What was lost (Horror, gore, violence, probably some others too)

"Don't worry about that particular issue," Dust said with a frown.

She turned to the new pony, taking a step back from the swords. "I could ask you the same question, but my name is Dust. I just got here, and these people aren't dangerous." She mostly stayed silent, letting the others explain more.

Sharp herself wasn't really feeling like doing much of anything, so when the conversation shifted away from typical morning greetings, and towards the group actually going outside, she couldn't help but internally sigh. The entrance of yet another pony proved to shelve her frustrations, at least for now. She looked on, awaiting the newer new pony's response to Star's question from her place in the corner of the room.

"We are most certainly not trouble, so we'd be absolutely delighted to welcome you to this love shithole," Verde says to the armored pony with a broad smile. "In my particular instance, I'm Verde Tin. This fine gentlepony is Star, the mare is Sharp, and the sweet little thing in red and blue should be hugged as a good luck charm." She cricks her neck. "So, who might you be, oh ye of the numerous sharp and shiny objects?"

With each introduction, the masked pony seemed to relax more and more until the last one went by and an audible sigh escaped through the filters while the swords turned black and seemed to melt away into nothing. "Yeah, you don't seem like you're part of any gangs," it said before reaching up to undo the clasps and release the face obscuring mask. When it came free, a yellow face with large almost solidly red eyes looked back at the four ponies in the room. A small smile spread out as she spoke, "phew, it's so much easier to breathe without those things, and you all can call me Scarlet."

"So, what are you all doing here? This area isn't exactly the safest, it's only got a few well run paths and fewer pure air zones," Scarlet went on.

Star screwed up his face a little when Verde called him a gentlepony. He couldn't remember the last time since he was called that. He was usually refereed to as a kid because of his age. He looked back at the new pony as they started to talk. He smiled a little back at her. "Well nice to meet you Scarlet. As for what we're doing here..." He thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "We found this place after Princess Twilight Sparkle teleported us onto a roof to save us. That, of course, killed her. But before she died...she gave us a task with her dying breath. Now we're just trying to find some way out of Canterlot to fulfill the task." He shrugged again as he frowned. Was he suppose to say all of that? Probably not...he was never really good at knowing when to say something or not.

"How tactfully put..." Sharp mumbled from her corner. She very much did not appreciate Star's first re-mentioning of last night's events, much less so did she appreciate his second. She didn't see a reason to leave her corner yet, and Star seemed fairly content in being the group's go-to on-demand information spewer, so she remained both in her corner, and quiet.

"Task?" Dust asked, one of her ears flopping down. "I was never told about a task. What is it?" She had, after all, just gotten here. "If it's personal, I understand," she added carefully.

"A dying princess asked us to carry a message to her friends outside the city," Verde says to Dust, but also partly to Scarlet. "And we intend to honor the request with the completion of it. If you happen to know of better paths to get to where we need go, we would be grateful," she adds, turning fully to Scarlet and smiling very slightly. "If you don't mind the question, is there something amiss with your eyes, miss Scarlet? Momentary exposure to the gas that scarred them?"

"Oh wow, I didn't even know there was a princess still in here," Scarlet replied as she visibly cringed at the news of Twilight's death. "I'd have thought they all got out when the barrier went up..." she trailed off into thought before remembering that she wasn't alone and proceeded to quickly shake her head and look back up to the other ponies in the room. "Well, umm... I might know a way to get to the wall, but it's pretty far from safe," Scarlet warned from where she stood. Though as she waited for an answer, she raised a hoof for someone to pass her something to eat from the remaining supplies in the safe room.

Star's ears perked up as he looked over at Sharp. He stared at her for a few moments before looking over at Dust. He opened his mouth to answer her but Verde got to it before him and answered her question. "Yeah. What she said." He raised an eyebrow at Scarlet when she seemed to zone out for a moment before smiling at her. "You do? Great. And I highly doubt there are any paths that are completely safe." He said with a shrug as he trotted over to the boxes with the food in them. He threw her a fruit pack at random then sat down. He thought for a moment before taking out his own pack of fruit and opening it, nibbling on the fruit.

Dust frowned at Scarlet obviously dodging the question, but was silent for a few moments. "What can I do to help? she asked Verde. "I'm a healer. That's about all I'm good at besides wards and magical barriers, neither of which help against the gas."

"Safe is a relative and temporary term," Very says lightly, smiling. "Any way to escape this place, however unsafe it is, would be very welcome to us. Then we can deliver our message find a bottle of scotch for each of us, and drink until this city is a boozy haze that we can no longer remember. It'll only last until we wake up the next day, but a day of not being able to see a lovely young alicorn sprawled in the streets, dead before her time and in the most unjust of ways, is a price worth the hangover and the regrets." She somehow manages to keep the smile in place as she expresses the rather dark sentiments before she takes her attention from Scarlet and looks to Dust. "A healer then. A joy to know you, and moreso to have you near. Thought your warding skills can do nothing against the evil mist, you're still the right kind of pony to have within reach no matter the situation."

Star Sentinel’s staring made Sharp uncomfortable. She quickly sought to break eye contact with the stallion,  sharply turning her head away, and only looking back several seconds after the fact when she was sure she was no longer the subject of his glare.  A part of her was very tempted to correct Verde, Twilight Sparkle had died on a roof after all, but that part was quickly beaten into a pulp by feelings of anger and denial.

Sharp quietly sighed. She felt terrible, like somepony had plunged some sort of rusty knife into her chest and left it there. Every thing these ponies said, regardless of what it was, seemed to upset her… they were just explaining the situation to Scarlet and Dust, and yet she felt like they’d personally insulted her. It was a confusing feeling, one she wished would just disappear. She honestly didn’t know what to say to these ponies, so she continued to remain quiet in her corner.

Scarlet nodded as she munched on the fruit pack that had been passed to her. "Well then, we'd best get a move on. The day's already started and we've a long way to go, past some pretty rough areas," Scarlet went on before downing the rest of the fruit pack and beginning to put back on her suit and armor, the mess of straps and buckles it was to form the air tight seals. Scarlet waited for everyone else to put back on their own gear before turning about and cracking open the door. She proceeded into the air venting chamber and then with no hesitation, on out into the hallway, where she once again waited until everyone had joined her out in the decrepit hotel hallway.

"I hope you've all got decent filters in, we won't be able to stop for you to replace them until tomorrow," Scarlet warned, mentally kicking herself for not bringing the point up back where they could have changed them out. But with a shrug that everything would probably be fine, and the thought that most ponies changed out their filters fairly regularly anyways, Scarlet proceeded onward down the hall and towards the turn. Around that corner were a set of stairs and more hallway that Scarlet continued to lead the group down until they arrived at a section of the wall that had collapsed, revealing the destroyed room inside. Scarlet turned into this destroyed room, which also sported a ruined exterior wall with a rope bridge leading out into the air and more fog. The bridge led down slightly, but seemed sturdy enough, as Scarlet didn't hesitate to walk out onto it, but she paused at the far end when confronted with a large bulkhead like door that she appeared to struggle to open.

Dust put her mask back on, stepping into the filtration chamber after Scarlet. Quelling the thoughts that she was forgetting something (As she got those quite often, and they nearly always turned out to be nothing), she followed Scarlet. "Do you know where we're going...?" she asked cautiously, approaching her to try to help open the door.

Sharp took a moment to don her own protective gear, checking twice to make sure everything was in place and still functioning to the best of her knowledge. Soon enough, she’d go through the air venting chamber and appear outside in the decrepit hotel hallway. She wondered why Scarlet didn’t think to voice her concerns about filters inside the safe room, but chalked it up to stress… She had just found out about Twilight, after all. That little train of thought was rewarded by a mental kick to the head. “Stop bringing it up, damn it.” She thought to herself.

She followed Scarlet wordlessly, barely paying attention to anything around her. At the large bulkhead, she simply stood silently. She wouldn’t be any help opening that, the only strong part about her was her magic… and that was effectively rendered null outside protective zones.

Star quickly finished his fruit and then put his gas mask back on, taking a few moments to make sure it was on properly before following Scarlet out of the room and into the hall. He looked at Scarlet as she warned them about their filters when they were already outside. He mental facehoofed and then hit himself over the head to add to the facehoof. Ehh....He was sure he'd be fine till tomorrow. He quickly followed behind Scarlet, looking around and keeping an eye out for anything. When they all got to the door and Scarlet was trying to open it, he stepped forward and helped her out a little, being probably one of the more physically strong ponies there at the moment.

Viridian nods. "I agree, daylight is burning." She goes to her saddlebags and pulls out a new breathing filter, replacing the old and relatively unused one before putting that one in her pack. Having secured her airtight suit and the airtight seal around her breathing apparatus, she gives Scarlet a nod and follows the pony and her three other companions out into the haze of the afflicted city. She has no visible response to the announcement that they'll be unable to change out their filters anytime soon, but then again her eyes wouldn't be visible enough for Scarlet to see her glare.

"Of course I know where I'm going, I practically live in this section," she said quickly back to Dust. With the help of Star and Dust, the large bulkhead door groaned creaked open before noisily sliding open on the old hinges. Past it was more rooms with collapsed walls and hallways leading in several directions. "Shit, that was loud,"  Scarlet murmured quietly under her breath before lifting a head to try and listen to the surroundings. It was faint at first, but gradually increasing was a moaning like groan. It sounded tired, sorrowful, almost pitiful at this point and it was slowly getting louder as it's maker drew closer. "Buck, c'mon everypony, inside quick!" Scarlet hurriedly exclaimed as she rushed everyone inside and went to shut the bulkhead behind her, and not a moment too soon, for as the bulkhead shut something could be seen reaching up to the walkway. Luckily, the door was closed before it could see anyone, but that didn't seem to relax Scarlet at all as she hurriedly began to lead the group to the left across rooms, down hallways, and through more collapsed walls. The inside of the old building was just as decrepit as the hotel had been, and the air was still stained with the toxic gas that flooded so much of the city.

Eventually, they came to a window in a non-collapsed outer wall, and beyond it could be seen a fire escape. "Be very quiet here, we'll be close to the ground," she warned before she stepped out onto the old metal stairs with some ease and started to go to some lower levels where another bridge could just be made out in the fog below. Two levels down, which would put the group on only the second story level, Scarlet started out across the bridge there.

Upon hearing the groan-like moan, Sharp shivered. “It’s one of them…” she thought, shivering in place. If it wasn’t for Scarlet’s loud order, she probably would’ve stood there, locked in place by a combination of fear and guilt. She followed Scarlet as the group made their way through several rooms, hallways, walls, and later, the bridge, still visibly shaken behind her protection by the close-encounter.

Star flopped his ears against his head a little. "Yes that was loud." He said matter o' factly before pausing. His ears perked up as he heard the moaning noise. "...Well no shit captain obvious..." He muttered quietly before running into the room like Scarlet said. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and quickly followed after Scarlet though the building. He looks over at Sharp for a moment before nudging her with a hoof. "You alright?" He asked the mare in a kind tone.

Dust frowns, electing to not say anything as she began to step downwards. Her steps were slow and deliberate. She glanced at the others as if to tell them to be extremely careful, if they hadn't figured it out already.

Verde follows along with Scarlet. "You practically live in this section?" she repeats. "Just how long have you been here, anyway?" Any reply from Scarlet would no doubt be cut off by the loud noise causing one of the monstrous denizens of the city to respond, and any chance of her getting an immediate answer is swept away by the urgency of needing to get the buck out of there. Verde also holds off on repeating her question to Scarlet as their guide gets them to a fire escape and bids them be quiet as they sneak down it and then out and across the bridge that's found there.

Scarlet started out across the bridge, which while swaying a good bit under even her steps, it remained relatively noiseless aside from the slight groan of the old wood that made up the rope bridge with wooden planks. When Scarlet was about a quarter of the way across, she waved back towards the others to follow along, still showing an urgency to try and get as far away from whatever had reached up back at the bulkhead door, as possible.

(Picking one at random)

As group follows along, there's suddenly a louder and more crackling sound coming from the wooden planks that made up half of the bridge. When suddenly one snapped under Sharp, tumbling away to the streets below and almost taking the mare with it as her hoof fell too. As the one plank gave way, and the others she was standing on suddenly had to bear a little more weight, they began to make more ominous sounds. Scarlet could be seen looking back in horror and fear, but dared not get any closer for the moment as she was in the lead and didn't want to put extra strain on the old bridge. "Help her or get across the bridge!" she quietly called to Star, Dust, and Verde as she spread her own wings and took to the air as carefully as she could. Scarlet swooped to Sharp's lower right side to assist if the pony's grip slipped or it began to look like she'd fall through.

Even so shortly after the noise, the moans and groans could be heard starting to draw closer, the fog just keeping them out of sight to hide just how many might be down there.

“Not really… But, thanks for asking.” Sharp replied with a sad smile. She then continued to follow Scarlet as the mare led her and the others across the bridge. When the wooden planks of the aforementioned groaned their dreadful sign of weakness, Sharp had frozen solid once again in abject fear.

The sudden snap and tumble of one of the planks that had supported her caused the shaken mare to scream in a combination of shock and increasing terror. Her first instinct had been to attempt a panicked teleportation spell, but when that had failed on the account of the magically inhibiting gas around them, the mare had begun to cry. She wondered if this would be her end as she desperately held on for dear life, and silently hoped she too would be spared the horrors of the toxic mist by her fall.