Equestria: Salvation

Velvet Remedy sat at her computer, analyzing the signal Cadence had given her. Braveheart was filing through papers, and he noticed Remedy’s face of worry.

“Do you want to talk about her?” Braveheart asked, referring to Littlepip.

“Pip is out there somewhere, alone,” Remedy murmured. “And Starnet is hunting her.”

“What about the signal?” Braveheart asked. Remedy started up the simulation again and moved away from the screen.

“What do you think?” she asked. Braveheart walked over to the computer and looked at the signal animation. It showed a short wave transmission being disrupted by a silent radio wave.

“If it works, it’s incredible,” Braveheart marveled.

“Yeah,” Velvet quietly agreed.

“We have to be careful,” Braveheart said.

“I agree,” Velvet said. “But we have to try.”

“Ok,” Braveheart said. “All right, start with something small, something we’re familiar with.” Velvet stood up to think. Braveheart had an idea. “We should try to capture a hydrobot,” he said. “Bring it in for testing.” Remedy didn’t answer. “What is it, Velvet?” Braveheart asked.

“Kill Littlepip, reset the future,” Velvet Remedy said. “And no Velvet Remedy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkamena stood at the side of a cliff. She saw a ruined city down below. Hoping to find somepony, she climbed down the cliff and walked into the city. It really was ruined; busses and cars scattered about, shattered windows, collapsed buildings. The place was a mess. No surprise, since this was the aftermath of Judgement Day. A toy store’s front door was blocked with debris. As Pinkamena looked around, she saw somepony standing on a distant pile of rubble.

“Hey!” she called out. The figure turned around and faced Pinkamena. Pinkamena and the figure stared at each other for some time before the figure stepped forward, minigun firing. Dirt flew from the ground where the bullets struck. Pinkamena’s eyes went wide. Before the bullets could reach her, another pony, a young filly, tackled her behind a broken truck. The filly motioned for Pinkamena to keep quiet. Pinkamena rolled against the side of the truck for cover as the filly looked over it. The T-600 slowly walked toward the truck, minigun in full blast. As empty bullet shells poured from the minigun, the T-600 stepped on a skull. The filly let loose a lever that dropped a crate of parts attached to a cable. The cable caught the T-600 by the hoof and hoisted it up into the air, upside down. The Terminator swung in the air, trying to analyze what just happened. The filly turned and removed the goggles and bandana over her muzzle.

“Come with me if you want to live,” she said. The filly ran off and Pinkamena followed her. The T-600 looked up and saw them run. It raised its minigun and fired, missing every shot. The filly and Pinkamena ran over the debris into the toy store. The Terminator looked at its tangled hoof and aimed the minigun at it. The bullets tore the hoof loose from the rest of the endoskeleton and the Terminator fell to the ground. It got up and walked over to the rubble blocking the entrance to the store. Pinkamena followed the filly to the roof, as the Terminator tried to blow its way in. As Pinkamena and the filly ran onto the roof, a much younger filly walked out from an electric box, holding a shotgun. The older filly made motions with her hooves that Pinkamena couldn’t understand. The younger filly put down the shotgun and ran over to a lift. She pulled out a knife and cut the rope. Pinkamena ran over with the other filly, who picked up the shotgun. A large car frame fell to the ground. Pinkamena looked over the side to see the T-600 get crushed by the heavy frame. The minigun was intact and still firing. The skull of the Terminator was lying nearby, and the minigun fell onto its side and shot the skull, shutting down the Terminator. Pinkamena turned to the young filly.

“What is that?” she demanded. She heard the cock of the shotgun behind her. She whipped around to see the older filly pointing the muzzle of the shotgun at her.

“She doesn’t talk, but you need to start,” the older filly said. “Where’d you get that jacket?”

“The other guy didn’t need it,” Pinkamena said.

“Oh? You see that red?” the filly said as she pointed to a red stain on the jacket. “It stands for blood. It’s the symbol of the Resistance. You’re obviously not a Resistance fighter, so take it off.” Pinkamena slowly walked toward the filly, trying to show that she was no threat. When the older filly saw that she didn’t take off the jacket, she pointed the shotgun to Pinkamena’s head.

“Take it off!” she yelled. Pinkamena suddenly grabbed the shotgun and turned it toward the filly.

“You point a gun at somepony, you better be ready to pull the trigger,” she growled. After the filly didn’t answer, Pinkamena took the shell out of the firearm and put it in her jacket’s pocket. She gave the gun back to the filly.

“Now I’m going to ask you one more time,” she said. “What the hell was that thing?”

“Terminator,” the filly said. “T-600.” Pinkamena looked back at a ruined building.

“What day is it?” she asked. “What year?”

“Twenty thirty,” the filly responded. Pinkamena was in shock. The last thing she remembered was her supposed death at the correctional facility.

“What happened here?” she asked. The filly sighed.

“Judgement Day happened,” she said. Pinkamena turned back to the filly, obviously shaken.

“I got to get out of here,” she stammered.

“You can’t go on foot,” the filly said. “The machines will cut you down. You need speed.”

“I need a car,” Pinkamena asked.

“Look, there’s some by Griffon’s observatory,” the filly said. “They won’t run though.”

“Take me!” Pinkamena demanded. The older filly looked down at the younger one. The younger filly wasn’t moving. She was just standing there, frozen.

“Get down!” the older filly cried. Everypony dropped to the floor of the dirty roof, near the solid edge. A massive Starnet aircraft flew through the street, scanning for survivors. The force of its thrusters knocked the building across the street off balance, and the entire building came crashing down in a cloud of dust. As the aircraft flew away, Pinkamena and the two fillies sat up, coughing.

“That was a Hunter Killer,” the older filly said. “Thanks to you they know we’re here.” She looked down with a look of despair.

“What’s your name kid?” Pinkamena asked.

“Littlepip,” the filly sighed. Pinkamena and Littlepip were silent for a moment. Littlepip started to get up.

“Come on,” she said. She helped up the other filly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hydrobot thrashed about on the table, held down by Velvet Remedy and some of her research team.

“We’ve burned out its transmitter so it can’t talk to any of its pals,” the head research member, Twilight Sparkle said. “But it can still receive.” The hydrobot flailed around, trying to get at its captors.

“Turn it on!” Remedy ordered. Twilight walked over to the computer. “You got it?” Remedy asked the other research members. They managed a nod. Velvet walked over to the front of the machine as Twilight plugged the signal in and entered the code. The bloodthirsty hydrobot tried to kill Velvet Remedy.

“Turn the signal up,” she told Twilight. Twilight turned a knob that increased the volume of the signal. Remedy stared intently at the hydrobot, hopeful that the signal would work. Within a few moments, the hydrobot stopped thrashing and its red eyes went out. It lay still on the table.

“Give me the straps,” a research member said. Velvet Remedy was in awe.

“Holy shit,” she gasped.

“Can you believe it?” Twilight mouthed, happy. The two research members tied down the machine as Remedy studied it. She touched its sharp beak-like prongs.

“The signal has to be continuous,” Twilight informed. “If there’s any interruption…” Twilight turned off the signal and the hydrobot immediately started thrashing about again. The research members grabbed it to keep it down. The machine had a lock on Remedy, and was trying to kill her. It hissed and growled, trying to escape.

“Ok,” Velvet said. “Let’s rig up a portable short wave. I need to test it on something larger in the field.”

“All right,” Twilight said. She got straight to work. Velvet Remedy looked back at the hydrobot.

“Destroy this thing,” she ordered. She left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dusk had fallen, and Pinkamena, Littlepip, and the little filly walked into a small, broken observatory. This was Griffon’s observatory, and it was Littlepip’s base.

“So where are the cars?” Pinkamena asked.

“You don’t want to go out after dark,” Pip said. “Hunter Killers have infrared, to hunt better at night. We’ll all go tomorrow morning.” Pip sat down and picked up a plate of something.

“What is that?” Pinkamena asked.

“Two day old parasprite,” Pip said. She sniffed the meat. “Better than three day old parasprite,” she chuckled. Pinkamena noticed some string decorations nearby, and she got an idea. She took one off the wall and picked up Pip’s shotgun.

“Hey! Hey!” Pip cried as she stood up. Pinkamena shushed her. She did a little fiddling with the string and the shotgun’s stock. When she finished, she cocked it and pointed it at Pip. Pip’s hooves shot up to defend herself.

“Grab it,” Pinkamena said.

“What?” Pip asked, confused.

“Grab it,” Pinkamena repeated. Pip slowly moved toward Pinkamena, worried what she would do. When Pinkamena did nothing, Pip grabbed the shotgun and pulled. Pinkamena raised her hoof. The string was around it and the other end was attached to the gun.

“Magic,” Pinkamena said. Pip gave a small chuckle. Pinkamena took the strap off her hoof and gave the gun to Pip. “Got it?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Pip sighed. As Pinkamena walked away, Pip added, “Thanks.” She sat back down, and Pinkamena picked up a box radio.

“This radio work?” she asked.

“No,” Pip said, regrettably. “My mom tried to fix it, but she could never get it to work.” Pinkamena turned to the table and opened up the radio. The little filly walked over to her. Pinkamena gave the filly the mic.

“Hold that,” she said. The filly took the mic and smiled. Pinkamena turned back to the radio and began inspecting the parts.

“Where is everypony?” she asked.

“They’re gone,” Pip said.

“So why are you still here?” Pinkamena wondered.

“Because we’re the Resistance,” Pip said. “L.P. Branch. Walking back to headquarters.”

“Resisting what?” Pinkamena asked.

“Machines,” Pip answered. “Starnet.”

“Just the two of you?” Pinkamena asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Pip said. Pinkamena pointed to her jacket.

“How come you’re not wearing one of these?” she asked.

“Because I haven’t earned mine yet,” Pip quietly responded. Pinkamena looked into her eyes with some sympathy, something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Velvet Remedy sat at her radio, preparing to deliver a worldwide message to the Resistance.

“I hope she’s listening to this,” she said to herself. She turned the radio frequency to the correct one and spoke into the mic.

“We’ve been fighting a long time,” she said. “And we’ve all lost so very much, so many loved ones gone. But you are not alone. There are pockets of Resistance all across the planet. We are at the brink.” Velvet Remedy put up the mic to think about her next words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You want to see a magic trick?” Pinkamena asked the filly. “Hold that up.” Pip looked over. The filly raised the mic up a bit. Pinkamena placed a paper clip to a part on the radio.

“Press the button,” Pinkamena said. The filly pressed the button on the mic, and static erupted from it. The filly gave a wide smile. Pinkamena gave a small one back. Pip sprang up from her seat and ran over. Velvet Remedy had just started talking again.

“Minigun weapon range is right around 100 meters,” Remedy said. “They pack a lot of firepower, but the T-600s are slow and heavy. They are a primitive design.”

“Who is that?” Pinkamena asked.

“I don’t know,” Pip said.

“If you can’t outrun them, then you have one option,” Remedy continued. “Their motor cortex is partially exposed at the back of their neck. A knife to this area will disorient their tracking device, but not for long. Above all, stay alive. You have no idea how important you are, and how important you will become. The machines are advancing even faster than I told you they would. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. They’re inventing new Terminators. New ways of killing us. Starnet is planning something big, but the resistance is planning something bigger.” Remedy paused to let the words sink in around the world. “This is Velvet Remedy,” she finished. “If you’re listening to this, you are the Resistance.” With that, Remedy signed off. Pip was in awe.

“Velvet Remedy,” she repeated. “We gotta find this mare.”