Fallout: Lavender Wastelander

Applejack followed in the wake of Colonel Autumn’s booming footsteps as they marched down the hallways of Raven Rock, closing in on President Eden’s room. Autumn moved like a man possessed; no distraction would draw his attention away from his mission. Rainbow Dash stepped in line with him, giving off the same feeling of fierce determination.

Their moods were almost infectious, like there was an aura around them that drew Applejack into nearly copying their movements. But Applejack wasn’t propelled by the same determination her co-conspirators held. There was too much she had been left in the dark over for that. Rainbow Dash always talked like she knew far more than her.

It didn’t sit right with Applejack. The Enclave had gotten one of her best friends to lie to her. Or at least withhold information, which was just lying without using words. Was Rainbow Dash’s loyalty that easy to buy? A fancy new spine, a suit, and a title she could force into every introduction like it was actually important? If Rainbow Dash was supposed to be in the secret service, blabbing the title to everyone defeated the purpose.

Secrets, lies, and hypocrisy. The Enclave’s core values summed up in three words. And Colonel Autumn wanted Applejack to be in charge. He hadn’t told her why he had wanted her, outside of the fact she had been born in Ponyville and was related to some humans who came to Equestria. With how the old American laws worked, Applejack could honestly say she was American.

And after signing a paper to legally change her name, she could tell everyone that she was Abigail Jacklyn. Autumn had said it was necessary to hide the fact that she was a pony by birth, even though magic had turned her into a human.

Even more secrets and lies.

Colonel Autumn and Rainbow Dash abruptly slowed their brisk pace to a slow walk, and Applejack nearly slammed into Autumn’s back before she pulled herself out of her own thoughts. President Eden’s room was just a few doors ahead.

On the left side of the hall, there was a woman in grease-stained overalls working on some conduits that had been hidden by a wall panel which leaned against the wall near her.

“House Party?” She asked as she turned towards Autumn. He responded with a nod as he passed.

The technician saluted Colonel Autumn before she reached into her toolbox. Her hand came out with a pistol grip topped by a small green box with an antenna and a few switches and dials on it. The woman flipped a switch, followed by the red plastic trigger guard, then pulled the trigger.

Applejack felt the floor shake beneath her boots. A split second later, alarms blared and the lights turned red.

“What in tarnation was that!?” Applejack asked with a gasp, rushing to Autumn’s side.

He didn’t answer, but Rainbow Dash did.

“It was President Eden losing some very important wires,” Rainbow Dash replied. “If he throws a tantrum, he can’t use the base’s self-destruct anymore.”

Self-destruct!? The Enclave didn’t just have to be pathological liars, or have black armor and black uniforms, or a secret underground base no one outside the Enclave could know about, but the base had a self-destruct button! Good guys didn’t rig their homes to blow up. Any lingering doubt Applejack had that she was wrong about the Enclave was destroyed. The Enclave were the villains.

Applejack would have voiced her opinion if things weren’t moving so quickly. The distinct bark of plasma weapons echoed as they passed through a doorway. Two soldiers in power armor were straight ahead, fighting two floor mounted turrets flanking another door at the end of the hall.

Executing the turrets was necessary, since President Eden controlled most of the electronics in the base. Applejack’s room terminal had been disconnected from the network because of that fact, which kept Applejack even more in the dark as she didn’t have any of the Enclave’s internal memos. Everything she knew had been filtered to her by Rainbow Dash, Autumn, and a few of the Enclave personnel she would talk to at lunch. The last group didn’t offer much insight, either, as anyone not an officer in the Enclave had about as much information about anything as Applejack had.

The Enclave kept their own people out of the loop. It made Applejack sick to be around so many lies. How could the Enclave get anything done when no one could trust anyone else to be telling the truth!?

As they reached the final door, Colonel Autumn stopped.

“Do you remember the plan if she can’t talk Eden down or he tries something?” Colonel Autumn asked Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, Plan B,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, tapping her belt full of grenades with a finger. “B for ‘break stuff’.”

Colonel Autumn then inclined his head Applejack’s way.

“Ready?” he asked, drawing his 10mm pistol. “Eden could have hidden security measures I haven’t seen, so stay behind Rachel and I.”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to overthrow a government,” Applejack grumbled, stepping back so that Colonel Autumn and Rainbow Dash could enter the room first. The soldiers who had slagged the turrets took up positions where the turrets had been.

Their black, fully enclosed helmets and power armor turned each one of them into a faceless goon. The swept-back antennas on the helmets resembled black horns, making the black armor appear even more sinister. There would need to be some changes to make the Enclave better and more approachable. All of the shiny black reminded Applejack too much of the Changelings when Chrysalis had been their queen, rather than King Thorax.

“Then there is no time to waste,” Colonel Autumn said, opening the door.

As soon as Rainbow and the Colonel were through the door, Applejack followed.

<>~<>~<>

President Eden was a massive machine. A literal tower of circuits, wires, and lights held within a large rectangular casing extending from floor to ceiling in the two-story tall room, which was so large that Applejack suspected it was bigger than her family’s barn back home.

There had been no hidden turrets or robots blocking their way, outside of the dead turrets outside. Reaching President Eden had been easy. Almost too easy. It set Applejack on edge, but she took a calming breath while she approached the large console filled with buttons and dials beneath a single massive screen.

A spherical camera with a large lens above the screen tracked her as she approached. It was like being watched by a lone massive eyeball. Another calming breath didn’t ease the anxiety of knowing she was being stared at by the machine masquerading as the president of the United States.

Once she was about ten paces away, John Henry Eden’s unmistakable, charismatic voice emanated from a speaker underneath the screen. A large sine wave line danced on the display in time with Eden’s words almost like it was a giant pair of electronic lips.

“Hello there, Applejack, or would it be more appropriate to call you Abigail now?” Eden said conversationally. For a machine, Eden’s range of voice and expressions were almost organic. Applejack even picked up the subtle bitterness behind the greeting.

“Mr. President,” Applejack replied, tipping her hat. Even if she was here to replace him as the leader of the Enclave, there was no reason she couldn’t be civil about it. Besides being the president, Eden was also the central mainframe storing vast collections of irreplaceable data. Talking him down would deal with Eden and let the Enclave keep the archive fully intact. Destroying him would damage or outright destroy the data only Eden had access to. “Either is fine with me. I assume you know why I’m here.”

“I do,” Eden said, his tone still conversational, with a bitter undertone. “In fact, I know more than you think. I saw this betrayal coming, although I must admit that the speed at which you enacted this ridiculous plan baffles even the likes of me. My loyal soldiers aren’t even halfway to Adams. They should turn back at any moment. Your plan to usurp me will fail. Raven Rock and Adams aren’t the only bases the Enclave has left. You do not have their loyalty.”

“Whoever tries to come for us will run straight into the anti-air defenses,” Colonel Autumn said from somewhere behind Applejack. She didn’t turn around, instead choosing to stare back at Eden’s eye-like camera.

“This doesn't have to end in anyone’s death,” Applejack implored as she waved a hand towards herself, then Eden. “The Enclave needs to be different. So far, yer tryin’ to be the shadow government, but there ain’t no government left to be the shadow of. It’s time to step up and help the wasteland.”

“And I will help the wasteland,” Eden responded, his tone agitated. “The water purifier is the key to purifying the wasteland. Just a little FEV and any mutant in the wasteland will die, making way for the pure, true Americans to take their rightful place on the surface. Something you wouldn’t understand, being from Equestria. Your people tolerate ideas that make you weaker, such as your romantic interest in Rainbow Dash.”

“Her what!?” Rainbow Dash cried out as Applejack backstepped. She hadn’t told a soul she was interested in Rainbow. Not even Rainbow Dash. Applejack had only written it down in the journal she had started on her… her terminal. But how had Eden accessed it?

“My terminal was disconnected from the network!” Applejack yelled.

“You tech ignorant savage,” Eden growled. “I am the network. I noticed the missing terminal and had technicians fix the issue while you were out of the room. From there it was simple to display that it was still disconnected. I know everything your over-honest heart spilled into that journal of yours.”

“And this is why we kept you in the dark, AJ,” Rainbow groaned, coming into Applejack’s peripheral vision. She was pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’re too damned honest sometimes. I’m sorry we lied to you, but as you can see, the wrong person could have asked you the right questions. Or just be a mule and read your diary.” She flapped her wings and flew right up to the camera, tapping it aggressively with her finger. “Also, bozo, what’s so weak about her liking me? I’m awesome.”

Applejack facepalmed and looked down to hide her smile. Rainbow Dash was the one pony who could match her in just about every challenge Applejack threw at her. If Rainbow Dash wasn’t so self centered, Applejack would have already asked her out a long time ago.

“You are both women,” Eden replied. “Your relationship would not continue the Enclave, putting aside the fact that one of you is both a mutant, and a non-American.”

“Plan B?” Rainbow Dash snarled through clenched teeth.

“I’m strongly considering it,” Colonel Autumn said. “Attempting to purify the gene pool is the kind of logic that destroyed the Enclave once before.” Colonel Autumn joined Applejack’s side, staring up at the camera as well. “You have our history books, Eden. Genocide has never attracted allies.”

“Ah, Colonel Autumn, my once-faithful ally,” Eden said with mocking cordiality. “During the Civil War, the North cut a path of destruction through the South to reunite the country. Violence is politics without words, and we live in an age of violence just like those dark times. These Equestrians have never understood the struggles our great nation has had to go through, but you’ve seen what America has become. It’s not too late to rectify your reputation in my eyes. Dispose of these mutants and we can pass this failure of a coup under the bridge. Do not let them infect you with their unamerican ideas.”

Applejack angrily clenched her fists. ‘Infect’ was a choice of words that she didn’t like, it was like free thinking was a disease to Eden. His opinion of homosexuality was also reductive; people were more than machines to produce other people, and what went on in the bedroom wasn’t the government’s concern as long as everyone involved could consent and was old enough.

“Unamerican ideas?” Colonel Autumn laughed. “Here is a thought for you, Eden. We’ve been biding our time in this bunker for over thirty years. Twenty of those years have been spent watching the Brotherhood of Steel win over the hearts and minds of the people living in the Capital Wasteland. You want to know who pointed that out to me?” He motioned a hand to Applejack. “She did. Abigail was right when she said we’re the shadow government with nothing left to shadow. We’re trying to play kings to a pile of ashes and broken bricks. We can take this chance to rebuild America, and build it back better. Equestria can help us do so.”

“Help how?” Eden asked. “They’re communists, infecting good Americans with their radical ideology. Harmony, friendship, bah, ponies are slaves to their god-queen and the marks on their flanks. How long has your Princess Celestia ruled for by now? A thousand years? A little more?”

“Equestria sure as sugar outlasted your county,” Applejack shot back, crossing her arms. Eden’s knowledge of Equestria was limited to outdated files and whatever she had written down. He didn’t know about Luna being back, or Twilight being next in line for the throne, which was a good thing. The less Eden knew the better. It was a bitter irony that she was the one keeping him in the dark now, but Applejack could tolerate a lie if it was necessary to keep Equestria safe. “We aren’t slaves, either. In case you’re too blind to see, we’re freer than your people if we can love who we want, live where we want, and don’t have some giant machine reading our diaries.”

“Comfort, recreation,” Colonel Autumn said bitterly. “How many of these freedoms does the Enclave actually support? We’re a military dictatorship with barely any civilians. How many Enclave members can say they’ve kicked their feet up onto the coffee table and watched a baseball game? You say one thing and have everyone do another. Your propaganda won’t survive contact with reality. How long will it be before people rebel against the Enclave when our boots start pressing on their necks?”

“ENOUGH!” Eden roared, the speakers crackling. “I will not back down to your… your infection. I have stayed my hand in the vain hope that you could see the error of your ways, but it is clear to me now that I must say goodbye to you, Colonel Autumn.”

There was a loud clunk from the ceiling, and two bipedal robots with the body shape of athletic women dropped down, landing between the exit door and Applejack’s group, trapping them inside.

Neither robot had hands. Instead, each of the black-painted female-esque robots had machete-length serrated blades angled like the graspers of a praying mantis. Both of their heads were glowing with red light, building energy in large sparking capacitors.

“Assaultrons!” Colonel Autumn yelled, “Rachel, use it!”

Use what? Applejack thought as she quickly turned to face where Rainbow Dash had been flying by the camera. Except that by the time she turned, Rainbow had shot towards the assaultrons faster than Applejack had ever seen Rainbow move, the gust of wind and noise was like a miniature sonic rainboom.

Spinning to try and catch her friend’s movement, by the time she refocused on the assaultrons, they were collapsing to the floor in a twitching, sparking heap. Dozens of wide puncture wounds dotted their chassis. The mirage of a black and blue hung in the air, shooting back towards Eden’s terminal.

Following the mirage to its end, Rainbow Dash was flying close to the tower-like case holding all of Eden’s electronics. Her belt of grenades was in her hands. Blood poured from her right nostril, but she was otherwise unhurt.

“How!?” Eden screamed, his spherical camera spinning in search of Rainbow Dash before it found her. “That shouldn’t be possible!”

“A little thing called implant GRX,” Rainbow Dash said, wiping her bloody nose with a sleeve. “Enhances my reaction time to the point everything is moving in slow motion, and I can already survive flying at mach speeds.” She waved the belt full of grenades at the camera. “Now, surrender, or we see how many grenades it takes to brick you. I have plasma, pulse, frag, and even a cryo grenade.”

“You are making a critical mistake,” Eden muttered threateningly, before the speakers crackled from his declaration. “I’m the only one with the non-redacted files on Equestria and the schematics and locations for the technology used to get there! I am your only hope of getting home! Without me, you will never be able to return, never!”

Colonel Autumn had already told Applejack that the Enclave had been heavily involved in the project that built the portals to Equestria. One of the few things he had told her about. The DIA’s files contained information on there being multiple portals that had been built, not just one. Unfortunately the papers had so many black bars drawn on them that the documents mostly resembled barcodes, rather than sources of helpful information.

“Our friend Twilight will find a way. I know she will,” Applejack said. Twilight always came through in the end. “She knows magic far better than a bunch of ones and zeroes.”

There was a pause, as though Eden was processing a lot of information at once.

“Can she do magic with a broken horn?” Eden asked, much calmer than before.

“Tell us where she is!” Rainbow yelled, drawing one of the grenades from the belt. “I swear if you’ve touched her!”

“I did not,” Eden said. “I see all that goes on in the wasteland. My eyes are everywhere. Kill me, and you lose what I know about all of your friends. There are many, many other things I know that you’ll lose out on discovering or stopping. I have already set things into motion, even before this pitiful coup. Ask yourselves, what is the price of your victory, hmmm?”

“How the hay can a machine sound smug?” Rainbow groaned. “Is he telling the truth, AJ?”

Applejack frowned. Eden was a machine. Everything he said was literally calculated. There was no face to read the expressions of, no movement to pick up subtle cues on. Eden was unreadable if he kept his cool. They had the weapons, yet he was holding them hostage with words alone.

“I… can’t say for sure,” Applejack said. “But he’s been sellin’ snake oil over the radio for years. No sense in trusting him now. Goodbye, Eden.”

“Before you kill me, indulge me for just a moment,” Eden said as Rainbow Dash held her thumb over the activation button for the pulse grenade she held. “If you wish to treat me like I am the villain, then allow me one final monologue.”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Go ahead and say yer peace.”

President Eden chuckled.

“Your actions and hubris have led me to make many unfortunate choices. Choices unfortunate for you, that is. My final words will be a literary reference that your backwards people will not understand. ‘From Hell's heart, I stab at thee.’”

The pulse grenade clattered into the mainframe housing, and President Eden died with the final words of, “God bless America. God bless the Enclave.”

<>~<>~<>

Colonel Augustus Autumn collapsed into his office chair, sighing heavily as his back thumped against the cushion. Technicians were attempting to repair the mainframe and restore what they could without reactivating Eden.

Their victory hadn’t felt as triumphant as it should have. No one chose the words of Captain Ahab to be their last unless they were sure they were taking someone down with them. But finding out what Eden had planned would be a waiting game until some functionality had been restored to the mainframe. With any hope, whatever was coming would be manageable.

Colonel Autumn knew he should hurry and help consolidate Abigail’s position as president, but it could wait. He was tired.

The metal wall closest to his desk held a large analogue clock, ticking away. Every chunk-chunk of the seconds passing by served to remind Colonel Autumn that time marched on, even if he was sitting down. It was just before midnight.

Chunk-chunk, the seconds passed, more grains of sand slipping through his fingers. Fifty-five years old, and not much to show for it.

Chunk-chunk, time marched on. With a loud clack, the hour, minute, and second hands shifted to point straight up to midnight.

Fifty-six years old and he had finally started to accomplish something of value.

Pulling himself up to his desk, Colonel Autumn turned on his terminal. Without Eden acting as the central mainframe, everything was disjointed and confused in the base. Automated systems were offline or stuck in the on position, terminals had no network connection, and even critical systems like air purification were reduced.

He turned his head slightly to stare at the tomato plant in a pot on the shelf, the newest addition to his room.

“I need to shake the hands of every technician in this bunker,” Colonel Autumn said to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn’t envy the task of the mechanics and terminal specialists. The pulse grenade had thoroughly fried Eden.

Chunk-chunk, the clock ticked on.

The sound spurred Colonel Autumn into movement. He unlocked his terminal; even without Eden, he could still make notes on the terminal’s hard drive. He would do what little he could to help the new president before sleeping. Time waited for no man, and there was still so much to be done.

He barely had the text program open before there was a knock at the door. Colonel Autumn knew who it was from the sound, only one person would knock that gently.

“Come in,” Colonel Autumn called out loud enough to be heard through the door.

It opened, and President Abigail Jacklyn entered, her arms crossed and face set into a frown. Colonel Autumn knew she would come to his office, and he would deserve every bit of anger the new president had towards him.

“Madam President,” Colonel Autumn said, swiveling his chair in her direction. His achy joints creaked as he pushed himself to stand.

“Spare me your silver tongue,” Abigail hissed. “You had that darned implant thing installed in Rainbow knowin’ good’n well it’a put her in the hospital. It made her too fast. That nosebleed only stopped just before I left the infirmary.”

“And she knew the risks, but she would have told you that,” Colonel Autumn said, nodding. “You’re here about something else, aren’t you?”

“Eden’s dead, so I think it’s time you come clean with me,” Abigail said, staring him in the eyes. There was a fire in those eyes. A fire Autumn hoped could forge his nation anew. “What are you planning? You put me in charge. Why?”

“Because you’re a good person,” Colonel Autumn said. He sat back down, wincing as arthritis stabbed at his joints. “You’re honest, and you try to solve problems without violence. If you had been a human from birth, I think you would have had a fair chance at talking Eden down, but the Enclave isn’t the most tolerant of groups. I have my own intolerances; I nearly shot Rachel on the spot when I saw she wasn’t fully human, and that would have been a regrettable choice because I consider her a valuable colleague now. I’m not the leader this country needs.”

“Playing the fight with Eden back in my head,” Abigail said, “I noticed you said you were against Eden’s plan to kill everything, even if it was only slightly mutated. But ya didn’t say nary a word against his nasty opinion towards, well–” Abigail trailed off as she scratched the back of her head, looking away and blushing.

“I have my faults,” Autumn said dourly. “The Enclave is isolationist. We rarely recruit wastelanders unless they prove to be exceptionally skilled, so we need our men and women to make more men and women. I–” Colonel Autumn grunted. Fumbling over the words in his head. He didn’t want to sound like the one in the wrong, even though he knew he was. “I was raised my whole life in the Enclave with that mindset. I won’t come out and say I support queer ideals, but I won’t discourage them. The people who hold those ideas are still people and are entitled to their opinion and way of life.”

The idea of two people of the same gender marrying was an uncomfortable thought to Colonel Autumn. But as a wise woman had told him not too long ago, sometimes you need to live with a little discomfort to enjoy life.

She had her opinions, he had his. Regardless which side was right or wrong, the world kept turning and time kept ticking on.

Chunk-chunk.