The wooden shards clattered to the ground as the group were pushed back from the explosion's force. The first thing that any of them were able to notice upon looking up was the barrel of a weapon. Gearshift shook himself off and was one of the first to get back to his hooves. Reaching for his revolver, Gearshift brought it up via the teeth grip and aimed, although his opponent was one step ahead of him and fired his weapon at him once more. The shot came out of the weapon in a short and confined spread, only missing Gearshift's head by mere inches thanks to him quickly ducking, the others in turn ducking into cover.

"Experimentation is the most thrilling of pastimes, is it not?!" The stallion exclaimed with a grin, staring directly at Gearshift. It was only then, in that brief window, that Gearshift got a good look at him.

The stallion's grey coat was messy and ruffled, as was his mane, scruffy and faded. Purple in the front, his slightly crooked horn poking through, accompanied by a contrasting blue in the back. His tail was a half and half of natural black and a matching blue to that in his mane. Those bloodshot red eyes bore holes into Gearshift. A pair of glasses, with a chipped and broken lens, the only shield from that twisted gaze.

"So the doctor really is in the house." Gearshift said, his teeth still locked around the grip.

"Where else would I be?!" Bunsen Burner snapped back. "A doctor's work is never done! Now my glorious experiments, which of you want to DIE FIRST?!"

"We ain't your damn experiments!" Butch snapped, bringing up Full House.

"Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you." Bunsen Burner said, glancing his way, maintaining the crazed expression on his face. No sooner had the words left his mouth, that the sound of metal shifting followed. The sound the group had unfortunately become accustomed to whilst moving through the halls of TRL. Behind the group, from the entrance where they came in, a pair of twin barrels slid out from behind the far wall, aiming straight towards the offices they were currently in.

"I'm getting really sick of the sight of those things." Steel Tip gritted.

Gearshift looked over his shoulder, seeing the barrels aimed at them. Swearing under his breath, he turned back towards Bursen Burner, only to briefly flinch upon seeing the doctor's weapon aimed right at his face. Finally getting a look at the weapon, having no other choice to as it was currently a metre from his face, Gearshift took mental notes. The weapon was a shotgun, much like the one Steel Tip had been using. Although, shells were placed into a drum magazine instead of being fed into the weapon individually.

"Now, I could take your jaw clean off from here. Buuuuut, I'm feeling charitable currently. So if you tell me why you're here, I might just let you keep that handsome face of yours." Bunsen Burner said. "I'm not a very patient buck, so I expect an answer."

Gearshift's eyes flicked either side to his friends that were in his peripheral vision. Only able to make out two of them, Butch and Candy Cane, his glance met theirs in turn. Whilst Butch's look was one of suppressed anger, Candy Cane's was one of concern. What do I do? What do I say?!

"Three... Two... ONE!" Bunsen Burner counted down, racking the the slide on the shotgun with his magic.

"Fusion cores!" Gearshift blurted out.

A tense silence stretched throughout the room, clutching the eight by the throats and denying them any further speech. That's when the chuckling began, before bursting into a hysterical laughter.

"Allow me to collect my thoughts and comprehend your words. You mean to tell me, that not only have you broken into my laboratory, disturbed my work and slaughtered all of my staff but you did it for something as menial and insignificant to me as FUCKING FUSION CORES!!" Bunsen Burner's voice turned for a calm exclamation to a burst of shock and anger. Following his exclamation, he physically jammed the end of the barrel into Gearshift muzzle, causing him to wince from the impact.

"Don't-!" Candy Cane called out, jumping up from behind the desk she'd been taking cover behind. However, she was cut off when a spread from Bunsen Burner's shotgun tore through the wheeled chair next to her, physically launching it off the floor and slamming it into the wall where it broke into several bullet riddled chunks. Candy Cane jumped in shock and quickly ducked back behind the desk.

"CC!" Gearshift exclaimed, turning towards her before the barrel hit him again, this time in the chest.

"The next one of you that moves will be responsible for your friend taking a permanent snooze!" Bunsen Burner exclaimed, his eye behind the cracked lens of his glasses twitching.

Gearshift's chest burned once more, making him physically stumble, bringing a hoof to his chest to attempt to disperse the pain. "Sonuva-"

"Now, guinea pig number one." Bunsen Burner began, referring to Gearshift. "Why are you searching for fusion cores?"

"In order to help our stable and those living in it." Gearshift answered, looking the doctor square in the eyes.

"Your stable? Oh yes yes yes of course. It all makes perfect sense, with your matching attire." Bunsen Burner responded, eyeballing each of the ponies in turn. His eyes then fell on Butch. "And you? What do you bring to their project, hm?"

Butch just glared daggers at him.

"Not much of a talker, I see."

"What are you planning to get out of us just standing here?" Gearshift asked.

"Where is this stable, hm?" Bunsen Burner asked, getting right up in Gearshift's face with insane childlike fascination.

"Not happening." Gearshift answered, sharing Butch's glare.

The two looked at one another, barely moving, one waiting for the other to crack first. In the end, the doctor pulled back first.

"Very well, you keep your secrets. But I have my own needs too. Each of you has played a part in disrupting my glorious research and I cannot allow failure in my presence." Bunsen Burner said, glancing at each of the others in the group before his eyes locked onto Gearshift once again.

Before Gearshift could say anything, a magical grip enveloped him and spun him around to face the others. Those with weapons braced up, raising them to aim at the doctor directly, only for Gearshift to shake his head. Feeling the barrel once again hit him, he noted the distinct feeling of it pressed to the back of his head.

"Now, we're going to move into my office for a little chat. If even one of you so much as takes a step towards this room, my glorious baby will reduce you all to a bloody mess on the ground. So I would advice you do not disturb us... I don't want to have to replace the lovely flooring." Bunsen Burner informed, resulting in worried looks returning on the faces of most of the group. Grabbing Gearshift with a hoof, he slowly backed into the office whilst keeping his weapon pressed to Gearshift's head to deter the group from making any advances on him.

As they both moved into the office, crossing the threshold of where the door had been, Gearshift watched in surprise as the shards of the door levitated back up from the ground and then reformed, slotting back into the doorframe and separating them from the others.

"Gearshift!" Candy Cane exclaimed as the door reformed.

"What? How did you-?" Gearshift asked.

"Restoration spells, dear stable dweller." Bunsen Burner answered with a chuckle.

"Restoration?" Gearshift asked before being turned back around to face the doctor and in turn the rest of the room. The first thing his eyes fell on was the smooth wooden desk at the back of the room and beyond that was a wide glass window that took up the entire back wall. Looking in the direction of the window, Gearshift could only just make out the darkness of outside. It had gotten even darker since they were last outside. His attention shifted around the room, taking in each and every detail. Like the rest of this floor, the office seemed clean and untouched as if it had been freshly scrubbed.

"That is correct." Bunsen Burner answered, walking around the room whilst keeping his weapon aimed at Gearshift. "Do you know just how difficult and tedious my studies are? Restoration magic took me some time to learn, I can assure you. HOWEVER, it opened the door too many glorious opportunities to complete my work. Allow me to show you."

Watching his movements carefully, Gearshift kept his eyes locked on him as he stepped towards a bookshelf on the left side of the room. Reaching up with a hoof, her jerked one of the books out in a sharp motion. Upon doing so, the bookshelf itself seemed to split cleanly in half. The two halves of the bookshelf then slowly slid apart from one another to reveal a hidden room on the other side. Looking through the glass door that had been revealed, Gearshift could make out more scientific equipment on a table in the centre of the room.

"A hidden room?" he asked, turning his attention to Bunsen Burner.

"Correct." Bunsen Burner chuckled. "Take a look for yourself, you'll see what glorious accomplishments I have made."

"And if I don't want to?" Gearshift asked.

"You have no real say in the matter, now do you?" Bunsen Burner said, gesturing to the shotgun he was still levitating.

With no other options available, Gearshift walked towards the glass door and pushed it open, moving through it and into the room. Getting a better look at the table from this side of the door, he took note of the equipment that was laying on it - most of it being of the surgical variety. On the walls either side of him were diagrams of pony and changeling anatomy, similar to the one that Fresh Canvas had put into his bag earlier, whilst beneath each diagram was an image of one of the test subjects from downstairs. Stepping closer to the diagrams and images, he noted the angle of them and in turn which area of the body they were aimed at. In the far back corner of the room was a small desk which had a clipboard placed on it, getting Gearshift's attention. Walking over to it, he glanced to at the words that had been written down.

Subjects

Subject 1:
Species: Pony
Race: Unicorn
Gender: M
Focal Point of Experiment: Pain Tolerance
Most Tolerant Body Part: Left hind leg.

Subject 2:
Species: Pony
Race: Earth Pony
Gender: F
Focal Point of Experiment: Pain Tolerance
Most Tolerant Body Part: Rump & haunches.

Subject 3:
Species: Changeling
Race: Winged
Gender: M
Focal Point of Experiment: Pain Tolerance
Most Tolerant Body Part: Entire upper body.

Gearshift's eyes only scanned the first three noted down before slowly turning to glare at Bunsen Burner, who himself was observing the images on the other side of the room.

"Pain tolerance? You tortured them?!" He exclaimed, gritting his teeth.

"Someone had to get their hooves dirty for this research. Better to have someone else laying on the table whilst I work instead of being on the table myself." Bunsen Burner snapped back, his eye twitching once again.

"So you dragged them in from outside? Is that it?" Gearshift asked, still processing the fact the two were having a somewhat regular conversation, all things considered.

"Not the first batch. They volunteered, hoping to aid the future of science in favor of the ministries. They flocked to my door in their initial hundreds." Bunsen Burner chuckled.

"The ministries?" Gearshift asked in surprise, briefly recalling the name from pre-war Equestrian history classes back in 54. Briefly glancing around the room once more, his gaze fell on the opposite side of the room and another table, similar in size to the centre table. Slowly stepping towards it, the details of the table became more apparent. Sets of drawers were positioned on the front of the table, whilst ontop of it was an empty black box that would've held science equipment, which Gearshift deduced to be the equipment on the centre table he noticed when he walked in. Pulling open some of the drawers, all that were revealed were pieces of scrap paper. Upon pulling open the bottom drawer however, a purple file revealed itself. Looking it over, his eyes fell on the title. Ministry of Arcane Science.

"But of course, countless numbers wanted to help the ministries in order to keep them running." Bunsen Burner answered.

"So having dead workers in your labs counts as keeping the ministries running, does it? Lining them up at their posts as if it were an execution?!" Gearshift snapped, whipping around to look at the doctor with another hateful glare.

For the first time since their conversation began, Bunsen Burner paused to think. "Dead workers?" He asked before it came to him. "Oh, yes, you mean those troublesome engineers down in maintenance? They had to be made an example of. But I will admit, Chief Stone Wall made the cutest faces with his empty threats."

"One of them was just a kid. A trainee!" Gearshift growled.

"They were a disturbance and a hindrance. Typical maintenance, you can never find the help these days, can you?" Bunsen Burner responded with a psychotic chuckle.

Gearshift burned internally at the doctor's words, the mention of maintenance striking at a personal level for him. His own eye physically twitched at the comment, accompanied by him scuffing his hoof on the ground in frustration.

"Bastard." he hissed.

"Language! We're in the workplace!" Bunsen Burner snapped, narrowing his eyes at him.

Keeping his temper under control, Gearshift stared daggers through the doctor. "What does any of this have to do with the fusion cores? What does any of their deaths have to do with you possessing what I- what we need to keep our stable alive?" He asked, his patience beginning to dwindle.

"As I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted me." Bunsen Burner chastised with a shaky eye roll. "These cores were produced by the Ministry of Arcane Science. I can assure you this is quite relevant to your plight."

"What exactly are you getting at?" Gearshift asked, narrowing his eyes in the doctor's direction.

"That's just it my dear stable dweller. I propose a compromise." Bunsen Burner said with a chuckle. "I will give you these... cores... that you require. But you must do something for me first."

"What makes you think I'm going to do anything you ask me to?" Gearshift asked.

The doctor's eye twitched rapidly. "You are the ones that murdered all of my staff! I could easily return the favor with your group! Do not test my patience!" He snapped.

The thought only made Gearshift brace up, his breath catching and staying held up for a few moments. He felt his legs begin to shake, threatening to buckle underneath him. His eyes fell to the ground in a concentrated stare, the thought running through his head over and over again. However, it didn't last long as the sound of Bunsen Burner approaching made him pick his head up to look at him once again. Looking him in the eyes, Gearshift gritted his teeth in defeat.

"What..... what do you want us to do?" Gearshift asked.

"Oh, I'm so glad that you asked. An old business partner of mine has recently come back onto the radar. However, he is using my blueprints in order to develop certain.... assets for a project." Bunsen Burner explained.

"Do these assets have a name?" Gearshift asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If you must know, our project was known as the dual pincer project." The doctor answered.

Dual pincer?

Gearshift pondered what the project could possibly entail, staring into space momentarily. His attention was then sharply brought back to reality when a jab connected with his chest once again, making him quietly wheeze. Looking forward, he noted the shotgun was the cause once again.

"Well then, stable dweller. Do we have a deal?" Bunsen Burner asked him, sporting that sinister grin once again.

"How am I supposed to know you'll keep your word?" Gearshift asked, a serious expression returning to his face.

"I could kill you all right now and keep the cores for myself." Bunsen Burner coldly answered. A stretch of silence followed as the two stared daggers at one another. For the first time since they had spoken, the doctor's crazed expression had completely dissolved into a cold and serious one of someone who would follow through on his word if his hand was forced. "However, to put it into a more... cooperative tone, you desire these cores and I want my research back. Let us help each other out.

Gearshift didn't answer right away, only looking straight at the doctor. Bunsen Burner would've made an excellent poker player as his face gave away no clues as to what he was thinking, although having the shotgun at the ready was contributing to the rapidly decreasing number of options that Gearshift had to select from.

"Fine. You have a deal." Gearshift said, turning towards the door and getting a chuckle out of Bunsen Burner in the process.

"Oh, before you go, you might want to know where you're needing to go." Bunsen Burner added.

Gearshift turned around to face him, jolting back in surprise upon seeing Bunsen Burner was now right in his face, that same grin sported once more.

"Trottingham Air Base. That is where you will go. Upon getting there, you will search for a stallion by the name of Dr. Forceps. Upon finding him you will retrieve those blueprints of mine and return them here. I don't care how you get them, just bring back my precious prints. But if you fail.... well you'll more than likely die so these cores won't be going anywhere, will they?" Bunsen Burner said at an eerily quiet level, although each word rang clear in Gearshift's head.

Having said what he needed to, Bunsen Burner leaned away from Gearshift, only to stop mid step and cast his eyes down at Gearshift's PipBuck. This in turn, resulted in Gearshift looking down at it.

"I'll get your prints, then I'll come back. You better make sure that those cores are prepared for us when we return." Gearshift said, his voice wavering as he tried to keep a determined look on his face.

"I'll be waiting for you. But be warned, if you take those blueprints and you do not return them, I will come for you. That, I can guarantee you." Bunsen Burner said, turning and stepping back towards the far end of the room to look out of the long window once more, gazing up at the darkness of the clouded sky. "Now run along.... and try not to die on your way out."

Confirming their conversation was over, a small ping came from Gearshift's PipBuck. Picking his leg up to look at it, the map had been displayed on the screen with a new location:

Trottingham REAF Air Base

With a new sense of determination, Gearshift placed his hoof onto the restored door and pushed into open. As the door came open, however, his eyes widened at both the sight and sound of the turret at the far end of the hall beginning to warm up. Quickly launching himself into a dive, he threw himself into the closest office to him as the turret sent a burst of rounds directly at where he had been standing. The round smashed into the window of the office, not far from where Bunsen Burner was stood. As the window was given several new holes and matching cracks along its surface, Bunsen Burner's laugh began to echo through the hallway. Despite currently taking cover, whilst having dove right into Candy Cane and almost landing on her, Gearshift could hear the laughter as clear as day before the door was magically pulled closed.

"Gearshift!" Candy Cane exclaimed in surprise as he collided with her and the two quickly scrambled to their hooves.

The bullets were continuing to fire in their direction, rattling against the back wall and keeping the two of them pinned in the office. Gearshift quickly leaned down to grab his revolver from its holster in order to fire back.

"Back to the regular huh?" Steel Tip called out over the top of the turret fire.

"Yes, Steel, very helpful." Gearshift said.

"What do we do now?" Fresh Canvas asked.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Gearshift said. "This is different from earlier, now we're trying to move towards the turret instead of across and away from it." he added, muttering to himself. As he thought up a strategy, the crack of Full House met his ears once more, followed by two shots from a shotgun. As a result the turret shifted its focus to fire towards those who had fired upon it, Gearshift cast his gaze around the office, hoping for something to be of use.

"Anything?" Candy Cane asked, looking at him with concern.

"There's nothing here we can use. What good is a shredder or a chair with wheels.... gonna.... be?" He answered, his brain continuing to work as he scanned the room and took note of the items present. "Chair with wheels... that's it!"

With the office they were in thankfully having two chairs within it, the one Bunsen Burner had obliterated with his shotgun and the one Gearshift was currently looking at, an idea had manifested itself.

"What's it?" Candy Cane asked.

"We push the chairs across the hall then run when the coast is clear." He explained.

"That's really risky."

"We don't have any other options right now, CC."

Gearshift saw the decision being pondered across her face as she thought about what to do for a few brief moments. His attention briefly turned across the hall to Butch as he reloaded Full House before Candy Cane's voice caught his attention.

"Let's do it." She said.

Nodding his head, Gearshift turned back in Butch's direction once again, the deputy meeting his gaze.

"Butch! Get back from the door!" Gearshift called across to him.

"What?" Butch asked.

"Trust me. Once we move, follow our lead!" Gearshift responded.

Looking amongst the two of them, Butch nodded his head. "Right."

Moving back from the door, the turret still doing its best to take out each of the group, Gearshift moved the wheeled chair into position at the edge of the doorway. Taking one last glance at Candy Cane and nodding, he gave the chair a hefty shove and sent it out into the hallway. The chair spun slightly as it wheeled out into the hallway, making it around three quarters of the way across before the turret swung around and began to unload on the chair. The bullets slammed into the chair with such force that it physically pinned the chair to the door of Bunsen Burner's office.

"Now!" Gearshift said, grabbing Candy Cane by her hoof and pulling her out of the door. Quickly slipping out of the door and hugging the wall, they moved up to the next office and scrambled inside as the turret ceased fire on the chair. Upon reaching the next office, Gearshift dropped to the ground momentarily in order to catch his breath before glancing at Candy Cane, who was also trying to catch her breath.

"Are you both alright?" A voice asked, making Gearshift turn his head, seeing Lavender Blossom standing there and looking both shocked and amazed they'd both made it there.

"Yeah... just give... us a sec." Gearshift panted before slowly rising to his hooves. As he turned to Candy Cane in order to help her back to her hooves, he couldn't help but softly smile at her.

"You sure know how to make a mare work, huh?" She asked him, catching him by surprise and resulting in him blushing softly.

Their brief conversation was interrupted by the firing of the turret once again, the trio jolting in surprise together. Gearshift quickly spun around, looking back into the hallway once again. The sound of his heart thundered in his ears and in his chest but he did his best to ignore them as he gazed upon the spinning barrel of the turret. To his relief, it was currently obliterating another chair as Butch slid into the office opposite from them, joining a pretty stunned looking Tulip. He watched as they spoke to one another but couldn't make out what they were saying. Soon enough, the two concluded their conversation before looking across towards them.

"Now what?" Lavender Blossom asked.

"Slide that chair over." Candy Cane answered, gesturing towards it with her hoof, to which Lavender Blossom promptly obliged.

Once the chair was to them, Gearshift moved it into position. Locking eyes with Butch once again, Gearshift gave a nod before he pushed the chair out into the hall. Catching the movement, the turret would swing around and unload into the chair, giving them opportunity to move further up the corridor and reach the next office.

"GO!" Gearshift yelled over the turret fire.

Candy Cane was the first one out and moved up towards the next office, with Lavender Blossom right behind her and Gearshift bringing up the rear. The turret barely missed Gearshift as it rounded on him. After the chair had been riddled with holes and forcefully torn apart, Gearshift slid into the office at the last possible second before the bullets whizzed by. Picking his head up, he watched as Lavender Blossom and Snowball gave one another a soft hug, happy that the other was alright. Turning his gaze back across to the other side of the room, he watched Butch get ready to move up once again. He then moved his eyes upwards towards the turret as the barrels steamed from it's rapid rate of fire. The thundering in his chest returned to his ears as he stared at it, panting at a steady rate. He, along with the rest of the group he was with, jolted as the turret opened fire on Butch's pushed chair once more. The deputy quickly moved up to the next office, followed by Tulip, reuniting with Fresh Canvas and Steel Tip, who were together.

With the group split in half, the only thing left was to pass the turret ahead of them. The turret in question had just finished decimating the wheeled chair and now sat motionless, waiting for its next target. They were all behind cover for now, with no harm coming to them. Moving closer to the edge of the office entrance, Gearshift peaked his head out, painfully slowly, in order to check what the turret was doing.

"It's just sitting there." He said, looking at the others in his office before looking across at the other half of the group.

"What do we do now? There's only one way out." Fresh Canvas asked, but no answer came straight away.

"Well, we gotta think of something, we can't just sit here." Steel Tip said.

Gearshift tilted his head down towards the ground in thought. Casting his mind towards the times they'd dealt with the turrets before, he went over the ways they'd beaten them.

Flank round and disable them? No, we have no room for that. Using a... body for protection? No. There aren't here we'd be able to use. Waiting for it to reload? Possibly... Come on Gear, think, think.

A hoof on his shoulder got his attention, making him wince slightly before turning his head to look at who it was. The hoof belonged to Candy Cane, who was giving him a gentle smile. Something in her eyes resonated within Gearshift, making him smile back as a result. Then, from the depths of his brain, an idea sprang into existence.

"I know that look." Candy Cane said.

"Think of the turrets, every time we've seen them they've only ever moved side to side, right?" Gearshift asked.

"Yeah? Meaning?"

"If my hunch is right, that turret wouldn't aim straight down."

"Straight down?" Lavender Blossom asked.

"What's going on over there?!" Steel Tip called.

Hearing his voice, Gearshift turned to look towards him. "I've got a plan! It's risky but it just might work."

There was a short stretch of silence before anyone said anything.

"The last idea worked so it's worth a shot. What is it?" Butch said.

"The turrets have only moved side to side when we've been looking at them. Plus, they always prioritise returning fire to something that does damage to them. So, I'm thinking if we can get underneath the turret, it won't be a threat. Although we'll need to cover each other." Gearshift explained.

"Underneath it?!" Steel Tip and Fresh Canvas exclaimed at the same time.

"It's positioned the the centre of the wall, if we can get under it, with the barrels that size it would be useless for it to move to aim at the floor!" Gearshift added, another stretch of silence following.

As they pondered the idea, Gearshift's eyes darted to each of them. He hated having to put them in a situation like this but with only a narrow space to work with, other options were few and far between.

"I'm in." Tulip was the first to say, getting a look from everyone. "Steel Tip's right, we can't just sit here."

Fresh Canvas smirked as she spoke, Steel Tip nodding his head.

"If Tulip's in, then I'm in." Fresh Canvas said.

"Let's make this work." Butch said.

Looking back at the three mares behind him, Gearshift internally sighed with relief as Candy Cane, Lavender Blossom and Snowball all nodded their heads. His attention then turned back towards the others and then Steel Tip.

"These risky ideas are gonna come back to bite us at some point. But I'm in." He said.

With everyone in agreement, Gearshift peeked out at the turret once again. Taking into account its position and also the width of the hallway that lead to it, his brain conjured up a plan of approach.

"Alright, you guys rush and we'll cover you." He said, looking at the four of them. "With Full House and Steel's shotgun, you'll be able to cover us when we move up."

"Where will we go once we're at the turret?" Butch asked.

"Make a break down the right corridor and head back for the door that we came in through on this floor. Head back outside and go down the stairs. We'll go left and head for the stairs that lead down to the second floor. We'll regroup back outside and then we can head back towards town." Gearshift answered.

"You wanna tell us about what happened in that office before we go anywhere?" Steel Tip brought up, every set of eyes training on Gearshift as a result.

The longest stretch of silence yet followed suit. It was a question that Gearshift knew was coming but still hearing it being asked caught him by surprise.

"I'll tell you once we meet back up again, I promise." Gearshift answered before looking at them all once again. When his eyes met Steel Tip's, they locked onto one another. The gaze Gearshift saw reflected towards him was one with a mix of judgement but also understanding.

"Okay. Let's go." Steel Tip said as his group got themselves ready to move.

"Lavender? You still got your pistol?" Gearshift asked her.

"Yeah." Lavender Blossom answered, showing it to him. "It hasn't been used much though."

"Perfect, get ready cause we're going to need to cover these guys with everything we have." Gearshift told her.

"Make sure you guys stay low on your way!" Candy Cane called over to the others, who all gave her a look of affirmation.

"Be safe you guys." Snowball said.

"You too." Tulip responded.

With a final check, Butch was the first to step out from the office. Dropping low too the ground, he moved into the turret's line of sight, the others following right behind him. The barrels began to spin up once again, about to rain down on them before two rounds slammed into it.

"GO!" Gearshift exclaimed as the turret swung sideways towards him and opened fire. He quickly pulled himself back into cover, the glass entryway into the offices hallway smashing to pieces milliseconds after being hit by the turret.

Lavender Blossom shuffled backwards and got into a better position within their space, firing her own pistol at the turret. Addressing the new threat, the turret adjusted and unloaded in her direction. She had to drop low to the ground to fire again so that her head wasn't taken clean off. Gearshift alternated with her once again, firing on the turret to keep the others covered. So far it was working. He glanced their way momentarily, looking how far up the hall they had gotten. It was just below half way, but the adjustments of the turret was clearly making a couple of them hesitate when moving forward. The turret continued its firing on its targets, aiming to tear apart the entire office they were hiding in if it had to. Gearshift and Lavender Blossom continued to alternate in firing, although Gearshift was more conserving of his ammo count, taking less shots but more accurate ones, each one slamming into the turret. The sound of the turret's relentless firing battered their location in response, momentarily halting them from returning fire. Gearshift's ears rang from the sound, almost becoming too much to bare. Although, through all of it, he caught the sound of someone yelling.

"Gear! Gear! Gearshift!!" The voice faintly called, almost drowned out by the sheer volume of rounds being fired.

As Lavender Blossom fired once again, Gearshift dropped low and slowly moved his head out in order to see who it was he'd heard. He soon got his answer, looking towards Steel Tip, who had a hoof by his mouth and was cupping it in order to shout. Then the pieces in his brain clicked, seeing where Steel Tip was currently sat. He, along with the other three, were hugging the wall tightly whilst being sat directly under the turret. Gearshift's eyes went wide in both surprise and joy that they'd made it there. Quickly pulling back his head, he turned to look at the others.

"They made it!" He exclaimed. The mares all sighed with relief.

"Now it's our turn." Snowball said.

"Let's go." Candy Cane added.

Looking back out towards them once again, Gearshift gestured sideways with his head. "Go! Draw its attention when you're in cover!" He called out, hoping he'd heard it.

Thankfully, he'd been heard as he watch Steel Tip turn to the others to speak before they all ran down the corridor Gearshift had instructed them too. Sitting patiently, whilst keeping out of the way of the turret's continuous barrage, he watched as the quartet moved out of his line of sight.

"Gear?" Candy Cane asked.

"Wait for it.... wait for it...." Gearshift said.

The loud crack of Full House burst into the air, ripping clean through the noise generated by the turret. Moving his head out once again, he watched as the turret barrels swung ninety degrees before returning fire.

"Now!" Gearshift exclaimed, scrambling to his hooves.

He was the first one out of the door with the others following right behind him, as close as possible. The relenting wave of turret fire increased in volume, getting louder and louder the closer they got. Keeping low to the ground as the rest of the group had before them, Gearshift swerved around the corner, passing directly beside the turret. Looking up towards it, he got a good look at the scrapes and bullet inflicted holes present on its outer shell. His entire body felt the vibrations from being this close as the turret continued to fire. Soon enough, he looked back in the direction he was heading and darted towards the closest turning in the corridor. Quickly ducking behind it, watching as the mares behind him did the same, his gaze moved down to the other end of the hall. For a brief moment, his eyes met that of Butch's before the deputy disappeared out of sight down his respective hallway. This, in turn, left the turret nothing to fire at, although that didn't stop it. It remained pointing in the direction it had been firing instead of returning to the position it was deployed in and eventually ceased fire, much to Gearshift's surprise.

Gearshift could feel his heart thundering away in his chest once again, as well as hearing it in his ears. His heavy panting made him wince, thanks to his existing injuries, but for now they were out of the turret's line of sight and now had the remaining floors to cover. Resting his back against the wall in a seated position, the sound of the turret decreasing slightly, he glanced down at his hooves and watched as they shook. With the adrenaline still pumping through his body, he turned to look at Candy Cane, Snowball and Lavender Blossom, the three of them all returning his glance. He opened his mouth to speak but a soft shake of the head from each of them stopped him in his tracks.

"Let's keep moving." Lavender Blossom said, moving to continue on down the next hallway.

Snowball moved to join her as Candy Cane motioned to do the same, then turned to look back at Gearshift. Gearshift's eyes met hers, his own trembling from the adrenaline. His heart was still thundering in his chest and his breaths were short and sharp, until Candy Cane raised a hoof.

In a split second moment, the pain of his breathing and the sound of his heart vanished as he looked at her, holding her hoof out for him. He sat there and looked at her hoof for a few seconds before taking hold of it, then being pulled into a standing position. His legs shaking nearly threatened to drop him to his haunches but he maintained his composure and remained stood upright.

"Now let's get a move on." Candy Cane said as she, Snowball and Lavender Blossom began to walk.

With a nod of his head, Gearshift moved after them, quickening his pace to catch up and walk alongside them.

◇◇◇◇◇

The hallways were familiar yet different, Gearshift noting the turnings as they walked. All was calm for the moment, his breathing having gradually begun to slow with the intent of returning to its usual rate. His eyes moved between the others one at a time before his mind began to wander to the others. He'd hoped they were alright and that none of them were injured or had run into anymore trouble as they went. As long as they get back outside they'll be fine. He thought of Steel Tip and his eye, or whatever was left of it under that bandage. He hadn't seen the injury itself when it happened and only got a brief look when helping Snowball, leaving anything on the cards as to how bad the injury was. That same thought dispersed upon remembering Steel Tip wasn't alone, which filled him with relief as Tulip, Fresh Canvas and Butch were all there for him in case anything did happen. His thought process continued for several minutes, leaving him silently following on behind the mares before he eventually walked into the back of Lavender Blossom, only then snapping out of his thought provoked daze.

"H-Huh? Oh, sorry LB." He apologised, which was quickly waved away.

Ahead of them were two branching corridors, both of which look almost identical. However, at the far end of one of them was another small sign hanging from the ceiling. Gearshift narrowed his eyes in an attempt to read the sign but was unable to do so. Raising a hoof to begin walking, he stepped out from behind the group in order to check out the sign.

"Wait he-." He began.

"I'll come too. Who knows what could happen if you go alone?" Lavender Blossom spoke up. Gearshift nodded in response without much hesitation.

We can't be too careful here.

The two turned to move down the hall before being stopped once again.

"Wait a minute." Snowball said, getting everyone's attention. "We just split ourselves in half to get here. Are we sure doing it again is a good idea?"

Multiple looks were exchanged between the other three, a silent but collectively agreed answer in their minds.

"She does have a point." Candy Cane eventually said, Gearshift and Lavender Blossom nodding in agreement.

"I didn't mean to speak out of turn, I just thought that we're stronger together a-and I don't want any of us to get hurt when splitting up if we can do things together." Snowball added, rubbing her foreleg in slight embarrassment.

"Snow, you spoke your mind. That's all we could ask of you." Gearshift reassured, his eyes meeting hers, to which she nodded back.

With that, the four made their way, turning left, down the hall together in the direction of the sign. As they walked, Candy Cane would occasionally check over her shoulder and check behind them for any unwanted surprises that could be lurking. Thankfully, none were present. The walk went by rather quickly and they reached the sign in practically no time at all. Upon reaching it, they all turned their gazes upwards in order to read it. The sign itself looked as though it had been renovated and rejuvenated, much like the rest of this floor, silver plating the majority of the material used unlike the plastic and wooden combination on the lower floors.

Stairwell>

Proceed with care

With one last look over their shoulder in the direction they had just come, they turned the corner and headed in the direction of the stairwell.

The next couple of hallways that followed all had a matching feature that seemed almost alien in comparison to the ones they had walked previously - flickering lights. Watching the lights flicker gave Gearshift a flashback to the lower floors, especially floor 2 and when the scientists attacked them. Glancing at his revolver, the memory became more vivid, the face of the mare he'd shot with her own gun the prominent image looping through his brain. Picking his head back up to look straight ahead, he started to walk, along with the others, through each hall. A feeling of unease gradually built up in size in the pit of his stomach, forcing him to do his best in order to keep it contained.

"I hope the others are okay." Candy Cane spoke up from beside him, making him turn to look at her.

"Me too. Hopefully they got out alright." Lavender Blossom agreed.

"They're strong and capable, I'm sure that they're holding their own." Gearshift said confidently.

"Yeah!" Snowball said.

Her exclamation got a smile from each of the group as they turned the final corner before making it to the top of the stairwell. Standing together at the top, they all looked down into darkness once more, similar to how the floor had been when they were last there. Turning on his PipBuck light, Gearshift took a step forward onto the first metal step, a cold sensation enveloping his hoof. Glancing back towards the others, he gave them all a reassuring nod, receiving one from each of them in return. Watching as they turned on their own lights, Gearshift smiled to himself then turned back to the stairs. Taking a few more steps down, he prepared himself for the darkness of floor 2 once again, however, the stairwell wouldn't give him the chance as upon reaching a step slightly further down, his hoof did not land on anything and the momentum carried him forward. Letting out a yelp in surprise, he dropped forward into nothingness, tightly shutting his eyes.

"Gearshift!" The mares exclaimed in unison.

Gearshift heard their voices before a sudden jolt made him force his eyes open. He had stopped falling. Looking down into a void of darkness, his heart began beating faster in his chest. The fact he was unable to see what he had fallen into was terrifying and frantically waving his hooves around didn't help matters.

"Stop moving around!" Candy Cane's voice called out to him from above, making him turn his head and look up.

Standing on the stairs he'd fallen from were Candy Cane and Lavender Blossom, their horns illuminated and a strained look on both of their faces. It was only when his gaze shifted that he saw their combined magical auras surrounding his tail, gripping it tightly. They caught me. No sooner had he looked up at them, he began moving in their direction. With their combined efforts, Gearshift was moving out of the dark chasm he'd wandered into and back up to where they were standing. Keeping his eyes on them the entire time, the edge of the stairwell got closer and closer before he was soon enough able to touch it. Feeling two hooves take hold of him, he turned his head to the side and was greeted by Snowball, helping him back over the edge to solid ground. Pulling himself back from the drop, Gearshift took a few moments in order to catch his breath.

"What happened....to the stairs?" He stammered, looking straight ahead at where he'd just been pulled from.

"I'm not sure." Snowball said.

"They just disappear." Lavender Blossom added.

"Are you okay, Gearshift?" Candy Cane then asked, turning to him.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm good, a little shaken but I'm good." Gearshift answered.

Looking towards the stairwell once more, Gearshift slowly dragged himself up to his hooves once again, then shuffled back over towards the edge. Being joined by the others, their eyes trained on the ground, each of them raised their lights in order to see where they were going. Upon reaching the edge, Gearshift stopped, looking back towards the others.

"Anything?" Candy Cane asked.

"Can't see anything. It's almost like they never finished this staircase or something." Gearshift answered, his brain then sparking to life. "Unless..."

Raising his light once again, but this time angling it out in front of him, he looked in the direction of the bottom of the stairwell. Watching his actions, the others moved forwards and raised their own lights again.

Narrowing his eyes, Gearshift looked for any sign of where they could go from their position and soon enough his reward came. On the far side of the incomplete stairwell were a few metal steps, identical to the ones they were currently standing on. Pointing his hoof across the gap, the destination presented itself to the others.

"But...that's too far to reach." Snowball said.

"It wouldn't be if we jumped it." Lavender Blossom spoke up, everyone turning to look her way. "If we get a running start from the top, we'll be able do it."

"Jump it?!" Snowball asked in surprise.

"Hey, Snow, we'll be alright. Just think of it as a little hop, skip and a jump." Lavender Blossom reassured, gently placing a hoof on her.

"Lavender's right, you can do this Snow." Candy Cane added.

".... Right." Snowball nodded.

Repositioning themselves into an order, it was decided that Lavender Blossom would go first, at her request however, as she would show Snowball how it was done. With the staircase being wide enough to get two of them side by side, light was shone from the PipBucks both at the edge they were standing on and the edge at the other side, which was faintly visible thanks to their lights. Lavender Blossom slowly backed up to the top of the stairwell, taking several deep breaths in preparation whilst the others cleared the way.

"You got this, LB." Gearshift encouraged.

Gaining a focused and determined look on her face, Lavender Blossom scuffed her hoof against the metallic flooring. With one final intake of breath, she bolted into a full speed gallop. Passing by the others, they watched as she sprung off the edge and launched herself across the gap. As she cleared the gap, her light got further away before a loud crash followed, then only silence. Stretching on for an eternity, her light eventually came back to the far edge, illuminating the remainder of the stairwell's bottom.

"I'm good!" She called to them, getting a sigh of relief from each of them, the biggest from Snowball.

With Lavender Blossom across, it was time for the others to make their own way across the gap. The trio shared some glances before Snowball shakily raised a hoof.

"I'll... I'll go next." She volunteered.

"Are you sure, Snow?" Candy Cane asked.

"Yeah, if you need more time, one of us can go next." Gearshift added.

"No. I'll have to cross sooner or later, the sooner I get into it the sooner it's done." Snowball said with a shake of her head.

Sharing a glance, followed by a nod, Gearshift and Candy Cane were both in agreement.

"Alright, you're up Snow." Gearshift said.

Moving to give her space, Gearshift took some breaths of his own. You got this Snow. Goddesses, you can do this. Once set and in position, all attention turned to Snowball as she backed up towards the top of the stairwell as Lavender Blossom had done before her. Snowball nervously looked back into the darkness, the only illumination coming from the PipBucks of her friends. With one last lungfull of air and a nervous gulp, her gallop began. Racing towards the edge of the stairwell, she leapt into the air and towards Lavender Blossom. A yelp of surprise followed a few moments later as the two mares collided with one another.

"You guys okay?!" Gearshift called out to them, seeing the lights of their PipBucks moving around.

"Y-Yeah. We're okay!" Snowball called back.

Leaving on Candy Cane and Gearshift himself left to jump, the two of them got themselves ready. Stabilising themselves and backing up to the top of the stairwell, they gave each other one last look before stepping up.

"Try and keep up." Candy Cane said as she began her gallop towards the edge.

Gearshift was in hot pursuit of the unicorn, but gave her enough space so she wouldn't buck him in the face when she jumped. His heart was thumping as he ran, his eyes darting to the floor in order to watch where he was stepping. The edge quickly got closer and closer, his hooves running out of space to step, until Candy Cane leapt off. Leaving Gearshift momentarily by himself, he took multiple short and sharp breathes before leaping across the gap. Whilst keeping his gaze focused ahead of him, he saw the green lights getting closer before the ground reintroduced itself. Slamming into the remainder of the stairwell, his momentum carried him further forward, resulting in him sliding into the far wall and landing in a heap. Laying there for a few seconds, he slowly picked his head up and shook himself off, being helped to his hooves by Lavender Blossom. The adrenaline was still pumping throughout his body as he stood up, resulting in his legs shaking.

"Alright, is everyone okay? Any injuries?" Snowball asked, looking amongst the group.

"All good." Lavender Blossom answered.

"I'm alright." Candy Cane said.

"Same here." Gearshift added.

With a relieved nod from Snowball, the quartet turned towards the remainder of the hallway. The hall was still bathed in darkness, like it had been when they were last on this floor. Their first steps were cautious and calculated, slowly beginning down the hallway, in hopes of finding their way out once again. The PipBuck lights were the only things allowing them to see, for the pitch black room was just as unsettling as it had been the first time they passed through.

Gearshift let out a small shudder as he walked, a feeling of unease crawling through his skin like an insect. The feeling remained as they travelled the halls of floor 2. That was, until they turned into the next section of hallways, coming to a branching path, one path straight ahead and a second branching off to the left. Turning to face the rest of the group, Gearshift opened his mouth to speak.

"Do you think it's safe down here now?" Snowball asked.

The question initially caught Gearshift by surprise but he promptly adjusted himself.

"No need to worry, Snow. I know it's dark but we'll-"

"It's not the darkness I'm talking about." Snowball cut him off.

Looking back down the hall once more, he soon understood what she meant. Ducking for cover, dodging in and out of rooms, the relenting amount of bullets flying through the halls. Turning back to face them, Snowball in particular, he then stepped towards them.

"I understand, Snow. We need to keep our eyes peeled for anything that might happen. But, no matter what, we'll get out of this place." Gearshift reassured. His eyes then moved to Lavender Blossom. "Keep your pistol ready, LB."

"Right." Lavender Blossom nodded.

Nodding back, Gearshift then turned to Candy Cane. The two of them didn't say a work but it was clear from their expressions that they were think the same thing.

With the issue addressed, Gearshift slowly turned back to face ahead of them and continued down the hall. The silence returned as quickly as it had dissipated, the only sounds coming from hoofsteps on the ground. As they walked, the branch got closer, but that wasn't everything that Gearshift noticed. The light of the PipBucks covered a short portion ahead of him, illuminating the shape of something attached to the ceiling. It was metallic and rounded on this side, a form of casing covering it. Gearshift's eyes widened in realisation and he quickly dropped down onto the cold metallic flooring.

"Down!" He whispered sharply, the others wasting no time in joining him in the ground.

"What is it?" Candy Cane whispered back in response.

"The sphere above us. Remember what floor we're on." Gearshift answered, pointing up at it.

Seeing the reactions on their illuminated faces, he could tell what they were thinking about. The memory played back through his mind, making his heart begin to beat faster once again, the visage of the same spherical mounted object having descended from the ceiling to unleash a hailfire of bullets on them.

"Do you think it can see us in the dark?" Snowball asked cautiously.

"I'm not sure, but I can assume none of us want to stick around to figure out." Gearshift answered, his assumption confirmed as they ask shook their heads.

Shifting his gaze ahead of them once more, he began to move. Crawling forward inch by inch, more of the hallway ahead of them would come into view, all thanks to the illumination. With the branch directly to his side, Gearshift altered his path and turned in that direction. Shuffling along the floor into the next hallway, Gearshift checked over his shoulder and took a momentary glance at the others. Each of them seemed focused on themselves, resulting in Gearshift turning to look ahead of him once more. The turret on the the ceiling became more distant at a painfully slow pace but it was indeed getting further away.

"Which way do we go from here?" Snowball's voice emerged over the sound of their shuffling.

"If I remember this floor correctly, that turret is pointing in the direction of the lab where we found the bodies." Gearshift answered. "Following that, there should be a turn up ahead here."

His hunch would once again prove to be correct as the light from their PipBucks illuminated the turn in the corridor. Getting a hold of the wall and pulling himself around the corner, Gearshift held out a hoof to pull each of the mare's around one by one. Once each of them were around the corner, they all took a moment to collectively take a breath.

"Everyone alright?" Candy Cane asked, looking down the group.

"All good." Lavender Blossom answered first.

"Yeah." Snowball followed up.

Gearshift turned to look at the three of them, seeing each of them giving him a look in return. "Ready to go."

With a nod of affirmation, Candy Cane was the first one to move off. The others weren't too far behind as they traversed the halls in the effort to return back to the floor below and in turn the exit. The further the group looked, the more familiar their surroundings became. As much as pitch black surroundings could look but that was besides the point. As they turned the next corner and proceeded down the connecting hallway, a sight the group would all remember met their eyes. The side of a sign placed against the wall was illuminated by their light, being illuminated further when Gearshift raised his hoof towards it.

<Level 2 Labs.
<Outer Catwalks.

Level 2 Stairwell.
Level 2 Offices.

A shared expression of relief passed over the group, followed by glances at one another.

"The sign we saw before the lights went out!" Lavender Blossom exclaimed. "So then that means-" her words seemed to suddenly stop.

The others turned to look at the unicorn, their eyes focused on her, only to see her looking straight down at the floor. All joining her in doing so, the body of a labcoat wearing scientist pony came into view, only being visible thanks to their light.

"That means we're going the right way alright." Candy Cane commented.

Tilting the light further ahead of them, more bodies of scientists were revealed, each of them with a matching bullet hole somewhere on their body.

"Alright, grab anything that might be useful off of these guys, then we need to get moving." Gearshift said, breaking the silence that had followed.

Without a word of questioning, they all got moving. Gearshift moved to the closest body to him, the body of a stallion leaning against the wall. Beginning to rummage through the stallion's pockets, Gearshift didn't find anything of use. Shuffling his body to the side, the stallion quietly fell sideways into a laying position on the floor. However in doing so, a weapon revealed itself. It was a pistol just like the ones that Lavender Blossom and Candy Cane had been using. Turning to look at who was closest to him, his eyes landed on Snowball. He was slightly taken aback at her being the closest to him, but there she was. She was routing through the coat of a mare who was laying face up on the ground.

"Find anything?" He asked her, getting her attention.

"Nothing so far." She answered, turning to face him. Her eyes then moved to the pistol that he was currently leaning over. "I see you found something though."

Looking at the weapon, he nodded his head, although his expression changed soon after.

"I did, the only thing is that it's a different type than mine."

"Oh, I see."

"It's still useful though."

Checking the body of the stallion once more, Gearshift noticed a holster that was very similar to his own. Steadily removing the holster, he gave it a small dust off with his hoof and then held it out towards Snowball, making her double take at his actions.

"What are you doing?" She asked, making the others turn around to look.

"You're gonna need a weapon too, Snow." Gearshift answered, moving the holster closer to her.

"Me? A weapon? You can't be serious." Snowball said in disbelief.

"I am." Gearshift responded, looking straight at her.

"But...but... I don't know the first thing about weapons." Snowball stammered.

Gearshift quietly sighed, turning to look at Candy Cane and Lavender Blossom, his eyes lingering on both of them evenly. He then turned back to look at Snowball.

"You point the business end at whatever you want to stop trying to hurt you." Candy Cane spoke up, making it brief.

"I don't know.... it wouldn't feel right me having it." Snowball said.

"Snowball, none of us will force you to take it if you don't want to. Right?" Lavender Blossom said, looking at Candy Cane and then Gearshift in turn. "If you want I can carry it for you until you make a decision."

A few moments of silence followed as Snowball pondered the proposal. Her eyes flitted between the weapon, the holster and then each of her friends one by one, ending on Lavender Blossom.

"Please Lavender. If you could hold onto it, that would be much appreciated." Snowball answered with a nod of her head, to which Lavender Blossom accepted without question.

Gearshift turned towards her, handing over the extra pistol and the holster. Lavender Blossom gratefully took them and levitated them to her side, putting on the holster and slotting in the pistol.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get a move on. The others will no doubt be waiting for us." Candy Cane spoke up.

Swiftly collecting the last remaining supplies from the scientists nearby, the quartet set out through the remainder of the hallway, proceeding down to the far end towards the staircase they came up when they first arrived on the second floor. The bullet hole in the far wall was still present, Gearshift thinking back on the sound it made upon zipping past him when the scientists ambushed them.

"Good thing they were a lousy shot, huh?" Lavender Blossom commented, the rest of the group stopping momentarily to look at the hole.

"It's not the word I'd use." Gearshift responded, his gaze fixated on it. The others all turned to look his way.

"Then... what word would you have used?" Snowball asked him.

Gearshift didn't answer straight away but eventually looked at each of them in turn before looking back at the hole again.

"Unlucky." He finally said, the looks from the others turning into ones of concern.

◇◇◇◇◇

Passing back down the stairs onto the first floor, the pace of the group had risen. The motion lights flickered to life as the trotted through the halls. Moving with greater haste, the quarter tore through the next few hallways, having broken into a gallop and heading for the main door. Passing by the open door of the first floor lab, Gearshift briefly glanced in its direction and then turning his attention to to the others running with him. Shortly after, they swung the corner and kept running. At the far end of the hallway sat the main doorway to TRL that they had come through when they first arrived. As the quartet rushed over to it and in turn the terminal on the wall, that Gearshift had completely missed on the way in, Candy Cane moved over in order to get the door opening sequence underway. Their wait didn't last long as a confirmation chime sounded from the terminal and the sequence began. The metallic hiss soon followed as the doors slid in opposite directions, locking into the wall mechanisms once again.

"Open sesame!" Candy Cane exclaimed as they all made their way outside.

As soon as the doors were fully open, the four of them rushed back outside into the darkened wasteland. Once they had all passed through the doorway, the doors slid closed once again with an identical hiss. Looking over his shoulder at the doors, as they closed, Gearshift caught his breath once again.

"Not going to miss this place." He muttered under his breath. His attention swiftly turned back to the others as they collected themselves. "Everyone okay?"

The mares all nodded in confirmation. A relieved sigh escaped Gearshift before he began to look around once again. The wasteland was much darker than it had been when they arrived, so much so that the glowing of the PipBuck screens was the only thing able to assist in actually seeing the rest of the group.

"How long were we in there?" Candy Cane asked, looking up at the darkened clouds and equally dark sky that enveloped them.

"I'm not sure, but the good thing is that we're out of there." Snowball spoke up.

"At least it's not pitch black yet. We should be able to find our way back." Lavender Blossom said.

Moving further away from the building, the group took a seat at one of the low walls that were scattered around the laboratory's vicinity. As small talk ensued, there was one question that was burning in each of their minds and although nobody said it or even thought about saying it, it was at the focal point of their thoughts.

Where are the others?

The longer they waited, the more worry and concern crept its way into their minds. Gearshift positioned himself at the edge of the wall, looking back in the direction of TRL and the immediate areas around it. The darkness wasn't helping, forcing him to have to squint or quickly dart his head if he saw something move, or at least thought he saw something move. They should be here. He gently bit his lip, struggling to keep himself still in his seated position, resulting in him standing up and continuing to look towards the lab. Where are they?! His paranoia was growing and growing at a consistent rate. One by one the others had joined him in standing up and looking in the same direction. Minutes passed, feeling like a lifetime, each new one that passed adding more and more paranoia into the already rapidly growing amount. That was until something caught his eye. Narrowing his eyes once again, they fixated on something at the back corner of the lab, a glowing something, although he couldn't quite make out what from this current angle.

"Look!" Snowball exclaimed, pointing her hoof in that direction.

With everyone following the sightline and exactly where her hoof was pointing, the paranoia immediately evaporated as Fresh Canvas and Tulip stepped around the corner. The glowing that Gearshift had seen was coming from their PipBuck lights, illuminating the two of then along with Butch and Steel Tip who were following just behind them.

"There they are!" Lavender Blossom exclaimed.

"Over here! Hey!" Candy Cane then called out, waving her PipBuck leg in the air, the light now elevated.

Following her lead, the others raised their own PipBucks into the air and began calling out to them also. It seemed to do the trick as Butch looked in their direction. Gearshift watched as Butch got the attention of the others and then pointed towards where he and the others were currently waving from. A smile brandished itself on Gearshift's face as he watched them start galloping over, covering the distance between them in double quick time. It wasn't long before they met with each other and embraces were shared, glad that the others were all safe and they were once again reunited.

"We were so worried about you guys." Snowball said as she wrapped her hooves around Tulip in a tight hug.

"You weren't out here so we started to fear the worst." Gearshift said, looking between each of them.

"Apologies for worrying you. We had to make a stop on the way out." Butch said, placing a hoof on his chest as he spoke.

"A stop? How come?" Candy Cane asked.

"One of those turrets." Fresh Canvas answered. "It wasn't there before but when we made a break for the door it came out of nowhere."

"Are any of you guys hurt?" Gearshift asked, an expression of concern on his face.

"Just a couple of scrapes but I had to give Steel Tip a new bandage. He'd started to bleed again." Tulip spoke up, gesturing to the freshly wrapped bandage around the silver unicorn's eye.

"Causing problems huh Steel?" Gearshift asked, trying to keep things light.

"I will buck you in the chest." Steel Tip playfully threatened.

"Good luck aiming, one eye." Gearshift jabbed back.

"Whatever that crazy son of a bitch told you will depend how hard I kick you." Steel Tip retorted.

The smirk immediately dropped from Gearshift's face as everyone turned to look at him, going silent as they awaited a reply. Gearshift's breath caught momentarily as his eyes flickered to each of the group in turn.

"Shouldn't we wait until we've gotten back to town?" Gearshift asked.

"You did give us your word that you would explain everything." Butch spoke up.

Gearshift recoiled slightly as Butch spoke, knowing that he was right. How are they going to take this?

"Gear, we can't help out with whatever it is that you've been told if you don't tell us what is going on." Candy Cane encouraged, placing a hoof on him.

Looking around each of the group, their eyes boring holes into his flesh, Gearshift had no choice but to relent. Taking a step back to get each of them into his field of vision, he let out a breath to compose himself.

"We talked for some time and.... he, firstly, admitted to being behind the dead workers in the lower levels that CC, Steel and I found." Gearshift began, Candy Cane and Steel Tip looking at one another for a few moments. "He also has the core that we're after, but he has come up with a compromise, as if for us to earn our prize."

"That compromise being?" Steel Tip huffed dismissively.

"The compromise is that we must retrieve some plans from an old colleague of his and bring them back here." Gearshift answered.

"So we're basically being errand ponies?" Fresh Canvas asked.

"Fuck. That." Steel Tip huffed.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Lavender Blossom asked in disbelief.

"Hey this isn't just-" Gearshift tried to defend.

"This is unbelievable, we're going to let our stable down and have it potentially suffer an entire meltdown because we have to run errands for some fucking lunatic scientist who got his homework stolen?!" Steel Tip snapped coldly.

"But this might be the only way to actually save our stable from actually having the meltdown." Gearshift reasoned.

"Surely there is another method to this. We can't just blindly follow instructions and just hope that he keeps his word. That's ridiculous." Steel Tip said, looking at the others.

"Do you have any other suggestions?" Butch asked, facing the unicorn.

An uncomfortable silence followed as all eyes then turned in the direction of Steel Tip. Nobody said anything but it was as if Gearshift could hear what was being said in his mind. His gaze shifted between each of them one by one, seeing a different expression on each of them, from Steel Tip's defensive look to cautious acceptance from Fresh Canvas to indecisiveness from Tulip. Gearshift opened his mouth to speak but no words came out as he was not sure what to say to diffuse the situation. The silence was eventually broken, but not by him.

"So where do we need to go?" Steel Tip conceded.

Gearshift turned to look at him, a surprised expression on his face. "Steel?"

"Don't make me ask twice, Gear." Steel Tip sighed.

"Well, we need to travel to Trottingham Air Base. Once we get there we need to find someone by the name of Doctor Forceps and retrieve plans for something that he called.... Dual Pincer." Gearshift continued.

"Dual Pincer? What the hell is that?" Lavender Blossom asked.

"I'm not sure, he didn't say." Gearshift answered. "All he said was that he didn't care how we got the plans but that we got them and brought them back."

"W-What would happen if we didn't manage to get them?" Snowball asked, politely raising a hoof as to not interrupt.

Gearshift fell silent from that and although he said nothing, the implications from him doing so were enough of an answer. Snowball placed her hoof back down slowly, then looked at the others, who had all gotten the hint.

"It won't come to that, so don't worry." Candy Cane spoke up, aiming to keep the morale up.

"Where exactly is this base? Did the doctor tell you?" Tulip asked.

Gearshift raised his PipBuck, using his nose to press the 'MAP' button. "He linked the location onto my PipBuck. It's on the other side of Trottingham."

"That's no problem, we can swing by again and grab some more supplies before we head out." Butch said.

"Let's just be quick about it." Steel Tip said.

"I'm with Steel. The quicker we get this core, the quicker we can all go home." Gearshift nodded. "As long as we're all in agreement on this."

The group pondered the new situation that they found themselves in. All taking a collective glance back towards the laboratories they had just emerged, knowing they would be returning. Gearshift's mind began to race once more, casting back to the conversation he had had with Bunsen Burner and traversing each floor of the labs, only to come out with a new mission that had to be completed. First getting through TRL, now this? 54, you've got to hold out that little bit longer. Still looking up at the gradually rusting building, Gearshift's gaze firmed, the mission was set and he knew what needed to be done. After a few more moments of pondering, his eyeline lowered back to the group once again, who were now all looking to him for their next course of action.

"Any final words of encouragement?" Fresh Canvas requested, half in jest.

"If there aren't anymore objections?" Gearshift asked in response, to which nobody said anything, not even Steel Tip argued his point. "Right, then let's get a move on."

◇◇◇◇◇

The walk back towards Trottingham was at a quicker pace than the journey towards TRL had been, a brisk trot instead of a cautious walk. Gearshift lead the way back and had his focus dead ahead of them, only occasionally glancing down at his PipBuck in order to check the distance as to how far away they were. His focus was so tunneled that he didn't notice he was being spoken to until the third time his name was said.

"Gear!" Candy Cane's voice broke through from beside him.

"Huh? What? Oh, sorry CC, what's up?" Gearshift asked in response.

"Was there anything else that Bunsen Burner told you? Any other details?" Candy Cane asked.

"Not really, he only mentioned about what he needed from us and about his work. Creepy bastard." Gearshift answered.

"What about the things he said before he attacked us? Move and Strike as One? Operation Synchronize? All of that has to mean something right?" Candy Cane continued, bringing up a valid point.

Gearshift had almost forgot about that, having nearly had his head taken off by Bunsen Burner's shotgun, but the conversation they had overheard sprung itself back into the forefront of his mind. Who is this Commander? What's Operation Synchronize? What does it all mean?

Breaking his train of thought, he glanced back in her direction. "I'm not sure. But our Stable is what is important right now. Once we get to that air base and talk with this other doctor, we'll get those plans and then bring them back to TRL. Then we can deal with Bunsen Burner and get that core back to 54."

"I hope everyone back home can stay strong until we get back." Candy Cane said hopefully.

"I hope my father can keep everything afloat until then." Gearshift added.

Candy Cane gave a nod of agreement as their conversation concluded, the two going back to their own thoughts.

It then dawned on Gearshift that his thought process had been all over the place the entire time they had been out in the Wasteland. He had lost concept of time as it had been relatively dark when the seven stable dwellers exited their metallically sealed home and the sky above them was currently a darker shade of black than it was then. On top of that, his mind then flashed back to his father. All this time Gearshift had commented on Stable 54 as a whole and not specifically on his own father who had been sealed in the reactor room and has been there since before Gearshift had even left the stable's confines. Dad. Please be okay.... please.

The journey went by relatively quickly as the group crossed over the top of the large hill that from the other side had hidden TRL from view, now doing it in reverse to Trottingham. With conversations going on behind him faintly, Gearshift continued to lose himself in his own thoughts. Everything they had heard and experienced over the last few hours was replaying itself in his head like a movie, each choice, confrontation and hair raising moment on playback in his mind.

"Does that light always shine this bright at night?" Tulip's voice sounded from behind him, snapping him out of his train of thought and making him, as well as the others, turn to face her. The group all came to a standstill as they looked at her, giving her a chance to elaborate on her question.

"What light?" Fresh Canvas asked her with a tilt of his head.

Raising a hoof, Tulip pointed ahead of the group. "That one."

Every pair of eyes turned in the direction that she was pointing in and they all saw what she was looking at. Trottingham, in the distance, with light glowing from it. The light was not the same as one would find within a home however, this light had an orange-yellow hue to it. They all stared in silence for a few moments, trying to piece together what it was that they were seeing. Then it clicked.

"Oh no." Butch was the first to speak. "Oh no no no no no."

"Butch?" Gearshift asked. "What's-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Butch took off into a gallop, racing back towards Trottingham.

"Fire Buck!" Butch exclaimed as he ran.

It took a second or two for the others to acknowledge what he meant, Gearshift's eyes widening when it came to him.

"The buck that was shooting fire at Sentry. The one he'd talked about!" He exclaimed.

Without a moment of hesitation, he rushed off. Galloping as fast as he could, he aimed to catch up with Butch. The others had paused for a few moments before darting off right after them, moving as fast as their legs would carry them. All other thoughts disappeared from Gearshift's mind as they ran. Trottingham needed them and needed them now. Gearshift locked his eyes onto the galloping changeling ahead of him and glowing light of the town off in the distance. All he could think about was helping the town and making sure no more lives were lost. His adrenaline levels were rapidly climbing by the second, only increasing further the closer they got to the town. An hour walk had soon shortened to a gallop that took a third of that time, the homes and buildings getting closer and closer into view. Then the sound followed. The sound of screaming and panic had followed as they rapidly approached the way into town that they had walked out of when originally setting off for the labs. The sounds became much more vibrant as Gearshift breached the threshold of the town, more sounds and sights entering the mix, the sound of gunfire among them.

The first thing Gearshift got a good look at was the source of the light that they had seen from their original position. Flames. A good few of them. Immediately looking around, Gearshift reached down and took the grip of his revolver in his teeth. With Butch nowhere to be seen and the others catching up with him, he needed to take action and quickly. Making a break for the nearest piece of cover, the wall of a building, Gearshift slid across the ground to get behind it. Poking his head out, all he could see were ponies and changelings alike running in multiple directions. Some were engaging in firefights, firing their weapons in the direction of their enemies. It wasn't until Gearshift stepped out further that he saw who they were firing at, looking towards the far end of the street to make them out. Down the other end of the street, he caught sight of a large group of disgruntled, scruffy looking raiders pouring into the town through the northern passage. Some were chasing after the inhabitants, equipped with gnarly looking melee weapons, whilst some were returning fire to the citizens who had taken up weapons in order to fight back.

"Help me move this!" A voice called out within earshot, getting Gearshift's attention. Looking in that direction, his eyes landed on Enigma. She, along with another changeling mare were attempting to lift a section of debris that had fallen and was currently crushing the leg of an earth pony stallion. Quickly checking the coast was clear, Gearshift moved out from behind cover, slid his revolver back into its holster and quickly rushed over to their position.

"Enigma!" he called as he ran over, the changeling mare turning to look at him.

"Gearshift!" Enigma exclaimed in a surprised but greatly relieved tone. "When did you get back?"

"Just now." Gearshift answered.

"Well you chose the perfect time to drop in." Enigma responded before turning her attention back to the trapped stallion. "Okay, lift on three. One... two... three!"

Quickly grabbing hold of the debris, Gearshift helped in lifting it up. Together the three of them managed to lift the debris enough to give the stallion enough room to slide his leg out from underneath. The leg itself didn't look in the best of shape but thankfully the stallion was able to stand up.

"Are you okay?" Gearshift asked the stallion, who gave a pained nod.

"I'll be alright, thank you." He said.

"Nyx, get him to Suture Seam, see what he can do for him." Enigma told the other mare.

"Got it. Come on let's go." Nyx said, taking hold of the stallion in order to help him with walking on his damaged leg, keeping pressure off of it.

Watching the two of them slowly move on, Gearshift gave a soft sigh of relief, glad to have helped him.

"Where are your friends?" Enigma asked, seeing Gearshift was by himself.

"I'm not sure, they were right behind me and I was following Butch but it looks like we got separated in all the commotion." Gearshift answered.

"Alright, looks like it's just us for now then." Enigma said, levitating a rifle off of her back. Chambering the lever on the underside, she gave Gearshift a nod.

Gearshift drew his revolver once more and nodded in response before the two moved forwards down the street. They didn't get far however as just ahead of them, at a crossroads, was an ongoing gunfight between raiders and Trottingham citizens, the latter of which were clumped together and currently losing, as well as having a casualty with an earth pony mare laying face down on the ground and not moving. Gearshift and Enigma continued their approach, aiming to help out the citizens that were currently fighting. Raising up his revolver to take a shot at the firing raiders, Enigma doing the same with her rifle, the area not far ahead of them was blasted with a wave of heat that forced them to stop dead in their tracks then promptly backpedal. Gearshift had clamped his eyes shut when the heat erupted in front of them, but upon opening them, he was met with a grizzly sight. Turning his attention to the group of citizens they had seen moments prior, his eyes widened in horror as their charred bodies dropped to the ground, flesh having melted off and in one poor stallion's case half his face having been melted off. Before Gearshift could utter another word, the perpetrator stepped around the corner. Twin cylinders on his back, a tube connected to them that stretched around from the back, coming around to the front to point at his unfortunate targets and a black mask shielding his own face from the devastating force his weapon would bring.

This was Flame Buck.

Holy shit.

Author's Note

Happy New Year Everyone!

So so so sorry this has taken so long to get out to you but with classes starting back up again I've been mighty busy.

Hope you enjoy chapter 6 and I'll try getting chapter 7 out as soon as possible.

Fly High~