the window when my hoof simply passed right through her head and continued on into the window. I did end up smashing the window though, so I guess the plan worked a little. Laughter bubbled up from the mare, or at least I think it did. It seemed to be coming from everywhere. All around me at once.

Then, the mare simply vanished once more. She didn’t drop back into the ground or through a wall it was like someling had thrown a switch. One second she’s there, the next gone. I nervously licked my lips, looking around for her. What was going on here? Who was this mare and why did she seem to like scaring me so much?

I looked into the room whose window I had smashed, it looked to be a classroom of some kind. There were a few desks and a chalkboard on the eastern wall. A teacher’s desk sat in front of and to the left of the chalkboard but other than that I didn’t really see anything worth investigating. Looking back I screamed as the Death Mare leaped at me with her mouth wide open!

Leaping backwards my back legs caught on the window ledge and sent me toppling over and onto the floor which was covered in broken glass. I scrambled backwards, not stopping until my back hit the teacher’s desk. I pressed myself against the cold wood, panting and staring with wide eyes at the window. Expecting at any moment to see that horrible visage again, to finally feel those dull teeth sink into my flesh.

I don’t know how long I sat there, panting and staring but eventually my heart rate slowed and my breathing evened out. I was seriously starting to dislike that pony.

I regained my hooves, moving to place the desk between me and the window. Not that I thought it would really do me much good if she came back, but it was at least something. I started to go through the desk, anything to take my mind off of the creature out there. Rifling through the drawers, I came up with a distinct lack of anything interesting. A clipboard, a pencil and three sheets of paper were all that the desk contained. Deciding to leave the garbage there rather than weigh myself down with unnecessary clutter, I examined the rest of the desks, once again coming up with nothing.

Shaking my head, I had to question what I really thought I would find poking around in an old school room. Walking over to the door, I checked through the window for the Death Mare. I didn’t see her but, as I had already experienced, that didn’t exactly count for much when she could just appear behind me without any warning.

Now, at this point the obvious thing that would happen would be I turned around and sure enough there she was, all set to gobble me up. But, in a stunning stroke of genius I in fact did not turn around and instead bolted out of the door like my tail was on fire! Take that Death Mare!

I found myself in another hallway, with the door I had just run out of and two more along the same wall. So, with no better plan, I decided to search the two rooms and discovered that they were identical to the first one. They even had the same garbage in them. Whoever built this place or lived here sure didn’t have much imagination.

Bolting back out of the room, I ran to the stairs before launching myself into the air and flying down them. No sense in running down stairs and tempting fate. Reaching the bottom I landed and walked into the lower part of the atrium I had just been at the top of. There wasn’t really anything down here, just a table with some bits on it. Finally! Something worth taking in this stupid place.

Sliding the bits into one of my saddlebags I made sure it was securely strapped down, I didn’t want to lose the first valuable thing I’d found in here. Well, hopefully valuable thing I’d found in here. For all I knew they could use something ridiculously stupid for money. Like bottle caps. I snorted at the idea, there’s no way that anyling would be so stupid as to use bottle caps for money.

Anyways, I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted! There was some kind of zombie ghost pony who seemed intent on sneaking up on me and scaring me half to death and/or possibly eating my brains.

Speaking of the Death Mare, I took off running again, heading towards a doorway that I could see on the far end of the south side of the room. My strategy of avoiding her paid off as she didn’t show up to try anything. I found myself in another hallway with no doors and a set of stairs leading further down into the Stable. Since down was as good as any direction, I lifted back up into the air and flew down the stairs.

I stayed in the air, the soft buzzing of my wings breaking up the utter silence of the place which I was finding to be rather disconcerting the longer I spent here. The only other place I had been that had been this absolutely silent was my Hi-not thinking about that! Determinately not thinking about that I turned into the first doorway I came across. Inside was a rather plain looking room which consisted of a bed, a small dresser with a lamp on it and a dresser on the opposite wall.

Rummaging around in the dresser turned up another of those rectangular thingies, whatever they were called. Why can’t I remember what these stupid things are called? Shrugging, I slipped the thingy into the pouch where the other one was and continued on with my search of the room which was as productive as my search of the two class rooms upstairs. Continuing with my strategy of not looking behind me I bolted out of the room and straight into the one across the hall.

It was exactly the same as the other one, even down to what color the blanket on the bed was. It was…….comforting. The similarity, how it was exactly the same from room to room, made me feel at home, almost safe I guess. But I didn’t let that feeling distract me from the very real danger of having a zombie pony bite my face off. I still needed to find some way to kill or even wound it so I turned my focus back to searching the room.

The dresser revealed a set of empty drawers and nothing on top or below it so I walked over to the desk to check it out. Just a single lamp and not a thing of interest. I was about to run back out the door when a slip of paper half hidden underneath the bed caught my eye.

~Hello. What are you doing down there?~

I bent down, picking up the piece of paper in my mouth and putting on the bed so I could see what it was. It looked to be some kind of diary page. Leastways, that’s the only thing I could think of that it might be. It was torn and half the page was missing but the part I could read seemed to be a pony’s thoughts.

-Day 16-

I still can’t believe it. They blew it up. Those damn maniacs! They blew it up! Damn them! Luna damn them all to Tartarus! At least I’m alive. Made it to the Stable in time, though there’s only one other pony here with me. Ricochet. She seems nice, if a little strange. I don’t know if she’s always been like that or if it’s a result of surviving the end of the world. At least we’ve got plenty of food and water, looks like this Stable was designed for a lot more ponies than just the two of us.

Guess the others didn’t make it in time.

Bah, I’m going to go eat something.

Day 35

It’s been awhile since I

I assumed that the rest of the sentence said wrote in here but as that was part of the page which had been ripped off I could only guess at it. Checking under the bed revealed there were no more pages, or the ripped off part. So, with nothing else to explore in this room, I took a deep breath and ran out the door into the adjacent room. Once more I was safe. Searching this room and the rest on this level was actually rather dull, the Death Mare didn’t show up again and I didn’t find anything really of interest until the last room.

It was arranged just like the rest and I wasn’t really paying attention to what I was doing. As I was turning around from searching the dresser my hoof caught on the edge of it and sent me tumbling to the floor.

~Ouch! ~

I looked back to see what I had tripped on, I couldn’t really see any-what is that?

There was some kind of weird orb type thingy stuck in one of the holes in my leg. Where did that come from? Sitting up I examined it closely, twisting my leg this way and that to try and figure out what it was and where it had come from. After several minutes I had determined that it was an orb thingy and had come out of nowhere to lodge itself in my leg.

Reaching out my hoof I tried to pop it back out but the thing was refusing to come out. I tried licking it to try and loosen it up before pushing it out. No result. Well, I guess that’s not strictly true. Now I had a wet orb stuck in my wet leg so I guess I did achieve something. Sighing I stood up, giving my leg one last shake to try and dislodge it. Nothing doing. I headed for the door when it happened. Death Mare dropped down from the ceiling, only this time she was screaming!

It sounded terrible! Like a thousand tortured souls were all crying out at once, all around me. I clapped my hooves to my ears, futilely trying to block out the sounds. Launching myself into the air, I flew as fast as I could above her and then out the door. Darting down the stairs I didn’t stop until I was sure I had lost her. Then I spent ten minutes more waiting to see if she would show up. I was really starting to get sick of her popping out of nowhere like a daisy out of snow.

Once I was sure that she wasn’t going to appear again I took a moment to actually look around and see where I had ended up. There were a lot of machines with consoles and flashing lights, buttons and all manner of things that I’m sure did something but I had no idea what. Though if I was forced to guess, I would say that they were used to help keep this place going but they could have just as easily been for decoration only. Cautiously making my way out of the room I checked to see if DM was wandering around down here.

Nope.

I ventured out, slowly moving and making sure that I made as little noise as possible. The next twenty minutes passed in an uneventful state of hyper alertness, with me finding nothing of interest or anything to help me kill the DM. Just when I was about to give up and take my chances back upstairs I stumbled, and I’m sad to say that I mean that literally, over a desk that had been laying on its side around a corner.

~OOF! ~

I cried out as I landed rather heavily and awkward on the other side, laying there I waited for my heart to slow down to a normal level. Something caught my eye, taped to the underside of the desk was a piece of paper. Twisting around so I could read it, I was surprised by what it had to say.

He’s lost it.

I know he has, he tries to hide it but I can see it in his eyes. The way he stares at me when he thinks I’m not looking, how he’s always mumbling and writing or recording his memories. I have to get out of this place, but I know that if I do I will surely die. But if I stay here I fear that my fate will be even worse than if I died of radiation sickness. All I know is that I have to find some way to protect myself, Stable Tec had to have left some kind of weapons for us to use in case things are still bad when we leave.

I’m going look for an armory tomorrow.

Ricochet

Ricochet. Was that the name of the dead mare? Had she failed to find something to defend herself with? Or had whoever had shared this place with her killed her before she had a chance to? I reached up and gently pried the paper off the desk, rereading it before sighing and slipping it into a pouch on my saddle. I couldn’t do anything about it now, she and whoever killed her were long dead and I had to focus on finding a way to kill her again.

Pushing myself up onto my hooves I took a few seconds to compose myself before continuing on down the hall. Soon I came across a door that had a terminal next to it. Trying the door first to see if it was locked I was not shocked at all to discover that it was. I suppose that would have been too easy.

Deciding to try my luck at the terminal I reared back onto my hind legs and looked at the screen for a few seconds before hitting one of the keys. To my surprise, it actually did something! It took me to a password prompt screen.

Right. I could do this. I was a smart Changeling, surely this would pose no problem for me.

After forty minutes I was forced to conclude that this might actually pose a problem for me. The stupid thing had resisted all my efforts at guessing the password, and the worst part was that whenever I backed out so I didn’t get locked out the stupid thing changed all the words so I couldn’t even narrow it down that way!

It was as I was going through the list for what had to be the thousandth time that I accidentally rolled the selector thingy over a series of meaningless jumble but, instead of lighting up just the one symbol, a whole section of them lit up.

~Eh? ~

I scrolled it back and forth, watching as it lit up again and again. It wasn’t letters so I didn’t think it was the password, but it was highlighting like it was. Curious, and out of maybe a bit more than a little frustration, I clicked on it to see what would happen.

Dud Removed

What.

The.

Fuck?!

No, seriously. What the fuck is that? I could feel my teeth grinding together and I really really wanted to put my Power Hoof through the computer. Is this thing seriously telling me that I had a way to remove fake passwords the whole time?!

~FUCK YOU COMPUTER THINGY! ~

Oh I was so mad! Angrily sending the cursor over every single row, I found all the little cheaty cheat lines and removed all but two of the passwords. It had also replenished my allowance for attempts.

Glaring at the two options left and with four tries I selected VIRTUE and promptly got PASSWORD INCORRECT THREE ATTEMPTS REMAINING.

Well, at least I knew what the password was now; I selected PRIORITY and it was with a mixture of relief and rage I finally saw PASSWORD CORRECT scroll by and then a new screen open up. There was only one option and if I hadn’t been so happy to finally see something else on the screen I probably would have felt cheated by that.

OPEN DOOR

Gleefully selecting that option I stepped back to watch the wheel spin on the door before it split in two and slid up into the ceiling and down into the floor. A single hallway extended for roughly a hundred feet before coming to a set of stairs. Darting across the doorway so it didn’t suddenly close and squish me I made my way down the hallway, wary for the DM to show back up. She hadn’t in the entire time I had been messing with the computer and it was starting to freak me out a bit.

Slowing to a halt at the bottom of the stairs I looked up to see that they dead ended at the ceiling. An eyebrow quirked up at this bizarre design, what kind of builder would put in stairs to nowhere? I walked up them and pushed against the ceiling to no avail, it was solid and there was no way I was going to get it to budge.

Heaving a sigh, I knew that now I really did have no choice but to go back upstairs and take my chances with DM. Dragging my hooves down the stairs I only barely out of the corner of my eye see a light switch on the wall. That was odd. Odd enough that it made me stop and examine it, this was the first one that I’d come across, as far as I could tell everything in this place was automated.

Reaching up a hoof I hesitated for a few seconds before deciding that there was no harm in seeing what it could do, so with a flick up I turned on the light switch. I stood there, looking around to see if the lights had turned off or on or if there was now a deadly neurotoxin being pumped into the entire place and I had just killed myself. Nothing of the sort happened. Instead there was a horrible screeching and grinding noise as the ceiling above the stairs started to slide back, disappearing into another section of the ceiling.

Baring my fangs I didn’t waste any time trying to be sneaky, anything on the other side had heard that thing opening and would no doubt be on its way to discover the source of the noise. Launching myself up into the air I rocketed into the revealed space, hoof cocked and ready to knock somelings teeth out.

Thankfully, I was not met with any hostiles. Just a room that had a row of monitors along both walls, a window in one and a door on the far side. Turning around however was another matter entirely. Slumped over on a desk and next to another computer was the skeleton of a unicorn pony and I could see from where I was that her ribcage was shattered, beyond her was another unicorn skeleton lying on the floor next to the largest computer I had seen.

There was some kind of band around his head and there was a spear on the ground next to him.

Landing in front of the unicorn on the desk, I tried to see if there was anything there that could tell me who it was and what had happened here. There was only a single piece of parchment, with what looked a lot like blood stains on it. Gingerly moving the skeletons foreleg off it I turned it around so I could see what was written.

I’m too late. He’s already found the only real weapon in this cursed place, damn Stable Tec and all who had a hoof in building it. He’s been hunting me for three days now, screaming and raving about how it’s the only way to be sure he’s safe. Tha…………..

I couldn’t read the next couple of lines, the stains making the writing illegible.

I’ve locked myself in the Over Stallions office, though I know it’s only a matter of time before he gets in here or I starve to death. There’s nothing to bar the door with, this desk is bolted to the ground as is everything else. I only hope that the Crusader Mainframe is working properly and records everything so that whoever finds this knows the truth of what happened here. I don…………………Belle were thin……………when th……………ce.

It was getting harder and harder to read, the blood flow from when Ricochet had died had soaked into this part the most.

Whoever finds this, you need to know that this place has all been wired with holographic technology, the very cutting edge of Stable Tech. I found some notes that were meant for the Over Stallion, whoever it was going to be was supposed to use the projectors spread all around the Stable to ……………………….

~To what?! What was the Over Stallion supposed to do?! Damn it why did that part have to be gone? ~

I paused, something niggling at the back of my mind, something important. I looked from the skeleton on the desk, chest caved in, to the skeleton next to the computer. Holographic technology? What does that mean? I read over that part again, the whole place was wired with it, which probably meant that this room was as well. Looking around I spotted several weird orb type things at all four corners of the room.

~Okay, are those the holographic projectors? Or are they just weird pony decorations?~ That was the problem here, while it might be obvious to ponies what was going on to me all this talk about holographic thingamajigers and projectowhatsits was all just meaningless babble. I didn’t know what they did or how they worked or blah blah blah. Point is I now knew there were holographic projectors set up throughout the Stable. I added that to The List Of Useless Knowledge Andariel Has Acquired.

The rest of the writing was gone, lost to the ages and never to be reclaimed. Slipping the parchment into one of my saddlebags I looked up in time to see a strange flickering coming from one of the things in the corner.

~What the? ~

Snapping my wings open I flew up to it, watching as it continually flickered. Sticking my hoof in front of it I was surprised to find that there was an image on it. Leaning in close I realized that I was looking at a vaguely pony shaped picture. I looked at the projector to my right and saw the same light flickering there. As I turned to look at the other two I gasped in surprise, twisting to look at her fully.

Death Mare was standing in the middle of the room, glaring up at me only…only she wasn’t all there. It was like her outline was hazy or indistinct. But the second my hoof stopped blocking the faint pony picture she solidified. Opening her maw she leaped up at me, but this time I didn’t run. I hovered my ground and waited for her to reach me, just before she did she winked out of existence. I turned to look at the object and sure enough, there was no light coming from it now.

~Oh, you have got to be kidding me. ~ I was very upset at myself as I realized that this pony wasn’t actually a vengeful spirit seeking to eat my brains. It was a holographic projection! Smashing my hoof into the projector I smirked, feeling so much better. I quickly flew to the other three, smashing them in turn before alighting on the ground.

~Well, now that I’ve thoroughly made a pupa out of myself, I think it’s time I checked out that other skeleton. ~

Walking over I picked up the spear, examining it for awhile before strapping it across my back. I knew how to use melee weapons but I preferred my own four hooves. Crouching down I examined the skeleton, there didn’t seem to be any sign of broken bones. Just the band thing around its head. Reaching out I nudged it free, picking it up and examining it more closely. It was connected to what I assumed was the Crusader Mainframe but I couldn’t be sure. That’s when the noise started again.

The screaming and wailing was incredible and was once again seeming to come from all around me at once. I clamped my hooves over my ears, trying to spot the source of the noise. As my eyes traveled over the window I had spied earlier what I saw shocked me; there was not one, or two, but at least six Death Mares at the window, all with their mouths open and screaming. I leapt backwards; even though I knew they couldn’t hurt me, it was still a very disconcerting sight!

Chrysalis was smiling on me. For as I leaped backwards the spear I had strapped to my back slammed into the device the pony had been strapped to. Well, I think it was more of a smirk because as the spear sliced into it a horrific jolt rocketed across my body, sending me zooming across the room to smash into the wall next to the window. I fell backwards, twitching a bit when I hit the ground. Gasping and writhing on the ground, it took me a few minutes to realize the noise had stopped. I laid there until my body stopped twitching and I could breathe without any pain.

Pushing myself up into a sitting position I looked back at the Mainframe, I could see a hole where the spear had pierced it. Wires and components were sliced through, a few sparks sputtered here and there. Moving over to the window I saw that all the Death Mares had vanished.

~Huh, well that’s odd. ~

I walked back over to where I had been standing before taking my impromptu flight across the room. I examined the gash I had inadvertently made in the thing, I had no idea what had happened, why it had attacked me. Well, okay I knew why it had attacked me. If someling had jabbed me with a spear I would have struck back as well. But I didn’t know why the screaming and Death Mares had gone.

Deciding that it was best not to question my good fortune I began looking for any kind of useful things to plunder.

I had already checked both skeletons, so there was no point in disturbing them any further. I opened the desk, finding a few old bits of parchment and a bag of bits. Placing the bits into my saddlebags I spotted what looked like a safe beneath the desk. Crouching down I tried to turn the handle, it was of course locked but I had to at least try. Standing up I looked at the computer, the last interesting bit in this whole place. Gently as I could, I shifted the bones so I could get at it. The screen was glowing green and even more surprising was the fact that there was a list of options already displayed on screen.

Email

Crusader Mainframe

Open Safe

I stared at that last option for a few seconds, not quite believing that it was really going to be as easy as selecting that option and the safe would just pop open for me. However, I wouldn’t know until I tried it. Selecting Open Safe I heard a Click! from down below and sure enough, I could see that the safe door was now slightly ajar.

~Well, glad that wasn’t hard to get into or anything. Not like a safe should be a little harder to break into. ~

Crouching back down I lifted the door open to see what was inside. A packet filled with paper, another bag of bits, and some kind of weird cylindrical device. At least, I figured it was cylindrical because it was lying in two halves at the moment and looked like it would be cylindrical when closed.

Lifting it up I examined it closer. A large blank screen sat in the middle of the device and there were three buttons that sat below that, each with a different name. Stats, Items and Data respectively. No idea what they meant, but that could be said of a lot of things in this place. There was a single knob on the lower left side of it, though I had no idea what it was for. There was a radiation counter gauge on the upper left side. That might be handy; I didn’t want to get radiation poisoning. Looking at the two skeletons I noticed neither of them had one of these things on them. Maybe it was just for whoever had been going to be in charge?

But how did it work? That was the question. I began fiddling with the knob, turning it this way and that but nothing happened. I tried tapping a few of the buttons but the result was the same as with the knob. Lifting it up I shook it a few times then tried the knob and buttons again. Nothing.

~Hmm, how are you supposed to get this stupid thing to work? ~ I wondered, turning it over and over and trying to figure it out. As I was turning it the two halves snapped shut. Staring at it for a few seconds an idea began to form in my mind. That looked like it would fit perfectly around my foreleg. Lifting up the leg that didn’t have an orb stuck in it I looked back and forth between the device and my leg. Yeah, that looked like it would fit. Opening the device back up I placed my right foreleg in, resting it against the bottom half.

~Well, here goes nothing. ~

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes I snapped the device shut. For a few seconds, nothing happened. I had just opened my eyes and let out a sigh of relief when pain suddenly exploded across my right foreleg. Letting out a startled, pained shriek I started trying to rip the thing open but it wouldn’t! It felt like the thing was melting into my flesh! Letting out a sob I smashed the device against the desk, desperately trying to get the cursed thing off and make the horrific pain stop.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. The pain was gone, like it had never been there. Reaching up with my non-Evil-Deviced foreleg, I wiped away a couple of pain induced tears, scowling down at the evil thing. Before I had a chance to do anything else suddenly a synthesized female voice spoke up.

New User Detected

What the?

Non-Pony User Detected, Beginning Search Of Database.

Non-Pony what? What the buck was going on?!

Match Found. Changeling. Classification Non Hostile. Standing Down Termination Protocols.

Termination protocols? That didn’t sound very good, but I did like the standing down part.

Welcome New User. Please Enter Your Name.

I blinked a bit in surprise; this thing was asking me for my name?

~ Andariel. ~

User Name Changed To Andariel. Initializing Heads Up Display.

I gasped as various boxes began to pop up in my vision, on the lower right there was now something labeled AP with a bunch of tick marks under it. On the lower left, there was now a compass. I closed my eyes tight, rubbing at them before opening them again. Still there. I turned my head to the left and watched as the compass tracked my motion, telling me I was now facing to the west.

Heads Up Display Initialized. Running Diagnostic Scans.

I shook my head, trying to figure out what was going on. I had put on this weird device and now it was putting things in my eyesight and talking to me and understanding me when I…it understood me. It had understood me when I said my name!

~You can understand me! ~

Diagnostic Scans Running. Please Remain Still And Silent Until All Scans Are Complete.

It understood me again! I almost let out a cheer and started dancing until I remembered its warning. Standing as still as I could I waited impatiently for it to get done running its scans. After what seemed an eternity (but was probably only five minutes) it was finally finished!

Diagnostic Scans Complete. You May Now State Your Query.

~You can understand me! ~

That Is Not A Query. As Has Already Been Established It Is Obvious I Can Understand You. Please State A Query.

Even though it was just a synthetic voice with no inflection I got the distinct impression that whatever this thing was it was not impressed by me so far.

~What are you? How can you understand me? ~

Better. I Am The Pipbuck Model Omega. More To The Point I Am the Magical Intelligence Designed To Run The Omega Pipbuck. You May Refer To Me As Omega. I Can Understand You Because I Am Now A Part Of You.

I stood there for several seconds, trying to process what I had just been told. This…..thing was now a part of me?

I Am Not A Thing. I Am The Magical Intelligence Omega. I Am The Culmination Of Countless Years Of Research And Development. The Very Best Magical Intelligence To Have Ever Been Created.

Okay, so it could also read my mind. That was nice to know.

~How can you read my mind? And what do you mean? A part of me now? ~

When You Put Me On, The Pipbuck Merged With Your Flesh. I Am Now As Much A Part Of You As Our Beating Heart. My Systems Integrated With Yours, Magic Fusing Us Together To Allow For The Best Performance From The Both Of Us. I Will Be With You Until The Day You Die.

I had to admit, that was a bit of a disconcerting thought. I would have this thi-Omega with me until I died.

Yes.

Well now, hang on a minute. As I thought about it, it became less and less disconcerting and more comforting. It was kind of like having the Hive speaking to me again. I smiled, glad that Omega was going to be sticking around me for awhile.

I Am Glad You Approve Of My Presence. Though It Is Not As If You Could Do Anything About It Anyways.

The snark I could do without however. Still, for the first time since I had left my Hive I was actually feeling like I wasn’t alone. Standing up, I shut the door to the safe and stepped back from the desk. Well, now all I had to do was figure a way out of here.

You Were Seriously Scared Of A Holographic Projection? They Are Incapable Of Harming You.

And Omega could see my memories. Lovely.

~It’s not like I knew what it was; I’ve never seen or even heard of holograms before. ~ I strode up to the door, unlocking it before walking out into the small hallway with a set of stairs leading down.

It Is Good You Destroyed The Mainframe, Though I Doubt You Did That On Purpose. It Was What Was Controlling The Projectors.

I frowned as I made my way down the stairs, there was that snark again.

~You know, if you’re going to be a part of me you might want to try being a little more helpful and a little less snarky. ~

I Am Merely Stating A Fact.

I snorted, sure she was. As we walked I started to consider something that seemed a bit off to me.

~Omega? You don't seem like any other Magical Intelligence. ~

I See. And Just How Many Other Magical Intelligence's Do You Know?

I paused, trying to think of any but of course I couldn't come up with a single one.

~None.~

That Is What I Thought. I Am Not A Mindless Computer Program.

~I know you're not, sorry. ~

Omega didn't say anything, which I took as probably a bad sign. Coming back into the atrium I looked for the stairwell that would lead me back to the door.

It Is To Our Left.

Turning to my left there was indeed a set of stairs that led up; trotting over to them I started climbing.

~Thanks, sorry about earlier. So, any idea on how we get out of here? ~

It Is Of No Consequence. And Yes I Do Have An Idea.

I waited a few seconds but when she didn’t elaborate I spoke up. ~Care to share? Hey, how come I can’t read your thoughts? I thought we were merged. ~

To Allow You To Still Sleep And Function Normally It Was Decided That Who Ever Wore The Omega Pipbuck Would Not Be Allowed To Hear My Thoughts. It Was Shown That Such Constant Stream Of Thought Led To Insanity In All Test Subjects. Organics Must Sleep. I Do Not Require Such Things. So To Prevent Such Accidents From Occurring You Are Blocked From My Thoughts. We Are Here.

With a start, I saw that she was correct. I hadn’t even realized that I was still moving until I was staring at the door and the control console.

Bucking Things Is Not An Effective Means Of Operating Electronics.

~It worked on the console outside. ~

No It Did Not. The Crusader Mainframe Opened The Door For You. It Is Also What Kept It From Opening When You Applied Your Sophisticated Method Of Working The Console.

~You don’t know that for sure. Well, what’s your sophisticated method of working the console? ~

This.

I felt my foreleg lift up on its own, freaking out a bit before Omega started talking.

I Told You. We Are One. I Can Control Our Body Though I Will Only Do So In The Direst Of Circumstances Or To Show How One Uses Sophistication To Achieve Our Goals.

Well, it wasn’t that different from when the Queen would peek in and take control when she needed to. I guess it was okay.

She pressed the yellow button, twisted a knob, then the blue, green and finally the yellow one again.

“We are Omega.” She spoke, using my voice though it had that same synthetic tone to it. Wait a minute. How had she done that?

A heavy sigh, my foreleg coming up to press against my face as Omega facehoofed me.

You Forgot How To Speak Like A Pony. You Actually Forgot How To Speak Like A Pony.

~W-well, in my defense I was asleep for a very long time! ~

You Forgot How To Speak Like A Pony.

“S-shut up!” I said out loud, proving that I wasn’t dense and could speak like a pony! Thankfully, I was saved from any further embarrassment by the screeching of the door opening. Hurrying through it I had no desire to linger in this place any longer than I had to. However, Omega stopped me at the other console, she repeated what she had done on the inside console only in reverse order.

“We walk the path.”

She said, the door sliding shut with a resounding screech of metal on metal.

“Why did you close it?”

So We Can Return Whenever We Wish Without Fear That It Has Been Compromised. It Is Always Smart To Ensure One Has A Safe Haven To Bolt To.

Well, I couldn’t really argue with that logic. Turning to look up the ramp I had used to come down here I nodded. It was time for me to continue with my original task of finding the shadow wolves. Trotting forward I started the trek back to the surface.

Footnote~ Level Up!

Perk Gained!: Not So Lonely Road: You have gained the Omega Pipbuck and the MI that goes with it. Omega is always with you now and can never be removed.

Perk Gained!: TechnoSavvy- With the help of Omega you are now much more likely to recognize technology and understand how it works.

Author's Note

FINALLY! I finally finished this chapter after more than six months! That's just not cool, taking that long to update so I'll try my best not to do something like that again in the future. Now then, here's my little contest that I mentioned in that blog post you may or may not have read. There is a huge continuity error that occurs in Chapter 2 and 3. The first one to spot it and point it out I will write in an OC of yours into the story! That being said, there will be no Alicorns, dragons, changelings, or red and black colored anythings. Other than that, it should be okay. Thank you for your patience! Oh, and a HUGE thank you to Basilisk Hack who helped me get this into good enough shape to be seen. And another HUGE thank you to Mejui for the crazy awesome cover art. (sans logo)