Fallout Equestria: Retrieval

Chapter 2: Preparation

“Look, there are a few things you’re going to need if you want to survive out here. A weapon (or at least more ammo for the one you have), armored barding, a bit of guidance... and most importantly, you need to make some friends.”

Everypony was having a great time. The Overmare reserved the canteen for my birthday party. She was such a nice pony. I was sitting on a stool admiring my cake, waiting for my dad to tell me it was time to cut it. There was the sound of a startled squeak, followed by laughing as I heard tiny hoof steps flee the area behind me. I recognized the squeak from my friend Shining Wish. She was one of my oldest friends all the way back when we became old enough to go into the stable school system. We started the same year, our birthdays being only a week apart. She was older than me by that week and boasted about that often, especially when we had her party last Thursday.

I turned back to try to see her getting chased by whoever tagged her. I found her pinned in a corner by Lion and Lily. Lion and Lily were some of my newer friends I met in medical after I tried to stop an older filly from stealing Wish’s doll. Well, I met Lion. I got beat up pretty badly but I was able to get the doll and scram with Wish when I knew I was going to lose. Anyway, Lion got in a fight with his sister and got beaten pretty bad too. Him and Lily were twins with matching orange coats and darker orange manes.

Despite the bad position she was in, Wish wore a huge determined grin on her face. I guessed Lily and Lion made a truce to team up on Shining Wish. The light green filly caught me looking at her and winked. Well, no way out of this now. There’s no way I’d turn down my best friend when she asked for help.

I hopped down from my stool with a distraction plan in my mouth. I approached the duo from behind. Wish tried to keep her eyes off me but she had a hard time keeping up her ruse. The twins were slowing approaching slowly and cautiously, not giving Wish any room for escape. I didn’t need to get right behind them but just close enough to know my throw would meet its mark.

Lion yelped at the fork that hit the back of his neck. He turned to me growling in annoyance. I smiled back at him with the most cocky look I could muster. Just as I planned the colt charged at me. His sister looked back and scolded him but he didn’t stop. I jumped out of the way when he reached me. He wasn’t the most accurate pony and quite a clumsy colt on top of that. I glanced back at the corner Wish was trapped in to see the filly wasn’t there anymore. I smiled again finding her being chased by the second twin across the room.

I looked behind me at Lion, who was turning back to face me. I slid under a table dodging Lion once more deciding not to take any chances. Wish looked at me and winked once more when she closed in on the table I was under with Lily almost reaching her tail. I knew what she wanted me to do. I jumped out from under the cover when the girls reached the table. Knowing this was going to happen, Wish kept running. Lily, on the other hand, stopped in her tracks, surprised at my sudden appearance.

Taking advantage of this, I tackled her. A startled squeak escaped the filly as we rolled on the floor. Once she was able to comprehend her situation, the stronger filly shoved me off of her. I staggered to my hooves, seeing both Lion and Lily ready to attack. Before they had a chance, however, Star Shine, one of the adults overseeing the party, walked between me and the other rowdy foals.

“You two shouldn’t be beating on this poor little colt on his birthday!” the purple mare lightly scolded the twins.

“H- he started it!” Lily defended her and her sibling.

“Did not!” I yelled to the filly. “I was trying to help Shining Wish!”

“Alright children, sinse this is your party” she spun her head to me “I’ll let you off with a warning. Just don’t do it again”

“Yes, Star Shine” I said with my head bowed in shame. After being shooed away, I trotted over to my Wish, who was now sitting in a booth sipping on a drink.

“Thanks for the help” she giggled as I trotted to her side. A strange feeling ignited in my chest and my throat felt tight. Mommy said I should ask her to be my girlfriend, for a reason I couldn’t find out. I didn’t even like girls yet.

My mouth opened to respond but before I could say anything the world went dark. My hearing was invaded by screaming, as well as my own. My eyes adjusted to my dark surroundings to see panicking foals running about and adults milling around trying to catch and calm them.

I planted my rump firmly on the ground, fighting back the urge to cry. I heard a familiar hissing sound as the door to the canteen opened, revealing a silhouette in the doorway. It was shaped like a pony but was of monstrous size and a light illuminated off the side of its head, blinding me for a moment. I heard a ridiculously loud bang and a quick, but intense, burst of light blinded me once more. I clenched my eyes shut, protecting them from any more damage, not a second before something forced me off my hooves and slamming me into something hard. I felt something warm shower over me.

I screamed and slowly risked opening my eyes. My coat was covered in red and behind me was the counter. I was lucky I didn’t hit a stool and break my back. I checked where Wish was to see in she was ok but... but she wasn’t all there! Half of her was gone along with most of the back of the seat she was sitting on. The bottom half of her smoldered and smoked. I could see bones and meat sticking out of her corpse! I looked at the area around her and shuddered when I realised what the red warm stuff on me was.

More light filled the room causing me to close my eyes again and more loud bangs pounded on my already sore ear drums until a high pitch whining was the only thing I could hear. Without sound, I built up the courage to open my eyes one more time.

I immediately wished I hadn’t. The bloody dismembered corpses of my friends and family laid around the canteen. All that was left of Lion was a pair of hooves next to a scorch mark on the ground. Blood surrounded the mark. Lily leaned against the wall with lifeless, terrified eyes and a gigantic hole in her chest. Star Shine’s spine stuck out of a hole in her back from a shot exiting her body.

I tried to move. To hide, run or anything, but a sharp intense pain shot through my side, causing me to fall on the ground. I screamed when I saw a large piece of the table stabbed through me. I cried and struggled across the canteen in a desperate attempt to hide under a table. The silhouette saw my pathetic crawl and aimed something big at me. I stopped when I felt something hit my side. Then I couldn’t feel anything below where I got hit. I looked back and saw where my body had split in two. I couldn’t think. Too much shock and pain too fast. Instead of anymore panicking or crying, I just sat there and... died.

***

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the horrible aching in my head. It felt like somepony hit me in the face with a sludge hammer. I needed to stop drinking with Fizzy. I hardly ever did it, but whenever I did I woke up feeling like dragon shit. It's hard to stop when a mare offers you a drink, though. I never knew why she got me drinks, but I guessed it was to get a laugh at how I'm so much of a light weight. What exactly had I done last night?

I tried to look back on what happened, but all I could get from that part of my brain was fuzziness, not that it was surprising. With a groan, I opened my eyes with more of a struggle than usual, again not surprising. Light seared my eyes and lit up the inside of my skull with a stabbing pain. I groaned and closed my eyes and shielding them with my hooves.

Fortunately, after a few tries my eyes adjusted. The light above me was unusually dim. I looked around the room realizing I was in the medical bay. I was on a hospital bed with light blue sheets covering me. Curtains separated me from most of the room. A cart next to me held a healing potion and two syringes of Med-X. I injected the Med-X, sighing in relief as the painkiller immediately took effect and my hangover started to ease down. I drank down the purple flavorless healing potion soon after.

Wondering how long I'd been out, I checked my PipBuck. Something was majorly off about my PipBuck that, because of my headache, I hadn't noticed before. My PipBuck was pink and silver. I had Tulip's PipBuck... Memories flooded back to me. Greyberry letting the Steel Rangers in, the AI telling me to overload the stable's industrial spark batteries, killing that Ranger... That last part I still wasn't very proud of. According to my PipBuck it was around 6:00 PM. Everything that happened earlier was in the early morning.

I groaned once more and leaned against the wall, laying my head back, and letting the previous events play out in my head. I began to wonder why I was in here. Why I was still in Stable 18. We were about to escape when that red Ranger knocked me out. Did they bring me here? Why would they do that? What about the others? I really hoped they were okay. I didn't want to be the only one left. Left alone to the mercy of the deathponies that killed my stable wasn't a very appealing concept. I needed to relax. I injected myself with the second Med-X.

I wished Coy were here. Or Snowflake. Or anypony. I just didn't like the lonely silence, stuck playing out the horrors I'd went through and wondering what will be in my near future. I looked to my left and saw my bloody, seared utility barding hanging from a hook. It was completely thrashed. It reminded me to be grateful I at least wasn't covered in Gate's blood anymore. Whoever put me here was nice enough to heal me and wash me off, not to mention they left the healing potion and Med-x for me when I woke up. Maybe whoever they were they weren't that bad if they're willing to do that for me.

Hoofsteps nearby grabbed my attention. I turned on my E.F.S and nearly panicked when I mistook the pink bar as red for a moment. Still not used to that. A silhouette trotted behind the curtain to my right. It wasn't big and bulky like a Steel Ranger, but it was wearing some form of protection judging by the shape. It had a long frizzy mane and was about to walk around the curtain.

A white mare with a silver blue mane and eyes that matched her mane walked in wearing Stable 18 security barding. She smiled warmly at me. I couldn't help returning a smile at her reassuring expression. A holstered 10mm submachine gun hid Snowflake's cutie mark.

"Glad to see you’re finally awake" she grinned.

"I wish I could say the same" I laughed weakly. "I feel like shit."

"Oh, I left some Med-X for you" she informed sounding confused. "I thought that would help."

"No, I mean about what happened" I explained. "Are the others okay?"

"Yeah everypony is alright. Uh... you know what I mean" she added. I grunted, showing I heard her. I looked away for a moment, taking in this good turn events of Snowflake showing up okay. "If it helps," her voice brought my focus back to her "you missed a hell of a fight."

"How'd you beat the Rangers?"

"I didn't. The Applejack's Rangers did." Applejack's Rangers? Why did that sound familiar? Great, now we were dealing with two types or Rangers.

"Who?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They're a lot like the Steel Rangers but friendlier." The security mare sounded hesitant on using the term 'friendlier'. "Cherry Cola said they were a part of the Steel Ranger not long ago. According to him, the Steel Rangers are set on collecting technology and the Applejack's Rangers want to follow the ideals of the ministry mare and help ponies that need it." Applejack was the head of the Ministry of Wartime Technology. That's why that name sounded familiar, I'd learned that in my classes here. "And you can have your friend back." she laughed, holding out her PipBuck. "He's been trying to hook us up."

"Sorry, man. She figured me out." A familiar voice rang in my head. The AI sounded shameful. I chuckled.

"It's good to have you back, Coy." I'd known the AI for less than a day but he was growing on me fast.

"Good to be back, boss." Coy joked playfully.

"So, who's Cherry Cola?"

"Some high ranking pony in the Applejack's Rangers." Snowflake explained, rolling her eyes. "Really, he's a dick, but he's the leader of the Applejack's Rangers that saved our asses."

"So, I guess he can't be that bad." I said, checking my body's status on my PipBuck. I could hear Snowflake make an unsure noise.

"Are you feeling alright?" The white mare asked.

"Yeah why?"

"Let's go then. More ponies survived the attack than we thought."

I left my burned and bloody barding, and jumped off the bed. I wobbled a little bit, probably from the drugs, before regaining my composure and following Snowflake out of the medical bay.

The rest of the stable was just as dimly lit as the medical bay. I wondered how the the lights were on at all after I overloaded the spark batteries. Snowflake was right about the survivors. As we walk through the halls of Stable 18, we passed by more than enough familiar ponies wearing PipBucks and stable jumpsuits. All wore expressions of sorrow, confusion, and a few of anger. We also passed some power armored ponies, which I wasn't too comfortable around, even if Snowflake explained that they were the ponies that saved us. The red trim on their armor made them even more intimidating then the ponies we encountered earlier.

Bodies still littered the place. I saw maintenance ponies trying to clean the corpses and blood but I knew this was an overload. From the experience of cremating an elderly pony I couldn't recall the name of, I knew the incinerators weren't designed to burn this many bodies at once. It could take days, even weeks. It wouldn't be healthy living here with all the bodies laying about.

"What are they going to do with the corpses?" I voiced my concerns.

Snowflake stared at the ground for a moment before answering. "Cola suggested we just dump them somewhere outside." I scowled in disgust. "But the Overmare was against it." I felt a little satisfaction about that. The residents didn't deserve to rot in the unknown. "However, Cola put up a compelling argument of the issue of storing the bodies in waiting of cremation." she sighed before continuing. "The Overmare reluctantly agreed." I kicked a wall in frustration as we walked. "None of us are happy about it." The security mare told me. "Especially, those with loved ones that died in the attack."

"So what now?" I asked. The depressing atmosphere of the stable was getting to me. I started to feel the emotional aftermath of the invasion.

"Just go to your quarters for now." Snowflake stopped and pointed to the door of my quarters. I hadn't even known where we were going. How'd she know where I lived? Maybe it was required to know where everypony's quarters was. That'd be horrible to have to memorize.

"I just wanted to see if you were okay. After the first few hours after you got knocked out, I was worried." she informed. "I know you were out for awhile so you aren't probably tired," I nodded, letting her know she was right "So if you want, the canteen is still open. Greyberry's niece took over earlier. You'll have to go through the atrium, though. It's still as bad as when went through it earlier." Great.

I nodded in acknowledgement. "I gotta go see the Overmare about some assembly we're going to have tomorrow. I'll see ya later." the white mare informed before trotting off. I waved my hoof as she left.

***

After taking care of some 'business' in the bathroom, it was 7:00 PM. I didn't even bother putting on barding before walking out once more into the destruction of the stable. Ponies trotted through the halls seemingly emotionlessly. I guessed I looked the same. The bodies and scars from the Steel Ranger's heavy weapons littered the entire complex. Nopony could truly take in the sights of their home without breaking down.I needed to get to the bar. I felt as though my brain was struck by an emotional tidal wave. Failing to hold them back, tears streamed down my cheeks. I really needed a drink.

When I reached the atrium I tried my best to ignore the bodies laying about. I nearly succeeded before I accidentally stepped on a corpse. I flinched back at the unwelcoming feeling. I looked down at who I stepped on. A green mare with a yellow mane. Her eyes were closed and her face looked peaceful. Not a quality I'd found on most of the bodies left. A huge hole shown from her side and her PipBuck leg was completely gone, save for a nub. I shook myself off and whispered an apology before continuing to the bar.

The bar had a surprisingly upbeat atmosphere. I was comforted by the laughing of drunken ponies having a good time. Most were the regular customers celebrating their survival, while I noticed some new faces. In fact, some of them were really new faces. Several ponies without stable suits nor PipBucks mingled with some of the drunken residents. I didn't entirely trust the Applejack's Rangers even if they did save us.

I caught sight of a very familiar mare talking to some stallions at the counter. The grey mare with a silver mane said something that made the others laugh. She glanced at me and her smile became wider as she waved me over. I smiled back and trotted over to join her.

"I'm glad to see your not dead Fizzy." I said cheerfully when i reached her.

"I as well." she replied "We're trading war stories, Code. Care to join in?"

"Sure." I said, jumping on a stool next to her. "Did I miss any good ones?"

"Only lying Nancy's here." she sneered jokingly. "He says he fought one of those big fuckers hoof to hoof."

"It's true!" a red stallion defended himself."I told you!"

"And I told you that no one believes you, ya stupid twat!" Fizzy retorted playfully. Well, as playfully as anypony can be when calling the other a twat.

"Well if you don't believe his, you definitely won't believe mine." I said, waving the bartender over for a drink.

"Shoot." Fizzy challenged. After I got my drink, I began my tale. I left out the little detail of breaking the stable's power source, though. The more drinks I got in me the more exaggerated my story seemed to be. And the more I went on, the more ponies began listening in. Before long, I had the entirety of the bar listening to my story of survival. The Ranger's seemed to be less believing then the other stable ponies, however.

"So then, I charged at the deathpony with the shotgun held high and my blood filled with rage!" I told in my best storyteller's voice. I could feel my cheeks burning as the alcohol raced through me. "The bastard fired his pony sized cannon at me, but I was too fast for his shell, and I ducked under it. I slid on the floor and fired three shots straight into his visor!" The small crowd listened intently. "Then, the guy's head flew right off! I released Tulip from her imprisonment and for thanks, she gave me her PipBuck" i waved my Pipleg around for everypony to see "and a blowjob in a janitor's closet."

"There's no way that's true!" an equally drunken green stallion accused.

"Is too! Ask Officer Snowflake or Wire Cutter! They know!" I told him waving a forehoof at him and nearly falling off the stool.

"I believe him." Fizzy told him. The drunk mare turned to me with a devious smile. "Sounds like you were packing some serious heat. I wanna see what other kind of heat your packing." she flirted.

"Oh I'm packing all kinds of heat." I assured. I wasn't very good at this when drunk, or at all really. "But, I keep most of it in my quarters." Fizzy bit her lip and made a suggestive noise.

"Well, you gonna show me? I'm feeling a lot of heat myself." The drunk mare teased. I hopped off my stool.

"Let's go then." I said with a cheeky grin.

The mare followed me out of the bar. Neither the devastation in the atrium nor the rest of the stable could turn my attention away from the beautiful mare. We messely made out and stumbled to my quarters. Hardly anypony was moving about in the stable at this hour. If there was we didn't notice them.

We entered my quarters, and Fizzy opened a distance between us. She tried to move erotically, but she just stumbled about, trying to remove her stable suit. When she removed her clothing, she hopped on my bed and spread her legs.

"Oh sweet Celestia!" I gaped at her invitation. My eyes traced down her body. Taking in all the curves and all around well form of her body. My gaze finally set on her...Oh Celestia, she was magnificent! Unable to contain myself, I jumped on the bed to join her.

***

I thought that the hangover I woke up with yesterday was bad. This was horrible. At first I had a mild headache, but when I moved it was like somepony stabbed me in the skull. I grabbed my head and groaned in pain. Another groan joined mine. Who was in my bed with me? Did I get lucky!? I flipped over, still holding my head, to see who I'd been with last night.

She must had been real fucked up. The grey mare surprised me. Sure Fizzy and I had some good times together but she never seemed interested in having that good of time with me. It just sucked I couldn't remember it.

I did my best getting off the bed, but, between trying not to wake the sleeping mare and my aching body, I wasn't doing it very quickly. Once up, I trotted to the bathroom to get some painkillers. I opened up the cabinet, and swallowed a couple of pills. I wished I had something stronger, like Med-x, but I knew that drug was very addictive. It was a risk even taking two yesterday.

When my head cleared up, I took a shower to get the musty rank of sex and alcohol off. By the time I got out, Fizzy had been up and moving about. She already helped herself to the small supply of coffee I had been saving for myself. Coffee, and other small consumable bits of enjoyment, were a rare treat in Stable 18. I only got ahold of the small bit I had as a gift from Greyberry from when I helped him get The Key. I felt a little bit of anger flare up in me when I thought back to when the buck tricked me.

"Hope you don't mind." she said, tilting her cup at me when she saw me. Her mane was a mess and her eyes looked tired. She looked bad and I'm guessing I looked bad too, even with the shower. "Did you have a good time last night?" She asked to my surprise. "Cause I did."

I blushed a little at that. "Yeah, I had a great time." I really wished I knew. For all I knew, I could have just jumped on her and fell asleep. I've heard bucks tell embarrassing stories like that in the bar before.

"You were an... interesting lay." she said with a smile. Crap, that meant bad didn't it? Well, it's not like I had too much experience with this sort of thing. "I'd like to do it again sometime." I perked up in surprise. What did that mean? So, was I good?

She downed the rest of her coffee and put on her clothes. "I gotta go meet my brother." she explained. "He saved me in the attack. I promised him I'd help him repair and clean the weapons used yesterday." I've heard her talk about her brother before. He was in security but often the one stuck with the jobs nopony else wanted to do. Much like me, forced to do the more boring things. Nopony else will do them.

I said my goodbyes and she left. I offered the use of my shower but she shot me a suggestive look and told me 'nice try'. I wasn't going to do anything but I'm guessing her experience told otherwise.

I put on a new set of utility barding and checked my PipBuck for job messages. when I saw the pink, I remembered I'd left my PipBuck in the repair bay. Then I realized something else, Coy hasn't said anything since I woke up. Where did he go now? Did he see what happened last night? Probably not, if he did he would have made a crack on it. I just went with the theory that he went to help Snowflake or somepony else.

I was about to leave and retrieve my old PipBuck when my door opened to a familiar green mare. She smiled nervously, as usual, and trotted in. The red headband wrapped around her dome.

"Hey, um, we need your help down below." she started. "Some pipes got damaged by that mare that chased us in the tunnels."

***

We had to completely replace sections of the pipes with some spare parts that had been become scarce, we had no choice, though. Damn lasers burned right through the metal. I remembered how much it burned when I got hit by one. It was 10:00 AM when I woke up and it was now a little bit past noon. It didn't take long for me to shower and get ready so we'd been working for about a half hour. I'd noticed, irritably, that I did the most work and I was the only one that didn't take a break. I thought sex was supposed to make you happy and not care about stuff like that. At least, that's what the guys at the bar said. I'd only had sex one other time and I didn't really remember how I was throughout the rest of the day. I guess blacked out drunk sex doesn't count on that idea.

The rookie was also down here. Even though she wasn't even a maintenance pony, she was the most help. I'm not even going to begin on how messed up it is that a non trained filly was more help to me than most of the maintenance team. I thanked the filly and heard the announcement to meet in the atrium over the intercom. I'd hoped they cleaned it up.

On the way, I was able to pick up my old PipBuck and check my messages. I only had three so I had enough time to read them on my way to the atrium. The first one was from Snowflake late last night telling me that Coy went to help her, the Overmare, and the Applejack's rangers sort out some issues. The second was from Wire Cutter, just asking for help on the pipes. The last one was as recent as after I left to work on the pipes. It was Fizzy asking if I wanted to hang out someplace besides the bar. The last one caught my attention the most.

If she wanted to hang out does that mean she likes me? If I said yes would she be my girlfriend? I sent back saying 'that would be great' and decided I'd see how it goes. I kinda hoped it would be a date, I like spending time with her, and I hadn't had an actual 'girlfriend' since I was a foal.

When I made it to the atrium, I saw I was one of the last to show up. Traveling all the way from the lower parts of the stable when a majority of the stable was in the area nearby the atrium, I wasn't surprised. They cleaned the place of blood and corpses but several dents and scorch marks scarred the was from the Steel Rangers' powerful armament. Snowflake waved and smiled at me flanking the Overmare. The Overmare herself nodded to me in greeting. I smiled and waved to both of them before scowling at the two armored Applejack's Rangers flanking both of my friends. I couldn't help but wonder why Snowflake was the only security officer in front of the crowd with the Overmare.

I took a seat on the ground amongst the gathering crowd. I fiddled with the systems of my old PipBuck and wondered if I should transfer my files to Tulip's. I didn't know if I could keep it or not. The pretty white mare hadn't asked for it back yet but it was a custom device. No doubt she would want it back. It was kinda growing on me, though. I concluded that I'd hold off on the transfer until I'd got some confirmation on what was up with the arcane device. I saw the pink maned pony further up in the crowd but before I could try to reach her, the Overmare began talking.

"Quiet down, everypony." She ordered, and the crowd settled. "No doubt you are all already shaken up enough by the attack yesterday." Yeah that was obvious. "But we have more problems. As of yesterday our spark battery powered generators overloaded." I felt a pang of guilt at the mention of that. "Without our generators, the stable cannot produce sufficient light in the apple orchards to help the trees grow. No trees, no food." Numerous concerned murmurs arose from the crowd but was halted by the Overmare. "This is not the only problem, my little ponies. The stable's water talisman was also damaged in the assault. We need a new one entirely. Like the apple trees, no talisman, no water." More murmurs arose and well as panicked shouts, but the Overmare rose her voice above the scared ponies. "I'm sure you've noticed the power armored ponies trotting around." the older brown mare pointed to both of the Rangers guarding her. "I would like to thank them for forcing the Steel Rangers out. Unfortunately, they can't spare any of their soldiers out to find the needed parts of the stable, due to lack of troops. Instead, security officer Snowflake volunteered to go outside and search for what we need."

What!? That's why she’s up there! More ponies joined in on the murmurs, as the security pony nodded. Why does she have to go? Just one of the Applejack's Rangers look more than capable enough to find the parts, with their intimidating power armor, and their huge guns.

"She has agreed to go alone." Overmare Chocoa began again. "But if anypony else wants to volunteer to help her on her mission, she will not refuse the help." Snowflake stood like a stone. Her emotionless face showed no worry. I couldn't let her go alone when it was my fault the parts were broken, could I? I couldn't survive out there, right? When the outside was filled with things like the Steel Rangers? It was crazy for anyone to leave! Snowflake was a tough mare but could she make it out there? Damnit if she left on her own and died I couldn't live with myself. What about Fizzy? Part of my brained pointed out. She just asked me out, I think, what about her?

I growled knowing what I was about to do. I raised my hoof hi and announced "I'll go too!" All eyes turned on me. Everypony looked at me with a rainbow of looks. I saw Fizzy in the crowd looking at me confused. I just sighed and continued. "I'll help her find what we need."

"Very well." Chocoa replied. "Anyone else?" No pony said a thing. She dismissed the crowd and waved my to her. Snowflake eyed me respectively as I approached. "I want you two to talk to Cherry Cola." the Overmare ordered when I reached them. "He will talk to you about what you'll be looking for once outside." The coffee mare turned to Snowflake. "Officer, you go to the armory afterwards." Then she turned to me. "Error Code, meet me in my office while Snowflake gets the supplies you'll need from the armory." I nodded. Then I realized I was missing something.

"Where's Cola?" I asked.

"In the science wing." The Overmare explained. "Snowflake will show you. Go now, my little ponies, time is of the essence!" She clearly wanted me to move faster than my hangover wanted. Just thinking about what happened last night suddenly made my head hurt, making me feel slightly irritated. While my attention was focused on my headache, Snowflake nudged me to where we were supposed to go.

***

The science bay was filled with Applejack's Rangers. Only some of which were working. I couldn't tell what the helmetless rangers were working on exactly but I could tell they were modifying some of the lesser systems of the science wing. Most of the rangers were talking in groups, completely ignoring us.

It didn't take long to get to the room Cola was in. I didn't know what was what in the science wing but this room looked important. It had a bigger workspace and had workbenches lining half of the walls. The other half was being occupied by some sort of holographic maps that I was pretty certain wasn't in the stable before. Opposite of the entrance was a table with several papers spread around it. A pony in Black power armor, minus the helmet, stared intently at one of the holo maps, mumbling to himself. His armor was black and grey camouflage with the Applejack’ Ranger’s signature red trim.

He turned to us on our arrival. He was a maroon earth pony with a black mane. His black mane was almost gone. I looked into his cold, hard, azure eyes and froze until I was able to pull my gaze away. The stallion scared me. I didn’t feel safe near him, like he was just going to snap on me. His sour expression reinforced that fear. He looked tired, frustrated, and most apparently of all, unstable. Didn’t help that he was from outside. I didn’t want to trust the unknown pony but I knew there was no other choice for the stable.

“Ah, Officer Snowflake.” The old buck greeted in a even tone that contrasted with his harsh face. “You got somepony to come with you? Surprising.” He looked at me with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Hello, Star Paladin Cherry Cola.” Snowflake said formally. “Yes, Error Code is one of the ponies that fought through the invasion with me.” She told him. Cherry Cola nodded in approval, and turned to the large glowing amber map behind him. He raised his hoof and a circular marker lifted by a robotic arm followed his movements. Now I definitely knew this wasn’t standard stable equipment. It held the locations of outside areas.

The marker settled on a square marked ‘Old Town’ and under the title the letters NCR were set in parentheses. “You’re going to need to retrieve a spell matrix from an industrial spark battery.” The Star Paladin (whatever that means) began. “We should be able to jump start the stable’s generators with it. That is your first priority. The stable’s apple orchard would survive, at least, a month without proper lighting.” He tilted his head to the map marker. “Old town is a good place to check first. It was built by stable dwellers two decades ago. We don’t know where their stable is but somepony there is bound to. Be careful, however.” He warned. “It was claimed under the NCR a little over a month ago. They are usually friendly but they can be a bit... harsh.”

“NCR?” I interrupted. Snowflake and Cola gave me looks that suggested I should have waited until after the ranger’s instructions to ask questions. I shrank back under the paladin’s gaze.

“The NCR” He started sounding annoyed. “is the New Canterlot Republic. They’re a new power to the Equestrian Wasteland, but thanks to the Lightbringer, they’ve gotten a lot of recruits. They’re already one of the biggest powers around. Good enough?” He challenged.

“What’s the Lightbringer?” I asked against my better judgement. Cola ignored me and turned back to the map.

“Moving on.” he continued. “Unfortunately, the town’s citizens use the stable’s water talisman for their purified water and we don’t know of any stables that we nor the Steel Rangers haven’t already cleared out. There is no doubt that there are many undiscovered stables you might come across. If possible, search through any you might find. Getting a water talisman isn’t such an immediate need, however. When we run out of water the stable already purified, one of the other branches of Applejack’s Rangers already agreed to lend us one of theirs if needed. We will need one, just not right away. That is all for now.”

When he stopped, the old stallion studied us for a few moments. He looked over each of us, thoroughly. “Is this what you’re planning on wearing out there?” I didn’t think it mattered, but when I thought about the Steel Rangers being outside and things like the NCR, I realized it would probably help to get more protection.

“Yes. Why?” Snowflake asked quizzically.

“Stable security armor is satisfactory protection wise, but it wouldn’t be wise to go out in just that.” Cola told us. “If the wrong pony figures out you’re fresh stable ponies, it could lead to trouble.” He placed his hoof on his chin for a moment. “Go find a orange mare named Cogwork in one of the repair bays. She was working on making some power armor operable. Last I heard, she wasn’t making good progress, but I’m sure you two could salvage some parts and make some better armor.”

Snowflake and I exchanged glances but she shrugged it off and beckoned me to follow after being dismissed by Cherry Cola. My PipBuck marker lead me through the familiar halls of the maintenance bays. I took lead this time, being more comfortable in the area. I heard Snowflake say something to Coy. Even though I couldn’t hear what the AI was saying, I blushed getting a good idea what he was talking about by Snowflake’s responses.

In what felt too long, we finally made it to one of the stable’s repair bays. Inside were several rangers, each repairing some piece of their equipment with the tools the stable provided. My marker pointed to the helmetless orange mare with a long darker orange mane. I briefly thought of how she could fit that into a power helmet. Her purple eyes focused on a suit of power armor lighting up with sparks. I was pretty sure power armor wasn’t supposed to do that. She cursed when a small flame erupted from open circuits in the suit.

As we made our way to her, she perked up and turned to us. “Oh hey! You’re that buck I hit in the face!” she said a little too cheerfully. The fuzzy memory of being attacked by the Applejack’s Ranger appeared in my head. Great, it was her. “Sorry about that...” she sounded more remorseful when she saw the look on my face. “What can I do for ya?”

“Cherry Cola said you could help us mod our barding with some scrapped power armor.” Snowflake answered for me. She looked at me, showing she could handle it. I gave her a small grateful nod.

“That old coot never trust me with getting stuff done” she laughed sadly, looking back at her work. “I have a suit beyond repair in the corner over there.” she pointed to a sparking pile of scrap metal shoved in a corner. The twisted mass looked like it was struck by a missile. Then I realized that’s probably exactly what happened, then add stripped of valuable parts on top of that.

“Uh, I don’t think we could get anything useful out of that.” I complained. Wasn’t power armor supposed to repair itself anyway. Well, I guess whatever repaired it could get damaged. Damn arcane science war stuff! I only knew computers and things the stable used, stop trying to make me figure you out!

Cogwork rolled her eyes. “Uhg, fine. You can have one of the suits that’ll no doubt be more trouble than it’s worth.” The earthpony trotted behind her workplace and pulled out an almost undamaged suit of power armor. The rubbery material on the neck was ripped, but other than that, it didn’t look like it needed repairing. I grinned like an idiot when I saw it. I would have a great time taking this thing apart! I know I just complained about arcane war stuff, but taking apart power armor sounded fun! “Poor mare took several buckshot to the face. Her head was completely blown off! Helmet’s too fucked up to fix. When the helmet was blown off, the programming fucked up. Won’t operate with the perks of power armor, like the extra strength. Some of the other functions still work but I doubt anypony will want to wear it. Too heavy without that perk.”

I shook my head and frowned when I realized this was the the same ranger I’d killed’s armor. I tried to shake the sadness with the reminder that she could have killed fellow stable dwellers. It worked. A little.

“I’ve got a lot to do.” She narrowed her eyes and pointed her hoof at me. “So I can’t help you get parts from it.” My thoughts were taken over by all the neat stuff I’d find out about power armor. I grinned like an idiot once more as I ran to a toolbox and Cogwork went back to fixing her arcane armor.

***

Fuck power armor! As soon as I tried to take off a shoulder pauldron, remember how I said things exploded in my face? Yeah that happened. And after that mishap, (and I wiped the soot off my face) I soon found out that the armor was way too complicated for me. I had to just plain break some parts off, or ask for some of Cogwork’s tools more than once. Snowflake left her security barding with me so I could mod it while she went to grab some weapons from the armory. She told me to meet her at the stable entrance after I met with the Overmare.

Eventually, though, I was able to attach some bits of power armor to our suits. I put on my up-armored utility barding to check if it worked fine. I was able to attach the chest piece to the front of my suit and got the left shoulder pauldron on with a strap tied around my side. Snowflake’s armor now had several metal plates on the sides of its sleeves and belly armor twisted all the way around to her back. I felt relieved to have finally finished our armor, and I had to admit, it looked pretty awesome.

I scooped up Snowflake’s armor and started my way to the Overmare’s office. I was disturbed of how I was already used to the burns across the stable and the depressing atmosphere filling the halls. I got more than a few curious looks and nervous whispers while I walked through the broken stable.

I reached the Overmare’s office in decent time. I was surprised to see her office lit up more than the rest of the stable. Then I remembered her generators. The Overmare sat at her desk with a silver revolver in a case in front of her. She appeared to be counting high caliber bullets dumped out of nearby boxes. Upon my entry, she lit up. “Hello Error Code.” She greeted formally. “Come, sit.” She invited, tilting her head in front of her desk.

Naturally, I obliged. “Look at you.” the swirly maned mare gushed. “Armored and ready to save Stable 18. I really can’t thank you and Snowflake enough for this sacrifice.” I didn’t know what to say so I let her continue. “So, I decided you should have something very important. Something saved for an Overmare to use when we left the stable.” She nodded toward the revolver. I hadn’t noticed just how big the gun was was when I came in. I didn’t know much about guns but it was clear that this was a very powerful pistol.

“I figure this would be just as good a time then ever for it to come out.” She continued. “It was passed down from Overmare to Overmare, waiting for the day we would leave this place.” Gently, the earthpony opened the case and set the gun in front of me and pulled out a black holster. “Take Guardian with you.” she told me. “It’s important.” I looked into her eyes. Full of hope and uncertainty. I couldn’t turn her down even if I wanted to. I levitated the gun and holster. strapping the latter on my right hind leg and sheathed the shiny revolver in it.

The Overmare then scooped the bullets back in the boxes and pulled out a pair of saddlebags from behind her desk. “Good luck.” she said.

“I don’t know what to say.” I told her honestly. I was struck speechless by such a gift.

“Don’t say anything.” She reached over her desk and placed her hoof on my shoulder. “Just go get what we need.” I nodded and got to my hooves and trotted to the door. “And, for our sake, don’t die.” I looked over my shoulder, smiled, and continued out the door.

***

I knew I should have gone straight to the stable entrance, but when I left Cocoa’s office, I began to feel the pressure of what I was going to do. If I was going to leave into the unknown for an undetermined amount of time, and possibly die, I needed to figure something out first. I needed to visit someone.

I maneuvered my way through the halls of the residential part of the stable. It struck me as odd that, after knowing her for around five years, I’d yet to find out where she lived. Luckly, I had her PipBuck tag on my E.F.S.

I stopped in front of a door, that I assumed was her quarters. I knocked a few times and waited for a response. A few moments later, my call was answered with the hiss of the door opening. In the doorway was the grey and silver mare who’d asked to hang out earlier that day. Her curious, blood red eyes stared in surprise.

I smiled. “Didn’t think I’d come?” I joked.

“I thought you were leaving.” she said. She still looked shocked that I came to say goodbye. “Awesome armor by the way.”

“I am and thanks.” I replied. “I just wanted to know if you were asking if we could, ya’know, go on a date?” My smile turned more sheepish and she smiled widely.

“Or course, ya silly twat!” she laughed. “You’ve been a decent enough buck! Not too bad in bed either.” She added and I felt myself blush. “I figured I’d give ya a chance. I think ya’d really need it too.” Then her happy aura vanished into regretfulness. “But now you’re leaving.”

I frowned and looked down. “It wasn’t you. I just felt like it was something I needed to do. I know it sounds cheesy, but it really feels like something I need to do. I’m sorry.” I looked back at her sad smiling face. “But I really did want to be with you. And still do.” We both just sat there for a few moments, looking into eachothers eyes. The same sad smile on her face.

She kissed me! She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me over for a nice long blissful kiss. When she finally let go she looked at me with half lidded seductive eyes. “You’re sweet, Code.” She said. “I’ll be here whenever you come back.” She raised long bushy tail to cover half her face, tilted her head, and batted her eyelashes at me. Damn she was playing me like a fiddle! I couldn’t move or talk. Just stand there and stare at the wonderful mare. She lowered her tail. “Now go mister knight in shining stable suit, and don’t keep me waiting too long for your nice ass.” She turned around and looked over her shoulder, giving me a nice view of her more, private areas, before the door closed in front of me.

I sat in front of the door, dumbstruck, a few minutes, glad it went well. Way better than I expected. I finally gained the sense to continue to my goal of the stable entrance. My worry and uncertainty were ignored and my thoughts replayed only one thing.

I just got a girlfriend!

***

Snowflake sat by the door controls at the entrance with her saddlebags next to her. Along with the saddlebags was a combat shotgun. Two holsters were strapped to her flanks. One with a 10mm pistol and the other with an SMG of the same type.

She smiled at my arrival. I dumped off her armor and nodded back. “What’s wrong?” she asked, seeing my still stunned blushing face.

“Oh uh.” I began, shaking my head and blushing even more. “Nothing. I’m okay. I’m really okay” I added and she looked at me confused. “Nothing.” I laughed. “Just get your armor on.” She smiled and nodded.

While she put on her upgraded barding, I gazed into the cave, the giant, gear shaped steel door revealed. I knew I should have felt fear of the unknown ahead, but I felt happier than I’d ever been in the stable. I should have felt sadness at what I was leaving behind, safety, a girlfriend, a home. Instead, fresh determination and excitement surged through me. I was ready for this.

“This is yours.” Snowflake broke into my thoughts. Next to me, she levitated the combat shotgun. My combat shotgun. The same one I’d used in the invasion. I grinned at her and nodded, taking the shotgun in my magical grip and strapping it to my back. I got a good look at her in the armor I made. I did a better job than I thought. The look in her eyes, under her visor, and her armed and armored appearance expressed readiness, as well.

“Let’s go” I said taking lead into the world outside mine.

Level up!

Level 3:Wasteland Marauder

New Perk: Repairpony- The technical skills you’ve learned in the stable and your minor experience with power armor give you a boost in your repair skill.

(I'd like to thank Kkat for making such a fun world to build in, lazer726 for being an awesome proof reader, and all the great people in the FoE Document.)