Overture - A Fallout: Equestria Story

Chapter Nine: Tourist Trap

"Lately I have been frequenting bad houses, places no respectable mare would be seen."

"I'm telling you now, that's a terrible idea." Mercy nickered, voice lilting as her hooves clopped on the ground.

"Noted." MD snorted, continuing to mix the liquids anyway, sloshing in her aura as she trotted.

"I mean it, as a medical professional what you're doing is incredibly dangerous." Mercy continued.

"Noted." MD repeated, swirling the flask, mixing the fluids together into something new. I wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but at this point I was far too tired to care.

"Fine, don't listen, but don't expect me to-"

"Noted."

Things had been tense since we'd got out of Dodge. It had been a long, unpleasant slog north to Ponyville, over hills and under heavy atmosphere. We had been trotting for hours now. We were all ill, and my hooves throbbed, aching and sore. MD had stopped to dry heave a couple of times, and my stomach was killing me. Mercy seemed to be the least effected of us, but I knew she'd taken just as much radiation on as me and MD, she must have been feeling it some way.

Truth be told, I was grateful to have the not-quite argument as a distraction. Walking in silence had left me alone with my thoughts, and after the things I'd seen and done the last few days, they were far from pleasant.

It was getting to be dark now as we followed the roadsigns, fueled only by Sparkle Cola and an impending sense of doom. Walking around at night was scary enough before the apocalypse, but now? I was watching every shadow, every corner, any sign of movement. Call me paranoid, but after the 'Fibanda' incident I was in no hurry to find out what else lurked the wasteland after sunset.

Our pace had been grueling, I was struggling to keep up. I don't know how long we'd been on the move for or how far we'd travelled, but I did know that time wasn't stopping for us and if we wanted any chance of paying off MD's debt and getting these collars removed, we couldn't afford to stop moving.

I was starving. I didn't have the luxury of being able to eat on the move, and our unforgiving pace meant I hadn't been able to eat since dinner yesterday. Or was it two days ago now? I was so tired it was hard to work out what was when. Hunger pangs joined the choir of aches and pains.

There was one positive, though. MD's geiger counter had stopped going off once we'd left Dodge's City limits. It had been clicking for almost two straight days. Two days. I don't think I'll ever take quiet for granted again.

"Guh." MD groaned, grimacing after taking a large swig of the concoction she'd created. She shook her head and floated the bottle over to me. "Here."

"What is it?" I asked, staring at it doubtfully, now noticing the gentle glow radiating from the open cap.

"Mostly cold coffee I mixed with Cateye and Med-X. And a little rum to take the edge off. Maybe more than a little rum."

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Mercy chimed in. "Mixing chems is dangerous."

"What's this even for?"

"To feel less like shit and so we can see where we're going better than me blasting light everywhere."

As the sky drew darker the wooded verges certainly felt like they were closing in, shadow blanketing the path ahead. I'd heard of CatEye before from some friends on the night shift at the farms back home but had never actually used it myself, I'd never had a need to.

I was swaying on my hooves, my body was telling me to stop and rest, I was starving and my mouth was bone dry. Realistically I knew I should listen to Mercy, but I was also too fatigued to give anything much though. Coffee, even cold coffee, sounded like a gift from heaven right about now. I was very much running on fumes, I needed something. Surely just a drink couldn't hurt too much? I stopped for the first time in what was probably hours and grabbed the flask out of MD's magical grip. The liquid smelled funky, for lack of a better word. Coffee and warm spice, but with a decidedly medicinal overtone. I noticed that the others hadn't stopped to wait for me so I hurriedly chugged a few gulps of the mixture down.

I would have coughed it back up if my throat wasn't so dry, it was swill, tasting a strange mixture of earthy and chemicals, chased by the distinctly sharp, tropical burn of good spiced rum that I internally lamented being wasted. I wasn't expecting it to be as strong as it was. I swallowed down what I could and spluttered, spitting to get the taste out of my mouth. "Celestia, that's vile." I exclaimed to nopony in particular. Pocketing the flask so I could walk again I cantered to catch MD and Mercy up. "A little rum? That's like a Navy ration!" I whinnied as both MD and Mercy grumbled to themselves.

Most of the hike had been like this, we'd barely said a word to oneanother. It was getting to be a bit painful to be honest. I know nopony had particular cause to be happy-go-lucky at the moment, but would it kill them to just at least be cordial? Mercy flat out didn't want to hear anything I'd had to say and MD seemed too focused to care about anything.

The unicorn pulled her flask back off me wordlessly. I sighed.

The effect wasn't instantaneous, not like whatever MD had given me during the firefight on the bridge, but gradually everything started to seem brighter, almost a higher contrast, and certainly much more blue. There was a warmth in my stomach that wasn't there before, and I could see my surroundings much clearer despite the darkness. I could read signs in the distance that I couldn't even see a couple of minutes ago. Hells, I could see through the treeline better than I could in daylight! Birds nestled in overhanging branches, glowsprites danced in the underbrush, suddenly ten times brighter than before.

"Woah." I breathed, looking every which way. I'm sure the novelty would wear off soon but for now it was at least interesting.

"Kicked in, Spooky?" MD snorted. "You can take the lead, I'll follow up the rear."

"The lead? You want me up front?" I asked, surprised. I wasn't cut out to be a team leader. I didn't even know what way we were going for Celestia's sake!

"You got two working eyes, better to see what's ahead." MD explained. "And if Mercy isn't gonna join in that leaves you as the best lookout."

"I would have happily just taken the CatEye if you hadn't mixed it in with other chems!" Mercy brayed. "But you didn't ask."

"Just killing two birds with one stone is all." MD rolled her eyes.

"Carry on like that and you'll kill yourselves." Mercy retorted.

"Sure." MD sighed. "So you taking point or what Silver?"

Taking point. I was a big girl, I could do this, I was just being silly. All I'd need to do was keep lookout and follow the road. Realistically how different could being a little in front of MD be from being a little behind MD?

"Something up ahead." I whispered, slowing my pace.

"Celestia fucking dammit Silver, we can't afford to stop every time you see a dog or something!" MD groaned.

Perhaps I had been too cautious, but given the things I'd seen out in the wasteland I was more than happy to play it safe. But this was different, this wasn't the far-off glint in the eyes of a wild animal, this was something deliberate and unnatural.

The trees had given way to sickly brush land. There was a light, a fire, flickering behind the bushes in the distance. It just barely illuminated the base of a big Ministry Of Peace billboard that stood above the canopy, but it did light it up just enough for me to see a pony stood on the catwalk in front of it, almost totally hidden by shadow. I couldn't see well enough to work out exactly who I was looking at, but I could guess whoever they were they hadn't spotted us yet.

"There's somepony on that billboard." I said, pointing to the sign.

"Uh, yeah, that's Fluttershy, she's on lots of billboards." MD snorted, squinting.

"In front of the billboard you jackass!" I retorted. "Uh, no offence Mercy." Mercy frowned at me but remained silent.

We came to standstill as both me and MD stared, trying to make out anything we could. I could have really done with a pair of binoculars or something.

"I can't really see much of anything. We're too far away for my EFS to pick them up." MD sighed, taking a few steps forward. "Shit, that could be anypony."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

No sooner had I opened my mouth our mysterious friend leapt from the platform edge, spreading a pair of wings and gliding towards us for a second before shooting directly upwards, disappearing into the clouds.

"A pegasus, great." MD huffed. "Guess we're watching the sky now too."

"Do you think they saw us?" I asked nervously, half poised to ready my gun.

"I doubt it. I hope not, anyway."

A chilly breeze blew down our backs, causing me to shiver. Dead leaves and detritus gently sailed past us. MD kept her gaze fixed upwards.

"Whoever it was, let's hope they're friendly." Mercy chimed in. I doubted if she'd even seen the pony in question, but I definitely shared the sentiment.

The sky was getting a shade lighter by the time we saw the clock tower. Cresting over a hill, the spire protruded from the ground defiantly. Time had not been kind to it, the dials I could see were handless and darkened, the roof had partially caved in and the whole structure looked to have been on fire at some point. But still it stood.

Behind it stood the ruins of Ponyville. A far cry from Dodge Junction or even Baltimare, the town had been absolutely decimated. Nearly every building I could see from here had been burned or had collapsed or some combination of the two. Some specks of light still shone from the remains, but I had been advised to expect nothing pleasant from the ponies that still inhabited this wreck of a settlement. Old farmhouses and desolate fields surrounded Ponyville for miles, but least the town itself looked a hell of a lot smaller than Dodge Junction did, hopefully that would make things easier. Rolling hills served as a backdrop, and beyond that I could even make out the base of the Canterhorn mountain, though Canterlot itself was obscured by... something. I couldn't quite make it out from here.

I knew that Ponyville used to be home to the Elements Of Harmony and all the ministry mares, but that was before my time, way before the war and all if this. I didn't know much about the town in the intervening years, but time had obviously not been kind. And if what Mercy had mentioned was anything to go by, it was not a good place to be anymore.

Even still, I was a little bit relieved to be here. I was dead on my hooves, I think we all were really. The cold wind and our constant movement were the only things keeping me awake at this point. Being here meant we were one step closer to not being here, and not being here meant rest. I was longing for the embrace of the trashed, threadbare old matress in my room at MD's place. It wasn't all that long ago you wouldn't have gotten me to touch it with a barge pole, but times change.

"Welcome to Ponyville." MD announced, unenthused. "Let's just find what we need and get out."

"'Get out' being operative phrase." Mercy agreed. "You wanted to be here, I just hope you know what you're doing."

I scanned the path ahead, the CatEye was wearing off and I couldn't see as far well as earlier, but with night falling away it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Maybe subconsciously we'd drifted back into our usual formation.

I understood that whereas we'd be heading back after we found the cello, Mercy would be carrying on through the other side of Ponyville heading further west to a place called Buck Hill. We'd accompany her until we all got out the other side of town and then part ways. Safety in numbers and all.

With Chekwas dead, she'd said there was nothing for her in New Dodge anymore.

I did honestly feel terrible for her, it was just hard to express it when there was so much going on.

We approached the tower, crumbling brickwork and torn beams adorning the ground around it. To the right were smaller wooden structures, old houses presumably. Long abandoned. It was sad to see-

I whipped my head around. I had heard something. I don't know what, but something. I could have sworn I saw a shadow out the corner of my eye, but I couldn't see anything for looking around. I was lucky enough to look just in time to move out of the way of a loose roof tile falling from the clocktower, but that was it.

Great, tired enough to be hallucinating. Exactly what I needed since things weren't difficult enough already.

I blinked and shook my head. A SparkleCola might help keep me more lucid, failing any actual coffee. The little jolt of adrenaline from the falling tile was welcome, too. Though admittedly I certainly hurt less now that I was thinking about it, I didn't really want any more of MD's rancid drink. She'd carried on swigging away at it, but even hours later I still couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. Plus it had given me nasty heartburn.

Pops of distant gunshots sounded out, reminding me that it was probably best to keep moving. I didn't know just how bad it was here, but I'd worked out enough to know this was no normal ruin.

We crossed a crumbling cobble bridge over a sickly vomit-green stream, the last thing separating us from the town.

"Do you at least know where you're going?" Mercy asked us both. I let MD answer that one, I'd just been following her this whole time.

"The Theatre."

"And do you know where the theatre is?" The mule prodded pointedly.

"Of course I don't. I'll be following the signs just like last time." MD sighed.

Mercy visibly wilted, long ears hanging down. "If you can even find a sign in this place I'll eat my heart out."

It didn't take long to find out what she meant by that. Walls and blockades of rubble and scrap cut across paths and between what was left of buildings, entire cottages had been cannibalised for crude building material. We'd barely even stepped hoof into Ponyville and navigation was already going to be an evident issue. I had to hand it to these raiders though, sharpened bannister poles as defensive spikes was certainly imaginative, and it was almost funny the way they retained their decorative carvings. It was just a shame that they were actually working in keeping us out.

Fortunately while the blockades were extensive, they weren't particularly thorough or well maintained. It was fairly easy to find gaps to worm through, or even just flat out walk around. I don't think a lot of thought had gone into placement.

Besides the slapdash architecture, the raiders' taste in artwork left much to be desired. In it's crudest form it was represented by profanity and genitalia spray painted on the walls, and at it's vulgar best it was depictions of acts I don't really care to describe in uncomfortable detail. If I was being generous I could have called it mixed media, but I don't think bodily fluids should count as a medium. Call me old fashioned, but I always preferred blood to stay inside the creature it belongs to. The less said about the rest the better.

The smell of the place was starting to get to me. It had the horrible rotting decay of the bridge but not quite as all encompassing, it mingled with a smokey charcoal and a metallic zing, it lingered in the back of your throat. Awful.

We cautiously turned a corner, emerging out into a proper street, flanked with long vacant shops on both sides. One of them looked to have been a florist shop before the end of the world. Half a pony hung from the awning over the door, his forehooves nailed into the wood, his hind missing entirely. A barrel fire sitting nearby possibly indicated that the ponies responsible were probably not too long gone. Grim. I chose not to think about the (thankfully empty) conveniently pony-sized cages stacked up next to the building too much. The whole scene was vile, I tuned my head so I didn't have to look at it. Honestly I would probably have had more of a reaction if we hadn't spent half of yesterday fighting what amounted to hoards of walking corpses.

I wondered what great cruelty would drive ponies to do unspeakable acts like this, and to apparently revel in it at that. What drove the creation of bucketfulls of sickness and horror in an otherwise meaningless life? If you had asked me my thoughts on the soul before the experiment I would have said that I thought that all ponies had an innately good nature deep down. But now, after the bridge, after the bomb collars, seeing this... Good nature had no part in this, there was no slither of kindness hidden deep down somewhere. I think some ponies may actually be born evil. How much can somepony really be changed?

To think we shared a world with ponies like this now.

To think that we may have always done so, it was just social conventions preventing them from acting out.

I think I was getting too philosophical for my own good here. I was certainly no psychologist or therapist or whatever, far be it from me to postulate on the nature of good and evil. Actually, it was probably for the best that I not try and get into these ponies' heads.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I absentmindedly trotted into Mercy's behind, shunting her forwards into MD. I hadn't even realised they'd stopped, but neither of them were best pleased.

"Sorry." I offered, only to be met with shushes, shaking heads and flailing hooves. I could take a hint.

We were stood against the corner of a wall, peering around the edge. I peeked over MD's head (being the largest one here had to be useful eventually) to see what the issue was.

Sat outside the next building over was a lone unicorn stallion, swinging on his chair at a makeshift table, drinking and swatting flies, warmed by a burning rubbish bin, a rifle leant up against the tabletop. Bullets proudly adorned his harness, and his cutiemark looked to be a chisel or a nail or something. In the firelight I could see maybe half a dozen ponies inside the property through the doorway, sprawled out on filthy mattresses. The ground between us and them was strewn with empty bottles, vials, bullet holes, needles, broken glass, all sorts of junk. Piles of sandbags created a sort of half-baked defence, restricting any chance we might have had at sneaking around the guard.

I didn't think this would be a fight we would win if it came down to it, we didn't have Rusty to pick them off at a distance. If they woke up they'd be right on us. Unless one of us managed to discreetly take care of the guard before he could wake anypony else up, then we might have a slither of a chance of sneaking by the sleeping parry.

I shivered as the wind caught me, building creaking.

"What should we do?" I asked, turning back MD who was looking at me puzzled.

"Uh, go another way?" She answered, pointing along the relatively open street we were already on.

Right, of course.

Apparently too exhausted to even think rationally, I followed MD as we simply carried on down our road, quietly so as not to alert the guard (or anypony else) to our presence. Probably for the best MD was taking the lead again.

The actual 'ville' of Ponyville was not large, maybe a hair bigger than New Dodge. We were already fairly deep inside and we'd probably be making quicker progress if not for all the blockades.

Now that the sky was getting brighter I could see just how bad we were all doing. MD and Mercy both sagged as they walked, we were definitely moving slower than yesterday. MD in particular seemed gaunt, her eyes dark and sunken, coat crusted with debris. She was sweaty and stumbled every now and then. Mercy looked a shell of herself, which I could hardly blame her for. I was a little glad I couldn't see myself as I'm sure I was also in an absolute state. I wasn't built for this. What I wouldn't give for a spa break. Or even just a warm bath. My whole body ached, we'd been walking so long my hooves were tingling.

BANG

I scrambled as a bullet whizzed past my head, embedding itself in the ground beside me in a burst of dust.

BANG

I whinnied as another bullet grazed by my foreleg, sharp burning pain making itself very known.

"Sniper!" MD yelled as she started backing up, shotgun at the ready.

BANG

I panicked, we'd walked right into this, I didn't know what to do! I couldn't even see who was shooting us!

BANG

"MOVE!" MD commanded, turning tail completely and running back the way we'd come. Mercy brayed as a bullet clipped her ear, I stumbled over myself to follow them, kicking up dirt.

"The fuck?" The guard from the encampment rounded the corner in front of us, eyes going wide as we rapidly approached. MD crashed right into him sending them both tumbling down the street.

"Agh shit!"

"Cocksucker!" The stallion groaned as MD swiftly detangled herself from the pony pile. He wasn't far behind her at all, swiftly bringing up his gun. "GET OUT HERE YOU LAZY FUCKS!" He screamed back to his camp. I delivered a quick sideways buck to his flank as I passed, causing him to stumble and at the very least delay him from lining up a shot at any of us.

I didn't dare look back but the commotion behind us told me he had definitely gotten the attention of all the sleeping raiders. Hooves pounded the ground and jeers filled the air, drowned out by the air rushing around my ears.

We swerved around a rubble bottleneck and MD led us around a corner, horn alight and flinging debris vaguely behind us in an apparent effort to slow our pursuers. I almost missed when the unicorn suddenly dove inside some kind of old general store, sending me and Mercy skidding in behind her, rotted porch floorboards groaning under us.

"Close those doors!"

Dutifully, I slammed closed one of a pair of metal doors, leaning my back into it as Mercy pushed the other one, blocking out the burgeoning morning light and plunging us into darkness before MD's horn lit up again, head held to the gap.

I scrunched my eyes closed as an absolutely blinding light emanated from the appendage, sparks flying, burning into my vision. She was welding the door closed! The heat from the spell was starting to wash across the surface of the door already, warmth spreading across my back.

Unfortunately for us the crowd really wasn't far behind us, and the incredible brightness of the magic was likely making us incredibly easy to spot, even from outside.

The doors shuddered as hooves tried to force them open, I could feel the impact reverberating through my body.

"Hurry up!" I barked.

"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!" Somepony shouted from the other side. The pounding only intensified, threatening to bounce me clear off.

Something jolted through the metal, banging and pinging. Were they shooting at the door‽

MD sagged as the light died down, falling to her haunches, panting. Now able to actually use my eyes I could see the doors had been fused together, a rough hasty join connecting them both down the middle. I didn't know how long it would last, but hopefully it would hold the raiders off for the moment. Mercy popped up in front of me and wedged an old broken plank through the door handles for good measure.

"We-we need to- keep moving." The mule huffed as the doors bowed.

There was more pinging and banging and yelling, and the door continued shaking, but it was holding steadfast for the moment, keeping them outside.

Unfortunately that also meant it was keeping us in.

It was difficult to tell just what kind of store this place had been before, but it was strange, rather small and windowless. Save for the counter and a rickety looking staircase it had been gutted and then filled with piles and piles of random junk. There was evidence of a very old campfire on the floor (indoors? Terrible idea) and the now apparently requisite graffiti but scant little else.

"Flush 'em out, Malört!" Somepony commanded from outside. There was some kind of crash and the gap below the door lit up orange, wood crackling. They were trying to burn us back out. Probably not the quickest method, but given the wooden floor it wouldn't be too long until we were in danger again.

"They're setting the place on fire!" I screeched, alarmed. They were going to incinerate us!

"Can we not catch a single break?" MD groaned, struggling back to her hooves, wincing with the effort.

"M-maybe there's a way out the back?" Mercy suggested. A small but steady stream of blood was running from the wound on her left ear, matting her fur. Wisps of smoke were already beginning to float through the gaps in the door from outside.

A very cursory look around revealed that there was no 'back', this was it.

"Stairs it is." MD announced as the first licks of flames started to peek through.

Despite the situation we managed a rather orderly single-file-one-at-a-time arrangement given the size and condition of the stairs, creaking under our weigh having presumably sat unused for decades. The top floor wasn't much more populated, but importantly did have windows, along with a moldy old wardrobe and a bloodied matress that was still home to a bloated, chained up corpse that I was trying very hard not to think about right now. Escaping out the front was less than appealing for obvious reasons, but looking out the back I could see that another building backed onto this one, more of a bungalow. We could probably drop down onto the roof and get away there. Somehow. "Out here? Not a lot of options otherwise."

"It can't be any worse than the front." Mercy added. We both looked to MD.

"Sure, whatever, let's just... let's just go." The unicorn breathed, laboured and irritable, obviously fatigued. I hadn't noticed until now but she had a nosebleed, she must have hit that raider really hard.

Grey smoke was starting to float up out the front, we didn't have time to dwell right now.

Poking through the frame, the roof below seemed a lot further down than it probably was. I steeled myself with a deep breath and pushed myself over the edge. I flailed briefly before I landed with a thud, the roof creaking under my weight but ultimately holding steadfast. Mercy was next, a quiet grunt escaping her as she made her jump, landing with far more grace than I had. Finally, MD followed, usual cool and collected demeanour absent as she shakily slithered out of the window frame, slipping off the edge and botching the landing, tumbling down, landing on her back, just about managing to wheeze out a "Fuck!" as the air was forced from her lungs.

I caught her as she started to roll down the gentle slope of the tiles. If I wasn't so tired I could probably have caught her earlier. She spat out blood as I helped her up, which was never a good sign. Exhaustion aside, I think the radiation was really doing a number on her especially.

Following the gradient led us to the front of the building and a small alleyway, which from our vantage point I could see was considerably more open and less populated than where we'd come from. I certainly fancied our odds better there, it could only be a good thing to put distance between us and the fire, which I'm sure would spread given the terraced nature of the street. Just like back home, thinking about it. Terraces, I mean. Not burning.

A portion of the roof had collapsed, making a handy ramp down to street level, rickety, but just about stable enough for us to climb down. Or limp, in MD's case. The alley was close and littered with old rubbish, but seemed free of barricades, and importantly there didn't seem to be any raiders present at the moment.

"Which way?" I asked, looking both ways down the path. We couldn't see where either end came out.

"Can one of you just get us out of here please?" MD grunted, swaying, chest heaving with every breath. I was worried about the state she was in but we couldn't do anything right now, we had to keep moving. I could still heat the raiders jeering, and hoofsteps from somewhere or other. Shadows flickered overhead. We were by no means out of the woods.

"Let's go this way, I think this is the general direction we were headed anyway." Mercy nodded down the alley, leading the way. I made to follow her but MD's limping and lethargic movement was worrying me. She really wasn't in a good way, she was in visible discomfort moving her right legs, groaning and wincing.

"Hey, come on." I said, backing up alongside the unicorn. "Lean on me." I wasn't in tip-top shape by any stretch, but I think I was doing a lot better than she was. She hesitated for a second before resting her bad side up against me, taking some of the strain off her legs. "You alright?"

"No, everything hurts." The unicorn huffed.

"Yeah." I sighed, wholeheartedly agreeing with her, noticing the smell of alcohol. "Celestia MD, your breath is flammable right now."

I couldn't help but wonder if she'd sort of dug her own grave with that. She was a lot less poised and composed than normal, but I couldn't really say if that was due to alcohol or fatigue. Probably both.

We turned the corner and could see the alley open back up to the street, some kind of enormous, gnarled tree with doors and windows (?) sat front and centre and the sound of rushing water droned. Mercy was stood waiting for us. "I think we're clear." She said, scanning the area ahead. "When we find somewhere quiet I can bandage us all up."

We were at some kind of plaza or rotunda or something, several roads met and the area sat wide open. It probably would have been lovely in another lifetime.

"Hope you're ready to eat your heart out, Mercy." MD dryly chuckled.

"What?" The mule rebutted, head tilted in confusion.

MD pointed ahead to a wooden pole, neglected and severely leaning but just about still standing.

"A signpost." She smiled smugly.

"Hold up!" Mercy hissed, cantering ahead of us and blocking the way. "This is boobytrapped."

She pointed up at the old lamp post, and sure enough there was a bundle of metal apples —grenades, if I'm not mistaken— dangling from a thin wire that ran all the way down to a tripwire that I was about to walk into between rubble piles, waiting for any potential victim.

A shiver ran down my spine, I'd almost led the whole party to a quick and violent death. This was a cold act, how could these ponies possibly know who would set this off? They could be killing their friends for all they knew!

"Can I borrow your knife?" Mercy asked. I nodded and she pulled it from the sheath, clutching it with her teeth and deftly cutting the tripwire with one swing of her head. The grenades still hung perilously overhead, but the way forwards was safe now. Hopefully.

A long since dessicated pile of assorted body parts lingered behind a rubble pile on the other side. I wondered if those ponies had fallen foul to the same trap. A couple of loose grenades sat in a metal ammo box nearby. MD's horn flickered weakly as she floated them into her saddlebag, grimacing as she did. "Jeez, my head is killing me."

We slowly shambled on, Mercy taking point as me and MD sort of held eachother up. My brain was fried and my legs were almost dead weight by this point.

But, if the ancient signposts were accurate, we should be closing in on the theatre. That may not have meant the end to our journey by any stretch, but it would mean the end was in sight. I think we'd all earned a good long lie down. I also think I'd earned several trips to a good therapist but I'm not sure how realistic that was given the distinctly anarchic flavour Equestria had taken on since the end of the world.

Right now though MD was on alert for some reason, frowning and looking around, which couldn't be good.

"What's up?"

"EFS picked something up super quick, but it's gone now." She explained, shaking her head. "Probably just playing up again."

I kept an eye out but I couldn't see anypony either. Still, we progressed cautiously. This place was cragged and ruinous, there were plenty of places for a pony to hide.

I could see a column of smoke billowing from a few streets away, presumably the building we escaped from. I wouldn't be surprised if it had spread. I was glad to be away from it but I also didn't feel good about continuing forward. It had been a little while since we escaped the mob trying to burn us and this place wasn't that big, chances are we were bound to run into somepony again soon, and very soon if that trap was anything to go by, I doubted it had been sitting idle for ages. And now that Mercy had disarmed one trap I couldn't help but be hyper aware of our surroundings. Spiked metal poles jutted from the ground around piles of debris, and I nervously watched as we cut past some kind of rifle fixed up and rigged to fire down an alley we thankfully weren't heading down. Heaps of bones slumped up against a nearby wall. Nothing inspired confidence.

"H-Hello? Hello, hey! Up here!" I jolted as a new voice squeaked from above, immediately on guard. "Please, I need help before they come back!"

Ahead of us, confined to a large birdcage hanging precariously from a pulley hook jutting out of a house was a pony. An Earth pony. He was small and skinny, there was almost nothing to him, and from here I couldn't tell if his fur was mottled or if it was patchy. He shivered in place, holding himself tightly. The cage itself was bound with rusted chains and old rope. I don't know if whoever was responsible had other plans or had just left him hung up to die, but either way it was abhorrent.

"You don't look like them, can you get me down? P-please?" He whinnied, fear and exhaustion colouring his voice, cracking as he talked.

Moon and stars, he only a colt! He'd probably not even had his cutiemark longer than a couple of years. What kind of heartless monster would do something like this?

"Holy shit, we gotta get him down!" MD limped into action, pressing forward as quickly as she was able. Her horn lit up weakly, a dim glow surrounding the cage, bit not much of anything happened before it disappeared and the unicorn was left huffing. She tried again, and failed again. "Shit."

"Are you alright?" I asked as she wobbled on her hooves.

"Burned out, used up all my magic." She answered lowly, shaking her head. "That welding took it out of me I guess. Need to rest."

Mercy strode ahead of us as I was checking on MD, mouthing for us to wait here as.

"What's your name, young stallion?" She asked sweetly.

"C-Convoy."

"Well Convoy, me and my friends here are going to help, okay?" The jenny assured him, it must have been her bedside manner kicking in. "Do you know how many raiders there are? Is there anything we should know about before going inside?"

"I-I don't know. A bunch of them left last night and haven't come back yet... I-I was with my m-mom when they t-took us." He whimpered, ears sinking. "I don't know where she is."

I looked into the building, entryway stark open, front door seemingly long gone, and windows boarded over. It may have been light outside now, but the interior was still plunged in a veil of shadow. I could barely see a few hands in, it was ominous and intimidating, eerily quiet. The pulley hook Convoy was hanging from stuck out of a loading door on the top of the building, left wide open. Anypony who might be inside surely already knew we were here, what with the borderline shouted conversation happening. We would have surprise on our side. We wouldn't have much of anything on our side.

"What's your mom's name, honey?" Mercy continued.

"Ship Shape, she's an Earth pony like me, but yellow. They took us inside and took her away... P-please find her!"

"We should go in." MD panted, looking on the edge of collapse. Mercy waved at us to stop without looking back, one ear fixed on us.

"Alright honey, we'll find your mom okay? And then we're going to get you out of there." She assured the colt, I guess trying to put him at ease. "Do you know what it's like inside?"

He shook his head. "It was too dark for me to see." He replied.

"Okay Convoy, we're going to get you down, I just need you to hold tight a little longer, can you do that for me?"

He nodded, sniffling.

"You're a brave colt, Convoy. We'll be back in no time, okay?" Mercy finished, turning back to us.

"What's the hold up? Let's go!" MD groused, making for the entrance.

"The hold up is that that's bait!" Mercy whispered, subtly gesturing back to the cage. "I wanted to know what we'd be dealing with before we run in."

"Bait? For what?" I hissed back.

"For creatures like us who don't know any better." Mercy breathed. "If we're going to help him, we need to be smart about it. Whoever put him up there wants us to come inside."

That gave me pause for thought. The idea that somepony capable of something so heartless wanted us in their grasp was sobering. To what end they would want us for didn't bear thinking about. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I looked back into the building. Ostensibly an old abandoned farm style house, but now something twisted, a lair of evil. It made my skin crawl and heart race, despite everything.

"So what do we do?" MD asked.

"Well it's dark and we don't know what it's like on the inside, but if the group that left don't come back and we keep an eye out for more traps we should be okay." Mercy explained, face falling. "He says his mom is in there, but I wouldn't expect to find her... well. We can hope for the best, but..."

"EFS is clear, but I'm pretty sure it's busted." MD huffed, whacking her PipBuck with her other hoof. "I got nothing."

Righteous as this cause was, walking into to what was almost certainly a raider den blind was a less than stellar idea. The worst thing about all of this though was that I felt conflicted. Helping was the right thing to do, obviously. He was a child in need, it would be monstrously cruel to leave him be. But we were on a very real, very dire countdown. I felt inequine for even entertaining the thought, but present potential danger aside there was the terrifyingly real prospect that this becomes the distraction that runs our counters down before our collars get removed. Especially in the state we were in. Given how lethargic and tired I was, and especially MD was, I was worried that even if we didn't get hurt, or Celestia forbid, killed doing, then we'd end up dead just by virtue of losing time. If things were so die that we had to walk through the night did we really have time to do this? We hadn't even found the damn theatre yet!

This was like the bridge all over again.

"Look, I'm not trying to be heartless, I want to help, but can we afford to do this? I just mean, our collars-"

"Silver, you finish that thought and I will ram my horn so far up your ass you'll be coughing up sparkles." MD cut me off with vitriol, standing snout to snout with me, looking me dead in the eyes and jabbing a hoof into my chest. "I wouldn't be here without a stranger's help. You wouldn't be here without a stranger's help."

"I-I'm just saying-"

"And I'm not listening." She snorted, frowning. "That is a foal. We're not leaving him up there."

"Alright, alright, sorry." I held up my forehooves defensively. I thought about explaining that I never meant we should just abandon him here, but I thought it best to let it slide. I was sick of all this tension and conflict. I understood her reaction, and I couldn't deny this was objectively the good and moral thing to do. I just hoped it wouldn't come back to bite us.

That left us and the building, and a deep foreboding aura that might have just been me. Four storeys of boarded windows and veiled malice. Celestia willing we would be in and out quickly, but somehow I doubted it.

"I still got the rest of that jungle juice, should help with the dark." MD announced, peering through the threshold.

"Count me out, I'm not changing my tune." Mercy shook her head as MD fished her flask out of her bag. The unicorn chugged the contents, brow furrowed and swallowing laboured.

"Guh! You in, Silver?" She asked, wiping her mouth and waggling the flask at me. I almost heaved at the sight of it, recalling the taste from earlier. That said, it would be nice to see where we were going, especially if there were traps. Plus it had rum in it, and I could definitely use some Friesian courage right about now. I took the flask in my hooves, catching a waft of the foul liquid. Maybe if I held my breath it wouldn't be as bad?

It was just as bad.

I wished I had my own warer to wash it down with, it was foul but I also hadn't realised just how thirsty I actually was until it touched my tongue. MD took her flask back as I waited for the CatEye to kick in. Just like before my vision slowly started to become a bit brighter and a lot bluer as the substance started working through my system. The interior of the building gradually began to reveal itself beyond the entryway to the building, hopefully giving us a little edge on our foray inside. In the daylight, even as dull of a day as it was, the effect on my vision was quickly becoming uncomfortable as the light got brighter and brighter, washing everything out to the point I had to shield my eyes.

"Shall we?" Mercy asked, gesturing to the doorway.

I grabbed my gun and hesitantly followed behind my companions as we crossed inside, augmented eyesight adjusting. As expected by now the place was an absolute tip. At one point we would have been in an open lobby type area, but one side had been crudeley sectioned off which funnelled us in one direction. Customary graffiti mingling with ruined furniture and torn up walls. The place stank. I recoiled as I stepped in a cold puddle of something. Something that based on the smell I really did not want to think about.

The living room was strewn with junk and bizarre
idiosyncrasies. A broken table replaced by planks stacked on bricks, a pile of old rusty guns superceded by a bloody lead pipe, the kitchen was rife with moldy and loose food, but the remarkably preserved fridge was empty, doors hanging wide open. None of it made any sense to me. The building creaked, almost as if protesting our intrusion.

Thankfully though, this whole floor was seemingly devoid of life. Completing a circuit around the layout we ended up the staircase, just on the other side of the barrier in the lobby.

With my enhanced vision I caught a glimpse of something crossing the steps, a wire crossing one side to the other and running up the wall.

"Holh ohn." I grunted, stopping us in out tracks and pointing to the tripwire. "Trah."

I sat on my haunches and pulled out my knife. I'd seen Mercy do it, it couldn't be that hard, right? Clutched in my hooves, I reached the blade out and severed the wire. To my surprise, unlike the trap Mercy disarmed, something above us clanked and the tripwire was pulled up and away. I didn't know what that meant but it probably wasn't good. Not a second later a wooden board came swinging down towards us. I recoiled on instinct, falling backwards as it came to a swift halt a few steps ahead of us, a railway spike sticking out of it at what would roughly be eye-level.

"Luna's teats!" MD yelled, taking a step back. Mercy helped me back on my hooves, I was shaken and fixated on the spike. That was just a nasty thing to do to a pony. I'd dropped my knife and gun in the flash of panic, once I'd collected them (and myself) we pushed past the board and up the stairs.

The landing on the next floor turned around on itself which left us peeking around the corner. I think in another life this floor would have been lined with bedrooms, but now most of the walls had been torn away, save for the ones around the staircase. Something whirred mechanically, but I couldn't see what it was from here. There must have been a lantern or fire tucked away somewhere as this floor was significantly lighter than downstairs was. The floor, though strewn with rubble and detritus, seemed otherwise free of tripwires or anything that could catch us unaware.

"Whas tha' sound?" I asked as best I could, not really wanting to walk into something.

"I dunno, but let's be wary, it's probably not anything good." MD replied, peeling around me and up.

With no explicit danger in front of us we emerged onto the landing. The floor bowed under our collective weight, making it very clear that it probably wasn't a good idea to hang around for too long and also raising the question of why ponies would set up shop somewhere so unstable. Most of the wooden frames that previously held up the walls were still standing, sort of outlining the old floor plan. Most of the 'rooms' on this side were full of mattresses, bed rolls and piles of old hay. That and stacks of boxes and trunks, empty bottles and chunks of plaster.

The mystery sound grew louder as we tracked down the hall, causing me no small amount of anxiety. We reached the base of the next set of stairs and the source was revealed to be some kind of pile of scrap metal? A rusty old shopping basket with some sort of a pipe and a torch sticking out of it slowly swept-

"Turret!" MD yelped.

RATATATATATAT

Shooting! It was shooting at us! I flailed wildly to hide back behind the staircase as bullets tore past us, whistling into the outside wall of the building, blasts absolutely deafening. A burst of energy surged through me, I trembled as I hugged the wall, joined by MD and Mercy besode me. The gunfire continued for a few seconds before the machine presumably realised we weren't there.

"Whuzzat? Whosh there?" A mare drunkenly slurred from the other side of the stairs, stumbling hoofsteps ambling across the creaky boards.

"What do we do?" Mercy nickered.

"I don't know!" MD grunted back.

"Whera ya at? Come out!" Screeched the mare. "I'll find youuu!" The sound of crashing and stomping bounced around the building as she moved, slowly and unsteadily drawing closer our position. "Teach ya' to mess with us! How's it feel to be hunted back, huh?"

MD clutched her shotgun, I noted with her hooves and not with her magic like usual. Her teeth were grit and her eyes bounced around. "Okay, I have and idea." She whispered. "Get behind me, make for the stairs when I say so, got it?"

We nodded and I shimmied around her, leaving the Unicorn on the corner peeking around the edge. Tense seconds begrudgingly passed like sludge as the uncoordinated mess of a pony clambered closer and closer. MD looked back and mouthed 'get ready'. A little jolt of anticipation and terror ran through my body as I prepared myself for whatever was about to happen.

A figure emerged behind MD, swaying. Their head was covered with some kind of sack, horn protruding and eyeholes cut out, and leather barding criss-crossed their body.

"Gotcha, fuckers!" She sneered, bringing up a crowbar over her head. Before she had a chance to swing down MD leapt into action, holding her shotgun out in front of herself with both forehooves and springing forwards, using the gun like a staff and slamming into the raider's neck, forcing her back.

"GO!" MD screamed as she breached out past cover, still choking the mare, slamming her against the outside wall.

RATATATATATAT

I scrambled to my hooves as the gunfire started up again, apparently fixed on MD. Mercy and I swung around out of cover and onto the staircase as MD slid her way beside the mare, bullets slamming into the raider as the turret tracked MD. Sun and moon, she was using the mare as an equine shield!

I watched in horror as MD dragged the raider back with her to reach the steps, bullets tearing into the mare's side the whole time, spraying blood all over. She squealed and gurgled, her sack-hood stained red as her movements became heavier. Finally reaching the stairs, MD let the mare fall limp on the floor and hopped up the first few steps out of the line of fire of the turret, panting and flopping down in an uncomfortable heap. Her whole right side was soaked in the raider's blood. Finally, the gunfire stopped again. The mare was dead.

I stood shocked. I knew these were bad ponies. Bad was possibly the biggest understatement possible. But what I'd just seen my friend do wasn't right, it wasn't a just or sporting thing to do, it was cold and cruel. And I knew that these raiders would never extend us the courtesy of fighting fair, but did that mean we had to stoop to their level too? I didn't know how to feel about it.

"We need to keep moving." Mercy chimed from above. "This is a bottle neck, they're not going to stop for us."

MD groaned, slowly rising to her hooves, legs shaking, though I'm not sure if it was from the effort or the adrenaline that was no doubt coursing through her. "F-fuck..."

"You alright?" I asked as she struggled up.

"No." She grunted. "Cover your ears."

I held my hooves over my head as MD fished one of the grenades from earlier out of her bag. She pulled out a little keyring looking thing and threw the weapon down the stairs before covering her own head.

BOOM

I scrunched my eyes closed as the whole building shook, dust and plaster raining down on us. A wave of pressure rushed up the stairs and sent my fringe back. I opened my eyes to a light grey misty smoke slowly rising from the floor below. Rusted metal shards littered the floor below. I guess that took care of thr turret.

"Let's move." The slung her gun back around her neck and began clumsily climbing the stairs, passing me and joining Mercy. I slinked behind them, bringing up the rear as we ascended.

"Are you hit?" Mercy asked MD, nurse mode apparently now kicking in.

"Don't think so. The unicorn huffed. "Nothing bad, at least."

"You're grazed." Mercy replied, looking over MD's back. Her jacket was torn, but any wounds she might have hard were hard to see under all the other mare's blood.

"I'll deal with it when we're out of here." MD grunted, pausing at the top of the stairs to look around. Mercy grimaced as we waited behind her but didn't press the matter. "Fuck, this isn't good."

"What's going on?" I eeped out. Nothing had been good in this town, for something to be notably not good was worrying.

"They're dead." She answered, walking out onto the next floor.

"That's... why is that not good?" I asked, confused. That could only mean less of a fight for us, surely?

"Because I doubt they all commited suicide." Mercy interjected, a worried look across her face.

Coming up onto the next floor I was immediately presented with a very fresh corpse collapsed up against a wall, clad in rags and still clutching a sledgehammer, congealing blood running down from a cut across her throat. In the opposite corner was another fallen raider splayed out on the floor. MD reversed out of a nearby doorway, shaking her head.

"These are very recent." Mercy announced, inspecing one of the bodies, pulling on it's leg. "Rigor mortis hasn't even set in yet."

"M-maybe it was the mare downstairs?" I posited. It would be nice to think that whoever did this was now also no longer amongst the living.

"With a crowbar? No, these are fine cuts, this took a sharp blade." The jenny replied, taking a close look at the wound.

"Gun too, by the looks of it." MD added, looking a little forlorn. "I, uh, I think I found his mom." She gestured to another room with a flick of her eyes.

Passing the first open doorway revealed some old bunks populated with more bodies, I tried to pay too much mind to it. I passed MD to catch a glimpse of the second room, which was a very different story.

I don't really know why I looked, I knew to expect something awful. There were three bodies in here. It was a small room, almost more like a cupboard really, so things were very close. Ship Shape was on her back on a messy bedroll, dead, teary eyes wide open, a single bullet wound to the head leaking crimson down her face. Her forelegs were bound with rope and hind legs were forced open by the body of a stallion... violating the poor mare. I'd really not like to describe it further than that. A bullet hole peirced the back of his head.

The third body was slumped against the wall, like she was killed while watching the disgusting scene unfold. I felt sick to my stomach. I turned and left, I couldn't look at this any longer. I had no words, just anger and sadness. I thought back my philosophising on the display we'd come across earlier. Good nature clearly had no place in this town. This place was sick. This was clear and present evidence for the presence of evil in these pony's souls. This was pure evil. Pure malice.

"Oh my stars." Mercy sadly exclaimed, taking my place in the doorway.

"The darkness of the afterlife is all that awaits you now." I uttered, not turning back around. "May you find more peace in that world than you did in this one."

I heard the door click closed and MD slowly walked away. "Kid doesn't need to see that."

That poor mare. That poor boy. I swallowed a lump in my throat, shaking my head. I don't know if the sight would ever leave my mind. MD and Mercy passed me in silence, carrying on down the hallway, heads low. I joined behind them, feeling hollow.

"Oh thank Celestia!" MD breathed as she limped ahead of us to and old cooler on a side table, pulling out a pack of RadAway and greedily gulping it all down. I knew she was the worst effected of us, but we'd all been exposed. It would have been nice to have some left.

"Anything else in there?"

MD gasped as she finished the last of the orange liquid, throwing the empty bag to the floor. "Whew. Uh, got some Med-X, a lot of Med-X actually, Mentats, Jet-"

"All the habitual stuff then." Mercy groused.

"Pretty much." The unicorn nodded, checking her PipBuck. "Alright, let's keep moving." She said, setting off around the last corner of the hallway. This led us to the last set of stairs, a little more rustic looking than the rest. Another dead raider was sprawled out at the base, I stretched to step over her.

It may not have sounded like a lot, but having put this many miles in and having been awake this long, four flights of stairs was really taking it out of me. It was a struggle to reach the top, but I got there. Out of breath and light headed maybe, but we'd made it.

The attic was wide open and pretty empty, mostly home to cobwebs and a few old crates. And dust, a lot of dust. Still, I kept my pistol ready, just in case. There were still places a pony could hide up here. A large hole in the roof let natural light pour in, which caused more than a little strain on my enhanced vision. Collapsed rafters and mouldy piles of thatched hay sat heaped under the hole. There was a separating wall in front of us with an open door, through there I could just about see outside. That had to be where Convoy was hung up from.

Mt feelings about the rescue were complicated. Of course I was happy that we'd gotten to him, and in the grand scheme of things this really hadn't eaten too much of our time, but how on Earth were we going to break the news about his mum being dead? And then what, we bring him with us? Through Celestia knows what future danger?

"Through there." MD commanded, leading the way into the room. It was another large, empty space, and with the cargo doors open like they were there was a wide open view of Ponyville at rooftop height. It must have been lovely once upon a time. Between the opening and the skyline was the cage, gently swinging in the breeze outside. We might not have been able to save Convoy's mum, but at least we could get him down from there. A rope tied around the top of the cage and sagged down through the doors, that had to be our best bet of moving him.

"It's us Convoy, we're going to get you inside, just sit tight!" Mercy called out.

"Well ain't we just a buncha bleedin' hearts?"

I didn't know that voice. The door slammed closed behind us. I steeled myself and did a full 180°.

"Not so fast there, friend." My breath hitched as another more feminine voice sounded out from above. Before I could react I felt cold metal press up against my skull, the downdraft of flapping wings swirling around me. "Wouldn't want to lose that pretty little head of yours would we? Drop the gun."

I did as I was told, letting the revolver clatter to the floor.

"Good girl." Purred my assailant.

A bat pony stallion had Mercy in a chokehold, some kind of bladed gauntlet pressed to her neck. His other foreleg was aiming a rifle point blank at MD's head, outfitted with sone kind of tin can looking device on the end of it. He was small and his fur was dark, but his eyes a piercing yellow, slit pupils watching my every twitch. He didn't look like a raider, but obviously he was not friendly. "You too, short stuff." He instructed MD, jostling the gun against her mane. She glowered as she relinquished her shotgun, joining my pistol on the floorboards. "Now I see that horn light up and I'm pulling the trigger, clear?" MD grimaced as he smirked. "Wehehehell shit, ya were right!" He chortled, looking Mercy over with a sickly grin. "An honest to the moon Mule! Not too many of y'all around now are there?"

"Those freaks in the tunnel are gonna love her." The mare behind me cooed. "And look at you, big girl!"

"W-whats happening?" Convoy mewled. "I-I can't see!"

"Don't worry about it kid, the adults are talking." The floor behind me creaked as the mare touched down, decrepit planks bowing under the new weight. A hoof on my withers spun me back around and I found myself snout to snout with another bat pony, muddy brown and pale eyed, smiling, fangs visible. She had a long gun in the crook of her leg pointed right at me. Both of them were decked out in spiked, intimidating looking metal armour. "I don't know why all you tourists are comin' this way, but I'm sure as Tartarus glad ya are!" She chimed, eyes sparkling mischief that seemed to undersell the situation. "Been keepin' us busy."

"Been trackin' ya for miles." The stallion chuckled. "Ya know, funny thing is, this weren't even our trap in the first place! Had ta clear the place out, but hey, gotta crack a few eggs ta make an omlette, am I right?"

"What do you want?" MD rasped. The mare looked over my head, apparently nonplussed.

"Luna above, don't exert yourself too much girl, ya look like yer fit to croak!" She snorted.

"Worth keeping?" The stallion asked, nudging the barrel of his gun against MD's head again.

"She's got four workin' legs and can take orders, can't hurt." The mare shrugged. "If she dies, she dies. No skin off our backs. What about the kid?"

"Sure they'll find a use for him. Besides, he's already tied up ready for us!" He chuckled.

"No, oh Terra no, not again, no no no..." Mercy quietly muttered, eyes wide with horror.

"W-w-what is this? What do you want from u-us?" I stammered.

"Don't worry your little head about it." The stallion mocked. "Just do what we say and we're all copacetic."

"Alright ladies, bags on the floor, and no funny business." The mare commanded, keeping the gun pointed at me but making to slide our weapons out of reach. "You go stand with the others." She gestured to where MD and Mercy were being held by the stallion.

"You heard her, bags on the floor. Armor too, missy." He cajoled, nudging the other two while frowning at me. MD begrudgingly complied, Mercy looked weepy as she jostled her pack off her back. I removed my saddlebags, joing the other's things in a pile on the floor. Apprehensively, I slipped off my armour too, leaving me feeling very exposed.

"Whoo, looks like we got some goodies tucked in these!" The mare hollered, giving a cursory look in
Mercy's dufflebag. "Meds and potions, probably worth a few caps!"

"Please no, please no, please no." Mercy whimpered, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't do it again, I can't-"

"Now then, why don't y'all be good little girls and put these on, 'less ya want to be looking down the wrong enda this here rifle." The stallion reached into his own saddlebags and pulled out some very heavy chains, throwing them on the floor I front of us with a rattling thud. Manacles. My blood ran cold just looking at them.

This couldn't be real. No way was this happening. My mouth hung open as a looked between him and the restraints. MD frowned and Mercy cried, still muttering to herself.

"Git to it, we got a place for you." He smiled darkly.