As the sun set below the horizon, my small group had only made it a short distance from where we started before Bolts collapsed on the ground. With the little bit of light left I was only just able to make out his white coat, as well as Mintals who wasn’t too far behind him. Starry, on the other hoof, was damn near invisible in the dark of night.

“I… I think that’s far enough for now Clear.” Bolts sighed out. “We’ve made some progress, now it’s time to actually relax.” To tell the truth, even I was feeling the fatigue from our non-stop walking. Even though we had been set back by the ghouls, and I wanted to keep going to finally reach the next town, I could feel my legs turning to jelly. Slowly I turned to face Bolts and Mintals, still not seeing Starry through the darkness.

“Ok, we can rest here for the night, but we still have to find some firewood.” Just as I finished speaking, a pile of sticks dropped from the sky and landed in front of me. My mouth dropped open in shock and surprise, I almost jumped back in fright but the pain in my legs held me firm on the ground. Was this some sort of sign from the heavens? (Whoever is up there, please send food next time.) As I finished my thought I looked up and through the ever-darkening surroundings, I could just make out Starry.

“I had a feeling you would need some firewood so I picked some up along the way.” I just stared back into her eyes that floated a few metres above me. If she hadn’t of spoken I wouldn’t have even noticed her. “What’s with the weird look?”

“I… well… you just took me by surprise is all. You really blend in with the night time sky and you’re really quiet.”

“You can thank my parents for my coat colour. You can thank The Enclave for the quiet flying.” With that, Starry slowly drifted down to the ground. I knew pegasi were supposed to be pretty quiet while flying but I could barely hear the beat of her wings as she descended. “Are you just going to stand there or are we going to get a fire started?” she said, snapping me out of my train of thought.

“R-right, let me just get my lighter.”

Soon we had a good fire going and we were finally able to lay down and relax. Bolts and I had just about exhausted the small amount of supplies Barley had given us in Merry Burrows. Thankfully, both Starry and Mintals had their own food to eat so none of us had to go hungry. As we sat in silence around the campfire, and as the darkness kept surrounding us as evening carried on into night, I noticed something. Bolts had stuck closer to me than he had beforehand and it seemed like he kept looking more and more towards Starry, though he tried to hide it. Starry and Mintals were the complete opposite however. They sat on the opposite side of the camp fire and while they were close as well, Mintals seemed to be avoiding eye contact. (Could she be hiding something? Or is she just timid like I think?)

“So where are you two from anyway?” Starry says, bringing the silence and my thoughts to a grinding halt.

“Oh… well I’m from a small town called Sunny Springs and Bolts is from a hole in the ground.” My joke didn’t seem to sit right with Bolts as he kicked me slightly. It seemed that though he wanted nothing more than to leave the Steel Ranger bunker and come to the surface, he still held feelings for his old home. Shaking off the kick, I looked back at Starry before she continued.

“So why are you out here? You said you had a promise to keep?”

“Yeah…” I looked away from the dark mare. “I made a promise to my little sister that I’d clean up the wasteland. There’s so many damn slavers and raiders out there, it’s no place for a young filly to… to grow up…”

“Aww, that’s sweet.” Mintals said with a smile. “but I’m sure she misses her big brother more than anything. What’s her name?”

“Her name is… was… Joyful Days.”

“Was? Didn’t she like it?” Starry piped up again. “I guess it isn’t really uncommon for a pony to want to change their name, but she sounds so young.”

“And the name was cute, what did she change it to?” The two mares didn’t seem to understand that my little sister was no longer with us, even though I must have looked distant.

“My sister… she…”

“Clear’s sister is dead.” Bolts finally spoke up and his words caused me to whip my head back round to face him. He said it in such a cold manner, I felt like whacking him over the head with the butt of my rifle while my face clearly showed my pained anger. But I quickly noticed that both Starry and Mintals had changed their expressions as well. Starry now had a look of shock on her face while Mintals bowed her head in embarrassment and sorrow.

“I… I’m sorry, we didn’t know…” Starry said, looking to try and make things right.

“It’s fine.” I quickly replied and my expression softened. “It’s not like we haven’t really gotten to know one another yet… My little sister Joy was killed by slavers. They had originally taken a young filly from each of the surrounding towns but they saw no use in my little sister, so they…”

“They just killed her?” Starry asks, she was leaning forward, the story must have enticed her somewhat.

“Yes, they did.” Of course I didn’t tell them the whole story, about what else those sick fucks of slavers did to her. In reality, that’s the part I wanted to forget the most. “So I made a promise that I would clean up every slaver and raider den that I could. That being said, I couldn’t very well do that from home. When I made the promise I knew I wouldn’t be able to completely rid the wasteland of slavers, but I’m hoping that I’ll at least make some difference. So here I am.”

“Wow~ such a noble goal” Mintals said, finally looking up and smiling at me. I don’t know what it was, but there was something warming about her smile and her innocence, she reminded me a lot about Joy and just like with Joy, I was able to smile back easily.

“So what about you, ranger boy?” Starry turned to Bolts. “Why did you leave your hole in the ground?” Bolts gave glare towards Starry as well as a loud ‘hmph’ before actually answering her.

“The Elder was starting to be a pain. He rarely let anyone go up to the surface, only recon teams and ponies going out to secure supplies. Everyone HAD to stay locked up in that damn bunker. I kept trying to tell him that we needed to make more contact with those on the surface, maybe then we could help get Equestria back up and running again. But nooooo, that old bastard wasn’t having any of it.” Bolts’ voice began to rise, now he was the one that was angry. “He keeps believing that if we go up to the surface then we’ll be MORE vulnerable. He believes we’ll shorten our numbers, have our ranks thinned by attacks, deserters and the bunker won’t be as protected if we send rangers to help others.” As Bolts continued his rant, Starry looked like she regretted asking the question and Mintals wanted to go hide somewhere until it was over. Even I felt myself slowly moving away from Bolts until he gave a loud grunt followed by a long sigh. “He doesn’t know how bad it is up here…” His voice had finally returned to normal. “That’s why I left, I was sick of being locked up in the bunker while I didn’t know what was happening on the surface. Now I want nothing more than to help Clear fulfil his promise to his sister.” I could feel the smile from before creep back onto my face. “After all, it’s the best way I can help and somepony has to make sure he doesn’t get killed along the way.” (Aaaaand it’s gone again…)

“Heh, seems like we’re not so different after all.” Starry said with a small laugh before we all fell back into silence. Moments passed where the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. That was true until Bolts spoke up.

“So, what about you two?”

“What do you mean?” Starry replied.

“We shared our stories. Now it’s your turn to tell us about why you’re out here.”

“Pfft! No, I don’t have to do that.” Starry laughed at Bolts.

“What are you saying? It’s only fair!”

“Listen, ranger boy, your lives may be a couple of open books, but that doesn’t mean mine is and I’m sure Minty here doesn’t want to recall her past either.” I could see the frustration creeping onto Bolts’ face. I could tell that if I didn’t do something quickly, my new little group was going to tear itself apart.

“Look here, feather brain! You’re traveling with other ponies now, you have to give a little.”

“How dare you talk to me like that, you walking tin can!”

“I don’t even have armour. Oh wow, you’re blind as well!” Bolts mocked her. Starry stood up. I could tell she was about to leap across the fire and start a brawl with Bolts. Mintals decided to hide her face again, not wanting to see the fight that was about to ensue.

“Why you little…” Starry crouched ready to leap and Bolts braced for the inevitable impact but just as Starry leapt, I raised my voice.

“ENOUGH!” I called out loud enough that my voice echoed in the darkness. The sudden yell caused Starry to stop mid jump, spread her wings and quickly flap backwards, causing her to kick dirt up and cause the fire to flicker. Both Starry and Bolts looked at me, surprised by the sudden outburst. “Will you both stop your stupid fighting? For Celestia’s sake, you sound like a couple of foals.” The two ponies looked at each other then quickly turned away with a huff. “Bolts, you’re right, being in a group means you have to give a little. That goes the same for you.” Bolts didn’t acknowledge that he even heard me. I could already tell it’ll be a while before we all started working as a team. “Now Starry, please, just tell us what you’re comfortable telling us, it’s a fair trade.” Starry didn’t bother to look at me either, she just grumbled.

“I’ve already told you all I want you to know. I was in the Enclave, I’m not any more, I left to see the world and I’m not getting one of those stupid Dashite brands on my flanks. The Dashites may wear it as a badge of honour but I’m not about ready to give up who I am.”

“There, that wasn’t so hard.” I said, trying to lighten the mood but Starry wasn’t having any of it. With a sigh I turned to the timid orange mare beside her. “What about you Minty? Why did you decide to leave the Hoof?”

“She doesn’t have to tell you anything!” Starry seemed very protective of her friend.

“N-no… it’s ok…” Mintals finally spoke up. “They can know.” She turned to me and out of the corner of my eye I could see Bolts turn back as well, wanting to listen. “I come from Flank…” Her words didn’t seem to faze Bolts or myself, having not actually been to The Hoof before.

“So what’s bad about Flank?” Bolts asked before I got the chance to.

“It’s… I guess you could call it the slums of The Hoof. It’s a place filled with violence, drugs and prostitution. That’s where I come in…” Mintals seemed shy to go on further, but she continued none the less. “There was no way I was prepared to sell my body like other mares there… so I did what I could to learn how to make chems… so long as I made the ponies drugs… they… they didn’t hurt me…”

“So you lived your life making drugs? I guess that explains why you’re so good at it then.” Bolts piped up. “But weren’t you worried about them overdosing?”

“Of course I did!… but they just can back for more and more and more… I had had enough of watching ponies around me die because of the lives they lead… so one day, I packed up and was about to leave when…”

“When what?” I asked, it was now my turn to lean forward, enticed.

“She was confronted by three of her ‘clients’” Starry butted in. “It was when the two of us met. I came down from the clouds wondering where I should go when I noticed three stallions cornering her in an alleyway. She looked really scared and just before I stepped in I heard part of the conversation. They told Minty that if she didn’t give them their fix, they’d just have to get pleasure out of her some other way.” Mintals shrunk away wanting to forget the confrontation. “So I did what I had to do. I told them to piss off, and when they didn’t I kicked them down. When they got back up and still didn’t leave, I put a bullet into each other their skulls.”

“Geez! That got dark real fast.” Bolts backed up in slight shock.

“It was already a dark scene when I arrived, I’m just glad I got there when I did. Minty was thankful for what I did but I could tell she needed protection. She looked too innocent for the area. So we decided to leave and head South and here we are.” The two mares shared a warm smile with each other, I could tell they’d been traveling for a little while before meeting up with us and that they were two ponies who could depend on each other.

“So you don’t know if Flank has changed at all?” I asked curiously, to which Mintals shook her head.

“I’ve only been gone about a week but I doubt it’s changed much. The ponies who relied on me to get their fix would have moved on to somepony else. I wish that someday they would all just realise what they’re doing and stop… I wish Flank could be cleaned up…”

“Well, there’s nothing in the world that’s impossible.” I said, trying to console her. “Who knows, maybe one day it will.” A small smile appeared on her face which I smiled back at. “In any case, we still have a few days to go before we reach Brismane, I think we should all get some rest.”

“Finally, I’ve been needing one since we stopped.” Bolts said as he laid down and rolled onto his side and within moments, the sound of snoring became louder than the fire. Mintals and Starry hadn’t laid down but simply rested on each other, Starry was still awake, much like I was.

“Sorry about Bolts, he can be a little excessive sometimes, I guess we both can be…”

“It’s fine, he and I just come from different groups and walks of life. There’s bound to be some grinding between us before it’s all smoothed out. I guess I’ll try to give a little sometimes, though he has to as well.”

“I’ll make sure to talk to him later.” I smiled at her. “I hope Mintals can have a better life down here… it’s still dangerous, but at least she won’t be forced to do stuff like what she did back in Flank.”

“Thank you, I just wanted her to be happy as well, I’m sure we’ll find somewhere for her here. Sleep well, Clear Shot.” Starry gave me a final smile before resting her head on Mintals’ and falling fast asleep. I stayed up a little while longer, enjoying the silence and just being alone with my thoughts, though none seemed to really bother me tonight. Eventually, sleep’s embrace took me and as I laid next to the dying fire, I felt safer than I had in a while.

For the first time in a week I had a soundless sleep. No nightmares to make me wake in a cold sweat. From what I could remember I hadn’t dreamt at all during the night, but as they say, no dream is better than a nightmare. As I was still enjoying my slumber, however, I ended up getting rudely awoken by one of my companions.

“Clear Shot. Hey, Clear Shot, wake up.” Starry said as she nudged me awake. It took a moment, but finally with sleep filled eyes, I sat up.

“Hmm, huh? Oh Starry, what’s the matter?” it was then that I noticed that Mintals and Bolts were also awake, but something was off about them. Bolts had taken the stance that he usually took before drawing his laser pistol and Mintals was hiding behind him. “What’s going on?” I asked again in a more forward tone, now more awake and alert.

“We’ve got company coming.”

“What do you mean, company?” Without even opening her mouth, Starry raised a hoof and pointed in the direction Bolts had been facing. It was now that I realised that even she had put her battle-saddle on. Quickly I turned my head and saw it. A large cart was heading our way, drawn by a couple of Brahmin. No, it was more like a coach, but a part from the couple of Brahmin at the front, there was no pony in sight. Usually there would be a pony on the top with reins guiding the Brahmin where to go, but even without my rifle, I could tell that no pony was there. Slowly but surely, the coach pulled up to us and stopped side on, having one of its large, blank sides face us, just a few metres in front of us. Slowly I got ready to draw my weapons, when suddenly I heard a ‘clunk’ come from the mysterious coach. Before I knew it, the entire side that was facing us swung down and created a platform. I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was…

“A stage?” Starry said out loud to herself. (Yes Starry, a stage.) Before us was a stage. The side of the coach creating a platform while old, dusty, blue curtains draped over the back in an old but elegant fashion and finally on the far left of the stage sat an old record player on a dusty white pedestal. It had to be one of the oddest things I had ever seen in the wasteland, but it was only going to get weirder. Just before I opened my mouth to call out to anyone inside, I noticed a magical aura envelop the record player and turned it on. Within seconds music started to fill the wasteland. It was a jaunty tune, like one that was used on the radio to try and sell Sparkle Cola. As the song started to kick up, out from the side of the stage jumped a red stallion, dressed in a blue and white striped suit, bearing a cutie mark of stacks of bottle caps and wearing one of the biggest smiles I had ever seen in the wasteland. If what I hadn’t already seen this morning was enough to weird me out, he then began to sing.

As the mysterious stallion took in a breath to begin the next part of his song, he looked down on us. We had nothing but looks of disbelief and confusion on our faces. Out of everything that could have come through here, raiders, slavers, ghouls, wild animals, we got a strange stallion who had performed a musical number in front of us. But as he saw the odd looks on our faces, he released the breath he took in as a sigh and stopped the record player with his magic.

“I guess nobody really enjoys a good musical number anymore…” he said with a downtrodden expression.

“Ummm… excuse me.” I called out. “But who are you and what was with the singing just now?” The stallion seemed to perk up almost instantly at my questions.

“Well my dear boy, my name is Gyp, that’s G – Y – P, Gyp. I’m a traveling salespony you see, a merchant of sorts and that singing just now? Why I’m just trying to keep the spirit of salesmanship and showmanship alive. Way back in the day the Great Flim Flam brothers travelled across Equestria selling their wares and quickly became the faces of Equestrian industries. Yes, sir, they were famous for putting on a show as they sold everything to the awe-struck ponies and their award winning smiles helped as well, I’m just trying to keep their legacy going.” The stallion, Gyp, put his hoof to his chest in a show of respect for the Flim Flam brothers. I was dumbfounded, the stallion spoke with great speed as he explained who he was and what the show was all for. I wasn’t the only one either, I looked around my group, they all had their heads cocked slightly, trying to make heads or tails about what was going on.

“Riiight… you said you were a salespony?” I said, still very much on edge.

“Indeed I did, son. I’m a roaming trader, hired by the great Gun Runners of New Sydneigh aka, Safeway.” For some reason, the stallion seemed to address anyone younger than him as if they were a foal.

“Gun Runners? So you sell weapons?” I asked, finally understanding. We might finally be able to get some ammunition.

“Not just weapons, me boy. We, and specifically I, sell weapons, armours, ammunition of all shapes and sizes as well as weapon modifications to give that old beat up gun of yours the kick and pizazz it needs.” (He better not be referring to my sniper with that comment…) “Yes sir, we pride ourselves on service, each item is made on site and ready for use.”

“Oh that’s excellent, we were starting to run low on ammunition. I was worried we would have to wait even longer before we could top up.” The look of confusion had left my face and one of relief had replaced it. While it hadn’t happened yet with my companions, I could see they were starting to warm to the odd stallion.

“Well then, look no further. Please, step into my office.” Gyp quickly moved back through the side of the stage he came from and just before we could step up onto the stage, the curtains at the back parted and behind them was a small store that could have been confused for a mobile armoury. My jaw dropped as I saw the weapons mounted on the back wall while Gyp stood in front of them, behind a counter. “So what can I get for you this fine morning?” Finally finding my voice (and my legs), I moved up to the counter with small group. I had noticed that both Bolts’ and Starry’s eyes were darting back and forth looking at the different weapons while Mintals stayed back, not caring for the reason behind the shop.

“Well, first we need ammo for my sniper and my revolver.” I said placing the heavy handgun on the counter. “I’d say ten magazines worth for the sniper and forty revolver rounds.” Without a second thought, Gyp placed the requested amount of ammunition on the counter. Needless to say, I was surprised. I had a hard enough time finding those rounds anywhere but he had enough to grab the right amount and they looked new too.

“Anything else?”

“I could use some more cells for my… what is that?” Bolts began to take out his laser pistol when something caught his eye. Turning around, Gyp levitated a weapon off the shelf, it looked like a bigger and longer version of Bolts’ pistol.

“This here arcane rifle is a more beefy, souped up version of your little pistol there. It can deal out more damage per shot and I’ve seen it turn even the biggest of ghouls to ash in a single shot. That being said, you’ll be going through cells like there’s no tomorrow, so as a friendly advice, I say stock up while you can.”

“I don’t care, I want it!” I’d never seen Bolts this crazy about a weapon before. His love for those arcane weapons seemed to be the same as me with my sniper. Bolts’ passion just seemed to put a smile on Gyp’s face as he placed the laser rifle on the counter as well as a whole pouch of cells. Staring at the pouch, Bolts’ eyes lit up.

“What about you miss?” Gyp called to Mintals who still hadn’t walked onto the platform.

“I don’t want anything, thank you.”

“She’s a pacifist.” Starry butted in. “I, however, am not and I could really use another rifle for my battle-saddle.” Gyp took a moment to examine the rifle strapped to Starry’s side before levitating over another that looked exactly the same only cleaner and much more new.”

“And ammo my dear?”

“Don’t call me your dear.” She snapped at Gyp. “And no, I have plenty to spare.”

“Very well then, is that all?” As I looked the group, no one seemed to desperately want anything else. Sure, I would have liked another rifle to help fix my own but we were low on caps and would barely be able to pay for the stuff as is. (Maybe if I convince Bolts to sell his pistol…)

“No, I think that should be fine.” I said smiling.

“Okay then, that should come to, hmm, let’s see… seven thousand, four hundred and fifty-six caps.” Gyp said nonchalantly while at that same time, all of our smiles were wiped from our faces and our jaws dropped.

“What!?” Starry called out first.

“That’s insane!” Bolts added, following suit.

“We don’t have near that many caps! How can you charge that much?” I added, finishing our line of arguments.

“Well my boy, you see that these weapons are all brand new. Same with the ammunition. To go any lower and my boss would fire me and I’d be out on my ass. How much do you have?” Sighing, I levitated out a few small bags of caps.

“Only two hundred and fifty.” Gyp began to laugh loudly.

“Boy, you wouldn’t be able to even get some of the ammo with that amount.” I must have looked so heartbroken, but not as much as Bolts. He really wanted the damn arcane weapon. But he turned to me, only looking disappointed.

“Come on Clear, just pay for the ammo and let’s go.”

“Wait a second. Clear as in Clear Shot?”

“Umm… yes, why?”

“My boy, Safeway’s radio station only just yesterday was talking about you. About how you cleared out The Box.”

“The Box? It’s been over a week since that happened and DJ Pon3 already spoke about it.”

“You’ve got to understand son, you were just inside his sight and broadcasting range. Safeway’s radio station only reaches so far and they don’t have an all seeing eye like Pon3 does. They have to wait for news to reach them through traders.” Before I could speak up, I felt Bolts give me a little kick.

“See, I told you there was another station out here.” Bolts said in a snarky tone, loving the fact that he was right about something.

“In any case… I probably shouldn’t be doing this… but as a reward, I’ll cut you a deal.” Our faces seemed to light up again but quickly faded as he removed the laser rifle and assault rifle from the table. Before he removed the pouch of cells as well, he reached in and took out ten. He then proceeded to remove half of the revolver and rifle ammo. “That’s the best I can do for you.” Looking down at the rounds that remained, I quickly flared my magic and placed what he had given us into my saddlebags and Bolts did the same with his cells.

“Deal.” Smiling, Gyp took my caps and placed them behind the counter and closed the curtain before steeping around from the side again.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

“Aren’t you worried?” Mintals finally spoke up from behind us, addressing Gyp.

“Pardon ma’am?”

“You carry so many weapons around, aren’t you worried about being attacked?” The question made Gyp laugh even more than before.

“Well you see, to the untrained eye, I’m just a pony with a coach and if any raiders got close enough to rob me, I have plenty of firepower to blow them away with. Now if you’ll excuse me, I should probably be off.” With that, we all stepped off the platform that made the stage and Gyp hopped onto the front of the coach. Flaring his magic, Gyp fixed the side of the coach back into place. With everything in place, he was ready to head off. “Where are you folks headed anyway?”

“East Coast, first to Brismane and then Sydneigh. Might see you there?”

“Maybe, but if I were you, I’d avoid Brismane.”

“And why’s that?” I asked, curious.

“No one ever seems to come out of there alive.” I had heard that nopony really knew what was there now, but surely it couldn’t be that bad.

“We’ll keep that in mind.” I still wanted to at least see the old city while I was there.

“Right, well, you folks should find some shelter soon, looks like a storm’s coming.” Looking up I saw that the clouds that had been building over the last couple of days finally looked close to bursting. I then looked around, still no real sign of shelter anywhere.

“Do you have any suggestions? Shelter isn’t exactly abundant around here.” With my question to him, Gyp placed a hoof to his chin.

“Well, if you’re really desperate… there’s a small town not far from here in the direction you’re headed. If you could call it a town that is, it’s only a few buildings.”

“Why would we be desperate to try it?” Starry asked.

“It’s nothing but a ghost town. Nopony lives there, nopony wants to live there. Some went to try and settle there and they were never heard from again. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard anyway. I’ve passed through the town myself. It’s eerily quiet and no one is around for miles. The place just gives me the creeps. But it’s better than nothing, so you might want to try it. Take care, you lot.” Gyp gave us a wave before using his magic to whip the reins that lay in front of him and got the Brahmin to start moving. As he moved off and after we gave him a wave, I turned to my little group.

“I don’t know about you lot, but I’d rather take my chances in the ghost town than getting flooded out in the open like this.”

“You think it’s a good idea?” Mintals asked silently.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine, we have enough ammo to deal with whatever comes our way. Besides, we might be able to scavenge something while we’re there.” I turned to Bolts and Starry. “What about you two?”

“It might be worth checking it out.” Bolts agreed. “Plus with that last patch of rain we were in… I’m not exactly ready to be in another one…”

“Aww, is the mighty Steel Ranger afraid of getting wet?” Starry mocked him.

“I don’t see how a pegasus who lived above the clouds would fully understand how bad it could get.” Bolts snorted back to which Starry just chuckled.

“In any case, I’m fine with it as well. Now we should probably go before ranger boy gets rusty.” Bolts decided to not give Starry the reaction she wanted and just snorted at her as we set off.

“I think I can see it!” Starry called out of over the rush of the wind. We had been traveling for the better half of the morning and a storm was already starting to kick up with winds heavy enough that they forced Starry down to the ground. As I looked ahead, I could indeed see a few dark buildings in the distance.

“There’s no town around here for miles! That must be it!” I called back. And we continued our hard walk through the wind. I had noticed that Mintals was having the most trouble, being as petite as she was, she didn’t have our strength, yet she fought on behind us anyway.

As we finally reached the town, the rain started to pour and without really caring about where we went, we moved into the first building that was easily accessible. As we planted out tired, wet bodies on the floor, I took a moment to rest and look about the room. From what I could tell, we were in some kind of hall, maybe used for meetings before the war. The room was dusty, really dusty, nothing had been disturbed for years allowing thick, grey layers of dust to form on everything in the room. Cobwebs from spiders long since dead hung in every corner. As we took a moment to catch our collective breaths, Starry spoke up.

“So what now?”

“Well if you’re all finished resting. Might be an idea to search the place while the storm passes. Everyone split up and see what you can find. If you come across anything… suspicious… call out.” Everyone nodded in agreement and even though we all seemed ready move out and search, everyone rested on the floor for a few more minutes.

Once everyone had rested enough, we all picked ourselves up and moved through the hall trying to find long forgotten supplies. At the end of the main room was a door that lead to a hallway that had a couple flights of stairs in it, one going up, the other going down. After a small debate over who would go where, I sent Starry and Mintals downstairs while Bolts and I went upstairs.

“You think it was wise to send them down there?” Bolts asked.

“If they’re confronted by something down there, they just have to turn around and run upstairs, not hard to do when you think about it.” Just as we reached the top of the stairs, Starry called from below.

“Hey Clear, Bolts, you guys might want to come check this out.” Starting to regret my words I quickly turned around and began a quick trot downstairs, Bolts following just behind.

“Was that the first time she actually called me by my name?”

“Heh, I think it was. Guess she’s starting to warm to you.” I said jokingly as we made our way downstairs and into the basement. Before entering the basement, we met Starry and Mintals on the stairs. “What’s going on?”

“Well Minty and I came down here like you said and we found… well… you just have to see it for yourself…” I looked passed the two mares to the basement at the bottom of the stairs. Pushing passed them, I took the lead and entered through the open door. The room was a little dark but thanks to the broken, leaky glass window, leading out to the stormy world outside, there was just enough light to see the major features of the room. There were shelves of old dusty items everywhere, filing cabinets, a desk with an old, broken terminal, old cleaning supplies and equipment, and finally, to address the elephant in the room, there was a large hole in the back wall that was completely black, an archway that lead to a void of darkness.

“What the hell is this?...” I said getting closer. Levitating out my lighter I clicked it on to shine some light on the situation. With light now shining into the hole I could finally see “it’s a tunnel…” I said turning back to my group. Where it went, I had no idea, but my curiosity told me to follow it. “Hey Bolts… that pipbuck of yours has a light doesn’t it?”

“Umm… yeah… hang on.” Bolts moved up to me and pressed a button on the device around his foreleg. In a flash, the pipbuck gave off a light brighter than my lighter. Not wanting to waste any more lighter fluid I flicked it off and placed it back into my saddlebags.

“We’re going in there.” I said to the group.

“You… you think it’s safe?” Mintals called far behind Starry, looking rather nervous.

“I don’t know, but we still have to check it out. It would be better for you to come with us, rather than stay here by yourself.” With that, Mintals moved up close to Starry who moved closer to Bolts and myself. “Okay then, everyone stick close. Bolts, lead the way.” Bolts turned to me with a look that said ‘you owe me for this’, yet he led the way none the less.

Moving inside, the first thing I noticed was that the tunnel sloped down slightly, going deeper into the earth. For about a minute or two, the only thing that passed under my hoof was dirt and rock, but it soon changed. Where dirt once was, it was soon replaced by metal.

“Wh-why is the floor metal now?” Mintals asked at the back. It wasn’t just the floor either, the walls and ceiling of the tunnel was also made of metal. As I turned my head around to comfort Mintals, I bumped into Bolts.

“Why did you stop?” I asked, coming up beside him.

“Clear… look up…” Bolts replied and raised his Pipbuck-clad hoof, lighting up the area more. The tunnel had greatly expanded, allowing a great cog-like door to fill the tunnel. My eyes went wide as I noticed the faded yellow ‘68’ on its large face. The large door at the end of the tunnel marked both the tunnel’s end and the entrance of another Stable.

Footnote: No new level gained.