Oz, Jack, Twilight and Spike proceeded through the underground in the near dark, moving along a walkway intended for maintenance workers lit by the occasional flickering light. Water could be heard dripping in the distance, and mould was growing on the wall.
"This is horrible." grumbled Twilight.
"I'm sorry that this ain't the best, but it's the best I could do to get you out of Wipers without being seen." replied Jack, sounding somewhat apologetic.
Silence returned to the group for a few minutes, until Oz's ears stood up.
"Eight-fifteen to the Cathedral via Fell Hire Corner's coming. Won't be for a few minutes yet, but we don't want to be standing 'ere when it goes by." stated Oz.
"Any suggestions as to how we might avoid that?" questioned Jack.
"Yeah. There's an abandoned station up ahead; a few hundred yards."
"Why was it abandoned?" asked Spike.
"Rarely used. Three people during the day, and two at night, on average for the six months before it closed. Although it was intended to serve more." replied Oz.
The quartet arrived on platform four shortly afterwards, and the eight-fifteen could be heard coming down the tunnel. Not soon after that, the train rattled past, a blur of almost imperceivable colours and light streaming through the windows, making a whooshing noise as it did so. A few passengers on the train thought they saw shadows glimpsed through the windows, but abandoned it quickly.
"Did you say that the train went to the Cathedral via Fell Hire Corner?" asked Jack.
"Yeah. Why?" replied Oz.
"Because Fell Hire Corner owes me a few favours. They could help us smuggle Princess Twilight out of Wipers."
"Fell Hire Corner?" asked Spike.
"Wiper's Italian Mafia district. Three types go there: those in the Mafia, those with a good reason, and those who are soon to die." answered Jack.
"Are you sure that you can get them to help?" questioned Twilight.
"There's a saying in Fell Hire Corner: 'You help me, we help you.', and I've helped them on several notable occasions." said Jack.
"Okay, it's beginning to look like a good idea." stated Oz.
"What's the quickest way of getting there?"
"Through Metro 2."
Oz almost walked into a wall before he groped for a light switch. Upon finding one, he pressed it, and the platform lights flickered insanely overhead for a few seconds, before becoming a steady source of light. The kangaroo led the quartet through the old, dusty station, occasionally turning new sets of lights on, and older ones off. Near the old ticket office, Oz opened a cleaner's cupboard, revealing a circular staircase leading down, deeper into the earth. Turning on the lights, Oz led the way, followed by Twilight, Spike, and then Jack, who shut the door.
When they reached the end of the staircase, the group found itself on a small, narrow platform. In contrast to the tunnels above them, Metro 2 was well lit and wasn't showing any signs of damp or mould. A short distance away, a small electric train rested in a siding. The four animals went over to it. Jack and Oz looked at the controls, while Twilight and Spike took a seat. The controls were unfamiliar to Oz, who left them in the capable hands of Jack. Pulling out of the station, Oz gave Jack directions to Fell Hire Corner, activating the appropriate switches to adjust the points that would take them there.
"Why does Metro 2 exist?" asked Twilight.
"Simply put, to allow the evacuation of high ranking personnel from Wipers. There are entrances all over the city." replied Jack.
"Myrynion will neither deny nor confirm if it exists, and, technically, you were never here and never saw anything." stated Oz.
Quiet fell upon them, listening to the rattling of the train. After a while, Oz told Jack to stop at a station. After they had all disembarked, Oz took them up a set of stairs, which led to a ventilation unit. Pushing hard, Oz opened a cleverly hidden door.
Going out onto platform 5 of Fell Hire Corner, Jack led the quartet to the surface. There he was approached by a stallion in a sharp suit with an overbearing Italian accent. Jack quickly explained why he was there and asked to see one of the Mafia bosses. His request was accepted, and the quintet went to one of the senior Mafia bosses.
Upon arriving at the boss's house, the stallion escorting the quartet left. Going inside, the group met with the Mafia boss Giovanni Depiro. He was a friendly pony, who was quite willing to help, considering Jack's previous history of helping the Mafia if and when he could. Giovanni said that he would go with them, as well as taking a couple of skilled Mafia assassins.
"Assassins?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
"Never underestimate an assassin. They can get in somewhere, kill their victim, or sometimes, victims, and get out alive. Possibly even with some useful information." replied Jack.
"When will we leave?" asked Spike.
"Now. As your not safe in Wipers, and maybe even the Tsardom, it's vital to get out quickly." replied Oz.
Giovanni summoned the two assassins, and the group of seven left. Working northwards, they entered a railway goods yard on the outskirts of Wipers. Although it wasn't as busy as it would have been during the day, the yard was still encountering a decent amount of traffic, most of it due for Wipers and district, or leaving the capital city.
Boarding an empty boxcar on a train bound for Grafton, near the border with Equestria, the group made themselves as comfortable as possible for the long journey ahead, while the diesel locomotive filled its fuel tank. After a concerning lurch forward, the occupants of the boxcar knew they were on their way, and there was nothing that they would be able to do until they got to the border.
Spike fell asleep quickly on the hard wooden floor, while the rest quietly discussed the immediate future.
"We will stay with Twilight until she is safely in Ponyville, as those who want her dead may strike before she leaves the Tsardom. However, she'll be safe there until we can start doing some investigation into who wants Twilight dead." stated Jack.
"The Mafia will go with her to Ponyville, and, as a gesture of goodwill, my assassins and I will remain there until the situation is over." said Giovanni.
"I should be okay in Ponyville by myself." stated Twilight.
"You do realise that they may follow us to Equestria, to Ponyville, to your house? If we're not there, you could end up killed, and this escape is for nothing." said the elder of the two assassins.
"They may have got there before us." mumbled Jack.
"Of course, this is part is nothing compared to the investigation. There'll prob'ly be a Court of Enquiry. The investigation could take weeks, months even, and get nowhere." grumbled Oz.
"The Mafia will also hold its own investigation. Two investigations could cover more ground more effectively than just one." stated Giovanni.
"Pity I didn't speak to the esteemed Herlock Sholmes and his admirer Dr Hotsam before we left. They would get the case done quicker than a Court of Enquiry could." Oz said, mournfully.
"No point complaining now. Anyway, we'll get off at Grafton, and proceed to the border from there. After crossing through the mountains, we can try to catch a train from there to Ponyville." said Jack.
"What is Grafton anyway?" questioned Twilight.
"Mining village. Supplies Wipers with iron and copper ores." replied Oz, in a tone that suggested that he had answered the question of a mental defective.
"We'll be arriving in Grafton in about eight hours, and I hope to start crossing through the mountains by dawn, so we should get some sleep. Especially you, Princess. You've had quite a day." stated Jack, messing around with his Magnum.
The boxcar fell silent, the only sound being the rattling of the train and the travellers' breathing. Soon, Jack was snoring quietly in a corner, dreaming of firing Gertrude at enemies of the state. Oz sat in a corner, watching the dark landscape pass by through a gap in the blanks of the boxcar. The Mafia were in a state of unrest, periodically sleeping before waking up because of the sound or movement of the train.
Twilight was also asleep, one of her wings covering Spike, who seemed content with the feathery cover. Both happily dreamed of Ponyville, before a shadowy, unidentifiable figure gave them dangerous glances.
Eight hours later, Twilight was woken by the train decelerating to a stop, brakes squeaking and couplings clinking. Except Spike, the other members of the group were awake. Oz, still sitting in the corner and looking outside, spoke to the group.
"We're at Grafton. Give it a few minutes, so that the driver and the engineer have the time to leave the train without noticing us." ordered the kangaroo.
After a few minutes, during which Twilight woke up Spike, Oz stood up and quietly opened a door, and got out of the boxcar, Jack following. Both kangaroos then helped the ponies inside the boxcar to the ground, due to a rather significant drop.
Oz began leading the group towards the border, Jack at the rear, and the rest in-between the two kangaroos. The ponies were having difficulties seeing in the murky, pre-dawn light, with a few electric lamps in Grafton's railway yard to aid their sight, although Oz and Jack were fine.
"How are you able to see where we're going?" asked Twilight.
"You should know. Kangaroos are nocturnal." replied Linford.
"What's the time?" questioned Spike.
Oz looked at his watch.
"Ten to five the morning, Wipers Mean Time. The mountains are about ten miles from here, and a further ten-mile trek through them to get to Equestria." replied the manservant.
"Why don't we wait until morning?" asked Twilight.
"Tactics. Why sit around here for an hour, maybe two and let an assassin catch up with us? The most important thing right now is to get you away from Myrynion." answered Jack.
"On top of that, the weather in the mountains is due to take a turn for the worst. This assassin did time his attempt well." stated Oz.
"Was it the assassin who called you last evening?" questioned Spike.
"Nah, it was one of the other kangaroos in the Tsar's private army. He sounded quite desperate and, well, he's not the type to make this up." replied Jack.
"He could still be the assassin, attempting to divert the blame from himself. We do something similar when we need to assassinate someone. It allows them to get their affairs in order." stated Giovanni.
"No, he'd know I'd try to get Twilight away from Myrynion, so he would be waiting for us, which is why it was good that we enlisted your help. He knows that I'd discipline him rather harshly if he did anything like this, which would quite literally be the death of him."
"Which means that he's probably innocent. Return to start. Do not pass go; do not collect two hundred pounds."
The group trudged on, with dark colours melting away as an orange light came from the horizon in ever increasing amounts, revealing the green colours of the hills and hedges. In the distance, getting larger with each step, was the Lepton Mountain Range, bordering both Myrynion and Equestria.
"Can't tell from this distance, but the pass seems clear." stated Oz.
"Now you've said that, it won't be." said Jack.
Each step closer confirmed what Oz had stated. Soon, standing at the end of the pass, Oz led, rather than rub the fact he was correct into Jack's face. Thick snow drifts covered the mountain peaks, extending down a concerning distance halfway down the slopes. There was no life there, amongst the snow, ice, and rock.
Six miles through, the group encountered a large snowstorm. It started off as a barely noticeable breeze, increasing to a steady, cold, blizzard, howling and shrieking around the travellers, whipping them with snow and small stones from the slopes of the mountains. Spike grew weak quickly, and Twilight was not soon behind. Even the three ponies from the Wipers Mafia slowed and were noticeably shivering. Oz buttoned up his shirt and blew onto his paws to keep them warm, sometimes hopping on the spot. Jack, being the hard-boiled serjeant, not to mention the fact that he had a scarf, ploughed onwards, barely noticing the plight of his comrades in the poor visibility.
"Jack! We cannot go on much longer. Twilight and Spike will catch their deaths here. We cannot let that happen!" shouted Oz.
"Then where shall we go?" asked the serjeant.
"Daemarrel research facility".
"Daemarrel? That place closed down nearly three decades ago. On top of that, the place is supposed to be haunted, which caused it to be abandoned."
"Then the princess dies of the cold."
"How far do we need to go to get to Daemarrel?"
"Hundred and fifty yards on the right is the old entrance. I don't know if we can still get in through there, though."
"Right. You take care of the princess and Spike; I'll see if the entrance is still alright."
Oz nodded before he tended to Twilight and Spike. Jack ploughed on through the blizzard, reaching the entrance of Daemarrel after a few minutes. He tried opening the door but found that it required a passcode that he did not have After a few failed attempts to open the door with his crowbar, Jack returned to Oz to help him tend to Twilight.
"Door seems alright, but the blasted thing needs a passcode that I don't have." stated the serjeant.
"Help me get Twilight and Spike there, and I'll try and open it." said Oz.
Jack slung Twilight over his shoulder and hopped his way towards the entrance of Daemarrel. Oz picked up Spike and followed Jack. The Mafia wasn't far behind. On the threshold of the research laboratory, Oz put Spike down and entered a code into a panel by the door. After a few seconds, the locks on the door were released, and Oz opened the door. A dark corridor greeted them. Oz turned on the lights and bounced down the corridor. Jack put Twilight down, who stumbled down the corridor after Oz. Spike, then the Mafia, and finally Jack, went into Daemarrel. Jack closed the door behind him, activating two automated security turrets above the door in the process.
Oz quickly found a map of the complex and tore it off the wall. He studied it for a few moments, before shoving it in a pocket. Going through a complex, maze-like system of passages, the group arrived in the canteen. Jack found some crates in a storeroom and cracked them open with his crowbar, finding several tins of out-of-date peaches, as well as some Big Soup, and some spam. Taking these into the canteen, Jack opened the tins of peaches and offered them to the rest. These were greatly received, despite the fact that they were out-of-date. Jack then asked if anyone else wanted any spam, which was declined by the others. Jack, hoisting himself onto a work surface, opened a tin of spam, put the lump of pink precooked meat product on a broken plate, and started eating it with a knife pillaged from a cutlery drawer.
"Why?" asked Twilight, shaking her head.
"He'll eat anything, provided it's possible for him to digest it." replied Oz.
"But...spam? On a broken plate? With a knife?"
"I'll tell you something." stated Jack, waving a slice of spam on the end of the knife at Twilight.
"You're crazy." claimed Twilight.
"I didn't have anything to say; I just wanted to wave some spam at you. And you're not the first to claim I'm mad, by the way."
"We are getting off the point, here. How long could the storm outside last?" asked Giovanni.
"Days, maybe weeks." answered Oz.
"Save a can of spam for me, Jack."
Jack finished off his spam and hunted in the storeroom for some alcohol that he could drink. Settling on the large bottle of Captain Morgan's Rum, Jack returned to the canteen.
"As we may be stuck here for a few days, we'll have to sleep in the old dormitories, which I am not going to enjoy, considering the reputation of this place." stated Jack.
"What's the reputation?" questioned Spike.
"That the place is awful. It was abandoned by the personnel after a heap load of unexplainable stuff occurred, spooking the ponies working here."
"What kind of stuff."
"Dunno. Those who escaped refuse to talk about this place, or even mention the name except in hushed voices or whispers. Popular opinion is that the place is haunted."
"It was abandoned twenty-seven years ago. Anything here would have died or moved on." claimed Giovanni.
"I hope you're right." said Jack.
"This reminds me of when I went to a ruined castle in the Everfree forest, but it turned out to be one of my friends who was causing all the trouble." stated Twilight.
After a few minutes of silence, Oz spoke.
"I'm going to the security office. I'll turn on the automated turrets, so we don't have any...unwelcome visitors." stated the kangaroo.
"Won't be much good against any ghosts, if this place has them." said Giovanni
Oz left, followed by Jack, who decided that it would be safer for Oz if someone was with him. Partway to the security office, Jack thought he heard something whispering to him, along with the feeling that something sentient was standing behind him. Turning around, nothing was there, whispers resonating on the walls. Jack hurried along after Oz.
Giovanni, the two assassins, Twilight, and Spike were in the canteen, playing a game of cards, talking as they did so. Spike was losing rather badly, and he gave up. The baby dragon decided that he would look through the nearby storeroom for some gems, although this didn't result in anything. Spike returned to watch the game of cards, joining in the conversation every so often.
The game was soon dissolved, and Twilight dozed. Giovanni found a can of spam and began eating from it, making him incredibly sick in the process. The two assassins smoked cigarettes in a corner, alert for anything that might have any hostile attitudes to Twilight. Spike sat down next to Twilight and began to think about who might want to kill Twilight.
In the security office, Oz was making a video call to Orpheus, and explaining why he had disappeared with Jack, Twilight and Spike.
"I'm sorry I left in a hurry, sir, but I did it in the best interests of Princess Twilight." apologised the manservant.
"I understand. You did what was needed of you. However, I.." said Orpheus, as he broke off his sentence.
"What's up, sir?" asked Oz.
On the screen he was receiving Oz's message, Orpheus could clearly see a large, hulking, indescribably horrible being approach Oz from behind. However, a shot rang out, blood gushed out from the beast's head, followed by Jack putting his Magnum back in his pocket.
"Thanks, Jack." stuttered Oz.
"No worries, mate. That thing was going to kill you. And on top of that, I had a Chekhov 's Gun to fulfil." said Jack.
"Anyway, sir, what were you saying?"
"That I have no idea who would do this. I'll get Mr Sholmes on the case." said Orpheus
"Good decision, sir." stated Jack.
"And, sir, Fell Hire Corner will be running their own investigation." added Oz.
"You got Fell Hire Corner into this?" asked the Tsar.
"We did, sir, to get some more protection for Princess Twilight."
"Why didn't you get my private army on the case instead?"
"It was Jack's idea when we were going through the Underground, after a train to Fell Hire Corner went past."
"I've got other things to attend to, but thank you, none-the-less."
The video call ended.
"You know, Oz, it may not have been a good idea bringing Twilight in here." claimed Jack.
"That may be true." replied Oz.
"Indeed..."
Several hours past. The blizzard outside showed no signs of ending shortly, and Oz and Jack were watching the feed from the security cameras in the security office. Little happened in the canteen, where the Mafia, Twilight, and Spike remained, and nothing happened elsewhere. However, something on one of the screens caught Jack's eye.
"Oy, Oz, take a look at this." exclaimed the serjeant.
Oz went over to the monitor, where the two kangaroos could see a bright blue Earth pony shadow charge down the corridor towards the canteen before it vanished into thin air.
"This place really is haunted." stated Oz.
Meanwhile, in the canteen, the two Mafia assassins were blasting away at half-glimpsed shadows with guns they had previously concealed on their bodies. Giovanni was chipping in with a hand-cannon. The shadows seemed immune to the damage, getting ever closer to the corner where the assassins, Giovanni, Twilight, and Spike were clustered. As the shadows closed in, they faded into nothing and left the ponies. Twilight was shaken by this experience, despite the encounter with King Sombra outside the Crystal Empire. The others were more concerned than shaken, although all five were regretting coming into Daemarrel.
Back in the security office, Oz was curious about a particular reading from the console.
"Jack, this thing's saying that there's a turbine hall fire." said the manservant
"And? What's significant about that?" asked the stronger kangaroo.
"This place doesn't have a turbine hall."
"Where does this place get it's power from?"
"Two emergency generators in the basement, which has been underwater since before this place was evacuated, or from the Lorus Nuclear Plants."
"Those plants aren't running anymore, except for maintenance."
"Tell me about it."
"Wasn't this place wired up to the Fusion Reactor?"
"Why? It was abandoned before the Fusion Reactor was built."
"Which Lorus was this place served by?"
"Err, the sixth."
"Riven'yat? But that place completely disappeared at about the same time that this started being haunted."
"We'd best get out of here."
The two kangaroos jumped their way to the canteen, where they informed the others of what they were going to do.
"There is a blizzard outside. How are we supposed to leave?" asked Giovanni.
"I could try teleporting us out of here." stated Twilight.
"Worth a shot." claimed Jack.
Twilight stated her teleportation spell, which encompassed all present. After a few moments, they appeared on the Equestrian side of the Lepton Mountains. Twilight crumpled to the ground, completely exhausted by the teleportation spell. Jack hoisted her onto his shoulder, and the group moved northwards.
"So, where are we going?" asked Spike.
"Anywhere that's got a train station. Twilight's an awful lot heavier than Gertrude, and I cannot carry her a hundred miles between here and Ponyville." replied Jack.
Jack took this opportunity to take a swig from his bottle of rum, belching afterwards.
"Appleloosa's not far from here; should be a couple of miles. We can catch the train from there." said Oz.
"Oz, you know a lot about the geography of places. How do you do it?" asked Giovanni.
"Not sure exactly. But it has something to do with being the Tsar's manservant."
Jack laughed, a deep, rolling laugh.
"Companies would pay masses for your skills, Oz." said the serjeant
"But I wouldn't leave Orpheus."
"Your loyalty is commendable." stated Giovanni.
"Thank you." said Oz.
The group continued to Appleloosa, in the early afternoon sun. But they still had a long way to go before they could all get home.