Fallout: Equestria- The Road Home

Chapter 6: Recollection

"Now, a lesser person might want that kind of overwhelming force on their side, but you know - where's the challenge in that?"

So there I was, standing in front of the massive, silver stable door. Our secret tunnel was very well hidden and an excellent deterrent for outsiders. The only way to access the shaft was by performing a very unique series of actions. A lone statue stood in the remains of what was once a lush flower garden. The statue towered high above a pony’s head and shown the figure of a fierce-looking unicorn mare. To access the stable one must kick the bottom right hoof corner, hop around the statue three times, and then dig at the ground ominously for an undisclosed amount of time. I could tell you the last step, but then you could just walk right in and we can’t have that, can we? I can tell you this, an anti-zebra song originally coined by one of the ministry mares must be recited in front of the statue along with a short dance to go with it. I imagined how funny it would look if anypony were to see someone do this ridiculous charade but if you want in you’ve gotta do it. Once in the cave you had to get passed the booby traps. I knew where they were placed so I didn’t worry too much. As I trotted along, a small strand caught my eye right before I hit it. This was new. A thin piece of fishing line stretched across the otherwise safe path. Upon further inspection I found the source of the trap. A small wiggly section of the wall housed an assortment of different grenades all tied together with Fuse’s faction-colored cord. Classic Short Fuse. I disabled the wire and harvested the grenades and any mines I could find lying around. All together I found three frags, two blue-banded EMP grenades, and three frag mines. If my intuition served me right; this was going to end well.

I stared at the shiny metal door with ‘23’ and ‘Stable-Tec’ emblazoned across it, mentally preparing myself for what lay ahead. I walked over to the door controls and wired my PipBuck in. The machine began accessing my Piptag and running its various verification software. With a *ding* my PipBuck was cleared and the controls became operational. I grabbed the longest lever and forced it down. Man, that thing needed some oil! From above the door mist began to pour out accompanied by a sharp hissing sound. The mist faded out and the stable door began sliding open revealing two security bucks watching anxiously.

I slowly trotted in as the bucks just stared at me in amazement, like they had seen a ghost or something. The stable seemed to be business as usual. Same gray walls, same ponies rushing through the halls trying to catch up for lost time, and the same old boring music that played all day. At this point I only had one thing on my mind, find Lockout. I made my way from the main entrance down into the commons area. As I passed room after room I heard obnoxious conversations revert down to muffled whispers. I hadn’t taken a look in the mirror so maybe I had something on my face.

*** *** ***

The cafeteria was packed with ponies cheerfully eating their dinners, laughing about their friends misfortunes and talking about which of the opposite sex they’d be taking back to their rooms tonight. Like a virus, I watched them stop talking and start turning their eyes towards me table by table. Some started to cry. Others looked at me like I had just kidnapped their foals and were holding them for ransom. All was silent, aside from a few coughs, as I trotted up to the chow line. I was starved from my journey back and this whole thing was starting to weird me out. I grabbed a tray and started sliding it down the pickup line. I levitated a Sunset Sarsaparilla and a bag of hay chips onto my tray and walked off. Not a single pony had taken their eyes off me. I’ll admit it wasn’t the return I was expecting, this was just creepy as shit. I started making my way back down hall B towards my room. I was almost there when from up the stairs came Iron Hoof accompanied by Cherry and Fuse. The three stopped dead in their tracks, Iron Hoof having a mixed look of confusion and anger on her face. Fuse and Cherry had a different look to them. Fuse seemed like, at any moment, he could jump on top of me and rip my head off. Cherry was angry but not just at me but also with Fuse.

“Crack Shot, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be dead,” Iron Hoof spouted.

“I thought so too. I’m not sure how I did it, but here I am. I trust you’ve seen the report, Fuse did what he had to do to protect the stable.” The words felt like poison leaving my mouth. The look of anger flushed from Fuse’s face and was replaced with confusion.

“Yes yes…” She trailed off for a moment. “The report told the whole story of your little stunt. The sabotage of your mission. How you found incriminating documents and destroyed them right in front of the team. How you murdered Star Dust and Tail Pipe! I can’t believe you have the audacity to show yourself in this stable! Cherry, Fuse, take this traitor to his room until we can have a trial for these crimes against my stable!” With a wave of her hoof the two were descending on me. Fuse slapped my tray away while Cherry repeatedly kicked me in the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of me. They dragged me down the hall kicking and shouting. We arrived at my room and they tossed me against the desk I used to study my rifles at. They proceeded to mercilessly beat the living shit out of me. Fuse grabbed a lead pipe I kept in my room and started bashing my hind legs. With each hit I could feel my bones fracturing and breaking, leaving them completely useless. They went on for what seemed like a lifetime, snickering and cheering each other on. Finally they stopped out of pure exhaustion. They both lit up a smoke and reveled at the fine beating they had given me. They both rose and begun to exit my room but then stopped right before the opening.

“Hey Crack, do yourself a favor and stay dead,” Cherry said with a snide grin on his face. Delivering the final blow he stomped my head as hard as he could. The hit rattled my brain and blurred my vision. The world was getting darker and for the second time in less than a week, I was dying.

*** *** ***

“Crack!” A hard slap followed by a cup of water to the face jarred me from my sleep. “Crack, wake up!” Another slap followed by some cursing. “Damn it, get up. I know you’re in there!” I slowly opened my eyes to see my best friend, Lockout, looking worn and disheveled.

“Damn, you look bad off Lockout; I guess somepony around here is getting worked too hard.” I coughed, with a nasty combo of blood and mucus coming up.

“You look pretty bad off yourself. You look like you were hit by a boat, then the boat fell on top of you. What the fuck happened?” His eyes looked full of questions and pain.

“Well long story short, everything went according to plan. Fuse rigged the exterior charges and the rest of us went in. We infiltrated the facility and found the paperwork we were looking for but it wasn’t right. The documents claimed the facility was for water production and was distributing large quantities to the wasteland. Tail Pipe was spotted while placing his charges and took a 12 gauge shot to the midsection. Dust and I fought it out with them but in the end they got her. As for Fuse, he double crossed me. I got out and told him to disarm the charges and he filled me with 9mm rounds. Left me for dead.”

“Shit, I knew something was fishy when only Fuse came back. His report said you went crazy and killed Dust and Tail Pipe. He said he took you down and finished the operation alone. Made him look like a big damn hero. Also, what’s with the brand?” He asked.

“What brand?” He pointed down to my left shoulder blade and I saw what he spoke of. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it earlier. I had a large black tattoo of an eagle ripping a cockatrice apart. “Damn, I don’t know but it does look really badass. It was probably the things that saved me.”

“Huh?” he said.

“After Fuse left me bleeding out I was sure I would die. Then some pony things dragged me back to their cave. They gave me some sort of brew that healed me but distorted my reality. It was like being a spirit. I went back in the lives of ponies from the past. I saw the war. The horror of Ponyville being invaded. I even saw a vision from inside Pinkie’s ministry.” I told him.

“Shit, that’s one crazy trip. I think I might know what they gave you, but don’t worry about it. Let’s get you fixed up.” Lockout pulled three potions and a hit of Hydra from his bag and started administering then. The cuts on my body started to seal up and I felt my bones slowly moving towards their correct places and reforming. The feeling was quite alien but it was for the better. The potions had a sweet strawberry taste and went down real smooth.

My bones felt like they could move again so I crept over to my bed and lied down on it. The sheet on top was blue and yellow with Stable-Tec stitched in the middle. The soft feather insides cushioned my battered body and gave me some relief.

“You have level 3 security access, right?” I asked.

He looked at me one eyebrow raised with an inquiring look. “Yeah I do, but what could you possibility need from that low in the stable? The only thing down there is the mainframe and storage.”

“I need the mission logs from as far back as you can find. The only place I think they could be at would be on Iron Hoof’s personal computer. Since walking right up to her door and asking nicely is out of the question, the only other option is to access her terminal through the mainframe. I need to know as much about Project: Reclaim as I can. If I can prove she’s doing something dirty ,I could organize a riot and overthrow her.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do but I’m not making any promises. If they find out I hacked Iron Hoof's computer I’ll be court marshaled. You need to stay here and get some rest. I’ll go see if I can find anything but whatever you do, don’t leave. I’m sure you’ve realized that you’re not very popular around here anymore,” he said with a short smirk on his face.

“Shit, no kidding. Before you leave, you gotta smoke?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” His horn glowed and levitated a pack of Mareboros out and laid them on the table along with another pack with a strange decal on it. “I also got some of that good stuff Green Thumbs been growing over in the botany sector.” We both pulled out a funny smoke and fired it up, savoring the rich, fruity flavor. The room was bombarded by the most delicious smelling fragrance as the room started to fill up with thick white smoke. I reached out and turned on the air ventilation for my room. Thank Celestia for our air filtration system, without it smoking would be suicide down here. Both of our eyes started to droop and become blood-shot as we laughed at a holotape of South Field, a popular adult cartoon show in pre-war times.

“Well I guess I need to be going. I’ll see what I can do about those files. Stay safe.” He said.

“Will do Doc.”

A smile broke the look of concern on his face as he slowly trotted out of my cramped room. As the door closed, I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. I slid open my desk drawer and levitated out my pocketknife. It was a small blade, only about four inches, with a black casing to lock it in place. Like everything else in the stable, 23 was carved into it. My dad had given it to me on my tenth birthday. I slid the blade open and tucked it behind my pillow, keeping it in reach. If somepony was gonna take me, it wouldn’t be without a fight.

*** *** ***

Once I slipped into the dream world, the nightmares returned. Scenes from the Great War played out in my head, ponies being ripped to shreds by machine gun fire, zebras being vaporized and reduced to ash. Figures being hit with high caliber weapons, the force being so strong they erupt into clouds of blood and gore. Griffons soared high above the battlefield, dropping high explosives on the killing fields below. My perspective gradually shifted from an overlooking view to the body of an earth pony solider. Before me stood the massive red buck I had seen in the apple farm’s office, radiating confidence and morale through the whole room.

“This is it soldiers, the moment we’ve all been fighting fer. We secure that bunker and the day is ours. Bravo, y’all are gonna hit the left machine gun nest with everything you got. Delta you’re with me. While Bravo is suppressing, we move up and take the bunker. Simple as pie. ” Big Mac said without the slightest ounce of doubt. I had to hand it to him; he sure could get a squad pumped up. The whole room was filled with ponies with and without power armor chanting and rallying together. We all exited the bunker and collected our first class tickets straight to Hell. The buck I was in stomped out the door and started to open up his assault rifle on the incoming zebras. They attacked with such ferocity, taking multiple kill shots and still galloping just as hard. This buck’s other weapon on his battle saddle was a grenade rifle. He bit down and a sight popped up over his left eye. With the sight set on a group of three zebras, he bit down again and sent a 40mm grenade right in between them. The grenade hit the middle one right in the chest. He was completely ripped apart and sent a shower of red mist over his fellow soldiers. The left over shrapnel was still enough to kill his companions and as Big Mac moved up the rest of us followed suit.

We pushed forward as a shot rang out that could be heard clearly over the other small arms fire. The unicorn standing beside me was flung back and hit the ground hard. I ran over to see that his head had been completely removed along with a good portion of his chest. From down in front I heard somepony shout “Anti-material rifle on the ridge!” just before he met a similar fate as the unicorn. We continued to push on losing ponies left and right. We were making our final push toward the bunker when a zebra squad appeared atop the structure. Each held a rocket launcher and in perfect synchronicity, began pelting us with explosives. All around me my friends were dying, most turning in to showers of red mist. The shrapnel from a nearby hit dug into my left side, sending a burning sensation all through my body. The explosion also showered me in the blood of its victim, leaving my coat damp and nasty. Our rocket team retaliated and cluster fucked their position with high-explosive rockets. A skinny buck reached the bunker and placed a package of C4 at the base. With a resounding *click* he triggered the explosives and left a huge chunk of the wall missing.

The remaining troops spilled into the base gunning down any zebra that crossed their path. It was pure chaos as the bunker shook each time an explosive detonated. I fought beside another earth buck clearing room after room. We stumbled upon a locked room and blew the lock off. Inside sat a crying zebra colt sitting on a dirty straw mat. He couldn’t be more than five but nonetheless I aimed my sights at the little zebra. My partner stopped me from shooting and trotted over to the child.

He leaned down and told the little zebra “Were here to help, just stay calm.” He reached out his hoof to comfort the colt. The colt jumped to his feet and slapped the buck on the back screaming “Gotcha!” and darted out of the room. A faint beeping started and sped up rapidly. The beeping ceased and flames engulfed the entire room, throwing me against the metal shelf hanging on the wall. I dropped to the ground and felt as if something was terribly wrong. I attempted to move but my body wouldn’t respond. The only thing I could feel was a sharp pain in my back and the fire that was burning fiercely throughout the room. I tried so hard to rise to my hooves but my body would not listen. As the flames burnt brighter, my host accepted his fate. It was over.

*** *** ***

I awoke feeling a thin cord secured around my neck starting to tighten up. I opened my eyes to see Crater, one of Cherry Bombs goons pulling both sides of the cord as hard as he could. I gasped for air, but was denied as I pushed Crater off the bed and wrestled him to the ground. We rolled around exchanging hits and stomps until he lost his magic grip on the cord. I shot up and caught a deep breath before attacking again. He revealed a combat knife and gripped it with his magic. I stumbled backwards and found my knife to counter attack. He had a four-inch advantage with his big boy knife compared to my dinky little pocketknife. Crater lunged at me with all his might. I hopped left and barely avoided his hit but still got sliced across the side. I retaliated with a few quick slices to the body only superficially wounding him. I would have to get a good hit to take him down. He came at me with a hail of high stabs, a couple of them chopping pieces from my mane. On his last swing, I slid under it and sliced a sizable gash into his front right foreleg. He let out a yelp and fell to the ground. Seizing the opportunity I jumped on his back and repeatedly drove the blade into his mid-section. Crater moaned and cried and was dying quickly, and after about fifteen stabs he stopped struggling. As the blood poured from his chest, he let out one last groan of pain as his body went limp. I tried to clean myself off as I hopped up and gathered my things. It was of no use; I was drenched in a mix of Craters and my own blood. As I dried my mane, my PipBuck flashed that an incoming message had been received. I tabbed over to the messages and opened the file.

Crack, you have to get out now. I have the files and I’m sending them to you. I was able to decrypt one of the three files before they locked me out. The door is sealed and they’ll be here soon. I’ll try and help you get out from down here but they locked the system down. I can see from the cameras that they’re on their way to your room so you have to leave NOW! If I get out I’ll find you. Good bye and good luck.

Wasting no time I made a B-line for the stable door. I looked down one hall to see a group of security ponies running my way. I rounded the corner and threw down a frag mine and kept running. A few seconds later the mine went off, the shockwave shaking the ground below me. I galloped as hard as I could, knocking over anything or anypony that got in my way. I tossed the rest of my mines while running down the main stretch towards the door. I tossed two frags in the main lobby to dispose of the guards. With a resounding *boom* I knew the job was done. As I approached the stable door, I could hear yelling and hoof steps close behind me. My PipBuck synced up with the door and it began to slide open. I quickly accessed the outside terminal and started the closing sequence. Through the gap, I could see Iron Hoof was infuriated and breathing heavily. With a wide grin on my face I tossed one of my EMP grenades right beside the terminal. The grenade went off like a blue supernova, sealing them inside until they could replace the terminal.

With a triumphant spirit, I lit up a smoke and started heading out into the wastes. That wasn’t the outcome I was expecting but at least I made it out in one piece. One thing is for sure; once they get that door open I’m gonna be on the top of their shit list.

*** *** ***

“So what happened after I escaped?” I ask Lockout eagerly.

“Well I stalled them for as long as I could to try and break those codes. I was almost done with the second one when they blew the door open. One of the ponies from medical hit me with his damn immobilize spell and carted me off to the brig. They stripped me of my rank and said I was conspiring with you against the Overmare for control of the stable.” He spoke very lowly with the same pained face I hadn’t seen since my escape. “They used the level three interrogation spells.” A single tear slid down his face as he finished.

No fucking way. Now I wanted to watch Iron Hoof die as slowly as possible and suffer every minute of it. Level three interrogation spells were created by the Ministry of Morale to deal with prisoners that ‘Conventional’ methods of torture would not suffice. This method was never to be used against a pony as it was very painful and had severe psychological effects on the subject. It was a heavily debated issue before the Great War, having almost equal support for both sides. Pinkie and Applejack felt it was necessary to insure homeland security and for counter intelligence purposes, Fluttershy and Twilight were both appalled at the techniques being used. They felt that ponies were better than that regardless of the equally insidious methods being employed by the zebras. Rainbow Dash was off doing whatever it was she did, something probably cooler than debating ethics while Rarity was preoccupied sweeping the whole situation under the political rug. Towards the end of the war, Equestria outlawed their use but I’m sure that didn’t stop anypony from using them.

“Dude that’s seriously fucked and I’m responsible for it. I’m sorry it turned out that way.” I said.

“Don’t be. I knew what would happen and I helped you anyway. After what you said, I knew it needed to be done. I saw enough from the files to know what we did was right. Have you had a chance to look at them and get them open?”

“Well I’m not as skilled as you with computers so the last two were way past my skill range. I looked at the first log but everything in there was before Iron Hoofs time. Everything seemed to be by the books and legitimate. Retrieving water talismans and new parts for various systems.” I replied.

“Ok well let’s sync up our PipBucks so I can work with those files when I get a chance.” Lockout pulled a small wire up from the base of his PipBuck and connected it to mine. Ours could receive files wirelessly from a mainframe but pip-to-pip file sharing was for the more pricey models. ”The second file is where things get juicy. Near the beginning of her rule, the stable was running at 90% efficiency with all systems operational. Within two months, she was sending out squads to find the last things we needed. Shortly afterward she starts to mention Operation: Reclaim. It originally began to retrieve luxury items like sodas and candy along with other things that couldn’t be made in the stable. These commodities helped boost research and training by being used as incentives to do well. As her power grew so did her sense of entitlement. She started new sectors for combat and the research & development teams. Most of the scientists assigned to wasteland cleansing and botany were diverted into new projects. The three new ones for science was megaspell research, biological warfare, and magical regeneration. That was as far as I got before the door flew off. I don’t know exactly what she planning, but I know it won’t be good for anypony.”

“That’s for sure. We need to break those encryptions and figure out what she’s planning. So how did you end up getting out?” I asked.

“Well those security ponies aren’t the pick of the litter intelligence wise. I was being transported to my treason hearing and requested to stop by my room. They followed me there and allowed me in without them watching. I went over to the ‘My Little Chemist’ set I had and mixed up some pretty nasty stuff. I cooked up a flask of Necktorium and one of Dartium. The Dartium is very peculiar. When in liquid form, it can be splashed on a pony and cause intense burning and impaired respiratory function, sometimes leading to death. Here’s the cool part, when mixed together they produce the same effects but they convert into a gas. I splashed the guards in the face and made a mad dash for the stable door. They had fixed the door by then so I didn’t have to worry about it. I mixed the two chemicals and left the flask in the last hallway before the door. I made it out and was promptly captured by those slavers after being outside all of about three hours.”

“Damn, I’m surprised an egghead like you didn’t get picked up sooner.” I said in a playful tone.

“Shut up, you might be able to dance around shooting bad guys but can you tell me the square root of six thousand four hundred and forty eight?” he challenged back.

“My point exactly.” I returned.

RATATATAT! The resounding clack of submachine gun fire followed by return fire thundered from around the corner. Lockout and I galloped back towards the rangers who were hoof deep in a fierce firefight. “Crack, we got incoming raiders advancing on our position!” bellowed the captain from behind a blown out camper. The captain hopped out from his cover and sent a 40mm grenade jetting towards a pair of ragged looking earth ponies. On the horizon I could see a swarm of raiders descending on the shopping complex, snarling and shouting war cries and various obscenities. The crowd was pushing through heavy gunfire moving from cover to cover. The landscape was riddled with chunks of concrete and abandoned cars that were proving quite effective at stopping bullets.

“Everypony, get to defensive positions! Golden, come with me up those stairs! Lockout, help the Rangers keep those explosives going downrange. We have to hold the line!” I screamed over the the howl of an enemy’s minigun. 5mm rounds danced across the wall behind me leaving small cherry sized hunks of the building missing. Golden finished the clip in her marksmen carbine and quickly ran to the base of the stairs. We ran to the second level and found a room with a south facing window. This section appeared to be a break room for the maintenance workers. A tray of untouched cookies lay atop a plastic table with a card saying ‘Happy Birthday Rusty!’ along with a stack of perfectly wrapped presents. A Sparkle-Cola machine sat in one corner of the room, its back lights still glowing after all this time. They must run on some kind of spark battery but it still struck me odd that its charge could keep for so long. I grabbed two bottles that were lodged inside the pickup door and had Golden help me flip it on its side. We both grabbed our weapons and set up shop atop the flipped vending machine. From the sobering clarity of this angle, I realized how royally fucked we were. And just when I thought we had missed the party, the party found us.

The attackers had been thinned out from roughly sixty down to forty five but they had made excellent progress in their advance. I centered my scope facing the mob and began marking targets. A couple targets stuck out from the rest of the group. It appeared the strike was organized into groups lead by the most savage looking raiders they could find. One massive pony wore a bison skull for a hat and had thick metal armor covering the majority of his body. “Golden, switch to armor piercing if you haven’t already. See the bison head behind the red car? Take him down” I said.

“Got it.”

TAT TAT TAT. Golden’s rifle spat out three rounds at break-neck speed, two of which plowed into his chest. The last bullet smacked him in the side of the head but miraculously he didn’t go down. The hit did faze him though allowing me to deliver the final blow with my rifle. The round caught him right above the shoulder, ripping a sizable chunk out of it. The demoralizing factor was evident the moment he hit the dirt. The remaining enemies in his group attempted to push forward but without guidance were dispersed out into the parking lot battlefield. Golden’s carbine let of a series of bursts taking down raiders as they tried to flee. The other three groups were still coming strong, ignoring their probably fatal wounds due to being jacked up on combat drugs. Through my scope, I noticed Tip and Top scurrying between busted cars holding 9mm pistols in their mouths. A pair of raiders were taking cover behind a white car with a Pegasus Painters decal running down the side. While the raiders laid down fire from their assault rifles the pair slipped in through the front side windows.

“Peek-A-Boo!” they shouted as they delivered a round directly into each of the raiders fore heads. Their victims slumped to the ground like a sack of potatoes as the two darted off giggling with glee. A raider caught my eye with a bright green mohawk, carrying a semi auto riot shotgun, advancing fast on our position. I slowly repositioned by gun until my cross hairs were leading him about five meters. I gently pulled the trigger and watched the round strike him in his right knee. He dropped to the ground as I slammed the rifles bolt back preparing for the kill shot. The moment before my shot Golden’s rifle rang out with a volley of lead. The mohawked raider was torn to shreds along with the three bucks following him. I turned my head to see Golden with a smug grin.

“Hey that was my kill!” I said jokingly.

“Just a little payback and I didn’t think we were keeping score,” Golden teased.

“Well I guess we are now. Drinks are on the loser.” I said with a challenging tone.

“Deal. I hope you’ve been saving your caps!” Her rifle let out two shots and both hit their targets dropping them to the pavement. “Looks like it’s two to zero!”

Ok now it’s on! The raider’s fighting force had been significantly lowered but about twenty more raiders were still coming strong. From the corner of my view I saw Lockout in a frenzy, pulling pins and lobbing grenades out into the parking lot. One landed right beside a stack of cars three high with four raiders hiding behind it. The wall of metal protected them from the initial blast but the force of the explosion caused the top car to tumble over on top of them, crushing them into pony shaped stains on the asphalt. Through a narrow pathway, I saw a group of four enemies advancing. I let a round fly, hitting the first in line and traveling into the second. I cocked the bolt and repeated, hitting only the third one this time. Seeing his buddies were being slaughtered, the fourth turned tail and started to run. I carefully put a round right into his leg, completely blowing it off at the knee. With a deep breath, I delivered the kill blow right to his noggin.

Golden hadn’t stopped firing since the challenge had started, aside from stopping to reload. “Chalk four up for me.” I said.

“Way ahead of ya. I’m up to six.” Damn I need to hurry up.

With my rifle empty I retrieved Mercy from my saddle bags. I lifted out the beautifully crafted weapon and loaded a clip. I flipped the fire rate switch down to semi to help with the recoil and began laying down controlled fire on the remaining raiders. From behind an RV, I saw a large black pony aiming a rocket right at our window.

“Golden get down, rockets!” I grabbed her with both hooves and slung her to the ground under me. The rocket whizzed through the window and detonated on the back wall. Shards of hot metal and busted concrete dug into my back. I flopped off of Golden and let out an injured cry. She quickly retrieved a health potion from my bags and held it up to my mouth. Damn what would we do without these things? The shrapnel began to push its way out and start repairing my backside.

“Fuck, we need to get out now!” Golden yelled loud enough to hear over the deafening effects of the explosion. The building felt a lot less stable after the detonation so we raced for the stairs down. As we made it to the stairs, the building suffered another rocket hit. Golden shot down the stairs before me and as I reached them I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Not so fast courier.” Before I could turn around, a piercing feeling shot up my spine. I was thrown off my feet and started being reeled in. To my horror a strange claw-like object had dug its way into my back and was tugging me along. In the distance, I heard another rocket hit. That was the last straw. The floors above the staircase and break room caved in, blocking my only exit. In a panic, I fired Mercy off towards the chain trying to free myself. After almost a whole clip, I finally hit my mark and popped one of the chain lengths loose. I rose to my hooves and lifted Mercy to my face. Down the hall I could see the sick fuck I’d been looking for, Dark Matter.

As the remainder of his chain reeled in, the buck bit down on a small silver stick hanging from his side. At that instant the shaft pulsed with a blue light that quickly formed into a semi-circular blade at the tip. With the flick of his head the weapon came flying towards me sideways. I ducked down behind a thick metal desk but to my surprise the axe went right through it, passing just a few inches above my head. I lifted Mercy and myself above the cover and let out a short burst toward Dark Matter who quickly avoided the shots. How could he move so fast in that heavy ass armor? There must be some enchantment on it or it’s a lot lighter than I think it is. Dark Matter had another axe in his mouth and reeled back to toss it. I let out another burst as I jumped to a new piece of cover. The axe came so close that a piece of my tail was chopped off and filled the hall with the smell of burnt hair. Becoming frustrated with my inability to hit him, I pulled up S.A.T.S. on my PipBuck. The diagram showed I had an 80% chance to hit with shots to the body so I queued up three. To my dismay, when I fired my three bursts not a single one hit! What the fuck is this buck, a ghost or something? While preparing for my next shot, I noticed the numerous cans of spray paint with Dash inhalers affixed to the side lying at his hooves. ‘Of course he wasn’t playing fair, he’s a raider!’ I thought to myself. Well I guess I’ll have to show him just how unfair I can play.

The buck was down to one remaining axe so rather than throwing it he started to charge towards me like a bat out of Hell. He was significantly larger than me so if it came down to melee combat I was done for. I only had one chance and I prayed to Celestia to not fail me now. As he entered within five meters my horn began to ignite and pulsate with a dark blue glow, bringing a small bit of light to the tight corridor. The magical field began to form over Dark Matters head, bringing a confused and scared look sweeping over his face.

“What are you doing! STOP, STOP, STOP!” The buck began to thrash wildly throughout the hall, knocking desks over and crushing anything in his path. ”STOP FUCKING WITH MY HEAD!” He screamed as he tore through the room bashing his head against walls and random objects trying to loosen my grip on his mind. “YOU’RE NOT WELCOME THERE! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

“What was that?” I shouted over the sound of his tantrum. As my spell reached its third and final stage, I felt my eyes get white hot and begin showering the hall in light. “I’m always welcome in your head? Ok, if you insist.” The bright light coming from my eyes engulfed the room but quickly died down to its original brightness.

Meanwhile…

“We have to get this rock moved!” Golden shouted over the raging firefight and the roar of high explosives. “He’s trapped in there and he needs our help!”

“Well if you didn’t notice there are about twenty raiders closing in that want to literally fuck us till we’re dead,” the captain snapped back.

“I gotta idea!” Tip squealed as she fired her pistol wildly towards the enemies. ”Come with us Goldie!” Golden raced off behind the twins toward the east side of the building. “Watch what I do so you can do it for me.” Tip stated.

Tip readied herself about ten hooves from the shopping centers wall directly under a window. Top set off into a full gallop and jumped right before she made it to her sister. Tip reared up as Top was descending and bucked as hard as she could when their hooves met. This perfectly executed maneuver launched Top into the air, flying right through the open window.

“Impressive” Golden said.

“Yea, we call it the Tip and Top springboard. You think you can manage that?” Tip asked.

“I’m sure it shouldn’t be too hard; I’m not the one flying through the air.” She said playfully.

“Ok lady but you better not mess up or I’m gonna call my lawyer!” She jokingly replied as she started off on her gallop. Golden executed the buck perfectly but not knowing her own strength sent Tip flying into the back wall inside. Tip got up with a groan and looked towards her sister.

“Stupid grown ponies, always overdoing it,” Tip griped as she and Top started out into the building.

“Why does everywhere we go have to stink?” Top complained as they made their way through the halls. “Why can’t we ever go to a flower factory or a muffin dispensary?”

“I don’t know but there aren’t many places out here that don’t smell like poop.” Tip stated.

“Good point but I still think we should go into the air freshener business. We would make a killing!”

“That’s for sure. Wait did you hear that.” As the fillies got closer, the agonizing screams of Dark Matter got louder. They finally rounded the corner to find Dark Matter flailing around the hallway running into everything he could. They then saw Crack Shot lying on his stomach with his eyes radiating with the eerie white light. At the sight of the raider, the fillies burst out into laughter and fell onto their backs.

“Ha ha ha, that is rich!” Tip exclaimed.

“What is that silly buck doing?” Top chuckled.

After pulling themselves together the twins contemplated what to do.

“So should we break it up and shoot him or let Crack have his fun?” Top asked.

“Well I’m not sure but it doesn’t look like he’s in any pain so maybe we should leave them be.”

“Yea I guess so.” The twins settled down on the damp floor and began laughing hysterically as Dark Matter reentered the hallway with a metal bucket stuck on his head.

*** *** ***

Being inside of another pony’s head is a quite surreal feeling. Imagine a long, winding hallway with small doors lining each wall. The walls decorations vary for each individual, showing their greatest victories as well as pieces from their darkest hours. From this perspective, a lot could be learned about an individual and the Ministry of Morale realized this. My team leader told me that some very powerful unicorns could actually alter memories and distort a targets sense of self. You would have to be a mule to not realize how much potential such a power has for abuse, especially in a war-time situation. For better or worse the interrogation methods have been passed down and retaught, generation after generation.

As I strolled down the twisted hallway, the grotesque trophies that lined the walls were enough to make my stomach turn. Dark matter was a truly twisted individual, the heads and flayed bodies of innocent ponies affixed to the walls, blood still flowing down the wall seeping into the black carpet. Every few seconds the world would shake, probably in tune with the brain trauma he was inflicting on himself. Upon passing each door, I poked my head in to find a memory worth watching. The first door I opened revealed Matter sitting beside a campfire with some of his raider friends. Across the fire was a large hunk of meat roasting to a golden brown. Nearby a lone filly was weeping softly from behind thick iron bars, clutching a small stuffed dragon. On the owners tag ‘Property of Mango Tart, THAT MEANS DO NOT TOUCH SIS!’ was scribbled in the writing of a young schoolcolt. From nearby, a raider claims that the roast can’t feed everyone. The door to the filly’s cage shoots open and she becomes caught in the snare of a unicorn’s magic. The little one is dragged off kicking and screaming, digging at the ground viciously trying to resist the magical force. Knowing that this tragedy was in the past I retracted my head and moved on, trying not to think about the horrible fate of that innocent filly.

The next couple rooms were a compilation of the most atrocious sex acts I had ever had the displeasure of viewing. Nothing was sacred to these guys, desecrating the bodies of their victims and torturing ponies till the point of insanity. The foul odor of death and sex lingered throughout the memories, complementing the despair of those who suffered at his hooves. It made me wonder what could cause ponies to behave like this. Was it genetics? Maybe a virus of some sort? The question was intriguing but ultimately unsolvable at this point. What I could do right now was see where Dark Matter’s heart turned cold as ice.

I strolled down toward the childhood section, located towards the end. The farther I went back the less sickening and gory the walls became. Finally I reached the point where the walls were bare, occupied by only the most complex mathematical equations that stretched many meters for each one. One door stood between the gap spanning both decoration schemes. As I approached the door it swung open, almost as if I was being invited inside. I slowly stepped through the door and it shut behind me right after.

The scene began with a bright orange unicorn mare tapping rapidly on a terminal keyboard. The room was a light grey with many different scientific devices crowding the room. Down the wall ran clear pipes pumping different colored liquids through the facility. From the other room bursts a young Dark Matter, not even old enough to have his cutie mark. He runs directly to the orange mare and spouts off some undecipherable gibberish before being wrapped in the mare’s warm embrace. The room grows darker and the lights began to flicker. The scene has changed and Dark Matter has grown up a little. From outside the room small patches of gunfire break out, echoing deep into the facility. Three armed bucks with shotguns enter the room and begin moving towards the orange mare. The mare runs for the other exit but is stopped by two more bucks. They grabbed Dark and the mare and started to force them into the hall. The mare lifts a heavy textbook with her magic and hurls it towards Dark’s keepers. They lost their grip on Dark and he hit the ground running. While he sprinted away, he took one look back to see his mother for what may be the last time. Looking back, the last thing we saw was his mother with a shotgun barrel stuck deep in her mouth. With a sharp *bang* the shotgun roared and sent the majority of her skull splintering out through the back. With tears in his eyes and a burning hatred slowly building in his heart, he swore that her killers would pay.

*** *** ***

*Wuzzaz* With a burst of magical energy, the memory came crashing down. The burst left my ears ringing and my body coated in sweat. I watched as shell casings littered the ground in front of me, the soft metallic *ting* barely audible. The fighting ceased and my friends began to crowd around me. Golden tried to tell me something but all I could hear was muffled gibberish. She retrieved a healing potion from her bag and slowly pouring the magical concoction down my throat. My hearing slowly came back and my wounds began mending themselves.

“Are you alright? Say something!” Golden shouted not realizing I could hear again.

I coughed up a bloody snot ball and spat it on the floor beside me. “I’m fine, and it looks like drinks are on me tonight.”

Level up: Guns (60)

Perk added: Run n’ Gun- This perk significantly reduces accuracy penalty for shooting while moving.

Quest perk added: Thought you were dead- Let’s face it, you shouldn’t be alive. These various attempts on your life have resulted in a heightened sense of danger. Enemies have a hard time putting one over on you and show up on the pip buck compass earlier.

Spell added: Frenzy- This spell will make even the most shy and docile pony turn into a crazed lunatic in ten seconds flat. Note: Frenzy is a very taxing spell and can only be used once every two days.