//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10: Revenge 
// Story: Fallout: Equestria - A Robot's Lament 
// by SYNTH4 
//------------------------------//

Fallout: Equestria - A Robot’s Lament

Chapter 10: Revenge

What happens when raiders get raided?





The light of the fire cast a warm glow over the room. 

I sat on a bedroll I’d packed for the trip, slowly stoking the fire. To my right, lying on another bedroll, was Eastwood. He had some bandages wrapped around his head, and a blanket covered his body. His battle-saddle sat nearby. 

After Cyborg and I had decided to formulate a plan before heading after the raiders, my first priority was making sure Eastwood was okay. Thankfully he was still breathing when I got to him. It looked like he’d just been knocked-out by the impact, so a healing potion, bandages, and some sleep was all he needed. 

Cyborg was still upset that he couldn’t the raiders from taking the rest of the group. He spent the next few hours going through each building in town looking for supplies. Unfortunately he only found some old food and one medical-kit. 

Eventually he threw the food and supplies in our pile and took a seat around the fire. He didn’t say anything; he just stared intently at the fire. And I had a feeling that he wasn’t in the mood to talk. 

Frankly I wasn’t either; the last few hours had really gotten me down. We’d been bested by ponies wearing slapped-together armor and simple guns. Even with everything we had, they’d boxed us in and killed an innocent pony. Then they slipped in and kidnapped the others….and we couldn’t stop them. 

I felt like a failure….because I was a failure. 

Could I have done something? Yes, but at what cost. Sunny, the other former-slaves? Would I have been able to live with myself knowing I’d killed them? 

But I guess, in a way, that might be true. 

Still that didn’t mean we weren’t going to at least try and get them back. I owed it to them, and to Eastwood. The only thing we needed to know was where they were going. From what Eastwood had said, Raider County covered a large area. They could be anywhere from here to Tunnel 11.

Thankfully, we had a solution for that. 

I looked up from the fire to the spot across from me. Sitting on a mat, leaning against the wall, was the pegasus we’d dealt with earlier. She was still unconscious, but that wasn’t good enough for me. So her legs and wings were bound with rope, and a hoof cuff connected her back leg to the floor. The wing-blade she’d been wearing sat next to me: the result of a whole hour of trying to remove it. 

The thing was both a engineering marvel and a slapped-together mess. I found it surprising that the thing didn’t cause any damage to the user. 

Having this pony around didn’t seem right: but she was our best chance of finding Sunny and the other three. She likely wouldn’t want to help us out in the slightest. However, that wasn’t an issue: I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. 

I stood up from my mat, “Cyborg, keep an eye on our guest. I’m going upstairs”. 

“What for?” 

I turned and headed for the stairway. “I want some time to think”. 

Heading up the stairs, I headed for the remains of the crate that had almost took me out. It sat against the opposite wall; it’s cargo spilling out onto the floor. Items that I could identify were scrap metal, electronics, and even robotic parts. Basically: nothing we could use right now. 

I was hoping it contained ammunition or medpacks, or something useful. But the parts I saw didn’t look like they’d work on me, so there wasn’t any other use for them.

As I got closer, I spotted something interesting. 

A box with a missing lid sat under an assaultron leg. I levitated the leg off the box and looked inside. What I found were many metal-rods, each with two batteries, a gem, and wiring attached to it. At the end sat two prongs: like the ones on power cords or headphones. 

I levitated one out and looked it over. It definitely wasn’t something I’d seen before the war. So it must have been built afterward….but what was it?

“Garcon, get down here! They’re walking up!” 

That got my attention more than the strange device. Not wanting to waste time, I placed the device behind my ear and headed for the stairs. 

When I reached the bottom, I found Cyborg sitting next to Eastwood, who was finally sitting upright. A Sparkle-Cola sat by his side: half-full, which meant he was drinking. His left hoof began to rub his bandaged head, but Cyborg put it back down. 

I walked over and sat to Eastwood’s right. He turned towards me, still looking pretty tired. 

“Good to see you’re awake,” I said with a grin, “we were getting worried”. 

“....What happened?” 

“Huh”. 

Eastwood rubbed his eyes. “What happened after I passed out?” He looked around the room. “And where are Sunny and the others”. 

Cyborg and Me looked at each other, both our faces conformed in worry. We hadn’t really thought about how’d he react to the news about Sunny and the others. Hell, I didn’t even know how’d he react to having the pony that knocked him out sitting across from him. 

“I’m sorry Eastwood,” I lowered my head in sadness, “the raiders took them. We tried to stop them, but they had us pinned down and they moved so fast”. 

The look in Eastwood’s face was almost hard to look at. For a moment there was shock, then worry….and in a second his eyes narrowed and his breaths became deep. 

He stood up abruptly and reached for his battle saddle. Thankfully being a robot gave me a slight strength advantage, and I was able to push his hoof back. 

“Let go,” he growled, “we have to go rescue them!” 

“We are”. I put a hoof on his pack and pushed him back into a sitting position. “But we don’t know where they’ve been taken. And even if we did, we don’t know how well defended it is”. 

“So what’s the plan?!” 

I turned my head towards the unconscious raider.

“I knocked out that orang blur that killed Axe. She’s the only connection we have to the ones that took Sunny and the others. She’ll tell us where they are, and then we’ll rescue them”. 

Eastwood did a half grunt half laugh. “You think she’ll just TELL you where they are. It’d probably be easier to get a hellhound to sing Winter Wrap Up”. 

“Don’t worry, she’ll tell us whether she wants to or not”. 

Eastwood didn’t seem to have the same confidence I did. However I was saved from trying to keep him onboard by him noticing the object tucked behind my ear. 

“Where’d you get that?” 

I levitated the metal object out between us. “I found a bunch of them in a box upstairs. It was in a container from your cart; it got thrown at me during the fight”. 

Cyborg walked over and examined the object; his eyes widening slightly. “Eastwood, is that what I think it is?” 

“What,” I asked. 

“Garcon, that’s a Robot Repair Kit. One of the most useful tools a mechanic can have!” 

“This,” I said, turning the object around. “Looks like a metal stick with some batteries attached to it”. 

“It’s more than that,” said Eastwood. “They were created just a few months before the bombs dropped. They were supposed to revolutionize the way machines are maintained. However they soon found out that they only worked on robots. Not as revolutionary as they were hoping for, but still an amazing advancement in magical repair”.

“And something that most ponies would give an arm and an eye for,” said Cyborg.  

“But if these are pre-war, then how come I never heard of them?” 

“Simple; the bombs beat their reveal by two days. A few stores were given advanced shipments, but a majority of the supply was stored at the factory. Over the years a few scavengers were able to grab some, but they’ve only scratched the surface”. 

“So how did you get a hold of some,” asked Cyborg. 

“Let’s just say somepony owed me a lot of caps and found his supplies of repair kits to be a fair trade,” said Eastwood. 

“So how do they work,” I asked. 

Eastwood rose from the mattress and walked up to me. “You take the pronged end and plug it into the robot’s main power supply. The kit sends a surge of repair magic to the power core, which then sends it to all the robot’s systems”. 

“That’s engenius,” said Cyborg. “I would love to see one of those in action”. 

“Yeah,” I said to myself. Turning my head I looked down at the hole in my side and broken front legs I’d received during the fight. “Hey Eastwood, you wouldn’t mind if I used one of these would you?” 

Eastwood waved a hoof. “Use as many as you want: I dare say you’ve earned it”. 

Smiling, I used my magic to slowly pull apart the sewn opening in my chest. A few wires (both broken and functional) popped out the front. I quickly moved them aside, ready to plug into my power supply. But the moment I pulled the wires away, the three of us gasped in surprise. 

I don’t know why they did it….but I did because I wasn’t looking at my normal power core. 

Sitting in my chest cavity was a black circular object with ridges along the side. A red eye-like insignia was painted on the top. It was slotted into a circular hole; similar to the ones used by Spark Batteries. But this wasn’t a spark battery….and it wasn’t the sphere-like object that was my power core. 

“Sweet Celestia, this day just keeps throwing out rare objects by the motherload,” said Cyborg. 

“I’ll say; I’ve only seen one once before. Didn’t think I’d see another one,” said Eastwood. 

Well it seemed that Cyborg and Eastwood knew what the buck this thing was. “So, guys, what is that thing?” 

“You don’t know,” said Cyborg, looking rather shocked. “How can you have one and not know what it is?!” 

“Because I didn’t know it was inside of me,” I retorted. 

Although I did recall doing a systems check a while ago. And one of the diagnostics made was that there was a foreign object in my power supply….I’m surprised I was only looking at it now. 

Eastwood moved closer, getting a better look at the object. “Yep, no two ways about it. It’s a Spark Core!” 

“A what?” I asked. 

“A Spark Core,” said Cyborg. “They’re long term, high grade batteries used by a few companies back before the war. The charge on them could last a lifetime”. 

“Some ponies spend all their life looking for one of them. Plug one of those into a generator and you can power a small town for decades”. Eastwood looked up at me. “You seriously don’t have any idea how one became your new power source?” 

For a second I had no idea….but soon I remembered Bolt. In fact, I remember him saying the moment I woke up “I didn’t think the core would hold up”. He must have replaced my power core with the spark core while he was repairing me. 

“Uh, I guess you could say a friend gave it to me….as well as installed it”. 

Eastwood took another closer look at the core. “Well, I must say that friend of yours sure did a good job. Even left the part you’re looking for”. 

He pointed to a two-prong slot just above the spark core. He catched a bit of it with his hoof and pulled. The slot moved out of it’s casing, pulling a length of wire behind it. 

“Wow,” I said as I watched him pull the slot forward. “I didn’t know it did that”. 

Eastwood stopped pulling the slot once it reached the slit in my chest. “Let me see the kit”. I handed him the kit and he plugged it into the slot. 

Instantly I felt a warm sensation rush through my system. It was like all my servos and gears were getting tickled. Even my programing felt good….so good that I didn’t want it to end. But I broke from the semi-trance and looked over my body. The two long gashes in my front legs started to warp: twisting the broken metal back together. The fake skin covering it glowed purple, and when the light faded there wasn’t even a line mark. 

The slit in my chest started to close too, but Eastwood didn’t move the slot. Instead the skin wrapped around the slot, leaving it exposed. Once the final hole in my side was closed, Eastwood pulled the repair kit out. Instantly the warm sensation faded, and I was feeling like brand new. 

“Wow,” said Cyborg, “that was incredible”. 

Eastwood chucked the dead repair kit into the fire. “And now that the slot is exposed, it’ll be easier for you to use them in the future”. 

I moved a hoof over the spot gently. “But it’s also a dead giveaway that I’m a robot”. 

Eastwood took a seat on his matress, “might be for the better. Ponies are less likely to kill you if you’re forward with them. At least that’s what I’ve gathered”. 

Maybe he was right; maybe it was time for a change of pace. After all, Eastwood hadn’t shot at me when I told him I was a robot. And Cyborg, who was half-robot, was still surprised when he found out what I was. I guess if ponies know what I am beforehand, they’ll be less likely to think I’m a synth. 

“....hu….what….” 

I was brought out of my thoughts by a familiar voice. Turning around, I saw the chained-up raider slowly stirring. Her eyes flickered slightly, but slowly they were opening. Instinctively I pulled out Celestia’s Thunder, making sure it was fully loaded. Cyborg levitated his pistol out and did the same, while Eastwood eyed his battle-saddle. 

Slowly I approached the pegasus, not wanting to make any sudden moves. By now her eyes were open, and she was slowly looking around the room. She closed her eyes when she looked at the fire: likely having not adjusted to the light. She looked away and slowly opened them again. Now, she was looking at me. 

Instantly her weary eyes shot open, and a loud snarling noise shot from her mouth. I saw the rope around her middle stretch: she was trying to flap her wings. When that didn’t work, she tried lunging forward: snapping her teeth. But she only managed to fall onto her stomach. 

“YOU,” she snarled. “YOU’RE DEAD! I’LL SKIN YOU ALIVE, ROAST YOUR BODY OVER A FIRE AND EAT YOU FOR DINNER!” 

Okay, I needed to take her down a peg….again. 

“Shut up,” I said, bringing Celestia’s Thunder down on her head. 

She paused for a moment, but she was soon struggling again. Taking note, I flipped my gun and pointed the barrel directly at her head. She looked up at the gun, then at me, and then back at the gun. Taking a gruff breath, she stopped moving; though her death glare remained the same. 

“There’s a good raider,” I said, taking a seat in front of her. “Now I would love to get right to the point, but I think we can get to that periodically. How about some introductions? Do you have a name?” 

The raider snarled. “No, I’m the one pony in Equestria who doesn’t have a fucking name!” 

I pushed celestia’s thunder closer to her forehead. She took one look at it and snarled. 

“Sabre”. 

“Well hello Sabre, must say I’ve never heard a name like it. Very foreign sounding”. 

“Just get on with this: you’re making me angry!”

I could see that from the look on her face, yet that wasn’t anything new. But at least I didn’t have to act too nice anymore. She wanted to get this over with, and so did I. 

“Alright then, let me explain the situation. A couple of your friends took a couple of ours, and we need to find out where they went. So here’s what’s going to go down: you’re going to take us there”. 

Sabre’s snarling face curled into a sneering smile. “Like I’d take you to our hideout. You think you can save those ponies? There either dead or being fucked until they die. Just give up now; you’re not going to rescue them”. 

Eastwood rose up and walked over to Sabre. He placed a hoof on Celestia’s Thunder and pushed it right up against her forehead. 

“Listen here bitch; I want to kill you so badly. You already killed Axe, and your friends took the ponies I swore to protect. The only reason you’re not a pile of dead meat on the ground is because Garcon thinks you’re worth something”. 

He pressed Celestia’s Thunder even harder into her face; her eyes wincing slightly. I thought about pulling the gun back….but for some reason I didn’t feel like it. 

“So the moment you become worthless, I’m taking my guns and shooting you till I run out of bullets. If you want to avoid that, Tell Us Where Your Fucking Base Is,” said Eastwood, enunciating the last few words. 

Eastwood backed off and I pulled Celestia’s Thunder back; still keeping it aimed at Sabre’s head. The raider eyed Eastwood and Myself, with occasional glances to Cyborg and Eastwood’s battle saddle. I could tell she was debating the pros and cons of helping us. 

“I stay alive if I tell you where the base is….right?” 

“No,” I retorted, “you’ll TAKE us to the base. And you’ll help us find/rescue the others. THEN you get to live”. 

Sabre snorted in anger. “Fine, I’ll take you there. But when you get caught, you’ll see how stupid you were”. 

I levitated Celestia’s Thunder back into my holster. “Whatever you say Sabre. Now get some rest, he head out first thing in the morning”. 


***


The next day, the four of us were walking down the road away from the town. 

Eastwood took up the rear, covering our backs. His injuries had healed enough that he could fire his guns. But I wasn’t ready to have him in a fight just yet, so I kept him at the back. 

Cyborg and Myself were in front, making sure the road ahead was clear. Between the two of us was Sabre; her hoof was cuffed to my own and her wings tied down. Her blade mechanism sat on my back, just out of her reach.

We’d gathered all the supplies we could from the crate and the town, but there was barely enough to go around. Hopefully wherever the raiders were had supplies to loot.

Sabre had said that the location wasn’t far from the town: just about an hour walk. We’d already been walking for fifty minutes, so we were nearing the spot. But while we walked, I saw that we were slowly moving out of the large open area from before. Dead trees with barely any branches covered the land around us, with the road being the one pathway forward. 

“Wow….was this once a forest,” I said in wonder. 

“Probably,” said Cyborg. “Course now it’s just dead wood sticking out of the ground”.

“Call it what you want,” said Sabre. “It’s what’s hiding the pathway to our settlement”. She pointed to blackened tree further along. “That’s the marker, turn right there”. 

We turned right at the tree and found ourselves on a small paved road. It was almost completely obliterated, with only small patches of asphalt remaining. I checked my map, but I didn’t see a road. 

I was ready to shut the program down when I got a notification. Selecting it, it brought up a circular screen reading “radiation”. The dial was slowly moving upward towards the yellow section. 

“Uh, my programing says there’s radiation around here”. 

“Of course,” said Sabre. “It’s a filter for anypony who would come down this way. They feel the radiation, think it’s unsafe, and hightail it out of here”. 

“So there isn’t any in the actual encampment,” asked Cyborg. 

“No,” retorted Sabre, “we’re not stupid enough to live in a radiation filled environment”. 

We continued walking for a while, but soon we found ourselves approaching a large mountain-like area. The path continued forward, slicing through the rock. The entrance was flanked on both sides by large pylons….which were covered with dead ponies. Some were decapitated, others looked relatively new. 

I heard Cyborg and Eastwood swallow; likely keeping the contents of their stomach down. Sabre smiled slightly; like she was a pony returning home after a long trip. I felt wrong looking at the scene, but thankfully I didn’t have a stomach. 

“Almost there,” said Sabre. 

We passed through the opening, trying not to stare at the bodies. I felt a liquid on my hooves, but I didn’t want to look and see what it was. The pathway ahead was clear, but soon we saw an overturned cart up ahead. 

“Stop up ahead, the entrance is just behind the cart”. 

The four of us piled behind the overturned cart, keeping our heads down. Sabre looked up and over the side, scanning the area ahead. I motioned to the others and did the same, with the other two following suit. 

Further ahead was large iron gate, cobbled together from junk and wood. A single raider stood at the top, a shotgun strapped to his back. From this angle, I could also see at least three buildings behind it. 

“Geez, how big is this place?” 

“Big enough,” said Sabre. “Anyway, if you want to get in you’ll have to get past Stroke”. She sat down and leaned against the cart, “so good luck with that”. 

Oh no, that wasn’t how things were going to go down. I yanked my cuffed hoof hard, sending Sabre flat onto her stomach. 

“I don’t think so: the deal was you help us get them out. And you’re going to do just that”. 

Sabre growled. “How? Stroke just won’t let a random pony walk into the compound”. 

“Maybe not,” said Cyborg. “But he’d let you in, right?” 

Sabre’s face of anger quickly changed into one of worry. “Well yeah, I’m one of them”. 

Cyborg turned to me, “Garcon, I have a plan”. 

“What?” 

Cyborg covered the rope around Sabre’s wings in magic, and instantly they unraveled and fell to the ground. Sabre, noticing her wings were free, stretched them out and flapped them (not enough to get her off the ground). 

“Oh fuck yeah,” she said happily, “that feels good”. 

Eastwood looked at Cyborg questionably. “Why in the hell would you untie her?” 

“Because she’s our ticket to a sneaky entrance,” explained Cyborg. “If we keep Garcon and Sabre cuffed, we can make….Stroke….think that Garcon’s a prisoner. Once he’s close enough, we can take him out”. 

“Ha, you idiots really think Stroke will fall for that. And what’s to stop me from just telling him I’m being held captive?” 

“I have the answer to that,” said Eastwood.

He reach into his saddle-bag and pulled out a landmine he’d scavenged from the town. A panel was open at the bottom, and Eastwood began rewiring the component. After a few seconds, the closed the panel, walked up to Sabre, and stuck the mine behind her metal chestpiece. 

“I’ve riged the landmine so that an impact to the top will blow out the bottom. Garcon just had to slam the armor and the explosion will rip Sabre’s chest apart”. 

Sabre’s wings flapped like crazy, almost thrusting her into the air. It was only my heavy weight and robotic strength that she didn’t rise above the cart. With a good tug I managed to get her back on the ground. 

“ARE YOU FUCKING NUTS! What if I trip and fall, or if somepony catches wind and shoots me?!” 

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” I said with a grin. 

I levitated Celestia’s Thunder out of it’s holster and slid it into my jacket, making sure it couldn’t be seen. Cyborg reached into his bags and pulled out a small switchblade, handing it to me. 

“Use that to take out the raider; we don’t want a gunshot to give us away”. 

I took the switchblade and hid it in my coat sleeve, ready to pull it out and attack when I got close enough. Hopefully I could get him on my first go; I didn’t want him to get the chance to alert the others.

“Alright, let’s go,” I said with confidence. 

Me and Sabre walked around the cart and towards the gate. I let her take the lead, making it look more like she was leading me. Her angered face and reformed into a somewhat calmer expression (though her eyes were still narrowed). 

As we approached the gate, the raider finally noticed us. He grabbed the shotgun on his back and pointed it at us. Sabre stopped, giving me little time to hit the brakes. From this close I could see he was wearing spiked metal armor and a gas mask, all of which was covered in lawers of rust and dirt.

“Big mistake coming down here fu….wait….Sabre? That you?” 

“Of course it’s me dumbass, who else would it be?” 

“Sorry,” said the raider, re-slinging his gun. “They told me you died on the last ambush. Dart’s already started drinking your beer stash”. He turned towards me, “and who the hell is that?”

Sabre growled angrily. “Dart’s dead when I get my hooves on him. And to answer your question I was knocked out Stroke, it happens. As for who this fucker is,” Sabre yanked on the cuff, “he’s the one who knocked me out. Figured he make a good addition to the slave pen”. 

Okay, so far so good. Now we just needed to get him down here. I just hoped that Sabre could keep up the act. 

“So are you going to let me in or not? I’m really in the mood for a cold one”. 

The raider paused for a moment. “I don’t know, this whole thing doesn’t seem right. I mean where’s your blades; you never go anywhere without them. And that pony looks a little too well-dressed to be a prisoner”. 

Shit, he was onto us. Sabre had to turn this around fast or we’d both be dead. But I think she had the same idea; she rolled her eyes in an annoyed manner. 

“Then why don’t you come down here and take him off my hooves. I just want to get inside, get a beer, and kill Dart”. 

The raider slowly shook his head. “Fine, just give me a minute”. 

The stallion disappeared from sight for a few seconds before one side of the gate slowly opened. Stroke passed through the opening and walked towards us, stopping in front of Sabre and holding a hoof out. 

“Alright, uncuff yourself and I’ll take him to the pen”. 

Shit. I was the one with the key, not Sabre. This were going to get bad if something didn’t happen. But Stroke was close enough now: it was time to act. I levitated the switchblade out of my sleeve and slipped into S.A.T.S. Selecting his exposed neck, I planted a long cut just above his main blood vessel.

Stroke barely let out a gurgle as blood poured from the open wound. His front knees gave out and soon the rest of his body did the same. In less than a minute he was dead on the pavement in a puddle of his own blood. 

Sabre frowned. “Awe, I was hoping for something cooler. Couldn’t you have at least cut his dick off: I could have used it”. 

“Not thinking about it, not thinking about it,”  I thought to myself. 

Eastwood and Cyborg ran up to us, both grining when they saw Stroke’s body. 

“Good job Garcon; quick and easy,” said Cyborg. 

“So how are we proceeding,” asked Eastwood. “Are we sneaking in or going in guns blazing?” 

“If we wanted guns blazing we’d had just shot Stroke where he stood,” I said as I looked over the body. “But we can’t just sneak in; somepony might notice us. So, I have another plan”. 

“Why do I have a feeling it’s a bad one,” said Sabre and Cyborg. 

I worked Stroke’s gas mask off his face and strapped it to mine. “I’ll put on Stroke’s outfit and pretend to be him. Once I’m inside I’ll find the cages, rescue Sunny and the others, and get out before anyone notices anything”. 

“Actually, that’s not that bad of an idea,” said Eastwood. He reloaded his saddle and took aim at Sabre, who jerked back in shock. “Now we don’t need this bitch anymore”. 

“Woah,” I said, stepping in between the two. “We still need her; having somepony the other recognize will keep them from getting suspicious”. 

“Yeah,” said Sabre, “what he said”. 

Eastwood groand, lowering his guns. “Fine. But don’t take too long in there; I don’t like the idea of you being in there alone with raiders”. 

Nodding in agreement, I got to work on stripping off Stroke’s armor and placing it on myself. I gave my battle-jacket to Cyborg, not wanting it to give me away. I also scrubbed some dirt and water over me to make me seem more raider-ish. 

“Well you definitely look like a raider now,” said Cyborg. 

“Well I’m just glad robots don’t have a sense of smell. This thing looks like it hasn’t been washed in years”. 

Sabre groaned. “Can we just get this over with: I want you fuckers out of my mane as soon as possible!” 

“Fine,” I said as I levitated out a key and unlocked the cuffs. “Just remember we still have that landmine on you. Don’t try anything funny”. 

“Whatever,” said Sabre before heading towards the gate.

“Good luck Garcon,” said Eastwood. 

“Yeah,” I replied before following Sabre, “I think I’m going to need it”. 


***


Sabre and Me passed through the gate to the raider compound. I did a quick scan of the area to see where everything was. A large open area filled with broken crates and furniture sat before us. Behind it were some boxcars that were still barely attached to the rusted rails beneath them. Ramps lead up to the openings and down back. At the back were three intact two story buildings with pathways connecting them. 

What really surprised me were the sheer numbers of raiders in the compound. At least ten sat in the open area, with four more occupying the two open boxcars. I could only guess that there were more in the buildings at the back. Most of them were sitting around: twirling their weapons, drinking, or sleeping. 

“I don’t see the slave pens,” I told Sabre. 

“It’s back by the main buildings; we need to pass through the camp to get to them,” she replied. 

Oh that was just great: how were we supposed to get four ponies across this raider filled nightmare without getting spotted. Even if these raiders were stoned to the max, even they would notice something was off. I’d have to work through this as we went; hopefully it worked out….oh Celestia I hoped it would work out. 

We began walking towards the boxcars; keeping our eyes off the raiders around us. Some of them gave small glances our direction, but none said anything. I tried my best to act casual, but I just couldn’t help avoid pools of blood and….what I just kept telling myself was lemonade. 

Eventually we made it through the area and up to the boxcars. But when we reached the ramps, one of the raiders walked in front of us. It was a unicorn mare whose eyes were slightly bloodshot and whose body shivered occasionally. 

“Sabre, you’re alive! Edge said you’d died on the last raid; how’d you survive”?

“Not in the mood to talk right now. I’m just passing through”. 

The raider’s neutral face turned quickly into one of anger. She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow questionably. 

“Stroke? I thought you were on guard duty at the gate”. Her eyes scanned me, pausing at my backside. “And didn’t you have a skull as your cutie mark?” 

Shit. I glanced down at the image of a teapot on my rump. I’d failed to cover it before coming in here. And now somepony had noticed it. If this went any further I was going to get caught, I had to do something. 

Thankfully Sabre beat me to the punch. 

“Butcher, are you high on dash again?” 

The raider’s moved back in surprise. “Uh….no….at least not recently”. 

“How long back?”

“....four hours”. 

“Well then it’s clearly still affecting you, because I see a skull clear as day”. 

The raider’s eyes narrowed as she looked closer at my flank. She rubbed her eyes as he pulled back. 

“Huh, I guess it does look similar to a skull….maybe I shouldn’t have had that fourth dose”. 

“That’s right,” said Sabre. She pushed the raider aside, and motioned me to follow. “Try taking a nap or something: that should help the effects wear off”. 

The two of us passed through the boxcar (which was just filled with more crates) and out to the other side. The buildings were a lot bigger up close, yet it also made them look even more rusted and close to failing. I guess they were just the right places for raiders. 

“Come on, the pens are over here”. 

Sabre lead me to a pathway between the middle and right buildings. A few old posters hung from the wall, which was a welcome change from dead bodies. When we reached the other side, we found ourselves standing before a large gated area. I counted at least six ponies sitting behind the gate; dressed in rags and looking miserable. But something seemed off….but I couldn’t tell from here. 

A unicorn stallion in typical raider armor sat by the gate listening to a radio. What sounded like a bunch of noises was playing over it: maybe I just wasn’t in sync with modern music.  Sabre walked towards the stallion, only getting his attention when she was right in front of him. 

“Sabre, you’re alive. I thought….” 

“You thought I was killed on the last raid. You’re the third pony to tell me that today,” she angrily interrupted. 

“Well what are you doing back here? Butcher will want to know you’re alive, and know how you got back here”. 

“I’ll deal with Butcher in a minute”. Sabre walked forward and looked into the pen. “But first I need to check something out. Stroke, come here”. 

Knowing she was talking to me, I walked forward and stood next to her. She leaned over and whispered, “which ones are your friends”. 

I peered into the pen, scanning every pony inside. Each one looked starved, scared, and even sick. I wanted to help them, but I had to focus on the mission. But after looking over the ponies a few times, I realized what that “wrong” feeling I had was. 

“There not here,” I whispered, “none of these ponies are them”. 

Sabre cursed under her breath. “Alright, let me try and figure this out”. 

She turned back to the gatekeeper. “Knuckles, where are the slaves that were brought in from my raid?” 

Knuckles looked at Sabre questionably; rising from his spot and staring intently at her. I had the feeling that something wasn’t right. 

“What do you want them for?” 

“That’s my business,” she retorted. “Now do you know where they are or not?” 

The two of them stared at each other intently; both trying to break the other. I kept silent; wanting to stay out of the confrontation. I didn’t want to blow our cover. 

Eventually Knuckles grunted and eased off Sabre. He turned around and pointed at the center building behind us. 

“There in there”. 

Sabre nugged me and began walking towards the building. I followed close behind her. But I took a look back at Knuckles. He wasn’t snarling anymore….he was grinning. I didn’t like the look of him; he clearly knew something. But I just turned away and followed Sabre back down the alleyway. We made our way to the front door, but Sabre stopped me there. 

“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Knuckles, but it’s not good that your friends are in here”. 

“Why,” I asked. 

“This is the butcher-site. Remember all those corpses down the road; this is where they came from. Anypony not a raider that goes in here is likely dead. And I don’t think your friends are going to be the exception”. 

Oh Celestia….this couldn’t be true. I mean three of them were former slaves: raiders could use them. And Sunny….well….she was a young mare. I wouldn’t want anything like this to happen to them, but it at least gave the raiders a reason to keep them around. 

“I’m keeping my hopes up,” I said confidnelty. “I’m heading in there to find them”. 

Sabre groaned again. “Celestia you ponies are annoying: worrying about friends. Just don’t go crying when you see you’re wrong”. 

She turned and pushed the door open, ushering me inside. I walked through the door and into the large raider building. Sabre followed behind me, shutting the door once she was inside. 

What I found inside made me glad I didn’t have a stomach, because if I did I was sure I would be releasing the contents onto the floor. 

The inside of the building was a large courtyard-like area. Me and Sabre were standing on a metal pathway that floated slightly above the floor and wrapped around the room. Stairways lead to other floors, all of which sat beneath a large metal surveyor station at the top. 

But that wasn’t the issue; it was the piles of pony pieces that filled the center of the room. Bloody limbs and other bits were stacked in piles on the floor, which was covered in a sea of crimson liquid. A few raiders walked around the piles, picking out different objects floating in the blood or attached to a body part. 

“Oh sweet Celestia,” I said, trying my best to keep my focus. “This….this is sick”. 

“No, this is just our way of life”. 

Wait….I knew that voice. Turning around, I saw Knuckles standing behind me. A revolver pistol floated in front of him, pointed right at my face. A second later all the yellow dots on my E.F.S. turned red, and two of them moved past my field of vision. 

“Did you really think you could just sneak in here and not be noticed? You may have been able to fool the druggies out front, but I know eveypony here. And you sure as hell aren’t Stroke”. 

Sabre grinned. “I knew you’d figure it out Knuckles. This fucker was keeping me held….” 

Knuckles pointed the gun an Sabre, instantly shutting her up. “I always figured you’d turn against us Sabre. I just thought you’d kill Butcher and take his place”. 

Sabre’s armor moved slightly, and soon the landmine floated out the top. “Suicide bombing, not something I’d thought you’d go with. But that doesn’t matter”. 

Knuckles tossed the landmine into one of the piles. A small explosion blasted bodyparts and blood all over us. I wanted to wipe it off, but I felt a gun barrel being pushed into my back. The sound of approaching hooves let me know that we were likely surrounded. 

“Take their weapons and bring them upstairs, Butcher wants to talk to them face to face”. 


***


The three raiders ushered Sabre and myself up the stairways. They’d taken Celestia’s Thunder and my switchblade, so I had no way to take them out. 

We continued to climb the stairs until we reached the top floor. It was just a hallway bend that lead to a mechanical door. Knuckles unlocked the door and ushered us into the room beyond. 

I could tell from the metal walls that this was the surveyor station. But you could hardly see the walls since they were covered in old posters. The floor was covered with dried blood streaks stretching from the door to all corners of the room. A ruined couch and a table filled with chems sat to the left of the door. To the right was a small bed that looked like it had been rolled through the dirt and covered with grease. 

At the other end of the room were two sepearte rooms made from rotten wood. One had a cell door, while the other had nothing. In between them was a large chair decorated with pony skulls and strips of flesh. Before it was a large window that looked out to the room beyond. A pony sat in the chair, not seeming to notice the five of us walking into the room. 

Two raiders marched us forward while Knuckles walked up to the pony in the chair. He spoke something into his ear, then stepped back to us. The pony in the chair stepped down and walked back to face us. 

The pony was a earth pony stallion with a short red mane and a grey pelt. He wore a leather coat with rags, chains, and metal plates with pieces of rebar welded onto them. From the look alone I could definetly see him as a raider boss. 

“So these are the ones that took out some of my best ponies,” said the raider. “Never thought you’d be one of them Sabre. And after everything we’ve done for you”. 

“Butcher, you can’t really think I’d betray you! I was forced into this: threatened with an explosive DEATH if I didn’t”. 

Butcher slowly shook his head. “But a good raider would have just died like the dog they were. Self preservation is basic instinct….but we taught you better”.

“I’d like to see what you would have done in the same situation,” she retorted. 

“You’re words are meaningless Sabre. The Overboss has been informed of your treatchery, and he is even more disapointed than I am. It can be safetly assumed that your reputation amongst raiders has been officially destroyed”. 

Sabre didn’t say anything after that: she just looked forward in shock. Butcher turned and looked down at me, giving me a look of upmost disgust. 

“I can only guess you’re the one who organized all this. I’ll give you credit; you got farther than I thought you would. But nopony fools my goons and gets away with it”. 

This operation had gone to shit faster than I could have ever thought. I would have felt better if I had at least seen Sunny and the others. But we still had no idea where they were, or if they were even here. I just had to hope that Cyborg and Ea….

My thoughts were interupted by the sound of the door opening again. I looked back and witnessed something that filled my powercore with dread. 

Three more raiders were forcing Cyborg and Eastwood up to where Sabre and Me sat. Cyborg’s left leg had a deep cut halfway down, and was shooting sparks across the floor. Eastwood had lost his battle-saddle, but what was most noticable was the black eye. His face was scrunched in anger, and he was struggling the hardest against the three. The raiders placed them down next to Sabre and Myself. 

“We found these two near the gates, figured they might be part of there group,” said one of the raiders. 

Butcher grinned. “This is your backup? I can’t imagine anything more pathetic”. 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP RAIDER,” screamed Eastwood. “WHERE ARE SUNNY AND THE OTHERS!” 

“Oh, you must be talking about the ones we picked up during our last raid. Well I can make this easy for you”. He walked to the window and pointed down to the floor below. “You’ll find the three stallions scattered about the piles below”. 

Oh my Alicorn….they were dead. I’d just walked past their dismembered bodies and didn’t know it. But I was more concerned with Eastwood. He’d gone from furious to dead silent in the matter of miliseconds. He looked like all the color was about to drain from his body. 

“Oh don’t look so down,” said Butcher. “I have a surprise for you”. 

He went to the left side room, pulled out a key, and unlocked the cell door. Disapearing for a few seconds, he came out a moment later….with Sunny. She looked exhausted, and tear marks flowed down from her eyes. But what worried me the most was that her back legs were shaking like crazy. 

Sunny’s eyes widened when she saw us sitting before her. “Eastwood….Garcon….Cyborg….you came”. 

“Yes they did bitch,” said Butcher. “Just like you said they would”. 

Wait….did they know! Did they know from the beginning that we’d come and try and get Sunny and the others back. It’s the only way I coud reason they would be curious about our interest in the slaves. 

“What Did You FUCKERS Do To Her,” sneared Eastwood. 

“I spared her life,” said Butcher. “I was in need of a new toy, and she was just what I was looking for: a younger model”. 

It was then that I knew why Sunny’s back legs were shaking. She’d been used as a sex slave; likely over and over again. I could only imagine how horrible it must have been for her: being violated over and over again. 

Eastwood snarled angrily and made a jump at Butcher. Knuckles interviened and pushed his face down to the floor. Anothoer raider held the rest of him down. 

“YOU’RE DEAD,” yelled Eastwood. “I’LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HER YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES!!!” 

Butcher smiled and let out a small laugh as he walked over to Eastwood. He leaned his head down until it was just slightly above Eastwood’s. 

“Oh I can tell this one’s a fighter. Normally I could use ponies like that in my little operation. Unfortunetly, you seem pretty intent on killing me. And, well, I just can’t let that happen”. 

He reached into his armor and pulled out a large .45 caliber pistol. Checking the amunition and mouth grip, he pointed the barrel right at Eastwood’s head. His eyes glanced over to look at Cyborg, Sabre, and Myself. 

“Remember this you three: this is what happens when you….” 

BOOM!

The sound of an explosion rocked through the building, quickly followed by the shockwave. Dust and other substances rained from the ceiling, and the metal reverberation continued long after the shockwave had passed. 

Sunny was forced to the ground thanks to her shaking back legs. Our captors wobbled around from the shock, but quickly regained their footing. My ears caught the sound of magic-beam pistol/rifle gunfire coming from outside, along with the sound of ponies screaming and running. Butcher holstered his gun and ran to one of the open windows. 

“What the fuck is going on?” 

“Explosion in the yard,” shouted somepony. “There’s robot ponies all over the compond. They’re shooting everything that moves!” 

For a second I didn’t know what he was talking about. But then I remembered that there was only one kind of robot pony that I’d seen besides me: SYNTHS. And unlike back in Trotsville, it sounded like they’d brought a small army. But at the same time I was asking myself one question: what were they doing here? Did they come all this way for Cyborg? And even if that was the case how would they know he was here. 

“TSIM, fuck,” said Butcher. “They’ll tear this place apart. We gotta take care of them”. He turned and headed for the door. “Knuckles, you come with me. The rest of you keep an eye on our prisoners”. 

Knuckles followed Butcher out the door, leaving the three of us with the remaining five raiders. I glanced over at Cyborg, who was looking a lot more nervous than he did a few minutes ago. If TSIM was here for him, then they’d find him. They’d almost blasted Trotsville off the map, even with trained ponies. These raiders wouldn’t stand a chance against them. 

If we wanted to get out of this alive, we’d have to leave while the synths were busy with the raiders. We just had to figure out a way of taking the ones guarding us down. They’d confiscated our weapons, but I could see them over by the door. A destraction wouldn’t cut it: we needed to kill them to get our supplies. 

I scanned the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. There were a few broken items, but none of them seemed like they could cause any major harm. Being as descrite as I could, I checked myself for any weapons that Stroke might have had on his armor before I took it. But it was then that I noticed the spikes on the kneepads: sharp to the point and there was a lot of them. 

Turning my head to block their view, I ignited my horn and unclipped the kneepad and floated it to my side. Cyborg saw my ignited horn and snuck a glance at me. I motioned down to the kneepad, and he replied with a nod. 

Eastwood had risen up into a sitting position, while Sabre still sat in silence. Cyborg leaned over slightly and whispered something in her ear. Her sad face quickly reformed into a smirk, and she whispered something else in Eastwood’s ear. I just hoped they knew what I was about to do. 

“Hey,” said one of the raiders, “what the fuck are you whispering about?” 

The five raiders turned their attention to Sabre and Eastwood. Now was my chance. I grabbed the kneepad and swung myself around, bringing it with me. The kneepad impailed the raider behind me right in the neck, shooting blood all over himself and the floor. I pulled the kneepad out while the raider slumped to the floor. 

Before I’d even taken the pad out, Sabre had srung into action. She tackled the two mares behind her, sending them straight to the ground. Cybrog and Eastwood gave their guards a swift buck to the face, shooting them backward. Cyborg jumped ontop of one and struggled to pin him to the ground. Eastwood did the same, but instead started repeatedly punching the stallion’s face. 

I turned and ran towards our supplies, grabbing the fist pistol I saw. It was a small 10mm, but it would have to do. I turned around and saw Sabre being held in a choke-hold by one of the raiders. Another was quickly advancing with a sharp knife, angling it to slice at her exposed neck. 

With quick thinking I slipped into S.A.T.S. and fired a shot at the mare’s head. The bullet passed clear through the back of her head before exploding out the front. She slumped to the floor, the knife clattering after her. Sabre, seeing I was armed, steadied her legs and swung the raider holding her around. Not needing S.A.T.S., I took aim and sent two rounds into her back. 

The raider slumped to the foor, her blood pooling around her. Sabre shook off the clumps that had stuck to her, flining more blood onto the walls. Just as she finished the gun was ripped from my magic by Cyborg’s. He took aim at the pinned raider’s head and blasted it apart with four center shots. 

Eastwood was still pumbling the last raider’s face, which was now distorted and covered in blood. With one final blow I heard the sound of bone breaking, and the raider’s face sunk deeping into his skull. Painting and sweating, Eastwood moved away from the body and over to Sunny, who hadn’t moved an inch during the fight. 

“Sunny,” said Eastwood, bringing the mare into a strong embrace. 

“Eastwood….thank you….” Sunny wrapped her legs around the stallion, letting a small smile spread on her face. Tears began to flow down her cheeks, but I figured they were ones of joy. 

Sabre rolled her eyes at the scene and turned to face me. “So what are we going to do now?” 

Cyborg spoke up. “We need to get out of here fast. Those synths won’t be long, and I’m guessing theres too many for the four of us to handle”. 

Eastwood broke the embrace and turned towards me; his face slightly warped with anger. “I agree, but I’m not going anywhere with her,” he said, pointing at Sabre. “It’s because of her that we’re in this mess, and she killed Axe and knocked me out!” 

“Oh, I’m sorry buck,” said Sabre sarcastically. “Are you upset that you got beat up by a mare?” 

Eastwood looked like he was ready to pounce the mare, so I quickly stepped inbetween the two of them. I didn’t need any more unnecessary fighting that could lead to us getting killed. 

“Enough, we need to work together to get out of this mess. Once we’re as far away from here as possible, then we can deal with any issues we have”. 

“Garcon’s right,” said Cyborg. “We need to make it to the gate without getting blasted to ash”. 

“No, they’ll already have the main exit blocked,” said Sabre. “But I know of another way out of the compound. None of the other raiders know about it, so we should be able to get through no problem”. 

“If it means less of a chance of us getting desintigrated, I’ll take it,” replied Cyborg. 

“How can we trust her: she’s a raider. She’ll probably just bail the moment we walk out the door, and let the synths kill us,” retorted Eastwood. 

This was getting us nowhere, and I had a feeling the synths were getting closser and closser to the building. I needed to end this argument now. 

“Eastwood, I know you don’t trust Sabre. But believe it or no, I  do. We need to leave now if we want to survive, so put your anger on hold and gear up!” 

Eastwood looked taken back for a moment. I didn’t want to yell, but he was being unreasonable….even if he was also being caustious. He was silent for a few seconds, but eventually he gave a nod of approval. 

“Good,” I said before trotting to our supplies. I grabbed Sabre’s wing-blades and threw them to her. She caught them in her hooves, a grin spreading on her face. 

“Gear up; we’re getting out of this hellhole”. 


***


Cyborg and Me took up positions at the door leading to the yard. Sabre stood next to me, her wing-blades securly fassoned in place. Eastwood stood next to Cyborg, his battle saddle locked and loaded. Sunny was lying on his back, her legs still not strong enough to support her full weight. Thankfully Eastwood was a strong earth pony, so her weight didn’t affect him that much. 

“Okay, everyone be ready,” I said to the others. 

With a nodding reply from everypony, I opened the door slightly and peered outside. Even from here I could tell it was complete anarchy. Raiders were running like crazy, shooting towards the boxcars and yard. I could spot a few synths in the doorways, taking quick shots at the raiders. Dead raiders and piles of ash littered the area between them, along with an assortment of disposed weapons. 

“Okay, so where’s the other way out,” I asked. 

“It’s throught he last boxcar on the right,” said Sabre. “If we run we should be able to make it without getting spotted”. 

If we could get through this without being spotted, I’d consider that a complete success. But I had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t going to play out like that. Something would probably go wrong, and we’d have to resort to violence. But still, it was worth a shot. 

“Okay then. Eastwood, you keep running even if you hear them shooting at us. Get Sunny to the exit; me and Cyborg will cover you”. 

“Right”. 

I looked out the door again, making sure the run to the boxcar was clear. “Okay, let’s move”. 

Throwing the door open, I sprinted out of the building with the others close behind. I levitated Celestia’s Thunder out of my battle coat, making sure it was loaded. Eastwood ran beside me with Sunny clinging to his back to stay on. Cyborg was directly behind me, while Sabre had taken to the air and was flying above us.

But we had barely made it halfway when there was a flash of light and four synths appeared to the front-left of us. Unlike the Gen 1’s that were firing at the raiders, these were Gen 2’s. They locked on us and started firing. 

Planting my feet firmly on the ground, I slipped into S.A.T.S. and targeted the heads of the two closest synths. I recalled from my last encounter with them that the skin on the Gen 2’s were very tuff and hard to pierce. But now I had Celestia’s Thunder with me, so I didn’t know what would happen. 

Two bullets shot out the barrel and imparct the synths. The first one exploded in a wave of sprockets and wires, sending the synth downward. The second one impacted the second synth’s left leg, blowing it apart. But despite that, it still managed to keep ballance and continue firing. 

Eastwood continued running towards the boxcar as ordered. Cyborg had jumped behind some nearby metal barrels for cover, and was firing rapidly at the synths. Bullets impacted the skin but only left small scratches. I ran towards the barrels as I waited for S.A.T.S. to recharge. Just as I was slipping behind the cover, I felt a beam impact my back leg. 

I did a quick check and found that I’d only been singed by the impact. But I had a feeling that one more hit there could heavily damage it. Cyborg fire more shots before ducking down to reload. 

“I can’t penetrate their outer skin. How much longer till you can fire at them again?” 

“Right now, but I wouldn’t be that accurate,” I said as I peeked around the barrels. The synths were slowly approaching, but they’d stopped firing for now. “Where’s Sabre”? 

“I don’t know; she disapeared after the synths started firing”. He reloaded his pistol, peeked over the top, and started firing. “Guess Eastwood was right: she ditched us the moment things got bad”. 

I didn’t want to believe that: something was different about her now. She didn’t seem like the exact same pony I’d meet yesterday. But a pony really couldn’t change that much in just one day….which would mean she probably didn’t change her battle tactics. 

As soon as this hit me, I scanned the skys around us. And thanks to my robotic eyesight, I soon found a small orange object zooming in from the left. 

Sabre shot down from the sky until she was just inches from the ground. Dust clouded around her as she approached the synths. They didn’t even have time to react before she shot past them, turned in a half-circle, and landed behind Cyborg and me. 

The synths didn’t move for a moment, but then their heads rolled forward and off their necks. The bodies stood rigid, but the decapted robots had stopped firing. 

“You’re welcome,” said Sabre with a grin. 

“But….how did….how could you slice through their necks but not my legs,” I asked, a little shocked from what I’d witnessed. 

“You’re asking that NOW,” said Cyborg. 

Sabre waved him off. “I don’t know what your legs are made of, but these blades have been made to cut through bassically anything. And that includes what TSIM claims to be ‘top of the line’ robots”. 

I should have been impressed by this….but it just made me wonder why I wasn’t “cutable”. Still, at least the synths were out for the count. 

“Let’s go,” I said as I holstered Celestia’s Thunder. “Eastwood’s already at the boxcar, and I the Gen 1’s are wittling down the raiders”. 

With a nod reply from both of them, the three of us sprinted to the boxcar. It was half-way through the opening of a small railroad tunnel. As we approached I saw that the entrance was actually filled with rubble. 

We ran up the ramp throught the open door and found Eastwood standing at the back of the car. Behind him were a few crates that had been pushed aside, revealing a small doorway. 

“Everyone through the door; it’ll lead to the next boxcar,” said Sabre. 

“But I saw rubble blocking the tunnel entrance. How are we supposed to get through,” I asked. 

“Oh that’s just for show”. Sabre walked through the small doorway, leaving us alone. I looked through and saw her standing in an empty boxcar on the other side. “Come on, let’s move,” she called. 

Eastwood bent down until his stomach was almost touching the floor. He crawled through the doorway to the other car, making sure not to knock Sunny into the frame. Cyborg followed them, and I brought up the rear. Once we were all through, Sabre pushed a nearby crate over the opening, blocking the view to the other side. 

“Better to let the others think there’s nothing here,” she explained. “Now let’s get moving”. 

She lead us out the side of the car and into the main tunnel. There was a small concrete pathway along the sides, making it easy to move past the parked rolling stock. Old lights flickered on the walls, giving us just enough light to see. Sabre took the front position, while I took the second postion. Eastwood followed behind me, with Cyborg bringing up the rear. 

After a few minutes we came upon the wrecked locomotive, which had many different parts missing. Once we passed we moved to the center of the tracks and continued onward. It seemed like we would make a clean getaway….but it didn’t go exactly as such. 

As we came up to a bend in the tunnel, my E.F.S. noted something ahead of us. Three yellow marks were moving further down the line, but they didn’t seem to be walking towards us. I held a hoof out to stop Sabre, and the others did the same. 

“What is it,” asked Eastwood. 

“I’ve got three targets further ahead. E.F.S. says their neutral….but I’m not sure we should take the risk”. 

“What’s the big dear: if they shoot at us we kill them. It’s as simple as that,” said Sabre. 

“Well those synths were shooting at us earlier, and we only got away because of your flying. So tell me: can you fly in this tunnel?” 

Sabre didn’t answer; she just huffed and kicked the ground. “That’s whay I thought,” I retorted. “We’ll take it slow: sneak up on them and see what they are. Then we decide if we shoot or not”. 

Cautiously, we crept forward along the tracks. The yellow dots continued to move ahead of us, not seeming to notice the five ponies behind them. I didn’t want to risk an automatic fight, so I kept Celestia’s Thunder floating next to me. 

But as approached the end of the bend, my ears picked up on something: voices. I couldn’t understand what they were saying at first. However as we continued walking, I began to pick up on certain parts. 

“....Nearing Target…..” 

“....Prepare For Extraction….” 

I didn’t know what they were talking about, but something was clear. One of the voices was mechanical….and sounded just like a synth’s. That meant that there was at least one synth ahead of us. But the other voice didn’t sound mechanical, it sounded like a pony’s. That’s what boggled me; why would a pony be with a synth? 

“Hey, you all hear that,” asked Eastwood. 

It looked like the others were hearing the voices too. Cyborg tensed up. “Yeah, a synth”. 

I looked ahead as saw that we were approaching a section of collasped tunnel. A clear path lay on the right….but I didn’t take it. Because I noticed then that I could hear something moving slightly up ahead….and that it corresponded to the yellow dots on my E.F.S. 

“Hold up,” I whispered to the others, “the dots on my E.F.S. are right up ahead”. 

“What are we going to do,” asked Eastwood. 

I paused for a moment while I formulated a plan. “I’m going to peak behind the rubble and see what we’re up against”. 

“I’ll go too,” said Cyborg. “Sabre and Eastwood you stay back here”. 

The two of us walked forward and up the pile of rubble. We paused at the top before looking down at the other side. From here I could see two synths standing further along. Between them was a grey earth pony with a short brown mane. He wore a black trenchcoat with added padding on the shoulders and knees. A folder sat in his hooves, and he was looking it over carefully. 

“That doesn’t look like a raider; what’s he doing down he….” 

Cyborg planted his hoof over my mouth, cutting off my sentence. When I looked over at him, I was surpised to see he looked both scared and worried. He jerked his head back towards the others, indicating we should head back. I was curious as to why he looked so frightened, but I figured he’d tell me soon. 

We headed down the rubble-pile and back to the others. When they saw how scarred/worried Cyborg looked, they started to look the same. “What’s wrong,” asked Eastwood. 

“Yeah Cyborg, why are you so scared? Was it something to do with that pony?” 

Cyborg nodded. “But that’s not a pony Garcon, it’s a synth”. 

“What? It looked like a normal pony; it didn’t have any fake skin or exposed parts. How can that be a synth?” 

“It’s a Generation Four synth: ones that are almost entirely organic except for parts of the brain and skeleton. TSIM uses them for infiltration and expert field work. But the one up ahead is different….it’s a Courser!” 

“A what,” asked Sabre. 

“Courser,” repeated Cyborg. “They’re state of the art killing machines; designed to be smarter, faster, stronger and more perceptive than the average combat synth. There’s not a pony that’s fought one and lived to talk about it”. 

If that was the case, then we were in a bad spot. Fighting that thing in our current situation wasn’t an option. I didn’t want to risk anyone getting killed. But that thing was also standing between us and the exit. If we wanted to get out, we’d need to get past them. 

I checked my E.F.S. and saw that the dots were moving again. I leaned over the tracks and looked down to where the courser had been. It and the other synths were moving down the tunel towards another bend. 

“They’re on the move,” I said to the others. “We should wait until they go around the bend before following them”. 

“You want to FOLLOW them,” said Cyborg. “Did you not hear what I just said? It’s certain death if we walk down that way!” 

“And it’s certain death if we walk back the way we came,” I retorted. “At least this way has an exit. Besides maybe the Courser was clearing the tunnel: if we stay behind him we can leave when it does”. 

“I’m with the robot on this one,” said Sabre. 

“So am I,” said Eastwood. “I’m not taking Sunny back to that raider infested hellhole”. 

So it looked like we were almost all in agreement. Cyborg looked at all of us, clearly thinking over our decison. Eventually he shook his head, “fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you”. 


***


After waiting a few moments for the Courser and synths to move around the bend, the five of us moved forward cautiously. We took up our previous positions, which had the added bonous of letting Cyborg be as far away from the Courser as possible. The only change was that this time I was at the front; allowing my E.F.S. to keep an eye on the synths. We kept a good distance behind them, not wanting to give away our position. 

Eventually we came upon the bend in the tunnel. As we continued to walk I could hear the sound of wind blowing from outside; meaning the exit was likely right up ahead. But I also heard talking, and it didn’t sound like the synths or the Courser. The voices souned more gruff and….very familiar. 

I halted everyone we we reached the bend’s midway point. Moving forward slighlty, I peaked around the corner to view the area. Right up ahead were the Courser and synths, who were approaching a large gratted archway. At the bottom was a chained doorway which I guessed was the exit….but there was another problem. 

Standing before the door were Butcher and Knuckles, the latter of whom was trying to use a crowbar to break the lock. And thanks to my advanced hearing, I was able to hear the conversation they were having.

“Come on you fucking lock, breakt already,” said Knuckles angrily. 

“I’m starting to regret bringing you with me Knuckles. At this rate those robots will find the tunnel, and then we’re both screwed,” said Butcher angrily. 

Knuckles gave the crowbar another hard push, but it only resulted in it slipping from the lock and whipping over his head. As he turned to grab it, he saw the synths and Courser approaching them. In a second he had his gun out and pointing at the three. 

“Stop right where you are mother fu….” 

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before the two synths fired similtanious shots at him. The rapid impact of magic beam vaporized Knuckles, leaving a pile of ash, some armor, and a pistol lying on the ground. 

Butcher whipped out his own gun and took aim at the Courser. “Big mistake fucker; you’re dead!” 

The Courser didn’t seem to have any reaction to the threat. He kept walking forward until he was just a few feet from Butcher. I was sure he was going to pull out a gun and shoot Butcher until he was a pile of meat on the ground. 

Instead, he opened his mouth and said “A5-97 initialize factory reset. Authorization code: Gamma-1-9-Epsilon”. 

The pistol in Butcher’s mouth fell to the ground as his body suddenly went limp. I waited for him to move again, but he never did. The Courser walked around him, then pulled out a strange glowing device. 

“Y9-14 reporting a mission accomplished. Ready to relay with A5-97”. 

The Courser turned to the two synths behind him. “Continue to guard this location until further comands are issued. Kill anyone that tries to escape”. 

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and what sounded light a large gust of wind. When the light fadded, Butcher and the Courser were nowhere to be found. The two synths took postion on either side of the exit, scanning the tunnel before them. 

And leaving me in a state of complete and utter shock at what I’d just witnessed. 





Footnote: 

LEVEL UP! 

New Program Added: Guess Who? - When wearing another Faction’s clothes, you gain +3 to sneak. +1 to Charism when talking to another member.