Fallout Equestria: Sundown

hapter 8: Elderberries

It wasn’t a bad cell, as far as underground bunker prisons go. Not that I’ve actually been in that many

underground bunker prisons in my life. If at all.

Okay, I’ve never been in this kind of situation before, but at least I have apples. That’s always a plus!

I must’ve been in here for a while, because I was already starting to get hungry again. An Initiate had

come by to take my tray, and looked all kinds of confused when he saw a pile of drained apples get

pushed at him. Something along the lines of “How the hell do you drain an apple like it’s a juice box!?”

I didn’t really know, so I just smiled at him and he ran off with the tray. I was really beginning to enjoy

the fact that the light in my cell had gone off about two hours ago, so anypony that looked too closely to

the lasers barring me from leaving would get the shock of their life when they saw my eyes reflect light

off of them, right back at them with an orange sheen. Then they would back up in shock for a second,

before slowly coming closer and I would lunge forward, say “Hello!” and smile at them, and they would

run off to go find one of their friends and tell them to “Check out that prison cell in the back.” And the

process would repeat again. I almost spooked a paladin even, but I couldn’t tell all that well with their

face hidden beneath the armoring they seem to never take off. How do they go to the bathroom?

As I was getting tired and planning on going to sleep, the lights of the cell flipped on and I heard a few

ponies enter. With a groan of annoyance I got off of my comfortable cot and walked up to the lasers to

see who it was.

“Initiate, please close the door behind us.” Elder Rasa spoke softly when it wasn’t time for official

business, and had come by once or twice to just stare at me. He’s kind of creepy when he just stands

there and looks at you. Maybe that’s why he’s been the boss for so long. Just stares at ponies until they

melt out of his offi- CLACK, CLACK, CLACK

“Aah!” I squeaked, holding my ears from the loud noise of the elder banging his fore hooves together to

get my attention.

“Good. Now that I have your attention, we can begin the interrogation.” He said flatly, motioning to a

scribe to turn on some device she was holding with her magic.

“Interr… uh oh.” I said, completely audible.

“What.”

“Much like the beast reported to have been encountered in the stable, this device is a focused audio

dampener. Normally this would render somepony’s voice or equipment out of hearing range, but for

our purposes it will allow you to speak normally when directed at you.” Elder Rasa explained with a

grin.

“Oh. Well that’s neat! Can I keep one? You have no idea how hard it is to communicate with ponies

when all they hear is squeaks and-“

He held up a hoof to silence me, before speaking.

“I want to know several things. You will only speak to answer my questions, understood?”

I nodded, before remembering I could actually speak and said, “Yes!”

“Good. First of all, how did you get to the Hoofington region?”

“Um… Hoofington? I just thought it was just some ruins like everyplace else.”

“Regardless of your knowledge of the area, how did you get into the city without being spotted?”

“Spotted? You mean there was ponies looking for me, or that I wasn’t supposed to be there?”

“Yes.”

“Wha-“

“To both of your questions, yes.”

“Oh… I just flew there after getting chased off by Raiders and Slavers from a cave I was staying in for the

daytime.”

“Where is this cave?”

“Um.” I closed my eyes and tried to remember the paths we had taken, eyes flickering underneath their

lids for a few moments as I heard the Elder grumble a bit like he was being ignored, before opening my

eyes and pointing towards the right of my cell’s door with my hoof.

“About that way.”

“You… You were blindfolded before you came here, correct?”

“Yeah, but I’m a Batpony. I don’t navigate the same way you ponies do. I remember where I’ve been and

make a mental map that I follow. I never understood the whole North East South West thing. I just kinda

went in the direction I remember it being last, relative to where I’ve been and how I got to where I am

now.”

The Elder blinked at me for a few moments, before moving on.

“How did you come into contact with the original four targets?”

“Oh, you mean Gearbox, Lightswitch, Emerald and Swift Shot?”

“Eh, yes.”

“Well, I was resting on top of a ruined building for a bit after getting chased off by slavers nearby, and I

heard a bunch of arguing and then a gunshot so I decided to investigate and see what was up.”

“You mean to attack them.”

“What? No! They didn’t sound like they were mean or anything. It just sounded like a bunch of ponies

arguing about something.”

“So you’re telling me, that a wastelander like you, wouldn’t take every possible opportunity to

backstab and steal from other ponies to survive, in a situation where they would do the same to you

in a heartbeat?”

“Um, no? That’s just mean!”

“You are a very unusual pony, Miss…?”

“Sundown!”

“Strange. A few more questions.”

“Okay.”

“Before you were captured by Paladin Copper Wire and his rangers, if was reported that you heard

them coming long before they arrived?”

“Yeah. I have very sensitive ears and I heard a bunch of clanking and grumbling so I thought that it was

the slavers from before, so I went to warn the other ponies about it but they were all gone. Then I heard

a bunch of minigun fire and a missile launcher go off, and Copper Wire was standing over me, shouting

in my face.”

“Then you were captured, and brought into the Stable, correct?”

“Yep, and then I got tied up and it was really scary. I tried to escape but they caught me in a vent before

I could get away and I would have died if I didn’t scream the vent apart.”

The Elder moved his head back, startled, before regaining his composure.

“Shouted… the vent apart?”

“Yep! I can show you if you wa-“

“No-no! No that’s alright. I believe you, no need for that.”

He gave a throat clearing cough before regaining his composure, and continuing with his questions.

“From there, Paladin Copper Wire tells me that the other four that were with you took great interest

in your safety. Why would they care for you if they had only met you for such a short period of time?”

“Well… I didn’t try to kill them or anything. I think they wanted to keep me as a pet.”

“A…pet. Don’t you mean as a slave?”

“Nope! Swift Shot said that she wanted me as a pet, probably because of my squeaking.”

“Odd.” he simply stated, and we stood there staring at each other for a while. I figured it was a staring

contest and we only continued after he blinked first a few minutes later.

“Very odd. At any rate, from that point you were willing to assist the Paladin with his interrogation,

correct?”

“He said he didn’t want anypony getting hurt, so I went along with his plan. It was kind of goofy. He was

acting like a comic book villain for a bit, but I don’t think the other four caught on.”

“A comic book villain? Like Mane-iac, yes?”

“Oh, you know her too!?”

“That doesn’t matter.” He said hurriedly, attempting to redirect the conversation from his comic book

reading leisure activities.

“From there, you were introduced to three Initiates.”

“Yep! Cheese Wheel, Hat Trick and Card Swipe. They’re pretty neat and helped me find a restroom.”

He had a stone faced expression, and only blinked a few times before continuing.

“The restroom.”

“Yep!”

“Right. After that, what had happened from your point of view?”

“Well, I overheard them making fun of somepony named Paladin Combat Knife, then I made them giggle

with a reference to what they were talking about and they got spooked that I heard them through a

‘double reinforced door’ and I told ‘em my hearing was really good! Then Hat Trick did some kind of

cheaty unicorn magic thing and I felt weird, and she said my ears were mutated. Then we went to go

find Paladin Copper Wire and there wasn’t anypony around. Only bloody rags and shredded boxes and

stuff.”

“Right. Aside from the bathroom ordeal this is consistent with what the Initiates had told me.

Continue.”

“Well, we started looking around and found a big meeting hall with a green tube in the center. And

there was a pony carpet too! Anyway, I was being the scout for the group with my ears an-“

“I’m sorry, ‘Pony-Carpet’?”

“Yeah, a bunch of ponies’ flesh fused together along with their bones like a carpet along the floor. They

didn’t tell you?”

He looked like he had found out that someone had used his morning bowl of oats as a restroom.

“Certainly not!” he shouted, before realizing he had lost himself, turned and whispered something to

the scribe next to him and faced me again.

“We will continue this at another time. I have some Rangers to speak with…” he stated with a hint of

impending doom towards said Rangers.

“Wait! How come I couldn’t hear you whispering?” I asked in a rush to speak before he left. He left the

room anyway, and the scribe walked up to me with her device.

“Dampener field, works both ways.” She said with a smug grin, before clicking the device off.

“Skree! Squ sqi… eeeee….” Wait! Can I… Awwww.

“See ya, freak.” The scribe sneered before leaving and locking the door to the cells.

Well now the lights are on, I don’t have any apples, and nopony can visit me now. This sucks hayseed.

Deciding I should try and get as much sleep as I can before my stomach makes its return with a need for

apples, I hopped onto the small cot I was given only to find there was no pillow or blanket on it. I

decided to pull the mattress off of the cot, and went over to the corner of the cell next to a sink and

propped it against the wall between the toilet and the sink, making a half tent of shade with the

mattress before laying down in my makeshift fort. I think I heard some clanking and muffled shouting

through the walls, but I was already too dozy to really care about what was going on and soon fell

asleep.

oooOOOooo

A bright object had just smacked into me as I plummeted out of the sky, unable to break free and right

myself. Somehow there wasn’t any pain, and as I tried to move, the glowing thing had me locked into it

as I fell backwards towards the rapidly approaching and unsafe looking landing site soon to become a

crater with a side of scrambled Batpony. I closed my eyes, waiting for my impending doom at the hands

of celestial space rock.

And then nothing happened. I chanced a peek and noticed that this glowing thing and I were just

hovering over the ground, slowly spinning clockwise before it set itself down with me on the top of it.

“You may free yourself, Night Guard.” A regal sounding yet kind voice told me.

After hopping down from the rock, I looked around to find a unicorn mare and a brightly colored foal

standing next to her. She wore a night blue robe adorned with gold trim that concealed her features and

a rune covered scarf around her neck. The foal next to her was also a unicorn, orange coat with red and

white accented mane.

Clack, Clack

My attention was returned to the mare in front of me, next to the large rotating orb.

“Night Guard, please report your findings.”

“I got hit with a big rock from the sky.”

“Very astute.” She said with a look of exasperation on her face, as the foal tried to hide his giggle with a

hoof.

“What is your name, Night Guard?”

The dream then unfocused and all sound came as a mumble for a few moments.

“I am Marelin. Apprentice to Princess Celestia. This is Brag, don’t mind him.”

The foal looked a little disappointed, but didn’t protest to his presence being ignored.

“I was admiring the night sky of Princess Luna’s creation and ensuring nopony was in distress when I

noticed that thing hurling itself toward me. I tried to get out of the way but I was struck by it instead. I

honestly don’t know why I’m not powder at the moment.”

“That would be partly of my own doing. I too saw the orb flying from the sky and attempted to slow it

before it could hurt anypony. Sadly you were hit directly by it. I think it would’ve brought you with it into

the ground if I hadn’t stopped its decent.”

“Do you know what this thing is?” I said, giving it a few taps of my midnight plated hoof.

The dream became blurry as I heard what sounded like shouting in the distance.

“Night guard, are you there?” I returned to the present, as the hoof of Marelin was waving in my face.

“Oh! Yes, sorry. I thought I heart somepony shouting in the distance.”

The apprentice looked at me with some confusion before her horn glowed, looking me up and down.

“Odd… you’re radiating with magical energies.” She stated with curiosity before her horn stopped

glowing.

“I think you should return to your duties, Night Guard. Be sure to file a report about this, as I will do the

same for the Princesses. I’m certain they will wish to know what has happened here tonight.”

The dream became blurry again as I felt myself falling backwards into nothingness

oooOOOooo

“-ndown, Sundown wake up already!” I heard a voice whispering harshly nearby.

I groggily stood up before bumping my head on the mattress as it fell sideways to the ground, to see the

three Initiates, Paladin Copper Wire, Clear Report and Elder Rasa standing outside of my cell.

“Wha?” I squeaked, moving closer to the deactivated door of my cell.

Clear Report moved a strange collar towards my neck suddenly, and I let out a warning screech as I

reared up at the thing.

“Calm down!” He said crossly, most of the group not in power armor having to cover their ears.

I looked worriedly at the Initiates and Copper Wire, and they nodded at me with smiles.

Well. If they’re okay with it then it can’t be that bad, right?

Click.

“Alright, now that that is over with, we can continue.” Elder Rasa stated with relief.

I put a hoof to this weird steel collar around my neck, fidgeting with it a bit before Hat Trick knocked my

hoof away in worry.

“Don’t mess with it! It’s a bomb collar, in case you try to escape again. Sorry…” She looked away

quickly after my look of betrayal had seared into her after hearing ‘bomb collar’.

The group filed out of the prison cell with me at the center, being followed at the rear by Paladin Copper

Wire with the Initiates in front of me. I was getting stares from the Steel Rangers that hadn’t been on

the Stable 96 mission and overheard gasps and grumbles of annoyance at bets being lost, concerning

what had been in the prison cell. I kept my head down and looking to the floor to avoid any looks of

disgust or anger that may have been shot my way. After all, nopony in the wastes liked Pegasai, and I

seriously doubt that they would tell the difference between a Batpony and a Pegasus even if we looked

nothing alike. Pony with wings is a pegasus to them, I guess. My posture must have caught the attention

of Copper Wire, because he sped up to walk alongside me.

“Chin up, Sundown. They were given a short briefing on Batponies before you were released. We

didn’t want a riot to happen when we got you out of the cell.” He explained, before Elder Rasa cut him

off and ordered him to ‘Stop speaking with the prisoner.’ We maneuvered our ways through the

spacious halls through the bunker, passing a few barracks, some recreational centers, a large restroom,

armory, training hall and ‘simulator room’ before coming up to the Medical Ward.

I was told to move ahead of the rest of them, and the door slammed down behind me, making me jump.

In front of me was a Unicorn mare with white coat, purple mane and red eyes.

“Hello, my name is Redundance, although everypony calls me ‘Doctor Scour’ for some reason.” She

said with a slight scowl. She had a cutie mark of a healing potion wrapped in bandages, so I guess that

was the reason for her name.

“Now, if you’ll take a seat over here, we can begin with a quick medical scan to make sure everything

is where it’s supposed to be. Don’t worry about my credentials, I spent the past few days doing

research on batponies from information we have stored in the archives.” She quickly reassured me as

she moved medical looking equipment around, gave me some kind of apron with spots all over it while

tying it behind my back and lifted me with her magic onto the bed. I had opened my mouth to speak but

she clamped my jaw shut with more of her cheating unicorn-ness.

“Nah-ah ah. Can’t have you speaking with that collar on you. If you try to screech loud enough to hurt

somepony it will make your head explode all over my medical bay, and nopony wants to clean up

crème de la batpony, do they?” She said with a fake smile, still frantically moving equipment, bandages,

potions, rad-aways and various other supplies around the room in a flurry of magic before finally setting

a stool down in front of me and taking a seat. The room looked like she was about to perform every kind

of medical procedure possible.

I thought this was a checkup?

“Now, let’s begin!” She said, way too happily for comfort. Her horn glowed again and I felt my whole

body tingle like it had fallen asleep. Moving around in the slightest set off the feeling of pins and needles

stabbing me so I did my best to sit still while she did whatever it is that medical ponies do. I started to

feel woozy and swayed for a moment before Redundance caught me, and set me down on the bed,

hooves in the air.

I can’t move!

“Now, the Autopsy can begin! Mwahahaha!” She cackled, before looking down at my frantically moving

and worried eyes.

“Oh dear, honestly. What kind of pony do you think I am?” she giggled, before moving out of my sight

and returning with a surgical mask.

“An evil one! Mwahah!” she cackled again, and I swore I heard a lightning bolt land somewhere in the

background before she flicked her mask away into the corner with her magic, and I could feel myself

able to move again.

“Just kidding. You have no idea how boring it is around here. Nopony can take a joke, I swear.” She

chucked with an air of nostalgia, before setting me upright and taking the apron thing off.

“Alright, here is what I’ve found. Your ears are certainly mutated, though I can tell it isn’t from Taint.

I’m a bit disappointed to say I have no idea what exactly caused them to mutate the way they have,

but the rest of you checks out one hundred per-cent as completely Batpony as you can be!” the Doctor

was completely ecstatic at revealing this news, as she was reared on her hind legs and flailing her

hooves about as she finished, before collecting herself and ushering me off of the bed.

“Now then, I will send my full report to the Elder as soon as I can. I will also recommend he take off

that awful collar from you. I can tell that you’re a good pony, Sundown. I have my ways.” She gave a

conspiratorial wink at me, before opening the door and giving my flank a smack on the way out.

“Toodles!” she called, with the door slamming shortly after I had left. The Initiates had their jaws on the

floor as I looked up at them with an obsidian colored blush, which quickly evaporated as I saw Elder Rasa

staring at me, his head turned from a conversation with Copper Wire.

The Initiates snapped to attention just in time as the Elder and Paladin moved to take me back to the

cell I was beginning to call home. I had a lot I wanted to say, but with Redundance’s warning I didn’t

want to risk my head turning into red mist. I turned around to face the Initiates as the cell zapped back

to life.

“Don’t worry, Sunny. We’ll get this sorted out, I promise.” Cheese Wheel said, giving me a grin that

raised my spirits a bit.

“Enough. You are no longer needed for the moment, Initiates.” Elder Rasa stated, as they gave a quick

salute and went out of the prison section. Now it was just Paladin Copper Wire, Scribe Clear Report,

Elder Rasa and myself in the prison section. I decided to sit on my mattress that was still on the floor,

not bothering to put it back on the frame as I stared at the three of them through the grid of lasers.

“Now then. Would you two like to explain to me why you didn’t report a ‘carpet of ponies’ in your

findings of Stable 96?” The elder questioned Clear Report and Copper Wire.

Both of them looked at the other, Clear Report with a look of horror and Copper Wire’s expression being

unreadable behind his helmet.

“A-a what, sir?” Clear Report asked.

“What do you mean by a ‘carpet of ponies’, Elder?” Copper Wire asked. I was getting worried, were

they trying to hide what had happened down there?

“The prisoner here states that some areas of the stable were covered in a blanket of pony flesh and

bones enough to resemble a carpet! Don’t tell me you didn’t see something like that, it would be

goddesses damned impossible to miss!” The Elder fumed at them.

“Elder Rasa… The floor had blood streaks all over it as well as some green chemical mixture that I

assumed was from one of our targets previously using to kill off the inhabitants before we arrived. I

never saw a ‘pony carpet’ as you describe.” Paladin Copper Wire stated.

Clear Report looked between Copper Wire and myself as if we were insane.

“What? Paladin, the ground was covered in plant life and dead animals. You were there! You must’ve

seen all the bodies in the Living quarters.” The scribe belted out almost in panic, like he was about to

be caught by his parents for lying.

The head of Copper Wire moved back a bit at Clear Reports statement, before looking at me.

“Sundown… are you saying you saw a ‘carpet of ponies’ littering the floor when you went into the

stable?” he asked in a worried manner. I nodded my head, my own confusion adding to the mix.

“Elder, if I may. What did the Initiates say happened in the stable?” Clear Report asked.

“All three Initiates were taken in separately to give their account of the story, as well as every

member of your team, Paladin Copper Wire. As I am realizing with you three, this isn’t a conspiracy to

hide the truth of what happened there to cover up for some failure on your parts. Everypony sent on

that mission has a different account of what occurred, what they saw, what they fought against and

how they got out as unique as their cutie marks.” Elder Rasa stated, pacing around in a circle while

speaking.

“How can that be, Elder? We were all there and we hadn’t barely said a word on the way back here!”

Clear Report was getting more disheveled by the moment.

“Barely spoke? I saw Sundown here liquefy a group of raiders that had ambushed us on our way

back!” Copper Wire was also beginning to panic.

“Enough! We won’t get anywhere with this if we all devolve into a blind frenzy of worry. Let’s

examine the facts, shall we? From the beginning. All of you nod or shake your head at the events that

I speak of so we can determine where everything deviated.”

We all nodded our head and he began.

“Alright. I had ordered your group to scour the nearby ruins for technology that would assist us in

cloning our own food so we could expand our operations. Yes?” The scribe and paladin nodded.

“You sent a small scouting team ahead of the main group to report back findings and any targets you

may have to deal with before arrival.” More nods.

“The scouts reported four ponies at the entrance to the Stable. Two Pegasai, an Earth Pony and a

Unicorn.” Nods.

“You moved the main group to intercept and encountered Sundown, who had somehow remained

undetected to you, and captured the original four targets.” They both looked at me, and we all nodded.

“Your brought them down for interrogation, discovered the Pegasai were from the Enclave, and

Sundown escaped from her bindings.” Copper Wire and I nodded, as Clear Report shook his.

“The Pegasai were shot after we had recaptured Sundown, or so I had thought…” he stated.

“Hmm… Did anypony notice the Unicorn of their group using a spell?” The Elder asked.

I waved a hoof, and pointed to my collar with a pout.

“Clear Report, if you would.” He motioned to my collar, and it came off with a snap after being set aside

by Clear Report’s magical aura. And a device clicked on, attached to the ceiling of my cell.

“Test… awesome!” I said with cheer, before continuing.

“Emerald and the Paladin were in an argument, and I had noticed that before he called out that I was

missing, she looked like she had been struck with something painful. I thought it was just because she

felt bad, but it could’ve been something else. After I was sent away I never saw any of them again, now

that I think about it.” I added to the conversation.

“Right… Now that I remember, ‘Emerald’ had said something about ‘breathing in the chemicals

downstairs’. I had assumed that they would be fairly visible if they were still active, as she had stated

that it was a green gas, but I saw nothing when I went down there.” Copper Wire said.

“I didn’t see any gas either, Elder.” Clear Report stated.

“Nope!” I helpfully added.

“Perhaps it was a neurological agent. That would explain the radically different stories. There is one

thing that hasn’t been accounted for, however. Do any of you know the name ‘Braggadocious’?” Elder

Rasa asked.

“Oh, don’t get me started with that raider. Had to run him off before he got close enough to melt

anypony with that flamer of his.” Clear Report blurted out of turn.

“Raider? I saw a malfunctioning Protect-a-pony shambling around the restaurant.” Copper Wire said

with a sideways look at Clear Report, before they all looked at me.

“Wizard.” I said plainly.

“Right…” All of them said in unison, before looking at each other in mild surprise before continuing.

“Well. As evident from Doctor Scour’s reports, you are all clear of any contaminants or agents from

the surface, so you shouldn’t have to worry about… Wizards.” Rasa said with a shake of his head at me.

“I will simply designate that stable as a hazardous zone, and we will come up with another solution to

our supply problems. Paladin Copper Wire, Scribe Clear Report. What would you say about the

character of ‘Sundown’ here? Is she a threat to this chapter of the Steel Rangers?” The elder asked

them.

“Well, before we found out that every one of us had been hallucinating the entire time, I would’ve

jumped to defend Sundown and request that she be integrated immediately. Now, however, I am

unsure if I spent any time with Sundown at all.” Paladin Copper Wire said, choosing his words carefully.

“My experiences with Sundown may have also been influenced by hallucination, but she has caused

no trouble to us while she has been here, even with a bomb collar around her neck at one point. Even

now I have no doubt she could screech until we died of blood loss from our ears at this very moment,

but she seems content to just sit there and observe. All in all, I think she’s just a bit creepy with how

silent she is, but she could be an asset to us, Elder.” Clear Report giving his namesake to the Elder.

“Very well. I shall ask the Initiates of whom she is reported to have spent the most time with about

their opinions as well, even if one of them is completely convinced they had a ‘romantic encounter’

with her.” Rasa said with a slight shudder.

Hey! I’m a batpony, not ugly!

I stuck my tongue out at the Elder as he turned away from me, calling Clear Report out of the cell with

him and dismissing Paladin Copper Wire.

“Hey, Sundown.” He seemed a lot less sure that we were on friendly terms now after the conversation.

“Hello!” I said cheerfully, despite his worried tone.

“Did you cause those hallucinations?” he asked, moving closer to the cell.

“I have no idea how I would even begin to do that, Copper. Why are you asking me?” I said with a bit of

a snap to my tone.

“I get the feeling you’re a lot smarter than you seem, so it makes me wonder what your motive is.”

“Motive? I can’t be cheerful without a sinister plot? I think you read too many comic books, Copper.” I

said while trying to hide a giggle with my hoof.

He didn’t seem convinced, and turned the lights out before standing in the doorway of the prison

entrance.

“I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Sundown.” He said ominously.

“You too!” I called down the hall in my squeaky yet still clear voice.