Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Forty Eight

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We were sure that all the ghouls were taken care of, and after Mint had inspected further down the tunnel it was confirmed. Well there were a few ferals, but they were trapped behind doors or had been tied up, likely the first feral.

"Looks like this tunnel was under maintenance when the bombs dropped, and not currently open to the public." Mint said, helping us move a body. "They all have construction uniforms on, which would answer why the entrance was locked off."

"If it was open, there might have been ten times more ponies down here." Aloe added.

"And we would have ran out of ammo before we shot them all." I commented as I recovered my last bear trap.

Molo let out a chuckle as she magically tossed a dead ghoul onto a pile. "Well that's what happened to those raiders when you led that horde of ferals right to them. Though generally feral ghouls do eventually wander out, so it's more bad luck that they were stuck here than good."

"To, true." Spell added, "most ghouls only gather in such groups when they can't leave, or when there is nothing around to disturb them."

"Or when other sane ghouls keep them from wandering out." Mint said with a sad tone in her voice. "I wonder how long they were down here before going feral, what the last of them was thinking, all alone as everypony around him had gone mad. How long do Aloe, I or the others have until we lose our minds."

I placed a hoof on Mints shoulder. "You will be fine, I know it."

My ghoul friend let out a sigh. "Maybe. Anyway it's not like it would be a huge tragedy, we are over two hundred years old. Far past our expiration date."

"Maybe there's a cure or something!" Aloe said, almost bouncing. "Magic does some amazing things, so why not turn a ghoul back into a normal pony."

It was an interesting thought, but far beyond me in how it is even possible, so we all looked at Spell Circuit.

He looked rather nervous being put in the spotlight like that, but still gave an answer, "well it's not entirely impossible. And I'm sure there must have been some old ghoul studying such a thing. But I do know that magic that changes a ponies form, as in fully changing it and not just casting an illusion, are powerful and dangerous magics. There's an amulet, the changeling amulet I think it was called, that could do it, but it also drove the pony who used it mad. So just as becoming a ghoul can turn a pony feral, likely turning them back to normal ponies might have some other danger to it."

Mint nodded. "Likely why there's no magic to just regrow a ponies mane. As though our bodies resist being altered like that. And when it does happen, it's never a good thing. Seemed it a few times, and the changes the pony went through often altered their mind as well."

"Well it's an interesting thing to talk about, but…" I lifted my wet hoof and shook off a bit of water. "We should get out of here before we all become ghouls."

With everypony agreeing, and the bodies out of the way, we got moving.

Treading water, we avoided touching anything or opening doors we didn't need to open, the danger of more ferals hidden from sight was on our minds. The further we went, the more decrepit things got, until everything had a coating of black mold that seemed to absorb our light. The smell itself forced us to cover our muzzles with rags.

Entering the train tunnel that should lead us to New Unity, we fortunately didn't have to jump into the likely neck high radioactive water. A walkway had been built along the side of the tunnel, just above the water. With only enough room for a pony to pass another pony, we filed in one by one, and trotted down the dark tunnel. Sounds from the tainted water kept us on edge, but it only ever was a wasteland toad, or some kind of larger crustation.

After a long and unnerving trot, we came to the end of the walkway, and an opening in the tunnel. Left half finished by the now ghoulified construction workers, with their rusted over construction tools scattered about, we entered the sight.

"Just as Pentagram's notebook said, the metro tunnel had accidentally opened up into an old mineshaft." Spell said and he looked at his map.

Low flew over to Spell with an inquisitive look on his face. "How did he get around those ghouls, anything about them in that book?"

Spell Circuit shook his head. "No, my ancestors just noted that he knew which line the mine connected to, but never felt like investigating. Things were far more irradiated back then, so it would have been dangerous to trot around unprotected. Not to mention all the ponies that had gone crazy at the time."

"Well anything more about this place then?" Low further asked.

Again Spell shook his head. "He just listed places of interest and sent small teams to recover resources. But after a time he abandoned them as he only needed so much to continue his research, with only a few ancestors returning to get a gemstone. My brother only knew of this place because it had never been forgotten, and our father would from time to time bring back gems from here. But for what Tripwire has done with this place, I cannot say."

"Well quiet down, rather not get into a fight so soon after arriving." I said as I took point, then asked, "how close are we?"

Spell Circuit looked at his map. "Not that far. This is one of the old shafts, well old compared to the wartime mine tunnels. It extends far, but is a mostly straight path with no branches. Lets just hope we don't enter into a crowd."

"Agree, now let's go. I'll take the lead." I told him, and trotted into a narrow opening, hoping that he was right and this would not take long. This mining tunnel was cramped and a bit suffocating.

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We could feel a breeze as we finally came to the end of the tunnel, finding ourselves in some old miner's shack left unused for over two hundred years. There were signs of ponies being here, but no consistent activity. The room was at least big enough for everypony to fit, and still had more ponies to join us, but it was far from spacious.

"Sooo… now what?" Low asked.

"I take a look around, that's what. See what's going on and come back here. " I told my friends.

"I'm coming too." Spell Circuit said, stepping forward. "Just like with the Murder Ballers, I can help."

I nodded. "Alright, everypony else stay here, we'll be back shortly."

"If you can, bring a pony back with you. Any information they have will be useful." Mint asked.

"If possible." I responded and then trotted to the shack's door.

Lightly pushing on it, I held my breath as it fell off its hinges, but was prevented from hitting the ground by Spell Circuit. Who levitated it back in place, then to the side. "That was close." He said and trotted out.

Following him, what we then saw was what looked like a scrap built town within a massive marble white crater, having a tower rising from the center. Along the outskirts of what was New Unity were ponies digging in the ground and filling buckets, then trotting back to the town.

"This doesn't look as bad as I thought it would." Molo said as she poked her head out.

Spell then pointed to the top of one of the buildings. "It's still bad no matter how you cut it." Following the direction of his hoof, my eyes fell onto a big green pegasus… with a very long horn. "Just as we feared, there's artificial alicorns here." His hoof then pointed at the tower, and using my binoculars, I saw several ponies with scooped Stern Longshot rifles. "Snipers, but fortunately were in their blind spot, with the sun setting from our direction." Again his hoof moved, now to a road along the edge of the crater that went up, at the end it looked like a building with some fortification, but was too far away to tell. "Likely the bulk of their defense is there as I doubt there's any other way in or out, other than our tunnel."

I looked around for any place that could give us some cover, and luck was on our side as there were several rusted over machinery left out in the open. The only problem was running in between them and not getting spotted. "Spell, are those rust buckets close enough for teleporting?" I asked, pointing them out.

He looked for a moment and then nodded. "I can, but it's going to drain me getting you from here to there."

"Do it." I told him.

Spell's horn glowed and then popped over to the closest rusted machine, then the next, and then another.

Spell Circuit was now panting, looking ready to pass out. "Give me… a moment to… rest... I'm going to burn out my horn if I do it again."

Looking around from our position I saw where we had come from, the sun reflecting off the white ground, making it hard to see. Squinting, I saw our friends as they put the door back in place, it bleached white wood almost vanishing along the side of the crater.

"Umm… finding our way back might be a bit hard to do." I said.

Spell looked over, then raised an eyebrow at me. "Did you forget that one of my eyes is cybernetic? I have the entrance marked, so don't worry."

"Oh good." Is said breathing a sigh of relief.

Turning to New Unity, it was far closer now, and actually impressive. Now I could see the town for what it was, buildings attached to some super massive machinery, making the place vertical in how it was built. Ponies going up and down stairs, in what looked like a confusing labyrinth.

"What is all this?" I asked.

"Let's see." Spell said as he scratched his goatee. "From what I remember, the main building is a Surmount Mining Unlimited mithril refinery, and all the machines are Burro Industry mining vehicles. Both were known to make things big from what I read about them. Actually I heard that the Burro Industry actually still exists, though the family are just farmers now."

Well that meant nothing to me… "wait, a refinery, as in making shit?"

"It's possible that my brother has gotten the refinery up and working, if so, all he needs to do is dig up the sand and toss it in. The ground here has mithril sand in it, so you need to melt it down to get enough you can use." Spell explained.

"Well we need to find out." I said as I looked around the town through my binoculars. Spying on a pony, they didn't seem to be forced to work, though they didn't look like they wanted to be there either. Actually they just had a blank expression on their face, not even acknowledging the other ponies around them. It gave me a bad feeling about this.

As I looked, I noticed we were actually too close for the snipers to see us, and no alicorn was in sight. "Spell, you sit tight, I'll go and check things out."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Ya, I ain't planning on doing all this alone. Just give me a few minutes." I said and trotted off.

Running as quietly as I could, I got to a nice spot out of the way and hidden. From there I kept low and got closer to one of the ponies working. It was a stallion holding several old buckets, trotting back outside of the town.

"Pisst!" I said, trying to get his attention as he got closer, but he didn’t seem to hear me. "PISST!" I then did louder, but he didn’t even acknowledge me.

As he passed by, I took a deep breath and just grabbed him. "Hay you, you okay."

The stallion looked at me with a blank expression on his face. So I slapped him.

As though waking from a dream he then looked at me in confusion. "Wh… who are you."

"Lottery, but that's not important right now, I'm here to free you and everypony here."

He looked even more confused. "Free, but I am free?"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Slave labor is not being free."

"But… the goddess says… uhhh" he held his head as though it was in pain. "Uhhh… I… I… must seek… why am I… here… where is my… uhh…"

Static blares from many speakers from all around me, and then music began to play. It wasn't anything I recognized, loud and imposing, reminding me of a piano but with horns. Then singing started, and it was not just one pony, but that of many foals in unison. It was a rather repetitive song about a great and powerful Goddess, and how she will make everything better under her rule.

As the music played, the stallions expressed when blank again, and he got up and slowly trotted away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I quietly shouted.

Other ponies appeared so I ducked down. Watching them, they were all trotting in the same direction, all with the same blank expression on their faces.

I had a feeling that none of them were going to acknowledge me, so instead I followed them. More and more of the ponies appeared, forming an orderly crowd and funneling over to some building on the other side of this town. The large building was massively out of place, being built out of stone, and had strange windows of multi colored glass. There were stone carvings all over, depicting an alicorn standing above smaller ponies who bowed before her.

The building wasn't fully built, and I managed to find a spot I could look through unobstructed. Inside the ponies were gathering in neat tight rows, practically being packed in. At least a hundred of them, and all of them were really quiet. Further in, near a stage was some kind of booth where I saw the foals who were singing, at least twenty of them. Most putting their all into the song, but some looked terrified as they tried to follow along.

Above them all were the priests, standing on a balcony overlooking the crowd. The ones who were not covering themselves with a robe and hood were clearly mutated in some fashion or another. Some had thin, featherless wings that just hung loosely, another had a horn that bent in the wrong direction. Most of them seemed to have painful looking boils like growths poking out of their fur.

The singing died down as a robed pony trotted to the stage, and once all was quiet, they began to sing. They were clearly an adult, but had the clear voice of a young colt as they hit high notes even I could not do. It didn't last long, and once he was done the stallion removed his hood.

"Greeting my flock to another productive and faith filled day!" Angel spoke loudly. "I see that our numbers have expanded, and even some of you have joined our clergy. It fills me with a great and powerful warmth to see so many embrace our Goddesses truly magnificent love."

Light flickered to life behind Angel, though I could not see what it was, it felt familiar and unnerving. It glowed onto the crowd, pulsating and swelling in with light. All the priests then put on sunglasses and many of the foals shielded their eyes. Those who did not seem to become transfixed on the light source, their expressions seeming becoming even more empty.

Screaming could be heard from outside and I ducked down. There I saw a mare being dragged in by a blue alicorn, she was desperately digging at the ground as she attempted to break free, crying as she pleaded. "Please don't, please! I don't want my mind to go blank, I want to stay me!"

The mare kept on blubbering as she was then lifted into the air and over the crowd of ponies. She did her best to keep her eyes closed, but the priests around her used their magic to open her eyes.

"Poor stray pony of our flock, lost and confused, we will always accept you back." Angel said as the mare began to calm down, her terrified expression fading into a blank one. "Good, you seem to have returned to a more right of mind. Empty and willing to accept the Goddess love."

The mare was then lowered down, and where what little room there was, was made for her.

With his magic, Angel then lifted a large and rather thick book, placing it onto an alter. "Now I will begin reading from the great and powerful book of the Goddess. The same book the Goddess herself dictated to me about her life and rise to the Goddess she became. Chapter four, how the Goddess triumphed over the foalhardy Twilight in a completely fair magic duel, proving her superiority in magic."

I think I had heard and seen enough, so I backed out… only to find my leg floating above the ground. Looking about, I was then turned around and came face to face with a green alicorn.

"Ummm… hello." I quietly said.

The alicorn scowled at me, then said in a raised voice. "And why are you out here!"

Caught off guard, and reasonably panicked, I *shushed* the alicorn and then told her quietly, "not so loud… uhhh… Angel is having his sermon!"

The alicorn looked confused for a moment, then worried?

"Oh no, oh no, I forgot. Auntie Majestic is going to be so mad at me if she finds out I forgot. What do I do, can I hide… no, she always finds me!" The alicorn quietly as she let me go.

All my fear drained as this colossal mutant of magical might sounded more like a foal that knew they were in trouble. "Excuse me, but why are you in trouble?"

The alicorn calmed down and rubbed her head with her wing in embarrassment. "Oh ya, I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on the… flock was it? Ya, the flock. Bring them back here if they don't show up. But I found this comic, a super awesome Captan Andromeda comic my stable never had. I read it front and back so many times, and imagine traveling alongside the captain that I lost track of time."

As she rambled on, a shadow then loomed over us, and looked over to see what it was. There I saw a rather annoyed dark blue alicorn standing there. "Ben Day." She said coldly, causing the green alicorn to shut up and slowly turn to who I guessed was Majestic. "Why are you back here, and who is this?"

"I… ummm… well…" Ben Day stammered, seemingly unable to find the right words.

I then remembered the name Majestic, it was the Alicorn with Bandsaw, meaning I was fucked… unless she was willing to listen. She didn't seem pleased about working with Bandsaw, or bothered by Oryx's death, so maybe she was not as on Tripwire's side as the others were.

Removing some of the mesh from my head, I gave her a smile. "Remember me?"

Majestic raised an eyebrow at me. "The pony from the tower, Lottery was it?" I nodded. "Why are you here, and why should I not throw you in with the rest?"

Oh thank Celestia she asked questions instead of capturing me.

Thinking fast, I tried Low's tactic of random bullshit. "Well I'm spying, like Shadow Spade, doing spy stuff… ya, that. You know, making sure the bad guys don't win and such. Really important work that involves explosions."

Majestic then sighed. "First off, Shadow Spade was an investor, not a spy, and two, I know you are not on our side. Now I can only guess you're here as a scout for Grizzly Deal, is that right?"

I nodded, as my attempt to bluff utterly failed.

The blue alicorn huffed in annoyance. "Thought as much, maybe Grizzly should have not turned us away if she didn't want us as enemies, and now she is sending ponies to their doom." Majestic looked over at the hole in the wall as Angle continued his sermon, a displeased look on her face.

"You don't agree with him?" I asked.

Her eyes returned to me. "It's a matter of history, little pony. A history that doesn't concern you. Now I think it's time you join the others before you do anything rash."

"Miss Majestic." The voice of another mare spoke up. Behind the blue alicorn was a pegasus mare dressed up in tight fitting robes that covered her whole body except her face and hooves. Next to her was a raider unicorn mare who had far too many explosives then seemed safe on her. "I think it may be prudent to… let fate take charge of this mare. It's not like we're beholden to Tripwire's command, or even to Angel's dogma, don't you agree?"

"Completely!" The raider croaked, getting a glare from the two.

Majestic quickly looked around before motioning with her wing to the side. "Not right next to the church." She then trotted off to the side, and we followed, moving behind another wall. "Are you trying to undo everything I have done you Enclave stooge!" She hissed.

The raider chuckled "Oh come, you're at the bottom of the bucket as the rest of us are."

She was then slapped by the pegasus wing. "As right as you are, I rather not hear it from the mouth of a dirty dirt kicker like you." She then turned to Majestic with a smile on her face. "As for everything you have done, what has that accounted for? Are you one of Tripwire's confidents, or generals? Or are you at the beconing call of zealots, and raiders."

Majestic glared at the pegasus. "And what about you, priestess High Pressure? Aren't you one of those zealots."

I froze at the name, finding it way too similar to Lows… then I remembered that he has a sister by that same name.

Well fuck.

High Pressure let out a polite chuckle. "Oh certainly I am, all of what Angel says is the goddess darn truth. Just like how I believe that the Enclave was a wonderful democracy, and that the president was not some military puppet spouting lies." Her face then grew serious. "I know how to survive, miss Majestic, and I know that if push comes to shove, a leader always removes who they think is most dangerous to them first. Who do you think Tripwire will feel more threatened by?"

Majestic glared at High Pressure for a long moment, then sighed. "Fine, but why Ignore this… spy?"

"Because spies are useful?" High pressure said before trotting over to me, her hoof steppes elegant and light. Her eyes, staring right at me, were intense and intimidating. "And you must me the illustrious Lottery." My blood ran cold, hearing that she knew my name "oh don't fret, none of my business what you're up to, so long as it doesn't involve me… Unless you're willing to help me out with a little problem. "

"And that would be?" I asked.

She passed me a piece of paper and took a stepback. "Come see me there and I'll tell you." High Pressure then flicked my nose with her covered wing, and turned around to address the raider. "Catalyst, I think we should go check on the shipments, and make sure everythings is there."

Catalyst huffed. "Again? Sure, why not. It would be just like these dame's to cut us short. Gotta keep 'em honest after all."

As the two left, something seemed odd about the raider, her armor looking a lot like Molo's had when I first met her.

Majestic glared at me, looking just as frustrated as she did angry. "I don't know why you're here, but I'll look the other way just this once. Ben Day, come with me! We need to talk about your work ethic"

"It… it wasn't my fault Auntie!" Ben Day pleaded

Something in me told me that this might be an opportunity, so I spoke up. "Actually, if it's not too much trouble, can she stay with me? Otherwise I might run into trouble." I asked Majestic.

Ben Day nodded vigorously. "Ya, she needs an escort. I can do that!

Majestic stood there for a long moment bef9r letting out a long sigh and looked at me. "Fine, but do not take all of Ben Day's time, he may be lazy, but he is still my nephew, I will not tolerate him being used as your personal shield. Now I got buses to attend to, and if I see you again, you're joining the others. Also, tell Grizzly that

With an annoyed huff, Majestic vanished and with a gust of wind I could only guess she flew off.

Both amazed that it worked and concerned that I was already found out, I reached out to where Majestic was, finding the space empty. "Well… that shortened my life by a year." I sighed.

I was then hosted up into the air by a gitty looking Ben Day. "Wow, that was amazing, just like how Shadow Spade infiltrated the golden order… or are you really working for that evil pony? Uhhh, I mean… huuu… oh no!"

Wait… she believed all that?

So I decided to play along, "Don't worry, you're safe." I reassured the alicorn. "But we may need to go somewhere safer to talk."

Ben Day's eyes widened. "Oh I know the place. It's the secret hideout."

I took one more glance at the chapel, still filled with empty looking ponies, then gave Ben Day a nod.

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I had been led to a hidden and almost completely buried building that was clearly used to store the large machines that had been left behind outside. Only one of the machines was in here, and it was surprisingly intact, the thing being some kind of motor wagon made to pull other things. Around the machine was some makeshift fort, decorated with framed posters and some white sheets at one end.

"The adult ponies don't come down here, since they're always busy." Ben Day said as she lifted part of the fake wall out of the way. Inside was littered with toys, drawings, and other stuff foals like to do. "We can also be as loud as we want, and nopony comes to tell us to be quiet."

I raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you an… adult?"

Ben Day's happy expression faded a bit. "Well… I am.. I guess. I should be. Even Auntie says I should act like one since I've been alive for so long. But everything has been a haze… like I only just started being me again recently."

The large alicorn started to look confused and scared, making me feel like I had hit a wrong button. Knowing that my life was in her hooves, I needed to be really careful. So trotting up to her, I offered my hoof and asked. "You can tell me about it, I'll listen."

The mare looked at me for a long moment, "really?" I nodded, and she then sat down. "I… I didn't always look like this. I was born in a place called a stable, some place that protected us. Mama always said the outside was wonderful and one day we could see it, and find her sister, Auntie Majestic."

"Wait, she is your literal aunt?" I blurted out.

Ben Day nodded. "The Marvelous Majestic, she was a traveling performer and apprentice to the Magnificent Trixie. Mama even had videos of them, which I've kept safe."

"So what happened?" I then asked.

A sad expression formed on her face. "Ponies got sick. The overmare said that some rats made their way into the Stable, and caused the illness. Eventually…I got sick, and Mama left the stable to find help. She found Auntie Majestic and she came for us, saved us, but I don't remember how. When I could think again, I was like this. I asked Auntie about mama, but she said that she didn't make it to the Goddess."

"And how old were you?" I further asked.

"Uhhhh.. I think I was… eight, ya, I was eight when I got sick." Ben Day answered.

It made sense now, she acted like a foal because she was a foal in a mutant's body. I gave her a hug, making it good and tight as I said to her, "You poor dear, it must have been so hard for you."

Ben Day seemed confused at first, but then began to cry.

It was a long few minutes before things calmed down, and we could get to talking again. But unfortunately Ben Day asked a question that had been hanging in the air from the time she caught me.

"So… who are you?" She asked.

I considered lying, but Ben Day didn't seem like the kind of mare who would just turn me in. Anyways, the other ponies knew who I was right away, so there was no point playing dumb. "My name's Lottery, I'm with a group who's here to save the ponies that had been taken captive here. We're also here to stop whatever Tripwire has planned."

Again her eyes widened. "Ohhh, like a super spie, that's soooo awesome. That big meanie deserves to be knocked down after saying those mean things to Auntie!"

Well that went better than I expected.

"So you're not on his side?" I probbed.

Ben Day let out an annoyed huff. "Auntie Majestic says we are, but only because he offers us protection from the nasty ponies out there. She says there are many ponies out there who would do bad things to us, and that it's safer here. Even some of our own sisters have become dangerous, tried to harm us, even hurt Auntie, but she drove them off. Tripwire promised safety with him, so Auntie says we will work with him. But he acts like a villain from my comic books, and I told Auntie that, but she only says that I should stop acting like a foal."

I was starting to understand the situation, and a plan was forming in my head. "Say, what if some other pony can provide you with protection. One that wasn't so villiness as Tripwire?"

"Could my sisters and friends come along?" She asked.

"Friends?" I responded.

Ben Day vigorously nodded. "The foals, most of them don't like it here, miss the tower in Fillydelphia. Say the ponies in charge don't care like Redeye did."

I had to keep myself from showing my disdain for Redeye.

"Yes, they can come too. Actually that is the plan, as we want to get all the innocent ponies out of here and to safety. But we're going to need help." I told her. "Your Help."

She looked a bit taken aback. "Me, help, how?"

I hit a brick wall, unable to think of how. But I did know some ponies who could. "You will see, but first we need to get to my friends. They will want to see you."

"You sure." She asked.

This time I nodded. "Yes, we need your help saving the ponies here."

Ben Day got up and unfurled her wings. "Yes, I will help you save the ponies from evil clutches!" She then retracted her wings and had a large smile on her face.

It was strange, she somehow reminded me of… me.

Shaking off the thought I then got up myself. "Alright, let's go, I have a friend waiting for me."

As we trotted to leave, the rusted door to the outside opened up, and several foals came in. "Ben Day!" One cried out as they all rushed the alicorn. Soon she was surrounded by six of them, all bouncing around.

"Let's play!" One demanded.

"Ya, play!" Another repeated.

But another, older unicorn filly had not rushed over, but instead eyed me up and down. "Who's she, Ben Day?"

Looking back at the filly, a twinge of familiarity washed over me. She resembled Wiretap a lot, but had the same kind of mane color as Molo, and eyes just like Spell Circuit.

I had no doubt that she was Molo's daughter

Ben Day then nervously rubbed her chin with her wing. "She's uhh… well…-"

I cut in. "A friend, Ben Day and I were about to head out on an important mission."

There was whining from the other foals, but the older mare just sighed. "Fine, I'll make sure the others get to bed on time."

I wanted to say something, to tell her that her mother was here to finally rescue her, but I couldn't risk alarming any more ponies that we were here. So I lightly tapped on Ben Day to get her moving. As we left the foals behind, I saw that another unicorn filly had run up to the older one, the two looking very much alike.

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Trotting back to Spell Circuit, I took extra care to avoid the ponies who had gone back to mindlessly working. Right where I had left him, the egghead was writing something on the ground that I didn't understand.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

He nearly jumped in place. "Oh don't sneak up on me like that." He then pointed at the jumble of letters and numbers on the ground. "Just calculating how much mithril could be processed here, and what could Tripwire be planning on doing with so much of it. I know he is making mezmetrons, but there is always the probability he could go bigger or use it for something else. He has the tools for making arcano tech, so we must be prepared."

"A mez mer whatsit?" Ben Day said in confusion.

"Mezmetron, it's a mind control device…" Spell answered, then looked up. "Say Lottery, why is there an alicorn behind you?"

In a calm tone, so as not to keep things calm, I told him, "this is Ben Day, my new friend. She's going to help us."

He looked at me, then at Ben Day, then back and forth a few more times before letting out a sigh. "If you say so, I guess she's fine."

Ben Day then let out an annoyed huff from her nose. "Why are you calling me a she, I'm a colt!"

Shocked, I then looked up at the beautiful alicorn mare, and a sense of pity washed over me. "Oh, you poor thing."

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