As per their plan, the foals returned to the chimera nest once they woke up after having a little breakfast. The heavy atmosphere coupled with the awful smell of multiple corpses and formaldehyde made for a miserable experience, but Kickback insisted on giving Gene Splice his due respect, which the other foals agreed with. Just being in the room brought back the sheer tension of what occurred here not too long ago. Dead chimeras and debris from Gene Splice’s machines littered the depressing room. Fire Fight pointed out the mass of corpses that covered the grave that he and Shadow Shroud had dug. Without any further interruption, Kickback stood in front of the grave, took off his hat and held it over his heart. Shadow Shroud stood right beside him, feeling as though she owed more respect to the deceased than the others. Fire Fight lit his horn as his own little form of a funeral pyre. Air Slash then suddenly stood on Kickback’s other side with one his swords held vertically along his muzzle in very swordsman-like praying manner.
Kickback cleared his throat. “Mr. Gene Splice…….we knew just about nuttin’ about ya, and ya barely knew us, but……we’ve gathered here to pay our respect to you. Ah don’t know exactly what drove ya as….crazy as y’all were, but know that you were still a pony just like me an’ mah partners here, an’ you have our utmost sympathies fer whatever happened. It’s awful that things had to turn out the way they did, but Ah’m sure that y’all coulda made a mighty fine difference fer Equestria had you put yer science to better use, an’ we’ll cherish your memory with that thought. We’d like ya to know that you deserve a peaceful rest, and….we’re sorry…..especially Ms. Shadow Shroud……”
“A fate such as yours is never a happy one……and it pained me to have to carry it out…..I said this before, but it bears repeating: May your weary soul find peaceful rest.” Shadow Shroud said.
Air Slash lowered his sword a little. “I……I couldn’t do anything to save you….from anything……I feel as ashamed as Shadow Shroud. My blades are tools of justice……but I often forget that justice is blind. While I do not bear this burden as heavily as she does, I failed to protect you nonetheless, and I carry this burden on behalf of all of my clan. May I be forgiven…..May we all be forgiven…..Please, rest peacefully, madman. Your shrieks devoid of sanity were calls for help that none of could heed, and consequently……<sigh>…One more thing…..We forgive you of your sins.”
“Yes! Please rest without guilt! It was bad enough that you felt like a failure….” Spiral Galaxy added.
“Amen…” Turf War said.
“Amen.” Fire Fight repeated.
“Ah’d like to conclude with one more little thing, sir. Ya died pursuin’ a cause you believed in, so props to y’all fer that…..just like when mah mama was protectin’ me……..Er! Sorry, Ah got off topic. Anyhow, You did what you loved the most, and Ah sincerely hope that helps you rest peacefully. Goodbye…..” Kickback put his hat back on as he closed. Fire Fight put his horn out, and Air Slash sheathed his sword.
Air Slash faced towards Shadow Shroud, and their eyes met. Both were reluctant to look into them. “I willingly spoke your name……out of respect…….Shadewalker…..” Air Slash muttered.
For a moment, Shadow Shroud just eyed him. It was difficult to tell if her expression was passive or hostile. The tension was alleviated with Shadow Shroud’s next statement. “Thank you, Air Slash.” She said. Her tone was both willing, and reluctant. Both still had some difficulty accepting one another, but it seemed as though that neither viewed the other as an enemy.
Fire Fight chuckled. “You guys are getting way better.” He said.
The two warrior foals both glanced at him with annoyance. “Oh quiet, you.” They both said at once. They quickly looked at each other in surprise, and glared in frustration. “Who permitted you to speak!?”, “Silence!”, “…Grrrrrrrgghhh!” the two exchanged the exact same phrases simultaneously, much to their annoyance and….slight embarrassment.
The other foals laughed heartily at their exchange. “Ah was…..honestly kinda hopin’ that this’d happen.” Kickback whispered.
Fire Fight looked at him with some surprise. “Was this your plan all along?”
“Not necessarily. Ah really did want to give the feller his due sendin’ off, but Ah also figured it’d be a perfect time fer these two to lessen the distance.” Kickback answered.
“You clever son of a gun!” Fire Fight whispered.
Kickback glanced at either his guns, and then back at Fire Fight. “Now just what’s that supposed to mean, sheriff?” he joked. The two lightly nudged each other and chuckled like bros. Turf War joined them.
Spiral giggled. “You guys are such goofballs.” She said. Her expression suddenly turned grim again when she returned to the realization of where they were. “Umm……Can we leave now? This isn’t a very fun place.”
The colts suddenly dropped their act, and felt the heaviness of the room weigh down on them again. “Uhh….Y-Yeah….We did what we had to.” Fire Fight said.
Kickback tipped his hat. “Reckon so.”
“Y’all ready?” Turf War called out to Air Slash and Shadow Shroud.
The two warrior foals were still exchanging frustrated glares and gritted teeth when they heard Turf War. They snapped out of their little contest, and glanced at him. “Huh? Oh! Umm, yes.” Air Slash stammered.
“O-Of course.” Shadow Shroud stammered.
“Alright. To Fillydelphia we go.” Fire Fight declared. The foals felt relieved to finally get out of that place for good. Following Fire Fight’s suggestion, they used the ancient directory signs to map their route to Fillydelphia, which already wasn’t too far away, but this was a much better way to sneak into the city without having to risk walking in like tourists. Plus, it was interesting to explore a place of lost history.
As she did before, Shadow Shroud kept her sense open in case of another unexpected issue. Far off into the distance behind them, she thought she had just heard what almost sounded like somepony screaming. She glanced back to try and sense it better, but couldn’t make out much more- it must have way far away.
“You okay, Shroud?” Fire Fight asked.
Shadow Shroud snapped back around. “Hmm? Oh, yes. I merely thought I heard something in the dark. I don’t think it was anything to worry about.” She replied.
“You sure ‘bout dat? Last you heard something it was nearly the bells o’ death.” Turf War said.
“If only because I sensed actual danger. I did not here.” Shroud replied.
“Well…..okay then. Let’s go.” Fire Fight said. They continued onward towards their destination. Eventually, they happened upon a sign that said ‘Welcome to Fillydelphia’ on an ancient boarding dock. Looking around, they found another set of stairs like the one in Baltimare. They ascended them, and eventually found yet another rusty door, but this one had pretty much rusted itself shut. Pulling it open proved difficult. Eventually, Turf War resorted to breaking off its hinges with his hammer-axe, which was easy considering they’d rusted to the point of being as brittle as a brick. The door began to fall away from them, but Fire Fight and Spiral caught it with their magic, and gently floated it down so it didn’t crash and make any huge noises.
As expected, they emerged in a sewer that wasn’t nearly as clean as the one in Baltimare, but all of the….important stuff was safely in the channel below. “Eeewww!” Spiral shrieked.
“You should’ve seen Detrot.” Fire Fight said.
“Nah, she shouldn’t have.” Turf War commented.
The foals peered through various manholes until they could find a suitable place to emerge. Eventually, Air Slash found one that seemed to be close to the outskirts; he could smell some grass close by. “Let us sneak out here. We can reach the sea to wash out this stench. Would you do us the honors, Shadewal- er…Shadow Shroud?” he asked.
The ninja filly smiled deviously. “Of course, Air Slash.” She said. She donned her mask. Evening had already fallen in the time that it took them to conduct Gene Splice’s funeral, and walk their way to Fillydelphia, but it wasn’t too dark, so she still had to be discreet. She listened carefully to hear no activity in the immediate vicinity, and then she slightly lifted the cover to see that it was in an alleyway right beside an open field leading out into the sea. She jumped out carefully, and hid behind a trash dumpster. Once she determined that the coast was clear, she lifted the cover once more, and led her comrades out. “Come on!” she whispered. They followed her into the open field.
The damage dealt by the chimeras had extended into this field, because many patches of grass were visibly malnourished compared to others around them. It was truly a shame to see that this is what Gene Splice was ultimately working towards, and the foals were suddenly a little more grateful that they stopped him. Eventually, they reached the sea, and immediately jumped in to clean off all of the odors and grime they’d accumulated underground. It was the most refreshing thing that had happened to them thus far. Air Slash managed to harvest some seaweed as he cleaned off, and gave it to Fire Fight to make for dinner. Spiral swam around like a mermaid in sheer joy to be in such a refreshing state after a rough couple of days; she immediately calmed down when she noticed the water around her rumbling and splashing violently.
Once they finished, they reconvened on shore. “Let’s camp out here for the night. I’ll cook up that seaweed that Air Slash got.” Fire Fight said.
“How are we doing on water?” Shadow Shroud asked. Each of the foals checked there bottles. Kickback, being a born desert survivor had adapted to not having to consume a lot of water, so he was fine. The others however were just about empty. They obviously couldn’t refill at the sea, there was no way for them to distill it, and there was no close by source of fresh water for them to refill at. “I see. Give me some bits, and I’ll head into town to grab some more. I doubt the wheat famine has affected water at all.”
“Ain’t no way.” Turf War commented.
“I think there’s a law saying that bottles of water can only cost 1 bit in case of emergencies like that.” Spiral stated.
“They always were last Ah checked.” Kickback commented.
“You sure you don’t want dinner first? It shouldn’t take me too long.” Fire Fight said.
“No. As a matter of fact, I’d like to search the city for lost foals while I’m out there. As with Air Slash, I’ll return when enough is enough.” Shroud said. Spiral grimaced at her a little, and Shroud rolled her eyes as she knew what she was grimacing about. “Spiral…..enough about my dress, if you will.”
“Oh, alright. Sheesh!” Spiral said. Shroud was handed 5 bits, and she donned her mask once more before heading for the Fillydelphia.