Chapter 13: Leaving The Hoof

Alright, y'all, let's move 'em out!

"Well upstart, whatcha got!? Just who do you think you are prancing about and having laughs?" The angry distorted voice questioned.

"I uh... excuse me? Who exactly might you be?"

"I'm the goddess-damn bane of your existence hotshot! Where and how in tartarus did you find the prototype?" For a split second I thought the raspy voice knew my name but figured out that it was simply another one of the nicknames they were giving me.

"Alright now you all-knowing prick, how about you step off for just a second and try to communicate in a civilized manner."

"Woah, what'd I do?" A familiar voice asked.

"Huh?" Even though there was nothing but static in the window, I had been looking at it as if I could see somepony anyway. Glancing away from the small box in my vision I realized that Specter was walking next to me. "Sorry, I didn't mean you."

"Okay... then who were you talking to?" Ahead I saw Lily and Azel looking back curiously at us.

"You're not alone? Who else is there?!" The voice asked.

"That is none of your concern." Seeing Specter shift position in the corner of my eye I added, "Again, not you."

"Hotshot, what's going on?" Lily questioned.

"Hotshot huh? That might ring some bells." The voice speculated, going silent for a few seconds.

"No, hold on a second!" I pleaded, not getting a response.

"What's wrong?" Lily pressed.

"I don't know. Somepony who knows about Daybreak contacted me and was asking questions, but I think they heard you and now they know who I am."

A look of guilt came over her face. "Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that. It just slipped out and I-"

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done. I just hope that-"

"Tell her she's got nothing to worry about, Corporal Hotshot." Dammit. "Long as you start talking, the Enclave won't be catching wind of any back from the grave traitor. So talk."

sigh "I found it in a bunker. How do you know about it?"

Trace Transmission Origin
Error: Command Not Authorized During Priority Transmission

What?

Apparently my attempt at subterfuge was picked up by whoever was on the other end. "Nice try, but you don't get to know anything I don't want you to. How did you find that bunker?"

"Luck."

"Don't you start any bullshit with me! How did you find Daybreak?!"

"How do you know about Daybreak?"

There was a moment of silence. Whether it was because this mysterious hacker was thinking of how to reply or was too infuriated to speak momentarily I'm not sure. "Rainbow Dash's terminal has told me about a lot of things. Certainly a lot more than you were able to learn with such a disgraceful attempt at hacking. I know all about your armor, I know all about it's twin Nightfall, I know all about Project Wonderbolt. What I don't know is how you found it."

"I got lucky. I was on a patrol and just happened to crash next to the bunker after things went bad." There was more silence, during which my friends tried to figure out what was going on.

Lily was the first to ask something. "Daybreak, what are they saying? Who is it?"

"I'm not sure who it is Lily, but whoever they are they have access to Rainbow Dash's terminal. And by the sound of it I think they are able to use it at their own leisure."

"So we weren't the first to get into Dash's computer? How could they do that? I thought that her office was always left untouched out of respect or whatever." Specter questioned.

The voice returned, mostly speaking to itself, "Lily, huh? Why does that sound familiar?"

Dammit! "No, wait a second you-"

"Oh, she's that EVC volunteer that went missing not too long ago, right? Well, you certainly travel with quite the band of runaways, don't you? What, is Calamity flying recon right now? You got Radar-" Who? "showing you the sights?" the voice mocked.

"You know, if you're going to be able to hear my group they should get to hear you as well." I retorted, attempting to reassert some form of control.

"Not sure what they'll get out of it but sure, why not. So it was coincidence that you found Daybreak, but why were you in my office?"

Apparently the voice had granted my request as Specter asked what happened to my voice while Lily caught on immediately and countered, "Don't you mean Rainbow Dash's office?"

"Well unless she feels like getting up and out of her grave, it's not her's anymore. Look, what I asked is simple. What were you doing here?"

"We're trying to find Nightfall. We know that it was still being made somewhere in Trottingham during the war. Mind telling us where to look?" I asked, trying to pry questions out of this know-it-all.

"Wouldn't you like to know?

"Well, yes. That's kind off why I asked." I was way too satisfied by how annoyed the voice sounded after that.

"Look upstart, I didn't patch in just to play foal's games. You better get your sh- static -gether. I'm tired of static"

"Aww, what's wrong all seeing eye? Losing reception, getting to far away from the tower?" Specter goaded. Considering that we hadn't stopped walking during this encounter, and that Shadowbolt Tower faded further and further into the horizon as we went on, I figured he might not be too far off from the truth.

There was more static and incoherent chatter but I was able to pick out "We'll finish this later" before the transmission cut out.

"Well..." Specter started. "Guess that's a yes"

"Who was that? Did they say who they were or anything? From the sound of her voice I'd guess she'd be a girl but with the distortion it was hard to tell." Lily pondered.

"Could be a ghoul, definitely had the voice to match those I've met along my travels."

"What's a ghoul?" I asked, apparently having asked for Lily since she looked as if she was about to say something but stopped herself.

"Oh right, you guys are new to this whole gig." Specter remembered. "Well, you know how large amounts of radiation can cause some major health problems and all that? Turns out that just the right amount of rads over just the right amount of time can turn ya into a ghoul, a real eyesore of a predicament where you start to become like a... oh what was it... a 'zombie' I think it's called by you pegasi and stable dwellers. Yeah, a zombie! Anyway, your skin gets all rotten and you start looking and sounding like a walking corpse, matter of fact you start to smell like one too. Most of the time, all the radiation and then later decay of the body also rots your brain, and you become a mindless animal that heals from radiation and hungers for flesh. And thanks to this mutation you also can live for just about forever and not much short of filling your head full of lead kills you. Terrible fate really but there are the less common types of ghouls that don't go feral. Those whose brains remain mostly, if not entirely, unaffected during this change. They still turn into a practical corpse of their former selves but are able to retain their sanity and personality."

"Wait, so these ghouls are literal zombies? Like, the zombies in 28 Moons Later type of zombies?! What happens if they bite you?!"

"If they bite you? Well, obviously it'd hurt like Celestia's fury and you might have radiation sickness if you pick up enough rads from it, but that's about all one bite would do. But remember, not all ghouls are like that. I met plenty of non-feral ghouls throughout my travels and they can be some of the most helpful friends you'll have."

"So how do you know if they're friendly or not?" I asked.

"Same way of knowing if anypony else is friendly. If they shoot at you, they aren't friendly. If they talk to you, keep your guard up and hope they are friendly. But generally if a ghoul can talk than there's a pretty good chance that they aren't feral. Anyways, ghoul or no ghoul, it's a bit concerning that whoever that was knows about our whole infiltration attempt."

"Yes, and I'm afraid that they weren't bluffing about knowing everything about Daybreak and Project Wonderbolt as well. From the way that they were talking it seemed like they have unlimited access to Rainbow Dash's computer. I just hope that they don't become a problem for us later."

"Eh, we'll find out soon enough." Specter concluded nonchalantly. "Don't you have all the files about this whole project thing downloaded into the armor anyway? Can't you just learn everything that our mysterious friend knows as well?"

"I wish I could but just about every file is encrypted and password protected. It'd take an eternity for me to try and get through all the firewalls and fail safes. I'd rather not mess with it for now in case they delete themselves or something crazy like that." I groaned, "This mystery just keeps getting harder. What I wouldn't give for a clear answer for once."

"I'm sure that you'll get some of the answers you're looking for when we get to Trottingham. We just need to keep going until we reach it."

"Yeah, I suppose. Thanks Azel." He gave a small nod and we continued our walk.

But my curiosity wasn't satisfied. I decided to look through all of the files I'd downloaded and see if any of them were open.

Display All Non-Encrypted Data
Location: Downloads/Project Wonderbolt
...
0 File(s) Found

Right, cause it wouldn't be the same if this was easy for me. Great. There's got to be something I can do without having to try and beat the authorizing code.

Hmn, maybe I can't see what the files say, but I might be able to tell at least what they're about.

Display Folder Contents: Project Wonderbolt
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Contacts Involved
Staff
Facilities{File Corrupted}

Damn, didn't think the terminal lock-out would do so much damage that it would ruin the entire folder. Hopefully I can find something of use in the other two.

Display Folder Contents: Contacts Involved
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Ministry of Awesome
Ministry of Arcane Sciences
Ministry of Wartime Technology
Ministry of Image
Shadowbolts
Trottingham Vital-Energy Labs

Interesting. The Ministries of Arcane Sciences and Wartime Technology make sense as to how they're tied into this since they probably helped in making Daybreak and Nightfall where the MOA fell short on expertise, but what could the Ministry of Image have contributed? I suppose Rainbow Dash was planning on converting her little Shadowbolt squad into the new Wonderbolts so that's why they're possibly here. Not sure about this Trottingham group though, can't recall ever hearing about them.

Display Folder Contents: Trottingham Vital-Energy Labs
...
Displaying Folder Contents

1 File(s)

Well, guess that's all I'll get from here. No way am I going to risk trying to sneak past whatever firewalls protect that file. Maybe Specter knows something about this.

"Hey Specter, does 'Trottingham Vital-Energy Labs' ring any bells for you?"

"The T-VEL?" He answered. "Not much really. It's some sort of research facility or something in Trottingham from the war. The whole place is supposedly underground and hidden, but I'm not to sure what they did exactly. The only thing I know they worked on is a type of bullet called 'Vampire Rounds' which are miraculously are able to heal you after hitting somepony else."

"They can do WHAT?" Lily asked incredulously. "How in Equestria does that work?"

"Hell if I know. Like I said, I don't know how they work but they do." Specter responded. "Most ponies that live there don't even know about them, let alone believe in them. To come across a clips-worth or two is just about the luckiest you can get while scavenging around there."

"I suppose you've run into them before." I assumed.

"Yeah, Once Mirage and I were hired to go clear out an old museum or something and we were given a few clips of those bullets as payment."

"Do you have any of them left?"

"Unfortunately, no." Specter posed as if he was giving a heroic speech before he continued, "My courageous brother and I had been backed into a corner as hoards of raiders charged at us thirsting for bloodshed. Thanks to both of our unique traits, our skill in a firefight, and ultimately those vampire rounds got us through the encounter. It's difficult to kill somepony you can hardly hit, but it's damn near impossible to kill somepony you can hardly hit and fixes any damage you're lucky enough to do to them."

"You used them all in one fight?" Lily asked incredulously. "Just how many raiders were there?"

"Oh, they numbered by the BILLIONS dear Lily!" Specter exclaimed dramatically. Lily gave an exasperated roll of her eyes behind him but if Specter noticed it he paid no mind. "Besides, we didn't exactly have much more than twelve of those bullets each. That much ammo runs out quickly in large skirmishes like that."

At this point my attention went back to the files before me, the conversation falling into background noise for me.

Display Folder Contents: Project Wonderbolt / Staff
...
Displaying Folder Contents

Project Leaders
Scientific Research Coordinators
Facility Overseers
Miscellaneous Employees

I went through checking to see if there was any more information I could gain from these new documents, but they each only contained one unnamed file. "Great, another dead end for now." I mumbled to myself. I considered trying to see what information I could find in the "Facilities" folder but then decided to not risk disrupting the corrupted file in case it worsened. From then on I walked onwards quietly having many thoughts to try and make sense of. After a while we stopped and set up for the night. I helped chose first watch and then quickly fell asleep, hoping that at least some of the mysteries plaguing my thoughts would fade into my subconscious for a while and allow myself some peace of mind.

The next morning came and I groggily awoke, after having third shift for watch and what felt like just recently passing off to Azel for the night. Looking around Lily and Azel were already awake and as usual Specter was still in a deep slumber. I slouched over to him and prodded his shoulder causing him to stir for a moment before settling again. "Specter, this is getting ridiculous. How are you always the last one up?" I asked while prodding him again.

He sleepily mumbled something along the lines of "Change-yawn-ling biology" before going dormant yet again.

"C'mon Specter, we can't just wait around for you to get a perfect eight hour rest every time we are about to go."

Specter let out a grunt of dismissal before slowly pulling himself up. "Fine, fine, I'm up. Ugh, don't understand why we're in a hurry though. Aside from that one chitterer-" That one what? "in the tower we're still the only ones after Nightfall aren't we? And if it's Mirages goons you're trying to outpace you've got nothing to worry about. We've got at least a whole week before they give up searching for us in Hoofington since they've seen us there already."

"That doesn't mean we can just leisurely stroll across Equestria the whole time. Trottingham is really far north and is going to take a while regardless."

"Sure we can. Nopony is after us and you've got the self-proclaimed best guide for traveling the wasteland here with you. You need to learn to relax and just enjoy the trip while lasts. Trust me, if Trottingham is anything like how I left it, you're gonna like your time out here much more."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Lily asked with concern, herself and Azel apparently done with whatever they had been busying themselves with.

"You'd rather wait for me to tell you until we're there. It'll make this journey more enjoyable that way." He answered cryptically, somehow managing to wink at me without Lily seeing it.

Leaving Specter to pull his joke of the day on Lily, I turned on the radio and let it tune in to Dj-Pon3's broadcast. But instead of music or the gradually more familiar voice of the DJ, the radio had tuned in to a different signal being broadcast from elsewhere. "-earing this, please help us! We are under attack from Steel Rangers and we won't last long. We are a small settlement of frontier ponies here in Colony." There was a momentary pause before the message repeated, "If anypony with a heart is hearing this, please help us!"

Trace Signal Origin; Mark Origin On Map
...
Tracing
...
Origin Point Found; Marking

A new marker appeared on my compass pointing northwest and twenty minutes away if travelling at a fast pace. "Everypony, we need to get moving!"

Skill Notes - Hacking 40

Author's Note

Doo da doo, something about taking forever to make this, wait a sec. Sweet Celestia could it be true! We've reached 400 views! Whoo! This is incredible everypony, thank you all so much for reading this little project of mine, regardless of the dust on it. I've had a blast doing this and I'm glad I was finally able to be on time with an announcement like this. Anyways, enough tooting my own horn. As always praise to kkat and the original fic and once again thank you to all of you out there!