Overture - A Fallout: Equestria Story

Chapter One: Wake Up Call

"The whole place is empty, the floors all that's left."

My nose tingled, cold air playing over it. My ears twitched. My eyes fluttered. I could see the light again, dimmer than before, but still shining, the green sparkle of magic glinting around the edges my vision. A wave of warmth was travelling down my neck and along my back, feeling returning to my body. I could breathe again.

I could breathe! I was suddenly aware of the complete and total lack of air in my lungs and gasped a deep, heaving breath. I immediately regretted this as I sucked in a huge mouthful of dust. I choked and spluttered, a literal cloud leaving my mouth, a horrible, musty aftertaste sat across my tongue as I tried to spit out little bits of grit.

My forelegs buckled as the counter spell worked over my body, and I realised just how weak I was feeling. My hind legs, however, were still set in stone. This left me face down in an incredibly embarrassing position I was glad nopony could see me in.

As the magic ran it's course I slowly collapsed into a heap on the floor. Feeble and tingly, but alive. It all took a moment to sink in, but the spell had worked. I could feel my whole body again, a little achey but not really any worse for wear. Not only had I been petrified and recovered, but a whole week had gone by. Healing Touch was right, it really did feel like no time had passed at all. I'd done it, I'd made it through, I was going to get paid.

I jolted as a loud crack shot through the air. The emerald had shattered, glow snuffing out and shards falling to the floor in front of my snout. I managed to push myself up into a sitting position, carefully avoiding the sharp debris. Presumably that wasn't normal, probably some kind of defect. I'd have to tell the doctors about that when they came to get me. That and all the dust, the interior of the booth was covered in it, and by extension so was I. They should get that sorted out moving forward.

Actually, why hadn't anypony been in touch yet? The ear bloom was silent and nopony had come to get me. They controlled the spell and had me covered in sensors, surely they were aware I was no longer inanimate?

"Hello?" I called out, mouth dry and voice croaky. "Anypony there?"

There was no response.

"Hellooooo?"

Still nothing.

I gave it a moment just in case there was some kind of delay going on, but the ear bloom remained dormant. Just because I got through the spell doesn't mean the ear bloom did though, I'm sure there had to be some kind of magical interference going or something going on. They had to have started the counter spell, they knew I was jn here, I was just being impatient. If I waited somepony would come and get me. In the meantime I tried to give myself a once over. Everything felt okay, but it was too dark to really see much of anything. I tensed my hind legs experimentally, stood up, stretched out and shook myself off.

The dust cloud that exploded off of me was incredible, a powdery mist that sent me into a sneezing fit for a good minute. I wiped my nose on a sleeve of the gown (I didn't have any tissues) and huffed. I did not like this booth, not at all. I idly tapped a forehoof while I waited, the scientists were taking their sweet time.

It was a bit chillier than I remembered it being. Dust aside, the air had a sort of stale, musty quality to it that I didn't really recall coming in, like an old basement. Every now and then I could hear something, albeit heavily muffled by the walls of the booth. A distant thud or a soft bang, a sporadic click or creak. I entertained the thought that maybe I had been revived at night and the place was working on a skeleton crew.

I was starting to get a bit worried now. Skeleton crew or not, surely somepony should have seen to me by now, or at least been contacted through the ear bloom. Maybe there was a problem with the spell? A glitch or something, and maybe I wasn't meant to have been revived yet? Was that a thing? I shuffled nervously on my hooves for a secon at the prospect that this wasn't a part of the plan. But part of the plan or not, it was becoming increasingly clear nopony was coming to retrieve me.

So what to do? I couldn't just stand around waiting forever. If no one was coming to me, then I'd have to go to them.

I fumbled around feeling for the door handle, brushing up against the wall. I twisted it and pushed but the door only budged a little something was stopping it. I put my shoulder into it and shoved, this time the door grinded open, hinges squealing and something metallic clanging along the floor as forced the door wider. The culprit was a rusty metal pipe that seemed to have materialised from somewhere somehow, I could see it rolling away as I finally forced my way out of the booth and into the room proper.

This defined wasn't right.

The room was dark, lit only by a dim emergency light above the door that bathed the room in a weak, sickly red hue. Ceiling tiles littered the floor, the paint on the walls was flaking and mouldy. More pipes pierced through the remaining tiles, oxidised and crusty, leaving a small pool of fetid, stagnant water standing on the floor. The place smelled foul, wet rot mixed with old paper and stale air. At the far end the window into the control room had cracked and yellowed, but even still I could see nopony was in there, it too lit up in it's own red glow. The whole building groaned occasionally, as if forlorn.

I was stuck to the spot for a moment, gormlessly looking around trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

"How?"

Of course there was no pony around to answer. What in Celestia's Equestria could have caused something like this? This wasn't just damage or neglect, this was dereliction! The only possibility I could think of was that some other spell gone awry, but I couldn't for the life of me think of anything they could have been testing to result in all of this. There wasn't any sign of life here, save for some fungal looking growths in the corners, but it also occurred to me that I wasn't the only pony in a booth. There were two more of them in the room, and I knew at least one of them was occupied when I came in.

The far booth was empty, door propped wide open. The middle one though, the one next to mine, was still closed up. Dr. Touch had said there was a pegasus in there, I think. If they were still in there, chances are they were just as lost as me.

"Hey, hello?" I called out, tentatively approaching the centre booth. "Anypony in there?" No response was forthcoming. I hesitated for a moment, hoof inches away from the handle. Was I allowed to open the other booths? I didn't want to get in trouble or anything.

In trouble with whom though, I thought. There was nopony around to reprimand me. If anypony asked what I was doing, I guessed I could blame being left unattended. I pulled the door open, wincing away from the plume of debris that followed and poked my head inside once it had all settled.

"Oh."

There was a Pegasus in here, still petrified, firmly planted in the middle of the booth, wearing the same gown as me. Alarmingly, I could see the sparkly glint of shattered crystal on the floor. The gem had broken, they were stuck like this.

Stars above, she was stuck like this! Forget anything else, I had to find help! I had to get somepony to fix this, there had to be something they could do. "Wait here, I-I'm going to get help!" I told her before I realised what I said.

Shaking my head I made my way to the entrance of the room, taking care to avoid stepping in anything that looked like it might cling to my coat. If no-one was coming for us, I would have to go and find them.

The way out was through a pair of big metal double doors. Rusty metal double doors. I pushed as hard as I could, leaning my shoulders in, putting my full weight into it, but I couldn't get them to move at all. I huffed, defeated by the first obstacle, but I couldn't just give up, somepony was counting on me. It was time to try something else. I'd heard orchard farmers bucked trees all the time, surely with my Earth Pony strength I could kick the doors open myself?

I turned around and gave my hind legs a couple of tentative stretches, feeling out the distance between myself and the door, working out where my hoof would land. Easy enough, right? It was just a two legged kick after all. I got myself ready, tensing up.

THUMP

"AAGH!"

Terrible, terrible idea! My hooves made hard contact, the left one more than the right. The door shuddered but didn't open, leaving my legs alone to absorb the force of the buck. I fell to the floor as a sharp pain shot up my hind legs. I was writhing, gasping through clenched teeth, a throbbing sting coursing through my back half. My left pastern was blinding, I could only hope I hadn't broken it. I'd never bucked anything in my life, why did I think it was a good idea to start with a solid metal door?! Stupid!

I took a couple of minutes to recover, probably looking pretty pathetic while I did. Rolling around on the floor is never a good look, especially when it's this filthy. I was definitely going to need a bath after this. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and it was apparent even now that my left hind leg was going to protest any attempt at putting weight on it. Nevertheless I pushed myself up properly, only for a flash of pain to run through my injured ankle. I immediately lifted it off the floor.

Okay, situation check: I'd managed to hurt myself to the point of reduced mobility, I was covered in dirt, and I hadn't even left the room yet.

Fantastic.

There had to be a way out of here. I refused to believe that we were just trapped in this test room, I had to find another way. I turned my attention to the crumbling window to the control room. It spanned the whole length of the room and was already broken, cracks spreading across the panes and shards missing. I hobbled over to it, I could see that the door was open in there, the green glow of terminal screens providing a little more illumination than just the emergency lights. If I could break some more glass maybe I could get out that way. I felt bad for considering it, but this was an emergency, and they were going to need a new window anyway.

Thankfully the pipe from earlier was on the floor nearby. Carrying it and walking with my bad leg was going to be a no go, so I settled on throwing it like a javelin as best I could. It was not the cleanest or straightest throw, but it got the job done, haphazardly sailing through the air and crashing through the remaining glass and bouncing off a desk, clattering to a halt on the floor of the control room. It wasn't elegant, and was absolutely the loudest way I could have gone about doing it, but I had a way out.

Now to find help.

"Is there anypony here? I need help!"

The sound of my voice echoed and bounced off the long concrete walls, but no response came. Any hopes that I might have had for a quick resolution had been dashed. I'd tried every room in the hallway and still hadn't seen hide nor hair of anypony. I'd tried intercoms but they didn't seem to work, or if they did nopony was answering. It was like I was the only one here! I had at least managed to find a first aid kit and wrap my pastern in a magical bandage, which was actually helping a little. Enough to stand on it at least, but I wouldn't be galloping any time soon.

It was also quickly becoming clear that the sorry state of the room might well apply to the whole floor, if not the whole building. Disrepair and neglect permeated as far as I could see. It was actually incredibly unsettling, this place was bustling no time ago but now everything was silent and decayed. Books sat open, mugs waited on desks, terminals continued to hum. The hallway floors were mossy and wet, and old dark trails washed down the walls, the actual flow of fluid seemingly having stopped long ago. Pools of stagnant water sat all over. It was simultaneously like the place had been abandoned for ages but also like everypony had only just left. All of my legs were damp and my coat had been darkened with dirt.

I was going to be having words with these MAS scientists. Just as soon as I found them, that is. If nothing else they owed me a spa appointment.

I'd managed to work my way back to the atrium area. It was pretty dark, but peering down the other corridors showed them all to be equally empty, I couldn't hear or see any indication that any of them held anything more for me than where I'd just come from. I had ventured down a couple but only found broken down old computers and empty store rooms.

"Hello? Somepony? Anypony!"

Still nothing, just the groans of an empty building settling, the occasional drip of water, and the buzz of the emergency lights.

Was this even actually happening? This had to be some kind of a nightmare or something, none of this made any sense. But the pain in my leg was real, the smell in the air was real.

I shook my head, I was getting nowhere here. I needed to find help and there was no pony on this floor. The elevator wasn't working so I followed a sign around the corner to a staircase, cold concrete seemingly in slightly better shape than the rest of the level, which I thought had to be a good sign. I climbed up, my hooffalls reverberating off the walls and bouncing up the stairwell. I'd made it about halfway to the next floor when a distant bang echoed it's way down. It wasn't a bang I'd caused. Two more quickly followed, stopping me in my tracks. I had no idea what it was, but that had to mean something. Somepony had to be here somewhere.

I hurried my way up to the next exit, limping up the steps. Sub Level 2. This floor seemed to be in a little better shape for some reason, though not by much. There was a pungent smell hanging around, noticeable over the dusty background scent. It smelled of wet fur and smoke. Maybe an effect of an experiment gone wrong? I didn't give it much thought, everywhere else had stunk so far, this was just a different kind. I'd not actually been on this floor before, so I thought the best I could do would be to just look and hope I'd have more luck up here.

"Hello? Can anypony hear me?" I yelled. No matter how much it looked like it, I refused to believe there was nopony in the entire building. This place was huge, there had to be someone who could help. But again, no response was forthcoming. I was getting pretty sick of shouting into the void.

It looked like this area was mostly office space. Rows of desks sat dormant in large open plan rooms, cubicles dividing up the space. Posters and noticeboards lined the walls, propaganda and memos intermingling. I found what I assumed was some kind of data bank in a side room, dead and rusting away. A lot of the terminals still seemed to be working though, which was surprising because everything else in this place seemed to be broken. I left them be though, I didn't need to add being charged with espionage to the litany of today's events.

I walked past an open janitors closet and spotted a torch on the shelf. Picking it up I was surprised to find it actually did work, casting a warm yellow beam. A welcome difference from the red tinged semi-darkness I'd been walking in up until now.

There was a small sink in there too, below a small mirror. I caught a glance of my reflection and almost didn't recognise who I was looking at. My ivory coat was gritty and crusted grey with detritus, my platinum mane was dull and matted with dust, flecks of dirt spotted me all over. I looked terrible, grim and grimy. I was going to be having words with these MAS scientists. Just as soon as I found them, that is. They owed me a spa appointment if nothing else.

I pulled the door closed behind me and trotted on, path forwards now far better illuminated. The connecting corridor I was in split ways here, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw the wall ahead.

Blood. There was blood on the wall. Fresh blood, splattered and still oozing down. Above it were a number of shredded holes, and on the floor was a large bullet casing. The corridor was carnage in both directions, gouges in the walls, tipped over paper carts, and a crimson red trail on the floor. I gulped, feeling very nervous all of a sudden. There was someone here, and they had a gun. And they'd already shot someone else. Recently.

Stars, they were probably still in the building, maybe even still on this floor! My mind raced, was this a Zebra attack? Were we being invaded? I knew things were bad but I'd never imagined a week was all it would take for the war to come to my doorstep. No wonder nopony was answering me!

Okay, new priorities. #1 Don't get killed, #2 find help. I was trying my hardest not to panic, that wouldn't be any good to anyone, myself least of all. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions, but what else could I do when presented with this?

I heard a shuffling echo down one of the corridors, followed closely by a crash, and decided that there was really nothing for me in the hallway anyway and I'd be much better off just going into another room and hiding. I backtracked into a nearby office, very quietly pulling the door closed behind me and taking up position crouching behind the desk, the best hiding spot I could manage on short notice.

The desk was covered in paperwork, some of it having fallen to the floor. Open ring binders and folders splayed out across the worktop, empty filing cabinet drawers still hung open. If I wasn't so worried about being heard I would have been tempted to slide them in front of the door to keep whatever was out there out.

Something creaked outside the door and I shrunk, holding my breath and turning the torch off to be as unnoticeable as possible. I was really hoping it was just the sound of the building and not the attacker/s. I didn't know what I was going to do if the shooter came in here, I had no plan beyond 'hope they don't find you'. I wasn't a fighter, I was a jeweller! This was insane.

Excruciating seconds passed, but nothing more came, nopony tried the door, no shooting broke out. I nervously exhaled, safe for now. Thank Celestia for generic admin infrastructure. I slumped against the side of the desk and collected myself for a moment, trying to work out what the best course of action was. Self preservation was telling me to stay put, but I couldn't wait here forever. There was a petrified pegasus counting on me, and something told me the facility staff weren't just going to suddenly appear.

If I was ever going to get anything done I would have to leave the room, but what was I supposed to do against somepony armed and dangerous? There had to be something in here I could use to defend myself with if it came to the worst.

There was a letter opener on the top of the desk, but I really didn't like how up close I'd have to be for it to be any use at all. I started rifling through the desk drawers. Espionage accusations be damned, I wasn't going to be a sitting duck. I shoved aside paper and pens, staplers, sharpeners-

Wow, a gun!

Sat in the bottom drawer was a pistol. I'd never seen a gun before, except for in movies. It was black metal with a wooden grip, I think it was called a revolver. Sat next to it was an old cardboard box of bullets and a small note.

"Ms. Lovebloom,

Due to elevated tensions it's been deemed a necessity for a number of staff to be issued with weapons, including yourself. Your new sidearm should be kept in a safe place that is accessible to you should you need it. As per new policy you must attend a mandatory weapons handling class. This weapon is to be considered a last resort. Penalties will be incurred for loss or improper use.

Mercy on us all,
From the desk of Prof. Starry Sparks
MAS"

Carefully, I picked the firearm up, holding it in my hooves and giving it a quick look over. It was heavier than I thought it would be. Now, I was by no means an expert on guns, but I didn't need to have my special talent be in metals to tell you it was in pretty rough shape. It was grubby and was showing it's age, the metal was tarnished and pitted, and the wood on the grip was dry and cracked with age. On the upside it looked like it already had bullets in it.

I wasn't too happy that I didn't have any way to clean the mouthpiece, but I decided to take it anyway. It did seem oddly convenient after all. It would certainly up my intimidation factor if I came across the shooter, and well... I sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to it—but like the note said—it could always be a last resort.

I shuddered a little. I don't think I had it in my to hurt anypony. I desperately hoped it wouldn't come to it. I slipped the weapon into a sensor pocket on the chest of the gown, just about in the right place to grab it if I needed it. It wasn't perfect but hopefully it would do for now.

Okay, I had a way to defend myself now, and I'd not really heard anything going on through the door so I was whoever was out there had passed me by. Now would be as good a time as ever to go back out into the hall and keep searching. Just to be safe, I pressed my ear against the door, but after not hearing anything through it I took a deep breath and cracked it open, peeping through the gap. As best as I could see, the hallway was still empty, so as discreetly as I could, I swung it open and stepped back out.

Nothing looked any different, no new blood splatters or anything, just the same dusty hallway. I felt okay enough to go further and walked down the corridor, trying not to linger around the blood. I ended up in another large room full of cubicle offices. I could pick up overtones of old paper and ink in the air, which made for a pleasant change. Looking around, I noticed that about half of the cubicle desks had drawers and cabinets left open, papers and stationary strewn all over. Somepony had been looking through them for some reason, though I guessed I was hardly one to talk.

I cautiously meandered through the mess, on edge. I wasn't entirely sure who I was looking for anymore. How was I meant to tell anypony apart from the shooter? Hells, how were they supposed to tell me apart from the shooter? I had a gun too!

Something crashed in the distance, faint but echoing down the hallways from somewhere. I whipped my head around, ears twitching trying to locate the sound, but this floor was such a maze it could have reverberated from anywhere. I asked myself what I'd ever done so wrong for this to be happening to me, it was like I was stuck in some horror movie!

Uneasy, I glanced around for the closest way out (just in case) when I spotted a large wooden double door helpfully labeled 'EEVIAC CONTROL ARCANE DATABASE'. Or at least it probably would be helpful if I knew what that meant. But I reasoned that an arcane database would probably know more about the spell than I did, and maybe I'd be able to get help from there. I know it wasn't much to go on but it was all I had right now. Cautiously, I pulled the door open and stepped inside.

I paused mid-step, staring at the sight in front of me. The room was lined with filing cabinets, all of which stood open, papers strewn everywhere, if anything it was more of a mess in there than the offices outside were. It was dark, darker than everywhere else so far. This was clearly because several of the emergency lights had been ripped from the wall. Not only had they been ripped from the wall, the power cables supplying them had been torn out of the plaster too, leaving the floor totally encrusted with chunks of drywall. The cables had been pulled and stretched to a huge device at the far end of the room. It looked almost like an industrial fridge and a terminal had been mashed together, and an assortment of gleaming gems adorned the top.

The small space was lit up sickly green, and sat right by the device bathed in the light was the rattiest looking unicorn I had ever seen. She blinked in surprise that quickly gave way to a scowl, mismatched eyes boring into me for the briefest of moments. I didn't have a whole lot of time to process my own shock though, as no sooner had her expression changed did I find myself looking down the barrel of a gun. Her gun.

My mind went instantly blank and my heart plummeted. It was big and black, long and very scary, her magic holding it inches away from my head. My mouth dropped open and I sank down onto the cold lino, hooves up. What else could I do when looking death in the face?

"What in Tartarus are you doing here?" She hissed accusingly.

"Wait! I-I-I'm part of the t-test! P-please don't hurt m-me!" I cried, stuttering, doing my best to keep myself together.

"Not so loud! Those things have wicked hearing!" Winced the mare, keeping the gun trained on me but quickly darting her sight to the door, wary, maybe even scared herself. "Now, quietly, who are you and how in the hells did you get down here?" Her mismatched eyes staring daggers into my soul, voice a little more than an angry whisper.

"W-w-what th-things?"

"The duplets, what else?" She scoffed. I had no idea what a duplet was, but if she was worried about them with a gun like that it did not bode well at all.

She was young, younger than me at least. The dull red light made it quite difficult to get a proper look at her but she looked like she had a pale coat and her mane was tied up into a messy ponytail. Most strikingly, her eyes were different colours. She wore old scars on her face and ears and had a tatty old army jacket on. Interestingly she had one of those Stable-Tec computers on her foreleg, a PipBuck I think? She must have been important in some capacity, they didn't just give those things out to anypony. What was blindingly obvious though was that she definitely wasn't a scientist.

"S-Silver, my name's Silver, I'm part of the spell trial." I explained, trying to keep my voice low and level. "I'm meant to be here, promise! I-I've only just woken up. Please, there's another mare stuck downstairs, she needs help! I-I think the spell went wrong, she's still petrified!"

She regarded me for a moment, apparently as bewildered by this whole scenario as I was. "What in Celestia's name are you talking about?"

"Th-th-the trial, the cockatrice spell? I'm a participant, see?" I managed, pointing to the guest ID dangling around my neck.

"Hey, keep those hooves up!" The mare barked, gaze darting between my eyes and the pistol hanging out my pocket. I jumped in surprise when her aura grabbed my pistol handle and pulled it from me, floating it over to her side of the room and keeping it floating above her head, looking it over apparently unimpressed. "Look, 'Silver', I don't know who you are but this is my job, understand? So how ever you got in you can just go and leave the same way. Quietly."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." I replied, quiet and tense. "I came from downstairs, I'm just trying to find the scientists."

"Scientists? What scientists?" She tilted her head, looking at me puzzled. "Who else is here?"

"The scientists, the ministry scientists! The ones who work here? They're meant to be debriefing me..." I elaborated, equally as confused. Who else would be here? "Please, I need to find them, it's important!"

"Quit fucking around." She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I don't know how you got here, but I was here first, I found the mainframe, and I'm getting that data."

"I-I don't understand what you're saying! I-I'm just looking for the staff, there's a pegasus mare d-downstairs who needs help." I pled, getting the feeling that we both had the wrong end of the stick about whatever was happening. "I don't know anything about duplets or mainframes or data. Please, I just want to find help."

We were at a stalemate for what felt like forever, she was staring through me and her aim was steady. I was trying my best to stay perfectly still, nervously sweating, not able to look away from the weapon.

"Okay, look, I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever you're trying to do there's not anypony here who can help you." She replied, finally lowering her gun. I could feel the tension leaving my body. Not the room, but me at least.

"Where did everypony go?"

"What everypony? There is no everypony, it's just me. And apparently you."

That couldn't be right. This was a government building, a ministry lab! They would just all up and leave, surely? Okay, the whole floor downstairs had been empty and it was the same case for this floor bar this unicorn, but I simply refused to believe there was nopony here but us.

"No, no, this is a big facility, they were all here last week!" I countered. None of this was adding up. "They have to be around here somewhere."

"I don't know what to tell you." She shrugged."Nopony's been down here in ages, entrance has been a duplet nest long as anyone remembers."

"That's impossible, everything was-"

I was interrupted by the crackle of electricity as blue bolts shot from the cables where they'd been inserted into the machine, arcing wildly. They were strong enough to make my fur stand up on end, dancing across the metal surfaces of the nearest filing cabinets and leaving scorch marks all over. A small fire broke out on the side of the machine, sending thick black smoke upwards. The mare recoiled, covering her eyes from the sparks before yanking the cables out.

A rusty horn speaker above the machine blared to life with a croaky emergency alarm at a significant volume. The sprinklers overhead began to move, but no water was forthcoming.

"Shit shit shit!" The mare was suddenly panicking, tearing the cable from her PipBuck and looking around wildly, ears nervously twitching in all directions. "HELP ME TURN IT OFF!" She was scared, and that got me scared. What does a pony with a gun like that have to fear?

I scanned the walls looking for a reset switch or fire valve or anything. The constant wail was unbearable, stabbing at my ears, shrill and crackly. I couldn't see anything immediately obvious that would stop it. Weren't things like that usually big, red and obvious?

For her part it looked like the mare was just trying to rip the speaker off the wall, though it was much more firmly attached to the wall than the lights judging from how much she was struggling with it, straining her magic to no avail. "TO HELL WITH IT!" She roared, picking up a typewriter and launching it squarely at the speaker, crashing into it and leaving it crushed, and thankfully silent.

The alarm may have stopped but the mare did not relax. She was on edge and nervy, wary. Her gun was back in the air. There was a low grumble coming from somewhere that I don't think was there before.

"What is it, what's happening?" I asked, slowly cowering into myself as her gun swept across the room.

I felt it before I saw it. A slow rhythmic rumbling that shook the floor and tremored through my body, vibrating the whole room. Heavy, purposeful plods that only grew stronger. Something big was coming. It heard the speaker and it was in it's way. The gunmare had pressed herself up against the back of the filing cabinets and out of eyeline with the door, keeping her gun close. I scrambled for anything to hide behind, throwing myself behind a desk. If she was hiding obviously I should be too.

A pair of dissonant growls filled the air, muffled through the wall but gratingly atonal in quality, deep and bassy. The room began to rattle as the thumping got louder and faster. I peeked through a gap in the drawer fittings, I was frightened but I thought it would be a good idea to know what exactly I was hiding from.

An explosion of sickly flesh spewed out of the hallway and into the room, entering with such force that the doors were torn of their hinges, sending desks flying and cabinets falling like dominoes, barking and yowling all the way, collapsing on the floor in a heap. A pair of snarling heads reared up from the pile, teeth bared.

An Orthros! And holy hells it was big. It stood up drooling and gnashing, lumbering aside to reveal another one on the floor behind it, hunched over. Lit up by the few remaining emergency lights they both looked like there was something wrong with them, they must have been sick or had mange or something because they were absolutely disgusting. I had thought the Orthros to be fearsome but elegant, but the pair of them were repulsive. They were enormous, I'd heard they were meant to be big, but even in as bad a shape as it was, it was much bigger than me, standing at least three head taller and maybe twice as broad. Even in the state they were in they still looked strong. Ferocious. They were mostly furless and pale, and covered in scars and bumps, crusted and filthy. One had a large open wound across it's side, still bleeding. It wasn't hard to figure out who was responsible for that...

They were prowling, sniffing the air, furious. Their steps shook the floor and they batted aside office equipment like toys, tearing the place apart with ease. The room was barely big enough to hold the both of them. The larger of the two lifted one of it's heads and let out a bellowing, bone rattling roar that cut through the air like a buzzsaw.

My heart was pounding. What in Tartarus was I supposed to do here‽ How did this situation even come about? It'd almost be comically absurd if I wasn't so afraid for my life. I shuddered to think what might happen if they found me. They were practically foaming at the mouths!

I had a hoof over my mouth to try and quiet my breathing, almost hyperventilating. I could feel myself getting more and more tense with every step, shaking. I tucked myself down as small as I could be, wiling them both to leave me alone. One of them was sniffing at the other side of the desk, I could feel the wet air of it's exhales gust under me, any closer and I'd be in it's jaws. There was no other time in my life I could recall feeling fear like this.

Fortunately for me though, fate smiled upon me this time. A clang from the other side of the room must have caught the beast's attention as it paused and changed course, growling as it did so. I'd say the relief was palpable but there was no relief, I was still trapped in a room with two monsters and a mystery shooter.

At this point I noticed that my pistol was lying on the floor not too far away from me, the gunmare must have dropped it in the carnage. It was tantalisingly close, but it was out in the open, almost mockingly. If I wanted it I would have to leave my hiding spot. Was I that daring? I swung my gaze between the gun and the two orthroses, they were both investigating something in the opposite corner, attention fixed.

With a deep breath, I slid my barrel out from behind the desk, reaching out and grabbing the gun, taking it up in my mouth before slinking back. It was heavy and the old wooden handle stuck to my tounge and tasted like rot, but I had bigger things to worry about at the moment. Guns were easy right? Just point and pull the trigger, surely it couldn't be much harder than that. I didn't want to do any harm, but I might not have the choice.

This was not a good place to be, I had to get out of this carnage, I was a sitting duck waiting here. Being eaten by an angry Orthros wouldn't do anypony any good. I could backtrack to the stairs and keep going up until I was out of the building, I'd just had to be quiet. Hopefully I'd find help on the way up and once this mess was taken care of they could fix the spell for the Pegasus. Of course all that relied on successfully sneaking around these two brutes without getting torn apart. For a moment I envied the petrified mare downstairs, still inanimate, safe downstairs and blissfully unaware of what was happening up here.

I glanced back over to the gunmare's spot only to see she was no longer there. Somehow—completely unnoticed by me—she had joined me behind the desk. I almost yelped, thank the stars I had the weapon in my mouth or I would have given away our hiding spot. Her eyes were steely and cold, watching the creatures through a crack in the wood, glued to the floor. Silently, she lifted a flap on her saddlebag and pulled out some kind of rusty looking tin can with some wires coming off of it? Her horn lit up and she did something to the can, holding it above her head with her telekinesis. "Cover your ears." She mouthed, lobbing the can across the room and towards the orthroses, covering her head with her hooves as she did. I mimicked her, just about hearing the can clattering against the far wall.

BOOM

The room was rocked by an explosion, shockwave knocking the air out my lungs and sending debris flying. I felt it through our cover, and even though I'd followed her advice my ears were still ringing and muffled. A monotone howl droned over everything, and I opened my eyes just in time to see the gunmare stood up and firing repeatedly over the desk. I cannot overstate just how was devastatingly loud this situation was, so loud it physically hurt. My ears were still pinned against my head, but it was too little too late, everything already sounded muffled and muddy. I don't think my body would have allowed me to lift them even if I wanted to.

The next thing I knew I was tumbling through the air. The desk had split clean in two and both sides were sailing with me, chips and wood chunks flying past. The sensation of weightlessness only lasted for the briefest of moments before my back made very hard contact with something, slamming into it, deforming around it. The edge of my vision went dark as pain shot through my whole body like cold water, blinding agony spreading as I dropped to the floor limp and gasping. Stars danced in my vision as my head bounced off the floor, my jaw rebounding off my teeth. My whole body screamed out.

The culprit presented itself in front of me. A hulking monstrous canine head pressed up against me, teeth bared, dripping saliva, eyes ringing only death. Another head to it's side growled and grimaced, it's snout peppered with splinters from the desktop. It opened it's maw and flooded my world with the stench of hot carrion, biting down on the nape of my neck. I cried out as it's teeth pierced my skin and it slowly started to lift me off the ground, making it impossible for air to reach my lungs. I was being dragged. This was it, this was how it ended, in a living noose. In my head I said goodbye to everypony I knew and loved, and prayed to Celestia that it would be over quickly.

"Here boy!"

CRACK

Warm red blood splattered my side as the creature's head exploded. I dropped back to the floor as the other head yowled in pain.

CRACK

One of the remaining head's ears was reduced to shredded tatters, blood running down it's face. With a shriek it turned and ran, barrelling out of the room and leaving a crimson trail in it's wake. The lifeless corpse of the other orthros was laid out by the door, apparently having succumbed to the explosion, bloody chunks splattered across the wall and ceiling. The floor infront of me was caked in hunks of brain and skull, sharp fragments of bone poking up through the viscera. The sight burned itself into my mind. I'd never seen a dead animal before, I'd never seen uch violence. I don't think I would forget any time soon. It made me feel sick.

The room was now filled with smoke and embers, shreds of torn and burned paper swirled in the air. I gasped in breath after heaving breath, shuddering. Everything hurt. I seethed as I pushed myself onto my haunches, groaning and creaking, ribs protesting at the slightest movement. Tears were streaming down my face and I could feel the warm drip of my own blood down by neck. My back was killing me. A sudden sharp pain in my shoulders forced me back to the floor. I was shaking with adrenaline and fear, I had never felt a terror like this in my entire life.

But I was alive.

"Hey, you all in one piece?"

Her raspy voice sent a chill through me. It cut through loud and clear, caring little for my muddied hearing or ringing ears.

"Can you move? There'll be more on the way now, they know where we are."

Her. Whoever this mare was, she was incredibly dangerous. She'd shown no hesitation to pull a gun on me and was more than happy to throw around explosives with little regard for the consequences. I had no idea what she was doing with that computer, but what I did know was that she'd just obliterated two bloodthirsty predators with little effort. Despite everything, despite the spell and having just been at the mercy of a wild animal, fear clutched me strongest when she stood back in front of me, loading more bullets into her gun, scanning the now wide open entrance.

This absolutely could not be happening. This had to be some kind of nightmare, some kind of magic induced side effect from the cockatrice spell, a hideous psychotic episode playing out in in my head or something. The pain felt real but I absolutely could not believe that this was real life right now, everything about this was absurd. Things like this just didn't happen.

"C'mon, I really don't want to fight more of these things than we have to." She turned and offered me a hoof. I recoiled away feeling nothing but pure dread. The sudden movement did me no favours though, and I groaned as something clicked in my spine. She finally spared me a proper look, looking me up and down. "Oof, they did a number on you. Come on, up you get."

I felt the tingle of magic all over me as she scooped me up and gently placed me across her back, grunting with the effort. My joints protested being moved, but I didn't really have much say in the matter. "Jeez, you're heavy."

Pain and fear aside, I huffed. I was not heavy. I'm an Earth pony, I'm sturdy. It's hardly my fault she was so petite!

Slowly she set forward, trudging out of the room and back into the more open office environment. "Where are you taking me?" I managed, not really able to put up any kind of resistance.

"Out of here." She answered as vaguely as possible. "If you know a better way back up than the cargo ramp then I'm all ears, I'm pretty sure they followed me down that way." Almost on cue a distant howl sounded out, bouncing off the walls.

"Stairs. Th-there's a staircase in the hall to the left."

"Got it. Keep lookout for me."

Keep lookout? I was barely able to keep my head up, let alone be on guard for any more of those things. I felt like I was spinning, I was totally dazed and overwhelmed, not in any condition to do much of anything. I could see my own blood start to stain her jacket as it ran down my side, leaving a trail of drops on the floor.

"I-I need to get to a hospital."

"Yeah well we got to get out of this place first, then we can find you help."

I jostled and bounced uncomfortably across her back as she cantered around the corner, each little impact making me wince. "Mare downstairs still needs help." I grunted as the stairwell doorway came into view. The whole point of finding somepony was to fix whatever happened downstairs, I couldn't just leave her stuck like that.

"Look, we can get you help or we can get her help. If she's not dying right this second then it can wait until we're not being chased by duplets." She huffed, traipsing forwards. I said nothing. I did have a very bad feeling about leaving her alone, especially if this place was full of monsters, she very much wasn't going anywhere. In fact if there was one thing I could absolutely be sure of it was where she'd be at any given time moving forward. I was pretty sure these 'duplets' wouldn't even be able to get to her anyway, given the stuck door. I hoped not at least.

If there were monsters in here, it stood to reason the staff had been evacuated. If we got out of here we could find them. Then they can fix the spell and I can get paid, and never have to think about any of this ever again.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. We were being followed. Another orthros, or 'duplet' I suppose, was stalking us from around the corner. It was smaller than the other two, and had more fur, but was just as ugly, teeth bared from both it's mouths.

"Behind us!" I yipped as it began it's run up towards us. "Go, quick!"

"I'm trying!" The mare shouted back as she picked up the pace, managing a cumbersome unsteady gallop as I shook with her every step, swinging side to side, watching the foul creater draw closer as it broke into a sprint, thumping towards us.

The concrete doorframe sailed past my eyes as the mare dove onto the landing, sending us both skidding to the side wall. I slid off her back coming to a stop pressed against the base of the steps. Not a moment later the stairwell filled with the echoed snarls of the duplet as it barked and clawed at us, but didn't come any closer, thank Celestia.

Smaller it may have been, but this duplet's shoulders were still far too broad for it to fit through the doorway, keeping it from reaching us. Not for lack of trying, though. It was shoving against the frame, desperately trying to reach us, wildly clawing and managing to get scarily close, heads taking it in turns to snap at us from the threshold. Any closer and it's claws would have absolutely been able to reach us, tearing us both to shreds no doubt.

My heart was pounding, all I could do was stare at my would-be killer. A dumb, mindless animal out for nothing but blood. No thought behind it's eyes.

"Luna's teats I hate these things!" The gunmare groused, her voice still softened by the ringing in my ears. Coldly, she floated her gun up to eye level with the creature.

CRACK
CRACK
CRACK

I saw what was coming and had already folded my ears in advance. The beast shrieked and fell limp in a great pile, red splattered on the wall behind it, gore thrown around by the shots.

We were safe. For now at least.

"Gah, shooting indoors is the worst." The mare complained, flitting her ears. "I can't wait to be out of here."

I watched her warily, or as warily as I could given my position and condition. She definitely wasn't security or police, if anything she was more like a hunter. Not fearless in the face of danger, but definitely more together than I was. I had no reason to doubt she could turn on me if she wanted to. Hells, she didn't hesitate at all to put me in her sights not five minutes ago! And now she was helping me get away. I didn't know what her angle was here, but truth be told the very real threat of being eaten was occupying most of my thoughts. And either way I was hardly in any position to argue, I was actually beginning to feel a little faint. Too much had happened to me in too little time, my senses were absolutely fried. I was pretty sure that was shock setting in, but I was by no means a medical expert.

She kicked the corpse, I guess making sure it was dead. Seemingly satisfied with the lack of any sort of response, she trotted over and joined me at the bottom of the stairs, pulling more bullets out of a pocket and sliding them into her gun while staring up into the middle distance. "Guess there's no chance you're feeling good enough to be up on your hooves?"

I couldn't really formulate the words to respond, I just grunted as I fought to stay awake.

"Thought not." She replied, pumping the gun and slinging it around her neck. I once again felt her aura all around me as I slowly floated into the air. She started up the stairs almost hesitantly, bringing me not far behind, sighing. "This is going to suck."

I slid in and out of consciousness as we ascended. I could have sworn we were moving slower every time I came to but I had no real measure for it. Images of razor sharp teeth and bloody messes plagued my mind.

I had no idea exactly how long we were climbing for. Every step, every landing, every floor, they all looked identical, dull endless concrete. The only real change was the sensation of the cold floor on my aching side as I was placed down. My eyes creaked open in time to see the gunmare flop down in front of me, panting and sweating, clutching at her head around her horn.

"Buck, never... hah... doing that again." She exhaled, rubbing her temples. "Gah, no more magic today."

A cursory look around revealed we'd reached the top of the stairs, and they had actually changed. The concrete had given way to rusted metal floors and cinderblock walls. Dull light struggled in through a cloudy window on a solitary door, the soft patter of rain audible through the ceiling. How far up had we gone? Any more than that though I couldn't tell, my vision was already swirling and I didn't want to make it any worse, it was already unpleasant enough. My head was pounding.

The mare had fished out a small flask from her jacket and was gulping down water. I hadn't realised how thirsty I was until now, my mouth was horribly dry. She must have noticed me looking, her eyes meeting mine for a second, raising her eyebrows in recognition. "How're we doing... science team?... Still with me? Almost out now. I hope."

"You hope?"

"Gotta... gotta figure out a way down."

Down? We're too high up now? Fine. Whatever. I didn't care anymore, I just wanted to be out of here. The sooner I got to a doctor the better, I needed painkillers and really wanted to have the bite on my neck looked at before it became infected. And a shower, stars I desperately needed a shower, Celestia knows how much shampoo I'd need to get this much blood out of my coat. I knew it wasn't all mine but I'm not sure if that made me feel better or worse about it. I was getting sticky either way.

The mare shifted, stretching her legs out and shaking her head before standing up. "Alright, I'm gonna have a look, wait here a minute."

As if I was going anywhere.

She pushed on the bar and the door screeched open, hinges grinding. A cacophony of caws and flapping wings filled the air, a few loose feathers ending up inside.

Daylight streamed in, stinging my eyes a little but still a welcome change from the constant red tinged semi-darkness. And fresh air at last! A cool breeze drifted in from outside and I realised just how stale and musty the whole building had been. I would be glad to be out of here for good.

"Let's see what we're working with." The mare mused to herself, propping the door open with her saddlebags and stepping outside.

Alone again. I didn't know how long she'd be, but for the moment I allowed myself to just enjoy the quiet and the breeze. Not really relaxing per se, but a minute free of any more stress at least. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the respite, however long it may be. I knew the hospital was going to be more stress, albeit far less life threatening, so this may have been the last moment of quiet I had for a while.

I almost didn't notice the tapping it was so faint. Light and rhythmic, pausing every so often. It got more frequent and chaotic until it was joined by a quick fluttering. I flicked and eye open only to see I was being stared down by birds. Stood in front of me, perched on the door, peeking around the frame. More were joining in every second. It was actually a little unnerving.

A braver one hopped right up to me, regarding me with a tilted head. I think they were crows or ravens or something like that. Large and dark. I'd never had a bird get this close to me before, or at least one that wasn't actively trying to steal food from me. I could see it in good detail. It was missing feathers in patches and seemed to be shattered with scratches. "Been in the wars, huh? Me too." I cooed as it hopped even closer-

"Ow!"

It bit me! The little bugger nipped right at my nose! I don't think it broke skin but it still hurt! I glared at is as another fluttered over to investigate me, getting what I now considered worryingly close. "Hey! I'm not food!"

It didn't care to listen, it bit me too, grabbing at my fetlock. "Stop it!" I whined, shifting my leg out of the way. Apparently this was the rallying cry the rest of the flock were waiting for as the slowly hopped and glided the shirt distance over to me and began attacking. They were pecking at me! Their beaks were pointy, it was like being poked by a load of twigs or being pinched by tweezers, and I was already tender. "Leave me alone!" I weakly tried to bat them away, shifting as best I could to move, sliding along ground in a probably pretty pathetic way, but it was all I could manage.

I wasn't aware just how close I was to the edge of the stairs until I suddenly felt no floor beneath my back. Sadly it was too late for me to move back by that point and I sank all the way over the edge, tumbling down, rolling hooves over back until I crashed into the wall below, slamming the back of my head and giving me an instant migrane and sent my mind swimming. As I looked up the stairs I saw dozens of beady black eyes staring back at me, bird perched on the bannister, probably waiting to start their attack again, and this time I'd be out cold.

After everything that happened to me today, a flock of crows is what took me out? Not a monstrous horror, not an armed stranger, a common bird? I think there was some irony in there, somewhere.

"Okay, I think I found- oh for Celestia's sake, shoo! Get outta here!" The mare walked back in and waved her forehooves around, sending the birds flying in all directions. With no more energy left, my vision started to go dark as I drifted away. The last thing I saw before I passed out was the gunmare clambering down the stairs towards me, ducking under panicking corvids. "What am I gonna do with you?" She asked, presumably rhetorically.

Everything went black, the world fell away once again.