Fallout: Equestria- The Nightmare Initiative

by DwarvishPony

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Adventure, Crossover
Length: 25739

Bright Idea lived the perfect life. A loving wife, a beautiful child, and a fantastic job. But when events take a sudden turn, Bright's world is turned upside down. When reality differs from your past, what do you make of it?

Bright Idea is a stallion who can only describe his life as blessed. The war is over, the zebra menace has been quelled, and Equestria is on its way to rebuilding a peaceful, harmonic existence.

When Bright thinks all is well, though, his perfect life is torn from him and he must come to terms with the sudden changes this brings. Bright begins to question the life he knew while attempting to create a new one for himself in the Equestrian Wasteland.

But when things go from terrifying to life threatening Bright learns a secret that won't just shake Equestria to its core, but put life as we know it on a precarious and volatile ride towards certain destruction. A centuries old conspiracy threatens to strangle the last vestiges of life from a dying world.

Bright must face impending destruction and ask himself, "Can one lost pony save anything?"

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-09-25 06:11:58 UTC

Prologue

Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria…

Harmony and Love slowly gave way to Corruption and Greed. Ponies slowly began to care more about money and power than friendship and harmony. Friends and neighbors grew distant and paranoid. War broke out, severing bonds between nations. The resulting arms race built itself up to a breaking point, culminating in a violent and tumultuous finale. But this would not be the end. In the days before the megaspells dropped, thousands were spared by deep underground shelters known as Stables. Here they were able to survive the initial contamination and poisons created by the megaspells.

When the dust settled, and ponies crawled from the wreckage, the survivors slowly realized that this was not the end, but a new beginning. Destroyed cities slowly began to be rebuilt. Ponies began to realize how they strayed, and Harmony began to slowly fill the barren lands of Equestria once again.

But sometimes things are not always as they seem; and sometimes, the things we hold dear are nothing but false echoes to shield ourselves from nightmares we hope never to face.

Fallout Equestria:

The Nightmare Initiative

Prologue: The Happy Ending

Bright Idea woke to the sounds of birds singing outside his window. The sound made him smile lazily as he rolled onto his side. It brought fond memories to the forefront of his mind. Fluttershy had asked a flock of birds to sing at his wedding… what was it, nine years now?

Speaking of wedding, there was an empty warm spot on the bed that brought Bright out of his train of thought. He wasn’t surprised at it. In fact it was something he had become accustomed to. His wife had always been an early riser compared to him. Bright allowed himself a moment more of laying still before dragging himself off the side of the bed. As he made to leave his upstairs bedroom he hesitated at the mirror for a moment.

Bright was surprised at how little he seemed to age in the last few years. His green mane showed no signs of gray, despite the stress of the war some years back, and by all appearances he was as healthy as ever. “Why so blue?” He joked at his reflection, which wore a passive expression. It was a terrible pun, one his wife seemed to love asking him. Bright always thought he was more of a gray, personally. He shook his head and smiled. Time for breakfast.

Bright trotted downstairs to where the scent of baking had already begun to fill the air of Sugarcube Corner. It was a routine that had become a sort of morning ritual at this point in his marriage. “Smells delicious as always, Pinkie!” Bright called out to his wife. The energetic mare poked her head out of the kitchen doorway. “Of course it does, silly! I’ve been using Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s recipes since they left me the bakery, and I don’t plan on changing those one bit!” Pinkie replied with a giggle. “Besides, I’m nowhere near as good a baker as Mr. and Mrs. Cake were. If I changed the recipe now, the food would taste different. Then everypony would stop coming because they didn’t like the food, and then we’d lose Sugarcube Corner because we couldn’t afford the property and have to sell it. Sponge Cake wouldn’t do well in school because she wouldn’t have anywhere to do her homework and then she’d flunk out, being forced to work on a rock farm. And of course we’d go help because the thought of our daughter working on a rock farm would-“

Bright silenced the tangent with a delicate kiss. “All right. No changing the Cake’s recipe. I promise.” He glanced through the doorway past Pinkie Pie. “Where is Sponge Cake anyway? Shouldn’t she be getting ready for school?”

“Attack!”

Bright Idea let out a false cry of terror as a unicorn filly leapt onto his back. He flopped forward in a defeated manner. “Oh no! Master spy Sponge Cake has defeated me! Whatever shall I do? I know… I’ll eat the spy so she can’t get me anymore!” Bright let out a playful growl and his daughter let out a squeal of delight, fleeing into the kitchen. He chased the lavender filly into the room, laughing at the game.

“Breakfast is already on the table, you two. You don’t need to eat Sponge Cake today… Unless it’s the sponge cake I’m making for somepony’s first day back to school party!” Pinkie Pie stood on her hind legs, making a Y shape with her body as she let out the party announcement. “Yay! I love your parties, Mommy!” Sponge Cake began hopping for joy around Pinkie Pie.

Bright let the celebrations continue for a short moment as he levitated a cup of coffee over to himself. “All right, I need to get going to work.” Bright gave a quick peck to his wife and one on Sponge Cake’s forehead. “Daddy has to hurry. Today he’s showing Ponyville a new invention. This could really help everypony.”

“Aww…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be done around lunchtime.”

Sponge Cake let out a sigh. “Okay…”

“If you’re good at school today, Daddy will come say hi at lunch. How does that sound?”

Sponge Cake let out another squeal of happiness.

“All right, I’m off!” Bright Idea struck a pose, one hoof thrust in front of him. He supposed that he picked up the dramatics from Pinkie Pie but, oddly enough, couldn’t really remember when he had started them.

Pinkie nuzzled Bright’s neck gently. “Good luck! When you get home you can help with the party decorations.” She leaned in close, her muzzle next to Bright’s ear. “And don’t forget to visit Sponge Cake at school. She’s nervous about going back to school without her C-u-t-i-e M-a-r-k.” Pinkie whispered the words, keeping her daughter from hearing.

“No fair! I wanna know the secret too!” Sponge Cake tried getting close to her parents to listen in.

“It’s a secret about the party silly. If I told you now, then it wouldn’t be a surprise. Okie Dokie Lokie?” Pinkie Pie deflected the prying quickly, before Sponge Cake could overhear. Bright was grateful for it. Sponge Cake had become more and more obsessed with getting her cutie mark. She was just at that age, he supposed.

“Okay, enough horsing around. I have to get to work.” Bright gave Pinkie another kiss (Sponge Cake audibly gagged at the sight) and pecked Sponge Cake on the forehead. “Bye you two. I love you both.”

“Bye, honey bun! I’ll see you after work! Don’t forget you’re helping me set up the par- Woooah!” Pinkie Pie began to shake up and down uncontrollably, though the episode only lasted for a second. “That was a doozie! I haven’t had one of those in a while. I wonder what that was for.” Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin thoughtfully before another fit overtook her. It passed as quickly as the first. “That’s funny…“ A third fit struck the mare, causing a look of realization to cross her face. “Oh no! I lost track of time!” Another fit of shaking. Pinkie Pie grabbed Bright Idea’s face with her forehooves. “Bright, I know this is gonna sound super, duper weird; but you have to go to Sugarcube Corner when you wake up!”

“Pinkie Pie we’re in-“ Bright started to let his wife know that he was already in Sugarcube corner.

“Promise me! It’s really important!” Panic filled Pinkie Pie’s expression. Whatever was happening had the mare terrified.

“Okay, I promise. Pinkie what’s-“

“Pinkie Promise!”

Bright let out a sigh, seeing that whatever was happening with her Pinkie Sense was important to his wife. “Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.” He completed the phrase with a series of hoof motions to complete the silly promise that ended in a hoof poking his eyelid. “Now will you please tell me-“

“No time! Sugarcube Corner! Go!” The last thing Bright Idea saw was the tears that had begun welling up in the eyes of his lover. He wanted to say something to comfort her, something that would make her smile. Instead the world around him seemed to break apart into a jumble of images and memories. These, in turn, seemed to break apart into static.

Bright Idea’s world went dark and he was filled with a jumble of thoughts and confusion. A pleasant mare’s voice echoed around him. “Stable Occupant Awakening Procedures complete. Opening pod door. Watch your step!” Bright had no time to react (or comprehend what was happening) as he fell forward, landing hard on a cool floor. A faint humming filled the air about him as he slowly cracked his eyes open. “What?” Harsh fluorescent lighting burned his retinas for a few moments before he was able to see anything. When his eyes finally did adjust, Bright found himself lying on his side, looking up at a cold, metal ceiling.

1. Rude Awakening

Chapter 1:

Rude Awakenings

“I don’t know what went wrong!”

“Ow.”

I rolled to my hooves and shakily stood, a myriad of questions flooding my mind. I looked about slowly and struggled to get my bearings. I had fallen out of some kind of tube with a door on it that was recessed into the wall.

“Where the hay am I?” Everything about was metal. Metal floor, metal walls and ceiling, metal shelving units to the left and right. I looked for anyone who could answer my questions, but the room was empty. I slowly stepped into the hall, whose decor matched the room I left. Still nobody around.

“Hello?”

Nothing. In fact, everywhere I looked was empty. I checked a dusty diner. Nothing there. Living Quarters? Other than some left-behind personal effects, there was no signs of anypony living in… wherever I was. I called out to the emptiness again.

“Hello? Can anypony hear me?” I sighed in frustration. I could rule out ponynapping at least. I would have been tied up or locked in a cell when I woke up. I rounded a corner in my fruitless search for other signs of life when I spotted a labeled door. Overmare’s office.  “Overmare?” Curiosity got the better of me, and I pressed the button that opened the door. And then I screamed like a filly.

The inside of the office was admittedly nice, looking back. But I was focused on the unicorn skeleton seated behind a desk. It was slouched forward on the desk, a large hole in its head. I wanted to run, but something rooted me to the spot. Maybe it was morbid curiosity. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t seen any other signs of any ponies about. I stepped into the room, inching closer to the skeleton.

"Nice skeleton..."

The office was very official looking, with a plaque on the desk reading Overmare and everything. There was a computer terminal built into the wall behind the desk. To the left, an open locker with a blue jumpsuit with a yellow number one-hundred and seventeen hanging in it.

Rounding the desk I found a pistol on the ground, presumably the one that had killed the poor unicorn. I left the weapon where it was. Instead I searched the room for anything that would tell me where I was. I decided that the terminal was the best bet for information. “Excuse me…” I slipped past the skeleton.

Saying the terminal had seen some wear would be an understatement. The screen had a layer of dust that caused me to go into a sneezing fit. There were buttons that refused to budge on the keyboard. After some work (and some clever workarounds when the down key turned out to be completely unresponsive) I managed to pull up a series of journal entries. I pulled up the most recent one first.

Day 1:

Seriously? Stable-Tec made me Overmare of a Stable? What have I gotten myself into? There are thirty-two ponies living in this stable, and I’m responsible for every single one. No pressure though, right? On the bright side, twenty of the inhabitants are living popsicles. I get that Stable-Tec wants to preserve the ‘scientific minds of the past to rebuild the future’ (straight from the welcoming letter to the Overmare. It’s enough to make a mare gag in disgust) but why do they need to be frozen? How long are we going to be down here?

- Overmare Frostnip

Well, that explains one mystery. Stable 117 (If the jumpsuit was to be believed). Now I had more questions though. First and foremost was how did I get into a stable?

Day 15:

Cold Front was complaining that the frozen ponies down in the Cryogenics Bay are drawing more power from the generator than previously estimated. Apparently the power feed is being routed through the pods that the ponies are in, but then a large chunk of that power is being routed to one of the storage rooms. Turns out there’s another pod behind some of the shelving units. Cold Front says it looks like the pod was spliced into the system. The cables running to it are a mess. Just what I need, another pony to mind.

-Overmare Frostnip

I skimmed through more of the entries in the computer. Many of them had become corrupted or damaged somehow. It took some moments before I found an entry that actually had enough words to bother reading.

Day 76:

Fuck. Not even three months and things are falling apart. Three pods shut down last night. I had to oversee the incineration of three ponies who never knew they were dying. I hate that s()$@#$…

The data went bad for a few sentences.

I’m going to speak to Cold Front later. If there’s any way to unplug that extra pod. It’s going to get us all killed!

-Overmare Frostnip

That was the last message in the computer. Everything after that was so corrupted that I couldn’t make heads or tails of the entries. I sighed and stepped away from the console. “Frostnip? I’m sorry things went so badly for you.” My voice cracked as I gave my lame apology. Death was something I was unaccustomed to.

I walked out of the office, my head hung low as I mourned the unicorn I had never met. She had mentioned more pods though. Maybe there were others in those pods. I raised my head stoically and carried onward, determined to find someone who could explain what was going on.

***

Dead. Everypony in Stable 117 was dead. It had taken over an hour of scouring the stable to find the Cryogenics Bay. When I had entered the sight that greeted me was one I couldn’t have imagined in a hundred years. Four rows of five pods each filled the room. Almost every pod had a pony inside that looked like all the fluid in them had been sucked out. Skin was pulled taught, accentuating the empty sockets of the mares and stallions who had been robbed of life. A wave of nausea washed over me, forcing me to expel the bile in the back of my throat quite violently.

I couldn’t stay in the room. I backed into the hall and collapsed in a terrified heap. I lay there for what seemed like days. Whatever happened here was beyond the scope of my limited experiences in life. I squeezed my eyes shut in a futile attempt to block out the cold gray of my surroundings.

When I stood again, I felt weak. A few deep breaths was all it took to get me to think more logically. There were twenty pods, but the Overmare’s terminal had said there were thirty-two ponies here including the pods. There should be more ponies. Maybe one of them had survived.

Ignoring the lump in my throat, I headed down what I hoped was the way out of Stable 117. Or at least towards a living pony. A light flickered overhead as I walked. I looked up and realized that many of the lights overhead were dimming. A few of the lights had even gone out. My brow furrowed as I recalled the power issues mentioned in the Overmare’s terminal.

I spotted the maintenance wing further down the hall. The sign above the door flickered on and off sporadically. I hit the button to the left of the door but there was no response from the mechanism. I hit it a few more times before sighing and banging on the door. No response. I reached out with my telekinesis and tried pulling the door control panel loose. The rusted metal gave way after some wriggling.

The wiring inside was shot. Something had burned much of the wiring, rendering the console useless. After some finagling with what was left of the wires I managed to get the door to pop open with a cool hiss. Inside was utterly dark, save for a pale blue light source across the room. I stepped inside gingerly and moved to pick up the light with my telekinesis. The light brought a skeletal foreleg with it that clattered to the ground. I shuddered involuntarily.

Turning the light to face the room, I severely wished I hadn’t. The maintenance wing had two skeletons intertwined as though they had been holding each other in their final moments. I wept silently as I stepped away, unconsciously bringing the light with me.

***

The light wasn’t just a light. It was some sort of mechanized leg cuff. Various knobs and dials controlled different programs and files that appeared on a blue backlit screen. A semi-circle gauge had a needle pointing to a green zone, indicating that the device had a Geiger counter on it to measure balefire radiation. Underneath the cuff was a latch to lock the device onto a foreleg. I gave into the lure of unknown technology and put the device on.

My vision was immediately altered by a pop-up tutorial that explained the basics of the device, which called itself a Pip-buck. It briefly explained its inventory management spell, medical examination spells, and file storage before winking away and leaving a small compass in the corner of my vision. Another tutorial text popped up, explaining an eyes-forward-sparkle, which it then shortened to E.F.S.

The text winked away again, leaving the compass in my vision. That would take some getting used to. I fiddled with the Pip-buck a bit more and, to my relief, I found a map already existing within the device’s storage. At least now I wouldn’t aimlessly wander about. I took a deep breath and stepped into the maintenance hall, the light from my new Pip-buck illuminating a gut-wrenching scene.

Two chalky white skeletons lay facing each other, their legs wrapped in an embrace. The two ponies looked as if they had been holding each other for support until the end. I could only imagine what those moments had been like.

I moved methodically, making sure not to disturb the skeletal ponies any more than I already had. Along one of the bleak walls was a message scratched into the metal.

Help us.

I wanted to run, but I needed answers. Something inside me begged to know what had happened to these ponies. I spotted two computers across the room and mad a bee line for them.

The first computer was destroyed. The screen had been shattered and the internal components had been ripped from it without mercy. The second however, had a magical spark battery next to it, and had been spliced in to be used as a power source. It looked as if the battery had been disconnected afterwards. A simple reattaching of the wiring and the computer hummed to life.

The only salvageable information on the computer was the last entry.

To whom it may concern,

We’re going to die here. It took four months for Stable-Tec to kill us. They didn’t properly plan for the power we needed. The pods have been shutting off one by one over the last few weeks. I’ve tried my best to reroute power from the non-critical systems, but I can’t divert power from that energy sponge called a pod in the storage area.

That pod has single-handedly drained forty-three percent of the generator’s output. Forty-three! And the worst part is that I can’t deactivate it, because it has protective spells! Whisper died last month when she tried to forcefully disconnect the power couplings to the pod. The damn cables were designed to discharge some of the power into anypony who messed with them! Who does that?

What pisses me off more is that it has a Ministry of Morale password encryption! Trying to crack into that is near impossible, and that’s not factoring in the treason charges that would accompany it. I’ve heard too many spook stories about the M.o.M. to risk that.

There’s only one hope for anypony making it out of the Stable alive. Silver Heart and I are going to redirect the remaining power to the Stable door. If we can do that, it will let everypony waiting out of this deathtrap. Problem is, Silver Heart and I have to stay behind. When the power redirects, it will seal most of the Stable for some time.  It’s not like the cryo pods need that power. I couldn’t give two shits about the special pod, either. Maybe we'll get lucky enough for the pod to shut off and let us get out too. Fat chance though.

I’m leaving this message for anypony who comes back for us. Fuck Stable-Tec. We wouldn’t be down here sacrificing ourselves if they had some real engineers on their payroll. My only comfort is being able to hold my wife when I go.

-Cold Front

I was sobbing to myself by the end of the message. Certain things didn’t make sense, like why Pinkie Pie’s ministry had specifically singled out my pod to receive the bulk of Stable 117’s power. Or why it was so important for me to live, when my death would have saved a few dozen lives.

It left me feeling hollow. I shouldn’t have lived at the cost of anypony else’s life! I gave a cry of frustration and knocked the computer from the desk it sat on. The crackle of electricity and shattering monitor did nothing to alleviate my guilt. Instead, I mouthed an apology to Cold Front and Silver Heart. I tried getting the words out but they were glued to the back of my throat. I forced myself to walk away, tears stinging my eyes.

***

Minutes later I found myself at the door to the stable, standing in front of a control panel. I suppose door isn’t an apt enough description for what lay before me. The ‘door’ to the stable was about the height of two or three ponies all the way around. It looked large enough to smash a tool shed, something that was emphasized by the large machine designed to move the device.

I hit a switch on the control panel, which immediately triggered warning klaxons as the machine lumbered forward and pulled the stable door back and then beginning to roll the door out of the way with a deafening squeal of grinding metal. Then everything abruptly stopped as the door widened just enough for me to slip through. By everything stopped, I mean absolutely everything. The lights winked out, the door stopped, and the ever-present hum of the stable ceased. Only then did I realize it had existed in the first place.

Irrational panic gripped me and I bolted forward for fear of being trapped in the metallic tomb known as Stable 117. I slipped through the opening with relative ease, despite my heart beating increasing faster. I let out a little yell as I kept running all the way up a set of stairs. These stairs ended in a set of double doors which I pushed open in a panic, praying for open sky.

What greeted me on the other side of those doors and beyond would be a world beyond anything I could imagine.

Level Up!

Feat gained:

Scientific Curiosity- Thanks to your innate curiosity, you now gain 10% more experience points whenever experience points are earned.

2. Wounds

Chapter 2:

Wandering

“All the ponies in this town are CRAZY!”

The first thing that stuck me was the decay of my surroundings. I don’t know what I expected, but this wasn’t it! The building around me was a husk of what it once was. The ceiling had caved in, letting sunlight filtered by a layer of clouds illuminate my surroundings. The pungent smell of mold filled my nostrils and elicited a sneeze.

The only indications of what the building once was were the burnt-out bookshelves, filled with remnants of knowledge that were now lost to time. A small twinge of sorrow pinched at my stomach.  Twilight would be devastated if she knew how neglected this library had become. I approached the nearest bookshelf and attempted to flip through a few of the books. None of the books I picked up were legible. Many were burned or torn apart. I clicked my tongue with a terse snort and moved to the front of the library to find a librarian.

To my shock, I found who I assumed was once the librarian behind the desk. Dead, just like everypony I found in the depths of Stable 117. Upon closer inspection, I realized that my initial assumptions were incorrect. Librarians didn’t wear leather barding and carry a firearm. Now that I was paying attention to the details, I noticed a trail of dried blood leading from the door all the way around to the pony laying under the desk.

Inspecting the body, an earth pony stallion, I realized that he had multiple gunshot wounds. Most seemed survivable, but the one that had killed the poor stallion was a gaping wound upon his chest, revealing the shattered ribcage underneath. The ribcage that moved ever so slightly as I watched it.

Sweet Celestia! This pony was alive!

“Hang on, I can help!” I spotted the pony’s saddlebag behind him underneath the librarian’s desk. I reached out gently with my telekinesis and started to pull the saddlebag from behind the injured pony. As I did so it lightly brushed the stallion’s flank, which was adorned with a parcel for a cutie mark. The pony seemed to register that I had his saddlebag and shifted his body enough to reveal a two-barreled nubby looking gun in his mouth. I dropped the saddlebag and held up a hoof.

“I’m here to help you. Do you have any healing potions or bandages?” The stallion kept the gun pointed at me, but nodded once. “I’m going to get those out and patch you up, okay? That’s all I’m doing.” Another nod gave me the permission to pull the saddlebag out from behind the pony and rummage through it until I found what I needed. I pulled out three healing potions and four bandages from the saddlebag.

“Okay, I need you to start drinking these. Can you put the gun down long enough to do that?” My voice was gentle. The last thing I needed was for this pony to shoot because I yelled at him. He gave me one last distrusting look before setting down the gun. I wasted no time in gently pressing the potion to his lips and letting him drink deeply of the healing draught. Bone seemed to knit itself back together before my eyes, but the one potion wasn’t enough. It took the other two potions to heal most of the damage done to the unfortunate stallion. I took care with the bandages, using two to wrap the earth pony’s wound, which looked raw still. At least he wasn’t in life threatening danger any more.

“Are you okay? What’s your name?”

“I-I’m all right now. Thanks. I’m Gun Runner, of Gun Runner’s Arsenal.” I gave him a blank look. I had a feeling I was supposed to know the name, but if I was I couldn’t see why. “You have heard of Gun Runner’s Arsenal, right? Best weapons north of Ponyville? I deliver anywhere?” Still a blank stare on my end. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Where the hell have you been? Living out in no-pony’s-land?” More blank stares from myself.

The stallion facehoofed. “I don’t got time to deal with your shit. Thanks for healing me, but I gotta make a delivery.”

“Delivery?” I cocked my head to the side. “Who would possibly need a delivery to a ruined library?”

“Some scientist-type. I dunno all the details, I just need to make the delivery. The other day I had this pony come in, real bitchy pegasus, you know how they are. Anyways, she plops down more dough than is necessary and says to deliver these things to here to somepony named Bright Idea. Sounded like a setup, but money is money, you know?” I was mildly taken aback by the intended recipient.

“Um… that’s me.” Gun Runner looked at me skeptically, but fished a brown package out of his saddlebag. “Uh… do I owe you anything?”

“Nah, everything was paid for up front. Since I’ve made my delivery, I’m outta here. If you’re smart you’ll leave too. This here’s raider turf.”

“Raider turf?” The only response from Gun Runner was a sad shake of his head before he poked his head out the library door and slipped out a moment later.

I was alone with my mysterious package. I sat and stared at it for the longest time. Finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I unwrapped it unceremoniously. Beneath the rough parchment wrapping was a white lab coat, looking pristine and fresh-pressed. I gently lifted the coat in front of myself and inspected it briefly before putting it on. A perfect fit. Beneath the lab coat was a saddlebag. This in-itself is something I would have considered to be mundane, but emblazoned on the side of each pouch was my cutie mark.

I slowly traced the image with a forehoof, inspecting the image of a blank blueprint. Above said blueprint was a yellow lightbulb with three tiny lightning bolts coming off of it. Whoever sent this knew me. I couldn’t figure out who would send me a package without putting their name on it though. Rainbow Dash maybe? I shook my head and hoisted up the saddlebag. Again, a perfect fit.

My PipBuck gave a quick notification that it had sorted my inventory before the text blinked away. Curious, I flicked through the various screens on the device before coming to rest on a weapons index. One magical energy pistol. With disgust, I levitated the weapon out of the bag and dropped it on the ground. What would I need a gun for?

Flicking through for more listed items my PipBuck informed me that I had a small supply of magical energy packs, which joined the weapon on the floor. Honestly, who thought arming me was a good idea? I scanned the other tabs of my inventory sorter in the PipBuck, which somehow knew what I wore, and only found one other item of note. Well not an item, really. It was an audio file, which my PipBuck immediately recognized and downloaded. I hesitated only a moment before deciding to play the file.

"Why so blue, Bright? Heh… You probably hate that joke by now. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but you’ll want to pick up that gun and ammo that you probably dropped out of the saddlebag. You’ll need them. Listen, things outside are going to be super-duper scary but I believe in you. I need you to head to Sugarcube Corner. There’s something important you need to get. I can’t tell you what it is yet, but you’ll know it when you see it. Goodbye. Be careful."

There was a sadness in Pinkie’s voice that brought some moisture to my eyes. Whatever was going on had her worried. I picked up the magical energy pistol and ammo (grudgingly, I might add) and placed them back into my saddlebags. With a final sigh, I moved to the library’s exit and entered an Equestria I couldn’t have ever expected.

***

Outside the library was just as bad as the inside, if not worse. Buildings all along the street I was on were disheveled and worn. A few of the buildings were essentially gone, nothing but rubble and small chunks of wall to indicate where a building once stood. I couldn’t help but wonder where the hay I was as I trotted past a headless griffin statue and down the street.

I couldn’t help but worry a little bit as I wandered down the street. I hadn’t seen a single pony save for Gun Runner back in the library. I mindlessly kicked an empty bottle as I walked. My eyes tracked the bottle nonchalantly before being torn away by movement further ahead. A winged, gray orb floated down the street towards me. I watched the thing as we moved toward each other, though it seemed fine with ignoring me. As it came closer, I realized the head-sized orb played an instrumental melody mixed with a light static.

It continued its jaunty instrumental as the orb-thing passed me. I watched it for a ways before continuing my walk towards… somewhere. I groaned in frustration.

“Where the hay is everypony?” I grumbled to myself as I walked. At the very least I should see something that would give me an indication of- Was that a scream? I stood rigid and listened for a moment before I heard the sound again.

“Somepony help me!” A mare’s cry spurred me into action and I took off into a gallop towards the sounds of distress. “Help!” I was getting closer. I cut into an alley, which I found was the source of the calls.

Near the end of the alley was a unicorn mare whose hind legs had been trapped by the remains of one of the dying buildings. I took no time in moving to help, telekinetically lifting as many of the bricks as I could.

“Are you okay? Don’t move too much, okay?” I tried being gentle as I lifted the debris. I spoke gently, hoping to avoid panicking the mare. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how bad the damage would be.

“Thank you. I-I was just walking home when the part of the building kinda just… fell on me.” The pale yellow unicorn began helping to shift the rubble as well. “I-I’m surprised anypony was willing to help me.”

“What for? Is there nopony living around here?”

“Just the raiders. They like to ambush ponies when they least expect it.”

“Raiders? Are they like a gang of hoodlums or some… thing…?” I looked up at the mare to see a weapon in my face. The pale yellow unicorn held the wicked machine perfectly level with my eye. “What are you doing?” I struggled to keep the panic rising to my throat out of my voice.

“Goddesses are you dense. Who the fuck falls for this ploy? Sledge! Ripper! We got a real genius on our hooves here!” As if being summoned by the mare, two other ponies stepped out from shadows I ignored when running to her aid. One, a dirty stallion, carried a massive looking sledgehammer in his mouth while the other, another mare, carried a particularly sharp looking knife.

“I-I don’t understand. What’s going on?” My voice rose a few notes in scale as I began to panic.

“We’re robbing you, dumbass.” The pale yellow mare spoke with an exasperated tone.

“What?!” My voice hit a pitch that would have rivaled Rarity’s. “Why?!”

“Ugh. Fuck it. Let’s just kill the idiot and loot his corpse.”

I bolted. I heard the word kill and that was all it took. I galloped as fast as my legs would carry me. I heard shouting behind me right before the wall next to me was lit up with a rat-a-tat of bullets slamming into it. I was beyond panic. I was in complete I-don’t-want-to-die-why-are-they-doing-this-why-me mode. I ran. I ran and ran, ducking into a ruined home when I thought I had put some distance between the pursuers and myself.

I struggled with catching my breath as I briefly surveyed my surroundings for a place to hide. I had taken refuge in somepony’s ruined home. The living room offered no place to hide. I dashed down the hallway and cut right into a bathroom. I slammed the door shut and locked it with my magic before cowering in the bathtub.

There was indistinct shouting outside the house, followed by the front door smashing open. I let out a slight yelp at the sound and lowered myself down into the tub as far as I could manage to squish myself. Please don’t find me. I silently willed the ponies to go away and let me live.

“Come on out!” A deep voice called for me. “I promise we won’t hurt you. We’re just gonna take your stuff and break your legs!” The pony in the house with me let out a deep, raucous laugh as he moved past the room I hid in. Maybe he wouldn’t check here. Maybe he’d move on and give me a chance to hide out until it was safe enough to flee far away.

No such luck. The door exploded inward with a powerful apple buck and a shrill scream which turned out to be my own. My mind fumbled for the magic words that would save my life while my magic fumbled for the only weapon in my saddlebag. My magic won that race.

“Stay back! I have a gun!” I pointed the boxy weapon at who I assumed by his weapon and matching cutie mark could only be Sledge. “I don’t want to hurt you!” He stepped forward, laughing around the bulky weapon. “I mean it!” He moved closer and raised his weapon high. I shut my eyes and screamed, reflexively pulling the trigger repeatedly.

I don’t know how many shots I fired, but when I opened my eyes, the stallion known as Sledge was clearly dead. Multiple scorch marks covered the unfortunate stallion and the wall behind where he was standing. Sweet Celestia, I'm going to the moon for this.

After slightly recovering use of my legs I stepped from the tub, which now held urine in the bottom, and left the room, forcefully repressing the fact that I had murdered somepony until I was no longer in danger.

I peeked out the bathroom door, spotting nothing. I slowly made my way to through the rest of the house. In the kitchen I noticed an unopened box of snack cakes left in the mostly cleaned out cupboards. My stomach pointedly reminded me that I didn’t know when I last ate. I hesitantly added the cakes to my saddlebag. Just another reason for Princess Celestia to exile me.

“So you managed to get Sledge, huh?” A cold chill went down my spine as I slowly turned to face the voice. It was the mare who had been hiding with Sledge earlier, Ripper. My mouth went dry as I tried to explain things.

“I… I didn’t want to…” The rest of my explanation caught in my throat as Ripper charged forward, knocking me to the ground and pinning my legs down with her hooves. She unsheathed the knife on her shoulder, a look of glee in her eyes. “Please don’t d-“ My plea was cut short by my bloodcurdling scream as she dug the knife into my right foreleg.

“Scream louder for me.” Ripper leaned in close, whispering the words almost seductively. I was forced to oblige as she returned to the knife in my leg and twisted it. Through the blinding pain, a sliver of instinct forced its way to the surface. My magic fumbled for my gun as Ripper continued to whisper her sweet nothings into my ear.

“Keep screaming! I love it when you scream!” Ripper’s cries were nearing euphoric tones. My vision was starting to dim when she yanked the blade from my leg and plunged it into my abdomen, just below the ribcage. “Yes! Bleed for me!” The pain awakened a part of me that I would have never known existed. This wasn’t how I was going to die! Pinkie Pie needed me to get to Sugarcube Corner and as Celestia as my witness I silently swore I wouldn’t let her down!

Ripper was moaning in ecstasy as she tore the blade free from my body. I took my opportunity and craned my head in an attempt to get at anything in reach. By some miracle the thing I managed to reach was Ripper’s leg, which I bit down upon as hard as I could. My attacker cried out in surprise, though I’m not sure if it was necessarily a bad surprise for her at that point. Ripper’s leg buckled, and I rolled to the side, spilling Ripper to the floor.

The mare let out a psychotic laugh. “I love it when they struggle.” Ripper grinned manically as she stood, abandoning the knife. Before she made a move, I lowered my head and charged forward with a primal yell. My charge was stopped short by the surprisingly sturdy body of Ripper.

Time stopped and I realized I had made a mistake. I accepted the finality of my actions. I was going to die here. As if to confirm the thought, blood trickled down my head and dripped to the floor. It pooled around my hooves and spread across the floor, holding me in rapt attention.

Then time started moving again for me. Ripper flopped sideways and it was only then I realized that there was a gaping hole in the mare’s throat. Her body twitched as the last vestiges of life slipped away from it. I stepped back, watching the blood spread slowly across the tile of the kitchen. A noise from another part of the house pulled my attention away from the macabre sight.

I stepped out of the kitchen, pulling the magical laser pistol from my saddlebag and carrying it at the ready. Every step was a struggle; every breath a labor. I was running on pure adrenaline at this point, and I still had one more raider pony looking for me. I left the house behind, hoping to put some distance between myself and what would surely be the source of nightmares for the rest of my life.

“So… you’re still alive?” Horseapples. “I didn’t expect that from a goody-goody like you.” I turned around, facing the yellow mare. “I’d threaten to make this slow for what you did to Sledge and Ripper, but honestly I don’t think that’s possible.” She advanced slowly, with the grace and assuredness of a lioness that knew its prey wouldn’t escape. The medical warnings flashing in the corners of my visions only confirmed her right to do so.

“I don’t suppose you could let me go? I’m having a really bad day.” I spoke in earnest. The yellow mare chuckled lightly, a sweet giggle in the empty street.

“You and I both know that can’t happen.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled. The mare raised her weapon, ready to finish the fight. I quickly weighed my options and took the most appealing one. I ran.

A spray of gunfire followed in my wake, a few bullets finding their mark in my hind leg. I fell to the ground in agony and desperately tried crawling away. My body was having none of that. I turned my attentions to the advancing mare, idly noting that I wouldn’t even know the name of my killer as I squeezed off as many shots as possible.

Most of these shots missed, but they forced my would-be killer to take evasive actions. I kept up the pressure as I used my working legs to shuffle backwards. The mare’s return fire nearly put a volley of rounds into my head, one bullet coming close enough to take a bit of my ear off. As more pain joined the chorus that was already racking my body, an idea struck me. I stopped firing, dropped my weapon, and went limp.

Hesitant hoofsteps echoed off the buildings as the yellow mare approached. “I will say this: for a goody-goody you nearly had me. I hope you have something good for me after all this work.” She was standing over me, gloating with the gun pressed into my gut. Her expression matched her tone as she squeezed the trigger and forced the last round her gun held into my already wounded form. “Oh… Looks like I do get to drag this out. Goody.” She ejected a long boxy protrusion from her gun and pulled a new one from her mane.

That was all the time I needed to reach out with my magic and lift my own weapon up behind her head. I let loose with the last few shots of my own weapon. The first shot caused her weapon to drop in shock. The second shot tore a scream from her throat. The third caused an orange corona to envelope the psychotic mare before turning her and everything she carried to ash. My fourth shot hit the pavement behind me, and the fifth simply let off a slight clicking noise.

My weapon clattered to the ground. I was spent and, according to the warnings flashing in my vision still, dying in the street. Shadows began to bleed back into my vision as the horrific world I found myself slipped away. My last thoughts were of an angel ponies’ hoofsteps as they approached to carry me to the afterlife.

***

I sat dutifully outside the schoolhouse, waiting for Sponge Cake to be let out. As always the bell rang on time. A gray maned Cheerilee waved as she opened the door for her students. I waved back, waiting for my daughter like clockwork. She was the last one to leave. As we walked home Sponge Cake was silent.

“What’s wrong, Sponge? Did something happen at school?” I slowed my pace a bit as she sniffled. “Sweetie? What is it?”

“The others all made fun of me today at recess. They said I was a baby for not having my cutie mark.”

I sighed, fully expecting this conversation someday. “Do you think you’re a baby?”

“I’m not a baby!”

“Then you’re not a baby.” My tone was matter-of-fact. “Listen, just because you don’t have your cutie mark doesn’t mean you’re any less special. Finding your special talent is something important, yes, but it’s not something you can rush. Did I ever tell you I was made fun of for not having my cutie mark in school?”

“Really?” Sponge Cake stopped in her tracks. “What did you do?”

“I told the bullies that it didn’t matter to me. My cutie mark would show up when I was good and ready.”

Sponge Cake huffed in frustration. “There’s no way that worked.”

***

I awoke lying in an unfamiliar bed and staring at a ceiling as I wondered what I could say to Sponge Cake to cheer her up. It took a few moments of blinking at the unfamiliar ceiling before it sank it that my daughter was not here. I attempted to force myself to sit up, but pain decided for me that sitting was out of the question.

“Ah reckon it’s about time you woke up.” An unfamiliar voice with a country twang interrupted my solitude. I turned my head to the voice, which belonged to a chestnut mare with a brilliantly blonde mane. “You took a serious beatin’ today. I’m kinda shocked I ain’t talkin’ to a corpse right now.”

“You saved me?”

“Yep. Mostly anyway. ‘Nother healing potion and you’ll be feeling as sunny as a summer day. Speakin’ o’ which…” I felt a cool sensation touch my lips before a warm liquid splashed down my throat. “There ya go…” I started feeling better immediately. The pain in my abdomen subsided, and I sat up slowly.

“Thank you. I don’t know what was wrong with those pon-“ Memories of my day flooded back, and my head dropped in shame.

“I know that look. First time killin’ a pony?” I looked towards the wall, away from my savior. “Yeah, I figured. That’s a good thing though. Guilt means I saved a good pony.” I shot a confused look at my host. “You must be new here. See, what you were dealin’ with weren’t no ponies no more. They were what ya call raider ponies. Nutcases who don’t care for nothing but killin’ and lootin’ innocent ponies like yourself.”

“But why hasn’t Princess Luna stepped in and helped to solve the violence here? The rest of Equestria can’t be this bad.”

The mare gave cocked her head to the side with an inquisitive look. “You’re a queer one, ain’t ya? Ain’t been no Equestria for ‘round two-hundred years now.”

Level Up!

Perk Gained:

Quick Hooves: Quick thinking only keeps you alive if you have quick hooves! +1 to Agility.

3. Learning

Chapter 3:

Learning

”Facts and figures, I recite with ease!”

“Now, if you wanna survive out in the wasteland, you gotta be willin’ to start a fight. Lotsa stuff out here will kill ya just as soon look at ya.” Searchlight, my rescuer from yesterday, was taking the time to ‘show me the ropes,’ as she put it. In essence, she was using me to help her dive into a dangerous ruin that required the use of magic to traverse deeper into. In return, however, Searchlight was giving me some healing potions, ammunition, and a twenty percent cut of anything useful.

Searchlight emphasized her point by trotting up to an unusually large insect and stomped on it with both forehooves. “That there’s a radroach. Er… was a radroach. They ain’t nothin’ to worry about on their own, but they can be nasty in groups.” As if on cue, another radroach entered the hallway we were in, looking for a pony-flavored snack. “You wanna take this ‘un?”

“You want me to shoot it, or…”

“Just give it a good ol’ squish. Ain’t no reason to waste the bullets. Besides, ya never know what else is lurkin’ in the shadows. Best ta try and go in all sneaky like.”

I nodded and approached the radroach. It skittered at me as if to meet my challenge. Smashing it with my forehooves was simple, though kind of gross. “Bleh. I didn’t expect its guts to be so slimy.” I vigorously wiped my hooves on the dirty hallway carpeting with little success in removing the gunk.

Searchlight chuckled at my disgust and nodded her head down the hallway. “C’mon. Ain’t much further ‘til we get to where I’ve been needin’ some help.”

“So what exactly is it that you need a second pony for?”

“There’s a turret.”

“A turret. Um… I’m afraid to ask but why do you need another pony to help you with a turret?”

“It’s still active.”

I really didn’t like where things were going. “So… elaborating on what I’m needed for…”

“I need somepony to act as a decoy.”

“A decoy… you want me to be bait and draw the fire of a machine with a targeting talisman specifically designed to target and kill anypony who tries to enter the restricted area it was set up in?”

“Eeyup.”

I dropped my head and sighed. “I’m only doing this because I owe you my life, you know.”

“I know. I promise I won’t let anythin’ happen to ya. I jus’ need to get behind it long enough to turn it off.”

“If you say so.” I huffed as we trotted onwards to what I could only hope was something worth risking life and limb for a pony that was essentially a stranger. “Any chance we could just shoot the turret first?”

“Ponies will pay good for functioning turret parts. Like I said, the wasteland’s a dangerous place.” Searchlight shot me a look that said I know what I’m doing, please stop with the questions. I followed in silence until we arrived at the turret she spoke of.

“So… you want me to walk in front of it, or did you have a better idea than that?” I poked my head into the room just enough to get a rough idea of what I was up against. The hallway we had been walking down ended in just one doorway. On the other side of the doorway was what had to be some sort of conference room, complete with a large mahogany table and rolling chairs. The turret was affixed to the floor on the far side of the room in front of another doorway.

“Well, unless you got another idea, I was hopin’ you’d run an’ take cover behind that there table. While you do that, I can sneak around and disable the turret.”

“What if it targets you after I take cover?”

“Then I s’pose you’d have to turn off the turret.” Searchlight rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “You any good with machines?”

“Yes, but most machines I’ve dealt with weren’t weapons actively attempting to kill me.” I shot her a deadpan look as I spoke. “Why are we looting an office building anyway? Why aren’t we looking for a grocery shop or a pharmacy? It has to be easier than this.”

“Mostly ‘cause raiders usually control the spots like that. Unless you got a way to get past crazy ponies, buildings like offices are more likely to have stuff still.”

I let out a groan of frustration. “Fine. Ready?” I asked her before I knew whether or not I was ready myself. Searchlight simply smiled and nodded. “Go!” I ran with a scream as I made my way to the relative safety of the conference table. It looked sturdy enough to stop bullets, and I sincerely hoped my estimations proved true.

The turret whirred to life the moment I was in the room, leaving a trail of damaged wall and floor in my wake. Searchlight slipped in much less dramatically, keeping low to avoid the targeting talisman prioritizing her rather than myself. I dove for cover behind the table, and the turret immediately ceased fire. I let out a sigh of relief. Searchlight was remaining out of sight from the turret, but I knew she would need me to attract the turret’s fire again if she was going to make it past the turret.

Searchlight stopped and glanced back at me, silently giving me a cue to hop out of cover again. I took a deep breath to still my nerves, but before I could move, a panel slid open from the ceiling and another turret lowered itself into the room.

“Aw shit!” Searchlight swore as a volley of bullets let loose from the unexpected second turret, forcing her to roll underneath the table as best she could. The movement brought the attention of the first turret, which opened fire as well. Searchlight let out a cry of pain as one of the turrets found its mark.

“Hang on Searchlight!” All thoughts of personal safety went out the window as I charged forward. The first turret returned its attention to me as I rushed in heedlessly.

In an instinctual effort, I reached out with my magic and started flinging as many chairs as I could between myself and the machine of death. The turret simply turned these into mulch. In an act of either brilliance or complete stupidity, I jumped onto one of the chairs that hadn’t been turned to splinters and fluff and rode it across the rest of the room. I slammed into the wall just behind the turret, but that didn’t mean it was done with me. It was perfectly willing to attempt to face the wall and tear me apart.

I reached out with my magic as quickly as I could, inspecting the machinery that made the turret run. I closed my eyes, focusing hard. I could feel every gear turn within the turret. Every movement was smooth, with no grinding whatsoever. A small part of me couldn’t help but to appreciate the craftsmanship and design of the machine trying to kill me.

That didn’t stop me from disabling three power couplings and dislodging the motor of the turret. Doing so caused a resounding snapping sound to echo louder than the gunfire in the room and smoke began to pour from the disabled turret. I quickly repeated the process with the second turret.

“Searchlight, are you okay?” I wasted no time in moving to the wounded mare’s side. She was bleeding from her left flank and her muzzle. “Oh goodness! Hold still!” I took out one of my healing potions and upended the purple liquid into her mouth. The healing effects were instantaneous as two bullets were pushed from Searchlight’s flank and the hole in her muzzle closed.

Searchlight simply smirked weakly at me. “I told ya it was a two-pony job.”

***

“All right, I’ll bite. How in what’s left of Equestria did you manage to disable these turrets with just a bit o’ magic?” Searchlight attempted to wipe some oil from her forehead, managing only to smear it more.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you just did your unicorn thing on not one but two turrets and you disabled them both without blowin’ up the good parts. How’d you know what not to break?” Searchlight had torn apart both turrets, salvaging the targeting talismans of both along with various scrap that she deemed good stuff.

“I don’t know. I just kinda did it in the heat of the moment. Normally I wouldn’t be able to do that nearly so quickly.”

“Well ya saved me, so thanks for that. I guess that makes us square, huh?” Searchlight’s gaze fell to the scrap she had organized on the floor. “If ya want, you can take your twenty percent and head out. It was good workin’ with you, Bright.” She scuffed a hoof across the ground. “So what’d you want for your chunk? I can give you one of these talismans. Or maybe you wanted some of this other good stuff?”

I tilted my head, giving the mare a shrewd look. “Why would I leave now? We still have more rooms to search. Besides, the last time I went outside alone I got stabbed and shot. At least together we stand a better chance of not dying.”

The Chestnut mare smiled appreciatively.

***

We made our way further into the building, stopping only to scavenge the offices we passed. I managed to find some extra magical energy cells for my weapon, and Searchlight managed to scrounge up some pre-war bits and some bottle caps (some ponies collected the weirdest things).

We didn’t speak much. Only enough to call who’s turn it was to squish the odd radroach or to announce what items we had found. Many of my items were deemed worthless by the more experienced scavenger.

“Hey Bright!” Searchlight’s voice stirred me from the desk I was poking through. “Come ‘ere a sec.” I obliged my companion and headed further down the room of cubicles we had found ourselves in.

“Yes? Is something the matter?”

“Nah. I just found an elevator.” The elevator in question seemed out of place. Most of the office was done in a traditional style, with wood and earthen colors (Pinkie was friends with Rarity. You pick up things after a while). The elevator was a metallic scar on the beige wall. Next to it was a small computer terminal. “You any good with computers?”

I stepped up to the terminal as Searchlight moved to finish sweeping the room for anything we missed. The computer had a password on it. Guessing the password would have been nigh impossible. I inspected the terminal closely. Maybe there was a reset? No, that would have been too easy. The only thing I found to be of any interest was a Stable-Tec logo.

My mind connected a convoluted series of dots that I doubted meant anything, but I shrugged and inspected my PipBuck. As it turns out, there’s a small panel just above the latch where somepony can use the PipBuck to interface with compatible Stable-Tec systems. It even came with a little cable to do so.

My PipBuck connected, it quickly pulled up a new debug screen, followed by a series of gibberish symbols and a few potential new passwords. Apparently the debug goes through a password check program to confirm valid users. A bit of guessing later (the password was clouds) and the computer granted me access to everything left in it. It wasn’t much though, simply a command to unlock the elevator.

“I’m done Searchlight. The elevator’s unlocked.”

“Wow, you are handy. I think you stickin’ around was a good thing.” She nudged me jokingly as we stepped into the elevator. “Third floor please. I’m lookin’ for make-up and dresses today.” I felt like I was missing the joke. I pushed the only other button that wasn’t the ground floor and the elevator began a slow descent.

The ride down was agonizing. I was trapped in a small metal box, where the only means of escape were either a tiny hatch above me into a narrow elevator shaft, or two sets of metal doors that would have to be pried open by force should the elevator become stuck. I tried to think of non-plummety thoughts as the elevator crawled its way downwards.

“You okay?”

“I’m… not a fan of elevators.” I blushed lightly at the confession.

“Well shoot, that ain’t nothing to be ashamed of.” Searchlight looked like she was trying to suppress a giggle. “We all got things we’re afraid of.”

“I’m guessing yours isn’t elevators though.” The door of the elevator opened, offering sweet relief from the ride down. I stepped out first.

“Nah. I don’t much care for bloatsprites though. Creeps me out when they eat stuff.” I had no idea what she was talking about. Searchlight didn’t seem like she was going to elaborate though.

The floor we stepped out into was much different from the upstairs. It reminded me of Stable 117 a little bit. Everything was metal, but care had been taken to make everything feel a bit homier. Rugs were placed on the ground, there were paintings on the walls, and there were even a few tribal zebra masks and statuettes.

“Well, I never expected to find somethin’ like this.” Searchlight broke the silence with an awed tone. “Think this is one o’ them stables?”

“I don’t know.” I hadn’t actually told Searchlight that I had come up from a stable about three blocks from our current location. I think she attributed my lack of knowledge about Equestria being gone to a head injury or amnesia. She never explained what happened to Equestria, at least.

“Ooh boy, if this here’s a stable, then we got ourselves a fortune to be had.”

“What if it’s dangerous?”

“Then we’ll know for sure there’s somethin’ good down here.” Searchlight had already taken two of the zebra statuettes and placed them in her saddlebags. She moved with a bounce in her step, like a filly on their way to the toy shop. “Well don’t just stand there! You gonna help me carry some o’ this?” I sighed and began looking for anything that Searchlight deemed valuable or useful.

We’d cleared two rooms and were working on our third one, all of which were lined with bunk beds. Searchlight was now carrying enough that her saddlebags were beginning to bulge, and had begun using my saddlebags for storage. Searchlight was happily humming to herself as she worked.

“I’m going to check the next room. Yell if you need me.” Searchlight simply waved a hoof, so I left her to adding to her bottle cap collection and headed into the room next door. I noted that there were two more rooms to go through after the one I was entering. What I found was a far cry from the previous two rooms.

Inside the new room was a really big computer. Now when I say really big computer, I mean that this machine took up the bulk of the room, leaving just enough space to cram a desk and chair in the room and have a single pony maneuver.

“Wow,” I gasped at the sight of the machine. “You’re so… beautiful.” I was mesmerized by the marvel of computer engineering before me. Built into the front of the computer was a small monitor and flip-down keyboard. I resisted these temptations for the time, attempting to size up the specifications of the machine. “Whoever built you deserves a medal.”

“Ya know, I’m sure you could get somepony to marry you two.”

“I’m just appreciating the work. I’ve seen blueprints, but they were just concepts back then. To think I’d find a Crusader Maneframe underneath an office building. I’m amazed there wasn’t an army guarding it!”

“Right… what’s a Crusader Maneframe?”

I facehoofed. I couldn’t help it. “It’s essentially a massive, thinking computer! I had the chance to help with some of the blueprints back in Canterlot, but it was all theory and concepts then.” I turned back to the impressive machine. “And I get to use it!”

“You sure that’s a good idea?”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” I clapped my forehooves together excitedly. It was like Hearth’s Warming Day! I took a deep breath and approached the monitor and keyboard on the Crusader Maneframe. It needed a password, but I’d discovered the workaround with my PipBuck earlier. To the Maneframe’s credit it took a good half-hour to finally find the password in all the lines of code, during which Searchlight excused herself to continue searching for valuables.

I was giddy with anticipation. What would the Maneframe hold? Blueprints? Information on the surrounding area? I was nearly bouncing as the main screen loaded up.

Activate: Y/N?

I rolled my eyes and hit the Y key. I was eager to see what the pinnacle of arcano-technological science had to offer.

Download Complete._

Activating Nightmare Initiative._

Waiting for System Initialization._

I stared at the small screen on the Crusader Maneframe for some time longer. “That’s it? I spent a half-hour of my life trying to unlock one of the most amazing machines I’ll ever see and all I get is a load screen?!” I banged on the computer with a hoof to no avail.

“What’s goin’ on with the computer?”

“It’s not doing anything! It’s stuck!”

“Well maybe it never got finished. Come on. I got one more computer for you to unlock, egghead.”

“Fine. Maybe this one will give me something for my time.” I grumbled to myself as I followed Searchlight. I couldn’t help but feel that it was a massive waste of time and energy to build such a powerful computer only to have it be so useless.

The computer Searchlight lead me to was much easier to crack than the Crusader Maneframe, but behind the door it locked was not the treasure trove we had been hoping for.

”Kill ‘em all! Let Celestia sort them out!” Just behind the door was a multi-limbed floating robot with a variety of weapons and tools at the end of said limbs. Behind that robot was the army I inquired about. A few dozen pony-like robots with glass-domed heads lined the walls of the room beyond.

Searchlight and I wasted no time in fleeing. A jet of flame chased behind us as the floating robot followed us from the room. Bolting down the hallway towards the elevator was not as easy as I had hoped. The multi-limbed robot floated behind us spouting pro-Equestria propaganda.

“Better wiped than Striped!”

Green balls of magical energy chased us down the hallway, one passing above me close enough for me to smell singed mane. Searchlight let out a cry of pain, and burned flesh joined the smells assaulting my nose.

We dove for the elevator, Searchlight slamming a back hoof into the button to go up as soon as we had cleared the doors. We were panting for breathe, and Searchlight had been hurt, but we were alive. Searchlight downed a healing potion, its healing effects working slower against the magical burns inflicted on her side.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Nothin’ another healing potion won’t fix. I think I got two more in here.” She fished out another potion from her saddlebag and knocked that back too. “I’ll need to replace this barding though. I still have a few sets of barding back at my shack.” Searchlight shed the leather barding she wore, revealing a cutie mark of a spanner. A part of me wasn’t surprised. The elevator gave a lurch and shuddered to a stop before I could ask how she got her cutie mark.

“What was that?” Panic took hold as I remembered that I was in a metal box that mocked gravity. A metal groan resonated through the elevator and it slipped downwards slightly. “That’s bad! I need out!” I began to pry at the elevator door ineffectually.

“Bright. Bright. Bright!” The third time Searchlight said my name she spun me around and smacked me with a forehoof. “I need you to calm down. We can get outta this, but I need your help.” I nodded. “I’m gonna give you a boost up through the maintenance hatch. Then you’re gonna help me up and we’ll go from there, okay?”

I flushed lightly. I had been foalish. I used my magic to open the maintenance hatch, and moments later we stood atop the elevator, which was a few feet shy of the ground floor. The elevator shifted again, spurring us to move quickly. Together, we were able to force the door open enough for a pony to slip through. Searchlight gave me a boost and I was back on solid ground. I turned and used both my forehooves to help Searchlight up. Before she could climb up the elevator gave way.

A high-pitched squeal echoed through the elevator shaft as the elevator picked up speed. “I’ve got you!” Searchlight hung over an abyss, the only thing keeping her from falling was my grip. I reached out with my telekinesis spell to try to help her climb up, silently wishing I had stronger magics in my repertoire.

“I trust you, Bright.” The cables of the elevator zipped downward, the snapped cables flailing wildly against the walls of the shaft above. Then they were past us. Then Searchlight was gone, and I was left holding a single leg.

I watched in horror as the rest of Searchlight plummeted after the elevator, which hit the bottom of the elevator shaft with a deafening crash. I will never forget Searchlight’s expression of shock as she disappeared into the void, a trail of crimson following her.

I was alone. I sat a few feet from the elevator shaft, replaying my last few moments with Searchlight over and over in my head. I kept trying to come up with a scenario where I could have saved her. I could have helped her up first. I could have been quicker. I could have been braver. I could have done any number of things that I didn’t.

Instead, I had let a pony die who didn’t deserve it. I wanted to scream. To yell. To cry. But right then wasn’t the moment to do any of these things. I sniffled lightly and turned my back on the elevator shaft that would now mark Searchlight’s grave. I turned and walked out of the building, which my PipBuck belatedly marked in its mapping program as Four Stars Accounting. As I walked away I made a silent vow to never allow another pony to die because of my mistakes.

Level Up!

Perk Gained:

Science Pony (rank 1 of 3): Your experience with computers comes in handy. Hacking computers is now 10% easier.

4. Monsters

Chapter 4:

Civilization

“Its two bits or nothing!”

I felt like a train wreck. I’d spent the last two days looking for some sign of civilization. While doing so, I caught the attention of some very nasty raider ponies who had spent their time hunting me. Checking my PipBuck, I took stock of my supplies. I was down to a single healing potion and roll of gauze for any injuries I might sustain, and a can of beans. My stomach gurgled, blackmailing me with the looming threat of giving away my latest hiding spot. I exhaled slowly, hoping that maybe this time I had lost my pursuers.

“Come out! We know you’re here!” No such luck. My current hiding spot was a small diner. I had taken refuge underneath one of the booth tables, shielding myself from view from all directions save one. The diner itself was on par with the rest of the area’s damage. Half the diner was nothing but rubble. The other half consisted of a few tables and booths and the kitchen in the back.

One of the raider ponies moved past my hiding spot, dangerously close to me. This particular raider was big. Roughly the same build as Big Macintosh. His weapon of choice was a peculiar setup built into his saddle. Flanking either side of the big pony were two shotguns, which I only knew because they had peppered me with their burning spray shots the previous day.

“He ain’t here Buckshot. Let’s check the next area.” Sweet Celestia, I’m safe! I thought as Buckshot wandered back to the entry of the diner muttering various profanities. I heard his hoofsteps cease. I waited for some time, wondering how far the raider pony had gone. The answer turned out to be not far. Both guns on the stallion’s saddle fired with a deafening retort. I yelled in surprise involuntarily.

“I thought so.” Buckshot said with a hoarse laugh. Hoofsteps began moving towards my hiding spot. No time to debate. I ran towards the nearest window and dove through. Another boom of the shotguns and a fresh burning sensation in my flank followed me out the window. I drank my last healing potion and galloped down the road.

I chest burned. My legs ached. The bulk of my time the last two days had been spent running, hiding, and (on occasion) fighting a lone raider or two. I hadn’t slept since Searchlight’s death. My PipBuck was annoying me with small warnings about sleep being necessary. Just a bit further. They can’t chase me forever. A small part of me couldn’t help but think that the raiders wouldn’t need to chase me forever.

I needed a plan. Something that would divert the raiders’ attention to something else. I slipped into another building, the whooping and hollering of the raiders following me inside. My PipBuck informed me I had entered Amber Waves’ Pub. Unsurprisingly, it looked ransacked.

I needed to think. Hiding wasn’t doing me much good. I needed an ambush. I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. I had minutes at most.

The pub was coated in graffiti and blood. To the left was a bathroom, minus the door. The dartboard on the wall near it had two knives thrown into it. I pulled them free and added them to my saddlebag. I jumped over the bar and poked my head into the kitchens.

There was no door out the back of the building. I wasn’t sure if this was good or bad yet. I found a cleaver and a woefully small revolver in the kitchen, the revolver containing all of three bullets in its cylinder. These weapons joined my saddlebag contents. I wasn’t finding anything that would help me hold out against my pursuers. A movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention.

My magical energy pistol was at the ready in an instant, pointed at an unfamiliar mare. She was clad in what could only be described as rags. I gasped in horror at her condition. She was beaten and bruised, with what could only be cigarette burns covering various areas of her body. Her hind legs had been chained to an industrial stove with crudely forged manacles that dug into her flesh.

“Luna have mercy! What happened?!”

The aqua colored mare turned her head towards me feebly and tilted her head upwards. A thin, pinkish scar ran across her neck. She couldn’t speak.

“I’m going to get you out of here, okay?” She looked away dejectedly, as if not expecting much.

I approached and gingerly lifted the chains, wondering how in Equestria I was going to release the mare. She let out a cry of pain and shuffled away from me. The manacles were causing pain at the slightest bit of movement.

“I’m sorry! I’m going to find something to cut the chains. I’ll be right back.” I stepped back and began scouring the kitchen for anything that could be used to cut through chain. On the other side of an island counter I found four bedrolls laid out. I found nothing of use.

“I can’t believe you lost him!”

“Me? Maybe if your dumb ass ran faster, you wouldn’t have lost him!”

“You both lost him! Maybe if you learned to fucking shoot!”

“Who gives a fuck? We can go raid Saddleville tomorrow. They’ll have more shit than one pony.” A familiar stallion with two shotguns on his saddle appeared in the doorway. I barely had enough time to hide behind the island counter before he entered. “Guess who gets to go first today, bitch.” There was a thud as his saddle hit the floor.

“Come here.”

The rustling of chains were the only response to the raider’s command. It wasn’t hard to figure out what Buckshot intended to do. I wouldn’t let him.

I slipped around the counter and pulled one of the knives from my saddlebag. Anger gave credence to my actions. Anger also made me foolish. I charged forward with a yell, leaping onto the back of Buckshot and plunging the knife into his neck.

The building exploded into a flurry of action. The other three raiders realized what was going on and opened fire. The captive mare shuffled backwards and tried to find cover. Buckshot bled everywhere.

I rolled off of the dying Buckshot and used him as a barrier. His supposed friends didn’t seem all that concerned with saving him as they unloaded everything to kill me. I dove for the island counter again, hoping the raider ponies would keep shooting at me and not towards the captive mare. Thankfully they did.

I pulled my magical energy pistol from my saddlebag and returned fire, rewarded with the cries of one of the raider ponies as they went down. I popped out a spent magical energy pack and went to reload. My PipBuck showed that I had no magical energy packs left. Shoot.

One of the raider ponies ran around the counter, brandishing a billiard stick. She brought the improvised weapon down hard, drawing blood. I had anger though. I seized the stick in my magic, tearing it and a tooth from the raider mare’s mouth and tossing it aside. I floated the small revolver out, put all three bullets in it into the mare’s forehead, and pulverized the top half of her skull.

That left the last raider pony to deal with. And he wasn’t shooting. I cautiously slipped around the counter. Shoot. The raider pony had a gun to the captured mare’s head.

“Dun’th Murve.” The speech was slurred, but the raider’s meaning was clear.

“Don’t do anything rash.” I dropped the spent pistol to the ground. “Just leave her out of this.” I took a step back. My mind was racing. I could charge him, but the raider would shoot her. Levitate something behind him? The magic might spook him and he’d shoot. Run? No way would I leave this mare in a raider’s custody any longer.

Seconds became hours as I raced to find a solution. The raider pony found a solution first and shot my foreleg. Though my PipBuck to the brunt of the impact, I still fell forward. The raider moved forward and laughed as he stowed his weapon.

“I’m gonna fuck you ‘til you beg me to kill you for what you did.”

I struggled to stand, but my injured leg wouldn’t have any of it. I looked about frantically for a solution, and to my surprise I found one. I wrapped my magic around Buckshot’s battle saddle and found the firing mechanism. The double blast knocked the saddle from my telekinetic grasp at the same time it removed the approaching stallion’s legs.

I let out a sigh of relief. I was bloodied, but alive. And the captured mare survived the bloody skirmish. After two or three tries I was even able to stand again.

“Now let’s get you free.” The mare stared at me with a mixture of hope and awe. I moved over to the battle saddle and after some finagling I managed to remove one of the shotguns.

“Don’t move, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt.” I moved to the mare and obliterated the chains. I didn’t want to mess with the manacles just yet. The mare stood shakily and gave me a grateful smile. Now that she was standing, I could tell just how bad her condition was.

She was underfed, her ribs showing through her fur. To say she had been simply abused would have been a woeful understatement. The poor mare would carry both the physical and mental scars of her captivity for the rest of her life.

“What’s your name?” The mare opened her mouth and clamped it shut again. Instead, she dipped a hoof into Buckshot’s pooled blood and wrote on the ground. Crystal Rose. “Pleased to meet you, Crystal Rose. My name is Bright Idea.”

***

Looting the pub hadn’t been nearly as fruitful as I had hoped. I managed to find some ammo for the small revolver and a bit of edible food in the form of a box of unopened cereal. Crystal Rose managed to find a mostly clean saddlebag, some strange meat (which she ate immediately), and a scattering of shotgun shells, so I gave Buckshot’s shotgun to her. The first thing she did with it was blow the previous owner’s head off in a fit of postmortem revenge.

Once we had loaded up with our meager supplies, it was back on the road. Crystal briefly stopped to draw a crude house with a rose in it, then two stick ponies with an arrow pointing to the house.

“You want to go home?” A nod. “Do you know how to get there?” Another nod. “Well then, lead the way.” I smiled in what I hoped was encouraging manner.

We walked in silence (limped if I’m honest), only pausing long enough for Crystal to draw another image for me to know what was coming next. By the time we had reached our destination, night was approaching.

“Hold it! One more step and you die! State your business.” A voice called out in the dimming light. I made out the silhouette of an earth pony with some sort of rifle in the distance. He was perched on a metal wall that looked like it had pieced together with whatever scrap was on hand.

“We don’t mean any harm,” I called back to the earth pony. “Crystal says she lives here.”

“Crystal who?” I shot a confused glance at my traveling companion.

“Crystal Rose? She was captured by raiders.” I was worried now. What if something had happened to Crystal’s home while she was captured? My fears were assuaged by a call to open the gate. Earth pony stayed on the wall, while two others moved just outside the gate with weapons at the ready.

“Well what are you waiting for? Get in here before we change our minds.” I didn’t need to be told twice. Crystal and I made our way through the gate before it shut behind us.

“Crystal?” A quivering voice called out to my companion. “Goddesses, it’s you! We all thought you were dead!” A cream colored mare with a golden mane ran forward and embraced Crystal Rose, tears streaming down her face. “My baby’s home.”

***

Crystal’s home was a small town called Saddleville. It was nestled under a bridge, but that hadn’t stopped raiders from around the area from regularly attacking. The populace, about nine families and some other stragglers, were a hardy bunch who regularly sent out scavengers to keep the town and its merchants supplied.

I was given a brief tour by Merlot, Crystal’s mother, who invited me to stay the night as thanks for bringing her daughter home. She flitted about the kitchen, torn between cooking and doting on her daughter. It was a warm sight and a light smile found its way to my face.

“When your scavenging party was attacked, we all feared the worst. I was heartbroken, you know. After your father passed…” Merlot sighed. “I’m just glad to have you back, love.” Crystal idled at a table, weathering her mother’s overly-affectionate ramblings as she waited for food. She gave a warm smile when she caught me looking over at her before miming wrapping something around her foreleg.

I shot a puzzled look before realizing what Crystal Rose meant. “Miss Merlot? Is there a medic in town by any chance? I’m fairly beat up after my last run in with raiders.”

“Of course, dear. Doctor Cough is just a few doors down the street. You can’t miss him.”

I excused myself from the table, though not without promising to return for dinner and a good night’s rest. Merlot had been right, the clinic was visible from her home. I limped my way to the clinic, doing my best to say hello to anypony who passed me by. I was largely ignored.

Doc Cough’s Clinic for Wounded Ponies was what the sign out front said. I entered a fairly simple clinic. Partially shielded by movable screens were a few gurneys and some medical equipment. I heard quiet murmuring coming from the back.

“Hello?” Movement from the back. “Is anypony here?”

“I’m coming. Keep your damn head on.” A gravelly voice replied, like somepony was gargling glass shards.

A moment later, the owner of the voice entered the room with a high pitched shriek of terror. No, wait… That was my shrieking. The owner of the voice wore a disheveled set of scrubs and had a stethoscope hanging about his neck. The terrifying part about this was that the unicorn before me looked (and smelled) like he was rotting away. The remaining bits of fur and mane he had were patchy, and looked like they could have been a gray or silver back when he wasn’t looking like an extra from a Roamero film.

“Yeah, I get that sometimes. Ya mind keeping it down? Others will think I’m torturing you.”

“I-I-I…”

“Yeah. I know. I’m what you call a ghoul. Massive doses of magical radiation do this to bastards who aren’t lucky enough to die. Did you come in to gawk, or are you hurt?” The ghoul seemed more annoyed about me wasting his time than the screaming. I imagine he was quite used to the latter occurrence.

“I-I’m hurt. I was hoping you could help me?” I choked down my initial shock and stammered out a response. The stallion walked a circle around me with a series of appraising sounds before he came to a stop in front of me and finished the inspection by checking my forehead.

“Well, it’s nothing life threatening. I could probably fix you up for about seventy-five.” I fished out a small bag of bits and passed them over to the ghoul. “That’s not going to cover it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe that bump on the head did more damage than I thought. You have the caps to cover this, right?”

“Caps? What do you mean?” Then it dawned on me why Searchlight collected bottle caps. “Oh. Shoot.” Who got to decide that bottle caps were the new currency of the world? “I, um… I don’t have any caps.”

“Ah jeez, another freeloader. Listen, if you don’t have the caps, I can’t help you.”

“Oh. Okay… I’ll just head back to Merlot’s.” I turned and limped away, unsure of what to do. Or say.

“Aw jeez. You look any sadder you might make an old ghoul cry. Tell ya what: you do me a favor and I’ll patch you up.”

“Done!” Its not like I had a choice in the matter.

“All right, hold still.” Doc Cough spent the next forty-five minutes patching me up. When he was finished he sat me down and explained what he needed done. Unsurprisingly, it sounded dangerous.

“I need a shipment retrieved. Problem is, its smack dab in the middle of a warzone. You bring it back to me and we’ll call us square.” I listened in silence as Doc Cough detailed where the shipment was. It was located in an area called the Trot, a stretch of road that was used as a trading route between Saddleville and Spire. The Trot had recently been home to multiple skirmishes between slavers and a small fighting force. When I pressed for answers on what the fighting force was, the doctor stated that he wasn’t sure who they were. Only that they only attacked the slavers and the occasional raider hideout in the area.

“Thanks for patching me up doctor. I’ll set out first thing in the morning to get the... What was it you needed me to get exactly?”

“It’s a small package with my name on it. Should be stashed in a blue dumpster in the Trot.”

“Was it supposed to be delivered?”

“Normally I’d get it myself but things have gotten too dicey for my old bones to risk it.”

“All right. I’ll bring your package back.”

With that, I left the clinic. My PipBuck pinged a notification and a little arrow popped up, directing me towards the blue dumpster’s general vicinity. I couldn’t help but be impressed with the technology incorporated into the PipBuck, but how in Equestria did it know where that specific dumpster was?

I knocked on Merlot’s door, waiting for the mare to answer before entering. Dinner was… interesting. The meal consisted of tiny hayburgers that Merlot called Bloatsprite Sliders, a slightly stale snack cake, and a glass of Wild Pegasus whiskey, which I declined in favor of some water. Merlot spent the entire meal gushing about how happy she was to see her daughter again, all the while helping herself to a startling amount of Wild Pegasus.

After the meal I explained the deal I had worked out with Doctor Cough, and that I would be leaving in the morning. Merlot nodded, though at that point I wasn’t certain she was actually following what I was saying. Still, the night wound down and I slept on the couch that night. As I drifted off to sleep I passively realized that this was the most comfortable spot I had slept in a few days.

***

“Hi there! I’m Pinkie Pie! Who’s ready to party?!” Pinkie stood behind a DJ booth, a white unicorn mare grinning next to her and readying a track for the party. The crowd erupted in cheers. Six months ago Princess Celestia had abdicated the throne to her sister, Princess Luna. Despite the war raging in other parts of Equestria and beyond, Pinkie Pie still managed to keep ponies smiling.

The unicorn, one DJ Pon-3, spun a record in the air before slamming it onto a turntable and assaulting the club with pulse-pounding music. The crowd lost itself to the beats and quickly transformed into a wild, controlled seizure, desperate to forget its day-to-day woes. A combination of theatrical magic, pyrotechnics, and stage lights kept the dance floor lit up with a display that matched the dancing of the ponies.

The party went on all night, only winding down when the first rays of an impending dawn began to show on the horizon. Ponies started drifting out the door, many stopping by the pink mare who had organized the event to congratulate her on the amazing time they had. I found myself at the bar nursing an orange juice and what would inevitably become a hangover.

“Hiya! I hope you had a super-terrific time tonight!” The pink mare had somehow appeared behind the bar, waving the barkeep off before he could protest. I couldn’t figure out how the mare had gotten from the dance floor to behind the bar without anyone seeing her slip over, myself included.

“I had a blast!” I grinned at the mare. “I just wish my friends at work could have come.”

“Why didn’t they? Everypony loves a good party!”

“Dance clubs aren’t really their cup of tea. Actually, a few of them thought I was pulling some sort of prank. Nopony believes me when I tell them I enjoy this scene.”

Pinkie Pie giggled, letting out a small snort. “They’re missing out then. Nopony leaves a Pinkie party with a frown!”

I laughed in response. I had to agree. This was the third… fourth? No third party I’d been to thrown by the pink mare. I hadn’t been disappointed yet. I voiced as much to Pinkie.

“I’m throwing another party here in two days. You should totally come check it out. DJ Pon-3 is gonna come back, and she says she’s been working on a new track that’s sure to blow you away!”

It was a tempting offer. “I’ll think about it. I’ve got to leave for Canterlot today, but if I’m back in Manehattan by then I’ll swing by.” I shouldn’t have even gone to the club tonight, but I needed to blow off some steam. I could sleep on the train anyway.

Pinkie stared at her hoof for a moment. “Huh. That’s a new one. I wonder what an itchy hoof means. Maybe it means I’ll see you again!” I tilted my head in confusion. “Sorry. Pinkie senses are going a bit fuddy duddy today.”

“Pinkie Senses?”

“It’s hard to explain. Maybe next time we see each other I can tell you about it.” Pinkie slipped back into the crowd, mingling with the other ponies still in the club before I could question her further. I just shook my head and headed to the train station.

***

I awoke to a silent house, staring at the ceiling and thinking on my first conversation with Pinkie Pie. If somepony had told me that someday I’d marry that mare after that, I would have laughed myself silly. I let a sad sigh escape my lips as I wondered how Pinkie Pie was doing. Just another painful reminder that I needed to get to Ponyville from… wherever in Equestria this area was.

The sounds of movement pulled me from my melancholy thoughts. I peeked over the back of the couch to see Crystal Rose packing some canned foodstuffs into her saddlebag.

“Where are you off to this early?”

She pointed at me with a hoof and then trotted in place.

“You can’t come with me. You just got back home.”

Crystal pantomimed gunfire before drawing 2>1 on a dusty table.

“I know two is greater than one, but your mother was worried sick. How do you think she’d feel if you went back into the wastes the day after getting home?”

I got a flat stare from the mare, as if I had overstepped my bounds.

“Sorry. I just mean that it’s going to be dangerous out there. What if you get hurt?”

She simply wrote in the dust again. ‘I owe you.’

“No.”

‘I’ll follow you.’

“I said no.”

‘Can’t stop me.’ Crystal was running out of dust.

“I’m not letting you come with me. I’m putting my hoof down. It’s too dangerous”

***

Crystal and I had a quick breakfast and then we were on our way. Merlot had slept in, never waking before we left. Crystal had written a short note saying she needed to go with me and left it for Merlot on the kitchen table.

“You know Merlot is going to blame me, right?”

Crystal’s response was a knowing smirk. I rolled my eyes, trying to at least pretend it wasn’t funny. We’d been walking through midday, and things were progressing smoothly. I stared upwards at the cloud layer as I walked, realizing that I hadn’t seen sunlight since waking up in Stable 117.

“Crystal, why haven’t the pegasi opened up the sky? I’m sure the plants down here could use the sunlight. It’d be a lot easier to grow some real food, too.”

Crystal gave me a look like I had been living in a hole in the ground. As she hastily scribbling in the dirt. ‘Bombs fell. Pegasus ponies closed sky. Never removed clouds.’

“Why would they do something like that?” The only response Crystal gave me was a shrug.

We continued onward, questions gnawing at me. I opened my mouth to ask some of said questions, but before I could speak my PipBuck informed me that I had discovered the Trot. It quickly added the location to its mapping programs.

“We’re here.” I looked about, taking note of the crumbling area. The road we were on was empty, save for some litter and a few scattered sky carriages. “Well, kind of. We’re in the Trot. Now to find that dumpster and get back to Doctor Cough.”

Crystal paused and drew two stick ponies shooting at each other before looking at me questioningly.

“The doctor said it was dangerous, but I don’t see anything on my Eyes Forward Sparkle. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious.” I scanned the area carefully, but there was no bars on my E.F.S. except for the green one that indicated Crystal. My stomach gurgled loudly. “Maybe we should stop and eat some lunch.”

We took shelter in an abandoned hobby shop for our meal. Our lunch consisted of some packaged noodles and my last couple of snack cakes. A small part of me felt guilty for just how poor my diet had been lately. Pinkie wouldn’t have let me eat such unhealthy meals without at least one good one to balance things out. My heart dropped a little at the thought of Pinkie Pie.

A hoof on my shoulder pulled me from my reverie. A questioning expression met my gaze.

“Sorry. I was just thinking.” A small lump formed in my throat. There had been a question floating in the back of my mind ever since Searchlight (my heart dropped a little more) had glossed over how the war had ended. “Crystal? How long ago did the war happen?”

Crystal thought for a moment before her reply. She traced a two-zero-zero in the filthy carpet.

“Two-hundred… weeks?” I quickly did the math in my head. That would mean the war had ended roughly four years ago.

Crystal shook her head before writing in the carpet again. ‘Years’.

I sat for a moment before chuckling. “You almost had me there. Two-hundred years…”

Crystal just gave me a concerned look and rubbed a hoof in the carpet to clear away her previous writing. ‘No joke’.

My laugh died in my throat. “You’re joking, come on.” Something about Crystal Rose’s expression made me back up. “That’s just crazy. Right?” My flank hit the wall of the store. I was trembling with… fear? Denial? Anger? I brought my forehooves to my temples before running them through my mane. I wanted to say something, anything, but the words couldn’t squeeze past the lump in my throat.

A hoof on my shoulder pulled me from the downward spiral my mind was threatening to jump into. I looked up into Crystal’s eyes, which were slightly misty with concern. She traced a hoof in the carpet again. ‘OK?’

“No! I am not okay!” Everyone I’ve ever known is dead. “I just found out I’ve been frozen for two centuries!” I’ll never see my loved ones again “I-I’m…” I broke down and sobbed into my hooves. I’m alone.

I felt a warm embrace. Opening my eyes, I was surprised to see Crystal Rose hugging me. Just like that, I was pulled to the present. I wasn’t over my existential crisis by a long shot, but I was grounded for the time being. I hugged the aqua mare back before disengaging myself from the embrace.

“Thank you, Crystal.” I gave a weak smile.

More carpet writing: ‘What happened?’

“Let’s get moving. I’ll tell you while we walk.”

***

I told her everything. My life, the family I had, waking up in Stable 117. As I explained the events that had occurred, we searched for the blue dumpster that contained Doctor Cough’s package. To my amazement, Crystal listened without acting like I was insane (which a sliver of me believed just may be the case as I recounted the last three or four days).

A tap on my shoulder brought me to a stop. Crystal pointed to a dumpster we had missed. Why did they all have to be blue? I sighed and headed over to the dumpster, magically opening it as I drew closer.

“I hope this is the right one. I’m tired of digging through… garbage.” I paused as my mind processed what I was looking at. “Shoot.” I had a short, two-barreled gun in my face. Attached to the weapon was a leather clad red pony with a brilliant orange mane. A quick glance at my E.F.S. showed that this pony was hostile. And that one. And the rest of the ponies emerging from hiding spots. I sighed. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts I hadn’t checked for hostiles.

“Looks like good doctor sent us some fresh blood. Drop your weapons and you’ll live.” A burly pink unicorn stallion spoke up, a clear tone of amusement in his voice. His cutie mark was a pony in chains. There were too many to argue with so Crystal and I complied. “Let’s get these two collared.”

A black pony stepped forward and fished two odd looking collars from her saddlebags.

“What are you planning to do to us?” I needed to stall. I needed to come up with a way to escape with Crystal. Fast.

“Sell you.” I didn’t expect that answer.

“Sell us? You’re slavers?” Raiders were bad enough, but now I had to deal with monsters who sold other ponies? I couldn’t think. Time was the only luxury I didn’t have and I needed more of it.

The black mare stepped forward, intent on putting the collar around my neck. As she drew close, there was a dull thudding sound. She was dead, a quivering arrow standing from her nape of her neck.

Chaos erupted. Gunfire filled the streets as a new group ambushed our ambushers. Crystal and I picked up our weapons and joined the fray. The slavers shouted to each other and soon had taken cover from their new enemy. Crystal and I had slipped behind the blue dumpster, avoiding getting caught by a stray bullet.

“You still have your shotgun?” I called to Crystal over the din. She nodded in response. “We need to take out the ones behind cover! Take the ones on the right, I’ll take the left side.” Crystal nodded, and we took off. I galloped to a brown unicorn who was paying attention to the attackers up the street. I slammed into him, knocking him into the crumbling wall he was using as cover. Before he could recover, I pressed the small revolver to his temple and fired two shots into his head, winking out his mark on my E.F.S.

I picked up his weapon (a compact, automatic weapon) and added it to my arsenal, holding the revolver in my mouth for the time being. Next was two slavers who had taken refuge behind a burnt-out sky carriage. I rushed in close, not trusting my lack of gun knowledge. I dispatched the first slaver with a barrage of rounds that turned his head to a fine red mist. The second was finished in a similar manner, emptying what remained of the clip.

Crystal was faring well, slipping through the slaver ranks and eliminating her foes with chilling efficiency. Most didn’t know she was there until she had already killed off their comrades. As I glanced over she was destroying a unicorn’s ribcage with a well-placed blast.

I stowed the automatic weapon and switched to the revolver again. The battle was ending. Many of the slavers were either already dead or fleeing. I let them run. I wasn’t going to shoot anypony who had surrendered. My rescuers pressed the advantage, two of them running after the fleeing slavers. I rejoined Crystal.

“Are you okay?”

Crystal gave a grim smile and nodded. She quickly scribbled on the dirty ground. ‘You hurt?’

“No. I was lucky.” I looked about the battlefield. Doc Cough wasn’t lying about the area being a warzone. Crystal began looting slaver bodies for ammo and other supplies.

“Looks like it’s your lucky day.” A white mare with a cyan mane and tail approached, clad in a heavy-duty looking black barding. On her side was an impressive looking revolver with an ornate wooden handle.

“Lucky day?”

“We’ve been hunting this asshole for about two weeks now.” She indicated the pink unicorn stallion from earlier, who had been hog-tied nearby. “Snuggles here has been ambushing travelers in the Trot for about two months now. You and your marefriend would have been sold off to goddesses know where.”

I stammered for a moment before responding. “She’s just a friend actually. I’m already married.” I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

“Right. So what brings you down to the Trot? It’s not exactly safe for a greenhorn like you.”

“I was hired to come down here.”

The mare raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you were hired to take out Snuggles.”

“No, I was picking up a package for the doctor in Saddleville.”

“A package? What kind of package?”

“I… don’t know actually.”

The mare shook her head with a laugh. “You fell for the oldest trick in the book, kid.”

“Huh?” I blinked in confusion.

“You were set-up, dumbass. The package doesn’t exist.”

It finally dawned on me. The slavers had been waiting for Crystal and me. They knew we were coming. I sighed in frustration.

“At least we were here to save your asses.” The mare chuckled. “I’m Hammer. Of Hammer’s Hitters.”

“Who?”

“We’re the best damn mercenaries this side of the Crystal Castle.” Hammer smirked. “You need something done, we’re the best ones for it.”

“Crystal Castle? The Crystal Castle?” I took a deep breath. I could deal with this. It was just a setback. I would just have to find a way to travel further than anticipated. I’d just need to find a way to keep moving forward. The world around me began to spin. I barely registered hitting the ground. My world faded to blackness.

***

I woke up on a lumpy cot. I lay there and pondered my next move. I could hop on a train and head south, assuming there were still trains. Perhaps there was a balloon to take somewhere? I could always walk, but that would take far too long for my tastes. I groaned and rolled over away from the wall I lay next to, only to be face-to-face with Crystal Rose.

“Where are we?” My voice nearly startled me as I sat up. Crystal was sitting next to my cot like a sentry on guard.

“You’re in the temporary home of Hammer’s Hitters. You passed out back in the streets.” Hammer strode into the room, no longer wearing her combat barding. Her cutie mark was a map with a small x in the right lower corner.

“I’m… dehydrated, that’s all.” I made up a lame excuse. “Thanks for not leaving me out there, though.”

“Don’t mention it. Besides, we didn’t get all the slavers out there. Saving you would have been a waste of time if you end up getting captured or killed during your nap.” Hammer smirked lightly at her own commentary. “Come on. You may as well meet the rest of the crew.”

Hammer lead me through a small building, which she described as a converted sky carriage repair shop. A quick peek at my PipBuck informed me that I was in Spanner’s Repair Shop. The mercenaries here had fortified the building, even putting up a turret they had affectionately named Sheila. The last stop was a small lounge.

“Time to meet the rest of the Hitters. This here’s Chop Shop,” A blue stallion with a cutie mark of a winged staff with two snakes entwined around it. “Trigger,” An orange mare with a crosshair cutie mark. “And Archer.” A yellow unicorn stallion with a bow and arrow cutie mark.

“My name’s Bright Idea, and my friend here is Crystal Rose.” I took a seat on a dusty cushion. “Thank you for rescuing us earlier.”

“Don’t mention it. I mean we’re pretty badass, so saving beautiful mares is part of the job.” Archer spoke up with a wink to Crystal.

“Easy there, Archer. You know what happened to the last one.” Trigger nudged Archer jokingly.

“Yeah, his nuts were swollen for a week!” Chop Shop chimed in with a guffaw.

“How was I supposed to know she knew Fallen Caesar?” Archer glared at the others, a hoof instinctively covering his more sensitive areas.

“All right, settle down.” Hammer took an authoritative tone, and the others immediately went silent. “We’ve got a new job. I turned Snuggles over to the Regulators. Turns out that Snuggles was more than willing to give up the location of his buddies in exchange for living. Needless to say, the Regulators helped him shuffle off his mortal coil after they had the information they needed. Tomorrow morning we set out to finish off those fucking slavers.”

“I’m coming with you.” The words tumbled from my mouth with no regret. Something about taking out slavers felt right. Like I was fixing a small bit of the world.

Hammer smirked at me. “Don’t expect to get paid for this.”

Level up!

Perk gained:

Cavalry: The cavalry has arrived! Gain a 5% damage bonus whenever you are above 80% health.

5. Mistakes

Chapter 5:

Mistakes

"How can I forgive myself?"

I could smell rain in the air. That subtle change in the scent of the outdoors that signified the inevitable downpour of a storm. It was always a pleasing scent to me, but this time it wasn’t welcome. It felt ominous to me, rather than the cleansing rainfall I used to experience in Ponyville. I chewed my lower lip out of apprehension.

We were hunkered down on the second floor of what used to be somepony’s home when the first rumbles of thunder rolled overhead. Hammer was looking through a pair of binoculars, trying to ascertain a rough estimate of what we would be facing in the encroaching darkness.

According to her, the slavers were well fortified. They had erected a wall of abandoned sky wagons and scrap metal in front of the building they called home. Hammer pointed out at least one sniper on the roof, which would make charging across the street suicide. The rest of the Hitters were laying out a plan of attack together.

“I’m telling you, the roof is the best way in. Slip in, take out the sniper, and wipe out everything systematically.” Archer spoke with a cocky tone, as if he had done this a hundred times before.

“And I’m telling you that it’s fucking suicide to scale a building full of armed slavers at night in the rain!” Chop Shop kept his volume to a harsh whisper as he made his point. “I’m tired of patching you up because you decide the most dangerous path happens to be the best one!”

“Well, we could always try charging the front door. We’ve done it before.”

Chop Shop smacked a hoof against his forehead. “That’s usually a last resort. Again, I’m the one fixing you when it happens.”

Crystal and I sat quietly nearby. Crystal had taken to trying to draw a map of what she could see of the medical clinic the slavers had taken control of. She diligently traced a hoof through dust, using scraps of debris to mark the slavers that Hammer had pointed out on the map.

‘Basement?’ Crystal wrote next to her map. She looked to me questioningly.

I shrugged in response. “Maybe?”

I was nervous. Gut-twisting, uncomfortable nervous. What I was about to take part in felt right, though, so why was I so bothered? I looked up at the ceiling, the sound of rainfall beginning to permeate the room we had occupied, wishing the answer would just come to me.

“Hitters! Showtime.” Hammer’s words cut through my thinking before an answer could reach me. “Trigger, you’re on longshot detail. Take that sniper down on my mark and keep pressure on anypony who tries to poke a head up. Archer. You, Bright, and Crystal are going in through the back quietly. As soon as you’re in, sweep towards the front of the building and help Chop and me. We’re going to push up to the front entrance and keep the fire focused on us.” The commanding mare looked at each of us for a moment. “Any questions? Good. Get moving.”

Nopony questioned Hammer’s orders or plan.

***

Archer, Crystal, and I crouched behind a dumpster (blue again) and waited for our signal. Archer seemed to be itching for his cue, as he constantly shifted his weight to position himself for what he called “optimum stealth sprinting”.

“All Right Trigger. You have the sniper in your sights?” Hammer’s cool voice came over the ear bloom that had been loaned to me.

“Yes, ma’am.” Trigger’s voice carried an inkling of an accent. Manechester maybe?

“Okay then. Three. Two. One. Mark.”

A sharp crack could be heard over the sound of the rain, like thunder overhead. Whatever rifle Trigger was using sounded monstrous. I silently thanked Celestia that I wasn’t on the receiving end of it.

“Sniper’s down, cap’n. Slavers don’t seem to be reacting to the sound, though.” Trigger’s pleasant accent slid out of the ear bloom again. “Shall I rile them up?”

“Fire at will. Let’s send these assholes to Tartarus.”

A second crack of rifle fire pierced the rainy night. Followed by a third. By then, yells started to filter though the rain. Cries of an attack, followed by orders to take cover. All the while, Trigger listed off each shot.

“Head. Collarbone. Neck. Head.” Trigger had adopted a smooth firing pattern, which punctuated the air with a rhythm of death. This rhythm was accompanied by a melody of automatic fire. It wasn’t as loud, but the sounds clearly provided a harmony to Trigger’s rhythm.

“Archer. Move in.” Hammer gave her order.

Archer didn’t need to be told twice. He took off running, Crystal and I hot on his hooves. Upon reaching the back door, Archer floated out a small screwdriver and a bobby pin. Inserting the bobby pin into the lock, he carefully manipulated his tools until he was rewarded with a satisfying click of an unlocked door.

We slipped in quietly with Archer in the lead. The back of the clinic had cages along the walls, each holding ponies awaiting their fates.

“We have to help them.” I whispered to Archer who waved me off.

“We can help them after we take out the fuckers who caged them.” Archer whispered back.

“Help us!” A pale gray filly cried from one of the cages. “I don’t wanna be here!”

“Shhh…” I shushed the filly before she could attract attention, slipping close to her cage so I could whisper to her. “We’re going to come back for you all, okay? But right now I need you to be super-duper quiet so we can make the bad ponies go away. All right?”

The filly nodded, tears filling up her hazel eyes.

“Come on, Bright. We don’t have time for this!” Archer barked from the doorway, scanning ahead for stray enemies.

“I’ll be back for you.”

We moved down a short hallway, passing converted medical rooms that now housed bedrolls and personal effects of the slavers. Things were dirty here, but it was easily distinguishable from a raider hideout. There was significantly less gore and graffiti painting the walls. The linoleum floor was cracked and peeling with age, revealing the concrete beneath it. A few of the posters from when the building was a clinic still hung on the walls.

One eye-catching poster sported Fluttershy upon it. In the picture, Fluttershy was smiling. Behind her was another pony putting a bandage on a filly’s leg. Below the kindhearted mare read The Ministry of Peace needs ponies like you!

“I swear to the Godesses, Bright, if you don’t get moving I’m putting you in a cage ‘til we’re done.” Archer spoke harshly, apparently annoyed with my delays. Crystal simply shot me a worried look before nodding her head to the end of the hallway.

The mare had been gifted a battle saddle (I had unwittingly guessed the name correctly) by Hammer, who declared that the combat shotgun Crystal carried was too unwieldy to use without one. Chop Shop had chucked and offered to replace her forehooves with griffon claws.

We stopped shy of the doorway at the end of the hallway. The door was shut, but it was clear that a majority of the gunfire heard was in the next room.

“Any time you want to jump in and help, Archer.” Hammer’s voice crackled through the ear bloom to remind us of our mission here.

“We’re on it already! Sheesh, you’re as bad as my mother.” Archer grumbled a reply before cracking the door open, pulling a pin out of a metal apple, and tossing said apple through the doorway. Cries of surprise were heard a moment later, followed by an explosion that shook some of the plaster from the ceiling above us.

Archer threw the door open wide for me and Crystal to charge through. Four of the slavers lay dead from the metal apple. Five others turned to us with murderous intent. Crystal’s shotgun created a reverberating bass to the opera of death that the clinic had become. My own revolver joined the mix (thanks again to Hammer giving me some ammunition for ‘payment’ instead of the caps the Hitters would receive) along with the whisper of Archer’s arrows. In moments, the five joined their comrades in death.

“There! We fucking helped! The slavers are dead! There’s blood everywhere! Are you happy, Hammer?!” Archer yelled into his ear bloom loud enough for me to wince and remove my own. I have no idea what Hammer’s response was, but it seemed to deflate Archer. “Okay. Fine. I’ll let them know.”

The stallion turned his attention to Crystal and me. “Hammer says loot whatever you want. We’re taking some of the stuff, but we can’t carry it all.”

“What about the ponies locked up?”

“Let them go for all I care. I’m just here to do a job.”

Hammer and the other’s entered through the front door, which promptly fell off its hinges. She looked at the carnage in a manner that seemed to be almost appraisingly. Nine bodies leaked the last vestiges of their lifeblood onto the carpeted waiting room, staining it a ghastly crimson.

“Not bad. We even managed to make it through with no injuries. Maybe you could be mercs yourselves, someday.” Hammer shot Crystal and me her trademark smirk.

I thought on that for a moment. While the last week or so proved that I was able to take a life, I doubted that I could ever kill for money. Besides, if being a mercenary meant I would have to be more like Archer and ignore ponies in need, then count me out. I shook my head in response as I voiced my thoughts.

“I don’t think I could be a mercenary.” I turned my back on the Hitters (who had busied themselves with picking through the gear on the slaver bodies) and headed back into the caged ponies. I had promised them freedom, and as Celestia as my witness I would keep that promise.

Upon reentering the room with the captives, several grimy faces lit up with hopeful expressions. I smiled warmly to them, hoping to reassure the few skeptical expressions. All-in-all I was looking at about fourteen captives of various ages, both male and female. Many of them just looked tired. As if life had slowly drained the energy from them. It was appalling to think that this was a fate a pony could meet nowadays.

I scanned the room carefully. There had to be a key to the cages somewhere. I scoured the cabinets of the exam room, taking note of the medical supplies contained within but leaving them in place for the moment. After a few minutes of emptying drawers, I found the key in the bottom of a drawer filled with canned food of all things.

I beamed as I jingled the keys and moved to the first cage. The pale gray filly from earlier beamed at me in a way that made her look exactly like Sponge Cake for the briefest of moments. My heart broke at the thought of my daughter being held captive by the monsters that we had put down today.

It took a few tries to open the cage. The slavers didn’t label the keys, so I had no idea which key belonged to which lock. The filly bounded out of her prison and leapt up to hug me.

“Thank you, mister! You’re like a hero in the stories mommy used to tell!” The filly was going to make my heart burst at the rate she was breaking it.

“I promised to save you, didn’t I?” I smiled down at her, patting her white mane lightly. Something odd caught my attention as I looked down at her. A metal collar had been fitted around the filly’s neck. It matched the one that the slavers from earlier had tried putting on Crystal and me.

“Hold on.” I reached out with my telekinesis to unlatch the collar. “Let’s get this off of you first.”

“No wait!” The filly attempted to squirm out of my telekinetic grasp, but the damage had been done. The collar let out a high pitched beep, followed by another. A second later and a chorus of beeps joined the filly’s collar. Then everypony began to shriek in terror. I looked down at the filly in confusion but she was struggling to remove the collar, which let out one last beep before creating a controlled explosion and obliterating her head. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the rest of the captives’ collars followed suit, leaving fourteen fresh bodies in the room with me.

“What the hell… Oh fuck me…” Hammer’s voice came from behind me, barely registering through my shell-shock. I was too stunned to move. I could feel myself trembling as I stared in wide-eyed shock at a pool of blood began to creep around my hooves. Viscera coated my face and mane, tiny reminders of the lives I had unwittingly ended.

“Bright? What happened?” Hammer had adopted a cool tone as she addressed me. I didn’t move. I couldn’t answer. I wasn’t even sure what I had done wrong. I just kept staring.

I was spun around suddenly, my body offering no resistance to the force acting upon it. A stinging rocked the side of my face as Hammer’s hoof brought me back to reality.

“What. Happened?” Hammer narrowed her eyes as she looked into mine.

“I… I don’t know. I was unlocking the cage and the filly had a weird collar on and when I went to take it off it just… It exploded. And so did everypony else’s collars, and… and everypony’s dead!” I felt a wetness running down my cheeks as I babbled.

Hammer didn’t get angry, nor did she yell. She simply sighed before speaking. “Learn from this. Nothing can make up for what you’ve done here, but if you learn from this then maybe their deaths won’t have been a waste.”

“But- but I’m a murderer…” My voice sounded weak, even to me.

“Yes. You are. But so is everypony who’s trying to survive. Do you want to know what makes you different from the slavers or the raiders you’ll meet while travelling? It’s not avoiding killing, or who’s got the bigger gun. It’s regret. The ability to feel bad for your mistakes and own up to them. It’s about looking back at what you’ve done, hating the bad, and finding a way to forgive yourself for those transgressions.” Hammer spoke with carefully chosen words in a tone that could be considered matronly.

“Trust me, I’ve been down that road. If you don’t find a way to push back then that darkness will consume you. You’ll find yourself losing sight of right and wrong. If you go down that path, then one day you’ll have a choice to make. And when that day comes, I only hope you have a friend to pull you away from the edge.”

I listened to Hammer’s words carefully. She was right. I couldn’t undo this. It was impossible. I could learn from it though. I looped a hoof around the mare in a brief hug.

“Thank you, Hammer.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t go telling the world I said it, or the Hitters will lose business.” I teary chuckle escaped me.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about that.”

“So now that the Trot’s clear for at least a couple days, where are you going from here?” The mare cocked her head to the side out of curiosity. “Because I’d disagree with you on whether or not you could go merc. We could make space for you and Crystal, if you’d wanna join up with the Hitters.”

“That’s a generous offer, Hammer, but I have to turn it down. There’s somewhere important that I need to go.”

“And where would that be?” If I had her curiosity before, I now had Hammer’s attention.

“Ponyville.”

“Ha! Good luck with that one. You may as well start digging.” Archer’s voice came from the doorway. The unicorn was leaning against the doorframe and eating from a can of beans. “Nopony’s left the Crystal Empire in two-hundred years!”

“What do you mean?”

Hammer sighed. “Archer’s talking about the pylon field. It’s basically a really big electric fence. Story goes that it went up when word of the megaspells dropping reached the prince and princess here. Since then nopony’s ever entered and nopony’s left.”

I stood in silence for a few moments, thinking. Logically speaking, something that could shield the Crystal Empire for two centuries would need a power source. A strong one at that. Or multiple power sources even. Multiple power sources would be the most efficient. But they would need to be protected, right? Otherwise, what would stop zebra infiltrators from disabling it? A thought occurred to me and it was one I didn’t like.

“What are the most dangerous places you’ve too in your line of work, Hammer?”

“There’s a few areas we try to avoid. There’s the castle, of course.” She tapped a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “Then there’s the Yakyakistan Embassy, the stadium… hmm… I guess you could just say the closer you get to the castle, the worse things get. We’re still on the outer fringes of the city, so most of what we get out here is slavers and raiders. Why?”

“Just wondering what areas I should avoid.” I wasn’t being entirely honest. I was formulating a plan of action. I’d need to stock up on supplies, though I could probably scavenge most of what I needed. Actually finding a way to either disable or bypass the pylon field? That was my biggest problem. At least I knew where to look first.

“I need to get going. Goodbye, Hammer. Good luck out there.” I gave the mare another brief hug and headed towards the front of the clinic. Archer stepped out of the way with a nod. I returned the gesture before heading out to the front of the clinic. Trigger and Chop Shop were divvying some medical supplies up in another exam room. I said my farewells to them as well. Chop Shop even gave me a few healing potions and bandages for my help.

I found Crystal Rose up in the waiting room, resting on a wooden bench opposite the carnage we had caused. “I’m heading out. I have things to do.” This steeled myself for my next sentence. Neither of us was going to like it. “I need you to go back to Saddleville. I’m sure the Hitters will make sure you get there safely.”

Crystal’s eyes widened in shock as she stood quickly. She had an angry expression that could make flowers wilt as she stomped up to me and pointed a hoof at herself, which she then tapped against me.

“I can’t let you come with me. It’s dangerous enough out here without travelling with someone like me.” I’m too dangerous. You could get hurt.

Crystal stamped a hoof, as if to call horseapples on being left behind, and began to hastily write in the carpeting. ’Still owe you. Need to help.’

“No, you need to go home. I’m not safe to be around.”

She rubbed away her previous words before responding. ’Nowhere safe.’

“Saddleville is safer than where I need to go.” I huffed at the mare. She was being obstinate.

’You need help.’ I couldn’t honestly deny it. I had no idea what to expect from my journey ahead. More erasing followed before I could respond. ’I protect you.’

I furrowed my brow at that. “Protect me from what?”

’Wasteland’.

I sighed in frustration. “Crystal, this is for your own good. I’m going places that probably won’t be safe. I’m not even sure I’ll get out of things alive.”

’Why go?’

“Because I have to. I need to find a way to get to Ponyville, remember? And to do that I need to find a way past the pylon field. Whatever’s kept the field running for two-hundred-something years is probably dangerous. Dangerous enough that I can’t risk anypony else dying because of my mistakes.”

I got a questioning look for my last statement and my heart skipped a beat out of terror. She didn’t know what happened in the back.

“Crystal, just trust me. I’ve gotten too many ponies killed already. I’m not putting anypony else at risk. Go back home.” I took a firm tone, like I was scolding Sponge Cake for not listening to her mother.

‘Still owe you. Hitters saved you earlier. Not me.’

***

I murmured under my breath as I walked. I had been in a sullen mood since leaving the newly slaver-free clinic. Crystal seemed to be enjoying my sourness though as we trotted along. I was beginning to think she enjoyed getting under my skin.

I was keeping a much closer eye on my E.F.S. now. The few times I spotted a red blip, Crystal and I  skirted the area, avoiding more conflict. I was starting to consider myself good at surviving out in the wastelands.

Crystal tapped a hoof against my side, drawing my attention from my mumbling. She pointed a hoof to an imposing and mostly intact building. It stood four stories high, much taller than most of the buildings around it. The starkest contrast of the building was the color. The building was a red and brown brick compared to the faded pinks and blues I had grown accustomed to seeing.

“What is it?” I stepped forward and looked for any indication of what the odd looking building may have been. There were no signs marking what it could have been. Fortunately my PipBuck was more than happy to label the out-of-place building in its maps. Under the Rose Academy for Gifted Ponies.

That was a mouthful. I looked from the building to Crystal to the dark clouds overhead. “It looks like it’s going to start raining again. Let’s head inside and take cover for the night.” As if on cue a distant thunder rolled over us.

Inside the double doors to the school was a small entry way that lead down a long hallway. To the left was an office marked Dean. The door had fallen from its hinges years ago, revealing a desk and the back of a computer. There were no red blips in here either. That or they were outside the range of my PipBuck.

I resisted the temptation to poke around on the computer for the much more sound idea of searching the area for anything of use. Crystal busied herself with the same idea, cautiously poking her head around each doorway in the hall before searching a room.

It took about an hour or so to scour the entire first floor, which consisted of nothing but classrooms if one were to ignore the dean’s office at the front. Together, Crystal and I managed to scrounge up a decent amount of ammo for my magical energy pistol and revolver, and a somewhat impressive amount of shotgun shells for Crystal’s weapon. On top of that, we found a smattering of miscellaneous items such as wonderglue and the like that we deemed possibly handy at some indeterminable point in the future and about a hundred caps, which we split down the middle.

During our scavenging not one red blip appeared on my PipBuck, much to my relief. Crystal and I made our way back to the dean’s office to set up a makeshift camp. When we were near the front doors, the sound of a torrential downpour affirmed our decision to take shelter.

“Get some sleep, Crystal. I’m going to check out this computer and keep watch.” Crystal nodded with a yawn, eagerly curling up on her bedroll before swiftly falling asleep. I plugged my PipBuck into the computer (marveling at how my PipBuck seemed able to interface with every computer so far) and began slowly parsing through the lines of code to find a password. The password was knowledge.

The computer held very little information that I found interesting. The dean of the school, Ambrosia, had very little on her computer for someone who ran a school. All that was on the computer was an e-mail to somepony else.

To: Roama Reigns

From: Dean Ambrosia

I’ve been reading up on your work involving Clover the Clever’s theory of magical gem amplification and its applications to modern technology. I find the results you’ve been having to be fascinating. I particularly liked how altering the amount of energy run through the gem aperture seems to alter not only power, but speed. I’ve requested a new shipment of energy cells to be delivered as soon as possible so that you may continue your work.

If you need some help later, I’m perfectly willing to stay after-hours for some in-depth analysis. We can order some take-out and massage out some of the more troublesome kinks in your work.

I didn’t want to know what implications were being made at the end of the message, but I had a few theories.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. There were seventy-two cracks in the ceiling of this room. I snorted in frustration at my boredom, desperate to take my mind off of today’s events. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head. Instead, my mind fixated upon images of a pale, gray filly whom I had murdered less than twelve hours ago.

“Ugh…” I blinked away the moisture that threatened to blur my vision and stood. Sitting here wasn’t going to do anything for me. I carefully stepped past a sleeping Crystal and into the entry hall. I decided I was going to scavenge the rest of the building before waking Crystal for her turn to keep watch. As an afterthought, I levitated the chair from the office and wedged it underneath the handles of the main entrance. I doubted anything would be entering at this time of night, but it couldn’t hurt to exercise caution.

I moved to the back of the main hallway, where a doorway marked stairs had been left untouched by us. We had agreed to check out the upper floors in the morning after some rest, but there was no way I was sleeping tonight. Crystal wouldn’t be to upset as long as I split things with her, right?

I shrugged, rationalizing that it was more efficient to scavenge overnight than to waste all my time sitting in an office, and headed upstairs. What greeted me was a pile of bodies at the entrance to the second floor.

I frowned slightly. This was the first time I had seen any sign of somepony else having entered this building. Judging by the various states of decay the bodies were in, it wasn’t hard to piece together that multiple scavengers had tried entering the second floor. My E.F.S. didn’t show any red blips though, so I couldn’t understand what had killed them.

I cautiously pushed open the door to the second floor, peeking through the widening crack of the doorway. Nothing moved. My PipBuck didn’t show anything either. I opened the door all the way. Nothing. I stepped forward.

The moment I set hoof outside the stairwell a security turret (not unlike the one in the Four Stars Accounting offices) hissed out of the ceiling and opened fire. Had I not been expecting something I would have been torn to pieces. I barely managed to duck back around the doorway as the turret tore chunks from the floor where I had just been.

I floated out my energy pistol, suddenly aware of the light smile that had touched the corners of my mouth. I dove sideways out the doorway and brought my laser pistol to bear, unloading a volley of shots at the turret before its targeting talismans could do their work. I was rewarded with a loud pop as my colored beams struck home. Destroying the turret had yielded nothing but a few piles of scrap metal, which I added to my saddlebags.

The second floor was completely different from the first. Where there were classrooms below, this floor had been set up to house nothing but laboratories. I maneuvered carefully through each room, scouring for anything of use.

One of the last labs on the floor caught my eye. While many of the lab doors had been unlocked, this one sported a lock that required a keycard. I silently reminded myself to keep an eye out for a way to open the lab. Peering through the window on the door, I could see another computer letting off a soft green glow and some sort of workstation.

An idea struck me. I levitated out my little revolver and pressed the barrel to the glass, firing off a couple of rounds. The glass cracked in a spider web pattern, but none of my bullets went through. “Bulletproof. Shoot.” I was back to my original idea of finding a keycard.

The last lab on the floor contained nothing of use.

I stopped in the third floor stairwell. I could easily go back and wake Crystal to help me. If the second floor had a turret, then odds were the third and fourth floors would too. But that would put somepony in danger for me. I shook the thought away, refusing to see another pony die because of me. I sat on my haunches and flicked through my PipBuck’s inventory management lists.

I hadn’t been paying attention to what I had been tossing into my bags. I had begun amassing a decent collection of ammunition for my energy pistol, and a decent amount of energy cells that differed from the ones my pistol took. My PipBuck had labeled them as microfusion cells. I had also found a decent amount of scrap metal and some abraxo cleaner as well. I had no use for those now, but you never know.

I took a deep breath and peered through the window of the third floor access. Again, I saw no red blips on my E.F.S. I couldn’t take the risk of sauntering out into the open again though. The turret before hadn’t shown up until I walked into the open.

The floor ahead of me had a sterile look to it. Where the previous two floors had a slight welcoming feel to them (minus the turret), this one looked cold and uninviting. Like the area behind hospital doors that said staff only. The stairwell door had cracked sign dangling by a single rusted screw. Authorized Personnel Only.

“I’m beginning to think this wasn’t just a school.” I deadpanned to the emptiness around me. I shrugged and went to open the doorway. It was locked. “Shoot!” I searched my saddlebags for a bobby pin. Maybe I could pick the lock like Archer did earlier?

No luck. I hadn’t kept any bobby pins. I turned my back and gave a fierce applebuck to the door. It didn’t budge even after three more kicks. I huffed at the door and pulled my magical energy pistol out again. I unloaded on the handle of the door, but only succeeded in making the metal glow red-hot.

“Ugh! Why did it have to be locked?” I kicked the door one last time before mumbling and turning my attention to the floor above. Maybe I could find a way down from the top floor. I began the trek upwards, grateful that the building had a set of stairs on either end. I didn’t feel like backtracking.

A small click from my hooves stopped me. I looked down to see a broken wire trailing across the stair my hoof had just passed over. I looked up in time to see three metal apples bounce off the stairs past me. My eyes widened in horror at the realization of what the apples were. I broke out in a gallop up the stairs, desperate to avoid being turned to pulp.

The explosions echoed from below, the noise deafening in the confined area. A sprinkling of dust drifted from the ceiling above me as I thanked my lucky stars that I had looked up in time. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and moved upwards to the top floor.

Peeking through the door window of the new floor, I wasn’t surprised to see the same sterile look from floor three. I was surprised to see two turrets at the far end of the hallway pointed directly at me. Thankfully, I was either out of range or the door was keeping the turrets from locking onto me. Which was a good thing, because the turrets were much larger and heavy looking than the one on the second floor.

I tried the door handle. Locked. I spotted a black security box on the wall next to the door. It matched the one outside the locked lab from before.

“Why couldn’t they just use a computer? It would have made things so much easier for me.” I complained to the staircase as I turned to head downwards. I couldn’t help but shoot a dirty look at the door before descending.

Passing the third floor, I noticed something had changed. There was no door from the stairwell. It had been blown inward by the force of the grenades going off. I grinned and pranced in a giddy circle. Maybe things were going my way for once! A beam of magical energy ended that line of thinking as it lanced into my flank, burning right past the dirty lab coat that served as a meager protection.

I let out a yelp of pain and dove for cover. I had been so excited about being able to continue exploring that I had forgotten to check for red blips. Sure enough there were three blips moving about, all of them hostile. I hurriedly floated out a healing potion and guzzled it down. It took mere seconds for the burning sensation in my flank to dissipate.

“Security breach detected. Please hold still so I can terminate you, intruder.” A mechanical voice announced to the area as pleasantly as it possibly could. I could hear something moving closer to me in the hall. Peeking around the doorway, I spotted my attackers.

They looked like something out of a bad science-fiction movie. Robots roughly shaped like ponies rolled towards me. What horrified me about them was their heads. They were dome shaped and inside of them were brains. Actual brains. I sincerely hoped they didn’t belong to ponies.

I cowered next to the doorway, wondering how I was supposed to take out three roboponies with my meager weaponry. A few scenarios ran through my head.

One option was to charge headfirst and try to destroy the roboponies quickly. Two would be to try and sneak past them, but I doubted I was any good at hide and seek with ponicidal robots. A third option would be to get a bigger gun, but I hadn’t found any weaponry that would punch through their metal exteriors.

I thought on that for a moment. I hadn’t found a strong enough weapon, but maybe I didn’t need to. I grinned wickedly as I seized the fallen door with my magic and hoisted it into place as best I could.

I took off down the stairs to the second floor laboratories. I had the skills and the scrap. With luck, the tools I needed were down in these labs. I darted from room to room, my eyes scanning each for a work area. I found what I needed in the fourth lab I checked.

“All right. Time to science!” I let out a giddy laugh as I rushed over to a laboratory workbench and placed the scrap from my bag, my wonderglue, and my energy pistol onto the workbench. The tools I had swept past in my scavenging hung from pegs on the workbench. Familiar tools that I had worked with daily all those years ago.

“I’ve got my tools,

I’ve got my scrap.

Somewhere in this head of mine,

I’ve even drawn a map.”

I set to work, opening the casing to my energy pistol and pulling out some of the components of the pistol.

“I’ve got to make this work,

to make this weapon shine.

A single flight of stairs,

won’t give me enough time.”

The music quietly slipped from my mouth as I used a small blowtorch to melt my scrap before shaping it with my magic.

“Use some brand new tools,

and this older gun.

I’ll whip this weapon into shape,

to make those robots run.”

As my newly shaped metal cooled, I fished out various lengths of wire and a small glass lens from the drawers of the workbench.

“I’ve got a rough path ahead,

that’s clear to even me.

I made a promise to Pinkie Pie,

To the end of this I’ll see.”

Internal components were fitted into place with the careful, practiced precision of somepony who knew exactly what went where.

”I’ll make sure to face each new threat,

armed head to hoof to face my foe.

Should anypony stop and ask,

to Sugarcube Corner I go.”

I finished attaching my new creation to the energy pistol, tweaking a few minor details as I did so. The new boxy device interfaced with the energy pistol perfectly, connected by a few metal rods for stability. It wouldn’t win any prizes for looks, but with the added components the energy weapon was more of a rifle now. I smirked lightly at the sounds of something heavy falling over upstairs.

With my upgraded weapon floating beside me I marched back to the stairs and was greeted by the slow-moving robots, who had made it to the landing between the second and third floors. I used the closest robot as my testing range and fired four shots into its brain. The results were incredibly sufficient, to say the least, as the dome holding the brain shattered and the robopony collapsed down the stairs towards me.

I sidestepped the wreckage and unloaded at the second robopony as it came into view. It met the same fate as the first. At this range there were no wasted shots. I couldn’t help but admire my handiwork as I stripped some scrap metal and a few more shots for my upgraded weapon from the destroyed robots.

I was acutely aware that there had been three markers for hostiles, yet only two robots had made the attempt to follow me. Caution tempered my enthusiasm as I crept back up to the third floor. No red blips appeared on my E.F.S. as I entered the third floor’s main hallway.

Something was wrong on this floor. I found the third robopony on the ground, reduced to pieces with its legs strewn about. My first thought was that the robot had been caught in the fire from the two I had destroyed, but there were no scorch marks to indicate that that had happened. I stepped past the robot and began testing each door I passed.

Five of the rooms I checked were locked, and I doubted that I could pick them even if I had a bobby pin. Door number six turned out to be unlocked. I pushed the door open carefully, keeping an eye out for anything that would try to surprise me.

The room I entered was another lab, but this one had far better equipment. I was beginning to notice a hierarchy in this ‘academy’. The higher the floor, the more important the work.

I scanned the room carefully. In one corner of the room there was a turret, though it was clearly disabled. Moving closer, I realized that the machine was damaged in the same way that the robot in the hall was. It lead me to a chilling thought. Somepony else was here.

A crack of lightning brightened the dim room, pointing out another detail I would have missed otherwise. One of the windows in the room had been shattered. Glass lay scattered about on the smooth linoleum flooring. Somepony had broken in.

I ignored the rest of the room, my heart now pounding in my chest. As I reentered the hallway, I noticed a blip on my E.F.S. that hadn’t been there before. I had been so focused on red blips that I hadn’t noticed a solitary green one. Moving down the hallway readjusted the blip until I found myself outside the last lab in the hall. The door was slightly ajar, a green-hued light spilling through the crack.

“Crystal? Are you up here?” I pushed the door open slowly, keeping my weapon ready. I was about to worry about getting no reply before realizing who I was calling for. I silently chastised myself for thinking such an insensitive thing.

Inside the lab was a white pegasus that I had never seen before. He was hunched over a computer, furiously typing away with his wings. Leaning up against the desk the computer sat upon was a thin, straight-edged sword. The damage done to the turret and the robot made more sense.

“Who are you?” I kept my energy rifle at the ready in case the pegasus turned hostile.

The pegasus stopped typing and slowly turned to face me.

“Ah. An impure one. Armed.” He stared at me… no, through me. “Unicorn male. Stance and expression denote fear. Untrained.” The stallion spoke to himself, sizing me up. I silently attempted to do the same.

The white pegasus was lean, but well defined. The barding he wore was black and leathery, covering everything but his wings and head. Clearly it was design to be unhindering in flight. His stringy silver mane hung down over one eye, long enough to reach his muzzle.

“What is it you require, impure one?” The mystery pegasus finally seemed to be addressing me.

“What are you doing up here? Who are you?”

White pegasus pondered for a moment before responding.

“The impure one may call this one Ghost. My mission is of no consequence. Leave immediately so that this one may finish his work.”

“What kind of work? It’s not exactly normal to break into a school in the middle of the night to do ‘work’”

“Last warning. Leave before this one must take steps to incapacitate you, impure one.”

I took a step forward. “My name is Bright Idea. I just want to know what you’re doing.” I lowered my weapon to emphasize my point.

“This one will spare you this time. Do not interfere with the work of the Angel Automaton.” The pegasus pony’s tone was cold, as if he were making a promise rather than a threat.

Ghost turned slightly and lifted his wing to the desk. With a flick of his wing, he sent a small pink ball at me at incredible speed. Instinctively, I dropped my weapon and reached out with my telekinesis to stop the object from hitting me. The moment I did, the world around me swirled away into a white fog.

Level up!

Perk gained:

Inventor: Your past experience with weapons comes in handy. You can now build modifications for magical energy based weapons!