Fallout: Lavender Wastelander

The sun hadn’t risen yet when Twilight, Daniel, and Electrum were ready to leave for Earth. Electrum had already taken James and Rarity back to Rivet City after the party the night before. Meanwhile, Deathclaw Joe had gone back to his kingdom with Princess Celestia to start transferring his people to Equestria.

Twilight approached SOCOM’s portal and gave it a quick look-over. She had been too tired to take in the details when General Hoffman had surrendered it over to Princess Celestia.

Unlike the portal in the cave, which was a silver arch framing a mirror, SOCOM’s portal was like a door frame made of copper. It was bracketed down onto an inch-thick steel base plate by finger-thick bolts. There were as many carry-handles as there were runes and gemstones, covering both the frame itself and the base plate. Whatever was contained within the portal frame was not a mirror. It instead had the distinct look of a still-wet oil painting with the colors running across one another.

Twilight studied the morass of blending colors. She could make out patterns and shadowing within its details. Just enough for her to see on the other side of the portal. The image was smeared, but she was sure two Enclave guards stood on the other side. Applejack had mentioned that she’d set the portal up somewhere on Adam’s Air Force Base.

With the new security, Twilight made sure to check and see if she had everything packed for the trip back, especially her new ID. A delay over something as petty as verifying her identification would waste time she didn’t have. The anomaly needed to be closed as soon as possible.

Closing her saddle bag with a satisfied nod, Twilight touched the painting-like surface.

<>~<>~<>

Twilight stalked down a rubble-strewn street towards a door set into a concrete wall. The door lay close to a metro station blocked by heaps of old concrete fallen from the buildings on the terrace above. It was the maintenance entrance to the blocked metro, which would take her to Bailey’s Crossroads. The VSS building was somewhere in that area, but teleporting straight to it was ill-advised.

There had been a complication with their plan of simply walking in and out of the VSS building. The Enclave—as well as her Pip-Boy with Enclave software upgrades—had received a distress signal originating from Bailey’s Crossroads. Twilight had listened to the looping message enough times to remember the message verbatim.

“This is Defender Morrill, any Outcasts listening on this frequency report to sector 7-B, Bailey's Crossroads. This is a high-priority message, backup is needed at our location. Any personnel listening on this frequency please report at once.”

With the Outcasts needing help, Applejack wanted to take the opportunity to lend aid and for Twilight to act as the Enclave’s ambassador to the Outcasts. However, sending vertibirds and power armor would be like using a sledgehammer to chop firewood.

It could be misinterpreted as an attack.

To hopefully make the meeting run smoother, Twilight had taken one of Dr. Braun’s serums to turn herself fully human. SOCOM had produced stockpiles of them, so there was no danger of running out. She had another serum in her satchel bag ready to go in case she needed to quickly turn back into an alicorn, though it wouldn’t be fast enough for an emergency teleport escape.

Electrum had that covered. She was following Twilight by teleporting from rooftop to rooftop, staying out of sight. Daniel was with her, and they would teleport in if the situation escalated.

Twilight reached the door to the metro’s maintenance entrance and decided to test her new earbud. She activated the enchanted bead with a finger press.

“Testing, can you hear me?” Twilight whispered.

“I hear you, Twilight,” Electrum responded. “I’ve scouted ahead, and the super mutants and Outcasts are already in a shooting match. If you cut through the metro quick enough, you’ll meet right with a squad of Outcasts. Good luck, friend.”

Twilight smiled.

She hoped she hadn’t burned all her good fortune with her peaceful day in Equestria.

Only one way to find out.

<>~<>~<>

The only accessible part of the metro station through the maintenance door had been a small mezzanine with a short section of track and platform down below. While it was a small area, it wasn’t unused.

Giant bird cages filled with human skeletons hung from the upper walkways, discarded jet inhalers and psycho syringes riddled the floor, and the clawing stench of rotting meat had Twilight grimace. She knew the place had formerly been a raider camp until someone—likely the Outcasts—had cleared it out.

The raiders in question were all curled up dead in front of a barricade on the platform below the mezzanine. They had been lined up to face it before being shot. Ropes just as decayed as the raiders’ corpses kept their hands tied behind their backs. From the close-together pattern of bullet holes in the barricade, and the brass casings on the floor, the executioners used fully automatic weapons and sprayed them into the backside of the helpless victims.

Left to rot in an obscure corner of the wasteland. Whoever had killed them hadn’t even burned the bodies.

Twilight pursed her lips. She couldn’t dwell on it. She pressed onwards towards the exit on the opposite end of the mezzanine. As she approached, Twilight could hear shooting echo down the curving tunnel that led to the exit.

Drawing her pistol, Twilight picked up the pace down the exit tunnel. She could see the scissor gates at the end, and reached them in only a few paces.

Her vision adjusted to the light once she was on the other side. Ahead of her was a narrow escalator leading up a tall ramp. An Outcast in black and red painted T-45d power armor stood at the top of the escalator with a minigun. The eye slits of their helmet bore down at her. It was as though they were waiting.

Did they know that she was coming? Maybe she had tripped some sort of hidden alarm in the metro? Regardless of why the Outcast stood there, if they had wanted her dead, they would have opened fire the moment she had stepped out of the metro.

The shouts of another Outcast rang somewhere past the one before her, and the loud yells of super mutants. Twilight slowly ascended the unpowered escalator, not wanting to provoke the one at the top of the escalator into opening fire on her.

She reached the last step as the waiting Outcast lurched forward, startling her.

“You got a death wish? You’re walking into a warzone,” the man warned as a round sparked off his pauldron. The sharp crack and ping of incoming fire had Twilight duck back a few steps down. She at least recognized the voice as Defender Morrill from the radio. “Listen, local, if you want to be of use, help us clear the mutants between here and our base camp. If not, stay the hell out of our way.”

Defender Morrill swung around without letting Twilight get a word in edgewise and charged towards a group of other black-and-red painted Outcasts taking cover behind a pile of rubble. They were deep in a firefight with super mutants who were hiding behind a massive fountain in the courtyard of the only building in Bailey’s Crossroads that had survived with most of its floors intact.

“Gee, glad to meet you, too,” Twilight grumbled as she tried to keep up. Her enchanted Equestrian-made leg brace helped more than her original, but it still squealed in protest from her sudden burst of speed. As she ran, she quickly scanned the area.

The mix of half-fallen and completely destroyed buildings surrounding the area formed Bailey’s Crossroads into an isolated bowl. An artificial crater. The crossroads the area was named after were barely visible under the thick layer of rubble and dirt.

She was nearly halfway to the Outcasts when a super mutant wearing what looked like a black flight cap charged out of cover to intercept her. It was bigger than the others, and wielded a small engine welded onto the end of a bundle of rebar like an oversized sledge. Lawnmower blades had been welded to the engine, turning the weapon into a cruel implement of destruction that would smash blade-first into whatever the mutant hit.

The world slowed as Twilight entered VATS. At the range she was shooting, it was hard to miss, especially as each second of slowed time allowed the super mutant to close the gap between them. The calculated hit percentage climbed with each step the mutant took.

Twilight’s first shot tore a hole into its cheek, breaking teeth and jaw alike. The second turned its nose into a bloody crater. The third obliterated what was left of its jaw. Despite the three face wounds, the juggernaut kept charging without missing a step.

“Yeeeahahaha!” The super mutant howled in a terrifyingly gleeful rage. Its cries of exaltation were distorted by the bloody froth erupting from its destroyed face and mouth.

Electrum teleported behind the super mutant and shot it in the back of both knees. Momentum carried the mutant onwards for a few feet until its massive weight worked against its ruined limbs. They gave out with a sickening tear that sent bile creeping into the back of Twilight’s throat.

Twilight herself had experienced pain similar to the super mutant not too long ago. She knew what it was like to have her knee shattered like a glass plate. Twilight’s next bullet flew into the mutant’s screaming mouth, blowing a fist-sized hole out the back of the mutant’s head.

Twilight put two more bullets into it for good measure. If it got up after all of that, Twilight was going to go back to Equestria and quit the wasteland for good.

She quickly checked the area for more super mutants, and spotted Daniel, who must have appeared with Electrum. He’d taken up the defensive position with the Outcasts to fire his assault carbine at the last super mutant behind the fountain.

A lucky shot sent the super mutant’s head jerking back. There was no violent eruption of gore, but Twilight knew in the back of her mind that the mutant was dead. It had collapsed as suddenly and disorderly as a falling house of cards. From animated to unanimated in the blink of an eye.

She turned towards Daniel and the Outcasts. Defender Morrill was the only one still at the barrier. The other two Outcasts had run off to charge up a nearby hill of rubble. They were heading towards the second story window of a building missing its roof.

“We’re going to have to talk after this,” Defender Morrill said with a tone of impetuous annoyance, like he’d just realized he’d stepped in something smelly and hard to clean off.

Talking was exactly what Twilight had come to do.

<>~<>~<>

The running battle with the rest of the super mutants had been painfully one-sided in their and the Outcast’s favor. Power armor and miniguns—as well as Twilight, Electrum, and Daniel helping as best as they could—made short work of the mutants in the ruined office building.

No more mutants were left to fight as they reached the exit to the building, and Twilight was able to get a clear view of the VSS building. Or at least where it would be. The VSS building was a skeleton of I-beams surrounded by a chain-link fence. The I-beams stuck out from a large pit lined with concrete. A ramp led down towards what would have been the future basement of the unfinished building. The nearby crane and pallets of two-century old construction material would never be used to finish the job.

The great war had trapped the VSS building in limbo as effectively as amber trapped a fly. Started but never finished.

“So, now that that’s over with,” Defender Morrill grunted as he turned towards Twilight and her friends. “Do you mind telling me what the hell you three Equestrians are doing here?”

“We heard your distress signal and we came to help,” Twilight said. While it wasn’t the whole truth, they had helped after arriving.

“We’re not using normal frequencies. How did—” He caught sight of the Pip-Boy on Twilight’s wrist. “Right, Pip-Boys. I guess you’re with the Enclave. Figures. I suppose I should send you to see Protector McGraw if you’re all so willing to help. I’ll radio ahead. Just take the elevator.”

Twilight nodded and passed by Defender Morrill as he pressed finger to his power helmet. She heard Defender Morrill report in as she descended the ramp into the basement pit.

“Morrill speaking. I’ve got three Equestrians up here that I’m sending down. One of them is a woman flying Enclave colors, the other woman is dressed like a royal guard, and the guy looks like a local who got lost through a portal.”

“Friendly bunch,” Electrum whispered as she followed along beside Twilight.

“Very,” Twilight replied before sighing. “I don’t like this. The plan is already falling apart. Thanks for saving my flank back there.”

“Someone had to, because they sure as shit weren’t,” Electrum said bitterly as she glanced back at Defender Morrill.

“Do you think they’ll be willing to ally with us if we help them out?” Daniel asked. They were far enough away that he didn’t bother to whisper.

Twilight considered every adventure and friendship problem she had been on and solved in the past.

“I’ve worked with some pretty sour people before,” Twilight said. “We’ll find a way to open up a path to friendship between everyone.”

While the Brotherhood Outcasts were a minor faction compared to the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave, they were still people. Twilight knew people. It was her job as the Princess of Friendship to make as many friends as possible. She could do this.

Reaching the bottom of the ramp they rounded a corner. The elevator lay in the center of the pit. They walked under the iron bones of the unfinished building, sunlight dancing through the I-beams, shrouding the group in strange shadows.

The elevator was bare. A red-painted scaffold of I-beams held up the cable-spool and motor for the platform, which was little more than a metal gazebo with handrails. It had no floor selection panel, only a simple green push button with a large red emergency-stop button below it. They clamored into the elevator.

“Everyone ready?” Twilight asked.

After Electrum and Daniel nodded, Twilight pushed the button and they descended down the concrete shaft.

<>~<>~<>

The elevator went down and down, never stopping at the doors to other floors. Just as Twilight wondered if the elevator ride would ever end, the platform slowed, and Twilight heard someone on the other side of the door that would likely be their stop.

“I don’t understand why we need three of those fucking animals down here. We should ice two of them and force the third one to obey,” a man said, crackling from speaking through a power helmet.

As Twilight suspected, the elevator shuddered to a halt at the door where the voice had come through.

“McGraw gave orders, it's that simple,” a gruff-sounding man replied. From how hoarse his voice was, Twilight suspected he was a ghoul, and it lacked the crackly distortion of being spoken through a power helmet.

“Come on, man. How long are you going to let McGraw screw us over like this? He’s going as soft as Lyons. Next thing you know, we’re going to be taking orders from the Enclave to do their dirty work for them.”

The conversation quickly cut off as the extra wide metal door in front of Twilight, Daniel, and Electrum squealed open. The Outcast wearing their power helmet quickly turned and walked away as if they hadn’t been in a conversation with the black-skinned man in power armor, sans helmet. He turned out to be human instead of a ghoul. It was made all the clearer when he turned to the group with a sneer.

“Alright, you three,” he said, voice as rough as 1-grit sandpaper. “Keep your weapons holstered, horns and hands to yourself, and your mouths shut. Follow me.”

The man marched off deeper into the bunker.

The three shared glances between each other before Twilight slowly shook her head. She leaned close to Electrum and very, very quietly whispered, “Can you teleport us?”

Elctrum’s nod was enough for Twilight to set off with a confident step. The man led them into a bare concrete antechamber with gun turrets on the ceiling. Twilight only realized they were there because of the rhythmic beeping of their scanners and the subtle whine of their motors as the two machine guns tracked them across the room. There were open side doors in the antechamber, but they led to dead ends filled with rubble.

Twilight wanted to break the ice, but she had been told to stay quiet. A growl escaped her, and she focused on their surroundings instead. Some way to get a better idea of the place. They were led into a T-shaped hallway which was mostly painted white, with a wide strip of yellow paint marking the middle of the floor. Conduits and power cables snaked like gray creeper vines over the floor, and Twilight had to try and not trip over several of them. Overhead more conduits ran alongside metal pipes and silvery flexible air ducts.

They passed the Outcast who had spoken to the one leading them. He was talking to another Outcast fully enshrouded in power armor.

“Just hear me out, Tina,” the Outcast said, “imagine what Talon Company can do with the two of us. We’d be the only ones with power armor.”

“Damnit, Grayson, not this again,” the female Outcast replied. “I’ve already told you I’m sticking this out.”

Every Outcast that Twilight had met so far sounded like they were a single mild annoyance away from a bloodbath. She did not want to be in the bunker when the thin veneer of comradery snapped.

“Morale issues?” Electrum asked after they had passed the two talking about deserting.

“I said keep quiet, we’re almost to the command room,” their guide said as he took a right at the end of the hall.

Electrum rolled her eyes as they slipped into an open door in the hallway. The room would have looked more like a storage depot than a command headquarters were it not for the occasional terminal and electronic console shoved among all the shelves and counter tops. Most of the shelves were stocked with spare mechanical or electronic parts, but Twilight could see the odd ammo crate or medical kit here and there.

The man standing at the back of the room next to a table with a radio set gave off an air of authority, and like their guide, he did not wear a helmet. He was white-skinned, with buzzcut light brown hair, a well-maintained goatee, and with brown eyes glaring at them.

“Here they are, Protector,” their irate guide spat when they reached him. “Like you asked.”

“Thank you, Defender Sibley,” Protector McGraw said. His accent was a light southern drawl, similar to Colonel Autumn or Applejack’s. “Give us a moment, please.”

“Sir, I’m going to say again that I don’t like this idea.”

“Noted, Defender,” Protector McGraw said evenly. “That’ll be all. You can listen in on our meeting if you’d like.”

“Yessir,” Defender Sibley grunted. He stomped to the other side of the room with his power armor fists clenched.

“So, you three are the ones Morrill sent down,” Protector McGraw asked. “I’ll be completely honest and say that unlike my colleagues, I would trust a wastelander with shining my power armor, but that would be pushing it. So I’m going to have a real hard time trusting you three. But all of you look vaguely military, so you may be useful to us after all. You have something I want, and you are all here for a reason. Tell me what it is, and we might be able to cut a deal.”

Twilight forced a smile. Protector McGraw at least put up the affectation of not holding them in utter scorn. That was a start at the very least.

“There is an armory here that I need to access,” Twilight said. “There is a decent chance that inside of it is a damaged portal to my world. I want to turn it off so it will reduce the number of rogue portals linking our worlds. I’d also like to have some very specific supercomputer parts. Any weapons or armor inside the armory will be yours to take. I would also like to speak with your leader at Fort Independence, Protector Casdin, if I’m correct, right?”

“Yes,” Protector McGraw said, crossing his arms. “But if you’re looking for an alliance, it won’t work. Protector Casdin is a hardliner for the Codex, who wants to reestablish contact with the West Coast Brotherhood. He thinks that Elder Lyons should be put in front of a firing squad and hates the Enclave even more. He fought you guys back West. I can try and set up a meeting at the very least, but he’s already rejected President Jackyln’s offer to meet. As for the armory, I can accept your terms.”

“So,” Daniel said, “we told you what we need from you. What is it you need from us before we seal this deal?”

“We know from our records that some important tech is in the armory behind a blast door. Your earth pony friend telling us about the portal only confirms that. However, the only way to get the code to open it is to complete the Anchorage Liberation simulation. According to our tech expert, Specialist Olin, it’ll be heavy fighting against the Communist Chinese. We’re unable to engage the safety protocols. If you die in the simulation, you’ll go into heavy cardiac arrest. That's why we haven’t tried it yet.”

Twilight grit her teeth. So, go into the simulation and try not to die. She doubted it would be that simple.

“You seem to know a lot about Equestrians,” Electrum said. Twilight didn’t know what Electrum was accusing Protector McGraw of, but her tone was clear that she was accusing him of something. Twilight had picked up that Protector McGraw knew that earth ponies looked like humans. Twilight’s hair and eye colors were a dead giveaway to the observant.

“Yes, I do,” Protector McGraw said. “We have a prisoner at Fort Independence. A stallion named Feather Fletcher.”

Twilight had heard the name before. He competed in Royal Guard archery competitions and had appeared in a few magazines. She frowned. The Outcasts acted as the aggressors. Keeping a pony prisoner without informing Equestria until they were confronted could be considered justification for a war. The conflict against SOCOM had only just ended—and with an unexpected peace deal no less, rather than beating SOCOM into submission for two destroyed cities. There were still a lot of angry ponies ready to fire a rifle at anything that gave them cause to do so.

Deathclaw Joe didn’t have to do much to convince two guard ponies to slaughter a room full of raiders. Equestrians could be as violent as humans when provoked.

“Will his release be part of our deal?” Twilight asked. She tensed up, ready to draw her pistol at the first sign of hostility and make both of the Outcasts in the room regret not wearing helmets.

“Naturally,” Protector McGraw said. “Now, if that’s all, please follow Defender Sibley to the simulator.”

“That’s not all,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath to calm her rapidly fraying nerves. While they may have struck a deal, there were still problems going on at the Outcast outpost. “Defender Sibley, could you come here, please?”

“What? Why the fuck would I—” Defender Sibley started, but Protector McGraw shut him up with a glare, and he stalked over. “What is it?”

Twilight put on her best, friendliest smile. She hoped to break the ice.

“I can tell that you’re stressed and angry,” Twilight said. “I just wanted to tell you that I hope you have a nice day and things work out well for you soon. We’re not here to cause you problems, and we genuinely want to help unlock that armory for everyone’s benefit.”

Defender Sibley’s expression transcended past ‘I’ve bitten into something sour’ to some sort of indescribable nirvana of bitterness.

“Okay,” he grunted with an eye twitch. He inhaled, held his breath, then let it out. “Thanks… I guess.”

“You’re welcome,” Twilight said genuinely. “Lead the way, please.”

Defender Sibley grunted something under his breath and led the way. Twilight realized she would have been able to hear it if she was an alicorn.

Her shoulders tensed as, for the first time in a while, Twilight realized just how much danger she was in. She would be going into a dangerous combat simulator as a fragile human. No alicorn resilience to protect her.

<>~<>~<>

Server banks dominated both sides of the room that Twilight had followed Defender Sibley into. Cables snaked off of them, running underfoot into a familiar egg-shaped pod in the center of the room. The back wall framed all of it with a massive control console.

A woman studied a server bank near the pod and took notes on a clipboard. She had coiffed blond hair worthy of Rarity’s envy, and wore a dark black set of robes. Defender Sibly laughed, making Specialist Olin jump and whip around to face him with a scowl.

“Knock knock, Olin,” Defender Sibley sneered. “I got you a gaggle of new best friends. The human-lookalike should fit the pod. Try and treat her better than the last guy, hehe.”

“Go to hell, Sibley,” Specialist Olin said, extending her middle finger up in a rude gesture. “Defender Grayson was responsible for that, not me.”

“Watever, they’re all yours,” Defender Sibley said. “Just make some progress so we can leave this shit post.”

“I will if you’ll let me do my job, so get out, asshole,” Specialist Olin snapped with crossed arms. She set her sights on Twilight as Defender Sibley left. “So, you’re here to help? Fine, I have a suit you need to wear. Strip down and put it on, and no, I don’t give a deathclaw’s testical about your privacy. When you’re done, get in the chair, and we’ll run the simulation. Your friends can watch.”

Twilight took a step back at the sudden redirection of the woman’s frustration onto her.

“Heyyy,” Twilight said slowly. “I’m on your side, just here to help. I think we’re starting out on the wrong foot. My name is North Star.”

Twilight was not letting them know she was a princess. She didn’t want to be the subject of a hostage situation.

Specialist Olin shook her head, shoulders relaxing slightly. “Sorry, things have been tense here and it's been getting to me. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. Do you need anything?”

Twilight was surprised at the turn of personality.

“Maybe it's not what I need, but what your group needs,” Twilight said, taking a cautious step closer. “Everyone here is at each other’s throat. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“So, the reports were true, you Equestrians do try and make friends with everyone,” Specialist Olin said through a chuckle, a small smile creasing her lips. “Sure, just keep being a friendly example to the people around here. We need it.”

Twilight smiled. “Maybe while I’m going through the simulation, Electrum and Daniel can help around here? Make things easier on you all?”

Twilight could easily picture a magical map of the DC area with Daniel and Eelctrum’s cutie marks spinning over the Outcast Outpost, directing them to a friendship quest. The people here needed help. Twilight had encountered cacti that were less prickly than the Outcasts.

“They’ll have to check in with McGraw on that one,” Specialist Olin said. “Now, let’s get you suited up. I see you have a Pip-Boy. The simulator has a connection port in it for anyone wearing one, but it can be used without it. Might help if you plug yours in.”

It might let her use VATS in the combat simulation. Twilight would use every advantage she could get.

“Are you sure about this, Twilight?” Daniel asked. “I… just want to make sure. A cardiac arrest is what killed my mother. I don’t want to lose you.”

Twilight hugged him.

“I’ll be okay,” she said, nuzzling his fuzzy cheek with her nose. She enjoyed the tickle of his fur on her skin. “I’ve gotten a lot better at shooting, and I might have VATS if I plug in my Pip-Boy.”

Out of the corner of her vision, Twilight saw Specialist Olin retrieve a white suit and hood covered in plugs and sockets from a metal crate. The suit was exactly like the ones in Vault 112.

“Okay, Twi, just stay safe in there,” Daniel said. He leaned over and kissed her. It was brief, but it left a warm sensation over her face, even when they pulled away.

“I’ll do my best,” Twilight said with a smile. She broke away from their embrace and walked over to Specialist Olin to get her suit.

<>~<>~<>

Less than five minutes later Twilight was inside the pod. She struggled to settle into a more comfortable position among the padding and prongs of the lounge chair-like apparatus within the egg-shaped device.

Her Pip-Boy had the connector cable slotted into a port inside the machine. Because of how tied down she was by all the restraints on the chair, she couldn’t read whatever was on the screen. Something about ‘Enclave’ and ‘special access’. She couldn’t make out enough to follow along with the scrolling text.

“Ready?” Specialist Olin asked.

“I think so,” Twilight replied. She turned her head as much as she could to look at Daniel.

“Hey, Daniel, can you see what my Pip—” The pod closed around her, sealing her in darkness. The curved screens within activated one by one. It had her mind swim, and her vision blurred.

<>~<>~<>

Twilight blinked.

It took her a moment to realize that she was standing inside of an olive drab canvas tent. There were several desks and empty tables wrapping around the walls of the large tent, and the ground below had been covered by rubber matting.

The only other occupant of the tent was in the center of the room, leaning over the largest table. He had a few inches over Twilight, and wore an Enclave-style olive drab greatcoat. His hair was light gray with a military buzz cut so it was taller on the top of his head than the sides. His intense green eyes were locked onto the map. From the four stars on each of his greatcoat’s epaulets, Twilight knew he was a high-ranking general.

She approached, but quickly halted when she read his nametag. Chase, C.

Constantine Chase, the same General whose pharmaceutical company developed psycho. He was also the one who tried to kill Dr. Braun and the ponies. With how everyone in Vault 112 was trapped as electronic copies of themselves in the simulation, General Chase had succeeded.

Twilight needed to get a better handle of herself before she spoke with him. She took the moment to study herself to see if the simulation had altered her. She was wearing a greatcoat over a US army military uniform, as well as her Pip-Boy. She also had a 10mm pistol in a holster, and a large combat knife. Her hair was cut short in a buzz cut like Fluttershy’s had been.

Rather than try and approach the table and look at the map on it in case that caught General Chase’s attention, Twilight checked her Pip-Boy.

The text from before was still on the screen.

//Enclave milspec software detected
//Colonel rank authorization codes detected
//Command level special access granted
//Simulation set to alternate parameters
//Beginning Operation Starfall

Twilight raised a brow. The simulation had switched to another operation because it thought she was Enclave? Pressing random buttons didn’t clear the screen.

With no other hint as to what to do for the simulation, Twilight stepped up to General Chase, who snapped away from the map.

“Colonel Sparkle,” he said kindly as he picked up a nearby open cigar box and offered her one of the horn-thick rolls of tobacco. She was close enough to catch the reek of the General’s burning cigar. Twilight shook her head to decline the offer, and General Chase nodded. “Not a smoker. Good, don’t start. It’s a nasty habit.”

He had reacted naturally to her decline. Was he a ghost in the machine like Dr. Braun and the ponies?

“General Chase, sir?” Twilight asked, trying to fake as formal a military accent as possible. He didn’t like ponies, and her life was literally on the line if something went wrong. “Is there a reason why I’m here?”

General Chase nodded.

“I don’t know how to sugarcoat it, but things have gone tits up, and we need a senior officer to take direct command in the field. Take a look at this.”

He tapped the map with his finger, and Twilight looked down at it.

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

Two centuries of changes may have gone by, but there was no mistaking the layout of a city hanging off the side of a mountain…

She was about to invade Canterlot.