Grimm leaned back in the Overmare's chair and propped his hindlegs up on the table, enjoying a nice long drag from his cigarette. Suddenly, the device on his foreleg began to beep and when he lifted it up to see what the problem was, he saw that it was his boss calling in. He pressed the button and soon enough he heard his boss' voice.

"Grimm, what the hell is taking so long in that Stable? You've been in there for days!" Grimm rolled his eyes and put out his cigarette before answering.

"Well boss the thing is, the only Stable-fucker that was willing to cooperate with us is an extremely slow worker, and it's not like we can just shoot him." He could hear his boss sigh over the other end before answering.

"Well if you can't shoot him, then remind him just how serious we are and 'encourage' him to work faster, understand?" Grimm smiled.

"Hell yes! I mean, understood sir."

"Good, now what about those two escapees you told me about. Will they be a problem?"

"Not for much longer, I've already contracted a couple of assassins to take care of them."

"Isn't that a bit extreme for a couple of Stable dwellers?"

"Sir, with all due respect, you haven't seen what these bastards are capable of, not to mention that they've got a protector of some sort that's killed every squad that I've sent after them."

"Very well, just make sure that they're taken care of. I'll be expecting an update within the next few days. Don't disappoint me." And with that, the line went dead, and Grimm turned over to face the soldier on his left.

"Go grab that Stable-boy and one of the prisoners." The trooper nodded and disappeared into the hallway and within minutes he returned with the technician and a random prisoner, both with terrified expressions on their faces. Grimm smiled and walked over to the two of them.

"Do either of you know why you're here?" They both shook their heads, and Grimm walked over to the prisoner.

"You're here because this fucker is doing all he can to slow us down." Grimm then looked over to the technician.

"And you're here because I'm going to teach you a lesson in work ethic." They both had looks of confusion plastered on their faces until Grimm drew his revolver and pointed it at the prisoner. He walked over to her and put the revolver to her head.

"Do you know what happens now?" She whimpered quietly and began to shake.

"Please, just let me go." Grimm's demeanor didn't change in the slightest.

"ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION! Do you know what happens now?" Tears began to form in her eyes as she answered.

"You're going to kill me?" Grimm nodded.

"Yes, but do you know why?" She shook her head, and he leaned in next to her ear.

"You die, because of him. In doing absolutely nothing, he has failed me, and in failing me he has also failed you. And now you die because of his incompetence." And without a second thought, Grimm pulled the trigger. He then walked over to the technician.

"In case I haven't made this clear enough yet let me explain. For every week that vault down there stays sealed, I'll execute another prisoner, and I will continue doing so until I run out of prisoners, or you get that fucking door open, got it?" The technician nodded his head and Grimm smiled.

"Good answer, now get back to work!" The technician scurried off like a roach and Grimm lit himself another cigarette.

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"Geez, when you said she wasn't local, you weren't joking." Boomer turned back to face Chance before replying.

"Bitching and moaning won't make this trip any shorter, so please just shut up already!" Chance simply rolled his eyes while Amber attempted to take everyone's minds off of their long journey.

"How about some music?" She flipped her pipbuck radio on, but all she got was static. Quickly coming to the conclusion that they were out of broadcast range, she shut it off. Chance looked over to Boomer.

"So how far are we from your friend anyway?"

"Actually we're almost there now, I'd say maybe a few more minutes and we'll be there."

"Thank fucking Celestia." Boomer hot him a glance and Chance simply shrugged. He shook his head and turned back to face the road ahead of him.

After a few more minutes of walking, they came across a well put together shack, and Boomer walked up and knocked on the door. After a few moments passed and no one answered he knocked again, this time significantly harder. Boomer was about ready to kick the door down when he felt the barrel of a gun press against his head, and he heard the sound of a stealth-buck deactivating. Both Chance and Amber drew their weapons and pointed them at the mystery pony, when suddenly they heard it speak.

"Boomer, is that you?" His eyes widened and he turned over to her.

"Violet, why the hell do you have a gun aimed at my head?" She put her weapon away and took off her helmet revealing a rather beautiful unicorn mare with a purple coat and a blue mane.

"Sorry about the gun, I just don't get too many visitors out here, and I certainly wasn't expecting to see you." Boomer smiled.

"Well, I'm just full of surprises." She rolled her eyes, and noticed that the two ponies with him still had their weapons drawn and aimed at her. Boomer turned over to them.

"You can put those away, this is my friend that I told you about." They hesitantly holstered their weapons, while Violet turned to Boomer.

"I get the feeling that this isn't a social visit." Boomer shook his head.

"We need your help."

"Oh, of course you do. Well come on inside and make yourselves at home." They followed her inside and discovered that the inside of the shack was surprisingly well maintained and had plenty of furniture that looked much more comfortable than what they had grown used to since stepping out of the Stable. Once they were finally seated they discovered that the furniture was just as comfortable as it looked, and Amber nearly sank down into it.

"So, what is it that you need from me?" Boomer looked over to his friend.

"We're looking for some information, and I know that you still have informants all over the wasteland." Chance sat up in his chair upon hearing this.

"What the hell do you have informants for?" She looked over to him and smiled.

"I'm a mercenary, in this business it pays to have informants, quite literally." She looked back over to Boomer.

"So who do you want to know about?"

"A unicorn named Grimm, know anything about him?" Upon hearing that name, Violet's entire demeanor changed. Her smile was quickly replaced by an expression that displayed only fear.

"Boomer, listen to me, whatever you think you know about that stallion you don't." Boomer stood up and walked over to her.

"Then maybe you should begin telling me about him. Like why did he have his troops attack a Stable to the south of here?"

"He only does what he's told, he probably doesn't even know why he did it." Boomer became confused.

"You mean he isn't the one in charge?" She shook her head.

"No, he's just a lieutenant that takes his orders from someone even worse."

"What's his name?"

"His name is Allistair, and if he's involved in this, then all you can do is pray that he doesn't come after you. He is a ruthless monster that will do whatever it takes to get what he wants." Boomer became curious.

"That's extremely specific." Violet rolled her eyes.

"Of course it is, I used to work for the bastard!" Everyone was caught a little off guard by the confession.

"How long ago was this?" She shook her head.

"About a year and a half ago, the money was good so I didn't ask questions. I'd just do an occasional odd job for him here or there, most often they were search and destroy or assassinations. But then one day I saw him talking to this ghoul, and he told me that he wanted me to find him a Stable to the south, and that it was the key to the throne of the wasteland. I figured that he was beginning to lose it so I just took what he owed me and I walked. Looks like the joke is on me huh?" Boomer shook his head.

"What was it Violet? What was he looking for?" She shook her head.

"I don't know, all I know is that it was worth the trek here to get."

"What do you mean by 'the trek' to get here?"

"Well, he was based somewhere in Trottingham , which is a good distance from here, not to mention that the wasteland surrounding it is extremely dangerous." This got everyone's attention.

"Then you're right, it must be pretty fucking important, and bad news for us." Violet levitated a piece of paper over to Boomer and placed it in his saddlebag.

"That's a map to the Trottingham wastes, don't lose it." Boomer nodded.

"Thank you Violet." She nodded.

"Just get over there and stop him before he can see his plans through." Boomer nodded, and once they got what they needed, they left the shack. Once they were sure that they were safe, Boomer took out the map that Violet had given him and looked it over.

"Holy fuck, this is going to be one hell of journey. This is at least a few weeks journey, and that's if we don't stop to eat or sleep." Chance rolled his eyes.

"This is just great." Amber gave him a whack over the head.

"What the hell was that for?" Amber gave him a stern look.

"Bitching isn't going to make this any better, so for your own sake, suck it up and get used to it!" Chance nodded his head and Boomer gave a light chuckle.

"Well then, I guess it's time that we start walking." And with that, they began their long journey to the Trottingham wastes.