Having filled Morningstar in on the current state of Stable 54, the Stable Ponies exited Horseshoe Hall to wait outside for Enigma to return with Deputy Butch. The residents of Trottingham were still going about their business, going to and from stalls and homes.

The wait for Enigma to return did not take too long. Gearshift looked down the street and caught sight of her walking towards them. As she got to the group, she gave them a pleasant wave.

"I'm back!" She said with a smile, getting waves from the group in response.

"Good to see you again." Snowball said, although noticing she was alone. The rest of the group had also noticed and shared equally confused expressions.

"Miss Enigma? Weren't you meant to be coming back with Deputy Butch." Gearshift asked.

"I did, he's behind me." Enigma said.

Looking past her, the group saw the stallion in question. He had a muscular build with piercing red eyes, the same fangs, horn and ears as Enigma and many other changelings in the town. Atop his head was a black cowboy hat, matching the shade of his body, which was in turn draped by a sheriff's coat. Gearshift's eyes scanned the stallion, slowly panning down to a holster on his side which contained a lethal looking pistol.

"You always have to follow behind me instead of walking alongside me?" Enigma asked.

"Don't try to make something out of it." Butch said, looking at her then turning his attention to the ponies standing in front of him.

"Stallion of the hour." Gearshift said, smiling at him.

"Stable Ponies, meet Deputy Butch. Deputy Butch, meet the Stable Ponies." Enigma introduced.

"Ladies, gents." Butch said, tipping his hat to the group. The group gave various nods and waves in response.

"A pleasure to meet you sir." Snowball said.

"Pleasure's all mine m'lady." Butch responded. "So I hear that- hold on." Turning his head downwards, he seemed to be looking for something.

"Is something wrong?" Lavender Blossom asked, to which Enigma sighed.

"You really need to put him on that leash." Enigma said.

"He hates being leashed." Butch responded before turning around fully, giving the group view of his tail. The tail in question was unlike Enigma's, as Butch sported a scorpion tail, a tail which was currently relaxed and low to the ground.

The group all looked at it with varying expressions. Gearshift was amazed the the physique of the scorpion tail, scanning how it looked and the potential damage that it could do. A high pitched whistle made his ears twitch and caused him to look straight ahead once again. A whistle which was followed by silence, which was then followed by a bark that made the group all look in the direction Butch was looking. Scampering towards them was a grey furred dog, closing the distance to them very quickly. Upon getting to them, the dog slid to a stop beside Butch and sat down with a wagging tail.

"Smoke! I told you to keep up." Butch said, petting the dog, along with giving some scratches behind the ears, much to Smoke's enjoyment.

"Awwwww." Candy Cane said, looking at the happy canine.

Soon enough, Butch turned his attention to the group.

"So Enigma tells me that you're all looking for some help." he said, getting nods from the group. "Well I'll be willing to help you all out but first, I need something from all of you."

"What do you need from us?" Gearshift asked.

"I need some assistance in fortifying the walls on the east side of town, we had a incident with a few raiders a short while ago and they did a number on the wall trying to brute force their way in." Butch explained.

"Was anyone hurt?" Snowball asked.

"Sadly, we lost a couple folks in the attack. They didn't even see it coming." Butch revealed, removing his hat in a gesture of respect for the fallen.

"We're so sorry for your loss." Candy Cane said.

"This is why I need your assistance, so that something like that doesn't happen again." Butch said.

"Lead the way." Gearshift said.

Butch did just that, turning and leading the group towards the east entryway into Trottingham. It was a short walk that the group spent mostly in silence. Butch tipped his hat to some of the residents as the group passed by, Enigma waving every now and then and Smoke happily barking and wagging his tail. Butch had a positive and hopeful smile with each pony or changeling alike that he greeted, but Gearshift noticed the look he had when the residents weren't looking. It was one that seemed troubled, conflicted to an extent. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Butch continued to lead the way, eventually leading them to the east entrance and it was as rough looking as they could've imagined it was. They all approached, taking in various areas of and the varying levels of damage that had been done.

Parts of the walls had chunks missing as well as some of them being riddled with bullet holes. Large scorch marks adorned the pathway leading into town, belonging to some sort of weapon of some kind that could cause some damage, given the evidence and size of the marks on the ground.

"W-What made those?" Tulip asked, shuddering at the thought.

"Something that I've never seen before in all my years." Butch answered, turning to face the group, his statement getting their attention back on him once more.

"It was one of those raiders." A voice said from close by, making the group turn their heads.

Crouching down by one of the holes in the wall was another changeling stallion, working on moving some metal plating over the wall and hammering it into place, his back and lower neck were bandaged up. The bandages were as white Snowball's coat, showing their freshness. Turning to face the group, his dark purple eyes scanning them, several glances were cast between him and Enigma, who herself had her eyes on the stallion. The bandages on his back wrapped around and covered most of his chest, looking to have been precisely wrapped around certain areas.

"What are you doing out here?" Butch asked him.

"You're supposed to be resting!" Enigma exclaimed.

Standing up, the stallion's eyes moved to his fellow changelings. "I'm fine. I'm doing what I can to help." he said. His physique wasn't as buff or as large as Butch but he did look in good shape, besides the bandages. Enigma rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.

"I assume you know one another?" Steel Tip asked, gesturing his hoof between the three of them.

"Unfortunately." Enigma muttered under her breath before speaking up. "Yes, yes we do."

Butch checked the stallion over, mainly examining his back and neck. "Suture Seam told you two weeks minimum."

"You know me, Butch. I hate sitting around." The stallion responded.

"Stable Ponies, this is my brother, Sentry." Enigma introduced.

"Charmed." Sentry nodded.

After exchanging pleasantries, the group all looked back towards the piece of the wall Sentry had been fixing.

"How long have you been here, Sentry?" Butch asked.

"Half hour." Sentry answered, a little too quickly.

"You liar." Enigma chimed in.

"Sorry to cut in here on your reunion but you were talking about those lowlifes that attacked." Fresh Canvas said, looking between the changelings. "Also, Deputy, you said it was something you'd never seen before but if it was raiders then this must have been the first time you've been attacked before, right?"

"Not exactly. We've had attacks before but not ones to cause the kind of damage that you see here." Butch said, shaking his head.

"It's what they brought with them." Sentry said, pointing at the scorch marks. "One of them, big ugly looking bastard, had metal cylinders strapped to his back. But he was holding some kind of tube at the front that..... shot fire at us. What the hell kind of creation shoots fire on command?!"

Gearshift's eyes went wide, as did the rest of the group's. Shoots fire? Is that even possible? The description made no sense. The concept was alien to him as it had never been presented in any of the textbooks back in Stable 54. He turned to look at the group, shrugging his shoulders to which they all looked equally as confused.

"Did you take him out?" Gearshift asked.

"We almost got the jump on him but he fled with the others we didn't manage to get." Sentry answered.

"If Enigma didn't come and grab us it could've been much worse than it was." Butch said.

"I could've held out longer." Sentry said, sounding annoyed with himself.

"You're lucky we got there when we did. If we would've been even a moment later we could've lost even more." Enigma scolded.

"Look, things played out in the way that they did but we need to rebuild. It's what they would've wanted." Butch said, stopping the two before an argument could materialise.

"The sooner that we get to work in helping you to repair the damage, I'm sure we'd be willing to listen to everything that transpired." Lavender Blossom said.

"Right, if you would all like to grab any tools from those crates then we can get to work." Butch told them, pointing towards two black crates that were sitting on the ground a couple of feet from where Sentry was initially situated. One by one, the Stable Ponies walked over and grabbed themselves a tool; whether it be a hammer, screwdriver or something in between. Metallic clangs and shifting metals followed as replacement panels and additional protections were fitted, amending the damages caused. Butch and Sentry directed the group, pointing to where new metallic panels should be placed and secured, making sure to meticulously monitor each one as it was screwed or hammered into place. With each repair on the east entrance, the aura around the group became more positive and a greater amount of relief began to make its way through them all.

◇◇◇◇◇

The minutes went by and eventually an hour had passed, the final few panels and defenses being put into place. Stepping back to look at the completed job, Gearshift examined their work with Butch joining him, standing beside him.

"Looking good?" Gearshift asked.

"It does. This way into town should be much harder to break through." Butch answered with a nod that was half confident and half hopeful.

"That is if ugly fire cannon buck doesn't come back." Sentry commented.

"I'll just introduce him to Full House." Butch said.

"Who?" Gearshift asked.

Pulling his coat to the side, he presented the holster on his side once again and levitated out the pistol inside it.

"Couple shots from this baby and he won't know what hit him." Butch said, showing off the weapon.

"That looks like it could do some serious damage." Steel Tip said, walking over to get a closer look.

"You better believe it does!" Butch said proudly, twirling Full House in his magic before slotting it back into the holster once again, then casting his eyes back towards the repaired wall. One by one the rest of the group would come over to look at the work they had done over the past hour. It was something that they'd all pitched in to help with and the feeling of accomplishment was plentiful among them.

It was a victory, a small victory but a victory all the same, the first feeling of accomplishment Gearshift had felt since leaving Stable 54. The moment was a pleasant one for him but it appeared only fleetingly. His mind cast back to those in the stable and a sense of urgency washed over him, the same one that he experienced when standing in the entryway of the Stable, in front of the giant steel door.

"The walls are looking much better than when we got here." Gearshift said, then cleared his throat and donned a more serious expression. "With that being said, we've held up our side of the deal. Miss Morningstar said that you know more about areas leading towards TRL better than anyone else. You said that you'd help us and we're in desperate need of that help, our Stable and more importantly the ponies inside are counting on us."

All eyes turned towards them and a stretch of silence followed. Butch's gaze narrowed on Gearshift as he gave the stallion a once over.

"So, this mission of yours. What exactly is it that you're after?" he asked, all eyes moving onto Gearshift.

"We're heading to Trottingham Research Laboratories in order to acquire a fusion core so that we can keep our stable functioning." Gearshift explained, his gaze turning down towards the floor and his voice softening. "We don't know how long they have, so we need to move as quickly as possible."

Butch brought up a hoof, tapping his chin. "Alright, I'll need to grab a couple things from the office and then we'll be able to head out."

"Understood." Gearshift said a nod.

Nodding back, Butch turned his attention to the changeling siblings. "Enigma, Sentry, you two watch over town whilst I'm away. If anything happens, go straight to Morningstar and tell her."

"But-" Sentry tried to protest.

"Sentry, you're barely in a condition to walk from one end of town to the other, let alone leave to and venture towards those labs." Butch put a hoof on his shoulder. "We'll be back before you know it."

With a sigh and a scuff of his hoof on the ground, Sentry nodded. "Fine."

"I'll make sure he goes home and rests." Enigma said with a salute to Butch.

"Thank you." Butch said, tipping his hat once again.

With the plan established, Enigma and Sentry went on their way with a wave to the group, taking Smoke along with them. Waving back, Butch led the others in the direction of the Trottingham Sheriff's Office. The office was located on the opposite side of the square to Horseshoe Hall, mostly wooden in structure with swinging saloon style doors at the front. The building was around half the size of Horseshoe Hall although equally as important, Butch would preach those words to anyone who disagreed. Leading the group over to the building, Butch pushed one of the doors, holding it open as he turned back to look at them.

"Wait right here, I just need to grab a couple things." Butch told them, turning and then heading inside. He was true to his word, coming out with only a couple of things; some extra magazines for Full House, along with a compass.

"Shall we?" Gearshift asked.

"We shall." Butch nodded, pulling the doors closed behind him. Stepping down from the doors, looking at the compass in his hoof, he turned south and began walking.

"Next stop, TRL!" Steel Tip exclaimed as the group followed after Butch.

"54 is counting on us. We can't fail them." Gearshift said.

"Don't worry. We won't." Candy Cane said, a reassuring smile on her face, which did its job of calming Gearshift for the moment.

◇◇◇◇◇

The walk that followed was one that Gearshift spent in silence, all that was on his mind was the labs and what lie within. Their mission was straightforward and with a guide it would be just that little bit easier for them. We're almost there, dad. We'll be back home soon. He hadn't been paying much attention to the others, only hearing portions of their conversation when a break in his train of thought occurred.

"....I mean who names their kid Crush anyway?" Lavender Blossom asked, making Gearshift pick his head up.

"It's not exactly the most common name, huh?" Candy Cane said.

"He was pretty scary." Snowball said.

"Don't worry Snow, he's not an issue anymore." Lavender reassured her.

As the eight of them continued walking, Gearshift panned his eyes down at his PipBuck once again to check the map. Trottingham was gradually getting further and further away behind them but there was no sign of any buildings or structures ahead of them of note, especially not any laboratories.

"How do you know about this route?" he asked, looking at Butch. The question made Butch almost stop upon hearing it.

"This route was used by myself, miss Morningstar and a few others as we tried to get supplies for the town. We just happened to stumble upon the labs a while back by chance. It was like striking gold but... then the security systems activated when we got too close. Only myself and miss Morningstar made it back to town." Butch answered with a soft sigh, looking towards the ground. "We agreed not to take any more residents out there and leave the labs be. That was until today."

"Thank you for agreeing to bring us, we can't imagine how hard this must be." Snowball said, giving a respectful bow of her head to him.

"I'm glad to help you. Your mission is extremely important and I won't stand in the way of that." Butch said.

Gearshift smiled gratefully at the Deputy, increasingly more and more glad to have him travelling with them.

"We're glad to have you here." he said, taking one more glance at his PipBuck before lowering his leg once again. Looking ahead once more, Butch raised his own hoof and pointed ahead of the group.

"Over that hill straight ahead of us on the far side of it, lays Trottingham Research Laboratories." he said.

Gearshift followed his hoof, as did the others, and saw the hill in question. It was a good distance away from them and raised up a decent height above the ground. The group wasted no time in heading out once more, keeping close to one another and keeping their eyes open as they went. The ground felt different under Gearshift's hooves compared to the ground of Trottingham, feeling fresher in comparison. It's flatter nature made it evident that no creatures had come this way in a while, unlike the ground inside Trottingham which everyone living there had been walking on. His gaze turned downards as he walked, looking at the ground beneath his hooves, visually taking it in. His thoughts began to wander, going back to the Stable and everyone in it.

Eventually, the hill was close enough that the ground beneath his hooves began to incline and the walk up the hill commenced. The gradual ascent up the hill went by quicker than expected, Gearshift's determination taking the steepness of the hill out of the equation. Looking up to the sky, the dull and dreary clouds looking back, a feeling of uncertainty briefly washed over him and then dispersed just as quickly, the thoughts continued to come and go in spurts as they continued up the hill before eventually reaching the top. Once they had all reached the top, Gearshift took in the view, looking across the immediate Wasteland vicinity, seeing Trottingham in the distance behind them. The quiet surroundings was almost beautiful.

"There it is." Butch said, catching Gearshift's attention and making him look ahead.

Ahead of them, down the other side of the hill, was a large building. It's exterior was metallic and white in colour, although several patches had turned a shade of gray and in the time it had been there. The building was at least three to four stories high, although the width of the building made it look larger than it was. Several catwalks and walkways stretched around the sides of the exterior, connecting entryways and outdoor stairwells. Upon closer inspection, Gearshift noticed what was Butch's cause for not returning to the area. A pair of large metallic doors sat at the front and centre of the building but on the wall above the doors and embedded into the walls above the walkways were several automated machines, each machine in question boasting a pair of machine gun barrels pointed outward in most directions. This was Trottingham Research Laboratories and it's deadly security system.

"They're going to be an issue." Gearshift commented, his eyes fixed on the wall mounted turrets.

"..." Butch didn't respond, his eyes wide and staring towards them.

"Deputy?" Snowball asked, nudging him gently. It seemed to do something as Butch wavered slightly but shook himself out of his daze.

"H-Huh? Yes. We're going to need to be extra vigilant. I've seen first hoof what these things can do and believe you me in ain't a pretty sight." he said.

"Do you think there's any way to shut them down?" Candy Cane asked. "We don't exactly have a lot of firepower here." She added, gesturing to the few weapons that the group were carrying.

"We'd have to get close enough to even consider trying to shut them down." Butch said.

"That is if we can." Fresh Canvas said.

"We can take cover around the outer perimeter and avoid any gunfire that may come our way." Butch said, pointing a hoof to the immediate vicinity outside of the laboratory building. There were low brick walls, some of which had broken over time as well as large rocks that could be hidden behind. There were also a few of the lower walls closer towards the central entryway, which would also allow for cover.

"Hopefully it won't have to come to that." Gearshift said.

Once all in agreement, weapons at the ready, the group headed down the hill slowly with Butch leading the way. Gearshift kept his eyes focused on each of the turrets in turn. They were moving in a scanning pattern for now, thankfully, but seeing how many of them were there cast an image into his head about what could have warranted the need for them. An attack? Safety precautions? It was built with them? Each question only brought up more follow up questions instead of any answers. As the last of the group reached the bottom, TRL took on a new visage, looking even larger at ground level. The outer walkways looked even higher up in the building's sides and the turrets looked increasingly more lethal from this position. Coming in from the front, the main door turrets were the main concern. There were four in total, all in their sweeping motion whilst scanning the area. Gearshift paid attention to the motion in order to determine the best approach. 1....2....3....1....2....3.... His breathing slowed as he analysed the turrets. The closer the group got, the more developed his plan became. Taking cover behind one of the low walls, Gearshift peeked over and got more look at them. 1....2....3....1....2....3....

"Gear?" Steel Tip asked, seeing him looking at them.

Gearshift turned to look at him. "Hm?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Take a look at the turrets." He said, Steel Tip doing so before the others did the same. "The way they rotate, it's almost like a pattern or a timer." The turrets' movements confirmed his theory.

"We need to move in the open window so that we're not torn apart." Fresh Canvas said.

"We have to get to the door and get inside." Butch said, looking towards them. Several looks were exchanged between the group.

"Do all of us have to go together?" Gearshift asked, which got several looks of surprise from the others.

"What?!" Candy Cane and Lavender Blossom exclaimed.

"Gearshift, what are you saying?" Steel Tip asked.

"Think about it. If those turrets are in a pattern, it would only take one of us to get to the door and then open it up before the others can make their way over." Gearshift explained.

"What would you do upon getting over to the door?" Butch asked.

This made Gearshift begin to reconsider, looking back towards the main doors once again in search of anything he may of missed out. Scanning over the doors once again, he watched the turrets as they moved once more. His eyes then moved to just beside the left door where a square object was mounted onto the wall, a small rectangular object connected to the bottom of it. A keyboard.

"That looks like a terminal." Gearshift said, leaning slightly closer to look.

"A terminal?" Candy Cane asked, following his eyeline towards it. Upon seeing where he was looking, she looked him square in the eyes.

"CC?" Gearshift asked.

"I'll go." Candy Cane said. "Terminals are my thing anyways."

"Since when?"

"Since I spent everyday sitting in front of cameras as well as fixing up screens when they went dead."

"Fair enough. But I'll go with you."

"Gearshift-"

"I'm not debating it."

The sudden response caught Candy Cane by surprise and she stood looking at him in silence for a few moments.

"Fine." she said.

"Butch, if anything happens whilst we're heading there, you'll have to give us cover." Gearshift said.

Levitating out Full House, Butch nodded his head. "You got it."

Gearshift looked at the rest of the group, as well as the weapons that they had. "Counting on you guys too." he said. Each of the nodded their heads too.

"No need to worry." Steel Tip said, levitating one of the pistols.

Looking back towards the doors, Gearshift and Candy Cane got ready to move. Shuffling to the edge of the wall, Gearshift leaned out and looked towards the doors.

"Okay, let's do this." he said. Watching as the turrets rotated away from them, Gearshift stood up. "Now."

Candy Cane was right behind him as he came out from behind the wall and ran towards the doors. The two of them slid into cover behind one of the low walls nearby as the turrets swept back in their direction. The others watched from their position as the pair advanced. Poking his head out slowly, Gearshift looked for the next piece of cover. Ahead of them was another section of wall that jutted out closer to the building. Gesturing for Candy Cane to get ready, Gearshift looked back towards the scanning turrets, only standing up after they had passed by. Springing over the wall, Gearshift took the lead into the next group of bounds. As Candy Cane followed after him, Gearshift looked back at her momentarily, long enough to see her eyes widen. Looking forward once again, the barrels were aiming right at them.

"Gearshift!" Candy Cane exclaimed as her horn illuminated. Gearshift felt his weight shift as he was dragged back. The two of them went backwards over the wall they had just come over and the turrets opened fire, missing them by inches. The bullets pounded against the wall, small pieces falling away thanks to the force of each bullet impacting against it.

Gearshift covered his head, making sure to keep Candy Cane close enough to keep her protected too as the hailfire of bullets continued raining down on them. A second sound entered his ears, more gunfire. Whilst keeping his head down, he looked back towards the others. The crack of Full House now had a visual partner as Gearshift watched the pistol fire off two rounds before being retracted back behind cover. The rain of bullets soon rattled against the section of the wall where Full House was being fired from. He watched in a stunned silence as the turrets continued to fire with the occasional crack of Full House following it.

"Get moving!!" Steel Tip called out, adding fire from his own pistol towards the turrets before ducking back behind the wall as some of the turrets turned their attention on him.

"Gearshift! GO!" Butch exclaimed.

It wasn't until Candy Cane physically grabbed hold of him that he snapped out of his stunned state.

"Gearshift!" She said, holding onto his face and looking into his eyes. "We need to move!"

"R-Right, yeah. Come on." Gearshift nodded and shook himself off.

With the turrets being occupied, Candy Cane led the way with Gearshift following on. The need to be discreet was irrelevant, leaving the pair free to run straight for the doors and the terminal. Keeping their run wide, they remained out of range of the turrets in case they swung around at them again. For now, they were still firing at the rest of the group. The wall was holding on for now and the group were continuing to fire back when they had the chance, keeping the attention on them for even longer. Eventually, Gearshift got to the side of the building, his own body slamming into it. The wall felt cold against his side, the metallic structure as solid as he expected it to be. His attention then turned to Candy Cane, who came up just behind him.

"Here comes the fun part." she said, shuffling past him.

The terminal laid before them, very similar to the ones within their stable home. Candy Cane wiped the screen with her hoof in order to get a clearer look at it. Looking over the keyboard, she gave a few of the keys some taps. As fate would have it, the screen booted up with a feint green glow. As she got to work on the terminal, Gearshift looked around in case any other turrets or openings became visible from where they were. There was nothing present for now and Gearshift was getting agitated as the turrets continued to fire. They were very loud this close up, the amount of rounds held within them contributing greatly to that.

"CC, any luck yet?!" Gearshift asked, having to raise his voice in order to be heard. A metallic buzz answered him, coming from the terminal.

"Gearshift!" Candy Cane snapped, looking back at him. "That's one of my tries gone!"

"Your tries?"

"You only get a few tries for a terminal or it locks you out and if it locks you out you're unable to access it. In turn, we won't be able to get in if I get locked out of here!"

"Oh. I'm sorry, go on."

Gearshift moved back, allowing Candy Cane the space she needed. As much as the back and forth cracks and barrages of gunfire were prelific, she was very much in the zone and was searching for the correct password in order to access the terminal.

*BUZZ*

"Shit." Candy Cane muttered under her breath.

"CC? Any time now." Gearshift said.

"Gearshift, I mean this in the nicest way but shut up and let me think!" Candy Cane turned to him for a moment before looking back at the terminal. As she got back into her focused mindset, Gearshift looked back towards the others. His eyes widened upon seeing that there weren't firing back anymore, the turrets however were keeping up the relentless assault on the wall that they were sheltering behind. The wall was starting to break apart and little by little the group were becoming more and more exposed to the turret fire. But then, they stopped firing. The rounds stopped flying, leaving the barrels of each turrets smoking and reddened from the high amount and velocity of rounds that had been fired over the last few minutes.

"I got it! Turrets disabled!" Candy Cane exclaimed.

"Yes!" Gearshift cheered, wrapping his hooves around her in a hug. "You did it!"

After taking a moment to gather themselves and catch their breaths, the others made their way over to Gearshift and Candy Cane, the later of which was going through the terminal systems.

"Thank goodness you managed to shut them off." Tulip said, thankfully.

"You guys kept them busy for us." Candy Cane said.

"Good thing you shut it off when you did, we would've been in one heck of a pinch." Butch said, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"In hindsight, a password of 'Invention' was something I should've figured out on my first attempt. You know, considering it's a laboratory." Candy Cane said, rubbing the back of her neck.

A few more clicks and taps from the keyboard followed as Candy Cane continued to work her way through the systems. Gearshift looked over at the screen as she moved through them one at a time eventually a screen displayed itself:

Trottingham Research Laboratories Outer Terminal

•Turret Controls

•Hallway Camera Settings

•Entryway Controls

"Entryway Controls! Get us inside, CC." Gearshift said, almost knocking her over in his enthusiasm. She looked back at him with a small eye roll and then turned back towards the terminal screen. As she moved down the options and selected the third option, a small buzz came from the screen as the screen changed. Once the new screen appeared, new options appeared along with it.

Entryway Controls

•Open Main Entrance

•Retract Turrets

•Backup Entryway Systems

•Return

"Backup entryway? What's that?" Steel Tip asked, looking at the others and getting equal looks of confusion in return.

"Check it out." Gearshift said, nudging Candy Cane. Selecting the option, the same buzz would return as the screen displayed a message:

Access Denied: Only Dr. Bunsen Burner is allowed access to this entryway.

"Guess we're not getting any secret passages." Lavender Blossom said.

Returning back to the previous screen, Candy Cane selected the option labeled:

•Open Main Entrance

Another message displayed on the screen:

Open Main Entrance

Confirm?

Y / N

With one last button and the screen turning off, a green light brightly flashed above the doors. Gearshift took a step back and turned to face the doors, the others all doing the same. Candy Cane was the last to look towards the doors, standing beside Gearshift. The flashing over the green light continued, illuminating the group. After a few moments of flashing, the two metallic doors were slowly pulled in opposite directions, a quiet steamy hiss emanating from them as the distance between them gradually increased. Looking through the widening gap, Gearshift panned his eyes downwards at the floor. The green flashing light above the door was one of a pair, the other on the inside of the entryway. The doors finished their opening cycle, an audible *klunk* coming out of the mechanisms in the walls the doors slid into. Then there was only silence.

"Well, time to get moving." Gearshift said, looking at the others. Each of them seemed a mixture of nervous and ready to go, contrasting emotions prominent. He then turned to look at Butch, who was in turn looking at the deactivated turrets.

"I hadn't imagined that I'd be back ever again." Butch said, keeping his eyes on the turrets as he spoke.

"Well thanks to you we've already come this far." Snowball said, smiling at him.

"Snow's right, you've done so much for us in just getting us here." Gearshift added, placing a hoof on Butch's shoulder, the two sharing a look and a following smile.

"I still have more to do." Butch said, everyone looking at him. "I did help get you here but the inside of these labs are uncharted territory and we have no idea what could be inside." He added, gesturing inside. His response got smiles from the group, who all were in subconscious agreement.

"You better be right alongside us as we head through this place then, huh?" Fresh Canvas said, giving Butch a soft jab in the shoulder.

With a nod of his head, Butch looked back into the dimly illuminated corridor. Gearshift matched his gaze, looking ahead into the unknown. Taking a step forward, Gearshift breached the threshold of Trottingham Research Laboratories for the first time. The rest of the group each took their own first steps inside, moving as cautiously as they did when leaving Stable 54 and entering the Equestrian Wasteland for the very first time. After stepping through the entryway, Gearshift noticed the same square shape on the the wall on this side as that had been on the wall on the outside. Another terminal. He had to squint his eyes in order to clearly make out the shape. Moving into the corridor, his hoofsteps clicking along the floor, Gearshift brought up his foreleg and used his nose to click on his PipBuck light. The green glow of his PipBuck was soon joined by the lights of each PipBuck that was present on a Stable Pony, Butch keeping close in order to be able to see where he was going. Casting his eyes, and raising his forleg upwards, Gearshift noticed the lights hanging from the ceiling. Turning back towards the others, Gearshift held the light up to his face so that they could see him.

"Alright, stick together, it doesn't look like any of the power is-" he began. However, he was swiftly interrupted by one of the lights loudly blinking to life at the far end of the hallway and remaining lit as the next light closest to them flickered on. One by one, each light from the ceiling came on until the one above them flashed to life, momentarily forcing them to shield their eyes from the brightness.

"Agh, you were saying?" Steel Tip asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Scratch that, the power is fine." Gearshift said, rubbing his own eyes before switching off his PipBuck light. Once his eyes had adjusted to the new light, he turned to the others once again as they shook themselves off. Once they were all set, they began to walk down the now lit up hallway. One thought was in Gearshift's mind. The core we need is here. Now all we have to do is find it.

As they continued down the hallway, the gentle hum of the lights above them, the main doors hissed once again and slowly but surely closed with the same *klunk* as when they opened up, separating them all from the Wasteland.

Author's Note

Guess who's back, back again! Lights is back, with chapter 3.

Once again, super sorry about the wait but chapter 3 is here and ready to go for all of your viewing pleasure. I can't wait to hear what you think about it and I'll get to the next couple of chapters as soon as my schedule frees up again. But worry not, it shouldn't be too long.

Fly High Everyone~