Fallout: Equestria - Murky Number Seven

Fallout Equestria: Murky Number Seven

Chapter 11:

The Morality of Escape

* * *

“You don't leave town, you end up under it. You got me? 'Tis better to be alone, than of bad company.”

“How far would you go to be free?”

After the Pit, I might have said 'any distance I could.' But then, I'm a pretty naïve pony like that at times. It's all too easy to say you'll 'do anything' without ever really thinking about the situations or problems such a mentality might cause.

Back on the rock farm, I had almost starved to death. My master hadn't fed me for days in punishment. I don't think he realised how little time it would take for me to die, so I had broken the rules and tried to steal some back. It was the first time I'd ever done something 'bad' that the Goddesses frowned upon. At the time, I had prayed and justified that I needed it to survive just a little longer until my master remembered to leave some food for me or for the other slaves to stop taking mine. How easy it is, to just come up with reasons why you do something; to justify it and pretend it was all for the right cause. That one had been easy, of course, life or death.

Things weren’t so simple now.

In the wake of seeing Sunny Days taken by the very pony that had been hunting me, I wasn't too sure anymore that I had as clear cut a reason as I thought I did.

More than anything in the world I wanted my freedom, but some paths just kept raising grey morals in my face. Helping Red Eye and being a good little worker would, with luck, eventually permit me to be free if I could work with those I trusted and overcome the impossible task, rather than the impossible escape. But wouldn't that be betraying the very inspiration from Littlepip that set my mind free in the first place? Could I really look her or anypony else that had inspired me in the eye and say 'I got out!' after aiding their enemy?

It was easy to look at that Wall and believe it being morally right to simply escape over it without involving anypony else than myself and Glimmer. To find a way past that iconic barrier and find my, or our, way home to the wastes. But the approach to that was not easy. We had only come close to succeeding because of sheer luck. Being already outside and aided by a large force of Steel Rangers was not something we could count on to happen again. No. Now we had to look internally and find a new way to escape from within the belly of Fillydelphia itself. That is where problems began to show up. Despite Glimmer's theories and ideas, we couldn't do it alone.

Plans, resources, allies, and courage were simple to list, but finding them is hard when almost every single pony in Fillydelphia is a potential betrayer behind the mask of friendship, lost to despair or just plain twisted. Who might we have to work with or endure the presence of to find our freedom? Would we be forced to aid those who would only use their freedom to hurt ponies? If we let gangs or raiders out to help ourselves, we would be doing the wasteland a crime and hurting the few good efforts Fillydelphia had made to imprison them.

But the more I sat and stared at that Wall, feeling my life ticking away on the radioactive deadline of my disease, the more I began to realise that to find the light at the end of the tunnel we might have to walk in shadows to be able to reach the end at all.

Even if we had to step into the harsh 'in betweens' of...of...

It's...it's not easy, okay? When everypony feels like your enemy, or at best some sort of unknowing grey area, you don't have a choice sometimes! I wish it were easier for me. Glimmerlight is somepony I really trust and love being around, but she can't bring about a flawless escape for us both on her own! We needed help! As soon as the medical security left us to the mercy of the raiders in our sleep we'd...we'd be...

I wouldn't do 'anything', but what I would do goes a lot further than I'd ever thought. It's all like some huge game that everypony is playing; we all want the same thing in the end, but everypony is playing by their own sets of rules. You can choose who to play with, but they all have their own horrible consequences if you end up on the wrong team.

The worst part, though, was realising that some of those decisions you may have already made, without even realising there was a choice in the first place...

* * *

Pistons heaved, belts spun, and presses hissed all around me. One great machine of Fillydelphia's industry, interconnected and reliant to each part's own operation. Amongst the great forge crawled and strived the little living cogs of slaves on all levels. Some clattered on shaky walkways that stretched across the top of the work floor to permit access to machinery that could no longer function on its own. Others dodged sparks and splashes of molten metal upon the scarred concrete floor.

Days ago, I had seen such similar things within Wicked Slit's factory, but hers was only one of many that Red Eye had reactivated and set to work. Within here, in the old Ironshod Firearms manufactory we were to build ammunition that would supply the vast army of Fillydelphia that stretched all the way to the Everfree Forest. If rumours were to be believed, some elements had even gone all the way to Hoofington as well. Judging from the belts and crates of bullets, apple grenades, and replacement parts rolling off the assembly lines, I could believe it.

Within this mess of hot metal and fiery air I was set to my new role. Protégé had offered the rather obvious choice between here or helping sort the radioactive materials from junk drawn out of the crater by salvage teams. That one bore less immediate danger, but any sort of radiation was something for me to avoid. Thus, here I was, left to be tied to a giant crucible of molten brass alongside another dozen ponies. We were tasked to pull and tip the pot into the moulding chambers for the long flat sheets that would be stamped and cut for bullet casings.

“Pull teams, stand ready!”

The stallions and mares either side of me groaned, pulling themselves to their hooves and trying to stretch out sore necks. Doing the same, I felt the muscles along my back and neck strain and ache from the irregular periods of high stress and sudden unexpected rest.

“Pull! Pull!”

Over the noise of the presses, the others couldn't hear the command too well. Noticing I could pick up the sound through the ambience, the overseer had put me on the pulling team to act as a signaller to the rest. Hobbling forward, I pushed my head downward before feeling the others spot me and join the effort. With a dull and deep creak, the massive crucible began to tilt on its suspended wires and poured white hot metal into the machine below. Sparks and splashes flew upward, scattering slaves on the walkways to dodge the lethal liquid while a thick steam blew out that scorched and stung my body, along with the others. Very quickly, I had become glad of my goggles protecting my eyes from the hissing vapour.

It had been hard, trotting from Hearts and Hooves Hospital to once again enter all this. I hadn't said a thing to Doctor Weathervane about Sundial. Glimmerlight had thankfully stayed silent, correctly assuming that something else was amiss. I had filled her in back at the Mall, rather tearfully. Part of me wished I had told the truth, but Weathervane was quickly becoming my only true lifeline. If the real death of his son had become known to him...

I couldn't risk saying anything. Not even to say that I had Sundial's PipBuck. It gave me a hollow and wretched feeling to know I was hiding his son's last messages from him, but I doubted it would be doing him any good to reveal it all so suddenly after two hundred years.

“Ease off! Back up!”

Releasing the tension, I tried not to let the weight drag me backwards when we carefully trotted in reverse to make the crucible upright again. Squealing hisses of shaped metal erupted from the sheet press, dizzying me further in the thick and hot air of the ammunition forge. Feeling the immense weight of the pot pulling all backwards, my hooves began to skitter and slide on the smooth surface, held forward only by the efforts of those around me with proper strength. The moment it was back to the normal position, I fell to the ground, breathing hard from the effort.

Sundial was Weathervane's son. The same sentence just kept rolling around in my head, forcing any other questions I had aside, like why The Master was planning to acquire many new slaves of his own or what things Grindstone had really been searching for in Aurora Star's work. I had left all the memory orbs and odd little trinkets with Glimmerlight, trusting in her to observe them with a greater clarity than I ever could in the search for anything that might offer an escape route. She'd had little time, the call for our slave den to go out to work had come within the hour of our return. I wasn't sure where she was, likely in the arcane technology labs being forced to help repair more advanced items and tools.

Little weaklings like me didn't get anything so fancy. No, it was simply a return to the back breaking labour I had always known.

'Not for long,' I promised myself. I was unsure, afraid and lacking in true faith, but that fiery spirit to be rid of this place still burned as brightly as the forge around me.

But taking what relief I could in the musty air, feeling the poisonous tang in my throat, I began to wonder just how long I could survive in this place even without my illness claiming me. The air itself was filled with all sorts of problems. Infections, choking, and other diseases of similar symptoms to mine were all too common amongst slaves. Even for myself, in my haste to worry about a taint related ebo...whatsit, I had even overlooked the various shivers and aches related to an ongoing fever and the itch from a minor eye infection. Likely, I assumed, Weathervane had considered them too low priority to waste his valued magic healing on. I couldn't hold it against him. Even the mere thought that my wings had their feathers back made me want to give him a big squishy hug if I'd ever thought he'd appreciate it. Despite his belief that they wouldn’t fly, to be able to move them again, to be able to balance properly and stretch those aching things out, that would be enough.

I really hoped he could do what he promised.

Pushing my goggles up, I saw activity ahead of me on the work floor. There was a little commotion amongst the slavers. I couldn't make it out, but the overseer, a scrawny earth pony with an oddly lanky neck, was waving a hoof in frustration and berating two slavers before him. Waving them away, he thumped a hoof off his forehead in frustration and turned to wave it towards us. Towards me.

Oh, why did it always have to be me? Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad.

Unclipping myself from the crucible, I hobbled on over upon my still bandaged right front hoof. The injury hadn't seemed to be healing well, simply staying as a stinging mess of blood and seeping yellow marks through the fabric. The overseer glared down at me, before leaning down rather too close to shout in my ear.

“Some idiot's broken the only spark battery charger we've got in here! I need you to run an errand to the quartermaster's storage hall to get another! You'll remember what you've to ask for?”

“Yes, master!”

“Good, now get going! If one of those batteries on the stamper runs dry we'll be sitting pretty with nothing to do until we get one!”

Nodding, I briefly abased myself (it never hurt to be careful with slavers) and scampered off toward the exit. Truth be told, I was feeling rather lucky. An errand outside the factory was almost like a break. Dodging around rows of slaves lifting metal scrap into the smelting pots and waiting for a large cart of ammunition crates to pass by, I eventually reached the colossal doors and found the cooler air rush over me.

Well, cool by comparison. Even Fillydelphia's warm musk was nothing compared to the searing heat of a forge.

Cantering out onto the main roads, I set toward the storage halls. I'd visited them multiple times in my stay within Fillydelphia, often finding myself being sent as it was one of the few things I was apparently good for with my lack of stamina or strength. I was simply the loyal little slave who you knew would come back from a message run.

The problem began to emerge in my mind though, this was exactly what I'd spent my time doing. I was simply going back to the grind again, working myself silly while waiting for Protégé's stock to build its numbers once again. A part of me was furious, telling me that this errand gave me ample opportunity to do what I'd done before, collect information and items to help build toward an escape. That I could be collecting things...

The truth was, we had no plan. There was no simple way over the walls. We had spent last night doing something to try and think of ideas to pass the time should the papers reveal nothing. What had she called it? Mindthundering? Whatever it was called, (thoughtlightning?) it hadn't ended well. I'd wondered if we could perhaps use her talents to build some sort of grapple gun and sneak onto the battlements before firing it at the buildings outside and zip-lining down. Of course, that was shot down quickly. (Likewise rather literally, had we tried it) There was no real way onto the wall's battlements without being noticed. It had taken every effort I had mustered and a near suicidal mindset to even get next to the wall. Getting inside it and then zipping over it without being spotted? Not a chance. Not to mention that we would end up in the same place as last time. Only this time we didn't have Brimstone...

After another ten minutes of thought, Glimmerlight had began wondering if she could somehow get in bed with Red Eye and 'convince' him. The night's plans had somewhat broken down after that point. I rather hoped she was joking.

She had went back into one of those memory orbs again afterwards. I had sat alone and prayed to the great Goddesses that we might find anything to give us a vague hint at using the metro lines to escape. The words kept ringing in my mind. 'We had a way!' The metro's lines seemed like a high potential avenue for escape, one we could use over time if we could figure out any method related to it. If so, we could build towards it!

Please...please, let her have something for me when I got back. I needed something to grab hold of and power towards, something to give my life meaning. Not just this daily grind.

The journey to the stores wasn't particularly far, but my hope for a long queue broke down upon seeing only a few ponies passing in and out carrying saddlebags of specifically required supplies. Located along one of the old junctions amidst Fillydelphia's main industry district, it had taken over what used to be an old chariot landing strip directly used by the nearby factories. The storage itself was simply a group of large cargo containers stacked together with corrugated metal ramps leading to the higher ones. A loose canvas roof flapped in the dull wind above it all to shield from Fillydelphia's irregular rainfall. Trotting up, I cast my eyes around to try and spot the quartermaster himself, and found him near the entrance with little effort. The rather rotund black earth pony swivelled from his thick rolls of checklists to spot me moving up and snorted.

“Thought they'd killed you off days ago, runt. Didn't Shackles get hold of ya?” His tone was not as insulting as it was simply disinterested.

“Yes, s-sir.” He was bigger than me, thus I offered what politeness I could, I knew this stallion preferred 'sir', having recently come out of service from Red Eye's army in the same role. I could see his one front hoof held in a permanent limp off the ground from a horrible wound half way up it that would make him limp. It was the reason he could no longer travel the distances required for active frontline service.

“Well that's me lost a bet then. I figured you'd last less than a day under him after seeing you traipsed through those streets. What do you want anyways?”

“A spark b-battery charger, sir. For the Ironshod—”

“Yes, yes, another one for the old Ironshod Firearms building. Why am I so surprised? Container six, you'll find them at the back.”

There was a brief moment of silence, with me simply biting my lip and trying to find the words to say it.

“Sir, I...I don't know how to read six...”

His two front hooves slapped down on his desk, followed closely by his head in sheer frustration. Clearly, he simply did not care for this. Spinning, I felt him shove me with a hoof hard, knocking me toward the containers and following.

“Fine! This way, runt.” Continually giving me a helping front kick or nudge every time his long limping stride caught up with me, I was herded around the massive red and blue containers to find one with both doors wide open and a smaller canvas cover sheltering it.

“You don't need to damn well read when you can just count up! Now get in, get your damn charger and get the hell out!”

Before I could even move, his teeth gnashed down, gripped my fleece, picked me up and hurled me inside the container. Crashing over a series of boxes, I curled up on the floor in my only form of defence, hearing him snort and move away. Shivering, waiting till he left, I unsteadily got up, holding my shoulder and chest until the dull aching of those wounds passed. Yes, this really was just like old times in Fillydelphia, the same ones I had half heartedly wished for while terrified inside the Stable.

Glancing around, the chargers weren't particularly difficult to find. A moderately heavy hub that a few small batteries could slot into and stamped with the image of both the six-pointed star and an apple. Tucking it into my saddlebag (putting me somewhat off balance to one side with the weight) I aimed to simply get out the container, leave the storage facility and get on my way.

That said…

I cast my eyes around for anything worth taking. It was habitual. Amongst the junk. I did find a small piece of metal polished to a mirror finish. It lay within the shell of a broken, rather complex device, under a heap of loose wires. Carefully looking into it, I glanced at my own face to make sure that my somewhat threadbare mane still covered the scar. I'd spent some time trying to make sure it stayed there. I didn't want anypony to see it and link us together. I didn't want to see it.

Hesitantly picking it up, I kept glancing to ensure I wasn't spotted. I had a little idea for the shard. Besides, it was pretty.

Checking my infected eye within it, seeing the red hazing around the edges, it almost took me a second before I saw the pink face staring at me from behind in the mirror, and froze. Slowly, hesitantly, I turned to see Pinkie Pie standing right there.

“Hello!”

My scream echoed around the walled container at least a dozen times. Falling backward into the rest of the chargers, I sent them scattering in all directions. The pink pony's head jerked from side to side, a buoyant smile on her face. Those eyes stared into my soul. Without warning, she began sparking from her joints before the entire thing shuddered and creaked upon movement.

A robot? No, just some machine that could detect movement. A creaky and rusting hoof rose to wave at me from the old pile it had been dumped in, likely from the FunFarm.

“How ya bzzzzztch-doin'? Enj-j-joy the riiiide?”

I really wanted-no-needed a bag to breath in.

Trotting back outside fairly quickly, I made my way away from the crazed pony construct as fast as I could, fighting to get my panicked breathing under control.

Rather creepily, the head followed me the entire way, one hoof jerked around, turning in ways no organic pony ever could, until it tried to point to the side.

“The way out is-tzzzzch-just downstairs-just downstairs-just downstairs!”

The faulty servo motors tried to bring it back down, but just shot it vertically instead like a mangled corpse. The entire hydraulic system it say on came loose, and it dropped to the floor, connected only by a glowing wire. High pitched snorts of laughed, interrupted by static, followed.

Freaky. Biting my lip and shivering, I headed for the entranceway to depart before my current overseer got a little impatient. I really didn't like robots. It was either tickets, cleaning, or war, or...something. The way they were just slaves to one purpose or simple didn't sit well with me.

But Mister Peace had felt like more. Maybe he was a more advanced one, but he’d had such a personality. I still felt sad for the poor machine, long abandoned from his charge and not truly knowing what he was doing anymore.

No more wondering, I had to push on. No matter how exhausted you were on getting back, if anything had happened that meant they needed it sooner, the tradition was to blame the messenger in Fillydelphia. The thought of galloping only made my muscles quiver in protest and my injured hoof throb as a reminder. My energy had been sapped by the day, giving me the same limping daze as most slaves eventually gained in this city, but I might just have to push a little to avoid another punishment. I wasn't sure if I could take one and not snap under the crippling unfairness of slavery through dreaming eyes right now.

“What do you mean you don't have any more standard size gear washers!?”

The shrieking mare's voice made me perk up as I rounded the corner of the last container. Oh no, I knew that tone. No other slave overseer had the same banshee like frustration and pent up anger...

“What I mean is just what I say, Slit, ain't got none. They're weak and not as common as their name entails to—”

The unicorn slammed both her front hooves on the quartermaster's desk, grinding her teeth. I could see that curving knife jittering perpetually in the air behind her. Her entire body seemed to be quivering in abject rage.

“Then who last took them? Was it Rusty again? That little bitch always takes too many! Have you any idea what lacking them is doing to my production rates? Screw you, I'm going to look myself, if I need to cut something to get the right size, I'm doing it!”

She swivelled off the desk, growling at the rather nonplussed quartermaster and turned right toward me, eyes widening.

“You...”

What anger she had on her face dissolved, as though replaced with sudden confusion at seeing me here. Then it twisted, building and building into a look of absolute fury I had only very rarely seen in the rather wound up mare's eyes. Her broken horn sparked and flared.

What was her problem? What on Equestria did she have against me now!? I wasn't in her workforce to cause problems anymore, what was making her...

“Oh, you little...”

Her eyes were not quite locked on mine, rather a few inches above them. Reaching up with a hoof, I found it tapping against the shape of my goggles.

Oh.

Her goggles.

“You little runt! I fucking knew it was you!”

“I...I...” I honestly didn't even have a single thing to say that would even vaguely help me here.

So I simply turned and galloped, screaming out loud as the chase commenced. Or rather, ended the moment it began.

Her magic grabbed me. Normally unicorns had trouble controlling an entire pony outside of pulling them quickly away. But with my weight and Slit's obvious anger driving her, I felt my entire hind section being dragged toward her across the floor, even while my front hooves dug in and tried to gallop away. I was flipped over onto my back, her front hooves landing on my chest and pushing me onto the floor, leaning over me. The weight upon my wound brought a gasping rush of cold pain from me through a sharp gasp beyond all ability to scream.

“You have any idea how long it took to find goggles that fitted me, Murk?! Oh you're going to pay for this one! No more little excuses to weasel your way out! Oh yes, you're going to be my little toy for a while for taking my fucking goggles...”

Off to the side, I heard the quartermaster snort in laughter and turn back to his paperwork, intently oblivious. I was much too terrified to get any idea of the joke.

Casting naught but an annoyed glance to the side, her eyes returned to me. Sweet Goddesses, she was so angry I could see one of her eyes actually turning bloodshot with the strain.

“M-Ma'am...I...I got them f—”

“Don't lie, Murk! You think I haven't had to endure your wasted little flanks around my factory long enough to tell when you're lying, you little shit-worm?”

Her knife floated up, dropping to ping against the ground beside my face and leaning sideways to press the blade against my muzzle. I stopped breathing as I felt the pressure. She was breathing hard, bared teeth showing between sentences, the sides of her mouth twitching upwards in maddened glee at finding the criminal in her eyes. I felt her lower body sit over my own, pressing me to the ground. The personal imagery it created from the outside would have been intensely embarrassing, if either she cared or I hadn't been in abject terror and danger.

“If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's little thieves thinking they can take my things! I, oh Murk, I don't even know what to do to you first. oYu see how angry I am for this? You see!?”

“Yes, Ma'am!”

“Shackles got you, but now I'm going to get you, too. You know what they say, an eye for an eye.”

The knife flitted up and descended, stopping nothing more than an inch from my eyeball. Caught in terror, seeing that madly grinning face out of focus behind the knife tip, I simply held still.

“You sorry, Murk? You admit taking it?”

“I...I...”

The knife descended, filling my vision as her magic adjusted and pulled my eyelids open.

“Please...I....I didn—”

It kept coming, pressing down, I felt the horrible sensation of touch.

“I TOOK IT!”

Stopping, the blade remained where it was, before slowly drawing back, being replaced with that shivering expression of Slit's.

“Good, now we're going to go back to my factory...little runt. You're going to get strung up as a punchbag for this! My little stress reliever!”

I couldn't go back to being hers. It'd be literal torture, with Shackles only coming to take me back at the end of it. I couldn't. I'd never see Glimmerlight.

I was not the same pony she had held a sway over a few days ago. I wasn't going back! Not ever!

The moment I felt her lift her hind weight off my lower body, I lashed out, bucking her square between the legs. She clearly hadn't anticipated me to be capable of anything but blind obedience, as I once had been, when fear would have struck me down. But feeling a solid impact under my little hoof, her face contorted into the most angry expression of pain I'd ever seen, not that I hung around long enough to compare.

Instead, I just simply turned, pulled myself out from under her and galloped for all my life.

“Oh...eeerggghh! Fuck! You...are...dead!”

The furious wail sounded behind me, and I heard her launch into chase, biting down her own pain in a rather shockingly quick time. Magically enhanced voice booming and echoing off the thick containers that I dodged between, she galloped with a frenzied determination.

Turning down the masses of small gaps between containers to try and break line of sight, I found that having a sadistically inclined Wicked Slit chasing me was a just perfect incentive to ignore the complaints of my body against galloping as fast as I could! Behind me, I heard her magic sparkling or fizzing, giving me just enough time to dive to the left between two huge red containers and fight my way across stacked boxes before she could grab me.

Kicking the boxes down behind me to block her, I ran directly toward the back fence of the storage facility and began galloping down its length, looking for any sort of gap to squeeze under. Stopping on the spot and glancing left and right, breathing too fast for my weak lungs to really keep up and sweating profusely, I spotted one small gap just where the edge of the pegasus landing strip's concrete met the dead dirt and earth by its side. Good enough!

“You get back here, Murk! I am going to destroy you, you little stealing groin-kicking runt!”

Her hooves were erratic. She must have not realised which way I had run at the end of the two containers where I'd knocked over boxes! Pressing down to the gap, I tried to squeeze under it. Too small!

“Oh, I know you're here somewhere! I'm going to find you! Come out you little shit!”

I began pulling at the loose dirt with my front hooves, yelping as my injured right one flared and spiked in pain. Hugging it back, I dug with one hoof, scrapping dirt and rocks out from under the wire fence surrounding the containers. Just a bit more! Hooves were awful at digging!

“There you are!” The shriek and immediate clatter of hooves made me look up to see her galloping toward me, knife held straight in the air.

Shrieking in a voice that if anything was higher than hers, I threw myself into the enlarged gap, tugging and pulling myself through and galloping away. Her magic clawed at me, I could feel the force and pull of it before hurling myself down the embankment of the runway to escape her. Rolling and falling to the bottom, a quick glance back up gave reason to know I wasn't free yet. Knife slicing through the air, I saw it part the rusted wire fence with no effort. How sharp was that thing?

I took off again after rolling to my hooves, aiming for the bays where chariots were once clearly kept for loading. A clatter of fence and muffled screaming as she tumbled down the sharp embankment later, and I could hear her hooves thundering after me. Moving from the dirt back onto concrete again, I reached the bays and ran inside between a pair of giant chariots for bulk carrying, hoping to find something to hide in. Toolboxes...too small! A cupboard...locked!

I wanted to hurl the goggles away, throw them at her and pray she would just take them or throw myself crying at her hooves and beg, but I was way too far past that point now. She only wanted to kill me.

“Going to mail you back to Shackles in pieces for bucking me!”

No, she was in the middle of one of her simple murderous rages now. There was no negotiation. I'd once seen Slit almost skin a mare for accidentally striking her with a dropped tool. My rather deliberate hoof-to-groin was unlikely to result in much better.

Bucking open a very rotten door, I hopped inside an old repair room for individual components in the chariot designs. There had to be something to hide in here! I could hear her coming!

There was nothing. The room was well lit and filled with nothing but open benches and lockers with broken doors. I tried pulling at the floor panel, but a thick padlock with half a snapped screwdriver stuck in it barred any way through. Where else? Where else!? My head throbbed, my fever was beginning to pitch up and sap all the ability to think clearly. Every limb shivered on the spot, a dread cold flowing over me.

The back door was loose and half broken, allowing me to hop up and pull myself through. I'd need to hide somewhere else. Splinters dug into my underbelly while I wiggled and leaned forward to fall through the broken gap. Landing amidst the thick mud on the other side, I slipped and staggered forward, feeling my stamina waning.

“Stay right there!”

Her face stared right through the broken door at me, before turning and bucking it once, twice, three times. I could see the rusty hinges breaking and snapping off. More staggering than running, sucking for breath, I pulled myself down the side of the factory itself. Stopping to lean just within a dark alley and get my breath, I prayed that while she was turning to buck the door, she hadn't seen me. I heard the wood splinter and break behind me, Slit freeing herself.

I turned to look ahead of me just as a hoof clamped across my mouth and around my neck.

Struggling, I was pulled deeper inside the shadows where a voice whispered a 'Ssshh...' into my ear. A male voice. Quivering in their firm grip, I watched as Wicked Slit raced by the end of the alleyway, screaming and hollering my name in decreasing volume as she continued to chase me down on a path I was no longer on.

The hoof relaxed, allowing me to drop to the ground and collapse, utterly out of breath and feeling each overworked muscle ache terribly.

“Thank...thank you...” Words barely gasped from my mouth, and I turned to face my saviour.

“You're welcome, filly.” spoke Barb, sharp eyes and bright grin glinting from the shadows that seemed to mix with that dark blue long mane. “Wasn't particularly hard to miss you, all that screaming you were doing.”

Backing off, cold fear shooting down my spine, I turned to run again, finding the way out blocked by two of his Shades melting out from the shadows of the alleyway.

“W-what do you want from me? Y-you attacked us! We were just—”

“Defending yourself?” His interruption shut me up, while nodding to the Shades. Magic grabbed me, tugging me away from the alleyway with little resistance. “Filly, I'm a raider, everyone defends themselves from me. Toss him in that ditch, we'll conduct business there before somepony comes through the alley.”

The magic strengthened. Despite my struggles I felt a rush of force hurl me over the lip of the ditch into a muddy crater. The ruins of a pegasus sky chariot that had tumbled from the sky lay among it. A good six feet down into the wide hole, nopony from the outside would see in. Another two of Barb's raiders followed him out, maddened eyes glaring at me like some kind of toy. Quaking on the ground, I cast my eyes to each one, trying to keep track of all the stealthy raiders while they surrounded me.

“I like to think, for a 'bloodthirsty crazed raider' I'm pretty patient, filly. More than the old traitor ever was. I know when to wait and hang back, or when to keep quiet and move on...I don't look a potential gift in the mouth when I see it. You—well, perhaps once I might have wanted to offer you shelter and teachings, coulda' brought you in as one of us. Nopony would beat on you then. Not if you were one of my warband.”

He moved in circles around me, silently trotting with those eyes fixed on mine as I kept track of him, twisting on the ground to never let him fall out of my vision.

“Please, I just want to be left alone, Glimmer and I...”

One of the Shades snarled, a unicorn of dark coat and mane bearing a missing eye. “That bitch killed my sister in that Stable! When Barb says I get to, I'm going to string her up and hurt her like she's never been-”

He shut up on the spot as Barb raised a hoof. Eventually, he turned back to me.

“Well, as you can see, the only thing stopping you and your, heh, 'sister,’ from simply dying in your sleep is me. Now you know I'm an informant for big Shackles, but I also know you've got the ear of the little student yourself. That makes you suddenly important to me, filly. Now you may not want to join us, and frankly after the things you've done and who you hang around with, I don't want you to. But I know what you still want...”

Passing by me, he whispered inches from my ear.

“...something I can provide. A way out.”

My ears perked up, turning to stare back at Barb. The warband leader grinned, his eyebrows lowering.

“You don't think I could have escaped from the Stable? Filly, I killed a Steel Ranger with a knife! Don't think any two bit slaver is going to haul me in. I could have gone to ground in the city with my group here and simply left when night fell. It's no real problem, and certainly beats having slavers chasing you all the time.”

“Y-you could have? Then why come back?”

“Simple! Power, filly! Power! Shackles and I got a good deal running here, I help him out with the things only us Shades can do, he provides me with caps and weapons only Red Eye could put together for when we eventually just slip out on the next Stable job. Not like a bunch of tough bastards like us can't survive Filly for a few more weeks, right? I think long game, filly.”

Sitting still, I could hear some slavers nearby wandering through the alleyway. Thick treads told of big ones too. I heard the rattle of metal on metal. Weapons? I had to delay Barb, try to keep him talking till we were in their hearing range.

“What could I b-be to you?”

He simply laughed.

“Nothing! At least, not for why I'm here now. Shackles knows you've got a few little bits of information in your head that he thinks you might blabber on about if you and Protégé get any closer than you already are. Master's seen the way he looks at you, filly. Like you're some sort of protected slave. And you know what us slaves think of favourites...”

He stepped closer, his voice turning quieter.

“Now, follow what I say and perhaps there might still be a use I can find for you. I can appreciate a little pony who doesn't rely on anything but guile and stealth to get what he wants. I've got a little job for you soon, something that might earn you a favour from us, filly. Something that might help you in your little quest, hmm? You like that?”

My breathing low, I didn't dare react to him, just staring with terrified eyes. I didn't believe a single word of it. He had tried to kill us, tried to have me tortured and watched as his followers once tried to pull off my wings.

Barb only let that fiendish and strangely clean grin spread and become a sneer. He ran a hoof along my cheek, before clenching his lower leg around my head and pulling it sharply forward.

“But that's all later. For now, my job's to give you a little incentive to not say a single word. Not about what Shackles did to you, not about Sunny Days, not about that little mare he knows you've got your mind on from a few days ago. I'm here to deliver that incentive.”

Oh no. I could hear the other Shades gearing up and chuckling in anticipation. I wasn't truly valuable to him, only a potential trip for whatever The Master had planned to usurp power. The slavers were right nearby. If I screamed…

I took a breath.

“HELP ME! SOMEPONY! DOWN HERE!”

They stopped, I felt one of the Shades grab and choke me into silence, his hooves wrapping around my neck and blocking my mouth. I struggled, lashing out and trying to bite his leg, but his grip was like iron. Above the lip I saw two slavers rush over. Thank the Goddesses! One of them had a quad shotgun battle saddle! The other held a thick wrench in her mouth and had a combat rifle slung over her back.

“Oi, what's goin' on down there? Stop that! Every slave's needed, let go or we'll have you in the Pit!”

The Shade only twisted to throw me between them, I heard the battle saddle's ammunition canister activate. The unicorn beside him drew the rifle, pointing it down at them.

“Don't you get tough at me! Waste 'em Garrot!”

But by then Barb was already behind them.

I hadn't even seen the raider leader move, he had just melted from my peripheral vision, emerging from the smoke behind them and landed upon the slaver mare. Spinning off her, I saw the slaver's throat erupt with blood as his throat parted from a curved knife held around it and drawn as he twisted off. Grabbing the corpse with his magic, it was flung between him and the shotguns, tearing the body apart and stopping the shots. Barb and the slaver were left staring at one another, his glowing horn and raised knife against the brutal power of those cannons.

“Get on the floor slave! I got my eyes on you now.”

The Shades around me seemed relaxed. I'd have thought they would have leapt for the slaver themselves, but they simply watched, grinning. What did they know that I didn't?

“I said get on the fucking flo...oh fuck it!”

The shotguns roared again, bucking the user back a foot with the recoil. Before him, the impacts slapped into Barb, blasting him into nothing but a black mist that drifted away in a sparkle of black magic. What kind of spell was that? I wanted to shout a warning to the slaver, but the hoof clamped down over me so hard that I merely choked on the words when I saw Barb's knife shear through the slaver's throat from behind and pierce out the front. Gurgling, eyes wide, he collapsed on the spot, twitching as he bled out, his spine cut.

Barb simply stared down at the corpses, before magically shunting them into the ditch and trotting toward me. I fought in his subordinates grasp, feeling all too exposed and vulnerable after trying something I shouldn't have!

“Not a good idea.” His voice had dropped, losing the arrogant streak of playful craziness. His lethal gaze bored into my wide fearful eyes. The sheathed knife didn't make me feel any safer. Baring teeth, he reached forward with both hooves and grabbed my face.

“You listen here, little filly. I gave you chances, I offered you opportunity, but now I've just about had it with you, got it? Shackles wanting you alive is the only reason I don't gut you from neck to crotch on the spot and leave you to die hugging your own organs. But you never, ever do something like that again.”

I whined, nodding as best I could, feeling my eyes becoming wet with fear.

“You probably think I'm all talk, don't you, filly?”

I shook my head, trying to mumble that I really didn't think that!

“I was one of Brimstone's Big Four, just you remember that. The others got by on size, strength and power, but I got to be the best of them by simply being the most dangerous motherfucker in the entire place. Do not fuck with me. Now to make sure you never do, tell me, filly...”

His voice had dropped again, regaining a little of that almost joyful cockiness.

“...how long has it been since you were so beaten up you couldn't even beg?”

I flailed, throwing my hooves and body weight to try and break free while cold terror flowed through every vein. Mumbling, begging through the hoof blocking my mouth, I struggled in vain until the leg around my throat clenched tighter. Barb stepped backwards, magically raising a little lock of pink hair before him.

“Oh, and if you want to know a reason not to go running to that egghead in the Mall? Consider that this is from when you and the whore were last sleeping. You're never safe.”

The pink hair dropped to the ground before me. Barb looked around him, before nodding at his Shades.

“Make sure he can still walk to get back. Make it look like he just got in trouble with the slavers. Elsewise, just do what you want for ten minutes.”

I struggled, fighting the legs holding me in place, seeing the others closing in with hideous smiles.

But there was nothing I could do to stop them.

* * *

Nothing was clear.

Everything around me was just...just hazy and...and hurt.

The trek home to the Mall was long and painful. The overseer, after taking the charger, had simply sent me back, seeing no more use for me in my state after I had collapsed before him. I had been told to return in an hour once I'd had time to rest or find a slave healer if I could. If not? Well, 'thems the breaks' as he'd said.

My front right hoof was a mess. They had torn the bandages from it that held the perpetual shrapnel wound closed. I had to stagger my way on three legs, holding the bad one close under me while struggling to see through swollen and blackened eyes. Fillydelphia was just a crimson blur. It hurt to even cry or to breathe through a chest that had been stamped on and battered. My ribs were likely bruised.

They hadn't cared at all. Just unfeeling raiders seeing me as a toy.

They'd laughed when I had screamed.

Limping through the gates of the Mall and wiping blood from my split lips, the throbs of pain at the end of my muzzle set me worrying if my nose had been broken, while my mouth tasted of blood from where I’d bitten my tongue. All of this on top of the day’s aches and pains from slave work and the thin cut on my muzzle from Slit.

I just wanted to hide and cry and draw and pretend that nothing was real.

Caduceus, the earth pony buck and nurse that Glimmerlight had spent time with was waiting in the shop cell. Sitting on the sofa, he looked up with surprise as he saw me, not her, return. Through my eyes, he was little more than a light brown shape with a blonde streaked mane.

“Oh. Murk, was it? I didn't expect you so— oh my! What's happened?”

I barely knew him, but Glimmer had told me he cared for ponies and saw Weathervane as a somewhat good example for medical ponies. Hopping from the sofa, he immediately galloped over and supported me until I could lie on the rug. Crying out as my ribs hit the ground first, I almost pulled away from him, not enjoying the sensation of somepony else I didn't know too close to me. But his hooves gently held me in place, one arcing around my muzzle to lower it down without harming my broken nose.

“Hey, hey, I'm a healer, take it easy.” He drew over a saddlebag, pulling only slightly dirty rags out and dampening them with a small bottle of cloudy water to help wipe the blood away from my hoof, the worst injury. “Bloody hell, what happened to you?”

“S-slavers...” My voice was little but a whisper, blown through sore lips. I felt his hooves holding my injured one carefully while a little hoof and mouth work tied the rags over the hideous shrapnel wound. I heard my own voice making a rather pathetic whine as the rough bandage was pulled tight to stop the bleeding.

“Look, I'm not technically meant to be here, but I don't have any shifts, and I wanted to, well, see her again. Not often you find somepony nice like her. She talks highly of you, so don't worry. I'll do what I can for you, too. Here...”

From the saddlebag, he pulled a sparkling purple glass beaker, a healing potion. Over the next few minutes, I sat as silently as I could while he did what he could. He dabbed rags soaked in the potion's contents over my wounds, before making me sip the rest through cracked lips. The potion's magic sealed anything still getting worse and dulled some of the more intense pain, but I knew that the aches and stings wouldn't pass for a while. My nose swelled and stung as the healing took effect on the sensitive area, making me cling to Caduceus' hoof between mine until the sensation passed. At least I could see better again as the swelling eased around my black eyes. I'd been so scared when they had started pulling my hooves away to hit my eyes, I'd thought they were going to blind me. They had just been sadistic savages once they realised I wouldn't fight back.

“Just lie still, you can get up to rest in a minute. Fluttershy's memory, they really did a number on you.”

Now, the rag gently brushed against the bleeding arcs around my body as Caduceus worked to help the worst damage their hooves had done. The earth pony sighed, seeing that he didn't have enough resources to help every part of me. He was kind, yes, but right now I just didn't feel very well at all, one potion wouldn't heal the worst part. My terror stricken heart and vulnerable feelings. I needed space, time away from everypony, go into hiding...

Away from this entire city...

The moment he was done, I thanked him meekly and simply slunk away to the back door to go to the rooftop. My body hurt terribly, but he'd at least got me away from a danger zone of simply bleeding out and expiring as a little heap in the corner. I could sense his wish to keep an eye on the little slave before him, but with only a quiet promise to let Glimmerlight know where I'd gone when she returned, he kept his distance as I wandered away with a hung head.

* * *

The sun was low in the sky above Fillydelphia, a vague hazed shape through the clouds to give the roughest showing of light. Whether sunset or sunrise I did not know, direction and time was quickly becoming without meaning after the irregular schedules of normal work had kicked in. But it was my focus, the one thing I could look to and just wish to follow over the horizon.

This time, I didn't even care about griffons. Shuffling on three legs to an open spot I sat down to let the potion do its work and watch the great Walls in every direction around me. Today had already been nothing but an example of the ruining of my life in this city. Enough that I already felt despondent to the point of losing hope. I wanted to cry, but it just wasn't coming.

Testing my hoof on the ground, I found the wound had sealed under the soaked rags. Nothing was critical, but it all simply...hurt. My nose still felt stuffy, my lips swollen and if I checked my new little mirror piece I could see my eyes surrounded by purple puffs of darker blackened rings. One side of my face alone was discoloured even through my coat while one eye looked almost like Brimstone's bloodshot one.

I had been brutalised by the raiders. Flickers of being held on the ground and stamped down upon. The others had howled in laughter at the sight.

“Again! Do it again!”

The feeling of a hideous crack when a tooth had broken loose still flew around my mind. Caduceus’ explanation that it was probably an old tooth that would regrow in time was little comfort. My groin still ached from the 'revenge' kick the female raider's brother had given me.

“Haha! That made him fuckin' squeal!”

I couldn't take this much longer. I was being dragged back to moderate health by luck, scavenging, and the care of the few willing to look after me. But every time I felt better, this city found a new way to damage me all over again, set me back to being like any other of the weakened and limping slaves. It was no wonder nopony got out of here, it felt like some malignant entity was twisting fate to keep us unable to fight back.

Standing to get my numb hoof working again, I began trotting in circles, my mind whirling and thinking over every aspect of my life.

They would do it again and again. They'd promised to do it whenever I didn't do everything they wanted, no matter how many times I was healed. Just because they could.

I wanted away from them. I needed to be away from them!

My head shook, shivering and gritting my sore teeth in frustration. Somehow, my eyes remained dry. The emotion was not sadness or being upset. Like a building force in my breast it just whirled and grew and grew.

The only escape from the attention of other slaves was to do the work! Harsh, unforgiving and pointless work, in ceaseless industry that sapped my will and spirit the more I went through it. Every shift eroded my determination that little more to falling back in line. My only place of safety from the slave raiders was the acceptance of slavery!

My trotting became frustrated stamping, pacing back and forth in ever-increasing speeds and aggressive panic. This feeling continued to work up, making my body shiver, and causing me to seethe and suck air through clenched teeth. My body stung with pains, but I just kept trotting backwards and forwards. I kept tossing my head, muttering under my breath or wiping my brow at random periods and all for the simple sake of trying to expel the sheer...the sheer...I didn’t even recognise this feeling, it was so strong.

What was worse, I knew this healing, kind as it was of Caduceus, was only ensuring me a return to work the moment the next shift came up. It just never ended!

Rearing up, I slammed my hoof against the nearest vent. The frustration and—that was it—anger building in me just wouldn't stop. This wasn't fair! Why did I have to be trapped in slavery? Why did I have to be in Fillydelphia? Why did it have to be ME!?

Why?

Why!?

WHY!?

The slaves wanted to kill me! The slavers wanted to abuse me! Everypony I knew was being hurt or taken from me! I'd been scared, tortured, shot, stopped at the very last moment and irreparably hurt and scarred for life. My voice was strained, pushing out through clenched teeth.

“I...I don't want to be here. Please just...”

It all began to come to a head.

“Just!”

Staggering in circles, out of breath, I felt my breathing quicken. I was stomping on the spot and ignoring the spikes of pain, as it all just finally expelled in one echoing scream toward the sun and the great Walls.

“LET ME OUT!”

Leaning forward, holding and drawing out the scream on the final word, I let it all go, until my breath gave out.

Every feeling and emotion that had gathered in me since arriving in this city, toward the wastes and free ponies I loved that were being denied from me. The cry echoed off the metal sheet tool sheds and vents atop the roof, holding the great cry long after I had fallen to my knees. The dull warmth of Fillydelphia stifled the air around me, as pressing and cloying as the will that kept me inside. Hearing the shout bound back and forth between the thick concrete buildings across the road before dying off under the ambience of industry, I felt only reminded of how small I really was.

Shaking, I dropped onto my side and stared morosely into the distance, feeling like I’d never be able to muster the will to get up again.

“Murky...?”

Taking a sudden breath, I turned my head to see Glimmerlight hobbling her way up the staircase to find me. She was healing better now, with just a few safety bandages left on her head and on her left hindleg even after one night since her treatment. But she had been weakened, only now did I begin to see the effects of her life in here too. Her body clearly had once held a healthy shape of a mare in her prime, and her white coat had obviously been brilliant, both had marred and been weathered by life in slavery.

And yet, her eyes still sparkled with life, and she let a relieved smile come to her face upon seeing me. It quickly turned to concern as she saw my condition, and came cantering over to lean down. Her hooves stretched to hold me, but held back, as though afraid to hurt me.

“Caduceus told me but, oh, Murky. I'm so sorry.”

“I...I'm still here, I'll be...fine.” I didn't like seeing her worried. I hurt and felt terrified for my own health, but I couldn't bring myself to look for any sympathy from somepony else in the same hell as I was. “I just wish we weren't here.”

“Me too. Me too. I don't think anypony but Brimstone ever truly wanted anything but their freedom back.”

Judging by her face, she clearly didn't believe a word that I was 'fine.' She could tell that just by looking at my battered and hastily healed body. Glimmer sat beside me, close enough that I could feel her side pressed against mine, a gentle comfort when tight hugs would be considered too painful. We sat and stared at the horizon for some time, like we had while outside the Wall. Idly, I began playing my tongue over the sore stump of the knocked out tooth on the left hand side of my mouth. Annoyingly, it hadn’t been the loose one.

At least with her here I felt reminded that there was that one chance still waiting. One last route to success.

“G-Glimmer, did y-you find any—”

Beep!

I blinked. Pulling my saddlebag over with my uninjured hoof.

Beep!

“Well now, maybe this will help cheer you up, eh? Nothing heals faster than a smile, I say. Why do you think I always try to do it?”

Why indeed. As ever I remained perplexed over her ability to simply forget and move on when I got bogged down in all the emotions I wasn't used to. How did she manage it? What let her just ignore it all?

Click.

“Hey. It's Sundial.”

“Hi.”

Glimmerlight cast a sudden glance as I responded to him, chuckling slightly at the oddity, but just gently ruffling my mane and not saying a word. Truth be told, I was simply trying to hold back my feelings now that I knew the truth about who his father had been.

“I'm not going to talk about what, uh, what I said last time. But he's still been asking me, day after day— no, sorry, I shouldn’t talk about it. Maybe...maybe tomorrow. Today was happier, let's just stick to that, it's all any of us can do. The Ministry of Peace therapist I’ve been seeing told me that's what I had to do. I hope I don't get diagnosed with Wartime Stress Disorder and lose my job. But I did go out to meet Skydancer's folks today. Yeah, nerves and all.”

“I once met some mare's parents at a trading post.” Glimmerlight grinned at me. “Pity they met me by walking in on us. Just kisses. Promise.”

I allowed a tired grin to crawl out from my swollen lips, never would I want to be away from her, even after an escape. Even if I would have to put up with trotting in on her now and again by accident she really was worth it to have around.

“But, turns out they were really cool! Her father's involved in a lot of the mining going on up in the hills to build Stables, so he and I got on really well chatting about engineering and stuff. I think he kinda approves of me too! I overheard him saying to Sky that he rather likes an armour engineer being the one to go out with and protect his daughter. Truth be told? I think she'd be the one protecting me. Sky's stronger than she looks with all that mail flying she does.”

The thought struck a harsh chord with me. If I ever found the Stable Dweller out there, would I need to meet her parents? Oh, they'd never approve of me. Not at all.

“Lovely dinner and all. They've invited me back next week again after my shift finishes. I'm working day and night shifts when I can now to help raise money for Sky's ticket but, well, no. I promised not to go on that topic this time, I won't! All I'll say is, so long as I can keep this up, all I need is two years of hard work and I'll be free to buy her ticket too at this rate. If I can go and spend time with her and her folks in between, well, maybe it'll help me do it. I never much see my pops anymore, what with him having to follow the Shadowbolts. It's kinda cool meeting Sky's mother. She's really nice, like, welcoming and warm, just wants to nurture everypony. Kinda reminds me of my mom...”

There was a rather odd pause after he stopped that sentence. My neck went a little rigid and my jawline tightened, trying to just stay focussed.

“It’s been so long. Dad doesn't talk about her much. I was a bit young, but I still remember a few things. Little sights and senses, her face, the taste of her cooking. I...I kinda wish I could see her again, or remember her voice. I was just a foal.”

My hooves tightened around the PipBuck a little, keeping my eyes fixed on the device. I could hear Glimmer turn to look at me, but remain silent.

“Right, well, night shift time. We're getting a little visitor to fit the suits so I better be there early. Goodnight, anypony listening.”

“Goodnight...”

“...and uh, g'night...mom. Wherever you are...”

Click.

I didn't move, just sat and stared at the PipBuck. At most, I think I let out a few forced breaths. He hadn't really known his mother either.

Glimmerlight nudged me with her shoulder. Shaken from the distraction, I turned to her. My thoughts were a little confused, but I shook my head, winced from the movement and looked up to her.

“I, ah, huh?”

“You alright? That seemed like it was a little close to home for you. Just made you sit there and stare. You mentioned your mother to me before, y'know? In your big rant when we met, and in the Stable? You kind of avoided the topic then. Is...is there something wrong about your mother?”

Her hoof lay across my shoulder blades gently, caring and willing to talk, but I just shook my head.

“No, no. I'm fine. It's not a problem.”

I turned away.

“Murky—”

“It's fine!”

Standing up with grunts and groans, I began packing everything into my saddlebag.

“I've been on my own long enough. It's okay.”

Clipping down the saddlebag, it took me four tries to get my shaking hooves to actually do it before standing up and trying to force a smile at her.

“I mean, I'm hurt and-and scared but that's fine! She...she was nice and I remember that and...and...yeah, she was nice! But I'm-I'm fine! Yeah, fine! Just dandy!”

Still sitting, Glimmerlight's face gradually lost some of its spark, her eyes softening in worry. Slowly, she pushed herself up, watching me carefully before just standing there a few feet away.

“Look, I'm sorry you were taken from her, Murky. You don't need to hide it, I miss mine too, so if there's something bothering—”

“No, no! Really, it's fine!” Hooking my saddlebag up, I gently eased it onto my back, pacing about as I did. “I...I mean yeah it's bad and— but I've got friends now, right! I've got you and...and Brimstone's gonna be waiting for us when we get out, right?”

She nodded, but her face remained serious. “Yeah, yeah, we'll stick together and—”

“Exactly! You guys helped me not be alone so...so I don't need to miss anypony! I mean, it's been over a decade since I saw her to-to get over it, y'know? I don't need to feel bad about it because I've got friends now, right?”

“Murky, it's alright to be upset...” She stepped forward, face deathly serious, eyes caring and pleading.

“Upset? I'm-I'm not upset! See how not-upset I am? I...I can smile now with you so I don't need to be upset about the fact my mother and I were split apart before I was really grown up! She was good to me then and-and what else do I need to remember, huh? I mean, maybe I can't remember some things l-like the words of the song she sung to help me sleep. O-or the ending to the stories she told me about the Goddesses stopping chaos!”

Breathing hard and fast, I forced my smile wider and wider. I just kept speaking, trying to hold myself higher, not even feeling where my mouth was running to.

“Who needs to remember their mom or what she really looked like or...what her voice sounded like or...or her n-name...” I hiccuped on a breath, forcing myself to keep going and be happier. “But I've got friends now, and that's better right? Because you're here, and I can smile and laugh! I can laugh! See, Glimmer!? Haha! Hahaha!”

I just laughed, forcing it out, laughing to the Fillydelphian skyline and wondering why she just kept looking at me sadly. Why was she not laughing with me too? I was laughing! Not crying. Not...crying...

Slowly, it dawned on me that the tears were already dripping off my face. The laughter continued for another few seconds, slowing dying, before everything just flipped inside me, and my heart simply broke. My face twisted, my smile falling into wretched sadness.

“And I...I…”

I dropped down limply.

“I miss her so much, Glimmer! I...I really miss her! I want to see her again!”

She rushed forward, pulling me quickly in with her hooves, feeling them wrap around me as I began bawling and crying out. She pulled tighter, almost crushing me against her. It hurt, but I just grabbed her back and felt the long suppressed pain coming. Years upon years of pushing all but the most basic feelings down. Ones I had revived in a pigsty with a simple drawing.

“I don't remember her, Glimmer! They—” I choked on a sob. “They told me to forget her because I had a new master and...and I did! I didn't know how to think for myself! I just-just obeyed and it's been so long without remembering! I don't remember her name!”

I could feel drips on my back, falling from her own eyes as she rubbed the back of my neck and swayed gently. I knew I would never have made it to where I was without her, my big sister best friend forever. Especially now that I was beginning to remember, and feeling guilt and loathing. Those feelings from knowing I had been so indoctrinated as to have forgotten my own mother, simply because I was ordered to.

But now, I wasn't alone. I dreaded to think what I might have done by now if I had been. She whispered quietly just for my ears. There was no reason to be so quiet, but it was all the more personal knowing it was just for me.

“We'll get you back to her, Murky. She'll recognise you; parents always do.”

Alone on the rooftop above all the chains and slavery, we simply held one another. I knew she missed hers fiercely, too. I could feel it in how she seemed to take as much comfort from me as I did from her. Two lost ponies in a city they never wanted or asked for that wanted nothing more than to return to the ones they loved.

“We'll get you back. And I might know how.”

My battered face, soaked with tears, drew back, looking at her own puffed and red eyes as she forced a small smile.

“After you left for the work detail, I did a little more digging in those memory orbs you brought back. I might have found something to help us, Murky. Come on, let’s get you inside and resting. I'll explain everything.”

* * *

Caduceus maintained a watch over my injuries, retying my hoof bandage to check the mess that lay underneath it. I averted my eyes. I could feel the wound's savage damage without having to see it. Glimmerlight had insisted that I be on the sofa and draped in the stitched blanket before she began to say even a word, and brought me a small bowl of water from the fountain. Allegedly it was about as clean as water in Fillydelphia really got, so presumably the saniwhatsit was still being set up. I gently sipped it, still huddled up and feeling rather hollow and fragile.

My journal sat open beside me. Within it, the first drawing of my real life, my mother, stared back up at me. It had been drawn only been the vaguest of feelings and the flow of my emotions. I didn't know if that was truly what she looked like or not.

I'd see her again once we were out and correct all of this. I had to.

Sitting beside Caduceus, Glimmer cleared her throat and turned to look at both of us, making sure to give me my own time to nod that I was alright.

“I may have found a lead on a way out of Fillydelphia.”

“Impossible.” Caduceus shook his head. “Come on, Glimmer, that Wall isn't passable in any way, shape or even vague form. You can't get over it!”

Glimmerlight patted his head with a joking pout.

“Oh, stallions. Always thinking about being on top of things, right Murky?”

The sudden wink at me almost made me drop my bowl, spilling only a little over my blanket and muzzle. Come on, sis’, not when I'm emotionally shattered and in the middle of a drink.

“No, I'm talking about not using the Wall at all. In fact, we're doing rather the opposite. I had a chance to look through some of Aurora Star's memory orbs and files that Murky brought back from the Ministry, as he well knows. The metro station and line walls were regarded weak enough to forge a concern of anypony, or any zebra, simply being able to tunnel through.”

Her magic lifted a mess of papers filled with spidery scrawled writing and a few dull orbs that seemed at their life's end of power. The orbs hung in the air, while she let the papers drift to show diagrams of, well, Iots of words and lines. Aurora was not a particularly good artist if these were meant to look nice.

Caduceus slid one over to himself with a hoof and glanced down at them.

“A funding request for mining equipment?” He looked up with a little confusion. “WHy would Aurora ask for that? Wait, you mean if she could, we could? You're not seriously hoping that you're going to somehow start a mining operation to tunnel out of Fillydelphia are you?”

Glimmer rolled her eyes. I hoped that my own bewildered and confused silence wasn't included within the gesture. “I know a lot of things, sweetie. Jack of all trades and all that, but low level mining and construction isn't one of my strong points. But we shouldn't need to.”

A memory orb floated up from the half a dozen or so. It glittered with a pale blue light in the dark of the storeroom.

“This one was possibly the most boring orb I have ever seen. Aurora no doubt had a somewhat ironically bad memory if she had to extract and record her tax return forms. But about midway through, this rather polite little apprentice called Sparkler, who completely had the hots for her; believe me I can tell, ran in to give her a bit of news. Simply put? He told her that the mining was finished and that they had been granted full access to the underground station.”

Lightly biting a swollen lip, I put a hoof to my chin, trying to figure out precisely what that had to really do with getting out. Only after a few seconds did I spot Glimmerlight watching me with a growing smirk.

“I can almost hear the little gears grinding in there, lil’bro. Don't worry, I'm not done. Now that didn't mean much to me yet either, but look at this.”

Another of the reports I had swiped flitted up, with Caduceus and myself craning forward to both read it. Or at least Caduceus did anyway, I just pretended to try and not look quite so stupid. Thankfully, he read what it was aloud.

“A warning from Fillydelphia's mayor to the Ministry of Arcane Science, regarding the mining in the disused metro station coming too close to the outer circle's tunnels, due to the aforementioned thin walls...” Caduceus skimmed the large bodies of words, his eyes flickering rather dubiously at the concept. “Just like you mentioned, so I see. So the Ministry wanted to put something underground, interesting enough. Something I'm sure Red Eye's lot have already checked out, but what's it to us?”

He had a point, but instead of explaining, I saw Glimmerlight simply raise an eyebrow.

“Us, eh? One roll in the hay and you wanna join us to get out of here?”

The nurse blushed widely, eyes glancing at me as though embarrassed that she had spoken so openly of their activities around somepony else. Truth be told, it wasn't a major issue to me; slaves had often done such thing in clear view around me to try and make the best of their lives. By now, it was nothing incredibly special. Well, not to know about anyway, it wasn't like anypony had ever shown interest in the little pegasus holding his ears shut to try and sleep.

“Well, I guess? Really part of me isn't sure, I'm learning so much from Doctor Weathervane's experience, and I can't help but think Doctor Helpinghoof would approve of me trying to help these slaves as best I can. Red Eye allows it so...”

He shrugged as Glimmerlight just patted his shoulder, indicating him to not worry the point right now, before turning to me.

“Caduceus here was one of the trainees at Tenpony Tower before he got snatched. Originally wanted to be a trader of commerce in the tower, but parents shoved him toward medicine. You're good though! Helpinghoof Clinic's healers are pretty well known among the wastelanders. Good reputation for getting a job done quick, even if that applies to other walks of life too.”

“H-hey!”

“Quality before quantity, sweetie!” She lightly pecked him on the cheek before giggling at his blush and going back to the matter at hand. “Look, the outer circle is this huge deeper line that goes all through Fillydelphia, including the suburbs outside the wall. Red Eye's got all the inner circle stations locked off with enough guards to make a Ranger outpost think twice, so the outer circle is otherwise inaccessible. Now here's what I'm thinking...”

Throwing a hoof over my back (I appreciated the caring gentleness away from my pained body) and drawing me in closer to the pair of them, she lowered her voice.

“We put together enough supplies and weapons to survive down there, locate the disused station the Ministry apparently wanted, and then we go to ground. It's near to the outer circle right? All we need to do is slowly chip away at the walls in the right direction and we'll eventually break through to the outer circle. That lets us go under the walls to emerge from one of the stations outside without anypony even knowing there's a breakout going on! We wait in the tunnels till night falls, then slip out under cover of darkness.”

I had to admit, I was rather impressed. All this time I had thought of escape as a daring rush for freedom, but this was quiet, sneaky, and sounded much safer than frenzied leaps off a giant Wall. In other words, my kind of plan. Hopping onto the sofa, I swivelled and lounged back, dropping my legs off the edge to rest my body. (What was Caduceus looking so weird about? It was comfy...)

“So, um, what do we need to do?”

The brightness of her smile almost managed to make me return one as she saw me being a little optimistic about something. Truth be told, I didn't feel a huge amount of faith in it. Escape attempts only reminded me of bitter feelings, but there was no way I was going to stop now.

Glimmerlight seemed more intent than I ever could be, slapping her hooves together and rubbing them with a gleeful look of conspiracy.

“Grab your charcoal, Murky. We're making a list!”

That infectious cheer managed to gain a bigger smile straight from my heart. So much was hurting me, physically and emotionally, but so long as I could ride the wave of escape planning, I'd make it yet. Pulling out my journal, I flicked to a new page and sat ready. She giggled, softly rubbing her hurt forehead before shaking her mane out.

“You really are too cute sitting there like that with that stick in your mouth to draw. Now, we need to start building our supplies and hiding them, probably just outside the back door Brim opened. Food, as much as we can gather. It's a long trip till we find anypony we can trust out there, and we'll need to be able to survive the trip. That's our number one priority, doesn't matter what we fight if we've died of hunger. On that note, containers for water, the fountain should make that easy enough. Murky, think you could sew together some waterskins if you stole some leather or heavy fabric?”

I had no idea what a 'waterskin' was, but I knew I could sew pretty well, so I nodded. Already I'd drawn a few cans of food, ready to cross off as we found enough to support two or three ponies. Beside it, I just drew a beaker of water. I could even fill it up by shading in as we found more!

“Caduceus, I know this is a lot to ask but if there's any medical supplies you could get us, it would be great.”

“Well, I don't have the key to the storage, but I'll see what I can do. To see you smile like that, I will give you my word.”

Glimmerlight looked up and winked.

“Aren't you a gentlecolt? In Fillydelphia too, my, that's rare!”

“Well...” Caduceus looked away, a little awkward at the praise. “Tenpony sort of pushes it into you. In here it-it's one of the only things I've got to hold onto, to keep me feeling like I'm more than just a...a...”

“A slave?” I spoke quietly.

“Yeah...so, I'll do it for you, somepony nice.”

Glimmerlight more genuinely smiled at him. “Well if you can't, point me at somepony who does and I'll see what I can do to persuade them instead, eh?”

She grinned madly, I honestly couldn't tell if she was joking or not before I leaned down to add some rolls of bandage onto the paper. On a whim, I threw in some RadAway sachets, too. We'd need them. Well, I'd need them.

Caduceus actually smiled back from Glimmer's comment, seemingly proud to announce his response. “Sorry Glimmer, the others are either taken or not after your type, guess you're stuck with me!”

“Oh, what a shame. Now, weapons, that's the hard one. But for now let's just wait and observe where we go, see if we can't steal away little parts now and again to build our own. Anything that looks valuable, bring it back and we can hide it inside my little scrap pile Protégé trusts me with. I've got a few spark batteries and magic circuits so I may be able to whip something up if you can get some old parts. Murky, if either of us gets put on anything involving tools, try and swipe some to help the digging; a gas mask or two if you see them discarded wouldn't hurt either. Don't take a risk if it's not worth it though, one slip up could cost our whole stockpile.”

Small guns, knives, and a few bullets to represent ammo went down, and a growing road to preparedness was being laid out before me. My charcoal began to twist and score in more confident strokes, each curve and shape lifting my hope that little more...I couldn't wait to start checking this off! Picks and auto axes were drawn in more lavish detail. My swollen lips stung from the charcoal and my bleeding gums around the missing teeth felt horrible, but this was too big, too important. Finally, a gas mask was added, the eyes seemed to curve in a happier expression than the terrifying ones the slavers wore.

Finishing, I dropped the charcoal and looked upward to see the other two. I may not have known Caduceus other than Glimmer's apparent ease with him, but I was beginning to sense that I could get to know him. We needed every ally we could get now. He had helped me too.

Which reminded me.

“Cadueus, um, thanks for helping. Sorry I kinda ignored you.”

He waved a hoof. “Hey, it's what I do. Glimmer's been telling me about what you go through; I'm happy to stick around with you two if it'll gain anything or keep you alive. Helpinghoof told me I was to help those in need, well here you are. I'm with you.”

I almost wanted to cry. He was polite and kind. I had been missing Brimstone so much that it was just nice to have somepony else around Glimmerlight and myself.

“Hey!” A slaver's voice echoed into the plaza, probably from up on the balcony above the cage door. “Murky Number Seven! You're wanted over at the forge, what are you waiting for?”

And there went my happy mood.

Until Glimmerlight leaned forward, pressing my new checklist into my hooves with a smile.

“You can pull through. I absolutely believe you can. We've still got a plan, now let's make it a reality, bit by bit, okay?”

I couldn't do anything but nod, carefully hug her, and receive a quick smile from Caduceus for good luck, before limping away.

Let's do this.

* * *

“Murk! Where the blithering hell are you? Murk!”

The cry came across the factory floor, stifled in the heavy air and thick ambience of shouting, clanging metal, and hissing steam. Looking up from my work, to scrub clean the pistons of a stamp press for future reactivation, I saw the gangly overseer stomping around the slaves. His name was List Seeker, I knew. He was far from the worst slave master to have, but forge work was never easy.

As such, I was glad for any excuse to take a minute off. My hooves were stinging from the cleaning fluid soaked into the cloth while the stench was making my head spin. Limping down from the machine, I waved a hoof to get his attention and began moving over.

“Ah, there you are. Tend to miss you in here, that damn small. But I need exactly that quality about you, follow me.”

I just nodded. Really, for all the hope and optimism of knowing we were putting together a plan in secret, doing any work for Fillydelphia just drained you bit by bit. All the same, I'd have to try to just keep the goal in mind, keep thinking about it! I tried to keep my head high as I followed, but quickly lowered it out of worry anypony was looking at me. Eventually, we approached a huge piece of machinery, one I recognised as producing the massive rounds for the big rifles many of the griffons carried. Urgh, this was going to be annoying, wasn't it?

I'd rather keep thinking about secret plans...they were exciting! We were like some sort of secret society to do all this!

“The shell injector's messed up. Big complex thing, really, so I'd rather get it fixed before Stern finds out that we can't make any more anti-machine rounds without it. She’ll bring it down on all of us if we miss the quota, not just the overseers either. See, whenever we try to move it, the servos jam and grind so much I'm afraid they'll break, Cogwork thinks it's a shell got stuck in the workings.”

We'd just work away without being seen, come up with plans and...and have meetings and maybe a smart pony like Glimmer or Caduceus could make a motto! Ooh, I had to think of a name.

“Now, we've deactivated it for now, I want you to crawl inside and see what's up. You can fit with that scrawny body of yours so I'm going to send you in the conveyor end where it's jamming.”

Escapetastic Fantastics? I wasn't even sure if that was a word. The Freedom Threesome? No, Glimmer might get ideas. The Ex-Slaves? Did that really count before we escaped?

“Just look for anything in the gears, it might even be a forge glove that's been dropped in or something...”

Wasteland Crusaders? Ooh...maybe that could—

“Murk!”

The sudden shout drove itself through my still very vulnerable skull when I felt the overseer whap me across the face with his hoof. I looked up to see the overseer impatiently staring down.

“Are you even listening to a word I've said!?”

“Y-yes, master! Sorry, master! Go in, get the stuff jamming!”

“Good, now get to it!”

Staggering about until the pain settled down, I was left to get the job done. I glanced at the thin opening into the darkness of the machine. On the outside it just seemed to be a series of large metal boxes atop a conveyor; with small pistons above it driving something hidden inside. Shells went in one end and came out the other with their innards all ready for the actual bullet to go on top.

“Well, might as well get it over with.”

Crawling up onto the conveyor, I pushed myself into the dark interior by lying low to the ground and crawling. Blinking, I got a sense of the shape once within it, trying to fight the claustrophobic feelings that resulted from not being able to stand. Much of the noise from the forge dulled out, but the heat was stifling. Around me were loads of gears, small injector arms hanging loose, and dead with so many discarded shells rolling around either side of the conveyor, likely knocked off the line during the balefire and never recovered...

I grabbed a few of them, maybe Glimmer could use them for something? Thinking of stripping off some of the more complex looking wires for her too, I eventually concluded that I'd most likely break it even more. The overseer would probably be more than happy to blame me if it failed again as well. Casting my head around, I crawled in further, pushing a few arms to the side that rested above the conveyor section. Really, past the low entranceway, there was quite a bit of space in here, if dark.

So, jamming. Jamming. Look for gears, I figured...

There were gears on everything.

Well, fudge.

I began running my hoof over a few of them, feeling more than looking for items by trying to make them turn. Some gears made an arm swing back and forth when I turned them. That was pretty cool! My hoof pushed one gear to the left, and the arm copied it above the conveyor behind me. Delighted, I tried another one, a second arm moved downward. Wow! This was really well made. Pre-war ponies sure lacked any sense about railings, but they knew their stuff!

The third gear refused to move at all. That was the one!

Feeling around, my hoof touched something softer further in. Above me I could see a small slit in the machine through which the orange hazed light shone, likely where this blockage had fallen in.

Tugging hard enough that my hind hooves were pressed onto the outer wall, I turned nearly horizontal with the strain of yanking the offending item.

Likely, I should have thought better of how gravity worked for when it sprung free. I was a pegasus. Flying or not, I should know these things. As such, amongst a sharp spring and whirr of gears, I collapsed backward to land on the conveyor itself. A whirring sound from the gear filled the dark space as it whirled with the released tension. Screaming, I rolled to the side as an arm slammed down from above me and snapped against the conveyor where I had just lain. Dropping from the conveyor onto the innards of the machine itself, I just lay still to get my breath back. Oh Celestia, my body hurt. Just that one dive had drawn a fiery throbbing from my ribs.

In my hooves was the object itself that had jammed it all up. A simple forge sock, designed to slip over a hoof to protect against hot surfaces. Made of thick leather, they were fairly popular amongst slaves.

I had different ideas for it though, as a water carrier! Throwing it into my belly pouch of the multi-pocketed fleece, I grunted and groaned till I had climbed back onto the conveyor and made my way toward the far end. Well, that was fairly easy as far as slave work in Fillydelphia went, maybe I could just hang around in here for a bit? Get my breath back and pretend I was still hunting? It's not like they could tell.

“Hey, boss! That red light's green again!”

As if my life were ever that kind.

“Guess it fixed itself then. Tell the overseer he don't need to get that little runt no more. I'll start her up.”

No! They thought I wasn't in yet!

“HEY! I'M IN HE—”

The whine of the motor and sparking of arcane boards drowned me out. Pacing on the spot, I panicked. I had to move, but the conveyor was beginning to trundle its way forward! Thinking faster than I felt I normally could, I galloped and hopped onto it, trying to run for the far end before the arms started up.

No such luck, the arms swivelled back and forth, while not sharp, the ends were pointed enough to deal some serious harm if they slapped down on me. Dodging left and right on the conveyor, I hopped and dove around them. Landing on my stomach, my efforts were shot by the flare of pain in my chest, resulting in a thick, sticky cough. A sharp pain on my flank made me scream as an arm fired down, a thankfully blunt joint knocking me around in a half circle. The sudden pain gave me the strength to keep pushing, trying my best to dodge them. Another arm scythed past my tail, and a third almost caught my outstretched hoof. This was a nightmare, trapped in a dark and small area with a dozen little mechanical arms trying to stab me.

The exit was a thin shaft of orange at the far end. With the conveyor moving, at least I could concentrate on dodging and still move on. The moment I was in range, I dove for it and began pulling myself through the horribly small gap. My saddlebag came off, being shoved through first before I squeezed my aching body under the gap, with the conveyor scratching and burning against my knees from the friction of me not moving with it fast enough....ow ow ow...

Mercifully, finally, I popped back out into the warm glare of the forge, making one hazy slave mare faint as she saw her work machine apparently give birth to a pony. Dropping off the conveyor, I concentrated mainly on trying to get my heart rate and breathing down to normal levels again. Oh Luna, thank you for saving me in the dark.

The sullen face of the overseer glared down at me with almost surprise, before looking back at the machine.

“And they said you were useless. Pfft, any worker's got a use. Good work. Now get up.”

The adrenaline was passing, replaced entirely by a shaking and re-emergent agony in my body that required three attempts to stand upright and lift my head to look at the tall overseer.

“That would have cost me if Stern's griffons couldn't get the shipments to help fight any Rangers, Murk.”

Turning, he placed his head into a saddlebag and drew out four more of the forge socks.

“Maybe give you an incentive to stick around here, I could use a little scrawny pony with all this machinery. Take 'em. I’ll try putting in a word to get you here more often. We try to take care of our own in here.”

Bowing first, I bit the four socks and tossed them in my saddlebag, likely I'd find another use than he thought of, but I wasn't complaining. A small surge of pride swelled in my chest at the praise. I could really do this stuff! Maybe I wasn't that bad a slave after all! I was a good little...

...slave.

Turning to trot away as my shift ended, I could almost hear the mocking rattle of my cutie mark echo through the factory air.

* * *

Well, at least I had something to add to the pile for my part when I got back to the shop cell. I had returned to the Mall rather quickly, moving as fast as my tired legs would carry me through the streets of Fillydelphia, sticking to the well guarded areas where masked guards strode on walkways above the streets. I didn't trust any areas on my own anymore; every shadow could hold another raider, just waiting to hurt me again. The thought alone would make me sniff and sob, remembering how it felt to be utterly helpless and alone with them.

If The Master didn't want me, well, I dreaded to think about it.

Now, I wandered the hallways of the Mall on my way to the cage door that would return me to my friends. I hoped Caduceus had brought something, I needed it, my eyes were still blackened and swollen, despite his earlier work. The potion seemed to have helped my broken nose, but I could swear I felt something still shifting in there while trotting on three legs down the darkened...corridor...

I stopped, casting my head back and forth. I could feel my heart beginning to beat faster. Ears perked, I shuffled against one of the walls as I could have sworn I heard a heavier tread from nearby. The sound of a door opening ahead of me gave reason to dive into the nearest shadows behind an abandoned cleaning cart.

“You can tell Barb that he'll have his reward soon enough for delivering the message.”

The Master.

His heavy stomping was coming this way. Just like my nightmare. I needed to move, now! But where to? The route to the cage door would have gone right by where I could hear him!

“What are you even planning, Master? The fuck matters if the runt squeals to somepony? Not like anypony'd actually believe that little shit. You said yourself, he's got no proof of anything you've done to him, and it's not like he knows anything important.”

“Never you mind, raider. You've all got your promises, you do not factor in any more than that, understand? He's too close to that upstart coltcuddler to risk him even telling about abuse. I don't need anyone messing around with me. He won't talk now that your leader's had him negated. I know he won't, not while he feels that mare he likes is in danger.”

“Is she?”

“Explicitly.” He almost caressed the word, breathing it with a deep chuckle that I heard the raider nervously echo. “Now get back to your cell, slave. I give you these chances, but I can take them away if you cause trouble, understand?”

“Y-yes, master...”

The sounds of hooves charging in the opposite direction kicked up, I prayed he would go the other way, but even amidst the hollow terror for the mare or Glimmer, it only got worse as he continued coming this way. Sweating, with no other option, I simply turned and galloped as fast as I could in the opposite direction. At least he'd just hear it as somepony else—

“I can hear your pitter patter, Number Seven!”

I audibly shrieked. Even down the corridor, that voice echoed up it, lidless and almost omnipresent before the stomping increased. Oh Celestia save me, he was coming! How did he even know my sound so well?

The cackle drifted up behind me, I pushed on, shoving all the pain down and using all four hooves to speed up the nearest stairwell. Behind me, I saw him round the corner I'd been looking at and grin.

“There you are...”

I didn't stop, the moment he commanded, I knew I would. I had to get as much distance and a hiding place as fast as I could. Exiting on one floor up, feeling a pang of horror on every thump of a cracking stairwell as he moved up after me. I ran to a door. It was locked. Why were they always locked? I didn't have time to try many more doors, it was just management corridors with nowhere to hide!

Wait, I recognised this place! I knew one door I could go into!

The sound of chains dropping to the ground and being dragged up the stairs sent shivers beyond compare down my spine and around my cutie mark. The rattling sound of certain enslavement followed me. Crying, I galloped on, please be in, please be in!

The heavy oak door was at the bottom here, I began hammering my hoof upon it.

Shackles emerged from the stairwell, his head slowly turning with the rotten grin before he began trotting down, taking his time, inevitably approaching. He spoke lowly, the volume that only Glimmer knew would be only for my ears, how did he know these things?

“What's the matter, slave? Noone home?”

He was only fifteen or so feet away. The collar clanged to the floor. Oh Goddesses no. If I was put in that again...

I tried the door, it was locked. He always normally had it open! That meant...that meant...

Backing up against the door, my head turned sideways to watch him trotting closer, ten feet away.

“Now, your Master commands, stay there like a good little slave.”

My Master commanded. I obeyed as I felt my limbs deaden.

“Heh, good.”

His eyes met mine, like strong to weak, like master to slave, like father to—

As a great surprise, I heard a click before the door fell open and dumped me upon the softer surface of the office floor. Line of sight broken, I wailed and rushed further in, colliding with somepony. Without even thinking, I just bucked out and ran further in. A grunt of sudden pain followed, quickly asserted with something falling to the floor.

Falling against one of the low benches that sat for readers next to the great wall of books, I turned, breathless and panting. I saw Protégé standing on three legs while the fourth, his back right, lifted in pain from the ground where I had struck his flank.

“Murk, what is the meaning of this?” His eye sternly focussed on mine, before softening upon seeing the state I was in. “What's going on?”

“Ou-outs-side! I...I...” Words wouldn't come.

‘Just tell him.’ I screamed to myself.

Hoofing closed the book he had dropped when we collided, Protégé walked to his door and stepped into the corridor. Yes! Yes yes!

“There's no one here, Murk.”

What?

Shivering more than I could ever remember, I pulled my sore body to poke my own head out. The corridor was completely empty. Protégé even trotted down to check the nearby junction before turning to face me again.

“I believe you have some explaining to do...”

“But...but master I—”

“Inside. Now.”

And that was that. My master commanded. I obeyed.

* * *

I was sat before his desk, hooves rooted to the floor even though I wanted to hold or cradle a dozen different places. Even that short run had woken much of the pain that had been dying down. Caduceus had advised me to not stress much, but really I doubted I'd ever be able to follow a healer's orders well. Shaking, I ran over the thoughts in my head. The excuses. I was running from a loose raider. No, he'd know. I'd thought I heard a ghoul? There was one in here I knew, but it was locked in.

Of course, a portion of me had the simple answer.

Tell him. Come clean. Tell him about the abuse, about the plans. He could help. Just tell him, and all this would stop and I could go back to just being a meek slave and not an abused runt.

But every time I thought that, I thought of Sunny and the horrible conditions that were breaking her body and will, and my mind cast either Glimmerlight or the mare into the same situation...

I couldn't.

“Pray tell, Murk. What gave you such a panic as to rush toward my office and scream like murder at the door before rushing in so quick and in such a panic that you were shocked even by the pony you wanted to meet? So shocked, I might add, that it led you to kick me in blind fear.”

He sat at his desk, the height of the cushion chair elevating him far above me from my hunched own sitting position.

“I...”

“But I am willing to look by that now that I see the...the horrible condition you are in. Something has happened to you, and I believe I know who it was. Murk, ponies hurt like you are not uncommon in Fillydelphia, especially among those who are smaller. But I know an unconditional assault and beating when I see one. I know the signs. The look in your eyes and the despondent, jittery fear. You've been abused by others, more than you are used to. I want to know who.”

Stumbling over failed sentences a dozen times, I failed to say anything. Nothing but an occasional stammered 'I...I...' or 'It...it was...' left my mouth. I felt trapped, unable to choose a direction. I felt hurt, as vulnerable as ever from the pain and rotten exhaustion and now under absolute scrutiny for something that would hurt those I cared for...

Protégé's eyebrows narrowed, before he sighed and began to trot around the desk.

“I'm going to ask you one question, Murk. You don't need to say anything, just nod or shake. I won't tell anypony it was you who came to me, but I've had my suspicions ever since I first met you after your recovery from the Wall. I need to know...”

No, please, don't ask.

“Is this Chainlink Shackles doing this?”

My heart skipped a beat. My neck felt frozen, unable to move.

Tell him.

“He has a history of it, every slaver in Fillydelphia knows, Murk. But he is also very good at not leaving traces and few ponies care to actually bother stopping him. I do. It was a mistake to leave him alone with you before. One that, had I known you as I do now, I would not have made. I may be ranked higher than him, but I cannot move against a veteran overseer and take this to Master Red Eye without proof. Let me help you, Murk. I know it's him, but I need you to confirm as a witness to let proceedings start. So please, was it him?”

Tell. Him.

“It...it...”

“Don't worry. Jjust nod or shake.”

Damn it, Murky! Tell him! Tell him and this is all over! He can protect them!

The sight of Sunny, savaged and bereft of all hope, of Glimmerlight under the wicked knife of Barb as he drew the life from her, of the mare being dragged into places nopony could see...

“All you need to do is just move your head, nopony will hear or know it's you...”

He isn't your Master, Murky! You are your own pony, Littlepip would know to do the brave thing! Shackles is planning something as well. Open up and tell him everything, do what you want, cry into his shoulder if you need to! He cares! Let it out! Tell him the truth, no matter how bad it hurts!

He was going to hurt or have killed everypony who actually liked me. I'd be alone again. Protégé cared but, he was still a slave master. I couldn't value him over my friends...

Amongst the voices careening in my head, back and forth, arguing and whirling around one another, one broke through with an unstoppable will that I could not resist.

Your Master commanded you to stay silent.

I shook my head.

Sighing, his shoulders slumping, Protégé just looked away, seemingly stopping short of cursing under his breath.

“Some time ago, a zebra in here, the one you saw rescued? She was the victim of a horrible attack of which I shan't describe. Nopony came to her aid or looked to deal with those who committed the crime, even if our leader would handle it. Most slavers don't care, but Murk, I have the ear of Master Red Eye himself, and I know he will not stand for such wanton abuse if given proof of a specific slaver. He knows it happens, but his concerns are not with the day to day individuals. But if I brought it to him...Murk he could help...”

“It-it was just because I got in t-the way...”

“You're lying, Murk.”

I just looked away, hiding my eyes from that harsh glare of his. Sniffling, I could only shake my head a second time. A long silence ensued as he simply stared at me while I shivered and held my eyes to the carpet beneath us. Eventually, a sparkle of magic picked up, followed by a series of books floating by me off the small bench I had collided with.

“You can stay here for a time till you feel better, Murk.” His voice was empty, oddly helpless.

At the unspoken command, I hobbled over to lie across the bench, curling up tightly. Protégé moved back to his desk and took up a scroll.

There was more silence in which I simply tried to calm down. I had gotten through that without endangering my friends. He meant well but...but I just couldn't. This had to remain silent, at least until we could escape, get to the metro and tunnel out.

“I have received a message from List Seeker at the forge requesting your presence there for future shifts. Would you prefer working there?”

The topic change was sullen, heavy with forced conversation. Lying my head on the cushioned bench, I took a few seconds to get my response out.

“Y-yes, master. He's not so bad.”

“Indeed, he is a rather fair overseer. However, I suspect in a few days we will receive a new shipment of volunteers for the salvage detail. I do hope you'll have recovered by then. As such, I'm sending you to Weathervane's care overnight. You're on the list for medical support now that you've proven yourself to various slavers. Be a little more proud of yourself.”

I hardly felt proud. This wasn't something I wanted to be proud of. All the same, it was good news. I nodded, if anything just to please him. I finally sat up a little.

“I'm sorry, master, for running in a-and being scared...”

“Don't let it worry you, Murk. I know how it feels. Now, just take your time, I did say that you were welcome to come here should you ever wish to talk.”

Still casting his eyes over my vaguely healed injuries, Protégé eventually sighed and sat back, trying to place a smile into the moment. His efforts to maintain 'cheer' were hardly successful given it was coming from the pony who owned my life.

“I owe you this much. I am rather thankful for your efforts and, if I may say, rather proud of them myself. That was no easy infiltration at the Ministry. Grindstone is a particularly stringent taskmaster, one I am increasingly wary over. I had actually petitioned to take leadership of the Ministry worker den, but he has friends in high places among the ranks of Master Red Eye's leadership base.”

I wasn't sure what I felt more, the odd surge of satisfaction at pleasing him, or the crippling fear of letting on that I knew anything about Grindstone and The Master working together on, whatever it was they were doing. Oh, how I wanted to just even hint to make him wary...

I couldn't. Barb could be watching. He always seemed to be. I took a short breath, rubbing a hoof on my neck to massage the sore muscles.

“The machine thing will help us I guess. I'm scared for Glimmer and the others.”

“It will help a lot, Murk, as soon as we get it charged up. I have Mosin and his assistant working on that right now. Now, is there anything you would like to talk about? You do normally have something on your mind.”

Casting my eyes around at the wealth of books in messy piles or disorganised heaps upon shelves, (Why in Equestria did he have a book on top of a lampshade?) I wondered if he had any information on what lurked in the metro. He had mentioned that things had gone down there before after Red Eye took over, didn't he? Well, might as well do some digging.

“If you don't mind, I...I think I want to learn more about Re— I mean, Master Red Eye coming to Fillydelphia. To maybe try to understand all this? Like, you mentioned things that he cleared out?”

Much of the sullen tone was banished as I saw his one eye light up, the quill immediately dropping into the inkwell once again. His voice was somewhat happier, joyous that I was asking on a subject he clearly held dear to his heart. Good, anything but trying to get the truth out of me.

“Of course, Murk! I am glad you're taking an interest in this, perhaps you'll begin to see in which ways we can all help one another, for Equestria.”

Protégé stood and began to pace around, presumably organising in some sort of method I would never hope to understand. I guessed he didn't like just sitting doing nothing but talking for a time, but then he was a slave master. They didn't often get time off.

“Fillydelphia was uninhabitable, Murk. We're not sure what caused it, other than perhaps such intense radiation over so long, but there were horrors here that simply were unlike anything else we had seen. Of course, there aren't any real records kept in the wasteland, so this is all based on talk and second hand perspective, it may just have been very odd ghouls. Master Red Eye rarely speaks of it, motioning that we should look to the future and simply learn from the past rather than fear it. But I must admit I did have a curiosity as to what had really gone on back then, so I did a little light research. It turned out that as well as the previous generations of slavers, ghoul gangs and the swarms of parasprites there were at least a couple of creatures that ponies feared above everything in this part of the world.”

Groaning slightly as I felt my swollen eyes sting, I gently rubbed them and tried to pay further attention. Despite the lack of a slave industry, Fillydelphia hardly sounded any better back before Red Eye. The idea of using the metro was quickly becoming rather scary if it was still like the old Fillydelphia pre-Red Eye.

“You remember when we were in the building, Murk? The alarm?”

Oh, don't remind me. I averted my eyes, fighting as hard as I could to avoid any clench in my heart from that. I'd been embarrassed enough by throwing myself into his hooves while upset.

“Y-yes...”

“Well, there was a reason I was wary, Murk. Some of the sources I spoke to who claimed to have known others around that time reported that many of these creatures gave off an unusual and shrill alarm-like sound when they were in the vicinity. Not all, but just some. Nopony really knew why, as far as I could find out. There's all sorts of myths but very few facts, not even what they are or what they look like. Only one thing remained steadfast and repeated enough to be clearly true.”

“W-what was t-that?”

Protégé stopped dead, looking at me.

“One simple survival instinct. If you smell rotten mint, gallop away as fast as you can and do not look back. Do not stop and do not try to hide.”

A cold shiver fired down my spine. I wasn't very good at running.

“They all said that, every one of the older veterans. Some had even done so while sealing off the tunnels, never even seeing what it was. We lost a lot of ponies sealing off the outer circle metro lines, apparently.”

“You sealed off everything?”

“Everything inside the walls, certainly. Those incidents were relatively rare, but the fear was so great that every outer line metro station inside Red Eye's domain was collapsed in on itself. It only made security sense as well, the tunnels were dangerous, but it also represented a breach in the defences were they not closed off. No, now the metro is simply used for underground shelter on the inner circle, while the outer is a forgotten abyss. They're still down there, we're sure of it, just with no way to get back up that we know of.”

Wait, that they knew of? Could there be other entrances or ways down to the outer circle that they hadn't yet found? I wasn't sure if that was a blessing for an escape or a horrifying thought of one of those things coming above ground.

“Do you still have records of it all? Like maps or something?”

“Yes, yes I do, why?”

“I...uh...um...” I clammed up. I’d been way too obvious. “Just for...”

The sound of a bellowed warcry out of the window took both our attentions from the awkward mistake. Many shouts, swears, and crashes exploded into being with a violence that visibly shocked even the usually controlled Protégé. Almost stumbling across his office, he cast a glance from the window.

“By Celestia...”

There was a scream, followed by a shattering of wood and metal. Was it one of those things? Oh it was, wasn't it!? That was just how my luck worked these days!

“Come on!”

His revolver flew from the holster to his side as he galloped for the door. Pushing myself up as best I could, I cantered after him, the thought of being left behind alone in the corridors being all that gave me the strength to stay within sight. He made for the stairwell, pausing only to ensure I caught up before we descended.

“What is it master?!”

He didn't reply. We passed a group of slavers rushing toward the entrance with all sorts of armaments. Ragini was with them, striding alongside Protégé.

“Kysa reported from the air, the moment the cage was opened inside the gates—”

Protégé shouted over his shoulder.

“Coming here, I could only guess. Let me do the talking!”

“You should just shoot—”

“No, Ragini.”

“...yes, master. Hey, flightless.” She glanced back at me with a crude grin and a flap of her wings, her voice only briefly interested.

I was rather too concerned. What had they brought here? Quickly, everypony (and token griffon) rushed out of the front of the Mall. Why had he insisted I come along? What use was I in a fight?

It all became very quickly relevant.

Before the Mall lay a scene of devastation. Two carts were destroyed, bodies lying amongst the wreckage where they had been thrown or smashed through. All lay groaning, some still. But before me the brawl still continued, with one slaver hurling over my head to shatter through one of the doors to the Mall.

It was him.

Brimstone Blitz swayed to the side, avoiding the whirl of a cane, before striking the offending slaver so hard his gas mask flew from his face. Bucking backwards, he caught the griffon that had attempted to land and restrain him a wicked blow that hurled him into the side of a ruined wall on the far side of the road. Up the street leading to the Mall, I could see slavers lying in heaps the entire way, while one overhead walkway had collapsed from a shattered pillar beneath it. The slavers who otherwise would have shot him were slowly shifting on the concrete, holding their limbs or torsos in wracking pain.

Another slaver leapt toward him, hurling a magical shock stick forward that stung his side. Roaring with fury, Brimstone hoofed and threw a rock to force him back. A slaver beside me raised a gun, only for Protégé's magic to sweep the barrel away. My master cantered forward.

“Warlord Brimstone Blitz!”

He apparently did not hear, slapping two slavers' heads together with enough force to make a sound like rocks colliding. He yelled again as the sneaky slaver with the shock stick scored another strike on his chest and dived back behind the wagon again. A full group of five slavers finally got their act together and rushed him. With ponies hanging off of his limbs and neck, the huge raider was visibly slowed. I saw the others rushing to pick up the rifles dropped from the walkways...

“Stop!” I shouted, running alongside Protégé. “Brim! Stop!”

His head shot around so hard at the sound of my voice that a mare was thrown from his neck. He might have stopped, but that shock stick stuck and held against his back leg hard enough that I saw the bloodlust rise in his eyes.

“Protégé, call them off! He's going to kill them!” I begged him, pleading to let this not become a massacre for either side.

“Slavers! Fall back! Let me handle this!” His voice needed no magical enhancement, simply carrying with a practised ease across the street. “Leave the raider be!”

Some of them dropped, one was thrown for not moving fast enough. The shock stick buzzed once more before Protégé yanked it from his grasp with a telekinetic tug. Within the slowly expanding circle of slavers, Brimstone stood with all four hooves spread, dripping blood from wounds, and his eyes filled with a fury that was directed entirely at Protégé. He breathed heavily, hooves scraping on the ground.

“Where is she!?”

Glimmer. He'd come back for Glimmer.

“She is safe, inside with a healer. Those who brought her back were not kind, but I assure you she is—”

“She better be, boy.” Advancing toward us, until he was alongside many of the slavers who stood rooted to the spot (particularly the shock stick slaver) Brimstone looked down on Protégé. Despite my master's authority, it was clear that Brimstone held the real weight here. He had led hundreds of ponies for most of his life. One slave master was nothing to him.

“I don't care for your rules. I'll play your game only if I'm with her. Some fool thought he could 'claim' me. Well he won't be doing that from now on. So, are we going to have a problem?”

There was something ever more frightening about him when he didn't swear. He didn't need to pose and sound off to intimidate, you just knew he had the power to do so. Protégé held up well, not backing off, waving his hoof to tell the slavers to not worry.

“Technically, given I stopped you during your, hm, rampage through the streets to get here, I suppose that would count as me being the one to bring you back to being a worker. I would be glad to have your skills with us once ag—”

“Leave your drivel for somepony who cares, boy.”

Protégé only nodded, clearing his throat.

“Then I assume that your little war to get inside again then fight your way here is over?”

Brimstone narrowed his eyes, snorting air through his nostrils. His gaze remained fixed on Protégé even while his left hoof whipped out horizontally and smacked the slaver with the shock-stick hard enough to knock him completely away from the edge of my vision with nought but a blur.

“Now I'm done.”

* * *

“You stupid, stupid, fucking stupid stallion!”

Glimmerlight was letting her less than polite mouth flow freely, beating her front hooves against Brim's rather unmoving chest. He merely stood in the gateway to the shop cell as she continued her rant.

“You were out! You were out! Why did you just-just hand yourself in!?”

Personally, I had stepped back, sitting in the corner with my needle and thread, piecing together the leather socks with some old bits of a hose to create a watertight container. I wanted to scream at him myself...but the moment we had trotted back in here, I had felt too tired to even try.

Besides, Glimmerlight had certainly done the work for me.

“You're like-like one of those idiots who doesn't get that it was just a one night thing and just always comes back! You were free, Brim!”

“I can't be free.”

It was the first thing he had said all conversation. Glimmerlight, exhausted, fell against him, butting her head on his chest a few times in sheer exasperation and anger, but simply too tired to keep it up.

“I'm a raider, Glim. On my own out there, I'd likely just fall back into the way I was before. Almost did, angry enough that I held up a trader to get what I'd need to get back here for sure. No, I'm meant to be here, but you-both of you-aren't.”

Sighing, closing his eyes, he began trotting past her toward the layers of cardboard he used as a bed.

“That's why I'm here. I'm helping you escape, not me. Chances are, once you're safe I'll come back here again. That's just the morality of the whole thing, Glim, Raiders like me don't deserve the freedom to do the things we did again.”

“But you aren't—”

“Don't.”

His eyes met hers briefly, fiercely, ending that line of speech immediately.

“Just...don't. I'm not the all good guardian you think I am. Now, are you alright?”

Sighing, Glimmerlight stomped her hoof on the spot in frustration, looking unable to decide if she should nod or shake her head.

“We...we got by. It hurt, but we got by. Murky got beat up bad, but we held it together. There's a plan coming together. We could use your help.”

My head perked up at the mention of my name. Truth be told, I'd long considered myself a side matter to these two. The one that just tagged along or helped out with some things. Glimmerlight was the real leadership here, with Brimstone as the one to point the best way or get stuff done. To hear her talk about me as though I mattered just as much as her to all this was strange, if reassuring. I caught a quick glance of her looking at me, a small smile forming to remind me she was still there. Her rage settled, apparently being able to begin to look by her anger and reassert the Glimmerlight I knew.

“In fact, no, you don't have a choice. You act like some big idiot lump and trot back into a slavery hell then you are going to help us. Here's what we need.”

* * *

The plan was explained as we waited for the next food delivery to arrive. In that time, I created three waterskins and filled them from the fountain. Glimmerlight took my bullet casings and hid them amongst the scrap pile, pulling out a few little robot eyepieces she had found (apparently for trap sensors) at her workplace and even a discarded bolt from a rifle. It was a start.

Brimstone asserted that he could make some tools very easily, promising to try and bring some back from the type of work he was given and drop it nearby. At night, I could sneak out the back and retrieve it. It felt so strange...just being expected to go back to normal with Brimstone around again. Caduceus even got the fright of his life when he returned with a few sealed bags of purified water he'd gotten from the surplus bins in the hospital and immediately kissed Glimmerlight, much to Brimstone's chagrin. The big raider had almost been ready to hurl him out until Glimmerlight explained.

Today had been a ride of my emotions. Awful, enlightening, inspiring, and confusing with a series of events one after the other. From Slit and Barb to Glimmerlight and my mother, from desperation inside a machine to Brimstone returning and...and The Master...

I was beginning to sense how long and arduous a task it was going to be to escape this place. I just needed to be patient, roll with the blows, and endure until we were ready.

“Soup's on, everypony! Get your pasty flanks out here!”

Well, there was something we could do. We needed more food to store away; here was one more opportunity to stay on track. As a group, we trotted out, thankfully receiving much less crowding now that Brimstone was here again, which also permitted us to join the queue properly without worry of my presence sending us to the back. I glanced at Brimstone and Glimmerlight, Caduceus having decided to wait behind in the shop cell away from the crush. Technically, he shouldn't even be here to be allowed the Mall's food anyway.

The shop cells were under a lot less security now that the healers had departed, though many of the mattresses lay unclaimed and stained with the blood of those who had been treated. A sudden flap of fabric caught my attention. I looked up and saw Pinkie's flag whipping around, seemingly nodding toward me. Remembering the container, I shivered and turned away from it. Always watching, forever watching...

“So,um, any ideas on gathering food?”

Glimmerlight simply smiled and rustled my mane. What had happened to that mood? How could she just switch back over to happy like that?

“Don't you worry, Murky. I'm sure we've all got our own ideas. I mean, you're gonna slip some extra, right?”

“Well, sure—”

“Just leave us to do as we do, trust me, eh?” She winked and grinned. I could only dread what she had planned.

I approached first, holding up my bowl. They had a large urn for the gruel (at least it wasn't oatmeal again...) and several pieces of stale bread in some wicker baskets. The young slaver assistant, a few years older than myself, poured some in for me. He had a pretty lifeless expression, yawning a lot or glancing off to chat to his colleague who was handing out the bowls beside him. It wasn't exactly a difficult task for me to swipe a few extra pieces of bread when he wasn't looking. Then a few more. After a few seconds, I began to worry I didn't have that many pockets left that could fit slices of the hard bread, so I hastily moved along before somepony in the crowd saw m—

Barb was sitting by the side of the plaza just watching as he waited for his raiders to bring his food. He saw my sleight of hoof, and just grinned.

I shivered, sticking close to Brimstone. He was up next, carrying the largest bowl possible that he had simply grabbed from another raider with a growl and a warning 'tap' on the head. The young slaver simply looked up at him as he spooned in the normal amount.

Brimstone didn't move.

“Oh! Um, sorry!” In went another spoonful. Then another. And a third.

Eventually, he'd gotten almost twice the ration by stint of simply standing there. The moment he moved away, I already heard the complaints from behind in the queue, matched by the insults from those raiders brave enough to shout out. Finally, Glimmerlight trotted up with a little wink to me, somehow saying ‘Okay, let me show you how it's done.’

Her bowl popped down from her magic onto the pasting table they set up for the food, where she leaned beside it with her front hooves on the tabletop. A spoonful was thrown in, as normal. I could see the buck was clearly keeping his eyes on her, he was a little more like her age than I was, so I guess I couldn't have blamed him.

“Aww, so little? How's a mare meant to get her energy?”

“Th-that's all we're told to give...”

She leaned forward again, her hooves resting on her chin, tail swishing to and fro behind her. Her lips pouted a little, leading the slaver to begin to sweat a little and glance back and forth to the others, who simply shrugged and continued giving out gruel from their urns across the bench. Clearly, they were of a rank to simply not care.

“Hey, I'll give you a peck on the lips if you give me another spoonful.” Her eyebrows raised, before going ahead anyway. With almost shock in my face, I watched as she dragged him across the table with her front hooves and slapped a kiss onto his mouth with enough passion and energy that I saw many of the bucks in the queue suddenly begin to blush. Somepony cheered.

Oh, and his hoof with the ladle kept adding more.

Almost by surprise, Brimstone was suddenly beside me, I only realised after he prodded me with a hoof.

“Murk?”

“Uh?”

“Your mouth's open.”

Blushing fiercely myself, I snapped it shut and gulped. “I...I was just-um-it was a really good...food gathering tactic...”

The big raider warlord chuckled lowly, regaining a little of that softer dry humour I'd known him for.

“Sure, kid. Nothin' to do with some wee unicorn on your imagination.”

I simply whimpered and stayed silent, fighting to stop my frantically red face from growing any hotter. Glimmerlight eventually pulled back with a wet smack of sound from their separating mouths. Breathing deeply, she adjusted her mane and smiled to him before picking up her bowl.

“Dinner at my place, sometime?”

“Uh-I-durgh...”

“It's a date!”

With a cheerful wave, she trotted off, her bowl actually overflowing. She grinned at us widely.

“And that, my friends, is how you get extra food.”

Skipping off into the shop cell, she hummed happily to herself before disappearing through the door.

* * *

It wasn't long before the next shift calls went out. To no one's surprise, Brimstone Blitz was called almost immediately. Leaving us to work, he stomped out, mentioning he'd bring what he could back from the scrapyards to make tools. Glimmer had sighed as he left, turning her eyes to me.

“I really wish he'd stayed out there. I feel a little guilty, y'know? Like me failing was what dragged him back into slavery. Sure I can throw on the happy Glimmer gets by everything style look, but I just want to see him find some peace. Big stallion wouldn't be doing this if some part of him didn't want to turn away from that life.”

I honestly couldn't reply other than to nod and nuzzle up to her briefly. She had smiled and wrapped a leg around me, whispering a thanks.

We began spending the time cramming what we could into tins and tying it down with thick cloth. The bread we stored in one of the leather socks to keep it dry. We ate what we could, leaving the remainder in a dark corner of the scrap pile. The gruel simply tasted like what I imagined rancid vomit might.

Sitting in the back, I was, at Glimmer's insistence, clad in the blanket. My injuries still hurt, and my face was still swollen and discoloured, so that apparently gave me the rights to a little bit of comfort. Caduceus had checked me over once, but now he simply sat with Glimmer, giggling as she recounted her tale for food. While I sewed waterskins, I wondered if he was just being polite to not be offended. Weren't they together?

“So, Murky, now you know how to be not malnourished! Try it next time!”

“But-but he wath uh buck...” My voice was muffled from holding the needle in my teeth.

“So? Seriously, try it sometime, bucks are good firm kissers if you take the initiative, see?”

She rather proved her point, again, with Caduceus. The look in his eyes said nothing but 'I am so lucky' as he returned the gesture. It began to linger, then grow a little more. I rolled my eyes while they just giggled, was I going to have to leave the room again? Yet mercifully, the pair separated.

“Mmhm, yeah I think you can stick around when we get out of here. I could get used to a buck who isn't afraid to take the initiative a little.”

Sighing, I put aside the last leather sock I'd been working on and spat out the needle. Anything to get those two back on track.

“How are we going to know our way in those tunnels?”

“Red Eye had a big operation going to take out every entrance, right? Well, he needs to organise that on a map. You think hot flanks up in his office might have one?”

Outside, I heard the sound of the plaza’s main cage door creaking open.

“That's it! Sick leave's over, get in there!”

The sound of a slaver’s voice drifted into our shop cell. Some seconds later, I heard the slaver slam the door shut and begin trotting away. The departure was followed by a mature female voice, bitter and low spoken.

“Better recovering than being dead from radiation, you lout...”

Glimmer's hoof that had been stroking Caduceus' head stopped. I heard her get up quickly, trotting for the doorway. Pushing my head out from under the blanket, I called out after her, but she didn't stop. From the brief glimpse I got of her face when she turned to head through the doorway, I saw a mask of shock and surprise.

“Glimmer? What's wrong?” Caduceus glanced over at me for any idea. But she was already gone. Unable to leave her to go alone and filled with my own curiosity, I hopped out from the blanket and hobbled my way over to the doorway after her. Behind me, Caduceus simply looked perplexed, but didn't move for the moment. Given he technically shouldn't be here, it was likely the best plan.

Various slaves were poking their heads out to see a small group of new arrivals, three mares and two stallions. All were rather weary looking and had clearly been in Fillydelphia for some time. One of the stallions looked near enough dead on his hooves, only just managing to stagger to a mattress and collapse.

The others simply trotted in, most of them heading for a shop cell further back, but one of the mares, a unicorn, hung back and glanced around her. I paused in thought. Something about her seemed familiar. Pale grey coat, a dark blue and shot with white and black highlights mane was braided into two stands either side of her face and the remainder tied into a ponytail at the back, it all sparked a few thoughts of recognition.

“CORAL!”

Beside me, Glimmerlight raced forward, galloping across the mattresses and concrete floor towards the mare. The other unicorn turned, surprised at the madly dashing form of Glimmer for her.

Then she scowled.

Her horn lit, a dark blue like deep water that sparked and stuttered around her horn like a faulty light before it exploded into being. Even before I could shout out, a dull thump of overpressure blew across the plaza floor, kicking up water from the fountain and blasting a few mattresses aside in an arc before her. Glimmerlight was knocked clean from her hooves with a yell. Landing on her side, she could only glance up in apparent confusion.

The new unicorn's horn fizzed and sparked in the aftermath of her spell, causing her to wince and reach a hoof to her head until it all died down. But quickly, she regained her composure, trotting over with slow and deliberate steps. She was much older than Glimmer, far more mature and likely in her early forties. Only now on her flank could I see the image of a reared wave of frothing water.

“Glimmerlight. You dare to think you can just run up to me and shout happily?”

My best friend lay on the ground, nursing one side that had impacted upon the concrete. I hobbled over towards her, laying down over her.

“Leave her alone! She's hurt!”

The mare’s pained eyes switched to me for a second, before widening.

“You...you're that little buck from the hospital.”

Finally, it all clicked into place. I remembered her. This was the mare that I had almost stolen RadPurge from! Guilt began to trickle into my mind, she had every right to hate me, which made her sudden relaxation seem all the odder.

“The nurse told me what you did, how you realised what you were doing and decided not to. Not many ponies would do that in this city. Not like her. I should have known it was you and your allergy that RadPurge was for. What are you doing with her?”

“Coral, what's wrong?” Glimmerlight breathed out the words, getting the air back in her lungs as she sat up. “What do you mean about me?”

Coral stood up straighter, scowling, before trotting and again lowering her head.

“Are you being serious? Are you honestly saying you think you can just waltz back over to me, throw a hug around me and consider everything fine? Oh, but that's right, you don't do remembering the bad times, do you?”

This was becoming seriously confusing. There was bad blood here, but only in one direction. I stepped forward. Love for my chosen sister lended me an assertiveness I never knew I even had.

“Stop it! She's saved my life and helped me! I'm Murky, Murky Number Seven, who are you to her?”

“I'm Coral Eve, old 'friend' of Glimmerlight from the village we inhabited. Or at least I was until we ended up in here because of her!” The voice was cold, long withheld fury seething into every word. “I'll bet she didn't tell you that bit, huh? Of how she betrayed us, led our village to be burned down and get most of us sold into slavery? I had my son taken from me, just a little colt! Now he's been dragged in to learn from Red Eye and you think you can just act like nothing's happened?!”

She was from the village? Immediately, I almost felt a painful spark in my mind as memories flickered and emerged. The memory she had shown me in the Stable of her own life in the village.

Foals bounced happily away from a pony I presumed was their teacher as they chanted “The bad wolfies won't come back!” over and over. They circled around her as though playing a game. Glimmerlight hugged one of them, a chirpy little young colt wearing an old floppy hat clearly too big for him. He squealed happily as he buried his head into her (at this point) long pink mane and giggled before returning to his mother. For a second I thought I caught a glint of recognition. Perhaps just that motherly look anypony missing their mom would feel.

It was her.

She was from the village, I had seen her, that's why I'd recognised her in the Stable! I'd already met her in the hospital!

Suddenly, the harsh reality of truth in her words began to slip into my mind.

Shoving her head forward, she almost seemed to spit on her words, inches from Glimmerlight's face. My friend recoiled, looking shocked beyond proper thought processes. All around us, slaves were coming out to view the confrontation by the fountain. I saw Barb leaning against the edge of a shop cell with a wicked grin, clearly enjoying the drama.

“But-but I...no! That isn't what happened!”

“Oh, Glimmerlight. The mare who can forgive anypony else or anything, except that it's all a lie.” Coral Eve turned back to me, those two braids swinging loosely. “Has she told you the truth yet, of how she manages to forgive and forget?”

Speechless, I just cast my head between them. What could I say? No, Glimmerlight was good!

“She...she cares...”

“She forgets! A pony with a speciality in memory orbs. You seen her collection yet? All those orbs of hers rolling around in her bags or boxes? What do you think they are? Oh how easy it is to forgive somepony when you can simply wave your horn and just get rid of all the bad stuff. Hey Glimmer, tell me, how'd that back leg get injured?”

Throwing a quick glance backward, Glimmerlight immediately snorted at the accusation.

“Slavers, when they brought me back in they weren't too kind.”

“I didn't ask who, I asked how.”

“They...they hit me or...or beat me up and...” Glimmerlight faltered, that ease of words failing.

My heart felt like it was being torn, the sudden doubt and grasping for straws in her expression told it all. Coral only stomped a hoof and tossed her head. I felt useless, way out of my depth in their history.

“Thought so. Probably wiped it the moment you got back. So you're still doing that, huh? Funny how that works to lead as guilt free a life as you do. No wonder you don't even remember what you did to us. What you did to me. You know it. Those orbs you'll never touch, the ones you know are memories you want to keep away and never have to deal with the way the rest of us do. I'll bet you don't even remember what happened to the village in the end. You're just running away, Glimmer. Escaping having to deal with your decisions, and the horrors you brought on yourself and those around you. You are no friend of mine.”

Tossing a braid over her neck, Coral stomped past us, wincing as her horn sparked and flared again. Glimmerlight fell back to sitting down as her back leg gave out again, her mouth gaping, her eyes wide and sad. With a clatter of hooves, Caduceus emerged from the shop cell, sliding to a halt as he found himself almost face to face with Coral.

“Hey, what's going o— Glimmer!” He saw Glimmerlight half standing from a limp near me and threw a stare at Coral, but found her only glancing back briefly as well, before giving a tired laugh.

“Another buck? You don't change one bit. Glimmerlight, the ride of the village. Barely a stallion or so-inclined mare you hadn't gotten with. Hey, you, nurse. How's it feel to know you're just another number for her? You see any looks of surprise when you showed up afterwards? She's only after you for one thing, another notch on her bed.”

The pale grey unicorn rounded on us all. I moved to Glimmer's side, standing slightly in front of her, even as I saw her head droop, letting the short mane hang over it.

“Murky, I don't advise you hang around with her much longer. That mare is trouble, I promise you that. Even if she doesn't realise it.”

Taking a strong stance, she screwed up her face once more.

“Funny how memory works, isn't it? Now stay out of my life!” Baring her teeth, she turned away, the show of strength broken only for a single hiccup of emotion. “You've ruined enough of it already...”

She cantered off down the plaza to the bottom, before turning a corner into one of the stairwells and disappearing. Locked in place, stunned beyond words, I could only really move toward Glimmerlight.

“I...Glimmer, I...”

Without a word, she ran toward the shop cell, head low. I could hear a sniffling and sudden breathing, leading me to push as fast as I could after her. Inside, catching up, I found her on the sofa, head buried into one of the side cushions crying her eyes out completely. Her body was quaking.

I didn't know what to do in this situation...

Caduceus moved past me, sitting and hugging her across the sofa. Lost, I could only trot nearby and offer what kind of caring look I could muster. Over Caduceus' shoulder, her tear filled eyes looked down to me.

“S-she was my friend. One of my best friends. I thought we still were! I didn't know!”

Around my hooves, all around the sofa, the memory orbs lay. Crushed in her sadness, I saw her eyes glancing from orb to orb before her magic threw them all into one bag in one swarm of hated memories.

“Coral's right, I...I'm sorry. That's how I did it. It was so easy to start with! A few crap days or things, but it just got too simple to get rid of the bad and-and just live with only the good out in the wastes! B-but I didn't know I'd gotten rid of that kind of thing. Now I've lost one of my best friends. She and her son were like...hrk...like a family to me after I'd left mine. I knew I had forgotten some real bad things, but...”

The bag of orbs was thrown behind the sofa. Caduceus held her tighter, nuzzling the side of her head. Closing her eyes, cheeks wet with tears, she gripped him back, stretching out a hoof to draw me in as well.

“I can forgive anypony, anything. All except the one pony I really know did the wrong thing...”

Sniffling, she fought to not break down again. Held close, I just tried to wrap my short legs around as best I could.

“...myself.”

* * *

She was not perfect.

I had always known it. Had I been more aware, I might have seen how obvious it was that she had been bottling things up in some way. But I had accepted it because I had seen how loyal and caring she was as a friend. A sister, even. One I’d never had, but had always needed.

But now, as it transpired, Glimmer had one large flaw, one I had pondered on for some time now that I thought on it. The reason she could be so happy, even after being sold into Fillydelphia after a raider attack, was because she had sliced the worst horrors from her memory.

Coral Eve had returned to her life now, bringing the truth with her, and it hurt. Even while she had ranted and screamed, I had seen the pain in Coral's eyes and heard the bitterness in her voice. She was in pain. There was no clear good and bad here.

Now, she simply sat against the sofa, wrapped in the blanket and staring at a group of memory orbs that hung in the air before her as though considering something. Her tears had dried with a significant effort to try and smile through it all. Somehow that had hurt me even more, reminding me of my own forced laughter. I'd lost my mother, and she'd lost those she had considered family, too. Only now that smile had faded to a blank stare on a face lit only by the dark red illumination of the orbs.

“I wouldn't hurt anypony, Murky. Not knowingly, I promise. I don't know what happened, it's in here somewhere but-but it's all buried under orb after orb of horrible things...”

Sitting nearby to her, I had toyed in my journal, finding my charcoal sketching out Coral Eve as I’d seen her in Glimmer’s memory. In the village beside her son in that floppy hat.

Putting it down, I moved closer and sat alongside Glimmer.

“If I go hunting for the village I don't know what I'll find before I come to the right orb. I can sense the order they go in but I don't know where to start or-or what. Coral wouldn't make things up, but she may not know all the details or...or something.”

Nuzzling closer, I felt her lean against me. It wasn't often that I was the one supporting anypony with my presence. Caduceus was here too, but Glimmer had responded better to me than him, understandable given our shared experiences, but harsh on the poor buck in light of Coral's words.

Not that there was anything I could do to change that now.

“We need to get out, Murky. If I've done anything to put her and her beautiful little son in here, we need to get them out with us. I think I know what drives Brim now. Even if she hates me, I want her out.”

I nodded, turning just that she could see me in the darkness. With a shuffle of movement, Caduceus stood and trotted toward us.

“I know I'm fairly new to you guys, but Glimmer, in a city of pain and labour I've smiled more around you in the past day than I have in months. I don't care if Coral's right, if that was just a once off 'thing'. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I'm thankful for spending the time. I want to help you, so I can get out myself. I've made my decision to return to Helpinghoof, maybe try and take the things Weathervane invented like RadPurge to a place it can do better good, too.”

Glimmerlight began to smile again, kissing me gently on the cheek and hugging me tightly.

“Thank you. Thank you both. I don't know if I'm ever going to look or know, but getting out, that's the main priority. It has to be. I'm not going to wallow in my depression for too long, promise. Just give me some time, please? This is, well, this is hard stuff...”

We both agreed quickly. As far as I was concerned, she could have all the time she needed. I trusted her, I couldn't not after so much, but I knew what it was like to have your world shaken.

“So, let's see, we've got good stuff from one day. How's the checklist doing, Murky?”

Her voice built on each word, growing in strength. Still, that hollow pain sounded in her tone, but she had something to move on with, to concentrate on. Flipping my journal back a few pages, I found the checklist.

“We've got, um, five waterskins, a couple days spare food, and six packs of proper water with three RadAways for my illness. Oh, and parts, but I don't know what you do with them.”

Glimmer toyed with her pile of technical whossits, nodding gently. “Not bad for a day.”

“Oh, and I talked to Protégé.”

Their glares even overrode the lingering pain and emotion from Glimmerlight, who stared at me like I'd gone insane.

“Wait! I mean, I got some information!” I covered for myself hastily, waving my hooves rather too enthusiastically to the point of having to grab my shoulder in pain. While catching my breath, I explained Protégé's tale of the outer line circle and all the things that dwelt down there. But more specifically, the fact that he might have a map or information on what Red Eye's workers found.

“Well, beasties can't be any more dangerous than trying to simply run at the Wall,” Glimmer spoke in deep thought, still clearly working to keep her mind focussed on planning rather than drifting, “but you're right about that map.”

Thinking for a few seconds, Glimmer eventually seemed to get frustrated at a loss for ideas. She sat back, placing her head in her hooves, taking a few deep breaths.

“Sorry, just...”

“We know.” Caduceus lay a hoof on her shoulders, at least getting a thin smile from her. “Just take your time. Don't feel you need to be all positive, okay?”

I chimed forward, the only words I knew being the ones she had told me.

“It's alright to be upset...”

Glancing down to me, her 'little brother,' her thin smile grew a little before hugging me tightly. I could feel a tear or two drip on my back.

“I know...thank you, both of you. Hm, a map won't be easy. Protégé tends to either keep his office locked while he's asleep or guarded when he's away, judging from when I've been pulled up there to check some tech or fix his terminal when it shorts out. If he's still in the building, you can bet it's Ragini on guard, and he always locks it upon leaving. I doubt it'll be a cheap rusty one to fiddle through.

“Brimstone can pick locks.” I saw their glance at me. “Well, he gets by them.”

“I doubt he'd go unnoticed, sweetie.”

“What you need is a distraction.”

Both Glimmer and I turned to Caduceus, but he hadn’t been the one to speak, and was looking around himself. Oh no, I knew that voice.

Emerging from the shadows of the room, from an impossible angle to have reached without going through any light of our lamp, Barb flowed into being, trotting toward us. I squeaked in terror, pushing back and behind the sofa. Caduceus simply backed off to be beside Glimmer, who at least stood her ground. Even if it was Barb, I imagined he ranked pretty low on her concerns in life right now.

“What do you want?”

His eyes were staring at me, winking, before finally swivelling to Glimmerlight. If he had any disappointment that she hadn't reacted like I had, he didn't show it.

“I want a lot of things, mare. Some of them beyond my current reach, some of them rather within it.”

Those bright eyes of his foretold all sorts of potential outcomes. His smile would almost have been friendly had it not been for those snakelike eyes that simply promised all sorts of harsher meanings to his words.

“But at this moment, the choice is on you. You need a map for another ill fated escape attempt? Well, I honestly couldn't care if you got out, even if you are working with the traitor, though some of my Shades might not think that way. Best watch your step around them.”

He laughed and lounged against the sofa, lifting a hoof, wiggling a hoof over it, as though inspecting it for imperfections.

“But you need a map from Protégé's office, and for that, you need him out of it in a rush. Something to take his attention that he wouldn't bother locking it. Now I happen to want to start something soon myself, get a little revenge on some of the slavers who killed our own up on the hill.”

Any sense of friendly nature on his face dropped and disappeared on the spot.

“We don't take kindly to that. Shades don’t let a grudge go. Your time will come too, mare, oh yes. But for now, you have an option with us to use our distraction as we, hmm, 'end' a few slavers as payback in here to get your precious map. The filly can get you out with his little clearances after he's done the job I want.”

Glimmerlight took a deep breath, trying to stop herself shivering, I betted. The sofa felt all too small to hide behind. I wanted to move for the door, but the shadows promised any number of Shades.

“You want a riot.” Glimmerlight was unusually terse. “You're looking to kick up a proper riot just for petty revenge.”

“Petty to you. We aren't like you.” Barb countered harshly. “But we need something the filly can provide, for him to steal the key from outside the door, somewhere we aren't allowed to go. Raiders get watched or chained, the filly doesn't. He helps us get the keys to assure they can't simply lock us up, you get a distraction to sneak up for a map of your precious escape route. Deal's a deal, right?”

Caduceus half snorted nearby. “Why should we work with raiders?”

“Because without us, you think you'll be content to wander the metro unguided? Or to try some other method and risk him discovering you? Or perhaps I might just go ahead and tell him if you don't agree. You seem to have mistaken me for somepony with honour here, blondey.”

Between Caduceus' offence and myself cowering, Glimmerlight merely maintained a stare at Barb as though afraid to lose track of him. I couldn't blame her.

“Tit for tat, huh? We scratch your back, you stab ours? What kind of guarantee can you give?”

Barb simply laughed, a horrible dry sound like his throat were made of dust.

“None, but we're not the ones wanting out, now are we? Your choice, 'escapees', your choice. You wanna risk it with us? Or you wanna go it alone and die in some stinking hole?”

The three of us cast glances to one another.

“All you're after is a few slavers?”

“Enough to sate my lads for those we lost, half a dozen. We'll drag them in here and do it raider style.”

Glimmer kept her voice surprisingly level. “Spare me the details.”

Again, those half glances and unspoken arguments flickered between us. Caduceus shrugged, Glimmer was clearly tempted, and I wanted nothing to do with this. Not with him. Even now I could see him half smiling at me. Eventually, Glimmerlight sighed, turning back to him.

“Give us an hour till Brimstone gets back. We need to talk on this.”

* * *

“Absolutely not.”

“Brim, this could be the only way we have! Who else has a full room of encyclopedias and old elements of the past in this damn city that isn't in a damned Ministry? The metro is a maze without a map! If we want to stand a chance, we need it!”

The big raider swung around, stomping a hoof so hard I felt the floor vibrate beneath me. I'd stayed back, hiding under the blanket at the confrontation. Brimstone had changed again, like he'd slipped, fallen back into what he once had been while outside. Perhaps it was just his mood after the shift, he'd at least got us some iron bars. I presumed nopony had even wanted to risk asking why he was taking them.

“Barb is not somepony to do deals with, Glimmer! He is below even the twisted sense of right and wrong raiders normally go by. The moment you've done what he wants, that's it! Deals off, why do you think he put your work to be done first?”

“But we've got you! They won't get to us if you're coming with us! You think I don't expect him to try and slip a knife in our back the moment the riot starts? Look, we can pull this off and avoid him at the same time if we just move fast enough and make our own way up to the office. The moment we're through that cage, you just charge in and break a path. Even the raiders won't stand in your way, Brim!”

The cargo trolley clattered, panels destroyed as Brimstone's hoof crushed it. I just squeaked, backing off and finding myself oddly pushing close to Caduceus. The buck was far too afraid of Brimstone to even stand near the mare he had apparently fallen for.

“We are not going to aid them or become a part of their mad plans! Barb can rot in here for all I care!”

“It's for a better cause in the end, Brim, if we can get out! Just get over how you feel about them!”

“They are murderers, Glimmer! Rapists, torturers, and looters! You want out, I want you out, but not like this! We are not going to help them to sate their madness!”

“We don't have any fucking CHOICE, Brim! He's going to do something to us anyway! And we might as well take the one that actually helps us!”

I'd not often seen the more fiery side of Glimmerlight that was confined behind her casual flirty humour. But here, I saw her stressed out, ready to snap at somepony.

“I know, they aren't like you. Hell, you saved me from them, just like how you saved Murky. But what I mean is that there's no black and white in here anymore, Brim. We don't have the luxury of picking and choosing. Murky's at death's door, the raiders made it clear they want me and they want me soon, we have to get out...”

I sat and cradled a sachet of RadAway, sipping away at it for today's relief. But my eyes couldn't leave the pair. Brimstone turned, glaring at me drinking the life-saving liquid.

“What do you think, kid?”

Huh? Me? Why did my opinion matter here? Almost spluttering on the RadAway, I glanced at Caduceus to see if Brimstone had meant him. No luck, the attention was square on myself.

Barb terrified me. He and his raiders had already horribly beaten, scared, or humiliated me multiple times. I feared them as much as most slavers, if not more so. Brimstone was right, Barb would not hold on to the deal. It'd be up to us to make use of what his raiders were doing. On the other hoof, staring down at the orange sachet in my hooves, I knew that I didn't have a huge amount of time remaining. I needed out of here. In my heart, mind, soul, and body, I had to leave, to feel the joy of escape.

“We need the map...”

Those four words were like falling from a rooftop, feeling your own body casting your life in a direction you don't want it to go in, but cannot now stop. Brimstone sighed, snorting to himself and stomping away to the darker parts of the room. Glimmerlight didn't exactly look pleased, just tired.

“I can't let anypony I've hurt with my life stay in here, Brim. If I need to trot in the shadow of those who might hurt me to help save them in the end...” Her voice was quiet, unusually emotional. “Coral Eve doesn't deserve this, as much as anypony doesn't, but to me even moreso. Some...something I did helped put her here, and I don't know what, Brim. You understand redemption—”

“All I understand is that this will hurt somepony before the end. Barb doesn't throw these things for pointless fun, he's got a plan in mind. The moment I know what it is, regardless of where we are or what we're doing, I'm going to drag you away from it. Map or not. Got it?”

Hesitantly, Glimmer nodded before turning to speak to nopony in particular.

“We'll do it.”

A voice echoed from the shadows.

“Good.”

Whimpering, I just pulled myself back underneath the blanket to pray for our deliverance. I hoped the Goddesses would understand that I just had no choice. No choice at all.

* * *

Planning was awkward. We had been invited to sit among the Shades, where Barb had explained all. Brimstone had sat at the doorway, eyes fixed on anypony who so much as looked in our direction.

It quickly became clear that Barb was using this to help solidify his position as leader. Even I could see that if he didn't permit some of these raiders their revenge upon the slavers who had killed their comrades, his popularity would begin to fade. Some raiders lurked at the edges of their own shop cell, a large restaurant outlet stripped of most furniture, sharpening hunks of metal they had magically carved into knives. Others let their horns warm up, sparking and testing throwing pebbles. I saw a dozen hideous rituals of battle: self cutting, blood marking, head-butting, and even a quiet warchant in a foreign language I couldn't ever hope to understand.

My role was pivotal, the element that permitted them to not simply be locked in and left to calm down. I was to head out to 'visit Protégé,’ but steal the key they would use to lock the cage door on the way out. Once it was done, I'd signal to Barb and his raiders who would...well, 'do their thing.' Often, I wondered why Barb couldn't use his freaky abilities to get that key. Surely he could lockpick or pickpocket the guard on his way out? I guessed that he had to be seen leading them. Either that or he was still taking an interest in 'developing' my abilities? I dreaded to think what he had in mind for me. I was too sick to resist anyway. Already, my fever was making my head pound. Either that or it was the stress. Likely both.

The moment we knew that the guards were distracted, the three of us would move on up into the management corridors, hiding in one room that Brimstone would get open under cover of the riot noise. From there, we'd wait until Protégé passed us, and then move on to the office. Hopefully, he wouldn't have locked it, or we'd have to risk Brimstone's method of entry again. Already, I felt oddly guilty stealing from Protégé. I owed him, yet in many ways given his role, I shouldn't. My thoughts on where he sat as ally or foe were still incredibly conflicted. He'd calm the riot and we'd...well, we'd try and slip back in or simply claim that we ran from it to stay safe. He'd believe me, right?

That was all. Get the map, get out, get planning.

And with all hope, we’d be one step closer to being away from confusing smart ponies, sadistic Masters, and frightening raiders.

* * *

Glimmerlight, Brimstone, and Caduceus waited amongst the shadows of the closest shop cell to the door. The other slaves, sensing a preparation of activity, had began to slowly move to the back, not wanting to risk alerting the guards for fear of raider reprisal. I had seen Coral Eve on the balcony above, glancing down. Most slaves gave her a wide berth, seeming to look up in fear if her horn sparked. The faulty magic clearly caused her pain, but judging by their reactions, she must have been capable of some truly powerful magic on those who angered the bitter mare.

“She’s always had problems with her horn since she has a disease as was a foal. Had to learn how to work as an earth pony for most of her life.” Glimmerlight trotted up behind me, sitting and glancing upward at the pale blue unicorn. “But on the other end of the spectrum, there aren't many ponies who can match the raw power she can throw out, unrefined as it is.”

Somehow, I could relate. I'd had to accept life as a ground pounder without the use of my wings, but the thoughts of what Coral could do if she unleashed that magic already made me shiver. I'd seen Littlepip demonstrate amazing precision and power in the Pit. Would Coral compare to that?

“I hope she'll forgive you.” I wasn't sure why I said it, it's all I could think of. Seeing the sad eyes Glimmerlight stared at her old friend with, I couldn't help but wish they would find a way to become friends again. Only recently had I realised how important that was.

“Me too, Murky. Me too. Maybe once we're out of here I'll...I'll find a way to understand what happened, what I did. You, uh, don't think less of me, do you?”

“No! I...I mean, it's sad, upsetting, but you've done too much for me to turn away.”

Her hoof ruffled my mane, letting a smile creep onto her face. “Thanks, Murky. I guess I kinda need to know somepony's there for me too sometimes these days.”

Her eyes twitched to the side, away from me to see Coral Eve leave the balcony. She had been staring down at us.

Yet behind us, Barb made his presence known.

“Right, filly.”

My nerves shuddered even as I watched Coral trot back and away from the balcony..

“Time for you to go.” He was behind us somewhere. I could hear Brimstone watching for him. “We're all waiting, don't mess this up or I won't give them a time limit next time.”

I nodded, meekly, what else could I do? Glimmerlight gave me one more quick hug, Caduceus whispered a 'good luck' and Brimstone simply nodded. Pulling myself up, favouring my injured hoof, I trotted to the cage door.

“You wanting out, runt?” The guard behind it was one of The Master's lot. “Going to see the boss?”

“Y-yes. Just going to his o-office...”

“Fine, stand back.”

It was almost routine now, I'd spent a lot of time going to his office lately. Stepping back, the cage door shook while the guard fought with the rusty key in his mouth. Creaking open, the large gateway swung upon its hinges into the plaza. Behind it lay the guardroom, filled with slavers resting, eating, or gambling. It must have been an old employee lounge for those on breaks from working the plaza, with a small canteen and numerous tables. Four doors led away from it, one to the main entrance, one to the management offices, and the others to goodness knew where in this sprawling complex. I hesitated, deliberately stalling in the gateway as though confused about something. The guard frowned, clipping me over the ear.

“What's the hold up, runt? Get moving!”

The stinging pain shot through me, giving me an excuse to stagger (Well, I didn't have to act too much, that hurt!) and fall into him. My hooves fumbled, feeling the key briefly till I could bite it and slip it into a front leg pocket in the tussle. With an offended snarl, the slaver smacked me across the head and lightly bucked me further into the guardroom. My forehead flared with pain, making my eyes water as the scar ached from the impact. The hot pain in my ribs from my illness wasn't helping either, to the point that I let out a horrible cough that echoed from the walls.

I had the key, that cough was the signal.

“Watch where you're stepping! Get out of—”

All hell broke loose.

His voice was cut short by a bloodthirsty roar from within the plaza. Every raider had joined the chorus, singing their lust for violence loud and clear. I knew I was 'on their side', but my blood still turned to ice under the horrible sound. They erupted from the shadows, charging the doorway. The lead raiders frothed, biting their own lips in sheer madness as they outstripped the others. They carried makeshift knives, club-like rocks in magic fields or simply gnashed teeth.

The guard swore colourfully, rushing forward to pull the door closed. The hinges squealed and the metal clanged loudly as it slammed shut. He began fumbling for the key, searching all over himself to get it, but it was too late.

The tidal wave of raiders collided with the doorway. It fired backward, knocking the guard flat to be trampled over by the rioting ponies. I didn't even hear him scream as I dove aside into the corner to avoid them myself! Guards were perking up, grabbing weapons and calling for aid. Panic spread, leading many to freeze under the savage charge or fumble with the safeties of their weapons.

“Don't let them take the guardroom! Open fire! Fire you bastards, FIRE!”

Finally, shotguns roared, taking the front row of raiders clean off their hooves while two slavers upturned a table and began throwing pistol fire from behind it. Several other raiders pushing through the doorway were twisted around by the heavy shots, collapsing over the corpses of their allies to fall on the concrete. One was killed by his own side when I saw a sharp hoof stomp snap his head. But the raiders had the momentum, charging like ponies possessed into gunfire that would have stayed any other group. The first slaver was leapt on, taking the head off a mare with his rifle even as two others fell upon him. Knives flashed, ponies screamed, blood spilled.

“Get 'em alive! Grab them! Get their guns!”

“Been waiting months for this!”

Cowering in the corner, I could only stick to the shadows and fight the guilt. I'd had a hand in this, been a cause for the bloodshed that was now being unleashed. I owed slavers nothing, I doubted I'd particularly mourn them, but still, I could not help but feel a little wrong about this.

Any conflicting feelings were thrown aside as two rounds whipped into the wall above my head, a slaver was targeting me! Why!? He got little extra chance, a shadow detaching itself from the wall fell upon him, tearing the machine gun away and snapping his neck like a twig. Barb grinned, melting back into the shadows. He was mad. Utterly mad.

The raider rush had been aided by his intervention, however. Even as the pony assaulting me had been put down, I saw Barb launch himself among the rest. Distracted, dying to his flickering blades and desperately trying to find the real one as he shifted and created illusions of himself with magic, the slavers could not stop the second wave of raiders as they piled through. Overrun, I saw the slaver guards being knocked out or dragged screaming back into the plaza. Other raiders grabbed their weapons, opening fire down any corridor that offered resistance or became a route of guard reinforcements.

With the second wave ran Brimstone, hurling raiders aside as much as any slaver to clear a path for Glimmerlight and Caduceus. Only now did I leave my hiding spot to dash up to them, my heart was pumping as gunfire and warcries echoed around in the guardroom. I had to dive to the side and dodge around the raiders who ran rampant in all directions. The guardroom was still a centre of violence, but the raiders had taken it. Brimstone grabbed me in his teeth, hurling me onto his back. Barging through a group of three raiders, knocking them into various tables, he set a running pace for the closest doorway that led to Protégé's office. Soon, we had left the bloodbath behind us, replacing it with nothing but howls and shouts that reverberated down corridors and haunted the atmosphere of the Mall. Barb's lot were savage beyond compare. I had only seen them amidst a proper battle with Rangers and griffons, but here, in this cramped environment, they ruled supreme.

Having been dropped from Brimstone's back, I led the way as much by habit of knowing the directions to Protégé's office better. We crossed junctions and galloped upstairs, hearing the commotion picking up all across the Mall. Eventually, we came to the a large room of desks and filing cabinets. Not far now.

Without warning, my ears perked up before I could even acknowledge the sound.

“Slavers!”

They charged into the room from the opposite end, missing us only by my audio warning that led us all to duck into cover, Brimstone was back out the door, keeping his sheer size away from sight. There were a good half dozen of them, heavily armed and moving cautiously.

“Everypony spread out, look for any slaves that got free! Shoot on sight!”

Squeaking in fear, I looked from side to side, there were a few other doors we could use to make it there, but while I might have been able to sneak my way up, four ponies (including Brimstone) would never manage it.

Caduceus glanced up at them, then back at Glimmer and I. The nurse took a few breaths, clearly gauging the distance in his mind.

“Can you two find a way to get there yourselves?” He whispered at what felt deafening to me, of course. He didn't know my hearing. Glimmerlight thought for a second, before nodding.

“Be careful, Caddy.”

The nurse breathed out, gathering his energy, but grinned at the sudden nickname.

“Mom always did say I'd do something stupid for a mare someday.”

He launched himself up and away toward the next door, attracting their attention immediately, casting us a quick glance telling us to get moving.

“STOP THERE!”

A shot flew past him before Caduceus galloped through a doorway. Glimmerlight turned back to Brimstone.

“Go with him, keep him safe!”

“No, you are—”

“Not the time, Brim! You can't sneak like Murky and I can, go help Caduceus! He matters to me, alright?”

Snarling, but obeying, the huge raider nodded and stormed off, bucking a chair so hard at the slavers I saw it knock one off his hooves to almost do a backflip before landing on his head. The warlord disappeared through the door, bellowing for Caduceus to keep up or get strung up. Glimmerlight and I hunkered down, letting the slavers rush past our hiding place beneath the desks before glancing to one another. I was breathing hard, scared and out of my depth. The Mall felt much more dangerous now, filled with trigger happy slavers and bloodlusting raiders that could come from any one of it's maze-like corridors. I hadn't realised how oddly safe I'd felt there compared to the outdoor areas.

“You and me, Murky, classic duo, eh?”

How could she grin at a time like this!?

“Yeah...”

“Come on, lets get this over with.”

We took our time, sneaking around to the far door that I knew led to Protégé's office. The stairs behind it took us up the final level into the management areas of the Mall. The moment we arrived, I could hear shouting, demands, orders and the clatter of hooves and talons. Protégé's fluid and commanding tone was unmistakable amongst it. Glancing around, I spotted a cleaning cupboard, which Glimmerlight and I hurried into. Leaving the door just ajar as it had been before, I saw my master charging down the corridor, pursued by Ragini and at least five bodyguard ponies. Oddly, Mosin was with them as well.

“How the hell did this happen? The doorway can close over before anypony gets close!”

“I don't know, sir! Nopony in the guardroom is around, they've taken it!!”

Protégé shook his head.

“Well don't wonder for now, just get every guard on duty to cover the corridors and contain this riot, then we'll see what to do once we've killed their momentum. Get somepony over to Stern to request griffons if things go south, but get it sorted before they arrive! I don't want a griffon raid killing all the slaves who aren't rioting! Mosin, make sure your armoury is secure, if they get there we're done for! Move it!”

Protégé was direct and confident, even if his voice had betrayed a slight lack of calm. This was his pet project, an attempt to give slaves a chance under Red Eye's missions. I could only imagine how it felt to see it in jeopardy again so soon after the Stable. We waited till they had passed, before Glimmerlight poked her head out.

“It's clear.”

Following her now, we crept into the corridor once again. He had sure seemed in a rush. I hoped that included the potentially unlocked door.

Unfortunately, over the clatter of their procession, even I didn't hear the two slavers that came up the corridor behind and spotted us trotting about.

“STOP, SLAVES!”

“Run, Murky!” Glimmerlight took off, half pulling me as I fought with my instincts to obey the harsh command and root to the spot. Half dragged and eventually properly galloping, we tore off. The two mares behind us shouted, drew guns and gave chase. Turning a corner to avoid the incoming fire we knew was about to start, I quickly realised our mistake. We couldn't run...not in our condition. Glimmerlight was limping, but I was effectively hobbling still after my beating earlier, moving at little more than a canter. I could see Protégé's office up ahead. We needed to distract them! But I couldn't find the information without Glimmer, so she couldn't draw them away and I couldn't outrun them like Caduceus or Brimstone could.

There were a few doors before the one into Protégé's office. We couldn't simply hide, they'd search! The only other route was downstairs, right back into the maelstrom that was erupting below us.

Wait.

I hopped up, bucking the door to the stairway as hard as I could, before directing Glimmer and myself to hide in one of the old office rooms. The stairway door I had kicked swung wide open, banging against the wall and swinging on loose hinges just as the slavers came around the corner.

“There! See the door? They went downstairs!”

“I see it!”

Hoofing it past our hiding spot, I heard them speed off down the stairwell before I finally started breathing again. Glimmer's hoof stroked my back.

“Quick thinking, Murky. All I had idea wise was to confuse them with interpretive dance, but I wasn't sure if you knew how to foxtrot.”

Indeed, I had no idea how foxes even trotted, I'd never seen one. For now though, I just rolled my head and peered back outside. The corridor was empty now, Protégé's door sitting slight ajar, yes!

Without waiting, I cantered out, half tripping in my rush over my injured hoof. Staggering, I felt Glimmerlight help me up and push me onwards, we had to get in and out quickly! His office was as messy as ever, a minefield of books. I didn't worry about avoiding them, he'd know if we took anything, so we had to mess this place up, make it look like some mad raiders tore through it!

The thought made me a little guilty. Destroying Protégé's room.

“Plush living for those with the power, eh, Murky? Fancy seat and a terminal with picture capability? Not often you find these ones.” Glimmerlight trotted around the huge desk, marvelling at the cushy chair and various parts of pre-war furniture while casually knocking over a couple benches and a small table with a pile of old picture books. Sitting in his chair, she lounged back and glanced at his terminal.

“You take a look around for any brochures of city maps or something, they might have the metro layout on them. Don't worry about being messy, the madder the better to cover our tracks. Now, wonder if there's anything worthwhile on this machine, maybe the patrol schedules outside the Wall and anypony we should know not to trust. Hey, you think he has any good porn on this thing?”

My jaw dropped, just staring at her for a moment while I worked on clearing digging through a drawer of papers. Glimmer hadn’t even looked up, other than a small glance, focused on the task. Did she just keep herself calm under pressure by doing this? How could she—

“Aww, you're blushing! What, it could be more 'reference material' like those hot magazines you brought back.”

I felt my entire face burn red. She’d found them? Oh dear. Pulling books off with my hooves, casting them onto the floor, I turned back to look at her smirk and felt myself grimacing hard.

“I...uh, j-just for...pegasus anatomy.”

“Certainly your kind of anatomy, Murky.” She just winked, not having once ceased work on the terminal while I tried to avoid the temptation to simply go and find a raider to end my embarrassment.

She was tapping away madly with both magic and hooves, far faster than any pony I’d ever seen, biting her lip in concentration. She briefly muttered while working. “Besides, one of those poses you drew certainly helped get Caduceus to pay attention.”

Oh come on! Have mercy! If I weren’t furiously trying to clear the shelves, I might have frozen up. I could feel her staring at my back in amusement.

“You really are too easy to make blush. Anyway, ”

Nodding, feeling myself sweating with the mixture of fear and sheer embarrassment, I moved across and started tearing open a filing cabinet instead , letting the drawers just fall to the floor where I could scavenge through them. I didn't know the words of the maps, but I could look for anything like a map and check it with Glimmerlight should I need to. Pictures of the FunFarm, skyport, and Mall were strewn on various old pieces of faded cardboard, all too specific...

“Got it! Haha! Password, 'Unity', of course! You really are too easy, Protégé. Now let's take a look.” She pumped a hoof in celebration, before diving back in. “Find anything?”

“Just tourist leaflets...” I muttered quietly, pulling myself up and near enough lifting my rear hooves off the ground to pull myself in to look at the higher drawers. “I think...I think maybe in—”

The entire filing cabinet fell. Squealing in shock, I rolled away before it crushed me. Papers flew out of it, exploding into the air and dropping all over and around me. My head was buried beneath a small pile in itself, that fell off my head when I stood up and shook my head. Oh, Protégé wasn't going to like this.

Nerves were beginning to make me shake. I could hear hooves stamping all around the Mall, gunshots were still roaring down below alongside rolling battles that seemed to change location. Protégé's guards clearly were struggling to contain the raiders.

Just keep pushing, Murky. It's gotten you this far. Upping to my hooves, I began pulling scrapbook after tome off the shelves, casting a quick look before letting them fall below me.

“Right! I think I've gotten into the admin files, geez, this is as disorganised as his
office. The patrol schedule seems to update every month so I'll download this one to your PipBuck and hope we get to use it before they change the schedule again. Now what's this.”

Pawing through an old scrapbook containing tickets and vouchers from Old Equestria, I looked up.

“I've found his journal.”

My mouth seemed to wordlessly move. What could I say? Protégé's journal, who knew what thoughts were in there? Glimmer tapped the keys, scrolling through it.

“The most recent one. Titled ‘Journal entry of the fifth year of my service, day seventy.’”

Glimmer looked up at the door, clearly debating the time we had, before reading aloud very quickly.

“Today marked another success on the road to the restoration of Fillydelphia. We located and searched another of the vaunted Stables. However it is my abject displeasure to say that we lost far too many ponies in the process. Yes, Master Red Eye's plans are coming to fruition, I understand the need for this hard sacrifice. I only wish I could make it an easier process for those involved. To this end, I continue to petition for a reward scheme to be initiated for the workers that prove themselves, and a transfer of budget to accomodation.”

It was everything he had told me before, but this was not from his mouth, this was his personal records. It meant he likely was telling the truth! He really did care.

Glimmerlight continued.

“With regards to Murk, however, Master Red Eye permitted me to retain him within the Mall, and he was supportive of my wishes to aid him. His will is that I need only keep him alive, should his own grand intentions of Unity not provide the pegasus he wishes. Personally, I hope this does not come to pass. I see too much of myself in him, and would rather him here. At the very least, he is willing to give up his time to come and talk. I feel indentured, as though it is right to help him. Show him that he doesn't have to do this task alone for these coming years.”

Glimmer read it in a slightly monotone voice, concentrating on it herself. She glanced up at me sitting nearby, as though she was my master. Her mouth opened and shut as a gunshot roared from a heavy calibre weapon below us, before finally gathering her words again.

“A plan involving pegasi for Unity? What the hell is this? At least Protégé seems to want to protect you. He really seems to like you, Murky. You're a wonderful little buck, but I can't say I can understand what caused it from a slave master.”

Why indeed. Protégé always seemed to just 'get' me, to know what I needed to hear or how to influence me into doing things. Why? Why all the attention? Did he just feel sorry for me?

“Maybe he's got a crush on you?”

The paper I'd picked up in my mouth to investigate sprayed from my mouth in sheer shock. I turned my head toward her, simply agape at the suggestion, but she was already scanning more text on the screen.

“C’mon, gotta be something useful about Red Eye’s ops on this. By the way, I was hoping I'd get another blush from you, find out for sure if you're just being shy and hiding in the barn or not.”

Rolling my eyes, I leaned up, trying to pull at then next drawer. Shouts echoed down the hall again, and I heard a door slam on this level. I never understood how she could banter and work at the same time.

I glanced away from her, quickly trotting to work on the next set of drawers and concentrating on the work. I heard her giggle and go back to her work on the terminal, looking for anything of use, lifting my PipBuck from my saddlebag with her magic to load the schedule onto.

Protégé had plans for me that weren't for Red Eye? He had said by his side before, did he want a personal slave or something that wouldn't cause problems? Pulling the full drawer out and shifting papers aside, I finally spotted a small group of booklets bearing images of an underground train system. Aha! This would distract her from her crazy theories about me.

I trotted up, pushing them up beside her, where she merely grinned and nodded.

“This is it! Inner and outer circle sub-station maps! Now, I've been trying to get the underground plans here that we can overlay on the official map. That'll let us see where the tunnels are.”

“H-how long? We kinda need to go soon. I don't like stealing from Protégé.”

“We're only borrowing. You can bring them back or something, but these I am stealing back.”

She nodded at the three orbs sitting on their holder. Protégé still had the spell orbs resting on his desk from where they had been recovered on Glimmer's retrieval. My friend shoved them in her own robe pockets before glancing back at the terminal

“Here's an odd entry. He's talking about the time he first met you.”

“What?”

“Seriously, lemme go from the start of this one.”

She tapped back to the beginning.

“I had that same dream last night, that of Equestria. Of green fields and friendly ponies who share fun and peace. Yet every day I must wake to the horrors that my generation must inflict to bring it about. I question, I worry, but Master Red Eye calms me, assuring me and helping me see the good. Every day, past the guilt and pain of directing these missions I see something wholesome emerge, like when I hear the children at the hotel laugh and play. We can do it. We must, I will see Equestria for real. See the sun and the sky with my own eyes.”

This was his dreams and wishes, all laid bare. Somehow, I began to see him more as a pony, less of a simple figure of authority.

“GO GO!”

We dived behind the desk as the voice bellowed down the hallway.

“They've broken in! Get them!”

Glimmerlight exchanged a worried glance with me, quickly clutching a heavy book to propel with her telekinesis.

“What!? How did they get by the barrier? We trained for that!”

“That lot are fucking intense!” The first voice barked back. “Every time we hold them off they just sneak around and ambush us! Now get moving or they'll outflank the main armoury!”

“Oh fuck, they got Hollowpoint didn't they? Please tell me they didn't get him!”

“I don't know! Just move! GO! They're behind us!”

Gunfire thudded into the door, splintering the oak and sending books through the thin wall flying across the room. We crouched to the floor, hearing them panic and run. One yelp of pain and a soft thump was all it took to signal that one pony had been struck and collapsed outside the door. I could hear that much. The running gunfight spread down the hallway before fading away. Somepony was really determined to get them to ignore the office, or they just didn't know. I doubted raiders were brought here much.

We finally breathed out as they passed, but it didn't speak well for the ongoing riot outside. Glimmerlight and I exchanged glances, before she took a breath, looked up and began to continue the diary entry.

“Right. We finish this entry on you, and then go, I’m as curious about this pony as you are now, Murky. Where was I?”

She coughed into her hoof, before continuing, this was wasting time, we were risking being discovered, but this had hooked my interests now. I could perhaps answer some of that confusion I had. While hiding behind the desk, I got a look at his side of things. I saw half finished food that I quickly shared with Glimmer. But behind that plate, on a small board propped on the light, I saw something else.

A photo from Equestria of the past was half hidden behind a fallen book. I saw grass, and a tree, a tree with a window? The desk was too thick for me to reach over and move it without being on the chair. But it was placed in such a way as though he looked at it a lot.

Glimmer finally found her place, and read.

“This pegasus, he attempted an escape last night, trying to run at the wall. An impossible task in his condition, but that is what stands out to me. As such, it has put a large drain on my resources to have been able to claim him, post-escape attempt. This poor pegasus has cost me dear. More than I could have perhaps afforded in these trying times of inner conflict, but the others are sure to notice the opportunity to gain such a prize themselves. One of the few remaining pegasi.”

If Grindstone or Shackles had gotten me...oh Celestia save me.

“I had to pull a great many strings and even call in a few back door favours. If word of this ever got out it would be very troublesome, but I cannot permit him to be taken and killed. I simply can't. If Grindstone were to get a hold of him, I could not forgive myself. He has already placed a rather large bid to swing the odds for reclamation in his favour, to attain a pegasus. That cannot happen, it would be a crime against Master Red Eye's ideals if I were to turn my back on his plight. I am the student of his ideology, it is my duty to Equestria that I might save at least one pony, even if it is to cast him into two years of the hell I know all too well. He thought to escape. He can do it, I know he can. No matter the cost, I need to bring him to the Mall.”

We sat in silence for a few seconds as Glimmerlight read through the list that came after. Weapons, chems, straight up caps in huge amounts, and even some high end pre-war technologies. All of it he had expended as trade to get ponies to look the other way and avoid me an execution.

He had given up so much for me before I'd even known his name.

“Woah...” Glimmerlight breathed the words lightly, “that's, uh, pretty intense stuff. He really believes he's doing well for everypony. But if he cares so much, why turn you away on the rooftops? Why shoot you down?”

“He said he couldn't. That he couldn't permit me to break Red Eye's rules.”

Glimmerlight simply sat and stared at me, then the computer, before sighing.

“The answers are probably here, but we just don't have the time, we've got what we came for and none of this will matter once we're gone. He's a kind pony in a bad place, twisted as he is to believe Red Eye, but we don't owe him. We'll make our own way in life. So, ready to head out, Murky?”

I didn't reply, instead I was simply wondering about him. That eyepiece glowed in my mind; the student of Red Eye himself, his protégé who bore all the authority and willpower to dominate the wastes. But take it away and I couldn't help but just see a lonely pony searching for those he felt would wish to understand him in return.

She glanced at me, before letting that grin fade and patting my shoulder.

“Hey, Equestria to Murky, we gotta go! I know it's all confusing for you about him, but we'll keep you safe, alright? I doubt he wants to harm you, he's always done well by ponies even before you came along. Don't worry about any plans, we'll be gone long before they occur, okay?”

“Okay...”

How could she be so supportive and calm, so jokey and carefree even amidst the chaos? And now even after her flaws had been laid bare by Coral? Could she have used her memory orb since? I couldn't tell anymore. I simply wished I could be as decisive. But then, she'd had a life of free will to choose and think. I was left with but a week or so to learn to think for myself.

“Come on, Murky. Let's stop minds wandering and just head on.” She wandered toward the door, checking out carefully as we heard the sounds of ponies down the corridor, but they were moving away.

Unfortunately, they were also in the direction we needed to go, so instead we trotted alongside the windowed corridor in the opposite direction. We needed another route back, but with so much stuff happening all over the Mall, how could we know the right direction?

The corridors were not empty, we hid, dove into rooms and ducked as rounds were fired off both above and below our level. The Shades had lived up to their name!

We passed an observation station containing two raiders wrestling with a single stallion. Sacred Celestia! The riot had spread up here! Growls and grunts of pain and exertion sounded from the room when we passed, as gunfire on this level sounded out behind us. What was Barb doing? He said it was only to get a few of them! I hadn't even thought of what he intended to do with the consequences. It was likely he didn't care so long as he had somepony to take the fall.

I shrieked as a thick glass window looking inwards to the building pinged from bullets attempting to fire at us. It stared down into the plaza from an odd angle. The shots had been strays, fired by raiders and slavers fighting in wickedly brutal close quarters atop the balcony above the cage door. Stopping only briefly, we glanced in to see a few slaves running about on the plaza floor, some helping others or hiding away. They must have been terrified to have been stuck within all this..

Never again. I would never work with raiders again, it was too horrible and guilt filled...

The corridor led to a larger room with multiple steel doors taller than three ponies and often double sided. Already we could hear significant sounds of conflict behind us, prompting the escape to simply find someplace to hide and let it quieten down. Protégé would understand.

“Storage, this place should be—”

Very quickly, two familiar voices shouted down an adjoining corridor.

“Keep up!”

“I'm trying!”

Both of us twisted as we heard the sound of our friends. Storming out of another doorway into the storage area, Brimstone Blitz hammered his way in, closely followed by Caduceus. The latter looked absolutely exhausted. Seeing us, Brimstone rounded off, nodding a greeting. His hooves were smeared in blood.

“Did you get what we need?”

Glimmerlight tapped her saddlebag and motioned toward my own bag containing the PipBuck.

“Yeah! All there, patrols as well, if we take less than a month it'll be all we need!”

Caduceus leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

“Sounds...good...phew, less running though? Geez...”

Glimmerlight grinned at him, before turning back to the steel doors.

“There'll be a lot of running to do before the end, no doubt. But we need to survive this first! Damn it, Barb's taking this a few steps too far, isn't he? The entire place is in chaos! We'll hide in here, it's the storage area, right? Well, might as well use the opportunity! We can take stuff from storage and sneak it back in through the madness! I don't think I wanna go through that yet anyway...”

Brimstone nodded, but grumbled as he cast his eyes back to the corridors we could hear screaming from down. Somepony was wailing in pain. Crying for their mother.

Oh, sweet Luna.

“I did tell you.” Brimstone didn’t sound like he was talking down. He was just stating a fact. “Still, he'd have tried this on his own somehow even without you. I'd be surprised if it weren't the things I taught him. We're not going near it, we're no doubt acceptable targets now. The main store room is in here. I've worked it a few times, get what you need and let's go to ground inside it before anypony comes back here. No arguments, we're heading to the old offices to lurk in rather than here, they will come here soon.”

He gruffly stomped over to the largest of the entrances and shoved open the heavy double door. He had to lift himself up for the leverage and strained against the heavy doors. Grinding on the floor with an intensely deafening sound, they finally slid open enough to see beyond.

Behind it lay much more than I had ever thought could be inside this building! A colossal room, piled high with boxes, moveable cages and thick pillars that stretched out and out. It must have been at least the size of the plaza, length and width ways anyway. Made with heavy bricks and a stone floor, it was clearly not meant for much but simple storage, but amidst the old crates lay piles and bags of newer wasteland items that had been dumped here. To one side lay an office, presumably to act as a kind of quartermaster in the old days. Which, judging by the items strewn around, still had the same purpose. It had a large cage built around the walls to keep it safer, although the door was open anyway. Possibly the lock was even broken from the way it simply hung there. But I could see masses of huge lockboxes inside it. A safe room for the slavers' personal effects? Nopony was present to ask.

“Now this is what I'm talkin' about! Think we might get weapons in here?”

Brimstone wandered in after us, flanked by Caduceus. The big raider regarded the area.

“Perhaps. Sometimes they throw items in here Mosin doesn't want by his 'standards.' But this is lucky. I've brought crates in here for them before. Follow me, I know the way to some better stuff.”

As a full group, we galloped on into the massive stock room. We passed pillars piled high with shelves, bins filled with thousands of plastic straps, and large cardboard cut-out advertisements. Rotten food leaked from the occasional crate while the random piles of possessions taken from slaves were haphazardly piled. I could still hear the battle going on below, an odd sense of separation coming over me as I realised how little we'd been involved in it. Who was winning? Who had died?

I caught myself hoping that Protégé was alright.

It took us a good five minutes of wandering in the wide room to find the boxes Brimstone seemed most interested in. He dragged one off before nodding.

“Right, here we are, get digging while I get these open.”

Brimstone began searching in a very specific pile, while we spread out. Five minutes of hectic scavenging passed, punctuated only as we heard further passings of ponies outside that whooped or cried out orders. No, this was no battle, it was just illogical madness and violence with neither side willing to back down and say 'that's it! Enough!'

I found plenty of cloth and fabric in black bags, likely stripped from slaves as they were brought in. Stuffing what I could into my saddlebag, I took heart in the thought of what I could do with it all. I could sew up wasteland clothes for everypony! Glimmerlight sorted out containers and canteens from a chest full of them while I saw Caduceus rather unwillingly picking his way through the dismal contents of somepony's bloodied saddlebag.

Tossing everything we found into the middle of the floor, we soon had a pile of random bits and bobs. I found some new red thread which went into my fleece pockets. Digging a little further netted me a lantern and some bandages. Behind me, the pile was growing larger as clothing, tools and even a couple old watches were tossed on it. No doubt Glimmer wanted to repair them. Brimstone was still ripping open boxes with increasing fervour whilst Caduceus was being a little too picky...that'd be a Tenpony born pony for you...

“Oooh! Now this I could get on board with.”

It was Glimmerlight. Caduceus and I both looked up to find her look up from the clothing racks, pull something onto her two front hooves, and strut nearby to us wearing striped pink and light blue socks. Leaning over to us, she batted her eyelashes and wiggled a little, posing over a box with her torso bent inwards.

“What'ya think, boys?”

Caduceus blushed fiercely, eyes going wide at the alluring pose. I saw him shift a little uncomfortably, mouth trembling a bit. His eyes were flickering back and forth across her. Somehow the clothing seemed to emphasise the rest of her.

“Wow...um...uh...”

“I...I...”

My own stammering had joined him. I wasn't attracted to Glimmerlight, due to the age over me and seeing her more like a sister, but I couldn't deny that, well...

I really wanted her to draw that pose.

Spotting Caduceus' blushing, she only grinned madly and blew a kiss at him, before hopping off the box and wandering past him back to the pile.

“If you kids are done, you can either screw on the floor and get it over with, or get back to working before some fucking raider turns up!”

Brimstone was terse, reprimanding us harshly with a ferocious glance up from his own work. Caduceus sobered up, shaking his head and diving back into the piles of old bags. Glimmerlight just huffed and blew her straggled mane from her face. Even with all the dirt and grime that matted her, she could still somehow look as good as she did through those eyes alone...

“Fine, fine, granddad, but I think we've got about as much as we can carry, no real weapons—”

The weapons crashed onto the floor. Brimstone had dragged them clear at last. A set of brass hooves, sharpened on the edges and almost six inches thick off the ground. They weighed enough that I saw them chip the floor. One of them was wrapped in chain, holding a wicked hook. A shoulder brace with serrated edges clattered down, whilst a mouth knife with two blades on either side thumped and span to a halt.

They were bloodstained so deeply I almost mistook them as simply red coloured.

Caduceus looked at them intently, almost in horror.

“These are sick. Just brutal, they are—”

“Mine.” Brimstone spoke softly, glancing at them. “Not the type of thing Mosin takes. Nor this.”

Reaching in, a colossal suit of leather and metal armour was drawn out. Asymmetrical, patched and bulletholed, it looked heavy, and unmistakably adorned in the same marks that Brimstone wore upon his coat. The shapes were painted across the dull metal in red. I dreaded to think how.

“Woah.” Glimmerlight struggled, failing entirely to lift one of the brass hooves in her magic. “Weighty kit.”

“Decades of slaughter were all this suit of equipment permitted, Glim. All spearheaded by one symbol.”

His hooves reached into the crate, slowly drawing out one more item. I trotted around for a better look, before whimpering in fear.

A dragonhead looked back at me, crafted of scrap brass and iron into a fearsome mix of mask and helmet. Horns were welded upon its brow from some great wasteland creature, while chainmail fell across the back of the skull plate like a crest to lie across the back. It looked mean, lethal, and filled with the promise of one thing.

Carnage.

“It’s designed after the great dragon Brimstone. It terrorised Hoofington during the war, and brought the name into infamy. I brought it back to haunt ponies once again through my actions. To spread the word...'Brimstone terrorises the lands once again.' Oh it worked. It worked well, makes you wonder if the name will ever mean anything else...”

Brimstone Blitz, sat holding the helmet, staring into its eyes like it were an old enemy; a long defeated foe. His own brow narrowed, nearly scowling at it like some savage intimidation contest. The dragonhead merely glowered back through that metallic visage. Eventually he spoke again, not taking his eyes away from it.

“Take the stuff to the front and check the lockboxes. I'll join you in a minute.”

“O-okay.” I backed away from the colossal pony, only noticing after a second I was trying to remain stealthy through sheer force of habit when scared. But it was Brimstone. Why was I scared?

It had almost become a joke. 'It's Brim.' Very quickly I began to remember why I should be scared of this pony.

The other three of us lifted what we could (or rather, they lifted most of it and I dragged a bag along the floor with my teeth), leaving him to his thoughts. Glimmerlight had lain a hoof on his shoulder and patted it gently before moving. He hadn't reacted. The five minute walk back to the entrance was quiet, oddly quiet even, like the battle had ended around here. Far away I could hear the occasional pot shots. Had the riot been contained?

“Is...can we trust him?” Caduceus rounded on Glimmerlight, speaking quietly. She only nodded grimly.

“He's saved me and Murky more times than I can count. He's trying, Caddy, he's trying. But it's not easy giving up something that controlled your thoughts and directions for an entire lifespan.”

Yeah, it really wasn't.

“I dunno, Glimmer. I know of the things he did. One of the students under Helpinghoof before me went out to help Ponyville. I can trust you if you say so, but I don't think I'll ever feel right around that stallion.”

“That's alright, hun. Truth be told I think something'd be wrong if you did. Once we get out of here, I'll try and convince him not to come back. A new life, to create somewhere, that'd be better for him than any penance in here to redeem himself. Now, let's just get into this office and get what we need. I don't like how quiet it's gotten.”

It was a locker room, filled with various lockboxes bearing written words with green paint. Many of the larger lockers at the back were controlled by terminals resting beside them, or at least, I assumed that was what they were for. I trotted in between the two larger ponies either side of me, feeling distinctly out of place in all this. I could help, but as usual, I just felt more like a tag-along than an actual 'very important pony' to all this.

“Huh, now this is interesting.” Glimmerlight wandered further in, staring at the lock boxes. “Turnlock, Baton Mane. These are the names of slavers, it must be a saferoom for their belongings.”

There were dozens of them, all secured with padlocks. Testing them with a hoof I found them strong and well made, likely new from Fillydelphia's industry. Well, we couldn't get into them, but the terminals for the higher ranks, perhaps? Glimmerlight certainly seemed to think so, for she was perusing along them.

“Silent Cord, Ragini, all the more important ponies and slavers in here, oh—”

She stopped, staring at one in particular, rusted and dented, it seemed stronger than any.

“Shackles.”

I stepped back, whimpering. No, we shouldn't be here, why was she looking at it like that? No good could come of this. He'd know. He'd know somehow. I was the thief and I didn't like this.

“Glimmer, I don't think we should—”

“No, we need what we can get and that bastard deserves it to have something stolen, he'll think it's any of the raiders or something. Let's take a look.”

“Yeah,” agreed Caduceus, “strip it out. I've dealt with too many of his 'victims' to care about any rights he once possessed.”

Her magic grabbed the terminal, lowering the keyboard to begin work upon it. Chewing her lip, she focussed all her attention upon the terminal while I lay against another lockbox watching my friend work. Password after password, try after try. It bleeped and blooped as she came closer or failed. I could hear some ponies begin to run by outside, calling out for their friends beside the shouts of somepony determined to get everypony out of hiding and on the hunt for 'rogue slaves'. Raiders were loose in the building freely? We couldn't stay too long.

“Long damn password, come on.”

Caduceus began using the sink to clean some of the bandages he'd found, apparently favouring a little irradiation over infected dirt. I rooted around in the other lockers, opening any loose cupboards to find little but some floor cleaner and buckets. Maybe I could make a helmet.

“Aha! Getting there! Three words...three words...”

Her voice died away, glancing across at me before narrowing her eyes at me when I turned, wearing a bucket on my head. Blinking, I just looked back at her and tried to smile.

“Um...to stay safe?” I tried grinning wider. I saw Caduceus slap a hoof to his face, his blonde mane flopping over it.

Glimmerlight just laughed, shaking her head.

“Sorry, Murky, I doubt that's going to work.”

Aww. But the handle even fitted under my chin.

She paused, staring at me for a few seconds, before returning to typing with a suddenly sullen face. Why the emotion change? Slipping the bucket from my head (it smelled anyway...), I trotted closer.

“Glimmer?”

The put three words in, and the terminal beeped with approval.

“Got it...” She muttered, sighing.

“What was the password? Three words, right?”

I pressed closer, as though I could actually read it, she began flicking through screens quickly, almost robotically.

“You...you don't wanna know. Let's just get this open.”

With a hiss the door slid open on the thick locker, Glimmerlight stepping back and suddenly giving me a tight hug. What was that for? I knew I was still a little upset or maybe she still needed comforting over Coral beyond the bluster and humour but why that change?

Inside, there was a good few items of his possession. Multiple healing potions immediately caught my eye sitting beside a thick folder. There were spare clothes and numerous sizes of shackles at the bottom and a couple of apple shaped grenades. Glimmer's magic drew the healing potions from the locker, immediately pushing them to me.

“Drink, come on, you need them. He's hurt you enough, let's steal some life back.”

I couldn't touch them. They were his.

“Murky, come on! Rebel a little!”

My hoof reached out, before hesitating and stuttering on the spot before flying back.

“I'm sorry. I just…”

Taking a deep breath, I finally took them. I downed one potion, then the other, offering the remaining half to Glimmerlight. She needed some too after all. A tingling surged through my body, tightening the loose wounds and clearing my skull of a headache I'd forgotten I had. Breathing out slowly, tasting the odd berry flavour of the healing potions, I felt the pain gradually fade from my body. Oh that felt good.

My shoulder, my chest, they felt more whole. Finally a full and proper healing potion to bring me back a bit. My right hoof even dulled from pain a little, even if I knew it wouldn't particularly heal. That needed time and more attention from Caduceus. He was checking me over, nodding with approval as he sensed most of my wounds beginning to soften or fade.

Chugging her own one quickly, (Did she drink alcohol like that? It would explain a lot.) Glimmerlight glanced into his locker again, floating out the grenades to me.

“Throw them in your saddlebag, you never know, might give you something to placate Barb. I'm gonna take a look at this.”

The folder floated up to her face, opening the musty pages as she began reading through. Stuffing the explosives into my bag, I twitched my ears, hearing another group rush by the doorway. We really needed to get in and get it dealt with now before it calmed down.

But Glimmerlight's face had gone pale.

“It's a list, all ponies he's had and the way they died in Fillydelphia. He records this shit...sick bastard! Lead Head...death from exhaustion. Fluffymane...whipped until she bled out. Jelly Bean...left in stocks for trying to escape.”

Caduceus swore, the first time I had ever heard the healer earth pony do so with such crude conviction, his normally gentlecolt tone of Tenpony was so prevailing. I could agree, though. This was wrong.

“There's so many. He's been doing this for years, just taking ponies and breaking them, destroying them until there's nothing left or they snap. He doesn't care about what they do! Wait...”

She flipped a few more pages, I began to see one column of the tables cease to be filled in.

“The ones still liste. Clockwork...Heather Hay...”

She paused.

“...Sunny Days.”

I felt my bottom lip tremble. Please be okay till....till we could, I don't know.

“Hey, Murky? You alright, buddy?” Caduceus held me still with a hoof, noticing that my hooves had been quaking at the knees. That could be me sometime. Oh so easily me. Just another name, another number on a list.

Glimmerlight continued flicking through, her face twisted in disgust. Eventually, snapping it shut, her magic hurled it roughly back into the locker and slammed the entire thing shut again.

“Bastard. Just wants control, ownership, like it's his only fucking purpose. I'll bet he only gets kept around because he can keep the raiders in line.”

Or work with them. It still confused me why Barb was doing this and threatening his position with The Master. Oh well, his mistake. Let The Master take him.

Caduceus prodded Glimmerlight with a hoof, inclining his head toward the door. “Come on, let's just get all this stuff out and into one of the less obvious doorways in the corridors.”

I trotted out with him, Glimmerlight pausing only to buck The Master's locker harshly; breaking the lock and jamming it shut. It wasn't often I had seen her angry, but the thought of so many ponies not living the free will she loved so much...

We spoke little, gathering the biggest bags and stuffing clothing and tools into them. It felt oddly good, taking so much stuff. Like a huge rush of fear and satisfaction that pleased the little thieving mindset I'd come to listen to lately. Listening out, I heard little more than those sporadic gunshots from the same direction. Even I could theorise that it was a point of proper defence finally set up. Likely that was Protégé's influence at work.

“Hand me that bag!”

“Okay, okay, can I get those screwdrivers? Keep them with these hammers...”

“Fine, you got any old wires?”

“Nah...”

I stopped as they worked. I had put some clothes together, but my intellect didn't extend to wasteland preparation. Instead I simply sat and concentrated on listening. At least I could be an early warning pony.

I heard trotting from far off. Then gunshots, a brief three round burst. A cry of pain, and then trotting nearby.

“Quiet!” I hissed, reaching out to stop Glimmerlight's hoof from moving any further. We froze.

The trotting came closer. There was multiple ponies.

“Hey-hey how many's the boss after?”

“Many as we fuckin' want...”

Raiders.

They were in the same outside area beyond the massive doors that led in here. We couldn't move, any slight sound could make them spot us if they were Shades and not just the normal variety.

“Hey, storage!”

“Aw yeah! Boss'll pay us big if we get some good shit! Come on!”

I could see the look on my friends' faces, the same fear that was on mine. Where was Brimstone.

The door rattled, shifting and sticking.

“Fuckin' door's heavy! Can't shift it!”

It rattled more, jamming backward and forward. We had to do it, we had to try moving.

I began to creep toward the lock box room, praying that the others would match my pace. To my ears, they sounded embarrassingly loud when they began shifting toward the door too.

We couldn't rush, but we needed to hurry!

The door shifted, scraping a few inches. Light from the corridor was beginning to shine in.

“Together! Push the damn thing!”

I had heard seven voices now, one line each and all of them different, all male. There was tons of them! I wiped my eyes hard to stop the dripping tears from making a trail into the room. We were only a few feet away now. A little more...a little more and—

The door slid open with a shriek of metal being pushed alone concrete, shoved by all seven raiders at once. We were still short! I dived into cover, but Glimmer and Caduceus were still in the open!

“Ohoho! What have we got here? Get 'em, lads!”

They barrelled forward, I recognised them mostly as the same raiders who had beaten me earlier in the day. Glimmerlight turned, surprising one with her will to actually fight back and bucked him hard in the face. But the next two dove for her. While I knew she wasn't exactly an unarmed fighter, she was no wimp. Glimmerlight thrashed, kicked out and swung with a determination that was driven from the fear in her eyes. Caduceus was charged by another buck, tussling together on the ground, rolling end over end.

I saw him slammed to the ground, his head raised, with the raider’s hoof above it, about to be stomped onto against the floor.

“No!”

Galloping out, I hopped up and slid on my back toward the raider, bucking him hard between the legs. The howl of pain echoed madly amongst the huge room, before he fell to the side. Caduceus clambered free, before trying to shout a warning. Too late, I felt another of the mass of raiders grab me from behind, a hoof going around my throat and tugging tightly to the point I couldn't even squeal for help. Being pulled away, I saw Caduceus throw himself at another of the wiry but surprisingly strong raiders to try and reach me or Glimmerlight. The Tenpony healer was determined and brave in the defence of us, wrestling hoof to hoof with a wasteland raider, but thrown to the ground and surrounded by three raiders as they stamped and pinned him.

The brawl had lasted at most twenty seconds, but he was pinned, I was being held and nearly choked. Glimmerlight slapped another one across the face with her front hooves, but the three assaulting her were on all sides. One simply hurled himself onto her, weighing her down before, with horror to me, I saw one slam a hoof clean across her jawline. The mare fell, the raider atop her collapsing on her back.

We were beaten.

“Well...” the lead raider, a burly earth pony, spat blood from where Glimmerlight had bucked him on the mouth, “got a little fight you three, eh?”

Caduceus tried in vain to rise, but received only a half buck to the chest, making him cry out in pain and collapse, holding his midsection with two front hooves. My throat was burning from the steely grip, before I felt myself thrown to the floor, head down. Scrambling, I only was pinned once more as he sat on me.

“Get the fuck off me!” Glimmerlight scowled, whipping a hoof against her captor's back leg. He winced, before simply throwing her against a crate. I saw her head rattle off the wood, before she slumped down. The raider dragged my sister up by her robes, staring her down before tossing her into the grasp of two other raiders.

“Give me the chib!”

He reached out and took up an offered knife in his mouth.

“Gonna get me some revenge for that suckerpunch, bitch...”

“Get. Off. Her.”

The raiders stopped, the burly one looking up at the voice, before stepping back and dropping her heavily to the ground.

He must have galloped all the way from the moment he heard the door explode open. We'd left our friend a five minute trot away, after all.

What stood here was not our friend.

Clad in the armour, decorated in blood and symbols of a lifetime spent destroying pony's lives, the Great Warlord of the Raider Clans loomed between the crates. The dragon's head peered at us, beady eyes flickering with sheer, undiluted and uncontrolled hate. Upon each leg were the thick brass hooves. The shoulder blades were mounted and the dual sided knife hung below his mouth.

Standing taller and wider, every ounce of his body oozed power.

The raiders holding Caduceus backed away, glancing to their leader. Bent over Glimmer, he snarled toward Brimstone Blitz before hopping backward and off.

“Thought you said you'd stopped all that, eh? What's this but an old stallion trying to pretend he's still the big boss of the wastes? That armour don't scare me...”

Those holding Glimmerlight shared a glance. They didn't look so sure.

“I said...GET OFF HER!”

His voice alone hurt my ears, slapping my senses like a brick to the face. The stallion moved over and stroked Glimmer's mane.

“Little mare here just needed to learn her place, big guy. Get her a-ARGH!”

She bit him. Furious, he reared up, slamming a hoof down upon her head and knocking her away from his two lackies.

That did it. Ooooh boy...that did it.

The floor shook as Brimstone charged, bellowing a warcry the likes of which I had heard the other raiders attempt but never even come close to. The armour must have doubled his weight with those massive plates and weighty hooves. He was among them before any could even properly draw their weapons.

The first raider found himself simply gored upon the horns of the dragonhelm, lifted screaming into the air, his chest impaled by a good twelve inches. Brimstone didn't even stop, crashing forward to throw his entire weight into a second. The twist threw the first from his horns to land atop a third. Their leader attempted to blindside him, but lasted an almost anticlimactically short time, Brimstone's rage simply swatted his hooves away and ripped that mouth knife into his side. A brass hoof collided with his head, forcing the stallion to the ground before...oh Luna...

I almost vomited on the spot. The moment the stallion was down, Brimstone ripped the mouth knife downwards, drawing it along the side of the leader, slitting from neck to flank in one merciless and powerful motion. Screaming, trying not to throw up, I threw myself towards Glimmerlight, catching up with Caduceus as we both held the quaking mare. She was in shock, still reeling from the blow to the head.

Behind us, I heard one raider yell a surrender and simply run. A chain shot out, wrapping with that hook around his neck and piercing into his side before dragging him, drawing blood the entire time, back toward Brimstone. It had come from one of those hooves, which forced him down and stamped hard on the stallion's back. A single great snap cracked into the room's ambience, followed by the raider wailing in pain.

“MY BACK! I CAN'T MOVE! I CAN'T MOVE!”

Two double teamed Brimstone, leaping on his back and trying to shove knives around his throat. They caught on the chainmail, permitting them no time before Brimstone simply rolled. Trapped beneath him, I heard ribs snap and the raider's scream as those shoulder blades dug into them. Under his thrashing and attacks, they were torn and pounded to a messy end. Brimstone was still roaring in feral rage, his frenzy carrying him to repeatedly beat the other raider's head off the floor between two brass hooves until his face resembled nothing but a battered pulp, dropping teeth and spittle across the floor.

Those who had been thrown or knocked aside before raised, only to have their ally hurled at them again. Charging after the thrown pony, Brimstone stamped his hoof so hard on a back leg I saw the joint not so much snap as disintegrate under his weight. The leg flopped uselessly, the raider falling back screaming. His friend was hurled across the room so hard that he crashed through the chainlink fence and the window of the office to slap against a lockbox, covered in a thousand glass cuts.

The remaining buck was trapped. He was a younger raider, bearing fresh coat markings and was still without scars. He backed away, waving his hooves as he fell into the corner. Brimstone stopped, raising his head to glance across at him. I saw the hot air hiss from the nostrils of the dragon as he snorted, before stomping toward the remaining one.

The others lay screaming, wailing or crying in pain. The callous brutality of Brimstone's methods that shocked me to my core. For all his words telling of what he was, what he was capable of, I had never imagined him doing it. Stomach turning, I could only watch as I saw the leader of the small group desperately trying to hold his own organs inside. One crippled raider could move only his head and groaned pitifully. The others spluttered or shook in their death throes, lacking the ability to shout out. One was still spitting up teeth through the ruined mess of his muzzle.

This was how the strong prevailed among raiders. To shock the already unstable into submission. Violence and fear was respect.

I simply couldn't imagine what had brought such cultures to exist.

“BRIM!”

Glimmerlight tried to rise, tears coating her eyes as she raised a hoof and attempted to shout to him when she saw him approaching the remaining raider.

“Don’t! This isn’t who you want to be! Stop!”

The brass hooves stomped on the ground, making the remaining raider cry for mercy. They dragged across the floor, grinding and drawing a line in the blood that seeped from his last victim. He charged.

“Stop! STOP!”

He didn't. Meeting the raider, for all of Glimmerlight's trying he fell upon the young recruit. Brass hoof after brass hoof fell, stomping, crushing, breaking and slamming into the buck. I saw limbs broken, a chest deflate entirely, a jaw torn from the muzzle. His agonised wails gave way to a liquid like blubbering and eventual muffled hisses of pain. His head was grabbed, slammed against the walls, the ground and everywhere in between, a whole lifetime of rage and hatred pouring forth from one pony. This had been him at the height of his terror...bringing nothing but a painful and unstoppable cascade of hell upon those he fell on. No quick escape...no way to end it with dignity...

Glimmerlight finally got to her hooves, galloping forward, bucking Caduceus in sheer panic as he tried to restrain her. She screamed to Brimstone, not daring to get so close against his whirling bulk and blades.

“BRIM! The dragon is dead!”

Only now, hearing her did the huge armoured figure whirl, leaving his victim behind. He towered above her.

“They hurt you, I destroy them! Pain and death, all for them! They will NOT hurt you!”

He was drenched in blood, I could see it dripping from the knife, his hooves...his entire body. Glimmerlight was shaking, barely able to stand as her voice turned raw and raspy from screaming.

“You aren't them! You're just like you always were! You don't need to protect me like this!”

“They're raiders! Nothing but scum and missed chances to be good in the eyes of the Goddesses!”

“They think like that! But it's you that's got to be different to—”

“No one who does what they do deserves mercy from it! They caused pain amongst all the wasteland! They don't deserve a second chance or sympathy! No escape! I will not watch them threaten this to a good pony like you and grant them anything but a death as humiliating as they would have given you! You deserve to be on this world, ponies like them and I don't!”

His words echoed and slammed into my ears, his shouting blowing Glimmerlight's straggled mane with the force of his speech. But she stood strong, stomping her hooves and gritting her teeth against the Warlord before her.

“You're trying to become a protector! You can fight to DEFEND us, but you're losing sight of who you are! Who you're trying to be! You need to be BETTER!”

“They do not deserve ANYTHING but no mercy, and NO FORGIVENESS!”

“NEITHER DID YOU!”

In the aftermath of those three words there was no sound. Nothing but the simple stare of the Great Warlord into one little pony who had changed his life and offered him the second chance that even he didn't believe in.

“Because-because I'm not seeing my friend in front of me right now!”

Caduceus and I found ourselves very close, completely forgotten in the wake of Glimmerlight and Brimstone Blitz's relationship of ideals and wills clashing. Of their unique link that was driven by so much fate as sheer random chance being strained and tested at the harshest end.

“I...I've been hurt! Okay? I admit it, I'm hurt! I've lost my old friends to something I don't even remember! But I can't let that control my life! If I just fell into it all again and stripped myself of memory to forget I even knew Coral, I'd be betraying why she mattered to me in the first place! Don't do the same, don't forget everything you've been trying and striving for to become the Warlord again. Be Brim. Be our guardian, not the raider...”

He simply stood there, gazing at her. Blood dripped, seeming to never end from the helmet. The dragonhead longed for more, that shape and design channelling incarnate rage through it to long for more battle. Breathing heavy, snorting on each exhale, it eventually slowed the more he looked at the slender mare before him.

Raising one hoof, almost tenderly, he let it slip from his head. Beneath it, oily from the armour and blooded from the battle, was the tired and old face of Brimstone Blitz.

“I will never understand ponies like you, Glim.”

“Someday you can—”

“No! No, I cannot. Change can happen but...but never can so much be forgotten. I am not becoming a better pony, not yet. Those days of redemption are far away. Out there in the wastes, given one chance of freedom I just felt myself falling into the same anger. The same way of thinking without anything to guide me.”

His eyes turned intense, glancing to the carnage he had wrought.

“I tried to get you out and in the end, only I did. Everything-everything that had begun to properly matter to me I had left behind, all morality gone to just become another raider cast adrift in the wastes. No, there are more ponies than you who would need to forgive me for the things I've done to ever truly matter outside you. I was like these bastards, destroying them was like destroying a part of myself, righting a wrong I created.”

Glimmerlight shook her head again, pleading with him.

“But not if you just turn your rage around and do the same to them. You can kill every raider in the wastes, but that won't ever get rid of the raider in you.”

“Mm...maybe...but the dragon is in here.” He tapped his chestplate. “He can never disappear. You should not be so forgiving of me. I am not somepony who will ever become what you are. But I will abide by your wishes. As your guardian, that's all I have left to hold onto. All my freedom proved was that I'm still the pony the wasteland fears.”

He moved to the side, knocking the door clean open with a hoof that struck the metal far harder than was needed. So much rage still flowed in him, just being held back, barely kept in check.

“For good reason too...”

He stomped off into the corridors with a large sack of our provisions. The anger so evident in each stomp of those dinnerplate sized hooves. But it was an internal anger, a frustrated one, unable to grasp the way to the pony he wanted to be...

Glimmerlight stared after him, crying deeply, even as Caduceus lay a hoof over her shoulder and held her close.

“I won't give up on you, Brim. It doesn't matter if I'm the only one...”

He didn't reply, simply moving on.

We followed quickly, leaving the bloodbath behind us. Whimpering, last out, I looked back upon the devastation he had wrecked and felt only sick.

The Dragon was still there inside him.

But even I caught myself hoping through all the terror, all the fear of him snapping and destroying everything in his single-minded protectiveness of the one good pony he knew he had left, that he might someday realise that it was possible.

I knew it was possible to let go of the chains that bound your heart through the inspiration of another...

* * *

The riot had gone well for Barb.

Ahead of us, below us, through the interior windows, I could hear slavers as they were tortured, put through the hell that would have been unleashed on us had Brimstone not saved us. But the horror had expanded, gone beyond all that we expected. As we had galloped down the hallway, we came to the interior windows that gazed upon the plaza.

Brimstone swore loudly, almost smashing the glass with one brass hoof in sheer resurgent anger. Glimmerlight stared on with wide eyes and a hoof to her mouth. Caduceus seemed to shake in offence.

I simply gasped when I saw the reality of the situation.

Below us in the plaza, the slavers were not the only casualties.

Raider corpses were strewn across the fountain area, shot down. But we witnessed ponies being dragged into cells protected by raiders on the top floor. The raiders had won. They controlled the entire plaza.

Barb himself wandered across the balcony with a loudspeaker floating before him.

“Slavers of Fillydelphia! This is for your benefit! Know that the plaza and guardroom are ours now. You sought to bind the Bloodletters. Now you shall see the bloody mistake you have created!”

The wails of torturous agony flowed even through the glass. I could see slaves and slavers alike being dragged by raiders into cells and imprisoned within their own 'home'. Looting, revenge attacks, and horrid acts with sharp blades followed on those who had in some way wronged them.

“Be ready, slavers. You shall see what you have unleashed by keeping us here. This is our fortress of delight, our place of reminding you why you should fear raiders, not keep them as pets! The slaves will suffer. They are in here with us, our playthings. This is your fault, 'masters'. Now you will have to watch and deal with the consequences.”

The loudspeaker clattered to the ground. Barb had turned on the slaves. He was bringing them into his hell as much as the slavers.

“He didn't betray us, he just hid what he really wanted...” Caduceus breathed gently, shivering and turning away as he saw a slave try to run and get roughly thrown into the fountain and nearly drowned. He was then pulled toward the stairs, being dragged up and into the higher levels of the plaza for whatever purposes...

But the screams. There were so many. A full raider camp of sorts inside the plaza that was now letting flow all the built up tendencies raiders were known for.

Brimstone seemed to quiver as he looked through the glass, but Glimmerlight placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“This is what you can be free of. This is what you aren't.”

“I am, but this will not go on.”

Glimmer narrowed her eyes, but shifted her back legs, still obviously feeling vulnerable. Another cry of pain shot up from below, making her wince again...and again. I saw her take a sudden breath.

“No, it won't.”

She trotted off, clearly with a purpose in mind. Brimstone glanced around and followed, as did Caduceus. I galloped up beside her.

“Glimmer, what are you doing? Where are you—”

“We had a hand in this. Barb tricked us around, used our fear of him to get us to aid in this atrocity. Brim? You want a good cause? Here's one.”

I could hear voices ahead. I recognised one of them intently. Glimmerlight continued.

“If you need the proof, Brim? Well, I'm going to help put a stop to this. Coral is in there. A pony who doesn't deserve any of it. If you seek redemption, follow me, because I'm on a quest of it myself. Murky? Caduceus? You don't need to come.”

I found myself slack jawed. Brimstone and Glimmerlight stomped off ahead of us toward the voices. glancing at each other, Caduceus and I simply followed in shock.

* * *

How could they stop it? Who could—

After a few minutes of following the pair, we emerged into another room, following the voices I knew I felt we should be avoiding...

Protégé and his slavers were within the next large room, clustered around a table filled with the blueprints of the Mall. Protégé was wearing his battle barding, the revolver strapped to his hoof. Ragini was here, too, as was Mister Mosin. I saw The Master glance up at me harshly, making me fall closer to Caduceus. Slavers whirled their guns onto Brimstone, but Protégé raised a hoof.

“What are you doing here? I advise you to go to the back and stay out of harms way until we contain and solve this—”

“No.” Brimstone brokered no argument, stopping Protégé dead. “You don't know Barb. Not like I do.”

Glimmerlight nodded.

“We're not going to sit idle and watch those we care about get hurt.”

She trotted forward, lifting one hoof to slam it on the table, putting a stern look into her hurt eyes and obviously fighting to control the trembling from the whole experience.

“We're going to help bring that bastard's raiding days down once and for all.”

* * *

Footnote: Perk Attained!

A (Very) Little Dash – While wearing light armour or no armour, you run 10% faster. Such a pity that hoof's still aching...