Sunset followed at the back of the group with Fluttershy, occasionally glancing behind to secure their six. AJ and Rarity were a little further spread apart, hugging closer to the tunnel walls to insure the squad wasn’t too bunched up against an attack. Aya kept them moving at a fair pace as she held point. A simple star formation, but it would have to do.

‘Five whole hunters…’ part of her lamented internally, causing her to scowl at the thought. ‘We’ll be fine. Aya did this all by herself last time, and without even half the experience or power… we can do this.’

“Rare” Aya’s voice echoing back drew the redhead out of her thoughts “There will be a short side passage coming up on our left and a deep chasm we’ll have to cross further on.”

“My senses are already tuned to max Darling” she assured her “Though I do fear I feel things are getting more muddled the deeper in I probe.”

“It’ll only get worse once we’re in the actual bunker.” Aya returned “I doubt even you’ll be able to sense past whatever room we’re in. I had to rely on the motion tracker a lot last time.”

“Well I can still feel the side passage,” the fashionista answered “There’s nothing but an old minecart full of rust down there.”

“And the chasm?”

“I'm afraid we’ll have to get closer for that.”

“It’s the only way through,” Aya muttered and the group fell back into silence. Eventually though, the string of lights led them to the precipice in question; And the bodies of the unfortunate scouts they had lost contact with. As Aya moved to the edge with Rarity, Sunset bent down to inspect one of the fallen soldiers.

“There's nothing we can do for them Sunset” Fluttershy told her sadly, frowning at the bodies.

“Yeah, figured it wouldn't hurt to check though,” she sighed and rose back to her feet. “At least they made the bridge crossable before… y’know…”

“There’s a residue but not any actual NMCs” Rarity declared “I’m guessing whatever was down there swarmed out to join the flock.”

Aya accepted the all clear, though Sunset noticed she still held her pistol a little more at the ready as she crossed. She waited until they had all made it over, watching the darkness below warily all the while. AJ did a quick scan of a small control room next to the gate before they moved on, saying all that was left in there was an old, empty ammo box and a phone with a dead line.

They entered into a long cavern with a small stretch of rusted out mining equipment in the center and the twisted remains of what looked like a small number of barrels scattered about. Sunset paused to study one as they passed, seeing that it must have been full of something combustible before ending up in its current state.

“I was lucky they were here” the former pony’s head snapped up the see Aya looking back at her “It was chaser. A damned big one. May not have been able to take it down if they hadn’t been here to give me some light.”

The blonde then blinked and then shook her head with a small chuckle. A subtle smile tugged at her lips as she then gestured to Sunset’s holster.

“It was actually right here I found that pistol you're so inclined to” she explained.

“You found it on the chaser?” Sunset asked.

“Well, technically under it. Why it had it in the first place though, I have no idea. For all I know it was already here and the chaser just fell on top of it.” she shrugged. “I thought it belonged to… someone else, but they still had theirs when I found them later.”

“Found the door!” They heard AJ call back and moved up to join the others, coming upon a crescent shaped opening in the stone next to a dilapidated motorcycle. “Got some light further in there too. Might not be stumblin’ as much as we feared. We movin’ in?”

“No point waiting to…” the team lead murmured and stepped up to take point again.

The corridor they entered was a stark contrast to the cavern they just left. The natural stone was replaced with manufactured steel and large pipes. Sunset glanced back to the entrance to see it wasn’t even real rock, just a façade over a vault-like door still barely open despite all of them fitting through comfortably.

Aya’s flashlight swept across the ceiling before she looked back at Rarity. The woman merely shook her head. The veteran hunter accepted it but once more Sunset noticed that her eyes would still occasionally glance upward as they turned at the bend and came upon an opening. The former pony was closest to the railing as the hallway opened before a lift. She peeked over to see an endless tangle of cables and pipes descending into the depths.

“Well, you were right.” Rarity gave before gingerly following Aya onto the lift “I fear the field is too dense for me to see what might be waiting for us below.”

“At least we were ready fer that bein’ the case” AJ offered. Also looking a bit worried about the elevator, she added “We sure this won’t just drop on us?”

“Nope” Aya returned simply before hitting the button, prompting the open platform to rumble. There was a bit of squealing metal but they didn’t immediately plummet as they descended “Now there will be a hallway with another elevator at the other end-”

The blonde’s words faltered as the lift came to a halt and revealed the hall in question, right up to the point where it ended in a wall of collapsed metal and stone.

“That we apparently won't be using” she slumped slightly a frown. Nevertheless she stepped off the lift and led them forward, stopping at a thankfully unblocked door on the left “Fortunately there’s another way down, assuming that hasn’t been blocked off either. It's just a little further than I was hoping.”

“Are we sure whoever we’re looking for is further down?” Sunset spoke up, earring another shrug from her mentor.

“Not much to find on this floor, but I guess we can see if we get lucky” she returned before readying her pistol and waiting for Rarity and Applejack to take up positions on either side of the door. She took a deep breath and hit the panel.

The loud hiss of a life support system sounded the instant the room was revealed and the towering, armored form of a Rook Golem rounded on the entry before igniting the beam of plasma along its arm.

The hunters responded as promptly, unleashing a hail of bullets and buckshot before the cyborg could even begin its charge. The gas masked figure struggled forward against the hail of lead thrown against it, holding the shield upon its other arm up in defense. It couldn't withstand the lethal gale for long though, falling back to reveal a second Rook further beyond, lifting a somewhat cumbersome looking launcher attached to its arm their way. AJ and Aya’s weapons didn’t quite meet the range but Rarity’s rifle not only overcame the distance, but its penetrating rounds proved a match for even its reinforced helmet. Two quick shots and it joined the first on the floor. There didn’t seem to be a third.

“Damnit” Aya huffed before stowing her pistol and unsheathing her blade “They did beat us here. At least I thought to bring slugs for this.”

“Ah didn’...” the team’s cowgirl lamented.

“Is 5.56 enough to take care of them?” Sunset asked as they moved into the long, rounded room. She saw they were limited to a raised walkway above the unlevel floor. There thankfully didn’t seem to be nearly as much damage here than there was in the hallway. The lighting could have been better, as only half the bulbs above them seemed to be on, with half of those flickering intermittently. It was still better than nothing though.

“If you use enough of them, aimed at the right spots. Between the five of us, we should be fine if they don’t get the drop on us. Speaking of, be sure to keep an eye out for any shimmering air; I don't need to remind you that some of these things can cloak better than stalkers. They do buzz pretty loud though, so that should help.” she gave and paused as they reached the first set of doors on either side of them. Her fingers drummed along her swords hilt as she considered a moment “Come on, the armory’s through here. We can see if there were any heavier munitions left behind, maybe some slugs for Jack.”

The narrow entryway proved a challenge for finding proper cover, but fortunately nothing more waited for them on the other side of the already half open doors. Sunset keep to the rear with Fluttershy again, watching the stuck open side of the entrance as the others made way toward an overlarge machine with a flickering, broken screen. AJ performed a bit of percussive maintenance on the contraption's reinforced surface as the other two pushed through into the fenced off area next to it.

“Dang, nothin’” the former farmer gave before following. The rear guard moved to join them, still keeping a wary eye towards the door.

“There’s a shotgun missing,” Aya announced. She laid her hand on an empty rack sticking out from a shelf “It was a Spas. I found it after discovering I had the keycard from Akropolis, but I was already a bit over encumbered, so I left it. I was going to come back but then got… side tracked on the way back and picked up an AS12 from Mr. Douglas shortly after.”

“The Army prolly just took it when they cleared tha place” Jacquelyn offered but the other blonde shook her head.

“They wouldn’t have left everything else if they came through here. The dust has also been disturbed more recently.” She explained before Fluttershy cut in.

“There’s a scattering of shells leading toward the door here too.” The medic picked up one of the unspent loads. “Slugs.”

“Looks like they came from here” Rarity stepped back from a cabinet to let them see some hastily emptied boxes, several looking to have been not only spilled but actually shot in the process. In fact it looked like whoever forced their way into the cabinet used the buckshot from another to blast it open “Thankfully there’s enough left here for Jackie, at least for a few tubes full.”

“Not much else through, from the look of it” Sunset gave, looking over the cramped space and its messy cabinets “Not that we don’t already have at least.”

“The slugs are still a good find, and the Shells give us a direction. Let's go.” Aya ordered and led the way again.

A faint, but still somewhat noxious odor hit the group as they entered the darkened room from the armory. Their flashlights swept over the spilled contents of a broken fridge. The food had long since spoiled and dried, but it seemed someone had accidentally walked through it recently to reignite the trapped smell. Once more, no threats revealed themselves.

“Someone’s been through these shelves too” Rarity stated, her light on some torn open twelve packs of soda and the discarded plastic wrap from at least a couple cases of bottled water. “It seems whoever is down here was here for a while. That or they were very thirsty.”

“Naw, they tore into the rations too” Applejack returned from the opposite side of the shelves.

“The emergency medkit has been ripped off the wall” Fluttershy informed them before moving to the medial storage at the back of the room “I don’t see any blood or used equipment… Though I wouldn’t think much of this would be any good anymore. Not with the power being off this whole time.”

“Let’s keep moving” Aya ordered before continuing on. Once more, the connected hall was empty, bringing a hint of concern with it. If there were Golems standing guard at the entrance then there had to be more, right? She was seriously starting to miss Rarity’s senses.

The next room opened into a series of lockers and a row of showers separated from a small barracks of some sort. The lights were thankfully on in this section of the room. Bunk beds lined the right and far wall, several of them still holding personal effects. Most noticeable however was the pair tucked back into the corner.

Empty bottles, soda cans and ration wrappers littered the floor and a large stack of books and magazines sat next to the bottom bunk. Unlike the other beds, the sheets were crumpled up and not anywhere as dusty, having clearly been used recently. There were even several sets of functional, if horribly drab clothing gathered as well; some folded on the top bunk as the rest had been discarded into the other beds in wads.

“Someone’s definitely been livin' here” AJ concluded with the rest.

“Or hiding here…” Aya added quietly, studying the appropriated living space. She picked up a small stack of papers, seeing they were covered in handwritten notes, lists and even a messily drawn map of the shelter. She looked around to the refuse, noting some of it was more notes that had been scattered across the floor “There isn’t enough here to account for all that was missing from the storeroom. I also don’t see the gun anywhere.”

“Maybe turning on the power was an accident” the squad's redhead noted absently, drawing the gazes of the rest. It took her a moment to realize they were waiting for her to elaborate “Oh. Well, I mean, I wouldn’t set up camp in a place like this unless I absolutely had to. Doubly so if I was by myself, which seems to be the case here.”

“Yeah, this ain’t a place to be lingerin’ in” AJ agreed “If this was jus’ someone hidin’, or even jus’ look’n fer a place stay with a lot of free food, then Ah can think of better places. Not ta mention a lot less likely to fall on top o’ me.”

“They were definitely looking for something” Aya announced, still reading the papers and gesturing toward a pile of large, portable batteries, like the kind you might put in a car “There are some passwords here, along with notes on what computers can still accept power and which ones have what files… They seem to have been getting frustrated toward the end here. It's possible they slipped up and tripped a security measure.”

“It does look like whoever this was left in a rush” Fluttershy offered, poking through the garbage “Some of these bottles are still full, and even in this place, I wouldn’t have just left this broken open soda next to where I was sleeping.”

“Hopefully the Golems haven’t beaten us to them” Rarity said quietly, though it was enough to spur them back into action. Aya didn’t even need to say anything, they just nodded to each other and moved to the last door.

Finding themselves back in the main room, they pulled a right and passed through a rusted over decontamination area. Aya made sure something was blocking at least one of the doors from closing before allowing any of them to pass through. Sunset doubted it was necessary; the system was eroded well past functioning, but she didn’t argue. Whatever the reason was for the veteran hunter’s caution, she was sure it wasn’t unwarranted. Once they were through, the blue eyed Awakened briefly paused to check a radio on the wall.

“Worth a shot” she mumbled before placing the receiver back with a frown. They continued on into a windowed hallway, letting them see into an area completely devastated by the orbital attack. It was far enough away they didn’t have to worry where they were, but it was a grim reminder of their tenuous position nonetheless. They crammed themselves into a small elevator at the end of the hall, which also thankfully still worked, and spilled out into a similar looking hall with dirt piled halfway up the glass.

“AH!” Fluttershy abruptly screamed from next to the redhead, lifted in the air by no more than a slight distortion of air. Sunset lifted her weapon only to receive the back of a translucent fist in her face, throwing her into the wall. The gangly Golem finished materializing, holding the nurse aloft from behind by her neck as a heavy buzzing filled the hall.

A strangled croak escaped the medic as the grip tightened and her face began to turn red. Worse yet, the Golem had placed the woman directly between itself and the others, preventing any kind of retaliation. Even Sunset now had very little window for a shot.

Though with what she was considering, she didn’t really need one.

“Sorry Shy!” she swung the rifle to bear, aimed between the two and pulled the forward trigger. Another miniature storm exploded from the weapon’s attachment, crashing into the pair and forcing the Golem stumbling back into convulsions. Without another moment passing, Aya was leaping over the prone pair and bringing her blade against the Golems neck, cleaving down to its chest before the momentum was lost.

Sunset scrambled over to the fidgeting Fluttershy, seriously hoping she didn’t just make the wrong decision. Pulling her sword free, the blonde quickly turned and crouched next to the redhead and placed her hands on the nurse. With a few seconds concentration, a scattering of blue lights engulfed the two and Fluttershy’s spasms subsided. With a small coughing fit, the Medic slowly came around.

“Shy I’m so sorry-” Sunset began but was cut off by the pink haired woman.

“Is it dead?”

“Oh yeah.” AJ chortled out in response.

“Then it’s okay” the nurse returned and tried to push herself up. It took the help of Sunset and Aya but they managed to get her standing against the cold glass.

“I don’t suppose any of you grabbed one of those sodas while we were up there?” the medic asked with a glint of humor.

“Um, actually…” the youngest hunter pulled a lukewarm can from one of her pouches. The rest simply stared at her incredulously “I figured it couldn’t hurt!”

“Now I definitely forgive you” Shy gave with a weak laugh, taking the warm, almost certainly flat beverage. To their surprise, it actually gave a slight hiss as it opened. They all still gave her a moment to regather herself after draining the can along with a dose of painkillers, only moving on when Aya felt the medic had recovered enough.

“I should have felt that…” Rarity muttered darkly as they entered a septic tank empty of threats, the water still and murky beneath the walkway under their feet.

“We’re right in the middle of it Rare” AJ consoled her “And like Ay’ said, those bastards cloak better than stalkers.”

“I don’t blame you” The nurse added, rifle sweeping over the unspeakable, though fortunately still liquid.

“Thank you dear, but I’m still feeling very useless down here.”

“You took off a Golem’s head” Sunset pointed out “That’s hardly useless.”

“Yet I couldn’t do a thing against one mere feet from me that should have been clear as day.”

“Then watch the motion tracker for us.” Aya said from up front “We’ll handle anything that gets close. We’ve still got a lot of open areas left too. We’ll need you for those.”

“Fiiiine” The fashionista gave dramatically “If Everyone insists on comforting me I suppose it’s the least I can do.”

While it didn’t earn much of a laugh, given the circumstances, the little display did prompt some smiles. Nerves somewhat eased, they took position at the door.

“Speaking of open spaces, we got another long one ahead.” Aya crouched in front of the door this time, opening another fire line over her head “Ready? Opening.”

The door slid apart with a hiss, revealing another rounded, dimly lit room nearly identical to the one above it, save the water flowed beneath this one's walkways. Two shapes stalked along the paths, not seeming to notice the opened door until one was already dead. The second charged straight into the wall of lead, actually making it within a few paces of them before finally falling at their feet.

“Jeez,” Sunset breathed out as she reloaded “How’d you deal with these things all on your own?”

“Power shot, an automatic shotgun loaded with slugs, and a lot of luck” the Awakened answered candidly. Accepting that reasoning, the former pony followed the rest deeper into the room. The veteran hunter grimaced as she looked to a small lift on the right before saying they should clear the floor, just in case. Once more the adjoining rooms and corridors seemed to have been ignored by the cybernetic NMC soldiers. At least the one they could actually get into: the area labeled ‘The Breeding Room” was so full of dirt it reached almost to their shoulders, limiting their options.

“Not here… damn…” she murmured as the next set of doors parted before them. Despite not finding anyone, the group spread out through the Lab the blue-eyed awakened led them to. Fluttershy was checking a metal crate Aya said she had left some supplies in before, seeing if anything was still usable, while AJ and Rarity checked the tables. Sunset followed her mentor up a short flight of steps to a row of large incubators. Wiping off a thick layer of dust, the blonde gave a heavy sigh as her gaze swept sadly over the dark tubes.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just… A lot of messed up stuff happened down here. More than most anyone knows.” she returned with clear regret. She abruptly turned away and stepped past the redhead. The young hunter took one last glance at the incubators before following. The older woman called out to Fluttershy “Anything useful?”

“I found this” the pink haired woman held up an odd looking machine pistol. “There were a few more magazines with it too, all filled with Hydra.”

“M950” the blonde replied “I completely forgot Mr. Douglas had given that to me. Hold on to it; may not pack much of a punch but it can put out a lot of little ones in a hurry. It’ll be better than your snub nose at least.”

The nurse nodded and adjusted her load to accept the weapon while Aya turned to the others. They shook their heads and soon enough they all were back in the main room, standing in front of one of the small lifts. The faded letters on the metal floor grating simply reading ‘ARK.’

“So this is it then?” Sunset asked.

“This is it…” Aya answered darkly. Rolling her shoulders, she stepped forward and placed a hand on the console, waiting for the rest to file on. It was another tight fit, but they managed. A small beep sounded and they were headed down with another sigh escaping the Blue eyed Awakened “Alright girls, brace yourselves; I have no idea what this place is like now. We could be walking into a mutated rain forest or a flooded desert depending on what survived and where the rail rounds hit.”

“We’re ready Darling” the pale woman pressed against her declared “And we’ve got each other. We can do this.”

“Right” Aya forced a smile before they grew quiet again. After what felt like an eternity, the lift finally came to a stop, letting them out into an ugly orange and beige maintenance way. “Watch your step, the foyer was made of glass. You don’t want to fall through.”

Following the Awaken’s advice, they carefully made their way into a wide, dark area. A subtle crackling came with their steps but the floor held fast. They spread out to sweep the space while Sunset stayed toward the center to cover their backs. Her eyes panned out to the dark expanse, seeing silhouettes of what looked like a field of dead trees and a large column of faint moonlight in the distance, reflecting off a large underground lake. Smaller bright spots dotted a few areas in between.

They all jumped and whipped their aim to the ceiling as a smattering of lights snapped on with several pops and a distorted voice boomed at them.

“WeLComE tO NEo-ARRRrrrrrrrr….” the recording trailed off before dying completely with a final hiss of static. They took a collective breath and regrouped in front of a partially illuminated map. Aya stepped up to the railing, looking over the area herself as more lights snapped on.

“Guess I didn’t have to worry about the forest… or the desert” she admitted, looking over to the massive wall of fallen rocks to their left, with only a small line of sand peaking out from under them. She glanced back behind them to see that even the stairs leading to that side of the ARK had collapsed. She swept her gaze over the barren trees “That simplifies things, though there may still be something alive down here, Golem or otherwise.”

Fairly warned, they made their way down the remaining staircase. They had just reached a turn when a line of red shot out from the darkness and danced across Sunset’s chest.

“Get Down!” Aya tackled the cyan-eyed girl just before a trio of riot grenades soared over their heads.

“God you drones are terrible shots!” a deep baritone rang out with a slightly artificial edge. “Already bad enough none of you idiots can swim.”

The team scrambled behind whatever cover they could find before stealing looks toward their assailants. A trio of heavily armored Golems stood at the doorway at the end of the hall, the flanking pair sweeping over their cover with thankfully very obvious laser sights. The one in the middle however, the one that looked like it was wearing half a tank’s worth of protection, strode forward with his arms held wide.

“The intrepid hunters of MIST! Such a pleasure to finally meet you in the flesh!” he called jovially. A pair of loud pings rang out as a dense slug and high caliber rifle round sparked off his armor “Well now that’s just rude. Not even a hello back.”

The armor wasn’t even scratched. Aya popped out of cover next bathed the a shimmering amber aura of a powershot and a dull thump sounded as her launcher sent a grenade sailing straight into the cybernetic super soldier.

The smoke slowly cleared to show the Golem completely unscathed, hands on his hips with not a small amount of sass. Aya scowled and shifted her grip, the air crackling as her Javelin laser sprang to life.

“Oh stop, that tickles!” he chuckled with unrestrained mirth. Aya hesitated, her breathing coming a little more labored as she stared in disbelief. Her gaze was briefly broken as she glanced away, peering over her shoulder to her gunblade “Oh! Oh yes, please! Try closing distance.”

A plasma blade ignited along the Cyborg’s arm, bathing him and his fellows in a sickly blue light. The flanking pair zeroed their sights on Aya, forcing her back into cover as more miniature explosions rocked the low wall. Heavy steps soon began closing in their direction, slow and deliberate. The hunters took some small solace in the fact it seemed the walking tank couldn’t walk very quickly, but it remained a moot point when they couldn’t even put a dent in him.

“TAKE OUT THE SUPPORT!” Aya shouted, prompting a quick flurry of shots from the rest. The pair raised their shields but even those failed against the onslaught sent their way. The sapient Golem stopped for a moment to look back at the fallen drones, giving a sigh and shaking his head.

“You can’t swim, can’t take a shot. Barely even managed to corner our prey… Why do we still even use these things?“ he grumbled before turning back to his gradual trek. Free from the ranged threat, the whole of the team broke from cover and continued the assault. Slugs, bullets, lightning, fireballs; it all crashed uselessly against the living fortress steadily closing distance. He stopped again and threw his back and released a twisted laugh.

“You can’t touch me girls! I’M FUCKING INVINCIBLE!”

With the declaration he craned back down and a light blazed behind him. Rarity gave a short cry as the mass of metal suddenly launched forward in a blazing sprint, only just missing the hunter as she fell to the side. A tremor shook their surroundings as the rocket propelled Golem continued past and slammed into the wall. The sound of grinding rock echoed from the hole as the golem began turning back around within.

“MOVE!” The team lead shouted and led the way deeper into the ARK. They crawled over a fallen log, past one chest high gate and toward a second as Aya continued calling back “There’s an underwater bridge ahead! If we can lure him in, then maybe we can- DAMNIT!”

The blonde ground to a halt against the gate, the rest catching up just a second later to see what prompted the curse. The bridge was already destroyed, only a broken off tunnel of shattered safety glass leading into murky depths remained. Not another moment later, the whoosh of the Knight’s rockets sounded behind them.

“Scatter! Use the trees!” Aya ordered before the group split. The fallen log exploded into a shower of splinters as the Golem charged through and a series of vents opened across his front to help slow his advance.

A second explosion rang out with a metal chime as he began to turn again. The gunblade struck against the cyborg’s back, the colorful blast managing to finally have an effect on the super soldier as it stumbled forward.

A growl of frustration emerged from his helmet's speakers and he spun with surprising quickness, catching the blonde with the back of his hand and sending her crashing against the trunk of a nearby tree. She let out a light groan as she pushed herself off the ground, trying to clear her head as he stomped toward her. His blade hummed as it rose menacingly.

A blaze of flame crashed against the plodding battlement, exploding in a great cloud of black smoke and obscuring the open space. A second later the sound of running steps closed on the veteran hunter before she was scooped up by her fellow blonde. Another growl quickly turned into a roar accompanied by several dense thumps.

‘Did… did I knock him over?’ Sunset stood along the tree line, her hand still raised as the smoke cleared. She blinked and felt her jaw go slack as she caught sight of the Golem’s silhouette pushing itself back into a stand ‘Holy crap, I actually knocked him over!’

It had been the same procedure she used on the range so long ago. She was only intending to use it for the smoke it created, yet it somehow managed overcome the walking tank's mass. A smile slowly spread across her lips. One that soon transformed into a wicked, shark toothed grin. She prepared the spell again, feeding more magic into the mix.

The Golem didn’t let her expand on her achievement unfortunately. With a single swipe of his blade, he burned straight through a dense trunk and gripped the side. With another enraged howl, he shoved the falling tree in her direction. Forced to flee the mass of falling dead wood and the resulting rain of of debris that followed, she retreated deeper into the trees.

She dove to the side as the roar of exhaust closed behind her, sending in even more wooden shrapnel through the air as the Golem thundered past. She crawled backward along the dead underbrush, as fast as she could away from the cyborg turning toward her.

“You… You’re like them, aren’t you?” he rumbled grimly “I really should take you as a sample… but I’d rather just kill you.”

Shock and confusion shot through the redhead at his cryptic statement, halting her stumbling retreat. The Golem's rear vents opened again, and he stooped for another charge. He just shifted his legs when one of the ports exploded into a gout of flame and the ring of Rarity’s rifle echoed through the trees. The cyborg flailed as he tried to shut down the vent throwing him off balance. Seeing this as her only chance, Sunset leapt to her feet and prepared the spell matrix as quickly as she could.

She had just raised her hand when another arm wrapped around hers, it's hand extended and already glowing. She looked over to meet eyes with Aya now pressing against her, feeling the elder hunter's power join her own as they both caught ablaze. Matching her mentor’s scowl, the former pony poured everything she had left into the matrix and glared back at the armored menace. A with shout of anger, the pair thrust out and let loose the attack.

A massive beam of pure red lanced into the darkness, illuminating the whole of the cavern as it crashed straight into its target.

It only lasted a moment, but it was enough to launch both women off their feet and skidding across the brush. They tried to right themselves as quickly as possible and looked back to where their opponent had stood. Only a line of smoldering embers cut into the earth could be seen, the Golem nowhere to be found.

“Did you mean to make it a beam?” the blonde next to her asked in a bit of a daze.

“It was not my intent” the redhead returned simply, also staring wide eyed at their work. The others hastily regrouped around the pair, helping them to their feet and all holding a subtle expression of awe as they did.

“Dang. Ah know two are special an’ all, but that was still a hell of a thing.”

“Yes” Aya agreed quietly.

“That was certainly a thing” Sunset finished. She then teetered slightly however, having to lean on Fluttershy as the nurse stepped in to catch her. “Wow… really wishing I grabbed another coke now.”

“We can grab some on the way back. Small detour, but I could also use one.” Aya rose from having braced herself against her knees. “After this there’s pretty much only two places left our target can be, and one's on the way to the other.”

A small while later, the group was once more cramped into a not quite big enough elevator. More than one of them piped up to ask Aya if she was sure this was the only way down, as the ride was lasting notably longer than even the ARK’s ride had been. She kept assuring them it was, though she seemed exceptionally subdued. In fact, Sunset noted her mood seemed to drop as steadily as they did.

Eventually though, a chime rang out and the doors slid apart to let them out. Entering into a small hallway, Sunset immediately noticed there were more ruined speakers like those at the top of the lift. They moved to the next set of doors, which opened into a massive empty room. Empty save for another pair of destroyed emitters and a long dried pool of NMC goo. From the looks of it, it must have been a damned big one too.

“This is where the second Eve’s host was kept, isn’t it?” Sunset finally asked, earning a sad nod from her fellow awakened. She shared a solemn glance with Applejack and Rare before noticing Fluttershy also looked as downtrodden as Aya. Neither said anything though, and simply continued into the next room.

The worried trio gasped as they took it in. Reinforced walls surrounded them as they shuffled into the oppressive space, the faded colors not failing to convey the truth that a child was kept here. A very young child by the looks of it. They stumbled forward as Aya and Fluttershy stood aside, eyes cast down as they waited. Sunset took another step but froze at the sight of what laid upon the bed.

A control helmet.

“It was kid?” AJ finally found her voice, looking around as she felt an anger begin to rise within her “Those monsters did all this fucked up shit to a Little Girl!?”

“How could anyone live with themselves doing something like this?” Rarity tried to fight away the tears that now threatened her as she sat on the bed, picking up the dark headgear.

A low clatter came as Sunset climbed through the nursery’s broken window and into the observation room beyond. She walked to a row of incubators even larger than those she saw in the lab above. A light shone dimly from within one, revealing the still, unmoving form of a young girl. She was curled into a fetal position, and her skin was grey, but whatever nutrients she floated in had preserved her enough to see her face; to see that it was very familiar. She heard the others walk up behind her, stopping as they looked in themselves. Sunset frowned as she read the name on the tube.

“Don’t worry, only the first letter is capitalized…” she recalled in practically a whisper before casting her gaze to Aya “It was Evie, wasn’t it?”

The blonde returned another small nod.

“Evie’s a clone?” Jacquelyn asked mutely “So… she ain’t yer sister, she's yer…”

“She’s her sister.” Fluttershy insisted, distressed scowl unwavering “She became her sister as soon as she was rescued, and grew up that way. Evie’s Aya’s sister.”

“Uh, Oh. Oh yeah, I didn’t mean ta say-” The freckled hunter fumbled before regaining herself “Of course she is! This don’t matter none!”

“Evie’s Evie” Rarity added with a soft smile and placed a hand on the veteran hunter’s arm.

“No matter where she’s from” Sunset concluded with a strong nod of her own. A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of the older woman’s mouth.

“Yeah… yeah, she is.” She straightened and looked at them “...Thanks girls.”

She took a deep breath and turned toward the large lift to their right.

“Let’s finish this.”

They boarded the elevator, comfortably spread apart as it took them up. After a thankfully shorter ride, it deposited them back into the ARK, into a small garden area outside a large generator building.

A dead Golem was laid out along their path, with another along a bridge leading back toward the destroyed underwater one. Quickening their pace, they closed on the building’s door, immediately hearing the sounds of sparking electricity and an occasional, heavy flopping when it opened.

A fair amount of debris littered the stairs ahead of them as they entered, matching a large hole in the wall to their left that opened out into the water. Ignoring the obstructed stairs for the moment, they moved toward the sounds, noting a painful whine could now be heard as well.

It was a diver. A very large diver, big enough that its long flippered appendages hung partially off the sides of a platform large enough to hold one of the troop trucks that brought them to the shelter above. A platform that it had apparently pulled itself up onto before being crudely jury-rigged into the machinery behind it. An errant jolt coursed through the NMC, triggering another spasm and pained grunt as the lights flickered.

“This is what restored power?” Rarity asked appalled.

“Bio-electricity” Aya sighed with clear melancholy “These used to power a barrier to Eve’s room, though they used unique ANMCs bred for the purpose. Using this might explain the field permeating the place, and why it’s so scattered in comparison.”

Finishing her explanation, the blonde walked up to the front of the machine and drew her side arm. The diver didn’t even react as she placed the barrel against its badly scorched head and fired a single burst. The already spent NMC fell limp and the lights flickered and dimmed around them until only safety lights where left.

“Uh, Ay’? Maybe shoulda waited ‘till we had a way back out first” AJ gave with a hint of worry. The elder hunter shook her head though.

“With the Diver dead, the field should begin to disperse and we’ll be able to get a signal out. Rupert and the rest will be able to use portable generators to power the lifts along the way and get us out. It's what the army supposedly did last time.” She just finished assuring them when a clatter sounded from the floor above. With a single shared look, they all readied their weapons and moved back to the stairs.

The fallen cement made it tricky but hardly impossible to ascend. They gathered at the top and started to spread out as they moved around the second mass of machinery. Aya had just started forward when a figure rolled out from their cover and leveled a Spas-12 their way.

“FREEZE!” they shouted in unison and the young woman stopped. She rose a hand to shield against the beams and began to try blinking past their lights as the barrel of her gun slowly drooping toward the ground. Though from the expression that emerged on her face, it had nothing to do with the command.

“Brea” she dirty female released with a labored breath as she stared at the blonde. She was filthy, covered in dirt and dead leaf fragments and her short, crudely chopped hair was thickly matted. She reeked of sweat and… other fluids. Her drab shelter clothing sported several tears that revealed several cuts and bruises beneath. The only hint of color was a flash of red hidden beneath her top where it attached to a collar.

“Mist…” she whispered again, finally tearing her gaze from the veteran hunter to look over the rest of the team. The moment her eyes met Sunset’s however, she froze. An almost tangible spark shot through the pair as both their eyes widened with realization.

The moment didn't last though as those dazzling purple eyes rolled back in their sockets and their owner abruptly slumped forward into a heap.

Fluttershy rushed to the passed out girl’s side, digging out her medkit while the others relaxed their stance. Their expressions remained though. Staring at the fallen woman, slowly but surely, each turned back to the redhead with faces clouded in either bewilderment or shock.

The girl was an NMH, without a doubt. As if there could have been any doubt with where she was found. They could feel it now too though. They could feel she was different, that she possessed just a little more. And while the older hunters still didn’t know what it was yet, the youngest one did.

Because she felt just like Sunset did.

She felt like magic.

Author's Note

Le Gasp!

Strap in Lovies: This is far from the only twist in store!

Until then though, as always: Thanks for reading and I hope to see you for the next chapter! Have a good one!