The Last of Equestria: New Beginnings

Chapters

{Prologue} Not Your Fault...
{Chapter 1} Calm Before the Storm
{Chapter 2} The Day Our World Ended
{Chapter 3} Close Friends and Closer Enemies
{Chapter 4} Suspiciously Close Encounters
{Chapter 5} Death Valley

{Prologue} Not Your Fault...

"Are you sure you're okay to work?"

I sigh softly as I close my locker and shove my collection of pens into my scrub pockets. My concerned coworker and fellow nurse, Minnow Brookewing, looks at me with deep, genuine concern. I understand it entirely and had yesterday's events happened to anypony but myself, I would've been in her shoes. I look at Minnow and give her a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, I promise," I say as reassuringly as I can "I'll be able to do my job just fine. If it starts to feel like I can't, I'll let you know."

"Okay, if you say so... but I'm keeping an eye on you, okay?," Minnow says before trotting away.

'I'm sure you will', I think to myself as I follow her out the door and to the break room for our morning report. Once there, I file into line alongside my coworkers and only half listen to our attending as he gives us the report. Despite fighting to do the complete opposite and pay attention, my mind keeps wandering, thinking back to yesterday, almost like it's on autopilot or something. An eternity passes by and finally, report is over and I'm free to tend to my patients. I pass by the nurses station, wave at my colleagues, turn the corner and continue onwards until I reach room 31-03 here on the second floor. I grab the patient's chart from the holder screwed on the wall just outside the door and read through it. Comatose patient, medically induced, severe head injuries from a recent skiing accident and more fractures all over than I've ever seen on one patient at any given time.

Both out of habit and standard procedure, I knock on the door before entering the room. The poor mare is laying on the bed with an assortment of machinery keeping her alive and breathing while her brain heals. Were it not for them, one would think that she was probably dead. She’s by herself today. I suppose the family had other things to take care of. I trot up to the small counter in the left corner of the room closest to the door and grab up the bathing kit left in here ahead of time just for little ol' me. I take it to the bathroom and place the contents- soap, a rag, towel and small baggie with combs- next to the sink. I turn the knobs so that the water comes out warm and wait for it to reach the proper temperature. As I wait, I look at myself in the mirror, my reflection staring back at me with the same emotionless expression...

***

"I got the restraints! Minnow is coming with the B-52 for backup as you requested, Maple!"

Citrus Citrine, a certified nursing assistant- CNA- working on our floor that day, galloped into the room carrying the bed restraints requested by our colleague, an advanced practice registered nurse- APRN- named Maple Grove.

"Holy shit, are you okay, Silver?!" Citrus exclaimed as he tossed Maple a set of the bed restraints.

I glanced down at my foreleg and the small streams of blood that had been oozing down my leg and dripping onto the bed. Our patient, a scientist with the Equestrian Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, had been brought in two days prior for injuries brought on by a workplace altercation. She was perfectly fine on day one, alert, coherent, aware of herself and colleagues, laughing at the circumstances, even. Ms. Aria seemed to be on the road to a full recovery until suddenly she became fevered, delusional and agitated around midday yesterday. She was then admitted and quickly brought up to the ICU, where we then began treating her for sepsis, put her on broad spectrum antibiotics, and then when it clearly wasn't working and she was only getting worse, we started other treatments.

We've gone through every logical explanation, and courses of treatments, including ones for known fungal infections, yet nothing is working and she's gotten severely worse. Now, this poor, sick mare is to the point where she's lost all sense of reasoning and is trying to attack everypony she can for reasons I- we- didn’t know, hence the need for bed restraints. She tried to rip out her IVs and take off the various monitor cords attached to her, all while trying to get out of bed as quickly as she physically could. Luckily, Maple had already been with me at the time and together we held her down after I called for some backup.

While Citrus had been on his way here, Ms. Aria had thrown her head back and sunk her mouth into my leg. She broke the skin enough for it to bleed at a pretty decent pace. I was bitten hard enough that you could almost perfectly make out nearly every detail of her teeth. I continued to hold down her forelegs as best as I could while Citrus fastened the restraints he had to the bed before moving onto her left back leg. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Maple hurriedly working to untangle the other set of restraints.

CRACK!

Intense pain engulfs my face as I’m sent reeling backwards, causing me to completely lose my grip on Ms. Aria. A warm, wet sensation pours down from my muzzle and down my neck. I hear Citrus gasp loudly, which is quickly followed up by a pained yelp. Distracted by Ms. Aria headbutting me in the face, I helplessly watched as she bucked him in the jaw. Based on the sound alone, I had no doubt his jaw was broken. It all happened so quickly, in a matter of seconds. Between how surprisingly quick she was and being stunned by our respective injuries, Citrus and I were unable to react fast enough to stop her as Ms. Aria threw herself out of her bed, completely ripping the restraint from the bed rail in the process.

The two of us are stunned further as Ms. Aria tackled Maple to the ground and bit off a huge chunk of flesh from the side of Maple’s face, who screamed in pain and tried to push Ms. Aria off. Citrus rushed to Maple’s side as I spun around and smashed the call button. I call for immediate backup and security to come to the room. I heard Citrus yelp again as I turned back and saw him get pushed over by Ms. Aria, who quickly galloped out of the room.

“Tend to Maple’s wounds, I’ll worry about Ms. Aria!” I shouted at Citrus as I galloped after our runaway patient.

“Yes ma’am!” Citrus called out as I quickly exited the room.

As soon as I entered the hallway, I momentarily paused in my tracks in pure shock and utter terror at the sight that had been waiting for me. Two ponies wearing visitor stickers had been attacked by Ms. Aria. One of them, a young unicorn mare, was on the floor gasping for air as blood gurgled out the wound on her neck and onto the floor. Ms. Aria had taken out a chunk of this poor mare’s throat before moving onto the other visitor, an older earth pony stallion. The older stallion was on the floor attempting to fend off Ms. Aria and had a chunk missing from his shoulder, leaving a bloody, oozing cavity behind. It was absolutely mind boggling how fast Ms. Aria had been in accomplishing those attacks.

Reality suddenly snapped back to me as I galloped forward and tackled Ms. Aria off the stallion and to the ground. I wrapped my forelegs around her neck and my back legs around her waist and held her down with every ounce of strength I had in me. Ms. Aria struggled in my grasp and tried her best to bite me again. I yelled out as loudly as I could manage for help. I could worry less about my own injuries. It wasn’t my first broken nose and it certainly wouldn't be my last. I look behind me to see the older stallion holding the young mare he had been accompanying close to his chest and sobbing. Her body was limp and her eyes appeared to be lifeless, though blood continued to pour out of her wound. Given the severity of the injury and the amount of blood on the floor alone, I knew the poor mare had bled to death before she could receive proper medical care.

“My god! Aria, what have you done?!” An unfamiliar voice exclaimed in a mixture of shock and terror.

“Hey! You need to leave! It isn’t safe right now!” I ordered as I quickly looked forward.

Standing before me was a unicorn mare wearing a light pink turtleneck sweater with dark brown sleeves and stripes throughout. Pinned to her sweater was a badge identifying her as a member of the ECDC. Underneath it was the same visitor sticker given to family and friends here to see their loved ones at North Star Medical Center. She had a short, mulberry mane styled into a straight bob with a single curl at the top. Her coat was pale olive in color and her eyes were a bright turquoise. The mare looked down at Ms. Aria, her expression changing to one of sadness and regret.

“Aria… I’m so sorry. I should have done this sooner,” The mare apologized softly, her voice trembling.

Before I could even question a single word she said, the mare pulled out a small pistol- a 10mm if I had to guess- with some kind of attachment to the barrel, which she then pressed against Ms. Aria’s skull using her turquoise colored magic. There was a brief moment of hesitation before the mare pulled the trigger and put two rounds into her brain. I flinched at the sound as my ears flattened against my mane. Ms. Aria went limp in my grasp as her head drooped down and to the side. Despite everything awful Ms. Aria had done, I couldn’t help but stare at the mare in sheer horror. Ms. Aria... her illness had removed her sense of reason and ability to rationalize her actions. I didn’t harbor any ill feelings towards her. Instead, I felt incredibly sad for Ms. Aria, seeing her suffering so greatly that it completely changed who she was fundamentally. It didn’t change or undo what she did, but still…

“I’m sorry for the pain and suffering Aria has inflicted upon you and those poor souls behind you. I’m her colleague, Dr. Phantasia. I knew this was going to happen, but Dr. Brown…” The mare trailed off as she shook her head and put away her weapon.

“He refused to listen. She ended up just like Snow and Dawn. I told him she would,” Dr. Phantasia quickly added.

“I… Wh-wha… You…” I trailed off as I struggled to formulate a coherent thought.

“She bit you. Did she bite anypony else besides you three?” Dr. Phantasia questioned.

“Y-yes. Maple. Sh-she… bit a-a chunk of out her f-face,” I stammered.

“It all started with our colleagues Dr. Snow and Dr. Dawn. They ended up like this after inhaling a… a specimen we had discovered. They attacked Aria, bit her on the neck and ear,” Dr. Phantasia explained “and then, two days later, Aria ended up just like them? It's not a coincidence. It's cause and effect. Now you’ve been bitten...”

“What?? Are you suggesting that-” I barely get the sentence out before I'm interrupted.

“The same thing is going to happen to you. I’m sure it differs between individuals, but you’ve got a maximum of two days before you… end up like her,” Dr. Phantasia said, her eyes and words filled with sadness.

“This isn’t a sci-fi movie, this is reality! S-Stop making it sound like this is the start of a-a-a zombie apocalypse!” I snapped angrily.

“Look, I get it. I know this is hard to accept and maybe even harder to believe, but the evidence is lying lifeless underneath you. If I was allowed to, I’d show you the evidence back at our laboratory,” Dr. Phantasia snapped back with a heavy sigh.

“Wait. Before you say anything else, just let me say this; If you and whomever else Aria has infected end up just like her, we’ll have a serious epidemic on our hooves… and it’s one I’m not sure we could ever hope to cure,” Dr. Phantasia added as she stepped closer.

I released my hold of Ms. Aria and stood up, my wounds still oozing blood. I inhaled and let out a long, shaky sigh. I was utterly dumbfounded at the very idea this so-called ‘scientist’ had suggested. Dr. Phantasia reached out and placed a hoof on my shoulder as she looked deep into my eyes.

“I… I’m not… I’m not a murderer… a-and I would never, ever wish that anypony would commit suicide, but…” Tears spilled down her cheeks as she trailed off “please, listen to what I’m telling you and believe it. You don’t want the same to happen to you. I can't imagine what it was like for them, all the suffering and being unable to stop the changes. Please, go home, write a letter to your friends and folks and… and end it however you’d like.”

“You’re a fucking quack, you know that?! You need to have yourself committed to the psych ward! You’re suggesting an impossible, purely fictional scenario!” I exclaimed angrily, swatting her hoof from my shoulder “just because this so-called ‘evidence’ of yours happens to be similar to the start of every single zombie movie currently in existence, doesn’t mean that the same is happening in our reality!! It's coincidental, not factual!!”

“I understand your point of view entirely and I’m very sorry for what I’ve suggested. I also understand you don’t agree, however, to put it bluntly, you have a degree in understanding our anatomy and how to fix the pony body when something is wrong with it,” Dr. Phantasia said sympathetically but with a hint of frustration “I have a degree in biology with a specific specialty of mycology. I understand- I know- what’s caused this. I know that I’m right about this.”

“Oh, yeah? That so? You must be sooo knowledgeable, then! Is there anything you don’t know?!” I snapped angrily before taking a step closer to her.

I could feel my blood begin to boil in my veins as my anger continued to climb. I knew what I said was childish, but everything was so stressful, confusing, and anger-inducing... I just couldn't formulate a more mature response.

“I am very knowledgeable about the things I’ve learned and discovered, but yeah, there are things that I don’t know,” Dr. Phantasia sneered as she stepped away from me “I know that Fairy Wings is the cause of this. I know it turned my friends into monsters and that it will do the same to you and your friends.”

“I don’t know why and that’s about it,” She quickly added.

“F-Fairy... wings?” I couldn’t help but to question something that sounded so bizarre.

“Mediocris Alas, a long lost cousin of poison joke, twice removed. Fungi aren’t in the same kingdom as plants, but they have a few strands that are genetically similar to strands of DNA found in poison joke,” Dr. Phantasia explained with a deep sigh “I’m not supposed to say anything to anypony without the proper clearance, much less outside the ECDC, but.. I guess it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

“You’re going to die soon, whether by your own hoof or the infection,” She added so matter-of-factly.

I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it in an attempt to calm down. I regained my composure the best I could and pointed a hoof behind me.

“I’m not going to die nor am I... ‘infected’. You better get the hell out of here before security comes and I have them arrest you for having a prohibited firearm in the hospital... or that you murdered your colleague,” I said in a more calm manner.

Dr. Phantasia stared at me for a moment before sighing and nodding her head. She looked down at Aria, then back up at me and the presumed father mourning his dead presumed daughter behind me. She sighed heavily once more before moving uncomfortably close to me.

“I am so terribly sorry. I could’ve stopped this sooner. What’s your name?” Dr. Phantasia said as she locked eyes with me.

“Silver Swallows. As in the birds, not the bodily function,” I said simply.

“May I take your picture? Only to remember you by, of course,” Dr. Phantasia asked as she pulled out a pocket-sized polaroid camera.

“I'm not exactly camera ready, but... sure?” I replied, though it was truly more of a question.

Dr. Phantasia took a few steps backwards and quickly snapped my photo. I didn’t really care how I looked and or that I was covered- drenched, even- in my own blood. As long as she didn’t rub one out to it, I really didn’t care what she did with my photo. Once it had developed, Dr. Phantasia pulled out a small notebook and stuck the photo between some random pages. She then put back both the camera and the notebook before locking eyes with me again.

“Thank you. Again, Silver, I am so, so very sorry. Please, no matter what happens… know it wasn’t your fault,” Dr. Phantasia said somberly.

Before another word could be said, the sound of shouting came from the direction Dr. Phantasia had come from. The two of us locked eyes once again before Phantasia fled down the hallway behind me. I turned and watched her canter away until she was out of sight. I took in a deep breath and sighed sharply, then looked down at the older stallion and young mare. At some point during my interaction with Dr. Phantasia, the older stallion had tragically taken his own life using a pen to puncture a major artery in his neck. The pain of losing his loved one so violently and not being able to save her must have been too much to bear. I feel so horrible that I hadn’t even noticed until now.

“Sweet Celestia! What happened here, Silver?!” A familiar voice exclaimed.

I turned to see a slew of fellow nurses and security officers approaching me. I give them a rundown of what transpired, except I leave out my interaction with Dr. Phantasia. Instead, I tell them it all happened too quickly, I didn’t get a good look at who shot my patient other than it had been a mare and that that was all I knew. I wasn’t sure why I was protecting Phantasia or what I even gained from it, but my gut told me it was the right thing to do... even if I didn’t agree with anything she had said.

***

… Huh? My hooves are… wet?

Reality suddenly comes crashing into me like a tsunami. I shake my head and look around to get my bearings. I come to realize I’m still at work and in a patient's bathroom. I look down to see the sink is overflowing onto the floor, creating a giant puddle. My head throbs and I feel as if I just woke up from a dream. ‘Shit, shit, shit!’, I mentally curse as I turn off the sink and look for something to clean up the spill with. I use the two large towels kept in every patient’s bathroom as well as some of the soiled linen left in the hamper to clean up the spilled water. I don’t remember putting the plastic bath basin in the sink, which is what obstructed the drain and allowed the water to build up and overflow.

I mentally kick myself for even thinking this, but I am glad my patient is comatose. It’s still embarrassing that I spaced out like that, but it’s a little less so knowing my patient isn’t awake to know just how long I’ve been standing here with water puddling at my hooves. I woke up feeling off this morning, but I still forced myself to go to work today because I felt it would keep my mind too busy to think about yesterday. I guess I was wrong about that. Shit. Maybe Dr. Phantasia was right all along. Am I really infected? Am I really going to turn into a mindless, flesh eating zombie? My heart begins to race in my chest as panic sets in. No, no, no, no! I… I can’t turn into a zombie!

I slap myself in the face and shove that irrational train of thought to the side. I was right yesterday and I’m still right today. Dr. Phantasia was just... just paranoid and overly cautious. There is no way a zombie outbreak will happen. I don’t remember if I cleaned that bite properly, if at all. These delusional thoughts I’m having must be from an infection creeping in, but not the kind Dr. Phantasia was suggesting. I’ll have to clean it later when I finish up my initial rounds this morning. Celestia knows how long I’ve been standing here daydreaming, I’d better hurry and get a move on before Minnow comes along with a big, fat ‘I told you so’.

I get my shit together mentally and gather everything I need to bathe my patient, then exit the bathroom and do my job properly. As a way of apologizing to my comatose patient, I take extra special care of combing out her hair carefully and thoroughly before washing it well. Most nurses and the like would skip over the hair and just bathe the patient’s body, but damn, this poor mare has such long, gorgeous locks. I’d hate for it to get to the point where it’s so matted and tangled that they’d have to shave it. I wash her body more quickly than I normally would while still ensuring that she’s actually nice and clean. Once I finish, I properly put up the bathing supplies and leave the room to go care for my other patients.

I hurry out into the hallway and canter down to the next patient’s room. As I do so, I pass by a set of elevators and find myself suddenly coming to a stop. Once again, my body feels like it’s on autopilot. I stare at my blurred reflection in the elevator doors as this weird, tugging desire to go to the morgue suddenly overcomes me. It takes every ounce of mental strength to break free of it and now I’m starting to doubt my own beliefs once more. Maybe I should’ve taken that paid leave and stayed home. I’m clearly just traumatized from yesterday and it's manifesting in some weird ways. I’m fine. I’m fine. Totally and perfectly fine.

I continue on with my work day, focusing harder than normal on doing my job and even harder on ignoring the weird desire to go to the morgue that keeps recurring. Despite my wishes and how hard I try to do otherwise, I keep having moments of memory lapses and suddenly snapping back to reality. As the day drags along, I start to feel like I’ve caught a fever and I feel even more off than what I was when I woke up. I borrow a thermometer and check my temp. Sure enough, I’ve got a low grade fever. I know I need to go talk to my attending and let him know that I need to go home because.... *sigh* but I can’t leave just yet. I need to check on Maple first.

She was admitted to the ICU a couple of hours after the incident yesterday. Citrus told me they had to sedate her because the pain had her badly agitated. Although… was it really the pain that made her that way or… or was Dr. Phantasia right after all? At this point, I’m not really sure if I want to find out or not. The feeling of knowing you’re sick and are going to turn into a monster completely out of your control is sickening, but somehow I find the uncertainty of not knowing if it will or won’t happen to be worse. I don’t want to believe it, but I keep finding myself wondering if it’s true. Good lord, I hope it isn’t. What if it is and deep down, I’m still there but my body is doing such unspeakable horrors, hurting the ones I love and care for?

Lunch time rolls around before I know it. The world around me continues on as if everything was right as rain, but yet my own world seems to trudge on at crawl. As I ride the elevator up to the third floor, that desire to go to the morgue forms in the pit of my stomach again. Why the morgue of all places? Maybe... Yeah. Ms. Aria, her body is still in the morgue. No family has come to claim it, so I’ve heard. I know she’s the one who bit me, but… but why do I subconsciously desire to go to her corpse? It's like- if it's true I'm infected- that we're... connected somehow? I wish I had answers to all these questions. I guess only time will tell. I wish I had a good thought to take comfort in, but my mind- unsurprisingly- draws blanks.

I exit the elevator once the doors open and quickly make my way to Maple’s room. It’s incredibly ironic, but they wound up putting her in the same room Ms. Aria previously occupied. I don’t think they meant to, unless for some reason Maple specifically requested it. By the way Citrus was talking, I don’t think that was the case. I softly knock on the door and quietly enter the room. Maple is sound asleep on the bed… or maybe she’s just unconscious from the medication they gave her. Either way, she’s not awake to hear my hello as I approach her bed. I pull up a stool from nearby and sit right next to her. As I watch her sleep, Maple’s body twitches a couple of times. They weren’t exactly subtle, but also not on the violent side. Suspicious, I guess is the right word to use.

I sigh sharply before leaning forward and placing a hoof gingerly on the bandage covering her facial wound. As soon as I do, I find myself put in some kind of trance. Instantly, I’m frozen to the spot and it’s like I’ve entered a shared dream world with Maple. The two of us are in the morgue now and that weird desire has returned stronger than ever. It’s almost like it’s calling for us, urging us to come down. The world spins and I feel a strong sense of vertigo wash over me before it suddenly stops. Still in that weird dream world, we’re in front of a cold locker in the morgue. There’s a paper tag in the small square tag holder on the door. On it, the name 'Sweet Aria' and yesterday’s date is written on it.

I’m violently snapped back into reality as I find myself falling off my stool. Luckily, I caught myself just in time before I could get hurt, however, I do so in such a way that it forces me to come face to face- so to speak- with my bandaged bite wound. Somehow I’ve gone all this time without noticing, but the wound has gotten… worse. These weird vein-like marks have appeared, like it’s… growing? Yeah, it’s like something is growing from the wound and making its way up my leg. It’s all red and tender and… well, infected looking. I get up, scramble to the nearby cabinet and grab a roll of bandage wrap. I quickly cover what’s ‘grown’ up leg from the bite wound. She did say it was a fungus, right? Could the fungus be... growing under my skin? It didn't seem to respond to treatment, but maybe it could be surgically removed?

I hate to admit it, but I think I’m starting to come to terms with the fact that Phantasia was right. Thinking back to when Ms. Aria was admitted, I realize that her wounds had progressed in a similar manner. Then yesterday happened. Oh god… She was right. She was right and I… I still came to work. I know now more than ever I should leave and go home, but what about Maple? What if she-she turns while I… More ponies might get hurt if I just leave her here unattended. There’s no way I could leave early, get some kind of… oh my god … some kind of weapon to… to spare her from that fate and sneak back in without somepony noticing or it causing suspicion. No, the best course of action is… I don’t know. I guess I’ll finish out my work day and figure it out when I'm off? Then again...

I look up at the clock and realize my lunch break is basically over with. I whisper a promise to Maple that I’ll return later before turning and hurrying out the door. I continue on with my shift as best I can manage. As time drags on, I grow more certain and can even feel that I’m losing myself to this infection. It’s absolutely terrifying, but I need to hold on just a little bit longer. My shift is almost over. As soon as it ends, I’m going to do what Phantasia suggested. I… I really, really don’t want to die, but Maple and I will hurt others and spread this damned infection to others if we remain alive just for us to turn later. However, a couple of hours later and things have only gotten so, so much worse for me. I can hardly concentrate as I work on some of my charting. I’ve gained a new, horrible and unfortunate symptom.

A new desire to hurt others and 'further the spread'. It’s so difficult to fight it. I’ve had to put on my jacket because the spread of the wound has worsened and traveled up to my chin. My body is trembling and twitching and I’m not sure anymore if it’s from being scared and nervous or from the infection. I abandon my charting and steal some paper from a nearby printer. Using a pen from my extensive pocket collection, I write a note for my loved ones and a second for my coworkers explaining the situation and what really happened yesterday. I also make it explicitly clear that I’m going to the morgue and taking Maple with me as well for them to keep out or come armed… just in case.

My writing is sloppy and hard to read from the trembling and twitching. I keep accidentally leaving random stroke marks and messing up letters and words. Worst of all, I can see not all of my words are coherent and I end up writing a good deal of total gibberish. I can’t control it, either. I guess that’s truly the worst part. My time is quickly running out and I can feel the horrible sensation of losing control of my body and my actions. I double check the bandage scissors I acquired earlier is still in my pocket, then tape the notes to the outside of the door of the room I was in and make my way to Maple’s room as fast as I can.

I don't know if it was luck or some kind of blessing, but somehow I managed to slip away and get there totally unnoticed. At least, I didn't see anypony and if anypony saw me, they didn't say a word. I disarm every alarm and IV hooked up to Maple as well as her bed. Once she and the bed are totally freed and all alarms have been disarmed temporarily, I push her out of the room and to the nearest staff elevator. It’s quite the struggle in my current state, but I thank my lucky stars the elevators aren’t very far. I thank my extra lucky stars that I continue to somehow avoid my coworkers… or visitors, for that matter. I smash the button for the elevator and wait as patiently as I can. My head stays on a swivel as I wait. The elevator dings and the doors open with whoosh, which causes me to flinch.

I push Maple into the elevator- thankful no coworkers are inside- and smash the button to take us to the floor where the morgue is. As the elevator makes its descent, the sensation of losing control of myself grows even stronger. I sob as my body involuntarily twitches, jerks and trembles uncontrollably. By the time the elevator finally arrives at my destination, I’m no longer in control of myself or my actions. My body is stuck on autopilot. Old and new desires, urges and sensations overwhelm and flood my body and brain. I feel like an outsider to my own self, some kind of specter watching from the outside as the infection takes over me entirely. Is this how Ms. Aria felt until Phantasia snuffed her out? There... There are no amount of letters or words in any language that I could possibly string together to properly describe just how... how awful, terrible, frightening this is.

I feel connected to Maple in a more literal sense now as I push her out of the elevator and down the hall to the morgue. It’s a struggle and a nearly impossible task, but somehow I… somehow my body manages to do so. I practically send the bed sailing through the opened door to the morgue and it crashes into a metal table in the center of the room. A cloud of cold spills out from the morgue and although the chill covers my body in goosebumps, it's otherwise totally unfazed. My body throws itself into the morgue and stumbles about looking for the locker with Ms. Aria’s name on it. A diener working in the morgue sees this and shouts something at me. He looks angry, but I don’t understand a single word of anything he says. Then… it happens.

All thoughts leave what’s left of my sane self as I turn and lock eyes with the poor, unfortunate stallion. His eyes go wide with fear and somehow I can make out that ‘holy shit’ leaves his lips as he notices what’s causing my erratic behavior. I try to speak, but no words come. Only guttural gurgles and groans. I stumble and stagger towards him slowly. He makes a sudden movement- an attempt to flee- and then I come to understand how Ms. Aria had been so fast. In the blink of an eye, I tackle him to the ground and attack him like some kind of feral beast. My teeth sink into his flesh as he screams, his warm, metallic blood filling my mouth.

He tries to fend me off, but his efforts are futile. I was never a weak individual before, but now I am absurdly strong. Only a small shred of myself is left as I watch the life leave the stallion's body as I continue to maul him and rip him apart. There’s nothing I can do anymore. This part of me left is growing smaller by the second as the infection gains total control of my brain and body. The stallion stops moving but I continue to rip and tear into his flesh, consuming part of it and slinging the rest across the room. I’m stained in blood not of my own. Movement out the corner of my eyes catches my attention. I look over and see Maple twitching and jerking in her bed. My body throws itself off the stallion and gallops across the room until it comes to a stop in front of a cold locker.

My reflection shows how far gone I am, just how worse this infection is. It’s spread from my chin and up my head. It's consumed the majority of the right side of my face, wrapping around the side of my head and up my ear. My right eye is bloodshot and my pupil looks cloudy. The veiny growths of the infection have spread into my eye and nearly reach my pupil.

“I am so, so very sorry. Please, no matter what happens… it wasn’t your fault.”

No… I should’ve listened to her. I shouldn’t have waited. I’m sorry everypony… I... It’s not my fault… She... She said it wasn’t… It’s not my fault…

It’s not my fault…

It’s not….

My fault…

It’s not…

{Chapter 1} Calm Before the Storm

“Mommy! The oven is ready!”

I give the cake pan a little shake to even out the batter and turn to see my precious daughter holding the oven open with her orange-colored magic. I thank her sweetly and put the cake pan into the hot oven using my own, dark magenta-colored magic. She giggles and closes the door, her little ivory-cream colored body bouncing with excitement. She has the biggest grin on her face as she looks up at me with those cute, little orange eyes of hers. I take a moment to adore just how precious and cute she is- especially when this excited- as I set the timer for the oven. Her energetic enthusiasm for helping bake her birthday cake is honestly contagious.

I reach out and gently ruffle her light blue mane she always keeps styled into a short little bob with a few curls. I look over my shoulder and watch as my son carefully- with much concentration- squeezes a few drops of blue food coloring into a bowl of white icing. A small collection of differently colored bowls of icing sit on the counter nearby. He’s sitting on top of a stool close to the counter with his tongue between his teeth as he stirs the bowl of icing he has with a metal spoon. Unlike his sister and I, Larkspur is an earth pony. The food coloring he uses isn’t too far off from the soft blue of his own coat and I’ve always adored how curly his little lilac mane has been. It never fails to remind me of the very flower he’s named after. It’s really the only thing their father ever got right.

“You’re doing a good job, Larky. Do you need any help?” I say as I approach him.

“No mama! I’ve got this!” Larkspur exclaims proudly as he looks up at me.

“Mmhm. You sure do, buddy. I’m proud of you,” I say as I kiss the top of his little head.

“This is gonna be the best cake ever! Sissy’s gonna love it!” Larkspur exclaims happily.

“Darn tootin’ it is! She already loves it, don’t you Ivory?” I say as I hold the bowl steady for my son.

Silence answers my question. I repeat my question as I look over my shoulder. Just that quickly and quietly, my daughter- Ivory Rain- had left the room without me noticing. I call out for her and am met with silence once more. I let go of the bowl and start to leave the kitchen when Ivory comes galloping back in with an even bigger grin on her face. I exhale a sigh of relief I didn’t realize I had been holding. She’s carrying a makeshift gift box made out of paper and glue, meticulously decorated with markers and a little bow made of string.

Usually silence and children mean some kind of mischief is afoot, but I couldn’t ask for more kinder, loving and well-behaved children than my own. Still, I always find myself worried when they suddenly disappear or go quiet. Not because I’m worried they’re up to something or have slipped out the door without telling me, but… well, it feels like it wasn’t too long ago that disappearing and silence meant ‘dad’ was home and that ‘dad’ was pissed. I say dad that way, but while he’s the biological father of both of my children, he never played the part… except for when it meant saving face and making me look- and feel- stupid.

That’s neither here nor there now. He’s gone, locked away for the foreseeable future. It’s been a couple of years since we finally escaped, so to speak, but from time to time I still find myself looking over my shoulder and worried he’ll be there to torment us some more. I don’t like silence anymore, not much of it anyways. I always try to keep us busy or have either the TV or the radio on. I push the thought out of my head as I graciously accept the gift Ivory hands over to me. I give the homemade box a little shake and hear something rattle inside. I open the box and reveal its contents; a special, carefully crafted charm necklace. It’s clear she poured her heart and soul into it as she made it for me.

Threaded onto a pink string are beads in a pattern of yellow, cream, blue and red. The charms are carefully placed in a pattern as well. After the first set of colored beads is a slice of cake followed by beads with the letters ‘H’ and ‘C’ on them. There are more colored beads, then a slice of pizza and more colored beads. The next set of three charms is a raindrop, then letter beads with ‘I’ and ‘R’ on them. Afterwards, there are more colored beads, a red heart charm, more colored beads, then a bright blue flower charm, a letter bead with an ‘L’ on it, more colored beads, a smiley face and then finally more colored beads.

“You made this for me? Hey, ain’t I the one who’s supposed to be giving you gifts?” I question playfully as I admire the necklace.

“Heehee! Yeah, but if you think about it, my birthday is, like, your birthday too! Kinda!” Ivory answers as she sits down and claps her hooves together.

“That so?” I ask as I slip the necklace around my neck.

“Well, duh, mommy. You wouldn’t be a mommy without me and I wouldn’t have a birthday without you,” Ivory explains in a tone suggesting it was clearly obvious “it makes sense, don’t it?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it does make sense,” I say with a chuckle “thank you very much, darling. I promise I’ll always wear it and never lose it. It’s very beautiful.”

“Yay! I’m glad you like it, mama! That’s what my super secret project was. I wanted to surprise you!” Ivory says as she jumps up and hugs my leg tightly.

“Oooh! I was wondering what that super secret project was,” I say as I gladly return the hug.

“You’re really smart, mama, so I probably don’t need to tell you what the charms mean, buuut…” Ivory trails off, looking at me with excited, pleading eyes.

“Buuut?” I ask, encouraging her to continue “you want to?”

“Yes! Yes! Okay, okay, so, the cake is for you because, well, your name! And because you’re super good at making cakes and stuff! Oh, then the first two letters are for your name!” Ivory explains with much- and very adorable- enthusiasm.

“That’s really thoughtful, baby. And the pizza?” I say, playfully feigning ignorance.

“Because we love pizza! Because you take us to get pizza every Saturday! That’s why Saturdays are my favorite!” Ivory exclaims happily.

“Because of the pizza?” I ask with another chuckle.

“Well, yeah! I’m a kid and kids loooove pizza,” Ivory says in a goofy voice “but also because I love spending time with you and bubby. Also also because I brag to the other kids about how cool and awesome my mommy is while we goof in the play area!”

“You tell the other kids about me?” I ask with genuine curiosity.

“Duh! You’re, like, literally the best mom EVER!” Ivory exclaims she peers around me “ain’t that right, Larky?”

“Yup! Mommy is the best mommy ever, ever, ever!” Larkspur chimes in as he licks icing from the spoon he was using.

“Well, shucks. How lucky am I to have such sweet baby angels?” I ask, happy tears pricking the corners of my eyes “and the other charms, baby?”

“The raindrop is because I have rain in my name, then the ‘I’ and ‘R’ are because of my name. The heart is for how much I love you,” Ivory explains “I wanted to add a million hearts because that’s really how much I love you, but I couldn’t fit a million hearts sadly.”

“Oh, then the flower is for Larky because he’s named after a flower, the ‘L’ is for his name and the smiley face is for how happy you make me! The colored beads also represent us! Yellow for mommy, cream for me, blue for Larky and red for our love!” Ivory quickly adds with much excitement.

“I can say with a thousand percent honesty that this is most definitely the best present anypony has ever gotten me, baby girl. I can’t begin to thank you enough for such a wonderful gift,” I say, a couple of happy tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Larkspur calls out.

“Yes, baby?” I answer as I turn to face him.

“Can you help me down? I made something for you too! Sissy helped me make it!” Larkspur exclaims, matching his big sister’s excited energy.

“Wait a minute, I get two gifts? From the two best ponies on Equus? Mommy’s heart is going to melt from the sweetness!” I exclaim as I help Larkspur down from the stool.

I carefully ‘slump’ onto the floor and pretend to ‘die’ from the sweetness overload. Larkspur giggles as he gallops out of the kitchen. A flood of giggles erupt from Ivory as she trots over and carefully climbs on top of me. She gives me fake CPR and places a big smooch on my cheek. I spring to life and pull her into a tight hug. My children are my heart and soul, my purpose for living, my literal everything. I genuinely don’t know what I’d do without them or what I’d do if I lost either one of them. Ivory is such a good filly and an even better big sister. It won’t be too much longer now before Larkspur will be able to call himself a big brother and Ivory will have two little siblings to play with.

As Larkspur comes galloping back into the kitchen, I let go of Ivory and we both stand up. Even though this isn’t my first rodeo with an-almost-ready-to-pop baby bump, I always struggle a little bit to get up after getting down. Ivory does her best to help me and I ruffle her mane again as a quiet ‘thank you’. Larkspur hands me a piece of paper lovingly decorated with a collage of stickers and marker stick figures representing a happy family- our family- playing at the park. I thank him with a big, loving smooch on the head and pin the picture to the fridge with one of the many magnets stuck to the doors. Larkspur beams proudly as he hugs my leg tightly. Ivory joins in and hugs my other leg just as tightly.

“Hey, now. I can’t hug you back if you’ve got my legs!” I jokingly scold with a cheeky grin and a big wink.

“Mwahaha! We’ll never let go!” Ivory exclaims in a goofy voice as she wraps herself around my leg.

Larkspur follows her lead and giggles.

“Well, shoot. Guess I’m stuck like this forever, then,” I say with a fake sigh.

I awkwardly shuffle my way out of the kitchen with two little foals attached to my forelegs and head into the living room. The kids let go of my legs and start a game of tag. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that tomorrow Ivory will be seven and that Larkspur is already four. Time certainly flies, doesn’t it? Sometimes being a parent is weird. On one hoof, you want them to grow up and be successful, kind, compassionate adults, but on the other, you always wish they’d stay this small and cute forever. My littlest one hasn’t been born yet, but it feels like it was only yesterday I found out I was pregnant.

I gingerly feel my plump belly and sigh quietly to myself. I seem to have the worst luck when it comes to stallions. I tried my hoof at finding love again and thought I had found it, only to find out the stallion was married after I told him I was pregnant. After that, he disappeared off the face of Equus, never to be seen again. It hurts, but it took years of torture to realize my value. I don’t need him to be happy, to take care of three kids and myself. At the very least, I gained a friend out of it; the bastard’s wife. Sapphire, I think her name was. Sapphire… oh, I forget now. I’ve only met her twice and after that, we’ve only spoken on the phone. I don’t know much about her, really. I think she’s moved to Canterlot now.

“Admittance spikes continue to grow at hospitals rapidly all over the country. Hospitals in Vanhoover, in particular, have been filled to capacity and overflow patients are now being outsourced to other hospitals outside of the city…”

The newscaster's voice pulls me back to reality as I let out a small sigh. I look over at the television and see a well-dressed mare sitting behind a wooden desk, hooves folded over one another, with a fancy chart backing up the information she relays. The news. It’s been filled with nothing but fear-filled stories about some new illness going around. So far, whatever it is seems to only really be a problem in the bigger, more major cities. Small towns like Ponyville- where we live- have somehow managed to avoid it for the time being. Well, as far as I’m aware, at least. It always starts like it’s the end of the world, then- after a couple of years or so- things go back to a level of normalcy and the ‘world-ending’ illness becomes just another minor thing. No big deal, nopony bats an eye. It’s probably just another new flu. Seems like a million of those these days. The world isn’t going really to end.

“According to reports and eyewitness accounts we’ve received, the infection seems to have started with two nurses at North Star Medical Center in Vanhoover. Officials from the ECDC have warned everypony to stay home as often as possible, thoroughly wash your hooves, wear protective masks and face coverings and- more importantly- avoid contact with anypony who presents with the following symptoms…”

I sigh softly and change the channel to one with age appropriate cartoons for the kiddos. I’m not going to be careless and allow my children to get sick, but sometimes I feel the news makes mountains out of molehills. I make my way to the couch and go to sit down. Just as my rear makes contact with the cushion, the phone in the kitchen rings. I groan and roll my eyes as I get right back up, then make my way over to the phone. I mentally curse the mystery caller as I pick up the phone and answer it with a slight bit of ire.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Hey, hey! How are ya, sis?” My elder brother, Apple Cake, cheerfully greets me.

“Well, thanks to two wonderful little ponies, I’m doing absolutely splendid,” I say, my tone changing to a happier one once I realize who’s calling me.

“Are you busy at the moment?” Apple asks.

“No, not particularly. Waiting on Ivory’s cake to finish in the oven at the moment,” I reply.

“Good. When the cake finishes up, come meet me and Star Dust at the park. She’s bringing Pudgy and Little Dipper with her,” Apple Cake says “the kids can play together with that crazy chihuahua of hers while we… talk. It’s important.”

"Huh? We can't discuss this over the phone?" I question.

"We could… but… Listen, Honey. We know you, you'd probably hang up on us, but this is seriously, well, serious," Apple Cake says with a heavy sigh.

"How cruel, you think I'd hang up on my wonderful big brother during a seriously serious discussion?" I question, pretending to be hurt.

"Yup. Meet us at the park when that cake is done. No ifs, ands or buts, Honey. We don't have the luxury of time, honestly, but… well, just get here ASAP and we’ll explain," Apple Cake says in a rather serious tone "love you, sis. See ya soon."

"Eh? Okay, then. Love you too, Apple. Later gator," I say before hanging up.

Normally, I would pay no mind to Apple or his antics, or Star's for that matter, but he was uncharacteristically serious over the phone. It's a very rare occurrence, so if it's 'seriously serious' as he put it, then it must be. Serious enough he's worried I'll hang up on him if we were to try to discuss it over the phone. Serious enough he wants to meet face to face and bring my kids just to keep me from just storming off if I get ticked off. Smart… but also worrisome. Celestia help me if it has anything to do with that new virus or whatever it is…

I trot back over to the couch and get comfortable as I patiently wait for the cake to finish baking. My sweet, little angels settle down on the couch next to me and watch cartoons with me until we hear the oven timer go off. I get my pregnant butt up off the couch and return to the kitchen with my babies in tow. The cake comes out perfectly golden and smells absolutely delicious. I place the cake on a cooling rack, then place it inside the fridge along with the colored icings I prepared with Larkspur's help. Ivory and Larkspur share a confused look between them before looking up at me.

“I know you want to decorate your cake now that it's finished, but Uncle Apple called. He said him, Auntie Star, Little Dipper and Pudgy are at the park and they want us to come join them,” I explain with a smile “besides, we've got to wait for the cake to cool down, so let’s go play at the park for a little bit and then we’ll decorate it when we get back home. Sound good?”

Ivory and Larkspur’s eyes go wide with pure, precious excitement at the mention of going to the park to play with their cousin and to see their Auntie and Uncle. They give a loud, resounding yes and then run off to get their scarves from upstairs, as it’s a little chilly out today. I gather my own scarf as well as my pocket book and wait for my children at the door. A little roar of hooves comes clambering down the stairs and soon my children catch up to me.

"Ready?" I ask as I reach out and grab the doorknob.

"Yes!!" My children exclaim in unison.

I chuckle as I open the door and lead the two of them outside. We pass by several neighbors, whom we smile at and greet. About halfway there, Larkspur declares he's tired of walking and would like to ride on my back. I happily oblige and scoop him up with my magic, then gently place him on back. Ivory happily trots alongside me for the duration of the trip. Once we arrive, I scan the area for my siblings. I spot them on the far side of the park near the children's play area and then we make our way over. Much like myself, Apple Cake is a unicorn. Our younger sister Star Dust, on the other hoof, is the odd pony out as a pegasus. Her son, Little Dipper, is also a pegasus.

Apple Cake is a near perfect copy of our father with his light green eyes, apple red coat and the sprinkles of dark red freckles around his muzzle and flank. Much like myself, he has a dark brown mane styled into short, rounded curls. His mane is a bit shorter than mine in terms of hair length, though. If I hadn't witnessed her birth, somepony could've once convinced me that Star was adopted. She shares no features with me, Apple or our father. The only thing she shares with our mother is her gold orange eyes. Not that that's completely strange or anything. It happens in most families across the country. Pony genetics are just straight up weird.

Her mane, styled in a messy mullet, is pale yellow with stripes of light grey and a somewhat brighter yellow. Her coat is midnight blue and covered in tiny white freckles, most of which are concentrated around her flank, hooves and face. She also has a wide strip of white from her forehead to the tip of her nose. Their familiar faces bring me joy and comfort as I put Larkspur down and encourage them to go find their cousin, who was already busy playing in the jungle gym. Star's little chihuahua, Pudgy, happily bounces up to my kids- tail wagging a million miles an hour- and 'attacks' them with a flurry of loving kisses.

"Alright, I'm here. What's that seriously serious discussion we absolutely must… discuss?" I question with a bit of teaseful sarcasm.

"Well, firstly, I must say that is a beautiful necklace you're wearin', sis," Star Dust says "is that one of them expensive, luxurious Ivory Rain originals?"

"Thank you for noticing. It absolutely is and it's currently the only one in existence," I say as I show off the necklace like a model would.

"We couldn't find the charms she wanted here, so that's why I took her to Canterlot. That was what our super secret mission had been," Star says with a small laugh "just in case you were wondering."

"You two might be complete dunces, but I trust you with my kids and they trust you. You could take them to the Frozen North and I probably would only slightly question it," I say with a laugh myself “buuut I do prefer to be asked. Of course, there are some certain special exceptions.”

"Good thing we're not ax murderers then, huh?" Apple Cake jokes.

"You? An ax murderer? Mmm, nah, more like an ax wielder," Star says with a loud cackle "your aim is shit."

"That was one time and I was, like, thirteen! At camp!" Apple exclaims with a pout.

“Sorry, but as your siblings, we are sworn by the sibling code to never- under any circumstance- let you live that down,” Star says, mimicking the motions of swearing an oath.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Apple says as he rolls his eyes “but as the eldest, I say… let’s get down to business.”

“To defeat the Huns?” I question with a smirk.

“What? No,” Apple answers with much confusion.

“Worth a shot,” I say with a shrug “then again… I don’t understand the reference… or why I said that.”

“Moving on, ya weirdo. Honey, you’re pregnant and have two small kids-” Apple says, before I interrupt him with more playful sarcasm.

“Holy shit. I’m pregnant?? And I have two kids?? I never noticed,” I say, pretending to be utterly shocked.

“- and Star has Dipper. It’s important we stay together and stay safe from this viral infection that’s going around,” Apple continues without missing a beat “it’s different- way different- from all these other viruses and infections that’ve come before it."

“You know my friend Kyanite? She works for the ECDC. Has for, like, three years or so at this point. Anyways, she warned me that I should take my loved ones and find somewhere isolated to live,” Star explains in a more serious tone “this is a fungal infection. Apparently some of their researchers were sent to this facility out west to study the fungus causing it, but that was before it became a huge problem for the rest of us.”

“Oh, there was something else to it. Apparently it wiped out an entire remote village or something like that,” Star adds.

“I’ve heard rumors that it isn’t curable or, rather, won’t be curable. I doubt that would stop the ECDC or whoever from trying to create a cure, though,” Apple says “I’m sure you’ve heard the news. It’s hit the major cities hard. I think it all started in Vanhoover.”

“It’s what it does to ponies that’s the worst part of it all, really. You’re going to think it’s stupid, Honey, but just hear me out. To put it in really simple terms, it basically turns them into zombies,” Star explains.

“You’re right. I do think it’s stupid. Really stupid. No offense, but of course you two dunces would believe this is the start of a zombie apocalypse,” I say sarcastically as I roll my eyes.

“That’s not what we’re saying… but I guess it might as well be. You know, in all the movies and shows I’ve seen, the majority of those apocalypses could’ve been avoided if ponies had actually listened instead of shrugging it off or just didn’t believe whoever said it was gonna happen,” Star says in an annoyed tone.

“Honey, you love your children more than anything. You’d do anything to protect them, so listen to us so that we can,” Apple says with a pleading look “we’re not kidding about those who are sick. It makes them highly aggressive, among other terrible things.”

I shake my head at the ridiculous notion that they’re suggesting and look over at the children as they play. There’s one thing I can’t argue with. My children are my entire world. I love them with my heart and soul, every fiber of my being… and I’d do anything to protect them, no matter what the cost may be. I feel like Apple and Star are overreacting, but they're both uncharacteristically serious about this. Typically, the roles are reversed. Were this any other situation, I would be the one explaining and pleading and they’d be the ones thinking I was crazy. Something’s not right. I’m starting to get this sinking feeling in my gut that maybe I should listen to them.

“I’m going to buy as large a wagon as I possibly can- maybe two- after we leave the park. We can use Pop-Pop and Maw-Maw’s place up in the mountains. It’s the perfect place to isolate,” Apple says “and if things get out of hoof with this infection and a full-blown apocalypse does occur, we can set up traps and other security measures along the path to the cottage.”

“Hey, while you’re out buying the wagon, go buy us guns and whatnot. I’m sure we’ll need them, but truthfully, I hope we don’t ever have to use ‘em,” Star says to Apple “I can give you extra funds if you need it.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll call up some favors to help with that goal,” Apple says with a nod “let’s be discreet with those for the kiddos’ sake.”

“I-I don’t know about moving that far away. It’s so far from any hospitals,” I say nervously “I’ve never delivered a baby without medical assistance or strong pain meds.”

“We want to stay as far away from hospitals as we possibly can right now. You know that I delivered Dippy on my own and at my house. I can deliver our little nibling, so don’t worry about that,” Star says reassuringly.

“Okay. Fine. We can go, but… can we wait until after Ivory’s birthday party?” I ask as I look over at my daughter.

Ivory catches me looking and waves at me with a big, goofy grin on her face. I smile and wave back at her. She turns her attention to Pudgy, picks up a stick nearly the same size as him and tosses it for him to fetch.

“Honey. We should leave as soon as possible. Tomorrow, in fact. We’re leaving tomorrow,” Apple says with a small sigh “I know, it’s so last minute, but if we put it off…”

“Right. Of course. I’ll finish her cake when we get home and… and I guess we’ll have a celebration with just the seven of us. Eight, if you wanna get technical,” I say as I pat my belly.

“Gather up stuff you’re okay with pawning off. We’ll need as much money as possible. I’ll swing by later, collect it and then pawn all of it off for as many bits as I can manage,” Apple says as he looks between me and Star.

“Good thinking. Let’s also pack light personal bags for each of us, including the kids, for when we’re on the train. Everypony gets one bag,” Star says with a solemn nod.

“Let’s make a game plan for tomorrow and get all of our ducks in a row. That way, we can minimize unnecessary stops or whatever and all stay on the same page,” Apple says with a solemn nod as well.

“Good thinking. Let’s also make backup plans in case any wrenches get thrown into the works… and backup plans for the backup plans,” Star says.

Together, the three of us talk it out and figure out a solid game plan for tomorrow as well as backup plans just in case. Well, it’s more accurate to say Apple and Star come up with these plans and I just agree or give my opinion when necessary. Tomorrow morning, we’re going to mail immediate resignation letters to our employers, then pull out all of our savings from the bank, scrape up every last bit we can find and head to our local gardening-farming shop. Star brought up an excellent point in that the groceries we buy will only last for so long and that we’ll need to do something to keep us as self-sufficient as possible and to avoid unnecessary, ‘dangerous’ trips to towns or cities for supplies.

After picking up bags of soil, gardening tools and seeds, we’ll head to the grocery store. Apple agreed to save a bit of space for toys for the kids instead of just two or three each as he had suggested. While we pick up food, we’ll let the kids splurge a little on toys so they’ll have something to keep them entertained. Star said she would also look into picking up home schooling books and supplies so our children can have an education. She’s also going to grab what we’ll need to deliver my baby as well as baby supplies. Apple is going to handle everything concerning weapons and personal safety, including ammunition. Once we have everything and do a headcount, we’ll buy our tickets, board the train and head to our grandparents’ cottage.

***

An hour later, my siblings and I part ways and return to our respective homes. Ivory and Larkspur excitedly inform me about their grand adventures at the park as I take the cake and icing out of the fridge to decorate it. They pull chairs from the dining table over to the counter by the sink and watch me work my ‘magic’ on the cake. With much love and a lot of skill and practice, I transform the cake base into an edible work of art. Ivory is a big fan of nature and all the beauty the comes with it. In particular, she’s very fond of newts. With that in mind and per her request, it depicts a newt swimming in a stream of water and a second newt watching him from the shore. Judging by her giddy reaction and the grin so big it almost covers her whole head, I’d say Ivory is in love with her cake.

“It looks sooooooo good, mommy! I’m going to feel bad when we cut it up and eat it ‘cause it’s so pretty,” Ivory says as she jumps out of her chair and hugs my leg.

“I’m glad you love it, sweetie,” I say as I return the hug.

I look over at her cake, sigh softly and then look down at Ivory with a sad look on my face. She gives me a puzzled look as I sit down on the floor and bring myself to her level.

“I know how excited for tomorrow you are and I know you’ve been eagerly waiting for tomorrow to come, but… but I have some not so good news,” I say softly as I stroke her mane.

“What is it mama?” Ivory questions as tears of worry form in the corners of her eyes.

“Don’t cry, baby. Please. This is already hard enough,” I reply, trying not to cry myself “I… I had to cancel your birthday party because… well, because we’re moving very far away tomorrow... for a very long time.”

“Mommy, I don’t want to move!” Larkspur chimes in, tears already streaming down his cheeks.

“All of our friends are here, mommy,” Ivory says sadly.

“I know, baby. I don’t like this either, but it’s for our safety, okay? To keep us healthy and safe,” I explain with another sigh “I don’t know if you heard the TV talk about it, but there’s this really, really bad and really, really dangerous sickness going around. We have to leave so we don’t risk getting sick with it.”

“Are ponies dying from it?” Ivory asks with a sniffle.

“I… I don’t know. I think a few have… b-but listen, we… we need to be brave, okay? I know it’s sad and it hurts our hearts to move away from our friends, but we have to stay strong and brave and tough,” I explain in an encouraging tone “can we do that for mommy? We can be big and strong and brave and super tough?”

Larkspur and Ivory look at each other and stare as if mentally debating on whether they could or not. After a moment or two, they both look up at me, wipe away their tears and give me big, brave smiles.

“There we go. Let’s show off our muscles so we can see how tough and brave we are,” I say as I flex my front legs.

My children giggle and copy me. They take it a notch further by showing off different poses. I chuckle at their silliness and breathe a sigh of relief that they seem to understand- for the most part- why we’re leaving on such short notice.

“Oh, also, before I forget… Uncle Apple, Auntie Star, Little Dipper and Pudgy are coming with us, okie dokie? So the two of you will have somepony to play with,” I say as I stand up.

“Really?” Larkspur questions with much excitement.

“Hooray!” Ivory cheers as she hugs her brother tightly.

“I’m going to put the cake up. I need the two of you to go to your room and do something really important for me,” I say as I pick up the cake with my magic “grab your book bags and pack them up with stuff you want to bring with you. There’s a couple of rules, though.”

“Rules?” They question in unison.

“Mmhm. What we pack has to be important. Really important, so here’s the rules; pack some clothes first. Whatever is your favorite to wear. Secondly, you can pick out three toys from home to put in there. We’ll put some more toys in Uncle Apple’s wagon, but we’ll worry about those later,” I explain with a smile “then you can pack whatever else you want.”

“Oh, but we have to leave room to put your toothbrushes and whatnot in there too, so don’t go too crazy with packing. Leave what you’re putting in your bags on your bed and I’ll help you put them inside later.”

“Okay, mommy!” They agree in unison before galloping away.

I watch them for a moment before sighing softly and putting the cake inside of the refrigerator. I hope what Apple Cake and Star Dust said was true. More importantly, though…

… I hope I’m doing the right thing.

{Chapter 2} The Day Our World Ended

“Alrighty, that’s going to be… two-thousand-six-hundred-and-forty-three bits, please.”

The cashier smiles politely as she patiently awaits our payment. Apple pulls out the bag filled with our entire life savings and every extra bit we could scrounge up. Star and I agreed earlier to let Apple hold onto and be in charge of our money. He counts the bits in groups of ten and uses his light green-colored magic to give them to the cashier, who counts it again to ensure we’re paying her correctly. Although she smiles and appears happy, I’m sure the cashier is dying on the inside and secretly annoyed by our very large order. Between the three of us adults, we have six shopping carts filled to the brim- top to bottom- with everything Apple and Star wrote on our supply list and only one cart half full of stuff but mostly filled with children.

Apple and Star each had two shopping carts while I towed around three, as my kiddies and nephew got tired of walking around so much. The cart they’re riding in just has their new toys inside of it. I look over at the children and watch them interact. Larkspur and Little Dipper- who is only a year older than my son- are discussing which of the Power Ponies is the coolest while Ivory quietly admires one of her new dolls. I’m still questioning if I’m doing the right thing by following along with my siblings, but ‘better safe than sorry’ is a saying for a reason I suppose. I sigh softly and look over at Apple, who is still dishing out bits to the poor cashier.

“Here, let me help you,” I say as I use my magic to take the money from Apple.

I divide the bag in half and give part of it to Apple Cake. I take my half and count out a hundred at a time before giving it to the cashier to move things along smoother and quicker. Between me and Apple, we’re able to pay for it a little bit faster. Perhaps I should have been in charge of at least giving out the payment. Apple counts things out so much slower than me and I'm usually also more accurate. I’m glad it’s a little slow this morning in the grocery store, otherwise the semi-long line behind us would be even longer. It takes the two of us roughly three minutes to fork over the total amount to the cashier, who thanks us for shopping at the store and prints out our not-so-literally mile-long receipt.

I take the receipt, fold it up neatly and then shove it into a random grocery bag. We thank the cashier for her patience and for her help, then quickly leave the store. Once outside, we approach the large wagons Apple had purchased and work on packing them neatly with our supplies. Apple climbs into the wagon with our gardening supplies while Star works on filling the second wagon.

“I’m pretty sure she thought we were insane,” I say as I lift groceries up to Apple.

“Let ‘er think it. It doesn't matter,” Apple says with a shrug “jokes on her. We’ll be safe and sound when it all comes crashing down.”

“If it does,” I mumble with a small roll of my eyes.

“Right,” Apple says, paying me hardly any mind.

“Honey, come help me instead of Apple,” Star says as she unloads a legful of groceries “unlike the two of you, I don’t didn't get the luxury of having magic sticks built into my skull.”

“Hm? Yeah, why am I helping you, anyways? You can handle this on your own,” I say to Apple with a mild look of bewilderment.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. You started helping me unprompted,” Apple said with a bewildered look of his own “don’t blame your subtle, subconscious racism on me.”

“What’s racism?” Larkspur questions.

I jump ever so slightly at his sudden inclusion into the conversation. He had been in the basket of one of the carts just moments ago and somehow he’s now standing right next to me.

“Erm, well, it’s… when… you treat a… certain type of somepony differently from others. Like, uh, make fun of them, be mean and hateful… stuff like that,” I say, somewhat struggling to explain this topic to a four year old.

“Larky, sweetheart, uh… How did you get out the cart? You didn’t jump down on your own, did you?” I quickly ask to change the subject.

“He wanted to get down, so I let him out,” Ivory chimes in from behind us, still in the car with her cousin.

“Oh, okay. Just wanted to be sure, darlin’. Mommy doesn’t want you getting hurt,” I say as I bend down and kiss his head.

“I’m a tough cookie, mama. Nothin’ can hurt me! I’m gonna grow up big and strong and be a… firefighter,” Larkspur says with a big grin.

I chuckle softly and ruffle his mane. I pick him up and then place him on my back before going over to my younger sister and helping her pack the wagon. It takes a good while to get everything packed inside, but once we finish, Apple securely ties thick tarps snugly over the wagons. I pass out our lightly packed bags we had left lying under one of the wagons and then use my magic to return all of the carts into the grocery store's cart corral. After we do a quick head count, we make our way to Star and Apple's house to pick up Pudgy and his pet carrier. With her little chihuahua in tow, we proceed to the train station.

The platform is busy, but not more than usual for a Thursday morning. A lot of Ponyville residents travel to places like Canterlot, Manehattan and Baltimare for work. It’s one of the bigger towns around, I suppose, but tiny in comparison to the big cities. I’m not sure if I could’ve ever worked outside of Ponyville. I think the long distance from my children would break my heart. I guess I was fortunate to have a job as a window clerk for the Ponyville Post Office… until today, that is. Part of me somehow feels like a failure, being unemployed and single like this. I’m not alone, though, I have my family. That’s what’s important… that’s what counts the most. Family.

Apple parts ways from our little group to purchase our train tickets. The rest of us hang out near the edge of the platform away from the buzzing crowd. A chill runs down my spine as I watch everypony go about their day- boarding and behaving all excited- like nothing is wrong in the world. In some ways, I’m sure that’s the truth. Nothing has happened… yet. Will it? Do any of them know what’s been happening? Is even a single one of these ponies worried, if even in the slightest? Are they like me? Believe it to be all bark and no bite? Things aren’t exactly spiraling out of control, the world hasn’t been plunged to chaos and ripped apart by the blood-thirsty maws of the undead. How long until it isn’t? I shudder slightly. Is that really a question I want an answer to?

Ugh. I feel like an outsider of some kind, like I’m keeping some sort of big secret, keeping them out of the know and leaving them to their demise. How many of them would even listen if I said anything? How many of them would believe it? And how many would do the same as us if only they knew? On the other side of things, how many of them would laugh or scoff? How many would label us ‘conspiracy freaks’ and shun us? I don’t like this feeling growing inside my gut. It’s like that same feeling you’d get back in school when you auditioned for some kind of important role, group or team and you nervously awaited your results. Do I really not believe the world is going to end? That we aren’t ‘moments away’ from a zombie apocalypse destroying us, our lives and our homes? Or… Do I just not want it to be true?

“I’m sick of your shit! How’d you even get this job, Brittle? Lazy, good-for-nothing, piece of-” The sound of bickering draws me from my thoughts and catches my attention.

“Keep yer voice down! I’m not lyin’, ya bastard! Ya want the train to crash or something?!” I turn my head and see two railroad employees bickering a good distance from the ticket booth nearby.

One is an older earth pony stallion and the other is a much younger earth pony mare. They’re both pretty far away from the ticket booth, but just close enough that I’m within earshot of them. I’m not sure what roles they play in running the train, but I’m guessing by her comment alone that the mare- at least- helps drive the train. They both must be engineers. I don’t really know much about trains, though, aside from what was covered in that little train book of Larkspur’s.

“Ah ain’t lyin’! Ah feel sicker than a dog and too weak to whip a gnat!” The mare snaps.

“That right? Then why’d you show up today?” The stallion questions angrily.

“Asshat! That’s ‘cuz ah felt fine earlier! Now ah feel like I’m gonna spill muh guts ev’rywhere!” The mare answers in a hiss “must’ve caught whatever that shit is muh brother’s got. Visited his sorry ass in the hospital. Has whatever that new shit goin’ ‘round is and hacked his spittle all over muh damn face. There was blood in it, Porter! Blood! An' it got in muh mouth some!”

“Tch! A likely story! Get your ass on that train! We don’t have the time to argue anymore!” The stallion hisses back “nor do we have time for you to craft up half-assed excuses to get out of work!”

“Oh fer fuck’s sake, ya ornery bastard!” The mare growls in defeat.

I watch as the older stallion practically drags her away and onto the train. I… I didn’t hear that right, did I? Our train is going to be driven by somepony with that ‘zombie creating’ sickness? Apple returns almost as quickly as he had left. I swear… it felt like an eternity had passed. In any case… fuck. It’s too late to suggest avoiding the train and going a different route. Maybe it’s not, but… Apple and Star wouldn’t listen even if I did suggest it. Then again, maybe they would. I mentally slap myself and sigh internally. I think the fear and paranoia from this infection going around is starting to get to me or something. Doesn’t help any that we’re uprooting our lives to go hide in an isolated part of the mountains either.

God… I make it sound like I've had no choice in the matter of uprooting and moving. I've had a choice this whole time and I still have the option to change my mind if I wanted. There wouldn't be much of a point to back out now, especially when my children already have these expectations of moving elsewhere. Not only that, but I've quit my job, sold a lot of my belongings and informed my friends of our moving. I think my biggest issue is that I'm overthinking every bit of this because I'm simply just not well informed. Sure, my siblings have filled in more than a few blanks, but I've done nothing to inform myself and find information out on my own. Every bit of what I've heard and what I know is from others. How much of a failure of a mother does that make me, if at all? Or as a pony in general? Only time will tell if I'll end up regretting these decisions or not. Hopefully I won't.

"Honey? Are you coming or what?" Apple questions, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. Was thinking a little too hard," I answer with an embarrassed chuckle.

Apple lightly shakes his head and he stifles a chuckle of his own. Normally I'm the level headed one, all calm and collected with my ducks- and thoughts- in a row. Maybe it's just the hormones messing with my head. I sigh quietly and help my siblings load our wagons into the luggage car of the train. Once the wagons are nice and snug in the leftmost corner of the luggage car, we make our way to our seats a couple of cars down. Ivory, Larkspur and myself sit down together on one set of bench seats while Apple, Little Dipper, Star and Pudgy sit across from us on the other. I trade spots with Larkspur and sit by the window rather than the middle.

Larkspur and Ivory start a game of I Spy with Little Dipper while Apple and Star talk quietly to one another about our plans once we arrive at our grandparents' cottage. I lean my head against the cool glass of the window and close my eyes. All this overthinking has given me a dull headache. It's a nearly an hour's trip from here to the Smokey Mountain station, if my memory serves correctly. I have more than enough time to sleep it off.

***

I’m yanked from my dreams as I’m nearly thrown off my seat. I’m caught by a familiar green glow and placed on my hooves. I rub the sleep from my eyes as I look between my children, my siblings and my nephew. The children seem confused while my siblings appear worried. I sit back down and cover my mouth with a hoof to stifle a yawn that manages to escape.

“What happened? Everypony okay?” I question as I raise a brow in confusion.

“I don’t know. The train jerked to the right all of a sudden,” Star answers “well, our right but your left. I thought we were going to derail for a second.”

Apple opens his mouth to speak, but faint screams interrupt whatever it was he was going to say. I’m not entirely sure, but it sounds like they might’ve come from a car or two ahead of ours. We give each other looks of concern before looking at the door at the front of the car. A small crowd gathers by the door, each pony craning their necks to peer through the small rectangular window in an attempt to see the spectacle occurring in the next car over. Apple gets up, instructs us to stay in our seats and promptly joins the crowd. Time seems to slow to a crawl as we await his return.

Apple swiftly returns to us with fear plastered on his face. He glances at the children and tries to recompose himself. A calmer look appears on his face, but his eyes are still full of terror.

“Get up and grab the kids. We’re ditching this train,” Apple instructs as he drops his voice to nearly a whisper.

“What?! But the train is still moving!” Star objects, matching his volume.

“Tell us what’s going on first before we do anything!” I quietly exclaim.

The train jerks again, sending some passengers out of their seats and some of those standing stumbling forward. Members of the crowd by the door fall into one another. I catch Larkspur and Ivory as they’re thrown from their seat and hold them tight. I nearly fall over myself, but am lucky to keep my balance. Before everypony has a chance to fully recover, the train jerks a third time in the opposite direction. At this point, the entire train is violently shaking and just by glancing out the window, it would seem it’s speeding up as well. Apple’s magic surrounds us as he attempts to keep us steady.

A very loud, disconcerting ‘boom’ comes from the front of the train. The entire train lurches to the left and then comes entirely off the trails. Looking out the window, the train is barreling away from the tracks and downhill towards what looks like a very rocky river. Everypony struggles to stay upright, including us despite Apple using his magic. The train lurches again and more violently than before, then completely turns on its side. Stray overhead luggage falls all around and one suitcase in particular strikes Apple in the head, causing him to break his magical hold on us.

I hold onto my children as tightly as I can as I’m sent flying to the side of the train now scraping along the ground. As I fall, I curl into a ball around my children in an attempt to shield them from harm. I land on my back with a painful thud, several small shards of glass slicing open my skin. The train hits something and starts rolling down the hill. I scream as we’re thrown about once more. My skull cracks against the top of one of the seats with a sickening thud. Pain immediately swells up and radiates from the point of impact and before I can do a thing, the world goes black.

“-ney! Honey, get up! Now! Honey…!”

I groan loudly in pain as I slowly come to. Pain fiercely grips my entire body, but more so my head and my back than anything. Ugh… What happened? I feel like I’ve been hit by a train. A… train…? I gasp loudly and shoot upright as everything comes flooding back to me. Oh god! My babies! Larkspur, Ivory! My little one, yet to be born! I grab my stomach as panic grips my heart like a vice. The world around me blurs until I feel a sharp kick coming from within, almost as if my baby understood the situation and knew to let me know they were okay. The world continues to blur and spin as I quickly jump to my hooves, then nearly fall back over. Somepony catches me and another hugs my leg tightly.

“Careful, auntie!” Little Dipper’s voice calls out.

“Calm down, Honey, calm down. Ivory and Larkspur are alive,” Apple’s voice says in a reassuring tone.

The world calms down and slows to a stop as I regain my senses. I flop onto my haunches and hug Dippy tightly.

“I’m okay, Dippy. I’m… ugh… my head is killing me,” I grab my head as I groan again.

“Mommy!” Ivory calls out, her voice filled with pain.

I immediately jump back up and gently set my nephew aside before rushing over to my daughter. Star Dust has her wings wrapped around Larkspur and Ivory, who look up at me with sorrowful faces. A flood of tears runs down their cheeks as I assess their more physical wounds. Both of them are covered in small scrapes, scratches and bruises. Ivory is gingerly holding onto her right foreleg and trembling terribly. Tears immediately well up and spill down my cheeks as I grab up Larkspur and hold him tight.

“I think Ivory’s leg might be broken,” Star says, her voice wavering.

“Come here, baby,” I say as I pick Ivory up with my magic and bring her over to me.

I hold my children gingerly yet snugly against my chest. I kiss the top of their heads and whisper reassuring words.

“Mama! Pudgy won’t wake up!” Larkspur sobs into my chest.

I look up at Star, who chokes back a sob as she nods her head somberly. She looks over her shoulder and gestures towards the train with a wing. I follow where she gestures and my heart sinks into my stomach. A wave of nausea washes over me as I quickly look away. Fucking hell… Poor Pudgy. His dog crate is smashed open beside the train, his tiny, tan body is unnaturally twisted and I’m pretty sure that goopy looking puddle nearby was part of his brain.

“Don’t look, baby. Don’t look at Pudgy,” I say, my voice cracking and a sob of my own threatening to escape.

What the fuck?! Why is this happening to us?! This… this isn’t how this was supposed to go! We… We were supposed to get to the cabin all safe and sound, without any troubles whatsoever and then we were supposed to hide out there for Celestia knows how long until I was proven correct- that the world wasn't going to end! The world isn't supposed to end! This can NOT be real!! This can’t be real! This can’t be real! This… This can’t…

“Get up! Get up!” Apple instructs as he gallops over with Little Dipper on his back.

“We need to get our wagons and leave! NOW!” He quickly adds.

“We… we can’t leave him like this!” Star protests as she gestures at Pudgy.

“We’ll… we’ll come back for him, okay? The kids… Not with them here,” Apple says as he softly shakes his head.

I whimper softly as my ears flatten against my head. I’m trying to remain calm for the sake of my kids and my nephew, but every passing moment makes it harder and harder to keep my composure. My eyes wander and examine the train wreckage. Ponies litter the ground and I have no way of telling if they’re unconscious or if they’re dead. Others are helping their friends or loved ones up and a small handful are actively fleeing from the crash site. My eyes wander a little more and then… they spot something horrible. Numerous ponies are mercilessly attacking other passengers, just… just savagely ripping them apart.

“Forget the wagons! I-I think we should go!” I exclaim as I gesture towards the grisly sight.

“No! We need those to survive! Don’t waste time by arguing with me! Go, go, go!” Apple sternly orders.

Without giving either one of us a chance to debate, Apple takes off towards the remains of the luggage car. I put Ivory and Larkspur on my back before galloping after my brother with my sister and nephew in tow. When we arrive at the luggage car, Star takes my children to keep safe along with her son as Apple and I approach the wrecked car. We carefully climb through the broken windows to get inside. Several other passengers are here with the same idea and some are physically fighting each other. We make our way through the maze of broken, scattered luggage and debris, then over to our wagons. As I duck under a fallen piece of the wall and crawl under it, I hear Apple start shouting obscenities at somepony.

I emerge from under the piece of wall and watch as Apple bucks an angry stallion in the chest. The random stranger stumbles backwards and into an earth pony mare who is struggling to pull her small wagon free from the surrounding luggage. The mare pushes him off and slaps him across the face, presumably for shoving into her. This- luckily- distracts the stallion who I assume had been trying to steal our wagons. Apple grabs both wagons with his magic and asks me to hurriedly teleport us back outside. I quickly- and happily- oblige and in an instant, we’re back outside the wreckage right where we left Star and the children.

“Grab the kids and GO!!” Apple exclaims as he gallops off with the wagons in tow.

With zero hesitation, I grab my kids and put them on my back once more. Star picks up Little Dipper and places him on her own back. We take off after Apple towards the nearby woodline. As we flee the wreckage, the ground begins to rumble and shake. A loud, ear-piercing horn thunders through the sky and rattles my bones. I glance over my shoulder to see an armored, iron train racing down the track.

“Shit! It’s MEDRA!” Apple exclaims in a mixture of terror and anger.

I accidentally stumble into Star, who comes to a sudden stop. I mutter an apology before looking ahead of us and going wide-eyed with pure, utter dread. A dome of magic prevents us from fleeing any further away from the wreckage and the horrors infesting it. I look back and watch as several soldiers from the Military Epidemic and Disaster Response Agency pour out from the train the moment it screeches to a halt near where our train derailed earlier. Rapid gunfire fills the air as I watch on in horror as these soldiers mow down ponies- infected or not- near the train.

“I don’t want to fucking die! Dip-Dip is too young to die!” Star exclaims in total panic.

“Aunt Star, are we going to die?!” Ivory questions in an equal amount of panic.

Apple slaps Star across the face angrily and pulls her ear.

“Don’t ever say that, Star! Especially not in front of the kids! We are NOT going to die, you hear me?! None of us are!!” Apple exclaims angrily at Star.

“We’re going to be just fine, Ivory, okay? Don’t look at the train, just look at your brother, okay?” I say as reassuringly as I can “and Larkspur, don’t look at the train either. Just look at your sister or hide in mommy’s hair.”

The gunfire ceases almost as quickly as it began and the soldiers quickly return back to the train. Being at the edge of the barrier and far from the train seems to have protected us from being mercilessly slaughtered at the hooves of the MEDRA soldiers. With every soldier back in their armored train, it slowly begins to roll back in the direction it came from. It backs up several yards before screeching to a halt once more. Several flashes of light come from the train and are accompanied by an equal amount of ‘booms’. These booms are quickly replaced by the sounds of projectiles whistling through the air.

“OH SHIT!! RUN!!” Apple screams in terror before galloping away as fast as he can.

I look up at the sky and see that the MEDRA train has launched several bombs in an attempt to kill off every single infected that had been aboard our train. What about all of us who aren't infected? They're just gonna... murder us and turn a blind eye?! My siblings and I scatter as we seek shelter from the incoming barrage. The ground shakes and trembles with every bomb that explodes around us. Debris from the train scatters and whistles through the air. My heart pounds against my chest and in my ears as I gallop for our lives. I spot a rock nearby just big enough for my children and I to take shelter behind. Halfway to the rock, one of the bombs makes contact with the train’s engine, resulting in a much bigger explosion.

Debris from the engine flies into the air and scatters in all directions. As I start the motions of diving for the rock, shards of the engine car whizzes dangerously close past my head. Ivory lets out a scream of sheer, unadulterated terror and my back suddenly grows lighter. One of my children hits the ground with a thud as I skitter to a stop. I quickly turn and the world comes to an immediate halt. Time freezes and all I can hear is my heart threatening to burst out of my nauseated stomach. My body freezes too as my brain flat out refuses to process the scene before me. I feel Ivory climb off my back and I watch in slow motion as she limps over to her brother.

A tight pain grips my chest as my mouth goes dry, my throat squeezes shut, my body trembles uncontrollably and everywhere else goes numb. Tears blur my vision as dizziness overwhelms me. On the ground, Larkspur lies completely motionless. A twisted shard of metal pierces through one side of his skull and comes out the other. Blood oozes from the wound and quickly pools around his head. A look of sheer terror is permanently affixed to his face, his little green eyes wide open and staring past me into nothingness. I manage to take a few steps forward before my knees buckle and give out on me. I collapse to the floor as reality catches up and the world returns to its normal pace.

I sob uncontrollably as I crawl over and lift his still warm, lifeless body before tightly hugging his... his... No. No, I... I can't say, can't think it! This has to be a dream! No! No, this has to be a nightmare! Larky… My precious baby colt, my precious little flower... He… He can’t be gone! No! NO!! He was only four! FOUR!! He… Oh, Celesita, no, this isn’t how it was supposed to go! I’m the one who has to die first! They’re supposed to bury me! I… No! No, no, no, no, no! I’m not supposed to bury my children! I was supposed to grow old and wrinkled! Larkspur was supposed to… He... He wanted to be a firefighter! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO GROW UP!! Why?! Oh god, why?! Why him?! Why Larkspur?! Why couldn’t it have been me?!

I continue to sob as I squeeze his body against my own, his warm crimson blood staining my honey yellow coat. I curl into a ball as I tightly hold onto Larkspur’s body and softly rock myself. Denial and reality battle in my head as I struggle to process- much less accept- that my little Larkspur is gone forever. Ivory climbs on top of me and clings onto me as tightly as she can manage. Her pained, sorrowful sobs tear my already-shattered heart into even tinier pieces. Those pieces shred into even small slivers as I realize everything that must be going through that little head of hers. My whole world has come crashing down and… and there wasn’t a single thing I could’ve done to stop it… to save him…

“Honey? Ivory? Larkspur?” Apple’s voice calls out.

My brother appears out of nowhere and out of the corner of my eye, I watch him stop dead in his tracks as I raise my head to look at him. He stumbles forward a few steps before flopping down onto his haunches in complete disbelief.

“Holy shit…” Apple mutters to himself.

“Apple? Honey?” Star’s voice calls out.

“Over here!” Apple calls back, his gaze never straying from the grisly scene before him.

“Everypony o- fuck… Dippy, c-cover your eyes,” Star says as she catches up to us.

She shields Little Dipper from the horror in front of them with her wings. Silence- except for our sorrowful sobs- weighs heavy around us. Apple rises to his hooves and gently picks up Ivory. He pulls her into a tight hug as she buries her tear-stained face into his mane. Star passes Little Dipper to Apple and then sits directly next to me. She grabs me and struggles to pull me into her warm embrace. Star eventually succeeds and holds me as tightly as she can. She gently rocks me and strokes my mane as I bury my face into her shoulder and continue to mourn the loss of my son.

“Honey. It’s… It’s time to say goodbye. Right here is a good spot to dig him a little grave,” Star whispers softly into my ear.

“No… No…” I whimper quietly “He’s going to be okay! We… We j-just need to get him to a hospital! R-R-Right, Apple??”

“Honey… Larkspur is… H-H-He’s gone, Honey. There’s nothing we can do for him now…” Apple trails off as he approaches and strokes my cheek gently.

“No! You’re wrong! He’s still alive! He’s still breathing!” I shriek in total denial.

“Mommy! Larkspur is dead! D-E-A-D! He’s gone because I couldn’t save him!” Ivory exclaims in a mixture of anger and sorrow.

My head snaps up as I quickly look at my daughter. Her body is trembling just as uncontrollably as my own, if not more. She stares at me, almost glaring, her little eyes full of regret, anger and despair. I slowly look down at Larkspur and use my magic to close his eyes and gaping mouth. His body is much colder now and growing stiff in my grasp. The blood oozing from his wound has all but stopped. Apple shields Ivory’s eyes as I use my magic to remove the piece of metal piercing Larkspur’s skull, which cracks and scrapes against the bone sickeningly as I do so. Bits of brain matter are stuck to the offending piece of debris. I cannot stop the flow of bile that quickly ejects itself from my stomach.

I narrowly avoid vomiting on my son’s body or my sister as the puke just keeps coming. A gross mixture of vomit and blood pool on the ground nearby as I continue to puke until I’m dry heaving. I hold Larkspur’s body against my chest as Star helps me stand and step away from the puddle of bodily fluids on the ground. Star places a loving kiss on my forehead before stepping away. She and Apple switch roles. Star takes Ivory and Little Dipper while Apple trots up and hugs me tightly.

“They… They killed him. Those fuckers will pay,” I angrily whisper to Apple through gritted teeth.

“We’ll kill every last one of 'em, I promise,” Apple whispers back as he rests his chin atop my head “let’s bury Larkspur and get Ivory, Dipper and the baby to safety. Afterwards, I promise we’ll drum up a plan to get revenge someday.”

“Okay…” I whisper so quietly, I barely hear it myself.

Apple rubs gently my shoulder before letting go and walking away to fetch a shovel from the wagon. Star brings Ivory and Little Dipper over to the wagons and starts digging around in them, presumably for the first aid kit. I sit down- still holding Larkspur- and watch Star patch up Ivory, Dipper and herself the best she can. Meanwhile, Apple returns to the rock and digs a deep enough hole to bury Larkspur in. I whisper one last goodbye before handing over his body to Apple, who gently places him in the hole and whispers a prayer.

Star taps me on the shoulder and pulls me aside to address my minor wounds while Apple fills in Larky’s grave. She hugs me tightly once she finishes and gently strokes my mane once again. So many thoughts and emotions battle in my brain and in my tattered, broken heart. How could this have happened? Why did this happen? Could… Could this all have been avoided if I had spoken up after hearing that engineer complain about being sick? No matter what conclusions my brain comes to, every single one feels like it’s my fault that Larkspur is dead. It hardly even feels real. I don’t want it to be real, but… he’s gone. Forever.

Those bastards will pay for taking my son away from me. I swear they will if it’s the last thing I ever do! Larkspur might be gone, but I... I still have my precious Ivory- and her unborn sibling. As much as I want to just curl up somewhere and die, I’ve got to keep going for them. I’ve got to keep going for Larkspur. I... I know he wouldn’t want me to give up. It’s hard not to, but… I let out a shaky sigh as I place a hoof on the blood-stained charm necklace Ivory made me. As long as I have this, a piece of him will always live on.

{Chapter 3} Close Friends and Closer Enemies

(25 Years Later…)

Knock. Knock. Knock… Knock.

I groan angrily as I roll over in my bed and cover my head with a pillow. What part of ‘leave me the fuck alone’ did these assholes just not understand? Today is the day my little flower wilted away in an instant. I just want to be left alone and wallow in my grief. A-L-O-N-E. Is that too much to ask? To be left alone for a few hours? Somepony important better be dying, dead or worse if they’re going to risk poking this angry bear. Knock. Knock. Knock. I growl in frustration as I angrily throw off the covers, toss away the pillow and practically throw myself out of bed. My hooves thump against the floor as I stomp over to the door of my apartment.

“Knock again and I’ll break your fucking knees,” I sneer loudly before yanking the door open.

Standing outside my door is a young earth pony stallion and a young male griffon. The stallion is tall and well built with a moss green coat, a short and spiky jet black mane and bright orange eyes. The griffon next to him is about a head taller with dark blue, dark iridescent green and black feathers. His eyes are a light blue with rings of medium blue around each eye. Both are wearing identical forest green and black pinstripe vests with pockets. They pass a wary look between each other before the griffon nudges the stallion forward with a wing.

“H-Heya, boss. I know you said not to disturb you for any reason today, but… well, th-there’s an emergency in the warehouse,” The stallion says as he nervously rubs his neck.

“An emergency? What, Sapphire too drunk to handle it herself?” I question.

“Well, actually, she sent us to come get you,” The stallion answers.

“Are you going to tell me what this emergency is or what? Don’t tell me I need to beat it out of you, Jacks,” I say as I narrow my eyes and glare “or tell me that I do. I’d love to do it.”

“N-no, no. I’m good,” Jacks says with a nervous chuckle “there’s a Firefly in our warehouse, but-”

“A Firefly? A Firefly?” I question, taking a step forward “Sapphire can’t handle a single Firefly fucktard on her own?”

“I-I wasn’t quite finished, boss. Sapphire needs you because it’s the Queen of the Fireflies in our warehouse,” Jacks answers, taking a step backwards.

“Sapphire sent us to fetch you ‘cause Ocean showed up asking for the two of you. We don’t know much else ‘sides that,'' Guffy- the griffon- chimes in.

Ugh. It really did just have to be the ‘worse’ option, didn’t it? I sigh as I rub the bridge of my nose. Why today of all days? Whatever. Worse things have happened. I suppose it wouldn’t kill me to go see what in the fresh hell Ocean Breeze wants from the Underground. Who am I kidding? It probably will if she’s coming begging us for help.

“Alright, fine. It’s not everyday that stuck up bitch comes groveling at our hooves,” I say with a small roll of my eyes “lead the way, gentlecolts.”

I gesture for them to get a move on as I step out of my apartment and close the door behind me with my magic. They back away as I step out and then turn their backs to me as they make their way down the hall. I follow closely behind them and ignore everypony who greets us as we pass by. They say ‘hello’ out of respect- and maybe even a little out of fear- because of my reputation. To those in the know- or have simply been on the receiving end of my wrath- know I’m not one to be trifled or toyed with. In the twenty-five years this apocalypse has raged on, I’ve turned into a completely different pony.

A piece of who I once was died the same day Larkspur did. After we buried him, the rest of us successfully managed to get to the cottage. It was hard and rough, but we made it somehow. It was there that my siblings helped me deliver my then newborn, a little pegasus filly I named Summertide Harmony. We stayed in that cottage for a little over four years. Ponies we now refer to as ‘Hunters’ came in the middle of the night and tried to kill us- and take our stuff. It was horrible and frightening. My siblings, my nephew, my daughters and I scattered to the winds and those bastards chased after us, like just stealing our shit wasn't good enough for them. They wanted us dead for reasons I still don't know. Maybe to eliminate the possibility of revenge and retaliation. Maybe it was just for fun. Either way, they set fire to the forest around the cottage and threw out explosive molotov cocktails like it was a fucking parade.

Everything happened so quickly, and somehow my children and I became separated. Through a wall of fire and with the Hunters in close pursuit, I told Ivory to take Summertide and run as far and as fast as they could, to find somewhere safe and stay there until I could find them… except, I never did. I searched and searched and searched until I could no more. I searched for years after, hoping to find them, but every single possible lead came up dry in the end. Even to this day I hope to find them, but it’s like they just vanished into thin air. Part of me still hopes that they’re alive, somewhere safe, but the bitterness in my heart tells me to give up on that. That they’re... dead.

The rest of the old me died entirely when I had to give up on finding Ivory and Summertide. I did a lot of things over the years, things they’d be horrified by, things they’d hate me for… things I did to survive. I don’t even know why I’m still here, really. Everything worth living for was taken away from me years ago… yet, I still go on. Last time I heard from them, my siblings were alive. Now, I'm not so sure. That last time, Apple told me to go to hell, I told him to take a long walk off a short pier and Star told us she hopes the two of us get eaten by a clicker. Up until that point, we had stuck together. I was so miserable and bitter from my losses. I was- and still am- an insufferable bitch, I'll admit, always blowing up on them, complaining, nagging, insulting them. Always angry, always ignoring Dipper and treating him unfairly.

It always came out before I could stop it. Only a small part of me meant the things I said, but for the most part, it was just the bitterness in my heart talking. They had enough after Apple talked about joining a chapter of the Fireflies out near Vanhoover. I thought it was stupid, I still do. Star didn't want to join, nor did I. Apple wanted us to be together, which was fair enough and understandable. With the world like it is, family is really all you've got worth living for. It turned into a big argument when I called him stupid and told him to take his 'hero complex' elsewhere. Long story short, we parted ways and I've not seen hide nor hair of either one of them since. Not even the slightest peep or indication that they're still alive. I've already forgotten how many years it's been since then. Not that it matters. It's not like I miss them…

The three of us exit through the front door of the decrepit, old apartment building and hang a left through a dirty alleyway. An assortment of fliers are posted on the walls on either side. Some are wanted posters for Fireflies in the city, some are ration reminders, work reminders and a list of laws we must follow under MEDRA tyrannical rule. A whole bunch of bullshit, in other words. Guffy pulls a small identification booklet out of his pocket and tosses it my way.

"Here, she said to give this to you too," Guffy says as he looks back at me.

"Thanks," I say as I catch it "that time of year, huh? Let's see who I am this time."

I open the booklet and take a look at its contents. The forgery craftsmanship is impeccable and easily passes for the real deal. It has my photo and plausible but false information about myself. We have four fake identification booklets that we remake and rotate every six months. You would think these MEDRA bastards in the Canterlot Quarantine Zone would catch on by now, but let's just say they weren't exactly enlisted for their 'intelligence'. This time around, my name is 'Whimsy Hearts' and I'm a widow who lost her husband to some infected during a job outside the Wall. Interesting. Funny, even. I hope that asshole really has been ripped apart by a pack of clickers.

"Who are you this time?" I ask Guffy.

I tuck the booklet inside the breast pocket of the cream, red and gray plaid flannel that I'm wearing before looking over at him.

"Woodrow Ravenstone," Guffy replies with a showy wave of his claw "a young griffon who's a naturally talented angler."

"You're looking at Maverick Moss, a wanna be novelist with three cats," Jacks says as he looks back at me "did you know my previous ID said I had five cats?? The one before that said I had four! I'm pretty sure the other ones says I have, like, seven!"

"How many cats do you really have?" Guffy asks, raising a brow.

"Do we care?" I chime in, giving them both an annoyed look.

"One!" Jacks exclaims, throwing a hoof up in the air "I tell Callus one time that I have one cat and now I'm a crazy cat owner!"

“Well, that’s why you don’t go around telling everypony your life story, you idiot. Lesson learned,” I say before rolling my eyes.

We make it to the end of the alley and step out onto the sidewalk that runs along one side of the QZ Main Street. The entire Zone is filthy and rundown- and Main Street is no exception. Ration stalls covered in clear plastic sheeting and various service and exchange stalls- like haircuts and trades- dot the entirety of both sides of the sidewalk. Soldiers patrol the street and some even keep a ‘watchful’ eye from up above on the various rooftops. Not many ponies are out today and not a single soul is at any of the ration stalls. They must be running low again.

“Does it really matter how many cats you do or do not ‘for realsies' own?” Guffy asks Jacks.

“No, but c’mon! Seven is a bit excessive, don’t you think?” Jacks replies with a pleading look.

“Only if you hate cats. Personally, I like dogs a little more,” Guffy says with a shrug.

“Can it, both of you,” I bark through gritted teeth “you’re just begging for a soldier to sniff us out at this point.”

“Yes ma’am!” They exclaim quietly in unison.

I lightly shake my head and let out an annoyed sigh. A stray soccer ball comes suddenly rolling towards me and nearly smacks me in the ankle. I stop it with my hooves just before it does and scowl. A group of children cautiously approach and look at one another with nervous, scared looks on their faces. The tallest- and presumably eldest- child of the bunch steps forward and comes a little close. She’s no older than maybe ten and trembling nervously. Tears already prick the corner of her eyes and a word has yet to be said between us.

“S-s-sorry,” She stutters meekly “i-it was an a-accident. C-Can we have it back, p-please?”

“No,” I say angrily.

“B-But-” The filly starts to stammer out an object, but is interrupted by a sudden, loud ‘pop’.

She lets out a frightened 'eep' as I pop the ball with a tremendous amount of force and throw its remains in a nearby pile of trash. The filly’s ears flatten against her mane as stares at me momentarily in a mixture of fear and disbelief, then promptly bursts into tears. The other children burst into tears as well and gallop a good distance away. The filly turns and follows after them. I let out a ‘tch’ and trot past Jacks and Guffy, who stand their gawking at one another. What a brat. I continue down Main Street, leaving my underlings behind as they go over to the children and apologize to them on my behalf. Yet another irrational decision made by my broken, bitter heart.

I've come to hate children these days. Maybe I don't truly hate them, deep down and all that, but every time I see a child, it's like a big, annoyingly flashy neon sign saying 'Hey, this could be Larkspur if you didn't get him killed!'. Reminding me that he's dead, that he'll never get to grow up like them. That I'll never get to see him grow up. Teenagers are the worst out of them all. They only serve to remind me that I failed Ivory and Summertide, that I'll never get to see them grow up into adults, assuming they're even alive at this point. These children are visual reminders of how much of a horrible, piece of shit mother I am... or was, I suppose.

Guffy and Jacks eventually catch up to me as I near one of several checkpoints set up in the Canterlot Quarantine Zone. Two concrete walls about a story tall lined with barbed wire at the top are set up between two tall buildings. In the very middle where both walls meet is a booth with turnstiles attached on either side. Several soldiers congregate around the checkpoint, every single one looking bored and miserable and armed with military-style carbine rifles. My underlings file in line close behind me as we approach the booth. The soldiers standing on either side near the turnstiles look at us and merely nod their heads as a greeting. I give them a half-assed smile before knocking on the booth’s window. The soldier inside the booth groans and shuffles to her hooves before yanking the window open. She has an annoyed look on her face like we had just interrupted her in the middle of something ‘important’. She holds out a hoof expectantly and glares.

“IDs, please,” She says in a monotone voice.

“Sure thing,” I say, matching her tone.

The mare subtly rolls her eyes and sighs impatiently as the three of us produce our fake ID booklets. I gather them with my magic and thrust them into her grasp. She takes them and disappears momentarily. When she returns, the mare hands us back our booklets and produces a pen and a clipboard with a list of questions.

“Have you been in contact with anypony who claims to have been outside the Wall?” She asks.

“Nope,” We answer in unison.

She marks off a box on her checklist. She glances up at us before looking back down at it.

“Have you been in contact with anypony who is sick or appears sick in the last forty-eight hours?” The mare asks.

“Nada,” I say for the three of us.

“Are you sick or feeling any on-set symptoms of illness?” She questions.

“Does sick of your shit count?” I question with a petty smirk.

“Absolutely hilarious,” The mare answers in her usual monotone “but no, no it does not.”

“Then there’s your answer,” I say, widening my smirk.

“Right, right. Moving on, have you or anypony you know had any recent interactions with any Fireflies?” The mare questions as she ticks off another box.

“Uh, yeah, that’s a hard fucking no,” I answer harshly as I lose my smirk “does anypony ever answer that question honestly?”

“You’d be surprised, but no, not all that often,” The mare says with a shrug “look, we’re almost done here. Next question; What is the reason you’re passing through today?”

“Our friends staying in the Swan Street Apartments invited us over for a game of poker. We all have the day off, so we figured we’d go,” I say with a small shrug.

“Do you plan on staying with the ponies you are visiting or will you be coming back through?” The mare questions as she ticks off another box “and If you do decide to come back through, do you have a rough estimate of what time you will return?”

“Is ‘unsure’ an acceptable answer for both questions? We were just going to play it by ear. Depends on how drunk we are,” I answer with a slight tilt of my head.

“Wish I was drunk,” The mare mumbles quietly “drink responsibly and all that.”

“Anymore questions?” I ask.

“Just two, so bare with me now,” She answers with a roll of her eyes “are you aware that curfew is 7PM per usual and are you aware that aiding or harboring criminals is an act punishable by hanging or firing squad-style execution under section 5a of the MEDRA Quarantine Law?”

“Yes and yes,” I say with an annoyed sigh.

“Congratulations, you made it through the questionnaire without dying,” The mare says with faux enthusiasm “you can pass through. I’ll unlock the turnstiles for you.”

“Have a good day, stay safe, report any suspicious activity to the nearest MEDRA guard in your area, blah, blah, blah. You know the drill,” The mare adds before closing her window.

What a peach. A brief but loud buzz sounds from the speakers attached to the corners of the booth as both turnstiles emit an audible click, indicating their change of status. The guard on the left gestures for us to use the left turnstile. We push our way through the metallic turnstile and then weave through the short winding path made by chest-high walls of sandbags. Hmm, how weird. Going through the checkpoint went a lot smoother than it usually does. There’s usually some stupid reason why we can’t get through or our passage is delayed. Last time, those idiotic bug bitches blew up the nearby guard shack.

We cross the soldier-infested street and pass through another alleyway. We come out to a street with significantly less soldiers, cross it and hang a right on the sidewalk. We keep going until we reach the steps of the Swan Street Apartment building. The three of us enter the lobby of the rundown, trashy apartments and make our way to room A-19. The halls are mostly empty except for the occasional drunk or high resident locked out of their own apartments. When we reach the door of our destination, Guffy tells us to stay put while he scopes things out. He’s gone for a minute or two, but then swiftly returns and ushers us inside.

Inside the nearly empty apartment, a lone unicorn mare sits on the couch wearing a pink and purple pinstripe vest. The mare has a soft violet coat, a long and wild dark green mane and bright yellow eyes. Her back legs are crossed as she sits back and uses her hoof to prop up her head. She greets Jacks and I as we enter the room. The mare- Vice Versa- is one of several members of the Underground, a secret smuggling business run right under the noses of the MEDRA. Guffy, Jacks and I are also members of the Underground… if it wasn’t already obvious.

The whole Underground is run by one mare in particular; a feisty earth pony mare named Sapphire Sparkles. Per her request and insistence, I’m her right-hoof mare and second in command of the whole shebang. The color of the vests that Vice Versa, Guffy and Jacks wear are less of a uniform and more a code to let others ‘in the know’ to know what role in the Underground they play. Jacks and Guffy? Green vests make them messengers. Vice Versa’s pink vest tells us she’s a lookout and a pony who shouldn’t be moved from their post under any circumstances. Excluding valid emergencies, of course, and when they rotate locations or relieve other lookouts of their duties for the day.

The ponies we use for guards wear red and gold pinstripe vests. Those of us who do the smuggling- excluding Sapphire and myself- wear black and gold pinstripe vests. The coded outfits we give them change every four to six months. The colors generally stay the same, but what they wear depends on what our manufacturer creates. This time around, it’s pinstripe vests. Rotating what they wear and our ID booklets helps keep us off MEDRA's radar. You’d be amazed by how a simple change of clothes fools them. They really are a ‘basket of fried eggs’. Stupid, in other words. It’s an idiom I ‘borrowed’ from that good-for-nothing brother of mine.

“Howdy-ho, bosserooni. A birdie chirps that there’s trouble on the homefront. A pesky little bug’s come askin’ the spider for help,” Vice Versa says with a chuckle “tunnel’s all clear. Just came through myself. It’s my turn to watch the wallpaper peel off in here.”

“Don’t have too much fun,” I joke sarcastically.

“Mm, I’ll try not to. Boredom really gets the ol’ imagination going, y’know,” Vice Versa jokes as she pantomimes the motions of jerking off.

“Try not to drench the couch. Summer will be here soon and we don’t need this tunnel reeking of your fucking cum dungeon,” I say matter-of-factly.

Vice Versa bursts into a fit of howling laughter as she holds her stomach. She wipes a figurative tear from her eye as she contains her outburst.

“Ha! ‘Cum dungeon’! Oh, bosserooni, you kill me!” Vice Versa exclaims with another burst of laughter “oooo~ That’s a good one. I’ll have to use that myself.”

“You’re welcome. I’ve had about forty years to come up with some good names,” I say with a shrug.

“Mm, well, you’ll have to come by my place sometime and tell me all about the names you’ve come up with,” Vice Versa says suggestively.

“You could bring me a million unused STD tests, take them in front of me and test negative in every single one and I still wouldn’t fuck you in your dreams,” I say.

“Awe, c’mon, Honey. There aren’t any other MILFs in the underground,” Vice Versa says with a fake pout “ah, well. It was worth a shot. You better get going before that bug turns into a real infestation- if you know what I mean.”

“I think that might be the first logical thing you’ve said since I walked in,” I say as I trot away.

Vice Versa laughs at my comment as I cross the room and head for the wooden door a small ways from the dirty kitchen in the corner. I open the door and enter a tiny bathroom consisting of a dirty, broken toilet, a chipped sink and a disgustingly mildewed bathtub. A stained plastic shower curtain hangs from a rod screwed into the walls. I look behind me and gesture for Guffy and Jacks to follow me. Looking forward again, I yank back the curtain to reveal a hole in the wall just big enough for an adult pony to squeeze through without getting stuck. I climb into the tub, turn around and climb through the hole ass first.

With a grunt, I drop down about four feet and land squarely on my hooves. I use my magic to illuminate the nearly pitch black tunnel and crouch down in order to get through the rest of it. I don’t wait for my companions as I crawl forward about five yards until I reach a right-hoof turn and continue crawling for another seven or eight yards before reaching the end. To exit the tunnel, I look up for my target and then jump upwards to grab the ledge of the hole about four feet above me. I grunt and groan as I pull myself upwards. Free of the hole, I land on a mattress left lying on the floor of a dirty, dingy office.

I open the office door and step out into an empty, long abandoned convenience store. I trot around the counter and wait on the other side for Jacks and Guffy. It takes them a minute or two to catch up, but once we’re together again we continue on our way to the warehouse. A few alleyways, hiding from soldiers and some brief spelunking through abandoned buildings later, we finally arrive at our destination. The warehouse we use for our shady dealings- formerly owned by a prominent construction company- is located at the northeastern perimeter of the QZ. We have a nice view of the Princesses castle from here. This area of the QZ is off limits to anypony who isn’t a part of MEDRA, but that doesn’t exactly stop us from running our business. The only good thing about MEDRA are the select few soldiers who consistently buy illegal contraband- like pills and dope- from us who keep the uptight ones from sniffing around our turf.

We enter the warehouse and all seems to be perfectly normal. Various members of the Underground are scattered and clustered throughout the ground floor of the building. A pegasus stallion in a red and gold pinstripe vest comes trotting up and kindly informs me that Sapphire needs me in the office upstairs. I thank him and depart from Jacks and Guffy as I make my way upstairs. The rusty, metallic grated stairs creak and groan occasionally as I climb up them and onto the matching landing outside the office. I stop just short of the door and mentally prepare myself for the interaction to come. Don’t immediately kill Ocean Breeze, Honey. Just hear her out. Then you can kill her. Maybe.

I sigh, push open the door and enter the office. Leaned back in a dusty office chair is an earth pony mare just a few years younger than me. She has a livid colored coat, a royal blue short and choppy mane with a single, jagged stripe of magenta going through the middle and emerald green eyes. She wears a stained white dress shirt with a red tie and has a cutie mark depicting a pile of green gems. The mare has a nice shiner around her right eye, a bloody nose and a busted mouth. All recent by the looks of things. Probably happened before she sent Jacks and Guffy to fetch me.

Across from her and leaning against a desk is a somewhat younger pegasus mare who looks a little worse for wear than the mare in the chair. Her chest is covered in bruises, there's a still-bleeding cut on her cheek and a new and shiny black eye to match the other mare's. This mare has a soft purple coat, a long, curly turquoise mane and olive green eyes. From where she stands, I can’t see her cutiemark, however, but I know from past experiences that hers depicts a pink heart with a fancy red and gold ribbon tied to it.

“So kind of you to finally join us, Honey Cake,” The mare in the chair- Sapphire- says to me with a grin “I was starting to believe you weren’t coming.”

“And miss getting to see… ah, how did Vice put it… ‘a pesky little bug’ come asking ‘for the spider’s help’ I believe it was,” I say with a smirk.

"Truly a once in a lifetime occurrence, my dear. Oh, so sorry for the little, uh, 'misunderstanding' there, Ocean Breeze," Sapphire says as she gestures in Ocean's direction.

"Water under the bridge and all that, right?" Ocean asks with a pained sigh.

"For sure, for sure," Sapphire agrees insincerely before looking over at me "Honey, close the door would you? Keeps ‘little’ ears from listening."

I merely nod my head as I step further into the office and close the door behind me with my magic. Sapphire grunts softly as she sits up correctly in the chair and wipes the blood from her lips. She gestures for me to come closer, then instructs me to sit down next to her, which I happily comply with. Sapphire clears her throat and straightens her shirt and tie before speaking.

“Thanks for your patience as we waited for my dear Honey to arrive, but now that she’s here, let’s just get right to it,” Sapphire says with a grin.

“I’m running out of time and bodies, so I’ll cut right to the chase. I need you to smuggle something out of the city for me,” Ocean Breeze says firmly “it’s very important cargo. I know you don’t believe in our ideologies, but it’s absolutely vital to our cause and I need it out of the city ASAP.”

“Let’s pretend like we’ve agreed for a moment, shall we? Where exactly does this ‘cargo’ of yours need to be delivered to?” Sapphire questions.

“Vanhoover, but-” Ocean begins to answer but is quickly interrupted by me.

“Vanhoover?! You do realize how far that is, don’t you?!” I exclaim with a stomp of a hoof.

“Yes, I do realize how far that is. If you had let me finish, I was going to say that I only need you to take it to the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville,” Ocean says with an annoyed sigh.

“That’s still pretty far from the QZ,” I sneer.

“But it’s manageable and we’ve gone farther than that before,” Sapphire says as she taps her front hooves together “and what exactly do we get out of this?”

“Guns, ammo, ration cards. Enough supplies to keep you going for months… if you make it back to the Zone,” Ocean says “but there’s just one little issue.”

“An issue, eh? Go on,” Sapphire says as she leans back in her chair again.

“I’m sure you’re very familiar with Cobalt Blue. Well, he owes me a very large shipment of guns and ammunition, but won’t give them to me. Claims the shipment never came, but I paid him a little visit,” Ocean explains with a scowl “I know he has them. I did a bit of reconnaissance and saw them sitting in the back of that fabric store next door to that office building he uses.”

“And the ration cards?” I question.

“Easy. I swiped the code to his safe while he wasn’t looking,” Ocean answers “my group and I are leaving the city soon, so you can have our ration cards as well. We won’t starve without them.”

“Well, if you’re leaving the city, why not just take that cargo with you then?” Sapphire questions “sounds like you don’t need us after all… and you got your ass beat for no reason.”

“Both of those things aren’t true. I know we’ve had our grievances and such in the past, but I do respect you and your abilities,” Ocean answers as she takes a step forward “you two are more than qualified to do this. Hell, you’re probably overqualified, but that just means there’s nopony better to do this than you.”

“Oh, you want ‘us’ as in us to do this,” Sapphire says as she gestures to herself and I “well, I think I’m starting to see the whole picture now.”

“As ironic as it sounds, there’s nopony else I trust with this task other than you. That’s including those of my own here in the QZ. Just you and you,” Ocean says as she points to both of us.

"Hold the fuck up for a sec. You didn't answer Sapphire's question. Why can't you take this cargo with you and your little army of fuckups when you leave the city?" I question with a harsh, skeptical look.

"Because we're going in the complete opposite direction. Our journey to our destination is a dangerous one and we're already risking a lot by going there," Ocean answers in a snappy tone "I cannot waste time and resources going to Ponyville then up north."

“Alright, I get it, but what of your Firefly buddies meeting us at the castle?” Sapphire questions.

“Those transporting the cargo are better equipped and capable than those here in the Zone. My guys here in the city are… a bit softer, shall we say,” Ocean answers earnestly "which is what makes doing this delivery ourselves so risky, but it's also imperative we go to where we're going... and no, I will not tell you our destination."

“Fair enough, but if we’re going to be personally risking our asses to transport this cargo of yours to Ponyville, I think we deserve a little bit more of an incentive,” I say in an irritated tone.

“I met your brother shortly after he joined the Fireflies. He saved my ass more than once and I owe him a great deal,” Ocean explains, locking eyes with me “Apple Cake is a good stallion. I don’t know the exact details, but I know your last words and moments with him weren’t good ones.”

“He misses you. He regrets what happened. I promised him if I ever met you, I’d tell you where he was so you can reunite,” Ocean quickly adds.

“Our extra incentive is just where I can find my deadbeat brother? What if I don’t want to ‘reunite’ with his sorry ass?” I question harshly.

“No, it's not, but I figured it was worth mentioning, at least. I can offer more goods and the like that I can spare to give,” Ocean answers with a shrug “and what if I promised I’ll have every chapter of the Fireflies look for your kids?”

“What?!” I exclaim furiously as I jump to my hooves “they’re dead! Don’t you dare mention them EVER again if you want to keep drawing breath!!”

“Do you really believe that? That they’re dead, I mean,” Ocean asks calmly.

I glare daggers at Ocean for a moment before looking at the ground in front of me. If they were alive, wouldn’t I have found them by now? They would come looking for me, too, if they were alive... right? We’d be together by now, surely, if that were the case. Unless… they think I’m dead? Unless th-they gave up on finding me just as I’ve given up on finding them? Or… Or maybe they believe I abandoned them and hate me so much now that they’d rather live without me in their lives? No… No, my babies love me too much for that to be the case… Right?

Ugh. Hope is such a dangerous thing. I had hope for so long before it was crushed along with my spirit. Would I really want to risk being crushed and beat down a second time? No, I wouldn’t, but… sigh.

“How do you intend on keeping this promise? What if they find nothing?” I question in a much calmer tone.

“I’ll send out a mandatory order- enforced with strict punishments if disobeyed- with an accurate description of your kids. Daughters, wasn’t it? Two young fillies? Well, they're probably grown by now,” Ocean answers “but I will not let them stop until they find them, whether that be dead or alive.”

“And if they’re alive, we’ll bring them to the closest Firefly safe house and notify you. If they’re dead, we’ll recover their remains if we’re able to or find evidence of their demise,” She adds with an earnest, hopeful look.

“If you give me any sort of false hope… I’ll kill you,” I say sternly yet calmly.

“That’s more than fair. I will not stop you,” Ocean says with a solemn nod.

“So, just to make everything all nice and crystal clear, in exchange for the ‘expedited’ delivery of Firefly cargo to Ponyville, the Fireflies will give us all of their ration cards, all of Cobalt Blue’s ration cards and whatever weapons and ammunition we can recover from his 'hidden' caches?” Sapphire questions as she rubs her chin thoughtfully.

“In addition to whatever goodies I can spare, the last known location of Honey’s brother, Apple Cake, and a strictly enforced order to search for her daughters, but yes, that’s correct,” Ocean answers with another nod.

“But we have to recover the goods from Cobalt ourselves, no?” Sapphire asks, raising an eyebrow at Ocean.

“Yes and no. You’ll have to do most of the heavy lifting, but I will assist you the best I can, of course,” Ocean replies “you know, I was thinking it was time a larger business ‘bought out’ the ‘rights’ to Cobalt’s little sham of a shady business… if you catch my drift.”

“You’re suggesting we kill Cobalt and take all of his shit?” I question.

“Oh, sorry, didn’t realize you were against killing others all of a sudden,” Ocean replies sarcastically.

“Well, hold on just a moment, Honey. That’s not an entirely bad idea,” Sapphire says with a sly smirk “it does offer a solution to past, current and future problems. So, Ocean, where’s your piece at in this puzzle exactly?”

“If it means getting this cargo out of Canterlot ASAP, I’m ready to risk some of my little militia getting caught by MEDRA. I’ll have a small team put together,” Ocean explains “we’ll meet you there, distract his second in command and take out who we can.”

“And the rest is left up to us?” Sapphire asks.

“And the rest is left up to you,” Ocean replies with a nod “and once we get rid of Cobalt and his goons, my team and I will bring every bit of what we recover to your warehouse.”

“I did always wonder what his brains would look like on the floor,” Sapphire says with a chuckle “alright, if Honey has no objections… we’re in.”

“I don’t think anypony would have trouble sleeping at night if he suddenly stopped existing,” I say with a shrug “I’ve no objections, but I will just lightly emphasize that if you double cross us in any way, I will cut off your limbs and wings and throw you to the clickers.”

“I’ve got too much at stake here to even consider doing anything of the sorts. Hope you didn’t have plans for the day, because we need to do this now,” Ocean says, gesticulating the importance of ‘now’.

“Have you and your guys wait in that music store near Cobalt’s office. We’ll go get properly supplied and whatnot, but we’ll be waiting in the diner across the street,” Sapphire instructs.

“Why not wait in the same place?” Ocean asks.

“If this is so urgent, then I don’t think we have the time to listen to me explain my reasons,” Sapphire replies coolly.

“Alright, I get it. See you again soon, then,” Ocean says with a sigh “do I need to be escorted out or can I walk out of here without being shot?”

“You can walk out of here without being shot. Don’t worry, I’ll muzzle my dogs for you,” Sapphire says as she slides out of the chair and onto her hooves.

Ocean Breeze mumbles out a ‘thank you’ as Sapphire opens the office door and trots out onto the landing. Ocean and I follow her closely and stand off to either side of her. Sapphire props herself up against the railing and peers down at our lackeys milling about down below. A sharp, ear piercing whistle cuts through the air and quickly ushers in an immediate silence. Everypony stops in their tracks and directs their attention towards us. They gather together and stare up at us expectantly. Sapphire takes a brief moment to revel in the power she holds over every single member down below- as well as myself, to a certain extent.

“Oi, listen up good now, ‘cause I’m only saying this once! Ocean Breeze and her Firefly underlings are officially temporary allies,” Sapphire bellows, emphasizing the 'temporary' “shocking, I know, but this means keep your guns holstered and your dicks out of a twist! No exceptions, unless I or Honey say otherwise!”

“Until our business with them is concluded, if a single one of you steps out of line and picks a fight with them, we will not save you from being beaten or worse,” I add loudly as I peer down below.

We get a mixed reaction from the crowd down. Several of our lackeys appear confused, others genuinely surprised and a few appear angry that we would stoop so low. A few towards the back hurl insults in Ocean's direction, who only rolls her eyes and ignores them. Given our history and the bad blood between us and the Canterlot chapter of the Fireflies, these reactions are expected. A small group of angry looking individuals breaks off from the crowd and slinks off towards the outside loading area of the warehouse.

“But hey! A little bit of good news for all of ya! Our little operation is about to grow a considerable amount!” Sapphire proudly announces “yours truly- as well as Honey- are going to do the world a favor and take out the Cobalt Blue-sized trash stinking up part of the QZ!”

“Best behaviors and all that or we’ll bring back karaoke night,” I warn loudly.

“Huh? What… What happened at karaoke night?” Ocean questions with a look of concerned bewilderment.

“Mm. Was one of those things where you just had to be there,” I answer as I shake my head.

“Besides wonderfully terrible singing from a very drunk yours truly and a few others, let’s just make a long story as vague and short as we can and just say that karaoke night is a fate worse than death around here now,” Sapphire explains as she looks over at Ocean.

“I thought I wanted to know, but… now I’m not so sure that I do,” Ocean says as she shakes her head “I… will be leaving now. Thanks…?”

“You’re quite welcome. Now, toodaloo, cheerio, adios, see ya!” Sapphire says as she shoos off Ocean Breeze.

Ocean unfolds her wings and quickly takes off into the air. She flies upwards towards the ceiling, then dives down towards the wide open doors of the warehouse. We all watch as she flies out of the building and out of sight in a matter of seconds. I’ve never quite liked Ocean Breeze and the fact that she not only used my daughters against me to try to get me to do the job but actually succeeding in getting me to agree just makes my blood boil. Whatever. I guess I’m helping her now whether I like it or not. I’d rather begrudgingly do so than listen to Sapphire bitch me out for changing my mind.

I sigh softly as I look over at my ‘boss’. Sapphire flashes a toothy grin and shoots a wink my way. I gesture for her to lead the way to The Cove, a little arms and ammunition shop owned by our friend Dove and her siblings. Her shop and everything she sells is technically our property- the Underground’s, that is- and she herself is a member of our little business, but we graciously allow her to operate mostly independent from the rest of our Underground operations. Her shop is always a first stop for anypony heading out on a job, especially if that job requires us to go outside the Wall. Better safe than sorry and all that.

I grit my teeth together and hold back an angry growl. It’s a phrase that shoots my blood pressure up to dangerously high levels as soon as I hear it more often than not. You know, I think Larkspur would still be alive were it not for that stupid saying. ‘Things could be worse’, Apple used to say. Everything has been worse for me since that day and I’m fairly certain that’s just how it’s going to be until the day I die. I won’t complain if that’s any time soon. Sapphire might, though. It would be like a reverse-haunting. Instead of my ghost haunting her, her living self would terrorize and haunt my grave. Either that, or she would perform some kind of ritual to bring me back from the dead.

“Don’t tell me your old age is already catching up to ya, slowpoke,” Sapphire playfully jeers.

“I’m only four years older than you, dumbass. If I’m old, your insufferable ass is old,” I say snidely.

“Which is why we should get married before we spontaneously combust into ash and dust because our fragile, mortal bodies can't keep up with the flow of time,” Sapphire says rather matter-of-factly.

“Hell no. I’m not marrying you. If I did, you’d quickly be divorced a second time,” I say with a bit of disgust, mostly fake “I’d rather go swimming in a lake of acid.”

“Awe, I love you too, wifey-poo,” Sapphire jokes as she playfully punches my shoulder.

“Shut up,” I huff before quickly trotting past her.

Sapphire cackles as she swiftly catches up to me and bumps her hips against my own. She fills my ears with a bunch of her usual weird nonsense as we exit the warehouse and go back the way that I had come with Jacks and Guffy. I always wonder how or why I’m even still alive, but the truth of the matter is that, for the time being, Sapphire is the ‘why’ and ‘how’. Were it not for her, I would’ve never made it into the Canterlot Quarantine Zone. I would’ve been forced to continue living life always looking over my shoulders, always hungry, always exhausted from lack of sleep. Miserable, terrified, always wondering if the next corner I turn will be the end of me.

I’m still miserable, sometimes hungry and exhausted, but at least now I’m looking over my shoulders for different, more preferable reasons. Sapphire was already living in Canterlot when they set up the Zone and she was a part of the lucky few who originally made it inside. After losing Larkspur and being separated from my daughters, I had forgotten all about Sapphire. Maybe it was before then, actually, I don’t really remember to be honest. Her now ex-husband, who I had been dating not knowing he was married, was how she and I met. He left us both and that was that. We had coffee a couple of times, but afterwards we only talked on the phone and not often at that. Around that time was when she had moved to Canterlot, I believe.

The day I had made my way to the Canterlot Quarantine Zone, Sapphire had been amongst the small group selected that day for work duties outside of the Wall. MEDRA soldiers had spotted me before I had even realized I was anywhere near a Quarantine Zone. They hounded me and questioned me like I had committed some kind of terroristic act. I didn’t even get the chance to explain myself, much less tell them who I was, before they tackled me to the ground, shoved a scanner to my neck and a gun to my head. Sapphire recognized me during the process of being hounded and scanned and then vouched for my ‘good character’ once they declared me free from infection.

She more or less demanded they let me in and assured them that she would personally look after me. The fact that I’m here and on this job with her proves her efforts to get me in were successful… obviously. I owe Sapphire a great deal and although she drives me crazy more often than not, I love her dearly as a friend and I’m thankful for every day- and moment- we spend together. I’ve never really had a proper best friend, but I suppose Sapphire’s the closest thing I’ve got to one. We take care of one another and keep each other company, even when she’s on my last nerve. I suppose that does make us best friends in a technical aspect. Ugh. She would never let me hear the end of it if I decided to verbally declare us to be ‘best friends’.

***

Down beneath the Canterlot QZ, amongst the Undergrounds’ many tunnels and hidden passageways, Sapphire and I find ourselves in part of the sewers. It’s dark, musty and damp. Generally disgusting, really, but necessary to reach The Cove. We slosh through the cold, questionable water until we reach a nook with a maintenance door smack dab in the middle. Outside the door in the corner is an old metal barrel with a fire lit inside it, which tells us that Dove and her siblings are presently in the shop. Sapphire approaches the door and knocks in a specific pattern to alert our underlings of our presence.

It’s quiet for a moment, then we hear somepony approach the door. It opens just a crack as an eye peers out to assess who’s come knocking. The eye disappears as the door is swung wide open. A short pegasus mare with a dull grayish-blue coat, a short, wavy chestnut mane and dark gray eyes greets us with a wide, cheerful grin.

“Well, well, well! If it ain’t Boss One and Boss Two! Heading out on a lil’ adventure, eh?” The mare says with a hearty laugh.

“Hello, Turtle Dove. Yeah, you could say that,” Sapphire says with a sly grin.

"Because we are," I say in a mixture of minor confusion and annoyance.

Turtle Dove chuckles as she steps aside and gestures for us to come inside. As we enter a somewhat large room, Sapphire fills Dove in on our situation and the deal we’ve made with the Fireflies. This part of the room is shaped like an ‘L’ with a smaller room behind a metal door located in the back right corner. The entire room is lit by a large, old looking marquee arrow. A portion of the back left corner is sectioned off by counters made from scratch using metal barrels as well as various other scraps and pieces of usable junk. There’s a gate near the wall to allow access behind it.

Scraps of chainlink fencing are welded to the ceiling and the counter as a deterrent against thievery. There are small rectangular windows evenly spaced out in the fencing to allow transactions to be made and a section cut out to allow Dove and her siblings to get behind the counter without hitting their heads. The walls behind the counter are covered in weapon racks and filled with neatly assorted weapons ranging from small pistols to shotguns to rifles to crossbows as well as melee weapons like bats and various blades like hatchets, fire axes and machetes. Footlockers line the walls along the floor below the weapon racks in a neat and orderly fashion.

At the front of the room in the right most corner closest to the entrance is a billiards table, a rack holding four pool cues and a tall wooden table where three ponies sit playing a round of hold ‘em poker. The ponies sitting at the table look over and greet us. The tallest of the bunch is an earth pony stallion with a chocolate brown coat and a curly pastel green mane that nearly covers his pear colored eyes. Despite being the tallest, the stallion- named Pear Tree- is actually the youngest of the bunch. To his right is a unicorn mare with a dark charcoal coat and a soft pink, fluffy mane tied into a long ponytail with bangs that covers her right eye entirely, leaving only her left, golden eye exposed.

Her name is Blackbird Pirouette and she falls into the slot of ‘second youngest’ in the line of siblings. Despite being named after a songbird, Blackbird- or ‘BB’ as her siblings call her- was born deaf and- as a result- is entirely mute. A little ironic, if I’m honest. To the left of Pear Tree is another pegasus mare just barely taller than Dove with a dull brown coat, dull red eyes and a straight, chin-length cloudy blue mane with black jagged stripes and slicked back bangs. The mare- named Winter Partridge- is missing part of the left side of her nose and cheek. I don’t know much about how Partridge acquired such a gnarly scar other than that it was from some incident where a ‘disagreement led to an attempt on her life’.

Her own words, divulged willfully on her own accord. Out of respect, I’ve never pried deeper for more details about it, nor do I stare or mention it like it’s some crazy spectacle. In the years I spent roaming Equestria on my own and doing hell-worthy things to survive, I’ve had several of my own close calls with batshit crazy ponies trying to take my life. It’s a bit traumatizing, so I get her ‘lack of eagerness’ to share the ‘juicy’ details about how she got her scar. I know for some, talking about the horrible things they’ve endured makes things better and they’re able to move on and heal and all that other bullshit, but that's not the case for others who've dealt with the same shit. Talking doesn’t change the past nor does it fix anything and the saying ‘time heals all wounds’ is a load of bullshit.

Some things might heal, but some wounds will never close and the scars of things that have healed will always hurt or leave you numb. In a world full of death, decay and chaos, there’s no such thing as ‘peace’. Not true peace, at least. Until every last one of us dies, succumbs to this damn fungal infection or we find a way to ‘cure’ it, that’s just how it’s going to be. It doesn’t matter if we like it or not. This infection and the things it creates don’t care about our feelings or our well beings. Sometimes you can’t help but think ‘why me’ or ‘why them’ when you lose ponies to hoards of infected. In reality, they didn’t target you specifically. You were at the wrong place, at the wrong time and Lady Luck had long abandoned you.

“So, tell me how you were thinking of approaching things,” Dove says “are we thinking of going in guns-a-blazing, nice and stealthy… a healthy mix of both?”

“I was hoping we could do things a little bit quietly. We don't want to be attracting the attention of MEDRA while we savor every last bit of killing Cobalt,” Sapphire says as she strokes her chin thoughtfully.

“We also don’t want to destroy any of the goods he keeps stashed away in that damn office of his,” I add, focusing my attention on Dove.

“So, would you like the usual then?” Dove asks.

“Don’t fix what ain’t broke,” Sapphire replies with a shrug “they haven’t failed us yet.”

“Alrighty, then. Uno momento, my good mares,” Dove says with a nod of her head.

Dove goes behind the counter and opens up the footlocker closest to the gate. She pulls out two saddlebags and tosses them onto the counter. She pulls a new-looking revolver and 9mm pistol from the racks, holds them with her wings and gathers their holsters. Dove finds their respective types of ammunition from other footlockers on the floor and brings three boxes of each kind over to the counter. She lays them down and then fetches two different knives and their respective sheaths before setting them down on the counter next to the guns. For Sapphire, she brings a trailing point knife. For myself, she brings a kukri knife; a long standing favorite of mine.

Sapphire looks over at Blackbird, Pear and Partridge and leaves from her place beside me to join them in their game of poker.

“Mind if I take Dove’s place for a moment or two?” Sapphire questions.

“Sure, Boss One. Maybe you’ll improve her luck,” Partridge answers in a scratchy, gruff voice.

“Well, it hasn’t failed me yet, has it? Lady Luck has blessed me well,” Sapphire says with a smirk.

I lightly shake my head and let out a short snort at her comment. I lean against the counter and watch Dove load the clip of the 9mm and the cylinder of the revolver. She holsters each gun and attaches the 9mm to Sapphire’s saddlebag and the revolver to mine. She does the same with our knives and securely fastens them. Dove places two boxes of respective ammo into our bags, then pulls out two small first aid kits from underneath the counter and places them inside as well. Lastly, but certainly not least, Dove takes out a pair of military grade gas masks that we use in case we encounter fungus spores on missions that take us outside of the Zone.

"I got a few new goodies in that last shipment, Boss Two. Want a binocular or two thrown in today?" Dove says as she gestures to the goods behind her.

"Sure. Maybe I can shove them up Sapphire's ass if she gets on my nerves," I say with a shrug.

"Huh? What are we putting up my ass?" Sapphire questions from across the room, her ears perked in curiosity.

Dove, Pear Tree and Partridge laugh and chuckle at Sapphire. Blackbird simply stares with a small smile on her face, however, I know from experience that she's very aware of what's going on. She's very good at reading lips and even better at mouthing words. I'm not very good at lip reading, unfortunately, so sometimes I have to rely on her siblings to translate.

"Is binoculars all you got?" I ask Dove, completely ignoring Sapphire.

"I got a few new, different guns, including a rocket launcher I’ve got to assemble, but not anything you could use today,” Dove says thoughtfully “mostly heavy guns and the like… oh! Actually, that reminds me of something!”

“What’s that?” I question.

“We were going through the usual routine after they delivered our shipment when I came across a crate full of stolen MEDRA-made weapons. I think I found something you might really enjoy,” Dove answers with an excited grin.

“You gonna show it to me or just talk about it?” I ask, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Follow me. We decided we’d wait on putting these out for sale until we got approval from you and Boss One,” Dove replies as she gestures for me to follow her.

I merely nod as Dove trots out from behind the counter and leads me to the small room in the corner. She opens the door and we both step inside. There are four twin-sized beds in the back of this room. Two are neatly made while the other two are messy. Each bed has a different bed set on it in order to distinguish whose bed is whose. The bed in the leftmost corner is plain and simple with a color scheme that reminds me of a sunset. The bed next to it is entirely cactus and tumbleweed themed and looks like a tornado ran over it. The next bed is entirely unkempt and black with one singular red pillow and the bed in the rightmost corner is vintage-y with its old-fashioned, colorful quilted patchy style. It seriously reminds me of my grandma’s old bedroom.

Against the wall, tables fill the small gaps between each of the beds. Each table has a lamp switched off on top of it. On the side of the room Dove and I currently stand, metal shelves with various boxes and objects line the shelves. To my left are two crates lying on the floor in the corner, one closed and the other with its lid removed and placed behind it. Both crates have ‘MEDRA’ stamped all over along with warnings not to open unless ‘authorized’ to do so. Dove walks over to the boxes and peers into the one currently open.

I watch her as she sifts through the open crate to find this mystery item she claims that I’ll enjoy. After a minute or two, she finally finds the object in question and pulls it out. It looks like a pistol of some kind, but completely different from any gun I’ve ever seen. It’s mostly dark blue with black, gray and yellow accents. The back half of it has a typical looking grip, but I see no place for a magazine at the bottom and it has no hammer or slide. There’s a little switch for the safety just below the oddly placed trigger.

Instead of the trigger and trigger shield being in its typical place below the slide and at the front of the grip, it’s in the center of the gun near the top just behind the barrel. The word ‘PUSH’ is printed onto the side of the trigger. The barrel is taller and wider than the average pistol barrel. What makes it much different from a normal handgun- aside from the previously stated- is the fact that the tip end of the barrel appears to have a taser attachment at the front, prongs and all. It’s shaped like one of those arch blocks the come in the wooden block sets for children. You know, the ones with an arch at the top and a flat bottom for easy stacking just… in taser form, I guess. There's also a small, square protrusion on the top and bottom of this odd barrel top, both of which have two very tiny, circular light bulbs at the end.

The overall design is sleek, seamless and- honestly- even a bit futuristic looking. MEDRA is printed on the barrel just before this taser-y tip. Dove turns it over in her hoof and shows me the bottom of the barrel. There is a horizontal opening that cuts somewhat deep into the barrel, which I assume is where the magazine goes. Dove holds the gun out to me and I take it from her with my magic.

“I was looking at the shipping manifest that came with these crates and apparently these are all brand new weapons that MEDRA HQ is shipping out to all Quarantine Zones. What's left of 'em, anyways. High tech stuff. Powerful, even,” Dove explains as she sifts through the box once more “according to said manifest, this puppy is officially called the ‘Savage-X Taser Pistol Version 1’. Fancy, huh?”

“How exactly does it work?” I question as I look it over.

“It appears that it fires like a typical gun, except for the fact that the bullets it fires unfolds once it leaves the barrel and reveals a set of prongs that will sink into your target’s flesh,” Dove answers “and apparently it packs quite the punch for its size. Three-thousand-five-hundred volts to be exact.”

“If it doesn’t outright kill the target, it at least leaves them very incapacitated, then. I can only imagine the things MEDRA would use these for,” I say in genuine awe “fascist bastards.”

“There was only one in the crates that were stolen from them. One gun and one box of ammunition,” Dove says as she pulls a box of ammo from the crate "I know you don't need me of all ponies to tell you this, but I would save it for emergencies. There are only twenty bullets in the box."

The box of ammunition she pulls from the crate is vertically thin but big horizontally. It’s pale blue with lightning bolt designs and the name of the gun printed on it in black ink. Dove lays the box on its side before opening it up and pulling out a magazine clip with five bullets preloaded into it. The clip appears to be designed to be loaded horizontally into the gun. She turns the clip so that it’s showing the very last bullet. It’s bright yellow and silver in the middle. I can see just how sharp the barbs on the prongs are. I’ve been tased once before and just looking at these nasty looking barbs makes my skin hurt.

I take the clip and load it into the gun. Instantly, the lights on the protrusions on the barrel begin to glow blue very softly. Dove closes the box of ammunition and gives it to me. She returns to the crate once more and finds the holster that goes along with the Savage-X Taser Pistol. I take that from her as well using my magical telekinesis and holster my shiny new gun. Dove was right. I’m smitten with it. I know I will very, very much enjoy using it on some poor, unlucky bastard at some point or another.

“I haven’t tested it, so I’m not sure how well it actually performs. I figured you could get the chance to test it in my stead while out on your adventure,” Dove says as she gestures towards the door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have a thorough report by the time we come back,” I say with a smirk as I turn and exit the room.

“Oi, you ready to go yet? We need to get a move on,” Sapphire says as I trot back over to the counter.

“You should take some lessons from Sapphire, shortstack,” Pear Tree says to Dove.

“Oh, shut up, would you? I don’t even like hold ‘em poker no how,” Dove snaps.

Partridge and Pear Tree snicker at Dove’s response while Blackbird just ignores them as she gathers all the cards on the table and neatly stacks them in the center. Sapphire rises up from the table and walks over to me as I take the saddlebag meant for myself and attach the new gun’s holster next to my revolver. I securely fasten it around my waist before grabbing Sapphire’s and tossing it to her. She gives me a thankful nod before securing her own bags around her waist. Dove goes back behind the counter and quickly fetches two black-colored binoculars. I take them from her and put one in my bag and the other in Sapphire's.

“Ready to go kick some ass and take out the trash?” Sapphire questions with a big grin.

“You know it."

{Chapter 4} Suspiciously Close Encounters

A gust of wind rolls in through the broken windows of the old Garden Street Diner. The old bells attached to the front door- left ajar- jingle and clank against one another. Dirt, grime and various dark stains cover the black-and-white checkered floors. Grass and weeds are growing through several of the cracks and grout lines between the tiles. Thick layers of dust have settled over every surface available. Chairs, tables, counters, napkin holders, even abandoned bottles of condiments. The entire place is in a serious state of disrepair.

At first glance, the diner appears to be just simply abandoned. Looking closer, however, the state of the diner tells a chilling story. Although the diner is a part of the Canterlot QZ, the long-dried blood on various spots of the floor indicate the places where a few unfortunate souls had been attacked by infected and likely died. Many vinyl bar stools and diner chairs are knocked over from where many had fled during the attack in the early days of the apocalypse. According to Sapphire, the Garden Street Diner was once outside of the Wall before MEDRA expanded the Zone at some point before my arrival.

I look over at Sapphire, who had crawled into one of the booths near the door and is now pressed up against the window and peering out at the music store across the street with her binoculars. She holds her pistol in her mouth as she spies on the music store as we patiently wait for Ocean Breeze and her team to arrive. I roll my neck and then sigh loudly, my patience starting to grow thin.

“For somepony who made it sound so urgent, she sure is taking her sweet ass time,” I say as I kick a bottle of mustard left lying on the ground.

It skitters across the floor, crashes into a booth bench and then rolls away until it stops near an overturned bar stool.

“Mmhm,” Sapphire hums.

Sapphire holds her binoculars with one hoof as she grabs her pistol with the other and places it on the table.

“I guess when you’re Canterlot’s Most Wanted, you move a little more slower and cautiously through the city,” Sapphire says with a shrug.

“I suppose,” I reluctantly agree.

“There! Finally!” Sapphire exclaims as she lowers her binoculars.

“They’re in the music store?” I ask as I step closer to the table she sits at.

“No, they’re in the barber shop,” Sapphire says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes “yes, they’re in the music store. She just gave me the signal indicating they’re there.”

“We walking or am I teleporting us over there?” I ask as I also roll my eyes.

“Well, it would minimize the chances that Cobalt might see us, so… yeah, teleport us over there,” Sapphire replies.

“Alright, one sec. You might want to stand up, though,” I say before trotting over to the door.

Sapphire shoves her binoculars into her bag and grabs her pistol with her mouth. She scrambles to get out of the booth as I open the door all the way and silence the bells with my magic. I step outside and get a good look at the alleyway next to the music store. Sapphire is at the edge of the booth bench and moments away from getting out when a sudden flash of dark magenta light envelopes us and whisks us away from the diner. We appear just outside of the busted out windows of the music store that face the alley. Sapphire yelps in surprise as she falls straight onto her ass and then onto her side.

She growls angrily as she stands up and dusts herself before holstering her pistol. Sapphire glares at me and doesn't break eye contact as she walks up to the window and climbs through it. I smile smugly at her as I follow after and climb through the window. We trot past shelves of haphazardly placed and long forgotten cassessets, records and CDs as well as various musical electronics and accessories. Sapphire and I meet Ocean Breeze over by the checkout corner in the back-middle of the store. She certainly wasn’t kidding when she said she would bring a small team.

Besides Ocean Breeze, there are two stallions, a mare and female hippogriff. A total of five pathetic pests and all of them are armed considerably well. One stallion is an older unicorn while the other appears younger but instead is a pegasus. The mare with them is also an unicorn and looks to be around the pegasus’ age. As for the hippogriff, she looks rather young but I’ve never been very good at guessing the ages of hippogriffs and griffons. Not that I’ve needed to have the ability to do so. I truly could care less.

“I’m sorry you had to wait. We had to go the long way around. Too many soldiers on the normal route,” Ocean Breeze says apologetically.

“You’re here now. Let’s get this show on the road before MEDRA comes sniffing this way,” Sapphire says as she gestures to the door with her head.

“Right. I know Rapid Punch and his gaggle of misfits hang out at the bar just down the road from,” Ocean Breeze says “Ophelia, Dazzle Spark and I will start there and push our way to Sew-And-So’s.”

Ocean gestures to the unicorn mare and the hippogriff as she informs us of her plan. She gestures to the stallions- who she refers to as Kite Winds and Neighthaniel- and informs us that they will secure Sew-And-So’s. Sapphire simply informs Ocean that we’ll take care of the office and that we’ll meet back up with her afterwards. Ocean Breeze and her bug-lings exit the music store through its back entrance and promptly disappear. I look over at Sapphire, who looks over at me at the same time. She smirks, does a half bow and gestures for me to lead the way.

With me in front, we exit the music store through the windows opposite of the ones that we came in through. I lead us to the edge of the neighboring building between Bolderoll Studios- the music store- and Goldstone Global, the office building. I cautiously peer around the corner and look around. I see absolutely no one nor any signs of 'sentries’ guarding the street. I snake around the corner- still hugging the in-between building- and carefully make my way to Goldstone Global.

We approach the black-bricked, two story building and preemptively drop into a crouched position. I peek in through the massive glass windows in the front and see zero signs of Cobalt Blue or his scummy henchmen. Sapphire and I ease up to the revolving front door and ease our way inside. Sapphire goes off to my left and takes cover preemptively behind a black pleather couch in the lobby. I follow her lead and take cover behind a different couch a few feet away. Although it’s been long abandoned like numerous other buildings, the office building of Goldstone Global still retains the elegance and class it had before the apocalypse.

Before it all went to hell, I had never even heard of Goldstone Global, so I’m not entirely sure what kind of business was done here. Whatever it was, it clearly brought in enough money and investors to make this place high class- even for a place like Canterlot. Dark, rich wooden counters, marble countertops and floors, high quality pleather furniture, fancy, intricate rugs, glass tables, gold and silver chandeliers with diamond festoons and floor-to-ceiling windows in the middle of the room, among other things. All this in just the lobby area. I feel poor just existing in this place.

Sapphire makes a ‘psst’ noise to catch my attention. I look over at her and mouth ‘what’ as I furrow my eyebrows.

‘Why .. .. so empty .. here?’ Sapphire mouths.

‘What?’ I mouth back ‘you know I can’t read lips good.’
‘Why. Is. There. No-pony. Here? It. Is. Too. Quiet.’ Sapphire mouths much more slowly than before.
‘How the fuck should I know? Maybe they’re all at the bar?’ I mouth back.

Sapphire shakes her head and facehoofs before mouthing something I can’t make out at all. I roll my eyes at her before raising up just enough to peer over the couch. I take in a deep breath and hold it as I pour all my concentration into listening to our surroundings. I don’t hear anything at all, not even hooves clopping against the floor or faint voices having a conversation. By all appearances, the first floor is empty, completely devoid of any of Cobalt’s goons. I let out the breath I had been holding, then- as quietly as I can- stand up and walk to the middle of the room.

I look around for something to throw and spot a half-drank bottle of Rowdy Colt IPA branded beer. I pick it up, pour out the remaining liquid onto the floor and then chuck it as far as I can. The bottle sails across the room and shatters on impact with the floor. I unholster my revolver as a precaution and listen carefully. I expect the sound of yelling and hooves galloping across the marble floor, but instead, I’m met with a continuous silence. It’s suspiciously quiet in here. Even if some of his goons had left to party at the bar, Cobalt wouldn’t leave the first floor entirely unguarded.

We’ve had the unfortunate displeasure of knowing Cobalt for a few years. He does a lot of stupid, annoying shit, but I will give credit where credit is due. He’s sly and cunning, a master at taking advantage of every opportunity he can get his grubby hooves on and making it work for him. He’s greedy, insufferable and- overall- a sexist little weasel who thinks with the wrong head when it comes to matters outside of ‘business’. In other words, something isn’t right here. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s too early to tell if we should be worried or thankful.

Knowing Sapphire is watching my every move, I gesture for her to follow me as I make my way to the otherside of the lobby. A set of elevators face the lobby, but are completely inoperable thanks to the hydraulic door blockers installed by MEDRA. This side of the lobby branches off to the left and right, with the right side ending in a dead end where the public bathrooms are located. Our only real option is to proceed left until we find the stairwell leading up to the second floor

I wait for Sapphire to catch up before leading us down the left hall. We continue to see and hear absolutely zero trace of anypony on this floor. It’s like everypony just vanished or something. We can hear faint shouting and gunfire as Ocean’s team fulfills their end of the bargain. I find the stairwell a shortways down from the elevators and open the door, which creaks as I do. I hold the door open for Sapphire using my magic as I quietly climb the black metallic stairs. I stop on the landing outside the metal door to the second floor and look back at Sapphire, who merely nods at me to continue.

I open the door and cautiously peer out into the hall. It’s just as quiet as the first floor and equal in the fact there is no sign of anypony ever even being here. I lower myself down just a bit as I slink into the hallway and make my way down to the left. We come across a bunch of cubicles and pause. The only way to get to the other side of the hallway to get to Cobalt’s office is by going through them. Although we see no signs of any of his underlings, there’s a possibility that they could’ve boobytrapped these cubicles. Then again, perhaps I'm giving these idiots more credit than they deserve.

With more caution than before, I wind my way through the maze of cubicles in order to avoid anything that looks like it could be a trap. Perhaps I’m being overly cautious, but Cobalt can be very unpredictable, especially in times of duress. I make it to the ‘end’ of this self-made maze and look around some more, starting on my right. As my gaze sweeps the area, I notice a big puddle of blood gathering in the middle of the hall. By the looks of it, the puddle is fresh. Probably no more than an hour old, if even that.

Against my better judgment, I go over to the puddle to see if I can find the source of it. I can just barely see something reflecting in the puddle, but there isn’t enough light for me to make it out enough to be able to tell for sure what it is. I flinch slightly as something warm and wet drips onto my cheek. I reach up and wipe the mysterious liquid from my face and look down at my hoof. It’s… blood? I look up at the ceiling and jump back a bit in pure shock.

“Holy shit,” I mumble as I stare at the sight before me.

“Well… that explains why it’s been so quiet,” Sapphire says quietly “if we didn’t do this and neither did the Fireflies… then who did?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon, won’t we?” I ask.

“I guess so,” Sapphire replies.

Pinned to the ceiling with what looks to be the detached metal legs from an office chair is a stallion with a look of pure terror plastered onto his pale, dead face. The legs of the office chair are stabbed through his head, his forelegs and his torso. Sapphire taps on my shoulder and gestures to the carnage down the hall on the left side, where I hadn’t yet looked. Corpses litter the hall, blood everywhere from the ceiling to the floor. It’s a downright massacre, not just your average, casual office bloodbath. It’s what we came here to do, though, but somepony has clearly beaten us to the punch.

Judging by how some of these assholes have died, whoever did it was- and likely still is- very, very angry. A lot of malice and thought went into this slaughterfest, more than what Sapphire and I would’ve given. Not only is this pony angry, but they’re smart. The messages are loud and clear; “They fucked me over and paid the price. Don’t underestimate me. Leave before this happens to you, too”. So I assume, anyway. When you spend years alone and miserable, you get pretty good at overthinking shit.

There’s probably enough blood on this floor to paint an entire house and enough bodies to keep a cannibal fed for the rest of the year. We make our way past the carnage- unphased by the strong smell of blood permeating in the hall- until we reach where the CEO and founder of Goldstone Global tucked away his office. As we approach the door, we hear the sound of a struggle. More accurately, the sound of Cobalt begging and pleading for his life and for somepony to stop whatever it is they’re doing to him. Sweet, sweet music to our ears.

I look at Sapphire, who gestures towards the door with her head. Using my magic, I slowly and carefully open the door. I’m not entirely sure what I expected to see once the door was fully open, but a teenaged unicorn mare repeatedly stabbing Cobalt in the nuts wasn’t in my top ten list. Maybe in the top twenty, though. The mare has a pink coat, a curly crimson mane and bright turquoise eyes. A small- but growing- puddle of blood gathers underneath Cobalt as the teen tortures him. Blood pours from his right eye and I notice he’s missing one of his ears. I glance to my left and realize that must’ve been what the blue lump was I saw while opening the door.

I lean against the doorway and casually watch the torture continue. The mare is pinning this pathetic grown ass stallion down with her just magic as she grips the knife tightly and tortures him. Just behind them, I notice a desk shoved halfway out one of the large windows in the back-middle of the room. It has a thick rope tied to it, which is fed through a homemade pulley. At the other end of the rope is noose carefully made with spite and malice, judging by its craftsmanship alone.

Cobalt squirms in her grasp and is desperately trying to get free. He’s begging, he’s pleading and he’s making all kinds of grand, empty promises and excuses. Somehow or another, I catch Cobalt’s attention and- in between panicked huffs- exclaims the funniest joke I’ve ever heard in my entire life;

“Honey Cake! Help me! PLEASE!!”

“I knew you were a clown, but that’s pretty fuckin’ funny,” I say in an icy tone.

The mare pauses her torture and slowly looks over at Sapphire and I. For a moment, she retains the cold, murderous look on her face as she scans us over. She seems to realize we're on similar sides and switches out the ‘casual torture-centric’ look for a more kind and sweet one. It would be alarming if I gave a shit or two, but… I don’t. It’s like they say; the enemy of my enemy is my friend… more or less. I won’t be letting my guard down, though.

“Good afternoon. How are you?” The teen greets politely.

She switches which hoof she holds the knife in and waves at us with the newly freed one.

“Absolutely splendiferous,” Sapphire says, her words a bit muffled because of her pistol.

“Sorry to have interrupted your… fun,” I say as I gesture towards Cobalt.

“It’s alright, no worries. It just means he gets the pleasure of suffering for longer than intended,” The teen says with a dismissive wave of her hoof “oh, sorry, did you need him for anything?”

“Nah. To put it simply, we’re here to take his shit and put him six feet deep,” I say with a shrug.

“Ah, I see. What did he do to you?” The teen asks, tilting her head slightly in curiosity.

“Tch, what didn’t he do? Lie, cheat, backstab, fuck over, you name it, he did it,” I reply in a casual, matter-of-fact tone.

“You’re just gonna let ‘er do this to me?!” Cobalt exclaims, his voice full of anger and pain.

“Shut up,” I hiss apathetically.

I aim my revolver at his flank and callously pull the trigger. With a resounding ‘bang’ and with a wonderful scream of pain from Cobalt, we continue our conversation as if this was a totally normal situation. The mare didn’t even flinch, just looked down at the wound and then back up at us. Normally, I despise teeangers, but she’s clearly no ordinary teen. I think the pleasure I derive from seeing Cobalt in so much pain caused by her is overriding the automatic hate that bubbles to the surface. In other words, I’m momentarily too impressed to care about her age… for now.

“Well, I was just about done here, so… if you want, you are more than welcome to help with the- er- grand finale as it were,” The mare says as she gestures to the contraption behind her.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed it by now,” She adds.

“I like you, kid. We’re gonna be best buddies before long,” Sapphire says with a giddy cackle as she holsters her pistol.

“I like you too, Miss… uh, sorry, I didn’t get your name,” The mare says as she stands up.

“Sapphire Sparkles, but you can drop the ‘Miss’ and just call me Sapphire,” Sapphire says with a small bow.

“A lovely name. I’m Zephyr Hearts,” The mare says “my former loved ones called me Zeph for short, but you can- within reason- call me whatever you’d like.”

Zephyr and Sapphire both look at me expectantly. I glance between the two of them and arch an eyebrow. Sapphire reaches out and lightly shoves my shoulder as if to say ‘come on, it’s your turn’ or something similar.

“Honey Cake,” I say simply “call me whatever you want, I guess, as long as it’s nothing gross, mushy or endearing. I don’t do feelings.”

“Fair enough,” Zephyr says with a small shrug “now, back to business here. You two can have the pleasure of hanging him.”

“Hell yeah!” Sapphire cheers.

Zephyr smiles as she gestures to Cobalt as if he were a prize we had just won and then backs out of our way. Sapphire excitedly trots over to Cobalt, who looks up at her and continues to beg and plead. She hacks up a big spit loogie and hocks it right in his face before stomping hard right in his genital area. He flinches when she spits on him and then groans loudly in pain. I walk over to the two of them and place a hoof on his forehead. I force his head back and demand him to smile. He hesitantly smiles wide for me. All of his teeth are unfortunately still intact. How horrible. I should immediately rectify this issue.

“You won’t need these where you’re going,” I say before using my magic to try to rip out one of his teeth.

He cries out in pain as I struggle a bit to yank it out completely. I succeed- causing him to cry out even louder- and then cram it down his throat. He gags hard and tries to cough it out, but fails. I repeat the process until the majority of his teeth are missing and either down his throat or scattered around him. He coughs and sputters as he tries to avoid choking on his teeth. Sapphire grabs the noose and slips it around his neck ceremoniously. Zephyr claps as she watches and offers words of encouragement. I trot over to the desk hanging halfway out the window and place a hoof on it.

“Can’t say it was nice knowing you, Cobalt. See you in hell,” I say with a mock salute.

He spits out a few of his teeth as he screams and begs us to reconsider our actions. Zephyr releases him from his magical bonds at the same time I use all of my strength to push the desk out of the window. It scrapes and clatters against the brick exterior and I can hear the rope groaning from the pressure. Cobalt is snatched into the air seconds after the desk leaves the window. His head smashes against the ceiling with a loud crack as the rope visibly tightens around his neck, which also audibly cracks. He struggles for a few moments before falling still and limp, his body slightly swaying.

“Thank you for your assistance. It was an enjoyable moment. Maybe we’ll see each other around sometime,” Zephyr says as she bids us a farewell.

She gets about halfway to the door before Sapphire stops her.

“Woah, woah, woah. You can’t dip on us like that, Zeph. We’ve got a moment, tell us about, uh, this little spree of yours,” Sapphire says as she gestures for Zephyr to stay.

“Ah, okay. Well, I’ll try to keep it nice and short for you,” Zephyr says

Zephyr trots over and sits before us. She explains to us that her dear old grandmother fell ill a few years ago and it changed her completely. Zephyr’s grandmother went from strong and constantly working double shifts of hard, manual labor to frail and too weak to get out of bed, much less leave their house. MEDRA’s shitty doctors never gave them a direct diagnosis, but started treating this mystery illness with various medicines until they found one that seemed to be working. However, just when things seemed to be turning around and her grandmother was recovering well, Zephyr explains that MEDRA stopped treatment altogether and refused to give them more of that medicine that seemed to work.

Zephyr goes on to explain that she left her brother in charge of caring for their grandmother one day and went sniffing around the shady parts of the QZ in hopes of finding a smuggler or anypony willing to help her. She had the unfortunate displeasure of running into and meeting Cobalt that day and told him her sad tale. In true Cobalt fashion, he agreed to help her find that medicine outside of the Zone for an initially low price and made good on that first delivery. Afterwards, he raised his prices after each delivery, citing bullshit reasons, until he was forcing her to pay way more than she could afford and having her pay him in sexual favors in addition to the exorbitant amount of ration cards.

Then, one day, Cobalt apparently grew tired of Zephyr and backed out on their deal. He refused to give her the pills her grandmother needed, blacklisted Zephyr and when he found out she was trying to see him again regardless to get him to reconsider, Cobalt sent some of his goons to her house to tell her- in an essence- to fuck off. Cobalt had a bad habit of thinking he was a badass and that he put the fear of God in others. That couldn’t be further from the truth, but even worse, he had a nastier habit of sending his hired help to beat the point across and then believing it would never come back to bite him in the ass.

While Zephyr was out working, Cobalt- believing her to be home- had sent a pack of his asshats to her house. Not only did they beat her brother so horribly that they ended up putting him in a coma so bad that doctors don't believe he'll ever wake up, but they scared Zephyr's grandmother badly enough to the point she suffered a massive heart attack that killed her.

Zephyr explains that she, her brother and their grandmother had- much like me- spent most of their lives outside of the Canterlot QZ before being accepted inside. She more or less leaves it at that, but implies she learned the skills necessary to pull off today’s killing spree from wherever they used to live.

“So, yeah. That’s my tale,” Zephyr concludes with a small nod “what about yours?”

“As in why did we want to kill Cobalt and take his shit?” Sapphire questions.

“Yes,” Zephyr answers simply.

“Well, he did a lot of things, really, but today it was because his life and his shit- among other things- is our payment for helping the Fireflies smuggle something out of the city,” Sapphire explains.

“You’re leaving the city? When?” Zephyr questions, her eyes now wide with excitement.

“Tonight, I do believe. Why?” Sapphire answers.

“Can I come with you? Please? I don’t need to be babysat or anything and I also have a bit of medical training outside of the bare basics,” Zephyrs pleads.

“No-”

“Yes-”

Sapphire and I give completely different answers at the exact same time. She looks over at me and gives me a glare that screams ‘shut up’ before looking back over at Zephyr.

“Yes, you can come with us. We could use somepony like you,” Sapphire says, although the way she says this seems more directed at me than at Zephyr.

“We can’t take a kid with us. She’ll be a liability,” I protest “how old are you, anyways?”

“Me? I’m seventeen,” Zephyr says “you won’t have to worry about me, I promise. I can take care of myself.”

“Clearly,” She adds as she gestures to Cobalt’s swaying body.

“What about your brother? Won’t he need you?” I question.

“Nah. He’s never waking up. I’m pretty sure the only reason they’re even keeping him barely alive is so that they can milk me of every last ration card and bit of manual labor they can get,” Zephyr answers with a nonchalant attitude.

“We’re only going to Ponyville and coming right back,” I say, hoping to dissuade her from wanting to come.

“That’s alright. Get me to Ponyville as well and I can find my way back to my old stomping grounds from there,” Zephyr says with a smile that tells me nothing I say will change her mind.

“See? Everything works out. She can come with us and you can stop your goddamn whining,” Sapphire says with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey! We’ve got a big problem!” Ocean’s voice suddenly exclaims from behind me.

I flinch a little at her sudden appearance before turning around to see Ocean flapping in place just outside the window. She has a look of concern and fear on her face as she stares at us.

“What? What kind of problem?” Sapphire questions.

“I don’t know if it was us, Cobalt or your friend there, but MEDRA is swarming the place. I already sent my guys with everything of Cobalt’s they could take into the sewers,” Ocean quickly explains “we need to get the fuck out of here now.”

“Did you at least grab the weapons and ammo?” I question.

“Yes. Here, take this and grab what you can out of the safe… or leave it, but that’s up to you,” Ocean answers as she tosses a pocket-sized notebook to us “we’ve got a minute tops before MEDRA is down our throats.”

Sapphire catches it and briefly flips through it.

"Shit. Alright. Here's your first task of the evening, kiddo. Take this and grab everything out of that safe over there," Sapphire says as she tosses the notebook to Zephyr.

Zephyr catches it and quickly goes over to the safe. She opens it with relative ease and grabs the entirety of its contents using her magic. Zephyr returns just as quickly and shoves the fat stack of ration cards she took into Sapphire’s saddlebag.

“Either one of you unicorns know how to teleport?” Ocean asks as she glances over her shoulder.

“Yes,” Zephyr and I reply in accidental unison.

“Good. Now follow me,” Ocean instructs before flying away.

She hovers above the roof of the fabric store and gestures for us to hurry. Zephyr disappears in a quick flash of turquoise and appears on the roof just below Ocean. I follow suit and bring Sapphire and I over to our temporary companions. We follow Ocean rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the soldiers shouting and sniffing around down below. We come to a stop at the end of the block and watch as Ocean lands next to us. Sapphire and I peer over the edge of the roof, then back away and turn to face Ocean and Zephyr.

I sigh in a mixture of annoyance and frustration. Down below, several MEDRA assholes patrol the area and block the manhole we need to go through in order to escape. Following her to ‘safety’ has turned out to be more like ‘follow her to get caught in a restricted area by soldiers’ instead. The afternoon sun glares down on us as we form a huddle in the middle of the roof as we figure out our ‘Plan B’.

“Alright, now what? We can’t get to another manhole without catching MEDRA’s attention,” Sapphire says in a half-whisper “I’d be surprised they haven’t caught us yet if I didn’t know they were complete idiots.”

“We need a distraction to draw their attention elsewhere,” Ocean says at the same volume, as if that wasn’t already obvious to the rest of us.

“No shit, sherlock. This brilliant escape plan was your idea, tell us how we should accomplish that,” I snap, matching their volume “or do you expect us to solve all of your goddamn problems?”

“Where I used to live, we had a lot of ponies coming through who wanted to hurt us. We got good at making distractions in one location to escape to another,” Zephyr says with a prideful smile.

“You offering a solution? Spill it before MEDRA spills our brains on the sidewalk,” I say impatiently.

“Grumpy much? Yes, I’m offering a solution but I’m not sure how well it will work,” Zephyr says as she rolls her eyes “back home, these distractions were ‘premade’ I guess you could say. For emergencies.”

“Anything is better than just standing here. Do what you have to do,” Ocean says as she gestures towards the soldiers down below.

Zephyr only gets a few steps away before the familiar phewmp and twinkle of a unicorn teleporting comes from behind me. My body tenses as I watch my companions do the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I see another unicorn appear to my left, who then brings an earth pony friend up along with her. A pegasus soldier flies up and over the edge of the roof carrying another earth pony soldier with him. They land just behind Sapphire, who swishes her tail away with a look of disgust.

They surround us with zero hesitation and practically shove their guns in our faces. A couple of them simply glare at us while the rest wear petty, prideful smirks on their faces that I wish I could just punch off. The tension between both Sapphire, Ocean and I as well as the between the four of us and these MEDRA bastards grows almost unbearably strong. I want to kill Ocean just as much as I want to snap the necks of these uniformed idiots around us.

“Sorry ladies, but you won’t be making any elaborate escapes or distractions today,” The unicorn standing behind me says with a chuckle.

Her voice is velvety and low, exuding pure- and frankly annoying- confidence.

“You didn’t think you’d get away that easily, did you? I know most of you living in the Zone think we’re a gaggle of massive idiots with god complexes, but c’mon…” The mare trails off as she slinks up to the left of me with a look of faux hurt on her face “you really thought we wouldn’t notice you blinking from one rooftop to another? Or flying? Not even just one of us?”

The mare hit us with a ‘tch, tch, tch, tch, tch’ after sucking air in through her teeth while she shakes her head disapprovingly and places a hoof on my shoulder. It takes every ounce of mental strength not to haul off and punch her in the face. I can feel my left eyelids twitching involuntarily from the amount of anger and irritation coursing through my blood. The mare removes her helmet and tosses her dark mustard mane back into place. The way her mane, bangs and tail are styled reminds me of a lightning bolt, all of which have stripes of lighter shades of yellow following the shape of her hair. The lightest shade is thinner and goes through the middle of the other stripe below it.

The mare has a dark lilac coat and pastel green eyes, one of which is slightly- but noticeably- crossed. She smirks pridefully as she wraps a leg around my shoulder and pulls me close to her. She lightly rests her head against mine as she uses her free hoof to pat my shoulder. I glare daggers at her as the twitching of my eyelids worsens.

“Good efforts, though. Truly, I mean it. I dunno about this little squirt with ya, but… you three? Some of the smartest- and slippery- sons of bitches in Canterlot,” The mare praises with another chuckle “oh, how rude of me. Terribly sorry, I forgot to introduce myself.”

“Captain Electra Stormshield’s the name. Well, not ‘Captain’, that’s just my title, but you can call me ‘Fuck You’ since it’s what you’ll be saying before we blow your brains out,” She adds, emphasising the last four words slowly and loudly.

This annoying fuck of a ‘Captain’ cackles proudly at her own joke. She exudes such a strong energy of smug cockiness and prideful confidence that it makes me sick to my stomach. She acts like she’s the hottest, baddest piece of shit in town, but given that MEDRA has such incredibly low standards they might as well not exist, this bitch probably did one slightly useful thing and got promoted. Although, I’d bet money she probably sucked a lot of dick to get promoted to captain.

“You better not hurt a hair on her fucking head. She did nothing wrong,” Sapphire says in a stern, angry tone as she gestures to Zephyr.

“She’s my niece. Cobalt was extorting her and keeping her held here for his pleasure. I had to save her and needed help,” Ocean says matter-of-factly as she gestures to Sapphire and I “and before you try to call bullshit, do you really think she’d go around telling ponies- much less MEDRA- her aunt is the leader of the Fireflies?”

Sapphire gives me a look that screams ‘she can’t be serious?’ as Zephyr slightly droops her head in embarrassment, likely on Ocean’s behalf at such a stupid claim.

“I won’t lie, you do have a solid point there, but…” Captain Electra trails off as she shrugs and gives a fake, overdramatic apologetic look.

“You know what they say, ‘guilty by association’ and all that,” She continues with another quick shrug “and as much as I would love to continue this conversation, I- wait, no, actually I don’t. Hehe, sorry. Time to go! No funny business now!”

Captain Electra releases me from her grasp and shoves me towards the edge of the roof as the other soldiers herd my companions after me. They get us to the very edge and stop us. Captain Electra squeezes between Sapphire and I before turning around to face the direction we had come from. Rather casually, she jumps off backwards and teleports herself to the bottom after a couple seconds’ worth of freefalling. Before we even have much of a chance to react to her theatrics, Captain Electra teleports all of us- including her soldiers- to the ground.

We should have never agreed to help Ocean’s stupid ass. Did she really think saying Zephyr was her niece was going to save her? Stupid, stupid, stupid! And how stupid were we to put any amount of trust in Ocean Breeze? And stupider to agree to help her to begin with? We’re minutes away from being red paste smeared on the sidewalk in front of our neighbors. I don’t see these three coming up with anything to get us out of this jam. Ocean and Sapphire can’t perform feats of magic and Zephyr is clearly too green to get us all out of this on her own.

Looks like it’s up to me to save us because I refuse to let this be how I die. When I die, it’s going to be on my terms, when I’m good and ready… if I can help it. My demise will most certainly not be at the hooves at MEDRA. They took my fucking son, but they’re not going to take me too. What to do, though? I need to catch them off guard before I try anything. Celestia knows they’re just itching to pull the trigger at the slightest twitch.

They like to make a spectacle out of their executions, setting a reminder to the other denizens of the Zone what MEDRA will do if they disobey. Hmm. Being such high profile targets as it were, they’re not going to kill us now at any rate, but if we get in their trucks, it’s over. We won’t be able to escape after they split us up and I will not abandon Sapphire. I glance down at the ground as we’re herded towards their fascist ‘chariots’. We’re almost to the edge of the sidewalk and from there, it’s a very small drop down to the road.

Not much of a drop, but if caught not paying attention… I purposely stumble and trip over my own hooves as I go to step down onto the road and fall hard on my side onto the warm, rock solid pavement. The grunts of pain I let out are authentic as I lay there momentarily regretting my decision. As I was hoping, this catches Captain Electra and her subordinates off guard as they all look at me with genuine concern and focus their weapons on me. Even Sapphire, Ocean and Zephyr look at me with concern for my well being at this sudden turn of events.

Captain Electra offers me a ‘helping’ hoof that I quickly dismiss in favor of pretending to greatly struggle to get up. She gives me a look that tells me just how pathetic and old she thinks me to be. Alright, I’ve caught them off guard… now what? Shit. I really need to start thinking things through a little bit more before I fucking do them. I wipe the snot from my nose that I quite literally knocked out of myself and get a new idea. They weren’t expecting me to fall and now- as they watch this ‘pathetic old hag’ struggle to get up- they won’t be expecting me to ‘sneeze my head off’ either.

Clearly, I'm an absolute genius. I need some kind of goddamn medal or award for it. I get about half way up before I fake a rather convincing sneeze and mutter something about my ‘damn allergies’ and dirt before sneezing a second time. This second sneeze ‘knocks’ me back down as I hold my head and continue to mutter and ramble like the ‘old mare’ that Captain Electra thinks am. Mother always did tell me to act my age and Ivory always did tell me I should get a job as an actress. As I prepare to sneeze for the third and final time as I ‘attempt’ to stand once more, I suddenly recall the firework spell I learned specifically to perform for Larkspur- per his request- when he had turned four.

If I launch it prematurely just as I sneeze, hopefully it will act like a flashbang of sorts and temporarily blind everypony caught looking in my general direction. It will probably also hurt and-unfortunately- if it works, it will also catch my companions in the crossfire. However, if the next part of my plan that I’ve cooked up is successful- they’ll have enough time to recover and all will be forgiven. Hopefully.

As I reel my head back before sneezing, my horn quickly glows hotly and at an already blinding level of brightness. In seconds, the magic around my horn expands to a size slightly bigger than that of a beach ball. Before anypony has a chance to react or stop me, I prematurely launch the firework. It whistles up about a foot from my horn and then promptly explodes with a deafening pop. Not only is it very bright- despite having my eyes closed- it’s also very hot and the shockwave of the explosion burns me just a little.

Small embers of magic fizzle down and burn me a little as well. I quickly open my eyes and survey the results. Captain Electra, the soldiers within the radius of the explosion as well my companions are all moaning and groaning in pain and shock as they rub their freshly assaulted ocular orbs. The soldiers left unaffected by the dazzling distraction concocted by yours truly shout and rush over as quickly as they can to aid their injured comrades. I take a very brief moment to relish in the success of my quick thinking before executing the final phase of this absolutely whackass plan of mine.

This probably won’t hurt me as much as it will likely end up hurting MEDRA, but I have the feeling I will still probably regret this afterwards. Every single soldier within my current line of sight- including Captain Electra- becomes enveloped by my magic. I struggle and strain against lifting so many ponies all at once, but not even for a moment do I give up as they’re all whisked into the air. I grunt and groan loudly as I put my entire body into throwing the bastards as far away as I can physically manage.

They all scream and shout as they go flying far in the direction of Goldstone Global. I’m not sure how far exactly they’ve gone, but hopefully it’s far enough. A wave of intense dizziness knocks me off of my hooves. I stumble and this time fall genuinely by accident. I at least land on my haunches as opposed to by side like before. I feel like I’ve sprained something in my noggin’, but this shiny new headache giving my two pound’s worth of soggy meat a good thrashing doesn’t allow me to pinpoint what or where. I grab my head with a hoof as extreme lightheadedness befalls me.

Oh, yeah… I’m definitely going to regret this when-

Thwunk.

***

“... escaped, didn’t we?”
“Just barely. Because of your poor planning, Honey had to-”

“Shut up. Just… shut up.”

The voices arguing cease as I let out a loud groan of pain that turns into the word ‘fuck’ as I reach up and rub my temples with my hooves. I lift my head up and realize my face had been buried in Sapphire’s mane. No wonder the combined scent of ginger, cucumbers and shea butter mixed with sweat I had been smelling was so familiar. I take a moment to soak in my surroundings and see that my plan was a resounding success and that the four of us have managed to escape into the sewers. Good. I’m glad all that effort wasn’t wasted. Totally worth making myself pass out, though. Egh, maybe…

Sapphire carries me on her back in a manner very reminiscent of the way I used to carry my children. Ocean is leading the way as Zephyr walks alongside Sapphire and uses her magic to light our way. The teen looks up at me and gives me a thankful smile. Her eyes are a bit bloodshot, presumably from where I blew up a firework in her face. I’d feel bad if I gave just a smidge more of a shit about her than I do currently. Which is, like, a third of a half a shit… because that math totally checks out.

“How are you holding up?” Zephyr asks.

“Other than a killer headache and a few bodily pains from where I fell, I’m doing fantastic,” I say with only a slight bit of sarcasm.

“I’m going to ask you a series of questions, okay? For medical purposes to make sure you didn’t ‘break’ anything, so to speak,” Zephyr says in a professional tone of voice “ready?”

“I guess,” I say with a shrug.

“Do you know where we are?”

“The sewers. I’m not sure specifically where in the sewers… just in the sewers.”

“Good. Do you know what day it is? What time is it?”

“Assuming I’ve not been unconscious for nine years… Tuesday, March 21st. I have no clue what time it is, but somewhere in the afternoon area?”

Zephyr hums as she nods her head approvingly. She’s quiet for a moment before resuming her assessment.

“Alright, I want you to remember the following words; Cat, House, Fish.”

“Uh… Okay?”

“What do you remember just before you passed out?”

“I remember picking up every soldier within my line of sight and tossing them as far as I could manage with my magic so that we could escape.”

“Thank you for that, by the way. We’d be toast without you.”

“Mmhm.”

“Do you remember what happened? In general?”

“Yeah. Matter of fact, I do. Ocean’s stupid ass almost got us caught and killed by MEDRA until my quick thinking and wonderful acting skills saved us.”

I look over at Ocean and glare the sharpest of daggers in her direction. She looks back at me and rolls her eyes, but doesn’t bother arguing with me… much to my disappointment.

“How did you get here?” Zephyr asks, resuming the assessment.

I turn my attention back to her and give her look that hopefully gets my thoughts of ‘what in the actual fuck kind of question was that’ across nice and clear.

“That’s a stupid question. I was unconscious, how the fuck would I know? My best guess is Sapphire scooped me up and carried me as the three of you escaped into the sewers,” I reply harshly and with a shrug.

“Fair enough. Can you tell me the days of the week backwards starting with today?” She questions.

“Tuesday, Monday, Sunday, Saturday, Friday, Thursday, Wednesday,” I answer rather quickly.

Between working at the post office once upon a time and having two young children, I eventually got pretty good at memorizing the days of the weeks in any order asked of me. Not much of a brag-worthy skill, but it is what it is.

“Repeat the following numbers in reverse order for me,” Zephyr instructs “ninety-six, thirty-six, three-hundred-forty-six, forty-two, fifty-two.”

What? Does she mean ‘in reverse order’ as in swapping the numbers around or just reverse in the order in which she spoke them? I have a feeling it’s the former… probably?

“Uh… Sixty-nine, six-hundred-forty-three… twenty-four and twenty-five…?” I say in a rather unsure tone.

“Nice! Good work, Ms. Honey. You’ve done wonderful,” Zephyr praises “just one last question.”

“And that would be?” I question.

“Can you repeat to me the three words I asked you to remember earlier?” Zephyr asks.

“Uh… Cat… House… Fish,” I reply with a bit of hesitance.

“Excellent! You don’t seem to have any major brain-related damages, but that headache will probably last for a while,” Zephyr says with a proud smile “do you have any medicine to help with that?”

“Not with us. I’ll take her to a safehouse of ours and get her some pain meds,” Sapphire says, answering on my behalf.

“What are you, my mother? I’ll be fine. I don’t need anypony to doctor me up,” I say in an annoyed tone as I roll my eyes.

“I’ll take her to a safehouse of ours and get her some pain meds,” Sapphire repeats, putting a great deal of emphasis on her statement.

“Whatever,” I grumble before essentially faceplanting back into Sapphire’s mane.

I allow Sapphire to continue to carry me as we make our way through the cold, damp sewers. I doze off at some point and am awakened by Sapphire nudging my shoulder. She instructs me to get off of her, to which I comply and slide off her back. My headache has eased off a bit, but it still feels like I’ve been run over by a freight train. I look up to see Ocean opening a manhole cover and then watch her climb out.

Despite the pain, I start to gather the necessary magic to teleport myself up, but am quickly stopped by Zephyr. She gently reminds me I need to refrain from using magic until my headache goes away before offering to help me and Sapphire up in my stead. I reluctantly agree and even more reluctantly wait as she teleports herself out first before bringing Sapphire and I along with her. I look around and notice we’re in territory unfamiliar to me. We must be in Firefly territory.

“I can point you in the direction of your piece of Canterlot from here if you want,” Ocean says with a small smile “also, I just want to apologize real quick. I was trying to go the same way my group went and…”

“... and I was worried about them and nearly jeopardized everything,” She adds.

“If it happens again, I’m blowing your brains out,” I hiss.

“Is our deal still on?” Ocean questions, ignoring my threat.

“For now,” Sapphire answers “you better make sure your friends made it to safety with our goods.”

“I will. Give me directions to find wherever it is you’re going so I can deliver the news myself,” Ocean says with a small nod.

“You’ve been outside the Wall, right? You know where the Imperial Crowne Hotel is?” Sapphire questions.

“I have and yes, I’ve had a few rooftop rendezvous there,” Ocean Breeze answers.

“Then meet us there. A few realizations have come to me, so for the time being, we’re laying low outside of the Zone,” Sapphire says “it’s less likely that MEDRA will come sniffing around out there.”

“Makes sense. I’ll meet you there whenever I hear back from my subordinates,” Ocean says as she unfurls her wings “I’ll be up on the rooftop when I find something out.”

“Alright. See you then,” Sapphire says before turning to me “can you walk or do you want me to carry you some more?”

“Nah, I can walk,” I say as I softly shake my head.

Ocean Breeze bids us a farewell before taking off and quickly flying away. I wish I had an appendage of some kind to properly express my current feelings towards her. Within seconds, she’s a tiny dot on the horizon. Sapphire lets out an pissed sounding huff as she shakes her head. She looks like something is eating away at her thoughts, something that’s making her angry. She said something about realizations, but what did she mean exactly? Come to think of it, something about the whole ‘almost getting caught by MEDRA’ thing isn’t quite sitting right with me.

Sapphire and I certainly didn’t go in guns blazing. In fact, we only spent a single bullet between the two of us and that was me inflicting more well-deserved pain on Cobalt. Judging by her handiwork, Zephyr was quick, brutal but efficient, only using her magic and her knife. Ocean and her crew weren’t exactly quiet, but surely, there’s no way a little over thirty soldiers would show up to investigate just a small bit of gunfire…

“Somepony tried to whistleblow us. They weren't after Ocean, she was just a bonus," I say, furrowing my brows "we've flown under the radar for so long. Why? Why give up our identities now?"

"Somepony so upset that we're working with the Fireflies they'd be willing to throw everypony involved in the Underground under the bus, including themselves?" Sapphire questions with a shrug.

"Has to be. We've had no problems until now," I answer.

"I have a sneaking suspicion of who it might be and they'll get what's due soon, but we need to think about the bigger picture now," Sapphire says as she shakes her head "we had a good thing going, but sooner or later something like this was bound to happen."

"Like is it worth it to continue operating the Underground? Worth it to keep living in Canterlot?" I question.

"Exactly. With the way things have been going between us denizens and MEDRA, a revolt is going to happen soon. I mean, living here has certainly been marginally better than anywhere outside the Zone, but…" Sapphire trails off and sighs.

"But… you could start your own community elsewhere. Sounds like you have the resources and bodies to do so. The QZ is shit and yeah, maybe it's a little better than some other places these days, but think about it like this," Zephyr says encouragingly "four of the seven Quarantine Zones set up by MEDRA are completely dismantled, nothing but husks of a life that once was. Not a very good one because three of those Zones were destroyed or abandoned because of revolts and one was due to literal starvation and disease."

"It won't be long before the same happens here, Cloudsdale or Fillydelphia. I think that says something more about MEDRA than it does about the assholes who live in those remaining Zones. No offense," Zephyr adds.

"I suppose you have a point. Won’t be much business for a smuggling company if there’s nopony here,” Sapphire says with a small shrug “or if there’s no authority cramming suppression down our throats.”

“We can worry about that after we finish this job. The sooner we get this done, the better,” I say in a huffy tone “the sooner we have no ties to the Fireflies, the better.”

Sapphire looks over her shoulder in the direction Ocean had left in. She stares in that direction for a few moments before looking at Zephyr, then at me and then at the ground. Her eyes trace random patterns as she seems to lose herself in thought. She better not think too hard. She’s liable to break something like that. After what feels like a thousand years, Sapphire finally speaks up with an unusually serious look on her face.

“Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do. Zephyr, I want you to go with Honey to the Imperial Crowne Hotel. I don’t care how much of a fight she puts up, knock her out if you have to, but make her get some rest,” She sternly instructs “and Honey, for fucks sake just sleep, alright? Don’t be stubborn, don’t be a bitch. I need you in the best condition possible.”

“While you do that, I’m going to go find out which of my dogs are still loyal.” She adds.

“Okay… and then what?” I ask as I raise an eyebrow.

“Well, once I gather those who still follow me… us… I’m going to have them take our shit and- in a sense- evacuate the Zone. We’ll start fresh elsewhere. I don’t care where, just not here,” Sapphire replies “I know four individuals who’ll follow us to the depths of hell and back. I’ll start with them and figure out where to send our doggies from there.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” I tease sarcastically.

Sapphire smirks as she chuckles at my words. She bids us a farewell with a promise of returning in one piece before cantering off in the general direction of the Underground’s territory. I can’t help but smile a little as I watch her leave Zephyr and I alone. Alone… with a kid. Just like that smile is gone and replaced by an annoyed frown as my ears droop downwards. Begrudgingly, I slink off in a slightly different direction with Zephyr in tow.

“Is she your marefriend?” Zephyr asks.

“What? No, no she is not,” I reply in a flustered tone.

"No? She seems to care an awful lot about you. A lot more than just a friend would~" Zephyr teases.

"Shut up! How would you even know, anyways?" I ask, my tone growing more flustered.

"Mm, well, much to Ocean's dismay, Ms. Sa- er, Sapphire talked a lot about you," Zephyr answers matter-of-factly.

"All good things, I can assure you... well, mostly," She adds with a wink.

My face grows hot as my mind ponders the very idea of Sapphire and I being anything more than just friends. There were a few, er, instances where we… but we were very drunk. We’re just best friends! Best friends do gay shit together all the time… or, at least, that’s what Star used to tell me about her and one of her old friends. I shake my head vigorously to get rid of the very much unnecessarily perverted thoughts creeping into my mind. I quickly play it off as if some bug is harassing me to hopefully avoid arousing Zephyr’s suspicion. I don't think it works, as she continues to tease me... and piss me off.

“You sure?” She questions in a teaseful tone.

“Yes,” I answer curtly.

“Okay,” Zephyr says in a tone that implies she doesn’t believe me.

She sighs like she’s a little disappointed, although I’m not sure why she expected the answer to be yes. I roll my eyes as I quicken my pace.

“We’re just best friends. Keep your nose out of places it has no business being in,” I say harshly “capiche?”

“Capiche,” Zephyr grumbles before sighing rather dramatically.

I’ve never looked more forward to a nap my whole life than right now.

{Chapter 5} Death Valley

“Mommy can we go down the big, swirly purple slide next?”

Larkspur looks up with wide, pleading eyes filled with excitement and with a grin twice the size and twice the amount of excitement. His mane is soaked and dripping from landing in the small pool at the end of the short, curvy orange water slide we had just slid down. Now eight years old, he’s finally tall enough to ride the majority of the slides and other attractions here at the big, fancy Splash Magic Water Park in Los Pegasus. I reach out and affectionately ruffle his mane as I smile sweetly at him.

“Of course, baby. Let’s go find your sisters first and tell them where we’re going,” I say as I bend over and kiss the top of his head.

Larkspur squeals excitedly as he canters past me and in the direction of the park’s lazy river where we had last seen Ivory and Summertide. We approach the exit zone for the lazy river attraction and spot Ivory and Summertide putting up the big blue floatie they had been using onto the collection rack. Summertide climbs up onto her eleven-year-old sister’s back and the two happily trot away from the attraction. Larkspur shouts their names and catches their attention, prompting Ivory to half-turn and trot in our direction. Both fillies are soaked head to hoof and wear big, happy grins on their faces.

Ivory and Summertide are wearing matching pink sun hats with pastel blue bows and red plastic sunglasses with silver rhinestones around the lenses. Ivory is wearing a frilly green two piece swimsuit while her baby sister is wearing a light blue single piece suit with various sea creatures on it. Larkspur is wearing purple swim shorts with orange and green polka dots. Myself, on the other hoof, am wearing a red single piece swimsuit with little black frills around the top and bottom and a pair of black sunglasses.

"Summy needs to use the potty," Ivory kindly informs.

"Alrighty. Let's take a bathroom break together before we get on more rides," I say before gesturing for them to follow me.

My children look up at me with loving, trust-filled eyes as I turn and lead the way to the nearest restroom. We find one between the kiddie wave pool attraction and the giant zig-zag water slide. The bathroom, much like the rest of the park, is sea creature themed with adorable sea animals wearing cool shades or frilly sun hats. Larkspur wanders into the colt's room by himself while I escort my daughters to the filly's room. Like the wonderful big sister she is, Ivory willingly takes it upon herself to help Summertide go potty in one of several stalls.

I sit down near the door under where the air conditioner unit is blowing out refreshingly cold air and silently bask in its coldness. There's a knock at the door and the sound of Larkspur's voice, however, I'm unable to make out what he says. His voice sounds troubled, so I inform Ivory that I will be right back and promptly exit the bathroom. I step out into the middle of a crowd drawn in at the spectacle of an 'exotic' bear from the North contained in an exhibit honestly way too small for such a large creature. I join the crowd in marveling at such a beautiful, snow colored bear. It reminds of a time not too long ago when I had taken Ivory and Larkspur to this very zoo and had one of the best days of our lives.

As the bear stands up on its hind legs to reach the meat being fed to it from a hook attached to a very long, plastic pole, I hear my name being repeatedly called in a frantic tone. I turn around and quickly realize my children are missing. I scramble out of the crowd in a panic and canter down the rightmost pathway calling out for each child of mine as loudly as I can manage. My heart pounds in my chest as fear stirs up a nasty slew of awful thoughts and even worse assumptions.

As I canter down the path, the number of visitors dwindles down until I’m entirely alone and met with absolute silence. My voice cracks and grows hoarse as I scream for my children. The smell of smoke crawls into my nostrils as the sky darkens, turning from a light gray to an almost pitch blackness that writhes and twists like several worms in an earthen bath. It becomes harder to breathe with each step, but I cannot stop. I have to find my children, no matter the cost!

In what feels like a matter of seconds, the world around me is engulfed in flames. The heat is sweltering and unbearable, causing droplets of sweat to form and glisten on my skin like the sparkly rhinestones on my daughters’ sunglasses. I weave through the flames, my pace quickening to a gallop. Between the roar of the flames and the crackling of the earth burning to ash, I can no longer hear my voice screaming out for my children. I skid to a sudden stop- nearly tripping and falling over my own hooves- as a wall of fire blocks my path forward.

The tears pouring down my cheeks dry up almost as quickly as they trickle out from the sheer intensity of the heat. I cough and sputter as the smoke fills my lungs. I close my eyes and hold up a hoof to shield my face from the heat as I take a few steps away from the impassable wall. Is this how it’s going to end? Being swallowed whole by the flickering maw of the inferno around me? What of my children? Poor Ivory, Larkspur and Summertide… lost and alone somewhere while their mother is cooked alive and reduced to unrecognizable ash. Unless… are they suffering the same fate as me?

As I take another step back, my back right hoof steps on something soft and squishy. I jump away in a mixture of fear and surprise as I quickly open my eyes. A horrible, dread-filled feeling sucker punches me in the stomach, spreading nausea up my throat and threatening to make me puke. My brain demands that I turn around and look at whatever it was I’ve stepped on, yet my gut tells me not to and my heart threatens to beat itself out of its cavity within my chest. Against my better judgment, I listen to my brain, slowly turn around and then look down at the ground where I had just stepped.

By some twisted, fucked up miracle, I manage not to puke as that same feeling rips out my heart and stomach before shredding them into unsalvagable bits. My whole body goes numb as my mouth and throat dry up. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth from the lack of saliva as I stare in horror at the sight before me. On the soot-laden path, Larkspur’s lifeless body lies there mangled by gnarled shards of metal. The biggest shard pierces his skull right between his eyes, which are still opened wide, filled with fear and stained with his own blood.

“You didn’t save me, mama… You said we were going to be just fine…”

Larkspur’s voice whispers in my ears in an otherworldly, multi-tonal lilt. Soul-crushing guilt roots my body in place as immense shame laces my lips shut, trapping whatever pathetic excuse my brain cooked up inside my throat. This is all my fault. I should’ve said something to Apple about the conversation I overheard between those conductors. I should’ve made us take a different train at a different time or- at the very least- made us go on hoof to the cottage. My baby is dead because of me. Gone forever…

I won’t even get to see him in the afterlife. His poor, innocent soul is up in heaven but when I die, my soul is going to straight hell to rot for all eternity. A fitting punishment for such a terrible, pathetic piece of shit of a mother like me… Maybe Swift was right about me after all. He always said I was a spineless, cowardly whore who’s unfit to be both a wife and a mother, but more so the latter. Pathetic, terrible, overly dramatic and too stupid to do anything right at all. More accurate things he’s said about me.

“Why didn’t you save me…?”

I killed my baby colt. He’s dead… and gone… and it’s all my fault! The entire world around me spins violently, nearly throwing me off my hooves. When it finally comes to a stop, Larkspur’s body is gone and the path is replaced by a burnt patch of grass. I look up to see myself trapped in the midst of a burning forest. The flames seem to burn brighter with each passing second as branches snap and crackle and whole trees crumple and fall to the forest floor.

“Mommy! Mommy, help! It’s so hot and I’m scared!”

Hearing Ivory’s voice call out and trembling with fear unfreezes me from where I stand. I snap my head in the direction her voice comes from and see my daughters huddling in fear at the base of a large tree. A crescent wall of fire surrounds either side of them, leaving the only escape to be had right in the center. I couldn’t save my little flower, but I’ll do whatever it takes to save my precious daughters!

“I’m coming baby! Mommy’s coming!” I exclaim as I gallop forward.

I try to use my magic to pick up daughters and whisk them to safety, but every attempt ends in my magic fizzling out and failing. The moment I’m only three or four feet away, the crescent wall of fire completely engulfs my daughters and turns them into black silhouettes as they scream for me and cry out in pain. In a desperate bid to save them, I make an attempt to dive through the wall of inferno. However, it ends in utter failure as an unseen force picks me up and throws me back to where I started. I land with a hard thud as pain wracks my body.

I lay there for a moment, tempted to give up and completely brokenhearted. I ball up a hoof and slam it angrily into the ground in frustration before jumping up onto my hooves. I try once again to pierce through the fiery curtain. I’m once again thrown back but this time with even more force. As I try to stand, voices come from the flames and taunt, insult and mock me. I yell and scream for them to shut up as their words begin to overwhelm me.

I throw myself to the ground and plug my ears with my hooves in an attempt to block them out. I squeeze my eyes shut and beg for them to go away. Somehow, the voices grow louder and both bounce and echo around my skull at mach speeds. I beg and I plead for them to stop, for them to shut the absolute fuck up. They call me horrible- but not untrue- names like ‘son killer’ and ‘child abandoner’. They encourage me to give up, to end my life. They try to convince me I’m not worthy of still drawing breath, an absolute plague on the face of Equus.

“Look! Look!”

“Psst, hey! Looky here!”

“C’mon, open your eyes and look!”

“Don’t be such a baby, you little bitch!”

At their insistence, I open my eyes and see the lifeless corpses of my children strung up like marionettes and dancing in a circle while chanting about how much they hate me and want to tear out my guts. I scream as loudly as my body allows before curling into a ball and closing my eyes once more while sobbing heavily.

“mommy. Mommy. MOmmy. MOMmy. MOMMy. MOMMY. MOMMY. MOMMY. MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!! MOMMY!! MOMMY!!! MOMMY!!! MOMMY!!!! MOMMY!!!!”

As they scream at me, their voices echo and distort, getting deeper and violent and demonic. Eventually, it turns into a cacophony of otherworldly screeches and growls. I can feel their heavy presence as they circle me like sharks and vultures. Another unseen force yanks me from the ground, forces my eyes open and sends me flying through air and towards a tree with a noose tied to it. I struggle as hard as I can and try to fight back as it pulls the noose around my neck.

The voices laugh, cheer and hoot as the force hoists me into the air, causing the rope to be pulled taut against my throat. The voices encourage me to give up as the rope burns my neck and cuts off my airway. My children join the hellish choir of voices and continue to encourage me to just stop fighting and let death take me away. I struggle for a moment or two longer before realizing I should listen to them. I let my forelegs drop down and dangle at my side as I sway back and forth from the tree.

Slowly, the brightly burning world around me turns to a cold and pitch black darkness that chills me down to the bone. Since my words no longer have any air to them, I mouth out apologies to my children as well as the voices. As I draw in my last, shaky gasp of air, I pray that my children find peace and will one day forgive me…

***

With a sharp gasp of air, I shoot up and frantically look around. I’m drenched in sweat as panicked huffs accentuate the intensity of my heart thumping against my chest. It takes me a moment, but eventually I realize that I’m sitting on a hotel bed and not hanging from a tree. I regulate my breathing and calm my heart as best I can before flopping onto my back and sighing loudly. I stare at the dirty, white popcorn ceiling as I feel around my neck. I half expect to feel a bruise or burn mark from the noose in my nightmare, however, instead all I feel is the necklace Ivory made me for all those years ago.

On more than one occasion, it nearly cost me my life to keep it intact and as undamaged as I could help, but I kept it. It’s a grim reminder both of the days I lost my children and of the happier days we spent together before our worlds came crashing down. I’ve gotten a lot of snarky, judgemental looks and comments about wearing such a ‘childish’ piece of jewelry, that when they expect an old, grizzled bitch and see it, they lose the ability to take me seriously. That sentiment has gotten a lot of ponies hurt and a smaller number killed. Say what you will about me, but insult the last gift given to me by my child? Now that’s a good way to get yourself killed.

Thunder rumbles in the distance as I pull off the blankets and climb out of bed. If only I weren’t in the middle of the job… I’d get myself absolutely plastered. Suffering silently it is, then. I groan a bit as I stretch my legs and roll my neck. Some days I feel older than sin even though, really, I’m not that terribly old. I’m no spring chicken, that’s for sure, but fifty-two isn’t that old… is it? I lightly shake my head and stretch my neck once more before looking around.

The room is dusty, dirty and slightly overgrown from vegetation that’s creeped in through broken windows and sliding glass doors leading to the balcony. With the exception of the beds and state of cleanliness, the entire room is neat and tidy, left just how it was after the last guest to be in it checked out. The room is small with two twin-sized beds, a small wooden entertainment center, a broken TV, a microwave and a coffee pot atop a mini fridge. There’s a small desk in the corner with a chair pushed under it, a loveseat across the room in the other corner and a nightstand between the two beds with a lamp permanently affixed to it.

The floor is made of a dirty red carpet and the stained walls were once a bright white. In the middle of the wall on my right- where the desk and couch are- is a pair of sliding glass doors partly covered by thin blue curtains with gold stripes embroidered at the bottom. One side of the doors is partly open and past the curtains I can see Zephyr sitting alone on the balcony. The world outside has gotten considerably darker, although I’m not sure if it’s because it’s gotten late or because of the storm that’s rolling through. Another roll of thunder rattles through the sky as I approach the open door and step through it.

Cold droplets of rain sprinkle down from the cloudy sky and gently pelt against Zephyr and I. The view from the balcony is actually rather stunning. From here, I can see the rest of the city left untouched and as it were when the world ended. Several buildings are crumpled and toppled while dozens more are reclaimed by nature and covered in dense vegetation. For a moment, you can almost forget we’re in the midst of an apocalypse before you realize that- as beautiful as it is- it’s nothing but a mere gravestone not only for the city and the souls who’ve died outside of the Zone, but for the nation as a whole.

I look down at Zephyr, who’s sitting right up against the railing and resting her chin between her hooves. I wasn’t exactly trying to sneak up on her, yet I still find myself surprised when she lifts her head and looks back at me. She gives me a kind smile that turns into one of worry as she furrows her brows a bit. I raise mine in confusion as I stare blankly at her.

“How’s your head?” She asks as she turns to face me.

“It’s fine… a little dull ache, but fine. Doesn’t hurt as bad now,” I reply quietly.

“I’m glad your head’s feeling better, but… are you okay? You were tossing and turning and pleading in your sleep,” Zephyr says, her tone full of worry.

Although it was totally out of my control, I can’t help but grimace as embarrassment washes over me. I clear my throat and huff as I look away and stomp over the balcony railing next to her. The silence lingers for a moment longer as I debate on being honest with her. Who am I kidding? Absolutely not. She’s a complete stranger. All I know of her is what little info she’s shared with me. I’m not going to dump my pathetic backstory on her and share personal information, half of which Sapphire doesn’t even know and she’s the only pony on this planet I completely trust right now.

“You need to mind your business. I know you think you’re just being kind, but I do not need your sympathy or for you to pity me,” I say harshly “we’re strangers. We are as far from friends as you can get. I don’t need nor do I want your ‘kindness’.”

“I had a feeling you’d be a bitch about it,” Zephyr grumbles as she rolls her eyes “Sapphire said to not take anything you say personally, so I’ll be the bigger pony and forgive you.”

She says that last part snidely and with a petty smirk. Rage boils in my chest as I use every ounce of my mental strength not to strangle that smirk off her face. Sapphire’s advice of not taking what I say personally is very valid and warranted. Outwardly, I suppose I do mean things I say, but deep down? I kick myself and hate how horrible I am. It's like an immediate, instinctive reflex that I can't seem to stop.

I truly can't help it, it… just hurts so much. Well, I guess… I guess I don't really try hard enough, truth be told. What good would that even do me, though? I gave up a long time ago and I doubt things will ever get better. I don't dare to hope that it will. As I bite down hard on my lip to keep my not-so-nice thoughts at bay, I notice Zephyr is wearing a saddlebag she didn't have before. I can tell it isn't mine, at least. Did Sapphire show up or something and bring an extra bag for her?

"Where the fuck is Sapphire, anyways?" I ask as I roll my own eyes.

"On the roof talking to Ocean Breeze. She didn't want to wake you up," Zephyr replies.

"She fucking should have! Why didn't you wake me up?" I question angrily.

"You said not to bother you or you would toss me off the balcony," She answers indignantly.

"You must be really fucking dense if you think I was serious," I sneer.

"For all I knew, you were. You did throw a shit ton of soldiers several hundred feet all at once, who’s to say you wouldn’t toss me off a balcony?” Zephyr says, still indignant.

“That’s very clearly different. You’re a real brat, you know that? I oughta do it now just to piss you off,” I snigger.

Zephyr sticks her nose up in the air and side eyes me for a moment. She lets out a 'hmph' as she turns her head away and her back to me. I let out a ‘tch’ as I roll my eyes again and look up towards the roof. I sigh heavily and close my eyes. For a moment, I let the rain sprinkle on my face and wash away some of the sweat I accumulated whilst sleeping. I open my eyes and look at Zephyr, who’s still giving me the cold shoulder.

“You can find your own way up,” I say coldly.

Zephyr looks over her shoulder at me with a confused look. Without giving her the slightest chance to question me, I teleport myself up to the roof of the Imperial Crowne Hotel. Once there, I realize that I've arrived too late to join in on the discussion between Ocean and Sapphire. The moment I appear on the roof, I see Ocean Breeze already in the midst of flight in the direction of the QZ. Sapphire stands with her back to me and I smirk a little when I see her flinch from the sound of my sudden arrival. She looks back at me and smiles before turning around and trotting over. Sapphire greets me as she throws her forelegs around my neck in a gentle hug and then places a caring kiss on my forehead.

Although I gladly accept the gesture of affection and very much like it, my ‘tough-mare facade’ has me groan and gently shove her away. Even though the gesture brings a little sliver of happiness to whatever is left of my shattered heart, as well as her mere presence alone, the feeling is almost immediately drowned out by the sea of negative emotions swirling around inside me. It's like on a subconscious and somewhat-conscious level, my brain doesn't allow me the pleasure of joy anymore. Not true joy, at least, nor for very long. I'm Sapphire's right-hoof mare, her partner in crime, the brawn to her brains. I'm supposed to be a tough and scary individual who doesn't let their emotions affect their judgement regardless of the situation or locale.

It's a necessity that comes with the territory. I've kept up that facade for so long that part of me truly believes that, but the other half knows I'm just not strong enough to face my traumas. Into the bottle they go, into the bottle they'll stay. It's safer for everypony that way. Sapphire laughs as I slowly shake my head in fake, playful disappointment and try to focus on our current situation. When her laughter subsides, Sapphire looks at me with a compassionate smile and caring eyes. Then again, it gets a little harder to be a hardass when she looks at me that way and my walls crumble ever so slightly.

“How’s your head feeling?” She asks, tilting her head ever so slightly.

“Mm, a lot better now,” I reply with a small smile.

“Good! Good, I’m glad,” Sapphire says happily “you know I hate knowing you’re in pain or injured. Although, all those scars and bullet holes are pretty sexy.”

“Makes you look all badass and… cool,” She adds with a wink and a wriggle of her eyebrows.

And even more harder when she talks to me like that.

“Idiot,” I scoff as I shake my head once again.

There’s a brief moment of silence between us before Sapphire looks at me with a big, dumb, goofy ass grin. As I mentally debate on questioning it, she beats me to the punch.

“See, I knew you always loved me, darling! I heard some wonderful news!” Sapphire exclaims dramatically as she boops my nose.

“Uh-huh… and that would be?” I question, raising an eyebrow.

Sapphire dramatically throws herself onto me and pulls me into a tight hug. She presses her cheek against mine and nuzzles them together.

“Zephyr told me what you said about us,” Sapphire says, dropping her voice to a sensual whisper.

Gah, seriously?! I'm going to strangle that brat, I swear- wait a damn minute. I denied what Zephyr was implying, so what exactly did she say to Sapphire?

“And what am I being accused of saying?” I question, matching her tone and volume.

“That we’re… best friends!” Sapphire answers as she quickly jumps back to being dramatically excited.

“God, you’re annoying. I said no such a thing. Lies and slander, all of it,” I say with mostly faux indignation.

“You did! You did, didn’t you?? I knew it!” Sapphire exclaims with a cackle reminiscent of mad scientist.

“No,” I say curtly, turning my cheek away from her.

“You’re just a big ol’ softy, my Honey-Bunny-Boo Boo-Bear! Yes you are~” Sapphire teases.

She says that to me as if I were a baby or an overly adorable puppy and pinches my cheek. I use my magic to remove her from myself and place her a couple of feet in front of me. She cackles again and I can’t help but face hoof.

“Call me that again and I’m putting my knife so far up your ass it comes out of your ear,” I sneer, although it’s mostly fake anger.

It’s gross and mushy and… endearing, but… it’s Sapphire. Given our history together and the dynamic of our relationship, this kind of teasing is just par for the course. I’ve just kind of… accepted it and come to expect it at this point. It’s Sapphire, it’s just who and how she is. I love her for it… in a, er, mostly platonic way. Her can-do attitude and feisty spirit keep us both going, though, perhaps more so me than herself. Although, sometimes it does get genuinely annoying at times, but the same could be said of other certain relationships of my past.

“You know I’m not gonna let you live that down for… mm, at least a few years,” Sapphire chuckles.

“Yeah, I already that knew ahead of time. Looks like I’ve get to toss that brat off the balcony after all,” I say with a somewhat dramatic sigh.

“Mmm, how about we rain check that idea, Honey? Save it for a different rainy day,” Sapphire says as she lightly shakes her head.

“I guess I’ll just have to settle for vividly picturing it in my head instead, then,” I say with a shrug.

“That’ll do. Now, not to mix pleasure with business, but…” Sapphire trails off as she looks over in the direction Ocean had left in.

“But… she gave you some good-ish news?” I question.

“More or less. We got what we were promised and then some. MEDRA has lost their shit, though, according to the ‘scouts’ she has,” Sapphire explains with a grimace “if we’re doing this job, we need to move it before MEDRA catches us… again.”

“Okay, well, what about whatever it was you were doing? How’d that go?” I question.

“So glad you asked. Our theory was right. Glitter Stream and her little rag-tag team of losers were more hardcore anti-Firefly than anypony else in the whole damn city, apparently,” Sapphire answers.

“She ratted us out, then. I never liked that bitch,” I scoff in minor disbelief “so where did snitching to MEDRA get her?”

“To MEDRA? Queen of the god damn palace… but to us? Let’s just say the entire Zone knows what happens when you betray us,” Sapphire says with a pleased smirk.

“Let me guess, you set her mangled corpse on fire in front of MEDRA’s office?” I guess as I rub my chin thoughtfully.

“It’s almost like you know me so intimately well, Honey Cake. I did exactly that,” Sapphire says proudly “and as for her friends? I’ve never prepared a roasted pig on a spit before, but do you reckon they count as practice?”

“I’d reckon they do, Sapphire Sparkles,” I chortle “where’d you send our dogs?”

“I didn’t give them anywhere specific. I left Dove and her Dove-lings in charge,” Sapphire says with a small shrug “just told ‘em to take what they can manage- the stuff that really matters and all that- and get as far away from the Zone as they can manage.”

“I guess we have a settlement to build when we’re through, then. Speaking of, shall we continue?” I bow slightly as I gesture for her to lead the way.

“We shall indeed,” She says with a chuckle “if you’re feeling up to it, could you teleport us back to Zephyr?”

With a small, mostly playful annoyed sigh, I bring us back to the balcony of the hotel room. Zephyr is still right where I left her with a look of surprise on her face. I guess she wasn’t expecting to see us quite so soon. Zephyr looks at me and momentarily glares before looking at Sapphire and smiling sweetly. I can’t believe I’m saying this about a teenager of all ponies, but maybe I shouldn’t get myself entirely on Zephyr’s bad side. She doesn’t seem to be any ordinary teenager, but while the same could be said about any teen during this apocalypse, Zephyr seems to have… a bit more psychopathic tendencies than others I've met.

What she had planned for Cobalt- even without our intervention- was pretty fucked up. Well deserving? Of course, but still… that’s not even mentioning the fact she easily slaughtered over twenty adults all on her own with just a knife and her magic. It’s not like I killed her family or anything, but all things considered…? I might have my metaphorical nuts mutilated. I’ve been ripped enough down there. I don’t need anypony making it worse. On the other hoof, I guess I can't say much about her like that when I've done equally horrible- if not worse- things in my life after the start of the apocalypse. Now, I'm not saying I'm scared of her or anything, just that I perhaps reel in my aggression a wee bit.

Then again, Zephyr has zero obligations to stick around, just as we have zero obligations to her. If she isn't a fan of my attitude, she's got two options: deal with it or fuck off elsewhere. However, my common sense alarms tell me I probably not piss off anypony not obligated to keep me alive and could kill me at a moment's notice, but hey… I'm pretty stubborn. I've not got much to lose these days. Sapphire props herself up on the edge of the balcony and peers down below. She looks back at me and grins mischievously.

"So… who's up for a little spelunking through infected-filled streets?" She asks, her grin growing wider.

"Would I ever say no to you?" I question in a jokingly sarcastic way.

"Your mouth would, but your heart would follow me to the end of the world if I asked you to," Sapphire replies with a smug smirk.

"Pfft. The end of the world? I do that every day anyhow," I say as I roll my eyes.

"Ha! 'Cause the world ended… the apocalypse happened. I get it. That's funny," Zephyr says with a laugh.

"You're funny," I snap harshly.

"Thank you," Zephyr says with a smug grin.

"What? No, I didn't mean- ugh, fuck you," I groan as I facehoof.

"Sorry, but you're a little too old for me. I'm sure Sapphire wouldn't mind, though," Zephyr teases.

"She's not wrong. I sure wouldn't mind in the slightest bit," Sapphire says with a chuckle.

"Shut up. Don't egg her on," I growl.

"Or what?" Sapphire asks pompously.

"I'll leave you behind is what," I reply indignantly.

"Oh yeah? Like I've not got another unicorn along for the ride?" Sapphire scoffs "be a good doggy, sweetheart."

"I ain't your damn dog," I sneer.

"You sure? Is there a difference between being my dog and being my bitch? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're both," Sapphire eggs on.

"Would you like your eyes to match?" I ask simply.

"Hmm, I've got to think about that one, actually. One sec," Sapphire says before humming loudly.

"Nah, I'm good," She adds quickly.

"Let's get going before I strangle the two of you," I say with a loud sigh.

"If you're gonna kill me, I'd rather you look me in the eyes and put a bullet between them," Sapphire jokes.

"I just might if we don't get a move on," I snigger.

Sapphire cackles as she jabs Zephyr in the ribs, who chuckles along with her. So much for wanting to get rid of this headache. They're gonna make it worse at this rate. I don't give them the satisfaction of annoying me anymore than they already have and simply teleport away to the hotel's entrance. I stand under the awning and decide to count how many seconds- or minutes- it takes for them to join me. About fifteen seconds go by and my idiotic companions join me a few feet from the awning. A little longer than I was assuming it would take, but they're here now.

"Alright, so where exactly did her majesty tell you we needed to go in order to pick up this 'oh-so-precious' cargo?" I ask.

"Ha! Nowhere too crazy, you know, just in the heart of the lion's den," Sapphire replies in a casual, matter-of-fact way.

"Let me get this straight. Our run-in with Captain Electra- something we barely escaped from- has all those little piggies stirred up worser than a hornet's nest set ablaze... and she wants us to just to go marching right into their cold, lead-filled embrace?" I ask, unsure of whether to be pissed or confused.

"Are you really that surprised, though? I mean, even if Ocean hadn't asked us to meet up at some random house in the middle of prime MEDRA territory, we would've just ended up going there anyways," Sapphire replies with a shrug "if we're going to Ponyville, we're going to need to take the train tunnels down the mountain."

"I guess I shouldn't be. Just tired of having to deal with MEDRA today," I say with a small sigh.

"That makes two of us... but a job's a job. You know how I am. I'll do whatever it takes to finish it," Sapphire pats my shoulder reassuringly as she speaks.

"I know," I mutter, mostly to myself.

"C'mon, let's get a move on before we get caught lurking around here," Sapphire says before trotting past me to take the lead.

Time for the "fun" to begin, so to speak. I don't right fancy the idea of wandering through streets where infected might lurk, but I'd also rather not be shot by MEDRA either. As they trot along in front of me, a moment of doubt troubles my thoughts. As much as I hate MEDRA and how they run the Zone, is it worth it to just up and leave? Start our community elsewhere? Those of us in the smuggling business were a little better off in terms of food, but not by much.

We scraped by a little less than those who suckled the bone-dry teats of MEDRA, but how would we fair outside on our own? Would those we do business with continue to supply us miles away in a different location? I look back in the direction of the Zone, with its high, barbed wire walls looming in the distance. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I shouldn't worry too much about the future, especially when it isn't even guaranteed. I should focus on the present before the 'here and now' becomes the 'there and then' for me.

We trot quietly through the overgrown streets beyond the zone. It's mostly quiet except for the pitter patter of the rain and the occasional groan of the rundown buildings around us. Sapphire leads us to a crudely made blockade consisting of bicycles, scrap wood and metal, various pieces of junk and barbed wire. I don't recall this being here before, then again, it's possible we went a different way the last time we had to go the extra long way around the Zone. Sapphire stops and quietly examines the blockade. The look on her face tells me that she's thinking the same thing. Sometimes it can be pretty easy to get lost in these streets. Maybe we took a wrong turn somewhere?

"This is new and it isn't MEDRA's handiwork either," Sapphire says as she looks back at me.

"Should we be concerned?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Not for now, but keep your eyes and ears open. If somepony's moved into the neighborhood this close to the Zone, they might not be too friendly," Sapphire says with a shrug "or they just might be scared and desperate. Not worried about compassion, though, our hides are more important."

"Shoot first, ask questions later?" Zephyr asks.

"Sneak first, shoot second and then ask questions later," Sapphire says "let's try to get through this without shedding any bullets if we can help it."

"Right," Zephyr and I say in accidental unison.

"Stop doing that," I growl.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Zephyr says as she rolls her eyes.

"Focus, you two. If you're going to argue like this the whole time, I'm putting a muzzle on both of you before you get us killed," Sapphire snaps.

"Yes ma'am," Zephyr and I groan once more in unplanned unison.

I sigh angrily as Zephyr looks at Sapphire and gives her a defeated shrug. Sapphire rolls her eyes and starts trotting down the street to the right of the blockade. She stops suddenly and gestures for me to come closer to her. I do as she wants and stand about a foot away from her.

"Zeph, go keep an eye out over there for a sec," Sapphire orders.

"Yes ma'am," Zephyr agrees before trotting away from us.

Sapphire waits for Zephyr to get to her lookout spot before sighing and giving me an annoyed look.

"You know I love you and your 'tough-and-rough-'round-the-edges' personality, but could you not argue with a child while we're outside the Zone?" Sapphire questions "you're gonna get us killed by having us all distracted with your bickering. Besides me, you're the adult here. Please act like it."

"Tell her to stop starting shit with me and I won't argue with the brat," I answer indignantly "and don't tell me to 'act like an adult' when I am."

"Starting shit? Honey, she's not starting anything with you! You're looking for fights that aren't even there," Sapphire says with a small growl "and she isn't a brat just 'cause children of any age in general strike a sore cord with you."

"Running her yap and talking back ain't starting anything?" I question, raising a brow.

"I love you, but you're really getting on my nerves with this. It wasn't so bad in the beginning, but it's really starting to wear my nerves thin," Sapphire growls "I will not listen to you pick on and argue with her all the way to Ponyville."

"She says she'll depart from us once we get there, so just grin and bear it. Take your issues and put 'em up your ass until then," Sapphire adds before I have a chance to rebut.

"How about no? Tell her to grow up a few years and maybe then we'll get along," I say snidely.

Sapphire grabs my flannel and yanks me closer. Her muzzle is mere centimeters from my own as she looks me dead in the eye and glares.

"I know you lost your children so your despise the ones you meet, but get your head out of your ass, put your past to the side and worry a lot less about her and a lot more about this job so we can get it fucking done," Sapphire says just barely above a whisper in a very serious tone "are we clear?"

I won't lie, I'm a little astonished she would speak to me in such a manner and toss my heartbreaking losses to the side like they didn't matter. I do get where she's coming from, but if I could put it aside so easily and move on like everything is right with the world, I would've done so a long time ago. I'm at a loss for words right now. Sapphire jerks my shirt, causing our noses to smash into each other. She gives me a look as if to ask 'well' as I wriggle away the minor pain in my nose.

"Are we clear?" She repeats, this time in a more threatening tone.

I force her to let go with my magic and shove her away. We continue to lock eyes as I huff angrily and wordlessly trot away down the street. I break our 'contest' and look over at Zephyr. I stare at her for a moment before whistling and catching her attention. I gesture for her to follow me as I take a few more steps forward. Zephyr hesitates a moment as she looks over at Sapphire and then over at me. Sapphire simply stands there and stares as Zephyr hesitantly trots over to where I'm standing.

"Um-" Zephyr barely gets a word out before I interrupt her.

"Clearer than summer rain," I say to Sapphire with all the bitterness my heart can muster.

"You coming or what?" I add.

"Yeah, I'm coming," Sapphire says, just barely loud enough for us to hear.

She trots up to us and then resumes her spot in the front. Lightning flashes and thunder rolls in the distance as if to emphasize the sour mood I suppose I've put us in. There's no 'supposing' about it, but… I don't know anymore. I'll just keep my mouth shut unless it's needed, I guess. It kind of hurts to have Sapphire mad at me, even though I understand her side of things. Nopony's fault but my own, though. When we get a moment's worth of privacy again, I'll try to apologize. Never been too good at it, but that old saying of 'It's the thought that counts' applies to this situation as well, right?

We travel once again in relative silence as we make our way through the streets. The rain continues to pour down, harder in fact. I swear the rain gets heavier with every passing minute. I'm- we're- soaked to the bone and chilled from the rain. We never think to bring umbrellas with us on missions like these. Although, now that I think about it, there's probably more cons than pros to having them on missions. Oh well. A little rain never hurt nopony anyways.

The faint smell of smoke hits my nose as we near an intersection in the streets. More makeshift blockades keep us from going forward and to the right. No idea if the direction is north or east, but I suppose that doesn't matter. We won't be going in those directions with these blocking our way, not the we need to… I think. These particular blockades are made of shopping carts and tall, metal shelves ripped out the various old stores around us. There are also several broken chairs and other wooden pieces of scrap junk stuck in between the gaps. Whoever has made these have carefully laid out the boundaries of their territory.

It's out far enough that MEDRA wouldn't bother them, but just close enough to the Wall that whoever has taken up residence here can grab the scraps that MEDRA throws out. That includes food, dead folk and their belongings, though half of the dead they toss are burnt to a crisp and usually are infected to some degree. Were infected, I should say. Anything useful from the stuff MEDRA tossed, these mysterious new neighbors could easily trade for basic necessities like food or water. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but there is a small trickle of ponies who leave the 'safety' of the wall everyday. Whether they come back or leave for good, well, that merely depends on their intentions for leaving in the first place. Caught unawares, they'd be easy enough to corner, rob and kill.

Sapphire gestures for us to stop, which Zephyr and I quietly obey. We watch her sniff the air and take in a deep whiff of the smoke. I do the same, operating under the assumption she's trying to locate a rough estimate of where it could be coming from. For a land once prosperous and overflowing with love and friendship, kindness and trust towards strangers is all but forgotten. Doesn't matter if they were once your neighbors, somepony you called family or a friend. When it comes down to their life and yours, the vast majority will happily throw you to the wolves to preserve their hides. In this instance, I suppose it would be 'throw you to the zombies' instead, but I digress.

The rain and the dark clouds above make it a little hard to pinpoint where the smoke is coming from. At least, to my old nose it does. Sapphire peers around the corner for several moments before looking back at us.

"I see light coming from a building just down the road. Fifth one on the left," Sapphire says in a hushed voice "whoever's moved in seems to have set up these roadblocks to corral any infected or runaway Zoners to a certain location."

"That'd be my guess, anyways," She quickly adds.

"Not enough info to determine if we can call 'em friend or foe. With this storm, I'm not sure if going rooftop to rooftop is wise," I say at the same volume.

"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the idea of putting fried flank on the menu for these ponies," Zephyr says softly "but strolling down the street isn't a good idea either."

"Turning back isn't an option either, I'm assuming," I say with a shrug.

"We might have to. I was trying to avoid having to have either of you teleport us, but if we can't walk through it…" Sapphire trails off and shrugs.

As Zephyr and Sapphire quietly debate the best course of action, I hear what sounds like voices in the distance slowly growing closer. My ears perk up as I half glance over my shoulder and focus on the noise. Sapphire stops mid-sentence and questions what I'm doing. I say nothing but hold up a hoof to hush her. I focus a little harder and pick up part of a conversation.

"... -lieve they just throw all this good shit out?"

"I know right? No wonder more and more of these bastards are leaving the zone. They throw out the good stuff and leave them to suffer."

"Oh well. Fuck 'em."

"You've heard the saying, right? One mare's trash is another mare's treasure and all that."

"True. Have you seen what…"

I tune out of the conversation and look fully over my shoulder. The rain makes it difficult to see, but from what I could pick up, there's four ponies heading our way. Three stallions and a mare, but I could be wrong. They've not seen us yet, thankfully, and I'd like to keep it that way. I quickly fill Sapphire in on what I've heard and advise her to keep pressing forward until we can find a place to duck into and hide, at least long enough to evade the ponies coming our way.

Sapphire merely nods, trusting my judgment, and leads us around the corner and down the street. We pass by an emptied-out candy store with all the windows and doors partially boarded up. I'm able to see inside, thankfully, which allows me to get a mental picture of where to take us. Without giving much warning, I teleport us inside, much to the surprise of my companions. My decision is met with near immediate regret as one of my hooves is sliced by a shard of glass. My motherly instincts and the urge to protect these two kick into high gear for a moment as I use my magic to pick Zephyr and Sapphire up off the floor.

"There's glass all over the damn place. Hold on a moment," I say as I carefully tiptoe through the razor sharp ocean of glass.

A few cuts and pieces stuck in my hooves later, I find a spot free of glass behind the checkout counter and put my companions down.

"There. No glass over here, but be careful," I say quietly.

"Awe, how sweet of you, Honey," Sapphire says in a quiet, teaseful tone.

"Shut up. I'll let you slice your hooves to ribbons next time," I huff in a mixture of fake anger and real annoyance.

"Did your hooves get cut?" Zephyr asks softly.

"Yeah, but I'll be alright. It doesn't hurt that bad," I reply nonchalantly.

"Let me take a look when those ponies go by. I can fix minor wounds and the like," Zephyr says chipperly.

Don't be stubborn. Don't be stubborn. Don't be stubborn. It might be just glass, but it can turn nasty quick. Just say yes, it's not that hard. Sapphire told you to play nice.

"Eh, no, I-I don't… I mean… Okay, fine. You can look… I guess," I reluctantly agree.

Silence quickly befalls us as we wait for the ponies to catch up and pass by so we can continue our journey. A group of five trot past the candy store, three stallions and two mares. Three unicorns, a pegasus and an earth pony. Each of them are carrying duffle bags stuffed and overflowing with clothes and various other items they've acquired Celestia knows where. It's mostly clothes from what I can tell. Most would likely overlook it and consider it nothing of consequence, but the need for that many clothes tells us something important. The group is large, seemingly organized and halfway competent. That's my hunch, at least.

We sit silently in the dark a couple of minutes longer before Zephyr taps me on the shoulder. She uses her magic to produce enough light to assess my minor wounds. I hesitantly hold out my front hooves. A long gash covers most of the bottom of my right hoof, blood smeared all over and staining tiny pieces of glass. My left hoof is in a better state with a couple of small slices and a single piece of glass. While Zephyr removes the pieces of glass, I check my back hooves for glass and cuts. Lucky me, neither are to be found on my back hooves.

"Cup your hooves together," Zephyr instructs.

"Huh? Uh, okay," I say as I do as she says.

Her horn glows brighter at the tip as she lowers her head until her horn is near my hooves. She bows her head, touching her horn to my hooves. The ball of light on the tip of her horn seeps into my flesh and spreads across the surface, then partially up my legs. I watch in slight awe as every cut and gash slowly disappears into nothingness, like they never existed to begin with. Her horn stops glowing, however, the glow of the magic healing me persists for a few moments longer before gradually dissipating.

"Woah. You… definitely weren't kidding, huh? Thanks," I say, my tone- for once- entirely genuine.

"Well, I certainly wasn't lying. I mean, did you see my cutiemark? I don't mean to boast or brag, but I certainly didn't earn it for nothing," Zephyr says proudly.

She shines more light with her horn and brings her decorated flank into view. I hadn't noticed it earlier, but Zephyr's cutiemark depicts a gold caduceus atop a red cross. There are two small white hearts as well, one at the top of the cross and one at the bottom.

"I know a few different medical spells outside of basic first aid. Six to be exact. My mother taught me them before she died," Zephyr explains proudly "I know a spell of minor healing that, well, I guess the name is kind of self explanatory. Minor wounds on the outer surface is what it's best for. I also know an x-ray spell, but using it makes me really nauseous. Like, really really nauseous. Not entirely sure why."

"Anywho, I also know a spell of minor bone mending. Sounds cool and is also kind of self explanatory. Really, it only heals minor to somewhat moderate fractures. Won't heal any broken bones, but still useful," Zephyr continues with a proud smile.

"Got anything else in your repertoire?" I ask.

"Spell wise? I know a defibrillation spell, but, uh, it's almost as bad as the x-ray spell. I dunno how to explain it, as I'm more of a doctor than a scientist, but it shocks me too," Zephyr replies "not terribly bad, it's just really uncomfortable. It's like some of the discharge goes… inward? Into me? I dunno."

"And the last two?" Sapphire questions.

"I was getting there. The other two are pretty simple, but like with the x-ray and defib spells, I really need to work on controlling them better," Zephyr answers with a small chuckle "one is a spell of 'light' numbing. Air quotes around light because I struggle to control the radius of the numbing. Instead of just a small area of your hoof, I might accidentally numb your entire leg."

"As for the last one? It's a spell that allows me to give you some very minor pain relief. I was going to offer it to you on the balcony but…" Zephyr trails off as she slowly shakes her head "but that one also makes me nauseous. Not quite as bad, but still."

"Glad to have you with us, Dr. Hearts," Sapphire says with a chuckle.

"It's my pleasure to be here," Zephyr says with a small bow.

“You couldn’t have offered it to me when we were in the sewers? Or when we got out of them, for that matter?” I question with a harsh glare.

“I didn’t want to make myself nauseous while running from MEDRA. I wouldn’t have been much help if I couldn’t take two steps without feeling like I was gonna barf,” Zephyr answers defensively.

I fight back the urge to say something snappy or pissy. Instead, I bite my tongue- metaphorically, of course- and look over at the front of the store.

"I'm sure the coast is clear. Let's get going," I say a little more loudly and harshly than what I intend.

"Let's see if there's a back door so we don't have to walk through that glass again," Sapphire says "well, so Honey doesn't step in it again."

I roll my eyes as I stand up and use my magic to light my way. I wander into the back and look around. I find the backdoor is also boarded up, much to my dismay, but looking around the room gives me better news. There's a long, rectangular window just big enough for a grown pony to fit through. Zephyr is definitely small enough to fit through with no problems. She could go out first and be on the lookout while Sapphire and I wiggle our way through. Possibly.

"Of course they've boarded this door up to," Sapphire groans.

"If they boarded up all the doors and windows, where in the hell did the ponies who did it go?" Zephyr questions.

"Out the only window not boarded up, just like us," I answer, gesturing to my recent find.

"Yeah, I don't think we'll fit," Sapphire says skeptically.

"Zephyr will fit no problem. You'll fit no problem. I'll fit… probably," I say matter-of-factly.

"We could just teleport?" Zephyr suggests with an unsure look and a shrug.

"We need to minimize how often we use that. It might catch unwanted attention. I mean, I thought we were pretty subtle when we were fleeing from MEDRA earlier, but you saw how that turned out," Sapphire says.

"Reasonable enough," Zephyr says with a small nod.

I open the window with my magic, but struggle a little due to the hinges having rusted together over the years of neglect. Once it's open, I instruct Zephyr to crawl through. As expected, she gets through easily and with wiggle room to spare. Sapphire takes off her saddlebags and makes me hold them as she takes her turn going through the window. Unlike Zephyr, Sapphire has to wiggle and strain to get through. Once on the ground, I toss her saddlebags to her as well as my own. She catches hers with ease, but nearly drops mine, which earns a little chuckle from Zephyr.

I take in a deep breath, then exhale it as I crawl through the window. The front half of me slips out of the window easier than what I was expecting. However, trouble arises when I try to pull my lower half through. I groan in annoyance as I struggle to wiggle my hips free.

"Are you… stuck?" Sapphire asks, amusement pulling her lips into a sly grin.

"No, I am not," I say in a half-groan as I pull myself most of the way back inside.

"Are you sure?" Zephyr asks.

Unlike Sapphire, who seems to be amused, Zephyr appears to be genuinely concerned that I'm having a slight bit of trouble getting through the window. I try again, this time going at it sideways instead of head on. I get myself most of the way out when my shirt catches on a loose splinter of metal from the windowsill. I wiggle myself out the window and land a couple of feet down below on the ground. My shirt rips in the process, leaving an elongated hole from the mid-chest up to the collar. I sigh loudly as I briefly fiddle with the new hole. Of course I'd rip my favorite shirt trying to slip my wide ass out of a window.

"I'm here now, so yeah, I'm sure," I reply as I strap my saddlebags back on.

"That's what you get for having a dump truck," Sapphire says with a chuckle.

"Shut up. I do not have a 'dump truck' for an ass. It's not fat, just wide, okay?" I say with a loud huff "that's what happens when you spit three big foals out your fuckin' snatch."

"Wait… you have kids?" Zephyr asks with massive, genuine surprise.

"Had kids. They're… I don't want to talk about it ever, so please don't ask," I reply, trying not to get snippy "next time, I will not say please."

"Had? What do you- oh… Oh. I'm sorry," Zephyr says, eyes wide with realization.

There's a brief moment of silence between us. A loud clap of thunder billows across the sky. I look up at the sky and sigh softly before looking back at Zephyr.

"Can I at least ask how big they were when they were born? Since you said that… that they were big babies?” Zephyr asks, give me a look of nervous curiosity.

I stare at her for a second before looking away. The memories of my children's respective births pop into my head and fill my heart with bittersweetness and pain.

"Oldest was eight pounds on the dot, middlest was nine pounds and three ounces and the youngest was seven pounds and four ounces," I reply with a small, heartbroken sigh.

"Dang, no wonder you couldn't get through the window at first," Zephyr says with a small chuckle "but I think I understand now."

"Understand what?" I question, snapping back to my usual gruff demeanor.

"Why you seem to not like me very much, if at all. I won't say it aloud for fear of upsetting you, but I think we both know without me even needing to," Zephyr answers.

"Yeah, sure, we'll pretend the reason I don't like you is because I'm 'not over' the loss of my children and you remind me of them and not at all because you're a pain-in-the-ass brat," I scoff as I roll my eyes.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. We keep wasting our damn time by standing around and talking," Sapphire says as she steps between the of us "let's go, you two."

"After you," I say, fighting back the urge to say something sarcastic and mean.

'Don't initiate conversations with your inane and sly comments, then maybe we won't have to stop and talk' is what I really want to tell her… but I won't. I'll argue with anypony else about anything all day long, 'til I'm blue and dyin', but I try not to argue with Sapphire too much. When she's truly well and pissed to the bone, nopony is safe from her wrath, even if they aren't the object of her anger. I've only seen her that angry a time or two, so I don't cotton to the idea of pushing her buttons too hard while on this oh so 'important' job. On one hoof, I don't expect them to trot on eggshells around me, but on the other, Sapphire at least knows what sets me off and could at least attempt to steer things in a different direction rather than let me blow. It can be- and is- quite annoying and frustrating, then everypony wonders why I'm always such a bitch.

Sapphire takes the lead as we continue on our way. We sneak past several more ponies who've taken up residence in this area of Canterlot. I was starting to follow the notion that perhaps these folks were Hunters with high hopes to take over the Zone, but passing by makeshift houses out of old stores and the like, the presence of elderly ponies and children seems to prove me wrong. I know Hunters, ponies- mostly- who hunt their own kind for sport and to rob them of their belongings.

I've run with them in the past, they separated me from children and helped drive a wedge between my remaining family. Experience tells me a group of Hunters wouldn't keep children or old fools around. I don't know what these ponies' deal is exactly, but maybe they'd be friendly enough. Maybe. About twenty-ish minutes later, we stop to survey where we are and where we need to be. Having climbed onto the roof of a tall building, Sapphire peers over the edge and looks both angry and disappointed.

"Ah, shit," Sapphire grumbles "I really should've sent a team to remap the area instead of assuming things would remain static."

"By the looks of what they've got set up, these folks have been here for a good while. Maybe… a month at the most?" I say with a shrug.

“Something like that, yeah. I think. It’s been a long while since we last remapped the area. That much I do remember,” Sapphire says.

I trot over to Sapphire and look over the edge of the building. Craters several miles wide and nearly twice as deep scar the city, leaving a semi horseshoe shaped, rubble-filled canyon of sorts. There's a swathe of crescent-ish land cutting straight through the 'canyon', leaving us with only one viable path forward. However, it's clear as a day- even in this rain- that it's a very dangerous one. One false move and a building or the ground is liable to collapse and join the rubble already resting in the depths of the canyon below. What's worse, despite MEDRA's attempt to eliminate them with bombs, the area is likely teeming with infected.

It's just par for the course with these things, really. Although, we've never been through that area before. None of us have had a reason too, but this time we don't much of a choice. The risk of running into more of MEDRA's soldiers is uncomfortably high, so to totally avoid them, going the long way outside the wall is the only way to go. I could teleport the three of us somewhere close to where Ocean told Sapphire to meet her if I were familiar with the area, but where's the fun in that? Even if going outside of the wall greatly ramps up the danger levels to 'certain and guaranteed eventual death', it never fails to teach a lesson or two. Whether those are old or new, it just depends on our choices and decisions as we make our way through. I also probably shouldn't strain myself more than I already have today with performing fears of magic. While I feel that I might be better off dead, I know that Sapphire would disagree.

"Holy crap. Did MEDRA do that?" Zephyr asks in awe at the sight before us.

"They bombed a lot of places just like this hoping to drastically reduce the number of infected," Sapphire replies "not that it did much other than ruin our chances of ever rebuilding if this nightmare were to ever end."

"And end the life- I mean lives- of innocent ponies who weren't even infected," I say bitterly.

"I know the saying 'better safe than sorry' exists for a reason, but damn… they crossed so many lines with that," Zephyr says in disbelief.

"There's only one way through… uh, let's call it 'Death Valley' for now," Sapphire says as she pulls out her binoculars "it's kind of hard to see, but I know the mall is that way."

"The what? What's a 'mall' and is it as exciting as it sounds?" Zephyr questions with a big grin.

"A mall is a place where a bunch of small stores are placed together for shopping convenience and fun. Some malls were fancier than others with arcades and big food courts where they could enjoy different brands of fast food," I explain with a small sigh "sometimes it was fun to just look. These stores were… higher end usually and expensive to boot."

"I don't know what an arcade is either but it sounds fun too. Can we take just a little peek when we pass through?" Zephyr asks with typical child-like pleading eyes.

"No," I reply.

"Awe c'mon, it's not my fault I was born after the world ended," Zephyr pouts "I'm still sort of a kid, you know. Just a little teeny tiny peek?"

"I said no," I say firmly.

Zephyr groans and throws her head back in frustration in a display of typical teenager-rism. It irks me to my core, but I say nothing and instead glare daggers at her. Sapphire chuckles as she continues to scout out Death Valley as best she can from our position.

"So it looks like we have three main obstacles to get through before we clear the Valley," Sapphire says "there's a museum, the mall and it looks like a garden walk of some kind."

"Didn't you say you lived here before the apocalypse? Wouldn't you know what's there?" Zephyr questions.

"It's been a while, alright? Forgive my memory, I hardly went there before things went tits up and that didn't change afterwards either," Sapphire answers "we'll be fine, so don't worry. I wouldn't lead us astray."

"Alright. Lead the way," Zephyr says.

Sapphire puts away her binoculars and backs away from the edge. I bring the three of us back down to the ground and gesture for Saph to lead the way. We push our way past more buildings and pony-made obstacles until we reach the beginning of the path through Death Valley. Up close, the nickname seems more than appropriate. Skeletons of many different kinds litter the inside of the craters: ponies, griffons, cars, buildings, etc. Nature is slowly reclaiming them. They're almost hard to spot while being completely still against all the death, rubble and plant life, but several infected ponies have fallen in. They're trapped for good with no hope of ever escaping, as the craters are far too deep.

Even if they climbed up some of the rubble, the walls of the craters where the rubble starts are far too steep. As long as we don't stir them up, we'll be fine. The path ahead is mostly concrete from the museum's parking lot up until the building itself. It's a two story place of forgotten information and history, although the majority of the place is gone and a permanent part of the valley below. What's left isn't much of anything special, at least looks-wise. A soft lavender building with broken long, rectangular windows and occasionally decorated in splashes of blues, greens, grays and pinks here and there in the form of banners, awnings and posters.

There's a bronze statue of Princess Twilight topping a fountain just in front of the steps to get inside. The fountain is no longer working, the water inside long stagnant and horrifically dirty. Just behind the statue close to where the stairs start is a stone sign with the words ‘Twilight Sparkle Museum of Science & Magic’, although the sign is partly broken and the words ‘Sparkle’ and ‘Science’ are missing half their letters. It really needn't be said, but the state of the building is awful and is in a desperate need of repair. I can only imagine how terrible the state of the inside must be.

Sapphire leads us up the stairs and to the mostly-intact front doors. The doors refuse to budge open and let us inside. I peer through the windows in the doors. A broken, smooth sided column purposefully placed blocks the way. In what I'm hoping isn't blood but rather dark reddish brown paint, there is a note that reads; 'STAY OUT!! INFECTED INSIDE! DANGER! DOOR IS LOCKED AND BLOCKED FOR YOUR SAFETY! - A VERY SCARED MUSEUM EMPLOYEE'.

"Well, shit. What now? Up and over or brute force our way through?" I say as I look over at Sapphire.

"Let's not make too much of a ruckus. You saw them down there," Sapphire says with a sigh "they might not be able to get us being trapped down there, but they might tell their buddies up and down the proverbial zombie grapevine."

"What do you mean? I thought they weren't capable of-" Zephyr is quickly cut off by Sapphire.

"I didn't mean it in a literal sense. You really don't know how infected operate, kid? Seriously," Sapphire shakes her head in disbelief.

"Where I used to live, we didn't have much trouble with the infected. The adults took care of that. Our problems were mostly with… other ponies," Zephyr explains.

"So 'no', in other words. Well, long story short, every single zombie is connected by the fungus like a hive mind of sorts. It's kind of complicated and I'm not a scientist, but that's how it seems to be," Sapphire explains.

"So if one of them is alerted, it sends, like, a signal of sorts to the others and we'll get swarmed," Zephyr deduces.

"Pretty much, yeah. You catch on pretty quick, kid," Sapphire praises.

"How did you and your family make it here to the Zone without you gaining the slightest inkling of how they work? Even if you didn't fight them yourself, there really wasn't anything at all you picked up?" I question, my words laced heavily with doubt.

"Like I said, the adults handled it. I didn't watch, I kept the children safe. My grandma, brother and I were all that were left of the group that left the city we lived in by the time we reached the zone. The only ones who weren't infected, at least," Zephyr answers, giving me an annoyed look for doubting her.

"And now I'm officially the only one of the original group left. My father was the only one who didn't join us, but I hate him with a passion so I might as well consider myself the end of my bloodline," Zephyr adds.

"If I had a clear view of the roof, I'd teleport us there, but it might be to risky to go up blind," I say, changing the topic.

"What if we teleport inside and look for any openings we can take to get out of there without having to risk adventuring right into the jaws of a zombie?" Zephyr suggests.

"Better than going around or going up blind," Sapphire says with a shrug.

Lighting flickers through the sky and then strikes the ground somewhere far away from us to not be much of a concern to me in the moment. Zephyr makes a comment about how her brother used to be terrified of storms because of the lightning that sometimes accompanied them, to which Sapphire responds by relaying the story of the time her mother was struck by lightning as kid and survived.

"Are we done wasting our time, hypocrite?" I ask as I roll my eyes.

"Oh, I'm soooo sorry! Go ahead and teleport us inside, then," Sapphire replies with a bit of an attitude.

"Time spent learning is not time wasted," Zephyr says matter-of-factly.

I groan and roll my eyes while not bothering to dignify that with a response. I look through the window again and find a good spot to teleport us to. As soon as we enter, an awful yet familiar stench assaults my nose.

"Masks, now," I order as I look around for the source.

I quickly pull out my gas mask and attach it securely to my face. My companions follow my order and do the same. I look up and all around for the source of the smell. A staircase to my right is broken and missing half of the stairs from the second floor down to the middle. Growing from the railing and down the broken concrete is a large patch of Fairy Wings, the fungus responsible for this whole damn apocalypse. Long tendrils of sickly pinks and yellows reach upwards towards the holes in the roof. Several yellow caps in the shape of fairy wings litter the patchy, parasitic growth.

The fungus gives off a horribly disgusting 'warning' smell when in relatively close proximity. It absolutely reeks and when you smell it, usually you're not close enough to inhale the spores if you're lucky. The more unbearable the stench becomes, the closer you are to Fairy Wings. We got lucky this time. I see the spores radiating from the fungus patch, but at least they seem to be floating up towards the ceiling. Their presence is a sure sign that zombies were here at some point. Given the fact the spores here aren't dried up and dead, it's likely they're still here.

"Tread quietly. I don't think we're alone here," I say in a hushed tone.

"Honey, take point. I'll cover the rear. Zephyr, stay close to Honey just in case," Sapphire says.

"Oh, Honey. Take this before I forget," She adds as she fishes something out of her bag and tosses it to me.

Zephyr nods her head as she takes a few steps closer to me as I catch the object tossed my way using my magic. It's a tactical, metal flashlight shaped like the number seven- or an upside down L, depending on your perspective- small enough to fit in my shirt pocket. I clip it to my pocket and turn it on. For a small flashlight, it puts out a surprising amount of light. Another beam of light joins mine and I look back to see Sapphire tucking an identical flashlight into her own shirt pocket. Zephyr pulls out a different looking flashlight with her magic, one that is small, purple and looks to be cheaply made of aluminum.

She turns it on and shines it around, her beam of light is surprisingly bright for such a cheaply made-looking flashlight. I notice she's also wearing a different type of gas mask than Sapphire and I. Zephyr’s is a half-face respirator mask akin to what painters or welders would've used back in the day. On the other hoof, Sapphire and I’s masks cover our whole face with single lens goggles. I guess while I was out cold, Zephyr had Sapphire bring her her saddlebag... or something along those lines, anyways.

I shine my light towards the center of the room and begin to look for the quickest exit. Another statue of Princess Twilight greets us, only this time she’s holding a book and wielding the Elements of Harmony in what used to be an inspiring and majestic manner. Although the statue is missing pieces in some places and is cracked in others, its state of affairs isn’t what ruins the statue’s original appeal or intention. Princess Twilight, along with her fellow Element bearers and the sister Princesses abandoned us not long after the apocalypse began. They all fled to the Frozen North and- up until about four years ago- made numerous promises they’ve either broken or have yet to fulfill, such as finding a cure or creating more secure places to live from the infection. Four years ago, we stopped hearing anything at all from them. Once upon a time, I admired each and every one of them, but like other aspects of my life, that admiration died a long time ago.

These days, I understand it’s survival of the fittest and everypony for themselves, but considering the feats the Element bearers have pulled off? Not to mention the Princesses are quite literally goddesses? You would think they’d be able to protect their citizens. That’s neither here nor there now, I suppose. There’s no use in metaphorically crying over it anymore. Trotting around the statue brings us to a hallway that branches off into multiple exhibits. Rather than wasting our time searching exhibits for possible holes in the walls to get through, I’m hoping to find the closest emergency exit that might lead us out to the other side.

I try not to think of the ‘what-if’s’ or ‘I-wish’s’ as I lead us down the rightmost side of the hallway. I’m sure the museum was amazing and a whole lot of fun for families back before all of this started. Ivory was supposed to come here on a school field trip once, but when the day came around, she had been sick with a bad cold and couldn’t go. I felt horrible she missed out and hoped to someday take her and Larkspur here, but when I had the time, I didn’t have the money and when I had the money, I didn’t have the time. Even though the place is all but destroyed and tarnished beyond repair, I can’t help but feel terrible that I’m here now and Ivory isn’t.

The building groans around and shakes a bit as it settles further into the ground. Dust and pieces of rubble fall from the ceiling above and down to the ground. A resounding crash echoes from above us, causing me to pause. The sound was unmistakably that of something metal hitting the marble floor of the museum. I’m hoping it was a stanchion or some other similar item falling over because of the museum settling and becoming more unstable rather than a zombie roaming around. Considering I’ve yet to hear the tell-tale screech of a clicker or the unnerving sobs of a trotter, I think we’re safe… for now.

With the power to the museum shut off, finding the emergency exit is a little harder to find than expected. Although the red glow from the sign would probably feel a bit ominous at the end of a long, dark hallway, we wouldn’t at least be stumbling about in the semi-dark. A good ways down the hall, somepony has made a makeshift parapet of sorts from vending machines pushed over onto their sides. Combined with the spent casings and skeletal remains both in front of and behind the vending machine parapet, it would seem this was once the last stand for the survivors who built it.

There are no fungi growing from any of these remains, which leads me to believe this last stand wasn’t against the infected. Trotting past the vending machines, the ammunition boxes with an all too familiar logo tells me this was a group of MEDRA soldiers’ last stand against a second party. Since I hadn’t been invited to the showdown and- given these remains are nothing but bones- I was likely on the other side of the country when it happened, so I couldn’t say for sure if this second party was innocent or no, but given MEDRA’s track record for killing the innocent, I have no doubt at least one of these casualties was innocent in one way or another. If they chose here of all places to hold the line, that must mean there’s an exit of some kind just at the end of the hall. That’s assuming- at least- the soldiers that once holed up here weren’t complete and total idiots like the rest of them.

At the end of the hall, just as I had hoped, there is indeed an emergency exit. I trot up to the door and attempt to open it. It takes a few seconds of heavy pushing, but eventually it budges and swings open, albeit somewhat unexpectedly. After quickly regaining the balance I nearly lose, I exit the museum and hold the heavy door open for my companions. They exit the museum, however, Sapphire quickly backs up against the outside wall and pulls Zephyr along with her. I let go of the door just as an alarm begins to screech inside the museum. I wince and flatten my ears in response to the sudden, shrill noise assaulting my sense of hearing. I guess there was power still on inside, just to the emergency exits despite the lights in the signs being off.

I quickly close the door, greatly muffling the screeching alarm inside. I look behind me and see why Sapphire backed up against the wall. There had been just enough room outside of the door to avoid stepping on a massive pile of fungal growth. In fact, where I stand is mere inches away from a yellowed fungal tendril. When I say a ‘massive pile’ of fungal growth, I mean a massive pile of fungal growth. It’s at least eight feet tall and twice as wide.

You can just barely see it, but there are several pony-shaped outlines in the pile. If I had to guess, several zombies were killed and thrown into a pile here… or maybe they formed the pile instinctively but ‘sacrificed’ themselves in the process. Truly and utterly disgusting no matter how you slice it. I back up and join my companions up against the wall. Had I stepped on it, it’s very possible I could’ve ordered our execution by summoning a horde of zombies accidentally. Note to self; be more careful and more observant of areas prevalent with infected, even if that was already fucking obvious.

“I think we’ve had enough close calls today,” I mumble, mostly to myself than to my companions.

“Tch. You can say that again,” Sapphire agrees.

Zephyr hums in agreement as I trot around them and take the lead once more. As I unholster my revolver and begin to lead us past the ruined remains of uninteresting buildings, we hear the all too familiar screeches of several clickers. I’m not sure whether to count ourselves lucky, as the screech comes from inside the museum, but that doesn’t mean we are in the clear. I quicken my pace as I lead us to the biggest obstacle in our way; the mall. More specifically, the ‘Grand Celestial Mall’ according to the grimy remains of a tall, once-fancy sign.

The mall is in a similar state of disrepair as the museum, but- from afar- not seemingly as bad. The parking lot of the mall is littered with the rusty, mangled husks of cars that have been stripped of every usable bit of scrap metal and their tires. There are even abandoned deuce and a halves, most of which are missing tires, doors and their bed coverings. Surprisingly, there are several shoppings carts littering the parking lot, some of which still have various purchased items left in them. Whoever stripped these vehicles of all they were worth must’ve had no need for the carts. Hopefully, whoever did so is long gone and maybe- just maybe- I haven’t jinxed us.

The first entrance we come across is wide open and very obviously boobytrapped with snares, firearms and boards with nails driven through and hooked up to trip wires, makeshift caltrops and other ‘in-your-face’ obvious traps meant to incapacitate or kill any zombies that wander through. There is also a distinct sea of glass all over the floor as well, which would explain the distinct lack of glass in all of the window panes throughout the foyer.

“Well that’s a hard no,” Zephyr quips.

“You can say that again,” Sapphire agrees.

“Rerouting, rerouting,” I say, mimicking a GPS as I look for the next best way into the mall.

I see a rusted sign indicating that the employee-only area is just around the corner from the entrance. I take us in that direction as Zephyr expresses her confusion.

“Have you turned into a robot or something?” Zephyr asks.

“Well, going this way is a nonstarter, so our GPS has to reroute and find us another direction,” Sapphire replies.

“Our what?” Zephyr questions, sounding absolutely bewildered.

Sapphire struggles to hold back a laugh as the two of them trot along behind me. Once she regains her composure, Sapphire proceeds to explain what a GPS was and why I was briefly pretending to be one. She whispers to Zephyr that they should silently enjoy the brief moments were I’m not a hardass and actually, genuinely joke around in a way she obviously wants me to hear. I don’t dignify the comment with a response and instead quicken my pace and press onwards. I take us around to the back side of the mall where a plethora of signs and other indications make it abundantly clear that this area was not meant for the public.

There are a couple of abandoned freight trucks and delivery vans parked out back and appear relatively untouched compared to other vehicles in the parking lot. Whatever was once inside them are most likely long gone but I don't particularly care to check to see if I'm right or not. All of the bay doors are closed, which means it's now a matter of just eenie meenie miney moe-ing them and picking one. I'm sure they all lead to the same place anyways, so it's not like it really matters as long as we get inside. I pick one of the middle left doors and approach it. There are no obvious means of opening it from the outside, but with a little bit of elbow grease and some magical assistance, the door squeals open up just enough to allow us to duck through.

Sapphire and Zephyr quickly go under and inside the loading bay. The two of them work together to hold it up just long enough for me to slip inside. They let go of it, causing it to fall shut with a rattling clank. I shoot Sapphire a mean look the best I can from behind my mask for letting it close that hard, to which she merely shrugs. 'It was heavy', I can hear her saying and likely along with another shrug. I sigh as I cautiously creep through the dark room of the loading bay. So far, I see zero signs of any zombies, but a lack of fungal growth doesn't mean there are none here. It's not until a trotter becomes a stalker or a clicker that they spread the fungus outside of themselves and onto anything in their proximity. No matter the stage of infection, one bite or scratch is enough to sentence you to certain death.

I find a blue metal door and open it, which takes us into a large hallway that splits into different paths. There's a plaque that gives directions to where each split leads, although I'm not sure which one will take us straight through the mall. My gut tells me to go down the hall a ways and take a left to follow it through an open set of double doors to the food court. Unsurprisingly, the food court is a total mess, full of debris, rotted, moldy leftovers and the skeletal remains of ponies. As I look around, I spot the remains of a tiny little skeleton hanging halfway out of a knocked over stroller. Laying on top of it is a much bigger skeleton still wearing what's left of a green tattered sundress. The sight alone is enough to make my stomach churn and threaten to quickly evacuate the contents it holds.

I quickly look away and weave through the messy maze of tables and chairs haphazardly strung about. Shining my light up, I can see a sign hanging from the ceiling that indicates that going forward will take us into the main shopping area of the mall. Looking to my right I can see the boobytrap entrance just on the otherside. I didn't even think to check the food court for traps. Holy shit. I try to ignore that as I look at the only path forward. Of course, the way is blocked from where the roof has collapsed, filling the area up to the top with rubble. However, there's a piece of roof that looks like it will lift a different piece up juuust enough that we could squeeze through. Maybe.

I go over to this piece of roofing and climb on top of it. As I had hoped, it lifts up the second piece and creates a gap just barely big enough. The piece I stand on shifts, making me nearly fall off. The second piece starts to fall and instinctively, I reach out and grab it. I grunt a bit as I struggle a bit to keep it lifted. I muster all my strength and lift it up higher, which makes the gap a little wider. Sapphire quickly removes her mask, which prompts Zephyr to copy her.

"Go! Now!" I order with a grunt as I strain to keep the piece lifted.

"Me first," Sapphire says to Zephyr.

"Okay," Zephyr says as we both watch Sapphire crouch down and crawl through the gap.

Zephyr looks up at me as she waits for Sapphire to clear the hole. She has a look of concern on her face as if she is genuinely worried I might hurt myself. Zephyr opens her mouth to say something, but closes it when Sapphire calls out to her.

"Coming!" She calls back, yet remains where she stands.

"Go!" I shout as I shift my grip on the piece of roof.

"Please be careful," Zephyr says to me before crouching down and crawling through the hole.

Zephyr disappears and- after a few moments of silence- gives a quick shout to let me know she's made it through. I go to reposition my grip on the piece of roof and accidentally somehow manage to free a bigger piece higher up. It all comes crashing down, knocking the piece roof out of my grip and sending me tumbling down onto the food court floor below. I land on my back and instantly my breath is completely knocked out of me. I groan loudly in pain as I catch my breath and roll onto my side.

"Honey! Honey?! Are you alright?" Sapphire exclaims.

"I'm fine! Just… winded is all!" I shout before groaning again.

The unfortunately familiar loud shrieks of clickers and the animalistic growls of trotters echo throughout the ruined halls. Worse yet, they come from Sapphire's side of the debris wall.

"Shit! They're coming this way!" Zephyr exclaims in a panic.

"Honey?" Sapphire calls out.

"Go! Get to safety! I'll find my way to you!" I shout as I scramble to my hooves.

"This way! Hurry!" Sapphire shouts to Zephyr.

As the shrieks and growls come closer, I hear my companions gallop away to find somewhere safe to wait for me. I kick a small piece of something rock-like and watch it skitter across the floor as I growl in frustration. The minor avalanche has completely clogged up the debris wall, leaving no way to crawl through anymore. I'd waste my time trying to use my magic to pull out pieces to make my own way. I sigh angrily as I whip around and canter back down to where we originally came from. I follow the hall back down and go a different way until I stumble across a bathroom area that splits off to the left and right based on gender.

The are no doors, just a wide wall with plaques indicating which gender goes where. I peek around the corner of the filly's side and shine my light on the other side in hopes that it's open ended like this side. Sure enough, there's an exit on the other side that takes me to a different hallway. I follow it down to the right until I come across a set of metal double doors. I try to open them, but no matter how hard I push, they refuse to budge. I try to buck it open but am met with the same refusal. I try it again, but continue to make zero progress.

I take a few steps back and look around with my flashlight. To my right on the wall is a small black square made of plastic with a little oval bulb at the top. The light is off, which is no surprise considering the main power is shut off to- I assume- the entire mall. Looks like I'm not getting through here unless I find an employee keycard and turn the power back on, assuming that's even feasible at this point. It's either find the card and get the power on or it's find a different way. Something tells me the first option will be less of a headache.

Wherever they store the generators and such to power the mall is likely back here in the employee area. If I was a generator, where would I keep myself? Probably in a corner somewhere far from the public eye. I turn around and quickly head back the way I came. I doubt I’ll manage to find an employee badge to open the door, but perhaps I’ll get lucky. I pass by the bathrooms and continue down the hall until I notice hundreds of thousands of little spore particles floating past me. I slow down to a walk and look around for their source as I count myself lucky to have kept my mask on this entire time.

Eventually I come across a big window partly covered by a patch of fungal growth. I look at the ground and carefully tiptoe through the gaps in the fungal patches swallowing the floor. Once I’m close enough, I look inside the room the window is attached to and shine my light around. It appears to be a security office judging by the numerous computers and screens throughout the room. In the corner is the body of an infected security guard practically glued to the wall by more fungus. There isn’t much of them left, just barely enough to tell the patchy growth in the corner was once a pony. That, as well as the very much noticeable employee badge protruding from the fungal mass.

Great. The first badge I come across is embedded inside a disgusting, still active growth of fungi. This is a problem for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I absolutely do not want to pry anything free from a mass of Fairy Wings if I can help it even with my magic. Secondly, who knows how many infected are lurking around back here that I could alert just by touching it. It would be a different story if this mass was all dried up, withered and inactive. I’d have no issues and qualms touching it then. I mean, it would still be very, very gross and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time… but still. Ew.

I carefully back away from the window and look for the door. As if my luck wasn't bad enough right now, the door to the security room is also overgrown with fungus. I can make out the figure of another pony in the midst of it. It's faint but I can see its chest rising and falling. The one inside the security room might be a mere corpse, but I've seen enough zombies to know a stalker when I see one. If I want to go into the room, I'm going to have to deal with it. If I want to go by, I have to deal with it. Luckily, I have the advantage to get the jump on the stalker since it hasn't detected me yet.

It's best if I handle this as relatively quietly as possible, although disturbing it might run the risk of disturbing others in the area. I suppose I’ve got good enough aim and quick enough reflexes. I know they can’t come from behind me since I’ve been down that way, so… fuck it. As quietly as I can, I take out my kukri knife and use my magic to stab it deep into the stalker’s head. It breaks partly loose and cries out the moment the blade pierces its skin, then slumps over dead when I remove my knife. Black blood stains my knife, which I clean by using my magic to remove the offending fluid.

Off in the distance, I hear the cries of other infected. Trotters mostly, by the sound of it. Maybe some clickers. Their cries don’t last long enough for me to be able to determine how many, however. I’m not scared or worried about a few walking bags of rotting flesh. I take in a deep breath and exhale it sharply as I make my way cautiously down the hall, keeping my knife readied for combat just in case. A disgusting amount of fungus covers the wall in different patches and sizes as I look around with my light.

I wish I knew who let this shit get out hoof. I have a few choice words and a couple of bullets to give them. As I turn the corner, my light shines down the hall and brightly illuminates an infected pony standing with their back to me and their head stooped low to the ground. I can’t tell what gender this pony is or what color their flesh used to be, just that their hair is black and their skin is pale, veiny and covered in fungal sprouts. What’s left of it, anyways. It’s lack of reaction to my light tells me this is a clicker. A trotter would’ve immediately whipped around and gone in for the attack. I guess this clicker is getting the stalker treatment.

I take a step forward and the clicker shrieks as it whips it head up. Immediately, I grab my knife with my hoof and cease my magic. It 'looks' over its shoulder in my direction and I freeze as it uses its echolocation. Its head is completely covered in fungal plates, rendering it totally blind. As long as I don't move, I will blend in with the wall to its echolocation. Had my magic still been holding my knife, it would have been aware of my presence because of how it flickers and moves.

The clicker staggers and stumbles as it lurches forward before turning itself around to face my direction. Its head and neck jerks, twitches and turns in an unnatural manner as it staggers forward as if it were completely shitfaced. It continues to make that blood chilling and dreadfully guttural clicking noise for which it’s named as it stumblers closer to me. It comes to a stop about a foot away from me and I’m thankful that I’m wearing a mask so I don’t have to smell that absolutely putrid scent the fungus makes.

I glance down without moving my head to look for something to distract it and make it go in the opposite direction. I try not to flinch as the clicker shrieks loudly at the sound of something smacking the floor behind it. As it quickly turns back around and hurriedly shambles towards the noise, I hear a rat squeak in absolute terror as it tries to scurry to safety. The clicker catches the rat, sinking its rotten teeth into the unlucky rodent’s flesh. It squeals in pain and wriggles in a desperate attempt to escape before succumbing to its fate.

As the clicker feasts on the unlucky rat near the corner of the hall, I take the opportunity to sneak forward and ready my knife to strike at the right moment. I stick close to the wall and follow it to the corner, then ambush the clicker from behind. I tackle it to the ground and- using my magic- plunge my knife into its head as deeply as I can manage. It flails, shrieks loudly and then tries to nip at me as I remove the knife and then stab it again. The second stab finishes it off and soon the flailing, shrieking and attempts to nip me cease.

I breathe a heavy sigh of relief as I remove my knife and climb off its corpse. I kick its corpse to the side and continue on my way. I approach a set of double doors that look to be made of some kind of black, smooth plastic-like material and then pause. As a precaution, I momentarily turn off my light as I half way open one of the doors and stick my head through. I focus my hearing as best I can and listen carefully for anything that might be lurking beyond them. I hear the tell-tale sobs and moans that accompany the presence of trotters. Somewhere not too far away, I hear a clicker cry out briefly before falling silent again. A second clicker cries out as well, seemingly in reply to the first.

I pull my head back in and quietly close the door. I turn my flashlight back on and fiddle with the switch to turn the low beam on rather than the high beam I had been using previously. That way, I can still see and the chance of the trotters spotting the light lessens greatly. Stalkers are really the only infected that- for a lack of better words- have an awareness and intelligence to pay attention to their surroundings and use it to their advantage. The rest of them? Not so much, especially since they lose their eyesight as the infection worsens.

I mentally ready myself as I remove the clicker’s fluid from my knife. I gently push through the doors and guide it close with my hoof. When I turn around, I crouch low to the ground and ease forward. Judging by my dimly lit surroundings, I appear to be in the mall's warehouse area. Although dark, I can tell it's a wide room with a maze of ceiling high shelves chock full of boxes. Pallets of plastic wrapped products are littered throughout the area, some of which are still sitting on forklifts. I'm sure it was just an ordinary day for these workers when all hell broke loose that fateful day.

I don't see any spores or patches of fungal growth around anywhere, so maybe it's safe to take off my mask for now. I remove my mask, clip it the side of my bag for easy access and then hold my knife firmly between my teeth. As I make my way through the maze of shelves, I notice a trotter up ahead with its left side facing me. The infected mare is sitting on her haunches, holding her head in her hooves and breathing heavily in between groans and sobs. What's left of her pink and orange tail twitches across the floor while the remainder of her mane is curled and bounces as she sobs. The mare's light yellow coat is muddled with bulging, blackened veins and patches of reddened skin where the fungus is growing underneath. The worst of it is on her left shoulder just below her neck where a large bite mark shows how she came to be infected. Her cutiemark depicts a pink and green butterfly resting on an orange yo-yo.

They're monsters now, but each and every one of these zombies used to be ponies. They used to be friends, loved ones, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and everything in between. It's easy to go on a slaughtering spree, especially when it's your life versus theirs, but sometimes it's hard not to feel guilty sometimes when you lay awake at night. Way I see it, though, who these individuals used to be died when they turned and lost their sense of reasoning, leaving them nothing more than reanimated husks. It's best to not second guess yourself when they're trying to maul you to pieces, lest you wind up like them. I don't know what it says about me, but I've never thought twice about killing them, even in the beginning.

I duck behind a pallet of unopened boxes labeled 'Midnight Sun Apparel' and peek around the corner. If I could sneak around behind it, I could take it down nice and quiet like. Trotters are easy enough to take down, especially when alone. They've not yet grown any fungal plates, so a bullet to the brain, a knife to the throat or suffocating them via choking them out work well enough to get rid of them. It's really just a matter of the circumstances in which you encounter them and your personal preference. I look behind me and notice the bottom shelf is empty and tall enough that I could easily crawl through if I wanted. An idea pops into my head, one I'm hoping will work in order to allow me to continue onwards in near perfect stealth.

I turn around quietly and ease myself through the shelf. My belly grazes the cold metal as I come out the other side. I practically crawl down the aisle to the next shelf and crawl back through until I'm only a couple of feet away from the trotter. I freeze as the trotter drops her forelegs and stoops her head towards the ground. A few beats of relative silence goes by before I continue with my plan of action. Now that it's left its neck vulnerable, I tweak the plan ever so slightly. In one swift movement, I come up on top of the mare and put her into a tight chokehold. She gasps and growls as I tighten my grip more and more until she falls silent. I lower her corpse to the ground and continue to move silently through the warehouse.

I come across a second trotter- a stallion- a few moments later, this time facing me directly but huddled in a similar position to the first. There are no pallets to hide behind this time, however, and the shelves around us are too full of boxes and other shit for me to pull the same trick twice. I wanted to do this as quietly as possible, but if I make this quick, perhaps it won’t create as much noise. I remove my knife from my mouth using my magic and lunge it into the trotter’s skull. The trotter growls loudly as the blade slices through its flesh and pierces its skull. I dig the blade around and mutilate its brain before yanking the knife free. The trotter groans as it collapses to the floor dead, leaving me free to be on my way.

After what feels like an eternity of quickly but cautiously wandering around the warehouse, I get rid of four more trotters and a clicker before finding where they keep the generators that power the mall. The door is left wide open, allowing me to slip in with ease. The room smells like a mix of gasoline and burnt wires, almost nauseatingly so. A complicated nest of various electronics and generators fills the medium sized room floor-to-ceiling. Had I been an electrician, I would know what these things did or how they worked. No-so-sadly, I'm left clueless as I look for a way to turn on the power. In the back of the room, I find the emergency standby generators. Were it not for the labels at the tops of them, I wouldn't know what they are either.

Sitting on the ground in front of them is a large gasoline can, the source of the- I'm hoping- of the awful gas smell. Hopefully it's not gone bad sitting here for Celestia knows how long, assuming there's anything it. The strong odor is starting to make me feel a bit dizzy, prompting me to put my gas mask back on so I can breathe easy. As I examine the generators and wonder how to turn them on, I accidentally knock the gas can over and end up finding a note taped to it. I remove the note and hold it where I can read it;

'To-Do List:

Siphon gas from one of these fucking cars
Fuel the fucking generators
Turn on the power. Find a damn battery or something and a set of jumper cables and jump start the generators somehow (Jungle Bloom couldn't get them to start)
Clear warehouse of infected
Clear rest of mall of infected
Turn mall into our main base of operations
Storm the Canterlot QZ, kill off MEDRA and take over Zone per Moonbows' orders'

Flipping the to-do list over reveals a second note on the back. I assume it was left here by whoever brought the gas can to the generators;

'Moonbow wants this generator fixed by Friday. Get it done. Worried you'll get bit by a trotter? Bring a friend, bring a gun or whatever floats your boat. What Moonbow will do to you is a thousand times worse than anything an infected will do. I don't care how you fix it or how you get it to start. Just do it. Before Friday. Or else. Oh, the siphon hoses are inside the gas can. Don't know how to siphon gas? Tough shit, figure it out. Try not to swallow any gas, fucktards.

-Jade'

What lovely individuals these Jade and Moonbow ponies must be. There's no doubt in my mind these ponies are the same ones who've set up in the area and made all those blockades. They still don't sound like- for a lack of better words- 'traditional' Hunters. I wonder what they're deal is? Why do they want to take over the QZ? What could they possibly gain from it? Well, I could think of a few gains, but that's besides the point. I almost hate to help them out by turning on the power, but... whatever happens to the QZ isn't my problem. We won't be going back to it, but… as much as I hate it there and hate MEDRA, there are quite a few innocent individuals within the walls I wouldn't want to see killed or injured. Maybe when we see Ocean again, she'll do me a solid and warn some of them. Never in a million years did I think I'd ever say that. Fuck.

Looks like I'll just need to find some gas. I think I might have a way to jumpstart the generators, providing I don't accidentally electrocute myself in the process. There's a forklift just outside the room, maybe it has some left in it. I exit the power room with the gas jug in hoof and quickly find the forklift. I search it over and find the gas tank, then remove the cap and set it aside. I open the lid to the gas jug and remove the contents stuffed inside. There are two clear hoses of different lengths and two rags. I take the longer hose and insert it deep into the tank. To make sure there really is gas, I blow some air into the tube. I hear liquid bubbling, which tells me I've struck oil. So to speak.

I insert the shorter tube just inside the tank and create an airtight seal with the rags. After placing the longer tube into the gas jug, I blow into the shorter tube until I see gasoline rising up the tube and down into the jug. I keep blowing a few seconds longer and then stop to let gravity do the rest of the work. Gas splatters into the jug, creating a bit of noise. While the gas fills up the container, I look around for something made of rubber as a precaution for when I attempt to jumpstart the generators. I find a couple of old tires in the corner of the room and bring them with me back to the forklift.

When I get back, I see the siphon has sucked all the gas it’s going to get out of the tank. I remove the rags and tubes before tossing them to the side. I place the lid back onto the gas can and return to the standby generators. I pour the fuel into the designated- and helpfully labeled- area for the generators before placing the tires on the floor. I try to start them, but just like ‘Jungle Bloom’, I can’t get them to start. It sputters and chokes before falling silent. I take in a deep breath and sigh heavily as I take a step back and stand on the tires, then pray I don’t accidentally electrocute or blow myself up as I pull out the taser pistol Dove gave me.

“Please work,” I whisper to myself as I point the pistol at the generators.

Using my magic to do both, I try to start the generator again at the same time I fire the pistol. The taser pistol is extremely quiet and makes a faint thwunk sound when fired. As Dove had said, the taser bullet unfolds as it flies out and then sinks its fangs into the generator. It makes an electrical crackle noise that tells me I should prepare to be disappointed, however, after a few moments the generators hum to life. In a series of clicks and other mechanical noises, everything in the room hums to life as well.

I breathe a sigh of relief as the lights flicker on above me. Beyond the power room, I hear the lights click on in stages and the alerted screeches of nearby infected who I’ve rudely awakened. I hop off the tires, holster my taser pistol and pull out my revolver as I exit the room. I teleport myself to the warehouse entrance, double check that my mask is securely on my face and then push through the doors. I turn off my flashlight as I canter down the hall back to the security room. I've cleared out the majority of the infected that posed the greatest threat to me, so I should be fine to clear the fungus blocking the security door as long as I work quickly. Not that I planned on taking my sweet time or anything. Using my magic, I rip chunks and pieces of fungal flesh off the door until it's free enough that I can open the door. Zombies make awful chorus of noises as I disturb the fungal mass. Although I half expect the door to be locked, it swings inward when I turn the handle and give it a little push.

I go over to the security badge in the corner and cut it free with my knife before pulling off the remaining fungus with my magic. I put away my knife but keep my revolver out. To save on time, I teleport myself back to the double doors keeping me trapped and swipe the badge across the card reader. It beeps and turns green while the doors click loudly, signaling that they're unlocked. I push through the heavy doors and come out into a hall lined with store outlets and those booths that sell various overpriced knick knacks or offer weird, oddly specific services. The doors close behind me with a heavy thump as I look to my right and see the wall of rubble down at the end of the hall that separated me from my companions. Well, not anymore. Now I just have to find Sapphire and Zephyr, which is probably easier said than done.

"Sapphire? Zephyr?" I call out as loudly as I can manage.

The only thing that calls back is the alerted shrieks of infected somewhere down at the end of the hall. Although I've turned on the power, only a third of the lights everywhere I can see are working, making the hallway somewhat dark still. Well, it's better than nothing, I suppose. I canter down to the end of the hall until I reach where the mall splits off into three other hallways full of shopping outlets. In the middle here where all the halls meet is a large carousel slowly spinning. Chariots pulled by elegant, cream colored alicorns with long, red flowing manes and unicorns in fancy outfits bob up and down slowly as the carousel plays a nostalgic, soothing melody. There's an odd noise, however, just behind the song, like a clock ticking. It's just barely audible but really hard to ignore once you tune into it.

There are a lot of words that could describe the state of the carousel, but I think creepy might take the cake as there are three trotters impaled on different fancy unicorns and a clicker impaled on one of the alicorns. They are all- for a lack of better words- still alive, but when I say impaled, I mean whoever did this shoved them all the way down through their chest and stomachs to the point where they're quite literally stuck. I'm a little surprised they're still alive, but judging by the pools of blackened blood beneath them, they probably won't be for too much longer. Then again, these zombies don't exactly obey the normal laws of life and death. They hiss, growl, screech and make an assortment of noises as they spin around and bob along. It's creepy as fuck but also quite hilarious, especially when they try to get me but can't go anywhere. Whoever did it probably didn't know the power was going to be restored, so the fact this has happened makes the serious nature of my current situation a little more humorous.

I leave the infected to their fun as I trot around the carousel and look around for signs of Sapphire or Zephyr. I hear snarling and panicked sobs faintly from down the rightmost hall. I gallop down the hall towards the sounds until I find the source of them. I skid to a stop outside an musical instrument outlet store and see a trio of clickers and a trotter grouped together. The ugly fuckers are trying to get to at something up on the ceiling. I let out a sharp, ear piercing whistle that catches their attention. The trotter bolts towards me, but before he can exit the store, a bullet square to the brain stops him short.

The trotter collapses to the ground and the clickers canter towards me while letting out rapid clicks and shrieks. They trample the corpse of their fallen fungal brother as I take aim and fire away at their ugly, rotten faces. Because their heads are protected by hardened fungal plates, I exhaust the entire chamber putting them down. I quickly reload as I canter into the music store.

"Honey!" Zephyr exclaims, her voice trembling and full of panic and fear.

At first, I don't see her, but then I notice something pink hanging from the ceiling. I look up to see Zephyr hanging onto a light fixture for dear life, her body trembling and tears pouring down her face. I look around to make sure there are no other zombies lurking around before using my magic to bring her down to safety. She sobs as she rushes over and flings herself onto me. Zephyr buries her face in my neck and clings tightly to me. I can feel her trembling as I stand there frozen and unsure of what to do or say. Her actions and behavior are a bit unexpected. Although somewhat awkward, my motherly instincts kick in at seeing her in such a state and mostly override the awkwardness.

"What were you doing up there?" I ask as I awkwardly pat her shoulder.

"S-Sapphire and I split up b-but they chased me t-too and I-I-I panicked! I've never seen them up close! I've never fought one, s-so I panicked!" Zephyr replies, all in a single breath.

"And you tried to keep away from them on the ceiling? At least you were out reach," I say with a sigh.

"I'm scared!" Zephyr sobs.

"Don't be, I'm here now. I won't let them hurt you, Zephyr," I say reassuringly "are you injured any?"

"No, just scared," Zephyr says with a sniffle.

"Take some deep breaths and calm down. Everything is okay now," I say as I hug her tightly "we need to find Sapphire and get the fuck out of here."

"Okay," Zephyr says softly.

I listen to her inhale deeply and feel her warm breath in my neck as she exhales. I guess if I had spent my life during an apocalypse having never once seen or dealt with a zombie, I would probably panic and be scared too during a first encounter. Close to being an adult but still a child, I guess I can't fault her for it. I sigh as I gently push her off of me and step away. Zephyr sniffles as she wipes her tears away with the back of her hoof.

"The infected can be pretty terrifying and while you should never let your guard down around one, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret," I say as I look back at the dead trotter "they're extremely predictable. Once you realize that, they're not so scary anymore."

"When you've seen one, you've seen them all. Kill one and the rest go down just as easy," I add as I look back at Zephyr.

"A whole bunch of them came out of nowhere. It was like they just… poured out of the walls or something. We ran away as fast as we could," Zephyr says with a shaky sigh.

"What happened at the carousel?" I ask.

"Sapphire asked me to do something with my magic, so I tried to do like you did with the soldiers, but I could only pick up four of them," Zephyr explains.

"Then she drew the attention of the rest and told you to run the other way?" I guess.

"Mmhm. Most of them followed her, but those four broke away from the others and came after me instead," Zephyr confirms.

"Then you sought shelter on a light fixture?" I ask, looking up at the ceiling where I found her.

"Yeah. Though, when the lights came on, the bulb exploded on the first light and I flinched so hard that it came right out of the ceiling. I started to fall and the zombies were right under me, so I teleported to the one you found me on," Zephyr explains.

"And then you showed up and rescued me. Thank you, Honey," Zephyr adds with a thankful smile.

"Of course. I might not be your biggest fan, but I'm not going to let you die like that," I say with a nod of acknowledgement.

"When I die, I want it to be by my own hooves or on my own terms," Zephyr says confidently.

"For once, I can agree with you on something. Now, let's go find Sapphire," I say as I turn to face the exit.

"Lead the way, captain," Zephyr says with a chuckle.

"Do you know where she went?" I ask.

"Roughly. I don't imagine she's left the building," Zephyr replies "from the carousel in the direction we came from, she went to the left."

"So straight relative to where we are now, then," I say as I trot out of the music store.

"Er, yeah," Zephyr says with an embarrassed chuckle.

I roll my eyes and lightly shake my head as I quicken my pace down the hall. Zephyr follows closely behind me and switches to the right side of me as we pass the carousel. The zombies start up their cacophony of growls and shrieks as we pass by, which I promptly ignore. Zephyr and I take turns calling out for Sapphire as we head down where Zephyr said she had gone. As we get halfway down the hall, a big group of trotters- about twelve- come galloping full speed in our direction from a store down at the very end.

"You've only got a knife, don't you?" I ask as I ready my gun.

"Unfortunately. I don't know how to use a gun," Zephyr replies.

"Get behind me, then," I say with a sigh.

Zephyr quickly ducks behind me as I lower my head and begin casting the firework spell again. I let it build in intensity as they come closer and closer. My horn glows brightly and hotly as I let it grow. When I let it go, it whistles loudly and explodes with an even louder crackle. The trotters shriek and groan as they freak out. Those directly hit by the explosion are now on fire and desperately trying to attack the flames hurting them. As those trotters drop the ground after a few seconds writhing in pain, the rest continue to come after us. There's seven left now, enough for me to deal with bullets. I put down four of them but the last two in the chamber completely miss their intended targets.

As I reload, turquoise magic envelopes their legs and suddenly the trotters seem to forget how to use their legs. They stagger and stumble over each other before tumbling to the ground. They make numerous attempts to stand, all of which fail. Zephyr groans as she trots out from behind me and pulls out her knife. She gets a little closer and stabs them all repeatedly in the head until they quit moving.

"Note to self, numbing spell hurts if used on too many limbs at once," Zephyr mumbles to herself.

"Not bad, kid. Sometimes you've got to get a little creative when they're in large numbers like that," I say as I trot forward "but don't get carried away or get too elaborate. It's easy to get overwhelmed."

"Creativity is good in a pinch, but basics are usually best. Duly noted," Zephyr says with a nod.

We continue on down the hall and call out for Sapphire. Worry starts to grow in my heart when we don't hear her call back. We get to the end and split up to check the last two stores. The store I enter is full of old, worthless knick knacks covered in a couple decades' worth of dust. The lights hum and flicker every so often as I look around. As I step around a shelf, I nearly step on the body of a deceased clicker. I grimace at the corpse as I step around it. I come across a second corpse, then a third, then a fourth and fifth, a sixth and then a seventh.

A rouge souvenir magnet smacks me in the forehead as I stare at the last body and ponder how so many died in such close proximity. I look down and see its dumb drunk flamingo face looking back up at me. I rub my forehead as I look for the source that threw it. To my surprise, I see Sapphire standing in a doorway holding some kind of thick cord between her teeth. Her gun is on the ground in front of her and to her right- my left- is a rack of magnets.

"What in the hell are you doing?" I question.

She frowns and narrows her eyebrows at me. She gestures to the cord, then makes a hush gesture before pulling something out of her shirt pocket and tossing it at me. I catch it but nearly drop it. I turn it over in my hoof and see that it's a digital voice recorder. Sapphire gestures me to play it, so I do;

"This is Caramel Dream of the… I guess we're calling ourselves the Anti-MEDRA Official Rebellion, aka AMOR. They seriously think they can just come here and set up fascist labor slave camps under the guise of a "quarantine zone" for our "protection". Yeah, right. To protect themselves and use us to do all the shit they don't want to do while they act like they're their fucking Princesses. Well, guess what? AMOR isn't going to let that fucking happen. I'm not going to let that happen.

We heard they were going to try to use the mall as their base of operations, so guess what we did? That's right. We rigged it to blow so they can't use it and hopefully in the process we'll put a huge dent in their numbers so we can reclaim our fucking town. The whole mall is rigged. The last two stores of every hall are filled with hidden explosives. Even better, if one store were to go off, we've managed to get it rigged so that the rest go off too.

There were two issues with that plan, though. Even if all six stores were to blow, the damage would only extend three stores down. That's all well and good, but it wouldn't kill all of them. To fix that, we rigged the carousel to blow when they blow. Big explosives, powerful. Definitely illegal, not that that matters now. I'm tempted to ask how they got this stuff, but it's not my pasture, not my bull. Second problem was in order to get them to actually blow while MEDRA is here and doom themselves was by hooking the whole thing to the power, so it's both timed and not timed… I guess?

I'm not an expert in explosives or demolition, so I'm not sure how exactly that works but that's what they told me. Er, actually, I'm not sure if that's actually what they said… I kind of wasn't listening. I tune Cinder out the minute she opens her mouth. She talks too much and I only understand a fraction of whatever comes out. If the power comes on, this bitch is gonna blow after a while unless they trigger one of the rigged points first. Hopefully. We can't really test it because, well, you know… but they know what they're doing I suppose. It was all very technical and smart sounding, so what could go wrong?

Hopefully MEDRA comes through soon and we can watch them fry. I better ask Sky if we have any popcorn in the ration room.

*crash* *bang* *clatter*

What the fuck was that? Who's there?

*Shriek*

OH FU-"

The recording abruptly stops. I think back to when I first came across the carousel. That noise hiding behind the carousel's melody must have been the timer on the explosives rigged to it. I didn't see anything that looked dangerous besides the impaled zombies, but… it all must be inside it. Maybe underneath? I look up at Sapphire and the cord she's holding between her teeth. If she lets go or we stand here too long trying to figure something out, we're going to die horrifically. I teleport Zephyr to me, who squeals in surprise after cantering into the door beside Sapphire. She must have been on her way to me when I did that. Oops.

"What the hell?" Zephyr whines as she rubs her nose.

"Apparently this mall is rigged to blow and is tied to the power. So, since I turned the power on, if we take too long to get the fuck out or Sapphire lets go, we're going to die," I explain quickly.

Zephyr's expression changes from annoyed to confused to shocked as she listens to me. She looks over and widens her look of shock when she sees Sapphire.

"What are we going to do??" Zephyr asks in complete panic.

"First of all, don't piss yourself, so calm down. Secondly, you're going to stay right here with Sapphire while I take care of getting us out of here without dying," I say as I roll my eyes "pick up her gun and hold onto it for her."

Zephyr uses her magic to pick it up and then looks at me expectantly.

"Just so you know what to expect, I'm going to leave you both here in the mall. Don't fucking panic, Zephyr. I see that look in your eye," I say with an annoyed sigh "I'm gonna get a safe distance away and then teleport you both to me."

Zephyr's look of protest changes back to an annoyed one as I explain myself. Another magnet smacks me in the forehead which elicits a growl from me as I whip my head to scowl at Sapphire. She mimes something to me, but I have absolutely no clue what she's trying to convey. Whatever it is, it's probably a threat.

"You have a better idea?" I ask her.

She very lightly shakes her head and I give her a look that hopefully conveys 'that's what I thought' to her. Sapphire rolls her eyes at me as I take a few steps away. I turn around and look over my shoulder.

"Don't let go of that. I'll be back," I say.

Sapphire facehoofs as I look away and canter out of the store and down the hall to the exit. The automatic doors whoosh open as I approach, allowing me to quickly exit the mall. I look around briefly and then gallop as fast as I can. I have no idea how big exactly the members of AMOR intended for the explosion to be, so I'm going to have to hope I can get us far enough away. As I gallop through the other parking lot, a couple of trotters crawl out from under abandoned vehicles and chase after me.

I use my magic to grab their legs and trip them up, causing them both to tumble to the ground. I skid to a halt and quickly dispose of them before continuing on my way. I keep going until the mall can be hardly seen between the rain and the distance. I take in a deep breath and slowly let it out as my horn begins to glow. A few seconds later, Sapphire and Zephyr appear alongside me. Sapphire opens her mouth to say something, but before she can, the ground rumbles and shakes as flames shoot up into the sky. Fiery debris rains down from the sky as we watch on in awe.

The sight of the debris and the explosion together bring back some horrible memories that make my heart race and silently panic. I mentally fight the panic as best I can. The last thing we need- that I need- is for me crumble and break down into a useless mess of sobs and fear. I try to focus on the rain, making mental notations of nearly every drop that touches me. In the distance, nearly all around us, every infected individual disrupted by the explosions shrieks. I'd bet a fair amount of ration cards that the mall exploding into bits and pieces was heard in the Zone too. Not that MEDRA would likely investigate, but still. The ground rumbles even more as slowly- but surely- the mall collapses and takes the surrounding area down with it. The radius of the collapse extends pretty far, but luckily not all the way to where we stand.

"They say cool mares don't look at explosions, but we're not cool," Sapphire says with a big grin "we're badass as fuck."

"Amen!" Zephyr agrees with a giggle.

Sapphire trots over to me and smacks me appreciatively on the shoulder. I lightly shake my head and look at her. I'm glad that whole ordeal is over with, but it's too early to celebrate. This is just the beginning. I'm sure more shit will go down later that will make this seem like a day at the park. That's just how things seem to go for me. Er, I mean us.

"There's just one thing I can't quite piece together, Sapphire," I say as I raise an eyebrow.

"What's that?" Sapphire questions.

"How exactly did you take out all those clickers with that cord in your mouth? It was impressive, whatever you did," I answer.

"My hair. I looped a lock around the trigger, aimed carefully and blam! Took those fuckers out," Sapphire says with a prideful chuckle.

"Badass in hindsight, but terrifying in the moment," She adds.

"Alright, then. We'd better get going before anypony comes looking to see what just blew up," I say.

Sapphire reclaims her pistol from Zephyr and reloads it before taking point once more. When this is all over with and we get our little community elsewhere started or whatever it is we end up doing, I think I'm going to retire for good. No more missions, jobs, spelunking or anything of the sorts. Just stay inside and drink the remainder of my days away until I heave my final breath.