Just as he was about to say something, a gentle suggestion about moving on, there was a crackle just over his head, the stench of ozone flooded his nostrils, and something popped into existence just above him. Down it came, cracking him on the skull, complete with a hollow-sounding TA-CHONK! Before it could fall to the floor, he caught it, held it up, and had a better look at the curious object that had just come out of nowhere to assault him. 

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Done with the intent of luring in new readers. It is rated M, but it is not a story drenched in sex. No porn to be found here. It does, however, deal with adult themes. It is a science fiction story, first and foremost. Some of it, I feel, is quite fascinating, but what do I know? I think mold growth on medieval paintings is fascinating and I spend hours reading about it. Hours that I'll never get back...

But I digress.

Warning, weirdness ahead.

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The most worrisome thing about his companions was their silence and Tarnish’s concern grew with each passing minute. Rainbow Dash was clutching her head, cupping her hoof over her swollen eye. Vinyl appeared to be exhausted, but was trying to help Rainbow. Daring Do stood near the door, her ears pricked, listening for the sounds of trouble.

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Nopony ever truly appreciated the power of wanton destruction until they saw the evidence of it. The battle that had taken place here, Tarnish had trouble believing that there had been any victors. Had any survived? How had this ended? All of the unicorns had gone mad and… then what? Battled each other to the last, locked together in magic-induced hatred? The artificial ley line at least explained some of what happened here, with its power boost and its effect upon sanity, but the

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The battlefield remained unsalvaged. Tarnish’s eyes swept over the bodies of the automatons, many of which were half buried in the snow. From the looks of things, there had been no further signs to reclaim the scrapped mechanoids, no effort made to reacquire and recycle. Tarnish knew that Vinyl was worried about the morality of just leaving the booby traps here in this place, which would soon be buried beneath the snow.

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The graffiti upon the walls was far too grim for Tarnish’s liking. He took a moment to stare, thinking about all of the unpleasant implications, and wondering why the ancient pegasus ponies of old would need to have a discussion as to where the soul rested in the body. These words weren’t like the others, and Tarnish, for whatever reason, wasn’t entirely certain that they were scrawled by a pegasus, but he didn’t want to make a tribalist statement, even by accident.

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It was Rainbow who went over to where the crystal rod was, buried beneath a pile of half-disintegrated bones. She picked it up with her wing and was quite startled when it began to play. She held it in her primaries, her eyes wide, and soft wicker of confusion could be heard deep in her throat.

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Vinyl’s curiousity was rewarded when she found an overturned stone block, and she flipped it over. Beneath it was an ancient brass plate, and on the plate was beautiful, flowing script that she couldn’t read. The others stopped talking, came over, and began to examine the sign with Vinyl, who had put on the artifact spectacles.

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Sanctuary was now beyond their reach. Tarnish felt peculiar and had trouble remembering everything that had happened in the past day or so. He had trouble finding his way out of the maze of passages that he had followed to reach the door to the Moochik’s Study. It was only after a lot of searching did they return to the round room with the painting of the Tree of Harmony, and the passage that led back out. Tarnish hurried, avoiding any lingering in the dangerous room, and he did not look

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The door, broad and brilliant orange, was an imposing barrier, but Tarnish knew that it would open for him. It had no keyholes, no visible locks, nor did it need them. This was a door locked by destiny, bound by purpose, and before it even opened, Tarnish knew that there would be only stone on the other side—at least for others.

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With some material I've been putting the finishing touches on.

“That’s the Tree of Harmony!” Rainbow squealed as she went to Tarnish’s side, grabbed his foreleg, and hung on for dear life. “I’ve seen it! That’s the tree! You gotta believe me!”

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Shield held forward, Tarnish crept down the hallway, leading his companions. Daring didn’t like this formation, but Tarnish was the best position to use his shield. The lights flickered with a pale, cold, yellow-orange light that made his eyes water. Below him, on the floor, was an artificial ley line, which bothered him a great deal, because he recalled Maledico’s warnings about them.

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She had found something, a cartouche that still had faint lettering that could be seen. It sat at the base of an ornamental sundial that had stylistic renditions of the heavenly bodies, and then, while Vinyl was reading the cartouche, Tarnish’s blood ran cold because he saw two symbols he recognised. It was unmistakable, he was seeing Princess Celestia’s sun cutie mark, and Princess Luna’s mark as well. With some steam, he cleared away more snow for a better look.

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At the edge of his vision, Tarnish saw something in one of the two rooms, the one on the left. In the otherwise empty room, he saw what he thought was a pile of trash, but after one of Vinyl’s magical globes of light floated over to it, Tarnish saw that it was some mummified, freeze-dried remains.

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The office building, and Tarnish was certain that it was an office building, because what else could it be—was remarkably well preserved. The hinges still held, still functioned, and heavy doors made of some strange metal could be opened. Tarnish did not recognise the metal, and he was almost certain that Maud wouldn’t recognise it either. The building was short, squat, and maybe four stories high. In a strange stroke of coincidence, the windows were all still intact.

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In studying cold weather survival for Skyreach, I learned about a shocking fact involving heat.

Abandon all sanity, all ye who enter here!

Okay, you ever had one of those searing hot farts that feel like a greasy ball of superheated gas that comes rolling up from between your cheeks? I don't mean the hot pepper capsaicin farts, I mean those farts where the gas itself feels as hot as the sun?

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Here's one. A .50 calibre rifle.

In The Mask Makes the Pony, I mention air guns there as well. There are some really, really powerful air guns, including sniper rifles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_gun

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In a rather unexpected move, Vinyl went into the wreck. Tarnish followed, worried, with Rainbow Dash and Daring Do moving to catch up. There was a puddle of frozen blood on the floor, which belonged to Daring Do. She looked down at it as she stepped over it, and then lifted her head to stare at Tarnish.

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Using his shield, Tarnish smashed open the heavy padlock on the locked cabinet in the kitchen, hoping and expecting to find a treasure trove of delicious food. With his telekinesis, he yanked open the reinforced steel door and looked inside, eager for fantastic. What he found left him quite curious. There were liquor bottles a plenty, which he didn’t care about, and lots of canned goods.

Lifting a can, he read the label. “Creamed rice pudding.”

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