Throttlesky

Heartbeat rolled her eyes and grabbed Straight's knife off the table to cut off his bindings. "So I guess we are good here? If we want to kill the most dangerous pony in Fillydelphia we'll need to work together. Let's get cracking then!" (Dead rp is dead. Let's get some life in here.)

Both Straight and Heartbeat gave a sigh of relief. "No" Heartbeat replied, "I don't have a group anymore. They scattered as soon as they heard that Steel was attacking the university. They are probably already out of town. We could retreat back to my base but Steel knows where that is. I need my stuff to complete the drug. If I can get the hallucination drug airborne in a grenade, we can destroy Steel without even firing a shot." "Yeah that would work." Straight agreed. ... "Why am I still tied up?"

@@LittleRawr, "Yes I did say that. But I wouldn't call Steel a raider. He's a monster. From the beginning the groups in Fillydelphia tried to keep order and tried to maintain the city and the university. Steel never followed those rules. He believes he is above those rules and anypony who agreed with him joined up. That was months ago." Once again Heartbeat pointed at Straight. "Straight here was scouting out the city when I came across him. I'm his source for most of the information he reported back to you. We're allies. And like I said, he's not a spy."

After a pause Heartbeat continued "The drug that was in the food was not meant for any of you. It was actually supposed to be apart of a peace offering to Steel. My cohorts mixed up the food and put it into Straight's bag. The drug is meant to cause hallucinations and weaken the victim. It came from my lab where I mixed it. Are you satisfied with my explanation of what happened? Or are you just going to shoot us anyway?"

@@RedStorm, "All right, In case you don't know who I am, I'm Heartbeat. Leader of the last group other than Steel in Fillydelphia. That was until recently when my ponies heard that Steel and his group stormed the university. They didn't see the aftermath but they thought that we were doomed and fled. They are most likely frozen solid outside of town." "Now as of events today." She pointed a hoof at Straight Shot "Straight was not a spy for Steel. I planted that rumor right in Steel's mouth to keep Straight from being gunned down while entering the university. He wants Steel dead as much as you and I do." Heartbeat paused for questions and comments.

@@LittleRawr, @@RedStorm, Once again staring down a barrel of a gun. "You want me to talk? Put the guns away," Heartbeat replied, "I believe we all have had enough threatening and shooting for one day. Especially from Cleo." Straight was still tied up, but couldn't believe how much authority Heartbeat was throwing around. She'd change since that happened.

@@RedStorm, "How should I know? Cleo and her entourage haven't been back in hours. They could be in the next city for all I know," Straight turned to Heartbeat, "My question still stands. Why would they call me a spy when I don't remember ever being one. And why was the food you gave me drugged?" "No more secrets" thought Straight. "I came up with the spy story. It was to get you back to your group without getting shot. The drugs were put there because one of my followers misheard me." Heartbeat was honest for a change. "So here I am, tied up because your plans failed. Nice reunion. Now they will never trust me."

It had been hours now, tied up in that house. Straight was still sitting there. "Where could they be? I thought they were coming back to 'deal' with me." he thought to himself. "I see you're getting along fine without me" Heartbeat was at the front door. She closed the door behind her and sat down on her haunches to look at Straight. "Heartbeat? What are you doing here? I thought you were trying to get close to Steel?" This was weird. She was never this close. "That plan failed when he attacked your group. I expect Steel calling you out as a spy put you here." "Yeah it did, but they had already expected me a spy because they tried the food... wait. Why did he call me a spy? And why did the food you give me have drugs in it? What is going on?"

@@LittleRawr, Straight wanted to answer Cleo. But he knew that all he would do is make her mad. Not saying anything didn't set her off since she left. But now he was tied up in the house with no one around. "I could just get out of here. But I need them to trust me. I don't know why they called me a spy. I can't even remember how I got that carrot. Oh that's something I can do while I wait." Straight used his magic to empty his food bag. Anything that wasn't factory sealed was thrown into the fireplace and burned. What was left was some canned goods (like Filthy Rich's Chunky stew) and the stuff that couldn't have been drugged like his beef jerky. He's had that since they got here. Finally he whipped out his cigarette box for a smoke. "What the?" Some cigarettes were missing.

Straight Shot tried to get out of the hog tie around his legs. But Red's knots were either too complicated or just random. Crawling slowly he made it over to the wall so he could prop himself up. He didn't want to say anymore due to the fact everything he's said so far had been twisted against him. So there he sat waiting for someone to actually ask him what was going on instead of pointing guns at him.

Straight was lost in his thoughts. "Why can't I remember anything about spying on them? I went back cause Heartbeat said they were coming to kill the group. Why would she lie about it?" ------ Elsewhere. "What do you mean you actually put the drug in his bags. If that group dies Steel will be gunning for us next!" Heartbeat screamed at one of the earth ponies. Things aren't going too well with Heartbeat and her group. "That drug was supposed to be ready in case Steel tries anything. That whole plan was to get Straight back into the university without getting shot." The earth pony replied "But isn't Straight under the drug's effect? Why didn't you just sober him up and send him back?" Heartbeat replied "that's cause if they decide to screw me over then I can have Straight kill them. I hope it doesn't come to that cause I like them a whole lot more than Steel. Either way, keep your gas masks with you and make sure the gas bombs are ready. If Steel wants to mess with us he's going to have to deal with everything I have in my lab."

"They aren't here for trading, they want to kill you all! Heartbeat said it herself. As soon as you show me to them I'm dead. Heartbeat is the only ally we got and if I die that's over. She wants to kill Steel as much as she does. You have to believe me. Heartbeat can help us." And how the buck was I supposed to know that they had drugs in them?

@@LittleRawr, "You know what Cleo? Fuck you. You want to get shot by a bunch of bandits? Fine by me, but they are not my friends. I don't even know what's going on and you're not helping any of us figure it out. If I'm a spy and I was supposed to kill you all, why haven't I? Why would I help you find an exit if I was going to kill all of you. For all we know he said my name to make us question each other. He knew Johnny's name. Who's to say he doesn't know who you are? Are we going to shoot Acid here if he says his name? We're wasting time arguing about this. They are COMING. We need to get out of here.

@@RedStorm, @@LittleRawr, Straight was still confused, the drugged food, the fact those snipers practically let him in. It was apparent there was something going on. "I'm...a spy?" Straight ducked down. No way he was running into the bullets. He wasn't going anywhere, even if Cleo tried to shoot him. "I don't even remember talking to Steel. Why does he think I'm a spy?" He chambered a round in his rifle and covered the staircase. "Cleo I know this is really confusing, but I don't know what he is talking about. And it seems like he doesn't care that I'm down here so we're in the same boat. We can figure out this shit later. We need that ice gone, NOW!"

@@LittleRawr, @@squareyes, @,@@RedStorm, Straight wasn't sure what was going on. Poisoned food? He did find that carrot in an old supermarket. It might just be bad food that someone laced to kill looters. "I didn't know, besides I wasn't going to make a stew out of that. I had these." Straight reached into his jacket and showed 3 cans of Filthy Rich's Chunky Potato Stew. "I couldn't have poisoned the food, what was I going to eat if I did? I'm starving too!" He put the cans back in his bag. "I'd suggest then we get rid of any food that is not freshly caught or not factory sealed. For all we know, it wasn't for us. Hell some junkie might have decided to put drugs in the food and Red had a really bad trip"

@@Skullbuster, "The sewers is blocked off by snow. If we can melt it, then we got a backdoor in cause shit hits the fan." Straight reported. Suddenly a growl filled the room coming from Straight's stomach "I'm gonna make something to eat if anyone wants any. I found some goodies while scouting. How does a stew sound?"

@@squareyes, "Snow? How did that get in there?" Straight answered back. He rounded a corner to find a pile of snow leading out of an open door to the sewer. "Dammit! We could dig our way out if the snow isn't iced over anypony know any heat spells?" Straight looked back upstairs for an answer. Hopefully somepony did.

@@RedStorm, "Relax. There's nothing but storage down here. Maybe we can find a back door entrance here." Straight started knocking on the walls trying to hear if there were any kind of passages. "Try the other rooms. Just don't shoot me if I come around the corner please."

(wondering how he got the wreakage past the snipers but oh well) Straight Shot couldn't see anything down in the basements of the university. A simple light spell fixed that which revealed the usual things, old desks, cold furnaces. "If I was the city builder, where would I put the sewer down here?" Straight had never been to Fillydelphia, but the industrialization made the city prosper. Throttlesky remembered when the city tried to advertise that Fillydelphia was the most advanced city in Equestria due to it's non-magical production, they advertised that they rebuilt everything. "I hope everything includes the sewers." Straight shouted up to the others. "Hey could I get some help down here? There might be a way out we can use!"

@Swig Straight passed a pony with a sniper rifle that could take somepony's head off. "Hunting elephants?" Straight passed him towards the lower levels. Passed a messy cafeteria, passed a few storerooms. Where no scopes could touch him. There he lit another cigarette and looked for a way out.

@redstorm "As far as I'm concerned, Heartbeat knows if we're dead, she's next on the chopping block. So either there is going to be some backstabbing soon or we might get backup from her and her company." Straight lit a cigarette. "And if you were military, I wouldn't hesitate to have you publicly beaten as an example to not forget rank. I'm a captain remember. But I'll chalk this up as a civilian blunder and go about the rest of my day. I'll take my leave and try to find a way out that's not covered by a scope."

"Wait. Before you all go, I have a scout report." A green grid of the surrounding area appeared with a flash of his horn. "We are completely surrounded by bandits who take orders from a stallion named Steel. He is responsible for the train explosion and is the boss of the mysterious green pony we keep seeing." Their pictures flashed on the magic projection. "Another pony of interest is a mare named Heartbeat. She is the other force in the city. Where Steel is cruel, she is methodical. She wants Steel out but cannot do that with her numbers." Heartbeat's picture flashed on the projection. "Back to our current problem. They as in Steel have snipers set all around the perimeter. I'm guessing they are attempting to contain us and either starve us out or clear it when we are vulnerable. There might also be a chance they have some sort of biological weapon they might use against us. I suspect this because every single sniper is upwind of the school. But that doesn't mean there are blind spots." The green projection faded. "My tactical opinion, either we buckle down and expect an all out attack, or worse, we should probably grab what we can and find a way out of here. End report" "This is like when I was back in the military" Straight thought to himself.

Straight managed to find an air vent on the roof to the university. With a few seconds of magic, the grate was off and Straight decended down into the school. He opened the first panel he could find and dropped into a classroom. Chemistry class, without thinking Straight looked for any supplies to use. The only thing he found was a gas main for the bunson burners. But another thing caught his eye, the chem storage. He didn't know a lot about chemicals but he knew when you mess with them, they sometimes explodes. He took note of this as he stepped out into the hallway looking for the group. "It's only a matter of time before they try to leave."

(that moment when Heartbeat was saying the same thing) Straight sat there in his own little world, Heartbeat watched him as he just stared into nothing. "What is he thinking right now, is he at peace? All he wanted was to find me. What have I done to him?" The drug was completely ready, Straight wasn't going to be infiltrating any universities, but he was ready. She took out a pill. "One dose should be enough." Heartbeat thought as she put it in his mouth. It dissolved and the drug took effect ----------- Straight was dreaming, he was with Heartbeat, everything was ok. She wasn't mad at him. It felt like years since they finally met up. "Straight, it's time to get up." His eyes opened, he was in a lab, with Heartbeat standing there. "Heartbeat? What happened, I must have knocked out when I saw yo-" "It's fine, you were tired." "You look tired as well." "It's nothing" "Like hell it's nothing, what's wrong." "Bandits are fighting over the university, That was my place, well it's not really mine, but I liked going there. A pony named Steel wants to kill them...and me..." "Steel?" "But I need you to go back to your group. They need help. They don't know that if any of them leave the building they will be shot. I have a way to beat Steel, but I need more time." "I'm not going anywhere not until we talk abou-" "There is no time, go!" "Ok, but don't you die on me Heartbeat." Straight couldn't believe he was leaving her so soon, but he had to get back. "I'll relay instructions to you with mind magic." "Got it." Straight grabbed his gear in the corner. Everything was in place, even his food. Standing on the roof, he viewed the university. With a teleport he was on top of the building. But the entrances where sealed on top. With a lay of land spell, he could tell the group had been particular in keeping out ponies. The next thing he saw made his hair stand up on end, he detected about 30 ponies in other buildings, all with rifles. The only thing that was on his mind was, "Why aren't they firing?"

"You best not touch those. You might lose a hoof. Or several. You should know to not mess with the bottles under the sink. Especially when you don't know what they do. That one there explodes at a touch. And that will give you warts."(Damn No red text on phone.)