Fallout Equestria: The Fallen

by BioQuillFiction

Rating: mature
Tags: Narcotics, Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Other, Sex, Science Fiction, Tragedy, Violence, Crossover, Death, Alternate Universe
Length: 44163

When an old ghoul discovers a runaway Enclave engineer and her injured foal, he risks a lot to keep her and her little one safe from the terrors of the Enclave government.

Soft Spot is a ghoul, died and resurrected the day the bombs fell and spends his days salvaging scrap and repairing old pre-war tech. One day while exploring for parts he comes across the aftermath of a battle against Enclave and a fellow wastelander. He finds two unlikely survivors and in a moment of pre-war kindness, takes in the runaway mother and her injured infant. One act of kindness, begins another. Little by little, Kindness makes the world a better place.

Published 2015-03-11 23:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2023-01-30 01:27:08 UTC

Chapter 1: Luck and Angels

"Whatever caused our fates to intertwine would never let them unravel."

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria. That's how the story always starts. It's how they will always start. But what about before the story begins? How do you start telling a story before 'Once Upon A time?' Simple. You start with, 'Many Years ago, in the Magical Land of Equestria'…

Ghouls, we aren't like normal ponies. Most don't even consider us ponies. A fair amount of us even agree with that. We don't need to eat, drink, or breathe. Hell some of us don't even need to sleep. Still, we can remember a time when we were ponies, when we could feel, breathe, sleep… dream.

Some of us even remember a time before the war. Many of us are lost in those memories of better days, others… despise them. They did lead up to the end of the world after all.

Me? I guess I'm indifferent. The old world wasn't too great for me, and this new one could be worse. Becoming a ghoul was… painful but in the end I still have my mind, and I can work, so that's all I care about.

Back in the old world I worked for a recycling center, these days I scavenge and sell scraps and repair old world stuff to sell. Guess I just liked the job, so I stuck to it.

Still, being a ghoul has its perks. Immunity to radiation, being healed by it even, is useful for getting loot where others would die trying to get it. Still, radiation also can kill goods… and the goods were all largely rotten.

“Wish more crap was immune to radiation though…” I grumbled, kicking away an irradiated stone as I have yet to find any good’s that weren’t just scrap at this point.

These houses were irradiated from an exposed old world waste dumb some asshole hurried and told no pony about. It's hard to tell if the skeletons here died from the bombs or the radiation pit nearby. Honestly I'd rather not know.

Most everything In this house was falling apart or rusted black. Aside from a few pilot lights from the stove that were good and a few foals toys that were usable nothing else really. I found a med kit in the bathroom but even after two hundred years I never could figure out how to pick a lock. I sat eyeing my two hundred year old enemy, wishing I was a unicorn and capable of magic to pick the lock or even just been born a stronger earth pony than I was so I could pry it open. Thankfully, I did discover a trick that worked from time to time. Bombs.

“When in doubt, blow up your problems.” I said happily, pulling out a small pipe bomb made for blowing up pesky locks.

I've developed a small line of Lock Poppers, as I call them. Each one designed for various degrees of locks. This one is a few cherry bombs inside a small pipe I try and tape to the lock. I lit the fuse and took my leave around the hall. The loud Kaboom a few moments later told me I could enter. Good thing these Ministry of Peace medical kits are bullet proof.

Inside were two healing potions, medex, and oh a Hydra! These sell for a lot. There was also a few rolls of healing bandages I took. While chems and other medical supplies can and do work on we ghouls, radiation just typically works better for us.

“Score.” I smiled happily. “Can’t wait to sell this stuff and make a massive profit.”

Not too many ponies trade with ghouls, but the ones that do pay handsomely for goodies like this from the irradiated areas. I put the medical items away and became making my way ou-

Creek…

Oh fuck my unlife…

I yelped as the two hundred year old floor under me finally gave way, sending me crashing down into a… huh, basement? Didn't even know this was here. Entrance must have been hidden. With a huff and a grunt I got up. Good, nothing broken.

“Alright, so far so good…” I muttered. “Now...let’s see what’s in the basement?”

Dark, typical. I know I have a flashlight here somewhere… ah, here we are. I took the flashlight in my teeth and turned it on. The basement was fairly small. Leaking pipes from above, cracked wall to my right, dead elite police ranger to the left… wait what?

I turned back to the skeletal pony to my left. Adorned atop their bones was an old elite police riot gear outfit. It wasn't as good at military gear, but I remember seeing a few MoM. operatives wearing it when… how did the news put it? 'Confiscating and arresting illegal fun traffickers'. Yeah, that was it. Now then… how did that… end up here?

“Hmm…” I hummed as I slowly moved towards the skeleton, wondering if I could find anything else about the pony besides knowing their long dead.

I removed the helmet, it popped off the neck as the skeleton under it fell apart… the skull fell out of the helmet too, cracking as it hit the ground… whoops… heh, sorry dude… I flipped the helmet around. If I remember right there's a panel here for spark batteries to power it up… ah, here we are.

Dead… figures. I gathered the outfit, dumping out the bones and holotape. Not surprising, probably just his last mission.

“But that begs the question, what was his mission, and why would he be here?” I wondered to myself as I looked around the room more to see why. “Maybe his house?”

Once I packed the suit away I gave another look around. There's the stairway up, and oh, hello.

A small table in the back left held a small Sparks Laser Pistol MK2. It was in terrible condition. Might be worth something if I can fix it up though. The MWT and the MAS sent my old job lots of broken parts so I know how most of these are put together. Might be able to make it good… hmm. I tapped the battery panel. Oh Luna kiss me, a half charged battery. Should be just enough to start up the helmet.

I inserted the battery and put on the helmet… now… how does this work?

“Alright...let’s see…” I muttered, trying to fiddle around with it to see how it worked.

Hmm… maybe a button? Or a voice command…

I blinked, seeing some red letters appearing across the visor.

Unregistered User. Contacting MoM local headquarters…

MoM headquarters unreachable. Scanning unregistered user…

Error. Error. User vital signs not detected.

Error. Error. MoM situational protocols lacking proper protocol for unregistered deceased user.

“Well...shit.” I muttered. “Kind of forgot about that part…”

Initiating MoM last procedure backup protocol…

A flash of numbers ran across the visor before suddenly there was a loading screen.

Full reset complete. Backup OS installed. Enjoyed a nerfed riot suit thief.

-Pinkie Pie

“Huh…” I started. “I didn’t think Pinkie Pie made a thief message…”

After a moment the visor lit up, displaying a few things here and there like a compass and some… bar on the bottom right.

Welcome to your stolen nerfed Elite Riot Suit filthy thief. You have stolen our tech but you will never get the original OS!

Your nerfed suit can only utilize Navigation and S.T.A.T.S to minor degrees, Geiger counter functionality and injury alertness.

Features no longer included are:
Auto Repair
Auto medical injector systems
Hunger, Thirst and Sleep meters
Minor Levitation
Auto Healing Matrixes
Magazine auto reloading
Weapon repair systems
Auto Hacking
Auto Lock picking
E.F.S.
Water Purification
Food Purification
Anti Radiation Spell Matrixes

“Wow, the only thing’s that suck ass about this is no auto hacking or lockpicking… fuck.” I frowned.

Seriously, Auto Hacking and Lockpick would have been so damn useful so many times… well, at least it's good armor. Hm… estimated battery life… two Weeks. Wow, two weeks on a half charged Spark Battery. Not bad. I ended up putting the armor on and it fit fairly well. Man, I haven't had armor this nice since that cache bunker I looted back in my trip to the Hoof.

“Gonna need to figure out how to unlock all the other features though...damn OS…” I grumbled.

I went up the stairs and… hidden door behind a book shelf. Huh, thought that was only in movies.

“Well...shouldn’t be surprised about this considering...well what’s been going on…” I muttered, remembering I am technically an undead.

Walking out of the radiated building I enjoyed the hud. It looked nice, the compass was helpful at least. I headed over to my home, a little cave in a hill some miles north of New Appaloosa. I would have stayed in my prewar home but you have to be a special level of insane to live in Canterlot these days. The cave was fairly well hidden, the entrance blocked from view by a Sparkle Cola billboard.

Entering and unlocking the chain link fence and door, I looked around at my possessions. An old dirty couch. An old dirty bed. A workbench. Shelves with whatever still readable books and magazines I could find, and a dumpster filled with various broken items I plan on repairing.

“Alright, time to look over my spoils.” I muttered as he put my bag onto the workbench.

Near broken laser pistol, med supplies, a few bullets for .32 rifles and this armor I am keeping. I took the helmet off and the armor suit and put them aside. I have some polish around here somewhere so I can make it look nice at least.

I put the laser pistol on my workbench and began taking it apart. The main conducting wires to the gemstone are rusted. The power surprision circuit board is also looking like it's about to burn out… The wire will be easy enough to replace, as for the power surprision circuit board… not so much. Aside from other Magical Energy Weapons a few MWT items have them. Mostly generators and Power Armor.

“Well...I might be able to barter for a new suppression board with that Hydra I found…” I muttered. “Or maybe I should save it for someone that can get the original OS working on this stupid thing…”

I sighed, stripping out the conducting wires and replacing them and giving the outside and some of the better condition components a cleaning. I took out the suppression board and looked it over. Most of the transistors were melted or burnt out. Celestia's ass, this prior owner must have abused Overcharged Spark Batteries a lot.

“Couldn’t have made it easy on me couldn’t you asshole…” I grumbled.

Hmm… actually, the rusted parts I can clean up, but the melted ones I would have to replace. I don't have the tools though. Maybe Ditzy has some? That mare did name her store Absolutely Everything for a reason.

“Well...might as well go check Ditzy’s store for all this…” I shrugged.

I packed the part and selling supplies and headed out. New Appaloosa is one of a few that let ghouls inside for trade. Some take up residents but not all the typical predigest is absent. Sadly, it's not completely unjustified. We ghouls are a time bomb. We are rotting, walking flesh that one day won't remember our friends let alone who we are. We'll go feral, worse than animals. Just another wasteland monster.

Ghouls like Ditzy and I, we're a rare breed. Ghoulified the day the bombs dropped. The day you turn ghoul, it's a bittersweet memory. The fear of death, the joy of, well, not dying… the realization you aren't even a pony anymore. Looking in the mirror and seeing a rotting husk of who you were staring back. There were times I envied the ones who went feral as they turned ghoul… at least they never had to live on passed your own death.

Entering Absolutely Everything, I spotted the Pegasus ghoul popped her head out of… a mountain of Sugar Apple Bombs? "Hey there Soft Spot!" Her raspy voice greeted me. "What brings you here today?"

“Trying to find parts to fix up a suppression board I found.” I said honestly. “And why are you under a mountain of sugar apple bombs?”

"Got a good deal from Snatch and Grab. That colt has been doing good work as a scavenger." She said, pulling herself out of the pile of two hundred year old cereal and catching herself from a hard faceplant on the floor. "Hehe. So, what's this about a Suppression Board?" She asked.

I took out the broken part. “If I can patch it up, then I could get the thing to work...probably.” I said honestly. “And when something works, it either helps me deal with crap that’s trying to attack me, or fetch for a higher price.”

"I hear that." She nodded, looking the part over. Her lazy eye slowly rolled up as she studied it. "Hmm… Sorry, but my usual electronics trader hasn't brought this model in a while."

“Damn it…” I grumbled. “Well, what else in stock do you have?”

"What I got won't work with whatever takes this. They'll either burn out fast or turn the beams into gentle love taps." She told me. "Hmm… you know, I did see these before, in the MAS R&D laboratories."

“Really?” I inquired.

"Yeah. Remember the MAS invented Magical Energy Weapons, and worked with the MWT to mass produce them for the war back in the day. Doesn't surprise me they had so many laying around. I'd have grabbed some but the automatic security nearly roasted my rump."

“I found this on somepony’s corpse.” I said honestly. “Bastard abused Overcharged Spark Batteries way too much, and it’s still surprising how well this is to be honest.”

"Yeah, that would do it if they used them constantly. Wonder if they were fighting heavily armored types, or just liked the overkill?" She pondered. "So, I take it you wanna look into the R&D lab then?"

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Only problem would be the security honestly.”

"Pretty much." Ditzy nodded, taking a shirt flight up and to behind the counter. "I don't have any EMP Grenades or mines but I do have a few EMP slug rounds for a twenty gauge. It's better than nothing and you can at least finish it off after while it's stunned."

“That’ll work.” I nodded. “What’ll it cost this time?”

"Three hundred caps for all of them. But, if you can do me a favor while you're there I'll sell them at half price for ya?"

“What’s the favor?” I asked curiously, thinking ‘might as well hear her out before deciding’.

"Well, part of why I don't have this part in stock is because my electronics merchant was heading there. I'm worried, well, expecting the worst but I'd like to know for sure. If the buck's there and gone, let me know. He carried a pipbuck on his leg, very early models with latch locks over the keybased ones that made it into the Stables. It's yours if you find him."

Hmm… a Pipbuck might help reboot the suit, or at least some of the functions.

“Sounds good to me.” I nodded.

"Thanks Soft Spot." Ditzy said, bringing out the bullets as I put The meds down. With the meds added to the table I was able to get a few normal slugs and some dirty water.

What? Radiation heals Ghouls, this is almost like taking a stimpack for me.

I headed on out and back to my cave, grabbing my twenty gauge shotguns and battle saddle and heading on out. It was a long walk to the MAS R&D building and honestly I wasn't expecting trouble. Not too many slavers think ghouls are worth the effort and the lesser wasteland nasties are all I really need to look out for.

“Alright...just a simple trip, not many things out here that’ll bother me...I hope I’m right about that…” I muttered.

Ditzy owes me big time for this!

I ducked over a desk, dodging a laser that scorched the metal. "Don't be alarmed. We are here to protect and serve." The Protect-a-Pony said. Yeah, right…

“Protect and serve my flank!” I snapped. “Protection is not getting shot at with death lasers.”

Another blast of magical heat death to my cover made me huff as I jumped out, shooting two EMP slugs at the thing. It fizzled and popped before shutting down. I rapidly swapped to buckshot rounds and blasted the head clean off.

I gave a long sigh. This new armor has been really saving my flank in here, but still this whole place is a death trap. Robots, turrets, robot death owls. Robot death owls! What genius back then thought of that?!

“Sweet Celestia…” I groaned, hating all these things that I have to deal with. “I just want to find this guy or get parts damn it…”

Why did pre war Equestria have to get so overkill with their security? I sighed, scavenging whatever parts and such I could from the robot and moving on. It wasn't going too well. So far no parts and down to my last three EMP shells…

Rolling my eyes, gritting my teeth at the wastelands typical cruelty, I tried reaching the upper stairs- hold on a second…

I turned and saw the door nearby had the name 'Sunflower Springs' On it. I remember her. She was in the news for her contributions towards the Spark Batteries. I walked up to and opened the door, finding a unicorn skeleton laid at the desk. The lab coat displayed in grimy text that this was Sunflower Springs. Damn, thought if anypony could get into a Stable she'd be one. Shame… she was really, really hot.

“All the good ones died…” I shook my head in disappointment.

I walked over to her desk… huh. Each hoof was holding something. In one was an ID card. This will be useful. In the other, a… Snow globe? I picked it up… I remember, yeah, was part of a set for ponies to collect and such while they traveled. Made them for Cloudsdale, Ponyville, Manehatten, Los Pegasus, Canterlot, Hoofington, Baltimare, Appaloosa and Trottingham. This one was of Cloudsdale, the little plastic dome held within it a small floating cloud with a small replica of the now long gone Pegasus flying super city.

I pocketed both, scooting her bones over to check her desk. What? Just because I knew who she was doesn't mean I stop looting. The effect of seeing death gets old fast as you live in post nuclear tartarus.

“Now, let’s see what crap might still be good here…” I muttered.

Score! Spark Batteries of all kinds and some various electronics parts. Taking all this and… huh, notes.

Hey Cousin! Thanks for the Snow globe, been so busy lately I haven't had a vacation in forever. What's the point in making so much working for the Ministry when I don't get to enjoy life, right? Hope we can get together next month. Been forever since we've hung out. Reply ASAP.

-Sunflower Springs

PS: Bring your friend Cloud Thunder along, he's cute~

This mare was one of the big brains of the MAS… and she wrote letters like a filly in high school...

“Who would have thought…” I chuckled.

The next letter was just about deadlines and such. The last talked about some deal between the… O.I.A? Huh, never heard of that one, and the MAS over some prototype project. According to this the lab it's in is on floor fifteen. Project Rainboom? Must have been something for the MOA.

“Hmm...do I hedge my bet’s and get the fuck out of here, or do I look at what this Project Rainboom is?” I wondered.

Hmm… I still haven't found Ditzy's merchant yet so, if it's on the way might as well. I headed back to the stairs and went up. I yelped as I came face to face with another Protect-a-Pony. "Greetings Ms. Springs. How are you this evening?" It asked me.

What… oh right, her ID card! Oh thank you Sunflower Springs!

“I’m...doing well.” I said carefully to the bot.

"Good to hear." It said, walking off.

Sometimes the wasteland gives you a break. Do not question it. Walking through and looting a few rooms of more Spark Batteries and spare parts I came across… what the?

Their armor was pitch black, like a scorpion with the tail guard like it was and twin Plasma Castors on their sides. Enclave. I gave a whistle. I haven't seen them since their showboating airshows back during the war.

The Pegasus was, of course, dead. Their face looked fairly fresh. Maybe… two days dead… huh, no clear cause from out here. Her armor is in one piece and no facial injuries. The hell killed her?

“This is strange…” I muttered, looking over the thing to see how I could get them out of the armor and then take it for myself cause this thing looked awesome.

Hmm. Ah, here we are, latch here, button here, and… off it- woah! As I pulled the armor off her barrel I saw her entire torso was bruised and purple. Okay… what the hell can do that to her inside this armor?

“Uh...huh…” I started, looking carefully into the opened up armor to see what the hell happened.

I didn't see anything inside it. No damage to the metal, cloths or even the gemstone components. Hmm. Welp, this just got interesting. My saddle bags weren't able to hold all the armor and weapons, so I left them here. This will be someplace I'll return to so long as this ID card can keep me safe. With a sigh I pushed the mare's body into a closet. Not the best… tomb, but better than out in the open.

I moved up to the next floor and- what in Celestia's Fat Ass…

This whole floor was… a mess. The ceiling was missing, showing the upper floor and scattered about were, from where I could see, four more dead enclave… checking out two of them, they were the same weird cause of death as the mare from earlier.

“Alright...so what in the name of Discord’s left nut caused this to happen?” I frowned.

Walking around bodies and over tunnels I spotted the charred body of some pony who definitely was not Enclave. From what I can make out he wore what was once a leather armor set, burned saddlebags filled with melted scrap metals and electronics… this must be Ditzy's electronics guy. Checking his leg I spotted the MK 1 Pipbuck. Aside from some ash it looked fine. Damn, how did Stabletec make these things so durable?

“Well...mine now.” I chuckled, starting to scavenge it off the poor bastards body given he wasn’t going to be needing it anymore.

Once it was off I gave it a light cleaning and placed it on my leg. I got to try one of these at a Stabletec expo back when they were getting big. Not sure how these things work- woah!

Stable Tec Pipbuck MK1.9 identified. Syncing to MK98.5 Elite Riot Armor.

Error. Pipbuck OS is out of date.

Error. Failure to Update Pipbuck OS.

Generating Cross Compatibility Patch.

Compatibility Patch Generated and Installed.

Warning: Possible Bugs detected. Please contact Stable Tec or MoM offices or usalize an Up to Date Pipbuck OS to resolve potential issues.

New software feature unlocked. E.F.S. Eyes Forward Sparkle. Detect Friends and Enemies alike. Displayed under compass.

Oh. Sweet!

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” I said with a smile.

Under the compass I saw two blue dots appear to my right. Looking that way the right was just collapsed rubble… hmm… maybe above me then? I found a collapse piece of debris that worked as a ramp to the next floor and spotted. There, the blue dots were behind a door, heavily armored with the faded words reading R&D Laboratory 3. It was keycard locked. I took out the ID card and the locks clicked open. Entering, I immediately jumped back as the green whiz of plasma nearly hit my muzzle. Both dots were still red. "S-stay back!" Yelled a mare's voice from inside.

“Whoa whoa, I’m not here to hurt you!” I said in panic.

"W-who are you then? If you're Enclave I will shoot! If- if you're just some wastelander, take what you want off the ones out there and go!" She yelled. Her tone dripped with enough fear that not even a foal would take her seriously.

“Take it easy, please.” I said carefully. “I’m not with the Enclave, and I’m not a Wastelander, I’m here doing a favor for a Friend and saw...all this happened.” I said nervously. “Please, put the guns down...let’s just talk.”

There was a long pause. Finally though she spoke. "W-walk in. Slowly."

I did so. Entering I saw the mare was in an all white jumpsuit, something most engineers wear. She was a Pegasus, reddish orange mane and a dark brown coat. She looked like crap. Bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept in days and looking at her outfit there was some blood along her front leg sleeves.

“You’re hurt.” I started. “I have some medical supplies to help if you want.”

She was silent for a bit, slowly pulling the plasma pistol from her teeth to her hooves. "Not my blood." She said, shivering. It was then I realized she was leaning against a metallic box behind her, and the second blue dot was barely visible behind the one that was her in the E.F.S. "What… kind of Medical supplies?" She asked.

“Good enough for what’s probably needed.” I answered, not knowing what could be wrong but knowing most medical supplies did a whole lot of good things.

"Healing potions?" She asked.

“I brought five.” I answered. “And I have some medkits as well.”

"...Slide then over. Two potions at least and the med kit." She stated. Her tone was that of… I nodded, pulling one of my spare medkits and two healing potions and sliding them over to the Mare. She took them rapidly and stuck her front legs and head inside the metal box and began working.

I sat there, waiting for her to finish up. Finally after an hour she finished up, sighing and looking relieved. "So… how old is the foal?"

She tensed up, looking between me and the box. "...four months." She said.

“What happened here?” I asked. “A lot of the injuries I saw weren’t...normal to say the least.”

"That would be this." She said, slowly pulling out a broken a, rather strange looking magical energy pistol from a nearby table to the floor. "We came here for this. Project Rainboom they called it. A sound based pulse gun capable of not only dealing EMP damage but also deals subsonic damage to the cells and organs, causing internal bruising and even bleeding."

“So that’s why that one pony in that, honestly cool looking, scorpion armor died from internal hemorrhaging…” I said honestly. “Rather powerful weapon honestly.”

"It's why they mentioned it. Of course they found out who accompanied it's development from old notes and such and threw me out here just to fetch it for them… ran into a wastelander looting the place and he fought back when they started shooting. Typical Enclave Trooper mentality. Shoot first and never ask questions. Dumb asses hit a gas line, blue up this whole floor and the ones still alive… well, I finished them off." She said, kicking the broken weapon aside. "Their stupid fight hurt my baby, all because they're a bunch of Xenophobic jackasses."

“Trust me, nobody besides the Enclave like the Enclave, and even then the Enclave doesn’t like the Enclave sometimes.” I joked, trying to bring some of the tension in the room up.

She gave a smile, but didn't laugh. "So, you said you were doing something for a friend?"

“Yeah, Ditzy over in New Appleloosa wanted me to check on her scavenging buddy which uh...he’s somewhere between ‘well done’ and ‘charred’ at this point.” I said sheepishly. “But...considering all this happened, I think this is more important.”

"Heh, sorry about that. Blade the armored dead squadron out there. Just been up here for the last three days after all that happened."

“I understand that.” I nodded. “But you’ve been here for three days? Kind of expected someone else to have come here given the gas main explosion you said happened.”

"No one got to send out an SoS so Enclave HQ won't suspect something is off til at least five days. This was one of those 'off the record' type missions where everypony but me was the expendable one. Odds are once they find out they are dead they'll declare them all dashits to explain the disappearance. Say whatever they need to so they can say I was kidnapped then after some showboating and other BS they'll send out a team to 'deal with the terrorists' and 'rescue' me."

I raised an eyebrow.

“Everypony but you?” I inquired, finding that bit the most interesting than hearing the same Enclave diamond dog shit again.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm the direct descendant of some old world pegasus mare that helped found the enclave. I can get into places no pony else can. Ya know, the whole Genetic locks BS some pre war places have. Lot of them are up above the clouds and I am able to get into like, forty percent of them because of who my ect great grandmother was. Makes me a valuable resource they can't risk losing. Typically I stay in my lab-cage, get escorted out to do missions like this, then back to the cage where I spend my days researching how to utilize the pre war crap my little outings bring in for the Enclave."

“And your child?” I inquired.

"Do those dead weights out there look like Nanny material to you? She gets really fussy when I'm not near and the fact I even have her, is purely the only choice I ever got back above the clouds. Well that and what I get for my meals but it's not a large selection…" She huffed. "I didn't wanna leave here because of her injuries and I don't know where I can go, the Enclave won't find me. Plus I have no idea how the wasteland is or where it is even considered safe to begin with."

“You can come with me.” I said honestly and a little abruptly even for my standards. “And...if you’re wondering, it’s safe where I am. I live in a cave on the outskirts of New Appaloosa, it’s a relatively safe place compared to many other area’s.”

She gave me a look. "Hmm… risk my and my daughter's safety and lives with a complete stranger we just met or wait it up here where odds are the first Enclave rescue team will be looking for me here… so, what's your name?"

“Soft Spot.” I said. “What’s your names?”

"Autumn Glow." She said, reaching into that metal box and taking out a well wrapped up little foal. She had Autumn Glow's mane, the same reddish orange, but a very light brown coat soaked in some dry blood and wrapped in bandgang. Has she not been breathing I'd have sworn she was… "This is Lucky Angel." She said, keeping her little one securely in her hamper held by her teeth.

“Lucky Angel is certainly a name given our current situation.” I chuckled.

"Thanks. So, shall we then Mr. Soft Spot?"

With a nod I lead the way out. Autumn Glow Used her wings to keep a low flight to avoid unneeded stress for her foal. Once we were outside we made a quick pace for my cave. The whole time she kept her eyes up at the cloud layer above us.

Once inside my cave she placed Lucky Angel on the bed and carefully removed the cloth holding her. The foal was in rough shape. Her back was clearly healed by healing potions, missing fur in a large patch of it. It was then I also realized, she was missing her wings. "Happened in the explosion." Autumn Glow said. "Normally Pegasus wings, despite looking fragile, are surprisingly durable… but, a baby's wings are still largely cartilage and Don't develop into proper bones until at least sixteen months."

"She's...never gonna fly…" I muttered sadly.

Autumn Glow looked to be holding back some tears. “Honestly… it’s probably for the best. Down here might be a hard life but it’s better than up there. Which is why I need to find a doctor.”

“Why a doctor?” I inquired. “Besides...making sure she’s still healthy?”

“Well, helps me hide.” She stated flatly. “After all, lots of ponies share similar color palettes. But they’ll be looking for a pegasus… not an earth pony.”

Wait… she’s not thinking...

“Are...are you certain about this?” I asked carefully.

“There are a lot of things a pony can get used to living without. Wings, horn, legs. The harder it is for them to find Lucky and I the better… She’ll never know, and I can live without some feathers. Know any good doctors that can keep quiet about something like this?”

Hmm… “Heh, she’s not a doctor per say, but she is a pegasus and knows a thing or two about medicine.”

“Wait, she’s a ghoul… you’re a ghoul?” Glow asked as she pointed between the two of us. In retrospect I should have taken the helmet off a lot sooner to get this out of the way. “... How?”

“I was just outside of Cloudsdale when the Megaspell went off. Came out like this.” Ditzy said.

“And I was...in Canterlot.” I said simply. “So no need to go into more explanation than that all things considered.”

“And, she can remove my wings?” Glow asked.

“I’ve had more than enough practice in managing wing care- wait… remove them?!” Ditzy stated.

“Yes. I need to stay hidden. Covering my face is easy, wings, well, while I could just keep them wrapped up against me I’d rather not deal with all that and avoid questions my daughter will ask if I have wings and she doesn’t.” Glow stated.

“That’s fair.” I nodded. “But she’ll also need a father figure at least…” I brought up, knowing in this day and age you need as much family as you can get.

“Hmm… No offence but I don’t think I’d be into riding a rotten sausage.”

If I could, I’d have blushed, but Ditzy did laugh. “Hey, at least it will help sell the whole earth pony thing right?”

“I was meaning more being there to help raise her, not that.” I said in embarrassment. “And it would yeah.”

“Well, it would be helpful. Ever change diapers? Wait… are there diapers down here?”

“Some pre-war ones yeah, but most ponies just keep multiple, washable thick clothes cut and stitched to be reusable ones.” Ditzy said.

“It’s a lot easier to just have washable stuff anyways.” I shrugged. “And even for Ghouls, all I can say is, thank Celestia Soap is still around.”

“Scented Candles too.” Ditzy added. “No town is complete without a supply of that for the bathrooms and public areas.”

“Heh, so, you can… get them off?” Autumn Glow asked Ditzy.

“Well, yes, for a price of course.”

“What’s the price?”

“Well, it seems I need a new Tech Trader, you up for the job? Odds are Soft Spot here can show you the ropes and help you out.”

“What about Angel?”

“I can babysit her. Foals love my derpy face.”

“It’s true, never seen a foal ever think poorly about her.” I added.

“Well, not like I have a lot of options anyway. So, shall we get started?"

"Tomorrow. The doc owes me a favor so between the two of us we can get this done safely." Ditzy stated. "She's only worked on two other Pegasi before but it's better than no experience at all."

“Some experience is always better than no experience.” I said honestly.

"Alright then… so… guess I get the couch?" Glow asked.

"I brought a cot and an old crib from the store. Consider them a down payment for your future business."

"Heh, thanks. Honestly didn't expect such hospitality down here. Between scout recordings and reports I was expecting… way worse."

"Oh there is. Much worse. You got really lucky."

"Heh, well, maybe Angel, Lucky is in her name after all."

“Either way.” I shrugged. “All we can say right now is that things might look up for a change.”

"Definitely different from the Wasteland norm." Ditzy said with a nod.

Level Up-

Error! Error! Monster Template Detected! Level Up is unavailable.

Installing Eliot Riot Gear Artificial Upgrade Template.

Installation complete.

Armor DT: 24

Helmet DT: 10

Armor Durability: 450/500

Helmet Durability: 92/100

No New Upgrades Detected.

Author's Note

Complete Rewrite from the original story, co-written with me by a good friend.

Chapter 2: Shopping

"The Thing About Happiness Is That You Only Know You Had It When It's Gone"

It has been a month since Autumn and her daughter Lucky came into my life. Her… operation, went well enough and now, once she’s all suited up you can’t see the scars. She also cut her mane, going for more of a short trim compared to her former long flat hair.

Angel recovered well without issie and according to the doc, as she grows those scars will fade and be nearly undetectable unless you really feel and look for them.

My cave changed a lot too. As well as a bed for Autumn and a crib for Angel, there was now a small Spark Battery powered generator to run the ‘new’ fridge and a forty gallon tank for water that currently only had fifteen gallons in it.

Autumn more or less took over my workbench and was making makeshift weapons, repairing stuff and overall did my normal job way better.

“Funny how thing’s can change in less than a month, even when your a ghoul like me.” I chuckled.

“Ya know, I spent all my time repairing weapons and tech for the enclave. You’d think I’d be sick of it but no, oddly repairing more… damaged items are a lot more challenging. More fun.” Autumn replied as she finished off fixing a geiger counter. A Wasteland essential. “Up there they keep everything so pristine that the only way you can tell it’s used is the small bits of ware and stuff that just happen over time.”

“I suppose you actually get to see what’s broken this time instead of ‘fixing’ something that’s barely been used?” I suggested. “Something that’s actually seen the ravages of use and time instead of practically putting a feather duster to it?”

“Heh, basically. Most I ever got to fix up top was a broken fuse. A fuse! Anypony with half a brain should be able to swap out a fuse! Yes they haul me from the lab, swap out the broken one for a new one and then send me back and tell me to fix it. It’s some of the easiest things to fix!” She huffed. “Waste my smarts of being a glorified janitor I swear…”

“Sounds about right.” I chuckled. “Just a bunch of ponies not understanding your skills.”

“Oh they knew my skills. They didn’t utilize them since I was ‘a vital enclave resource’. They’d have rather some other pony die in RND than me. And yes, it happens more than you’d think and half the time it’s a fresh from the academy cadet with more dreams than common sense.”

“Wow, they actually have a chance to fuck up horribly up there.” I said in mock surprise. “Down here it’s either you get it done right or have fun wondering how to replace a limb.”

“I imagine cybernetics are more rare down here than up there?”

“It’s rare to find most thing’s down here if it’s not apart of any known group.” I shrugged. “Or you don’t know where to look.”

“Fair enough… So, what’s with the armor? I noticed it’s MOM tech.”

“Oh this? I grabbed it off someone’s long dead corpse and have been looking to get the restrictions taken out.” I mentioned.

“Restrictions?”

“All the usual bullshit of ‘you're not the owner, so I can only do the default’ crap.” I grumbled.

“Hmm… You know, if I could get my hooves on a decent computer and equipment, I could take a look at it both software and hardware wise, maybe get some of those restrictions removed.”

“Thank you, cause I was doing some jobs for Ditzy to get these removed and for a few other things, but then we did all of this for a month so…” I shrugged. “Maybe Ditzy knows someone that would have a good computer…”

“Or maybe salvage one? That lab we met in had a bunch of fairly state of the art electronic equipment and computers. If you can get me a Stable Tec MK88 desktop terminal, I can run a diagnostic check on your suit and probably pipbuck too.”

“Yeah I think I saw a few of those, thankfully they’re not completely destroyed...just have to deal with hiding from those stupid robots again…” I grumbled.

“Well, you still have that ID card on you so hopefully nothing bad will happen so long as you take it with you.”

Autumn was right. So long as I had this card, the robots and few bits of security left me alone.

I was back up in the lab areas. The Enclave armor and weapons were all still here… hmm… I can’t fit them in my saddle bags but… maybe that old Trader left a wagon or something…

I ran back outside and began looking around the building. To my surprise the E.F.S. spotted a blue, friendly, person nearby. Heading towards it, I came across what was once a lovely chariot, not patchworked together with metal plating for armor, a harness for the puller. Opening it, I was met by…

“Meow.” I stared at the small, mangy cyber cat for what felt like a few minutes. It’s body was mostly metal, save it’s tail, part of it’s head and a single eye and ear. The rest was all metal painted the same orange as the few bits of fur it has. The skull was topped by a thick glass dome holding a brain kept alive by wires and electricity. Huh...

“Well...what are you doing here little guy?” I inquired too the weird cyber kitty.

I held out a hoof, to which the cyber cat sniffed before nuzzling affectionately. Heh, must have been that Tech Trader’s pet. Poor little guy must have been alone since then. As I began petting the small cyber pet, I noticed a name scratched into the neck area. Taser Fang.

“Taser Fang? Why are you named that?” I inquired the poor lonely cat.

“Meow.” The cat replied, yawning. It’s metallic teeth suddenly sparked to life with a flash of electricity and I jumped back at that. The small cyber cat finished it’s electrifying yawn before looking at me as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Huh… So that’s why...

“Alright you metallic fuzzy creature.” I said, lightly petting it again. “Want to come with me and get out of this dusty old place?”

“Meow?” It questioned, turning around and jumping onto the makeshift cot made from the old seats. “Meow?”

I sighed… they haven’t realized?

“Your owner’s dead sadly…” I told the cat sadly.

The Cyber cat seemed to slump, giving a sad meow before rubbing their head against the pillow on the bed.

I let the robo kitty finish their… grieving before he jumped onto my back.

Alert! Third party technology detected sending syncing signals!

Error! No Compatibility to none Ministry Technology Detected.

Pipbuck registered with Syncing Signal. Signals Resynced. Two way Radio communication between Pipbuck #33986 and ‘Taser Fang’ established via Pipbuck internal radio.

Cool!

“Welcome aboard Taser Fang.” I said with a warm smile.

“Meow.” The cat nodded.

Taser ran around the former laboratory while I grabbed the suits and weapons from Enclave and whatever scrap from the robots into the chariot. I was looking through the terminals. None so far were the one Autumn mentioned, but I grabbed them anyway since they might be useful, and a working computer is still better than nothing. As I brought the various techno stuff into the chariot, I noticed Taser walk back into the chariot, dropping a small Spark Battery onto a small pile of various items.

Ammo for guns, Ammo for energy weapons, scrap metal, electronics, cherry bombs, hey Sunrise Sarsaparilla! And… twelve bottle caps. Wow. Kitty finds things and has a nasty bite.

“Out of the many years I have been salvaging crap in the world...you are by far one of the best find’s I’ve ever had.” I laughed happily.

“Meow.” Taser replied as they ran back into the building through a small hole in the wall I’d never be able to fit through.

I headed back inside, looking through the various computers as I looked for that specific one. Come on… MK 88…

MK 32, no. 55. No… 2… MK 2? No… Damn it.

I huffed, exiting another lab room and heading to another. The knob wasn’t moving. No Keycard… crap, normal key lock… Time for a small explosive entry.

I grinned as I taped one of my special lock poppers over the thing and lit the fuse.

I rushed a fair distance and watched it blow. The lock and knobe all blasted off as the door swung lazily open now that it was no longer sealed shut.

With a smile I entered the long sealed room and looked around. Woah…

It was much… cleaner, than I expected. Some dust but over all this room was almost untouched by time. There was a small desk littered in various electronic parts to the left. Several large tool boxes the size of filing cabinets to the right, a shelf filled with boxes that all read part numbers, and a desk in the back center with another skeleton dead atop it. This one though had a hole in their head, so that explains the locked room.

“Well then...I wonder what I can find in here?” I hummed as I explored the room.

I wandered around the room, finding all sorts of goodies. Walking to the terminal I removed the former owner off of the desk and grinned wider. An MK 88! Yes!

My eyes wandered to the small sticky note still attached to the top. ‘Property of Snuggly Glow’. Hmm.

The screen of the terminal flickered to life and I pressed a key, finding it flash to life and ask for a password. Welp, I can’t hack for shit so… off to Autumn with you!

When I got back to the cave it was late. Autumn was happy to see me back and happier to see all the loot. “I can’t believe you found all this stuf- IS THAT A CYBER CAT!” She yelled as she rushed over to Taser Fang, grinning almost madly as she pet the robot cat who happily received.

“Yep, his names Taser Fang and he’s my new cyber kitty.” I chuckled. “Found him in...not the best situation considering his previous owner is dead.”

“Oh, you poor kitty…” Autumn pet them. She walked to the work table and pulled a ruby from an energy pistol. “You hungry.” She asked the cat. Before I could question, I watched as Taser Fang jump, snatch the gemstone from Autumn and crunch it like a cookie and licking the crumbs off the floor. “Yes you were. Poor thing.”

… He… They just ate a gemstone?! I thought only dragons did that?!

“Uh...I didn’t know they could...eat gemstones…” I started. “I thought only dragon’s did…”

“Oh, most Cyborgs like Taser here eat gems or scrap metals to refuel their power reserves. While they can still eat and taste normal food they need to eat metal or gems every so often otherside they might run out of power.” Autumn said, looking Taser over. “And judging from the lights around the brain tank, Taser here was down to thirty percent power.” She added, giving the robo cat some more gems from broken energy weapons. “If it’s just a limb and such, spark batteries work well enough but for machinery on this level, the magical power in gems keeps the matrixes and batteries charged better and longer than normal spark batteries could.”

“Well...that’s gonna be a pain in the ass to keep up.” I started.

“Not really. Gems aren’t too difficult to come by, just about any electrical device should have them and Equestria is still so packed full of them I’m betting we can dig in a few places and find something.” Autumn countered. “So, that said, you manage to find the computer I needed?”

“Yes I did, and a lot of other goodies.” I nodded with a smile.

With glee Autumn helped me offload the cart. I’m gonna have to find a place to hide this thing. Once everything was inside I put the few sodas Taser found in the fridge. Might be two hundred years flat, but cold is still better than warm.

Autumn rapidly set up the terminal, eyeing the sticky note for a bit before tearing it off and tossing it into a small waste bin. Once it asked for a password she began hacking. In half a minute, she was already in and removing the password requirement.

“Jeez, you sure work fast.” I said in amazement.

“Guess it helps when you have teachers.” She shrugged. “Was a simple password. ‘King-Me’.” She informed. It looked like there was a lot of logs on there but she rapidly passed them all before opening up a different program. “Helmet please my good ghoul.” She asked.

“Alright.” I nodded as I handed off the helmet to her. “Also really? Must really like checkers.”

With a shrug, she connected the helmet to the terminal and began letting the program run. “Okay. So far so good. Hmm… Alright… Well, that’s upsetting… Woah… Hmm…” She muttered to herself. After about… ten minutes she finally looked over at me. “Alright, so, good news, bad news, more good news, more bad news.” She stated.

“Let’s get the bad news out of the way.” I shrugged.

“Alright, bad news, the Anti Theft measures completely wiped the old OS and installed this… brickware, something that let’s it run but can’t be uninstalled and it lacks all the OS systems for the suit's various features. The other bad news is that since this is installed on gems and processors rather than hard drives, I can’t just swap out the OS with one that works.”

“So what’s the good news?” I frowned.

“The good news is while the old OS was wiped, this new OS that was installed still has its install file within the hardware. I can pull it, reverse engineer it, and program back in custom OS that can hopefully get some of those functions working again by forcing the suit to reinstall the modified OS install file. Other good news, I can update your Pipbuck OS.” She said with a smile.

“Fantastic.” I said with a growing smile. “What do you need to make that a reality?”

“Time mostly. WIthout anything to work off of as a base I’ll have to build those systems from scratch and that’s after I take apart and put back together the OS install file left behind. But I can update your Pipbuck now if you’d like?”

“Yes please.” I nodded while pulling my Pipbuck up. “Cause it would be really good to have this thing up to date.”

With a nod Autumn worked her magic, linking my pipbuck to the computer and running a program and I put it back on once it was done.

Pipbuck OS V759483.9 installed Successfully!
MOM Eliot Riot Gear Patch No Longer Needed.

Deleting Patch.

Synced to MOM Eliot Riot Gear.

Radio, Geiger Counter, E.F.S and S.A.T.S. available.

“Great.” I smiled. “This is gonna be a massive help.”

"And with that cart, you'll be able to haul more stuff and be protected." Autumn added.

“Fantastic.” I said with a smile. “Will make work a hell of a lot easier.”

With a nod, Autumn made sure Lucky was changed, fed and burped before we were off to sleep.

Angel only woke up a few times at night. No better alarm clock than a baby… it was early when we finally stayed up and I began to make some coffee. It was one of the few prewar luxuries still around. While farms that grow it are hard to come by, instant and canned coffee was in over abundance. Even two hundred years old, still has it's kick.

“Thank Celestia coffee still exists.” I sighed out thankfully.

"This is way better than what they grow up in the clouds." Autumn sighed as she sipped her mug. Lucky was happily drooling along the makeshift highchair as she looked around the cave. "Strong and has more than the flavor of water."

“Nothing beat’s ground coffee, both figuratively or literally in this case.” I chuckled. “Even instant coffee was made by earth ponies, and it’s always better.”

She nodded, quickly downing her cup. "Up in the clouds the food grown, well… it keeps us alive, but lacks any real flavor. Clouds just can't compete with soil and water."

“Ain’t that the truth.” I nodded in agreement. “Anything else you see down here that’s better than up there?”

"Hmm… weapons. Everything up there is magical and energy based. Down here, bullets are everywhere and it's amazing."

“No matter what technology you get, there’s nothing like a simple bullet to ruin everyone’s day.” I chuckled.

"Simple can be the best. So, what's on your agenda today? I'm gonna fix up some toasters Derpy sent over while you were out."

I thought about that, looking over at Lucky, who was now being pawed at by Taser.

“Well...not sure honestly.” I said simply. “I could go out and do some salvaging...but then I have to make sure Lucky is okay while your working…”

"Oh I can do both, though she does get fussy after a while. I think she gets bored when I'm working… actually, if you can find some foals toys I think it will help a lot."

“Alright, I think Ditzy has a few back at her shop…” I thought for a bit, going through the places I’ve been and if they had any foal’s toys.

"Stay safe." She said. With a nod I was off on the short walk from my cave to New Appaloosa.

The Guards let me in no problem and I was at Ditzy's shop soon enough. The mare was organizing some ammo mags for a rifle. "Hey there Soft Spot. How have you been?"

“Been doing well.” I nodded. “How have you been Ditzy?”

"Oh the usual. Training, bartering, selling and buying. How's that filly and her foal doing?"

“They’re both doing great.” I said with a smile. “Also, I found Taser Fang.”

"Oh, I'm glad. Blown Fuse loved that cat. Had em since he was a colt. I think he told me his papa found him in some prewar military base?" The ghoul mare thought back to remember.

“Well, Taser Fang is doing well now.” I nodded. “So do you have any foal toys?”

"Bin to the left over there." She pointed.

With a nod I headed over there and began looking through them. Puzzle, not too young for that. Building blocks, also too young. Toy train without wheels… nope. Half readable storybook. Maybe. A single alphabet block...

“Haven’t found anything else?” I inquired as I dug through the bin a bit more.

"Those ones were honestly the best from what my usual supply brings. Most toys are long destroyed these days and those that are still around families keep to pass down. Unless you wanna look though homes and schools for some that's all I got."

“Fair enough.” I nodded, knowing that finding things for kids were always a massive pain in the ass.

I bought the book at least and with that pocketed began to head back. Hmm… I need to find something better… as I walked I looked down the pipbuck on my leg… these things normally mark locations… maybe someplace Blown Fuse marked here would have something.

Okay, let's see here… it was… ah, here we are. Map.

Let's see… there's New Appaloosa, My Cave… so far there's Old Appaloosa, Train Station DL42, MAS R&D Laboratory 87, Stable 6, Stable 82, Echo 89 Army Base and Flim and Flam's Scrap Yard Recycle Torium? Is that even a word?

“Well...even if it isn’t, those cheap bastards always tried to make it one…” I muttered to myself.

I remember back in the day, they tried to hire me. I tossed that offer into the recycling.

Hmm… Old Appaloosa is closest but I'm not gonna barter in that slaver town. Closest aside from there is Stable 6, but those are often death traps… then again if it's marked here maybe he found good loot while there… best tell Autumn before I head out.

“Well, at least got a plan of action…” I muttered, trotting off back to my cave. “Wonder if Autumn knows anywhere else…”

I headed back to the cave. Walking in Autumn was holding Lucky while looking over toaster parts. Taser was on the floor nearby eating a rather melted looking toaster. "Back already?" Autumn asked.

“Yeah, sadly there wasn’t much Ditzy had, but there might be some places that can get us some foal toys.” I started. “What do you know about Stable 6?”

"Hmm… not much. Most of the ground based facilities the Enclave kept tabs on were either Pegasus offices or Military in nature. Stables were a hot topic but not many were known location wise."

“Crap…” I sighed out. “Cause it was either that or Old Appleloosa and I really don’t want to go to that place…”

"How come?"

“Bunch of damned slavers.” I growled.

"Slavers…? They… they actually do that down here?"

“Yes they do, cause when everything’s gone straight to hell and we couldn’t make it to any of those cushy bullshit stables most ponies went to…” I sighed out. “Sorry...I’ve seen plenty of good people be treated like absolute shit for no due cause around here…”

"End of the world does that to ponies doesn't it?" Autumn said with a sigh. "I guess by comparison the stable is a better bet. They should have a school or something there so with luck, some foals toys there or in the living quarters."

“Yeah...it’s gonna be a pain in the ass to get to one...and then an even bigger pain to go through the entire thing.”

"Just be careful." Autumn said. "The more I learn about the surface the more worried I get…" Autumn said, holding Lucky tight.

“Even if the surface is dangerous...there’s still Friendship brewing around if you know how to find it.” I said simply. “Especially if you're clinically insane and married a Hellhound...still have no idea how that bastard did it but he did.”

"What's a Hellhound?"

“Basically a race of monsters created by magical radiation that’s really hard to deal with.” I started. “Even people in power armor have a hard time fighting them, but they’re also very smart beings…”

"Yikes… steer clear of those things too alright."

“Always have.” I nodded. “But I’ll be back as soon as I can, and hopefully Lucky here won’t get too fussy while I’m gone.”

"Heh, well so long as I feed her milk and there's two hundred year old canned corn and water to feed me, I think we'll be fine." Autumn stated.

“That’s good.” I nodded. “I’ll be back, stay safe you two.” I said before stopping. “Oh, and before I forget, I managed to find this.” I started as I brought out the children’s book. “It’s only half of it but it should be good enough right?”

She took the book, looking over the pages. "Heh, it's enough to read her and hopefully put her to bed."

“That’s good.” I nodded with a smile. “Well, I better get going then.”

"Take care."

With a nod I headed off. As I walked out I passed the chariot. Hm, not gonna need that. Foals toys can easily fit in my saddle bags anyway. As I walked I mentally checked off all I had on me. One 20 gauge sawed off, one 9mm pistol, and one combat knife. Thirty 20 gauge shells, fifty 9mm bullets all inside five, ten bullet holding clips. Some dirty water bottles, and rad roach jerky. Autumn refused to eat it and food is food, so I ain't gonna waste it.

The Pipbuck told me Stable 6 was just off the main road north. About six miles north off the main road. I sighed but followed the helpful little compass I now have. Damn I wish I found one of these things sooner.

“Is it just me...or do things seem brighter?” I wondered to myself, seeing all the same dreary landscape as always but...it seems to have a bit more color to it now for some reason.

I shrugged, wondering if my eyes were finally failing me. The light was still good and hopefully it will last me til I get there.

The walk was fairly uneventful. Just a few Radroaches and a Bloatsprite crossed my path. The night crept in slowly and Stable 6 was still two miles away. I picked up my pace and ran, finding the entrance to the stable as the darkness of night claimed the land. It was hidden/covered by an old Super Market. Barnyard Bargains. I shopped at these stores a lot back in the day. Had good deals most of the time.

The store itself was long since looted of anything valuable, so I just found and walked down the stairs to-

"Greetings, and welcome to Stable 6 Bargains." I froze, looking at the armored mare before me. She wore that armored barding most Stables had, though it also had a name tag on it. Apparently, her name is Sunny Soda. She also had a battle saddle mounted machine gun on, pointed at me but thankfully her little blip in the Pipbuck was blue, so she's friendly. "Is that you Blown Fuse?" She asked me. "Nice armor."

“I’m actually a friend of his.” I lied. “He’s sadly dead, but before he died he said I was allowed to take his stuff and make use of it, especially the Pipbuck and his cat.”

“Aw, poor Taser… Well, you’re not a regular, so I’ll have to take you over to the Manager.” Manager? Didn’t these stables have Overmare’s or something?

With a nod I followed the security mare through the hallway and to the large heavy steel door of Stable 6. Looking around, the entrance way was filled with what looked like… check out booths? Walking around the hallways, rooms and all around the area looked like it was designed to be, well, a supermarket. I heard these Stables all haeird themes and such… but, is this whole stable just a big store?

"Um...is this a supermarket or something?" I inquired.

“Why yes, part SuperStore, part Stable.” She informed. After a while she escorted me to a door, above was the words ‘Overmare’s Office ', but the ‘Overmare’ part was covered with what looked like old paint and written there now was ‘Manager’. Entering I spotted the ‘Manager’ who was a brown earth pony mare with a pink and blue mane and pink eyes. She was going over something on her terminal but looed over at us when we entered. “Sunny Soda, who is this?” She asked.

“Manager Royally Rich, this pony claims to have been friends with Blown Fuse. He’s wearing his Pipbuck so I confused him for Blown Fuse at first. He also states to be caring for Taser Fang.”

“And where is Blown Fuse?” The ‘Manager’, Royally Rich, asked with a raised brow.

“Sadly deceased according to him.” Soda replied.

“Hmm… I see. Was he hostile upon first encounter?”

“Not at all. Simply surprised.”

“Hm. Very well, return to your post and I will inform this stallion about how things work here in Stable 6.” With a nod, Sunny Soda left, closing the door behind her and leaving me alone with Royally Rich. “So, did you really know Blown Fuse or was that an excuse?” She asked.

"I did know him, me and him used to scavenge for a shared business partner in New Appleloosa." I answered. "I lied about being friends but we did know each other...also how in Tartarus did he get a cyborg cat?"

“Story he told me was that his father found them in some old pre-war lab. Apparently it was experimenting with cybernetic soldiers and trained animals were the… beta test subjects. So, what happened to him? He was a good Stallion, and business partner. Most of our technology here he kept working or found parts for.”

"He went to an old laboratory trying to salvage from there...security got to him before he knew it." I sighed out.

“Hmm. Shame. He knew a lot most ponies these day’s simply don’t. Well, that’s the eventuality of life on the surface. Part of why our… business partners and customers are kept fairly strict and regulated. Lot of ponies up top would happily slaughter us all for this stable and our stockrooms.”

"I understand that." I nodded. "But right now I'm here to get some foal toys...and well, apparently, do some business as well."

“I see. First things first though, mind removing the helmet? I’d like to see the pony whom I trust with the Stable 6 membership before I give them one.”

Stable 6 membership? This really is run like a superstore.

"I have to warn you, I'm not the best looking stallion around." I warned as I took off my helmet carefully.

“Oh, you’re a ghoul. That explains that. Well so long as you don’t shoplift or attack us and your caps are good, we here at Stable 6 Bargains could care less about your race, mutation of faction affiliation.” She stated in a rather professionally rehearsed fashion. “Now then, what is your name? I don’t believe I got it.”

"Soft Spot." I answered. "And I won't attack people, don't worry."

“Alright, Soft Spot. Now, you have been very cooperative and polite so far, but as the Manager of Stable 6 I also take the safety of the Employees very seriously. I can’t just allow anyone who wishes to shop within our walls a membership, we require some shows of trust first and foremost before hoof.” She informed. “If you are willing to comply to them, we can issue you a starter membership with us for basic trade and bartering within the Stable.”

"Alright, what do you want me to find?" I asked, cutting to the chase as the professionalism was necessary, I've heard this yarn spun a dozen other times.

“Simply put, this stable as you can clearly see was built to be a main supply to other settlements and stables when the doors were to open. Sadly, many settlements we can’t trust fully for one reason or another and many of the stables we planned on trading with are either unopened, or… dead. While we have an abundance of supplies and food the surface could trade with us, we lack proper security. Sunny Soda is just one of ten security mares on staff. Of them, she is the only one to have armored barding and one of three to carry a weapon. We need weapons, robots, armor. Bluntly, we need security. Better security will allow more open trading with the outside and discourage… troublemakers. If you can find and locate us a hefty cache of weapons or bring us some we will gladly offer you a shoppers membership to our Stable.”

"Hmm...I think I know where to find some." I said honestly. "Maybe some still work, and I'll have to ask some people I know about other good places to find some weapons." I said, thinking through the people I know who might know a good spot to find weapons.

“If you can bring at least seven more guns and at minimum, thirty rounds for each and we can get you what you want, within reason.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Now trust goes both ways ma’am, how can I know that this agreement of ours won’t end up with a bullet in my head when I get you everything?” I asked carefully. “I mean no disrespect when I say this...I’m just trying to cover my bases here and not have any...repeats of bad experiences.”

“A more than fair statement. Tell me, what exactly did you come here for exactly?”

“I came here originally to find food and foal toys because a...friend of mine is helping tend to a child, and my name wouldn’t be Soft Spot if I didn’t help the poor mare and her kid.” I explained.

That made her chuckle. “Fair point. How old is the foal?”

“Only a few month’s.” I answered. “So gotta have something to help keep the kid busy while my friend works and I’m out scavenging.”

“I see. In regards to Foals toys we do have more than the Stable has ever used or needed. Part of my ancestor’s big grand reopening for the wasteland was to bring back the simple pleasures.” She chuckled. “I can have a member of staff gather up some of the more popular infant toys from the pre-war era, as well as some baby food and even a box of diapers on top of the membership card for you, upon your arrival with the weapons and ammunition. After that you can come freely to Stable 6 to shop and should we require your services again we can arrange a deal, yes?”

“Works for me.” I nodded.

“Excellent. Oh, and here.” She typed on her terminal for a bit and suddenly I noticed my Pipbuck flash.

Stable 6 Communications Frequency registered.

“Should you wish to inform us of your success and if in the future, we require your services again, makes it easier to talk. Thankfully the antennas on the outside buildings roofs still work and have been keeping us in the know on the outside for a while.”

“Perfect.” I nodded.

“Until you return, Soft Spot. I’ll have a staff member at the radio.”

With a nod I walked out, Sunny Soda escorting me back out.

Now to find weapons… weapons. That’s the tricky part. Guns and makeshift crap is all around but their conditions are, for lack of a better word, crap. Let’s see… I do have those Enclave Weapons back home, but energy weapons can be tricky and ammo for them is hard to come by. There is that old base marked on this Pipbuck but that’s a high risk venture. One I’d rather not go into alone… Then again, maybe I don’t have to be?

It took a long walk, almost two days to get here but it was worth it. The old army base was like many others. Old world propaganda and ruins of the war littered everywhere. Some skeletons along the road and a top long rusted tanks here and there… and lovely, lovely radiation. The Pipbuck buzzed, indicating danger, fifty three rads per minute. Deadly to most, for a ghoul like me, feels like walking through a fresh spring meadow. I am probably one of the few ponies still alive who can even compare that to anything.

“Ah, the sweet feeling of radiation.” I hummed happily.

“Meow.” Taser meowed from my back, his body unphased by the radiation entirely.

We walked to the main entrance of the army base, the checkpoint was guarded by a lone skeleton with just a combat helmet on and a ten millimeter on the ground. I picked that up and pocketed it. Anything works, and radiation is easier to scrub off items than from ponies.

Looking around it seemed they were in the middle of evacuating the place when the bombs fell. Chariots and carriages covered in the long blackened and fragile bones of ponies filled their back compartments, and the harnesses for the pullers of Pegasus fliers laid on the ground, still hooked up and ready for take off. Must have exploded nearby to cause all this. Also explains why it’s so irradiated still. Betting the crater is only a few miles from here.

“This is still...horrifying…” I shivered, the bombs able to reduce ponies, normally durable enough to handle things like falling pianos and even some lightning… reduced to nothing but bones is still haunting.

“Meow.” Taser said, jumping off my back and began running around, looking for whatever.

With a sigh I joined them, looking around and finding some irradiated rations packets, some surprisingly still good healing potions, and a few poor but functional pistols. All ten millimeters. Tasor found fifteen bullets, all ten millimeters, six bottle caps, and a grenade.

“Well, so far we’re getting a good haul, even with these poor quality pistols.” I shrugged.

After looking around out here for a while, I headed inside, Taser rushing in the second I opened the doors. After closing it I noticed a few things. First, the ticks of the Pipbuck were drastically lower here. Down to two rads per minute. Second, there was two skeletons behind what looked like a reception desk, and the gun on the floor and the holes in their skulls told me how this one ended. Both were unicorns. I sighed as I picked up this pistol. It was in better condition than the ones outside.

“Idiots…” I sighed out. “Waste of life…but a good gun at least.”

I noticed the terminal on the desk next to them was still working. Pushing a button gave me various general stuff. One text file titles ‘Fuck’. Fitting.

Well, looks like this is it. Been… Six hours since that… noise went off outside. The panic and screams outside faded out fast. Hold up here with a soldier colt, but the… radiation is still bleeding in. Infinmery is in the other building, food too so no supplies. All we got here is some contraband he pulled from his dead superior’s office. Without food or meds, we won’t last long. Soldier Colt, Clover, his name is, says we probably got just three more hours before we start shitting blood. My mane’s already fallen out and my coat’s going too. Well, Fuck it. There’s booze, and Clover’s still got enough strength to move around so, might as well get drunk and high for a bit, shag then we’ll blow our brains out. If anypony comes across our bodies, a Survivor, keys are on the General who shot himself an hour ago in his office upstairs. Take what you need. If you’re some Rescue team, Fuck You.

-Positivity.

“Well...at least they had some fun before ending it.” I muttered.

Giving a nod to the skeletons I headed through the small hallway, finding just a janitor’s closet and a small room with desks and telephones. Nothing of much use here so we went upstairs. More offices and such. The wide open door of an Army General’s office greeted me at the end of the hall. The room was rather simple, a table with ammo boxes and a supply case, filing cabinets, and a large desk where a skeleton missing their whole head rested. On the floor in front of the desk sat what looked like a revolver, but when I picked it up, I realized it only held three shells. Three 12 gauge shells. This could only be used by a unicorn, earth pony like me would break their teeth on this recoil. Well, maybe Royally Rich might keep it for show?

“How the hell they managed to make a revolver shoot shotgun shells I’ll still never understand.” I shook my head as I pocketed the thing.

Walking over to the table, the Ammo Boxes had a hundred ten millimeter rounds, ten 12 gauge shells, and the supply case had four more ten millimeter pistols. Alright, that’s eight pistols, a hundred and thirty ten millimeter rounds, and one Overkill Revolver with ten shells. So far, so good.

“Meow.” I looked down, seeing Taser already snagged the keys off the dead General.

“Perfect.” I smiled, lightly petting Taser. “Good kitty.”

“Meow.” They replied, jumping back onto my back.

I headed outside, happy this was easier than I expected. Exiting the office building I headed to the Mess Hall/Infirmary building. Entering here was the same radiation as the Office Building. It was a single hall that, on the left, lead to the Mess Hall, and to the right, led to the Infirmary. There wasn’t any skeletons in the front, but…

“Raggga…” Gurgled the ghoul before me.

They were at one point, a stallion. Mane and coat long since fallen off leaving their rotten leathery body standing before me.

Feral Ghouls rarely mess with still sane Ghouls like me. Still, they always… gave me an unsettling reminder… I shook my head. No, don’t go there. Last time it took years before I snapped out of that slump.

“Don’t get depressed….not again…” I sighed out. “Just keep moving forward…”

“Guggg…” The Mindless Ghoul growled before me. With a huff and a roll of my eyes I bit down onto the bite trigger of my Battle Saddle, pulling the trigger on my mounted shotgun and blasting its neck. The hole I gave it let the head roll off the body. I finished the head off with another shot. Some of these shits don’t die easily. Just happy I’m not in Canterlot. THOSE Ghouls don’t like to stay dead...

“Glad I have my sanity still…” I grumbled.

The growls of more Ghouls in the building all went off at once. Taser hopped off my back and stuck along the wall. From the Infirmary, began trotting out two Ghouls about the same as the one I killed. From the Mess Hall, one Ghoul trotted out that was still wearing a cooks hat… huh…

Taser jumped onto the back of the Cook Ghoul, biting into their rotten flesh as electricity shot through it’s body. It wasn’t dead but it was stunned.

I rushed to the side, turning my shotgun to the two Infirmary Ghouls and shooting. My first shot got one of them in the leg, sending it falling onto the other. I blasted them both as they hit the floor, turning their rotten heads into rotten paste.

Sniffing the air I turned to see Taser still biting onto that cook ghoul, my Pipbuck told me it was now dead as Taser cooked it’s rotten body with electricity. After a bit, Taser let go of the now charred spot it bit and spat out what was stuck on their metallic teeth.

“Yeah, rotten flesh doesn’t taste good.” I chuckled.

With the Pipbuck showing no more hostels I walked around, looting the Mess Hall of twenty still edible ration packets, and various canned goods all with little to no radiation.

With that done I spotted Taser eating the cooking pots. I laughed at the absurdity as I watched the tiny cyber cat eat a large pot and leave just the grip handles.

With that done here we walked into the infirmary. Here, I found six healing potions and ten rad aways. No use for me but Autumn and Angel can use them. There was also some Med-X and some Buck in a broken cabinet. Pocketing all that I headed off to the final building. The door here was locked but the key from the General opened it easily. I walked in and upon closing the door, realized something. There were no bodies, it was oddly clean in here, and there was no radiation at all. Alright… this can only be bad...

“Alright...this is gonna be worrisome…” I started carefully. “Hello?” I called out carefully, wondering if anyone was in here.

I didn’t hear anything, and looking at my Pipbuck showed just Taser and… wait… I moved slightly, seeing a faint second blue dot some distance, just outside the Pipbuck’s range. Slowly, I headed towards it. Walking carefully through this large and oddly empty building, I opened a nearby door and was met by a Mister Gutsy, floating lazily behind a locked, caged off section of the room. Looking through the bard and small entryway, I noticed this was the armory… and it was still very much stocked. Rifles, pistols, shotguns, machine guns. There’s enough here to arm a whole town! Or, a Stable.

“Uh...hello?” I inquired.

“Greetings Maggot!” It declared with a loud, masculine and artificial voice. “Submit your weapon for inspection, or be court marshalled!”

“Uh...why?” I asked carefully.

“Failure to properly maintain peak weapon condition can result in jamming! A Jammed gun can cost you your life! Your fellow soldiers lives! The Kingdom of Equestria could fall all because you didn't properly maintain your gun and kill the Zebra Scum!”

Woah alright whoever programmed this thing really went all out for it!

“Well...you got a point there.” I nodded. “But right now, all these weapons need to be brought to others that need it.”

“Only the Quartermaster or General can authorize the removal of weapons from this facility! Any attempt to take even a single bullet from this room will find themselves with my buzzsaw up their ass!” He declared, his saw limb roaring up to life for emphasis.

“And what would you do if I said that the Quartermaster and General have been long dead?” I inquired. “Or...what the world outside the Stable is?”

“Then I shall wait until they return! Death can not keep the Equestria Army down!”

Well… guess it wasn’t programmed to deal with the, well, end of the world.

“Well then…” I muttered “Uh...Taser? You got any ideas?”

“Meow.” The Cyber Cat said, jumping from my back to the small table-like area between the bot and I in the cage wall.

I watched as Taser stared at the Mister Gutsy for a minute before I noticed their back open up. A small panel moved up and over from their left side and the smallest little satellite dish I have ever seen popped out. It then started to spin around before stopping in the direction of the Mister Gutsy.

“Equestrian Ministry of Wartime Technology signal detected.” The Mister Gutsy suddenly spoke. “Connection established. Mister Gutsy model 99OC3, OS version Sargent 9.0.7.2 installed.” About a minute passed before it spoke again. “Override codes from Ministry of Wartime Technology signal accepted. Setting new Priority. Priority Set.” There were several beeps that came from the bot as the small dish retreated into Taser. “Greetings Maggot!” It yelled at me. “What are my orders?”

I simply looked at Taser Fang, who bagan licking their legs as if to clean them.

“Good kitty…” I said as I lightly pet the super kitty. “Can you tell me what weapons are in this armory?”

“This armory houses some of the finest lead spitting armaments of the Equestrian army!” It yelled. “We got Sniper Rifles! 5.56 to .50 caliber! We got Shotguns from 20 to 6 gauge! We got pistoles and revolvers from pathetic little .22 to the all mighty .50 caliber pistol rounds! We got Machine guns that shoot everything from .22 to .308! We got Assault Rifles that shoot 5.56 rounds! We got Enough guns and Ammunition to wipe the Stripped Plague from the face of Equis!” It declared.

...Okay then...

“Alright…” I started. “So how many am I able to grab…” I muttered.

“Maggot! Would you like the rest of the non-lead spitting armory as well!?” It yelled/asked… wait… there’s MORE?!

“Uh...hold on, there’s more to the armory?” I asked curiously.

“Of course Maggot!” It screamed. “No Equestrian army is without the finest explosives! Tank’s! And Magical Energy weapons! We’ll deliver death upon the Stripes in every way imaginable! And when we run out of ways to deal death, we'll create some new ones!”

“Mind...showing me all this?” I asked curiously.

“Of course Maggot!” It yelled, floating over to the door, unlocking it for me and I slowly followed it to a back area where another door was hidden. In here, there was the Magical Energy Weapons. Plasma, Laser, a few EMP ones and parts as far as the eye can see. Sweet-

“The fuck are you?!” I jumped, looking to my left and seeing… a reflection?

I shook my head, seeing another pony, no, ghoul, dressed in MOM Elite Riot Gear also. They were a unicorn, and their armor was… actually it looked pretty good. A bit better than mine. They rapidly levitated over an energy rifle while I aimed my shotgun.

We stood in this standoff for several seconds. “You… you a Stripe?” They asked.

“Do I look like that?” I asked. “I know the gravelly voice isn’t too much to go on but the smell should definitely give it away even though I try and wash.”

They kept their gun in their magic. “That… armor. You with the MOM too?”

I was at a crossroads here… lie, or truth…

“No, no I am not.” I shook my head. “I’m a Scavenger, found this neat piece of armor when I was sifting around an area that had high radiation, considering I’m a ghoul and all, poor bastard probably didn’t notice it until it was too late.” I shook my head. “Took a week to clean the damn thing though…”

“G-Ghoul? The fuck is a ghoul?”

“Let’s take a step back.” I said carefully. “My name is Soft Spot, who are you?”

“A- Agent Sticky Note.” He answered. “What do you mean scavenger?”

“I go around looking for things that people...leave on accident.” I started carefully. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“The… The bombs. They hit and I took cover down here. I tried to get out a few hours after but… all those bodies… their eyes… I- I must have passed out and when I woke up I ran back here and locked the door.” He huffed. “Fuck I ran. Some agent…”

I thought about that story for a bit. If the rads outside are still over fifty, then back then they would have been in the thousands… he’d have died, or in this case, ghoulified, instantly. Him passing out must have been when he changed. Between the rads and the stress… poor bastard.

“Listen...the bombs were something no agent would have wanted to experience, even Pinkie wouldn’t have wanted this.” I sighed out, the name of the MOM leader always prevalent to everyone with how...special she was. “The bombs did terrible thing’s to the world…”

“Well, yeah. Bombs do that. Fucking Stripes. I can only hope we hit them harder.” He growled. “You still haven’t answered my question, the hell is a ghoul?”

“A ghoul is someone that’s been...infected by the aftermath of the bombs.” I started. “They can range from either brain dead zombies, or normal ponies just with an immunity to radiation and a longer life...with the down-side of being infertile which to some would be a positive...to others a massive negative.”

“So, a mutant or something?” He asked. “And, you’re a ghoul?”

“Yes I am.” I nodded. “You can tell someone’s a ghoul by the raspy as shit voice like someone’s been gargling gravel, the smell of...well a corpse, or anything physical that would show that someone’s a ghoul.” I explained carefully, hoping I’m not accidentally leading this poor guy to realize what he is.

“Shit. That, that’s fucked up. Been what, a week at max and shit like that’s already a thing?”

I’m glad my helmet hid my wince. He thinks it’s just been a week...

“Y-yeah...a lot can change in a week.” I said carefully.

“Well… fuck…” They said, their magic finally stopping as they dropped the rifle. “So… it’s… bad, out there then? Shit… I hope my sister made it into the stable. Must be hell out there for everypony who hasn’t huh?”

“It is most definitely hell out there.” I sighed out. “And what’s your sister's name?”

“Positivity. She’s the receptionist in the main office here.”

Oh Celestia fuck me with her fifteen inch horn...

“So anyways,” I said quickly. “I’m here to pick up a bunch of stuff to help out another Stable with more security.”

“Oh, really? Wait, it’s been a week? What Stable in their right mind is opening this early?”

“It’s been...a little longer than a week.” I started. “Time passes a lot when your locked in a Stable.”

“And Stuck in an armory…” They said, looking towards the floor. “More than… a week… I… haven’t eaten… or drank… anything…” Oh shit… “I… haven’t even slept…” They shakily began removing their helmet. Once it was off, I saw their face. It was… honestly. Could be worse. He was missing fur, and half his mane was gone, but he still had his face at least. His eyes were the same glossy white all ghouls have. Well, the majority of ghouls have. Before I could say anything, he levitated up a reflective sheet of metal. He simply stared at himself for a while, his hoof feeling along his face. “I… I’m a ghoul… aren’t I?” He asked.

“Sticky, listen to me…”

“How long?” They asked me. “How… How long has it really been…?”

“Before I answer.” I started, putting a gentle hoof on their shoulder. “I want you to take a deep breath, and relax-”

“How long!” They yelled, punching me and standing. “A month?!” I said nothing. “A year!” I got up, and just looked at the ground. “How long!?”

I sighed out. “It’s almost been two hundred years…” I sighed out. “Long enough for people to get out of the stables and help try and rebuild.”

Sticky said nothing, just… shook as he looked towards the ground. “T-two… hundred…” He said. For a while, he just stood there. I tried to comfort him. But he suddenly ran past me. I ran after him. He was outside, looking at all the skeletons. He remembered when they were fresh corpses…

He bolted to the Office Building. I followed. He saw the two skeletons behind the desk. I stood back, watching as he checked and read the terminal entry his sister left… Then, finally, he broke.

Ghouls can cry. No matter what some racists or assholes say, not all of us let our feelings rot away. And Sticky Note cried.

Hours passed before he finally managed to separate the bone piles. He gently put a hoof over one. “This… was Positivity.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper. “She broke her leg bad when we were foals. I can… see the repaired fractures still…”

“They managed to get in...but the radiation was still seeping in…” I sighed out.

“Yeah… Armory was lead lined so…” He spoke. “I became this when I left… why? We were siblings… why am I a ghoul but she didn’t become one?”

"Nobody really knows how ghouls become ghouls...maybe it's because you got hit by all that radiation at once while they had to deal with it slowly." I sighed out. "I'm sorry…"

"... Seven years in the MOM and ten years before that in the Equestrian Army. All that to keep the ponies I cared about safe… and in the end… it didn't matter…" He sighed.

"No one could have expected what the war would have brought in…" I sighed out bitterly. "But...people are trying to rebuild a stable enough life."

"... What is it like? The world now?"

“It’s...sadly mostly destroyed.” I sighed out. “The bombs let out a lot of radiation, so it’s been hard for nature to regrow, even with earth ponies doing their best.” I started. “While there are good people...it’s gone to Tartarus with all the slavers, bandits, and faction’s doing terrible things to ponies… but there are thankfully good places, like New Appleloosa for example.”

"New Appleloosa? Huh…" They remained quiet for a while, taking in a deep breath. "What's the number on that armor?" He asked. "There was only twelve of us Eliot MOM agents so… I know the prior owner."

I took off the helmet, looking and finding a faded but still readable number 7 on it.

"Seven." I answered.

"Promo… his name was Promo Deal. Silver tongued bastard." Sticky chuckled. "He was great at interrogation and information gathering. Does the suit still work after all this time too?"

"It does, but the original OS bricked when I tried to use it, but thankfully a friend of fixing it up."

"Ah, the Anti-Theft protocol. Always wondered what that did." He nodded. "I… there's a Flamer in the armory… I knew most of the ponies here and… I need to bury my sister. I'll bury here… the rest, that thing should be able to cremate the bones well enough."

"Fair enough." I nodded. "And...you're doing a good job." I told him softly.

"Holding it together? Barely… I just… really wish… I died two hundred years ago…"

"A lot of people wish they were dead…" I sighed out. "But right now...now isn't the time for wanting death, right now is the time to move forward and help others that need it."

"...Maybe… "

The cremations we're easy enough, this Flamer is fucking amazing. It's like no other I've ever seen. A mix between magic and technology let's the females burn blue, and melts metal easy. The remains were all ashes now.

Sticky Note found a trench shovel and buried his sister. After that he helped me haul the weapons and ammo in a makeshift wagon made from one of the chariots who's wheels still moved.

We both pulled while Mr. Gutsy floated around keeping guard. "So… where are we going?" Sticky asked.

“Stable 6.” I answered. “They needed some weapons and ammo to help have better security so they wouldn’t get robbed to hell.”

"Heh, well given all this, they'll probably never have to worry about security again. Hmm… if I remember correctly, Stable Six was built under that Barnyard Bargains Super Store right?"

“Even still has a Rich running the place.” I added. “It’s definitely a place we need to make sure is safe.”

"Really? Huh. Filthy Rich was one of the few ponies of influence not on Pinkie Pie's list of 'Meanie Ponies to Arrest'." He chuckled. "She was crazy at times but there was a method to her madness. And she was never wrong. It's what my team did. We gathered the info needed to keep the ponies she arrested in prison. Sadly she arrested so many we couldn't work fast enough to keep them in cuffs." He said plainly as we walked towards Stable 6. "Promo used his charisma to gather intel. I picked locks and stole documents her targets would have preferred to not see the light of day."

“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “That whole thing was...a lot to take in half the time.”

"It sickened me how much so many were profiting off the war. And from both sides…"

“Yeah…” I sighed out. “It was terrible all around.”

"So, where did you find Promo's corpse exactly?"

“In a hidden basement in some house I was scavenging from.” I shrugged.

"Ah. Must have been his place then. Always talked about setting up his own bunker in case. Guess he did a piss poor job of it."

“Considering I fell through the floor to that basement...yeah.” I nodded.

"Hm. Between hearing about Promo and burying my sister… oddly, I feel… well, not okay, but… better. Knew too many back then and not knowing their fate feels like it's gonna eat away at me."

“It happens.” I shrugged. “Better to know what happened to the people you knew than wonder for the rest of your life, but you're also doing a whole lot better than other ghoul’s in your situation.”

"Not by much… mostly just trying to keep a promise I made to the pink mare herself back when I was recruited."

“Your doing better by leaps and bounds, cause I’ve seen ghouls in your situation before...they either go completely insane and go on a bloodthirsty rampage, or just commit suicide with how...thing’s happened.”

"I can see that being the case. So, being a ghoul too apparently, anything I should know about my… new biology?"

“Radiation heals you, and even makes you physically stronger by a lot, you live a hell of a lot longer, you’re stomach is stronger and with the lack of a sense of smell you can eat almost anything if your teeth are strong enough.” I listed off the positives. “The negatives...well ninety percent of the time ghouls are sterile which blows, your skin is going to keep coming off till either you’re muscles and blood or literal bone but that normally takes forever, and given strange circumstances you can become a feral ghoul which is...literally just a zombie.” I shrugged. “Not many know about how ghouls become feral, most of the time it’s because of isolation and a lack of food and water, but other’s could devolve even when in the company of others...though in those cases they’re still working boring ass jobs...so being feral and working as a cashier at a food place isn’t so different.”

That gave him a laugh. "Sounds fair." He replied.

We remained silent for a while before finally stopping for a while. I made a small fire in our shelter, an old Carriage repair shop.

I went over all the stuff here while Sticky put a fresh battery into his helmet and put it back on. "Figures." He huffed.

“Figures you say?” I inquired.

"Our suits all come with a tracking spell so we can find one another but only so long as the backup power is working. Only ones I'm finding are my own suit and yours." He answered, taking the helmet off. "Wish I could say I was optimistic about running that scan but I'd be lying."

“I understand.” I nodded. “Wanting to know if any of your work buddies are still alive is nothing to feel down about...no matter what happens, you always need someone, especially now.” I shook my head. “And the people who say otherwise are either lying out their ass or clinically insane.”

"Heh, Wasteland logic I guess." He sighed. "So, you're like me then. From before?"

“Yeah, but I’m not as special as you are.” I said honestly. “Just your average stallion working at a recycling plant, and considering all the lead and metal that was around I at least didn’t die from the explosions, but the radiation was still enough for me to become a ghoul.”

"Heh, fair enough. Still, you survived and… that's a lot more than most can say." He said, motioning to the two hundred year old blood splatter in the wall.

“Yeah…” I sighed out. “It all sucks...but at least things are looking up at least.”

"Small comforts I take it?"

“Not being alone.” I said honestly. “Cause it certainly makes doing all this shit both easier and bearable instead of being alone all the time.”

“I guess. Still… processing all of this.”

“Better than blowing your brains out first thing or trying to immediately murder me.” I shrugged.

"Won't lie, blowing my brains out crossed my mind… but, I remember what I promised the pink boss so, I decided against it."

“What was the promise?” I inquired.

“Heh, that’s the thing. I don’t completely get it either. It happened when she had that infamous overdose. Called me up and spit out like, a million words per second. All I did get out of that was ‘Hope’, ‘Fly’, ‘Marshmallows’, and ‘Don’t Die’. Then I think she broke a record for the most times somepony can say ‘Promise me’ over and over again in a single minute. I said I promise then she yelled ‘Thank you’ and hung up. Still have no idea what the whole promise was but the ‘Don’t Die’ part stuck with me.”

“Well…” I looked to Sticky’s side, wondering if he had wings. “I do know a pony named Hope...I don’t know anything about Marshmallows…”

“And I ain’t got wings. Whatever she said to me, I just paid attention to the Don’t Die part and hope the rest just works out.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “One thing at a time, and unless Pinkie can somehow write down what she truly wanted to tell you coherently from the grave, it’s best we just focus on the here and now rather than what’s to come.”

“If I’m honest I mostly forgot about it until… anyway, So, what’s this Stable 6 like?”

“Like a Supermarket believe it or not.” I said honestly. “It only needs full staff and proper guards to make sure it’s not stolen from and it’ll be a prime trading hub sooner or later.”

“Hmm… So I take it, this means they don’t have much of a guard then?”

“Sadly no.” I shook my head. “But that’s why I’m helping them out to get them all these weapons and ammo to even it out.”

“Then I guess, they’ll need someone who actually knows how all this crap works to teach them less they blow themselves up.” Note chuckled. “Think they’ll hire a ghoul?”

“At the moment they need all the help they can get, plus me and their manager hashed out a deal so I’d say it doesn’t matter if you're a ghoul or not, just play by their rules and everything’ll be okay.’

“Well, I am a soldier, so it’s a damn good thing I know how to follow orders then.”

MOM Suit Status: Unchanged.

Companion Status: Updated.

Taser Fang: Perk - Signal Override; Taser can wirelessly hack various robots and electronic locks if locks or robots run any Ministry made OS systems.

Chapter 3: Wild Wild Wastland

The best way to ruin a nation is not through war, but through economics.

"Well, you certainly did not disappoint." Royally Rich said as we arrived. Already the abundance of weapons, ammo, explosives and armors were being offloaded the overstocked wagon.

"Never have, and never will." I stated proudly.

"And I see you brought a friendly." She added, looking over at Sticky Note.

"Yes Ma'am. I was actually hoping you'd have a job for me. I spent some years in the MOM special ops so I know combat and can easily teach your staff." Sticky Note stated.

"Well I won't refuse a trained and qualified combat instructor for our security forces. If you'd follow me Soft Spot, I believe a Membership and your rewards are in order." Royally Rich stated.

"Looks like everything's looking up for once." I chuckled.

I followed her to the room where I got my picture taken and given a level one membership card. She then took me to her office where I was given a bag packed with still sealed, never been played with foals toys. Even some stuffed animals. "I hope you become a repeat client and customer. That level one membership will get you in and buy some of the common things, but our more exclusive items are sold to members with a higher ranked membership."

"And I just have to keep doing jobs to get a higher membership?" I inquired, already thinking of what business I'll have to deal with for better deals and trades.

"That or spend a certain amount of caps, but the jobs option is easier. Simply put, a level one membership grants you access to the supermarket, and common foods and medicines for purchase. For level two, you gain access to fresh produce, nothing major just some apples, potatoes and such grown here in the stable, Level three gains you access to the liquor section as well as some appliances. Level four grants you access to all produce, foods and medicines and the like as well as all the appliances and parts. Lastly, level five grants you the ability to buy bulk shipments of products at a rather discounted price. With Luck we can incorporate weapons and ammo into the mix now that we have the means for self protection."

"Sounds like a good system." I nodded.

"It has kept us secure, all we ask that when you come in to check your weapons at the entrance. They will be kept safe in a storage bin and will be returned as you leave."

"Understandable." I nodded. "I'll endeavor to follow that rule…even if I might get a little uncomfortable without it." I said, so used to having a weapon on me that sometimes it felt weird not having it on me.

With that I decided to walk around, see what level one can get me for myself. The section labeled Level one, displayed to me shelves, and shelves, and shelves of boxed, canned and preserved pre war foods. Some toys and decorations were around too. It amazed me just how… new, everything looked too. The storerooms here must have kept this stuff air tight.

"So much stuff…" I muttered. "They're both going to be super happy about this."

I only spent about a hundred caps on some snack foods I was actually surprised to see, and a few more baby items for Lucky. With that I was making my way out.

"Hey, Soft Spot!" I turned, seeing Sticky Note rush up to me. "Glad I caught you before you left. I wanted to give you something."

“Oh? What you got?” I inquired.

"Here." He replied, handing me a Holotape. "The Holotape here has the coordinates of the last known locations of the other Advanced MOM agents before power was lost. I figure since yours got bricked you can grab their stuff and maybe use it for yourself. Oh, and there's a few MOM laboratories marked there too. Places we usually went when our gear needed repairs."

“That’s fantastic.” I nodded, very thankful for this boon as I pocketed it carefully.

"Let me know if you want help if or when you decide to hit those areas. I know the security codes so I can deactivate a lot of the automated turrets.*

“That would be amazing.” I nodded. “Thank you Sticky Note, you have no idea how much this’ll help.”

We talked for a bit longer but I had to go. Heading back was a fair walk but I made it just before dark.

Walking inside, Autumn was reading a book on her bed, Lucky sound asleep in her crib. "You're back." Autumn said as she put the book away and sat up. "Any luck at that Stable?"

“All the luck was had, cause I found a Stable that’s also Barnyard Bargains.” I said happily. “Plus I got a lot of other goodies because of it.”

"Barnyard Bargains… that's an old world store right?" Autumn asked as I placed the bags down and she went through them. "Holy- Soft Spot, this looks new, like, pre war new. I've never seen anything this clean and shiny, even up above the clouds." She said, amazed at the condition of the foals toys and snacks.

“Yeah, I was also surprised by that, they probably got some magically sealed stuff to keep it this great.” I said honestly.

"Maybe, still, this is… incredible." She said, finding the stuffed animals and quickly putting them in Lucky's crib around her. "And these." She lifted a box of snack crackers. "Not any wear or tear on the cardboard. I didn't think magical preservation was that good."

“All I know is that Royally Rich is taking it extraordinarily seriously, and is hoping for some business with others and a whole lotta guards.”

"Hm, well, it's still weird." She shrugged, opening the box and taking a bite. "Wow, they even taste fresh."

We sbacked some before going to bed.

That night I was having a dream. Nightmare? I couldn't tell. All I know is that I was in some, no, this was stable 6, but everyone is… missing. The staff and all the residents are missing?

“Alright…so what the hell am I supposed to do from this nonsense?” I muttered, trotting around to see why everyone was missing.

The goods were all stocked and lined the shelves. I walked around and tried opening the Level 2 doors, but they wouldn't. With a sigh, I kept looking around. What kind of weird dream is this? I've never been so…aware, in my dreams before.

“Hello?” I called out carefully, wondering if there was anyone here.

I walked out and up into the main store and was surprisingly greeted by a fully restored Barnyard Bargains SuperStore. Looking around I spotted… something. Sleeping on a chair next to a Register was some… bipedal thing, wearing what looked like a red hoodie, pants and shoes of all things. The Fuck?

“Uh…hello?” I asked carefully.

I walked closer to it, trying to look at it's face, but either it didn't have one or it was covered by a rather weird mask. It then let out a rather loud snore… a strange creature is sleeping in my dream… maybe the rot is finally getting to my brain?

“Can you wake up and tell me if the rot got to my brain finally or if I’m actually gone insane?” I asked the strange creature, trying to wake it up.

It snorted and woke up spooked, looking around, though if it's wearing a mask it shouldn't be able to see given it's just a flat, curved mask thing, and if that's it's face… how'd it snore or is I'm assuming looking at me. "The hell? You… should not be here." It said, yawning a bit before standing. Woah, it's pretty tall…

“And you shouldn’t be in my dream, so we’re kind of at a stand still on ‘what shouldn’t be happening’.” I said. “And I’m a Ghoul so this is even more weird.”

"Eh." He said, looking me over. "So how did you get here? Something about a dream?" It asked as it circled me.

“Yeah, I went to bed and appeared here in Stable 6…then I saw you here and got more confused as to both what you are, who you are, and how either of us got here.”

"Huh." It replied as it stopped and kneeled down, looking me in the face. "Well, you aren't one of their works, and you definitely aren't a bug…"

“No idea what either of those mean…” I said, honestly worried I got myself into something way bigger than my new paygrade.

"Welp… guess we'll never know." The creature said, standing up with a shrug as I deflated a little at that. Gave up kinda easily… "So, what's your name?"

“Soft Spot, and who are you if I may ask?”

"Shopkeeper. Welcome to… this place." He waved a rather half assed motion across the empty Barnyard Bargains.

“Thanks.” I nodded. “Nothing like a dream version of Barnyard Bargains.”

“Sure, dream, let’s go with that.” Shopkeeper replied as he started walking off and I followed. “So, you’re one of those Ghouls, right? How’d that happen?”

“Magical Radiation.” I shrugged. “Right place at the wrong time during the War.”

“Ah, sounds about right. So, what have you been doing with your undead life?” They asked as they looked up and down the shelves on this isle.

“You know, traveling, trading, trying to help out where I can.” I shrugged. “Just got done helping out a Barnyard Bargain’s Stable get some set up for their reamurgence…still not sure how they had all those toys and food so fresh and pristine…”

“The ones that this place is modeled after?”

“Yes actually.” I nodded.

“Huh… Ah, that explains it, but anyway, the question is what the fuck am I going to do with you?” Shopkeeper asked as they suddenly spun around and looked down at me.

“Well I’m a trader…you're a Shopkeep…” I started. “At least, I assume so due to the shop and your literal name.”

“Well, yeah duh, but as I stated, you should not even be here yet you are and I have no idea what to do with you.”

“Not yet?” I asked. “When was I supposed to be here? Also where is ‘here’ anyways? Cause you’re making it sound like I’m in a different dimension or something.”

“Look, I can’t tell you all that crap. Not my place. Ironic given I used to break those kinds of rules all the time but, not this time. This hasn’t happened before either which… is weird. But, I digress, I’m gonna go make some calls or something, you just… wait here…” Before I could ask, they were gone in less than a blink.

“Uh…huh…” I started. “This…is really weird…”

I ended up doing exactly that, I sat there, reading over the ingredients of whatever was on the shelf next to me. I don’t think I can even pronounce that, let alone should it even be in food. Yeesh, no wonder all the pre-war food is still edible. Stale, but edible at least.

After whatever passes for time here, they showed back up. “Alright, so, long story short, something happened that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Glad we got the obvious out of the way.” I nodded. “So, what’s the solution?”

“That’s the best part, there isn’t!” They said rather enthusiastically. “See, long story short you somehow gained something that was, for lack of a better word, removed, from existing. But, it’s alright. It just means you end up here when you sleep. When you fall asleep here, you’ll wake up back where you were.”

“Hold the fuck up what?” I asked, completely flabbergasted at what I just heard. “What do you mean I gained something that was ‘removed from existence’? How do you even do that?”

“Look it’s not a perfect system, if it was we wouldn’t have shit like that remnant roaming around or people like you gaining powers they really shouldn’t be getting at random, yes this happens but yours is the only one that was gained that doesn’t even exist anymore. At least not in this place. We did kinda use it elsewhere for something similar but frankly we removed it from here because, honestly, it was… broken. Look, just know that it’s not harmful.”

“I’d also like to know what the fuck your talking about.” I said, so beyond confused at my current situation I’m glad I was sitting in the first place. “Cause you’re saying a lot of words that would make sense for people…probably massively outside my paygrade right now…”

“It does but relax, none of that concerns you. All you need to know is that when you sleep here, you’ll go home, and when you sleep there, you wake up here. It’s gonna be a thing with you from now on. Also, try not to hold onto anything you didn’t come with.”

“Right…” I said. “So…I’m just kinda stuck in this place until I sleep?”

“Yes, so until then just… hang out, maybe take a walk or something.”

“Uh…huh…” I started. “Well…it’s just this entire area I can walk around?”

“Heh. Check the front door.” He said, his tone gave me the impression he was smiling.

I raised a brow but looked over to the front entrance door. I walked over to it and opened the door and saw… a… city? No, these buildings are all… stores? All around for as far as I can see are just… stores. So many stores.

“What in Celestia’s Tits is this?” I asked in awe.

“Well, I like to call it The Mall.” Shopkeep said as he walked up next to me. “Every store that exists, has existed and will exist, has a replica of it here.”

“But…there’s so much…” I said. “And…I don’t have any money…or if I could even bring it back home…”

“Well ya see…” Shopkeep started. “This place isn’t normally even supposed to be accessed. By people like you especially, so there’s actually just fully stocked stores with endless resources, and no employees. I just come here a lot to check out stuff to sell in my shop.”

“So…it’s just free reign?” I asked. “Well…I suppose that makes sense…what in Tartarus did I get myself into?”

“You can, but again I don’t recommend it. Maybe a small thing here and there but nothing like, a thousand water bottles or a tank or some shit, You might end up attracting the attention of my… associates.”

“And I’d rather not do that if I’m already doing shit I’m not supposed to.” I nodded.

“But feel free to walk around, explore, mess around, I honestly don’t care.”

“Alright then.” I nodded, starting to walk around this…giant mall I’ve somehow stumbled across.

Walking from Barnyard Bargains Superstore, there was a lot of places here. Some smaller locations of Barnyard Bargains, some more ‘modern’ shops selling weapons, bullets and healing potions and all that. Some places that were completely alien to me. The fuck is a Wal-Mart and why would you have a huge store to sell walls?

“Seriously, the fuck is a Wal-Mart?” I frowned, trotting over to that weird ass place.

Walking inside I was suddenly greeted by automatic doors sliding open and showing me that this… was kinda like a Barnyard Bargains… but more… alien. Lot of clothes, food and even a pharmacy were here. Huh. This place is kinda cool.

“This is an interesting store, not gonna lie…” I muttered, looking around this weird place and finding it pretty interesting.

I took a look around. There were some weapons, they looked a lot like guns from, well, home, but built for these aliens to use. There was also some weird electronics. A whole lot of movies, books and such here too. Even their batteries were different, they weren't semi radioactive or all that big. Smallest ones I saw were smaller than a bottle cap.

Their computers were incredible! They displayed color images and we're so small, some were big but even they were smaller than some government computers I've seen, takin up whole rooms or buildings.

“What creatures created all this amazing shit?” I asked in awe.

I walked back around to the food areas. It was actually amazing how similar and different food alone could look, cereal, pasta, bread- Bread?! I haven't had real, pre war style bread in a while. Hard to grow the grain and get enough to make flower alone, then the other stuff, forget it.

But here, lined up before me was alien baked bread, and a whole lot of it.

I wasn’t sure if I was drooling or not, but I felt like I was in heaven at the sight of all this wondrous bread. “Am I in heaven?”

"Please," I jumped, seeing Shopkeeper suddenly next to me, with a mop as he was cleaning up the drool I did leave. "Only Idiots believe that this place would be heaven."

“I’m sorry.” I said, quickly wiping away my drool. “But…all this bread! I haven’t had bread in absolute years and…it’s just lined up with a crap ton here…”

"So, eat some." He said as I looked back up at him. "Everything on the shelves is infinite. Watch." Shopkeep displayed this by taking off a bread loaf from the shelf, tossing it to me and when I looked back at the spot where he took it from there was already another loaf there in its place. "See, this place is my playground, well, one of them, so shit here just restocks automatically."

“Oh…my Celestia…” I said in awe, before opening the package and taking out a piece of bread and eating it happily.

Of all the parts of my body to decay and rot over the last two hundred years, I was always thankful my taste buds were not one of those things. Most ghouls lose some or all their sense of taste within the first year, I thankfully never did. Though sometimes I wish I did when my meal was basically shit.

I ended up eating the whole loaf and found a trash can to toss the wrapper in. After that, I walked around the pet section. It was all canned and bagged food, frozen foods, frozen fruits and veggies too.

“Jeez, there is just a lot of food here.” I said in surprise. “I…know I shouldn’t bring anything…or too much…”

I did want to test that though… something small, just one thing and that will let me know if I've gone nuts or not. I found a candy bar, some peanut cups or something and waited.

I woke up with a yawn as I stretched on my cot. I got up and off, hearing a soft thump hit the floor. Any sleepiness I had vanished as I stared down at the candy I remember picking up from that dream… guess… that wasn't a dream…

Shit! Okay, relax. Just… Don't do that often, like, at all, and maybe don't tell anyone. I mean, hell who'd believe me anyway?!

“Uh…right…” I muttered worriedly. “So that was…an experience.”

I looked over, seeing that Autumn was still asleep so I quickly put that candy in with the snacks. With Luck she won't question it.

I decided to check up on Lucky, the little foal was cuddling a stuffed butterfly almost twice her size. Cute.

“This is nice.” I muttered with a smile, just glad to see Autumn and Lucky both safe and sound.

I covered Lucky with her blanket a bit more and then headed out, grabbing my gun and deciding to check outside, make sure it's all safe still. Once outside I made it to my small perch atop the rocks around my cave. From here I can see New Appaloosa in the distance, Ponyville way down south of here. Thankfully those raiders don't travel up here often, few times they did, I used this spot to snipe them. I also put a few traps up along the road this way, keeps them at bay. Bastards are so drunk and high all the time they can barely shoot straight let alone disarm most simple traps.

“How in Tartarus did my life get this…complicated all of a sudden?” I muttered to myself.

I shook my head. All that… crap, Shopkeep and that 'Mall' and all that, just… don't think about it, I'm home now. And as dangerous as things are here, at least it makes more sense than all that crap. With a deep sigh I picked up the rifle I kept up here and looked through the scope. Whole lot of ruins, rocks, and broken up roads. Same old wasteland.

“At least this makes…some modicum of sense…” I muttered. “EVen if it’s just a wasteland…”

While I was up here I had myself a quick smoke, not like it will kill me. Once that was done I headed back down, finding Tazer Fang by the chariot, which I kept hidden between another set of large rocks. There's so many rocks here, huge, convenient, bullet proof rocks.

“And how’s my favorite cyber kitty doing?” I asked, trotting over and lightly petting the synthetic cat.

"Meow." Tazer replied, purring slightly. Looking over I spotted a small pile of dead rats and what looked like a very crispy bloat sprite corpse all in a corner.

“That’s a good Tazer Fang.” I said happily.

"Meow." They replied.

"Maggot!" I jumped, spinning as I spotted that Mr. Gutsy robot from the army base here now. "Awaiting orders Sir, Maggot, Sir!".

Did… did it follow me from that base, to stable six and back?!

“Hold on…did you follow me, all the way from the base, to stable six and back?” I asked in shock.

"Of course Maggot!" It replied loudly. "You are my designated handler, and now that the armory is empty, my programming dictates receiving new orders from my handler!"

“Well first, can you tone it down? You don’t need to shout everything.”

"Yes I do, it's in my programming!"

"Meow." Tazer gave an annoyed meow.

"Shove it up your ass tiny stripe!"

“Oi! You do not shout at my cat.” I frowned. “But…great…well, what are your capabilities?”

"I come fitted with a nine millimeter, fifty yard range plasma blaster, an enchanted diamond tipped buzz saw capable of cutting through steel, stone, concrete and Zebra skulls, and lastly a high powered flamer capable of reaching two thousand degrees!"

“Good…now what are you capable of doing besides your weapons?” I asked.

"I have many blank storage drives ready for multiple program installations, and I have a repair program for all Equestrian made weapons!"

“That’ll help a bit if I can find some storage drives for things other than military.” I nodded.

"I am all military, always!"

“Great…” I muttered. “Well anyways…you can be good for security.”

"Directive confirmed! Keep the area secure!" It said, giving a half salute with their Buzz Saw appendage and floating off.

“That’s probably not going to end well…” I muttered to myself.

With a sigh I headed back inside. I saw Autumn at the stove, half asleep and making some coffee. "Mornin…" She muttered.

“Morning Autumn.” I nodded. “How you doing?”

"Sleepy." She said, rubbing her eyes.

“Fair.” I nodded. “So, we got ourselves a bodyguard by pure accident.”

"How?" She asked, pouring out the coffee into a mug she immediately started drinking from.

“So I found a military bot in one of the Stables I was searching for a Job for Royally Rich, and now I’m…it’s commanding officer.”

"Wow, well, that's nice. Those military robots can take a lot of hits." She said, the coffee clearly helping her wake up already. "So, what's on the agenda today?"

“Well, was probably going to go back to Royally Rich and see if she had any jobs for me, maybe tell Ditzy about Barnyard Bargains and see if she can’t get a partnership with them to boost her business.” I shrugged.

"That would be best, oh, I was also hoping you can find maybe some educational stuff. Normally in the Enclave education starts pretty early, simple memory games and such to show how quickly a foal can learn before they get into the main schooling. Since I'm down here and I kinda doubt many places have much in terms of a school, I think some basic mathematics and literature books will be enough. Odds are they have them in that stable too."

“Alright.” I nodded. “I’ll see if I can find anything.”

"Thanks. Oh, also I remembered something last night when I was working on the terminals, there are some Enclave Caches and hidden bases around they keep with some stuff for restocking or long term ground missions. I figure, Fuck it, that gear will go better for us than their once every ten years bullcrap."

“Sounds good, also I was given a Holotape with coordinates to MOM special operatives, I could go scavenging for those and maybe see if others are weirdly alive somehow.” I shrugged. “Got it from a new friend I made while helping Royal.

"Nice, at least you have a fair checklist. I'll mostly be fixing some weapons and a few other items Ditzy dropped off. Kinda weird to use Radroach blood as a gun oil substitute, but it works so I won't question it."

“When you’re in the Wastelands, you’ll learn a whole lot of things can be pretty good substitutes.” I shrugged.

"Fair. So, where are you going to go next?"

I decided to check my map, the locations of those marked places from Blown Fuse and the MOM labs and agent locations were all marked. Wow they are all over the place… hmm, well let's see, where is closest? Ah, perfect. This MOM base is in a radiation zone half a day's walk from here. With luck any ghouls there won't bother me and all I'll have to worry about is some worn down automatic security. Best bring Tazer Fang.

“Alright, so the closest MOM base is only a half day’s travel from here, though it’s in a Radiation Zone so it’s gonna be me and Tazer this time.”

"That's good, I'm guessing areas with radiation don't get a lot of scavenging?"

“Unless they have really good Rad suits, or just a Rad Suit, or a special Ghoul like Myself, nobody goes there.” I explained.

"Wow, that's pretty useful. How long can you stay in an irradiated area?"

“Radiation heals me.” I said honestly. “Being a Ghoul has a lot of perks, and not only being immune to Radiation, but being healed by it in some capacity is also great.”

"Ah, so that's why your water is radioactive. Well, stay safe."

Having this carriage made walking slower, but it was worth it to have both a bed and storage with me. There's only so much saddlebags can carry. Tazer sat on my back, watching the land go by as we began reaching the edge of the radiation in the area. The pipbuck said it was five rads per minute.

“Not as high as I thought it would be, but still enough to make many people stay clear…” I hummed to myself.

The further I got the MOM base the higher the rads were getting. Ten, fifteen, thirty. By the time I saw the base, it was one fifty rads a minute.

Ministry of Morals Happy Funtime Robotics Party Factory!

That's what the once neon sign still read, long since faded images showed bits of the Pink mare herself, and lots of robo pinkies all painted on the wall. Oh right, she did make a bunch of foals party locations. Basically giant arcades made with a lot of robot staff members, candies, and sweets enough to make any dentist cry in horror.

“Well…it might all be irradiated to shit, but I might as well see if there’s anything I can salvage…” I muttered.

I unhooked the chariot from myself and headed inside, opening the doors I was greeted by grime, dirt, and a lot of broken, even melted, robots.

It especially creeped me out because these bots were built to look kinda lifelike, Ponies, Griffons, even a Minotaur model was made. How Pinkie afforded this I'll never know, nor will I ever want to.

“All these mysteries I’ll never figure out…” I sighed out, going around the melted bots carefully in search of something.

The hulls were all pretty bad, but the insides were pretty good. I took out the gems, batteries and wires and Tazer did the same, ripping out what his metallic jaw clamped on, unless he desired to eat that bit of metal or gem. As I emptied out the first robot and was moving to the second, I heard something in the distance. Turning, the Pipbuck read nothing was there.

“Alright…now this is getting a bit creepy…” I muttered, walking over to where the noise was, readying my weapon just in case.

As I walked down the hall, I heard small creek's and the moans of old metal. As I was walking I spotted something that surprised me. Etched into the wall was a single word. Run.

“What horror movie bullshit is in this place?” I muttered, starting to panic a bit that there was a monster in this place of a 150 rad’s a minute and also survived a nuclear explosion.

As I was considering getting the hell out of here, I spotted Tazer Fang running down a doorway leading downstairs.

“Well…shit…” I muttered, running after my cyber cat in worry for it’s safety.

When I made it down the stairs some old lights came on and a half dead speaker began talking with a static filled background. "Welcome Guests! This is the Funtime Robotics testing and display room!" The Voice said, more old lights coming on and illuminating the room. Various old and grimy robots all standing in small set up displays.

“How the hell is there any power here?” I frowned.

I walked around, taking a look at each of these robots. It was… weird. The closest one was a Griffon, once a shiny gold and blue, now dirty and faded paint.

It wore a top hat and tie that was part of it's outer casing. When I got close, it's eyes glowed, opening and showing their rather realistic green colors as it looked over at me. "Well hello there party guest!" It spoke, a feminine voice speaking from the robot. "My name is Goldie Griffon! Is it your birthday today?" It asked, their movements slow, but… oddly, natural looking.

“Uh…no…” I answered carefully. “Uh…do you know where you are?”

"Why, the Display room of course!" She answered. "I've been waiting for this set up to get started, two hundred and nine years, four months, three weeks and two days! Those delays must have been t-t-t-t- terrible!" That was a small glitch, but she seemed good, still.

“Uh…yeah…” I said carefully. “So uh…how would you react if I were to say that…the world has become a semi irradiated wasteland?” I asked nervously.

"Why, I'd say it looks like the foals of today need parties more than ever if the world is a wasteland!" She replies with a smile.

“So I have a very important question to ask…how do you still function? As you said it’s been over two hundred years.”

"My internal batteries are built to last and hold a charge for three hundred years! That's a Pinkie Promise!" Goldie said, giving me a thumbs up.

“Hold the fuck up I don’t remember anything like that being a thing.” I said in honest shock.

"It's experimental, just like me." Her happy go lucky attitude was… oddly refreshing, given the Wasteland. Even if she was some weird robot.

“Well…all in all, you’re about as much of a breath of fresh air as can be in this place so…there’s that.’ I shrugged.

"Lovely! Well, shall we take a tour and I can introduce you to my friends here?"

“If any of them are still working and not broken in some way shape or form than sure.” I nodded.

With a nod Goldie began skipping, yes, skipping and making rather heavy and loud thuds as she did, to the next nearest of the four bots nearby. This one was a pony, unicorn with clown makeup painted on its face. The body was all white and the mane and tail a poofy pink. All of that was dirty and faded though.

"This here is The Magical Magnolia! Say hi Magnolia." Goldie asked her robot friend. Magnolia simple flickered her eyes, static escaping wherever she speaks from before stopping. "Oh no! Magnolia! Are you alright? Do you need to visit Parts and Services again?" Goldie then leaned in next to me. "Her horn uses up a lot more magic faster than the rest of us, so she uses up her batteries fast, even in standby." She whispered to me.

“That seems like a…very terrible design flaw…” I stated honestly.

"Well, while Magnolia sleeps, let's check up on the others!" Goldie said as she lead me to the next robot. This one was a large, towering minotaur. His colors was a bright violet and he wore a chef's hat and apron. "This is Cook-Cook! He's our chef and resident strong pony! He can make Pizza, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, milkshakes, ice cream and dispense soda! Got anything ready Cook-Cook?"

The Minotaur robot's eyes lit up, a bright yellow as it stood up, made some shakes and heat radiated from it before his chest popped open and from there came a tray with three chocolate chip cookies.

“Uh…huh…” I started in surprise.

I took the cookies, trying them. Huh, not bad. Ingredients are old but that's common.

"Thank you Cook-Cook!" Goldie said as the Minotaur bot nodded. "He doesn't have a voice box yet, with everything else they built him with, there wasn't enough room for it." Goldie informed.

“Fair.” I nodded.

The next bot she brought me to was a dragon, not that huge but thin and oddly still quite shiny even with the grim and dirt on her bright orange scale like casing. "This here is Gemrock, good morning Gemrock!"

The robot Dragon's eyes lit up with a ruby red color as looked over at us. "Oh, good morning Goldie I must have entered standby mode."

"Yup, talk about a delay, we've been waiting for two hundred years!" Goldie informed.

"Oh, oh my. Well, are you one of the guests?" Gemrock asked me.

“Uh…technically?” I said nervously. “Honestly I was just seeing what I could Salvage as…well the entire world went to shit.”

"Oh my, those poor foals…" Gemrock said.

"I know, now show our guest here your roar!" Goldie said.

With a smile and a nod, she opened her maw, and out came confetti, bubbles, small balloons, silly string, and all while Happy Birthday was playing. When she stopped she then pulled some paper from a sleeve on her and used her claws and cut up some paper silhouettes.

“Uh…huh…” I started. “Right then…”

"You… didn't like it?"

“It was neat.” I said. “I’ve just been…effectively a walking corpse for the past two hundred years.” I pointed out. “Which uh…seeing actual joy and party stuff is…extremely rare.”

"So you didn't like it…"

"Oh no…" Goldie said. Before I could question, Gemrock started crying, then ran off into one of the doorways on the wall. "Gemrock! Wait, he didn't not like it, it's just not his birthday!"

“What the hell did I get myself into?” I groaned, rubbing my temple for a moment before trotting off after them.

Goldie put a hoof to my side. "Just give her some time. Her programing is recycled from an empathy bot and was stitch programmed with some other old AI personality module so… she's extremely emotional. If the guests aren't happy when she preforms she gets like this. She just needs to calm down for a bit."

“She’s not going to like the outside world at that point…” I sighed out.

"Well, that's why Cook-Cook, Magnolia and I are her friends! We help one another with our faults. That was Pinkie Pie's idea after all. Now come on, one last friend to show!"

I followed her to the final area. This bot was under a sheet and was very short. She pulled the sheet off and I was genuinely shocked. They were… a zebra. A small zebra foal robot. "And this, is Little Acorn!"

“Oh no one’s going to like this kid…” I muttered sadly.

Goldie sighed. "That's what all the technicians and business ponies and mean beta testers all said. Well, they said mean words but it was basically that." Goldie kneeled down some, getting to Little Acorn's level. "Time to rise and shine Acorn."

The little zebra bot's eyes began to glow, their color a bright blue. His paint and everything was still pristine. "Good morning Ms. Goldie." Acorn said, a very organic and realistic foal's voice with a zebricain accent spoke.

"Morning Acorn, this is our guest. I'm sorry, there's no foals here though…"

"Oh, alright. I'll go play with Cook-Cook!" He said dashing off towards the Minotaur bot like, well, a foal.

“Dear Luna’s flank…” I sighed out. “I feel sad for the kid but…the war makes it really hard…”

"Yeah… Well, that's everyone. Well, technically not but the others were all still in storage. Well, I just realized, I haven't gotten your name Mr. Guest."

“Soft Spot.” I nodded. “It’s nice to meet all of you…I honestly didn’t expect anything to survive here pre war.”

"Well, we are robots so, it makes sense we'd survive well enough. I guess the question is, what now?"

“Well…there’s a lot of people that need cheering up.” I said honestly. “Only problem is that all of you might be…hold on a moment.” I said, bringing up my pipbuck and trying to see how many rads Goldie was emitting.

I was still at 150 a minute. Damn, background radiation is all over this place.

“Crap, there’s way too much radiation here to get a good reading…” I muttered.

"Well, maybe check in the offices? They keep our blueprint and such up there. I'd follow but without an Admin Remote we aren't allowed to leave beyond this and parts and services."

“Alright.” I nodded. “And where would the offices be?”

“Just go back upstairs and look for the stairs that go up."

With a nod I headed back up, then I remembered. Shit, Tazer!

“Tazer? Where are you?” I called out to my robokitty.

"Tazer? What and who is a Tazer?"

“It’s the cyber cat that’s running around here.” I said, looking around for the silly thing.

"You have a kitty, awh. Well, the only places they could have run off too is Parts and Services, and storage."

“Well, hopefully they don’t eat everything.” I said nervously. “Where’s Part’s and Services and Storage?”

"That's to the right there, it's where Gemrock ran off to."

“Alright.” I nodded, running off to Part’s and Services to find Tazer.

Entering the old doors, I was greeted with the scent of old oil and rust. Turning on a light nearly felt my heart give out, or start? On the floor in front of me was what I can only call a skeleton of metal and wires, on the floor with an appendage reached towards the doorway, a single eye in it's metallic 'skull'

“What in the fuck!?!”

"I heard a swear!" Goldie said, rushing through the doors. "No swears! Oh." She looked down at the thing. "Is that what spooked you?"

“Yes, yes it did.” I answered. “Also I’m a grown stallion, I can swear as much as I’d like.”

"It's just an endoskeleton. We all have them." Goldie said, pushing a button under her chin and her face popped off, revealing the same horror of metal underneath. She then popped her face back on. "They were built to be highly customizable, adaptable, and strong and durable. That way they don't have to make each of us so unique parts wise."

“Uh…right…” I said, shivering as even in my undeath I was really creeped out by this.

"It is weird that this one is here. Guess one of the employees must have set it up like this as a prank. They did that a lot with our Endoskeletons."

“Uh…curious question…has any of these ever…moved on their own for some weird reason?” I asked nervously.

"They shouldn't. The Endoskeletons aren't supposed to have batteries hooked up to them. Without the casings and other parts they move weird without them."

“Now I know you said that they need batteries to move…but I’m concerned when you said ‘they shouldn’t’....”

"Well, I know our batteries are similar to fusion cores, which are radioactive in nature so maybe the radiation around might trigger something? I'm only going off the bits and pieces of stuff I've heard the technicians say when they worked on me."

“Oh…okay.” I said worriedly. “Now where did my cat go?”

I looked around, finding more bits and parts of the Endoskeletons and other casings for the group outside. It was honestly… so, so creepy.

“Two hundred years of walking around irradiated wastelands…I’ve seen mutans, ghouls, and deathclaws…but somehow this is the creepiest thing I’ve seen in all my life…”

"It's because of the way they display them. It's why they were very strict on not letting customers into the back rooms like here. Lot of nightmare fuel."

"And I can understand why…"

I continued through, looking around and I ended up spotting a large workstation. Several holotapes, a terminal, and an earth pony skeleton were here.

"Uh-oh. Looks like somepony got a fatal boo-boo." Goldie said, giving the skeleton a poke.

“He’s dead.” I said carefully. “And it looks like he’s been dead for a long time…most likely radiation poisoning all things considered.”

While Goldie kept poking the skeleton, I picked up the five Holotapes. With nothing better to do, I played them.

"Technicians Log 1. My name is Misty River and this is test one of the prototype Endoskeletons for the Ministry of Moral's Project Equality. This is a very early project Ministry Mare Pinkie Pie has had planned but due to red tape and the war, will be followed through in secret here at the MOM main robotics development lab.

"Test one. The materials for the Endoskeletons has proven expensive but they allow the Endo to move and flex almost exactly as organic muscle. Without a casing to house then however their movements can resemble that of a snake or squids and octopi. It would seem based on these Blueprints, they were made using prototype Power Armor materials, which explains why they use Fusion Cores are used as a power supply rather than the standard Spark Batteries most robots do.

"The Endoskeletons are well built and definitely show they were made with Power Armor components. The base endoskeleton without modifications seem to be able to lift sustainability over two thousand pounds with minimal wear on the battery. They also seem to last far longer than typical Power Armor, which can use up a fusion core in a day or two depending on use, these Endoskeletons can last hundreds of years, the typical lifespan of the Fusion Core when used for powering a building.

"Making them easily modifiable and customizable was the hardest part but thankfully this Project has some extra funding from the Ministry of Image. I guess Pinkie Pie and Rarity get along well if they want a project like this to really get off it's hooves."

“Huh…” I started. “That’s…very interesting.” I muttered. “All these robots as strong as prototype power armor?”

I played the next tape.

"Technicians Log 14. Misty River, again. After months of testing and development the finalized Endoskeletons are ready. Now we're onto variety and design. Pinkie Pie sent down she wanted one of every race as one of these Robots but that's gonna take a while, so, we're going to start off with some more familiar designs, Pony, obviously. Getting all that done was fairly easy and frankly the hardest part is the AI. Pinkie Pie have explicit orders to make them as realistic and alive as possible. Which, frankly, will be the hard part. The Ministry of Image sent their own 'AI expert' to work on this with us but I frankly do not trust or like him. He gives me the creeps everytime I see him and he looks a little ill. What he has, I don't want it.

"But, alas, my complaints are to myself. There's a lot of money in this project and I can't afford failure. So, I'm working with the creep. Says his name is Teddy Dunwich. I have yet to see him type on a computer, he just keeps submitting forms for auditions for voice actors to be used for the robots rather than machine generated voices. It would help their believability but frankly I think he's just wasting resources."

"That's…really creepy…" I said worriedly.

Next tape.

"Technicians Log 44. Misty River. So far we've completed three of the robots bodies, we got Goldie the Griffoness, Magnolia the Magician, who's artificial horn uses up those Fusion Cores faster than even Power Armor does. Which is a major downside given she's supposed to make music with her magic and yet when she uses her horn it lasts maybe an hour. And lastly we have Gemrock the Dragoness. The last two are a Minotaur Model who Pinkie has us putting everything from the kitchen but the sink into, and, oddly but fittingly enough, a Zebra foal bot.

"Frankly, I can see why, these robots are meant to lessen the bigotry and hate towards the other races amongst foals and I can see a lot of parents up for it… but a Zebra… that's just too fresh and I'm worried some ponies will up and destroy it. But, still I have to work on it so, I'm working on them.

"As usual, Teddy Dunwich is still doing his voice casting. I'm pissed at how picky he's being. He wants a real dragon to voice Gemrock, a real Griffon to Voice Goldie. And you get the picture. I'm actually amazed he even found some."

“Well that’s…interesting…” I muttered.

"Technician log 67. Misty River. Honestly these Logs are becoming more like Diary entries but, whatever. The Minotaur Bot, Cook-Cook, is completed. Took only forever. He is prone to overheating given all his… internal additions but so long as he has an hour break between baking or whatever he'll be fine. The Zebra foal bot, named Little Acorn is fairly simple but has a vast data library on Zebra culture and history. Still, no AI's yet.

"Teddy Dunwich insists on waiting to hoof them over until after his cast is complete. What's worse is that now that all that's left is Acorn and Magnolia, he's requesting that all unicorn staff apply for the voice casting role. Frankly I'm glad I am an earth pony, but I do feel sorry for all my coworkers.

"I actually got to meet one of his 'cast' a few days ago. The dragon one. She's a teenager, named Smolder. Apparently she opted to leave the dragon lands cause she saw the war as just being pointless. I liked her immediately. She said she only took the job cause it's easy bits and all Teddy Dunwich has them doing is recording seemingly random voice lines into a microphone for hours a day. I'm beginning to wonder if the Ministry of Image sent the wrong pony after all, cause it sure doesn't sound like he's making those AI's and the deadline is fast approaching."

“Well that’s good to know.” I nodded to myself, honestly fascinated by what this guy’s going through and also wondering who the hell this Teddy Dunwich is cause that does not sound like a Pony name.

"Technician Log 94. Misty River. It took him way to fucking long but Dunwich finally delivered those AI programs. They were on some special data drives and looked kinda funky but once put in they worked as hoped. Better even actually. Hell Acorn I almost forgot he's a robot!

It's incredible. I had my doubts but I guess the guy was doing something after all. Kinda weird to be hearing Melody Storm's voice coming out of Magnolia, but it fits and she did always have a good singing voice. Kinda sucked that she got fired, she would have loved to see these things in action!"

“Well than, that’s rather…interesting…” I frowned, thinking about how the hell they would have needed to make a robot so…life like…

Next was the terminal. It wasn't locked and was just full of some repair logs and shipment orders. With nothing of value there I went back to looking for Tazer, eventually finding the cat clawing at the door leading to storage.

“There you are you silly cat.” I said, trotting over to Tazer. “What are you looking for in storage?”

He kept clawing at it. It was a heavy metal door, ment to slide open. With some effort and against my better judgment, I opened it. Inside w- what in the name of hell…

Inside I was greeted by Ghouls. Some were the glowing kind, and there was a lot of them, but that's not what shocked me. Melted and fused into their bodies were Endoskeletons. Some had multiple, some had parts, but in the center of it all was an unholy amalgamation of ghouls and robotics pulsating and moving.

“WHAT IN CELESTIA AND LUNA’S UNBORN LOVE CHILD IS THAT!?!” I shrieked in fear

I rapidly shut the door. I'm hyperventilating. Fuck I haven't done that long since before I became a ghoul.

"Another swear!" Goldie said, rushing back up to me. "Oh, you found your kitty? Yay!"

“Shut it Goldie, we need to leave, now.” I said in honest fear. “There’s…something in there, and I don’t like it at all…”

"In what? In there?" She asked, pointing at the door. "Is it a surprise?"

“No, it’s a horrid abomination of machinery and mindless irradiated ghouls.” I told her bluntly. “It’s not a surprise, it’s a horror show…”

"Oooohhhh… well that's not fun. Or foal appropriate."

"We need to leave this place…”

"But I can't. Not without an admin tool to override our travel area, and Magnolia needs new batteries! Oh wait, here they are." She said, picking up a box filled with Fusion Cores. What the Steel Rangers wouldn't kill for that…

“Merciful Discord…” I groaned. “Fine, let’s go find that Admin Tool so we can all get out of this hellhole.’

"Swear~" Goldie said as I huffed and walked with her out back into the main room. Tazer in tow. To my surprise Gemrock was back in there too. "Well, if there wasn't one in Parts and Services, then there should be one in the upstairs offices."

“Alright…so we better get up there and leave…after also making sure that door is locked forever…”

"I can't go upstairs either. Our last travel area was set to this floor and Parts and Services. We try and go out and we shut down until an official MOM technician comes and hauls us back and boots us back up."

“Well then I’ll do it, where is the place?” I asked carefully.

"Upstairs." She said simply.

I sighed. Right, She's never left this room so… right.

I went back upstairs and found the stairway up. My inner scavenger and my need to get the hell out of here were currently at odds on whether or not it would be worth looking through the other places… well, might as well look everywhere just to be safe.

The second floor seemed to consist of offices and such. Some bottle caps in the trash, so that's helpful… hmm, company terminal? Well, might be something here and it's…

To: Staff
From: Manager Cheese Sandwich

Hello everyone! We've got a guest from the MOI coming so make sure to set up office J9 on the ninth floor for them!

And as always make sure they're welcome and happy! Happy ponies are the best ponies!

“Well…that’s probably this Dunwich guy…” I frowned.

With nothing else useful I ended up just scavenging as normal. Lots of tossed bottle caps and some extra irradiated sparkle cola was a nice haul. It went like this for all the other floors until I got to floor nine. The atmosphere here was… definitely different. There were a few skeletons around, a makeshift recording booth set up here too and finally room J9.

“Alright…so what horror’s am I going to see here?” I frowned, walking over carefully to the room and knocking on it.

No answer. Makes sense. Door is locked too. Well, time for a lock popper.

A small explosion later the door was open and inside was… oddly, not much. A terminal, a suitcase, and a table with two odd data drives on it. They were odd because they were imprinted with the MOI logo on them and seemed to use ports I sure as Fuck have never seen.

The terminal was locked and the suitcase had a single Holotape in it.

“Alright…let’s see what the Holotape has for me.” I muttered.

I popped it in and hit play.

"Entery number 462. My name is Teddy Dunwich, and recently, Ministry Mare Rarity has tasked me with a special project, a form of collaboration with the MOM. Apparently Miss Pie wants to make robotic, lifelike versions of various creatures to try and lessen the rapid growing fires of bigotry and racism growing because of the war.

"She expects this to fail, but a chance to test my theories has been given and I won't waste it. I'm one of just a few she trusts with the knowledge in her recently acquired asset, and I plan on taking full advantage of this opportunity. This facility is just one of many I will be visiting on this sinking ship of a project the MOM is working on, but they will provide me will all I shall need.

"With luck, in the near future, this will all have been worth the cost of… clean up."

Teddy Dunwich's voice sounded sick. Like, actually sick. Weak and fragile, as if he was ill with a petal illness.

“That’s…really weird…and also clean up?” I frowned.

With the terminal locked, I picked up Tazer. He eyed the computer before his little dish popped out again. This time the terminal's screen flash by a rapid series of code.

While Tazer did… that, I pocketed those weird Data Drives and after a few minutes, Tazer was done and the terminal was unlocked.

He immediately dug into my bags and began eating some gems.

“Must have took a lot out of ya huh?” I asked, gently petting my robokitty.

While Tazer ate I examined the terminal. More audio logs?

Gabby's Audition. Smolder's Audition, Melody Storm's Addition, Cast Iron's Audition, and Zeike's Audition.

“Alright…let’s start with Gabby…” I muttered, clicking on Gabby’s audition log.

"Alright Miss Gabby, speak your lines."

"Oh, uh, alright. Ehem. Greetings, and welcome to Pinkie Pie's Funtastic Funland! Where games and toys and treats are all for your delight!"

"Perfect."

"So… I'm hired?"

"Yes."

"Hooray!"

Well, this Gabby Is definitely the voice actress for Goldie. Definitely kinda freaky.

“I…really hope I’m not going to learn this asshole shoved her into that robot…” I muttered worriedly.

Alright, next tape, Smolder's Audition.

"Go on, say the lines."

"Okay, Okay…Happy birthday little Princess."

"Embarrassed?"

"Kinda… yes… I've always wanted to come to Equestria, and being a dragon is not like being, well, a pony. Socially the weak pick on the strong so the younglings typically don't get along with older drakes. Feels weird saying this."

"I suppose it would. They raise you to lack emotions but all these lines require is Emotions."

"Basically… sorry for wasting your-"

"I didn't say stop. We can… work around some issues, help you get back in touch with your own emotions."

"You're… serious?"

"Like Scale Rot."

Well, that's definitely Genrock's voice.

“Huh…that’s pretty interesting.” I said honestly.

Next, Melody Storm.

"Now Miss Storm, please sing the first line."

"Fine. Ehem. Deep in the meadow we lie, wishing and waiting for sunlight. Oh to see the dawn breaking through the cold of the night."

"That was perfect."

"So, what I get the part?"

"It will pay about as much as your normal rate but less hours for the same pay."

"Sold."

Wow. So that's what Magnolia is supposed to sound like, that's one amazing singing voice.

“This is pretty good actually…” I muttered. “Wonder how he managed to find all these people?”

Well, next up, Cast Iron.

"So, you've made pastries and such before?"

"Yes."

"Quite the culinary resume honestly. What brought you here?"

"Ponies are racist and I need money."

"Fair enough. This part doesn't require much in terms of vocal lines. But the pay is the same as everyone else. Might even have you help program in recipes."

"Works for me."

“Sounds about right…” I sighed out, knowing Ponies were…rather racist way back when.

Even now… still a lot of hate.

Finally, Zeike.

"And you're sure, it will work?"

"It will, but you'll be throwing away all your family, your people, believe in. Once you accept there is no turning back."

"My people… the Zebra's, just as *cough* blind as ponies in this war. I hate them both…"

"Hate is a strong word, especially for a foal no older than ten."

"Hate is all they gave me for being a Zebra, and hate is all the Zebra's are giving in return. *Cough, Cough*."

"So, you pick not to hate either, but to leave it all behind?"

"Better than to live the rest of my life, however long that is, hooked to this… thing, unable to play or be free."

"Alright then Zeike, as you wish. I will be back tomorrow with the supplies."

“Dear gods…” I muttered bitterly. “Even a foal is sick and tired of it all…to such a degree as to abandon everything just for some voice lines…”

It was just voice lines… right?

I checked the desk, finding an item the Pipbuck told me was the Admin tool. With that I went back downstairs.

“I…really don’t like what I’m thinking about…” I muttered. “What am I going to do?”

When I got back to the display room, the bots were packing up some boxes with… parts. Lots of parts. "Hey, you're back!" Goldie said, rushing over to me. "We're mostly done. Also Magnolia is operating again."

"Hi." Magnolia waved, packing an endoskeleton head into a box. "Thanks for the batteries. I hate running out of juice."

“No problem…” I said. “So uh…question, do you know who you’re voices…came from?”

"Uh, voice actors." Goldie said.

"Yeah, save for Cook-Cook, his voice box didn't have room." Magnolia added. Cook-Cook just shrugged.

“Alright…” I said carefully. “Do you know what happened to your voice actors after they were hired?” I asked, getting a little dangerous with my questions here.

"Nope!" Goldie informed.

“Alright…” I said carefully. “So uh…yeah this place is a massive horror show, and there’s many things I really hope some deranged madman didn’t do so we’re all getting out here.” I said while bringing up the Admin Tool.

"Oh yay!"

"You know how to use it?" Magnolia asked.

“Nope, but all I know is that we need to get out of here before those animatronic ghouls break down that door.” I said carefully. “If they even know where they are or what’s going on…”

"You mean like that?" Gemrock asked, pointing at the ghoulmateonics limping their deformd bodies out from Parts and Services.

"That is nasty! Endoskeletons don't go inside ponies!" Goldie yelped.

"Speak into the device then push the button on the side." Little Acorn told me, rushing under me for cover.

“Oh come on!” I shouted in panic, pulling up the device. “All fully functioning animatronics, Goldie, Little Acorn, Cook-Cook, Magnolia and Gemrock are now able to roam freely.” I said while pressing the button after I said those words.

Goldie, Cook-Cook, Gemrock, Magnolia and Acorn all had their eyes flash for a bit. They then picked their parts and everything up and ran upstairs with me. Once we made it to the chariot, I hooked myself and-

Or Cook-Cook picks me up and pulls us all by himself. Wow he is fast. I turned back to the robotics lab. Goodbye forever!

“Is there anyone else back there we needed to help?” I asked, holding onto Tazer Fang nervously.

"Hmm, nope! That lab was just developing us. Don't know about the other labs though."

Oh great, there's more places like that one…

“Discord’s teeth, what nonsense did MOM get up to with this garbage?” I grumbled.

Chapter 4: Reason

Tell Me, If Dreams Are Windows To The Soul; What Are Nightmares Then?

The road back home was going to take a while, and as usual I went to sleep and end up back here at this… white void filled with all kinds of stores. Both from my home and from weird Alien places. "I thought ghouls didn't need sleep?" Shopkeeper asked me.

“We technically don’t, I just like sleep cause it gives me both a great excuse to relax without people bothering me, and I think it helps me keep my sanity so I don’t lose it because…well I’m a ghoul.”

"Fair enough." The strange alien said with a shrug. "So, how will you kill time today? Or is it tonight for you?"

“Eh.” I shrugged. “But how to kill time? Well, probably just walk around, look at all the thing’s this place has to offer, and maybe just talk to either you or whatever employees I might magically find along the way.”

"No employees. Just me, myself and you." Shopkeeper said. "I might as well ask, anything in particular you'd like to see while here? There's no shortage of stores and they all sell different items."

“Hmm…well, because I’ve been heard some old rumors, is SugerCube Corner in this place?” I inquired. “Heard from some sane ghoul’s that it had some of the best pastries in Equestria.”

"If you wish." He said. He snapped his appendages… Fingers, that's it, snapped his fingers and suddenly we were in the middle of seemingly endless variations of Sugar Cube Corner.

“Huh…” I blinked. “I’m a ghoul, but seeing all this makes me feel like I’m gonna get diabetes.”

"There are medical centers here if you feel the need." He said.

I walked into the nearest one and it was a wave of nostalgia, for a brief moment it felt like I wasn't a ghoul, the world wasn't shit, and I wasn't in some white void with some possible god.

The smell… Oh how I missed the smell of freshly baked sweets. Anything sweet in the wasteland is 200 years old and stale. This must be what heaven smells like.

“Oh sweet Celestia…” I shuddered in pure bliss at the smell. “Oh how I’ve missed this.”

I rapidly rushed over to the counter, opened the display and took out a cupcake. Now, I'm a stallion. I have my pride, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that first bite had me in tears.

I kept eating cupcake after cupcake, the tears kept coming… I never realized just… how much I missed the old world…

Eventually, I did stop eating the sweets and just kept crying. I felt like a foal, lost in the store looking for mom… I never really had it click before just… how much I lost… and all of it… Angel, Autumn. They'll never experience such simple pleasures…

“This…this hurts so much…” I muttered, not believing how much pain I felt at everything I lost and how everyone else won’t be able to enjoy these simple pleasures ever again.

"You need therapy." Shopkeeper said. He was suddenly behind the counter, next to me and, for some reason, pouring bits into the register. "Course so do I but that's not gonna happen."

“I’m a Ghoul in an irradiated post apocalyptic world…I doubt therapy can help me.” I commented, rubbing some of the tear’s out of my eyes.

"Eh, maybe." He shrugged as he closed the register. "So, anything else you wanna do?"

“Hmm…” I hummed, thinking about where to go to next. “So many places to chose from honestly…”

"True. Basically Infinite options. Hmm… Say, what were you doing before you got here anyway?"

“Well…the last thing I did before getting here was…finding a MOM building that was…a pizzeria with sentient animatronics and…” I gulped. “You know…animatronic ghouls.”

"Oh shit you're a FNAF crossover. That is hilarious." Shopkeeper chuckled. "Well, regardless I'm assuming that encounter left you with way more questions than answers."

“Yes, like what necromantic nonsense they were doing, and also if the five I saved actually have their ‘voice actors’ inside them or not.” I said nervously.

"Well, one way to find out." Shopkeeper said. Another snap of his fingers and suddenly I was back in the MOM facility. It looked… better. This must be the place before the bombs. "Now let's see…" Shopkeeper added, moving his hand along in a twisting motion as suddenly items began appearing all around and silhouettes of ponies appeared in glows of white. When he stopped the Silhouettes all gained the shapes and appearances of ponies, moving along objects and walking about ignoring us completely. "There. That should do it."

“Uh…” I blinked. “How in the stalest of hay styled shit’s did you do that?” I asked in honest shock at seeing the magic he just used.

"If I tried to explain it to you we'd be here for seven hundred and forty two years, eleven months, forteen days and twelve hours." Shopkeeper said as he walked through the crowd, and I mean through the crowd. As if they were illusions or something. "Come on then, let's go see some shit."

“Well…alright.” I nodded, following along. “I know I’m not going like this…” I muttered to myself worriedly.

I followed Shopkeeper through the fake or memory crowd into the backroom. Flashbacks of that…. thing came back to me, but walking through those doors I was just greeted with a large room filled with those Endoskeletons, tools, parts and ponies.

“This looks like Part’s and Services…” I frowned.

"And with luck we'll have these new robotics all across MOM Funtime locations across Equestria." One of the workers spoke to an older, but not elderly, looking unicorn stallion with a blonde messy mane, oil gray coat, dark blue eyes and a cutie mark of a book with a lock over it.

"Good, good." The stallion spoke. "Make sure to ship them to my R&D labs in Manehattan, Baltimare, and Las Pegasus as well." I know his voice… from.the audio recordings… Teddy Dunwich.

“Teddy Dunwich?” I questioned. “Huh…didn’t expect him to look that old…I suppose that makes sense why he sounded ill.”

"Anything else Mr. Dunwich?" The employee asked.

"No, that will be all for now. I need to return to my office." I followed Dunwich to his office. It didn't look all that different from when I first saw it. Just less dust and better light. He sat at his desk and levitated out a briefcase. Inside was a strange book, looking at it felt… wrong. As well as an odd looking memory orb. "Let's see. That was five down. One all too willing and four unaware of the task until it was already too late." He said, rolling the orb between his hooves. "Success rate was better than I expected. The AI replaced the personalities of the original… owners, meaning souls hold perhaps more of an imprint of memories rather than actual memories. I'll have to test this later, after all their souls were pulled while leaving the memories behind. Best check all the measures."

“So I was right, that bastard did do some bullshit and stuffed them inside those animatronics.” I frowned.

"Disposal was easy enough. The Zebra's foal was cremated by the hospital. The others, well, perhaps I should pick up some incineration spells?" At that moment the book glowed, Dunwich looking over at it as if he understood the whatever language it might be speaking it. All I could hear were faint whispers and crying as it glowed. "Hm, well if I knew you could eat their corpses it would have saved me a lot of trouble… Oh please, my family has been serving you and your associates since before the Mayflower. This little… hiccup of a detour ended up being a boon. The ambient magic here is far greater than it was back home and the locals, so easily trusting and manipulated."

“Uh…” I blinked. “That’s…absolutely terrible, what the fuck?”

I backed away a bit, now more scared of that book than Dunwich as he continued talking to it. "Well what do you recommend? … Hm, perhaps that would be easier. Recalibrate the microphones to drain the soul and memories into a temporary holding. Would give me better test subjects. I will have to rig up a few Memory Orb Recorders, or maybe… Yes, yes that can work nicely. Much simpler as well. And how is that other version of yourself you've been chatting with? … Well, different cultures, same endgame I see. Hard to imagine there being two of you but, oh well, these books are more like telephones. More than one makes sense in the end."

The book stopped glowing and he put the orb back into the case next to it and closed the brief case. He then sighed as he opened a desk drawer. "Looks like I best make a stop back to Fog Harbor. Will be nice to visit the 'house' for a while."

“Uh…the fuck did I just witness?” I asked worriedly.

"Something else that's a bit broken." I nearly pissed myself when Shopkeeper reappeared. He was standing next to me and I doubt he has been there the whole time. "But a bit more common too. Looks like he's a bit like you, but more stuck."

“And…what do you mean by any of that?” I asked nervously. “Cause it looked like he was literally talking to a soul stealing book about how to shove people’s souls into robots.”

"That's the jist of it but you know how you can pop up here when you sleep but can still go back when your body there wakes up? Well he woke up in your world and got stuck there." Shopkeeper said. "I'll have to look into how he got there but it looks like I know the world he came from and it ain't all that different from yours. Both pre and post war."

“Wait, he’s also from a world like mine?” I asked in surprise.

"Well, yes, but given that book and some of his choice of words I'm gonna guess Pony was not his species before arriving." Shopkeeper said. With another snap of his fingers we were back in The Mall, and I spotted some crazy looking hospitals and such around me.

“Whoa, I’ve never seen hospital’s like these before.” I said in amazement.

"Yeah well these ones are closer to what I have back home." Shopkeeper said as he lead me Inside. "Now, as you know the rules say if you take too many items from here it will trigger some stuff and stuff but it looks like you have an entity, two in fact that do not belong in your world to begin with and therefore they need to be removed."

“And how am I going to do that?” I inquired.

"Simple. I am going to be your Sponsor-"

The whole white void shook as suddenly a… similar creature to Shopkeeper, female… I guess, given her chest swollen teats and long mane. Her mane was a thick, oily wet pitch black, skin as pale as death and eyes to match. She was slamming Shopkeeper's head into the ground.

"No! No sponsors! You forget what happened LAST time?!" She asked him.

"No, and relax, I won't and you can stop now." Shopkeeper said, using his arms to stop himself getting slammed into the ground. "Yeesh, it wasn't that bad."

"You turned them into both an Elder and Eldritch God, gave them free reign of that dimension and now they spend their days doing nothing but creating various breeds of dogs."

"In my defense I did not think they would find that loophole for becoming both an Eldritch and Elder God but I will not even be giving this guy Godhood as an option." Shopkeeper said as he pushed her off of him and stood back up, looking completely unharmed from the harsh attack.

I looked between the two of them. “Wut?”

"Right. Soft Spot, this here is Pain. She's an associate of mine." Shopkeeper said.

"Sup?" Pain said with a small nod at me.

“Uh…hi there.” I nodded. “So…about any of what I just heard?”

"Don't worry about it." Shopkeeper said. "Anywho, Pain, as you know this guy has an ability that really shouldn't be working, let alone have it, and there's already a person from a different world in his world. You can not tell me this isn't something we'd get involved with normally."

"While true, we both know you aren't well trusted to Sponsor people because they somehow end up-"

"No powers. No abilities. No handouts. And if he wants stuff he can buy it just like the others."

Pain eyed Shopkeeper for a while before sighing. "This better not end up like last time. I swear if it does we're sending you back home."

"Psst, like you could keep me there, but, fair."

"And! I get to play around too."

"I figured you were gonna say that…" Shopkeeper sighed. "Fine, but nothing not native. Not yet anyway. His world is a shit show already."

Before I could ask further, Pain turned, spinning on a heel and vanished as if she wasn't there to begin with.

“What the fuck just happened?” I asked nervously.

"Nothing as bad as you're thinking but anyway this means I can sorta help you with that Dunwich pony."

"If they're still alive." I pointed out. "But…if they're any of those creepy ghoul animatronics…that's a problem."

"Well, at the end of the day there's more or less zombie cyborgs. EMP or AP ammo should help deal with them pretty easily."

"Yeah, that should help." I nodded.

"Well, before that, let's get you situated." Shopkeeper said, pushing me into the large futuristic alien hospital.

"What is half of this stuff?" I asked in shock at all the alien tech.

"Medical equipment." Shopkeeper said flatly as he pushed me into a large glass cylinder that once he was in, closed behind me.

A light above at the very top of the tube glowed a bright green. "Patient Detected. Beginning basic health and physical scan." The light said, turning yellow and seeming to scan across my body.

"Uh…i don't know if this will work considering I'm a ghoul…" I pointed out.

"It will. This thing has a database on all types of life forms across the multiverse. And yes, despite you being classified as an undead you still qualify as a Life Form." Shopkeeper said.

The yellow light went back to green. "Patient is a Equis Feral Body Equine Ghoul. Type 3. No Major cell mutations or Magical mutations." The light above me announced.

"Huh. Type three ghoul. Not too common on your world to be a Type 3." Shopkeeper muttered.

"What's special about a type three?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know there are many kinds of ghouls on your world. What most people, or ponies in your case, never realize is that two ghouls are not always the same. For example, the easy Diffrences between yourself, feral ghouls, glowing ghouls, reaver ghouls and Canterlot Ghouls is obvious from a proper look, but each of those ghouls have some sub classifications. A basic ghoul with intelligence like yourself, has many subclasses that differentiate you from other intelligent ghouls. In this case, Type 3 means you're cells, while some to most are dead, the remaining are mutated or technically also undead, but continue to act as if they are alive. The mutated cells in a Type three effect the brain, meaning that despite the dead cells of your body, your brain cells can work with them to keep your higher cognitive functions going as they did before ghoulification."

Huh, well that explains how I've kept my noggin this long.

"Well, that makes sense and explains why I'm still me."

"Basically, this does not mean you're immune to going feral. Your mutated brain cells run off of radiation much like your undead cells do. Much like with a natural death the brain will try and take the radiation and such it needs to remain alive longer. Meaning if your body begins feeling weak it's best to soak in some radioactive water or area for a while. Your undead cells will naturally store it away."

"Good to know." I nodded. "Good thing there's still plenty of rads around where I am."

"Aside from that you appear to be in peak health for a ghoul of your type." Shopkeeper said, the glass cylinder opened back up, allowing me to walked out. "That aside all I can do for you now is sell you stuff and probably give you quests."

"What kinda quests?" I inquired.

"Eh, it varies." Shopkeeper shrugged. "Can't give you things like powers or special magic and such. I can have you do quests for stuff and, of course, buy stuff from me."

"Neat." I nodded. "Anything that can…help things be better back home."

"As long as you can afford it." Shopkeeper shrugged.

“And what currency do you use?” I inquired the Shopkeep.

"Any. I even barter so if you want to bring crap here to trade for stuff or sell, that works too."

“Works for me.” I nodded.

"So, good luck with all on your to-do list."

“Which got a whole lot bigger with all this stuff…” I sighed.

The next day the animatronics and I were almost back to my cave. Yeesh, explaining these guys to Autumn is gonna be fun…

I doubt if I tell them who they were before they'll believe me… but if somehow Dunwich, either in one of his other offices, or on her person, has the orb with their memories… I might be able to help them remember…

But… would that be better? They were flesh and blood once. Hopes and dreams, stripped away slowly as they talked. And from the recording I heard of Acorn… he wanted it… tsk. Even if I did find it, I ain't a unicorn. I have no way to get them to view it either, not without one of those recording tiara things. And those were hard to find back then as is. Doubt anyone with one these days is gonna be willing to give…

Unless…. I can buy one from Shopkeeper…

I pocketed that idea for now as the rocky hill and billboard that signaled my cave home was in view. I smiled, sighing as I wondered what I was gonna do next.

“Alright, so we’re going to be meeting two people very important to me, so please don’t go overboard alright?”

"Oh, are they your siblings? Parents? Pets? Second cousins twice removed?" Goldie asked with her typical hyperness that is probably as close to Pinkie Pie as I will ever experience.

“No.” I shook my head. “A friend and…her filly that I wish I could see as my adoptive daughter…”

"Oh! Does that mean we can throw the little foal a party? Please? Please with sprinkles and cherries on top?"

“We’ll see.” I said carefully. “I don’t want to scare them with all this new stuff.”

"Got it. We'll wait for the signal." Goldie said.

With a sigh I walked into the cave. Once in I spotted Autumn changing Lucky's diaper. "Oh good you're back." She said, looking at me with a smile as she tossed the stink bomb diaper into a trash bin. "Find anything of use?"

“Uh…” I tried to figure out the proper words. “Yes but…I’m gonna need you to not freak out about it.”

"Why would I freak out about it?"

“Because it’s…weird…” I said sheepishly. “Goldie?” I called out to the robogriff.

She walked in, her metallic body sounded quite heavy against the stone floor. Once she entered the main chamber of the cave, Autumn rapidly rushed over to Goldie. “Holy stars I’ve never seen a robot with this level of sophistication!” She said, looking Goldie over.

“I’m an animatronic!” Goldie declared happily.

“Who built you?”

“The Ministry of Moral. I am a Funtime Robotics division prototype Entertainment Animatronic Goldie Beta Zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one.” She answered.

“Incredible. Your movements, the way you talk, your AI and hardware. I had no idea the MOM was even capable of such advanced robotics.”

“Well, they did have help from the Ministry of Image and…well there’s a lot of horror to this situation that I learned.” I shuddered at that bad memory.

“Yeah. It looks like a lot of ghouls were mixed into the spare parts and it’s all nasty.” Goldie said. “So Soft Spot here got my friends and I out of there.”

“Wait, there’s more of you?” Autun asked.

“Oh yeah! Come on in everyone!”

A lot more heavy metal on stone thumps later, and soon all of her fellow animatronics were in the cave.

Autumn was losing her shit. I guess given she spent her whole life learning about electronics and machinery, these guys would be like finding the holy grail.

“Oh, this is your foal?” Acorn asked as he looked up at Lucky, who was still on the changing table.

“Oh, yes, right!” Autumn said, rushing over and picking Lucky up. “This is Lucky Angel. Or Lucky for short. She’s a bit young for the kinds of parties you probably throw, but I’m sure when her birthday comes along you all will go all out anyway.”

“Yeah, so I found these five in a MOM facility, and uh…I also learned that there was…weird amalgamations of ghouls and animatronics there.” I said nervously.

“Creepy. Don’t you go melting and mixing into stuff now alright? Last thing I want is for you to come home and have a tree growing out of your head.”

"Don't worry, I won't magically gain super powers through radiation." I chuckled. "Though I did learn through…special means, that I need to have a dose of radiation to keep myself sane."

“Really? Huh, well I guess it makes sense. Back above the clouds some of the guards used to say ghouls needed radiation to stay alive. Explains why when I first moved in you had nothing but irradiated water here.”

The rest of the following week was getting settled with the new additions. Goldie, Acorn and Magnolia took turns watching over Lucky while Autumn worked. Turns out Goldie has a form of infant care programming and shared it with the two. Plus, Acorn being a child… robot thing will probably be good for Lucky as she ages.

Cook-Cook was, of course, now our personal cook. Turns out pastries weren’t all he could make. He had this cooking program and thousands of recipes in his database. Still can’t talk but at this point we’re all used to that.

Gemrock, more or less acted as a guard with the Mr. Gutsy bot. While she has no weapons or combat programming she does come built with an alarm system in the event she detects foals leaving with adults they did not come with. So she was more or less our alert system.

The cave was getting quite cramped. Only way to expand a cave is to dig… Add mining supplies to checklist…

Now that I was rested and good I had a new destination in mind. Train Station DL42. According to what Ditzy was able to tell me, it was a major trade hub filled with residential and business travel. With luck there’s still something good in those carts. Even if not… might be able to tear them up for scrap and build… something extra for the bots outside.

"Alright, I'm about to head out." I said to Autumn as I got all my stuff ready for the trip.

“Where are you going this time?” She asked as she was taking apart a toaster. It amazed me how well toasters sold at Ditzy’s shop.

“Heading to DL42, I heard it was a major trade hub and it could hold any number of goodies for me to either give to you, trade or sell.” I explained.

“Huh, that is a good idea. I bet given how New Appaloosa looks from here. They'd also be interested in stuff there. Might wanna see if anypony there is willing to help.”

“Yeah, that would work.” I nodded. “I’m sure I can get someone out there…hopefully they won’t bring in Old Appleloosa…”

The trip to New Appaloosa was a simple one. I brought up the idea with Ditzy and once she talked to the sheriff/mayor of the town, he agreed that if we could clear the place out so he could sent some ponies to get the cargo crates and any goods we don’t take for ourselves, he’d give me a reward for the work. Mainly, in the form of two thousand caps.

Now, Two Thousand caps is a lot. Most I’ve ever had at one time was six hundred, and that was many years ago, so I was all for the idea of making some extra money.

He couldn’t offer any help, but thankfully Ditzy was more than willing to keep me company. Mare was an okay shot, and she used an old ten millimeter machine pistol in what was left of her teeth.

“So, how’s the little filly doing Soft Spot?” Ditzy asked me from her spot atop my wagon as I pulled.

“She’s thankfully doing pretty well.” I nodded. “A happy bundle of joy still…hopefully she keeps that happiness in this world…”

“World can surely use more happiness.” Ditzy sighed. “Reminds me of my foal, way back before…”

“I didn’t know you had a foal.’ I said in surprise. “But…well, you don’t need to talk about if you don’t want to…just surprised is all.”

“It was long before the war even began. Back before, well everything went bad. Young, barely an adult. Had her as a teenager. I hated that she had to grow up in those days, but she was my everything and worked hard.”

“Well…considering I now have Lucky, yeah I can understand fully.”

"Did you have any foals, from before the war?"

“I’m what some professional doctor's would consider ‘terminally single’.” I sighed.

That made her laugh. "That bad huh?"

“Oh you have no idea.” I sighed. “It’s also not for a lack of trying but…I was busy with a lot of other things.”

"Heh. Reminds me of my old friend Carrot Top. She was single all the time I knew her. Not for lack of trying either, but she was a terrible flirt and had zero confidence. Too bad you two never got to meet. Bet you two would have made a cute couple."

“Would have been nice.” I shrugged.

The rest of the trip was in silence. Past memories hurt to remember for too long.

We were halfway to the station and took shelter in an old diner.

… The ever stars loving Fuck?!

Before me I spotted a large tube with green liquid housing what looked like a dog right out of Tartarus itself. Four heads, each one sprouting a set of horns and teeth like needles replacing their lips.

Their body was deformed and muscular, with claws sharp as daggers and paws as heavy and platted like stones.

"Oh, so this is where you appeared." Shopkeeper said as he walked up to me.

"What the fuck is that!?!" I shouted in panic at the abomination.

"That? That would be Hetoriun Cerberus. Best guard dogs in like, seventy dimensions."

“Uh…huh…” I said. “So…why is it here?”

"You appeared in a Kennel." I looked around and… various other dogs, dog-like, and what I guess passes for a dog species were all around me in similar tubes of green liquid. "This one specializes in guard dogs and hunting dogs."

The Fuck would they be hunting?!

“Uh…firstly, why am I here? Secondly, what in Celestia’s holy ass would you be hunting with these kinds of canines?”

"Dunno why you appeared here honestly. I can assume it's because of a glitch since you aren't even supposed to have this ability. And as for what these things hunt vary from planet to planet and dimension to dimension."

“Right…” I said slowly. “So anyways…I’m probably here for a reason.”

"Doubtful. Plus I doubt you can afford any of these animals."

“Well…how much money do I need to have any basic canine to find who I need to?”

"The cheapest one here is about… sixteen thousand caps."

“Oh ho fuck that noise.”

"I figured you'd say that." Shopkeeper nodded. "Majority of these products are priced based on what my associates and their… sponsorships earn. If you want to catch up on their earnings and get the really good stuff you'll have to do quests I give you. Huh, actually that can be something you can do to earn extra money for the stuff I sell."

“That could help a lot.” I nodded. “What do you have in mind? Something like what Royally Rich has me doing or something else?”

"Depends. I usually don't make or give quests. Maybe I can call in an expert for this." He said, pulling out what looked like some really small radio that flipped open. "Hey, yeah it's me. Mind helping me with something? No it won't end like last time… No I'm not letting them have powers, just buy shit… That's why I'm calling you. Nobody, nor myself trusts me to be responsible with quests and rewards. Alright, see you soon." He closed the folding radio.

Suddenly there was… a tall, black cloaked wearing being next to us. Their cloak adorned in gold and silver threads, and a MASSIVE book was strapped to their back. The book was as big as my wagon… "Alright, I'm here."

"Right. Soft Spot, this is Oid. He works in Quests and Dungeon Lore."

“Hi there.” I said politely. “So…should I even ask why nobody trusts Shopkeep?”

"He has terrible power scaling." Oid replied.

"Yup. Everything I touch breaks… the leveling and skill system…" Shopkeeper chuckled dryly. "Hence why I do this…"

"Regardless, I work doing this kind of stuff for a living." Oid shrugged. "So, what kind of quest should this one be sent on?"

"Something fairly simple but pays lots."

“I’m a trader in a radioactive wasteland, so please be something simple.”

"Hmmm. Let's see…" Oid hummed, slinging the massive book off their back. It hit the ground with a massive thud and they began flipping it open. "Hmm, something with a large payout for simple work… Perhaps a recovery quest? Or maybe assassination? Or would exploration be more suited for you?"

“Well, I do recover a lot of goods, and exploring is part of it but…why assassination?” I questioned.

"It's always an option." Oid stated. "So, preference for Exploration… scavenger too… hmm, I have a good one here. Simple and will net you some good money." Oid said, waving a hand over the page as suddenly, rising from it was a scroll that rolled itself up and was tied by a magically appearing red ribbon. He then gave it to me.

“Thank you.” I said, taking the scroll and opening it up to see what quest I was gonna have.

Explore the Great Undead Forest and collect Echo Flowers.

“Uh…I don’t remember there being a Great Undead Forest…and Echo Flowers? I thought those were only rumors?” I asked, not knowing about this forest, and remembering someone a while ago talk about the ‘echoing flowers of the forgotten’ but wasn’t sure if it was real or the poor ghoul was finally losing it.

"This forest, nor those flowers exist in your world. For this quest we'll be sending you to another world." Shopkeeper said. "Specifically this world is called Zibrixa. This whole planet exists in a state of half alive, half undead. Given you yourself are an undead, you won't be bothered much by the natives."

“Alright, sounds good to me.” I nodded. “I suppose that ghoul was just losing his marbles finally.” I shook my head at that.

"For each Echo Flower you collect you'll be paid 200 caps a flower. So the limit is mostly a mix between time and your own willingness to collect as many as you want."

“Fair enough…” I nodded. “Huh, depending on how many I grab, I might be able to buy a hunting dog to find your ‘missing person’ there Shopkeep.”

"I wouldn't if I were you. For one, even on your world there will be things hard to explain. And second, Pain might think you want her to send non native beasts after your rotting butt."

“I’d rather not please.” I said quickly. “Sorry, just want to make dealing with that sick bastard would go smoother.”

"It's alright. Besides, this will likely take time. Anyway, here." Shopkeeper said, snapping their fingers as a strange ring appeared next to us. On the other side was… woah…

The forest was… like a swamp, for one. Thick and muggy from the scent of the air that hit me and seemed rather odd.

“Huh…” I muttered. “This is…weird…”

Slowly I put a hoof out through the portal and onto the alien world's ground. It was kinda muddy, but still pretty solid. A thin layer of moss was growing over the muddy ground and taking a look around I felt… alright.

"Huh…this is kinda nice." I muttered in surprise.

Once I was fully through the portal I looked around, and once I did I began setting up my battle saddle and guns. I am hoping not to use them but given they said not many things would bother me, given I'm also an undead, it meant something was going to.

I quickly began looking for these Echo Flowers. I was willing to guess they stood out, and after a few moments I think I spotted one. It was a flower, and frankly seeing a real one after 200 years was… sombering.

It was shaped almost like a sunflower, but was a lapis blue and glowed faintly and hung from a long many vines where several others all hung.

"Hello?" I questioned towards the flower, hoping to see if it lived up to it's name.

It did not do anything. Frowning, I raised a hoof and touched it-

"How far to the base?" The flower said, making me jump back a little. The voice was older, gruff and tired sounding.

"Not too far. Just a half a mile north of here." Another voice from the flower spoke. This one was younger and full of youth.

"Good. Let's hope the natives haven't found it yet. So few places left to feel safe in."

The flower then popped off the vine and onto the floor before me… huh. Alright… maybe it works different than what I am thinking… also, maybe this base place they talked about could be useful.

"Well…looks like I'll be visiting some new people…" I muttered, taking the flower carefully and putting in my bag.

The other ones were too high up. Hm, north… that's… this way. Thank you Pipbuck compass.

I walked for a while and found more Echo Flowers. Most seemed to replay nothing but random animal noises or background noise. Eventually I came across my first native… they were some giant spider, exoskeleton replaced by moist leathery flesh, nine eyes looking around it's slimy web as it waited patiently for something to land in them.

It thankfully seemed completely uninterested in me and I was able to pass by that thing… and start breathing again once I did.

"I hate everything right now…" I muttered in horror.

A few more flowers later and I spotted a small stone and wood shack. Inside after pushing the door open I was greeted by two creatures. One taller, older than the other. Both had large chunks of their limbs and torsos missing. Their heads, were kinda smooth like a frogs but shaped like some lizards. Both were just huffing, somehow still breathing but their eyes… there was nothing behind them. Feral undeads.

Between them was an echo flower.

I touched it.

"It hurts… it's hurts-" CRACK! The younger voice started before the sickening familiar crack of a neck breaking cut them off.

"I'm sorry kid… thought this place… was safe…" The older voice said his breathing ragged and slow until it stopped, and soon two sets of mindless snarling and breathing started.

I put that flower away and looked at the two. Both uninterested in me and both…

I took pity on the both of them and, with a trained shot, put the two feral undead to their final rest. "That's that…hopefully…"

With that done I headed back out, looking for more Echo Flowers.

Some hours later I was back at the portal with seventeen echo flowers. At two hundred caps a flower that three thousand and four hundred caps. More caps than I have ever made at a single time.

“A successful day if I do say so myself.” I said with a smile.

I walked back through the portal and gave all the Echo Flowers I collected to Shopkeeper, who gave me a large sack filled with bottle caps.

"Well, that was successful. Wanna try something else?" They asked me.

“What do you got for me?” I inquired.

Oid flipped through their huge book. "Same as the last one or something different?" They asked.

“Eh, surprise me.” I shrugged.

They gave me another scroll and I opened it up.

Retrieve an apple from the World Tree.

“Alright…so how the fuck am I supposed to do that?” I asked. “Cause at this point, I’m pretty sure you’re either talking about a giant fuck off magical tree, or a literal World Tree.”

"It varies dimension to dimension. In your case it's more of a literal tree, just at the center of your universe where it's less literal more cosmic roots, trunk and branches/leaves spread out in infinite growth creating the phenomenon you'd recognize as the continuous growth of the universe." Shopkeeper said.

“Right then…” I said. “So…I just have to scale a universe sized tree…sounds simple enough.”

"Oh relax, in case you forget I am offering you transportation there. Just make sure you do not eat the apple. I can not stress enough how bad that would be if you eat it."

“Why? Would I die in an instant because I’m a ghoul literally eating cosmic energy or become a superhero?” I asked, only to see a weird and extremely fluffy tiny canine creature plopped on Shopkeeps head with a sign.

Just don’t.

“...First, adorable…and second, fine.” I shook my head, not sure who or what the fluff ball was but thinking I shouldn’t if they had to appear out of thin air to tell me that.

"But, yeah, all you need to do is bring us the apple and you get a lot more caps." Shopkeeper said, picking the small wolf up by the scruff. "Plain and fairly simple."

"Plain and fairly simple." I nodded, as the tiny canine patted Shopkeep's head.

With another snap of his fingers Shopkeeper opened another portal. What I was beyond it… was incredible.

As far as the eye could see. Dark, empty blackness, broken by seemingly endless branches that seemed to be made of space and the universe- universes, stars and solar systems only peered through telescopes before the war all below me bound in this World Tree's body.

“Whoa…” I said breathlessly at the sheer size and beauty of this place.

"Your apple is over there." Shopkeeper said, suddenly next to me and pointed at a far off branch that was barely sprouting. I could barely make out the apples it was growing. Each one was crystalized, red and white and looked almost like… fire, trying to escape.

"Uh…should I be concerned about it looking like it's about to explode?"

"Well it is essentially a… hmm, think of it as the foundation for what makes a solar system. Once it falls off and rotts, it blows, the heat and raw energy within creates a universe. But relax, it ain't fragile." He informed.

"Alrighty then." I said, still nervous about the fact I'm about to grab a universe maker still. "Well…it should be simple apple picking."

"Basically." He shrugged. To my surprise he did accompany me on this walk.

A million questions were racing through my head. The reality of this absurdity seeming to finally hit me. I know this is all real, the proof literally appeared with me when I woke up and yet… still.

“Am I…the only one?” I asked, knowing it’s a bit vague but thinking Shopkeep would understand what I mean.

"The only what? The only one we've talked to? No, there's way more. You are the only one to get our attention because of this unexpected… ability, you gained accidentally."

“Well…I guess am I the only one like this?” I asked. “This…weird Dreamer I suppose?”

"... Yes and no." He answered. "You aren't like the ones that came before. More like, your ability is a cheap copy we tried making of the real ones from long ago. Haven't seen a genuine Dreamer in… heh, too long. But, yeah, currently you're the only one of your type of Dreamer."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Just making sure on that…but why me? Is it just some extremely lucky happenstance or did someone or…something choose me?”

"Frankly you shouldn't even have that ability. It was… removed. I can guess maybe that Echo had something to do with it but this is different from his usual means of screwing with us."

“Right then.” I nodded. “So…how long have you been a shopkeep? Cause with those other two it sounds like you were…busy with other things.”

"Oh, maybe… eighty seven octillion years. At first I just watched and observed but I eventually wanted to get involved cause I was a bit bored. It ended, well, not badly but not ideal so I was put here. Kinda ironic given how I started out but eh."

“Am I allowed to know how you started out or is that something I’m not allowed to know?”

"I could tell you, but it's no fun for me."

"Eh, fair." I shrugged. "Sounds like a lot of baggage attached to it."

"That about sums up most of us on the backstory department."

“Yeah, so who was the adorable fluff ball?” I inquired. “Another friend of yours?”

"Oh, they go by Princess these days and… yeah. Well, it's a complicated relationship but we're all in the same family."

“Married, relative?” I inquired.

"Married. The family is largely split into two groups, the Parents and the Children. I'd go into more details but there's not that much to explain. Parents get together, have and raise kids, kids go off and explore or make a life for themselves, and repeat."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “How…hard is it to raise a kid?”

"Considering I've had more than I can count and more years of practice that number of kids, I'd say it gets easier, but the first ones will always be the hardest. Course then again my kids are all powerful enough that a temper tantrum causes singularities to form followed by explosions strong enough to make new stars and solar systems so, maybe my advice isn't the best."

“Know anyone that can?” I asked. “Even if its just basic stuff…i just want to see Lucky raised right.”

"Heh, no offense but on your world Raised Right basically sets the bar at doesn't become a raider or slaver if they reach adulthood."

“I mean…while that’s all true…” I admitted. “I just…want to see her happy ya know?”

"You're already doing well on that end. Plus with my help food and diapers won't be an issue so long as you keep up these quests for caps."

"Yep." I nodded. "But…at least I'm doing something right for Lucky."

We soon arrived at the sprouting branch. Standing on hind legs I grabbed one of the 'apples' and pulled it off. I then gave it to Shopkeeper, who gave me another large bag of caps and then I watched as he tossed the apple over the edge.

"Uh…why'd you do that?" I asked nervously.

“Three. Two. One…” There was a sudden explosion. Peering over the edge I saw a violent, massive explosion so bright and so massive that despite the distance it was at, it was like being next to it. Heat hit me as whatever air I was breathing became hot and muggy as soon from the explosion formed an ever expanding explosion that seemed to mold and reshape into… a branch. It connected to the main tree and soon and quickly grew onwards.

Soon, inside the new branch began forming lights, many small dots and swirling colorful masses…

I just witnessed the birth of a universe…

“Wow…” I muttered in awe. “It’s…beautiful…”

“And that is just tuesday.” Shopkeeper shrugged. “Come on, I imagine now that you have shy of six thousand caps you’d wanna buy something cool.”

“Yes please.” I nodded.

I followed Shopkeeper back through the portal. Once through he lead me into a building that was packed with all kinda of guns and ammo I remember reading about in magazines from before the war. “Since I don’t want you getting too strong I’m sticking with weapons native to your planet. Armor too.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded, starting to browse his selection of guns and ammo. “Hmm…there’s a lot more guns than I thought there was…” I muttered, not remembering seeing almost half of the weapon’s here.

“I did say guns from your world. Not all of the ones you saw in magazines and such were all of them. Ponies, griffons, zebras, and many other groups made their own.”

“Yeah…” I nodded, looking around again to see if anything really catches my eye. I decided to look for a rifle since I already had a shotgun and a pistol

The rifles varies from early flintlocks to modern sniper and anti-material rifles. Hmm… What here looks good… Hello.

Before me rested on a metal frame was a fairly standard issue army assault rifle back in the war. This one was modified though. Rather than the basic 5.56, this one looked chambered in .308, holding six bullets and seemed to have a custom scope. Huh. Never seen this before.

“What model is this gun?” I asked.

“This is a modified variant of the Equestrian Army K7 Assault Rifle. This is the K7-Y Semi Auto Sniper Rifle. It doesn’t have the range of the basic Sniper Rifle but can go pretty far and fires twice as fast. With a mod and extended ammo magazine you can switch between semi and full auto with a thirty round magazine.”

“Yeah I’m gonna buy this.” I said readily.

“With the mod and extended mag?”

“How much would it cost with those added?” I inquired.

“About four thousand caps.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “I’ll buy it.”

He gave me the rifle and installed the mod and two thirty round magazines. I then bought a few hundred bullets and with that, had a thousand and two hundred caps left.

“Anything else?” Shopkeeper asked.

“Hmm, let’s see if there’s anything for my armor.”

I looked through the armors, and to my surprise found the same Elite MOM Riot gear I’m wearing. Looks brand new… No way I can afford it with what I have left… I wonder… What about the software?

“How much would new Software cost?”

“For this stuff. Well, lets see…” Shopkeeper tapped my armor with a hand. “Hmm… You’ll need the base OS first before anything else can be installed. I can sell that OS for five hundred caps.”

“Sure, it would at least let me use more of the armor without it being nerfed behind MOM user agreements.”

“Fair.” He said, taking my caps and handing me a holotape. “This will hold the base OS for the armor. I’m sure your friend Autumn can get that installed for you.”

“Yep.” I nodded. “She’s gonna have a field day with this…and for the rest of my money, let’s get something special for her and Lucky.”

Chapter 5: Allies

The trip to the trainyard was rather uneventful. There was mostly some ghouls, feral ones, rad roaches, a few security bots, but my new gun made quick work of all of them.

Seeing as I’m here first I decided to go through some of the supplies. With a few of my Lock Poppers I managed to open the locked or too rusted shut cargo boxes and see the treasures inside. Most of it was the usual. Some preserved Pre-war food, several had nothing but long since rotted fruit, random bits of old furniture or-

KA-BOOM!

A explosion from above the clouds almost shattered my rotting ear drums and sent me to the ground. Too soon it was followed by a roar and the sight of something that actually glowed black coming out from the sky above…

“Oh what the fuck…” I groaned. “Can’t I go one day without some new horror shit going on?”

I walked out from the cargo crate I was in… and saw sunlight…

I froze… Sunlight… actual, real sunlight…

Almost two hundred years and whatever made that noise ripped open the cloud layer above to let the sun shine through…

I’d have been crying, had dead pegasi, flying vehicals, and a fucking GHOUL DRAGON not also been falling from the sky!

“THE FUCK IS A GHOUL DRAGON DOING HERE!?!” I shouted in absolute panic.

The undead ghoul drake roared as he hit the ground with a meaty, sickening thud and crack!

It’s upper half moved up and looked around, it’s dead eyes pitch black and seemed to be filled with hate and rage as it opened it’s mouth, spewing black fire that turned even the metal around to ash.

Holy sweet Celestia’s ass that’s-

“Test one.” I jumped, turned and saw… Pain?! “Sup zombie.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be here?” I asked worriedly.

“Correction. I’m not supposed to bring or spawn non native monsters to cause chaos.” She stated. I looked back over at the ghoul dragon… that thing is actually from here?! “Anyway, this is your first test fella. You gotta kill it.”

“How, why, and what the fuck.” I said quickly.

“Bullets. Or explosives, I don’t honestly care. Because it has something inside it you are gonna need, and lastly because when I cause chaos, I go for the Blood and Death and destruction and massive body count kind. Not the weird ass Chocolate Milk rain or exploding apples and crap Discord does. And no, he isn’t an All Maker but for being a supposid God of Chaos he pulls more pranks than actual chaos.”

“I hate all of this…” I frowned, running off towards the ghoul dragon with my gun to try and deal with it.

As I ran towards it I noticed it took damage from it’s fall. Not only had heavy debris fallen onto it and pinned it down but it’s spine seemed to be broken, meaning only it’s upper half was able to move. Well, that’s good at least…

Okay, need to avoid the fire cause that turns Metal into ashes so, definitely avoid that…

Okay… now where to shoot… Even as a ghoul, it’s scales won’t break under bullet fire… Eyes.

Carefully I peaked out from my cover and with luck, shot several rounds into it’s pitch black left eye. It popped with a gush of black slime and iker that hit the ground with wet plops.

It roared, turning to look for me with it’s remaining eye but I already was running around the back.

It breathed out that pitch black flame breath as I got to the other side of it, taking my shot and hitting five rounds into its remaining eye.

With the same sickening pop it roared as it was not breathing out it’s deadly fire in all directions.

I ran back around and behind it. To my surprise there was a dead Enclave in armor who still seemed to have a bandalear of plasma grenades on them. Useful.

“Alright, Grenades…and a lot of them…” I muttered, already thinking of where I could throw these thing’ into the dragon to make sure it stays dead.

Taking the bandoleer I began climbing up the ghoul dragons back and over the debris. I got myself into position. It reared it’s head back, ready to breath fire into the air. I pulled the pins off the plasma grenades and threw the whole thing into it’s eyeless socket and ran back down like hell.

The explosion turned everything green for a moment before eventually it stopped. Walking back around the Dragon’s head was now half missing…

Holy shit I killed it! Like, actually killed it! I half expected that not to work!

“Good job.” Pain said, appearing next to me and making me jump.

“Don’t…do that!” I panted. “So…why all this?”

“For that.” He pointed at what was left of its jaw. I noticed something… wedged in there.

“I…didn’t see that before…” I frowned, trotting over to see what was wedged in it’s jaw.

It took some effort but I managed to eventually pry it out of its place. It was a book… it reminded me a lot of the one Teddy Dunwitch had, but… this was different… “That is the Equis Tomb of the Dead Spellcraft Volume 13.” Pain said.

“I…don’t like the fact that this is Volume 13…” I frowned. “So…why would I need a Necromancy Book?”

“Because otherwise you won’t be winning against Teddy with his book.” Pain stated. She then took the book from me and put a hand to it. “Yes it’s me. Yes you’re gonna serve this ghoul. No you can’t. No. No. Also no. Because otherwise I will replace you.” Pain said, speaking to… whatever was in or talked through the book. “You know I will… Good.” She then gave the book back to me. “Congratulations Soft Spot, you’re gonna be a Necromancer.”

“Uh…cool.” I said, gently taking the book. “So uh…what was that about?”

“Just telling the Eldritch entity in the book to not corrupt or torment you and break your mind, will and spirit to turn you into some monster.” She said. “Now he’ll just teach you the stuff and spells without the corruption.”

“Well…that’s cool.” I nodded.

”I’m not exactly happy about it…”

“You think being scolded like a child is bad? Try learning that existence is much bigger and grander out of nowhere when you’re just struggling to be a father.” I huffed at the book.

”Mortals…” The voice of the book huffed.

“Well, good luck and later. Expect more weirdness and crazy in the near future.” Pain said, vanishing as she spun on the heel of her foot.

“Fantastic…” I groaned. “Alright you…give me a name that I could speak and not cause some extra dimensional portal to open.”

”Glosck.” The voice replied.

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “So you’re here to help me deal with, apparently, some asshole from out of town.” I said. “What can you teach me?”

”From another dimension similar to your own but also different. He arrived here as the bombs of his world fell and the entity in his book, having favored him, opened a rift and brought him here. That entity is rather powerful. It and it’s kin have ownership of his world but this one plans on taking over this one to add to their domain.”

“And I’m going to stop the rat bastard.” I nodded. “This place may be shit, but it’s my world damn it.”

”Personally I think it could do with more fire. Maybe some more monstrous abominations. A few pits of wrathful dead.”

I rolled my eyes. “Cause of course you would…” I grumbled.

”I’m an eldritch god, to expect less from me would be idiotic on your part. Now do you want these lesions in necromancy and void arts or not?”

“I would love to learn.” I nodded.

”No you won't. Now, see that dragon ghoul you killed. Lesson one, memory viewing and body modifications. Basically, you’re gonna eat whatever is left of it’s brains and some of it’s flesh.”

“Wow, who knew I would becoming feral.” I chuckled. “And…this is gonna be weird…” I muttered, heading over to the dragon’s head and…ready to do something I really didn’t think I’d ever do.

Now, I’ve eaten brains before. Not pony brains or any intelligent beings brains before. Like Molerat or giant rat brains. Can’t waste anything in the wastes. Now, those were all cooked. Raw, Ghoul, mostly rotten brains…

I really wish my tongue rotted away so I couldn’t taste the foul… horridness.

Against my gag reflex begging me to throw up I swallowed.

In a flash I saw volcanos erupting. Digging deep into the ground, finding gems, eating them. The life of this dragon flashed through my mind. I saw how the book ended up lodged into it’s jaw, having eaten an unfortunate Zebra traveler and the book got stuck in it’s teeth and just sunk into the bone over the years. The bombs. Ghoulifying…

I snapped out of it and shook my head. Woah… that was.. trippy.

"Well…that was weird…"

”That, was the memories of another being. The fresher the brain the more clear and coherent the memories. I just figured the ghoul drake would be a good demonstration. Same thing can happen if you ever eat a soul.”

"That…doesn't sound good…" I said nervously.

"Oh don't be all Morality about it. Souls are great! Flavor varies being to being and they're a great energy booster. Though for you it would probably just make you stronger, fitter, boost this or that. Heck eat enough you could probably not look like a ghoul anymore."

“I’m not an eldritch abomination, so eating a soul sounds worse than…eating brains.” I shuddered.

"Awe. Come on. They're tasty! We can start small. Like a squirrel or rat or something. You won't regret it. It's better than sex on drugs while drunk."

“Holy Tartarus you are desperate.” I frowned.

"Pain said I can't corrupt you but I'm sure as heck going to be a bad influence on you. Gotta make this fun for me in some way."

I rolled my eyes. “Ya know, for something that’s supposed to be ‘beyond mortal feelings’, you sure don’t act like it.”

"Who told you we were beyond mortal feelings and emotions? That's just dumb."

“I don’t know, I think the part where you’re a book on necromancy and telling me to eat souls would be inclined to ignore ‘mortal feelings and emotions’...not to mention you had to have someone much scarier than you threaten you not to corrupt me.” I explained. “But this is my first time dealing with…well, technically your folk, I still barely know half of what’s going on…”

"Don't think about it and just a heads up, your religions are all only like, five percent true at max and all forms of afterlife are actually true. It's all personalized. You could believe the afterlife if an external all you can eat buffet and when you die you get that."

“Huh…that’s cool.” I nodded. “Alright…now the only problem I have is how the hell am I going to explain you to Autumn and Lucky?”

"Well only you can hear me or read my texts so, just keep my physical body hidden or I dunno, someplace they won't look or find."

“Fair enough.” I then put the book in my bag. “This is gonna be a headache and a half…”

"Seven bottles of gore on the wall, seven bottles of gore! Take one down, pass it around! Six bottles of gore on the wall!"

I groaned as Glock hadn't stopped singing for the past… four… hours… why the hell does he sing anyway?! Had he not had a surprisingly good baritone voice I'd have lost whatever sanity I still have left after thirty minutes…

“Can you please stop?” I groaned.

"I'm bored. You're just walking and it's boring."

“Well than you can tell me some stuff either about you or what I’m supposed to be learning.” I huffed.

"I can teach you to make potions."

“What kind of potions?”

"All of them."

“All of them?” I inquired.

"All of them. Potion to become a fish. I know 9.6 billion. Potion to shit gold. 4.2 million. Potion to make your dog immortal. Twelve thousand recipes."

“Well…that’s…quite a lot.”

"I know them all."

“That’s pretty cool…can help at home, and maybe get us some extra Caps…” I hummed.

"If it's money you want then I know 9.9 octillion that can make you rich. It's oddly one of those potions that has a lot of versions and such."

“Well then.” I blinked. “That’ll…help solve a bit of our problems.”

"Potions are my specialty but I know spells, weapon crafting, both magic and normal, but potions are my specialty. The other 12 focus on other things."

“And who are these ‘other twelve’ if I may ask? Considering we have to deal with one of those assholes.”

"The one you need to worry about isn't part of us thirteen. They're their own being from Teddy Dunwitch's home realty."

“Oh boy…” I sighed. “Alright, good to know.” I sighed. “So what can you tell me about the thing we have to deal with?”

"Well I don't know their name but I do know they're a Tier 3 Eldritch God."

“And…how strong and worrying is that?”

"Pretty strong. The Twelve of my siblings and I are all only Tier 7. Power wise he outclasses us all by a lot. But we have the advantage of there being my siblings and I. He Is all alone so at least we have some form of chance."

“Oh…oh dear…” I muttered worriedly. “So…the tier system goes in reverse than?”

"Eh, yes and no. The tier system is weird but basically it more tells an Eldritch beings age and power. The closer to tier one means the older and usually more powerful. There are some exceptions, but usually most of an Eldritch beings power comes from several sources. Souls of followers tricked or willingly following you. Planets we claim as our dominion and the life upon it ours to influence at a whim, and knowledge obtained through years of research, observation, practice and use. The more of each an Eldritch has the stronger they are even if they are younger than the oldest of us."

“That makes sense.” I nodded. “On problem now is…I don’t know where the asshole is, and a lot of the things you can teach me…I doubt we have the materials for…”

"Probably but thankfully you already have access to the best store to buy said supplies in the Realms. But thankfully in terms of non-potion related stuff I can teach you we should be able to find something to use pretty easy to form the artifact."

“The artifact?” I inquired.

"It's a simple magic tool. Goes by many names but basically it lets you, a being normally incapable of pushing your magic outward as Spellcraft, do just that. Almost anything will do really, bracelet, necklace, ring, ear ring, heck even sticks."

“Cool.” I nodded. “That’ll help out immensely.”

"I'd recommend looking for a necklace or ring. Preferably gold or platinum. Those make powerful conductors for the magic."

Hmm… I know I've seen some old world jewelry around. I usually ignored it. Most ponies these days only pay a few caps for them and usually only for the gems or to melt the metals down and make fancy looking bullets.

I think I remember seeing an old jewelry store on the way here? Was in a half destroyed little strip mall over a subway entrance.

“Well, I think I know a good place to start.” I said, trotting off to that old jewelry store. “Would certainly be a good place to start cause we’ll need some of the materials.”

It was a fair walk towards the old strip mall. The jewelry store stood boarded up and beat up but still standing.

I pulled the boards off, it's two hundred years old wood, it's not like it's gonna hold or be sturdy after all this time.

Once in I looked around, the displays were caked with dust And grime. With a hoof I wiped away enough of the layers to see the jewelry inside. Lightly dusty but all still there.

Okay, gold and platinum work best… hm… I only need the one for myself but maybe I can also make something else with these?

“Is there anything else we’ll need platinum and gold for?”

"All kinda of things. While Enchantments aren't my specialty, I know enough that most jewelry, weapons or clothes can hold them and provide you some assistance."

“That’s good to know.” I nodded. “So best to just…take all of this and be ready for whatever the hell we need to make.”

"Yeah but first you should probably get up something to become your magical conductor. That necklace looks fine."

I looked back in the case, seeing a platinum necklace with a yellow gemstone in the center of the pendent. Pre-war value was 4,000 bits.

I walked around back, opening the display case and took it out.

"Now pull my body out of your bags and open to a random page."

“Alright…that sounded weird.” I said, pulling out the book and flipping it open to a random page like he said.

Immediately the texts shifted and changed until they formed circles within circles made of symbols and letters I didn't understand.

"Now place it in the center of the circle and I'll take care of the rest."

“Alright…” I said, carefully putting the platinum necklace into the circle and trying to not think of what I’m seeing too hard.

The texts all glowed a sickly greenish black as tendrils of shadows covered the necklace. Faint voices coming from the air got louder and louder until it all abruptly ended. The necklace looking rather clean and polished now and the pages blank.

"And done. Now put it on and put my body away. For now anyway."

“Right…” I gently took the necklace and put it on and put the book away. “This is…still gonna need some getting used to…”

"Now, when using necromancy or eldritch or void magics the artifact will draw mana from me for you to use. When using normal Equestrian magic it will draw mana from you. Now normally this would take time to learn and utilize the spell, but you've got me here and I have a shortcut."

My head hurt like something was carving right into my brain. Knowledge and information about magic basics and equations was printed into my memory and finally a spell. Telekinesis.

When it was done I was holding my head… Fuck. Last time my head hurt this bad was after my first ever hangover…

“Ugh…” I groaned. “Worst…hangover…ever…”

"There. That's the basics of Equestrian magic and a spell. To use it, remember the basics, the spell in question and tap your artifact to begin."

“Alright…” I said, seeing a small can off to the side and deciding to use a simple levitation spell, focusing on the basics, the levitation in question, and I tapped my artifact to try and levitate said can.

To my surprise it worked quickly. The necklace, my hoof and the can all with a radiation green glow as the can floated up and over to me. With but a thought I could make it move up, down, in circles… heh, this is cool!

“This is really cool.” I said with a giant smile, not really caring if I was messing around like a foal just learning how to do basic magic this was great!

"I suppose it would be given you've never had access to spells before."

“True.” I chuckled. “Man, Autumn is gonna flip when she see’s this.”

"You're actually going to show her?"

“Well…” I thought for a moment. “I…probably should show her at least this…” I said, tapping my new necklace. “But…I can’t show her everything…”

"Fair. Could say you found it. Lot of old relics and artifacts we made are still around I think? Some are more recent cause of this one crazy mare Volume 2, Vulziltha, had as an 'owner' for a while. Made a bunch of stuff using soul magic. Ended up splitting up her own soul into fragments to make gifts for her friends and such."

“That seems a tad heartwarming all things considered.” I said. “Though…losing your soul like that doesn’t sound pleasant.”

"It's an extremely painful process that feels like being cut into multiple pieces alive. Which, technically you are. To make it worse while her body is dead her bound soul pieces are aware and conscious the whole time and her one unbound fragment is stuck in Purgatory as only a whole soul can enter one of the afterlifes. On top of that she's in multiple places at once and aware of all of them at the same time. She's most likely insane already."

“Well that sucks.” I frowned.

"Eh. That's soul magic. Very tricky stuff. Anyway, now that you have a means to use magic and the spells with it, it's time to work on gathering my siblings."

“Know where they are?” I inquired.

"Sorta. I get this kinda pull like feeling when it comes to them. I know the direction they're in just not how far."

“Fair enough.” I nodded. “Gonna have to put that on the list…of the ever growing list…”

"And what pray tell is on this list above finding my siblings?"

“Taking care of Autumn and Angel, making sure whatever the fuck Pain is doing doesn’t crack the planet in half…do whatever job’s Shopkeep want’s me to do…” I answered. “Fuck…” I sighed.

"If reproduction is that important then I also know some potions for that."

What? Oh, oh, woops!

“Not that kind!” I shook my head. “I was saying that because of all the shit I have to do, not literally reproduce…plus I’m a ghoul, things don’t work down there.”

"I know potions that can fix that."

“Oh my Celestia…” I grumbled.

"Oh don't be surprised. I told you, my specialty is potions. I know how to brew and make any and every potion in the realms. Trust me, there is a potion for pretty much everything."

“I’m not surprised…” I frowned. “This is gonna be annoying but…hopefully it’ll bring about a better future.”

"You might wanna run faster!" Shopkeeper called out as I was being chased down by crazy cyborg dinosaurs on some other world because my job was to take one of their eggs.

“I’m trying!” I shouted, running as fast as I could to get away from the cyborg dinosaurs.

I was just lucky they weren't massive otherwise I'd probably be really screwed- OUCH!

I shook off the tiny cyber dino from my hind leg and jumped back through the portal that closed right before they followed me through.

Shopkeeper picked up the metal egg. "Cool." He said, dropping me a bag with seven thousand caps.

“Ugh…why the fuck did you want a metal dino egg?” I panted.

"I didn't want it. You need to complete jobs for me to give you money." Shopkeeper stated.

“Ugh…” I groaned. “Fine, whatever…but seven thousand…cool.”

"And more to be earned." He said, tossing the metal egg over his shoulder and into the endless white void sky. "So, ready for the second job?"

“What’s the second job?” I asked.

"Stealing a crown."

I put my hooves on my eyes and took a deep breath. “What kinda crown?” I asked carefully.

"Rat King crown."

“And how the hell am I supposed to get the Rat King Crown?”

"Steal it while he sleeps. Kill him. I dunno, but the job pays fifteen thousand caps."

I choked on air.

“Excuse me what!?!” I asked incredulously. “That’s an asston of caps!”

Shopkeeper shrugged. "Crowns valuable."

“Uh…right.” I said slowly. “So…off I go to grab a crown…”

Shopkeeper opened another portal and I got up and jumped through.

The other side smelled like thick, heavy moisture and old settled piss staining the ground.

Looking around I was in some stone hallway. Old paintings were so weathered and rotten that mostly it was just the frames left and the stone walls were covered in scratches.

“Well…this is a…cheery place…” I frowned.

I ignored the smell and walked down the hall. The first room was what was once probably an impressive dining room. Not the table was broken, bones and dead animals littered the room and rats ran around the ground in a swarm so huge I thought it was a moving carpet for a moment.

"Good lord…" I muttered. "Kinda hate that I'm a ghoul…rats enjoy eating dead things…"

I quickly moved on from that room. Other rooms I found were in similar states. All in ruins and filled with rats.

I eventually found what must have been the throne room. Rats, massive ones were all over the place. In the back on a throne of stone and rotten cloth sat a skeleton of some bipedal creature, and on it's head was a crown made from rat bones and skulls.

“Alright…this should be simple enough…” I muttered, walking carefully to the skeleton.

As I walked I noticed more and more of the large rats in this room stopped and were looking at me. By the time I reached the throne every single one was still, their eyes looking at me as if observing and judging.

“Your King has laid dead for a long time…” I said carefully, not really sure if this was either going to piss off every single rat here or…me magically becoming rat king. “Just…gonna…” I muttered, carefully reaching up to the crown to try and grab it.

Once I lifted the crown off the skeleton and brought it closer to me, a boney hand wrapped itself tightly around my neck. I looked up, the Skeleton's eyes filled with a glowing blue fire.

"You dare steal from a king?" It asked as it stood, still gripping me by my neck and lifting me off my hooves. "Such a serious offense. Care to explain?" They asked, dropping me as I could breathe… well, I don't really need to breathe but still…

“Alright…first, sorry. I really should have assumed you’re undead like me…” I sighed. “And two…well, I have a job from someone a lot higher up than for your crown…and listen, I’m already not happy having had to steal an egg from Cyborg Dinosaurs, I really don’t want to fight here…”

"You speak words but it's all of nonsense. You are either a mad man or trying to play me a fool." The Rat King said as he picked his crown up off the ground and put it back atop his head. "Normally, I'd have my subjects devour you flesh and bones, but you seem to be a form of Kin to myself. Interesting." They said, kneeling down and looking at me at eye level. "What manner of creature are you?"

“You call me a ‘mad man’, when you’re a skeleton ruling over rats talking to a earth pony radiation ghoul…I think we’ve both gone mad.” I chuckled. “But as I said, I’m an Earth Pony from…another world, and I’m a Ghoul, born from…Radiation.”

"Hm. I see. This Radiation, it's a form of Necromancy?" He asked, tugging at one of my ears.

“Um…well, Radiation in general isn’t Necromantic…but the bombs used were.” I said nervously.

"I see. And you say you come from another world. One far beyond this one?" He asked, tugging at my other ear now.

“Yes…and also I can feel that.” I said, my ear lightly flicking at the tugging.

"Fascinating." He said. "Can you smell? Taste?"

“I have all my senses.” I answered. “Also, I will point out that my boss is…like, very high up on the importance scale.”

"My good man, you stand with the Royalty of Necropia! Who could be more important than the King of Rats, fourth king of the world of the Undead?"

“An All Maker?” I brought up nervously. “If you’ve…ever heard of them?”

"All Makers? Are they not just legends from the time when the heart of this planet still beat?" The Rat King asked.

“No idea.” I shrugged. “All I know is that my boss, Shopkeeper, has been scaring a lot of people with how eager he is…I mean, I also met Pain who thought throwing a Ghoul Dragon at me was cool…” I frowned. “And then I met a tiny fluff potato of a wolf…they were adorable.”

"Hmm. Do you have proof of these claims?"

“Give me your crown and a portal should open up to prove it.” I said simply. “Unless your crown is magic and…intrinsic to your very being…please tell me it’s just a fancy headdress I’d rather not have a world go to crap…”

"This?" He asked, pointing to the crown on his head. "It's more symbolic of my authority but does allow me resistance to the dreaded light of the Champions of Life." He stated simply.

“Alright cool, I’m pretty sure you can make another one…or…maybe I can make another one?” I said with some thought. “Um…well, either way, I need your crown for a job for Shopkeeper.”

"Hm. Alright. I can humor the thought. But only because you are strangely adorable." He said, poking my nose with his boney finger before taking his crown off and handing it to me.

I took it, and a portal opened behind me.

“Got it!” I called out, walking over to the portal. “See? Proof my king of rats.”

"By the decay…" The Rat King said in awe, following me through it. He looked around in amazement, his eye sockets falling on Shopkeeper as he arrived.

"Hey Soft Spot. You got the Crown and the King." He said, motioning to the skeleton being.

“Well, he wanted to know if I wasn’t lying or gone completely mad…and I proved one of those things.” I chuckled.

"By the decay the All Makers are real." The Rat King said.

"Yeah. Hey." Shopkeeper said, giving the skeleton man a wave. "Anyway, I'll take that." He said, taking the crown and dropping a huge bag of caps in front of me.

“Thank you.” I nodded. “So uh…what about our resident King here?”

"It would be an honor to serve under the ancient Makers of the universe." The Rat King said, bowing to Shopkeeper.

"Eh. Follow him around." Shopkeeper said.

Wait what?

"I shall, until the infernal Gods of life corrupt my form and force by bones into flesh and a heart beats in my chest." The Rat King said.

“Uh…what?” I asked.

"What? Lot of these solo jobs seem to be a lot for you so, now you got help." Shopkeeper shrugged.

“Well…that is good.” I nodded. “The more the merrier I suppose.”

I did a few more jobs and Rat King was… honestly… terrifying.

One world I needed to kill some cultists. He had his rats eat them alive.

Another, was looking for some special plants. He had his rats pick the Continent clean.

All in all… it's great! Might actually have some hope after all l. Especially if he can help me deal with Teddy Dunwitch.

Chapter 6: Mental Hotel

The next few weeks flew by in a blur honestly. Teddy Dunwich is a tricky stallion to track. Then again his trail is two hundred years old. Still, everything I found was… unsettling.

My next location was another M.O.M facility. This one located partly built into a mountain side.

"Alright…now let's see what horrors I'm going to find in the deep places…" I sighed, hating that they now had to dig into a Celestia forsaken mountain.

It didn't take that long to unearth the entrance. Some light explosives and my new magic got enough out of the way that I was able to squeeze through and find the door. It was wide open, rusted in place and dusty as all hell. Already at my hooves lay skeletons of various ponies.

Must of been stuck here when the bombs went off and the entrance collapsed.

"Poor bastards…" I shook my head. "Just a little too late…"

I walked past the bones and through the rusted door. Inside was covered in inch thick layers of dust with surprisingly clean air. Huh. Vents must still be good. Meaning they either died from dehydration or starvation…

I walked around, finding mostly office equipment and some bits of scrap. So far nothing robotic or evil.

"*Chew*" Taser sneezed as they jumped up on a dusty desk.

"Surprised you can sneeze Taser." I said honestly. "Find anything?"

"Meow." The cyber cat replied as it pawed at the dust.

I began looking through more of the building, finding little of interest aside from spare parts for electrical stuff, tools, and scrap metal and electrics.

All it all this place seemed to be just an office building. If my time looting M.O.M facilities taught me anything, its that these places always have some form of secrets hidden from the everyday employees.

"Find anything hidden Taser?" I asked, knowing my cyber kitty could find things I wouldn't normally find.

I checked the dust he pawed at, seeing he found a chipped key card under all the dust. The body was all metal and the small chip near the top side of it meant it was made to last and would not be easily replaced.

"Good job Taser." I smiled. "Now, let's find where this keycard goes to."

I picked the card up and looked around. Majority of these doors were all basic locks. Eventually I reached the main offices and found it had a keycard reader.

Inserting the card the lock clicked open and I walked in.

Inside this room was what seemed to be a makeshift interrogation room. A desk with one table, two chairs, and an old dusty holotapes recorder sat with only a dim light bulb hung from the ceiling keeping the room lit.

“Alright…let’s see if the holorecorder has anything in it.” I hummed, walking over and checking the old as shit device.

I rewound the tape and hit play.

"Mr. Dunwich I really don't see how-"

"Tell me something Mr. Neon Lights, when you sing, you put all your heart and soul into the vocals, yes?"

"Well, yeah. Any artist worth a damn does."

"And yet so many ponies can still sing by second nature. So what differs between the two? Why do you raise to fame and fortune while others go unnoticed?"

"Effort. Luck?"

"The soul, Neon Lights. Simply put, some souls burn brighter, shine longer and can send that essence out into their works. Music, art, acting, all of it really but music is where the soul Truly sends bits of itself out."

"Uh huh. And what does that have to do with these special robots?"

"Simply put, my recording device can capture these soul essences with the vocals better than any holotapes or vinyl record."

"Right… and you can prove this… how."

"Are you tired, Neon Lights?"

"Just… just…"

Thud!

"Hm. This new one works much faster than I expected."

The audio clicked out from there.

"Oh…shit…" I said worriedly.

He refined his crazy soup stealing voice recorder and made it faster?!

"Damn. Gotta respect the guys Spellcraft. At that speed a normal soul stealing artifact would typically inflict great pain on the victim." My talking dark magic book said.

"This is very concerning, cause of he's just…able to siphon souls with a minor conversation, then he could be getting Celestia knows how many souls…"

"Wonder if he could steal Celestia's soul if given the chance? Bet her soul Tastes like cake."

"No idea, and I'd rather not know." I said carefully.

"I'd very much like to know."

"You would…" I grumbled. "Alright, so he's probably been in…every M.O.M facility…shit…"

"Maybe. Question is why was the M.O.M using him? While they focused on moral of the kingdom they also operated as homeland security. I really doubt he was just here to make animatronics that were run off of stolen souls."

"Yeah, there has to be something more to this…something very bad…"

"Like an army of Ducks… or Goats…"

"Why would ducks or goats be scary?" I asked carefully.

"I don't wanna talk about it…"

"Surprising." I chuckled. "Normally you would talk about a lot of horrid shit, but ducks and goats got you quiet?"

"Let's just say there are some cosmic horrors even I draw a line at. Anyway, if he's using souls and giving them mechanical bodies and rewriting their personalities in the process there are a few possible things he could be working towards."

“A giant robot army hell bent on ruling the multiverse?” I took a wild guess.

"No, that would take way longer and he'd already have needed to have Concorde and rule over a whole planet for that to be a possibility. No, I think he's trying to make his own body into a Soul Jar."

“And…what in Tartarus is that?”

"Basically a soul jar is what happens when you take an unloving item, like a rock or book, and shove a soul, or part of a soul, into it. Makes them basically indestructible, have a minor influence over anyone using them and depending on how the soul jar is built can be like a form of golem. But if he is trying to turn his body into a Soul Jar then that's a longer, way more complex process."

“Sounds like being a Lich with extra steps.” I frowned. “But how complicated is this?”

"Well normally it can't be done. The amount of souls and various consciousnesses that would be inhabiting the body would drive him mad and he'd be lost to the sea of souls in his own body leaving him an immortal vegetable. Unless he manages to wipe them of all they are/were and imprints his own mentality into them. Then he and the copy minded soul would merge mentally into one like nothing happened. Physically, he'd be alive. Functionally, he'd be immortal. Indestructible."

“Well…shit.” I said carefully.

"Pay off is good though. A body that won't age, dye, dehydrate or starve to death, or suffocate, and can still sleep, eat, drink and Fuck. All the positives, none of the negatives. No pain either cause so little can hurt you at that point."

“Right…so, considering this bastard has probably had a very long ass time to do this, how likely is it that they achieved their goal?”

"Eh. Maybe halfway? At most. The body is made up of lots of parts and organs and such. Putting a soul into each takes a while. Every bone, joint, piece of cartilage, heck the skeleton alone would take hundreds of souls."

“And what if he just…made a robot and just shoved souls into that body instead of doing it the long way?”

"Cause then he wouldn't be able to enjoy life while also being immortal. You'd go insane going from being able to feel, touch, smell, taste, all that to not feeling anything physically, or able to taste."

"What about the other animatronics?" I questioned.

"Probably early experimentation with the soul magic."

"Right…" I sighed. "But we at least have a time frame…how long would you guess if he's 'half way there'?"

"Well, assuming he got his larger bones, skin and important organs, using necromancy to preserve his flesh longer than normal or a ghoul… I'd say his skin is already done. Main bones, skull, legs, heart… hard to tell exactly."

“Crap…” I sighed. “We need to hurry to try and find him and stop some of his bullshit.”

"If you're gonna want to hurt him as he is or complete, you'll need a weapon that can hurt the soul and flesh. Or, a God Slayer weapon."

“And how in the world am I supposed to get something like that?”

"You are literally working for a guy who sells everything and anything."

Oh yeah, right… Shopkeeper.

“Now, the better question is, will he sell it to me or would the other’s be upset that I’m getting a god killing weapon?” I wondered.

"Knowing Shopkeeper, he will, and, probably. Worst case scenario, the planet blows up."

“I’d rather have the planet not blow up, thank you very much.” I huffed.

"Hey it's not like the alternative is better."

“I mean…yeah, but still.” I said honestly. “So…gonna need a whole lotta caps to get something like that…”

"Or do something stupid and find one."

“That’s probably the more likely option…” I sighed.

"So, looting aside want to learn some stuff?"

"Yes, I would like to learn some stuff."

"Finally. Now, you'll need some bones, plenty around, and that bottle of whiskey, and… crap, there's no yellow cap mushrooms here."

"Do we need the mushrooms?" I inquired.

"For the potion I'm thinking of, yes."

"So, probably off to shopkeep for that." I shrugged.

"Probably. Want me to use a sleep spell?"

“Well…this place should be safe enough.” I nodded. “So, let’s go see Shopkeep.”

"A god killing weapon?" Shopkeeper asked. "Hm. Well, sure but what kind of form do you want it to be in?"

“I can have it in other forms?” I inquired. “What other forms are there?”

"Guns, swords, blades, bows, bombs. Take your pick."

I hummed at that, thinking about what weapon I could really use. “Hmm, what pistol would you recommend?”

"The Divine Reaper." He said, pulling up a chrome and black pistol, elegantly forged and engraved in symbols and runes I had no idea what they meant. The frame of the barrel was shaped like an open dragons skull, the eye sockets glowing with a purple aura.

“Oooh, me likey.” I said with a smile. “What caliber does it shoot?”

"Yes."

“Nice.” I said with a giant smile “So…how much does this cost?”

"Thirty six octillion caps."

“Never mind…” I said slowly.

"Relax. I know a place where you can steal one."

“Uh…are you sure?” I asked carefully. “Cause something this stupidly pricey would probably be kept locked up tight.”

"Oh relax the guy who has it has like nine others. He's just a hoarder."

“Oh…okay.” I said honestly. “Now where do I find this guy?”

"I'll open a portal. Also take whatever else you want/find and kill as many of his guards as you want, they're immortal anyway so it at least gives you a few hours before they heal back."

“Uh…right…and hopefully this won’t make me his number one enemy…”

"Eh, depends." Shopkeep said, snapping his fingers and opening a portal.

I jumped in and… what the Fuck?

The whole area was made of flesh, gore and corpses. All formed into walls, floor, ceilings, furniture decorations, and ECT.

“What?” I muttered in absolute horror.

"I like this guy's style."

“I don’t…let’s just…find what we’re looking for and get the hell out of here…” I muttered, carefully moving through this fleshy hell.

Each hoof step had a squelching noise. I came across a window and saw everything outside was… also all flesh… and on fire.

"Neat."

“Seriously, where the hell are we?” I asked in disgust.

"If I were to guess… a variation of hell. Or Ohio."

“What’s Ohio?” I asked. “Sounds like a Bar Fight rather than whatever this is.”

"Eh, depends on the county."

I walked down into a huge room, where flying limbless torsos with their ribs split, cracked and reshaped into maws began to fly down at me.

"Awh cool, torso demons."

I blinked. “Uh…” I muttered in absolute horror. “I hate this…”

I immediately took aim and shot the things full of holes til they hit the ground with a meaty wet thump.

“Gross…” I shuddered in disgust.

"Actually they are quite tasty."

“Didn’t need to know that.” I sighed.

"Go on. Eat them."

“Just because I’m a ghoul doesn't mean I eat meat.” I frowned.

"Hey you'll need all the help you can get fighting Dunwich. Necromancy magic can only go so far, so you'll also need to augment your body."

"It's still…very wrong…" I said, shaking my head as I tried to eat the corpse bitterly.

"Oh don't be such a baby. Here."

I felt a tingle across my tongue right before I bit into the creature- Holy crap that's good! Why is it good?

"What did you do?" I asked carefully.

"You're welcome. It's called the Predators Pallet. It's a spell that helps one augment their own bodies by eating the corpses of their enemies. It also helps with taste should the one doing the eating not naturally be that of a predatory species. Also it gives you neat retractable fangs."

“Uh…huh…” I said carefully. “So…good to know that…” I said, still feeling uncomfortable with eating meat. “So…why did you want me to eat this?”

"Odds are you'll need the edge in strength and healing and such if Dunwich is as proficient with necromancy as I'm expecting."

“True…” I sighed, continuing to eat the thing before heading off to find where the gun is.

As I walked I had to admit, I felt… better. Not like, normal, like before becoming a ghoul but… stronger. Like when I get really irradiated and the stuff is making my scrapes and wounds heal.

I learned quick these retractable fangs come out at will, are on my upper and lower jaw, cover/merge with my existing teeth, and honestly look better than the teeth I do still have.

I came across a new area. It was all still flesh but here were weapon racks and holders made from skin, bones and shelves made from spines and organs holding what appeared to be ammo.

"Okay, found an armory. Let's hope the thing is here."

“This is still really gross…” I muttered, walking around the armory carefully as I know there has to be some form of security here.

"It's hell. You think trees grow here or rocks aren't molten? They work with what they got. It's actually really impressive."

Looking around I couldn't see the gun Shopkeeper showed me was anywhere. I did find a large skull with glowing red eyes fixed on the wall, it's maw shut tight.

"That looks like a Demonic Security Safe."

“And…how do I open it?” I inquired, knowing that’s probably where the real good stuff is.

"It needs the demonic energy signature of the demon or devil that crafted it. Lucky for you, your new power can let you take his demonic energy. All you need to do is find him, kill or cripple him, then eat him."

“Uh…I don’t think that would be possible if this person is rich enough to just…own god killing weapons…”

"Don't worry, I can help you out here. I'm just gonna need to borrow your body for a bit."

“And are you sure that’s gonna be a good idea?” I asked carefully, not sure if he’d try to body snatch me if I gave consent to this.

"Yes. I know you don't trust me, which in all fairness is normally the smart thing to do but Pain told me not to bring you harm or cross you. And I'd rather not piss off my mom."

“That would be a good enough reason not to hurt me, yes.” I nodded. “Pain being ‘the end of the universe incarnate’ and pissing them off is one thing, but that being your mother and upsetting them is another…”

"Yeah. Well, technically she is my creator, but mother sounds less like she's, well, an All Maker. She prefers it. Hates all that worship and cult crap."

”Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So…I suppose I should give you some control if you’re not going to do something dumb with my body.”

"Trust me. I have a feeling I know this guy."

With that, I gave Glosck control. It felt weird being in the back seat of my own body. I imagine this is what sleep paralysis is like.

After wandering for a while Glosck came upon a giant being of scorched red skin, pale white eyes, two horns protruding from their head and two large wings, bleeding and torn spread wide from their back. "A mortal dares-"

"I was right! It is you Biengo!" Glosck said.

The demon thing stopped. "... Glosck? The Fuck are you doing here? I thought you and your siblings were on that pony world with friendship and magic and ugh gag me."

"On some mission Mother sent me on to accompany the skinsuit I'm borrowing."

"You couldn't have gotten a better meat puppet?"

"Trust me, he might be ugly but he's got All Maker Shopkeeper's approval."

That somehow made Biengo pale. "Oh may all the other All Makers have mercy on your souls…"

“It can’t be that bad right?” I asked nervously. “I mean, sure Pain and that fluff potato of a wolf said ‘it is’ but…it can’t be right?”

"Yeah, well anyway I'm gonna need that Divine Reaper gun you got…" Glosck said.

"That thing wasn't cheap, like heck I'm… oh you're gonna kill and eat me aren't you?"

"It's nothing personal."

"I'd rather not be dead…"

"We'll put you back into your body after it's all done. Consider it a vacation."

Biengo sighed, groaning as they rubbed their eyes. "I guess I could use a vacation from all the fire… one one condition. I get control over the body too for… two or three hours once a week."

“My body’s not a hotel damn it.” I frowned.

"That's my terms." Biengo stated.

"Why do you even want control over the body for two or three hours a week?" Glosck asked, regaining control.

"So I can get wasted, screw around. My body makes it impossible for me to get drunk. Not even buzzed, and my body also has no genitals so… I need a host or surrogate body to get some."

"Ugh." Glosck huffed.

“Of course…” I grumbled.

"So, deal?" Biengo asked.

“As long as you don’t do anything stupid with my body, cause I doubt either Shopkeep or Pain would find that fun.” I brought up.

"Nah, just food, booze and sex." Biengo stated.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

"Wow, your Homeworld is kinda a dump." Biengo said as we all awoke. He was given his three hours for today and then once a week from now on…

"I know. It needs more fire." Glosck replied.

“It needs to be healed and not be an irradiated wasteland assholes.” I frowned.

"Well, make due." Biengo said, getting up in my body and walking over to a piece of reflective glass. It was dirty but he got a good look at my body…

Then it changed.

My mane grew back. Rot reversed, fur grew back… it… I forgot my eyes were a golden brown color…

"Much better."

“H-how? I…” I was at a loss for words at seeing myself unghouled…it’s been so long.

"Oh it's easy. Perks of being a Hell God. Anyways, where is the nearest settlement? Or place one can fuck for fun?"

"Think we passed some camp yesterday." Glosck said.

“Hold the fuck up, if I look normal, then…wouldn’t I have everything back to normal? I can barely handle Lucky! I can’t have more kids!” I started to mentally panic at the thought this prick was gonna start impregnating every capable mare and dump me with all the responsibilities.

"Oh relax, you're still sterile. All I did was reverse the cosmetic damage while I'm in control." Biengo stated. "Even if I did make that work for you again While I'm at the wheel, they would also be partly my kids and trust me you nor I want literal little devil's running around."

“Well…I suppose that’s good.” I nodded.

I still can't believe I agreed to this… well at least we got that gun.

Chapter 7: Vanished

Biengo had their fill of prostitutes of all species and genders and I finally got back at the wheel.

I haven't felt this sore… ever.

Ugh… I'm tired. Why do I hear static?

“The hell is going on?” I frowned, looking around carefully.

I didn't see anything. I then shook my head and tried to see if something wasn't trying to make home or eat my ears. Again. Ugh. Terrifying to wake up and feel maggots crawling in your ear.

Nothing fell out of my ears- Wasn't it daylight just a minute ago?

I suddenly found myself in a black void, then the ground under me was gone.

Author's Note

https://archiveofourown.org/works/33562213/chapters/83395363

I know most people don't read this story but I didn't want to completely cancel it so I'm moving the protagonist to the story in the link above.