ch.1 Waking (Rewrite 2)

Fallout Equestria: Subject 00

Ch.01 Waking

“Time to get up and greet the day”

Ministry of Peace Research Facility: Black Out

Location: Black Out Valley Cave-Systems.

Last known system activation: UNKNOWN

Estimated time offline: 200 years, 3 months.

-ERROR- -ERROR-

Ventilation System Status: -OFFLINE-

Rerouting Power… -ERROR-

System Primary Objective: The Survival of Subject 00

Objective is impossible to achieve if Ventilation System is offline.

Life Support Pod’s systems functionality: -MINIMAL-

Solution: Release Subject, activate ventilation system, restore lights, release facility from lockdown, deactivate security system.

-STATUS-

Vents: -ACTIVE-

Lights: -ACTIVE-

Blast Doors: -MALFUNCTION-

Protect-A-Ponies: -ACTIVE-

-ERROR- : Damage detected in Friend_Foe Identification Systems.

-Attempting Shutdown Code Broadcast-

-ERROR- : Only 34% responded

Facility Hostility Level: -DEADLY-

Turret Array target: All Active Protect-A-Ponies

All hostiles eliminated…

Facility Hostility Level:  -SAFE-

Preparing to Release Subject 00…

• Malfunction- :  Process will take longer than originally estimated. System set to standby.

The life pod opened with a hiss of released air as Jade took her first breath in a very long time. She felt as dizzy as she had when she used to spin around in circles for fun as a filly. She took a look around the room as the lights flickered; it didn’t seem like any of the ones in the hospital. From the roof leaked water which formed into a puddle around the drain in the middle of the room. Strange machines lined the walls of purposes she couldn’t discern. There were also monitors showing other rooms, some were recognizable, but most were dead. One corner contained a desk that Jade recognised as the one from Dr Neural’s office; on it were a picture frame, a letter, and a package.

Jade wasn’t sure if she should disturb the Doctor’s things, but her curiosity got the best of her. She walked over to the desk to see what it held, but balked at what she saw. The picture frame held a picture of her friends Tea Leaf and Cherry Pie standing outside the army recruitment center, ‘Get well soon Jade’ was penciled on the top with her friends’ signatures on the bottom. Jade opened the letter, it told her that the fiery-red earth pony Cherry Pie and the likewise green earth pony Tea Leaf were stationed at a base out near The Hoof

Jade felt a spike of fear run through her spine at the thought. The Hoof was one of the most dangerous posts available. She hoped her friends were alright. They had all planned on joining together, if not for the doctors discovering the existence of her illness just a month before she was old enough. She was deeply disappointed that she couldn’t join with her friends, but Cherry threw her a party to make her feel better. It was almost better than an MoM party, but Jade wasn’t really the party type at the time.

Cherry was like a fiery-red Pinkie Pie, with her mane and tail looking like curly flames. Tea on the other hoof had green fur with a snow-white mane and tail. He was stoic whenever he had yet to have a cup of tea in the mornings. He had a crush on Cherry and it always showed in his face and in the picture, it was how he was blushing as he stood next to Cherry with her grinning widely like a mad mare. Jade wondered if he had confessed his feelings to Cherry in the years of her absence.

For the last 4 years, she missed them dearly. The doctors claimed that as soon as they identified the illness she had, she may be able to join up with her friends in the army and fight alongside them. It seemed less and less likely as the days went by. She desperately wished to protect them. While she might have been bullied as a filly, she had taught herself defensive tactics and how to read her opponent. With a sigh, she wondered if her friends were alive.

She looked over at the package. Addressed from her parents, Jade was surprised. She hadn’t heard from them during her entire stay at the hospital. She got the odd note or two every so often from Cherry and Tea, but nothing from her parents. It was old and the packaging was damaged and there was no send date, nor return address, only her name.

Dismissing the thoughts with a shake of her head, she began to open the box. Simple packaging held the item inside; fastened with only a single string in a bow on top. She pulled one end of the string and the bow came undone. Inside this box was, strangely enough, another box. This one bore a royal insignia not of the princesses Celestia and Luna. There was an old and faded note resting on top of this second box.

-To Miss Jade

This Pip-Buck is for you to use in the next round of tests.

Please read the enclosed instructions and listen to the doctors’ instructions as well.

Signed, Twilight Sparkle

Upon reading the note, Jade blinked, “Why would a ministry mare want to give me a Pip-Buck? The doctors said that I didn’t need one. Why would she think I did?”

She opened the box to see a Pip-Buck. Looking it over twice, like all the puzzles she had been given to solve at the hospital, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was a standard-model Pip-Buck. She knew it goes on a foreleg, as the doctors always had them. Since it didn’t seem like which foreleg it was on mattered, Jade affixed it to her left foreleg and let it begin the startup process. It registered her as Subject 00, strange she thought, and as an earth pony. The map informed that the doors to all other rooms were locked.

That’s definitely NOT GOOD.

She looked over towards the door and saw that it was a Stable-Tec blast door. Looking over the map on the HUD of her new Pip-Buck, she spotted a vent marked on it. It then showed a map of the facility, which was larger than she thought it was. It also showed her a route to the manual override panel for the doors at Security Station B. There were red dots marked in the direction of the entrance of the facility.

Briefly, she wondered how she had obtained this route, but didn’t question her luck as she walked over to the vent. Even if she knocked the desk onto its side, she would need wings to reach the vent high up on the wall. She then noticed a stack of boxes in another corner and walked over to them. Box after box, she kicked them into a fairly stable staircase. She climbed up them and started unscrewing screws when a blast shook the facility.

Jade lost consciousness as her head hit the floor and several boxes toppled onto her. Over an hour passed before she awoke to gunshots and the Red-Alert alarm sounding. Looking back to the vent, she grudgingly decided that it was still her best bet for escape. She restacked the boxes and got the cover to the vent off in time for the blast door to be blasted in. In walked three green alicorns.

“Are we sure this is the correct facility?” They echoed between themselves without as much as moving their mouths. Jade could only think that it was some form of telepathy.

“Yes” They echoed back, “And it seems our little prize is hiding.”

Jade didn’t waste any time before hastily continuing her crawl through the vent, every now and then hearing hoof-falls and other blast doors being ripped open as they hunted for her. She really wished that she knew why they were searching for her; she didn’t even have coffee yet! She reached the security station, turned around, and bucked the cover off. Screws flew off and clattered onto the floor out of sight.

She turned back around and took a furtive glance out of the vent and saw nothing but emptiness. She was, for once, glad that she had learned bucking from a member of the Apple family. Sure her relationship with Applecore was short and hardly enough to even mention, but he knew how to buck, in more ways than trees. Jade shook her head furiously, thinking to herself. “No! It’s not the time to think about right now, it can only get me killed. “

She looked around the empty room and realised that she didn’t know what to do next. She couldn’t understand how to work the controls and certainly didn’t know how to hack anything. She just stood there with a blank look on her face inside Security Station B for a while, and then walked over to the weapons rack. Among the numerous semi-automatic rifles were some combat shotguns.

“Well, this would help if I knew how to shoot!” and then the Blast door to the security station blew open and startled Jade into silence. One of the three alicorns from before was looking right at her. Jade just stood there feeling her cold sweat dripping off her face as she glanced around the room for another way out. Nope. Nothing: all sealed. She closed her eyes to mentally prepare herself for whatever harm was about to befall her.

To her eternal surprise, nothing happened. Her eyes popped open wide and watched as the green alicorn walked away. “Okay, that officially tops my weird list” Jade muttered. Looking around, she decided to follow the alicorn out the destroyed blast door. Not that she liked the decision.

She reached the outside and the sight of one green alicorns caught her attention. Jade really didn’t want to fight it, considering how powerful it and its friends must have to be to blast a blast door off its frame multiple times. Luckily she didn’t have to; it showed up blue on her HUD. Note to self: Red bad, Blue…I’m not sure yet.

“Subject 00…?” The alicorn inquired of her. Jade just looked at her with a confused look upon her face. The alicorn sighed exasperatedly. “Oh, right. Jade, we are the Goddess and We came here looking for a very powerful unicorn rumored to be sealed away here, not some insignificant earth pony. No matter what rumors We may have heard, you are not compatible with Unity and We don’t care. Now if We were you, We would find a dirty hole and hide because unless you miraculously grow a horn, the next time We see you, you will be killed. The only reason We have not done so yet is because it would be a waste of Our time. Now, go run and hide in your hole, little worm.”

All Jade could do was sit there in confusion but the goddess continued to speak. “We would suggest leaving, We think this unicorn may be found in the records of this facility and We do not need you here.” The alicorn turned and walked back into the facility with the other two that emerged from hiding behind boulders in the area. She just blinked a few times and tried to figure out what just happened as they returned inside the facility.

Jade continued to ponder recent events for what she guessed as three hours. Drawing a blank, she finally started to consider her surroundings instead. She felt as if the world had ended overnight after dreams of sunshine and rainbows, she awoke to a nightmare.

Despite having not seen the sky for four years, she knew for a fact that it was not covered completely by dark and dusty clouds. The grass had been healthy and green before, but not anymore. Now they were dead, dying, or yellow. In the distance, she beheld the ruins of Brooks Bend. While many cities during the war were destroyed and rebuilt as The Hoof had been, this city was not quite a fortress, but had just as many secret projects.

That city was where Jade had lived, but never had she left the suburbs until her illness was discovered. Only had she seen the city proper a few times, but she knew something bad had occurred, even at this distance. The towers, while not as large as some other towers, were either tilting or collapsed. The three rivers that either pass through the city or run by it, the Jazel, Revo, amd Dizmy, were all clogged with rubble. Jade reminisced about the times when she and her friends used to play near the Dizmy, which was the closest to home.

She looked around and spotted 3 military bases in the surrounding area of Brooks Bend. The level of disrepair was staggering. She knew the Brooks military officers prided themselves on the superior upkeep of their bases. Something had to be wrong of any of them were in such a state of disrepair as they were in. Brooks Bend might not have been quite as important a target for the zebras as The Hoof was, not being an Industrial Giant or the capital of Equestria. The Ministries of Arcane Science, Morals, Peace, and War-Time Technology used Brooks Bend a hub for ‘safe’ research.

Jade felt as if her world had been turned upside down; maybe it had.

It was about then that a Sprite-bot bobbed up to her; strangely enough, it wasn’t playing music like all the other ones that she’d heard in the past around the city. It stopped in front of her and a voice came from the bot.

“Hello there, well aren’t you an interesting looking pony.”

“Okay now, a Sprite-Bot is talking to me. Great... It’s not like my day couldn’t get any more fucked up!” Jade exclaimed, exasperated.

“Hey, you know what this bot is?” inquired the voice.

“Well duh, any foal over 4 would. I remember when the MoM introduced them.” Jade stared at the bot with confused anger.

“When the Ministry of Morals introduced them?” the voice restated, reciting the full name of the Ministry.

“Yes, that’s what I just said. Now, who or what are you?” Jade frowned in curiosity, pointing at the Sprite-Bot with a hoof.

“I’m Watcher.” the voice replied.

“Okay, Watcher….um, what are you, I know you’re not that bot, so, who are you really?”

“I don’t think I should reveal myself to you right now, miss…”

“Oh, um, I’m Jade.” Jade blushed and kicked at the ground with a hoof.

“So Jade, mind telling me just how you survive for 200 years not to mention the whopping 8 Balefire Bombs that hit this city?” The Watcher bobbed behind her, pointedly looking at the Facility she was just in, “Though those doors would explain how you survived the Bombs.”

“T…two HUNDRED y-years…?” Jade looked at the city. What had happened to the city was caused by the zebras. The zebras destroyed Equestria?! “You…you’re telling me I’ve been asleep for two whole centuries?” Jade’s mind began to race as it tried to come to terms with the fact that her parents, her friends, everyone she ever knew were….

“Wow…hey, calm down. Panicking right here and now is a very bad idea. Look I shouldn’t have brought that up,” Watcher floated in front of her, “Jade, you’re going to need to STAY CALM. Right now is not the best time to panic or mourn. You’ll need armor, weapons, and all the ammunition you can get your hooves on.” the Watcher said, voice filled with concern … at least, what Jade hoped was concern. “Looks like you got yourself a Pip-buck. That should really help you out.”

“W…why...?” Jade asked.

“Brooks Bend, while not as deadly as The Hoof, it’s still in the top ten. It’s got one of the biggest groups of Alicorns I’ve seen in a while hanging out here. They seem to be looking for something; just like the ones near Canterlot. You’ve got Shock Troop Steel Rangers, although they are just as mortal as any other Steel Ranger, these are trained for fighting against overwhelming odds. Also, gangs and raiders inhabit most of the city.” Watcher turned to the city, “You don’t want to be unarmed in the Wasteland anyhow.”

“Okay…um, then what?” Jade said, panic subsided a bit, though the information on what lurked in her hometown troubled her.

“You’ll need to make some friends. You won’t last long without them.” Watcher turned to look at her again.

“Um, about the weapons, I don’t know how to fire a gun.” Jade wasn’t sure if that was a bad thing.

“You’re going to have to learn. You should head west. There’s a book there you’ll probably end up needing. Be careful Jade. I hope to speak with you again.” And with a burst of Static, the Sprite-Bot started to bob away playing ‘Parade of the Parasprites’ as it bobbed northward.

Jade looked west and saw a tower that look to be from a sky port. Jade decided that if Watcher was telling her the truth, then outside the facility was the last place she wanted to be. But there were something she had to retrieve from it first.

She turned and trotted back to the room she had woken up in. She finally noticed the mummified body of Dr. Neural. “I should give you a proper burial.” She knew it was stupid and a waste of time, but she was sure he was the one who had saved her from dying when the bombs fell. She looked at the saddle bags he was wearing and didn’t like the idea of taking them from him, but he really couldn’t use them anymore.

Jade took the Dr.’s saddle bags and put them on then walked over to the desk and took the picture of her late friends and placed it in her new bags. She was surprised when it was listed in her inventory as ‘Memory Fragment’. She searched inside the desk but didn’t find anything else beside 2 more letters from Cherry Pie which was also listed as memory fragments.

She didn’t question her new leg accessory but noticed something strange in the programming. Jade walked out of the room carrying Neural on her back as she headed towards Security Station B. If she needed armor and guns, then she was lucky that the alicorn had blasted the door open behind her. As she entered she spotted more red dots on the edge of her E.F.S. She guessed that returning to the facility for a weapon was a good idea.

She equipped one of the sets of security barding and grabbed a pistol from the weapons locker and all the ammunition in there as well (about 2 boxes). She tested the firing mechanism with her mouth and was glad the safety was on. She turned it off and turned towards the red dots. She didn’t like the idea of killing ponies but she would if they gave her no choice.

She looked around the corner of the hall just before the entrance. There were three ponies that were wearing disturbing bones attached to their barding. Their barding was in disrepair and looked as if they hadn’t even been made of proper protective material. Their weapon weren’t much better. What really bothered the earth pony was the fact that one was gnawing on the leg of another pony.

Jade looked at the pistol she had just taken. She was really apprehensive about the idea of killing ponies, but these ponies weren’t and it looked like they eat them too. That sent a shiver of fear down Jade’s spine. She REALLY didn’t like the thought of what they would do to her if they got her. But she’d try and see if they would let her pass. She wasn’t good with weapons, even if they didn’t look competent enough for combat themselves.

Jade walked around the corner and immediately regretted leaving her cover as all three looked at her with crazed smiles and started preparing their weapons and licking their lips.

Okay so fight it is then. Jade tried getting her weapon, but wasn’t able to get a proper grip on it. Just as she did she felt something hit her in the side, hard. Luckily, the security barding was still in good condition but she wouldn’t trust it to last too long with this type of abuse, taken regularly. She aimed her pistol the best she could and pulled the trigger with her tongue.

The shot missed the mare she had been targeting by a mile but hit the stallion behind her square in the face. The stallion yelped in pain before collapsing and dying. Jade and the raiders blinked at each other, but that didn’t last long. Jade fired several more shots that hit the mare and the other stallion a few times, but not fatally. Soon the pistol ting-ed as the clip ran empty and Jade ducked back behind the corner as she tried to figure out how to reload the damn gun.

She got it reloaded by the time one of the ponies had turned the corner and shot his gun pointblank at her. She would have died if he could hit the broad side of a barn. Nevertheless, she screamed and dropped her firearm as the bullet tore into her shoulder. The stallion was about to fire as a high powered round tore him in two with a loud report and a spray of blood and gore that hit her and soaked into her mane.

“I fucking hate raiders. Wonder who they were shooting at?” Jade thought of hiding, but before she could a lightning blue pegasus swooped around the corner. “Well hello there miss.” The Stallion said with a polite grin. “I guess I saved you, didn’t I?”

Jade didn’t know how to respond.

“You okay?” He facehoofed. “Right, sorry, the name’s Shock, I’m a caravan guard, though I guess I’m not that good. A band of raiders attacked the caravan I was supposed to protect. I was hunting the survivors down when they came across this place.” He explained, looking around at the facility. “Mighty fancy research base you have here.” He noticed her wound and winced, “Looks like you got hit badly though.”

“Um so you’re not with those ponies?” Jade asked, still afraid of getting eaten.

“Me, a Raider? Hell no!” Shock looked insulted. He squinted at Jade, looking her up and down. “You just climb out of a stable or something?”

Jade wondered what that meant but decided to ask later. “Um, no. I actually woke up in here.”

“Really?” Shock backed up, surprised. “Where? This place doesn’t look like a stable.”

Jade didn’t know if it would help, but this stallion seemed friendly and Watcher had said that she should make friends. “Um, follow me.”

“Miss, don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you.” Shock said as they walked back into the Facility. “But we might want to take care of that wound before you bleed out.”

21% to next level.